My Dad Can't Be Worse Than Yours ||BNHA Villain Rehab||Tododeku||

Chapter 17- To Deserve

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It started a little bit before completing the loop.

They couldn't see the end of the trail in that darkness, but Izuku knew they had to be close. They had been walking for a while.

And eventually, through all those never-ending trees, the smoke had reached them. The scent was very faint at first, but it was enough to alert Izuku and Himiko. They sniffed the air.

"Hey, Izu-kun? Do you smell that?" Himiko asked, looking around. "Did they make a campfire at base?"

"Maybe," Izuku frowned, squinting through the tops of the trees. Just a clear sky full of stars. He suddenly got a bad feeling. "I wonder why they'd start one without us. Let's hurry back. I've never seen a campfire before."

"Yeah... okay," Himiko said, keeping the skepticism in her voice low. She gripped his hand and bounced forward. "We should almost be there, right? Let's go, they might have marshmell... -ows? Izuku? Izuku, look. Smoke, there's so much smoke! That's not where camp is!" she yelled, forcing Izuku's head over the tall trees to the right.

"Nobody would- nobody would set a fire in the middle of the forest," Izuku muttered in disbelief. The black cloud of smoke rose slowly, blocking out all the stars that were there previously. "Was it an accident? We need to go look!"

"Hold on, doesn't this remind you of something?" Himiko asked, watching the smoke cloud rise. "It kinda looks like something Dabi would do."

"Dabi creates a cloud of smoke anytime he burns stuff," Izuku said. "But why would he suddenly burn down a bunch of trees?"

"I don't know but that's what my intuition is telling me!" Himiko shouted. She then squinted. "No, wait, that can't be Dabi. I can't see even a speck of blue. It's not Todoroki or Bakugo, is it?"

"It... it can't be," Izuku said. "But since there's no other source of fire, and it's none of the fire users then... villains? Wait, that's ridiculous. Forget I said an-"

"The LOV?!" Himiko screamed. "Do you think Twice or Big Sis Magne is here?! We haven't seen them in so long! C'mon, maybe we'll even find Shiggy here!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Izuku yelled. "Why would-" 

He's cut off by a chorus of screams somewhere off in the distance. Izuku whipped his head from the smoke to down their trail. "Don't tell me- Himiko! Something's happening! If it is the League then they're attacking everyone!"

"What? No, they wouldn't do that to our friends! I'm going over there!" Himiko told him, wasting no time going down into the dark forest. "Let's go, Izu-kun!"

"I'm coming!" he shouted back, throat dry. There was no way it was actually the League, was it? He'd absolutely love to see them again, but not if... not if they were attacking his friends and classmates! 

Izuku kept calculating in his head. Somebody had set a fire on the opposite side of the loop. Who would be there, which number was that? He couldn't remember. 'Calm down.' Izuku thought as he sprinted. 'Everyone should be on the forest trails. If I follow them, I should be able to persuade some of them to... No, is that right? Is everyone on the trails? Everyone should be... but I never saw... that boy.'

He screeched to a halt. Immediately, he turned around to the trees and started bursting ahead. He couldn't take any chances. He couldn't let anyone be in danger, not someone he still needed to talk to, to get to know. He didn't even know the boy's name. 

Heart pumping, Izuku scanned the ground, razor in hand. His eyes never left the floor, not until he found some trails of footprints that stretched deeper into the forest.

He followed them without hesitation. The grip on his razor only got tighter when the trees cleared into the foot of the rocky hill. Izuku ran up.

A loud cry pierced his ears when he finally found the cliff, and he could only see two things: the boy, and Muscular.

Muscular, the villain with no qualms about killing and a disregard for orders. Out of everyone in the League, it had to be him who was leering over the boy, arm ready to swing.

Seething, Izuku leaped forward. He crashed into the boy, shielding him as they rolled across the rocky ground, a few inches from the cliff. Izuku stepped forward immediately, razor held out with eyes colder than ice.

"Muscular, get away from him," he ordered, voice low, demanding. Unfortunately, Muscular wasn't the type to listen to commands. "Why did Tomura put you up to this?"

"How would I know?" Muscular grinned, cracking his knuckles. "But if you ask me, I'm sure Shigaraki is just so sad his little bro is gone, he decided to kidnap him back. Now step out of the way. I'm gonna have some fun with the kid."

The boy whimpered behind Izuku, and the greenette only clenched his teeth harder. Anger, such large boiling anger was building underneath his skin. Out of all the times and places to attack, it had to be now. He was supposed to be having fun, getting stronger, meeting heroes. Not fighting against the League, his own family (but did he consider Muscular a part of that family?).

"No," Izuku said, walking closer, circling away from the edge. He could hear Kota following him. "Go back to Tomura, and tell him that there's no need to hurt others for something like this."

"'No need to hurt others?' Exactly what a budding hero would say," Muscular laughed. "Don't tell me this hero school made you soft and gooey."

"Maybe it has," Izuku said, stopping when he was a good distance away from the cliff edge. If the boy wanted to, he could run to the exit while Izuku fought. "Personally, I prefer it better this way."

"If that's so, then I'm gonna miss that other side of you," Muscular said. "That cold, angry you that always yelled and hit, that made for a perfect sparring partner!"

Izuku winced. All the memories of how controlling and abusive he was all the time came back to him. What kind of love was that? Did that even count as love?

Izuku tried not to let his guilt get to him, as he was still in a face off against Muscular. Trying not to display his emotions, he focused on distracting Muscular long enough to get the boy off the cliff.

"Let's spar then," Izuku said, then spoke to then boy without taking his glare off the villain. "You, behind me. What's your name?"

"K-Kota." the boy stuttered, voice trembling.

"Whenever you see an opening, run," Izuku ordered. "No matter how big or small, run and hide and do not go back to base until you know it's clear."

He didn't wait for an answer. Muscular was already squaring up. "Hey, don't take your focus away from me! I'm a way better fighter than that boy!" he yelled, stone cracking under his feet as he rocketed forward. 

Kota screamed and ran to the cave tunnel. Izuku nearly flinched, but gained his composure a split second later and dived to the right, rolling into a fighting stance. He jumped forward immediately and when Muscular's fist came flying towards him, he used it to boost himself upwards and flip over to the other side, blocking the cave exit.

'Please be okay.' Izuku thought to Kota. 'And if I can, I'll come out to meet you.'

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