Chapter Text
“At least he won.” Hitoshi was in disbelief at what he just watched. A new nomu attacking just after the hero rankings shocked everyone. Endeavour narrowly emerged victorious with the help of Hisashi and Hawks. This was just soon after he and Mina got back to the dorms to take a rest. Out of everyone, they’re the ones that still have a work study ongoing. Katsuki was busy finding a new hero to work with. Ochako, Tsuyu, and Kirishima were busy resting from some raid they were a part of. Much to their relief and disappointment, it was the League of Villains that cleared up most of the raid for the heroes, even if they had their own ulterior motives. That called for an immediate cover up by the HPSC.
He looked at Shoto, who was sitting down on the carpet and breathing a sigh of relief. He didn’t know much about Shoto and Endeavour’s relationship, but things changed noticeably some time back when Shoto was rescued from his kidnapping. Hitoshi always suspected that Shoto discovered something about the League that he only told Endeavour. His own guess was it having something to do with the member Dabi. Not that he’d ask the guy about it. They weren’t even close.
“So, did you find your murderous boyfriend, Mina?” Tooru teased her best friend while Ojiro exhaled an exasperated sigh. Mina rolled her eyes before sheepishly nodding. It was brief, and the guy did just shoot Endeavour.
“What was he like, actually? Brooding? Edgy? A lot of issues?” Ochako asked her since she herself was curious about it. The two of them didn’t talk much when he was still “Akusero”.
“He has a lot of issues. He may have forgiven Bakugou, but I think there’s still some resentment that he didn’t want to admit.” Mina recounted the time she mentioned Bakugou during one of their dates when she was telling him about battle training. It was subtle, but she could tell his eyes darkened at the mention of him. “But come on, guys. Is Izuku really the only thing you wanna hear from my work study?”
“Well, I, for one, like the gossip about it. Just in front of you and you’re part of the conversation and not behind your back,” Jirou admitted.
“Anyway, Slime King let Ms. Joke borrow me for a moment. He said something about expanding the variety of whom I work with. Not everyone is gonna be the same.” It was fun to work with a friend, too. Hitoshi was already teaching her a few things he learned from Eraserhead and a few dirty tricks he learned on his own. “Tomorrow we’ll be collaborating with the police!”
“Be sure to tell us what you learned, okay?” Momo added, still trying to find who she should work with. Majestic’s name kept coming up for her, but she still remains unsure after that disaster with Uwabami.
“I gotchu!”
Tomorrow…
Both Hitoshi and Mina were bored out of their minds. It was just meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting without getting any real work done. Hisashi, who was part of the meeting, shot them an apologetic look. Even Ms. Joke was looking bored, and they couldn’t even tell if Eraserhead was listening or not. They’re wishing for anything to happen right about now. Unfortunately, real life doesn’t follow their wants. Nothing happened, and the meetings went on until after lunch.
The two walked on the street, just about ready to die from boredom. A few kids greeted them, and Mina managed to put up a smile. Tsukauchi was walking with them. Eraserhead and Ms. Joke were in a different area right now. Hisashi was too injured to actually be on the field after that fight with the High End.
“No offense, isn’t it weird for a detective to be walking around with us?” Mina broke the silence while they were keeping an eye out on the streets.
“It would be, but Eraserhead and Ms. Joke just handed you guys to me. I figured you’d be better off patrolling outside than helping me with boring ol’ paperwork.”
“Do you think those guys are-”
“Acid Queen, I don’t think now is the time to be gossiping about our coworker’s love life.” Hitoshi was not about to hear about the supposed sexual tension between Eraserhead and Ms. Joke from Mina for the tenth time this day. “If you wanna do that so much, how about we talk about who you’re dating.”
“Well he’s still your best friend!” Mina pointed out.
“That’s actually a topic I wanted to discuss with you two.” Tsukauchi suddenly stopped in his tracks. He gestured the two to a nearby cafe. “Let’s take a break then, shall we?”
The three of them sat down after getting their orders. Shinso with some cappuccino. Mina went with an iced Spanish latte while Tsukauchi took some black coffee. The three quietly sipped their drinks as Tsukauchi spoke up. “I don’t approve of your relationship with Civil War.”
“Damn. That’s bad.” Mina said. “His name is Izuku, by the way.”
“Mina.” Hitoshi tried calming her down.
“Crippled police officers and heroes, murders, homicides, domestic terrorism, robbery, kidnapping, weapons smuggling, gang wars, manslaughters, vigilantism.” Tsukauchi listed down the number of crimes Izuku had committed. His voice is low enough for no one else to hear what they were talking about. “Mina, you could end up with a case of accessory to murder.”
“We’re dating, sure, but I am not involved in those things. You of all people know I’m trying to get him captured.”
“I know that.” Tsukauchi emphasized that fact. Hitoshi was still sipping his coffee. “But it shouldn’t be you who’s doing this. This matter should be left to the pros and the police. Not to students who should be spending their time anywhere but in danger.”
“With all due respect, we’re hero students, detective.” Hitoshi interjected.
“I also know that but a relationship with a known villain? Mina, you are risking your life unnecessarily.”
“I’m risking my life. He’s risking his freedom for always coming to our dates anyway.”
“We could always capture him.” Tsukauchi tried to reason with her.
“Why didn’t you?” Mina asked him. “The only times you guys and the heroes ever got close to capturing him was when we were on our dates. Out of anyone involved, I want him captured the most. I want him to get the help he needs. That there’s another way than this life.”
“If we actually captured him, he would be tried as an adult and executed like one.” Tsukauchi pointed out, silencing Mina.
“No he won’t be.” Hitoshi called his bluff. “He’s second-in-command in the League right now after Tomura and alongside Paul. He’s been to all their possible hideouts. He knows most of their future plans. Izuku’s intel is too valuable to make his execution even worth it.”
“Regardless of that, you need to see reason in the dangerous game you’re playing with him. He’s still a diagnosed sociopath-”
“An asshole bullied him to insanity, but yes, that doesn’t excuse what he’s doing right now.” Hitoshi agreed with Tsukauchi. “But you don’t know him like we do. We saw the good he did back then. None of them were fake. He forgave Bakugou, even if there’s some leftover resentment. He helped me get into the hero course even if it didn’t benefit him. Izuku even convinced Mineta to turn his life around. Hell, he even killed Muscular to save Mina and Kota. I don’t think it’s too late for him. There was no reason for him to do all those things since it would not have benefitted him, so why did he do it?”
“A convincing lie, perhaps.”
“Helping everyone improve their skills? Being a good example when it comes to forgiving? Trying to make everyone the best versions of themselves? Recommending me a mentor that actually helped me? Detective, you need to understand why we’re hesitant to call him a lost cause. Deep down, I think he still wants to be a hero.” Mina said.
“I don’t think he could be considering what he does now,” Tsukauchi answers back after hearing Mina’s last sentence. “Once they cross a certain line, there is no going back.”
“There’s no going back, or are we not letting them back?” Hitoshi asked the detective. “I get it, I really do. We don’t know much about his past life besides what Bakugou did to him. Maybe he felt like he was trapped in a corner for the rest of his life and so he had nothing left to do but lash out. That doesn’t excuse what he does now, but I’m not giving up on him.”
Meanwhile, at the LOV Hideout…
Izuku sat in the corner, doing nothing but thinking to himself. It’s been a year now since he joined the league. He didn’t regret it, but something was eating at him at the back of his mind. Something he tuned out for a while now. At least, while he has been training to be, well, a villain. Or was he just a normal criminal compared to his team?. The accuracy quirk and the decoy quirk was all he had apart from the loads of firearms. Without those, he might as well still be quirkless. Having nothing else to do apart from taming Machia for their use and the occasional tracking down of MLA executives really made him think back from before he joined the league.
“Anything on your mind?” Izuku looked up to see it was Miro. He currently has stitches on his lips, so there’s that. He nodded instead. Miro set the knife on the table. “I have a feeling this shouldn’t be a one-way conversation.”
Izuku stared at Miro before taking the knife. In one swift motion, his stitches were cut off. “To be honest, you might not believe this, but the league kind of slowed down.”
“Oh, yeah. I would know that. Russia has intel on a lot of things, like potential allies in the underworld. But I digress.”
“Slowing down, it really got me thinking. How I was from before I joined. I already told you that I used to be quirkless.”
“You did. You got your two quirks from that shady man you call Sensei before he was captured. I’ll be the first to tell you that I do not trust him based on your descriptions.”
“I wasn’t really given much choice in joining. Not that it would have mattered. I think, at that point in time, I would have joined anyway.” Izuku shrugged. The memory of it was vivid. “I was at my lowest point at the time. I just… recently jumped off a building.”
“Oh. I see.” Miro’s eyes widened at the revelation. Izuku could describe it as a concern of an elderly for the youth. “And you were saved, correct?”
“Not by a hero. Tomura… my brother. He gave me a second chance and then here I am. But I was thinking of who I was before all of that. I wanted to be a hero once.”
“Do you still wish to be?” Miro asked him.
“It’s too late for that now,” Izuku answered him.
“That isn’t a no. I know what your hobby is. I know what you do in your off-time. Vigilante work passed off as ‘thinning out the competition’. You’re not fooling me.” Miro said to him. “It’s as if you still wish to help people, but you also wish to repay your brother.”
“I… was weak back then. I had nobody. Maybe my dad, but he wasn’t around. Not because he didn’t love me, but because he had his duty as a police officer. My mom, bless her heart, but all she did was cry to me and apologised. My so-called best friend back then? Yeah right. Sure, he changed now but couldn’t he have done that earlier? In the end, I thought I had nobody and I forgot about myself.”
“Yourself?”
“Despite everything, I always had myself. Thinking back, nothing was stopping me from trying, anyway. To be a hero. I didn’t even try to get as strong as I could until, well, after I joined. What did I even do to chase my dream? Writing notes in a notebook?”
“So you felt like you never actually tried? I wouldn’t blame you personally. You were beaten down. You were taught to stay down. What else would you have known back then?” Miro patted Izuku on the back. “Maybe there were other ways that could have been done, but we don’t know every path until someone else shows it to us.”
“That’s… I shouldn’t excuse myself. I could have done more. I was desperate. I wanted to make an impact. I don’t regret joining the league. Maybe I have my doubts about Sensei, but I believe what Tomura says. We break down society as it is now, and build a new one. Something that’ll make life easier for those like us. Something where they don’t have to resort to, well… this.” Izuku gestured to the entire thing. Miro stayed quiet, letting him say his piece. “I just regret how I never saw other paths. I knew there’s no going back when I… started to like hurting people. I still don’t like killing people, but I’m scared. I’m scared I’ll get used to it.”
“Hm. I have a feeling the only people you like to hurt are… well, those like us, but with less noble intentions and heroes doing less than they really should.” Miro guessed he seems to be close to the mark, judging by Izuku’s expression. “Admit it or not, even if some heroes do the right thing for the wrong reasons, they’re still doing the right thing in the end. That’s why I try to keep my attention on other groups rather than the heroes themselves.”
“You… do have a point.” Izuku admits. That’s why he was never fully sold by Stain’s ideology. Then again, he still kills or cripples them, so who was he to have a say in it?
“I think this is a good time to be honest with you. I don’t like that you and Himiko work for the league. You’re just teenagers.”
“I can assure you that Toga and I are fully capable of-”
“I know what you two can do. I don’t like the fact that you have to. You’re young. You should be hanging out with friends. Having some lovers' quarrel with your girlfriends or boyfriends. I know what both of you went through now, and I think you both deserved better. I wished that you two lived better lives, so much so that you didn’t feel the need to join this group just to belong somewhere. Kids should be kids while they still can.”
“But you… won’t stop me now?” Izuku asked.
“No. Forcing you to stop would mean taking the choice away from you. I want you to stop, but it should be your choice in the end. If I force you, you would find a way to get back in this dangerous game on your own. That extends to Himiko.” Mirko stood up… “Well, I appreciate you hearing this old man ramble about what he wants. However, this is your life. Like you said, you have more control over it than you think. Stay like this or go on another path. At any point in time, you’re free to choose and there’s always more than two.”
“Always more than two…” Izuku mumbled to himself. “Thanks. For listening, Miro.”
Heroes’ side…
“Acid Queen, I’ll go around to the top. You get the mugger on the right side.” Hitoshi started using his kusarigamas to scale the building while Mina went over to the right. They heard a noise from the alleyway and a civilian running away told them someone was getting mugged. Tsukauchi was with them, observing how they work.
“All right, hands up and- oh.” Mina was about ready for a fight only for her to see that the situation was already dealt with. Some guy with ropes for arms had the mugger tied up. The victim on the ground was barely conscious. Mina could tell the guy had a crocodile mutation. The mugger was wearing a mask she was way too uncomfortable with.
“Well, that’s been dealt with.” Hitoshi jumped down the building while walking up to the guy with ropes for arms. “I know you’re probably just a civilian, but thanks for stepping up. Judging from this guy’s injury, I doubt this was just mugging.”
“Yeah, well, I felt like I had to do something. There weren’t any heroes around and the guy was in tro-”
“Hands up.” Tsukauchi was aiming at the guy who had the mugger tied up.
“What?”
“Hands up. Unauthorised quirk use.”
“Whoa. Detective. Come on, he just helped the guy.” Mina tried reasoning with Tsukauchi while tending to the victim’s wounds. She already called for an ambulance. The only thing left was keeping him stable.
“Detective, we could have been too late if this guy hadn't stepped in.” Hitoshi placed himself between the gun and the ropes for arms guy. Tsukauchi kept his gun aimed.
“Regardless of whether or not we would have been too late, the law is the law.”
“Is it really if we let people die?” Mina asked the detective. “The man saved this guy’s life. We can’t just point a gun at him as a reward.”
“He broke the law.”
“Maybe I should just let him-”
“No. You did the right thing. Risky, but you saved the guy’s life.” Hitoshi turned his head to speak to the ropes for arms guy. “Like hell am I letting you get arrested for doing that.”
“And then what? He’ll set an example to the others. They’ll be risking their untrained lives instead.” Tsukauchi reasoned with Hitoshi.
“And what the hell are you teaching him right now?!” Mina snapped. “That if you saved a life when no hero is around, you deserved to have a gun pointed at you?! Are you insane?!”
“The law is the law.”
“Let it go, Detective.” A voice behind them spoke. The three turned around to see it was Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady. They were followed by Shiozaki, Sero, and Mineta. “As far as we know, there’s no one to witness what the guy did. We can give credit to these two instead.”
“Credit. Ha. A worthless mutant freak getting credit?” The mugger was finally conscious. Much to everyone’s annoyance, it only confirmed why he’s wearing the skull mask. He was a member of the Creature Rejection Clan. “I’d rather you give the civilian credit. You know how embarrassing it would be if the reports said I got caught by a pink piece of shit?”
“Hey asshat.”
“The fuck did you just-” The clan member went limp, falling for Hitoshi’s brainwashing. “Detective, we really have no time arresting someone who actually helped out. We need to bring this guy in.”
“He’s right.” Mt. Lady walked up to them. Mina and Hitoshi could feel themselves getting sized up by the heroine. They paid no further mind to it as everyone went to the police station. The victim was brought to the hospital while the one who saved them was thanked and secretly paid by Kamui Woods with money and autographs. There were luckily no hard feelings involved in him almost being arrested. It still didn’t sit right with everyone that he almost got arrested for doing something good.
“Kinda sucks. We can't give the guy credit.” Sero said, while sipping on some apple juice. The interns were on a break right now. Eraserhead and Ms. Joke were already called over while Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods were giving a debriefing about the situation.
“I pray the man is taken away for a long time. Hopefully, he reflects on his actions.” Shiozaki said while snacking on a protein bar.
“They rarely do.” Mineta pointed out. Everyone sighed, knowing Mineta replaced his pervertedness with cynicism.
“I mean, my boyfriend did.”
“Shiozaki, with all due respect, it’s almost as if you try to find every opportunity to brag about your boyfriend.” Mineta rolled his eyes while Sero chuckled to himself.
“You can’t believe how much she talks about Bakugou sometimes. It’s hilarious.” Sero said to Hitoshi and Mina.
“I see they’re still at the honeymoon phase.” Mina laughed about it. “I mean, Hitoshi here is technically married.”
“It was a loveless marriage. Mei and I are more like business partners than anything.” Hitoshi explained to Sero, who was a bit confused, why one of his classmates was already married. “Enough about relationships. How were you guys doing?”
“The usual. Nothing much happened, as it is a rather slow week.” Shiozaki admitted. They were being taught to improve during their off-times but the field itself was mostly patrols. “How is your week?”
“Same thing. Slime King sent me to Ms. Joke so I could gain a new perspective. It’s great being able to hang out with a friend while at work. We spent a few times chasing after my boyfriend whenever we spotted him.” Mina recounted her past weeks.
“Ah, yes. Your boyfriend. Which mine beat.” Shiozaki said. That mildly annoyed Mina. Hitoshi stood up, immediately reading the room and not wanting to be a part of it. Mineta popped open a can of popcorn and handed some to Sero. Both were more than eager to watch.
“Beat? Didn’t their last fight left Bakugou in a wheelchair?” Mina asked the loaded question.
“True, but weren’t yours immediately caught after?”
“True, but I turned him in. Bakugou was busy not dying at the time. Face it, Shiozaki. Izuku is better.”
“I can assure you that Katsuki can beat him in the rematch.”
“No he won’t. My boyfriend is stronger than yours.”
“I disagree, mine is stronger than yours.” The two were already standing face to face with each other. Mineta and Sero were just busy eating popcorn to even try to intervene. “And he’s a changed man.”
“Oh, yeah?” A new voice entered the room. “My boyfriend and I had sex!”
“Emi, will you please shut up! I’m not your boyfriend and we didn’t do any of that.” Eraserhead interrupted Ms. Joke who decided to insert herself into the conversation for fun.
“I wasn’t referring to you.”
“Huh? Then who were you refe-” Eraserhead caught himself after realising he was set up. Mina was laughing at him now while Mineta and Sero were busy trying not to laugh. Shiozaki had a raised eyebrow, and he could feel Hitoshi smirking behind him. “Not a word of this, or all of you are expelled.”
“Pfft! HAHAHA! Gotcha, didn’t I? Anyway, the patient woke up, and he has harrowing news.” Ms. Joke stopped laughing and got serious.
All the interns went to the patient’s room alongside the heroes they’re working for. The crocodile-headed man was in utter despair. “THERE WERE FIVE OF THEM!”
“Sir, you need to calm down and recount what happened. Otherwise, we’ll be going nowhere.” Tsukauchi told him.
“They took her. My wife. ‘Freak-lover’ they called her. They were all masked and the guy you caught stayed to finish me off.” Tears flowed down the crocodile man as he remembered how powerless he was in trying to save his wife.
“This… lines up too much with a specific sect of the Creature Rejection Clan.” Tsukauchi concluded.
“The Mangones Sect.” Ms. Joke pointed out. “Slavers hunting down anyone supportive of mutants and trafficking them to other countries. They operate all over the world.”
“Thank you for your testimony, Mister Wani.” Tsukauchi signalled for everyone to come outside. Once everyone was settled and out of the man’s earshot, he finally spoke. “She’s most likely out of our reach.”
“What?!” The interns were flabbergasted by the sudden claim by the detective. The heroes themselves shifted uncomfortably. Mina was the first to speak up. “What the hell do you mean?”
“This particular group is considered an international threat, and it’s the interpol that were supposed to be doing something about it. Not heroes.” Kamui Woods explained to them.
“That… That is stupid.” Shiozaki said while Mineta and Sero nodded along with her.
“It is, but… it’s mostly out of our hands. The woman herself may already be out of our reach. This group operates too efficiently. She may already be out of the country as we speak.” Tsukauchi said with frustration in his voice.
“We… we’re just supposed to sit around and do nothing about it?” Mineta asked the heroes and the detective. They all looked away. “So that’s it. We… are we really heroes?”
Nobody answered him.
“Can’t we just do something like this off the-” Sero was immediately cut off by a hard stare from Tsukauchi.
“Regardless, the law is the law.” The Detective repeated what he said earlier. Hitoshi and Mina rolled their eyes at the statement. “Legally, we can only report this incident and do nothing about it. We can, at best, hope the Interpol puts you on the case as well to help out.”
Hitoshi and Mina looked at each other as the interns nodded at what Tsukauchi said.
Date Day…
“So… what’s it gonna be this time? I know Endeavour is gonna be around the corner somewhere.” Izuku asked Mina while looking around. They were both enjoying the date, having eaten out at the ramen shop, and were now enjoying themselves at the arcade.
“No tricks this time. This is just a normal date.” Mina told him while mashing the buttons on the fighting game they’re playing right now. He beat her again even though she easily destroyed him in dance dance revolution earlier.
“Heh, come on Mina. Of all the tricks you can try on me this one won’t- oh my god you’re serious.” Izuku stared at her in shock. He didn’t expect this. He was a bit disappointed, but it was a welcome change for once.
“Not entirely. I just told the heroes you cancelled our date. I…” Mina looked away sheepishly. “I had two ulterior motives. One, because I just wanted a normal date between us. Two, because I need your help. Or more accurately, we need your help.”
“We? Who’s the other one?”
“That’ll be me.” Izuku turned around to see it was Hitoshi dressed casually. “Long time no see, Akusero ”
“Riiight…” Izuku awkwardly scratched the back of his head. He never properly apologised to Hitoshi, and it had been months since the incident. “Sorry about… ya know.”
“Yeah, forget about that. We need your help with something,” Hitoshi said. It took some time to catch Izuku up with everything while also explaining everything.
“And now the best idea you two had is to… ask me, a villain, for help.” Izuku concluded what they were talking about. “I think I kidnapped more people than I ever unkidnapped them from some other villains.”
“...You have more reach in this than us. Legally speaking, you don’t care about the legal consequences and you wouldn’t risk more than you already are by doing this. Besides, don’t you think this is all messed up? That we can’t try to do the right thing without getting arrested? Don’t you think it’s messed up for the girl to be… treated like that just for being married to someone like me?” Mina said. She was appealing to whatever was left of his better nature. Izuku was skeptical about all of this. It could have been a more elaborate trap for him. Still, his conscience was still eating at him. He thought about it and he was about to decline…
“ Stay like this or go on another path. At any point in time, you’re free to choose and there’s always more than two. ” Izuku remembered Miro’s words to him. People can still do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Regardless of the fact, the right thing is still done in the end. He can twist this with Tomura into thinking that eliminating an international threat themselves would weaken the public’s standing on heroes and also sow doubt in the general populace. Or, that’s how he’s trying to convince himself of the reason he’s making the final decision.
“I’ll help.” Izuku finally answered. Hitoshi and Mina sighed in relief. “Well, first, I need a picture of his wife or something. I can’t start looking if I don’t know what they look like.”
“Oh… well…”
“I have it.” The three of them turned around to see it was Mt. Lady in her civilian outfit. She must have been off-duty now. Hitoshi and Mina looked at Izuku, who had a neutral expression on him. “You cancelled the date, but I can’t help but feel suspicious about it. So I trailed Mina for a while. Then I overheard what you three were talking about.”
“You’re… not gonna report us?” Mina asked her. Yu sighed in exasperation. Even she couldn’t believe she’s doing this. She had the picture of the wife since everyone thought it would be helpful for the investigation with the interpol and also to look out for her.
“No. No, I won’t. I… have done a lot of things and said a lot of things I wished I could take back. You two… I knew doing nothing about all of this would’ve eaten you alive.” Yu mustered the courage to make eye contact with Izuku. “This won’t fix things, but… I’m not good at this. Just don’t make me regret helping you out on this illegal venture, okay? Don’t do anything stupid.” She handed the picture to Izuku and then walked away.
“That was tense.” Hitoshi commented.
“At least I have something to start with. I’ll just have to convince Tomura to relegate a few league members to help me out. Although, Paul might make light work out of this.” Izuku studied the picture of the missing woman. “Might have to start locally before going off-shore.”
“We can help you with that. Secretly.” Mina said.
“I am not risking your careers over this. I’m a villain. I’ll do fine. You two got a bright future as actual heroes ahead of you-”
“What good will that do if we just… do nothing about this? Asking for your help is kinda icky as it is. No offence.” Mina shot back at him. He had to admit, she had a point. They can’t call themselves heroes if they just ignore this and leave it to the villains to solve it. The two need to be involved somewhat. Izuku sighed, realising he didn’t have much of a choice.
“We’re gonna need to get you two different masks.”
<-- To Be Continued...