Yorobi burst out of the airport, Aki right behind him, frantically searching for his keys.
"He's at UA, right?" He asked breathlessly as they ran through the three level parking garage, pulling the keys out of his own pocket with a teasing jingle.
"Yes, Aizawa says he's safe." Aki confirmed, pulling his phone out to try and cover his slight embarrassment, opening the back door of their Kia Soul "Extensively injured-"
"John Henry!"
John slid to a stop, turning around in confusion as he saw two heroes running towards him, one in a white jumpsuit with porcupine quills extending out of his back, and the other was wearing a black and red jumpsuit with orange tinted goggles and an armored helmet.
"Quill, Vent, what are you two doing here?"
"Here to escort you to UA." Quill said, eyes shifting a bit.
John's eyes narrowed, "there's no need for it, the entire city's dealing with riots, why escort us?"
"We don't question our orders John." Vent grunted, taking a step forward, "come with us. Now."
"Yorobi." Aki whispered cautiously as a familiar weight slipped into his hand, "Go ahead, I'll meet you there."
He sighed and started striding forward until a tree branch suddenly slammed Vent into a nearby truck.
"John Henry! Don't trust them!" Kamui Woods shouted frantically as he swung into the car lot, his uniform was torn and his arms and face mask were charred in places,"they're Yakuza!"
John was barely fast enough to tackle Aki out of the way as Quill shot a barrage of spines out of his back, intent on skewering the both of them, John snarled as one struck his shoulder.
"Yorobi!" Aki cried.
"I'm fine! Get clear!"
"Should've stayed down matchstick!"Vent snarled as his hands started to heat up, scorching the bark that was wrapped around him, forcing Kamui to let go, and swing away as he blasted super heated air at him in a narrow stream thanks to his specialized gloves, "now Imma turn ya into kindling!"
"INCOMING!"
BOOM! Quill slammed into the wall next to Vent, forcing the heat user to dive away as John Henry brought his twenty pound hammer around and shattered the concrete he'd just been up against.
"You almost killed my Fiance!" he roared, booted foot coming down and barely missing Vent's chest as he rolled to his feet, blasting both with scorching winds that had John Henry diving behind a car, the metal frame slowly warping.
Kamui Woods screamed as his limbs erupted into flames, with a crack! His current limb broke and he fell back, hitting the divider and falling into the cold night air.
"KAMUI!" John Henry roared, adrenaline hitting as he vaulted over the car, hurling his hammer at Vent, the handle burst into flames and into ash within a few seconds of being within direct contact with the mans quirk.
The metal hammer head, however, didn't slow as it slammed into Vents chest, sending him crumpling to the ground.
"John!"
John staggered towards the divider, barely caring about Fat Gum running onto the scene with Suneater, he fell against the cold concrete, eyes frantically searching the other side and letting out a sigh of relief when he saw Kamui passed out in a snowbank.
"Suneater! Restrain those two!" Fat Gum ordered his work study student as he finally reached John Henry, Aki reaching him about the same time, a Med Kit in his hands, the young Heroes arms were a shiny red, and the spine in his shoulder was bleeding profusely.
"Damn it we were too slow." Fat Gum cursed, "where's Kamui?"
"Down there." John gritted out, making Fat Gum look over the edge, grimacing at the Arbor Hero's state, "he risked himself to buy me some time."
"He was already injured trying to stop them down town after they turned on Death Arms and Powerloader, they're banged up but they'll live, were able to take down Verdant and Smile Man, but these guys were coming here to settle a score with you, guess they wanted to go out settling a score."
"All of this because of something Izuku found?" Aki asked worriedly, doing his best to help John Henry.
"I'm not sure the details, but that Midoriya Kid's got a bounty on his head, over 1,000,000 yen at this point, the Yakuza want blood, but there's not many left at this point," he jammed a thumb over to the now quirk suppressed heroes-turned-villains "these guys jumped ship once they realized they weren't gonna be able to kill Death Arms and the others, Verdant ratted them out on what they planned to do if they were found out, top of their list was to kill you."
"Because i'm quirkless." John Henry guessed.
"And because you were beating them in most cases closed this month." Suneater entoned, hiding his face when everyone looked over.
"Well, whatever the case, they need to get taken to lock up, and we need to get you and Kamui to the hospital."
"No, we need to get to UA-" he tried to argue, but Aki cut him off.
"You need a hospital," he said bluntly, "Izuku is safe, we can go see him when you're healed."
He groaned, but resigned himself to his fate as Officers and an EMS bus pulled up.
Just what all had happened while he was gone?
WVWVW
Shouta Aizawa was exhausted.
His weekend had started simple enough, he'd gotten a few reports about the Yakuza problem in Mustafu, his students had behaved for the most part on their weekly work studies and weekend breaks; and he'd even been able to have a calm, delightful dinner with Shino, something he hadn't been able to do since before the summer camp fiasco.
Then Saturday night came and everything went to hell alongside a week long blizzard that turned worse at its height.
Now he had an injured student, an injured vigilante who also killed who knew how many Yakuza in self-defense, a traumatized child, and three students who DEFINITELY didn't have permission to act as well as another student who convinced the first one to do so.
Now he was walking through UA, heading to go retrieve the Vigilante-a boy named Izuku Midoriya-for interrogation, he knew Tsukauchi would be tagging along to make sure the boys story was true; but he was surprised to find Toshinori Yagi waiting waiting with the detective at the doors of the Infirmary.
"Eraserhead." Yagi greeted, "I thought you were with Interrogation?"
"I was just coming to retrieve Midoriya." Aizawa said, raising an eyebrow when Yagi flinched at the name.
"He's not here, we were told you sent officers to collect him." Tsukauchi muttered, almost instantly all three began running down the hall, heading straight for the interrogation room, where they were surprised to find two Hero Association Detectives questioning Izuku Midoriya.
The boy looked rough, arms, legs and part of his neck and head were covered in gauze, his long green hair sticking out at odd angles from the bandages; he was pale, with dark bags under his eyes. He looked like he was adamantly refusing to answer the detectives questions.
Aizawa started moving toward the door, ready to interrupt, but Tsukauchi stopped him, "wait. Let's listen in, see what the Hero Association wants."
WVWVW
Izuku was tired.
He had only been awake for an hour, Eri had refused to leave his side and Recovery girl had been coaxing the two to eat a bit of breakfast when the doors had been thrown open and two men came striding in looking like the executives who would sometimes tour the construction sites. With expensive gray suits and black wool overcoats, they had flashed Detective Badges and said Eraserhead was ready for questioning and that they had to immediately take Izuku to the interrogation room.
Which was the wrong thing to say as Eri had a panic attack, resulting in Izuku and Recovery girl spending a few minutes to calm her down, promising her that the detectives didn't mean harm, only that he needed to ask him questions.
Oh how he wished he'd just argued until someone else came along.
Eraserhead wasn't there, instead they immediately slapped quirk suppression cuffs on him and chained him to the metal table in the cinderblock room, and almost immediately they started badgering him with questions.
It was easy to see what they were doing.
"What happened the night of the precinct attack?" The lead man asked, flattening down his goatee as he glared at Izuku, his partner pacing behind Izuku, likewise glaring at him.
"I already told you." Izuku grumbled, "Smile man and Verdant-"
"Stop lying you little skel!" the partner snapped, slapping him upside the head, Izuku didn't flinch, he'd had harder hits than that before, "we know you were the cause of the fire! And the death of five police officers!"
"You're full of shit." Izuku snapped back at him. Earning him a hard shove that had his chest bouncing against the table, making his barely healed ribs ache.
"We have witnesses egghead!" he snarled, slamming his hand onto the table, "either you fess up or you're gonna be looking at a lot of years!"
"Do you understand the damage you've caused over the last week?" the sitting Detective continued, "five police dead, several civilians injured including a store owner, and fifteen dead, FIFTEEN!"
"They were trying to kill me!" Izuku snapped, "me and that little girl that was with me!"
"You mean the child you kidnapped-'
"-i didn't kidnap shit-" another hard shove and slap.
"A whole week you were going on a killing spree traumatizing this girl! You used your quirk without a license! Then you got three HIT students to back up your crazy ass stunt!" the lead detective continued on, ignoring his words and his partners roughhousing. "Now either you come clean or I swear you'll be going away for a long time."
Izuku cocked his head in confusion, "I don't have a quirk." he said. Of all the things this guy had said, that was the one that bugged him the most for some reason.
"Yeah, right, with all the damage you did, you expect us to believe that?" he scoffed.
"Believe it or not piggy it's true.' Izuku said, smirking painfully when he received another painful slap. "Been quirkless since I was born, check my records."
"Oh yeah, we checked them." he said, pulling a file out and slapping it on the table, revealing it to be his file, "real good patch job, must've paid a pretty penny for it, it even looks legal."
"Because it is." Izuku muttered, his eyes zeroing in on the Quirk status, QUIRKLESS in bold red letters, the diagnosis that ruined his life.
"the feats you accomplished, the bodies you stacked, the three blocks of buildings that were damaged or destroyed, ALL of this, proves that what this file says, is crap."
"Then take it up with the doctor who told me I was quirkless." Izuku snapped, "I haven't lied yet."
"You've been lying to us since you've sat down! Now lets start from the beginning."
Izuku tuned him out, staring down at the quirk suppression cuffs, the red lights indicating they were stopping a quirk were dark, there was no power humming through them despite the heat burning in his chest.
"-what do you have to say for yourself?"
Izuku looked up, staring at the detective; there had been a time in his life where he'd be a crying wreck, being respectful to a fault and agreeing to everything they said in hopes of getting off easy.
But those days have passed.
Now Izuku returned the detective's glare with his own, clenching his fists as he leaned forward a bit, every part of his bruised and battered body ready to move.
"Oink, oink. Piggy." Izuku bit out,throwing his head back and catching the detective behind him in the nose, a satisfying CRUNCH! was audibly heard as Izuku jumped to his feet, easily breaking through the quirk suppression cuffs.
That was as far as he got as the two detectives pounced on him, it made sense-in hindsight-that both had strength enhancer quirks, as they easily manhandled him, slamming him into the wall while bringing his arms painfully behind his back.
The door burst open and Izuku braced himself for more officers to help beat him to a bloody pulp.
Instead he was surprised when the two detectives were suddenly pulled back by strands of cloth, letting Izuku crumple where he stood, only to be caught by a pair of large, thin hands.
"Easy Young Midoriya, you're in no condition to be rough housing like that."
Izuku froze as he stared at All-Might, the same thin, emaciated form he'd seen atop that rooftop so long ago. The man tried to offer him a kind smile, but it came off as an awkward grimace.
"You be facing one hell of a case once I get back to the precinct." Naomasa growled at the two as he walked in behind Aizawa, slapping suppression cuffs on them. "until then, Eraser, secure them."
"You two have the interrogation?" the man asked, sparing Izuku a glance as he limped into his chair, shrugging off Yagi's attempt at helping.
"We'll be fine, get them out of here." Naomasa said with a firm nod.
AIzawa nodded and dragged the two men out, leaving the three alone.
"I'm extremely sorry about what just occurred." Naomasa said to the young man, who flinched a bit, caught off guard in his musings. "I promise they will be punished to the full extent of the law."
"...thank you," he said quietly, he was a far cry from the disrespectful and confrontational child they'd seen arguing with the two the detective; the boy in front of them was wary, tired, and unsure of himself, caught off guard by the sudden switch of interrogators. Trying to figure out if this was a planned event or if they were being genuine.
"We don't want to keep you any longer than we have to," Naomasa continued, setting up a recorder, "we only need to ask you what occurred since you were declared missing, and how you came to be here at UA, are you up to do this now?"
"...yeah, lets get this over with." he muttered, leaning back in his chair and absentmindedly cradling his ribs.
Naomasa turned the recorder on, "now, what happened the night of December Eighteenth?"
"I was going to the Laundromat after hitting some balls at the batting cages." he said, "was out of clothes and was really pushing it, so had to be done."
"You were hitting baseballs in the middle of a blizzard?" Yagi asked, dumbfounded, looking at Naomasa who gave a small sign with his finger, indicating it was a true statement.
"Yeah, a bit painful with the cold, but worth it." he smiled a bit, before the smile fell, "so yeah, I went to the Laundromat, cursing my luck for not being able to use a friend's machines, and that's when Eri ran in."
"Eri being the little girl you've been protecting this past week?" Yagi clarified.
"Yeah, she burst in and hid in the corner, a few seconds later a bunch of thugs ran past, one looked in but I didn't think he saw her, I started coaxing her out, trying to think of a plan on getting her help when…when the stone brothers broke through the wall ,sent me across the room.'
"How did you survive?" Naomasa asked, Yagi leaned forward, he'd heard the boy confirm that he didn't have a quirk, and Naomasa had confirmed that what he was saying was true.
So what was this power he had? Was it some kind of support gear he made? A temporary effect of someone else's quirk? Maybe there was someone else helping him-"
"Beats me, I was able to get back on my feet after shaking myself out of it, I grabbed my bat, and I sent one Stone Brother through two buildings with a single swing."
Yagi stared at him disbelievingly, then looked at Naomasa, who was staring at him in surprise.
"You don't know how you did it?" Naomasa clarified.
Izuku shook his head, "no idea, haven't had much of a luxury to think about it over the last week." he grumbled, flexing his hand, "I took out the Stones and immediately took off with Eri, they weren't far behind. We hid in Old Micks and changed clothes, how is he?" he asked in worry, "I know they burned his place down-"
"-he was admitted into the hospital for smoke inhalation, but he will make a full recovery.' Yagi reassured, making Izuku untense just a bit, one more thing off his shoulders.
"Good, Old Mick's helped me a lot."
"He's helped a lot of people over the years." Yagi agreed, "what happened after you left Old Micks?"
"We went to the precinct, made it too.' he sighed, "had five cops who knew about what was going on, one called in the heroes they knew…and it turned out to be the wrong ones. Yakuza showed up before they did, blew the building, then Smile man and Verdant went in to try and capture us, they killed the cops with us, would've gotten us too if the Detective hadn't given us enough time to get out of there…she's dead too, isn't she? Detective Yukari?"
"...she was found crushed under a pile of rubble." Naomasa confirmed quietly.
Izuku nodded mutely, "I spent the better part of seven hours dodging Yakuza and those heroes, luckily I helped construct half of those new high rises and I know the area; so I was able to find a place to catch some sleep for just a bit before going on again-It wasn't perfect, we ran into several patrols throughout the week, I took care of them."
"And what does that mean?" Yagi asked.
"...I took care of it.' he said again, his voice weak, "I defended myself and Eri, and I know you know what that Means All-Might, please don't make me say it."
"Would you say you had no other choice?" Naomasa asked.
"Definitely," Izuku said. "They were out to kill me…I couldn't hold back, and it wasn't like I had much time to practice restraint."
"You were able to pull your hits better in your fights with the eight precepts," Naomasa said, "only one is critical, and they believe he'll pull through."
"That doesn't make me feel any better." Izuku muttered, "the only one I should've killed was Kai Chisaki."
"...he was the one critical, so you gave it your best." Yagi tried to lighten the mood.
"Why are you here?" Izuku asked, Naomasa looking between the two uncomfortably
"What do you mean?" he asked, "I am-"
"-a retired hero, someone who isn't a part of any active investigations, so why are you here?" he asked, "what? Did Bakugo say something about me wanting to meet All-Might? Wouldn't surprise me, he didn't know about what you said the last time we met."
"Young Midoriya-" Yagi tried to talk, but Izuku cut him off.
"Save it." he muttered, "not like you were wrong at the time, but at this point, you're literally the worst person to sit in on this.'
"He was brought in as a consultant for the Yakuza." Tsukauchi explained, "he was the one to shut them down in the first place after all."
"Think you missed some." Izuku scoffed, making All-Might cringe, "but I guess I'm stuck with you…where was I?"
"You were describing your time on the street, getting to the point where Earphone Jack linked up with you."
Izuku chuckled, "couldn't really call it linking up.' he said, "I almost brained her with a rock when she was chasing after me, didn't know she was there to help me until she mentioned Bakugo, from what she said he asked if she could check out Old Mick's place, he knows I go there every now and then when I'm in trouble, surprised he remembered…"
"Are you two friends?"
"No." Izuku said bluntly ,"and that's all i'm saying on that matter…when we figured out we weren't on the wrong side, Jirou contacted her Hero mentor, and then we almost immediately got hit, ended up hotwiring a truck and running; we were able to call Tokoyami and Setsuna before they were on us again. I bailed so I could take out the two trucks following us, and agreed to meet Jirou at Takoba Beach."
"We have the video surveillance of the street for that fight, you were…brutal." Yagi whispered.
"I did what I had to." Izuku muttered, "any less and I wouldn't be standing here."
"Mhmm, and what's your relationship with Tokoyami and Setsuna?" Naomasa asked.
"Jirou contacted Tokoyami, and Set's my ex-girlfriend."
"It's a bit weird to contact your ex." Yagi mumbled.
"We broke up on…amicable terms." He said grudgingly, "we don't hate each other at least…they showed up at Takoba a few minutes after I did, we decided to risk the train since the heroes would be hitting Yakuza strongholds all over town, we thought we'd be able to UA with little problem, shit went FUBAR right from the start."
"Another fight we got on camera," Tsukauchi nodded, "this is where you split up, yes?"
"Yeah." Izuku nodded, "only way we could keep Eri safe after those two goons knocked us on our ass, we were lucky I was able to fight that nausea quirk off before that trio got there."
"All five are currently in the hospital in critical condition." Naomasa concluded, "at this point an advance team of UA students were sent in to reinforce and cover the exfil team, Uraraka Ochako, Asui Tsuyu, and Kirishima Ejiro, Hero names Uravity, Froppy and Red Riot."
"How's Red?" Izuku asked, "thought he'd died for a bit out there."
"He was critical when they brought him in last night, but he's since stabilized." Toshinori answered for Naomasa.
"Good…I'm assuming you want to know about the fight we got into after I appropriated the motorcycle?"
"Actually we have everything from there on accounted for." Naomasa informed him, "we had a amateur reporter recording your fight with Rappa and his counterpart, as well as the beginning of the fight with Overhaul, the rest was filled in by UA's HIT Students, the only manner of business now-' he turned off the recorder, "-is to Discuss what happens now."
"As of right now, you're considered a ward of UA, until your guardian can come-" Toshinori began.
"-I don't have a guardian." he said bluntly, "I've been living on my own for almost a year."
"oh..I…apologize." Toshinori coughed uncomfortably, "well then, once you've healed, you'll be allowed to leave."
"No charges will be filed against you," Naomasa reassured him, "everything has been justified under Self Defense, and you as well as a few of the HIT students will be getting a portion of the bounty on several of the high ranking Shie Hessaikai members, a sizeable amount to say the least. You'll be comfortable."
"And what about Eri?" Izuku asked, "I don't want to abandon her."
The two adults shared a hesitant gaze, "as of now Social Services and the Hero Commission are meeting to figure out just what to do in her case. As we don't know who her actual guardians are. She'll be remanded to UA's protection."
Izuku nodded slowly, "what can I do to obtain guardianship?"