What Makes A Hero

15

      

        "Dekiru! You're back!"

       Izuku couldn't help the wide smile that had formed on his face as he entered through the back entrance of the pub: The First Full Moon. It had been a year since he'd first met Jin, but only six months (five months, two weeks, six days, and three hours...) since he'd left behind Charlatan's Bar. Time had passed surprisingly quickly. The other teen had recovered even faster though and Deku was, with a bit of effort able to get him a fake identity as solid as Izumi's was. Nobody would believe the other was still a teen just by looking at them, but considering the career Jin had decided on pursing, in the end it had worked out.

     Tanaka Jin- who had chosen his name because of a fictional detective's he'd loved to read about before his quirk developed (Izuku hadn't had the heart to tell him as he only saw the family name after he finalized the new identity)- was as determined as ever to continue to stay by the side of the person who he regarded as his savior.

Izuku in turn had come to care and rely on Jin more than he knew he should as he also recovered from the deaths of the only other people he had become close to after leaving Nox's house.  Because of Jin's determination to help Izuku out, that had only been strengthened by his need to do something rather than sit around and dwell on the past he had escaped,  The First Full Moon had rather quickly been created. Izuku couldn't have been prouder.

      Jin had been the one to suggest it. Pointing out that Izuku couldn't even enter a bar with his scraggly hair, short stature, wide eyes, and freckles giving him the appearance of someone not even in the double digits, much less old enough to drink Izuku was at another disadvantage. Jin's frightening looks tended to make people on edge when they he approached them however. So, he worked with Izuku and they created a pub. His new identity now marking him as an adult made it all seem perfectly legal, and with a bit of work and online recipes he became quite adept at manning the bar.

       Izuku smiled at Jin as the other ironed out his vest and button-up shirt in preparation for the evening crowd- they hadn't yet started offering services and lunch in the afternoon. "Yep, we're all set for the meeting with our new reporter friend," he waved the files that he held in one hand.

     Reporters he had found early on, loved him. No more meeting with shady people in alleyways, no worries if it would be a trap or if they were going to be silenced by the mafia type, or worse, people that marked most informants. All meetings were held at reasonably popular cafes, restaurants, or online, there were no vague threats made, there would be solid evidence whether it was photographs, audio, or something else, and he often made suggestions on possible future stories or gave leads they could further pursue.

      "Say, hows your favorite costumer doing?"

       Rather than the face Jin normally made at the reference to the, as he put it, 'sloshed idiot who keeps trying to rename my bar', Jin's face quickly grew nervous, "Yeah... well, about him... he's sort of upstairs."

       Izuku blinked, unsure of how to react, "Like upstairs, upstairs?"

       "Like the second floor, upstairs, yeah..." 

       The second floor could be reached from the back room, with a room for extra storage space and three other rooms. "Okay... should I...?"  To be honest, not even Izuku was sure what he was asking, but he couldn't just not say anything for too much longer.

      "I uh, I'm kind of worried actually..."

       Izuku, thoroughly confused, but also not quite sure what was the reason the guy was upstairs, just nodded slowly and sat down praying Jin had not kidnapped someone or something else, "Alright then, explain."