Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya was used to pain. Wow, that sounded so emo. But he really was, it seemed that’s all the universe wanted to provide for him.

“Stupid, quirkless Deku!” Kacchan laughed and Izuku fought the urge to roll his eyes, at least come up with some new insults, you uncreative gremlin. “Look! He’s shaking in those stupid shoes!” No, he wasn’t. It’s called not eating enough and being partially malnourished.

“Just stay still Deku, this shouldn’t take long,” Kacchan laughed as two other boys suddenly knocked him to the ground and pinned him down, Izuku so tired he couldn’t even pretend to be scared.

Explosions crackled from the ash blondes hands as he laughed, “Can’t even fucking fight back! What a Deku!” Jeez, we get it. Deku this, Deku that, spice up the insults pretty please. Izuku felt the heat skim his cheeks as Kacchan laughed, burning his skin to the touch. Of course Izuku couldn’t help the screams and cries that escaped his mouth, he was being burned for fucks sake, but that only made the boys laugh harder. “Crybaby!” one of them cackled and Izuku just closed his eyes, hoping Kacchan would leave soon.

“Look at him, you’re a waste of air!”

“There’s no room on this planet for people like you!”

“You’re so useless, what’s the point of staying alive?”

“Just do us one last favour, jump!”

Kacchan did leave, but not before throwing more insults with explosions to back them up. “Deku, let me give you some advice,” he sneered while he crouched down, looming over Izuku’s small form.

“In this world, there are the strong and the weak. The strong become the great, like All Might. Like me! But you, you’re weak. Nothing. No one will miss a fucking Deku like you! You can’t do shit right, you’re too much of a coward to even kill yourself! Fucking quirkless shit. Stop trying to be a hero. Be fucking realistic.”

This all began when Izuku turned four. Sitting in the brightly lit office, the doctor rambling on about some stupid fucking bone in his foot. It all hit at once, Izuku would never have a quirk and he would never be as strong as All Might, or even Kacchan. But he could still be a hero, right? Anyone can be a hero as long as they want to save people, to help keep society safe. It’s really not that complicated.

“I’m so sorry Izuku!”

“Quirkless? You don’t have a quirk? That’s weird!”

“Deku, we can’t play heroes! You don’t even have a quirk, stupid.”

“Stop dreaming and look at the facts. You’ll never be anything of a hero without a quirk.”

Mom might not believe that he can become a hero, but Izuku still believes in himself, and that’s what matters! Dad got really angry about a quirkless son, but that was in the past and he was gone now. Sometimes Izuku knew it upset his mom too, he was the reason their family was broken after all. Mom would never admit anything, but Izuku knew he was a nuisance in her life, why wouldn’t he be? As Kacchan put it, he was nothing but a stupid, quirkless Deku. At least Izuku could maybe add hero to that list as well.

Even nine years later it was all the same, and he was just as weak. With all the quirkless comments, suicide baiting jokes, physical and mental abuse, Izuku had grown so tired, simple tasks such as waking up in the morning was difficult, when he was able to sleep. At least he had mom, she loved him.

The walk home felt longer than it should have, Izuku dragging his large red shoes against the pavement, his lips moving as if his muttering was verbal, yet no sound came out. Sirens blared and Izuku was quickly startled from his thoughts, eyes frantically looking around to locate the source of noise. What is a villain attack? Maybe heroes would be there!

He followed the noise at a fast paced run, notebook and pencil already in hand, until he realized he recognized the street he was running down. It was his street. Izuku’s run slowed until everything felt numb, the noise drowning out around him.

The apartment, his home, it was nothing but rubble and dust.

“All Might!” a woman sobbed as the hero handed her a child, “Thank you! Thank you!” Izuku dropped his notebook and looked around, too frantic to notice his favourite hero standing right in front of him. Find mom, find green, find mom, find green. He weaved through all the people All Might had saved, that meant his mom would be okay! All Might saves people!

The more he searched, the more the pit in his stomach began to settle. He pulled his phone out and punched in his mom’s number with shaky hands, maybe she went shopping. Maybe it was even a late shift at work. The phone rang, and rang, and rang a little more until it went to voicemail.

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Izuku called again.

He called countless times until a rescue hero called for help ahead and as the stone was cleared, the familiar ringtone echoed through Izuku’s ears much louder than it should have been. Because there lay Inko Midoriya, his mom, crushed and bloodied and bruised and dead, her phone clutched against her chest.

It wasn’t a direct villain attack, but the apartment itself got caught in the middle of the battle. The villain had some sort of concrete control and decided to use the closest items to weaponize himself, the outer structure of the apartment buildings. It didn’t collapse right away, but it was too unstable for families in the upper floors to escape on their own. Luckily heroes had already been on the scene, specifically All Might, and they were able to evacuate nearly everyone. Nearly. There were several injuries, only thirteen ending up in the hospital but would recover.

There was one single death. Just one. A woman in the upper floors that had gotten caught under the beam from her ceiling when it fell, pinning her down and was far too heavy to move. It’s presumed she used her quirk to bring her cellphone to her hand, but only got halfway through a phone number when the building's structure gave out and she had been crushed. Just a woman as the newspaper would later refer to her as, but Izuku knew better.

It was mom. His mom. And no one had saved her.

“Little Listener?” Izuku had been staring at his shoes for god knows how long, not even a single tear had fallen from his green eyes. “Kid?” the voice asked more forcefully, long legs striding into view, black leather pants stretching with each step. The man squatted down and forced his eyes to meet Izuku’s, it was Present Mic. On any other day Izuku might have straight up passed out from over excitement, but today was not one of those days. No, it definitely fucking wasn’t.

“What,” Izuku snapped at the pro hero, not even recognizing his own tone. He sounded like Kacchan.

“You’ve been here for awhile. Are you hurt?”

“Do I look hurt.”

Izuku glared at the man, anger beginning to boil in his gut even though he should be feeling something else, such as sadness or loss. “I’m not sure. Why don’t you tell me?” Present Mic was clearly trying to be patient and stay calm after a long day, but Izuku was pretty sure he topped the charts of who was having the worst day, so fuck it.

“Why don’t you go fuck off and smile for a camera?” he said quietly, his hands beginning to shake, “Isn’t that what heroes do? For the fame?”

Present Mic didn’t budge, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to figure out how to respond. “Where are your parents?” Oh Present Mic, that was probably the absolute worst thing you could have said at this moment. A plus for effort though.

“My parents?” Izuku asked with a blank stare, “Oh!” he gasped with a sarcastic tone. “My mom! Yeah!”

Present Mic nodded slowly but seemed put off by the strange response.

“Yeah! Dead!”

And Izuku booked it before the blonde hero could process what he had just heard.

Later on, sprawled out on his coach while Hizashi flipped through the files of tonight's attack, he thought about the strange boy with green hair. The interaction had been off putting to say the least, but something as tragic as a villain attack would always startle someone, especially a child.

“What.”

Hizashi looked up to Shouta, who was staring at him from the kitchen.

“What do you mean, what?” he called back, had he said something out loud?

“You keep sighing. You sound like one of the brats at school trying to earn my sympathy, what’d you do?” Shouta stood up from the table and walked over, leaning over the back of the couch and scanning the files. “Only one death? That’s crazy considering how fast the building came down,” the tired man mumbled.

Hizashi hummed and opened a third file, his breath catching at the printed picture clipped to the paper. A woman with forest green hair and bright green eyes, the next photo her body lifeless and crushed.

“Oh,” Hizashi groaned very slowly, his stomach beginning to flip.

“Well. Fuck me sideways.”

Chapter Text

It hasn’t been long. The sun’s gone down, the bright moon casting a cold shadow over the city, the only source of yellow light being from the lamp posts that lined the streets, most flickering or broken. Izuku raised a few fingers to his cheeks while he wandered around aimlessly, meeting only dry skin peppered in freckles. Has he not cried yet? But he always cries. He cries when someone says good morning to him, yet here he is fucking galavanting around after his mom got crushed beneath their own home. Totally makes sense.

What comes next? Is he supposed to go find someone for help? Who would ever help a useless Deku like him? Izuku didn’t even want to think about how the foster system would treat a quirkless kid like himself, he would honestly rather take his chances with the rats on the street. At least they wouldn’t bully him.

No, Izuku was too tired to think and he pushed everything out of his head, mind going blank and just letting his legs carry him to nowhere specific.

Izuku wasn’t thinking much of anything until his foot sunk into the ground, a different texture than the pavement and sidewalk he’s been walking on. He blinked a few times with a cold expression and kicked the new substance with the toe of his red sneaker. It was sand. It was then Izuku picked up on the distant sound of small waves crashing onto shore and sinking away over and over again.

The grimy, flat stone on his left had some letters carved into it, difficult to read without any proper light, but the moon seemed to be enough as Izuku approached the rock, running his fingers along the cracks. “Dagobah Beach,” he mumbled under his breath when he read the title out loud, turning around to get a good look at the area.

To put it nicely, it was shitty.

Like, instead of a sandy beach it was more of a junky beach. Literally. The entire shore was covered in a variety of forgotten and unwanted objects and Izuku carefully approached the water, looking at his reflection. It seemed like he fit right in.

All the fucking extras were louder than usual today, it pissed Katsuki off. “Don’t touch me!” he spat when, what was his name again? Tch, doesn’t matter. Boulders clapped him on the back with a stupid smile, blabbering on about something Katsuki couldn’t bother to care about. “Did you hear what I said?” Katsuki groaned and kicked his feet up on his desk, “What.” “All Might saved like a bunch of lives yesterday!”

Okay, as much as Katsuki would rather rip his ears out and shove them down the extras throat to get out of listening to another word this extra had to say, he did like All Might.

“Send me the article then.”

Katuski tapped through his phone with a scowl and opened the newest news report, the image of nothing but rubble and dust taking up his screen, All Might smiling brightly with his hands on his hips. Katsuki couldn’t help but scoff knowing that one day he would be the new All Might, the new number one hero.

He skimmed the text with a bored expression, but his thumb froze when the street name was mentioned. Red eyes slowly moved over to the desk not far behind him and his breath hitched when it was empty. Deku was never late, it was just the nerd he was.

“Hey!” he shouted louder than necessary towards, uh, his name, Boulders. Yeah, Boulders. “Doesn’t say anything about deaths.” The moronic dumbass shrugged, “I dunno man, it’s pretty fresh. If anyone died, it’s probably still, like, a secret of whatever. Doubt anyone died if All Might was there though!”

Right, All Might was there. Useless Deku probably just got caught up chasing another fight to take hero notes, stuck chasing that ridiculous, unrealistic dream. The bell rang and the class quieted down while the teacher began talking, Katsuki shooting one last desk to the empty desk before looking back up to the board.

Where is he again? Why is there sand all up in his- oh, Dagobah beach. Izuku rubbed his eyes and sat up, his back painfully stiff and sore. Had he fallen asleep that easily? It usually takes him several hours to knock himself out.

Suddenly he panicked and scrambled for his phone, mom would be worried where he ran off to! Oh god, he was so dead! Izuku opened the call app but froze, staring at the contact.

Right, no one’s going to answer.

School had already started and although he was still in uniform, Izuku had no current interest in being ridiculed, bullied and abused. He stood up and shook the sand from his hair, noticing how long he’s gone without a proper haircut, not that mom never offered, he was just always busy writing notes and studying. Ha. See, it’s funny because all that time he spent on those notebooks were now gone, buried under what remained of his home.

It was all for nothing.

Izuku stumbled over to the nearest pile of trash and gave a sharp kick for no apparent reason, fighting the urge to just scream at the top of his lungs. He pushed the green hair from his eyes and looked down at the trash, then along the entire coast line. “How long would it take to clean all this?” he muttered under his breath.

“Well, the beach does seem to be quite large, but how long it would take to completely clean depends on several factors. The overall weight mass of the trash, how many people participate, even weather would have a factor because it would make clearing more difficult, the resources they have like machines and dump trucks.” Izuku pinched his bottom lip as he rambled on, spewing out his thoughts as they came.

“I guess there’s one way to find out,” he said softly and picked up an old soup can. “It’s something to do.”

No one would stop talking about how Deku wasn’t at school today. Most joked about how maybe he finally took that leap of faith, or pretending to pray that he would never return. Katsuki wouldn’t lie, in any other circumstance he would be the one instigating the jokes and insults, but something just felt off. That nerd never, ever missed school. He could be dying and that Deku would still show up because he didn’t want to miss anything.

Katsuki waved the extras away and stomped home, hands stuffed in his pockets and signature scowl on his face. Surely Deku was fine. All Might saves everyone, so tomorrow Deku would be back and he would gush about how he met the Symbol of Peace and then Katsuki would try to explode him into the sun.

Just like any other day.

He slammed the door shut and kicked his shoes off, ready to ignore the old hag's scolding for not putting his shoes away properly, yet the noise never came. Instead, muffled cries and whispers echoed from the kitchen, it sounded like both his old people.

“Hey! Old hag!” he shouted and tossed his bag by the stairs, arriving in the kitchen to see Mitsuki crouched over the phone and Masaru rubbing her back, his own tears falling down onto her sweater. “Okay, yes. Thank you,” Mitsuki said in a strangled voice and slowly put the phone down, her hands then gripping onto the edge of the kitchen counter until her knuckles turned white. “Oi,” Katsuki said in a deflated tone, “Don’t ignore me.” “Kat?” Mitsuki turned around with puffy red eyes, “Oh, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“What’s with the fuckin’ crying festival in here.” Masaru shook his head, “Not now, Katsuki.” Katsuki looked between his parents with his eyebrows pinched together, heat beginning to swell in his palms, “Would you just tell me what the fuck's goin’ on?” Masaru wiped his eyes, “Let’s sit down.”

Katsuki could have sworn he misheard. Inko? Auntie Inko? “I don’t understand,” he mumbled, “All Might was there.” Mitsuki still couldn’t speak and Masaru did his best to handle the situation for the two of them, “I’m sure the heroes did their best, son. But they’re humans too, they have limits.” Katsuki felt strangely at a loss for words, what was he supposed to say? His parents didn’t know what he’s done, been doing to Auntie Inko’s son, in fact he doubted Auntie Inko even knew herself because she would have said something.

“Kat,” Mitsuki finally croaked, her chin tucked against her chest, “How’s Izuku? Is he doing alright?”

Oh no.

“Deku wasn’t at school today.” Tears began to flow from Mitsuki’s eyes once again, “Oh, poor Izuku! We should do something, it’s not like he has a dad or any other family,” she mumbled off. “Do,” Katsuki paused to clear his throat, “Do you know where he is?” Mitsuki shook her head, “I haven’t heard any- oh dear. That’s, that’s a good point. Where would Izuku be if he wasn’t at school? He doesn’t have any other family members.” Masaru tapped his chin in thought, “Perhaps he went to stay with a friend. They would have informed us if he was in the hospital with an injury.” Mitsuki nodded, “Yeah. Makes sense.”

No the fuck it didn’t, that little shit didn’t have any other friends.

Katsuki clenched his teeth together and huffed, “I have homework to do.” He stood up with the sound of the chair scraping obnoxiously against the hardwood and he turned, his father catching his wrist before he could escape. “You can talk to us if you need to Katsuki, you know that, right?” Katsuki kept his eyes down, “Tch, whatever,” and pulled his wrist back, slinking quietly up into his room.

Izuku’s hands stung. He had cut himself on the trash several times by accident, yet he couldn’t find it within himself to be upset with the injuries, it was better than feeling nothing. He used the gym shirt in his bag and tore the fabric up, wrapping it around his hands to prevent any further injuries or dirtying the wounds, not like he would need the shirt any time soon.

He didn’t get through much, mainly trying to collect smaller pieces of garbage like bottle caps, broken glass, papers and pieces of metal, simply tossing them into the nearby garbage cans up by the sidewalk. Izuku realized that the first main problem he had run into was actually disposing of the junk, he would need garbage bags or some sort of object to transport everything.

He sat by the water again and wrote ideas in an old notebook that was forgotten in the bottom of his school bag that he discovered. He’s written everything from wheelbarrows to cardboard boxes, trying to find the best method of transport. Izuku tucked the book away and cracked his back, his stomach suddenly growling loudly. “Oh,” he said blandly, “I think I’m hungry.”

Yeah, no shit. It’s been several hours since he last consumed anything.

Izuku sifted through the change he had in his pant pockets and what he could find in his bag, finding just enough to scrap a snack from the nearby convenience store. Beginning his walk, he grabbed one last handful of trash and disposed of it, walking to the store just around the corner store that he recalled passing yesterday. Hopefully he had enough, dying of starvation or dehydration would be a lame way to go.

The store wasn’t busy and Izuku looked around, grabbing a cheap bag of chips, two bottles of water and a granola bar. Yum, dinner.

“Is that all?” the older man at the cash register smiled and Izuku nodded, carefully placing the coins into the man’s hand. He smiled gently, “How was school today? I think my grandson has the same uniform as you.” Izuku looked down to the logo on his shirt then back up, “Uh, i-it was okay.” The man hummed and returned very few coins that Izuku knew he would have to spend wisely until he found a way to get more cash, that was yet another concern he would have to worry about.

“Have a good d-day,” he said all in one breath, the gentleman returning with a nod and Izuku left, heading back to the beach. Guess he was sleeping there again tonight. He looked upwards and groaned when he saw the grey shading to the growing clouds, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of rain.

Izuku forced a few chips down and a couple sips of water, already back on the beach with his bag set against the stone. He spent a few more minutes grumbling and kicking trash around until he picked up a black handle and threw it as hard as he could towards a worn down pick up truck, the blade of the knife piercing through the metal door.

Izuku breathed out heavily and looked down towards his hands wrapped in torn fabric, “That was,” he breathed.

Fun. It was fun.

He quickly pulled the knife out from the door and took a few steps back, throwing it again as hard as he could, except this time the knife went way off target, the handle colliding with a fridge a few feet away. “Shit.”

Izuku once again retrieved the knife and threw it at the car, this time just nicking the metal part in the centre of the tire, the blade deflecting at an odd angle and skidding into the sand. His soft laugh echoed over the sound of lapping waves and he held the knife up to the sun, staring at the shine. Knife throwing was all mathematics and strategic planning, right? Trajectory, speed, blah blah blah. Izuku liked that stuff and he had a new mission.

Learn to hit any target.

“Would you shut up,” Shouta groaned as the villain writhed in his hold, going on about whatever rights he thought he had.

“Whatcha got, Eraser,” Tsukauchi glanced up from his desk at the police station, eyeing the thin, bald villain. “Assault and robbery. He wasn’t very good at it,” Shouta deadpanned, forcing the villain into a temporary cell and locking the door, “It’s like he wasn’t even trying. Didn’t even wear a mask.” Tsukauchi snorted, “Just makes your job easier, don’t go on complaining.”

Shouta just grumbled an incoherent sentence in response, flopping down in an empty seat next to Tsukauchi, “Anything detective worthy?” “Just dealing with the paperwork from yesterday.” “Oh yeah, several apartment buildings came down, right? Hizashi was on the scene along with All Might.”

Shouta watched Tsukauchi flip through countless papers as he scribbled down a few things, “We have one death, but can’t find any files on the victim.” Shouta frowned, recalling the woman with green hair and the way Hizashi reacted to the photo at first glance. His husband seemed to have connected something, but then waved it off as a coincidence without sharing anything else. “What do you mean? Can’t you just do a facial scan?”

Tsukauchi handed a file to Shouta, “A friend of the victim was located and we were able to get some information. Inko Midoriya, early forties, single mother of one.” Shouta inhaled sharply at that, “Where’s the kid?” “I’m sure he’s with a friend, yet we haven’t actually been able to locate the boy, but he’s a teenager. Fourteen, to be exact, so he should come around soon.”

“And a father?”

Tsukauchi took the file back and shook his head, “Out of the picture, has been for quite some time. The Midoriya’s have no other known family and I can’t find anything about her in the system, which is strange.”

Shouta hummed and buried his nose in his capture weapon, still caught up on the recently orphaned child. Why would he not come in for help? Of course staying with a friend is the most likely situation, but wouldn’t the kid still want to figure out what happens next? Maybe the kid was afraid to be put into foster care, Shouta could understand that.

“I’ll keep an eye out for him. Does the kid have a name?” Tsukauchi hummed in confirmation and called over his shoulder as Shouta left.

“Izuku.”

Deku wasn’t at school the next day and Katsuki was only growing more, well, not concerned because it’s not like he cares about the nerd, but annoyed.

His mom died, why would he just disappear? And why hadn’t the teachers said or done anything, surely they knew Deku’s address and would be worried for his safety. Maybe they were already doing something behind the scene as to not worry his friends, if Deku even had any.

The suicide jokes continued endlessly, all the kids laughing and not even considering the fact that Deku, the useless Deku might have actually done it. If he did it, who’s fault would it be? Not Katsuki’s right? Right? Sweat collected on Katsuki’s brow during math class as he stared at his blank quiz, unable to muster enough concentration to pick up his pencil. His mind wouldn’t focus on the task at hand because if Deku, you know, does that mean in a way, Katsuki killed him?

No, that’s not how it works.

The nerd would have done it on his own, it would have been completely his own fault, no one else's. It would be his fault for being so weak and useless. The bell rang and Katsuki just threw his unfinished quiz at the teacher, stomping out and getting home faster than he usually did.

“Mom!” he shouted, swinging the door shut with a small explosion from his palm. Mitsuki seemed tired and she didn’t yell back, “Yes?” Katsuki slammed his hands down on the kitchen table where she sat and bit the inside of his cheek as hard as he could, “Deku doesn’t have friends.”

Mitsuki frowned for a moment, “Hon, what?” “I’m saying,” Katsuki huffed and clicked his tongue, “He wouldn’t be staying anywhere else. He doesn’t have anyone that would take him in.” Masaru came out from the television room and folded the recent newspaper he was reading, tilting his head in confusion as well, “Son, what are you saying?”

Katsuki drew in a slow breath and closed his eyes, speaking in the most quiet tone he could ever remember using.

“We need to file a missing persons report.”

Chapter Text

Luck was on Izuku’s side for once, it didn’t rain that night. The grey clouds blew over just in time, but it was safe to assume the next town over would have one hell of a storm. Izuku didn’t sleep much though, instead analysing everything his eye could catch on knife throwing and scribbling it down in his scrapy notebook. Throwing a knife in the dark probably wasn’t the best idea, but Izuku was so far past self safety there was no going back at this point.

“It hurts my wrist when I don’t keep it stiff, specifically the joints,” he pulled lightly on his bottom lip with a pencil in his other hand, “It seems keeping my wrist locked also offers a more accurate throw.” To test that theory once again, Izuku made sure his wrist wouldn’t move with his throw and whipped the knife at the car again from a few meters away, actually hitting the car door.

“Cool!” he squealed and scribbled some more around his diagrams and note bubbles, taking a seat in the small spot he’s cleared that was still surrounded by piles of trash. Glancing over his own notes, Izuku mulled his information over in his head, mumbling out loud once again.

“The blade rotates around the handle, meaning the handle is the centre of gravity, which then means rotation and distance would change depending on the object's mass and my theory would be easier to test if I had access to different metals and sizes of knives but,” Izuku paused and drew a big breath in. The sun was beginning to rise and he took a break to drink some water from the bottle he purchased at the corner store, then finishing off the bag of chips.

Izuku had always been smart but was never given credit in school since the teachers disliked him for his quirklessness and they wanted people like Kacchan to be at the top of the class. He tried not to let it bother him because at least he was able to learn at school.

Izuku looked down to his dirty uniformed pants and the stupid logo on his shirt, his decision already made. He wouldn’t be going back to school, there was nothing there left for him. But what did have to offer him now?

A life on the streets?

Izuku stabbed the knife into the sand with a scowl, guess it was just him and his new friend! “Knifey,” he said out loud, but then pressed his lips into a thin line. “Great. I’m already going fucking bonkers.”

He stood up and stretched his hands above his head, cracking his back and shoulders before getting back to work amongst all the garbage, his hands still wrapped in the fabric.

Not many people passed by Dagobah beach and that was probably for the best, Izuku didn’t need any questions. He wasn’t about to lie to himself, Izuku was most definitely getting hyper fixated on this whole knife throwing task, yet he didn’t mind, it gave him something to think about.

“So does that mean one rotation if completed in roughly two meters at an average throw?” he asked himself out loud, balancing the knife horizontally on two outstretched fingers, popping his lips a few times before saying way more loudly than necessary, “I need to do research!” To fucking bad his laptop was currently crushed within the remains of his home.

Izuku paced back and forth and tapped the flat part of the blade against the back of his hand, “The library!” Not many people went to the public library by his home anymore, since most schools had their own private libraries these days and the larger library in the nicer part of town was much more popular. Izuku hasn’t visited the library since he was a child, when his mom used to take him down to pick out books.

They had to stop going because his father would rip and burn the books.

Izuku just stuffed the knife, no, his knife into his yellow backpack and tossed it over his shoulder, “I’ll be back, you ugly son of a beach!”

Oh wow, his puns could use some work.

Izuku ignored the strange looks he got walking down the street, he knew he looked out of place and he didn’t need all the reminders! He probably looked dirty, his hair growing more and more knotted and skin becoming more pale. Not to mention he probably smelt like death, but hopefully no one would come close enough to figure that out!

The library wasn’t too far, but Izuku would have to across through the busy part of town unless he wanted to take the super long way, which he most definitely did not.

“Excuse me.”

Izuku paused mid step and looked up to a young woman who was wearing a frown of her face. Did he smell that bad? “Shouldn’t you be in school?” Izuku’s eyebrows pinched together and he opened his mouth to respond, but the lady pointed to that stupid logo on the stupid shirt he was wearing, “You should hurry, you’ll be late.” Izuku forced a bright smile on his face and nodded with fake enthusiasm, “Yes, thank you ma’am!” and skipped off, expression quickly falling into a scowl when he turned the corner.

Lady needs to mind her own fucking business, damn.

Izuku knew he needed to change out of his uniform, but it’s not like he can just walk into a clothing store and purchase an outfit with the money he doesn’t have. Well, technically he didn’t need to purchase clothes to obtain some, right? Not that Izuku would ever steal! So sir, because that’s definitely illegal and Izuku has never seen himself as a thief.

But he also has never seen himself as a homeless orphan, so there’s a first time for everything!

Hands stuffed into his pockets, Izuku tucked his curls behind his ears and waltzed in, feeling much more confident than he should be. The chosen store was Vimro, a cheap enough chain that was mainly run by the government. What, did you think Izuku was some sort of villain that would run around stealing from family owned stores? Never!

Vimro was busy, crowded with way more people than there should be for a Thursday morning and that was enough to make Izuku anxious, but he had to focus. Strolling to the back of the store, Izuku subtly checked his surroundings and picked up a large black shirt, pretending to check the size.

He ripped the tag off and tucked that back into the shelf, folding up the shirt and quickly stuffing it down his pants, using the waistband of his underpants to make sure it wouldn’t just fall back out the bottom of his pants.

Oh my god, he was stealing, this was a crime! Meh. Fuck it at this point.

At least being a small, underweight child was now coming in handy, since his uniform had always been much too large and it left more than enough room to hide stuff. Like the shirt that was currently way too close to his ass for his liking.

Next up was new underwear, because as much as kids say to just flip your underwear inside out, Izuku would rather have a sense of pride, thank you very much. Just like the shirt, he subtly stuffed one pair into his pocket and two others up his sleeves, one on each side and making sure the tags were removed. He wasn’t actually sure if the alarms would pick the tags up if he were to walk out, but he would rather not risk that.

Izuku moved further into the store while carefully taking into account the location of the cameras, analysing every possible blindspot around the store. He knew he had room in his bag, so he flipped it around so it was against his chest and opened it, mumbling out loud about trying to locate his phone.

Instead when eyes turned away, Izuku slinked into the blindspots he calculated and grabbed what he could, which consisted of a black pair of sweatpants, navy shorts, three pairs of socks and a black beanie.

When he tried to head over to the sweater section, he spotted a worker watching him with a suspicious look and Izuku didn’t want to push his luck anymore.

“Ah!” he gasped as he pulled his phone out from his backpack, zipping it back up tightly. “Mom?” he spoke into it when he moved closer to the worker, “Where are you? I don’t see you.” The worker was clearly listening in and that’s exactly what Izuku wanted as he continued, “What? You said you were in Vimro! Where are you?” He paused as if he were listening to a response and turned to the worker, “Excuse me, sir! I’m so sorry, but could you point me in the direction of the closest grocery store? My m-mom thought I w-was lost and s-she’s worried sick!”

Throwing in some stuttering. Genius!

The man’s face softened, “Don’t stress yourself out kid, it’s just three stores down, on your left.” Izuku nodded and mouthed thank you, “I’m on my way mom! I’m so sorry, I know!”

He ran out of the store and took off to the left, a smirk slowly growing on his lips as he stuffed his phone in his pocket, adjusting the straps of his backpack and slipping into an alleyway to head to the library.

On the way, Izuku awkwardly changed behind a dumpster hoping no one would see him and opted on keeping the uniform, he didn’t have much of a variety in the wardrobe department.

His backpack was already quite full and Izuku stared at all his school items for far too long, a weird sting growing in his chest. He began with his binders and just chucked them into the dumpster, quickly followed by his math textbook, his math journal and the english book they were currently reading, which sucked. The only things Izuku kept was anything to do with quirk analysis and his quirk history textbook since it was one subject he really, really enjoyed.

Eventually satisfied, he placed the extra clothes into his backpack with his knife, now changed into the fresh sweatpants and black shirt, slipping on the beanie last minute to hide his green hair that tended to make him stand out.

The walk wasn’t much farther whatsoever and Izuku entered the small library with a smile, it brought back some nice memories.

“Hello,” an older lady greeted from behind the checkout counter and wow, talk about stereotypical old librarian lady! “Hi!” Izuku smiled back, noticing the increase of energy he hasn’t felt in a while. “Can I help you with something?”

The small boy just shrugged, “I’m just here for some research, do you have any computers available?” “Ah, yes. Hon! Get out here!” the woman called over her shoulder. Izuku tilted his head curiously, looking around the lady to see who she was yelling at. Oh, maybe it was a cat!

“What.”

Oh wow, that is one dead voice. “Could you show this young man to the computers?” A tall boy with ridiculously fluffy purple hair locked eyes with Izuku and looked him up and down, “You’re short.”

That’s not very nice you lanky ass motherfucker.

“Yeah.” The boy just walked without saying anything more, weaving quickly through the rows of books while Izuku had to practically jog to keep up with the other’s long strides. “Here,” he pointed at a row of four desktops and left again without allowing Izuku to respond

Someone with social skills worse than Izuku’s? He didn’t know that was possible!

Izuku set up and flicked a computer on, pulling out his notebook and starting with his most curious topic, metals.

Something just wasn’t sitting right with Hizashi, and he really couldn’t brush past it. It was one of those thoughts that resonated deep in your mind and no matter how hard you tried to get rid of it, it was always there, whispering just loud enough that it couldn’t be missed. It had the pro hero distressed for some odd reason, papers sprawled out on the living room table as he stared at the picture of the woman, Inko Midoriya.

The second he saw the photo for the first time, the small boy from the crime scene flashed before his eyes. It couldn’t have been a coincidence, right? There was no way, too many things matched up.

The main red flag were the green hair and the dead mother, what would the odds be that two seperate children with green hair both had a dead mother and lived in the same area? I mean, it could be a pretty high odd for all Hizashi knew, but he doubted that.

He should have done something. Anything. Hizashi could have chased after the boy, shouted after him and asked him what was wrong. The kid had a look in his eyes he couldn’t quite describe, but he didn’t like it. If that boy’s mother really did just die in front of his very eyes, well, Hizashi couldn’t even imagine how he himself would feel.

The apartment door opened and the blonde didn’t even notice, too busy lost in his own thoughts. “Zashi? What are you doing up at four in the morning?”

Four in the morning?

Shouta tossed his capture scarf onto the counter and kicked his shoes off, “What about your beauty sleep, or whatever you call it.” Hizashi just shook his head dismissively because guilt was pooling in his gut. If his assumption was right and the distressed kid he found was the son of the victim, did that make him responsible for the kid running off? Was he safe? Was he alive?

Wait, what if he wasn’t alive? The boy seemed so off, it made Hizashi feel sick now that he thought about it. There was no way he would do anything rash, right? He was too young to make a decision like that, but at the same time the boy couldn’t be much younger than when Hizashi met Shouta, and Shouta wasn’t exactly healthy either, so it wasn’t impossible. He had to be alive, but what if he wasn’t?

“Hizashi.”

A large pair of hands clapped down on his shoulders and black eyes met his own, “You’re freaking out on me, what’s wrong?” Hizashi looked at his husband for a moment and tried to collect his thoughts, instead just spewing out everything that came to mind.

“A kid with green hair and he was sad and he said his mom was dead and then he just ran away and I wasn’t sure what to do and I didn’t do anything but now I see the victim and she has green hair too and she’s dead and now I think maybe it was her son or nephew or relative or something along those lines but now he might be lost forever and,” Hizashi spiraled into a mess of heavy breathing.

Shouta held his face in his two hands and squeezed lightly, “Calm down. I can’t make out anything you’re saying.” Hizashi nodded and tried again, explaining what happened on the scene, from the villain manipulating the concrete of the buildings in the apartment complex to the young boy who had snapped at him and ran off.

“And you think this could be the victim’s son?” Shouta asked, now sitting on the couch next to him. “Yes, I can’t remember much of what he looked like, but he definitely had green hair, a bit darker than the victims. He said his mother was dead and was clearly distressed, it only makes sense,” Hizashi explained, waving his hands around with exhaustion.

“Well,” Shouta sighed softly, “I’m inclined to agree. Tsukauchi actually told me the other night Inko Midoriya was the single mother of one and they actually don’t know of his location.”

Hizashi’s eyes snapped wide open, “What? Is he okay? We gotta find him! Where is he?” “Calm down,” Shouta cut his train of thought once again so he didn’t fall back into another panic.

“I’m not going to lie, no, they don’t know where the child is. A friend of the victims actually called in while I was handing a villain over earlier and she was clearly upset, yelling quite loudly. She was trying to file a missing persons report but the officer on the phone with her kept trying to explain that teenagers tend to return within three days like he was some sort of rebellious teen, then she just hung up.”

Hizashi nodded, “So what I’m hearing is that we have a missing kid on our hands.” Shouta stood up and began to head towards the bathroom for a shower.

“If you’re asking for my opinion Hizashi, I think we do.”

Chapter Text

Mitsuki was furious. Her best friend's boy was missing and no one was looking for him except for Mitsuki and Masaru.

It was like she was letting Inko down in some way. Even though this was never a specific promise, it was more of a mother's promise. If something had ever happened to herself and Masaru, Mitsuki knows Inko would have done everything in her power to protect Katsuki, love him and keep him safe, yet Mitsuki couldn’t even find her son.

“This is your fucking job you numbnut!” she yelled into the phone, face beet red from anger. “You don’t know Izuku like I do! He wouldn’t just go missing without telling anyone, he’s not rebellious, he’s responsible! I’m telling you, he might not be safe!”

The officer continued to brush her away, explaining moronically that they’re doing everything they can. “You’re doing everything you can? You haven’t done jack shit!” Mitsuki could barely hear the man on the other side of the phone as anger continued to cloud her senses, “It’s been a week! A week! This young boy is missing and you’re not listening to me!” When the officer began to give his usual speech once again, Mitsuki hung up the phone aggressively and resisted the urge to smash the device into bits.

Katuski was sitting at the kitchen table with his eyes casted down low, poking at his dinner. “Kat,” Mitsuki sighed, “Have you heard from Izuku? Could you call him for me?” Her son looked at her with a blank expression, one that was rarely given, “I haven’t heard from Deku.” Mitsuki frowned because that wasn’t her entire question, so she asked again, “Could you call him then?”

Katsuki pulled a strange face, his nose scrunched slightly and his eyebrows slanted in what Mitsuki could’ve sworn was worry, “I don’t have his number.” Mitsuki’s thoughts malfunctioned for a brief moment, “Hah? What’d’ya mean? He’s your friend, why don’t you have his number?”

When Katsuki didn’t yell back or throw out an insult, Mitsuki couldn’t help the suspicious thoughts that began circling in her mind. Katsuki opened his mouth and she thought she might’ve been about to receive a proper response, but instead the kid said quietly, “I’m going to train.”

He stood up suddenly and ran to his room, returning not even a minute later in his workout clothes and pulled his shoes on, slipping his earphones in and running out the door.

Mitsuki was aware of Katsuki’s self made training regiment to prepare for the UA entrance exams, and Friday’s were specifically reserved for rest days, so this jog was clearly to avoid whatever conversation Katsuki saw coming.

“I’m sorry Inko,” Mitsuki spoke quietly to the empty home, “I’m so sorry.” Mitsuki fell onto the couch and let her head fall into her hands, her shoulders beginning to shake as tears sprung to her eyes. Never in a million years could she have prepared herself for a situation like this, how could anyone? And what if that asshat of a father tries to get his hands on Izuku again?

Mitsuki’s sobs intensified at the thought, she wouldn’t let him take Izuku, not when Inko fought so hard to rid Hisashi from their lives. He used to be a good man, when they were all young and stupid and so easily manipulated.

Hell, even Mitsuki was manipulated!

Hisashi was a man who always knew how to get what he wanted and would do anything to do so, but they all realized that too late. When Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless, things only got so much worse. Inko was so brave though, so, so brave. But she was still hurt. And Izuku was too.

Mitsuki couldn’t think of anyone else she could ask for help, not when the police were treating this situation like Izuku has done this before. Katsuki specifically said that Izuku didn’t have any friends, that was an immediate red flag. If his home was destroyed, who was he staying with?

What if he was alone?

And Katsuki, he’s never been an emotional person, but she expected him to be a little more distressed about what had happened with Inko, especially since Izuku’s missing. The two don’t hang out anymore, but it’s probably because of school and Katsuki was taking his training so seriously, they could hang out at school together anyways, right?

Unless something else was going on, something that Katsuki was hiding.

Mitsuki took the opportunity to scream a string of creative swear words in the empty house, ignoring the fact that the neighbours could probably hear her as clear as day.

This, everything about this was a mess and Mitsuki didn’t know how to fix it.

Izuku’s been completely attached to this new project, he’s already had to steal several new notebooks and pencils!

Wait, not steal, the proper term is borrow.

And not to brag, he’s been getting pretty good at it too. Turns out looking normal and going unnoticed all your life really has its perks when you’re homeless, no one even bats an eye at a shy, plain looking kid when there’s so many other people with unique aspects to their appearances to look at.

For example, Izuku needed some deodorant from the drug store the other day. If he was someone who stood out more, there was a large chance that the cashier would have noticed a child stuffing hygiene products down his pants, but the lady was instead in a trance, too busy looking at another man with a literal halo around his head.

Like some sort of fucking angel. What kind of quirk, you know what, doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that Izuku skipped out of the store with not only his new deodorant, but also a bottle of cold coffee, some pretzels and a scratch ticket!

He didn’t win though.

Don’t get Izuku wrong, his morals are still intact! Family owned stores are most definitely off limits, he only goes for the chain businesses that have been scamming the public for so long, not like they would miss some borrowed products here and there.

Hygiene has always been important to Izuku too, and sneaking into gyms with showers is way too easy. They really need to make some investments on security plans because if a fourteen year old child can come and go as they please, pretty much anyone can get in.

Izuku was now back in the library where he spends his entire day, only leaving to borrow some necessary items and to continue his other project of cleaning the beach. In fact, he’s already moving onto larger objects like loose tires, chairs and desks!

He was currently scanning through all his notes, muttering quietly as he recounted what he already had. It started off as just researching about different types of metals, trying to figure out what would best suit his, uh, goals.

The most obvious answer would be to get his hands on some tungsten, but even Izuku could admit that it would be next to impossible, let alone expensive. So for his backup plan, Izuku was looking for a variety of metal types that include steels and irons instead, where they would be durable yet not impossible to find.

As Izuku began to delve deeper, he moved onto different throwing techniques, discovering his preferred grip, the hammer throw. Sure, it might be basic, but it allows for an accurate and forceful throw.

Izuku can already get decently close to his target from ten meters, and he’s only improving! There was also the pinch grab for throwing knives in which Izuku wanted to start practicing, but he had to find some decent knives first to borrow.

“You’re here again.”

“Oh fuck!” Izuku startled and dropped his pen, spinning in his seat to see Lanky leaning over his shoulder, “You don’t sneak up on people like that!” Lanky’s face stayed the same, “I didn’t sneak up on you. You just need to be more situationally aware.”

Izuku pressed his lips into a thin line and they stared at one another, neither breaking the silence. Eventually, the smaller of the two clapped his hands together and picked his pencil back up.

“Right! I’m just gonna,” he slowly turned back to the desktop and wrote some more notes down, Lanky’s reflection still showing on the screen. A minute passed and Lanky didn’t move, simply hovering over Izuku like he was some sort of toddler watching their parent cook dinner.

“You’ve been doing research about knives this entire time,” the purple haired boy spoke again, Izuku not really picking up on a question. “Yes?” Lanky snorted, “There must be a reason you’re doing it.”

What’s with this motherfucker and being cryptic?

“Uh, yeah!” Izuku beamed and turned around again, “For science! And, aha, curiosity!” Lanky blinked slowly, much too similar to a cat, then leaned down, “Bullshit.” Izuku laughed and turned around, “You’re funny!”

The boy walked around to the other side of the table and fell into the seat, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, purple eyes analysing Izuku. “You’re young. You should be at school.”

Izuku scoffed with fake offense, “Excuse me, young? I’ll have you know good sir, I’m fourteen years old! You said it yourself, I’m just small.” Lanky tilted his head, “Okay. Fourteen years old. You should be at school.”

Uh oh, Izuku didn’t really want questions like these, why’s Lanky all about socialising now? Just climb back into whatever hole you came from, fucking hermit crab.

“Well I could say the same for you,” Izuku pointed his pencil towards the boy, “You can’t be much older than me.” “I’m fourteen too. And I do school online. That’s why I’m here.” Online school? Izuku should look into that, he still needed an education. Probably.

“Online, huh? Is it expensive? Or is it free? Do you go into school every other day like a routine, or is it, like, meetings? Oh wait, maybe all the lessons are pre-recorded, so,” Izuku muttered off and tapped the eraser of his pencil against his forehead, Lanky staring at him with a bored expression.

“It’s pre-recorded lessons, you move at your own pace with exceptions. I have four months to complete each semester, and obviously there’s two semesters. You select your own classes and it’s free tuition, but you have to do an online assessment to be allowed entrance,” Lanky interrupted.

Izuku pursed his lips, just one online exam? Izuku could probably pass. Again, probably.

“So let’s say I wanted to do the same program, I just take the test and if I pass, I’m in?” Lanky nodded. “Interesting.”

Izuku sat there quietly for a moment to mull the idea over, not noticing Lanky leaning over and ripping a piece of paper from his notebook. He slid the paper back over with a link written on it, “That’s the school.” Izuku immediately typed it in on the desktop, frowning when it didn’t show up. “It’s not there. You’re mean!”

Lanky rolled his eyes, “You need a private computer for the school, public library desktops won’t do.” Izuku couldn’t help the frown that settled on his face because once again, we were back to the whole ‘my items and belongings are all currently crushed under what remains of my apartment’ issue. He could attempt to steal a laptop, but he didn’t think he was ready for that, it would be much more difficult.

“You’re making a strange face.”

“That’s just my face!” Izuku shouted back, the old woman hushing them from the front desk. “You don’t have a computer.”

Again with the cryptics, why doesn’t this kid just ask questions like a normal, functioning human being?

“No, I don’t. Oh well, education is overrated!” Lanky rubbed the back of his neck and sunk further into the chair, “I have an extra.” Was he offering to help Izuku? “Oh, but I don’t have any money. I can’t pay you.” The tall boy stood up and his neck cracked quietly, “‘S fine. You can owe me a favour or something.”

Izuku smirked, “Kinky.” “No!” Lanky smacked the back of his head with actual emotion displayed on his face, that was a first! “You’re a little shit, y’know that?” Izuku smiled wider, “Sir yes sir! I’m not sure what I could do for you, but let me know when something comes to mind I guess.”

Lanky clicked his tongue and disappeared into the back room, returning moments later with two laptops in hand, “Here. You can use the wifi here, Kiyabu won’t mind.” What, is that a guard dog? Seeing his confusion, the boy followed up, “She’s the librarian. Also my current foster guardian, so.”

Another orphan? Twins!

“Oh, does this mean we’re friends now?” Izuku asked and opened the laptop, Lanky returning to his previous seat.

“No.”

“Awe,” Izuku whined, “Come on! You know what, too bad. We’re friends now. My name’s Izuku Midoriya, what about you?” Lanky stayed quiet for a moment eyeing Izuku once more like if he looked hard enough, he would discover the secrets of life. “Hitoshi Shinsou.”

His first friend! Not that Izuku would ever say that aloud because that was probably really lame, but suck on that Kacchan!

Izuku hummed excitedly and found the school’s website, finding the exam link and clicking on it without hesitation. “You should study first,” Lanky, oops, Shinsou pointed out, “It’s kind of hard.” Izuku waved his hand weakly, “It’s do or die!”

“What.”

Izuku looked at the three hour timer at the top of the page and cracked his knuckles, diving right into the math section.

Izuku Midoriya finished the exam in one hour and sixteen minutes.

Izuku Midoriya passed with a 98 percent.

“This is an ugly beach.”

Izuku laughed at Shinsou’s blunt statement, tossing his stuffed bag next to the rock and got right to work, scooping up a broken radio and tossing it into the wheelbarrow he had found in the next pile over, although he had to re-attach a tire.

“I told you that, why are you surprised?” Shinsou shrugged and kicked a rusted pot, “I thought you were being dramatic. You tend to do that.” “I do not!” “You literally just did.”

Izuku could have sworn Shinsou smiled slightly as the two fell into an easy banter, something that's become comfortable between the them. Izuku’s enjoyed Shinsou’s company the past few days and it made online school slightly more enjoyable, although they didn’t have the same classes since Shinsou was still further ahead.

Izuku enjoy’s school either way, the classes are easy and the teachers can’t purposefully give him low marks anymore, because they have no idea he’s quirkless.

“Are you going to high school?” Izuku asked, continuing to toss things into the wheelbarrow. “Um,” Shinsou hesitated for a moment and he quickly cleared his throat, “Yeah, but I haven’t decided where yet.” Izuku sensed a lie, but decided not to push his luck and ask any further questions.

“You don’t talk about your parents,” Shinsou said carefully and began helping with the cleaning, “They should wonder where you are.” Izuku froze, realizing he hadn’t thought about his mother in awhile. How could he have forgotten about her so easily?

“Yeah,” he chuckled nervously, “My mom works a lot and there’s no dad in the picture. She knows where I am though, don’t worry!”

Yeah, if heaven exists.

“Oh,” Shinsou said quietly, “Okay. I thought maybe, nevermind.” Izuku raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, the two cleaning in silence as the sun slowly went down.

“Shinsou!” Izuku laughed as he set up a little target practice, blowing some sand off his knife and taking aim, using the recent techniques he had learnt to hit the bottles. “Damn,” he huffed when he missed by a few inches, “I’m getting closer.”

Shinsou stood there with his eyebrows raised, “Please don’t stab me.”

Izuku laughed loudly and took another throw, the bottle breaking in two when the knife pierced it, “Yeah!” Izuku would say Shinsou seemed impressed, or something of the sort, “So this is what the research is for.”

“Yep,” Izuku jumped, popping the p, “I’m already getting better. It’s all just math to be honest.”

“So you calculate the throw in your head.”

Izuku nodded, “Mhm! It’s getting dark, I’ll walk you home and then I’ve gotta get home too.” Home is also known as an old storage building he found abandoned a few blocks away. It had good space for knife throwing though!

“Yeah whatever,” Shinsou said, already starting up the steps while Izuku chased after him, going the long way to bring the wheelbarrow up the ramp. “So there must be a reason you’re cleaning the beach,” Shinsou said.

Izuku frowned, “Dude, is there a reason you don’t ask questions like a normal person? Just ask me why I’m cleaning the beach.”

“No.”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Izuku lowered his voice, “Hey Izuku, why are you cleaning the beach?” He returned to his normal voice, “Great question Shinsou! There’s no real reason, I just found this place one day and decided, hey, I wonder how long it would take to clean. And here we are, cleaning!”

Shinsou looked unimpressed but nodded, “Then I’ll come with you to help.”

“Really?” the smaller boy gasped, “It’s because we’re friends, isn’t it?”

“We’re not friends.”

“We’re totally friends. The best of friends.”

“No.”

“Yep! Besities!”

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya is a very strange person, but it’s not a bad thing. Hitoshi has never met anyone like this boy, this mystery of a kid.

Hitoshi sees himself as an above average student, thankful for his natural intelligence that outweighs his lack of motivation.

Midoriya though, it’s inhuman. It has to be his quirk.

Midoriya is flying through his classes with ease, often completing several lessons in the same amount of time it would take the average person to complete one.

On the school’s website, it’s written that one term or semester should take about four months, in which the smarter and more dedicated students could complete in about three. For Midoriya, if Hitoshi’s brief calculations were correct, continuing at the pace he is now will result in completing the entire term in just under two months.

Was that even possible?

Not to mention Midoriya casually throwing out that he completed the exam in under half the time with a 98 percent. To create some perspective, Hitoshi finished in two hours and thirty three minutes with an 86 percent, the top quarter of most examinees.

So a 98 percent?

It has to be some sort of intelligence enhancing quirk, but Hitoshi thought that the knife throwing had something due to his quirk. Who would have that as a regular hobby? Yet again, Midoriya wasn’t just anybody regular.

That was for sure.

The kid talked to himself, made gross jokes that Hitoshi would never admit he found funny and is casually cleaning up an entire shoreline of garbage out of his own curiosity and will. Midoriya wanted to clean the beach and Hitoshi could barely roll out of bed in the morning.

But Hitoshi did get out of bed this morning! Take the loss for today, sadness, although Hitoshi knows it’ll be back soon.

Anyways, Izuku Midoriya.

As much as he says he has a mom, something isn’t adding up. Everyone has different bodies of course, and Hitoshi isn’t exactly muscular, but Midoriya isn’t just small or thin. He’s underweight, and the kid practically inhales food Kiyabu brings them like he hasn’t eaten in days.

Like no one’s feeding him.

Despite his size, Midoriya can definitely handle his own, casually wheeling down an entire fucking fridge from the beach to the junk yard like it was something he does everyday. In which Hitoshi guesses is true.

Either way, Midoriya’s got a hell of a lot of secrets, but Hitoshi understands what it’s like wanting to keep your life from others. He wasn’t one to push for answers.

Yet, what if Midoriya was in a dangerous situation? If something were to happen to him, Hitoshi would have no choice but to blame himself, knowing he could have done something if he had only asked. In hopes of getting Midoriya to talk about himself, Hitoshi decided to take the risk of sharing something first.

“You asked me what I wanted to do for high school.”

Midoriya looked up from the English essay he was typing, stretching his arms above his head and nodding, “Yes, I did. Why?”

Hitoshi shifted nervously in his seat, keeping his eyes on the closest bookshelf as he responded, “Well, I want to go to UA. I want to be a hero.” Waiting for some sort of ridicule like other kids usually did, Midoriya’s eyes lit up and he flashed a huge smile, it was nearly blinding.

“Wow! You’re gonna be a hero? Oh, what’s your quirk?”

Hitoshi’s stomach dropped, this is where things always go wrong, where everyone labels him as a villain. Would Midoriya do the same?

“Brainwashing. I can make people follow my orders.”

This is where Midoriya should scoff, tell him he can’t become a hero with a quirk like that and run for the hills. But no, Midoriya only smiled wider, “Oh my god! That’s so fucking epic, are you kidding me?”

Hitoshi couldn’t think straight. Did he just call his quirk epic? “But it’s a villain’s quirk.”

Midoriya’s smile disappeared faster than ever before, “Huh? Who told you that?”

“Everyone.”

Midoriya frowned deeply, “Are you kidding me? You’re fucking dumber than you look.” Hitoshi blinked slowly, was something wrong with his hearing?

“Think about it!” Midoriya raised his hands up high, “You could solve so many situations without even having to resort to violence! My first thought is with hostage situations, you can trick the villain into surrendering, not putting victims in the line of fire whatsoever.”

Midoriya wasn’t done, “Or where heroes with flashy quirks can’t use them because it would cause too much damage or make things worse, you would be able to fix that! Shinsou, your quirk is dope as hell.” What came next, it made Shinsou’s eyes grow wide.

“You’ll be an amazing hero.”

Midoriya gave one last thumbs up and began typing again, pinching his bottom lip in thought as he muttered under his breath.

Hitoshi watched him for a moment longer, then cleared his throat once more, “You should come with me then. To UA.”

Did he say something wrong? Izuku was wearing a strangely serious expression on his face, one that Hitoshi can’t recall seeing before.

“I’m not meant to be a hero,” he spoke quietly, suddenly finding his nails very interesting. Before Hitoshi could respond, Midoriya perked up with a gasp, “But I can totally help you!” Hitoshi frowned, it wasn’t that he didn’t want help but what was with that initial reaction? He was daring himself to press further and backtrack, but Midoriya exploded in excitement.

“Listen! Okay, ever since I was young I’ve been really interested in quirks and heroes. I’ve been doing these little studies, like analysis where I break down a quirk, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, potentials and drawbacks. Even weapons, support items and fighting styles!”

Hitoshi was still confused and Midoriya chuckled, “What I’m saying is that I have a wide span of knowledge on quirk use, combat, defense, all that jazz. I could help you.”

Hitoshi leaned back in his seat, “So you take fanboy notes.”

Midoriya frowned again, “Yes, but in detail. I’ll help you find a fighting style and we can train together! Besides, we lowkey already started with the beach cleaning.”

Hitoshi was feeling a bit too lucky at the moment, “You want to help me.”

“Yes?” Midoriya squeaked nervously, “I mean, I lost all my notes recently, like, a shit ton of notes. But I’ve been making more in my spare time and I can go see if I can find any of my old ones!” Well that’s another red flag, free time? There’s no way he has even more time, he’s literally always with Hitoshi, day to night.

And he lost the notes, yet he could still go find them? The notes are either lost or they’re not, Midoriya is contradicting himself and Hitoshi wanted to know why.

“Look, this can be the favour I owe you. I’ll make a training schedule and everything!” Midoriya seems so confident and so excited, how could Hitoshi say no?

Besides, it’s not like he had the money to afford his own professional personal trainer and perhaps Midoriya would be good at this. It couldn’t possibly do any harm. “Okay,” Hitoshi huffed.

“Okay?”

“I said okay.”

Midoriya jumped out of his seat, “Awesome! We’ll get started right away!”

Hizashi has been a little all over the place with this whole missing child situation. And a partner is supposed to calm their significant other down, right?

Shouta wasn’t exactly an expert, even after all these years. But he'll always do his best.

To attempt putting his husband's mind at ease, Shouta is currently taking the time out of his patrol to spare a quick look at what remains of the fallen apartment buildings, just looking around for any possible clues that might help.

The area hasn’t been cleaned yet since the case hasn’t been officially closed and the police don’t want to risk tampering with any newly discovered evidence, so it’s been left the same.

Shouta used his capture weapon to shift through the smaller pieces of rubble, unsure what he should be keeping his eye out for. They knew the kid didn’t die on scene, so it’s not like he would find a body. Hopefully.

While focusing on one area at a time, Shouta spotted movement from the corner of his eye and he automatically prepared for a fight against a villain, but stopped when he saw a shadow manually pushing and lifting rubble around in one concentrated space.

The figure was quite small, dressed in large dark clothing, head hidden underneath the hood of their sweater. The only real distinctive attributes on the figure was the yellow backpack and large, well worn red high top shoes.

Shouta approached quietly and carefully like it was some sort of wounded animal, their face hidden by not only the hood, but a mess of unruly dark curls.

“Wow!”

Shouta startled as the figure looked at him, “Eraserhead! You’re so cool!”

He couldn’t lie, Shouta was startled the kid recognized him, he wasn’t an underground hero for no reason. He shook his head to escape his thoughts, “What are you doing? This is a crime scene, you know.”

The kid picked up a dusty notebook and blew the dirt off the cover, “I know.” Although soft, the voice must have been that of a young teenage boy, he sounded similar to the boys at UA. He slotted the notebook in his backpack and continued looking.

“Because of your quirk ability, you essentially fight quirkless,” the kid spoke up again. Shouta faltered, was that a question?

“Yes, I suppose so.”

The kid hummed and put another notebook into his bag, not following up with his statement.

Shouta’s mind wandered to Izuku Midoriya, perhaps this was him? It would make sense if the child wanted to return to try to find his belongings, and that would explain the notebooks.

On the other hand, why would a child voluntarily return to the scene where their mother was crushed and they lost literally everything?

Knowing it was better to be safe than sorry, Shouta sighed and carefully prepared his capture weapon, “Obviously you know I’m Eraserhead. What’s your name?”

The kid froze for a moment and slowly zipped up his backpack, “My name?”

Oh dear lord, please don’t make Shouta take down a grieving and traumatized child, it wasn’t exactly on his bucket list.

The kid laughed quietly and Shouta repeated, “Yeah, what’s your name?” The kid snorted and slapped a hand over his mouth, choking out what he found so funny.

“Mike.”

Shouta hummed, “Do you have a family name?” The kid’s face was red from holding in his laughter and blurted his answer out.

“Hawk.”

Oh.

Oh wow, real comical Problem Child.

That was the thing, being a teacher and surrounded by teenagers all day every day. A joke like this didn’t come as a shocker anymore.

“Uh-huh,” Shouta nodded slowly, “Real good. Can you come with me then? I can help you home. You shouldn’t be out at one in the morning on your own.”

Yeah. He’d bring the kid home, also known as the police station.

The kid adjusted his backpack on his shoulders and nodded, “Yeah, thanks. I don’t live too far, just down the road.”

Wait, what?

“Mom would kill me if she knew I was out,” the kid explained while they climbed out of the rubble, “You won’t tell her, will you?”

Shouta couldn’t respond because now he was even more confused than he was at the beginning of this conversation. So this wasn’t Izuku Midoriya? This was just some random boy digging through the remains of a building?

Before Shouta could analyze the situation, a fist swiftly met his crotch and the kid took off ridiculously fast. Shouta bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from swearing out loud, activating his quirk and launching his capture weapon.

The kid didn’t even flinch when Shouta erased his quirk, everyone always had some sort of reaction. Strange.

As his scarf approached the boy’s ankle, the kid easily leapt over the looped fabric and disappeared around the corner of the closest building and Shouta knew he was too late.

That little shit punched him in the balls!

Shouta groaned and returned to the area the boy was picking around, finding a torn and water damaged notebook. On the cover, he was able to make out the title ‘Hero Analysis’ and… oh. Of course.

‘-ku Midoriya’.

Izuku ran as fast as his legs could carry him, tripping twice because his eyes were trained towards the night sky.

Izuku adored heroes growing up, and obviously that included underground heroes like Eraserhead, and he knew he often jumped rooftops. Izuku couldn’t get caught, what if he was in trouble?

It had occurred to him that the police would probably discover Inko Midoriya had a child, but would they really look for him? They wouldn’t if they knew he was quirkless, that’s for sure.

Izuku has never been more grateful for all the running he did from Kacchan and his followers in school, it made him fast with a high endurance skill. Even cleaning the beach has improved his fitness level greatly, actually providing him a bit of muscle on his bones.

But wait, what if this has nothing to do with his mom? What if they’ve discovered his, um, borrowing?

Izuku only ran faster at this thought, panting breathlessly as he dove into the old storage facility, slamming the door behind him and bending forward to catch his breath.

Meeting Eraserhead, good! Punching Eraserhead in the nuts… not so good!

But hey, the man had it coming trying to trick a child, he was obviously planning on taking him to the police station or something like that.

Izuku trudged across the cold concrete ground, the light from the moon shining through the large windows the only reason he could see, flopping down on a black sleeping bag he found in a thrift store.

He didn’t actually steal for once, but used the money he had left because the thrift store was family owned. Morals!

Izuku opened his backpack and carefully removed the notebooks he was able to recover, only locating four intact. The number of the notebooks he found were four, seven, ten and eleven, pretty lucky. The was a fifth one he gathered as well, but it was too water damaged to read, he wasn’t able to identify the number.

Using the flashlight from his phone, he opened Hero Analysis number eleven and ran his fingers down one of the pages, an in depth analysis on a young hero climbing the ranks rapidly, Hawks.

Izuku chuckled at the small smiley face written on the corner of the page, something his mom always put when she really liked one of his drawings.

A small spot on the page was damp, and then another and another and is the roof leaking? That must be it-

Oh. Izuku was crying.

Izuku hastily wiped his eyes, he didn’t want to feel weak. But the tears kept coming so he put the book aside and let his tears splash onto his pants, his sniffles echoing in the cold empty building.

Empty. He was alone.

Izuku couldn’t stop for the life of him as the tears intensified, his nose beginning to sting from sniffling. His chest was burning and it was so hard to breathe and for the first time, his mom wasn’t there to rub his back.

His mom wasn’t there to hold him tight and tell him that everything would be okay, his mom wasn’t there to say she loved him.

Izuku will never get to tell her that he loves her ever again.

Izuku wrapped his arms tightly around himself and squeezed, unsure of what he was trying to achieve. He only cried harder, his mind beginning to swim and his vision beginning to grow darker, his small hands gripping at the fabric of his shirt with desperation until they flew to his hair, tugging hard.

He was alone, in the dark, sobbing.

What would Kacchan say if he could see him now?

Something about being a weak, quirkless Deku. Probably add a little suicide bating in there to really sell his point. It’s what Kacchan’s good at, along with everything else he does.

Izuku though, he’ll never be good at anything. He’ll never be enough. Everything he ever does just ends up catching flames and everything he touches breaks.

How long until Shinsou breaks? How long until his only friend realizes what a nuisance he is and makes a run for it?

Izuku’s mind wandered to their conversation earlier in the day, how he had offered to help train Shinsou. That meant it was up to him to prepare Shinsou for UA and if Izuku fails, his friend fails.

The problem is, Izuku fails at everything.

He failed at making his Father proud. He failed at gaining a quirk. He failed at being strong enough for Kacchan. He failed at making friends. He failed at becoming a hero. He failed at protecting his mother.

For the first time since Izuku was orphaned, he cried all night, working through anxiety attack after anxiety attack. They wouldn’t stop and those messy thoughts wouldn’t leave him alone, the ones that people have told him so many times before.

Maybe it would be easier to follow their advice, it would mean he wouldn’t have to deal with this entire situation anymore. It’s not like anyone was around to miss him, life had nothing more to offer him.

Because all he wanted was his mom. A child just misses his mother.

“Mom,” Izuku choked out as the early sun had begun to shine through the windows. His eyes were bloodshot red and puffy, his scalp sore from the hair pulling and pain.

“Mom. I miss you.”

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t cry again after that night with Eraserhead, it was easier to pretend like it never happened.

Instead of dwelling on his own sadness, he relied on the other tasks he had to keep himself busy, never giving himself the chance to sit back and think about his problems.

Not that he had problems! He was perfectly fine, everything was fine.

Izuku spent his next few nights examining his pre-written notes and copying them into fresh notebooks, adding new information and making changes where necessary. And yes, maybe sleep deprivation was catching up to him, but that never killed anybody!

Wait.

Doesn’t matter, because Shinsou’s success is much more important. The entrance exam for UA was in approximately ten months, or ten months and eight days to be specific.

Shinsou has yet to deeply explain his quirk, it’s almost like he’s afraid of his own powers, which Izuku has a feeling is true. His friend never asks direct questions, so Izuku can only assume that it has something to do with his quirk, maybe that’s how it’s activated.

Shinsou always pauses before speaking to find a way to reform his questions into statements and Izuku’s asked about it, but his question gets brushed off every time.

Izuku couldn’t be one to judge all the secret keeping though, Shinsou still had no idea what his own life was like.

The two had just finished their two hour beach cleaning session, which they complete every day after school. They bring the items down to the junkyard or deposit the smaller items into nearby trash bins, Izuku often getting distracted by items he’s been finding.

The other day, he found a perfectly good baseball bat! He didn’t know what he would ever need it for, but he still hid it further back on the beach so he could return for it later, where Shinsou wouldn’t be around to interrogate him.

Everyday after getting rid of the garbage, Izuku leads Shinsou on a forty five minute run through the rundown part of town where they rarely run into other people, which clearly makes Shinsou more comfortable.

“Hey,” Izuku huffed while they jogged, just about half way through their route, “We’re gonna have to talk about your quirk.”

Shinsou nearly tripped over his feet, catching himself last minute and falling back into step with the shorter boy, not responding.

Izuku chuckled, “Are you that out of breath, Lanky?” He panicked momentarily as he let the secret nickname slip, but Shinsou just huffed a small chuckle in response.

“Yeah, I don’t understand-,” Shinsou paused as he panted, “-how you have so much endurance. You’re tiny” Shinsou wiped the sweat from his brow, his purple hair sticking to his forehead, “You’re like a little bunny.”

“Hey!” Izuku laughed, “I’m not that small!”

“You’re like, 5’2.”

Izuku put his hands on his hips while running and tried to puff out his chest, “I’m almost 5’5. That’s tall!”

Shinsou literally looked down to meet his eyes, “Tall.”

Izuku flipped his friend off and jumped up as high as he could, “Not my fault you’re like a string bean! You must be like, one hundred feet tall!”

Shinsou tilted his head, “I’m 5’9.”

“Still way too tall!”

As their run came to an end, Izuku nervously scuffed his shoes against the pavement and looked off to the side, “We need to start proper training. I found this place we can use, it’s an abandoned warehouse.”

Izuku left out the fact that said abandoned warehouse was his current living space.

“Sick. We can go now if you’d like,” Shinsou answered with a bored shrug.

Izuku nodded and began the brief walk through alleyways and backstreets, the taller boy keeping up easily with his long strides. Izuku knew that he had hidden everything that could imply him living in the warehouse, but he still couldn't help the anxieties that kept bubbling up at the possibility of Shinosu finding his things.

And his friend had no filter, he would have no problem pointing it out.

“Here it is,” Izuku beamed and pushed the heavy door open, “I already brought the notes and shit here yesterday and, oh, there’s my bag!” Izuku ran over to his yellow backpack and sat down, gesturing for Shinsou to follow him.

Mauve eyes were busy scanning the large area, “This was a good find.”

There was suspicion laced in his dead voice, but Izuku decided to play dumb, “Yep! Lucky I guess!”

“Lucky,” Shinsou repeated slowly and sank down next to Izuku, crossing his legs and leaning his elbows on his bent knees. Ignoring his stare, Izuku pulled out the small pile of notebooks, old and re-written, splaying them out in front of both himself and the purple haired boy.

Shinsou reached out for one of them, giving Izuku an asking glance to look, in which the greenette just smiled. Izuku felt his face flush with embarrassment as Shinsou read the pages, his eyebrows raising and lips parted in surprise.

“I know it’s kinda silly!” Izuku cried, waving his hands around frantically, “People used to make fun of me, well not make fun of me but you know how it is, and-”

“Midoriya.”

Izuku paused from the firmness of the voice, Shinsou maintaining strong eye contact, “This is really impressive. Not what I was expecting.”

Izuku’s face flushed further, “You don’t think it’s stupid?”

The corners of Shinsou’s mouth angled downwards and his eyebrows pinched together, “Not at all. I could never do something this, this thorough. Not even close.”

Izuku paused for a moment, no one besides his mom has ever complimented his notebooks and analytic skills. And even then, he knew his mom wanted him to find another hobby, to find something that would actually benefit his future.

Because a quirkless person could never actually become a hero.

“Right!” Izuku pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, “Now, let me explain.”

“Being able to analyze quirks in real time is going to be vital, especially since you can’t always rely on your quirk. To start practicing that skill, you have to start with this.”

Izuku held up one of the notebooks and waved it around slightly and Shinsou’s eyes followed the movements. “Take Eraserhead for example, an underground hero who pretty much fights quirkless.”

Izuku didn’t miss the way Shinsou’s eyes lit up at the mention of the pro, straightening his back in his seated position.

“His intelligence is what allows him to defeat his opponents and I’m sure he’s able to analyze quirks in high pressure situations,” Izuku nodded while he explained his thoughts. Shinsou’s eyes had a new light to them and Izuku only smiled wider at the realization that the light was excitement.

“Actually,” Shinsou spoke hastily, “Eraserhead is my favourite hero. I don’t see much of him since he works underground, but he’s the type of hero I want to be.”

Oh, so Eraserhead is Shinsou’s All Might? Well, at least what All Might used to be to Izuku.

“Awesome! Okay, I want to help you find your style. To figure things out, I’m assigning you your first project,” Izuku pulled out an empty notebook with only one analysis written on the first few pages, it was All Might, of course. The one hero he felt like he knew everything about.

“Yes Midoriya-sensei,” Shinsou mocked and Izuku rolled his eyes.

“Shut it. You’ll be doing an analysis of your own quirk. Do your best and follow the outline of the example I gave, although feel free to be creative!”

Shinsou took the notebook and placed it in his lap, “Cool.”

“On the topic of Eraserhead, I actually met him the other day,” Izuku said absentmindedly. Shinsou actually showed emotion on his face and he shifted with excitement, wanting Izuku to continue.

“Yeah! I punched him in the balls though. But it had me thinking that if we want you to be able to fight without relying on your quirk-”

“You punched him in the balls,” Shinsou parroted.

Izuku clapped his hands together several times, “Yes! Keep up!”

“So, you’ll need some sort of weapon! Eraserhead uses his capture weapon but there’s so many other options. You could use some sort of metal rods such as iron or brass knuckles or even nunchucks like a ninja, or knives like me! No guns though, I feel like that simply wouldn’t work,” Izuku trailed off, “Sorry, I know my rambling is annoying.”

Shinsou frowned, “You apologize a lot.”

Izuku was taken back by the statement, unsure of how to respond.

“You need to stop apologizing for being yourself. You’re doing this to help me, so continue to share your thoughts. Please,” Shinsou said, appearing almost nervous.

Izuku smiled slowly, Shinsou wanted to hear his thoughts? He didn’t want him to shut up?

“You’re really cool Shinsou. You know that?”

Shinsou groaned as his cheeks went a little pink, “Shut up.”

“Take the compliment!” Izuku shouted playfully. “So, we have beach cleaning and our runs, and we have to start sparring and fighting soon, we only have so much time,” he said.

Izuku showed Shinsou a detailed plan that he had created, “It’s gonna be hard work, not gonna lie, but I believe in you.”

Shinsou looked up slowly with a new expression of determination, “Let’s fuckin’ do this."

Katsuki feels strange. Is that even the right word to express himself? He’s never been good at that, even though he’s good at everything!

Katsuki was sitting quietly at the kitchen table with his parents, it’s been like that a lot lately.

Mitsuki, no, mom. Mom has always been bold, fighting for whatever she believes in with no shame and not afraid to call people out on their bullshit. Lately though, things have changed. Mom hasn’t yelled at all, she either speaks in a quiet tone or stays completely silent.

It felt off, bad, Katsuki didn’t like it. Mitsuki’s lost her fight. While she used to call the police several times a day to fight for Deku’s safety, she gave up at one point.

Mom doesn’t give up.

“Goin’ to school,” Katsuki grumbled, tossing his empty bowl into the sink and storming past, until a hand grabbed his wrist. Mom kept her eyes trained forward and slowly stood up, moving her face towards his.

“Hag?” Katsuki choked with more concern then he meant to show, but her only response was pulling him to her chest. Katsuki stood there stiffly while his mom held him close, gently smoothing out the back of his hair.

“I love you, Kat.”

Katsuki couldn’t pull back no matter how much he internally shouted at himself, because a part of him felt safe with his mom. She kissed the top of his head and ruffled his hair, “Be good, learn something new today.”

Mom finally let him go and returned to the kitchen sink to start cleaning the dishes and Katsuki stood there for a moment with his eyes on her.

“You’ll be late Katsuki,” his dad said with a smile, “See you later.”

Katsuki nodded, it felt like the words were caught in his throat, why? He was still speechless by the time he arrived at school.

While approaching the school gate, Katsuki noticed police cars in the parking lot, some officers heading inside while chatting amongst themselves. Katsuki’s steps faltered for a moment and everything around him grew really silent, why were the police here?

Did they find Deku?

“Hey dude,” Boulders huffed, “We’ve got some sort of assembly today.”

Katsuki completely ignored the extra, quickly entering the school with his head hung low. He suddenly felt tired, he couldn’t even force a fake scowl on his face.

Katsuki’s leg bounced anxiously under his desk while the teacher took attendance, completely skipping over Deku’s name like the nerd never existed.

“Alright,” the teacher shouted over everyone’s talking, “Let’s get this over with.”

The class was forced into a single file line and Katsuki felt like he wasn’t exactly present, like his thoughts were fuzzy and the world around him wasn’t exactly making sense. He sat down when everyone else did and the principal began talking, but Katsuki genuinely couldn’t understand what she was saying, her words were jumbled and broken.

That is, until the name Izuku Midoriya rang through his skull.

Katsuki’s eyes snapped up as a police officer took the stage, holding a piece of paper between his hands.

“I’m not sure how many of you heard of the incident with the apartment complex down near the Shizuoka Prefecture, involving a violent villain. The apartment buildings were leveled and luckily there was only one death.”

Katsuki couldn't believe his ears, luckily? How is anything about that statement fucking lucky?

“Anyhow, we have recently been informed that we have a possible missing child who lost their only family member in the incident and they attended this school. Izuku Midoriya has been missing since-”

The words were lost to Katsuki once again, attended this school? No, Deku attends the school. He’s not dead.

“Why do they care anyways?”

Katsuki looked over to the source of the whisper, a girl with blue hair speaking to her friend. “Not like anyone’s waiting for him at home,” another snickered, Katsuki’s head swiveling around.

“He’s quirkless, not like he had anything to offer to the world.”

“No one’s gonna miss the weirdo.”

“Why are we having a whole assembly about this?”

“No one cares.”

Katsuki couldn’t block out all the comments from these fucking morons, he struggled against the urge to clamp his hands over his ears. Wait, why was his throat so dry?

“Probably finally followed your advice, hm?” Fingers bumped his shoulder with a wide smile.

His advice?

“In this world, there are the strong and the weak. The strong become great, like All Might. Like me! But you, you’re weak. Nothing. No one will miss a fucking Deku like you! You can’t do shit right, you’re too much of a coward to even kill yourself! Fucking quirkless shit. Stop trying to be a hero. Be fucking realistic.”

Those were the last words Katsuki told Deku before he went missing. But surely Katsuki would get to speak to him again soon, right?

The room was getting too small, are people looking at him? It feels like everyone’s looking at him.

“If you have any information about this missing person, please let us know so we know this boy is safe. He may be unstable and in shock, so if found please bring him to the station immediately. If he refuses to come with you, call the authorities right away,” the officer finished.

The principal returned to the stage while the boys next to Katsuki chuckled, “I wonder how he did it.”

“Jumping, drowning, bleeding out. Knowing the nerd, he probably used some stupid scientific way!”

They snickered silently and Katsuki could only stare at his hands, palms up. He…

He would see Deku again, right?

Katsuki’s clothes suddenly felt too heavy yet too tight all at once, he was hyper aware of the sound of his accelerating breathing and the blood rushing through his veins.

Was he about to cry?

No, no he wasn’t about to cry. He isn’t a crybaby like Deku. Yet when Katsuki got home, once he was behind the safety of his bedroom door, he cried.

He stayed silent, but he still cried.

“Morning,” Shinsou sat down at their designated library desk across from Izuku, opening up his laptop. “Hey,” Izuku smiled in return, typing furiously on his quirk history research paper, “What’s up?” Shinsou threw a notebook at him, slapping him right in the face and falling onto his keyboard.

“I did what you told me to do. I analyzed my quirk,” Shinsou pointed to the notebook.

Izuku could tell his friend was nervous as he opened the notebook to look at his work, but decided not to comment on it. He read the two pages of writing in simple black pen, no colours or drawings or sketches.

It literally matched Shinsou’s personality.

“Hey Shinsou?”

The purple haired boy looked up and hummed in response, tired eyes strangely excited.

“I wrote better shit when I was six.”

Shinsou scoffed, “Hey!”

Izuku laughed and waved him off, “But you did your best and that’s what matters! Besides, it’s a good start and with practice, you’ll be able to do all of this within seconds, helping you defeat opponents. I want you to do one once a week, you can choose heroes or villains, whatever you feel like doing.”

Izuku tossed the notebook back and Shinsou seemed content with the feedback, stuffing it into his small bag.

“We’ve been watching combat videos for the past week,” Izuku said while continuing with his school work, “I think it’s time we start learning how to actually execute the moves. I’ve been doing research and I’ve got the basics down, starting with self defense and dodging.”

Shinsou nodded and he made that face, the face that meant he was currently processing a question into a statement.

“Stop that,” Izuku snapped.

His tone must have startled Shinsou because his mauve eyes went wide, sinking down into his chair.

“You wrote down that your quirk is activated when someone answers a direct question.”

Shinsou looked up once more, folding his arms across his chest and nodding.

Izuku let his stern expression soften, “You can ask me questions, you know. I trust you. Like, a lot.” Shinsou was obviously startled by the question and Izuku smiled reassuringly, “Okay? Use your quirk on me. Then you’ll realize that I’m not afraid or anything and I trust you.”

Izuku waited while Shinsou was having his own inner argument, in which the taller boy finally askedIzuku rolled his eyes, “Are you sure I can use my quirk?”

Izuku rolled his eyes, “Yes! I just said-”

Woah.

The sensation was strange, but not unwelcomed if Izuku had to be honest. He didn’t have any thoughts or strong emotions, everything was simply foggy.

“Go get me a cup of water from the back room,” he heard Shinsou speak and his legs began moving before he completely processed the order. Izuku himself felt like he wasn’t doing anything, he just did as told and came back until Shinsou released his hold.

“Wow!” Izuku nearly screamed, “That was so cool! Oh my gosh you’re going to be such a good hero!”

Izuku noticed the glossy look in Shinsou’s eyes and the boy smiled an actual toothy grin.

“Midoriya?”

“Izuku,” the greenette corrected quickly, “Call me Izuku.”

Shinsou glanced around the room and added quickly, “Hitoshi then.”

Izuku beamed, “Alright Hitoshi! Let’s do our best!”

Shinsou nodded, “You got it Izuku.”

Chapter Text

Several days passed and Izuku didn’t have to punch any other pro heroes in the balls. Although he would've if he had to.

The sky was dimming on Dagobah beach since Izuku and Shinsou, oh wait.

Hitoshi.

The two of them had a lot of school work today and they had lost track of time, so the sky was already dimming. Hitoshi was lifting a tire above his head and placed it gently into the wheelbarrow, ignoring the sound of metal piercing metal.

“You’re getting stronger already Toshi!” Izuku complimented over his shoulder, whipping a new throwing knife that he recently got his hands on.

In fact, his collection was growing and Izuku couldn’t complain because he hadn't spent anything on his tools! The collection consisted of five small throwing knives, two larger ones and the original knife he had found amongst the trash piles.

“Yeah, because you barely help anymore,” Hitoshi grumbled while he collected a broken microwave, careful not to cut himself on the jagged edges.

“I do too! I like coming back at night,” Izuku said without thinking, freezing mid-throw at the response he let slip.

“You come back at night? What about, you know, sleeping,” Hitoshi put the microwave down and dug his hands onto his hips, “You’re sleeping, right?”

Izuku nervously stared at the blade of his knife and used his sleeve to wipe any muck and dirt off, “Yeah?”

Hitoshi frowned, “That wasn’t very convincing.”

Izuku rolled his eyes and threw his knife again, hitting his target, “Look, I just don’t sleep very well and this is a good distraction.”

Izuku was aware his health was probably deteriorating. He was much thinner, his face had become sunken in and grey. His eyes seemed less green and the dark circles were growing worse, not to mention his hair.

“Insomnia?” Hitoshi returned to cleaning, “That why you can’t sleep?”

Izuku never actually got any diagnoses for anything except for his quirklessness, he didn’t want to worry his mother. Not like she was around to worry anymore, though.

“Probably,” Izuku shrugged and put the small daggers into the pockets of his sweatpants and sweater, although not the safest way to carry them. Oh well.

“I have insomnia too,” Hitoshi mumbled, “But you shouldn’t be outside by yourself at night. It’s not safe.”

Izuku’s face scrunched up, his friend currently sounded much too similar to his mom for his own liking. “Just fucking drop it,” Izuku snapped before he could stop himself, but he didn’t feel bad.

Hitoshi fell silent and ran a hand through his hair, clearly not wanting to cause an argument. The two cleaned in a tense silence, Izuku could have cut the air with one of his daggers.

“Your throwing skills are improving,” Hitoshi broke the mute atmosphere, yet he wouldn’t look at Izuku. “Like, scarily better. Is it your quirk?”

Izuku nearly dropped the chunks of wood he was holding, his quirk? Izuku felt his lungs contract at the thought of his last friend. His first and only friend.

“Deku!” Kacchan called from across the classroom, “You were supposed to come to my house yesterday. Did you forget, stupid?” The spiky blonde stopped in front of Izuku and crouched down, “Are you crying again? Stop being such a crybaby! Who hurt you?”

Izuku looked into his best friend’s eyes, “I didn’t forget, Kacchan.”

The other boy sat down completely and crossed his arms, “What, so you didn’t want to come over? You think you’re better than me, stupid Deku?” Izuku shook his head violently and held his hands up, “That’s not it Kacchan! I had to go see the doctor.”

Kacchan frowned further and pressed his hand to the smaller boy’s forehead, “You don’t feel warm. Don’t lie to me!”

“It wasn’t for a cold!” Izuku hesitated and dropped his voice into a whisper, “It was for my quirk.”

There was a suspicious shine in Kacchan’s eyes, “Did you finally get your quirk? It’s about time, jeez! What is it?”

Kacchan would understand, they were best friends after all. More tears came from his green eyes, “There is no quirk.”

“Hah?”

“Kacchan. The doctor said I’m quirkless.”

Kacchan’s mouth slowly formed a smile, but it wasn’t the type to make Izuku feel safe and happy. No, it was the smile Kacchan gave while people complimented his quirk and told him he’d made a great hero.

It was the smile of someone who knew they were better.

“Quirkless?” Kacchan announced, the other kids turning their heads in the direction of the outburst, Kacchan doubling over with laughter. “You? A Deku that’s also quirkless? It all makes sense! I see now!”

Izuku shrunk in on himself and pulled his knees to his chest, “What does Kacchan see?”

Explosions popped from Kacchan’s palms and he stood up, looking down on Izuku as he spoke, “I see how much better I am than everyone else! You’re nothing but a stupid, weak, quirkless Deku!”

The teachers never reprimanded Kacchan for his actions all through their school years and Izuku would tell his mother the same lies.

“Oh, I fell on the way to school.”

“Gym class got a little intense today.”

“It was my fault, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Kacchan? No, I burnt myself in science class, I wasn’t paying attention."

Hitoshi was looking at his shoes, his analyzing pulling Izuku from his panic. “Maybe an accuracy quirk? At first I thought it was maybe some sort of intelligence quirk, and-”

Izuku was so tired of pretending. Of lying. It really wasn’t worth it anymore and if Hitoshi left, it wouldn’t be anything new. So he took the jump, cutting Hitoshi off and blurting out what he was so afraid to admit.

“I’m quirkless.”

Hitoshi stopped talking immediately and he looked at Izuku with an unreadable expression, it was enough to make Izuku want to dive into the water and drown himself. Why did this feel so much worse than it did with Kacchan?

“Okay,” Hitoshi said slowly, “Anyways, before you so rudely cut me off-”

“Did you not hear me?”

Hitoshi huffed, “I fuckin’ heard you, now let me finish what I was saying! Damn! I was saying that an intelligence quirk and accuracy quirk go hand in hand, yet they’re different, meaning you either had two quirks or no quirks and you’re just really fucking smart.”

Izuku’s mouth was hanging open, “Lanky! Are you fucking deaf? I said I’m quirkless! Aren’t you gonna like, beat me up or something?”

Hitoshi laughed, “What are you on about? Why would I beat you up?”

Izuku was steadily growing more and more frustrated, “Because I’m a Deku! I’m a stupid, quirkless, worthless Deku.”

Hitoshi stopped laughing after that.

“Why would you want to be associated with me? A quirkless fuckwipe?” Izuku laughed, but it wasn’t a happy one.

Hitoshi sat down on a half broken table, “Well, I don’t care. If you think your lack of quirk makes you a, what did you say? A Deku? Then that means my quirk makes me a villain, right?”

Izuku scratched his head, “What? I didn’t say that!”

“But you’re classifying your lack of quirk as your personality, so shouldn’t that mean I classify my evil quirk as my personality too?”

Izuku opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He hadn’t thought about it that way, but it wasn’t the same, right?

“Izuku, being quirkless doesn’t make you weak or useless. Who fucking cares? Because I don’t. Isn’t that how friendship works? Caring about one another no matter what?”

Izuku scanned the boy’s face for a lie or joke, but Hitoshi was as serious as always. He couldn’t hold it back anymore and Izuku burst into tears, burying his face into the crook of his elbow.

“Shit!” Hitoshi scrambled up, “Did I say something wrong? I’m not good at- this whole friendship thing is new to me and-”

Hitoshi was cut off when a thin form wrapped around his torso, “You still want to be my friend?” Izuku sobbed into his shirt.

“Fuck,” Hitoshi mumbled and peeled the smaller boy away from him, “Only if you still want to be mine.”

Izuku nodded with excitement, “Yeah! So that makes us best friends now, right? You said you don’t have any other friends, so that means I don’t have anyone to beat!”

“...”

Izuku spoke a little more firmly, “Best friends?”

“...”

“Right Hitoshi?”

Hitoshi sighed and the corners of his lips quirked upwards, “... fuckin’... Yes. Best friends. Besties.”

Izuku smiled while his stomach grumbled and he dug through his backpack, just to find out that he had no spare food left since his last run.

“Hitoshi!” he called, cupping his hands around his mouth. Purple hair popped out from a pile of trash and Hitoshi clambered over, nearly tripping several times.

“What.”

“It’s getting late, head back to the warehouse and go through the stretching routine, then we’ll continue restraining techniques when I get there.”

Hitoshi wiped his hands on his pants and frowned, “Where are you going?”

Izuku was so used to lying at this point, he responded without a beat, “Just running down to tell my mom I’ll be home later than usual, my phone’s dead.” Hitoshi hummed, “Okay. I’ll bring the wheelbarrow down then.”

“Cool!” Izuku was already making his way off the beach, “I won’t be long, promise!” He heard Hitoshi grumble something from behind him and the squeaking of the wheelbarrow as more distance grew between the two of them.

Izuku slowed into a walk and headed down to the large grocery store, only a few blocks away. The sun was setting and the temperature was getting a little cooler, reminding Izuku that he probably needed to find a laundromat soon to wash his small collection of clothes.

He let his mind wander distantly while he played with a dagger between his fingers, too lost in thought to notice the sewage cover bubble over while he passed under a bridge.

“What’s this? A perfect skinsuit.”

Izuku spun around at the raspy voice but it was too late, a cold slime filling up his nose and mouth.

“Just stay still, this shouldn’t take too long,” the villain laughed while the goop began pouring into Izuku’s lungs, taking his oxygen away. His eyes began to water while he realized fighting back was pointless, it was impossible to get a grip on the slime.

Izuku slowly stopped moving, maybe he’ll get to be with mom now. He’s dying, why isn’t Izuku screaming? Why isn’t he scared?

The cold texture continued to fill his body and Izuku was now completely limp, closing his eyes. Maybe dying right now wouldn’t be so bad, it’s what everyone always wanted anyways.

Hitoshi.

No. Hitoshi was waiting for him, on his way to the warehouse right now. Izuku couldn’t let his only friend down, Hitoshi was counting on him.

A solid, cold object grasped in his hand brought Izuku from his dark thoughts and he opened his eyes, yelling despite the slime in his mouth.

“Shut up,” the villain said, “Just stay still!”

Izuku couldn’t stay still, he promised Hitoshi he wouldn’t be long!

Izuku gripped the knife tighter and brought it to his chest, blade pointing upwards. This was a shot of luck, there was no way he could aim for his target, but Izuku thrusted the knife upwards before he could lose consciousness.

The villain screamed out as the blade just nicked his eye, the only physical part of this monster Izuku knew existed. From the shock, the villain lost his grip on Izuku momentarily and he was able to inhale a brief amount of oxygen, but that was quickly taken away as the sludge villain just grew angrier.

The slime was back in his throat and Izuku’s sight was growing dark, at least he tried. He tried, yet still failed.

Izuku was going to die.

“I AM HERE!”

Pardon.

There was a large gust of wind and fresh air hit Izuku’s skin as he tumbled to the ground, knife still clutched in his hand. He rolled up onto his hands and knees and began coughing, green goop splattering just under his face.

Izuku looked up as he fell onto his back, breathing heavily as he sputtered towards the mass of blue and red, “All Might?”

Toshinori really needed to be more careful with his time management, this was just getting ridiculous.

He walked down the street, receiving concerned looks from older women and fearful ones from children, was his small form really that bad? His time in his muscular form has been lowering slowly, but lately it feels like the power is really slipping.

Like the flame is being snuffed out.

Toshinori sighed out loud and ran a hand through his hair, how was he supposed to find a successor under all this pressure? He was running out of time.

Caught in his own thoughts, Toshinori was definitely startled when he spotted some sort of sludge villain, but that wasn’t all. No, there was a child suffocating. Toshinori knew he shouldn’t have, it was a huge risk to push his limit yet, what type of hero lets a child die at their hands?

Not the Symbol of Peace.

Toshinori dropped his shopping bag and pushed himself into his hero form, “I AM HERE!”

With one swing that he calculated would be enough, the rush of wind blew the sludge villain apart and the kid inside blew outwards, immediately beginning to cough up some goop.

Noticing a notebook that had fallen from his backpack, Toshinori quickly signed his name, well, All Might’s name, and turned back to see the kid staring at him with wide eyes.

“All Might?” he coughed as some slime came out from his nose and Toshinori gathered the villain into a soda bottle. The child was very small despite the large clothing and he seemed… he seemed very tired. Yet familiar.

Why did he seem so familiar?

“Thought we lost you there!” Toshinori chuckled, remembering he had to get himself out quickly, “Glad you’re okay! I must be going now!” He walked past the boy while he began speaking, “All Might, there’s something I need to ask you!”

“I have to go my boy, villainy is everywhere! Just leave me a message on my website and I’ll respond as soon as possible!” Toshinori felt guilty knowing he’d probably never get around to it.

“Please, it’ll only take a moment!”

Toshinori coughed into his fist and red liquid decorated his hand, “Shit,” he mumbled. “I’ll see you around my boy!” Toshinori spat out quickly and he bent his legs, channeling One For All as he leapt towards the skies.

He couldn’t help but wonder what the boy’s question would have-

“All Might!”

Toshinori’s head snapped down to his leg, the boy clutching on for dear life. “What are you!” Toshinori cried, “Let go!”

The boy’s green eyes were blown open from their speed as he shouted over the sound of the wind, “If I let go now I’ll die!” Fair argument.

Toshinori landed on the nearest rooftop and the kid stumbled backwards, leaning over his knees as he caught his breath, “I’m sorry! I just- I really need you to tell me something.” The boy adjusted the beanie on his head, tucking his green curls away.

“It’s just,” the boy suddenly got very nervous, “You’ve always been my favourite h-hero and I really w-want to be a hero t-too. But all m-my life, p-people have told me I c-can’t. I tried not to let it get to me-”

Toshinori felt himself deflating before his fan, the boy’s eyes glued to the ground. Before he even had the chance to flee, he was swallowed in smoke. He was out of time.

“Can I be a hero without a quirk?”

The boy looked back up and faltered, squinting like he was the one seeing things incorrectly. “What?” is all the boy said in a quiet tone, “What happened to you?”

Toshinori cursed under his breath some more and sat down, leaning against the railing of the roof. He couldn’t say everything, so he spoke briefly about his injury and about his time limit, but that’s all. The kid didn’t need to know anymore.

“And a hero without a quirk?” Toshinori repeated out loud. He had been quirkless once too and he used to be just as naive as this boy was.

Without One For All, without a quirk, “No. You can’t be a hero without a quirk.”

The boy’s neutral expression didn’t change, but the green of his eyes appeared as if they got duller.

“I encourage you to have dreams, but you also have to be realistic. Perhaps look into another profession, like a cop. They do fine work, although don’t always get along with heroes since we do a lot of their job.”

Toshinori didn’t sign up for this, this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have. He stood up and turned the knob on the door, uneasy from the lack of response from the boy.

“Not everyone is cut out to be a hero,” Toshinori sighed and stepped into the stairwell, letting the heavy door shut behind him. He rubbed his sunken eyes and began his way down, smoothing out his pants until-

There was nothing in his pocket.

The sludge villain was gone.

Izuku just stood there for a moment, staring at the same spot where All Might deflated, then suddenly turned and flipped off the doorway with both fingers.

“Stupid All Might.”

What was he saying? He loves All Might, he’s the number one hero for fucks sake, the Symbol of Peace! Yet the word ‘love’ turned into ‘loved’ the day his mom died. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but the villain, but still.

Izuku lost a lot of things that day, including his love and adoration for heroes and his love for life in general.

Izuku’s feet just started moving on their own while he thought about what All Might had said, an injury? A time limit? Of course Izuku is going to protect this secret with his life, this information falling into the wrong hands, it would be catastrophic!

Explosions suddenly sounded a block away and Izuku jumped from the noise, instinctively holding his arms up to protect his face.

“Kacchan’s not here,” Izuku muttered to himself as he controlled his breathing, looking at the smoke from where the sound had come from. Oh, a villain! Izuku automatically began running, but hesitated when he remembered what happened the last time he followed a villain attack.

His hand tightened on the knife handle in his pocket and he ran towards the ruckus anyways, because he didn’t have anything to lose anymore.

Except Hitoshi.

If anyone touches Hitoshi, Izuku will commence world domination.

Izuku ran up to the crowd and ran directly into someone, looking up to see tired mauve eyes on his own.

“Izuku?” Hitoshi said, pushing the wheelbarrow of junk against the side of the closest building. Izuku didn’t respond, instead trying to peer around everyone to see- no.

But All Might got the villain. How is it possible that the sludge villain was right in front of his eyes?

“Izu? You look a little, uh, shaken. Is everything okay?” Hitoshi’s voice was so distant, Izuku couldn’t focus on anyone else except for the boy caught in the sludge villain, just as he was minutes ago.

This is Izuku’s fault! If he hadn’t bothered All Might, if he hadn’t made such a stupid decision, if he had just let himself die, that kid wouldn’t be in this situation!

Izuku failed again.

The heroes aren’t doing anything, that kid is going to die because of him. Because of his failure, just like mom. Izuku watched as the victim’s eyes turned to his, teary and red and horrified and-

“Kacchan?”

There was nothing after that except for the knife in his hand. The solid blade, the only thing he really trusted anymore besides Hitoshi. The only thing that wouldn’t let him down.

“Izuku!” he heard and Hitoshi’s fingers grazed his forearm, but Izuku was already moving forwards, plowing through the crowd.

Heroes were shouting at him, Hitoshi was screaming, but all Izuku could do was raise his arm and he tore his eyes from Kacchan’s, now locking onto his target.

It was as if the world was crumbling around Izuku and all he could feel was the knife in his hand.

Izuku locked his wrist, took aim, and whipped the dagger without a second thought.

Chapter Text

Stupid legs! Stupid death wish!

Izuku released the handle from his hand as he jumped over burning rubble, and he had never been so grateful for his ability to obsess over a new task, because his dagger pierced the sludge villain right in the eye.

He cried out in pain and Izuku’s hands met the familiar texture of his quirk, clawing through it desperately yet pointlessly as he tried to reach Kacchan. The red eyes widened comically, “D-Deku?”

Kacchan coughed as he was able to get a breath of fresh air. Izuku kept reaching, yet Kacchan was always too far out of reach.

Is that some sort of shitty metaphor the universe is presenting?

“Deku! What the hell are you doing, fucking nerd?” Kacchan screamed as his quirk set off more explosions, the slime beginning to fill his mouth again. Izuku didn’t cry, his eyes didn’t even water as his expression was cold and numb.

“I couldn’t just watch you die, Kacchan.”

There was a moment of silence until Kacchan made a strangled sound, most likely to protest, but Izuku cut him off once more.

“So shut the fuck up and let me think!”

Izuku couldn’t let his anger blind him, that would get both Kacchan and himself killed. While his mind ran one hundred miles per hour, he didn’t even notice Hitoshi digging through the wheelbarrow of junk, sending garbage flying as he pulled out what he was searching for.

Of course, he didn’t know what he was searching for until he saw it but, hey! What works, works.

Hitoshi’s long legs carried him forward, avoiding the surrounding heroes reaching to pull him back. Izuku was still digging, thinking back to when the sludge monster had him captive. He needed a distraction, just a window of opportunity to yank Kacchan out, that was all.

“Izuku!”

“Don’t say my name!” the greenette hissed and spun around, just to see one end of a rope being thrown his way, catching it at the last minute with his dominant hand and Hitoshi holding the other.

Hitoshi ran for a nearby lamp post and looped the rope around it, gripping onto the end with his feet planted, hoping Izuku was receiving the memo.

Izuku thinks, listing countless things off in his mind within seconds, and looks down to his red high top that had fallen off.

Well, fuck it.

Kacchan’s eyes were closing, dipping in and out of consciousness and Izuku decided to go for it, picking up his shoe and slamming the toe with as much force as possible into the sludge villain’s good eye. Good thing his short ass could reach.

Izuku gripped onto the rope and held his breath, diving into the slime and slamming against the side of Kacchan’s body. He wrapped his legs around Kacchan’s torso and ignored the burning sensation from his quirk going haywire, then wrapping the rope around the two of them blindly.

Izuku began to pull as hard as he could, his lungs screaming for oxygen as he could feel the rope being pulled from the outside as well, Hitoshi using the lamp post and pulling with all the strength he had.

Just when Izuku thought he gravely fucked up, he and Kacchan flew out with one last pull, tumbling to the ground. Hitoshi was over there in a second, Izuku dragging the back of Kacchan’s shirt while the purple haired boy helped Izuku and grabbed the red fallen shoe.

The three collapsed onto the pavement once they were out of reach, Izuku tensing up as a familiar voice returned, “I AM HERE!”

“A little fuckin’ late!” Izuku snapped at All Might, ignoring the look of shock from Hitoshi, “Go wave to the cameras or whatever you heroes are made to do.”

Kacchan looked up slowly at him, blinking blearily as heroes congratulated him for his bravery, All Might blowing the sludge villain up. Izuku though, he and Hitosh were immediately chewed out like they hadn’t just saved a life.

“What was that?” Kamui Woods scolded, “Are you crazy? Do you want to die?”

Izuku didn’t feel like lying, and it was clear his silence got the message across. Hitoshi bumped into his side lightly and Izuku flinched, wide eyes awake and alert.

“DEKU."

Izuku tensed even further and stumbled to his feet, grabbing Hitoshi’s arm and his own shoe, taking off as the heroes called after him.

“Who? Why -AH!- The fuck we running for?” Hitoshi choked out as Kacchan tried to chase after them, but they were too quick while weaving through the crowd.

“DE-”

The name cut off and Kacchan yelled even louder if that was possible, “IZUKU!”

Izuku stumbled, that voice sounded pained, yet it was probably his mind playing tricks on him, letting him hear what he wanted to. The two finally stopped in an alleyway, panting heavily and catching their breath.

“You’re a fuckin’ walnut. Were you trying to die?”

Izuku looked up to Hitoshi, a frantic expression growing on the emotionless boy’s face.

“Why couldn’t I say your name? Who was that angry kid? Why’d we run? I have so many questions… And were you really trying to die?”

Was he? No, he was just there to save Kacchan. That’s the only reason. Right?

“Izuku?”

“Let’s just take today off,” the shorter of the two responded quietly, “I’m feeling a little tired.” Hitoshi was silent for a moment, but then nodded, “I understand.” Izuku could tell Hitoshi had more to say, but the taller boy kept his mouth shut.

With hesitance, Hitoshi reached out and ruffled Izuku’s unruly curls, Izuku leaning into the touch ever so slightly. Hitoshi’s footsteps faded slowly and Izuku just stood there for a moment, suddenly the sting in his hands being much more apparent.

He looked down and raised his hands palms up, noticing how raw and burnt the skin was, blood dripping from the wounds. They must be from Kacchan’s quirk, Izuku had been clawing through the villain without even thinking of the consequences. Possibly the worn out rope as well.

The thing was, it was nothing new.

Izuku was used to scars and burns and not only from Kacchan. Most scars were hidden, strategically placed where his mom would have never discovered them, and it worked. She never had to know.

She never would know.

Izuku wiped his bloody hands onto his pants, cringing when he shook his hair and leftover slime fell out. He wondered what his mom would think right now. She would cry and hug him, she would tell him to be more careful and that he needed to protect himself.

Izuku’s legs moved on autopilot, unsure on where he was travelling until, of fucking course, “I AM HERE!”

Izuku isn’t excited.

He is, however, sleep deprived, hungry, sad, dirty and slightly angry. But not excited.

All Might coughed and deflated into his small form, Izuku just staring with a numb expression.

“Sorry for getting in your way,” Izuku mumbled.

“What do you mean, my boy?”

My boy? Oh, All Might can chew on an old shoe.

“You were the reason I was able to capture the sludge villain! Your act of bravery and selflessness, it inspired me. You demonstrated what it means to be a real hero, and I’m just pathetic,” All Might sighed.

Izuku had to bite his tongue to keep his insults down.

All Might babbeled on some more and Izuku fought the urge to roll his eyes, it’s crazy how quickly your feelings can change towards someone so quickly.

“My boy,” All Might announced dramatically, “You can be a hero!"

What did All Might want from him? Was he expecting Izuku to fall to his knees, burst into tears and thank him profusely?

Izuku recalled the way Hitoshi jumped in to help and he didn’t use a quirk. No, his intelligence and instincts were the reason Izuku and Kacchan were alive. Hitoshi is a real hero. Izuku spoke before he even processed his response.

“I know.”

All Might froze, “Pardon?”

Izuku frowned deeply, his green eyebrows pinching together in anger, “Because I know that the quirk doesn’t make the hero, All Might.” The hero’s name tasted sour in his mouth.

The thin man was hesitant, “My boy, a hero needs a quirk, it’s just reality. But I can give you a power, and you can become a hero.”

Even through his anger, Izuku's natural fanboy instincts kicked in and he raised an eyebrow, All Might beginning his speech. Izuku listened in silence, soaking up every word he had to say. One For All, a quirk that’s passed on, running out of time, a successor, him.

Izuku respects All Might, and that’s the truth. The hero puts his own life on the line to save others, but All Might is no longer the type of hero Izuku wants to be.

He wants to be his own hero.

“In another life,” Izuku began carefully, “I would say yes without hesitation.” Izuku clicked his tongue and looked into piercing blue eyes, his younger self would be screaming right now.

“But that’s not this life, All Might. Not this universe. I’ll be my own hero.”

Izuku kept his face firm, “Your secret is safe with me, and good luck finding a successor, I’m sure you’ll find one soon.” He walked past the frozen hero and kept his head low, a new sense of pride building in his chest.

Yes, Izuku Midoriya will be a hero.

His own.

All Katsuki wanted to do was go straight home after the arcade, but the two extras wouldn’t leave him alone, and he felt more angry than usual. One of the extras began smoking a cigarette and that was enough to push Katsuki over the edge.

“Oi! I told you to stop doing that shit!”

Fingers snickered, “What? It’s just for fun.”

The ash blonde turned around and pointed a threatening finger at the two of them, “If someone catches me with you two fuck-swabs, it could hinder my hero path! So put that shit away!”

Fingers ignored him, “Just chill dude, no one’s around.”

“Wonder if anyone’s found that quirkless fuck. Bury him six feet under,” Boulders said confidently while the other extra laughed, but Katsuki felt like blowing shit up. He now felt like blowing these extras up.

“Shut up about fucking Deku!” he screamed and kicked a nearby soda bottle into the brick building, turning back around to face the two boys. “Stop fucking talking about him, it’s annoying as shit!”

The morons’ eyes grew comically wide and Katsuki thought maybe he got through to them, maybe they would finally shut the fuck up, until a shadow grew over him.

The extras immediately took off while green goop attached itself to Katsuki, “You’ll make a fine skinsuit, yes!”

Out of pure impulse and instinct, Katsuki fired his quirk up and began aiming at the slime, but it didn’t hinder the villain whatsoever, and the sludge began entering his mouth. He tried to press his lips together, but it travelled up his nostrils, access to oxygen immediately stripped from him.

No matter what he did, Katsuki couldn’t take a breath, couldn’t fight the villain, has he always been this weak?

Katsuki continued to fire off his quirk uncontrollably while several things engulfed in flames and he spat out curses and swears whenever he could, directed at the mass of sludge.

Civilians gathered around, no one helped.

Police gathered around, no one helped.

Heroes gathered around, no one helped.

No one was helping.

Katsuki screamed for help, but it was muffled by the obstruction in his throat. Was he really going to die? He had so much to do still, so many people to save, so many villains to beat up!

Heat built up behind Katsuki’s eyes despite his will of wanting to seem unfazed, but he couldn’t help the wetness that rolled down his cheeks. Katsuki looked around for anything, anyone that could help, and his eyes were drawn to a colour.

Green.

He held the eye contact while those dull green eyes grew bright once again, Katsuki was closer to death than he thought because he could have sworn that was-

No. That’s… impossible. Right?

The familiar boy was suddenly running towards him, yanking something from his pocket.

Holy mother of fucks and shits, is that a knife?

The boy whipped the dagger confidently and Katsuki braced himself to be stabbed, but the sharp pain never came. Instead, the villain cried out and freckles filled his vision, it couldn’t be.

Yet the name tumbled from Katsuki’s lips as he was able to inhale a deep breath while the sludge villain screamed, “D-Deku?”

The boy? Deku? He didn’t respond, his small hands frantically digging through the slime, his fingertips grazing Katsuki several times.

“Deku!” Katsuki snapped again, “What the hell are you doing, fucking nerd?”

Deku’s face was focused and unnerving, it made a chill run down Katsuki’s spine, “I couldn’t just watch you die, Kacchan!” Katsuki tried to respond but slime began filling his throat again and Deku screamed, “So shut the fuck up and let me think!”

Fuck? Maybe this wasn’t Deku.

Katsuki couldn’t see straight anymore, no matter how much he tried. What he was able to see though, was Deku picking up something, an object from the ground. It was red, dirty, white laces, a shoe?

A red hightop.

It really was Deku.

Katsuki tried to shout his name again, but he couldn’t get anything out.

“Izuku!” he heard someone cry, but his vision and hearing grew too fuzzy to pick anything else out.

Suddenly, a body slammed into Katsuki and thin legs wrapped around his waist, followed by something else, a rope perhaps?

Just when Katsuki thought he couldn’t hold on any longer, he tripped onto the pavement, Deku tumbling over him. The voices around him were blurry, he could have sworn Deku just cursed at fucking All Might!

Right, he must have actually fucking died. Shit.

That is, until his head lolled to the side just to see Kamui Woods scolding Deku and another extra, “Do you want to die?”

Deku fell silent and the atmosphere surrounding him almost made Katsuki throw up.

“DEKU!” he screamed, ignoring the heroes trying to talk to him. Deku’s head snapped in his direction and his eyes grew wide, grabbing the taller boy and taking off running. Katsuki stumbled up and tried to follow them through the crowds, fuck!

Since when was Deku faster than him?

“De-” Katsuki cut himself off and in a moment of panic, he screeched despite the rawness of his throat, “IZUKU!”

Deku was gone.

Katsuki felt like he was genuinely going crazy as he made his way home, there was no way that wasn’t Deku. Sure, his hair was longer and he seemed kind of sick, but there was no way those eyes belonged to anyone else.

On the other hand, Deku didn’t cry once the whole time and the Deku Katsuki knew would have burst into tears under that sort of fucking pressure.

And what was with avoiding the death question from the Pro Hero? Deku had never been suicidal or anything. At least, that’s what Katsuki convinced himself was true.

Katsuki pushed the front door of his home open more gently than usual and didn’t bother calling out he was home, but was startled when both his parents came barreling from the kitchen.

“Katsuki!” his mother shouted, “The police called, and the villain attack, and oh my god thank Kami you’re okay!” Katsuki couldn’t even bother to hide the shock on his face, were his parents concerned for him?

“Are you alright?” Dad asked, “You must have been so brave!”

“Whatever,” Katsuki mumbled as his Mom picked him right up off his feet into a bone crushing hug while his dad ruffled his hair, which was still slimy.

“You’re quiet,” Mom said after a minute, gently putting him back down. His two parents surveyed him for a moment, until Katsuki simply blurted out what was on his mind.

“I saw Deku!”

Mom’s eyebrows raised, but her expression quickly changed to sadness and pity.

“Kat,” she mumbled, leading him into the kitchen, “Are… are you sure?”

Katsuki’s palms popped slightly, “Obvisouly I’m fucking sure! I know what stupid Deku looks like!” Mom frowned at the harsh words, but let them slide.

“Hon,” she spoke carefully, “I… I hate to say it but you were probably seeing things. I’m sure you were under some stress and if Izuku really was there, I’m sure the officers or heroes would have reported it.”

Katsuki opened his mouth to argue in return, but faltered at the sudden statement. Why hadn’t anyone reported Deku? The heroes and cops got a good look at him and surely someone would have recognized a missing child, no matter how plain looking. Maybe Katsuki really was making a mistake, but…

“No, no. It was Deku. Green curly hair, green eyes, freckles. He looked a little different, but I’m sure. And he was with another boy! He called him Izuku! He was tall with purple weird fuckin’ hair and really tired looking and-”

“Katsuki Bakugou.”

The woman sighed heavily and sat down next to him at the kitchen table, “Baby, maybe you should talk to someone about this.”

Katsuki nodded, “You’re right. I should call the shitty police and let them-”

“No, Kat. Your father and I have been talking about it for quite some time actually, but maybe, you know, some therapy?”

Katsuki’s red eyes flickered back and forth between his parents, then his expression quickly soured and he slammed a fist against the table, “I don’t need that shit!”

Dad frowned and tapped his fingers against his mug, “You might think that, but it could help.”

“I don’t need help!” Katsuki cried, noticing his voice was strangely close to a whine. Kami, he kind of sounded like Deku.

“Why? What’s so bad about it?” Mom asked while a smug smile stretched across her face, “Are you scared or something?” Katsuki scoffed and crossed his arms. Him?

The Katsuki Bakugou? Scared?

Ha, no fucking way.

“Seriously,” Mom added. Katsuki felt sweat build up on his brow, were they really planning on sending him to see a shrink? Why was he feeling so frantic and angry?

Deku frowned at the scrapes on Katsuki’s knees, “Don’t worry Kacchan!” Deku carefully opened the bandaids with his tongue sticking out from his teeth, applying them to his knees with sturdy hands. “Are you okay Kacchan?” Katsuki just scowled, “I’m fine, Deku.”

“Bakugou? No, he’s mean! He’ll never be a hero.” Katsuki was prepared to just ignore the extras, but Deku spun around with a large frown, “Don’t say that! Kacchan will be the best hero, just like All Might!” “Shut up, Deku,” Katsuki snapped quietly and Deku flinched, but they got back to playing.

“A weak, stupid, quirkless Deku!”

“Leave him alone Kacchan! I won’t let you hurt him!” Deku stood his ground between Katsuki and the child he was practicing his quirk on. “Get of the way, shitty Deku!” Tears spilled down his scraped cheeks and he held his hands up, “No Kacchan! Stop!”

“Deku, get it through your thick skull,” Katsuki sneered, holding one of his stupid hero journals between both hands, “You’ll never be a hero.” Katsuki blew the journal up.

The smell of burning fabric and flesh assaulted his nose while he laughed, Deku writhing beneath him, yet for the first time he didn’t scream or cry. Strange.

“Deku,” Katsuki sneered, “Leave the oxygen for those who need it. If you really want to be a hero, hope for a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!” Deku stared at him with empty eyes and blinked, slowly walking past him. These days, it was like Deku’s expression was always the same.

“Izuku’s missing, Katsuki.”

Katsuki’s done something bad, hasn’t he?

Was this the hero he really wanted to be?

So when his mom asked him if he was afraid as a form of manipulating him into agreeing to the therapy, he didn’t need to be manipulated at all. Because that was the truth.

Katsuki was afraid of himself.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi didn’t bring up the sludge monster again, it’s been two weeks. Izuku could tell from his looks that his friend wanted to know more, but the grenette made it clear he was not willing to talk about it.

Not yet.

Their training has grown more intense and small patches of sand were actually visible on Dagobah beach, it was honestly all pretty exciting.

Hitoshi was currently flat on his back on the cold concrete ground of the warehouse, sucking on oxygen like it would be cut off at any moment.

“Hey,” Izuku coughed, he was panting quite heavily himself. Hitoshi’s head rolled to the side and he opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was in an unintelligible puff of breath.

Izuku wheezed, “Yeah, I have a crazy idea.”

Hitoshi took a few more seconds to collect himself as he slowly sat up, “That’s not new information.”

Izuku stuck his tongue out jokingly and opened his backpack, pulling out a notebook. “Just listen! You remember what happened two weeks ago?”

Hitoshi pressed his chapped lips and a tight line and blinked slowly, “Are you fucking kidding me. Do you think I somehow forgot you nearly died?”

Izuku shrugged, “Anyways! I’ve been writing some notes about what you did and what I was able to see. What made you grab that rope?” Hitsohi looked even more confused now, leaning back on his hands, “Where are you going with this?”

“Just answer the question!”

Hitoshi sighed, “Um, I don’t really know. I wasn’t really thinking, but I saw the rope and it just felt…”

Izuku waited but when his friend couldn’t finish his explanation, Izuku did it for him, “Natural?” Hitoshi’s eyes sparked and he nodded quickly, “Yeah, I guess. The rope felt natural to grab.”

Izuku hummed and scribbled more notes down, Hitoshi leaning left and right as he tried to get a peek at the page.

“Does the rope remind you of something? Someone?” Izuku was holding back a smile as he saw the realization slowly dawn on Hitoshi’s face.

“I suppose Eraserhead-”

“Yes!” Izuku shrieked from excitement, “The rope is in similar fashion to his capture weapon! And if it felt natural-”

“You think I should use the same support item.”

Izuku nodded furiously, “Bingo! It could work, we need to get you a weapon soon if we want enough time to train with it.” Hitoshi ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed heavily, “Izuku, I think it’s a good idea.”

Izuku’s smile fell, “There’s a but, isn’t there?”

Hitoshi met his eyes, then looked to the ground, “But how are we supposed to get our hands on an item like that? I don’t have much money or any family to ask and no offence, I don’t think you’re much better off than I am.”

Izuku struggled to keep his face neutral, did Hitoshi find out about something else? No, no. Probably not.

Izuku thought about the night he first met Eraserhead and knocked him in the balls, the hero must have been on patrol since he’s an underground hero, going out at night.

Izuku saw Eraserhead only once more since that situation and the pro hero didn’t notice. Izuku had been on his way out from a store he was borrowing from when he saw Eraserhead jumping roofs, simply passing by. The man probably had a route, so if he could simply pinpoint when and where his patrol is, Izuku would be bound to run into him again and-

“What’re you mumbling about?”

Izuku’s face flushed pink and he shook his head, “Just thinking! Just gimme a week or something.”

Hitoshi’s eyes slimmed suspiciously, “A week for what?”

“To just- Not important!”

Izuku flopped down onto his back and raised his arms above his head, feeling the hem of his shirt slide up his torso. He didn’t think much of it until he heard Hitoshi suck in a sharp breath, his mauve eyes staring at his stomach.

There was a particularly large burn mark that covered Izuku’s lower right torso, a strange blend of red and faded purple, the skin wrinkled and raw.

Technically it was a combination of two burns from two separate people, but that wasn’t important.

Izuku watched Hitoshi’s expression from the corner of his eye and when the purple haired boy opened his mouth with a puzzled look, Izuku couldn’t hold back.

“Don’t,” he snapped, his tone dangerous and frightening. It was a clear warning.

Hitoshi’s jaw snapped shut immediately and he curled into himself from the sharp tone, staring at his hands. Izuku knew she should feel bad, he wasn’t Kacchan for Kami’s sake, but still. He felt angry.

Izuku stood and collected his knives, quietly setting up recyclable cans as targets around the room and a safe distance from Hitoshi. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, beginning a decently quick walk around the room and threw the knives at the targets, hitting five of seven.

“How do you do that?” Hitoshi spoke up again mid-stretch, bent halfway over to touch his left foot.

“I don’t know,” Izuku bounced, happy with the change of subject. “Math, Toshi. No wait, magic!”

Izuku smiled and re-collected his knife, “Hey, you said you wanted to head down to a cafe to show me? We can go now.”

Izuku gave a quick glance to his backpack, checking the cash he received from helping an older couple clean up their market stand that had been knocked over early that morning from a villain attack. It should be enough for a cup of coffee.

“Sure,” Hitoshi yawned and cracked his back dramatically, “My legs are sore.”

“Quit whining,” Izuku winked, “Just make sure to thank me when you’re a hero.”

Izuku pretty much skipped down the sidewalk, Hitoshi slouched at his side with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

“What’s got you so chipper?” Hitoshi grumbled while Izuku frantically apologized to a woman he had run into.

Izuku flushed, he didn’t want to actually admit the real reason why he was so excited. Telling Hitoshi he’s never gotten food with a friend before, no thank you.

“Just excited for some coffee!” Izuku lied easily, adjusting the new deep red beanie he had stol-

Borrowed.

Hitsohi smiled slightly, “Hey, you allergic to cats or anything?” Izuku tilted his head and his eyebrows pinched together, “Hah? I don’t think so, why?” Hitoshi stopped in front of a small door and spoke in an excited tone, “We’re here.”

Izuku looked through the large window into the shop, the warm wooden aesthetic literally screaming his name. Izuku stuck to Hitoshi closely, squeaking slightly when something soft brushed up against the exposed part of his ankle, followed by a high pitched meow.

“Hitoshi Shinsou!” Izuku gasped, “You? A cat person?”

Hitoshi was already crouched down, scratching an elderly white cat on the underside of its chin. “What?” Hitoshi mumbled shyly, “I like cats.” Izuku found himself giggling as a black cat clung to the side of his own leg, practically begging for attention.

“I would have never taken you as such a softie for little animals,” Izuku smiled fondly, “It’s nice. Learning something new about you.”

Hitoshi was clearly thinking about something, then opened his mouth to speak again, “Then maybe you should return the favour. I don’t know much about you, either.”

Izuku’s stomach dropped as alarm bells went off in his mind, but he forced the anxiety down and nodded jerkily, “Maybe. Let’s get some coffee though, or I might die!” Hitoshi rolled his eyes, “Such a drama queen.”

Staring at the menu, Izuku was shocked by the prices. Free cat petting and cheap prices, damn! Sign him up.

“Hi!” Izuku bounced on the balls of his feet while he ordered, “I’ll just take a large coffee, one sugar and no milk and, uh, a muffin please. Chocolate chip!” The man nodded and held his hand out while Izuku dumped his change into his palm, getting a few coins back.

Hitoshi ordered a black coffee and some fancy lemon pastry thing, Izuku wasn’t sure how to pronounce it. Maybe it was french or something.

“Do you think I could steal a cat?” Izuku leaned over and whispered while they waited for their orders, currently eyeing the first black cat. “What?” Hitoshi lightly smacked the back of the green head, “No. Don’t do that.”

Izuku hummed, “I could probably do it.”

“I said no!”

Izuku opened his mouth to argue back, but the barista called out, “Deku?” and he beamed, bounding forward. He missed the way Hitoshi frowned.

Izuku chose the small table in the back corner with the string lights, sitting in his chair with his legs crossed and his coffee mug drawn to his nose.

“I haven’t had a cup of coffee in ages,” he sighed quietly, carefully blowing the steam away. His mom used to make his coffee once in a while, saying that if he drank too much it would stunt his growth.

Oops, maybe she was right.

Hitoshi cocked an eyebrow at his statement, “Why not?”

Lying came too easily to Izuku these days, “Meh, just haven’t gotten around to it, and mom doesn’t allow coffee at home, says I’m too young still.” Hitoshi seemed to accept the response as he crouched down to let a cat sniff his hand, “So.”

Izuku took a slow sip of his hot coffee and parroted him, “So.”

Hitoshi sat up straighter and sighed, “Listen, I’ve tried to give you space, it was a stressful situation after all.”

Izuku didn’t want to have this conversation. He already had too many lies that are beginning to pile up, only so many more until he slips up.

“But I want to know who the blonde was. He called you, um, Deku. And we ran, was he going to hurt you? Or is he just a stranger?” Hitoshi didn’t seem to realize he was overwhelming Izuku with all the rapid fire questions, but the black kitten did as it rubbed against his chair, sitting close.

Izuku clicked his tongue nervously, what was the best way to get out of this inconspicuously? He doesn’t want to lie, but he doesn’t want to tell the truth. So he’ll just balance in the middle.

“I know him, yeah,” Izuku began slowly, placing his mug down on the table and tracing the rim with his index finger. “It’s someone that, hm. We don’t get along very well, I guess.”

Hitoshi cleared his throat and spoke again, “Izuku, you risked your life for him. I’m gonna need a little more information than that.”

Izuku’s frustration was growing, but he took some quiet deep breaths and decided to continue. “We might not get along, Hitoshi, but he’s someone I unfortunately cannot let die.” His words had some bite to them and Hitoshi picked up on the tone, not pushing further.

Izuku though, the small little box he was trying to chain up inside was spilling open, and he had more to say. “I talked to All Might after,” he blurted, Hitoshi’s mauve eyes snapping wide.

“And it wasn’t the first time either.”

Hitoshi leaned forward on his elbows, mouth opening and closing like a fish, “All Might?”

“Yeah.”

Hitoshi looked at his hands with his eyebrows drawn together for a long moment. “Do… do you want to tell me what the conversation was about?” Izuku picked at the dry skin around his fingernails, staring down at the healing scabs and skin on his palms.

“The first time, I actually got attacked by the sludge villain.”

Hitoshi slammed his hand down on the table, ignoring the strange looks they got from the other customers. “That’s the type of fuckin’ shit you gotta tell me, Izu! What the hell!” he whisper shouted.

Izuku cringed, but didn’t want to feed into the argument. He instead bent down and placed the black kitten in his lap, running his shaking fingers down its back.

“I asked him a question that I’ve always known the answer to, but I thought,” Izuku trailed off and his voice grew quieter.

“I asked if I could be a hero without a quirk.”

Izuku didn’t feel a lot of things anymore besides anger, but right now he felt, maybe sadness? Grief? Hitoshi was watching with waiting eyes and Izuku’s voice came out more broken than he intended.

“He told me no. All Might told me I couldn’t be a hero.”

Hitoshi had a blank expression, but Izuku noticed the way his hands clutched onto the edge of the table, knuckles white. The tired expression contorted for a moment, but then settled, “And then the second time?”

Izuku nodded, “After the, uh, thing. Right. He found me on my way home, ew that sounds creepy but he didn’t mean it that way, and he told me that I inspired him to save Kacch- the boy.”

Izuku stopped talking and Hitoshi made an urging gesture with his hand, “I can tell there’s more you have to say.”

“All Might then told me I could become a hero, and I responded with I know.”

Hitoshi cocked his head, “I thought you didn’t want to be a hero.”

“I don’t!” Izuku said quickly, “But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do it. And even if I couldn’t, I just wanted to say that to All Might. He asked to-”

How does Izuku squeak around this one?

“He asked to train me, to help me become a hero.” Hitoshi opened his mouth but Izuku was quick to cut him off, “I said no. I don’t want his help.”

Much to Izuku’s surprise, Hitoshi nodded in agreement, “Good. He sounds like an ass.” Izuku felt calmer with Hitoshi’s answer and he sunk lower into his chair, “I guess heroes just aren’t more me. I meet All Might, get mad. I meet Eraserhead, I punch his balls-”

“I’ll never get over that.”

Izuku smiled as he finished the last of his coffee and the two sat in a comfortable silence, Izuku struggling to not devour his muffin in one bite. To be fair, he hasn’t eaten since yesterday morning, and this chocolate chip muffin was really good.

The two stood to leave and Hitoshi glared at Izuku, who simply pursed his lips.

“Don’t make me say it,” the taller boy said stiffly and Izuku groaned dramatically, pulling the black cat out from his shirt.

“Bye kitty,” Izuku said with a very childish tone, “See you later.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes with a smile and the two stepped out of the cafe door, not noticing the pair of eyes following them.

Shouta was half asleep, slunken over the cafe table until he received a sharp kick to his shin, quickly snapping up with a scowl.

Before he could hiss an argument with his husband, Hizashi’s distant look towards the door sharpened his senses, following his gaze towards two teenagers. Their backs were to them but one was a tall boy with purple hair, the other smaller with a red beanie, nothing out of the ordinary.

They stepped out and Hizashi’s eyes snapped back to Shouta’s, “Did you see that?”

“See what,” Shouta deadpanned, “I saw two teenagers.”

Hizashi nodded viciously like Shouta was supposed to understand this conversation, but he was completely lost. “Sho!” Hizashi whined, “That kid looked like the one-”

“Stop.”

Hizashi’s jaw clamped shut and Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose, then running his hand through his knotted hair. “Hizashi, I know you’re working hard on the Midoriya case, but you claim to see this boy twice a day. I need you to take some deep breaths, this isn’t going to help find the boy faster.”

Hizashi’s face screamed frustration, but he took the deep breaths as told and flattened himself against the table like a child, “The police are no help, Sho.”

Guilt pooled in Shouta’s gut, he knew he might have some possible information about Izuku Midoriya, but he wasn’t sure. He never told Hizashi about finding a boy, possibly the missing child, at three am at the site of the incident.

“Well, I’ve been looking, you have me,” Shouta said softly, Hizashi looking up.

“I hope you’ve been looking, you have the extra time.”

The black haired man scrunched his nose, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You expelled your entire class. Like, twenty students. Sho, you really need to stop doing that.”

“I have my reasons,” Shouta drawled. Hizashi looked unconvinced and he crossed his arms, “Yeah, and what are those reasons, my beloved little gremlin?”

Gremlin? That’s a new one.

“Harsh,” Shouta mumbled, “But I’ll explain. Children are often naive, it’s in their nature. But that does not include egoism. Egoism and selfishness. A hero cannot be of those that fall in those categories, don’t you agree?”

Hizashi nodded immediately, “Of course, but how do you judge an entire class as such?”

Shouta hummed, “Simply by their actions. I gave them multiple chances to prove me wrong, believe me. Yet all they saw were quirks, they were too blind to see what was behind the power. They valued the quirk over the person, it’s how they judged character. They all saw themselves as the top dog caused by their powerful quirk, yet they all failed to see their weaknesses. Without noting your weaknesses, you are unwilling to improve.”

The blonde mulled the words over for a brief moment, “So they wouldn’t admit parts of them that weren’t perfect?”

“Exactly. We all have our imperfections, yet the first step to perfecting those is admitting they exist.”

Hizashi clicked his tongue, “Okay, I’ll give you points for that. But all of them?”

“No.”

“Then what about the others?”

“Recklessness.”

Hizashi laughed, “All heroes are reckless, especially young heroes in training!”

“No, there’s a fine line between recklessness, and carelessness, the lack of motivation. I’ll give you an example,” Shouta sat up straighter and paused to bend down and scratch a cat’s back, his husband waiting patiently

“A past student of mine ran into a situation unprepared, but not by choice. There was a victim inside of a collapsing building and the student decided on taking the risk and going in after them, perhaps a reckless decision.”

“Now a student I expelled. They were working with a team, but split off so they could win it themselves, thinking they could handle it on their own. They were jumped by the other team and actually costed their team the win, because their quirk was vital. That was simply careless. A strong difference.”

Hizashi didn’t respond this time, and Shouta continued, “The meaning of hero is getting lost in the system, Zashi. It’s all about money and fame now, instead of selflessness and heroic acts.”

Hizashi hummed and pointed his finger at the gruff man, “But people have different drives.”

“Perhaps,” Shouta mumbled, “But drives and obsessions are not the same. Obsessions for fame and attention, it’s not what a hero is meant to be.”

He continued once again, “Kids are being raised with poor morals, taught that quirks make the character. They’re all given these… these superiority complexes based on the stats of their power and it’s what’s causing cracks in the hero society.”

Hizashi laughed, “Alright, maybe I’m convinced. Yet you’re not one to talk about morals, working with illegal vigilantes of sorts!”

Shouta simply shrugged, “Well, yeah. The good ones, at least. But there hasn’t been any recently, it’s like they’ve all gone missing. Guess the heroes have been chasing them off the street.”

“Sho…”

“No. I believe that as long as vigilantes don’t injure the innocent and are willing to help me, I have no complaints.”

Hizashi chuckled lightly, “They’re still illegal.” Shouta looked down and his hands and pursed his lips, speaking quietly.

“But it doesn’t make them villains.”

It was late at night, maybe even early morning at this point while Izuku found himself alone on Dagobah beach. He was going back and forth his knife throwing and cleaning, when he suddenly tripped over something buried strongly in the sand

“Oh fuck off,” he moaned when sand stung the healing woulds on his palms, Izuku wiping them on his legs carefully.

With a grumpy expression, Izuku turned to the culprit of his fall. It was some sort of motorcycle helmet. With curiosity, Izuku dug it out from the sand and flicked off the dirt to the best of his abilities, eyes roaming the object.

It was still in one piece, the grey paint all scratched and chipped. The helmet came to a sharp point at the chin with a one sided visor tinted black, “Why would someone throw this away?”

Izuku stood up and held the helmet above his head, stretching his arms in the process. He thought about the sludge villain, how none of the pro heroes helped Kacchan, they just gave up when things got too hard.

Izuku didn’t give up.

“Oh,” he groaned, “This is a bad idea. Definitely a bad idea. Someone stop me. Any objections?”

Izuku looked around the empty beach, nothing but the sound of soft waves and the wind responding.

“Great!” Izuku cried, “No objections! Looks like a verdict has been reached!”

And hey, it only made sense.

Since when have bad ideas stopped Izuku Midoriya before?

Chapter Text

Izuku waved goodbye to Hitoshi, who wouldn’t quit complaining about a fresh bruise on his ribs where Izuku got a solid kick on him. The door of the warehouse shut and Izuku stood there for a moment, until he ran over to the far corner, where he hides all his items before Hitoshi comes over.

Underneath his sleeping bag was a familiar helmet, yet slightly altered. Instead of the scratched, fading grey colour, Izuku had painted over it with a dark shade of green, it was only fitting.

You know, for the aesthetic or whatever.

The jaw under the visor was the same colour, but it was also decorated with white lines, creating long, vertical triangles. Looked like some sort of creepy smile, if Izuku was being honest.

Now of course, Izuku could have just left it like that, but he’s been obsessed with the dramatics and mysteries lately. With some material located at Dagobah, Izuku attached two dark green triangles to the top of the helmet, painted to resemble cat ears.

They reminded him of Hitoshi, and it would make him a little more distinctive.

Izuku sat down and continued the last bit of the project, stripping material from the inside of the helmet that would only weigh him down. The sun went down while Izuku continued to work, organizing his items to make sure he had everything.

The helmet was paired with a deep green sweater to match the colour scheme, minus a hood because Izuku had decided it could possibly hinder his movement, getting caught on the back of his helmet and situations like that.

Then there were simple black cargo pants made of thick material, which Izuku knew would be perfect to keep from cutting himself accidentally. Izuku added more large pockets down the sides of the legs, so it could hold more items.

He may or may not have borrowed a utility belt from a storage unit of a nearby hero agency, but no one was looking for it. Probably. It was just grey with pouches and handles, perfect for his knives.

On that same run, Izuku found a compact black backpack made of lighter material, a better option compared to his yellow one.

Finally, shoes.

And yeah, Izuku could have easily gotten a black or green pair to match his outfit, it would have been easy!

But fuck that, his red hightops helped him nail the sludge villain in the eye, so they’re here to stay.

Anyways, along with this minor outfit project, that’s how Izuku found himself wandering the streets every night from one in the morning to five.

He hasn’t been engaging any villains, he’s not that stupid, but he has been taking notes of what he observed while he watched other underground heroes engage in combat, he’s written down some pretty useful stuff.

But no, the objective wasn’t to take down villains, at least not yet.

No, the objection was to locate Eraserhead, and Izuku hasn’t had much luck. It’s already been a week and Izuku’s been trying to track his patrol, but it seems he alternates between several routes, approximately five.

Izuku was growing frustrated and had begun to believe this whole idea was fucking stupid, but that all changed quickly.

Izuku was passing through a park at three in the morning, scribbling notes down and mumbling to himself until a certain figure rooftop jumping caught his attention. Izuku practically slammed his notebook shut and shoved it into his backpack, running alongside the figure and staying close to the walls of the buildings, hiding in the shadows.

Wow, Izuku didn’t even notice how much faster he had gotten with his training.

He skidded to a stop when the pro hero dropped down silently from a roof into the alleyway, quirk activated and capture weapon ready.

Izuku pressed further into the shadows and slowly reached for his notebook, writing with wide eyes. He immediately went to assess the villain, covering his mouth with his hoodie to make sure he wouldn’t begin mumbling.

The villain is large, approximately seven feet, most likely a mutation quirk based on the discoloration of his arms. It’s difficult to see with the lack of light, but it seems to be some sort of reptile mutation quirk, giving him scales. Only on his arms, so that’s where his source is coming from? Maybe elongated nails, limbs that detach, or it could be for defense, yeah, that’s it.

One arm is positioned directly in front of him, it must be tough skin. Eraserhead’s quirk won’t do him much good, but it doesn’t matter because the villain’s quirk won’t be much help either. It's a common mugging based on where their paths have crossed and with the villain’s lack of combat skills, he just planned on running.

Izuku watched Eraserhead wrap the man easily, trapping his knees together to hinder his movements, but he also let his guard down.

Izuku’s eyes snapped to something behind the villain’s back, he was armed with a taser, and Eraserhead was unaware. The villain reached out to take down the pro hero, and Izuku forgot he was supposed to stay in the shadows.

He pulled a dagger from his utility belt and threw it effortlessly, the blade piercing the villain’s thumb, right where his scales ended. The taser clattered to the floor and so did the villain, Eraserhead’s black eyes snapping up and quickly scanning his surroundings.

Izuku both internally and externally cringed while he watched Eraserhead tie the villain up properly, slowly picking the dagger up and holding it close to his eyes.

Izuku turned to tiptoe away and escape, but white fabric wrapped around his ankle and next thing he knew, he was face down in a puddle.

Guess the helmet was a good choice!

“Hey!” Izuku cried, “That’s no way to treat a minor! Aren’t you a teacher?”

Yes, Izuku has the tendency to just know things about people. Don’t ask.

“You could have hit me,” Eraserhead deadpanned, still holding the knife. Izuku frowned, slightly offended, “Yeah, but I didn’t.”

“But what if you did?”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“And why’s that?”

Izuku was still a safe distance away, lying on his stomach with his chin propped in his hands. He kicked his feet back and forth in the air and hummed, “Because if I wasn’t confident in my skills, I wouldn’t have done it. Would you try to shoot a rifle while hunting in a populated area if you’ve never shot a gun?”

Eraserhead blinked slowly, his expression bland.

Izuku continued, “The answer’s no, of course, because you might miss the animal and hit a person. Plus, hunting for sport makes you a shit human, sorry not sorry!”

The man crouched down and balanced his elbows on his bent knees, “Okay, but you can’t just stab people.”

Izuku scoffed loudly and pressed his hand to his chest, a dramatic motion, “I would never! Stabbing involves thrusting a knife or other sharp object into a target. There was no thrusting involved here! Oh that sounds wrong for some re- So no stabbing.”

Another slow blink, “Yes, but you did impale him.”

“Nuh-uh, it’s just a wound.”

“So a stab wound.”

Izuku groaned loudly and sat up, “Right, my apologies, Mr. Eraserhead. Next time I’ll let you get tazed, probably beaten, bleed out and fucking die. Better?”

Eraserhead looked at the taser sitting on the ground and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“... Brat.”

Izuku wanted to take his chances to actually get around to what he’s been meaning to-

Police sirens were approaching quickly and Izuku swore colourfully, Eraserhead’s eyebrows shooting up at the language. Without wasting any more time, Izuku lunged for the closest ladder against a building and began climbing rapidly, skipping several ledges to go faster.

He heard a grumble from behind him but completely ignored it, just wanting to escape. He reached the top of the ladder and jumped up onto the roof, only to screech when a man towered over him.

Izuku stepped back onto nothing and slipped, the capture weapon yanking his arm back up, “Be careful, kid.”

“Then don’t sneak up on me!” Izuku whisper shouted back, crouching down as the police arrived, “Are you gonna sell me out?”

Eraserhead crouched down next to him and removed his eye goggles, “No.”

Izuku hummed and turned to the man, “So, your scarf-”

“Capture weapon.”

“-Same thing. How does it work? Is it your quirk?”

Eraserhead snorted, “No.” Izuku waited for some development on the response, but didn’t get one.

“Um, okay. If it has nothing to do with your quirk, how does it defy physics? Is it technology? The material? Remote controlled? Fabric?”

“No.”

Fucking cryptic little bitch. He’s all too familiar.

Izuku took a deep breath to contain his anger, speaking slowly, “Could someone with a quirk other than Erasure use it?”

Eraserhead looked over quickly, “How do you know what my quirk is?”

“Ah ah ah,” Izuku wagged a finger in the man’s face, “You don’t get answers if I don’t get any.” The man flattened his lips, “Yes.”

“Yes to the other quirk question?”

Eraserhead nodded and Izuku beamed, “Great! So where ‘yuh get that shit?”

Eraserhead huffed out something Izuku could imagine was a chuckle, “You don’t. It’s expensive and hand made by Underground Hero Support companies, you won’t just find it anywhere. Besides, you can’t learn without proper training, it took me six years.”

Yeah? Well, Hitoshi has Izuku as a trainer and he could figure it out in less than six years. Maybe.

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll just do it my fuckin’ self.”

Eraserhead smirked at the confident words and Izuku stood to leave, his knees cracking. “Kid,” he called quietly, “You got a name?”

Izuku smirked, would Eraserhead remember? Hey, what can he say. Izuku loves fucking with people.

He smiled and began back down another ladder by the backside of the building, calling out quietly, “Mike.”

Shouta watched the kid leave, his green helmet disappearing into the dark. Mike wasn’t exactly who he was looking for, but the memory came back quickly and Shouta winced, his crotch subconsciously hurting.

Does that mean that was Izuku Midoriya? Where on earth did that kid learn how to throw knives like that? Oh great, Shouta has to speak with the police now, doesn’t he?

It was a grim walk down to the station, knowing he had to actually talk to people, gross.

Shouta stepped into the building, grateful it didn’t seem to be a particularly busy night. “Eraser,” the detective seated at his desk greeted, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Shouta didn’t answer because he was busy staring at the thin blonde man, mid sip from whatever was in his mug. “Yagi,” he nodded slowly, “What are you doing here, it’s past three in the morning. Go home.”

Yagi chuckled nervously, “Ah, I was just here to enjoy some tea with my friend. Sleep wasn’t coming easy anyhow.”

Shouta just hummed with disinterest, mainly because he didn’t care. He took a seat in an empty chair and buried his face inside his capture weapon for a moment.

“Aizawa? You seem bothered, is there something on your mind?” Yagi asked quietly, almost afraid the smaller man would snap at him.

Yet Shouta couldn’t, because the moron was right. “I ran into a new vigilante, an interesting character.”

Tsukauchi sat up straighter and raised an eyebrow, “That is indeed interesting.” Shouta hummed and sighed somewhat dramatically, “And there’s more.”

Both men were quiet and he continued, “I didn’t say anything before and perhaps that was a mistake, but what’s done is done. I was looking into the missing kid from the apartment complex incident a few weeks ago, and I met someone at the scene. It was a boy looking through the rubble and picking these notebooks up. Said his name was Mike Hawk, the little shit, then escaped.”

“How did he escape?” Tsukauchi asked now that he has entered work mode, scribbling down words in his notepad.

Shouta bit his lip, he wasn’t about to embarrass himself, “Just slipped out of my eyesight, I wasn’t on guard.”

Tsukauchi pursed his lips and looked up, “I know you are aware of my quirk.”

Ah shit.

“Fine. He punched me in the balls. If any of you laugh,” Shouta trailed off with a menacing glare, Yagi audibly swallowing. Tsukauchi shrugged, “I’m not here to judge, Eraser. Now, anything else?”

“Well once he ran off, I noticed he missed a notebook, and the name Izuku Midoriya was partially written on the cover.”

Tsukauchi groaned, “Why wouldn’t you report this immediately?”

Honestly, Shouta didn’t know and this wasn’t one of his brightest moments, that’s for sure.

“I made a fucking mistake, alright? I don’t know why I made that stupid choice, but it’s why I’m here now! Before this vigilante ran off, I asked his name. Said it was Mike and he was clearly being snippy with me.”

“Ah, did you see this vigilante’s face?”

Shouta groaned, “No, but from their voice it had to be a young teenager, male. It sounded familiar.”

Tsukauchi flipped the current page he was on and switched his pen to pencil, “Describe the vigilante, please.”

Shouta closed his eyes to help him focus and spewed whatever came to mind, “Green helmet with cat ears, green hoodie, black pants, uh, a black backpack. Or was it grey? A dark shaded backpack. And his shoes, uh.”

Why did the shoes feel so important to share?

“Red shoes. About 5’3, 5’4. Hard to see their build under the baggy clothing. Choice of weapon are knives.”

Yagi coughed, “Knives?”

Shouta reached into his pocket and pulled out the dagger he kept, the tip still smeared with blood.

He placed it on the desk carefully and sat back, “Didn’t even notice he was there. The villain I was against had a weapon, and I’m ashamed to say I was unaware he was armed. Kid threw the knife and hit the villain right in the thumb, causing him to drop the taser. It was a practiced throw too, aimed and confident.”

“That’s off putting,” Tsukauchi whispered, “Why would anyone like Izuku Midoriya know how to throw knives?” The detective shook his head, “From the apartment complex, could you describe the boy as well? Just to assure the facts lineup.”

Shouta had to think a little harder this time, “The boy looked tired. He was wearing a hood, so it’s difficult to describe. His hair covered most of his face, it was dark green I believe, and curly. He was wearing a yellow backpack and from what I could see, his skin was very pale. Some freckles or dirt or something too.”

Shouta noticed Yagi’s eyes widening slowly and steadily, but continued.

“I only saw his eyes once, but they were obviously bright green-”

Yagi hacked up some blood into his fist, “Could you repeat the description?”

Shouta was visibly annoyed but did as told, restating exactly what he said. Tsukauchi looked between his paper, Shouta and Yagi, the blonde man growing distressed.

“I think I’ve met this boy you’re describing. Twice.”

Shouta blinked slowly and the words slipped past his lips before he could bite them back, “The fuck.”

So Yagi quickly explained saving a boy trapped in sludge and how the kid made a reckless move, latching onto his leg as he jumped. Yagi looked guilty and Shouta quickly knew why, “You told him what?”

“I know!” Yagi cried, “I don’t know what I was thinking, saying something like that to a child! It’s just, it’s the truth! Without a quirk, he can’t become a hero, he would be demolished!”

Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose and Yagi continued on the second time, it was the same day. “Wait,” Shouta’s eyes snapped up, “He threw a knife at the sludge villain’s eye? That can’t be a coincidence.”

Yagi nodded in agreement, “He also used his shoe, which was, uh, creative.”

The hero continued and Shouta’s face was practically red with anger, “You asked to train him after what you said? How fucking entitled do you have to be-”

“Eraser,” Tsukauchi said stiffly, almost like he knew more, “Please. Keep it together.”

“He turned me down, anyhow. I was in so much shock, I never got the chance to respond. He seemed so eager to be a hero just moments before that, so I was sure he would say yes.”

Shouta swore quietly, “Well, I suppose we have something of a lead now. Better than before.”

Tsukauchi clicked his pen a few times with wide eyes, then looked to Shouta. “You need to find this vigilante again. We need some sort of proof and since quirklessness isn’t very common, well, you know what I’m getting at. With information like that, this would be a solid case.”

Shouta groaned because he knew the man was right. This plan is based around manipulation and Shouta wouldn’t appreciate it if he were in the kid’s shoes.

At the same time, it was for his own safety, who knows what the kid’s state of mind is like.

“Fine. For the kid.”

Hitoshi loves his technology, and he doesn’t love a lot. On his phone, he can be by himself and he doesn’t have to talk to anyone, it’s his literal dream world. Or the radio, where he can sit alone and shut his eyes to the music.

Hitoshi was currently working on a new analysis for Izuku, he decided to try Best Jeanist since a lot of information would be accessible on the hero. In the background, the radio played softly, Hitoshi’s favourite station, Hands Up Radio with Present Mic.

Hey, he might not have a bubbly personality, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy bubbly music.

“Now!” Present Mic said after some strange English pop song came to an end, “For our recent news!”

Meh, Hitoshi had twitter for that shit. Hitoshi was getting frustrated while trying to sketch Best Jeanist, until Present Mic’s serious tone caught his attention once more.

“-Let us know. Once again to emphasize the importance, the police are still looking for a missing child. If you have any information, please let the authorities know. That’s Izuku Midoriya, I-Z-U-K-U M-I-D-O-R-I-Y-A-.”

Hitoshi snapped his pencil in two clean halves.

Did Izuku do something stupid? It’s literally only been like, oh shit, it’s four in the morning. Fuck you, insomnia. It’s been under ten hours and Izuku is now somehow a missing child?

“Just a reminder,” Present Mic continued, “Izuku Midoriya has been missing for several weeks now. Please, help us ensure his safety, thank you.”

Oh, that little whore.

Hitoshi ripped his laptop out of his school bag and swung it open with more force than necessary, typing in his little fucking friend’s name. Nothing came up immediately, strange.

Hitoshi went to the second page of Google, then third, then fourth. If he was a missing child, why was information on him so difficult to locate?

“Quirkless Child Missing,” Hitoshi finally read the title of a news article and oh, that explains why.

Quirkless.

The article was pretty dry, but it showed a picture of the remains of an apartment complex. A villain caused the damage with one fatality, the mother of a current missing child.

“Fuck,” Hitoshi mumbled, Izuku’s name only mentionned once. The dots began to connect while Hitoshi stared blankly at the computer screen.

“Oh,” he breathed out slowly as everything he’s seen, the signs, the behaviors, they all made sense.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

Chapter Text

Izuku lay in the sand listening to the soft crash of the waves, holding his phone above his face. He had instructed Hitoshi to meet him at the beach instead of the two walking together from the library, because he had something to do quickly before training.

Said something being a borrowing run, but that wasn’t to be shared.

Hitoshi was acting strange at the library today as well, although Izuku didn’t want to push. He seemed almost angry, full of hatred, even.

Like he was waiting for something from Izuku, although the greenette couldn’t figure out what he wanted. Hitoshi was a quiet person too, but he was even more silent than normal as he continuously avoided Izuku’s gaze, only speaking when necessary.

Izuku’s phone vibrated in his hand and he sat up immediately, squinting when the sun kept glaring off his screen.

> Hitoshi: meet me at the warehouse instead.

Izuku tilted his head, they weren’t supposed to do any combat training today, just beach cleaning and a run.

He wanted to make sure he wasn’t over working Hitoshi and since the boy seemed so off today, he had told him several times that they won’t do any combat training today. Hitoshi had nodded, meaning he understood the instructions, so maybe he’s so exhausted he simply forgot.

Or he just flat out ignored Izuku, which he tends to do sometimes.

He stood up gently and wiped the sand off his back until he suddenly slowed, eyes growing wide in realization.

He hadn’t put his shit away in the warehouse.

> You: wait, y ??? we have no combat tdy ???

Hitoshi read the message but never responded, causing Izuku to snatch up all his stuff and take off at a high pace sprint, his heart beating faster and faster, but not from the physical activity.

Izuku bounced around civilians passing by, ignoring their shouts of frustration as he ran frantically through them. Oh god, what if Hitoshi was already there? No, he’d be coming from the library, it’s a farther walk compared to the beach, and Izuku was the faster runner.

Izuku came to a stop when he reached the doors, the outside looking undisturbed. Was he safe? Izuku pushed the door open and shut it behind him, sighing loudly when he was left alone.

Guess running had always been his strength, and-

A heavy form bulldozed him from the side, sending him to the ground hard.

Izuku squeaked and rolled onto his back, pinned down by an angry Hitoshi. A fuming Hitoshi.

“What the fuck?” Izuku cried as panic began to build in his chest, raising his forehead and crashing it hard into Hitoshi’s nose.

The purple haired boy screamed, “Fuck!” and pinned down Izuku’s wrists harder, leaving him trapped. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Hitoshi shouted in Izuku’s face, “You’re a fucking liar!”

If Izuku was in the proper headspace, he would be able to escape this position immediately. He would clamp his knees hard on the sides of Hitoshi’s hips, kick the taller boy’s thighs apart to make him lose balance, hence causing his grip to loosen.

Izuku would then grab the nape of Hitoshi’s neck and force his face into the concrete, rolling over to pin him face down, leaving him both trapped and caught off guard.

Instead, Izuku was currently frozen in fear, because the boy yelling at him wasn’t Hitoshi.

“Deku!”

Red eyes burned holes in his own and ash blonde hair was waving with each shout.

“You quirkless, useless fuck! Did you really think Hitoshi would stay around after knowing what you truly are? You’re nothing but a mistake, you hear me Deku?”

The hands on his wrists were hot and sweaty and panic finally surged, Izuku beginning to thrash under Hitoshi.

“Kacchan! Please, stop!” Izuku cried, tears now streaming down his cheeks. He was engulfed in sudden silence and the pressure on top of him was gone, Izuku scrambling up in a small seated position.

Is Kacchan gone, or was he simply waiting for Izuku to fight back, knowing he never did? His trembling hands reached up into his hair and he pulled hard, several strands coming loose.

Kacchan’s form slowly stretched taller and his hair grew purple and- Hitoshi? Izuku’s friend looked shaken, his face still flushed in anger yet the tears building in his mauve eyes telling a different story.

“Izuku?” he heard Hitoshi’s muffled voice and purple hair was suddenly coming closer with open arms.

Was Hitoshi trying to strangle him?

Izuku shoved Hitoshi’s chest hard, causing both of them to fall back, because Kacchan was going to hurt him. Izuku cried harder, “Please K-Kacchan, I d-didn’t do anything wrong! D-don’t hit m-m-me! Kacchan!”

“Izuku!”

Green eyes flew open and oh, when did Hitoshi get here?

“I don’t know who Kacchan is, but he’s not here! It’s just me, Hitoshi! Toshi, Lanky, Shinsou, whatever the fuck you want to call me!”

“Yeah,” Izuku mumbled as he noticed Hitoshi’s own tears, “Did I hurt you?”

Where was Kacchan? Maybe Hitoshi fought him off, it seems like something his new friend would do.

Hitoshi frowned, “What?”

Izuku felt light, if that made sense. Why did he feel so light? Calloused hands grabbed onto Izuku’s own and worked them out of his hair, “Don’t do that.”

Wait, don’t do what? Pull his hair? Izuku nodded at the instructions and pulled on his shirt instead, squirming under Hitoshi’s gaze.

“You live here, don’t you.”

Izuku felt all the overwhelming emotion drain out at once, his expression going slack and numb, “Yes.” Hitoshi sighed and wiped some blood that was dribbling from his nose, “Why did I hear your name on Present Mic’s radio show as a missing child, Izuku?”

Oh shit. Uh oh. Fuckity fuck fuck.

Okay, there’s no need to panic because Izuku is great at lying, he’s essentially a professional at this point. Wait, Hitoshi probably did some research, he probably knew vague details. Alright, dancing around the truth it is.

“My building got destroyed by a villain and my mom didn’t make it. I’m completely fine though, that’s why I didn’t think it was important to tell you. My mom had a financial plan for me in case anything ever happened to her, so it’s all good.”

Yeah, Hitoshi was obviously not content with that response.

“Izuku,” Hitoshi ran a hand through his hair, “I just wish you would be honest with me.”

Honest. Izuku wanted to be honest too, but he wasn’t sure if he knew how anymore.

“I started vigilante shit.”

Oh, alright. Or just blurt the one thing Hitoshi had no idea existed and it could have easily stayed that way.

Hitoshi was quiet for a long moment as he chewed on his bottom lip, then groaned, “You better not fucking die.”

Izuku chuckled softly, “No promises.”

“Izuku Midoriya.”

“Fine. Sorry.”

Hitoshi crossed his arms and sat in a more comfortable position, “I’m setting some ground rules.” Izuku scrunched his nose in response, “What, you my fuckin’ dad or something?”

“Shut it,” Hitoshi barked.

“Number one, you share your location with me on your phone, and that location stays on at all times, got it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Number two, you text me whenever you go out and the minute you get back in. Every. Single. Time. Got it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Number three, I want a map of all your patrol routes and an organized schedule, got it?”

“Yes sir.”

“And the biggest one, number four, avoid big shit, alright? I know you can be fucking stupid, so don’t do that!”

Izuku was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly, “Yes sir.”

While Hitoshi was still wearing an unsettled and slightly stressed expression, his posture relaxed when Izuku agreed with his points. Good thing Hitoshi didn’t ask him to make any promises.

Fuck that shit.

That shit being therapy, of course. Katsuki’s only been twice and he already wants to stop, but he promised his mom he would go at least five times. Maybe after that, he would be freed of whatever hell he was trapped in.

Look, Katsuki will admit that things have been confusing lately, so confusing he doesn’t even know what he’s confused about. He didn’t know what to think anymore, what to feel or say.

At school, Boulders said Katsuki’s been more harsh and bold lately, whereas Mom says she’s concerned because he’s been oddly quiet. Katsuki doesn’t know what to do with that information.

Whatever.

Suki, Katsuki’s therapist gave him some dumb homework to do last week. She told him that since he was so unwilling to actually talk about himself, he should write letters that address his regrets, whether that be a moment, memory or person.

And Katsuki’s been trying, but the page is constantly blank, even after hours of thinking and focus. Suki wanted him to bring one letter next session so she could see he actually did it, but he didn’t know what to do, even though the instructions were straight forward.

Katsuki was currently sitting on his bed staring at a blank piece of paper, his pencil shaking ever so slightly in his hand.

Where… where should he start?

Katsuki listened to Zuku run behind him around his mothers kitchen, the two mom’s laughing in amusement.

“Can’t catch me, Zuku! I’m too fast, the fastest hero!” Katsuki laughed, his three year old legs carrying him as fast as he could go. Even losing, Zuku laughed behind him, “Well I am the v-villain, so y-you have to be fastest, r-right Kacchan?”

“You’ve got that right!” Katsuki dove onto the couch and as Zuku came around, he pretended to Detroit Smash the “villain”, Zuku falling to the floor with a dramatic groan.

“Auntie, mom, don’t worry!”

The mothers gasped, “We were so scared, hero Kacchan!” Katsuki placed his fists on his hands and puffed his chest out, “Well no need to be scared anymore, because I am here!”

Zuku watched him with a glint in his eyes, “You’re s-so cool, Kacchan!”

Katsuki sat down on the living room carpet next to his best friend and grinned, “I know. But so are you, Zuku! Just not as cool as me.”

Zuku nodded with pink cheeks, “Kacchan, you’re going to be-e the b-best hero ever!”

Katsuki will never be able to understand why Zuku looks at him like he single handedly hung the stars in the sky, but it made him feel stronger. He wanted to be the strongest. Katsuki pursed his lips, “Even better than All Might?”

Zuku pinched his bottom lip and did that strange muttering thing to himself, it was the only time he spoke without stuttering.

“Yeah!” Zuku finally said, “Even better th-than All M-Might!”

Katsuki beamed from the praise, “I better be your favourite hero, Zuku!”

Zuku frowned, had Katsuki said something wrong? Zuku doesn’t often get upset by simple comments from Katsuki, although he did get upset when other kids said bad things about Katsuki himself. Strange.

“B-but Kacchan,” the boy said quietly, his green eyebrows knitted together.

“What is it? Spit it out, stupid!” Katsuki said impatiently, what was he muttering about?

“It’s j-just,” Zuku picked at his fingers, an action Katsuki knew he did when he either felt restless, nervous or upset. Which emotion was it this time?

“Well, you’re already m-my favourite hero, K-Kacchan!”

Katsuki was silent for a moment while he heard mom and Auntie fawning over the cute statement in the kitchen, but Katsuki suddenly felt very protective and serious.

Katsuki looked down at Zuku’s legs, taking note of the strange burns and cuts, had someone hurt him? He hadn’t fallen recently, and Katsuki always stays by his side to make sure the idiot doesn’t do anything, well, idiotic.

“Izuku, when I’m a hero, I’ll become super strong to protect you! And I’ll protect Mom and Dad and Auntie and Uncle. You ‘n me will become heroes together and protect them. We’ll protect everyone!”

Zuku nodded with a glossy look, “Y-yeah! Kacchan and Zuk-Zuku! The best heroes!”

Katsuki smirked and his red eyes sparkled, “We’ll be the top hero duo, together. I promise.”

Why was Katsuki’s page wet?

Katsuki reached up and felt wetness on his cheeks, a texture that’s been growing more and more familiar over the past months. He rolled the pencil between his thumb and index finger and sniffled, man, why was he being such a crybaby like Deku?

Katsuki tapped the page with the eraser of the pencil and groaned, running another hand through his hair.

With a trembling hand he pressed the led against the sheet and wrote just one simple sentence, constructed of eight words, twenty nine letters.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be your hero, Deku.

With a grunt, Katsuki erased the last word, replaced by another with the same amount of letters.

Zuku.

Izuku looked across the training mat towards Hitoshi, both of them wiping sweat from their brows.

Izuku charged first while Hitoshi took on a defence form, trying to dodge the first punch. Izuku slid to a stop and spun back around just in time to jump over Hitoshi’s leg sweep, then rolling out of his reach.

Izuku was back on his feet and landed a quick elbow against Hitoshi’s side, causing the taller boy to stumble back for a moment.

“Cheap shot,” Hitoshi wheezed with a grin, Izuku just laughing in return. With that distraction, Hitoshi kicked Izuku right in the stomach, catching him by surprise. Izuku’s laugh turned into a cough, “Jeez dude!”

He charged forward, going for his finishing move he’s been practicing, hoping it wouldn’t fail or else this would be embarrassing.

Pulling back for a fake punch, Hitoshi stepped to the side to dodge just as Izuku predicted and he fell into a smooth roll, kicking Hitoshi’s ankles right out from under him. The purple haired boy yelped and tipped forward, Izuku jumping back up and grabbing the back of Hitoshi’s neck with force, pushing the top half of his body down. Without any balance, Hitoshi tumbled forward and Izuku was quick to restrain him until his victim tapped out.

“I win!” Izuku bounced around while Hitoshi just played dead for a while, his lanky body sprawled out.

“Okay, I’ve been looking for an item similar to a capture weapon like we’ve been searching for, and I did find one! But it’s several hours away. That means I’ll just take the train down this weekend, snatch it for you, and bring it back!”

Hitoshi looked up, “What do you mean by snatch?”

“Don’t worry about it!”

Izuku sat down and began cleaning his knives while Hitoshi started stretching, mumbling out continuous complaints.

“Hey Izu, you should get a support item too. You know, you being a fucking vigilante and all.”

The greenette frowned and held up one of his weapons, “Duh. Knives.”

Hitoshi groaned, “Alright, another support item that aren’t knives, because those can do a little too much damage sometimes. Like killing. So, you might want a backup choice.”

Izuku paused and tapped his chin, “Well now that you bring that up, I’ve always wanted to use a gun and-”

“No. Bad Izuku.”

The greenette pinched his bottom lip as he fell into a fit of rambling, Hitoshi waiting patiently for it to be over.

“I suppose some sort of rods could compliment my knives. They’d be for close battles, not that I’ll be doing that! Like you said, as backup.”

Hitoshi nodded, “I’m sure you could find some retractable or foldable rods, shouldn’t be too hard. They could just clip onto your belt, right?”

Izuku nodded, “So rods are Toshi approved?”

“Yeah. Better than your first choice.”

“What’s wrong with a gun?”

“So many things, Izuku!”

The two fell into a calming silence, but Izuku could tell his friend had more on his mind, and it was bothering him. “Toshi? You know I forgive you, right? You were just angry… and that’s understandable.”

Hitoshi looked up then back down, “Um, it’s not just that.”

Izuku waited while his friend gathered the words he wanted to say, “You’re my best friend.”

Izuku screeched before he could continue, “You’re my best friend too!”

Hitoshi chuckled and ran a stressed and through his hair, blurting out his thoughts in one breath.

“I care a lot about you and I’m worried for your health but I need you to know that I would care if you died. A lot. I don’t know how many people you have looking out for you, but understand that everyday I’ll be waiting for you at the library, or the beach, or here. So don’t… don’t leave me, okay?”

Izuku’s eyes shot wide, no one’s ever told him something like that. Not even his mother, even if she loved him.

It was at this moment that Izuku realized, love is not the same thing as care. There’s a difference. And Izuku, he felt both of those things towards Hitoshi, because they were best friends.

The tears spilled over before he could stop them and while crying always made Hitoshi frantic, he didn’t mind this time. Izuku moved in slowly and made a grabbing motion with his hands, “Hug.”

Hitoshi stepped back, “Are you sure? You don’t have to, last time you-”

Izuku latched onto his torso, surprised by how warm it made him feel. It felt like he used to with his mom, the hug was nice.

He kept crying and at some point, both boys sat down into a more comfortable condition until Izuku cried himself dry.

Hitoshi was by his side the entire time.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi was now in on Izuku’s little secret, and knowing someone still cared about his well being was strange. It’s been two months since Izuku met Hitoshi and that boy was already the most important person in his life, not that his list consisted of anyone else.

School’s been easy too, Izuku’s already in his second semester and he’s completed math, only leaving three classes left! Although the website said one semester takes at least three months, so he was probably doing something wrong, he’d have to double check his other courses.

One week into his vigilante situation and Izuku’s collected so many notes on heroes and villains alike. The other day he almost had to step in on a fight, but then remembered what Hitoshi said.

Another underground hero arrived just in time to put an end to it and his quirk was so cool up close! The hero had the ability to turn his body into some sort of black mist, perfect for blending in with the shadows and avoiding physical attacks!

Anyways, Izuku was currently sitting behind a dumpster, analyzing a brand new underground hero to the game, she goes by Star. Her quirk is quite versatile, she has night vision but can also make her eyes glow bright enough to act like a flashlight, illuminating a certain radius around her.

Izuku’s already a fan because similar to Eraserhead, she’s fighting quirkless of sorts too, although Izuku can already come up with several different ways her quirk could be used.

As support items, Star mainly uses a collection of small items such as smoke bombs, tasers, sticky chemicals and such.

After the police collected her recent catch, Izuku waited for the police to disappear and scrambled out, “Excuse me! Star!”

The hero spun around, “Ah shit, did you get hurt or something? Who are you?”

Izuku stepped out under the lamp post light and his costume was revealed, but Star never got the chance to comment on it as he erupted into his ideas.

“Have you ever tried making your quirk more versatile? Illuminating an area and night vision is perfect for underground heroics, but you also have the option to use your quirk with physical attacks! You turn the light on and off and will, correct?”

Star tilted her head, “Yeah.”

Izuku scribbled something in his notebook, “Does it strain your eyes or something? Because if there’s no real large drawback, you could use your quirk like strobe lights to disorientate the opponent! Have you ever tried that?”

Star placed her hands on her hips, her dark blue jumpsuit adjusting with her movements, “Switching on and off makes me more sensitive to light, but I guess that wouldn’t really be a problem in the dark, now would it?”

Star smirked slightly, “Huh. I’ll have to try that.”

Izuku was smiling wide under his helmet and he tucked his book away, “Awesome! Let me know how it goes next time I run into you.”

Izuku started to walk away but Star fell into step beside him, the much shorter boy having to crane his neck to look up and meet her pale yellow eyes.

“You a new vigilante or have you been around here for some time? I’m new, if you didn’t know,” Star rubbed the back of her neck, glancing into the alleyway’s they passed.

“Ah, yeah! I know you’re new,” Izuku chuckled, “But you’re doing great, by the way!”

Star hummed, “Thanks, but what about you? New or not?”

Izuku adjusted the straps of his backpack and bounced slightly with each stride, “Of sorts, I guess.”

Star smirked, “Of sorts?”

“Well, I’m not exactly a vigilante I guess? I gotta stay out of trouble or my friend would kill me! And I’m not new to assessing quirks and all that, I’ve been doing that for a super long time!”

Izuku spoke with an energetic tone, he couldn’t help it! A hero was actually speaking to him and seemed curious about what he had to say!

“You’ve got quite the chaotic energy, you know that?” Star pointed down at him playfully, “Your thoughts must be pretty chaotic too.”

Izuku laughed breathlessly, “Always!”

Star didn’t respond right away and Izuku thought maybe he should leave now, but the blonde spoke up again, “So what’s your vigilante name? I don’t want to just call you random names.”

His vigilante name? Izuku never really thought about it, he wasn’t here to create a name for himself. He just wanted to help.

“I guess I don’t really have one. I don’t want to be a known person, you know?”

Star tapped her chin while she adjusted her utility belt, her eyes travelling down to all the knives on Izuku’s own belt. “I get that,” she spoke slowly, “But you should have a name so underground heroes have something to refer to you by.”

Izuku squinted suspiciously although Star couldn’t see his eyes, “But what I’m doing is illegal.”

Star smiled, “Maybe, but vigilantes like you help underground heroes like us. Besides, I like how you work. Count me on your side.”

Underneath his helmet, Izuku was beaming, “Wow, really! That’s so awesome and I’ll do my best to help you guys and I’ll stay out of trouble and I won’t do anything stupid and-”

“Woah there!” Star held her hands up, “Take a breath, man!”

Izuku chuckled nervously, “Sorry, I tend to lose myself in my thoughts, my-”

“Chaos.”

Izuku looked up to the tall woman, “Hah?”

“That’s your vigilante name,” Star crossed her arms, “Chaos. Suits you perfectly.”

Izuku smiled slowly, “Aha, I guess it does.”

Star winked with a bright smile and opened her mouth to speak again, but a soft vibration from her pants pocket cut her off. She froze mid step and pulled her phone out, Izuku peering secretly to find out why her cheerful expression dropped. It was a location, not far from the street they were located on now.

“I gotta go,” Star suddenly began running, “See ya Chaos! Stay out of trouble!”

Izuku watched the hero’s long strides for a brief moment, understanding her farewell meant she wanted him to stay put or go home.

So obviously Izuku followed her.

Star was fast with her long legs and all, but even being five foot four and one quarter, Izuku kept up effortlessly. The jog was long but Izuku never gave up, keeping a safe distance with his silent steps so Star wouldn’t catch him and get distracted.

He followed her around to the backside of an old building, and Izuku nearly gasped audibly at what he saw. It was Eraserhead collapsed on the ground in a heap of black clothing and his scarf, his phone clutched in his hand and unresponsive.

And Star, oh dear. Izuku was aware she was new on the field, but come on!

The pro hero got caught up in seeing Eraserhead in possible danger, that she ran right in without analyzing her surroundings. Izuku stepped forward to call her name and stop her, but it was too late as some sort of gas wafted in her direction, a slight blue tinge to it.

Star knelt down to check Eraserhead’s pulse and was completely unaware of the gas until it was too late. Her posture stuttered slightly as she swayed, melting down onto the concrete just like the first pro, unmoving.

A figure emerged from the opposite corner of where Izuku was crouched, his eyes wide and crazy. The villain almost seemed fearful.

He moved towards the unresponsive heroes with shaking hands, holding a baseball bat, raising it to clearly do some damage. Within seconds, Izuku analyzed everything he could.

The villain is clearly nervous, meaning he probably isn’t well versed in combat, especially since his quirk prefers long distant fights.

With every exhale, the blue gas comes out, which means that’s how his quirk is released, unlike the pro hero Midnight who releases it from her skin in its entirety. When the villain closes his mouth, no gas comes out his nose, which means the gas isn’t his breath, but somehow released directly from his throat.

His only weapon is a baseball bat and he’s hesitant to use it.

From the time span of when Star received the text and their run here, Eraserhead’s been stuck in his position for a maximum of seven minutes.

Izuku himself is armed with his knives and the rods he got from the storage facility of that hero agency again, but he hasn't had much practice, so-

Izuku was out of time, because the villain was now standing over the two heroes, baseball bat held tightly in his hands.

He untucked one of his knives from his belt and took the throw, catching the villain off guard as the blade buried itself in his shoulder.

Izuku charged forward with the two rods in his hands and oh god, he hasn’t even tested them! He doesn’t even know what the material is made out of, Hitoshi’s going to kill him if he doesn’t die here first.

The villain took two steps back and lowered his bat as he glanced at the knife in his shoulder, breathing out some blue gas. Izuku took a big breath in and also hoped the motorcycle helmet would grant him more time before he joined Star and Eraserhead’s situation as well.

Counting the time in his head, Izuku dove over the heroes into a roll and smashed one rod against the man’s shin, just like he often did when sparring with Hitoshi. The man turned and swung his bat at random, narrowly missing Izuku’s head.

Damn.

The villain swung again and Izuku held up both his rods, internally thanking whatever god existed when the rods didn’t snap. He pushed the villain back and retreated towards the dumpster, taking a quick breather as he looked over to a stray plastic bag.

Alright, improvising it is.

Izuku grabbed it and had to tuck one rod away, keeping the second in his other hand. Holding his breath once more, Izuku crouched under the bat and crashed his own weapon into the man’s torso twice before running back up.

When the man turned back around, Izuku was right in his face with one hand extended, stuffing the plastic bag right into his open mouth, ceasing the gas momentarily.

The villain had poor combat skills much to Izuku’s luck and it only took one last blow to the back of his neck to cause the gas villain to crash down, unconscious.

Izuku drew in a shaky breath and tucked his weapon away, collecting his knife and wiping the blood on his pants. He kneeled down and began digging through his bag, pulling out some zip ties he kept with him in case any heroes needed something to restrain their opponents.

Izuku never thought that he would be the one restraining his own opponent.

He tied the villain’s hands behind his back and pulled him out towards the side of the building, propping him up against the wall but making sure he was still in view.

Izuku then knelt down next to the heroes, carefully checking for any injuries before rolling them onto their backs, checking for broken bones, in which they were in the clear. In fact, the gas didn’t even knock them out, they were just unable to move or speak.

“Wow!” Izuku gasped as he dug out his notebook, “A paralyzing gas, I was naive enough to assume it knocked opponents out like Midnight, ugh! How stupid of me to assume!”

While he wrote down his notes there was a grunt from Eraserhead, clearly annoyed.

“Oh shit, sorry!”

Eraserhead’s limbs began to twitch but he still couldn’t stand or speak coherently, so Izuku lay on his back between them casually.

“Wow, it’s like we’re stargazing,” Izuku snorted while being the little shit he was, “Do you guys know how to spot constellations? I see the big dipper there, and-”

“Assss,” Eraserhead was able to drool out and Izuku cackled, “Fine, fine.”

He sat up and reached for the man’s phone that was still open on the pavement from when he sent his location to a group chat, it’s where Star must have gotten the message from. Izuku clicked through it for a moment, ignoring the glare Eraserhead was shooting him.

“Hmm, I’m sure you both understand why I can’t call the police,” Izuku laughed nervously, “So let’s go for your most used contact, uh, Hizashi Yamada. Hey, that’s Present Mic, isn’t it?”

Again, Izuku just knew things. Don’t ask.

Izuku shot the man a quick text message, an explanation along with their location.

> You: hiiii!! im a friend of mr. eraserheads and ur his tip top contact ### !! anyways, im sending u a location, ur friend with star r temporarily paralyzed but don’t worry, they r safe and fine ! they got hit with a quirk :p

> You: Sent Location.

> You: and call police too plz! :D thank uuu

>Zashi: Sho? The hell? Who am I speaking with?

> You: not shoooo, a friend :o

> You: just do stuff i told u to do >:)

>Zashi: Alright I guess. I’ll be there in ten minutes.

Izuku smiled and placed the phone next to Eraserhead, “Okay, you guys just have to wait ten minutes, and I also told Present Mic to call the police.”

Izuku continued through his bag, pulling out the items he never thought he would actually have to use himself. Izuku pulled out a sticky notepad and a black pen, sitting cross legged between the villain and the two heroes, where he could keep an eye on both.

“Okay,” Izuku mumbled out loud while he began to write down little jot notes.

“Quirk, a gas paralysis emitted from mouth, not nose. Crime,” Izuku lifted his pen and eyed the villain, not exactly sure.

“Crime unknown. Injuries, shallow knife wound to left left shoulder, bruising to torso and shins. Witnesses include pro heroes Eraserhead and Star. Danger rating, one out of five stars.”

Satisfied with the information, Izuku peeled the paper off the pad and paused before sticking it to the villain, quickly writing ‘xoxo, Chaos’ at the bottom, then pressing the paper to the man’s forehead.

“Boom, look at that,” Izuku smiled and turned back to the heroes, Star beginning to twitch where as Eraserhead could sort of move, but still couldn’t speak with ease or stand.

“I’ll just wait here until the police get close,” Izuku mumbled while placing the baseball bat next to Eraserhead, then sitting across from him. The greenette was eyeing the capture weapon under his helmet and hey, sometimes fate just calls his name.

“Say,” Izuku drawled slowly, “You probably have extra capture weapons, right?”

Of course, Eraserhead couldn’t actually offer a proper answer and Izuku leaned over, removing the scarf from his neck.

“It’s late too, you should both head home after this,” he mumbled while casually stuffing the weapon into his backpack, zipping it up and pulling it on.

“L-O-L,” Izuku spelt out at the expression Eraserhead was wearing, “Don’t give me that look! I’ll bring you a ‘lil ‘sum-sum extra next time I see you, okay? How ‘bout some coffee? You look like a coffee kind of guy.”

Sirens echoed from down the street and Izuku shot one last glance over the scene to make sure he had everything, “Alright, thank you for this Mr. Eraserhead, you’re so kind. You kind of owed me for, you know, not letting the villain smash your skull in. Okay, much love, buh-bye now!”

Izuku scrambled down the alley and to the next road as he saw blue and red flashing lights, booking it for his warehouse in case any police decided to follow him. Oh my god, Izuku just- it doesn’t matter. They owed him anyways!

At least Izuku can do something nice for Hitoshi now, hopefully his friend doesn’t ask any questions.

Shouta was stuck watching the police mop up the mess he got himself in, how could he have been so stupid? It was a rookie mistake, letting the villain trick him into flinching and it caused him to blink, then the gas entered his system so quickly, it was too late to do anything.

Shouta groaned while he was slowly helped to his feet by Hizashi, Star still unable to stand as the police made sure everything was okay with her health, in which it was. Thank god.

While Hizashi returned to help the police, Shouta just stood there as he collected his thoughts. That was the kid, the one that he thought may be Izuku Midoriya, or at least have a connection with him.

The vigilante didn’t use a quirk which was sign number one, and the voice was definitely that of a teenage boy. Yet Shouta thought this kid didn’t have much skill and oh did he underestimate him.

That kid was clearly somewhat trained in basic combat and fought with confidence, not to mention he walked away without injury, unlike two pros who have trained for years.

“Eraser,” Tsukauchi wandered over, “Could I take your statement?”

Shouta rolled his neck and summarized his information, “That was the villain Numb the underground heroes and I of this prefecture have been tracking. He’s been involved in several car robberies and we assume he will have some information that could lead us to breaking down the entire car robbery system.”

“I lost my hold on my quirk and his gas takes action in an instant. I was able to send my location to the nearby heroes, but that’s all.”

Tsukauchi hummed, “And the apparent strange messages to Present Mic?”

Shouta snorted, “That little brat helped himself to my phone.”

“He’s new!” Star butted in, finally able to speak and move her mouth again, “A kid I think and he’s just so adorable, isn’t he?”

“You call that adorable?” Shouta raised his eyebrows, “He’s a little snarky shit!”

Star chuckled, “Well I call that personality, something you don’t have.”

Tsukauchi paused, “A kid?”

“It’s the vigilante I met before, the one we believe to be the missing boy,” Shouta whispered so no one else would hear, the detective’s eyebrows shooting up, “That kid took down the villain?”

“He used a knife like before, but he also had some brand of rods. He also used a plastic bag, which was an interesting choice.”

Tsukauchi nodded, “Did you get any other info on him? A name, age, anything?”

Shouta shrugged, “Never gave one.”

“Sir!” another officer called, “The note must be signed by the vigilante.” Shouta’s eyes widened as the officer wandered over, “Chaos,” Tsukauchi read.

“Awe, he took the name I gave him!” Star gushed, “We have to keep him!”

“Until tonight, our little vigilante wasn’t technically doing anything wrong,” Tsukauchi groaned, “But today he engaged.”

Star frowned, “He didn’t use a quirk though and it was more like self defense! He saved my life most likely, and Eraser's!”

The detective shook his head, “Chaos made the decision to cause harm to this villain, which could still classify as a crime. This just got more complicated. Both of you head home for the night, good work.”

Shouta sighed as he waved goodbye to Star while a policeman helped her into a car, driving off. He turned back to the scene, where Hizashi was scrambling around, clearly looking for something.

“The kid left, Zashi. You won’t find him and the area’s already been swept for clues.”

Hizashi turned around, still dressed in his pink pyjama pants, “Hah? I know that, I’m looking for your capture weapon.”

What? Shouta touched his neck and when his hand didn’t collide with the folds of fabric, his shoulder slacked in memory.

“I got fucking mugged by a child.”

Hizashi paused and walked closer, “Why would he want it?”

“I don’t know, for him to use it maybe. He was curious about it last time too, said he would get his hands on one.”

Hizashi rubbed his neck, “Well I guess he was right-”

“Shut up.”

Hizashi hid his snicker with a cough but failed, “But doesn’t he already have his own style? Knives?”

Shouta shrugged and then he found himself slightly amused, “The kid’s alias name matches him perfectly, he’s already causing chaos.”

Hizashi and Shouta drove home in a comfortable silence with the radio playing soft music, until Shouta decided to let the other heroes know about the advancements of their case.

> #08721: Numb has been apprehended by police. Will keep updated with any other info I receive

Shouta moved to tuck his phone away, but it began vibrating like crazy.

> Unknown: bruhhh wats up :p

> #92710: ASJS WHO THIS

> Unknown: ur mom

> #74697: take that L nishi

> #30052: Would you please text in english like normal human beings.

> #92710: no

>#30052: And unknown, please state your reasoning and who allowed you to enter this chat room.

> Unknown: like who gave me permission to text u guys ??

> #30052: Yes please.

> Unknown: ur mom

> #74697: OHH SHIT

> #08721: I’ll just remove them. Must be some sort of glitch, i'll get that checked later

> Unknown: NOOOO let me state my case plz

> #08721: Fine

> Unknown: i deserve more respect from the guy i just saved, u know >:)

> #74697: omg chaos? how did u get in here?

> Unknown: just helped me self when i was on erasers phone :D u feeling better star? eraser?

> # 74697: yeppp, thank u for ur help, u were super brave!

> #08721: Shut up.

-Unknown changed their name to chaotic mess-

-chaotic mess changed #74697’s name to make u blind-

-chaotic mess changed #08721’s name to shleepy-

> shleepy: Stop.

> chaotic mess: no.

> make u blind: oHH i see what we're doing, this is fun my turn

-make u blind changed #92710’s name to brAin-

> chaotic mess: y brain?? big smart ??

> make u blind: his quirk is mind reading

> chaotic mess: SOO cooOLL

-brAin changed #30052’s name to magik man-

> magik man: This isn’t very professional, you know. We are pro heroes, after all. Please refrain from these silly nicknames!

> brAin: shut it ya fun sponge and ACCEPT ur fate

> shleepy: I now wish the villain crushed my skull

> chaotic mess: same

> sheelpy: What

> make u blind: r u okay??

> chaotic mess: nevermind!!!

> chaotic mess; well, if any of u ever need help with quirk breakdown, either ur own or someone elses, let me know!!

> make u blind: yESS he already helped me! hes very smart

> shleepy: You’re going to be a problem child, aren’t you.

> chaotic mess: …

> chaotic mess: yuH

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t realize how much faster he was setting the jogging pace until he passed the halfway point in under twenty five minutes. Hitoshi never made his complaints clear despite obviously breathing heavier than usual, but still pushed himself to keep up.

That was something Izuku really admired about his purple haired friend, he was always willing to go beyond his line of comfort if it meant he would improve even more, Hitoshi was beyond determined.

“I can tell you’re all…” Hitoshi trailed off while he panted slightly, Izuku bounding up and down on his feet like a puppy about to be given his favourite treat.

“Jumpy and hyper,” Hitoshi finished after a few brief seconds, “Shall I dare ask why?”

“Shall I dare ask why?” Izuku mimicked in a shrill voice, “Who the fuck talks like that?”

“Sorry I don’t drop curse words every other sentence.”

Izuku let out a laugh that sounded more like a hiss, “Oh, don’t be fu- I mean, don’t be silly!”

“You just stopped yourself from saying the word fucking, didn’t you?”

Hitoshi’s lips quirked upwards and Izuku looked off to the side, “... Fuck you.”

Hitoshi snickered in a deep voice and swept some hair from his eyes, “But really, what’s got your fur all fluffed up, bunny?”

“Stop calling me that!” Izuku shouted while literally bouncing up and down with every step, his longer hair flopping suspiciously like rabbit ears and large eyes looking up at his friend.

“Whatever,” Hitoshi huffed, “But come on, really. Is your birthday coming up or something? Why’re you so excited?” Izuku flashed one of his rare, genuine blinding smiles and shook his head rapidly, green bangs swinging back and forth, “It’s a surprise!”

Hitoshi pulled a strange face, “I don’t know. Your last surprise was being homeless.”

“I’m not homeless!” Izuku nearly shrieked, “Stop fucking saying that!”

It was clear his tone was no longer joking and Hitoshi audibly swallowed between breaths, “Uh. But what’s the surprise? Come on! I wanna know.” It took Izuku a quick moment for his mood to swing back up, “Seriously, just wait Toshi! You’ll find out soon!”

Izuku jumped up and down once again, humming happily between the deep breaths he took while regulating his panting, not wanting to exhaust himself. The two jogged in a comfortable silence, walking the last block as usual to let their bodies cool down.

Hitoshi reached up high and cracked his back, “So do I get to find out the surprise now?”

Izuku pinched his bottom lip in thought as he knocked the door open to the warehouse, “Alright, alright! I can’t wait anymore either!” Izuku booked it further down towards the far wall of the warehouse, tripping over his own feet and sliding on his stomach that caused Hitoshi to burst out laughing.

“Shut up!” Izuku howled, his voice echoing dramatically through the large area, and that only brought tears to Hitoshi’s eyes as he clutched his stomach.

“When we train, you’re so graceful, like a dancer,” Hitoshi wheezed, “But then trip over your own feet when excited!”

“Shut up,” Izuku growled again despite the smile on his lips, “Do you want the surprise or not?”

Hitoshi’s laughing fit calmed down and he dramatically wiped the tears from his eyes, “Wait, meaning the surprise is for me?”

“Yes!” Izuku screamed in a high pitched voice like a child, nearly vibrating in his stance from excitement.

Now that he finally had Hitoshi’s full attention on him, he knelt down with his vigilante black backpack and opened it slowly, Hitoshi’s eyes following the path of the zipper. Izuku plunged his hand into the backpack and yanked out the fabric with minor difficulty, struggling to hold the scarf bundled in his arms.

“Ta-da!”

Hitoshi blinked slowly, then squinted, then rubbed his eyes, then blinked slowly again.

“Izuku,” he said with a scarily sweet voice, “Where the fuck did you get that?”

Izuku fought the urge to cringe and forced a smile on his face, he would just have to dance over the question, of course! “It’s a capture weapon! We can start training now, the UA exam is coming up quickly and I feel like this isn’t going to be as easy as either of us anticipated, and-”

“Tell me,” Hitoshi crossed his arms like a disappointed father and tapped his foot lightly against the concrete ground, lips pulled in a tight line.

Izuku giggled, sounding eerily close to a school girl giving her first confession to her crush, his face getting warmer with slight embarrassment mixed with a pinch of anxiety.

Izuku inhaled a breath and explained all in one, “Just borrowed it from Eraserhead not that he could say no because he was paralyzed but i saved his life so he totally owed me and plus he has my number so if he was really that mad he could just text me and swear at me ‘till I’m six feet under!”

Izuku mindlessly pulled on a green curl between his eyes, trying to avoid meeting Hitoshi’s stare. When there was no response after a minute, Izuku finally frowned and gave in, looking up to his friend's expression.

Hitoshi though, he wasn’t returning the eye contact. His head was tilted back while his mauve eyes stuck to the high ceiling of the warehouse. Izuku blinked a few times then followed his gaze, was the roof leaking?

The sound of a clicking tongue brought Izuku back and Hitoshi finally met his dull, green eyes, “You know what, it is what it is I guess.”

Izuku jumped with a squeal, “That’s the spirit, Toshi!”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and tried to hide his smile by tucking his chin into his chest.

“Come on, don’t lie to me. You’re excited!” Izuku shouted, holding the scarf out as he tried not to let it slip from his grasp.

“So this was Eraserhead’s weapon?” Hitoshi whispered, slight amazement twinkling in his eyes as he hesitantly reached out, his fingers grazing the support item.

“Alright, don’t go all fanboy on me,” Izuku mumbled, suddenly feeling flustered at the realization that he actually did something to make his normally apathetic friend happy.

“You’re one to talk,” Hitoshi retorted playfully as he carefully collected the scarf against his own body, carefully wrapping it around his neck several times.

“How’s it feel?” Izuku asked, his notebook already out so he could take notes as he saw necessary. Hitoshi rolled his shoulders several times and buried his face into the scarf instinctively, Izuku noticing how Eraserhead always did the same thing.

What was with Izuku and somehow finding emotionless, sarcastic little bit-

“Lighter than I thought.”

Izuku shook his head to escape his inner monologue and wrote that down immediately, “What does the texture feel like around your neck? Does it hurt? Is it itchy?”

Hitoshi hummed in thought for a moment, “Not like a winter scarf, if that’s what you're asking. No pain, but it could use some fabric softener.” He paused, “And it also smells kind of bad.”

Izuku snorted, “I’ll be sure to tell Eraserhead that next time I see him.”

Hitoshi went through the five stages of grief within seconds, “No! Don’t you dare Izuku!”

“I’ll record his reaction too.”

“Izuku!” Hitoshi cried, throwing his hands up like a child about to throw a temper tantrum. Before Izuku could antagonize him further, a sharp sting came across his cheek and both boys froze, looking at the strip of fabric now hanging limply down to Hitoshi’s knee.

“Did,” Izuku touched his face, “Did you just fucking slap me with your scarf?”

“No!” Hitoshi literally screamed, stumbling back with his hands raised above his head, “That wasn’t me, I swear Izu! I didn’t do anything except move!”

As if on cue, the scarf tightened around Hitoshi’s knees as he moved to take a step backwards, causing him to tumble onto his butt with a quick shout of surprise.

The fabric twitched at random, almost like when someone is shocked with electricity to a certain extent. Izuku would know, his dad would get pretty creative with his punishments.

Izuku shook his head and clenched his fists, focusing on helping his friend who was currently writhing on the ground, trying to escape the confinements of the very weapon that was supposed to help him.

With a brief wrestle, Izuku and Hitoshi were able to pry the scarf away and stuff it back into his backpack, both having worked up more sweat than they should have.

“Huh,” is all Hitoshi hummed, rubbing a new bruise forming on his knee. Izuku was upset though, because if he only had the proper resources, he could easily examine the material and locate the source of the problem. He would find a solution and that would be it.

Izuku knew Eraserhead was an underground hero, so that meant he couldn’t even go online and find the functions behind his support item, people barely know he exists despite all the villains he takes down in the shadows.

With an exasperated sigh, Izuku tucked his hair behind both ears and rolled his shoulders, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out Toshi!”

The next day, Izuku opted on completely ignoring his school work and instead typed furiously on his laptop, scribbling down notes like a madman.

Despite knowing his first idea wouldn’t work, Izuku tried searching for sites on the underground hero anyways. He found very few websites and links about underground heroes in general, let alone a specific one about Eraserhead and the secret behind his capture weapon.

Izuku could have easily given up there, but looking up at Hitoshi and how hard he was working on his research paper, it just reminded him of how hard his friend works. So Izuku will work hard too.

Izuku didn’t stop, searching any keyword that came to mind and going further into the deeper parts of the web that, yeah, may be a little sketchy, but who’s to judge?

After half an hour, Izuku finally located a specific company that was obviously meant to be hidden considering it was under the title of ‘Shoe Warehouse Company’. There were several passwords Izuku had to put in, but luckily he took a computer programming class his first semester.

Sure, it didn’t teach how to hack an underground hero company, but Izuku always let curiosity get the best of him and he simply taught himself. It was honestly way easier than hacking should be.

It took a few tries since Izuku was still no expert, but he was eventually able to locate the coding of the website and simply input the passwords, also writing them down to save the information for later.

Now with full access to the website that was simply called ‘Underground Support’ in reality, Izuku had access to all their products. With some brief scrolling, Izuku’s eyes grew brighter, because there in front of him was an exact photo of Eraserhead’s capture weapon.

It didn’t give much information on the support item, but locating its information files was much easier than gaining access to the site. With the very vague description in its coding files, Izuku gasped in delight and interest.

“So the scarf is woven with his hair, then attached to the fibres! It’s basically DNA!”

Hitoshi looked up, “Aren’t you supposed to be doing your chemistry paper right now.”

“Didn’t you hear me! I figured it out!” Izuku beamed while writing in his notebook, “Now to find the solution.”

Hitoshi answered but Izuku wasn’t paying attention, instead mulling ideas over in his head on how to make this scarf Hitoshi’s, not Eraserhead’s. Eraserhead. Izuku pulled out his phone and pulled up a separate chat with his new little friend, surely he could find answers here!

> chaotic mess: heyyy mr. eraserhead sir, how’s ur day going ??

Izuku waited, the pro hero probably wouldn’t get the chance to answer until later. He is a teacher at the prestigious UA after all, and the hero course teacher! He was probably busy.

> shleepy: You mugged me.

Or not.

> chaotic mess: who me? who told u that, it's a lie :0

> shleepy: I was paralyzed, not unconscious you little shit

> chaotic mess: okayyy i prefer the term borrow, thank u very much! besides, it’s for a good cause !!!

> shleepy: You literally took my capture weapon right off my neck and booked it, and you want to tell me to use the term borrow

> shleepy: Problem Child.

> chaotic mess: yeah yeah whatever get over it. so anyways i got smacked in the face with it, how do i fix dat?

> shleepy: Good. It’s called karma and that’s what you get for mugging me.

Izuku groaned and exited the chat, “Little bitch,” he mumbled. Looks like he was going to have to fix this himself, but luckily Izuku loves fixing broken things! Unless he himself is that broken thing.

Izuku began by just searching nearby construction warehouses, they would probably have tools and such that could help him locate the source of the scarf’s problem. Over time, Izuku found himself drifting from construction warehouses over to support agencies, when did that happen?

He was trying to find if there were any support labs nearby, that would be the best possible outcome for him and it seems for once, luck was on his side. It’s approximately a forty minute walk, which means Izuku could probably get there in just under twenty minutes at a jog.

Hitoshi thinned his eyes and tilted his head, “Izu, what’s with that evil look?”

Hatsume’s Support Agency.

Surprisingly, Hitoshi’s never actually tried to follow Izuku on his little vigilante sprees, especially since he had access to his location. Turns out tonight he decided to try it for the first time.

“Oi!” Izuku called after ten minutes of being followed, “We really have to work on your stealth!”

When there was no response, Izuku stopped and placed his hands on his hips, staring right at the figure that was trying to sink into a brick wall.

“Stop creeping around in the fucking shadows you moron, I know you’re there.”

Nothing.

“That’s fine. I’ll wait.”

Izuku crossed his arms and sighed dramatically, bringing one hand up to the visor of the helmet to examine his nails. The lanky shape finally stepped out slowly, head hanging low in something Izuku could only assume was slight embarrassment.

“Hi,” Izuku said with a sing-song voice, “Are you following me?”

Hitoshi wrung his gloved hands together and scuffed the toe of his boot against the pavement, “Maybe.”

Izuku internally chuckled, Hitoshi looked like a kid that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I mean, you can’t blame me! You cut off a chunk of my hair and ran off earlier!” Hitoshi cried, “So obviously I had to follow!”

Now exposed to the moonlight, Izuku snorted at his little costume. Hitoshi was wearing a simple metallic mouthguard that covered the lower half of his face, a black bandana with poorly cut eye slits covering the top half.

“What the fuck are you wearing.”

Hitoshi groaned, “Well you weren’t supposed to see me!”

Izuku began to jog once again and Hitoshi fell in step beside him, “So what are we doing tonight?”

“We? We are not doing anything, Lanky. One, no names out here, you call me Chaos.”

Hitoshi may have been startled by the quick change in tone, but he decided to give a sharp nod.

“Good. Also, you are not a vigilante, just to clarify. It’s not that I don’t want you around, don’t get me wrong, it’s just I don’t think UA would approve of accepting a vigilante.” Hitoshi hummed in understanding, “I guess so.”

The two continued, Izuku telling Hitoshi to stay put while he ran over to an underground hero, who was clearly struggling to find something to apprehend the villain he caught.

“Hello!” Izuku waved in a smiley tone, already holding a zip tie in an outstretched arm. The hero blinked, removing the black headphones from their ears to listen properly, “Chaos, right? Star said you were a cute little thing!”

“Yep!” Izuku let the hero take the zip tie from him, “What’s your hero name?”

The hero seemed young like Star as well, although their costume was a little more fun, especially being an underground hero and all. They wore a skin tight grey jumpsuit with yellow armour on their knees, elbows, shoulders and chest, along with a navy blue pattern on the jumpsuit in general.

Instead of a utility belt, they wore pouches and pockets strapped around their thighs. Izuku would have to write that down later, he kind of liked it better than his own belt!

“Mindbuster!”

Izuku nodded, “Ah, you must be the one with the mindreading quirk, correct?”

The hero nodded with excitement, “Yeah! Don’t worry though, I won’t listen to yours and invade your privacy or anything.”

Izuku gave the thumbs up, “Cool! I hope I can work with you soon, but I’m currently in the middle of something.”

“No worries little guy, see you around. Thanks for the zip tie!”

The little vigilante waved and skipped off, grabbing Hitoshi’s arm and pulling him along, “Okay, we’re almost there.” The last stretch was filled with excitement, Izuku could hardly wait to get to work!

“Iz- Chaos!” Hitosh whisper-shouted as his friend began scaling the side of the building, “Don’t tell me you’re breaking in!”

“Since when do I do legal shit, Lanky? Keep up!”

After his moment of hesitation, Hitoshi swore and clambered up after his friend, struggling to keep up with his speed. “You’re fucking crazy,” Hitoshi muttered as Izuku picked the lock of the window, silently sliding it open and slipping in.

Hitoshi landed with less grace than Izuku, but at least the two managed to get in without breaking any bones.

“No lights,” Izuku murmured, “It’ll draw attention.”

With care, the two maneuvered around all the projects and objects scattered around the lab, using the flashlight from Izuku’s phone to make sure neither of them tripped or broke anything.

Hitoshi may have been freaking out the entire time, but Izuku was beaming under his helmet as he located a clear workbench and opened his bag, laying the capture weapon down along with a plastic bag of purple hair that Izuku took from Hitoshi back at the library when he fell asleep.

“Now what?” Hitoshi asked curiously, watching as Izuku examined some nearby tools to see what he could use.

“I don’t know. I’ve never done this before,” he hummed in return, pulling out some fancy magnifying glass.

“What?” Hitoshi gasped, “You’re telling me we broke in without a plan?”

“Sir yes sir!”

A strange noise from the front of the lab made Izuku freeze, his hands fumbling to turn his flashlight off. The room delved into complete darkness and the two boys held their breath, until all the lights suddenly turned on and a teenager, who was clearly awoken from their slumber, froze in their tracks.

Within seconds, the pink haired girl scrambled over and held a hand out, “Name’s Mei Hatsume, what can I do you for?”

Both Hitoshi and Izuku screeched in panic.

Chapter Text

“Why are we screaming?”

Hitoshi and Izuku finally snapped their jaws shut, the bubbly girl with pink hair wearing a large smile and bouncing on the balls of her feet, looking between the two.

Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again because what exactly was he supposed to say? How does he answer this girl’s question?

She jumped up and down while radiating pure excitement, “So I said I’m Mei Hastume, just call me Mei! Tell me your names now.”

Alright, that’s kind of blunt for speaking to a stranger, but Izuku didn’t mind much. “Chaos,” he answered on instinct, looking over to his distressed friend, clearly trying to figure out what to say.

“Okay, you’re taking too long. Your name is Fluffy now!” Mei pointed to Hitoshi’s hair and pulled on a few of her own hairs lightly, “Can I help you guys with something? I can help!”

Izuku was taken back by this girl’s lack of self preservation, what if they were murderers? What if they planted bombs and time was running out? Mei should be screaming! Or at least calling the police, or something of that sort.

“What are you mumbling about being murderers? If you were murderers, you would have killed me by now,” Mei pointed out, “Are you going to kill me?”

“No,” Hitoshi answered quickly, lowkey sounding even more suspicious. Mei just shrugged and continued pulling on little strings of her hair lightly, “Do you guys not want to talk to me?” Her face deflated for a moment and Izuku only panicked slightly.

Izuku flailed his hands around his face immediately, “No! That’s not it at all, don’t get the wrong idea!”

Mei’s smile was back right away and her shoulders slumped slightly, “Okay, that’s super good to hear! I’ve been kinda bored here and was worried you guys would leave right away.”

Izuku finally pocketed his phone and anxiously adjusted the straps of his backpack, fiddling with the fabric to tighten the fit, “Speaking of, why are you here? It’s one in the morning.”

Mei laughed, clearly a little nervous as she began to ramble in a similar fashion to Izuku.

“Well you see, I was working on a project of mine that I’m technically not supposed to be working on without supervision, but I really really wanted to! Then I must have fallen asleep and I usually keep the lights out while working since again, I’m not supposed to be in here right now. Guess the sun went down and it’s dark now! Then I heard noises and I thought it was my parents so I turned the lights on and here we are!”

Izuku was smiling under his helmet, he’s never met someone who spoke just like him, and now he knew why people often struggled to keep up.

“Wait, do you own this place?” Hitoshi looked around, “You seem sorta young to own your own agency, but I mean no judgement.”

Mei shook her head and turned around, gestured to the large lab, “This is my family’s agency, belonging to my mom Akasuki Hatsume! She’s away on an exposition in America, um, some place called Buffalo I think? Mom’s selling some new products down there, it’s so cool! She’ll be back next week though, not too long.”

Izuku frowned at the way Mei’s tone seemed to dip, she probably missed her mom. Izuku knew he missed his own.

“I can’t actually take orders,” Mei wrung her hands together, “I’m not officially trained yet and I don’t have a technological or inventing license-”

“Well we don’t technically have an order,” Izuku interrupted in a small voice, would Mei call the cops on the two of them? She seemed genuinely excited to have some company, and Izuku liked hers as well, so maybe they could be friends!

Mei raised an eyebrow curiously, adjusting the golden goggles on her upper forehead, smudging some oil, dirt or dust of some sort around her face. “Well that’s curious,” she slimmed her yellow crosshaired eyes, “How exactly did you two get in, now that I think about it? I keep the door locked.”

Hitoshi and Izuku slowly looked at one another, then peeking back to the window in which they snuck in through. Mei peered around Hitoshi and looked at the window, then back to the two of them, eyes growing wide in understanding.

Oh, she was definitely going to call the police now, there was no way she wasn’t afraid now.

“Ah! You two must be some sort of vigilantes or something, right?”

Izuku squeaked and threw his hands around wildly once more, “No! Hi- uh, Fluffy is definitely not a vigilante, he was just tagging along with me! I am, um, a vigilante though. I guess.”

Mei shook her hands in little fists and smiled wider, “Wow! That’s really cool, you probably need some support items, don’t you? Well luckily me and my babies are here to help!”

“Babies?” Hitoshi tilted his head, “Isn’t child labour, like, illegal?”

Mei laughed loudly and playfully knocked her shoulder into Hitoshi’s side, “You’re funny! No, my babies are my inventions, silly! Now Mr. Chaos vigilante.” Mei stepped back and began eyeing up Izuku, “Your costume sucks. It looks like you picked it out of a junkyard.”

Hitoshi snorted dramatically, “That’s because he did.”

“Shut up!” Izuku whined as he was sold out, “Not all of it! Some of it is borrowed.”

“Stolen,” Mei corrected and held a finger up, “Just don’t steal from me and I don’t really care!”

“Ah, yet another morally ambiguous child, I love to see it,” Hitoshi said in a light tone.

“Your costume is just impractical, let alone boring and uncreative! Come on, give it a little personality, why don’t you?”

Mei began walking circles around Izuku as she hummed to herself, “I like the helmet, but with proper tinkering I could make it more durable and lighter, not to mention those pants. Pockets are good, material is horrible. And the sweater, seriously? It’s kind of an ugly colour too-”

“Damn!” Izuku cried, “I wasn't aware this was a shit-roast on Chaos party tonight ! What the fuck!”

“Sorry!” Mei chuckled, “Just observations!”

“Besides,” Izuku rubbed his neck sheepishly, “I don’t exactly have access to quality materials and tools, you see. It’s kind of a long story that I don’t really want-”

“Ah!” Mei hiccuped, “So that must be why you broke in, to get some resources!”

Izuku nodded, “Yes, but-”

“Woah is that a capture weapon?” Mei scrambled over to the fabric on the worktable and gently touched the fabric, mumbling to herself as she lifted it up to examine the underside.

“Her attention span is worse than yours,” Hitoshi teased quietly, Izuku nodded in amused agreement.

“Yeah, it is!” Izuku joined her side, “So pretty much I need to make some little adjustments on it.”

Mei nodded absentmindedly as she was already picking at the fabric with some tools that were strapped around her waist, “Wah! This is amazing!”

The two began talking at a rapid pace, often speaking over one another yet somehow still understanding what the other was saying while Hitoshi stood there awkwardly, shoulders hunched in as he just nodded along, pretending he understood what was going on.

“I totally want in on this project!” Mei screamed suddenly, “It’s not everyday I get to analyze and play with such a rare baby. No telling my parents though!”

Izuku nodded enthusiastically, “Cool! I brought some of Fluffy’s hair so we can weave it into the fabric, although I’m not exactly sure how to get the other strands of DNA out.”

Mei hummed and rubbed her chin, “Well maybe that’s not necessary. I’ve got an idea, let’s get to testing!” Izuku laughed loudly and threw his hands up, “Science!”

Izuku wandered the streets on patrol, humming quietly to himself as he twirled a new knife around his index finger. He, Mei and even Hitoshi helped to construct their own little brand of knives, all being retractable to help with safer transportation.

Turns out Mei wasn’t happy to find out Izuku’s already accidentally cut himself while running around with unprotected knives in his pocket and dangling from his utility belt.

Playing with the blade, Izuku watched the black metal slip into the dark green handle, then back out as he fidgeted with the button. Skipping down through the more rundown part of town, a muffled cry had Izuku pausing in his step and he extended his blade, sneaking towards the sound.

“Shut it, boy!”

A child covered his mouth as he clearly tried to keep himself from sobbing, his pink hair matted and neglected.

“I’m sorry papa-”

A swift hand came across his cheek and the man slurred in his drunken state, “It’s sir, you insufferable, unwanted piece of flaming shit, you’re lucky I even let you live.”

The man, the father Izuku presumed pushed the boy down again, “If it weren’t for your stupid mother, I wouldn’t have to look at you every fuckin’ day.” Izuku knew he should help, he wanted to, but his legs were frozen and his knees were locked.

At this moment, Izuku couldn’t see pink hair on the large man, no. He had olive skin and black hair, freckles dotting all over the man’s skin as he breathed out smoke.

“Most are born lucky with amazing quirks my little Midoriya, just like me. But you, you were lucky to be born. You’re lucky I let you survive.”

The phantom pain on his torso made Izuku’s gut twist, it felt like he was burning all over again.

The little boy flinched as his father leaned down with his hand outstretched, palm emitting some sort of smoke. “Please!” the boy hiccuped and Izuku understood now, the father was going to burn the face of his own child.

What a monster.

It’s funny how fate seems to play with earth’s humans, isn’t it?

“Oi!” Izuku cried and threw his dagger, “Eat shit!” The dagger went clean through the man’s outstretched hand, causing him to draw away from the child and he staggered back in pain. Izuku placed himself between the two and held his rods tightly, “Leave the kid alone.”

The child looked up with watery eyes, an expression of amazement on his face, “Are- are y-you a hero?”

Izuku looked down at the boy, he just looked all too familiar. It was honestly like looking back in time. “I’m here to help,” Izuku chose his words carefully as to not lie to the child, but also to not scare him.

“You’re gonna help me?” the kid’s bottom lip trembled, “No one’s ever helped me before.”

Izuku didn’t realize this revelation at the time, but now he knew this is where his dislike of heroes truly took a tumble, because heroes never bothered to help those in the shadows. Where there was no attention, no cameras, there were no heroes.

How pathetic.

“Just smile kid, you don’t need to be scared anymore,” Izuku gave a thumbs up, trying to ignore the trembling of his limbs. “The fuck- you think that you’re a hero,” the man slurred over his words, swaying in his spot.

“I never said that,” Izuku said in a dangerous tone, “So this is really unfortunate for you.”

The man held out his good hand, his palm glowing white, orange and red. “An imprinting quirk with heat,” Izuku mumbled to himself, that could cause some real damage to a kid, and his anger only grew.

The man lunged forward and Izuku turned, scooping the kid up and putting some distance between the two. “Just wait here, can you do that for me?” Izuku asked. The boy nodded shakily. “If something happens to me though, you have to run super fast, like lightning!”

The kid nodded again, “I can do that! I’m super fast!”

“I bet you are,” Izuku encouraged, “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

When that boy smiled at him with nothing but hope glinting in his eyes, Izuku’s heart began to beat faster. He was going to save him, even if it was the last thing he was ever going to ever do.

“Oi!” Izuku roared as he marched towards the intoxicated man, “You like hurting people? Come catch me then!” He spun his rods in his hands and stood his ground, the man charging with a stumble.

Izuku launched himself too, side kicking the man right in the torso, hard enough to make him wheeze. The vigilante dropped to the ground and swept the man’s legs, causing him to fall.

It was too late to notice the man reaching for him though, and his burning palm wrapped around Izuku’s wrist. Izuku screamed and pulled away, growling in anger as he hit the man over the head with his rod.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Some blood splashed onto Izuku’s visor as he continued bashing the man, reaching for a knife on his belt and flipping the blade up, holding it above the man’s throat. Just before Izuku plunged the weapon into the man’s jugular, Izuku blinked and saw his face.

Hisashi’s face, that is.

He let out a shuddering breath and let the knife fall, falling back onto his knees and gripped his arms tightly. “You did it!” the boy shouted from a distance and that shook Izuku back to reality, right. He’s got more stuff to do.

Luckily the injury wasn’t as bad as Izuku thought, although his nose was broken, some teeth were shattered, a definite concussion and several wounds to his head. Whoops.

Izuku went through his normal routine, just sending a quick message to someone on the police force he had found on Eraser’s phone, Tsukauchi. The man was tied up and Izuku signed his signature ‘xoxo, Chaos’ on the sticky pad, then carefully removing the dagger and clotting the wound, the man would be fine.

Probably.

“Who are you?” the pink haired boy asked with a shine in his eyes, “What’s your hero name?”

There was no point in correcting the boy now, right? “Chaos,” Izuku said gently, “Name’s Chaos, kid. What about you?”

“Kagesuko,” he responded quietly, “Do I have to go home with papa now?”

“No,” Izuku said quickly, “You’ll never have to deal with him again, I’ll make sure of that if the police don’t. You have anyone else to stay with?”

Kagesuko nodded, “He doesn’t let me see mama anymore, but I don’t know why. He says that everything’s her fault, and so she can’t see me.”

Well this is all too familiar, it’s getting creepy at this point. Sirens approached and Izuku ruffled the boy’s hair, “Alright, police are here. I have to go. Don’t forget to keep smiling, ‘kay?”

Kagesuko nodded and as Izuku ran off, the little boy shouted with a fist raised, “One day, I’ll be a hero just like you Chaos!” Oh. Kagesuko…

Someone wanted to be like him?

Shouta leapt from roof to roof, using his new capture scarf to propel him forward, his eyes scanning everything with accuracy and care. It was another quiet night, it had been for awhile. At least, ever since his little Problem Child joined the game.

Wait, his?

Blue and red sirens caught his attention, Shouta looking down below to see a bloodied man being shoved into a cop car while a little boy spoke animatedly to a police officer, “And then he was like boom, and pow! He’s my favourite hero now!”

Shouta crossed his arms in thought, Shadow shouldn’t be on patrol in his area tonight, and he was the only male hero around here besides him that worked underground. Unless the boy was referring to Mindbuster, the kid probably didn’t know their proper pronouns.

“Chaos is super cool, you should have seen it!”

Shouta sighed slowly and as if on cue, a quiet hiss came from the rooftop next to him, Chaos sitting cross legged and bent over himself. Shouta approached carefully, “Chaos? What did you do this time?”

The vigilante looked up quickly, Shouta’s heart skipping a beat when he saw blood splattered across his helmet.

That can’t be good.

Instead of responding with a snarky comment like usual, Chaos simply returned to his task at hand, trying to wrap some sort of bandage around his wrist. Shouta groaned and took some steps to get even closer, kneeling down across from the kid.

Chaos finally looked back up after a few minutes of painful struggling, “I see you got a new scarf.”

Shouta snorted and jokingly gripped it closer to his body, “What, did you think that was my only one?” Chaos shrugged and sniffled under his helmet, was he crying.

“Oh, is your injury that bad?” Shouta panicked slightly, he should have spoken up before.

“Ah, no, it’s not that,” Chaos waved his hand weakly, “Just thinking about some things.”

Shouta hummed, “Yeah, I do that too sometimes.”

“I would hope so. You’re a hero after all.”

With a slight nervousness to his gesture, Shouta reached out and gently took the tensor bandage from Chaos’ shaking hand, “Can I help? Is that okay?” It was hard to tell since Shouta was unable to see the expression the vigilante wore, but his body language was quite clear.

This kid did not like being touched, nor did he want to be.

It was after a long stretch of silence that Chaos finally offered his burnt wrist to Shouta, just holding it out and letting the pro hero work quietly.

“Is there something bothering you?” Shouta mumbled, he had never been good with tears, “Do you want to tell me?” Chaos’ feet wiggled in his red shoes in a child-like action and his helmet tilted upwards a bit, “No.”

“Okay.” Shouta contemplated on whether or not he should continue to fill the silence, but Chaos beat him to it.

“My friends and I are learning a lot about your scarf.”

Shouta couldn’t help but let curiosity get the best of him for several reasons, mainly that Midoriya's family friend specified that Izuku had nowhere to go because he had no friends. Yet here, the suspected Izuku Midoriya spoke of his ‘friends’ with a fond tone.

“Yeah? Like what?” Shouta settled on, tucking the end of the tensor bandage into his singed sleeve.

“Like it uses DNA, which means you can alter its user,” Chaos explained, “With hairs. So we’re gonna fix it!”

“I’m surprised you figured that out on your own,” Shouta mumbled, and where would he get the tools for all this fine work? “There you are. All patched up.”

“Thank you,” Chaos whispered as he packed his bag up again, “Although I could have done it myself and- shit!”

Shouta panicked slightly, “What? What’s wrong?”

“I promised to get you coffee!” Chaos cried, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think of it and oh my god! I’ll get it to you I swear-”

“Problem Child, take a breath,” Shouta said gently, not missing the way Chaos flinched out of his reach when he tried to put his hands on his shoulders.

“No matter,” Chaos pulled his backpack on, “I’ll get you some coffee eventually, I swear!” The vigilante turned towards the fire escape and Shouta couldn’t help it, so he decided to take the leap.

“Are you Izuku Midoriya?”

There was a pause as Chaos balanced on the first step of the ladder, then tilted his head in a playful manner, “Now where would you get that idea, Shouta Aizawa? Or shall I say Shouta Yamada-Aizawa?”

No one knows they’re married.

“Don’t worry, our little secret! Guess I owe you for helping me out. Bye Eraser!” Chaos slid down the ladder and Shouta scratched the back of his neck, looking out to the night sky.

“What the fuck.”

Chapter Text

Izuku hunched over Mei, struggling to keep his clunky helmet out of the way.

He and Hitoshi have been arguing the past two weeks about whether or not they should reveal themselves to Mei. Don’t get Izuku wrong, it’s not that he doesn’t trust her! It’s that Hitoshi doesn’t realize the extent of his current situation, he’s literally a missing person and now he knows that heroes such as Eraserhead are after him.

“Ow!” Mei squeaked as she pin pricked her finger with the strange threading machine she was using.

“Okay, that’s the last hair!” Mei jumped up and down rapidly, “I followed the chemical pattern Chaos gave me, so you should have an equal amount of DNA in the scarf as Eraserhead. I would go over, but the hairs are very specifically woven in, meaning they had to follow certain distances and much.”

Hitoshi got up from the futon he had fallen asleep on and stretched his arms to the ceiling, “So it might wo- Why is it purple.”

“Lilac,” Izuku corrected in a matter of factly tone, “Don’t be distasteful in your knowledge of colours, Fluffy.”

Hitoshi flipped him off, “What was wrong with the white?”

“Well what’s wrong with the lilac?” Izuku pushed his bottom lip out under his helmet.

“It matches your little theme! You give off pu- I mean, lilac vibes, and not just because of your hair!” Mei pointed out and Hitoshi just stood there for a moment.

“What does that even mean?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Izuku interrupted and picked the scarf up off the work table, “Mei, ready for test 27?” Mei slipped on her goggles to properly record and Izuku whipped out his notebook, the two standing a good distance away so their feet wouldn’t be swept out from underneath them.

With a tired sigh, Hitoshi placed the scarf around his neck and waited for a moment, it usually began with the scarf writhing around and breaking something.

Nothing happened.

Izuku quirked an eyebrow up although no one could tell, but he was interested.

“Did you guys break it?” Hitoshi asked, until he stepped forward and the momentum of his step caused the scarf to jump a little. Mei sparked up, “Ou, do that again!”

“I don’t know what I did,” Hitoshi deadpanned, clearly growing more frustrated by the moment with the lack of control he had on the weapon.

An idea sparked in Izuku’s evil little mind and he slipped his shoe off, throwing it hard at Hitoshi. The purple haired boy stepped back and raised his arms to shield his face, but the impact never came. Instead, the scarf raised up in front of his body and took the brunt of the shoe, letting it fall to the ground.

“Ah!” Mei and Izuku screamed at once, “I think it’s a success, Chaos!” Hitoshi’s eyes were wide as the scarf orbited around his head, just like Eraserhead.

“You look dope as fuck!” Izuku pointed, “I can’t believe we did it! I’m definitely going to rub this into Eraser’s face tomorrow night.” Getting a little too confident, Izuku watched Hitoshi begin to move around far too quickly with the scarf, almost immediately getting tangled and falling to the ground with a whine.

“A for effort,” Mei hummed as she turned off a few of the machines, “To celebrate our success, let me run to my little emergency kitchen and whip us up something!” The pink haired girl skipped around the corner while Izuku helped his squirming friend on the ground untangle himself.

“That was just the first obstacle,” Izuku sighed, “We’re going to have to train even harder if we want you to be able to use the scarf to a decent extent for the exam.” Hitoshi nodded in agreement, while another evil idea popped into Izuku’s head.

“Eraserhead would be the perfect teacher, but we can’t get him for obvious reasons.”

Hitoshi groaned, “I hate when you start speaking in that tone. Means nothing but trouble.”

Izuku smirked, “The next best thing would be to see him in action, like a recording.”

Hitoshi tilted his head, “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”

“I know, because I’m fucking smart.”

“Don’t go getting a big head now.”

Mei came barreling back with a handful of something, flopping down onto the single futon but leaving enough space for the other two boys to take a seat as well. “For a very, very late dinner, may I present to you some strawberry pocky and vanilla yogurt!”

Izuku wandered over and his stomach growled, “Wow. This is better than what I eat most days.” Hitoshi frowned at that, but knew that the topic wasn’t a conversation for the present moment.

While the three ate in silence, Hitoshi looked over to the lilac scarf on the ground and let himself smile softly, “Now I have an actual chance.”

Mei’s eyebrows perked up, “To become a hero, right?”

Hitoshi and Izuku stayed silent.

“I mean, it only makes sense. Why else would you want a capture weapon!”

Hitoshi squirmed nervously, “Well, yeah. My quirk isn’t anything flashy, just um.” Izuku could tell his friend was nervous, but he also knew Mei was one of the most accepting people he’s ever met. When Izuku admitted he was quirkless, Mei didn’t give a single shit.

Not that Izuku really gave a shit anymore either.

“It’s brainwashing,” Izuku finished for him and Mei’s eyes lit up, “Woah, that’s a cool one!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Izuku shouted back and Hitoshi visibly relaxed, “Yeah. But it’s not very flashy and Izuku did some digging. Let’s just say I won’t be able to rely on my quirk for the thing I need to complete.”

Mei leaned back on her hands, “Ah, hero exam, isn’t it? I guessed you guys were around my age, but it’s difficult to tell without any facial visuals. So what hero school? I’m going too, but obviously into Support!”

Hitoshi bit his tongue, “I want to tell you, I really do. But if we go to the same school, I’m sure you’ll be able to pick me out easily.”

“I get that,” Mei said in a slightly deflated tone, “But I would never tell anyone. I swear! And, um, I don’t really make friends often, if we’re being honest! In fact, you guys are my only friends. We are friends, right?”

Izuku nodded immediately, “Of course we’re friends!”

“People don’t usually like me,” Mei nodded while rocking back and forth slightly, “So it makes me happy that we’re friends now!”

That was what cracked not just Izuku, but clearly Hitoshi as well.

Hitoshi puffed his chest out in slight anger, “Well, we like you, so screw everyone else.” Izuku nodded, “What he said!”

Mei’s smile grew bright and her eyes crinkled, “Good!”

Hitoshi drummed his fingers against his knees and he spoke in a nervous tone, “UA. That’s where I want to go, to become a pro hero.”

Mei’s hands shot up above her head, “Me too! Now at least neither of us have to go alone! What about you, Chaos?” Izuku waved his hands around, “Ah! School’s not for me, I’m happy with just being a vigilante.”

“I already tried to convince him, it’s no use,” Hitoshi grunted. There was a beat of silence, and Izuku gave Hitoshi the go ahead like he could read his mind.

“My name is Hitoshi Shinsou, by the way. You’ll find that out anyways, I guess.” Hitoshi made a move to take off the items that covered his face, but Mei hastily grabbed his wrists, “Wait, don’t take that off! Our lab has cameras and not that anyone really looks at the footage, but just to be careful.”

Izuku snorted and crossed his arms, “Oh, I disabled those bitches the second time we all met up.”

Mei just smiled and gave a few swift nods, “Oh, okay!”

“Still though,” Izuku stated, “Don’t reveal yourself here, not with all the windows and the chance of Mei’s mom finding us. Instead, Mei, why don’t you come to our next training session?”

Mei seemed in disbelief and Izuku continued before he could chicken out, “Dagobah beach at seven pm. We should be done our running and cleaning around that time and we can walk back to my warehouse where we practice combat.”

“Ah, Dagobah! I know that place. Before my mom actually let me have access to her materials, that’s where I used to get all my crap for my babies.”

Izuku clapped his hands together, “So we’ll meet you there tomorrow?”

Mei smiled with an excited expression, “I’ll be there!”

Mei made her way down to Dagobah beach with an obvious skip in her step, her bag of babies held tight to her chest. Mei’s never really had friends before and now she had not only one, but two that actually wanted to hang out with her!

Arriving at the beach, Mei immediately noted how it wasn’t as bad as it used to be, like someone has been cleaning it. Maybe the government finally decided to do something right.

Wait, Chaos said running and cleaning yesterday, does that mean they’re the ones doing all the work? Maybe she could help them too!

Mei waited by the rock, checking her watch far too often when neither Chaos nor Fluffy were in sight.

“Maybe they tricked me,” Mei mumbled, it wouldn’t be the first time after all. Kids used to do that all the time in elementary school until Mei stopped listening to them, not wanting to fall for their tricks or pranks anymore.

At five past seven, two figures finally emerged from the piles of trash, one clearly taller than the other with fluffy hair. Mei waved dramatically and jumped up and down, secretly feeling extremely relieved that her friends actually came.

It was strange, knowing they liked being around her, no one ever did. Even her own mom found her to be too much sometimes, although Mei can’t blame her, or anyone for that matter.

“Mei?” Fluffy called and Mei shouted back incoherent words, too excited to see them properly for the first time. Fluffy came into view first, he said his same was Hitoshi Shinsou, right? The boy had very dark bags under his eyes, that’s probably why he fell asleep so often on her crashing futon in the lab.

A smaller boy bounced up to his side, “Chaos?” The green haired boy nodded enthusiastically, his long curls catching in his eyelashes.

“I’m Izuku Midoriya!”

Mei didn’t want to say anything, even she understood manners, but this boy looked very, well, sick.

To be blunt.

His skin was a shade of grey and his dark circles were worse than Fluffy’s and her own combined. His figure was always hidden by the large clothing he wore, but today his scarred forearms were on display and although he clearly had muscle, he was also very thin.

Was that not a joke yesterday, the one he made when she brought the snacks out?

“Mei?” he spoke up and she shook her head, forcing another smile on her face, “Hitoshi and Izuku, got it! No need for formalities and family names, right?”

“I’d rather you call me Izuku anyways,” the greenette hummed, “I’ll show the way to my warehouse!”

It was oddly quiet on the way there, but Mei didn’t mind. She was busy trying to memorize the path Izuku was leading them down, they took a lot of odd turns and alleyways.

At one point, Mei even had to jump a fence.

“Welcome to La Casa de Izuku!” Izuku gestured to a large, rundown building in front of them.

“Is it even safe to go in there?” Mei cringed, noticing the droop of the large roof.

“Don’t worry, I already checked the support beams and they’re all intact. Mostly.”

Oh, fantastic. Wait, did Izuku say casa, as in house?

Mei scurried in after Hitoshi and immediately noticed the sleeping bag, the pile of clothing, a small pile of snacks and other random objects scattered in the far corner.

“You must spend a lot of time working here,” Mei hummed absentmindedly, but she can relate. The lab is practically her home at this point and it’s probably the same for Izuku and his warehouse!

As her eyes scanned the random objects, her quirk latched onto a rolled up piece of paper with a fancy red ribbon, she just couldn’t help herself. Reaching down, Mei pulled on one end of the ribbon and unfolded the paper, the word ‘diploma’ in a large, bubble font.

Hitoshi leaned over his shoulder and she heard him inhale a sharp breath, “You fucking beat me? How long did it take you?”

Izuku looked up from here he was knelt over his backpack and twirled a curl around his index finger in thought, “Two months and three weeks I believe.”

Hitoshi’s jaw nearly hit the ground and Mei just blinked, only a little confused. “How?” is all Hitoshi squeaked out.

“I don’t know!”

“Izuku, you finished an entire school year in under three months!”

“I told you I was smart!”

“I thought you were fucking bluffing you little shit!”

The two continued shouting over one another playfully and Mei smiled, she liked how loud they were. Around them, she felt like she could be loud too.

“Now show me some training!” Mei shouted in excitement, and so they did. It was insane watching the two practicing hand to hand combat, “It looks like you guys are doing a fancy dance!” The two of them were so practiced, even Mei’s sharp eyes struggled to keep up.

“Can I try the capture weapon again?” Hitoshi asked as Izuku paused, using an old shoe lace to tie his hair up.

“Stop!” Mei cringed, “Here, I have a hair tie you can use, you dirty child!” Izuku’s cheeks turned a little pink in embarrassment but accepted the elastic, pulling the longer pieces of his hair back into a messy, partly failed ponytail.

Hitoshi walked a little awkwardly with the foregin object around his neck, still getting used to the newly adjusted weight since Mei and Izuku found a way to cut its mass nearly in half. Izuku pulled out some rods and they got to work, ideas sparking in Mei’s mind as she mumbled out some of them into her recording device built into her watch.

There were so many things she could do for Chaos! Sure, Izuku alone is just fine, but with Mei’s babies he would be unstoppable!

Mei continued tinkering with the babies she brought with her as her friends trained until they couldn’t breathe. After Hitoshi got wrapped in his own weapon for the fifth time, the two tapped out and called it a day.

“I brought some snacks this time,” Hitoshi mumbled, the two taking a seat with Mei as he handed out some sort of energy bars.

“So, Izuku,” Mei began slowly, his green eyes immediately scanning her expression, “Your costume is still ugly.”

Izuku pressed his lips into a thin line and blinked slowly, “Thanks.” Mei chuckled, “But luckily you have me, and I can totally fix that!”

Izuku sat up a little straighter, “Well, but, I can’t pay you.”

“We’re a team now, no payment necessary my friend.”

“I couldn’t possibly-”

“Izuku. Please. You obviously spend a lot of time here and work hard, so-”

“That’s because this is where I live!”

Mei froze in the middle of her sentence with her mouth still hanging open, Izuku wasn’t telling a joke. “Alone?” Mei couldn’t help the sad tone that escaped her lips, because no one deserved to be alone.

“Um, yes? I don’t mind though, I like being alone!”

Mei’s shoulders slumped, “Well I usually sleep in my lab, so if you ever want some company, you’re welcome to stay over any time! That goes for you too, Hitoshi.” Before Izuku could protest yet again, Mei continued with her tiny pitch, “Come on! You tell me whatever you want your costume to be and I can do it! Anything!”

Mei thought the small boy would argue with her again, not that she would be the one to lose, but then he froze with his index finger up.

“Anything?”

Hitoshi’s eyes went wide, “It’s the tone again.”

Izuku smiled slowly and took another bite from his energy bar, “Alright then, you’ve got me there. I guess our pair has officially upgraded to a trio!”

Hitoshi exhaled slowly, “Oh thank god. I was scared you were gonna say threesome for a quick second.”

“I would never!” Izuku shouted back, but Mei’s heard his dirty jokes, "You definitely would."

The three sat and watched the sun go down outside a window above, when Izuku suddenly gasped. “Guys, let me show you what I learned last night from Mindbuster!”

Mei and Hitoshi tilted their heads at the same time, “Mindbuster?”

Izuku stood up and cracked his knuckles, “Oh yeah, they’re another underground hero I usually work with. Okay, so their quirk is mind reading so they have to be very fast with combat, and look at what they taught me.”

Before herself or Hitoshi had the chance to ask another question, Izuku chopped the back of Hitoshi’s neck and the tall boy slumped over immediately, out cold.

Izuku threw his hands in the air, “Pressure points!”

Mei crouched down and looked at an unconscious Hitoshi, then back up to Izuku, “How long will he be out for?”

Izuku’s hands dropped right away and he rocked on his heels, “I actually… uh… I don’t know. He’s not dead though so he’ll wake up! He could use the sleep anyways.”

Mei smiled fondly and shook her head.

Ah yes, Chaos.

“Eraser!”

Shouta looked down from the rooftop he paused on and saw a little figure waving from down below, then making a grabbing motion with his free hand. It seems this was Chaos’ new favourite thing to do, he did it nearly every night they ran into one another.

Shouta sighed and crouched at the edge of the building, letting his scarf stretch down as far as it could go.

The building was a little taller than he calculated and Shouta thought the kid would have to climb the fire escape, but the vigilante suddenly took a running jump and kicked off the wall, one hand slapping onto the scarf and curling around it.

Shouta was so surprised the kid jumped that high he nearly lost his balance and tumbled over the edge, even with his small weight. Ever since this little game of Rapunzel started, Shouta couldn’t help but worry how easy it was to pull Chaos’ up, he was so light.

“Hi!” the kid squeaked again once he was set up on the top, “I brought you something!” In his other hand, Chaos held out a take out cup of some sort, pushing it into Shouta’s chest.

“Just what I promised, one large black coffee!”

Shouta accepted the warm drink and brought it to his nose, “How did you know I liked my coffee black?”

Chaos shrugged, “Lucky guess. You seem like the type.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t be offended!” Chaos laughed and turned, “I like my coffee black too.”

Shouta hummed and took a sip, fuck, it was good. Like, really good. Chaos waited with him and sat on the edge, letting his red sneakers swing back and forth.

“Figured out the capture scarf the other day.”

Shouta quirked an eyebrow and sat next to him, removing his goggles.

“Got some new hair woven in and it works with its new owner, so thank you. It made them very happy.”

Wait, them?

“The scarf wasn’t for you?”

“Of course not,” the kid said, clearly smiling under his helmet, “I wouldn’t do something selfish like that. I only steal necessities. Actually, I'd rather use the term borrow.”

Shouta frowned, “Stealing? That’s not very heroic.”

“And I’m not a hero.” Chaos’ atmosphere suddenly grew angry, “Do you have a problem with me needing to fucking feed myself?”

Shouta found himself leaning away slightly, this kid really knew how to give off a killing aura. Instead of responding, he reached into his jumpsuit pocket and pulled out an extra juice pack he had on him and held it out, “Here. Eat please.”

Chaos didn’t move at first, but then slowly accepted the pack and Shouta didn’t miss the way his hand was trembling ever so slightly.

“So, how’s your wrist?”

The kid looked down to where his previous wound was, “All healed now.”

“Good.”

There was another pause and Shouta continued, “You're that kid’s hero, you know. Wouldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Whatever,” Chaos mumbled, “Just glad the kid got back with his mom again.” Shouta stopped, “Hah? How’d you know that?” He didn’t answer.

“Well!” Chaos said as he finished off the juice pack, “Gotta get back to clearing the streets, am I right?” Shouta hummed and slipped his goggles back on, the kid was right.

“By the way,” Chaos called while Shouta lowered him to the ground, “I’ll have a new costume within the next week, I think it’s gonna be awesome!” Shouta couldn’t help but smile at the kid’s genuine excitement, he never really got to see his kid happy.

The.

The kid.

“And where are you getting it from?”

“A friend!”

Shouta snorted and watched the kid turn and jog away below, “Bye dad!” Chaos stumbled over his own feet and slapped a hand onto his visor, then quickly scurrying away.

Shouta’s face burned as he just stared at his nearly finished coffee and audibly swallowed.

Dad?

Chapter Text

“I still can’t believe I called him dad.”

Mei cackled dramatically and set a large briefcase down as she entered the warehouse, “Quit whining about it! It was like, a week ago, he’ll probably forget.”

“I doubt that,” Hitoshi called.

“You shut it, you’ve got no room to talk!” Izuku turned and pointed at his friend, who was currently trying to unknot himself from his capture weapon. It’s been a week and Hitoshi can usually keep it under control at the bare minimum, however he gets caught or trips himself several times a session.

But hey, progress is progress!

Izuku watched Mei curiously, she always brought new little objects to play around with while he trained with Hitoshi, although she had never brought a briefcase that big.

“Help me! I’m stuck!” Hitoshi screeched and Izuku just flipped him off, currently preoccupied with what Mei was showing him. “Is that my new costume?”

Mei jumped up and down and threw her hands around, “Yes! I I added the things you wanted, but they’re, uh, interesting choices.”

“You said to add some personality, so I gave it some flare,” Izuku winked. Mei jogged over and helped free Hitoshi while Izuku moved to a more secluded area so he could change and oh boy, was this costume perfect.

Fucking amazing.

Mei’s eyes tracked him with a bright sparkle as he returned, a wide smile on her face, “How do ya feel, Izu?”

Izuku looked at his reflection in the window and smiled. He asked for the same design for a mouthguard like his helmet, the grey metal etched with diagonal red lines to make them look like sharp teeth.

The red boots went up past his knees, decorated with dark green and greyish armour. Following Mindbuster, he moved his red utility belts to wrap around his upper thighs, those alone were able to carry seven knives each, so fourteen in total.

His dark green shirt matched his shorts and he had more armour on his chest, the same colour as the ones on his boots. The chest piece had small, secure loops that even more daggers could attach to, carrying six more.

There were patches on his shoulder where his backpack straps attached to, it would ensure it stayed in its proper place. He had dark green padding on his elbows and yet with all that, his favourite part were the fishnets he wore between where his boots ended and his shorts began.

They didn’t really add anything, but sometimes fashion statements are necessary.

“Izuku?” Mei brought him back from his thoughts and he just smiled, “I look fucking great.” Hitoshi nodded in approval, but then held up a finger and added, “You look like a homosexual hooker.”

Izuku snorted, “Why thank you, that’s exactly what I was going for, but I think you mean pansexual.”

Mei hummed, “Pan? Should’ve gone for a Peter Pan theme then, could’ve been your vigilante name.”

Hitoshi continued, “You’re green and everything.”

“Like a little christmas slut.”

“Slutty Santa.”

“Mrs. Clause is gonna be drooling everywhere.”

“She’ll have to fend off the other elv-”

“Would you two bitch ass motherfuckers shut the hell up? I look hot!” Izuku finally snapped.

“Yeah, because that’s your number one concern as a vigilante. Thigh highs, fishnets and booty shorts,” Hitoshi deadpanned.

“Yes, you’re right. Villains will get one look at this ass and they’ll drop to their knees, praying to my ass like the God it is.”

“Izu, you’ve got muscle, don’t get me wrong,” Mei struggled to hold her laugh down, “But you’re just bones. You’re ass is a cute, tiny little thing. Maybe villains will want to give it a little pinch like grandmas do to their grandchildren.”

Hitoshi lost it and Izuku groaned, “You guys suck.”

“Now let me explain the babies I’ve added!”

Izuku struggled to keep up with everything Mei was spewing out, “I’ll need a pamphlet.”

“Shut up and listen!” Mei pushed him playfully, “As I was saying, you asked for speakers for some unknown reason, but of course I delivered! So the knee padding here, built into the boots, they’re also speakers! They have a high memory drive so you can just download music straight into your shoes!”

Hitoshi blinked, “Alright that’s pretty cool.”

“Right! Speaking of shoes, the bottoms give you a little height but the real purpose is that they’re shock absorbing material, so it’ll put less strain on your knees and you’ll get around quieter.”

Mei stood up and pointed to his elbows, “Same thing, it’ll help with muscle strain since throwing knives is kind of your thing. The backpack is tear proof and bullet proof with a lot of pockets that you can organize however you want.”

She reached into the briefcase and pulled out two iron rods, “You guys really can’t tell my mom I made these, she might kill me. They attach to the sides of your backpack here. This button gives it an electrical charge and the yellow dial controls the currents. This switch extends a blade at the top and the blue dial controls how long it is. The rods themselves can also be put into a compact form or extended form, up to two feet.”

Mei explained while she demonstrated everything she was saying, “And they attach to make one large rod, like so! Okay, and you mutter all the time so there’s three buttons on the side of your helmet and I made them textured. The smooth one disables the other ones, except for the camera. The bumpy one makes it soundproof, then the fluffy one is like a megaphone.”

“Finally, the switch beneath the jaw turns the camera on and off. The mask will vibrate slightly when you turn it on, then twice when you turn it off.”

Izuku turned the soundproof on and spoke, the others clearly not hearing him. “This is so cool,” Izuku whispered as he put the mask back to normal, “Thank you Mei. Seriously, wow.”

“Anything for you! And you too, Hitoshi!”

Hitoshi smiled, “You know what, the costume is already growing on me. It suits you somehow. But Izuku, you’re entire fucking face is visible.”

Izuku knew that, he told Mei he didn’t want a helmet anymore.

“I know,” he began carefully, “But… that doesn’t matter. The only hero after me is Eraserhead, but he could have easily brought me in already if he wanted too. I don’t want to hide, but they won’t catch me. They’ll need physical proof, first.”

Mei snorted, “You’re really getting comfortable out there, aren’t ‘ya? Testing the waters now?”

Izuku began laughing at first, but it then faded into more of an awkward sound, Mei and Hitoshi falling silent and sharing concerned looks. Izuku’s eyes suddenly became glossed over as if he were looking into a void, his pupils growing small.

“I don’t really care if they catch me now. What are they gonna do? Tell my mom? Toss me into prison and put a roof over my head and feed me actual food? Provide me a free place to stay? Oh, boo fucking hoo.”

Izuku knew Hitoshi explained everything to Mei, but it seemed that wasn’t enough to spare her of the horror she must have been feeling, based on the expression she was openly wearing. The atmosphere grew tense and thick, Mei had begun to rock back and forth anxiously while Izuku continued staring off into nothingness.

“You need a haircut,” Hitoshi spoke up, trying his best to break the silence.

Yeah, that didn’t help.

“My dad used to beat me when my hair got too long because he said he didn’t want a twink as a son. Didn’t know what that meant at the time, now I’m doubting he had a fire quirk. Maybe it was reading the future or something.”

Mei slapped a hand over her mouth and turned around, Izuku now feeling guilty for making such a dark joke that clearly made his friend uncomfortable. It was silent again and Izuku kept himself busy by playing with the fabric of his fishnets, he knew he should say something, maybe be fucking serious for once.

Although the long hair and dad thing, he was being serious.

“Um, but. I’ve been growing my hair because I guess I wanted to try something new? I like it, is it that bad?” Izuku asked quietly.

Luckily that was the right thing to say as Mei smiled wide and shook her head, “No, I like it! But I really have to teach you to style it, you can barely do a ponytail.” Izuku chuckled and tucked his hair beside his ears, some strands catching on the corners of his mouthguard.

Izuku began his routine stretches while making small talk with his other two friends, Mei trying to help Hitoshi with his capture weapon.

The vigilante tried not to think about it, but it was nerve wracking knowing his scars were visible. The ones on his forearms, his thighs, his midriff which put the largest burn mark on display. Last time Izuku lashed out on Hitoshi when he brought it up, so this time he opted on taking a few deep breaths and closing his eyes.

Everything was fine.

Izuku loved the mixed feelings the other underground heroes emitted about his new costume, he knew it confused them.

Only a little.

The first week was the best because it was clear the heroes thought he was pulling some sort of twisted prank, mainly because he kept saying he was twelve years old.

Is that joke a little too inappropriate? Too bad.

Mindbuster loved it immediately, they kept talking about how underground heroes needed a little more personality to their costumes, and Izuku never corrected them on the term of ‘underground hero’. Star was a little put off at first, but tried not to let it show and complimented him anyways. Shadow said nothing as usual, he was always quiet when they worked together on patrol, it’s one of the reasons Izuku enjoyed his company so much.

Eraserhead though, oh man was that shit funny!

“What are you wearing?” Eraserhead asked as he pulled Izuku up the side of a building, the vigilante happily swinging his legs back and forth.

He removed his yellow goggles and pinched the bridge of his nose, blank eyes examining Izuku from head to toe. His eyes slimmed on his face and Izuku felt himself getting warm out of anxiety and embarrassment, but forced himself to stay still.

Squirming would be suspicious.

“What?” Izuku asked innocently, placing his fists on his hips. Eraserhead opened his mouth and closed it again for a moment, then crossed his arms, “Aren’t you fourteen?”

“No,” Izuku scoffed, “I’m twelve.”

Eraserhead obviously didn’t buy that, but didn’t push on it either.

“What? You don’t approve?” Izuku raised his eyebrows, not that he really cared for other opinions, of course.

“It’s unique,” the hero hesitated, “But if you’re comfortable in it, then who am I to judge.”

“You can’t judge either way, you look like a walking trash bag.”

Eraserhead rolled his eyes, “Keep that attitude up and next time I’ll drop you,” he pointed to his scarf and the side of the building.

Izuku pretended to be offended, “You would never! Besides, I could just do that myself! Not like I’ve never nearly done it before!”

Oops.

“What?”

Izuku cringed, “What?” The greenette laughed nervously and silently accepted the juice pouch Eraserhead shoved into his hands, the silence awkward once again.

And you know what, Izuku would dare say things are better now! Not great, not amazing, but they definitely weren’t any worse and Izuku was quite content.

The new knives Mei and he constructed were so much better than the ones he borrowed from nearby hero agencies and the ones he found at Dagobah beach! The rods did way more damage compared to his old ones and the option of soundproofing his mask was a lifesaver, he was free to mutter whenever he needed.

Izuku’s also been able to provide a few recordings of Eraserhead in action for Hitoshi, which were already coming in handy. During their training, Izuku and Hitoshi have also been teaching Mei some self defense and man, she was fucking scary and packed a mean punch.

So maybe everything was fine now. Not, good, not bad, but fine. It’s all fine.

Until it’s not.

Izuku’s day had been on the rougher side of the sun today. He knew the subtle snacks Hitoshi and Mei were casually sharing with him were of concern, valid concern that is. Izuku can’t remeber the last time he was this small and he was a tiny fucking kid!

Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t close to death by any means, but he wasn’t healthy either and that much was obvious to anyone with a pair of semi-functioning eyes. No matter, Izuku had some Chaos things to do.

Despite the lightheadedness and exhaustion, the vigilante was busy chasing the latest villain through some side streets, she had escaped him the past three nights. She had been going around and simply injuring vulnerable people for fun, such as children and the elderly.

Wasn’t that ageist or something?

Izuku also hasn’t had the chance to analyze her quirk yet, because she hasn’t used one. Is it possible she’s quirkless?

Probably not.

Izuku finally chased her into a dead end alley and stood tall in the only exit, clearing his throat as the woman turned around at the disturbance.

“Awe, a victim?” she giggled in a shrill voice, “You chased me all the way here just to have a chance!”

Izuku lunged and his fist met the woman’s torso immediately, “What’s your name?”

“You can call me,” the villain paused as she kicked the side of Izuku’s face hard, knocking his mouthguard loose, “Repetition.” Izuku stumbled back and wiped the blood that drizzled from his ear caused by the impact.

Izuku bared his teeth in annoyance and nearly hissed, “Come now, this is no way to solve problems, now is it?” Izuku charged his rods up to the lowest setting, the small sparks lighting up his expression a little more.

“You’re one to talk. Chaos, correct?” Repetition snorted, “We’re not so different, you and I.” She pulled out two butcher knives and pointed one in Izuku’s direction, “We just understand how twisted society is.”

Izuku frowned, “I think we have different values here, Repetition.”

She took a swing with her knife and Izuku ducked just in time, rotating his other arm to knock her wrist back, then kicked her torso and caused her to stumble.

“Perhaps,” she smiled, “But we both exist to make blood spill, you can’t tell me I’m wrong.”

“You're wrong,” Izuku deadpanned, subtly pulling a dagger from his chest piece and throwing it, catching the woman’s right hip. She briefly shouted in pain, but it then became a laugh, “I assume you haven’t figured out my quirk yet, have you? I’ll get you started, it’s called Audible Incision.”

Izuku grimaced, was this low life villain patronizing him? How rude.

“A part of my quirk allows me to pick apart your memories and past by emotion and wow, you really want to tell me you’re not filled with bloodlust? Just like me?”

How could her quirk be applicable and defeat Izuku in this moment? He didn’t have much time, he needed to find a weakness in Repetition if he wanted to make it out of this alleyway victorious.

Izuku lunged and decided to take a risk, moving the electrical charge of his rods up to four, yet was blinded by his own haste. Repetition ducked under his weapons and tackled his torso, knocking him to the ground hard and his mind became hazy.

Was this her quirk?

No, Izuku should’ve eaten more today, maybe then he would be thinking straight instead of how hungry and tired he was.

“I might not be able to see your memories, but I can hear them and play both the audio and video for you. Like a movie, isn’t that fun?”

Her voice was distant and Izuku tried to blink, but his sight was foggy. He blinked hard and suddenly he was no longer in that alleyway, yet he was watching himself from above.

His four year old self.

“Where’d mommy go?”

The man with black hair loomed over him, “Mommy has to work now, little Zuku. Because we need more money to pay the medical bills. The medical bills that were caused by you.”

Izuku’s nose scrunched in thought, “Because of the visits to the doctors?”

“So smart,” the tall man hissed and bent down, “Too bad your fucking quirkless.”

“Papa?” Izuku squeaked nervously, not understanding why his father was wearing such a dangerous expression. Hizashi grabbed a fistful of his green curls and pulled him right off the couch as Izuku wailed, “Papa that hurts! Careful!”

“Don’t talk back!” Hizashi screamed and Izuku’s eyes went wide. Papa has yelled before, like when Izuku accidentally broke a vase while playing heroes with Kacchan, but he’s never yelled like this

He’s never hurt Izuku except for the odd spank on his bottom here and there, which never really hurt that bad.

Izuku began to cry freely as Hizashi threw him to the ground, “Shut up! My god, do you ever stop crying? Stop god damnit!”

Izuku slammed his hands over his mouth and nose to stifle the whimpers, but he couldn’t help it. He was scared.

“Please!” Izuku tried again while his father guzzled down whatever remained in the bottle he was drinking and he breathed out a puff of smoke.

“Quirkless,” he chuckled, “No son of mine will be quirkless. You’re not my son.” Izuku’s eyes went wide as he felt like a piece of his heart cracked, why was papa saying these things?

“But papa, I am your-”

Izuku was cut off by a deafening shatter as glass rained down, his scalp throbbing from the impact where Hizashi smashed the glass bottle over the top of his head.

“Don’t fucking talk back!”

Izuku shrieked in pure fear and started calling out for his mom over and over and over again, stumbling to his feet and scrambling towards the apartment door. Too bad his legs were that much shorter than his fathers.

Hizashi grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him back down, his nose cracking against the hardwood floor as some blood spewed out. Surely a neighbour would hear, right? They would come help, right?

No. No one ever helped.

There was a pressure around his neck as he was picked up off the ground, his legs kicking back and forth as he fought for air. Hizashi looked at him with a blank expression and then smiled, “I hate you, little Zuku.”

Fire spewed from his grin and Izuku tried to scream, but no noise came out. He’s never felt pain like this, as heat spread up his skin, his All Might shirt simply melting away.

“Tell your mother and I’ll do the same to her,” Izuku remembered papa saying as he roughly bandaged up his entire torso, then tossing him into his room.

Izuku didn’t want to cause more trouble, so he didn’t tell him mom. He never did until she found out the hard way.

Izuku felt like he couldn’t breathe as his entire body shook, he didn’t even see it coming. He didn’t see the butcher knife slash across his face as blood immediately spilled past his lips, dripping down his mouthguard that hung loosely around his neck.

In a panic, Izuku reached for his rod that had clattered to the ground, but the woman was faster as a sharp sting impaled his lower abdomen, knocking out whatever wind remained in his lungs. He heard Repetition laugh as she slipped away from his grasp once again.

Izuku failed again.

Oh shit, he was really dizzy now.

And his blood was everywhere, that was supposed to be inside him, not on the pavement and staining his clothing! Izuku fumbled his phone out of the pocket of his short and struggled to find his location, he couldn’t barely read the stupid words on the stupid screen.

And he just threw up.

Fucking great.

What the fuck was he even throwing up? The fucking piece of bread he had eight hours ago? Ah, it tastes like iron.

Izuku stared at the screen a little longer as his brain finally took over, heading to the only address Izuku was aware of that was nearby, just a few streets down.

He stumbled silently to the apartment and almost fell down the fire escape several times until he reached the seventh floor window, picking the lock of the window and stumbling in.

He didn’t want to die like this.

Izuku had to help Hitoshi become a hero first.

Izuku can’t die yet.

Chapter Text

Mitsuki wouldn’t say she was anxious about her son, but she was more intrigued and confused.

Katsuki had been so hateful towards the idea of therapy, after the first session he threw a temper tantrum like a toddler for the love of Kami! Mitsuki nearly gave up, she couldn’t force her kid to do something he was so adamant about not doing, yet Katuski got back in the car the following week for his session.

And the next week.

And the week after that.

Mitsuki really couldn’t tell if her son was getting better or worse, but his therapist, a lovely woman named Suki, she said to expect this. To expect strange changes, but it was still scary for a mother, not completely understanding what was going on with their child.

Katsuki’s drawn back from his friends, he never really went to the arcade anymore and was always home right after school. At the same time, he’s been lashing out more at home, shouting and screaming but now, there was no more violence.

Before therapy, Katsuki’s form of lashing out was punching walls, blowing the Bakugou’s shit up, throwing breakable objects just to hear them shatter and taking his anger out physically.

Now, it wasn’t only shouting, but he actually shouted why he was angry, and that was something new.

“Katsuki Bakugou! I’ve told you several times to change the laundry! Don’t make me do it again!” Katsuki stood up harshly from the desk in his room and Mitsuki watched from the doorway, Masaru peering over her shoulder.

“Would you shut up, you old hag! For once! You’ve been frustrating me today because I’m trying to do my fucking homework and I’m already overwhelmed! Our stupid school year is almost done and those teacher extras are throwing work at us!”

Katsuki paused and shoved a piece of paper in Mitsuki’s face, ‘To-Do List’ shakily written at the top. “See? I have a lot of fucking stuff to do and you’re making it difficult for me!”

Mitsuki was shocked, had her child actually told her what was wrong instead of ripping his door off its hinges? Katsuki ran a hand through his hair and exhaled impatiently, so Mitsuki just breathed out, “Okay Kat. I didn’t realize how busy you were. Could you change the laundry after dinner then?”

Katsuki didn’t respond, but she watched him turn around, pick up a pen and scribble something down on his list without complaints, then sat back down.

After dinner when Mitsuki checked the laundry room, a fresh load was in the dryer, the wet clothes were pinned up and dry clothes were folded. Mitsuki cracked his door open to see her boy sleeping quietly in his room, his arms wrapped aggressively around a pillow pressed against his chest.

Maybe things were getting better.

Another prominent thing Mitsuki has noted was that Katsuki finally stopped talking about seeing Izuku. After the whole villain attack, twice a week Katsuki would rush home, spewing about seeing Izuku again, but of course he was just under stress.

After his fourth therapy session, Katsuki finally let it go and actually asked to have two sessions a week instead of the one. Of course Mitsuki and Masaru agreed, they knew it was urgent because their boy never asks for help.

Even with improvement, things like this are never linear, and Mitsuki would know. It took her a year to get off cigarettes, after all.

They buried Inko last week, they couldn’t put it off any longer.

Katsuki had gotten angry, repeating over and over again in a harsh voice that they had to wait for Izuku to come home first, but they couldn’t since no one knew where he was.

Katsuki finally accepted defeat and he attended the service in silence, Mitsuki remembered being grateful it didn’t rain. She also remembered hoping Izuku would somehow show up, but even luck couldn’t bring them something that great.

It was small, but peaceful.

Inko would have liked it, if only her son could have been there safe and sound.

Everything went as well as a funeral can go, until Katsuki started crying mutely. When Katsuki started crying, Masaru started crying which caused Mitsuki to cry, like some sort of chain reaction.

Mitsuki can’t remember the last time she saw Katsuki cry like this, large tears rolling down his pink cheeks from his bloodshot eyes.

He looked so much older than he did a few months ago.

The guests cleared out and it just left the Bakugou’s, Mitsuki and Masaru both saying something brief to the stone carved grave that simply read ‘Inko Midoriya, loving mother and dear friend’. When they were finished, Mitsuki asked Katsuki if he was ready to leave.

He said no.

He asked them to wait a further while away and they did, walking a few rows down and taking a seat on an old black bench, simply dwelling in their thoughts. The only sound Mitsuki could hear was the murmuring coming from her boy, who was sitting cross legged at the end of the grave.

Katsuki gently twisted some grass blades between his fingers as an anxious movement, but his words were lost to the wind. Mitsuki still wonders what he said within those two hours, but neither her nor Masaru dared interrupt him.

When they got home, something in Katsuki snapped and he blew their kitchen table in half, then punched a hole through their wall. He threw one plate and swore loudly as he marched to his room, changing out of his suit and taking off out the front door in his workout clothing and earbuds.

Mitsuki decided not to shout at him and instead cleaned with the soft tune of her husband humming, she didn’t mind this time.

Because Katsuki was doing his best, and healing wasn’t linear.

Now, Mitsuki turned the car engine off and removed the keys, leaning against the headrest to shut her eyes for a brief moment.

Masaru was kind enough to work late today so she could head home for a bath, so in return she would make dinner tonight. Mitsuki ran a hair through her spikes and grabbed her briefcase, climbing out of the car and dusting off her navy pants with yet another sigh.

“Kat, I’m home!” she called gently as she stepped into her home, shutting the door gently behind her as she kicked off her shoes, toeing them carefully into their proper position.

“Kat?” Mitsuki called again, heading towards the kitchen. She received a grunt in return from the living room, the sound of something being hit gently over and over again finally reaching her ears.

Peering around the corner, Mitsuki caught sight of Katsuki standing atop a step ladder wearing a pink headband to keep his hair from his eyes, sporting a focused expression on his face. He leaned on the edge of the fireplace and Mitsuki tried to see what was going on, but his body was blocking the task.

“Whatcha doin’, Kat?”

The hammer paused but Katsuki didn’t turn around, “Nothing.”

Mitsuki didn’t want to push, not when Katsuki’s tone was clearly a warning. Mitsuki hummed and opted to make some tea for herself and Katsuki instead, boiling some water in the kitchen and scrolling through her phone at the kitchen table.

Five minutes later, a chair scraped against the hardwood floor and Katsuki flopped down, setting his chin on his folded arms as he watched his mom prepare the tea.

“Here you are,” Mitsuki said softly as she placed the warm mug of tea in front of him and his red eyes scanned the drink as he inhaled deeply, “Green?”

“You betcha.”

Katsuki nodded his head and the two fell into a comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to fill it. The blonde boy finished the last of his drink and slid the mug next to the sink, “I’m going on a run.”

“Alright, don’t be too long.”

The door shut quietly and Mitsuki stood, cracking her back several times as she grabbed some paperwork to fill out and headed to the living room. She fell back onto the couch and rested her socked feet on the coffee table, looking above the fireplace and causing her pen to slip from her fingertips.

There hung above was a framed photo of Masaru, Mitsuki and Inko with little Katsuki and Izuku, they couldn’t have been older than three, both wearing their matching All Might onesies.

The memory came to Mitsuki immediately, they had all gone for a picnic to celebrate Izuku’s birthday, because apparently the kid only wanted to hang out with Mom, Papa, Auntie, Uncle and his Kacchan.

The photo was enlarged in a simple black frame and tears came to Mitsuki’s eyes.

She didn’t even know Katsuki kept that picture.

Izuku panted on the floor for a moment, trying to remember where he was. He rolled onto his back and looked through the dark apartment, staring at the blood smeared on the window.

Right, his blood.

Izuku took a deep breath to clear his mind because if he was unable to do that, things weren’t going to end well in his favour. With several moments of struggle, Izuku was able to clamber to his feet and he grabbed onto the back of a grey couch for dear life, doing everything in his power to ignore the bile rising in his throat.

He clicked the back of his mouthguard and it slipped from where it hung around his neck, clattering to the cold floor in the puddle of his own blood. Izuku slid off his elbow padding and unclipped his backpack straps from his shoulders, then unzipping his shirt and peeling it off.

His boots were more of a problem as several minutes passed by until he was finally able to slip out of them, followed by his fishnets and socks. His utility straps fell with a loud thunk and Izuku ended by removing his shorts, now standing nearly stark naked save for his boxers.

This was humiliating, thank god no one was home and-

A meow caught him off guard. Izuku blinked down to the white kitten on the kitchen countertop, their tail swinging back and forth in curiosity.

“Don’t tell on me,” Izuku slurred while pointing to the kitten, “‘M fine. I don’t need help.”

Izuku completely forgot about his blood soaked uniform and disappeared down the dark hallway, locating the bathroom and turning the light on, flinching from the brightness.

He avoided looking in the mirror and instead crouched down to the cabinets under the sink, helping himself to the large red bag he spotted. Izuku washed his hands and sat down on the closed toilet seat, digging through the bag to see what he could scrap together.

He found a sanitized rag and applied pressure to the wound on his face, using his free hand to continue looking. Izuku was able to locate some medical needles and thread, but one look at the wound on his abdomen had him nearly vomiting the rest of his insides, so that option was thrown out the window real quick.

He settled on some thick gauze and slapped it onto his wound with a little more force than necessary, biting down on his tongue to keep himself from shouting out.

Izuku applied a horrible tape job to keep the gauze over the wound and leaned over towards the bathtub tap, turning the knob and pulling a tab until the water came from the shower nozzle instead.

He’d rather not bathe in blood, thank you very much.

Izuku stepped into the tub with shaky legs and couldn’t even muster enough energy to shutter under the cold shower, so he instead stood there without complaints until the water warmed up itself.

“It’s fine,” Izuku mumbled as he watched his own blood swirl around the drain.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

It wasn’t fine, because minutes later Izuku found himself sitting down under the stream of water with his knees pulled to his chest, his blood still flowing down the drain. Good thing the water was hitting his face, because one might have thought he was crying.

But he wasn’t crying, because only a useless Deku would cry.

Yet Izuku did cry, he cried until there were no tears left because he knew that’s what he was and that’s all he’ll ever be.

A stupid, useless, crybaby Deku.

Shouta had a long night. Well, morning technically.

And stopping by Hizashi’s radio station was only making said night longer as he spoke much too loudly for three in the morning, his arms flapping in excitement while he recounted a story.

Shouta sulked up the stairs and Hizashi skipped after him, only pausing once when he let out a yawn, stretching his lanky arms above his head and cracking his back.

“I’m sleepy,” the blonde whined like a child as Shouta fiddled with his key, struggling to get it into the door knob.

“Maybe you should stop taking night shifts then,” he responded quietly, pushing the door open while looking back at his husband.

“You’re one to talk,” Hizashi pointed a finger at Shouta’s nose and strut past dramatically, flipping his hair over his shoulder. Shouta snorted and followed him in, turning back around and re-locking the door again.

“Hey, Zashi,” he mumbled while shoving the key back into his pocket, but he received no response.

Did Hizashi fall asleep standing up again?

“Hizashi,” Shouta repeated louder and turned, the man in question frozen in place staring at the kitchen counter. The kitchen counter that was currently littered in bloody paw prints, the blood-stained white kitten sitting there with a guilty demeanour.

Shouta stepped in front of Hizashi and activated his quirk, gripping onto his capture weapon and prepared for a fight.

“There,” Hizashi whispered and pointed to the window, the glass pane smeared in blood along with a pile of clothing, the colour difficult to make out caused by the red liquid it was drenched in. There was another bloody handprint on the back of their couch and a thick puddle below, the trail disappearing down the hall towards their bedroom and bathroom.

It was for the first time Shouta noticed the sound of running water, how had he not noted that before?

“Someone’s in the shower,” he murmured and as if on cue, the stream abruptly cut off.

“Maybe it’s Nemuri?” Hizashi tried, but Shouta shook his head, “She doesn’t do night patrols. Besides, she’s smart enough to go to an actual hospital, judging by all this blood.”

The bathroom door creaked open and allowed the smallest source of light to mist over the darkness of the hallway, some steam billowing out as well. Shouta and Hizashi shared a quick glance, then both got into a fighting position as the sound of footsteps grew closer.

The bathroom light shut off and put the apartment back into darkness once again, a small figure with a towel around their waist approaching, head hung low.

Hizashi slammed on the light switch and the figure yelped, green eyes shooting up and glancing around the room in a frantic motion, stopping on Shouta’s. Green.

“Chaos?”

The boy stood still as if he thought he might disappear if he were lucky, but of course that was impossible. A red rag, once presumably white, was pressed against the lower half of his face and a bloodied bandage was poorly taped to his abdomen, his tiny legs shaking in exhaustion, maybe even fear.

“Uh, wrong apartment?” Chaos sniffled, should Shouta even see him as Chaos anymore? This was clearly- no, not the time.

“What the hell happened, Midoriya?”

Whoops. That slipped out.

The boy flinched at the name and the trembling of his hands increased, but refused to confirm or deny his identity.

“Borrowed your shower,” he spoke in a quiet, monotone voice, his eyes crossing as he watched some blood drip from the tip of his nose.

Hizashi squeaked, “You’re bleeding!”

Chaos- Midoriya? The kid blinked, “Yeah. No shit.”

“Get the first aid kit, Hizashi,” Shouta took over in a calm tone, although that’s not how he really felt.

“What happened?” he repeated again as Hizashi scampered down the hall. The kid just shook his head and looked away, Shouta noticing how red his eyes are.

“Kid, I need an answer. What happened? How badly are you injured? If we need a hospital-”

“No hospital!” he shouted with a pinched, angry expression, “No fucking hospital, understood?”

Shouta knew mood swings like this couldn’t be healthy, yet Chaos always did this. His emotions were a wildcard.

“Understood,” Shouta hesitated, because he knew if a hospital was necessary he would wrangle the kid there himself.

Hizashi returned and pulled a chair from the kitchen table, patting on it with a pleading look towards the kid. Shouta sighed and crouched down, “Please, tell me what happened. I want to help you but I can’t do that if you won’t let me.”

The kid was silent for another moment and by the time Shouta noticed the wobble of his bottom lip, it was too late.

“I’m so tired,” he sobbed as fat tears rolled down his cheeks, “I don’t- I’m-”

Shouta guided him to the chair and the greenette sunk into it, biting his lips to try to choke his sobs down. What happened to this kid to make him think he couldn’t cry?

Hizashi took over and smiled gently, “Hi, I need you to be honest with me, okay? What’s your name hon?”

The kid’s eyes went wide and his breath quickened, almost as if he were choking, or someone was cutting off his air supply. Shouta was preparing for a full blown panic attack, but Mika trotted over and brushed against the kid’s leg, his fearful eyes snapping down to the kitten.

He sucked in a sharp breath and adjusted the hold on the rag, “Are you gonna give me to the police?”

Shouta looked away and ran a hand through his hair, leaning over and was surprised when the kid let him pat his matted curls.

“Midoriya?”

The greenette sniffled again and looked away, “Izuku. No Midoriya.”

“No Midoriya then,” Shouta repeated gently, but that was something they would have to unpack later. In fact, there was a lot to unpack here.

After helping Izuku into a clean pair of boxers borrowed from Hizashi’s closet, the blonde carefully assessed his two wounds with a grimace. “I need to stitch up the stab wound,” Hizashi hummed, “It’s not very deep and your organs don’t appear to be damaged, but the flesh wound is pretty big.”

Izuku nodded numbly in understanding and let the hero get to work, keeping his eyes in one place as he didn’t flinch. He didn’t even flinch as Hizashi applied the alcohol to rinse the wound, nor did he flinch as he began stitching the skin up without any numbing spray.

The slash across his face was a little more complicated, but HIzashi was able to stop the bleeding and let the blood clot. It ran straight over the bridge of his nose, ending beneath both his eyes.

Shouta didn’t want to think about what would have happened if it was just an inch higher.

Hizashi worked his medical magic and Shouta collected some clothing for the kid, once again helping him get dressed and watching the plane of scars over Izuku's pale skin. Burns, slashes,stabs and cuts. All shapes and sizes.

There was one burn mark that ran from his lower thigh all the way up to his armpit, getting mid way around his torso and back. Shouta couldn’t help but wonder where they all came from, he hasn’t been in the vigilante game long enough for this.

In fact, Shouta couldn’t name anyone else he knew that was scarred like this, and he knew a lot of pro heroes.

“Where are you staying?” Shouta broke the silence while finally getting through the last knot in Izuku’s hair, the boy watching him with analyzing eyes.

“With a friend.”

Well, Chaos did say he had two friends, so Izuku must mean them.

Hizashi typed something on his phone and leaned over Shouta’s shoulders, allowing him to read what he wrote. ‘Tiny little thing.’ Shouta hummed in agreement, “You’re not twelve, are you?”

“Fifteen.”

Shouta needed to re-group, because Izuku did not look fifteen. He barely looked twelve!

“Right. Anyways, with friends, so you’re telling me you’re safe?”

“Yes.”

At this point, Izuku had obviously adapted to lying that even Shouta couldn’t pick out his truths and his lies.

“Do you eat enough?”

“Yes.”

Oh alright, Shouta had a pair of eyes.

“No, you don’t. Look, I need to make sure you’re alive often, okay? So I want you here for dinner everyday at seven. Hizashi’s a good cook, I promise, and you don’t have to eat with us but I want you to stop by and get a good meal every day,” Shouta said sternly.

After a moment of more analyzing, Izuku finally gave a small nod and tugged on the hem of his borrowed shirt. “Why aren’t you calling the police?” he spoke in a soft tone.

Shouta grew up without a loving family, his parents would come home once a month if he was lucky. Hizashi was tossed into foster care straight from the hospital and was stuck there until he was seven, it wasn’t the best place. Besides, Izuku probably had enough trust issues.

“Because I do what I want.”

It definitely wasn’t because he cares, because he doesn’t.

Hizashi did what Hizashi does best and shoved a delicious meal down Izuku’s throat and tucked him in on the couch, staying with him until the kid fell asleep. Yet even then, Izuku was gone the next day along with his uniform and the blood was cleaned.

Hizashi sat blankly at the kitchen table and Shouta downed his fourth cup of coffee that morning until he paused, slowly setting his mug down.

“How did he know where we lived?”

Chapter Text

Time was passing by too quickly for Izuku’s liking. The beach was almost clean with a month to go until Hitoshi and Mei’s separate entrance exams to get into UA, and the three of them were only working harder.

Apparently Star and Shadow finally caught Repetition, thank god, Izuku wasn’t sure how he would have dealt with running into her again, the memory stuck by him although he’d never admit it.

Speaking of Repetition, Hitoshi and Mei were pissed when Izuku showed his face the next day, and not only because of the stitches across his face. Apparently he had driven Hitoshi mad because the GPS pinging from his phone was motionless until dawn and Izuku didn’t answer any of his messages.

Hitoshi thought he had gotten murdered.

Izuku apologized yet brushed them off when his friends tried to ask for an explanation, he simply said his phone must have glitched out, although he did admit to getting a wound in a fight. Izuku didn’t mention the other stab wound.

Hitoshi was growing stronger, he could finally hold his own with his lilac capture weapon and he used it as an extension of his body instead of some foreign object. Sure, he wasn’t great, not even close to Eraserhead’s skill, but he only got trapped once or twice a week and could even fling himself from building to building, although he came back with nasty bruises every time.

As promised, Izuku went to collect his dinner every day from the Yamada-Aizawa apartment. He would climb up the fire escape and the meal would already be waiting on the windowsill for him, the food changing every day.

Present Pic quickly figured out his favourite meal was katsudon and made it at least once a week, but he was also very good at making a variety of rice bowls and soba. They didn’t talk much mainly because Izuku would scamper away like some sort of wild animal, but he would call out his quiet thanks and goodbyes here and there.

His mother did raise him to be polite, after all.

Izuku has since been able to put on a little weight and he felt as if he had more energy for the night, but don’t get him wrong. It still wasn’t enough. No matter, because as the professionals say, the show must go on.

Izuku slinked down dark streets in his vigilante costume, fidgeting with the new ear piece Mei gave him. She had been going on about Izuku being able to contact the other underground heroes during patrol for quite some time now, but he was never really a fan of having to speak to them.

He’d rather keep to himself and do his own thing.

“Shit,” he swore softly as the earpiece squeaked out a bit of feedback when a large cloud of heat hit him, his eyes snapping in its direction. Blue was glowing from around the corner of a rundown building and Izuku moved closer with curiosity, more heat clinging to his skin, causing his bangs to stick to his forehead.

“Don’t move so much,” a deep voice sang as more blue reflected in Izuku’s pupils while he examined the scene in front of him with slight confusion. It was clear to him who was at fault, and he had to step in.

The smaller man opened his palm again and Izuku dashed over, bringing a rod down hard on the man to the right, the big baldy collapsing in on himself. Ash scattered the ground and the walls of the building were scorched black, the cause of said damage looking at Izuku with raised eyebrows like he was the one who did it.

“You probably shouldn’t turn people to bacon bits,” Izuku deadpanned, examining the young man. His hair was black, although Izuku wasn’t sure if that was its actual colour or if this was just one dirty man.

Teal eyes pierced his own and they thinned, “Who the fuck’re you?”

Izuku ignored the question and tied the baldy up, “You a new vigilante?”

The man’s expression quickly turned from annoyance to confusion, “Vigilante?”

Izuku laughed, “Don’t tell me you go around and burn people for fun!”

No response.

“Oh.”

Izuku fiddled with his pen for a moment and looked back up, “So what’d this guy do?”

The black haired man shrugged, “He was degrading his wife, girl friend, whatever, in a store down there. I fuckin’ followed him and sure enough, he began beating her. S-”

“So you lit him on fire. Cool. I’ll just say I found him like this.”

Izuku slapped the sticky note onto the man’s forehead and dragged him out to the curb like he was a bag of trash. Accurate.

“Waste of a quirk, you know,” Izuku said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest, “You could be helping people properly instead of committing arson.”

The man leaned curiously against the wall and looked down on Izuku, “What makes you say that? A fire quirk isn’t very heroic, if you ask me.”

Izuku sized up with the man and shrugged, “If that’s how you see it. Look at Endeavor. He’s got a fire quirk.”

The man opened his mouth to respond while wearing an angry expression, but Izuku held up his finger, “Don’t interrupt me, I’m not done. Now, Endeavor may be number two, but he’s still an asshole and a horrible hero. But that doesn’t have anything to do with his quirk, he’s just naturally a pile of garbage. His quirk, in fact, is probably the one useful thing about that piece of shit.”

The other man’s mouth hung open for several moments, then he snapped his jaw shut with a soft smirk, “Alright. Dabi.”

“Hah?”

“The name’s Dabi.”

“Ah, Chaos.”

Dabi pointed at him, “Oh, you’re the vigilante everyone’s talking about!”

Izuku’s face paled, “Talking about- What does that mean?”

“Yeah, you’ve been on the news a lot lately. Seems somehow the cameras always cut out or are blurred when you pass, people suspect it’s your quirk.”

Izuku rolled his eyes, he didn’t want to be known. Also, hacking was just too easy at this point, he had a setting he built into his phone. “That’s a stupid fucking theory.”

“Agreed.”

The two were silent for a moment, each examining the other until Dabi spoke up again, “Why vigilante?”

“What do you mean?”

Dabi pinched his bottom lip lightly as he gathered his words and explained slowly, “Well, you’re still pretty fuckin’ young, no? Clear you got skill or some shit too, could probably be a hero if you wanted to. Go to school, get an education, blah, blah, blah.”

Izuku couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped past his lips, making a show of wiping the blood on his hands from his last capture down his thighs, watching the man’s expression morph into shock as red stained his skin.

“Do I look like a motherfuckin’ hero to you?”

Dabi stepped back and looked him up and down, “Who ’m I to say? I don’t know what a hero even looks like anymore.”

It was a good point, Izuku had to admit it. The line of hero and villain blurred in his eyes months ago, but two images did come to his mind. “Hm. I think a hero looks like Eraserhead, and Present Mic. Both very different people, yet have one goal. To help people.”

Dabi scoffed, “Never heard of this Eraserhead. Either way, I think all heroes are posing assholes who just want fame.”

“I double that.”

Dabi’s eyebrows raised in shock, “What? Aren’t little kids supposed to, like, idolize heroes?”

Izuku stuck his middle fingers up, “Fuck you, I’m fifteen.”

“Alright, Mr. Fifteen years old. What’s got you so pent up on heroes?”

At this point, Izuku began walking and was secretly content when Dabi matched his stride, walking slower so as to not overtake the shorter boy.

“You said it yourself,” Izuku waved one hand lazily while he used the other to send Tsukauchi the location of the villain, “What else is there to say?”

Dabi shoved his hands into the pockets of his torn leather jacket, “Yeah? I want to hear your take, you little fuckwad.”

“First off,” Izuku paused and pointed a finger right in Dabi’s face, leaning up on his tippy toes to reach, “You’re the fuckwad. A super stinky, smelly fuckwad. Second, if you wanted my opinion, you could have just asked politely.”

Izuku continued with confident strides and Dabi just stood still for a moment, then quickly jogged to catch up. “I like you,” he stated flatly, “No one ever looks at a guy with scars like mine and a quirk that literally cremates things and calls them super stinky, smelly fuckwads.”

“Thanks.”

Dabi pulled out a cigarette and used a flame on his fingertip to light it, Izuku frowning at him but not saying anything. “So,” Dabi exhaled a large breath of smoke, “Talk to me. Why’re you on the fuck heroes train?”

Izuku toyed with a dagger between his fingers and used the blade to carefully clean underneath his nails, “Huh. Where do I start?”

“Anywhere.”

“Well, shall I start politically or personally?”

“Oh, personally please. Let me hear that fuck load of trauma. Spoiler alert, I won’t be comforting you. I’ll probably laugh,” Dabi smiled sadistically.

“First thing that comes to mind, my all time hero told me straight up that I didn’t stand a chance of becoming a hero. It-”

“That’s not as heavy as I thought it was going to-”

“Don’t cut me off then, asswipe!” Izuku snapped aggressively, even Dabi leaning back slightly, “Let me fucking finish, bitch.” Dabi’s cigarette hung weakly from his lips as his wide eyes slowly returned to their normal size, and he nodded his head.

“It was the same day as my Mom was killed in a villain attack and my home was destroyed along the way. Is that better for you?”

“Oh yes.”

“Right. Nearly died, too.”

Dabi tilted his head, “Oh, were you involved in the attack?”

“No.”

Dabi’s eyebrows pinched together, “Then what-” His eyes glossed over briefly as he understood and he looked away, a small frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“Now to get political, I simply agree with you. The term hero has been lost, you know? It’s associated with money and fame, not protecting and putting their lives on the line for others. They’re selfish, and it’s difficult to pick out the good ones,” Izuku explained absentmindedly.

“I hate Endeavor,” Dabi sneered suddenly, flicking his cigarette onto the pavement and aggressively stomping it out, the click of the heel of his boot echoing in the night.

“Me too,” Izuku hummed, “He has more casualties than the rest of the top ten heroes combined. Plus causes a dramatic amount of damage. That’s not all though.”

Izuku looked at Dabi and thinned his eyes again, just seeing the white peeking out from the man’s overgrown roots. Seems his current hair colour isn’t natural.

“What else,” Dabi mumbled, keeping his head straight forward.

“I’m quite positive he’s an abuser.”

Dabi tripped over his feet and caught himself before he ate shit on the ground, “What?”

“Yeah, I’ve analyzed heroes ever since I was a kid, I know the ins and outs of the top heroes. Endeavor, his personality is an immediate red flag, you know? Not much has to be said there.”

Izuku paused when he thought he heard a commotion, but instead a cat ran past.

“I researched about him and his family, just out of curiosity. Four kids. Older one was declared dead, but that doesn’t check out with me. No body, no proof of death, no leads, nothing. I think Touya, I believe his name is, he ran and for good reason.”

Dabi didn’t respond, so Izuku continued, sending side eye glances at the man when he had the chance.

“He had, well, has a powerful fire quirk, meaning Endeavor probably tried to train him. It would explain why Touya ran away. Then there’s Fuyumi and Natsuo, the woman with a spark-like quirk and Natsuo with ice, like his mother Rei.”

Izuku paused again when Dabi’s walk slowed down, something strange growing in the greenette’s gut. The greenette had good instincts, he always has. They were currently through the roof right now.

“The youngest, Shoto. Now get this, he was the last of four children, yet his quirk is the perfect balance of hot and cold, ice and fire. Half from his father, half from his mother. Then no more children? I don’t think it’s coincidental the line stopped there, Endeavor was specifically waiting for a powerful quirk like that.”

“What are you saying?” Dabi asked quietly, in fact it was the quietest he’s spoken all night.

“Quirk mariages, that’s what happened. And his wife, Rei, was thrown into a mental hospital. It was hard to find info on that, meaning I don’t think it was her fault.”

Izuku hummed, “I feel bad for Shoto. His older siblings are old enough to be off at school or move out, and surely they wouldn’t have fallen victim to Endeavor’s evil training since their quirks weren’t qualified as up to par. I can’t imagine what he still goes through, and don’t even get me started on Touya.”

Izuku chuckled nervously, “Sorry. Ran off on a bit of a tangent there, I tend to do that. I don’t get to talk to many new people, besides villains.”

Dabi continued following the vigilante, and Izuku wasn’t one to pass up the opportunity on a new friend!

“Yeah, I know something about shitty families,” Dabi finally whispered, looking down at Izuku, “I can understand why, uh, the oldest would run away. What was his name again?”

“Touya.”

“Touya," Dabi repeated slowly, as if the word felt far too foreign on his tongue.

Izuku nodded, “I know shitty fathers, so that counts as family, right?”

“Fuck yeah. Dads can eat shit.”

“Hell yeah.”

Izuku looked up to Dabi with curious eyes, “But… doesn’t that make you just as bad as them?”

Dabi rubbed the back of his neck in irritation, “What the fuck’re you on about? Dads or heroes?”

“Both,” Izuku stated confidently, “You’re hurting people for your own selfish reasons, almost like you just want attention. How does that make you any better than the people we hate the most?”

Izuku spotted a group of teens harassing an elder woman and ran off before Dabi could respond, leaving him there with shaking hands. Izuku scolded the teens while waving his knives around, scaring them all off with a content smirk.

“Thank you!” the woman cried, “Oh thank you! I just wanted to check the mailbox.”

“No worries ma’am, you better get back inside, it’s not safe out here at this time of night.” He waved and jogged off, the ‘Thank you Chaos!’ throwing him off guard.

He didn’t tell her his name.

“You’re right-”

Izuku punched as hard as he could, adrenaline now flowing through his veins.

“What the fuck man!” Dabi wheezed as he clasped both hands over his stomach, “You’re gonna make me puke up my dinner!”

“Why would you sneak up on a guy with a bunch of knives!”

Dabi clambered up and coughed a few times, “Jeez. You pack a punch for such a pocket sized little fuckmunch.”

“Yeah.”

Dabi placed his hands on his hips and leaned back, cracking his neck with a low exhale, “I wanted to answer your question.”

Izuku nearly missed his words, lost in thought about this new man by the name of Dabi. The scars and skin graphs that covered his body, where did they come from? Was his quirk really that powerful? “My question?”

“Yeah, and you’re right. What I’m doing right now, it’s, well-”

“Shitty,” Izuku finished for his has he enunciated each syllable, “I didn’t want to say it, but what you’re doing right now is really fucking shitty.”

“Alr-”

“Like you’re the type of guy I would stab if you gave me the chance.”

“Pardon?”

“What?”

“You said you want to stab me!”

“I never did, you liar.”

Dabi just rolled his eyes and Izuku checked the time on his phone, “So I’m assuming you’re telling me this for a reason?” It was four in the morning and Izuku was supposed to be back at the warehouse twenty minutes ago since it was a Tuesday, he didn’t want to make Hitoshi upset.

> chaotic mess: hey toshi, not dead :p

> chaotic mess: just got caught up on a little side quest, will text you when i’m safe. don’t wait up, go to sleep <3

> Toshi: what makes u say im up

> chaotic mess: insomniac.

> Toshi: says u. get some sleep for once please.

> chaotic mess: yeah yeah. u too

“Yeah,” Dabi pulled his eyes away from his screen, “I don’t want to. You know.”

“Be an asshole.”

“Yeah. I- My Mom, she-”

Izuku lightly placed his hands on Dabi’s elbow when he noticed the way smoke began forming around his hands, “It’s okay, I don’t need the reason. As long as you have one, that’s good enough for me.” Izuku smiled under his mouthguard, hoping Dabi could tell by the way his eyes wrinkled, “Come with me! You look homeless.”

Dabi squeezed his lips in a thin line, “Because I am.”

“Oop.”

Izuku hummed, “Well, we’re friends now so you can come with me! You gotta get your own futon or sleeping bag though, I only have one and we are totally not sharing. No offense, but you smell like nicotine and beef jerky.”

“Out of pocket, but noted.”

Izuku gave two thumbs up, “My patrol’s over, so we can go now! You can borrow the blankets I have for tonight, I don’t mind.”

The tiny boy pretty much dragged this stranger back like he was a lost puppy, babbling about god knows what on the way. When the two got back to the warehouse, Izuku barely managed to change into the clothing Eraserhead let him borrow months back before collapsing into his sleeping bag, Dabi curling up on a pile of strange blankets.

“Don’t- um, I’m technically a missing child,” Izuku spoke nervously, “So don’t tell anyone, ‘kay? I don’t have family waiting for me anyways, so. Name’s Izuku.”

Dabi was silent for a moment and Izuku thought maybe he fucked up, but an amused snort came from the nest of blankets, “My lips are sealed.”

“Goodnight Dabi,” Izuku mumbled while half asleep, missing the small smile Dabi let slip in return.

Naomasa was this close to retiring at age 36. At this point, it feels like his brain is slowly decaying and leaking out of his ears, someone needed to hand him some ear plugs to keep it all in.

Eraser had just left and Naomasa was frustrated at the fact that the pro hero knew how to avoid his quirk, he couldn’t squeak anything past him. Eraser always stated his answers carefully, or sometimes just straight up ignored his question!

To be fair, that man ignores most people.

But this was different, because this time Eraser might be getting in the way of the literal law, and that brings a new problem to light. He had been so adamant about this little vigilante roaming the streets until one day months ago, he just stopped.

Now that was an immediate red flag, Eraserhead never gives up on anything, especially when it has something to do with the well-being of a child.

Not to mention Izuku Midoriya, that case has been completely closed by police and heroes alike. It’s really just Naomasa still checking in on the case every so often, but he only had one week until he would be forced to officially declare the child as presumably dead. That was frustrating when Midoriya and this little vigilante had far too much in common to just be a coincidence.

Speaking of Chaos, street crime was decreasing drastically and it definitely had something to do with the news of a child running around with knives and stabbing people.

Important point, very accurate stabbing.

Never hit arteries, never caused internal bleeding, never caused immense pain on pressure points. They were always just enough to inflict some pain in an act of surprise, as if the stabs were for a distraction. The wounds were always decently attended to, as well with information on any other injuries, helping out both the police and the villains.

Chaos was an interesting character all right, and he had been attracting more attention lately, clearly by accident. Above ground pro heroes have begun to complain about him, although it secretly pisses Naomasa off.

The heroes don’t really care about Chaos doing something illegal and possibly putting himself in danger, no. They care about Chaos stealing their catches and doing it more proficiently without any casualties, government property damage or disruptions.

The heroes, well, they were being selfish and it was something that Naomasa has never thought about until now.

Chaos was beginning to change things, even if the kid didn’t know it.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi had been feeling more stressed than usual, all his problems were beginning to pile up.

The exams were coming up fast and although he has improved with his capture weapon, that didn’t mean he was anywhere close to being successful. So many things could go wrong during this entrance exam, and what if he let Izuku down? At least he finally completed online school last week, thank god.

Ms Kiyabu has fallen ill and can barely run the library at this point and money has always been an issue for the two of them. Of course Hitoshi was worried for her wellbeing, but he felt selfish since he was also worried for himself.

If something happened to Ms Kiyabu, what would happen to him?

She was the only foster family he’s ever had who truly liked him and she never tried to stick a muzzle on his face. What if he was tossed back into the system? It was a selfish thought, Hitoshi knew that, but he couldn’t get it out of his head.

Hitoshi ran faster, wanting to feel the familiar burn in his lungs, not even noticing Mei falling behind.

“Hey! Lavender!” The pink haired girl used her spring boots she was testing and jumped faster, “Would you slow down? You’ll pop a lung for Kami’s sake!”

Hitoshi inhaled shallow breaths as he stopped, steadying himself by placing his hands on his knees, doubled over. “You okay?” Mei placed a gentle hand on his back, “You shouldn’t overwork yourself, it’s not healthy.”

“I know,” Hitoshi heaved, “Just- need a minute.” Mei hummed and placed her hands on her hips, “Take your time then, there’s no rush. Where’s Izu today?”

“Dunno. Said somethin’ about having a side quest.”

Mei rolled her eyes, “So fucking weird. Does he ever speak like a normal person?”

Hitoshi smiled, “I don’t know. I just hope this side quest doesn’t consist of stabbing people.”

The two walked the last blocks as Hitoshi caught his breath, gently massaging his thighs as they made their way to the warehouse.

“So, have you sorted out the whole entrance exam? Are you allowed to use your support item?”

Hitoshi looked over to Mei, “I sent an email and application in, but I haven’t received an answer yet.”

“I think it’ll be fine,” the girl tapped her chin, “Because, like, Eraserhead works there, right?”

“So?”

“So maybe they’ll be like, Ah! We must let this boy use his support item, he could be the next Eraserhead!” Mei spoke in a ridiculous voice and Hitoshi smirked, “Who are you trying to impersonate exactly?”

“I don’t know. Jesus maybe?”

“Does Jesus work at UA?”

“Who knows, Toshi. Who knows.”

Hitoshi smothered a giggle into his elbow as he opened the door of the warehouse, the smell of cigarettes hitting him right in the face. “Oi!” he roared, anger bubbling up without any warning, “I swear to fucking god Izuku! If you’ve taken up smoking as your side quest, you’ll never see the light of day again-”

Teal eyes were wide and they caught Hitoshi off guard, “Who the fuck is this guy, Mei?”

The bubblegum girl tilted her head to the side, “I don’t know. Do you know?”

“No.”

“Hey hey!” Izuku sang as he skipped out from behind one of the large empty crates kept in the warehouse, “Oh, I see you’ve all met!”

“No,” all three said at once and Hitoshi cocked his chin outwards, “I see, period. I haven’t met.”

“This is my side quest!” Izuku shouted, “My side quest entitled Dabi!”

Hitoshi stared at the man who literally reeked of cigarettes, kami. He had large skin grafts on his jaw and under his eyes, along with the part of his bare chest that was visible. “Are those staples,” Hitoshi deadpanned and the man, Dabi, he exhaled sharply and took a step forward, “That’s a fucking rude question.”

“Not rude, I’m just stating. Those stables are impractical,” Hitoshi also took a step forward, grateful for his natural height, “Ever heard of stitches?”

“Ever head of stitches?” Dabi mocked like a child, “Who the fuck’re you, my mom?”

“Play nice!” Izuku scolded, pointing one knife each at both of the arguers.

Mei laughed, “Hi! Hi, you smell bad!”

Dabi threw his hands in the air, “Kami I didn’t know this was a roast session!”

Oh man, he set himself up for this. This is not Hitoshi’s fault. This is no one’s fault but Dabi’s.

“Roast session? Nah, seems your skin has had enough of that.”

Blue flames erupted from Dabi’s palms and Mei screeched, darting towards Izuku. Hitoshi didn’t scream, really. Okay he did, and he ran really fast as the arsonist chased him across the warehouse.

“He’s try’na cook me!” the purple haired teen shrieked, his hands up high in the air as he dodged another string of hot flames.

“Get back here, you little shitbag!” Dabi shouted as his heels slammed into the concrete, but it didn’t take long for the flames to snuff out as he doubled over, breathing heavily.

Hitoshi slowed and crossed his arms, “Huh, not so tough with all that lung cancer, no?”

Dabi’s head snapped up, “You were the one fucking screaming for help seconds ago, little bitch.”

“Yeah? And look who’s hyperventilating now.”

“I’m not hyperventilating! I’m just… taking a breather.”

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow, “Wait, you can breathe? You mean your lungs havent disintegrated yet?” Dabi finally stood up and matched the teenager’s height, “You got some fucking nerve-”

Hitoshi cut him off my blowing a raspberry right in the man’s face, sticking his tongue out. Alright, that’s embarrassing and he wasn’t exactly sure what came over him to do that, but too late.

“Did you just-”

Hitoshi did it again.

“Stop that y-”

And again.

This time instead of speaking, Dabi did the exact same thing and that shocked them both.

“Are you two done?” Izuku sneered, standing there with his arms crossed and tapping his foot quickly. “Uh-oh, you made him mad,” Mei whispered, despite Izuku standing literally right next to her.

“You called him stinky!” Hitoshi threw a finger at his face because no way was he going down without taking Mei with him.

“No I did not! I didn’t call him stinky, I said he smells bad! Which he does!”

“Izuku, your friends suck,” Dabi deadpanned.

“Oi! Who’re you to say that!” Mei suddenly shouted, “We’re awesome! You’re the one who sucks! You’re like, what, thirty? And arguing with fifteen year olds!”

“First off,” Dabi hissed, “You can obviously tell I’m still young, I’m twenty two! Second off, Izuku dragged me here, I was completely fine being homeless!” Hitoshi sighed, because that is only something his little friend here would do. “You- Izuku. You adopted a twenty two year old? No, a twenty two year old homeless arsonist.”

“Yes!” Izuku jumped, “And isn’t he just adorable?”

Hitoshi shot a glance over to the man who was wearing the ugliest scowl he’s ever seen, practically foaming at the mouth. “Adorable isn’t exactly the word I would use,” he drawled. Mei hummed in agreement, “Yes, I would use rabid instead.”

Dabi opened his mouth to argue in return, but Hitoshi waved a hand to dismiss him and turned to Izuku, “Have you eaten yet? I brought you a sandwich.” Izuku shook his head, “No, I already ate lunch! It was good too.”

Hitoshi frowned, “What? Where did you get food from?”

“Oh, Dabi got some for me! He’s homeless, but he has a little bit of money and bought me an american style burger! I didn’t like the cheese though, that part was yucky.”

It took a moment, but Hitoshi’s mauve eyes cracked back over to this stranger, and perhaps he had been hasty. “You fed him?” he asked quietly, and Dabi’s face almost seemed to flush slightly.

“Fuckin’ whatever. Kid is like, two feet tall and seventy pounds. Yeah, i gave him some fucking food.”

Hitoshi crossed his arms and looked back over to Mei and Izuku, the two fussing over their latest project. “Ah, alright,” the lanky boy hummed, “Well, thank you for that. Izuku doesn’t really, well, take care of himself.”

“I could tell,” Dabi snorted, “Looks like he’s on the brink of death.”

“He always looks like that.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

It was silent for a moment, then Hitoshi breathed out through his nose with an amused smile, “I’m Hitoshi Shinsou, by the way.”

Dabi hummed, “Well, you already know who I am.”

“Do I? Why are you here?”

Dabi crossed his arms, “Little fucker gave me some revelations the other night. Guess I’m trying to not be an asshole.”

Hitoshi nodded, “And you know about Izuku?”

“Vigilante and missing child? Yes. I’m in a similar situation.”

“Ah. Trauma bonding?”

Dabi snorted, “Bingo.”

Yeah, okay, Hitoshi will admit that maybe he was a little hasty, who is he to judge someone by their appearance and quirk?

Shouta has tried this idea before, but last time Izuku caught one look at him and left without his dinner. To be fair, that was a few weeks ago and maybe the kid would stop being a little shit some time soon.

He listened to Hizashi hum from the kitchen along to their crappy radio, maybe Shouta should get him a new one soon. He smiled at the thought and leaned back on the seat of the windowsill, letting his legs dangle over the side.

Shouta glanced at the stupid yellow cat clock on the wall, the one he let Hizashi hang up the first day they moved in, it was ten until seven.

Izuku was never early nor was he late, the plate of food was taken off the windowsill at exactly seven o’clock, it was sort of strange to Shouta. It was almost as if he was afraid to be scolded, or upset either of the two men.

Eight until seven.

Shouta watched Mika walk several laps around their couch which was, by the way, no longer stained in a bloody handprint.

“Hon!” Hizashi cried over the music from the kitchen, “Pork is ready! Could you come put them on the plates for me and put Izuku’s in the container?” Shouta glanced out the window, then back to the clock to make sure he had time.

As quickly as possible, the gruff man tucked his hair behind his ears and stood, sulking into the small kitchen and squishing in beside his husband at the counter.

“We should really look for a new apartment,” Hizashi teased, he knew how much Shouta hated the idea of moving. “I’m just kidding, Sho,” he added quickly, landing a soft kiss against the other’s scruffy jaw, who simply murmured something unintelligible in response.

He gathered the pork, rice and steamed vegetables into Izuku’s noted container, or better known as one of the two they rotated between until the other was returned. “Maybe I can bait him in with coffee,” Shouta muttered, didn’t the kid say he liked black coffee that one time?

“What was that?” Hizashi leaned back over with a curious glance, but Shouta waved him off and returned to his seat on the windowsill, setting the container down.

He checked the clock again, five until seven.

“You know he won't come take the food if you’re sitting there.”

Shouta jumped at the sudden sentence, his husband much closer than he was before. “You don’t know that,” he grunted back, crossing his arms in a childish manner.

Hizashi chuckled lightly, “Whatever you say, Sho.”

Yeah, it was whatever he says because he’s always right. Usually.

Two until seven.

Shouta groaned and tried not to tug on his hair, a bad habit he’s picked up lately from none other than the Problem Child himself. It was probably something the both of them should fix.

One until seven.

Hizashi brought a plate of food over to Shouta and gently eased it into his lap, then took his own to the couch where he began to flick through the television channels. Shouta watched the small seconds hand of the cat clock grow closer to the twelve, where the hour hand would then strike seven. Why was he so nervous? This wasn’t his problem.

Shouta pulled his legs back in from outside the window and crossed them, popping some rice into his mouth and chewing slowly, waiting anxiously. Izuku was always silent, he often came and went without either of the two owners of the apartment noticing, not unless he called out a thank you or goodbye.

This time though, there was an annoyed grunt coming from the fire escape and some pipes attached to the side of their building creaked. It was even enough to make Hizashi turn down his stupid reality show and look over his shoulder with his head cocked to the side.

“Fucking… stupid fucking…”

Shouta frowned, that didn’t sound like Izuku.

Before he had the chance to lean his head out the window, a puff of green hair nearly collided with his nose. Forest eyes met his own, then flashed back down, “Come on!”

Izuku's little fingers gripped at the windowsill like a child peering over the counter at a candy store, “Hi!”

“Hello,” Shouta hesitated after a moment, “Who’re you talking to?”

Hizashi wandered over and held his plate tightly to his chest as if someone might steal it, Mika weaving around his ankles with her ears perked up. Shouta’s question was answered when spiky black hair then joined the side of the green, teal eyes unfocused as the young man wheezed.

“How… fuck… climb so- so fast?”

“You just have bad lungs,” Izuku nodded his head matter of factly, then turned back to Shouta, “Hi!”

“Hello?” Shouta repeated once more, quite literally stunned into silence. Why the hell-

“This is Dabi!”

“...” Shouta rubbed his eyes, “What the fuck is a Dabi.”

“Language!” Hizashi scolded right away, “Not around the child!”

“Have you heard him talk?” Dabi deadpanned, finally able to breathe as his eyes roamed the apartment, “Where are we exactly? And is that Present Mic?”

Izuku nodded, “Uh-huh, and that’s Eraserhead, the hero I was talking about.”

Shouta ignored the heat prickling the tips of his ears, “You were talking about me?”

“No!” Izuku gasped and Dabi snorted, “Yes, he said you two are the only real heroes he knows.”

“Awe!” Hizashi squealed as Izuku and Shouta looked like they wanted to melt into a bowl of soup and be poured down a garbage disposal. “I’m leaving for fucking behind next time,” Izuku growled at Dabi while the man just smirked with a content expression, “No you won’t.”

Izuku leaned up further and looked at the container, “Oh, pork!”

Dabi’s eyes flickered down to the food, then he rested his chin on his hands, “So, heroes.”

Shouta scrunched his nose, he didn’t like the way the term ‘hero’ rolled off this guy’s tongue.

“You two must actually be good if Iz- Chaos- dude! Your mask!”

Izuku startled with a slice of pork hanging halfway out of his mouth, “Wha?”

“They’re gonna know!”

“Oh, they already know! I got stabbed a few months back and came here.”

“You- you got stabbed?”

“Yeah, now let’s move on, here!”

Dabi opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance as another slice of Izuku’s pork was shoved into his mouth, “To make you big and motherfucking strong!”

“Language!”

“You’re the one who’s built like a tiny bunny who’s lost all their winter chub!”

“Why does everyone call me a bunny?”

“You do look a little like a bunny, Problem Child.”

“What does that even mean, Eraser?”

Shouta paused and smiled softly, “Kid, I told you. I’m not on patrol, Shouta Aizawa is fine.” Izuku forced another spoonful of rice into Dabi’s mouth, then his own before speaking, “You want me to call you Shouta Aizawa?”

“Or whatever makes you comfortable.”

Izuku poked around at the brussel sprouts until Hizashi shot him one demanding look, the boy slowly slipping one into his mouth with a subtle grimace. Hizashi and Shouta learnt on the first day that this boy did not like his vegetables.

Like at all, despite looking like one. At first, he returned the container the next day with the vegetables untouched, but after one scolding message written on a sticky note later, the vegetables were always finished.

“Shouta then,” Izuku hummed, the man himself a little surprised that the grenette was so bold to casually use his first name. Whatever, Shouta did say to use whatever made him comfortable.

“Then I’m Hizashi!” the blonde butted in, “I wanna be included too!”

Izuku took in another vegetable with a frown and Dabi snorted, “What? You don’t like your veggies? Are you fucking three?” Izuku flipped him off with his free hand, “Oi, I’m pretty you’ve been munching on cigarettes and snorting cocaine the past few years.”

“Hey!” Dabi gasped, “I would never do cocaine, I don’t stoop that low.”

“Oh. Well personally I would if someone off-”

“No!”

Shouta chewed on a piece of pork for a moment, then decided to take the chance. “Would you guys like to come in for coffee?”

Izuku’s eyes widened for a moment, almost like he wanted to come in, but the expression was quickly washed away. He didn’t respond, but also made no move to enter the warm home, it was enough to make Shouta’s heart sting, but only a little.

After forcing some more vegetables into both himself and Dabi, Izuku reached in the window and scratched Mika’s ears, “Okay. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Hizashi said gently, “You two stay out of trouble.”

“Fuckin’ whatever,” Dabi mumbled as he began his descent, Izuku looking back up and speaking in a quiet whisper.

“Don’t worry guys. I’m gonna save him too, he’ll be okay.”

Shouta couldn’t help the panicked look he let slip, “Wha- what does that mean Izuku? Why does- why are you saving him?”

Izuku looked down, presumably at Dabi, then lifted his eyes once more, “He’s broken. Broken like me, but I think I can put him back together again.” Without another word, the pale freckled face dropped down and disappeared like he did every day, leaving Shouta to dwell in his thoughts.

Izuku thought he was broken?

The next day, Hizashi left two containers on the windowsill. Izuku and Dabi ate by the windowsill once more, speaking quietly between each other as Shouta and Hizashi moved the dining room table closer, so they could eat nearby.

While speaking with Dabi about a week later, Shouta heard the first real laugh bubble from his kid’s lips, a dim sparkle in his eyes that he’s never seen before. Something burned in Shouta, he needed to save his kid. Well, his kids now.

The-

The ki-

Not hi-

Oh fuck.

“Dabi! You can’t burn them!”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s rude!”

“Rude? Did you just say fucking rude? That man punched you!”

“Dabi! Obviously he punched me, we were fighting!”

“Well he doesn’t get to punch you!”

“Oh lord. Do you want to be a fucking vigilante or arsonist?”

“Why can’t I be both? Huh?”

Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose and slipped his rods back into their spots on the sides of his backpack, “Look Dabi. Lesson thirty two, you can’t just hurt people because they make you angry. I learnt that eventually, but we don’t want to be villains. Remember?”

Dabi sighed and snuffed the smoke out that was radiating from his palms, “Right. Sorry.”

“It’s cool. I’ve read a bit about withdrawal symptoms too, I’m sure those aren’t helping.”

“Yeah.”

Izuku sent the location to Tsukauchi and beamed up and Dabi, “We’re all done for the night, wanna get something to eat?”

Dabi rolled his eyes, “Whatever. What do you want?”

Izuku began striding from the alleyway and Dabi followed, watching Izuku’s small ponytail sway with each step. “Burger!”

“No. Choose something with vegetables, I got you a burger four days ago.” Look, Izuku doesn’t need to know that Dabi has been scamming Endeavor’s bank company for the past year. Not like the old man needs it anyways, he hasn’t even noticed.

Izuku pouted for a quick moment, “Fine. How about, hm, tofu? Can we have tofu ‘Bee?”

Dabi leaned over and ruffled the kid’s loose hair gently, something he’s found Izuku has grown fond of, “Yeah. Yeah, we can get tofu.”

Izuku doesn’t fall asleep much, but when he does, he speaks a lot. Well, screams. And it’s safe to say that Dabi’s list of people he hates has gained a new member, and that goes for anyone else who lays a finger on this kid.

Izuku scares Dabi, but not because of who he is.

No, because Izuku is just like Dabi, and that is what scares him.

Chapter Text

“Hey! Watch where you’re swinging that!”

Mei dove out of the way, nearly losing an eye against the corner of a nearby workbench she had installed in Izuku’s warehouse.

“Fuck off! This is harder than it looks!” Dabi hissed back, struggling to keep up with Izuku as they sparred. The little vigilante’s rods swung by the man’s face and he barely had the chance to block it with his baseball bat, the sound of metal clashing as Izuku still managed to knock him back with his pure strength.

“It’s a bat! A bat can’t be that hard to use, maybe you just suck,” Mei spat in return, giggling at the annoyed glare she earned.

“Pay attention!” Izuku scolded, a rod coming down hard against the inside of Dabi’s knee, causing him to fall.

“That was way more violent than necessary,” Dabi mumbled, Izuku standing over him and looking down, “Was it? Maybe dodge next time then.”

“Oi! I’m doing my fuckin’ best!”

“Well your best is shit!”

Hitoshi snorted while he bent down to touch his toes, “Damn Izu. What’s got your bunny ears all tied up?”

Izuku sighed heavily and held a hand out to Dabi, pulling him up to his feet, “Sorry. Sorry. Just a little nerved up, is all.”

Dabi set his baseball bat down and took a seat next to Hitoshi, “Why’s that?” Izuku waved his hands around in the air for a moment, mouth opening in closing in thought until he explained, “Just, the entrance exams are in a week and I guess it’s putting me on edge, okay?”

Mei frowned, “Why are you nervous? Toshi and I are gonna kill it, no question about that!”

Izuku didn’t respond and Dabi itched for a cigarette, but forced his mind back on the kid in front of him, “Mei, I don’t think that’s the exact problem.” Izuku lightly tugged at the ends of his hair which sat below his collarbone, reminding him to learn how to give himself a trim.

“Come on, you can tell us,” Hitoshi said wearily, not wanting to set the emotional bomb off again. Hitoshi, Dabi and Mei all had their own lessons given to them, where one wrong word can easily cause a whirlwind of mayhem, something that no one enjoys.

Izuku gave his hair one last tug, earning concerned glances from his friends, then sat down and hugged his knees to his chest. “I wanted to be a hero so bad!” he blurted loudly, “That’s all I wanted to be when I was a kid.” Silence washed over the group, understanding that this was a touchy subject.

“That’s the one thing I could always control, my dream. Now I can’t even control that, I can’t control anything,” there was a pained, breathy laugh that followed, Izuku starting to squirm in, well, whatever emotion he was feeling.

Dabi ran a hand through his white and black hair, “And why can’t you still control that?”

Izuku snorted, “Dude, you watched me bite a finger clean off two nights ago, I feel like that’s pretty self explanatory.”

“But now. I’ll never be a hero now.”

“Don’t worry Mom, when I’m a hero, we won’t have to worry about Papa!”

Inko paused from where she was bolting on a fresh lock at their apartment door, along with the seven others, “Honey, don’t call him that anymore. He doesn’t deserve that from you.”

Izuku hummed and continued playing with his All Might figure, his seven year old self trying to ignore the fresh burn on his elbow gifted by Kacchan. Kacchan could be so mean sometimes, but it’s okay! Maybe Kacchan thought that’s how you make friends, he’s never been good with other people.

“Mom?”

Inko looked down again, “Yes baby?”

“Is Pa- is he going to come back?”

Inko’s eyes lingered on the boy in front of her, then she checked the clock. “Baby, can you go bolt the windows for me please?” And he did of course, because Mom asked politely. Izuku scampered around the house to every single window, standing on his tippy toes to bolt the openings shut, then drawing the curtains and shutters.

“Can’t wait until I’m a hero,” Izuku told himself, staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, “Then Mom won’t have to be scared anymore! Yeah!”

Hisashi broke in the following week when Inko and Izuku failed to properly lock the door. Inko was unharmed as usual except for a few scratches and bruises she earned trying to fight the man off. Izuku cracked two ribs, lost one baby tooth and shattered three fingers.

He couldn’t defeat Hisashi.

He couldn’t be a hero.

“I- I can’t be a hero.”

Izuku hadn’t noticed the way his breath began to pick up and he felt much too light, that is until Hitoshi gripped the sides of his face tightly, but not painfully.

“You’re okay. You’re here. Everything’s all good Izuku, right?”

Izuku’s arms flapped a few times at his side as if he were trying to swat away the panic, “Right. It’s okay.”

“It’s okay,” Hitoshi repeated gently, “Why don’t we all go for a walk down to the beach?”

Izuku nodded and stood up with shaky limbs, drawing in slow breaths as he slipped on his new Hello Kitty light up shoes. He stomped a few times just to watch the white, pink and yellow lights flash, then grabbed some knives and followed the other three out.

They walked in serenity while Hitoshi scrolled through twitter, Mei spoke into her recorder while she took some notes for the entrance exam and Dabi just stuffed his hands into his pockets, glancing over the three teens every so often.

Izuku bounced up and down absentmindedly as he pulled his hair into a bun, hating when the wind blew his hair into his eyes. “Hop hop hop,” Dabi teased quietly and Izuku stuck out his tongue, but never ceased jumping.

“Are you two ready for your shitty exams or whatever?” Dabi broke the silence, Mei nodding feverishly right away. Hitoshi twisted his fingers and kept his eyes down, “I think.”

“None of that,” Dabi said sternly, pushing the boy’s shoulder, “Have some confidence for once.”

Hitoshi nodded and swallowed dryly, “Right. Yeah, it’s just-”

“Just what?” Dabi pushed, “You’re going to get in, kid.”

“It’s just, what if I’m not strong enough yet to use my capture weapon? What if I get stuck? What if the robots are too strong to take down?”

Izuku jumped and watched the flash of his sneakers once more, “Then you just find the off button.”

Hitoshi’s jaw stayed slack for a moment, then he whispered, “What do you mean? I doubt there’s just a button!”

“Yeah, you’re right. ‘S probably a switch.”

The purple haired teen ran a hand down his face, “Izu, this is a prestigious hero academy run by pro heroes and one of the most intelligent creatures of our era. And you’re telling me, you want me to flip the off switch.”

“Yes. I don’t get why you’re not understanding.”

“Izuku, there’s not gonna be an off switch!”

Izuku scrunched his face, the scar running over the bridge of his nose wrinkling with the motion, “Yes there will. How do you think they’re turned on? There’s going to be a control panel with an emergency stop button, so just click it.”

Izuku jumped again, “It’ll probably be located at the base of the robots, where they can be easily accessed.” Hitoshi didn’t argue because knowing Izuku, he was probably right.

Once they arrived at Dagobah, Dabi sat down in the large clearing of sand while the three younger ones began collecting the small items left, tossing them into the large dumpster, thank you Mei’s mom.

It wasn’t until Izuku tossed a mouldy lampshade into the dumpster and turned to pick up the next item, was he met with a clear beach.

Hitoshi was standing at the edge of the dry sand, his eyes wide as he stared outwards to the setting sun, Mei staggering to join his side with muddy hands. Izuku slowly took his spot between them, purple, green and pink hair tinted orange by the golden sun.

“We did it,” Mei whispered with her crosshair pupils blown larger than normal despite looking towards the sun, “It’s clean.”

“It is,” Hitoshi added as he tried to wipe some sand off the side of his face.

“We make a good fucking team,” Izuku mumbled, his eyes scanning the line where the water turned to sky, “We’re still a team, right? Even when you guys go to UA?”

Hitoshi flicked the side of his face gently, “Of course we are, don’t be stupid. Who else is gonna make sure you don’t get bonked while doing your vigilante shit?”

“Well Dabi is with me n-”

“That goes for Dabi too. The both of you are, well-”

“-Reckless,” Mei snorted.

“What’d you say?” Dabi shouted as he approached, bringing down a fist lightly on the top of Mei’s head, “I’m not reckless.”

“Sure,” she drawled, “And neither is Izuku.”

Izuku would have shot an insult back if his brain hadn’t stopped working seconds ago. The sky was mesmerizing, painted with bright colours as they reflected in his eyes.

Chaos may not be a hero, but he can promise to the world in its entirety, he will protect anyone who needs it. Heroes aren’t just those who are famous on television, no, but it’s whoever’s willing to risk their lives for others. And that’s what Izuku’s go-

“Izuku!”

He spun at the panic in Hitoshi’s voice, the boy staring at his phone with wide eyes. “I, dude,” he shouted.

“Dude, you’ve been dead!”

Izuku stood there for a moment looking at Hitoshi’s phone, then shrugged, “Hey! That makes things easier!”

Healing wasn’t linear.

Healing wasn’t linear.

Healing wasn’t lin-

Oh for fucks sake.

“Katsuki Bakugou!” Mitsuki roared the second the ash blonde boy punched a hole straight through the dining room wall, “What’s wrong with you?”

All she said was to get in the car for his therapy session. That was all. Katsuki had looked down at his phone for a moment, then the next the device was whipped across the room, shattering the glass of a picture frame into pieces.

At first she thought Katsuki was just being angry, but it quickly changed when his face whipped towards her own and large tears were spilling over his bottom lash lines. He was silent for a moment and it made Mitsuki feel uneasy, then the boy roared again and punched his thigh.

He’s never done that.

Katsuki punched himself over and over and over until Mitsuki rushed to his side and latched onto both his wrists with her own hands, the boy going limp and falling to his knees as a sob ripped from his chest. The sound alone tore through Mitsuki.

She tried again, “Kats-”

He screamed again, loud and pained and tortured.

“Katsuki!”

“No!” he sobbed at the top of his lungs, “Mom, Mom! Mom!”

“What? I’m right here, what?”

“Mom!” her son shrieked, “It’s my fault! It’s me! I’m-”

He inhaled sharply as his body trembled violently and all Mitsuki could do was hold him, and it’s not like she had a choice. The second she released his wrists he went right back to hitting himself, so Mitsuki latched back on and held his hands against her heart.

Katsuki would start speaking unintelligibly at random times, but would then cut his own sentences off with another sob. Minutes passed by as Mitsuki just sat there and held him close, debating whether or not she should bring Katsuki to the hospital every time he just randomly stopped breathing.

The breathing evened slowly until the sobs stopped completely and Mitsuki looked down, finding that Katsuki had cried himself to sleep. It was already eight o’clock anyways and he tended to be an early sleeper anyhow, even when he was just a little boy.

Mitsuki was thankful for her strength as she picked her fifteen year old son up and brought him down to his bedroom, tucking him in and gently kissing his forehead. Katsuki groaned and rolled over, grabbing a loose pillow and pulling it close to his chest, an odd little quip he started doing about a year ago.

Mitsuki wondered if it was for comfort or something she should be concerned about.

“I love you, baby boy,” she whispered into the dim room, closing the door as quietly as possible and finally let her own silent tears fall.

Katsuki had a temper, he always had. And sure, he’s cried before. Especially with the stress of the whole situation along with the entrance exams approaching rapidly. But Mitsuki has never, ever seen anything like that. Never.

With curiosity, she padded over to where he threw his phone and carefully toed around the shards of glass, picking his phone up and looking at the now cracked screen. Mitsuki felt a little guilty typing in his password, but she would never snoop.

She just needed this answer.

The phone unlocked to show an article from a quiet online journaling company, the text only had a few views. Under further inspection, Mitsuki then understood why it had so little views. ‘Final Missing Quirkless Child Update: Declared Deceased.’

Mitsuki scrolled down further.

‘The case of Midoriya Izuku has been a quiet one, although it’s no secret why. After the single casualty with the Concrete Villain Situation, Midoriya Izuku, son of deceased Midoriya Inko, had gone missing. With Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa leading the case, it seemed this quirkless child disappeared without a trace.’

‘The most probable answer is the death of the boy, that information is stripped from the statistics of quirkless children committing suidice in Japan. A body has not been located, but it is presumed that the body has already decayed based on the time that has passed. Although the death of children is never easy, we can at least be grateful that it was the quirkless-’

Mitsuki closed the tab immediately and covered her mouth. This article was from months ago, why did no one call? Why was there not more coverage? Simply because Izuku was born without some stupid quirk?

Mitsuki placed the phone on the counter and reached for a nearly empty bottle of wine, not bothering to pour it into a cup and instead taking a small swig from the glass. She had already buried Inko, her best friend, how is she supposed to bury someone she thinks of as her second son?

They didn’t even have a body to bury, and Mitsuki couldn’t do this again!

She couldn’t bury another loved one!

Mitsuki opened Suki’s contact number, this would no doubt put a large tamper on Katsuki’s progress and this wasn’t something he would move past easily.

“Hello, Suki Yao, what can I do for you?”

“Hi Suki, it’s Mitsuki Bakugou.”

There was a pause on the other side of the phone, then the woman spoke quietly, “Yes, Katsuki’s session was supposed to begin thirty minutes ago.”

Mitsuki took another sip of the wine and sighed, “Um, he had a bit of, I don’t even know what to call it and I don’t want to overshare. It’s something he should probably explain himself, I think? I don’t know, I’m not the professional.”

She chuckled nervously, “Has he told you about an Izuku Midoriya?”

Suki hummed, “I have to keep in mind of client-therapist confidentiality, but I can share a little. We did some writing exercises and that name came up a few times, although he’s never outright said it. I don’t know who Izuku Midoriya is, and Katsuki won’t tell me.”

There was the sound of shuffling papers behind the screen and the therapist continued, “But, he has let it slip a few times. Not the name, but a boy, a boy that he didn’t seem to like very much. At first, he spoke very angrily about this boy, but I could tell the anger was from guilt. Based on his letters, I’m inclined to believe that this boy and Izuku Midoriya are the same person.”

Mitsuki let that soak in for a moment, then remembered why she called, “Yeah, maybe. Anyways, I don’t want to say anything that Katsuki wouldn’t want me to, so forgive me for all the cryptics.”

“I understand.”

“Right. Well, Katsuki found an article that declared Izuku dead. That’s all I’m going to say, but he was very affected.”

“Did he have some sort of breakdown?”

Oh, that didn’t even cover it. “Something like that. He broke a few things, shouted and cried. But, um. He started to hit himself, his legs.”

“Kids tend to do that when they’re specifically angry at something they did indirectly. Alright. Do your best to get him in before his entrance exam, it’s dangerous to send him out with such a powerful quirk with his emotions all pent up.”

Mitsuki nodded knowing Suki couldn’t see it, but it got the point across.

“Take care, Mrs. Bakugou.”

“Yeah yeah. You too. See ya.”

“Bye.”

The dial tone drawled on as Mitsuki lowered her phone and sat down on the floor. She didn’t know how to fix this. She wanted to be a good mother, the best mother, but she didn’t know how to handle this and it hurt, a lot. All Mitsuki could do now was support Katsuki with his path of becoming a hero, the one thing that could still bring him joy.

She’ll support him with all she’s got, Mitsuki can’t fail.

Dabi lay awake, fighting the urge to get up and find the nearest corner store for some cigarettes. Stupid kid got upset every time he pulled out a smoke and it ended up with Izuku’s fourty seven minute lecture on why smoking was bad.

Coming from the kid who said they’d do fucking crack if they were given the chance.

Dabi stared up at the ceiling, his limbs numb against the sleeping bag Izuku had someone gotten for him. Dabi hates children. Really. Lavender, Bubblegum and Broccoli all suck, he doesn’t like them at all.

A stifled inhale had Dabi sitting straight up before he could even blink, looking over to where Izuku was practically drowning himself in blankets and random items of clothing like it was some sort of nest. Bunny.

Dabi’s smile slipped right off his face as the nest seemed to explode somehow, fabric thrown everywhere as Izuku startled flailing, his mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Dabi scrambled onto his knees and hovered over Izuku, it probably wasn’t a good idea to touch him or anything, right?

“No, stop!” the kid screeched, his eyes still closed as he gripped the right side of his torso, “It hurts, please!”

His bright green eyes snapped open the minute Dabi moved his hand forward, the man nearly earning a quick fist to the nose. Good thing he had fast reflexes now that Izuku was training with him.

“Izuku!” Dabi shouted as the boy sat up, he wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t breathing, what the fuck is he supposed to do oh my god this kid is going to suffocate and-

Izuku turned to the side and vomited up whatever was in his stomach, his back rising and falling rapidly with his choked breaths.

“Oh my fuck!” Dabi finally shouted as Izuku began pulling his hair much harsher than normal, some strands falling to the ground. Dabi fumbled for Izuku’s phone and clicked on the only contact he could think of, the dialing felt like hours.

“What.”

“Aizawa! Aizawa, it’s Dabi. Izuku’s like, freaking the fuck out right now! He was sleeping and now he’s vomiting and pulling his hair out and I don’t know what to do!”

The silence was so loud and then Aizawa finally answered, “It’s probably an attack of some sort. Have you ever had one?”

“Yes,” Dabi answered far too quickly, “Why?”

“Well what did others do for you?”

White hair flashed in Dabi’s vision, grey eyes then brown glasses and red streaks, soft hands holding his own and the mumbling of comforting words.

“Right,” Dabi mumbled, “Okay, okay. I can do that. Yeah. Okay.” Dabi’s had a lot of panic and anxiety attacks, but he’s never actually been on the other end.

“Yes, you can. Call me if things get worse and I’ll be there.”

Dabi just hung up and put the phone down, “Izuku, it’s Dabi. Hi, remember? Arson dude? I haven’t smoked in two months, that’s good news, right? I feel like shit but at least I don’t wheeze after running for five minutes. And my teeth aren’t super yellow. We should go have showers tomorrow at that gym-”

Dabi continued to babble on as Izuku’s eyes slowly came into focus, his pupils dilating at random.

“-And this one time, we brought a cat into the house because we didn’t want it to be outside in the rain all by itself, but Fuyumi was able to find it a proper home-”

Keep going, it’s working.

“-And he screamed! I scared him so bad Natsuo froze the entire kitchen and I had to melt it all before mom got home, but then the carpet caught on fire and-”

Izuku was watching now and although his eyes were unmoving, at least they were on him. Dabi gently rubbed Izuku’s back as his hands slowly moved away from his hair.

“-And the one time they let me bring Shoto to the park I brought home the wrong baby and I was never allowed to babysit ever again.”

Izuku didn’t speak, but he stood up and gathered the clean blankets against his chest and walked away, dropping them off on the opposite side of the warehouse. Had Dabi done the wrong thing? Oh great, now Izuku will never want to see him again and especially since the kid probably knows who he really is now, what-

“Bee.” Dabi looked up across the room where Izuku was making a grabbing motion with his arms outstretched, his small body deflated in the pile of bright coloured blankets. Dabi hesitantly walked over as Izuku suddenly tugged him down into the pile, and that was that.

Dabi hates kids.

Kids suck.

Except, maybe these kids just suck a little less.

Chapter Text

“I’m going to throw up.”

Hitoshi paused at the gate and bent himself in half, his hands gripping at his knees as if they were his lifeline. The enlarged golden letters of UA mocked him, almost saying how close he was to his dreams and with one fuck up, all his hard work would be down the drain.

“So dramatic,” Mei whined, nearly tipping over caused by the large bag that was strewn over her shoulders, filled with her needed supplies.

Another voice quipped in, “Look, just get your Lavender ass in there and don’t eat shit! It’ll be great!”

Hitoshi slowly looked over to Izuku who was dressed normally save for the motorcycle helmet he tossed on, the one he hasn’t seen in awhile. Wait, normally?

Since when did Hitoshi classify normal clothing as Hello Kitty light up sketchers and a bright pink sweatshirt with Present Mic’s face plastered on the front? If anything, the motorcycle helmet was the only normal thing that Izuku was wearing.

“Great advice,” Hitoshi sneered, standing back up and adjusting his backpack where his capture scarf was neatly folded. “Oh shit,” Hitoshi said in realization, “Eraserhead’s going to be observing the exams.”

Izuku chuckled, most likely wearing an evil grin, “Not the time to go all fanboy! You can get his autograph when you actually make it into his class.”

“That’s not what I mean and you fucking know it,” Hitoshi whisper shouted, “The. Scarf. A little suspicious, no?”

“No, yours is purple.”

The three kids jumped and spun around, Dabi standing there stupidly with his hands in his pockets.

“Did you follow us?” Mei said with wide eyes, “And you’re not even wearing something to cover your face, moron!”

With a flat expression, Dabi slowly slipped a mask on that covered the lower half of his face. That was it.

“Lilac!” Izuku hissed, “Get it right you unartistic bastard!”

Hitoshi could feel his face going red with all the stares their little group was receiving, he didn’t need any more stress, “You two idiots go away now!”

Dabi and Izuku snorted at the same time, “We’re here to make sure you don’t try to book it before you even get in there,” the greenette sneered.

Mei jumped up and down, “I have to go! I want to be the first one there!” Without even giving a chance for anyone to respond, the pink haired girl was sprinting, screaming something of a good luck along the way.

“You look a little green there pal,” Izuku sang into Hitoshi’s ear, “So stop it! You’ll kick ass!”

“Just don’t end up on your own ass,” Dabi added, leaning an elbow on the top of Izuku’s helmet.

“Oh fuck off,” Hitoshi flipped them off over his shoulder, “Don’t wait up, go choke on some rocks or something.”

“We love you too!” Izuku screamed after him. Dabi snickered, “Yes, we’re so proud of you! Good luck honey!”

More people turned and Hitoshi was too busy worrying about the embarrassment that he didn’t even notice the uneven step he took. His toe clipped on the stone and the ground was growing closer and wow, this was the end, wasn’t it?

Hitoshi didn’t even try to reach his hands out to catch himself and instead closed his eyes, waiting for the ground to probably crack his nose. Yet, it never came and he was instead nearly strangled to death when the scruff of his shirt pulled tight around his neck.

The sounds of Dabi and Izuku howling became distant as the two probably ran off before the fallen soldier could kill them, probably a good call.

“Woah dude, you good?”

Hitoshi was slowly pulled back to the proper angle and he regained his footing, slowly turning around to face his embarrassment. “Thanks,” he drawled, his eyes moving down slightly to see yellow ones meet his own.

“No problem! You looked a little distracted with your family shouting at you back there and I couldn’t just let you fall! It would be bad luck or something, right? Sorry if I choked you too, your shirt was the only thing I could reach and I thought it was better than letting you-”

“Thanks,” Hitoshi repeated a little more forcefully, watching the blonde boy jump up and down in a similar fashion to Izuku. Wait, did he say family?

“You’re welcome!” the boy responded loudly, “We should go, I don’t want us to-” his toe caught on the exact same brick as Hitoshi’s did, his arms flailing as he fell. Hitoshi sighed and snatched the boy’s wrist, pulling him back up before either of them could eat stone.

“Thanks!” the boy practically shouted, “Guess we’re even now!”

Oh shit, this- so fucking loud.

“Yes.”

“Come on!” Blondie shouted, turning his head to the side and was that a lightning bolt in his hair? “Good luck to both of us!”

Blondie was off before Hitoshi even took another step, good riddance. How could someone be so noisy, not even Mei nor Izuku could top that and those two thought screaming matches were funny. With a slow sigh, Hitoshi shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and sulked onwards, this time being mindful of where he stepped.

The exam hall was huge, already packed with people and it made him feel sick, especially since he was on his own now. Hitoshi didn’t like being on his own. He headed over to section ‘S’ with his head kept down low, taking the seat with his name labeled in bold letters. To his left, Hitoshi could see another boy with, uh, wings?

No, hands.

Several arms?

What kind of quirk is that?

Hitoshi’s neck suddenly felt bare and he itched for the scarf in his backpack, but he couldn’t take it out. Instead he removed some pencils, erasers, highlighters, his calculator, ruler and anything else he might need, Izuku was insistent on being prepared.

Hitoshi was actually grateful he had friends to study with, although Mei was only good at math and science and Dabi...

Well. Dabi did his best to help and was just happy to be there.

The buzzer sounded and Hitoshi flipped his paper over, pausing before he even began reading the thick pile of papers. He instead drew in a slow breath and closed his eyes, waiting for his heart to calm just like Izuku taught him.

Hitoshi’s pulse slowed and became even, and his pencil suddenly clashed with his paper.

He sped through it the first time, answering the questions he knew right off the bat without having to pause to think. It’s safe to say he answered nearly the entire english section on his first flip through, but the math portion stayed blank.

Okay, Hitoshi drew in another breath and checked the time, it’s only been an hour, meaning he had two left. Izuku told him it’s not a race, he doesn’t need to be the first to finish.

Hitoshi flipped back to the first page and started through again. This time Hitoshi took his time on the questions he skipped and worked through them, circling the ones he got completely stumped on. He made it to the last page once more.

Alright, there’s still forty three minutes remaining and Hitoshi’s completed over three quarters of the booklet, that’s good. Now for round three he returned to the questions he didn’t know and just did his best, not wanting to leave anything blank.

The thirty minute warning buzzer sounded just as Hitoshi reached the last page of checking all his answers. He finished thirty minutes early? A good portion of students had already handed theirs in, maybe just below a quarter and Hitoshi didn’t want to dwell on this any longer.

He placed his booklet facing down on the corner of his desk, tossed his shit into his backpack and quietly stood up, bringing the paper with him. “Head down that hall, follow the arrows,” the woman at the front instructed and Hitoshi nodded, doing just that.

You know what, at least he answered all the questions.

Hitoshi was seriously going to throw up this time and no, he wasn’t being dramatic. He tugged on the lilac fabric around his neck while his eyes were glued to his shoes, every bone in his body trembling with anxiety.

“Hey!”

Hitoshi looked up, wondering who had the audacity to shout so loud while he was trying not to be sick. A blur of blonde tumbled through the crowd and bumped into him, the familiar kid mumbling a sorry.

“Hi again! Sorry I’m just really nervous and I didn’t want to stand by myself because I feel like I looked kind of stupid and I don’t want people thinking I’m stupid and-”

Blondie cut himself off, his eyes growing wide at the contraption around Hitoshi’s neck, “Wah, that looks so soft can I feel it?”

“No.”

Despite denying the question, Blondie reached out and felt the scarf between his index finger and thumb, his eyes lighting up in pure joy, “It is soft!”

Yeah, because Izuku and Mei gave it a fresh scrub down yesterday.

Blondie fell silent again and tilted his head to the side, his eyes cautiously examining Hitoshi’s expression. “You look nervous,” he whispered.

“No shit.”

The shorter boy’s ecstatic expression became softer and he gently placed a hand on Hitoshi’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, I think you’re going to do great! You have to believe in yourself!” Blondie gave one last whisper of goodluck and disappeared into the wave of students, leaving Hitoshi on his own once more.

The gates opened and all the students turned with a confused expression, but Hitoshi grew up in foster care. He knew the rules of if you wanted something, the only way to retrieve it was to be the first.

Tendrils of lilac shot outwards and his feet were pounding against the pavement, manipulating his scarf to catch onto any jagged edges. The students were still standing still like fools and Hitoshi’s feet elevated, the ground growing further and further away as he pushed off the wall, his scarf whipping past his ears as it stretched further up.

“Is that kid scaling the wall?” he heard from down below, why were those idiots still standing there?

“What? Do you think there’s a buzzer on the battlefield?” Present Mic shouted, “There’s no such- Woah!”

The pro hero startled backwards as a blur flew past his side, shades of purple nearly knocking him off his feet. Hitoshi stormed by, hurdling over the walls as his ascent quickly became a free fall, the top of the closest building approaching.

Hitoshi’s scarf reached out, and what can he say? The rooftops are the safest place in his opinion.

And besides, Izuku told him to make himself known.

Shouta hated entrance exams, it just shows how children these days are raised with false expectations. They think that a strong quirk will produce a strong hero, but that’s not it at all.

Take a look at Izuku for example. The boy is quirkless, yet Shouta is positive he could easily murder half of UA’s students without even being suspected. Not exactly heroic, but the skill is there.

“We have some very interesting candidates this year!” Nezu exclaimed, rubbing his paws together. Shouta perked up and although Izuku speaks very angrily towards heroes, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to become one, right? Is there a possibility that he would be here today?

“Did we get any quirkless applicants?” Shouta asked, startling his coworkers since he never really speaks up.

Nezu shook his head, “Nothing. Why? Are you looking for someone in particular?”

Shouta just shook his head and crossed his arms, burying the lower half of his face into his capture weapon.

“Hey, isn’t that the kid from the Sludge Villain incident?” Nemuri asked, pointing to a particular screen. Sure enough there was an angry blonde pacing back and forth, small explosions popping off from his palms.

The other teachers spoke about how angry he looked, but Shouta wasn’t seeing the same. He was seeing an expression similar to someone else he knows, but now’s not the time.

“It’s starting,” Nemuri said and sure enough, the gates opened and Hizashi was standing there like the idiot he was, hands on his hips with a large smile.

“He does this every year,” Thirteen mumbled with amusement, “It’s like he wants to annoy the children.” Shouta had to hold back a snort because that’s exactly why Hizashi does it, he thinks he’s the funniest person alive.

“Look at that,” Nemuri hummed, “Seems someone isn’t hesitating for once.”

Shouta looked up to where one screen was zeroed in on a specific applicant, his fluffy purple hair held back with a yellow headband.

“What’s he got around his neck- Ah! Mini Shouta!” Nemuri screamed as the applicant skyrocketed up the wall, using his hands and feet to push himself upward, his purple weapon stretching further. Weapon.

Capture weapon.

Oh for fucks sake, there’s no way.

Capture weapons are only sold to licensed pro heroes, so this kid either made his own, or someone gave it to him. It was impressive, the kid soaring past Hizashi and free falling towards the nearest building, the rest of the examinees finally getting the hint and chasing after him.

“Impressive, what’s his quirk? Something to do with those tendrils?” Cementoss asked, flipping through some files.

Nezu smirked, “Actually, I received an email from young Shinsou about using a support weapon that has nothing to do with his quirk. I decided not to respond, I wanted to see what he would do. I’m glad he decided to do it anyways, I thought he would be too afraid.”

“Why didn’t you just tell the kid he could bring it?” Nemuri snorted while writing something down about another examinee.

“Because he seemed very timid in his writing. I wanted to see if he could make a decision himself.”

Shouta groaned secretly as Nezu continued, “His quirk is just brainwashing and only works on living beings. An unfortunate match up, to say the least.”

Not unfortunate, unfair. And Shouta would know.

His eyes were glued to Shinsou, his movements were surprisingly fluid and smooth, pulling robots using his capture weapon with so much force it would send them crashing to the ground. His movements were controlled and efficient, but it wouldn’t be fast enough, not compared to all these kids with powerful quirks.

Shouta’s eyes shifted over to Katsuki Bakugou, who blew right through a robot with carelessness, sending a metal shard right at another examinee. Yagi flinched nervously next to him, but the kid turned his skin to a hard material, causing him to get hit unharmed.

“Good thing he’s got a hardening quirk,” Vlad muttered, “Anyone else could have lost a limb.”

“Bakugou is very powerful,” Shouta admitted quietly, “But he would cause many casualties on the battlefield with carelessness like that, even costing the lives of his own teammates.”

“Yes,” Nezu hummed, “Something you could easily fix, isn’t that right Aizawa?”

Oh fuck. Shouta was definitely going to be given this gremlin.

“I’m bored,” Nezu blurted and he slammed his paw down on a red button, “Let’s cause some mayhem, shall we?”

Hitoshi didn’t know how many points he was at, but he knew it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough without a powerful quirk, it was just the way the world worked.

His hands were red and raw as he pulled on the arm of another one pointer, the robot crashing down. There was only a minute left and Hitoshi wiped some blood from his cheekbone where a stray wire had cut him.

Screams suddenly filled the street ahead and the ground vibrated underneath his feet, it was forceful enough to make him stumble. Out of bare instinct, Hitoshi’s legs carried him towards the noise despite the other examinees sprinting the other way.

He skidded to a sudden halt as a large shadow completely blocked out the sun, making the air feel cold and stale. Hitoshi was completely frozen as the robot took another step, dust flying up as other teenagers completely cleared the area, and Hitoshi knew he should follow.

It was the zero pointer, after all.

He turned and took one step, but stopped when his sensitive ears picked up a gentle call, strained and echoed with pain. His mauve eyes shot over his shoulder, a head of blonde laying limply with one arm outstretched, “Wheyyy.”

Blondie’s eyes were unfocused, his leg completely pinned down by a large block of concrete. Why was no one helping? The robot took another step forward and Blondie made another unintelligible noise, his hair no longer shiny and smooth but knotted and dirty.

“Help,” he called weakly, and that fearful tone was enough to make Hitoshi move without thinking. Now he understood what Izuku meant, when he was recounting that day of the Sludge Villain incident.

About moving before thinking.

“Blondie!” Hitoshi shouted over the noises of the creaking robot, “You need to get up!”

Blondie was obviously having trouble understanding what he was saying, it must be a drawback of his quirk.

“Fuck,” Hitoshi said as he tried to lift the concrete with both his hands and his scarf, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough.

“I’m sorry,” Blondie said with glazed eyes and an unsettling smile, one that Hitoshi didn’t like.

“Oi! Weren’t you the one who said to believe in yourself or some shit?” Hitoshi grunted, his eyes growing wider as the robot took it’s next slow step, the following would be the one to crush them.

You’re right. S’ probably a switch.

Hitoshi turned to the robot’s plated foot, it was a long shot, but his only shot. He stumbled over and his eyes scanned the leg, “Oh for fucks sake!” There it was, a yellow panel with a tiny red switch encased in glass.

Using his scarf, Hitoshi shot up and slammed his fist down, shattering the glass and he feverishly flipped the switch down, the robot’s creaking growing quiet. The robot’s foot was just about to lift off the ground, it would have crushed Blondie and possibly himself, Hitoshi feeling sick once again.

“Wheyy,” Blondie hummed again with one thumb up, the purple haired teen jogging back over. The buzzer sounded and Hitoshi’s shoulders sank, “I didn’t get enough.”

“Hey!” a girl with pink skin and yellow horns waved hesitantly, “Are you guys okay?”

Hitoshi shook his head so he could construct coherent words, “Um, yeah we’re alive, but his leg is stuck and the concrete is too heavy for me to lift.”

She looked around as if she were hoping for a pro hero, but there was no one there to help. “O-okay,” she said slowly and approached, “I think I can melt some with my acid, but not too much. I don’t want to melt that dude.” Pinky placed her hands on the top of the concrete and let a small amount of acid eat away at the first layer.

“Yo, I’ve got you!” another voice chipped in, some guy with weird elbows running forward, “We should be able to all lift it together!”

Hitoshi could only nod, he knew his voice might crack if he spoke. He didn’t get enough points.

“Yeah, the first layer is gone so it should be lighter too!” Pinky beamed. Elbows shot a tape like substance around the block, then stood to the left. Hitoshi joined his side and did the same with his capture weapon, Pinky on the other side with her fingers tucked around the edge of the concrete to lift.

“Now!” Pinky said as she lifted while the two boys pulled, the concrete hovering ever so slightly. Blondie scrambled out immediately and Pinky let go, the block falling back down. “Yeah!” she cheered, giving elbows a high five and helping Blondie to his feet.

They must have gotten enough points.

But Hitoshi didn’t, because he’ll never be enough.

Chapter Text

“I don’t get it,” Dabi said while punching the villain out cold, “Can’t you just like, hack the school? Give him more points?”

Izuku tightened his ponytail, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a zip tie along with burn cream, “He would never forgive me if I did that. Ever.”

Dabi simply hummed and adjusted the bandana on the lower half of his face, “I suppose. But that doesn’t mean he has to find out.”

“Dabi!” Izuku hissed, “No, it’s wrong. I’m not doing that. And even if I did, Nezu works there. I may be smart, but that dude is just next level.” Dabi applied some burn cream onto his elbows and forearms, “Fine, fine. I get it.”

“Good,” Izuku hummed as he finished the clean up, “Let’s go, we’ve only taken down two this patrol. Shitty number.”

The two continued down the streets in silence, Izuku feeling the strange need to fill it. “You know, I looked at some of the other examinees, I was curious.”

Dabi ignored him, not exactly interested in a conversation like this. Izuku though, reading social cues wasn’t always his best skill and he continued, “Yeah. Shoto Todoroki made it on recommendation. It’s good for him, right?”

“Fuck off.”

“What? I know we haven’t really talked about it, and I would never tell anyone, I swear! But don’t you want to know how your sib-”

“Izuku fuck off before I decide to kill you!”

Izuku flinched slightly at the tone, his feet stilling as he stared with wide eyes. Dabi has never, he’s never, he wouldn’t-

The smaller boy began to tremble and Dabi stopped, his furious expression disappearing right away when he looked over his shoulder. Dabi reached a hand out to fix things, but Izuku flinched violently and raised his hands in front of his face, squeezing his eyes shut to brace himself.

“Why are you doing that?” Dabi asked quietly, his voice on edge.

“Izuku, why- stop that.”

Izuku felt hot liquid spilling down his cheeks, tracing the edges of his mask and slipping further down, splashing onto his uniform. He refused to lower his arms but he carefully looked up, his fight or flight instincts screaming flight.

“Fucking stop that!” Dabi roared and Izuku took another step back as blue flames engulfed the figure of the man he was supposed to trust. What happened to that trust?

How did it disappear so easily?

Dabi stepped forward to match Izuku’s retreating and he couldn’t do this anymore, not when the heat was clinging to his skin, causing his inner alarm to screech within him.

Dabi never got the chance to shout again as Izuku spun, his boots pounding against the pavement as he ran, sprinted away, twisting and turning every which way to ensure his safety, because Kacchan could catch up and-

“Where are you hiding, Deku?”

Izuku slammed a hand over his mouth as he could hear the footsteps approaching, the smell of sweet nitroglycerin getting stronger. At eight years old, Izuku had grown accustomed to hiding, staying as silent as he can until the threat passes over.

The threat never does.

“Don’t be a fucking coward now,” Kacchan spat, pausing outside the door of the janitors closet, “You were so confident defending that stupid girl earlier, mouthing off at me. Come fight me now, Deku! Let me blow you to bits!”

Silent tears spilled out of Izuku’s green eyes, wide and full of fear. He couldn’t fight Kacchan, that would be a death wish. Besides, the gashes on Izuku’s arms would only slow him down.

“Deku!” Kacchan screamed suddenly and an involuntary whimper escaped Izuku’s mouth, causing his entire body to tremble even more violently.

A snicker, Izuku heard it as the door knob twitched slightly, turning slow and gently, so unlike Kacchan. The door swung open and Izuku lifted his eyes, Kacchan’s shadow looming over him, his calloused hands held high with sparks already causing the small room to glow.

Izuku watched a teacher pass, the woman pausing with a curious look, then replaced by a pleased smile as she continued. Were Kacchan’s objectives not obvious? Shouldn’t a teacher stop him and help the vict-

No. Izuku is no victim, he refuses to call himself that.

“Stay still Deku,” Kacchan spat but Izuku couldn’t. He couldn’t just sit still, so Izuku got up and swung a fist at random, feeling the exact moment when it met Kacchan’s cheek. The ash blonde stumbled back a couple steps in shock, bringing a hand up to the red blotch on his face.

Izuku’s eyes grew even wider in panic, what possessed him to do that? When will he learn to stop his body from moving before he could think?

Kacchan hissed, “Fucking stop that!”

Izuku was slammed against the ground and the wind was knocked right out of his lungs, his spine vibrating from the impact. A hot hand rammed against his right hip and another against the outside of his thigh, the explosions causing Izuku’s ears to ring.

He couldn’t even shout, the words wouldn’t come out.

Why wouldn’t they come out?

“You fucking deserve this, remember that, Deku. This is your fault. No one else's.”

Izuku stayed in that closet the rest of the school day, his clothing practically melted to his skin and his right side blistering, bleeding in an all too familiar fashion.

None of his teachers came looking for him and Izuku didn’t have any friends to take care of him, Kacchan had made sure he was friendless the day he was discovered as quirkless. They treated it like a disease.

Izuku sniffled, no, it wasn’t their fault. It was his, even Kacchan said so and Kacchan’s always right.

This is all Izuku’s fault.

He deserved the pain.

Izuku tripped, slamming his head onto the ground and his skin tore up against the concrete, only stopping when his back rammed into a dumpster.

That wasn’t Kacchan or Hisashi, it was just Dabi. Why did he react that way?

Izuku shakily reached for his phone and sent a location to a familiar contact, typing out a quick message to ensure the receiver understood that he wasn’t in any danger. He curled in on himself and held his knees to his chest, his breaths coming out shallow and wet.

Izuku could wait this time, because now Kacchan wasn’t here, and he had friends to take care of him.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

Hitoshi chanted repeatedly as he slammed his hands on the cold metal door, letting himself in since it was always unlocked. The smell of burnt rubber assaulted his nose but now wasn’t the time, so he instead waved the smoke away from his face, “Let’s fucking go!”

Without an explanation, pink hair mixed with soot came sprinting from the smoke and a gloved hand snatched the simple iron mask hanging by the door, Hitoshi following and slamming the building shut. “Go fucking where?” Mei asked despite already following Hitoshi faithfully.

“Message location from Izu, nothing from Dabi. Said he wasn’t in danger, but that bitch is also a fucking liar,” Hitoshi spoke quickly, adjusting the new purple cat mask Mei made for him for this exact emergency.

Not that it was technically an emergency, but it also was.

“I’m ready!” Mei screeched as she pulled a large gun out of nowhere and Hitoshi would have eaten dirt in shock if his capture weapon wasn’t fast enough to keep himself up.

“What the fuck is that? Where did you get it?”

“It’s a flame thrower!” Mei cackled evilly, “Let’s burn some bitches!”

Mei ignited the flames and held it up towards the sky, Hitoshi screaming at her, “Don’t run with a flamethrower! I shouldn’t have to tell you that!”

Mei turned the weapon off but never lowered it, “I don’t know what to tell you Fluffy. Always gotta be ready to kill.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you.”

Hitoshi stared down at his phone, trusting Mei would shout at him if he were about to wipe out or something. She probably wouldn’t, but whatever. Mei was beginning to pant from the speed they were running at, but refused to slow down or complain.

That was the one thing Izuku somehow managed to teach everyone he met, you never fucking stop if you can help it.

“Down here,” Hitoshi said as they slowed, peering into a weird smelling alley.

Mei held her flamethrower in the direction and made the decision to announce her presence, “Hey asshole! I have a fire gun and I’ll light you up, courtesy of Mei Hatsume!”

Hitoshi fought the urge to facepalm and instead examined the scene, seeing no sign of a fight or danger. “Chaos?” he called cautiously, a sniffle catching his attention. Izuku gave a weak wave, “Hmm.”

Hitoshi and Mei rushed over, collapsing at his side and glancing over him for any injuries, any blood. “Who’m I burnin’?” Mei asked, swinging that stupid gun around until Hitoshi snatched it and yanked it from her hands, “Would you stop it with the arson? That’s Dabi’s job.”

Izuku tensed up at Dabi’s name and Hitoshi cocked his head, “What did Dabi do?” Izuku didn’t really say anything and Mei checked what setting his mask was on, confused when it wasn’t on silent.

“Chaos, can you talk?” she asked again, “Your mask isn’t on silent.”

Izuku just shrugged with his eyes casted down low and Hitoshi crossed his arms, “We’re going back. You’ve had enough today, let’s go.”

“Go where?” Mei asked for the second time that night, “We can go to my place if you want. Like, my actual place, where I have heating and a bed and a shower. You smell kind of funky, both of you.”

“Hey, to be fair I got right out of bed and took off with my mask. There was no deodorant or dry shampoo involved,” Hitoshi defended himself, he was a hygienic person! Usually.

Mei hoisted Izuku to his feet and the greenette swayed for a moment, then wrapped his arms around his chest and started walking. Hitoshi watched him for a moment as Mei scooped her flame thrower up and skipped off with it, singing some weird song in a different language.

French?

Italien?

Mei was definitely butchering the foreign language either way.

Hitoshi adjusted his capture weapon and moved to follow, but his gut instincts had him twisting around with thin eyes. There was movement on the rooftop above and the figure quickly ducked down, but Hitoshi’s eyes were faster.

Izuku was upset, Mei was Mei and Hitoshi was sleep deprived and not in the mood.

“Hey, fuck you!” Hitoshi flipped the figure off, “If you saw a kid freaking out and just stood there instead of checking up on him, choke on this!”

He exaggerated his middle fingers for a moment longer and spun around, stuffing his hands into his pockets and stomping off, not noticing the underground hero watching him go.

The underground hero he just flipped off and shouted at.

Izuku was silent the whole way back to Mei’s home, just a street away from her family’s lab.

“My mom is out tonight with her friend, they went out to some theater and they’re staying in a fancy hotel, so we don’t need to worry about that,” Mei informed as she unlocked the front door. Hitoshi led Izuku in and Mei shut the door behind her, kicking her shoes off at random and skipping into the kitchen.

“I’ll make a late dinner! Early breakfast? Whatever. I’m not supposed to use the stove and oven because last time I burnt down half the kitchen and part of the living room but I think I’ve gotten-”

“I’ll do it!” Hitoshi interrupted, “How about you just show Izuku to the bathroom and I’ll handle the food.” Mei nodded with a huge smile and took Izuku’s wrist, “This way!”

Once standing alone, Hitoshi whipped out his phone and clicked on Dabi’s contact, his fingers moving quickly.

Toshi > what did u do.

Hitoshi waited for several moments, Dabi usually responded as soon as possible.

He was left on read.

The purple haired teen swore and slammed his phone down on the counter with a little more strength than necessary, keeping his anger at bay while busying himself with searching for ingredients. Five minutes later Mei returned with Izuku clinging to her heels, “He won’t take a shower.”

Hitoshi set the pot down on the stove and blinked, “Izuku, why don’t you want to shower?”

The greenette stared at the floor with his mask hanging uselessly around his neck, his lips parted but no words would come out. Hitoshi knew it would be pointless to try to make his small friend talk, so he instead pointed to the couch and Izuku shuffled over there, tossing his mask away along with his boots and collapsing onto the couch, curling back in on himself.

Mei frowned and hopped up onto the kitchen counter, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched him. Hitoshi just cooked something simple and sweet, some soba with green onions. When he handed it to Izuku, he pushed it away and refused to eat, not even answering Hitoshi’s questions which tossed the option of brainwashing out the window.

As a last resort, Hitoshi squished himself onto the couch beside Izuku and lifted the boy to rest on top of him, awkwardly wrapping his arms all the way around his back while green hair brushed against his neck.

Mei squealed in excitement and slid herself between their stacked bodies and the back of the couch, wrapping one arm around the both of them and pulling them tighter.

“We’re gonna be okay,” Hitoshi mumbled quietly and Mei hummed in agreement, “Of course, we always are.”

“Just get out of my sight. You’ll eat tomorrow, you didn’t earn it today.”

Touya looked up at his Father, but it was difficult to see with the blood clouding his sight. His stomach growled involuntarily and Endeavor’s eyes twitched, “If you were hungry, you should have trained harder. Get out.”

Touya didn’t need to be told twice as he stumbled from the smoke-filled training room, gripping the raw skin of his arms in pain. He tumbled past his mother in the kitchen, holding four year old Shoto close to her chest as she whispered to him, smiling.

She never smiled around Touya.

The food on the table was tempting, it was so tempting but he knew it would only get worse if Endeavor found out, a risk that wasn’t worth it. Touya often lost his appetite anyways.

He continued dragging his feet against the coldness of the wooden floor, trying to re-wrap his arms with old bandages he already had on from his last training session.

“Hey! Touya!”

White hair bounded up, Natsuo clutching a soccer ball against his chest, “Wanna play with ‘Fumi and I?”

Touya spared a glance at his younger brother, then out the window to where Fuyumi was tying her shoes up, patiently waiting for her brothers to return.

“Touya?”

The red haired boy paused, feeling something spill from his eyes that for once wasn’t blood. The ball slipped from Natsuo’s hands as Touya crashed down to his knees, shuddering sobs slipping their way from deep inside his chest, he was so weak.

He couldn’t even keep it together for his younger siblings, that was his job.

“Tou,” Natsuo said gently, “It’s okay. Don’t be sad.”

Touya shook his head and scrubbed his nose against the back of his hand, “It’s fine. I’m fine, Nat.”

“It- I don’t think you’re fine,” Natsuo hesitated, “And that’s okay.”

No, because Touya needed his pride, it was all he really had left.

“Really, I’m all good. I think I’m just tired, you know?”

Natsuo’s grey eyes looked over his older brother with skepticism, but eventually nodded, “Yeah, I guess.”

Touya hauled himself back to his feet, at least he didn’t cry any bloody tears like last week, that was strange. He was afraid that would become a regular occurrence. “I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Touya mumbled, “Just gonna take a quick shower.”

The smile on Natsuo’s face was worth it, the smaller boy skipping away and running back out to Fuyumi to tell her the good news, causing Touya’s twin to smile as well. Good, at least they were happy.

Back in his small room, Touya took the time to bandage himself up since Rei never offered anymore, it made getting his back difficult, not to mention trying to wrap his jaw properly.

“Why,” Touya whispered as he stared at himself in the mirror, “What’s the point? Is this what life is supposed to be?” Even at the young age of eleven, Touya knew the future held nothing for him. After seeing what the number two hero really was, it tends to destroy the concept of heroes.

Touya no longer wanted to be one.

He wanted to play soccer with Natsuo.

He wanted to paint with Fuyumi.

He wanted to help teach Shoto how to read.

He just wanted a hug from his mom.

Touya ran a hand over the patch of white hair that was growing from the roots at the bottom of his head, then another one just above his ear. Maybe if his hair came in, he would look more like mom and she would come see him more.

Maybe.

Touya closed the door to his room and began his way down the hall, until flames engulfed his path. “Where are you going?” Endeavor sneered, “You have homework to do.”

“But Natsuo asked me to play soccer,” Touya mumbled in a small voice, too scared to speak any louder.

“Is that any way to speak to your Father?” Endeavor bent down, “Look at me in the eyes!”

Touya couldn’t, fear was completely causing him to freeze up and Endeavor’s flames grew hotter, “You’re a coward, a waste of a quirk!”

Something inside Touya snapped at that moment and the tears bubbled over, “I never asked for this quirk!”

The minute the large hand reared backwards, Touya raised his arms in front of his face and squeezed his eyes shut, just in time to feel the impact on the raw skin of his arms, splitting the flesh open. “Read the books or we can do more training, is that understood Touya?”

He didn’t respond fast enough and received a foot to the stomach, “I said, is that understood, Touya?”

“Y-yes sir.”

He scampered back into his room without an invitation and shut the door quietly, climbing up into the chair of his desk and opening to chapter twenty eight.

Is this what life is?

Because if it was, Touya no longer wants it.

Dabi curled himself deeper into Izuku’s blankets, his phone cracked and forgotten across the warehouse from when he received Shinsou’s message. Dabi’s eyes stayed trained on the door even as the sun began to rise.

When would Izuku be home?

Dabi quickly wiped the small drop of blood that fell from the corner of his eye and lifted one of the blankets over his head. Being alone was scary now, it was just himself and his thoughts. Dabi wanted a cigarette, but Izuku would be angry.

So no cigarette.

Dabi wanted to light something on fire, but Izuku would be angry.

So no arson.

When did he become so accustomed to others’ feelings and not wanting to hurt them, since when did he begin caring? The image of Izuku holding his arms in front of his face wouldn’t fade, all Dabi could see was himself. But that means, in that moment, was he his Father? Was he Endeavor?

Had he really become the one soul thing he exists to destroy?

Another drip of blood trailed over the tip of his nose and fell onto the blanket, Dabi swearing lightly in annoyance, scoffing at his weakness. The sun was up now but he couldn’t find the courage to dig himself out of the blankets, so he didn’t.

When the door finally creaked open, Dabi nearly shot up and burst into tears, well, blood. Izuku walked in and stopped in the doorway, his expression blank.

“I,” Dabi choked out, where was he even supposed to start? What was he supposed to say? A simple sorry wouldn’t be enough, that was for sure.

“I don’t want to be my Father,” Dabi blurted, crossing his legs and squeezing his knees.

“I, to make you react like that, I obviously fucking failed the one promise I made to myself, to never become like him. Izuku, I can’t make the promise I won’t lash out again, I can’t make the promise I won’t yell. But I can make the promise that I will never, ever lay an unwanted finger on you. I swear to you.”

Izuku looked off to the side, his hand coming up to wipe his nose. Dabi was spewing out thoughts now, and he didn’t know how to stop himself.

“Izuku, I’ve fucked up so much in my life, but I’m tired of acting like a coward. I let Endeavor push me around, hurt my family. I was too weak to do anything, but I won’t be too weak now. I’ll protect you just like you protect me, because I consider you, well I consider you a fucking friend, alright? Don’t make me say that shit again-”

Green crashed into him and squeezed his torso tightly, wrapping his tiny legs around the larger man’s waist. “How about we get some burgers for lunch? Hm?” Dabi grunted, not quite hugging Izuku back instead patting the top of his head gently. Izuku nodded in silence and that was all Dabi needed.

He may have fucked up, but he’ll die before he stops trying his damn best to fix his fuck ups.

Chapter Text

Izuku hasn’t spoken all week, he just couldn’t find the right words.

It was like he was back with his father again, his tongue always feeling wrong in his mouth and his vocal cords being broken. The words sat on the tip of his tongue, but they wouldn’t roll off.

That changed when Mei and Hitoshi came crashing through the warehouse doors holding two separate letters, Mei screaming, “Get the fuck up!”

Dabi nearly jumped up from his futon from being woken up so quickly, but Izuku never really fell asleep, instead looking up from the newest hero analysis he had been working on.

Mei continued, “Not gonna lie, I already opened it with my mom and I got in! I got fuckin’ top score for the support program!”

Dabi snorted and held a hand up, Mei slamming her own against his palm, “Nice work kid!” Izuku gave two thumbs up and his eyes wrinkled from the size of his smile, although he had no doubt Mei was going to get in.

Hitoshi dropped to his knees, “Not gonna lie either, I found mine in the mailbox, threw up twice and then came here, I don’t know my results!”

Dabi rolled his eyes, “And you say Izu and I are the dramatic ones?”

“What, you don’t believe me? Ask Mei!”

The pink haired girl nodded, “I can vouch for him. One of the two times was on the way here in a random dumpster.”

Izuku snickered and picked up the letter, running his fingers over the gold sticker on the envelope. Focused on his inner thoughts, Izuku hadn’t even noticed he had begun talking, “I’m so proud of you Mei. Toshi, you know I’m proud of you either way as well, so open it. No use just sitting here all anxious.”

The atmosphere of the room lightened at the sound of Izuku’s voice after a week and Hitoshi nodded and took the letter back, his hands visibly trembling while he opened the envelope. A grey disc clattered to the ground and a projection shot up, the familiar pro hero making Izuku frown deeply, as well as the rest of the group.

“I am here, on a projection!” All Might announced loudly, the sheer volume of his voice causing the disc to vibrate.

“Hitoshi Shinsou, you did extremely well on the written exam, earning a score of 88%, that puts you with the top quarter of examinees, well done! For the combat exam, you received a total of 17 combat points, well fought for but unfortunately not enough!”

Hitoshi’s shoulders quickly sagged and Izuku decided he had just found another reason to dislike All Might, but then the hero continued speaking, “But that’s not all! Turn your attention to this screen here, if you will!”

Everyone looked back up with wide eyes as a blonde boy peered nervously around a door frame, followed by a girl with pink skin and some dude with a mullet.

“Excuse me? Mr. Present Mic sir?”

“Blondie?” Hitoshi mumbled in confusion, Mei shushing him violently.

“What’s up, Little Listeners?” Present Mic crouched down, placing his hands on his knees to come face to face with the kids.

“Um, you know the guy with fluffy purple hair?” the blonde asked as the pink one added on to the description, “With super dark circles under his eyes? And the weird scarf thing?”

The shortest boy nodded, “Yeah! Well, you see, uh… Dude! I would have freaking died if it wasn’t for him, I’d be like a piece of gum on the bottom of that zero pointer’s foot! And I heard him say he didn’t get enough points, so, do you think I could share some of mine with him?”

The taller boy nodded, “Same. I was just impressed, no one else helped except for him, so I want to share some of my points too. He deserves it.”

“Ditto!” the girl added.

The blonde one wrung his fingers together nervously and cleared his throat, “It’s just, even if he didn’t get enough points, I think it would be really stupid to ignore him, he acted like a real hero. He’s the exact type of person UA should be looking for!”

Present Mic was silent for a moment, a soft smile settling on his lips, “Ah, that’s very noble of you all! Unfortunately, points can’t be shared, but I don’t think you guys need to worry, okay?”

The video stopped and All Might slowly held out his hand towards the camera, “Hitoshi Shinsou, what kind of school would UA be if they overlooked true heroes like you? You risked not only your spot in UA for a stranger, but also your life and that is the type of students UA searches for! That is why there is a secret system in place, rescue points!”

Izuku watched tears well in Hitoshi’s eyes, his jaw slack as the projection continued.

“Hitoshi Shinsou, you have been rewarded 60 rescue points as given from the UA staff, bringing your total up to 77! That puts you in spot number one along with another examinee, so here, welcome!”

Hitoshi covered his mouth and All MIght flashed a blinding smile.

“Welcome to your Hero Academia!”

The projection shut off and Mei screamed, Izuku joining her not even seconds later. “Fuck yeah!” Dabi pumped his fist into the air, “Both of you, first fucking place! Holy fuck!”

Mei and Izuku tackled Hitoshi as the purple teen burst into tears, something he doesn’t do very often. “We’re going to UA!” Mei hollered as Izuku laughed loudly, tears of his own soaking his face.

“You stupid kids,” Dabi mumbled as he ruffled every colour of hair he could find, “Let’s go somewhere, on me.”

“Cat cafe!” Hitoshi shrieked and Mei laughed, “Yeah! Cat cafe, cat cafe!”

“Get your fuckin’ shoes then, let’s go.”

“Ah shit,” Dabi swore as he dove out of the way, an arrow nearly passing right through his skull, “I could use a quirk analysis, Chaos!”

Izuku scrambled in repetitive circles, “I think this one is pretty self-explanatory! She’s firing fucking steel arrows from every part of her body! What is there to analyze?”

The woman grunted in frustration and Izuku smiled under his mask, “But hey, every quirk has its limit, am I right?” The speed of the arrows became weaker and slower, Dabi was now able to use his bat to deflect them and knock them away.

“Heads!” Izuku shouted as he pulled his rods out, raising their electric charge and throwing one of them, Dabi’s body hitting the ground as he dodged effortlessly, popping back up.

The minute the rod’s end connected with the villain’s knee, the volts caused her to drop to the ground, giving Dabi enough time to scramble over and chop the back of her neck just like Izuku taught him, her body finally going limp and the arrows ceasing. Izuku placed his hands on his lower back and pushed, cracking his joints several times with a satisfied sigh.

“Don’t tell me you’re already getting too old for this,” Dabi teased as he restrained the woman, letting Izuku take care of scribbling down all the important information.

“No! Toshi’s just been obsessed with training and it’s starting to catch up on me,” Izuku grumbled back, smacking the red sticky note onto the villain’s forehead.

“Kid’s nervous for school,” Dabi shrugged, “And I can’t blame him. He’s in the hero course, all the other assholes will have strong and flashy quirks. He needs to be one step ahead with his other skills.”

Izuku rolled his eyes, “Dude, don’t call children assholes unless they give you a reason to.”

“Well, they did give me a reason.”

“And what reason would that be?”

“They’re not Lavender or Bubblegum, which means I automatically think they suck.”

Izuku dramatically placed his hands over his heart and raised a foot, “Awe, you love us! You really do!”

“No, I most fucking definitely do not. But everyone else are assholes, you three are just a bunch of asses. Difference.”

“Right,” Izuku nodded slowly, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Izuku climbed up the ladder of a nearby building, sending Tsuakuchi the location while Dabi followed, the two of them taking a seat on the edge of the building.

“Personally, I think you’re pretty alright,” the greenette mumbled, “Especially because you don’t make fun of me for not, well, having a quirk.”

Dabi scoffed, “Dude, I don’t know who would have the balls to bully you because shit, you don’t mess around with those knives.”

Izuku chuckled nervously as he removed one of Mei’s hair ties he had sitting around his wrist, pulling it off and tying his hair up. “I wasn’t always like the way I am now I guess. Used to be quiet and when people hit me, I would just sort of take it, you know?”

“Yeah, I do know,” Dabi sighed, “And I hate that we both know what’s that like.”

“I got bullied a lot,” Izuku continued quickly, “And I didn’t have any friends for, like, my entire childhood I guess Well, I had one. Sort of. I feel like the world really just left me behind, not really offering me anything to make a future out of. I had my mom, but of course the universe thought that was just too much for me, that I didn’t deserve that.”

Dabi blinked in thought and looked down, “...Same.”

“You didn’t have any other friends either?”

Dabi rolled some grey hair between his fingers, the faded black dye beginning to mingle with the white strands, “Well, besides my siblings, I had one. One friend.”

Izuku waited for more information to be given, but he never received it.

“When I lashed out at you, it wasn’t your fuckin’ fault. It’s just hard to hear about the family that isn’t mine anymore, the family I failed.”

Izuku mulled the thoughts over in his mind, watching down below and a street over as the villain they had just taken down was being stuffed into a police car. “I should have chosen my words more carefully too, I guess. Just- I was trying to let you know that your youngest brother is still hangin’ in there, he’s still around,” Izuku spoke slowly and hesitantly, not wanting to set Dabi off again.

“Yeah,” is all the man responded.

As the police set off again, Dabi and Izuku hurried down and continued their patrol, the smaller vigilante talking the other through any new lessons he could teach.

“How do you manage to figure out quirks so fast?”

Izuku crossed his arms, “I dunno. Practice I suppose, I’ve been doing it for so long.” Dabi pushed out his bottom lip in thought, “So- Oi! Where are you running off to?”

Izuku padded over to a shiny object on the ground and stared at it, “Woah! Look at this!”

Dabi sulked over like a child and crouched down, “What the fuck. Why did you call me over to look at a knife, you have like a bag full of ‘em.”

Izuku pushed him with annoyance and Dabi fell on his ass with a grunt while the kid continued, “No, you don’t get it! This is a really, really expensive knife! I don’t even know where someone would find it these days at an affordable price, it’s metal is a blend of tungsten!”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll pretend like I do.”

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Izuku groaned as he carefully picked up the knife, turning it over in the moonlight.

“Hey!” someone shouted in a pouty voice, “That’s mine, I was looking for it!”

Izuku jumped up as adrenaline automatically began pumping through his veins, gripping onto the handle of the knife as he waved the blade threateningly. Dabi held his baseball bat up with a manic smile, “Come out and play!”

“What? I just want my knife back, do you know how hard it was to get my hands on?”

Izuku nodded, still in slight awe, “Yes! It’s tungsten, you must have gotten it from a real top hero, it’s the only ones that have spare money to spend on what most consider a useless tool in the world of quirks!”

There was a squeal of excitement, “Wow! You really know your stuff, I think that’s super cute!”

The compliment threw Izuku off as Dabi just seemed outright confused, “W- Are you here to slit our throats or not?”

“Why would I do that?”

Izuku shrugged, “I don’t know. Some people are really passionate about that kind of stuff.”

“No, I was just wandering around and then I realized my knife slipped from my pocket, I had to re-trace all my steps! So I’d appreciate it if you returned what is mine.”

Izuku sagged with disappointment, “Yeah, it’s only right. Sorry for making you think I was gonna steal it or something, I just thought it was abandoned. Do you have some sort of invisible quirk?”

“Hah? No, I’m up here, silly!”

Sure enough, Izuku looked up to see a girl hanging off a lamp-post, hung upside down with an amused smile, “Hi there!” She slid down the pole and landed with ease, her blonde hair billowing in knots as she skipped over, plucking the knife from Izuku’s hands.

Dabi cleared his throat and put his hands on his hips, “Fucking hi.” The girl’s pink cheeks got even pinker as she laughed, “Oh my god! It’s you again!”

“The fuck are you doing all the way out here at night? This isn’t exactly a safe place.”

The girl smoothed her skirt out and frowned, “What, you don’t think I can handle myself?”

Dabi rolled his eyes, “That’s not it, you shitstain. You better not be out and about fucking stabbing people.” She licked one of her canines, “Hey, I don’t do that anymore! Besides, not like I ever killed anyone!”

Izuku snorted, “Same.”

The girl’s yellow eyes caught the shine of all Izuku’s knives and her jaw dropped, “O-M-G where did you get all those pretty little things? Wah!”

“Hands off!” Izuku slapped her fingers away, “I earned these fair and square!” Dabi crouched down again, “Meaning he stole them from the underground hero company down in the city.”

“Don’t spill my secrets!”

The girl tapped her bottom lip in thought, “Underground hero company? I didn’t even think of checking there, I’ve been focused on the bigger heroes. Good thinking!”

It was awkwardly silent for a moment, then Izuku’s eyes darted back down to the tungsten knife, “Alright, now you spill. Where the fuck did you get that? I want one!”

“I can totally get one for you!” the girl jumped in excitement, “But we gotta make a trade, what can you get me?”

“I’ll bring you to the underground company tomorrow and I’ll show you which storage units hold the best stuff!”

The blonde bobbed her head eagerly, “Awesome, where should we meet tomorrow night?”

Izuku paused for a moment to locate a good area to meet, “Cat cafe in the city, you know the one I’m talking about?”

She licked her lips, “Of course I do, there’s only one that exists, didn’t know people still went to that place.”

“Hey!” Izuku placed a hand over his heart in dramatic fashion, “Watch your mouth!”

“You’re so funny!” she squealed, squishing her own cheeks, “I’ll be there at four in the morning, meet you then?” Izuku hummed, “Yeah, that should give us enough time to get there and be out before the sun’s up.”

She grinned and showed off her shiny teeth, “I can’t wait! I’ll need at least a week to get you a tungsten knife, but I always hold up my end of bargains. You can count on me!” Izuku watched the girl flee with a skip in her step as Dabi sighed, “And you’ve just met Toga. Congratulations.”

“What? Did I unlock something? How did you meet her?”

The man ran a weak hand through his hair and pressed his lips together, “Meh, the usual. She tried to stab me because she thought we were playing tag.”

Izuku didn’t know how he felt about Toga, but she could be a lot worse. She hasn’t tried to kill him yet but he also doesn’t trust her, the blonde seems unstable and all over the place. Although to be fair, Izuku can’t say he’s any better.

“So,” she sang as they left the storage facility, “What’s a little thing like you doing all alone out here at this time? Don’t you know the wolves would eat you right up? Gosh, I know I would!”

Izuku cringed internally but kept a neutral face, “Wolves or not, I always make it clear that I’m the predator, everyone else is the prey.” He paused for a moment and locked his eyes on Toga’s, “And that includes you.”

The girl’s smile fell from her face, but was quickly back Izuku might have missed it if he blinked. She continued, “Oh come now, you wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“Eh,” Dabi squeaked, “Very questionable. Very. I watched him bite a villain's nose a few nights ago, took a chunk right off.”

“He was trying to choke me,” Izuku defended himself, “So I’d do it again.”

Toga nodded with her constant pink cheeks, “Wow! So are you guys, like, vigilantes? That’s totally hot!”

Dabi blinked, “I’m an adult-” and Izuku spoke at the same time, “Not my type.”

Toga completely ignored them and busied herself by adjusting her two messy twin buns, “How’d you even get into that?”

“My dad sucked, my mom died.”

“My dad’s an asshole, my mom is away.”

Yellow eyes lit up, “Family problems? Me too, me too! Oh my gosh what a coincidence!”

“Or most parents are just assholes,” Izuku muttered, Dabi humming in agreement.

“My mom and dad kicked me out a few months ago because apparently they thought something was wrong with me I guess! And the kids at school weren’t very nice either, but that’s okay, I don’t really care! But apparently knives and weapons aren’t allowed at school, so I was expelled. Whatever. Not like I wanted to go anyways.”

“Are you just gonna drop your entire traumatic experience on us the second day together?” Dabi groaned, causing Toga to giggle. “Trauma? What trauma? You’re so silly!”

Toga held her newly stolen knives up to the moon, wanting to watch the light catch on the metallic blades, “Hey, how does the whole vigilante thing even work?”

Izuku cocked an eyebrow and adjusted his mouthguard, “Why does it matter? Why do you care?”

The blonde cut herself off by singing for a few seconds, Izuku holding back a laugh. Mei does the same thing. “What if someone wanted to get into the whole vigilante thing?” she asked hesitantly.

Dabi rolled his eyes, “You know it would involve not killing and stabbing people, right?” Toga put her fists on her hips and puffed her chest out, “Excuse me, Mr. Dabi! I told you, I’ve never killed anyone! I killed a bird, and that was once! I didn’t know any better, I was a kid!”

Izuku’s eyes went wide, “Well how old were you?”

“I don’t know, eight? Nine?”

Izuku clicked his tongue, “Uh, I feel like you should have known by then.”

Toga’s smile was gone again and she stopped walking, “I get it! I’m a freak! You don’t need to remind me.”

Izuku shot a glance over to Dabi as the two stopped walking as well, their facial expressions holding a conversation of their own. “Are you really interested in vigilantism?” Izuku asked quietly, “Because let it be known, if you constantly harm people for your own entertainment, I won’t take it lightly.”

There was a whine from behind him, “I’ll do my best! You can just keep me in check, right? Right? I might need some reminders, but I can learn!”

Izuku tugged on some curls that were tickling his nose and getting caught in his eyelashes, “I don’t trust you yet, understood?”

Toga was silent.

“But… but that doesn’t mean trust can’t be built. I think.”

The girl squealed and ran back over, bouncing on her toes with a massive smile, “Yeah! Yeah! Just give me a chance, you two cuties!”

“Stop saying shit like that,” Dabi deadpanned.

“We’ll be like a team! Are there any other members? Is this like some sort of action vigilante squad?”

Izuku mulled his options over for a moment, but decided to keep her a bit in the dark for now, “Information is something you have to earn. I’m very protective over my friends, so I want to take some precautions.”

And yeah, maybe Izuku trusted Dabi immediately, but that was different, okay?

“That makes sense!” Toga said, “And when I meet them, I’ll be super protective too, so don’t worry!” She looked down at her old, cracked phone and checked the time, “I should get going, don’t want the sun to come up while I’m still with all my weapons, annoying brats tend to ask stupid questions.”

Izuku snorted, “Agreed.” He took Toga’s phone and she let him, watching as he punched in his number and Dabi did the same, “Don’t blow up our phones please.”

Toga looked like she was going to explode with excitement and she took the phone back as if it were the most fragile thing in the world.

Dabi ruffled Izuku’s hair, “Let’s get going, Chaos.” Izuku gave a quick nod of farewell and followed the taller man, Toga calling out behind them, “Bye Chaos, bye Dabi! Text me for our next rendez-vous, ‘kay?”

“Got it!” Izuku grunted back as the girl skipped off, humming a tune like she was in her own little world.

Dabi’s grinned and looked down, “When we met, you didn’t put any of these precautions in place-”

“Shut up.”

“Is it because I’m sp-”

“Oh you’re special alright,” Izuku droned in a sarcastic tone.

“Especially fucking annoying.”

Chapter Text

“Hi!”

Shouta nearly dropped the documents and papers he was holding, completely stiffening from the sudden noise. He spun around towards the window, the little greenette trying to adjust his hold on the windowsill to get more comfortable. “Wh-” Shouta breathed, turning up to look at the clock.

It was seven.

“Shit,” he cursed, Dabi joining Izuku’s side with an annoyed grunt and heavy breathing, resting his chin on his fingers.

“Where are we?”

Shouta did yet another double take, the high pitched feminine voice throwing him off guard and this time, he really did drop all his papers to the ground, startling Mika. He didn’t have time to clean up, Hizashi hadn’t come home from grocery shopping and Izuku was currently wearing a confused expression, probably wondering why there was no meal, although he would never ask.

Shouta didn’t know how to cook, he barely ate any actual food unless it was stuffed down his throat by Nemuri or Hizashi. He turned back to where Izuku had reached in to scratch the top of Mika’s head, the white kitten purring in content.

“Chaos? Where are we?” a girl asked as she finally came into view, she couldn’t have been much older than the first year students at UA.

“This is Eraserhead and Present Mic’s apartment, they make sure Dabi and I eat!” Izuku said with pride in his tone, was he proud to know himself and Hizashi?

“But you can’t tell anyone,” he continued in a serious voice, “No one knows they’re married and don’t, you know, give away their address.”

The girl nodded with eager eyes, “I won’t, I promise! I can do that!”

While Izuku burst into a one-sided conversation about the two pro heroes, Shouta was still internally panicking while looking at Dabi. “Dude, don’t stress yourself out,” the man spoke, “Is the food not ready? There’s no rush.”

Izuku’s eyes went wide and his face flushed red, “Oh my, am I early? I’m so sorry Shouta, I didn’t mean to be early! I’ll go-”

“Izuku,” Shouta comforted softly, the use of his first name throwing him off ever so slightly, “You’re not early, and it would be fine if you were. I lost track of time and Hizashi isn’t home and-”

“You don’t know how to cook, do you?” Dabi snickered.

Shouta blinked slowly and ran a hand through his knotted hair, “No, I don’t.” It was silent for a moment, but when Dabi’s stomach growled loudly it seemed that was enough for Izuku to make a decision, tumbling through the front window with the girl quickly on his tail without hesitation.

“I know how to cook,” the small boy mumbled quietly, almost as if he was nervous.

Was he nervous?

Why?

The girl blinked and then smiled, “I don’t know how to cook, but I’m Himiko Toga, hi!”

Shouta chewed on his tongue lightly, trying to figure out what question he wanted to ask first.

“And Chaos, is that your name, Izuku?”

Oh shit, Izuku had his mask on, meaning-

The greenette squeaked while Dabi visibly cringed, Shouta’s face heating up with an embarrassed flush. The boy sighed, “Yes?”

“Izuku, Izuku, that name is adorable!” Toga giggled, “It matches your adorable little cheeks and freckles!”

“Would you stop that? I told you, I’m not into you like that!” Izuku cried, ripping his mask off and tossing it towards the couch.

The girl laughed harder, “I know that, Izuku! Doesn’t mean you’re any less adorable! Besides, you’re not really my type either.”

“Then why do you keep saying things like that?”

“Like what?” Toga asked, appearing genuinely confused.

Dabi slunk into the apartment last and headed straight for the couch, kicking Izuku’s disgarded mask to the side and flopping face down onto the pillows with a content sigh. “Whatever,” the small boy waved his hand dismissively, “Do you have food around here?”

Shouta tapped his chin, because the simple answer was no. That’s why Hizashi wasn’t home.

“Uh,” he stared stupidly, “Help yourself.”

Izuku smiled and walked up to the cabinets in the kitchen and paused, a steady frown settling on his face. Shouta quietly walked in, “What’s wrong-”

“Why are your cabinets so fucking high?” Izuku shouted with a pout, placing his hands on his fist.

“Pipe down, short stack,” Dabi groaned from the couch, curling up as Mika kept sniffing him.

“Ash tray,” Izuku shot back and Dabi slammed his hands down on his own thighs, “I quit! You can’t keep using that fucking insult, that’s cheating!”

Izuku ignored him and kicked his shoes off, climbing up onto the counter while Toga watched with ready eyes, her arms outstretched in case he wiped out. Shouta’s eyes glanced down to the colour of pink, scooping the hello kitty sneakers.

Why did Izuku have hello kitty sneakers?

“I can feel the judgement radiating off of you,” Izuku sneered, “Can I not like hello kitty? Huh? Is there a problem with that?”

Shouta shook his head immediately, “No! No, I’m just going to place these on the window sill.” He did as he explained and settled at the kitchen table, filling out the papers from work he was supposed to complete last week.

He made sure to keep an eye on the two teenagers in the kitchen, Toga mainly grabbing ingredients for Izuku and watching him pour things into a pot and cut vegetables up. Snoring from the living room notified him that Dabi had tapped out, his legs hanging over the top of the pillows and his arms strewn all over the place.

Funny enough, it seems Mika has claimed this new visitor, sleeping in a ball on his chest, purring up a storm.

Shouta couldn’t help but wonder why this felt oddly calm, despite not enjoying the company of kids when it wasn’t necessary. He and Hizashi already decided children weren’t for them, they knew that ever since high school, even before they officially got together in their third years.

So why did this feel so comfortable, so familiar?

Even while Toga yelled at Izuku to add more chili flakes, Shouta’s heartbeat was still steady and he felt fondness while watching them. Was there something wrong with him? Maybe he’s caught a cold or something.

“Toga?” he asked, “How old are you?”

Izuku shooed her from the kitchen and Toga skipped over, smoothing out her skirt before crossing her legs in the seat opposite to Shouta, “Why?”

“Just asking.”

“Well, I’m sixteen!” she smiled, “But I don’t know why that’s really important.”

Shouta hummed and scribbled a few signatures on his documents, “Do your parents know where you are?”

“No.”

“Oh, do you want to call them?”

“What? No! They don’t care where I am, they kicked me out a few months back, so they’re not my parents anymore,” Toga explained as she ran her fingers along the nicks and bumps of the table.

Shouta frowned, “So who do you live with then?”

“With me,” Izuku spoke up right away, Toga’s eyes lighting up, “I do?”

Izuku stopped stirring the food on the stove for a minute and looked over, “Do you live somewhere?”

“No.”

“Then you live with me now. You know my name now, not much to hide anymore.”

Toga’s smile was the widest it’s ever been and Shouta could have sworn he saw tears building in her yellow eyes, “Well there you have it Mr. Eraser, I live with Izuku!” Shouta doesn’t know where Izuku lives in the first place, but at least now he knows it’s somewhere.

He sighed and stood up, “Alright. Do you want to watch tv while Izuku makes dinner?” Toga nodded right away and ran back to the window, gently placing her black shoes next to Izuku’s and then made her way over to the living room, weaving through Dabi’s legs and taking up the end of the couch.

Shouta sat down in his favourite sofa chair and turned on the television, shifting the papers in his lap. “Here,” he mumbled and tossed the converter to Toga, the girl catching it with ease and beginning her search through the channels, her eyes wide in concentration.

Shouta focused on the sound of Izuku humming in the kitchen and shut out the sound of Dabi’s soft snoring, continuing his work through all the files Nezu had given. You know, just because Shouta expelled all of his first years doesn’t mean he had more time to do busy work!

And yeah, maybe he wasn’t teaching anymore, but he had more pressing things to attend to, such as napping and petting Mika. That took a lot of energy.

The lock at the front of the door jiggled and Shouta’s head snapped up, Toga too entranced with the cartoon she was watching to notice. The door opened and Hizashi said far too loudly, “Sho! I’m home- did you cook something? I swear if the kitchen is on fire again.”

Shouta rolled his eyes and stood up, peering around the corner with a lazy wave, “We have guests.”

Hizashi frowned, “You actually let people be around you? Like, voluntarily?”

“Yes!” Shouta hissed in slight offence, “The kids got here and I don’t know how to cook, so Izuku’s handling it.” The blonde dropped the grocery bags by the door and flung his sunglasses off, “The kids are here? I can’t believe I forgot! Izuku, I’m so sorry!”

Shouta followed his dramatic husband into the kitchen where the grenette was pouring some type of broth into five bowls, “Hizashi, just on time! Can you get the chopsticks for me? Also a fork, Dabi’s been having trouble keeping his hands steady and he gets pissed off when the noodles slip from the chopsticks.”

Neither of the men asked any questions, doing as told and sorting out the utensils, along with drinks.

“Toga,” Shouta called, “Wake Dabi up.” There was a brief moment of silence where he thought she might not have heard him, but the sound of a very hard slap proved that theory wrong.

“What the hell?” Dabi roared, “Did you just fucking slap me?”

“Huh? Yeah, Era- uh, Aizawa asked me to wake you up!”

“So why didn’t you just, I don’t know, tap my shoulder or something normal?”

“That’s how my parents used to wake me up, what do you mean? Did I do something wrong?”

Hizashi looked over to Shouta with wide eyes and yeah, that sentence had so many problems he would have to unpack later. Dabi exhaled slowly, “What.”

“Come get your food, I’m not a maid,” Izuku interrupted, picking up his own bowl as everyone followed, Dabi with a red hand print across his left cheek, some blood peeking out from the cracks in his skin graph along his jaw. Shouta wondered where those burns came from.

He’s seen Dabi use his blue flames once or twice on patrol, but surely one's quirk couldn’t be so self destructive, right? As a child, his parents would have found a solution instead of letting their child burn themselves, it only made sense.

Shouta didn’t notice the way the three kids were standing there awkwardly, bowls cupped between their hands with their eyes on him.

“What?”

Hizashi elbowed his side with a scolding look, “They’re obviously not sure where they’re supposed to eat, be nice! Come on, we can eat in the living room.” Hizashi took the lead while the three followed him like baby ducklings, Mika at the tail end.

Shouta noticed her white fur was tinted with soot on one side, Dabi really needed a bath.

Dabi and Toga took their original seats, Izuku squishing himself really close to Dabi’s other side despite there being more room on the couch. The grumpy man didn’t seem to mind, strangely enough. Hizashi sat down on the ground and placed his bowl on the table while Shouta hesitantly returned to his sofa chair.

“Thank you Izuku,” Hizashi said with a huge smile, Toga and Dabi doing the same.

“Yeah,” Shouta sighed with a soft smile, “Thank you. It looks good.”

Izuku’s cheeks tinted pink and he bowed his head in embarrassment, “It’s just some beef broth and-”

“And delicious,” Dabi leaned in with his shoulder, “And something the rest of us wouldn’t have been able to fuckin’ do.” The room fell into a comfortable silence as Toga went to the next episode, Hizashi suddenly doing a double take, “Wait a minute, I don’t remember collecting a blonde one.”

The girl lowered her bowl and flashed a shiny smile, “Hi! I’m Himiko Toga!”

Izuku sounded very hyper and excited over the phone, and that only meant one thing. He’s done something.

“Have you been sleeping lately?” Mei poked the side of Hitoshi’s face, pulling him out from his thoughts. He couldn’t help but laugh at the innocent question, “Have I been sleeping? No. No, obviously not.”

Wrinkles from Mei’s frown etched her face and she shook her head, “Very funny insomniac, but I mean you look worse than normal.”

“Thanks.”

Hitoshi hasn’t told anyone about Kiyabu, but he was up late last night calling the hospital. When he got up to get some water, he had found the quiet librarian unconscious on the floor, her pulse unstable and faded. Hitoshi knew she had been extremely sick, but he thought he had more time with her.

Now, she still hasn’t woken up and it’s been hours.

“Just stressed about school, is all,” he finally answered, and that wasn’t a complete lie.

“Awe, Toshi!” Mei squealed as she hugged his arm, “Don’t be, you’re going to do great! I promise, you need to have more confidence in yourself!” Hitoshi nodded weakly as they arrived at the warehouse doors, banging loudly when he found it was locked, as usual.

“Coming!” Izuku shouted from inside, the sound of him running becoming louder.

“What do you think he did this time?” Hitoshi whispered down to Mei.

She casually shrugged and rolled her shoulders, “Probably killed a guy. Luckily I’ve trained for this moment my whole life.”

Hitoshi choked on nothing but air, “What. The. Fuck. Does that mean?”

“I’ve never done it, but getting rid of a body really can’t be that har- Hey Izuku!”

The greenette jumped up and down with messy hair, “Hey guys! What were you talking about?”

“Nothing!” Hitoshi and Mei gasped at the same time, then chuckling nervously. Izuku’s bouncing ceased and he thinned his eyes, examining his two friends. Hitoshi felt like that glare really could kill a man.

“Well, okay! Come in, come on!” Izuku bounced back into his usual demeanor and grabbed Hitoshi and Mei’s wrists, pulling them in. Hitoshi opened his mouth to ask why his little friend was all over the place today when his eyes settled on two people playing cards in the middle of the warehouse, one of which he didn’t recognize.

Her yellow eyes snapped up and she jumped to her feet, waving excitedly, “Hi! Are you the rest of the Vigilante Action Squad?”

“Why do you keep calling it that?” Dabi deadpanned, tossing the cards in his hand onto the ground.

“Where do you keep finding these people,” Hitoshi mumbled quietly, running a hand down his face.

“Another girl?” Mei yelled, “Cool! I’m Mei Hatsume, call me Mei!”

“I’m Himiko Toga!”

Toga looked over to the purple haired boy and he raised a hand in a lazy wave, “Hitoshi Shinsou.” Izuku looked between everyone as silence washed over the group, no one wanting to start the conversation again.

“I like knives!” Toga blurted in nervousness, “I mean, that’s how I met Izuku, we started talking about knives.”

“She also,” Izuku itched the top of his head and rocked on his heels, “She lives here now. Yay! Right?”

Toga nodded and threw her hands up, “Yeah, yay!”

Dabi crossed his arms, “You know, this is not the same treatment I got when I joined this little fuckin’ group.”

Hitoshi couldn’t help the snort that escaped, “Yeah, because Toga’s not a dirty twenty-two year old man that commits arson and showers once a year.”

“Maybe not arson, but she stabs people! That’s gotta count for something!”

The four young teenagers shrugged at once and decided to ignore Dabi, Toga continuing, “I’m gonna be a vigilante now with Izuku and Dabi, isn’t that so cool?”

Izuku huffed with a soft smile, “Toga, Mei here is our tech behind the scenes and Hitoshi, uh-”

“I make sure you morons don’t fucking die,” Hitoshi inturrupted, “That’s my job in this little bullshit group.”

Izuku laughed, “Yeah, Toshi wanted to, well, at least considered being a vigilante but he goes to a hero school, same thing for Mei. Well, they haven’t actually started, but your first day is in two weeks, right?”

Hitoshi and Mei nodded.

“So, you make Izuku’s little gadgets and stuff?” Toga asked a little nervously, watching for Mei’s reaction. The pink haired girl nodded, “Yep, me and my babies can make anyone top dog, trust me!”

The blonde was oddly quiet for a moment and Izuku tilted his head, “Did you lose your voice or something? You’re never actually quiet.” Toga giggled, although lacking its usual energy, and slowly pointed to her teeth, “My quirk, I need to consume blood. I know it’s villainous and weird and-”

“My quirk is brainwashing. People used to call me a villain every day,” Hitoshi spoke, “So let me give you a tip. No quirk is villainous, it’s what you make of it. You should get into that mindset now because either way Izu will beat it into you.”

Toga looked surprised as she continued, “Oh, right! Well, biting people is kind of difficult, they dodge! Not to mention unsanitary, bleck. I don’t want to bite random people, you know? So is there like a machine you have that could get the blood for me? Maybe even store it, I don’t really know.”

Mei’s crosshair eyes were sparkling as she screamed, “Yes yes yes! I can do anything! Tell me everything about your quirk, literally everything!”

Izuku pulled out his notebook, “Wait, I want to write it down too! What happens when you actually consume the blood?”

Toga chewed on her tongue lightly, Hitoshi could tell she was anxious, “Um, depending on how much I drink I can turn into them-”

“Holy fucking shit no way!” Izuku screamed, “What about voices? Quirks? Clothing? Can you even change height? I have so many questions!”

Hitoshi watched the poor new girl practically get tackled to the ground as Mei pried open her mouth, poking around at her sharp canines until she pricked herself. “Change into me!” she shrieked and without question, Toga’s form morphed into a slimy substance, her blonde hair turning to pink.

“I didn’t take my clothes off first so,” Toga chuckled awkwardly as Mei’s clothes copied over her original ones, making them lumpy and oddly shaped. Mei stared at the fake Mei with wide eyes, “This is so cool oh my god! Let’s take a selfie right now! No wait, Izuku, take a picture of us!”

Hitoshi continued watching from a distance, laughing as Izuku and Toga as Mei began chasing Dabi around with knives, wanting a sample of his blood.

“I can make you some sort of machine!” Mei shouted as she began babbling into her note recorder, pacing back and forth even as the screaming in the background would make it difficult to hear her own playback.

Hitoshi found himself smiling for some reason, how has he found himself with such a strange group?

Dabi was spewing flames from his palms as he was pinned down by Izuku's tiny form, Toga helping herself to his exposed ankle without any burns. Mei completely ignored the chaos behind her as she had begun screaming into her recorder with excitement, flipping off Hitoshi when he started laughing at her.

Dabi then set one of Izuku’s blankets on fire and Toga transformed into Dabi, scolding the actual man for committing arson. The greenette shouted ‘Bad Dabi!’ over and over again, at least the man had the decency to look guilty.

“I’m so sorry my little son!” Toga apologized as Dabi, only making the man angrier, two Dabi’s now running around the warehouse as Izuku and Mei tried to smother the fire in mild panic with some cans of juice they had laying around, despite there being a fire extinguisher two feet from them along the wall.

Hitoshi thought back to his parents, the way they used to muzzle him and lock him in his room after he accidentally used his quirk for the first time.

“Hitoshi, baby, what would you like for dinner?”

Hitoshi looked up from the paper he was scribbling on with a yellow crayon, he was drawing the sun. “Um, dinner?” he repeated with his legs swinging back and forth, “I wan’ ice cream!”

The lilac woman chuckled, “Hitoshi, no. You don’t get ice cream, it’s not good for you.”

He knew that mom and dad never let him have any sugar, they could barely get him to sleep as it is, they didn’t want to risk sugar making it even more difficult. “But I wan’ ice cream!” Hitoshi shouted, tossing his yellow crayon at the television and standing up with his fists on his hips, “All my other friends get to eat ice cream!”

“Hitoshi,” his mom warned, her playful demeanor gone, “You’re not allowed to eat ice cream, you know that. Don’t test me.”

Frustration was building in Hitoshi’s gut because no, he didn’t know that. He knew the rule existed, but he didn’t understand why the rule was in place. All he knew was that it wasn’t fair!

“Mommy! Why can’t I get ice cream?” Hitoshi felt a strange pressure behind his eyes as his mother opened her mouth to answer, “Because I said so-”

“Mommy, le’z go get ice cream!”

She fell silent for the first time in a long time and Hitoshi watched as she walked to the door and opened it without even stopping to put her shoes on.

“Hon?” his dad jumped up from the couch, “What are you doing?”

“Are we goin’ to get ice cream?” Hitoshi turned to his father, who in return frowned, “No, your mother already said-”

“Le’z go daddy! We goin’ to get ice cream for dinner!”

As his dad’s blue eyes faded to an off white, Hitoshi followed his parents out the door, ignoring the building headache in his mind. Neither parents put on their shoes, so Hitoshi didn’t either, walking behind them outside down the street.

Usually they drove to the ice cream shop, that’s strange.

“Mommy?” he asked, but she didn’t answer, instead continuing her route, his father doing the same. At the time, Hitoshi didn’t think much of it, struggling to keep up as he chased after their long strides.

Fifteen minutes later, the Shinsou family returned to their home and Hitoshi crawled onto the couch with a massive tub of cookie dough ice cream, sticking his spoon in with excitement. “Brain freeze!” he giggled, clutching his head as his parents sat blankly on their chairs, but the silence was gone in the blink of an eye.

“Hitoshi Shinsou!” his mother shouted, “Where did you get that ice cream?”

He blinked in confusion, “What? You took me wit’ daddy!”

“We most certainly did not, don’t put words in our mouths!” his father cried back, standing up in a threatening way. Being threatening was pretty easy when you were six foot five.

“But you really did! We jus’ got back, ‘member? No shoes either!”

His mother looked at the receipt on the table as Hitoshi continued, “Can I have some of the chocolate?”

Her eyes snapped up, “No you cannot, put-”

“Gimme the chocolate!”

The woman was silent again as she reached into the bag and handed the second tub to Hitoshi, causing him to squirm in happiness as his father watched, horrified. “Hon!” he shouted, “It’s his quirk! He didn’t get either of ours!”

His mother was shaken back to normal, “His quirk makes us- He can control us? Like puppets?”

Hitoshi couldn’t have prepared himself for what would have come next, no child could. His parents refused to talk to him for a week, much to his confusion, until one day his father came home with a strange metallic contraption.

He held Hitoshi down as his mother strapped the muzzle around his face, no matter how much he screamed and cried and fought back. It was never enough.

Barely three months later, his mother told him they were going to get ice cream. She left him at a strange building and never came back, only leaving him with a letter. Hitoshi never got to find out what the letter said, but he did know none of the strange people in this new building would talk to him, and they wouldn’t remove his muzzle.

Even over ten years later from that day, Hitoshi still has the small, faded scars imprinted on the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones, some on his jaw and there was a chunk missing from his upper left ear.

Hitoshi knew from the age of three that he would never be wanted.

At least, that’s what he used to think.

Because here, here with these strange, odd, crazy, beautiful, wonderful beings, Hitoshi now knows that life is more than your past.

Here, here with a kid he met in the library while he was researching knives, he turned out to be the most protective.

Here, here with a kid whose lab they snuck into, she turned out to be the most accepting.

Here, here with a man who tried to burn him at first sight, he turned out to be the most encouraging.

Here, here with a kid who he just met, she’s already excited to be his friend.

Yeah, Hitoshi thought.

This is where he belongs.

He belongs with family.

Chapter Text

“Backpack?”

“Yes.”

“Uniform?”

“Yes.”

“Pencil case and binders?”

“Yes.”

“Capture weapon?”

“Yes.”

“Knife?”

“Ye- Izuku! Get that out of my bag!”

Izuku frowed with his hand halfway into Hitoshi’s backpack, trying to sneak a butcher’s knife in. “What? You might need it! If anyone tries to say something mean to you, you do exactly as I showed you and you shank them as so-”

“Izuku! Stop!” Dabi stepped in, “If he stabs someone at school, he’ll get expelled and probably be sent to jail!”

Toga hummed, “Yeah! Silly Izuku! That’s why you’ll have to find them after school to stab them.”

“Bingo,” Dabi nodded, “Come on Izu, you’re smarter than that.”

“Sorry!” the smallest boy jumped, “I’m just so excited! Mei, how’re you feeling?”

“I’m ready for world domination with my babies!” she shrieked, hands flailing in the air. Toga did the same, “That’s the spirit!”

While the group fell into excited chatter, Hitoshi couldn’t help the shake in his hands, the way his vision began growing blurry and his knees were now feeling weak. Did he really deserve this spot at UA? There were so many other kids with powerful quirks, quirks that could actually take down villains.

Hitoshi hasn’t been to actual school since he was thirteen, it’s been two years. It doesn’t sound like a very long time, but a lot can change with kids going from middle school to high school. Would they still see him as a villain? Maybe he shouldn’t share his quirk, maybe-

“Hey,” Izuku gently laid a hand on his shoulder, “You know, I think you’ve developed my habit of mumbling.” Sure enough, the group had fallen silent, standing in a small alleyway a few streets from UA, four pairs of eyes on Hitoshi.

“Look,” Izuku smiled, reaching into his friend’s backpack and carefully poking through it, “You’re too hard on yourself.”

“Says you,” Hitoshi snapped back in defense, the panic was beginning to take over. Izuku’s movements stuttered, but he ignored the comment, instead pulling out Hitoshi’s folded capture weapon, smoothing out the lilac fabric.

“Toshi, a quirk doesn’t mean anything if the user isn’t willing to work hard. You? You’re one of the determined people I know. You’re smart, fast, strong, witty, resourceful, talented. Hitoshi, you’re going to be just fine. More than fine.”

Toga fidgeted with her hands for a moment, then spoke quietly, “Sometimes, I miss school. Not the bullies, obviously. But I miss the will I had to prove people wrong. I stopped caring and I wish I didn’t. So, well, just go prove people wrong. Okay?”

“And Hitoshi,” Mei jumped, “You won’t be alone either! People always call me weird and annoying and other words I’m not going to repeat because they’re not very nice, but so what? They won’t matter when I have my own support agency, just like they won’t matter when you’re a pro hero, saving lives! Right?”

Hitoshi hadn’t thought of it that way. If his classmates decide to judge him on his quirk, all he has to do is prove them wrong. He can do that, it’s just one thing. “Okay. I can do that.”

Izuku flashed one of his rare, genuine smiles and slung the capture weapon around Hitoshi’s neck, “I can tell you feel more comfortable with this.”

“But isn’t it against uniform?”

“So?” Dabi snorted, “Fuck that.”

“Fuck that,” Hitoshi repeated, nodding while he rubbed his nose against the fabric, “Wait, what if I get in trouble?”

“Shouta won’t give you any trouble,” Izuku said, “Trust me. Half the time he’s wearing his at home too.” Mei made a whining sound, “When do we get to come eat with them?”

“Do you want to be kicked out of UA?”

“...No.”

Dabi leaned over and ruffled Hitoshi and Mei’s hair with one hand each, “Hurry up, you don’t want to be late. Mei, make sure he doesn’t try to escape.”

Hitoshi made an offended expression and before he could respond, the man continued, “Don’t give me that face. You tried to book it twice on the way to the fuckin’ entrance exam.”

Yeah, not his best moment.

Hitoshi could only nod as he turned and exited the alleyway with false confidence, pretending like his bottom lip wasn’t quivering beneath his scarf. “You’ve got this, cuties!” Toga called from behind them, “Go do hero stuff or whatever!”

Izuku laughed fondly, “Yeah! Change the hero game while you’re at it as well! I’m tired of people like Shitty-Deavor squeaking past.”

“I double that,” Dabi deadpanned.

Toga giggled, “Tripled!”

Hitoshi spared a glance over to Mei, the pep in her step giving him a little more as well.

The pink haired girl chatted the entire way there, in which Hitoshi was secretly grateful for. Between Izuku’s rambling, Mei’s conspiracy theories, Toga’s gossipping and Dabi’s complaining, silence was now off putting to him.

“Alright!”

Hitoshi’s mauve eyes snapped up, he hadn’t even noticed they reached the arched entrance gate of UA.

“We’ve got this!” Mei punched his shoulder way harder than necessary, “Hitoshi, get in there and show them why you got top spot!”

“Tied,” Hitoshi corrected as Mei sprinted away, her over-packed bag nearly tumbling to the ground several times. He couldn’t help fidgeting with his scarf as he took slow steps inside, it felt like walking right into the belly of the beast.

Which he kind of was.

Hitoshi took a brief look at the map when he entered and committed it to memory, following the correct path to his designated classroom. Class 1-A. Hitoshi stopped in front of the massive door with large red lettering, his hand hesitating over the door knob.

No, he couldn’t have an anxiety attack in the middle of the school hallway on his first day. How embarrassing would that be?

He checked the digital clock down the hallway, he only had one minute to get inside, so he better do it before he ran, right? With a quiet curse, Hitoshi bit down on the inside of his capture weapon and slid the door open, grateful it wasn’t as heavy as it appeared.

The class was full of students, all chatting in small groups save for the handful of kids sitting in silence at their desks. Hitoshi sank in before anyone could get a good look at him, sparing a glance at the seating chart, between two people named Mineta and Bakugou.

He didn’t care who he had to sit near, instead keeping his head down and stepping further into the room until a hand on his elbow stopped him.

“Hey! It’s you again!”

Oh god, Hitoshi recognized that headache of a voice.

“Dude! You never gave me your name! And sorry I was such a liability, thanks for not letting me get stomped on and hey! Can I touch your little scarf again it was so soft last time and-”

Hitoshi tried walking away, for some reason he thought maybe this problem wouldn’t follow him, but of course it did.

“Well I’m Denki Kaminari, what about you?” the blonde bounced after him like a puppy.

Why was the bell taking so long to ring?

Hitoshi sat down and Kaminari looked to the board, “Ah! So this must mean you’re Hitoshi Shinsou? Right?” The purple haired boy just grunted, burying his face further into his scarf.

“Excuse me!” Hitoshi flinched from the sheer volume as a boy with glasses stomped over, “You are currently not following dress code! As a hero course student of UA, it is your duty-”

“How about I shove my scarf down your throat? Would that be a better fucking place for it?”

Oops. The panic and anxiety was talking again. All this attitude he’s adopted was totally Izuku’s fault.

The entire class went silent and all eyes settled on Hitoshi, who now wanted to die more than he ever has and-

“Wow. I’m impressed. It took no time at all for this class to quiet down. Maybe I can hold on to some hope.”

Heads now snapped over to the yellow lump on the floor who was slowly rising like some sort of god or goddess from below, opening their arms to accept the power being granted that will allow them to take over the world and-

No. Just some grumpy homeless man by the name of Eraserhead.

“Take your seats before I decide to expel you all.”

That was enough incentive for Kaminari to skitter over to his desk, practically throwing himself into his seat and rocking back and forth.

“I’m pro hero Eraserhead, but you’ll call me Aizawa-sensei in class. I do not like my time wasted, so make sure you don’t. Now there are gym clothes folded in your desks. Go put them on and meet me outside. Hurry up, I won’t be waiting.”

As black eyes watched the kids run out with their uniforms clutched in their hands, they settled upon Hitoshi and widened for a fraction of a second, Aizawa’s neutral face breaking for just a moment.

Scenarios ran through Hitoshi’s head, in which they all concluded in expulsion except for three that ended up with him in jail. Aizawa opened his mouth, was this it? Was he going to be expelled two minutes into the school day?

“What are you waiting for? Do you want a written invitation?”

Hitoshi’s face went beet red despite his calm expression, sliding out from his seat and grabbing his uniform, shouldering past while averting his eyes. He made his way to the change rooms and avoided any large group of people, socializing wasn’t on his list today.

“Hey man, what’s up?”

Hitoshi jumped, turning to the familiar boy with a mullet, “Sero. That’s my name. You?”

“Shinsou.”

“Shinsou, cool! I’m glad you made it in by the way, you really earned your place.”

Hitoshi kept his eyes down, “Yeah. And I saw what you and the others did after the exam, so, thanks for that, I guess.”

Sero smiled, his black eyes squinting from the movement, “Well we didn’t really end up helping at all in the end, but no problem!” Hitoshi adjusted his capture weapon and he knew he should probably remove it, but Aizawa hasn’t actually said anything yet.

So he’ll keep it on until then.

Hitoshi followed Sero out to the field where his other classmates were waiting, Aizawa standing there with his arms crossed. “About time. The top place from the exams were shared by two students, so,” he paused, his eyes lingering on Hitoshi once again before moving on, tossing a softball to Bakugou, “Throw it.”

Bakugou cocked an eyebrow as if there was some sort of catch, Aizawa delving further, “I want you to use your quirk this time, unlike middle school.”

Hitoshi watched the boy step into his circle, something feeling wrong. Why did this boy seem so familiar? Had they met before? His questions were answered when the boy in question launched the softball with an explosion, “Die!”

Kacchan.

That was Kacchan.

Hitoshi didn’t notice the way his scarf began moving slightly, but he didn’t care. Because that was the Kacchan who hurt Izuku. Who gave him all those scars and burns, who made him the way he was.

Sad.

And angry.

Bakugou spun around, most likely sensing the intense glare on his back and his brows furrowed in confusion. Would he recognize Hitoshi as well?

“What the fuck are you looking at?” the blonde snapped, causing Hitoshi’s scarf to rise higher in anger.

He knew his DNA was woven into the scarf, but it had never reacted with his emotions like this before.

“You? Was that not clear?” Hitoshi cocked his head as a toothy grin spread across his face, something deep inside him wanted to hurt this boy.

He wanted to hurt Katsuki Bakugou.

“What the fuck did you say to me, you ass wipe?” the blonde roared, explosions ringing from his hands. The hands that have held Izuku down just for the opportunity to inflict pain.

Aizawa’s hair rose and Bakugou’s explosions ceased, but when it was Hitoshi’s turn for his quirk to be erased, the fabric didn’t lower. He had to turn away and look back over to the school, allowing himself to calm down until his weapon went still. This could be a problem.

“That’s enough,” Aizawa hissed, “And since we have time to argue and gawk, why don’t we make this more fun. Do you have time to stand around on the battlefield just to throw little temper tantrums? No. Not everyone is cut out for this, and I’ll make sure of it. The person that comes last place during this quirk assessment will be sent home right away. Expelled.”

There were murmurs of argument and disagreement, but Hitoshi’s been with Izuku long enough to know that when you’re told to do something when under pressure, you don’t just stand around. Hitoshi cracked his knuckles and back, he wasn’t going home.

Katsuki couldn’t take his eyes off this purple fucker. Something about his presence was off-putting, and he could have sworn he’s seen him before. It also didn’t help that Shinsou seemed to look at him with the same expression Katsuki used to wear towards someone else.

He missed his therapy session last week and he was on edge, every little thing pissing him off and all these people were, as Yue would put it, overwhelming. Everyone was just being so annoying, he wanted to blast them all to oblivion without consequences.

Unfortunately, consequences most definitely exist and Katsuki was sure of that.

“Hey bro!”

Katsuki snapped in the direction of sound to see who dared speak to him while he clearly wanted nothing to do with them, a boy with crimson eyes staring back. “I just wanted to say that your quirk is totally manly! I’m Eijirou Kirishima, the guy you almost killed during the entrance exams, remember?”

“I don’t fucking care,” Katsuki paused as he looked up to that god awful hair, “Shitty hair.”

“Hey!” the moron laughed, “That rhymes!”

What a disgusting sound, a laugh. Katsuki hated it.

“Fuck off,” he grumbled, turning away and hoping the extra would be able to get the hint. He didn’t.

“So! You tied for first place in the exams, that’s totally awesome! You must have trained, like, super hard. I know I did! You’re Bakugou, right? That’s what Aizawa-sensei said anyhow.”

Katsuki growled like some sort of mutt when Kirishima brought up the exam scores. How could someone even compete with him? He has a powerful quirk, he’s strong, he’s smart, he’s just better! That’s all there was to it!

Katsuki would have guessed that he might have tied with fucking Half-n’-half or maybe even Ponytail, but they came in on recommendations. Katsuki could have made it in on recommendations no question, they’re not any better than him.

Who else could it have been? There’s no one else here who can even rub shoulders with him, let alone come top in the exams.

“Bakugou?”

“Fuck off you moron!” he roared again and Katsuki could have sworn the red head appeared hurt for a moment, but his blinding smile never faded.

“Not a talker, huh? That’s cool, I can do enough talking for the both of us!”

While the extra began rambling on about some recent hero fight, Katsuki turned his attention back to the softball pitch, watching the purple freak approach the ring. God, what kind of quirk did he have? A floating scarf wasn’t much, at least Aizawa had an actual quirk.

This guy, he kind of reminded Katsuki of-

No. This wasn’t the time.

“Anything goes?” the boy asked, was his name Shinsou? Aizawa hummed, “Whatever, you just have to stay in the ring.” Shinsou stood there for a moment as if he were trying to solve some impossible puzzle, it was beginning to piss Katsuki off again!

“Excuse me?” Shinsou turned back to the crowd, pointing at someone.

“Who, me?” a girl with pink cheeks asked, pointing her own finger against her chest with wide eyes, “Did I do something?”

“No, but what’s your name again?”

Katsuki wanted to scream, was this fucker really trying to make friends in the middle of a test? Did he want to be sent home?

“Oh! Um, Ochako Ura-”

“Activate your quirk on this ball for me.”

Uraraka’s brown eyes faded to an uneasy grey-white, her feet shakily carrying her forward as she reached out, touching the softball and sending it into the stratosphere once again. The entire time, Shinsou stood in the ring with his hands in his pockets, watching the ball drift further and further into the clouds.

“You can release your quirk,” he said after Aizawa said he would reward him with the same infinite score as Uraraka.

“Release,” she muttered emotionlessly and blinked in confusion, looking around a few times before scrambling back with the weird frog girl.

“Pardon me!” Glasses stepped forward with his hands swinging in a robotic motion, “That was not very heroic of you, using your quirk on a fellow classmate without permission, let alone a very rude and intrusive quirk-”

“Hey!” the alien kid stepped forward, “Watch your tone! He just so happened to save my life during the exam, so maybe you should keep your opinion to yourself!”

There were too many people that all sounded the same to Katsuki, even trying to memorize their names was pointless.

“I’m just trying to explain that such a villainous quirk-”

Shinsou, surprisingly enough, broke out into a laugh. “Please, save your energy. I’ve already received the villain speech countless times, I could practically recite it to you. Last time I checked, a quirk is only villainous if it’s used by a villain, so why don’t you-”

“Stop,” Aizawa warned, but even Katsuki could tell it wasn’t as harsh as his voice was before. “Keep your petty child drama out of my face,” he grunted, showing the results from the test. Katsuki blankly looked at his name, it wasn’t first place.

He should be in first place.

Out of curiosity, his eyes wandered down to the name Hitoshi Shinsou, who had somehow gotten himself in seventh place, he scored in the top half of the class by only using a quirk once.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Katsuki whispered under his breath, you needed a strong quirk to be a hero. That was just the fundamentales of the hero society!

“Last place is Mineta,” Aizawa grunted, looking down to the short boy.

“But- but there’s no way I scored under someone like that!” Mineta cried, pointing up to Shinsou, “He didn’t even use his quirk, but now we know it’s, like, mind control or something! That- you can’t be a hero with that, how’s that going to save people?”

Shinsou was emotionless, staring up at the clouds above with tired eyes.

“You suck, man,” Elbows mumbled, “Like, really.”

Aizawa cleared his throat, “Mineta, if you are going to judge your classmates simply by their quirk, I don’t believe there’s room for you at this school, let alone my class. I want you to re-think your mindset and you’ll be writing me a three, no, five page essay on why quirk discrimination is still present on our society today and how others are affected by it.”

He paused with slim eyes, “Give it to me tomorrow morning and if I decide it’s done well enough, perhaps I’ll give you a second chance. That’s not something I give often, don’t waste it. You’re all dismissed, go get changed and return to homeroom.”

Katsuki watched Shinsou with a careful gaze for another moment, waiting for something to happen. Without warning, his skin began to feel wet, but not from his unusual sweat, it was cold this time. Shinsou turned in his direction, but instead of locking with mauve eyes, forest green caught his attention.

This time, Katsuki really did think of Deku.

Deku who was gone and Katsuki was being forced to accept he wouldn’t return.

“Bakugou? Are you alright? You sound a little breathless-”

The blonde spun around and planted a huge explosion towards the source of noise, the smoke fading to reveal Kirishima with hardened skin coughing, waving the thickened air from his face, “Sorry bro! I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that! We should go get changed though.”

Katsuki’s eyes were still frantic as he turned back to Deku, but he wasn’t there.

No, it was just Shinsou sulking away with his hands in his pockets, face tucked into the fabric around his neck. Katsuki, for the first time all day, nodded in Kirishima’s direction and followed him to the changeroom in silence.

Hitoshi spent way more time than necessary in the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror silently.

Not even one day.

He didn’t even get through one day without everyone seeing him as a villain. How did it all go so wrong so fast?

Hitoshi sighed and checked his time, he was supposed to meet the others at the cat cafe after school except for Mei, who already knew she wanted to stay and work a little longer at school. He rubbed his eyes and let the cool breeze wash over his face as he stepped outside, drying the tears that definitely weren’t in his eyes.

There were no tears, seriously.

“Hey Shinsou!”

Hitoshi nearly tripped over his feet as three people waved at him, every single one of them wearing bright smiles.

“What?” he mumbled, expecting them to use some harsh words or even push him, but Kaminari just rushed forward and slung an arm around his shoulders, struggling to reach properly. “Jeez, took you long enough!” Ashido grinned, “Which way do you walk home? Do you pass the train station?”

Hitoshi’s eyes were wide as he nodded, “Uh, yes. I pass the train station.”

“Cool! Because Sero and I take the east train and Kaminari takes the third train that goes north, so we’re all going that way anyways,” she explained, walking backwards so she could look at them all.

It all clicked very slowly in Hitoshi’s mind, “Did… did you guys wait for me?”

“Yeah, is that okay?” Sero frowned slightly, “It’s cool if you don’t want to walk home with us.”

“It’s just,” Ashido frowned and puffed her cheeks out, “It’s so stupid what Mineta was saying, you’re quirk is totally cool! Besides, Uraraka told me she didn’t mind either, so I don’t see what the big deal was! It’s frustrating!”

“Yeah,” Sero mumbled, “And Mineta was totally trying to peek at the girls changing, thank god for Jiro.”

“Asshole,” Kaminari spat, “I used to be like that too, you know! Not as bad, I wasn’t a perv, but I always missed boundaries. I still do sometimes, so please, please, please shout at me if I ever do anything weird!”

“Oh we will,” Hitoshi smiled, “Maybe a nice smack to the head, allow me to demonstrate.”

Ashido and Sero laughed loudly as Kaminari yelped from the slap, running a few steps forward with his hands behind his head to protect himself.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow!” Ashido jumped and if Hitoshi was being honest, he felt the same.

Chapter Text

“Bee! I made something for you!”

Dabi opened his eyes to see Izuku crouched over him, his face far closer than necessary. “Get away, your breath smells like shit,” he grunted as he fully palmed the kid’s face, knocking him away like he was some sort of puppy.

“Says you! We really need to go for a shower soon,” Izuku mumbled while rubbing his nose dramatically.

Dabi reached over to check the time on his phone, Hitoshi and Mei would be half way through school by now. So would Shoto, now that he thought about it.

“Hey, do you think that Lavender will make any friends?” Dabi couldn’t help but ask, slowly working the blanket off his lap and pulling his last clean shirt on.

“Um,” Izuku trailed, “Well, I, uh. He’s not very good at that. I had to bully him into it.”

“Oh god, that poor kid probably couldn’t handle another Izuku in his life.”

Izuku squawked and put his hands on his hips, Dabi noting what he was wearing for the first time. “Hey,” he bit down on his lip to keep himself from laughing, “Why are you wearing one of Toga’s skirts?” The girl, who was knocked out in a deep sleep was a bit farther down on an old futon, her hair matted and messy stirred but didn’t wake.

“Well she had extras and all my bottoms smell funky!” Izuku laughed, “Besides, it looks good, no?”

Dabi just pursed his lips because hey, who was he to judge? “So, you made something for me,” he stated instead, speaking quietly enough as to not wake Toga, “What is it?”

“So I couldn’t sleep again and I already did some analysis for like, five hours and then I noticed that Mei left some paint and junk and stuff so I made you a mask! Also one for Toga, but I don’t want to wake her yet.”

Dabi scoffed, “Oh, so you let her sleep but you woke me up?”

Big green eyes stared and Dabi, “Yep!”

Izuku dug through a bag of items until he finally pulled out a mask nearly identical to his own, except it was painted black with vertical yellow stripes and a yellow filter. “I don’t know how to do everything Mei can, but I do know how air purification works! And yeah you can’t really use your quirk because that would make what we do illegal-”

“Is it not already illegal?”

“No!”

“So it’s legal?”

“... Shut up. Anyways, if something happens and you need to use your quirk, this will help keep the smoke from your lungs. Plus, since you were a smoker, supplying yourself oxygen can be harder so this has a setting which will aid in pumping air into your lungs!”

Dabi couldn’t lie, it was impressive how fast this kid could adapt and learn with such little time he spent watching over Mei. “Cool, thanks Izu. But what’s with the colours?”

Izuku’s cheeks went pink slightly and he folded his hands behind his back, “Do you not like it?”

Why did this kid always look like one wrong word would tear his apart and end his existence?

Probably because it would, if he were being honest.

“What? I never said that you little shit, I was just curious!”

Izuku’s brows furrowed, “Oh, okay! Because you’re Bee, and bees are black and yellow.”

Oh.

Because Dabi was Bee.

Izuku’s Bee.

“Well, thank you. I fuckin’ appreciate it or whatever.”

The boy beamed with utter pride and padded further into the warehouse, probably to do some stretches since last night’s vigilante work was pretty intense, mainly running away from Eraserhead and Star after Toga punched a guy in the face even though he was already restrained. She was still learning.

Dabi sat back down into his respective pile of blankets and ran his fingers over the textures of his mask, blindly scrolling through his phone. Just like he did several times a day, Dabi clicked onto the messages app, knowing his read receipts were always off and clicked on a familiar group chat, one he was never removed from.

He didn’t get notifications from this chat very often, but he enjoyed scrolling up and reading conversations. Sometimes ones from years ago where he contributed with his own texts. Dabi scrolled up to his all time favourite chat, the one where of course, he had been entrusted with Shoto for the first time.

> Me: oh no.
> Fumi: what’s wrong?
> Me: oh no oh no oh no.
> Nat: what
> Me: so you know how fumi let me bring sho to the park
> Fumi: Touya.
> Me: it went great!
> Nat: good job then
> Fumi: Touya.
> Nat: oh
> Me: right. WENT. shoto doesn’t have brown hair
> Nat: no his hair is red and white
> Nat: I think
> Fumi: are you two kidding me, you two are ten and seven.
> Fumi: you’ve been entrusted with a phone at a young age.
> Fumi: and you were entrusted with your baby brother.
> Fumi: so what’s the problem.
> Me: such a mom fumi
> Fumi: TOUYA.
> Me: I BROUGHT HOME WRONG BABY
> Nat: what
> Me: I did not bring
> Me: Shoto home.
> Me: it’s some brunette.
> Fumi: this is a you problem. Dad is going to be home in ten minutes so you better book it back to the park and get the right kid. Right now.
> Nat: did the kid not say anything
> Me: the kid’s like 2 so no
> Fumi: SHOTO IS 4
> Me: IM GOING NOW DON’T TELL ANYONE

Dabi smiled fondly at the memory, recalling the way Fuyumi and Natsuo covered for him when he didn’t make it back before their Father. Even Shoto agreed not to tell anyone, and he kept that promise. Nostalgia and anxiety washed over him as he turned his phone off and tossed it aside, Toga now rolling over and yawning, “I’m hungry!”

Dabi hummed, “Alright, get ready and get some laundry. We need showers too, so we’ll do all that and it should be time to meet at the cafe.”

Toga jumped up and immediately started stuffing her dirty clothing into one of Izuku’s backpacks, the greenette doing the same as they began chattering about god knows what. Dabi himself took a few more minutes to lay on his back and stare up at the beams in the ceiling of the warehouse, trying not to imagine what his family was up to now.

Because that family was no longer his.

Dabi watched Toga and Izuku laugh back and forth while drinking the smoothies he bought them after their showers and laundry. Well, the smoothies that Endeavor bought them technically.

“You know, one time I climbed up a tree because I wanted to figure out why cats got stuck,” Toga explained. Izuku adjusted his medical mask and made sure his bangs were covering his eyes, “And what was the conclusion?” Toga smiled, “Well now I know why they get stuck!”

Dabi sighed and looked down at his phone, sorting through some junk mail when he suddenly ran right into Toga’s back, nearly falling onto his ass. Her hands were planted on her hips and he could practically hear her growling, “What are you lookin’ at?”

With curiosity, Dabi followed her gaze straight across the street, a group of boys pointing at the three of them. Izuku, to be specific.

“Toga, just let it go,” the small boy muttered quietly, very much out of character as he lightly tugged on her wrist and his face beet red.

“No, I won’t let it go!” she shouted, turning back to the boys across the street, “Hah? What’s so funny?”

One of the boys crossed his arms, “Is that a boy or a girl?”

Toga scowled even further if that was possible, and she whipped a knife out of nowhere, “He’s a boy! But why does it matter? Huh?”

“Looks more like an ‘it’ to me,” a boy with orange hair added on, Izuku still tugging on Toga with his chin tucked flat against his chest. Dabi was now very pissed off.

“Oi!” he screamed, ripping off his own mask and rolling up his sleeves to show off his scars, “Do you have a problem with him wearing a skirt? Huh? Is it fuckin’ hurting you in some way?” Cars honked as Dabi walked across the street without hesitation, the kids stuttering backwards.

“Am I not yelling loud enough, you motherfucking shitstains from hell?”

At that, the kids took off down the sidewalk as quickly as possible, Dabi huffing in satisfaction as he returned to his kids. Toga’s grimace faded into a look of sympathy, “Izu, are you-”

“I told you guys to drop it!” he shouted suddenly, the bridge of his nose scrunching in frustration.

“But they were being mean-”

“So? What’s new? That’s how people like us are always treated.”

Toga paused and repeated the sentence like it was foreign on her tongue, “People like us?”

“Different,” Izuku clarified, smoothing out the wrinkles in the blue skirt, “People are scared of different people. It’s how it goes, don’t you know that already?”

The blonde girl hummed like she was in deep thought, “Well, if you guys are different, then I’m okay with being different too!” Dabi watched as Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise honestly, he clearly wasn’t expecting that response.

Neither was he.

“Right,” the boy mumbled, “Um, let’s just go now. Toshi will be done school soon.”

“Hey,” Dabi spoke sternly before he even realized what he was saying, “Don’t you ever think fuckin’ lesser of yourself just because others make you think you should. Do you understand?”

Izuku’s eyes were wide as Dabi gripped the side of his cheeks, smushing his face hard enough to cause all his scars and freckles to wrinkle.

“And I better not hear that fuckin’ excuse of ‘drop it’ ever again, you always stand up against assholes like that and put them in their place! You’re not weak and you never were, get that through your thick head of hair!”

Oh shit, Dabi went too far as he noticed the wobble of Izuku’s bottom chapped lip and the way his eyes were growing glossy.

“Oh fuck- ah shit, Izu, I didn’t mean-”

“Thank you.”

It was quiet, barely heard, maybe even Toga missed it, but Dabi didn’t. It was the softest he’s ever heard this kid speak, so honest and earnest and kind and vulnerable. Dabi can imagine this is how Izuku used to be, before life went to complete shit and tossed him onto the streets.

The three walked in a silence that wasn’t exactly comfortable, yet nor was it comfortable. The atmosphere simply existed. As the warmth of their token cafe absorbed itself into their skin, Dabi inhaled the familiar scent of freshly baked goods and took in the sight of kittens and cats of all colours wandering around happily.

This was a place that gave the strange sense of home.

The same strange sense that these stupid kids were able to give him, somehow. None of it made sense.

But in hindsight, life wasn’t built to make sense, no matter how perfect one's life is.

As Dabi let Izuku and Toga pick out their favourite snacks, he grabbed a coffee for himself and Hitoshi, punching in Endeavor’s pin for the fourth time that day. “Hey,” Izuku tugged lightly on the back of his coat in a child-like manner, “If you have a debit card, why don’t you buy a home?”

Dabi decided to be honest, “I thought about it, but he would probably notice. Rent is a big chunk of money he might spot, you know?”

Green eyebrows pinched together in confusion for a moment until it dawned on him, a slow smile spreading on his face, “That’s awesome.” Dabi suppressed a smirk under the expression of pure awe and knocked him away, “Go pet the cats and shit.”

With one last smile, Izuku ran over and set down his cinnamon muffin on their favourite table, immediately dropping to the ground as Toga did the same, accepting their fate of being covered in multi-coloured cat hair. It was strange, being the only one who truly got to see the difference between Chaos and Morphine compared to Izuku and Toga.

Don’t ask about Morphine, it was Izuku’s play on words for Toga’s quirk since she could morph into other people. Also something about her being a little off her rocker. Izuku tried naming Dabi Bumble Bee, but then swiftly decided on Blaze because apparently it was more badass.

The whole naming thing had Dabi questioning a lot of things, something he felt like he needed to talk about but wasn’t sure how to bring it up. He sat down at their corner table and brought his knees to his chest, sipping lightly on his coffee while he watched the two trouble makers, checking for any attempts of cat smuggling.

They tried every time. Mei actually managed to do it once, but both Dabi and Hitoshi made her shamefully return the very confused kitten.

“You look upset,” Izuku mumbled, climbing into a seat with a kitten perched on his shoulder, “Is it because of earlier? I didn’t mean to make you angry-”

“You didn’t make me angry,” Dabi corrected, “And even when you do, I get over it because I’m not a pussy.”

Izuku snorted, “Don’t change the subject, Bee.”

The shop was nearly empty considering it was still school hours, even if they were coming to an end. Toga looked up curiously from the ground, watching the pensive expression Dabi was aware he was wearing.

“I don’t think you know,” he looked down to Toga, “But, uh, my name isn’t actually Dabi.”

She nodded, “Yeah, duh. Who would name their child Dabi? It’s a weird name.”

The man blinked slowly, “Right. My given name is, ugh, Touya. And I’ve just been thinking and shit about it, do you think, maybe, when it’s just us, maybe use my name a little? I don’t know, I guess I’m trying to see how I feel about it.”

Izuku drew in a slow breath through his nose as his brows furrowed in some thinking of his own, Dabi curious about what those thoughts could be. “What’s caused you to change your mind?” Izuku tilted his head in an innocent way, resting his chin on his knee.

Dabi honestly didn’t know himself, so answering that question was difficult, “Some normality, I think. Keep me sane. From- yeah.”

Izuku nodded, “Okay. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

Something about the way Izuku was speaking was putting Dabi slightly on edge for some reason, like the calm before the storm. It was making him anxious.

“Right. Fuckin’ thanks.”

The two hummed as the door rang and Hitoshi stepped in, a soft smile on his face as he saw his friends, still wearing his capture scarf. That thing was becoming glued to his neck.

“Hey,” he beamed dressed in the UA uniform, “Sorry I’m late. I walked to the train station with some, well, friends.”

Toga and Izuku looked up with bright eyes, speaking at once, “Tell us!”

Izuku listened excitedly as Hitoshi recounted his day, explaining the different students he encountered and their quirks, allowing Izuku to use his analytical skills.

“-A bird head, I can’t make that shit up. I haven’t seen much of his quirk, um, Toko-something is his name? He’s really quiet, but he had like, this shadow? I don’t know how to explain it but hopefully I’ll be able to see him use his quirk properly tomorrow.”

Izuku nodded, “Wow! These are so many new quirks to analyze, and I could give them to Shouta to help his students! Don’t worry, I’ll include one of you too, so that way he can’t pin the information transfer to you.”

Hitoshi snorted, “That’ll get him riled up. But what if he starts to think you’re one of the students there?”

“Toshi, I’m dead, remember? Besides, if I was a student there, he would have found me by now. You know, fuckin green mullet and all.”

While the purple haired boy laughed at first, something shined in his eyes and the laughter faded, contorting into something like anger. “There’s another student, Izuku. Thought I was crazy at first, but it was definitely him. Kacchan.”

Izuku’s stomach dropped, he couldn’t help it. That name made him want to run, run until the burn in his lungs was unbearable and until his legs shook and trembled.

“I-,” Hitoshi swallowed audibly, looking down at his hands, “I got just- angry. So, so angry. My scarf moved on its own, that’s never happened before.”

Izuku wanted to ask questions about his scarf being emotionally activated, but his throat was closing in on itself and the corners of his vision were fading to white. “Did he recognize you?”

Hitoshi shook his head, “I don’t think so. But- but I don’t know if I can be in the same class as him. It wasn’t even me affected by him, but just the sound of him breathing made me want to- I wanted to-”

“Hurt him,” Izuku whispered with wide eyes, Toga and Dabi examining him carefully.

“Y-yes.”

Izuku didn’t know how to respond, should he be flattered that Hitoshi felt angry on his behalf? What would he do if he ever saw Kacchan again? He wouldn’t cry, not this time. Not ever again.

“Izu?” Toga reached up and poked the toe of his sneakers, causing him to jolt ever so slightly.

“You can’t do anything,” the boy whispered, “You just have to ignore him. Make friends with other people, that’s- that’s all.” The table was silent as Izuku stirred in his thoughts, too many things crossing his mind at once, everything was going so fast.

How come Hitoshi got to go to UA, but Izuku couldn’t? Would Hitoshi leave now that he has better friends? Heroic friends?

How could someone like Kacchan be allowed to become a hero? Does Kacchan know he’s legally dead?

His mind completely switched topics, what would his father think if he could see his outfit right now? He always said anything feminine made for a bastard son, but that’s what he’s always been, right? Didn’t Kacchan say that everything that happens is what he deserves, right?

This is all Izuku’s fault.

If only he did what he was told, maybe he wouldn’t be in this position. If he had a quirk, maybe- no, not maybe. If he had a quirk, none of this would be a problem. Why was his mind being so loud? Or were those real voices?

“I’m tired,” he blurted suddenly, not even noticing he interrupted a quiet conversation. Dabi frowned, “You’re always tired.”

Izuku ignored him, instead shaking his head like a child and digging his fingers into his knees, “No, no, no. I want to leave.”

“Hey,” the man spoke firmly again, “Hitoshi just got here, at least let him finish his coffee-”

Izuku slammed his hand down on the table, causing the cats around them to scatter and Hitoshi’s coffee sloshed onto the table, leaving his friends surprised from the outburst.

“What’s your problem?” Dabi hissed, “Why are you so upset? Is it talking about this Kacchan shit? He’s the name you shout in your sleep, you know. When you do sleep, that is.”

Izuku knocked his knuckles together as he tried to get the words off his tongue, but nothing was coming out.

“It’s fine,” Hitoshi shrugged, “I should probably cut back on the coffee anyways. Why don’t we walk down to the beach?”

Izuku just shook his head, “I’m gonna- um, home. I’m going to the warehouse by myself. I’m tired.” Dabi stood up and tried to stop him, but Izuku slunk out of the cafe and walked back to the warehouse with his mind running laps, pissing him off to no end.

He didn’t want to think, he wanted everything to be quiet for once.

Izuku passed over a bridge and that only caused the dangerous thoughts to run faster, his footsteps stuttering as he forced his eyes to stay on the ground. Dangerous thoughts never ended well, so he kept walking forward.

Izuku arrived at his destination and locked the door behind him, piling up every single blanket he could locate and burying himself alive in them, as if it were some sort of nest for a wounded animal, where the world could no longer harm him. Even if it was just for a short while.

Shouta sat in the teachers lounge with his legs crossed in his chair, staring down at the files of his class this year. Izuku spoke about his friends attending UA and although they may not be in the hero course, it was still worth a shot.

He stared down at a picture of Mina Ashido and thinned his eyes, slowly sliding it over to lay on Hanta Sero’s file. Shouta leaned over and plucked up Ochako Uraraka’s information, placing it in a pile with Tenya Iida and Tsuyu Asui.

He groaned in frustration as he removed Kyouka Jiro from the previous pile and replaced it over with Momo Yaoyorozu’s, sliding Minoru Mineta’s file straight across the desk, causing it to fall off the edge.

“Sho,” Hizashi’s voice shook slightly, “Why is your face like that?”

“Like what?” he snapped back, not daring to remove his eyes from Shoto Todoroki’s image.

“Like you’re trying to crack the secrets of the universe.”

Shouta waved a hand dismissively, frustrated as he had to create a new pile for Todoroki and plucking up the next, his brows furrowing in concentration.

Hitoshi Shinsou.

The purple hair brought back a specific memory, one that wasn’t exactly pleasant where he was flipped off by a boy in a cat mask and small tufts of purple hair sticking up. Hizashi watched over his shoulder as Shouta looked through the very small file of Hitoshi Shinsou, wanting an idea of who he was.

There was nearly no information provided.

He was given up for adoption at the age of four without any background information on his family except for his birthday, quirk and name, and no one bothered to locate the family. His quirk was brainwashing, but Shouta already figured that out himself. He was currently housing with Yurei Kiyabu, a single woman aged 83. Diagnosed with depression, generalized anxiety and insomnia, medicated for all three.

Ah, a little too similar to himself, for Shouta’s liking.

Graduated middle school from an online program with high marks and had no reference letters. No participation in extracurriculars or clubs. Had a certificate from a JSL class, that was intriguing.

“Hitoshi Shinsou?” Hizashi hummed, “He’s quiet, didn’t really say much during introductions in English.”

Shouta leaned back in his chair to look up and make eye contact, “What did he say?”

“His name. That’s it.”

The black haired man snorted and looked back down, staring at the piles for a few moments until he recalled his students' reactions, letting the file fall into the pile with Sero and Ashido, moving onto the next with this information now noted in his mind.

Hitoshi Shinsou was going to be a problem child, he could feel it.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi couldn’t help but glare at All Might with his stupid smile and his stupid voice and his stupid face and his stupid everything. A scowl sat on his face as he opened his costume case for the first time, his eyes wandering to the note Mei wrote in her usual sloppy writing.

I just had to make your costume, mainly because your idea SUCKED. But don’t worry, luckily you have me as a friend, a genius friend! Turn to the back to see instructions on any babies I added and come see me for modifications! Love you!

Hitoshi groaned audibly as he looked at the very bottom.

P.S. I totally let our little bunny friend sketch it out so you better like it or you’ll make them cry. Or maybe they’ll pull one of your ears off, who knows! It’s like Russian Roulette with them!

Accepting defeat, Hitoshi crumpled the note and tossed it into his locker, beginning to paw through whatever was waiting for him. The first item was a tight, black longsleeved turtleneck, one that would fit snuggly to his body along with some compression leggings, most likely Izuku’s idea since he knows Hitoshi wants to work underground and it gets cold at night.

‘Gotta conserve your body heat!’ he would say, which is totally hypocritical looking at Chaos’ costume, but whatever.

He set the soft fabric aside and pulled out a thick, deep purple jumpsuit. The sleeves only went down to his elbows and the fabric was light, it wouldn’t hinder his speed or his movements.

Next were some simple black shoes with black, thin gloves, but the palm of the gloves was thicker, mainly to help with the injuries his capture weapon caused from overuse. Then a black utility belt that of course, went around both his hips and two more on each upper thigh, no doubt done by Izuku.

Little bitch.

Finally, at the very bottom of the case was a sleek, matte black mask with all sorts of little gadgets to fidget with. Wearing a mask like Izuku’s was difficult, it just reminded him of how he was treated as a child and he was hesitant to put it on as he got dressed, but his concerns went right out the window as he applied it.

It was soft and plush against his face, not too loose but not too tight all at once. The inside somehow smelt like lavender and something told Hitoshi that Dabi must have chosen that specific scent.

“Woah! You look dope!” Sero exclaimed with wide eyes, wearing his own black, white and yellow costume.

“Thanks. I like yours too,” he tried his best to compliment in return, his face flushing in slight embarrassment.

As Sero chuckled and began talking about something, Hitoshi’s eyes slowly moved across the room when he felt a pair of eyes on him, making him feel uneasy. As he turned around completely, one grey and one ice blue eye met his own, neither daring to be the first to look away.

It was Todoroki, of course, the kid who hadn't spoken a word and had a familiar cold expression. But was Hitoshi finding it familiar because he wore the same one, or because someone else wore it?

“Dude,” Kaminari whispered harshly, “It’s not polite to stare!”

In a bold voice, Hitoshi spoke loud enough for everyone in the change room to hear, “He decided to stare first, I’m just returning the favour.”

Chatter ceased as both boys continued staring at one another until Hitoshi took slow, silent steps towards him and stopped, letting a small grin stretch across his face once he removed his mask, “Can I help you with something?”

He could have sworn Todoroki’s numb expression cracked for just a moment, but fixed it before anyone could notice. His lips were kept tight and Hitoshi hummed, “Right. Good chat,” and slipped past, exiting out the door as Sero and Kaminari jogged after him with wide eyes.

“You know,” Sero mumbled, “For such a chill and quiet guy, you’ve got some attitude.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Both his friends raised their hands next to their heads in surrender, “Hey, never said it’s a bad thing.”

Hitoshi was feeling irritated, he was sick and tired of people staring. Whether it was caused by his quirk, his tired eyes, his unruly hair or the tiny scars decorating the underside of his cheekbones, he was sick of it. Just like Izuku said, he wasn’t going to take it anymore.

“That’s two people,” Kaminari counted on his fingers, “That you’ve called out. Two of the scariest people in our class, too! I knew I wanted to be on your good side for a reason. I’ve always been told I have bright instincts!”

Sero hid a smile in the crook of his elbow, “Kami, you’re telling me that those ever sharp instincts this morning told you to jump in a puddle? Not knowing how deep it was, may I add, and soaking your shoes, socks and pants?”

Kaminari nodded with a serious face, “Yes, my dear friend. Jumping in that puddle was business, you know it’s like, a law to jump in every puddle you see!”

Sero blinked and looked at Hitoshi for help who shrugged in return, keeping his eyes trained forward. Letting his mind work on autopilot, stupid All Might explained their training for the day, which honestly just sounded boring and basic.

At least Izuku knows how to make fun activities for training.

“Now!” All Might practically shouted, “One by one you’ll come up and select your badges for your partner!”

Hitoshi decided to hang back, watching as the students slowly paired up, some happier than others.

“Fuck you!” Bakugou roared as Kirishima tossed an arm over his shoulder, babbling on about how they were going to make the best team and win.

“Young Shinsou, you’re last,” All Might said, waving him up.

Young Shinsou.

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped before he could stop himself, reaching into the box and pulling out his piece far too aggressively, maintaining eye contact with the number one pro hero the entire time.

“Damn, intense,” he heard someone whisper behind him, most likely Ashido or Jiro, before turning slowly and looking down at his letter. Team D. Hitoshi looked up to locate the rogue student, only to notice there was one single person standing alone.

Of course it just had to be Todoroki.

“Touya.”

Dabi’s head snapped around in panic, forgetting for just a moment the request he made yesterday. “Fuck,” he whispered, “What?”

Izuku was standing there with a wet cloth pressed to his eye where he had gotten cut last night on patrol, “Sorry about yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Dabi sighed, “It was kind of embarrassing. You can’t have mini-tantrums in public like a toddler, Izu.”

The greenette opened his mouth to argue in return for a moment, but decided to keep quiet and look back down at his feet. He was clearly in thought, so Dabi waited patiently, shaking his hair out. He has considered re-dyeing it again, but Izuku told him the white suited him and it saved him some money.

“Is there something wrong with me?”

Dabi faltered once more, looking at the small boy buried in all his blankets, eyes large in confusion and thought.

“What?” the man whispered.

Toga looked up from the deck of cards she was shuffling, looking back and forth between the two boys when no one spoke for quite some time. Izuku clutched his hair in two fists, hands shaking ever so slightly as he responded in a quiet voice, “I don’t know. Everything’s so loud and so annoying and I’m so tired and-”

“Izuku, what’s loud?” Dabi interrupted, growing in confusion. Did he mean while they were on patrol? It was rarely that loud at night. Izuku just pressed one of his fingers against his forehead, the other hand waving randomly, green eyes screwed shut.

Well, Dabi thought, that can't be good.

Luckily, Toga was willing to press further, “Do you mean, like, voices?”

Izuku shook his head, “No, no. Nothing like that, it’s just, I feel like I’m always thinking and I don’t want to anymore. Of course, months ago I would, ah, nevermind.”

Now Dabi was even more suspicious, but wasn’t sure how to answer. He’s never been the one to support the mentally damaged, he was always the mentally damaged one being supported.

“Um,” he said stupidly, “I don’t think that means something’s wrong with you. It’s just, you have a lot on your mind, fuckin’ obviously.”

“Obviously,” Toga repeated, nodding in support. Dabi walked over and crouched down, palming Izuku’s head to force him to pick his eyes up as he continued.

“When I find a job, okay, I’ll make some money. My own money, so I can buy us three a proper apartment and get you guys the help you need, okay? I just need more time, I need more- fuck, look. I can do it so you guys can just be kids for a little longer.”

Izuku was staring at Dabi like he had hung the stars and the moon, lips parted in nothing but awe. “Why?” he croaked, “Why do you care about us, about me so much? I don’t understand.”

Dabi licked one of his stables seated at the corner of his mouth and cursed under the breath, “Because I do, alright? There’s no reason, I just do.”

“Is it because you love us?” Toga teased, skipping over and draping herself over Dabi’s back, much to his annoyance.

“Fuck no,” he mumbled, butthe silence was broken as a wet giggle escaped Izuku, the boy wiping his tears with the back of his hand, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Dabi reassured, “Like I said, you’re a kid. You’re gonna be fuckin’ sad and shit sometimes. Don’t think you can’t cry or whatever.”

Izuku hummed, “Well, you know, you’re still kind of a kid too. That means you should cry.”

“Young adult,” he corrected, “And I don’t have anything to cry about yet.”

The greenette raised a skeptical eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

No, no he wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t something he wanted to think about.

“Go back to sleep. I swear, you run off two hours of sleep a night.”

Izuku curled in on himself with a smirk, “It would help if I could get my hands on some cocaine-”

“No!”

Todoroki and Hitoshi both stared at each other with blank expressions outside the building, Ashido and Aoyama setting up inside. Todoroki finally opened his mouth as the starting buzzer sounded, “Just stay out here, I don’t need your help.”

The dual haired boy only got four steps until Hitoshi sent out his capture weapon, wrapping it around his waist and yanking him back, “Oh get of your fucking high horse, your highness. What’s your plan?”

“It doesn’t involve, shit, you,” Todoroki panted, currently trying to free himself of the fabric around him, Hitoshi just watching with an amused expression.

“Right. If you tell me, I’ll leave you alone.”

Todoroki stopped and looked up with a skeptical look, “Fine. I plan on freezing the entire building, including our opponents, then I can just walk through and touch the bomb.”

Hitoshi nodded with thin eyes, “Good, good! Stupid plan.”

“Pardon me-”

“I get that this is just a training exercise, but would you do that in a real situation?”

Todoroki’s eyebrows were pinched together, “Yes, that’s why I was going to-”

“Wrong. You’re dumber than you look. What if there were civilians still trapped in there? Other heroes trying to work? Hm?”

Todoroki’s jaw snapped shut and his expression grew angry, “Well, this isn’t real-”

“You train everyday like it’s the real battlefield,” Hitoshi interrupted in a serious tone, “That’s what my friend always tells me, and he’s right. Let’s make a plan and capture the bomb, okay? My quirk specializes in situations like this, ones where destructive quirks will make things worse.”

His scarf returned to its perch on his shoulders and he looked at the building, “They’ll expect us to go through the front door since neither of our quirks allow for free ascent, but that also means they probably didn’t take my support item into account. I can get us up to the roof, if you wish.”

Todoroki paused, “You go to the roof, I’ll start here. That way they’ll either be forced to split up or let one of us go free.”

Hitoshi nodded and before he could continue with his plan, Todoroki just took off running and left him behind, the purple haired boy huffing in anger and getting to work, using his scarf to scale the wall while avoiding the windows, not wanting to be seen.

The building was easy enough to see in considering all the windows and Hitoshi was grateful for the sound absorbent soles of his shoes. He snuck through the hallway, his mask completely silencing his breathing as he rounded the corner, only to run straight into Aoyama.

A laser beam shot at him, Hitoshi narrowly dodging and rolling into a crouch, “Aoyama, where’s the bomb?”

The boy shook his head with a hand over his mouth, that was the problem with Hitoshi’s quirk. When someone knew what it was, it could easily be avoidable. A year ago this would have been a huge problem, but now Hitoshi finds himself arguing with some of the most stubborn people to exist on the daily, so he still had a chance.

“Oh come on,” he sang, jumping over another beam and wrapping his scarf around a pipe on the wall, suspending himself in the air, “I thought you were quite the chatter!”

Aoyama stepped back as Hitoshi took a swing with his scarf, not exactly trying to catch his opponent. Not yet, at least.

“Do you like my costume?” Hitoshi continued, leaping to the other wall as Aoyama’s laser scorched the place where he was perched before. He kept going with the one sided conversation, “Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool. Actually, a lot of our classmates got really cool costumes, even you!”

Aoyama was visibly growing confused with all the chatter and the lack of combat, still not answering.

“But, actually, I heard someone say something, I think it was Kaminari. He said your costume was ugly.”

“He did not!” Aoyama gasped, his naval laser stopping as Hitoshi nodded in confidence, “Something about too many sparkles? Do you want to hear what else he said?”

“Yes! Tell me-”

Finally. A little patience always goes a long way.

“What floor is the bomb placed on?”

Without hesitation, Hitoshi was given an answer, “Floor four, mon ami.”

“And, Aoyama, wrap yourself in your own capture tape.”

The blonde did as told without any expression, the tape going all the way around his torso. Perhaps Hitoshi could have gotten Aoyama to fight his own teammate, but that wouldn’t be as fun, and he wanted to win without help of another quirk, unless it was Todoroki’s.

“One villain has been captured!” All Might announced as Hitoshi released his hold on Aoyama, giving a cheeky wave as he dove back out the window he entered through, catching himself on the window below and entering, floor four.

There was no sound of fighting, meaning Todoroki was either still making his way up or avoided Ashido completely, which wasn’t very likely. Running quietly through the halls to find the bomb, he finally found the room only to come face to face with Ashido.

Would she be easier to crack?

“Aoyama left you all alone to defend the bomb?” Hitoshi began, but Ashido’s expression was not amused. Without giving him another breath, acid was launched forward and he sprinted back, not wanting to be burned by the substance.

Getting close to the bomb would be impossible against a quirk like that, what would Izuku do? No, that was obvious. Izuku would run right through anyways, letting acid eat away at him without any self preservation. That move probably wouldn’t go over well in the hero course.

The temperature dropped as Todoroki stepped beside him, Hitoshi finally happy he was his partner. With a motion of his hand meaning to go ahead, Hitoshi used his scarf to lift him up the wall as Todoroki stepped forward, ice shooting out and covering Ashido’s feet.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, “That’s so unfair!”

“What’s unfair?” Hitoshi asked.

“That he can just-”

“Be quiet and put capture tape on yourself.”

Just like Aoyama, Ashido did as told as Todoroki walked over his ice, laying a hand flat against the bomb as he breathed out some frost.

“Both villains have been captured and the bomb has been secured! Heroes win!” All Might boomed, Hitoshi smiling at himself under his mask.

“Awe man!” Ashido whined once Todoroki freed her from the ice, “I thought maybe I had that one!”

She jogged right past Todoroki and punched Hitoshi’s shoulder playfully, “Your quirk is so cool, I don’t think I’ll ever get over that! And Todoroki, how did you capture Aoyama if you came from down there? I sent him up.”

“Because I didn’t,” Todoroki huffed, leaving the building.

“It took some time, but I got him to talk,” Hitoshi said slyly as he removed his mask, letting it hang around his neck as the two exited.

“Just said that Kaminari called his costume ugly and-”

“Yeah, Ashido groaned, “That’ll do it.”

While All Might praised Todoroki for his powerful quirk, Hitoshi couldn’t help but grin at the thought of telling the others he won today. Against strong quirks, too.

“And young- um, pardon me. Shinsou! It was a good call treating this scenario like real life, hard work like that will really pay off in the future.”

Instead of thanking him profusely like most of the students did, Hitoshi just made a grunting sound and turned, finding an empty seat in the room and closing his eyes, letting his face bury itself into his capture weapon.

Stupid All Might.

At the end of the day, Hitoshi’s friends waited for him, but stopped when he didn’t follow.

“What’s wrong?” Ashido tilted her head to the side, “You don’t want to walk with us today?”

“It’s not that,” Hitoshi mumbled as he looked at his watch, “She better not-”

“Hitoshi!” Mei shrieked as she ran over, slamming right into his back as she slung an arm around his shoulders, “Long time no see!”

“I saw you last night.”

“Exactly! It’s been so long!”

Kaminari smiled, “Oh, Shinsou, is this your girlfriend?”

“Ew,” the two of them responded at the same time, then giving each other offended looks.

“What, you wouldn’t date me?” Hitoshi scoffed, “That hurts.”

“You said the same thing about me!” Mei argued back, “And for your information, I’m too concerned about my babies!”

“You have babies?” the three other students said at once with wide eyes.

“What she calls her inventions,” Shinsou corrected, “Anyways, this is-”

“Mei Hatsume, support department! If you need any babies for your costumes, come find me because I’m the best!”

“Tone in down,” Hitoshi groaned, “And Mei, this is Sero, Ashido and Kaminari. They’re all in my class.”

“Hey,” she drawled in realization with a bright smile, “You guys were the one who tried to share your points with Toshi, right? You know, when he saw that you guys did that he actually started crying-”

“Shut up, Mei!”

Kaminari pinches his bottom lip, “You saw that, huh?”

“Yes. On the disc thing,” Hitoshi mumbled. He knows his face is red, he feels like he’s standing directly under the blistering sun without any source of shade. Also because Mei was snickering at him.

“Aha, that’s a little embarrassing,” the blonde whispered under his breath with a weak chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck, equally as red.

“Why’s that embarrassing?” Sero slapped his back, “I thought it was really nice of you when you brought up the idea to Ashido and I!”

‘So it was your idea?” Hitoshi asked, Kaminari squirming under all the eyes, “Yes! Yep! Because I would have literally died if you didn’t help! I don’t think you understand what you actually did.”

Hitoshi nodded, “I do. I also remember flipping off one of the cameras.”

“You flipped off a bunch of pro heroes?” Ashido gasped, “And here I am, when I first met you I thought you were some shy, quiet kid! How wrong I was!”

“I was just angry,” Hitoshi shrugged honestly, “I know they were looking for the best of the best, but we’re still kids. I won’t let them treat me like some sort of soldier.” Hitoshi’s three classmates looked down at their shoes as if they were just told something life changing, Mei clapping her hands together.

“Well! Are we going or what!”

The group began their walk to the train station, Mei, Ashido and Kaminari carrying most of the conversation as both Hitoshi and Sero preferred to observe.

“See you later!” Ashido waved as she and Sero stepped onto the east train, Kaminari tripping over his feet as he stepped onto the north.

“They seem like fun,” Mei finally smiled, “I’m happy you made friends.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, there are some really cool people in my class and they never make fun of me! Actually, they like listening to my ideas, so it’s so strange!”

They walked back to the warehouse as Mei talked about her newest project, apparently she was really angry when she saw Yaoyorozu’s costume design. She made several good points, and Hitoshi agreed.

“It’s just not practical or safe!” she exclaimed as they arrived at the warehouse, Hitoshi humming in agreement as he knocked at the door. Izuku answered with a tired smile as he let them in, Dabi and Toga currently training in hand to hand combat.

As Hitoshi and Mei spoke about their day, he made the decision to leave All Might out of it. Judging by Izuku’s current state, that’s not something he needed to hear right now.

“And I had to pair up with this one guy, ugh! So rude.”

Izuku nodded, “Who was it?”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, “None other than Todoroki-”

Toga punched Dabi square in the face and the man fell back slowly, just like a tree when it’s cut down with an axe.

“Damn!” Mei breathed as the entire room was silent, Toga slapping both hands over her mouth with wide eyes. Dabi was flat on his back as Izuku and Hitoshi could only stare in shock, he was knocked right out.

“Girl power!” Mei shrieked, but Toga just shook her head, “What the heck?”

As Izuku crawled over to make sure the man wasn’t dead, Dabi’s eyes slowly opened and he wiped some blood dribbling from a split in his lip, sitting up in a dazed manner.

“Why didn’t you dodge! That’s literally all we were doing!” Toga sobbed, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry! I didn’t know I could punch that hard!”

Dabi waved a hand to cut her off and sucked his bleeding lip between his teeth, licking at the cut with his tongue, “No, it was my fault. I got, uh, distracted.”

Hitoshi watched as Izuku and Toga shared a knowing look, the blonde smiling, “Let’s take a break then!”

The greenette returned to his pile of blankets and let Hitoshi continue, “Uh, anyways. Todoroki. He tried to make me wait outside instead of letting me help, but I shut down that idea real quick. It was a stupid plan, icing the whole building.”

Strangely enough, Dabi walked over and sat next to Izuku with earnest eyes, pulling his knees to his chest and hanging onto every word that left Hitoshi’s lips.

“-then he used his ice and Ashido was trapped, so we won. It was pretty cool, using my quirk and getting compliments.”

“Sounds like it was a good day,” Izuku smiled, “How’s Shouta doing?”

Hitoshi tried to avoid that man at all times, but homeroom was inevitable.

He stared.

A lot.

“Fine I guess. I like English with Mic the best, only because no one knows I’m fluent in English. He’s also really nice, something that can’t be said about Aizawa.”

“You’re fluent in English? Me too!” Izuku exclaimed in excitement.

Hitoshi nodded, “Yep. Always thought it would be useful when I was planning to run away from foster care. Never did, but Kiyabu’s first language is English so it turns out I learnt it for good reason.”

Izuku nodded, “My Dad worked in America so that’s when I started learning it, then continued after because I found it interesting. Same thing for French and Spanish.”

“So you speak four languages?” Dabi asked with wide eyes and Izuku nodded, “Yep! But my Spanish isn’t very good if we’re being honest.”

As Toga and Mei began throwing out random phrases and words for Izuku to translate, Hitoshi started on his homework with a genuine smile.

He was happy.

Chapter Text

“So,” Shouta hummed as the three kids all turned at once, seated on the edge of a building with their legs swinging back and forth idly.

“So,” Izuku repeated most likely with a smirk hidden under his mask, “How’s your new class? Hm?”

Shouta thinned his eyes and removed his goggles, letting them hang loosely around his neck, “You know something, don’t you?”

“What would make you say that, my dear friend?”

“Speaking of friends,” Shouta jutted his chin out, “Did your friends get into UA successfully? Perhaps one with, well, a familiar capture weapon you stole from me a few months back?”

Izuku shrugged, “I have no idea what you’re on about. Besides, you can’t prove anything.”

“What would I be proving, Chaos?”

“That you’re stupid.”

“You little-”

“Alright!” Dabi interrupted, “That’s enough of that. As much as I fucking love the banter you two have, I think we can all agree you’re both stupid.”

Toga adjusted her new mask, silver with little pink flower petals, and cleared her throat, “You come see us a lot for someone who’s supposed to be catching the vigilantes on the loose. What do the police think of that? The other heroes?”

Shouta’s eyes glanced at each kid for a brief moment, barely a second before he looked up to the moon, a slight breeze making him shiver ever so slightly. “Well,” he hummed, “No one has to know. Right?”

Toga winked dramatically and stood up along with Dabi and Izuku, all three sliding down the vertical legs of the fire escape with ease, Shouta following them down while using his scarf. He was currently off course for his usual patrol for a sunday night, but these kids always managed to locate some trouble makers.

Not that they needed any help, of course, but it was still interesting to watch them in action.

It wasn’t long until a scream caught all attention, the three vigilantes taking off at a high pace without the slightest of hesitation, Shouta following quickly. The screaming was antagonizing, full of pure fear and horror, it was enough to send chills down Shouta’s spine.

“What the fuck is going on?” Dabi panted as they rounded onto a main road, the street lamps flickering as no by-standers were to be seen, not even a victim. But the shriek was still present, muffled but just as scared.

Just ahead, a large figure slammed the trunk of a black car down and turned, freezing for a second as his eyes landed on the four people watching him, very visibly armed.

“Abduction,” Izuku breathed softly, Toga and Dabi giving a barely noticeable nod in return. “No sudden movements,” he said, Shouta’s eyes flickering down to where the boy was fingering something on the side of his utility belt around his right thigh, hands steady as always.

As the figure seemed to realize the pressure now involved in the situation, he took off and dove into the driver's seat, the tail lights igniting as the engine roared to life.

“Move!” Izuku shouted as Toga and Dabi sprinted forward, yet it was obvious they wouldn’t catch the car in time. That’s why Shouta’s confused as to why Toga veered left and Dabi right, taking a wider angle towards the car.

What were they doing?

“Tsukauchi,” Shouta spoke into his earpiece once the detective finally picked up the phone, “I’m pursuing an active abduction. The vehicle is black and the victim seemed to be female, although I didn’t get eyes on them. The figure in question is most likely male due to their build, but I can’t be positive. I’ve sent my location and I’m currently with vigilante’s Morphine, Blaze and Chaos.”

With a final sputter, the car drove forward, swaying slightly as the tires couldn’t get proper traction against the asphalt. It was almost like the road was wet, yet the entire day it had been sunny and the rest of their surroundings were completely dry. What could be-

A flash of blue caught Shouta’s eye, just barely flickering from around the corner of a building, like tiny little sparks of lighting. Dabi’s hands were planted on the asphalt, but instead of blue flames swallowing his hands it was dark smoke, the smell of burning rubber assaulting Shouta’s nose.

Was he melting the ground?

Could his quirk even do that?

Sure enough, the air became thicker and hot, so hot that Shouta’s clothing began sticking to his skin and his eyes felt even drier than normal. The wheels of the get away car sunk and slowed down, giving Izuku enough of a chance to sprint forward, “This knife better be as sharp as I was trying to make it!”

As Shouta watched the thin knife fly through the air at top speed, he thought maybe that Izuku had lost it and he just wasted his chance to do something with a stupid move.

As he opened his mouth to shout some curses in anger and frustration, something audibly popped and the car shifted to the left, the entire vehicle tipping to the right. The sound of spilling air overpowered that of the engine, its back right tire with a large slash deflating quickly.

“Morphine!” Izuku shouted as Toga ran out from her spot, the presumed man trying to escape from the car while shouting into his phone. Izuku and Shouta made for the trunk as a black-purple hole seemed to open up out of nowhere, the villain making a dive for it.

At the same time, Toga threw four knives at random in hopes of getting the man, but they went past and he disappeared into mist, gone without a trace. Toga swore loudly as she ran for her knives and dropped to her knees, carefully inspecting them with her gloves on.

As Shouta worked the trunk open, a young boy with wide eyes looked up, overflowing with tears and panic, arms tied back and some sort of fabric shoved into his mouth. Izuku removed it immediately and cut the restraints, helping him out and allowing him to sit safely on the curb as Shouta comforted him with soft words, updating Tsukauchi.

From the corner of his eye he watched his three vigilantes all crouched in the same area, whispering amongst themselves until they heard the sirens approaching. With wide eyes the three scurried off as Tsukauchi and his team rounded the corner, disappearing into the night where they could no longer be caught.

Good.

Shouta helped the victim to be seated on the edge of an ambulance as someone checked up on him, Tsukauchi giving him a moment before questioning.

“And what about the vigilantes?” he asked, “You said Chaos, Blaze and Morphine were here. I’m now positive they’re a team, it’s too unlikely for them to always be spotted together, but never apart.”

Shouta just shrugged, “Ran off. Don’t know what to tell you.”

He was aware the detective had his fair share of ideas on who the vigilantes were, specifically Chaos, but was also secretly hoping he wouldn’t have to act. Tossing an orphaned kid in jail while ripping him apart from the only friends he made, safe to say that it would do more harm than good, especially if he somehow ended up getting away.

Shouta didn’t even want to think about where Izuku would end up.

“He’s quirkless,” the nurse came over, “Said that’s what the man asked him, too. The first and only question he asked.”

Tsukauchi wrote that information down on his notepad, “Some sort of quirk discriminatory action? Trying to get rid of something he doesn’t like?”

Shouta hummed, “And the mist, that wasn’t his quirk because I turned his quirk factor off, meaning someone else helped him escape. And if we’re throwing out ideas, wouldn’t the man just kill his target instead of trying to take them away?”

“Maybe to hide the body,” Tsukauchi tapped his chin, “My concern is that he escaped, meaning there’s a large chance he’ll try again.” He turned to the victim and smiled kindly, “Hello, is there anything else you can tell me? Perhaps anything else he said?”

The young adult shook his head, “No. He just asked if I was quirkless and I said yes, then it all happened so fast. Stupid move on my part, now that I think about it.”

“Did you notice any sort of quirk?”

“No, but he had a gun.”

Shouta’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he looked down, unlocking the device and clicking the messaging app.

> chaotic mess: Click to download photo.
> chaotic mess: this is the man that attempted the kidnapping. we have already left a blood sample at the police station, morphine was able to grab some. the knife has been properly bagged and is on tsukauchi’s desk.

Shouta opened the photo, a man standing just in a random alleyway. Their appearance was extraordinarily basic, brown eyes and black hair with fair skin, nothing that would allow him to stick out from the crowd.

> shleepy: Where did you get this.
> chaotic mess: i can’t text you, you could show it to anyone. this isn’t the actual man though, so i can’t have you arrest him or anything. sorry. In addition, he’s about five foot eleven, don’t know if that helps at all.
> shleepy: It does, thank you. Now go home and sleep
> chaotic mess: yes sir

Despite Tsukauchi’s confusion, he accepted the picture gratefully and went off to analyze it, leaving Shouta alone to finish off his uneventful patrol route, crawl back through the apartment of his window, force himself to have a shower because he smelt like smoke and rubber, then collapse into bed next to his husband.

Although his mind refused to silence itself, Shouta let his eyes close and absorbed some warmth from Hizashi, not ready to repeat everything the next day.

“Hey hey!” Mei beamed as she sat down next to Hitoshi in the cafeteria for lunch. He turned to greet her but froze mid sentence, “What the fuck are you covered in?”

She shrugged, “Some oil probably, soot, uh, I made something explode again, but it’s progress!”

Kaminari tilted his head like a puppy, “Explosions mean progress?”

“Yes! Because now I know what I did wrong and I won’t do it again, bringing me one step closer to success!”

Hitoshi snorted as Kaminari began talking about the time he lit his kitchen on fire as he felt eyes on him, whipping around to see Todoroki staring once more, mouth full of soba noodles and sitting alone.

“What are you looking at?” Mei hit the top of his head playfully and turned around, looking at Todoroki with a curious expression. “That’s the guy that you had a little beef with, right?”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, “Don’t call it beef.”

“Well he’s sitting all by himself, maybe he’s just jealous you made friends!”

“Mei-”

The pink haired girl stood up confidently before Hitoshi could grab her, regretting that he left his scarf in homeroom for the first time. Mei marched right up to Todoroki and slammed her hands on either side of his soba, leaning down to come nose to nose with him.

“Hi! I’m Mei!”

Todoroki leaned back slightly with a pinched expression, only causing Mei to close the distance once again, not even realizing how intimidating she was being. “Do you want to come sit with my friends and I?”

The boy’s eyes thinned and all he did was look back at his soba, slurping loudly in Mei’s face. She paused, then followed by a gasp, “Oh! Are you mute? Hitoshi knows sign language if that’s the problem.”

“I’m not mute. I just have no interest in making friends.”

Mei was thrown off balance for a moment, but not because of his words. That tone, the lack of emotion in his voice, it was unsettling.

“Then why are you staring at us?”

“None of your business.”

“You know!” Mei hit the table again, drawing the attention from other nearby students, “I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but now let me make one thing clear. Staring is rude and I’ll poke both your eyes out if it continues.”

Todoroki’s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise and his eyes casted back down to his soba, still not saying anything. Something grabbed the back of her shirt, Sero chuckling nervously as he waved awkwardly at him and pulled Mei away, forcing her back into her seat where she huffed, “He’s not very nice!”

Ashido tilted her head, “Maybe he’s just shy or something!”

“No. I said he could come sit here and he said he had no interest in making friends. Like I’m scum or something!”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it in that way,” Sero reassured, “Let’s not jump to conclusions. He might still be adjusting, like Kaminari!”

Hitoshi frowned, “What?”

The blonde pulled lightly on a strand of electric hair and shrugged, “I was homeschooled for, like, two years before this, so I was a little nervous to be thrown back into it. Luckily I’m a social person, but it might be nerve wracking for him.”

“Same.”

Kaminari looked up at Hitoshi, “Hah?”

“Yeah. I was homeschooled for three years previous to this. Didn’t think I would actually make friends.”

“I was already your friend!” Mei beamed and Hitoshi rolled his eyes, “I know that, Mei.”

Ashido smiled, “How did you two meet, anyways? Just coincidence?”

“He broke into my wor-”

“We ran into each other at one of my favourite cafe’s! And had a mutual friend!”

The two spoke over one another, Hitoshi’s voice getting louder to cut Mei off as he laughed nervously.

“A cafe?” Ashido asked.

“This cat cafe,” the purple haired boy continued, waving his hand mindlessly, “It’s just a few blocks from the train station actually.”

Kaminari shook his head, “Wait, can we go back-”

The blonde was cut off by Hitoshi’s phone ringing and Mei looked over curiously as mauve eyes widened, “Um, pardon me. I’ll be right back.”

Hitoshi was stressed.

Mei had never been good at social cues, but it’s like she’s grown attuned to Hitoshi, Izuku, Dabi and even Toga’s emotions. And Hitoshi was currently beyond stressed.

Mei’s leg began bouncing up and down as she watched him leave the cafeteria with his phone pressed to his ear, not noticing as she began knocking her wrists together to relieve the stress that was rolling onto her.

“What’s up?” Sero said gently, “He’ll be back I’m sure.”

Mei hummed, “He just got really stressed then. I don’t like it.”

Hitoshi feels like the oxygen’s been sucked right out of the air, leaving him to suffocate.

His vision was hazy as he walked down the halls numbly, tumbling into the classroom and turning to brace himself against the wall quickly, leaning his forehead in the crook of his elbow before collapsing to his knees, burying his hands into his hair.

“Oh god,” he sobbed under his breath, his body trembling violently and his phone slipping from his hand and sliding onto the ground, concerned messages from Mei blowing his screen up already. Hitoshi choked on his own breath as a hand placed itself on his shoulder, causing him to whip around and slam the arm away hard, backing into the wall further.

“Shinsou!” Aizawa crouched down, “Are you injured?”

At any other moment, Hitoshi would be red up to his ears in embarrassment for having a full breakdown in front of both his homeroom teacher and all time favourite pro hero. But this was not any other moment, and Hitoshi was busy trying to fucking breathe.

Aizawa’s eyebrows pinched together as he looked over his student, unsure on where to begin. “Shinsou, I need you to tell me if you’re injured or not.”

Hitoshi heard the command distantly, so he was able to shake his head in a jerked motion, panting like he had just run twelve miles. Aizawa sighed and took Hitoshi’s hand, placing it over his heart under his scarf and began exaggerating his breathing.

“Copy me,” he instructed and Hitoshi found himself doing just that despite hearing the door slide open multiple times, where Aizawa would mumble something and the door would shut again. Hitoshi’s breathing regulated but the tears refused to stop, spilling onto his grey blazer in thick droplets. He inhaled sharply and drew his hand back into his lap, fighting the urge to squirm under Aizawa’s heavy glare.

“I have to leave for the day,” Hitoshi mumbled, standing up on shaky legs as he made his way to his desk and slipped his scarf out from his backpack, wrapping it around his neck where it belonged.

“Shinsou,” Aizawa cleared his throat while blocking the door, “You still have hero training today, you’ll have to wait. Is something wrong?”

Hitoshi cursed under his breath and wiped more tears, “There’s something I have to take care of. Please. I’ll be back tomorrow.” He tried to step around his teacher only to be blocked again, “I swear to god, I’ll take the window and show myself out.”

Aizawa cocked an eyebrow and Hitoshi was getting restless, “I have to go!”

“Tell me why, then.”

Hitoshi didn’t want to tell him why, because then it would make this entire situation real. As if the tears on his face weren’t real enough.

“I have to go to the hospital.”

Aizawa frowned even further, “You said you weren’t injured.”

“I’m not.”

“Then why do you have to go to the hospital during school hours?”

“Why do you care?”

“Can’t you just wait until after school?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because goodbye’s don’t wait!”

The black haired man froze, “What does that mean?”

Hitoshi turned his head to the side, this time swearing loudly in a smooth string of words he probably heard from Izuku, “I have to go say fucking goodbye, alright? Let me fucking go before I don’t get there in time!”

Aizawa chewed on his bottom lip before turning and walking out the door, only turning once to make sure Hitoshi was following. “Mic,” he said as they passed the bright teacher, “Tell All Might to carry out my training plan today, they can go with the third years if he has to teach both. Cover me in seventh period, I know you have a spare.”

Yamada didn’t argue, just nodding with his eyes hovering over to Hitoshi, who probably looked like he got hit by a train before giving a wave and continuing.

“Keep up,” Aizawa barked as his scarf grabbed Hitoshi’s wrist, pulling him along like a dog on a leash.

“Toshi!” Mei cried, sprinting from around the corner and dodging other passing students, “What’s wrong? Why are your eyes red? Were you crying? Who hurt you? Should I call our guard dogs? Why’s Aiza-”

“Mei, why would you think something’s wrong?”

She slammed a foot down, “Because-”

“I’m sorry,” Hitoshi whispered. “Mei, go back to class and forget you saw me. I went home because I caught a cold. If anyone asks, you tell them that.”

The girl’s yellow eyes faded to white as she turned around with a blank expression, making her way down the hall as Hitoshi watched, more tears collecting on his lash lines. With another tug, Hitoshi followed Aizawa, “What are you doing?”

“Coming with you to the hospital, obviously.”

Hitoshi squeaked and nearly tripped, catching himself with his own capture scarf, Aizawa leading him into the parking lot. “Get in,” he grunted as he opened the passenger door, shoving Hitoshi in despite his mumbles of protest, taking the driver's seat as the engine roared to life.

“This feels more like a kidnapping,” Hitoshi mumbled as Aizawa ignored him.

“Put your seatbelt on. I’m not a good driver.”

True to his words, Hitoshi braced himself against any handles he could reach, the horrible driving enough to distract him from his panic. He whispered under his breath, “I guess gays really can’t drive.”

“Did you say something?”

“No!”

Hitoshi looked out the window, nearly smacking his nose off the glass as the car swerved once more, “Why didn’t you just call my parents?”

He knew his voice was cracking, but he couldn’t care at this point.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was panicking.”

Aizawa took his eyes off the road to look at Hitoshi, the boy whimpering as he reached over and yanked the wheel towards him just in time to avoid a lamp post, then using his scarf to turn Aizawa’s face back to the road.

“I read the files of my students, you know.”

“So?”

“So I know you’re in foster care living with a single elder woman. Is that who-”

“Shut up,” Hitoshi snapped, “You don’t know shit.”

Aizawa ran a red light that had just changed from yellow even though he could have easily stopped, “Hatsume’s in the support course, correct?”

Confused with the change of subject, Hitoshi nodded nonetheless.

“So how do you two know each other?”

Oh. Hitoshi wasn’t stupid and neither was Aizawa, it was obvious his lilac capture weapon was suspicious, so why hasn’t he said anything about it? “What game are you playing?” Hitoshi said quietly, flinching as Aizawa rounded a corner far too quickly.

“What does that mean?” he responded, his voice just as careful.

No, Hitoshi was too tired for this today, he couldn’t do it. “Nevermind.”

Aizawa hummed, “Tell me about Mei.”

And Hitoshi did, keeping his sentences short and simple as he described her messy personality and her skill. “She’s the one that made my mask. I can copy people’s voices, you know? I didn’t even know that because the instruction note she wrote me was three fucking pages, I couldn’t read it all before class. Kaminari thinks it’s hilarious when I copy voices.”

Aizawa nodded, “You better be keeping Kaminari in check. He’s a bit of a mess.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“I never said I was nice.”

Hitoshi had to hold back a laugh because Izuku would say otherwise, considering Aizawa’s the reason he’s not fucking dead. The conversation was so distracting that Hitoshi nearly forgot why he was in the car in the first place until they pulled up to the hospital, the tears already back.

“Come on,” Aizawa said in a gentle tone unlike his usual voice, the two walking in with Hitoshi already beginning to shake once more.

“Hitoshi Shinsou for Yurei Kiyabu,” his student told the receptionist in one breath, Shouta glaring at her with an intimidating expression. She looked at the computer and nodded, “Right, we only have one Shinsou for visitation rights, your father here isn’t registered-”

“This is my teacher,” Shinsou interrupted quickly, completely glossing over the fact that the woman called him his son.

“Oh, well-”

“It’s fine, can I just see her now?”

The receptionist sighed, “Fine, only because I don’t want to keep either of you back to fill out any paperwork. She’s room 231, just down the hall to your left.”

Shinsou nodded and Aizawa turned to him, “I’ll just wait out here for y-”

A hand wrapped around his forearm and pulled him along, down the hall to the left as Shinsou burst through the door, hesitating as his eyes landed on the sickly woman in the bed.

“Oh, Hitoshi,” she croaked with a kind smile, “You made it.”

“Of course I did, Kiyabu,” he whispered, releasing his rough hold on Shouta and walking up to the bed, sitting on the edge with a sad expression.

“Smile for me,” Kiyabu said gently, “It’s what you deserve. Death isn’t so bad.”

“But I don’t want you to leave.”

The woman coughed, “It’s alright, I know it’s not easy. But when you become a hero, just know I’m cheering for you.”

Shinsou burst into tears again as Shouta stood in the doorway nervously, not wanting to leave in case it upset the boy further.

“I have a friend that’s going to take over at the library and you still have your spot there if you wish,” Kiyabu held his hand loosely, “And please make sure to feed Bean, alright?”

Shinsou just nodded slowly, “I will, I promise.”

“And stay with those little friends of yours, alright? The little green one, make sure he eats.”

Shinsou stiffened immediately, casting a quick glance to Shouta. It could be left for later, Shouta already had his guesses.

“I will,” he repeated again.

Kiyabu’s brown eyes brightened in Shouta’s direction, “And who’s this, Hitoshi?”

The boy sniffled, “Oh, this is my teacher Aizawa-sensei. He drove me here.”

“Oh,” she sighed with a sad smile, “Thank you, young man.”

Young? “It was nothing,” he mumbled as Kiyabu waved him closer, Shouta feeling like he had to comply as he did.

“Don’t let them take him back,” she whispered, “They’re horrible to him there. Just make sure he’s going to be okay.”

Shouta could only nod as Shinsou whispered more choked phrases, the woman’s heart rate slowly dropping as nurses rushed in, forcing Shinsou out as he cried and screamed, Shouta having to step in and wrap his arms around his torso, pulling him out from the room.

Shinsou fought in his grasp, twisting and turning every which way as his voice grew hoarse and his body went limp in exhaustion, sagging in Shouta’s hold. And that was it, her body was too weak to resuscitate.

After they received the official news, Shinsou stared at Shouta for several moments with panicked eyes, then turned around and puked up his lunch into a garbage can as he sobbed further.

Don’t let them take him back. They’re horrible to him there.

Shouta exhaled slowly and looked at Hizashi’s number in his contacts, re-reading his written text and decided to bite the bullet.

He pressed send.

Chapter Text

“Look, Mei! If he told you he’s sick, he’s sick!” Izuku shouted into his phone as Toga and Dabi trailed after him happily, the blonde humming some american pop song that would be stuck in his head later without a doubt. Mei was silent on the other end of the line and huffed, mumbling a goodbye and hanging up before Izuku even had the chance to answer.

“What’s popped Bubblegum’s bubble?” Dabi asked curiously as the smaller boy pocketed his phone.

“I don’t know. Hitoshi left at lunch today because he’s apparently got a cold, but Mei keeps telling me she thinks he’s lying,” he explained, beginning his ascent up the fire escape. Dabi hummed as he shimmied up underneath him, “Well maybe he was lying.”

“Maybe,” Izuku responded, “But if he lied then he obviously wasn’t comfortable with sharing the truth, which is fine. If he was lying, he’ll let us know when he’s ready.” Izuku reached the window, greeted by Mika as he climbed through and toed off his pink and white light-up shoes, resting them carefully on the windowsill as his friends did the same.

“I don’t know,” Toga finally contributed, “He’s not really one to lie, which makes me a little worried if I’m being honest.”

Izuku waved her off and headed for the couch, “It’s fine, it’s-” he cut himself off with a scream as he landed right on top of someone as he leapt over the couch.

“Oh fuck,” the person groaned as they were winded, throwing Izuku to the ground as they sat up. Izuku blinked blearily and rubbed his eyes, looking up from where he was seated on his bottom only to meet familiar dead eyes.

“Toshi?”

The little squad minus one all stared at each other for a moment in silence as Hizashi and Shouta ran out from the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. Izuku panicked inside, “Who the hell are you?”

Yes. Completely convincing.

“Um,” Hitoshi responded stupidly, “Uh, well-”

“This is pointless,” Shouta interrupted, “Izuku, how stupid do you think I am?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“No.”

Toga grabbed some knives from her pockets, “Are you going to turn us in now? Because you have the proof to do it, why do you keep dragging this out? It’s tiring.”

Shouta ignored the weapons and walked forward, pushing a bowl of soup against her chest until she accepted it. “As Izuku said, I have no proof, do I? For all I know, Chaos, Morphine and Blaze are three old men that evade the police. You three are just kids that visit for dinner, right?”

Izuku thinned his eyes as he accepted the bowl of soup, Hizashi giving a bright smile and flopping down onto the floor, his usual spot.

“Izuku,” Hitoshi croaked and for the first time he noticed how destroyed his friend both looked and sounded, “Kiyabu died earlier.”

Izuku didn’t cry. His lip didn’t wobble and his heart didn’t sink, because loss is something consistent he’s known all his life. It was too familiar to be upset about. But as tears dropped into Hitoshi’s bowl and his shoulders shook, Izuku felt his cheeks grow damp and his nose began to grow pink.

“Oh,” is all he responded with, curling against the arm of the couch and stirring his soup, “Why?”

“She’s been sick for some time,” Hitoshi admitted, “I just, I didn’t say anything because I guess I thought maybe it would be fine? I don’t know. But now it’s not fine.”

“Is that why you left school early? Not because of a cold?”

“Is that what Mei told you?”

Izuku nodded.

“Yeah, ‘s why I left. I got to say goodbye and Aizawa drove me there. He’s a really bad driver.”

Hizashi perked up, “Yes! Yes he is! Actually, his driving is the reason I broke my first bone outside of hero training!”

“Oh my god did he crash the car?” Toga cried in panic, “How badly were you guys hurt?”

“I didn’t crash the car!” Shouta snapped with pink cheeks, “And Zashi, you better not share-”

“No, he didn’t crash the car. He hit me!”

Hitoshi whipped his head over, “What?”

“It was when he first got his license and he was coming to pick me up for a study session at the library, but drove right onto my lawn and cracked two of my ribs and broke my leg!”

“Damn,” Dabi snickered as Shouta shook his head back and forth, trying to hide his blushing face with his bangs.

“So,” Hitoshi laughed wetly and wiped some tears from his eyes, “Was this before or after you two were together?”

“Get this,” Hizashi yelled, Shouta having to use his own quirk to quiet him down, “So he called an ambulance and came with me since my dad wasn’t home, then asked me out at the hospital!”

“Social cues, dude,” Dabi howled, clutching his stomach as it twisted, “Your friend was dying and you decided it was a fantastic moment to ask for some dick?”

“No! I didn’t- He wasn’t dying, okay? And I didn’t ask for-”

“I was knocked out for twelve hours!”

Hitoshi laughed a little harder as his eyes dried out slightly, “How’d you even get your license in the first place? Pretty sure you have to know how to drive for that.”

“I don’t know,” Shouta responded after a moment in a breathless tone, a chuckle of his own escaping his lips before he could smother it down. Izuku’s eyes lit up, “Shouta Aizawa, was that a laugh I just heard?”

“Don’t use my full name, you little shit.”

Hizashi wiped a tear from his eye as he continued laughing, “Oh, Izuku, you have to know that he gets the giggles when he’s drunk and it’s the cutest thing ever-”

“One of my students can hear you, Hizashi! St-”

“-and he tries to flirt but he’s not very good with words so it ends up being-”

“Hizashi shut up I sw-”

“-these stupid little pick up lines you’d find in, like, a children’s joke book or a very crude comment, there’s no in between. For example he once said to me that he wanted to take me home and-”

“Stop!” Shouta cried, dangerously close to a whine as he tossed himself over the table and tackled his husband to the ground, slapping a hand over his mouth. They wrestled for about two seconds before Shouta drew his hand back to his chest with a yelp, “He just fucking bit me!”

“Izuku’s a biter too!” Toga laughed, “He bites literally anyone and I swear he does it too see if they taste any different than the last!”

“I do not!” Izuku cried back, “Biting is practical and easy self defense, or can even be used in an offensive move. Allow me to demonstrate.” He dove for Shouta and bit his knee, the grown man screeching like a little kid watching some sort of cartoonish halloween movie.

“See? Offensive!”

“Get back here!” Shouta snatched Izuku and pulled him back against his chest, tickling the boy’s ribs until he began shouting that he was going to throw up, Hizashi then finally forcing him to release his victim.

Thank god for Izuku, because he really thought he was going to vomit.

He sighed as he resettled on the couch and looked over to Hitoshi, “So, where are you going now? There’s more space with us, of course.”

Hitoshi crossed his legs on the couch and anxiously looked over to the pro heroes, “Well, I’m staying here tonight but tomorrow-”

“You will also be staying here,” Shouta interrupted as Hizashi nodded.

“I will?”

“Yes,” the blonde clarified, “And the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the-”

“I think he gets it, Zashi. Look, I’m not letting one of my students live somewhere that isn’t safe. Even when we’re not at school, you are still my responsibility.”

Hitoshi stayed silent and Izuku knew why, he was unsure on how to trust adults, they had always ignored him when he was in need. He didn’t know how to build the trust he wanted to.

“Don’t you need to, like, sign stuff?” he mumbled while pulling at a thread on the couch. Hitoshi watched the white kitten pad over and jump onto his lap, leaning up so she could press her paw against his chin.

“I think even the cat is trying to tell you to shut up,” Toga snickered and Izuku bit back a smile, Dabi snorting quietly. Hitoshi shot them a quick glare and turned his attention back to Shouta and Hizashi, “It’s true. I now belong to the foster system and it’s not legal for me to even be here anymore.”

“I don’t care,” Shouta said bluntly, “Besides, Nezu will take care of it, trust me. There’s nothing you need to worry about and we’ll get your stuff tomorrow morning since it’s Sunday.”

Toga, Izuku and Dabi all looked at another with confused glances, “What does Sunday mean?”

“Oh, there’s no school Sunday’s,” Hizashi explained, “Like, the weekend. But only one day.”

As the conversation died down and attention was turned back to Toga’s show, in which she was almost done by now, until Shouta spoke again. “By the way,” he drawled, “I imagine your little pink explosive friend wouldn’t want to be left out. She can come along and if she gets too loud, we’ll just stick her in a room with Zashi, I’m sure those two could keep a conversation going for hours.”

And Izuku kept that in mind as the three of them crawled out the window later that evening, dismissing the heroes' offer of a bed, like they did every day.

Hitoshi stepped out of Aizawa’s car feeling both physically and emotionally drained.

Walking closer to the closed library with his own key felt off-putting, his hands shaking as he kept trying to unlock the door. His breathing accelerated and the key wouldn’t fit in its partnered slot and all he wanted to do was collapse to the ground and let it swallow him whole and-

“Let me do it,” Yamada gently took the key from Hitoshi’s trembling hand, unlocking the door and pushing it open to allow Hitoshi to enter. The familiar smell of fresh paper filled his senses and he automatically felt calmer, a loud meow catching his attention as it grew closer.

A large black cat rounded the corner, long fur making it seem even fatter. “Stop being so dramatic, Bean. You’re not wasting away, you chunk,” Hitoshi mumbled and squatted down, grunting as he picked the old cat up, leaning him over his shoulder like a baby and scratching his back.

Aizawa’s pupils were wide as he stared at Bean, Hitoshi could have sworn the man’s eyes were tearing up.

“Zashi-”

“Yes,” the blonde chuckled right away, “We can take it home.”

Bean meowed loudly right into Hitoshi’s ear, “I get it, you’re hungry. It’s been like, twelve hours dude. You’re not starving.” He lowered the cat back to the ground as his back audibly cracked and he walked back behind the checkout counter, grabbing a pale pink bowl and putting a scoop of food in it.

Walking back around, Hitoshi crouched in front of Bean and held a finger up, “What do we say before we eat?”

Bean sat still for a moment as his tail swayed back and forth, then let out a quiet meow.

“You’re welcome,” Hitoshi muttered, putting the bowl down as the cat pounced on it and began to devour the pebbles.

Hizashi watched with a smile, “The cat talks?”

“No.”

“Oh- what?”

Hitoshi disappeared into the stairwell, “I’ll be right back,” and began the steady climb to his living space along with Kiyabu’s, as well as the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom. He kept his eyes down and fished out all the bags he could find from his closet, filling it up with all the clothing and toiletries he could get his hands on.

It wasn’t much, but Kiyabu worked hard to get him the things he needed, so he wouldn’t let them go to waste. It wasn’t long until Hitoshi had his bags packed, looking once more at his bland room with mixed feelings.

“Um,” he spoke into the quiet room, “Thank you. I mean, superpowers exist now so ghosts and spirits aren’t out of the realm of possibilities, right?” He chuckled weakly and tears threatened to spill as he stared at his shoes, “Guess I’ll go become a hero or something now. Yeah. Um, cheer for me I guess.”

With that, Hitoshi turned around and walked back downstairs with false confidence, grabbing one last plastic bag to fill up with the cat’s products. “Bean!” he called as the cat trotted over, allowing himself to be easily picked up and tossed over Hitoshi’s shoulder. He cradled the black cat and turned towards the two men who were quietly looking through shelves upon shelves of books.

He stayed quiet and ran his fingers through Bean’s long fur, staring at nothing in particular until Aizawa sighed loudly, “I suppose we should go. I have patrol tonight and I want to take a nap.”

Yamada snorted, “Even if you didn’t have patrol, you would go home and take a nap.”

Hitoshi looked at the rows of books and held Bean tighter, he didn’t know if he would return anytime soon. Aizawa and Yamada’s apartment is on the other side of town, but at least it’s closer to Izuku’s warehouse, Mei’s lab and UA.

He chewed on his bottom lip lightly and looked up to the ceiling, he would not cry. Especially not in front of his all time favourite hero and-

“If you’re trying not to cry in front of me, it’s pointless. I’ve known you properly for not even a week and I’ve seen you have both a full blown panic attack and what I would say was a mental breakdown.”

Hitoshi could only shake his head and continued to try to hold back the tears.

Aizawa sighed, “Shinsou, please. I had to hold you back and pin you down when you wouldn’t give the doctors space. I think you also bit me. Twice. Just cry, please.”

Hitoshi wanted to roll his eyes, to argue back and say that the man was being dramatic, but he didn’t have the energy in him. So if anyone asked, Hitoshi didn’t sob again, muffling his ragged breathing into Bean’s fur.

He didn’t let Aizawa ruffle his hair and he definitely didn’t let Yamada hug him gently. He didn’t let the blonde hold his hand as they walked to the car while Aizawa locked the doors back up and whatever anyone says, Hitoshi didn’t fall asleep back on the grey couch in the pro heroes apartment while his head rested on Yamada’s shoulder and Aizawa made sure the blankets wouldn’t slip off his body.

If anyone said otherwise, they were big, fat, fucking liars.

“Tomura, please-”

“It’s not fair!”

The young man scratched at his neck aggressively, pacing back and forth while whining in a childish manner. “You don’t understand, Kurogiri! That, that moron had one job! How do you fail to pick up a quirkless fucker? They can’t defend themselves!”

Kurogiri carefully ran the damp rag around the edge of a glass, collecting any dust that needed to be cleaned off, “It was just the first attempt. You will have many tries.”

Red eyes expressed nothing but a look similar to a rabid animal as Tomura sat down, hands shaking in pure anger, “Sensei has entrusted this to me, I can’t fail! I won’t! I won’t, I won’t, I won’t. We need to become stronger.”

He was still so naive, but it was not Kurogiri’s place to make that comment. He instead pushed the conversation along, “You were recommended to find strong allies. Have you been looking?”

“I have!” Tomura shrieked, “And I found two, but they never, they just stopped showing up to our meetings!”

“And what were these meetings exactly? I was not aware of this plan.”

“They would show up and I would give them different tasks to do, I wanted them to prove their worth! Then they didn’t show up, but I needed them! They belong to me! They’re my players!”

Kurogiri had to hold back a sigh, moving on to the next cup. He understood that Tomura was still young, that much was very obvious, constantly reflected in the way his mind works and his actions. He was too hasty, always diving into things without a plan and he was bound to make a mistake too large too soon.

“No matter,” the man huffed, “We have something bigger coming up, that has to be my focus! Yes, Sensei told me he believes in me, so I have to accomplish this correctly! Have you read the plan I wrote out for you?”

“Yes, Tomura. Very well done.”

Kurogiri did read it. It looked like it was written by a twelve year old.

“There’s no way this can go wrong, right?” Tomura whispered.

He didn’t want to lie, but Kurogiri also knew that no matter what, he was here to support Tomura, so he nodded, “You’ve worked hard on this, covered every part. I believe you are ready.”

Tomura smiled creepily, setting down the grey hand from his face onto the top of the bar counter. He looked up to the ceiling, “And I’m going to check out the security system tomorrow at UA, I want to see how it works up close.”

Kurogiri whipped his body around, “Tomura, you cannot! You will be caught easily if you show up there on your own, it is far too dangerous for-”

“Shut up! I know what I’m fucking doing! I’m not a child, you know. I have the game switch here, I’m in control. You’re just a pawn, and you know that.”

“I know.”

“Good. So know your place. If you’re so eager to know, I’ve set up some cover for me, so don’t worry about it. They’ll be far too many people there at once for me to be spotted.”

Kurogiri wanted to ask further questions, but one glance at the blood on Tomura’s actual hands smothered his words down. “And the quirkless plan? What’s the next step on that accord?” he asked instead.

Hands returning to his neck, Tomura leaned onto the counter and frowned in thought, “I’ll have to find another target. It was hard enough finding a quirkless as it is. Do you know how rare they are these days? I suppose it makes sense, most that exist have already killed themselves. I would too if I were that fucking worthless. They need to know they have a purpose!”

Tomura stood back up and crossed his arms, “I should start with news articles. Maybe a failed suicide attempt, that would make the pawn moldable, right? A weak mind would be perfect, just like Sensei said. Ah, but how do you even fail at something that simple? Asking around would just be suspicious.”

Kurogiri stayed silent, letting the young man mumble on as he returned to wiping down the bar.

“And next time, I’ll carry out the deed myself. This man called himself an expert at abductions, sad.”

Kurogiri winced at the sound of something heavy being kicked, then a sound that could be compared to someone stepping in a puddle.

“No, I don’t want to risk my positioning. Oh, perhaps it would be easier for you to just carry it out yourself, warp the quirkless right to us. Gah, I’ll figure it out after our upcoming mission, that’s more important.”

Tomura laughed, his voice dry and raspy as he sighed dreamily, “Good talk, Kurogiri. Now, do me a favor and get rid of this.” The man exited the main part of the bar and disappeared through the door and down a dark hallway, leaving blood smeared on the walls just for the fun of it.

Kurogiri set his rag down slowly and sighed, approaching the mess that Tomura left him. Blood pooled around his feet, sinking into the cracks of the floor and the smell of iron and rotting flesh nearly overwhelming.

“You put yourself in this situation,” Kurogiri whispered at the man, looking into his lifeless eyes, then to the huge cavity in his chest that Tomura decayed, blood still oozing out slowly. The corpse’s skin was left grey and the man’s expression was still frozen in the same way when Tomura reached in and literally decayed his heart, but not before pulling it out and doing it so the victim could watch.

“Good thing I bought bleach,” he told himself as he opened a portal next to the body, giving one large kick and sending the corpse into the abyss, the exit point a place only Kurogiri would ever know of. Rolling up his sleeves and sliding on a pair of rubber gloves, he whistled to himself as he mopped up the big puddle of red, only stopping when it was time to get to work with the bleach.

Young Tomura, he didn’t even let the man speak when he arrived, only decayed him the minute the man said the word fail.

No, because now they had no idea why the simple mission failed because as everyone knows, a dead man tells no tales.

Hitoshi doesn’t know how he got to school, he doesn’t remember.

But he’s here, and an alarm is currently screeching in the cafeteria while Kaminari looks like he’s on the verge of tears from the loud noise, Ashido doing her best to shield his ears to keep him from screaming. The blonde watched Hitoshi with wide eyes, was he waiting for something? What did he want?

“What’s going on?” Sero shouted loud enough for Hitoshi to hear, the two of them turning to see Iida pulling Uraraka along, Asui, Aoyama, Jiro and Yaoyorozu trailing behind them.

“We have to go!” Iida shouted while moving his free hand in a robotic motion, “This alarm means the security has been breached, and I do not believe this is some sort of drill, we would have been informed beforehand!”

Without hesitation, Hitoshi stood and grabbed Kaminari and Sero, who then used his tape to grab Ashido. They followed the first group of their classmates out of the cafeteria and into an extremely crowded hall, bodies touching Hitoshi from every angle.

He hated it, and it seemed Kaminari did too as his yellow eyes were wider and more alert than normal.

“Shinsou!” Iida called over his shoulder, “It’s just the media! There’s nothing wrong, but no one will listen to me!”

Hitoshi tried to answer, but instead felt Kaminari’s thin wrist slip from his hold, followed by a fearful cry from the shorter boy. No thanks, Hitoshi thought, spinning around and grabbing what he could, a fistful of electric blonde hair and yanking the boy back, feeling him crash into his side.

Hitoshi was struggling to think, but it was clear Iida was desperate for help. He couldn’t exactly brainwash everyone at once, it was hard enough using it on three people, let alone an entire school of people. His mauve eyes frantically moved to Uraraka, then it clicked.

“Uraraka, make Iida float! Then he can get everyone’s attention!”

And with a long reach, Uraraka was able to get all five fingers on the boy, his entire body levitating to the ceiling. Hitoshi tried to listen to what Iida was saying, but an intense ringing suddenly exploded in his ears, it felt someone fired a gunshot right next to him.

He looked around with blurry vision, was no one else hearing this?

The crowd stopped moving as Iida was shouting something, but Hitoshi heard nothing, just that god awful sound that was making his hands shake and his knees weak. He looked out the large window to where the media was gathered just outside the gate of UA, metal walls closed to keep them out, Aizawa, Yamada and Midnight shouting back at the others.

Hitoshi could feel a headache steadily building in his brain, but it wasn’t the same as a I-had-seven-monster-energy-drinks headache, or even a I-drank-way-too-many-litres-of-coffee headache.

This felt like his head was splitting in two, his vision was growing blurry and black.

Tears built up in his eyes from the sheer intensity of the pressure, but it was then gone just as fast, and Sero’s words became louder.

“Dude!” the boy shook his shoulders, “Your ears!”

The crowd was beginning to disperse and Kaminari was still clinging to his torso with wide eyes, but there was a small amount of blood dripping down from his forehead, trailing down the bridge of his freckled nose and falling off the tip.

“Did I pull your hair that hard?” Hitoshi panicked for a moment, but Kaminari shook his head, wiping some blood off with the handkerchief Yaoyorozu created for him. The blonde was still breathing heavily, but his grip was slowly releasing Hitoshi and it seemed his panicked expression was subsiding.

Was Kaminari seriously that freaked out from just a little noise?

Wasn’t he in the hero course?

“Here!” Yaoyorozu ushered suddenly, pushing another tissue into Hitoshi’s hand while he blinked in confusion. The students all stared at him with waiting eyes, while Hitoshi just stared back with the corners of his mouth pulled into a slight frown. What were they waiting for?

“Shinsou!” Jiro finally shouted while throwing her hands up above her head, then pointing at him, “Your ears are bleeding, man!”

The purple haired boy brought his hand to his ear gently, his ear felt sore and raw, the contact stung immediately. He dipped his fingers against the skin below his ears and swept them across his jaw, then drawing his hand back in front of his eyes, staring at his fingers.

They were coated in warm, red, sticky blood.

Chapter Text

“Yep,” Hitoshi hummed into his phone, “I overheard him saying something about Wednesday. Some sort of off campus training.”

He lay on the floor of his new bedroom, which was previously some sort of guest room for the Aizawa-Yamada’s. Now, it already had several posters of his favourite anime’s on the wall, a picture of he, Bean and Kiyabu next to his bed, dressers full of his clothing and even a secret little picture of, as Toga has officially dubbed it, The Vigilant Action Squad.

It wasn’t the best picture persay, Izuku was biting Dabi’s hand and the man was pulling on his dark green curls, Mei was covered in dirt and soot mid sneeze and Toga had a nose bleed. It was his favourite picture to ever exist.

“That’s not much info to go off on,” Izuku responded on the other side of the phone, “Where- ah! Blaze, duck! Sorry, um, where are you going?”

Hitoshi sat up and leaned on an elbow, “Are you in a fight right now?”

There was panting, then “Don’t worry about it!”

“You need two hands to fight, idiot! Get off your phone!”

“I am using both hands! Remember? The stuff M- uh, Bubblegum made for me? It’s bluetooth to my mask and earpiece!”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and layed back down on his stomach, “Oi, shouldn’t you be focusing though?”

“No, ah! No, it’s fine! Morphine, release! Release! Put your mask back on and stop biting people! You didn’t answer me, where are you going?”

“I don’t know, all I heard was Aizawa tell Yamada that they had the bus ready for tomorrow morning for the off campus training. Then I think he saw me getting water in the kitchen so stopped talking.”

Izuku scoffed, “Sneaky little shit. Why don’t you just ask him?”

“What? No way! I don’t want to get kicked out, I just got here!”

“Fuck you!” Hitoshi heard Dabi shout in the background, followed by Izuku shouting back, “Blaze, you wrap her up. I’m on a call.”

Dabi argued back, “What’re you, some sort of business woman?”

“Maybe,” Izuku mumbled in return, “Anyways! He won’t kick you out, don’t be ridiculous! Besides, if he does, I will literally gouge his eyes out.”

“Grim,” Hitoshi whispered back.

“I wish I could come with you,” Izuku mumbled, “I feel like we don’t get to spend a lot of time together anymore. For Kami’s sake, I haven’t seen Bubblegum in like, two days!”

Hitoshi just hummed back, “I know. How about this Sunday we all go down to the cafe? Minus doofus one and doofus two, of course.”

The line was silent for a moment and then Izuku whispered back, “That’s rude. Don’t call Blaze and I-”

“I meant Aizawa and Yamada!”

“Oh! Then true!”

Hitoshi chuckled and heard a knock at his door, “Yeah?” The door cracked open and a tired blonde poked his head in, “Are you alright?”

“Oh, did I wake you? I’m so sorry I’ll be-”

“Woah, woah there!” Yamada raised his hands above his head, “You didn’t wake me! It’s just one of those nights. Can be hard sleeping with Sho out on patrol.”

Hitoshi pursed his lips, “Like when you don’t know if he’s okay or not?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s understandable,” the boy said right into the phone, hoping Izuku could hear him. Yamada stepped in further to his bedroom, although still cautious and continued, “And he doesn’t answer his phone on patrol, so it just makes me worry more.”

Hitoshi paused, then put his phone on speaker, “Izuku? Is Aizawa there with you? Yamada said he doesn’t answer his phone on patrol.”

Izuku hummed, “Ah, he passed by a few minutes ago, but was pursuing a robber. No need to worry though, I’ll go tell him to put his phone on or else I’ll bite him!”

“Stop biting people!” Hitoshi shouted into the phone, “You’re gonna get some sort of disease one day!”

“Speaking of which!” Izuku interrupted with new found excitement while it was clear the group had begun running again, “Did you know Morphine’s quirk allows her to never catch illnesses that are passed through blood? Isn’t that interesting?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, um, aids. Bad example! But she won’t get sick from the blood she drinks and that’s totally awesome!”

Hitoshi snickered, “You sound like a fan girl.”

“Oh shut up. Are you tired yet?”

Yamada tilted his head curiously and the boy smiled gently while explaining, “Izuku calls me when I can’t sleep.” Yamada’s short brows pinched together in some sort of inner thought as the line went quiet for a little bit, then followed by a loud shout along with “Chaos!” in the background.

“Izuku!” Hitoshi shot up straight and went right for his dresser, yanking it open and reaching right for the purple cat mask.

“I’m good!” the vigilante clarified quickly, “I’m good, just fell off a building.”

“Oh good,” Hitoshi breathed out as he slowly shut his dresser, then he suddenly screamed just as loud, “Did you just say you fell off a fucking building?”

Izuku laughed, “Yes! But don’t worry, it happens all the time and like always, Eraser was somehow here to catch me- Hi Eraser! How are you doing this lovely evening? It’s funny running into you here!”

“Shut up and stop falling off shit,” Aizawa grunted in the background, Hitoshi debated hanging up and pressing the FaceTime button.

“You know!” Izuku shouted, “Your husband is worried sick over you! Would it kill you to check your phone once or twice an hour?” Hitoshi could literally feel the nervousness coming from Aizawa as there was a small whine, followed by an embarrassed apology.

“Here!” Izuku said distantly as Aizawa’s muttering became louder, and Hitoshi moved his own phone closer to Yamada.

“Hi Sho!”

Hitoshi snickered from the audible shock, “Hi Zashi. What are you doing up?”

“Just hangin’ with the Little Listener over here at home.”

Aizawa cleared his throat, “Let me edit my previous question, what are the both of you doing up? It’s two in the morning.”

Yamada’s cheeks reddened in anger and Hitoshi watched curiously as the blonde raised his voice slightly, “Because it’s hard sleeping when you could be dead, and I wouldn’t know since you never answer your fucking phone!”

Uh oh, he must be mad. Hitoshi’s never heard him swear before, let alone in front of one of his students. There was a tense silence, a squeak from Izuku, then a nervous laugh, “Aha, uh, Eraser just left.”

Hitoshi watched as Yamada got up and left the room with an angry expression, leaving the purple haired boy like he had just witnessed half of a divorce. Yamada and Aizawa almost never fight except for the little, silly arguments. But this was true anger and Hitoshi thought maybe he should make sure the blonde was alright.

He’s living in his apartment, after all.

“Alright Izu, I’ll talk to you later. I should probably check on Yamada, he got really upset.”

“Awe, look at you two bein’ all family-like!”

“Shut it.”

“I love you!”

Toga laughed and leaned closer to the phone, “Yep, love you! And so does,” she paused and whispered, “Dabi.”

Hitoshi secretly rolled his eyes, “Right. See you guys- oh! Before I forget, Aizawa and Yamada won’t be home tomorrow night and I might not be either, something about school. Um, so they’ll leave the food in the oven and you can help yourself.”

“Alright,” Izuku hummed, “I’ll let you go. Get some sleep for whatever Aizawa has for you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Night.”

“Night.”

Hitoshi watched as his phone blinked off and he tossed it accurately onto his bed, creeping out his door and finding Yamada on the couch with his headphones on. Hitoshi was hesitant, he didn’t know how to comfort someone he wasn’t confident around.

No way in hell was he about to offer a hug, either.

As if on cue, the window was thrown open and Aizawa flew through, slipping slightly and knocking some papers off the kitchen table. Yamada spun around and yelped in shock as Aizawa gained his footing and wrapped his arms around his husband’s shoulder, burying his face into his blonde hair. Slow tears fell from Yamada’s eyes as the two stood still in silence, Hitoshi slowly stepping back and retreating into his room.

Yeah, those two would be just fine.

“Wake up!” Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs.

Dabi shot up and threw one of his boots at Izuku, who yelped and dove out of the way. The man sighed and checked his phone with bleary eyes, then groaned loud enough to make Toga sit up as well, “It’s only ten o’clock, Izuku! What the fuck? We didn’t get back here until four in the morning!”

“Exactly!” Izuku smiled proudly, “Therefore you guys got six hours of sleep!”

Dabi thinned his eyes, “And how much did you get?”

Izuku pushed out his bottom lip and slowly started doing the math on his hands, calculating like Dabi just asked him to properly calculate the speed of light. He would put up some fingers, then lower some, then mumble under his breath while pinching his bottom lip with his free hand.

“Um. Like, one hour and twenty two minutes.”

Toga yawned and tried to finger comb her hair, “How are you not dead?”

“Built different,” is all Izuku decided to answer with, “Now, we have things to do today!”

“We do?” Toga stood, dressed in the overly large t-shirt she stole from Dabi to use as pyjamas, “But we never have anything to do, and we showered and did laundry yesterday! Oh, are we going to get our nails done?”

Izuku pointed at her, “No, but that will be our next mission, to get some nail polish! Today, we are going on an adventure!”

“Adventure!” Toga screeched excitedly while pulling on one of her skirts, “Do we need our masks?”

Izuku nodded, “Yep, stuff you usually wear during our vigilante hours!”

Dabi snorted, “Then why are you wearing your uniform plus another one of Toga’s skirts?”

“This isn’t Toga’s!” Izuku argued back, “I stole this yesterday! It goes with my costume and I feel like wearing it, bitch.”

“Damn!” Dabi threw his hands up, “I was just asking! Shit!”

He carefully smoothed out the black skirt that was just short enough for the bottoms of his shorts to be peeking out, but the knives around his thighs were concealed. “I was looking for green to match my top, but I couldn’t find the right shade. Does the black look alright?”

Toga gave him two thumbs up and Dabi nodded approvingly, “I like black.”

Izuku looked at the pile of clothing that belonged to Dabi, which was really only black with the rare white shirt and the pink Hello Kitty beanie Izuku gave him.

“Really Touya? I couldn’t tell.”

Izuku had been trying to work his true name in casually, and it seems to be working. This was the first time Dabi didn’t flinch at the use of his birth name. Dabi rolled his eyes and got dressed without any other complaints, slipping on his leather jacket and letting his mask hang around his neck, the younger two doing the same.

“Are you going to tell us where we’re going yet?” Dabi mumbled as the three walked briskly down the street, obviously receiving weird stares from others.

“No, it’s a surprise, but we have to go faster! I don’t want to be late!” Izuku grabbed onto Dabi and Toga to pull them along faster, now jogging down the sidewalk. Izuku was nearly shaking with excitement, he even took the time to put the top half of his hair in a pretty bun, just like Toga and Mei had taught him. Hitoshi was no help when it came to hair, his own looked like the bristles of a paint brush.

“Wait a minute,” Dabi mumbled, “Izuku, this is how we walked Hitoshi and Mei to UA… Iz-”

“Hush and don’t worry about it!”

It wasn’t long until Izuku led them up to a bus just outside the gates of UA, the three of them crouching in a bush a few yards away. “So they’re going for off campus training,” Izuku whispered, “And we’re going to go too because I feel like going!”

Dabi stared at him with wide blue eyes for nearly a minute, the greenette smiling the entire time as he waited for a response. Izuku waited, and waited, and waited, then finally the man answered.

“You’re a fuckin’ idiot,” Dabi deadpanned as Toga wheezed, attempting to smother her laughs into the crook of his elbow.

“No, you!” Izuku pouted back, “And it’s going to be fine, but we have to hurry- shit!”

The doors from the entrance of UA opened and Aizawa stepped out with his hands stuffed in his pockets, a small group of students trailing after him while others jogged up slowly, one by one.

“Well guys, you’re either with me or you’re in my way,” Izuku beamed, then shoved his mask on and took off running, the bus concealing him. Toga chased after him without question as Dabi hummed anxiously from the bushes. Izuku pulled a tiny dagger from off his chest, the one he often used to pick locks and got to work while Toga bounced on her toes as her eyes snapped back and forth, ready to grab Izuku and run if needed.

Dabi, still hiding in the bush with his white eyebrows knit together.

Izuku let out the breath he was holding and yanked the panel of the side of the bus up, revealing an empty area under the bus that was probably meant for luggage when travelling. Now it was meant for Izuku. He scrambled in and Toga dove after him with a quiet giggle, the two turning and staring at Dabi with waiting eyes.

The man’s expression grew more anxious.

Izuku raised his eyes one last time before slowly reaching up to the panel, fingers wrapping around the edge and lowering it. “Is he seriously not coming?” Toga whispered as the panel slowly blocked their view, Dabi no longer visible.

Izuku shrugged and made the final movement to lower the panel silently before it was ripped back open, Dabi bulleting through like a ram and knocking both teenagers in the face, all three masks clashing as the panel slammed shut.

“Touya!” Izuku hissed, “I was trying to be fucking quiet, if you couldn’t tell!”

“I think a kid saw me.”

Toga and Izuku turned to the man with wide eyes, freezing like someone had stopped time. Quiet steps came around towards their area and Izuku squeezed Dabi’s hand, not that he was worried. He wouldn’t hesitate to stab a kid if it meant they could escape.

“What is it?” they heard a high, most likely female voice shout from outside, then the scuffing of feet against the pavement.

“Nevermind! Thought I heard something!” a male voice responded with a giggle.

“Come on, Kirishima! Iida’s gonna bonk you upside the head if you don’t get on the bus now!”

“Right, I’m comin’!”

The footsteps faded and the weight above the canal Izuku was hiding in shifted, they were boarding now. “This is so exciting!” Toga whisper-squealed, “But Touya, won’t your brother recognize you?”

The engine started while Dabi picked absentmindedly at a staple on his collarbone, “I don’t know. It’s been quite some time and he hasn’t seen me with my skin graphs, plus I got taller and lost a lot of muscle mass. Is my hair completely white now?”

Izuku turned on the flashlight of his phone and directed it towards Dabi in thought, both him and Toga analyzing his hair. “Yeah,” Izuku cringed, “I mean, the tips are still kind of grey and I can even see some stray red hairs, but yeah. It’s white. So are your eyebrows.”

Dabi groaned, “Well, not like they’ll be seeing us anyways, right?”

“Right,” Izuku said in all honesty, “I just want to see how Toshi’s doing, that’s all, I swear!”

Toga rolled onto her back as the bus began moving, folding her arms under her head, “Do you think they’ll be some cuties in this class?”

“You can’t take their blood, Toga,” Dabi scolded.

“Oh, you’re such a buzz kill!”

Hitoshi sat down beside Sero, knowing the boy wouldn’t annoy him on the drive there and he would be able to just sit in silence and-

“I’m gonna sit next to you!” Kaminari slammed into Hitoshi’s side with a blinding smile, Ashido taking her seat next to the blonde.

“Why,” Hitoshi groaned quietly as the blonde burst into conversation with anyone who was willing to listen, Kirishima easily matching his energy. The purple haired boy buried his nose into his capture weapon and inhaled deeply, his nose thanking Mei for whatever she added to his scarf to make it smell like a blend between fresh laundry detergent, lavender and coffee.

It was a weird combo when it was said out loud, but smelt amazing.

He honestly would have sat next to Aizawa, but that would have probably sparked a conversation he really didn’t want to get into, but at least he wasn’t stuck next to Bakugou. Hitoshi isn’t sure if he would have been able to keep his hands from punching Bakugou’s skull in. He was nothing but rude and loud and simply a bully.

“Hey man,” Sero elbowed his side lightly, “Are you good? You look pretty deep in your own head.”

Hitoshi blinked slowly at his friend and shook his head lightly, “Yeah, ‘m fine. Just thinking, I guess.”

“Thinkin’ about what?”

“I think sometimes!”

“Good job, Kaminari.”

Hitoshi sighed as Sero moved onto a conversation with Kaminari, Uraraka and Asui while he instead leaned further into his seat, crossing his arms gently and letting his eyes close. He had gotten more sleep than usual last night, but that didn’t mean it was enough.

“Say,” Asui’s croaking voice brought him back from his drifting state, “Forgive me, Shinsou, but I tend to say what’s on my mind.”

Hitoshi thinned his eyes but gave her a curt nod to continue, in which she did, “Your quirk, if someone simply knows how it works, it practically leaves you quirkless.”

The bus went silent and everyone turned to Hitoshi, who was sitting there with the same, blank expression he wore earlier.

“Tsu!” Uraraka cried, “You shouldn’t say something like that!”

“What?” Hitoshi spat suddenly, “Quirkless? What’s so wrong about that?”

From the corner of his eye, Hitoshi noticed Aizawa shift around ever so slightly in his seat while Uraraka’s face turned bright red, “Um, I didn’t- ah! It’s just not polite to compare a hero course student with a quirkless!”

“A quirkless?” Hitoshi said louder than he intended, “What, is it some sort of alien species? A quirkless?”

Hakegure chuckled awkwardly, “I mean, no one would want to be compared to one, right? They’re kinda useless these days if we’re being honest.”

“Shinsou, please,” Iida said sternly, “Uraraka here was only trying to defend you, she did not mean-”

“I don’t care,” Hitoshi cut him off, “Besides, have any of you actually known someone without a quirk? I assume with all your knowledge here on, how you put it, a quirkless, you’d know one yourself. Right?” He made sure his eyes met Bakugou’s for several moments before returning to look down at his shoes, “Well?”

“I don’t think anyone would willingly know a quirkless,” Mineta broke the silence, “Besides, aren’t most of them like, dead? Hopefully they’ll be extinct-”

“Stop talking about quirkless people like there some sort of fucking animal!” Hitoshi roared suddenly, standing up from his seat and looming over the small boy.

“Woah man!” Kaminari stood up next to him, “Chill out, just ignore them!”

Aizawa had stood up as well and the bus grew tense real quick, Hitoshi knew he was visibly shaking with anger. “You don’t know anything,” he muttered quietly, “None of you.” And no one ever will, all people know is selfishness. That’s all society is built on these days.

Kaminari, Sero and Ashido gently pulled him back down to his seat and he locked his eyes on whatever there was to see out the window, still vibrating with pent up emotions. Lashing out was becoming more common, lately.

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck, “Aye, speaking of quirks, Bakugou’s is really matching his personality.”

The spiky blonde looked up from his seat next to Jiro, “What’s that supposed to mean, hah Shitty Hair?”

“You keep saying that name, but our hair really isn’t that different!”

“Like hell it is!”

Kaminari laughed, “I mean, Kirishima isn’t wrong! Both you and your quirk go boom!”

“I’ll make you go fuckin’ boom alright!”

Several students burst into laughter as Hitoshi didn’t dare turn his head, he might strangle the closest person to his hands. He could feel Aizawa’s worried eyes on the back of his head but busied himself by playing with the stray fabric of Kaminari’s jacket, allowing the texture between his fingers to keep him grounded.

Time went past way quicker now that Hitoshi was busy counting his breathing as the bus rolled to a stop and Aizawa stood, “We’re here. Be on your best behavior or so help me I’ll expel you all.”

The class shut up real quick and got in a perfect line, trailing out after their teacher like eager little ducklings. Hitoshi’s mauve eyes scanned the huge dome in front of him while the others gasped in unison, “Universal Studios of Japan?”

Aizawa pushed the door open where Thirteen must have overheard them, “No, that would be copyright! Welcome students to my own creation, the Unforeseen Simulations Joint for your rescue hero training!”

“Oh my gosh that’s Thirteen!” Uraraka squealed quietly, “They’re, like, my all time favourite hero!”

“Thirteen?” Aoyama tilted his head and the brunette nodded, “Yeah, they’re another space themed hero, like me! Plus, they specialize in rescue and that’s my goal too.”

Thirteen began speaking and explaining the USJ in further detail, but the pulsing in Hitoshi’s head had him looking around. The ringing was growing louder and he scrunched his nose in pain, Kaminari watching him with a frown etched into his expression. He locked eyes with Aizawa and the two shared silent words for a moment, but the point got across.

Something was out of place.

“Okay, I think that’s everyone!” Izuku reached for the panel and knocked it open, the three smugglers having to close their eyes at the sudden breach of sunlight. He slid across the metal and flopped onto the concrete with a victorious grin, “Come on! The doors still open!”

At a high pace, the three slid in just before the heavy doors of the USJ slammed shut and they dove into the shrubbery next to the doorway, snickering to themselves as the students didn’t seem to notice.

“I thought these morons were heroes in training,” Dabi whispered to both Izuku and Toga, who both had to mute their masks, thanks to the editing Mei did on Izuku’s original design.

“It’s because they’re trying to focus,” Izuku responded once he could unmute himself, sitting in a more comfortable position by crossing his legs.

“So why did you want to tag along?” Dabi whispered again, fiddling with the handle of his baseball bat.

“I wanted to see Toshi, that’s all.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

Izuku ignored Dabi’s glare and tapped random spots on the ground, distracting himself unsuccessfully. Thirteen was still droning on and to be honest, he wasn’t that interested in what the hero had to say.

“And it has nothing to do with this being a hero course-”

“No”

“-and you having a wish to become a hero-”

“No!”

“-at UA.”

Izuku swore colourfully for several seconds until he looked at Dabi, “We’ve established that I’ll never be a hero, alright? I’m quirkless, I steal, I’m homeless, I don’t even go to school, I’ve stabbed people, bitten fingers off-”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Dabi snapped, “You know I hate when you talk about yourself like that.”

“But it’s true.”

“It’s not,” Toga pushed him lightly with a huff, “You’re just being stupid.” She turned her attention back to the students, “There’s some real hotties here! Look at that brunette there, oh! And that frog girl, so cute! I could just eat them up!”

Izuku was currently still pouting under his mask and looked back at the students, trying to see who he could recognize. “That’s Kaminari there, the blonde one next to Toshi. The one that wanted to share his points, I think they’re friends now.”

Toga nodded, “Yeah, and that tall one, Sero, right? Jeez, he’s taller than Toshi!”

Izuku nodded and continued to let his eyes wander, landing on bright red hair and standing next to him, well, that’s not important.

“Touya, there’s your brother!” Toga tugged on the man’s sleeve. It seems Dabi already spotted the younger Todoroki, because his eyes were wide and his hands were shaking. Izuku frowned, “Touya, are you-”

“He’s okay,” Dabi ran a hand through his hair and his shoulders slumped in forward, “He’s okay. I don’t see anymore scars on his face and he’s still walking and breathing and-”

“Take a breath,” Izuku cut him off, “You’re alright too, it’s al- Hey, why are Toshi’s ears bleeding?”

The three snapped over to their familiar friend where Hitoshi used his scarf to wipe up the blood, staring at Shouta. “What’s going on,” Izuku whispered to himself as he looked around, “Did it just get, uh, colder to you?”

“Yes,” Dabi and Toga breathed at the same time.

Izuku’s hands moved closer to the weapons around his thighs, Dabi gripped his bat tighter and Toga adjusted the straps of her blood sucking machine.

“Thirteen!” Shouta shouted, directing their attention to the centre of the USJ. Portals were appearing, the same one from the kidnapping, the three vigilantes making the connection immediately.

“Fuck!” Izuku gasped as he stood up.

Shouta slid his yellow goggles on as he instructed, “Thirteen, protect the students and get out of here!”

Everyone was hesitating, but Izuku no longer hesitated. No, Shouta wasn’t going down there by himself, not with The Vigilante Action Squad around.

Chapter Text

Some students screamed and some stood their ground, but Izuku was officially out of patience. “Sho!” he sang annoyingly, “You’re favourite vigilantes have arrived!”

“Villains!” someone amongst the students roared, but luckily Hitoshi was quick to shut that down, “Aoyama, don’t worry! Haven’t you heard of Chaos, Blaze and Morphine?” Izuku resisted the urge to wave at his friend annoyingly.

“Yes!” a girl with deep purple hair gasped, “Only like, the best vigilantes to ever exist!”

“No need to flatter me,” Toga winked in her direction, “But please, don’t spare me any applause.”

Dabi laughed with his deep, raspy voice and set his baseball bat on his shoulder, “I’ve been waiting for a chance to fuck shit up.” It’s true, the roads have been a bit quiet lately. Izuku shot a glance over his shoulder at the younger Todoroki, but the boy was simply standing there with a blank expression, his eyes on the villains appearing down below.

“What are you three idiots doing here?” Shouta nearly screeched, staring at the three of them with hair floating and eyes glowing red. Izuku could only chuckle, walking forward and making sure his skirt swayed with each step as he purred, “Don’t pretend like you don’t want us here! We’re just here to cause some trouble, isn’t that right Morphine and Blaze?”

“Of course,” they both responded at once, joining his side.

“Now,” Izuku said while scrolling through his phone, “Let’s kick some ass, Eraser! Or, shall I dare say, slap-” he paused while he smacked Shouta’s bottom hard enough to cause him to yelp, “-some ass! Blaze! What’s your preferred genre?”

Dabi hummed, “Oh! Putting me on the spot here! I mean I’ve never really thought about it but both girls and guys-”

“Hey! I appreciate the bonding but I was referring to music!”

Toga snorted, “Just press shuffle before Eraser runs off on us.” Izuku hasn’t had a chance to put this part of his costume to good use, it wasn’t good to use while sneaking around at night. Here though, he could cause, no, be the perfect distraction.

He was born for it.

The first note ripped out from the grey plating on his boots and Izuku giggled from the vibrations, “Fuck yeah!” Without thinking, Izuku reached to one of the belts around his thigh and pulled out something he grabbed last minute at the warehouse, holding it up into the air.

“Holy fuck where did you get that gun, Chaos?”

Izuku laughed at Hitoshi’s panic, “Oi, Toshi! It’s not a gun! I don’t think.” Oops, probably shouldn't use his nickname. Too late.

“You don’t think?”

The greenette shrugged and looked at the tool, “Blaze confiscated the gun I found the other day but this one doesn’t actually shoot bullets! It’s an edit of my own, thank you very much.”

Izuku hummed along to the tune that was first to play when he clicked shuffle, bobbing his head while Shouta stared at him in utter disbelief, “Can you take anything seriously? Would that kill you?”

The small vigilante laughed quietly, tilting his head back ever so slightly and batting his long eyelashes in Shouta's direction, "I took things far too seriously for my entire life. Let me live a little, won't you?"

Before Shouta could pull him back, Izuku took off leaping down the steps with Dabi and Toga flanking his sides, all laughing in pure nervousness and adrenaline. Hey, they all had a lot of emotions pent up lately and this was the perfect outlet, although it was still a lot of villains.

“Keep up!” Izuku screamed at Shouta while he secretly prayed the students and Thirteen could protect themselves. At least with Hitoshi there, they all stood a chance. The minute Izuku pulled the trigger of his ‘gun’ and began tasering people left and right, he noticed something that wasn’t adding up. Everything was too simple, these villains were too under trained.

“Hey! These are street villains, worse than the ones we battle on patrol.”

Dabi slammed his baseball bat against the back of someone’s head and watched them fall, quickly wiping some blood from his cheek that didn't belong to him, “I was just about to say the same thing. I actually thought I’d be forced to use my quirk to, like, survive.”

Toga dodged a punch and stabbed a man in the thigh, “I feel like this is just leisurely training!”

Izuku’s eyebrows pinched together as he threw a set of knives, both hitting a villain in each of her hands as he ran past her, plucking them back up effortlessly. “There’s something bigger than this, Eraser!” Izuku shouted as the man took down four villains at once with his scarf, sending them flying across the USJ.

“I know! In the middle, it looks like those are the ones in charge!”

Izuku turned his attention to where Shouta was looking, staring at a man covered in hands, some weird monster with its brain exposed-

Wait, the third one just disappeared.

Screams from above had him whipping back around as purple mist swallowed the villains whole and the music coming from Izuku’s boots stuttered before turning off completely. “Toshi!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, but it was too late. A majority of the students were gone.

“Hito-” Kaminari reached for him, but the strange abyss took everything away. If Hitoshi hadn’t hesitated, he could have used his quirk! He could have immobilized the warp villain and this wouldn’t be happening.

If only he wasn’t such a coward.

Just like the coldness of that thought, freezing water swallowed Hitoshi whole, leaving him unable to breath as panic took over. Movement caught his eye as he turned over, a shark like villain swimming right at him while snapping his jaw open and shut in a threatening manner.

Oh fuck, Izuku would kill him if he died.

With his quirk out of use, Hitoshi braced his scarf in both hands, praying that maybe he could wrap it around the villain’s neck with proper timing. The villain smiled evilly and Hitoshi was beginning to grow light headed from the lack of oxygen, when something suddenly wrapped around his torso.

He prepared himself for a battle against two villains when he was yanked to the surface aggressively, then launched only to land on a hard surface. Hitoshi balanced himself on his hands and knees as he began coughing up water, wincing as some dribbled out of his nose.

“Are you alright, kero?”

He turned to see Asui watching him with large, worried eyes, “I thought I was going to be too late.”

On Hitoshi’s other side, that one familiar blonde was sprawled on his back while he panted heavily, black eyeliner smeared down his pale cheeks.

“Thanks Asui,” he muttered as he clambered back to his feet, carefully peering over the railings of the boat.

“I told you to call me Tsu!”

Hitoshi tried to squint to see what was going on at the centre of the USJ, but there was so much going on that he couldn’t focus on one thing. Not even Izuku’s messy green hair was visible. His three friends were swarmed by villains, along with one of the first adults to reach out to him with the will to help besides Kiyabu.

“Shinsou, you’re a little close to the edge there,” Kaminari chuckled anxiously as he pulled the taller boy back, “What do we do now? Just wait on the boat for the heroes to arrive? The signals down, how are they gonna get the message I sent?”

“Kaminari,” Asui said gently, “Calm down. We’re safe at the moment and we have to be rational, I’m sure we can think of a way out of this situation.”

Kaminari nodded, “But, Tsu, I’m not good at planning!”

Hitoshi closed his eyes while attempting to ignore the building pressure in his skull, but this time it was worse than the previous ones. He bent over slightly as he began dry heaving from the pain, feeling Asui put a concerned hand on his back.

“Shinsou, it’s alright. We’re heroes in training, we’re going to be just-”

“It’s not that,” he cut her off in a strangled voice, gripping his torso like his life depended on it. He watched as some blood dripped onto the floor of the boat below him and Kaminari gasped, “Why the hell are you always bleeding, man?”

Hitoshi shook his head and forced himself to stand up straight, Kaminari taking a sudden step back as he inhaled sharply and Asui’s eyes somehow grew even wider. Hitoshi ignored their reactions and blinked, wondering why his eyes felt oddly warm.

“Shinsou, kero, you’re bleeding from your eyes.”

He froze for a moment, now very much aware of the hot liquid running down his cheeks. Kaminari squirmed and turned around, “Oh god, that’s really scary, oh fuck I’m gonna be sick. Straight out of a fuckin’ horror movie if we’re being honest.”

“We have bigger problems!” Hitoshi wheezed in pain, “Look, if we work together with our quirks, we can get out of here. The villains clearly under planned.” He used the soft fabric of his scarf to attempt to wipe the blood off his face, but it wouldn’t stop dripping in slow drops.

Asui put a finger to her chin, “What do you mean?”

“Think about it. They put you in a water area, your quirk is frog, meaning this zone would be your expertise. And Kaminari with electricity, well, I think that’s pretty self explanatory.”

Asui nodded, “You’re right. They would have put me in the fire zone, they don’t know our quirks. We need to take our time to make a proper plan since they can’t quite get us up he-”

Hitoshi felt his eyes roll back into his head while something interrupted Asui’s speaking. They weren’t exactly words, not a voice, at first at least. It began as a sound that Hitoshi had no idea existed, a sound he wouldn't be able to describe no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps it was more of a feeling? He wasn't sure, but then through the strange static noise ringing out in his skull, he heard something and actually understood.

‘Let’s sink the boat.’

There was no explanation, no logic behind it as Hitoshi shook his head and turned to the water, “They’re gonna sink the boat!”

“Wh-”

There was a loud crunch from the metal below and the ship tilted suddenly, causing the three kids to stumble slightly.

“No time! No time!” Kaminari gasped, “We’re gonna fall in and they’re gonna eat us! I’ve never been to Hollywood before, or gotten a piercing or gone ice skating! I can’t be fish food yet!”

Hitoshi will admit, the panic was rising as he looked down at the villains surrounding them, there was no escape. He gripped his scarf in one hand and used the other to feel around what he held on his utility belt, smiling slowly. “I can barely control three people at once,” he admitted, “There’s no point with my quirk. Luckily, quirks aren’t everything. At least, in my case.”

Denki never really had friends.

You would think with his natural abilities to socialize and lack of calmness, he would be able to make new friends easily wherever he went. As a child, things were never easy yet no one would ever know.

No one would understand what Denki did, what made him such a monster.

He tried to smile for everyone, but that often became too much and some days Denki felt like he could barely get himself out of bed. It had been easier of course ever since his mother left, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

His father did everything he could to keep Denki afloat and try to help him, but it was clear sometimes that even he thought his son was too far gone to ever help. People called him loud, annoying, weird, stupid, the list could go on and with UA, Denki thought things would change for the better.

They didn’t.

His classmates saw him as the class idiot, laughing at him during all of his Whey episodes thinking he wouldn’t remember the jokes they make. But he did remember, he just didn’t have the confidence to say anything. They just saw him as stupid anyways.

But then there was him.

A boy that never called him stupid or annoying or useless. A boy that didn’t find his Whey episodes funny and even scowled at those who made mean jokes. Sure, he made little complaints here and there, but it had nothing to do with Denki because the boy did that with everyone.

It was just his personality.

And Denki hated his quirk, it was weak and humiliating and dangerous. Sometimes he knew deep down that he could never be a hero, but he made a promise when he was younger, so he was going to at least do his best to follow through with it.

He wanted to help others and he didn’t want to be a coward anymore, so he’ll admit when Shinsou gripped his shoulders with confidence and asked him that question, he wasn’t tossed back into some sort of panic attack, nor did tears fill his eyes. He didn’t lose himself in his memories and instead mustered up a determined expression.

“Yes,” he answered, “I have been a bomb before.”

“Great,” Shinsou smiled at him, although it wasn’t his usual grin because this time his teeth were covered in blood. Icky.

“And you conduct your own electricity, right? So do you actually electrocute yourself?”

Denki rubbed the back of his neck, “To an extent, but not as bad as those around me. I won’t die, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Shinsou nodded, “Okay, okay. So can you do that for me?”

Wait-

“You want me to jump in there with all the villains? What if one evades my quirk? I’ll be in my stupid mode and get crunched!” Denki could feel the panic rising, and honestly the villains were just an excuse. He couldn’t care less if he was attacked right now because if he did what Shinsou wanted him to do, then it would happen all over again and-

“I won’t let that happen.”

His voice was stern and confident, and Denki couldn’t help but feel less fearful with Shinsou at his side.

“You won’t?”

“Never.”

And so Shinsou explained his plan while the ship continued sinking, Tsu nodding along in agreement. Denki was hesitant, he was always hesitant when it came to his quirk, but the other two were depending on him to follow through.

“Now or never, Blondie!” Shinsou said and Denki didn’t hesitate, standing on the rail facing the water.

“Cannon ball!” he screamed in false confidence as he leapt off, plugging his nose and feeling the electrical currents pass through his body, only a little. Holding back his currents was never easy, because his quirk controlled him even though it should be the other way around. But he had to try.

Because he learned from last time.

The second his body came in contact with the water, his electricity went out of control and he held his nose even as the smell of burning flesh was beginning to sneak through his hold. Everything went fuzzy and numb in the oh so familiar way, villains shrieking around him as he slowly descended into his Whey Mode. At least that meant the anxiety was being shocked away.

It was when his favourite lavender scarf wrapped around his body and the electricity stopped flowing as Denki was ripped towards the sky, a shriek escaping his mouth as he dangled just below Shinsou, who Tsu was holding onto.

Wait, why was he more lucid than normal?

“Brace yourselves!” Shinsou cried as he pulled something out from his belt and pressed a button, a massive horn ringing out; no doubt every single person near the USJ heard it, even if they were unconscious.

The sound waves propelled them even further towards the rocks and Tsu’s eyes widened, “How are we planning to land?”

Shinsou cringed, “Hope for the best?”

And Denki couldn’t help but scream, closing his eyes and preparing himself for death. This was it, after all that. Goodbye, cruel wor-

Denki’s back hit a cold solid and he began sliding downwards, Shinsou still holding onto the scarf tightly that was attached to him. He caught the concrete edge and rolled, Tsu and Shinsou both landing right on him as they all groaned quietly.

“Do you guys ever think anything through?”

Denki, who despite more lucid than normal was still half way into his Whey Mode, couldn’t help himself as he beamed, “Elsa!”

Katsuki struggled with his footing as he finally met the actual fucking earth once more, slim eyes snapping around to analyze everything in his vicinity.

“You’re dead meat!”

Katsuki whirled around as a villain with knives as fingers dove for him when a familiar redhead put himself between the two, tanned and freckled skin rock hard.

“I don’t think so!” Shitty Hair laughed as the audible sound of metal cracking echoed through the dark building, the villain shouting in agony.

“I could have done that my fucking self!” Katsuki shook his head as he brought himself back down to reality, “I don’t need your help!”

Shitty Hair looked at him with pointy teeth in a blinding smile, “Okay! I didn’t really ask for your opinion though!”

“The fuck did you just say to me?”

Shitty Hair side stepped him and his solid fist met another villain’s stomach, sending the bastard flying across the room into the far wall. “I said I didn’t ask for your opinion!” he repeated with that same cheerful tone, Katsuki roaring in anger.

Who the fuck did this extra think he was? Katsuki was stronger than he would ever be, fuck what his therapist says about the whole humble bullshit. “Eat my fucking fists!” he screamed at the nearest villain, setting off a chain of explosions without any care for Shitty Hair’s location. He had that stupid fucking rock quirk, he’d be fine. Probably.

It went on like that for several minutes as villains continued to flood the room, Shitty Hair shouting, “How many are there? Damn!”

“Who fucking cares? More to explode!” Katsuki snapped and sent the final villain down the stairs with an explosion, then dusted his hands off on his cargo pants.

“Now what?” Shitty Hair asked, still standing there with that stupid smile despite a shallow gash across his torso and a forming black eye.

“The fuck you askin’ me for? Go away!” Katsuki stomped towards Shitty Hair, “I already told you, I don’t need your help, extra!”

“Extra?” the redhead giggled, “I thought I was Shitty Hair!”

“You are Shitty Hair!”

“No, you.”

“Are you five fucking years-”

The nerd’s eyes widened and he reached for Katsuki, “Watch out bro-”

“Die, fucker!”

And for once, that wasn’t Katsuki.

A blur of pink arched over Katsuki like some sort of gymnast doing a flip, followed by an evil laugh as they landed right on the villain that had been lunging for Katsuki, broken shards of knives outstretched. The villain screamed as the skin on their shoulders literally melted away, pain bringing them to an unconscious state as the extra popped back up, “Damn! You boys gotta be more aware of your surroundings!”

The girl flicked some acid substance off her finger tips and then wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her hand, “Seems you took care of this floor.”

“This floor?” Shitty Hair cried, “There were villains down below too?”

“Not anymore!” she clapped her hands together, “We should get moving.”

“How many did you take out, Ashido? There were tons up here!”

Ash-blah-blah shrugged and looked around the room, “I dunno, probably the same amount as you guys. Maybe a few more.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Fuckin’ whatever, you probably got the easier ones. Now fuck off and let me do my shit!”

Of course they fucking skipped after him.

He turned on his heels and stomped down the stairs, stopping on the floor where Pinky must have fought. Bodies were strewn everywhere while all the villains were groaning in pain and discomfort, Shitty Hair gasping from behind him, “Ashido! Are you sure you didn’t kill anyone?”

“Well I’m not a murderer! I just melted some skin, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Katsuki bit his tongue, because this girl really did take down more villains than Shitty Hair and himself combined, all on her own too. What was her name? Ashido? Katsuki looked out the window further towards the centre of the dome, only to see three people arch over the lake, a huge ramp of ice catching them and guiding them down from half and half.

Katsuki probably would have let them go splat. Just like Deku most likely di-

“Come on!” Shitty Hair tugged on his hand, “We gotta go bro! We need to make sure our other classmates are okay!”

Katsuki kicked the door down and stepped out, stomping in the opposite direction of the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Ashido grunted, “Aizawa will be expecting us to make way for the stairs, so that’s what we should do!”

Not these extras thinking Katsuki Bakugou was going to run away from the villains. He wasn’t weak like them, he wasn’t, he wasn’t-

Green eyes flashed behind his own and he blinked them away. No, he wasn’t running away because Deku wouldn’t either. Deku didn’t run from the sludge monster and even though Yue keeps telling him he was imagining things, how do you make shit up like that? Why would Katsuki ever see Deku if it wasn’t actually him?

With a new found drive, Katsuki picked up the pace and broke into a run towards the centre, Ashido swearing colourfully before breaking out into a sprint beside him. There were a few moments of quiet whining from behind him, but Katsuki heard Shitty Hair huff, “Wait for me!”

Katsuki didn’t slow down as the three of them bulleted along the outskirts of the main area, staying low so as to not attract attention. He spotted Eraserhead not too far away as he launched a villain through the air with his scarf, the woman landing completely unconscious.

Katsuki’s eyes shifted to the three vigilantes he recognized from earlier and now that he thought about it, their names have definitely trended on Twitter before. Actually, they trended pretty often.

Before he had the chance to turn his attention back in front of him, he ran into someone and stumbled back, the Purple Insomniac looking down on him with a pinched expression. “Watch it,” is all the boy grunted, then turning back around before Katsuki had the chance to cuss him out.

Fucking bastard.

Said bastard was currently holding Sparky like some sort of lap dog underneath one arm, the blonde looking a little out of it as his eyes wandered the area.

“Why is like, half the class here?” Ashido asked as she crouched down behind a rock, Shitty Hair doing the same.

“Half the class?” Frog Girl tilted her head, “There’s only seven of us.”

“Nearly half the class,” Ashido repeated.

With the seven students all hiding behind several rocks watching the centre, the four fighters finally reached the big villains.

“I swear to god,” Katsuki heard Purple Insomniac mumble, “For fuck’s sake, I can’t tell that whore anything.”

… What?

“Watch out!” the vigilante with white hair shouted at the green chick, who expertly evaded something a villain had thrown at her and bashed him on the head.

“Bastard,” Katsuki heard her sneer as she turned back to her other partners and Aizawa, “Ah, this must be the final boss.”

Katsuki swallowed a lump in his throat because that curly green hair put him on edge for obvious reasons.

She reminded him of someone that was gone.

Izuku was trying to seem in control and calm, but it was growing more and more difficult as his adrenaline just kept feeding him violent urges.

With a very strong taser gun, dozens of knives and daggers, little trinkets and tools Mei constructed along with the fact that Izuku’s hands are rated E for everybody, keeping himself reigned in wasn’t always easy.

“What a surprise,” the man covered in hands smiled, “I get to kill three little vigilantes myself! I must say, you two look awfully familiar.” He pointed to Toga and Dabi with one hand each, wrist limp as if this was an everyday activity. “You guys were meant to be mine! If you won’t work for me, I’ll show you the consequences!”

“Alright, let’s tone it down you poor excuse of a hand job! What the fuck do you want from a group of school children? Is this how you get yourself off or some shit, because that's a pretty weird kink, and I'm not one to usually judge,” Izuku took a step forward with his hands on his hips, knives tucked between his knuckles.

It seems that was the wrong thing to say as the young man began to scratch at his neck until streaks of bright red blood began to peek through, the phantom touch on Izuku’s skin beginning to twitch. No, he had to stay focused.

“This isn’t fair!” the man shouted as Izuku exchanged a confused glance with Shouta, “He was supposed to be here! I was supposed to cleanse the fucking hero society!”

“Of who?” Shouta jutted his chin out while still holding his capture scarf, ready to pounce if needed.

“Of the Symbol of Peace, fucking obviously!”

“Obviously,” Izuku echoed in a mocking tone, “I guess you didn’t plan right. Shame. Better luck next time, bye!”

The villain took a step forward as the one with yellow eyes advanced as well, “Tomura, let’s not be hasty. You will have many opportunities to destroy the hero. As I have said, a student has escaped and the heroes will arrive soon, we should flee while we still have the chance. Not all has failed, you have proven yourself. The proper time will come for you to take down the Symbol of Peace.”

The itching stopped and Tomura’s red eyes wavered, “You’re right, Kurogiri. All Might may not be here, but I can at least damage his pride by taking out those he could have been here to save.”

Shouta’s eyes grew panicked as they flickered to the left, Izuku taking the risk and doing the same. Oh fuck. Squatted behind rocks was none other than Hitoshi, Kacchan, Kaminari, Ashido, Frog Girl, Shoto and Redhead, completely oblivious to the danger they’re currently putting themselves in.

Time to distract.

“Tomura, was it?”

The villain looked back over to him and tilted his head, “What the fuck do you want? I’m busy.”

“Aren’t we all,” Izuku chuckled awkwardly while waving one hand around, “But before you get back to it, why would you want to destroy the Symbol of Peace? I mean, I get that it would give you a fuck ton of streed cred, but isn’t that, like, impossible?”

Tomura hissed, “Of course not, but someone naive like you would say something like that!”

Rude.

“The Symbol of Peace will fall by my hands because I’ve brought the perfect weapon that even All Might wouldn't be able to defeat, let alone some useless vigilante like you.”

Izuku nodded and tucked a curl behind his ear, “I’m assuming it’s that thing?”

Tomura looked at the monster in which Izuku was pointing at, “...Yes.”

Dabi snorted and Izuku elbowed him harshly, “Yeah, looks really scary! I know I don’t want to fight that fucker. The only flaw I do see in your plan though, well, you clearly underestimated the students. They've been taking down these villains left and right. Plus, us three are here. To be fair though, there was no way you could have planned that obstacle, so I'll let that slide.”

“No, these morons I brought with me were expendable!”

“Expendable?”

“They’re not important in the long run.”

Izuku noticed Toga and Dabi slowly inching towards the kids at the rocks, good. They understand the game Izuku’s playing right now. He continued, “But then what is your goal for the long run if you’ve just gotten rid of all your players?”

“My goal? To kill All Might! Were you not fucking listening?” Tomura clenched his dry hands into shaking fists at the sides of his hips as he literally growled like a feral animal.

“No, I mean beyond that. You kill All Might, okay. Then what?”

The villain stuttered mid-step and his crimson eyes locked onto Izuku’s, brows underneath the hand plastered to his face furrowed. “Then… This is just the beginning! The hero society is broken, so I’m going to take them down! Heroes these days don't deserve the fame and fortune they get, they're just faceless assholes, that's it.”

“I agree.”

Both Shouta and the villains looked in his direction wearing equally confused expressions, “What?”

“I agree, of course,” Izuku suddenly felt bare and vulnerable as he continued, “Look where I am now, do you think society’s been very kind to me? I’m currently a homeless kid that commits illegal acts of vigilantism in my daily life, I think it’s pretty self explanatory. No hero has come to save me, or they didn't when I was just a little kid either. I had to fend for myself because I guess I wasn't worth the effort to save.”

This was risky with Kacchan around the corner, but Tomura’s full attention was on him.

“Kind? Society hasn't been kind to you? You think you’ve had it hard?” Tomura spat, “You have nothing to complain about compared to me. You know nothing about me-”

“And you know nothing about me. That comment was ignorant, just like a hero would say.”

The air grew tense and as Izuku realized what slipped from his lips, yet it was too late to take back. His forest eyes widened a fraction as Tomura clawed at his neck once more, “You- no, you’re nothing but a brat. A pebble in my path. A player I can get rid of to level up.”

Izuku felt Shouta grab his wrist and pull him closer, “Leave now and we won’t have to do this.”

Being completely ignored, Tomura laughed in a graveled tone, “You’ve done well against these D-List villains, so let’s really test your skills. Chaos, was it?”

Izuku looked back up to Tomura as his confidence wavered, “What does that mean, Facepalm?”

“Nomu,” the villain smiled, “Go ahead.”

That monster charged right at Izuku faster than he could process, Dabi and Toga’s scream going deaf to his ears. The impact was hard and Izuku bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming.

He still wasn’t ready to die yet.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt his head hit the concrete hard as his mask briefly dug into the sides of his face, teeth knocking together from the impact. He tasted blood immediately spew from his split lip as he groaned loudly, rolling onto his front and using his elbows to pick himself up.

If Nomu didn’t take him then-

Massive green eyes snapped around at the audible sound of bone crunching, the monster crushing one of the very few people Izuku didn’t hate. All joking was gone. All confidence was gone. All playfulness was gone.

It was replaced by pain, fear, anxiety, hatred and the need to hurt.

Shouta’s black eyes met his own for a split moment, right arm completely shattered as Nomu casually sat on top of him. Shouta’s stare didn’t waver even as some blood filled the white’s of his eyes, his jaw clenched in pure pain and agony. Izuku reached out with one hand as he stumbled onto his knees, screaming as Shouta’s head was slammed down into the concrete, the ground cracking from the sheer force.

“What happened to all your jokes, Chaos?” Tomura sang as Izuku stood up, his pretty hair-do destroyed, skirt torn and arms skinned from the fall, looking more feral than ever.

“I like saving people,” Izuku whispered when Nomu quieted down for a moment, “Even if they aren’t, or at the time weren’t, good people. But you,” he paused as he looked up through his overgrown bangs and anyone watching could have sworn that his eyes were somehow glowing brighter than any human.

“I am going to slaughter you.”

Something happened to Izuku’s voice as it came out in one single tone, not wavering for a moment. Before Tomura had the chance to respond, Izuku took the mad dash forward with his largest pair of knives in one hand each, arms angled to do some damage.

Tomura took several steps back as a portal opened in front of Izuku, in which he easily somersaulted out of the way, barely wasting a second before he was on his feet again.

“I’ll kill you first!” Tomura cried back and this time, he was the one with the voice crack as Izuku dove around another warp gate, Kurogiri swearing in frustration.

“He’s too fast, Tomura,” the warp villain said, “Use Nomu.”

“He’s just a fucking kid, he won’t actually kill any-”

A dagger plunged right through the hand on Tomura’s face, causing it to shake loose and fall to the floor with a thump. Izuku was standing still again as his shoulders rose and fell with a new ferocity, hands trembling in nothing but hatred. And maybe a little fear.

“I’ll fucking kill you, and it’ll be more painful than anything you’ve ever faced.”

Without a specific command, Izuku heard Nomu shatter Shouta’s other arm, Tomura’s eyes nearly popping out of his skull as the greenette made a grab for another dagger hanging from his chest.

“You better run!” Izuku roared as he threw another knife, Tomura leaning to the side as it sliced a gash through his left cheek, then flying past as the wind rushed behind its force.

“Nomu!” he shouted, “Take the brat out, slowly and painfully!”

Izuku exhaled heavily as he listened to Nomu screech, not even bothering to turn in its direction. He had no idea what this thing to do, he would have to play his game carefully. Be patient, for once in his fucking life.

He heard Shouta groan as Nomu stepped off of him, moving slightly slower than before and this time, Izuku was ready. Nomu reached out to grab his torso and Izuku dropped to the ground, rolling and slicing the back of both the largest arteries on the creature's ankles, shutting his eyes to block out the spraying blood in the process.

The creature cried out and briefly dropped to its knees, Izuku getting the chance to note how the blood flow stopped. This thing could heal itself. Okay, that’s superspeed, superstrength and regeneration, but to what extent? Every quirk has its limitations, right?

Izuku was just going to have to find it.

Katsuki stood to get himself into the battle, something felt like it was pulling him forward. Watching this vigilante fight for people she’s never met, putting her life in danger, Katsuki was the future number one hero! He should be out there too!

“No!” Blaze barked at him while grabbing the fabric on the front of his chest, “Chaos did not put themselves in danger just for you to go out there and do something fucking stupid!”

The other one, Morphine, had already taken off running while dragging Frog Girl, Sparky and Shitty Hair behind her, shouting instructions for them to make it to the stairs without wasting any time.

“Now! You fucking kids, go!”

Katsuki turned back to Blaze and shoved him away, “Get the fuck away from me, you can’t tell me what to do!”

“Holy shit, how fucking old are you, asswipe?”

“Let me go, you bastard!”

“No, you’ll die-”

“I don’t fucking care!” Katsuki roared as his eyes felt suspiciously warm, “I won’t let anyone else fucking die!”

Blaze’s eyes seemed to glow for a moment, but he then shook his head, “No, Chaos would kill me if something happened to you! Let’s go!”

Ashido was watching him with worried eyes while Half-n-Half was just fucking staring at Blaze and being useless as always, but Purple Insomniac was suddenly on his feet.

“Hitoshi, no!” Blaze grabbed a handful of purple hair to yank him back harshly and Katsuki’s eyes widened, “How do you know that asshole’s name?”

“Is this the fucking time? And don’t call him an asshole!” Blaze roared as he picked Purple Insomniac up like a sack of potatoes, tossing him over his shoulder. Katsuki was snatched next as the world tilted for a moment and then he was suddenly face to face with the purple fucker, who was screaming at the top of his lungs and attracting attention.

“You and you, let’s go!” Blaze said as Ashido and Half-n-Half stumbled to their feet, following without question. Katsuki watched the fight as Chaos was struck in the gut and sent halfway across the dome, that monster shit chasing her without question.

“Kacchan?”

Katsuki looked behind him as they walked to the park, Mom and Auntie a few paces in front of them.

“What is it, Izu?”

The greenette stared at his little shoes for a moment and his nose was scrunched in some sort of emotion Katsuki wasn’t familiar with, so he waited patiently for an answer. His red eyes looked to the bruise on Izuku’s cheek and his anger rose quickly, “Is someone pickin’ on you again?”

Izuku’s mouth opened and closed for a few seconds as he could only make humming noises, his eyebrows pinching together in frustration. “Mmm, n-no.”

“Did you get in the way of a fight with the bigger kids?”

There was a hesitation, then the freckled boy nodded slowly. Auntie and Mom had already taken their seat under a tree without even noticing the distress Izuku was clearly emitting, so Katsuki would take care of it himself! He was going to be a hero, after all!

“So what’s wrong? Are they still bein’ mean to you?”

Izuku shook his head with wide eyes, “I-I heard them-mmm- say that they were gonna be heroes.”

Katsuki frowned, “What’s that got’da do with you?”

“Kat- mm, Katchk,” Izuku grunted, “Kats-k-ki, how can s-someone be a hero-ooo if all they do -mmm- is hurt people and run away?”

Katsuki took a few breaths as Izuku stumbled over his words as usual, it was growing increasingly more and more frustrating. “They won’t be heroes, obviously! You ‘n me will be heroes though!”

Izuku’s smile steadily grew as he broke out into a laugh, chasing Katsuki as the two ran towards their mothers.

Mitsuki had been listening to Izuku babble on as she turned to the green haired woman, “Is he still having trouble talkin’, Inko? He’s already three, no?”

Inko poured a steady glass of wine and sighed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Hizashi says something is wrong with him, like, mentally. I’m going to start taking JSL classes with him just in case. But Hizashi wasn’t fond of that idea, saying Izuku has to learn to be normal.”

“Gah, what do you mean wrong mentally? And normal? What kind of father talks about their brat like that?”

Inko stiffened, “I don’t think he means it in a bad way.”

“You don’t think?”

“And I’ve tried taking Izuku to the doctor, but Hizashi’s getting frustrated with all the bills piling up, so I can’t take him anymore.”

Mitsuki audibly scowled, “That’s a load of bullshit! I’ll take ‘em myself them!”

“I couldn’t possibly-”

Katsuki paid them no mind as Izuku laughed, “H-heroes!”

Katsuki nodded, “So these are the new rules! Be heroes, no hurting people and no runnin’ away! We have to be the bestest heroes ever, even better than All Might!”

Izuku exhaled breathlessly as his expression grew serious, “Mm, you p-promise me, Katis- ugh. Katsuch-”

“Izu, I told you, just call me Kacchan if it’s easier for you.”

“Right! Kacchan, promise?”

Katsuki looked at the small pinky finger his best friend was holding out and twirled his own around it. It was slightly shaky just like Izuku’s entire being usually was, his nose pink and eyes wide in waiting.

“I promise, Izuku.”

When had Katsuki forgotten about the first ever promise he made? As Purple Insomniac was screaming through tears, all Katsuki saw was green. Not all red, for once.

“Let me go!” he screeched as loud as he could, planting an explosion on the man’s back. With a shout he was dropped to the ground and he scrambled to his feet, the others shouting after him as he barged forward.

He would not break his promise.

He would not run away.

Izuku could barely breathe, he was choking on his own blood as it filled his mouth. Probably his lungs too, he literally heard his own ribs snap as he was sent flying for the fourth time.

Shouta was completely out of commission on the sidelines as blood pooled around his corpse and he could hear Dabi shouting at the kids in the distance. Izuku struggled to his feet and threw himself out of the way as Nomu jumped where he had been previously laying, its exposed brain making Izuku feel sick.

“It seems Nomu’s found its new favourite toy,” Tomura chuckled from his comfortable position next to Kurogiri, arms crossed in new found confidence.

“Fuck you,” Izuku spat as he threw another knife into Nomu’s eye, relishing in the way the monster screamed in pain. His limbs were still functioning, but he couldn’t say the same for what was going on inside his body.

With a few more delicate evasions, Izuku charged for Tomura once more, yet didn’t get far as Nomu bulldozed him from the side. His head cracked on the pavement once again as more blood forced itself up in a large cough, yet he wasted no time in moving out of the way.

“Bastard!”

Izuku’s head whirled around as his vision was fuzzy, only to see stupid fucking Kacchan charging at the two villains with Ashido and Redhead somehow hot on his tail, Toga screaming after them. Oh, and here came Shoto too.

“I fucked up the first time,” Kacchan sneered, “But now I know, you’ve got a body in there and guess what, shitwipe? I don’t miss!”

A huge explosion rang out and Izuku couldn’t help but clamp his hands over his ears as he ducked under another right hook. His entire body trembled for a new reason as Kacchan landed a hit right on the metal part of Kurogiri’s neck, pinning him down with a vicious grin.

Ashido, Shoto and Redhead got into battle position as Tomura looked at them while wearing a livid expression, “Fucking brats!”

“I’m sorry Chaos!” Toga cried, “They don’t stay still!”

Hitoshi beamed past her with his scarf flying at random, sprinting straight across the fucking battle arena without a care for his well-being, “Aizawa!”

And of course wherever purple went, yellow followed.

“This fucking sucks ass!” Kaminari screamed while chasing after him, arms out-stretched and brain still half fried, Dabi then trailing after those two. This was all going to shit.

“I thought these kids were training to become fucking heroes!” Tomura screeched, mostly glaring at the screaming Kaminari that ran past, the vigilantes trying to wrangle the kids like shitty babysitters.

Nomu charged again and Izuku braced himself, unable to move, but it never came. Instead, the temperature around Izuku dropped and he opened his eyes to see Nomu completely encased in ice, the path of frost trailing back to Shoto.

“You give up that easily and you call yourself a vigilante?” he scoffed while flicking some strands of hair from his eyes. Izuku would laugh at the similarities of the two Todorokis if he wasn’t currently half way to dying.

“Sorry,” he grinned back, “I’m a little occupied drowning in my own blood.”

Shoto’s eyebrows raised at the response and Izuku shot him a cheeky wink, just enough to hopefully lighten the mood so the students would have literal mental breakdowns.

With Kurogiri pinned down my Kacchan’s explosions, Tomura flanked by Ashido and Redhead, Shoto capturing Nomu in ice, Hitoshi, Kaminari and Dabi trying to manoeuver Shouta into their grasp and Toga running wild and collecting the other students she could find, Izuku could breathe.

Barely, but he could breathe.

He chuckled painfully, “I think a bunch of kids just defeated you, dude. So much for that plan, hm?”

Tomura was shaking in anger as he slowly began to pace and scratch himself, Ashido and Redhead sharing a glance before backing up slowly. “No, no, I’m still in charge here! Heroes have to be wiped from this world, all they do is cause more problems!”

Izuku gripped his side, “And villains don’t?”

“I’m allowed to do that because I am a villain!”

“And heroes wouldn’t have to exist if villains didn’t either.”

Okay, in hindsight Izuku would look back on this moment with the will to slap himself. With the lives of kids in danger, he really shouldn’t be poking the bear. The ice cracked slightly and Izuku watched Nomu twitch from the corner of his eye, continuing his stupid commentary.

“Look, I hate All Might as much as the next guy, but this is just fucking ridiculous. You’re too naive to be a villain, which is funny since you see me the same way. I suppose we’re both naive, aren’t we? We’re not that different, you and I.”

Tomura hissed, “Did you just voluntarily compare yourself to a villain?”

Izuku’s mask was so filled up with blood, it was beginning to sneak out of the cracks and flow down his neck, “No, I’m not comparing myself to a villain. I’m comparing myself to someone who’s been thrown to the curb by society, who was stripped from everything in their life and left to survive on their own. But there is one difference.”

Izuku felt his anger die down, replaced more by sadness and… and perhaps sympathy.

“You took the easy way out Tomura. Me? I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Mina felt chills go down her spine. Could someone really be that caring?

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Eijirou sucked in a heavy breath. Is it truly possible to be as manly as her?

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Denki swallowed thickly as he wiped some eyeliner off his freckled cheek with his free hand, the other supporting Aizawa’s back. How can he be as brave as her?

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Shoto looked at the burns that covered this mysterious vigilante, barely visible by all the blood. How does she have so much fight left in her?

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Dabi looked over his shoulder at his little brother, his heterochromatic eyes blank and empty. How long until he could be Shoto’s Touya again?

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Hitoshi swore in long strings, making sure Aizawa’s neck was set at the proper angle against his own chest. Could he ever be as strong as Izuku?

“I’ll fight for those in need until my last breath.”

Katsuki blinked at those words, the pain in her voice gut wrenching. How could anyone ever be so self-sacrificing? So stupid? So insane? So…

So Deku?

Izuku grabbed the fabric of his uniform over his heart, “You were too much of a coward to keep fighting! You’re nothing but scared, and I’m not scared anymore!”

Tomura roared in anger as he sprinted forward, Izuku still listening to the sound of ice cracking just to the left, then looking over to his right where Shouta was safe. That had always been his thought process, no matter how toxic of a mindset if truly was.

If everyone else was safe, that’s all that mattered.

“Come at me with all you got!” Izuku screamed as he swallowed a mouthful of his own blood, pulling off several knives from his thighs, whipping the first one as a warning shot. Tomura stuttered as it impaled the front of his foot, right through his sneaker.

“What kind of accuracy quirk,” he mumbled as he pulled it out, “What’s your quirk?”

Oh no, Izuku needs a gag of some sort.

“Ligma.”

“What’s ligm-”

“Ligma fucking balls, Handjob!”

Izuku moved forward and finally engaged in combat, his fist meeting Tomura’s face hard. The villain took some steps back before ripping the dagger from his foot, holding it between two fingers. It was Izuku’s turn to freeze as the other three fingers made contact, his knife disintegrating right before his very eyes like it never existed, Tomura grinning evilly.

“You’re next.”

Izuku nearly screamed, but then looked over to the blonde. Yeah, honestly, he’s faced scarier things.

“Try me.”

Izuku sent a knee flying into Tomura’s gut and spun out of the way as two fingers grazed his cheek, not close enough. He took a knife and managed to cut a slit right down the villain’s back, harsh enough to make him scream and whirl around. Instead of pulling the knife back, he rotated once more and slammed it into the man’s upper thigh, making sure to twist it before releasing.

The flaky hand surged forward and Izuku arched back slightly, bending his knees as he used one of his arms to knock the hand away by Tomura’s forearm, rotating and ending with a kick to his hip, feeling something crack under the pure strength.

Izuku jabbed forward with another knife but mis-read Tomura’s movements. He thought the villain was going in for a low kick to sweep his legs, but was mistaken as he instead stepped forward, his left hand swinging around too fast to dodge.

Five fingers struck the front of Izuku’s neck.

The greenettes scream echoed as he tore himself back, feeling the skin melt away in a far too painful way to just be a little scratch. Blood was spilling down the front of his green costume and he gasped, hoping the wound wasn’t as bad as it felt.

At least his head didn’t fall off his shoulders.

The villain tried to reach for Izuku’s hand, in which he pulled back just in time to hear the sound of ice cracking. He whirled around and looked at Kacchan, who was staring up at the freed Nomu with wide eyes as the monster stared back.

“There’s only one of you,” Tomura said, “So what will you do now, little vigilante?”

Izuku gripped his knife while Tomura reached for him and Nomu lunged for Kacchan, time slowing for Izuku. Why would he protect Kacchan? All he did was cause him pain and rip Izuku’s mental health apart like it was nothing.

Right?

Izuku should protect himself. It’s what any sane person would do.

Yet here he is.

And Izuku is not sane.

That’s what Izuku thought as he pulled his arm back and threw the special dagger Mei gave him a few days back, the only one of its kind so far. Izuku locked eyes with Kacchan as they were wide, the crimson colour as bright as ever.

And even under his mask, it was clear to everyone that the injured greenette was wearing a huge smile, even in the face of death. The dagger plunged into the back of Nomu and the electricity sparked to life, the monster’s form stuttering from all the electrical currents passing through its being.

From the distraction, the now familiar cold hand came down hard on Izuku’s left shoulder, but at first nothing happened. Had his quirk broken? No, because the fabric under Tomura’s hand disintegrated away just like Izuku knife, just like his neck, and now a searing pain ripped through his shoulder as his skin began to disappear, followed by the muscle underneath.

He stepped out of Tomura’s hold and continued stepping back, keeping his distance as he heard Dabi shout his vigilante name, voice cracking.

Ashido and Redhead’s eyes widened as it seemed reality finally dawned on the two of them, Toga pulling them away while audibly sobbing, “Please! Please, just run!”

In the moment of shock, Kurogiri was able to escape Kacchan’s grasp and Tomura beamed, the blonde scrambling next to Shoto. The blue haired man waved one hand carelessly through the air, “Nomu, finish the students.”

The electrical knife wasn’t enough.

That thing is all Katsuki could see as it flooded his vision, getting back on both its feet and roaring in understanding of the command. That girl-

Why would she risk her own life for him? Was Chaos serious about what she said before?

When those green eyes locked on his, it was all Katsuki could see and at this moment, he found himself hesitating, even though he knows hesitation gets one killed.

Killed.

“Nomu, finish the students.”

Katsuki looked over to Half-n-Half, who was visibly at his limits as frost coated his right side and he breathed out chilled air, swaying in his stance. The boy was barely conscious. Katsuki tried grabbing him and pulling him to the left, but they wouldn’t be fast enough. Not even his explosions could do anything against this machine, all it did was heal.

Was he going to die?

Nomu reached out with both arms towards Katsuki and his classmate, its shriek causing him to feel nothing but fear.

Katsuki Bakugou was scared.

“No!” he heard Shitty Hair cry out but all Katsuki could do was close his eyes and hope that maybe he could move fast enough. Or maybe he deserved this fate, an eye for an eye as some say.

Two hands planted on his left side, one against his shoulder and the other against his ribs, but they were small. And apparently held a lot of strength. Katsuki was practically thrown back the other way, taking out Half-n-Half on the way down as Nomu’s hands came down on the closest thing; Chaos.

Her green eyes were covered by her blood matted hair and Katsuki was forced to watch Nomu slam her down, the cracks of several bones echoing in his skull. Chaos looked nothing like when she first arrived, now drenched in blood and covered in all sorts of cuts and bruises, her playful attitude gone.

Katsuki wanted it back.

“Go!” Chaos barked at him as Nomu gripped her arm, Katsuki’s eyes widening further as her arm was completely shattered in one of its hands, her screams nearly deafening. Why couldn’t he move? Why wouldn’t his legs work? Why did he want to cry?

A hand grabbed the scuff of his neck like some sort of kitten and yanked him right up to his feet, shoved along while Half-n-Half tried to pull him away by his arm, visibly defeated and tired.

Blaze stood there with wide eyes and Katsuki looked up, noticing the trails of blood, like tears dripping down his face. Smoke began enveloping his trembling hands as he looked down at Katsuki, “I need you to do me a favor.”

Katsuki could only nod as he continued, “Take Shoto and get out of here. Don’t let him see what happens next. I beg you.”

Katsuki didn’t know what that meant and even for a long time after this specific moment, he still wouldn’t understand. And besides, he didn’t take orders from anyone! But looking up to see Shitty Hair and Ashido screaming his name, perhaps today was different.

“Head forward!” Katsuki found his voice as he shouted at Half-n-Half, “Run and don’t fucking look back!”

And the boy did, sprinting and wobbling all at once as Katsuki kept his hand cuffed on the back of his neck, keeping him from turning around. He heard another shriek from Chaos and bile churned in his throat, Ashido and Shitty Hair not turning around either.

As they made it closer to the stairs, dodging unconscious villains on the ground, Ponytail and Earlobes ran right into them, both girls shaking.

“Who’s screaming is that?” Earlobes trembled, “W- I, even Yaomomo can hear it without a hearing quirk.”

Yeah, Katsuki could hear it as well and he’s very aware that his hearing has been deteriorating, although he’d never admit it to anyone. He didn’t need any weaknesses. Katsuki shook his head, “We have to get to the stairs and that’s it! So fucking go!”

And the kids did, sprinting at top speed until they saw a blonde fly by in the opposite direction, eyes filled with tears, mask gone and hair matted, her mouth covered in the blood that was seeping from her nose. She said nothing as she ran past, the machine on her back bouncing with each movement and Katsuki kept moving forward, because that was something he could do.

He could still move.

Izuku couldn’t feel his arms.

He couldn’t feel his arms.

He can’t feel his arms.

Nomu squeezed down on his right arm again as the shards of bone were shattered further, Tomura’s voice nearly singing with glee in the distance, “How’re you gonna throw your little knives without functioning arms, Chaos?”

Nomu stepped on his left foot and Izuku bit on his tongue to keep from screaming further, his mask shattering in two when his face was slammed back down.

So much for an adventure, yet Izuku wouldn’t dare take back any of his actions. Not when he could see the students sprinting up the stairs for the exit, meaning everything would be okay now.

“I lied,” he gasped as his lungs were deflating, Nomu stopping for a moment.

Tomura stepped closer, “What the fuck did you say?”

“I said I lied. I said I would never save you, that you didn’t deserve it,” Nomu stepped off his back, “But I was wrong. I don’t want to slaughter you, I want to slaughter the people who hurt you. I got it wrong.”

Tomura’s hands hung limp at his sides as he tilted his head, speaking in a quiet voice, “I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why I want to kill you so badly.”

“I don’t understand anything,” Izuku chuckled painfully, “I now realize I never have.”

Tomura’s red eyes just watched him for several seconds, filled with swirling emotions such as hatred and wonder and sadness and pain. He removed the hand from his face that still had a hole from Izuku’s dagger, his dry lips parted and eyebrows pinched together.

Nomu was still as Izuku rolled onto his back and slowly sat up, his arms completely destroyed along with his left leg and ankle.

Right leg, check.

He somehow managed to hop up onto one foot, baring his teeth with wild eyes, “I’m not dead yet. I’m still breathing.”

Tomura just stood there, eyes wider than ever and eyebrows raised. He tugged on the ends of his hair, "It doesn't make sense! It doesn't make any sense! Is it some kind of quirk that makes you special? What is it?"

Izuku shook his head slowly, he wasn't exactly ready to admit he was quirkless in a dangerous zone. Tomura didn't need to know.

“I don’t understand!” the young man cried again, “Why, why, why are you still going? What are you even fighting for?”

“I don’t know!” Izuku sobbed back as tears began to overflow, “I don’t know anything, I already said that! I just need- I need them to be okay!”

“But what about you? Don’t you need to be okay? Don't you want to fucking live?”

“No!”

Tomura took a step back again, “Kurogiri, what is this kid made of?”

“Flesh and blood,” Izuku whispered back, “Unfortunately. I suppose not existing would be easier above all.”

Nomu stepped forward again and Izuku prepared himself for his last breath, when a gust of blue flames swarmed in front of him, the heat nearly unbearable. He fell back as strong arms caught him, Toga looking down on him with wet tears of her own, “Come on, Izu,” she whispered, “Come on, we have to go!”

“I can't,” he croaked as Dabi continued lighting up the monster, yet purposefully avoiding catching Tomura in the crossfire. That was new.

“You can!” Toga sobbed, “Let’s go!”

Izuku got back up onto one leg and pulled out a decent sized knife, which could easily be compared to a mini-machete. He could barely hold onto the tool properly as he still couldn’t feel his arms, but that also meant as he tightened his grip he couldn’t feel any pain.

It was nice.

“That thing will just re-generate, Toga. So let me finish what I started. It’s okay.”

Izuku staggered towards the blue flames that reflected in his eyes, hands and arms shaking violently with anything but fear for the first time since this situation began. He pushed forward, forcing Dabi to turn his quirk off so as to not melt Izuku, revealing what was left of Nomu.

It was alive, still roaring, but healing slower and stuck on his knees. Dabi must have been burning the cells that were trying to regenerate, Izuku thought, he’s so amazing. So powerful. So strong.

“I’ll kill you!” Tomura shouted, “No, I’ll kill all your friends first and then kill you last, just so you can fucking see how you failed!”

Izuku was used to failing, he’s been doing it all his life.

Tomura began moving forward, reaching out for Izuku as he remarked what was about to happen. Izuku couldn’t help but sob as he forced himself to grip the handle of his weapon with two hands, leaning over Nomu and stabbing it right through its exposed brain, the blade exiting all the way out its throat.

He pulled back hard, ignoring the brain matter that splashed across his face and stabbed again, Nomu shrieking and writhing beneath him. Not good enough. He pulled the blade back and shouted as he stabbed the creature's brain over and over again, his yelling quickly turning to manic screaming, Tomura freezing.

Over and over did Izuku plunge his knife through Nomu’s skull, his eyes wide and glued to the job he was completing in pure horror. Is this who he’s become? A murderer? No matter what this thing was, it was still capable of feeling pain, so why did Izuku love hearing it scream? Why did its pain bring him joy?

What was wrong with him?

He wonders if his mother died a painful death just like this.

“Die!” he laughed in a high pitched voice, pulling back as blood sprayed across his face, although no one would tell from the way he was already drenched in all sorts of blood, including his. And probably Shouta’s.

Izuku screamed as loud as he could, until it felt like his throat was being torn apart as even the villains watched with shaking eyes, Tomura’s mouth hanging open in pure horror and disgust. Izuku was literally picking Nomu’s brain apart bit by bit, scrambling it as if he were simply blending the ingredients for cookie dough.

“Wh-” Tomura mumbled when Nomu’s form went limp, and Izuku fell hard.

“If neurons can’t fire, it can’t heal itself,” he mumbled as the world began to go black, Dabi and Toga falling to their knees next to him. Dabi looked in Tomura’s direction as he shouted words Izuku could no longer make sense of, blood spilling down the man’s cheeks.

Does he cry blood?

Why was he crying over Izuku?

Izuku’s breathing sputtered as blood of his own was definitely filling his lungs now, his chest barely rising and falling, stuttering with each inhale.

“Please,” Toga sobbed, “You’re the first person who wanted to be my friend. Don’t leave me, please. I’ll do anything, please!”

Dabi rubbed the top of his hair gently, “Don’t fucking die on me, you little shit. I promised I’d get a job, right? I have an interview next week, so you gotta stick around, ‘kay? I wasn’t gonna tell you because you tend to get anxious when other people are anxious so I didn’t want you-”

“Touya,” Toga whispered sadly, “You’re mumbling.”

“I got it from Izuku.”

Izuku watched their faces and all he could do was smile, “You’ll be okay. Both of you. Stay on the right track, got it?”

“Izuku-” Dabi tried to warn, but the boy shook his head and coughed violently, “I’m sorry.”

“But I never even- call me Himiko, okay?” Toga sobbed, “Call me Himiko, because we’re friends, right? W-we’re f-f-friends!”

Izuku wasn’t sure if they’d be able to hear him, but he gave the most sincere smile he could muster, causing his eyes to crinkle.

“Always.”

Even as the front door burst opened with one single “I AM HERE,” and heroes came flooding in, neither Dabi nor Toga tried to escape. They held onto Izuku as Hizashi came sprinting over with his own tears in his eyes, waving other heroes over desperately, just as panicked.

The loud hero collapsed at their sides as a shaking hand travelled to his mouth, the other pressed against the side of Izuku’s neck, smearing blood in the process. Hizashi turned and screamed louder, but the vigilantes could hear any words he was saying.

The two were no longer Blaze and Morphine, not even Dabi and Toga.

Because on this day, Touya and Himiko were scared children who had to watch their only friend still wear a soft grin as the brightness behind his green eyes grew dull.

Just two children alone in the world who had to feel their number one hero take his last breath.

Chapter Text

Izuku blinked wearily, staring down at the wooden table in which he sat. The room was loud, bright and warm, soft music playing while everyone chattered excitedly. No, they weren’t speaking, they were singing.

“Happy birthday dear Izu, happy birthday to you!”

Izuku looked up with his eyebrows pinched together, it was his birthday?

“Is something wrong, my birthday boy?”

Izuku stared at his mother with wide eyes, her slim form watching him with a gentle smile.

“Izuku?” Papa cooed from the left and Izuku felt a smile grow on his face, “Mmmm!”

“You haven’t even eaten the cake yet,” Auntie chuckled, “Does it really look that good? Katsuki chose the colours for the icing and everything.” The small blonde nodded proudly, “Cake!” he screamed in excitement, causing the adults to burst out laughing.

Izuku’s eyes crinkled as he smiled as wide as he could, even if he didn’t really understand what was going on. He didn’t need to understand because everyone was happy around him, so he was happy too!

“Happy first birthday Izuku,” Mama whispered, planting a soft kiss against his forehead, only to pull back with a large sneeze.

“Jeez Izuku, you definitely have your father’s hair,” she laughed as Papa ruffled his growing black and green curls, “Good, I think it’s my best attribute!”

It was Izuku’s first birthday, and he never wanted this day to end!

But as his mother lifted a fork with cake seated on it towards Izuku’s mouth and closed his eyes to take a big bite, the cake never came. With a confused huff on why it had gone so silent, Izuku opened his eyes, surprised as he felt the couch underneath him.

Had he fallen asleep?

He looked around the television room to find himself alone, the tv echoing in the quiet home.

“I AM HERE!”

Izuku whirled around to face the show that had been left on, his eyes widening at the hero on the screen. The man was speaking, but Izuku stared at the massive smile the man wore, his laugh deep when the host asked him a question.

“All Might!” the woman raised her microphone, “What keeps you smiling, even in such intense situations?”

The muscular hero smiled even wider as he looked into the camera, “It’s quite simple, something that anyone can do!”

Izuku hung onto every last word while his tiny hands gripped his pants, leaning so close to the television he was bound to fall every moment.

“I smile because those who smile are the strongest! I will always wear a smile as I pronounce I AM HERE!”

The room around Izuku began to melt away, but he paid it no mind, instead trying to memorize every little detail about this hero.

It was the first time Izuku was introduced to All Might.

The couch folded in before Izuku had the chance to notice, causing everything to go black as his stomach dropped.

“Izuku! Honey, wake up.”

“Wh-” Izuku muttered as his mom smiled at him from the front mirror of the car, “Stay awake, silly. We’re almost there.”

Izuku sat up straighter in his car seat and looked out the window, trying to make sense of where they were going. He gripped his All Might figure tighter and looked back into the mirror, “Mm-mmaa-”

“Hush,” Papa snapped from the drivers seat, “No point in stumbling over your words for another fucking century.”

“Hisashi, language please,” Mama whispered in a quiet voice, almost if she were afraid. Why was she afraid? Izuku took a deep breath and focused on the movement of his tongue, “W-where are weee -mmm- go-going?”

He noticed the way Papa gripped onto the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, whereas Mama turned around in the passenger seat, “Just the doctor, for a check up.”

Izuku couldn’t help but frown, “Is th-th, ack, there s-something wro-ooo-ng with me?”

Mama opened her mouth to respond, but Papa beat her to it as he hit the breaks a little too aggressively at a red light, “Yes.”

Izuku pushed his bottom lip out and turned his eyes back to the window, remarking that they were probably in the city since the roads were busier than usual. He stayed silent the entire appointment, his mother doing most of the talking as his father stared at him with a pinched expression, it was making Izuku’s stomach hurt.

“It could be several things,” the doctor muttered as he wrote something down on his clipboard, “I understand he’s three, so I’m sure he’ll be fine. Sometimes the development of speaking can be delayed, it’s nothing to worry about yet.”

Papa clicked his tongue and crossed his arms, looking at Izuku with some sort of disgust.

This was the first time Mama brought Izuku to the doctor.

“Here kid,” the doctor gave him a red lollipop and stood up, “Come back for check ups if his speech doesn’t improve or worsen-”

Izuku blinked and found himself seated in the same room, except with a different doctor and only his mother at his side, much more plump than before.

“It says you’ve visited here quite often,” the man said as Mama nodded, “Yes, Izuku’s had trouble speaking ever since his first word. He’s four now and although it hasn’t gotten any worse, it hasn’t gotten any better either. But no matter, we’re here for a quirk assessment today.”

The doctor nodded, “Did his quirk come in?”

“No, that’s the thing. He shows no signs of a quirk and all his other classmates got theirs already. I’m not too sure what to do.”

The doctor nodded in understanding, “Yes, quirks should present by the age of four, but there are always exceptions. Let’s take an x-ray to begin, alright little guy?”

Izuku didn’t try speaking, it usually just made people mad. He sat in silence as he shot his mother excited smiles once in a while, but not once did she smile back. Maybe she was tired, she worked quite-

“Quirkless.”

This was the first time Izuku’s dreams had been crushed.

As tears filled his eyes, Izuku let his hands cover his face in embarrassment, only moving them once the room went quiet.

“Quirkless shit,” Papa muttered as he returned back into the apartment.

Izuku hadn’t noticed the time, but it was already five o’clock, when Papa came home every day. He didn’t make any subtle movements, instead sitting completely still on the couch as the news played quietly, his toy gripped between both hands. He listened to Papa doing something in the kitchen as Izuku kept his eyes frozen on the television, even though he was unaware of what he was watching.

“Oi,” Papa spat, “No st-st-st-stuttering?”

Izuku knew he was being mocked, even at the age of four and a half, it was why he didn’t respond.

“Answer me when I speak to you!”

Against his own will, a hand gripped the top of Izuku’s head and he was forced to turn, Papa looking down on him with a crooked grin.

“Let -mmmm-me go,” Izuku whispered, averting his eyes to a random picture frame on the wall just left of Papa’s own eyes. That was a mistake. Izuku earned a hard slap across his face, harder than it usually was.

“Useless,” Papa spat as he picked the small boy up by his hair, dragging him across the room despite the obvious pain he was causing.

“It’s your fault,” Papa whispered, flames seeping past his lips dangerously close to Izuku’s face, “Everything’s your fault.”

And he slammed Izuku down at an odd angle, something in his leg audibly snapping as he hit the ground. He cried out in pain as it shot up his leg, Papa simply leaving the apartment without another word. Mama didn’t come home from work until seven, walking through the door to find her son asleep on the floor, leg bent at an odd angle and his face stained with tears.

It was the first time Izuku ever broke a bone, yet would be far from the last.

Izuku yawned and picked his head up, finding himself seated at a desk in the back of his classroom. Kacchan was standing over him with a large grin, “What? Too fuckin’ good for us that you’re sleeping through class, Deku?”

Izuku squinted slightly, “N-no Kacchan! I didn’t realize I f-fell -mm- asleep!”

Speaking was becoming easier, but obviously it still wasn’t good enough as Kacchan and his friends burst out laughing, “Can’t even fucking speak normally! How useless can you get?”

Kacchan stopped being Izuku’s friend years ago, instead turning on him to rip him apart like some sort of doll. Just like everyone else.

“Kacch-”

“Stop,” the blonde waved him off, “Just shut the fuck up. God, everytime you speak I feel like blasting my own ears off. Fucking hell. Just fucking die already.”

Izuku could only stare with his mouth hanging open as the classroom cleared out, leaving Izuku alone. Kacchan’s never suggested suicide before, even after all these years. That must mean he really hates Izuku.

This was the first time Izuku was told to end his life.

Izuku walked out the classroom door and ended up stepping right back into his kitchen, eyes latching onto the knife block by the sink. There was a fresh burn on Izuku’s calf from Kacchan and it still stung as the fabric of his pants rubbed against the wound with each step, his feet carrying him to the sink.
Mom was gone on some sort of work trip for the week, leaving Izuku alone.

Well, alone with his thoughts, that is.

His hand shook as he slowly drew out a knife from the block, setting it down on the counter and staring at it until the sun went down, leaving him in the dark except for the moonlight gleaming from the sky through the window.

Izuku slowly shrugged his blazer off and let it hit the floor, picking the knife back up and staring at it with tired eyes. He pressed the blade against his forearm and stared out the window with a blank expression, his body shuttering from the cold metal. Izuku didn’t even flinch as he dragged the blade across quickly, but tears slowly fell from his eyes as he refused to look down.

This was the first time Izuku harmed himself purposefully.

The world around Izuku swirled as a gust of wind blew his bangs from his eyes, the air cold and thick. He looked down to the toes of his red shoes that were balanced over the edge of the rooftop, the roads quiet down below.

It was his thirteenth birthday.

The wind made the wetness on Izuku’s cheeks feel cold as he stared up at the moon, wiping his nose against his sleeve.

Just one step.

That’s all he really had to do, it wasn’t that difficult. Izuku shuffled forward slightly, his breathing accelerating as he didn’t dare look down, legs trembling. He wanted to scream in anger as his legs wouldn’t listen to him, wouldn’t take a step off as he collapsed backwards onto his butt, pulling his knees to his chest tightly.

This was the first time Izuku tried to take his life.

This was all so stupid.

All Izuku wanted to do was die, and no one would fucking miss him.

It shouldn’t be this hard.

“Oi.”

Izuku picked his head up again, startled when his hair brushed against his shoulders, when had it gotten so long?

“We have to go,” a boy with purple hair said, his tired eyes wide and frantic as he tried to pull on Izuku. They were in a grey room with two doors on either side, one white and one black.

“What?”

The purple haired boy grabbed his hand and began to drag him towards the black door, “Come on! You can’t just stay here!”

But in this room, no one was trying to hurt him. It was quiet.

“But why not? Why can’t I stay here?”

The taller boy looked down at him, “Why would you want to stay here? I don’t understand. We’re waiting.”

“Who’s waiting?”

“We are!”

Izuku screwed his eyes shut in thought as another set of hands suddenly grabbed his free hand, “Come on Izuku, let’s go home.”

At the familiar voice, Izuku opened his eyes and looked at Inko, who was wearing a gentle smile, “Your father’s waiting, he misses you so much.” Yeah, because Hisashi’s been working so hard lately, he wasn’t home very often.

“I miss him too,” Izuku slurred, struggling to his feet as his body felt far too heavy, letting his mother pull him to the white door.

“No!”

The boy grabbed Izuku’s other side, “We have to go! Come on!”

Izuku didn’t understand why this stranger thought he would go with him when his own mother was right in front of his eyes, how silly. Izuku looked at him as his eyebrows pinched together slowly, the boy still gripping his hand with desperation.

“Come on, Izu,” Hisashi waved from the white door, “Why are you taking so long? Let’s go.”

Another set of hands grabbed his left side, a man with white hair and blood staining his cheeks, “Come on, you’re taking too long!”

“But over here, we can be a family again,” Hisashi smiled, and that was all Izuku needed.

“Because we love you, Izuku. Isn’t that right, Inko?”

“Of course, honey.”

Izuku smiled and began walking towards them, ripping his arm out of the hold of the other two. Each step felt painful, but as he drew closer to the door it became far easier. He thought he was free until a set of hands grabbed one of his ankles, a girl with blonde hair crying heavy tears.

“Don’t!” she screamed, “We have to go!”

“Go where?” Izuku asked in return, missing the way his parents scowled in his direction when he looked away. The purple haired one grabbed his other ankle and the man wrapped his arms around Izuku’s torso, pulling tight.

“I don’t want to go,” Izuku pointed out in a calm voice, “I don’t want to go back there.”

Izuku didn’t know where there was, but all he knew was that he didn’t want to return.

“Please!” the blonde screamed, “You said always!”

“Always?” Izuku tilted his head. He looked over to his parents, catching the way they tried to smile fast enough when he turned to them, but he saw it. He saw them barring their teeth in his direction.

“Always!” the purple haired boy cried, no, shrieked, pulling Izuku’s leg until it caused him to stumble slightly, the white haired man keeping him up straight.

“Don’t be stupid!” the man barked, “We have to go! Come on!”

“Always,” Izuku found himself repeating slowly, like it was foreign on his tongue.

“Always!” the three of them shouted back in unison.

Izuku looked over to the black door, noting how it was chained shut by all sorts of locks and buttons and tools, it looked too difficult to open. Impossible, in fact.

“It’s not impossible!” a girl with pink hair roared, “Just open it! Just open the fucking door!”

Izuku turned slowly and began walking, reaching out for the chains despite the increasing pain on his body. His parents tried to step forward, but the four strangers with colourful hair put themselves between him and the adults, causing the older Midoriyas to freeze.

Izuku touched the first lock and gave it a tug, finding the metal scalding hot, burning through his skin, yet he didn’t pull back. He pulled and pulled until a single wire of chain slipped to the ground, so he turned and checked over his shoulder, his parents had come closer, forcing the strangers to take a step back.

Izuku hissed and ripped at the next lock, yanking on it with all his strength until it came loose, tossing it to the side and moving to the next. It was too difficult, too much, and he was running out of time.

“Let me help, please.”

A man with messy black hair reached forward, but Izuku stopped him, “It’s hot! You’ll get hurt!”

“That’s fine.”

Izuku looked towards the new voice, a man with blonde hair wearing a determined expression as he reached forward, gripping a chain as the other man did the same. They didn’t cry or complain, only pulled harder as Izuku joined their efforts, prying the door open as his parents came closer, the bright room getting darker.

“We have to go!” everyone shouted in unison at Izuku, but he didn’t understand. He didn’t understand-

“You don’t need to understand,” the man with black hair said gently, “You just need to trust us.”

Trust?

Trust.

Izuku didn’t know why, but he trusted these strangers with his life.

He ripped the last chain off with everything he had.

Shouta blinked slowly and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, the sound of consistent beeping pulling him out of his unconscious state as all the pain hit at once, causing his form to shoot up.

“Woah, Shouta!”

He turned to his husband, his blonde hair tied up in a messy bun and his eyes completely bloodshot, “You shouldn’t move too suddenly, you’re still healing. Shuzenji came in and tried to heal everything she could, but your energy was pretty drained. Take it easy for once.”

Shouta clicked his tongue and looked down at his right arm which was completely encased in a thick cast, then his left arm that was bandaged up in soft fabric and tape. His head was also wrapped all the way under his jaw and over his ears, like some sort of teenager that just got their wisdom teeth removed, making it difficult to speak.

Hizashi brushed his bangs from his face with a wobbling bottom lip, “Um, I, here! Drink some water.”

Shouta let the blonde raise a paper cup to his chapped lips and cradled his lower jaw gently, only allowing him to take slow and careful sips. Shouta’s eyes stayed on the crinkle between his husband's eyebrows and then looked at how pink his nose was, like he had been crying for hours. Had he been crying for hours? Before he had the chance to ask Hizashi if he was alright, the other spoke first.

“Sho, I- I called you. During the USJ.”

Shouta stiffened slightly as his eyes flickered back and forth from his green eye to his red eye, unable to settle on one colour.

“You didn’t answer and I thought that the conversation we had- I thought you just said those things and then threw them out the window. That you just made those promises so I would stop crying.”

Shouta was having trouble following as he watched in silence, he had never been good and comforting those around him.

“I got so fucking mad at you!” Hizashi shouted suddenly, “I thought you were fucking ignoring me again and I blamed you! Then- then Iida and Yagi, oh Shouta. I was too busy being a fucking, a fucking pussy and sulking like some sort of school girl that I didn’t even try checking if everything was okay!”

Hizashi looked away as he scrubbed some tears away from his face, “I-I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

Shouta wanted to scream, wanted to shout at his husband that he was being stupid, but he instead closed his eyes and took a breath. “Zashi,” he croaked quietly, “Don’t ever say shit like that again.”

“I know, I know! I’m such a horrible husband-”

“Hizashi Yamada!” Shouta found himself barking as loud as he could muster, “I mean, don’t say things are your fault when it’s something you couldn’t have predicted or controlled! This is not your fault and don’t even believe that shit for a second!”

Hizashi’s eyes filled with more tears as he let a sob wrack his thin frame, leaning down to press his forehead gently against Shouta’s.

“I thought you were gonna die.”

Shouta pushed his head further against Hizashi’s and let the tips of their noses bump together as carefully as possible, “I would never die on you, I told you that.”

Despite not being the largest fan of affection unless they were in their own apartment, Shouta let Hizashi slide his lips against his own just for a brief moment, both letting their eyes shut in exhaustion, pain and sadness.

“Now I gotta go,” Shouta pulled back, trying to sit up even as the room began slanting ever so slightly and the lights grew brighter. Oh, was he about to throw up? That would be embarrassing.

“No, Shouta,” Hizashi scolded lightly, “You need rest.”

“No I don’t.”

“Allow me to list your injuries,” Hizashi paused to clear his throat dramatically, “First off, you’ve been unconscious for about eighteen hours. You had three hairline fractures up your left arm, your right arm completely snapped in four separate parts. Your nose was broken, your jaw was cracked and a jagged piece from your ribs that got clipped off scratched the side of your right lung. You still have a concussion from pretty major head trauma, that was the first thing Shuzenji healed, and then you also chipped a tooth.”

Shouta blinked in slight embarrassment, “That’s nothing-”

“Shouta.”

“Sorry.”

The black haired man looked towards the window when his stomach dropped suddenly, “The kids! How are the kids? Tell me they’re alright.”

Hizashi rubbed up and down Shouta’s thigh gently through the sheets, “It’s alright Shouta, your kids are fine.”

“Are any of the students injured?”

Hizashi pursed his lips in brief thought, “Nothing too bad.”

“Details.”

“Fine. Well, Kirishima needed some stitches across his torso from a somewhat deep cut, but it was a flesh wound. Um, we had a few sprains, like Bakugou. Both his wrists, Shuzenji assumed it was from overusage of his quirk. Todoroki overused his quirk as well. No broken limbs, just noses like Ashido and fingers like Yaoyorozu. There was some emotional distress, mainly from Kaminari, Mineta, Hakegure, Aoyama and surprisingly Todoroki, but they’re all fine Shouta. You did good.”

“I didn’t do shit,” Shouta mumbled under his breath, which earned a sharp squeeze from the blonde, “No, you did good. Don’t let me hear you say that again.”

Shouta sat up a little straighter, “And Hitoshi? How’s Hitoshi?”

Hizashi smiled, “It’s Hitoshi now? Not Shinsou?”

“Shut up. How is he?”

The blonde hummed, “Could be better. He had a bruised spine which Shuzenji healed immediately since that could have caused future concerns, so that’s dealt with. He woke up a few hours ago actually, but tapped out a few minutes after that.”

“Just from a bruised spine?”

Hizashi rubbed the back of his neck slowly and then trailed a hand down his face, “He had a pretty severe concussion, but it wasn’t exactly from head trauma.”

“What.”

“It was from an internal source.”

Shouta thinned his eyes, “Like a villain’s quirk?”

“We don’t know. Tsukauchi tried asking him when he woke up, but he was speaking absolute nonsense then passed out again. Was only around for like, twenty minutes.”

Shouta nodded, feeling like he was missing something as he stared at Hizashi. The man was visibly beyond stressed and that only made Shouta more suspicious. It dawned on him faster than he could process, the phantom smack on his ass spiking.

“What about the other kids?”

Hizashi didn’t respond.

“I’m not fucking around, Yamada. Tell me right now.”

At the use of his family name, Hizashi chuckled nervously and stood, “I think I’m going to get you some more water, you’re probably thirsty-”

“So fucking help me,” Shouta growled, not caring if he was scaring his husband at this point, “Tell me. Now.”

Hizashi bit his bottom lip and sniffled heavily, “Sho, you need to rest-”

Unfortunately for the blonde, Shouta’s legs were functioning.

The black haired man rocketed up, stumbling several times as he made a break for the door, slamming his shoulder against the curve of the wall on his way over. Hizashi screamed his name as Shouta shouldered the taller man to the side, bursting out into the hallway barefooted, sprinting like this was some sort of fucking prison break.

“Excuse me,” he choked as he reached the nearest receptionist, “I’m looking for three kids, well, one’s a young adult. Blonde girl, green haired boy and white haired man, do you know who I’m talking about?”

The woman’s eyes were wide as they flicked around, clearly trying to look for help as she smiled uncomfortably, “Sir, I think you should go lie down-”

“Shouta!” Hizashi hissed, “Stop!”

“No!” Shouta cried, slamming his cast down on the desk as it jostled his arm, causing him to swear, “Let me see my kids!”

“Sho-”

“Eraser. Please, this is unprofessional.”

Shouta turned around to see Tsukauchi approaching, his hands slack in his pockets as a lanky blonde followed close behind, his gaunt face seeming more horrified than usual.

“Don’t tell me what is and isn’t professional,” Shouta sneered, “Now tell me where my kids are.”

“The only students remaining in the hospital are Shinsou, Todoroki and Kirishima, their room numbers-”

“No. My other kids,” Shouta said quietly, “This whole secretive behaviour is unprofessional if we want to point fingers, I’m one of the leaders on the case. I have the right to know.”

“Not anymore,” Tsukauchi said gently, “I believe the case to be too personal for you to continue to work on-”

“No-”

“-and I thank you for all the hard work you put in-”

“Tsukauchi-”

“-but I am officially removing you from the triplet vigilante case. I’m sorry.”

Shouta stared at the detective with disbelief etched into his face, anger he hasn’t felt in quite some time beginning to bubble up. “I’m going to ask you again,” Shouta exhaled slowly and kept his eyes closed, “Where are the kids. My kids. Where the fuck are my kids, Tsukauchi?”

The hallway was deathly silent as Shouta kept his eyes closed, very aware of his breath accelerating and hands beginning to shake.

Tsukauchi sighed, “I’m sorry Aizawa, only members of the case are privy-”

Tsukauchi never got to finish his sentence as Yagi gasped loudly and Hizashi scrambled in shock, hands reaching out and snatching whatever he could to restrain properly.

Because Shouta Aizawa just punched the shit out of a top tier detective and most definitely broke his nose.

Dabi wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them tighter to his chest, seated against the wall in a hospital bed while still fighting for even breaths. Every so often, Dabi would pluck out a staple from his skin and toss it into the trash bin that was still filled with Toga’s vomit.

Speaking of, Toga hasn’t stopped crying as she was still slumped on the floor next to the door, pounding her fist against it weakly as the tears continued to flow. Her ankle was still bent at an odd angle from the nasty sprain and her makeup was still smeared down her cheeks as she refused to wash her face, hair matted and messy.

Although Dabi wasn’t about to admit it to Toga and stress her out further, he had been slowly spiralling ever since they were tossed in here and in the anxiety of it all and he ripped open the fresh second degree burns he gave himself, his borrowed black shirt secretly soaked in blood. But he couldn’t find the energy within himself to change.

“Please,” Toga hiccuped in a painful tone, her cheek pressed against the metal of the door, the banging of her fist the only sound in the quiet room. Toga drew in a breath and Dabi covered his ears as Toga let out her fourth blood-curdling scream of this hour, not stopping until her face was flushed red from the lack of oxygen, causing her to then sob harder.

All Dabi could hear was himself crying as a child at night, curled in on himself after training with his father. It was causing his panic to grow.

“Please, Toga,” he whispered quietly, picking his head up weakly as the girl looked back in his direction, watching him with deep bags under her eyes.

“Come here.”

Toga stared at him for several minutes in silence, Dabi simply maintaining eye contact as he waited patiently. She sighed quietly and sniffed, pulling herself up by the locked door handle and limped over, hesitating at the edge of the bed. Dabi shifted over to provide her enough room, holding one of her hands as she struggled to lift herself up with her injured ankle.

Once she was settled, Dabi exhaled slowly and pulled her under one of his arms, hoping she wouldn’t question the dried blood on his sleeves.

She didn’t.

While Toga flinched slightly as first, she eventually gave in and leaned closer into the touch, resting her head against the side of Dabi’s shoulder. The two really needed to take a shower, although that went unspoken.

“I don’t even care about being caught,” she whispered after several minutes passed by, letting Dabi attempt unknotting some of the tangles in her hair, “None of this even matters anymore.”

Dabi wasn’t positive how to respond, so he instead hummed and encouraged Toga to keep talking.

“They’ve just locked us in here like some sort of animals. Why? What did we do? We were so careful with being vigilantes, I didn’t even kill anyone. They think we’re villains. Are we, Touya?”

Dabi stared down at his feet and then pulled a blanket over the two of them, “No. We’re not villains. Just different.”

“And if you’re different, I wanna be different too.”

“That’s right.”

Dabi wasn’t sure how much time passed until Toga’s sniffling finally came to an end, yet the silent tears continued to fall, staining the blanket below. “I want out,” she whispered, “I just wanna see Izu. And Toshi and Shouta. Why won’t they let us?”

Dabi didn’t know the answer to that question once again and he didn’t understand either. Why couldn’t they know? Toga squirmed out of Dabi’s hold and slipped back onto the ground, limping to the door and staring at the doorknob.

The room was silent once again until Toga inhaled sharply, “It moved.”

“What?”

Dabi uncurled himself from his position and let his bare feet meet the cold floor, steadily tiptoeing closer to Toga and pulling her back slightly. Sure enough, the door knob was shaking ever so slightly until it turned completely, the metal door creaking open as a familiar person stood there holding a key, hands trembling and tears already falling.

“I made a key,” she mumbled in a shaky voice, “I tried to take the one the police officer had but he threatened to arrest me for some reason so when he went pee I took a mold of the key hole and ran home to make my own sorry I took so long I’ve never made a key from mold before.”

The girl with pink dreadlocks wrapped one arm around each vigilante as she cried quietly, only falling to her knees as Toga began crying tears of her own once more, falling with her. And Dabi fell too, more blood dripping from the corners of his eyes, holding the only two people he could reach.

“Why did Kaminari send me a message saying Hitoshi was in the hospital,” Mei whispered, “And why hasn’t Izuku responded to any of my messages? He always answers. Always.”

Toga only shook her head against Mei’s shoulder as she gripped onto the back of her grey tank top like her life depended on it. It felt like it did to Dabi as well.

For the first time in forever, Dabi missed the feeling of his own tears.

Chapter Text

Izuku turned around to ask the strangers what to do next once he had stepped through the black door, but it instead slammed shut in his face leaving the strangers on the other side.

This room was far darker and colder than the other one, Izuku could see his breath with each exhale. He noticed that the ache in his bones had become more prominent, but he took slow steps forward, crossing the room that seemed to have no end.

“Hello?” Izuku called out, only hearing his own voice echo in return, but it sounded different at the same time.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” he tried again, eyes darting around as the shadows seemed to be playing tricks on him, his beating heart beginning to accelerate.

“Are you lost?”

Izuku spun around and tripped over his own feet in pure fear, hitting the ground hard as water splashed around him. Since when had the ground been wet? Izuku squinted at the small figure in front of him, a flicker from the lantern lighting up the stranger. Yet it wasn’t a stranger.

“Izu?” little Kacchan tilted his head, “I told you not to run off! You’re lucky I’m super fast!”

Izuku could only stare at the blonde toddler with spiky hair, red eyes shining in the dark.

“Come on, I can bring you home,” Kacchan extended a single hand with a worried expression, this whole moment feeling far too familiar. Despite the feeling in the back of Izuku’s mind telling him to not take the hand, he still placed his own against the smaller palm.

The darkness around him warped suddenly and Kacchan faded away, a bright flash leaving Izuku knee deep in a calm river, his hand still extended yet this time he was the one with the small arms, wearing his chunky red sneakers and oversized khaki shorts.

Kacchan looked at him with soft eyebrows, looking at Izuku’s chubby hand in his direction, his hero uniform being completely soaked as he was seated in the river. Had he fallen in? Izuku looked up to spot a log above, shadowy figures with sharp teeth and long tongues sneering at him.

He averted his eyes immediately.

Older Kacchan watched him with searing intensity, his costume torn like he had just fought a battle, wrists exposed as swollen and bruised.

For the first time in a long time, Izuku met Kacchan’s eyes properly, yet the boy wasn’t wearing his usual sneer. His face seemed peaceful, maybe even longing. The rumbling from the shadowy figures were growing louder and it made Izuku’s body ache even more, “K-kacchan! Take -mmm- m -mmm-my h-hand!”

His tongue feeling thick was just as frustrating as Izuku remembered, but it had some sort of effect on the blonde. His eyes seemed to glow for a moment as he slowly reached out, hand shaking ever so slightly with hesitance. Izuku felt a smile growing on his face, one that was small yet genuine, but it didn’t last long.

The currents of the river grew more intense as Kacchan stumbled back slightly, his calm expression not wavering for a moment as his body began to be pulled under.

“K-”

Izuku’s words cut off completely as he couldn’t even form words anymore, but Kacchan was being pulled down the river, not even fighting the current. So Izuku did the only thing he could think of. He let go of the shore and prepared to dive after the blonde, but the shadowy figures swooped down with their sharp teeth covered in red and grabbed him, pulling him right under the water and he lost sight of Kacchan.

Again.

Shoto stared at the white wall even as the door opened slowly, foot steps padding in quietly.

“Shoto?”

He turned his head slowly, looking over to where Fuyumi stood somewhat awkwardly, Natsuo shifting his weight from foot to foot behind her. They all just stared at one another for several tense moments until Shoto turned his attention back to the needles in his forearms, watching the fluid steadily drip through the tubes.

Fuyumi cleared her throat and walked in further, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs as Natsuo opted to simply lean against the doorframe, looking everywhere but at his younger sibling.

“How’re you feeling?” the eldest Todoroki asked in a quiet voice as she picked at the skin around her nails, the heel of her shoe clicking repetitively as her leg bounced.

Shoto didn’t look at her, but instead continued to stare down at the loose threads of the hospital blanket and simply hummed in return. Fuyumi drew in a deep breath and nodded with uncertainty, her grey eyes skipping from object to object around the room, her lips pressed in a thin line as she looked back over her shoulder towards Natsuo.

“Um,” Fuyumi looked back at Shoto once more, “Why didn’t you call Dad? Your teacher, I mean I think- uh, Yamada? He said that you specifically asked for us, not Dad-”

“Hypothermia.”

Shoto looked out the window and let his head lull to the side, his stomach flipping around from the silence. It has been like this for quite some time, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable.

“What?” Natsuo frowned, looking over to Fuyumi with confusion.

Shoto hummed once again, “I don’t know if you received an email from UA, but my class was attacked by villains. It seems I overused my quirk, unfortunately giving myself hypothermia. I did not want Father to know.”

“Why?” Natsuo grunted again, “‘Fumi and I aren’t your parents.”

Shoto stiffened as Fuyumi audibly inhaled, biting on her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

“Obviously I know that,” Shoto snapped back without looking over to his siblings, his eyebrows drawn together in growing anger and frustration, “You know what? This was stupid. I’ll find my own way home, thanks for stopping by.”

“Shoto,” Fuyumi began, but Shoto waved her off with a lazy hand, “We don’t need to pretend here.”

The woman tilted her head, “Pretend?”

“Yes,” Shoto spat, “Pretend that- that you guys fucking care or whatever. It’s fine, I can take care of myself.”

Natsuo clicked his tongue and looked away, “Are you sure about that? Your state says otherwise.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I already stated I have hypothermia. I don’t want Father to know because he would have gotten angry.”

“No. I mean whatever the fuck is wrong with you.”

“Natsuo!” Fuyumi cried as she swiftly stood up from her seat, “That is enough! Nothing is wrong with Shoto and it’s not his fault UA failed at-”

“No! We are not responsible for him, that’s Dad’s job! He’s the bastard that had so many of us, so he can take care of it!”

“Nat, we’re still family and Shoto needed our help-”

“I don’t care. I have things to do and I know you do as well.”

Shoto blinked harshly and shook his bangs from his eyes, shoulders beginning to shake unsteadily. Natsuo continued, “We both know how- how he, how fucked up Shoto’s been since Mom and Touya-”

“Get out.”

Fuyumi looked over to her younger sibling with wide eyes, Natsuo taking a step back as well.

“Shoto, please, we just want to make sure that-” Fuyumi paused as her eyes flicked over to the heart monitor connected to Shoto, listening to the rapidly increasing beeping. She didn’t continue that sentence.

“Get out,” Shoto repeated quietly as he continued to stare out the window, his hands briefly tightening into fists.

“Sh-”

“Get out!” Shoto screamed as loud as he could, voice cracking as he finally turned, looking in their direction, “I take care of myself! I shouldn’t have called, but they wouldn’t leave me alone about it! So just fuck off already!”

Natsuo looked at him with disgust and rolled his eyes, “Fine. I’ve been waiting to fuck off since I stepped foot in this god awful place. Have fun with your little temper tantrum, baby brother.”

The white haired man turned and swiftly left the room, leaving Fuyumi standing anxiously in the doorway as she looked back and forth between both siblings, cheeks pink and eyes watery.

“Go,” Shoto mumbled, “I’ll take a taxi. I should be home later this evening. Goodbye.”

Fuyumi gave one nod and turned to leave, but paused just outside the room and looked back over her shoulder, “I’m sorry things have turned out this way Shoto. Natsuo’s still having trouble dealing with things, even after all these years.”

Shoto fought the urge to cry, “So that means I’m expected to be perfect?”

“Of course not-”

“Well that’s what it seems like. As Natsuo put it, something’s wrong with me, and you two have made that perfectly clear.”

“Shoto-”

“Goodbye,” Shoto mumbled as he sunk deeper into the bed and rotated, letting his back face his sister. His heart rate wouldn’t calm down, so he closed his eyes and counted in his head, slowing his breathing to hopefully resolve his rapid heart beat.

“Okay. I’ll shut the door.”

No response.

“Should I come back later?”

No response.

Fuyumi sniffed and Shoto assumed she must be crying, she had never been able to stay quiet when crying. She never had to learn how to do so, to be fair.

“Text me, uh, us if you need anything else-”

“I don’t have your number.”

“What?”

“I removed them from my phone. Goodbye.”

And Fuyumi turned after that, the door shutting a little more louder than necessary as Shoto finally sat back up. He grabbed his phone and opened it, looking through his very brief list of contacts. Fuyumi and Natsuo were still at the top of the list, but unused for quite some time. Because this was all Shoto’s fault.

That’s what Father tells him.

Hizashi looked over to his husband, not quite sure what to say. They were seated back in Shouta’s hospital room as a nurse was re-bandaging his left arm, meanwhile Tsukauchi was seated across the room with a tissue pressed to his nose.

“If you’re waiting for an apology, you’re not gettin’ shit,” Shouta spat to break the awkward silence, Yagi nervously fiddling with the loose threads of the arm chair he was seated in.

Tsukauchi hummed, “You’re lucky I don’t plan on pressing charges-”

“Do it then!” Shouta shouted, “Do it and let’s see what happens!”

Hizashi groaned and forced the angry man to look him in the eyes, “We both know what will happen, honey. We’ll lose money.”

“Fuck you.”

Hizashi has dealt with Shouta for many years, all the way back when they were just second year kids at UA. Now they were thirty years old and after all these years, Hizashi has never dealt with this version of Shouta Aizawa. Nothing could even compare to this.

“Don’t take your anger out on me,” Hizashi spoke calmly, maintaining healthy eye contact as his husband only frowned further, “Fuck you. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side,” Hizashi said while pretending the words weren’t hurting him, “Your side meaning I want you to heal and be safe. So stop being stupid, you’re acting like a child right now.”

“Fuck you.”

Hizashi could only sigh as he looked over to the other two men while wearing an apologetic expression, the nurse able to fix Tsukauchi’s nose effortlessly. “There’s no need for an apology,” Tsukauchi finally sighed, “I understand Aizawa is under a lot of stress at the moment from these current events.”

The four men all looked at one another until Shouta opened his mouth again, “Fuck you-”

“Oh for God’s sake,” Hizashi grunted in English, “Are you done now Shouta? This is getting ridiculous.”

“... Choke.”

Hizashi decided to ignore him as he turned back to Yagi and Tsukauchi, “I’m sure you can both understand that Shouta is simply concerned for the well-being of the three vigilantes. They saved several lives, after all. I think both he and I simply want to know how they’re doing. That’s all.”

Tsukauchi was wearing a pained expression as if keeping the truth was physically injuring him, Yagi just looking down at his hands.

“Tsukauchi,” Hizashi exhaled slowly, he knew he needed to be the one with his head screwed on tight between him and his partner, “Please. Are they okay?”

“That information can only be provided-”

The world stopped and completely tilted on its axis as everyone’s eyes slowly turned to Shouta, watching something they could never have prepared themselves for. It was foreign to most, something Hizashi rarely saw, and it made everything seem that much worse.

Eraserhead was crying.

Hizashi has seen a few tears escape his husband every so often, whether it be after a tough patrol or a cat dying in a movie, but never anything like this. His head was hanging low as large tears trailed down his face and fell from his chin, his back rising and falling quickly as his shoulders trembled violently.

“Sho?” Hizashi asked quietly as he splayed a hand across Shouta’s back, rubbing slow circles as he watched with concern. Yagi looked outright uncomfortable as he kept eyeing the door and Tsukauchi simply sat there wearing a sympathetic expression, keeping his head bowed low as well.

There was an awkward knock at the door as Hizashi looked up, Shinsou standing there with his eyebrows furrowed together and staring at Shouta.

“How are you, Little Listener?” Hizashi asked, struggling to keep his voice stable as he flashed a weak smile. Shinsou continued to stand there as he braced himself against the doorway using one hand, “Um, I was just wondering where everyone- why is he crying?”

Right to the point, just like someone else Hizashi knows.

“Stress,” Tsukauchi smiled softly, “Just stress is all.”

Shinsou nodded slowly, his eyes thinned in a skeptical manner as he turned his attention back to Hizashi, the emotion and question in his eyes clear. Hizashi could not offer an answer. Shinsou refused to break eye contact, even taking a step forward that really shouldn’t be as threatening as it was.

The boy chuckled softly and crossed his arms, “Just wondering where my friends are. That’s all. Think you could tell me?”

Hizashi looked over to Tsukauchi, then back to Shinsou while Shouta continued to cry, this was all a mess.

“You’re not referring to the vigilantes, are you?” Tsukauchi frowned, “Because that would mean you voluntarily obstructed justice, which is a felony.”

Shinsou hummed, “That’s cool, don’t care. Never said jack shit so don’t shove words in my mouth.”

Hizashi groaned, did people not understand that you’re supposed to show the person who can literally toss you in jail some respect? Shinsou turned to Hizashi once more and raised his eyebrows lazily, waiting for a response. Hizashi couldn’t give one he didn’t have.

Shinsou opened his mouth to say something else, but the phone in his pocket buzzed and he fished it out of his pocket, eyes widening at whatever notification he received. “Excuse me,” he looked over to Tsukauchi shyly, “I don’t think we’ve met, who are you anyways?”

Hizashi wasn’t sure what caused the change of heart, but once he realized what was happening it was too late.

“Oh, sorry, my name is Naomasa Tsukauchi-”

“What room are you keeping Chaos the vigilante in?”

Tsukauchi’s eyes faded to an empty white as his facial expression went blank, Shouta’s head snapped up and Yagi’s jaw dropped in pure shock that a kid would have the balls to use a quirk on a fucking police officer.

“Room 931, top floor of this building.”

“Seems I’m done here,” the boy said as he turned, stopping just before he shut the door, “I was listening the entire time by the way. I know why Aizawa’s crying. And it’s fucking disgusting that you’re hiding the vigilantes that saved lives to treat them like some sort of villains. They saved every single life at the USJ that was worth saving except for their own. People like you fucking disgust me.”

He shot one last look at Yagi and Shinsou slammed the door shut, his form whizzing past the window as he sprinted off.

Tsukauchi finally blinked in confusion and rubbed his eyes, Shouta snickering while still crying and Hizashi holding his head in his hands.

“What’s going on?” Tsukauchi frowned at the change in atmosphere, Yagi still staring at the door with his jaw slack, eyes wide while trying to process what he just witnessed.

“Nothing,” Shouta grunted and Tsukauchi thinned his eyes, “I think you’re aware of my quirk.”

“Fuck you. That’s what’s going on.”

What has Hizashi gotten himself into?

Hitoshi ignored the pounding in his skull as he sprinted through the halls, ignoring the shouts of complaints as he threw the stairwell door open. Taking the stairs two at a time, Hitoshi made his way up to floor seven and flew through the halls once more, only to see officers crowding room 705, the one Mei told him he was supposed to enter.

He swore and glanced at every possible place they could be hiding, his four idiots being idiots like usual. Something smacked the back of his head and he swiveled around, eyes snapping to the pen on the floor. He thinned his eyes in the direction of the throw, locking eyes with ones that were ice blue crouched behind a large cart of medical supplies.

Hitoshi snuck over carefully and then dropped in a crouch as well, turning to see Dabi, Mei and- “How the fuck?”

The strange man from Aizawa’s hospital room, blonde tufts of hair and lanky body was currently crouched at an awkward angle.

“It’s me! Toga!” the man said in a cheery voice despite it not being Toga’s, “He coughed quite a bit of blood into a tissue, so I just had to take the opportunity!”

Hitoshi rubbed his face in realization, “Toga, how did you consume the blood.”

“I ate the tissue obviously.”

“Obviously,” Hitoshi echoed in a tired voice, “What’s the plan?”

“You got the room number, right?”

Hitoshi nodded in confirmation, “Brainwashed Tsukauchi. Will probably get arrested soon. The room number is 931.”

“All the way up there?” Dabi cursed, “Well, whatever. Toga’s gonna keep the officers busy for a moment, Mei’s gonna set off the loud radio she has and we’re going to run for the stairs.”

Hitoshi could only stare at his friends in disbelief for a moment, his chapped lips parted and blood shot eyes wide. “Are you fucking kidding me. That’s the shittiest plan I’ve ever heard of.”

“Well Izuku usually takes care of this stuff,” Toga hissed, “Just do it!”

With confidence, Toga stood up in the skeletal form of a man, walking over and talking about who knows what as Mei darted over to the receptionist desk, casually placing a small little box on it before walking away for the stairs, Hitoshi following her lead as Dabi tried to awkwardly walk at his side, crouching down ever so slightly.

Mei smiled and clicked a button as a recording of Hands Up Radio with Present Mic began blaring at a ridiculously high level, the officers all jumping and looking towards the source of noise.

In that moment of distraction and while Toga’s form began to drip, they all made way for the stairwell and jumped in, Toga struggling to pull on the shirt and pants Dabi had been holding for her.

“Eight,” Mei mumbled as they kept on climbing, finally reaching the ninth floor as they ran through the hallways once more, following the ascending numbers until they reached 31.

“Why are there no officers?” Hitoshi mumbled mainly to himself, helping support Toga as Mei reached out to the door handle. She froze.

“It’s locked,” she whispered, eyes wide in panic, looking back over her shoulder for help.

Hitoshi could hear the queaking of running shoes as he swore loudly, “Open it!”

“I can’t!”

Dabi stepped forward and tore the bandages off of one of his hands, lighting a small blue fire in his palm, “Move.” He planted his hand against the metal door handle and watched as the metal crumpled under his hand, followed by him pulling it clean off the door.

Mei nodded approvingly and shouldered the door in as it swung open, Tsukauchi rounding the corner with several officers on his tail, including Yamada helping Aizawa, yet the two were walking at a more leisurely pace.

Toga yelped as Hitoshi pulled her into the room with Mei, Dabi then slamming the door shut and standing there awkwardly, “I- uh, welp. We can’t lock it now.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and turned, struggling to see in the dim room as a slow beeping finally caught his attention from a bed in the far corner.

“Oh my god,” Hitoshi felt his heart drop as he continued to pull Toga forward, the girl gripping onto his arms with shaking hands. He didn’t even notice the two heroes watching the group as they all stepped closer, even ignoring Tsukauchi’s shouts as the door flung open. As they all looked towards Izuku, the room grew silent and tense, it was as if everyone was holding their breath.

It wasn’t until Mei’s legs gave out and Dabi had to catch her until all hell broke loose, Toga gripping onto the handrails of the hospital bed when an officer tried to grab her.

“Don’t touch her!” Dabi roared as another officer grabbed both his wrists harshly, some blood splashing onto the white floor as the man had carelessly ripped some staples out from his arms.

“No!” Toga screamed through tears as several others flinched from the sheer volume, and it didn’t stop when an officer cuffed Mei, Toga only began to scream even louder. Aizawa had started shouting after that which only riled up Yamada, the blonde finally letting his anger show as he shouted with his quirk, someone Hitoshi would later recognize as Midnight trying to calm him down alongside Recovery Girl.

Yet Hitoshi could only stare with a blank expression at the small boy before him, even as an officer grabbed both his wrists and put them in handcuffs behind his back, the metal digging into his skin.

Izuku was barely visible underneath all the medical objects that covered him, ranging from tubes to needles of all sizes. He was being supplied oxygen and his hair was still bloody, practically bandaged from head to toe. His eyes were shut and he lay completely still, his skin so grey he looked-

Well.

Dead.

“Is he dying?”

No one answered over all the shouting and Hitoshi whipped around to face the rest of the room, screaming louder than he ever has, “I said, is he fucking dying?”

The room finally went still, Dabi’s face crushed against the wall as Toga was pinned to the ground, Mei still limp as an officer was part way through trying to pick her up. Midnight had one arm each wrapped around Aizawa and Yamada’s waists, her heels digging into the ground as she kept the two from pouncing, Tsukauchi backed up against the wall looking at the heroes like they were vicious guard dogs. Policemen had their guns and tasers out and Recovery Girl looked fed up in the corner, but now all eyes were on Hitoshi.

“Young man,” the skeletal man wheezed, peered in from the doorway, “You shouldn’t have done-”

“Shut up,” Hitoshi whispered, “Just everyone, shut the fuck up for once in your useless lives!”

Spit flew from his mouth as the police officer placed a warning hand on his shoulder, in which the purple haired boy shrugged off, “I asked you a question! Answer me!”

Tears were flowing over now as Hitoshi looked around with pleading eyes, “Please! Please!”

Tsukauchi looked away as Recovery Girl walked into the centre of the room, “This has gotten ridiculous and out of hand. Why couldn’t you just tell the kids, Tsukauchi? Is the information truly that private?”

He didn’t respond as Recovery Girl walked over, getting up onto a standing school to get closer to Izuku and checked her watch, followed by a kiss right to his temple.

“You all need to take a breath,” the woman said sternly, “This situation has everyone on edge, but that’s not helping anyone. And you lot,” she pointed at Aizawa, Yamada, Tsukauchi and the blonde man, “You four are grown men for Kami’s sake. What are you doing?”

Midnight slowly released her fellow coworkers and the two stood still, the gaunt man’s face going pink and Tsukauchi still refusing to meet Hitoshi’s eyes.

“Recovery Girl?” Hitoshi whispered, “Can you please answer my question? That’s all I want.”

She looked at him for a long moment in contemplation, then scanning the other three troublemakers with a soft sigh, “I’m sorry, Shinsou. He isn’t doing well, and I’m simply telling you the truth, this isn’t to hurt you.”

Toga sniffled, “Is he going to die, Miss?”

She hummed, “I cannot say for sure, dear. I’m sorry. On the way here we lost his pulse more than once, but I can say he is somewhat stable at the moment. He’s fallen into an unconscious state and has yet to wake up, although it’s been nearly twenty four hours.”

Dabi pressed his forehead against the wall, “So he’s in a coma.”

Recovery Girl nodded nervously, “Yes.”

Hitoshi stared at the floor with huge eyes as his body trembled, Tsukauchi approaching carefully, “Shinsou, was it? Are you alright?”

He couldn’t even form words as the ground began to roll like a wave in the ocean and he suddenly felt clammy and hot and cold all at once, then his knees hit the ground hard.

“Let me go!” Mei hissed suddenly, kicking the officer on her hard in the shins, then crawling across the floor and falling against Hitoshi, both of them taking shuddering breaths as they leaned on one another.

The officer on Toga stood slowly and the blonde did the same, she was the only one who hadn’t been handcuffed yet and she wrapped her hands around the two others. Dabi slammed the back of his head against the taller officer's chin, escaping his place against the wall and sat beside the three younger children, letting Toga grip his knee in sadness.

“This is,” Yamada swallowed thickly, “How could you keep them separated from this news for so long? What gives you the right?”

The law, of course, but no one said anything.

“Well,” someone chirped from the doorway, “I am not liking what I am currently seeing.”

Hitoshi rubbed his face against Toga’s shoulder to rid himself of some tears and looked through the two girls' heads, trying to locate the new familiar voice.

“I’m upset I wasn’t called sooner, Tsukauchi. I am quite a large part of this case and investigation if I do say so myself,” the creature said in an eerily cheery tone, “And after what I’ve just seen and heard, I believe I need to have a chat with several people.”

Tsukauchi swallowed and nodded, “Afternoon, Nezu.”

The principal of UA continued forward, stopping by the pile that contained two of his students, “Oh dear. This has just gotten more complicated, hasn’t it? Shinsou, Hatsume, I’m afraid you two have somehow gotten yourselves involved.”

“Yeah,” Hitoshi spat, “And I don’t regret shit.”

“Me neither,” Mei clarified while struggling to keep a brave face on, “You guys don’t understand anything.”

“Who, Hatsume?” Nezu asked softly, patting her shoulder to attempt to keep her calm.

“A-Adults,” she hiccuped while thinning her eyes at those around the room, “Why can’t they just leave us alone? Not like they ever cared before. They only care now because this affects them. They’re all selfish.”

Nezu leaned closer to the four kids as his eyes flickered to Izuku in the bed, then back down as he spoke in a voice where no one else around them would be able to hear.

“I’ll take care of this. I’ve been studying Chaos for quite some time, I find him curious. All of you, in fact. And I also understand none of you have had it easy. With Aizawa, Yamada and I’m assuming Kayama on my side, we have a positive chance. Do not worry, children.”

Nezu gave a small wink and turned, looking back over to the adults, “Tsukauchi, I want a meeting room ready in two hours. I expect you to be there with your top officers, along with several heroes in which I will contact, those of them being connected to this case. Do not make me wait, I’m already quite upset if you couldn’t tell.”

Hitoshi watched as officers reached out for them once more, but Nezu raised a swift paw, “And remove the chains from the children immediately. They can wait in here with Kayama, Aizawa, Yamada and Shuzenji. They are not monsters. Just scared.”

Nezu has never been one to lose his temper and get upset easily. He was an expert at masking what he was always feeling because he liked to hide his thoughts from others, it made it that much easier to tear his enemies down.

He sat in the empty room while quietly tapping his paws together, staring at the door in thought. He heard the entire situation go down in room 931 and it was enough to make his blood boil, how they could treat children like that, let alone children who just found out their close friend was gravely injured.

Although Nezu did not let it show, arriving at the USJ and seeing his students so frantic tore his heart apart, because these were the kids he was responsible for, he didn’t want them to feel fear. It was Kaminari that had run up to him with tears in his eyes as Sero gripped his hand to comfort him, the blonde sobbing about the vigilantes that had saved their lives.

Of course Nezu didn’t have to ask which vigilantes were involved, he knew right away as he noticed Aizawa unconscious on the ground and he was aware of his affiliations with the three, although he decided to let it go. If it was keeping them alive, he would not share the secret.

And then there was Yamada’s scream and that was enough to justify his suspicions as true.

The door opened as Nezu watched Tsukauchi enter with Sansa Tamakawa behind him, no other officers to join them.

“Sansa’s the best we’ve got, I assure you,” Tsukauchi took a seat, “And I contacted our chief of police. Suragamae says he can come down if deemed necessary. I’ve sent some other top officers to watch over the vigilantes.”

“I’m glad,” Nezu said a little sharper than intended, still waiting for more people to join them. It wasn’t long until a tall young woman with long blonde hair cascading down past her knees entered, pale yellow eyes scanning the room with her lips pulled into a tight frown.

“Star,” Nezu greeted, “I’m glad you could make it.”

She frowned further, “Heard something happened to my green bean. I haven’t seen him in awhile, obviously I’m here to take care of what needs to be done. And please, Omori is just fine, I’m off duty.” She took a seat and crossed her arms, legs strewn about carelessly, “Who else we waitin’ for?”

“A few other of the heroes you work alongside, plus some other heroes I decided to invite. They might have a different perspective on our situation.”

Nezu waited a few more minutes until the two other underground heroes arrived, both looking slightly upset and concerned. “Shadow, Mindbuster,” Nezu smiled.

The older man hummed and shook some blue hair from his eyes, “I don’t believe we’ve met properly. My name is Kage Suko, this is Habiki Nishiyama.”

“Hi!” the brunette beamed, “I don’t really know what’s going on!”

Omori snorted and patted the two seats next to her, “When do you ever, Habi?”

“Rude.”

Aizawa grunted to his fellow underground heroes as they immediately rushed to make sure he was okay, introducing themselves to Present Mic and Midnight excitedly. Yagi snuck past unnoticed with Shuzenji and that was nearly everyone as Nezu stared at the clock.

The room was tense for the few minutes that passed by, Nezu deciding to let the anxiety build until a sharp knock at the door made everyone jump slightly, “Ah! Glad we were in town, this case sounds real interesting!”

The pro hero hopped into the room with her fists planted on either sides of her hips, “Let’s get this shit started!”

The two took the last seats and Nezu leaned back, “I’m glad to have you both here as an outsider perspective, it will help if things begin to get too personal.”

The white haired woman flashed a huge toothy grin, “‘Course! Hawks and I are happy to help, ain’t that right?”

The blonde nodded with slight uncertainty, “Yeah, yeah, Rumi. Tone it down, why don’t ‘cha. So, Nezu, what’s up?”

Nezu couldn’t help but thin his eyes in determination, he had a goal, a responsibility. He wouldn’t let talent like the five upstairs in room 931 to go to waste.

“What is discussed in this room will remain private for the time being,” Nezu began, “And nothing but respect will be shown in this room since this involves two of my students. I will not allow anyone to put all the blame on their shoulders. Today we will be discussing the three vigilantes, in which our underground heroes present have worked closely with.”

Omori, Suko and Nishiyama all nodded in unison, Aizawa sitting completely still.

“So this is about Chaos? Along with Morphine and Blaze?” Omori clarified, “What’s happened to him?”

Nezu clicked his tongue, “Patience. I’ll go through all the information I have. Hawks and Mirko here are new to the case, so they’ll need all the information we can provide.”

“Actually,” Hawks raised a finger, “We’ve heard quite a bit of this little trio. They’re quite well known amongst heroes in this area.”

Mirko nodded, “Yeah! Actually, we’ve heard really good things!”

The blonde cringed, “Except from Endeavor.”

“Yeah. Except from Endeavor.”

Nezu put that piece of information deeper into his mind for later and hummed, “Yes, the three have always been very careful. They haven’t given anyone a fatal injury as far as we know and always put civilians and victims first. In my eyes, they are comparable to heroes, although I also understand that what they do is unfortunately illegal.”

Nezu smiled encouragingly and looked over to Omori, “Yurei Omori, pro hero Star, you were the first to run into Chaos. Is that correct?”

“Yeah, think so.”

“Good. Tell me everything you know about him.”

Chapter Text

Izuku trembled as the water finally washed away, allowing him to greedily suck on every mouthful of oxygen he could get. He climbed out of a bathtub, knowingly ignoring the red tint to the water. The white clothing clung heavily to his body as he began to shiver from the cold, turning to the only other item in this white room, a cracked mirror which held his reflection.

Izuku looked into it, noting how gaunt his face was and how empty his eyes were, almost like the green was completely faded. His reflection only stared back, but upon closer inspection it wasn’t his reflection at all.

It was him, but it wasn’t.

The reflection stared back at him with a blank expression and its face covered in even more scars than he could count. Its hair wasn’t dark green like a forest at night, but was instead a pasty green that looked more like the colour had been sucked out of it.

And then the reflection smiled.

Its teeth were covered in blood, teeth sharp and cracked like some sort of monster straight out of a horror movie. The black shadows floated behind his reflection, almost as if they were trying to taunt Izuku.

Izuku backed up slightly and before he had the chance to get out of reach, his reflection reached forward and its hand came out of the mirror, pale skin decorated in scars new and old, freckles dotting around them like constellations.

It grabbed the front of Izuku’s wet shirt and yanked with an extreme amount of force.

Izuku went crashing into the mirror, glass sprinkling the white ground below dotted in bright red blood.

Shouta listened as Omori recounted every experience with Izuku, well, Chaos, that she could recall, Suko and Nishiyama doing the same.

“I think I was the last to meet him,” Nishiyama muttered while rubbing their hands together in thought, “Or maybe it was Suko? I can’t really remember, it was months ago.”

“So this kid’s been a vigilante for quite some time?” Mirko raised her eyebrows, “Not to mention he picked up two more along the way?”

“And two UA students,” Tsukauchi pointed out.

“The question I have,” Nezu spoke, “Did Shinsou and Hatsume meet the vigilantes before or after their admittance to UA? They all seem very close, I find it hard to believe that they met recently. If anything, it’s like they’ve known each other for years.”

All eyes turned to Shouta and Hizashi, both of which have stayed completely silent over the past three hours.

“Aizawa, Yamada,” Nezu said kindly, “Do either of you wish to share anything?”

“No,” they both said in unison, Hizashi’s leg bouncing like crazy while Shouta has never felt this calm before, because he knew he wasn’t going to lose. He’d have to die before that.

Tsukauchi hummed, “Well, I would like you both to know I am aware of your affiliations with the three vigilantes, and not just patrol wise. You two are aware of their identities, aren’t you?”

Shouta thinned his eyes in a challenging manner, “What are you trying to say, Tsukauchi? No point being all cryptic here.”

“As I just said, I believe you two have been harbouring these three vigilantes and never brought that to my attention. That is what I’m trying to say. You know their true names, don’t you? Not that I don’t have my assumptions, either.”

Shouta put his game face on and leaned in closer, he knew how to dance around the detective’s quirk. “I don’t know all their true identities and besides, what proof are you basing your accusations on? It seems like you’re trying to deflect this problem onto Yamada and I.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” Tsukauchi argued back, “I am simply stating what the facts are showing. I’ve already gone over my information and the documents are right within your reach. Go ahead and take a look.”

Shouta eyed the papers sprawled across the table as red feathers pushed the proper documents closer for him, Hawks giving a small nod. He grit his teeth and picked them up, Hizashi watching over his shoulder as their eyes skimmed the page. There was a lot.

“Now,” Tsukauchi sat up straight, “I’m going to ask you the following questions and I encourage you to tell the truth. Eraserhead, are you aware of Chaos’ true identity?”

“No!”

The man flinched and wrote something down, “Eraserhead, are you aware of Morphine’s true identity?”

“No.”

Another flinch, “And Eraserhead, are you aware of Blaze’s true identity?”

“No.”

This time Tsukauchi frowned, “You’re not?”

“No. Not his true identity.” Shouta looked away as Hizashi made eye contact with him, filled with swirling and panicked emotions.

“Aizawa, is the name Izuku Midoriya familiar to you?”

And Shouta stood up and made way for the exit, but the officer with the cat head was quick to cut him off. Tsukauchi stood up as well, “Answer the question please.”

“I wasn’t aware this was an interrogation!” Hizashi shouted suddenly, standing up and looming over Tsukauchi with his pure height, “What are you accusing us of, exactly?”

“I’m accusing you of smuggling illegal vigilantes and hiding their identities from the law despite knowing the ongoing investigation.”

Shouta clenched his hands into fists and turned around, “Stop calling them illegal vigilantes. They’re just kids. It seems you’ve made conclusions of your own and I will not apologize for my actions.”

Omori tossed her hands in the air, “Hold on a minute! I think I missed some chapters here, what the fuck is going on?”

“I second that,” Kayama held a finger up, “Why are Sho and Zashi in trouble now?”

Tsukauchi sat back down and sighed, “This entire time, Aizawa and Yamada have known who these kids are, and Chaos connects to another case I was trying to wrap together. What about his family that’s looking for him, Aizawa? Were you seriously that selfish-”

“Don’t you dare.”

Shouta’s quirk activated on its own as his hair began to float and eyes sparkled red, “You know nothing, Naomasa, let me make that clear. He doesn’t have any family looking for him, you idiot! You know nothing about him, and I do!”

“Yeah? And what do you know?”

“I know that he doesn’t like the dark. He hates his vegetables but will eat them anyways because we force him to eat healthy. I know the mask he puts on as Chaos is very fake, because he’s actually extremely anxious. He loves katsudon. He loves anime. He is highly intelligent and graduated middle school months early. I know his mother is dead.”

Shouta paused as he took in a breath and continued.

“I know society left him on his own just because some stupid fucking title he was given. I know he cares about his friends more than anything, he would die for them. I know he’s been trying to learn how to braid his hair. I know his favourite colour isn’t actually green, but he doesn’t have one. Though he likes red, yellow, purple and blue. His favourite number is 69 because he’s a little shit like that. He speaks several languages, including English, French and Spanish. He suffers from severe insomnia yet refuses when asked and offered help. I know that he can’t swim.”

Shouta stood tall and jutted his chin out, “But what do you know about him, Tsukauchi? Enlighten me, please, as I clearly know nothing.”

The room was silent and stiff as Shouta pointed a finger directed at all of them, “And I know he’s my kid. He’s done nothing but help heroes catch villains, so how does that result in prison? He saved my life. He saved the lives of all those students, in fact, my class would’ve probably been massacred without all three of them. So forgive me if I’m a little protective over him, Naomasa.”

Hawks made a strange chirping noise and leaned back in his seat, “I would like to know everything illegal these vigilantes have carried out please. What’s made them so bad? Have they committed murder? Kidnapped someone? Set puppies on fire? What’s the problem here? I think I’m failing to understand.”

Tsukauchi was beginning to look flustered, “They used their quirks illegally! They don't have licenses!”

“And we have this on camera?” Nishiyama tilted their head, “Is there proof they use quirks?”

“Well, no, but victims have been taken in with stab wounds-”

“Victims?” Omori arched an eyebrow, “I know I didn’t just hear you call villains, victims. The kids are clearly the victims here based on what I’ve heard.”

“They’ve stabbed people!”

“I’ve stabbed people,” Suko deadpanned, “Are you going to arrest me, Sir?”

Tsukauchi was growing visibly frustrated, “No, because you have a license.”

“I have a license for my quirk. Not for stabbing people.”

“Why don’t we just, you know, talk to the kids?” Kayama spoke up with an awkward chuckle, “I want to hear their side of the story.”

“Yeah!” Mirko nodded in agreement, “I think that’s a great idea! I wanna meet the little rascals!”

Tsukauchi groaned and looked back to Shouta, “Fine. Before we bring them in here, is there anything we should be aware of? Quirks, perhaps? Because some of my officers said they saw Yagi on the seventh floor while they were searching for the missing vigilantes, yet he never went up there.”

Shouta couldn’t help but hide a smile in the corner of his elbow, “Nothing important. Oh, but Morphine bites.”

“She bites?”

“Yes. As does Hatsume. Shinsou’s also bitten me. I get bitten a lot.”

“I should probably get them since my quirk is harmless if necessary. Zashi, come with me. I doubt they’d trust me,” Kayama stood up and headed for the door, the blonde falling in step by her side.

“By the way,” Shouta hummed as he re-took his seat next to Omori, “If you do anything to hurt these kids, I will personally make your life a living hell. All of you.” And he meant that with every ounce of his being.

Hawks wasn’t sure what to expect when Rumi dragged him out of their late dinner for, as she so elegantly put it, some dope ass fucking pressing matters.

Now seated in a room with several heroes he has never heard of and talking about some group of kids that have been playing hero, he was struggling to see the big deal. They didn’t sound like other vigilantes that went around to commit literal homicide, just a group that likes to stop bad guys, that didn’t sound so bad.

“Whatch’ya thinkin’?” Rumi leaned over and whispered behind one of her hands, “You have that stupic face.”

“What stupid face?”

“The thinking face.”

“So what makes it stupid?”

“Because it’s your ugly fuckin’ face.”

Hawks’ feathers rustled in annoyance for a moment and he flicked his friend hard against her forehead, “You suck.”

“You swallow.”

“Since when did I become friends with a prepubescent boy?”

“Since this prepubescent boy was the only one willing to be your friend.”

The blonde simply rolled his eyes and sunk further into his seat, crossing his legs politely just like he had been taught. He let his eyes roam on the other heroes seated around the table, the three strangers he had just met whispering amongst themselves with stressed expressions.They must be worried for their friends.

Hawks turned back to Rumi who was now scrolling viciously through her phone, her long, sharp nails only slowing her down. Her red eyes were squinted in focus as Hawks leaned in closer, curious to see what had her so enraptured. “What are you doing?” he mumbled as she clicked on an article, “Since when do you read the news that has nothing to do with your hero work?”

“Okay first off,” Rumi grunted in return, “I’m not a narcissist you bozo. Second off, I’m searching for Izuku Midoriya, the name that detective dude said-”

“My name is Tsukauchi-”

“-Tsuka-blah-blah, that’s what I said. Must be Chaos’ real name and is connected to a second case, I wanna see the details.”

Hawks nodded in understanding, “Well I wanna see too then, move your arm!”

“Don’t push me, fucker!”

“Don’t call me a fucker then!”

“But that’s what you are-”

“Is this how all top heroes are,” Eraserhead deadpanned, “Because this is getting stupid. You two are bickering like my fifteen and sixteen year old students.”

Both Hawks and Rumi’s faces flushed pink as they kept their eyes on Rumi’s screen, the two smushed together so they could read the article they found. Hawks could read faster than Rumi, so he took his time to soak in every detail of the villain attack, the fallen apartment complex and the single death of one by Inko Midoriya.

Moving on to the next article, both pro heroes winced at the missing’s person report of Izuku Midoriya, but his picture wasn’t like the one Hawks had seen Tsukauchi show them.

This Midoriya had plump, pink cheeks dotted in freckles like the night sky, a smile so bright it could light up the darkest of rooms. His bright green eyes were full of hope and knowledge and short, bushy curls that were more black than green sitting on his head.

Hawks looked at the one on the table, the picture that had been taken of Chaos up in the hospital room, he did not look the same.

His skin was paper white, even comparable to grey, freckles faded. His hair was long, even possibly passing his shoulders if he were to stand up and in the spots where the top of his hair wasn’t matted with blood, he could see that the hair wasn’t as dark. The roots were coming in an odd shade of green, like a faded mint colour, but wouldn’t be noticeable to others. And then not to mention all the medical supplies around his body.

Hawks tended to pick up on every tiny detail that was shoved in front of his face, sometimes he forgot not everyone did that, that being assessing every little thing like he was in the middle of a battle.

“Poor kid,” Rumi whispered under her breath, “I can see the similarities, but it’s crazy what time does. Hasn’t even been a year and he looks so different. From Tsukauchi’s reports of the USJ, seems most of the kids thought he was a female.”

“Well, it makes sense. Chaos has a feminine hero costume, and he was wearing a skirt during this. Can’t really blame the kids for giving false information.”

“I like his costume though,” Rumi smiled while looking at a really poor recording of Chaos running through a dimly lit alleyway before the camera then cut off, “Looks like a badass.”

The door opened back up and Midnight entered with a tired expression, carrying one of the vigilantes like she was a small child, her ankle heavily wrapped up. Two more kids followed with angry atmospheres, a boy with fluffy purple hair and a girl with pink dreadlocks stomping aggressively. The last was Present Mic and the third vigilante with his head ducked down and sweater hood pulled up around his head and face, his chin nearly pressed to his chest.

“Hello again,” Nezu smiled kindly, “Why don’t you four take a seat on this side so you can all sit together?”

The kids did as told and kept their heads ducked low, Hawks could only describe their appearance as defeated.

“So,” Tsukauchi began, “We just wanted to ask some questions and decided having you guys down here would help greatly.”

The four didn’t budge, eyes still glued down on their laps.

“I’m sure you all know Izuku Midoriya at this point. I simply wish for you all to tell us your names and relation with him. Or her. Whichever gender they feel comfortable with because reports say Chaos was in a very feminine appearance,” Tsukauchi mumbled.

“What? So boys can’t wear skirts?” the purple haired boy spat loudly, the detective's eyes going wide, “No! That’s not what I meant at all!”

“Better not be.”

After several beats of silence, Hawks drummed his fingers against the table and sighed loudly, “No one wants to start? Will it help if I go first? My name’s Hawks, I’ve never actually met, um, Midoriya was it, but I have heard of Chaos. Okay, your turn violet.”

The boy in question glared daggers at Hawks as he slapped a hand down on the table, “Eat my ass, Birdbrain.”

“Woah, okay!” Present Mic laughed nervously without missing a beat, “Sorry about him! He’s just stressed at the moment.”

Hawks nodded and waved the apology off, “It’s cool. Maybe introductions aren’t the best idea.”

“Can we just go back up,” the man mumbled with exhaustion, his face still ducked down as Hawks noticed a small dribble of blood fall from beneath the hood and past the table. He decided not to say anything.

“Okay, I’m going to be straightforward with everyone here, especially you four,” Tsukauchi sighed, “Myself along with Yagi here are very aware that Chaos is Izuku Midoriya, age fifteen born July fifteenth. His mother passed months ago when his apartment building came down with her caught inside and the boy went missing. A report for him was filed by a family friend not long after that and she was a hassle to deal with.”

Tsukauchi paused to flip the page of the document he was holding.

“He was spotted a few times after the incident, on shop cameras passing by where we assume he was stealing items since there are no bank record purchases under his name or his deceased mothers. It wasn’t long until he went completely off the map and obviously intended to do so because he’s been so successful. After Chaos joined the street as a vigilante, I connected the dots.”

He held up a crappy picture of the vigilante in questions.

“The problem was with the matter of proof so I couldn’t pounce on my opportunities, and then his declaration of decease made everything all the more difficult. But I am positive this is the boy I have been looking for, descriptions and images line up, not to mention that both are quirkless-”

“Did Chaos personally tell you he was quirkless?” the blonde girl scrunched her nose, cutting off the flow of information.

“Well, no-”

“So how do you know he’s quirkless?”

Tsukauchi clicked his tongue in annoyance of being called out by a child, “There shows no evidence of him using a quirk-”

“Well none of you would know I had a quirk unless I pointed it out,” the purple one grunted, “Maybe he has a mental quirk like me.”

The detective pursed his lips for a moment, “Fine, then we can get Recovery Girl to take a look upstairs at whatever she has to do to determine if someone has a quirk. Something about a joint-”

“Actually,” the pink one snapped, “I have a very developed theory about how it’s impossible for anyone in our lifetime to be quirkless, meaning we all have powers of some sort. Let's start from where this idea stemmed from, it was in middle school when we had to do a project about a certain part of the brain. Now I chose the most difficult one of course, the frontal lobe, because that part is the one which is in most mysterious connection with quirks, so-”

The girl barely gave herself a chance to breathe as she babbled on furiously, Tsukauchi giving up after his fourth try of interrupting her. Hawks looked over to Rumi, who was wearing an impressed expression and he knew the two of them were thinking the same thing.

These four were just trying to cause distractions and jumble up the information.

Hawks knew they couldn’t talk for the rest of their lives and chances are one of them would slip up at one point, but that didn’t mean it was any less impressive.

He liked these kids.

“Toga, did you say?”

Nezu noticed as the blonde girl stiffen after she accidentally said her name and then she groaned loudly, “Why do I have to be the stupid one in this group?”

Nezu now knew for sure that he wasn’t going to let these kids escape his grasp, especially when they somehow managed to spend over four hours babbling and dancing around every single question asked, it was amazing.

“Look,” Nezu hummed and leaned back, “I hope I’m not the only one that sees what a waste of potential it would here if we just tossed them in jail.”

Shinsou and Hatsume shared an immediate glance of panic, Nezu exactly aware of what they were trying to figure out. “And Tsukauchi, I assume you would agree with me that we don’t have any actual proof that my students are woven into this case, correct?”

The detective seemed exhausted and defeated as he downed the rest of his coffee far too fast, “No, I suppose not.”

“Shinsou, Hatsume, tell me honestly. Have you two been participating in the acts of vigilantism either on your own or with either Chaos, Morphine or Blaze?”

“No,” they both responded at the same time. Shinsou rubbed his eyes, “And even if we did, no. Chaos would never let that happen. Even he said that he wouldn’t let us be vigilantes since it would get us in trouble.”

“But you have been hanging out with Chaos?”

Hatsume and Shinsou looked at each other as silent words passed between them until Hatsume shrugged, “No. We’ve been hanging around Izuku.”

Tsukauchi swore quietly, “But that means you were hiding a missing person that the police were looking for!”

Shinsou held up a finger with an evil grin, “But detective, we didn’t know he was a missing person! Being quirkless, as it seems everyone assumes Izuku is, means no one was really looking for him, and who’s fault is that, Mei?”

The pink haired girl tilted her head back and rolled it until she faced Tsukauchi and Tamakawa, “Why, the justice system of course. I don’t see how us two can possibly be at fault here. And that, in my opinion, is very discriminatory by the justice system.”

Tsukauchi was glaring at these two like they had personally killed his entire family, but Nezu couldn’t help but feel positively gleeful at their ability to outsmart a pair of talented officers.

“So I think that’s settled then,” Aizawa yawned, “These two simply got caught up in this without knowing.”

Tsukauchi sputtered, “But they knew the identities of the vigilantes!”

Shinsou scoffed, “Who said that? I never did. Did you Mei?”

“No sir I didn’t!”

“No matter,” Tsukauchi waved them off, “We do know that Eraser and Mic both have been hiding the identities of these vigilantes for months, an obstruction of justice-”

“You know,” the mysterious man wearing a hood sighed for the first time yet still wouldn’t look up, “I don’t even want to think where I’d be right now if it weren’t for Izuku.”

Nezu’s ears perked up, “What do you mean by that?”

“He stopped me from committing, well, homicide. I nearly burned someone out of anger, but he showed me that killing fuckers isn’t gonna solve shit. He gave me an actual purpose, to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Is that truely a crime, Tsukauchi? To want to do good?”

“Yeah,” Toga muttered, “He’s the first real friend I ever had!”

“Same,” Shinsou deadpanned as Hatsume nodded, “And ditto for me on that.”

Tsukauchi slammed his hands flat on the table, “The power of friendship doesn’t dismiss the illegal things you’ve all done-”

“But imagine all the paperwork,” Nezu interrupted calmly, “Oh dear Tsukauchi, you’ll be busy for months. And I have tons to do now that I’ll have to cover up the fact that these heroes, oh, pardon me. That these vigilantes saved an entire class of first years at my own establishment, since parents would be even more outraged to find out they got into my gates. In fact, how did you sneak by? Did you chase after the bus?”

“We rode in the little storage thingy under the bus,” Toga grunted nonchalantly, Nezu having to resist the urge to clap his paws together gleefully. “Amazing,” he breathed quietly, “Well, I suppose we should get started, isn’t that right?”

Tsukauchi thinned his eyes, “This feels like some sort of threat is about to follow.”

“I would never!” Nezu chuckled sinfully, “That wouldn’t be very polite! You know what else isn’t very polite, though? The fact that when I arrived at the USJ it took your officers thirty minutes to arrive because one of your officers decided that you were all too busy for some silly attack at UA. Actually, I had to convince them to come, explaining all the villains and injuries! Isn’t that funny?”

Tsukauchi frowned, “Do you know who you were speaking to?”

“Yes,” Nezu said in a dark tone, “Would be a shame if this got out though, that your employees pick and choose which cases are deemed important. Hm.”

“Nezu, I’m sorry to hear that but I couldn’t possibly keep track of everyone that works at the station, but I ensure you if you give me the name I can-”

“But you’ll be so busy dealing with these vigilantes! I couldn’t possibly push this on you as well, so I’ll deal with it myself. I’m sure the public would like to hear about this too, so they’ll know that their emergencies may not be important enough.”

Tsukauchi fell silent for a moment as he sorted through his thoughts, all heroes watching Nezu with visible shock, the four kids smiling secretly at the floor.

“This is blackmail, Nezu.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“Hm. Interesting. Why would protecting the public from poor officers such as the one I spoke to be blackmail?”

“I’d like to add something,” the mysterious hooded man sneered. “Your officers also tossed my little blonde one and I into an extra hospital room without any proper treatment, despite our clear injuries. I had to do hers myself with some materials I found. Not to mention the fact that she’s a minor, meaning she’s supposed to be protected in the sense of medical care under the eyes of the law.”

Aizawa was on his feet immediately as he slammed his injured arms down on the table, several sheets falling to the ground, "What the fuck did I just hear?"

Tsukauchi's eyes widened, "Wait, a nurse didn't come in? I was told they sent someone up."

"Well they didn't!" Toga shouted, "They locked us in there like caged animals!"

Aizawa's face was growing more red by the moment as he laughed quietly, yet was clearly on the verge of hysterics, "That- that- I'm gonna-"

"Sho," Yamada spoke darkly with an eerily serious tone, "Let me handle that after. Trust me."

Nezu’s eyes sparkled, “I didn’t hear about this. What interesting information. That could get several people in trouble, now couldn’t it?”

“Not to mention that, once again, everyone just makes the assumption that Izuku is quirkless, and I’m not saying that he is. But if he was, I couldn’t even imagine the way the justice system must have failed him, discrimination and all,” Shinsou waved a hand around as he spoke.

The man ran a hand down his face and nodded slowly, “I get it. It’s clear that you have some sort of other option sorted out, so let me hear it. No point in sitting here and wasting time.”

“Well, if you wish to know,” Nezu blinked kindly, “I do in fact have an alternate solution that may be beneficial to everyone! Tsukauchi, I think we can all agree that these kids are young, but very strong, determined and intelligent. Do you really wish to ruin their entire lives based on this one singular thing they’ve been taking part in?”

“No, of course not-”

“Perfect. So we both agree that if we could give them a second chance to do things properly, you would be inclined to help me?”

Tsukauchi stayed silent as he looked over to the kids and chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, “I want to know your plan before I agree to anything, Nezu.”

“Fair enough! Well, here at UA we’re built on offering opportunities to those who truly deserve it, and the way the three vigilantes put their lives on the line for complete strangers, I think that’s pretty telling of their goals, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, I suppose so. They did save lives, I can’t deny that.”

“Yes, my point exactly! So what if I take full responsibility of them, including keeping them in check and assuring they don’t try to get back on the streets without licenses? I’ll let them grow into who they want to be in a healthy and kind environment, unlike what they have been subjected to in their past. If they wish to return to fighting crime, I’ll allow them to do so with time as official heroes, I have no doubt they can achieve the goals they set for themselves.”

“Are you offering these vigilantes spots at UA?” Tsukauchi asked while wearing a baffled expression, “Are you serious?”

“Why not?” Nezu hummed, “Think about it. Their talents and quirks could be nurtured properly, they could get an education and proper social interaction, plus they would be supervised by heroes all over the campus.”

“And off campus?”

Nezu was about to give some sort of answer, but it seems someone else beat him to it.

“They’re mine, obviously.”

Everyone turned to Aizawa as he crossed his arms, “Look. Hizashi and I have been feeding these munchkins for several months. We literally eat dinner in my living room and watch anime every night. Mind as well live with me too. We’re the best options.”

“We?” Yagi asked, “What do you mean? Oh, do you and Yamada live with one another?”

Nezu had to hold back a laugh, as did Shuzenji and Kayama as Aizawa gave one nod, “Sure. You can say that. Besides, I’m capable of erasing their quirks if necessary and I’ll spot them if they decide to roam the streets, in which I will not give them another chance. Rules will be strict, I can assure you.”

“I like this idea,” Omori smiled kindly, “And myself along with Habi and Suko, we’ll be sure the kids stay off the streets. You can count on us!”

The angry flush in Tsukauchi’s face was fading slightly as the idea hung suspended in the air for a moment, Hawks half asleep before Mirko slapped the back of his head, causing a few feathers to shoot out from his small wings and his eyes darted around the room.

“Excuse me,” the mysterious man held up a finger, “I can’t exactly join a class of fifteen year old children.”

Nezu hummed, “Why not?”

“Because I’m a fucking adult.”

From the corner of his eye, Nezu caught the way Hawks thinned his eyes at this specific man, bushy eyebrows pulled together in thought.

“I can figure something out for you,” Nezu settled on, “I’m always open to new ideas.”

“And what about me?” Toga set her chin on the table, “I’m a year older than Toshi and Mei, so do I have to go into second year? I’m not smart enough to do that stuff.”

Nezu knew the kids were anxious for something new, it wasn’t easy to be thrown back into everyday life for most people when all these kids know is survival. It was something Nezu could understand.

“I’ll figure everything out. For now I need your word that you’ll stay out of trouble and stop your vigilantism immediately. It isn’t arguable that what you do is illegal, no matter how heroic. This stops here, is that understood?”

Toga and the man hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly.

“Good. I’m glad we’re all on the same page here!”

“So I can live with Shouta and Hizashi now?” Toga clarified as she broke the silence, Nezu simply nodding, “The paperwork may take a day or two so you’ll both have to stay here for another night, but I’ll organize it as soon as possible for you.”

“Thank god,” the man grumbled as he stood, “I’m going to see Izuku now.”

No one stopped the group of kids this time as they headed for the door, but Nezu cleared his throat anxiously, “Wait, you’re the only one who hasn’t given me your name.” The man paused as his shoulders slacked slightly, head turning ever so slightly towards Hawks and Mirko.

“Come talk to me later about that.”

Once Dabi returned to Izuku’s room with Toga, Hitoshi and Mei, the tears began falling again as they all took a seat around his bed. They hadn’t slept in hours, everyone was near crying themselves dry and the emotional weight they were all carrying was nearly too much.

“At least we’re not gonna be executed,” Toga whispered while leaning against the railing of the bed, “I didn’t wanna be executed.”

Mei rubbed her shoulder and gave a soft squeeze, “Toga, hon, I don’t think they ever planned on executing you guys.”

Hitoshi chuckled wetly as he folded his hands in his lap and pulled lightly at his nails, using his shoulder to wipe the tears from his face. “I’m so tired,” the boy laughed as the sound turned to another sobbing hiccup, his hand coming up to brush the hair carefully from Izuku’s eyes.

Everyone murmured quietly in agreement before Dabi cleared his throat, “My Mom used to say that those who are unconscious live in the land of dreams,” the kids all looked at him with red eyes as he continued, “And that they can hear us. It’s like we’re in the clouds of their visions.”

“Like gods and goddesses?” Toga pondered quietly as Dabi only shrugged in response.

It was just Recovery Girl sitting in the room with them, busy writing things down on some sort of chart and organizing her medical supplies. She had kicked the officers out of the room and made them stand outside.

“Maybe,” Dabi whispered, “Apparently whenever I was unconscious and my siblings would speak to me, Mom said I always seemed to be dreaming of their words.”

Hitoshi frowned, “Were you unconscious a lot or something?”

Recovery Girl looked up from the chart she was working on with a pinched expression as Dabi simply stared at Izuku’s face, then shrugged, “Clumsy kid, I guess.” Hitoshi thinned his eyes further but didn’t push on it, his gaze returning to Izuku’s face.

“Aizawa really just adopted two illegal vigilantes on the spot without hesitation whatsoever,” Dabi spoke to himself, “I’m an adult, shouldn’t I have my own place or something?”

Toga clicked her tongue, “How old are you again?”

“Twenty two.”

“Exactly. You’re still really young, you know. You act like you carry the weight of the world upon your shoulders, acting like you have to grow up. You were forced to grow up ever since you were a child, so take the hand that’s being extended to you before you regret it.”

Dabi, Mei and Hitoshi stared at Toga with wide eyes as she smoothed out the blanket over Izuku’s legs, humming a melody quiet to herself. “What?” she finally squeaked when she noticed all the eyes on her, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Dabi answered quickly while still wearing an expression of shock, “That was just very, um, what’s the word?”

“Wise?” Mei contributed as Hitoshi nodded, “And intelligent.”

Toga pursed her lips, “Right! Um, what did I say again?”

“Nevermind.”

Dabi leaned down closer to Izuku’s face and gently twisted a stray curl between his fingertips, “Better not fucking die on me, munchkin.”

Hitoshi flicked his forehead, “That wasn’t very nice,” but there was no bite to his words.

“What should we talk about? You know, in case he can hear us,” Toga whispered softly as she rested her chin on her knees against her chest, “What would Izuku want to talk about?”

Hitoshi pursed his lips in thought as he flicked through ideas, finally settling on one. “I know you don’t really love heroes. With some exceptions, of course. But today some heroes came in that you’ve never met before, but I think you would like them. There was Hawks, I already know you would bombard him with quirk questions. If you were wondering, yes. He does act like a bird.”

Mei and Toga chuckled as the boy continued, “And there was this one moment when Midnight, another hero at UA, was offering everyone coffee and he took one. He took a sip and then made a face, so Mirko asked him what was wrong and I don’t think anyone heard his response, but I did. He thinks coffee tastes bad but also said that he’s an adult so he has to have the adult drink.”

Mei laughed a little louder, “Did he really?”

Dabi snorted, “‘S something he would say.”

Hitoshi looked over to him, “What was that?”

Dabi shook his head and leaned back, “Nothin’. Keep going.”

It wasn’t long until the kids began to nod off one by one, leaving Dabi the only one awake once when the insomniac tapped out, but still mumbling softly under his breath. There was a soft knock at the door and Dabi turned, eyes widening ever so slightly at the small red wings in the doorway, his hands making way to pull his hood up immediately.

“Hey,” the blonde mumbled as he stepped in, “Mind if I come in?”

Dabi didn’t answer.

The heels of the short man's boots clicked softly against the ground as he approached, “I sent Rumi, uh, Mirko out for food, said she’d bring some back for you all.”

Dabi just grunted in response.

The man didn’t try to take a seat, instead looked over Dabi’s shoulder at Izuku and sighed, “Kid’s tiny. Hard to believe street thugs are terrified of being caught by him. And you as well, of course.”

At the lack of response, he chuckled again, “You’re not much of a talker, are you?”

“No.”

Even Dabi startled himself at the response, but kept trying to shrink in on himself as if the ground would swallow him whole and get him out of this situation.

“That’s alright. I am a talker, so I can fill the silence for us!”

“Or you can just be quiet.”

Dabi watched a red feather fly around his face in a soft swirling motion, travelling towards the window and then returning, catching itself back within his wings. “Sorry,” the blonde chuckled anxiously, “I don’t really talk to many people my age, and R- Mirko doesn’t count.”

“What makes you say we’re the same age.”

“Oh! Well, ah. You said that you were an adult but you also seem pretty young, so just a guess? I think? Sorry, is that, like, a rude thing to say? I didn’t mean to come off that way-”

“Shut it, Tweety Bird.”

Realizing his mistake too soon, he heard the man inhale sharply behind him and Dabi tongued the staples on the corners of his mouth. “Funny nickname,” the man chuckled and audibly rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah. Um. I’ll get going now, you should probably get some rest.”

Dabi ignored him.

“Okay then. See you around, maybe. Hopefully.”

The door shut and Dabi exhaled heavily, placing one hand over his mouth. A red feather still sat by Dabi’s foot and he bent down, picking it up and gently feeling the texture as he placed one of his legs over the other, trying to get more comfortable. Dabi leaned his head back and closed his eyes, sliding the feather into his pocket and crossing his arms, letting the silence lull him to sleep.

Dabi dreamt of whistled tunes, ice packs pressed against his raw skin and red feathers everywhere he looked.

Chapter Text

Toga, Dabi and Hitoshi watched Yamada rip the front desk a new one, his quirk activated and all.

“No! I don’t want to hear that bullshit! What about two fucking injured teenagers seemed dangerous to you at the time?”

“Sir, please quiet down, this is a hospital after-”

“You’re right, this is a hospital! So why didn’t my kids get their injuries fucking treated?”

“It won’t happen again Sir, I’m so sorry-”

“You bet your ass it won’t happen again or I’ll sue you for everything you have.”

“Damn!” Toga cheered while balanced on a pair of crutches, “You tell ‘em!”

Dabi snickered as Hitoshi took a slow sip of his coffee, eyes staring down at his shoes while he was so tired he could barely keep himself upright. The poor woman that Yamada caught at the receptionist had sweat collecting on her brow as her smile was becoming more and more strained, “Unfortunately I am not the one responsible for dispatching our nurses to rooms-”

“What do you mean?” Yamada cried, “That’s literally your job as a nurse receptionist! Take calls and give out information! Did the information about two injured kids lacking medical attention just slip your mind?”

The woman wasn’t even bothering to smile anymore, intimidation reflecting in her eyes and posture becoming small. “Is there anything I can do to make this better, Sir?”

Yamada just scoffed, “No, because the damage is done. You better hope Toga’s ankle heals properly and his burns don’t agitate his scars further, or your hospital will have a whole new problem. A blonde problem, that is.”

“Sir, once again I apologize profusely-”

“Whatever,” Yamada gasped dramatically, turning and tossing his hair over his shoulder, “Don’t let it happen again. For your reputation, and all.” With a final look over his shoulder, the blonde walked away with purpose while the three kids trailed after him like cubs following their mama bear, Aizawa waiting by the car in the parking lot.

“Did you really yell at those idiots for thirty seven minutes?” the black haired man raised both eyebrows, Yamada nodding with a huge smile on his face, chest puffed out in pride, “You betcha! I kept using my quirk though, I couldn’t really control it.”

Aizawa shrugged, “Good.”

“By any chance did you take theater in school?” Dabi teased while getting into the back of the car.

“I did, in fact! How did you know?”

Dabi snorted, “I could tell by all the dramatics back there-”

“Because you’re a homosexual.”

Yamada whirled around to stare at Hitoshi who took a long sip from his cup, “And I’m not saying every theater person isn’t straight. But. You know. You look like that.”

“Look like what?”

“Heh.”

“I’m still your teacher you know!”

“Meh. That’s debatable.”

“What?”

While the banter continued to drabble on, the atmosphere died down as Toga refused to get into the car. “I don’t want to leave Izuku,” she growled for the tenth time that morning, “It’s really not that necessary!”

“You all smell like rotting corpses and sewage water. We can come back after you all take a proper shower,” Yamada scolded while helping Toga into the back seat, shoving her between Dabi and Hitoshi, propping her healing ankle up carefully.

“We don’t smell that bad!”

“Nah, we do,” Dabi looked out the window while Yamada got behind the wheel, helping Aizawa do up his seat belt before pulling out of the parking lot.

“Toga,” Yamada made eye contact through the rearview mirror, “Both Nezu and Nemuri are watching over him for you, he’ll be just fine. Recovery Girl is coming by for another session in a few hours anyways, so it’s better for us to be out of the way.”

Hitoshi wiggled slightly to give himself more room before fixing his capture weapon around his neck and burying his nose further into the fabric despite the small spots of blood left from behind. It was mostly Aizawa’s, but he didn’t want to think about it.

“Lavender,” Dabi grunted, “They find out what the fuck’s up with your head?”

“Nope,” Hitoshi responded, popping the ‘p’ before swallowing another mouthful of coffee, “But Recovery Girl said it’s possible that it could have been induced by a stress factor, somehow resulting in some sort of stroke that messed my brain up. She used a lot of big words that I forget now. But I can actually use my phone now so I think I’m pretty much healed.”

“But no physical activity,” Aizawa reminded, “Don’t let me catch you doing something fucking stupid. Now listen, school starts again tomorrow and you two have to come with us, meaning you can’t just be around Izuku all day.”

Toga’s eyes widened, “But-”

“No buts, you know the deal Nezu gave you both. You have to be supervised at all times until you earn trust back, meaning we can’t leave you in the hospital or the apartment. You have to follow our rules or we’ll have no choice but to hand you over to Tsukauchi, and I really don’t want to do that. So please don’t make me.”

Toga pouted in silence whereas Dabi was more vocal, “This is all stupid. I could just run away and you’d never-”

“But you won’t,” Hitoshi deadpanned, “Because Izuku’s in the hospital. You won’t run. And if you do, so help me I’ll hunt you down and drag you back by the staples in your face.”

Dabi swallowed, “Note taken.”

The car was awkwardly silent on the way back to the apartment, the only sound was the quiet radio with Yamada singing along under his breath. Dabi looked over to Hitoshi, “Can I have some of your coffee?”

“No.”

Dabi growled under his breath and then forced himself to stay calm, much to Hitoshi’s amusement, “Sorry. May I please have a sip of your coffee?”

Hitoshi smiled at him, took a slow, small mouthful and then leaned across Toga ever so slightly just to respond, “No.”

“Fuck you,” Dabi spat, also leaning over Toga while the blonde began to shout about personal space, “Share with me!”

“Get your own, you crusty piece of beef jerky!”

“You fuckin’ emo teen give me some!”

“Emo teen? Have you seen yourself? You’re the embodiment of emo.”

“And you’re the embodiment of depression, what's your point?”

Toga flailed her arms trying to knock both boys away when Aizawa finally turned around, “Stop it.” It did not stop.

“Let go!” Hitoshi tried pulling his arm back as Dabi hung onto it, almost like he was trying to pull the other across the seat. “Dabi!” Hitoshi whined, accidentally elbowing Toga’s gut, the blonde now pulling on any strands of purple hair she could reach.

Aizawa tried again a little louder, “Stop, I’m being serious-”

“Ow Toga!” Dabi shouted when the girl slapped him on the top of the head, “What the hell?”

“Stop elbowing me!”

“Give me my coffee back and get your own!”

“Why can’t you just share, asswipe?”

“Because I have STDs.”

“No you don’t!”

“How would you know?”

“Wait, Toshi, do you have STDs?”

“No.”

“So why’d you say that?”

“Because you probably have STDs.”

“I do not!”

Throughout the argument, none of the kids even realized that Yamada had pulled the car over and turned in his seat, watching them argue with a blank expression. The three froze and stared back at him, Toga fisting both heads of hair, Dabi’s teeth pressed against Hitoshi’s arm mid-bite, the purple haired boy holding the cup of coffee away with his other hand and Aizawa appearing like he wanted to pull his hair out.

“Would you three like to walk home? With Toga’s ankle and Hitoshi’s head, it would take forever.”

The kids swallowed thickly and slowly retreated into their respected seats, Hitoshi then silently handing his cup of coffee over without making eye contact. Dabi took a quiet sip and handed it back, muttering something of a thank you before looking at his hands in his lap, suddenly finding his fingernails very interesting.

Hitoshi hid a repressed smile behind his cup while Toga had to bite her lip, even Dabi struggling to keep a straight face. The car was dead silent for several moments while Yamada and Aizawa continued to stare at the kids with flat faces, but Hitoshi accidentally let a snort out.

The three lost it.

Toga’s face was going red with tears in her eyes as she made a face like she tasted something sour, her shoulders shaking with laughter. Dabi clamped both hands over his mouth as he bent himself in half, his gasps of breath between silent laughing audible, while Hitoshi was just outright laughing louder than he has in awhile.

Toga eventually snapped as her high pitched giggle echoed through the small car and Dabi continued to wheeze like a boiling kettle, struggling to breathe.

“Is this funny to you?” Yamada deadpanned despite the betrayal of his lips, in which the corners were beginning to tremble ever so slightly, trying to curve upwards. That only made the kids laugh harder and the car didn’t quiet down before Aizawa snorted, Yamada’s eyes widening. Everyone stared at the man as Toga slowly pointed to him, “You… you laugh exactly like Toshi!”

Aizawa’s face went pink as Hitoshi could feel his own face heating up, “Toga,” he whined quietly.

“That’s adorable!” she continued, “Father and son! Oh my gosh! Dabi, you heard that too right?”

“I sure did,” he beamed, “And I will tease you two about it until the day I die.”

Hitoshi whipped over to him, “Do that and those days won’t consist of many.”

“It’ll be a good way to go out.”

Yamada just turned the radio up and pulled back onto the road, “Okay, you guys really stink. I’m starting to feel light headed.” The windows stayed down the rest of the ride home.

Hawks sat in his apartment with his legs crossed, simply staring at the wall and listening to the cars travelling far below on the streets. He wasn’t sure how long he's been sitting on the floor of his kitchen for, but his phone ringing brought him back to reality.

The blonde startled slightly as his wings puffed out, blindly reaching up onto the counter before he found the device, pulling it down to his face to see a picture of Rumi lighting up the screen. He clicked the answer button and held it up closer to his ears, “Hello?”

“Hi Birdie Boy! Wanna come over?”

Hawks blinked and looked over to the stove where the time was displayed just above, six in the evening. “I can’t,” he sighed softly, unfolding his legs from underneath him and sitting up slightly straighter.

“Why the fuck not?”

“It’s not free time.”

The line was silent for a moment before Rumi’s tone became more serious, “I know you stick to a tight stupid schedule, but it’s six. You can usually come over at six.”

“Hm,” Hawks hummed quietly, “I know. But from the past couple of days, I haven’t been answering my calls and when we went out for dinner I left my actual phone here. Guess they came over to check on me because they thought I was ignoring them. They weren’t happy when they found my phone here and apartment empty.”

He looked over towards the pillows thrown from his couch, all the drawers and cabinets open, the carpet turned over and chairs thrown about, he was still wondering what they were looking for.

“Can I come over to yours then? Technically that means you wouldn’t be leav-”

“You know you’re not allowed over here. You never have been, and nothing’s changed.”

There was a long, heavy sigh from the other side of the phone and the sound of Rumi opening her fridge, “Dude. I love you a lot, you know that. But if you don’t tell someone about all this, I can’t just let this go on, Hawks. You’re suffering. For gods fucking sake, I don’t even know your real name and we’ve known each other for almost a year now. Do you even know your own name?”

Hawks didn’t want to think about that.

He couldn’t.

“There’s nothing to tell, Rumi. You’re just being dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic!” she shouted into the phone, “You can’t be serious right now! Sometimes I fuckin’ swear, Hawks. It’s like you’ve been brainwashed. How can you not see what’s wrong with this situation?”

“There’s nothing wrong, they helped me become a hero-”

“Helped? Helped? Hawks, be fucking realistic! Open your goddamn eyes and look around! Is this really what you want your life to be? Your life is just a schedule, that’s all it is!”

“That’s enough-”

“Don’t shut me up! You listen here, are you really happy? And don’t lie to me because for the love of god, Hawks, everything you do is a show! Everything! You pretend-”

Hawks hung up.

He stood on shaky legs and cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing in his empty apartment. It was dark since he always kept his windows shuttered and it was cold since he was never shown how to change the temperature in his own home.

He wasn’t even sure if he could call this place his own home.

It was barren and dim, now messy and that was bothering Hawks. Yeah, that was something he could do. He could clean up right now. So that’s what he did, red feathers flying around the room while carrying random objects ranging from blankets to mugs, everything being put back into its proper place while Hawks scrubbed the floor on his hands and knees until it felt like his skin was going raw.

His face remained passive as his alarm went off for eight in the evening, his body instinctively getting up and making its way to the fridge, Hawks opening the door and looking at the small boxes inside. His eyes skimmed the dates and times until he found the proper one, taking it out and sliding it onto the counter, closing the fridge carefully.

He stared at the box for several silent moments in the dim lights, eventually climbing up onto his counter cross legged and opening the box to eye what was inside.

It was raw vegetables.

Again.

So Hawks did what he had to do, he slowly ate the very few vegetables until he reached for the next and the box was found empty, his eyes darting over to the clock again. Ten past eight. Using his fingers to count silently and mindlessly, he figured his next eating alarm would go off tomorrow morning at five, just like every day, so that would be nine hours until he could eat again.

Oh, minus the ten minutes that had already passed from eight. He still had to drink two more cups of water before bed at eleven and take his night medication, although that never really helped his hunger. The water used to be enough, but not anymore. Hawks sat stalk still on his counter until his ten o’clock alarm went off, so he went through his night time routine.

He had never liked the routine that was laid out for him, but obviously they knew what they were doing. They made him into a hero, after all.

Stretch, quick workout, shower, hair product, shave legs, arms, armpits, wash face, pluck eyebrows, brush teeth, trim nails, scrub feathers, preen- no, fix wings, take medication, finish water, go to bed. When the alarm went off the next day, Hawks sighed and stared at the box of food for breakfast.

A quarter cup of white rice and a piece of dried seaweed.

Hawks is tired.

So, so tired.

Shouta didn’t let Himiko and the others go back to see Izuku that day, even after they showered and ate. Something about needing some separation? More like somthing stupid.

“This is my room,” Hitoshi had deadpanned while opening his arms in a lame introductory movement, Touya walking in deeper and looking over the posters on the wall. Even though the three vigilantes ate dinner every evening in the apartment, Hitoshi never actually let them into his room, so this had been the first time.

Himiko had automatically crawled onto his bed and tossed her crutches aside, damp hair sprawled on the pillow while Hitoshi flopped next to her, pulling out his phone immediately.

And Touya being Touya tried to act all cool by saying he would take the couch, but Himiko had heard him come in at two in the morning just to curl up on the foot of the bed like some sort of little spiky kitten, Mika also sprawled out on top of him.

It was so calming and relaxing that Himiko almost forgot about their actual situation, but when Hitoshi’s alarm went off the next morning and he started pulling on his school uniform, Himiko looked over to Touya with wide eyes.

“Dabi,” she whispered, reminding herself that the others still weren’t aware of his true identity, “Um, what if we have to stay with Shouta the whole day?”

“We probably do.”

She cleared her throat and whispered quietly, “Dabi! Your brother is in that class, no?”

All emotion was wiped from Touya’s face as Himiko could tell the man was internally going through the five stages of grief in the middle of the kitchen. He eyed the window and then looked over to the others getting their stuff together by the door, his blue eyes returning to the window.

“Dabi,” Himiko warned slowly, but the man made a mad dash for the window and Himiko just watched, there was no point in her trying to escape with her crutches.

“Staples!” Hitoshi shrieked as both lilac and white fabrics intertwined, entangling Touya in a heart beat and yanking him backwards, causing him to fall on his butt. Himiko giggled while the grown man got told off by both insomniacs, at least having the decency to look guilty.

“He’s just nervous guys, be nice!” Himiko finally defended her friend while still holding back laughter, “It’s our first day, after all.”

Touya shot her a glare and got back to his feet, “Right, yeah. I’m nervous.”

Hizashi handed him a cup of black coffee and fruit punch to Himiko, in which he earned a quick hug of gratitude, Himiko hates coffee.

“Get in the car, brats,” Shouta grunted once they stepped off the elevator, and Himiko couldn’t help but be a little excited! She would have to talk to everyone there, that way she could make more friends! She hummed happily while sipping her juice on the way there, noting how Touya was looking a little pale and sweaty.

“Are you gonna barf?” she leaned in front of his face, Shouta turning around in his seat immediately while Hizashi just put the back window down while chuckling nervously.

“I’m not gonna fuckin’ throw up!” Touya snapped, hands shaking and body growing more sweaty by the second.

“Why are you so anxious?” Shouta asked with a tone more gentle than normal, handing back a bottle of water he carried with him.

“I’m not anxious,” Touya said, sounding very defensive, “I’m just not used to waking up so early in the morning. I’m fucking fine!”

Himiko could only hold eye contact as she was trying to convey her thoughts, you have to tell them or things will only be worse. It seemed Touya understood as he sighed heavily and began laughing weakly, “Izuku isn’t the only one declared dead, you know.”

Hizashi accidentally swerved the car in shock as Hitoshi yelped, grasping his hands around his coffee to protect it. Touya only kept on laughing weakly, voice shaking with uncertainty as Shouta continued to watch with a calm face, “Can you explain?”

“It’s not my fault!” Touya said a little louder than necessary, “My dad did it. To- to get rid of me. Made threats and all. Obviously my name isn’t actually fuckin’ Dabi.”

Shouta pursed his lips and looked down in thought, “And why tell me this now? Why were you so adamant on keeping this from Nezu?”

Himiko held her breath as she waited for the truth to come out, even Hitoshi watching on with burning curiosity.

“Wait!” Himiko cut Touya off before he had the chance to answer, “Hizashi, let’s pull over for this.”

Touya’s eyes widened, “Oh my god, I didn’t- yeah, thanks for that Toga.”

“I’ll just pull into the parking lot, we’re here,” Hizashi mumbled anxiously, doing exactly that and turning off the car before rotating in his seat, small eyebrows pinched together.

“Aha,” Touya rubbed the back of his neck, “I don’t- I can’t-”

“Want me to do it?” Himiko rubbed his leg gently as the man nodded, the blonde looking everyone in the eye and taking a breath. She wasn’t sure what Touya wanted her to say word for word, she wasn’t a mind reader after all! She should probably ease into it, right?

“His younger brother is in your class. Shoto!”

Oops. Jumped the gun a little there.

When jaws dropped, it’s meant to be used in a literal sense.

“Yeah, so his dad is Endeavor. Small world,” she added casually.

Oh, did Himiko say something wrong? Why was it so quiet?

“Yo! You didn’t have to be so blunt about it!” Touya cried, “Look! You broke the old people!”

Himiko turned to Shouta and Hizashi who were watching them with wide eyes and parted lips, before the blonde man began to chuckle nervously, “Alright, very funny Dabi. Now let’s go, I still gotta gel my hair-”

“It’s not a joke. My name is Touya Todoroki, my bastard Father declared me dead at age fourteen. If you don’t believe me, you can’t exactly find my death certificate anywhere. Actually, I’m not sure if my siblings think I’m dead or not, I have no idea what my old man told ‘em. My siblings are Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shoto Todoroki.”

The car was still silent as Himiko decided to ignore the tension, instead finishing off her juice box and unbuckling her seat belt, “Alright, let’s get going!”

Hizashi pressed the button that locked them all in the car without even hesitating. Himiko pushed her bottom lip out in a frown and looked back over to Touya, the man just staring at his hands wearing a conflicted expression.

“So you’re the son of the number two hero,” Shouta echoed slowly, “And he- he what? Why did he send you away? That- what?”

“I wasn’t perfect enough for him,” Touya shrugged simply with a pinched expression, “I started stirrin’ up trouble I suppose, although it wasn’t on purpose. I wouldn’t just follow his orders blindly and my quirk isn’t exactly hero ready. I wasn’t moldable anymore. Thank god.”

“This is so much to unpack,” Hitoshi whispered, “What- I don’t even know what to ask you first.”

“How about nothing?” Touya recommended, “I’m telling you this because I probably shouldn’t walk into your classroom and be like, ‘Oh, hey, Shoto? Remember me, your missing brother? Turns out I’m not missing!’ Something tells me that wouldn’t exactly go great.”

“Oh god,” Hizashi groaned under his breath, “Yeah, yeah you’ve got a point- A Todoroki. I never would have guessed.”

“I mean his quirk is fire,” Hitoshi mumbled, “So it does make sense. Plus white hair like Todoroki, but shouldn’t that mean your hair is red? Like fire?”

“Not important,” Touya waved him off, “But please don’t tell anyone! I’m pretty sure if it got back to Endeavor, he’d hunt me down. Possibly kill me for real this time.”

“He’ll just have to stay with Nezu,” Shouta mumbled to himself, “But we can’t just- your family will have to find out eventually. Don’t you miss them anyways?”

“Not the old man. And I haven’t seen my mom in a long, long time.”

It seemed something dawned on Shouta slowly as his eyes widened, “Wait, it makes- Todoroki, the younger one- and- oh. Oh.”

“What?” Hizashi frowned, “What am I supposed to be thinking right now? I’ve lost my ability to think!”

Shouta looked up, “You’re a victim, aren’t you?”

“Depends. A victim of what?”

“Several things.”

“Several things.”

Shouta bit his lip, “I’ll- Nezu can help. You’ll stay with him for the day and you have to tell him what you told me, understood?”

Touya shook his head violently, “I don’t want to-”

“You have to,” Shouta said sternly and almost with a hint of desperation, “Or else I can’t help you. I can’t take care of this on my own, kid, I need you to help me.”

Touya stayed silent as Himiko just wanted to give him a hug, but eventually the man nodded in understanding. He looked out the window quietly, “Why aren’t you guys, like, freaking out about this? I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you to, but why?”

“It’s become normal,” Hitoshi shrugged in all honesty, “You’re not special. Sure, this is a little more, um, more because your asshole is a top hero, but it’s still the same story with the rest of us. Shitty parents, shitty quirk. Or shitty no quirk.”

Shouta breathed out slowly, “I suppose. And I’ll take you there. Hitoshi, you’re in charge of Toga and get her to homeroom, she’s not to leave your side. Toga, this isn’t your class, this is only temporary for now until Nezu decides his course of action. Is this all understood?”

“Yes!” Himiko cheered, “Now team, let’s break!”

“N-no! Bad Toga! This way!”

Hitoshi grunted under his breath while dragging the shorter girl by the scruff of her shirt as the blonde continued to try to wander off surprisingly fast with crutches. They were both aware of the weird stares they were getting, but ever since the USJ incident Hitoshi didn’t have it in him to be embarrassed, his pride had already been damaged because he couldn’t save Izuku. He wondered if Toga felt the same way.

“So can I meet your friends?” Toga asked absentmindedly while standing in front of a trophy case, eyes wandering over the dozens of prizes hidden behind the glass.

Hitoshi continued to push her along carefully, “Yeah, yeah whatever. Sure. Just don’t say anything weird.”

“Why would I say anything weird? What’s that supposed to mean?” Toga asked, smiling somewhat creepily at the students passing by. Hitoshi was surprised that no one has asked any questions yet.

“So you knew about Dabi?” he changed the subject, “Why couldn’t I know?”

“Wait! Don’t feel left out!” Toga turned to face him with a soft frown, “That wasn’t the intention!”

“I don’t care,” Hitoshi lied, “But why not me? And does Mei know?”

Toga continued her way down the hall, the wrong hall that is, and hummed, “Nope, Mei still doesn’t know I suppose. Izu was the first to know, he told me that Dabi talks in his sleep sometimes. They got into a pretty nasty argument about it too. I think that’s why Dabi was so hesitant about admitting it.”

Hitoshi changed their directions, “And how did you find out?”

“Well, we were waiting for you in the cafe and Dabi explained how he wanted us to try using his actual name when it was just us three. Something about normality, I wasn’t really listening. He used to flinch at first, but he’s better now!”

Before Hitoshi could ask any more questions, Toga looked over his shoulder and her eyes lit up.

“Hey guys!”

Toga nealy jumped with excitement as Mei rushed over, hands full with all sort of junk for her current project.

“Hi Mei,” Hitoshi sighed with a tired expression, “Your mom wasn’t too mad, was she?”

The pink haired girl chuckled, although Hitoshi noticed it lacked its usual joy, and she shrugged, “Meh, not the first time I’ve gone radio silent for a few days. Only got my phone taken away, although I’m pretty sure she did that on purpose because she could tell something was wrong and she knows I have a backup phone, yet she didn’t ask for it.”

“Did you tell her anything?” Hitoshi asked, leaning over and grabbing Toga’s arm without even having to look as she tried to wander off again.

“No. I mean she kept asking but I kinda kept brushing her off. I feel a little bad, but I just don’t want to mess up this entire situation even more. Plus I don’t want to get her wrapped up in this, one Hatsume is more than enough,” Mei spoke while looking up at the digital clock on the wall, “Oh shit, class starts in twenty second! Meet after school?”

“Sure! At my homeroom!” Hitoshi shouted as Mei took off down the hall, sprinting through the other students that were also trying to scramble to class in time.

“Look what you’ve done,” Hitoshi deadpanned, “We’re gonna be late now.”

“Sorry!” Toga chuckled nervously, “But I’ve never been in a hero school! I want to see everything!”

Hitoshi just nodded and adjusted his hold on her shirt, tugging her along as she moved next to him with excited eyes, the loud bell startling her and causing her to laugh afterwards. Hitoshi was just hoping Aizawa wouldn’t kill them for being late.

“Is this the door? Why’s it so big?” Toga gasped in wonder, “Lemme open it, I want to see if it’s heavy!”

Hitoshi batted her hand away immediately, “You’re still injured, don’t be stupid.”

“Well you’re injured too!”

“Not really. I’ve adapted to the headache, it’s become a part of me now.”

“I don’t think that’s healthy. You sound like Izu.”

Hitoshi groaned, “Just let me open the door!”

Toga shoved him aside and dropped her crutches, “No, I wanna do it!”

Before Hitoshi had the chance to pull her back, Toga ripped the door open with both hands and laughed with excitement, the door slamming open with a loud echo through the silent classroom.

“Wow Toshi! That door is light!”

“Shinsou’s not here yet,” Denki frowned, setting his head down on his desk dramatically and looking up at Ashido and Sero through his hair, “He hasn’t even answered any of my messages!”

Ashido gasped, seeming somewhat betrayed, “You have his number? How’d you get your dirty little hands on that?”

“It was for math help! I failed the first quiz and Shinsou gave me his number to call me later and give me extra help.”

Ashido was wearing an expression of disbelief, “And did he?”

Denki frowned, “Yes? Why else would he have given it to me?”

Sero hummed, “Well did you try texting him now?”

“Obviously! He didn’t answer me!” Denki shouted in frustration, everyone around the class pausing in their own conversations and looking over to the blonde, his face going pink.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Ashido comforted, “I saw him get taken away by the ambulance after he passed out, but the medical people didn’t seem too rushed, so it obviously wasn’t an emergency. Besides, I didn’t see any injuries on him-”

Denki slammed his hands flat on his desk and stood up, “Boy was bleeding from his eyes, bro! I’m no doctor, but that can’t be healthy!”

“That’s right,” Tsu nodded while wandering over, “He was in quite a bit of pain too if I recall correctly. Kero kept waving us off though. And Kirishima, how are you?”

“Ah, I’m all good, thanks for asking!” Kirishima chuckled with a huge smile, Denki looking over to see how Bakugou had removed his earphones but didn’t turn around in his desk, his face passive and staring at his hands.

“So what happened exactly? Ashido told me you were in the ruins zone with Bakugou, is that where you got injured?” Sero asked, falling comfortably into his seat with his legs crossed underneath him.

“Um, yeah! Well, Bakubro and I didn’t actually know Ashido was there until we took out all the villains, but there was this person with fingers as knives! I didn’t quite harden in time since it was right after we kinda got our footing, you know? It was my fault, I should have activated my quirk faster and I just got a little cut.”

“Little cut?” Jiro interrupted, “Nah man, you’re a liar. I texted you how you were doing and you sent me a picture. You got, like, eight stitches! It looked pretty gnarly.”

“Do you have the picture?” Ashido whipped around, “Show me! Lemme see!”

As several people began climbing over Jiro’s shoulders and Kirishima stood there visibly embarrassed and repeating how he was fine, Bakugou’s calm face slowly turned into his usual pissed off expression before he whipped around, “Fuck off! Let me see the fucking picture!”

“Wait your turn, Bakugou!” Uraraka shouted while trying to activate her quirk on him, but Bakugou was faster as he snatched Jiro’s phone right from her hands, setting off a few warning explosions before bringing the screen closer to his face. Denki watched the angry boy’s face soften for several moments, then he slowly placed the phone back on Jiro’s desk. The class was silent as Bakugou’s face was almost, well, comfortable for a second as he turned his entire body towards Kirishima, the redhead taking a single step back.

“You got that at the start?” Bakugou asked quietly.

Kirishima only nodded.

Bakugou then nodded once, stiff and quick, before roaring out curse words and launching himself at Kirishima. The taller boy screamed in surprise as he hardened himself, the rest of the class going nuts and shouting over one another.

Sero wrapped tape around both boys frantically as a desk was nearly blown up, Uraraka accidentally smacking Ashido and Kouda and sending them floating for the ceiling as Yaoyorozu was trying to pull them both down, Uraraka so stressed she didn’t even think to deactivate her quirk. Iida was shouting the loudest while trying to calm everyone down, Tokoyami, Shoji and Ojiro moving desks out of the way before either of the fighting boys could injure themselves further.

Sero’s tape was then tugged and he went flying into the pile, accidentally pulling Hakegure down with him. There was more shouting from Bakugou as Denki found himself standing still in the middle of the madness, frozen in place.

“You shouldn’t have fucking done that!” Bakugou roared while planting an explosion right next to Kirishima’s head while Tsu and Uraraka began trying to pull the tape off them.

Denki didn’t feel like fighting. He was tired, he wanted to go home and sleep for countless hours and that was all. It was too noisy and too much was going on, his brain couldn’t process it all at once, so he decided to take care of it himself.

The lights above flickered as Denki lit himself up, electricity winding around his body as he kept his face blank. The room went quiet immediately as all eyes moved to the blonde, his stance visibly threatening and open for a fight.

“Kaminari! It seems you’ve accidentally activated your quirk!” Iida broke the silence, backing up further from the flying sparks.

“It’s not an accident,” Denki deadpanned, “If you all don’t shut the fuck up I’ll release my electricity. If you haven’t experienced my quirk yet, it hurts like shit. Trust me, I would know.”

When no one moved again, Denki upped his currents and expanded the lightning, forcing more people to step back and save themselves.

“What is going on.”

There was a collective gasp from the class as everyone turned to see their teacher, face filled with fury as he erased the quirks of Uraraka, Bakugou and Denki. It only took mere seconds of panic for all tape to be ripped off, desks to be shoved back into place and everyone took their seats, breathing rapidly.

Aizawa stood at the front of the class with a death glare before it softened, “I understand this passing incident has put us all on edge, and I want to apologize. I couldn’t protect you, but know that I’m very proud that you all handled your own. Well, most. Mineta has decided to leave the hero course and that proves my point from the very beginning. Many want to be heroes until they face the harsh reali- Where is Shinsou.”

Denki nodded, “He’s not answering my messages!”

“He usually arrives with you, Sensei.”

The class jumped and turned towards Todoroki. He was here? The way the boy spoke almost seemed accusatory and the entire class was aware of his strange resentment against Shinsou, although no one knew why. Aizawa swore and pressed his lips into a thin line, the class dead silent as he was in thought.

The silence didn’t last long when the door was slammed open, “Wow Toshi! That door is light!”

A blonde with dark circles under her eyes picked a pair of crutches back up and wobbled in, “Hi Shouta! This place is huge, and I just wanted to see everything and meet everyone can I meet Toshi’s friends I’ve only ever seen them before and-”

“Toga,” Shinsou groaned as he shut the door behind himself, “Please, please, just-”

“Shinsou!” Denki, Ashido and Sero shouted at once while they threw their hands up, “You’re here!”

“I wish I wasn’t,” the tired boy deadpanned, “Sorry. Toga’s much faster than someone ever should be on crutches. Also, Mei. Self explanatory.”

Aizawa grunted, “Just sit. Toga, you can sit behind Shinsou at the free desk.”

“Wait,” Tsu pointed, “That’s the vigilante from the USJ, Morphine.”

“And aren’t you the cutest!” the blonde gasped, “You all are!”

“Stop,” Shinsou groaned, “Sit.”

“Sensei!” Iida announced, “Why is there an illegal vigilante in our classroom?”

The girl stuck her tongue out before sitting down, “You suck.”

Aizawa shuffled some papers at the podium, “This is Toga. She’ll be with us for a little while under my supervision since I am currently involved in a peculiar situation. Now everyone shut up and let me go through these stupid announcements.”

Denki spaced out and instead turned in his seat, waving excitedly to Shinsou, who then gave a weak wave back. Maybe this was going to be a good day-

Wait.

Why didn’t Denki go into his Whey mode?

Izuku sat up slowly as shards of glass tumbled from his hair, his body feeling frail and weak. He tried to look around to figure out where he was, he was somewhere yet nowhere at once.

Like a void.

It was colourless but not clear, small but endless, cold but warm against his skin, something but nothing. Izuku found himself incapable of creating any noise as he rolled onto his knees and sat back on his heels, looking up at the expansion of colourless colour he couldn’t describe, it was so bright he had to squint to keep his eyes open.

He lifted his mangled hand to shield his eyes from the sun that didn’t exist, until he could see clearly once more. One of the shadowy creatures floated in front of his eyes, its inky blackness soaking up every ounce of light in this infinite space.

Was this place truly infinite?

How would Izuku ever know?

The creature’s non-existent eyes pierced Izuku’s glare, although for once they didn’t scare him.

Demons really aren't that scary, after all.

It made a sound comparable to a deathly wail, some sort of pained whine as it showed its sharp teeth, long tongue flicking out and nearly touching Izuku’s nose. The greenette just continued to watch the creature have a melt down until he slowly pushed his hand through the ink, the creature going silent immediately.

It stared at Izuku.

Izuku stared back.

Everything felt calm.

The shadow began winding around his arm, over his shoulder and swirling around his torso, then returning back up to face him. It spoke, but not with words or noise.

“Infinite,” it said, although Izuku doesn’t know what that means.

“What’s infinite?” he wanted to ask, but his lips wouldn’t part and his tongue wouldn’t move, so he sat and continued to stare. The creature didn’t continue and Izuku laid down on his back, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

What was infinite? What does it mean to be infinite? Never ending? Yet everything always came to an end, do they not? Sometimes Izuku wonders what his end will be like, he assumes it will be something painful. Everything is always painful for Izuku.

“Do you think he’ll wake up?”

At the words, Izuku tried to sit up and open his eyes to figure out who was speaking, but he was unable to do so.

“I didn’t want to say it with the kids around, but no. I highly doubt he’ll wake up. The damage he took is nearly irreversible, even with science and quirks.”

“So… so he’s dead?”

“As much as I hate to say so, yes, he mind as well be. If he were going to wake up, he would have shown signs. He does have brain activity though, so I cannot say it is impossible either.”

Wait, are they speaking about Izuku?

“Brain activity?”

“Think of it like dreaming.”

“Okay.”

It went silent and Izuku waited for more information, but suddenly his ears hurt at the sound of a voice far too loud, “Wake the fuck up!”

“Hawks! Stop that!”

“Why? If he’s dreaming maybe he can hear me. Maybe he doesn’t know he’s in a coma.”

Izuku’s stomach dropped, what?

“That’s not exactly how it works.”

“Why not?”

“Why n- because that’s just how it is!”

Izuku didn’t want to be in a coma. That wasn’t- what? What’s going on? Izuku tried sitting up, he tried frantically opening his eyes and screaming and making noise, anything to feel alive again. He continued to fight against the non existent forces, internally thrashing and screaming, doing everything he could to ask the voices what was going on.

He didn’t want his end to be infinite here.

Infinite was scary.

Chapter Text

Himiko sat as still and as quietly as possible, she had to be good for Shouta. If she was good, then she could gain some trust back, and then she could go back out to do vigilante work with Touya and Izuku! Because he was going to wake up, he was probably just super tired.

So Himiko sat proper with her hands folded on the top of the desk, her crutches leaning up against the wall and her back completely straight, ignoring the way other kids continued to shoot her looks during the lesson Shouta was giving. He was a very boring teacher. Himiko looked to the clock and-

It’s only been ten minutes? What the heck? She didn’t remember school being this boring and slow, her good leg beginning to bounce up and down ever so slightly as she resisted the urge to drum her fingers against the desk. Alright, she was bored now.

“Hitoshi!” she whined, Shouta abruptly stopping whatever he was reading as all the kids looked up from their books, turning towards the source of noise.

Hitoshi’s face went beet red when he turned in his seat, “What did we say about being quiet?”

“I have been quiet!” Himiko argued back loudly, “Super quiet!”

“Well you’re not being quiet now,” he whisper-shouted back, face somehow becoming even more red, which Himiko secretly found funny.

“Is there a problem, Toga?” Shouta grunted from the front and Himiko nodded, “Yes! There’s a huge problem!”

Shouta’s face quickly became slightly panicked as he put his book down on the podium, “What’s wrong? Is it your ankle? Do we need to go back to the hospital? If only those moronic idiots actually gave you some medical attention-”

“I’m dying!” Himiko shouted, “I’m dying of boredom!”

Shouta’s jaw froze open as he slowly thinned his eyes, “Are you kidding me right now.”

“Has school always been boring?” Himiko ignored Shouta’s obvious frustration, “I thought this was a hero school. Shouldn’t you guys be, like, beating each other up? When I was being trained, that’s what we did with Iz- haha, uh, nevermind!”

“Would you shut up?” a blonde whirled around in their seat, Himiko immediately recognizing the boy. “You shouldn’t even fucking be here, so shut up and be non-existant.”

Himiko laughed loudly in a high pitch tone, startling most in the classroom as she pointed straight at Kacchan.

“I should have let you die!”

“Himiko Toga!” Shouta scolded immediately, “That is enough! You’ll sit here and behave or I’ll be sending you elsewhere. Do you really want me to do that?”

“Oh man, you got called by the whole name,” Hitoshi whispered, “I would shut the fuck up if I were you. When he did that to me it’s because he caught Yamada and I throwing knives in the kitchen. We got in a shit load of trouble.”

Himiko took that to heart and straightened up in her seat, “I’m sorry Shouta, I’ll be good!”

“You better be,” the black haired man gruffed before struggling to re-balance his textbook on his cast, using his other bandaged arm to flip through the pages. Himiko tried listening to what they were talking about, but it was something about morals that she had no interest in. She instead took to studying the people around the room to keep her busy, trying to guess what their quirks were if she couldn’t remember from the USJ.

That didn’t last long before Himiko’s anger rised at Kacchan’s voice while he was answering a question from the textbook, blabbing on about quirks.

“So yeah, quirks can be put on a scale of strongest to weakest, especially when factors are taken into account. Morals or not, quirks are important to how people are treated in society, whether they are treated by someone in a specific way by accident or on purpose. It’s not that fu- hard to understand, you extras.”

Himiko balled her hands into fists, how dare someone like him have the nerve to say something like that? He was the problem when it came to the classification of quirks and power, just ask Izuku! Without thinking, Himiko grabbed one of her crutches like a javelin and Shouta noticed too late as the object arched over Hitoshi’s head, coming down and narrowly missing the top of the explosive boy’s head.

“I don’t like you!” Himiko stood and pounded her fist against the desk after every syllable of her words, Kacchan standing up and whirling around as well.

“You tryna’ fight me, extra?” he roared as explosions sounded from his hands, Hitoshi standing up and putting himself between the two with a tired sigh.

“Maybe I am! We both know I would win!” Himiko shouted back, stepping into the aisle as Kacchan did the same, only to be grabbed by a familiar redhead and, if she remembered correctly, Sero. Hitoshi scooped Himiko up and tossed her over his shoulder effortlessly, using his other hand to scoop up both crutches.

He tugged her skirt down slightly so it covered her completely before making his way to the door, “She’s gonna stay with Nezu now.”

“What?” Himiko squeaked, “He started it! That- that asshole!” Himiko never really liked swearing, but this was different. She was willing to use every single naughty word she’s ever heard slip from Izuku’s mouth and then some, because this guy really deserved it. Why were people defending him?

“He didn’t start it,” Hitoshi spoke back calmly, “You threw your crutch. You know this, Toga.”

“I didn’t do shit!” she spat back, “It was her!”

Hitoshi turned and looked to where Himiko was pointing, eyes landing on the desk that was behind her, a girl with brown hair pulled in a tight ponytail.

“Please don’t blame my classmates for something you clearly did,” Hitoshi snorted, “Although maybe if you blamed it on Kaminari I would have believed you.”

“You can’t shadowban me from a literal classroom!” she cried, “This is anarchy!”

“Do you even know what that word means?” Hitoshi grunted, earning a slap against his back from the blonde, “This is a constitution!”

“Oh god. Toga, what does that even mean?”

“A confederation!”

“That’s just the Canadian agreement for when the whole country-”

“This is a vortex!”

“Okay, now you’re just being stupid.”

Himiko whined a little more until Hitoshi stepped out and the door slammed shut in her face, the blonde finally sighing in a defeated tone before going limp in the taller boy’s hold.

“So,” Nezu finally broke the silence while putting down his empty cup of tea, “Aizawa did mention you had something to tell me?”

Dabi shrunk in on himself further in his seat, lips pulled tight as he tapped the pads of his fingers together, “Um. Yeah.”

Nezu nodded towards him to continue, but Dabi really couldn’t find his words. Should he even consider himself by the name of Dabi anymore? Sometimes he completely forgot his true name was Touya, and the thought of referring to himself as such seemed far too scary. Dabi looked back up to the creature, then returning to a specific spot on the floor he’s been burning holes with his glare for the past dozen minutes.

“Are you nervous to tell me?” Nezu spoke again, “You don’t need to answer that, of course. It is more of an observation than a question.”

Dabi nodded in understanding as he looked at the little trinkets placed on Nezu’s desk, eyeing a strange blue one that seemed like some sort of chain. The principal must have noticed as he leaned forward and pushed the object closer to Dabi, “You can examine it, if you’d like! I just love little hands on puzzles, gets your brain working yet is calming all at once! They’re quite fascinating, don’t you agree?”

Dabi picked up the object, its metal cold to the touch and he hummed something of an answer, shifting the chains around and seeing an object shaped like a key trapped within it, it must be the game.

He hadn’t even noticed how enraptured he was with the stupid toy until Nezu was climbing back into his chair with a fresh cup of tea, “So my friend, are you willing to tell me what’s the matter yet? Enlighten me please, what’s on your mind? Perhaps I can help.”

“You never came to find me in the hospital, to ask about my real identity,” Dabi spoke quietly, keeping his eyes on the trinket.

“Yes,” Nezu admitted, “I came to the conclusion that it would be rather pointless, no? I feel your mind was too preoccupied with other pressing matters, so I was willing to give you a few days. Is that a problem?”

Dabi shook his head no in a childish manner as his legs began bouncing in his seat, “But I should probably tell you, right?”

“That’s right, it would be very helpful if you did rather than hide it for an unknown amount of time.”

Dabi tongued the staples closest to his mouth as he often did when conflicted, his hands trying to busy the key from its chains, it shouldn’t be that hard. Removing the key, that is. And maybe the other thing. Dabi pursed his lips then clicked his tongue quietly, “My name is Touya.”

It felt strange to say out loud, let alone for the second time that day to someone he trusted much less than those he was trapped in a car with earlier this morning.

Nezu smiled kindly, “I appreciate you telling me, Touya. Unless you’d prefer to be called Dabi?”

The man stilled his movements for a moment, no one’s ever actually outright asked him. Sure, Dabi asked Toga and Izuku to call him one, but he’s never been approached with that question. Not even Aizawa did that.

“I don’t know,” he admitted softly, “I don’t really know.”

Nezu hummed, “Is this something currently conflicting you?”

“Always,” Dabi snorted quietly before giving the key a small tug, “But that’s not the problem I have to talk about.”

Nezu smiled in some sort of patient way, taking a quiet sip from his tea then folding his paws together, simply waiting for Dabi to begin. Where could he begin?

“So,” Dabi continued to focus on the trinket, “I had a family before. Like, a mom and dad or whatever.”

Nezu nodded in support, “Yes, that does make sense. Are they still around, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Yeah,” Dabi responded hoarsely, “Yeah, somewhere. Well, I know where, but- ah, whatever. I left eventually, which is obvious because I’m in this situation, but, well, the reason I had to come stay here is because there’s a family member of mine in Aizawa’s class.”

Nezu raised his brows as his eyes sharpened in a calculated manner, “Kyouka Jirou?”

“No-”

“Ah, then that must mean it is Shoto Todoroki, am I correct?”

Dabi’s eyes widened, “How did you-”

“Intelligence is one of my strengths,” Nezu beamed, “So don’t be surprised, it only makes sense. Katsuki Bakugou was actually my third guess.”

Dabi chewed his bottom lip and finally looked up from the trinket through his thick eyelashes, “So?”

“So?” Nezu parrotted, “What do you wish to tell me?”

Dabi didn’t understand, why weren’t people freaking out about this? Shouldn’t Nezu be more alarmed? And Aizawa and Yamada and Hitoshi?

“Your brother, I’m assuming, is very strong, although he seems to have no interest in being here,” Nezu filled the silence, “The other teachers have told me he refuses to socialize with his fellow classmates and does not participate in class. Has he always been like that?”

Dabi thought back to his brother in the early years, the way he would talk too fast for his own tongue to keep up and the way his voice would carry through the house so everyone was forced to listen. Shoto would speak of anything and everything that intrigued him even in the slightest, often fixating on strange topics for long periods of time before randomly moving onto the next.

Dabi still remembers when the kid was addicted to rainboots for several weeks for some reason.

“No,” he breathed, “He was never quiet. Not until-”

Not until Mom was sent away.

Nezu didn’t force Dabi to finish his thought, instead leaning forward a little more with almost a sad expression, “I know this is personal, but why did you leave? Don’t you have three other siblings as well?”

Dabi didn’t want to speak about this, he hasn’t even sat down with Izuku about this kind of thing, even though that boy would probably be able to understand more than most.

“You know,” Nezu leaned back once more, “Before I became a hero and a principal, I was used as a test subject. It’s rare for creatures like me to have intelligence quirks, apparently humans wanted to take advantage of that. If I never reached out to some heroes I am well acquainted with today, I’m not too sure where I would be. It is a frightening past that I do not mention often, but that does not mean it is non-existent.”

Dabi’s eyes trailed the scar through the creature's eye before unknowingly touching his own skin graphs under his eyes, running his fingers along the staples.

“It is why I wish to help you children so much,” Nezu said quietly, “Because I know what it is like. To feel awfully alone, that is.”

But Dabi wasn’t alone, not anymore. And even when he was, his family still existed, he just seemed to forget somehow.

“Shitty life there,” Dabi spat as anger began to boil up slightly. “How could he take everything from me? My quirk, my family, my friend, my own fucking body, everything belonged to him! I couldn’t take it!”

Nezu didn’t flinch as Dabi’s voice continued to climb, “He’s a horrible person! He doesn’t deserve the title of hero, Nezu, it’s not fair! It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair-”

Dabi repeated that phrase over and over again, hands beginning to shake around the trinket and the smile on his face not one of joy. “How dare he call himself a fucking hero,” the man spat angrily, “That word doesn’t mean shit to me anymore because of him. It’s all because of him.”

Nezu’s expression grew dark and sour as he chuckled, “Why, what interesting information this is, wouldn’t you agree?”

Dabi looked up, “What?”

“I have never been a huge fan of Endeavor of course, I don’t appreciate his destructive tendencies, but I had no idea about all of this. How exciting!”

Dabi felt sick, “How is this shit exciting? How could you say that?”

Nezu shook his head, “You misunderstand me, my friend.”

The creature slowly turned to his computer and typed something in, casting another glare to Dabi with a wide smile.

“This is exciting because I get to tear someone down without mercy.”

“So,” Uraraka laughed nervously while the class stretched after training, “Shinsou, hey!”

Hitoshi cracked his back before bending over and touching his toes, “What.”

Uraraka only laughed louder as her eyes glanced over to Iida and Asui, then back to Hitoshi, “So do you, like, know the vigilantes?”

Hitoshi knew it was too suspicious that no one approached him with questions yet, it was bound to happen. He wished it didn’t have to, though. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbled, every single pair of eyes now on him, it made Hitoshi want to squirm.

“Well, you know,” Uraraka waved her hand around as she tried to collect her words, “You seemed very, um, well acquainted with Morphine-”

“Toga,” Hitoshi corrected immediately, “And maybe I am, what’s it to you?”

“You’re getting awfully fucking defensive,” Bakugou spat, “You do illegal shit with them? Murder people?”

Hitoshi couldn’t help but laugh, it never ceased to blow his mind how people love basing all their opinions on what they read online. What a bunch of pigeons. “And where did you hear that?” Hitoshi smiled up at the blonde, “You read that somewhere?”

“To be fair kero, they are vigilantes. They don’t follow rules and killing people isn’t out of the range of possibilities,” Asui said, “Although don’t get me wrong, I’m still grateful that they helped us in the USJ. Say, what happened to the other two? The small one, Chaos, she was real injured.”

Hitoshi stiffened, remembering that while he was here enjoying hero training, Izuku was currently fighting for his life in a hospital alone. What if he woke up and no one was there for him? Would he freak out? Not to mention if he got his hands on a weapon, how would he act once backed into a corner? Izuku’s like a wild animal, it cannot be certain if they’re happy to simply exist, or if they’re out for blood when threatened.

“Shinsou,” Kaminari called, “You still with us? You okay?”

Hitoshi noticed the shake in his legs and the quickness of his breath, “It’s fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” Yaoyorozu frowned, “Is everything alright?”

Hitoshi stood up straight and nuzzled into his scarf, staring into a random space of nothingness as the class had stopped stretching, all now staring at him with waiting expressions.

“You’re friends with all of them, aren’t you?” Kaminari asked gently, looking up and visibly nervous, “I can tell. You’re very on edge today.”

Hitoshi looked down at the blonde then toed the tip of his shoe against the ground, “Yeah, maybe. I can’t really say anything.”

“Why not?” Ashido frowned, “Can we at least know if they’re all okay? They saved our lives, after all.”

“They didn’t do shit!” Bakugou shouted, “I could have handled it myself-”

“But you didn’t!” Hitoshi screamed as he whirled around, he wasn’t going to let people walk over his friends. “You would be nothing but six feet under if it wasn’t for Chaos and you know it! That monster thing was planning on crushing you to dirt, along with Todoroki!”

Bakugou’s chest flared out along with his nostrils, “I don’t need any fucking help from the weak.”

“The weak?” Hitoshi echoed while wearing an expression of disbelief, “You can’t be serious!”

He laughed with wide eyes, breathless and pained as he took a few threatening steps forward, “You are nothing but an egoistic little prick, you know that? You’ll never get anywhere in hero society with a shit attitude like that, constantly looking down on those around you like you’re some sort of god. Let me tell you something, Katsuki.”

Hitoshi bent down to come nose to nose with the spikey blonde, his red eyes wide in anger and surprise.

“You’re not a god. All you are is a fucking bully. A shitty bully and if you never change, that’s all you’ll ever be. Ever.”

Hitoshi stood back up and chuckled, “Chaos is in a coma. Has been since the USJ. Don’t ask me any more fucking questions or I’ll brainwash the shit out of you.”

No one approached Hitoshi for the rest of the afternoon, not even Bakugou.

Nezu didn’t speak much the rest of the day, leaving Dabi to sit in the same spot and play with the trinkets on his desk, working through the puzzles and trying to ignore his building anxiety. Toga was distracted with a computer for about an hour before she grew restless again, Midnight coming in and bringing her for a walk around the school.

Then they ate in Nezu’s office with Aizawa and Yamada in silence, Dabi mainly picking at his food and pushing it around before he dumped it onto Toga’s plate, the blonde inhaling it like she had been starving for weeks. Then he sat for more time while Nezu was focused on whatever task he was working on, Toga asleep on the floor and sprawled out dramatically.

Dabi eyed the clock for the fifth time that hour, legs bouncing every which way when Nezu finally sighed, “You are aware you’ll need to meet with your family. It doesn’t have to be your father, but don’t you think your siblings deserve to know you’re okay?”

Dabi’s stomach felt like it dropped off the face of the earth, something he wishes he could do with his physical being right now.

“Don’t panic on me,” Nezu’s voice said clearly and calmly, keeping him from spiralling further, “This doesn’t have to be tomorrow, and I will not force you to do this. But you must understand, Dabi- no, Touya. Touya, you need to understand that if you wish to have this second chance and take it in full stride, you need to take these jumps of faith, no matter how scary. Ignoring problems will only cause them to build, not go away.”

Dabi- fuck it. It’s an ugly name.

Touya.

Yeah, Touya clenched his hands into fists, breathing in slowly as Toga stirred from down below ever so slightly, rolling around and getting more comfortable. Nezu pushed some green tea closer to the man and waited until a sip was taken before smiling once more, although it was more forced than genuine.

Nezu’s smile seemed sad.

“Tell me,” the creature hummed, “What is it that you fear so much about meeting your loved ones once again?”

Touya paused, breath hitching as he screwed his eyes shut, struggling to get the words to come out. Is this what Izuku means when he mentions how speaking can be hard? Is this why Izuku will fall silent for several days in a row, even weeks every so often? His tongue felt weak and useless, it felt like his throat was closing and his jaw was fighting itself to slam shut. But Touya wanted to speak, he needed to.

“What if,” he finally got out after many minutes, “What if they hate me?”

Nezu frowned and opened his mouth to respond, but Touya spoke first, “I know I would if I were them.”

It was silent for a long time after that, Nezu simply staring at the shaking man across the desk, face pulled tight in thought and contemplation. Touya’s legs began to bounce again as he grabbed another trinket from the desk, this one made of smooth wood as he tapped a rhythm on the solid texture, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Touya,” Nezu asked gently, “Why do you say they would hate you? It is my understanding that your father wasn’t very kind, it is understandable that you felt the need to leave, it was toxic there, correct?”

Touya stared down at his worn in leather boots and tapped his toes together quietly for a beat, then answered with a whisper, “I left them behind without even saying goodbye.”

Nezu nodded, “But did you really have a choice?”

“That’s enough!”

Touya startled at the shout as he took a few steps backwards, cornered against the wall of his bedroom. “Back up!” he shouted in return, “This is my room! We already trained today, I want to eat something!”

“You haven’t earned-”

“I trained for hours, old man! Let me fuckin’ eat some shit, it’s been days without a proper fucking meal!”

“I told you, cutting back on food is necessary if you want to burn your fat to mus-”

“I don’t care! I just want to eat!”

A swift hand came across Touya’s face as he slumped down the wall onto his butt, face stinging in pain and burning in embarrassment.

“Shut up,” Endeavor spat, “You insolent child, how dare you speak to me like that. You are my creation, my prodigy, you’ll do as told if you wish to continue under my roof. Follow orders. Is that understood?”

Touya could distantly hear the laughter from Natsuo and Fuyumi outside, most likely playing soccer or skipping rope. He couldn’t help but be jealous, he hasn’t laughed since Mom was taken away. It’s been nearly two years.

“Touya, will you follow my orders?”

Despite the tears brimming his eyes and the tremble of his bottom lip, Touya snapped his head up with a manic smile, ignoring the red and white strands falling into his eyes.

“I’d rather die.”

It happened quickly as the sound of skin meeting bones echoed through the room for countless minutes, blood splattering onto the ground from Touya’s broken nose and raw skin splitting. “What a waste of a quirk,” Endeavor spat as Touya was tossed into a dresser, causing the picture frame of his mother to topple over and shatter on the hardwood floor, the old man laughing like something was funny.

“I’ve had enough of you. Shoto is all I need now, so die for all I care.”

“I will!” Touya shouted back as he fisted the broken glass, feeling the shards stab into his skin and tear his hand up, “I hate you! I fucking hate you!”

Night had fallen so no one was around to see Endeavor dragging his eldest son by the hair down the hallway, the small legs kicking and bloody hands trying to fight the fist pulling him along. The door opened and Touya was launched out, falling down the steps and slamming the back of his head hard on the way down, coughing and spluttering through the burning tears that had begun to come from his eyes red.

“Get out of my sight,” Endeavor sneered, “And let’s make one thing clear. I am the reason your Mother lives. She depends on my money. So if you return, her fate will be in your hands. Go disappear. Go die. I don’t fucking care anymore. Never let me see that failure of a face again.”

Touya’s eyes widened, “No, no, that’s not fair- leave Mom out of it!”

“You should have thought about the consequences before you decided to be such a mistake. Perhaps Shoto will not fail like you.”

No, no, no, no, no.

Was Shoto about to take his place? Touya never wanted to be trained, but now would his little brother have to face the fate he was exposed to? At least Touya didn’t start training until he was seven, and most of the days were spent at an actual facility, he only had to train with Endeavor on weekends.

But Shoto, Shoto was only four when Endeavor decided to start his training, he had to start the day his quirk presented. At least Touya could do the training first, to take the brunt of the anger. But now, now Shoto would be stuck by himself all day with that monster!

“Dad!” Touya wailed, “You can’t-”

“I can. And I just have. I will take care of ridding of your existence, your siblings will forget about you. Everyone will, and it’s for the best. You’re such a disgrace, after all. Get out of my sight before I decide to get more violent.”

The door was slammed shut and Touya stayed on his hands and knees while he caught his breath, blood still splattering onto the pavement below him.

He was fourteen.

What the fuck was a fourteen year old supposed to do without any money? He couldn’t even stay with anyone, Keigo was-

Touya shook his head and stood up on shaking legs, ignoring the pain and the spinning of his vision.

He couldn’t return home.

This wasn’t his choice.

“No,” Touya’s voice cracked, “I didn’t have a choice. I- no.”

“So why would your siblings hate you?” Nezu asked again, leaning across the desk with something burning in his eyes and his voice dead serious.

Touya’s eyes widened, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know,” Nezu echoed, “And if you don’t know, neither will they. It is clear that leaving your siblings was something very difficult for you, so don’t you wish to be with them again?”

Yes, more than anything. Touya wonders if they would like Toga, Izuku, Hitoshi and Mei. Fuyumi would, that’s for sure.

“But, I can’t,” Touya whispered as the words of his father echoed in his mind, “If my old man finds out I’m around my siblings again... it's not an option.”

“A threat, was it,” Nezu mumbled under his breath as he turned to his computer, “Who do I have to eliminate?”

“Woah!” Touya waved his hands, “No, not that! Izuku would be upset if I was involved in a murder anyways.”

“But what was the threat?”

Touya looked out the window and drew in a deep breath, was he really about to do this?

“You’ve come so far today,” Nezu smiled, “Please, let me help you.”

Touya spilled.

“So how was everyone’s day?”

Hizashi waited for responses from Shouta, Toga, Shinsou and Dabi, yet no one was quick to respond. Hizashi nodded awkwardly, “Alright, I’ll start, how about that? My day was pretty good, my students were decently quiet, I had a fantastic talk with Nemuri, and yeah! That’s about it! Toga, why don’t you go?”

“I threw stuff and got banned.”

“Okay! Shinsou?”

“I was the one who did the banning. Also nearly committed murder.”

“Very nice! Dabi?”

“It’s Touya now.”

“We’ll break that down later! And Sho?”

“Broke up several fights. Students were feral and made me want to die.”

“Awesome! So today was, um, a day! Cool!”

Shouta sighed heavily and looked over his shoulder, “Shinsou, why did All Might approach me all anxious after your class training? Something about an argument?”

The boy scoffed and stared out the window with a snarl on his face, “All Might can choke on my scarf.”

“I’m being serious. I know you’re not exactly a people person, Shinsou, but I can’t have you causing shit in class, alright? Everyone’s already on edge and I don’t need you stirring the pot,” Shouta responded as he heard Shinsou blow something of a raspberry at him with his eyes still casted out the window.

“Can we go back to the hospital now,” Toga asked quietly and Shouta could only sigh.

“Not yet. We’re going to go back to the apartment, we’re going to feed you brats then Hizashi and I have to figure some more stuff out. We can go tomorrow, he’s not going anywhere.”

“Cruel joke,” Hizashi cringed, “But yeah, what Sho said. We need to take care of some things and I’m sure Izuku just wants to rest. You’re all very loud.”

“We are not!” Toga shouted, eyes going wide at the realization before clearing her throat and whispering, “We are not.”

“You can spend time with Mika,” Hizashi sang like a little bribe, “And we can have some ice cream after dinner.”

Shouta looked in the mirror to see how Toga’s lips were still pulled in a frown, but she didn’t argue and stayed quiet, not saying much. In fact, no one spoke as they returned home, Shinsou heading to his room and slamming the door shut like the teenager he is. Dabi- Touya- The man went for the balcony and shut the door behind him, sitting down and slumping against the rail as Toga hid herself under a pile of blankets with the kitten, her whispered words muffled as she spoke to herself.

Hizashi prepared dinner in a strange silence, he didn't even put the radio on to listen to his usual stupid English pop songs. Shouta sat himself at the kitchen table while multitasking, both correcting today’s quizzes his class completed as well as scrolling through their prefectures housing, writing down different words and numbers he would probably get confused with later.

“Dinner’s ready,” Hizashi mumbled as Shouta understood what he was asking, shutting his laptop and lifting the blankets from Toga, “Time to eat.”

She looked up at him with an irritated expression, scrunching her nose before hobbling to her feet and grumbling under her breath as she headed for the kitchen. Next he knocked on the glass and the man spun around, flipping him off with both hands and stalking past him without another word, slamming the door shut with more force than necessary.

Shouta sighed heavily and blew some stray hairs from his face, making his way down the hall and knocking on Shinsou’s room, “It’s time to eat, kid.”

There was no sound of movement inside so Shouta cracked the door open ever so slightly to peak in, his heart nearly missing a beat. Shinsou was curled on his bed with his back to the door, but even with the pillow pressed against his face his muffled cries could be heard.

The kid sounded like he was choking on his own spit and Shouta stood in the doorway panicked for a moment, he wasn’t good at this emotional stuff. Anger is one thing, but sadness and tears is a whole other world.

With another sigh, Shouta forced himself into the room and shut the door, only loud enough to create some noise. Shinsou’s back tensed and he sucked a quick breath in, the pillow clutched tighter against his chest. Shouta sat on the edge of the bed and bit on his bottom lip, trying to figure out where to start. He looked over his shoulder to get a better look at the boy, noticing his mauve eyes were wide as he stared at the wall, face red and under eye bags worse than normal.

“What’s wrong?”

Oh, real eloquent.

Good work, Shouta.

Shinsou huffed, “What the fuck do you think?”

Shouta rotated ever so slightly, lifting himself further on the bed to look at Shinsou properly, both of them slimming their eyes at one another. “I think there are a lot of things you could be upset about right now,” Shouta hummed, “Including why you were so snappy with your classmates today. Is it Izuku?”

Shinsou ducked his head again and tried to hide himself, but Shouta found himself reaching forward and grabbing the boy’s wrist with his good hand, pulling him back to face him, “I’m serious, kid. Talk to me.”

Shinsou sat up a little straighter while still hugging his pillow, resting his chin on the top of it and keeping his red rimmed eyes on the ceiling, “I don’t know. I just feel- I don’t know how I feel. It’s like my brain is confused.”

Shouta found himself frowning slightly as he placed a gentle hand on the boy’s knee, “Honestly, me too. Don’t tell anyone this, but I don’t actually hate the brat like I do everyone else. As annoying and loud and stupid as he is, I care about him or whatever. I think I’m scared, sad and a little bit angry.”

Shinsou stared at him with a flat face before smiling slightly, “You’re such a loser.”

“What? Why?”

The purple haired boy shook his head with a watery smile, wiping his tears on his pillowcase, “Nevermind. Thanks.”

Shouta found himself smiling as he rolled his eyes, “You never answered my question.”

“About why I’m upset? That’s the truth, I don’t know and that in itself is stressing me out. Everything is going wrong and it’s fucking, it’s fucking stressing me out.”

Shouta moved closer and very awkwardly wrapped an arm around Shinsou’s shoulders, “And you’re taking your medication?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, that’s good. Well, things will get better. I know that sounds like a load of bullshit, but it will. I just have a feeling.”

“A feeling?” Shinsou leaned onto Shouta’s shoulder and looked up at him, “Sounds stupid to me.”

“You sound stupid.”

“No you.”

Shouta chuckled and squeezed the boy a little tighter, “Do you want to go eat? Hizashi made another American meal, should be interesting.”

“Oh god,” Shinsou cringed, “Hopefully it won’t taste like the last one he made.”

“It smelt good this time, that had to be good news. Right?”

Shinsou laughed, “Are you asking me that?”

“I think so?”

Shinsou got up and wiped his eyes a few more times, shaking himself out before looking back over his shoulders with a rare soft smile, “Thanks Aizawa. Means a lot.”

Oh god, did Shouta’s heart just grow a size? Disgusting.

Shinsou left the room and Shouta sat there for a second more, trying to wrap his mind around what his life had become. His eyebrows raised as it slowly dawned on him, the realization of what he has become.

“Wait, am I a fucking dad now?”

Izuku has now lost the concept of time, not that he really had it in the first place. He’s been stuck in the same position for an infinite eternity, his body ached from fighting against the physical force of nothingness.

He couldn’t even open his eyes, was the shadowy creature still watching with its empty expression? It almost felt like Izuku was floating in a void, as if he were simply existing and not living. Why he wanted to open his eyes so badly, he could not say for sure, but it was the only thing on his mind right now. All he needed to do was open his eyes, why was it so hard?

“But Izuku, don’t you want to be with me again?”

…

Huh?

“I miss you so much and now you’re almost here, so why are you turning back? Just come a little closer.”

Izuku stopped fighting for a moment because at the sound of his mother’s voice, he felt strangely tired. But why would she want him to stay here in this infinite void? It has nothing to offer, yet wherever else Izuku was trying to go did. He didn’t know what the other world was offering, but he knew he wanted to find out.

“Just keep your eyes closed and you’ll see me soon, honey.”

No, Izuku couldn’t keep his eyes closed. It wouldn’t be right. He misses his mom more than anything, but she can wait.

She has to wait.

So Izuku took to ignoring her voice as well as the burn in his body, trying everything to move a single muscle in his body. Why was this so difficult? Why couldn’t he just be normal? All he wanted to do was go back, even though Izuku wasn’t sure where he was trying to go.

But luckily Izuku doesn’t have to understand, he trusts them.

Hawks continued to stare at Izuku with a burning gaze, he was put in charge of the kid while Midnight went home for the day and Recovery Girl was busy attending to other things around the hospital.
He sat cross legged in a chair with red feathers piled in all of his pockets so his wings wouldn’t get in the way, looming over the boy.

Hawks felt really weak lately and it was becoming more and more difficult to make himself look normal even with all the make up he wore. His skin has lost its tan and his face has become sunken in a little more and yeah, maybe stress was beginning to get to him, but he was fine.

Everything was fine.

“Wake up,” Hawks asked for the fifth time that hour, his lips pursed as if it would actually work. When Midoriya didn’t respond, he sat back again and rested his chin on the railing of the bed, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“You know,” he mumbled, “Your friend reminds me of someone. It’s been making me feel, um, sick, I think.”

Hawks sighed and rolled his face over again, “I don’t know. I’m probably crazy or whatever, it’s not like he’s around anymore, but, maybe. Gah, I’m being stupid again. But, you know, what if I’m not? Just, I haven’t actually seen his face properly or anything, but he admitted he’s around my age, I saw the tips of his hair but it was kinda grey?”

Hawks ended while mainly questioning himself, continuing on with his ramble, “I mean, hair dye exists so that can’t be actual proof… but it’s just the vibe he gives off! Ugh, just wake up so I can ask you. You’re annoying. I’m just kidding, you’re not annoying I’m sure you’re a very good kid. But seriously, this is getting to me so wake up and answer my stupid questions.”

Hawks looked over to the heart monitor and of course, nothing.

Of course.

He sat up and leaned over to adjust Midoriya’s blanket, smoothing out any wrinkles and making sure he wasn’t tucked in too tight, then brushing the hair from his eyes and out of the way of all the tubes.

“Just, wake up kid. You’re scaring everyone,” Hawks whispered, “I want to meet you properly now.”

But luckily Izuku doesn’t have to understand, he trusts them.

Hawks folded his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, looking back down to the boy. With a breathy exhale that was meant to be a chuckle, the blonde placed a gentle hand on Midoriya’s torso, giving just a gentle squeeze of encouragement, “You can do it, come on.”

There was no movement from the body, but Hawks tensed as the beeping from the heart monitor picked up ever so slightly, no one else would have noticed the sound increased except for someone like him, who was always on edge.

He sat frozen in the same position as the heart rate steadily inclined, becoming louder and louder in the silent and empty room. Something then brushed up against the exposed skin of Hawks’ inner wrist and he pulled back sharply.

Midoriya’s index finger twitched.

Hawks screamed loudly in shock, perhaps fear, excitement, he wasn’t sure.

But he screamed really fucking loud.

“Oh my god!” he exclaimed as he shot out of his seat, tripping over the leg of the chair and falling hard before stumbling back up, ripping the door open, “Where’s Recovery Girl?”

The officer at the door startled and pointed, “She’s just down the hall talking to someone-”

“Go fuckin’ get her!”

The poor woman ran off as Hawks streaked back in, chanting “Wake up!” over and over again as if he was casting a spell.

“Hawks? What’s the matter?” Recovery Girl waddled in with her cane, “Is everything alright?”

“The thing is going beep faster and he poked me!”

“What?” the old woman rushed over faster and got up on a stool to quickly examine Midoriya before her eyes widened, then pressing a blue button on the wall.

Midoriya’s shoulders twitched and his head jerked lightly, hair sprawling out on the pillow. His left arm jerked violently and a few needles ripped from his skin, Recovery Girl leaning over and holding his arm down, only for the kid’s right leg to kick out.

“Is this a seizure?” Hawks asked as Recovery Girl ignored him, focused on keeping the boy still as a few nurses rushed in and started injecting certain medicines that he didn’t know.

“Were you expecting him to wake so soon?” a man asked, sounding quite jostled.

Recovery Girl shook her head, “I wasn’t expecting him to wake at all!”

There was a very brief moment of silence before heavy coughing erupted, several people shouting over one another to remove the tube. Hawks watched as a long tube was carefully pulled from Izuku’s throat, the blonde wanted to gag just by watching.

“The oxygen mask!”

“Get another I.V drip!”

“I need some bandages, he’s split some healing wounds!”

“I think he just bit me!”

“Give him some space!”

Hawks peered through the nurses to see Midoriya’s nose twitch, thick green eyelashes fluttering as they pulled back slowly, dull eyes staring up at the ceiling.

“Midoriya? Hello,” Recovery Girl smiled gently, “Are you with us? Can you move?”

The boy didn’t respond at first until his head rolled to the side, looking right into Hawks’ eyes with desperation. His voice came out hoarse and quiet, it was missed by most except for the winged hero’s sharp ears.

“Can- c-can you d-dooo som -mmm- something for me-me?”

The kitchen table was painfully awkward as Hizashi kept trying to make conversation, but no one answered, not even Toga, who was usually happy to shout around with Hizashi. Guess it’s true that blondes are loud. Except for today, that is.

Shinsou pushed his food around on his plate while the white haired man simply stared at his, leaving it completely untouched and still.

“Your brother hates me by the way,” Shinsou grumbled, “Always starin’ at me and shit. Makes me want to punch him.”

“Maybe he thinks you’re cute.”

“Fuck off. That’s gay.”

“Kind of the point.”

“Shut up!”

“Stop it!” Shouta shouted over the two, “I’m not in the mood for this crap!”

“None of us are,” Toga sneered, “You’re not special, old man.”

“Toga,” Hizashi frowned, “That was mean! Sho’s not old.”

“Says you, old man number two.”

Shinsou stared at Dabi? Touya? for a little longer before throwing a fist, knocking his plate and causing ketchup to splatter all over the ground, some getting on Mika.

“Fuck off!” the older man roared back, grabbing the purple hair and throwing the boy right out of his chair, causing him to hit the ground hard and cry out in pain and frustration.

Shinsou yanked the white haired man right out of his chair by his ankle, the two immediately beginning to roll around on the ground with fists flying, Toga screaming at them while Shouta grabbed his scarf and tossed it on, throwing both boys apart.

Shinsou was crying again and the other was practically shaking in anger which then only made Toga cry. Shouta was prepared to yell when his phone suddenly went off, so he immediately pulled it from his pocket to look at the text.

> Hawks: Click to download image.

Shouta frowned and clicked the image, watching it load as Hizashi looked over his shoulder, the three kids slowly inching closer and looking over his hands to see the screen.

There it was, a picture of Hawks’ face smushed gently against Izuku’s, his oxygen mask covering most of his expression yet his green eyes were visible, crinkled with a weak smile. Hawks was beaming as well with pink cheeks, most likely from exhaustion and stress, Recovery Girl spotted in the background with her cane extended towards the back of Hawks’ neck.

Another notification popped down at the top of his screen.

> Hawks: u can’t get rid of me bitch - izu

Within seconds the entire household broke into chaos, everyone trying to gather their shoes and jackets and phones and keys while still screaming at one another in pure panic and relief and anxiety and pent up stress.

The screaming didn’t stop in the car when Toga only had one shoe on, in which belonged to Hizashi, but at least she was doing better than the other two. Shinsou had on one ketchup covered sock on and Touya, well Touya had somehow lost a shirt. And Hizashi couldn’t find his prescription glasses, meaning Shouta was the one driving, so that was also the reason why they were going ninety on a sixty road.

“Watch the- red light! Red light!” Shinsou cried as Shouta went right through the intersection illegally, eyes blown wide in concentration like this was some sort of real life Mario Kart game.

“You’re such a bad driver!” Toga shrieked as he nearly swerved into the wrong lane and Touya shouted back, “You were right Hitoshi! The gays can’t drive! Maybe you should have driven!”

“Boy do I have news for you then!”

“Wait Toshi- I said- Shouta! Wrong fucking side of the road!”

Shouta swerved back over as Hizashi screamed, “We’re gonna die before we even get to the hospital!”

Yeah.

Maybe.

Chapter Text

Izuku refused to answer any questions asked and for several reasons after he woke up.

One, he didn’t want to.

Two, when he spoke his throat felt like it was melting away.

Three, he was stuttering again, just like he has regressed to the age of four.

“I heard you speak young man, don’t pretend you can’t hear me now!” Recovery Girl scolded gently as she cleaned some of his wounds that had split open, mainly the ones on his torso since three of his four limbs were still in large, heavy casts, meaning he couldn’t even make a run for it.

As he’s been doing the past several minutes, Izuku continued to stare at a random dot on the ceiling with heavy eyes, ignoring the blonde man that wouldn’t move away from his face.

“Could you hear me when you were dead?” Hawks asked, earning a sharp smack from Recovery Girl followed by, “He was in a comatose, not dead!”

Izuku couldn’t really make sense of anything. He remembered dreaming of a room with two doors, in which there were people, yet who he could not recall. Was Kacchan there at one point? And a river. Something with sharp teeth. And did he speak to his mother or was he seriously just delusional?

“Midoriya,” Hawks sang again, “Are you still in a coma?”

Oh god, this man was annoying as fuck.

“Hawks, please! Midoriya is most likely both physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted, give him some room,” the healing hero sighed, “And Midoriya, I cannot use my quirk to heal you any further, it could kill you. I couldn’t use it either while you were unconscious since your body was already extremely low on energy, so we’ll have to let a couple days pass by before another session. Is that understood?”

Izuku still didn’t respond.

“Maybe he’s gone deaf,” Hawks pointed out.

“No, I’ve checked his canals and internal functions, he can hear us just fine, he’s simply decided to be stubborn.”

Still with an emotionless expression, Izuku stared up and could see the sun going down from his peripheral vision, painting the sky in faded and blended colours. He felt oddly calm for someone who was apparently in a severe coma, and despite all the rest he felt real tired, maybe he could just shut his eyes for a few moments and-

“Izuku!”

The door slammed open to reveal five very disheveled people all trying to squeeze through the doorway, several shoes missing and one shirt. Hitoshi was the first to get through the doorway, Izuku noting the smell of ketchup, and nearly threw Hawks out of the way, his eyes rimmed dark red and still watery.

“You big asshole!” he screamed although his words had no bite to them, placing both his hands gently on either sides of Izuku’s face with a trembling chin.

Toga and Dabi were over next, Recovery Girl having to stop Toga from jumping on him, so the blonde took to kneeling in a chair and resting her hands in Izuku’s hair while crying.

“Hey kid,” Hizashi leaned over Dabi’s shoulders, Hitoshi moving over and allowing both older men to get closer to the bed. Without hesitation, the lanky blonde leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Izuku’s temple, “Thank god you’re okay, we were all so- ah! Why are you crying?”

Slow, hot tears dripped down the sides of Izuku’s face, tracing his jawline before falling onto the pillow supporting his head, some getting caught on the oxygen mask and the strange tubes connected to his neck. Without even trying to speak, Izuku knew why he was crying. It was strange and unfamiliar to see all these people so worried about his well-being, he’s never really experienced this kind of thing before.

“He’s most likely overwhelmed,” Dabi spoke softly, “Try to be calm, guys.”

Shouta hummed and wiped the tears from Izuku’s face with a feather light touch, his eyes soft despite the dark bags under his eyes, his stress visible.

“I texted Mei,” Hitoshi mumbled, “She should be here soon. I couldn’t decode her keyboard smash but I think she’s on the way.”

Recovery Girl forced them to back up as she got back to removing certain tubes, adding some in certain places and switching around specific objects. Izuku couldn’t really care to watch her movements.

“I’m going to take the oxygen mask off, okay? Your lungs seem capable of functioning on their own despite your previously broken ribs and internal bleeding, but you have to notify me immediately if you find breathing difficult,” the woman explained slowly as she did just that, removing the mask from Izuku’s face and pausing for a moment, watching the heart monitor.

“Okay,” she hummed to herself in a satisfied tone, “I’m taking your blood tests down to the lab, no one do anything stupid.”

Dabi helped Izuku take small sips of water for a few moments before the greenette lightly pushed the cup away, coughing and tonguing the cuts in his chapped lips, anxious under all the stares.

“Can you speak?” Toga frowned slightly, “You haven’t said anything.”

Izuku didn’t respond at first, staring down at his bandaged body before looking over to Hawks. The blonde startled, “Ah! Um, he said a sentence but I think it was a little hard for him, his throat probably hurts. He had a super long tube in there.”

Izuku didn’t really listen to the growing conversation, his eyes instead glued to Dabi’s strange expression, his shoulders pulled to his ears and his eyes wide, hands clutching his knees. Izuku made a humming noise far too quietly for anyone to hear except for Dabi, the man’s ice eyes flicking up to him. Izuku then widened his eyes slightly, flicked them down to Dabi’s hands, then back up, hoping he was conveying his question across.

Ever since they met, the two have been good at reading one another’s body language, and it’s only gotten stronger with time as Dabi obviously understood, tilting his head slightly to Hawks. Izuku eyed the hero in question, not quite understanding what his friend was getting at.

Maybe he didn’t like Hawks? The hero has worked with Endeavor quite a few times, so that could explain why he felt defensive in his presence.

“I guess we should take the time and catch you up on everything,” Shouta sighed as he sat down, Hawks awkwardly showing himself out while the others also took a seat. Izuku continued to stare at the ceiling as Shouta explained what was going on and what the plan was, but he found it hard to pay attention while his brain was feeling fuzzy, yet he did his best nonetheless.

Hawks made several laps around the hospital hallways with dazed eyes, ignoring the concerned doctors that kept trying to ask him if he was okay. The heels of his boots were dragging heavily as he made his third lap, only to slam into someone who was coming around the opposite corner.

“Oh shit, sorry ma- ah!”

Hawks rubbed the back of his head and looked up slowly, the familiar shirtless man hastily turning away from him and covering the back of his hair with his hands very unsuccessfully, the tufts of white, grey and stray red and black strands spilling over.

“Nah, I should’ve been paying attention,” Hawks heard himself mumble quietly, although he didn’t feel very present. His mind was too busy staring at the thick, faded scar on the small of the man’s back, just below some of his staples pinching his skin together, several missing and creating an uneven pattern.

“You’ve got a scar there,” Hawks said softly as the man scoffed sarcastically, “Really? I had to fuckin’ idea.”

The blonde ignored the quippy response and removed one of his gloves without thinking, reaching up and pressing his index finger against the specific scar he found so mesmerizing, watching the muscles ripple in shock under his touch. It looked exactly like the one he’s given someone before by accident, a long time ago.

The man, Dabi was it? Dabi jerked forward immediately and Hawks let his hand fall limp back into his lap, a strange and uncomfortable pressure building up behind his eyes.

“You’ve got a scar there,” he repeated slowly, but a little more louder this time, struggling to his feet and taking a step forward.

“Remember,” Hawks ducked his head, “You called me Tweety Bird. Remember that?”

“Stop that!”

Hawks looked up from his textbook sprawled on his bed and rolled over, looking at his roommate with a confused expression, “What’d I do this time?”

The red haired boy glared at him with a tired stare, arms crossed and leaning against the wall behind his own bed, “You know what you did! You’re doing it on purpose!”

Hawks frowned deeply as his bushy eyebrows pinched together in frustration, looking around to see what he did. There were a few feathers askew that he accidentally left around, but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

Hawks’ new roommate was kind of strange, the most random things ticked him off. Such as the time Hawks didn’t hang up his shower towel on the hook and instead hung it on the door, or the time when Hawks didn’t put his training shoes straight against the closet door and they were too far out.

So that’s exactly what he looked for, getting up from his bed and checking his shoes, they were in the right place.

Towel, in the right place.

Toothbrush, in the right place.

Everything was in the right place.

Hawks frowned and stood in the middle of the room with his hands balled in tiny fists on his hips, turning his head in circles several times before he sighed, “I don’t know! Why are you so upset?”

His friend's face wasn’t pinched anymore, his expression had become slack and somewhat guilty, “Wait, you seriously don’t know?”

“No! Of course not! I wouldn’t upset you on purpose!”

The boy with blue eyes suddenly broke into soft laughter and Hawks’ shoulders went slack, this was the first time he heard his laughter.

It was really pretty.

“Awe man, this is gold!” Touya- oops. Wildfire.

Wildfire gasped between breaths, “Hawks, are you serious?”

“What? Is there something on my face?”

Wildfire shook his head and pulled his knees to his chest, balancing his book on his thighs and hiding his face once again and saying something that Hawks missed. He heard something, just not clearly. Hawks leapt onto Wildfire’s bed and sat right on the boy’s feet, knocking his book away and resting his chin on both his knees, “Wha’d’ja say?”

Wildfire’s eyes widened when Hawks leaned into his personal space and turned his face to the side, “I said nothin’.”

“You totally said something! I heard you!”

Wildfire pushed his entire face back with one hand and Hawks slumped onto the mattress, rolling over and still staring at his friend, “Tell me what I was doing!”

“You were, like, making noises, okay?”

“What noises? I don’t mutter.”

“You were chirping and whistling! I thought you were doing it to piss me off.”

Hawks' face felt hot suddenly as he laughed anxiously, quickly getting up off the bed and returning to his own, “Sorry. I didn’t notice,” he paused and continued quietly, “The adults don’t like it either. I’ll try to stop now.”

Hawks went back to his book, lying on his stomach and facing away from Wildfire before the mattress bent down slightly, a book coming down next to his own. Wildfire laid in the same way to be shoulder to shoulder and returned to his reading without saying anything for several minutes, until he broke the silence.

“I don’t mind the sound. It’s kind of nice I guess.”

Hawks tilted his head over, “It’s nice?”

“Pretty. It sounds like the birds outside in the early morning.”

“Did you just call my chirping pretty-”

“Shut up, Tweety Bird.”

“Agh! Tweety Bird?”

“Yeah, that’s you. Tweety Bird.”

And maybe Hawks was okay with that.

The man was still until he lowered his hands ever so slightly, “Yeah. ‘S just a dumb nickname or whatever.”

Hawks looked down at his shoes, still trying to figure out why his eyes felt so hot, but then something wet hit his face. He frowned further and looked up to see if there was a leak in the ceiling, only to find the water was increasing and it wasn’t coming down from above.

No, it was coming from his eyes.

Hawks sniffed heavily and kept trying to wipe the tears away with a flat expression, but they wouldn’t stop falling. Why wouldn’t they stop falling?

“Are you crying?”

The blonde looked back to the scar and sniffed, “No. I don’t cry.”

“It sounds like you’re crying.”

“I’m not.”

“But you are. Why are you crying?”

Hawks sighed and leaned against the wall, sliding down until he sat in a crouched position, watching the man lean against the wall as well with his face still tilted to the other side, not clearly visible. “You’ll think I’m crazy if I tell you,” Hawks chuckled sadly, tugging on the fluffs of his jacket.

“I already think you’re crazy, touchin’ by back and shit.”

“Fair point,” the blonde hugged his knees gently, “You just remind me of someone that I lost, that’s all.”

“You lost?” Dabi sounded vaguely interested now, shifting his weight from foot to foot, in which Hawks was just now noticing that he was barefooted, “Did they die?”

“I don’t know,” Hawks admitted, “He just kind of left me without saying goodbye. I tried to ask his family about him, but they kept pushing me away and ignoring me. I think he passed away, they have a shrine of him in their home they let me visit once, but that’s it. I just don’t understand. I get mad about it sometimes.”

Dabi shifted some more, “Why mad? It’s not the dude’s fault if he’s literally dead.”

Hawks chuckled, “I’m not mad because of that. I’m just mad that he left, but I guess I don’t blame him one bit, but. Just wish I could’ve gone with him.”

“Gone with him to fucking die?”

The blonde stiffened at the realization of what he had just said, but there was no point in denying something that was so true, “Yes. I would have gone anywhere if it meant staying with him.”

“Why?”

Hawks shrugged, he could feel Dabi’s eyes on him, clinging onto every word, “I don’t know. Just would’ve, there’s nothing really behind it. I was happy around him, that’s all there is to it.”

“You’re fuckin’ bat-shit crazy. So dramatic. You’re acting like you haven’t been happy since. You’re a top hero, for god's sake. Nothing really to complain about, right?”

Hawks bit on his bottom lip lightly and looked to the side, “Yeah. Right. I’m a hero, so…”

Suddenly there was a gentle hand in his hair, dull fingernails scratching over his scalp lightly, “Sorry to hear about your friend then, Birdy.” There was a pause, “What reminds me of your friend, anyway?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Hawks said softly, “But I just- gah, I don’t know. I feel, um. I feel around you.”

“Feel what?”

“Feel.”

The hand stopped still in his hair and Hawks found himself inching up and reaching for the touch as Dabi sighed, “You haven’t been around me for much time, idiot. Well, your friend probably feels like shit for leaving you behind at that shithole then.”

Hawks’ eyes snapped up as he finally caught a good look, yellow eyes locking onto blue, “What shithole?”

“The Commissi- oh fuck me.”

The warm hand left Hawks’ hair and the man turned quickly to flee, but Hawks was faster as he literally threw himself forward, slamming into the other and bringing them both down to the ground.

“Get off me! You’re heavy!” he gasped as the two coughed and squirmed, Hawks slapping his hands on either side of the mysterious face. Why didn’t he realize sooner? Why didn’t- what does he say? What does anyone say in a position like this? Hawks found the tears come out thicker as he spewed out the only thing he could form, his entire body shaking and stomach feeling sick.

“Please don’t leave me, Touya.”

“So, you’d be in my class. You’re intelligent and more than capable in the physical department, so you’ll have no trouble catching up. We’re not even two weeks in, anyways,” Shouta finished. Izuku stared at him with large eyes as Recovery Girl worked off the cast on his leg, replacing it with a normal tensor bandage while checking the bone and flesh.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Shouta drew in a deep breath, “Don’t you ever do any fuckin’ shit like that again! Never, ever, ever! You do not put your life on the line for me, is that understood? You’re lucky you’re hospitalized or else I would beat your ass! Right here, right now!”

Izuku’s eyes went even wider as he found anger building up suddenly, he never saw Shouta as someone that could be selfish. Well, everyone is selfish from time to time, it happens. But that doesn’t mean Izuku’s any less pissed. His jaw fell open and closed a few times as Mei offered him water, her eyes still bloodshot as Izuku shook his head.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he spat as clearly as he could, “S-selfish.”

The room went silent as Shouta sighed, “Izuku, I’m really pissed, but you weren’t exactly selfish-”

“You.”

Shouta’s expression was unclear as he stared at Izuku, who simply stared back without wavering. “I was selfish?” the man asked slowly, “I don’t understand.”

“If y-youuu die, what ab-bout me? You m-mine. And -mm- not just y-your life, kids.”

“He’s right,” Toga whispered, “If we just sat back and watched you die Shouta, how would you expect us to keep living? I don’t think I could.”

“And they saved lives,” Hitoshi added, “I don’t want to think about the classmates I could have lost. Not to mention my own life. You’re strong, Aizawa, but not strong enough to stop a fucking slaughter by mass villains.”

It was clear Shouta wanted to argue yet was obviously struggling to find a valid argument, “But Izuku, you have to understand where I’m coming from. I’m responsible for your current state right now, it’s my fault, you could have died- you did die, and how do you think I, no. You’re in my care, Izuku. You’re my kid. And I failed you.”

Izuku’s bottom lip began trembling again except he must have cried himself dry, because there were no more tears left to fall. “No,” he groaned and dragged the word on until his vocal cords gave out, “St-st-st.” Izuku got stuck on the same sound for several long seconds, then giving up completely and falling silent.

“He should make a recovery,” Recovery Girl interrupted awkwardly, “At least the wounds I have already assessed. His arms were the worst along with his ribs and internal bleeding, I had to surgically move the bones and manually put them back into their right places and even remove some fragments. The bone was completely shattered.”

Shouta leaned back and rubbed his eyes, “I should have been better, I should have-”

“Shouta you need to stop,” the older woman sighed, “You did everything you could have possibly done. You put your life on the line and that’s the most you can do. Everyone’s alive now, so stop beating yourself up about it, okay? Please, that won’t help anyone.”

Izuku made a noise of agreement, “Y-you. Herooo.”

Shouta ducked his head down until it was leaning gently on Izuku’s thigh, “I’m so sorry, Izuku.”

“Stop th-that,” Izuku grunted, knocking Shouta on the top of his head with his cast.

Recovery Girl smiled, “Well, he should be good to go home in forty six hours. You’ll have to return for weekly check ups or you can just find me at UA. His arms will be in casts for at least another week and we’ll go from there.”

“Thank you so much, Recovery Girl,” Hitoshi smiled, “It means a lot that you’ve spent so much time to keep this idiot with us.”

“Of course. And you all take care of yourselves, alright? Yamada over there fell asleep hours ago and hasn’t even stirred, check for a pulse.”

The kids laughed quietly as Izuku looked down at his free leg, rolling his ankle lightly to find the pain bearable.

“And no physical activity, young man,” Recovery Girl called from the door, “Be good!”

Izuku hummed and kicked his legs, “Ev-everyone okay?”

“Yeah,” Shouta comforted, “Don’t worry. It’s just you, brat.”

Izuku felt a small portion of anxiety dissipate at that information, trying to ignore Mei oddly pawing through his hair, tongue caught between her teeth as she focused on picking the knots apart without tugging, freezing suddenly.

“Izu! I didn’t know you dyed your hair! I thought the dark green was natural.”

Izuku’s brows furrowed together as his eyes flickered over to Mei, “Hm? No d-dye.”

The pink haired girl looked at the others as everyone was suddenly leaning over his head, faces pressed together to see.

Toga tilted her head, “If this is your natural colour, then what’s that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lies, obviously.

Touya fucked up.

Touya fucked up.

Touya fucked up.

He wasn’t ready to actually expose himself, how in the ever loving fuck was he supposed to explain this? Hey man, my asshole of a dad beat the shit out of me about a year after pulling me from the Commission and kicked me out of the house, threatening my mother and lowkey faking my death. No hard feelings though?

Keigo’s shoulders were trembling violently as he refused to even blink, those sharp yellow eyes cutting into Touya’s flesh. What should he say?

“It’s you, right?” Keigo whispered, “Please don’t lie to me. I can’t do this again.”

“Do what again?” Touya responded out of instinct, only causing Keigo to cling to his arms tighter.

“Don’t leave again! I can’t- please- I- ah.”

Keigo began to pant and Touya frowned, “Oi, what the fuck are you-”

Keigo was trembling so violently that the loose feathers around the ground began to visibly vibrate, his face slowly going red from the lack of oxygen, why wasn’t he breathing?

No, Touya wasn’t stupid, he remembers when this would happen to Keigo as a kid. Instead of having a panic attack and hyperventilating like most people, this fucker just straight up stopped breathing, he mind as well be choking.

“Oh fuck,” Touya swore, hesitantly wrapping his arms around Keigo’s torso and squeezing tightly, reaching up inside his coat by his back, his hand finding the specific spot from muscle memory. It was along the spine, in between his wings and just slightly higher, Touya finding the spot and scratching lightly, his eyes on the ceiling as he focused on the task at hand.

Explaining a dead hero would be pretty difficult.

“Come on,” Touya gritted as he used his other hand to rub Keigo’s scalp again, “Breathe, you idiot. Just breathe like me, feel my chest. Match me, come on.”

Just as Keigo’s body was beginning to fall into unconsciousness, the man sucked a heavy breath in as the panting returned, followed with some sputtering and coughing.

“You’re okay,” Touya soothed, giving aggressive glares at the nurses trying to approach them, forcing them to back off.

“I knew it, I knew,” Keigo whispered, “Where did - you’re not- I don’t-”

“Please, not right now,” Touya begged softly, “Soon. Nezu’s helping me right now and it’ll work out. Just, I know you’ve waited a long time, but can you wait just a little longer?”

The hesitance was clear in Keigo’s posture as his face was still on Touya’s shoulder, hands limp on the floor. Touya tried again, “Do you trust me?”

There was absolutely no hesitance this time.

“Yes.”

“I’m not leaving,” the taller man explained slowly and firmly, “I will not leave. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Good. It won’t be long-”

“I missed you.”

Touya fell silent, not quite sure on how to respond as Keigo repeated it, more to himself to make things real, “I missed you.”

Touya’s grip tightened in the blonde hair, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I missed you. Why am I crying?”

“I don’t know.”

The tone of Keigo’s voice was so off-putting, there was no longer the familiar chirp and excitement, it’s like the life has been sucked out from him. Touya feels the exact same.

“I don’t cry.”

“... Okay.”

“Yeah. No crying.”

“Kei-”

The blond man jerked up at the name and thinned his eyes, tilting his head like he didn’t understand, “What?”

“Keigo, that’s you-”

“I’m Hawks.”

Touya retracted his hands and leaned back ever so slightly, the deadpan expression on Keigo’s face sending chills down his spine.

“Well, yeah, but you’re also Keig-”