Rebirth and Blood

So this is really all we can afford?"

"Unfortunately. Funding hasn't been top notch and even if I use my veteran discount this stuff was pricey."

"But couldn't I get something better than a big wooden stick and a few smaller sticks? I had to bring these from home."

"Not with how much money we're getting right now. I had to put all the money into armor since it's better that you have some steel plate protecting your chest then some fancy gadget."

Izuku sighed as he looked at the costume on the table, it was a neon green spandex suit fitted with ten centimeter, high density steel plates painted the same color that melded well with every part of the suit. To put it bluntly it was an armored tracksuit that could take a 12 gauge to the chest with no problems and made him look like a knock off knight. The boots were more or less the same with black outlining over steel plated toes. His head was covered by a thick concussive helmet which concealed his entire face in green metal.

There were pouches for medical supplies and a few slots for his escrima sticks strapped to the plating on his thigh. Meanwhile the plating on his back had a harness for the two foot long wooden Boken he took with as well. There was also a bodycam situated inside the chest piece that would record whenever the armor plating was fully connected and upright.

So nothing that would let him compete with superhuman demi-gods, but would keep him alive if he got jumped. Granted most...all the offensive tools he had was thanks to Himiko giving them to him, but it was better then going unarmed completely.

Here was what The Limit Breaker would look like and it was...not nothing, but nowhere near bombastic as he would have liked. Regardless, today was the first day of actual patrol work he'd get to do and that was something to look forward to.

Taking the suit Izuku nodded to his employer, moving himself back to the room set aside for him and changing into his outfit. Instantly the weight came down on him while the fabric pinched the skin as it stretched, wrapping around every centimeter of his body like a second layer of skin. The metal plating linked together once the suit's elasticity was full taunt, acting as a beam which kept it up right and breathable when Izuku tested his movements.

It felt like he had a slight weight to his body, but other than that it was as comfortable as wearing casual clothes. He adorned the helmet and found none of his visibility lessened as he stared out of the eye holes, barely noticing the minor weight on his skull.

Putting the boots on and lacing them Izuku made his way back out to the gym where Rikido was grinning in approval.

"Not bad dude, not bad at all. Not as sweet as my suit, but close. Anyway we gotta start making rounds in a few minutes so grab a bite before we go."

Gripping the wooden sword and sliding it down the slot on his back, Izuku flexed his fingers to ease the tension.

"Is there anything I should know before we step out?"

A candy bar was tossed his way with a smirk when the final bit of stretching was finished by the pro.

"Just follow my lead and you'll be fine. Other than that, don't get aggressive with anyone unless I give the go ahead, got it?"

The sidekick pursed his lips inside his helmet and hesitated, his hand drifting to his club as his body tensed.

"Be honest with me boss...what are the odds of us getting into a fight out there?"

The sugar hero shrugged, not fazed by his employee's fear nor judgemental of it.

"It depends on the feelings of fate. Usually it's pretty quiet, other days not so much. Like I said, just do as I do and it'll be okay."

A sense of relief washed over the quirkless man. He gave a thumbs up to his mentor and proceeded to follow him out into the cold streets of the early morning. It was not even light out and they were already making their way through the block. The scene was like any urban landscape with skyscrapers and shops and row upon row of buildings littered with graffiti. 

Most were trashy expressions of art or just general tagging which he had seen most of his life. People were about at this hour, some appearing respectable, some not and a large portion looked destitute. Regardless, most made way for the Sugar Hero, waving and offering him a good morning by his title. Izuku remained silent, trailing behind the man like a green shadow as he kept an eye out for anything dangerous.

Rikido tried to make conversation, but Izuku was too caught up in staying alert. It was weird doing the thing he always dreamed about doing and in a way he found it boring. When he imagined hero work he thought about fighting epic monsters and saving the day, except it was like the boss said. "It isn't what we think of it like as kids."

Never had any words been more true. Granted he was glad to not have his life in danger, yet...It stung a little to know he was literally nothing but a public servant. His name wouldn't fill the stars, nobody would write his name in history, he was just a man with a job to do.

It was important, sure, but why didn't he feel more accepting of this little progress? Maybe he wanted too much, too soon. 

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts when he saw a group of six men, each no older than twenty four approach the two of them. The lot of them gave off the aura of street punks and each was baseline in appearance so guess their quirks were impossible at a glance. His fingers inched toward his club, but Rikido's posture was completely relaxed. 

The leader of the group stumbled forward, a patch of brown stubble and a cigarette lining his mouth to tie him together.

"Well if it isn't the Candyman come to our little neck of the street. What do ya have for us Candyman?"

Sato reached a hand into a pouch on his suit and removed six separate bars of strawberry flavored taffy which was handed over to the stranger. A smile crossed his face and before long the hero was leaned up against a wall casually regarding the pack.

"So what's been new with you guys? Anything I should know about?"

The thugs each took a bar and smiled back at the yellow suited crime fighter, their leader continuing to be the mouthpiece as he stuffed the candy in his pocket.

"Nothing that we can't manage. Though a few folks talked about some smack being brought back around into circulation from somewhere, I couldn't tell ya where."

The leader cast an eye towards Izuku, studying his posture and outfit before turning back to Rikido with a grin.

"Is he your new butt buddy?"

The hero rolled his eyes and gestured to his employee.

"This is my sidekick, he calls himself The Limit Breaker."

Izuku remained silent as stone when he watched everything from behind the security of his mask, glad to have it hiding his expression. He did give a nod of acknowledgement to the group and stepped next to his boss as the leader of the group continued.

"The Limit Breaker eh? That's a pretty kickass name. So mister Breaker what's your quirk then? Can ya turn off your pain receptors or something like that?"

He wished. It would make his life so much easier. Unfortunately some of his discomfort showed through his body language as he crossed his arms.

"That's something I'd rather keep to myself."

The scruffy leader chuckled at the response as he took a puff off his cigarette.

"Fair enough newbie, though I gotta make one thing clear to you, don't start trouble for folks. We understand that you hero types have a job to do and we're grateful for that, but if any word gets back around here that you've been abusing that power or you start sleeping with the fuckers who make life worse. Let's just say you'll choose to quit rather quickly."

Izuku suppressed a surge of shock at such a direct threat, but Rikido merely raised a hand to interject.

"Trust me Skinny, he's on the level. Old boy is a bit of a spaz, but he isn't one in the game to abuse the power. I mean he wouldn't be working in my shitty agency then the way I pay him."

The man who answered to Skinny laughed at that.

"Alright Candy man, just wanted to get in touch. You keep fighting the good fight now."

He paused for a moment before he returned to his group, staring at the wooden sword on the sidekick's back.

"And...We've heard rumors about some nut job going around slashing people, but there hasn't been any proof and nobody has seen whoever it is, if they're even real...so just keep sharp, okay?"

Rikido gave a thumbs up to the man.

"Got it, we'll keep a lookout for any crazies. You all just stay outta trouble."

The group each nodded in agreement and began to walk the other way, leaving the pair of crime fighters alone once they were out of ear shot. The senior of the two shrugged once the march went on anew.

"Skinny and his boys aren't bad people, they're just rough around the edges. Hell, it's thanks to people like them that we can get a feel for what the community is up to."

Izuku didn't have the urge to know about any of this at the moment, his analytical mind taking a back seat over his survival as he tried to acclimate to this new environment.

"If you say so."

For what felt like years they continued walking around the jurisdictions the Sugar man agency was entrusted to patrol. It was roughly ten miles in either direction, but legally speaking they could travel all over Japan and act as crime fighters without much of a fuss. Granted that'd step on a few toes and leave way more paperwork then it was likely worth unless an actual B class threat arose somewhere. Not that they'd be much help against anything higher then maybe a D class threat, but you still had to try at times.

It was simple patrolling, making people know they were there and occasionally posing for the kids. Simple, basic stuff that didn't require someone to be able to break a building in half or ignite the air or...anything aside from being in fighting shape. Strangely Izuku could tell how this would get boring after so many weeks of doing it like any job, but small steps and all that.

He hadn't said much to his boss, who filled the quiet with tales of his past as a hero and old arrests he made. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk, it was more that something...wasn't right in the air.

Not like there was a gas or vapor polluting the actual oxygen, but more akin to the familiar tingle in the back of his head whenever danger was near that had been honed from a lifetime of being at the bottom of the social ladder. That sensation would prove itself when they turned a corner and came across an alleyway.

Inside of which came a muffled scream. 

As one they turned to view the area between the two buildings and what they saw was not pleasant for most people. Down the length of the pavement, twenty feet away, were two men. One was on the ground bleeding from a stab wound in his shoulder while the other stood over him with a rusty, chipped sword that had no curve as blood dripped off the well used point.

The one holding the sword was of middle build, lean yet possessing enough muscle to have it be noticeable under what had to be a black sweatshirt with the hood ripped off. The scabbard to the sword rested on his back from a harness made of leather where two other knives stuck out horizontally from black kydex sheaths on his torso. Jeans were belted around his waist as a heavy pair of steel plated blue boots stationed over his feet.

The swordsman turned to acknowledge the two, his face was covered by a thin plastic mask that was attached to his head by way of another leather strap. It was just a sheet of plastic heated to fit over his face with only a breathing hole for where the nose pointed out and the lower half that would have covered his mouth was sliced off, exposing it to the world.

His eyes were a dull grey and there was a calmness that shouldn't exist when a person has been attacked with only a mild disdain rising up as he saw the heroes. Short brown hair lingered behind the mask and with a flick of his wrist the crimson over his weapon splattered to the ground. 

Izuku felt the entire world fade away and freeze as he stared into the eyes of this man. It was a cold, unfeeling mirror staring back, like one without a soul.

He didn't move for what may have been minutes, his hands stuck in place as he watched the blood and heard the screaming of the victim, but he was alone in this. In a flash Rikido charged forward with a compressed packet of sugar thrown into his mouth. His muscles swelled to an impossible degree as his quirk activated and he threw a punch that was too fast for Izuku to keep track of aim right for the criminal's gut when he closed the distance in less then two seconds.

However the swordsman wasn't slow by any means and somehow dodged the attack by stepping back and to the left. A gust of air came from the man's legs making him suddenly fly high up into the air as he jumped from the ground, soon soaring above the rooftops before continuing to run on them.

Rikido snarled as he began to chase after the villain, turning his head to his sidekick who was still coming out of his shellshock.

"Take care of the victim, I'll follow that fucker, you stay here!"

That was all the Sweets Hero said before he ran further down the alley and disappeared in the direction his target had fled. Izuku snapped out of his mental stillness instantly once his boss fled. Kneeling down next to the injured man, Izuku reached into one of the pouches on his suit and began to apply treatment.

"It's okay now sir, the ambulance is on the way."

He flipped on a locator connected to the emergency services located in another pouch and continued to tend to the man's stab wound. The person in question however was anything but calm.

"You fucking dumbass do you have any idea who I am!? You shouldn't be handling my shoulder so rough you incompetent moron! I-"

The man halted his tirade right as the sound of boots hitting the ground came from behind Izuku. His eyes were wide with fear and soon the sidekick shared in that when he felt something sharp rest on the sweet spot between his helmet and the armor on his neck.

A voice deep and masculine came from where the sound echoed from and the object which Izuku saw was the blade of the sword dug into the fabric of the suit ever so more.

"I would suggest moving out of the way and letting me finish my business. This man is nothing but drug peddling scum who no one will mourn and has ruined the lives of people by putting them in debt with his little gang. It would be better for the world if he was removed from this realm, so please step aside Mr. Hero before I have to hurt you."

Slowly Izuku raised his arms up to the side to signal his surrender and stood up from his kneeling position, glad to see he stopped the victim's bleeding at least. He was scared out of his mind yet at the same time unnaturally calm due to knowing if he so much as twitched wrong his life would be over. 

Thinking it over Izuku recalled that the authorities would arrive sometime soon and there was a possibility of someone else arriving to back him up due to the medical alert. 

Stalling for time it was.

"I'd be happy to do that for you, but I can't. Mainly because I have no idea if you're not just the same sort of scum you claim he is."

The villain scoffed at the statement.

"Please, the sheer fact I gave you the chance to walk away speaks volumes about the difference between me and the animals like him. If this bastard or those like him had you at their mercy then the only thing you'd notice is your jugular being sliced open. Now move or I'll have to cut you."

Izuku remained where he was, making sure the civilian was firmly safe with him between that sword and the victim.

"Fine, but...I need to ask, why are you doing this? Why spend your time stabbing people in a back alley when you could do literally anything else? You have a message to send? Got something to prove or does this get you off?"

The villain growled in disgust at the question.

"Don't be perverse, who would honestly get aroused at the sight of blood? That's sick."

Instantly the memory of Himiko kissing him with that red maw came to the forefront.

"More than you would think. That aside I gotta know, why would you be so reckless with your life? Don't you have people you care about?"

The blade dug deeper into his skin, tearing the fabric and drawing the slimmest of lines as blood began to weep out just below the artery as a hostile slither came from the swordsman's voice. One that was laced with venom and hate that only time could build.

"I did, before scum like this bastard ruined it when they tried to burn the world down."

His tone grew tighter and more enraged as he went on.

"I saw my mother and father die right before my eyes as those animals in the PLA stormed our neighborhood. They just came in and started sacking homes and killing anyone who couldn't escape. There was no reason behind it, they simply acted because they enjoyed seeing others suffer and nobody was there to stop them. Nobody stepped in to save the people I grew up with and I would have died that day if it wasn't for a man willing to do what I'm doing now."

Curiosity got the better of Izuku as he listened. He could sympathise with the man's story, assuming it wasn't bullshit, hell anyone born this generation could. But that was then when the world was insane and it was now where things operated by the laws of society.

"This guy ever give you a name?"

The blade withdrew a bit as a crack came from the man's voice when he answered.

"Stain. The Hero Killer Stain swooped in right as I was about to be stabbed to death by some monster wearing the uniform of even bigger monsters and saved me by sending his sword through it. He was willing to do what needed to be done and managed to save not only me but hundreds of others by his actions. It was because of him I made it to safety and survived the war in a public bunker and that's why I have to continue his work after his death."

Izuku remembered watching that on the news back in his teens when he had huddled up with his mother and those civilians. The Hero Killer died ironically saving the life of a hero and quite a few people by single handedly facing down a whole mob of villains by himself while the people escaped. It was brutal stuff, but the guy nearly won in a sixty to one fight by simply not giving a fuck about his own life. He only fell due to blood loss and the fourteen villains that remained fled the scene afterwards, too scared of a dead man to continue preying on the innocent.

"But don't you think you're wasting the gift he gave you by so hastily throwing your life away?"

Another scoff came from the man, yet his sword did not move.

"No, I'm keeping the service he provided to society alive, as are hundreds of others who have been saved by his example. Stain was the man willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of others to expose the rot that laid in plain sight. If we had more people like him, those who saw what needed to be done with the animals who can't live in proper society, then the Calamity would never have happened."

He continued with rage seeping out of every sound.

"If we had more people like Dynomight who knew that being a hero meant protecting the weak no matter the cost, even if you have to take life to do so, then my family would still be alive."

Izuku tensed at the mention of that bastard. Was this how people saw him? As a protector of the weak and helpless? He was even worse than some villains to him! Katsuki Bakugou took everything from him and the people call him a guardian, an exemplar!? Did nothing he suffered at the hands of that son of a bitch matter!?

Anger swelled in the quirkless hero wannabe and without thinking his right hand struck up, grabbing the blade at his neck before the villain could react.

"That man ruined me. He destroyed everything I ever had and threw me away like garbage once he got accepted into the place I dreamed of going to since I was born. So I won't sit here and have you kiss his ass!"

Holding on to the blade Izuku turned around to face the villain and ran forward, pushing the handle of the sword back into its user's gut as the surprise of what he did caught the man off guard. Izuku let go of the blade when he broke into a run, intent on beating the criminal to a pulp.

However he would be in for a rude awakening when the man dropped the sword, pulled out the knives attached to his waist and raised his leg up in a kick. Strong gushes of air blasted Izuku against a wall like he had been body slammed, leaving the victim defenseless as the attacker lunged forward.

He wouldn't reach the mark, not when Izuku launched himself at the man and pulled out his boken. The criminal dodged the first blow with a lean to the side as Izuku threw a vertical cut, the second not so much.

With a quick upward dip of the stave when it passed the swordsman's chest, Izuku sent the tip crashing right into his windpipe. It was just like Himiko taught him and thankfully the fool wasn't aware of the move and took it head on. 

He began to roll around on the pavement as his airway was flattened, dropping his knives in the process when he reached to clutch at his throat.

So many things were on Izuku's mind at the moment, but in the haze of adrenaline and anger and fear he resorted to relying on his base instincts. He ran forward and struck the man across the face with his boken. The sound was horrifying as his jaw broke and his head jerked rapidly to the right, but in his fury to not die Izuku kept hitting.

Though he dropped the wooden sword in favor of mounting the criminal and delivering punch after punch to his face, it was still the most violent thing he'd ever done. The cartilage of the man's nose snapped as it bent sideways allowing blood to leak out and bruises were already beginning to form, but Izuku kept going.

Every little voice in his mind that would have usually screamed at him to stop for mercy's sake was drowned out in a flood of what could only be trauma mixed with the drive to survive. Blood was starting to splatter on his suit now as he kept punching over and over again, he couldn't hear anything with the ringing in his ears.

Eventually Izuku did cease hitting the villain when the urge went away and what he saw was the man's face bruised and swelling in a deep purple. To the left he could see the horrified face of the civilian and from down the street the sound of ambulance sirens were growing closer. However the only thing which mattered to him at that moment was how much he was shaking and the pain in his knuckles.

He nearly collapsed against a wall as his legs gave out under the adrenaline. At the moment he felt numb to everything while his heart pumped like never before, only the arrival of a two ton emergency vehicle caused him to turn his head. Three paramedics stepped out of the ambulance, their faces turning into shows of horror at his bloody visage and the brutalized man on the ground.

Nobody said anything as the air cleared with only the raspy breathing of the villain bouncing off the walls. It was like a scene from a horror movie and yet it was broken when another pair of feet came running around the corner.

Standing in his karate gi was the Martial Arts hero Tailman, looking far more well adjusted to the carnage than the paramedics who moved to assist the villain who was unconscious at this point. The hero gave a small smile at the sidekick, paying little mind to the wounded civilian who had just walked himself over to the vehicle and began talking with another paramedic out of earshot.

Izuku stared at the hero with animalistic worry before the haze of battle dropped down to almost nothing. He didn't say anything to Ojiro, merely moving to retrieve his Boken which had impressively gone through everything unscathed.

The extra limb user spoke up evenly as the ambulance loaded the criminal and began to roll away with the flurry of police sirens following after it.

"You alright Mop head? Sweets dropped us a communique that he was chasing some SOB and wanted me to back you up."

His eyes drifted to the blood staining the pavement and the gloves of The Limit Breaker's hands.

"But, evidently it seems like you can take care of yourself. Congratulations man, you just made your very first arrest and on your first day too."

Izuku twisted the bolting on the helmet and removed it, allowing fresh air to flow freely to him. Looking at his senior he wiped the sweat from his brow and grimaced.

"What happens now? Procedure dictates that we make immediate contact with the nearest precinct and report in with our body cam footage."

Ojiro kept his smile and planted a hand on the newbie's shoulder, trying his best to be reassuring.

"Yep, we do just that to drop off the footage and sign some paperwork, then we finish the rest of our shift."

The quirkless crimefighter nodded with a coldness to his expression as he began to see the evidence of what he had done. It wasn't a particularly good feeling, but in a strange way...It felt pleasant to win, especially with his life on the line. Shrugging, the helmet was put back on and he checked the hero network to find the location of his boss.

The rest of the day was...oddly normal with a quick five minute visit to drop off the footage and filling out some liability forms after catching up with Rikido before heading right back out to patrol. Izuku didn't mind, though the more experienced hero kept bothering him with questions that were met only by a wall of silence.

He was fine of course, people had tried to kill him before in his youth during the war so he was used to the danger. Mainly because going to school commonly held the same types of hazards with people waving around things which could kill a man without forethought. The one thing on his mind was getting the next three hours finished so they could relax at the bar.

Thankfully the green bean had gotten his wish. It was dull the rest of the day and before long the two heroes left for their agency, then straight to Toshi's after an hour of relaxation. It was packed to the gills like it would be on a Friday and to Izuku's delight Mina was there in the corner along with Ojiro and Shoji waiting at their table.

Perhaps tonight would be good after all. Taking a seat next to the sugar hero, Izuku watched as his peers regarded him with an inkling of respect right when Rikido slapped him on the back.

"Looks I did triple good hiring this guy. Ol' Mop head managed to not only save a civilian's life, but beat the scumbag trying to shank him to a pulp."

A blush came over Izuku as he was unsure what to do about the praise. The multi arm user had a smirk behind the dark blue mask he wore and raised up a mouth appendage.

"Not bad for your first day in the field. How was it?"

The green haired man pursed his lips for a moment as he decided to be honest.

"To say it right, I...didn't really feel anything. Like yeah I wanted to save the guy and survive, but it was all so removed. Like I was watching it all from third person when I got into the fight."

The trio had a sympathy with them that Izuku could barely guess at. They shared a gaze and suddenly appeared far older than what reality should allow. Shoji was the one to answer back and it made a hole in the quirkless man's soul.

"It gets like that in a life or death struggle. Your body speeds up so everything else seems to pass by in slow motion until you get hurt or you hurt the other guy. Trust me when I say you'll get used to it."

There would have been a continuation of the conversion were it not for a pink hand being placed on Izuku's shoulder and cutting that chance down.

"Sorry to interrupt but do you mind if I borrow Midori-boy for a few minutes?"

The three eyed the acid heroine with a knowing gaze but gave no protest when the idea was raised. Not really caring about it himself, Izuku followed the acidic mutant to the counter, taking a seat right next to her. Mina was dressed in the usual leopard print jacket and blue jeans with a swift stink of booze and perfume wafting off her.

She smiled at the quirkless man, setting a bottle of beer from her side to his.

"Well, how's things between you and Ms. Lucky? Last time we talked you two seem to have really hit it off."

Izuku uncapped the beer and took a swig, downing some of the bitter liquid.

"Don't you wanna ask about my hero work?"

Mina waved a dismissive hand at that, seeming annoyed by the very prospect. 

"Screw that, we're off the clock so let's not talk about the same stuff we need to do every other day. I'm more interested in how your love life is going."

Shrugging he thought about it for a moment, but blushed as he recalled what happened recently. His free hand moved to touch one of his shoulders which caused him to wince in pain.

"I can't really say for…decency's sake, but…"

He paused for a moment and let some of his inner worry escape. His hands tapped against the bottle while a strange sensation of latent fear, confusion and arousal hit him all at once.

"Let me ask you something Ashido, if you were in a relationship with someone and they had rather unique tastes...would you ever let them bite you?"

The heroine raised an eyebrow at the question, lifting her whisky glass to her lips.

"Like just a little love nip?"

Izuku shook his head.

"No...more like they grab onto your shoulder and slowly bite down until your skin breaks and blood starts seeping out into their mouth."

Mina stared at him with bewilderment before drifting her eyes over to the slightly raised portions of his shoulders under his shirt.

"Personally I'm not into that kinda stuff, but if that's what works for you two then go ahead. Love isn't exactly the same for everybody. I mean, you like it though, right?"

Izuku shrugged as he took another swig.

"...I could live without it, but it doesn't bother me enough to object. She's rather into that stuff and I guess it's due to her quirk so I just suck it up until she's finished wailing on me. Like when she first bit me and my blood started to seep out, she drank some of it."

He grimaced at the memory as silence came over him.

"It isn't that I'm scared of her or anything and she takes care of me well enough in turn. I just wonder if this is...normal? Like every movie I've ever watched, never had the main couple start biting and hitting each other once they became an item. The same with everyone I've ever talked to about their romantic relationships, it never involves something that weird."

Mina shrugged in turn, setting her whisky to the side.

"That's just how it is. Some people are stranger than others and their tastes follow suit. Like for me, I loved using my powers to wrap me up in slime like a slug before any action with Kiri-boy because of the impact my quirk has on me psychologically. The same is likely for this girl, expect mine's just weird and hers is...kinky. That being said, if it isn't something you like and she isn't willing to at least ease up on it, maybe you break things off and go look for someone else who isn't so...alternative."

She ran a finger over her sweating drink and continued.

"I'm not trying to shit on your relationship of course, it's just that sexual compatibility is a major thing that determines a lot of whether or not something will work. Especially with the sorts of things she seems into and the other factor is being honest with yourself. If you decided deep down that you don't enjoy...whatever she's doing to you, then it's better to move on then remain and suffer. I'm not saying you shouldn't compromise and try to make sure that the both of you are happy, but there's a difference between taking a little bit of discomfort for the sake of the person you're with and then there's remaining because you don't know anything else."

Izuku said nothing to that, merely listened as his fingers choked around the base of the bottle. The fibers of his hands budged and with them came a heavy, slow tone to his voice that came from somewhere deep inside him. He had mused on the idea and dismissed it utterly yet instead of his emotions lashing out like they had at his mother, they remained under the skin when he turned to face the mutant.

"That's not happening. She's been with me since day one and done so much to help me grow. It's because of her that I managed to start pursuing my dreams again after I hit rock bottom. She was always there if I needed help or advice, hell she even helped me stand up to my mom for once."

The hand around the bottle tightened.

"That girl has put up with a loser like me for months and done nothing but be a boon to my life. If she asks in return is to rough me up or even spill my blood, so be it. She's all I have and I'm all she has so to just abandon her like that is unthinkable. So long as she is loyal to me alone then I'll take whatever physical pain she wants to give."

He closed his eyes as the feeling left his body, knowing he had likely ruined some standing with the heroine. Yet to his surprise she simply laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"You're faithful to a fault ain't ya, Midori-boy? Well that's fine and if you think Ms. blood sucker is the one for you then go for it, but can you promise me something?"

He raised an eyebrow at the woman, astonished she hadn't just written him off and left.

"Yeah?"

She inched just a little closer, looking as sincere as can be.

"If you ever need to talk about this or if something goes wrong and you need a place to stay, promise you'll give me a call."

Izuku returned the smile as he for once felt like he wouldn't be pricked by showing his under belly.

"I will Ashido, you have my word on that."

The mutant laughed a bit as she tapped a fist against his chest.

"Good, but call me Mina, got it mister?"

He kept the smile as he hopped her lightly on the shoulder.

"Only if you call me Izuku."

She flicked his nose like it was a door stopper and giggled.

"You got a deal Izu-boy."

The two of them laughed at the situation as the mood of the bar came over them and the night appeared as if it would only get better. Yet as if to usher in the fate Izuku had been stuck with ever since his birth there came a jingle from the front of the bar. The entrance was pushed inward, letting in some of the cold and with it came one person Izuku thought he would never see again.

Katsuki Bakugou.

The number one hero, the golden man himself stood in a thick white overcoat, grinning happily as he entered the establishment. The patrons of which froze upon seeing him like a deer in the headlights, Izuku however took one look at the "hero" and immediately turned to the counter, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be seen.

This would be in vain when the sounds of boots clashing on the floorboards came closer and closer until he felt the presence of someone right behind him. A hand clasped onto his shoulder and with it came the same husky voice which haunted his nightmares.

"Hey Deku, long time no see man. You've been doing alright?"

So many things ran through Izuku's mind at that moment. Fear, rage, confusion, shame, hate even a spark of admiration which refused to die. All that boiled inside him and as it did his hand crawled up to the neck of the bottle. How the fuck did Katsuki even find him? Was he out here just to relax and saw him by chance? Why did he approach him out of everyone else first?

So many questions, so many bad memories each arising one after the other. Yet the more they did the more his emotions, old, vile things, began to finally show on his face. His eyes were bloodshot, his heart thundered in his chest and every burn on his body screamed as one. He was truly honest for the first time in his life, no mask, no polite lies, just childish rage given freedom and his hand felt loose as he gripped the neck of the beer.

He would have acted, he would have twisted the fucker's wrist or yanked a finger or maybe just grab him by the shirt and smash the object into his face and stab him in the throat with the broken shards right there in the bar in front of over sixty pro heroes. If it weren't for him making eye contact with Mina who saw exactly what was inside his eyes and simply asked with her body language "Are you alright?"

Standing from his seat Izuku left the beer on the counter and let Katsuki's hand fall as he moved towards the exit without a word. However the leading hero wouldn't let that go quietly.

"Hey where the fuck the you going? It's me Kacchan, remember?"

Izuku stopped right at the rim of the door, his hand was on the handle and only three more steps were needed to escape this place. Three more steps and he could go home, yet the greedy, ugly vindictive part of him wanted to turn around and berate and scream and shout and stab. Only he knew how that would end, with everyone defending and loving that bastard while he'd be defamed and cast out.

So instead of sacrificing everything for thirty glorious seconds of running his mouth, Izuku took those three steps and left. Then those basic three multiplied as he broke into a red faced run. He ran and ran and ran with every grudge and pain coming out so much that he wanted to scream and cry, but he didn't.

He merely ran until he reached the metro station and returned home while barely being able to hold himself together. Why couldn't he have this? Everything was going so well for once! For once he was getting praise and positive attention from genuinely awesome people and right when it was getting better, that dumbass had to show up and ruin it.

Slamming the front door of his apartment close behind him, Izuku ran to his sofa and grabbed the nearest throw pillow and screamed into it. His lungs flexed and shook as the whole world turned red and soon the pillow was sent flying across the room in his fury.

Yet he paused when the cushion landed hard against a box resting on his dinner table. It had been opened this morning after it arrived right before he needed to leave for work and as such the contents fell out to the floor. They were books that he had purchased online, some detailing medical procedures, some about how to better intimacy and a few that had diagrams of certain acts and how to do them. The sorts of things he bought with Himiko in mind, yet one other thing came out of the box, one he had no intention of ever buying and was somehow there.

It was a leather mask sealed inside a cheap plastic bag. The thing had a thin frame of what might have been black calf hide for it's construction with enough space for the eyes to be seen and a zipper going horizontally across the mouth.

This was something Izuku would not buy and looking at the receipt on the side of the box, he hadn't. It wasn't listed with the rest of his order and by some mess it didn't show up in the GPS tracking when he looked back at it. So someone was likely missing a mask like this one and he was stuck with it.

Yet the longer he stared at the thing, the longer it seemed to stare right back. Curiosity took most of his anger for a moment and thus he opened the bag. His fingers gripped the thing from inside, feeling the cold sensation of the leather as he held it in his hands. Not sure exactly why he felt the urge to do what he did, Izuku pulled a zipper on the back of its neck and slipped his head inside.

The calf skin hugged his face tightly in a strange way when he finally got it situated perfectly and zipped it shut. His breathing was perfectly fine and there was no difference in his field of vision, which was more than he could say for the helmet the agency afforded to him. 

Stepping into his bathroom Izuku studied the reflection staring back at him in the mirror and paused when he realized how off putting he appeared. Sure it wasn't like facing down a really mutated villain or anything, but no one could tell who was wearing it. Brushing that childish curiosity aside he entered his living room again and began to brood on his anger as it took root again.

Katsuki had managed to ruin everything for him again with that single word, branding him as that childhood martyr he tried so long to forget. Why couldn't he escape that fucker? Why was everything good in this fucking world given to him even by a slightest hand, only for it to be ripped away or tainted.

Everyone would know he's Deku and that fucker likely told everyone who that person was multiple times throughout the years. God was Sato going to call him that now? Would Mina start calling him that? Was everything he was trying to grow already squashed?

His booted foot collided into the base of the bottom cabinet below his sink, causing the door to bounce from the force. Then something crashed into the panel from inside, making it open slightly as the object lingered.

Looking down Izuku could see the head of a claw hammer peeking out. He paused for a moment when he pulled back the cabinet door completely and the hammer crashed down to the floor. Next to it, perhaps dragged down in the teeth of the tool were a pair of black work men's gloves.

Gently he scooped up the gloves and slotted them on his hands, feeling them fit just as well as the mask did. Then with a meaningful aim he picked up the hammer.

It was top heavy, weighted forward in the palm that made the polymer wrapped handle feel rightly pleasant and snug to hold. The hammer head was rusty and decrepit, yet still perfectly usable.

He stared at the tool for what may have been hours while buried thoughts came back to the forefront. His life had been shit up till now and right at the apex of his improvement fate conspired to thwart him. It was the same person who ruined his youth come back to ruin his present and there wasn't a damn thing he could do.

Katsuki Bakugou was as untouchable now as he was back in middle school. He was stronger than Izuku, faster than Izuku, more charismatic than Izuku and had infinitely more resources. While he himself only had a piddly income, a few friends, no quirk...and a hammer.

Izuku had thought about it before, getting his revenge. It felt right at times, but he knew it was just the angry screams of a petulant child jealous of his situation in life. Yet at the same time, why did it have to be Katsuki he vented his anger on? There were countless horrible people in this world, who's to say people wouldn't thank him for hurting them? The guys at the bar did after he beat that Stain follower to a pulp, so what would the difference be if he did in his off time in a different mask with a hammer instead of a Boken?

Why couldn't he go and unleash his fury on the guilty in place of the one man out of his reach? The world needed more people like Bakugou, right? That's what everyone seems to think, so why not go break some crook's legs to make himself feel better?

His hand tightened around the hammer as he thought about it, picturing the feeling of beating some guilty motherfucker half to death because they wanted to prey on the helpless like he had been all those years ago. It felt good to imagine the power and the rush of getting into combat, to feel some of the blood splatter against his clothes. Yet soon something else came to mind when he pictured it.

He could see Sato and Mina staring at him in horror while his mother sobbed her eyes out. He saw his entire life degenerating before him and then came one thing that nearly made him freeze.

It was Himiko shaking her head at him in disappointment as she shut her door forever.

Blinking, Izuku set first the hammer then the gloves and finally the mask on the dining table. His anger was a mighty thing which silently fueled most of his life, but there was one thing he wasn't willing to sacrifice to it and that was it.

Turning around to the front door he allowed a breath to escape him. His life was worth living now, he had people who cared about him, a woman who loved him and a start of an actual hero career. Why throw that away on old, pointless grudges?

With that in mind the quirkless hero exited his apartment, intent on forgetting his troubles in the arms of his lover. Yet as he did so there came a sense of foreboding about him, one which whispered that things would not stay perfect forever.

Izuku grinned up at the sky and made a gesture to the god of fate and luck. If he wanted to try him again, then so be it, because he would be ready no matter how much he needed to change.

After all, so long as he had her by his side...well anything was endurable.