"When did you arrive at your father's house?"
Tsukauchi's voice may be steady but his eyes betray his cool facade. As much as he wants to be impassible, he staunchly refuses to believe that someone as 'promising and respectful of the law' like Todoroki would meddle with the Judge.
Under normal circumstances, Todoroki would agree with him but this is beyond his control.
"I arrived and Endeavor was already strangling the Judge."
Tsukauchi nods and scribbles something in his notepad. It's probably a manoeuvre of intimidation that would make criminals fret since they have no idea what the detective is writing, but Todoroki is ready to bet Tsukauchi is doodling something instead of jotting down real words.
"And why didn't you intervene as soon as you arrived?"
"I assessed the situation first. Endeavor was fighting against three other people and still choking the Judge. If he didn't release his hold, then the Judge would've died, so I decided to act."
"Why didn't you let the Judge die? He's a serial killer, isn't he, targeting your father of all people?"
Todoroki is thankful that Tsukauchi can't read minds, or else he would've learned that the Hero doesn't give a shit about his father's fate. He could've been killed by the Judge had he been any other than Midoriya and part of Todoroki would've been grateful.
"The Judge needs to be trialed. I believe in justice."
Tsukauchi's head bobs again noiselessly, eyes shifting between the Hero and his pad.
"Do you know who the Judge is?"
Todoroki doesn't miss a beat. "I don't."
Tsukauchi's nose wrinkles. He puts down his pencil on the table, which is in itself more terrifying than seeing him writing, and leans forward, arms folded on the table.
"You see, people assume I can't discern the real truth and the truth one chooses to believe but I'm capable of perceiving the grey zones as well as the black's and white's. I can say for certain that you're not completely lying. There's some truth in what you told me."
"I tell you again: I don't know the Judge."
The detective doesn't even twitch as he fires his next question. "Then are you working with him?"
"No."
"There, you're able to speak the truth." He leans back against his seat, rubbing his forehead with a frown. "Why are you lying to me when I ask you if you know the Judge?"
"That's because you don't ask the good question."
Todoroki knows the Judge without knowing him. There are many things he knows about Midoriya. He knows that Midoriya likes katsudon, that he snores lightly when he sleeps (and he usually sleeps on the side, with his curled fists raised as if to fend off his nightmares), that he prefers documentaries rather than dramas, that he enjoys drinking tea and that his favourite blend is English Breakfast, although he only drinks it in the morning in a teacup his father bought for him, which also is the unique item he received from Midoriya Hisashi.
He's privy to many things about Midoriya, but since he relinquished the Judge's title Todoroki no longer knows the Judge.
"Todoroki-kun, let me remind you of your situation." Tsukauchi was as calm as ever, his two hands forming a steeple beneath his chin. "You're being accused of assisting the Judge in three premeditated homicides and one attempted premeditated homicide. While your answer to working with the Judge was negative and very true, your father still saw you taking the Judge with you and vanishing for roughly thirty-six hours. Yet when you reappear, there is no Judge with you and you didn't subdue him either. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but the Judge was anything but a challenge for your father and I'm convinced according to his testimony that you could've handled the Judge on your own with your hands tied behind your back. So let me try again: Is there a reason other than justice that explains why you saved the Judge?"
He never should've hinted at the good direction. Tsukauchi's too clever to make a blunder.
"Yes." Please don't ask the question.
"And what is this reason?"
Todoroki closes his eyes. "I can't tell you."
"Countering my question by a neutral answer is smart but it won't be enough." The detective pauses, waiting for Todoroki to modify his answer, then sighs as silence prolongs. "This reason must be serious for you to look so grave."
The Hero avoids Tsukauchi's narrowed eyes and rather focuses on his own shackled hands lying idle on the table in front of him. "My answer remains the same."
"Alright. Then what about Midoriya?"
Todoroki suppresses the instinctive soft intake of breath, transforming it into a sigh. He locks eyes with the detective, expressing a confidence he's far from feeling. "What about him?"
"You tell me. He's gone missing. Do you know where he is?"
"I have no idea."
He watches as Tsukauchi takes his pad and pencil back, proceeding to write again. "Alright. When did you last see him?"
"Very early this morning. He didn't tell me where he went."
"And what did you two talk about?"
"I was trying to convince him to leave."
Tsukauchi halts his scribbling, one eyebrow cocking. "To leave? Where to?"
"Yokohama. I wanted him to take a break. He needs it, don't you think? It was all for nothing since he didn't leave. I left before he could tell me what he'd do."
"Midoriya and a break... It's true he never took a day off since he started working with us. Why do you think he would need a break?"
"He's overworked so I want him to go and do nothing. Don't you think we're in a dire situation and we need everyone to be in excellent physical condition," he answers, following with his eyes the swirls that Tsukauchi's pen creates as it scribbles.
"But now, who's going to help me work with the case if he's gone and you're off the case?"
"I'm sure my father will be elated to replace me."
The detective pinches his nasal bone and rubs. "About that, he wanted to talk with you."
Todoroki's unable not to tense yet plays it as if he's stretching, straightening from his chair and cracking his knuckles. He's aware he's being observed, aware that Tsukauchi doesn't need his Quirk to detect hints of unease.
"Can you tell me why All Might intervened and told me not to let him see you?"
"I assume he wants to talk to me first."
"And I assume that you could've been an excellent detective if you didn't meet the Judge."
Tsukauchi slips out of the interrogation room, leaving the door ajar. Todoroki fights against the urge to rub his face, knowing the sound of his chained hands would alert everyone of weakness. Instead he holds his breath and counts to ten before breathing out.
"Todoroki-shonen."
He doesn't even look up when All Might enters, sitting in front of him. It isn't a surprise to see the Hero in his frail stature, his suit a little crumpled and his red tie, crooked. Activating his Quirk wouldn't do anything to Todoroki; he's used to All Might's imposing musculature as well as Toshinori Yagi's bony frame. The Hero's electric blue eyes convey disappointment as they watch him.
"Is it true?"
Todoroki meets his gaze without flinching. "You spoke with Tsukauchi so you know the answer."
"I wish you'd tell me more. There must be a logic reason you know and saved the Judge."
"What do you think?"
All Might sighs, stroking his chin as if scratching an imaginary beard. "You're a good boy, Todoroki. If you saved the Judge, then either you're doing it to save someone or you care about the Judge."
What would All Might say if he knew both of his hypotheses were right? What would he say if he knew they applied to the same person?
"You pretend to know me so well but you don't."
All Might's face doesn't fall. Instead, a smile softens his face and the sadness in his orbs morphs into pity. "My boy, aren't you tired of being on your own?"
Aren't you tired of barricading yourself, of pushing people away like you do with me? goes unsaid but it reaches Todoroki as if the words had been spoken.
"Being on my own is a choice I made a long time ago. I didn't meet anyone who made me change my mind."
"Yet you decided to save the Judge for someone's sake, I'm sure of it. Either his or someone else's."
"Do you really expect me to tell you even if it was true?"
Wordlessly, the Number One Hero settles on of his hands on Todoroki's clasped ones, squeezing. He stays in this position for so long that Todoroki feels compelled to look away but he braves his past professor's piercing eyes. There are no words exchanged but the silence is far from comforting. While the Hero is renown for his strength, his intelligence shouldn't be underestimated and neither should his insight.
"What changed?" All Might inquires without preamble.
"Nothing," he's quick to answer, too quick, for All Might frowns.
"I'm not Tsukauchi but I know you enough to know you're lying. What changed?"
Of course. Out of all the people Todoroki knew, which can be counted on the tips of his fingers, he had to fall on one who can perceive the truth he omits.
What changed? Todoroki wonders as well. When did he realise it, that this warmth he was feeling wasn't his pervading fire Quirk but a whole new flame that shouldn't be existent to begin with? When did he understand that this emotion was one that never truly blossomed in his family yet took root in his heart when all around him, flowers were dying as autumn brought cold and unmerciful wind? When did he realise, although refusing to admit it, that he spent his days beside a criminal yet felt no murderous intent, no fiery streak of justice, no disgust? When he did realise what he felt?
"I met someone," he confesses.
All Might nods, encouraging. "And does this someone have a name?"
"You already met him. Midoriya Izuku."
His face scrunches up with concentration. "Tall, dark messy hair and green eyes?" When Todoroki nods, his smile broadens. "He looks like a kind man. Does he make you happy?"
No more lies.
All Might's hand is warm against his yet nothing like Endeavor's scalding Quirk, and his eyes are expecting him to go on yet nothing like Endeavor's two black holes that want to devour him whole. There's nothing to fear as he gazes into All Might's eyes, no reason to flinch away as the Number One Hero rubs his knuckles with his thumb, and if he speaks his mind he will be listened and not scoffed at for being sentimental...
But truthfully...
"It doesn't matter."
All Might's eyebrows shoot up. "What are you saying? Your happiness matters."
"No, it doesn't."
"But that boy, Midoriya, his happiness matters, is that right?"
His happiness can wait since he's not safe, but Todoroki can't help but ask himself if Midoriya ever was happy when they spent time together, if he managed to bring a genuine smile to his lips.
Chains clatter as Todoroki retracts his hands, settling them on his lap. "Sensei, I'll tell you only one thing about the Judge." All Might stiffens at his words and Todoroki steals a glance at the door, certain that Tsukauchi's listening to them. "For reasons I won't disclose, I believe his next victim will not be a Pro Hero. It'll be a civilian."
He can practically see the cogs turning in All Might's mind. "Don't tell me..."
"I believe it'll be Midoriya."
Midoriya never realised just how cold Tokyo can be. Apart from the hoodie Todoroki had all but thrown at him, he had nothing else to protect him from the weather. The snow that fell in the early morning had dwindled to a steady drizzle that drenched him to the bone since he spent hours wandering around. Swallowing the buildings, a heavy mist was hanging low in the sky and hid the sky, acting like a giant dome incarcerating them.
He wonders if this is how the homeless spend their days, strolling with no destination in mind, their pockets as empty as their stomach, their eyes half-lidded watching people ignore them, their heart beating for somewhere to be, for someone to be with.
He wonders if this how a fallen villain spends his days.
The thought of going home crosses his mind but his feet lead him to a familiar neighbourhood, in front of a barricaded door in the very back of an alley he didn't visit for a while. For someone born in the light, for someone cherished and who grew up dreaming to become a Hero, he got accustomed to the darkness and perhaps that's where he would thrive.
"Tomura? Kurogiri?" He knocks once more on the door, harder this time, a dull ache blooming on his knuckles. "Is anyone here?"
"What are you doing here?"
Tomura was standing in the middle of the alley, blocking his only escape. Midoriya would've thought meeting someone once eager to kill him and who almost succeeded would upset him but instead he faced the villain without flinching.
"I came back, of course. To continue."
"Continue what?" Midoriya frowns but Tomura's expression doesn't change, his dry lips drawn in a lopsided, mirthless smile. "Don't you understand?"
His cheeks were beginning to warm, as if he had stepped into a furnace. "What is it? Tell me."
"I don't someone as disgraced as you can order me around. You've lost whatever status you had with us. I wonder why I'm talking with you and not destroying your already rotten core."
"What about killing Heroes? The Judge was acting as a cover for the League to operate, no?"
"As if we need the Judge to kill. The League is strong and can manage by itself while you," he spits, Midoriya blinking drops of saliva splatter his face, "are nothing without us."
Midoriya refuses to jerk away or to look down but his heart shrivels. Tomura steps forward, his cadence slow and determined. It reminds Midoriya of when he first met the villain in this very alley, standing a few meters apart, their eyes locking. Back then, his hands were shaking, his words were getting out of his mouth without any coherence and he was shrinking on himself despite being taller than Tomura. Now he's standing at his full height and he speaks with no hesitation.
"You're wrong. I'm fine on my own."
"Keep living in your delusions and you'll forget just how cruel reality is."
One hand shoots up and curls around his neck and for a second Midoriya remembers just how strong Endeavor's grip as his fingers crushed his airways. Tomura's has less pressure yet the intent is the same and the threat, very much present.
"Do you want to know what I think of you, kozo?"
"No, enlighten me," he manages to hiss.
"You're a spoiled child. You grew up with no Quirk but that isn't a tragedy. Do you know what's a tragedy? You turned away from your mother, you turned away from your dream, you turned away from it all and embraced the void." Tomura tightens his grip, not enough to make Midoriya struggle but his breathing's becoming sibilant. "Abandoning the perfect life you had and pretending to be one of us, that's the tragedy. Your desire to be broken was so ardent that it broke you in the process. Are you happy now?"
Tomura slams him in the wall and Midoriya crumbles in the garbage bags, which cushion his fall. The villain's on him within seconds, two hands outstretched ready to decay anything he can grasp, but Midoriya kicks him in the stomach. Tomura staggers back, retching, which allows Midoriya to look down and notice that the bottom of his hoodie turned to ashes yet no skin was disintegrated.
He leaps on his feet, dodging Tomura's uncoordinated punch. Grabbing his right arm, he swings the villain in the air who traces a wobbly arc before crashing on the ground. Midoriya doesn't waste time and bolts towards the end of the alley, not glancing over his shoulder. He's almost reaching the exit when he stops short, three silhouettes casting their shadows on him.
"Oh, what do we have here?"
Midoriya freezes yet refuses to step back, aware that someone else was lurking in the shadows and waiting to attack him.
"Look, it's Izuku-kun!" Toga chirps, one hand waving excitingly.
"Izuku? That's your name, Judge? Not bad. It's better than mine," Dabi chuckles.
"I assume you came here to die." Stain detaches himself from the trio, already unsheathing his katana and with one flick of the wrist it replaces Tomura's fingers close to his neck, the blade drawing blood. "It'll be my honour to kill you."
Midoriya breathes out, closing his eyes, resigned. It's pointless to search for someone to rescue him when he's surrounded by people all planning to kill him. It's foolish to fight since he can't compete with Stain's speed, with Dabi's powerful flames and with Toga's endurance, and even less with Tomura who can stab him from behind. It's impossible to survive in a world cut out for Quirks and he knows it, and if he was honest with himself then he knew it from the start.
Tomura was right. He threw himself in a pit of snakes and what for?
Are you happy now?
He hears the blade slicing the air, his breath quivering as he takes his last gulp of air.
The katana never connects, so he dares cracking one eye open.
He's staring at a broad back with blue, red and white etched on the costume and burning his eyes.
"It's fine now. Why?" Midoriya gasps as he echoes next words he knows well, "Because I'm here."
Next thing he's aware of, he's being taken off the ground by a arm hand coiling around his waist and making him topple. As he glances over his shoulders he's blinded by All Might's smile displaying two rows of pearly teeth.
In front of them, Stain doesn't falter, a slow smile splitting his face. "I should've known it was a trap, that you wanted to eradicate us since the agents are better than the master, but for All Might of all Pro Heroes to come rescue you..."
The Number One Hero observes Stain and booms, "You are the Judge, I assume?"
"Don't associate me with that name. I don't rely on Heroes when I'm on the brink on death. My name is Stain and you, All Might," he emphasises as he licks his lips, "are making a mistake wanting to save this man."
"I'm most certain that this is not a mistake. Now if you'll excuse me."
Stain thrusts forward but the Hero's faster. Midoriya tenses as All Might flexes his knees then uses his Quirk to propel himself in the sky. Stain's scowl deepens yet as the distance between them grows it becomes nothing but a bad souvenir. Midoriya shuts his eyes as the city flies by below them as they soar under the mist darkening the skies, his stomach churning.
They land in another alley devoid of any passersby and soon as All Might releases him, Midoriya collapses on the ground, his vision swirling. He's kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath, his left hand's nails curling as if to dig the asphalt while his right fists his shirt, feeling his fluttering heartbeat echoing through his skin. All Might crouches beside him yet at a reasonable distance.
"Our escape was quite disorganised, I apologise," the Hero tells him, rubbing the back of his neck.
He hums, eyes still riveted on the ground. "Why did you save me?"
"Because I'm a Pro Hero and it's my duty."
"That's not right," he mumbles, shaking his head. "Why would a Pro Hero save someone like me?"
All Might sighs, then proceeds to sit beside him. Midoriya watches him with wide eyes as he lowers himself to his level, folding his legs and resting his hands on his knees.
"I don't know what you've been through. I probably will never know. But you are someone Todoroki-shonen wants to save and that alone is enough of a reason for me."
It must've been a lie. He assumes that Todoroki gave him away to Tsukauchi who then sent All Might to catch him. Since no one wanted to make a scene, the better way to arrest Midoriya was for him to follow them willingly to the precinct.
"Todoroki didn't want to save me," he snickers. Todoroki proved it by abandoning him in the middle of an empty snowy street. If he truly wanted to save him, then he would've killed him when given the opportunity. "I'm not— He wouldn't do that."
"He would and he does. He wants to save you not only because you saved him from his emptiness but also because he cares about you."
"Me?" He raises his head, frowning. "Saved him?"
"You want to become a Pro Hero, don't you? What do you think is a Pro Hero's duty?"
Midoriya wants to laugh. Asking what a Pro Hero's duty is to someone who decided to kill those who don't abide by it... He recites them almost distractedly, remembering the night he spent writing down the Judge's commandments, "To act when there is injustice. To rescue those in need. To honour the profession itself."
"And look what you've done. You saw through Todoroki-shonen's aloofness and became his partner. You saved him from his constant fear that he lives only to become his father's son. You became his friend, a good one, and took away his loneliness."
Midoriya wants to laugh at the irony. He saw through his aloofness and decided to destroy it so he can find a reason to frame him. He convinced Todoroki he wasn't his father only so he can survive the Nomu attack. He befriended the Hero with the firm intention to betray him when it'll hurt the most, to abandon him once their friendship will have served its purpose.
"Todoroki-kun was always alone," All Might continues. "He talked to some of his classmates, yes, but he never hung out with him after classes or during the weekend. You may not have known each other for long, but I've already seen the difference with him. He talks and holds himself like always, but his features soften when he mentions you and his gaze's intense, rekindled."
"And he wasn't like that at Yuuei."
His smile is sad as he confirms it, "He wasn't."
"He once wrote a letter to you when he was attending Yuuei," Midoriya reveals, remembering the texture of a crumpled, tearstained paper in his hands. "He was asking for your help."
All Might stills beside him, "I never received such a letter..."
"He never sent it. I found it in an old pencil case. I assume he never found the courage to give it to you." Midoriya takes it out from his pants' pocket, handing it over.
The Hero takes it without a word, his smile disappearing as he takes in the first words. Midoriya can almost read them with him without having to see the letter, remembers how he related to them and how it seemed like Pro Hero Todoroki he knows didn't write them. It was a cry for help from a teenage boy whose destiny had been decided before he was born and who wanted someone to tell him he, as a unique human being, not as Todoroki Enji's son, not as someone who can wield what seems like two Quirks, was enough.
...don't know what to do...
...can't keep going like this...
...no one understands...
They were opposite, Midoriya already knew that, but they were longing for the same thing.
"He told me he talked to you about his situation." Midoriya's voice's devoid of accusation, merely stating a fact. "He told me you didn't help."
"I wasn't able to but you were." All Might's voice's brimming with emotions, choking up. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Midoriya-shonen."
He bows his head, him, the Number One Hero, the person he idolises since as far as he can remember, to Midoriya, Quirkless Deku, the person everyone underestimates as far as he can remember. Yet he feels no pride from such a honour, nothing but stinging in his eyes as if he's about to tear up like when he was a child, unable to restrain his sniffles at the lightest scrape or at a passing comment about his lack of future.
Being a Pro Hero is more than a profession. It's to offer one's help without idealisation to others without expecting anything in return. Midoriya lived his life striving to become a Pro Hero yet strayed away from it the older, the more acrid he became. He changed everything he didn't like about himself, storing away the parts he deemed shameful, inventing himself a persona he thought would draw attention and perhaps even awe.
And yet with Todoroki, despite his initial motivation being selfish, he succeeded where everywhere else he failed. He saved someone, somehow, with no Quirk, by being himself.
"Midoriya-shonen," All Might calls, drawing his attention, "Todoroki knew the Judge would hunt you down but you're not corresponding to his target's profile and the man, Stain, who was chasing you wasn't the Judge. Tell me, where is the Judge?"
He doesn't know...? Midoriya sighs, clearing his mind. It was time to end this.
"I am the Judge."