Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

7: HERO KILLER

On the evening of the second day, Gran Torino announced that they'd be catching a train to Tokyo in order to get some practical experience with bigger villains because it was more fun. Izuku messaged Iida while they sat on the train, hoping that, perhaps, things would have changed, but his texts were left unanswered. Twilight oozed over the landscape as they passed near Hosu city, and the boy couldn't help but grow more tense by the second, fiddling with his gloves and glancing out the window repeatedly and scanning the buildings as they zoomed past.

"What's up with you?" Torino asked gruffly.

"Hey, look at that!" Another passenger hissed, gaining the attention of everyone in the carriage. "That building just exploded!"

Izuku pressed himself back into his seat, looking vaguely ill as he focused on breathing.

"Kid...? Oh no, don't tell me..."

The train screeched to a halt that threw them forwards, and at the same time a Pro Hero was slammed through the side of the train, landing in the middle of the aisle and trying to get back up. A large hand shoved through the hole torn through the metal, grabbing his face and shoving the hero into the floor. Fingers curved around the edge of the gap, folding back more of the train as easily as if it were tin foil, and a Noumu with four eyes set in its exposed brain peered inside.

"Sit down!" Torino shot up from his seat, kicking the beast in the head and freeing the hero.

"You know I can't do that!" Izuku snapped back, already standing as he spoke.

"Alright, just... Don't die, got it?" The elderly man didn't wait for an answer, slamming his palms into the Noumu's torso and sending them both careening out of the car.

Izuku dashed to the tear, gripping the edge of it and gasping in a breath at the fire glowing in the centre of Hosu, wreathed with thick, black smoke. He hesitated for a moment longer before igniting One for All and launching himself out the moving carriage, not wasting a single moment as he dropped down onto the street and started sprinting the moment his boots hit the ground. The Pro Heroes could handle the Noumus, even if they got injured in the process – but that was all part of the job. It was his task to stop his stubborn friend and the hero Native from getting killed by Stain.

He took a few wrong turns but was quick to realign himself, remembering the alley's location almost perfectly since he'd had so many nightmares about the place. As he was within range of the street, already hearing the Hero Killer's haunting voice taunting his friend, he grabbed his phone and sent his location to Todoroki, who was interning with his father in the city. Izuku heard a choked cry of pain from his classmate, and he threw himself around the corner at top speed, springing off a wall and jamming his feet into the villain's ribs, sending him flying backwards. The sword fell from his grasp, clattering against the ground.

"Mi-Midoriya-kun..." Iida ground out, his tone etched with disbelief.

"I told you I'd be there when you needed me," Izuku quipped, glancing over his shoulder at where his friend was, sprawled out on his front with hot blood pooling under his left shoulder.