#goodbye note

I waited outside the LOV base. I really didn’t want to go inside. It was bad enough my friend got me to open locks for them every now and then (with the boundary I would not help them break and enter). “Hey, you got your stuff?”

Izuku nodded, a bag slung over his shoulder. “Yeah, I… I think I’m ready. Just, you know…”

“Nervous?” I offered.

He nodded. “Yeah, but I know this is necessary. Just hoping that the note I left them will be enough,” he said sheepishly.

I offered my hand. “Well, come on. A life without villainy awaits you-”

“You’re sure that you rigged the alarm system to not go off once I’m on campus?”

I laughed. Slightly.

“Vee, I’m not kidding! I dont want to scare everyone there or suddenly get kicked out…” The concern in his voice was so present even a robot could detect it.

“Izu, I made sure. You’re not going to trigger the alarms. You’ll be safe.” It didnt seem to convince him very much. “Even if I somehow managed to mess it up which, like, have you met me? It’s practically impossible for me to mess up tech, but even if my some miracle that managed to happen, I’m still gonna be here. I wont let them throw you out onto the street, okay?”

That worked a lot more in calming his nerves, and he latched onto my arm. “Alright, let’s go…”

I led him through the streets of Japan, and several minutes of walking, a few train rides, and lots of conversation to help keep his mind of any sort of anxiety, we arrived at UA.

The first few steps onto campus were a little nervewracking, for him at least. Probably still worried about the alarm system, but after a few feet he seemed pretty confident that no, it would not trigger from his presence, and I was able to drag him over to the dorms.

“Oh hey OV, uhhhhm… who’s that?” Mina greeted me.

“This is my friend, Midorya! He’s gonna be staying with us for a few days until he can get his living situation sorted out.”

“Oh, okay! Hi, I’m Mina, nice to meet you!” she smiled and waved.

Izu nodded. “Yeah, uh… nice to meet you too.”

“Okay, well I’m gonna help him get settled in for a bit, you wouldn’t mind going around and telling the others he’ll probably be here for a few night wouldyou?”

She jumped up from where she’d been sitting, “Leave it to me!” She saluted before running off.

I helped Izuku set up a place on the couch for him to sleep for the night and showed him around a little bit, all the places he’d need to be aware of since he’d be here for a few days.

I left him for a bit to get some blankets from my room. I wanted to make sure that not only did he have a place to sleep, that he could sleep without his anxiety getting to him, being in an unfamiliar location and all and not really having control over his situation.

I trotted back down to the common room, only to find… Bakugou. Staring at Izuku. And Izu staring right back.

“Uhh… hello? Are you two having a staring contest or something?” I joked.

“Vee, you didnt… didnt tell me he’d be here…”

Oh. “I… assumed you already knew, since he’s… y’know… my classmate…” I explained. Shit.

“So he’s not just a figment of my imagination?” Bakugou turned to me.

I glared at him.“You’re free to leave.”

Whatever he was going to say died out in his mouth as I plopped myself down on the other couch and started arranging my own blankets. He left, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. “I’m sorry Zuku, I really thought you already knew, if he does anything to you come to me immediately, okay?”

He nodded but I still felt like a screw up. It’s just for a couple days…

I grabbed the TV remote. “Do you wanna watch something?”

----《 ¤ 》----

2 days in, no issues so far, I still almost had a solid hold on a place he could stay long-term. There was 2 options currently available, or rather, the most viable so now it was just a matter of discussing with Izuku on which he preferred before I attempted to get a solid confirmation from the people I’d been talking to.

I just had to talk to him, but I couldn’t find him… “Hey, Ko-ko, have you seen my friend?”

She looked up from her homework. “Hm? Oh, uh… not really? The last time I saw him was this morning I think…”

“Did he not get lunch?”

“I honestly have no clue, I was back at the dorms for lunch so I thought it was a little strange I hadn’t seen him.”

Alarm bells were ringing in my head. Something felt very wrong about this whole thing. “Do you know if anyone else has seen him since then?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

My mind started racing, going through every possibility of where he could be. “Okay, thank you.”

I darted over to where I had expected him to be, his little place on the couch. I saw his bag but, nothing else. A notebook out, which was expected, pencil…

He’s been fucking kidnapped. Whenever he puts down a notebook he always makes sure the pencil isnt on the page so it doesnt screw with what ever he’s written.

He’s been fucking kidnapped.

Shit.

Breaths coming and going quicker, my vision started getting weird, mind racing. The nausea where everything felt to light and too heavy all at once.

Panic.

The only things I remembered before waking up on the other couch, one very concerned Ochako watching over me. She didnt say anything, just handed me a glass of water.

I sat up and took it gratefully. “Th-than-ank you-u…” I stuttered out. I had only been knocked out for a few minutes, it was not enough to forget what I had just realized.

“Something happened to him, didnt it?”

I drank the water. A cool, calming sensation running down my throat. I swallowed it and took a shaky breath. “He got kidnapped.”

“How do you know?”

I pointed over towards the couch he’d bee monopolizing for the past 2 days. “The notebook. Whenever he stops writing and puts it down, he’s very particular about not leaving his pencil on the pages so it doesn’t mess up his writing. No matter what, he cannot leave the pencil ontop of the page when putting down a notebook.”

A nod of understanding. “Do you… have an idea who it could’ve been?”

I shook my head.

“...how about how to get him back? Cant you, like, track?”

“I could, I just… I only just figured out he got kidnapped, alright? Cut me a little slack.”

She giggled a bit, which helped break the tension. “Alright, well, dont be too hard on your self okay?”

I didnt say anything. Just a sigh and standing up from the couch to go to my room. There was too much to think about.

He’d been kidnapped, so where was he. Who had kidnapped him. If they had signal jammers, I probably wouldn’t be able to track him, did they have those. Was it villain. Was it heroes. Had someone ratted him out to them. Was it someone in our class. Was it a villain. Had the LOV decided he didnt get to leave. Was it maybe unrelated. Would there be a way to get him back. Could I find a way to see my friend again. Gods above how did they do it?

Too much. Too much.

I could only hope he was safe in any form of the word.

----《 ¤ 》----

“Okay, cross your fingers…”

Donovan’s avatar waited patiently on my monitor as I hit call. No answer. I expected that. So I called again. No answer. Once again, expected.

The fourth time someone picked up. “Hello?”

“<Hey! It’s Midoriya, what is it?>” they asked. It sounded like him. On the surface at least.

“It’s Vee, you had me worried there for a second! I haven’t been able to find you, wanted to check in.”

“<Yeah, sorry for missing those first few calls, didnt mean to alarm you!>”

Donovan gave me a thumbs up and pulled up a digital map showing the location.

“Oh, dont worry about, it’s all good! A quick word of advice though,” my voice dropped down to a low growl, “your impression of him is shit. Try better.”

The bafflement could be heard through the phone. “<Wha- how-... How could you tell?>”

“He uses all sorts of different inflections and intonations. Also he is way too anxious to have actually started off the call with a light ‘hey’.” I set up a portal directly to the location.

“...And so why did you play along with it?”

The villain’s voice echoed through the phone. “I just needed the time to track you.”

They whipped around and I smirked, ending the call. The terror on the features was pleasant.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me-” I waved my hand and they went flying into a wall “-I’m here for my friend, not you.”

Walking forward, bending the space around us so at least his phone wasnt damaged, I knelt down infront of the currently passed out Izuku and broke his restraints. I threw him over my shoulder and went back through my portal.

Setting him down on the couch, I breathed a small sigh of mixed relief and annoyance because the villain had been someone that I knew worked with the LOV, so it was clearly a ploy to get him back.

This meant the LOV was now after him.

This meant I would have to talk to the staff at UA and get the heroes involved.

Nowhere but UA would be safe, even if ironically that’s exactly where he’d been kidnapped from, but I figured that had something to do with my tampering of the alarm system. If he was in the system as a student, I could put the system back to normal which would prevent that happening.

There was a lot to work out, but I could at least breathe easier that there was a designated way forward now, whether either of us liked it or not.

----《 ¤ 》----

I knocked on the doors to the headmaster’s office and waited with bated breath.

“Come in!” I heard the cheery… whatever he was call.

I stepped in and shut the doors behind me. He motioned for me to take a seat so I did.

“OV, what exactly did you want to talk about?”

I took a deep breath. In, and out. “I have this, friend and I need him to be able to stay here, if not as a student at the very least shadowing me or my class.”

“Go on…”

“He’s a reforming villain, I only got him completely out of the clutches of the LOV in the past few days, but they seem to want him back. I had… tampered… with the security system so it wouldn’t alert that he was on campus because I had only planned for him to stay for 3, maybe 4 nights at most until we could figure something out for him so he wouldn’t be living on the streets. I had failed to take into account that, they might, uhm… that the villains would try to kidnap him and get him back…”

He kept nodding, urging me to continue. Not so much as a hint of shock at me messing with the security systems. I took another breath and continued.

“But it’s clear they want him back, so I would like to request that he be allowed to shadow the hero course students, both for purposes of education and protection please.” My heart was pounding so loud he could probably hear it from across the desk.

“Well, that dosn’t sound entirely unreasonable, however next time I would like you to talk to me or one of the teachers before you go around messing with the alarm system to shelter your friend for a few days.”

I bowed my head in shame. It had been my fault for failing to account anyone being allowed on campus.

“You said that used to be part of the LOV, correct?”

I looked back up. “Uh, ye-yes…”

“Then he can probably help us deal with them if he has insider information. I’ll allow him to shadow your class, and register him as a student, but before that you will have to set the security system back to normal and bring him in to see me so I can properly register him.”

I nodded. “Thank you headmaster.” I got up to leave.

“One last thing.”

“Oh, uhm… yes?” I sat back down.

“How did you infiltrate the security system?”

I laughed anxiously. “That’s a long story…”

“I think we have the time.”

Ah, such is the life of a lady working in Dock 1. You were part of the inventory keepers, noting when supplies arrived and where they'd go. Paulie the shipwright gambler, kept getting flustered over every little thing about your appearance when you two ran into each other during the same shift. At first, it bothered you, and if it weren't for Paulie seeming to be one of Iceburg's favourites, you would've tried drowning him. Then, someway, somehow, he grew on you.

"Oh please, I won't be distracting anyone." You wave your pen around dismissively. "Besides I even got bending down covered, I'm wearing shorts underneath, see."

You tease him and lift the hem of your dress to show him your black shorts. Paulie's nose exploded blood out, steam flying from his face. Giggling, you drop your dress' hem back down.

"I think you broke him, [Y/n]," Kaku commented, walking up to you.

"He'll be fine. Whatcha need?" You turn to your other co-worker.

"New shipment came from the West Blue," Kaku informed you, leaning closer to add, "Devil Water Pose."

Devil Water Pose... Devil Wanted Poster...

Looks like another assignment has been added, which means your time at Water 7 is closing. Who knew Nico Robin would come here...

"Got it." You nod, keeping your smile. Kaku tips his hat and leaves to help other workers.

"What was that about?" Paulie asked, lighting up a cigar and raising a brow at you.

"Oh, Kaku just let me know about some supplies that just came in. I should go mark that." You spin away, finding it hard to face Paulie.

Paulie stares at your back, mildly puzzled. Something felt off, you don't leave in a hurry like that, especially in high heels. Maybe he's just overthinking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You sigh, sitting at the bridge near Galley-La, clipboard in hand. Clicking the pen several times, trying to brush away writer's block, you stare at the paper underneath all the pages you stuff into the clip. If only you had more time to write this.

"What got you all bummed out?"

"Ah!" You flipped the papers down to hide the final page. Looking up, you see him. "Paulie, you scared me."

"Sorry," he apologized and leaned back against the railing of the bridge. "You gonna tell me what you were writing?"

"A love letter for you," you tease.

"Don't joke about that!"

You giggled, amused by his flustered state, until you looked back at the clipboard. Your mood goes back down. "I... I am writing a letter, I'm just not sure how to write it."

"Who's it for?" Paulie inquired, puffing out some smoke.

"...Someone I care about, I won't be able to see them for much longer."

"How come?"

"Work reasons," you answered, keeping it vague.

"Shame."

"Yup..." You stare at the water canal, biting back your tongue.

"Why don't you take the day off tomorrow to spend time with them?" Paulie asks.

"He'll be busy."

Paulie grumbles beside you. "What a chump, leaving soon and not bothering to spend time with you."

You giggle at the irony. "I don't blame him, Paulie. It's just how things are." You hear the man huff beside you before you continue. "Besides, he probably doesn't realize I care about him... I... I've been a little distant, you know."

"Shouldn't matter if you've been distant, it matters if he cares about you. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time." Paulie put out his cigar. You hum, acknowledging his words, even if your dilemma is different. A hand rests on your shoulder, you glance at Paulie. "If means anything, all of us at Galley-La care about you, [Y/n]."

"Thank you, Paulie." You wrap your arms around him, catching Paulie off guard. If things were different, maybe you would've given more than a hug. "Thank you for caring about me."

Paulie halts his emotions, sensing there's more to your story than you're telling him. He returns the hug, not understanding why it feels like you're saying goodbye.

And he won't know, until he reads your letter after you're gone.