Behind the Smile | TodoBakuDeku | Book 1

Chapter 11

Aizawa POV

(During the Capture of Psycho Flip)

'Why is he walking around without a care in the world? Surely, the league wouldn't abandon him. His quirk is too powerful for them to throw it away like that.'

"This feels too easy," I warned.

"And that's a bad thing because?" Hizashi questioned, trying to maintain a hint of optimism in such a dire situation. Since we were kids, he was always the one to count on for that kind of stuff. No matter how catastrophic or bleak it got, that heedlessly loud and overly eccentric blond was there to bring even the darkest night into the light. As much as I wanted to have Hizashi's mentality, that's just not who I was.

I rolled my eyes before diving out of cover to snatch the villain with my capture cloth. Hizashi used his quirk to alert the entire team that Psycho Flip had been detained, while I tightened the grip on the bastard. Constricted and with no simple way to escape, I dangled him in the air as my hair stood straight up and I glared without so much as a blink. "What did you do to my kid?!"

Psycho Flip let out a sinister laugh that filled me with rage, though I did my best to remain calm. As much as I wanted to beat the living shit out of this punk, I needed to stay focused. "I wasn't aware that you had a child, Eraserhead. It's certainly news to me anyway," the villain chuckled.

I was in no mood for games. Whether I like it or not, that problem child is important to me. Midoriya has grown so much in such little time, he has heart and drive like no other, and his smile is infectious. I want to see him continue to thrive and become everything I know he is capable of and then some. I wasn't about to let that evil shit destroy that.

"Izuku Midoriya!" I shouted, shoving a photo we had found of him in the lair. The image was taken from a high angle, as Midoriya was heading back to the dorms with Uraraka, Ida, and Todoroki. The group appeared to be enjoying themselves, with Midoriya's smile shining just as bright as ever. It'd be a great photo to hold onto if not for the twisted way Midoriya's eyes were blacked out with purple ink and a giant red circle was drawn around only him. The only difference between Midoriya's picture and all of the other hundreds of them displayed throughout the room, was that he was not crossed out with a red "X". That could only mean there was still time. "What did you do to him?"

The vindictive being continued to laugh and I grew even more enraged. "I simply just opened his eyes to the truth. Why do you care anyway? Aren't you just going to use that helpful quirk of yours to cancel it out?"

Fuck! Now that I think about it, I don't feel my quirk working on him! Is he somehow immune?...Whatever. He doesn't need to know that I know my quirk was useless against him. I need him to think we are more in the dark than we are. Then he might start getting too cocky and accidentally spill vital intel. My hair went limp, finally allowing his eyes a chance to blink. "Already did."

Psycho Flip continued his thunderous laughter as he was carried away and placed in a prison transport vehicle. I knew there would be some time before I would be able to question him further. "I may not have been able to erase his quirk for whatever reason, but there has to be a way to break my problem child free from its effects. I'll just have to tell him to hang in there as best he can, and let us know if it gets to be too much before we find–'

My endless thoughts filled with next steps paused as I wondered if it was already too much to bear. That damn kid had nearly the entire UA wrapped around his fingers, and yet he would never ask for help. He was so stubborn and had arguably a larger hero complex than All Might himself. He breaks his body over and over again, with no care for the repercussions just as long as he did so for the sake of others. Why would I think Psycho Flips effects on Midoriya would be any different.