Chapter Text
"Come on, you gotta catch up," Izuku called back to the girl he was training, the smell of sweat and stress coating his tongue as soon as he opened his mouth. He closed his jaws, not wanting to catch that scent again.
The human body is disgusting.
Uraraka’s only response was to wheeze, her quirk strained from constant use. Over seventy minutes now, holding up a backpack full of weights. And Izuku wasn't even sweating at all! He didn’t even look tired!
Well, no more than the usual dead look in his eye, at least.
She was so jealous she could kill him over it.
She panted heavily, her hands balled into fists around the stars of her backpack, unable to deactivate her quirk even if she wanted to. And she really wanted to. Nearly an hour and a half of suspending 59 kilograms of metal, her quirk was stretched to its limits. Yes, she could lift much more than that, but she had never used her quirk this long before, never pushed it to the edge like this.
Her heart thundered in her chest as she jogged, her muscles sore and reaching their breaking point.
Her quirk and body screeched as she pushed them both to the limits.
But she had to push past them. If she really wanted to be a hero, she had to push further.
She had to catch up.
"Hurry up," Izuku droned, jogging in place as he waited for Uraraka to catch up. "We're not even halfway done." He turned, watching his trainee closely. “Three more blocks then we turn around.”
"Arhah," she pushed out, unable to control her voice.
"That’th not a real word," he flatly stated, his tail held high.
Ochaco gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face as she pushed forward. She forced her throat to cooperate as she barked out a harsh, "Asshole!"
"That one ith a word." Izuku kept his entire body in motion even as he waited up ahead, his knees high and chin held high, the effects of Endurance Runner keeping the lactic acid in his muscles from building up.
It was an interesting effect, instead dumping it directly into his blood, aiding in the processes of the blood created in the marrow from the bones of his tail. He wasn’t sure if the blood just gave him disease immunity, or if it was simply uninhabitable for bacteria and viruses, but, whatever, it worked.
"I'm gonna," she was only a step behind, and she bared her teeth, "kill you, bastard-
"That's the spirit." Izuku patted Uraraka’s shoulder before twisting around and taking off again, tail trailing behind him like a victory banner. "Now come on, keep up. You can try to kill me once we finish."
Uraraka’s only response was to make a noise that sounded like a dying cat in a blender as she once again picked up the pace as she followed Izuku’s route through what felt like all of Hosu.
The sidewalks cleared for them, the few people that didn't move getting shoulder checked by Izuku as he jogged ahead. And the ones that weren't diving for cover from Izuku were looking on in concern as Uraraka huffed and wheezed behind him, never quite able to catch up. She was too deep in her concentration to see their looks of worry.
She looked up from the sidewalk just in time to see Izuku literally skid to a halt, the smooth soles of his shoes sliding across the pavement as a massive plume of dust and smoke rising from a crater in the middle of the street. Ochaco stumbled to a stop behind him, leaning heavily on Izuku’s surprisingly sturdy back.
"Wha- what's going on?" She kept her face buried against Izuku’s shoulder blade, catching her breath before peering around him. "Why'd we stop?"
Izuku pointed to a blur of darkened shadows within the haze. His tongue flicked out, picking up a scent. "Villain fight," he said, an odd tone to his voice.
He sounded lost, the same way a chunk of concrete in a grassy field is lost. The concrete doesn't know it’s lost, even though it should never have been there.
"Let's head back," he said, turning around only to freeze. The black hairs along the base of his spine rose, and his tail stiffened, a buzzing feeling filling the back of his skull. His eyes went wide and he immediately lunged forward to push Uraraka back, knocking the two of them to the ground. He rolled, his right arm already formed into metal and throwing sparks off the concrete of the sidewalk with the scraping contact.
A bent and half-melted metal pipe with a massive chunk of concrete on one end flew through the air where Izuku and Uraraka’s chests had been.
The roar of engines cut through the rumble of the fight, air blowing through and disrupting the roiling smoke and dust. A blur of white and black tangled with the villain, beating them back from their position and out of the haze.
As the hero and villain exchanged blows, Izuku rolled to the side, helping Uraraka to her feet. "You good?"
"Ye- yeah." Ochaco struggled to stand straight, her quirk still not having released even in the fall. She shook her head, trying to focus. "I'm okay."
Izuku looked to where his hands were clasped around Uraraka’s arms, freezing before nearly shoving her away. "Let's go," he hissed, glancing back at the fight and the crowd that was beginning to raise their phones and cameras.
Ochaco took a step only to stumble, lurching forward and slamming into Izuku’s side. She finally pressed his fingertips together, releasing her quirk and letting the weight of the bag nearly drag her down. A metal hand grabbed the handle at the top of the backpack, holding it in place and helping her steady herself.
"I'll take the bag," Izuku said, helping Uraraka untangle herself from the weighted mass. He hung it over his own metal shoulder, the weight easily taken on by his augmented muscles.
"Thanks," Ochaco said quietly, rubbing her hands together to work some feeling back into them where she had been gripping the backpack straps so tightly. She looked back over to the fight, surprised to see that it still wasn't winding down. "We really should go, huh."
"Mhm." Izuku only nodded, looking up and away as he offered his left hand to Uraraka, not wanting them to get separated in the still growing crowd. It didn't mean anything. He ignored the way she so easily took his hand, as if she didn't even care that this was hard for him to offer.
She made it seem simple. As if it were nothing at all.
Izuku shouldered his way through the crowd, hissing at anyone who got too close, tail lashing back and forth before it looped around Uraraka’s wrist and tightened, keeping her close to his back.
The sounds of the fight began to lessen in intensity by the time they reached the end of the block, and the two of them turned back, almost in sync, watching as the dust cloud began to thin and drift away.
"Holy shit," Uraraka gasped, the weight of what had happened finally hitting her. She grabbed Izuku’s shoulder, spinning him to face her. "We almost died!"
"But we didn't."
"We could have-
"We didn't," Izuku insisted, his tail wrapping up around Ochaco’s wrist.
"If you hadn't-
"But I did." There was no point in dwelling on hypotheticals, either something did or didn't happen, there was nothing else.
"Holy… fuck!" Ochaco fisted her hands in her hair, unable to keep herself from panicking any longer. "We were just bystanders, and we nearly got impaled!"
She dropped into a squat where she stood, ignoring the looks from the others on the sidewalk. She didn't even know if it was an accident that the rubble had come flying towards them, and maybe she didn't want to know. One hand stayed buried in her hair as she rubbed at the wiry fur of the tail wrapped around her wrist with the other hand, the feeling grounding her back to reality.
The fur was warm. Real. She could feel Izuku’s heartbeat in his tail. Steady, slow, and real. Izuku was real.
Fuck. Izuku had saved her life.
She risked a glance upwards, even though she knew Izuku wouldn't, couldn't, judge her, she still felt ashamed. She wanted to be a hero and here she was cowering on the sidewalk after a fight she hadn't even been in. Izuku wasn't even looking in her direction, still watching the fight, his lip raised in a snarl.
“Get up,” Izuku said, tugging her wrist with his tail. “We need to get outta here.”
Ochaco nodded, but she didn't move from her huddled pose.
Izuku growled, the sound rumbling from his chest and he flashed his fangs at anyone who dared to look too closely. His tail twisted tighter around her arm and he bent down, pulling her upright and close to himself. It would be easy to just… throw her over his shoulder and run. Even with the weight of the bag it would still be easy. But… Izuku glanced to his, and he still hesitated to think this, his friend's face.
Ochaco looked as if she was still back in that moment when the metal pipe and concrete had nearly killed the two of them. There was a final crash and the thundering of engines and a cheer went up through the crowd, Izuku’s right arm wrapped around his friend at the sudden noise, transforming to metal on instinct.
"Are you okay," Ochaco asked, finally finding her voice. The arm wrapped around her was immovable, the tail tight around her wrist and forearm. As comforting as a straightjacket that breathed.
Izuku had his lip curled, fangs on display, the short black fur of his tail was puffed in like an angry cat. For all he couldn’t feel his emotions, he certainly could show them. "’m always okay," he grumbled, a growl rumbling in his chest, "now let's go." He turned away from the fight, pulling Uraraka along with him.
Ochaco nodded, clinging to Izuku as the two of them pushed and shoved their way out of the crowd, working in tandem now that they were both headed in the same direction.
By the time they reached the next block and had escaped the crowd they slowed down, splitting apart, Izuku's tail still wrapped around Ochaco's wrist. Her chest was heaving as she pulled in shaky breath after breath, her hands planted on her knees as she tried to calm herself. Izuku stood still as a statue, his own breath unnaturally even. The only evidence he had even been running was a single bead of sweat running down his temple.
"That's not supposed to happen!" Ochaco gasped, eyes filled with something near panic. "Why did, why weren't the heroes-
This wasn't supposed to happen. Heroes weren't supposed to let that happen.
"Hrm." Izuku finally unraveled his tail from Uraraka’s wrist and he instead offered his hand. "C'mon, let's go."
"Y-yeah." Ochaco took the hand offered, keeping one finger lifted as she let Izuku lead the way back home, and she followed quietly. Today had given her a lot to think about.
***
"I don't understand algebra," Tobita grumbled, leaning forward to glare at the problems on the screen.
"That's fine," Izuku said flatly, ignoring the crushing weight of a grown-ass man settled on his shoulders, blankly staring at the laptop screen. "This is geometry."
"Ugh, this is wretched!" Tobita grumbled and scrolled through the page of problems. "I don't remember any of this!"
"That's because you're an idiot," Dabi said bluntly, pushing Tobita away from the laptop and off of his son, "let me take a look," he continued, leaning in and peering closely at the screen.
"Oh, of course, and you’re an unparalleled genius that comes once a generation," Tobita pretended to scoff, but his grin couldn’t be disguised. He believed wholeheartedly that Dabi was possibly a genius.
Dabi said nothing, only raising a hand and a single finger in response. "Eat a dick."
"So uncouth."
"I'll show you uncouth," Dabi grumbled, glaring and hissing at Tobita only to freeze as soon as he realized what he had done. He had hissed at him! Like an angry cat! When had he gotten this deep into acting like his son? But Tobita just laughed, shaking his head at Dabi’s horrified expression.
Tobita made a fist, shaking it in Dabis' direction jokingly. "Try me, yes?"
"How bout you try my boot up your ass," Dabi snarked, words not matching the embarrassment on his face.
The two bickered back and forth, Izuku leaned back out from under the weight and snagged Tobita's unsecured phone from where it lay on the table. He raised an eyebrow at the unlocked screen, able to open it with just a single swipe.
Izuku's eyebrow managed to raise itself higher when he opened the search function and he read the first search.
My friend yelled at me at work and I liked it
Glancing to where Dabi and Tobita were engaging in a slap fight. It looked… unbalanced. Dabi trying to actually land and hit and Tobita grinning like a madman, not even using his quirk to block. Or even attempting to block. Izuku just shrugged. He didn't know the guy too well, but that search sounds about right.
Is it gay to help my best friends son with homework just to spend more time with my friend
Izuku watched as Dabi launched into an explanation on the basic principles of geometry, and the blank dazed look on Tobita’s face. So that's how it is, huh, Izuku thought to himself. He shrugged internally, there were worse options out there.
Help my coworker is a dilf
A loud snort fought its way out of Izuku's nose, and he set the phone back, screen down. When the noise caught Tobita's attention he just stared blankly at the man.
“Was that… my phone?”
“Yes,” Izuku said flatly before he raised an eyebrow, “and?”
Tobita reached for his phone to shove it into his pocket, but the phone was grabbed right out of his hand by the one who had just set it down. He stared at Izuku incredulously, “isn’t it time for you to take a smoke break?”
“Yeah, why don’t you come with?” Izuku stood, waving the phone as an incentive before he slipped it into his pocket.
“I don’t smoke.” Tobita still stood up, following close behind the kid who had just taken his phone and read who knows what in it.
“Just shut up and follow me.” Izuku snagged a pack of cigarettes from the top of the television, the razor sharp tip of his stinger tapping on the side of the tv as he passed it. “Old man, you just stay there and do whatever you’re doing.”
“I found some practice worksheets, I’m on the fifth one!” There was the sound of a keyboard clicking and then a quiet, “damn, I’m really out of practice…”
“Already? Wow… guess he really is a genius or whatever,” Izuku muttered, dragging Tobita behind him and out the door.
The door slammed behind Tobita and he stood nervously in the hallway, wringing his hands as he almost literally shrunk under the glare leveled at him. “Are we going outside?”
“Yeah, get moving.” Izuku shoved Tobita down the hall and down the stairs until they stood outside in the cooling evening air.
“Are you going to kill me,” Tobita asked, edging away from the unpredictable teen.
“What the hell gave you that idea,” Izuku asked, seeming to be genuinely perplexed. He pulled the stolen, borrowed, phone from his pocket. “I only read the first three searches… but I get the picture.” He scrolled through a few more searches, raising his eyebrow when he saw ‘How to hit on my coworker respectfully.’ “Yeah, I got the picture.”
Izuku leaned against the wall, handing the phone back silently. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and tapped one into his hand, flipping it over filter side down and sliding it back into the package. Pulling out a different cigarette, he lit it with a spark from his fingertips, taking a drag and then asking, “so you want him to fuck you.”
With a yelp, Tobita tried to fend off the question, “it’s not, it’s not like that! I really like him, it’s not- I…” The man looked to be near tears as he sputtered out half-completed explanations and justifications. All his panicking culminated in a pathetic, “please don’t tell him!”
“Tssss,” with a drawn out hiss Izuku glanced away, a stabbing sensation of discomfort crawling through his chest. One question and the guy was desperate enough to almost cry. Pathetic in a kicked puppy kind of way. “Wasn’t gonna tell him anyway.” He took another drag off his cigarette. “Just wanted to talk to you for a bit. Ask some questions, that kinda thing.” He shook his head, “you should put a password on your phone.”
Izuku watched as the man squirmed uncomfortably, studying the change in temperatures. He didn’t really know what they meant, but man, that guy looked like he might burst into flames at any moment.
“So you’re really- you’re into him? For real, not gonna get bored and break his stupid heart?”
Tobita started, nearly falling over in surprise. “No! Never on purpose…” He paused, thinking about his plan. Not on purpose, but it could still happen. “I truly… you’re not going to make fun of me, are you?” He shored up his emotional defenses, what few he had left, clutching his feelings close to his chest. With a sniff, he looked down his nose at the lounging little brat who had decided to drag his newest secret out into the open. “You do seem a mean and cruel thirteen-year-old.”
Izuku shrugged, “probably not. No need to make fun of you.” The man was embarrassed enough without any teasing, if he piled on he might explode. Or cry. “And I’m fourteen now. Birthday was a few months back.”
“I genuinely care about your father, he’s a fascinating man.” Tobita fought to keep his voice even and steady after his little panic. It wouldn’t do to be undignified. “Intelligent and a kind person under that gruff exterior he puts up.”
“So… you think he’s hot?”
“I don’t believe I should be discussing this with a child.” Be dignified. “And obviously I believe he’s attractive.” Tobita pulled his jacket close around his chest, looking scandalized by the conversation’s turn. “Who wouldn’t?”
“Sane people… people with eyes? Just two examples.”
Tobita rolled his eyes, muttering unrepeatable things under his breath.
So much for dignified.
“Don’t ask him out immediately.”
“Excuse me!?”
“Spend some time together, go out and get lunch or something.” Izuku flicked ash from his cigarette, dredging up the bare bones bit of information you knew about his fake father. It wasn’t a lot, they would really have to go over this to make it more convincing if anyone more inquisitive came sniffing around. “He’s not a fancy guy, an’ he doesn’t like fish, so go somewhere decent, but not super upscale.”
“Please stop giving me advice…”
“Don’t just spring this on him, and don’t,” Izuku gestured with his cigarette, the glowing tip seeming to add searing emphasis to his words, “tell him you were planning on asking him out all along.”
Tobita immediately responded, shock lacing through him. “I, that sounds dishonest.”
“You don’t want him doubting your friendship, do you?”
“Well-
“Or thinking you’re a pervert?”
“I’m not a pervert!”
“Hey man, you’re the one who wants to bang my father.”
“Urgh,” Tobita drew his shoulders up and cringed, looking away in discomfort. “Please don’t word it in that manner.”
“I’ll say whatever the fuck I want.” Izuku snorted, taking a deep drag from his cigarette, completely ignorant to the wide grin twisting his lip. One fang snagged his bottom lip and he wiped away the bit of drool before it could become a mess. "Hey, do me a solid."
Nearly shaking from the whiplash of the changing conversation, Tobita snapped, "what do you want,” he lowered his voice, knowing it would still be heard, "you little monster."
"My friend-
"Wow, you have a friend," Tobita snipped, completely giving up any attempt at decorum. He was tired of this conversation and wanted it to be over and done with. He didn’t want to discuss this with his coworker-slash-crushes son!
Izuku only rolled his eye at the comment, “-she wants to be a hero and I'm helping her train. You went to a hero school, yeah?"
Tobita froze, breath caught in his chest as he struggled to comprehend. "How did you find that out?"
"I paid an info broker," Izuku stated, as bland as any other truth he ever said. "So, you willing to help?"
"Uh. Pardon me,” Tobita asked, boggling at the very concept. “You what."
"Will you?"
"I'm sorry, I'm a bit stuck on the you paying an info broker!" The man crossed his arms against the chill of the night and to keep down the desire to gesticulate wildly. “You were, you were spying on me!”
Izuku felt the muscle in his cheek twitch as he continued, "I'm also a drug dealer."
Tobita made a sound that would have made more sense if it’d come from a rusty iron gate and he slumped against the wall. "I don't know if you're messing with me or not. But I'm going to believe you're just being a jackass. Just so I can stay sane."
The two of them fell silent, the only sound that of quiet breathing dampened by the omnipresent mist that covered No Man's Land. It would rain in the middle of the night, as it always seemed to do.
Finally breaking the quiet, Tobita said barely louder than a whisper. "I'll help." He glanced to where Midoriya stood, his cigarette in hand. "With the training.”
Izuku exhaled a cloud of smoke, forked tongue flicking rapidly as he tilted his head to the side. “Really,” he asked, an eyebrow ratcheting upwards towards his hairline.
“Yes. Okay. I’ll help train your friend. As long as you don’t tell your dad about, you know.” He gestured vaguely, unwilling to even say the words again.
“Mh, got it. No mentioning your crush,” Izuku nodded before immediately throwing himself into the next subject. “So, what’s your work schedule?”
“Oh, uh, it’s the same as your dads, I just come in a half hour before he does.”
“Are you scheduled earlier?”
“No, but I have to walk,” he clarified, baffled by the near whiplash of the conversation change.
“Mmh.” Izuku flicked ash from his cigarette. “Where do you live?”
“I don’t want you to know that!” The kid would probably rob him or something! Or plant drugs in his apartment!
Izuku waved off the outburst with his empty hand, rolling his uncovered eye. “Whatever. If you need a thirty minute buffer to walk to work you’re probably taking public transport part of the way. Unreliable transport… you live outside No Man's Land… out on the other end of Hosu, don’t you? South? Closer to Shibuya?”
“Uh, yes? How did…?”
“I’ve never seen you walk from the eastern entrance in No Man's Land, so you gotta be coming the other way. The buffer is in case of some idiot hero or villain fight, right?” Izuku felt his eyebrows furrow, trying to figure out how to juggle his own nearly nonexistent schedule along with Ochacho’s.
Twice a week visits to the Skate Park, but that was really it for himself. Ochacho works four days a week for six hours each… Danjuro had five days with eight, but if his schedule was the same as Dabi’s he had two days that were the same as Ochacho’s…
But going across Hosu to train was a little complicated.
He hissed, forked tongue flicking in the air. “You should move into No Mans Land. Rent is cheap. There’s an empty apartment in the building across the street. Bout seventy square meters.” He gestured to Ochacho’s building. “It’s closer to your job. Easier to navigate.”
Tobita leaned against the bare brick wall, “I can’t say I haven’t thought about it.” He went quiet, tapping his fingers against the brick. The entire reason he had gotten a job all the way down this part of Hosu was for his plan, to finally put it all together. But proving the wrongdoing of companies was more complicated than he had thought, and working at seven eleven didn’t exactly pay well.
His tiny savings account was dwindling down more every single day.
With another moment of quiet contemplation, Tobita cocked his head to the side. “Wait, seventy square meters? That’s almost twice the size of my current apartment!” He stared across the street at the grey building, only six stories tall; he never would have guessed the apartments were that size. He would have guessed fourty at the most.
Izuku stubbed out his cigarette against his metal palm, “older buildings, less tenants, personal landlords. Most of these buildings are over eighty years old, they don’t have the restrictions of the new residential building laws.” He didn’t see the point in mentioning that quite a few of the buildings had been heavily modified, walls being knocked down in old hotels to create rooms twice the size while sealing off one of the doors.
The quiet hung over them for another moment before Izuku glanced up. He couldn’t tell what the man was thinking. And it wasn’t just his own emotional disconnect working against him this time, the man had an absolutely blank expression, only broken up by momentary frowns and furrowed eyebrows.
Finally, Tobita broke the silence. Cheaper rent and a bigger apartment had outweighed his concerns with the danger of the area. And the lack of hero patrols would work in his favor as well. “Well, it looks like I’ll be moving into No Man's Land.”