Chapter Text
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you here today.”
“Um, no we’re not,” said the little one in a schoolgirl uniform. “Cookies are a good enough reason, Tomu-chan!”
The older one (‘Dabi’, as if anyone would ever believe that was his real name) just looked back at Tomura and opened his mouth obnoxiously wide before swallowing a snickerdoodle whole. The holes in his cheeks started bleeding, and Tomura wondered morbidly if he’d ever accidentally eaten a staple.
“The cookies,” Tomura said stiffly, “are just an opening gambit to win your affections.” He’d asked Kurogiri to cook some the night before, and the shadowy bartender had nearly cried from joy. Tomura didn’t usually ask for cookies anymore now that he was basically a grownup, but it was different when he needed them for a plot.
“You can just ask us to hang out, you know,” the little one told him. “Cookies are great, but you are too!”
Tomura looked down at her. She was beaming up at him, but the thick coating of crumbs around her mouth sort of undermined her claim.
Her cheeks were still chubby, and Tomura didn’t think it was just because they were stuffed with Kurogiri’s baking. Had he ever been this young and squishy-looking? He doubted it.
“I dunno, man,” Dabi said. “I’d say the cookies were vital persuasion. You’d better talk fast before the effect wears off.” He smacked his lips pointedly.
“So you are wondering why I gathered you here!” Tomura said triumphantly. “Well, I’m pleased to say that it concerns a mutual… acquaintance of ours.”
The little one tilted her head. “Kurogiri?”
“He’s not your acquaintance yet, you just met him two minutes ago.”
“Dabi?”
“Dabi’s right here, I didn’t bring you here because of something to do with him!” Tomura shook himself, frustrated. The girl didn’t throw him off nearly so much when she was just a voice in his headphones. “It’s something concerning a mutual enemy.” There, that should do it.
His two guests stared at him, nonplussed.
“Ugh. We need to work on our team communication skills, you know that?” Tomura itched his neck resentfully. “We’re here because of something to do with Slug and Mackerel.”
They made gratifying noises of comprehension.
“I had the IP addresses from our last game tracked. Two of them were behind a firewall—” no need to admit that he didn’t know which two—“but the third is here in the city. And we’re going to find him.”
*
“We should have brought the cookies with us,” Dabi complained.
He and Toga had gone along with Tomu-chan Shigaraki’s plan, but Dabi at least had doubted it would amount to anything more than wandering. Instead the younger teen had pulled out a gps app and plugged in a set of honest-to-goodness coordinates. They’d meandered around half the city trying to get close with the train system, but somehow they actually ended up at their goal.
“Yeah, and some nice milk,” Toga added. “It’s so hot.”
Dabi wasn’t sure how he felt about working alongside a kid and a sixteen-year-old, but he had to admit that the cookies had done their job. He was always a fan of free food.
The chance to potentially mug a presumably-rich Esports champion wasn’t bad, either.
First, however, they had to wait for their target to actually leave his apartment.
“What about Tweety-bird?” Dabi eventually asked, apropos of nothing.
“Huh?”
“Tweety-bird, from last time. You said this was about Slug and Mackerel, but there were three IP addresses, right?”
Shigaraki grunted reluctantly.
“I bet the new guy was the one with the crap cybersecurity, that’s all I’m saying. Watch, the first guy to walk through that door will be wearing a second-hand Hawks t-shirt.”
He could tell Shigaraki didn’t like the idea. Smirking, Dabi settled back against the wall of their chosen stakeout location and watched their self-proclaimed leader fume.
*
An hour into their watch, Dabi made Shigaraki go buy them drinks from the nearest corner store.
Just over an hour after that, they started to see children filing down the street as the schools let out.
Dabi side-eyed Toga.
“What?” She asked, pouting.
“Today’s a school day,” Dabi pointed out, leaving the rest unsaid. He gave her uniform a meaningful glance.
Toga grinned. “It sure is!”
Shigaraki ignored them both.
*
Just as Dabi was getting ready to beg off and go apply ointment to his everywhere, someone walked towards the apartment.
He was dark-haired, tall, a bit disheveled. Definitely late-twenties at the youngest. He carried a briefcase, wore black clothing with a scarf despite the weather, and looked like he would be scowling if he wasn’t too tired to make the effort.
“Guys. Guys,” Shigaraki whispered excitedly. “See that? Do you know who that is?”
“Tweety-bird,” said Toga.
“Eraserhead,” said Shigaraki, twitching with delight.
“The guy who tried to arrest me on Tuesday,” said Dabi. Then, “Wait. Who’s Eraserhead?”
*
Eventually, after they’d watched the man slouch into the apartment they’d been watching for hours, the three of them conferred.
“I can’t believe you almost got arrested by Eraserhead!” Tomura told Dabi. “That’s so cool!” He was a little jealous, but he knew that expressing jealousy was bad for team cohesion.
The little one giggled. “Well, I can’t believe he almost got arrested by Tweety-bird. That’s so embarrassing!”
Dabi shook his head frantically. “No, no, I take it back, that was not Tweety-Bird. He was way too grumpy. That’s gotta be Slug, right?”
Tomura stroked his chin, inwardly lamenting the lack of a beard. “Hmm, they did say that Slug could kill a man with his pinky finger. That totally fits Eraserhead, you’re right. Good thinking, team.”
Dabi looked relieved.
The little one didn’t. “Hang on, but how would Eraserhead have time to be good at video games? Isn’t he busy with… hero work?” She made a face.
Tomura couldn’t let that stand. “He works at night time,” he told her, “doing the real kind of hero work. None of that posing-for-cameras crap. And did you know that all his patrol routes are through the poorest parts of the city? He helps the people who actually need it—”
“Oh, ok,” said the little one, who didn’t look properly impressed in Tomura’s opinion. He wished he could remember her name so he could tell her off properly. “But if he works at night, where was he just now? He sure looked like he was coming home from work. And he wasn’t nearly bloody enough for it to be exciting work, like beating people up!”
Tomura thinks about it. “Maybe… he was off at a video game meeting.”
Dabi snorted, and Tomura glared at him.
“What’s a video game meeting?” The girl asked doubtfully.
“I dunno, some kind of meeting for people who are good at video games. It happens all the time,” Tomura invented. “Actually, this is a video game meeting right here! That’s what we’re doing right now!”
“I think at this point it’s an Eraserhead Fan Club meeting,” Dabi grumbled. “So does this mean we can’t mug him?”
Tomura rolled his eyes. “Of course not. I’d love to see you try. You really would get arrested this time.” He stroked his chin again. “We might be able to peek in through the window, though…”
*
Dabi protested. The little one egged him on. Tomura didn’t pay any attention to either of them. He appreciated their usefulness in group tasks—like, for example, a stakeout where the slightest lapse in attention could mean missing their target—but this wasn’t just a team building exercise anymore. This was about Eraserhead.
He slunk over to the apartment building across the street from Eraserhead’s and started casually climbing the stairs. Somewhere near the top level would give him a perfect view into Eraserhead’s third-story apartment.
He'd appropriated a cigarette from Dabi’s coat pocket; his plan, if someone saw him, was to pretend he was going up to the roof for a smoke. This was foolproof. Tomura was a villain, even if Sensei was still training him, and smoking was against public health recommendations so no one would question it.
Once he got to the top floor of the building, he ran out of stairs and had to start wandering around looking for the roof access. Dabi and the little one caught up with him just as he started to consider breaking into an apartment and threatening the occupant for directions.
“Hey, Shigaraki,” Dabi drawled. “Don’t you think you’d better be a bit sneakier if you’re gonna stalk a Pro Hero?”
Tomura flinched. Sensei always told him he didn’t properly appreciate the value of stealth, but he’d always figured it didn’t matter when he could destroy anything in his way. But… he didn’t want to destroy Eraserhead! That was ridiculous. He wouldn’t even be able to if he tried.
Dammit. He hadn’t put any skill points into the one stat he needed today. Tomura scratched his neck slowly, and then turned to Dabi.
“How would you get to the roof, then, if you’re so clever?”
Dabi gave him a deadpan stare and pointed to the nearest window. Through it, Tomura saw a fire escape with metal stairs leading upward.
Tomura stared for a couple seconds, and then grinned. “I knew it was a good idea to bring you guys along! Great teamwork, you’re the sneaky one from now on.”
He slapped the glass with one hand, fingers spread wide, and basked in his teammates’ impressed whistles for a second as the window disintegrated. Then he led the way onto the fire escape.
If his phone’s nav system was correct, they’d need to cross over to the opposite side of the roof to get the best view of Eraserhead’s apartment. Tomura wished he’d brought a pair of binoculars - even at this angle, it would be hard to see much.
As though conjured by his thoughts, the first thing he saw when he reached the top was the binoculars.
Then he saw the person holding them. A lithe figure, clothed in black, with spiky hair. Crouched low. Focused on the building across the street.
Tomura’s eyes widened.
Someone else was already looking into Eraserhead’s window.