In Each of Our Hearts

Close Encounter

Midoriya crouched beside Kurogiri and Shigaraki, shifting slightly in his new costume. It felt strange not being in the hero costume that he'd worn before, but Izuku wasn't complaining. He'd do anything to be rid of the connections he'd had at UA. Rather than the gaudy bunny-like ears he'd had before, a more subtle black bandana covered his conspicuous green hair. The metal mouth guard wrapped around his jaw, over his nose and up to his ears, with two round filters decorating the front. Midoriya wore tighter materials, a body suit with a collar that went up to his clavicle, but left the shoulders exposed for ease of movement, and a place to hide small weapons. White supports decorated his arms from just above the elbow, with black fingerless gloves. His simple black boots held a steel toe, and reinforced the soles. Finally, a belt decorated his waist, red as blood, with several pockets around it.

"Hey kid," Shigaraki spoke, finally finishing the rambling that Midoriya often tuned out. "Go with the Nomus."

"Shigaraki, do you think that is wise? Sensei said specifically-"

"Yes, I know Kurogiri. Izuku, keep your masks on." The man continued with his rambling, nails scratching away at his neck. Midoriya's dismissal was obvious, so he'd put on his helmet and mouth guard and left along with the mindless creatures.

As he sat on top of the flying Nomu, Izuku took the time to take in the sights. He'd never been to Hosu City before, so he might as well have some fun with it. He stared at the underwhelming buildings, and boring people.

Eventually, Izuku grew (unsurprisingly) bored. This Nomu was just flying around the city, almost aimlessly. Not even landing for a moment of action, despite the huge amount of chaos and fire that raged below. So, when it had flown close enough to the ground, he hopped off, rolling on top the building to break his fall. Not that the Nomu noticed, flying off into the night.

A smile spread beneath his mouth guard. Finally, he could do more than training. Maybe even be helpful.

Soon Midoriya was jumping from one roof to another, trying to find someone to play with. Until, eventually, he came across quite the sight. Well, two, more accurately. Though one he ignored. The first, less exciting one, was the sight of the half and half student at UA, tense as he walked behind Endeavor. However, the far more interesting sight was that of another UA student a bit farther away; one who had often mocked him when he had still attended. Tenya, Midoriya thought was his name, was laying on the ground with a rather mangled looking sword pinning him there by his shoulder. Another hero, Native, was frozen by one wall, a third man approaching. He seemed to have no nose, and a myriad of blades decorating his tattered clothing.

His already wide smile grew at the sight. This would be a fun night indeed.

~~~~~~~~~Line~Break~~~~~~~~~

Todoroki hated this internship. He loathed the fact that things had continued on as normal after Midoriya's disappearance, and he especially despised the downright smugness of his father. But he would endure; he had to. In order to learn more about his fire, he had to learn from the source. No matter how much of a bastard he was.

It was bittersweet, really. Midoriya was the sole reason he'd even been able to put aside his pride, and take his father's internship.

He was quickly brought out of his musings by the sound of... cries for help? At first, he thought it was another civilian, who he knew the heroes would rescue soon enough. It wasn't his place to run after someone blindly, especially after hearing his father speak of the chaos that had been going on before leaving for Hosu. He would only get in the way.

His train of thought ended when he heard it again. The voice was familiar. It almost sounded like...

Midoriya!

Without another thought he ran, ignoring his fathers shouts for him to come back. If he was right, then he couldn't ignore it. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ignored it, and it turned out that he was right.

So he ran after the slightly muffled voice. Though, it seemed to be getting further away. Were they being moved? Was he going the wrong way? Todoroki came to an abrupt stop in a deserted alleyway, with the other side being blocked by a dark figure. He seemed to be shorter than himself, but was certainly muscular. Perhaps he was around his age? It was hard to tell in the lack of light.

"You should evacuate. It isn't safe here." Todoroki spoke, hoping that the other person would do as he said. Instead of the nod he'd been expecting, the other boy, (or at least, Todoroki assumed by the sound,) began to laugh. But, it sounded... wrong. It was closer to cackling, rather than laughing. A certain sense of madness colored his voice, making it all the more unsettling.

"Then why are you here, if it's so dangerous?" The boy had his head tilted to the side, revealing his mouth to be covered by a metal looking guard. His voice was just as unsettling, a sense of mocking entering the madness. His voice sounded familiar, but Todoroki couldn't place it; it being far too garbled by the mask.

"You are a civilian, aren't you?" Todoroki questioned, face as emotionless as ever.

"Nope." The other boy giggled, the familiarity of his voice running circles in Todoroki's head. "Oh! I almost forgot," he laughed again, the broken sound sending chills down his spine. "Go to the alleyway two blocks over." Despite the guard, Todoroki could tell the boy was smiling. Before either could say another word, a loud shouting caught Todoroki's attention. That sounded like Iida; wasn't he interning in Hosu? With a quick glance behind him, he ran in the direction that he heard the sound coming from. Todoroki didn't even realize that he was running in the very direction the boy had told him to.

When Todoroki arrived, he quickly shot off a stream of flames at whoever was attacking Iida, disgusted by sight of drool having pooled on his blade, mixing with the blood that coated it.

And so the fight began.