✓ | TO PROTECT YOU

002

Rain battered down on the bustling city, the citizens worried about staying dry. Splash from feet were barely heard over the tires zooming past the sidewalks on both sides of the street, water from the puddles splashing onto the cement. Not all was peaceful, though, for down a dark alleyway were three people.

Two were laying on the ground, their arms and legs spread out in pain, faces pressed against the pavement, too beaten to move. They were both men, regular citizens that were out on the wrong night.

"P-Please, let me go.. I'll—I'll give you anything you w-want..." one man coward, barely having enough strength to lift his head an inch from the ground.

The other man was already gone, the reason being the stocky figure in front of them. Shadows hid his features and body, only his eyes showing, the color a deep red.

"Let you go?" The figure chuckled darkly, clearly amused by the man's weak plea. "You think I'll let you live? Your veins, along with everyone else's, are darkened by greed for yourselves, that your life is worth keeping alive over anyone else's. You believe there's not an ounce of greed in your bodies, yet you reek of it. Don't make me laugh."

The man gulped, closing his eyes as a hand began to glow with a dark blue hue, the man preparing for death; but the sound of metal piercing skin never came. Instead, a deep throaty call spoke, "Have no fear, citizen; because I am here."

The figure withdrew his sword, stepping back into the shadows as the world's Number One Hero appeared.

All Might had planned to keep dry as well as everyone else, just passing through when he had heard something. He was prepared to fight, crouching into a ready position, but instead found two men injured, one beyond recovery. That wasn't all, though.

In a puddle, barely floating due to the depth of the water, was a cut piece of newspaper. When All Might picked it up to inspect the clipping, his fearless smile disappeared instantly. He recognized the face on the small photo that took up most of the paper.

This isn't good.

***

"Izuku?"

Izuku looked up from the weight he was currently lifting, seeing his mother peeking through the cracked door. "Yeah?"

"I'm heading to the store for a little while. Do you need anything?"

Izuku thought for a moment, sweat dripping down his cheek slowly. "I think I'm good. Thanks, though."

His mother smiled, closing the door only to stop when Izuku called, "Be careful, Mom."

Her smile grew at her son's caring side, nodding once. "I will be. I love you, Izuku."

"Love you, too, Mom."

Upon his mother shutting the door behind her, Izuku was left alone once more. Setting the weight on the floor carefully, Izuku decided to take a short break, wiping away his sweat in the process with the towel around his shoulders. Very faintly, he heard the front door open and shut, signaling his mother had just left.

The young hero-in-training stood up, popping his back once, suddenly noticing how thirsty he was from his workout. He turned to open his bedroom door, only to feel eyes on his back. Deku turned to see Cheveyo sitting on his desk, the drawn eyes seeming to stare into his soul.

"Out of all the projects Mr. Aizawa has given us," he muttered to himself, quickly grabbing the bag of flour off his desk to take with him. "This has to be the cruelest one yet."

After Izuku had made it to the fridge and gulped down over half of the water, he grabbed the television remote and switched it on, browsing through the channels, the bag of flour sitting on the small table in front of the couch.