Deku the Anti-Hero

Moving Beyond (Plus Ultra)

This was it. Tomorrow was the big day; the entrance exam. Soon he and Stain would go their own ways with no guarantee of meeting again. Yet now, he almost wanted to stay. This man had given him so much; so much more than he could have accomplished on his own. Had anyone told him almost a year ago that he would bond with a killer, he would have called them crazy.

"Will you still be here when I wake up in the morning?" Izuku questioned as he gathered up what he still had that he had packed. "After all, you did say you've been gone for too long."

"No. I'm leaving early in the morning to move on to the next city. But before I forget, I have something for you," the Hero Killer replied. He held out the Kusari-fundo, a retractable/extendable staff, a short sword, and the two knives he had stolen from the muggers. All of them were stuffed into Izuku's bag and almost filling it to the brim while the sword and the sheath were placed in a leaning position against the bag.

"Those aren't it, by the way. I was going to give them to you anyway. They don't draw enough blood to be useful for me." He walked over to the mattress and pulled what appeared to be a wrist gauntlet with a glove from underneath.

"You've always been one for rooftop running, so I used a few of my connections to have this made. It's a wrist gauntlet grappling claw," Stain started after handing the gift to his student.

"The glove acts as a control panel. The claw rests in a slot at your forearm and can shoot up to seventy-five feet. It should be able to embed itself into concrete and even most metals. To shoot it, you just need to form a fist without your thumb. Once the claw clamps onto a surface it will stay that way until you open your fist. Pressing your thumb to the fist will force the mechanisms to rewind, releasing your thumb will stop it, and releasing your pointer finger will allow it to unwind. The cord can hold up to five hundred pounds and is resistant to most forms of damage."

"Wow, this is amazing," Izuku dumbfoundedly muttered as he aimed the device around the room. Despite being told a while ago that Stain didn't get paid, he always had a hunch that he had some kind of affiliates or supporters that secretly aided his mission.

"Right now the safety's on. It's this little switch here," Stain said with a point at a tiny switch near the wrist. "I don't think you'll need it for the entrance exam, but I figured you would need some time to get the hang of it for when you start classes."

"Thanks. And not just for this, but for everything you've done. Before you found me I was nothing. But now, I'm something. I can become a hero, or maybe a vigilante like you suggested," Izuku said. He then did something neither of them would have expected.

He hugged the Hero Killer.

And Stain reluctantly returned the gesture.

"Okay, that's enough," he said after a few seconds with a push.

"Yeah, sorry. Just got caught in the moment," Izuku responded almost sheepishly.

"Just get to bed. You need your rest." Stain didn't say much after that. Neither of them did, as Midoriya wrapped himself up with his hoodie and fell into a slumber. For a long time Stain just watched his student of nearly a year. He had seen something in the kid when they first met, and was coming to terms with the fact that he had grown fond of the little bugger.

It was well past midnight when Stain started packing the rest of his belongings and prepared to head out to his next destination. A last glance at Midoriya resulted in a grin that the mentioned teen wouldn't see. Minutes later the Hero Killer was stealthily rushing to who knew where.

With a yawn, Izuku woke up and immediately stretched his limbs. He had long ago gotten used to waking up on the hard floor, but that didn't mean he liked it. A quick look around revealed that Stain had indeed left before he woke up. There was a disappointment that came with not getting to say goodbye, but the entrance exam came to mind before he could dwell on it for too long.