Chapter Text
Tomura had never thought he needed parents or guardians, and he still thought that. It was still nice though, knowing Katsuki didn’t need to feel responsible for everything and Eri probably did want parents. He wouldn't tell anyone, but Tomura had been worried he would be left out and was so relieved to be proven wrong for once.
Aizawa was Tomura’s second favorite hero before they even met and now he even likes Yamada, what has the world come to? At this rate, he might befriend All Might. Luckily, the hero was avoiding Tomura as much as Tomura was avoiding him. Katsuki had said they were both pathetically awkward. Tomura had thrown a couch pillow at his head.
It was nice. Katsuki’s classmates were a little enthusiastic, making Tomura a little wary at first of the small group that called Katsuki their friend, though it became clear early on they were harmless. Deku on the other hand, Tomura was avoiding him like All Might, and the number one hero’s successor did not avoid him. He was disturbingly friendly. Who smiled that much? No one.
Thankfully, whatever Aizawa and Katsuki told them staved off most personal questions. And Tomura could just ignore the ones he still got. Eri was better at socializing anyway. He preferred to stay in their own dorms.
They each had their own room here, fortunately. Bunking together was fun every once and a while but Tomura didn’t like sharing a room. He almost missed his attic, it was so peaceful.
“Tomura, can you get my paint?” Eri asked him, leaning next to the couch he was playing video games on. Her arms were already full of art supplies. He grumbled about pausing in the middle of a quest but got up without further complaint.
Her room was the most decorated one of theirs, Katsuki preferring more simple stuff, and Tomura mostly sticking to what he already had. There were some bins in her room filled with books and art supplies so he looked there first. Tomura was pulling out the paint when he saw something weird. Eri’s bed was next to the window with a little table beside it. The table usually had a plant and an alarm clock on it. It did not usually have a little stuffed animal on it. Those had their own bin. Actually, Tomura didn’t recognize this toy, which was impossible since he had to suffer through hours of stuffed animals at the toy store a few years ago. It wasn’t a new one either; she showed those off to them. It didn’t look new anyway.
Curious, Tomura picked it up and studied it. Clean, but years old. His eyes caught a loose seam on the back that stood out. He considered it with suspicion for a few seconds before stuffing the small toy in his jacket and picking up Eri’s paint.
As soon as she and Yamada (who was waiting outside) were gone (she liked to do art with some of the classes), Tomura practically ran to Katsuki’s room. He was studying for a test by himself that night and opened the door with some complaints.
“I found this in Eri’s room, have you ever seen it before?” Tomura moved inside and shoved the stuffed animal in Katsuki’s face.
“What are you -” Katsuki froze as he leaned back and saw the toy. He grabbed it slowly. “I have. Where was it, exactly?”
“Table next to her bed”
“Fuck,” he cursed. Tomura’s stomach dropped, he had been hoping to be wrong. “I think this was in her old ro - cell.”
“How…” Tomura didn’t finish the sentence.
“I don’t know,” Katsuki said softly, calming down and glancing at him with concern. Tomura shoved his fear down.
Katsuki looked back at the toy and saw the loose seam Tomura had. He tugged on it and pulled out a little piece of paper from inside the toy.
Eri,
If you don’t want your friends killed, go to the building you first ran away from at exactly 11 pm. Remember what the consequences of disobeying are.
- Overhaul
“I’m going to kill him,” Katsuki muttered, furious. He put the note down before his hands sparked a little. Tomura could tell he was making plans already.
“What… What now?” Tomura was so thankful he had found this before Eri. The seam had been untouched and she hadn’t been in her room in hours, so that put a timetable for when the intruder came. A shiver went up Tomura’s spine. “What if they’re still here?”
“That’s why you’re staying. They probably left someone to watch her. Plus you don’t have a license, I do,” Katsuki said. Tomura blinked. What.
“You’re going?”
“Not alone”
“Who?”
“... Hawks”
“What,” Tomura stared at Katsuki. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Hawks?
“After the raid, he said he would help if we needed it. We can’t treat this like Kamino, Overhaul will know if there’s a raid or a large force. Hawks and I can fly, meaning Overhaul's quirk will have a harder time getting us. And in case UA is in danger, you and everyone else have to stay here,” Katsuki explained. Tomura sometimes hated his ability to present such crazy plans completely matter of factly. “If I haven’t called you by 11 pm, tell UA. And stick with Eri.”
It was past 8 pm already, yet Tomura trusted him. Hawks had seemed nice enough, apparently Katsuki trusted him, and he knew the hero was strong. Katsuki’s plan might work. And he was right, they both knew letting Overhaul get away meant they would never be safe.
-----------------------------------
Katsuki: So when you offered to help us if something bad happened, was that serious?
Pigeon: whats the address
-----------------------------------
Katsuki had thought it over. He didn’t want to jump into a trap and he also didn’t want this chance to take down Overhaul to go by. Talking with Hawks as they discreetly moved to the building Katsuki remembered escaping from made him feel less crazy.
“I brought enough tranquilizers and restraints like you said,” Hawks showed him the contents of the bag he was carrying. “My feathers did a short recon of the surrounding area and it is pretty abandoned. There's a place near the target’s building that we could use as a hiding spot for this.”
“You set up a message for UA and Best Jeanist?”
“Yeah, it’ll automatically go out right before 11 pm if we don’t stop it,” Hawks showed Katsuki the hiding spot, you couldn’t see the former mafia building but there was a fire escape to the roof.
Hawks sent some feathers to scope the place out. They were an hour earlier than the time Overhaul had demanded Eri to arrive.
“Overhaul isn’t here yet, but there are three people guarding the building,” Hawks pointed to where the southern end of the building would be. Katsuki frowned.
“Just three? They must be pretty powerful,” Katsuki thought over what he knew about the Eight Precepts of Death (aside from the bad naming skills). “Could be three of those ‘Eight Bullets’”
“One of them mentioned more on the way, we should take them out now”
“Drop from above?” Katsuki smirked and glanced at Hawks. The hero grinned.
The very stereotypical mafia looking goons were not expecting to be dropped on.
Immediately, a forcefield manifested around one of them, saving themself from Katsuki’s initial blast and Hawks’ feathers. The other two weren’t so lucky, yet recovered quickly. The criminal wearing a face mask manifested some crystals and blocked another assault from Hawks. The hero dodged the other criminal’s lightning-fast rabid punches. That quirk only lasted a few seconds thankfully, Katsuki barely dodged in time at the unexpected speed.
“I’ll take these two,” Hawks called out, rounding on the criminals. Katsuki turned to the forcefield guy. How to best destroy or get past that? Wearing it down was an option, but a stupid one since that would tire Katsuki out to. Maybe there was a time limit?
Before Katsuki could get stuck at a standstill he aimed an explosion at the earth, destroying the ground underneath their feet. A second, even stronger explosion at the criminal as soon as his forcefield was disrupted. Katsuki didn’t stop the barrage until the criminal crashed into a wall, unconscious. He looked back to see Hawks knock out the punching bastard and the other one was already out.
“Let’s hide them and use the tranquilizers to make sure they don’t wake back up for a few hours,” Hawks pulled out said tranquilizers. They cleared away signs of a fight as much as they could, carried the mafia members back to their hiding spot, restrained them, and Hawks left a few feathers behind so he would know if something happened.
Twenty minutes later, Katsuki heard a few new voices approaching from the north side.
“Overhaul and two bodyguards,” Hawks muttered to Katsuki as they hid on the roof. “Remember, don’t get close to Overhaul.”
Katsuki nodded, listening intently as their targets walked towards the building entrance. Hawks and Katsuki had the advantage outside, they weren’t going to let Overhaul get more of an advantage than he already had. As long they were in the air he couldn’t touch them and use his quirk.
Hawks went first, raining weaponized feathers on the criminals. Both bodyguards went down, not being as strength-based as the other three criminals had been. Overhaul himself wasn’t so easy, a few feathers hit him before he destroyed the ground around him. A dust cloud made it visually hard to watch and Katsuki tensed. Hawks was still in the air and he dodged Overhaul’s attempts to ground him. The criminal destroyed and reformed his surroundings while Hawks proved himself as the fastest hero.
Katsuki smirked before leaping into the air and sending a blast directly at Overhaul. One of the bodyguards jumped in front and was sent into a wall. Katsuki made sure to stay in the air as Overhaul turned on him too.
Everything within twenty feet suddenly was eviscerated and Katsuki’s training with Tomura is what saved him as he dodged debris. He landed briefly in front of the building as Hawks attacked Overhaul with stronger feathers now resembling swords.
Katsuki felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and the air around him shift slightly before whipping around and sending a large explosion at the completely cloaked criminal going through the wall. He heard a surprised shriek before sending another blast and kicking the bastard in the head. Bodyguard two down.
The ground crumbled beneath Katsuki again and he launched himself away from Overhaul’s attack in time to see Hawks do the same.
Katsuki knew they had to finish this. He warped the air around him with his explosions and sent a slightly less powerful version of the tornado he used on Icyhot at Overhaul. The building was abandoned and pretty far removed from others, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous in a city.
Overhaul crashed ten feet away, struggling to get up. Hawks moved quickly to pin him down in a way he couldn’t use his quirk.
Hawks’ feathers brought the quirk restraints Katsuki specifically grabbed for Overhaul and the hero shackled him as the dust settled around them.
Katsuki had only felt this much relief when All for One was arrested.
“You’re never threatening Eri again,” he spat out and checked to make sure the two bodyguards were still knocked out. Yep.
“I already sent…” Overhaul coughed and Katsuki froze. “People to UA.”
-----------------------------------
Eri knew something was wrong, she had gotten used to UA and the safety there, but she never forgot the alternative. Katsuki had left with a vague excuse she didn’t believe, even without the fact that Tomura was so obviously worried. She didn’t realize how right she was until UA’s intruder alarm woke her up.
Yamada was by her side almost immediately, pulling her to the school building so they could find the panic room. Tomura followed closely behind, he kept looking over his shoulder.
“Shouta is with the class, so we’re going to get somewhere safe,” Yamada had said and Eri had to remind herself ‘Shouta’ was Aizawa. Names were so confusing sometimes, she was glad she and Tomura only had one. Made everything easier.
“Do you know who’s attacking?” Tomura asked as they reached the main building. Yamada paused and shook his head.
“Well…“ Tomura started and looked at Eri guiltily. Oh no. “It’s probably some people from Overhaul’s gang.”
Eri flinched while Yamada paused and fully turned to look at Tomura. They both tensed even though he didn’t look mad.
“Why do you think that?” Yamada sounded worried, which Eri somehow felt was worse than anger. “Where’s Katsuki?”
“We found a note… From Overhaul. He wanted Eri, we didn’t think he would send anyone to attack UA before…” Tomura stared at the ground. Yamada looked horrified for a moment before going into what Eri liked to call Hero Mode.
“And he’s gone after Overhaul?” there was still some fear in his voice. Tomura started and looked up.
“Not alone! I couldn’t go since I don’t have a license, not that that should have mattered -”
“Tomura, he went with who?”
“Hawks,” Tomura said. Yamada and Eri stared.
“What?” Yamada had a lot more questions and honestly so did Eri, when a villain appeared a distance behind them. Rikiya. Blind fear took root in Eri as her nightmare came true right in front of her. They were going to take her back. They were going to kill her family. White, white rooms and needles and bleach and -
Yamada moved her behind him and activated his quirk, a yell ripping through the ground at the criminal. Rikiya dodged in time and started to run at them.
“His - his quirk steals the energy from people he touches for him to use,” Eri managed as Yamada used his own quirk to keep Rikiya at a safe distance. Tomura was standing protectively in front of her and looked at Yamada.
“Can I use my quirk?” he asked. Yamada shook his head and motioned for them to run inside.
“Brat!” Rikiya yelled suddenly. Eri stiffened and Tomura scowled. “This is your last chance to give yourself up or I'll kill your friends!”
Eri felt her hands shake as Yamada squeezed one in comfort.
“She is not going anywhere with you, asshole!” Tomura yelled back, finally losing his temper. Yamada sent him a look as Rikiya scoffed angrily.
Just as Yamada was going to attack again Rikiya pulled out what looked like a syringe. Eri felt her blood run cold, was that -
“Guess you get to see how Trigger works!” Rikiya said, sounding smug. Eri blinked, what’s Trigger? He injected himself with it and Tomura cursed.
“It makes his quirk stronger,” Tomura ignored Yamada and used Decay, eviscerating the ground towards and underneath Rikiya. The criminal threw himself to the side and activated his quirk. Immediately, Eri started feeling drained and tired, swaying on her feet.
Rikiya didn’t even have to touch them with Trigger and he wasn’t focusing on her. Tomura fell to his knees next to her and Yamada swayed too, but that didn’t stop them from trying to fight Rikiya when the criminal picked her up, they just couldn’t compete with the criminal twice their size.
White rooms and needles and bleach and Overhaul and Rewind -
Rewind.
Rewind.
Eri had enough energy to use her quirk on herself and felt Rikiya’s quirk effects disappear.
“What -”
Rewind shook him out of his thoughts as Rikiya went back to his pre Trigger state, he staggered and Eri jumped out of his grip. She pulled out the knife from her left boot and slashed his hand. Fear swooped in her stomach as he roared and reared back with his other hand, but Eri pushed forward and rolled out of the way.
She wouldn’t get back to Tomura and Yamada in time without Rikiya catching her. Eri spun around to behind the criminal and slashed at where Kat had shown the Achilles Heel should be. Rikiya roared again, even louder, and fell to his knee.
Eri took off in a dead sprint towards Tomura and Yamada, immediately using Rewind on them. Yamada smiled at her and moved quickly to take down Rikiya. The criminal fell to the ground less than a minute later.
“That was really smart. And brave,” Tomura told her as Yamada restrained the unconscious criminal. She hugged Tomura and hoped Kat was okay. He had to be okay. He needed to come back and call her smart and brave too and Eri could tell him how she used her knife. He just needed to come back.
Some more heroes arrived and said the other intruders had been taken care of, apparently, Kat had sent a message to Aizawa just in time for them to not be ambushed.
Yamada got a call and turned away from them for a moment. When he looked back he seemed shocked.
“Overhaul and many other key figures in the Precepts have been arrested. Katsuki is fine,” Yamada told Eri. Her eyes widened and teared up as she suddenly sat on the ground. Yamada and Tomura followed her down with a worried look, but Eri just smiled as she sobbed in relief.