In Your Shadow [Chapter 29]

[Chapter 28]



When morning came, Katsuki woke up with a groan, his back aching against the gel pack beneath him. It had melted entirely during the night – understandably, of course – and instead of bringing relief, it now just held damp, squishy warmth. So much for feeling better in the morning.

He dressed slowly, and limped his way down the stairs to the kitchen. He tried his best to cover up how much he was hobbling along, but everyone clearly saw it immediately, from the way they shot him sympathetic looks as he grabbed his breakfast. At least they didn’t insist on carrying his bag or something, he supposed.

Aizawa was already in the classroom when he arrived, his eyes immediately zoning in on Katsuki’s expression, raising an eyebrow at him pointedly.

“Had a minor accident on patrol,” he explained quietly. “I’m okay, just a bit stiff.”

“What did you hurt?”

“My back.”

He gave Aizawa the brief version of the story, turning around to lift the back of his shirt slightly, showing him the intensely dark bruises that marred his skin. Aizawa grimaced when he saw, and when Katsuki turned around again, he found every eye in the class looking his way, in various states of concern.

“Did you ice it this morning?”

“No, I did overnight but it melted by morning. I’ll take the pack back to Recovery Girl later and get her to replace it for me.”

He held up it to show him, well-aware that the next words coming his way were about to be go do it now, it’s just homeroom, but before either of them could say another word, Katsuki felt the pack solidify in his hand.

“Thank you, Todoroki,” Aizawa said.

Katsuki glanced back to see Todoroki’s palm splayed across the pack, leaving it instantly frozen again, and he conceded a little nod to convey as much gratitude as he was willing to give.

“I’ll do it again between classes,” he offered.

“Uh. Thanks.”

Todoroki’s eyes widened, but he kept his composure, just nodding slightly to acknowledge it before he headed back to his seat. Katsuki moved the ice to his back, using one of the bandages to strap it back into place again – badly, but it would do the job – and with one last sigh and a concerned look in his eyes, Aizawa waved Katsuki toward his desk.

“You’re dismissed from P.E. this afternoon,” he said. “Heroics will have a large theoretical component so you can make it work, but you don’t need to make yourself worse by trying to do P.E. class.”

Katsuki’s brain was whirring, and Aizawa gave him a knowing look.

“Yes, you can go to the agency early,” he said. “But no patrols until it’s feeling better and you’re cleared by a doctor. You can help with admin or something, but nothing physical until you’ve recovered. Promise me.”

“I promise,” Katsuki agreed. “I’ll go see Kotoo as soon as I can, and I won’t patrol or spar until he says it’s okay.”

“Good. Now sit down and keep that ice on it.”

Katsuki obeyed, vowing to keep his head down and get some work done, with how lenient Aizawa was already being. He knew Aizawa’s thoughts on the whole thing, how he thought Deku was good for him or whatever, so he didn’t need to go having accidents and being a dick about it, to prove him wrong. Honestly, he was pretty sure that any other student would have been told to fuck off – well, maybe not in those words – if they’d tried to get as much time away as Katsuki got, but the combination of good student, number one hero, and a good influence or whatever, seemed to have done the trick. He sure as hell wasn’t going to push his luck.

Every time a bell rang, their classes ending and their teachers changing over, Todoroki silently approached Katsuki’s desk, reaching out to touch the ice pack again. Katsuki gave him a nod each time, grateful that Todoroki always knew what that nod meant regardless of what he said – or didn’t say – and he wondered if maybe, just maybe, he needed to start being a tiny bit nicer to the asshole.

The prick.

The dude?

“Bro, look at this,” Eijirou insisted, when their lunch break began. “There’s footage!”

He leaned over to show the group, as they all crammed in around Katsuki’s desk, and Katsuki felt his face flooding with heat as they watched. He was quick, he’d give himself that, but the expression on his face as he hit the truck was embarrassing as hell, not to mention the way he'd slid down the road, unable to stop it immediately in its tracks.

“The other two hadn’t even reacted yet,” Eijirou pointed out, pointing at Stagger and Bolster when the slow-mo replay began. “Look at this. When you hit the truck, this guy’s face is only just reacting, let alone his feet or anything.”

“Stagger wouldn’t be much good for that anyway,” Katsuki grumbled. “His quirk isn’t strength-based.”

“What about the one who joined you to help?”

“Bolster. They have a strength augmentation quirk, but I guess I reacted quicker. They could have stopped it in an instant, I probably should have left it for them.”

“What? No way. Look, he still hasn’t even moved yet.”

“They,” Katsuki corrected him.

“Shit. Sorry. They hadn’t moved yet.”

Sure enough, Stagger was the second to respond, running toward Katsuki despite his disadvantage. He had a decent amount of brute strength from the gym, Katsuki supposed, so he could have added something to Katsuki’s hold, even if it was just holding it off a little longer for Bolster to back them up.

“Now they’re moving,” Kaminari said, leaning in a little closer. “You’ve already stopped sliding, now, even if you’re in the road a little.”

Stagger stepped into the road when he saw Bolster moving, waving his hands to warn traffic, despite the angry honks and the screeching brakes he got for it. Within a few seconds, Bolster was at Katsuki’s side, putting all their strength into forcing the truck onto a flat patch, and Katsuki was grateful that his costume shirt stayed put, not riding up to show off the bruises that were probably already forming.

“Is that your new costume?” Mina asked, leaning against Kaminari’s shoulder to watch. “It looks cool!”

“Oh yeah!” Eijirou nodded eagerly. “It’s much darker, isn’t it? You’re right though, it’s pretty tight.”

“So damn tight,” Katsuki huffed. “I feel like a caterpillar every time I wriggle in or out of it. And don’t get me started on trying to put it on damp, I practically have to hairdryer myself after a shower to make sure I can get it on.”

His friends laughed around him, and Katsuki managed a little smile of his own, glancing at the phone again when a new voice began to speak.

“Yeah, that’s our Dynamight!” it said, surprisingly fondly. “He’s our little intern, we love him.”

Katsuki felt his face burn, and he dropped his head to his desk, Kaminari already shifting the phone out of his reach to keep him from blowing it up.

“He’s so damn fast, I’m not surprised he got there so quickly,” Igneo continued. “Try sparring with him, it really keeps you on your toes.”

“I swear he’s the most enthusiastic hero-kid I’ve ever met,” Trax piped up, slinging an arm around Igneo’s shoulders to lean in closer. “He even does paperwork with us, what kind of kid asks to do paperwork!”

“He says he’s gonna be number one, one day,” Igneo said. “Don’t tell him I said so, but I believe it.”

“Same,” Trax agreed easily. “He’ll be running circles around the rest of us, as soon as he graduates. Well, maybe not Deku, he’s still a freak of nature, but Dynamight will be making him work for it, for sure.”

“They’re just being nice!” Katsuki groaned, when he felt all the eyes drilling into him. “They’re cool, they do that stuff a lot, they don’t mean it literally.”

“Dude, you have pro-heroes telling the world how good you are!”

“It’s just Igneo and Trax! They don’t count!”

“We all heard what Ephia said a few weeks ago, too,” Mina pointed out, grinning. “You’ve made a real name for yourself, Blasty!”

“Shut up,” Katsuki demanded, refusing to lift his head from his desk. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Still think you did the wrong thing?” Eijirou asked fondly.

“Shut up.”


———


Despite his embarrassment, Katsuki found himself watching the clip again and again as he sat on the train. At first he’d just been taking in the words, but when he began to look closer, he started noticing all the little things. Igneo was smiling, being friendly to the interviewer, but the bags under his eyes were darker than Katsuki had ever seen them, even after his usual days-on-end of non-stop shifts. Trax was just being friendly, when she leaned into Igneo, but the pair of them ended up leaning in a lot more heavily, balancing each other out as they spoke. The pair were exhausted, it was clear even through a camera lens.

“Hey look, it’s media sensation Dynamight!” Bleak teased, when they crossed paths in the lobby. “I would’ve killed to get that kind of praise at your age, you lucky bastard. Hell, I still haven’t gotten that praise now.”

“They were just being nice,” Katsuki said, rolling his eyes. “They got asked about a news clip of a kid they’d been seen working with, what were they meant to say?”

“I dunno, something like ‘yeah he’s an intern, I’m pretty sure he was skipping class that day’?”

“I was not,” Katsuki huffed.

“And now?”

“I got permission.”

“Sure, buddy. Hey, good news and bad news – the good news is, Sai and Framerate are feeling better, so they’re back on shifts. The bad news is, they’re back on shifts, so you have less opportunities to use that excuse to join us.”

“I’m banned anyway,” Katsuki grimaced.

“Oh shit, for how long? What did you do?”

“Injury. Gotta get cleared by a doctor.”

“From the truck?” Bleak asked knowingly. “Let’s see it.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but turned around all the same, pulling up the hem of his school shirt and getting a low whistle for his efforts.

“Shit, yeah, that looks painful. You been icing it?”

“Yeah, all day pretty much. It looks worse than it feels.”

“That’s good, I guess. You’re here all day tomorrow, right? We’ve still got a couple of short-staffed patrols tomorrow, you should rest and try to jump on those ones.”

“Send me a list,” Katsuki said with a nod. “I’ll get in to see Kotoo tonight or in the morning, get him to clear me.”

“Take it easy, yeah?”

“For a little while,” Katsuki agreed, grinning when Bleak laughed. “You heading out soon?”

“Yeah, just gonna grab a snack then I’m on all night. See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Katsuki echoed.

He watched Bleak go for a second, then sighed to himself, shouldering his bag and heading for the elevators. His apartment was the first stop, to change out of his uniform – he still hadn’t figured out exactly what casual attire around the building was supposed to look like, so he opted for gym gear, figuring he could at least make the excuse that he was on the way to do a workout – not that anyone would have let him near the gym. He grabbed a couple of chicken skewers from the fridge, leftovers from when they’d stopped at a food stall at the end of a patrol, and munched on them as he headed up the stairs to Mirio’s room.

“Hey,” he said, when Mirio opened the door almost immediately. “Feeling better?”

“Don’t ask me that,” Mirio complained, laughing all the same. “How’s your back?”

“It’s okay,” Katsuki shrugged. “Aizawa made me promise to take it easy for the night.”

“Good.”

“Really, though. Are you feeling better?”

“Back to normal!” Mirio assured him. “I’ve been looking at the notes you made for me, you got a minute?”

“Yeah, I have no real plans tonight.”

“Perfect, come in.”

They sat down together on the couch, and Mirio picked up his laptop, setting it on the coffee table where they could both get a good view.

“So you made this little list for me about people being overtired or overworked, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if there’s a real solution for that, though.”

“There’s not,” Mirio agreed. “But there are things we could do to help, a little.”

“Do you have ideas?”

“I have one,” Mirio said, nodding as he clicked over to another form. “This one was just thanking us for the meals, yeah? We have similar ones in a ‘positive feedback’ folder.”

“I saw. I figured you’d want to do more stuff like what they’re praising.”

“Exactly. So my initial thought is that we essentially have an errand-runner. Like how you can get groceries delivered to your door, but the heroes can just let us know what they need and when, and we can have someone sort it for them.”

“But that’s gonna cost a lot of money, right? Hiring people to do it?”

“We have a bunch of staff who are here as runners already, fetching coffee or taking papers between different people, showing guests to the rooms they need, that kind of thing. For simple tasks, we could definitely just add it to their jobs, for those who are happy to do so.”

“That sounds like a cool idea, then.”

“My thought is that it might not lessen the heroes’ load by a huge amount, but it can take some of the minor stuff off their plate. If someone needs to send a package, or sort out dry cleaning, they can just leave it at reception for someone else to handle.”

“I think they’d appreciate that,” Katsuki agreed. “And it seems actionable. Like, pretty quickly and simply, I mean.”

“Exactly! So we can see how that goes, whether it helps. I’m gonna chat with Deku about extending our meal hours, too. People’s hours are weird sometimes, you know that as well as anyone, so not everybody gets to benefit from the lunches, even though most of our staff are here at those times. We always have the snacks available, of course, but sometimes you just need a good, solid meal.”

“Is there a reason it’s such a short time period? I mean, I know it’s a few hours, but in terms of a twenty-four hour agency.”

“I think mostly it was a timing thing. Like, the cooks come in around nine, to have it ready for eleven, then they get time to clear down after it closes up around one, so they can be out by five at the latest.”

“Would it cost a lot more to have two shifts of cooks, or something? I guess it would be double the cost, logically, but like… at scale?”

“I’d have to look into our current costs,” Mirio said. “You reckon we should have a whole night shift?”

“Maybe not a whole shift, but you’ve done dinner a bunch of times, right? Could that be more common, or even permanent?”

“We usually just pay them overtime for those, but we could definitely look at a second shift. If they started at four, they could start prepping while the last shift is wrapping up, and have dinner out from maybe six to ten?”

“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Katsuki said. “And uh, if people are overloading themselves with hours to get the money they need, or something, it might help them out too? Like, they could always come grab a meal instead of buying so many groceries, if they want to cut back a patrol.”

“That’s true, I’d hate to think anyone was over-working themselves just to make ends meet, but I’m sure statistically there’s at least a couple. I’ll chat with Deku about it when he gets back, I think that’s fair.”

“If he thinks it’s too expensive, you could look at taking away some of the allowances, or limiting the amount or something. Like, me and the ‘ords wouldn’t need to buy groceries, if there are meals provided. And the cooks probably get stuff in bulk, so it would be cheaper than each of us buying stuff.”

“You’re born for this kind of negotiation stuff,” Mirio said, grinning. “Those allowances all started with Deku feeling bad for the people who travel so far to get to the agency, but he’s generous and a sucker, so he ends up giving everyone way too much.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love it,” Katsuki chuckled. “But when I found out the ‘ords had them too, it made me wonder how much it costs him.”

“Yeah, they don’t earn as much in wages until they get promoted to a full-on sidekick, so he feels bad for them. I think he’d be happy giving them perks instead, though! And you’re right, it would bring costs down a decent amount, I think.”

“Maybe start by telling him you want a twenty-four hour buffet going,” Katsuki suggested. “Then when he says it’s excessive, you can talk him down to adding dinners.”

Mirio laughed brightly, and Katsuki cracked a smile, surprisingly pleased to see Mirio just acting like his usual self again.

“I like your thinking,” Mirio agreed. “I’ll keep it in mind.”


———


“It’s about time.”

Katsuki froze, looking down at his watch – he could’ve sworn he still had five minutes to spare.

“That we met,” the man clarified. “I’m Kaiatsu. It’s good to meet you, Dynamight.”

“Oh,” Katsuki said, his face growing warm. “Yeah, it’s good to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot.”

Kaiatsu looked older than a lot of the heroes at the agency, but if Katsuki remembered correctly, he’d transferred from another agency only about a year ago – the fact that he was chosen to run patrols as a substitute either spoke volumes about his abilities, or about the desperation of the agency. Katsuki kind of hoped it was the latter, for his own benefit.

“Did you get cleared? Stagger has been warning us to check.”

Katsuki huffed, but he pulled a print-out from his pocket all the same, handing it over. He’d known at least Aizawa would ask for one, so it had seemed prudent to just keep a couple on him.

“You got a medical certificate,” Kaiatsu laughed. “Prepared for anything, huh?”

“My teacher will want one,” he grumbled. “And probably Mirio and Deku, if they notice.”

“You got the good stuff, too,” Kaiatsu said, with a low whistle. “I love Kotoo’s pain relief, his quirk is second to none.”

Katsuki blinked at him. Was that how he’d gotten through the night? It was no wonder he’d felt fine until morning.

“Alright, glad to have you,” Kaiatsu said finally, handing Katsuki back the paper. “It’s just us and Maelstrom tonight, he’ll be here in a sec. Have you two met yet?”

“We have,” Katsuki confirmed. “A few times, now. That’s uh, a pretty good team, if something goes wrong.”

“Yeah,” Kaiatsu laughed. “So if anything happens, you let me and Maelstrom fight first, okay? Take it easy unless things get really bad. We’ll tell you if you need to jump in.”

“Alright,” Katsuki conceded. “Don’t do anything too fun without me.”

“I’ll try my best,” Kaiatsu said, smiling wryly. “Oh, there he is.”

Katsuki looked up as the previous patrol group returned, ready to go fill in their reports and take it easy for a while. Except for Maelstrom, who said a quick goodbye to the rest of them and hurried over.

“Hey, Dynamight! Been a while.” He held out a fist, grinning when Katsuki bumped it obediently. “Heard about your accident, looked painful. You good?”

“I’m good,” Katsuki assured him. “Supposed to take it easy if I can, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“He got the Kotoo treatment.”

“Oof, must have been bad!”

“It wasn’t great,” Katsuki admitted. “I had Recovery Girl help out too, so it’s getting better quickly, at least.”

“You did a good job, man. I knew you were fast, but damn.”

“It was nothing special. I should’ve let Bolster handle it, they wouldn’t have gotten hurt, but I didn’t really think.”

“Bolster? No way, dude. They’d have caught it before it went off the other side of the road, but I guarantee there’d have been a collision. You were awesome.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

As the three of them headed out, Katsuki stuffed his hands in his pockets, sighing faintly to himself. Even though he still got to go on patrol, and people kept telling him he did well, he still felt like shit about it. He needed to be stronger, for the next time, to stop it a lot quicker, and to avoid getting injured in the process. If Deku had been there, he’d have been twice as fast and twice as strong; he would have picked up the whole truck with one hand and placed it gently back in its spot with a goodnight kiss and a blanket, by the time Katsuki even moved his feet. Here he was, talking a big game about challenging Deku in the rankings, when even he knew that he couldn’t measure up.

Thankfully, the patrol seemed quiet. He’d kind of figured it would be, since it was the one they’d chosen to under-staff; half of it was just waving to students as they walked home from the nearby schools, whispering together about the heroes as they passed. At least until they neared the end, when Katsuki caught Kaiatsu tensing up a little, and attempted to subtly follow his gaze to figure out what he was looking at.

“Dynamight, can you get on that roof?” he asked quietly, gesturing toward a tall building just ahead of them. “Monitor their movement, and I’ll get intel from you whenever it’s safe.”

“Sure,” Katsuki agreed, hitting a button on his watch. “Radio me when I’m free to talk.”

He slipped down an empty alleyway as they passed, making sure there was no sign of anyone else around them before he scaled the side. The building was made of rough brick, so he didn’t bother using his explosions and drawing attention, he just hauled himself up with a combination of cracks in the bricks and pushing against the building behind him as needed. It was a good thing he’d always been a decent climber.

He took a quick look around when he reached the top, then hauled himself over the edge, finding a perch on the roof where he had a good view of their surroundings.

“Clear when you’re ready,” his watch spoke. “Find a position?”

“In position,” Katsuki answered, eyes still scanning the streets. “North about three blocks, dark car with tinted windows, parked on a dead-end street. North-east, about twice as far, group of older men in dark clothing, looking kinda nervous. And uhh…” He turned around, looking back the way they’d come. “Woman in a red dress, I saw her about a kilometre back and she’s been pretty close since.”

“Understood. Stand by.”

Katsuki watched as the pair got closer to the dark car, but no one seemed to move, no one jumped out or took off when Maelstrom turned to point at something on the other side of the street, stopping them both only a metre away, to feign interest.

The woman in red checked her phone, then glanced both ways, crossing over to the other side of the street. Katsuki watched for a second, expecting her to turn off the other direction, but instead her pace slowed right down to a crawl.

“Clear,” Kaiatsu said again. “Updates?”

“She’s tailing you,” he said. “Someone might be giving her updates. Group of dudes hasn’t moved.”

“Car was empty, so if she’s getting updates, they’re probably near you. Be careful.”

“Understood.”

“Stand by.”

The woman checked her phone again, hovering at a store window, and Katsuki grimaced when he saw the men check theirs, too. He slid down a little lower on the roof, in case anyone looked up, pulling up the hood of his new costume to hopefully hide his hair from sight.

“Clear.”

“I think she’s checking the time, not her messages,” Katsuki said. “She checks frequently, and only for a second. The guys haven’t moved, they aren’t contacting her as far as I can tell.”

“They might be waiting to ambush us,” Maelstrom suggested, voice a little quieter than Kaiatsu’s through the speaker. “Are we on track for a standard patrol?”

“Yeah, if we linger here much longer we’ll be off track, but so far we’re pretty normal.”

“How far are we from the group?” Maelstrom asked. “Think they’re gonna jump us? How many?”

“Four that I can see, maybe a fifth under the roof.” Katsuki said, creeping closer to the edge to get a good look. “You’re about two blocks away still. They all look older, maybe fifties? No visible signs of their quirks or any weapons.”

“Alright, we’re gonna walk past on standard route. If they jump, you radio for back-up immediately, and keep your vantage point. If we need you to jump in, one of us will yell out, otherwise you stay hidden and watch their every move.”

“Understood,” Katsuki said reluctantly. “Can I change positions?”

“You got a better one in mind?”

“There’s a more sloped roof a few buildings over that would give me more cover and put me a little closer. I wouldn’t have immediate eyes on the woman, but I’d see the car, and if she turns the corner I’ll have eyes again.”

“Go ahead. We’re gonna keep walking, let us know when you’re ready.”

Katsuki shimmied off the edge of the roof, checking one last time that the coast was clear as he hung from his fingertips. He got his feet down to a window sill, using the leverage to push himself across the street, scurrying up onto another roof. Still no signs of movement hit him, so he hurried across the final two gaps, to reach the roof he wanted. Sure enough, he still had a clear view of the tinted car, and he could see the heroes approaching, getting nearer and nearer to the group who waited. Something else was hitting him though, and he took a second to look around again before his transmission, trying to put his finger on it.

“I smell something,” he said finally, barely a whisper into his watch. “I’m here, but something feels off.”

“Do you need to move again?”

“I don’t think so, I just… it might be gas.”

“Explosive gas?”

“That would track,” Katsuki admitted. He did tend to have a weird sense for explosives. “I don’t hear anything, I don’t think it’s this building.”

“Definitely don’t drop in to help, then. We don’t want you setting off a chain reaction.”

“Yeah, I won’t,” Katsuki agreed. “Two buildings, going dark. Let me hear you.”

Kaiatsu didn’t say anything, just kept walking, and Katsuki quickly picked mute on his watch. He didn’t want to accidentally slip and rat them out, after all. He hit the buttons in his costume to tighten it up, grimacing a little but letting it settle in place, just in case. He glanced back, but the woman in red still hadn’t rounded the corner, and he frowned to himself, wondering if he should say something – if he could say something, without blowing their cover.

The gas smell grew stronger.

The group of men watched the heroes pass by and didn’t make a move, didn’t even look their way.

“Take the next right,” Katsuki hissed, as soon as they’d passed the group. “Two rights, double-back, I’ll meet you.”

He changed radio channels before they could respond, holding the button down to transmit his coordinates back to the reception desk.

“Back-up, now!”

An explosion burst around them, cutting off any answer he might have gotten, and Katsuki swore as loud as he could under the cover of the sound – it did actually make him feel a tiny bit better. He’d been too focused on the idea of them timing a fight, hadn’t thought about the alternative.

He launched himself off the side of the building, no longer bothering to hold back his quirk as he spiralled over the rooftops, landing amidst the screams from below. He held up a hand, blasting a piece of rubble that threatened to land on the scattering crowds, sending it into a shower of pebbles instead, cascading down harmlessly as people ran.

With Maelstrom already on deck, Katsuki knew the back-up options were going to be slim, so he refused to count on them to jump in and help. The pair still hadn’t caught up with him, either, leaving Katsuki alone on scene to deal with the evacuation.

Another explosion echoed through the street, and for a moment Katsuki just watched in dismay, as the next building down the street began to crumble.

“I’ve got this one!”

He didn’t know the voice, nor the face, but he didn’t bother to object. Whoever it was, they ran straight into the second building before it had even settled, and Katsuki, redetermined, ran into the first. It was an office building, but thankfully it seemed to be sparsely populated – most of the occupants had already left for the day. The people on the ground floor were already evacuating, but Katsuki headed for the stairwell, grunting when he had to slam open a twisted door.

The power had gone out in the explosion, understandably, and despite still being daylight outside, the dingy stairwell was dark. He held his palms together to produce some light, relieved to see people hanging out above him, nervously considering a gap in the stairs.

“Can you jump it?” he called. “I can help steady you at this end.”

The first man swallowed hard and nodded, taking a couple of steps and leaping over the abyss. Katsuki moved one arm at the last second, diminishing the light, but shooting his arm out to catch the office worker before he could stumble down the stairs.

“Main door is clear,” he said. “Keep moving.”

The man dithered, heading to the bottom of the stairs, but then he stopped, pulling his phone out and aiming the torch at him. Katsuki paused, then cracked a smile, nodding.

“Thanks,” he said, as lights began to pop up above him, too. “Alright, let’s get moving.”

One by one, the workers jumped across the chasm, letting Katsuki catch them at the other end and get their feet underneath them steadily. They cleared the way, then added their torches to the mix, keeping the stairwell dimly lit as Katsuki continued.

“Dynamight!” he heard through his watch, when he was about halfway through the crowd. “Dynamight, check in!”

“I’m good,” he said quickly. “Evacuation in process, stand by.”

The radio went silent as he continued, but soon footsteps were running toward him, and Kaiatsu breathed a sigh of relief when he found them all intact.

“Is there anyone further up?” he asked.

“No, I came from the top,” one of the women assured him. “It’s a mess up there, but we all managed to get this far, until we found the last flight of stairs was gone.”

“There was a second explosion,” Katsuki said, as he caught and steadied the next person. “Someone showed up, but I don’t know if they’re worse off.”

“Framerate is in there,” Kaiatsu assured him, stepping up beside him and gesturing to the next person to jump. “Xe managed to get people out of the worst of it before it got bad, but there were some fires that Maelstrom went to help with.”

“Good,” Katsuki said, letting out a long breath. “We made it in time?”

“You did great.”

Two at a time, the group cleared out much quicker, and soon the staff were all heading for the main door, their exit still thankfully clear.

“I’m gonna check it out, just to make sure,” Katsuki said, as he prepared himself to launch up to the next floor. “You should check on the others.”

“Be safe.”

“I will.”

His back cramped as he moved, but he forced himself through it anyway, landing safely on the crumbling staircase. He checked the floor, making sure it was empty, then navigated his way to the next one through a hole in the ceiling, squeezing his way through. It took him longer than he’d have liked, but finally he made it to the roof, without finding any stragglers along the way.

Across the street, he got a glimpse of someone ducking out of sight, and immediately his watch was at his lips.

“Suspect spotted across the street,” he said. “Dark clothing, jumped down the western side of the building, haven’t seen them hit the ground.”

“On it,” that voice came back again, and Katsuki watched the unfamiliar figure move, just a blur of motion.

Framerate, he remembered. Something to do with super speed, then? He really should have thought to ask.

A tiny clink behind him made Katsuki whirl around, but two more people were in front of him before he could even raise his hands, falling out of the sky. The woman with the gun froze in place, finger not even reaching the trigger, and an unfamiliar hero clapped Katsuki on the shoulder lightly.

“You good?”

“I’m good.”

“Good,” she said, smiling wryly. “I’m Tobu, this is Naeru. Glad we made it on time.”

“I appreciate the help.”

The woman with the gun didn’t move an inch, and it took Katsuki a moment to register the red dress she wore, sighing to himself – he knew he should have dealt with her when he first caught her tailing them.

“Looks like Framerate got the other capture,” Tobu said, when she glanced at her watch. “Police are at the barricades, can you hold it ‘til then?”

“Easy,” Naeru said, shooting Katsuki a nod.

“You guys can get back on track,” Tobu said. “Kaiatsu should be ready for you down below.”

“You guys are okay from here?”

“Yeah, we got this,” Tobu agreed. “Thanks for the hard work, and good job calling us right away, gave us just enough time to get over here.”

Katsuki felt his face warm a little, and headed for the side of the building, giving them a last little wave as he stepped off the side. A couple of quick explosions slowed his descent, and he landed right on time for Framerate to return, a handcuffed man in xir grip.

“We’ve got this,” xe said, shooting the group a salute. “Go get back on track, we’ll process these ones.”

“You gonna be good to get on next one?” Kaiatsu asked, brushing dust from his shirt as he approached.

“Easy,” Framerate said, winking. “If anyone can, I can.”

Maelstrom clapped Katsuki on the back as they grouped up again, immediately regretting it, but Katsuki brushed it off.

“Lower back is the problem,” he assured him. “You’re good.”

“Feeling okay after all that drama?”

“A little twingey,” he admitted. “But nothing major, I’m good.”

“Alright. Take care of yourself, yeah?”

“You did a good job today,” Kaiatsu said. “If you need to head back early, I get it.”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll be smarter next time, I should have realised they were waiting for us to pass.”

“It’s not your fault, I thought the same,” Kaiatsu assured him. “And there were no major injuries, plus we caught two people – we did good.”

As they strolled off down the street, getting back on their patrol path, Katsuki hit the buttons in his suit, letting them loosen off so he could breathe a little easier.

So much for taking it easy.


———


“Sorry, I know it’s late,” Katsuki said, the moment Aizawa picked up the phone – it took everything in him not to yawn as he did it. “I’m exhausted, so I think I’m gonna stay over tonight, if that’s okay? I’ve checked the train times, and I should be able to make it just in time, if I get the first train over. I just can’t face the idea of doing it tonight, I’m sorry. Is that alright?”

“Of course,” Aizawa assured him, pausing for a moment. “I know you’re tired, so give me the short version: is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said, smiling to himself faintly. “We had a patrol – I got cleared, don’t worry – and there was this weird incident, I was doing some observation and intel stuff, then I had to help some people evacuate a building, and someone tried to attack me but a couple of the back-up patrol showed up just in time, so I didn’t have to fight. Is it weird that it was kind of cool? Like, obviously I don’t want stuff to go wrong, but being there to help when it does, it’s pretty… exhilarating.”

“I understand,” Aizawa assured him. “Did you just get back?”

“No, a few hours ago, but then I was helping with incident reports and stuff, and then there was a b- a class, that Deku always wants me to attend, so I went to that, and then I showered. Then I saw the time and decided to call.”

“Don’t rush in the morning,” Aizawa said. “If you’re late for homeroom, I don’t mind.”

“Really?”

“It’s homeroom,” Aizawa said, and Katsuki could almost hear the chuckle in his tone. “I’d rather you take it easy and arrive on time for class, instead of trying to race in and hurting yourself again or anything. You said Kotoo cleared you?”

“Yeah, I think he used his quirk to give me painkillers or something? But he said there’s no lasting damage, it’s just the bruising, and I should try to avoid fighting any villains until it heals, if possible, but that I’m fine to patrol and everything. I have a medical certificate for you.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning, then. Get some rest.”

“I will. Um, you as well.”

“Thank you.” Aizawa paused, and Katsuki waited knowingly. “Any time you want to do this, I’m okay with it. If you’re a little late in the morning, I mean.”

“I appreciate that. I’ll try not to abuse it.”

“I know you will.”

With a last goodbye, Katsuki hung up his phone, collapsing onto the bed with a sigh and a little wince. The painkillers seemed to be wearing off, and he wondered if maybe he should take a couple of the normal kind, even though he usually tried to avoid them.

That or drop by the medical centre in the morning and see if he could get another dose.

Honestly, that one sounded like a better idea.

[Chapter 30]