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quantumpoint · 4 years

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Broken Masks - Chapter 9: Invitations

*Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25544242/chapters/61981285*

Tick’s laughing was going to make him reached for the ax again. “Did you have to get blood on my dress?” The veiled woman asked, holding her stained skirt up to him.

Takaida tapped his feet against the bed of the van they were in, his heavy steel toe boots slamming against the bare metal of the car when Tick’s laughter grew. “Lighten open, Lady. Red looks good on you.”

Lady huffed, “I refuse to wear red until the day of my unveiling.”

“You’re day will come,” Takaida said as the van slowed, “Tick will go get you a new dress until then.”

“Hey!” Tick shouted, throwing the doors open and shoving Maniac out before joining her, “I do wish you that you let us kill more people. The mayor’s death was cool, but come on. I wanted slit a few throats too.”

Takaida sighed and stepped out the van. Walking towards the nearby warehouse he said, “And you will. Tick, I want you and Melancholy to start phase two of our debut when he gets back.”

“Thank God,” Tick groaned, throwing open the warehouse doors, “I think I would have killed one of the team if you didn’t let me out soon.”Maniac removed her mask so everyone could see her roll her eyes as she flicked on the lights.

“Aren’t you a lively bunch?” Someone said from the couch in the middle of the open floor. Everyone around Takaida tensed. Maniac drew a knife and would have thrown it if Takaida hadn’t held up his hand. The person laughed and rose from the chair.

Tick growled and had to be held back to not attack the newcomer. “Fucking burnt chicken nugget. How’d you get in here?”

Dabi laughed again, “The door.” Tick growled, her tail snapping at HellFire holding her back. “Anway,” Dabi said, growing serious as he looked back at Takaida, “I didn’t come here for just a social call.”

“I take it your boss received my message?” Takaida said, walking up to Dabi and held out his hand, “Black Mask, who might you be.”

Dabi took his hand. “Dabi and, yes, the boss wishes to discuss your proposal.”

“When would he like to meet?”

“How about now?” Dabi asked, holding out his hand as a purple mist formed next to him.

Maniac stepped forward. “Boss?”

“Tick, HellFire,” Takaida said, not taking his eyes from Dabi, “Stay here. When the others get back start phase two. Maniac and I will go meet with the League.”

Stepping forward, Takaida motioned for Dabi to lead the way. “You’re very trusting for a villain.”

“Who said I trusted you?” Takaida asked, letting Maniac step through the portal first and waited for her to give him a thumbs-up before stepping through. Dabi just laughed as he followed behind them.

“Mom?” Izuku asked. His mother sat at the kitchen table tapping away at her laptop as if she didn’t hear him. “Mom?”

“What, Izuku?” She asked, not even taking her eyes off the screen. When he didn’t answer right away she snapped, “What?”

“I-i was wondering if I could go hang out with some of my friends.”

“You have friends?” She asked sounding more mocking than curious.

Izuku fidgeted, “Y-yeah. Two of my friends want to go to a cafe near the school tomorrow and they invited me.”

“No.”

“But-”

Inko slammed her laptop shut and glared at him, making him flinch when she reached out to pat his shoulder. “You know I have work tomorrow. I don’t want you out by yourself while I’m away. I worry about you. You understand this right?”

Izuku nodded. “Of course.”

She turned back to her work but didn’t open her laptop again. “You can go some other time when I’m not working.”

“But you’re always working.”

Inko glared at him before her expression softened. “Sweetie, I’m sorry, but you know I have to.”

Izuku glanced down at the floor. “I-I know, I’m sorry.”

“I know its hard for you, but at least you can hang out with Nakai tonight. I know how much you two love hanging out.” Izuku stiffened. Not Takaida. Not again, not this soon. He gave his mother a small nodded and walked back to his room to tell his friends he could go yet again.

Shouta watched the screen with a grimace as video of the major’s murder was replayed on the news. They were blaming heroes for not responding, for not protecting without even pausing to talk about the eight heroes who lost their lives during the attack.

Eight heroes. Eight people who had families and friends waiting for them to return and they weren’t even talked about in the news. Instead, they were blamed for not responding fast enough, for not being strong enough. The Veiled Assembly had acted fast and without mercy. Villains were always violent, but something like this, only a day after reforming, was unheard of.

After Izuku had talked to Naomasa, he had run out with little explanation. Shouta and Izuku had been planning to leave the station when they had caught a glimpse of what was going on and after the screen had gone black, Izuku had all but shut down. He had rubbed his hands raw to the point of bleeding and wouldn’t respond to anything Shouta tried to ask him.

“In other news, tonight there has been a string of murders yet no one has come forward claiming responsibility.” Shouta grimaced as the reported continued, “Tonight four individuals where found murder on the streets of Musutafu and Hosu. Currently, there is no news as to if these murders are connected but it was reported that all individuals had green hair and were between the ages of 20 and 45.”

With that, Black Mask’s declamation echoed in Aizawa’s head, ‘ The Veiled Assembly has returned and only green will sate our thirst for blood.’

“Along with current events and the statement given today at the Attorney’s Office, some believe it these murders may be connected. As of now, there is no evidence connecting the two. Heroes and police are currently working to track down and contain this new organization as well as investigating what happened tonight. Now, over to Hiro for more information on the Black Mask case”

Shouta flipped off the T.V. with a growl. “I was watching that,” Hizashi said next to him. He laughed and help up his hands when Shouta glared at him. “Geez, kidding, kidding. Are you okay?”

Shouta sighed, “No. All the progress we made since the hospital was taken away when he saw the news. Midoriya’s blaming himself for what’s happening and I’m afraid what this new string of murders will do to him. The Veiled Assembly is obviously targeting Midoriya.”

Hizashi pulled Shouta into a loose hug. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this.”

“Stop being so encouraging.”

“No,” Hizashi laughed, “I refuse to let you get all sad and grumpy because of you’re negativity.” Shouta sighed again but didn’t argue back. He was too tired for that.

“My biggest concern is his hands,” Shouta said, “They’re never going to heal if he keeps rubbing them.”

“We can have Recovery Girl look at them tomorrow if the kid’s up for it.”

Shouta hummed and glanced down at his wrist. The skin was raw, but he had healed with no difficulty. After the pain had stopped, it was like the skin had gone back to normal as if nothing had ever happened. “He’s still in pain,” Shouta mumbled still looking at his wrist which Hizashi took, “Phantom flashes of Takaida’s quirk would flare up on occasion, but once it had stopped my skin healed. Meaning,”

“Meaning,” Hizashi gasped, “Midoriya’s experiencing the same thing.”

Shouta nodded. “What worries me more is that he’s never shown he was in any pain even when he had rubbed the skin off his hands.”

“Well, he always did have a really high pain tolerance.”

“True, but its how he developed it that worries me. Was it because of his volatile quirk or something else.”

“Probably his quirk,” Hizashi hummed, “I can’t even imagine how bad it would have been for him growing up.”

“That’s not it.” Shouta paused thinking of the interview and hissed, “Shit, Hizashi. Midoriya’s quirk didn’t come in until the day of the entrance exam. He’s been on quirk suppressants since he was four.”

“Wow,” Hizashi said, “That’s really amazing.”

“Amazing how?” Shouta glanced at Hizashi.

Hizashi gave him a shy smile. “Sorry, not what I meant. What I meant is that what Midoriya’s accomplished since then is really impressive. He’s excelled in everything we’ve put him through and the fact that he was succeeding while trying to learn a brand new quirk makes his accomplishments even more impressive.”

“Maybe someone should tell him that,” Shouta mumbled, leaning back on the sofa, “I think it would be good for him to hear that from someone.”

“Why not you?”

Shouta opened his mouth to answer, but a stifled scream rippled through the apartment. He was on his feet and sprinting towards Midoriya’s room in an instant. Not bothering to knock, Shouta walked in to see Midoriya on the floor curled in on himself. His arms wrapped around him with his hand on his shoulders. He panted, hissing what little air that did pass his lungs through his teeth.

“Midoriya?” Shouta asked, watching Midoriya flinch away trying to kick the tangled blanket away from him.

“Please don’t,” Midoriya whispered, shrinking further into themself, “I didn’t mean to. I’ll be quiet. Please. I’m sorry.”

Midoriya continued to mumble apologies as he shuffled away from the door to press his back against the wall. When Shouta took a step forward, Midoriya threw his hand up, his mumble of apologies increasing. Shouta grimaced at the bleeding hand held up to him, the bandages loosened from Midoriya’s frantic movements.

He tried calling out to him again. “Midoriya?”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered in response while trying to push further into the wall, “I’m sorry.”

Shouta knelt and when a shadow covered the light from the hallway he waved Hizashi away without taking his eyes off of Midoriya. When the light returned, Shouta whispered while holding his hands up in a limp, relaxed position. “Izuku, you’re safe. No one is growing to hurt you.”

Midoriya twitched and he focused on Shouta’s hands and when Shouta didn’t move them, he seemed to relax just a little.

“You’re okay. You’re not in trouble.” Midoriya blinked and looked at him with big hopeful eyes. “Can I come closer?”

Midoriya nodded and lowered his hand to his lap to stare at it. “I-I hurt my hand again. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Shouta said, taking his time to shuffle closer, choosing to stay lean against the wall a comfortable distance from the kid. He kept his hands in view the entire time and once he had settled, Shouta rested him on his knees. “Bandages can be redone and skin will heal.”

Midoriya hummed and glanced around the room, processing everything around him, and, after a long time, his shoulders relaxed. “Sorry for bothering you.”

Shouta hard to force himself not to sigh. This kid. “Midoriya,” Midoriya stiffened at his name when Shouta spoke, “may I hug you?”

Midoriya’s head snapped around to look at him, Shouta thought he would get whiplash. With big startled eyes Midoriya gave Shouta the smallest nod. With a smile, Shouta held out his arms and let Midoriya scoot close enough for him to wrap his arm around him. Midoriya’s hands clenched at the back of his shirt as silent sobs racked his body.

Rubbing small circles into Midoriya’s back, Shouta said, “You’re never a bother, kid.”

Yagi sat at his kitchen table with his face in his hands, listening to the news question where he had been during the attack on the District Attorney’s Office. He clenched his teeth, where had he been? At school, hiding in the teacher’s lounge because he had used up all his time for the day. Damnit.

He flipped off the T.V. and basked in the silence of his small apartment. He thought someone else would be able to handle it, he didn’t know it was going to be that bad. If he had, he would have…

The thought dead before it had even finished. Would he have? From where he was there was a fair chance he wouldn’t have made it in time. Although he was fast, Yagi had been growing slower over the years and with the office being on the other side of town, there was a fair chance he wouldn’t have made.

He groaned at his failure. The news was going to demand answers from him about why he didn’t appear but also, what the Veiled Assembly had meant with ‘ only green will sate our thirst for blood.’ He would have to find an answer as to why they were hunting down every person with green hair and what the heroes were planning to do to stop them, all without letting the news know Black Mask was targeting Midoriya.

Yagi groaned again and pushed himself out of his chair and began to pace. He needed to talk to his protege too, he hadn’t had the time to reach out and see if he was okay and it made him feel worse. Yagi had spent several hours staring at his phone ready to call the kid but every time he had chickened out which only made him feel worse. And the more time he spent waiting, the hard it was to muster the courage to call.

Laughing at his own cowardice, Yagi sat back down. He was All Might, the symbol of peace, the hero who ran from nothing, and yet, he couldn’t even call his own student to see if he was okay. The truth was, Yagi was scared. Scared Midoriya would blame him for not noticing he needed help despite all the time they had spent training together.

If the timeline was right, he had met Midoriya before Takaida had, meaning he knew what the kid was like before yet he failed to notice any changes. He felt like such a failure and instead of facing his fears and helping his student, he was hiding in his dark apartment.

A ring pulled him out of his musing. Not even looking at the caller id, he answered. “Hello?”

“I need you to come over,” Eraserhead said on the other end, sounding as tired as ever.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Eraserhead sighed and Yagi could imagine him rubbing the bridge of his nose as he said, “That wasn’t an invitation. It was an order. Look, I don’t know what sort of relationship you have with Midoriya, but an idiot could notice you two are close and right now he needs to talk to you. He may not say it, but I can tell he needs to tell you something.”

“Are we that obvious?” Yagi asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“To me it is.” Yagi shivered at the tone. “Just come over and talk to the kid, he could use the distraction.” With that, Eraserhead hung up, leaving Yagi staring blankly at his phone. With a deep breath, he grabbed his key and headed to the door.

Twenty minutes later Yagi found himself in front of Eraserhead’s door with his fist raised to knock yet struggling to do so. Just knock, he kept telling himself every time his hand began to fall. What felt like the hundredth time, Aizawa opened the door to glare at him, making Yagi jump.

“I was getting tired of watching you struggle to knock,” he said in welcome, ushering him inside before Yagi could chicken out. Despite his nervousness, Yagi glanced around the area. Aizawa’s home was simple but looked lived in unlike his.

“When you’re done staring,” Aizawa said, shouldering past him towards a catch, “take off your shoes.”

Yagi watched Aizawa walk up to Midoriya who handed looked away from his hands since he had arrived. Taking a deep breath and putting on his best smile, Yagi stepped up to the couch. “Young Midoriya, it’s good to see you,” he said, sitting down in the armchair, “How have you been?”

Midoriya fidgetted. “Fine.”

With a sigh, Aizawa moved to the hallway, “I’ll be in my room if you two need anything.”

When he was gone, Midoriya finally looked up. “Hi, All Might.”

“Hi,” Yagi replied with a soft smile, “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come by until now.”

“I understand, you’re busy,” Midoriya whispered as he attempted to smile which looked more like a grimace.

“That shouldn’t be an excuse. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, but I promise I’ll be here from now on.”

Midoriya smiled, a real smile no matter how small. “Thank you.”

They sat in silence as each tried to figure out what to say. Yagi glanced around the room, his eyes catching movement from under a blanket next to Midoriya. A gray cat stuck there head out and pawed at Midoriya’s leg.

With a small chuckle Midoriya pet the cat’s head before looking up at Yagi. “I-I wanted to talk to you about somethings.”

Yagi grinned. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

“I-I’m not sure if you were told yet, but my phone was tapped.” Yagi stiffened, making Midoriya wave his hands. “I w-wanted to tell you that I never brought my phone to any of our training and private meetings. Takaida never learned your search, I promise. I even deleted all our texts before he could look at them at night.”

Relaxing, Yagi nodded. “I’m sorry you had to worry about that.”

Midoriya shrugged. “I just wanted to let you know so you didn’t worry.” He nodded again, letting the conversation die. Midoriya flexed his hands and took a deep breath. “There’s something else too. D-do you think quirk suppressants could make me learning One for All more difficult?”

Yagi hummed, raising his hand to his chin in thought. “It’s possible. With how powerful One for All is, its possible for you to still be able to use it if the suppressant is weak but it would require a lot of focus.”

“Would that explain why I’m having more trouble than you did?”

Yagi nodded which caused Midoriya to frown and look down at his hands. The gray cat slithered out from the blanket and draped themself over Midoriya’s hands giving Yagi a side-eye glance. In a small whisper barely louder than the cat’s purring, “They told me I’ve been taking quirk suppressants since I was four. W-why would I be taking them if I’m quirkless.”

Yagi’s eyes widened. “Perhaps you have a quirk.”

“But,” Midoriya said, wiggling his hand from under the cat to gesture at his foot, “but I have two joints in my foot. My mom took me to a quirk specialist and everything. I don’t have a quirk, so why? Why was I taking quirk suppressants?”

“I don’t know,” Yagi answered before giving Midoriya a large smile, “but we’ll figure it out together.”

#fanfic #my hero fanfic #Read on AO3 #broken masks

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