All For Them Ch. 23 (MHA/Dispatch)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Izuku makes a decision.

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Even the best plans could go awry, Izuku reflects as he stares at Courtney in silence for a long moment. On the one hand, tonight had mostly gone exactly as he wanted it to. He’d led Courtney through the city, shown her the more heroic of his secret identities, and let her discover ‘the truth about him’.

Everything since then had admittedly been a bit more… ad hoc if he was being honest. Her following him after finding out he was Vigil was always a possibility, but he hadn’t been sure she would. Him finding a midnight bank robbery in progress that wasn’t tied to the Red Ring in any way though… that was entirely chance. And Invisigal choosing to step in and help him out was her own choice.

That said, having her ask for personal one-on-one training… that was something else entirely. Izuku knew that the caramel-skinned heroine wasn’t exactly happy with the deal she’d made with his Shroud identity. That was kind of the point, after all.

However, whether she would try and push back against Shroud in any small way, or whether she would let her fear rule her… well, that was part of the test in the end. Letting her know that Izuku Midoriya and Vigil were one in the same and seeing if she went to Shroud immediately with that information or not, that was the experiment.

But now, not only was she making it clear that she was right where Izuku wanted her on the path of redemption, she was also going a step beyond that. Even still, he hadn’t been blowing things out of proportion when he’d said there were risks to associating with him. If Invisigal and Vigil were caught together by the authorities, it wouldn’t just hurt Courtney, it would hurt the entire Phoenix Program.

Put simply, it wasn’t a risk that he was willing to take, even if she was. That didn’t mean there wasn’t another way, in the end…

“Come with me.”

That’s all he says before turning and making his way towards the edge of the roof from whence he came. Invisigal follows after him after just a moment of hesitation, her movements quick and energic, as though he’s already agreed.

Izuku leads her back across the city’s rooftops, taking a slightly different route but to ultimately the same destination. They arrive back on the building where he’d changed into his Vigil identity in the first place and out of the corner of his eye, Izuku sees Invisigal tense up.

As far as she was concerned, he didn’t know that she knew who he was. She had no idea he’d been able to track her following him from the very moment he left the PDN building. All thanks to the numerous extrasensory Quirks that he’d ‘inherited’ from All for One.

Regardless, he pulls open the roof access door and gestures for her to follow him down into the building. Invisigal looks around all the while, clearly curious despite herself. The building, while on the outside looking like a proper apartment complex… on the inside, is built for just one man. Him.

He hears her breath hitch when she finally realizes this. In the same moment, Izuku turns to regard her, causing her to stutter to a halt a few feet away from him.

“If I’m going to train you, I’m not going to train you as Vigil. We’re never to be seen together in our costumed identities. Which means you have to know who I am.”

He barely gives her a chance to stiffen up at that before pulling off his mask and revealing his face to her. Invisigal freezes, her eyes widening more in surprise at him being willing to reveal his identity then shock at the actual identity itself.

It’s blatantly obvious when she finally recovers enough to try and feign shock.

“M-Midoriya?!”

For a second, he considers calling her out on the blatant faux shock… but no, let her keep her secrets. Hopefully, she’ll confess on her own eventually. That’s the idea anyways, that she and all the others will come to realize that being true heroes is better than being moles for Shroud. So far Izuku has only been able to personally work on La Brava and now Invisigal when it comes to that, but everyone is currently acquitting themselves quite well on their shifts if nothing else.

“That’s right. Still got a problem with me, Invisigal?”

The blush that spreads across her face at that is very real, as is her stutter.

“N-No I just… damn it… I was wrong, okay?”

That confession, at least, is mostly genuine. So Izuku simply accepts it with a nod.

“Water under the bridge. You’re a solid Pro Hero, Invisigal. And I’d be happy to help you become even better. But like I said, you can’t be seen with Vigil. So you’ll be training with me, your Dispatcher, here in my place or at the PDN Building in the gym there. That’s the only way this can work, got it?”

Squirming, Invisigal grimaces.

“But… won’t that be suspicious too? Why would an accountant turned dispatcher have the kind of training I want you to give me? Also where did you even get the money for a place like this?!”

Izuku arches a brow as she gestures around them. Their surroundings are neither opulent nor grandiose… but they are certainly a lot, lot bigger and more jampacked with things then her small apartment that she shares with Blonde Blazer. It's all very… minimalist upper class if Izuku had to put a definition to it.

Inclining his head in acknowledgment of her observations, Izuku just smirks.

“Accounting.”

Invisigal scowls at that, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. But then she remembers she wants something from him and uncrosses her arms with a huff.

“… Fine. Just… show me your moves.”

Nodding, Izuku gestures for her to follow, leading the way to his home gym. Once there, he steps into the center of the room. Right as Invisigal is following him… he spins about and bursts into motion, catching the woman completely off guard.

Before she can even blink, he has her on the ground in a chokehold with her limbs locked down. She struggles of course, trying her best to break free in a frenzied panic, but slowly the struggling abates as the lack of air slowly lulls her into unconsciousness.

Izuku lets her go before that can happen however, releasing her just in time to get in another lungful of air as he pushes her away and stands back up. To her credit, Invisigal is almost immediately back on her feet, looking wide eyed and in the middle of an adrenaline rush as she rubs her neck.

“W-What the fuck was that?!”

Izuku tilts his head to the side and smiles thinly.

“First lesson. Never let your guard down.”

Ignoring her scowl in response, Izuku explains.

“You have a very strong Quirk, Invisigal. It makes you the perfect ambush predator, allowing you to take on opponents who would normally handle you easily if it was a proper, face to face fight. But what happens when someone else gets the drop on you? What happens when you aren’t using your Quirk and you find yourself in the middle of an ambush? Or worse, you are using your Quirk, but someone with a sensory Quirk detects you and pinpoints your location?”

Judging by the furrowed brow and frown of consternation on her face, he’s at least making her think. Izuku sighs as he continues the lecture to its inevitable conclusion.

“You can’t let yourself become complacent. If there’s one thing I’m going to train out of you, it’s that. Complacency is the death knell of many Pro Heroes and you are more vulnerable than most because your complacency isn’t born of innate toughness, but rather stealth. If that stealth ever fails you, you can be caught out and killed like that.”

He snaps his fingers on ‘that’ to fully bring home the point. Working her jaw for a moment, Invisigal slowly nods.

“… Alright fair enough yeah. That makes sense. Always be aware of my surroundings and always be ready for someone to catch me skulking about. That’s the gist of it basically, right?”

Izuku hums.

“Yes, for now that is the ‘gist’ of it. Now… show me what you can do with the initiative.”

Then, he steps back into the center of the room and closes his eyes. There’s a brief pause before Invisigal speaks.

“Uh… why are you closing your eyes?”

“To give you a chance to properly hide yourself. If I watch you go invisible, then I’ll know exactly where you go from there. So I’ll close my eyes for five seconds before opening them again.”

“Wait, seriously? No way!”

… Hm, this was going to be more of a test of Izuku’s patience then he thought, wasn’t it? Opening his eyes again, he sighs.

“Very well, let’s put it to the test. Come at me with everything you have, Quirk and all.”

The heroine hesitates for a moment before getting serious. She nods once before holding her breath and disappearing. From there, she begins to quietly circle around him. Izuku, for his part, disables all of his extrasensory Quirks and relies purely on his mundane senses in this moment. He uses only what Vigil would have had available to him before the incident with All for One.

… Honestly, if he couldn’t track her with only this much, he wouldn’t be worthy of training her in the first place. That said, it’s still exceptionally easy to see where she’s going. While he can’t listen for her breathing and use that to keep tabs on her on account of her Quirk requiring her to hold her breath… there’s still everything else.

Like for instance, the ever so slight depressions left behind in the mat they’re standing on as she steps as lightly as she can.

To her credit, she doesn’t go all the way behind him before attacking. Trying to strike from his blind spot was not only predictable, but it would also be a waste of the fact that she’s invisible and therefore every angle is a blind spot, technically.

Instead, Invisigal comes at him from slightly behind and mostly to the side of him, angling to sweep his legs out from under him and take him to the ground in the same way he’d just done to her. She’s still invisible as she does it too, something only possible because of the extra Quirk that Izuku himself had given her as Shroud.

It was what let her do some truly impressive physical feats while keeping her Quirk engaged. Like leaping from rooftop to rooftop earlier tonight… that wasn’t something someone with your average lung capacity could do while also doing something as physically taxing as holding their breath.

As such, Izuku doesn’t get to see the way her eyes widen in disbelief as he hops up in the air, completely dodging her invisible leg as it sweeps through where he’d been standing a moment before. He can imagine it though, even as he comes back down and immediately lashes out, grabbing Invisigal by the neck and ‘gently’ choke slamming her into the ground.

Not enough to actually injure her, but definitely enough to stun her and leave her dazed as her Quirk disengages and she becomes visible again. Izuku lets her go a moment later, releasing his hold on her neck and straightening up. Once her eyes look focused once more, he offers her a hand up.

“Was that a good enough demonstration for you?”

Begrudgingly taking it, Invisigal grumbles.

“How the hell did you do that without a Quirk? You’re ridiculous…”

Izuku just grins and decides he might as well help her out a little. He gestures to the mat around them. It takes Invisigal a moment to realize what he’s talking about, how the slight give of the material beneath their feet had clearly exposed her.

“Wha- that’s not fair!”

Here, Izuku drops his grin and gives her a chiding look.

“Life isn’t fair, Invisigal. Do you think you will always be lucky enough to find yourself in an environment that won’t give you away? If it's too foggy, are you visible in the fog? Rain as well. And even if its not raining in the moment, would wet ground potentially give you away? These are just some of the things you need to be thinking about. Your Quirk is not perfect stealth… it is merely very good stealth.”

After a long moment of mulling over his words, Invisigal nods.

“… Alright fine, I get it. Close your eyes.”

Smiling slightly, Izuku does as he’s told, closing his eyes and letting Invisigal set up her perfect ambush. After five seconds, he opens his eyes once more and languidly sweeps his gaze around the room.

Which is when Invisigal comes at him from almost the exact same angle, but just on his other side. Slightly behind, but still to the side. Its another leg sweep too. This one, Izuku doesn’t even hop for… he just steps over it, quick as can be, before proceeding to tackle her to the ground and get her in another chokehold.

Once more, he doesn’t let her actually pass out on him. He lets her go before that can happen and they split apart as Invisigal groans.

“This is ridiculous…”

Izuku just hums.

“Well. You’re the one who wanted me to train you.”

That said… they certainly had a long way to go.

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QcNLVVXwJ2quh9wXBxnchWMS-08wxQOGyBznh58ojzg/edit?tab=t.0