Glass crunched under his boots, shadows drew across the alleyway the street lights were only able to catch the obnoxious color of an energy drink can as Izuku considered it. There had been a pretty major rescue operation that afternoon with severe enough injuries he was well needed. Izuku had stayed on site for longer than any other hero, most at the scene claiming not to have too much rescue experience. Izuku had asked to see their licenses and they had to use their quirks to stop him ripping them up at the scene.
"Completely idiotic," Izuku muttered to himself glaring at the can unfairly as it probably had a higher IQ than those heroes combined, "Fighting villains isn't all there is to being a hero, even if you're from a minor hero school more funding should go into rescue training than learning to punch real good,"
Now he was stuck on the other side of the city drained of energy besides his emergency reserves that he refused to touch. Izuku had healed enough victims of crashes to know driving a motorbike while on the brink of collapse was not a great idea. But if he downed a can for a little pick me up there was no chance of getting to sleep tonight and he had promised his agency to get some sleep after their work today. Izuku dutifully ignored he had brushed off everyone's offers for a ride and had enough pride to not call them back. They'd be at the agency anyway and had a fair few patients from today's events so he couldn't bother anyone with this.
"Fuck this," There was always the third option which was pass out in a random alley in a sketchy neighborhood that Izuku was usually partial to. The best of no worlds.
His clothes were hero-grade material so the glass didn't cut through. Izuku just pulled up his hood ready for a little cat nap. His clothes that were usually uncomfortably warm were perfect for the cold weather as designed for energy preservation.
"Always for the quirk never for me," Izuku laughed to himself, then louder so the universe could know the bad mood he was in and not throw anymore shit his way, "The world sucks,"
"Tell me about it," Why hello shit. Izuku didn't jump, he was a hero and a professional he wouldn't do that. He would however pull a gun before he even opened his eyes, "Whoa easy,"
Despite having the firearm pointed expertly at his head the guy dropping in the alley(yes dropping in) didn't seem worried. Self assured in his movements and likely his quirk.
"You a pro or a villain?" Izuku demanded not lowering the gun. People underestimated him and he wouldn't return the favor.
"Underground, names Mindwash," The guy pulled out a license to verify only then did Izuku lower his gun, "Saw you sulking in the alley,"
"And I suppose you stopping wouldn't have anything to do with this?" Izuku tapped on his chest, green cross stretched over it, "Also I wasn't sulking,"
"Your agency let out a mild alert you hadn't returned yet," Izuku tried not to roll his eyes he really did... ok no he didn't, "They were just concerned,"
"Yeah they always are," Izuku let his head thud against the wall behind him, "What is everyone on a manhunt? Have you been scouring the city for me?"
"I just kept an eye out on patrol," Mindwash looked bored but at least not about to launch into a passionate rant about his personal safety being important to the country and heroics industry, "And they were right to be you were about to sleep in the gutter,"
"Sketchy alley, not gutter get it right," Izuku teased, getting a twitch of a smirk from the other hero, "Care to join me?"
"It's the most comfortable bed I've seen in 63 hours," The hero dropped down next to him, wiping away some of the glass with no attention to detail.
"You managed to find a bed less comfortable than a pile of glass and shit?"
"Nope," Mindwash leaned back against the wall. Izuku smirked, maybe he could stand this guy's presence after all.
"Is that a sleeping bag?" Izuku gave a shit-eating grin at the pack he brought out, bright purple clashing with everything in the alley other than Izuku's energy drink.
"My old teacher carried one around everywhere, insisted I do the same," Mindwash shrugged, throwing it over both their legs, Izuku didn't have the energy to get pissy about it.
"Unique style, why not just wear warmer clothes instead of a restrictive bag hard to get out of in the event of a sneak attack," Izuku wasn't even meant to work on the field and he still knew doing that as a solo hero was a dumbass idea, "Just who is this teacher of yours?"
"Eraserhead from-"
"UA I'm guessing?"
"How'd you know?" Mindwash cracked his eyes open, Izuku shrugged him off.
"The most tolerable heroes I've met on the field have either been from UA or Shiketsu," Izuku said, "Moreso from Shiketsu,"
"Why's that?" At least he wasn't getting in Izuku's face the way Kachhan always did when Izuku brought this up. Stupid UA alumni.
"Both of them had healers so they know not to be annoying and demanding, thinking they can do everything," Even so Izuku wasn't going to get into the nuance of the problem. Students from his time in Shiketsu still thought they were entitled to be healed and heroes from UA seemed to think Izuku had endless energy, acting recklessly, "Although Recovery Girl is retired now,"
"She was still active when I went there," No kidding, she had retired a year or two into Izuku's debut, old crow had been waiting for someone to take her place. Izuku could respect the shrewdness, but if that meant he was gonna be the only decent healer in Japan until he was that shriveled up the hero association had another thing coming, "What about Shiketsu?
"That's my school," An apprenticeship under Recovery Girl would have been useful but he could help more at Shiketsu, "Students there know my limits better than anyone and know I can fuck anyone up in a fight - I told them what's what,"
"Yeah I bet you did," Mindwash glanced at his gun that Izuku had dropped but hadn't holstered,
"Decent shot?"
"You gotta know how to hit vital organs if you wanna avoid them," Izuku shrugged, sighing as he relaxed into the sleeping bag. Shit, he needed a nap- or a bed, a bed would be nice.
Luckily for him, Mindwash seemed to have an inherent 'shut the fuck up this conversation is over' sense. The two slipped into silence both trained to keep an ear out for disturbances in the night so neither could fully rest. He probably needed to contact his team anyway. Izuku disappearing wasn't unheard of but it got the hero community nervous. Izuku didn't want to do that to them... unintentionally.
"So want me to drive you home?" Mindwash offered, grouchy voice betraying just how little he wanted to get up.
"Don't you have patrol?" Izuku cracked an eye open, glaring somewhat at the dark colored hero.
"I'll call in a cover, or just skip it," Mindwash shrugged, pulling away the sleeping bag, the jerk, "Frankly I think everyone would be more upset I let the countries best-and only- healer die in a fiery crash of exhaustion than if I skipped patrol for a night,"
"Healer privileges," Izuku spat bitterly, standing up before the hero could offer a hand.
"You don't say that like a good thing," Mindwash finished rolling up the sleeping bag, honestly not looking any more awake than Izuku.
"It gets annoying, as beneficial as it can be people tend to have certain assumptions of me," Izuku passed the energy drink he had been considering off. It was one of his milder ones so it shouldn't have heart attack inducing levels of caffeine, "Tell me Mindwash what's your impression of me?"
"You wanna know Angle Sigh?" Mindwash took the drink staring blankly at Izuku, saying deadpan, "You're clearly a delicate little flower with impeccable manners and grace,"
"Yeah, that's pretty much what everyone expects," Izuku smirked, more so when Mindwash cracked open the can, "Plus to be a pushover and deal with every little scratch people get while I'm trying to save lives,"
"I know a thing or two about judgments based on quirks," Mindwash took a sip as they left the alley, "What the actual fuck is in that?"
"Don't know, don't ask, enjoy not sleeping asshole," Izuku strode up to his bike opening its compartment to fish out another helmet, "Quirk bias huh? That why you're underground?"
"Partly, it's also practical," Mindwash shrugged notably not explaining his quirk and even more notably downing more of the energy drink.
"I tried to go underground," Izuku tossed over a helmet catching Mindwash's incredulous look, "I really did, but when you're active and visible on a disaster scene you either get picked up by cameras or become a ghost story and that creates a whole nother problem when people think you're some kind of savior,"
"A travesty how could someone think that of the person saving their life," Mindwash drawled, if he wasn't careful Izuku might actually start tolerating him.
"Yeah whatever," Izuku rolled his eyes pulling on his own helmet, "It's not like I sell merch or anything if you don't count officially made and endorsed medical packs,"
"I think I actually have one of those," Mindwash threw away the can, having sculled the entire thing. Izuku would probably have to check him into the ward when they got to his agency after the caffeine really kicked in, "No merch or t-shirts or anything?"
"Sure just let everyone walk around with a healers mark and see how well that goes," Izuku climbed on the bike after Mindwash casually holding on to him, "I have enough trouble with unofficial merch to encourage it by making my own,"
They didn't try to talk over the wind while driving. Mindwash knew how to drive a bike which is honestly something Izuku should have been worried about way earlier. Regardless he held on tight and let him drive them through the city at top speed. Izuku watched as his fingers started tapping on the handles, Mishwash's body almost vibrated as Izuku's home cooked horror of an energy drink on steroids started to take effect. They pulled up to the agency, dismounting the bike Izuku saw Mindwash's typical drowsy eyes blown fully open.
"Alright I'm gonna go take down all the crime in the city in until this crash hits me and I sleep for the next week," Mindwash spoke far too fast, "And you're going to take my number and send me more of whatever that was because now I'm dependant,"
"Never tell me I was responsible for the 'rampage' and you have a deal," Izuku grinned taking the helmet and a card, "Also next time I'm passed in an alley you have to bring me a sleeping bag,"
"Deal," Mindwash took his hand, and yeah he was definitely shaking now.
Izuku watched as he took off into the shadows using his scarf to vault him over buildings. He'd have to tell someone to keep an eye on the situation and prepare tranquilizers if necessary. For now, he was going into the agency and he was going to pass out on the first not glass covered surface he could find. In this case, it happened to be the floor of the medical ward.
"Oh good you're not dead in a gutter," Kanna said with all the kindness his head doctor could manage, which was none, "Get up it's unsightly to have a dead body in the middle of my ward.
"Drag me," Izuku rebutted, face smooshed into the floor.
"Unbelievable- HEy! Someone make sure the place doesn't burn down I'm taking his royal highness upstairs," There was a mumbled affirmation throughout the room as Kanna hoisted him up half dragging Izuku to the elevator, "Please tell me you weren't stupid enough to drive back in this condition,"
"Course not," Izuku got propped against the elevator wall, "Someone drove me, made a friend,"
"You? A friend?" Kanna scoffed, holding him up as Izuku swayed with the movement of the elevator.
"Yeah he's a real asshole, jaded and done with hero society's shit," Izuku grinned, "He's my best friend,"
"Ground Zero will be so upset," Kanna deadpanned, pushing him out of the elevator, "Go to bed I'll tell everyone to call off the manhunt and stop checking in with the morgue,"
"You all make it so much harder to fake my death," Izuku sighed, heading for his mini apartment in the agency.
"That's the plan," Kanna saluted as the elevator door closed, leaving Izuku to stumble towards his bed.
Izuku collapsed on top of the sheets mussing them up. Letting out a deep sigh a tinge of green came with his breath. Without that little hint more of energy Izuku's eyes dropped immediately trusting his team to let him go into a self imposed coma for the next 48 hours.