kaibutter2003: I wrote some of these chapters at night and I was tired and didn't remember how far 18 and 14 feet looked like in real life.

I also try my best with Azumi.


It was dark out. His only light was the flickering streetlight above him, and no one was around. He thought someone would be out walking their dog or a couple going home after a date, but the sidewalk was barren. The sound of waves crashing behind him made the whole experience almost peaceful.

After sleeping on it and thinking about it all day, Fumikage decided to meet with Izuku. He was his first friend, who wasn't a sentient quirk. They did so much together over the years they've known each other. He wouldn't throw that away and not give Izuku a chance to explain himself.

But he did wonder why Izuku wanted to meet at Takoba Municipal Beach of all places. Sure, it wasn't the dump it used to be. It was a beautiful sight with its white sand, but it wasn't exactly the meetup spot he had in mind. Even though no one was around, it was still a little too out in the open for his liking.

"He's running late," Dark Shadow said.

Fumikage looked at his phone and confirmed what his quirk said. It was almost 11:30, and there was no sign of Izuku. He wondered if his friend had given up and decided not to come or if he was in the wrong place. Izuku did say to meet him here, so there was no way he wouldn't show up.

Deciding to give his friend more time, Fumikage chose to star gaze. Seeing all the stars shine through a normally bright city was beautiful. Seeing them and the moon reflect over the ocean was more beautiful. At least he saw something amazing if his friend didn't show up.

"You should bring Hagakure here someday. I bet she would love to see this," Dark Shadow said, and Fumikage nodded.

"Yeah, I think she would," he said absent-mindedly. He was too distracted by nature's beauty to register anything his quirk was saying fully.

"You could spend all day at the beach, have a picnic, and spend the night looking at the stars in each other's arms," Dark Shadow continued, and Fumikage nodded along.

"That would be fun."

"And you'll get to see her in a swimsuit."

"Yeah, I–" Fumikage instantly came to his senses when he realized what his quirk said. Dark Shadow laughed maniacally in his mind while he did his best to hide his beat red face. "Dark Shadow!"

"Don't act like you never thought about it. I know you're curious," Dark Shadow shot back.

Fumikage placed his head on the cool, metal barricade that separated the sidewalk from the beach. It helped hide his embarrassment and cool him down from his quirk's teasing.

"Do you think she wears bikinis or a one-piece?"

"Why does it matter? She's invisible, so all you'll see is a floating swimsuit," Fumikage argued. He thought that would be the end of the conversation, but Dark Shadow had one more bullet left in the chamber.

"Well, you might get to see her curves in the one-piece, but the bikini will give you a good outline of her bu–!"

"DARK SHADOW!"

Fumikage was shaking with embarrassment while Dark Shadow continued to laugh in his head. He never understood why Dark Shadow always acted like this with girls. You'd think they'd share a personality since they're attached, but nope. Dark Shadow always tries to embarrass him whenever the opportunity arrives.

He's like the younger brother he never had.

Thankfully, the sound of footsteps put his mind elsewhere. He shot his head up and saw Izuku walking slowly through the darkness. He helped him out by meeting him halfway.

"You're late," Dark Shadow said bluntly after emerging from Fumikage. Izuku rolled his eyes while waving his cast.

"It's a little hard sneaking out with a busted arm and shoulder," Izuku said dryly before putting on a small, tender smile. "Thank you for showing up. I thought you would've never wanted to see me again."

"We've been friends for years. I wanted to give you a chance to explain," Fumikage responded. He then looked around. They were still alone and no longer in the light. It was the perfect place to start talking. "So…"

Izuku caught on to his friend's thinking and signaled for him to follow.

"Aren't we going to talk here?" Fumikage puzzledly asked.

"No, I know a place more private, and it'll help me explain things better."

Fumikage shrugged and followed his friend. They stayed within their meet-up spot. They were at the abandoned warehouse unit that was close to the beach. Izuku stopped outside of a door to one of the warehouses and turned to him.

"Let me go first. I told her you were coming, but I have no clue what she'll do when she sees you."

Fumikage wondered who he was talking about and why he was being cautious, but it was quickly answered when Izuku walked in. His friend instantly shot out his left hand and caught a wrench.

"I told you we were coming. You didn't have to throw a wrench," Izuku said with an unamused tone. "And what's with the makeshift costume?"

Fumikage peered over his friend's shoulder and saw what he was talking about. Standing behind a toolbox was a girl holding another wrench. She was wearing a pink sweatshirt, with the hood up to hide her hair, and a white fox mask to hide her face.

"I didn't know if he was going to meet you here or not," she spoke gravelly. Fumikage heard his friend groan while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And why are you talking like that?"

"I can't trust him yet. I'm not going to go down because you let your identity slip."

Izuku defeatedly shook his head before making way for Fumikage. Fumikage closed the door behind him and took in the inside layout. It was very spacious with one corner of the room being taken over by computer screens and another side being surrounded by pitching machines. There was also a living space in the center: one couch, two recliners, and a coffee table in the middle; the same layout as your average living room.

"When did you set this up?" Izuku asked.

The girl walked away from her toolbox and over to the fridge. She pulled out some sports drinks and held them up, offering one to them. Izuku and Fumikage declined her offer, and she shrugged as she put them back, keeping one for herself.

"Yesterday when you were at the USJ. It helped calm me down, and I thought it was time to make this place more homier," she answered while jumping onto one of the recliners. "I also claim this chair."

Izuku once again rolled his eyes while Fumikage walked over to the couch. It looked new, and so did the chairs. Izuku also noticed this detail.

"Did you buy these?"

"Duh, I'm not going to risk catching a disease from furniture from the dump," she said while cracking open her can.

Izuku gave up on understanding her and sat in the other recliner. He looked surprised by how comfortable the chair was and sunk into it. Fumikage sat on the couch and cleared his throat to get his friend's attention.

"So… Are we finally going to talk about it?"

Izuku nodded and sat up to avoid the chair's magic.

"What do you want to know first?"

"Well, how long have you been a vigilante?"

"I think almost a year…" Izuku said while rubbing his chin. "Or at least coming up to a year since we started working together."

The girl nodded as she drank.

"I made his costume and gear," she said proudly. She then, what Fumikage could only assume was glare at Izuku. "I could've shown off my work if someone didn't break them."

Izuku playfully raised his hands, and Fumikage quickly defended his friend.

"I got a chance to see them at the USJ. They looked amazing."

That appeased her as she got back to work on her drink. From the short time he had known her, Fumikage concluded that she was a handful. He wondered how Izuku put up with her for so long.

"You get used to it," Izuku said as if he read his mind. Fumikage snapped back to the reason why he was her. He still had more questions.

"What about your quirk?" He asked, and Dark Shadow came out to emphasize the importance of the question. "I don't think you're quirkless from what I saw earlier and at the USJ."

"You're right," Izuku sighed. "I'm not quirkless. I've had one ever since I was six years old."

"Why didn't you say anything? Why did you go your whole life saying you were quirkless?"

"When I discovered my quirk, it went from being the best day of my life to the worst. I didn't want to tell anyone about it because I thought I was dreaming. If I kept telling everyone I was quirkless, then maybe I would wake up," Izuku said while his voice cracked a little. Fumikage and Dark Shadow gave him sympathetic looks, but he waved them off. "Now I use it to hide my identity. If anyone sees me using my quirk, then they can't tie it back to me."

"What does it do?" Dark Shadow asked.

"I call it Split Second," Izuku started. "It senses when I'm in danger and slows down time."

"Not necessarily," the girl spoke up. "Time doesn't slow down. You speed up."

The two boys and quirk looked at her perplexed. She then climbed over her chair and waved them over to her computer. They watched her open a file and pull up a video of Izuku dodging tennis balls. They could easily see what she was talking about.

She slowed down the footage, but they saw Izuku moving much faster than the tennis balls. It looked like his body was moving in real time while the tennis balls flew through water.

"I had to slow this down because you would've seen Izuku moving all over the place in an instant. I could only notice it because of my quirk," she explained.

"But what are the downsides of it?" Fumikage asked.

She jumped ahead in the video and showed them Izuku getting hit by a tennis ball. He was still moving faster, but it was noticeable that he was moving slower than before.

"Whenever he gets hit, he slows down. It's why I usually have him wear a blindfold when we train his quirk. It helps heighten his senses because if he's attacked from behind, then it would put his life in serious danger," she explained. She showed the rest of the video. Fumikage saw Izuku getting hit by another tennis ball, then another, then another, until the video ended with him being assaulted by a barrage of tennis balls.

"Then why do this? Why would you be a vigilante and have both villains and heroes come after you," Fumikage asked.

"Because I help the people heroes don't see or ignore," Izuku said bluntly. Fumikage raised an eyebrow at what his friend said, so Izuku brushed past him and went on to the girl's computer. "Heroes usually go after the bigger threat, the more obvious, newsworthy crimes. What I do is I take care of the unknown."

Izuku pulled up some articles. They were mostly from unknown websites. Most of the topics were about a failed home invasion, but each talked about a rabbit stopping the crime.

"I'm not saying I haven't stopped a bank robbery or two," Izuku said while pointing at an article about a bank heist being thwarted by a rabbit. "But I'm not going to turn a blind eye to the smaller crimes because those can uncover something bigger."

The final article Izuku pulled up was about Kamui Woods uncovering another underground mutant child fighting ring. More of them have been discovered since the first one was brought to light months ago. Fumikage stared at his friend with wide eyes.

"You started this?"

"Yup," Izuku said with a nod. "It started when I found Hayami in an alleyway. It wasn't hard to learn she was being abused, and when I saw her apartment, it confirmed our suspicions."

The girl nodded along to everything Izuku said. Fumikage saw her pull up another file, but a quick shake of the head stopped her from opening it. The disturbed look on his friend's face told Fumikage everything he needed to know.

"Anyway, after some espionage, we learned that Hayami's mother not only abused her but also had her take part in one of those fighting rings. They kept her and the other kids in a cage, they bet on the fights, and we even caught a glimpse of one of the fights," Izuku sighed before gripping his fist. "I'm glad the police came when they did because I don't know what I would've done if they didn't."

"How did you get the evidence?" Fumikage asked. He hoped changing the topic slightly would raise his spirits. Sadly, the girl answered him.

"I made a hidden camera, and we also have a drone," she said while pointing at the drone on her workbench. "I sent the police the footage, but I made sure to edit out Izuku. I know how vigilantes can muddy the waters with these types of cases."

Izuku cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"It was a messed up situation, but the children are safe, those monsters are locked up, and more of those rings are being discovered today," Izuku said with a proud smile. "And it was because of what we're doing."

Fumikage had to agree with him. They are doing a lot of good, that much is clear. If it weren't for them, then a lot of crimes would go unanswered, and a lot of innocent people would face the consequences. But that still left him with one question, and it's the one that's been bugging him since the hospital visit.

"Then why not become a hero?" Fumikage asked. "This whole thing is like one big hero agency. She makes the gear while you do the hero work. You even sound like an underground hero."

Izuku went on the girl's computer again and pulled up a livestream of the hero ranking. Nothing changed from the last time Fumikage saw it. The only notable thing that he could see was Gang Orca slowly falling out of the top 10.

"You already told me about your dislike of the ranking system," Fumikage said, remembering their conversation from yesterday. "You never explained why it's stopping you from being a hero."

Izuku stared at the rankings intently, skimming over each of the heroes' faces. His expression changed to disgust when his eyes landed on Endeavor. It quickly changed to delight when he saw All Might's hopeful smile.

Izuku sighed as he looked away from the livestream.

"When I was younger, I wanted to be like All Might. Someone strong enough to beat the bad guy and save everyone with my smile," Izuku smiled fondly as he looked back at the livestream. "I bet a lot of them felt the same."

"Then what's the problem?" Fumikage asked, and Izuku frowned.

"This whole thing's a vice," Izuku answered.

"Come again?"

"I bet they wanted to save people too when they were younger. It only changed when they got a taste of what it's like to be in the top 10. They would do anything to keep all the fame, money, and brands. Even if it meant changing their priorities."

Izuku opened another tab and searched "Endeavor." Multiple news articles showed up, talking about him defeating a villain, but when Izuku clicked on them, they also talked about the carnage he brought. The pictures of the scorched buildings and the mention of casualties made Fumikage's stomach churn.

"He's the worst. With the others, I found multiple articles dating back to before they made the top 10 about how they helped out a small community and stayed behind to make sure everyone was alright. I couldn't find anything like that with Endeavor."

"And he's the number 2 hero," the girl added.

Fumikage agreed with some of the things they were saying. Out of all the heroes in the top 10, he could only count on one hand that would let the villain go if it meant saving someone. What Endeavor is doing is deplorable, and he shouldn't be anywhere near the top 10, let alone be number 2. But all of that didn't answer his question.

"Then why are you a vigilante? Wouldn't you do more good as a hero and change things from within?"

"Because I don't trust myself," Izuku stated bluntly. "I wanted to save people, but unlike you and, to an extent, Tsu, I wanted to be more like them. I wanted to work in the light and let everyone see my smiling face so they knew they were safe."

"And that's great," Fumikage said, and Izuku shook his head.

"If I did that, I know it would only be a matter of time before I reach the top 10," Izuku shot him down. "We all like to say money won't change us, but we always say that when we don't have money. At least what I'm doing keeps me honest."

Fumikage placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I understand. I disagree with what you're doing, and I still think you should've become a hero, but I support you," Fumikage said. Dark Shadow also came out nodding his head to show his support.

"Thanks," Izuku said. "And if you need any help, you can ask us for help. Who better to help you with hero work than a vigilante team."

The two friends laughed while the girl cut between them with a piece of paper.

"If he's going to join us, I need him to sign a contract."

"When did you make that?" Izuku asked, but she ignored him. She shoved the contract in Fumikage's face and listed the terms.

"By signing this, you agree not to reveal the identity of Jack Rabbit or his subordinates to the authorities, heroes, friends, or family. Doing so results in one free nut punch…"

Fumikage gave her a wide-eyed stare. He was going to voice his disagreements, but she kept going.

"You're allowed free rein of The Burrow and its equipment to help you train your quirk and body…"

Fumikage did like the sound of that, but he was still on the last section of the contract, and she still didn't let him say anything.

"Also, you agree to a lifetime partnership with Mei Hatsume for any and all future hero costumes and equipment."

She finished talking, and Fumikage was glad. He had multiple questions and concerns about the whole document, especially the nut punch part, but one stood out.

"Who is Mei Hatsume?"

The girl responded by taking off her hood and mask, revealing her pink dreadlocks, yellow scope irises, and excited smile.

"Me, and it will be a partnership you won't regret."