Izuku would be the first to admit that he never saw her coming.

Especially given how distracted he was by his inability to move, the villain, and of course his own rising panic and sense of utter helplessness. No, he never saw her coming at all. He was much to focused on the murderer Stain making his way over to Iida who was lying on the ground on his stomach, frozen just like him.

His dark blue eyes staring at him in fear and barely concealed dread.

So when Stain finally reached the older teen and was just about to finish him off while Izuku watched in horror- someone, a girl of all things- came out of the inky darkness like a fucking bat out of hell and not only startled Stain enough to drive him back away from them both.

But also managed to put the man on the offensive without even having to lay a hand on him...well, it was just a tad bit weird. Especially given how jumpy Stain was around the newcomer.

"You again." The villain spat. Irritation and aggression bleeding from his very being as Izuku absently noted his words and shifted his attention to the girl.

She was standing barely a few inches from him, directly in his line of sight. Her body firmly placed between him, the pro hero that was lying injured on the pavement a few feet away, and Iida.

Izuku took a few moments to study her features, noting that she was about his and Iida's age. Perhaps even a year younger than them both. She was also exotically beautiful and had long strawberry blond hair that had a weird orange-ish hue to it even in the poor lighting provided by some of the buildings around the alley.

She was also tall.

Probably about the same size as Kaa-chan, to be perfectly honest.

Her lithe build carried little muscle on it, but was defined enough to let him easily tell that she was athletic. Her body built more for speed than actual power. But then again, depending on how fast she was and could move, power wasn't really needed to take a person out.

Izuku knew that better than anyone.

She had eerie neon blue eyes partially hidden underneath the long strands of her bangs- watchful, alert....predatory. He thought with a slight shiver of alarm. She had eyes that looked as if they saw everything she looked at.

Whether it was a person, place, quirk or...well, something else.

Those eyes of hers gave the impression of knowing all, and seeing all. It was fucking creepy to be perfectly honest. Not that he'd ever say that out loud and within her hearing range, Stain's reaction to her was strangely telling as far as what kind of person she was.

After all if she could scare him, Izuku very much doubted that he'd not piss himself if she should shift her attention to him.

"Looks like." She finally said, sounding both just a tad bit aggrieved and maybe even a little bit resigned.

"What kind of sane person stalks a murderer?" Stain snapped at her. She lifted one hand up, and Izuku shifted his eyes for a moment to see what she was doing and nearly screamed at the blood that he saw on her hand as she brought it up to rub at her nape for a moment.

"I never claimed to be sane. Besides, you and you're little party of beat-up people are blocking my way home."

"So go around!"

"I don't feel like it. Anyways I couldn't in good conscience leave here without at least stepping in and giving these poor kids a fighting chance."

Stain seemed to mull over her words for a moment before then pointing to the pro-hero and asking, "And him?"

She turned her head for a moment to see who he was talking about and her eyes widened a little bit upon seeing the man haphazardly propped up against the side of the building bleeding. "Well...yeah. He's all cut up and stuff. It would hardly be a fair fight to just let you kill him, he can't defend himself."

Stain actually looked like he was disappointed as he sighed and asked, "Really? You're going to put you're life on the line for a bunch of wanna be hero's who don't give a damn about you or whether you live or die? You've already interfered with my work nine times this week! That brat lying on the ground behind you would be missing a sibling, already if you hadn't have come along and fucked everything up!"

She didn't say anything more. She just shrugged helplessly. Though Izuku could already tell just from the conversation alone that she must be anything but helpless.

Still...it was nice to hear that she tended to interfere in Hero Killer Stain's work. Even if she did so recklessly and without any regard for her personal safety or well being.

It was also nice to know that she was the reason why Iida's brother was still alive. And from the shocked and confused look on his face, he was probably trying to sort things out, himself. But once he finally caught up- the girl, whoever she was- would have earned his eternal gratitude.

"Fine," Stain finally said after a few moments of silence before then tacking on. "I'll fight you for them. The same rules as last time apply."

"Okay."

"No bitching if I kill you."

"You won't hear a peep." She assured him.

"You know how to use a sword and knife right?"

"I do." She replied easily as she tilted her head to the side a little bit as he pulled a couple of blades from his weapon's stash and tossed them to her. She moved, subtly, but quickly. Easily catching both the knife and spare sword in both of her hands and then moving back into place as Stain said,

"You can borrow those then."

"Cool, thanks." She said as she took a moment or so to check out the weapons while Stain snorted and muttered something about her weird manners. Apparently the man had never had a potential victim thank him for something before.

Izuku, himself thought that she must be nuts to thank him for anything. Even the use of weapons. But that was just him.

"Are they to your satisfaction?" Stain finally asked as she ran a delicate finger along the sword blade and pulled it away bloody.

"Yeah. The blades are really well maintained. And they sing...beautifully." She said absently before she looked at him. Stain nodded his head and smirked.

"Good. Now show me what you can do with them, Fate." Stain spat the last word out like it was a curse. But the girl just got a grimly determined look on her face and simply said,

"I thought that I told you not to call me Fate." As she stepped away from Izuku and Iida and moved as far away from them as she dared, for maneuverablilty's sake, and then moved into an defensive position as Stain ran at her.

Their blades clashing together was deafening. So much so that it was all Izuku could do not to flinch every time the two tried to score a hit on each other. Stain was utterly vicious in his attacks. And the girl...managed to somehow not only defect and parry each blow, but scored hit after hit after hit on him without breaking a sweat.

Which had to be frustrating to someone who used blades as well as Stain did. If Izuku would hazard to make a guess, both of them were formally trained in the use and handling of swords and knives. Perhaps even in the martial arts.

But as good as Stain was with his blade, his fighting method couldn't seem to compete with the girl's. Which was interesting considering the age difference and all.

She must have trained like crazy to get this good. Izuku thought to himself as he watched in something akin to awe as Stain went for her throat at one point knowing that she couldn't dodge, and nearly took her head off before she planted her foot in his stomach, hard and then danced away from the blade.

Causing it to catch her shoulder instead.

Both Izuku and Iida shouted in alarm, half expecting her to drop to the ground screaming like any other person who got a hellacious and painful looking cut like that one. However all she did was glance over at her shoulder for a moment and take note of the blood running down her arm, staining her once clean black shirt and then flicked her weapon in an practiced motion as Stain lifted his up to his mouth and licked it.

"No!" Izuku shouted as soon as he figured out what Stain was planning to do. He should have warned her sooner, unfortunately, Stain had already ingested her blood and she simply stood there, motionless as the man laughed.

"Aw, too bad Fate. Now I've got you all right where I want you and can kill you all at my leisure." Stain taunted. Izuku tried to move again, this time his actions were frenzied. The only thing on his mind was freeing himself so that he could help the others. The girl was now included in this for her part in stepping between them and Stain and trying to get him to back off.

Which was why he nearly died of shock when Stain started to brush by her and wound up with a small, but no less powerful, fist smashing into his face with enough bone crushing force that it sent the murderer through the side of the building just a few feet away where he lay sprawled on his back on top of some of the bricks that she'd sent him through.

"Holy-" Iida shouted in dismay as Izuku cut him off with a squeaky sounding, "Shit!" Which was then followed by, "How the hell?!" As she stood there, staring at Stain for a moment longer before then turning on her heel and walking back to them.

"You boys doing okay here?" She asked once she was close to them again.

Both teens chimed in with a automatic, "Yes ma'am." Before Iida mentioned that they still weren't able to move any. She nodded her head in understanding and told them both to hang on for a second and she'd fix that for them. Which raised all kinds of questions.

After all, as far as they knew Stain was the only one who could do anything about their motion-issue. However it turned out that they were wrong. She could fix it. And she did. Though neither teen really knew how that was possible.

Izuku noticed a warm pulse the moment that she touched him. It was faint, subtle even. But it was there. And once she removed her hand from his shoulder, he could move again instantly. Iida was given the same treatment, at which point she gently helped him to sit up so that she could check his injury.

His shoulder was an utter mess. The metal of his armor had done little to protect him from the spikes on Stain's boots. And from the perturbed look on the girl's face, Iida might have quite a bit of trouble with the injury even once it was healed up.

Or at least that's how Izuku read things anyways.

Once she was done checking his shoulder, she began to rip up the bottom of her shirt to make make-shift bandages for him, and both Iida and Izuku couldn't help but freak out the moment that they saw skin.

They were both teenagers after all. It was only natural for them to freak out. Especially since they'd never seen a partially naked girl before outside of a swimming pool. And even then, they still got flustered and looked away.

There was simply something about seeing a girl's bare skin that made them nervous. It didn't matter if it was their legs, stomach, chest or back. It was all tantalizing for boys their age and inevitably led to some quality time in the bathroom trying to will their erections away.

Iida yelped as she wrapped and tied a bit of the torn fabric from her shirt around his shoulder, making sure that the knot that she used was tied tightly in place to help staunch the flow of blood which had lessened but not yet stopped before then shifting her attention to the pro-hero and getting up to go and check on him.

To be perfectly honest Izuku was so busy keeping his eyes on her and her actions that he'd all but forgot that the poor guy was bleeding all over the place as she knelt down and felt for a pulse in his throat for a moment before then turning to him and saying, "How fast can you run?"

Izuku stiffened a little bit and then slowly forced himself to relax as he frowned for a moment.

"Pretty fast." He replied.

She nodded her head and then asked, "You strong too?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Cause there isn't really anything I can do for this guy and he's a heartbeat away from bleeding out."

"What?!"

She shot him a look that quickly had him shutting up before going on to say, "I can maybe buy him a bit more time by extending my own healing ability to him. But it will only work for a short time. Five minutes. Maybe seven if you really push it to get to a nearby hospital. But outside of that, there isn't anything that I can do."

Izuku mulled over her words for a moment before nodding his head in understanding and simply saying, "Alright, then do what you can and leave the rest to me."

She needed no further prompting and was already placing a softly glowing, pale blue hand on the man's chest right above his heart. And Izuku and Iida both watched as the worst injuries on the pro-hero all knit together a little bit. Slowing the flow of blood to a crawl before moving away from him again.

"He's stable. You can take him now."

Izuku hesitated for a moment, despite wanting to grab the poor guy and run like hell to the nearest hospital. There was still Stain the Hero Killer to deal with. "Um...I hate to ask, but...w-what about-" He motioned with his hand towards where Stain was lying.

Either very badly dazed or unconscious.

"I'll tie him up. You take that guy to the hospital already," Izuku still looked uncertain of leaving her and Iida alone with Stain. "And be careful when you leave too. There are some weird bird-mutant things flying around causing all kind of trouble."

"Huh? Wait- d-did you run into a Nomu?" Izuku asked in an incredulous tone as he inched closer to her subconsciously. His intention was to check her hands since he'd seen one covered in blood and could only assume what had happened to it until it was looked at. Plus there was her shoulder to consider.

It must have been hurting her by now since the adrenaline flooding her system had to be wearing off now.

"Nomu?" She muttered with a frown before asking. "Big thing? Muscley? Has a partially exposed brain?"

Izuku and Iida both nodded their heads soberly as they studied her anxiously.

"Oh, yeah. A couple of them."

"Are you hurt?" Izuku asked before then quickly tacking on in a hurried tone. "I-I mean, before I saw your hand and it was bloody."

"I'm fine. Just a couple of bloody knuckles and a couple of broken fingers."

"What?!" Both teens screeched at her as Izuku got a determined look on his face and moved even closer to her. She didn't really seem to react to his invading her personal space like most girls would with a strange boy, so he wasn't really sure how she'd react if he grabbed her hand to look at it. But he kind of suspected from the weird way that she was watching him like a hawk that she was sort of trying to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable contact.

Maybe because if she didn't, he'd wind up in the same position as Stain. And something told him that, One for All or not, he wouldn't fare well at all if he moved too fast or too suddenly.

Still, he was just a tad bit shocked once he was finally able to manage to grasp her hands and took a moment to look at them both. Front and back.

Sure enough, he could see the discolorations and bruising along the broken skin on her knuckles. As well as the not so subtle swelling and discolorations around several of her fingers on both hands. Muttering a dark oath underneath his breath, he gently ran his thumbs along her injured knuckles and felt an odd surge of protectiveness towards her as he turned over this new bit of information in his mind.

She'd had a run in with a 'couple' of Nomu. Injured both of her hands, suffered some broken bones. Still placed herself in harm's way to protect them from Stain. Got her shoulder fucked up via a sword. And somehow still managed to KO the Hero Killer with one of her already injured hands.

If not for the fact that he was a little bit pressed for time and maybe even a little bit pissed about her being hurt like she was, even if it wasn't as bad as it could have been, he would have likely reacted differently than he did. But instead he did something incredibly risky. Like give her his name as he slowly released her hands.

His emerald green eyes locking on her face as he stared her down. Waiting both patiently and impatiently for her to respond with her name.

He could almost swear that his heart nearly stopped in his chest when she finally did.

Her name wasn't what he'd expected it to be. It was hardly feminine. But oddly suited her. Smiling slightly, he said her name as if testing it on his tongue. Little did he realize that this would be a common occurrence after today.

"It's nice to meet you, Ichigo." He finally breathed, feeling something strangely warm settle in the vicinity of his chest as his lips quirked a little bit more.

"You too," Ichigo said politely. Her own lips curved up a bit before she then said. "Are you going to take that guy to the hospital now?" Izuku nearly jumped out of skin at the reminder and quickly went to collect the man as he anxiously asked if she and Iida would be okay if he left.

Stain was dangerous after all. And if he decided to put up a fight, they might not be able to do anything to really defend themselves. Ichigo's shoulder and both of her hands were a damned mess and she would require medical attention sooner than later if she was going to get proper care.

And Iida had lost a fair amount of blood from his own wound and likely would need immediate medical attention himself soon.

"We'll be fine," Iida assured him as he was lifting the pro-hero Native up onto one of his shoulders. "Something tells me that Miss Kurosaki will help keep Stain from rampaging anymore." Iida said as he cast a look at the girl as she grabbed Stain and pulled him out of the mess of bricks, and quickly unlaced his boots and used them to tie his hands behind his back before then stripping him of his scarf and repeating the action so that even if he broke through the laces- he'd still be tied up.

And while he still may get free somehow- he'd have to really work at it since it wouldn't be easy to slip the knots that she had used. Especially on the scarf.

Still, the fact that she had tied him up in such a way was a clear indication that Ichigo had some sort of training. Beyond just martial arts and weapons training. And as curious as Izuku was to ask her a ton of questions, Native's time was running out.

So after calling out that Todoroki should be there soon and that he'd bring help back with him as he finally ran out of the alley.