Rules of the street

20K special - epilogue

A/N Hey everyone! A lot of you wanted more to this story, and I will write a sequel after Legends and the book I've got planned after that. For now, enjoy this epilogue/teaser!

Six months.

It had been six months since Toga escaped.

The door had been left open, lock gone completely, chains melted down to stubs. Half of the dungeons were unusable due to the sharp smell that made your eyes water, and if you stayed in it too long, your skin started to redden and blister.

And the scary thing?

Nothing had happened.

No one had come for us in the middle of the night, no attempted kidnappings, no death threats, nothing.

The only thing she left behind was a tattered piece of cloth, a symbol imitating a doctor's mask burnt into the fabric.

Which meant she had help.

We'd tightened security, held strategy meetings every week, and still tension was heavy on everyone's shoulders. Even Mina was effected, her laugh a rarity and her smile weak. She brought down the whole castle, I could tell.

That tension... we were just waiting for it to break, for something to snap. And we had been waiting for months.

A few weeks ago, it finally got to me. Everyone saying 'I'm fine', 'we'll figure it out' and 'nothing's changed'.

I'd demanded someone teach me to fight.

Last time...

Gods, I was useless last time.

But never would I be again.

And here I was making that promise come true.

"Focus! Do you want me to hit you?" Tetsutetsu snapped me from my reprieve, his fist flying past my face. We both stumbled a little, me from surprise, and him just from momentum.

Soon we were both back on our feet and circling, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Suddenly he lashed out, right foot sliding forward, parallel to his fist.

As I dodged, I noticed again just how similar Tetsutetsu's and Kirishima's fighting style was. They had admitted they trained together, but it was more than that. The only noticeable difference I could find was that Kirishima seemed to be the friendlier of the two, and we often chatted when we trained. On the other hand, because of Tetsutetsu's more serious nature (if only slightly), we tended to get more done.

Still, I had a feeling one would not exist without the other.

Focus, Izuku. The fight.

Because he'd moved his foot, he was more stable this time, but he'd find it hard to do any serious moving anytime soon.

Taking the opportunity, I dove around him, approaching from his left, and weaker, side. Crouching slightly, I launched myself in his direction, hand clenched into a fist.

His head snapped to the side, spit flying. My momentum forced me to continue on my chosen path. I twisted mid-air, planting my feet behind me. With my knees bent, I skidded to a stop along the polished wooden floor of the training ring.

Looking up, I saw that Tetsutetsu had his hands in the air in defeat.

"Alright, that's enough for today." My shoulders slumped in disappointment, and I let out a small whine.

"Really? But we were just getting into it!" He chuckled slightly, beginning to stretch his arms. I joined him, knowing that if I didn't, I'd find tomorrow's training much harder.