Chapter Text
The reunion soon started with no more delays, with Stain and Izuku being the last ones to arrive, only earning a raised eyebrow from Nagant who received no answer from Stain, and an awkward smile from Izuku.
The table in the living room was cleaned thanks to Sairi’s help, papers courtesy of Stain laid out detailing multiple files on potentially dangerous targets, interest zones that could be targeted by All For One, and many more thought-out details.
Izuku only now realized how much thought Stain had put into this, not that he believed he slacked, but rather the contrary; the man was prepared to the last letter, and it showed in the way he properly arranged the laid-out papers to explain the situation.
“Here, ten minutes away towards the south is Nakameguro, I’ve gathered enough data about routes coming in and off towards the western side of the prefecture, which I find odd; there’s nothing here that would indicate the need to move this much manpower.”
Stain claims, throwing a series of pictures in the middle of the table, showcasing all of the destroyed markets and run-down shops, which seemed to have nothing left.
He sighs, placing his hands on his hips as Izuku focuses on the pictures, similarly confused.
“Nakameguro got hit badly by the fallout of the war as panic let villains do as they pleased; nearby prisons far too frail to hold the might of too many hands trying to get out at the same time.”
Oguro grabs one of the pictures, eyeing it with curiosity, before scoffing and throwing it back, muttering about “stalker” or something like that.
Stain pays no attention to him. He paces a little from left to right, moving some papers buried between the rest, a map of Japan folded multiple times, and as he unravels it, multiple colored lines are drawn on it, all ending on circles or “x’s”, to which Izuku figures are either dead ends or lost tracks.
“Central Shibuya is filled to the brim with cops; heroes want to secure crucial cities from chaos and while it’s working it’s likely his lackeys are avoiding the place like the plague here.” He points at a red line, going around Nakameguro, circling almost the entire southern side of Shibuya, and reaching Minato to the east. “The obvious answer is hiding from attention, taking resources from neighboring places given the lack of security.”
Izuku felt like he was missing something. It’s clear the “obvious answer” wasn’t it; it was probably a misdirection from All For One, it being too obvious and basically bait. Izuku eyed the rest of the group as everyone was deep in thought, including Rappa, who either was understanding or good at acting like he was.
He also noticed that neither Sairi nor Anri was there, which Izuku guessed that Stain must appreciate a lot.
“Why Minato? It’s far too close to Central Tokyo to be even worth something. I don’t take All For One as someone to waste manpower for an extra ration or two in times like these, but then…” Stain trails off in his words, stepping in front of the table and taking a bunch of papers from a manila folder, throwing them in the middle for everybody to see.
“Wait… I know some of them…!” Oguro raised his voice, standing from his seat, and grabbing some of the pictures and documents.
Stain hummed in acknowledgment, his eyes drifting to the rest of the group. “Minato’s Southern Prison, one of the few ones that managed to hold up in the wake of the prison breaks; matter of fact, a good deal of prisons near Tokyo survived them with minimal damage.”
Stain pointed at some of the papers, highlighting the principal names; the prisons at Shinjuku, Minato, and Taitō.
“Three main surviving prisons, all circling Tokyo. All For One’s lackeys always end up returning with way fewer people than they went with to the supposed supply runs, but the arrests in the regions never make up for the number of people that are seemingly lost.”
Izuku’s eyes narrowed. Missing men? He doesn’t want to think about someone trying to rival All For One, as that’d be a suicidal idea. And even if it was, All For One wouldn’t let disrespect like that go by sending his minions to suicide missions, but then it hits.
They’re not getting arrested, or killed, or…
“An attack, multiple hits at the same time, three different jailbreaks but the main routes from them are all towards the south; Meguro on the south to Minato towards the east which means…!” Nagant chips in, eyes widened as she shuffles some papers in her hands, looking at the police reports in the neighboring areas, arrests that wouldn’t seem suspicious to anyone, anyone but them.
“It’s Tokyo, he’s a showman, he wants the main city first. He'll establish some supposed control in the region and then use it to draw enough firepower from the heroes to conquer more and more control points.” Stain’s words are harsh, dry, and cold; the facts all make sense.
The realization hit the rest of the group with a wave of tense silence. Nagant shifted around papers with a very serious look on her face then narrowed her eyes at certain details before she spoke up again.
“These arrest reports were at their worst a week and half ago, the criminal files are one month old! Stain, surely you have confidence in the strike not happening soon, right?” Her voice was mixed with worry and tension, and it hit Izuku too. If the files were old, how much time did they have? While they were busy catching some more criminals and jumping from city to city, All For One had seemingly stationed manpower across the entire Tokyo area.
Stain kept quiet, staring at her before looking down again, a soft exhale before he pointed at the map, “Look here, see the difference between routes towards Shinjuku and Minato? The ones in Shinjuku try to avoid attention at their best by complicated movements, but in Minato, they don’t.”
Izuku looked down at the map again, seeing that it was true; almost all routes in Minato had dead ends as villains would go off sight into strange rooms or places, while in Shinjuku they were more delicate and intricate with their movements, aware of the different amount of security between the two, but that also meant something.
“Stop fucking around! You’re shit at explaining this whole fuckass crackpot theory. So what if they’re all gathered in those three places? We go and crush them! Why is the shithole of Minato suddenly so different?!”
And before anyone could answer, it all clicked on Izuku. The lack of security around Minato, as little as it was, was focused on the prison and the surrounding areas; it was way too carefree from the police as the arrests were almost calculated, seemingly no-names with enough power to deter them from searching further, feeding the idea of having caught the strongest of the stray pack.
“M-Minato’s the entry point, while Shinjuku and Taitō are also targets. They have enough security to stop a rampant attack from the front, but Minato is abandoned enough that they can bust the prison open then just b-bruteforce their manpower into Tokyo, cause enough chaos, and divert hero attention so they can send more manpower into the other two!” Izuku nigh-muttered the last part, standing up quickly and catching the attention of everyone as he cut off Oguro.
But suddenly he was aware everyone was looking at him, in silence. Stain with a serious yet focused look, Nagant equally as serious but with a kind of proud look in her eyes, while it looked like Rappa understood nothing of the plan, and Oguro was just staring at him with a twitching eyebrow.
“Exactly,” Stain replied, his voice cold and serious as he continued explaining. “Even if their objective isn’t to outright attack Tokyo, just surrounding the city with villains is enough to cause heroes to scramble trying to fix it.”
Stain takes a small sigh, closing his eyes before he looks at every member of the group, faces resolute as someone breaks the short silence again.
“So, what’s the whole shit we gotta do then?” Oguro asks, half-annoyed but now catching the drift thanks to Izuku’s explanation. “If you have this whole stalker board and they don’t know then we got the head start, let’s just crush them before this all goes down.”
Nagant nods, her arms crossed as she looks to be deep in thought before looking back at Oguro and then at Stain. “Ehem, despite Oguro’s words, he’s right. If I think about it, if we station at Minato and stop it from getting out of control then we’ll be fine–”
“–And then we can notify the heroes so they can cover Shinjuku and Taito, right?” Izuku finished for her, smiling as the plan was working the gears inside his head. It wasn’t truly anything out of this world and sounded pretty doable. Izuku trusted this group to easily counter-attack any of All For One plans and trusted the heroes to handle their own around Japan.
Stain shakes his head, confusing everybody for a second. He walks away from the table, sighing before looking back at the group. “We’re not going to do anything.”
There was an almost collective “WHAT?!” coming from the entire group in different levels of surprise and offense.
And right before Oguro would’ve screamed his head off, Stain raised both hands to stop them all from going crazy and to give him time to explain.
“My information isn’t perfect, we don’t even have a date but an estimate, they should execute in a couple of days–If we suddenly go there and attack before they do anything they’ll pull the plug, same thing if they see a sudden increase in heroes that shouldn’t be there to begin with.”
“BUT!–” Oguro tries to intervene but it’s swiftly stopped by Stain slamming his hand on the table, pointing Nakameguro down the south, his eyes serious and focused.
“We’ll station, silent. We won't notify the heroes until the second after the whole charade starts, until then, no one will know, nobody. If All For One uses this to enact another plan then we’ll be screwed as I can’t predict or expect anything if he does.”
Nagant stands up, slightly offended by his explanation. Yes, it truly does make sense if you think about it, but Stain is betting possible casualties on this plan; it doesn’t sit right with her, nor Izuku as he looks annoyed by this decision too.
“Surely there is a better way, right? Are you saying you prefer to let heroes and civilians get injured because you want to bait All For One, then what? We foil this plan and what’s the next step, what do you want to do in Nakameguro?”
Stain just stares at her, face filled with cold annoyance as he keeps getting interrupted from giving the full explanation.
“All For One’s bait lies in Nakameguro, if we act like we took the bait then we’ll reduce their numbers, removing many more villains out of the equation with this given the plan at the other prisons will be foiled too, and with some luck, we’ll get a good lead towards his whereabouts.”
The room fell silent as everyone processed Stain’s plan, Izuku especially mused his thoughts for a little. He didn’t like the chance of heroes and civilians alike getting hurt, if he could avoid that in any way he would.
He looks at the palm of his hand, flexing his fingers open and closed. He squints as he tries to think of something, thoughts racing in his head. Izuku’s knowledge of geography around this area is scarce at best but he has One For All, if there’s something that can push them out of second place in this race, it’s that.
“What if I stop it all?”
Izuku’s words caused everyone to turn to him, with different degrees of confusion as his face looked almost like stone, serious.
“What…What do you mean Midoriya?” Nagant asks, voice soft, a bit of concern in her voice as she looks at Izuku’s face.
“I’m fast enough, strong enough; what if I bite the bait like Stain said, finish the work quickly then stop the three prison breaks? I should be able to do it.”
Both Rappa and Oguro looked at him with confusion, despite knowing his strength they didn’t know the full extent of it, so the idea of speeding through multiple prefectures was an odd suggestion and very bold too.
“I thought you’d suggest that, but I feel like it won’t be that easy.”
Stain denies Izuku's suggestion, shaking his head softly as he crosses his arms, his eyes focused entirely on him as he sighs.
“All For One knows you’ll find out about the prison breaks when they happen, so he’s probably banking on you trying to stop them. I am sure whatever is in Nakameguro is tailored to stall you as much as possible.”
Izuku narrows his eyes at Stain, there’s truth to his words but it’s not like Izuku has to like it. He knows his power can only be evenly matched by one quirk, so there can’t be something out there that can stop him for that long. But then again, All For One has infinite quirks and god knows what strategies tailored only for him.
And all it takes is a second, every second Izuku loses fighting of whatever is in Nakameguro, it’s a second where people can be injured, or worse killed. He doesn’t like it, not at all, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try his best.
“I’ll…I’ll still try, I will stop whatever is in Nakameguro as quickly as I can then join the defense on the prisons, all of them; I’ll do my best to stop them.”
His eyes light up, balling his fist with resolve as he looks at Stain. The man just stares back, face expressionless before he sighs, shrugging. Izuku half-expected an annoyed grunt but it seemed Stain wasn't exactly doubting him.
“By all means do it, that’d be the best-case scenario. But I’ll go in expecting trickery, the worst type, so be ready.”
Izuku nods at his words, a small smile filled with determination; Nagant looks at him with a proud face as she smiles too. Maybe this plan wouldn’t be so bad, they’re a resourceful and strong group.
With a nod back, Stain moves back in front of the group, eyes addressing everyone as he speaks. “Back to our plan, we’ll divide into groups to station at each prison, Taito being left to the heroes as it remains the strongest, best guarded prison of the lot. Given only three of us have a way to communicate with the rest, the groups will go as follows.”
“Nagant and Rappa in Minato.” Nagant turns to smile and nods at Rappa who excitedly tries to dap her up which Nagant awkwardly reciprocates.
“Oguro and I will take on guarding Shinjuku.” Stain looks at the other man, who just gruffly scoffs, almost ready to complain about this arrangement but decides against it, just turning to look back at the wall.
Izuku's eyebrow rises, doesn’t that mean he will be…
“Are you sending Midoriya as bait, alone?!” Nagant stands up suddenly, very offended, and very angry at what Stain was suggesting.
“What’s the problem here? I’m sure he can fend for himself.”
Nagant clenched her teeth and continued to glare at the man before her. Tsutsumi had been with Stain since the beginning and had gotten an idea of who he was but even after all they’ve been through thus far, sometimes she couldn’t fathom his lack of empathy or concern.
“That is not the point Stain and you know what I’m talking about!”
“Clearly I do not, are you implying he needs babysitting?”
Izuku felt himself getting a little smaller as the two argued. The teenager shrunk back into himself in guilt as he hated seeing his two closest companions argue and wished he could settle the tension.
Izuku kind of expected to have some company, and sure, he knew he could fight by himself perfectly fine, it was just a little unexpected. It had been quite a bit since he’d been on his own and can admit that not having his companions with him felt daunting.
“I think I’ll be fine Tsutsumi–”
Nagant leans towards Izuku, placing her hand on his shoulder and giving him a nod that spoke clearly of “let me handle this.”
She looks back at Stain, eye level with him as she scowls, not one bit pleased with how he’s making it sound.
“We’re a team, I know Midoriya is the strongest, but you can’t let him be alone in a possible All For One ambush. You even mentioned trickery and you plan to leave him without a way of us backing him up?”
Stain also felt himself growing more annoyed at Nagant’s constant interference and berating.
Previously, she would comment on Stain not acknowledging Deku’s strength and now she was telling him it would be too much for him to handle. It confused Akaguro, without a doubt and he started to think she was treating him like an ignorant child. He had the logistics of the plan for a while now and here she was making it out to be a bad idea.
Stain grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He’s more than capable himself Nagant and I’m sure the teams I’ve assembled are better–”
“Don’t.” She scolds, fiery flames in her eyes as she makes Stain take one step back. “This plan won’t fly like that–You will go with Midoriya.”
“Hold on then–”
“No! I said it. You know the streets better than he does, so you can be his extra pair of eyes. You’re quick and good backup. You will go with him and I won’t take no for an answer!”
Tsutsumi was sure and final in her decision as she made it clear that she wouldn’t back down. Nagant wouldn’t feel right with herself unless she knew for sure that Midoriya wouldn’t be alone. She trusted Stain without a doubt and believed for certain that he would protect the young hero, no matter what happened.
Something in Stain erupted as found himself taking a step forward, his boot slamming against the floor loudly while challenging Nagant.
“Goddammit, why are you questioning my authority, Nagant?!”
Nagant didn’t flinch, even when his crimson eyes grew dangerous with his pupils slitting. Stain wasn’t the type to let his feelings known but this anger had been festering as Nagant’s criticism piled onto his insecurities.
Izuku coughs, not really liking the bitter argument that somehow didn’t appear to be dying out any time soon. He gulps a little as the two of them look at him with serious expressions. Izuku then looks to Rappa and Oguro at his side and sighs.
“I mean, I’ll probably be fine…But Nagant is kinda right…I don’t know m-much about Nakameguro, so the help would be nice.”
Stain opens his mouth to protest but is interrupted by Oguro laughing his ass off, slapping his knee. “I’m actually with the kid on this one, go cover him. I also won’t have to deal with you so that’s extra good.”
Stain looks at everyone and doesn’t even bother addressing Rappa, who would probably side with Izuku. He groans, taking in the silence before looking at Nagant with clear but contained annoyance in his eyes. “We’ll keep talking about the plan later.”
With that said Stain retreats from the room, leaving the place and Izuku slightly stunned. He hopes they didn’t push Stain too much, maybe he should’ve just sided with Stain here…
He’s taken away from his thoughts by Nagant, who pats his back and leans slightly towards him, a small, warm smile on her face. “He’ll come around, trust me, he’s just grumpy when his plans aren't the best idea.”
Izuku smiles awkwardly, nodding softly; he really hopes it is that.
After Stain had left, Sairi entered the room with a bundle of old clothes in her arms, insisting that everyone take a pair as she had noticed the lack of clothes they had come in with.
Everyone graciously accepted the clothes without complaint, with most of them being t-shirts and worn-out sweatpants. Rappa was the only one who found it difficult when he put on the worn-out clothes as none of them were fitted for his stature.
After Rappa managed to get on a t-shirt that seemed to start tearing itself, Sairi offered to use some cloth to cover the growing holes, which seemed to make Rappa happy.
Even so, it became apparent to Izuku that they would need to scavenge for clothes and new supplies once they got back.
The next morning comes quietly, sleeping in the shared room wasn’t exactly the best, given the grumpy angry energy coming off Stain in waves as he huddled in a far corner of the room. Nagant and Izuku each had their own sleeping bags, not sleeping too far from each other.
For once, Izuku didn't dream of anything and had no nightmares. It’s a calm night and as he wakes up he stretches to see he’s alone in the room–He makes his way towards the main kitchen, seeing most of the group there, with the exceptions of Stain and Anri.
Rappa is the first to notice him, loudly calling out to him and offering a fist bump as Oguro sipped his coffee, followed by Sairi who waves at him with a warm smile, then Nagant greets him, giving him a wide smile as she offers him a sandwich she has just finished preparing with Sairi. He’s a bit surprised, used to seeing Stain on kitchen duty.
“You know where Stain is?” Izuku asks, sitting with the rest of the group, and taking a bite of his sandwich. In his peripheral vision, Izuku saw a plate with an untouched sandwich to his right, which he likely assumed was Stain’s.
“Well, I offered some breakfast but he left a couple of minutes ago, and didn’t say anything.” Nagant replies, a concerned tone in her voice. Izuku assumes it’s due to Stain’s loner attitude flaring up once again.
For a moment a tug of guilt ruptures in Izuku’s chest as he thinks back to how things ended the night before.
Izuku then nods, but he doesn’t sit. He takes the plate with Stain’s sandwich and moves to leave the house, confusing everyone but Nagant, who just sighs, a small smile tugging on her lips–It was clear that the two were getting closer, little by little.
It doesn’t take Izuku long at all to find him, as Stain is where he found him last time, perched up looking at the houses of the city from the roof. Stain notices him quickly as one of his eyes slowly turns to look at him before looking back at the sky.
Midoriya takes that as a sign, he jumps and lands softly on the roof next to him, both plates in his hands as he walks up behind him, standing in silence as he carefully picks his words. Izuku doesn’t want to say something out of place, especially after last night, really hoping they haven’t made Stain too angry or annoyed with–
“I’ll go with you.”
His quick and clear-cut reply takes Izuku by surprise. He doesn’t reply then, causing Stain to look back at him with a raised eyebrow, questioning, “Isn’t that what you came to ask?”
Izuku sputters for a second before shaking his head. “Not at all! I just…Came here to give you this, to see how you’re d-doing…”
Stain studies his face for a second. Izuku notices then, that his eyes lack coldness, at least the freezing one his eyes usually carry, it’s more calm, less negative–Then Stain nods. “I see.” Is all he replies before extending his hand and taking the plate from Izuku.
A smile falls on Izuku’s face as he hands it, soon, Izuku follows suit, moving to sit next to him, placing his plate on his lap, mirroring Stain as he continues eating his breakfast.
There’s silence, comfortable silence–He doesn’t feel pressured to talk, but still, Izuku feels like he left Stain sour after last night's planning. He gulps after a bite and looks at him before talking. “Erm…Sorry for annoying yo–”
“–You like to apologize an awful lot, don’t you, Deku?” Stain stops him, his eyes serious but not scolding, strangely soft for how sharp they usually are. “I thought about the plan. I’m not mad at you, or Nagant for that matter.”
Izuku chuckles awkwardly, “I guess so…Sorry for–” He notices his own words, stopping himself. Izuku blushed as Stain just stared at him with a serious face.
Then, almost unnoticeable, Stain exhales, not close to a chuckle but certainly amused, at least to the smallest degree before he takes a bite of his food.
Embarrassment aside, they sit calmly next to each other, enjoying their breakfast. It’s clear just the company is comfortable enough for the both of them, it’s soothing; almost like the problems of the world cease to exist for however short these minutes are.
The warmth of the daylight bathes them as faint birds can be heard chirping. It feels almost like a school morning for Izuku as he looks at Stain and notices how his face lacks any of that scrunched tension his features usually carry.
Izuku smiles; Tsutsumi always said that the supposed enigma of a man could be easier to read sometimes, and as awkward as he is in that regard, he can see where she’s coming from.
“Stain, do you…Do you think the plan will go well?” The words fall from his lips not from anxiety but rather curiosity, the mentions of the information being old did not leave his mind, and for however much he trusts Stain, reassurance goes a long way.
The man just looks at him, taking a small exhale before replying. “Odds are certainly on our side.”
His words are plain, simple, not a hundred percent sure but for a pessimistic man, seeing this much faith in his plan is quite a measure.
“Oh! That’s…That’s nice, sorry if it s-sounded like it was doubting your plan, I really wasn’t haha, I was just–”
As he stumbles around his words, it’s only stopped by the slightly judgemental look he’s receiving from the man, causing him to gulp heavily as he feels almost scolded by it.
“Don’t fret too much about it, as long as we stick to the plan we’ll be fine,” he says with total calm in his voice, not an ounce of doubt, “but, if something is to happen,” Stain looks at Izuku, sharp pupils locked with his round green ones.
“I’ll follow you, just like the last time. I’ll trust you, just be confident.”
And as quick as the man finished his sentence he wiped back to looking at his plate and the sky, eating his food. Izuku is briefly stunned by the words as he really didn’t expect this much direct encouragement from the man.
Izuku felt warm; trust by Stain is such a massive badge. He feels validated in his last efforts, even if they won their last battle. Maybe that handshake could’ve been desperation into following Izuku’s plan, but now, he sees it, or rather, acknowledges it;
Stain trusts Izuku, enough to drive the wheel if the plan goes awry. And that trust was more precious to him than anything in the world right now.
It makes him smile, widely so, not replying with words but by pumping his fist before going back to eating in silence.
They didn't notice, but Izuku’s eyes didn’t look as tired, and Stain’s shoulders didn’t look as tense.
An hour and a map stuck to the wall later, everybody’s heeding Stain as he explains the last bits of his plan. Izuku sits on the floor cross-legged as Nagant and Rappa take the couch with Oguro taking a loveseat right next to them looking just as passively annoyed as he always is.
“So, with all the facts in order, tomorrow when the sun dies we’ll go; the supplies are to last a maximum of two days should the attack be delayed.”
Almost everybody nods. Izuku’s just taking in on the fact that this is the most alone he’ll be since he joined this group; sure, there were times when he was technically alone, but this time they’ll be separated for multiple days at most.
He looks back at Nagant, who just gives him a small, warm, and reassuring smile. He trusts her dearly, he trusts all of them–It just feels weird not being together.
“Nagant and Rappa to guard Minato; suppression is a must. When you see them past the point of no return I want you to clean house and not let anything happen to Minato.”
Nagant smiles while nodding and so does Rappa, perhaps less widely. But she feels him holding a fist next to her and she responds to it with a fist bump.
Stain turns to Oguro who just scowls at him. Stain is tempted to respond in kind but just exhales softly before speaking. “You Oguro, will guard Shinjuku, you’ll take a layout of what could be the spots they’re going for. Be swift and stop anyone from sneaking, leave the big groups to the heroes.”
The man doesn’t reply, but Stain knows that he’s giving a semblance of a wordless agreement, then he turns to Izuku, who’s just looking at him with determination in his green eyes
“Deku and I will take on Nakameguro, bite All For One’s bait, take them by surprise, and rob them of any leads while also taking down the biggest amount of villains we can. Then we’ll randevu with Nagant and Rappa on Minato as quickly as possible.”
Izuku nods, fire in his eyes as he understands that their part of this mission won’t be easy, far from it. He steels himself for whatever weird and crazy plan All For One has prepared for him, but this time, he isn’t afraid, not at all.
“That should be all regarding our roles, though, now I gotta talk about something–” His expression deepens a little as he moves to address everybody in the room. “Should our communications be hijacked, or our voices heard, we’ll use code to refer to us, and the mission.”
“Nagant, you’ll be Eagle, and Rappa, you’ll be Boar; you two will be guarding Colosseum.” Nagant nods and before Rappa tries to complain to say he likes dogs more and suggests being called corgi, Nagant just places her hand on his mouth to stop him.
“Oguro, you’ll be Wolf and your job is to protect Garden.”
The man just rolls his eyes as a reply.
“Midoriya, you’ll be Ocelot and I’ll be Panther; we’ll both be Teathre. These are the terms we’ll use for Operation Knight. That's all, I’ll prepare useful papers for all of us for tomorrow.”
The day continues calmly, the tension surprisingly not as big as Izuku expected. The whole day passes in total peace and Izuku almost forgets they’re fighting a war. He gets time to write in his notes, which have steadily looked more and more like a journal to him.
He comments on his days, the harsh ones and the calm ones. He talks about how he felt, and how it went, and when the time allows him, he adds notes about quirks he saw or remembered, brainstorming about them before he goes to sleep.
Today, he worked on Tsutsumi, with many ideas he’s a bit shy to mention but he’d love for her to try sometime. He saw her quirk potential as boundless and if he had more time he would spend on it long and thoroughly to explore them.
The evening goes calmly as he drinks tea with Tsutsumi and Miss Sairi. Rappa wanted to join but he decided to spend time with Oguro instead. As the trio talked for a while, Izuku couldn’t help but notice Anri kept making a point to avoid them as much as she could, it was really obvious she didn’t want anything to do with them.
Which is a shame. Izuku has a lot of questions, even though he knows he probably won’t get answers to them. While some of them may be sensitive he feels like there’s a lot to gain from it, despite Stain already seeming to know about it.
Night comes, and everybody dines at the table with a surprisingly familiar air, smiles from the cheerful ones, and calm silence from Stain while Oguro manages to suppress his cloud of annoyance as he enjoys his food.
The day was lovely, amazingly so. Izuku didn’t feel like he had to save the day, he didn’t feel any form of pressure with his stretches and daily exercises being surprisingly peaceful. As Izuku heads to bed, he finds Stain already curled up in his corner as Tsutsumi smiles at him from her bed.
He tucks himself in, already about to sleep when she hears Tsutsumi shuffling. He turns around to see her with a calm happy face. “Hey Midoriya,” she calls to him softly.
Izuku hums with a bit of sleepiness as he addresses her.
“We’ll do amazing tomorrow, I know so; have a nice sleep Midoriya, and you too Stain.”
Izuku smiles softly at her words, nodding as he yawns and shuffles to get himself comfortable. “Same to you Tsutsumi-san, enjoy your sleep, and goodnight Stain.”
To the surprise of them both, after a brief silence, Stain grunts back. Rather than his usual annoyed grunt, it was a soft one, which caught the pair off guard, causing Tsutsumi to chuckle silently before tucking herself in.
That night felt like a sleepover.
The next day came and went in a similar fashion, though a bit more tension could be felt in the air as everybody packed up their bags, and even though Stain and Nagant helped everyone it was still a slow affair.
It wasn’t until the evening when everything was ready, conversations were few that day and Izuku spent most of it helping Stain get stuff ready. Hell, even Rappa seemed to carry a degree of seriousness today.
It’s almost 8PM when Izuku is checking his bag for what is probably the fifth time that day, and as he’s laser-focused on reviewing everything, he’s startled like a nervous cat and he jumps from where he’s sitting once he hears a ding come from next to his futon. His Full Cowl had been activated by accident as he didn’t expect anything to sound like that.
Izuku scrambles to see what it is and realizes it’s the phone that Uraraka gave to him, which had been left forgotten these past few days. He bites his lip, thinking if he shouldn’t reply but curiosity wins over him and he flips it open.
[07:58 PM] Unknown Number: Hi! It’s me Deku! - Not sure if you already saved my number but it’s me! – Uraraka!
He blushes when he realizes she probably was expecting to talk earlier, his fingers hovering over the keys, thinking if it’s a good idea but damned be his eagerness to talk to her that they move on his own.
[07:59 PM] Midoriya: Hii! Sorry for not texting you back Uraraka! I was busy…
He hopes she buys that excuse, which really isn’t an excuse given it’s the truth, but still, he doesn’t want to look like a liar. Right after, he quickly saves her number and name, to avoid weird surprises again.
[07:59 PM] Uraraka: It’s okay!! I’ve been busy 2, I just wanted to know how you’ve been, sorry if it's a bad time
[08:00 PM] Midoriya: Just a little! Don’t worry about it, and I’m fine! Hope you are too :D
[08:00] Uraraka: I am! Training lots, haven’t gone to patrol much :p
[08:01 PM] Midoriya: But it's good that you’re training! I’ll probably be busy for a while, sorry :(
[08:02] Uraraka: Don’t be!! I understand but Deku…Remember you can always talk to me if anything, and be safe!! If u can pls let me know when you come back!
Izuku smiles at the phone, his cheeks a faint pink dusting as he kicks his feet a little. Texting with Uraraka felt as comfortable as it used to be months ago, he did miss this a lot; he missed Uraraka.
[08:03 PM] Midoriya: I will! Text you later :)
9:30 PM
Bags are packed and equipment is worn. The whole group is waiting outside Sairi’s home as they make sure everything is settled and ready.
Stain walks over to Oguro who inches away in reflex before Stain rolls his eyes and hands him the communication headpiece, making sure he puts it on before going back to the rest of the group, earning an annoyed grunt from Oguro before he complies.
“All right, two days at most. We’ll keep total contact during this time, but we’ll make sure to keep it at a minimum. If there isn’t anything useful to be said on the line, then don’t use it.”
Everybody nods with Izuku finishing by putting up his bag and fixing his cape; the old and dusty Gran Torino rags he keeps dear to his heart. Izuku takes a deep breath and looks at Tsutsumi who walks over to him.
She gives him a handshake, which he reciprocates without a question before she pulls him slowly for an awkward half-hug. It catches Izuku by surprise and it takes him the best of two seconds before he half-replies to it with his own.
“Be safe Midoriya, if you need to say anything you know how to contact me.” She gives him a reassuring smile, going back as Rappa takes her place, coming up to Izuku as he grabs both of his shoulders.
“Yo! Deku, just wanted to say, if you see that All for whatever Fucker, then make sure to leave a piece of him to me, RIGHT?!— And don’t die, I won’t be able to have my deathmatch if you’re dead-OKAY?! YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED T–” His voice grows in excitement with every word until he’s about to scream and yell before Nagant muffles him and pulls him back.
Izuku smiles awkwardly, looking at Oguro as the man meets his gaze and rolls his eyes before nodding; a small gesture that feels incredibly reassuring to Izuku, especially when the man has already claimed to believe him.
“Now, we move, notify me if anything happens. If not, let the others know when we reach our zones.”
Everybody nods and as Sairi smiles, waving them all goodbye, her eyes fall on Izuku last, giving him a warm nod of her own.
“All of you!–Good luck, stay safe.”
Everybody reciprocates the goodbye, and as Izuku looks back to find Stain he sees him getting…Warned by Tsutsumi? He can’t hear what they’re saying but her face is darkened and Stain is looking pushed back. The only thing he can catch is the slit-throat gesture she does before patting his shoulder and going back to Rappa.
“What did she say to you?” Izuku asks, very confused as Stain comes next to him.
“Nothing, let’s go.” Stain replies, he tries to not look afraid but Izuku is sure he is.
And before they walk away, Izuku nods at him; Stain stops, looks at him, and with an equally determined face as he nods back, no more words are needed.
Operation “Knight” begins.
Koichi Haimawari stretches lazily on the couch as he turns off the TV, sleepiness about to overtake him as a day of patrolling finally takes its toll. He’s about to get up before his phone buzzes, a specific ringtone that he set up for a certain someone.
“Yeah, Oguro? Is something the matter?” Koichi asked, hearing a neutral grunt from the other end of the phone.
“Mhm, where are you?”
Koichi is confused. ‘Where’s this coming from?’ He thinks to himself before replying.
“Near Akihabara, an apartment the commission gave us.”
“Good, be ready to come to Shinjuku if something happens.”
Now HE’s confused, what could Oguro be talking about here? Koichi’s features are knitted a bit in worry. Oguro isn’t the type to be cryptic like this at all. At least not since Koichi’s time as a vigilante, giving the sense that something was seriously wrong.
“Wait, what? Why? What's gonna happen?”
Silence fills the line, almost like Oguro is thinking what words he can say before the man is loudly scratching his hair and sighing annoyedly.
“Can’t say, just be ready if anything, call you then.” He replied, turning to look back towards the direction where he came from before cutting the call.
The call ends and Koichi is in full-on confusion. He tries to call again but the call comes back as if Oguro turned off his phone. The young man sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to think what the older man could be going on about.
Koichi hadn’t heard or seen Oguro since that night at Oguro’s house when Deku and his companions had come upon them.
He had gotten a text from Oguro letting him know that he was safe after he didn’t meet up with Koichi for their patrol and the younger man decided to leave it at that, knowing better than to pry.
But now that Koichi thought about it, Oguro didn’t say where he was or who he was with, so that got him thinking…Did Oguro take up on Deku’s plea for help after all?
He stands up, going to get a cold glass of water, thinking over what the hell just happened. Then a voice calls to him from the room adjacent to the living room.
“Koichi!–Can you bring me some water please?”
The man gulps as he finishes his own glass, refilling it back as he closes the fridge, with his feet skipping over as he goes back to the other room.
“Yeah! I’ll be right there, Kazuho!” Koichi called back, an added warmth filling his voice, despite the looming anxiety of Oguro’s warning.
It looks like Koichi’s initial journey as a vigilante was far from over.