Pied Piper by Blackholeca

by alkhuzamaa

If they wouldn’t give him a chance then the solution seemed simple, he’d give himself one. He’d force the world to see him, force them to recognize his hard work. He wasn’t missing a quirk, it was simply that everyone else had been given an advantage. He wasn’t broken, or useless, or incapable, and he’d prove it by outrunning all of them.

8. Ch 8

"Are you really going back out there? They could be staking out the area to see if you come back for it."

Midoriya scowls, knowing that the boy is right. But, he feels like he's lost a limb. He has school tomorrow and dojo directly afterwards so he can't just go looking for it in the morning. His hands feel just a little bit empty and useless without it.

He rubs at where the cuffs had dug into his wrists. It'd taken Reo a good hour and a half to cut through them without also hurting the boy. "Do you have a different hoodie I could borrow? I don't want to go back looking like Piper if there are still people looking for me."

Tsukauchi sighs, "Yeah. Here." Reo takes a moment to dig through his closet before tossing him a hoodie, the younger boy slipping it on without really looking at it. When he does, he grimaces. "Is this really the only hoodie I can borrow?" Midoriya looks down distastefully at the piece of clothing.

Reo stifles a laugh, "You said you didn't want to look like a vigilante."

The fifteen year old gives him a disgruntled look before looking back at the obnoxiously bright Wild, Wild Pussycats design. "Don't get me wrong I love them, "Rock on with these sparkling gazes" and all that jazz. But, isn't this a bit too eye catching?"

"I think it's perrrfect for what you're doing."

"This is revenge for coming in with handcuffs, isn't it?" "Just a little bit," Tsukauchi replies, grinning.

Midoriya huffs out a laugh before the vigilante pulls open his right eye, pinching out the red contact. He blinks a few times, clearing his vision. "Do you have something I could put this in? Like a sandwich bag or something?"

Reo nods. "Yeah, just give me a sec." He sneaks out the bedroom door, coming back a few moments later with a small snack bag and a bottle of saline solution. "Here, my mom wears contacts too, I figured you'd need it."

"Thanks."

Reo blinks at him dumbly. "I've never seen you like this."

Midoriya looks up, confused by the words as he slips the bag in his pants pocket. "Like what?"

"Normal."

Izuku lets out a surprised laugh. "I guess this is your first time seeing me completely out of costume, huh?" He steps over to one of the teen's worktables, carefully picking up Snipe's gun from where he'd left it.

"I still can't believe you took his gun."

"It's the only weakness of his that I could exploit," Midoriya whines, a little laughter seeping into his voice. "I'll make sure to return it at some point though. See you later, thanks for getting those off."

Reo settles himself back into his desk chair. "No big deal, it'll give me something to study. Plus, if I can figure out how they work I might just be able to tell you how to get them off by yourself the next time."

Midoriya slips out the window, pulling his shoes on. "Hopefully there won't be a next time." "Hopefully," Tsukauchi parrots back.

Once Midoriya gets close to the alley he'd escaped from he slips his face mask back on just to be safe. He hopes it'll be enough to disguise his identity if anyone's loitering around the site looking for him.

When he gets there he doesn't see the pipe and his heart immediately drops. If they took it to the police station they could easily lift my prints, he glances down quickly at his bare hands before his eyes go to fly around the alley. He moves boxes and peeks behind and underneath the trash cans and dumpsters. My prints shouldn't be registered in any of their systems, but there's always the off chance. And if I ever get caught all they have to do is get my prints and match them up. It'd be a death sentence. Midoriya peeks into one of the dumpsters, eyes spying a glint of metal. He frowns, unable to see it clearly in the shadow of the dumpsters walls. "Shit," Izuku mutters, quickly jumping check in to check what it is. He picks it up almost gently, fearful that it's not what he's looking for. But, it is the cool metal fitting seamlessly into his palms. "I can't believe they thought you were garbage."

"You should be there with it, the abandoned plaything left to rot with molding food. How suiting of a cockroach."

Midoriya frowns, heart clenching as he leaps back out of the dumpster. The vigilante sniffs Reo's hoodie with a look of disgust. "Sorry Tsukauchi, I don't know if I'll be able to get this smell out." He looks down, grimacing when he also sees an unidentified substance clinging to his sneakers. He lets out a quiet whine, "My shoes..."

He tries his best to scrape it off on the concrete as he slips the end of the staff down the back of one of his pant legs and pulls the hoodie over the top of it. I can't just walk around with my staff out when people could be looking for Piper.

Everything goes smoothly except for the one cop he runs into who asks him what he was doing out so late. Midoriya makes up some half assed excuse about going to get his mom from work because his brother had a fever. The officer lets him go without another word, not questioning the boy's irregular gait if he notices.

From there he heads home for the night. He's only an hour later than he should be, but he feels completely exhausted as he tugs everything off and pulls on some actual pajamas. He tosses Reo's hoodie in his dirty clothes pile before slipping into bed, already half asleep.

The encounter with Snipe had scared the boy. Scared him to the point where he has nightmares that night of getting caught, of not running fast enough, of ending up with a bullet through his chest. It's enough for him to start thinking about better protection, better gear.

But, with summer drawing closer both he and Reo had found themselves stressing over their upcoming exams. And, seeing how diligently the older teen had been pouring himself over his school projects Midoriya couldn't find the heart to ask him to do anything more.

He realizes that he can't drag anymore civilian into his vigilante scheme, but this conclusion places an even larger pill on the table that he sits at, a pill that has been labeled 'villain'. He reluctantly picks up the pill and swallows, commissioning the purchase of a few specialty items from one of the illegal support gear dealers he'd met while tailing another criminal.

The vigilante had been chasing the man a good quarter mile, just on his heels. And so, when his target slams through the door of a nondescript building, voice rawly shouting, "Help!" It slows the man down enough to where the boy finally gets the chance to knock the feet out from under him. He hits the ground stomach first, jaw slamming painfully into the floor as the air is knocked from his lungs.

Piper scowls, pressing his foot into the man's back when he tries rising. The boy's chest heaves after the mad sprint through the streets. "I just wanted to ask you a question damnit. Why the hell did you run."

"Help!" The man shouts instead. The vigilante's head snaps up, taking in his surroundings. It's some sort of warehouse, mostly empty, but there are a few crates and boxes stacked along the walls. "Help!" the man's voice echoes and Piper presses down harder on the guy's back in warning.

There's a metal staircase on the wall to his left that leads up to an office, the large windows looking into it shuttered with blinds. He doesn't see anyone, but that only makes the vigilante more wary. He takes his chances and quickly zip ties the man's hands together.

"Giran!"

Midoriya's eyes snap towards the second story office again, slowly pulling himself out of his crouch as a new man steps out the door, lit cigarette between his fingers. "Junko, I thought I told you that we weren't doing business together anymore."

When the newcomer takes in the full situation there's a cat like grin that pulls at his lips, showing off his missing tooth. His glasses ride up his nose, glinting in the overhead lights of the warehouse. "Well if it isn't Musutafu's little Pied Piper." His grin widens. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Midoriya had seriously debated working with the criminal, but if he wanted to keep himself on patrol then he'd have to make sure that he could keep himself from getting seriously injured. Or, at the very least, to make sure he could keep himself alive.

At first he'd only gone in to get a lightweight bulletproof vest of some sort. But, mid meeting he'd had the thought to have his elbow and knee pads replaced with something of a more professional grade, and maybe a few more protective pieces. Then he'd realized that a hoodie and sweatpants weren't the best thing one could wear to fight crime. And, there were also the few weapons he'd ended up asking for... So, in the end his shopping list had been just a bit longer than originally anticipated. He'd wracked up quite a bill if Giran's gap toothed smile had been anything to go by, but with all the drug dealers he'd been encountering recently, the vigilante had saved up more than enough money in cash alone. Giran hands him an untraceable phone before he leaves. The man calls it a sign of his 'loyalty' and their 'friendship' and told him this is how they'd get in touch.

Izuku was sure to ask Tsukauchi to check if they were bugged.

Not even a week after he'd put in his 'order' with the broker, Midoriya gets a call on the phone he'd been gifted.

Midoriya would've spent the entire night studying for his finals in the morning if it had been anything other than Giran's voice on the other end of the line telling him that his stuff was ready.

He's there within thirty minutes.

"I can give you the gear you asked for," Giran says, "but you'll have to find your weapons elsewhere," the broker sighs, "If it gets out that I'm giving you gear I'd be ruined. And if someone found out that I'd given you weapons too? I'd be dead, you know that. I can't break my clients' trust like that." The man grins as he slides a bag across the desk to the boy. "I've got lots of clientele that come to me griping about you, you know?"

It's been almost two weeks since he'd first met the man and only five days since he'd commissioned him.

And, despite the fact that he's sitting across from a villain, he can't help himself from feeling a little giddy about the aspect of getting an actual 'hero' costume.

"I'd tell you how I can easily solve that problem but you probably wouldn't like the outcome," the vigilante replies, eyes crinkling and smirk forming behind his mask. He peeks into the bag, eyes catching on the bulletproof vest on top. "It's a shame though, I was looking forward to those weapons."

Giran huffs, "Yeah, yeah. Now get outta here. Don't you have criminals to lock up?"

Midoriya laughs, passing a large wad of cash to the man, "Yeah, maybe even more than usual with all this." He glances up, eyes locking for a moment with Giran's. "The shoes still have spikes though right?"

The man's grin turns cat-like. "Of course. I keep my promises Piper."

The next day, after finals are over he sleeps. An entire day and night. Exhausted both mentally and physically. He'd strained himself. Trying to balance his time between vigilante work and school work and the dojo had ended with his already desolate sleeping schedule looking like it'd been the ground zero of a nuclear air raid.

So, he sleeps to make up for it and the next time he wakes up it's early afternoon the next day and

Inko is long gone for work. He excitedly shoves all of his new gear into his backpack to show Tsukauchi later and awkwardly shimmies Piper's pipe down his pant leg again.

For once he leaves out their front door just like any other regular citizen.

As he walks he thinks about how'd he'd never actually gone to see the boy during daylight hours. He honestly feels a little giddy about the fact that that's about to change. He's a little wary about scaling the teen's fire escape in broad daylight, but he's in civilian clothes this time so he figures if someone sees him it wouldn't be as disastrous of a discovery.

He knocks on the window as he slides his shoes off. He's not expecting me so I shouldn't just barge in. The curtains part cautiously, revealing a sleep ruffled Reo that looks as if he's only just woken up.

"Midoriya?"

Izuku can only see the name mouthed through the glass and waves sheepishly at the older teen.

He slips his backpack off and sends it through the window first as Reo opens it. "Morning Tsukauchi. I didn't wake you up did I?" The fifteen year old carefully slides the pipe out from his clothes, leaning it against the outer wall as the older boy watches on in amusement.

"You did actually."

Izuku is halfway through the window when there's a heavy knock on Tsukuachi's door. "Reo, you better be up, it's almost two." The door opens without another word, revealing a middle aged woman. She pauses mid step, only able to stare for a moment. Her hair is pulled up into a half-bun, dark eyes taking in the scene before her. "Reo," her voice is calm, "Who is that?"

Midoriya's eyes zip towards the seventeen year old, both of them frozen in their spots. Tsukauchi is stuck holding his backpack full of vigilante gear, trying not to gape at the woman and Izuku is still rooted in his position half way through the window.

"Reo?" She says again, jolting the boy into answering.

"Mom!" Tsukauchi's voice jumps in pitch, "This is Midoriya! My friend!"

The fifteen year old startles at being referred to as a friend, eyes widening.

Sweat beads on both boys' brows, watching the woman for a reaction.

"Of course it would be a friend of yours," she sighs exasperated, "Well come in then, no use hanging there like a window box."

Midoriya carefully creeps the rest of the way in, embarrassed when the woman takes obvious note of his All Might socks and bright yellow Fatgum hoodie.

"So, I'll assume that you're the one my brother caught here a month ago?"

Midoriya internally cringes, recalling his mad dash out Reo's window. "Yes ma'am..." he murmurs quietly. Izuku bows sheepishly, introducing himself before quietly apologizing for the disruption.

There's an air of silence that falls over the three of them, the two boys not daring to move. "Are you dating?"

There's another beat of silence before all hell breaks loose. "No!"

"Absolutely not!"

"We're friends!"

"He's my friend!"

Midoriya hands helicopter around his face, cheeks flushed a beet red. Beside him Tsukauchi fares no better. Midoriya lets out a strangled noise before they fall into another spell of silence.

"Well," Ms. Tsukauchi hums, a mischievous glint to her eyes. She looks between the two of them in mild amusement, "I'll leave you to it then. It was nice meeting you Midoriya. You're more than welcome to leave through the door if you'd rather." She turns, leaving the room, but stops last second, peaking back in to eye them with a vexatious smile. "Dinner is at six if you decide to stick around long enough."

The two deflate the moment the woman closes the door behind her. Midoriya can't find the strength to respond, moving to collapse onto the bed.

Reo lets out the breath he'd been holding, slumping down into his chair. "Sorry. I should've warned you that she's like that."

Midoriya brings his hands up to drag them down his face, cheeks hot beneath his fingers. "She reminds me of my mom only like... twelve times as mischievous."

They fall into a casual silence for a few moments before Reo speaks up again. "So, what are you doing here so early?"

The fifteen year old's eyes light up, scrambling to push himself back up and grab his bag from where Reo had set it. He hauls it up, plopping it down on the bed beside him.

He pulls out Reo's sweatshirt first and tosses it to him before he starts digging again "My hoodie? Took you long enough. I thought I was never getting this back."

"I had to wash it a few times to get the smell out."

"The sm-" Reo looks at him wide eyed. "You know what. I don't even want to know."

"It's probably better that you don't. But, that's not the main reason why I'm here. That broker guy I told you about called again." Midoriya glances at him, eyes alight with a flame as bright as the sun in his chest when he starts pulling everything out, the grin on his face stretching with each new item. "I got a bulletproof vest, and metal plated arm and shin guards, and I got new hero grade knee and elbow pads, and since I'm climbing buildings and stuff a lot I got some gloves to help with grip. Then, since it's been getting hotter I got a new hoodie and some cargo pants, they're made out of a really lightweight and breathable material. They look normal, but they're actually super durable and made out of the same material some pros use for their suits! And look! Look! Boots! With spikes!" The boy's eyes sparkle with excitement as Reo studies each of the items the vigilante drags out.

Reo lets out his own excited laugh. "How much did all of this even cost you?"

"Wads of cash from six different drug dealers."

Tsukauchi grins. "Is that how you're counting your money now? By drug dealers?" "What?" Midoriya teases, "You aren't?"

From there they fall into idle conversation as Reo looks over the gear, checking that there's no sort of tracking devices or bugs and anything else that's seemingly suspicious. Nothing comes up and by the time they've finished fan boying over the new gear its 2pm and Reo is shoveling bites cereal into his mouth between sentences.

"There's obviously more stuff you can get, or that I can make for you. You said your dealer wouldn't get you weapons so I'm sure most of my time will go to stuff like that for you. But, I think it'd also be cool have something other than just your flimsy face mask to hide your identity," Reo mumbles, trying to speak around the food in his mouth.

Midoriya scratches at his chin, thinking it over. "You're right." The fifteen year old checks the time on his phone, pursing his lips. "I should probably head out now. I wanted to do some patrolling to test out the new gear."

Reo looks up at him. "It's not even three yet, are you sure you want to head out so soon? We can think up some designs for a mask if you want to."

"I would, but since it's summer break I was thinking about trying some daytime patrols. I mean sure you can catch people out and about late at night, but in the end you'll be able to help more people when there are more people. It won't be an everyday thing since I still have dojo, but I'll help when I can."

Reo hums in acknowledgement. "So no more nighttime patrols?"

"I'll still do nighttime stuff. I'm thinking of splitting everything into quarters. I can sleep late in the mornings, and then if these daytime patrols go well I can stay out until dinner, sleep some more and keep mostly the same night patrol pattern that I had during school."

Reo lets out a low whistle, "No rest for the wicked then huh?"

Midoriya's eyes flicker towards the window. "If there's no rest for the wicked then there's none for the righteous either. That's just how the world is."

"That's how the world should be," Tsukauchi corrects him, twirling slowly in his chair as he stares up at the ceiling.

Midoriya hums in agreement as he pushes himself up. "You mind if I change in here?"

Reo rolls himself towards the bedroom door, scooping another bite of cereal into his mouth. "Go ahead, I'll keep guard." He turns his back to the boy, facing the corner as he presses his ear to the door, continuing to eat.

The vigilante starts with his contact, before pulling on all the new gear, the transformation taking only a few minutes. "Alright, you're good," he calls, opening the window as he sets his new boots outside for later. "How do I look?"

"Like a semi-professional vigilante in All Might socks and not just someone who got their gear at a thrift store." Tsukauchi gives him a playful smile as Midoriya huffs in mock offense.

"I'll have you know I got my old stuff from my closet and my pipe from a garbage dump, not that it's any of your business." Izuku isn't able to keep his lips from rising into a grin behind his mask.

" Wow, a garbage dump . That's some high quality product you have there. I'm sorry if I offended you."

The two send each other matching grins as Midoriya shoves his other clothes into his bag, leaning out the window to grab the shoes he'd came in to shove them upside down on top. "Do you mind if I leave this here? I don't wanna take it with me on patrol. I'll come back for it afterwards."

"That's fine." Tsukauchi rolls over, taking the backpack from the boy and tucking it in his closet. "Be safe out there, yeah? Villains aren't the only people more active during the day. Watch out for cops and heroes. It'd be a shame to waste all that drug money by getting caught immediately." He grins at the younger boy, amber eyes twinkling.

"Awww, you do care."

With his new schedule his vigilante activity rises exponentially. His first few daytime expeditions are stressful and he constantly worries about being recognized as Midoriya Izuku and not just Piper. But, surprisingly the only thing outside of Piper that he gets mistaken for is a hero. There's an old woman on the first day that thanks him for his service and on the third a little boy and his mom walk up to him asking if they can get a picture with him. At one point there's even an actual hero that Midoriya recognizes from his hero news site that waves at him thinking he's a new hero or something. He tries to stay out of sight, taking less crowded streets and sticking to alleys when he can, but he still manages to draw the eye.

Boy Takes Picture With Supposed Hero, Mother Shocked To Discover It Was A Vigilante!

By Akihito Jun August 3, 2231

The mother of a young five year old hero fan is mortified after a shocking discovery! One afternoon in the last week of July Yamazaki Sayuri and her son Shun come across a young man in what they assume is a pro hero uniform. But, it wasn't a hero either of them recognized. This did not deter the young Shun though, the five year old excited by the aspect of meeting a new hero. At her son's insistence they approach the hero, Yamazaki asks if they'd be willing to take a picture with her son. In an interview I did with Yamazaki-san she said that, "He seemed a little reluctant to answer at first." But, she figured that it "was because he was on patrol or because he'd never been approached by someone asking for a picture before."

"He said yes after my son asked him personally. We took our picture and left and I didn't really think much about it afterwards." But, after posting the image on her social media profile she received a comment claiming that this so called 'hero' that she let her son take a picture with wasn't actually a hero! Instead it was a vigilante!

For this I turned to the internet for more information. I was able to get in contact with the owner of

a popular hero blog, RoyalViperOK, to help me piece this story together. RoyalViper, after some research was able to confirm the "hero's" identity as that of an up and coming vigilante going by the name of Pied Piper. Viper explained over email that the vigilante had recently gained a new wardrobe, but that the staff-like pipe which could be seen in Yamazaki-san's picture was "a clear indicator of who he is". RoyalViperOK confirmed to me that without a doubt this mysterious "hero" was in fact a vigilante and not just a low ranked pro as Yamazaki-san and her son had originally believed.

RoyalViperOK predicts that instances such as these aren't actually as uncommon as we believe. "I'm sure that most people who look at Piper not knowing who he is would make the assumption that he's a hero. He can look the part to many and he doesn't give off the sinister aura that most criminals would. There aren't many active vigilantes anymore and so the idea of their existence gets pushed to the backs of most peoples' minds. Because of this, the possibility that someone like Piper being recognized as something other than a hero are slim. Most people dismiss his existence after coming to the conclusion that he's not a villain, their minds equating the "not villain" signal with "hero"."

Viper tells us that this specific vigilante has been much more active as of late, having only recently taken up a routine of patrolling during the day. Which as RoyalViper stated, was "a bold move for any kind criminal". "

Really, if you think about it," Viper says in the last of our emails that, "It'd be easy for anyone to mistake someone like that for a pro hero."

I attempted to contact young Shun's mother again for comment after sharing with her the information I received from RoyalViperOk, but, as of yet, she has not been able to be reached.

Yamazaki-san has since removed the picture from her profile.

© 2231 Musutafu Hero Reporting, a division of Musutafu Daily Network, LLC.

Over the next few days Midoriya and Reo meet up several more times, brainstorming ideas for a new mask and sharing stories from the vigilante's patrols. At some point they come to the realization that they should exchange numbers. Originally the boy had never taken his phone with him on night patrols. But, now that he was out during the day he always worried his mother would try and contact him while he was out. Izuku, had been flustered when Reo has started listing off his contact info, struggling to keep up through his surprise and excitement because, this is was friends do.

Reo masks his own excitement with an excuse. Claiming that it's only "to make sure you don't go off and die without telling me." Which is a valid excuse, but he also enjoys the idea of being able to talk with the boy whenever he wants and not just when he decides to show up every day or two.

Wikipedia

You home yet?

Yeah

Just got back from patrol

Wikipedia

Your mom is out of town tonight right?

Wikipedia

My mom wants you over for dinner

I tried to warn you

You won't be able to escape family dinner

I already told her you were coming

I also finished making those smoke bombs sooooo

Pipe-kun

She's on a business trip Why?

Midoriya pauses in pulling off his knee guards, staring down at his phone incredulous.

Wikipedia

You're not the only one with an untraceable phone Anyways

Dinner is at 6

See you here :))

Pipe-kun

You realize that the government reads this stuff right?

Pipe-kun

Fine. I'll be over in like 30 minutes I have to finish changing

Pipe-kun

There's a moment of pause before another message comes through on Midoriya's phone.

Wikipedia

You know I just realized that your vigilante initials spell out PP

Wikipedia

:)

Wikipedia changed your nickname to PP

Wikipedia changed your nickname to PeePee

PP

Do you want to die?

True to his word Midoriya shows up at the boy's apartment some half hour later, backpack stuffed with his gear for later that night.

"All right," Reo stays, spinning around in his chair as soon as the vigilante crawls through the window. "I was busy with finals so I had to put them off for awhile, but I finished them."

"It's literally been less than a week since finals," Midoriya says, looking up.

"And?" The teen slides in his chair to his other workshop table. "I've only made three so far so use them sparingly."

The fifteen year old laughs, excited but unsurprised as he walks up to meet the other boy.

Tsukauchi picks up a utility belt, three tubular objects strapped in on one side. "I figured you'd need something to hold them as well so I made a belt as well. It also has room for future projects I'm planning on, and they match your shoes!"

Reo doesn't miss the nebula that forms inside of the vigilante's polychrome eyes at seeing his latest project.

"They're all smoke bombs right now, but I was thinking I could make a few flash bangs later on."

"How did you even get the materials for these?" Izuku asks, reverently taking the belt from his friend to inspect it. "I didn't think you had any drug money," he jokes, amazed smile pulling at his lips.

"My school supplies any and all materials I need for any of my projects. Smoke grenades aren't basic staple in our department so it won't raise any eyebrows either. Make sure you put them to good use, yeah?"

The vigilante gives the seventeen year old a giddy grin. "Yeah."

Ms. Tsukuachi's head peeks through the teen's door as Izuku scrambles to shove new equipment into his bag. "Reo do you know when Mid- Oh," she pauses, spying the fifteen year old, "You do realize that you don't have to come in through the window, correct?"

Midoriya gives her a nervous smile. "Old habits die hard I'm afraid."

She holds out her hand for the boy to shake and Reo tenses at his side. "Do you normally climb through people's windows?" They shake hands, the woman's own still damp with dish water.

"Usually just my own." His own words catch him by surprise and Reo lets out a near inaudible hiss. There's a distant memory that surfaces at the event, Reo's words coming back to him.

"Any questions she asks you'll be forced to answer truthfully."

From their position they can all hear the knock that sounds at the front door. Midoriya nearly collapses in relief when the woman turns away, attention taken elsewhere. "Oh. Reo go get the door. That must be your uncle."

Tsukauchi's amber eyes widen as she walks back towards the kitchen. "Shit!" Reo hisses.

Midoriya looks over at him, startled by the outburst.

"I didn't know he was coming." He quickly turns to the younger boy grabbing him by the shoulders. "Whatever you do. Don't lie." His grip tightens. "Don't lie about anything ."