The Emerald Prince

Chapter 40: Dual wielders

Stain in the illustration is a redraw from a scene in the anime. The pose just fit too well with what I wanted to draw, and saved tonnes of time and tears.

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Izuku and Iida did not watch as Hosu burned, they entrusted the pro heroes with the rampaging nomus, and raced along one alleyway after another.
Izuku wondered what on earth Tomura was thinking, he hadn't mentioned anything like this, but right now, he had Iida to deal with.

"We should separate!" Muttered the taller teen as they skidded to a halt at a crossroads, where their alley met three equally dark and unwelcoming alternatives.
"No way in hell." Replied Izuku bluntly, following instinct and taking a left, dragging Iida after him.

Left... Right... Straight - unlike me... Where the fuck am I?... Right... Right... oh...

Izuku smelt blood first. The tangy iron cloyed at his nostrils, familiar in all the worst ways.
Smells are strange things. They trigger memories far more strongly than any other sense, and the over powering scent made him freeze.

Pure as he was, Iida ran straight past him. The part of Izuku that wasn't a) panicking or b) trying to stop him panicking, wondered faintly, if the other teen even recognised the damn smell.
He felt a little hatred for a Iida in that brief second of stillness, and he hated himself even more for it.

Finally able to move - though he could only have been still for a few seconds - he moved forward, halting and peering carefully around the corner.

Somehow Stain was between him and Iida, the vigilante and class president having a shouting match, the blood pounding in his ears preventing Izuku from hearing exactly what they said.

The situation suited him just fine though, since it meant the vigilante had his back to him, enabling the greenette to quietly slip over to the bleeding hero Stain had been in the process of murdering, hiding his presence as much as he could.

Pulling the guy - Native, he realised - back around the corner, Izuku checked his pulse, and finding him alive, he hastily kissed his cheek to heal what urgently needed it.
He got blood on his lips, and felt bile rise in his throat.

He threw up.

He retched a few more times, and resolved to get rid of the kissing requirement for RG's quirk as soon as he could. He wiped his lips with his sleeve feverishly, but he knew he'd need a shower to have a chance at feeling clean.

Now wasn't the time for him to be pathetic though, he wasn't the only one in danger.
Activating one or two useful quirks, his pulse slowed and sound returned. Feeling lighter, he jumped a bit to get used to the feeling, before tilting his head back to look down Stain's alley. Iida was paralysed on the ground and the vigilante having a crazy preach and raising his sword.

Probably time he got involved.

"Point made, Iida?" He called, stepping into full view and surprising the hero killer, who hadn't sensed him.
Iida groaned slightly.
"I'll take that as a yes."

Izuku walked toward Stain calmly, though his heart still raced. "Hello Mr Stain, I'm Aizawa Izuku, I'd say it's a pleasure...but you're trying to kill my friend for having strong brotherly love."
"He should have rescued the other hero before attacking me, and he is here for revenge! He is not a true hero." Snarled the hero killer.

Stain's sword still hung above Iida.
Izuku knew he'd be able to stop it in time, so he let his curiosity take hold for a bit. He didn't know how he could handle Stain's burning eyes, the eyes of a killer, but he gazed fiercely into them anyway.
It was clear though, that this was not a person on which seduction would work.