Rody honestly didn't know what woke him.
Perhaps there was something in the air that evening, maybe he had simply heard something in his sleep, or he had subconsciously managed to smell the danger, but after all of the time they'd spent together since they'd first met, Rody simply liked to think that he had a built in Deku-Detector, which warned him for when his friend was being or had done, something particularly stupid.
He and Pino checked in on Roro and Lala first, but found that they were both still safely asleep, in their own beds. He lingered just long enough at the threshold of their largely undecorated bedrooms, to watch the gentle rise and fall of each of their chests for just a few breaths, Pino sighing on his shoulder, before he turned around, determinedly, and headed up to Izuku's floors.
Only to find that he wasn't there.
He checked the bedroom, only to find that he wasn't sleeping; he checked the home office, (why he had one of those, when he had an entire office building beneath his feet, Rody didn't know), but found that he wasn't working; checks of his pool and gym revealed that he wasn't burning off steam with a late night workout; and a walkthrough of the rest of his apartment revealed that his presence was missing entirely.
With a sigh, Rody turned back to the elevator, ignoring Pino's nervous bouncing on his shoulder.
He didn't have time to worry at the moment.
He'd known that Izuku had planned to go for, "a walk", tonight, but Rody didn't see why he should still be gone. If he took any longer, he would quite literally still be out at the crack of dawn. It was possible that he was still outside, prowling the streets, but as he rested his thumbprint against the button labelled, SL-12, Rody felt that it was much more likely that he would find him downstairs, working away on his new favourite computer.
=== === === === ===
It was the smell that hit him first.
There was a metallic tang to blood that was hard to describe, but the smell of it clogged up your nose, while its taste overrode your tongue.
The second he smelt it, he felt his body tense up, his every nerve feeling alight with worry.
"IZUKU!"
His voice rang out across the empty cave.
He felt as though he had to strain his hearing beyond its limits to hear it, but Rody heard the attempt at a groan, and immediately ran towards it.
He was on the same level, so Rody and Pino hadn't gone far when they found him, where he had apparently chosen to tuck himself away in the medical bay, resting on one of the cots.
Pino leapt over and settled on his chest, as he struggled to sit up, and for the first time, Rody noticed the blood on the floor, which he assumed was connected to the bandage wrapped around his leg. There wasn't a lot of blood, thankfully, but the lines led over to the nearest walkway and went on for as far as Rody could see.
If Izuku had been bleeding like that for a while, there was no telling just how much blood he had lost. Thankfully, his fool of a friend had already seen to that, and hung a bag of O Negative, which was currently working its way into his system.
"Rody", Izuku murmured, as he sat up, wiping the tiredness from his eyes, "wha' time is it?"
"Just past four in the morning", he scooped Pino's worried form up, settling him into the pocket of his dressing gown, "you don't look so good".
"There was a girl", he remembered, "I thought I was helping her, but", he ran one of his hands through his hair in frustration, "I guess I wasn't".
"Stabbed?"
"Yeah, with a pencil", with a grunt of pain, he set his leg down on the floor, "can you take a look at it for me?"
Rody blinked, "I'm sorry, but did you just say 'with a pencil'?"
=== === === === ===
Despite his insistence that he was fine, and simply tired, Rody insisted on checking his stitches and bandages, while Pino fluttered about him nervously, squawking in concern whenever he saw Izuku so much as wince.
Rody insisted on redoing his work, declaring that his stitches were, "sloppy", and his bandages, "far too loose", which Izuku didn't argue with. He barely remembered getting into the car after escaping Pencil-Face and his thugs. He had barely any memory of driving back, and his stitches were done with tired, shaky hands, after most of his effort went into remaining as still as possible, while he inserted the needle into his own arm for the blood.
He drew the line, however, at Rody thinking he needed to use a wheelchair just to get back to his own apartment.
"You need rest".
"I know, Rody".
"Walking isn't restful".
"Yeah, well, wheeling when you don't have to is annoying".
He sighed, "Just try and take it easy will you. I know you're a workaholic-"
"I'm not a workaholic".
He snorted, "Yeah, and I'm All Might".
"Really?! That's so cool! Can I have your autograph?"
Rody rolled his eyes, "And you need to eat something too".
"There's a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice with my name already on them. Will that do?"
Rody hung his head, but Pino sat on his shoulder, nodding enthusiastically, "I suppose it'll have too… and… call me, will you, if you need anything?"
"I will", at Rody and Pino's matching looks of scepticism, he rushed to add, "I will, I promise".
"Alright then", he eyed him with suspicion, "I'm taking Roro and Lala out shopping later. I'll check on you when I get back".
"You don't need to".
"I know", he smiled, and Izuku found himself grateful to his best friend, and not for the first time, "but I want to. Besides, you know I'll only worry, if I don't".
=== === === === ===
Izuku poured himself a small glass of orange juice when he returned to his apartment, but almost immediately broke his promise to Rody, when he forewent the act of pouring a bowl of cereal to eat. Glass in hand, he retreated to his study, and sat in his new leather chair, spinning it away from his desk, to look out of his near floor-to-ceiling window.
He waited, watching, until the first rays of sunlight were just starting to break through the morning's clouds, lighting up the tops of the buildings with a soft, golden hue of warmth. From his vantage point, it all looked so peaceful, untouched and unmarked, that it was safe, but the truth was far harsher than that.
He'd thought he was going to die tonight.
He'd dismissed the girl as unimportant. He'd already 'saved' her, so there was nothing more to do, and he'd placed her out of his mind. All it had taken then, was for him to turn his back, and her to get lucky with a pencil.
And not even a gun or a knife, let along her Quirk. Of all things, it was a pencil!
He'd beaten the leader, four of his thugs, and then almost bled to death, because a girl, someone he didn't bother to think of as a threat, got lucky with less than six inches of slim yellow wood with a graphite core.
He'd tried being patient.
He'd tried waiting until he was ready, but it had been sixteen years since he had left Japan for the first time. Sixteen years since his mom had died.
Sixteen long years.
He was done waiting.
But he didn't know what was missing. He didn't know what he had to do.
He didn't know what he had to become.
He needed something else…
He just didn't what it was that was missing.
Before last night, before the doubt settled into his mind, and before it was proven correct, Izuku thought that he had everything he needed.
He had wealth. More wealth than most people dreamed of.
His home was built atop a cave that made for the perfect headquarters.
He even had his friends, who were not only helping him realise his goal, but were also trained in emergency medicine, just in case of situations like last night.
He had everything he needed… except for patience.
His had ran out.
And honestly?
He'd rather that pencil had killed him, than be forced to wait another day.
He was tired of the waiting. He thought he could do it, be patient, work slowly, but seeing those people last night had broken whatever hold on himself he had left. The girl had protected her abuser over him, because she felt safer with someone looking out for her. If he couldn't help people like that – if he didn't help people like that – then what was the point of any of it?
What was the point of him?
He took a sip of his juice, scrunching his nose when the taste hit the tip of his tongue.
It tasted bitter.
=== === === === ===
Rody was having fun, helping his siblings pick out new clothes and school supplies. They'd never really been able to do so back in Otheon, what with the three of them being orphans with no money. They'd shared a trailer, with Rody making money from doing odd jobs without ever asking questions. He'd made enough money for them all to get by, but he'd never have called it comfortable.
By the time he was eighteen, he'd known more jobs than most people managed in their lifetimes.
His wardrobe had consisted entirely of pale blue shirts and black trousers, all of which had once been his father's. He'd inherited them from the time he went missing, and he'd assumed that the man had abandoned them, and while he'd been angry, he'd seen the use of keeping them. He'd only had the one jacket, a tan-beige sportscoat, which had been patched up more times than he could remember, and a single pair of brown shoes, the soles of which had been worn out almost completely.
Any of his old clothes that were salvageable were saved, sewn and passed down to Roro and Lala; and the three of them had made do with a series of hand-me downs.
Things had changed since then.
For one, Roro and Lala had grown up and neither one of them could fit into his old clothes anymore.
But now? Now Rody wore slim suits, tailored by trained hands - without the use of a Quirk - enjoying the way they accentuated his lean frame and, (on the rare occasion he made the time for a night out on the town), also managed to really highlight his ass. His worn-down sneakers had been swapped out for a well-polished pair of black derby shoes, and his oft patched up sportscoat had been retired in favour of a long, grey wool coat. He'd even swapped out his old bandana and sunglasses, for his pilot's cap and a pair of designer brand aviators.
Roro was built more in line with their father, sporting a broader pair of shoulders, as opposed to Rody's slimmer frame, but he knew how to accentuate it, wearing his three-quarter length polo shirts, which reached past his elbows, blue jeans and his favourite pair of sturdy brown boots. Lala, on the other hand, despite having grown up surrounded entirely by boys and wearing men's clothing, found that she enjoyed dressing decidedly more feminine, and delighted in picking out dress after dress to try.
It was a nice feeling, Rody had noticed, simply being able to buy things. He liked having a solid and steady paycheque, and a good one at that. He liked being able to watch the savings in his bank account climb up instead of fall down, (or as was more likely, simply stay at zero).
Rody can easily remember over two dozen occasions when he realised that he was going to have too much month left at the end of his money, and that feeling of raw desperation that came with still having bills to pay and two younger siblings to support; there were always more packages to pick up, more runs to make, and more pennies to pinch. He can remember being short constantly, staying in and avoiding people, made worse by the fact that those people were often trying to help him out, and despite that, he could never manage to repay any of them on time.
It was humiliating, and there were days when he hadn't wanted to show his face in public, burning with embarrassment at the mere thought of the people he owed being able to see his face.
So, it was a nice change to not have to worry about it.
Roro and Lala weren't blind to their way of living. Rody had done his best to shield them from it, insisting that they focus on their schooling, but even they had noticed that they all lived in a single, tiny trailer on the outskirts of the city, while their classmates all had houses, and while he had constantly sewed, stitched and patched up their clothing, they'd noticed that nobody else ever seemed to need to do so, instead just replacing their damaged garments outright.
They couldn't have afforded an extra expense like that.
Thankfully, ever since he had started making money, those worries had slowly gone away, and yet neither Roro or Lala had ever shown him that he needed to worry about them getting greedy or becoming conceited.
In fact, he was quite proud of the fact that they were willing to work for their own money.
When Rody had started going away for short stretches, leaving them at home, as he travelled, working as Izuku's new personal aide, driver and eventually, his personal pilot, Roro and Lala had stepped up in a major way, making sure to still put in all of their school hours. Roro had set his sights on becoming an engineer and was working towards it, even going as far as putting in extra school hours and taking all of the extra-credit assignments he could manage, while Lala had picked up work at an American-themed diner, earning her own money by waiting tables and pouring people their coffee.
He was so proud of them.
"What's with that weird smile on your face?"
He scowled, "It's not weird".
"Yes", Roro said, as though he were pointing out the obvious, "it is. You keep looking at us like you're constipated".
"Eww", Lala wrinkled her nose, "gross".
Roro shrugged, "I'm just calling it like I see it".
"Well, I'm not constipated", he told them, absently swirling the stirrer in his coffee around, "I was just thinking about Dad, and how proud he'd be… of both of you".
There was an awkward pause when he finished, and he let his gaze settle onto his cup, while his younger siblings poked at their fries awkwardly. He never really brought Dad up with them, because their memories of him were even less firm than the ones he had of their mother, and they barely existed.
"Right, well, err… good?"
"Dad would be proud", Lala agreed, with a firm nod of her head, "and that's good", she nodded to herself again, more slowly, "and you know he'd be proud of you too, y'know".
"I know", he smiled softly, his expression matched by Pino, who poled his head out of his chest pocket, "though he'd probably be jealous of someone getting a place at the University of Tokyo", Roro rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face belied his true feelings, "speaking of which, what do we need to get next?"
"I've still got a few books I need to pick up", he admitted.
"Well then, let's finish up here, because after that, we also need to get some stuff for the cupboards. It's only been a few days and we're already running out of food".
=== === === === ===
With the shopping done for the day, and his brother and sister fed, Rody left the two of them to entertain themselves for the evening, before going off in search of his friend. A not-so small part of him had already known that he wouldn't be in his apartment, but he entered, nevertheless. A quick walkaround confirmed his absence, while a check of his kitchen confirmed what he suspected.
Other than a single, thankfully now empty, glass of orange juice, his sink was empty, (confirming his belief that an Izuku left to his own devices would forget to feed himself), and his cupboards and fridge both remained seemingly untouched.
Opening the fridge with a sigh, he removed the blended jug of green sludge that Izuku liked to consume in place of eating actual meals, and filled an empty sports bottle with its contents, before snagging a bottle of water from the fridge door, and an apple from the fruit bowl that was left on the nearby island.
He loaded them onto a serving tray, reminded himself that he was a personal aide, driver and pilot, and not a waiter, and then headed over to the elevator, gently selecting the level for the underground cave.
When he stepped out of the elevator and into the cave itself, he wasn't surprised to find it already lit up.
As he'd said before, and knew that he would one day, (soon), say again, his friend was a workaholic.
He wasn't at the computer, which he could see from his vantage point, but Rody could hear the whir and cackle of some form of machinery coming from below him. Careful to not drop the tray as he made his way down the cave's various connecting walkways, Rody found him two levels down from the elevator, hunched over, as he stared down at one of his workbenches.
In front of him, laid out at full length, was a black bodysuit, which seemed to be covered in circuitry, and Izuku was busy prodding at them, testing each and every connection with his sharp tools, and causing a litany of blue sparks to spring out whenever he pressed down.
The welding mask he wore to protect his face obstructed his peripheral vision, and as he moved to set the tray down, Rody realised that there were many ways for him to get his friend's attention.
It was likely not the most sensible choice in the world, but Rody's choice was to drop the tray, letting it hit the metal bench with a clang, as he shouted, "Oi, Dumbass!"
Izuku whirled around in shock, almost falling from the stool he was sat on, sparks trailing from his hand, as he brandished what Rody thought was his soldering iron, in front of him like a sword.
"Rody", he exclaimed, slowly lowering his makeshift weapon, "what are… I didn't know you were back".
"Obviously", he responded dryly, as he gave a pointed look at the bodysuit, "and just what are you supposed to be working on?"
"Would you like me to tell you what's behind me, or lie to you and say that until thirty seconds ago, I've spent all of my time upstairs, resting quietly?"
The face that held Rody's answering scowl could've been carved out of stone.
"I'm just linking the suit's systems together. If I spend a bit of time over the next few days, finishing putting it together and healing up, it should be ready for a proper field test".
"Less than twenty-four hours after you almost died of blood loss and you're at it again", he sighed, Pino mimicking the action from his place on his shoulder, adding a roll of his small eyes, "why am I not surprised?"
Izuku grinned, "Because you know I'm dedicated?"
"Right, 'dedicated', yeah", he pinched the bridge of his nose, as Pino grinned, "that's totally the word that I was looking for".
"You mean it wasn't?"
"Course it was", Pino snickered, as Rody thrust the drink he'd bought into Izuku's empty hand, "I wasn't think of, 'obsessive', or 'manic', or 'disturbing', or anything like one of those words, no. Now here, finish that disgusting green sludge drink, or I'm dragging you upstairs to join us for dinner, and tonight, Lala's the one doing the cooking".
Izuku pulled a face, one that Rody could only think of as fear, before taking a particularly large gulp of his green sludge, "So what are you working on?"
"It's a power suit".
"It just looks like a bodysuit, though guessing by all the wires - and the shape of what I think is supposed to be the collar - I think it's inside out".
Izuku nodded, "It is", he took another mouthful of his drink, "though instead of being made of Lycra or leather, it's one large exoskeleton, shrunken down by Melissa's nanotech to be form fitting and skintight. Each section is cover in hardened plates of titanium-dipped tri-weave fibres, all of which are blended into the material. The circuitry you can see me working on is the neuro-muscular amplification system, which will amplify my body's strength by about a factor of ten".
"Seriously?"
"Yeah… it's draining though. The harder you push yourself, the more draining it is. Food and sleep will quickly become more important, I'll be burning more energy-"
"And the more you'll need to eat, I'm guessing", Rody finished, offering him the apple that was on his tray, which Izuku took from him, nodding.
"And the more I'll need to eat", he replied, taking a bite from the apple.
"Neuro-muscular", Rody pointed out, "so does that mean you'll be plugging it into your brain?"
He shook his head with a mouthful of apple, before swallowing audibly, "No, nothing that extreme. I mean, if this was last century, then maybe we'd have to, but come on", he grinned around more of his apple, "you know my suit's going to be cutting edge. By the time I'm done wiring up a helmet, or maybe some sort of reinforced hood - I haven't quite decided yet - there'll be small, flat sensors running along the length of my skull and spinal column. They'll read the electrical signals from my brain, through the skin, like an EEG would".
"I thought it was called an EKG?"
He shook his head, "EKG for the heart, EEG for the brain".
"Oh, right… and the rest of it?"
"Gloves, boots and belt", he pointed at each item in turn, and Rody noted that they were easier to determine, "connected using a small electromagnetic circuit, which should make them appear completely seamless when worn. That should leave nothing to be grabbed onto, and prevent them from being taken off, so no fingerprint or bits of hair and skin anywhere for DNA evidence".
"So, that mean's the hood idea's out right", he prompted, "if you don't anything that can be grabbed and you're going for full skin coverage?"
"Good point", Izuku nodded, "you know, if I'd had more sleep, I probably would've realised that".
"And that", Rody pointed out, taking his friend by the shoulder, "sounds like an excellent excuse for me to convince you to get some rest", Midoriya offered him a token resistance, but otherwise let himself be led away from his work, "now, dinner's not for another hour yet, so you can go take a nap and tonight, you're eating with the rest of your family".
"But I just drank the juice?"
"Yep", Rody agreed, "but, uh, about that part of our agreement", he pulled his friend off of his stool, before shrugging, "I lied".
=== === === === ===
Dinner was a mess.
Dinner in the Soul Household was almost always a mess, but Izuku's presence always seemed to make it so much worse. Lala had commandeered control over the kitchen, once she found out that Izuku was joining them, and despite Rody's best efforts, she had refused to let anyone else help with the meal.
He was glad to see his siblings helping out, and that they obviously weren't expecting him to do all of their household chores, but by no means, did he want Lala anywhere near the kitchen.
He loved her, but to put it simply.
She was an awful cook.
She'd watched a lot of cooking shows as a baby, on free to view TV, and it seemed that all of the information she'd managed to retain from them, was that none of the TV chefs ever bothered to measure anything, instead using their knowledge and skills for measurements made up of their eyeballs. She tried replicating their method, but never seemed to get it right.
That evening she'd made them her own fish stew, something they'd eaten a thousand times growing up, and grinned with pride, as she settled in beside Izuku, serving them all a bowl.
Aware that her eyes were on the pair of them, they took a moment to gently blow on the stew, before spooning a small amount into their mouths. It was supposed to be a simple beef stew, but one half-mouthful was enough to tell them that the beef was oversalted and the vegetables hadn't cooked through.
Izuku was well practiced in the art of not flinching, which he needed to make use of when the celery crunched against his teeth.
"It's good", Rody told her, smiling around his mouthful, "made with love, right?"
"Made with love", she confirmed.
"Mm hmm", Izuku made an agreeable noise, as he forced himself to swallow his down.
From the opposite side of the counter, Roro looked at them, seemingly wondering if the pair of them had last their minds.
From there, dinner devolved into its usual banter between the Soul siblings, all of whom tried to rope Izuku into it as either their referee or their back-up. He alternated between not getting involved, (and making sure they knew it), and discretely pouring his stew down the counter's garbage disposal system.
When he was done emptying his bowl, Rody swapped it with his, and he started again.
"-yeah, well, I'm just saying, she's not as good as everyone thinks she is".
"You can't be serious?!"
"Why not? Why not?! She's Mirko!"
Izuku blinked back awake, as Lala's voice reached an uncomfortable pitch, "What are you two arguing about now?"
"They've finished with school subjects, Japanese food and their driving skills-"
"Neither one of them has a licence".
"-oh, I'm aware", Rody told him, caught somewhere between amused and bemused, "now they're arguing over the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart, and who's the best Pro Hero".
"All Might".
The pair of them groaned.
"You always say All Might", Roro pointed out.
"Literally every time", Lala tacked on.
"Because he's the best. End of discussion".
"But he's not on the list".
"Yeah, and they have to be on the list".
"He's on the Hall of Fame list".
"Doesn't count".
"Spoilsports", he shrugged, "alright then, who are you both saying. Hit me".
"Mirko", Lala said without missing a beat, "she's literally the greatest female hero of all time. Former Number One Pro Hero, current Number Two, all-round ass-kicker and sexy as hell".
"Language", Rody groused.
"Yeah, former Number One", Roro pointed out, "but Lemillion's the new Number One for a reason. From what I've seen, Gale Force is probably my favourite though - he's the new Number Three Pro Hero", he added, though Izuku was well aware of that fact, "but then again, you can never count out Endeavor".
"I remember Endeavor from when I was a kid", Izuku mused, absently emptying out Rody's bowl while the attention was all on Roro, "he was my father's favourite".
"Well, I like him a little bit less now than I did a moment ago", Roro said, wrinkling his nose, "but he's still a solid pick. Still in the Top Ten, with more cases resolved than any other Pro Hero in history".
"Isn't he like, a hundred or something?"
Roro rolled his eyes at his sister's question, "He's fifty-six. Not a hundred".
"Still, wasn't he arrested for abuse, or something. I remember seeing it on the news when I was a kid, which was weird, because we never saw stuff about Japan unless it was All Might".
"One of his son's became a villain and said he was abusive, but nothing ever really came of that part. If he was, then it wasn't bad enough that his family hated him, because they get seen together at all of the official events and stuff, and if he wasn't, then his son was just saying shit-"
"Language".
"-sorry, Mom. I mean, if you're gonna try and say stuff like that, maybe don't kill a bunch of people and we'll take you seriously next time", Roro shrugged, "it knocked him off the Number One spot though, and he never got it back. He was never out of the Top Ten though. Even now, he's the lowest he's been in years and he's still Number Nine".
"Mirko's scarier than Endeavor".
"She is so not".
Izuku couldn't help but ask, "Is that a point in her favour? Being scary, I mean", he added.
"Obviously", Lala told him, rolling her eyes as though he was missing the point, "people surrender when she shows up. Everyone runs away from Endeavor, but with Mirko, they're afraid when they see her. They literally stop and give up without her actually doing anything. She frightens them".
"Huh, good point", he honestly hadn't considered 'fear' as a marker for a good pro hero, "so then, Mirko versus Gale Force, or are you going with one the others?"
Roro considered it for a moment, before he shook his head, his mind made up, "Gale Force".
"Right then, you're definitely both wrong, but it's nice to have favourites".
Beneath the table, Rody took his bowl back, before standing up and taking all of the dishes over to the sink.
"Well, if you're so clever, who's the best Pro Hero".
"I already told you, All Might".
"You can't pick him".
"I already did".
"Well… you can't".
"All Might beats all other characters", Izuku told them, taking on an airy tone, "he's stronger, fast and smarter".
Both of them took offense to that statement, and began spewing out half-formed sentences, which he thought were meant to be their arguments, but were stalled when Rody brought over dessert.
Thankfully for the two adults, dessert still seemed to take priority over everything else.
=== === === === ===
That night, Izuku kept his word to Rody that he wouldn't go out that night, and would indeed take the time to let his body rest and heal. He made a protein shake up and sat in his office, watching the sun finish setting, as the shadows elongated and slowly began to cast Yokohama in darkness once again.
Darkness was the land of criminals. It was the land in which villains worked, crimes were committed and felonies went unnoticed. It was a villain's greatest ally, but Izuku didn't fear the dark.
He'd mastered it.
He'd trained in it, until he saw through shadows as brightly as he did on the clearest day. To him, darkness was nothing to be afraid of.
He knew he was missing something. There was a vital piece to his plans that just hadn't materialised; the one thing that would tie it all together.
"… they're afraid when they see… stop and give up… frightens them".
They needed to be afraid.
When he struck, they needed to be struck with fear first.
When he arrived, they needed to flee.
When he fled, they needed to feel relief.
They needed to be afraid… of him.
But how?
A dark suit wouldn't cut it, no matter how advanced the technology was. He needed something - a symbol - for people to fear. People feared Mirko, Lala had said over dinner, but why did they? She was fierce, yes, but so was Endeavor, and people were more likely to resist him.
He'd looked up what she'd said, and was actually surprised to find out that it was true. There were many videos, and quite a few compilations of people surrendering on the scene when the Rabbit Heroine arrived, but not nearly as many for any other hero.
Not even All Might.
But Mirko was the only Number One Pro Hero in Japan's history that had a Quirk that was classified as a mutant type.
She didn't look like a normal human from the outside, so people feared her more when they caught a glimpse of her. They saw her ears and feet and tail; they saw something they considered to be 'inhuman', and with that image came fear.
A rabbit wasn't something to be afraid of, (unless you suffered from leporiphobia, Izuku supposed), but it seemed that to many people, a person who looked like a rabbit was something to be afraid of.
Izuku needed to become than just someone else, he had to become something else.
If he wanted people to fear him, then maybe he needed to ask himself what he was afraid of.
Eighteen years since… since the Phantasm… All Might vs. the Pale Phantasm.
Izuku shook his head. The walk home that night had changed his life forever, pushing him down a path that no one could have imagined for him. That man had come out of nowhere, with a voice that sounded like he'd been forced to gargle glass, threatening his life, and his mother, the brave, brilliant woman that she was, had stepped between them.
It was the last thing she ever did.
That night, all sense had left his life.
In the years since that day, he'd began putting himself back together. Melissa and Rody had helped, far more than he thought they realised, and slowly, he'd started to become a person again. If it hadn't been for them, for their friendship and their faith, he didn't know what he would've become.
He worried about that sometimes.
Then had come Otheon. He'd spent far longer there than he'd planned to, but he could also say that his time there was crucial to who he had become, but it was on his last days there, that he'd felt fear for the last time.
There had been the two of them in that cave, together and alone, and she'd had her weapon pointed straight at his heart, which in her mind, he imaged she felt was fair, after he'd lied to her, and then broken hers.
He should've died.
She should've killed him.
But she'd hesitated.
She'd hesitated, and as they stood there, mere feet apart, and yet so distant, that it felt like miles, they had descended.
That cave had been their home, and their fight had disrupted their sleep. They'd descended on the two of them like an army, strong and swift, precise and co-ordinated, scratching with claws and biting with fangs, until they'd both turned tail and fled in opposite directions, never to see each other again.
He'd loved her and lost her and loathed her, but in that moment, all he'd felt was fear. Fear for her. Fear for himself.
He'd been afraid.
The sun set on Yokohama, blanketing it in darkness, as the piece he was missing came to him.
He would become a bat.
=== === === === ===
Author's Notes:
The movie Izuku saw on the night Inko died, 'All Might vs. the Pale Phantasm' is a small double reference to 'Batman: The Masked Phantasm' and 'The Mark of Zorro'. One is a Batman film, the other, a film saw by Batman.
We've also touched on the presence of Melissa and Rody in Izuku's life, especially as a teenager and young adult, they helped him remain in touch with himself, unlike Bruce Wayne, who went out into the world completely independently, and in many ways, suffered for it. He also thrived in ways that Izuku hasn't, but I'm sure we'll get to that later.