Dead Hero's Heart

Chapter 33

Midoriya stood at the edge of the rooftop, overlooking silently the ground as he examined his surrounding. Behind him, he could hear the quiet shuffling and whispering his friends were making, but it had been long since he had learned how to block other sounds off. Inside his head, he was trying to work up creating a plan to attack the villain he was going to go up against. He knew that he had the advantage. He was quicker than the man, stronger and more vigilant. Furthermore, he was invincible to this villains eyes, granting him the ability of a surprise attack.

Inside his chess, he could feel his excitement bubbling up in the familiar way it always did when he was getting ready for a fight. He couldn't hide the fact that he was looking forward into engaging into combat with another person, longing this hand to hand fight he had been denied after his death. In his eyes, this was also a good chance for him to test his limits. All this time, he was holding back when training, deeming as not wise to use his full power. But Dabi might be exactly what he needed to use his power as a whole.

He suspected that there had been a use of an enhancement drug at some point. After the Overhaul incident and the fall of his organization, it wouldn't be a surprise if the league had managed to get their hands on some of their 'recipes'. Though, it must have passed some time since he had injected that powerful syrup, which made him think that its affects aren't going to last for much longer.

Heavy footsteps echoed throughout this part of the town, as some stacks that hadn't yet miraculously caught on fire trembled from the impact. Izuku, felt the rising heat surround him as well as the power emitting from a singly person down in the field. He needed no further indication to know that the villain was closing by.

He snapped his eyes quickly behind him, to see the boy he had instructed to lead his friends and teacher away, still fighting to snap Uraraka and Todoroki out of their panicked state. Obviously, Shinso needed more time, something that to him seemed completely understandable. But, in the same time, it limited him. He couldn't go all out when innocent are still around. So, he first would need to prevent the man from going straight for his friends and then, when the coast would be clear, attack with all his might to take Dabi out. Maybe, until then, he hoped that the heroes would have arrived. If they caught the man, then he would be very useful for questioning. Also, they would have one less enemy to worry about when going against the LOV.

"WHERE ARE YOU SHOTO!?" he heard him shout from the ground, as he became visible to his eyes. He seemed quite battered, though not to injured. Aizawa had dealt some damage to him and it was visible, but it was far away from enough to knock him out. Midoriya had flinched at how loud his scream was but didn't let that distract him. He jump down and landed some feet away from the villain. He closed his eyes and concertrated, feeling his muscles slightly pump up flom the overwhelming power of One for all. He let the intensity reach 40% and then stopped, finding it needless to use more, at least for the time being.

The villain seemed to be on edge for an attack, yet to him, he was vulnerable. He swang his fist back and shot forward with inhuman speed. For a moment, he disappeared from the eyes of the people, only to reappear behind Dabi's back. He punched the man hard, sending an enormous gas of wind around them. His hair moved violently around from the forse of the blast and yet, he stood his ground as he waited to see the damage he had caused. A lot of dust had risen around them, clouding Midoriya's vision of his surroundings. He waited patiently for it to clear, but as he heard a groan from a distance, he got the indication he was looking for.

The power of that punch had hit the man off balance and accompanied by the sheer force of the wind, he was send some feet away. Izuku could have attacked then and there, when Dabi was still vulnerable after having taking the attack head on and was trying to recover. But something inside him told him not to. He had learned that his gut was always right when came into evaluating a situation and at that point, he couldn't afford going against them.