Even though Midoriya wakes up feeling exhausted, it's somehow the best he'd felt within the last week. Inko takes notice of the change well, the woman having to hold back tears at the sight of life in her son's eyes.

He'd adamantly denied that anything happened, telling her that he was perfectly fine. But, Inko could tell when Izuku was lying. He was a terrible liar.

That black voids that has taken over her son's eyes had scared her, had terrified her to no end. She hadn't known what to do or who to call or who she'd even be able to explain such a change to. Ji- woo didn't know what happened and the teachers at Aldera claimed to know nothing about his sudden change in mood.

He'd looked like a puppet who'd had all but one string cut, the fifteen year old hanging despondently from his last remaining thread. And as the days wore on Inko had begun to feel more hopeless. She didn't want to over react, maybe it was nothing, or maybe she was simply blowing things way out of proportion. But, that look in his eyes, she knew, almost instinctively, that that look belonged nowhere near her son.

Towards the end of that first week she'd hardened her resolve to sit him down and talk and if things hadn't gone well maybe she'd have to pull some overtime and set up an appointment with a therapist.

Inko wakes up early, gnawing gently at her lower lip as she waits for him. But, when he comes in she sees fire in his eyes, sees the reignited flames flickering there and all she can do is burst into tears and cry into his shoulder. Izuku is startled by her tears, but takes them as they come. He makes a startled noise as she rushes at him. "M-Mom! What's wrong?" He asks, wheezing through her crushing hug, "W-What happened?"

As much as she wants the cry more, she pulls away, sniveling and wiping at her tears. "Nothing sweetheart," she laughs wetly.

Izuku watches her skeptically. "You weren't watching that vet show again were you?" She merely laughs in response. "That show always makes you sad I don't know why you keep watching it," he huffs, smile tugging at his lips.

"It always has the cutest animals though!"

Naomasa paces the length of the soundproof conference room that he and several others have found themselves in. "So," he starts, "when do we move?"

"That's not such a simple question Detective," Nighteye states, "Overhaul has several known bases and there's possibly more that we don't know about. It's important that whichever one we hit has him in it when we take action. I'm worried that he might try to disappear if we're not careful."

Tsukauchi runs a hand through his hair. "What about the address that I gave you? Was that new info?"

Sir carefully tracks the man's path, watching him work his way back and forth on the strip of open flooring. "It's one of the bases that we've already had our eye on. It's just one of the small offshoots though. We're still working on uncovering the location of the main base." Sir turns towards one of the other people present. "I was hoping that you would be able to assist us with that Eraserhead."

Aizawa sighs, but gives a curt nod in response, looking as exhausted as Nighteyes figures one would with two demanding jobs.

"I also have to ask how you obtained the address, Tsukauchi-san," the hero asks, glasses glinting in the room's overhead lighting.

Naomasa pauses in his steps, hand falling away from his hair. "We got it from a not so anonymous, anonymous tip."

Nighteye is the one to raise a brow to ask the silent question.

"It was Piper," the detective concedes, "Do you remember the vigilante that I first mentioned? The one who originally encountered the white-haired girl with the rewind quirk?"

Aizawa raises a surprised brow of his own, "Piper is involved in this?"

Naomasa sighs, collapsing into one of the empty chairs as the conference table. "Unfortunately. He showed up outside my apartment the other night and dumped a load of information on me before disappearing again."

Nighteye nods solemnly. "You did mention that a vigilante had gotten involved. Though I do wonder how he got the information. The base is a much smaller one. It doesn't draw much attention."

The detective leans his elbows against the table, fingers folding just in front of his face. "He said he had reason to believe that it's where they're keeping the girl."

This gains the attention of everyone in the room. Sir's eyes narrow dangerously behind his glasses. "Are you certain?"

The man nods grimly. "He usually tries his best to avoid me at all costs. But he willingly showed up outside my apartment building for this. I'd assume that if he's willing to go so far and risk getting caught then he must be confident in the information he gave me." A seriousness falls over the detective. "Nighteye," Naomasa starts, addressing the hero, "I know you said that you wanted to be careful about this and take our time. And while I would agree with you under normal circumstances, I'm worried that Piper will try to move soon, with or without us. He's not the patient type. If we don't move before him, then we'll have to do it with him because I refuse to let that kid risk his life on something this dangerous."

A low murmur spreads through those gathered as Aizawa recalls some of the moments from his first meeting with the infamous vigilante. His features had grown hazier in his mind as time dragged on, but he'd never forget those pain seeped eyes. He wonders if the boy had seen that same expression in the little girl's eyes. If so he can understand the vigilante's rush to find her.

Sir's eyes narrow. "It's a small base. But, currently we have little to no idea of who is inside and what any of their quirks might be. This will be dangerous for more than just him. We'll be putting a lot of people at risk if we move before we're prepared."

"Tsukauchi's right though," Aizawa interjects, "As heroes we have to act whether we have all the info or not. Not knowing is normal in this line of work. I agree that it'd be best to gather all the information we can, but if we wait too long we risk them gaining another hostage if Piper moves before us, or worse," the hero says, glancing darkly at the lanky hero across from him, "a body bag with a kid in it."

Nighteye sighs, pinching at the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to ward off an oncoming headache. "Not to mention that if he does move before us he could put the group on alert for anything that we might try to enact at a later date."

"So we're in agreement then?" Naomasa asks, eyeing the looming hero as he stands.

"We'll move within the week. I'll finalize the date and inform you all once it's determined. In the meantime we'll continue collecting as much information as we can and pray that when the time comes that it will be enough."

r/vigilantes · Posted by u/gaster219 three days ago Where'd Pied Piper Go?

126 upvotes

So has anyone seen Piper recently??? He's usually around my area a lot but I haven't heard anything about him doing anything? I've been looking around online but I haven't seen any new pictures or sighting... He didn't get caught did he?

.

straight_outta_the_closet 1.1k points · three days ago

I'm sure that the police would've made a report about him getting caught if he had been I'm more worried about him being dead or something bro

.

sleepingbagwitharms 104 points · two days ago

He's not dead!! I saw a recent video of him yesterday!!! It looked like he got hit with an autotune quirk LMAOOOFBDVRSF it was legit the funniest thing I've seen in a long time aldshfjoakdslfj

.

existentialcrisisinabottle 27 points · one days ago

I noticed his absence too. I saw someone else mention that Piper might be dead, but I figure it's much more likely that he was injured in some way during a fight and is simply recuperating.

.

SPAMbassador 238 points · two days ago

You noticed too??!?!? I thought it was only meee T_T I need more content from the chaos master I mean did you SEE that video of him throat punching that villain in the middle of their monologue??!? It was both hilarious AND badass

Midoriya taps gently at Reo's window under the cover of dark. He leans his staff against the wall and begins slipping his boots off before his friend even has time to let him in.

Tsukauchi slides the window open, whining the boy's name. "Please," the teen begs, "he won't stop snoring."

Izuku's eyes brighten with quiet laughter as he swings himself through the opening. "Who? Your uncle?"

Reo flops into his seat with a defeated sigh before rolling his chair towards the closet. "Yes," he hisses. "It's so hard to get any work done. It's somehow worse than my support teacher's incessant pen tapping." As if on cue Midoriya hears a quiet snore come from the living room.

The seventeen year old sends the other a look as if to say 'see' before he starts digging through his clothes. Reo tosses the green haired boy one of his hoodies as Midoriya slips his mask off. "Put this on, I don't want him to accidentally walking in on you in your vigilante gear."

"Is your mom gone again?" Izuku asks as he catches Reo's throw, slipping one of the teen's oversized hoodies over his other clothes. He's sure that he'll feel a bit stuffy later. But, for now the vigilante enjoys the extra warmth it allows him.

"No, she's not. He just had a long night evidently." Reo sends his friend a knowing smirk, the fifteen year old returning it with a cat-like grin of his own. "Our place was closer to wherever it was you left him."

Midoriya falls back into Reo's bed, his own tiredness beginning to catch up with him as Tsukauchi moves back towards his desk. "I wasn't trying to drag him out again," Izuku sighs, "I was taking down this chick with a mutant quirk and I guess someone called it in before I could finish up."

"He's been really busy recently," Tsukauchi informs the vigilante, "Ever since you gave him the info you had on that house he's been running all over the place. Of course he hasn't said as much, but it's easy enough to pick up on it when he comes over looking like he did tonight."

Izuku frowns. "For as much as he's running himself ragged, it's been several days since I met with him and they still haven't moved."

Reo gives the boy a look of offense on his uncle's behalf. "They can't move without info Midoriya."

Izuku lets out a frustrated breath as he sits up. "But, I already gave them info."

"No," Reo tells him flatly, "You gave them an address and told them that the Precepts were there. That's hardly enough to move on. They'll have to stake out the area first, try to figure out if the

info is accurate and if it is who they might be facing inside."

Midoriya stands, running a hand through his curls, staring past his friend's shoulder towards the window. "It's just so frustrating."

Tsukauchi releases a breath. He's glad to see that some of the life had returned to the fifteen year old's eyes. But, this rescue mission would be a dangerous one for everyone involved. If they didn't move before the vigilante then Reo would personally tell his uncle who Piper was. The teen worries at his lip, he'd sooner see his friend in jail than dead again .

Directly behind Midoriya the aforementioned uncle walks in with little more than a quiet knock. His entrance startles the duo, Izuku freezing in place as the younger Tsukauchi quickly stands. The detective comes in with a yawn strong enough to make water curl at the corners of his eyes. "I get that it's the weekend," he says tiredly, "But, it's 1am. Please sleep." The man pauses, at the sight of the green haired boy. "Ah, Midoriya. I didn't realize you were staying the night." He tries to straighten himself, probably to look more presentable, but he's obviously exhausted, the beginnings of dark circles hanging beneath his black eyes.

Reo lets out a strained laugh as he steps forward, pulling even with his the vigilante's side. "Yeah, he got here after you fell asleep."

Midoriya's gaze snaps towards the seventeen year old's as they glance at each other from the corners of their vision. Reo's eyes widen, fearfully honing in on the red contract still in Midoriya's eye.

The other boy seems to suddenly remember its existence as well, the vigilante's hand rising to cover the offending eye.

Don't turn around, Reo thinks, desperately trying to silently communicate the message, he'll know. He'll figure it out. You'll be caught, we'll be caught.

But, Midoriya does turn around, hand still covering the right side of his face. "We didn't wake you up, did we Tsukauchi-san?" There's an easy smile on the boy's face and Reo stares at him in mounting horror.

Naomasa looks concerned when he takes notice of the hand covering the fifteen year old's face. "Is something wrong with your eye Midoriya?"

The boy casually waves him off with his free hand. "It's fine, I just have something in my eye. It's a little red."

Naomasa relaxes at the explanation, tiredness winning out over his concern. "Alright, well if there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask. Though I'm sure Reo's got you covered."

Midoriya nods, a gentle smile falling into place that softens his features. Reo knows that it's a ploy to fool his uncle. But, even if for a moment, everything feels like its back to normal. It feels like Midoriya had never run into that girl, feels like he'd never died. It's so convincing, so wonderfully convincing. Looking at him now is like looking at the face of a boy who'd never known suffering.

And then, his uncle is leaving, telling them not to stay up too late and Midoriya's faux smile is melting away and Reo feels as if he'd been forcibly wrenched back into reality.

The vigilante quickly tugs Tsukauchi's hoodie off, tossing it back to the teen. "Here, I was planning on staying longer, but if he's here then I should probably head out. It's too risky to be around him."

Reo nods reluctantly, knowing it to be the truth. The right question could leave Midoriya's entire world unraveling.

"If they question it just tell them that I left early. It's technically morning, so your if you're uncle's quirk works the way I think it does then you should be fine."

Reo releases a deep sigh as he falls back into his desk chair, the hinges protesting beneath his weight. "Are you headed home then?"

"It's like you said," the fifteen year old starts, "They don't have enough information right now. They're playing a waiting game."

Tsukauchi's brows rise as he realizes what the younger boy is referring to. "Midoriya that's—"

"I'm not going to do anything rash this time, if I see anyone I'll stay hidden, keep my distance. If the police have started a waiting game then I might as well join them. Eri needs all the help she can get."

Worry settles between Reo's brows. "He won't give you a second chance," Tsukauchi whispers, fear working its way up his throat.

The vigilante pauses at that. "I'll stay out of sight," Izuku reassures him quietly. "If all goes according to plan then no one besides you will even know that I was there."

"But what if everything doesn't go according to plan?"

No one wants to be responsible for answering that question.

"I know how to run."

But, you don't know how to quit . Reo thinks worriedly, you don't know the definition of self preservation and that's what's got me scared.

There's a part of Midoriya that doesn't want to go anywhere near the 7th district, it's the part that associates the area with his death. He reminds himself that the 7th district is where she is, and so forces himself to march across that invisible barrier and make his way towards the 8th block.

"Are you prepared to die again?"

The vigilante grimaces at the emergence of the voice. It's 'face' shifts and he turn away when it begins to resemble the man he'd rather forget.

"Children who can't listen to warnings don't deserve a second revival."

Izuku's grip on his staff tightens. "I've never let the fear of death scare me off before."

"But, that was before you died, that was before someone managed to kill you. Now you're heading right towards the man that has slain you so easily." Its maw creaks open into a caustic grin. " The dangers of hero work," it hisses, grin widening, "are simply too high."

The vigilante curses, hardening his resolve. He's not here to fight, not yet. He'd promised Reo that he'd be careful this time, had promised that he wouldn't dive straight in.

He peeks around every corner he comes across, checking both ways and then checking again. He keeps to the shadows and keeps his footsteps light, he keeps his eyes peeled and constantly

searching the dark for dangerous figures. But, he finds none, no figures, no danger, only the two story white house with its caved in roof and its pale blue, westernized neighbor.

His heart nearly stops when he peeks around a corner and sees it, the place of which he had been searching for for so long, the place which he had died trying to reach. He wants to burst into the small house, wants to run in fists swinging and lungs screaming, voice calling out the girl's name like some sort of banshee.

But, he knows that he can't. He can't rush this. He's sure that this is his last chance to get into the house.

"You will find that your usefulness has run out. I did try to warn you."

Midoriya physically flinches at the words, eyes darting around the surrounding area.

"There's no one else to blame but yourself. You really should have listened."

There's no one anywhere near him, but still the voice persists, instilling the fifteen year old with a severe case of paranoia. He does his best to shake it off, but it remains, clinging to him like the remnants of a nightmare. He curses, attempting to bury the voice as he looks for a place to hide, somewhere he can stay out of sight but still have a view of the small house's front door.

Usually there wouldn't be any good places in a residential neighborhood like this, but there was an astounding number of vacant and run down housing in the area. A perfect place for shady dealing, not a lot of witnesses if anything happens.

The vigilante glances around the area, taking into account the location off all the obviously vacant homes, spying one that will work for what he needs. The house he approaches is two stories high, the outside is fully intact, but it's obviously falling apart in places, several of the windows on the bottom floor having been boarded up long ago. It's one of the only houses nearby that isn't completely fenced in by stone walls, the front of the house left exposed, giving the fifteen year old a perfect view of the Precepts' base.

He slips into the house quietly, setting up shop behind one of the first floor windows that had yet to be boarded over. Midoriya crouches as he peeks out the window, balancing on the balls of his feet. It's not a straight shot, but he can clearly see through the base's front gate from here. The property is surrounded by one of those thick stone walls like most of the other houses in the neighborhood, but it makes it hard to get a good look at the house itself.

It's already almost midnight, but he can still see light seeping through what windows are visible over the wall.

Midoriya sucks in a quiet breath. That's where she is.

Then, in the dark, he hears something. The noise sets him on edge, goose flesh rising along his arms and legs. He freezes, holding his breath to listen for it, to make sure his paranoia isn't at play. But, he hears it again.

It's a quiet, only half heard muttering of words from the floor above. The boy's heart pounds in his chest and it's hard to hear anything over the noise, but he strains his ears in an attempt to make out what's being said.

He curses silently when he still can't make out the words. He steps lightly, making his way back into the main part of the house, heading towards where he'd seen the stairs. The voices fade at this distance.

If I can just get upstairs.

In his head a memory of his own voice echoes, "I'm not going to do anything rash this time, if I see anyone I'll stay hidden, keep my distance."

"I know how to run."

I don't know who's up there. His gloved hands tighten around his staff, a scowl forming. "You died Midoriya!"

"He killed you! You went in to try and find her without a plan and without preparation and without telling anyone, without telling me. What would've happened if that man hadn't decided to bring you back?"

The boy had died once just trying to explore the area. And, now he was shacked up in a random house across the street from an address he'd looked for for so long and he doesn't know who's waiting for him just upstairs. Yet, he'd been ready to dive straight in again, without thinking, without planning, without telling anyone. He'd been ready to do exactly what he'd just finished telling Tsukauchi he wouldn't do.

"You didn't see the look on your face when you came crawling through my window that night."

I need to get out of here.

But, the floorboards above him creak out a warning as two sets of footsteps begin quietly descending the stairs.

"I thought you said the stone wall would mess with your quirk? Wasn't that why we were upstairs?" The first to speak is a feminine voice. The words are said lowly, but audible enough for Midoriya to hear as he quietly slips into a bathroom on the backside of the house.

"It does," this voice is slightly louder, more masculine, "But, I couldn't get everything lined up properly from up there. All I was getting was sounds of this one specific rat in the attic that is very aggressively gnawing through something up there. I'm hoping there's a room with a direct sight line to the frontgate, otherwise I might as well be quirkless in this situation."

"You realize I'm basically quirkless in this situation, right?" The duo stops at the end of the stairs, looking around the house. From his spot Midoriya can barely make out their figures through the dark.

"Yeah, but you've got a reason to be here. If I can't hear anything they're saying from over there then we both lose our reasons for being here."

"Even if your quirk doesn't work here we can still watch for people coming in and out of the house."

There's a sigh. "I guess. They'll replace us with another group next time though, someone with something useful."

The woman gently elbows her partner. "Being able to eavesdrop on people from afar is very useful. If that wall wasn't there you wouldn't have a single problem."

"But the wall is there," the man responds dryly.

"If all goes according to plan then no one besides you will even know that I was there."

The two begin moving again, headed in Midoriya's direction.

"But what if everything doesn't go according to plan?"

The vigilante takes another quiet step back, trying to further disappear within the small bathroom.

"I know how to run."

There is nowhere for him to run.