Izuku sighed as he collapsed onto Tanaka-San's couch as he had just finished another day of work and stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds as he calmed his mind. Dabi had made quite a bit of progress with his quirk control and Izuku suspected that he was training it when he wasn't there.
Dabi could light his whole hand without focusing all his fire into it, made the candle flames do more than wiggle and even made it into a ring, and though he could only do it with his right hand he could put out the flames without touching them.
And both Ochaco-Chan and Mezo-Kun had made leaps and bounds with their quirks. Mezo-Kun had almost perfected Ochaco-Chan's voice which would be his fifth voice and his first female voice, and he managed to form something like scales which he could make thicker but unfortunately it was limited to his secondary limbs.
Ochaco-Chan on the other hand had done her best to get rid of her nausea whenever she used her quirk on herself, but it wouldn't seem to go away even when Izuku got her some anti-nausea meds. She had also managed to figure out how to use both ways of her quirk at the same times, so once Ochaco-Chan got some more experience under her belt with that he'd suggest she could try making other things heavier before floating herself.
Plus to top it all off they had met someone recently and added him to their group chat so they could talk a little since they haven't had the time to meet up in person and this Awase-San seemed pretty nice over text so far, and once Ochaco-Chan spilled about his quirk and the fact he wanted to be a hero as well Izuku probably spend a good chunk of the afternoon theorizing ways for Awase-San to maximize on his quirk's potential.
And all that thinking had been an excellent distraction for what had been plaguing his mind since his meeting with Raven last week. Things were escalating in a way he hadn't accounted for when he first started his work in the districts but then again how was he supposed to know that he'd be threatening the reign of an evil overlord by just being nice to people.
It was tempting to just bury himself in everything else he was doing but he knew that would be a grave mistake for even thinking of doing it. Izuku had no idea how he'd become famous in public circles without being someone that would get crushed by public outrage with him defying what it meant to be a pathetic two-toes.
He'd need to spend quite a lot of time figuring out some kind of plan but there was a more immediate issue that had come to mind, the fact he had almost no way to defend himself if one of All For One's men came to take him away. He had a taser yes but that was hardly a full proof plan since some people had quirks that would make the voltage simply null and void.
Izuku had gained some muscle because even he would be daft to think all the running around wasn't going to make him stronger. He was faster than he had been before certainly but that was hardly going to last longer than a few minutes if he was lucky enough to have someone that didn't have a speed quirk.
He knew nothing of hand-to-hand unless those hero-tube videos he watched years ago were accurate and even if they were he hadn't been the most diligent student back then since his brain was scrambled.
No matter whatever way he cut it was clear he needed to learn some form of self-defense and the thought of it cut him deeply. Learning martial arts for a future in heroics was something he could personally compromise on but even then it felt wrong, this however wasn't something Izuku could afford to play around with.
As it was now everything he built relied solely upon him and he had made it that way since he hadn't wanted to burden anyone else with his work, and with the very real threat of him disappearing in the near future that was clearly a mistake that he'd need to correct as soon as physically possible. But that would take time and resources he currently didn't have.
There were few ways he could change this but he'd need to buy himself enough time to get those changes started so he needed to learn some way to defend himself beyond his taser and frankly he didn't have the time to pick up on hand-to-hand in his current schedule much less a full-fledged martial art but he could learn one thing even it was more unpalatable to him.
He could learn to shoot a gun. An old law from the beginning of the first quirk war had never been touched in Japan having probably been long forgotten but still enforceable as any other, one that allowed any citizen that were old enough to and proven capable could apply for a license to own and carry a gun in public, as well as the right to conceal carry them.
There were shooting ranges available to him all over where he traveled compared to only having a few hours on a single day with an instructor it was clear which would be more viable for him to do.
Izuku let out a heavy sigh and took out his phone and typed in the number for the Vespas in Aomori. He hesitated before pressing the call button and held the phone next to his ear "Hello Deku-Sensei, how may I help you?" a woman replied having picked up almost immediately, something he had come to expect given the few times he's called them they always picked up on the first ring.
"I would like to speak with Raijin in person about something tomorrow, when is he available?" Izuku asked, the phone picked a soft hum as she presumably checked with someone "He'll meet you at the station, you can speak on the train back. Will that be acceptable Deku-Sensei?" the woman offered.
"That should be fine, thank you Vespa-San." Izuku told her running a hand through his hair.
"Not a problem Deku-Sensei, we are happy to help." the woman calmingly replied before hanging up and leaving Izuku to feel morose over his decision.
Well, he would've if Taka hadn't taken it upon himself to jump up on the couch and started licking at his face. Unfortunately Izuku was still fighting off Taka's aggressive affection when Kiku-Kun got home.
Izuku went through that Saturday like always though he stopped by the sheep paddock for a bit longer than the last time before getting on Юрий-Саи's yacht for his weekly Russian lesson, and managed to not let it slip about his meeting with Raijin which was what he was hoping for since Юрий-Сан might try to convince Izuku to train with him instead.
Izuku would have been fine with that but he didn't want Юрий-Сан asking why Izuku suddenly wanted a gun or changing his schedule to follow Izuku around the island.
Walking to the station Izuku weaved through the small crowd of people going home and tourists subtly looking for a white pair of ears as he made his way to where the train he always took home was, but hadn't managed to find any.
Even as he stood within a meter of the train he couldn't see Raijin anywhere which was odd because every other time he had a meeting with a Vespa they were waiting for him.
Slightly concerned, Izuku waited for a few more minutes knowing he had at least fifteen minutes before he'd had to check in with the train.
Izuku didn't know Raijin personally having met the man about twice before, but this situation made him feel a touch uneasy and he pulled out his phone preparing to call the Aomori branch of the Vespas when some shouting got his attention. Turning his head, he saw Raijin storming away from another person with leopard features with a dark look on his face.
"Raijin do not walk away from-" the woman growled her clawed hands reaching out for the man's ears but the next second the woman wasn't far away, and her hand was on Izuku's arm. The woman stared at him shocked and panicking Izuku's eyes quickly searched for something he could use all over the woman's body and spotted a familiar tattoo on her hip.
Calming down he looked the woman in the eyes and narrowed his gaze "I doubt Papa marsh would be too happy to know what just happened, unless you want me to tell him what you just did I strongly suggest you finish whatever business you have with Raijin later." he coolly told the woman and saw her pupils shrink when he mentioned the man "How-" the woman whispered.
"Leave." Izuku said not letting her finish her question.
Showing some common sense, the woman held up her arms and begrudgingly walked away from him and Raijin. Glancing at his arm there were some small cuts that wouldn't need more than for him to wipe them clean and turned to Raijin.
Having some experience with how "tough" people tried to hide how rattled they were Izuku could immediately tell from how badly Raijin's ears were twitching as he forced them to stay upright.
"Hello Deku-Sensei, sorry for being late and dragging some... personal business along with me." Raijin told him and Izuku chose to ignore it for now.
"It's fine, a minor inconvenience at most Raijin. Now let's get on the train, I would prefer to speak in our room." Izuku replied heading for the train and Raijin nodded quickly following after him.
Izuku didn't bother doing anything with his luggage and simply dropped it on his bed for the night and rolled up his sleeve to treat the cuts "So what do you need so badly that you wanted to see me in person?" Raijin asked settling on a chair one leg over the other.
"I want to learn to shoot." Izuku answered and he could see the man's eyes so big he was afraid they'd pop out of Raijin's skull "Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. Forgive me if I've misheard, but ain't you some pacifist? Detest all violence and do no evil crap?" Raijin questioned and Izuku bit his lip and paused from treating his arm.
"I don't like hurting people and I don't want to ever do that... But I'm sure you know that there are times where that isn't possible. Especially once he starts asking questions." Izuku answered as he reached out for his luggage and searching for some band-aids.
Understanding crossed Raijin's face "Ah, should've figured a two-toes would know about him... I'd offer to help ya find someone that could be a bodyguard for ya, but I think we both know even if I could find someone trustworthy, they probably wouldn't be enough to keep ya safe with him after ya." Raijin conceded glancing away.
Izuku nodded "I want to learn how to shoot so I can protect myself, knowing your family... you likely have access to shooting ranges all across Japan, shooting ranges that won't kick me out for being a two-toes." Izuku explained, Raijin sighed.
"Yeah, we do. I'll have to make some calls to the rest of the family, but it shouldn't be too hard to arrange, I'm guessing you want something small caliber? An easy to hide handgun?" Raijin inquired and Izuku nodded "'Kay, we'll keep someone on hand to help you, how many days and for how long?" Raijin asked.
"Every day except Sundays, for two hours in the afternoon after lessons. Until I'm ready to apply for my permit. And no, I don't want you guys to pull any strings for me to get one, helping me find an unbiased range for my test sure, but if I'm going to carry a weapon, I want to know I won't kill someone by accident." Izuku responded, a touch sterner as he said the last bit.
"Right, we'll do our best but there ain't many places outside of police stations that aren't connected to someone, and I don't think you'll want to go to any of those." Raijin commented and when he thought of it Izuku felt his body tremble.
No, Izuku would not want to go to a shooting range full of policemen, he would not be able to stop himself from shaking and nodded his head to show as much.
"Figured... I'll get everything ready by next Monday, and we'll have someone pick ya up after lessons." Raijin promised grabbing out his phone and began to text someone "Thank you, I know this is just a favor, but I do appreciate it Raijin." Izuku muttered knowing he'd be heard.
"What can I say? I'm a man of my word, besides it ain't like you aren't a major boon to us, not many people outside the family can handle our brood." Raijin joked brushing the greenette off and left Izuku to his own devices in the room he paid for.