Can We Be Heroes?

Chapter 15• Wounds and Deals

Izuku, now sitting cross-legged carefully peeled back his blood-stained shirt to inspect the damage after realizing, only moments ago, that his body was not functioning right. Guess growing up with explosions and abuse had left him with a very high pain tolerance. At least that was one advantage.

To the average person such a sharp, jagged series of slashes across their rib side should burn with a searing intensity, each shallow breath sending a spike of pain through their chest but Izuku hardly felt a thing but props to the dog man for at least making the very mild sensation of pain come back to the greenette.

"That guy wasn't playing around," Izuku muttered drly as he dabbed at the wounds with a piece of gauze. He reached into his bag, pulling out a small bottle of antiseptic spray. The label was peeling, the contents half-empty, but it would have to do.

He sprayed the wounds immediately. The antiseptic hissing on contact.

Once the wounds were cleaned and hastily wrapped with bandages, Izuku leaned back against the rooftop's edge, letting out a long, tired sigh. The first light of dawn was beginning to creep over the horizon, painting the sky in soft hues of orange and pink. It should've been a calming sight, but sadly it was not.

"Better not be late to school again." he said to himself.

But before that he had other things to do. The job wasn't over until he delivered the files to the client, and that meant braving the part he hated the most: the negotiation.

Izuku pulled his laptop from his bag, setting it on the rooftop as he powered it up. After a few moments the device turned on and he opened the secure connection, typing in the access code provided by the client. The screen flickered for a moment before a chat window popped up, the cursor blinking as he waited for the other party to join.

It didn't take long. A username-ShadowClient44-appeared on the screen, followed by a brief message:

ShadowClient44: You have the files?

Izuku rolled his eyes, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he typed his response.

Hex: Yeah, I've got them. Barely. Your watchdog wasn't exactly subtle.

There was a pause, then another message appeared.

ShadowClient44: The files weren't supposed to be guarded like that. Must've been a last-minute change. You managed, though. That's why I hired you.

Izuku frowned, his irritation bubbling to the surface.

Hex: Next time, give me the full picture. That "last-minute change" nearly got me killed.

The reply came quickly, almost dismissive.

ShadowClient44: Noted. Now, upload the files. Let's finish this.

Izuku hesitated for a moment, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. This was always the tricky part-trusting that the client would hold up their end of the deal. He didn't know who this person was or what they planned to do with the information, but that wasn't his concern. His job was to deliver, nothing more.

With a resigned sigh, Izuku connected the files to the secure server and began the upload. The progress bar inched forward, and as it did, another message appeared.

ShadowClient44: Payment will be transferred as soon as the upload is complete.

Izuku leaned back, watching the progress bar with tired eyes. The tension in his chest didn't ease until the upload reached 100%, and a notification confirmed the transfer.

A moment later, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, checking the banking app to see the payment had gone through. The amount was substantial, enough to keep him afloat for a while.