Chapter Text
Izuku should have known that things have been going too great lately.
He is in the hero course, All Might doesn‘t want his quirk back yet and his classmates for better or worse don't hate him.
He doesn‘t think about how often he had a brush with death, was held at gunpoint — and how he has to live paycheck from paycheck and sometimes has to skip a meal in order to be able to drive home. How there are new white streaks in his hair and he feels like he can trust nobody — not even himself.
Izuku should have known.
There was no way things could go so great for him.
"You are expelled."
Izuku stares at the table and feels himself slowly dissociating.
He balls his fists until he can feel blood dripping from his hands, breathing in shakily as he tries to regain control.
"Why?"
He grits his teeth as his voice breaks, internally punching himself. This isn't a moment where he can show weakness.
"The commission has presented us with evidence that you are the traitor and in connection with the League of Villains."
Before he can even attempt to question that absurdity, Nedzu turns on the monitor in the conference room, playing a video.
His eyes widen as he stares at it.
Izuku lets out a sigh as he kneels in front of the shelf and drags his baseball cap even further into his face. He doesn't need anyone recognizing him from the Sports Festival right now.
His eyes fly over the endless options, from traditional dye to quirked dye to the money in his hands. Barely 1200 yen. He still needs money for food after this.
With a groan he tries to grab the cheapest option available — he will just have to hope nobody notices the slight difference in color —when a voice interrupts him.
"I wouldn't take that if I were you."
Izuku's head whips up to the man standing next to him, hands buried in his pockets, also wearing a baseball cap and a face mask, only leaving his turquoise eyes in the open. Izuku is instantly wary, he didn't even hear his footsteps, even though he could normally sense someone coming from miles away. A necessary skill to have when you live in an area where a small step or a wrong glance can cost you everything. Izuku still has the scars to show for it.
The stranger doesn't let the staring nor his wariness bother him as he crouches down.
"It washes out after 2 showers." He raises his cap, showcasing the white washed out roots of his black hair, before shrugging. "I circled through every cheap dye and it's the worst of the bunch. If you have to take one of them though-" he trails off and grabs a non-descriptive package, showing it to Izuku, "I would take this brand."
The stranger eyes the package Izuku tried to grab, humming.
"Green is a pretty daring colour though," he comments, not caring that Izuku doesn't react, putting the package back into the aisle to find a green colored one. "Your normal hair colour got too boring or what?"
Izuku lets out a sigh, similarly raising his cap so the man can see the white streaks in his green hair.
"It's from-"
"Quirk induced stress," the man finishes for him, making Izuku flinch.
How the hell does he know?
The stranger just shrugs at Izuku wide eyed stare and slips down his mask, revealing discoloured skin etched over his jaw — Izuku realizes they are burn scars belatedly.
"I know what I'm talking about."
He hands Izuku the hair dye, Izuku noticing that he tried to match it to his natural hair colour as close as possible, with a raised eyebrow and Izuku takes it with a quiet, "Thanks," not wanting to anger him.
The man nods before taking another package from the same brand and standing up.
"We'll see each other around kid," the stranger says, raising a hand, his back to Izuku, before going away.
That's where the video stops.
Back then he hadn't known that the stranger would later attack the UA training camp. Izuku almost didn't recognize Dabi at the attack, scars grown to his ears and under his eyes.
There's a click and the next video evidence gets played before Izuku can even react or defend himself.
Izuku is crouching in front of the instant ramen shelf when he hears bickering down the hall.
He glances over, only to do a double take when he sees Dabi and Toga loading stuff into a shopping cart, bantering all while in the same aisle as him.
Almost like he has an 8th sense, the man looks up from his paper slip, locking eyes with Izuku.
Dabi's eyes widen with recognition and Izuku winces.
Why here right now? Can't he have a normal shopping trip?
Izuku closes his eyes and decides to ignore the situation, looking away to concentrate on the ramen flavors again.
"Are you seriously ignoring us right now?!" Dabi shouts, scandalised.
"What should I do instead?" Izuku answers, rubbing his temple, not even turning to the man, hoping he, along with Toga, will disappear when he ignores them long enough.
"I don’t know, fight us or at least report us?" he questions, aghast.
Izuku gives him a deadpan look.
"I haven’t seen you guys do anything right now and it‘s not in my jurisdiction to punish you or pursue you for your past crimes."
"What the fuck? Aren't you a hero?"
Izuku lets out a sigh.
"If I wouldn’t live by this rule, I wouldn’t get from one place to another without having to fight every 5 seconds. Not even thinking about the paperwork involved with reporting someone," he says, getting a headache.
"Also, I value my life and my time,“ he murmurs, picking a random flavor he hasn't tried before, before standing up.
"What the hell is wrong with-"
"Can't you guys summon Kurogiri to pick you up so I don't have to deal with you guys?" Izuku interrupts, pinching the bridge of his nose, glancing at the clock.
12:21 am. He will have his shift soon.
"What is he? Our taxi?" Dabi says, unbelieving and Toga snickers, packing away her smartphone, before throwing her hands around Dabi's neck.
"Calm down Dabi!" she giggles, not even getting bothered by Dabi's attempts to shove her off. "Don't be so stiff!"
Toga gives Izuku a mischievous smile, showing off her canines.
"We don't want to scare off Izu-chan now, don't we?"
A shudder runs over Izuku's spine, but before he can retort, a familiar purple, swirling portal appears.
Toga gives him a wink before waving at Izuku, dragging Dabi and the shopping cart into the portal, it closing with the words of, "It was nice meeting you again Izuku-chan!"
For a second Izuku grows scared that there is more but the monitor remains black, having been turned off after the last video.
He blinks at the monitor. That's all?
"This is their evidence? Are you serious right now?" Izuku says disbelieving, starting to get angry as he stares at Nedzu and Aizawa who both remain stoic, their expressions not revealing a single thing.
"Yes."
"And you are believing them?" he questions further, fuming, gaze whipping to Aizawa
"It‘s what the Commission determined," the man drones out.
"I thought you would be the first good teacher I ever had, but I guess I was wrong," he hisses at Aizawa, before his gaze moves on to Nedzu, not noticing how the dark haired man flinches at the harsh words. "And I expected better from you, Nedzu. At least you should know what a snake the Commission is."
He storms out, slamming the door behind him, gaze dark.
"I'll show you how bad I am."
He zips the bag close with a sigh, before settling on his bed, starting at the cracked ceiling.
He is glad that he constructed the lie of living with his grandparents for UA and placed down a different address. That way they won‘t find him when they go looking for him.
But still there is no way the Commission doesn‘t have a hunch on where he lives, considering they dug up all those tapes despite them being from the corner store of the Red District.
Izuku clicks his tongue.
He can't believe he has to leave this place behind. While it was a shit hole, it became his home over the years, the only place that he could call his own and felt safe in.
He throws the duffel bag over his shoulder with a sigh. He has to stock up his first aid kit before searching for a place to stay low.
Izuku brushes his hair back before putting on the cap, hiding his unruly curls under them.
Then he goes to the store, heading over to the aisle with bandaids and other first aid supplies. He hums as he looks over the different things. If he remembers right, he is missing some burn cream and pain relief gel.
He kneels down and grabs the cheapest option, when he hears footsteps. He stays still, pretending to look at the relief gel for a second as he looks at the person in the corner of his eye, only to almost let out a groan.
However something must have given his disdain away because the man turns to him, his face morphing in disbelief as he recognizes Izuku.
"We really have to stop meeting like this," Izuku comments as he stands up, pain relief gel temporarily forgotten.
Dabi narrows his eyes at him, before sighing and turning away, eyes flying over the aisle.
"I agree," he simply says, grabbing some of the more expensive and effective burn creams.
Before Izuku can say something in response a loud explosion rips through the air, shaking the building and almost tearing Dabi and Izuku from their feet.
With a speed Izuku didn’t know he possessed without One For All, he grips the shelf before it can fall and coughs start to shake his body, his nose prickling from the dust.
But before Izuku can even attempt to understand where the sudden attack is coming from, the shelf suddenly shifts under his grip and starts toppling over.
Izuku is only saved when Dabi comes to his help, stemming up the shelf with the right side of his shoulder and both his hands, his teeth clenched while Izuku quickly moves away.
The villain lets the shelf fall with a loud thump, breathing heavily while gripping his right shoulder, whilst Izuku is still trying to grasp that he almost got crushed to death by a supermarket shelf.
He turns to thank the villain — he still has manners after all, when he sees a piece of debris heading straight down on the man.
Izuku is off without thinking, filling the air with the smell of ozone and tackling the man out of the way, the concrete slab landing where Dabi had just been standing, crumbling the floor.
"I guess this makes us already even," Dabi murmurs and there is a hint of amusement in his voice, despite the situation they are in.
Izuku quickly rushes off the dark haired man in order to climb the fallen shelf and hide behind one of the few shelves which still remained standing before trying to see where his enemy is.
There is a big hole where the entrance of the store used to be, a man wearing a combat suit strolling in, his eyes flying over the aisles and Izuku quickly ducks away when his gaze heads in his direction.
There was a simple golden X stitched into the suit near his shoulder.
Izuku lets out a low curse.
"You have any idea why one of the Commission Assassins is here?" Dabi asks, voice close to Izuku‘s ear and almost giving him a heart attack.
He only glares at the man out of the corner of his eye, not bothering to answer him as he goes through his options.
"Hey, don‘t ignore-" the man hisses, his voice raising when there is a loud slam and the shelf they are hiding behind snaps in half, revealing them both to the Agent.
They share a wide-eyed gaze before jumping into different directions, a sword slamming down where they were, cracking the flooring into thousand pieces.
"A sword? A bit old school aren’t ya?" Dabi mocks, left hand raised with blue flames dancing on his fingertips.
The Agent doesn’t bother to answer, ignoring the man as his gaze whips to Izuku, gripping his sword as he raises it above his head, heading straight for Izuku.
Dabi sputters out a series of curses, launching fire at the man while Izuku tries to dodge out of the sword‘s arc, landing in a crouch next to Dabi, a shallow cut on his arm.
Before the man can open his mouth they hear police sirens ringing out.
Izuku yanks on Dabi's right arm.
"Time to dip," he decides, running straight for the exit, Dabi following him only a second later, another curse on his lips.
But before Izuku can even attempt to head into an alleyway and preferably up the roof, a sleek black car crashes into him, another man with a battle suit stepping out.
He almost chokes on his spit as all air leaves his lungs when he hits the ground, teeth almost cracking from the pressure as his jaw clicks together and glass shards dig into his skin. Dabi almost steps on him in his haste to get out.
He sits up dazed, ears ringing and left eye squeezed close, a sharp pain pulsing through his temple, just exactly in time to roll out of the way of an purple electric bolt heading his way.
The sirens get closer and even louder.
Dabi drags Izuku up by his armpits, Izuku’s duffel bag already slung around his shoulder, voice growling.
"Come on, we have to get out of here."
He ducks as another bolt heads for them, dragging Izuku with him behind the car, hissing as one his staples opens up.
"For fuck‘s sake I should have let the shelf fall on you," Dabi grumbles as the blood drips from his cheek onto his hand, letting the duffel bag almost fall on Izuku.
Izuku gives Dabi a withering glare, pushing the man‘s steadying arm away before picking up his duffel bag.
"Why the hell did you save me for anyway," he questions, as they jump back, car broken in half.
Dabi lets out a huff.
"Hell if I know," he answers, shooting out blue flames at the Agent with the electric quirk while Izuku evades another strike for his head.
Izuku’s left eye twitches at the answer, but before he can retort, the other agent suddenly switches targets and sends an electric bolt towards him.
He lets out a low curse as he dodges. They need to get out of here. And that quickly.
Izuku goes through his pockets when his fingers grab something he almost forgot about. He hides his smile, pretending to wipe away blood from his mouth.
"Any ideas?" Dabi inquires as he jumps back from the blade, them now standing back to back.
"Hold your breath and close your eyes," Izuku whispers.
"What-"
"Just trust me," Izuku hisses before gripping the object in his pocket and throwing it down.
Quickly smoke spreads around them and he can hear the Agents getting into a coughing fit.
Izuku uses the chance to grab one of Dabi's wrists and head into the direction he had scoped out beforehand. He‘s surprised to see that smoke is so wide-spread but better for him.
Once out of the danger zone he lets go of Dabi's wrist and lets out a shaky exhale, coughing as he tries to get air into his lungs, despite them still running.
They run and weave through the alleyways for several minutes until they can't see the smoke in the sky anymore and the sirens die out.
Dabi pants heavily, hands on his knees, as they come to a stand, narrowing his eyes at Izuku.
"Care to explain why the Commission is after you?"
Izuku lets out a sigh as he sits down, hissing when it pulls at his wounds and already rummaging through his duffle back for his first aid kit.
"I got too dangerous for them," he answers with a frown, biting his lip when his hand grasps the half finished packet of cigarettes he had thrown in.
After a few minutes of hesitating he takes one cigarette out and puts it in his mouth, head half buried in his bag to see if he also had thrown in a lighter, while he sets the first aid kit aside.
Izuku clicks his tongue when he finds nothing, turning to Dabi who is taking care of his wounds, inspecting his cheek in a glass shard, before deciding to bandage his own wounds.
"Got fire?" he asks, voice muffled through the cigarette, as he starts to clean his wounds off with a bottle of water.
Dabi raises an eyebrow before a blue flame appears on his index finger.
Izuku quickly leans forward and lights the cigarette on before the man thinks better of it.
"Since when do heroes students smoke?" the man questions.
"They do not. Which is why I stopped before going to UA," Izuku answers before taking a drag of the cigarette and then putting it in his mouth to bandage the cut he was treating, before moving on to look at his head through his phone camera.
Well and also, because he was afraid All Might would smell the smoke and nicotine on him and would go and demand to talk to his mother.
Thankfully Izuku was never a frequent smoker and would just occasionally smoke, mostly when the voices in his head got too loud and the stress was eating at him. A big part why almost nobody at middle school found out was probably associated with the fact that they thought the smell was from Katsuki’s bullying.
Dabi lets out an understanding hum, before a frown appears on his face, eyeing the duffle bag next to Izuku.
"Did you get kicked out from home?"
"Something like that," Izuku huffs out, grimacing as he tries to remove the tiny glass fragments from his forehead wound.
"If not from home then.." Dabi trails off and realization dawns on his face.
"You got kicked out from UA?! Is that why the Commission is really after you?"
Izuku half-heartedly glares at the man, still prodding at his wound.
"I already answered that question."
"You answered shit," Dabi grumbles but surprisingly doesn't push more. "What the hell is UA thinking?"
Izuku raises an eyebrow.
"They didn't think shit. It was Commission Orders. That's why I have to go under the radar. Thankfully this isn't the first time I will be on the streets," he says with a shrug, sloppily bandaging his head wound.
"Not the first time, jesus kid, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Dabi curses and Izuku smirks, winking.
"The question is more what isn't."
Dabi lets out a groan.
"You will be killed in under a week. The commission has their eyes everywhere," Dabi argues.
Izuku shrugs, packing away his supplies before going forward with the question that has been nagging him.
"Why do you care anyway?" Izuku questions, suspicious.
Dabi hesitates, before his face morphs into steel, giving him a vague answer.
"I'm not heartless."
Izuku lets out a sigh — he can't imagine that being the real reason — and drags a hand down his face, but he‘s too tired to try and pry answers out of the man.
He takes his last drag of the cigarette before stomping out the end and raising an eyebrow.
"What else do you propose then?"
Before the villain can retort anything, the screen across the alley they are hiding in, blares to life.
There's a picture of Izuku and Dabi interacting at the store with the headline "UA Traitor revealed" on the screen.
"After the disastrous Kamino Fight, it has been now revealed that one of the hero students by the name Izuku Midoriya turned out to be a traitor and had been conspiring with the League Villains," the woman explains, another picture appearing where Toga waves to Izuku with a disgruntled Dabi by her side. "Despite UA expelling the boy, there are still many questions remaining: Why wasn't he brought into police custody and where is he now?"
The screen splits, showing another reporter, fiddling with his ear piece.
"What are your thoughts on this Junto-san?"
Junto, who is positioned in front of UA, with several other reporters who demand to speak to Nedzu, speaks up.
"It also brings into question how much we can trust Class 1-A homeroom teacher's words back from the press conference. How sure can we be that we won't have another traitor and hero student turned villain on our hands soon?"
Dabi lets out a heartily laugh, eyes wide, before smirking at Izuku, pointing his thumb at the news coverage.
"Well... Why don't we make it reality?"