15

Chapter Text

Friday morning was met with little incident. Recovery Girl discharged Izuku from the infirmary just before classes, ensuring he would get at least one day of education before the weekend. 

Izuku had gotten through his two day absence with a rather quick recovery, albeit with an arm that was still a little stiff from U.S.J. - but otherwise fine.

Classes were the same as usual, the teachers droning on about the subject material. But Izuku could sense that something was just a bit off kilter.

The atmosphere throughout the day felt rather off, creepily unlike what he had been getting used to in his short time at U.A. He wasn't sure if it was just the tension from surviving an all out villain attack, but he was willing to bet otherwise.

Even stranger was what Izuku eventually noticed to be the cause of the changes - he himself.

For one, Cementoss seemed to be keeping an eye on him whenever he could for some unknown reason. 

And while some of his teachers - like Midnight - seemed to be going about business as usual with her playful and flirtatious nature, the usually loud and upbeat Present Mic seemed to twitch whenever his eyes landed on Izuku.

Even his own classmates seemed to be a bit more jumpy than usual. Ojiro, Hagakure, and Kaminari seemed to be actively avoiding him, while Sato, Sero, and Ashido kept taking glances at him from across the room.

But Koda was the worst of the bunch. While Izuku had noticed Koda's apprehensive approach towards Izuku's presence before, it was nothing like it was now. Koda seemed to shiver whenever he glanced at Izuku, and even yelped when Izuku had passed him in the halls. 

His other classmates appeared to not be fazed with whatever the problem was, however, treating Izuku the same as they had been. Even Shoji, whom Izuku would have thought to have leaned toward the 'there's something wrong with Izuku' club, was acting amicable.

But of all things, Izuku had found out that Mineta was out of the loop. Whatever was affecting the others was absent within Mineta - while that was due to the time spent in the infirmary or something else was up in the air.

And as if the day wasn't already taxing enough on Izuku's thought processers, Aizawa - as sleep deprived as he was - had neglected to organize a whole myriad of papers that were needed for the next day. 

Izuku wasn't surprised when Aizawa delegated the Class Representatives to stay behind and do the work in his stead.

And so, here he was, sitting in an almost empty classroom with Yaoyorozu beside him and stacks of paper towering before them.

"I'm glad to see that you are up and about, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu said as she and Izuku began their duties.

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu. Honestly, I'm just glad that I am moving at all, really. That punch that I got really hurt," Izuku said.

She nodded, smiling while doing so. But then she fell into a more somber mood, recalling the attack.

"Some of us were worried when you got hit by that Nomu villain, you know. And when we saw what that thing could do to All Might? We— We weren't sure if you were going to make it."

"But I did."

"Yes, you did. And I'm glad for that. It's just… I'm not sure what I would've done if you died on us," she sniffled. "I was so relieved when Iida and Todoroki brought you back to us so quickly despite… the…"

There it was again, whatever mysterious conflict that arose from U.S.J. was still in effect.

"Yaoyorozu," Izuku bluntly interrupted.

The simple utterance of her name broke Yaoyorozu out of her reverie. "Yes, Midoriya?"

"If I may put it bluntly, what is up with everyone? I've noticed that there's been some unease with my presence."

Her face lit up in realization. "Oh. Yes… That."

"Yes, that. Whatever 'that' is." 

Yaoyorozu answered after a brief moment of silence. "It's… well… Are you aware that your bugs started swarming the villains after you fell unconscious?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose. I told them to bite and sting the villains. Especially that Nomu one. I didn't want All Might to fight that guy without any help since he was alrea— Well, Nomu hits pretty hard, from my experience," Izuku laughed off. 

"You shouldn't joke about it, you know. You could've died."

"But I'm alive. That's the important thing, right?"

Yaoyorozu opened her mouth to answer, but whatever retort she had in mind sputtered out. "Yeah… Anyways, your bugs were rather… determined, I could say. They hurt some of the villains pretty badly from what I saw." 

"And the swarm was... Well, it was everywhere," Yaoyorozu continued. "I'm sure that some of our classmates just felt a bit frightened by the experience, is all."

"Oh," muttered Izuku.

"Does it really matter? The villains were targeting children. They had to be stopped at all costs."

"As for the teachers, I'm certain that they're just wary over your control. You haven't been here for too long, afterall. They aren't familiar with your quirk.They may just want to make sure another incident with your bugs doesn't spring up again." 

"So everyone's scared of me, is what your saying?" Izuku muttered.

Yaoyorozu looked over, sensing and seeing the dejected tone in Izuku's voice. "Midoriya…" 

She straightened up. "Look. I'll be straight with you. When you got knocked unconscious, whatever your bugs were doing weren't because of you, right?"

"I suppose."

"Good. Then that means whatever happened wasn't your fault."

"But—"

"But what?" Yaoyorozu asked, as if already disproving of whatever Izuku was to say."

"The bugs… they were still influenced by my whims and—"

"But they weren't, Midoriya. What your bugs did were in the best interest of the class. We were already so fatigued and injured as is. Your bugs got rid of the villains. They forced their leader and the teleporter to leave while leaving behind Nomu. They helped All Might, of all things. In fact, I'm not sure what would have if you hadn't acted as you did."

"I—" Izuku sighed. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu."

"Of course. Now, let's get to work, shall we?" 

"Izuku! Where are you going?" asked Inko Midoriya.

Izuku, halfway out the door, shuffled back inside to answer. "It's Saturday, mom. Mei asked me to come over to help work on something, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. I almost forgot. You two are having one of those over-the-weekend giant projects again?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry in advance if I don't check in at all again. You know how Mei gets when she really gets invested into one of her projects." 

"Oh, yes," Inko laughed. "She was all over the place when we went to visit that one time. That robot of her's looked like it had a lot of effort put into it."

"It did. It was all— Well, alright! I'll try to be back by Sunday night, then."

"Of course! Have a good time, sweetie!"

As the door to their apartment closed, Izuku let out a sigh of relief. After a moment's respite, he began his way to the train station. 

He thought back to the excuse he made to his mom. Going over to Mei's was the best cover for his weekend activities. He'd been over at Mei's for days at a time before, and he didn't always pay attention to when his mom called when he was over there. Him supposedly being over there would provide a way for his absence to be noticed by nobody. He hoped.

Mei was in on it, of course, but only for the part of his absence. He hadn't told her what he'd be doing, no matter how much she insisted for him to say. As a result, he owed her a lot of guinea pig time in place of Manga. 

Still, he felt bad for lying to his mom. But this was the only way for him to reach his goals. The only way he'd be able to go out as a vigilante without any obstacles. 

Or, at least, find a way to get the urge out of his system.

Izuku couldn't really describe the feeling he was having that led him to such drastic measures, if he was going to be honest with himself. A way to describe it was always just on the tip of his tongue, but the words always escaped him. It was like…

"A thirst for conflict?"

Izuku shook his head. He didn't, now. But he'd been getting this urge to fight for a long while now. Ever since he'd gone out to have his bugs demolish the yakuza presence in Musutafu, he'd been suppressing the urge. But it was manageable then, barely present in his subconscious.

But he'd felt a surge - a sudden boost in its urgency - with the Battle Trial. That had ended in an easy victory. A hollow victory, the urge unsatisfied.

U.S.J. made it worse. The villains within the Downpour Zone were cannon fodder, mere crooks for the League. On the other hand, Nomu was too powerful; too strong to provide any satisfaction of a fight, and too quick in ending the fight. The urge was urging for a real fight, telling him to start one.

Izuku sighed, reorganizing his thoughts.

He knew how dangerous vigilantism was. He knew how stupid he was for going out like this. But the feeling in the back of his head was tired of fighting, only for him to ultimately lose when it mattered most. 

That one petty criminal he'd fought, defeated by the victim Izuku was saving. The sludge villain, ultimately captured by All Might. And even Nomu, the monster that he was, taking Izuku as a hostage.

Yes, a small part of him was against this. That same part of him wanted the night to go as uneventful as possible.

But to deny his urges even longer… 

He couldn't. He just wanted it gone, no matter what he needed to do. 

Izuku had traveled to a whole other prefecture during his time on the train.

He did so in order to dissociate his first physical outing as a vigilante apart from the cloak-wearing bug clone named Snitch.

As such, the vibrant sunset of the Kanagawa skyline as it met the waves of the ocean was both a blessing and a spell of doom for Izuku. Nevertheless, Izuku found his way to an abandoned building to begin his nighttime outing.

His costume for this specific task was different from the others. Prototype #4 was one of his earlier attempts at a costume, made to be much more flexible to the sacrifice of using a much thinner armor layer than later projects. It was created without any usage of more colorful dyes, and with functionality in mind over presentability. The result was a costume that many would have considered much too edgy and darkly-colored for a hero. 

However, it's appearance was perfect for a stealth-oriented vigilante stalking the streets at night.

The silk-woven costume donned a black and grey color scheme, consisting of armor panels made of arthropod exoskeletons around his more vital parts.

This version lacked any pouches, as did it any way to hold his trusty eskrima sticks. But that was fine, as he delegated to not use them in this costume. Instead, Izuku would rely and his lesser used knowledge of Muay Thai and general cqc.

His mask slid on and ended before his ears. It was evenly black aside from its lenses, which shone with an amber gleam. A last minute addition to the costume was the simple hood which was held firmly on his head. 

Unlike most hoods, it was tightly bound with spider silk, unable to be pulled down until Izuku had the spiders break down the strands holding it in place. But even still it was a normal hood that provided little protection.

Instead, the hood ensured his rather identifiable green hair was tucked away from prying eyes. The fact that it hindered his peripheral vision played no importance, considering his quirk.

On another note, his fingertips ended in claws, sharp enough to cut, but not deep enough to kill. Still, too much force and the potential to cause lasting damage was there. It was one of the main reasons this piece had been hidden away in his closet until this night.

And so, as the moon rose high into the nighttime sky, Izuku took reign of the rooftops.

Izuku was hoping that the night was going to turn out mostly quiet. Maybe a few muggings there, an assault there, maybe even just a drunken disturbance. Something, anything, to satisfy the urge.

He'd planned to go through the motions throughout the night, pack it up as the sun took its place in the dawn sky, and head back on a train to be due back at home in the evening.

His bugs played a part, even if he wanted to keep them separated from this new persona. He used them to scout out the city, flying in sparse numbers while searching for possible crimes to stop. 

But as the hours tricked by, it seemed that the chance to fill his urge had arisen. Because, of course, there would be an actual villain on the prowl on this night. Curse his luck.

The unmoving body laid upon the ground was oddly lacking any visible traces of blood despite the multiple gashes and stab wounds littered among it. 

However, Izuku supposed that such a phenomenon would be possible if the girl lapping up the body's blood had anything to do with it.

And, of course, Izuku stood there just taking the scene all in until the girl turned around and noticed him.

She seemed to be around his age, a factor enforced by the easily distinguishable school uniform she wore under her oversized cardigan.

As here clothes were, her ashy blonde hair was sprinkled with blood from her victim. She seemed to be blushing as well, the redness of her face not completely to be blamed by the blood.

"Oh! Who are you?" she cheerily asked. "Have you come to play, too?"

Izuku immediately backed away, taking a defensive stance. He refrained from answering as well, choosing to adopt a silent character for this persona.

The girl rose a knife in the air, pointing it at Izuku.

"What's your name?" she asked.

Izuku didn't answer.

"Aw! You're no fun!" she whined. "Oh well." And she sprung forward with incredible speed, knife thrusting for Izuku's midsection. 

Izuku stepped backwards, dodging the blade by mere centimeters. But by the time he got his footing, she was already swiping at him again.

The blade ran across his stomach in motion of disembowelment, running from side to side of his torso. However, Izuku remained unharmed. Despite its thin layering, the costume was only slightly cut from the move.

Wow. She's pretty strong. And her speed! She actual cut a little into the costume!

"Oh! So you do talk!" She laughed. "And thanks, by the way. You're a real charmer." She blushed with joy.

Dang. There goes that silent persona.

The villain lunged for Izuku again. This time, Izuku raised his arm in defense, the blade digging into the forearm of his costume.

Izuku retaliated by pushing back his opponent. He pushed forward with a quick fury of swipes from his hands. And while they did take the girl by surprise, she didn't take the attacks without her own counter.

Her knives eventually found themselves parried against a few of the swipes, allowing her to make distinct cuts in specific positions.

And so, while some Izuku's attacks found their way through, so did the girl's - albeit with more precision.

After a long series of blows, they both stepped back from the onslaught, taking a breath to ready themselves next.

The clawed tips of Izuku's hands drew blood from the villain, his hands covered in a thin layer of the red fluid.

The girl's knife, miraculously, was in a similar state despite the nature of Izuku's costume. This caused Izuku to widen his eyes in surprise.

Reaching down, he felt at his torso. Izuku discovered that a small incision had found its place on his side, a result of the girl's constant attacks on the single spot.

Across from Izuku, the girl inserted the blood covered knife into her mouth. The knife slowly slid out from her mouth, as if she were savoring the taste.

"Mmm! You taste good!" cheered the villain. "But it's not enough! I need more!"

Again she lunged, her knife going for the exposed spot on a Izuku's costume. Izuku saw the attack coming, dodging away to the left away from the thrust. However, as Izuku went to block her next attack, the villain disappeared from his vision.

Izuku looked left to right, but he couldn't find her It was as if she had suddenly disappeared. But his confusion didn't last long. He felt a swipe aimed at his legs, originated from behind him. He fell backwards, feeling himself being pulled down to the ground.

His head met the pavement with a loud thump. The back of his head, with no armor protecting it, began to bleed. The injury left Izuku disoriented, dazed on the ground. He felt two hands rest upon his own, the weight of them limiting his movements. When he opened his eyes, he met the eyes of the girl. 

"Hi! How are you— Oh! You're bleeding!" Her face inched closer to his mask. "You know, I—"

Izuku's head shot upwards, meeting the girl's. 

"Oww!" 

The sturdy material of the silk mask met the villain's fleshy face. As Izuku had hoped, the mask absorbed most of the force of the headbutt, thus preventing Izuku's growing head injury from worsening. 

However, the girl wasn't so lucky. Her abrupt movement to grab her head left Izuku free from her weight. With his now two free hands, Izuku pushed her off his form and stood again.

Izuku ran towards the the dazed girl, grabbing her arm and twisting it to her back. His other hand grabbed for her other arm, but did so with little success. The villain twisted around Izuku's form, gaining the advantage over him and pushing him against the wall.

The girl's fingers then wrapped themselves around her knife, moving towards Izuku's hood.

I'm still safe. My armor's fine. I just—

Her hands meticulously cut away at the bloodied fabric. As the cloth gave way, Izuku's hair shot out, the long strands covered in his blood.

"Ooh! That's some nice hair you have there. All nice and long. A bit wavy too." 

Her fingers curled around the the back of Izuku's exposed head, wiping over where the blood slowly seeped from his head. Her fingers became enriched with Izuku's blood, and she eyed the spectacle with a sadistic glee. She stuck out the still bloodied hand, observing it with joy.

"You know, I wouldn't mind if we became friends. You're pretty good," the girl stated.

Friends? With her? Yeah, right. Now, to get outta this, I just needed her to raise her knife again. I'll wait for the opportune moment, then go for the opening on her lower torso; trip her over with my own legs. Then I'll—

"Still not talking?" she asked. Her hand — the one still unoccupied with Izuku's blood — rose, knife in hand.

"Fine. Just stand still so I can cu—" She abruptly stopped her speech, her eyes shifting to the right.

Then her head turned, tilting upwards to the rooftops. Her eyes widened, and she jumped away from Izuku with the swiftness of a cat.

Her vacated spot, just in front of Izuku's body, immediately was filled with the sound of a bullet hitting the concrete ground, barely missing the girl by only a few centimeters.

"You didn't tell me you had backup!" The villain whined to Izuku. "You meanie!"

She dodged another bullet, this time hiding her body behind a dumpster. "Aww! That's no fun at all. Oh well. Guess we'll be seeing each other around, yeah?"

And with that, the villain left the alleyway, sprinting off and taking a left into the city streets.

Meanwhile, a bedraggled Izuku stood dumbfounded against the alley's wall.

Backup? he mused.

Izuku looked over at the rooftop where the shot had gone off. Indeed, there was a shadowy figure armed with a rifle, aiming down at where he was. Unfortunately, their position was heavily concealed with darkness that high up, removing the ability to identify any distinguishable features with either his bugs or his eyes. And then there was the distance; they were just outside if his capable range of his bugs.

In a split second decision, Izuku took off in the same way as the girl had, but instead taking a right. He scrambled up to the rooftops via a fire escape staircase, and went off in a hurry.

His bugs noted that, thankfully, whoever was on that rooftop was not following, contempt to stay where they were. But Izuku didn't take any chances. He ran. And traversed the rooftops until he reached the abandoned warehouses that made up some of the industrial district.

Finding his way to the warehouse where he hid his belongings, Izuku sat down to catch his breath. After a couple minutes of rest, Izuku slowly began to strip down, replacing is costume with his normal clothes. 

As he packed away his things, Izuku connected to his bugs, surveying the surrounding area to make sure nobody would spot him leaving the warehouse. After he confirmed the lack of potential bystanders to see him.It was nearing morning, and soon he'd be on a train back to Musutafu. 

As he thought back to the night's events, he berated himself again for potentially getting himself killed. Between an actual fight with a villain and that mysterious figure on the rooftop, he knew that he had had enough excitement for one night.

…

Izuku's eyes widened in realization. Huh. That urge is gone. Guess the night was a success?

Izuku let out a heavy sigh. He almost died — again — and yet he felt at ease. I guess I'll be holding off on this type of vigilante stuff for awhile. 

Notes:

Alright, Poll Time. The results are in! And wow, were some of them close! The results are as follows:

In 1st place with 45 votes is [Hive Mind]!* As of now, Izuku's quirk is registered as [Hive Mind].

[Eye of the Swarm] came 2nd with a sum of 41 votes. Quite a close matchup, if you ask me. It was first place's top contender for the entire time.

Third came [Entomopathy] with 13 votes.

[Bug Manipulation] came 4th with 6 votes.

And lastly, [Entomokinesis] with 5 votes.

Thank you, for everyone who voted! I really enjoy interacting with all of you. Remember to feel free to ask any questions or bring up any suggestions in regards to this fic.

Well, that's it for now. Hope to see you all next time!

*I'll make a nod to "Hive Lord" as well in the future, as per request of a few voters. I'm looking at you two, Diraniola and EllipsisObsessed!