The Flap of a Butterfly's Wings

Sweet Lavender Turning to Acid

Weeks go by and the words that speak the truth about the arena are still caged. Most people say to start from the beginning, but what beginning are they talking about? Everybody has multiple, and Izuku has countless.

    He feels like a failure. He should be trying harder to talk to Shelin about the horrors he had endured (nothing before the arena. She can't know about that. No one can. Not yet. It's not the right time yet). It makes Izuku restless, and perhaps that's why he sneaks out for the second time since he escaped.

    Now being able to eat three small meals a day without getting sick, the greenette is more awake and energetic. Finally having fuel to add to the ever growing determination to get stronger. The boy jumps out of the window like the wind and breathes in the petrichor air. It's late at night and very few are awake. The heavy silence is music to his ears and that's all he needs to start his descent down the street. The slow walk fastens. His feet moving in front of another soundlessly and efficiently. The walking turns into jogging and the jogging turning into an all out run.

    The sprinting continues for a mile. Ending when he hears a harsh, panicked, voice. A flashback of the day when he saw the lady all grey and shriveled up comes to mind. The only color standing out was the bright red on her stomach. By now, Izuku legs are at a full stop. The voice is joined by one laced with anger and desperation. It's a man, and he's dangerous.

    The tone of voice jump starts Izuku's legs as he slowly makes his way to the alley. He peeks inside and sees a woman with a knife to a throat by a man twice her size. The man has tattoos covering his entire body. Even his fingernails are replaced by inky illustrations. It's unclear as to what he wants but if Izuku had to guess going from the women's expensive looking jewelry, it was money.

    Thankfully, the tattooed man is facing away from Izuku; making it all the much easier to sneak up on him. The thrill of adrenaline is once again being pumped through his veins. At times like these, he feels the most like himself.

    The orange haired woman spots him, but before she can do anything to signify his arrival accidentally, he puts a finger to his lips. She's smart, and doesn't so much as glance at his direction again.
   
    Izuku gets within reaching distance of the two and balls his right hand into a fist. Relying on his quirk to warn him about danger, he punches the man's knee pit. The leg collapses right from underneath the man, and he drops the knife in surprise. Taking his shock to his advantage, Izuku lunges for the knife and grabs onto it tightly. He won't use his quirk unless absolutely necessary. Not only is it illegal, but Izuku wants to be as unknown and mysterious as he can be.

    The bald man recovers faster than Izuku (he feels like Hato again- doesn't really know what to do with that) thought he would. His eyes are psychotic, but they (Izuku. Hato. Izuku. Hato.) is used to those eyes by now. Could even say that they're numb to it.

    Confidence surges through him as He shifts his body into a fighting stance. What he doesn't expect is for the snake on the man's arm to come alive. Slithering down his arm and hissing ferociously at Hato.

This is when the woman screams, and he hears footsteps running across rooftops. They're getting closer by the millisecond, so Izuku (he notices how Hato fades away into the back of his mind. No longer needed anymore) decides to test his luck and flees around the corner of the alley. He peeks around to see that the man he heard was Eraserhead. The moment the hero lands his eyes on the tattooed man, is the moment the snake disappears back onto his arm.

Knowing that Shouta wouldn't need any help with this, Izuku turns around and heads back to his home. During his walk back, Izuku realizes just how much he craves saving people again. It's only been a month since the arena, but saving has been long-since ingrained into him.