All the way home

Hush little baby, don't you cry

The first time Izuku had been in this alley, it was with his back pressed against the wall, threads of his costume catching against the rough concrete as Katsuki kissed him silly after a good fight. The dead end was off one of the main avenues in their assigned district—a two-lane road that was busiest during rush-hour, and somewhat quiet otherwise.

When they'd first diverted a rampaging villain down this street, they'd discovered the space Katsuki's explosions were allowed to take up, as well as the many lobbies, parking garages, and alleyways civilians could be herded to. It was now a mainstay in their strategy tool belt. Plus, it was just around the corner from their favorite date-night curry restaurant for when they finished a shift early.

This alley was where Izuku was hidden as he waited for Katsuki to draw their quarry close, looking forward to that curry as soon as they had the guy captured and cuffed.

Lying low was not, and had never been, Izuku's combat style of choice. Even less so as the rip, thunk, and crinkle of metal tore over the screams of civilians not yet evacuated—a car being thrown across the street and collapsing in on itself like one of the many crumpled metal cans here in the alley Izuku had concealed himself in. He jogged in place in the shadows, high noon on the dot not even providing enough sun to reach this sliver of street between skyscrapers, and listened closely. No yelps, no whimpers—he had a few moments more.

Fa Jin was nothing surer than calculated risk. The amount of strength Izuku needed to build up could not exceed the amount of time he had to spare. What he had to spare, at the moment, depended on his partner.

A new blast, the loudest yet, followed the sound of the thrown car rolling to a stop, the boom rattling Izuku's ears as it ricocheted off the hard walls. A loud "Die!" carried over both. Izuku risked a glance around the corner, hoping to finally catch a glimpse of the villain's weak spot. The smoke was too thick, though, clouding the narrow gap to the alley. They must have gotten close.

Katsuki had been on the scene five minutes already, caught between the rock that was this ram-headed villain's dense skull and the hard place of the armored vest he was wearing, protecting his more human middle. The quirk made the villain outsized, taller than either Izuku or Katsuki on two legs, and fast as hell when he ran on four. His horns were huge, sprouting from his forehead and curling around the sides of his head, protecting him as fully as a helmet. To compensate, his upper body was thick and stocky, in order to handle the weight of all that extra headgear. But without knowing if this was a transformation or mutant quirk, Izuku couldn't be sure if they were playing against stamina or time—he had to prepare for both. So with both legs humming with energy, he ran out of the alley and towards the smoke.

Smoke from Katsuki's explosions dissipated quickly—much lighter than the suffocating fog of One For All's Smokescreen. But as Izuku emerged on the street, it was still thick enough for Katsuki's appearance to be sudden, his body bisecting the cloud into two translucent plumes as he was thrown straight toward one of the concrete buildings that lined the streets. City blocks here were made strong—stable enough to withstand the region's earthquakes and most villain attacks. Concrete to break your back against.

Izuku sprang through the air, careful to hold onto his fastidiously stored Fa Jin in both legs as he intersected Katsuki's path. His thighs tensed and released, the snapping of a slipknot tied and pulled, propelling him up just in time for Katsuki's back to slam against Izuku's front, knocking half his air away as his own body armor smashed against his upper ribs.

They grunted as they fell to the ground, Katsuki grumbling, "Can't fire behind me if I can't see the goddamn extras on the ground," before taking off back towards the sound of destruction.

Another car had been upturned, caught by the villain's devilish horns and thrown overhead. There were still too many people around—Izuku had no choice but to leap in the direction of the car's trajectory, and kick it with all his strength, landing it hard against a concrete wall instead of in the throng of people still tearing through the road. It crumpled, frame bending like Katsuki's spine would have, glass on the far side shattering through the car's interior moments before it fell to the ground, the rest of the glass coming with it as hail in a Japanese spring. It came with screams, far too many as the villain hurled further into town.