Chapter 19: Midoriya Izuku XVIII

A/N: And here we all go. This time around: some rather unexpected developments and occurences. (Not sure how I feel about this one. I feel as if I didn't spend enough time refining it, but… Oh well. Guess we'll see).

"I still can't believe that you got beaten by a rat! It's pathetic!"

"Hey! You weren't there. You don't even know what happened!"

"I know that you retreated from fighting someone half your height."

Izuku growls. "If you'd done your research you'd understand what I was going against!"

Tomura scoffs. "Why would I waste my time learning about a side character?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that said 'side character' is solely responsible for the entire dismantlement of the yakuza presence in all of Musutafu? All because he didn't their members couldn't influence his students?"

"Oh yeah. And then there's all the documented evidence that he could destroy a city in the span of a few hours with a single swing of a wrecking ball?"

"And have you maybe considered the fact that he constantly fluctuates among the ranks of the top five most intelligent individuals in the world?"

Tomura lets out a laugh. "You're using the dying remnants of the yakuza in comparison to what I can do? And please! Twenty-plus intelligence won't do the rat any good if I touch him. Just a grab and then poof! No rat!"

"You try fighting him next time then!" Izuku argues. "I'll make sure to watch from the side and let you suffer; see how you like it."

"I will like it," Tomura counters with a grin. "I'll show you up. And even better — you get to watch me one-up you."

"The only reason I got out of there was because he let me. He was playing with me. If it was that easy—"

"Ahem."

Tomura takes that as his cue to diffuse the situation (to his own benefit), retreating back into his corner.

Izuku, on the other hand, takes a breath. "Right." He looks at Kurogiri, who's patiently waiting behind the bar's countertop. "Sorry about that."

"It is nothing that I am not already accustomed to," Kurogiri states. "The harmless little feud between the two of you is nothing new. It is something that has been long going, and normally I would be fine relishing in the chaos. But as you know, today is different."

"I suppose," Izuku says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Guess Sensei is waiting for me?"

Kurogiri nods and gestures towards the television. In turn, Izuku walks over to the device, plops himself down on the seat in front of it, and turns it on.

"So… Izuku." Sensei's gravelly voice comes through the static. "Tell me: what exactly happened?"

How to respond to a loaded question such as that… Izuku has a thought. You know what?

"Well…" Izuku begins, "I guess I should say that you didn't give Nezu enough credit."

A pause.

"…Excuse me?"

"I told you that he'd catch on — that the profile we were setting for me was too on the nose," Izuku responds. "Nezu caught on. He looked up my records earlier than he would have other students, just because some things about me interested him. It was because of that that he was ready for me when I began to breach the school's systems."

Of course, that's a partial lie; his early perusal likely wasn't the only leading factor to me being caught. After all, based solely on the principal's response time to my hacks, he's likely way more interconnected to his security systems than most people can be. But then again, what's there to be expected from such an unpredictable individual?

Sensei hums. "I suppose that I should apologize for the transgression."

Somehow, I don't feel as if he's sincere about that. Not like I can tell though — can't exactly use my usual methods to tell if he's lying when his voice is coming through a television.

"And what of the data?" Sensei asks.

As expected.

"I got it all," Izuku says. "And the good news is that Nezu likely has no idea what we were after, considering the fact that I took everything. Nezu may be a genius, but that's still a lot of data to go through to consider what the vigilante Whisper might want. He has no idea the League exists, after all."

"As a result," Izuku continues, "Yuuei — and I mean specifically Nezu — won't have the time or foresight to reschedule 1-A's scheduled field trip to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint tomorrow. Nezu might attach an extra teacher or two just in case, but that's the most he'll go ahead to change up if we base my assumptions on past patterns I've observed from him. He's just too prideful to admit to his failings."

"Very good," Sensei praises. There's another pause. "This is enough, you know. The extra effort that you're going through tonight isn't necessary in the grand scheme of things."

"I need more info if I want to send a message," Izuku says. "And the info I need isn't hidden within Yuuei's databases. You know this."

"I do, don't I?" Sensei huffs. "Very well. Go on ahead, Izuku. Tomura and Kurogiri will be waiting for you tomorrow."

And with that, the television flickers off. Taking the dismissal for what it is, Izuku takes a moment to stretch before hopping off his stool. He strides towards Kurogiri, who's already preparing a replacement backpack for the one he lost back at Yuuei.

"Thank you, Kurogiri," Izuku says as he takes the offered bag.

"I am merely doing my duty, it is of no trouble. But on that note, I do see that you are ready to head off. To Toyokawa, Izuku?"

"Not yet. It's not late enough for that. In fact… I kind of want to take a break first."

"Oh? And where to then?"

Izuku has a thought.

"How about… Sanaruko Park. A certain bench needs filling after all this time."

"Ah. It's been a while."

Izuku settles down onto the green grasses of Sanaruko Park, the wisps of Kurogiri's portal dissolving away behind him. He reaches out with his quirk, and just as to his expectations, he hears the telltale signs of a familiar boy.

He walks over to the bench that faces the lake, and wordlessly deposits himself on the seat beside Todoroki Shoto. There's a brief silence at first, one highlighted by the two of them focusing on the sights given by the surface of the lake rather than each other.

The silence is eventually interrupted however, as Izuku unzips his pack and pulls out a bottle of water. "Thirsty?"

"Hmph." Todoroki takes the bottle and takes a gulp. "You've been listed as missing for the past nine months, you know."

"Yeah…" Izuku offers a smile. "Don't mind me, I guess?"

Todoroki audibly exhales. "If you say so. I know by now that it's better not to ask."

"Thanks." Izuku nods. "So… How was the recommendation exam? I heard through the grapevine that you passed — no surprise there though. Who else was it that got through? That Yaoyorozu girl, Honenuki Juzo with his Softening quirk, and that girl from Saitama — Tokage Setsuna, I think."

Todoroki turns to face Izuku with a contemplative expression. "Your sources must have... improved since I last saw you."

Izuku shrugs. "Well, I wouldn't exactly be doing a good job if I haven't been improving, right?"

"I guess."

Izuku smiles. "So?"

Todoroki lightly hums, considering his thoughts. "I met this guy," he finally says. "Yorarashi, or something. He talked a lot."

Yorarashi… Now why does that name sound familiar?

…

Izuku turns to Todoroki, noticing the silence. "And…?" He eggs on.

"He has a strong wind quirk," — Izuku's eyes widen in realization at that — "and he qualified for one of the top spots. Didn't take it though."

"Really?" Izuku asks, shoving aside his revelation for later. "Why would he do that?"

"He's nice… I think. Or pushy. I'm not sure which. But he let that other girl you mentioned have the spot. The green one. Not sure why, since he took the regular entrance exam later. He passed; and he's in my class now too. He says that I'm his friend, apparently."

Izuku grins.

"How about you?" Todoroki asks. "How was your entrance exam?"

Izuku's grin fades away; his mind working overdrive to adopt a confused, rather than worried and panicked, face. "What? What do you mean?"

"Hmm." Todoroki turns his gaze back to the view over the lake. "Fine."

Izuku sighs, eventually turning his gaze as well to look over the lake. "You know… I'm probably not going to be around for a while."

"And the past year didn't count?"

Izuku lets out a strained chuckle. "I left the water bottles here on this bench daily, didn't I?"

"But you weren't here to talk. Or give advice." Todoroki's face takes on a soft glare. "And the alarm at school yesterday. That was you, right?"

Izuku simply averts his gaze. He leans his head back until he's staring up aimlessly at the sky. "Like you said, you know me."

"But why?"

"My promise to you hasn't changed, Todoroki. Everything that I'm doing — everything that I'm going to do — will be to ensure people like your father stop becoming heroes. And you know how it'll look. I'll be labeled a villain, my methods won't exactly be the most heroic, and sometimes… people might even die. But things like that are required if progress is to bloom. That's just how it is when you want to invoke change in a species as stubborn as ours."

Izuku sighs. "But no matter how bad it looks… Just remember: I'm building for a better future. My aim is a world where we don't have to worry about being tossed aside by society, and where injustices are actually dealt with rather than swept away under the rug. It'll be hard, and my hands will be tainted. But somebody has to do it, and why not me? And hey, because of this, you get to stay as a squeaky clean and marvelous hero. You get me?"

Todoroki grimaces. "Should I… even ask?"

"No. Not really." Izuku suddenly stands up. "And I'm sorry, really. But it's just… It's probably best that we part ways here. So that our individual interests don't conflict, you know?"

Todoroki blinks. "Are you breaking up what small hint of friendship we have?"

"No, of course not! But I…" Izuku cuts himself off, shaking his head. "Just keep a heads up, yeah? I'll stay in touch, just… not as often. No daily water stashes from now on either."

Todoroki takes a breath. "Fine…" His face takes up a look of resolve. "I won't tell anyone about… whatever this is. I owe you that much. And I trust you."

Truth.

That brings a smile onto Izuku's face. He nods, one final time, and turns to leave.

A particular noise catches Izuku's attention. He shifts his focus, paying close attention to the sound of a door opening, and closing right after.

Right on time.

He fine tunes the smaller intricacies of his quirk, adjusting and honing in on his target. He listens as Sir Nighteye leaves his agency, steps out onto the sidewalk, and moves eastward, straight in the direction of his home.

It's what Nighteye has done at exactly 10 p.m. on the dot, without variation, for the past week. Just like how Bubble Girl had left an hour before, and has been doing the same for the past week as well. All that leaves is Centipeder, who always leaves last. His departure time varies, but never extends past two hours after Nighteye leaves.

To Izuku, it doesn't matter if Centipeder leaves now, or in the next two hours. All he cares for is the moment the Nighteye Agency lies empty and dormant. Because when that happens, that's when he'll strike — and finally, after all the time he's spent observing and building up schedules, he'll have his prize.

It's the whole reason he's hiding out on a rooftop in Toyokawa, deep into the middle of the night, and has been doing so for the past seven days. It's a plan Izuku had thought up just last month, as final preparations for the attack on the USJ were being made.

Sure, his infiltration and then subsequent abscondence from Yuuei with all its data already gave himself and the League the upper hand in their upcoming operation.

But then again, wouldn't even more info be useful to them? Wouldn't hidden secrets on All Might of all people work to their advantage?

He had asked Sensei, of course. With he and All Might essentially being bitter arch nemeses, Izuku had no doubt that Sensei had dirt on the Symbol of Peace.

If only getting said information out from the man was as easy as asking for it.

That signature stubborness of the man is why Izuku's sitting atop a rooftop rather than being seated in a more inconspicuous spot, like a restaurant or cafe.

Izuku wants information — classified information on All Might that only his sidekick — however estranged he is — would have. But he needs to be careful if he wants to get it.

Nighteye and his sidekicks are known for their investigative skills and varied contributions to successful police raids. They have the sort of skill set that would make him stick out like a sore thumb if he were to stake them out from a restaurant so late at night for a whole week.

As such, Izuku compromised himself with a position atop a random rooftop, just within two minutes roof-hopping distance of the agency. Far enough away from eyesight, and within range of his quirk to gather information without him ever having to show his head.

And with that, he waits. And listens.

Due to the nature of his quirk, Izuku's never without anything to entertain himself with. During one moment, there's a couple reenacting a scene from a popular sci-fi franchise. In another, there's a kid trying his best to sound mature over the chat system of the game he's playing.

On and on and on. Events go by with Izuku listening in, with everybody none the wiser. Ten minutes pass. Twenty, thirty — just him listening to Centipeder.

It's a lot of sitting around and waiting doing essentially nothing. But Izuku's fine with that. There's never a dull moment after all. Like now, when Otake Yujiro once again enters his radius.

The only reason Izuku's paid any particular attention to the man is due to his apartment being right below Izuku's hiding spot. He always comes home late, oftentimes drunk, and all the while spouting out conspiracy theories and random facts.

Today seems to be one of those days, seeing to the sway of his feet and the ramblings coming from his mouth. Something's different this time, however, and that gains Izuku's attention. There's another man with him, lanky and stiff, swaying and rambling along as well — also drunk, obviously.

Who is he? A drinking buddy? A potential one night stand? A visiting brother or cousin?

He listens as they wobble into the building's elevator, but he gets nothing but nonsensical phrases about octopi tending gardens and reminiscence of the Vinegar Riverbank Incident.

Nonsense then. Nothing to worry about; I have more important things to focus on.

He ignores the two for now, placing a larger amount of his attention back on Centipeder. He's at his desk, as per usual, shifting and filing papers while drinking tea — green tea, based on his earlier statement to Bubble Girl.

Everything's going as usual, and by now there's at max an hour and thirty minutes before the agency is empty. All according to plan.

But then his mind shifts, catching immediately onto something. Away from Centipeder, and to the floor just beneath him.

–Thank you, Otake-san. You've been a real help–

Izuku gulps. I recognize that voice.

–Here's that five thousand yen I offered. Farewell, and have a pleasant night–

All signs of previous drunkenness have been purged from the lanky man. He steps away from Otake and then—

He's gone! Wha—

The door to the roof abruptly bursts open, and in the doorway is none other than Sir Nighteye himself.

Shit! Not again! First it was a hyper intelligent science experiment gone rogue, and now it's a business man who can see the future? Come on!

Izuku springs to his feet — only to find Nighteye to have disappeared once more. Izuku scans his surroundings with both his eyes and his quirk to no avail.

Why can't I hear him? There's no way that he—

Izuku spins in place, eyes widened and with his hands up to block… Only to find nothing there.

But I swear that I heard him! How—

He doesn't have the time to dodge the hand that comes from behind and wraps itself around his neck.

"Almost had me there, but not quite. As of now, any abrupt movements and you're out like a light. Now; turn around. Slowly."

And just like that, Izuku finds himself face to face with Sasaki Mirai, the famed Sir Nighteye himself. Worse, he's there without anything to cover his face. He's vulnerable to being recognized in the future, and that surely can prove a problem.

Nighteye flares his nostrils. "You have some nerve spying on my agency, kid."

Izuku can't help himself, and he growls out in frustration. "You're kidding me! This is the second time today!"

Nighteye raises an eyebrow in question. "You don't say?"

Damn it. Stupid mouth. Izuku bites his tongue to prevent any further potentially damning words from escaping his mouth.

Okay. Calm down. I can escape easily; they shouldn't know my quirk, and I can contact Kurogiri through my phone without having to touch it. Just utilize the voice activation, and I'm home free.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, kid," Nighteye growls. "Now, tell me. What's your name? It'll save me the trouble of having Centipeder look it up."

Okay. First: How did I get found out? There aren't any cameras up here — I triple checked , even for miniature ones — and neither Nighteye, Bubble Girl, or Centipeder turned their heads even relatively near my position. So that means that I must have missed something. Another member? A secret one? Or maybe something on this rooftop? Do they—

There. He hears it, just barely, as it stares at him from a crack in the wall not too far away. It's long, and spindly, and covered in a multitude of legs — legs rubbing together that had given away its position in the first place just moments ago. But at the same time it's uncharacteristically still for one of its kind; so still in fact, that Izuku had completely glossed over its presence until now.

It's a mukade — a centipede.

A mistake on my part. Quirks come in all shapes and sizes, after all.

"Kid," Nighteye interrupts, tightening the hold he has around Izuku's neck. "I'm already being lenient with you because of your age. But you can only test my patience so much. So you either spill in the next ten seconds or you're going to be out cold. What will it be?"

Izuku blinks. Okay. Definitely bad. I'll contact Kurogiri despite how much it irks me that I have to ask him to whisk me away once more today. Izuku pauses, considering something.

But if I do that, I'll have to face Tomura's taunts. And they'll be doubly worse than last time. Izuku suppresses a frown at the thought. Okay, how about I try to find another way out of this first. Time for another gamble; Nighteye appreciates intelligence and craftiness, after all.

"You know," Izuku begins, talking on a rather lax face, "I've known for a while now just how notorious the Nighteye Agency is for keeping the full capabilities of all of its members a trade secret." He smirks. "But really? Centipeder can actually control centipedes? Talk about a surprise for sure."

Must have some sort of compounded quirk from his parents like Todoroki does… Or the centipedes are still a part of his base quirk? Like… Hmm. Well, no sense not to try.

"That centipede next to us, hiding in the crack — it's a part of him, isn't it? Centipeder, I mean. Parts of him that he cuts off and transforms, or something of a similar manner." Izuku tilts his head forward, despite having to strain against Nighteye's grip. "Right?"

Presentation can make or break after all, and one upping your opponent — even mentally — can go a long way in turning the tide.

Moments pass by without a word being said between them. Nighteye simply stares, his cold eyes glaring into Izuku's own. A sudden chill encompasses Izuku's form in the meantime, which passes just as quickly as it had arrived.

Huh. Guess it's rather chilly tonight.

Despite the fact that Izuku hasn't answered his question in the slightest, and ten seconds have passed, Nighteye doesn't go through with his previous threat.

In fact, Izuku notes, Nighteye seems almost… contemplative, if anything.

Eventually, Nighteye finally speaks to break off the silent standoff. "What's your quirk, boy?"

Izuku shrugs. "Does it matter?"

Izuku abruptly finds the hand around his neck retreating back to Nighteye's side. The hero simply stands there, no hint of aggression lacing his features, and with no signs of his usual, stoic expression threatening to rise to the surface.

Nighteye lets out a dismissive grunt. He moves over to the centipede on the ground, picks it up in his hand, and then moves towards the door that leads off the roof.

"Get out of here kid," Nighteye calls out. "And don't have me catching you up here again. I won't be so merciful next time."

Izuku hums in contemplation. I need to know. "Would you mind me asking how you did that disappearing trick?"

Nighteye pauses. He turns his head around one final time, sending a sharp glare back. "Don't push it, kid."

Nighteye turns around and continues walking. He reaches the door, but before leaves he calls out one final time to the intruder of his domain. "Besides, there's no need. You'll learn when you're older."

And with that, Nighteye opens the door to leave. But as this happens, Izuku catches wind of something. Just as the hand holding the centipede gets out of sight behind the door, Izuku can hear the arthropod jump off and climb to the floor. As the door closes, the creature remains, still watching from the crack underneath the door.

Izuku smiles at that. "Don't worry Centipeder," he says. "I got the message. I'm going."

And with that, Izuku runs off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, planning to go as far as he's able before calling Kurogiri for pickup.

But as he travels further and further, his mind can't stop replaying the confrontation in his head. Especially the moment Nighteye completely changed his tune.

Hmm. Wonder what he saw… Izuku shakes his head. Probably best not to dwell on it."

A yawn suddenly interrupts his thoughts. I better get some rest if I want to be at my best tomorrow. Being beaten three times in a row isn't something I want Tomura to know about. He'd never let me live it down.

His mind flashes back to that cold stare, and all the hidden meaning — whatever this is — lying behind it.

It's a shame that I couldn't get what I wanted, but I guess I'll just have to do with what I have. Better than nothing, after all.

A/N: So, Nighteye's abrupt disappearing act. Here's the simple explanation: if Toga can do it, who's to say others can't? And honestly? Nighteye seems like the kind of person who would take advantage of that sort of thing.

As for my decision to have Nighteye's agency in Toyokawa? (Aside from the fact that there isn't an official location - I think? Because if there is, I sure as heck can't find it). Well, based off of Chapter 126, the agency is around one hour away from Yuuei if going by train. And guess what? Toyokawa, Aichi is a little over an hour from Hamamatsu by train! (And yes, we're going with the assumption that the real world city equivalent of Musutafu is Hamamatsu).