Notes: Vigilantism is back, baby! And we finally get the explanation for Izuku's Quirk. Also a bit more of focus on the action rather than getting intel (AFO's secrets are well kept *wink*), so yeah not much in the plot but trust me, we're getting onto that next chapter. Also this chapter takes place during two nights - the first is with Izuku and Shouto, the next one is Iris + Shouto (I love thier dynamic, especially from Todoroki's PoV).
Chapter Summary: Izuku and Shouto got engaged in a combat with a Quirked criminal group. Next night, Shouto and Iris get ahold of a drug ring and they literally crush them. Also Shouto buys Iris a snack (the boi is too dense to realise what's he doing) and have a heavy talk.
TW: Referenced Drugs, Foul language
Izuku's PoV
I kept cleaning up and polishing the gear for the night, just after I got back from work. I wasn't fond of being a waiter in a restaurant but me payement was higher, so I took it anyways. Before I knew, I realised that I made a big fucking mistake. My patience with the clients was barely there and my face was hurting from the fake smile I wore the entire day.
After I ate a cup of instant soup (I needed to stop eating this shit) and talked a bit with Kouji and Shouto (mostly about his conspiracy theories about Iris parents) I started preparing for the night. Unusually, Iris had a free night - she was mostly there, on the schedule due to her big experience in vigilantism. But this night, she got a pass much to her contentment. As Iris claimed, she would finally be well - rested.
According to the timetable, this night I would go with Shouto, scouting around the area of southern east of Tokyo. When we fought, we mostly avoided using our Meta's because it would attract too much attention despite our appearance change. So we relied on our support gear - grappling hooks, capture scarf or the usual weaponary.
Shouto decided to go the traditional way - during our time as Vigilantes, he kept practicing his swordsmanship using a katana the he bought from the pawnshop. Even though we restrained ourselves from using Meta's, sometimes it was necessary to use them. In truth, my Meta used up the energy from an organic matter and instinctively copied the first Meta around. During the first test, I was able to get the fire from Todoroki's Meta and the Lightning aspect came from the last remnants of OFA.
One for All...I still missed it's warm feeling and buzzing sensation under my skin.
I shook my head and I turned around towards Shouto with the gun and grappling hook in my hands.
-"Are you ready?" - I asked him, trying my best not to yawn
He nodded in response.
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I stood on the roof of an abandoned warehouse. The rusted metal kept making sounds under me feet which annoyed the hell out of me - under me were were five men. All of them had they their faces covered with balaclava's and hats - what differed them was the colors of the balaclava's. Each and every one of them had a different shade of balaclava - starting from hot red and ending at dark green.
I side eyed at Shouto - his face was covered with a snowy white mask that he picked up from the costume shop. However he modified it in a way that his mouth was visible and the holes for the eyes were larger. He grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt, unseathed his katana - I would act as a support this time with my trusty sniper gun. I stole it from one particular Villain and trained with it ever since.
I knelt down and took a deep breath - I didn't aim to kill those Villains, but to hurt them enough so that Shouto didn't have to waste his strength on fighting them. Just on knocking them down. I brought my eye nearer the gunpoint. It felt like it was only me and the prey - I made sure that my hand didn't tremble and I took the shot on the Red Villain. I aimed at his shoulder.
The bullet flew through air and hit the spot. Blood gushed from the wound and the Villain screamed. But not for long, because Shouto immediately knocked him unconscious with the duller side of his trusty katana. However the rest of the gang didn't wait - Shouto readied himself but before he covered the floor in a thin layer of frost.
In the meantime I reloaded the weapon, and took the opportunity that Shouto created. I placed my finger on the trigger and pulled it. The bullet pierced through Green Villain's leg and then Todoroki smashed his head into the concrete, knocking him down. The thug with a blue balaclava dropped him weapon and immediately started running away.
I trusted Shouto with the last Villain that still fought, having a Meta that extended his limbs. But I couldn't let the Blue Villain to run away - I changed my position and I hastily aimed my gun barrel at his right knee. My body went still, and I felt nothing besides serenity when I pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the aimed spot almost immediately - the Villain went squirming with the blood leaking from the gunshot.
I jumped down from the roof, and from the corner of my eye I saw Shouto covered in not his own blood. The blade of his katana was covered in scarlet red - the Villain was clearly alive, judging by the wounds, Todoroki aimed at his non vital points. I knocked down the cowardly Blue Villain with my gun and pulled out the piece of rope from my pants.
When I finished binding him up, I pulled out my phone and started messaging to the police.
Just another fight during the patrol.
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Shouto's PoV
The leader of the group spilled all the beans about the recent drug ring near the Tokyo's northern border - they mostly sold drug's that supressed Quirks. That within itself wasn't nothing new - but the information that they this was a prototype, and a new version was in progress was something that none of us expected. The thug in a hot red balaclava gave us the location of the drug ring - because of the schedule, I filled Blondie in about the whole mess.
Izuku was sleeping through the night. After that he had time for himself which meant coddling Kouji (and also reading him Superman comics, watching Frozen 1 from pirate sites and learning Kanji). The kid was homeschooled mostly - I covered literature & history, Blondie was teaching him Japanese and English along with the basics of Geography. That left Izuku with Math and Biology - we tried our best not to overwhelm him but the kid had a thirst for knowledge. I almost felt like I was seeing mini Izuku back at U.A.
I felt bad because he had no interactions with other kids - I didn't want for him to grow up lonely or isolated. But with the government still looking for us, we couldn't afford to take the risk of sending him to daycare, especially with the Anti - Quirked movement being so strong in Japan. Still, it reminded me how I only could look out from the window in my house. I could only watch my siblings playing with each other. Before U.A. I had no friends.
I didn't want this fate for Kouji.
This day was exhausting because we had (with Blondie) new supply drop to unpack. We already super tired from the work but the vigilantism couldn't wait. The civilians won't save themselves - and I couldn't atone for what I've done back then. When I witnessed the carnage all around me, turned my back and just ran.
With the location in mind, me and Blondie were standing at the roof of a small apartment building with balcons. It was a hideout for the drug ring where they would manufacture and sell those prototypes of Quirk suppresants. Nothing like the stuff I knew from my times.
For the sake of the mission Blondie changed her outfit a bit. Instead of her usual black hoodie and gray long sleeved t - shirt, she chose a sleeveless black sport top combined with an utility belt. She also wore fingerless gloves to better wield her sword, tank dark green pants and military leather shoes. She actually looked very pretty in that outfit, especially when she wasn't wearing her mask and cool gray balaclava. With her disheveled dark blond hair reaching her shoulder blades and piercing silver gray eyes, Blondie looked more like a unbreakable warrior rather than a Vigilante.
We jumped down the balcony and slid the glass door using one of the fickle Blondie's Quirks. We were in the bedroom but the thugs gathered up in the living room, obviously drinking judging by the sounds of glass beer bottles in the background. We unseathed our weapons and silently pushed the door to surprise the criminals. I gribbed my katana tight and attacked the first thug I saw - I knocked him out with the dull side of my blade.
The Villains got up from the chairs and on wobbly legs, they tried to attack us. We split up - the thug with a bald head and mustache charged at me with a right hook. I easily blocked it with my katana and then with my free hand I slammed his head into the nearest wall with so much force that things on the nearest shelves fell onto the floor. The baldie's pal screamed from behind and charged at me with his face red from alcohol.
I sighed, kicked him in the knee and knocked him out with the hilt of my katana. In the meantime Blondie handled the rest of thugs but without using her sword, just pure hand - to - hand combat. It really proved that she had lots of experience as a Vigilante in our times - but I couldn't help but feel that something was off.
The weird thing was that Blondie had battle experience, like she was already on the battlefield during an open fight. Even then, during our patrols she was detail oriented and had a military level of discipline. It wasn't a part of her personality, it was rather something that she learned. And that leaded it one conclusion.
Blondie had fought on battlefield, before we time travelled to the Dawn of Quirks. Hell, maybe before she started being a Vigilante - if that was the case, then that meant that someone molded her. Just like Endeavour wanted to mold me into his perfect successor - no question asked, I had to do what he told me to do. One step out of line meant punishments.
Something that I kept seeing in my dreams.
I glanced at Blondie who was binding up the unconscious Villains. I needed to have a talk, right after the patrol. I couldn't just watch the molding digging into Blondie. Not when I knew how terribly suffocating it felt.
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After the patrol ended, around 4 A.M. we went to the nearest 24h store. More like I dragged Blondie who was protesting because as she claimed, she was "fine". It didn't matter, I bought her a granola candy bar and a bottle of energy drink. The night was calm and warm, so we sat on the nearest bench. In the meantime, Blondie kept side eyeing - fuck, she was too sharp for her own good.
I didn't know how to start the conversation, so I didn't beat around the bush.
-"Blondie, I saw how you behave during patrols"
She frowned in the response with question marks around her face.
-"You're detail oriented and very disciplined. And yes, I know that you were a Vigilante back in our times. But that's not the point - what I mean is that you have lots of battle experience. Not when we're silently taking out thugs, I mean in the open fight" - I explained and Blondie immediately tensed up
-"Non one our age has this level of experience. Also you have lots of expertise in hand - to - hand combat and using very different types of weapons" - I continued with a heavy voice because I was reminded of my trainings with Endeavour -"Plus the battle instincts that you have look like that they have been polished for years. And you were a Vigilante for around 7 months".
Blondie kept quiet with her hands clenched on her utility belt.
-"So...what happened to you?"
Iris turned her head around to the other side with a haunted look on her face. After a minute complete of silence, she finally replied.
-"More than you can imagine. But let me tell you a secret. I know about your life with Endeavour and what happened to your family. The training you had compared to I've been through during my training was nothing more than a child's play. Every day I counted minutes inside my head to deduce how long I survived my training. A-And you're not wrong about the e-experience...I-I was molded to be a living w-weapon" - Iris vaguely revealed with her voice cracking at the end
My training with Endeavour was a child's play compared to hers?!
-"My only purpose was to fight and slaughter without a second though. But I couldn't...I a-always had doubts and I second guessed myself on multiple occassions. I-I'm not a g-good person, Shouto. My hands are tainted with blood with the people I was forced to kill".
....
-"Did you feel guilty after you killed?"
-"Always...I couldn't stop thinking about it. It never truly let go of me".
-"Then I don't consider you to be a bad person. You did what you did because you had. And that's the fundamental difference, Blondie".
I felt something new when I said those words. I felt like I could help someone who needed that help. Just like Izuku reached out his hand to me and as the result, I could help someone else. And that person was Arisa. Not Blondie or even Iris - Arisa Kanai. Because after months of shared night patrols, I considered her to be my friend.
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PS. Sorry for the delay! But I need to inform about one thing - I'm going on the hiatus because I have surgery really soon and I need time recover after it. I'll be back with a new Chapter around July 17th! Thanks for reading and have a good one.