235It had to have been at least three hours since Izuku had returned home and began rooting through this file, connecting together even the most minor pieces of evidence to approach his theory.
Well, it was less a theory and more and more likely fact.
Still, even with having been taught how to handle even the most frustrating of paperwork by Nedzu, Izuku had his limits. And if there's one thing Viscera was other than extremely concerning, it was exhausting.
So with a stretch and a yawn, he hid his evidence behind a curtain, put the folder away in a drawer and stood up, before taking a look around the room. It had changed a little since he was a kid.
Instead of the entire room being littered in All Might merch it was relegated to a wall and a half, while another wall was dedicated to various teachers and a few standout students he knew from U.A.
He ignored one particular photo of him hanging out with the second year class from three years prior, knowing his mood would only worsen if he saw it and instead he focused on the pictures of him and Midnight messing with Aizawa, smiling gently.
The final wall was relegated to different theories, 'evidence' and such. Not important or sensitive theories like anything regarding viscera but rather simple notes like what Midnight's sleeping gas might do in interaction with various atmospheres.
Speaking of Midnight… A small smile creeped up on his face as he headed to the door and opened it, walking out into the living area again where he saw his mother helping Midnight fit on her shoes as they spoke in hurried hushed tones.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?" He spoke up, making them both yelp and jump before whipping around with red guilty faces to see him as he grinned at them. "That would just be rude, Momnight."
"I-Izuku!" She sputtered, quickly looking around for an excuse. "I- I was just, we were-"
"On a date, clearly an intimate one." He supplies for her, smirk widening as he saw her curse under her breath. "I got here like three hours ago to find you both snuggled up with candles and stuff."
"...Well…. Crap." She sighed and calmed down a little, bowing slightly. "Sorry for not telling you sooner, sweetie."
Inko nodded with a sigh of her own and a shy smile. "We just wanted to know where we were at before we got your hopes up, I promise we planned to tell you as soon as possible."
"Well, since I know now…" Izuku began gently, walking forward with a deliberate gait to draw out the moment, taking all of the R-Rated heroine in the room's lessons about teasing to mess with them. "I hope you don't plan to skimp out on the details of the how?"
"Ah, well…" His mother quickly began to resemble a tomato as she mumbles out a quick explanation, teeth gnawing on her lower lip a tad as she did so. "You see, about four or so months ago, Midnight was telling me about another one of your lessons and brought up how you call her mom sometimes, and began to joke about how she didn't realize we'd gotten married."
Midnight nodded with a gentle chuckle as she scratched the back of her neck. "Well, it appears your mother may or may not have had a crush on me for a while since she responded with not seeing what would be bad about that, and I naturally resorted to my usual flirting, telling her I would appreciate a drink first."
"And I… offered to take her for one." Inko admitted with a shy giggle as she fiddled with her skirt. "She said yes and a few months later, here we are."
Izuku smiled gently as he looked between them. "Well, I can't really complain about this." He turned to Midnight. "I'll spare you the shovel talk, but we both know I'm an ace shot with all manner of long range weapons."
Midnight shivered at his cheery reminder and chuckled nervously at her son's not so thinly veiled warning. "I love you too, Izuku… Now, if you excuse me, both of you, as lovely as tonight has been, I have a lot of work to prepare for U.A. Be safe, both of you!"
"You too, Nemi!" Inko called, before blushing slightly as she realized the name she'd used, glancing at Izuku who just grinned wildly at her. 'Oh how the turn tables.'
After a moment, they heard the sound of the front door closing as Midnight left and Izuku sighed, before turning to his mother, trying to think of how to approach the topic he had on mind with the green haired woman.
After a moment of contemplation, he sighed and decided it would be best to just go for it, speaking up. "Mom, this is a bit out of nowhere but you wouldn't happen to have Mitsuki's address, would you?"
There was silence for a moment and Izuku could see how his mother tensed in her seat, before asking in a more clipped, slightly pained voice. "Why do you need that, Izuku?"
He sighed and decided that it wouldn't help to get into the full reasoning. Not yet anyways. "Just… a precaution. I'm worried about something."
"…It's still in Musutafu. 3-3-1." His mother explained quietly and Izuku nodded, before going over to her and hugging her as she sat down. She leaned gently into the hold and he just hummed quietly.
He'd deal with whatever came next when he got to it. For now, he could rest for the day and make sure his mother remembered the cheer of her date, not the bad memories his question may have evoked.
The next morning, after making sure to grab his wrist-shooters on the way out, saw Izuku walking to school in the early hours, having always preferred to walk to U.A. for the exercise when he was at home rather than take the train.
Plus, it didn't hurt that it saved money and let him work on his situational awareness skills by trying to observe everything around him on the way to the school.
It was a really useful skill to have and it often could make a real difference in any serious scenarios to be aware of any concerning situations like-
"Help!" A voice suddenly shouted, making him jump and turn to an alley where he heard the voice come from, making him quickly pick up his pace and sprint to the exact kind of situation he was thinking of.
He slid into sight and paused at the sight before him. There was an older man, likely in his forties with scales over his body like a fish on the ground, staring up at four thugs, two behind him, one standing as a massive imposing presence with his large height and heavy-set build and a final one waving something in his hand at the fish man.
"-Your mouth shut. You pay, or we gut you." The aforementioned man threatened and Izuku raise a brow.
"Like a fish?" He asked making all four men startle and whip around, the man who was talking throwing his hands together and aiming what he had in his hands at the freckled teen. And ah, it was a handgun. Well that was a problem. "Real original, guys."
"Who the fuck are you?" The man demanded wildly as Izuku putting up his hands in a fake surrender as he took tentative steps forward. "Keep your distance, or I'll blow your brains out."
He paused and sighed, shrugging.
"Creativity is truly dead in threatening people. I'm quirkless, if you think that is the first time I've heard a threat like that you need to re-evaluate your threatening skills." He then hardened his gaze as he looked the man in the eyes, as he very subtly fiddled with the shooters in his hand, stealing a very quick glance down to see what he had equipped. Purple, Midnight's sleeping gas! perfect! "But come on, four guys to one? There's tactics then there's being pathetic."
The man growled and began stomping forward as Izuku rolled his eyes and took in the alley fully. The thin space, the metallic dumpster, the precarious wooden plank that didn't quite fit in the dumpster and the brick someone had used to weigh it down so it didn't fall out on the inside.
The fireplace up above where it seemed the fish man had been working before the guys here brought him down based on his paint suit and the paint can's up above on the ledge of the fireplace. He didn't get a chance to see much more as he felt cold metal touch his forehead and he shivered slightly as his eyes drifted to the gun so close to him, then down to the man's arm where he paused at a tattoo he spotted.
"Woah, you're a Whitesnake?" He asked with slightly wide eyes, a bit surprised to run into the gang. The 'leader', or at least Izuku presumed him to be, grunted.
"Yeah, so we got no issue with someone normal like you, since you don't have anything dishonorable like a quirk." He said, narrowing his eyes. "As long as you stay well out of our way, kid."
Izuku sighed gently and smiled at him. "Thank you."
"You're welc-"
"For getting so close." He finished before reaching up with lightning fast reflexes and using the man's surprise to push the gun well away from his head, grabbing tight on the barrel as he drove a foot straight into the man's stomach, sending him backwards as he dropped the gun right into Izuku's hands.
The largest thug let out an angry roar and charged at Izuku making him roll his eyes slightly as he rushed forward himself to meet the hulking brute and right as he tried to drive his hand down to hit Izuku the quirkless teen shifted at the last moment and jumped on top of the brute, using his momentum to vault him and roll over his back onto the other side before whipping around on his feet as soon as he landed to aim upwards with the gun.
Right at one of the paint cans, pulling the trigger with no hesitation to clip it in the side and send it careening down to the ground with all the paint still mostly firmly inside it. It landed directly on the wooden plank just as one of the last two thugs was coming over, sending the brick in the dumpster careening directly into his face and making him stumble before dropping to the ground unconscious.
Izuku meanwhile turning his attention to the massive seething figure behind him who turned ready for another throw only for Izuku to throw his free hand forward and slam his two ring and middle fingers down into his palm as he aimed the contraption on his wrist directly into the man's face as pink smoke burst out.
He stumbled before collapsing to the ground with tired heavy eyes making Izuku snort quietly before he disarmed the firearm in his hand and threw the clip into the bin as he pocketed the gun before dodging an attempted punch from the final thug, sticking out his foot to trip them up and sending them to the ground. He spared a glance at the fish man and gave him a small thumbs up. "Get to the police station if you can walk, I'll be there soon."
"Like hell you will, you brat!" The leader growled as he sprinted at Izuku who took a proper fight stance and dodged the attempted punch the thug threw, grabbing his arm and twisting behind the man's back before kicking his leg making him buckle as he let out a pained shout.
He heard footsteps rushing from behind and threw his foot backwards in a second kick, feeling it connect with something small, soft fleshly that swang back and forth.
Based on the squeal that escaped the man, Izuku could only assume he'd hit the family jewels. With a slightly satisfied smirk he threw the leader to the ground and turned before grabbing the final thug by the coat and pressing the wrist shooter directly under his nose before firing, sending him to the ground.
Izuku turned to the leader who had stood up again and rushed towards him with a roar, making him roll his eyes as he stood his ground and easily grabbed the double punch the Whitesnake tried to throw, yanking his arms apart and delivering his foot right into the man's sternum, making him stumble back before he rushed at him and tried to hit him with more sleeping gas but his hand was grabbed before he could fire and forced aside.
Izuku yelped and bent backwards, a punch flying over his head a second later before he raised up and pulled himself in as close as possible to the thug, twisting his arm around the other man's before leaning back and putting all his strength into driving them forward.
Which resulted in the thug's head colliding with the metal top of the nearby dumpster with a resounding 'CLANG!' that made Izuku flinch as the man dropped a moment later with a groan.
Izuku pressed a finger to his neck, feeling a pulse and sighing in relief before snorting as he dragged the four gang members near each other. He had nothing to tie them down with but he took a picture of each of their faces.
Even if they ran, they'd be in the system soon enough with no way to escape. With that bit of satisfaction managed, he turned and jogged in the direction of the police station, finding the fish man limping along and hurrying to his side.
"Here, I got ya." He said gently as he put an arm around the man and helped carry his weight. "You okay?"
"Mostly…" He grunted and looked at Izuku with mild confusion and a small wince. "I have no idea what they wanted with me, I think they were mutantists or something. But I don't get why they didn't use our quirks on us."
"Whitesnakes." The quirkless teen stated simply, looking up to see the police station only two streets away and guiding the man there. "They're a gang of quirk-haters. Something about them being dishonorable in combat or something equally stupid."
"…But they were using guns." The Fish Man scrunched up his nose in confusion and Izuku just sighed, frowning himself.
"What can I say, criminals that aren't forced into that life tend to be idiots and hypocrites." He said, before silence fell on them for the rest of the journey. When they reached the station, the officer working at the desk looked up before pausing then sighing at seeing Izuku, immediately gesturing for them to come along.
After about twenty minutes, Izuku was heading out of the station with a sheepish grin on his face as the captain of the station, Captain Rai, an orange haired man with a gaunt face and a fade just sighed exasperatedly. "Not that I don't appreciate the saving of the innocent, but I have to remind you, again, that you don't have a license. So please stop doing our job and making us look bad."
Izuku just gave him a bemused look. "I'll stop when I stop wandering into situations where the only option to help out is to intervene."
"With your luck, that means never." Rai deadpanned and Izuku just gave him a 'what-can-you-do' shrug that made him facepalm. "Just let Nezu know again, since no one saw it we can let you off the hook. Again. He may not regret the decision to train a quirkless kid, but I regret his decision to give me a never-ending pain in the ass."
"You're welcome." Izuku just chuckled cheerily as he headed for the door. "And for what its worth, I'm genuinely sorry about the paperwork."
"But you won't do it for me." Rai retorted with a snort of amusement and Izuku shuddered.
"I said I was sorry, not that I was willing to take torture as punishment." He called, before leaving the door and rushing to the nearest station.
So much for not taking the train to U.A.
"You are aware this is the sixth time in as many months I have had to deal with your heroics streak?" Nezu asked as Izuku sat across from him. Izuku just smiled sheepishly and Nezu sighed. "You take the phrase better to ask for forgiveness than permission far too far sometimes."
"Well, I wouldn't listen to permission in a lot of cases anyways if my gut told me not to." Izuku admitted with a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck. "You and Aizawa taught me that. And I won't apologize for helping an innocent man."
"And it truly proves to be a pain for us sometimes." Nezu deadpans, although a smile did crack on his face at Izuku's last words before his expression softened. "You are lucky your meddling has proven too valuable to curb, or we'd have to take much harsher actions. You are aware of that yes?"
"Of the rules, yes." Izuku nods, before sighing. "I'm also well aware that the rules don't always help do what's right. Sunshine being a prime example."
Nezu bristled slightly and sighed deeply. "Yes, Sunshine. That is exactly why we're letting it go again with little more than a verbal warning because you have proven that stopping you would only be detrimental, but please. Do try to lessen the vigilante's at least, I have enough paperwork to struggle with with the hero commission when it comes to you, Izuku."
"Understood uncle… So, moving on…" Izuku nodded with a guilty expression. His expression darkened suddenly as he let out a sad sigh. "…I'm pretty confident Viscera and Bakugou are one in the same. Actually not pretty sure, one hundred percent certain."
Nezu bristled again and took a sip of the tea sitting on his desk. "I see… Dear me this is going to be an issue…"
"…I know I don't have a license and can't take place in the proper raid." Izuku spoke up, making Nezu look at him with piercing eyes, already guessing what he had to say. "But I know Bakugou better than almost anyone, even if I haven't seen him for a few years. Just the investigation, nothing else, just let me in on the investigation to help, please?"
Nezu was quiet for several moments, scanning Izuku's face before sighing and setting his tea down. "Alright, you can join me Friday after school. There is a small taskforce already assembled to raid the Bakugou household for evidence, and your presence could prove invaluable depending on what we find. But if we run into any resistance, you may only fight back in self-defence and are not to get involved in any other situation, understood?"
Izuku nodded, satisfied with that arrangement as he stood up. "Understood sir. I'll be there."
And with that, he headed for the door as there was nothing else to talk about. Plus he had to be at class in five minutes.
Despite the heavy subject of before, he couldn't help a small tinge of excitement rise up in him.
Hero training officially began today!