13

Stand by me

Five minutes into Izuku accepting her friend request he was already face-palming. 'She's tagging me in memes so quickly. Hehehe that one's actually pretty funny.' He was scrolling through his feed trying to understand what he just got himself into.

He sighed and put his phone away.

"Ehm, Camie don't you think we should search the cargo in the ship?"

She blew a bubble with her gum or at least he thought it was gum until it popped and turned into her quirk's mirage smoke, fleeting away up towards the night sky. She shook her head. "Nah, fam I'm done for the day. We can let the cops do rest."

"Uh, are you sure we shouldn't?"

She giggled. "Chill, you don't always have to be in work mode, our job's done for tonight."

"I guess you're right, people have been telling me lately to slow down but I don't know..."

"Oh! I know, I can help! I'm, like, a master procrastinator! I'll take you under my wing."

"N-No thank you, I don't think that's really necess-,"

"Silence, grasshopper!"

'Grasshopper! She can't be serious...' Izuku had a cringy smile trying to hide a sweatdrop.

"You're training has already begun. Check out all the memes I tagged you in." But behind her gimmick, there was a giddy glow emanating from her.

'I sense an ulterior motive!'

"I'll definitely turn you into a dank shitposter!" She huffed up, clenching her fist up and flaring her nostrils with motivation.

"What happened to becoming a procrastinator! No, wait, what happened to just relaxing!" He actually yelled with shark eyes and slapped air, completely confused. 'How did we get here?! Ah, I get it, she's chaotic good isn't she.' Izuku sighed, defeated.

Thankfully for him, Mirko and the authorities arrived.
"Oi, good job, Bunny!" Mirko put him in that signature headlock, always teasing him when she was proud.

"Th-Thank you, b-but can you let go? I can't breathe." Was his excuse. 'Why does she always do this! We're too close!' Boing, boing, as she tightened the hold closer to her beast. 'Boing?! Seriously!'

Izuku finally broke free from her grip as she let out a loud chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll clean up here, you continue patrolling." She then turned to Camie who was laughing her ass off at how Izuku got manhandled by Mirko. "So you're Camie, right? Good work. I heard you're a freelance hero, want a contract at our agency? An espionage specialist would be a great benefit, and broaden our operation levels."

"Excuse me, Mirko, Deku, we found something that you're going to want to look at." It was the cat cop, Sansa Tamakawa. He guided the three heroes to a crate. "This is how they were planning to smuggle in the drugs." Showing them the contents.

All three of their eyes broke wide, especially Izuku's. "But that's..!?"

The crate, it was full of Deku figures.

"The drugs are in the toys hollowed-out chest."
"Whoa, that's crazy. Deku, I totally didn't know." Camie had shocked pouted lips feeling a bit guilty.

Izuku's eyes were shadowed until he heard her voice. "No, um, don't worry about it. I'm glad we were able to stop this before the drugs got distributed, that's what's important."

Mirko glanced at his reassuring smile. 'It's the same one I put on to ease worry. To think he learned something like that from me. He's not even mentioning the dolls of him. It's worse because he was honestly excited about the product's announcement and designed the figures himself, even if these are cheap imitations it must be affecting him... Bunny.' Although Mirko knew he was hurting she wasn't confident, herself, about how to comfort him. She cleared her throat and went back to the earlier conversation, trying to lighten up the mood.
"See Camie, with you in our agency we can stop more of these crimes at a faster rate."

It seemed to help because Izuku turned his attention to the conversation. "Y-Yeah, Mirko makes a good point, our diverse skills make us a unique but fitting match."

They both looked at her with a smile waiting for an answer.

"No, thanks, fam I'm good."

"Haah?"

"Eh?"

"But hey, Izuku want to finish our patrols together?" With a playful giggle. "I totes agree that we make a great team."

"Y-Yeah, sure, I don't mind, I can learn more about stealth." Izuku was caught off guard by her answer and attitude but his desire to learn overpowered that easily. He slowly began to break away from Mirko, heading towards Camie. "Mirko, I'm going on ahead, contact me if anything."

Rumi didn't, couldn't, reply. She was only able to stare at the two as they walked away.

"Ah, so um, Camie why don't you want to join an agency?"

"Hm, Idk, feel like it would mess with my vibe." Then her eyes lit up with a skipping hop. "Hey I just thought of this but I, like, think we should start an agency together just me and you. It would be lit!"

"H-Huh? Just us?"

"Yeah, think about it. You know, you do your thing, keep everyone worry-free and safe during the day while I would snuff out the bad guys lurking in the night. We can both work our own ways but also help each other during a pinch, or even just help each other be better like I can teach you stealth and in return, you become a shitposter." Finishing with a ditzy smile.

"Back to the memes?! Ah, but that aside you have a point, tonight proves how well we can work together, combining your illusions with my raw power could create a great team for most situations. Not only that you're espionage and info gathering skills are what makes you so efficient."

"So it's, like, official?"

"Ah, s-sorry, I have to decline, for now, I mean it's a great idea but I'm really happy with Mirko and I'm still learning a lot. I don't want to start an agency until I'm confident in my ability to operate it."

"You just yeeted my hopes fam."

"S-Sorry, but in return how about I give you a ride with my quirk."

"For real, for real?!"

He activated full cowling and gave her a piggyback ride, as they flew high and away into the sky.

Rumi, her eyes had a lunar twinkle, having stared on while hearing their conversation. Her eyes still fixated on the spot they were before they left. After hearing what he said about starting his own agency she had a realization that still continues to scare her.

'Bunny could leave..?'

Izuku and Camie were sitting on a skyscraper's ledge, looking over the city, having finished patrols. He noticed that she liked to mess around but took her work seriously, and he always respected that in an individual. 'Actually, her playful attitude kinda made patrolling a lot more enjoyable, I didn't even think about the toys in the crate...' And now he was thinking about it. His expression deterred slightly.

Maybe she noticed, maybe she didn't but she asked a question. "So, um, you haven't mentioned the dolls of you that they were going to use. To be honest I wouldn't know how to feel."

His eyes widened slightly, before returning to normal. "You're right, I don't know how to feel. I mean they are just toys. It shouldn't be a big deal, I mean we stopped it right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Yeah, exactly..."

Camie lifted her knees, hugging them to her chest. "The fact that people are using your hero image for crimes is wack."

"Y-Yeah it is. I know it shouldn't affect me but... I don't know, ever since I officially became the poster boy of heroes, it feels like maybe someone else should be there, not me." Referring to One for all without her knowing.

"H-Huh? Really, the common consensus is that you're killing it fam!"

"I... I wasn't fast enough. If only I was just a second faster... All I needed was that one extra seconded..! Makoto overestimated my abilities and because of that..." His voice going dry and broken as he lifted his hand up to cover his eyes.

He didn't outright say it but Camie could already infer what he was talking about. It actually caused her throat to tighten as she tried to gulp that down. The idea of him not able to save someone was unimaginable to society. That's when she realized it. Even if he carried the weight of the world with a smile on his face, he's forced to mourn every life he couldn't save in silence because if society ever saw him vulnerable how could they rely on him.

The breeze of dusk blew.

"It gets pretty heavy, doesn't it?" She whispered. It didn't need to be clarified, they both knew.

"It does..."

"I know I can't lift it, not even make it budge but do you think... Is it okay, if I stay by you so you're not alone as you do it?"

His emerald orbs grew enamored as he turned to her and her endearing words. "Camie..." Remembering the now distant feeling of having someone reaching out simply out of worry.

Her lips naturally pulled up hearing the earnest surprised gratitude. Her heart swelled and it caused her lips to break into a full-blown toothy grin. "I'll support you from the shadow of night, so you can brighten everyone's day, okay!" Letting out a giggle because she knew it was cheesy but didn't care. "You don't have to be alone. You can rely on me, so the rest of the world can rely on you!"

'And we stayed together, talking and enjoying each other's company until sunrise. I still remember the twinkling rays of the morning sun and how they were sparkling around her as she lifted her hands up to her hair, undoing the bun, letting her hair elegantly unravel around her body, and the way her blonde locks basked in the sunlight. I still think about the smile she had when she turned to me with a tilt of her head, wanting to show me a meme.

I didn't know how important she was going to be to me, but I still cherish that first morning I spent with her. It's a fond memory that I continue to keep with me.'

Yo hoped you enjoyed like usual. And I can't wait for camie to show up during the present story! It's gonna be great lmao. So I got a comment about not crediting the artist for the cover art so yeah thats my bad, it's was by the cutesexyrobutts but if you didn't know who it was by then you should be ashamed lmao jk however that being said I changed the cover art to another one of his mirko drawings just to troll a bit lmao idk and idc. Why am I like this lmao anyways like I said hope you enjoyed.

Till next time!