Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Okay, in hindsight, Izuku really should have thought this through.  He could’ve at least checked the weather before he decided to run off.  But no, his first thoughts were, grab the notebooks, set of cloths, and run, no further questions asked.  No more dealing with.... Her…  No more dealing with the bullies, no more people calling him Deku , he was sick and tired of it all.  Everything from every waking moment was abuse.  

He sighed. Is it really abuse if she just forgot about you? His brain supplied.  Izuku shook his head, everything else was. The burns, the notes, the flowers, everything.  He was done. No more. Which is why Izuku brilliantly came up with the idea of running away.  It sounded better at the moment, okay? Izuku clenched his hands around the straps of his backpack as rain poured from the night sky.  He was quickly reminded of the burn on his shoulder as the strap strained against it. Izuku paused to remove the strap from his shoulder.

A quick glance up and Izuku might have seen it, a quick flash of red from the roof.  Izuku pulled out the crappy phone from his jean pocket. Forty-five percent, that was good.  Thunder erupted from the sky and Izuku tensed. He needed to find somewhere to get out of the rain.  With a quick glance around, Izuku spotted a hand reaching towards his shoulder. “Hey, kid-”

The voice was abruptly cut off by Izuku proceeding to fling his backpack into the figure’s face.  Izuku began to move his feet any direction away from, whoever this was. It was then he really got a good look at the figure.  It was a young adult, from what he could tell. The person was clenching their nose. Izuku could only stare as he realised the person had large red wings. Oh, shit…

Keigo should have known better than to approach the kid from behind, but it would have probably scared him worse to plummet down from the sky in front of him.  Keigo held his nose as the greenette quickly descended into a panic. “Oh my god! I am soooo sorry!” he frantically reached for the backpack.

Keigo shook his hands.  “Don’t worry kid, I shouldn't have approached you like that…” he grumbled.  “Damn, you pack a punch, whatcha got in ‘ere? Bricks?” he added after a minute.

The pre-teen shook his head.  “Just notebooks Hawks-san.”

Keigo shook his head.  “Drop the san, too formal.  Now, wanna tell me why a 10 year old is out at near midnight?” he asked.

The kid shifted his feet, as if uncomfortable.  “J-just walking.” 

Keigo, while a new pro and severely under experienced with dealing with liars, could see the kid was lying.  The kid had a backpack, an extra layer of clothes, and appeared to be in a hurry to go somewhere. “Yeah, and I’m All Might.  What’s with the backpack? Do your parents know you're out here?” 

Greenie stiffened at the mention of parents.  Keigo sighed, that was a no. The kid was a runaway.  So, why runaway? It struck Keigo like a hammer.  “Kid, are you safe at home?” It was a cautious approach, and usually got answers out of the kids.

The kid rolled his eyes.  Rolled them, as if whatever the hell was going on here was obvious.  “If you're asking if I’m being abused at home, then no.” 

Keigo felt a twinge of irritation run through him, vague answers, of course.  “If you’re safe at home, then why aren’t you there right now?” 

“Told you, walking.”

“That was a lie.”

“No, it wasn’t…”

“Yes, and you’re doing it again kid-”

“Not a kid.”

“Your ten.”

“I’m twelve.”

“Still too young to be out on the streets this late a night.” Keigo finalized the banter.

The kid huffed and looked at the hero.  “S-so, you're not actually gonna s-send me back are you?”

Keigo looked at the kid and saw fear, not intense but there.  He frowned a little, and made up his mind. “Okay, okay… You don’t want to go back home, got it.  Any relatives I can take you to?” 

Greenie just shook his head. Keigo sagged a little in defeat.  Not going home (until further investigation), no relatives, what else?  Keigo snuck a glance at the kid who appeared to be holding his shoulder delicately.  That’s a possible injury…   Keigo frowned.  “Kids your age usually have a lot of friends right? Got any of those you could stay with?”

That sparked an immediate reaction out of the kid.  “No. I don’t have any friends.” it came off rather defensive.  Keigo would question it later. 

“Your shoulder hurts.” Keigo stated.  

The kid turned his torso away from Keigo slightly.  He grimaced, paused a second, continued walking, and inhaled deeply.  “Kid, you don’t have anywhere to go, so, I can only offer you a trip to the police station, or… My apartment.” 

The kid stared up at the hero.  A confused and calculating gaze was targeted at Keigo.  “Sorry Hawks, but aren’t you a little young to have an apartment.”  

Hawks opened his mouth to close it again.  “I am a legal adult thank you very much.” he snorted.

The kid smiled slightly.  “Would’ve never guessed.” Keigo snorted, so the kid did have a backbone.

“So, apartment it is?” Keigo asked, earning a nod from the kid.

After walking through the rain for a while, the two were thoroughly drenched. They arrived at a large and rather expensive looking apartment building.  Keigo looked to the kid and motioned for him to follow him in.

Izuku would have thought that Hawks could afford a nice apartment with his quickly rising popularity.  However, the apartment shown was above what he originally expected. Maybe it was because he stayed in a blank room for his entire life, or maybe it was the entire wall made of windows.  Izuku wasn’t very sure. “You can set your stuff down on the rack right there.” Hawks broke Izuku’s train of thought, pointing to the rack to the left of the door.

Izuku nodded and proceeded to remove the soaked jacket from off of him.  Izuku looked inside the backpack to see that the notebooks had not gotten wet, thanks to the plastic bag they were wrapped in.  A smile made his way across his face as he pulled out notebook 15. Izuku set it, along with the other 14, down on the table and grabbed his spare clothes. “Hey, uh, where’s your bathroom?” 

Hawks peeked his head into the room.  “Second door on the hall to the left.”  

Izuku nodded. He threw his wet clothes into the plastic bag he’d kept his notebooks in.  Returning to the living room he found Hawks in the kitchen, which was placed conveniently behind the living room, and just to the side of the glass wall.  Izuku watched as Hawks looked thoroughly through the fridge. “Hey kid, what do you want to eat?”  

Izuku shrugged. “Anything you give me is fine.”

Hawks however, seemed annoyed at that answer.  Oh god, am I gonna get kicked out?  Did I really just screw up my one shot at a warm place to stay tonight?  Shit, he’s gonna send me to the station, and I’m going to have to go back home.  Back to school, back to-no, no, no- Izuku was broken from his thoughts by a steaming cup of soba in front of him.

Hawks gave Izuku a friendly smile, which immediately lessened the stress of the situation.  “Alright, I can’t keep calling you kid, so can I get a name?” 

Izuku looked at the hero. His first name would have to do for now.  “Izuku.” 

Hawks smiled at that.  “I’m Keigo.”

Izuku nodded and began to eat his soba.  Haw-Keigo eventually accompanied him with his own cup of soba.  “So, I noticed you have a lot of notebooks, is that your homework or something?” Keigo asked suddenly.

Izuku finished his bite of soba.  “A-ah! Those are actually j-just a hobby of mine!” he smiled.

Keigo nodded.  “What you got in them?”

Izuku’s eyes light up.  “I have quirk notes! T-they’re all the d-different q-quirks I see and I analyze them!”

Keigo seemed slightly taken aback by the boy's sudden spark of enthusiasm.  “How good are they?”

Izuku shrugged.  “No one other than me has ever really seen them, s-so I don’t exactly have an o-outside opinion.” He smiled weakly.

Keigo nodded slowly, contemplatively.  “Would you mind if I read through some of them?”  

Izuku froze for a second, before hesitantly getting up, soba forgotten.  He grabbed notebook 13, and brought it over. “T-his one is a bit older b-but it has an a-analysis on you in it…”

Keigo was surprised.  Normally kids would be fanning over All Might or Endeavor, not him.  Not when he was so much lower in the rankings that the other two. Sure he was rising quickly, but he was still at number 9.  People usually tended to focus on the top 5 pros. So yes, he was surprised to know the kid seemed so eager to show him his analysis on him.

Once Izuku handed Keigo the notebook, he carefully opened it, noticing how the first one was a lesser known hero, Eraserhead.  Huh, that’s funny.  A lot of people don’t even know Eraserhead exists.  Hell, Keigo only knew after meeting Eraserhead at a hero gala.  The pro looked more or less like a hobo and clearly was not one to have fans.  

Reading on he found Izuku had expertly detailed lists on his strengths, weaknesses, improvements, past battles and drug busts, everything.  Keigo felt concern well up in his gut. “Izuku, where the hell did you get information like this?”

Izuku’s head snapped to Keigo.  “W-well, I came up with most of it myself but I got the records from the police database.” he stated simply. 

Keigo frowned.  Simply, the kid had stated it as if it were elementary school math.  “You… Hacked into the police database…” 

Izuku frowned.  “W-well, no? I-I don’t think… It was exactly hacking…”

“What would you call it then?” Keigo huffed.

“Uh, guessing the police chief's login?” Izuku replied.

“Izuku what the actual hell?” Keigo sighed, wondering what he got himself into.

Chapter Text

Keigo had finished reading through notebook 13.  He, in short, was not impressed. He was down right terrified.  Where the actual living hell did the kid get all this information from?  It was scary amounts of information.  Izuku had small writing but neat writing, filling up the 140 page notebook to the brim with notes on heros.  

When Keigo had come across his own page, he was met face to face with a full, professional level, analysis.  It went into talking about his quirk, dubbed ‘Fierce Wings’ when it manifested, to how he was working with the hero commission.  Keigo wanted to burn the notebook, hide Izuku, and fly off the face of the Earth. Okay… This has got to be the kids quirk right?  There is no way… The kid had to have an analysis quirk. Right?  

Keigo turned to Izuku, who was currently scribbling away at notebook 15 with an inaudible mutter.  “Hey Izuku, do you have an intelligence quirk? Like Nedzu?” 

Izuku looked up, muttering ceasing immediately.  “Q-quirk?” he asked, voice small and weak.

Keigo grew concerned.  He knew very damn well that sometimes quirks were a whole rabbithole of trauma.  He knew they could be the reason for so many things. That's how it was, that's how the world worked.  Quirks drove society, if you had anything deemed a ‘weak quirk’ you were tossed aside. Powerful, flashy quirks were given the spotlight.  Keigo knew all this far too well. So when Izuku tensed up and got a faraway look in his eyes, he worried about the answer.  

Izuku could only look forward.  After a good minute, he slowly let his eyes drift back to Keigo.  “Promise you won't hate me…”

Keigo’s heart twisted at the question.  Who did this to you? It was a question that held so much anger and emotion.  Keigo felt himself soften and looked at Izuku.

Izuku was distraught.  Keigo wanted to know his quirk.  Of course it always came back to goddamned quirks. When he asked the question, he saw the hero's face twist.  Is he just getting ready to beat me up?  Throw me out? Again, he was proven wrong.  He watched as the hero’s features softened into a smile.  “Izuku, I don’t know where you came from, hell, I don’t even know your last name.  That does not change the fact that you are my friend. I won’t hate you, no matter what your quirk is.”

Izuku broke.

Years of everyone caring what his quirk was.  Years of abuse because of something out of his control.  Here stood a hero who did not care. He called me his friend.   What a nice thought, friends.  He felt hot tears roll down his face.  Why is this so HARD?   Izuku sharply inhaled and mentally prepared himself. At last he spoke,“I’m quirkless.”

Keigo thought he misheard.  He wanted to call out a joke, but the look on Izuku’s face said it all.  “Holy shit.”

There were so many emotions packed behind it.  Keigo stood up, walked over to Izuku, and hugged him.  “You are way too smart. I honestly thought you had an intelligence quirk.”

Izuku let out a watery laugh.  “My notebooks that good huh?” 

Keigo was grinning now.  “I would fire my current quirk analyst right now and hire you kinda good.” 

Izuku blinked.  He knew they weren’t exactly normal, there was a reason he never failed an assignment, but he wasn't… Professional level.  “You’re joking… Right?” 

Keigo merely laughed.  “No, I am not. You would do so much better than the current guy doing my quirk analys.”

Izuku felt his face flush in embarrassment.  “I don’t think firing your current, professional, quirk analyzer is a good idea.”

Keigo rolled his eyes.  “Please, he can only do half the stuff you can.  Plus, you may not be able to get a… Legal, job under me without a guardian signature, but you can freelance for me.”

Izuku’s eyes widen.  “Freelance?”

Keigo nods.  “It’s where you technically work for yourself.  You get commissions from people, which is asking for you to do something for them, and you get a pay.  Since your not a legal adult I don’t think you have to worry about paying taxes on that… So technically you could.”

Izuku didn’t know what to say.  It was a job offer, doing what he loved, working under the current number 9 hero… “Yes!” 

Keigo stumbled back as Izuku latched himself to Keigo’s side.  “Midoriya.”

It came out of nowhere.  Keigo looked down to the twelve-year-old.  “What?”

Izuku frowned slightly.  “My full name is Izuku Midoriya.”

Keigo smiled, and looked at him.  I wonder what it would take to get an investigation on his parents.   Well , that was a thought for later. Keigo decided he would rather set up Izuku as his freelancer instead. 

It had been a week.  A week has passed since Izuku began staying in Keigo’s apartment.  A week since Keigo asked him to do analysis for him. A whole week, and not a single missings persons report was filed under Midoriya Izuku.  Izuku should say that he was surprised, but he wasn’t. Inko hadn’t really cared for him since he was four. Sure, there was the occasional glance to make sure he wasn’t doing anything illegal, but other than that Inko never really cared.

It was surprising.  In a week, Keigo has shown Izuku more kindness to him than people showing him basic human decency.  It’s absurd.   Izuku didn’t know why people were like that, but they were.  Izuku knew they all thought that he was weak. Nothing more than a glass object, not even human , now that was an insult that had stuck.  Izuku was hyper aware of how people were so subject to the hero system, and he wanted to prove them all wrong.  “Hey, Keigo?”

Izuku watchedas Keigo set down his paperwork.  “I'm going to be a hero.” A statement, sweet and short.

Keigo’s eyes locked with Izuku’s.  Izuku wanted to think that Keigo would tell him to grow up, but Keigo had faith in him.  Now it was time for Izuku to have faith in himself. A maniac grin grew across Keigo’s face.  Izuku suddenly felt dread flood through his system. “Well, it sure as hell won’t be easy,” he began, “right now you’re nowhere near where you should be to even be prepared, even if you have the written portion in the bag.  That leaves us to work on your fighting. Build some muscle mass on you, agility training would do you good. Martial arts is a must.” there was a long pause as Keigo thought, then-”You could develop high ground attacks!”

Izuku was there until Keigo said high ground attacks.  “Wh-what?”

Keigo’s eyes sparked with glee.  “I typically attack my opponents from above, it could be something that you incorporate into your fighting.  Not a lot of people are able to defend against a high ground attack. Why do you think I have such a high successful arrest rate?”  

Izuku thought about it.  Keigo was right, most people aren’t anticipating an attack from above.  With the way the hero's are fighting now, it’d be more expected the villain gets in a half hour long monologue while the hero causes structural damage to the building.  Basic knowledge, the nastier the fight looked, the more the hero did, the more pay they were given.  

It was kinda sad now that Izuku really thought about it, but that didn’t matter now.  Izuku looked at Keigo. “Yeah, I think that would work.”

Keigo was shaking with excitement.  Izuku wanted to be a hero, great. He did however, agree to learning high ground attacks.  That got Keigo excited. In the week Izuku had been here the two practically acted like brothers.  That’s what it felt like at least. As the hero Hawks, Keigo was known for using his wings as a primary fighting tactic.  What most news outlets always failed to grasp, was how it was incredibly useful to attack from above.  

When he attacks from above, he sends the perpetrator into a panicked state.  Using his wing blades had always been more secondary than first when coming to catching criminals.  Keigo knew Izuku was beyond smart, that much was known. However, he needed to test flexibility. Izuku didn’t have wings, he couldn't fly.  So Keigo would improvise. Tall walls would work, things to jump off of, anything Izuku could fall off of.  

That also led into another part of training Izuku, muscle mass.  The kid was skin and bones, no doubt about that. Building a little muscle would hurt, but Keigo was more of a ranged fighter than anything.  He sighed, Izuku could potentially fight from long range, but he’d be more effective up close. Izuku would be a strategy fighter, no doubt there.  

As Keigo was brainstorming how to train Izuku, a thought hammered into his skull.  Shit, I totally forgot Izuku has parents.  Keigo would not admit that he completely forgot Izuku had a legal guardian somewhere that maybe or maybe not was looking for him.

Keigo sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.  Well, looks like I’ll be phoning my favorite detective.   Keigo grabbed his phone and hit the dial.  The phone rang, rang, and-“Hello, this is Detective Tsukauchi speaking.”

Keigo paused a minute before speaking. “So, what would happen if I hypothetically had a child that may or may not be subject to serious parental neglect and peer abuse in my house who hasn’t been reported for the past week?”

There was a pregnant pause over the line before, “Hawks, please tell me you do not have a child with you, that would be considered kidnapping.”

Keigo frowned, he kidnapped no one. “Well excuse you, I haven’t kidnapped anyone.  As I said, the kid is likely subject to parental neglect and peer abuse and I wanted to open a case.”

A very loud groan was heard.  “I am in the middle of a meeting with Nedzu, could you please save this for some other time?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll call you in an hour, I really don’t want to delay this more than it already has been.” and with that the phone line went dead.

Tsukauchi Naomasa loved his job.  He really did, but it’s times like this, when he really wanted to get a raise.  Naomasa set his phone down on the table and looked across it to a rather curious Nedzu.  “I understand we were discussing how Toshinori’s employment would affect his hero-time but… What is this about Hawks having a child under his care?”

Naomasa sighed, took a sip of his coffee and sat down.  “Hawks just called me asking me to open up a possible case for severe parental neglect and peer abuse towards a child he is apparently housing…”

Naomasa knew the hero was relatively new to the scene, but there had been cases like this  before and Hawks had brought them to the station. That begged the question, what made mystery kid so different to where Hawks was housing him

Chapter Text

Izuku and Keigo were heading to the police station.  In all honesty it was a rather nice day, not taking into account the fact that Izuku was going to have to contact his mother. I’ll be lucky if I don’t have to speak to her. The way over was quite, neither spoke a word.  Upon arriving at the station, it was quite underwhelming.  Izuku wasn’t sure what he expected, but the station looked normal.  The interior was interesting too, it reminded Izuku of a hospital.  

Izuku followed Keigo down the corridor to an interrogation room.  “Am I being interrogated?” was all he could think to ask.

“Yeah, not ideal, but you will be questioned by Tsukauchi so it should be fine.  Anything you want to know beforehand?” Keigo questioned.

Izuku thought for a minute, then it came to him.  “Tsukauchi is the human lie detector right?”

Keigo chuckled and nodded.  “I’m right out here if you need anything.  I will also be listening in.” he grabbed a pair of headphones from off the desk.

Izuku sat down in the interrogation chair across from Detective Tsukauchi.  The detective held a serious look on his face. Izuku’s eyes widened, Oh god I’m interrupting their schedule and wasting their time.  It’s fine, it’s fine. Maybe I can back out now, the police department can send me back home.  I may never see Keigo again but it’s fine. It’s fine, it- ”Goodmorning, my name is Tsukauchi, you know why you are here, yes?”

Izuku’s thoughts ceased immediately.  Why am I here? Oh yeah…  “Yes, sir.”  

Tsukauchi nodded.  “Alright then, in case you don’t know how this works, I ask you a few questions, you answer truthfully.”

Izuku watched as the detective looked at his notepad.  “Alright, first question. We did get a hold of a Midoriya Inko, but she denied all claims of you being gone in the first place.  In her words it was ‘no, no, Deku is just up in his room.’ Would you care to explain?”

Izuku inhaled.  It’s not like he didn’t know that Inko called hum Deku, but it hurt to know she’d said it to officials rather than just using his name.  Kinda like she forgot it.  Izuku ignored the thought.  Wouldn’t be the first thing she forgot. Tsukauchi cleared his throat, signaling for a response. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she believed I was up in my room, she never cares to make sure I’m alive anyway.” 

The last bit came at barely a whisper, but Tsukauchi caught it.  He abruptly stopped writing. “Care to explain?”

Naomasa shouldn’t be surprised right now.  He wanted to believe this wasn’t true, a mother who just didn’t care for the existence of her son?  The kid failed to answer any question untrue, and that worried the detective even more so. He put his pencil back to the notepad as Midoriya explained.  “W-well, when I was four, I got diagnosed as q-quirkless.” Truth, diagnosed, like an illness or disease, “I-I guess it started not too long after that.  Started off with her l-leaving for work and leaving me with breakfast a-and a note. Eventually the notes s-stopped, so did most anything.  I’m a-allowed leftovers from dinner but we don’t eat any meals together anymore, she tends to c-check in now and then to make sure I-i’m not dead… I t-think.”

Truth

Naomasa was gripping the pencil tightly.  He really despised cases like this, they were so rare, but it was always coming down to something that wasn’t the child's fault.  In this case, it was his quirk or lack thereof. He looked at the kid, who sat there staring off into the distance. “Well then, how are things at school?”

Naomasa thought it was a relatively easy question.  Schools could be a safe place for people who weren’t exactly safe at home.  That wasn’t the case, the kids eyes were no longer finding space, but zeroed in on him, alert.  He watched as the kid tensed up. “F-fine, school has been fine.”

Lie

“Well Midoriya, I am sure you are unaware of my quirk, Lie Detector.”

That got the kid, not that the kid was very good at lying anyway.  A frown made its way onto Naomasa’s face. “It c-could be better.” came a response.

Truth

“Better how?”

Midoriya frowned, “j-just better.  Better than it is right now.”

Naomasa sighed.  He wasn’t going anywhere with this, and the kid was being stubborn.  “Alright, Hawks tells me you arrived at his apartment with a bruise on your right shoulder, is that correct?”

Midoriya did not forget the detective had a truth quik.  He slumped a little in defeat. “Just a s-shoulder wound, nothing serious.” 

Lie

Naomasa looked up at Midoriya, “nothing serious?”

Midoriya’s eyes widened a little, “I just got burned! It w-wasn’t that bad, and I took care of it m-myself!” he exclaimed, flailing his arms about.

Naomasa was not okay with the fact that the kid had gotten burned on his shoulder.  How could that even happen?   “I would like to have someone look over the burn to make sure it atleast healed correctly.” he stated looking over to the viewing window.

Hawks just sat there with a wide eyed expression.  Kid probably hasn’t told anyone about his injuries. That begs the question, how many more does he have?

Midoriya sunk into his chair.  “I-it’s really okay, I-i’ve been treating burns my entire life.”

Truth

Naomasa would be lying if he said he didn’t flinch.  His entire life?  Where was he getting burns from? “That… Midoriya, where have you been getting these burns from?”

Izuku realised his mistake only after the detective asked the question.  He quickly thought of a way out of this. It was fine, really, it was no different than any other time he got burned?  Why did these people care? “S-sir, I really am fine.  I don’t need any t-treatment.”

The detective simply looked at him, with a disapproving sigh he scratched something down on the notepad.  “That does not answer the question. Where have they been coming from?” 

Izuku screwed up.  Oh god, if I tell them it will ruin Kacc-Bakugou’s chances at becoming a hero.  I couldn't do that, even if what he did wasn't okay. He’ll get better, he’ll be a good hero… Eventually. Izuku felt his hands sweat as he tightened his grip on the chair.  “They came from school.” not a lie.

Izuku took note of how the detective looked like he wanted to flip the table at that very moment.  “You’ve been getting burns from school?”

Among other things. Izuku’s brain offered.

“Among what other things?” the detective asked.

Izuku flinched, shit I said that out loud.

“N-nothing sir.”

“Midoriya, we can’t do anything unless you tell us what is happening.”

Izuku wanted to leave.  He wanted to curl up under a rock and never come back.  “Why now?” 

Izuku really hadn't meant for that to slip out, it just did.  Tsukauchi’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean, why now?”

“W-why now does everything matter!  Why now is a-anybody offering to do s-something about it?” he shouted, tears threatening to spill.

God, he really wanted to leave, this was not on the agenda for today.  Why now? Why not the EIGHT YEARS of shit he put up with? Izuku felt hot tears fall down his face.  

Tsukauchi looked sadly at Izuku.  “Midoriya, we didn’t know this was happening, if we did it wouldn’t have ever happened again.”

Izuku supposed that was true.  While the detective and Keigo couldn’t have ever known what was happening, everyone else did.  What makes them so different? He rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater.  “I’m sorry for the o-outburst, s-sir.”

The detective sighed.  “It’s alright Midoriya, but we can’t do anything unless you tell us what has been happening.”

Izuku nodded.  They care. They aren’t like Inko.  They aren’t like Bakugou. They aren’t like everyone else.   It was strange, seeing people actually show concern for him.  So he explained everything after the day at the doctor.

Keigo was about ready to murder a bunch of kids.  Against the law my ass. He was furious.  He listened as Izuku explained the abuse he went through.  Villains become villains for reasons smaller than this.  What a terrifying thought.  Keigo frowned, wondering what would have happened if he didn’t run into Izuku.  Would he have become a villain?  I’d understand why, honestly. He clenched his jaw tight, burns, Izuku had burns on him and Keigo didn’t know.  He should have, he really should have known. The kid showed up and tended to flinch when he got too close to his shoulder, if he got close at all.  

Not to mention the fear of loud noises.  During Izuku’s first night there, Kiego had watched as the kid flinched at every sound of thunder.  Izuku stopped talking, and stared at the table. He stood up from his chair to enter the interrogation room.  “I want an investigation on Aldera, staff, students, and I want him removed from Midoriya Inko’s custody.” 

Tsukauchi nodded as he finished writing in his notepad.  “We have enough here to open up an investigation on both.” 

Keigo glanced over to Izuku.  “Alright kid, let's get you some ice cream and go home.”

Izuku stood up.  “We’re done?” he meekly asked.

Keigo’s heart squeezed.  “Yeah, you’re not going back to that shit hole.”

Izuku’s lips twitched upward a little.  Keigo grinned and led him out of the station.

Upon arriving back at the apartment, Izuku noticed Keigo’s expression darkening.  “I can’t believe anyone would let that happen to a child.” he grumbled.

Izuku looked up at him.  It truly was strange how suddenly Izuku’s life took a turn.  It was nice though, he didn’t have to worry about going back to school.  Keigo was having him test out of middle school. Sure, he was smart, but Izuku wondered if Keigo’s expectations were a little out of reality.  He fell onto the couch and looked at the paperwork displayed across the coffee table. It was all of the analysis jobs he’d done. Sure it had only been a week, but a recommendation from the number 9 hero tended to draw popularity.  “We’re having you test out of school.”

Izuku met Keigo’s eyes, “isn’t it a bit soon thought?  I don’t even go to highschool for the next three years. You haven’t even gotten custody from my mother.   What would I do with that time? What do we do about my mom?” he asked.

Keigo smiled, “well, since you’re wondering, you could learn through college courses.  While highschool may have an age requirement, online college doesn’t.”  

Izuku supposed that was true.  “Aren’t you really overestimating my abilities?  I mean, I get you think I’m smart but that's… A bit over the top.” he replied.

Keigo rolled his eyes.  “In case you didn’t know, all of your analysts have been spot on and are never wrong.  You have expressed how much farther along your smarts are on multiple occasions. Izuku, you’ve broken into the police database without anyone knowing.  I doubt that school will ever be an issue for you.”

Izuku frowned at the mention of braking into the police database.  “I told you guessing the login is not the same as breaking in. What I did was legal.”

Keigo laughed, “see what I mean!  The other day, remember when I gave you that packet?”

Izuku did remember, a lot of it looked a bit harder than what he would have normally done in school, but he didn’t see what was so special about it.  “It was a placement test. My agency uses them to scout out special talent in students and people in general. I received your results, you damn near aced it.” Keigo proudly stated.

Izuku frowned, surely he didn’t do that well… Keigo handed him back the packet that had a clear 98% written in bold across the top.  Izuku’s breath caught. “That’s one of the highest scores Izuku. You tell me again how dumb you are.”

Izuku nodded grinning at his score.  “Seriously thought, what do we do about getting me out of custody from my mother?” he asked, dropping the mood a little.

Keigo sat on the couch next to Izuku.  “We don’t technically have any evidence against her neglect… You should be going to school but you're not so I assume it’s a matter of time before she gets a call-” Keigo’s phone rang.

Keigo picked up the phone and hit answer.  “Hello?”

“Hey Hawks, this is Tsukauchi, we just received a call requesting to open a missing persons case under one Midoriya Izuku.”

Speak of the devil, Keigo frowned, “alright, did she finally notice her son has been gone for a week?”

“No, we didn’t even get a call from her.”

Keigo was confused.  Who else would be looking for Izuku? “Alright, who is looking for him then?”

There was a pause on the phone, then, “Someone under the name Mitsuki Bakugou.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was concerned, Keigo had just hung up the phone with someone and looked worried.    “Hey, Izuku, do you know anyone by the name Bakugou Mitsuki?” he asked.

Izuku froze, yes he did know a Bakugou Mitsuki.  Did that mean he wanted to talk to her, hell no. He did not want to bring Aunt Mitsuki into all of this, she didn’t know, she didn’t need that stress.  Inko and Mitsuki had been friends since their own childhood, so for all Aunt Mitsuki knew, Izuku was fine at home, fine at school, and was still friends with her son.  Spoiler alert, he was not.

Izuku felt Keigo sit down next to him and place a hand on his shoulder.  Izuku flinched at the sudden contact, Keigo noticed. “Hey, Izuku, you good?”

Izuku nodded and shifted his feat.  “Y-yeah, I know a Bakugou M-mitsuki.” he mumbled.

Keigo looked concerned.  “Do you want to talk to her?  If not you don’t have to go anywhere near her.”

Izuku shook his head.  “N-no, I should probably talk to her, but s-she has to come alone.  S-she can’t bring a-anyone with her…”

Keigo frowned a bit at this request.  “Any reason why?” he pried gently.

Izuku looked away, “I’ll t-tell you l-later.”

Keigo was not satisfied with that answer, but he didn’t argue.  “So, what’s your relationship with Bakugou Mitsuki?” 

“S-she’s been the only person ever r-really s-supportive of me when I was diagnosed as q-quirkless, her husband too.  I uh… I’m s-supposed to get along with her son, but, I haven’t been friends with him since I was four… S-so…” Izuku shrugged.

Keigo had a feeling there was something much more to it than just not being friends with him.  “It’s worse than just not being friends isn’t it.” he stated.

Izuku flinched, old memories replaying through his mind.  Useless, quirkless, loser.  Punch. Burn. Claw. Run. Broken nose, broken finger.  Scars on his back and arms. Burns, so, so many burns.

Keigo watched as tears welled in Izuku’s eyes.  He pulled the twelve-year-old into a comforting hug.  “Hey, hey kid. It’s okay.” he reminded him rubbing circles into his back.

Keigo felt his shirt dampen as tears fell.  “Y-your right. I-it wasn’t j-just us n-not b-b-being friends.” Izuku cried suddenly.

Izuku’s body shook as he cried.  Keigo however was planning murder.  “Izuku, what did he do to you?” 

Izuku did not reply, it scared Keigo.  Sure he had only known Izuku for a week, but no one cried like this.  No one sounded so broken, so done. If no one found the body of Bakugou Katsuki, well, that’s Keigo’s business. “Izuku, please, you gotta tell me,” Keigo pleased.

Izuku was able to take a few deep breaths.  Keigo released him from the hug and Izuku leaned into the armrest of the couch.  “I-he… H-he bullied me… In s-short.” Izuku whispered.

Keigo nodded, sure he expected that, but Izuku kept talking.  “I-it started w-when he got his q-quirk. H-his quirk is e-explosions a-” 

“His quirk is explosions?” Keigo said in a dangerously low volume.

“Y-yes…” Izuku confirmed.

Explosions… The kid used his quirk on Izuku.  What the fuck. Keigo welcomed the scowl on his face.  “Izuku, can I see that burn on your shoulder.” 

Izuku flinched backwards, his hand flying to his left shoulder.  Keigo tensed, he should have gone about that differently. “Sorry.  It’s just, you said he had an explosion quirk right? You also said you had a burn on your left shoulder.  A burn you said was a bruise when we first met, I can’t just not make assumptions, Izuku. How the hell do you even get a burn on your shoulder?”

“K-keigo, I can’t just go t-telling people he bullied me for years.  Not when he’s a-aiming to be a h-hero.” Izuku responded.

Keigo was rightfully pissed.  He looked directly at Izuku, eyes narrowing.  “Izuku, it appears you cannot grasp the fact that someone who uses their quirk to abuse someone is no hero.” 

Izuku looked down.  “It doesn’t matter Keigo!  H-he has a good quirk, p-perfect even, for being a hero.  Everyone has t-told him from day one t-that he will be an a-amazing hero.  He’s smart and is at the t-top of the class for e-everything! It would be c-cruel to deny him what he’d be perfect f-for.” 

“Izuku, there is this new vigilante, got it?  They have a fire quirk that produces a blue flame, but you don’t see them going around and burning everybody he deems less than.” Keigo snapped back a little harsher than he intended.

Izuku could only nod as Keigo went on.  “I have fought villains, vilains Izuku, who’s quirk could’ve been perfect for heroics, but instead they became villains.”  Keigo paused. “Not only that, but there are pro heros who have the most useless quirks you could possibly imagine, but they still get the job done.  Hell, Eraserhead just erases quirks, but he has one of the lowest civilian injury and damage rates in heroics history. It does not matter what quirk or lack thereof you have to be a hero.  What matters is you do your job, and protect people. I can sympathize with why villains go down the route they do, Izuku. You know why? It’s because they grow up exactly like how you did. They grow up with people like Bakugou in the limelight.  Do not tell me he deserves to be a hero when he did that to you.”

Izuku took in the rather long winded and intelligent speech.  “Damn Keigo, did y-you even know what h-half those words meant?” he laughed tiredly.

Keigo lightly shoved Izuku, “Shut up brat.  Now, I am ordering chicken wings, do you have any preferences?” 

Izuku’s mouth hung wide open.  “You eat c-chicken? Isn’t that c-cannibalism?” he laughed.

Keigo rolled his eyes. “I’m a Hawk, for your information, and you will eat whatever I order for that comment.” he smirked, dialing a number.

Izuku had freaked out when Keigo asked him to show him the burn.  He’ll see all the scars.  So he was relieved when Keigo seemed to drop the subject.  You should probably tell him. He also decided to work on some new analysis cases he had. 

It wasn’t even an hour later when Keigo’s order of food had arrived.  Izuku took note of the spicy chicken wings that poked out of the bag. Keigo you motherf- ”Dinner’s here Izuku!” came a loud shout from Keigo.

Izuku was indeed handed a small box of spicy chicken wings.  He sighed and sat down resuming his work. Keigo decided to sit opposite him.  “So, we have a meeting scheduled with one, and only one, Mitsuki Bakugou on Friday.” he offhandedly mentioned.

Izuku grunted in confirmation.  That gave him two days to hopefully never leave the house, never see Bakugou, and also mentally prepare himself to speak with Aunt Mitsuki.  It was a short time span but Izuku believed in himself. He opened his laptop and proceeded to find the search engine. How do I explain to someone that their son has been my long term bully? He typed in.  

The search gave him several results.  Everything from stopbullying.gov   to teenagecrush.com , which, no he did not have a crush on Bakugou Katsuki.  He was not into explosive blonds whatsoever.  Eventually he decided the internet is full of lies and deceit, so he settled on performing a self made analysis on how to approach the situation.  Step 1: Aunt Mitsuki is easily set off, greet her and pretend nothing is wrong.  All is clearly right with the world. Step 2: Offhandedly mention how you haven’t exactly been living with Inko (Aunt Mitsuki always asks how she’s doing) Step 3: Proceed to explain.  Step 4: Make a few comments about what absolute hell school is. Step 5: Explain.

Izuku looked in satisfaction at his very foolproof plan that couldn’t possibly fail.  Izuku looked at the clock, 12 am. Damn, did it really take that long to write five steps? Well, there also was the time I spent looking on the internet.  Izuku sighed, it’s not that he had insomnia, he just didn’t want to sleep.  Sleep was great, don’t get him wrong, but there was so much he could do with shortening his sleep to 3 hours.  Izuku decided he should probably finish those papers he abandoned. 

Nedzu was thrilled, to say the least.  Recently there has been an uprise of a new analyst in the hero community.  Apparently, he works specially under Hawks but does freelance work. Nedzu was very intrigued.  He had gone through and read some of the papers and reports the mystery analyst had done, and Nedzu-even if he denied it-was impressed.  There were highly detailed descriptions of quirks, quirk theory, even some basic crime scene investigations. It was no wonder Hawks fired the old guy for his new one.  

Nedzu then recalled a meeting with Tsukauchi.  They had been speaking about Toshinori’s hero time and how that would affect his teaching at UA.  The sudden call was not anticipated, but Nedzu could wait. Tsukauchi looked incredibly exasperated when the caller explained something.  Tsukauchi had replied with ‘Hawks, please tell me you do not have a child with you, that would be considered kidnapping.’  Nedzu took note that the young hero decided to call Tsukauchi, and also took note of said child being kidnaped.

An idea struck Nedzu, could this new analyst be the child Hawks took in? That would indeed be something, a young child providing such high level analytical abilities.  Nedzu was not often intrigued with humans, let alone impressed. He was however, very interested in meeting the analyst who had gained quite the reputation in under a week.

Perhaps I should set up a meeting with Hawks...

Chapter Text

Thursday came and went much quicker than Izuku would have liked.  Most of it was full of writing and theorizing, but the remaining bits were spent freaking out about Friday.  Oh god, she’s probably told my mom.  Not that Inko would care, but I really don’t want the possibility of dealing with her…   Izuku had to take numerous breaks that day to sit and stare at the wall contemplating what the hell he was supposed to say tomorrow.  

Of course he knew Uncle Marsu and Aunt Mitsuki would be kind towards him, they always were, but he really couldn’t help that feeling of dread.  What will she think if she finds out about Bakugou’s bullying?  Will she just be angry at me? Will she react like how Keigo and the detective reacted.  

Izuku removed his jacket and shirt to wash them.  He hadn’t exactly had the chance to grab any clothes in the week he’d been with Keigo.  In short, his week had been stressful. Sure, it was going on two weeks at this point, but every day was a new adventure.  Even when Izuku didn’t go anywhere. While he really did enjoy the agency work, he wanted to know how secretaries did all of this.  He could not imagine just sorting papers and checking numbers all day every day. Sure it was an okay job, but he’d prefer to actually create the things secretaries had to sort, no offence.  

Now today, Friday, Izuku had his fateful meeting with Aunt Mitsuki.  They were leaving at 12 pm, which gave him a few hours to get ready. Izuku stumbled into the kitchen and proceeded to open the fridge when an incredibly sharp and very concerned yelp sounded from behind him.  Izuku spun around to come face to face with Keigo. Shit, he’s not working at the agency today…  Fuck, he probably saw all the scars!  Izuku immediately panicked making a b-line right to the room he was residing in.  The guest room door slammed shut and the lock clicked seconds later.

Keigo had not expected to find Izuku without a shirt in the kitchen.  He also did not expect to find the kid’s entire back to be covered in more scars than some pro heros.  He did not mean to let out such a loud yelp. He did not mean to scare Izuku and have the kid run back into the guest room.  So far, Keigo’s day had plummeted, and he had a bad feeling it would get worse.  

Keigo forced himself to walk over to the guest room.  He had no idea what to even say to the kid. Hey I’m sorry I saw all of your scars that probably hold horrible traumatic memories.  He knocked on the door.  “Hey, Izuku, I’m really sorry for just now…  If you want to talk about it I’m here all day today.” 

There was a muffled grunt from the other side of the door.  Keigo sighed and returned to the kitchen, he would wait for Izuku to talk to him.  Touchy subject and all that. He eventually resided on the couch and thought about how the meeting would go.  Keigo was able to get Mrs. Bakugou to take the day off work to speak with her during school hours. Specifically during this time so that way her son would be at school during the timing of the meeting.  There were also specific instructions to not involve her son whatsoever. Not to even speak of the meeting to him, which did cause a slight panic from Mrs. Bakugou. They had to reassure her everything was fine, it wasn’t , and that there was no need to worry, there was .

Keigo sat on the couch looking through some of Izuku’s most recent cases he’d gotten assigned.  It was much simpler than what he’d been doing beforehand. Just some simple questions from other heros and agencies, the occasional in depth analysis here and there.  He then heard soft footsteps come from the hallway. He shifted his position so he could tilt his head back. In doing so he saw Izuku with a blanket draped over his shoulders heading to the living room.

Izuku eventually sat down on the armchair, practically sinking into it.  Keigo watched carefully as the pre-teen relaxed a little. “S-so… You probably w-want to know a-about the s-scars, right?” to which he nodded.

Keigo sat patiently as Izuku seemed to gather any courage he could find.  “I… We talked a-about B-bakugou hurting me y-yesterday… W-well, it would s-sometimes get o-out of hand and h-he would burn me p-pretty badly.  I only got f-four scars from him… The r-rest are f-from everyone else…” Izuku explained.

Keigo carefully contemplated how to go about this.  He could either A: freak out and burn everyone who has ever wronged Izuku, or B: take this civilly and act mature.

He quickly decided on option A.  “Alright, I’m murdering a bunch of people and no one can stop me.”

Izuku blanched at that, “Keigo no! That’s against the law! Plus we have to meet up with Aunt Mitsuki today!” he complained to the hero.

That got Keigo to pause, “Aunt Mitsuki?” he grinned playfully.

Izuku groaned in frustration.  Sure he was semi-ready to speak to Aunt Mitsuki, but the drive over to her house was incredibly silent, and incredibly stressful.  Izuku’s nerves all began to build up as the car arrived. When it came to a full stop Izuku had to force his legs to move out of the car.  

Keigo noticed and gave Izuku a reassuring smile.  The two headed up to the front door step where Keigo rang the doorbell. Izuku didn’t hear a noise when Keigo pressed the button so he wondered if it didn-”IZUKU!” a loud voice rang out as the door flew open.

Izuku was immediately enveloped in Mitsuki’s arms as she squeezed him.  Mitsuki quickly released him and supn to Keigo. “So, you’re the person who’s been taking care of Izuku lately?” to which Keigo could only nod.

The two were quickly ushered into the house and sat down in the dining room.  Mitsuki sat herself down in a chair and looked between the two. She let out a long, heartfelt sigh, “so Izuku, care to explain why you didn’t show up to school for almost two goddamn weeks?” she questioned, eyes narrowing.

“W-well Auntie, I actually.. Uh.  I r-ran away.” he put out.

Mitsuki blinked, once, then twice.  “You ran away?”

The words were soft and caring, a lot more than what Izuku had originally expected upon entering the household.  “Y-yes Auntie…” Izuku trailed off.

Mitsuki liked to think that she knew Inko very well.  She and Inko grew up side by side since they were toddlers.  Sure they got into the usual childhood fuckery, but that was expected.  When they both had kids, Mitsuki and Inko were still like sisters. They shared everything about the two brats.  Mitsuki had also expressed her concerns about Inko’s deadbeat husband who she claimed to have done a runner as soon as she got pregnant.  

Mitsuki found that hard to believe as Hisashi Midoriya was a loyal man with a stable income.  She really never saw why or how the man could possibly betray Inko like that. She vividly remembered her remark upon finding out, ‘that son of a bitch, I’m going to flay his corpse six ways from Sunday if his ass doesn't show back up to support you and the lil fucker.’ she remembered Inko laughing softly reminding Mitsuki to watch her language around the kids.  Did she? Hell no.

Many things changed when Izuku and Kastuki turned four though.  Katsuki had gotten his quirk a few days before his birthday, explosions, of all the things the world could’ve cursed her with.  She noticed how Inko grew increasingly worried as Izuku’s birthday grew closer and there was still no sign of a quirk appearing. 

Then the doctors visit happened.  Inko had taken Izuku to the doctor to see if he was a late bloomer or not.  To her dismay, Inko called later that night in a crying fit that Izuku was quirkless.  Mitsuki simply didn’t understand. Why the fuck is Inko crying to me like her child just fucking died?  Izuku was fine, so what if the brat didn’t have a quirk.  Izuku had an incredibly fearful determination, which Mitsuki assumed he got from his father, as Inko did not express that kind of confidence.  

Another thing she noticed was that Izuku looked a lot like his father.  While you wouldn’t be able to tell at first glance as most people found Izuku and Inko to look similar, Izuku had very curly hair that displayed deep green colors, almost black, like Hisashi.  He had freckles that were scattered across his face, and lengthy limbs, just like Hisashi. 

It was during this tough time that Inko began to speak to Mitsuki less and less.  Mitsuki kept questioning whether or not Izuku still wanted to be a hero, only to get subtle subject changes away from the topic of the conversation.  She also questioned whether or not Izuku was doing okay at school, to which her own brat would always find that Deku was doing good or Deku was still alive.  She had a good Idea that the nickname was given to Izuku by Katsuki.  She didn’t like it though, so she sat Katsuki down and explained to him that calling Izuku Deku was not okay.  

Mitsuki had even gone straight to the school, demanding answers.  She had seen Izuku limping home one day with a bruise on his arm and a limp when he walked.  She had just missed him as Izuku entered his house. I’ll call Inko later to make sure he’s okay… But when she called she simply got a ‘ yes Izuku is fine, he’s just hiding in his room again.’ The response was uncalled for and so uncaring Mitsuki noticed.  So she then went to her brat again and asked if Izuku was okay at school.  ‘ Yeah hag, Deku’s been doing just fine.’ Mitsuki yet again got a careless remark.  Finally, she stormed into the principal’s office demanding answers.

She did not get them.

Mistuki had driven herself straight to Aldera and marched right into the principal's office.  The principal looked slightly surprised to see her but gave her a warm welcome and offered her a chair.  She listened very closely as the principal seemed to go on and on about Katsuki, and how great he was, how great his quirk was.  No wonder the damn brat comes home with such an inflated ego. She offhandedly thought.

She listened for a good minute as the principal spoke about her son, only to then send the conversation into a total 180.  ‘ Actually, I came here to talk about Izuku Midoriya.  I want to make sure he’s doing alright.’ It seemed completely innocent, and Mistuki just wanted to prove her theory wrong.  Maybe everything was fine and she was overreacting about the whole thing.

The principal tensed, but quickly regained himself calling Izuku to the office.  Sure enough, Izuku arrived not even two minutes later completely unharmed and undamaged.  Izuku did look scared to enter the principal’s office, but that was to be expected of him.  ‘ Hey kiddo, just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay at school.’ she had told him ruffling his hair. ‘ You have a good day now alright?’ she had told him before thanking the principal and leaving the school.

Looking back now Mitsuki realized she really should have dug deeper into the situation, because not too long after that, Katsuki came home complaining how Izuku hadn’t shown up to school the entire week.

Keigo watched as the woman in front of him seemed to come to a quick realization as to why Izuku ran away. “Has Inko ever laid her hands on you Izuku?” Mitsuki asked with such a fury in her eyes, even seasoned villains would tremble.

Keigo deeply inhaled and prayed for whatever soul would suffer Mitsuki’s wrath.  Izuku however, seemed accustomed to this. “No, Auntie, she just forgot I was there sometimes.”

Mitsuki did not relax at the comment, however, she did continue to press further.  “What about at school, has anyone ever hurt you at school?” 

Keigo saw how Izuku quickly tensed up, and that was all the confirmation that Mitsuki needed.  The woman let out a low growl as she rubbed her temple. “Tell me who, I need to know exactly who hurt you, Izuku.”  

Keigo had many fears in the world, while not as many as most, he’s pretty sure even All Might would tremble beneath a deadly Bakugou Mitsuki.  Izuku frowned and shook his head a little bit. “If it’s o-okay Auntie, I-I would r-rather refrain from a-answering t-that.” Izuku replied with a shaky voice.

Keigo knew today was going to be horrible from the beginning of it.  That did not stop him from learning two things. 1: Mitsuki Bakugou was a force of nature you should never upset and 2? Mitsuki Bakugou was not a stupid person.  She got exactly what she wanted to know by any means necessary, and right now, Keigo wished he never had to learn those things in the first place. Mitsuki placed her hands on the table in a surprisingly calm manner.  She let out a sweet sigh before speaking. “Izuku fucking Midoriya, I sweat to every deity that any one ever fucking believed in, I will personally beat his ass if he did what I think he did to you.” she stated with such a low voice Keigo swore he heard the Earth shake in fear.

Izuku frowned and slumped farther into his chair.  “R-really Auntie, Kach… Bakugou wasn’t the worst of t-them.  H-he only l-left a few scars, and none of t-them w-were as bad as w-when I got b-beat up in the c-corner of the c-classroom that one day.” he said with a wobbly smile.  As if either one of them knew that he got beaten up in the classroom.

Mistuki let out an ear piercing screech and erupted.  “YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU GOT BEAT UP IN THE MIDDLE OF A CLASSROOM! WHERE THE HELL WAS THE TEACHER?” 

“In the c-classroom.”

“Holy fucking shit, the teachers let that happen.” she reverted back to the original tone she had been using.

“Yes.”

“The principal knew, didn’t he.”

“Yes.”

“What about Inko? Did Inko know?”

“I tried to tell her about it once but she didn’t do anything, told me I was being a baby.” Izuku mumbled.

Mitsuki leaned back into her chair.  “I can’t fucking believe this. I… What do I even do?  Izuku, honey, I am so sorry for all of the shit you put up with.” she said softly to the greenette who had tears forming.

Keigo fully agreed, no one deserved to be treated like that.  Keigo wouldn’t wish that kind of torture on his worst enemies.  “If I may, Mrs. Bakugo-” he was cut off by Mitsuki.

“Kid, you have every right to call me Mitsuki here, you took Izuku in and cared for him when no one else would, so stop acting so formal.” she smiled briefly.

Keigo nodded and continued.  “If I may, Mitsuki, I believe that we should shut Aldera schools down for severe quirk discrimination, discrimination against it’s students in general, severe lack of a bullying policy, and so on.” he said as formally as his eighteen-year-old brain could muster.  

Mitsuki simply looked away from the table before returning to Keigo.  “What about my son, you can’t expect me to let this slide, nor should you for that matter!” she growled.

Keigo sighed.  “In the end, a lot of it is up to Izuku.  He could press charges if he wanted too, or he could likely get every single person in Aldera sent straight to prison.” he replied.

Izuku flinched.  “Why would I send them to prison?”

Keigo frowned, as did Mitsuki.  “Izuku, they abused you in what was supposed to be a safe space for you.  Not a single one of these people is getting off with a clean record.” Keigo grumbled.

Izuku had tears spewing from his eyes, I can’t believe that they would do all that for me. “Of course we would Izuku.” came Aunt Mitsuki’s voice.

Izuku frowned through the tears, gotta stop saying everything out loud.   Izuku honestly felt like he was in the twilight zone.  “I-I don’t w-want to r-ruin B-bakugou’s c-chances” hic, ”of being a hero c-completely.” Izuku decided after a while.

Keigo looked furious at that.   Izuku had a gut feeling that Keigo was considering things no eighteen-year old should consider.  “What I t-think we s-should do it p-put marks on his r-record. B-bullying and harassment m-marks.  C-community service c-could also be one of t-them. I also t-think he s-should get s-severe a-anger management t-therapy.” Izuku came up with.

Mitsuki sighed and Keigo quirked an eyebrow.  “Are you sure that is all you want to do?” Mitsuki asked, hinting slightly that she thought that was a tame answer.

Keigo spoke next. “I think he should be blacklisted from every hero school in the country.” 

Izuku jerked backwards. “No! We can’t just e-eliminate his c-chances completely!” he cried.

Keigo really did want to know that in god's name Izuku was thinking, specifically because, what kind of bull headed person does it take to keep giving their abuser a second chance?  He wanted to know, like genuinely.  Anyone else would have a restraining order and the person thrown into jail, but noooo. Izuku had to be an actual saint with the smarts to take over the goddamn world.  

Keigo glared at Izuku.  “Well, we can’t just keep giving him chances to make the same mistakes Izuku!  If he has done this shit his entire life, who’s to say he won’t do it again?” 

“I-if we put s-s-something on the l-line that he truly cares about, h-he will learn to be better.  If we just t-take it away without even t-telling him he was w-wrong in the first place, who’s to say he w-won’t become a v-villain?” the words seemed to physically hurt Izuku.

“He will know exactly what he’s done.  That’s what convicting people is for. You don’t see ANY other case out here where the attempted murder gets off without a sentence!” Keigo snapped back.

“N-no, but s-some of t-them g-get parole!  E-even then, h-he didn’t t-try to m-murder me!” Izuku cried with tears streaking his cheeks.

“FINE!” Keigo finalized with his hand flying up in the air.  “If he leaves so much as a scratch on you Izuku I will not hesitate to lock his ass up for a long time.” he growled.

Mitsuki coughed from the corner.  The two looked at her suddenly remembering her existence.  “Sorry.” they both mumbled.

Keigo herd Mitsuki let out a long, but caring sigh.  “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you two were brothers.” she laughed a little, “However, I do agree with Hawks to a degree Izuku.  You can’t just let him off with such a tame punishment. If what I think he did is correct, then Katsuki needs severe punishment, and he needs to turn his life around if he wants to get into any high school, period.” 

Izuku mutely nodded and sat back in his seat.   Mitsuki went on, “While I think it’s a good idea to do all of the things you suggested, a form of supervision for a period of time would be desperately needed.  Think of it like parole, just without the prior sentencing.” she suggested.

Keigo knew that there were many rehabilitation programs out there for villains, but how many were like that for minors who sparkly clean records because of the shit school they come from?  He sighed and looked over at Izuku who seemed distraught about the entire situation. “Well Mitsuki, I think we can arrange an agreement later. Right now we have to worry about removing Izuku from Midoriya Inko’s custody before we can really do anything else.” he smiled.

Mitsuki hummed.  “Well, if you need me to provide anything I’ve known Inko my whole life, and I’ll be damned if I let him go back somewhere unsafe.” she grinned.

Keigo returned her smile and stood up.  “Alright Izuku, we should head out.” he said lightly tapping Izuku’s shoulder.

The duo headed for the door and Izuku was the first person out.  Keigo was about to leave when Mitsuki held him back. “Hey, thank you for all your doing for him.” she smiled sadly. “I’ll be sure to inform my husband of the situation to see if he can do anything to help with his current situation.” she said before waving him goodbye.

Keigo promptly began the walk down the pathway.  “Hurry up! I thought hawks were supposed to be fast!” Izuku shouted from the end of the path.

Keigo smiled and picked up his pace, heading towards the city streets.

Chapter Text

Izuku knew that he would have to speak to his mother at some point.  That didn’t mean he wanted to though… It would be strange, getting to see how his mother spoke of him to others. He honestly didn’t know.  His mother was always gone, never home. Never looked at him, not even a glance. Sure at one point it saddened Izuku, but now it was just reality.  

One thing was certain, he would not be returning to that house .  He would go back to his home, because home was where family was.  Izuku knew Inko was not family. Family cared about you and supported you.  Uncle Marsu and Aunt Mitsuki were family, Keigo was family. Izuku had learned a lot over the past week and a half.  He learned that people were kind, people cared.  

Izuku had been following behind Keigo, and they were heading back to the police department.  He couldn’t help but smile, Keigo is going to request a formal look into Inko.  He’s going to get me away from her, away from them. Technically, Izuku should be in school right now, but he didn’t think that he’d be returning for quite some time.  

Upon arriving at the police department, the receptionist looked up and smiled at them.  “Detective Tsukauchi is down the hall in interrogation room 2 with Midoriya Inko.” 

Keigo thanked the lady and Izuku held his breath.  I am not ready for this.  I am not ready to speak to my mother, let alone discuss the neglect she put me through. Izuku stopped when a bold 2 caught his eye.  They had arrived at the interrogation room.

Tsukauchi Naomasa had been interrogating Midoriya Inko for the past half hour.   He was getting no good answers.  None to actually use against her in the court of law.  He sighed. “Alright Mrs. Midoriya, you’ve said multiple times that Midoriya Izuku would never run away from home.  However, we got a call from a Bakugou Mitsuki claiming that he hadn’t shown up to school in a week. No calls to the school, no work collected.  Like he just disappeared one day. Care to explain where he was then?” 

One thing Naomasa had found out about Midoriya Inko was that, unlike her son, she could lie flawlessly.  It was a truly stunning talent as his quirk registered lies for everything that he so desperately wanted to believe was true.  She would go on these little rants about how good he was at everything. ‘ Oh, you should see his grades in school.  Top of his class.’ Lady, no one cares about his grades, not when you have a case building against you.

Luckily for him, Hawks decided now would be a good time to knock on the door.  Naomasa welcomed Hawks into the room and Mrs. Midoriya looked baffled, but still held a strong smile.  “Now Mrs. Midoriya, going back to the question you failed to answer, Bakugou Mitsuki reported Midoriya Izuku missing after him not showing up to school for a week. ” 

Mrs. Midoriya gasped a little.  “Oh, well I’m sure it’s just teenage rebellion, you know?  Boys will be boys.” she chuckled.

Naomasa sighed.  No, he did not in fact know why skipping school for a week straight was just boys being boys.  He himself would be far more concerned than what Mrs. Midoriya was showing. The woman seemed to hold such a bright personality, he understood why people would see her as a good mother, but what kind of mother forgets their child? 

Naomasa frowned and looked at the notepad.  “Mrs. Midoriya, are you aware of the abuse your son endures during school hours?” he asked, causing quite the reaction from the woman.

“W-what?  That couldn’t be right, Izuku always talks about all his friends from school!” she smiled.

Lie

Naomasa wanted to flip this lady over the table.  Apparently so did Hawks, who sat patiently in the corner of the room.  He silently prayed for a fresh batch of coffee after this. Lord knows how much he’ll need it.  “Mrs. Midoriya, my quirk is ‘Lie Detector,’ and it appears you have lied.” he frowned at the woman.

Keigo did not think he was mature whatsoever, but right now in this room, he was the most goddamn mature adult you’d find on this side of the planet.  He had listened as Midoriya and Tsukauchi spoke back and forth. He was very aware that Midoriya should have at least a little insight as to the abuse at school.  Izuku said so himself, stating that Midoriya told him to stop being such a baby.  

It took so much willpower to not throw hands right then and there.  The audacity this woman had, to sit there, in front of the detective with a lie detecting quirk, and tell him she did not know.  That Izuku had not once told her about the horrible things he lived through. It offended Keigo, really, it did. To think he had spent the last week and a half with Izuku and not know at least a little about him.  The woman didn’t even react when the detective told her about his quirk. Keigo sighed, perhaps he should intervene.

“Midoriya, I found your son roaming the streets at 11 o’clock at night.  He has been staying with me ever since. During that time I also discovered your son had scars from his own classmates.  So please explain how you had no clue, whatsoever, as to what he suffered through.” Keigo growled, gripping the armrests of the chair.

“Who are you and what right do you have to even begin speaking to me like tha-”

Hawks grabbed his wallet, I love this part, he grinned.  “Number 9 hero Hawks, Mrs. Midoriya.” 

Inko Midoriya quickly snapped her mouth shut, clearly she saw herself in a bad situation.  “What was the question again?” she asked more meekly this time.

Keigo smirked in satisfaction.  He knew it was rather unprofessional to grin as people were being interrogated in front of you, but let him have a little fun.  Tsukauchi quickly took back over the investigation, also seeming to notice that Midoriya had realized she had no power here. “Now, Mrs. Midoriya, is it true you have failed to provide your son with proper support over the last eight years?” he asked as his eyes met hers.

Midoriya faltered and paled a little.  “I have given him everything he needs to survive, I hardly see how I failed as a parent detective.” she spat out venomously.

“Survive being the key word here Mrs. Midoriya.  A child needs love and support from a parental figure in their life, not just basic necessities.” Tsukauchi sighed.

Keigo watched, truly bewildered at the woman.  How the fuck do people think like this? He growled to himself.  Tsukauchi carried on, “Mrs. Midoriya, I believe that you fail to see what you are doing here is classified as neglecting your child.  There are serious consequences for such things, you know.” 

“It is not my fault he ended up quirkless.” she suddenly spit out.

Keigo flinched a little.  He did not expect this woman to down right admit she believed something was wrong with her son.  Which was false, Izuku is a blessing upon this Earth you devil woman. It appeared that was not all Midoriya had to say though.  “He didn’t provide anything, he’s the reason my husband left me, and he has been spoiled since the day he was diagnosed.  You think it’s easy being a single mother? A single mother with a quirkle-”

“I’m going to stop you right there Midoriya.” Keigo cut her off.  “Izuku has proven capable of incredible things, he is smart and kind.  You also should not blame a child for your husband ditching you.” he sneered at her.

Keigo had to recompose himself, I wish I was old enough to legally drink. He thought reminding himself he was indeed eighteen and still too young to down an entire bottle of tequila, legally at least.  He clenched his teeth and saw Midoriya’s eyes narrow at him. “You’re doing this for publicity aren’t you. You save the quirkless kid, and all of a sudden you have eyes on you.  All the fame you could want, right?” she snapped back at him.

Izuku was not supposed to be listening to what was happening, but no one told him not to.  Eh, it’ll be fine, I already know most of the shit she’ll spew.  That was mostly the case, mostly.  He had frozen when she called him Keigo’s pity case.  He wasn’t, Keigo wasn’t like that.  Keigo wasn’t like them…. Right? Izuku had to list off every good thing Keigo had done in the past week and a half.  It was a really long list. He tuned back into the audio, “zuku is most certainly not, and never will be a pity case.  I think you lack the proper brain to realize that he has more potential than most heroics students right now!” Keigo had shouted.

Izuku felt touched, Keigo did not consider him a pity case.  Thank god for that, I don’t think I could stand another betrayal.  He sighed slumping in the chair.   The bickering continued for what seemed like eons, eventually he heard the words he’d been waiting to hear his entire life.

“Midoriya Inko, under the hero commission child safety laws, if a pro hero deems a home unfit for a child to reside in, they have every right to remove that child from said home.  Midoriya Izuku will no longer be in your custody as declared by number 9 hero, Hawks.” Tsukauchi finalized.  

Izuku had never felt more free in his life.

Chapter Text

Inko did not put up a fight when signing over custody of Izuku.  Originally, Tsukauchi was just going to send Izuku to a foster home, it was typical with cases like this.  He had no family to take him, dad was seemingly non-existent, no family that could take him in, and they were not sending him into Mitsuki’s custody while Katsuki was there.  Izuku could only look back and forth as the ‘adults’ talked, meaning Tsukauchi had stepped out of the room to speak with Keigo.

Izuku sighed, he missed his notebook.  He missed his computer and doing absolutely nothing but work for an entire day.  This was boring, he needed something to do. He looked around the room where there appeared to be relatively nothing, then, he found the cameras.  Oh, that could be fun.

Naomasa had stepped out of the room to discuss Izuku’s options.  Midoriya Inko had willingly given up custody of Izuku, so…  What do we do with him now?  Based on the looks of it, Hawks already had several options layed out.  “So, typically with a situation like this, we would send the kid into foster care, however, Izuku seems like a more…  Special case.” he said gesturing to Hawks.  

The hero sighed, “I do have ideas for what we could do with him. He’s been working under me for my agency lately, and I am a legal adult.” 

Naomasa paused, taking in the information.  “He’s been working for you?”

Hawks nodded. “Really good at his job too, been doing the analysis since the other guy got fired.”

“He’s been the one sending in all those reports?” Naomasa blanched.

Hawks nodded.  “I it really just kinda happened, he let me read some of his notebooks.  Kid’s been doing it as a freelance and has recently opened up to other agencies.”

Naomasa did know about the new analyzer that had just appeared, and had a quick rise to popularity with Hawks backing them up.  Now knowing that it was a twelve-year-old kid was a whole new thing.  Sure, professional analyzers were good at their jobs, but the kid was a whole new level of talented.  He was quick, efficient, and had charged lower than the average analyzer.  The kid was twelve and doing better than a professional.  Naomasa let that sink in for a minute.

He blinked back to reality.  “What did you say about you being a legal adult?” he asked.

Hawks looked back to him, “well, because I am a legal adult I should be able to get custody.  I have a stable job-”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Naomasa sighed.  “Foster care agencies will do anything to get the kid because of your job.  Typically when you are a hero, you have a dangerous job.  Your dangerous job immediately puts the kid in an unsafe environment, not to mention you could just be doing this as a publicity stunt.” 

The young hero took in this information and frowned.  “Izuku isn’t even thirteen, so he can’t really get a say in custody choices huh…” Hawks pondered.

Naomasa nodded, it was clear Hawks could be capable of taking care of the child, but he wondered…

“What if you just adopted him?” Naomasa suggested.

Hawks paused, and then panicked a little.  “I understand that taking custody as a foster care situation is one thing, but that would mean he would stay with me permanently.  What if I do some dumb shit and end up in prison?  Somewhere where he is legally my brother and I can’t just send him somewhere safe, like back to a foster hom?  What if I somehow get caught up in some great scheme and I can’t keep him with me?  I am not permanent guardian material.” he protested.

Naomasa was conflicted.  “You have had the kid for almost two weeks, already got attached, not to mention you were very open to the idea of taking custody of him, which is just the same as adopting just adopting is more, permanent, so any foster care agency can’t just take him whenever you get so much as a scrape in the line of duty.  Also, if you only have custody, if Midoriya Inko is deemed well enough, she can take Midoriya back at any given moment, no questions asked.” 

That seemed to seal the deal.  Hawks just sighed and nodded.  “Alright, I can adopt him, if that’s the best option.” Hawks sighed.

Naomasa smiled and nodded.

Keigo sighed, sure it had barely been two weeks since he met the kid, but Izuku had quickly become a natural part in his life.  The kid had his own room basically, and it would just be a more permanent deal.  Now, how do I explain to a child that I am adopting them as my new little brother?  

Keigo opened the door to the interrogation room and found Izuku on his phone.  “What are you doing?” He questioned the latter.

Izuku’s head snapped up and he nearly dropped his phone.  “Uh… Nothing?” he smiled.

“You, are a shit liar Izuku, don’t forget that.” he deadpanned.

Izuku nodded, and glanced around the room.  “I broke i-into their s-security s-system.” he laughed meekly.

Keigo wanted to simultaneously punch the wall and curl up under a table.  “Now, why would you do that?” Keigo sighed.

Izuku just shrugged, “I got b-bored, and I needed s-something to do.” he replied simply.

“You are so damn lucky I’m adopting you.” he snapped back.

Izuku snickered then stopped.  His face blanked out, “You’re WHAT!” he all but screeched.

Keigo began laughing.  “Who’s gonna take care of your dumbass?” 

“B-but, WHY?” Izuku cried.

“What else am I gonna do?” Keigo stated obviously.

Izuku had tears coming down his face now.  Keigo panicked, shit, was this not what he wanted? Izuku dropped his phone and hugged Keigo.  “Y-your happy?”

Izuku nodded, “Y-yeah.” 

Keigo signed in relief.  “Oh, thank god.” 

Izuku snickered, tears still streaming down his face. “Phew, well, I got to patrol in an hour, so we should head back home.” Keigo laughed a little.  

Izuku nodded and they left the station for the apartment.

Keigo had left Izuku back at the house while he patrolled, I mean, it’s not like he could take a twelve-year-old on patrol.  It was a relatively slow day on his patrol route, nothing out of the ordinary.  You had one to two muggers every now and then, Jeasus people got mugged a lot.  However, one thing that did stick out was the sudden flash of fire, then it was gone.  

Keigo flew down to the alleyway that produced the flame.  He was expecting to see a villain in all honesty, it wasn’t uncommon for villains to have a fire quirk.  What he was not expecting was to see a man that was covered head to toe in scars having a fight with a house cat.  “Uh… Sir?  You seem to be struggling there…” Keigo commented trying not to laugh.

“Come-on rescuing cats is hard a fuck.” the other replied quickly.

Keigo rolled his eyes and crouched down.  “Come ‘ere kitty.” he said holding out his hand.

The calico cat looked over to Keigo, and came to him without a second thought.  The man on the other side of the alleyway looked utterly betrayed.  “Bastard cat.” he grumbled.

Keigo laughed and held the cat, stroking its fur.  “You probably have a shitty personality for a cat to reject you like that.” 

The man frowned.  “I am the nicest person on the face of the planet.” he replied.

“Sure, Jan.” Keigo smirked.

“I am not Jan.”

“Then maybe I can get a name?”

“Hell no, I don’t know you.”

“Yeah, but, you should thank your saviors atleast.”

“You didn’t save nobody.”

“I saved you from the cat.”

“It’s a cat.”

“Yet you still lost to it.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Name?”

“Dabi.”

Keigo grinned as the other realised what had happened.  Keigo had heard that name before.  Where have I heard the name Dabi… It wasn’t any hero name he’d heard of, and it was definitely not a real name.  Oh!

“Fuck.” the man, Dabi, groaned laying down on the ground.

“So, this is where vigilante work has gotten you, huh?” the hero grinned.

Dabi’s head had shot up and looked perplexed before realising who he was talking to.  “Shit…” 

Keigo merely shrugged.  “You gonna answer me?”

“Are you going to arrest me?” Dabi snapped back.

“Tempting, but I wanna know how an elusive vigilante gets into a fight with a cat.”

“Well, I’m not telling you shit.” Dabi decided.

Wow, rude much?  “Come on man. I need some excitement while I’m here.”

“Shouldn’t you return to patrol?”

“I also should be arresting you, but I’m not doing either… Currently.”

Dabi opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again.  Keigo stood up and proceeded to drop the cat on Dabi’s lap.  The cat did not run away this time.  “You’re an odd hero.”

“You’re a vigilante.” Keigo stated.

Dabi held the cat and the two sat in silence for a minute.  Keigo looked at his phone.  “Ah, well, my patrol ends soon, so I gotta get back to my house.” 

“You seem to be in a hurry.” the vigilante noted.

Keigo just nodded.  “Yeah, popular to contrary belief I have a life outside of being Hawks.” 

“Damn, if your patrol ends this early, what do you do with the rest of the time?” Dabi asked.

“If you’re so curious, I could take you to the police station and we could talk there.” Keigo suggested.

Dabi frowned.  “No, I think I’ll actually go now.” he said standing up, the cat squirming in his arms.

Keigo shrugged.  “Fair enough, if anyone asks, I’ll just say I had a run-in with a cat.” he replied.

Dabi turned around to walk away, then, “thanks for not arresting me, I guess.” 

Keigo nodded and turned around to finish his patrol, leaving the vigilante behind.

Chapter Text

Izuku had been minding his own business when Keigo burst through the door.  Izuku nearly fell off the couch.  “K-KEGIO!” he screamed.

Keigo immediately groaned upon entering the living room.  “You would not believe the patrol I just had.” he groaned.  

“O-oh?” was all Izuku could reply.  

Keigo nodded, “Remember the vigilante I told you a while back with blue flames?  If not I did, but I ran into him on patrol.” 

Izuku nodded and gestured for him to continue. “WELL!  I came across an alleyway that had previously gone up in flames and found the guy in a fight with a CAT!”  he laughed.  “It was so bizarre, to find a vigilante that is so hard to catch, fighting a cat.” Keigo weezed.

Izuku just nodded.  “You let h-him go,” he concluded.

Keigo laughed awkwardly. “I mean, he didn’t seem like a bad guy.  Just a little misguided.

Izuku stared straight into Keigo’s eyes. “W-what you mean to say is you t-thought he was h-hot and decided y-you didn’t want h-him in prison.”

Keigo blanched through one of the couch pillows at Izuku’s head.  “Brat! I did not, and I tried very hard to get him to the police station!”

“Yes, b-because he is currently in c-custody.” Izuku snickered, dodging the pillow.

“No! He was very hard to catch!”

“He was fighting a c-cat in an a-alleyway!” Izuku was laughing hard now.

Keigo frowned and sunk into the couch.  “I am not feeding you katsudon for the rest of the year, brat.” 

“Keigo!  You can’t deny me that!  I was stating facts!”

“Well screw you and your facts!” Keigo laughed.

Izuku pouted from his spot on the couch.  “I’m no longer doing your analysis, unlike you, I have options.” he smirked.

“Fine, you get your katsudon, and you don’t blacklist me.” he compromised.

“Okay, but why didn’t you get him into custody?  You have one of the higher capture rates among heroes.” Izuku asked.

Keigo shrugged.  “Like I said, he wasn’t a bad guy, just a little misguided.  I think he’s been doing good with his job.” 

Izuku nodded.  “You are right about that, but vigilantism is a very fine line to walk.  It’s one of the main sources of villains.  People become a vigilante then descend into villainy.”  

Keigo knew this, of course he did.  Dabi didn’t seem that way when he met him.  God how I want to believe he won't ever become a villain, but he knew that it was possible.  He knew he could’ve just let a villain go.  He looked down guiltily.

Izuku sighed.  “I’m sure it’ll be fine.  If he’s as great as you say he is, then you must have incredibly low standards.”

Keigo sighes, “I get it, I made a stupid decision, what have you done while I’ve been gone?” 

Izuku grinned maddly.  “I have managed to hack into UA.” 

“YOU SAID I DID SOMETHING BAD!” Keigo screamed.

“I’m kidding, I don’t have those kinds of abilities.  I did however get an email from UA…” he responded.

Keigo honestly wished Izuku had hacked into UA, “Why did UA email you?”

Izuku shrugged.  “Not me specifically but Nedzu wanted to speak to my online unnamed persona in person.”  

Keigo really wanted to pass out right then and there.  “Nedzu, wanted to meet with your online persona, because of the week you have had to gain reputation in the hero community?” 

“Yes.”

“Are you going to meet with him?”

“Of course!  We have a meeting at a cafe next week,on Saturday.” Izuku happily responded.

“So, how do you know it’s actually Nedzu?” Keigo asked, sue him he was concerned.

“Well, I don’t and it is super sketchy, but you have find my phone on your phone so if I do end up being kidnaped then you will be able to find my last known location.” Izuku smiled.

Keigo sighed, this kid.   “What time is the meeting?” 

“Supposed to be at noon.” he responded.

“Okay, I have patrol that day so I can get someone else to drop you off.” Keigo told him.

Izuku noded.  “I didn’t even know you had friends.” 

“Of course I have… Friends, just not typical friends.  They're acquaintances who are heros, and I have met with them a few times.” Keigo gave in.

Izuku smirked.  “Alright, you go have one of your ‘friends’ come pick me up, definitely won't die then.”

Keigo groaned.  “Oh my god, I’m having Best Jeanist do your hair if you keep this up.” 

“Please do, I would love to see Best Jeanist lose his temper.” Izuku laughed.

“Izuku, I am murdering you in your sleep.” he threatened.

“Yes please, I welcome death with open arms.” 

“You are way too young to have any teenage angst.”

“I have been forced to grow up a little faster than other kids, so please forgive me.” Izuku snaped.

Keigo shut his mouth right there.  “Shit, sorry for bringing that up.”

“S’fine, I just got mad, sorry.” Izuku apologised.

“You shouldn’t apologise for the shit people you had growing up.” Keigo reminded him.

Izuku nodded and resumed his work.  Keigo frowned, “you know you could probably make some friends if you actually got outside.” 

“Yes, because everyone flocks to befriend the quirkless kid.” Izuku deadpanned.

“I’m just saying that there are people in similar situations.  I remember this one kid from my class at Shiketsu was told they had a useless quirk, and was able to force the truth out of people.  She is a great underground hero now.” Keigo said.

Izuku took note of that.  “Fine, I bet 1,000 yen that I will walk around the city tomorrow and find no one my age willing to even speak to me after learning I’m quirkless.” he held out his hand.

Keigo immediately took it. “I however, bet 3,000 yen that you will at least make an acquaintance.” he grinned, shaking it.

“So… This means I have to take a break from my work…” Izuku looked over at his ‘desk.’

“Oh my god, why do you think I’m having you do this?  You’re twelve, you shouldn’t focus your entire life around a freelance job that you don’t even actually do half the time.  You sit there and analyse everything, and you need a break.”  Keigo lectured him.

“Wow, okay mom. Gonna set a bedtime now?” Izuku asked.

“Yes, in fact your bedtime is right now and you will spend the entire day tomorrow outdoors, getting sunlight. ” Keigo emphasized.

Izuku frowned and trotted off to the guest room in defeat.  Shit, we still gotta collect his stuff from his mom’s house. Keigo thought.

Izuku woke up early that morning, earlier than he would’ve liked.  It was currently six, and he had started a pot of coffee.  Keigo usually got up earlier than this but today he was not.  Izuku wondered if he just wanted to make sure he actually ended up leaving the house.  

Sure enough Keigo soon had left his room in his hero outfit.  “You gonna patrol all day today?” he asked.

Keigo nodded.  “Gotta make sure the city isn't being overrun by villains ‘n such.” he yawned tiredly.

Izuku leaned against the counter watching the coffee pour into the pot.  “You really didn’t have enough money to get one of those fancy ones where you put the tiny cups in?” he asked Keigo.

Keigo stuck out his tongue.  “I did, but they are always so watered down.  I like my coffee stronger than All Might.” 

Izuku chuckled and poured the coffee.  “So, I guess I have to leave the house today…” he frowned.

Keigo lightly pushed him.  “Of course, you’re gonna go and make friends!” He enthusiastically encouraged Izuku.

Izuku suppressed the urge to sigh. “All I have to do is find one person to tolerate me.  Keigo, I haven’t found one person who tolerates me in twelve years of living.”

“That is a lie, and I am offended.” Keigo gasped.

Izuku rolled his eyes.  “It’s different.”

“How so?” Keigo inquired. 

“Well, you're basically my older brother, especially now, you’re not like all the kids my age.” Izuku mumbled.

Keigo pulled Izuku into a hug.  “I’m positive that there is one person whom you will be able to befriend, if not I’m losing 3,000 yen so you better befriend the fuck outta someone by the end of the day.”

“Oh my god Keigo you’re a top ten hero, money is not a concern for you.” Izuku laughed.

“Now that you’re feeling bad, get out of the house before I kick you out.” he grinned releasing Izuku from the hug.

Izuku nodded, chugged down his coffee, and headed for the door.  As soon as the door clicked shut, it opened again.  “Keigo, I don’t have any money.” Izuku said, poking his head through the door.

Keigo sighed, and grabbed 2,000 yen.  “Here ya go brat.” he said, handing Izuku the money.

“Thank you! I’ll pay you back with the money you lose!” he shouted before running out of the door.

Izuku was walking down the street.  In all honesty it was a dumb bet.  Who the hell would want to befriend the quirkless kid?  I mean, Izuku had lost every one of the ‘friends’ by the age of four so he had a good idea of how many people would even stick around him long enough to chat.  Those people were Keigo.  Along with Aunt Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru.  

The first place Izuku decided would be a good spot to hunt for friends was the local cat cafe.  It was small but well known.  It had a large number of people during the early morning hours.  Izuku did see some people his age, but they looked rather unapproachable.  The self-proclaimed ‘ring-leader’ was a girl with bright blue hair and fully black eyes.  The second was a boy with glasses and bat-like features, including larger ears, fangs, oddly shaped nose, and god-awful eyesight.  The third, and final person, was another girl with a levitation quirk, like his mother , but much stronger.  She appeared to be floating her friends.  They were all laughing about school or something.  Izuku stopped listening after they had started talking about some, and he quotes, ‘ lameass wannabe hero. ’

Izuku had reached the front of the line where a barista stood, she had long pink hair that extended in all different places, like it was levitating .  She simply smiled at him.  “Hiya!  What can I get you today?” she asked, grabbing a pen with her hair.

Ah, so that’s her quirk.   Izuku looked at the menu.  “Can I get a Chai Latte?” he asked.

The woman nodded, “What size can I get you?” 

“Just a small.” he shrugged.

The woman grabbed a small cup and wrote down the order.  “Name?”

“Midoriya Izuku.” he responded.

“That’ll be 423 yen Midoriya.”

“Okay.” he too out one of the bills Keigo had given him.

“Your order will be out soon Midoriya.” she grinned, and Izuku handed her the money.

Izuku had sat down at a table next to one of the cats.  It was a lovely pastel calico that had been sleeping, apparently.  He looked at the cat, only to find that she had been awake with her eyelids barely open. Sneak .  He thought and looked at the collar around her neck.  Pastel , it read.  “Wow, you got some real original people naming you huh?” he laughed petting the cats head.

It wasn’t even five minutes later when his latte was brought to him by an employee.  Izuku happily took the caffeine, and proceeded to sit there next to Pastel.  “So, I made this bet with my ‘brother,’ that I couldn’t make an acquaintance by the end of the day.  I need your opinion.” he asked the cat who looked lazily up at him.

The cat meowed rubbed her cheek against his hand.  Izuku sighed, “Does he win the bet if I have become friends with a cat?” he asked the calico.

“I would assume so.” came a voice from behind Izuku.

Izuku immediately spun around and damn near decked the person behind him.  “Shit, sorry for scaring you.”  the person said, backing up a bit.

Izuku looked at a boy his age with crazy purple hair and lavender eyes.  “Holy… Don’t you have a better way to approach strangers?” he asked.

“You were just talking to a cat.” the other quipped.

Izuku rolled his eyes.  “Look, I have a bet with my ‘brother’ to see if I can make an acquaintance by the end of the day and I’m trying to avoid him winning, so you can go speak to someone worth your time.” 

“Ah, you look like you have a lot of friends though.” the boy replied.

“You look like you have a healthy sleep schedule.” Izuku deadpanned.

The boy snickered and sat down in the chair in front of him.  Damnit, Izuku groaned internally.  “This is Pastel, she’s always here whenever I come.” the boy spoke before taking a sip from his black coffee, how do you drink that?

“Pure spite.” the purple boy replied.

“I have gotta stop that.” Izuku offhandedly noted.

“Shinsou Hitoshi.” the boy held out his hand.

Izuku looked at it for a minute.  “Is this some kind of joke?” he said hesitantly.

Shinsou cocked his head to the side.  “I mean, maybe I’m trying to sell you to villains, you don’t know these kinds of things.” he said, still holding out his hand.

Izuku slowly took it.  “Izuku Midoriya…” 

Shinsou nodded, and Pastel had rolled over on her belly as Shisou pet her.

“So…” Shinsou began.

“I haven’t had a friend since I was four.” Izuku blurted out suddenly.

Shinsou slowly blinked, it almost seems as if he’s surprised… “Well, neither have I.  I’m assuming it was quirk related?” he cautiously questioned.

Izuku confirmed with the nod of his head. “Something like that.” he said slowly.

“I have a ‘ villainous’ quirk.” Shinsou said with venom in his tone.

Izuku stared at him for a long moment.  It was then that Izuku’s brain began to suddenly light up.  He has asked one question since this entire conversation began.  Usually there’s a lot more questions, even then the one he did ask he was extremely cautious about.  His voice is rough, like he doesn’t use it much.  There are also scars on his cheeks, like a muzzle was put there… He must have a verbal quirk. Izuku concluded.  “You’re staring at me.” Shinsou observed, which, no shit Sherlock.

“You have a verbal quirk.” Izuku stated suddenly.

Shinsou flinched and looked awkwardly at the other. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

Izuku understood, he really did, but goddamn curiosity got the better of him.  “You know, verbal quirks are rather hard to come by and rather effective, just look at Present Mic for example.  He is incredibly loud and he’s one of the better hero’s out there.” Izuku said, leaning forward.

Shinsou nodded, “yeah, I know.” 

“I did observe you avoided asking me any questions.” Izuku pressed a little more.

Shinsou narrowed his eyes.  “Is this how you greet everyone you meet?”

Izuku shrugged.  “I-”

His head was immediately enveloped in fog. It’s kind of relaxing .  He then realised he couldn’t move his body, this must be Shinsou’s quirk. It was quite interesting to be under such a mist, then he felt his hand move and began to pet the cat.  The fog disappeared, and Izuku was a little disappointed.  “Holy hell, you must work miracles for panic attacks.” Izuku commented immediately.

Apparently, Shinsou had not been expecting this response.  “I-you-what?” he stuttered.  “You… You’re not scared?”

Izuku realised what Shinsou was referring to when he said villainous quirk.  Wow, fuck everybody who told him that. Shinsou began laughing hard.  Izuku realised he had yet again spoken his thoughts aloud.  “You are very strange Midoriya.” 

Izuku smiled a little.  “You know, I think it’s a gift.”

Shinsou nodded, “well, I showed you my quirk, I think it’s only fair you show me yours.”

“Well, I can’t.” Izuku frowned.

Shinsou looked a little stunned by this.  “Is it a mental quirk?” 

Izuku laughed, “I wish, but no.  I’ll give you two more guesses.” 

“Uh, mutation quirk?” Shinsou tried again.

“No, sir.”

“I.... I don-oh my god.  You don’t have one do you?” Shinsou realised.

Izuku was actually really proud of him, not many people even considered that an option.  “Kudos to you, not many people think I should even exist, therefore throwing the possibility out the window.  So, that’s a nice change.” Izuku smiled brightly.

He and Shinsou had continued talking and eventually exchanged numbers.  Izuku had talked about how he lived with his ‘brother,’ and Shinsou with his adoptive dads.  Soon enough Izuku realised it was three in the afternoon.  “How have we not been kicked out yet?” he wondered.

Shinsou shrugged, but looked at his phone.  “Ah, I’ve gotta get home.  I’ll see you some other time Midoriya.” Shinsou had said before getting up to leave.

“Uh, yeah, see you later, Shinsou!” Izuku responded before getting up to leave as well.

On the way back to the apartment Izuku stopped dead in his tracks.  Welp, I just lost 1,000 yen.

Chapter Text

Upon reentering the house Izuku found no one in sight.  Ah, Keigo must be patrolling. Izuku darted to the kitchen to get some water, replaying today’s events.  He’d made one whole friend.  Izuku could only stare as that really hit him.  Oh my god, eight years…  EIGHT YEARS!  I FINALLY HAVE A FRIEND!!! Izuku grinned and pulled out his phone, he had a new message.

Chicken: u back home yet?

ye, just got back :Bush

Chicken: K, don’t commit any crimes before I get back

I make no promises. :Bush

Izuku sat down on the couch and turned on the tv, switching it to the news channel.  It was going over the hero rankings, what would come next. Yadda, yadda, Izuku looked down to his notebook.  I can gather a shit ton of information on their quirk from this… He scribbled down his observations from the clips of a rather famous hero, Miruko.  The hero was ranked at number 7, and had quite the astounding quirk. Izuku recognised her from multiple raids.  She was quite the amazing hero, when he thought about it.  Her quirk, rabbit, allowed for her to have rabbit like abilities.  Izuku scratched words down on his notebook as multiple clips of her recent take downs played.

Soon enough the channel had gone through multiple heros, Gang Orca, Best Jeanist, Endeavor, and All Might, to name a few.  He looked up as the clip cut to Keigo during one of his takedowns.  “ We now will talk about the upcoming, number eight hero, Hawks. ” the news broadcaster stated.

Izuku nearly dropped his pencil, Keigo rose up in the ranks! He watched as the two broadcasters spoke back and forth about the hero’s quick rise to fame, along with talking about how young he was.  Sure, it was well known that Hawks was an incredibly young hero, especially to have risen up the ranks as quickly as he was.  

He quickly opened up to his page on Keigo, comparing his knowledge to what the news knew.  It was kinda funny, when he looked at his notes he saw detailed descriptions of his most successful attacks, compared to his least successful attacks.  The news broadcaster was going over some of his least successful, but most flashy attacks.  Izuku hated that, they only focused on what made the hero look good, got the audience going.  He sighed, he would kill to get some broadcasters that focused on actual tactics and strategies of the hero, that would also be incredibly useful to villains if that information was handed out, Izuku’s brain reasoned.

Yes, while that was true, Izuku couldn't help but want.  Keigo burst through the door not even ten seconds later, a wicked grin on his face.  “So, I won the bet?” 

Izuku looked Keigo up and down.  “Did you follow me?” 

“No, but I happened to be passing by a nice cat cafe, you know, he seemed like a nice boy.” Keigo grinned.

“You openly admit to spying on me?”

“You never denied making a friend!” Keigo grinned.

“Stalker!”

“Come on, tell me about him!” 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes!”

“No.”

Keigo rolled his eyes.  “I will just go ask him myself then.” 

“You don’t even know where he lives.” Izuku retorted.

“You don’t know that.” Keigo responded.

It was true Izuku did not know that.  For all he knew Keigo could just abduct anyone he pleased and ask them if they had met with one Izuku Midoriya at some point between the last week.

“Fine, he was nice. Happy?” Izuku gave in and pulled 1,000 yen from his pocket.

“No, I want to hear everything!” Keigo said, taking the money.

“You’re treating this like it was a date.” he deadpanned.

“It could’ve been.” Keigo snorted.

“No. It was not, I will tell you about my day if you promise to leave me alone!” he said shoving Keigo.

Keigo sighed and let up.  Izuku proceeded to sit down, and began to talk about his day.  Keigo listened happily as Izuku went on about his day.  Eventually Izuku stopped and realised something.  “You went up in the rankings today.” 

He watched as Keigo frowned, deeply, he might add.  “Yeah, never really cared for that.” he grumbled.

Izuku nodded, “I can understand why.  They only talked about your flashy moves, which are less effective, might I add.” 

“You’ve been  analyzing my attacks?” Keigo quirked an eyebrow.

Izuku nodded and showed him the pages of his notebook.

Keigo was very happy to know Izuku had made a friend that day, but he was now reading through the notes Izuku compiled on him.  Keigo knew he was smart, because yes, there is a difference between being an idiot and being dumb.   Eventually he got to the recent pages, which were an entire psychological breakdown.  “Jesus Izuku, you’ve been with me for two weeks.  How the hell do you know all this?” 

“Well, I’ve just noticed certain things about you.  It’s something I picked up from being in school, everyone works in a certain way.  You really pick up on that…” he trailed off, “see, everyone has this certain way they think, ideals and morals.  You know?  So you find those, you find what makes them tick, what gets them angry, what doesn’t.  I have noticed after being around you for two weeks, people at my school were shitty liars.” he finalized.

Keigo laughed at that. “What makes you so sure they’re shit?”

“Because you are good at it.” Izuku replied.

He did not know how to respond to that.  Yes, he had been trained to lie flawlessly, but usually people don’t notice that.  “How are you so god-awful at lying, but you can tell when other people are lying?”

Izuku looked at him funny.  “I have no clue if people are lying or not, I just noticed you haven’t lied to me yet so I just assumed you're good at it.”

Keigo had to admit, that was some solid reasoning, even if it was very faulty.  “Maybe, I’m just the most truthful being on the face of the Earth, and you didn’t know it.” 

“Oh yes, because the number eight hero has had no reason to lie, whatsoever in his career.” Izuku snorted.

“All Might hasn’t lied.” Keigo reasoned.

“All Might, has probably lied about his entire quirk down to his very life.  No one knows his identity, where he lives, not even his favorite color.  However, All Might seems like he’d be a shitty liar.” Izuku laughed.

Keigo sighed, damn this kid. “Anyway, you have your meeting with Nedzu on Saturday, and I wanted to go over a training schedule with you!” 

Izuku groaned but gave in and followed Keigo out the door of the apartment.

The days had come and gone, rather slowly.  Izuku suffered every single day since Keigo announced training. While Keigo went on patrol, he’d have Izuku go through a list of exercises and work out routines for an hour of his day.  He had said something about easing him into a harder schedule.   At least today he would get off the hook with his meeting.  Keigo had said that he’d have one of his hero friends come pick him up, so that was what he was waiting for.  

It was 11:20 when a knock on the door sounded.  Izuku got himself off the couch to peek through the peephole.  He peered through and, holy shit, that’s Miruko.  Izuku caught himself fanboying before the hero knocked again.  Izuku quickly opened the door, still a little starstruck.  “Ah, you’re the boy Takami was talking about.” she quickly observed him.

“Y-yes, that’d be me, miss…” he looked up at her.

She snorted and held out her hand, “Rumi Usagiyama.”

Izuku nodded and took it. “Midoriya Izuku, I thought you didn’t work with any other heroes?” 

“Having one dumbass that I owe a favor is very different from working with them.” she growled a little.

Izuku nodded.  “Alright, well, thank you for taking me.  Although I would’ve been fine with walking on my own.”

Usagiyama frowned at that.  “I’ve heard quite the earful from brid boy, and completely agree letting a twelve year old meet someone claiming to be Nedzu , is incredibly sketchy.” 

“In all fairness, he does not know I am twelve.” Izuku smiled.

Usagiyama sighed, “Come on kid, I don’t have all day.” she said leading him out of the apartment to her car.

On the way there, Izuku couldn’t help but ask questions.  “So, if you are like a rabbit, do you have vision like one? I mean, Iwouldassumenotbecauserabbitsaren’tpredatorsandhumans-”

“Woah, kid. That’s a lot of words right there.  No, I do not have rabbit vision.  That would suck.” she laughed a little.

Izuku nodded, and Usagiyama looked at him.  “I get you’re supposed to be the shit but like, what do you even do?” 

Izuku did feel a little offended, but not hurt.  “I just do analysis.  I’m working on other things but that would be the main one.” 

“That’s it?” she blinked. “Must be one hell of an analyzer then?” 

Izuku nodded, “that’s what everyone keeps telling me.” 

“Well, you’ve got Nedzu’s attention, supposedly .  Even if he is the real deal, that is no small feat.” she said approvingly.

Izuku nodded again and looked out the window of the car, they were approaching the cafe where he was supposed to meet… Someone. He was indeed happily surprised to get a ping from his phone along with the sight of the principal in one of the booths by the window.  “Holy shit, well damn.  Good luck kid, you have Takami’s number if you end up dying.” she smirked, unlocking the doors to let Izuku out. 

Izuku thanked her and looked at his phone.

Unknown: Good to see you made it safely, although you are younger than I originally imagined.

Izuku pocketed his phone and opened the door.  It was a rather slow day in the cafe, and there didn’t seem to be anyone noticing the rodent(?).  Must be because he isn’t widely known, even as the principal of UA… Izuku made eye contact with Nedzu and sat down opposite him in the booth. The principal smiled.  “What am I? A bear? A mouse? A dog? What matters is I am the principal, and you.” he paused for effect, “have caught my attention.” he held out a paw.

Izuku shook it, “Izuku Midoriya, sir.” 

Nedzu nodded, and took a sip of the tea he was holding.  “Now, I assume you have no clue as to why I’m here?” 

Izuku nodded, Nedzu continued. “Well, I am not one to take interest in humans, as you may or may not know.  However, just a week and a half ago, a mystery analyzer appeared on scene.  Producing quite astounding reports and breakdowns in what I may find in a rather, effortless manner.” 

Izuku hummed, fidgeting the napsack he’d brought with him. “Now, I understand these are less than… Desirable meeting arrangements, but I do have a proposition for you, we’ll get into that later.  For now, I’d like to see if you have any of your reports on hand?” Nedzu asked.

Izuku quickly reached into the napsack and pulled out one of his completed notebooks. It was number 15, in the two weeks he’d been at Keigo’s, he’d had enough time to fill up one more, going on second.  It was incredible how much information he’d been taking in over the last two weeks.

Nedzu gratefully took the book and opened it.  Izuku watched as the rodent(?) turned the pages, absorbing all of the information.  A woman walked over and looked at Izuku.  “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked politely.

“Just water.” Izuku responded.

The woman nodded and walked away, Izuku grew increasingly worried. Nedzu had gotten through about half of it, he’s probably just glazing over it… Izuku wondered whether that was bad or good.  The woman returned with a cup of water. Izuku thanked her.

Nedzu finally looked up with a glint in his eyes that sent shivers down Izuku’s spine.  “Well, Mr. Midoriya,” he snapped the book closed. “I am rather astounded to find your reports have been holding out on your raw analysis!” he cheered.

Izuku looked at him and took a sip of his water.  “You see, most of your reports have gone above and beyond what you are asked to report, but you never said anything about breaking down their personalities, backgrounds, possible future careers, you have it all in this!” 

Izuku, for the first time ever, felt like the creature in front of him could be the soul cause of his death.  Forget everyone else, Nedzu was terrifying. Izuku wondered what that meant for him.  “Now, I still have the offer I wanted to give to you. Seeing as you still have yet to apply to any hero schools, I have my offer.  You can take it or leave it.” Nedzu smiled.

He looked at the notebook, then back to Nedzu.  “I would like to hear the offer first, sir.” 

Nedzu beamed.  “Good choice, now, I would like to personally offer you my recommendation into UA, as my personal student.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was very stunned, to say the least.  Personal student? Did I hear that right? “Yes, you did.” Nedzu smiled from his spot at the booth.  

Right then and there, if Izuku had been swallowed by the Earth, he’d probably believe that too.  “A-are you sure?” Izuku asked, because seriously, what the hell is his life at this point? 

Nedzu nodded, and handed him back the notebook.  “I think you express incredible potential that can be molded and shaped into something more… Deadly.” he grinned.

Izuku was going to pass out.  “S-sir, I’m q-quirkless…” he muttered out.

That seemed to take the principal off guard, but he had a quick recovery.  “All the more reason!  That just goes to show you’re incredible talent.” 

Holy… I… If this is a dream I hope I never wake up.  I would happily die right here.  “S-sir, I would like to take your offer.” Izuku decided.

Nedzu looked like a kid on christmas, gleefully clapping his hands together.  “Lovely! Now, I was able to obtain Hawks number so we could further discuss any future arrangements, but I assume you would like to hand him the news yourself?”  

Izuku nodded, “yes, t-that’d be n-nice.” 

“Good, now, do you have a ride home?” Nedzu asked.

Izuku shook his head, “n-no, but I only n-needed a ride here because of the… I’m fine just walking, s-sir.” 

Nedzu thought about that for a minute.  “Alright, just be sure to tell someone you actually made it back to your apartment.  You have my number if you need anything.”  he said as a waitress came around with a check.

“I’ve got the check, you get home.” Nedzu waved Izuku off.

Just like that, Izuku had left the coffee shop, and possibly cemented the next six years of his life.

Keigo had very high hopes that the meeting with Nedzu would go well, if it even is Nedzu.... He was in the middle of his patrol when his phone pinged.  Keigo landed and quickly took out his phone.

Unknown: This is Nedzu, just came to say that my chat with Mr. Midoriya went quite well.  I expect him to share the news with you later.

That’s good.  How’d you get my number?:Chicken

Unknown: A magician never reveals his secrets.

That set Keigo on edge, yes, the principal of UA is very smart, but something illegal had to have been done to get his private number.  I have twelve contacts in my phone… Well, if that isn’t just depressing…  Keigo flew off again to continue his patrol.  

The day had actually been relatively busy, a robbery occurred on a street a few blocks away.  Keigo stopped a purse snatcher, got caught up by paparazzi, quickly escaped, and stopped a mugging.  God, what I’d give to have one patrol, where nothing happens.  Like a vacation for a pro hero.  Keigo smiled at the pleasant thought.

Suddenly, there was a crash from a small record shop.  Keigo immediately went down to investigate.  Upon his landing a familiar cat ran out to greet him.  What the hell- his thoughts were cut off as another familiar face appeared.  “Little shi-fuck… You again?” groaned Dabi.

Keigo resisted the urge to start laughing.  “Wow, you really are a terrible vigilante.” he smirked.

Dabi frowned. “It is not my fault the bastard thinks you’re an actual chicken.” 

“I’m flattered, but slightly offended…” Keigo grinned, picking up the calico he had previously saved the oh so elusive vigilante.  “You know, if you don’t want to get arrested, stop running into heros.” Keigo suggested.

“Yes, because I am clearly doing this on purpose.  You are the only pro I have run into since I began doing this!” Dabi growled at the hero.

“Maybe it’s fate.” Keigo laughed.

Dabi ignored him and held out his arms, a gesture asking for his cat back.  “You know… I’m beginning to wonder if the poor girl is even safe with you.” he said, withholding the cat from Dabi.

“Brat is fine here, besides, how do you even know if it’s a girl?” Dabi protested.

Keigo snickered, “dumbass, calicos are predominantly female.  There’s like, 1% of them that actually end up male.” 

The cat twisted and purred in Keigos grasp, but not seeming to wiggle away.  Dabi just sighed in defeat.  “If I let you into the store, will you never speak to me again?”

Keigo took that as a total win and let himself inside the rather well built record shop.  “Wow, is this your house?” he asked, turning to face the vigilante.

“Fuck off, so what if it is?” Dabi replied, no malice in his voice.

“It’s nice, real homey in here ya know?” Keigo observed his surroundings. “So, Dabi , will I ever get a real name or just your fake ass stage name?” 

“Do I get your real name or just your fake ass stage name ?” Dabi glared.

Keigo wanted to see where this was going.  He sat down on an old couch in what appeared to be a lounge… He couldn’t really tell. “Well, you can call me Takami… If you want?” Keigo offered.

“Wow, you gave in surprisingly quickly.” Dabi blurted out.  “I-uh… Can’t give you my last name, or my first.  Ties me back to a lot of childhood shit I don’t feel like dealing with.  Ever.”

Keigo nodded, he had learned a lot about shitty childhoods in the last few weeks, so he could vaguely understand.  “Well, that’s okay.  I’m taking your cat though, clearly she loves me more and therefore I get custody.” Keigo said standing up with the cat.

Dabi nearly blew a fuse right then and there.  “Hell no! That’s my cat that I found in the dumpster, not you!” 

Keigo snorted and held up the calico.  “Aww, are you a dumpster kitty?”

The cat meowed happily.  Dabi let out a long sigh, “please, give me strength to not set this city ablaze.” he’d mumbled.

“I would have to arrest you for arson if you did that Dabi.” Keigo said.

“What about every other illegal thing I’ve done?” Dabi deadpanned.

“Can’t arrest you if I never saw it happen.” Hawks brushed off.

“My name is widely known at the police department, I have done plenty of illegal things!” Dabi snapped.

“They don’t have your face, they don’t have your actual name , they also do not even know where you originate from.  Where you live, nothing.  They have a quirk and a stage name.  That’s it.” Keigo reasoned.

Dabi groaned and rubbed his eyes.  “Don’t you have a patrol to be on?  Seriously, you are slacking.”  

Keigo shrugged.  “It’s been a five minute talk Dabi, however, I would like to continue this chat, outside of my patrol route?” 

“I-I don’t know what you're asking of me?” Dabi looked confused.

“Your number, so if you get yourself in deep shit you can get a helping hand.” Keigo offered.

“That is the dumbest shit I have ever herd spew out of the mouth of hero, and I’ve heard a lot of dumb shit.” Dabi growled.

“Fine, I won't extend my helping hand to you, if I find you bleeding out, I’m leaving you to die.” Keigo pouted.

“That sounds an awful lot like blackmail, Takami.” Dabi grumbled.

Keigo took out a pen and grabbed Dabi’s hand, and wrote his number down.  “Seriously though, if you get in anything way over your head, you have my number.” Keigo smiled before leaving the small record shop, leaving a vigilante with a heros phone number.

Keigo flew off and continued his patrol route, lord help him, he still had the other half of the day to continue it.  Keigo sighed helplessly, but his phone pinged.

Bush: I am safe and at the apartment.

Ah, the meeting went well I assume, I’ll be home… Eventually, we still gotta stop by your mother’s place at some point to get your stuf.:Chicken

Bush: Ah, forgot about that.

You’ve been living in two pairs of clothes and one of my t-shirts for the past two weeks, how’d you forget?:Chicken

Bush: I dunno, hvnt really bothered abt thinking bt her tbh

Keigo sighed, pocketed his phone and continued on his patrol, today has been such a long day. He internally groaned, and pursued on.  I am getting chicken for dinner. He had decided that after seeing a restaurant, which was incredibly busy for one in the afternoon.   

Keigo hadn’t had much luck on his patrol the rest of the day, so he finished, got the chicken wings, and headed to the apartment.  He had expected a rather distraught Izuku to greet him, but was pleasantly surprised by the excited aura surrounding the boy. “Well, someone had a good day.” Keigo noted.

Izuku nodded. “SoImetwithNedzutodayandhereadthroughmynotebooksandtoldmetheywerereallygoodthenofferedmeareccomendationspotatUA…”

Keigo did not catch a single word of whatever Izuku had just said. “You know that I can’t understand you when you talk faster than I fly.” he patted Izuku’s head.

Izuku stopped muttering and looked up.  “R-right…  W-well, I met with N-nedzu today.  He read t-through my notebooks and said that they were v-very good.  He also might have o-offered me a….” Izuku made the last part inaudible.

“What was that last part?”

“I got o-offered a recommendation s-spot at UA, as his personal s-student.” 

Keigo felt very light headed in that moment.  “He… Offered you a recommendation spot, as his personal student.” he repeated slowly.

“Y-yes.” Izuku confirmed.

“You said yes?” Keigo pressed his hands up to his face, breathing slowly.

“It w-was a once in a life-time opportunity! So, yes, I did s-say yes.” Izku confirmed.

Keigo felt shivers run down his back.  “Fuck, lord help us all.” he murmered.

Izuku watched as Keigo slowly removed his hands from his face, sighed, then wrapped Izuku in a hug.  “I am so happy for you.” he declared proudly. “Even if everyone here and in the next universe suffers for it.” he added after a moment.

Izuku frowned, “I d-don’t think that Nedzu will be that b-bad…” he recalled when Nedzu said something about shaping him.  Izuku’s eyes widened, ah, I’m going to die, aren’t I? Izuku let out a sigh of relief as Keigo released him from the hug.  “I got chicken wings!” he claimed holding up a bag.

“That is the second time this week…” Izuku looked at him.

“I don’t complain when you want to eat katsudon, now do I?” Keigo gently shoved him.

Izuku rolled his eyes and Keigo’s widened as he seemed to recall something.  “I ran into Dabi again today…” he started off cautiously.

Izuku really wanted to understand Keigo’s thought process because, what the hell Keigo, he’s an illegal vigilante that you have now had two chances to capture. This was one of the few times Izuku did not mumble his words aloud, which he was grateful for.  “K-keigo, a-are you trying t-to get y-yourself a-arrested?” he glared at Keigo.

“No, just… I technically haven’t seen him do anything illegal, so… I can’t really arrest him can I?” Keigo protested weakly.

“Y-you dumbass-” Keigo’s phone pinged.

Izuku ran over to it before Keigo could reach it.

Unknown: Hey, this is Dabi, thought I’d put my contact information here… Just in case.

Izuku really wanted to be furious right now, but he wasn't.  “K-keigo, you gave the vigilante y-your phone number!” he shouted, with little heat behind the words.

That did not stop Keigo from flinching back at that.  “Maybe I did, but it seems like a good idea.  For future reference.” he reasoned.

Izuku looked increadiously at Keigo.  “W-what future reference?  This is j-just tying you to assisting a vigilante, w-which is illegal!” 

“Okay, but he could be useful.” Keigo held up his hands.

“Keigo, y-you are very smart, but you are the b-biggest dumbass I have ever known.  W-what part of being in contact with a vigilante could be useful!” Izuku snapped.

Keigo’s eyes widened.  “Hero’s are very limited to what they can and can’t do, especially when they are in the top ten, like me.  He could be an informant of sorts.”

Izuku blinked, well that could be beneficial in the long run… It was a horrible idea, but maybe… Just maybe, it could work in their favor.  Izuku sighed and looked at Keigo, he handed the phone back.  “You better n-not screw this up, Keigo.” Izuku groaned, why does it feel like I’m the adult here? 

Keigo grinned like a school girl.  “I promise you, this will be a beneficial relationship!” 

Izuku sighed, and nodded.

Tomorrow had arrived slowly, but that may have been the irritation Izuku felt.  Keigo had a shorter patrol that day and when he got back, he grabbed Izuku and headed to his mother's house.  I really don’t want to go back there… I still have my dad’s notebook there! It was a valuable of Izuku’s that had been given by his father before he’d gone MIA.  He hadn’t told anyone about it, so maybe that’s why it had never been on his mind.  The notebook was shoved under a floorboard under his bed, where his mother would hopefully never look.

Keigo had been driving him there, a worried look on his face.  “You know, your stuff may not even be there when we show up.” he commented suddenly.

Izuku did know this, but he knew he needed that notebook.  “I am a-aware, but I need something I hid under the f-floorboards.” 

Keigo spared him a glance before refocusing on the road.  The rest of the drive was very quiet.  Upon arriving at the small house, there were no lights on.  “You even think she’s home?” Keigo asked him.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m going in t-through my window.  I’ll get w-what I need and get out.  It’s on the first floor, a-and I can shove most of my clothes in m-my knapsack.” he said fidgeting the knapsack he’d previously emptied.  

Keigo nodded and looked at the house, “so, she’s not home?” 

“N-no, her shift ends at n-nine and it’s only two right now…” Izuku looked at his phone.

“Okay, hurry up, I can wait in the car…” he said turning off the car.  

Izuku closed the car door and ran around to his window.  He was very shocked to see his room untouched, for three weeks, wow.  That’s impressive. Izuku slid open the window with ease, he’d snuck out many times before, Inko never cared.

Upon entering the room, he immediately headed for the dresser, grabbing as many clothes as possible, shoving them into the rather large knapsack.  After stuffing the bag full, he looked under the bed, the floorboard had not been moved.  Izuku sighed in relief, that’s good.  He shifted the board and stuck his hand into the space.  He eventually stumbled across the notebook.  Izuku eagerly pulled it out. 

He inspected it quickly then carefully opened it.  Inside the first page was a picture of a man with curly black hair, and candy red eyes.  He was tall and lengthy with freckles splashed across his face. Izuku smiled and closed the notebook, leaving the house and shutting the window carefully.

He entered the car quickly and looked at Keigo, holding up the notebook.  “Is that one of yours?” Keigo raised a brow.

Izuku shook his head.  “My fathers, it was o-one of the only things he’d left before… G-going MIA…”

Keigo suddenly recalled the interrogation on Midoriya Inko.  “Didn’t your mother say that he ditched her?” he questioned.

“Oh, t-that’s what Inko thinks… H-he just kinda disappeared one day, I got the n-notebook but Inko…  Didn't get anything but a s-small note.” Izuku laughed a little.

Keigo took in that information, so maybe his dad didn’t run off. There’s still too much I don’t know.  Keigo frowned and they headed to Aldera.  Shiiiiit. Forgot to tell Izuku we would be here today… Izuku understandably did not react well.  Keigo pulled the car over in the parking lot, and turned to Izuku.  “Hey, kid, relax.  We’re only here to test you out of school.  If anyone tries to give you shit I’ll kick their asses, got it?” he said, running a hand through Izuku’s hair.

Izuku nodded and collected himself.  “O-okay, okay.  I don’t h-have to talk to anyone.” Izuku said more or less to himself.

Keigo smiled and stepped out of the car, he assumed classes were still in session.  It was only 2:30, schools were still in for another half hour or so…  Keigo led Izuku into the school and, as luck would have it, the principal's office was right at the front.  Keigo smirked and headed in.

Needless to say, the receptionist was bewildered to see a pro hero standing in the office.  She looked up at him.  “Uh, c-can I help you sir?” she put on  a pretty smile.

Keigo was not having it.  “I would like to speak to the principal, if that’s okay with you.” he said as politely as he could.

The woman nodded and dialed the phone to her side.  “U-uh, ma’am, there’s a pro hero here to speak with you…” she cautiously said into the phone.

The woman on the other end of the line was very loud.   “Allright!  Send ‘em in.” she had said in a cocky and rather arrogant manner.

Receptionist lady simply nodded, hung up the phone and pointed to the door.  “You can head in now…” she murmured.

Keigo nodded and headed into the room, Izuku following behind him.  Receptionist lady’s eyes blew wide open when she saw Izuku, and Keigo could’t tell whether that was a good or bad thing.  

When the two took a seat, the principal looked very-irritated-upon seeing Izuku. Keigo wanted to punch her.  Nevertheless, the woman held out her hand and smiled.  “Nice to meet you Hero-san, I’m Takashi Ichika.” 

Keigo took her hand and shook it.  “Just Hawks is fine.” he glowered.

The woman was slightly tense but looked back and forth between the two.  “So, what has young De-Midoriya gotten himself into lately?” she asked carefully.

Keigo did not miss how the woman had almost called Izuku, Deku.  Keigo was not dumb, he knew very well Izuku could also be read as useless. Hell, it was one of the first things he’d noticed when reading the notebooks.  However, he did not expect the goddamn principal to be calling Izuku that. “Well you see Miss Takashi, I’m here to talk about having Izuku test out of school.”

That caught the woman off guard especially the first-name basis.  “A-are you sure Hawks-san?  I understand he has good grades and all, but that-”

Keigo held up a hand.  “I know very well what Izuku is capable of, and I know for a fact that he is more than capable to test out of middle school.”

The woman gulped and nodded.  “Well, we’re going to need his mother’s signa-” 

“Don’t bother with that.” Keigo nearly growled.

“E-excuse me?”

“Incase you didn’t know, Inko Midoriya has lost custody of her son.  Therefore he is under my guardianship, and my signature will suffice.'' he glared daggers at the woman. 

Takashi nodded and grabbed a stack of papers.  “I-if you don’t mind me a-asking, was Deku’s homelife really so bad you had to pull him from his mother?” and, hooo boy, if Keigo wasn’t on camera he would throw this lady out the mother fucking window.

“I think we both know that the name you’ve given him along with your security cameras are enough to keep you from asking any more questions, Takashi.” Keigo growled at the woman.

Apparently, that was the moment the principal caught her slip up and immediately flinched back.  “We can get that test arranged very soon Hawk-san.” she smiled weakly.

It was twenty minutes later, Izuku had completed the test with little to no effort, and turned it in.  Takashi took it and gulped, turning the Keigo.  “You should be able to remove him from the school if he’s passed the test by next week.” she held out a hand to shake.

Keigo hesitantly took it, and looked at Izuku.  “Alright, we’re heading out now.  Have a good day Miss Takashi.” Keigo growled on his way out.

The principal stood there, frightened, no doubt.  Keigo and Izuku reached the front of the school building and headed towards the car.  The bell to release the students rang, and Izuku panicked.  He immediately booked it for the car and slammed the door, what if someone saw me?  What if Bakugou saw me?  No, you got into the car fast enough.  No one saw you.

Keigo however, was laughing when he got into the car, “I didn’t know you could run so fast!” he chuckled putting the car in reverse.

The week had passed, Izuku had been chatting with Shisnou over the phone most days, talking about how shit school was for the both of them. There was also the hell that Keigo put Izuku through with the godforsaken training. Izuku was resting on the couch after a hard day. That was when Keigo appeared in the living room with a stack of mail.  “I have that letter from Aldera.” he grinned.

Izuku smirked and took it when Keigo handed it to him.  “Open it, so we can get this over with.” Keigo complained.

Izuku punched Keigo’s arm and proceeded to tear open the note.  “Izuku Midoriya has passed w-with flying colors of nearly 100%, in all departments.  Y-yadda, yadda, yadda, d-deemed the courses unfit.  More f-filler words.  We believe t-that Midoriya Izuku is able to safely be removed from s-school with a college level score on his a-assessment.”  Izuku hummed happily as he finished reading the note.

Keigo grinned and hugged Izuku tightly. “I told you so!  We’re eating katsudon tonight!” he proudly proclaimed.

Izuku could only smile happily as the note swayed helplessly in his hand.  Maybe, this is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.  If you had told Izuku a month ago he would have a pro hero as an older brother, be removed from his hell of a school, and placed on recommendations for UA, he would’ve taken you to a doctor.  Now, he had everything he could ever want, and life was great.

Chapter Text

2 years have passed. Izuku was fourteen now, just under a year away from going to highschool.  I can’t wait to get back to school… He thought, because two years of no school was incredibly boring.  Izuku mulled over everything that had happened since he’d met his brother.  He got away from his mother, got away from Bakugou, got away from his old school, and moved on.  Izuku and Keigo had developed a routine over the two years, Keigo would patrol, Izuku would either train or work. Izuku also kept in touch with Nedzu, they’d play chess together. time to time. Sometimes he’d even get to go to Keigo’s agency.  

He never got to really interact with the interns and sidekicks there, but they were nice to him.  Now that I think about it I don’t think I’ve ever introduced myself to any of them…  Oh well.   Keigo had also been hanging out with Dabi a lot, I still have yet to meet Dabi…  The same thing happened with Shinsou, but Izuku actually had the courtesy to introduce Shinsou to Keigo.  He had yet to meet Shinsou’s parents, apparently they’re teachers and are hardly home…  It was strange, but Izuku didn’t really budge on it.  He did however, offer a place to stay if Shinsou needed it, you can never be too sure.

Izuku was now sitting at the desk in the guestroom turned his room.  It was a rather slow day, and Izuku was bored.  He got up and stretched his limbs.  Maybe I should go for a walk… He looked at the time, 11:45am, I have enough time to go to that cafe over in Musutafu.  Izuku grabbed his knapsack and headed for the door.  Izuku opened his chat messages and clicked on the top contact.

Going to that one cafe in Musufatu, b back by 4 :Bush

Chicken: K, pls stay safe

Izuku smiled and pocketed his phone. He headed for the nearest train station to hopefully catch the 12:00 train.  There were news reports of All Might heading back to Japan for the time being, it was exciting for everyone.  Izuku saw a lot of people roaming the streets, perhaps on the lookout for the number 1  hero.  Izuku quickly hopped on the train, scanning his card, and found a seat in the back.

He arrived at the cafe and sat down, I could complete some more work while I’m here.   

Soon time flew by and Izuku looked at his phone, it was 3:10. He sighed and left, having previously paid a while ago.  He walked down the sidewalk, coming up on a bridge.  Izuky was startled to a stop when the sewage lid began to rattle, he stepped back.  Suddenly, the sewage lid shot off and a green sludge emerged.

Izuku quickly turned to run but was quickly blocked off by more sledge, he spun around.  “Get the hell away from me!” he shouted at the moving sludge. 

That proved quickly ineffective, as a face moved up in the sludge.  “Sit still kid, gotta hijack your body.  Should only be 45 seconds.”  the sludge grinned.

Izuku was suddenly wrapped in sludge as he kicked and screamed, it was useless against a liquid.  He flailed his arms trying to reach the villains eyes, but to no avail.  “Fear not for I am here!” a very loud voice rang out.

Suddenly, Izuku’s head hit ground and his world went black.

Only for a few seconds though, as he quickly regained consciousness, only to see All Might towering above him.  Izuku rightfully screeched and reared back.  All Might flinched back too.  “I am glad you’re okay, young man” All Might loudly proclaimed.

Izuku nodded and picked up his backpack.  “Hey, uh A-all Might, before you go… I have a question.” he began slowly as All Might’s attention focused on him.

“Allright, make it quick. I have places to be.” he said in a friendly tone, a bit rude nonetheless.

“Can a q-quirkless person be a hero?” Izuku held his breath.

All Might looked at him with pity? He couldn’t tell.  “Young man, being a hero is very dangerous, people get hurt every day.  So, no.  I do not think it is wise to become a hero.” All Might sighed.

Izuku felt a bit empty to say the least, because wow that hurt.  He didn’t flinch, didn’t cry, just simply nodded.  All Might smiled slightly, then jumped away from the bridge. Izuku fell to the ground and let out a choked breath, his throat hurt, everything hurt.  He wanted to go back home and talk to his brother.

The train station was still a ways off, and Izuku realised he should hurry up.  He quickly got up, shoving his emotions into the back of his head.  He’d deal with them later.  Upon walking down the street, he saw the same sludge that had previously been choking him.  That bitch just doesn’t give up?  Izuku thought it was dumb, seeing as the sludge was attacking people where everyone could see who he was hijacking. 

He quickly sped up to investigate.  The crowd was thick, and Izuku quickly maneuvered through it.  His eyes widened as he saw the victim of the sludge, Bakugou.  Fuck.  While Bakugou had tortured Izuku for his entire life, Izuku couldn’t let him die.  He internally groaned and jumped into the scene while heros stood by. 

Izuku launched his knapsack into the sludge villains face, shit I have my computer in there, he realised upon release.  The knapsack flew and landed in the villain's eyes, giving Izuku enough time to pull Bakugou out of the sludge.  

It wasn’t long before All Might came crashing in again, sending sludge flying everywhere, which, where the hell were you? You can jump across literal cities.  Izuku glared at the top pro.  Chaos was everywhere, cameras were pointed at Izuku and Bakugou, the heros looked ready to scold Izuku.  So, he quickly snatched his knapsack and ran. He ran and made a turn down an alley, down a road, down another alley, and finally deemed it safe.  Thank god for Keigo’s endurance training, he thought as he opened his knapsack.  

Other than the computer being dented and a little damp, Izuku should be able to transfer everything off of it.  He should probably get a new one anyrate.  His eyes drifted up to the very unfamiliar environment. Izuku groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Dabi did not think he’d find himself in Musufatu today, but he decided to go.  He was walking down the side walk when a teen flew out of an alleyway and proceeded to damn near collapse.  Dabi quickly rushed over to the kid and kneeled down. “Hey, kid, you good?”

No response, Dabi put a hand on a shoulder to shake the kid, but his hand was promptly stopped.  “Please don’t.” came a hoarse reply.

“Damn kid, you look like shit.” Dabi noted the kids' screwed up hair, hoarse voice, and deeply expressed tiredness.

The greenet shook his head and laughed.  Upon looking up at the vigilante, the kid's eyes widened.  Fuck, is he scared of me?  “H-holy shit, it’s nice to meet you Dabi.”

Dabi flinched, because as far as he was aware the police, nor public, had his face.  “How the hell do you know who I am kid?”  

“Aw, he hasn’t mentioned me in all your c-chats?” the kid grinned at him.

Dabi thought over everyone he’d talked to in the past few months, he did not recall any of them having siblings.  The kid sighed, “well, it makes s-sense, Keigo doesn’t like to s-speak about his personal life.”  

The scarred man looked at him, very confused.  I don’t even know anyone named Keigo. The kid laughed loudly and horsley this time.  “Wow, he didn’t even give you his full name!”

“Kid, I’m a vigilante, people don’t really give me their names, period.” Dabi glared.

“Not even H-hawks?” the kid wheezed.

Hawks… Takami?  He never mentioned having a brother… They don’t even look the same? “That’s a bold accusation right there kid.” Dabi growled at the teen.

“Hey, I know who you are, plus you could just text him.  T-tell him you have his plant and he’ll know what you’re talking about.” the kid suggested.

“Alright, I need a name.”

“Midoriya Izuku, Mr. Dabi, sir.” Midoriya politely introduced himself.

Dabi pulled out his phone and opened up Takami’s contact.  

Dabi: I have your shrub, he said you’d understand what that meant??

Fuck, you have Izuku?  Where is he? Tell him his ass is grounded when he shows up. :Chicken

Well, Dabi was surprised.  The kid was actually bird boy’s brother. Huh.  “Alrighty kid, I’ll take you back to my shop and Takami can pick you up.” he said, extending his hand.

Midoriya quickly took it and stood up.  “Thanks Dabi.” he grinned as he began to follow the vigilante.

Keigo was freaking out.  His shift ended at five, Izuku had been on the news, and he was now with Dabi.  That was not the introduction I imagined for the two… He groaned into his hands and his phone chimed.

Dabi: Ur brother is scaring me.  He keeps asking abt my quirk.

Keigo laughed, thank god they weren’t dead.  He typed his reply.

This is normal, good luck :Chicken

Dabi: That is so ominous wtf

Keigo chuckled and quickly pocketed his phone, glancing over the pile of paperwork he had to do.  It wasn’t as fun as patrolling, scratch that, it was hell.  Keigo sighed loudly and picked up the stack, pulling it over to himself.

Izuku was having  the time of his life right now.  He’d finally met the oh so mysterious Dabi, and was not disappointed.  Dabi seemed like a morally sound human, with actual decency.  Sue him, Izuku didn’t have very high standards.  Izuku had been asking Dabi questions about his quirk when the news channel switched subjects.  “ Just minutes ago, a middle schooler was saved by a mystery hero.  The name and quirk are still unknown, however, we do have this video clip. ”  

The tv switched to a video of him throwing his knapsack at the villain, and booking it.  Along with an angry Bakugou shouting an inaudible, but decipherable to Izuku, “ DEKU !”

Izuku looked at Dabi who was now looking him up and down, eyes widening.  “You saved that kid… Didn’t you?” he asked slowly.

“Y-yeah, I used to know him.  B-before he got his quirk.” Izuku nodded.

Dabi seemed content with that answer and didn’t ask anymore questions on the subject.  “You know, I can tell you about the quirks of the villains I’ve taken down....” he said observing Izuku’s notebook labeled, hero analysis 24.

Izuku immediately snapped his head up, attention zeroed in on Dabi. He didn’t even blink before Izuku had his pen and soggy notebook in hand.

Before the two knew it, Keigo burst through the doors of the record shop.  “Izuku, you are grounded!” was the first thing out of his mouth.

Dabi had to suppress a laugh as Izuku opened his mouth like a fish.  “You know, now that I think about it, you kinda committed vigilantism.” Dabi mentioned causing Keigo to further freak out.

Izuku rolled his eyes. “It’s not vigilantism if I don’t have a q-quirk to commit it with.” 

“What.” Dabi blinked.

“Yeah, by legal terms, vigilantism is ‘ using one's quirk without a license for personal or non-personal benefits’ so by that, I t-technically committed no crimes today.” Izuku smirked.

Keigo looked about ready to pass out.  “You…  Have been spending too much time chatting with Nedzu.” he groaned into his hands.

“Sit down then, you oversized chicken.” Izuku huffed.

Keigo did just that, finding a seat on one of the three couches in the lounge of the record shop.  “Okay, okay.  You decided that it would be a good idea to save Bakugou from the sludge, and not let the pros handle it?” 

“Being stuck in s-sludge is absolute agony, no one else should have to suffer that too, Keigo.” Izuku snapped back.

“Wha… NO ONE ELSE!” Keigo screeched.

“It’s fine! I told you, no one else.  I encountered the villain prior to that, and it was horrible.” Izuku retorted.

“No wonder your voice is so hoarse…” Dabi pondered.

“Oh my god…  Izuku, how the fuck aren’t you dead?” Keigo attempted to relax.

“Ah, yeah.  All Might saved me.  Told me I couldn’t be a hero without a quirk, then left.” Izuku stated as if it was simple math.

“He said what.” Keigo growled.

Dabi honestly felt as if he was invading something, private. The two brothers didn’t seem to mind though. That was until Midoriya spoke about what All Might said.  Dabi was pissed off.  He knew that hero society was fucked up but…  That was a bit cruel.  Takami seemed to agree, radiating a very threatening aurora.  

Midoriya had shrunken back into his chair, and was now looking at the ground.  “Izuku, no hero in their right mind should ever say shit like that to a civilian.” Takami had pressed his hand to his head.

“On the bright side, you should get into a hero school just to spite him.” Dabi offered.

Midoriya nodded and grinned.  “I’m a recommendation s-student to UA.”

Dabi would’ve spit out his water, if he’d been drinking any.  “What the hell, how?” 

“Izuku works analysis for my agency, Nedzu saw potential, the world will burn.  Nothing special.” Takami gestured to Midoriya.

“Alrighty…” Dabi slowly nodded letting that sink in.

A comfortable silence followed with that. Izuku continued to write in his notebook, Keigo mulled over the day, and Dabi went to get some soda.  “Dabi, how about you just c-come over to the apartment?” Izuku asked suddenly, causing Keigo to shoot up.

Dabi looked at the teen, then back to the teen’s brother.  “What about Takami, I highly doubt he would support this.” 

“Well, he’s been non-stop talking about you for two years a-and I want to know you a little better.  It’s a win win.” Midoriya grinned.

Takami let out a long, exasperated sigh.  “You are going to be the death of me Izuku.” he groaned.

Midoriya smiled and shot up from his seat.  “Alrighty then! I’ll s-see you at home!” he grabbed his knapsack.

“No.  You are walking with us, especially after all the shit you’ve pulled today.” Takami’s eyes narrowed.

Dabi got up, completely forgetting about the sodas.  He grabbed his phone and proceeded to follow Takami and Midoriya out the door.

Izuku was leading the way back to the house.  They’d decided to walk along the area of Dagobah beach.  It was a quiet area that people avoided due to the insane amounts of trash.  Izuku looked at the beach.  I have ten months until the recommendation exams…  I could definitely do it.  Izuku spun around and grinned madly.  Keigo lifted an eyebrow and Dabi looked confused.  “I am going to clean Dagobah over the next ten months, in order to p-prepare for UA.” he stated simply.

Dabi looked like he wanted to do a spit take, but Keigo returned his grin.  “I bet 5,000 yen you wont get through all the trash.” 

“I will!” Izuku loudly proclaimed.

“What are you going to do with all of it?” Dabi asked.

Izuku thought for a second.  “T-there is a junk yard not too far from here, I could probably get Keigo to go get a truck for me…  It’d be a b-benefit for them because they’re getting materials and I’m winning a bet.” Izuku grinned.

“Yes, but this is mostly trash.  What are you going to do with all of that?” Dabi looked at Izuku.

“Dump, I’ll send it to a dump, using the truck from the junkyard.  Keigo how much does it c-cost to borrow a truck?” Izuku looked at his brother.

“I don’t know, money?” Keigo offered.

The trio arrived back at the house a while after their stroll.  It had taken a train ride just to get back to the apartment.  In all consideration, it was relatively quick. Izuku quickly ran to his room and dropped off his knapsack.  Keigo had found that over the past two years he’d become much better at cooking.  I guess not living off of microwavable food will do that to you. He quickly grabbed some rice and spotted the leftover curry that had been made.

Keigo dropped the rice into the cooker and began to heat up the curry.  Izuku had returned from his room and joined Dabi in the living room  “Okay, s-seriously, tell me about your quirk!” Izuku whined.

Dabi simply rolled his eyes.  “Now, why would I give away my primary form of defense?”

“That is not true, you actually only use your quirk as a last resort option.  I’ve analyzed your fights and t-takedowns and you hardly use your quirk.  So it’s not a primary source of defense.” Izuku stated.

“Well aren’t you just so smart.” Dabi deadpanned.

“Yes, I already have s-several ideas on what your quirk is and could be done to make it more efficient, fixing the weaknesses in it.  Does your quirk burn you when you use it?  S-sorry that was rude.” Izuku snapped his mouth shut.

Keigo had also wondered that Dabi had severe scarring along his face and arms.  It was worrying, but he’d just hoped that his quirk wasn’t the case.  “Can I look through your notes?  If you have so much information I’ll just confirm or deny it being true.” Dabi suggested.

Keigo watched as Izuku handed Dabi the notebook.  Dabi’s eyes blew open as he read through it, Keigo chuckled and the rice maker chimed.  Keigo turned around to serve the food.

Izuku was carefully listening to Dabi as he confirmed most of his theories on Dabi’s quirk.  “No, I cannot fly with my quirk.” Dabi sighed.

“Have you t-tried to, though?  I mean, if you exert equal amounts of fire on each s-side of you then you could possibly lift yourself into the air. Kinda like that flame s-superhero from those pre-quirk era comics.” Izuku went on.

“Well, those are comics.  I don’t really want to go near pulling those stunts with my quirk.  As you guessed earlier, my quirk does burn me.  That’s how I got these scars, and I don’t feel like testing out shit like that any time soon.” Dabi glared.

Izuku frowned.  “Alright, I’m sorry for pressing you.” 

“You were just curious, don’t worry about it.” Dabi ruffled his hair.

“Get over here before your food gets cold.” Keigo called from the kitchen.

“Okay mom!” Izuku laughed as he headed into the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Izuku was watching the news when a case came up, it was about Dabi.  “We are happy to inform viewers that the vigilante known as Dabi, has finally been given an appearance.  Earlier today a man was arrested, and able to provide a description to our sketch department.” the woman smiled.

An image was brought up to the screen, displaying a man with black hair, but no scars.  Yes, it did look like Dabi, but how the hell did the man miss all his scars? It’s possible that he’s associating Dabi’s face with one that may look familiar.  Now that Izuku looked at it, Dabi didn’t really look like Dabi, it was just the slightest changes in facial features that did it.  He’d ask Keigo later.  

Usagiyama was supposed to be stopping by later today, she’d been hanging around a lot more recently.  He liked to think they were friends.  A knock on the door rang out, oh, maybe she’s early?  Izuku went over to the door to find Shinsou standing there.  “Hey, Midoriya… I uh, I can’t really go home right now…” he mumbled.

“Did your parents kick you out?” Izuku immediately asked.

“N-no, I just… Don’t really want to talk to them right now.” Shinsou looked away.

“I-did something bad happen?” Izuku questioned him.

“Not with them no, but I uh…” Shinsou lifted his leg to only see it was bleeding badly.

“Shinsou! Get inside, oh my god.” Izuku panicked and rushed him inside.

Shinsou didn’t argue, and limped inside where Izuku sat him down on the couch.  “Now, tell me what the hell happened, after I return.” Izuku headed to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and some towels.

When he returned Shinsou had apparently used paper towels to clean up the wound.  “Are those bite marks?” Izuku asked upon inspection.

Shinsou flinched and nodded.  “Can’t keep anything from you can I?”

“No, I’m too smart, also, those are very clearly bite marks.  Did you fight a wolf?” Izuku brought out the alcohol to clean the wound. “Lift your leg up, you need to elevate it.” 

Shinsou followed his instructions, and placed his leg on the table.  Izuku put down the towel on the floor, and began to clean up the blood on Shinsou’s leg.  “Now, care to explain how this happened?” Izuku looked up at him.

“Ah, it was just some stupid dare… From school.” Shinsou fiddled his hands.

“That’s bullshit, even you’re not that stupid…  To do whatever happened.” Izuku growled at him.

“I would rather not talk about it.” Shinsou snapped back.

“You getting bitten by a fucking dog because of a dare is a bullshit lie and you know it!” Izuku yelled.

Shinsou flinched back, and looked at Izuku.  “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone else.” 

“That depends on how bad the situation is.” Izuku replied coolly.

“I’ve been getting bullied, for having a villainous quirk.” Shinsou began. “It wasn’t very bad until recently when they started being physical about it.  Today some kid with a wolf quirk bit me.” 

Izuku was having none of that, his gaze hardened as he began wrapping up the bite.  “So you’re telling me, that kids have been bullying you, enough to where this will probably scar it’s so deep.  Hell, you should probably get this looked at in a hospital.  Not some home first aid.” 

Shinsou looked away and flinched when Izuku flicked his leg.  “You have to tell someone about this Shinsou, it will get better.” 

“How can you be so sure?  I can’t just go up and tell people that I’m getting bullied, and haven’t said anything.  You don’t even go to school, I don’t understand how you could understand.” Shinsou snapped.

“The same shit happened to me when I did go to school, you know what changed it? Telling people.  So please, tell your parents, they can and will fix this.” Izuku pleaded and looked up at Shinsou.

Shinsou shook his head.  “I… I don’t want them to hate me.  When we met I had only been with them for 6 months.  What if now they hate me?” 

Izuku felt tears prick his eyes, goddamn eyes , “Shinsou, before I met Keigo, I had run away.  My own mother didn’t care for me, and the person who was supposed to be my best friend abused me.  I had known Keigo for two weeks , but he got me away from that.  Now look at where I am, safe.” Izuku had hot tears running down his face.

Shinsou looked at him.  “Why are you crying?”

“It just happens, can’t do anything about it.  However, I can cry on command.” Izuku laughed. 

Shinsou laughed a little at that too.  “I can call my dad to pick me up.” he said, pulling out his phone.

“Promise me you’ll tell them.” Izuku’s eyes hardened.

“Okay, I promise.” Shinsou confirmed.

Hitoshi and Midoriya had begun to talk about lighter topics, such as quirks.  Midoriya had gone into a deep dive mumble session about Eraserheads quirk, which Hitoshi laughed at.  He hadn’t told Midoriya who his parents were, and felt like he was lying to Midoriya, but ignored it.  Hitoshi picked up his phone and texted dad number 2.

I’m at friends house rn, can u pick me up?:Cat

Loud: ?? Friends house?

I’ll drop you the location:Cat

Hitoshi left his dad the address and looked over to Midoriya, who was looking worriedly at his leg.  “Midoriya, it’s fine.  Really, it wasn’t your fault.” he reassured the shorter teen.

“I should have known this would’ve happened!” Midoriya cried.

Hitoshi looked at him. “Midoriya, you had no way of knowing this would have happened.  You were right, I should’ve told someone.  It’s partially my fault for not doing anything about it sooner.” 

Midoriya just shook his head.  “S’not your fault-” a knock at the door cut Midoriya off.

Suddenly the door flew open.  “Izuku!” someone called out.

“Usagiyama!” Midoriya quickly responded.

Ah, that’s who that is…  A woman with large bunny ears and a casual outfit came through the door.  Hitoshi recognized her as no. 5 hero Miruko. Needless to say the hero quickly took note of the situation.  “Izuku, who’s your friend?  What happened?” she pointed to his leg.

“A-ah.  This is Shinsou, I’ve told you about him before.  He uh…” Midoriya trailed off.

“I got bitten by a dog.” Hitoshi stated flatly.

Miruko paused, then continued, “straight forward, I like you.  Now, what have you done to treat the bite?” she looked at Midoriya.

“I washed it out with alcohol and wrapped it.  I think it needs proper medical treatment though…” Midoriya replied.

Miruko nodded and sat on the couch. “Can I take a look at it?” she asked.

Hitoshi nodded and allowed for the hero to unwrap his leg.  He watched as Miruko visibly tensed upon inspecting the bite. “This needs stitches, how the hell did you even walk over here?” she looked Hitoshi in the eye.

“I hobbled.” he looked away from her.

“I am shit at giving people stiches, and you should probably go to a hospital anyrate, I can drive you.” she offered.

“Ah, no.  My dad is gonna pick me up in a minute, he can take me to the hospital.” Hitoshi looked down. 

“How’d you end up with a bite that bad anyway?  Try killing any dogs lately?” she observed.

“Ah, no.” he avoided a direct answer.

Miruko looked him up and down then back over to Midoriya.  “I’ve got a case for you to do later,” she looked back over to Hitoshi, “I’m Usagiyama Rumi.” she held out a hand.

“Shinsou Hitoshi…” he returned her handshake. 

Hizashi was very concerned as to why his son was at someone's house, no prior telling of who or why he was even there.  All he’d been given was a location, and Hitoshi asking to be picked up.  So that’s where he was now, standing in front of a door that was already left open. Not concerning at all… He stepped through the doorway to see no. 5 hero Miruko, his son, and a green haired teen all in the living room.  It was a very odd sight.  “Hitoshi, care to explain?” he asked.

Hitoshi looked very guilty and the green haired kids eyes widened a litte, but he didn’t speak.  Mirko was the first to speak up.  “Nice to see you again Present Mic, your son needs a hospital.” 

Hizashi understandably freaked out, and noticed how Hitoshi’s leg had a bite mark in it.  “Hitoshi, what the hell happened? Why didn’t you call me or your father first?” 

Hitoshi suddenly looked ten times more guilty.  “I didn’t want to tell you guys.” he mumbled.

“Why not?  Were your parents Hitoshi, we care about you.”  Hizashi took note of the other two people in the room looking suddenly like they were invading a personal conversation.

“I’ll give you the full story on our way to the hospital.” Hitoshi responded.

Hizashi sighed and looked over to the other two people.  “Hey there listener I’m Yamada Hizashi.” he held out a hand.

The greenete took his hand.  “Midoriya Izuku sir.”

Hizashi smiled and turned to Hitoshi.  “Alright, I want the full story on our way to the hospital.” his gaze hardened.

Hitoshi nodded and rewrapped his leg.  I guess this is the same Midoiya Hitoshi was hanging out with for a while…  It was nice to meet the kid finally.  Hitoshi wobbly stood up, and Midoriya helped him to the door.  “It was nice meeting you Yamada sir!” Midoriya smiled.

Hizashi nodded and helped Hitoshi out the door.  It was nice to meet the kid, and Usagiyama was always… Nice to see, even with how straight forward she always was.

Izuku sighed, thankful that Shinsou would be getting professional medical attention.  “What case did you want me on Usagiyama?” 

Usagiyama sighed.  “Izuku, I’m going to kick your ass if you keep calling me Usagiyami, please just call me Rumi.  It’s so much easier to say and hear.” 

Izuku nodded. “Case?” 

“Yeah, I actually have it right here.” she pulled a flash drive from her pocket.  “I can send you the payment once you’re done.” 

Izuku nodded and took the flash drive.  He looked at his phone, ah yeah, Keigo should be home soon.  Izuku quickly ran up the stairs to grab his computer, he’d gotten a new one after the sludge incident.  Usagi-Rumi, was sitting on the couch scrolling through her phone. “Are you staying for dinner?” he asked, booting up his computer.

“Probably, Keigo’s gotten much better at cooking since you came around.” she laughed.

Izuku snickered as well, because it was true.  Izuku looked at the time again, when is he going to show up? As luck would have it, Keigo opened up the door.  “Hey Izuku!” he greeted, then his gaze drifted over to Rumi.  “I’m going to be honest, I forgot about you.” he stated.

Rumi sighed, and rolled her eyes.  Keigo grinned and fell onto the couch chair thing.  Izuku never bothered to remember what they were actually called. “So, how was your patrol?” Izuku broke the sudden silence.

“Fine, same as usual.” he quickly responded.

“Didn’t they finally get a description of that vigilante? Dabi, I think his name was?” Rumi mentioned.

Keigo’s eyes widened a fraction, and Izuku looked over to him.  Rumi apparently did not notice.  “They threw up a picture on the news, see.” she handed Keigo her phone.

Keigo saw the picture, and began laughing.  Rumi glared at him, and Izuku snickered a little too.  “What is so funny about it?” she demanded.

Keigo weezed and tried to regain his breath. “I-holy shit, it’s nothing.” 

“It’s clearly nothing if it’s got you cracking up this much.” she growled, then her eyes widened. “Keigo you dumbass! You’ve seen him haven’t you!” 

Izuku was still snickering as his brother immediately sobered.  “No way, that’d be illegal, knowing a vigilante and not doing anything about it.” Keigo insisted.

Rumi did not buy that, and was now glaring daggers at Keigo.  She spun her head to Izuku, “did you know about this?” 

Izuku stayed quiet and shook his head. “Oh my god, I’m surrounded by absolute idiots.” she held her face in her hands. “Why didn’t you bring him in when you had the chance?” 

Keigo shrugged, “haven’t really seen a reason to.”

“Other than the fact that he’s a vigilante and has commited arson.” Rumi deadpanned.

“Yes, but Endeavor has burned entire buildings to the ground too…  So the only issue here is that Dabi doesn’t have a license.” Izuku piped in.

Rumi looked very frustrated, “I don’t understand it, but I won't tell anyone.” Keigo and Izuku relaxed, “as long as you state your relationships with him, and introduce me.” she grinned.

Keigo opened his mouth like a fish, and Izuku just looked at him.  “Well technically we’re friends.  Dabi found me after the sludge villain incident a few weeks ago, he’s been hanging around the house since then.” Izuku explained.

“Yup, I met Dabi two years ago on patrol.  We just stayed in contact I guess.” Keigo confirmed.

Rumi let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, fine.  You know a vigilante for two years straight, don’t say anything about it, and he comes over to your house from time to time.  Got it.”

“Okay, how about I make some food before someone kills the other.” Keigo said standing up.

Izuku nodded and Rumi just sat there, contemplating the new information.  “So, when do I get to meet your friend?” Rumi asked.

Chapter Text

Keigo did a spit take and looked at Rumi.  “That was apart of the deal.” she sang.

Keigo internally groaned at that.  Why did I ever befriend Rumi again? He wondered to himself.  Looking over to Izuku, the traitor just smiled at him and shrugged.  “It’s better than her almost dying to have to meet him.” Izuku chuckled.

“You are still grounded for that.” Keigo reminded him.

Rumi looked between the two, “I’m sorry, who almost died?”

That caused the two to pause, and looked at eachother.  “Remember the sludge villain? I had a run-in with him prior to saving the kid on live tv.” Izuku explained.

Rumi slapped Izuku over the head and glared at him.  “That was a dumbass decision Izuku.” 

“I am aware.” Izuku groaned.

Keigo smirked, “he learned his lesson the first time, also, you should be heading to Dagobah if you want to win that bet.” 

Izuku nodded and looked to Rumi, “I’ll get to work on that case later tonight, it was nice to see you!” he said heading out the door.

The door clicked shut and Rumi turned to Keigo.  “When are you going to tell him you’re dating a vigilante?” she glared at him.

“I-WhaT!” Keigo shrieked falling backwards. “How did you come to that conclusion?” 

“I just assumed, but that confirmed it.” she smirked.

“No.  No, no, no.  There is nothing like that happening between me and Dabi.” Keigo insisted.

Rumi shrugged, “if you say so…”

Izuku was suffering.  Yes, he wanted to win that damn bet, but he also really regretted pushing his body this far.  Dagobah was covered head to toe in trash, and Izuku had to turn himself into a one man army against an entire trash beach.  He groaned as he loaded the truck Keigo had been able to rent.  

His goal was to load it fully once to twice a day, taking Sundays off.  Izuku thought about it, Dagobah was a big beach, he could load a truck up once to twice a day.  There are 30-31 days in a month…  Except for February which has 28 and sometimes twenty nine....  I have ten months, if I do this roughly 260 times or more surely the beach will be clean by then?  It was a good estimate and Izuku looked at the truck, it was a pig pick-up with a trailer behind it.  

He did not know what to do with the vehicles that had literally been parked there for who knows how long.  Izuku supposed he could find parts of them to sell…  Yeah, it was worth a shot.  Besides, he could learn a bit about mechanics along the way.  What a good learning experience. He thought woefully.

Izuku had returned home from Dagobah when his phone rang.  He looked at the caller ID and picked up.  “Hey Midoriya.” Shinsou’s voice came from across the line.

“Shinsou! Is your leg better?” he quickly asked.

There was a pause on the line.  “Yeah, I’m also not ever going back to that school…  My dads were pretty pissed but not at me.” 

Izuku did not miss the hints of relief that sounded from Shinsou’s voice.  “That’s good, I’m happy you were able to fix the situation.”

“Yeah, thanks for convincing me to talk to my parents.” 

“Any time Shinsou!” 

With that the line died, and Izuku looked across his room to his computer, he should probably work on that case Rumi gave him.  After Izuku’s computer had broken from the sludge villain, he’d gotten a much better computer.  With better security too.  He plugged the sleek black flash drive into his computer.  Allow devices to access files? He clicked yes.  

Four files immediately showed up, wow, these are depressingly lacking…  His phone pinged and a text popped up.

Rumi: Izuku, I know you’ve just opened the files, but do not tell anyone outside of Keigo what’s in them.

Cryptid… Izuku stared at the text before looking back to the files.  Everything that was there had nothing backing it up, only mere suspicion.  What kind of case does Rumi have me working on? Suddenly pictures came up in the second file, it was a tall man in a suit and he had black curly hair.  There were no obvious facial features to tell who the man was…  Izuku opened another image showing a sketch of a man with no eyes, wrinkled face, and tubes running into his face.  He looks so… Dead.  Izuku had seen many quirks over his lifetime but none that would make you look so dead, even quirks with fatal drawbacks didn’t have effects like this.

Izuku picked up his phone again.

Rumi, why did you send me a classified case file? :Bush

Rumi: A few years ago there was a fight between the villain and All Might, we got some blood from the scene but…  I’ll tell you in person tomorrow.

Izuku wanted to ask questions, but decided it’d be better to ask Rumi in person tomorrow.  Looking at the files he opened the third one, it talked about the villain.

Name:  All for One

Quirk: All for One

Description:  As seen in file two, the suspect is seen as having no eyes and distinctive facial features other than tubes.  Would be easy to target in public.  Believed to be under the disguise of a tall man with balck curly hair.  Only known features of possible alter appearance.

That was file three…  What’s file four?  Izuku clicked on the file.  

Last year a fight between All for One and All Might lead to an important lead on the case.  The blood of All for One, was found in an incredibly altered state.  As found were multiple traces of different quirk genes and DNA.  Specialists have found the supposed original DNA that is likely the identity of All for One.  We found strands of DNA similar to those of  [REDACTED] and [REDACTED].  Any more information is unknown at the time.

Izuku released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.  If this villain is so serious, why would Rumi let me in on the case?  He didn’t know, but for now… It’d be better to sleep it off.

From the moment Izuku had woken up that morning, Keigo suspected something was off.  Izuku may have trouble remembering to sleep, he had this magical ability to never get bags under his eyes.  Keigo was jealous for sure, but Izuku arriving in the kitchen with the deepest eye bags he’d ever seen on his brother was concerning.  “Izuku, are you okay?” he looked at the teen.

Izuku shook his head.  “Rumi gave me a case last night.  You know the villain All for One?” 

Keigo felt his stomach drop.  “Izuku, what kind of a case did Rumi give you?”

“I-I don’t know.  It was four files, each having different information on All for One, she said that she needed to talk to me about it today…  I’m only allowed to talk about it to you, no one else is what she said.” Izuku was shaking at this point and tears pricked his tired eyes.

Keigo immediately wrapped his arms protectively around his little brother.  “Izuku, it’ll be okay.  I’ll personally kick Rumi’s ass for ever asking you to look at that case.” he growled.

“We don’t even know why she gave me the case yet.” Izuku reminded Keigo.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t kick her ass though.” Keigo promised.

It was an hour later when Rumi came through the door, a rather guilty look on her face.  Izuku was tired as fuck, and Keigo didn’t really want to put up with anything.  “Rumi, why the hell did you give Izuku those files?” Keigo ruffled his wing feathers.

Izuku looked up at Rumi from the couch.  “W-well.  There was a recent development in the case…  We needed him in order to progress any further forward in it.” Rumi ignored a direct answer.

What the hell.  “Rumi, you are the most straightforward person I know, why are you ignoring the question?” Keigo snapped.

Rumi looked at Keigo.  “Results came back from our specialists.  They had finished splicing the blood we got from the All for One fight years ago. When they ran it through to see if there were any matches…  Izuku was a near direct match.” she looked Keigo dead in the eye.

Keigo wanted to laugh, he really did.  There is no way Izuku is related to that monster…  Is there? His eyes found Izuku shaking on the couch. “Izuku, you good?” Keigo carefully asked.

Izuku didn’t even register his voice.  He simply stood up and walked to his room.  Keigo wanted to follow him, but Izuku wasn’t gone for long. Izuku wordlessly returned to the couch and produced a lovingly worn notebook.  That’s his dad’s notebook.  Izuku opened it and pulled out the photo of his father.  Rumi tensed up and Keigo sat down next to Izuku.  He watched as Rumi took the photo to inspect it.  Upon a glance, there was nothing significant about it, just a man with a loving smile, freckles across his face, candy red eyes, and curly dark hair. “Izuku, where the fuck did you get this?” Rumi looked Izuku dead in the eye.

“T-thats’ my dad.” Izuku had tears slowly falling from his eyes. 

Keigo quickly wrapped the boy up in a comforting hug, himself shaking slightly.  Rumi just fell back into her seat, eyes blank.  “Shit, Izuku.  I’m sorry I brought you into this case.” she apologised.

“I-it’s fine.  You didn’t know.  No one did.” Izuku said leaning into Keigo’s side. 

Rumi nodded and Keigo didn’t even know how to react.  “This is his notebook.  You can copy the pages but I don’t want to hand over the original copy to anyone.” Izuku said, placing his hand on the book.  

Rumi nodded.  “Can I take pictures of the pages?” she asked Izuku.

Izuku nodded, and shoved it towards Rumi.  Keigo held Izuku tighter and Izuku finally broke down, sobbing into Keigo’s shoulder.  Rumi could only shake her head sadly as she began taking photos of the notebook.  It’s so strange not seeing Rumi heading headfirst into a situation like this… Maybe I call Dabi later today, it might be a nice break for both of us.

Dabi had been working at his record shop with seemingly no hitches, sure the police had his ‘face’ but they had somehow missed the massive scarring on his face, which gave him free reign still.  He was interrupted from his shift, if you could even call it that, by a call from Takami.  He quickly picked up.  “Hello?”

“How would you feel about coming over later today?” Takami asked.

Dabi did not miss the obvious distress in Takami’s voice, but he’d ask later.  “Yeah, sure.” Dabi replied quickly.

Takami hung up first and Dabi turned his attention to the empty record shop.  Well, life could be worse…

Izuku had been in a dazed state most of the day.  He couldn’t even think about what had happened.  He’d just found out that his dad, the person that he’d looked up to, was a supervillain that had fought All Might, and gotten away.  Rumi had left not long after taking photos of the notebook, and nothing had been said.  Keigo was in the kitchen, possibly stress cooking.  Izuku had been given a blanket and stared blankly as news was playing on the tv.  A knock was sounded on the door.  Izuku would’ve gotten up and gotten the door if Keigo hadn’t run over to get it first.  It was really no surprise when Dabi had appeared in the doorway. It was only a moment before Dabi assessed the situation and pointed to Izuku, “the kid okay?” he asked Keigo.

Keigo just shook his head.  “Look, I can’t exactly tell you what happened, but he’s not really in his best state of mind.  A distraction might be good for both of us.” 

Dabi frowned and nodded.  “So shrub, how have you been holding up?” 

Izuku let out a strangled noise and shrugged his shoulders.  “That bad?” Dabi raised a brow.

Izuku nodded and sat up.  He quickly went over to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of water before promptly returning to his spot on the couch.

Dabi hadn’t really been around the kid for long, but silence didn’t fit the kid.  “Is there any version of the story I can get?” He looked hopefully to Takami and Midoriya.  

Takami sighed.  “If Izuku wants to tell you anything he can.  I don’t know how much we can and can’t say.  Hell, there are only twelve hero’s on the case, but we were never really sworn to secrecy…  It’s just a matter of your safety that is at stake.” he explained.

Midoriya looked up at Dabi.  “I looked up to my dad a lot, more than I ever could to my mom.  Turns out he’s wanted for a shit ton of horrible crimes.” Midoriya mumbled.

Dabi had his fair share of unfavorable memories with his father.  “If it makes you feel any better, I had a shitty father too.  Not in the same way of course, but, I can get a little bit of an idea of what you’re feeling.” 

“How’d you deal with it?” Midoriya asked.

“Well kid, I really didn't. Why do you think I’m a vigilante now?  I ran away.” Dabi looked away from Midoriya’s questioning gaze.

There was a calculating look in Midoriya’s eyes, like Dabi was being read like a book.  He did not like it one bit.  Shifting away from the kid a bit, he continued.  “The bastard would beat me daily, trying to make me a perfect successor. ” he spat out the last part. “My skin is not made for a fire quirk, so I burned myself.  Eventually I couldn’t take it, so here I am now.” Dabi explained.

Midoriya nodded and let the information settle.  “So your dad has a fire quirk too?” he asked.

Dabi nodded, “yeah, not as hot as mine.  Unless he gets really angry.”

Midoriya nodded, but he looked like he wanted to ask questions. “If you have questions, I may or may not answer them.” Dabi smirked.

“I… Uh.  I don't want to sound rude, or invasive…  Or bring up anything from your past you might not wanna talk about…” Midoriya murmured.

“Just this once, you can ask any question you want.  Are you really gonna throw that away?” Dabi grinned.

Midoriya smiled weakly in response.  “Okay…  You-you’re Touya Todoroki aren’t you?’

Dabi damn near missed the question but immediately stopped his breathing.  Of course he suspected that Midoriya  might have already known, but hearing that name aloud was piercing.  “Fuck kid, you’re really smart aren’t you.” he smiled saddly.

Midoriya looked up at him, eyes wide.  His head tilted to Takami, who had ignored the conversation.  “I was just curious!  I swear I didn’t think it’d actually be correct!” Midoriya cried, Takami immediately centered his focus on the two.

Dabi rolled his eyes.  “What gave me away?” he asked.

“The police sketch of you… It was accurate, and gave me a look at what you’d look like without scars…” Midoriya mumbled.

“What?” Takami looked between the two. 

Dabi sighed, “I guess you should probably know my real name too huh?  It’d be a bit unfair if only Midoriya knew…”  

Takami looked very confused and curious suddenly.  “Again, what?”

“My real name is Todoroki Touya, Takami.” Dabi said, dead serious.

Chapter Text

To be honest, Keigo had suspicions that Dabi had some sort of traumatic past.  But now, what the hell did Endeavor do?  Keigo had a long lasting respect for the fire hero, but he wanted to know what the fuck he’d done to cause Dabi to leave.  It was obvious Dabi had a very clear distaste for Endeavor, but a lot of people did, so he just assumed.  He shouldn’t have.  Keigo knew much better, and should’ve known that this was no normal distaste.  It’s the same way when Izuku talks about Bakugou or his mother… 

So when Dabi told him his actual name, it should’ve been no surprise, but here he was, mouth agape.  Keigo dropped the spoon he was holding and looked at Izuku, who had the least surprised look on his face.  “You knew…” Keigo managed to get out.

“In all honesty, I just figured it out… After the release of his police sketch.” Izuku mumbled.

“Okay… Okay, this is fine.  Today’s been a heavy day.  You two and your goddamn parental figures.” Keigo groaned, relaxing a bit.

Izuku shrugged and Dabi lightened the mood with a laugh.  “Yeah, you and me got some fucked up parents shrub.” he ruffled Izuku’s hair.

Keigo had never really had his parents in his life, they didn’t have a financially stable life, so the hero commission came knocking at their door.  Give them their kid and they live happily, who would say no?  Not his parents that’s for sure.  Keigo would’ve joined in the shitty parents club, but he decided to let the two have their moment.   “So… I made Udon?” Keigo smiled.

Izuku grinned and got up off the couch, it’s nice to see he’s doing better. Izuku had indeed perked up since Dabi showed up.  Keigo served the Udon and the trio sat in silence.  “So, what’s your plan to beat the other recommendation students?” Dabi suddenly broke the silence.

“Well, I don’t exactly have a clear idea of what the exam is, but I’ve still got around ten months until exams.  My best bet is to study and train in all possible places to beat them.” Izuku said thoughtfully.  

Keigo had to admit that wasn’t one of Izuku’s most well thought out plans, but what could he really do in a situation like this?  Recommendation exams changed almost yearly, and rarely would occur twice.  It’s incredible what Nedzu can come up with to test examinees.  However, the heroics course exam was a completely different story, the students were set up against robots. In Keigo’s opinion, robots were much harder to fight than humans.  They were tough, didn’t feel pain, didn’t get tired, and could be equipped with any number of defense mechanisms.

Dabi began to give Izuku pointers on what not to do and what to do when fighting.  I could’ve taught him that, Keigo pouted.  Dabi also went into detail that fighting dirty was a great strategy, which…  Fair.  It wasn’t like Keigo got around with fighting like he was in a dojo.  

Izuku listened intently as Dabi explained pressure points to hit, how hard to hit them, and most importantly, how to not kill your opponent.  “Alright Izuku, your main goal is to save civilians, and capture the villain.  You don’t even have to capture the villain to get a job well done.  Making sure that the civilians are safe is a top priority, the villain or vigilante, or whoever they are can come second.  Got it?” Izuku nodded intently.

Keigo rolled his eyes fondly, “that means that you need to save me from the nasty vigilante Izuku.” he exclaimed dramatically.

Dabi huffed and glared at him, “people like that,” he gestured to Keigo, “you leave in the burning building Izuku.” 

Keigo let out a scandalized gasp.  Izuku began to laugh, thank god.  The poor kid had been down most of the day, and it was nice that he was able to laugh and not think about his… Father.  Dabi took a bite of the Udon and continued, “another thing you’ll learn is that a lot of pro’s look for the spotlight.” Dabi looked at Keigo, “while some are very good at their jobs, see your brother, others main focus is the paycheck they get.  How it works is if they capture a vigilante, villain, whoever it may be.  Even a petty theif can be claimed to be the great big supervillain to the press.  That alone is enough to boost their reputation and ego ten fold.” 

Keigo knew this all too well, it happened all the time with the commission.  There was once a new hero that had brought in a middle schooler that had a ‘villains quirk’ which was utter bullshit.  The kid had been caught using their quirk against one of their bullies and narrowly escaped juvie, it was bad.  Keigo listened as Dabi talked about how fucked up hero society was, I can’t really blame him though…  Keigo had been experiencing some of the more despicable things that the hero commission had let slide.

Izuku had pulled up a notebook, where did he get that, and was writing very quickly.  “Another thing you’ll want to exploit, is the fact that a lot of villains don’t expect you to not use a quirk.  What they expect is for you to use your quirk first. You don’t have a quirk, so you don’t have to worry about that.  Since you’re quirkless, they’ll immediately underestimate you.  That’s good, you then can give them a swift kick to the crotch and knock them unconscious.” Dabi explained and Izuku choked.

“I mean, it works.” Keigo added.

Izuku nodded and wrote that down in the notebook.  “So, what you’re saying is, villains can more or less be bumbass bitches and I should immediately go for the crotch when fighting them?” 

Dabi weezed and his hand hit the table.  “Please tell me you actually wrote what I told you down.” he laughed.

“Of course I did, that’s just the summary.” Izuku confirmed.

“Yeah shrub, you’ve got it then.” Dabi chuckled, regaining composure.

The three shared a laugh.  “Who wants to bet I can kick both your asses in a game of Monopoly?” Keigo grinned.

“Come on pretty bird, we all know you’re shit with money.” Dabi grinned.

Izuku blinked and so did the two adults.  Keigo’s face went red and watched as his brother began laughing his ass off. “Now, now, we all know I can and will beat you both.” Izuku grinned and got up from the table.

For the next five months, that's how things went.  Izuku had put his training into overdrive and had half of Dagobah cleaned up.  Most of the time Izuku was either working on a new assignment from Keigo’s agency, or anywhere else, or he was cleaning Dagobah. Shinsou would stop by and help him out with cleaning the beach and the two would talk, Izuku also found out that Shinsou’s middle school had been shut down.  If you asked, Izuku can neither confirm nor deny Shinsou’s parents had anything to do with it.

Dabi had been hanging around more, and Izuku didn’t mind.  While there were rough spots with the trio, they would always bounce back.  He recalled when Rumi had finally met Dabi, she’d slapped him across the face.  It was hilarious, Keigo thought they were going to kill each other.  Needless to say they didn’t, and are actually almost friends.  

Keigo had been constantly pushing him to do his best, but never forcing him to.  It was like having a supportive parent.  It had been nice, having some people in Izuku’s corner after an entire life-time of being put down.  

Izuku was cleaning up Dagobah when he felt as if someone was watching him.  It was very unsettling.  Keigo had taught Izuku how to pick up on people following or watching you, very useful skills.  Upon looking around he saw no one there, but couldn't shake the feeling.  I should text Keigo or Dabi…   Izuku quickly pulled out his phone and shot Keigo a quick text.

Hey, I think some1 mght b watching me.  At dagobah :Bush

Chicken: I’ll ask Dabi to chk up on u, he’s nearby

Izuku relaxed a little, and turned around to find a man in a yellow suit standing there.  Izuku’s survival instinct told him to run, as far as he possibly could, but his curiosity told him to check this out. He cautiously approached the man, who seemed shocked at the fact that Izuku noticed him.  “Uh, s-sir…” Izuku said cautiously.

The man fidgeted,  “ah, young man…” 

“You were watching me.” Izuku stated simply, crossing his arms across his chest.

The man coughed up, blood? Izuku stepped back.  “Ah! I just noticed you’ve been cleaning up the beach lately.”

“Maybe I have been.” Izuku responded blankly.

“Ah, I uh, wanted to ask you a couple questions.” the man said awkwardly.

Izuku was having a mild panic right about now.  Dabi, bless his soul, decided now would be a good time to show up.  “Excuse me sir, you appear to be scaring the kid.” Dabi said, stepping between the two.

“Oh, young man, do you know him?” the man asked.

While yes, Dabi may look incredibly intimidating with all the scars along his body, but thank god for that in situations like this.  Izuku just nodded, “it’s good to see you nii-san!” he hugged Dabi with the quick cover up.

Dabi, thankfully, rolled with it.  “Yeah shrub, we gotta get home though okay?” he ruffled his hair.

Izuku nodded and looked at the man.  “Well stranger-san, I’ve gotta go.”

Dabi quickly led Izuku away from the beach and away from the strange man.  Izuku let out a quick breath of relief.  “What the hell.” Dabi groaned.

Izuku looked up at him, “I don’t know, the man just approached me!”

“You’re cursed, fucking cursed.” Dabi cried.

“It’s not my fault, problems just show up in my life!” Izuku protested.

“Who was that anyway?” Dabi asked.

“No clue, never got a name.” Izuku replied.

“That was sketchier than some of the shit I do.” Dabi sighed.

Izuku nodded and the two approached the apartment.  Keigo was already inside, “ah, hey.  I just got back from patrol…  What exactly happened?” Keigo asked.

Dabi shrugged.  “There was some weird ass creep wanting to talk to your brother.  Nothing bad happened.” 

“Oh, did you get a name?” Keigo questioned, sounding slightly threatening.

“No, he barely got a few sentences in.” Izuku replied.

“Damn, could’ve tracked him down.” Keigo mumbled.

“Keigo no!” Izuku laughed.

Dabi rolled his eyes and fell onto the couch.  Keigo proceeded to grab the fried chicken he’d bought earlier.  “Keigo, why can’t you seem to go a week without eating fried chicken?” Dabi asked.

Izuku immediately perked up.  “Keigo?” 

Keigo choked and Dabi’s eyes widened.  “Uh…  It’s recent?” Keigo offered.

“While it’s sweet and all, you came home gushing about Rumi calling you by your first name.  However, Dabi, call me Izuku if you’re gonna call my brother by his first name.” Izuku grinned.

“You will always be a shrub in my book.” Dabi groaned in return.

Izuku just shrugged and laughed to himself. 

Izuku was going to explode.  Tomorrow we're the recommendation exams, and Izuku was excited.  He was standing at Dagobah currently, and gazed across the cleaned beach.  It was tough, but Izuku had finally cleaned the entire beach within the ten month span that he had.  Keigo approached behind him.  “I think you missed a piece of trash.” he teased.

Izuku turned around and slapped Keigo playfully.  “Ass, you owe me 5,000 yen.” Izuku smirked.

“You get most of your paycheck from me.” Keigo quipped.

Izuku rolled his eyes and stared proudly at the beach.  He could see that there were a few people walking along it already, but given enough time the place would be running fully again.  “You’ll do great tomorrow Izuku.” Keigo smiled and passed him the 5,000 yen.

Izuku nodded, but his head was racing.  What will the other students be like?  I know Shinsou didn’t want to get in through recommendation, but…  It’s still possible?  Izuku recalled talking to Shinsou about the UA exams and Shinsou saying that he wanted to pass the unfair entrance exams.  Izuku had also been talking with Nedzu lately.  Nedzu had gone over the fact that there was an extra recommendation slot in UA this year, mostly because of him.  Izuku didn’t really understand why Nedzu went through those lengths to get an extra recommendation slot…  It was probably because of his lack of a quirk.  

Izuku knew that a lot of people today were against quirkless people, so they could likely have him fail the recommendation exams, but if there was an extra slot…  They had no right to refuse him the spot.  Izuku wondered how everyone else was reacting to it.  When Nedzu had asked if Izuku wanted to keep his quirk status private, Izuku declined.  He wanted to show off his abilities for what they were, and that he did not need a quirk to accomplish shit.  

Izuku wondered what would happen to Bakugou, he knew that there was no way Keigo would allow for them to be within 50 miles of eachother, let alone in the same school.  Izuku knew very well that Aunt Mitsuki would’ve run Bakugou through hell and back for all the things he did.  It was possible that he would still be able to get into a hero school, ones that were more lenient.  One that he could think of was Shiketsu, they allowed for students to be admitted into the school with previous record marks if they scored high enough.  Without a doubt Bakugou would be able to score high enough.

Keigo shoved and arm into Izuku’s side.  “You’re mumbling.  Even if Bakugou does make it into any hero school, he wont ever amount to the hero you’ll be.”  

Izuku nodded, “Thanks Keigo.” 

“Yup, now you need sleep.  You can’t beat anybody’s ass on zero sleep.” Keigo laughed.

“Yes, because you clearly get eight hours of sleep every night.” Izuku quipped.

“Shut up.” Keigo groaned “you need sleep.” 

Izuku rolled his eyes, he looked proudly at the beach one last time before heading back home.  He had reccomendation exams to look forward to.

Chapter Text

Izuku awoke to static running through his skin.  He was up in an instant, ready to start the day.  He had recommendation exams to look forward to after all.  Izuku raced into the kitchen and nearly took down Keigo.  “Jesus Izuku!” he nearly screamed.

“Sorry Keigo.” Izuku replied unapologetically.

Keigo sighed, “just make sure you kick ass today.” 

Izuku smiled.  “Of course, I’ll make you proud.” 

Izuku was out of the house not even twenty minutes later, heading onward to UA.

Aizawa Shouta did not understand Nedzu’s logic.  The rat had gone and added another recommendation slot for 1-A.  He did not understand why he needed anymore brats to be handed a spot in the hero course.  That was until Nedzu had said something about a personal student of his, Shouta thought he’d died.  Died and gone to hell, that is.  Who agreed to being his student?  

He was not worried, he wasn’t.  It was all completely logical to have concerns about anyone agreeing to be a personal student of Nedzu’s.  He was preparing himself to examine the recommendation exams alongside Nedzu, currently going through the profiles of examinees.  There were a lot of recommendation students this year, of course it didn’t matter how many recommendation students there were.  They’d all fight tooth and nail for a spot, and of course some wouldn’t make it in.  It didn’t make sense though, why would Nedzu add another spot in 1-A for a recommendation student?  

Although he had no clue who Nedzu’s personal student was, he had suspicions.  He looked at the first profile, Yaoyorozu Momo, a girl with a creation quirk and incredible grades in school.  The second was Setsuna Tokage, a girl with a quirk called ‘Lizard Tail Splitter’ .  The third, Todoroki Shouto, quirk ‘half cold half hot’ , fourth was Inasa Yaorashi with a wind quirk, fifth was Juzo Honenuki with a softening quirk.  He continued to go through all of the students.  Of course all of these kids were smart and very capable with their quirks, so that’s why Shouta was very surprised to come across Midoriya Izuku.  A kid without a quirk, and tested out of middle school.  At age twelve, he might add.  

Shouta thought that it could’ve been completely normal, until it was written below he was recommended by Nedzu…  Ah, I’ve found the personal student. Nedzu entered the room with a cheery smile.  “I do hope you’re ready to watch the exam, I think you’ll find yourself pleased with this years batch.” Nedzu grinned.

“If you mean your recommendation, we’ll just wait and see.” Shouta dismissed.

The two stepped into an observation room, where an obstacle course.  It was a bit more advanced than previous years, but Shouta didn’t complain.  Recommendation students needed to prove themselves too.  Nedzu began to speak into the microphone, “welcome students to this year's recommendation exams.  The course will begin in a few moments.” 

Shouta watched as the kids prepared themselves.  He took note of how each one prepared themselves, with confidence.  One thing about recommendation students was that they were very confident, sometimes overly so.  It was definitely a change to see Midoriya showing a surprising amount of area awareness, taking in all of his surroundings. 

Suddenly Shouta recalled when Hizashi had come home talking about a kid named Midoriya, what are the chances they are the same kid?  Very likely, Shouta decided.  Only because this kid looks like he’d be helping someone treat a dog bite in the living room of an apartment with the no. 5 hero. Shouta suppressed a very exhausted sigh, and readied himself as Nedzu began the exams.

Izuku tensed as the students around him looked ready for the exams.  Even if Izuku had been excited in the morning, anxiety was a bitch.  He was not prepared, mentally that is.  “The exam begins now.” Nedzu’s voice rang over the loudspeaker, the examinees raced forward.

Upon starting the exam, it was nothing Izuku hadn’t done before.  A simple race, that was all.  There were obstacles, of course, but they weren’t hard to get over.  Izuku lifted himself over barriers and up walls.  It reminded him of one of those US military courses he’d see people run online.  The exam seemed to be one of testing your quirks full ability.  Izuku had two people in front of him, Todoroki Shouto and Inasa Yaorashi.  The two were fighting for first while using their quirks to push them forward.

They’d come up to a fight wall with little to no grips to grab onto, the two used their quirks to propel them upwards.  Izuku took the training he did with Keigo and put it to use.  He vividly recalled Keigo instructing him the best ways to get up a wall, that was a long day.  Quickly scaling the wall, Izuku turned his head to find that the other examinees were not too far behind.  He raced forward to find the options between a crawl space and a parkour course.  There was a thick layer of ice that coated the obstacle course, thank you Todoroki. Izuku proceeded to run along the ice.  

The end of the course was just up ahead and Izuku let himself sigh gratefully, this is almost over.  Todoroki and Inasa already stood at the end, understandable considering their quirks…  Izuku hurdled himself over the last barrier and stepped across the finish line.  The other recommendation students following not far behind.  “Alrighty students, thank you for participating.  You’re next exam will begin soon.” Nedzu’s voice called over the speaker.

Izuku relaxed, and readied himself to head to the next portion of the exam.

The next exam was written, hell yeah, Izuku silently cheered.  Izuku had been doing multiple college courses over the past few years, preparing himself.  The teenagers all filtered into a rather large room where paper exams were handed out to them by Present Mic.  Izuku began immediately.

The science portion was fairly easy, in Izuku’s opinion.  Of course he’d been working around all sorts of sciences with the cases he worked on.  A lot of the questions were more quirk focused ones, what can you expect in a society based around quirks.  

Izuku quickly moved onto the math portion.  Although he was not the best at math, he considered himself better than most.  The algebra was easy, breezed through it.  Geometry, a little harder but not terribly difficult.  There were some precalculus and calculus questions, but in Izuku’s opinion, he’d take that over geometry any day.  

English was the easiest portion by far, Izuku was almost fluent.  Basic grammar and spelling was most of the test.  There were some punctuation portions and capitalization.  Izuku breezed through it and felt very confident about that.

There were other parts of the tests, small subsections, writing areas.  Izuku honestly felt that the test should’ve been harder, but he took a glance around and saw some students showing clear signs of struggle.  Never mind then….  Izuku went back over his test, multiple times, and quietly handed it to Yamada, flashing a small smile before leaving to his seat.

Izuku watched as the other students slowly turned in their tests, ah, we have interviews next…  Although he’d spoken with Nedzu multiple times before, interviews could be held with any teacher.  That scared Izuku, a lot.  He could be placed in an interview with any random teacher, and had half an hour to talk to them.  Finally, the last examinee turned in their test and Yamada dismissed them.

Shouta had been personally selected to interview a few students alongside the other staff members.  The reasons for the interviews was for faculty members to get a firsthand look at how they acted, what they were like, see if everything they’ve heard added up.  Not surprisingly he ended up with Midoriya Izuku, goddamnit.  Nedzu said something along the lines of ‘I don’t want to be biased.’  Which Shouta called bullshit, you could be Nedzu’s best friend and he would blackmail you if he so desired.  

The kid ended up coming in right on time, and immediately sitting down.  Poor kid looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.  “Alright Midoriya, interviews are just the staff members asking you a few questions, then sending you on your way.  Got it?” Shouta explained.

Midoriya nodded and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  “Alright, it says here you dropped out of middleschool at the age of twelve?” Shouta decided to begin with.

“A-actually, tested out.  I was able to test out of middle school, because it just w-wasn’t teaching me a-anything anymore…  I switched to college courses not long after.” Midoriya corrected.

Shouta turned to another page in Midoriya’s file and sure enough, he had multiple college credits listed under his name.  He suddenly got an idea, allright, we’re not going to make this easy for you.  Shouta had to hold back a grin.  “So, it says here you’re quirkless.  What can you use to your advantage?” 

“A-ah, well I’ve been training a lot since I dropped out m-middle school.  I trained with parkour for a while, they didn’t let me into a normal dojo because I was quirkless so I e-ended up training with my brother a lot.  He taught me a lot of different ways to gain the upper hand.  I don’t think that it has a name, it’s more of a fighting style he’s developed over the years…” Midoriya went on.

Shouta nodded and looked at the kid.  “Allright, but what are you doing to make up for it?  You’re quirkless, tell me what makes you stronger than everyone else here.” 

“I’ve b-been doing analysis over the years.  I am a-able to track f-fighting styles easily, and I can c-counter them.  You also fight quirkless, b-but you just level the playing field.  I j-just do that, b-but differently.”  Midoriya replied.

“Yes, but that doesn’t always work.” Shouta stated simply. “There are many unpredictable villains out there, what will you do when that fails.” 

“People have pressure points.  Places y-you can hit to put t-them in pain, stun them, but n-not kill them.  I’ll just fight d-dirty if I can’t counter their a-attacks.” Midoriya said more seriously.

The kids not afraid to fight dirty, good.  “What about everyone else?  They are all have quirks, something to fall back on when all else fails.  What will you do when you can’t fall back on a quirk?” Shouta asked, the kid has yet to break…

“I may not have a quirk, but I can pick up the nearest pipe and chuck it at them.  I don’t need a quirk to be able to fight.” Midoriya said, suddenly lacking the nervous stutter.

“Alright, why do you want to even be a hero?  Spite?  Do you gain something from it?” Shouta quirked an eyebrow.

“N-no, I just want to save people.  I k-know t-that there are people who need a hero, someone to s-save them.  There are so many people w-who really need a hero, I just w-want to save people.” Midoriya stated.

Just like me, was left unspoken.  Shouta knew the kid spoke from experience, but wouldn’t get into that now.  “Alright Midoriya, you’re done here today.  Exam results will be given within a week.” Shouta said, watching as the kid anxiously got up.

“T-thank you Eraserhead, s-sir.” Midoriya bowed and quickly left the room.

Huh, the kid knew my hero identity.  Shouta smirked, Nedzu had chosen well.

Izuku got home and was breathing heavily.  Dabi was on the couch, tv on, and Keigo wasn’t home yet.  “Do you just live here now?” was the first thing Izuku asked.

“Maybe, how’d you do?” Dabi looked over to him.

“I think that Eraserhead hates me.” Izuku groaned, sitting on the couch.

“Ah, what makes you say that?” Dabi turned off the tv.

“Well, he berated me on being quirkless.  Kept asking me what I can do to make up for it, I don’t think he actually has anything against me being quirkless though…  I mean, he asked what I was good at, but he looked like he didn’t like me.” Izuku sighed.

“You know, I honestly think you impressed him.” Dabi chuckled.

“N-NO!  No way, he’s Eraserhead!  He’s known for expelling people and being incredibly hard on his students.  I don’t think being impressed is something he’s even capable of.” the teen cried.

“Weeeell,” Dabi drew out, “You managed to impress Nedzu who pretty much hates the human race.” 

“I think I did well on everything else though…” Izuku changed the subject.

“Oh yeah, how well?”

“I got third in the practical, and the written portion was pretty easy.  It was just some of the things that I’ve been learning and practicing over the years…” 

“That’s good.  Who beat you in the practical?”

“Inasa Yoarashi and your youngest brother…” 

“Oh…”

“Yeah, oh.”

“How’s he doing?” Dabi looked sadly at Izuku.

“Didn’t get the chance to talk to him.  He seemed pretty closed off though.” Izuku looked down.

“I should’ve gotten him out of the house when I had the chance.” Dabi shook his head.

“Endeavor is an asshole, it’s not your fault that he pushed you past your limits.” Izuku replied.

Dabi nodded.  Keigo had also come through the door at some point.  “Hey, so I got Katsudon?” he smiled awkwardly.

“Food makes everything better!” Izuku declared loudly.

That got a little laugh out of Dabi.  Keigo sat down on the couch and placed the takeout on the table.  “You get results back in a week, there’s no way you didn’t get in.” Keigo grinned.

Izuku shook his head.  “I’m pretty sure that only the actual results will tell me.” 

“Have it your way shrub.” Dabi huffed.

A week later Izuku got a package dropped off at the mailbox.  A box labeled UA, and damn, if he wasn’t excited.  Whether he got in or not, this was a letter from UA, about his exam.  Izuku quickly headed back to the apartment,  Keigo was on patrol and Dabi was… Hopefully doing nothing too illegal, so he set it on the counter.  He’d open it when they got home.  Instead, he pulled up his phone to type out a message.

Hey, u get results yet? :Bush

Cat: Hell yeah, I got into 1-a wby?

Hvn’t checked yet, waiting for Keigo :Bush

Cat: K, tell me when u open it then.

Hours later, when Keigo finally got home followed by Dabi, Izuku was shaking.  “You goo Izuku?” Keigo asked first.

Izuku just smiled, “I got my results back!” He displayed the box.

Keigo grinned and rushed over, Dabi followed.  “So, I heard they got a new teacher to do the result holograms this year.” Dabi mentioned.

“Huh, I feel like that would’ve been more widely broadcasted then.” Keigo said thoughtfully.

Izuku hummed in response, looking up at the two adults.  “The recommendation exam results get a written letter instead of a hologram.” he informed the two.

Keigo rolled his eyes. “Just open it already!”

Izuku nodded and opened the letter and began to read.  “Izuku Midoriya, we are proud to welcome you into class 1-A with a 91% on the written portion, third place in the practical, and an astounding interview.  Go beyond, Plus Ultra.” Izuku simplified most of the contents.

Keigo immediately hugged Izuku tightly, and Dabi ruffled his hair.  “Told ya, you impressed Eraserhead.” Dabi laughed.

Izuku huffed and twisted out of his brother's grasp.  “You’re on your way to becoming a great hero Izuku.” Keigo told him, reluctantly releasing him from his grasp.

Izuku just smiled at him, and reread the letter over and over again.  He then pulled out his phone.

See you in 1-A, bitch. :Bush

The first day of UA came too slowly.  Izuku had spent days just anticipating it, only to look at the clock and realise that it was 11:34am.  So when he awoke at 5am because of pure excitement, he didn’t complain.  Instead he hurried himself out of bed and into the kitchen, Keigo was not awake yet.  Izuku started the coffee machine and looked in the cabinets, then he switched to the fridge.  He decided on making an american breakfast of eggs.

He pulled out a pan and cracked the eggs, scrolling through the news on his phone.  He looked at the time, 5:14am.  Welp.  Izuku internally sighed, and proceeded to continue cooking the eggs.  Izuku finished the eggs quickly and rushed back to his room to put on his uniform, god I’m a mess this morning, he thought upon looking at himself in the mirror.  His hair was crazier than usual and there was no way a brush would survive it…  

He gave up trying to fix his hair eventually and returned to the kitchen to find a very exhausted Keigo nearly asleep on the counter. “Keigo, there’s coffee in the coffee machine.” he shouted loud enough to startle his brother out of the trance. 

“Thanks…  Fuck, I do not want to patrol today.” Keigo groaned.

Izuku nodded sympathetically and patted his back, “you’ll live.” Izuku said.

“Well, you seem to be in a cheery mood, excited about your first day?” Keigo asked.

Izuku nodded, “yup, it’ll be the scariest day of my life.”

Keigo laughed, “only if you make it out to be.” 

“Wise words from someone drunk on a lack of sleep.” Izuku spoke poetically.

Kiego huffed and nearly chugged all of his coffee, “you should get going before you’re late.” 

“It’s 5:50 in the morning…” Izuku stared at his phone.

“All the more reason to get going.” Keigo responded.

“School starts at 8:15 Keigo.” Izuku glared.

“Yes, it takes you half an hour to get there.” 

“No one will even be there at that time!”

“Nedzu will, I’m convinced he lives at the school.”

“It’ll look super sketchy if I show up two hours before school begins.”

“Fine, have it your way.” Keigo sighed.

Izuku rolled his eyes and sat on the couch.  “I have about two hours, if it takes about half an hour to get there, I should leave at roughly 7:20.” 

“Ah yes, describe your entire day why don’t you?” Keigo mumbled from the kitchen.

“Pardon me if I have a mumbling habit I need to fix.” 

“That’s not the issue, you need to mumble about something more interesting.” 

“I have plenty of interesting daily agendas!”

“No, you really don’t.”

“Fine, did you know I got some good kush from the dollar store?”

“No, you didn’t, stop quoting memes.”

Izuku stuck out his tongue in protest, but ultimately resigned to scrolling through the news.  A bold font article caught his eye, ‘All Might teaching at UA?’ Izuku set the phone down, brought his hands to his face, and screamed, “Welp!  Fuck me!”

“I sure hope not, you’re too young for that.” Keigo responded.

“No, gross, All Might is the new teacher at UA… Apparently.” Izuku sighed, tossing Keigo his phone.

“Damn, good luck with that.  You should incorporate that into your now less boring daily schedule.” Keigo looked irritatedly at the phone.

“No, my day is no longer less boring, it’s about to be amazing.  If I see him, I’m flipping him the bird.” Izuku grinned.

Keigo looked at him, then, “send me a video.  Can’t miss that shit.” 

Izuku nodded, 6:23am.  “Who’s the homeroom teacher for 1-A?” he asked Keigo.

Keigo frowned. “Ah…  I dunno.  I think it’s a teacher.”

“Wow, I would've never guessed.” Izuku laughed.

Keigo smirked into his coffee, “yeah, yeah. Brat.”

Izuku thought that he’d never get to UA, he thought that his morning would’ve been the longest part of the day.  Nooooo, life just had to go and make it so the train ride seems even longer. He eventually made it to UA, and he was not disappointed.  UA was a massive school.  One of the best feelings in the world was walking through the door, because it’s UA!!!  

He was lost, the first day and he was very lost.  Izuku did however find 1-C, where Yamada was sitting.  “H-hey, uh, Yamada?  Where’s 1-A?” Izuku politely asked, there was no one in the classroom yet.

Yamada looked up from his papers, “oh, Midoriya.  Yeah, it’s down the hall.  Good luck with Shouta.” he gave him a kind smile.

Izuku froze, Shouta?  Oh… Oh fuck, that must be Shinsou’s other dad…  “T-thank you Yamada…” Midoriya panicked and stiffly made his way down the hall.  

He reached the door, and wow that’s tall… Izuku entered the classroom, there were five students, not including him.  There was Shinsou, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, a teen with rectangular glasses, and another with a bird head.  It was about 7:50, so understandably there were only a few people.  Shinsou turned to look Izuku dead in the eye, “you ominous fucker.” 

“Sorry Shinsou, today’s the day you gain immortality.” Izuku responded.

“Damn, I’m going to have to put up with your bullshit for the rest of eternity.” he laughed.

The glasses kid looked at them, before holding out a hand.  “I am Iida Tenya, from Somei Private Academy.  While I do not agree with your choice of language, I hope we become acquainted.” 

Izuku nodded and took his hand, “Izuku Midoriya, that’s Shinsou Hitoshi.” he gestured to Shinsou.

Surely enough more students filtered in, some already forming into small groups.  How?  We haven’t even started school… Extroverts.  Izuku himself was much more ambivert.  There was a brown haired girl with rosy cheeks who came in and immediately spotted Shinsou, “it’s you!  Thank you for saving me at the exam!” she shouted, loudly.

Shinsou shifted awkwardly, “uh, yeah, you’re welcome…” 

Suddenly a yellow sleeping bag stood up, and then there was Eraserhead.  Izuku had never feared more in his life.  The man checked his stopwatch, “it took you eight seconds to quiet down.  I’m Aizawa-sensei, I’ll be your teacher for the year.”

Izuku immediately knew it was going to be a very long year indeed.

Chapter Text

Izuku followed the class to the lockers, they were all given blue uniforms.  He quickly threw on the uniform and left.  The place that Aizawa-sensei had them meet was a large green field.  No one was out there yet, god people are slow.  Needless to say, Aizawa can be very intimidating, especially when you’re the only person on the field.  The other students finally arrived, all lining up along a white line.  “Uh, Aizawa-sensei, aren’t we supposed to be at orientation?” a girl with a brown bob asked.

“No, today you’re going to do a quirk apprehension test.” he stated.

Izuku groaned, meanwhile, cheers erupted from the other students.  “This is going to be so fun!” a pink girl exclaimed.

“Fun?  Alright then, last place is expelled.” Aizawa grinned.

“WHAT!” several people screamed.

Izuku snickered a little bit, Keigo and Dabi were always complaining about how dangerous hero/vigilante work was.  It was funny to see other peoples views.  Aizawa must have caught his amusement, “Midoriya, you’re first.” he said with a wicked grin.

“How far could you throw in middle school?” Aizawa asked.

“64 meters.” which was his score from the last time he’d even been in a school.

Aizawa hummed and handed him the ball.  Izuku stepped up to the plate, he grabbed the ball, and threw it.  “102 meters.” Aizawa said, looking at the small machine he held in his hand.  

Izuku returned to his place among the line, and the rest of the students went. The highest score ended up being the same girl from earlier, with the brown bob.  Apparently her name was Uraraka.  The next one was a 5 meter dash, a guy named Iida ended up with the fastest speed.  Strength was won over by a guy named Shoji, with six arms.  There was a flexibility test which was won by Hagaruke.  They had all finished the apprehension tests, and Aizawa wrote down a page of results.

Izuku eventually found his name at the bottom of the page, fuck.  Aizawa looked like he was expecting Midoriya to turn and give him a reaction, but Izuku was not giving up that easily.  Fine, you want a game, I’ll give you one hell of a game to play. “Excuse me sensei, Midoriya did better than most people in the tests, kero” a girl named Asui croaked.

“Yes, but as I said.  This was a quirk apprehension test.” Aizawa calmly explained.

“Well, sensei, Hagaruke didn’t necessarily use her quirk either.” Izuku replied.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, “she can’t technically turn off her quirk either.  Therefore she was using it the entire time.”  

“Yes, but that’s like saying Ashido used her quirk without actually using her acid hands.” Izuku stated, “not to mention I could just have a mental quirk.  Like analysis, or even just a simple quirk such as changing my hair color.” 

Aizawa nodded, like he wanted Izuku to continue, “another thing.  You have my file, you know very well why I didn’t use my quirk, sensei. ” Izuku stared at his teacher.

“Well then, I guess you’re lucky expulsion was a logical ruse.” Aizawa grinned.

Izuku didn’t relax, didn’t sigh in relief, for all he knew Aizawa-sensei could just be waiting for him to do just that.  A lot of the other students did silently cheered to themselves once expulsion was told to be a logical ruse, bullshit, you’ve expelled entire classes before. Izuku knew this wasn’t a fight he would be winning today though.

Dabi watched as Izuku came through the door, and proceeded to drop face first onto the couch, “damn, that rough of a day?” Dabi mused.

“I almost got expelled.” Izuku stated simply.

Dabi did a spit take and looked increadisouly at Izuku, “seriously? You?  Out of all twenty of your classmates?”

“Yup, apparently because I didn’t have a quirk he wants to put me through more of a hell than anyone else.” Izuku groaned.

Dabi relaxed at that, “that just means that he favors you.”

“How could you possibly know that?” 

“Hey, I spent almost a whole year inside of that classroom.” 

“What.”

“Oh, yeah.  Before I ran away…  I spent roughly half a year at UA.”

“Wow, that’s… Cool?” 

Dabi smirked and looked back to his phone, “Keigo should be back soon.  I hear he figured out how to make onigiri.” 

“Wow, rice balls.  What an accomplishment.” Izuku laughed.

Dabi returned the laugh and then sighed.  “If you can, just try talking to Shouto.  Don’t tell him that I asked you too, obviously, but he’s been through hell and back in that house.  Endeavor can be…  An asshole to put it simply, so please, even if he doesn’t let you, just try to be his friend.” Dabi looked Izuku straight in the eyes.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Izuku answered after a minute.

Dabi nodded solemnly, and looked away.  “Thank you.” he let out a breath.

Keigo showed back up at the apartment with two grocery bags, “hey!  We’re having something other than fried chicken tonight!” 

“Keigo, we had udon last night.  You are a liar, and a horrible one at that.” Izuku replied.

“Excuse you, I am a flawless liar.  You just had evidence presented beforehand.” Keigo set down the groceries, “anyways, did your teacher kill anyone yet?” 

“No, I almost got expelled though.” Izuku cheerfully replied.

“What.”

“Yup, apparently it had something to do with me being quirkless.”

“Oh my god, we went over this.  If he’s pushing you that hard he probably has faith in you.” Dabi cut in.

“Oh, anyways.  If you’re ever looking for the opposite of All Might, I’m pretty sure Aizawa-sensei is just that.” Izuku hummed.

Keigo nodded, “I don’t think Nedzu would let you be expelled.”

“You are probably right.” Izuku smirked.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Dabi asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Dunno, I think I heard something about battle training tomorrow.” Izuku responded.

“Ah, do they have homeroom teachers doing that this year or is it an entirely different teacher?” Keigo asked while preparing the onigiri.

“I’ll find out tomorrow, I guess.” Izuku said.

The next day they had a heroics course class, fighting and all that jazz…  1-A had all been given their hero costumes to try out for the first time, which was exciting.  Izuku was especially happy about his costume.  It was a black, skin tight long sleeved shirt with a extended turtle neck that lifted up into a mask.  He had a black, very warm, jacket.  If anyone says he got the idea for a jacket from Keigo, they were liars and no one would find the body.  On another note, he had black boots that buckled together, and black pants.

1-A had all found their way to an observation room where Izuku could only assume they’d be watching all the battles.  After a minute of waiting, whispers also broke free, “who do you think the teacher will be?”,”it’s gotta be a well known pro, UA teaches only the best of the best.” “I heard that they got All Might to teach.”

The last comment got Izuku to freeze, please no, he silently pleaded.  He held his eyes shut and pressed his palms into his face, a hand rested on his shoulder.  Izuku tensed and looked up to the owner of the hand, it was Shinsou.  “Hey, I know we didn’t really talk during the apprehension test yesterday, but please don’t die on me.” he said, sensing Izuku dread.

“I make no promises to not jump out a window.” Izuku replied.

Shinsou paused, “why?”

“I overheard some rumors… That All Might was going to be the heroics course teacher.” Izuku groaned.

Shinsou paused and looked at Izuku, “uh, he did some of the holograms for people who got in.  Di-did you not know that?” 

“W-what!  No! Recommendation students got letters!” Izuku panicked.

Shinsou let out a laugh that sounded like a distorted, ‘ suffer.’ Izuku fought every urge to not just attack Shinsou right then and there.  Sadly he was so rudely interrupted by the door flying open, “I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!” All Might shouted.

Izuku dropped his head in his hands as the classroom erupted into awestruck gasps and cheers. “Huh, it appears All Might is our heroics teacher.” Shinsou teased.

Izuku gave Shinsou a cold glare, “I hope you burn in hell.” Izuku sighed.

“Yeah, I hope to see you down there too.” Shinsou quipped back.

“I will whoop your ass in training today.” Izuku groaned.

“If you even get paired against me.” 

“Do you doubt my ability to find a way.” 

“No, and that might just be the scariest thing about you.” Shinsou rested his head in the palm of his hand, “I mean, you’re a midget with the ability to take over the world.  Who wouldn’t be terrified.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes, “I hate you.”

“You love me.” Shinsou stated.

Izuku would’ve kept the argument going but All Might stated the lesson.  “TODAY YOU’LL BE PAIRING OFF IN A BATTLE SIMULATION!” he announced to the class.

“Will we be threatened with expulsion?”, “do we get to choose our teams?”, “Will we be getting to wear our hero outfits?”, “is this really safe to do on the second day of school?”  many questions erupted from the class.

“NOW NOW, I HAVE SUPER-STRENGTH, NOT SUPER-HEARING.” All Might answered.

The class quieted down, wow, that’s a lot of power right there. Izuku mused with how quickly all the students quieted down.  All Might proceeded to explain further, “YOU WILL GET TO TEST OUT YOUR HERO OUTFITS.  YOU WILL BE FACING OTHER TEAMS OF TWO AS EITHER VILLAINS OR HEROES.  THE VILLAINS OBJECTIVIVE IS TO PROTECT THE BOMB FROM THE HERO TEAM.  THE HERO TEAM HAS THE OBJECTIVE OF RETRIEVING THE BOMB SAFELY FROM THE VILLAIN TEAM, YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES OF PREP TIME.  IF THE HERO TEAM FAILS TO GET THE BOMB WITHIN 15 MINUTES, THE VILLAINS WIN.”

That did not sit well with Izuku, it’ll be fine.  The worst that could happen is you end up dying, no big deal.  Izuku sighed as All Might created the teams.

• Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochaco (Team A) vs Shinsou Hitoshi & Tenya Iida (Team D)
• Todoroki Shouto & Shoji Mezo (Team B) vs Ojiro Mashirao & Hagakure Tory (Team I)
• Tokoyami Fumikage & Asui Tsuyu (Team H) vs Kirishima Eijiro & Sero Hanta (Team J)
• Kaminari Denki & Jiro Kyoka (Team G) vs. Yaoyorozu Momo & Mineta Minoru (Team C)
• Aoyama Yuga & Ashido Mina (Team E) vs. Sato Rikido & Koda Koji (Team F)

Izuku had a vague idea of who Uraraka was, she was infinity girl from the day prior.  He quickly made his way over to Uraraka while All Might announced Team A and Team D would be going first.  Izuku made eye contact with Shinsou and grinned wickedly.  Team A made their way to the base of the building in the training grounds.  

Izuku turned to Uraraka, “I think I should go after Shinsou.” he told her.

Uraraka rose an eyebrow, “why do you think that?  Wouldn’t either of us have just as good a chance against him?”  

“Typically yes, but I know most of the ins and outs of Shinsou’s quirk.  Iida very clearly has a speed quirk, which you could easily counter.  While he may be fast, he can’t do much if he’s floating.” Izuku informed her.

Uraraka’s eyes widened upon learning this new information.  “Wow, you’re right, I didn’t even think of that Midoriya!”

Izuku nodded, “it really depends on which of us gets to the bomb first, but I believe that it will be set up like a standard guarding system.  Someone will be guarding the bomb closely, being right next to it.  The other would typically go around in a ‘patrol route’ of sorts.  While it would be better for Iida to be a round patrol, Shinsou should be the person guarding the bomb.” he took a quick breath, “if either of us do encounter Shinsou, he is very skilled at hand to hand combat.  I can only imagine the kind of training he did.  So I will go after Shinsou since you can just float Iida up, with him compromised we can both go and get the bomb that should be on the,” he looked at the building, “fouthish floor area.” 

“How’d you guess the fourth floor Midoriya?” Uraraka asked.

“Well, I can see the shadow of a large object in the window.  I am making an educated guess that that will be our best bet.” Izuku said, pointing out the large show in a fourth floor window.

“TIME’S UP, THE BATTLE WILL BEGIN NOW.” All Might’s voice rang over the speakers.

Izuku turned on his earpiece to contact Uraraka with, and the two entered the building.  Izuku immediately found the right side staircase, and proceeded to go up to the fourth floor.  There was no noise coming from the floors before, but he got to the fourth floor and heard footsteps.  

Izuku crouched down and readied himself to tackle the person approaching.  Suddenly he was grabbed from behind and spun around.  Izuku came face to face with Shinsou, “goddamnit.” Izuku muttered.

Shinsou laughed and threw an elbow into Izuku’s gut.  “You planned well, but you forget I’ve been listening to the way you plan for two years.” 

Izuku did not reply, two-years of replying to Shinsou, he didn’t need to reply this one time.  Shinsou noticed this, “aw, you’re not going to talk to me.  Kind of rude, don’t you think?” 

Izuku threw up a fist into Shinsou’s jaw, turned him around and threw a knee into Shinsou’s back. Shinsou grunted, and grabbed Izuku’s ankle, throwing him off of Shinsou.  Izuku tumbled to the ground and his hand found the capture tape.  Izuku stretched out the capture tape and aimed for Shinsou’s wrists, he missed.  Uraraka’s voice came over the earpiece, “hey, Midoriya.  I found the bomb, Iida is guarding it.  I think he spotted me, sorry.”

Izuku jumped away from Shinsou throwing a kick towards him.  “It’s okay Uraraka, just go forward with what we originally had planned out.  Tweak it to your advantage, as long as you get Iida up in the air you should be good.” he explained.

He heard a grunt of confirmation from the other side of the earpiece, Shinsou aimed another kick at Izuku.  Izuku grabbed Shinsou’s foot and threw him over his shoulder.  “Come on Midoriya, we’ve fought before.  You know I won't give up.” Shinsou breathed, standing up again.

Izuku grunted and aimed for Shinou’s ankles with the capture tape.  He was successful, wrapping the tape tight around Shinsou’s feet as he fell over.  “SHINSOU HITOSHI HAS BEEN CAPTURED.” All Might’s voice rang out very suddenly.  

“Damn,  I thought I could hold you off forever.” Shinsou huffed in defeat.

“Yeah, but I have to go help Uraraka now.”  Izuku laughed.

Shinsou nodded and Izuku ran forward to find the bomb, somewhere on the floor.  “Uraraka, where are you right now?” he asked.  

“Uh, not really sure.  Iida is monologuing currently, if that helps.” Uraraka replied.

Izuku nodded to himself, Uraraka spoke again.  “I got Iida up in the air!” 

“That’s great, just float the bomb and it should be safely secured.” Izuku told her.

All Might’s voice, once again, came over the loudspeaker.  “BOMB IS SAFELY SECURE, HERO TEAM WINS.”

Izuku sighed, and found Iida and Uraraka.  “Good job you guys.” he smiled brightly.

The three all headed back to the observation room where All Might stood.  “GOOD MATCH, CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHO THE MVP WAS?”  All Might boomed.

Yaoyorozu was the first to speak up, “it would appear that Midoriya was the MVP.  He quickly captured Shinsou, and was the one who came up with the strategy he and Uraraka used.” 

Izuku had forgotten that they could hear the planning from the observation room.  He groaned and All Might looked at him funny, shiiiiiiiiit, does he remember?  “YES,  THAT iS CORRECT.”  All Might confirmed.  

The day continued as the team's proceeded to play out more battles.  Izuku could only watch as All Might went over the battles at the end of each one, sparing him glances that looked very… uncomfortable.  That was saying the least, Izuku could only describe it as when you find your teacher having an affair on their spouse, with another teacher.  Then everything is just awkward between the two of you because you really don’t know if you should say anything or just let it be. Izuku wouldn’t actually say anything about what All Might said, but it felt like the biggest fuck you to be in the heroics course.  

Izuku smiled to himself, yeah, I’ll tell Keigo about that when I get home.  Shinsou looked over at him, “you know the look people get when they predict the outcome of a movie in the beginning?  You have that look right now.” Shinsou noted.

“Yup, I feel like that.  Kind of?  I guess I’m just enjoying class with All Might.”  Izuku smirked.

Shinsou tilted his head, “but…  You hated this class a while ago…” Shinsou caught one of All Might’s awkward glances over towards them, “oh my god, what did you do to All Might?” 

“Absolutely nothing.” Izuku grinned.

“How’d you manage to make All Might look like that?” Shinsou pleaded.

“No-” Izuku’s mind washed over with fog.

“Tell me what you did to All Might.”

“He told me I couldn’t be a hero.” Izuku automatically responded.

“Ah, shit.” Shinsou’s eyes widened a little, and he looked guilty.  “I shouldn’t have done that…”

Izuku shrugged, “don’t worry, it happened a while ago.  Don’t really think too much about it other than the fact All Might looked like he killed my cat.” 

Shinsou chuckled, and the current teams came back from their battle trial.  Izuku sighed as the battles continued on.  The day seemed to drag on, the battles are getting a little repetitive.  Izuku decided to open up his notebook, he could write down what he’d previously observed from the battles.

The day ended and Izuku was back in his room, reviewing any quirk assignments he’d been sent.  Keigo opened the door, “Izuku, I’ve made soba.  If you are ready to take a break.” 

Izuku sighed and looked over, “we have All Might as a heroics teacher.” Izuku grumbled.

Keigo winced and ruffled his hair, “damn, that’s rough.” 

“Yeah, it’s fun though.  I make All Might super uncomfortable, pretty sure he’s suffering more than I am in the class.” Izuku smiled.

Keigo laughed, “hey, don’t you have a field trip coming up?” he asked.

“Yeah, don’t know where we’re going though…” Izuku responded.

Chapter Text

Class was normal the following day.  It was just sitting in a classroom with school work, what a relief.  Aizawa suddenly looked up, “alright class, there is one activity for today.” 

1-A froze and looked up at their teacher.  “You’ll be picking a class representative.” he explained tiredly.

The class let out a breath of relief, “finally something normal!” Kirishima sighed.

The rest of the class seemed to agree, everyone was speaking at once.  “Choose me!”, “vote for me and we’ll have no more homework!”, “I promise to uphold all the rules if you choose me!”,  “look at how fabulous I am!  Pick me!”  

Izuku let out a breath when Yaoyorozu stood up, “how about we host a vote instead of shouting out?”

“Oh, that could work.”, “kinda sounds like what we were doing before, just extra steps.”, “yeah!  Let’s do that!”

Iida looked at Aizawa, “would it be okay if we did that sensei?”

Aizawa looked up from his sleeping bag, “don’t care, wake me up after class is over.” he said, laying back down.

Izuku decided he would be blessed if he didn’t have a headache by the end of the day.  Yaoyorozu headed up to the podium in front of the classroom, holding up her hand and forming paper strips. “You will all write down a name of the person you think should be president.” she handed out the pieces of paper.

Each classmate took one and wrote down a name, handing them to Iida, who joined Yaoyorzu up at the front.  The students watched as the two sorted through the pieces of paper, writing up names of who was voted for.  In the end a lot of people ended up with either 1 or 0 votes.  There were three people who stood at the front, Iida with two votes, Yorozu with three votes, and Izuku with four…  Four votes.  “Who voted for me?” he looked around the room, because he sure didn’t vote for himself.

Uraraka just smiled, Shinsou was snickering behind him.  Okay that was two, good enough.  “I-I don’t really think I’d make a good class president…” Izuku objected.

“Nonsense,”  Iida began, “the class voted for you, not to mention you showed incredible skill in the battle trial yesterday.  I think it’s reasonable.” he said with a chopping motion of his hands.

“I don’t have the time in my schedule to be a class president.” Izuku sighed.

It appeared that no one heard him, and proceeded to continue their discussions.  Yaoyorozu was elected as Vice President, which was a good choice.  Izuku might have placed his vote for Iida, but he couldn’t argue with the fact that both Iida and Yaorozu were ideal choices for a class president.  

Lunch was the next class, and even Izuku was immediately approached by Iida and Uraraka.  “Midoriya!  We should eat lunch together!”  Uraraka exclaimed.

Izuku mutely nodded and looked at Shinsou, “joins us Shinsou,” he smirked.

Shinsou sighed and joined the group walking to the cafeteria.  The cafeteria was packed with students.  Uraraka dragged Izuku and Shinsou over to a table.  Izuku looked around and spotted Todoroki.  “Do you guys know anything about Todoroki?” Izuku asked.

Iida shook his head, “I can’t say I’ve ever spoken to him, just seen him at hero glalas and such.” 

“Oh yeah, forgot you were Ingenium’s brother.” Izuku muttered.

Iida nodded and Uraraka squealed, “Iida!  Doesn’t that make you rich?”

“Technically yes, but that’s not something I really talk about.” Iida responded bashfully.

“Well, what was he like at the hero gala’s?” Izuku asked.

“He doesn’t really talk to people there, sits in the corner.”  Iida recalled.

Izuku nodded, he’d have to ask Dabi about that later.  “Why were you asking Midoriya?” Shinsou asked.

“Just, trying to get to know the class better…  I guess.” Izuku replied.

Shinsou nodded, “Anywa-” 

Shinsou was cut off by a loud alarm ringing through the cafeteria.  “What’s that?” Uraraka asked.

A second year student answered, “It’s an intruder alarm!  I haven’t experienced one since I got here, so it must be real!” she fretted.

The four of them followed the crowd to a hallway.  It was filled to the brim with panicking students, really?  Isn’t UA raising only the best of the best?  It was kind of weird to see all of these students panicking. Izuku shoved his way to the window where he looked down to the entrance of UA.  “Uraraka, Iida!  It’s just the press!” Izuku shouted from beside Shinou.

The two looked over at him, “what do you suppose we do?” Uraraka fretted.

“I don’t know, Iida any suggestions?”  Izuku asked.

Iida’s face lit up, “Uraraka, float me above the other students!” 

Uraraka did so and Iida was up in the air.  Iida made his way over to the exit sign right above the door, “students!  You must calm down! It’s just the press!” Iida bellowed.

That got many students to stop and calm down.  Iida sighed and Uraraka placed her fingers together, “release,” she muttered.

With Iida once again on the floor, and students not trying to kill each other, Izuku let out a breath.  “Well, that was eventful.” Shinsou mumbled.

The other three nodded, and decided they should probably head back to the classroom.  Most of the class was already back there, and Izuku decided to make a decision.  “I’m handing over my place as class president to Iida.” 

“Why would you do that?” Iida asked.

“Well, you did really well today during the alarm that went off.  Not to mention I don’t have the time to put into being a class representative.  So, I wanted to hand it off if I can’t give my very best.” Izuku shrugged.

“Well, can’t argue with that.” Kaminari said.

“I also think it’s a good idea!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed.

Iida smiled, “then I will do my best to make you all proud!” 

Izuku relaxed as the responsibility was lifted off of his chest. 

Dabi was cooking when Izuku came through the door.  “How was school?” Dabi asked.

Izuku hummed and stood at the counter, “are you… Did you really just pour all of that seasoning into a cup of top ramen?” Izuku wheezed.

Dabi looked to his cup of top ramen, which now consisted of several spices, an egg, and some of the leftover chicken.  “This is a gourmet meal shrub,” Dabi huffed.

“Ah yes, would you like wassabi drizzled across your chicken top ramen?” Izuku said in a horrible fake accent.

“Actually,” Dabi thought for a minute, “that may not be too bad.” 

Izuku watched in horror as Dabi added wasabi to his chicken top ramen.  “Could you possibly make that anymore complex?” Izuku asked.

Dabi rolled his eyes, “you and Keigo both enjoy such simple foods.  You should learn to spice it up every now and then.” 

Izuku huffed and crossed his arms, “on another note…  What’s the best way to get through to Todoroki?’ 

Dabi looked up from the ramen, “I honestly don’t know, haven’t seen him in quite some time.  I would recommend just trying to approach him, but he’s going to be approachable at first.  Hell, Keigo is the first person I even bothered befriending since getting out of that hell hole.” 

Izuku could only nod.  He remembered earlier today how Iida had said he never spoke to anyone at galas, not to mention how approachable he appeared to be.  Izuku let out a loud groan, “where’s Keigo anyways?” he asked.

“Asleep,” Dabi responded.

“But…  Isn’t he typically on patrol until five?” Izuku asked.

Dabi nodded, “he got sent back early because he got stabbed.” 

“Stabbed!  Who stabbed him?”

“Just some crazy thief.  Barely grazed him but he said something about the girl being psycho.”  

Izuku rubbed his temples and frowned, “do you just live here or what?” Izuku blurted out.

Dabi paused and quirked a brow, “did it really take you this long to ask?”

“Well, I was just wondering since you’re always here…” Izuku flushed.

“You literally went with me to buy groceries two days ago.  In other words, it’s more of I’ll go home if Keigo kicks me out.” Dabi let out a huff of amusement.

“So…  Y-yes then?” Izuku tilted his head.

“Sure shrub.” Dabi sighed.

Keigo stumbled into the kitchen with a white bandage wrapped around his arm.  “That was a very sweet interaction.” Keigo put up a wobbly smile.

“Get the fuck back in the bed Keigo.” Dabi growled.

“Noooooo, I need some waterrr,” Keigo slurred.

“You said he didn’t get cut badly!  He’s high off of painkillers Dabi!” Izuku gestured his hands over to Keigo.

Dabi raised his hands, “it wont scar…  Probably…  Not to mention it didn’t hit anything vital.” 

“Hey, ‘m not high.  Just a ‘lil bit sleepy.” Keigo yawned.

Dabi sighed, “well then, back to bed if you’re so tired,” he led Keigo back to the room.

Izuku sighed, he could probably get a few work assignments done before he went to bed.

The classroom was lively, in Izuku’s opinion.  There was small bits of chatter here and there, students just talking amongst themselves.  Everyone already had their hero costumes on, due to the field trip.  Shinsou let out a loud groan, rubbing his eyes.  “Did you sleep at all last night Shinsou?” Izuku asked his friend.

“I got half an hour of sleep, I don’t know how you manage to sleep so well.” Shinsou sighed.

Izuku laughed, and looked at Shinsou, “I don’t, I simply don’t get any eyebags.”

“That’s a better be a lie.” Shinsou growled.

“Well, probably.  I don’t ever know when I fall asleep, but it’s usually at my desk, and I’m usually working…  I just know I wake up at 5:30 every morning.”  Izuku explained.

Shisnou glared at him, “you are a monster.  Why do you wake up at 5:30?”

Izuku shrugged, and Aizawa-sensei came through the door in his yellow sleeping bag.  “All right class, we’re meeting outside to meet the bus.” he said tiredly.

1-A nodded and exited the building, Aizawa looks like he could use an extra hour of sleep, Izuku noted.  Everyone quickly loaded onto the bus and Izuku found a seat next to Shinsou.  Everyone crowded around their friends, which, how the hell it’s day three?  Asui looked over at Izuku, catching his attention.  “Excuse me Midoriya, but we haven’t seen you use your quirk yet.  If you don’t mind me asking?”  she croaked.

Izuku shrugged, “trade secret.”

Asui nodded, “another thing, your jacket looks an awful lot like Hawks, kero.” 

Izuku sputtered and gripped his jacket, “no, it doesn’t K-Hawks,” he fumbled over the name, “has a beige jacket.  Mine’s black.” he pointed out.

“Really?  I always thought his jacket was like an oak kind of color…” Uraraka pondered.

Izuku shrugged, “it’s listen as an official beige.” 

Kaminari peeked up from behind Izuku’s seat, “dude, it says peach on the official wiki.” he pointed to his phone.

Izuku looked at it and squinted.  It probably wouldn’t be a very good idea to tell people he’d seen Hawks actual costume design in person, where it very clearly said beige, but his jacket sure as hell was peach.  “It’s not peach.” Izuku protested.

“Wow Midoriya, how could you ever possibly know that the jacket is beige?” Shinsou teased.

Izuku huffed and looked at Shinsou, he could try saying observation but he’d lose this battle anyrate.  The group would have completed their debate but the bus pulled to a stop.  The students all began to move restlessly around, filtering off of the bus, following Aizawa into the building.  “Allright, as you may or maynot know, this is the USJ-” 

“You mean Universal Studios of Japan?” Sero asked.

“No, I mean Unforseen Simulation Joint.  You’ll be practicing rescue training here.” Thirteen explained.

“That’s Thirteen!” Uraraka squealed.

“Oh?  You must be a pretty big fan Uraraka.” Izuku noted.

Uraraka-still squealing-explained, “Thirteen is only the best rescue hero ever!”

Izuku nodded and listened as Thirteen explained the exercise, describing the different areas and rescue missions they’d perferom.  An uneasy feeling settled in Izuku’s stomach.  Izuku fidgeted with his hands and tried to calm his paranoia.  Aizawa seemed to notice this too, his eyes darted around the area.  Izuku took notice of a wisp of mist growing and multiplying in the center area of the USJ. Izuku went to reply but found his voice choked up, Aizawa followed Izuku’s panicked eyes.  “Everyone, get back.” he growled.

The students all flinched back at the deadly tone in their instructors voice, but proceeded to do as told upon seeing the mist.  “Are they a part of the exercise?” Kaminari asked.

“No, those are real villains.” Aizawa readied himself for a fight.

Chapter Text

Shouta knew very well that he was not equipped to handle the literal dozens of villains that seemed to pour out to the mist.  That did not stop him from jumping headfirst into the battle at hand.  Afterall, his top priority was his students.  If he was lucky, the villains would go home.  What do they even want in the first place?  Motivation didn’t matter, Shouta decided, he needed to get out a distress signal.  Something to alert the other teachers, other heros.  Shouta looked around and spotted Iida and Kaminari, “Iida, run back to the school and alert the teachers. Kaminari, try to get a signal out,” he instructed.

Shouta noticed Iida’s hesitation while Kaminari pulled out his phone.  “Sensei, you can’t be suggesting I leave my classmates!” Iida protested.

Thankfully for Shouta, Midoriya decided to step in, “Iida, you’re the fastest person here!  There is no signal in the building and we have two pro heros against an army.  So do as Sensei says and run back to UA.” 

Iida opened and closed his jaw, but nodded.  Shouta watched as the mist villain warped himself over to the entrance of the USJ.  “Sorry, but I can’t let you leave,” the villain spoke calmly.  

Shouta growled and spun to the center of the USJ.  A shaggy man covered in hands stood next to a large bird creature, “dammit Kurogiri…  The schedule said All Might was supposed to be here.”

The mist villain, Kruogiri, shrugged.  “What do you want with All Might?” Shouta asked.

“Oh you know, just to kill the symbol of peace,” the man replied.

Shouta held his breath, they couldn't actually…  Shouta decided against questioning a villains motives, and more on the mutated bird with a brain sticking out of it.

Izuku watched as Aizawa turned and faced a large bird-like creature.  Stuck between the warp villain and the bird villain, Izuku didn’t even get a second to make a choice.  The ground gave way beneath him, and Izuku fell through a warpgate.  He was in a place of zero gravity for a second before falling onto hard, wooden planks.  Izuku looked up to spot Todoroki and Asui, he observed the area they had landed in.  It was a large boat in the middle of a man-made lake.  Izuku peeked over the edge to find a group of villains waiting expectantly at the bottom.  Todoroki came up, “well…  That certainly is an issue,” he muttered.

Izuku nodded and looked to Asui, “Asui, you okay?” 

“Yes, kero, and please call my Tsuyu.” she replied.

Izuku half-heartedly smiled, “we need a way off the boat.”

“That much is clear, but if they’re here to kill All Might, then surely we would be nothing but pawns to them.” Todoroki said coldly.

Izuku shook his head, “Todoroki, you’re quirk is half-cold half-hot right?” a nod, “see?  They don’t know what they’re doing.  They put you in a flood zone where you could easily freeze over the water, not to mention Asu-Tsuyu’s quirk is water based.  If you can freeze over the water you can probably disable most of the villains.” Izuku analyzed.

Tsuyu croaked, “that would be correct, kero, if they’re in the water then they can breath under it too for a while.  You should freeze over the water completely so we can walk on it.” 

Izuku gestured to Todoroki and watched as the dual-user lifted his left hand.  With a swift motion, ice flew from Todoroki’s arm down the side of the ship to the water.  It was mesmerizing to watch the ice layer the water as villains quickly swam from the expanding cold.  “We have to get back to the center of the USJ, do you think you could block them off?” Izuku asked, noting Todoroki’s excellent control over his ice.

Todoroki nodded and ice sank down to make a barrier in the water.  The trio made their way over to the large center of the USJ.  Aizawa was fighting numerous villains in the center, hair rising and falling as if he were breathing.  Izuku frantically pulled out his phone from his hero costume, thank god for the several pockets…  He looked up at the service bars, which was still at zero.  Must be a quirk at work then…  The fight at the cement flat was very unfair.  While it appeared to be Kirishima and Mineta taking on the warp villain, Aizawa and Thirteen struggled against the remaining villains, not to mention the large bird that was now fighting.  

The man covered in hands was also attacking Aizawa, unfair.  The creature looked to be dead as it attacked Aizawa.  There was no control in his eyes, just a lock on target.  There was no outside observation, no area awareness, like a robot. “Nomu,” handyman pointed a finger, “kill Eraserhead.” 

Izuku nearly froze in horror, key word nearly.  Instead he ran forward at the hand villain, ignoring Todoroki and Tsuyu’s protests.  “Hey!  Hand job!  Over here!” Izuku taunted the villain.

As expected, hand job’s facesnapped over to Izuku, so did the Nomu’s. “Who are you?  You know NPCs shouldn’t interfere,” the villain sneered.

“Actually, I’m a side quest character!” Izuku offered, “but you can’t exactly access any of my quests quite yet.” 

“Do I need to be a certain level to access your quest?” handyman asked. 

“No, you’re just lacking the karma points.”  Izuku replied.

That got the villain pissed off, “you brat,” he growled.

Izuku tensed as the Nomu began to stalk toward Izuku, and while that gave Aizawa a breather, Izuku now had two very frightening villains looking at him.  The man who’d called him an NPC stalked over to Izuku, a hand raised threateningly.  “Name’s Shigaraki Tomura, brat.  Now, care to tell me that quest of yours and maybe, just maybe I’ll let you live.” 

“A-ah, w-well.  I can’t g-give you t-that information just y-yet,” Izuku was sweating nervously, “you s-still lack karma p-points.” 

Izuku realised his stutter was back in full force and anxiety was going to really cost him his life right then and there.  Handjob- sorry, Shigaraki- snarled and brought a hand up to Izuku, taking a good look at him.  Izuku thought that Shigaraki might take pity on him but no.  A sudden spark of anger set off Shigaraki way too quickly for Izuku to comprehend.  “YOU!” he screeched, “you’re Sensei’s damn brat!”

What?  Who is Sense- Izuku finally comprehended Shigaraki’s words.  Please don’t, please don’t be talking about how I think you are… Izuku freaked as Shigaraki wrapped four fingers around his neck, touch-based quirk, five-finger activation- ”all Sensei ever does it talk, and talk, and talk!  About you!  You goddamn brat!” Shigaraki vented.

Izuku would like to say he knew his father well, but his dad was in the picture until he was about four.  Even then he was gone a lot.  Most people just assumed he was never there to begin with.  “I-I uh…  I’m s-sorry?” Izuku tried.

The fingers tightened around his neck and Izuku was struggling to breath, “not fair, not fair, you CHEAT!  CHEATER!” Shigaraki screamed in Izuku’s face.

Izuku wanted so desperately to get out of the grasp of Shigaraki.  Can’t breath, can’t breath… Hurts…  Izuku caught sight of Aizawa’s red-eyes directed towards the two, so he took a chance.  Izuku knew Shigaraki’s quirk was most likely gone.  He raised his foot and rammed it into Shigaraki’s stomach as hard as he possibly could.  That sent the villain stumbling back and Izuku clenched his fist.  He landed a solid punch across the villains mask? Can I even call it that?  It’s literally a hand…  

It also appeared Izuku had temporarily forgotten about the Nomu, who was now looming over him, fuck, shit, not good.  “Wow, you really are cool Eraserhead,” Shigaraki said, clenching the mask, “Nomu.  Get back to killing Eraserhead, we can’t kill Sensei’s brat.” 

Shigaraki had approached Aizawa and crouched down to where the beat-up teacher lay, “you see Eraser, we came here to kill All Might, but since he isn’t here…  We’ll just have to beat up his pride a little.” 

Izuku did not want to know what that meant, but Shigaraki grabbed onto Aizawa’s elbow.  It was then Izuku realised what his quirk was, decay.  Five-finger’s down and he can decay anything.  Is it really anything or is it just organic matter?  No, that wouldn’t make sense.  Must be rough living with such a difficult quik…  Izuku stopped himself short, a paralyzing horror as Aizawa elbow began to fall to pieces.  A large wall of ice separated Shigaraki from Aizawa and Todoroki glared at Izuku.  “You,” Todoroki pointed at him, “are incredibly stupid and idotic.”  

Izuku couldn’t really reply to that, but warpgate had returned.  “Shigaraki, the hero’s will be arriving soon, a student escaped to alert them,” warpgate apologised.

“Kurogiri, I swear if you weren’t our transportation I’d-” Shigaraki growled but just huffed looking at the ice.  

The Nomu did not seem phased by the ice, quickly breaking through to the other side.  Izuku, still stunned, watched the Nomu grab Aizawa and throw him to the ground.  Izuku let out a very strangled scream.  It was then he decided to do any stupid thing possible to prevent Aizawa from getting hurt further.  Shigaraki said he couldn't kill me…  It’s because of my dad isn’t it?  He calls him sensei, which must mean that he’d be pretty mad if Shigaraki ended up hurting me. Izuku threw up his foot and slammed it into the back of Shigaraki’s head.

Shigaraki and the Nomu’s head’s snapped towards Izuku in scary sync.  Izuku backed up and glared at Shigaraki, “bitch,” Izuku sneered at the villain.  

“Just get out of the way brat!” Shigaraki yelled.

“I-I can’t do t-that.” Izuku stepped back.

Todoroki froze Shigaraki’s feet to the ground where he stood, then onto the Nomu.  He encased the villain in an ice block.  Shigaraki smirked, disintegrating the ice at his feet, “just how long do you think mere ice can hold Nomu?”

As if on cue, the Nomu shattered the ice around it, staring at Todoroki with cold, dead eyes.  Tsuyu wrapped her tongue around Todoroki and Izuku, bringing them both back to the waterfront, “we should wait for the hero’s, kero.” she ribbited.

Izuku nodded, “Todoroki, the warpgate villain has to have a physical body somewhere, do you think you could freeze him?” 

Todoroki nodded and sent ice barreling towards Kurogiri.  Kurogiri opened a gate and deflected the ice.  Izuku was tired, everything was just happening so quickly.  While he wasn’t physically taxed, his brain was about to shut down.  He looked at the Nomu who was heading back toward Aizawa.  The Nomu care’s about Shigaraki, if I continue to attack him, maybe I can keep the Nomu off Aizawa- a large crash gave way to silence as everyone stared to the source of the noise.  

“NEVER FEAR!  FOR I AM HERE!”  All Might boomed.

Izuku decided now would be a good time to pass out.

When he came to it was barely thirty seconds later, a quick flash of a knockout.  Shigaraki was crouched above him. “So, you really weren't lying when you said you had a hidden quest?” Shigaraki tilted his head.

“Mmmhph, you still lack karma points…” Izuku muttered.

“Yeah, yeah.  You know, it’s really a shame.  I think we could’ve gotten along quite well if you weren’t such a- hero worshiper. ” Shiragaki spat.

“It’s more r-respect than w-worship,” Izuku defended.

Shigaraki nodded, “you know I wanted to kill you for the longest time.  All Sensei ever talks about is how he’ll find a way to get you back to him.  Quite annoying, however…” Shigaraki lifted the hand-mask to reveal incredibly dry skin, dude what the hell, get some lotion, “I wonder what he’d think if I brought you back.  You see, Nomu is built to destroy All Might.  If this one doesn’t work, we have more.  Even now All Might struggles against Nomu’s quirks.  That does however give us enough time to take a hostage though.” 

Izuku frowned and looked up at Shigaraki, “you know I w-wouldn’t join your gang r-right?  I have everything I n-need and more.  You think I would just h-hand myself over that e-easily?” 

“Naive side-characters, I swear,” Shigaraki muttered, “you misunderstand.  We have special methods to gain NPCs.  I mean, do you think Kurogiri willingly joined the league?” 

Izuku froze and looked at the mist man.  “Wh-what?”

Sharaki let out a rough wheeze, “you really have no clue!  Wow, for someone as smart as you…  You know what maybe I’ll tell you when we get back to the base.”

Izuku wobbly lifted himself off the ground, All Might was struggling with the Nomu, who’d just gotten an entire arm torn off and was currently regenerating.  Aizawa was laying on the ground, barely breathing.  Kirishima, Mineta, Todoroki and Tsuyu were struggling with Kurogiri who deflected them with portals.  “T-the rest of the heroes will be h-here soon.  You get sent to prison w-when they do,” Izuku spoke lowely.

Shigaraki gave a lopsided grin to Izuku, “hmmm, I guess that’d be an issue.  You really can’t think that we don’t have a plan for that?  Sensei wouldn’t let me go that easily, and he will come back for you.  Don’t forget that,” Shigaraki promised.

Izuku was able to lift himself off the ground quickly and stumble away from Shigaraki, he looked over to see All Might send the final blow to the Nomu.  The bird-like creature shot through the ceiling of the USJ.  Shigaraki let out an infuriated scream, and stared at All Might, “he said you’d gotten weaker!  He-he…  They lied to me!” Shigaraki huffed agrily.

Izuku relaxed when Yamada burst through the USJ doors in his uniform.  “YEAHHHH!” Present Mic screamed at the villains sending a few flying.  

Shigaraki looked like a five year old throwing a tantrum, “no, no, no!  Cheaters, all of you!  Kurogiri, retreat.  It appears we’ll have to level up before going for the boss again.” 

Kurogiri nodded, opening a portal where the two and only a few other villains made it through.  Izuku allowed for his knees to buckle underneath him.  The tranquility that was left was both soothing, and terrifying.  Yamada immediately went to Aizawa, oh shit, forgot they were married.  Several other teachers approached the students who now all stood in the center of the USJ.  “What was shot through the roof?” Midnight asked.

“Something called a Nomu…” Aizawa muttered from where he hung on Yamada’s shoulder.

Midnight didn’t press on the matter, just nodded.  She quickly ran over to Thirteen who was laying on the stairs of the entrance, pressing their hand over an open tear in their suit.  Izuku layed down on the cold ground and watched as the teachers evaluated the students before sending them out to the paramedics.  There appeared to be no serious injuries other than the two teachers, I could’ve died…  That really sunk in on Izuku as he felt the phantom of Shigaraki’s fingers.  

Izuku let out a shaky breath and stared at his hands, which were also shanking.  Snipe came over and crouched down beside Izuku, “Ya alright kid?” he asked.

Izuku mutely nodded, he should call Keigo. “Yeah…  I just need to make a phone call.” 

Snipe looked at him, “I don’t exactly know what’s goin on but I uh, don’t know if yer allowed to involve civilians.”

Izuku paused, “um… W-would you believe me if I told you he wasn’t a civilian?” 

Snipe didn’t appear to buy it but just sighed, “yeah, go ahead.  Jus’ don’t tell em anything’ that could be potentially dangerous.”

Izuku quickly pulled out his phone, dialing the number with his newly renewed service.  It only got through one ring before Keigo picked up, “I am on my way right now, don’t you dare go anywhere.  Jeasus, I’m putting a distress button on your phone.  It hasn’t even been a week of school and you’ve already been attacked!  I got a call from Nedzu saying your class had been targeted by villains.” Keigo panicked over the phone.

“Keigo, I’m fine.  How close are you?” Izuku asked.

“A quick flight away, don’t worry.” Keigo replied.

Izuku groaned in confirmation, hanging up the phone.  He shakily stood up, Snipe offered him support.  “I-I’m good Snipe-sensei.  How are Aizawa and Thirteen?” Izuku asked.

Snipe frowned, as much as you can when you have a mask on…  “ We don’t know, they got sent to ta hospital for emergency care, but they both should live,” Snipe did his beast to reassure the student.

Izuku nodded and walked outside of the USJ, a paramedic approached him, “excuse me.  We need to run you through standard health checks.  We would normally set you up with a therapist but UA already said they’d cover that with Hound-dog,” the woman smiled kindly.

Izuku nodded and followed her over to a truck.  “Now, are you in pain anywhere?” she asked.

Izuku shook his head.

“Any discomfort?”

“No.”

“Okay, does anything feel difficult to move?”

“No.”

“What about breathing?  Are you struggling to breath?”

“No.”

“Did you sustain any injuries during or after the attack?”

“The leader of the villains was about to use his quirk on me, but other than that no.  I passed out for a second though.” 

“Ah, have you been drinking enough water lately?”

“Yeah, I think it was just my mental exhaustion catching up to me.”

“O-oh…  Um, you should be good to go, but I’m going to check you over just in case.”

“Alright.”

Izuku sat there for what seemed like an eon, so when she told him he was good to go he deflated in exhaustion.  I need a solid month of sleep after that, Izuku thought.  Ectoplasm was standing near Izuku when he suddenly blurted, “shit, did someone call Hawks?” Ectoplasm asked.

A few teachers shook their heads and watched the hero fly down.  Needless to say, many students, and teachers alike, were confused.  Keigo quickly landed and immediately hugged Izuku. “Don’t do that again you dumbass.” he smacked him upside the head.

Yamada came up to them, “ah, I’m Yamada.  Nice to finally meet you Hawks, Hitoshi has some… Interesting stories about you,” Yamada laughed.

Keigo sighed, “I can only imagine.  Did any students get hurt?” 

“None that we are aware of, I can only imagine the trauma that put the poor kids through though…” Yamada explained.

Keigo nodded, “were you given the okay to leave?” he asked Izuku.

“Yeah, no injuries here!” Izuku gave a wobbly smile.

Keigo noticed immediately, “do you have to give a statement to the police?” 

“Not unless they want to.  While it will be required to go over the events of the attack, that will be done during their classes at UA.  You both should be good to leave otherwise.” Yamada piped in.

Izuku shook his head, “I should probably give a statement…  I just don’t know who all I’m actually allowed to legally talk to about this.” 

“What do you mean?” Keigo quirked a brow.

“I…  I s-spoke with the ‘ring leader,’  I know who was behind the attacks.” Izuku frowned.

“Izuku,” Keigo said worriedly.

“It was, uh.  It was my-him.  It was him. ” Izuku hoped Keigo would get the message.

Thankfully, Keigo did, “shit, I can set up a meeting with Tsukauchi then.”

Yamada looked between the two, “I assume I am not on the list of people allowed to know?”

“You would assume right… I think.  Technically we're not supposed to say anything for the safety of civilians.  If what I assume is happening is actually happening, then the entire staff of UA should be alerted.” Keigo replied.

Yamada firmly nodded, “well then, you two should get going.  Sleep looks like it would suit both of you.” 

The two nodded and said their good-byes to Yamada.  Izuku pulled up his phone as he and Keigo headed toward a bus station.

Cat: lmao everyone is v confused abt why u just got walked home by hawks

Tell them to mind their own business :Bush

Cat: Top theory is u have a sugar daddy

Izuku sputtered and then wrinkled his nose in disgust, “what?” Keigo looked over to his phone.

“Apparently the only thing my classmates could assume about us walking home together was you’re my sugar daddy.” Izuku snorted.

“Tell them they are all going to jail then.” Keigo laughed.

“Alrighty then.” Izuku said sending the message, then proceeding to open up another chat.

Apprntly Keigo my surgr daddy now :Bush

Rotisserie: tf? i hope not

Why ur name rotisserie? :Bush

Rotisserie: non ur goddamn busniess ths wat

You’ll have to kill me if i knwo why? :Bush

Rotisserie: yes

Chapter Text

Keigo was ultimately dumbfounded by how studpid Izuku’s classmates were.  He really wanted to know who the hell they managed to come up with some of the things that they did.  Alas, he couldn’t really argue, he lived with a fifteen-year-old.  Nonetheless Keigo was very interested in how Izuku would hold up with all of his classmates questioned the next day.  What a mess that will be, Keigo hummed to himself.  

Normally Keigo would be happy that the door was locked, but typically Dabi was home before that.  Hell, Dabi in his ever fluctuating schedule still somehow managed to always be home before either of the two.  Granted, Dabi usually worked during the nights, but him not being home was a bit concerning…  Keigo quickly dialed Dabi’s number.

A few rings then, “hello?”

“Dabi, where are you?” Keigo asked immediately.

There was a brief pause, the a soft, “fuck.” 

“Dabi?” Keigo asked again.

“I uh…  Needed a breather.  Some shit happened today, and I needed to cool off.” was the response Keigo got.

Keigo was a little relieved, “do you want to talk about it?”

He didn’t get a response, just the call going dead.  Keigo sighed and unlocked the apartment, it’d be fine.  “Ah, I’m sorry you had to pick me up…” Izuku muttered.

“Izuku, do not apologize for that.  You were attacked by villains, you did nothing wrong, you did not instigate the attack.” Keigo snapped back.

Izuku flinched and Keigo immediately felt guilty, “sorry, just…  Don’t apologize for anything out of your control.  It is, and never will be, your fault.” 

Izuku shook his head, “I feel like that though…  Keigo, my dad was behind that attack.”  

“I know, but that could be pure coincidence.” Keigo replied.

“Shigaraki knew who I was.  He said sensei talked about me, he wanted to kill me Keigo,” Izuku freaked.

Keigo pulled Izuku into a hug, “look, we’ll figure it out then.  You can’t let who your dad is hold you back, and you can’t live with that guilt.  It will make things worse, one way or another.” 

Izuku nodded and sobbed against Keigo’s chest.  “Look, I can make katsudon tonight, then we’ll stock up on mochi, go it?” Keigo soothed.

Izuku nodded and Keigo sighed, it hasn’t even been a full week into the school year.  “It’d be best if you just relax for now, and you’re not going to school tomorrow.” Keigo said, releasing Izuku from the hug.

Keigo’s phone began to ring and he picked it up before identifying the caller, “Dabi?” he asked.

“ No dumbass,” ah, it was Rumi, “ how’s Izuku doing?  Heard he’d gotten beaten up by some villains?” 

“He came out unscathed, just shaken up.” Keigo sighed in response.

“Damn, that’s shitty.  Remind me to never have kids within a 50 foot radius of me.” Rumi whistled.

“Yeah sure, did you have an actual reason to call or-”, “ fuck you for thinking I need a reason to make sure bushboy is okay.  He’s fifteen and clearly not as badass as I am…  Yet.” Rumi cut him off.

Keigo huffed a laugh, “of course... How’s the AFO case going?”

“Keigo, the fuck do you know?” Rumi pressed.

“The dude’s Izuku’s dad, that’s bad enough.  Now on his third day at UA he gets attacked by a villain organization with All for One behind it.” Keigo explained.

“That better be a shitty joke Keigo because I swear to every deity that you believe in I will lunar kick your ass out the window of your apartment.” Rumi growled.

“Izuku is currently mentall checked out on the couch Rumi, so please tell me how the case is going.” Keigo replied seriously.

“It got closed recently, a few weeks ago I got an email that the case went cold.  No one was given a reason-”, “no reason?  Pardon me, but they can’t just close a case as serious as this for NO REASON!” Keigo shouted.

“Keigo, I am pissed off about it but the hero public safety commission personally closed the case.  You and I both know they don’t give a shit if there be a reason or not.” Rumi sneered.

Keigo knew very well how the hero commission functioned, he grew up with them.  Closing a case as serious as this was suspicious.  In the wise words of a drunk Rumi-during a night out at a bar-the hero commission is, and he quotes,’sketchy fuckers dealing out social injustice.’ “I’ve gotta go, but I’m setting up a meeting with Tsukauchi later.  He’ll open up the case, by force if he has to.” Keigo replied before hanging up.

Izuku was having a very bad day-scratch that today was what one would call a ‘shit show.’  Even though he’d been on the couch dissociating in and out of reality, the phone conversation was very intriguing.  Good to know Rumi cared and the AFO case got closed.  Izuku pulled up a chat with Shinsou.

R u all good? :Bush

Cat: I should be asking u that but im good

Thats good to kno im suffering so its chill :Bush

Cat: dude, everyone was freaking aout abt ur brother

Yes u said so many times :Bush

Cat: k so maybe the sugardaddy thing was a comment b sm perv but todoroki sd smth abt secret love child? 

Wh- :Bush

Cat: Dunno, but its now the no 1 theory

Tf Keigo is 22… :Bush

Cat: Wait actually?  Hes really that young?

Shinsou, how old did u think Keigo is? Dont tell me u beleive the theory :Bush

Cat: I-no commnet.

Commnet :Bush

Cat: no stfu

Lmao im telling keigo :Bush

Cat: noooooooooooooooo

Izuku closed his phone, “Keigo, my class thinks you’re my dad now.” 

Keigo snapped his head up from the katsudon, “wait.  So first they thought that I was your sugar daddy, now they think I’m you’re actual father?  I’m personally asking your teacher to expel them for stupidity.” 

“The problem is that your age is public knowledge.  I don’t think you had a kid before you were even a teenager.” Izuku sighed.

Keigo nodded his head, “I’m worried about Dabi.”

“Then you can finish the katsudon and go look for him.” Izuku supplied.

“Who would’ve thought you only love me for the food.” Keigo said with fake offense.

Izuku gasped, “you’re right, I don’t love you at all.  Just the food.” 

Keigo looked to be rolling his eyes, Izuku couldn’t really tell from the couch.  He let out a breath and grabbed his notebook from his bag.  He probably shouldn’t be carrying it around, even if it was encrypted.  Izuku frowned, grabbing a pencil he thought back to the Nomu and it’s multiple quirks.  No doubt a work of All for One, but what about Kurogiri and Shigaraki ?  He felt like he would’ve heard about quirks like those being used before, and for villainy nonetheless.  Izuku pulled up the police records, and searched through recorded quirks.  Not a single one of them came up with any form of portal/warpgate quirks, and the closest he got to disintegration was a quirk labed, ‘ pixelate.’ Izuku sighed, and decided he’d analyze them himself.  

Izuku had two pages worth of questions and information gathered on Shigaraki when Dabi decided to show up.  Keigo immediately hugged Dabi and sighed, “where the fuck were you?”

Dabi looked mildly distraught, “last night during my patrol something happened.  It doesn’t matter now.”  

“Bullshit, you can talk to me,” Keigo whined.

Dabi shook his head, “it’s just some dude trying to get me to fall over into villainy.  I’ve dealt with it before I can ignore it.” 

“You mean to tell me this has happened before?” Keigo asked.

“It was always just some loner trying to gain an edge, never this serious before though…” Dabi replied.

“Did they have a name?” Izuku asked while listening from the couch.

“League of Villains is what the dude said.” Dabi frowned.

Keigo paused and looked at Izuku worriedly, “you don’t happen to know what they looked like…  Do you?”

Dabi closed his eyes to recall the memory, “just some pale dude and mist guy.  They looked sketchy, why?”

Izuku’s eyes widened and quickly grabbed a piece of blank paper.   He quickly sketched out what he recalled kurogiri to look like.  Holding up the paper Dabi choked, “how’d y’know what mist man looked like?” Dabi asked.

Izuku couldn’t get any words to form, Keigo was able to answer though, “because he was a part of the villains that attacked the USJ if I’m not mistaken.”

Dabi looked at Izuku at Izuku for confirmation and got a nod.  “Shit, that’s not good.” Dabi breathed.

Keigo hummed in agreement, “we have a meeting with Tsukauchi later tomorrow.  I don’t think UA is having 1-A do classes tomorrow.  Either way I am not sending Izuku to school.  People don’t just recover from something like that.”

Dabi nodded, “I doubt UA would force their students to go to school after an attack, what I wonder is how I haven’t heard of them before.  You’d think with such a strong starter attack that they’ve been around for quite some time.” 

“They had an incredibly large amount of people fighting for them too, enough to fill each area of the USJ…” Izuku noted.

“You’re not actually considering their offer are you?” Keigo asked.

Dabi scowled, “as if I’d go follow them.  They had no morals, ideals, just a bunch of people trying to find reason for violence.”

Izuku looked back to his notebook, I should work on Kurogiri’s quirk.  It’d be beneficial to any investigations on the league.  Izuku brought up the notebook and labeled a new page.

The next day Izuku didn’t end up waking until 9am, which felt like hell.  He’d ended up sleeping at his desk again.  He frowned and grabbed the pages he’d been working on. “Keigo, when are we going to the police station?” Izuku called down the hall.

There was no reply, “Keigo?” He tried again.

Still no reply, ah Dabi’s not on the couch.  Izuku suddenly came to the conclusion he would not try and find Keigo.  Either way Izuku needed coffee, there was also a new text from Shinsou.

Cat: Dude the internet is going crazy abt the attack on ua

Make sense its gonna be everywhere :Bush

Cat: No doubt the other students will be on our asses abt it to

Izuku couldn’t argue with that, the other classes such as 1-B were going to be pissed.  Especially for the publicity stunt 1-A got through an attack.  Izuku thought that was bullshit, they’d almost died.  Izuku took a long sip of the hot coffee.  It may have burnt his throat but it did wake him up. 

At about noon Keigo had finally gotten up and taken Izuku down to the police station.  In all complete and total honesty, Izuku thought that he was ready to talk to Detective Tsukauchi.  Upon entering the room the detective did not appear to look as if he was really expecting Izuku.  “I thought I was meeting with Hawks to discuss something?” Tsukauchi frowned. 

Izuku gulped, “a-ah.  No, I actually have i-information about the USJ…” 

Tsukauchi’s eyes widened comically and Izuku would’ve found it funny if he didn’t have such a pressing amount of fear.  Izuku sat down in the chair across from the table, and sucked in a deep breath.  He really was not ready for this.

Chapter Text

Izuku had known Detective Tsukauchi since he had been released from his mother’s custody.  It didn’t mean that he had zero fear of the man, I mean, kind of hard to not fear the man who can tell when you lie or when you tell the truth.  There were so many different ways Tsukauchi could use his quirk, if the person had no prior knowledge of his quirk and Tsukauchi asked yes or no questions, he’d be able to get a ton of information.  I wonder if his quirk works solely on what the person believes or facts.  Like if someone said that they were good, would it register as truth?  Even though they were by law a villain?  What about if-

“Midoriya, you’re mumbling.” Tsukauchi laughed.

“A-ah…  Sorry, I still do that from time to time.” Izuku ran a hand through his hair awkwardly.  

Tsukauchi nodded, “you and I both know why you’re here.  So, why don’t I just get right into the questions?”

Izuku nodded and awaited the first of the questions.  “So, Hawks mentioned you knew who was behind the attacks, is that correct?” Tsukauchi began

“Yes.” Izuku nodded.

“Can you tell me who?”

“My dad.” Izuku responded automatically before actually thinking about it.

Tsukauchi dropped his pen and looked up at Izuku, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that.”

Izuku blinked and realised what he’d just said.  Tsukauchi does know about my dad…  Right?  “U-uh, I meant All for One.” Izuku restated.

Tsukauchi silently sat down, apparently that had only made him more shaken up.  “D-detective?”  

“I’m sorry, you just said your father?  Then you said…  You said All for One, so correct me if I’m wrong, but they are the same person?” Tsukauchi’s words were coated with disbelief.

“A-ah, so you didn’t know…”  Izuku frowned.

Tsukauchi inhaled deeply, “as far as I was aware that man was dead. ” 

Izuku flinched inwardly and shifted uncomfortably, I feel like I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for disclosing that to Tsukauchi…  “You did know that he existed though right?”  Izuku asked softly.

“I was, only because he fought All Might.  So what I want to know is how I was unaware of this man not being dead.” Tsukauchi said lowly.

Izuku shook his head, “I think we should discuss the rest of the attack first.”  

Tsukauchi gave in, “all right, can you tell me anything about the villains?”  

“Shigaraki Tomura, that was the name of the villain covered in hands.” Izuku recalled.

“Covered in hands?” Tsukauchi pressed.

“Yeah, he had like, eight of them?  I didn’t get an accurate count but that sounds about right.” Izuku muttered.

“They were human hands?” 

“Yeah, his quirk was disintegration so I assume he gathered them from people he’s…  Killed in the past.” Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat.

Tsukauchi wrote that down on his notepad, “any of the other villains?  What I can gather from your classmates is that you were in the center of most of the fight.” 

“That would be correct, they had what they called a Nomu.  It was a big, bird-like creature, had a bunch of quirks too.” 

“Okay, that’s good.  Any more names you can recall?” 

“Kurogiri, that was what the warp-gate villains name was.”  

“Good, that’s about the jist of what I asked your classmates.  Now, care to tell me about All for One?” Tsukauchi looked Izuku dead in the eye.

“W-we should probably have Keigo in here for that, he knows a little bit more than I do.” Izuku replied.

Tsukauchi nodded and left the room quickly.  I am going to get grounded for this…  Izuku watched as Keigo carefully entered the room alongside Tsukauchi, “how’d you let the one thing you were supposed to not tell anyone slip.” Keigo sighed loudly.

Izuku shrank back into his seat, “was’n accident.” 

“Accidents can still get people killed.” Keigo snapped back.

Tsukauchi decided now would be a good time to butt in, “ah-I actually had prior knowledge of All for One’s existence.  I’m just here to be filled in on what I should have known a long time ago.”

Keigo looked over to Tsukauchi, “how?  That’s one of the hero’s commissions most closely regarded cases.” 

Tsukauchi fiddled with his pen, “I’m also not really supposed to say anything but personal connections to All Might.  All Might basically built his career off of fighting this guy.” 

Keigo’s eyes widened along with Izuku’s, “how was this not publicized?  You’d think a fight against a villain like this would have the media running around like a bunch of feral rats.” Keigo pondered.

Tsukauchi shrugged, “it was incredibly low profile, it’s a miracle there was little to no property damage.  Not to mention All Might had to buy a few people into silence.  It wasn’t something the public needed to know, ever.” 

Izuku nodded, he could understand where the detective was coming from, but if he didn’t know does that mean All Might doesn’t know either?  What if the number one hero doesn't even know my dad is very much alive?  He’s the number one hero, I’m sure the commission would’ve filled him in if they bothered to fill in Keigo.  “Keigo, how many people actually know about the case?”  Izuku asked.

“Rumi, me…  There was never really an actually meeting or discussion about it, for all I know a bunch of heroes could know-but they said there were less than ten.” Keigo muttered.

“Then clearly they know something we don’t, why haven’t they told All Might?  Surely they would’ve told the number one hero about a villain-that he fought-and continues to threated people.” Izuku argued.

“All Might doesn’t really work with the commission, he does his own thing and they pay him.  Simple as that, lucky bastard.” Keigo mumbled out the last part making it almost inaudible.

Izuku would’ve thought Keigo’s newfound jealousy of All Might was funny, but right now he was very concerned that one of Japan’s top forces against villains was kept in the dark, then again, All Might doesn’t even have a life outside of heroing as far as the public is concerned.  I wonder if people exposing their personal life would give them more popularity?  Would that just cause them to lose it?  I don’t think there’s a single hero who doesn’t keep their private life separate from heroing…  Even Endeavor never discloses anything about his family, but I already know why.  

Keigo went through and explained the situation behind All for One, which also included the case previously being closed.  “We need to get the AFO case reopened, by any means necessary.  If that means bringing All Might into this then it means bringing All Might into this.” 

Tsukauchi frowned, “would you even want All Might to be involved in the case?” 

“I’m sure it would be fine.” Keigo huffed.

“My quirk registered that as a lie, care to explain?” Tsukauchi questioned.

“Bias. If All Might has had previous encounters with All for One, then I’m afraid that he’ll be biased towards Izuku because of it.” Keigo growled.  

Tsukauchi hummed in understanding, “we don’t necessarily have to tell him about Midoriya or his relation to All for One.” 

Izuku’s thought about that, “that could work but what if my relationship to him does come to light.  We still have to inform the UA too, they can’t be in the dark if this keeps happening.” 

“There’s also the issue that Shigaraki knows you are at UA, which means he probably told your father.” Keigo noted.

Tsukauchi looked at his notepad, “that means he may be looking for you specifically.  Which also could mean more attacks toward 1-A.”

Izuku sighed, “I guess we probably should tell All Might.”

“That would be the best course of action, yes.” Tsukauchi concluded.

Keigo rubbed his temples, “how do you even plan on explaining this to the UA staff?” 

“Don’t really know but that’s an issue for future Izuku,” Izuku shrugged.

“You really enjoy living your life by pulling bullshit straight out any crack you could possibly find.” Keigo muttered.

“That is how I avoided dying by Shigaraki’s hand.” Izuku smiled weakly.

Tsukauchi groaned, “one of these days that will kill you, or worse.” 

“I am aware, but again, a future Izuku problem.” Izuku smiled a bit more confidently this time.

Keigo realised after the meeting with Tsukauchi that he probably should’ve gotten Izuku a bisc survival instinct because he just didn’t have one.  It was insane how Izuku was able to throw himself into any situation and just roll with it.  Not to mention there haven’t been any serious casualties yet so he’d say Izuku had a hidden quirk.  Like, villain attraction with a minor good luck quirk.  

He grabbed his phone and observed the time, I should schedule an appointment with Nedzu and the other UA teachers, maybe Yamada can help me with that.  It was giving Keigo a headache to even think about Yamada, the poor guy worked three jobs, had a kid, and somehow was not dead yet.

Hey Yamada :Chicken

Screm: Yo

We need to get a meeting set up with the staff of UA :Chicken

Screm: Is it bc of USJ?

Ye, Izuku has some information to offer, we talked to detective tsukauchi earlier :Chicken

Screm: K, i can contact nedzu abt it.  Anything else?

No, tell aizawa i hope he doesnt die :Chicken

Screm: He wants to kno who u are and why you are wishing well being upon him

Yes :Chicken

Screm: What does that mean?

Keigo quickly shut off his phone reading Yamada on read.  He decided he’d find something else to do than pester Yamada.  He quickly found a stack of papers that had recently been given to him.  I should probably see what that’s for.  Keigo picked it up and opened one of the files, ah, side-kick applications…  That could pass the time fairly quickly.  

Keigo sighed, he was technically on ‘medical leave’ and was banned from going into his agency or patrolling until he got back.  Keigo found the leave relaxing, but boring.  How do people do nothing all day?  It blew his mind that people could just sit and not do anything beneficial to them or someone else.  It also blew his mind that a stab wound could get him on medical leave.  The knife missed all of his important organs, he was fine.  He did have to admit that being off was nice though.  There was really nothing to worry about and he could do what he wanted.  He still thought it was absurd that a stab wound put him here though.

Izuku sighed, he didn’t really know where the thought came from but, people are very paranoid.  I could possibly have the world's oldest person alive searching for me right this second but do you see me actually caring about it?  Not really… It was crazy the amount of paranoia people could create, imagine the power you could create if you had a way to convert paranoia into fear. Wonder what kind of influence a person could create based off of pure fear and paranoia, I mean, that’s what my dad’s doing.  He seems to be doing well, whether that be for the right or wrong reasons. 

 Izuku really didn’t know how he would spend his weekend, probably eating mochi for the most part, his brain offered.  Well, Izuku couldn’t really argue.  There was no school work to get ahead in, classes hadn’t even been a thing for a week.  He was also only receiving so many cases here and there, while yes, there were a lot of people who needed him, crime rates were at an all time low since All Might showed back up in Japan.  Come to think of it, doesn’t crime usually pick back up eventually?  All Might is more a limelight hero anyways.  Perfect for people to get away with being sneaky in the underground.  

A new thought struck Izuku, I am a dumbass, he concluded.  “Keigo,” he called down the hall.

“Yeah?” Keigo replied absentmindedly.

“I think I’m going to become an underground hero.” Izuku decided walking into the kitchen.

That got Keigo to look up from all the paperwork he was doing, “you weren’t already?” 

“D-did I say something along the lines of that beforehand?”  Izuku couldn’t remember.

“I don’t know, I just always assumed that’s what you’d be because you’re a sneaky little shit.” Keigo supplied.

Izuku hummed and sat down at the counter, “so what have you been working on?” 

“Just going through the side-kick applications, most of the resumes look pretty good, but,” Keigo paused and read another line, “they are all so boring . I mean, here it says, ‘ I am an upstanding member of society and always do my best to play my part.’ That’s great sweetie, I’ve heard that twenty times before.  Take this as an example Izuku, when you send in any application, you make it sound like you want the job.  Please, for my sake, don’t say you ‘ play your part’ when it asks you for any good qualities.” Keigo stressed.

Izuku laughed, “so what you’re saying is I should give in depth descriptions of what I am good at and my good qualities?” 

“ YES.” Keigo groaned.

Izuku nodded, “Okay, okay.  I’ll keep that in mind when applying for anything.”

Keigo nodded, “what are you going to tell your classmates when you get back to school?” 

“You’re my brother, nothing more nothing less.  They can do with that information what they want,” Izuku replied.

Keigo nodded, “well then, that’s good.  Do you have any information on how Aizawa is doing?”

“No, I tried asking Nedzu, Yamada, and Shinsou.  Nedzu left me on read and Yamada and Shinsou told me that he was awake.  I don’t know if he’s actually fine or not.  I tried, so hard to keep him safe, Keigo.  I really did, but that wasn’t enough,” Izuku felt tears rimming his eyes, “and I saw him get thrown into the ground.  I tried, I really did try but S-shigaraki had the Nomu on him, and then h-his elbow.  I-I watched.  I couldn’t do a-anything. ” Izuku felt his brother hug him.

“Izuku, we’ve already been over this.  It’s not your fault, and you did the best you could. No one could’ve asked more of you, hell, no one even expected you to go out and fight someone like Shigaraki, or something like a Nomu.  It’s not your fault,” Keigo soothed, rubbing circles into Izuku’s back.

Izuku nodded against Keigo’s chest and sobbed. “I just wish this had not happened,” Izuku replied wetly.

Keigo agreed, “no highschooler should go through that.  You’re young and learning, the fact that you did anything is already amazing enough as it is.  You’ll get to see Aizawa when he’s back in school, I promise you he’s fine.” 

Izuku could only nod mutely.  Izuku wasn’t really sure if he believed Keigo-he’d been there, he’d seen it happen-but right now it was the little things that mattered.  Right now, if Keigo believed it, Izuku would too.

Chapter Text

Monday was going to be a rough day, there was no denying it. Izuku assumed they would have a substitute teacher to take Aizawa’s place while he was in the hospital.  So that’s why seeing Aizawa in class was very shocking.  “Sensei, shouldn’t you be in the hospital?” Asui asked.

“If I can walk then I can teach, besides, you all have to prepare for the sports festival.” Aizawa responded.

Izuku was surprised to hear the sports festival was still being held, along with most of his classmates.  “Is it really safe to hold the sports festival right after being attacked?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“UA wants to put on a display that even though we have just faced a break in and an attack, that we are still able to continue as normal.” Aizawa sighed.

1-A all just nodded, Aizawa continued, “you will all visit Hound Dog throughout the week.  This is not an option.”

Classes went on as normal, although with a little more leeway for the students of 1-A. Lunch was another Issue as well.  Izuku found that students from alternate classes were glaring at them.  Izuku couldn’t place it as sympathy, but rather jealousy. He didn’t understand it, we were just attacked.  The only reason they’d be jealous is if- Izuku’s thought’s skidded to a halt.  What a bunch of assholes.  Izuku realised that they were jealous because 1-A had been attacked, and a 1-B student made that very clear, “look at 1-A, I bet you’re all loving the attention you’ve been getting.” a blond spat at them.

Izuku was taken aback by the sheer hate from the blond student.  “Excuse me?” Izuku turned to meet his eyes.

The blond grinned, creepy, “my name is Monoma Neito, class 1-B,” he held out a hand.

Izuku took it cautiously, “as you can see 1-B is the superior class,” Monoma boasted.

A large hand came to meet the back of Monoma’s head, it was very satisfying.  “Sorry about him, he tends to be a little much sometimes,” an orange-haired girl smiled apologetically.

Izuku shrugged her off, “it’s no problem.  I’m Izuku Midoriya,” he extended his hand.

“Kendou Itsuka,” she shook his hand firmly.

Shinsou appeared by Izuku’s side, “who’s that?” he pointed to the unconscious boy.

“Monoma Neito, 1-B student.” Izuku replied.

“Huh,” Shinsou noted.

Izuku waved to Kendou as the two duos parted.  “So, care to explain why your dad was even allowed to leave your house?” Izuku asked.

Shinsou sighed, “him being dedicated and stubborn. It was hard enough to get him to stay at the hospital the day after the attack.  You have some explaining to do.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Izuku asked cluelessly.

“You’re brother, Takami?  Ring any bells?  You are no doubt about to be bombarded with questions as soon as any of our classmates find us” the purple teen laughed.

Izuku groaned and placed his head in his hands, “every single one of you is horrible.”

Shinsou smirked, “it’s a gift.”

Izuku considered it a curse, but he kept that to himself.  The two sat down at an isolated table that Iida and Uraraka quickly found.  “Midoriya! You have to explain yourself!” Uraraka exclaimed almost seriously.

Izuku sighed, long and deep, “he’s my brother.” he stated simply.

“I thought as much,” Iida huffed.

“Really?  Wow, a lot of people owe Iida money.” Uraraka muttered.

“No one owes me any money!  I simply stated it is most likely they are brothers!” Iida quickly made a chopping motion with his arms, correcting Uraraka.  

“Oh, well then I guess I’ll just take your place in the bet.” Uraraka smiled innocently.

“Uraraka!  That is unheroic!” Iida shouted.

Izuku laughed, “Iida, there are many more unheroic things than betting among classmates.”

Iida looked over to Izuku, “I’m trying to prevent disaster here.” 

“You’re delaying the inevitable” Shingou muttered from his seat.

“Maybe we should just let Iida try to contain it.” Uraraka supplied helpfully.

Iida sighed, “thank you Uraraka.”

“On a completely different note, how are you and Hawks brothers? You two look so different?  Does that mean you have a bird quirk?” Uraraka asked.

Izuku shook his head, “no, he adopted me.  Got me out of a uh…  Bad situation of sorts.  That also means I don’t have a bird quirk.”

“What quirk do you have then?” Iida inquired.

Izuku laughed nervously, “ah…  I actually don’t really haveanyquirk.” 

Uraraka cocked her head to the side in confusion, but Iida’s eyes widened in realization.  “Many apologies for assuming then.” Iida half bowed from the table.

“What?  What did he say?” Uraraka looked at the three boys.

“I-I don’t have a quirk Uraraka.” Izuku smiled weakly.

“Really!  That’s insane!” Uraraka gasped.

“Mhmmm,” Shinsou confirmed, “he got in on recommendations.

“That would explain why I didn’t see you at the exam.” Iida said, recalling the exam.

Izuku was eternally grateful to how little it actually mattered to Iida and Uraraka.  I wish it was like that for everyone...

Eventually more of their classmates found them.  It was a small group led by Hagaruke, “Midoriya!” she all but shreaked.

That got several people to glare at her, but she ignored them.  “What were you doing with Hawks!” she squealed.

Kaminari appeared aside Hagakure, “dude, you’ve got so many people into a betting pool.”

Izuku frowned, “you all should really just keep to your own business.”

“Because clearly that is what you do.” Shinsou quipped back, cutting into the conversation.

“Shut up, I will throw you out the window.” Izuku hissed.

“No doubt about that.” Shinsou mumbled.

Izuku shook his head and looked at the group of kids from his class, “I will say this only once, Hawks is my brother.  No, you cannot get an autograph, no, you I will not tell you his actual name, and yes, his jacket is beige.” 

That got a few of his classmates to squeal, “okay but what is it like living with him?” Ashido asked.

“Hell,” Izuku deadpanned.

“How are you two related?” Hagaruke leaned against the table.

“Adoption,” Izuku repeated.

“I’ve heard he likes chicken, is that true?” Sero piped in.

“It’s the only thing he eats.” Izuku muttered.

“Isn’t that kinda like cannibalism?” Kirishima asked.

“You guys shouldn’t be interrogating a classmate like this!” Iida waved his arms.

“Come on, we're just asked questions!” Ashido protested.

Izuku sunk into his seat, he could feel Keigo laughing at him.  Izuku took the bowl of rice and ate it while his classmates made themselves at home at the table.  He watched them animatedly talk about his brother.  It was odd to see how much respect and bure idolism people held for anyone with a following.  Izuku recalled a report on the hero-killer and cringed, people's idealism could really motivate them.  Izuku knew this all too well, having idolized All Might during his younger years. “Younger years?  You’re fifteen Midoriya.” Iida asked from across the table.

“Shit, gotta stop doing that.” Izuku cursed.

“Midoriya that is not hero-like language!” Iida corrected him.

Izuku met Iida’s older brother once, and that was enough to give any person an overdose on pop culture.  No wonder Iida was attempting to prevent his brother's second coming.  “Iida, if anyone is able to match the chaos incarnate your brother is, I will personally throw myself off of my brother’s agency.” Izuku replied.

Iida sighed tiredly, giving up on trying to win the conversation.  “Hawks is really private about his life.  Am I the only one thinking that?” Kaminari pondered aloud.

“You should allow him to revel in his own darkness.” Tokoyami suddenly appeared aside the table.

“DUDE!” Sero cried in a shrill voice, “where did you come from!”

Tokoyami shrugged, Dabi and Keigo would love him, Izuku laughed to himself. 

The day went by in what Izuku would consider normal, if normal is him repeating the fact that Keigo is his brother a thousand times over.  It also seemed that his brother had definitely felt his suffering when he got a text.

Chicken: Hope you’re having a great day!

Izuku frowned and pocketed his phone, leaving Keigo on read.  He looked around at his classmates, I could probably gather a lot of information on their quirks…  It’d be incredibly useful for fighting in the sports festival.  I wonder how much I’d have to do to get files from Nedzu.  Izuku thought of the possibilities for a moment, nah, I’ll just search through medical files and police records. Izuku would’ve pulled it up on his phone then realised, shit Nedzu can probably see my phone screen. While disturbing, Nedzu could see everywhere in the school.  Whether people were aware of it or not.  Izuku personally was almost unaffected by it, almost. 

Chapter Text

Dabi would like to point out that he thought the sports festival was dumb.  It just didn’t make sense.  He understood that it was a way for students to get themselves out there to hero agencies and independent heroes alike, even help build a future career.  It did not make sense to broadcast this to the entire world though.  Publicity was great for limelight heroes and hero schools alike, but the fact that it quite literally hands out the quirks of every student to any person unsettled Dabi.  

As a vigilante, Dabi knew many heroes, vigilantes, and villains alike.  He was well aware that every single one of them watched the sports festival.  He also was horribly aware of how obsessed they were with it.  However, that would not stop Dabi for supporting the hell out of Izuku.  He was excited to see how well the shrub would do, especially with the way Izuku has spoken about some of his classmates' capabilities.

One thing Izuku was not expecting from Todoroki Shouto mere minutes before the sports festival started, was a rivalry declaration.  So that's why he was so surprised to find Todoroki even approaching him in the first place, “Midoriya,” he began.

“Y-yes?” Izuku jumped back a little.

“You have proven yourself a formidable opponent.  You also have some form of relationship with Hawks.  Therefore, I am obligated to beat you.” Todoroki declared and wow, great first interaction right there Izuku.

“I-uh.  Todoroki, I promise to do my best then!” Izuku stated simply.

“Yes, I also plan to figure out your quirk before then too.” Todoroki added.

Izuku was left confused and frozen in shock as Todoroki spun around and left quickly.  Shinsou snickered from aside Izuku, “wow, looks like you have some competition.”

“I’m flattered?  You know what?  That was stranger than finding Keigo eating a boiled egg drunk off his ass on the floor.” Izuku shuddered.

“Y-you…  What?” Shinsou sputtered.

“No clue, now come on.  We have to get ready for the sports festival.” Izuku led Shinsou away from the rest of his gaping classmates.

Izuku observed his group of classmates standing in the open field.  The first year students were divided by classes, with Midnight standing up on a podium.  “Did they really need to have Midnight on a stand in front of a bunch of teenagers?” Tokoyami muttered from Izuku’s side.

Personally Izuku didn’t see any appeal to it, but could begrudgingly understand where other people came from.  That was not the case for some of the first year students, example A being Mineta.  Izuku cringed at the parasite drooling near him.  “No, in fact I think she should be placed with the second or third years instead…” Kirishima muttered.

Izuku hummed in agreement.  Midnight flung out her whip releasing a very abrupt crack when it struck air.  “Now, now, don’t get ahead of yourselves! First we must welcome Kirishima Ejiro to the stage for the student pledge!” she shouted across the stadium.

Kirishima’s face lost all color as he hesitantly made way to the stage.  Izuku mentally gave Kirishima his best wishes. Kirishima began to speak into the microphone, “uh, I would like to begin by saying we should all do our very best.  It’s very manly to see everyone working so hard.  Good luck everyone, plus ultra!” 

Loud cheers rang out from the stadium, leading to some of the students to cheer alongside the viewers.  Midnight returned to the center of the stand to address the students, “well that was a lovely speech,” she cleared her throat, “to begin this year's sports-festival, you will all participate in an obstacle course!” 

Midnight quickly explained the way to win, “the first forty-two of you to cross the finish line will advance onto the next round.  You are permitted to use your quirks as long as you don’t leave the track just about everything is permitted. ”

Students lined up in front of a large gate, awaiting the go ahead to begin the race.  Izuku was aware of UA’s record of rather intense sports festivals in prior years.  One notable thing he found was robots, which Izuku had also heard were in the practical exams for non-recommendation students.  He was positive that there would be robots somewhere in the exam, while the rest would most likely be ever changing with Nedzu directing things like this.  

Izuku readied himself to begin the obstacle course, which could also have been considered a race.  I wonder if there is a student with a teleportation quirk anywhere.  That could be incredibly useful, what about a flight quirk? Kinda like Uraraka...  I know Iida has a speed quirk and Todoroki could propel himself forward with his ice.  Yaoyrozu could build any form of vehicle if she so wanted to, Sero could swing above everything, wow this class has a lot of useful quirks. 

When the course did begin, Izuku was able to launch himself ahead of some of the students.  Todoroki had taken the first few seconds to freeze over the ground, causing trouble to the students behind him.  Robots were sprung from the ground, just like Izuku had expected.  Not this early though, does it only get harder from here on out?  Izuku tuned out Yamada’s narration of the race, he needed to focus.  With the robots blocking the way, it would prove difficult for Izuku to pass them, luckily for him Todoroki had taken liberty to crash through one of the robots.  He shifted on his feet and slid towards the small opening in the wall of bots.  Izuku caught sight of Tokoyami using Dark Shadow to rid of some of the robots.  Other students were struggling on the ice, falling and toppling over on eachother.  

One of the robots had been blown apart by Todoroki’s ice.  Izuku caught a piece of scrap metal, that could be useful later.  Izuku snatched the metal and tucked it under his arm, I think I may be classified as a hoarder, now that I think about it…  Izuku darted alongside the other students who had managed to weave through the large robots. A few of them stopped as they came up on a large drop in the ground.

Izuku came up on the following trial, a large canyon.  He quickly glanced down and observed no lethal outcome from falling.  There were tightropes running across the canyon as a way to cross, which was much easier than robots.  If Izuku didn’t count for the students chasing after first place behind him, it would’ve been relaxing.  Izuku was able to spot Asui easily making her way across the ropes due to her frog quirk.  

Izuku assumed that if you fell you’d be eliminated, that is how this works right?  Midnight just said that it was when you left the track, or didn’t make it into the first forty-two.  I’m guessing that's technically leaving the track..  Izuku quickly placed his feet on the ropes, able to feel the tension below his feet.  He secured the scrap metal under his arm.  Izuku was never very good at balance, so maybe it was a bit difficult for him to cross.  No big deal, just one foot in front of the other…  If he needed, Izuku could grab onto the rope with his hands, but speed would get him across the ropes faster.  

His feet swayed with each placement and he sprung himself forward on the line.  Izuku nearly misplaced his foot with new weight added onto the rope as more students trailed behind. Izuku’s balance nearly gave out numerous times before he alternated to crawling across the remainder of the canyon. Crawling was especially difficult with the metal now jabbing into his side. Should have probably left it… Izuku nearly ate the ground below him upon planting his shoes on the course.  I don’t know how Keigo is able to fly so high- Izuku looked to the third obstacle.  He couldn’t really make out what it was, until a loud explosion sounded out from beneath Todoroki’s feet, who was the current first place holder.  “And there you have the minefield!” Yamada’s voice finally tuned back into Izuku’s hearing. 

Izuku’s eyes widened, ah, so that’s why I have the scrap metal. “Todoroki expertly makes his way across the field using his ice to shield himself from explosions!” Yamada narrated.

Izuku scanned the students struggling to cross, I suddenly have a very bad idea.  Izuku ran toward the field and readied the metal, sorry Keigo I am very aware you’ll slaughter me for this.  Izuku sucked in a breath and spotted a mound in the ground. Okay, time to die. He flung himself onto the mound and curled in on himself.  Izuku was hoping for a delay, but the jarring sound from below him said otherwise.  

Heat blasted Izuku upward into the air.  Ah, this was a mistake, was the only thought running through Izuku’s head.  “Wow! Would you look at that Eraser!  Midoriya Izuku has literally shot ahead of other students!” Yamada’s voice exclaimed.

Izuku plummeted downwards towards the ground, the scrap metal clamped tightly between his palms.  Regaining his thoughts Izuku realized the quickly approaching ground.  Shifting his weight Izuku repositioned himself to ensure he was completely tucked onto the scrap metal.  

Izuku’s body slammed into the ground and the metal made contact.  His lungs lost the air within them and he rolled over onto his back. “Midoriya Izuku has come in first!” Yamada cheered loudly.

Izuku wheezed happily as Todoroki quickly came up behind him.  Other students began to fill into the finish line of the course.  “Midoriya!” an angry shout beckoned him.

Izuku tilted his head over to see an angry Shinsou approaching him, “oh, hey,” Izuku lifted his hand a little in greeting.

“Do you have a death wish?” Shinsou demanded.

“I-uh…  No?” Izuku smiled weakly.

“That is not something you should answer with a question.”

“I mean, I just live by Murphy’s Law.”

“Wh-why!  Why would you ever want to live by Murphy’s Law ?” the purple teen groaned.

Izuku shrugged and lifted himself off the ground, “stay down,” Shinsou sighed, placing his foot on the greenette.

Izuku grunted and fell back to the ground, “nothing is broken.” 

“Maybe not, but that was one hell of a stunt you just pulled,” the taller growled.

Izuku gave up and just sat there as he spotted Iida and Uraraka pacing toward the two.  “Midoriya!  That was crazy!” Uraraka squealed, bouncing over.

“Shinsou!  You should remove your foot from your fellow classmate!”  Iida waved his hands.

Shinsou rolled his eyes, “the dumbass wants to pull a stunt like that, he gets to stay on the ground.”

Izuku huffed and grabbed Shinsou’s ankle. Shinsou looked down and Izuku flashed him a grin. Shinsou’s eyes widened a fraction as Izuku yanked the others ankle forward, sending him toppling to the ground.  Izuku laughed as Shinsou yelped, Uraraka giggled and Iida gasped a little.  “We should prepare for the next round,” Izuku decided, jumping up from the ground.

Shinsou used Izuku as support to lift himself off the ground, “do you know what the next event is?” the purple teen asked.

“No, but it can’t hurt to prepare,” Izuku replied.

“Welcome back students!” Midnight singsonged to the remaining students.  “I see that all of you have done such a wonderful job passing the first course, but are you ready for the cavalry battle!” she announced.

Several students cheered, “that’s what I like to hear, now let me explain.  The cavalry battle will be divided up into teams.  You can create your teams of four out of any of the remaining students.  How this will work is you will all form a horse configuration, you will have a rider who holds your headbands.  Headbands will be ranked by where you came in the obstacle course.  Those of you who came in the last few places will be worth five points, whereas first place will be worth ten million!”  Midnight explained.

Izuku took a minute to realize what Midnight had actually said.  He felt numerous students turn to him, practically glaring holes into the back of his head.  For a minute Izuku didn’t understand why, then oh…  Ten million huh?

Chapter Text

The initial shock of being worth ten million points slowly simmered.  Izuku looked around and noticed how everyone was already grouping together, I’m more of a liability because I’m starting out with ten million points…  That was a serious downside to coming in first, I seriously couldn’t have just landed in second?  Shinsou tapped the boy's shoulder, “hey.”

Izuku turned to his friend and frowned. “Aw, worried I’ll leave you?” Shinsou teased.

Izuku shook his head, “I’m a liability.  Not many people want to team with someone who’s a risk to the entire team.”

“Yeah, but you're always a liability.  What's a little more chaos?” the taller smirked.

Izuku huffed, “we need more teammates, I think Iida and Uraraka went off to find a team of their own.”

Shinsou hummed in agreement, the two sat there awkwardly.  Izuku was about to open his mouth to speak, but was quickly attacked by a pink haired student.  “Hia ten million!  My name is Hatsume Mei, and I want to join your team!” she introduced herself extending a sturdy hand.

Izuku quickly accepted the handshake, “I’m Midoriya Izuku and this is Shinsou Hitoshi, nice to meet you.”

“Great!  So, I was thinking about showing off some of my babies! Wanna see?” Hatsume grinned wildly.

Izuku jumped back a little, “uh…  You have children on you?” 

Hatsume tilted her head to the side before laughing, “no silly!  My babies, see!” She held up her shoes as an example.

Izuku looked at the shoes and realized they were heavily modified.  “Do they fly?” Tokoyami asked, suddenly appearing alongside the trio.

Shinsou’s head snapped to the newcomer as did Izuku’s, “ah, Tokoyami, did you want to join our team?” Izuku asked.

Tokoyami nodded and Dark Shadow appeared beside him, “of course Fumi wants to partner with you!”

Tokoyami stiffened and glared at Dark Shadow, “quiet Dark Shadow.”

Dark Shadow simply retreated back to Tokoyami, the latter sighed.  “Forgive his outburst,” Tokoyami grumbled.

Izuku chuckled a little while Hatsume pulled out numerous items.  Shinsou side-eyed the items cautiously.  “How many of these can I use?” Hatsume grinned.

The greenette glanced at the items in question, “ah, maybe just a few.  What exactly do they do?” 

The girl squealed, “GLAD YOU ASKED! These are jetpacks!” She held up a pair of shoes and a metal box with straps.

Izuku closed his eyes and thought, we should have our rider wear the jetpack, the shoes would go best on someone who would be capable of lifting all of us.  Tokoyami could probably use Dark Shadow to do that, I’ve seen Dark Shadow pick things up before…  This can’t be much different, Shinsou is definitely going on top.  He hardly weighs anything and- ”Gee thanks Midoriya,” Shinsou muttered, grabbing Izuku’s attention.

Izuku flushed, “a-ah.  Sorry, it’s just you are really light…  Even though you’re strong you weigh like, nothing.”

“Tokoyami is shorter than me though,” the latter protested.

“No, no, Midoriya is correct, I should not be the rider.  I have Dark Shadow therefore the two of us can support you,” Tokoyami explained.

Shinsou rolled his eyes and looked to Hatsume for help.  The girl just looked him up and down, “well he’s got a point.  Plus I’ll be best as a horse with all my babies!” 

The three of them all nodded collectively.  “All right fine, but I take no responsibility for ending up last,” Shinsou groaned.

Tokoyami shrugged, “fear not Dark Shadow shall protect you.”

Hatsume handed the jet pack to Shinsou.  The three horses all got together linking their arms so Shinsou could sit more or less securely.  It was by no means comfortable but hey, they were in it to win it… Hopefully.

Izuku was painfully aware of Midnight’s gaze sweeping across all the gathered teams as they handed headbands to the rider.  Shinsou wore their headband with a bold ten million, three hundred and seventy.  The freckled teen could sense everyone's eyes tracking their movements.  Right now sounds like a good time to blast myself back into the air, Izuku decided recalling the events prior to the cavalry battle.

Tokoyami had already slipped on the rocket boots and awaited to summon Dark Shadow as soon as Midnight gave the go ahead.  Hatsume was shaking excitedly with her tech- sorry, babies, clanking against each other.  Izuku dug the heels of his feet into the ground securing his position. Other teams followed, readying themselves to attack Shinsou’s headband.

Izuku looked up at Shinsou, “Shinsou, the best course of action would be to get rid of our headband as quickly as possible.”

Shinsou gaped, “isn’t the goal to have as many points as possible?”

“Yes, but everyone will be too focused on gaining the ten million points…  At least the teams that want an easy win, that is. There will be a few other teams that will most likely have the same plan as us, so we should go for anyone who is fighting for the ten million.  Shinsou, you could get people to hand over any of their headbands.  Dark Shadow could be both defensive and offensive.  Protecting us and grabbing bands,” Izuku muttered.

“All good here!” Hatsume confirmed, tightening her babies.

Shinsou and Tokoyami nodded and Izuku looked over to Midnight, “all right students!  I think you’re all ready for the cavalry battle. BEGIN!”  

Instantly the team's shot forward towards Shinsou’s team.  Izuku physically braced himself for any sort of impact.  It didn’t come.  Instead Izuku was freaking out at the incredibly familiar sense of fire beneath him.  Apparently Hatsume had an activation on the shoes that she could activate. Needless to say the other three were collectively freaking out, “Hatsume!” Shinsou shouted over the chaos.

“It works!” Hatsume cheered gleefully as they lifted off the ground.

Everyone was unbalanced, Dark Shadow quickly came to help by supporting both Hatsume and Izuku while Shinsou struggled with the jetpack attached to him.  “You were under the impression they didn’t?” Tokoyami narrowed his eyes, as much as one could give the situation.

The group was flying as the other teams collided and grabbed for each other's bands.  Izuku stressed as Shinsou gripped onto the shorter’s shoulder.  Izuku couldn't say he felt weightless…  More like he was being hoisted into the hair, which makes sense dumbass. The only reason you’re in the air is because of Dark Shadow.  

Hatsume’s hand slapped against a button on her belt.  The team immediately fell down and Izuku’s knees buckled.  Shinsou ultimately suffered, hand slipping off of Izuku’s shoulder and nearly falling off from his position as rider.  Dark Shadow was able to release Hatsume and Izuku, the creature spun around on an incoming team.  It was Todoroki’s team, ah, they’ve finally come for the headband…  The grennette quickly hoisted himself up, allowing for Shinsou to regain his original position.  Dark Shadow shoved the team to the right, “ICE!” was the only thing the shadow could shout.

Todoroki’s team consisted of Iida, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu.  A powerful team if you asked, well, anyone.  Todoroki had positioned himself as the rider, with his remaining teammates as horses.  Iida had been pushing the team around while Uraraka used her quirk, gravity, to make their team practically weightless.  Yaoyorozu had created multiple items that could be used for steering or snatching the bands, along with a pole Todoroki used to disperse ice across the field.  

Izuku was mildly concerned about their first attack being ice.  Why would they use ice?  Dark Shadow clearly shows weakness to light.  Anyone could gather that from the difference in attitude depending on the luminosity of the room.  Not to mention his quirk is listed as half-cold half-hot.  Izuku took it as a mistake.  

A second wave of ice was shot their way.  The four of them were able to steer out of the way as the grassy ground frosted over.  So maybe it wasn't a mistake… Izuku glanced back at the shorter , “Tokoyami!  Dark Shadow’s weakness is fire right?” Tokoyami gave a quick nod, “Todoroki is only using ice, that gives us an advantage.”

Tokoyami nodded and Dark Shadow leapt towards the opposing team.  With Todoroki as the rider gaining the bands would be a task.  Dark Shadow made a beeline towards the group.  Iida was able to quickly move them to the side.  That  wasn’t enough to get Dark Shadow off of them, with the shadow bird quickly darting for Todoroki’s head.  Uraraka dropped their team to the ground, allowing for Dark Shadow to nab at the headbands that sat on Todoroki’s head. 

Todoroki’s hand shot forward defensively as licks of flames erupted from his right arm.  As fast as it had come the fire disappeared while ice took over the ground below.  The light was enough for Darkshadow to retreat with only the original headband of the enemy team.

Hatsume cheered and Izuku’s team attempted to move forward.  Tokoyami tried to lift up his foot, “it appears I am stuck…”

Izuku looked down, sure enough there were purple orbs attaching Tokoyami to the ground.  “Take off the shoes,” Shinsou snapped, glaring at Todoroki’s team.

Izuku looked to Hatsume, the girl was observing the field.  “Hats-” “take off the jet pack!” she yelled to their rider, cutting off Izuku.

Tokoyami had gotten his black boots out of the rocket shoes, and Shinsou quickly flung off the jet pack.

Shinsou’s hands felt for the band that was supposed to be around his head, “uh, guys…”

Izuku’s eyes darted over to Todoroki’s team who’d used the mild panic of Izuku’s team to snatch their headband.  The three horses continued forward as Dark Shadow placed the newly gained band around Shinsou’s head.  “Sorry about that guys,” Shinsou apologised.

“It’s okay!” Hatsume quickly assured in a cheery tone.

Tokoyami stiffly nodded, and Izuku smirked as the team was back on the move.  Hatsume had activated the rocket tech which was now spinning circles into the ground.  It created a rather annoying obstacle for people to pass by.   “Shinsou, are you able to get anyone to hand over their headbands?” Izuku looked up to the taller.

Shinsou nodded, “yeah I can try.”

Shinsou glossed over the fighting teams, “who are you?” he shouted to a blond rider and his team.

“ I am Mono-” the blond was cut off by Shinsou’s quirk swiftly taking over.

“Hand over the headband,” Shinsou interjected.

Dark Shadow was able to grab the bands being handed over as the horses of the group began to frantically shake their rider.  When Monomoa snapped out of it, he let out an angry scream while waving his hands wildly.  The team quickly retreated to gain other team headbands.

“Shit!  Look out for Sero’s team!” Shinsou pointed to the team in question.

Sero’s team had been composed of Kaminari, Kirishima, and Ashido.  The four of them had Kirishima in the front as a shield, with Kaminari and Ashido standing behind, along with Sero as their rider.  “We’ve got to get away from them, Sero, Ashido, and Kaminari have quirks suitable for long range, and Kaminari’s lightning produces light, so we can’t use Dark Shadow,” Izuku quickly explained.

Tokoyami nodded, and Hatsume threw a smoking piece of tech towards the opposing team. Izuku and the other two horses booked it away from the oncoming team. “Does anyone know how much time is left of this?” Tokoyami panted as soon as they had a breather.

“No clue, we should keep running though!” Hatusme called back.

“TIMES UP!” Yamada announced over the loudspeaker.

Suddenly all of the students came to a halt.  It was scary how quickly everyone just stopped moving.  The team's all shared looks, some slumping after coming up with zero headbands.  Izuku’s team let Shinsou down from his place as rider.  “So, how many did we get?” Izuku asked, looking at the two headbands.

“Enough to pass, we got Todoroki’s team's original headband.  That alone would be enough to pass,” Shinsou lifted the two bands.

“All right everyone!  What an awesome battle that was!  Let’s get onto the winners!” Yamada cheered, “in first place we have Team Todoroki!  With our second place winners, Team Sero not far behind!

“Next up in third place we have Team Tetsutetsu! With our final fourth place winners, Team Shinsou!” 

The four team winners all shared a breath of victory and relief.  Izuku happily hugged his teammates, “don’t think this means I will go easy one you next round.”

“I expect nothing less,” Tokoyami replied.

“I won't hesitate to kick your ass either Midoriya,” Shinsou laughed.

“If any of you are up for it, you can use my babies in the next round!” Hatsume grinned.

“No thank you,” the three chorused.

Hatsume shrugged, “I’ll go find someone else then!”

With that Hatsume left.  The remaining three sat in awkward silence.  Shinsou opened his mouth to speak “well-”,”Midoriya,” Todoroki cut in.

Izuku’s eyes met dual colored, “uh, yes?” 

Todoroki glared coldly at Izuku, “I need to speak with you, privately.”

Chapter Text

Shouto had brought Midoriya into a secluded hallway where only faculty members and students were allowed.  The chances of anyone intruding on their conversation was low.  Shouto glanced to the left, then to the right.  “Why are we here?” Midoriya blurted, then flushed red, “n-not to be rude or anything…”

Shouto grunted and looked Midoriya up and down, “you and Hawks are brothers, yes?”

“Y-yes?  I thought that had been established,” the shorter muttered.

Shouto frowned, “does he…  Does he want you to be a hero?”

That caused Midoriya to do a double take, “what?”

“Does he want you to be a hero?” Shouto repeated.

“Yeah, I guess?  What do you mean by that?”

Shouto gave a small shrug, “is he making you become a hero?”

The taller watched as the cogs in Midoriya’s brain seemed to finally be running again, the boy suddenly flinched as his eyes widened, “NO!  He’s really supportive of me!  He would never force me to do something as serious as becoming a hero,” 

“Did he train you at all?” there is no way Midoriya became so skilled without training… 

“Yeah, he did,” Midoriya replied instantly.

Shouto stiffened a little, did Hawks…  There’s no way someone like Hawks would be as bad as my father.  “You made me break a promise today,” he decided to change the subject.

Midoriya looked a little baffled, “a-ah, what promise?”

“To never use my left side,” Shouto stated.

Midoriya opened his mouth, then closed it.  “What,” it wasn’t a question.

“I vowed that I would never use my fire, his fire, ” Shouto muttered the last bit softly and spitefully.

“You…  You don’t use your fire?” Midoriya pressed gently.

“No,” 

“I thought it was yours, or am I mistaken?” 

“Clearly mistaken.”

“So you’ve been only giving it half of your best, this entire time,” the shorter accused.

“I’m still trying just as hard as everyone else,” Shouto defended.

Midoriya looked…  He looked insulted, to say the least.  “No, no you’re not,” the freckled boy growled.

“You don’t understand-”

“NEITHER DO YOU!”  Midoriya all but screamed.

Shouto pressed his back farther against the wall.  Midoriya blinked and immediately recoiled, “okay, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have shouted, but you need to get it through your thick skull, that you can’t just not use half of your quirk.”

“It’s his though-”

“Is it really?  Last I heard Endeavor’s quirk is Hell Flame, not Half-Cold Half-Hot,” Midoriya shot back.

Shouto frowned, “why does it matter? You're in the same boat as me.”

The shorter squinted, “same boat? You and I have very different situations.”

“You haven’t used a quirk the entire time you’ve been in this school,” Shouto countered, god is he really that dense?

“How do you know I just don’t have a mental quirk?  Something that I can’t physically use?” 

“You would’ve said so in the beginning. You know, for someone who is so obsessed about quirks, you don’t talk about yours.  At all.  You avoid it no matter how many times classmates will ask you.  Are you afraid of it?  Are you rejecting it as I am his?” 

Midoriya narrowed his eyes, “I don’t know if you are really just that stupid or not.”

The dual wielder scoffed, “what makes you so certain that I’m not right, and you’re just denying it?”

“Because I don’t even have a quirk in the first place, Todoroki,” Midoriya ended the argument.

Izuku held his breath as he watched Todoroki’s face pale ever so slightly, his eyes widening.  “You… Don’t have a quirk?” Todoroki muttered.

Izuku couldn’t tell whether or not it was pity or disgust, knowing his upbringing it could be anything…  “No, I don't. I'm sorry for leading you on that I did,” Izuku apologized.

“It’s not your fault for something genetically out of your control…” Todoroki murmured, staring at the ground.

“It’s not your fault that your father is a bastard, but you can’t keep rejecting a literal extension of your body.”

Izuku watched the information sink in, “I-have you ever heard of quirk marriages?” Todoroki looked Izuku in the eye again.

The greenette felt the color flee his cheeks, I knew it was bad but this is…  Inhumane.  Izuku had gotten only tidbits of information from Dabi, so he knew Endeavor was an asshole, who didn’t stray from physical violence.  It was abuse from what he could make out from it, but an illegal marriage?  For someone's quirk?  I think Keigo knows how to get away with murder, no doubt Dabi will want to help too.

Todoroki continued on with his backstory, “my mother didn’t deserve it.  My father would hit her.  In any memory I have with her, she’s crying.  I can’t remember her smile, laugh, not a single moment where she seemed even the tiniest bit happy.  The last I saw of her was after she poured boiling water over my right eye, calling it unsightly,” he spat out the word, “she’s in a mental hospital now.  My father trained me and my eldest brother because our quirks were perfect for taking over the number one hero.  I hardly remember him...”

Izuku listened as the other boy continued on with the torture and abuse his family suffered.  Dabi went through this too, no wonder he became a vigilante.  Todoroki also looked rather distraught, well…  As distraught as one could be with how aloof Todoroki was.  “Now do you understand why I refuse my father’s power?” Todoroki asked.

Izuku could feel tears brimming his eyes, he shook his head, “I don’t understand how you could refuse yourself something such as your fire.  Just because you’ve shared this with me doesn’t change my opinion, so if we do fight in the next rounds, don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

Todoroki slowly blinked, “I don’t think I should expect anything less.”

Izuku smiled, and turned to continue down the hallway.  As luck would have it, Endeavor came lumbering down the UA hallway.  Seriously, what is up with my luck?  Izuku watched the flame hero make direct eye contact.  He quickly turned his head to avoid looking at the hero, with no such luck.  Endeavor abruptly stopped and turned his head to Izuku.  “Boy,” the hero bellowed.

Izuku spun on his heels to face him, “yes, sir?” 

“You’ve shown potential in all of the events today.”

“Thank you, sir” Izuku gritted as politely as possible.

“The matches for the next rounds are up, don’t think I expect you to go easy on my Shouto.”

Izuku really should be legally allowed to go apeshit.  Screw the league, screw his dad, his mother, Bakugou, everyone.  Endeavor was going to get his fucking ass handed to him, “excuse me, sir?” Izuku glowered.

“You heard me, boy,” Endeavor retorted.

“I know I heard you, but you phrase it as if Todoroki belongs to you.”

“He is my successor, my creation, he is destined to surpass All Might.”

“Pardon me, sir, but that seems…  I don’t know?  A little possessive?  You do realize children have freedom to do as they please?” Izuku smugly replied.

“Watch your mouth, brat,” the fire user scowled.

“ Or what?  You’ll hit me?  Burn me?  Gee sir, way to be a hero.”

“Boy-”

“Sorry Endeavor, I have some match ups to prepare for.  Here’s a word of advice, Todoroki does not belong to you.  He is his own person, and you do not get to treat him like and item.  I will take these events to the school board should you approach me like this again.”

“What do you think that will do?”

“Endeavor, I could get a home investigation on your ass in ten minutes tops.  Do not think, even for a second, that I will not get Todoroki out of that place you call a home,” Izuku snapped at the hero.

Endeavor merely scoffed and turned away from Izuku.  He watched the man stalk down the hallway, wont get a home investigation my ass.  I’m going to get that man sent to Tartarus.  I

Izuku had barely made it down the hallway before coming across a familiar man.  The man in question had a incredibly yellow suit on.  Shit, that’s the man form the beach, Izuku quickly realized, recalling the incident.  The latter of the two did not seem to be fairing any better, staring awkwardly at Izuku, funny how similar he and All Might act… The stranger finally spoke. “a-ah, young man…” 

“You’re from the beach,” Izuku blurted, “how’d you get into UA?”

“Teaching assistant, for All Might,” the man answered.

Wow, they sound eerily similar as well, Izuku realized.  “What exactly did you want from me back then?” 

Izuku ignored every red flag in his head and listened to the man, “I was simply trying to apologize for the sludge villain incident.  Before you and your, uh, brother, left so quickly.”

“Huh, funny, what exactly were you apologizing for again?” Izuku asked.

The man stifled a cough, blood leaking from his mouth, “sir, I think you need a doctor,” Izuku said smartly.

Said man just shook his head, “it’s fine my boy, I’ve been dealing with this for quite some time.”

“Huh,” Izuku responded intelligently, “you going to answer my question?”

The man sighed, “I wanted to apologize for what I-er, All Might said to you.”

Izuku had to use ever ounce of self control to not start laughing right then and there, not because of the apology, though.  He couldn’t hold it in, “I-oh wow, you really are shit at lying!” he burst out laughing.

The man-Izuku had put it together, he was All Might-reacted rather violently.  He ended up spurting blood all over his hand.  Izuku attempted to help All Might before the elder of the two held up his hand, “as I said young man, I’ve dealt with this before.  Care to tell me what you meant?” 

“I guess the fact that you fumble over using I and he when you referred to All Might really did it,” Izuku shrugged.

The man’s eyes widened, “that’s, really observant of you.”

Izuku smiled as All Might shifted like he did in class, “I am truly sorry for what I said that day my boy.”

“Oh!  It’s fine!  It was a bit of a bitch slap into reality, but I think I needed it,” Izuku ran a hand through his hair.

“I was wrong though, so at least accept my apology,” All Might said bowing.

Izuku honestly thought he was dreaming, “t-that’s really not necessary!”

All Might stood straight and shrugged, “well, I wish you luck during your next match ups my boy.”

Izuku let out a huff of laughter, “well All Might, I promise to do my best!  Plus Ultra right?” 

All Might smiled as Izuku pumped his fist in the air symbolically.  “You won’t tell anyone of this, right?” All Might glanced worriedly to the teen.

“Nah, your secrets safe with me All Might,” Izuku smiled and turned to the stadium that awaited him.

Chapter Text

To say Izuku was surprised when he walked out to the field was an understatement.  The girls of 1-A were dressed in rather revealing outfits.  He cringed as others made comments, what was the purpose of this?  The girls all looked varying amounts of uncomfortable.  Izuku calmly walked over, “do any of you want me to grab you leggings?”

Yaoyorozu smiled kindly at him, “ah, no thank you.  It was just a prank, no big deal.”

Izuku wanted to say something before he was interrupted. Again.  “Is this what 1-A is like?  I bet you all are enjoying basking in the spotlight,” Monomoa spat, “just know 1-B is so mUCH BETTER THAN-” a hand smacked him upside the head.

Monomoa fell to the ground quickly and behind him a girl with orange hair appeared, “sorry about him,” she apologized.

“That’s alright, kero,” Tsuyu looked down to Monomoa.

“My names Kendo Itsuka!” the girl, Kendo, extended her hand.

The girls all began to clump together, exchanging greetings with Kendo.  Izuku backed off, he wasn’t needed there.  I need to figure out who did that…  Izuku already had suspicions though, that makes it extra easy to call them out.

The final event of the sports festival was one that had Izuku nervous.  Sure, he had spared against Keigo before, and Dabi had shown him a few tips and tricks, but that was nothing.  Izuku had never gone up against such versatile quirks such as his classmates.  Scratch that, Shigaraki could easily have killed me.  The teen readied himself as he took position in front of Shinsou.  Why do I have to fight him first?  

Sure Izuku and Shinsou had sparred before, but never with something so important to the two on the line.  My body is going to hurt like hell after this, Izuku shuddered.  The brackets had already been lined up, so he would either fight Sero or Todoroki, pretty sure that match was all ready spelled out…  Izuku pondered on it, well, Sero could actually pull through if he tried hard enough.  Todoroki doesn’t use his fire, that's a major weakness.  If Sero is able to get a hold of his right leg or hand, he could throw Todoroki out of bounds…  That also depends on how Todoroki uses his ice.  Ice is already powerful enough as it is, so he could just freeze Sero enough to immobilize him.

Izuku’s attention was drawn back to where Midnight was chatting lively to the audience, who were equally as engaged.  It was very endearing to watch how easily people were able to reel in a crowd. Yamada began to speak into the microphone, “iiiiiiis everyone ready?” the crowd screamed, “we welcome to the stand our first match of the round, Shinsou Hitoshi from class 1-A!  Against him we have Midoriya Izuku!  Also from 1-A!”

Midnight raised her whip, Izuku prepared to spring forward.  Shinsou also seemed to be in a similar situation, shifting his weight onto one foot.  The R-rated hero waved the whip in the air, building upon the anticipation Izuku all ready held.  The second the whip came down, it made a loud crack.  Izuku wasted no time lunging forward at Shinsou, the latter doing the same.  

To be fair, Izuku shouldn’t have gone straight for Shinsou.  The taller leaped to the side as Izuku tried to halt himself from exposing his back.  “Damn, are you really that easy?” Shinsou taunted.

Izuku frowned at the other tactic, that won't work today Shinsou.  Izuku felt a hand grab his left shoulder.  Izuku was quickly spun around, sending him into a tumble.  Using the fall to his advantage, Izuku placed his right foot firmly into the concrete below him.  The smaller teen swung his left foot upward and pivoted his right.  Izuku felt his left foot make contact with Shinsou’s stomach, sending him falling to the ground. “Can’t you kick a little harder?” Shinsou heaved.

Izuku narrowed his eyes and went to send another kick to Shinsou.  From his place on the ground, Shinsou grabbed Izuku’s shoe by the lace.  The sudden capture was quickly turned into Izuku landing face down on concrete.  The greenette pressed himself upward quickly.  “Don’t you know when to stay down?” the purple teen sneered.

Izuku grinned and shrugged, a shoe sent him back to the ground.  “Dammit Midoriya!  Just answer me!” Shinsou yelled.

Izuku decided, no, screw that, and yanked hard on Shinsou’s foot.  Shinsou was now on the ground alongside Izuku, so Izuku threw his knee into Shinsou’s stomach.  “Really?  No response?” Shinsou breathed.

Izuku pressed his knee harder into Shinsou’s stomach.  Shinsou grabbed Izuku’s arm and rolled the two over.  “Am I no better than a villain now?  You wont even respond to me?” Shinsou sneered.

“NO-” Izuku responded automatically, fog washed over his mind.

Shisnou grinned triumphantly, “turn around and walk out of bounds.”

As if on cue, Izuku was released from under Shinsou, the next thing Izuku knew, he got up and walked.  Izuku frantically tried to will his body into movement.  Nothing came from his in vain attempts.  Move, move, move, Izuku's brain screamed at him.

“Would you look at that! Midoriya is walking right out of bounds!” he could hear Yamada marvel.

Izuku’s feet dragged forward, barely picking up off the ground.  Shisou let out a sigh of relief as Izuku continued to walk. Izuku had only made it a few more small steps before the fog vanished.  Confusion was what originally replaced Izuku’s train of thought, before a seething pain.  The teens hand immediately grabbed his nose, shit, that hurts a lot.  “Ouch, that looks like quite the fall,” Yamada cringed.

Ah, so that’s what happened.  Izuku let go of his nose and he heard Shinsou coming for him, great.  Izuku turned onto his back with Shinsou quickly approaching.  “Midoriya is now back in the game everybody!” Yamada gasped.

The smaller shakily stood on his feet composing himself, it’s definitely broken, he thought as his nose ached.  Shinsou lifted his fist, swinging it to hit Izuku’s face.  Izuku reflexively brought his arms into a barrier, deflecting Shinsou’s fist.  He quickly brought down the barrier and angled his elbow.  Izuku grabbed his other fist and swung his elbow into Shinsou’s chest.  

Izuku winced at the yelp Shinsou made.  “Sorry,” Izuku muttered under his breath.

With Shinsou stunned, Izuku took his forearm and pushed Shinsou backwards. The latter fell down, trying to restabilize his breathing.  Izuku took the opportunity to swing his foot over Shinsou and pin down his hands.  The purple teen flailed his legs and tried to move his arms.  Izuku tightened his hands.

Shinsou glared up at Izuku, the two said nothing.  Midnight’s whip cracked the air again.  “Shinsou is unable to move!  That means the round goes to Midoriya!” the microphones buzzed.

Izuku quickly stood up and lent his hand to Shinsou.  “Midoriya, you’ve got a lot of blood coming from your nose,” Shinsou muttered, grabbing Izuku’s hand.

“I think I broke it!” Izuku cheerfully replied.

“You’re so fucking lucky that I untied your shoe lace,” Shinsou grumbled.

Izuku looked down and, sure enough, his lace was completely undone and had the makings of a footprint on one of the laces.  “That would explain how I fell,” Izuku chuckled and brought his hand back to his nose.

“I’m taking you to Recovery Girl,” Shinsou slung his arm around Izuku.

The two headed off the arena to the hallway entry of the school.  “Good sportsmanship everyone!” Yamada cheered.

“Could you quiet down?” Aizawa’s voice suddenly came through the speakers.

Izuku blinked, huh, didn’t know he was up there too… 

Shinsou brought Izuku into Recovery Girl’s office.  The nurse looked up from her paperwork and at the two.  “Quite the match you two,” she sighed goodheartedly.

Izuku laughed and Shinsou looked away.  “Yup!  I broke my nose,” Izuku stated.

Recovery Girl sighed, “yes, I suppose we’ll have to fix that.”

Izuku nodded and sat down in one of the chairs.  Recovery Girl waddled over to Izuku and pressed a kiss into his forehead. Izuku brought his fingers to his nose and toughed it tenderly.  “Thanks!”  Izuku smiled and stood up again.

“Alright, your not hurt are you?” Recovery Girl turned to Shinsou.

Sinsou just shook his head, “nope.”

Recovery Girl nodded, “don’t you come back in with any more broken bones, you hear me?”

Izuku stiffened, “yes, Recovery Girl.”

Recovery Girl nodded, “good.”

The next thing Izuku knew, he was out in the stands alongside his classmates.  “Midoriya!  That was an intense battle!” Uraraka bounded up to him.

Izuku nodded and ran his hand through his messy hair.  Iida had also approached them at this time, “Midoriya!  Is your nose okay?” 

Izuku laughed, “Recovery Girl fixed me up!”

Iida nodded, “that’s good.”

Shinsou walked over to the group, “There’s a row of open seats for us over there.”

The other three nodded and followed him to the four seats in the area reserved for 1-A students.  The next matchup was Todoroki and Sero.  The two were positioned against each other both in a ready stance.  Midnight had brought up her whip and brought it down.  The whip broke air and Sero sent tape at Todoroki.  

Todoroki, on the other hand, quickly raised his left hand sending ice spewing towards Sero.  The ice crackled and sparkled, quickly enveloping Sero in a huge block of ice.  The crowd gasped and screeched as it nearly reached the surrounding stadium.  “THAT-that’s a lot of ice-” Yamada gaped.

A sharp inhale could be heard from Aizawa as well as Yamda’s outburst.  Not what I meant by encasing him in ice, but okay… Izuku’s eyes widened at the sight.  So maybe Todoroki is a little bit pissed off.  Izuku didn’t miss how tensed up Todoroki seemed.  “Sero is unable to move, Todoroki advances,” Yamada called out.

The next few matches flew by, first Shiozaki and Kaminari faced off, Shiozaki advanced.  Iida ended up going against Hatsume-which was a disaster-and Iida advanced.  Hatsume was in it to show off anyways.  Yaoyorozu went up against Tokoyami, Tokoyami advanced. This went on until Uraraka would end up fighting Tokoyami.  

Uraraka and Tokoyami were an interesting fight.  Dark Shadow fought to advance towards Uraraka, who countered by leaping around the arena.  Uraraka was clearly gaining a edge to the fight until Tokoyami stepped in alongside Dark Shadow.  The two were able to block Uraraka far enough to nearly go over the edge.  Uraraka was able to float herself around them to push Tokoyami over the line.  

Dark Shadow is able to become solid, though, so pushing something over the edge doesn’t work if your sentient quirk is preventing that.  Dark Shadow was a wall long enough for Tokoyami to spin Uraraka just over the edge of the line.  “Good fight you two!” Yamada cheered.

Aizawa could be heard grumbling, a chair could also be heard sliding against the floor.  There’s more noise and what sounded like flailing limbs before Yamada can be heard shouting, “SH-” the speakers cut off before anymore can be heard from the observation deck.

Izuku chuckled as Urakraka and Tokoyami left the stand.  The next match that would be up was Kirishima against Testutestu.  Izuku furrowed his brow, that’ll be…  Interesting.  Izuku stood up from the stands to find Uraraka, should probably see how she’s doing before I have to prepare for my match.  Izuku stood up and made way for the hallway.

He could clearly hear Uraraka talking on the phone to someone as he approached the door.  Even through the door he could tell her voice was shaky, “i-i’m sorry I didn’t do better,” he heard Uraraka speak to the phone.

Izuku quietly pushed open the door as the phone call ended.  “Um, Uraraka?  Are you okay?” he asked.

Uraraka quickly brought her palms up to her eyes.  She quickly turned around, “Midoriya!  I didn’t see you there!  I, uh…  How much did you hear?” 

“Just before you ended the call, you okay?” Izuku cocked his head to the side.

“Yeah, just a bit upset that I lost,” she did her best to smile.

Izuku just looked at her, “what do you mean? You fought really well.”

Uraraka looked at him like he was crazy, “I lost, I don’t continue on anymore.”

“Well you see, heroes don’t necessarily look for winners.  A lot of heroes want people who put up a good fight and show skill sets that they can either complement or help to mold.  Usually they want someone they can help to become better,” Izuku recalled Keigo going through any intern applications.

Uraraka nodded, “thanks.”

Izuku just smiled, “well, I’m going to go see how Kirishima did against Testutestu.”

He then turned around to leave, walking down the barren hallway once again.

Izuku came back out to the open stadium just in time to see the final moments of the match.  The two had remarkably similar quirks, and it was no surprise when the two fell to the ground.  “Uh- it appears that there was a tie,” Yamada could be heard trying to not laugh, “I don’t think that’s happened before…”

The two were taken off of the concrete to Recovery Girl, they’ll probably hold a tie breaker later.  Izuku looked up to the bracket, the next match up was him against Todoroki. Ooooh no, I really should’ve prepared beforehand…

BONUS:

“I’m leaving,” Shouta stated, scooting the chair back.

“SHOUTA!  NO!” Hizashi screeched as the mute button was quickly hit.

Chapter Text

Izuku will say it again.  He should’ve prepared for this.  Todoroki not only had declared that he would win, but he also managed to throw in his entire traumatic childhood and then sprinkle that with the pissed of glare.  So maybe Izuku was a little bit nervous.  Who wouldn’t be?  The guy froze half the stadium his last fight, I think I might just die.  Midnight’s whip had already snapped, but the two just stood there.  Maybe Todoroki is just waiting for me to move first?  

A large pillar of ice shot forward, missing Izuku, that was kinda shotty… He prepared himself to doge another wave of ice.  The greenette watched carefully as Todoroki raised his hand to throw another pillar.  With the seemingly effortless wave of his arm, Todoroki brought forward another large pillar, this time heading straight at Izuku.  I’m going to regret this- Izuku grumbled to himself.  He was able to spin out of the ice’s path, barely.  

Izuku watched as Todoroki prepared to send another wave of ice.  If he keeps this up he’ll give himself hypothermia- Izuku’s eyes widened, now that’s an idea…  The third wave of ice was much weaker than the first, second, and especially the one he’d shot at Sero earlier.  He’s gotta be weaker now, especially if he hasn’t used his fire quirk.  

The greenette felt his feet lose friction as the ice slowly overtook the ground.  Izuku would have to be more careful with his footing, that’ll be a pain.  “Todoroki!  You know you can’t keep this up forever!” Izuku screamed.

That seemed to catch the boy’s attention, “yes, I can.”

Izuku wanted to slap his hand against his forehead, no, stop.  You can do that once you're not about to freeze.  Instead he steadied himself on the ice, “physically!  You can’t physically keep this up!”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, “I’m used to it, and I’ve been doing it my entire life.”

Izuku really wished he was close enough to punch him, because damn if he really didn’t want to punch Todoroki.  Another wave of ice was headed towards Izuku, this time it caught his left hand. The cold instantly began to prick needles into Izuku’s skin.  He glared at Todoroki who stood shivering across the ring.  Looking back to the ice, Izuku noted the weaker structure.  There were air bubbles filling this ice to make up for lack of power.  Izuku growled and yanked his arm forward and out of the ice.  A sickening pop followed the shattering ice, damn, that’ll hurt in a minute.  

Izuku turned to Todoroki and ran at him.  The whole arena was coated in ice and functioned like a slip n’ slide.  The adrenalin was building up in Izuku and Todoroki began to panic. Flinging up his hand Todoroki shot forward a much weaker fifth wave of ice.  It sparkled and cracked doing a poor job of staying together.  It’s probably filled with air bubbles, in order to create that much ice it’s structural integrity had to decrease… Especially with how close he is to seriously hurting himself.  

The grennette flung his arms out in order to stabilize himself on the ice.  The thin slippery sheet that covered the ground cracked every time Izuku placed his foot back on the ground, at least that gives me some extra traction…   Todoroki was glaring daggers at Izuku, his left hand latching onto his right arm.  “You really aren’t going to give up, are you?” Izuku all but yelled in frustration.

Todoroki didn’t grant Izuku so much as a nod. Instead his right arm was raised once more.  Izuku made a lunge for Todoroki grabbing the latter’s left arm with his right.  Izuku pulled the dual weidler forward, sending him stumbling behind Izuku. The greenette watched as Todoroki regained his footing and growled at Izuku. Todoroki sent ice towards Izuku’s feet, freezing over his shoes.  Izuku jerked his right foot forward first, breaking the already weakened ice to shards.  Izuku removed his left foot next and rushed forward, fists clenched.  Todoroki readied himself for a fight as Izuku quickly raised his left fist and swung.

The left side of Todoroki’s face was flaring up and was hot to the touch.  Izuku’s hand quickly recoiled, sometimes I forget I am not left-handed- he groaned to himself.  Izuku hadn't even had a second of recovery before a cold fist slammed into his side.  “Dammit Todoroki!” Izuku screeched, crossing his arms into an x and slamming them forward into Todoroki.  “Can’t you see how horrible this is for yourself?”

Todoroki scowled, “you don’t understand.  My whole life, that bastard has forced me to be his creation.”

“I don’t care about your father!” Izuku shoved Todoroki forward again, “right now, this is about you.  Right now, this is your choice.  So stop giving a damn about your father for five minutes and actually fight me!” 

By this time Izuku had backed up and was now staring Todoroki down from the opposite side of the concrete. He was sure the crowds were screaming by now, but there was a loud thumping in his ears drowning out the noise.  The hetero-chromatic boy’s eyes had glazed over, before re-surging with a strong determination.  “You,” Todoroki started, “you’re insane.”

Izuku felt a wicked grin spread over his face, “hell yeah!  Come at me Todoroki!” he cheered.

Todoroki’s left arm was raised at this point, “don’t blame me for what happens next, Midoriya.”

Izuku watched as the first few sparks began to fly off of Todoroki’s shoulder.  Bracing himself for the impending heat wave, Izuku tensed himself.  To be completely honest, Izuku thought fire would’ve moved a lot quicker than it ended up moving.  Instead, he watched for the good five second is took for the fire to fully ignite.  It engulfed Todoroki’s left side with bright flares lighting up and melting surrounding ice.  

Izuku could practically feel the heat from the several feet he stood away from Todoroki. So maybe this bullet was his legacy, damn Keigo listening to Hamilton all the time.  Izuku had to make a split second decision as fire danced towards him.  Move, move, run, his brain screamed at him.  Despite all the red flags blaring in his head, Izuku decided against it.  Instead, he ran forward at Todoroki.  Heat blazed up and Izuku could feel it searing against his skin, not quite touching him, yet. 

Todorki looked to be intensely focused on producing the uncontrollable flames, Izuku waited for an opening. The greenette waited for Todoroki to stop using his fire before attacking, he’s bound to be weaker on his left side.  He’s hardly used his fire since whenever he stopped using it… Izuku noted that the dual wielder was no longer shivering, along with a lack of frost covering his left arm.  

The fire died out for a second, and Izuku ran.  He threw a kick into Todoroki’s leg causing the latter to fall and stumble.  Todoroki grunted and started up his flames again.  Izuku’s eyes widened as the bright sparks burned through already singed fabric.  This time the flames made a direct attack towards Izuku, catching his uniform.  

Now, if Izuku wasn’t grinning like a madman, he might have actually processed the flames setting his shirt alight.  Instead he threw a fist into Todoroki’s gut.  The fire stopped nearly instantly as Todoroki recoiled. His right hand grabbed Izuku’s left, sending a cold layer of ice over it. The cold sensation was back now, this time more concentrated and dense.  The thick layer of ice on his left arm began to sting.  

Izuku could quickly feel adrenaline kicking in as his arm began to grow colder.  He quickly retracted his left arm and threw it at Todoroki, like a bat.  Shards of ice felt off as the ice landed a heavy hit on Todoroki.  Izuku let out a heavy breath, his arm slowly losing feeling from the cold. Yeah, maybe that's not very good. 

Heat built up once again as Todoroki lit up his left side. This time, Izuku blinked and watched as white light filled his vision.  A heavy hand hit his chest, huh no heat…  Wait, Izuku blinked away the light realizing what Todoroki had done.  That’s incredible! He used the fire as a makeshift flash-bang to- another fist hit Izuku.  Ah, forgot I was fighting. Quickly adjusting to the lighting around him, Izuku was able to quickly block the next incoming fist.

Realizing the ice on his arm was still there Izuku decided to use that. He threw his hand at Todoroki’s left arm. Izuku watched as the ice began to melt upon making contact with the still hot skin.  Izuku was able to feel his fingers again while Todoroki reactivated his fire. This time all of the ice was quickly melted away leaving the feeling of burning hot touching stinging cold.  

Izuku didn’t even have time to consider his options before being flung onto the ground by Todoroki.  Izuku yelped as his back hit the hard concrete.  “You’re crazy-” Todoroki heavily breathed from where he stood, finally freezing Izuku in his place.

“I got you to use your fire,” Izuku grinned letting his head fall back onto the ground.

Todoroki nodded and glanced towards the crowds.  Izuku took note of Endeavor’s flaming stature alongside the screaming people. “Todoroki wins!” Present Mic announced.

Izuku sighed before blacking out.