A Stained Realization

"All the news covers are heroes," Shigaraki mentioned as he started flipping through channels. Midoriya was perched on the couch's arm rest, watching the screen flicker. "Now, all they're covering is that stupid Sports Festival and that fucking injured hero. Fucking stupid."

Midoriya perked up at the mention of Ingenium on the news channel the other stopped at. The news anchors were going on about the Hero Killer. "Who's that?" He slid off the arm rest to the corner of the couch, sinking in.

Shigaraki scoffed and ignored him. Kurogiri figured he'd enlighten the kid, "His name is Stain. He's injured and killed many heroes, and from what I'm hearing, he took one more."

Midoriya said a quiet "oh" and turned back to the screen of the TV. He figured he wouldn't press on for more information.

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Kurogiri looks at the green haired boy with curiosity. Said boy was jittery, pacing a firm line into the floor, and hasn't let go of his phone. He looked anxious? Kurogiri honestly didn't want to know.

"Midoriya, do you want to do something?" Of course he had to ask.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Um…," he jumped, "W-what did you have in mind?"

Kurogiri didn't think he'd get this far talking to him. A silence fell over him as he started to think. Then he remembered that he doesn't have much skill with any weapons. "Would you like to learn how to throw darts? It'll be helpful to learn so you can use throwing knives."

Midoriya blinked at the villain. He didn't think of perfecting his weapon technique, even less about far-range weapons. He nodded. "I need to burn off energy anyways, I think that'll be a good use of it!"

Kurogiri motioned his hand to the far wall, close to the TV, to a dart circle. He gave Midoriya some darts from under the bar counter and started to watch amused as the boy started figuring out how to throw darts.

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Days later, Stain makes a friendly visit at the League of Villains hideout. And while friendly was the intention, it most certainly was not friendly. Kurogiri welcomed him in, mostly to annoy his boss, and Shigaraki was definitely not having it. Midoriya was watching in awe as the Hero Killer himself was standing a couple of feet in front of him.

Kurogiri, Shigaraki, and Stain were all talking about the next attack, and Tomura gave in to allowing him to join, mostly wanting Stain around for the media attention. Midoriya watched from the sidelines, listening as he threw darts. He wanted to be apart of the "planning committee" but he stayed quiet.

It stayed quiet for a bit as the others watched him throw darts expertly. He heard Kurogiri praise him, "He's been learning fast, I don't think I've seen anyone catch on so quickly."

"The kid isn't as annoying as I would've thought. He's a good kid." Tomura said quieter, not wanting to show himself with a weakness. Midoriya smiled. He's been living with the two men for a couple of months already, and he can almost admit that he feels better than when he was living with his mom. He would never admit it out loud though.

Stain watched him continue to throw darts, all hitting dead center one after another. He watched how his green eyes narrowed and focused, his hand quivering just a bit before throwing the dart bullseye. "Hey, kid. Wanna be part of this?"

Midoriya didn't need to look at the target to know that he hit another flawless bullseye as he nodded with excitement.

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Bakugou and Todoroki had surprisingly got closer since the Sports Festival. He was calmer, and more approachable, which allowed Todoroki to feel comfortable and open up. He was unofficially part of the "Baku-squad", according to Ashido that was what their group of friends were called. When Bakugou heard about it first, it slipped out of Kaminari's mouth with a fit of laughter as the explosive boy yelled out, questioning them who thought of that stupid name.

Todoroki was just happy he was included in something. He never really had friends, and now he has two plus the others. A certain green haired boy came to mind, with his bright smile and his mouth full of custard bun; he couldn't help but chuckle at himself. Which was low enough, he thought, until Bakugou heard him.

"Oi, Icy hot, whatcha laughing at?" He threw his question his way, ignoring how Ashido and Kaminari were still laughing at their own slip-up.

Todoroki looked up at his new friend. Breaking his train of thought about his other new friend. "Ah, nothing. Just thinking about someone." Which stopped Kaminari enough to elbow Kirishima and they both made wolf whistles and cat calls at Todoroki.

His blush only deepened.

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When class started, Aizawa-sensei had passed out papers and explained what they were about. As the class listened, he announced they were for choosing internships. The class caused an uproar, students talking amongst each other as Aizawa ignored them and crawled back into his sleeping bag.

"Oi, Baku-bro! Where are you going?" Kirishima patted his back, and he growled at him.

"Why should you care, Shitty Hair! Pick your own!" Kirishima laughed and marked down his own choices.

Everyone seemed to have their own picks and started to turn them in by the end of the day, except Todoroki. His father's agency had put an interest in him. Of course. He studied his list before putting down his answer and turning it in. Aizawa glanced over the paper once and looked at the boy, but didn't question him.

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"Shit-Stain, we're ready," Shigaraki spits out angrily, waving his hand motioning Midoriya to follow as well. Kurogiri creates a large warp gate, allowing the four to cross over to Hosu, then allowing the other Noumus to separate parts of the city. Stain immediately leaps from building to building, hiding in the shadows of the alleyways. Midoriya wants to follow but Kurogiri tells him he'll just open a portal instead of following him by foot.

Once Kurogiri got the clear, he warped Midoriya straight to the same alleyway the Hero Killer was. He hid behind a dark green dumpster, his own dark clothes already aiding him in camouflage. Stain had paralyzed a hero already, he was thrown off to the side, and had another hero under his foot. A younger version of Ingenium was beneath him, unable to move. Midoriya watched with pure curiosity as Stain raised his jagged katana to strike the younger hero.

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Rounding a corner, Endeavor and Todoroki were patrolling. Shouto stayed behind his dad, who was glad to take the lead. Shouto sighs to himself, bored as hell. He didn't choose his dad's stupid agency to not fight some villains. He wanted action. Something.

In a slip of hope, he hears a blood-curling scream coming from an alleyway two blocks down. Ignoring his father's monologue of god knows what, he turns quietly and bolts towards the sound.

Endeavor turns, pausing his self-centered monologue to check on his son, who had been awfully quiet these past couple minutes. He notices that he was not only not behind him, he was turning a corner into an alleyway.

"Fuck, Shouto!! Come back!"

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When Todoroki reached where he heard the screams, he paused. He was faced with his friend on the floor, frozen in fear, and Hero Killer Stain above him. There was a katana in his shoulder, blood rapidly pouring out. Shouto froze.

He knew he couldn't face him off alone. That was a stone cold fact. But, he also couldn't turn around and find heroes nearby. That'll, for sure, be the bleeding teen's demise. He figured that by now his annoying father would've noticed that he's missing. So he just needed to stall…

Midoriya, who had been watching the villain almost take the hero's life, scrambled back towards the wall hiding behind the dumpster. Fuck, it's Shou-chan! He could possibly join the fight now.

But…

He didn't want to ruin whatever thing he had with the boy. He didn't want to ruin the friendship with him; his heart fluttered as he peeked around to find the boy half on fire. He could feel himself panic. One thing is to magically pop up from behind the dumpsters, all while waiting for the heroes to die, and save Todoroki; another was to show Stain that he's a fake, and have him believe he's working with the good guys.

Which he wasn't. He'd rather die.

As he works himself into an anxiety attack, Todoroki figures quickly what Stain's quirk is and avoids having the villain ingest his blood. He was riddled with scars and blood, but his fire and ice had kept him away for the most part. What feels like an hour—only actually several minutes— Todoroki managed to contain Stain in an ice prison. He was breathing fast and shallow, his body visibly worn out, blood flowing freely from injuries all over his body. He was barely standing by the time Endeavor and other pro-heroes arrived at the scene.

As Shouto fell, vision blurry and his head pounding, he could've sworn he saw Midoriya behind the dumpster, staring back at him. He tried to call out to the hiding boy, but his eyes closed the moment he hit the ground.