Izuku hadn't slept in three days. He had taken out three more assassins on his own. Mako had tried to get him to rest, but he couldn't. He had to kill them all. Wll, not kill. He had to get information. He needed to know what All for One was planning. This meant getting his hands dirty.

    "The Crawler and I just saved two more people," mako said, taking a long sip of soda. He had found a corner store that was still offering food to any heroes in the area. Mako wasn't a hero. But, food was food. "You need to sleep, Izuku."

    Lots of people had said that to him. He couldn't rest. He needed to knock these assassins off his track. If that meant losing nights of sleep, then so be it.

    Izuku didn't look back at Mako's concerned face. He didn't need to look at him to see the crease around the boy's eyes, and the dark circles that made Izuku feel ill. The two of them had been running around together for weeks. And it wasn't getting any easier.

    Hawks and All Might made Mako promise to make sure Izuku was still eating. Mako said he wasn't a babysitter. Izuku knew he didn't like heroes. It was obvious in the way he spoke to them all. It was understandable hatred. Everyone hated heroes nowadays. They didn't do much anymore. Glorified money grabbing pigs. That's what Mako called them the first few days they had met.

    "I'm not hungry."

    Mako groaned. Izuku flinched, turning around. He didn't flinch anymore. He was never in danger with Mako. But the boy looked frustrated right now.

    "Izuku, you have to eat something. I'm not gonna sit around and let you fucking starve. I have food. You are gonna sit and eat it."

    Izuku frowned. "I have to go, Mako-"

    "You jump out that window and I will personally hunt you down."

    Izuku froze. He watched Mako give him the scariest glare in the world. He wondered if Kacchan would like Mako? "Fine."

    Mako sat Izuku down, shoving a bottle of water and an apple into his hands. His black eyes were filled with exhaustion. Izuku wasn't sure if Mako had ever done something like this before. Vigilantes in Japan weren't loved. They had a tendency of making situations worse. Endeavor hated vigilantes, though it was obvious he tolerated Mako.

     Hunter was different from the average Knuckleduster or the Crawler. Izuku noticed that. Vigilantes were typically people who couldn't become heroes. Hunter was someone who never wanted to be on in the first place. Two days ago, Mako admitted to applying for UA, and even getting in. He was supposed to be in Class 1-B. He declined the offer.

    Some heroes don't deserve to be one.

    Some heroes should have never come one in the first place.

    Examples of this flooded Izuku's mind.
Heroes who sided with the League of Villains flashed behind his eyes as he took a bite of the apple Mako had given him. Mako gave him another look before taking off his shirt. Izuku had only ever seen Mako shirtless once, and it was when Endeavor was tending to one of his wounds. This was before Izuku had ever seen Mako's face. Mako grabbed a hoodie from the pile of clothes they had been lugging around.

"You take care of me too much," Izuku said, watching the pale skin of Mako's lower back disappear as the hoodie covered him completely. "I can't offer you much."

Mako sighed. flopping onto the ground beside Izuku. "I couldn't care less about what you have to offer me. I care about you. That's how caring about others works, Izuku." Mako brushed hair from his face, taking a sip of water again. "I don't want you dead."

Izuku tensed. How was he supposed to break it to Mako that the only reason he stuck around this long was to make sure Mako didn't die? Izuku would've left him ages ago. But he couldn't just leave. There was that tiny part of him that wanted to stay longer.

Izuku couldn't have romantic feelings right now.

"But," Mako said with a quiet sigh. "I want you to know I'd give you whatever you wanted. I'm at your side, hero boy. No matter who's your opponent." He slid closer until his head was resting on Izuku's shoulder.

"Mako, I-" He stopped talking. He didn't know how to say what he wanted. "Thank you. But I'll be alright. I'm grateful you're at my side."

"Anything for my favorite friend." Only friend was left unsaid. Izuku didn't have anyone right now, and neither did Mako. They were both aloe. Well, alone with each other.

Izuku moved so he could see Mako's face. He raised a gloved hand and kissed him. Friends don't kiss, he knew that. But anything beyond the title of friend terrified him. Anything beyond friends was another reason to run away again.

"Am I your very favorite?" Izuku teased, though he could feel the exhaustion of the last three days shake his body. "I thought Endeavor was your favorite. You guys seem like best buds."
Mako laughed. He smiled at Izuku for a moment. Izuku might've even smiled back. "I never told you why I don't like Endeavor, have I?" Izuku shook his head. "Do you wanna hear a story, baby?"

Izuku hated how Mako could make his entire body heat up with just a simple word. It made him feel a sort of adrenaline. It made him feel whole. He had only ever felt like that with one other person. But that person is safely tucked away in the dorms of UA.

Mako looked out the window. His brows furrowed for a moment. "Back during the whole fire villain's tirade about being Endeavor's son made the news, I understood him. The villain, I mean. My mother was like Endeavor, in a way. And I got that hatred." He took a deep breath, twisting the material of his hoodie around his fingers. He didn't look Izuku in the eyes, and that kind of freaked him out. "I was pissed off that they gave someone like my mom a platform. Everyone worshiped the ground Endeavor walked on, and didn't stop and think about him as a person. It made me sick."

Vigilantes often got confused with villains. It happened because morals came into play. Vigilantes were often Anti Heroes. Some were just people who wanted to claim justice, but were going about it wrong.

What Mako said, about Endeavor making him sick, Izuku agreed. Endeavor made everyone sick after that confession.

"Where's your mother right now?"

Mako swallowed. "She was locked in Tartarus for the mass murder of over one hundred civilians. Happened about a year ago. It was some big news story during the summer until some bigger story happened."

The summer...

Kacchan's kidnapping.

He hadn't heard anything about the murders, but the way Mako spoke. It was crude and bitter. Izuku brought Mako closer to him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Izuku took off his gloves, feeling Mako's skin under his scarred fingertips. "I'm sorry about your asshole mother." Mako flinched for a second. He swallowed again. "You can cry about it, if you want. I won't judge."

Mako's bottom lip trembled for only a moment. He wiped his face with his palms. Izuku pulled him closer. He tangled his fingers in Mako's black hair. Mako shivered in his arms, but Izuku wasn't so sure it was because he was cold. Izuku was half convinced Mako was crying.

When was the last time Izuku cried? Was it back in the hospital with his mother? Or during the big fight with All for One and Shigaraki? Crying was something Izuku used to do a lot. He had a crying problem. Poor Deku, always the cry baby.

They stayed like that for hours. Izuku didn't dare move a singular muscle. Mako sleeping was one of the most beautiful scenes he had ever laid eyes upon. His lips parted as he inhaled. Izuku brushed some hair from Mako's face. His scar glittered in the night light. If he closed his eyes, Izuku could pretend he was back in the dorms.

Maybe him and Mako would've met under normal circumstances. Izuku would've loved to meet Mako in any other situation. Izuku would have fallen in love with Mako.

Endeavor and Hawks had made a stop, though they only informed him of the plan moving further. More assassins were on their way. More criminals who wanted him dead. Mako snuggled against Izuku, which only concerned the Pros some more. No one had been able to figure out Izuku and Mako's relationship.

"What is your relationship to the vigilante?" Endeavor finally asked, as he sat on the couch behind the boys. He had seen them making out days ago. He had watched them kiss, and had definitely seen the bruises on both their necks.

"We're friends."

Hawks raised an eyebrow. He seemed much more well versed with these questions, unlike Endeavor, who skirted around them like a doting parent. "Friends? yeah, okay." He inched closer to the boys on the floor, taking in Izuku's grasp on Mako's hair, and Mako's hand around Izuku's waist. It looked romantic, no, intimate.

That wasn't the case.

They were just friends.

Friends.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself of this, more than you're trying to convince the rest of us," Hawks said. "You're allowed to fall in love. We all love people, more than one at that." He ruffled Izuku's hair. "You two care about each other. It's probably the end of the world as we know it. Why limit loving someone based on your fate?"

Hawks didn't get it. Hawks didn't have that burden. Izuku got people hurt by loving them. He had watched his childhood best friend get impaled because he loved him. Izuku watched All Might finally lose his title of Number One hero, because they loved each other. Love was a plague, and Izuku had fallen victim too many times. He had a list in his mind of all the people he had loved and their injuries.

"Sure," Izuku said, brushing hair away from Mako's eyes. "You're right."

Hawks knew Izuku didn't believe him.

(Though a tiny part of Izuku really wanted to believe him.)

guys i can Totally write romance. maybe. (i cant) but um mako is soooo normal and so is izuku. izuku during his like whole. vigilante thing. was my favorite part of the whole war arc. i rewatched the entire show during my surgery recovery and season seven drops THIS month (Joyous) and im so so so happy.

mako doesnt know shit and neither does izu. theyre in the same boat and i love them so much !!!