...
Ever thankful for the jacket he wore Izuku tugged it closer around him. With his attention elsewhere earlier he had not noticed the drop in temperature. He certainly did now. Twice he sneezed and felt his nose run.
Finally, they reached the rooftop. Thief Lord stood with his back to Izuku as he stared out below them. He dropped the hood. He was only a few steps away from the edge and Izuku was only two or three steps behind him. There they could see most of the area including the police force who was working on putting the shop owner into a car. It was an enormous showing for just one thief. That was something he never understood.
Why bring so many? It would make it easier for an experienced thief to hide. One could change clothes and slip into the crowd and no one would notice. For someone like Izuku, he didn't even have to do that. Slightly changing his height or gait would allow him to slip away.
With how long the detective had chased Kaitou Kid he would have thought Nakamori would have learned the lesson. Less is more when chasing a thief.
"Unless lad," came Thief Lord's calm tones, "Nakamori doesn't actually want to catch Kid."
Izuku blinked in surprise. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Of course, Nakamori wanted to catch Kaitou Kid. That was the whole purpose of what he did. There was no way someone could fake that kind of conviction for so long.
"You think so?" Chuckled the man, "I'll let you in on a little secret that not even Kid knows."
Thief Lord turned to face Izuku with a slight smile. Then he said conspiratorially, "Nakamori has known who Kid is for years. He knew who the original was as well. The reason he thought it might have been someone else was because he hadn't realized Kaito took up his father's mantel. Nakamori and Toichi were good friends before Toichi's murder."
"Then why?"
A far-off look came into the man's eyes as he asked quietly to himself the moon causing shadows to cross his face, "Why allow Kid to keep going? Why to keep chasing? Because it keeps a man you knew as a child safe. It keeps people from looking at you like you've lost your mind."
That he oddly enough understood fairly well. Even when he was on the run from the heroes he constantly check on those who wanted him caught. Especially if someone who normally showed up to chase him didn't.
The ice-blue eyes warmed slightly as he said, "You seem to understand. Now it's time for answers. What do you know of your father, child?"
Cautiously Izuku said, "Not much honestly. Kid told me that there was only one other pin like mine. But my mother," he spat out the word, "told me it was the only thing he left. She refused to speak about him from what I remember."
A dark looked crossed the man's face. An icy wind blew straight into them causing Izuku to shiver. Jacket or no jacket that was cold. His lungs froze and a cough came up nastily.
It had only been a few weeks since he had pneumonia. There were still the effects of the cold that caused his more visceral reaction than was normal. Worry flickered across Thief Lord's face. Worry that Izuku couldn't understand.
What did this man have to worry about him? Sure there might be some low-level feelings that might be brought from a comrade to a comrade's child. It would be small since they didn't know each other. Yet this was more than it should have been and he wanted to know why.
Thief Lord asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Izuku whispered looking away from the man, "It's nothing."
There was a flash of unknown emotion this time. Izuku wanted to disappear out onto the streets. What was with these weird questions? Why did Thief Lord care?
Then he said, "Don't lie. Please."
The please made Izuku blink and glance through his fringe. What? This man seemed to be pained by his attempt at a lie. Not like when Tsukauchi's quirk went off. More like an estranged parent who wanted to know about their child. That couldn't be right though. There was no way that this man could be that.
No longer meeting Thief Lord's eyes he muttered, "It's fine. Honestly. I was just sick a few weeks ago."
"Sick," drawled the man dryly, "It was more than that wasn't it?"
Izuku glared, "Why do you care?"
He saw the man's jaw clench tightly as blue eyes searched his green ones. Surprisingly there was a flash of guilt in the blue eyes. Why did the man feel guilty? Why did Izuku care?
Finally, he sighed, "Because years ago I left a woman I thought I loved. My name is Hisashi Midoriya. I wanted to give her and any child we had a better life than what I had. I gave her a gold pin of a falcon to remember me by. What I didn't know was she was pregnant."
No.
Thief Lord continued, "Nearly 14 years later I find out from one of my Thieves that there is a boy with a golden pin. A boy who if you discounted the hair color and eyes is a spitting image of me. I didn't want to believe it at first but with a little digging I find out that I have a son. A boy who has taken the title of King of Thieves."
No. He refuses to believe this.
"I asked Kaitou Kid to keep an eye on the child and the mother. The rest of the thieves did ad I asked. None of us like child abusers."
"You were the ones who scared them into trying to run," Izuku whispered.
Thief Lord, he refused to reconcile with the name and raised his chin in acknowledgment, "They weren't meant to see us but one of our thieves was sloppy and was seen. So yes my orders had been the reason they tried to run. Though as I understand it your detective is the reason they are now in jail awaiting their trials."
"He's not my detective," whispered Izuku petulantly.
There was another flicker and a gust of wind. Began to gather on the rooftop and from their lack of movement on them. It was going to be a real white Christmas. How long had it been? No bad Izuku focus.
Thief Lord laughed richly, "Of course not. Sometimes I wish I had bonded with a detective like you and Kid have. It might have saved me some trouble. Then again they have a chance of dying and we can do nothing to protect them."
There was a pain in those blue eyes now. As if he was remembering something. Izuku knew that look he had it many times himself. Loss. Izuku was positive the man had someone maybe not for long and had lost them.
Then it was gone as soon as it had appeared. Izuku said finally, "So you're my father. That's what you're trying to tell me."
"Yes," he said softly.
"What's going to happen now?"
Thief Lord said, "That's up to you. I know you have built a life here. That you have goals that you want to reach such as being a hero. However, I want to offer you something more. You already have the skills to make an excellent Phantom Thief with some refining you could even take over one day."
Jaw tight he snapped, "I never wanted money! I wanted a father! A parent," in a much smaller voice, "I still do."
Blue eyes went wide with shock and he reached for Izuku. In turn, Izuku flinched and took a step back in fear. He had never expressed that to anyone.
Hisashi opened his mouth to say something but there was a flicker in the corner of Izuku's vision. They were no longer alone. An underground hero if he had to guess. It was time to go.
Across from him the man's expression closed off. He was no longer a man trying to get his son to understand. Instead, he was the leader of the most well-known band of thieves. No words needed to be said. He had no doubt when Thie... Hisashi wanted to find him again he would. For now, Izuku needed to disappear or risk getting dragged back.
What started as a light snow became much heavier. It would soon blanket the city.