Midoriya doesn't stick around UA for longer than necessary. Of course he'd wanted to gawk at the shining building for longer than he does, but something in his stomach twists when he looks at the windows glimmering in the early morning light of late September.
He's late to school by a few hours, his teacher berating him for missing class. But, he does nothing further than that, no phone call to Inko, no making the boy stay late, no reassigning of their cleaning duties. Though it comes as no surprise to Izuku. It was well known to the students of Aldera Middle School that the faculty could be found slacking in several areas, especially when concerning those at the top of the class.
Even being quirkless Midoriya found use in that one aspect, but Izuku wasn't the only student who fell under the sheltering umbrella of their grades.
"Hey shit stain," the voice that calls out to him belongs to none other than Bakugou Katsuki. There's a sneer on his lips and venom in his eyes. "I thought you'd finally decided to kick the bucket."
Midoriya had faced people scarier than that of the fifteen year old Bakugou Katsuki. People with real bloodlust and a real determination to kill him. But even still, there's a bone deep fear that washes over him anytime the boy came around with that look in his eyes. "Not yet." He'd learned to hide it better over the months as a vigilante, but it still lingered like the voice in his head.
Bakugou had noticed the change in the boy as well. The teen could still see the nervous fear in the other's eyes, but now it was accompanied by wavering, barely there smirks and what he'd nearly consider snarky comebacks. Katsuki doesn't reply to his response, merely narrows his eyes at the green-haired boy as he takes a seat at his desk and pulls out his notebook.
Midoriya shifts under his gaze, only able to relax after the blonde finally turns away. Their class currently has a free period, their mathematics teacher having called in sick for the day. It's a lucky break for Izuku. It gives him time to ask the nice girl who sits across the room what he missed and allows him to catch up on his school work.
But, while Midoriya is making the most of their free time he can hear whispers throughout the rest of the room. His ears hone in on one particular conversation between two boys behind him.
"I'm telling you dude. I saw him carrying some old lady's groceries."
Midoriya can't see it when the other boy shakes his head. "No. There's literally nothing you can do to convince me you weren't hallucinating."
"I wasn't hallucinating!" It's a whispered exclamation of dismay. "He was carrying around her groceries on his pipe like it was a tenbin or something."
Midoriya's pen pauses in its scrawling notes.
"Dude. Why would a vigilante help some grandma with groceries of all things?" "I don't know, but I'm telling you I saw it."
"I literally don't believe you."
"Dude come on !"
Izuku gently taps his pen against his notebook, thinking. They're talking about me aren't they. He feels a little giddy at the thought. It's certainly not the first time he'd overheard his classmates talking about his vigilante persona. Just yesterday he'd heard a group of girls whispering on his way to class about his encounter with Endeavor's son in a way that had the teacher asking if he had a fever when he walked in the room.
" Imagine if they knew it was you. " Something in his heart twists at the reemergence of the caustic voice in his head. It's maw drags open, incisors glinting in the dark as it grins. " Quirkless Deku? A vigilante? "
More voices emerge, taking on the identities of his classmates.
" I guess it makes sense, " a boy muses, " He's always been a thorn in our sides. Now he's made
himself a thorn to the actual heroes too. "
" Do you think if I call the police and told them who Piper is I'd get a reward?" One voice laughs.
Someone else shakes their head. " Who'd get a reward for turning in someone so useless? "
" If I punched him right now do you think the police would consider that as self defense against a dangerous criminal? "
" Dangerous criminal my ass." A girl laughs. " The only thing dangerous about him is... actually I can't think of anything."
" A vigilante that's quirkless? No wonder he comes to school all beat up. It's because he sucks at it. "
In his lap his fists clench, fingernails carving crescent shapes into his palms.
" You know why he became a vigilante right? " Bakugou's voice rises up above the others, planting a seed of fear in Midoriya's chest, terrified of the boy's next words. " It's because he couldn't become a hero ."
In his head their forms are nothing but silhouettes with too white teeth that cut like headlights through the dark and set his fear aflame like lighter fluid.
"Midoriya!" The fifteen year old's head whips up, eyes blown wide, green irises backlit by the fear in his chest. His teacher scowls at him from the front of the class, unable to see the turmoil in his eyes. "I said free period is over. Get your textbook out."
killuakazu reblogged appletreekawaii
ocktagawa:
I don't know how many of you are actually aware of everything that Pied Piper has done for the community so here's a list of everything for those who don't
Pied Piper has:
fought and captured:
- countless drug dealers
- countless thieves and robbers - an arsonist
- multiple kidnappers
- multiple rapists
- several well known murders
took down:
- an entire kidnapping ring
- two drug dealer operations
evaded capture from:
- police (multiple times) - heroes (multiple times)
he helped my grandma carry groceries home???
ocktagawa:
Update!!!
He snuck into the hospital to sign the cast of a little boy he saved?!??!?
[image: young boy smiling, pointing at the signature on his arm cast, in the background stands a horrified woman who gawks at the boy.]
I seriously don't understand why there's so many heroes and police that hate him?? He's literally helping them do their jobs??? When someone helps me do my job I thank them.
endeavortodogood:
Don't know if you knew, but it's literally illegal to use your quirk in public without the proper licencing. It's been a law since the emergence of quirks.
ocktagawa:
show me one viable instance where he's been seen using a quirk
go ahead, i'll wait
#i mean it's also illegal to jaywalk? #but we still do that anyway #also not to mention i know a lot of people who use their quirks in public #it's not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be #pied piper #vigilantes
16,743 notes
The fifteen year old doesn't stick around school for long after it lets out. Instead setting out at a light jog towards home, attempting to outrun the demons in his head. He runs through the motions of the remainder of his homework when he gets there, drowning out the voices with an endless amount of kanji. When he finishes the last of it the voices have dispersed until only the original remains. He shoves down a quick meal past the occasional quips it makes.
He strips out of his school uniform and tugs on a tank top that probably exposes one too many scars before waving goodbye to his mother.
He grabs a face mask from their family stash out of habit, the security and confidence it gives him acting as a form of defense from the whispering voice in his head. Piper was an unstoppable force, unwavering in the face of fear and danger. And, with his mind under siege a little false confidence is exactly what he needs.
Midoriya sets out their door at another light jog, this time towards the dojo. The trip takes the boy a little less than thirty minutes to get there, his breathing only slightly labored when he slowly to a walk outside the front windows. He pulls his face mask down to his chin as he pushes through the door, the boy spying Chee Sensei from the corner of his eye. Midoriya slips off his shoes before making his way towards the woman. He pulls his backpack around where he can reach it, pulling his fingerless mma gloves out of it to slip on. "So when does Hirano start back?" Midoriya asks, sliding next to Ji-woo as they watch a few of the other early students start in on their warm ups.
Chee Sensei glances down at him from the corner of her eyes. "She starts back next week. It's been a while so I'll take it slow with her the first few weeks."
Izuku nods. "That's probably for the best."
The woman eyes him. "You didn't seem too surprised to see her. Did you two talk before she
decided to come back?"
The boy tries not to let his surprise show. Sure he'd gotten kicked in the face when the girl had first walked in, but if he thinks back on it he can't say he'd been too surprised to see her back. "I didn't." I did. He hadn't been expecting her to come back to the dojo. He'd expected her to find some new friends, but he'd never once thought that she might come back for some old ones. But, once she'd shown up at the dojo's doorstep he couldn't think of any better solution to her problems than the one standing before him. "I wasn't expecting it. But, it didn't surprise me." He looks up at his teacher, studying the barely there glow of her freckles. "When she first left you told me that Muay Thai was only a source of entertainment for her. And, you were right. But, I don't think she was ever here for the fighting, I don't think she ever will be. She had a lot of friends here that she left behind when she quit. She said so herself yesterday didn't she?"
The woman doesn't glance down at him again, merely continues observing the students still warming up. "That she did."
"She probably does care for the sport, but she respects it," Midoriya continues quietly, "Respects the people who do care for it. And, I think that's what's important, that she takes our seriousness seriously."
Ji-woo gives a small nod of agreement as Midoriya finishes up with his gloves and moves to set his backpack down and join the other students.
Midoriya pushes the sweaty curls out of his face as he leans against the staff he uses at the dojo. "You're almost too much for me to handle now."
His sparring partner for the day lets out a breathless laugh. "Don't even lie Midoriya. You and I both know I'm nowhere close to being able to beat you. I don't even know why Chee Senei matched us up together."
The fifteen year offers the other a bright smile. "It's like starting a game on hard mode. Once you've experienced the hardest level it makes the lower ones seem easy." Midoriya glances at the Ji-woo as she talks with one of the other students, running them through a new move set. "It may seem a little cruel to set up a beginner with someone who's been doing it for years. But, she knows what she's doing." He turns his gaze back towards his sparring partner, smile softening. "Put your faith in her and she'll take you far."
Midoriya pushes his way out of the dojo's door, the threat of rain rumbling in the distance. He adjusts his backpack on his shoulder and slips his face mask back on before setting off down the sidewalk. Cars flash by him down the street, headlights leaving streaks of sunspots across his vision.
He can feel fatigue creeping up on him, today's training having tired him out. He's honestly excited to be able to get home and sleep. But, oh, cruel and ruthless fate, how it seeks to make the boy name Midoriya Izuku suffer.
In the distance a train whistle shrieks and from in front of him another car's headlights blind him. The boy raises a hand to block the light, pausing in his stride just as something barrels into his legs. He stumbles to the side a bit, thrown off balance. He looks down, wide-eyed at the white-haired
little girl that'd run into him. She's sitting on the sidewalk now after having fallen back in their collision, and now she hurriedly pushes herself up.
Izuku crouches down, offering her a hand up, a worried furrow to his brow. "Are you okay?"
The girl ignores him in favor of standing herself. She keeps her head down before taking off again, right towards the road.
Midoriya's eyes go wide as he springs up, another set of headlights blinding him. He swipes blindly for the girl snagging her wrist before she makes it into the street. He pulls her towards him, holding her tight as his heart palpitates in his chest. He can feel her struggling in his hold and gives her some breathing room, taking ahold of her arms to study her in the dim light of the street lamps. He checks her over for any immediate injuries, and upon seeing no blood takes note of the bandages wrapping her arms and legs.
There's fear swirling in his eyes, the possibilities of what could have happened fogging his mind. "You're not hurt, are you?"
She must see the genuine worry flickering his eyes, because she calms in his arms before pulling herself closer, clinging to the front of his shirt. She shakes between his arms and he hugs her gently to his chest. "T-That must've been scary right?"
Midoriya glances around, looking for anyone she might've been with. Izuku freezes, thoughts swarming his mind. What was she running from? He looks behind them, seeing a figure emerging from the alley the girl had stormed out of. The man's form is looming, beak mask glinting in the overhead street lamp.
"Eri."
The girl in his arm tenses, fists clinging tighter to the front of his shirt. Midoriya quickly looks the man over, he's tall, muscular and bald, and his eyes are cast in shadow. The boy searches, but there's no noticeable mutations that could clue him in as to what quirk the man has.
If not for bird mask Midoriya could have mistaken him for any other Musutafu citizen. But, at the sight of beak Izuku recalls the words Giran had offered him.
"A guy named Chisaki Kai... he and some of his higher ups are all running around wearing bird masks."
"Eri come here. Your dad will get angry if we don't get back soon. It's already past your bedtime."
Hojo Yu scratches at the skin around the break mask covering his face. "It's annoying," he murmurs to himself quietly, "It blocks off part of my vision." He pries the break off, letting it hang lazily in his hand as he takes in a deep breath without it. "It doesn't have to be a break, right? Boss won't be mad if I come back with a regular one, right?"
Midoriya slowly stands, unwinding the girl's hands from his shirt and gently pushing her to hide behind him. "Who are you?" Izuku calls out to the man, shielding the girl with his body.
The man's hairless brows furrow into a scowl. "I feel as if that's a question I should be asking."
Midoriya offers the man a scowl of his own. "Not when the girl you're looking for is terrified of you."
"She's not terrified of me." The man takes a step forward, mask swinging gently in his hand. "We
were on our way back home when something scared her and she took off."
But Midoriya knows, knows that fear like the kind in that girl's crimson eyes didn't come from just anything. He'd seen versions of that terror in Emi's eyes, in his own eyes. He'd experienced a similar fear many times while growing up with an abusive best friend. But, the fear in her eyes was worse, it spoke to him of untold horrors.
"And the bandages?"
"She's clumsy." The man's voice is flat, tone serious.
"Would you tell the police the same story?"
The man stares at him, a look of almost surprise on the man's face. "I said she's my niece right? Why would you call the police?"
Midoriya's eyes harden. "It doesn't matter if she's your niece," the boy grinds out, viridescent eyes flashing in the headlights of another passing car. "It seems obvious to me that wherever you're going isn't anywhere she wants to be."
Midoriya lifts his phone from his pocket, the boy already halfway done dialing 110 when the yakuza makes his move. He charges at the boy with a fist raised, normally it's something that the boy would dodge, but the little girl, Eri, is still cowering behind him. So, he drops the phone and redirects the fist, pushing if off its trajectory and countering the move with one of his own. He brings an elbow up, slamming it into the man's chin.
Hojo stumbles back a bit, obviously not having expected the fifteen year old to actually fight back.
"You're part of the Eight Precepts aren't you?" Midoriya asks as the man recovers from the blow. Midoriya reaches behind him without looking away from his opponent, gently untangling the girl's fingers from the bottoms of his shorts. He whispers softly to the girl, "I need to protect you, okay? I need you to go hide. I don't want you getting hurt."
He can tell she's terrified without even looking at her, but he feels her nod her head again the back of his leg before she takes off.
Hojo tries to make a running grab for her, but Midoriya moves before he can get close enough.
Midoriya throws a punch at the man, the blow missing when Hojo leans back. Izuku would feel giddy if not for the seriousness of the situation, because the punch wasn't the only thing the man should've dodged. The move disguises the kick that he brings up from the same side, the top of his sneaker clad foot slamming into the man's jaw.
The fifteen year old expects it to be a finishing blow. It usually is. But, it isn't the man's jaw gives under the force of Midoriya's blow. It's the boy's foot.
Hojo Yu's quirk was a peculiar one, and in the past it'd given him trouble with the people in his life. But, then Overhaul himself had come along, acting as his salvation. Now it serves him as a tool, one that he can use to help his savior. The crystals on his face retreat, dissolving back into his skin.
He watches the boy stumble back, hobling as far away as he can with only one foot. Hojo can see him holding back tears, the half of his face not covered by a mask twisted with pain. To his benefit though the boy doesn't make a sound, Midoriya instead taking to biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood.
Midoriya can't actually tell if his foot is broken or not. But, he can taste copper on his tongue and his injured foot radiates a fire hotter than the sun in his chest.
The man doesn't give him much of a chance to recover, another fist flying for his face.
Midoriya's movement is restricted with an injured foot, he's not sure if it can hold his weight and it makes him hesitant to try for anymore kicks. Izuku stumbles out of the punch's path, and dodges another swing the man throws out. He's worried to try for any counters to the yakuza's attacks, wary of the man's quirk. It's likely that those crystals can spread further than just his head. The vigilante slips around another wide swing. Giran said it was the higher ups that were wearing the bird masks. If that's true then I have to make the assumption that he's one of them, and that he's one of them for a reason.
Midoriya knows he needs to end this fight quickly, but against a quirk like this it becomes difficult.
I need to test the full body theory, but it needs to be someway that won't injure me too terribly if it turns out to be true.
The vigilante spies an opening and springs up, sending out a flying heel kick into the other's solar plexus. The move sends Hojo stumbling back, but Midoriya could tell the moment his foot made contact that more crystals had gathered beneath the man's black button up. Izuku uses his chest as a springboard, stumbling when he lands on his bad foot, his knee nearly giving out beneath him.
He curses, jumping back as he tries to keep most of his weight off of the foot.
It's not a hardening of the skin, he's just growing crystals out in the areas that I'm attacking. Meaning... All I have to do is not let him know where I'm attacking. And however I do it, the blow needs to be a heavy one. In the distance a train whistle cries out again over a loud rumble of thunder. Midoriya knows that any punches he tries could be disastrous if he messes up the timing, the same for knee and elbow hits as well as most kicks. He's limited on his attack options with no weapons on hand.
Another heel kick would probably be the safest move since it's not likely to do as much damage if something goes wrong. But, to do that I need to distract him. On his back the weight of his bag tells him exactly what he needs to do.
The green-haired boy charges at the man, slipping his backpack off his shoulders in the run up and slinging it directly at the man's face. Behind the bag Izuku continues to move. While technically not Muay Thai, the attack he's thinking of can channel some two thousand pounds of force into his opponent, which is exactly what he needs to help end the fight. Or, it will at least grant him enough time to grab one of his phones to call the police.
He plants himself in front of the Yakuza, backpack slamming into the man's nose as Midoriya brings his knee up, leaving his bad foot to hold his weight before he drives his heel into the man's abdomen with enough force to break a baseball bat.
The blow is a powerful one, and connects against the man's fleshy stomach, no crystals to get in the boy's way. His bad foot takes another rough beating from the move, but it's worth it for the clean execution.
The man doubles over and Izuku takes his chance to try and drive a knee into the man's stomach. But, Hojo blocks the blow with his hands, catching the hit before it can do any damage. He shoves the boy back, Izuku stumbling back from the unexpected counter.
Yu raises his fist again and the fifteen year old's brain glitches, he raises a hand to defend himself.
Whether it's to try and catch the blow or just a desperate attempt to block it he doesn't know. He watches, green eyes blown wide in the few seconds before the man's fist connects with the boy's open palm, as crystals bloom just below Hojo's knuckle line.
The crystal like protrusions goes right through Midoriya's hand, breaking bone and snapping veins. And during some delusional moment, as he's watching the man pull his hand back, ripping the crystals out of his skin. He wonders if he can find a bandaid large enough to hide it.
Blood slides off of the crystals' edges, pattering to the concrete as the girl cries out, running out of her spot and into the fray to try and grab his hand.
The young girl's hand clutches at his and there's an explosion of pain as the hole in his hand disappears as quickly as it'd come. Yellow bruises turn black and disappear completely only to be replaced by even older ones. Week old cuts tear open in the span of a second before the man is ripping the girl backwards by the back of her dress. He feels a gash on his side tear open and a four month old concussion comes back to him in a rush and the vigilante watches her red eyes go wide, the small horn on her forehead sparking with power.
Another car flashes by in a blur of white and red as Midoriya staggers on his feet, a trail of blood making its way down his forehead and down his side. He reaches up to gently feel the wound on his head. This is , his thoughts are sluggish, What happened? He stumbles into a streetlight, knees weak.
The vigilante looks up, vision going double and blackening at the edges. Hojo watches him warily from a distance, the girl's bandaged wrist gripped tightly between his hand.
He can't see the tears on the girl's face, or the fear and pain swirling in her eyes. But, he knows that they're there, knows it like a deeply ingrained primordial knowledge. The fifteen year old stretches out a hand to her, side roaring with a fire almost as hot as the one in his chest. He wants desperately for her to take his hand, but the villain gently tugs at the girl's wrist, grabbing her attention. She looks up at the man, then back towards the vigilante.
He gently tugs at her wrist again and this time she follows, not putting up any fight.
Midoriya makes to take a step forward, but his legs give out on him and he collapses. He curses as they disappear back down the alley.
Through the haze in his head he crawls for his backpack, desperate to find his other phone.
I'm losing blood. The vigilante presses a hand against the gash on his side. His vision dims further, more black than anything else as he taps at one of the contacts once he finds the phone Giran had given him.
Midoriya weakly presses the phone against his ear as he waits for Tsukauchi to answer. The boy tries standing again, using one of the buildings as a crutch. He can hear the blood roaring through his ears at a near deafening decibel. The vigilante can barely hear the muffled, "Piper?" that comes out of his phone's speaker as the call finally goes through.
"Sugachi," Midoriya slurs, "'m bleedin' out 'ere... Lotz a blood... " The boy sucks in a breath as his vision wavers. "'orry... 'm sorry," he mumbles quietly, "'m useless." One of Midoriya's legs give out again and he takes a knee, still clinging desperately to the wall. He curses, angry tears slipping from his eyes as the once distant thunder roars overhead and rain begins falling. It's nothing but a drizzle as he slams the side of his fist into the wall, his blood and tears mixing with rainwater as his vision cuts out and his mind blanks.
"Piper?" Giran's voice filters through the vigilante's small phone speaker as it clatters to the concrete with the boy's body. Giran pulls the phone away from his face, frowning at the device. "You'll owe me for this one kid."
The broker opens a drawer at his desk, pulling out a second phone and dialing the number from memory. It rings for a few moments before someone picks up on the other end. "Doc, it's Giran... I've got a favor to ask of ya'."