Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It is with our sincerest regrets that you have not been accepted in UA’s hero course.

Midoriya read the lines over and over again as if, by some miracle, they would change. If by some miracle everything he wanted would fall into place. But the words remained the same. Fixed in black lettering to the page clutched between his trembling hands.

Behind his bedroom door Midoryia knew that his mother would be waiting with bated breath and comforting words. He didn’t want that right now. He didn’t want her to tell him she was sorry and that everything was going to be all right because it wasn’t. He was lost in the dark and his mother was not the light he wanted because she wouldn’t be able to show him the path he desired so desperately.

Piling his notebooks into his bag he threw open the door and rushed out of the house. He heard his mother call after him but she didn't follow and he kept running. All Might had been right. Kacchan had been right. He had been so wrong and stupid to believe that he had even a chance at becoming a hero, let alone getting into UA.

He stopped and looked around him, panting slightly from exhaustion and despair. At first he didn’t recognise where he was but he realised it was the building that he’d seen All Might transform.

He climbed the steps to the top slowly and walked to the edge. Looking down Kacchan’s words echoed in his head and a voice in the back of his head told him to jump.

He felt tears streaming down his face and he pulled his notebooks out of his bag. Midoriya flicked through the pages until he found All Might’s signature. He tore it from his book, cursing him as he shredded it over and over again until he was just sobbing over scraps of paper. As the wind blew and they scattered everywhere, broken forever like the dreams of a child.

“What hatred of a hero.”

Midoriya looked up and saw a pale figure dressed in a black hood looming over him. He looked half dead and an air of madness surrounded the man.

“He may be a hero to the masses but… I hate him.” Midoriya replied. The man smiled before crouching down to his level.

“Do you want him dead?” Midoriya was slightly taken aback by the question and mulled it over in his mind. Did he want him dead? He wanted him to suffer but he didn’t necessarily want others to suffer. If All Might was gone would the villains take over? He looked up at the man again and realised that he’d continue with his goal with or without his help and most likely without any regard for anyone else’s safety. Even if he wasn’t regarded as a hero he could still protect people. Better heroes would replace All Might. More deserving heroes.

“Yes. I want him dead.” Shigaraki’s smile widened.

“Tell me, what’s your quirk?” Midoriya’s gaze sank with his heart. For a moment he considered lying but he knew that there was no way in hell that he would be able to hold up the ruse for however long they would be working together.

“I don’t have one.” Shigaraki slowly stood up and Midoriya held his breath, his eyes fixed to a random point on the ground.

“If you want, we can fix that.” His heart stopped, it seemed too good to be true. He could have a quirk and prove them all wrong. Kacchan, All Might, his mother, everyone. Doubts crept in the back of his mind but Midoriya pushed them down as Shigaraki picked up one of the notebooks and told him “These will be useful, bring them.”

“Wh-where are we going?” Midoriya asked, hastily gathering the notebooks into his bag before hurrying over to Shigaraki.

“It’s a bar where we base some of our operations. We’ll need to get someone to help you get away.”

“Away from where?” Shiguraki turned back to Midoriya.

“You’re a kid. You need to disappear.” He paused for a second as Midoriya joined him, “You need to die.”

Chapter Text

Bakugo couldn’t have been happier. On Friday he had received his acceptance letter from UA. His dreams were finally coming true and he couldn’t help but beam. He thundered into class announcing his success and relishing in the congratulation and praise he received from his peers. He flopped down in his desk happily chatting away before noticing that Deku’s desk was empty. Deku was almost always on time and often arrived before him, he must be gushing over a new hero on his way to school or…

“Ha,” he called out, “Looks like Deku was too embarrassed to come in after his failure at the UA exams!”

The class began to laugh and Bakugo revelled in it, crushing down the small feeling of guilt that had already been worn away over time. As his classmates laughed one of the receptionists threw open the door, she cast a worried look across the class before asking the form room teacher if he could step out for a second. The class exchanged nervous looks at one another curiosity and fear bubbling in their heads. They watched the pair disappear and immediately burst into huddled discussions of what was happening.

“What if it’s a fire” one boy cried out.

“Don’t be stupid” A girl yelled back, “The fire alarm would have gone off!”

“What if it broke?”

“What if villains broke it?” The theory’s spiralled from a secret relationship between the receptionist and their form tutor to world domination.

The door opened and the class descended into hushed whispers. The form room teacher was wearing the same solemn expression as the receptionist and he too cast a forlorn look across the room.

He let the receptionist know that she could leave before turning to the class. He glanced over at Bakugo and bit his lip before taking a deep breath and beginning.

“I’m sure you have noticed the absence of your classmate Midoriya Izuku. This morning he…”

There was a pause as he took a steady breath, his eyes glued to every part of the room that didn’t hold a pupils’ face.

“He was found dead.” Silence fell across the class like a crashing wave. Hands shot to muffle gasps and all eyes drifted to Bakugo whose eyes were glossed over with his hands trembling.

The teacher continued, slowly, “The police have confirmed it was sui-“

An explosion rocked the room as Bakugo stood over a blown apart desk. His breath was shaky and he was muttering under his breath.

“Bakugo ple-”

“SHUT UP!” he screamed, “He’s not dead. You’re wrong. You’re lying! This is all just some sick joke” He rounded on the people either side of him and felt a cold chill run through him as tears pricked their eyes. Without a second though he sprinted out of the room, blinking his eyes of the tears that threatened to spill out. He didn’t care if the school tried to punish him for leaving, he had to prove them wrong. Deku was not dead! He couldn’t be.

He ran until his sides burned and even then, he barely stopped to catch his breath. His lungs were burning and his limbs ached as he finally stood outside the door.

He hesitated for a while just outside, telling himself he was merely catching his breath, that he wasn't scared. He drew in one last breath to try and still his breathing and calm his nerves before knocking.

He imagined Deku running down the stairs and ask him something like “Kacchan? What are you doing here?” And Bakugo would apologise for his actions and the way he’d treated him. He’d tell him that the UA should have made him a hero because he’s the most selfless person he’s met and he’d be the best hero ever. He’d pull him into a hug and…

The door opened and Bakugo held his breath. Inko’s face peered out of her empty house. Her face was blotched with sadness, eyes red and puffy with a tear stained tissue clutched in her hand.

“Bakugo? What are you doing here?” Bakugo burst, hot tears flooded down his cheeks. Angry and sad and confused he tried to get her to tell him that they were wrong, Deku was alive. Inko pulled him into a tight hug as he sobbed harder. The pair joined in their grievance.

Midoriya Izuku was dead. The funeral had convinced him of that. He hadn’t even seen the body but the festering sadness that had hung in the room, the finality of it made him realise that it was all over. Bakugo Katsuki had lost the oldest and most genuine friend he’d ever had, and he blamed himself entirely. Inko had told him countless times that he wasn’t to blame, it was no one’s fault. That wasn’t true because Bakugo knew that if he hadn’t been such a bully to him that he wouldn’t have done this.

He watched in morbid silence as his best friend was lowered into the ground. He didn’t know why tears weren’t streaming down his face, maybe it was because he was in public, maybe he’d just run out. He felt like he should have said something at the service but what would he say? Anything he said wouldn’t be to Deku because he was gone. Bakugo didn’t need to explain himself to a room filled with Deku’s family and friends.

He searched the crowd for Inko, he wanted to make sure she was doing ok but he also wanted comfort himself. However, his gaze was drawn to a man lurking at the back of the crowd. He was a scrawny man, long and thin with large clothes hanging from his small frame. His eyes were dark but held a kind of knowledgeable power in them that both scared and gave Bakugo hope. He assumed that he could be one of Deku’s relatives but he lacked the signature green hair, instead he had a mop of bright blond hair that hung limp across his face. He stood apart from all others and when their eyes met, he turned quickly, a look of failure plastered upon his features.

“Bakugo?” It was Inko and his parents, “We’re going to go out for dinner. Do you want to come with us now or join us later?”

“I want to stay…for a bit. I’ll join you later.” Bakugo’s father pulled him into a gentle hug and Inko gave his hand a tight squeeze. He watched them walk away and turned to Midoriya’s grave. He glanced around quickly to check that he was alone. He turned back and began.

“You know I don’t think you can hear this but I wanted to say I’m sorry. You would have been an amazing hero and UA was stupid not to have seen so.” He smiled sadly, “I’m going to become the number one hero Midoriya but I’m going to be one that you can be proud of. I’m going to do it for you.”

Bakugo stared up at the gates to UA. His victory was bittersweet be he knew now his own motivation. He marched to his classroom with pride and determination, he was going to make Deku proud if it was the last thing he did.

Meanwhile, All Might couldn’t help but wallow in his failings. He had let Midoriya down, he had killed him and no matter what the other heroes had said he still knew it to be true. They hadn’t been there, they didn’t know how he’d treated the young boy. Countless people had died because he’d been unable to get to them, to reach them. It had always felt like a blow to his heart, this felt more personal. As if he had thrown Midoriya off the roof himself.

Then there was Bakugo. Perhaps he could fix his smile to his face and act like the hero they wanted him to be but Bakugo was Midoriya’s friend and he wasn’t sure how he could lie to him.

The phone rang again and before even casting it a glance he knew it would be Nighteye calling about Mirio. He watched it ring until the phone fell silent.

All Might wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet Mirio yet or even consider who would be his successor. How could he make that decision after he couldn’t even decide on the right actions to make when it came to a young boys life?

He threw his jacket coat on and glanced at himself in the Mirror. He watched as his face split into a smile before he strode from the teachers’ lounge, he was at least going to do right by his students.

Chapter Text

There was something deeply satisfying about walking past a news program announcing your death. Like you’d pulled a prank on the whole world and were the only one in on it, laughing as you set up the punch line.

It had been a little over two week since Shiguraki had recruited Midoriya and he’d been surprised at how little they’d been doing. Midoriya had rarely been allowed to leave the establishment which was understandable as he was meant to be dead. Every now and again however he’d be given a shopping list and told to run errands. He laughed at the thought that he’d joined the league of villains only to do their shopping.

Shopping wasn’t his only task as in the evenings he was handed a laptop with various video files containing recordings of the heroes and the fights they'd participated in that day. Kurogiri had handed him pens and notebooks and told him to continue to gather information on the heroes’ quirks, strengths, weaknesses and the like. Midoriya enjoyed this time when he was left to his own devices to work on something he loved. The other villains left him alone which was wonderful in several cases as some of the villains he'd met creeped him out. Moonfish was a prime example of this and he was thoroughly grateful that he stayed elsewhere during the week and rarely turned up to any meetings. Kurogiri had told him that Moonfish was more useful for his quirk and the league of villains gave him the opportunity to use it how he liked. He didn't tell Midoriya what that opportunity was but there was an unspoken agreement that it wasn't something either of them wanted to talk about.

He thanked the cashier and collected his bags before heading back to the hideout. Before joining Shiguraki he'd never been to this side of town and was unsurprised as anywhere you went at least one recognisable villain was present. The route back to the hideout had streets which twisted back and forth and in his first few outings he’d gotten himself lost in their confusing turns. He was used to it now, darting down the alleyways that most people wouldn’t notice, strolling through doors that looked bolted shut or blended into the walls. He eventually reached a small brick building nestled between other unassuming buildings and pushed open the door which led to a flight of stairs. He jogged up the stairs, listening to his footsteps echo around the silent walls before he knocked on the door. Kurogiri opened it and welcomed him back, taking the bag off him and inspecting its contents in reference to the list he'd been given. Midoriya made towards his room but Shiguraki told him to wait.

“We’re going to meet someone, grab your books.” Questions arose in Midoriya’s throat but he swallowed them down, knowing that it was unlikely that he’d get an answer even if he did ask. Opening the door to his room he slowly began to gather up the notebooks, placing them in order of volume into his bag. He quickly counted the books to make sure he had them all before switching his light off and exiting.

As soon as he closed the door Shiguraki finished his drink and called for Kurogiri.

“Open the portal, we’re leaving now.” Kurogiri did so and watched as Shiguraki stepped through. Hesitantly, Midoriya followed and was hit with a blast of cold air and the heavy stench of cleaning products.

The room was dark with all the lights off, except for a screen which was placed on the other side of a chair, facing away from him. Surrounding the chair were monitors and medical equipment with wires and tubes connected in a neat web to the chair and other monitors. Shiguraki slowly walked towards the chair and Midoriya followed, the sense of unease and sickening power only increasing with each step he took forward. After a few moments, when the pair were only a few meters from the chair, Shiguraki held out a hand, signalling for Midoriya to stop following him and wait. He continued to walk forward and Midoriya watched, his insides twisting about in fear. It was only then that he noticed that a figure was sat in the chair, tall with a slumped figure. there was a sense of unnerving power and knowledge coming from the man as Shiguraki crouched down to speak to the man. Even from this distance Midoriya could feel the worship that came from Shiguraki which did nothing to settle his panicked state.

A few moments passed as the two spoke before Shiguraki stood and stepped away and the figure spoke louder for Midoryia, “Come here child.”

Legs feeling like lead he managed to drag himself over to the man. His features was scarred beyond recognition of a face, tearing upwards from his lips and around to the back of his neck. Various tubes were attached to his body connected to a number of medical devices that surrounded him.

“Midoriya Izuku wasn’t it?” Midoriya nodded though he felt that it had not been a question, merely an act of politeness.

“You were born without a quirk, and despite this still applied to UA?”

Midoriya muttered out a nervous: “Yes sir.”

The man’s face split into a smile, “I admire your determination. Even after you were shot down by the number one hero you kept trying to fulfil your dream.” He chuckled to himself before continuing, “Would you like to know a secret about All Might young Midoriya?” Midoriya nodded once again, with wariness. What could the most infamous villain know about All Might that he hadn't used against him.

“All Might was also born without a quirk! Just like you.” Midoriya felt like he’d been hit by a train. Anger boiled in his blood and he wanted to scream. All Might had acted like it was impossible for him to ever become a hero without a quirk when he had done that exact thing. The hypocrisy of it made him hate his former idol even more than he'd thought possible.

“His predecessor was able to give him a quirk,” He proceeded, “Would you like me to do a similar thing? Give you your own quirk?”

The anger subsided for a second as Midoriya processed what had just been said. He glanced over at Shiguraki whom had told him that he could be given a quirk. He didn’t believe it. He’d believed he’s been lying and had been prepared to work as an information dealer or errand boy to disappear from his problems. But this was even better. This was what he'd wanted all along, with his quirk he could show them all how foolish they'd been for doubting him and putting him down.

“Yes! Please give me a quirk.” Midoriya watched the smile creep its way up the man’s face again but this time Midoriya joined him, grinning like the cat who had finally got the cream.

Chapter Text

Todoroki was running behind his father, trying to keep his distaste off his face when a message pinged up on his phone. It was from an unknown number and was of a location a few blocks away.

“Shoto!” His father yelled, storming over to him, “What are you doing? Keep up!” He watched as he began to run away and stared down at the location on his phone before another message popped up

Really would appreciate a helping hand and you’re the nearest UA student

Todoroki wasn’t sure what it was that made him to veer off down the alleyway, his father’s yells echoing behind him as he smiled at his own defiance. He darted down the side streets until he rounded the corner and saw Iida and the pro hero Native slumped down against the wall. They both had deep gashes across their arms and Native appeared as though he was clinging onto consciousness by a thread. A figure was standing between them, his back to Todoroki. He had a dark green hood pulled over his head with the appearance of rabbit ears and a metal mask that obscured his face and distorted his voice.

The boy turned and seemed to smile at him before gesturing to the villain Stain who was standing further along the alley. Todoroki activated his quirk and sent a wall of ice shooting towards the villain as a light crept into his eyes and he awoke on the coach.

Todoroki’s fingers began tracing the swirls along the patterned seat, absentmindedly beginning to stare out the window. Trees dashed past in a blur of green as his thoughts wandered from his encounter with the strange green boy, to what Eraserhead had told him before he’d gotten on the coach.

“You need to stop holding back, it's already causing issues with your fights. You need to use both sides to maintain your body temperature, giving yourself frostbite out of stubbornness could get you serious hurt in the future.”

Todoroki knew this, but there was a barrier in his mind that he couldn’t pass. Every time he used his left side all he saw was his father’s hand looming out at him. His mother’s quirk was fine on its own. He had still made it to second place in the sports festival without having to use it and had even managed to take down the villain Stain with only his right side. He closed his eyes and nodded to himself in assurance of his own thoughts, before turning his head to continue to stare absentmindedly out of the window.

Further back on the coach, Iida had never felt more determined to do prove himself. After his disgraceful run in with the villain Stain he desperately wanted to show that he wasn’t just a violent vigilante or a reckless youth who didn’t think of the consequences to his actions. He was going to make his brother, his teachers and himself proud. He looked over at Todoroki and wondered if he was thinking about the incident as much as he was. Perhaps he had the same questions about the masked person who had helped them. He’d appeared and disappeared before Iida could get a good look at him, let alone ask his name or intention. Iida couldn’t even tell if he’d activated his quirk or even what it was. He’d tried to talk to Todoroki about theories on what it was but his mind seemed occupied and Iida had decided not to press the matter.

“Something bothering you?” asked Uraraka who was leaning over the back of his chair along with Tsyu, concerned looks upon both their faces.

Iida smiled, “I’m fine, just in deep thought. But you should really sit down! Don’t you know it’s dangerous to stand up on a coach!”

The girls rolled their eyes and sat down as Iida continued to lecture them on the dangers of being irresponsible on coaches. Although they were glad that Iida was feeling better they wondered if the price they’d have to pay was worth it.

Meanwhile, Bakugo was asleep. Bakugo Katsuki was fucking asleep and it was adorable. Kirishima couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Bakugo slumped against the window with a soft expression on his face, out cold even with Jiro’s music still blasting through his earphones.

For a brief moment Kirishima desperately wanted to take a picture but he didn’t want Bakugo to get mad at him because of it. As his conflicting ideas battled in his head he heard the flash of a camera and noticed Yaoyorozu leaning across Jiro with a Polaroid camera held in her hand, having taken it upon herself to capture the moment. Bakugo groaned and pulled himself into a sitting position as Kirishima was triumphantly handed the photo by the girls.

“What’s that?” Bakugo asked, pointing at the photo cradled in Kirishima’s hands. Panic surged through him and, in an act of idiocy that he would come to regret for the rest of the foreseeable future, tossed the photo out the window.

Yaoyorozu and Jiro bust out laughing, doubling over and wiping tears from their streaming eyes as Kirishima buried his face in his hands. Bakugo looked from one to the other with an expression of confusion and anger, demanding to know what was had gone on. Yaoyorozu and Jiro tried to explain through wheezing breaths but burst into louder fits of laughter at each attempt.

Bakugo started yelling, standing up on his chair and leaning over to grab at the girls after noticing the camera in Yaoyorozu's hand, Iida began shouting back, lecturing them about the noise despite the fact that he was exceeding Bakugo in volume. This only escalated into more shouting until the coach pulled to a sudden stop and Eraserhead told them to get out, rubbing his temples as he slumped out of the coach, wondering why he'd agreed to do a summer camp with a bunch of teens, instead of sleeping at home.

Chapter Text

Toga was muttering angrily under her breath. The clunky devices she had been fitted with was as uglier than a dead fish. She’d been told multiple times that it would be easier for her to use her quirk and collect blood like this but she didn’t see why it couldn’t have had a quick paint job to make it look nicer. She glanced around for a willing helper and her eyes fell upon her favourite ally dressed in green.

“Hey Izuuu” she said, hopping over to him and tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

“Huh?” Midoriya looked up from his map which he had sprawled out in front of him with various coloured markers on it.

“Could you help me make this look a bit nicer? It’s ugly and I hate it!” She tugged at the mask and pouted heavily. Midoriya pulled back his hood and turned to face her.

“What’s in it for me?”

“You’d be helping out a friend!” She said, smiling wide and fluttering her eyelashes.

“Pass, I’ve barely met you!” He turned back to the map but Toga flopped onto him, using her weight to push him into his map. He felt his quirk activate and quickly flipped her over onto the dirt beside him with a thud that knock the breath out of her. Crossing her arms, Toga pouted even harder before repeatedly poking Midoriya in the leg over and over until he finally snapped.

“FINE!” He yelled, pulling himself up to scowl down at her, “I’ll head over and check on Muscular and grab you some flowers to pretty it up or something.” He heard Toga’s thanks and praise being called after him as he began jogging down the hill in the direction of where Muscular was supposedly lurking.

“Give me a heads up when you start!” he called back over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” Dabi replied, “You’ll know when we do.”

Midoriya made sure to keep to the shadows and as he crept past the unaware students, he was tempted on several occasions to jump out at Class A as they made their way along the pathway but thought better of it, Class B could do that job just fine without him. Besides he knew he couldn’t risk blowing their cover this early.

He scrambled up the cliff to the ledge and looked down over the forest below. The occasional shriek sounded out from the students and he allowed himself a small smile at their situation. They’d be screaming for much worse reasons in a bit.

The sound of a stone being knocked made Midoriya call out behind him; “Muscular? That you?”

No answer came and he whirled his head round expecting the hulking form of Muscular but instead finding himself staring at a boy no older than five. His hair was black and he wore a red cap with two spikes on the front. Upon his face was a look of fear and uncertainty, like a deer caught in the headlights he was frozen in his place.

“Hey! Don’t worry I won’t hurt you, you’re just a kid.” Midoriya smiled and crouched down to his level.

Don’t look threatening he told himself.

Behind his back he pulled out a small bomb containing a gas meant to knock out the target. He’d been given a few small samples from Mustard and as he was averse to needless violence to those whom were simple bystanders.

Knock them out before someone kills them.

He threw his arm up, readying himself to toss it to the ground when his arm was grabbed and he was hoisted away from the ground.

Fuck.

“Come on Rabbit, there’s no fun in just knocking him out!” He flung Midoriya behind him, knocking the bomb from his hand and sending it hurtling down the cliff face. Midoriya cursed as a third of his knock out gas disappeared from sight. Muscular began stalking towards Kota, grinning maliciously and talking to him about some hat nonsense.

Trying to lower his guard Midoriya thought, and failing horribly.

Muscular continued to blabber before removing the mask that Dabi had instructed that he wear to protect himself from the gas.

Big mistake

Midoriya grabbed another bomb and dashed towards Muscular, he leapt and landed on his back, arms digging into his shoulders. Muscular was startled only briefly before swinging his arm round to grab at Midoriya. Using his arm as a pivot, Midoriya swung his body round to kick Muscular’s jaw, causing him to open his mouth partially out of surprise and partially to hurl insults at his supposed ally. However, not a word left his mouth as Midoriya took his opportunity and shoved the bomb into his mouth before holding it shut.

Muscular struggled at first, grabbling at Midoriya’s hands, legs, arms, anything he could reach, but Midoriya’s quirk let him dodge each blow. The gas began to seep out of the corners of Muscular’s mouth and his eyes rolled back. After he was completely sure that Muscular was unconscious he lifted his hand from his mouth and stood up, panting. He brushed himself down and noticed Kota still shaking with fear next to him, still slowly edging away as best he could.

“Before you get any idea’s I’m not some dumb hero,” He removed last bomb from his pocket, “I just didn’t need to kill you.” He threw the bomb to the ground and was thankful that he had an inbuilt gas mask while equally frustrated that his supply of gas bombs was now empty.

He scooped the boy up into his arms and looked over the forest. Fire and gas divided it and the screams he heard were no longer accompanied with laughter. He looked down at the kid in his arms and began to run towards the training camp, fully aware that he’d be yelled at for being needlessly reckless but Midoriya wasn’t leaving a five year old unconscious on the side of a cliff. And he certainly wasn’t leaving him next to a man that would almost definitely try and kill him if given the chance.

The lights were still visibly on in the classroom and through the window he could see several students and the hero Vlad King. Glancing about he made sure that no other heroes were present before he ran over to the window and gently knocked on it.

All heads turned to him immediately, with some students activating their quirks. He held up Kota and Vlad took a step forward while signalling to the students to stay back. He slowly began to pull the window back and the moment that it was wide enough he threw Kota into Vlad’s arms and turned back towards the forest.

From the corner of his eye he saw Vlad’s attempt to reach him with his quirk but he’d already run too far. A smug smile crept onto his face as he made it to the tree line but it was short lived as he felt something tug at his leg. He felt himself crash to the ground and a material wrap around his chest and legs several times. A boot was placed firmly onto his back and from the corner of his eye he could see a thin man with shaggy black hair standing over him, eyes hanging above dark shadows of exhaustion.

“So,” said the hero, “Are you a copy like your friend, or are you the real deal?”

Chapter Text

Eraserhead gave his scarf a sharp tug to check if the villain he’d trapped was indeed a copy or if he’d finally managed to catch the actual person. When he remained corporeal he felt a wave of optimism briefly wash over him but reminded himself to stay wary. They were all at a disadvantage, with the villains knowing and preparing for the quirks at the camp, whereas the pro heroes and students had no idea what they could be facing.

The villain struggled beneath them, rolling back and forth in an attempt to get free. Eraserhead pressed harder with his foot.

“What is your goal here?” he demanded, pulling the scarf tighter to prevent any movement. From beneath the mask he could see a pair of eyes glaring up at him. They said nothing before grabbing at the scarf tying them up and kicking at Eraserhead’s leg. Eraserhead jumped back to avoid the kick before pinning them down again, this time on their back.

“Not going to work. Talk!” He glowered down at the villain and a realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. The twisted monsters had convinced a child to join their ranks, he must be no older than his students and the anger he felt at the revelation blinded him for a brief second as Dabi shot a wall of flames at him. Barley jumping back in time he immediately activated his quirk to stop the flames, quick but not quick enough to stop Dabi from pulling at the scarf to free the child.

“Rabbit, if you would.” Dabi said as Midoriya pulled himself up. Eraserhead watched the boy pull out a cylindrical object and chuck it at the ground. Light erupted out of the flash bomb, forcing Eraserhead to close his eyes. When he finally readjusted to the blanket of darkness that covered the forest the villains had disappeared.

“What were you doing?” Dabi and Midoriya were running back through the forest to where Twice was and already the lecturing had begun.

“I got side tracked, blame Toga and her obsession with making her mask look better.” Dabi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Midoriya could tell that he knew he was hiding something but Dabi said nothing and pointed further into the woods.

“Go find check where Mustard is, you’ve got a gas mask so you can search for our target there. I also heard there’s a kid with a creation quirk over there so the other students will probably be running around.” Midoriya nodded and hurried off in the direction Dabi had pointed towards. The forest had now fallen quiet with the only sounds the occasional explosion or crash caused by fights happening in the distance.

Finally Midoriya reaches the area of the forest where the gas was visible, drifting further from the source in swaths of purple. He dived forward and listened out for the sound of footsteps or talking, anything that would lead him to find the students of Class A or B.

The sound of leaves rustling causes Midoriya to charge forward at the noise, he stretched his hand out blindly but missed his target. A yelp sounded in front of him as a voice called out “Someone’s following us!”

Stupid and hasty he thought, scolding himself on his carelessness.

Midoriya dove forward again but this time a huge hand swung round and flung him into a tree. Without hesitation Midoriya used his quirk to jump back up and follow the sound of the pair’s footsteps. He noticed that the gas was getting thicker and thicker the more they ran and realised that they must be targeting Mustard, where the gas was thickest.

He put in a burst of speed in an attempt to catch up with them but was stopped dead in his tracks as a gunshot fired out. Tetsutetsu cried out and Midoriya saw parts of a broken gas mask land at his feet. A shine of metal broke through the gas and Midoriya charged at the student, grabbing him round the waist and tackling him to the ground, as he fell however Mustard fired out second shot, missing Tetsutetsu but striking Midoriya’s arm. The pain shot along him causing him to loosen his grip on the student, allowing for Tetsutetsu to use him as a weapon, throwing him towards Mustard.

Meanwhile Kendo swept away as much gas as she could, blinding Mustard to their movements. Tetsutetsu leapt forward at Mustard who had hastily shrugged Midoriya off him and smashed his mask, knocking him unconscious in the process as he choked on his own gas.

Midoriya was clutching at his arm, the pain shooting up and down in angry spikes and shuffling away from the pair of UA students. Kendo leant down and tore some fabric off of Mustard’s coat before holding it out towards him and asking for Midoriya’s arm. Tetsutetsu opened his mouth as if to protest but Kendo shot him a look and so he closed it, a sulky expression worn clearly upon his face.

“I have bandages in the pocket on the left.” Midoriya said after some hesitation, gesturing to the compartments along his belt. Kendo reached in and pulled out the roll of bandage and began to tightly wrap it around Midoriya’s arm. A glance at Tetsutetsu assured him that they had similar feelings on the matter and an equal amount of trust. When the bandaging was done he thanked Kendo, looking over her work.

From the corner of his eye he noticed Kendo wind her fist back and he had barely a second to react, leaping from it path.

“Hey!” Midoriya shouted, shooting an intense glare at her, “You just helped me out, now you want to knock me out?”

“Sorry,” She said standing up, an embarrassed look on her face, “I didn’t want you bleeding out, put you’re a villain and we can’t let you hurt our friends.”

Her fist swung round again and Midoriya activated his quirk. He grabbed her wrist and whirling her round, before letting go and watching as she crashed into Tetsutetsu. Neither were unconscious, or even particularly hurt but it gave Midoriya enough time to turn and run. They weren’t his target.

He kept running, his eyes scanning for Dabi or Toga or Twice, anyone who could lend him some back up if the two had decided to follow.

Suddenly metal blades slammed into the ground in front of him. Leaping back he looked up and saw Moonfish.

Be careful what you wish for I guess

Midoriya also noticed a chill in the air, and as he turned his head his eyes locked with Todoroki as he sent forth a column of ice, trying to knock Moonfish to the ground.

Then another figure pulled back from behind the wall of ice. A scowl fixed to his face and a burst of blond hair to his head. He’d convinced himself that he’d be ready to face Bakugo when it came to it. That he’d remain level headed and get the job done, but right now his only wish was to smash his head into the ground until everything stopped.

Chapter Text

Todoroki could feel the cold pain shooting up his right arm as he sent wave after wave of ice at the villain. Bakugo was hurling insults next to him, angrier than usual as his quirk could increase the amount of fire already spreading across the forest therefore preventing him from using it. Todoroki leapt back as Moonfish’s blades struck at him again, barely managing to get away.

“Hey Icyhot, you’re not looking so good.” Bakugo pointed at his arm which now had patches of ice covering it, the pain was awful and he couldn’t stop shaking. His attacks were getting weaker and his movements becoming sluggish.

“It’s what happens when I use my right side too much. Don’t worry I’ll be fine.” Bakugo scowled and pulled Todoroki out of the way as Moonfish attacked again.

“Idiot use your left side or else you’re gonna die.” Todoroki nodded but the words didn’t seem to have sunk in or have any effect as he slammed his foot down, sending another column of ice out. For a second Bakugo thought it would hit but the ice fell short and Todoroki was visibly shivering and he didn’t look like he could support his weight any longer.

There was a rustling from the left and a figure dressed in green and wearing a metal mask across his face burst from the trees. He locked eyes with Todoroki and that seemed to be all it took as his legs gave way and he fell to the ground.

Bakugo heard the figure mutter out a distorted “Shit.” And threw a heat pack at Bakugo.

“Use this to warm him up then follow me.” There was a bitterness in his voice and something oddly familiar, despite the distortion from the voice box he was clearly using.

“Why should I trust you? I don’t recognise you from the hero registry. You could be a villain for all I know!”

The boy didn’t reply but instead began to tear off the bandage from around his arm. He winced as the gunshot wound was exposed and then called out to Moonfish.

“Hey Moonfish! Come look at my arm! Really wish it hadn’t been shot but oh well.”

Moonfish used their teeth to dart towards him, climbing over Todoroki and Bakugo. Bakugo saw the opportunity the boy had been trying to get for him and he propelled himself upwards, above the canopy before slamming into Moonfish, firing off his quirk until the man was only scorched figure on the ground, groaning as he slipped from consciousness.

The boy began to wrap his arm up in fresh bandaging, doing a far worse job than before but seemingly not caring. Once he had finished he stood up and stretched a bit, jumping up and down and filching when he moved his arm.

“Come on, follow me.” He said once he’d finished his routine.

“Are you a hero then?” Bakugo said, remaining where he stood.

The boy groaned and fumbled through the pockets on his belt, before looking up and saying, “Can you please just come with me? You can take your friend with you.”

“You’re a fucking villain aren’t you?”

“…not entirely.” The boy shrugged but Bakugo dove towards him, arm swinging round to blast him. Midoriya dodged the hit, tripping Bakugo as he went.

“Why does everyone want to hurt me after I help them?” He exclaimed, moving out of the way of another attack, this time grabbing his arm and flipping him over onto his stomach. Midoriya shoved his foot against Bakugo’s neck, pressing his face into the ground while still keeping a firm grip on his arm. Bakugo thrashed about, trying to kick him off and free himself.

“If you don’t cut it out I’ll dislocate your arm.” Midoriya threatened.

“Fuck you.” Bakugo said in response, turning his body to try and escape. Midoriya didn’t hesitate and pulled sharply on his arm. Bakugo swore and pounded his head into the ground as the pain shot through his arm as Midoriya grinned smugly down at him, payback for all those years he’d been made to feel like garbage.

But his gloating lowered his guard as Todoroki shot him off Bakugo with a blast of ice, trapping him against a tree. Bakugo pulled himself up, grimacing as he forcibly shoved his arm back into place and strode over to the villain pinned to the tree. Todoroki joined him, frost still present on his arm but he wasn’t shivering violently as before.

“What are you and your friends even doing here?” Bakugo said, glaring at Midoriya who remained tight lipped, angry that he’d let himself be taken down so easily. Instead he turned to Todoroki and asked: “How come you don’t use your left side?”

“What does it matter to you?” Todoroki said. He was disappointed in himself and the masked figure in front of him. He had assumed that they’d been an unregistered hero or even one he’d not heard of before. He hated the fact that the person he’d spent days and nights searching for on the internet had turned out to be a member of the league of villains who was now part of an attack on his classmates and friends.

“I’m just jealous, I wish I’d been born with a quir-”

Bakugo cut him off: “Don’t ignore me! Answer the question!”

Midoriya fell silent again, he wasn’t about to reveal anything he knew just from being yelled at (even if the action made his stomach curl up in anxiety). And while revelling in Bakugo’s frustration at his silence made him wear a smug smile upon his face, a small thought crept into his mind, something that would certainly gain an interesting response.

“Tell us what you’re doing here!” he yelled again but Midoriya grinned finally replying.

“Why would I tell you that? Wouldn’t I be pitying you by giving you the answer Kacchan?”

Chapter Text

Bakugo struck Midoriya with all the force he could muster, explosions breaking the mask apart and shattering the ice encasing. He landed with a thud on the ground, hunched over on his hands and knees coughing up smoke, flecks of melted metal scorching his cheek.

“Bakugo stop!” yelled Todoroki as he grabbed hold of his wrist. He had seen Bakugo angry, fought him when he was angry, this was terrifying. Bakugo shook himself free and reached towards the boy but Todoroki grabbed him again.

“Stop it.” He said, fixing Bakugo with a cold stare and an even colder grip, “You need to calm down.”

The wild look in Bakugo’s eyes subsided for a second but casting a look at the boy set it ablaze once more. He opened his mouth, ready to demand what he knew, when a monstrous roar sounded out from behind them.

They turned and as Bakugo and Todoroki stared down the path they saw Shoji sprinting towards them followed by Tokoyami, desperately trying to contain Dark Shadow, as they viciously barrel forwards.

“Flames.” Coughed Midoriya, still shaking on his hands and knees.

“Huh?” responded Todoroki.

“Use your flames! Or explosions! Whatever you can to stop him.”

Todoroki turned to stare down Dark Shadow as it got closer and closer. Shoji was shouting and yelling for them to run.

Todoroki stepped forward next to Bakugo who shot a sideways look at him.

“Sure you’re ok Icyhot?”

He drew in a slow breath and nodded. Bakugo’s hands sparked to life as Shoji dashed past him to safety. A slow and steady breath was drawn in again by Todoroki as he allowed the flames to manifest along his arm, spreading down his torso and across his leg. His eyes were closed, he didn’t want to look, he didn’t want to see him become his father but he wanted to protect his friends.

His eyes shot open and he swept his arm round, flames dancing through the air in a wide arch as Bakugo created additional light beside him. A pained roar erupted from Dark Shadow as it shrank back leaving Tokoyami grimacing in pain and Todoroki balancing his weight on his quaking legs.

Shoji walked over to Tokoyami, helping him back to the others, frantic apologies spewing from his mouth while Shoji repeatedly told him that “Everything’s ok” and “It wasn’t your fault”.

“You good Icyhot?” Bakugo asked again and once more Todoroki nodded. He glanced back at the villain behind him who’d now tied a large strip of fabric from his coat around his mouth and put on top half of his broken mask in an attempt to hide his identity, small burns peaked out beneath his eye and scorch marks littered the right side of his clothes. He was leaning against the tree he’d been previously pinned to, limbs limp and head lolling slightly. Todoroki wasn’t even sure if he could stand on his own, Bakugo’s attack having been the nail in the coffin for his body.

“Shoji?” Todoroki called over and he turned his head, “Could you hold onto this guy until we get back to the camp?”

Shoji nodded and walked over to the villain who jolted into fight mode and began to hit him, weakly as he leaned down to pick him up. The light retaliation and missed attacks did nothing to stop Shoji as he lifted him with ease and held him on his back, his other arms firmly keeping him in place. Ignoring the kicks he moved back over to the others and asked, “How should we get back? The woods or the path?”

“The woods will be filled with villain, it’ll be harder to move freely and there’s a chance that Dark Shadow could get out of control again, especially if we do get ambushed.” Said Tokoyami.

“Also,” Todoroki added, “Bakugo would be unable to use his quirk without causing the fire already present to spread and my quirk would probably end up trapping us. It’ll be safer on the path.”

Shoji nodded in acknowledgement and the group set along the path in silence, listening out for attackers with caution.

Meanwhile, Midoriya was staring out at the tree tops, eyes heavy, head throbbing and arm and cheek stinging as he scanned in desperation for help or aid from his allies. Every now and again he would catch Bakugo glowering at him as he followed behind Shoji and Midoriya wished he had one arm free to let Bakugo know what he thought of him, he’d also settle for one particular finger. Instead he wiggled about to tried to grab one of the flash bombs from his belt, which was incredibly difficult from his position.  He felt the cylindrical casing against his fingers but mentally cursed as they slipped from his grip. After several attempts he finally managed to pry one out, precariously balancing it between his fingers. It was best to throw it firmly onto a hard surface but Midoriya knew that in that was impossible in his current situation. Instead he tried flicking the bomb down with the small amount of room he had, hoping it would be enough to possibly set it off but if not, Tokoyami or Bakugo stepping on it would work just as well.

Please work. Please work. Please work!

It hit the ground with less impact needed to set it off; Midoriya prayed that Tokoyami or Bakugo would step on it but before they could take a single step towards it Bakugo swept it up off the floor and held it up to Midoriya’s face.

“What’s this? You trying to kill us?” Bakugo yelled, causing the others to cast a look back.

“It’s a flash bomb.” Midoriya replied through gritted teeth.

“Oh, so instead of using this to tackle Dark Shadow you made Todoroki use the part of his quirk that he hates?” Midoriya pursed his lips together and turned his head to look a Todoroki whose eyes were turned away but Midoriya could tell he was listening. He turned his gaze back to Bakugo but his answer wasn’t directed at him.

“It’s his quirk, not his father’s not his mother’s. It’s unique and it’s his, why wouldn’t I want him to use it to its full potential?” From the corner of his eye he could see Todoroki turn, only for a second, to look at Midoriya before snapping it back to the path ahead. Bakugo scowled and spun on his heel, throwing the bomb into the forest. The light exploded outwards, revealing trees and bushes and leaves in glowing detail but no students or villains.

While Bakugo was calming down from his angry outburst Midoriya noticed what no one else in the group seemed to have noticed. Tokoyami was gone.

Scanning the skies Midoriya caught a brief glimpse of a yellow coat disappear into the soft rustle of the leaves which confirmed his suspicions.

Mr Compress captured Tokoyami, he can catch the others and get me out of here.

A second later and he dove from the bushes, landing silently behind Bakugo who still lurking at the back of the group, kicking the occasional stone out of frustration. Mr Compress gently moved forwards, his footsteps matching Bakugo’s as he crept towards him. A tap on the shoulder was all it took before Bakugo shrank until he was no larger than a marble. Mr Compress pressed a finger over the smile on his mask as he disappeared into the undergrowth once more, two people silently stolen away with him.

Chapter Text

Toga dove into the bushes as the other students approached, cursing that she’d only managed to gather one person’s worth of blood but smiling as she recounted her interaction with the girls. She peered out to see the students whom had interrupted; a boy with red and white hair and a taller boy with multiple arms who had a firm grip on her dear Izuku. A prickle of anger ran across her mind and although she wanted to help him, she knew that it would be foolish to take on that many enemies on her own, especially as most of them had combat based abilities. Besides even if she was able to get Midoriya free to help her, she had no idea if he was able to fight or even able to stand. She muttered a quiet apology, despite knowing he wouldn’t hear it, and disappeared from the scene.

“Where did they go?” Todoroki cried out, he scanned the path as though Tokoyami and Bakugo were simple out of his field of vision. The villain on Shoji’s back chuckled and Todoroki grabbed him by the collar, tearing him from Shoji’s grip and pinning him to a tree.

“Where are they?” He spoke slow and sharp, he didn’t yell like Bakugo which almost made it worse. Yelling Midoriya could cope with, he had to, it was most people’s go to response and he couldn’t afford to let it bring him down. Todoroki’s eyes narrowed, darkening the longer his question went unanswered.

Midoriya simply pointed to the trees, where Mr Compress stood proudly brandishing two small marbles in his hand. Without a moment of hesitation Todoroki slammed his foot down and a towering wall of ice shot towards him almost instantaneously. A nervous chill crossed Midoriya’s body, wondering if Mr Compress had been able to dodge an attack of that ferocity.

A chuckle sounded out and Midoriya let out a sigh of relief as Mr Compress stood atop another tree and tapped his pocket. He was monologuing but Midoriya was barely paying attention chanting in his head again and again: get me out of here, get me out of here, get me out of here.

Mr Compress then spoke into his earpiece and Midoriya heard every word echo in his head like the bells of failure.

“Vanguard Action Squad, our target has been acquired. We meet in five minutes in the agreed upon location. Those who don’t make it will be left behind.”

Midoriya’s heart sunk knowing there was no way that he’d be able to get away and get to the agreed upon location in time. He’d be left here and his identity would be revealed. Everything would fall apart and he wasn’t prepared to deal with the repercussions. Not yet.

“I know where they’re meeting. Take me with you and I’ll show you. You can get your friends back.” Midoriya called out, desperation clear in his voice and visible in his eyes as he pleaded from beneath Todoroki’s grip. The group glanced at one another, whether agreeing or disagreeing Midoriya couldn’t tell, before their eyes slowly turned to Todoroki.

“Fine.” He said, releasing his grip on Midoriya slightly, “But only if you remove your mask.”

There isn’t time. Stop this needlessness! Just go, run, save your friend!

“Why?” Midoriya asked.

I don’t want to his mind screamed.

“I want to know what you look like so I can find you if you escape.” Midoriya thought it over, this was all taking too long. They should go now if they wanted to get Tokoyami and Bakugo back. Complaining would get him nowhere, if it would get them to move then so be it.

His hands shook as he raised them behind his head and untied the knot at the back, removing the fabric covering his mouth and nose, tossing it aside. He then raised his hands and took off the rest of the broken mask from earlier, throwing it next to the fabric on the floor.

“Hood too.” Todoroki demanded. Midoriya shot him a scowl and pulled his hood down. He could see Todoroki etching each facial feature into memory before nodding. Midoriya pulled the hood up and reached for the mask but Todoroki set it ablaze.

“You son of a b-” Midoriya began, swinging his fist round to punch him. Todoroki deflected it with ease and simply told him to: “Lead the way.”

The five of them began running as fast as they could through the undergrowth, ignoring the brambles that tore at their clothes and the nettles that stung their skin. Uraraka had removed the effect of gravity on their clothes to try and help with their speed as they hurried after the green haired villain. Their sides were stinging, chests pounding and Uraraka was looking greener and greener as they went, her movements slowing due to the effort of using her quirk for such a long time.

It was lucky that they began to see moonlight illuminating a clearing just ahead with four figures already standing there. Uraraka immediately recognised the yellow coat and top hat of the villain whom had taken Tokoyami and Bakugo. She released her quirk, not needing to maintain it longer than necessary.

Midoriya stared at the clearing, whose only obstacle came in the form of Todoroki and Shoji.

Trip Shoji, use him to pin Todoroki to the ground. Run fast and avoid Tsyu’s quirk as best you can.

But Midoriya had barely taken a step forward before Todoroki slammed him into a tree and froze him in place once again. Without hesitation Midoriya yelled out, shouting and hollering at the villains in fury. He didn’t ask for their assistance or for rescue, they wouldn’t offer it if he did. He told them to run, to fight, to get away with their captives.

Tsyu leaped forward, ready for a rematch with Toga but she saw her coming and mockingly blew her a kiss before diving through one of Kurogiri’s gates. Twice followed soon after as Shoji, Uraraka and Todoroki leapt into the clearing.

Mr Compress ran to one of the gates but Tsyu grabbed him with her tongue, pulling him towards them. Dabi shot back an arc of flames towards them but Todoroki blocked it with a wall of ice as Shoji grabbed the marbles from Mr Compress’s pocket. He held them up and Tsyu threw Mr Compress away from them while dodging another jet of flames from Dabi that broke apart the ice in front of him.

The group retreated backwards, as Mr Compress rose to his feet and hurried back towards Dabi who shot out another burst of flames in warning.

Midoriya struggled against the ice, feeling it crack ever so slightly under the strain, but not enough to break free. He was watching in desperation as the pair readied to leave without him. They were so close.

No, no, no, no, no!

He pulled and pulled, as Todoroki, Shoji, Uraraka and Tsyu returned. They cast a triumphant look back but Midoriya saw their faces fall. Straining his neck he saw the marbles Shoji had grabbed transform into two shards of ice. They still had the students.

Mr Compress removed his mask, flaunting his prizes whilst verbally gloating and mocking the others as he slowly stepped back towards the gate. Todoroki was already sprinting back as Tsyu threw Shoji forward, extending his arms as he went, reaching out towards Mr Compress and his trapped friends. In that instant a beam shot across his mask sending the marbles flying through the air, Aoyama having fired it from his terrified spot in the bushes. Shoji reached forward and grabbed one of the marbles while Todoroki reached for the other but Dabi already grabbed a hold of it before he had the chance.

“Todoroki Shoto,” Dabi said, pity in his eyes and a smile on his lips, “How sad.”

Midoriya broke free, pulling free of the ice and running forward. Mr Compress fell backwards through the gate, releasing Bakugo. Their eyes met and the realisation visibly washed across his face. The last person he saw, the last thing he thought, the last word he spoke as he was pulled away and out of reach: “Deku?”

Chapter Text

“I know this boy.” All Might pointed at the picture of the green haired villain whom Eraserhead had fought with.

“Midoriya Izuku,” All Might continued, “A little over a year ago I met him. He was hoping to get into UA’s hero course but was quirkless. I…I didn’t handle the situation well and a few months later it was reported that he’d…he’d killed himself.” All Might’s head was in his hands, several students had been hurt, others were still unconscious due to the gas, one had been taken away and another had come back from the dead.

“Eye witness accounts believed he had a quirk, it could have been mistaken for good reflexes and if he was quirkless he couldn’t possibl-” All Might cut the police officer off.

“He could. There is someone who can give others quirks and take them away. It’s not out of the question to assume that the boy received a quirk through dealings with this man, but if he has...” All Might couldn't bring himself to continue. He wasn't sure what he'd even say, how he could explain the horrors that All for One could perform. It fell silent across the room. No one knew what to say next; eyes darted back and forth between the heroes and the officers.

“You said he died?” Eraserhead began, breaking the tense atmosphere with his query, “He doesn’t look very dead, and if he was trying so desperately to get onto the hero course, why become a villain?”

“I went to his funeral, I saw his body. I don’t understand or know anything about what happened to him. I let him down.” He sounded as though he were about to cry and Midnight put a gentle hand on Eraserhead’s shoulder in warning.

“Don’t push him. He’s not the one we need to interrogate. There were three additional villains caught and Yaoyorozu managed to place a tracker on one of the Nomus,” She looked directly at All Might, “We’ll get to the bottom of this, we can save them.”

All Might nodded, his eyes still staring intently at the table and his face still clutched in his hands but a smile gently tugged at his mouth because he knew that she wasn't just talking about Bakugo. All of a sudden his head shot up; his vision blank as he muttered out in a hushed voice.

“Bakugo.”

“What?” Said Eraserhead.

“Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku were childhood friends, the kidnapping could have been some sort of personal vendetta against him.”

“But the league left Midoriya behind. If it were a personal vendetta why would they leave the person who holds the grudge?” Midnight questioned and watched as All Might’s face fell, hastily adding on, “But let’s not rule it out, it possible that they the attack did have personal motivation behind it. Todoroki Shoto told us he seemed keen to get Bakugo away.”

“Also,” Eraserhead cut in, “He delivered the boy Kota to Vlad. Mandalay said that the villain Muscular was found in the area Kota often ran off to.”

“You’re saying he saved him? Attacked one of his own allies?” Asked Midnight, her eyes wide with shock and doubt. Eraserhead nodded slightly, though it could have easily been mistaken for a shrug.

“I think Midoriya is trying to play the hero or some twisted version of it where he doesn’t harm people needlessly. But by trying to save Kota and possibly taking down one of his own teammates, it makes me believe that he isn’t with the league for the same or even similar reasons to the rest of the villains.”

“What do you reckon that reason is?” All Might asked. Eraserhead shrugged in response, rising from his seat.

“I would suggest questioning the other villains if their awake and in a cooperative mood. Let me know if their stories don’t match up. I have a lesson now but let me know if you need me.”

The teachers and officers muttered their farewells as Eraserhead left the room. He wandered down the corridors, walking straight past Class 1-A. They were not his pupils for this moment. He heard the shouts from Present Mic follow him down the hall, echoing literature off the walls. He continued to meander past classrooms and corridors until he reached the training grounds and saw his pupil warming up, stretching in anticipation for their lesson.

“Shinso!” He called out, causing the boy to turn his head in his direction. He gave a small wave as he jogged over to Eraserhead.

“Are we going to start now?” he asked and Eraserhead shook his head.

“In a bit, but first I wanted to ask you something.”

“Hm?” He tilted his head to the side as he asked, like a sleep deprived puppy.

“I was wondering if you’d agree to help me interrogate the villains that attacked the training camp.”

Shinso’s mouth parted slightly and his eyes widened in shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as he searched for the right words. His quirk was useful for forcing answers from people but there was bound to be better methods used by the police.

“Are you sure?” he said, gaze fixed to the ground as though Eraserhead was suddenly about to change his mind.

“Of course.” Eraserhead replied, allowing himself a small smile. Shinso cast a look upwards, as if to check that he was being genuine before allowing a slight smile to brush his lips.

“Ok, I’ll do it.”

Eraserhead beamed, ruffling his hair as he guided Shinso down to the field, readying himself for an attack.

Elsewhere, Midoriya had woken up tucked into a soft bed, bundled into a warm blanket and lying against fresh white sheets. He had no idea when he’d passed out, whether it was from exhaustion, blood loss or a quirk. He had awoken in a place that looked like a cross between a hospital room and a cell, with three plain white walls around him and a thick glass one facing out onto another, larger room with a grey floor, ceiling and walls seemingly made of thick slabs of concrete. Both rooms were relatively empty, both with a table and a chair with the exception that Midoriya’s also had a bed. He tossed off the blanket and sat up checking over his body. There were neat stitches from his arm wound and he could feel that the burns beneath his eye had healed slightly into dull red marks.

You should feel bad

He did feel bad. A bitterness lay thick upon his mind that he had been abandoned by those he’d aligned himself with. That in many ways he had failed but he was happy. Despite being left behind he knew that that had been a risk and if the league needed him they would get him out. Plus, he was relieved because they’d at least managed to capture their target, and when he got himself free, Bakugo would be made to beg for mercy and suffer through every hit he’d ever dealt onto Midoriya. Then he would either join their ranks or have his body abandoned in a ditch for the police to find days later. Either way he would get the justice he so greatly desired. A smile formed on his lips as the door at the very end of the larger concrete room opened.

Chapter Text

Tsuyu and Uraraka were curled up on the hospital bench together, waiting for Jiro to return with their permission to go and see Yaoyorozu.

“You ok Ochaco?” Tsuyu asked. She felt Uraraka smile into her shoulder and nod slowly before replying: “Not really. Everything went so crazy so quickly and now Bakugo has been captured. Maybe we could have rescued him if you’d had someone else with you.” She frantically blinked her eyes to prevent tears from spilling out as Tsuyu gripped her hand.

“Please don’t say that! If you hadn’t been there when that blond girl attacked I would have been helpless. You were so cool.” Tsuyu beamed but Uraraka remained upset by he perceived failings.

“But you helped Todoroki and Shoji reach Tokoyami in time and grab the yellow jacketed villain.”

“But without you we would never have made it in time. You went way past your limits to get us there in time Uraraka. I’m so proud of you!” Uraraka wiped away her tears and laughed as Tsuyu kissed her nose and cheeks again and again. She giggled and pushed her slightly before leaning into a small kiss. The two pulled away and grinned at each other laughing for no reason as Jiro coughed to grab their attention.

“We can go in now… unless you two would rather stay out here?” Jiro smiled as Uraraka blushed and leapt up from her seat, clutching Tsuyu’s hand in her own as they strode down the corridor together.

When they reached the room they were surprised to see Kirishima stepping out alongside Todoroki. As they approached they heard Yaoyorozu tell them: “I’ll think about it.”

“What will you think about?” asked Jiro, butting into the conversation, arms folded and eyebrows raised in suspicion. Kirishima glanced over at Yaoyorozu who nodded in confirmation.

“I was asking Yaoyorozu if she would help me and Todoroki to go and rescue Bakugo.” Tsuyu and Uraraka fell silent with shock while Jiro looked as though she was about to smash them into the ground. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth before replying.

“Are you insane? You are not about to pressure my girlfriend into helping you kill yourselves! I know you want Bakugo back, so do I, but we need to leave it to the professionals Kirishima.”

“He isn’t pressuring me into anything Jiro.” Said Yaoyorozu, “He told me what he wanted and asked if I would help. I’m being given the option to decline and I want to think it over.” Jiro stared at her as though she’d grown an extra head.

“You can’t be seriously considering this can you?” she uttered in disbelief. Yaoyorozu nodded, averting her eyes and staring at the floor as though it were the most interesting thing in the world right now. Jiro opened her mouth as if she were about to yell but stopped herself, face falling.

“Sorry, this…this isn’t my decision. I don’t want you to do it, that much is clear. I’m just worried.” Yaoyorozu smiled and pulled her into a tight hug which she readily reciprocated, burying her face in her neck.

“I know, so am I.”

Kirishima and Todoroki turned to go but Uraraka called out to Kirishima.

“Kiri wait! I know you want answers as soon as possible so if you’d like, I heard Eraserhead talking about going to interrogate some of the villains. Perhaps you could ask him if you could tag along.” Kirishima’s face lit up, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he hugged Uraraka.

“Thanks Uraraka, that’ll be really useful. So long as I can persuade him.” She smiled back and watched as he began to walk away again before calling him back a second time.

“Wait!” He stopped and she moved over to join him, speaking in a hushed voice, “I want to help too. If you find out where Bakugo is I want to help rescue him.”

“Really?” Uraraka nodded, a determined look upon her face as she assured both Kirishima and herself that this is what she wanted.

“I want to be useful.”

“Okay then. I’ll meet up with you and Todoroki in the evening to let you know what I found out.” The pair flashed each other one last smile and finally waved goodbye, heading off in their separate directions.

Kirishima ran out of the hospital and towards the school. He had to find Eraserhead and convince him to take him along as soon as possible. Luckily the hospital wasn’t far from the school, which had been required when they’d been built to make sure any students in need of aid would have somewhere close by to help them. Something that tended to happen a lot at a school that trains heroes.

Kirishima scanned his id badge at the gate, asking the guard if he’d seen Aizawa recently. The guard pointed him in the direction of the training ground and Kirishima grinned, thanking the guard and running off again.

It was a warm day, sun shining in the middle of a sea of pale blue. On any other day Kirishima would have enjoyed the weather and the warmth that lay upon his skin but now it felt wrong. It was cruel for the world to look so sunny when he felt so bleak inside. He felt as though the world was mocking him, but perhaps that was just his own head.

As he sprinted round the corner he ended up crashing into Shinso, sending them both sprawling to the ground in a painful flurry of limbs.

“Ugh, watch were you’re going.” Shinso groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head.

“Sorry, sorry. You haven’t seen Aizawa have you?” Kirishima jumped up, dusting himself off before offering his hand to Shinso. He took it and pulled himself up nodding as he went.

“Yeah, he’s over on the field.” Kirishima barley let Shinso finish before he darted past him toward the field calling back his appreciation as he ran. Aizawa was leaning against a wall absentmindedly looking at his watch. A tired appearance rested upon his face, heavier than usual and as he heard footsteps he turned to Kirishima.

“I thought you went off to talk to Yaoyorozu in the hospital.” He said, voice sounding as strained as his appearance suggested. Kirishima panted, leaning over slightly as he caught his breath.

“I was,” he breathed, standing up to his full height, “But I left her to talk with the others and came back because I wanted to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“Can I go with you when you investigate the villains?”

“No.” The answer was short, blunt and so quick that Kirishima was caught off guard by the response.

“Wh-why not?” He managed to stutter out.

“Because I think you’re too emotionally invested in this. I’m worried that if you get too involved you’re going to do something reckless.”

“I just want to understand what happened! I was so helpless and useless and now Bakugo’s been captured! I need to do something!” He could feel hot tears welling up in his eyes as he pleaded. Aizawa rested a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“I know you feel helpless, but that doesn’t mean that you have to put yourself in unnecessary danger just because you want to compensate for past actions.” Kirishima nodded, his face was blotchy and red and tears were slipping down his face quicker than he could wipe them from his face. Aizawa sighed, handing Kirishima a tissue and speaking again.

“I’ll take you along under strict conditions.” Kirishima’s head shot up, listening intently. Aizawa continued, “You do exactly what I tell you to do while we’re there, you don’t touch or do anything they tell you to do without my express permission and you promise me that if I do this for you that you won’t go looking for Bakugo. You leave it to the pro heroes. Understand?” Kirishima nodded, he could abide by almost all of those conditions. He would still look for Bakugo because he had to. He didn’t want to betray Aizawa’s trust and hopefully Bakugo would be rescued before he would need to, if not… he’d have to try.

Chapter Text

Midoryia watched with a wariness as three people entered through the door. The first was a boy with spiky red hair that he recognised as Kirishima Eijiro, he’d seen him at the training camp and had been one of the students that activate their quirks when he’d delivered Kota.

Weaknesses: can’t use quirk for long, can be worn down, only the skin hardens

Best method of take down: choking, drugging through ingestion, blinding or outlasting

The next person to enter was the hero Eraserhead, his scarf draped round his neck which distastefully reminded Midoriya of his initial capture.

Weaknesses: can’t blink to use quirk, only affects one target at a time

Best method of take down: flash bombs to cause blinking, teaming up and staying long range

The final person took him a while to recognise but he remembered seeing the purple haired student at the sports festival. Shinso Hitoshi, a general studies student with a mind control quirk that he had envied to a ridiculous amount upon viewing. He had been another student marked down as a possible member.

Weaknesses: opponent has to respond to him, low combat skill

Best method of take down: simple attack, don’t respond

Eraserhead moved towards him, a file in his hand and placed it down on the desk.

“You’re Midoriya Izuku, is that correct?”

Say nothing

Midoriya said nothing. He didn’t nod or shake his head but stood still and unmoving in front of the trio, separated by the thick glass wall.

“Do you mind if I call you Midoriya?” Eraserhead asked, once again met with no response. He glanced at Shinso who stepped forward and began to speak.

“What were you trying to accomplish at the training camp? If your sole aim was to capture Bakugo Katsuki then you failed in that aspect along with getting yourself back.”

He was toying with him to get him to respond, and as soon as he did he’d activate his quirk and Midoriya would be trapped. He wondered if the others that had been captured also had to endure the same method of interrogation or if he was the lucky one who got forced into speaking.

“I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that Bakugo was returned to out care earlier tod-”

“What!”

Idiot, idiot, idiot! How could you fall for that?

His head filled with a thick fog and his mind seemed to detach from his body despite the fact that he could still feel and see everything, including the smug grin from Shinso.

“My apologies,” he said, “But I was instructed to use any method I could to get you to speak to me. Including lying.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He told himself, trying to glare at Shinso through his blank and glassy eyed exterior.

“You may move freely but you must answer any question I give you truthfully.” Midoriya felt like a weight had been lifted off his body, and though he still felt it heavy in his head, he was grateful to be able to flip him off. Shinso’s demeanour remained as stoic and unreadable as before as he began the interrogation.

“You’re name is Midoriya Izuku?”

“Yes.”

“Your mother is Midoriya Inko?”

“…Yes.”

“You were born quirkless, do you have a quirk now?”

“Yes and yes.”

“What is it?” Midoriya threw his hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle the answer but a simple command made them drop to his sides. He took a slow and angry breath inwards, glowering intently as he spoke.

“It’s called counter. It has the ability to counter almost any physical attack. It boosts my speed and strength while countering and if I am aware of a particular area of weakness such as a weak ankle or a blind spot when attacking the weak point.” As he spoke Eraserhead scribbled a note in the file, he then turned to Shinso and whispered something to him who nodded in response.

“Who gave you your quirk?” Midoriya tried to bite back his voice again as it was dragged out of him.

“A man named All for One.” He growled out and noticed Eraserhead hesitate for a moment before writing it down in the file, a shadow of pity crossing his face. As he wrote Kirishima went over to him, whispering something in his ear, Eraserhead thought for a second before nodding.

“Answer his questions honesty.” Shinso said as Kirishima stepped forward in Shinso’s place.

“Why did you attack Muscular and Moonfish?” Lies slipped so easily into his mind but not a word of them were uttered as Midoriya forcibly replied: “Moonfish and Muscular were loose cannons, they were reckless. Moonfish got in my way and went off mission, Muscular was so blood thirsty he tried to attack a child.” Eraserhead’s eyebrows raised.

“You saved Kota because you didn’t want him to die.” Midoriya didn’t have to answer that, Shinso hadn’t instructed him to but all the same he spoke.

“Unlike some of my peers I don’t relish in the murder of infants.”

“What about Iida Tenya and Native, you helped save them and even alerted a nearby student. Why did you save them?”

“I don’t know.” Kirishima looked shocked and Midoriya clasped his hands over his mouth again. He knew why he saved them, Shigaraki had told him to befriend Todoroki so that later they could try and recruit him. They had hoped his hatred of his father would lead him to hate other heroes and therefore join their ranks. That’s what he should have said, why didn’t he? Was his quirk wearing off or weakening?

“You don’t know?” said Eraserhead, his words slow and confused. Midoriya shook his head, bewildered expression still clear on his face. Eraserhead turned to the others and muttered something that Midoriya didn’t care about enough to listen, he saw Kirishima open his mouth in a form of protest but closed it quickly with a look from his teacher.

“What was your goal for the training camp?” Shinso asked, as Eraserhead picked up the file again.

“To capture Bakugo and other students as well as instil fear of the league.” Midoriya barely fought the word, there was no point. Plus his thoughts was still lost in confusion making him questioning his own mind. Shinso looked over at Eraserhead, waiting for him to finish taking his notes before continuing.

“One last question for today. Where is Bakugo and the league?” Midoriya didn’t notice at first the numbness that was slowly spreading across his body as he opened his mouth to reply. It was only when the numbness began to burn and the air was ripped from his lungs that he started to panic. He fell to the floor clawing at invisible hands which robbed him of breath, chocking and gasping as he fell back. There was blood. Why was there blood? He could barely move and the black fog was seeping into his vision. Everything burned, his lungs, his head, and his limbs were set ablaze with agonizing pain.

Eraserhead rushed forward, his quirk activating as he opened the cell. The thought of escape didn’t even cross his mind as Midoriya scrabbled at the ground watching Eraserhead’s frantic movements as consciousness slipped from his grasp more and more with each passing second. He heard Eraserhead yell for someone to get Recovery Girl as everything sunk into a cold blanket of darkness.

Chapter Text

Bakugo had no idea how long he’d been left restrained in the dark room but he’d decided that he’d spent long enough alone with his thoughts. He was sick of worrying about Kirishima and his friends. He was sick of thinking of Deku. He was sick of waiting about and hating himself.

Everything he thought he’d known had fallen apart in a second. Deku was dead. He had to be or else… Bakugo didn’t want to think about it. If he thought about it then he’d have to come to the harsh reality that he may have pushed his friend into a life that went against everything he had stood for. It had to be a trick, or a dream or something designed to mess with his head.

“It’s all a trick.” He told himself, hoping that saying it out loud would make him believe it. Instead it just made him more aware of how alone he was as his voice sounded out in the silence.

He wanted to cry but he didn’t want to give the villains the satisfaction of seeing him in that state. So he drew in slow breaths to calm himself and focused on listening to the muffled conversations from the other room. It was pretty much impossible to work out what they were saying but every now and again he would hear a shout and everything would fall silent for a few moments before the murmuring started up all over again.

Bakugo heard another shout and the murmurs stopped but his time he heard the distinct sound of footsteps approaching the door. The door opened and Dabi and Twice stepped through, a sinister smile plastered upon Dabi’s mouth as he told Twice to bring Bakugo in. The chair was dragged into the next room where the six other villains stood against walls and tables, equally menacing and ridiculous in appearance.

“Bakugo Katsuki.” Shigaraki said his name in such a way that the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end but he masked his fear with a fierce scowl as he always did. The façade as easy to wear upon his face as it was to breathe.

“My apologies, we were hoping an old friend of yours would be doing the introductions but he’s…busy at the moment.” Bakugo threw his weight forward against the restraints, jolting the chair forward and startling Mange and Twice.

“What the hell did you do?” He growled out, staring them down with the harshest glare he could muster.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.” Shigaraki replied, his voice monotone and chilling to the bone. Bakugo took no notice of the sick feeling in his stomach as he continued.

“What did you scumbags do to Deku?” Toga raised an eyebrow and Dabi let out a snicker, the others sharing knowing smiles at one another.

“Deku…Midoriya told us you used to call him that. ‘The one who can’t do anything’ what a cruel nickname.” Bakugo ignored it, Shigaraki was just trying to get under his skin. If Deku had cared so much about the nickname he would have told him. Right?

“Answer the question!” He demanded and Shigaraki allowed himself a small smile.

“We didn’t do anything to him, he came to us and we gave him what he wanted.” They were lying. They had to be lying. Deku would never have thrown away his hopes and dreams like this. Not the Deku he knew. Not the Deku whose memories he’d clung to desperately for the past year. Not the Deku he’d mourned and fought for and cherished but never shown in the way he’d deserved.

“You’re lying.” He said, but the bite in his voice was gone as, deep in his mind, he could feel himself accept the fact that he’d done this. Tortured by the notion that he’d killed his friend for the past year it hurt even more to know that instead, he’d forced him into a life that completely contradicted everything he’d strived towards.

“I think someone’s lying to you, but it certainly isn’t us.” Shigaraki turned back to Dabi and Twice, “Why don’t we give Bakugo the welcome he deserves.” The two crept towards him and Bakugo could feel the fear rising as he looked at their smiles; splitting their faces into pictures of malice. He struggled against the restraints in desperation, but it was pointless. It was all pointless.

Kirishima was pacing back and forth waiting in anticipation for the knock on the door. He was still trying to make sense of what had happened. Shinso had asked his question and then Midoriya began to choke and thrash about, blood running from his nose, seemingly triggered by nothing. Aizawa had screamed at Shinso to release his quirk as he ran forward to try and help. Shinso had been frozen in place, fear plain upon his figure and his body had been shaking. Before Kirishima had been able to ask if he was ok Aizawa had told they to find Recovery Girl.

Now Shinso was sitting on the bench opposite him, arms wrapped over his head and knees pulled up to his face. Kirishima wasn’t sure if talking would make any difference to Shinso. His light hearted small talk had done nothing earlier but the silence was killing him and they’d no idea how long they’d have to wait here. He turned to Shinso but just as he was about to speak Shinso muttered out a defeated declaration.

“I fucked up so bad.”

“What? How?” Shinso lowered his limbs but kept his gaze to the ground as he replied.

“This was a chance to prove myself, for the second time. Now my quirk’s messed everything up!” Kirishima strolled over and sat down next to him.

“We don’t know that it was your quirk, it could have been any number of factors. Aizawa’s not going to give up on you because you messed up once. If that were the case our whole class would have been left in the dirt a long time ago.” Shinso gave Kirishima a pity smile, a flash of fake happiness in the hopes that he would be left alone.

Just then Recovery Girl knocked on the door. The pair leapt to their feet and strode into her office, Shinso holding back slightly and lurking behind Kirishima. As they entered they saw Midoriya laying unconscious on one of the beds, an oxygen mask strapped over his mouth and a heart rate monitor on the side. The bleeps were regular and Kirishima could see Shinso let out a sigh of relief, he had far more sympathy for the villain than Kirishima did.

Aizawa had taken a seat next to Recovery Girl who had turned to the computer to mark down various information. Aizawa glanced at Shinso who avoided his gaze nervously before telling him: “You don’t have to worry Shinso, this wasn’t your fault.”

“Whose was it then?” He asked, eyes fixated on the floor in front of him.

“We can’t be sure. We’ve ruled out the possibility of it having been various medical issues but there’s still a few tests to be done. Hopefully we’ll have an answer by the time he wakes up.” Shinso nodded and thanked Aizawa. Kirishima said nothing but goodbye as the pair were promptly dismissed to allow for Recovery Girl to get on with her work in peace.

Kirishima hurriedly made his way over to Todoroki’s home where he, Uraraka and Todoroki had agreed to meet as it was spacious and his father would be out during the day and wouldn’t get back until late at night. Kirishima double checked the address and wandered in. The home was traditionally styled with a large stone wall that surrounded it and a lush garden with trees and plants that grew tall and perfect. Kirishima stared in awe as he knocked on the door, admiring the place that his friend had the privilege of living in. The door was opened by a young woman with mostly white hair, save for the odd red streak here and there. She welcomed Kirishima with a warm expression and told him that Uraraka had arrived a few minutes ago.

“Shoto! Your friend Kirishima is here!” Todoroki came whizzing round the corner, Uraraka behind him. Kirishima took off his shoes and followed them over to Todoroki’s room which looked just as traditional as the rest of the house. He settled down on the floor and took a deep breath as Uraraka and Todoroki joined him. This was going to take a while.

Chapter Text

Everything swirled into place as Midoriya opened his eyes to discover himself now laying in a bright hospital room. His body still hurt and his head was throbbing painfully but he’d cry with the relief if he wasn’t so exhausted.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Midoriya turned his head slightly, and saw a small woman with grey hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her clean white coat trailed across the floor behind her as she walked over to Midoriya, a warm expression fixed to her face.

“Are you feeling better now?” Midoriya shook his head, wincing as he did so.

“What happened?” he mumbled out, eyelids fighting to stay open as Recovery Girl’s optimistic smile faltered slightly.

“We’re not sure but most likely you experienced two quirks contradicting each other. For instance, if someone with the same mind controlling capabilities told you were forbidden from telling anyone a specific location but another person with a similar quirk told you to tell them where that location was what would your body do?”

“Shut down?” She smiled mournfully and gave his hand a small squeeze.

“Perhaps, we’ve never had an incident like this happen to anyone’s recollection but we’re doing research to try and figure it out so don’t worry.” She smiled again and Midoriya weakly smiled back. She busied herself about his room, changing his IV bag and drawing back the curtains to let some of the light in. The sky was clear blue and cloudless, the sun shone down and it was only now that Midoriya realised how long it had been since he’d seen a day like this. Whenever he was allowed out it was usually at night and when he did go out during the day the sky was heavy and grey. Recovery Girl opened the window slightly and Midoriya felt the cool breeze ruffle his hair. Everything felt so nice in that instant that he felt a tear roll down his cheek as he looked out in happiness.

If Recovery Girl had noticed she didn’t say, continuing to check over him and his room. When she was happy with her handiwork she closed the window, much to Midoriya’s dismay but left the curtains drawn back.

“Sorry dear but we have to take lots of precautions to ensure your kept safe here.” Midoriya knew that she meant ever word she said, but the implications that he was still a prisoner were clear. They may want him to remain safe but they would be more concerned for the other patients, which he didn’t hold against them. As Recovery Girl opened the door Midoriya noticed a figure standing just beyond the doorway. He couldn’t make out who it was from where he was lying but when the boy spoke he realised who it was.

“Can I come in?” Todoroki asked, Midoriya wasn’t sure if the question was directed at him or Recovery Girl. Nonetheless Recovery Gil nodded and he muttered his thanks as he entered, letting the door slide shut behind him.

“What do you want?” Midoriya asked and Todoroki pursed his lips.

“You hurt my friends.”

“So you’re here for revenge?” Todoroki’s eyes widened as the sarcasm flew over his head.

“What? No! I’m not going to beat up someone who’s been hospitalized!” Midoriya chuckled slightly as Todoroki scowled. He pulled over a chair and sat down, a serious look worn upon his face.

“Ooh serious business time.” He joked and watched as Todoroki stifled a small laugh before speaking.

“Why did you ask for me on the night we fought the villain Stain?” Midoriya shrugged, immediately regretting his decision as he grimaced.

“To be perfectly honest you were the closest student I thought would actually help me,” He hesitated before continuing, “And I was told to. Along with Bakugo you were someone the league wanted to recruit. They saw your distaste for your father as something that could be manipulated into hated for all heroes, but after the run in with Stain I voted against it.” Todoroki flicked his gaze up to Midoriya’s face.

“You voted against recruiting me?” Midoriya nodded.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d join, you seemed too… heroic I guess and stubborn. Very stubborn.” Todoroki smiled, turning his eyes to the window.

“I considered running away for a long while to be honest. Getting away from my dad and just living by myself but I couldn’t ever do it. I kept staying. Luckily I’ll be able to get out of the house soon, UA’s building dorms for the students to stay in. I suppose you’re partially to thank for that.” Midoriya smiled and laughed, and took a fake bow, once again causing him to grimace from the pain.

“Anything else you want to interrogate me on?” Midoriya asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Become a villain.” The amusement vanished as a tense silence fell between the two.

“They…they offered me what I needed when no one else would. They didn’t lie to me or try to decide what was best for me based on their own fears.” Midoriya saw the look of sadness upon Todoroki’s face and smiled wide. He grinned with as much happiness as he could muster but the grin suddenly fell away into a pained sob. He placed his hands over his mouth as he choked back tears, shuddering into his hands and cursing as they wouldn’t stop. After a while he fell silent again wiping the tears away and laughing with anguished look across his face.

“Jeez I thought they’d beaten that out of me!”

“Beat-” Todoroki asked, his face the embodiment of concern and Midoriya turned away the painful memory flashing in his eyes as he hastily corrected himself.

“Thought I’d learned to stop doing that.”

“Crying?” Midoriya didn’t say anything, staring out the window and avoiding Todoroki’s gaze.

“Can you go now?” He said, not turning his attention away from the window, “I just want to sleep.” Todoroki opened his mouth to protest but closed it silently. He nodded even though Midoriya wasn’t looking, and said his goodbyes, walking out of the room and casting a last sad look over his shoulder before leaving the room.

Chapter Text

Toga stared at the vial of blood in her hand and glanced up at Dabi.

“So I have to go into Hosu hospital as Ochaco and get Izuku out?” Dabi nodded, glancing towards Kurogiri as he did.

“Once you’re there let us know and we can bring you back. You got to be quick though, the portal will only stay open for a few seconds. We don’t want any heroes getting here. Understood” Toga acknowledged him absentmindedly as she removed the top and downed its contents. Her body melted away until instead of Toga, Uraraka Ochaco what standing in her place instead. Twice congratulated her on her transformation and she mockingly took a bow before turning to Bakugo.

“What do you think? Don’t I look just like her?” Bakugo stared at her through his swollen eye and scowled as hard as he could.

“They’ll catch you.” He mumbled out, his breathing heavy and strained but Toga ignored him, signalling to Kurogiri that she was ready.

She was slightly nervous about entering a pro hero hotspot but her determination to get Izuku back pushed her fears to the back of her mind. The receptionist smiled at her as she walked up to the front desk.

“Hello! Back to see Yaoyorozu again?” Toga shook her head.

“I was wondering if I could do and see Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa said I should be allowed to if the pro heroes are still outside?” The receptionist bit her lip and typed something into the computer.

“Do you have your id on you?” Toga cursed internally. Despite looking like Ochaco she still needed her id to prove her identity except she didn’t have Ochaco’s id. Hoping that her acting capabilities would save her she bluffed.

“No, I lost it recently and I’ve only just managed to put in a request for a new one. Is there anything else I can do?” The receptionist smiled again, clicking onto a different tab.

“Don’t worry, the heroes outside are your teachers, if you’re lying they’ll stop you.” Toga said her thanks, waving happily as she walked away and grinning so hard her cheeks began to ache. She made her way along the winding corridors, blending into the crowds and hoping none of Ochaco’s classmates show up or wanted to chat.

As she approached the hospital room she saw Vlad King and Ectoplasm standing outside, casually chatting with one another. Vlad turned to her and smiled as he heard her footsteps.

“Uraraka! How are you?”

“Good,” Toga said, “Am I allowed to go in?” She pointed to the door to emphasize her point and Vlad nodded.

“You may, but be careful. We’ll be right outside so call if you need anything.” Toga grinned and stepped through the door.

Midoriya was curled up on the bed, his back to the door and his hair sticking up in every direction due to a serious bed-head related issue. She slowly walked over to him and saw him peacefully sleeping, a serene expression on his face as his chest rose and fell with each steady breath.

She leaned over and flicked his cheek watching as his brows furrowed and he buried his face deeper into the pillow with amusement.

“Izuku, wake up!” she said in a singsong voice, pinching his cheeks as his eyes fluttered open.

“Huh?”

“It’s me. Toga!”

“Toga?” Midoriya mumbled out, pushing her hand away and sitting up. Toga nodded frantically, grin wide upon a face that wasn’t her own.

“I’m here to bust you out! I’m the rescue mission.” Midoriya looked confused and Toga put it down to having just been awoken as she tried to pull him out of the bed.

“C’mon we need to get moving.” She brought out the phone from her back pocket and waved it about. The words “getaway ride” written on the only contact listing visibly showing on the screen. Midoriya threw back the covers, about to step down onto the floor as a loud knock sounded on the door. Toga’s eyes narrowed and she slipped the phone back into her pocket. The door swung open and the pair felt their blood run cold as All Might towered in the doorway, dressed in a garish yellow pinstripe suit that was pulled tight against his frame.

“Uraraka! I’m sorry but may I interject and have a moment with the boy alone?” Toga forgot for a second who she was playing, caught up in awe and fear before hastily leaping up from her seat and hurrying out of the door.

Midoriya couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. All Might stepped forward, pulling up a chair but staying at a relative distance away from him.

“I’m sorry,” All Might said, his voice trembling slightly and his smile faltering as he looked at Midoriya, “I should not have treated you like that merely because you had no quirk. I thought it would be a safer option, a better option… I was wrong.” At first Midoriya was shocked by his words but words whispered into his ear that it was all for show. He didn’t really care.

“You were hypocritical.” Midoriya bit out, his eyes dark with hatred, “You acted like it was impossible for someone who was quirkless to become a hero when you’re a prime example of that isn’t true!” His voice was louder now, every hate filled thought being screamed at the man who had caused him to sink so low.

“So he told you…” All Might looked at Midoriya with pity in his eyes, regret and shame that danced upon his features and made Midoriya’s blood boil. He didn’t want pity from this man. He didn’t want anything at all from the person he had idolised for so long.

“He was the only one that helped me! He offered me what I wanted and gave me a chance to fix everything.” Hot tears trickled down his face as he yelled. He wanted All Might gone. He wanted Toga to leave. Why couldn’t everyone just stop and let him be alone.

“He stole you Midoriya, he took you away from your mother and made you a walking ghost. We can get you actual help.”

He’s lying

He’s right

No one wants to help you

“Please leave me alone!” Midoriya sobbed, his knees and arms encasing him, shielding him as his mind fought inside his head. There was a scraping sound from the chair as All Might slowly stood up. He whispered a last apology and departed, head held low in sympathy and defeat.

Chapter Text

“Leave him be.” All Might instructed Vlad and Ectoplasm as he exited the room and they nodded in understanding.

“What about me?” Toga asked, if she didn’t get Midoriya now then she’d never be able to. The blood she’d taken had been the only sample of a UA student. She had to get him back before it ran out.

“You should leave him be as well Uraraka.” Toga began to panic. She needed a way to get in there, it would only take a few seconds. She would only need a few seconds.

“Wait, All Might! I left my phone in there can I go get it? I’ll be quick.” The hero thought for a second, glancing over at Ectoplasm and Vlad before agreeing.

“Be quick, call us if you need to.” Toga darted inside, grabbing her phone from her pocket and signalling to Kurogiri that they were ready.

“Come on Izuku. We’re leaving now!” She dragged him off of the bed. He didn’t put up much of a fight but nor did he try to support himself, he merely let the tears stream down his face, occasionally hiccupping as he tried to conceal his anguish. The gate opened and Toga wasted no time in shoving Midoriya through it. Casting one last look back at the room she followed swiftly behind as the portal shut.

Outside, Ectoplasm was fidgeting with impatience and suspicion. He cast a look inside the room, checking to see if Uraraka was making her way over to the door and noticed a brief flash of purple. Throwing open the door without a moment’s hesitation he found that the room was empty. Both Midoriya and Uraraka were gone, the bed laying bare and unkempt.

“All Might, they’re gone!” he called back. All Might stormed into the room, searching it with frantic eyes. But they were gone. All Might had failed Midoriya for the second time and he felt rage boil in his blood as he promised himself that he wouldn’t fail a third.

Midoriya hit the ground with a thud and remained motionlessly lying on his stomach as Toga stepped over him. They were in his room and from the corner of his eye he could see Kurogiri exit after receiving confirmation from Toga that he was ok. Toga pulled him up by the back of his shirt and plopped a small pile of his clothes in his lap.

“Go get changed and washed up. We need you in about fifteen minutes.”  She skipped away leaving Midoriya slumped against the foot of his bed, face blotched red but eyes now dry and puffy. He staggered over to the bathroom, removing the hospital issued clothes and tossing them into the bin. He leaned over the sink watching as the water slowly began to rise, focusing on its sound and the chill as he washed his face before looking up at the mirror. His hair looked awful, stands sticking up every which way and in desperate need for a wash. The scar he had gained from being shot blossomed upon his skin and the burns beneath his eye were like tears upon his skin. He breathed one shaky breath after the other, trying to calm himself of the stressful anger that threatened to burst out of him.

His mind was whirring in his head, shouting and screaming that he’s doing the wrong thing, the right thing; that nothing matters anyway so what’s the point?

He grabbed the black shirt and jeans Toga had handed him, pulling them on in hasty frustration. The long sleeves covered the scar on his arm and those below his eye were small enough that he could easily ignore them. This was fine.

He turned to leave but a buzz made him stop and turn. Once again the buzz sounded out and Midoriya wandered over to the bin pulling back the clothes he’d dumped there to find his burner phone. It buzzed again as he picked it up, opening it.

Todoroki Shoto read in sharp block letters on the screen. Why the hell was he calling him? His finger hovered over the green button, holding his breath before pressing it.

“…Hello?” Todoroki said. Midoriya hesitated knowing full well everything about this was stupid.

“Why are you calling me?”

“I wanted to ask why you left.”

“How’d you even find out I was gone, it’s been five minutes.”

“I was coming to see you and met All Might after he found your room empty.” Fear flooded Midoriya’s veins as he asked: “Does he know about this call?”

“Not yet.”

“If you tell him-” Midoriya began but was angrily cut off by Todoroki, displeasure clear from his tone.

“What will you do then? Are you going to come back to yell at me? Beat me up? If you were so desperate to leave I’m sure you aren’t all that keen to return.” Midoryia pulled the phone from his ear, ready to hang up when Todoroki asked again, “Why did you leave?”

He slowly placed the phone back to his ear to tell him one thing.

“The same reason I did last time.” He could hear Todoroki calling back to him but ignored the words, blocking them out as he hung up, and listened to the phone to fall silent. He wanted to throw the phone out, put it back in the bin where he’d found it. Instead he switched it to silent and tucked it into his back pocket.

“You ready?” Toga called through the door, giving it a gentle tap. Midoriya made no reply as he pulled open the door sending Toga scuttling back. She walked alongside him as they exited into the bar area, Dabi was perched upon the counter with Kurogiri busying himself behind it as Mange sat on one of the stools. His gazed turned to the other side of the room and his heart pounded to a standstill.

Bakugo was pulled tight against a chair, his arms bound together in a device that seemed to cut off his quirk. His right eye was swollen slightly and bruises littered his arms and face. The remnants of a bloody nose lay upon his lips and chin as he panted and wheezed for breath.

Toga had skipped over towards him dragging his head up from its slumped position.

“Wakey wakey Bakugo. Look who we brought to see you.” Bakugo’s eyes strained to open, but widened as his gaze fell upon Midoriya.

“Deku?” Midoriya didn’t even register that he’d started moving, his legs moving of their own accord as his hand balled up into a tight fist and slammed across Bakugo’s other cheek.

“Don’t call me that.” He spat out, his eyes dark as Bakugo stared up at him as though he were a stranger.

Chapter Text

Plans spun into action as the police pulled up a positive match to one of the villain’s descriptions entering a building in a nearby district. Numerous pro heroes were called in as an attack was scheduled to occur at the same time UA was releasing their official statement in regards to the training camp attack.

But it wasn’t just the heroes who had made plans for that evening as Yaoyorozu joined Uraraka, Todoroki and Kirishima outside the hospital after being discharged. She had sent her parents a message saying she’d be arriving early in the morning and had agreed with Uraraka to stay the night with her if worst came to worst.

The others had to hold Kirishima back when they’d arrived as he began sprinting away looking for Bakugo almost as soon as they’d hopped off the train. Catching his arm Yaoyorozu suggested hiding their identities by going into one of the nearby shops to buy disguises. Although sceptical at first Yaoyorozu managed to get Todoroki to dress in a shirt and a black waistcoat with a cheap wig that he hadn’t quite figured out how to wear yet. The gel from Kirishima’s hair had been washed out in the bathroom skin and he’d attached two fake horns onto his head in addition to a leather jacket. In Yaoyorozu’s case she’d donned a pair of sunglasses, gold jewellery and a dark pink dress that hung down to her knees. Uraraka also dressed up, using temporary hair spray to darken her hair to a deep purple and wearing a flowing black dress and boots that she enjoyed twirling about in.

“You guys look amazing!” Yaoyorozu said, looking over every inch of their outfits and ignoring Todoroki’s struggle with the wig.

“Alright, where are we headed?” Kirishima asked, jittering and jumping about as Yaoyorozu smiled pulling out her tracker before pointing off to the right after a few seconds.

“This way by the looks of things, let’s go!”

Despite the situation the group mood was relatively high, it was most likely due to the dressing up aspect that had them all feeling so elated and optimistic but as the streets began to empty and streetlamps became far and few between, the fear from earlier began to creep back. Silence draped about them, interrupted only by their steps as they were left wandering down the empty street. The entire group’s nerves were hung by a thread, and though they each held their demeanour they were all intently listening out for the sound of footsteps stalking them. It was due to this that they all jumped at the sound of Todoroki’s phone started buzzing in his pocket.

“Jeez Todoroki! Wait, it’s not your dad is it?” Kirishima asked and Todoroki hurriedly took it out. He turned it on saw that it was a message. It was another location from Midoriya with the words “Ready for collection: One screaming idiot.”

“It’s Bakugo.”

“What?” Yelled Kirishima, snatching the phone from him and reading over the message.

“I mean it’s from Midoriya about Bakugo. I think he’s telling us where Bakugo is.” Yaoyorozu leaned over to look at the map.

“It’s a different location from where we were heading.” She said handing Todoroki’s phone back to him.

“Then he’s lying to us!” Said Kirishima, “It’s probably a trap. He told you that the league were also looking to recruit you. What if this is them doing it now?” Todoroki looked down and bit his lip slightly as he thought. Would Midoriya lie to him? Perhaps he’d come to his senses and decided to leave?

“I’m going to do what he says.” Todoroki said defiantly locking eyes with Kirishima. He would trust him.

“You’re insane.” He said, fixing Todoroki with a glare before sighing. “But we’re probably not going to change your mind are we?” Todoroki shook his head.

“You have my number don’t you?” Uraraka asked him pulling out her phone, “Text us every ten to fifteen minutes to let us know you’re ok. If you don’t put a full stop at the end of your message or send a jumble of letters that means you’re in trouble.” Todoroki smiled and gave Uraraka a hug, Yaoyorozu followed after and pulled him into a quick hug that ended with a tight squeeze. Kirishima remained with his arms firmly crossed against his chest.

“Don’t get yourself captured.” He said, a warning look in his eyes. It was no secret that Kirishima didn’t trust Midoriya and Todoroki didn’t blame him. He was a villain but he still wanted to believe that Midoriya wanted to try and change.

He waved goodbye to the others as he turned on his heel and began jogging off towards the marked location praying that his gut instinct was correct.

Midoriya had pressed the phone against his head. His eyes were screwed shut but the words seemed pressed into his eyelids. He’d fucked up and his only option was to get rid of Bakugo. That’s what sent everything spiralling out of his control. If he got rid of Bakugo he could move on and forget that any of this happened.

He stood up and slipped silently from his room. The others had mostly dispersed into various other rooms. Kurogiri was the only one up and in the main bar area but Midoriya knew that around this time he would be bustling about the kitchen and checking to see how much food had been siphoned off by the others ravenous appetites. The door to the room Bakugo was being kept in had been left unlocked. It was the only entry and exit point to the room other than a small window that had been sealed shut, which was also the only source of light. The strip of moonlight which shone casting a thick line before Bakugo’s feet.

Midoriya stepped closer, avoiding the floorboards which would squeak and in a hushed voice whispered, “Bakugo. Are you awake?”

His eyes crept open before he suddenly jerked away in realisation. Midoriya held his arms up to show he wasn’t going to do anything and Bakugo sank forward again. He was still decorated in bruises and Midoriya felt sick looking at the one upon his left cheek that was forming. He’d wanted to punish Bakugo for all that he’d done but this wasn’t what he’d wanted. He’d thought he’d wanted it which is why he had hit him, slammed his knee into his chest and bloodied his nose for at least the second time that week. It had only formed a pit in his stomach that made him feel sick and awful, with pangs of regret that he knew shouldn’t be there.

Midoriya pulled out the baby wipes he’d brought with him and gently dabbed away the dried blood from his face, his movements slowing whenever Bakugo flinched. When his face was cleaned he asked, “You think you can walk?” Bakugo shook his head before bursting into a coughing fit, pulling against the restraints as he hunched over wheezing. When it had stopped and he’d raised his head Midoriya heard Bakugo mutter out a small “Shit.”

He followed Bakugo’s gaze and saw a red stain blossoming upon his trousers with remnants dropping off his lips.

“Ok, not great.” Midoriya said sitting back on his heels and scratching his head. Bakugo shot him a glare before mumbling out a pained, “No shit Sherlock.”

Midoriya raised his eyebrow in warning as he unwrapped the lock picking set he’d been bought himself for his birthday earlier in the year. It was certainly a useful skill that he’d managed to get but unfortunately he wasn’t very fast. He leaned over to the lock keeping Bakugo to the chair, slipping the pick inside and feeling about for the pins. He began pressing them down one by one to varying different levels until finally it clicked and fell away. Bakugo slumped forward, no longer supported by the bonds that kept him upright. Midoriya grabbed him and slowly lowered him onto the floor beside him while placing him in the recover position for an extra precaution.

He stood up and stared up at the window before dragging the chair until it was beneath it. He leapt on top of it and removed the small knife from the lock picking set. He supposed it was included in case it was easier to just cut away at something instead of spending hours trying to break in the quiet way.

Midoriya dug the blade into the resin surrounding the window, cutting up strips and peeling sections away until it was almost completely removed. He then hacked away at the wood surrounding the panel, trying to loosen the resin holding onto the other side of the glass.

“Why’re you doing this?” Bakugo asked from his position on the floor. Midoriya continued to hack away as he answered, “I want you to go away and stop annoying me.”

“Wasn’t what I was asking.” He stopped chopping away at the window and turned to look at Bakugo His back was towards him but Midoriya could imagine the face he was pulling. He ignored the question and continued to cut away until, when he pressed upon the glass, in moved.

Chapter Text

After a slight struggle Midoriya managed to remove the glass panel, placing it quietly on the floor. He peered down at the drop and gulped. He could survive a fall from this height using his quirk but trying to exit the window safely from its size was going to be tricky.

The window was about a foot and a half tall and meter wide. With some effort he could get out but he was unsure how he could get Bakugo to the ground without his condition worsening. If Bakugo could manage to push himself out Midoriya hopefully should be able to catch him or break his fall in some way, which would mean leaving him alone to work out how he’d squeeze out of the window.

“Alright Bakugo,” he said hopping down from the chair and crouching down next to him, “Here’s the plan. I’m going to jump down and you’re going to have to maneuverer your way out of the window with the cuffs on. Do you think you can do it?”

“Course I can.” His voice may have sounded cocky but his beaten expression told Midoriya that he wasn’t so sure. Nonetheless he grabbed Bakugo beneath his armpits and dragged him over to the chair, helping him to shakily stand on two legs beside it. Midoriya clambered up and hooked one of his legs through the opening before swinging on the small overhang to get his other leg through. Taking a deep breath he let himself fall through the opening and activated his quirk just in time to counter the damage. He wobbled about as he regained an upright position before looking up and giving Bakugo a thumbs up.

Bakugo pulled both his arms through the window, holding on by his elbows and shuffling forward slightly. He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet and counted down from five.

“Five…four…three…two…one.” On one he pushed himself up and felt his stomach drop as he hung out of the small window for a few second before hurtling to the ground head first. If Deku didn’t catch him he would die and for a moment he was convinced that it had all been a trick to get him to kill himself.

Then arms wrapped around his body and his face was buried in a mass of green as Deku slammed him against the wall. He groaned and his ribs felt even more bruised than they had been before. He opened his mouth to snap at Deku but he hauled him up and tossed him over his shoulder as he began to run. Unfortunately Deku’s shoulder was pressing right against his ribs and every footfall sent a jolt of pain shooting through his chest.

It felt like forever but finally they stopped and Deku lowered him to the ground. Midoriya propped him up against the alley’s wall before slumping down opposite him and checking his phone.

“Dek-Midoriya. I’m sorry, for all that shit I did to you as a kid.” Midoriya’s head was turned away but his eyes flitted towards him for a second before darting back to look at his phone.

“You don’t mean that.”

“What! Yes I do. I beat myself up for ages after you… after you…” Bakugo couldn’t bring himself to say it. He never had and even after finding out that Midoriya was alive he still couldn’t.

“I watched what I said to my friends. I made sure they knew that I cared for them.”

“Then why couldn’t you have done that with me!” Midoriya snapped, his brows were furrowed in anger but a welling sadness collected in his eyes.

“I didn’t know how bad I was, or how it made others feel. Maybe I did and just didn’t care but I tried to change. I tried so hard.” Bakugo’s teeth were gritted together as he pleaded desperately to reclaim some semblance of friendship.

“Good for you.”

“Midoriya please. You coming back is like a fresh start. It’s a second chance.”

“I don’t need a second chance,” He said glaring at Bakugo, “All I need is you to be out of my life. I got what I wanted and I don’t need you.” Bakugo looked like he’d just kicked and hung his head from the way the words contorted his face.

“This wasn’t what you wanted.” He muttered out sadly.

“How the hell should you know?” Midoriya growled, eyes narrowing in frustration and wanting him to simply shut up.

“Because I knew you. You wanted to be a hero.”

“I wanted a quirk.”

“No you didn’t! You wanted to be a hero but you thought you couldn’t be one without a quirk.”

“You can’t.” Bakugo sighed, raising his head to look Midoriya directly in the eyes.

“This isn’t you.” Midoriya turned away, pulling his hood up over his head and curling into a tight ball with his chin on top of his knees. The sooner he was gone the better.

The pair sat in mournful silence for several long minutes until the hurried scuffling of footsteps made Midoriya and Bakugo perk their heads up. Todoroki appeared from around the corner, looking about before his eyes fell on Midoriya and he ran jogged over.

“Is it just you?” Todoroki asked.

“Me and this idiot, yeah.” He stepped back as Bakugo used the wall to push himself up into an upright position.

“Can you get these off of me?” He asked lifting his bound hands. Todoroki reached over and took a hold of the cuffs, turning them over to search for the join. Once he’d found it he forced ice inside, letting it expand and causing the metal to crack. He froze it over and over until finally Bakugo pulled his hands apart and the metal casing fell away.

“Can you walk?” Todoroki asked as Bakugo massaged his stiff joints.

“A bit.” He replied hobbling over to him to prove his point. Todoroki caught him as he tripped, pulling his arm over his shoulder and turning to Midoriya.

“You’re coming too, right?” Midoriya’s face was obscured by his hood pulled across his face, his expression unreadable as he firmly said, “Of course not. The sooner you guys leave the better.”

Todoroki wanted to yell at him for being stupid but he knew it wouldn’t work.

“Call me if you need help.” He said before hauling Bakugo onto his back and running back in the direction he’d come in. Midoriya watched him go. He had had every intention of tossing the phone away, and with it the last connection to the students at UA but instead he let it sit in his pocket as he meandered back to the hideout.

Chapter Text

“Bakugo!” Kirishima beamed and sprinted over to Todoroki who was running towards him with Bakugo on his back. Todoroki let him slip off, supporting him for only a brief second before Kirishima had pulled him into a crushing hug.

“Hey Kiri. Could you loosen up a bit, everything hurts.” Kirishima nodded, relaxing his grip slightly and burying his face in Bakugo’s shoulder as he cried with relief. Uraraka and Yaoyorozu were just as ecstatic, hugging Todoroki first before piling on top of Bakugo and Kirishima for a giant group hug, faces alight with joy. None of them could stop smiling because they’d done it. They’d actually done it. They’d rescued Bakugo and no one had been hurt or killed because of it. For that moment they could forget about the league and school and home; all the problems of the world vanished because in this instant they had won.

It was however, short lived, as a thunderous boom sounded out across the district, wind pulling at their bodies and Bakugo had to cling to Kirishima to remain upright. The cause was within sight and a terror filled their minds. An evil so sick and twisted that it was all they could do to remain silent and not throw up. Their feet were frozen to the ground no matter how desperately they wanted to run, all they could do was stand and watch in horror as Mount Lady, Best Jeanist and Gang Orca among others were struck down by a single strike. Towering buildings that came crashing down around them as chaos erupted about them.

It had been All Might’s arrival that had given them that push to start running. They ran and ran until they were surrounded by crowds of people and looked up to watch as All Might fought All for One. Everyone had been so scared but so sure he would win and in a way All Might did win. All for One was captured but he’d paid for it dearly. His façade fell away and where the mighty hero had once been, a broken man now stood in his stead, unable to use his power.

It was an incident that shook the nation to its core as everyone had witnessed the number one hero fall. Crime waves swept the streets and villain attacks began occurring more and more. Furthermore the police suffered from a huge data wipe, losing thousands of records on quirks and villains that they were struggling to reclaim.

Both the pro heroes and the police were overwhelmed with trying to keep the peace and regain order. The students of UA were hurriedly moved into the Heights Alliance for safety and although Class A had been excited to move in, despair hung thick in the air.

Meanwhile All Might was dealing with unpleasant situation after unpleasant situation.

“Is it still capable to pass on your quirk?”

“Yes. I’m the only person who has no access to it now.”

“Then pass it on to Mirio. Surely he’s worthy of inheriting One for All?” All Might sighed knowing that in many ways Nighteye was right. Mirio was a noble and selfless hero would was one of the most impressive students he’d had the pleasure of meeting.

“The world needs One for All and a symbol of peace, especially with everything going on.” All Might knew this, but simply inheriting One for All didn’t mean you’d mastered it. It had taken him years to safely use the power and if he did pass it on to Mirio that would set him back to square one. The world would be delayed of another hero and there was no telling how long before Mirio could safely use it or even if he wanted the power.

“I need time.”

“You’ve had time! You’ve put this decision off for too long. You need to pick someone before you get picked off and the quirk if lost forever.” Again Nighteye was correct. He needed to choose someone to inherit One for All and if he thought Mirio was the best option, there was no harm in talking to him about it.

“I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you. Take care All Might.” The phone fell silent and All Might let out a sigh of exasperation. His head hurt almost as much as his body ached and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for an eternity without having to worry about anything. A small tap caught his attention and he turned his head to see Bakugo hesitantly standing in the doorway.

“Can I talk to you All Might? About Midoriya?” All Might nodded and smiled as Bakugo took a seat opposite him.

“Do you think he can change?” Bakugo asked, staring intently at his hands which he was absentmindedly scratching.

“If he wants to.”

“But he doesn’t want to! He’s just… This is all my fault.” Tears trickled down Bakugo’s face and he angrily swiped them away. All Might gently placed a hand on his shoulder and offered him a box of tissues as he hiccupped up the occasional sob.

“Don’t think that Bakugo. The league took advantage of him in his state of desperation. They exploited him and twisted him but he helped you, Kota, Iida, Todoroki and possibly more. You just need to help him see that he isn’t a bad person.” Bakugo sniffed as he smiled half-heartedly, tossing the screwed up tissue in the bin.

“I still treated him like trash.” He said, rubbing his blotchy eyes.

“You were a child and you’ve changed, learned from your mistakes. Hopefully Midoriya will see that.” He smiled and Bakugo smiled back hopefully. Midoriya hadn’t seen it before but perhaps after some time he’d come to realise that Bakugo was trying.

“Thank you.” Bakugo said, slowly rising to his feet with a small smile of optimism on his face. Part of him was still convinced that he had done this to Midoriya and perhaps it would never quieten but he would not let it control his actions any further. All Might gave him a gentle squeeze on his shoulder before bidding him farewell.

Chapter Text

As Bakugo entered the Heights alliance he was tackled by Jiro and Yaoyorozu. They stubbornly dragged him towards the common room where Tsuyu, Uraraka, Kirishima and Todoroki were already sitting in a circle.

“Bakugo!” Kirishima cried, raising is arms in celebration, “We’re playing card games. Come join us.” He was released for Jiro and Yaoyorozu’s grasp and who went and sat down. Bakugo scoffed at Kirishima’s request but nonetheless took a seat next to him.

Uraraka dealt out the cards and the group began another round. It started off casual but soon everyone’s competitive streak awoke and the shouts of annoyance intensified. For a wonderful evening everyone forgot about all the troubles and instead laughed at Kirishima’s constant bad luck and Uraraka’s rage as she threw her cards into the air in annoyance.

As it got later people began to filter off back to their rooms until eventually only Bakugo, Kirishima and Todoroki were left. However it wasn’t long until Todoroki began to yawn and told the others that he was done for the night.

“Boo!” complained Kirishima as Todoroki walked off with a tired grin.

“Don’t be too loud!” He called back and Kirishima sighed as he tossed his previous hand onto the floor. Bakugo leaned over and began to stack the cards up but was interrupted by Kirishima grabbing a hold of his arm.

“No! We can still play!”

“With two people?” Bakugo asked.

“We could play solitaire?” He suggested and Bakugo raised an eyebrow with his arms crossed firmly over his chest.

“That’s one too many people.”

“Competitive solitaire!” Kirishima insisted with a smug grin plastered onto his face.

“We’ve only got one pack of cards though.” Kirishima leapt up, swiping the deck from his hand.

“Don’t worry I’ve got another pack in my room.” Bakugo followed him, ignoring the slight tug of exhaustion he felt in favour of the wonderful distraction that was being provided for him.

Kirishima’s room was bright, the walls covered in posters of heroes and action films along with some vague motivational nonsense. He had a desk scattered with revision and textbooks on one side of th room and a punching bag on the other. Bakugo marvelled at how he’d managed to fit so much stuff into such a small space. Kirishima rummaged through his draws before triumphantly pulling out a deck of cards and presenting them to Bakugo. “Shuffle these and then I’ll lay them out.” He instructed and Bakugo followed Kirishima’s instructions. Once he was done he allowed Kirishima to lay out the rows and place the remaining cards in a pile next to them.

“You have a timer on your phone right?” Bakugo nodded and pulled up the app as Kirishima told him that they’d use a timer in case they needed to pause.

“On the count of three we begin. Ok?”

“Sure.”

“Three…Two… One!” Bakugo fumbled for a second, thinking that Kirishima would begin the beat after but regained quickly.

The pair worked away in silence, both beginning to grow restless and bored after only a few minutes. The time dragged on in awful silence until Bakugo could take it no longer.

“Nope! I’m done.” He said throwing his arms up in defeat after fifteen minutes, “I forfeit.” Kirishima laughed, leaning back against his bed as Bakugo slumped against his bed. “Yeah that was an awful idea.”  He agreed as Bakugo flopped down on the floor, absentmindedly staring up at the ceiling.

“Can I ask you something?” Kirishima said, looking down at Bakugo.

“Shoot.” He replied.

“Why do you want Midoriya to be your friend again? He helped kidnap you and he hurt you.” Bakugo was silent for a long while before letting out a forced laugh.

“Shit Kiri, this was mean to be a distraction from all that!”

“Sorry you don’t hav-” Bakugo cut him off with a small smile that made Kirishima’s brain short circuit for a moment.

“Nah, I should probably talk to someone about all…this. To be perfectly honest I think the main reason is because I blame myself for what happened to him and I want a second chance. I know we’ll never get back to being best friends or anything, but I’d like him to at least know that I did care for him.” Kirishima nodded, “That’s understandable. Maybe he wants to kill you because you’re the only person with access to all his embarrassing stories as a kid.” Bakugo snorted with laughter as Kirishima teased him.

“You two were real close, huh.”

“Yeah,” Bakugo said, “My stupid ass never showed it though even when I… uh.” A blush crept across Bakugo’s cheeks as Kirishima asked, “Wait. Were you? Did you two?” Bakugo’s cheeks reddened further.

“No! I mean, I…UGH!” His face screwed up in annoyance and he placed his arms over his head. “I had a crush on him but I didn’t really realise what it was until… you know, too late. Maybe I took so much out on him because I was internalizing shit? I don’t know. This stuff sucks.”

“Sooo, do you still like him?” Bakugo lowered his arms and sat up, his gaze pointed away from Kirishima.

“I don’t think so. I just feel guilty and sad now when I look at him not…warm? Why is this so dumb? Why are feelings so dumb?” He once again buried his face in his hands, growling with frustration.

“Yeah. Feelings suck.” Bakugo snickered slightly, raising his head slightly to look at Kirishima.

“What about you?” He asked.

“What about me?”

“You have any weird crushes?” Now it was Kirishima’s turn to star blushing and he turned his head to hide it.

“Not really weird, just annoying.”

“Annoying like, this person is annoying or I’m annoyed that I like this person?” Bakugo asked and Kirishima shook his head.

“More in the way that I’m annoyed they don’t like me back.” He gave a half-hearted smirk and turned his gaze to the floor.

“Did you ask them?”

“…No.”

“Then how do you know?” Kirishima opened and closed his mouth as he searched for a viable answer while Bakugo wore a shit eating grin. Kirishima gave him a shove and told him he was being stupid.  Bakugo sprawled to the ground, cackling as he shoved Kirishima back. Kirishima grabbed his hands and pressed him down onto the floor but Bakugo flipped him over, pinning him with knee.

“Surrender!” He yelled and Kirishima snorted before replying that he would never surrender as he elbowed Bakugo in the stomach causing him to reel back.

“You forget, I have been trained by thousands of action films! I am invincible!” Kirishima said posing in various flexing positions.

“Dork.” Bakugo said, lightly kicking his thigh and falling back onto the floor.

“Ugh! I can’t be bothered to go back to my room but I’m so tired!”

“Aw, want me to carry you?” Said Kirishima pulling at Bakugo’s arms and dragging him across the floor.

“Get off!” He laughed, swatting Kirishima’s hands away. “You’ve already lugged my ass about this week and it won’t happen again.” Kirishima reached over and tossed a pillow at Bakugo.

“Sleep on my floor then if you’re so lazy.”

“If you insist.” Bakugo replied, laying down on the pillow he’d been thrown.

“I didn’t insist, you heavily implied it!” Protested Kirishima tossing over a blanket which Bakugo promptly curled up under.

“Whatever.” Was his only response before Kirishima turned off the lights and prayed that his heart wasn’t beating loud enough that Bakugo could hear it or that his face wasn’t warm enough that he could feel it.

Meanwhile Todoroki was finally trudging over to his room after brushing his teeth and taking a short shower. He opened the door only to find the lights already on and a figure leaning against the balcony door which now had a hole punched through it and glass shards smattering the floor.

“Hey Todoroki! I think I may have fucked up.” Midoriya slurred, removed his hand to reveal a blossom of blood growing through his shirt.

Chapter Text

“Fuck” Todoroki dashed over to Midoriya, ignoring the glass as he firmly forced his hand back over the wound. Midoriya winched, screwing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth while his other hand clawed at the ground.

“What are you even doing here? Why didn’t you go to a hospital?” Todoroki asked, his had still firmly pressing down on his stomach.

“No hospital. Nowhere else to go.” He mumbled out between shaky breaths, “You got a first aid kit?”

Todoroki shook his head, eyes wide and panicked as he said, “No! I don’t. Shit, what do I do?”

“You can cauterize it can’t you?” Todoroki looked down at him in horror. Cauterizing a wound wasn’t simple or painless, it was a procedure that wasn’t recommended as the wound could become infected easily. Electrocautery or chemical cautery were by far safer but, like most people, he didn’t happen to have silver nitrate lying about his room.

“I could, I know how but it’s dangerous and painful.”

“Is it more dangerous than bleeding out on your floor?” Midoriya asked, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth but Todoroki shot him a scared look that made Midoriya’s stomach sink and he asked if he’d even cauterized a wound before.

“Yes. My father made me learn. I had to practice a lot in case I was ever left in a situation where I had no other way to stop the bleeding. It’s meant as a last resort, there are other options Midoriya.”

Midoriya shook his head defiantly, “If it gets worse then I’ll go to a hospital but not now. Please.” He looked at Todoroki pleadingly and after a few seconds Todoroki nodded his head. “Fine. I have to move you away from the glass though.”

Midoriya smiled but it quickly morphed into a grimace of pain as he shuffled forward and allowed Todoroki to lift him onto the bed.

“Keep putting pressure on the wound.” He instructed before looking about for something to stop Midoriya from biting through his tongue. His eyes fell upon his bamboo plant sitting at the end of his bed, perfect to bite down on. Todoroki reached over and burned through part of the stem until it came free. Next he grabbed the water jug he’d placed next to the plant and removed his shirt. Todoroki dipped his shirt into the water before turning back to Midoriya, telling him “I’m going to need to clean the wound so I can see it which means you need to let go.” Midoriya nodded quickly, his eyes were tightly closed and he was biting his lips. Todoroki gently lifted his hands and listed up the shirt. He went back and forth between the jug and Midoriya until the clear water swirled with the embodiment of his pain. Todoroki’s bed was also a victim with red blossoms growing across his sheets but were at least cleared from Midoriya’s skin. All except the flowering wound, that pierced through his body and shone clear as day against its pale and shaking backdrop.

“Midoriya,” He said softly while gently squeezing his hand, “I want you to bite down on this ok?” Midoriya slowly nodded and mumbled out what sounded like an agreement as he let Todoroki place the bamboo between his teeth. Todoroki reached over and grabbed the metal ruler sitting on the side of his desk and began to heat it with his flames. When it began to glow red he cast one last look at Midoriya who gave a slight nod before pressing it onto the wound for what felt like an agonizing eternity but was merely a second.

Midoriya let out a muffled scream as he bit down onto the bamboo and fought every instinct to thrash about or kick Todoroki away. He was pale and shaking with beads of sweat forming along his forehead. Todoroki held his right hand against Midoriya’s head who readily leaned into the cool touch as he whimpered in pain.

“I need to do it two or three more times for it to properly cauterize, you still want to continue?” A tear trickled down Midoriya’s face as he nodded frantically and Todoroki gently wiped it away before drawing back his hand and grabbing the ruler once more.

Midoriya suffered through the second and third time that Todoroki pressed the glowing metal against his body with bawled up fists and streaming eyes. When it was finally over he let out a sob and drew in deep breaths as he clutched Todoroki’s hand. After several minutes of Midoriya trembling in pain he finally calmed down enough to allow his eyes to open.

“Thanks.” He muttered out, his voice raspy but grateful.

“Are you going to tell me what happened? Why couldn’t the league help you with this?” Midoriya slowly let Todoroki’s hand slip from his as he let himself relax into the bed.

“I said I fucked up.” As if that were answer enough.

“That is a very vague statement.” Todoroki replied curtly causing Midoriya to sigh before answering, “The league found out I helped Bakugo escape. Toga was messing about and noticed that I had a blood stain on my hoodie. She wanted to shape-shift into me but it wasn’t my blood, it was Bakugo’s.”

“So they stabbed you?”

“Kind of,” Midoriya said, “Shigaraki stabbed me and told me if I survived the night then I’d get a second chance, if not…”

Todoroki let his head rest on his arms as he asked, “Are you going to go back?”

Midoriya averted his eyes which confirmed Todoroki’s suspicions. He scowled, “Why? They stabbed you!”

He shrugged, “It’s either them or prison.”

“That’s not true. If you would talk to the heroes they’d understand that you were exploited.”

“But I knew what I was doing!” Midoriya interjected as he tried sitting up only to flop back down with a groan.

The pair lay beside one another in tense silence until Midoriya turned and asked, “Did your dad make you practise that on yourself?” Their eyes met before Todoroki pulled himself up onto his knees. He lowered the waistband of his trousers ever so slightly to show a messy burn on the right side of his hip.

“This was from the first and only time he made me practise on myself. After it my sister Fuyumi and my mum found out and made sure that he wouldn’t make me do it again.” Todoroki’s face was completely blank but there was a tense anger that hid in his features, from the slightly furrowed brows to the pursing of his lips and the blazing hatred that burned in his eyes. He hid it well but to Midoriya the expression was familiar and recognisable.

“Say the word and I’ll kill him.” Midoriya said, his eyes as dark as his voice. The words caught Todoroki by surprise and his head shot up as he uttered out a shocked, “What?”

“I’d kill him. If you wanted me to.” He stared at Midoriya in shock and a small part of him wanted to say yes. He wanted to take his anger out on him and punish him for all that he’d done. Was this how Midoriya felt about Bakugo? An irrational anger that robbed him of all logic and made him wish to deal the final blow?

“No. No! I don’t want you to do that.” He said, shaking his head to clear the dark thoughts that nestled in his brain and convince himself of his words. No matter how much he wanted his father to be punished, death wasn’t the answer.

Midoriya didn’t press the matter, closing his eyes and letting sleep pull at his body. He felt the bed dip and opened his eyes to see Todoroki getting up with one of the pillows beneath his arms.

“What’re you doing?” Midoriya asked through half lidded eyes, watching as he removed a throw from his wardrobe and a new shirt, which he promptly pulled on.

“Going to sleep.” He replied, laying out his temporary bed on the floor and tossing his old shirt into the wash basket.

“You’re not going to sleep on the bed?” He asked and Todoroki shook his head once more.

“No, you need it more than me, I don’t want the wound to reopen.” He switched the light off and lay down upon the floor. Several seconds of silence passed before Todoroki asked, “Are you going to still be here in the morning?”

There was no reply and at first Todoroki thought that Midoriya had already fallen asleep but he heard a small “Yes.” Uttered from the bed and smiled, closing he eyes and drifting off.

Chapter Text

Midoriya woke up with a strip of light hitting his eyes. He groaned, attempting to turn over but feeling the stabbing pain erupt once more and curled up into a ball of agony. When it subsided he pulled his shirt up to examine the scar which was spilled messily across his stomach and made him feel sick. He didn’t want to go back.

Where else would you go? Who else would take you in? They wouldn’t take you back anyway. You helped a hero and then went to them for help. It’s the same offense.

Midoriya placed his hands over his ears and scrunched up his face as though it would block out his own thoughts.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.” He whispered over and over again burying his face in the pillow so he wouldn’t disturb Todoroki as he slept away soundlessly. Midoriya felt lost and even with someone who had gone out of their way to help him, he still felt alone. He felt like he was on a raft, drifting close to land but swerving away and taking him far out to sea, each time he drifted closer he be thrown away further and further. He worried that eventually he’s never see land again.

Glancing at the time only made him feel worse as it told him he’d only managed to sleep for about four hours, the bright red lettering of the alarm clock taunting him. He could try to fall asleep again but he’d most likely be plagued with nightmares and dreams that would make him feel more drained than he already was.

Why don’t you just leave now if you’ve got nothing better to do?

Midoriya told himself that the reason he was staying was because it hurt to move, which wasn’t untrue but the real reason he felt so obligated to stay was because he’d told Todoroki that he would. He didn’t know why he was so determined to keep his promise to him, perhaps he saw it as a form of payment for helping him and following each one of his inconvenient requests.

Carefully Midoriya pushed himself up into a sitting position against the wall, still in pain but pressing on in spite of it. He looked about the room which was styled in a traditional Japanese manner but was also relatively minimalistic. Everything Todoroki owned seemed to be have a clear function or purpose, no item was there to indicate a particular hobby or interest he had. Surely he had some sort of pastime that didn’t involve school or hero work? Midoriya scanned the room, looking for any clues that would provide his answer and noticed in the corner of his room Todoroki had a large set of cupboards and draws, possibly filled with clothes but seeming as he already had a large wardrobe perhaps there were other secrets lurking within. The more Midoriya stared at it the more he wanted to know what was inside.

He gently pressed down on his wound and winced, it seemed as though the pain had not disappeared in the few minutes he’d been sitting there. If only he had been able to grab his belt on the way out which had contained not only a first aid kit but also some pain killers, which he was in desperate need of.

Boredom and curiosity were slowly eating at his mind to the point where he was very tempted to wake Todoroki up. However, one glance at his peaceful demeanour as he slept was enough to stop him from waking his host. Instead he decided to let his inquisitiveness take charge as he achingly eased out of the bed and made his way over to the chest of draws. He had to mind the shards of glass that still scattered the floor and made a note to help Todoroki tidy it later on.

Slowly he pulled open the first draw and peered inside…it was a sock draw. Slightly disappointed but no less optimistic he opened the second which contained various toiletries like toothpaste and shower gel. Strangely he also noticed a box of hair dye sitting in a beaten box at the very back. It was unopened but had clearly been sitting about for a long while and Midoriya wondered why Todoroki had bought it but never used it.

He closed the draw and moved onto the third which had various school supplies and notebooks inside, along with an untouched set of paints and pencils that any artist would greatly envy. Unlike the hair dye these looked brand new without so much as a scratch to the casing. Perhaps Todoroki wanted to take up art as a hobby? Perhaps it already was his hobby but he hadn’t gotten round to using his supplies yet. A small part of him wanted to rifle through the notebooks but he thought better of it (Todoroki deserved at least some privacy) and moved on to the next draw which unfortunately jammed as he tried to open it. Even with a few sharp tugs something was caught and wouldn’t let him open the draw any further.

“Midoriya?” Todoroki mumbled, pulling himself up from the floor and rubbing his neck. Midoriya slammed the draw shut so fast it jolted Todoroki awake as he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Uh, not snooping through your stuff.” He replied sheepishly. Todoroki rubbed his eyes before saying, “At least you’re not leaving.” Midoriya smiled, sliding down to sit next to him on the floor.

“Sorry if I woke you up.”

“What time is it?” Todoroki asked, yawning and stretching as he glanced at the clock.

“Five thirty.” Midoriya told him and he shrugged, “I’ve had worse.” He smiled, removing the throw and tossing it onto the bed along with the pillow.

“How are you feeling anyway?”

“Awful.” Midoriya replied, “But I’m not bleeding so that’s good.”

“I think that’s a necessity.” Todoroki joked and Midoriya let out a chuckle as the lights came on. “Why were you going through my stuff anyways?”

“I, uh, wanted to work out what you did as a hobby.” Midoriya replied and was hit with a dumbfounded look from Todoroki who asked, “Why would you want to know that?”

Midoriya shrugged, “I don’t know I was bored… On a separate note what do you do for a hobby?”

“Nothing much really, when I was at home all of my free time was expected to be spent training. I don’t have to do that now o course, but I don’t really know what to do.”

“Hmmmm, do you know the sort of things you like?”

“…Training?” suggested Todoroki but was shut down by a slow, disapproving shake of Midoriya’s head.

“Maybe something sporty, but that’s too similar to training and hero business. Reading? Unless that’s too close to revising and some people don’t like reading…” Midoriya rambled on and Todoroki watched in amusement as he talked himself in and out of all of his own suggestions. He wondered why he was trying so hard to find him a hobby and marvelled at the fact that he was in this situation with a villain of all people. In some ways he still envied that Midoriya had run away even if it hadn’t been for what he deemed to be the right reasons. It was why he kept the hair dye, in case he wanted to disappear but he knew he never would. Part of him believed it was out of cowardice but really he believed too much in what he was doing and he wouldn’t let his father push him away from that, no matter how badly he wanted to tarnish his reputation. Todoroki didn’t want to think about any of that now however and he sat back as Midoriya rambled on excitedly with a blinding smile on his face and a happiness in his eyes that made his heart flutter for a reason he couldn’t quite tell.

Chapter Text

“Good morning everyone!” Iida yelled out as he entered the common area. His peers replied half-heartedly, some still rubbing sleep from their eyes and others continuing to munch away on their breakfasts.

“Morning Iida!” Called Uraraka, ushering him over to where she and Tsuyu were sitting on the sofa. He smiled, taking a seat opposite them and asking them if they slept well.

“We ended up staying up pretty late playing cards but I slept like a log afterwards.” Uraraka told him.

“Well I’m glad you got a good night’s rest. Who did you end up playing with?” They had asked Iida the night before if he wanted to join them but he’d told them he intended on getting his homework finished and wanted to have an early night. Uraraka joyfully recounted the evening’s exploits with the help of her girlfriend who dramatically re-enacted the moment Uraraka threw her cards across the room in frustration.

As her tale came to an end they noticed Todoroki dash into the room, grab a plate of toast before rushing back to his room. Uraraka attempted to wish him a good morning but she’d barely turned around before he’d run off.

“Why’s he in such a rush?” Tsuyu asked, “It’s the weekend, there’s no school.”

“Maybe he’d visiting his mum?” Iida suggested, “Or perhaps he looked at the wrong date?”

The trio sat, thoughtfully eating their breakfasts and speculating as to what it was Todoroki was up to.

“Do you think we should check on him?” Uraraka asked and Iida nodded seriously, pushing up his glasses for effect. “As his friends and peers it is our duty to check on him.”

The trio tidied their plates away before marching over to Todoroki’s room. Iida gently knocked on his door calling out: “Todoroki? Is everything alright? We noticed you were in a rush so we wanted to check in on you.” There were a few seconds of silence and scuffling before the door opened ever so slightly and Todoroki stuck his head round.

“Everything’s fine.” He said, hastily trying to close the door that Iida had already grabbed. Tsuyu and Uraraka put on their best (albeit over-exaggerated) suspicious faces, hands stroking their chins and eyes narrowed as they leant forward.

“What are you hiding Todoroki?” Uraraka asked.

“N-nothing.” He mumbled out, averting their gaze. Without warning Iida threw the door open sending Todoroki flying along with it. The three poured into the room and looked about. The half-eaten toast sat on the bed, whose sheets were stained with red spots and glass littered the floor beside his balcony door, a sizeable hole now punched through it.

“What happened Todoroki?” Tsuyu asked, rounding on him who was sheepishly lurking by the door.

“My room always looks like this.” He lied, terribly and not at all believably as he shuffled away from his bedroom door. Uraraka noticed that he was sticking close to the wardrobe, placing himself between them and it.

“What’s in the wardrobe Todoroki?” Uraraka asked, stepping towards him with a sense on intimidation that someone of her height should never possess.

“Clothes…” He said and Uraraka narrowed her eyes, waiting for him to crack under her intense stare. His face remained stoic and almost completely unreadable but his eyes darted about in a panicked manner. She turned to Iida, giving him a small nod before he tackled Todoroki in an instant, throwing him over his shoulder. Todoroki tried to activate his quirk, firing a bolt of ice at the door, but it was too late as Uraraka and Tsuyu threw open the door.

Their jaws dropped and the trio was left speechless and dumbfounded at the sight within. Todoroki slipped from Iida’s grip who remained frozen in place alongside Uraraka and Tsuyu.

“Heeeyyyyy guys.” Midoriya said, nervously looking back and forth while awkwardly crouched beside Todoroki’s crumpled clothes.

Across town and completely unaware of the situation happening over at UA the league were all trying to relax in the tense atmosphere that had taken hold of them. Shigaraki had a significantly shorter temper than usual, ever since All for One had been brought into custody. Most of the villains had taken to avoiding him as they had all witnessed how he lashed out at Midoriya and knew he wouldn’t hesitate to offer them a worse fate if they crossed him. Dabi had decided to wait out the storm by camping out in his room and was indulging in one of the books he’s found in the new hideout when he was interrupted.

“Dabi?” At the sound of his name he looked up from his book and saw Toga lurking in the doorway.

“What?” He asked, turning his gaze back to the book but ignoring the words on the page as he listened to Toga approach.

“Do you think Izuku dead?” She asked perching on the end of his bed, “Wasn’t he a valuable asset? Why would Shigaraki kill him?” Dabi sighed and pulled himself up, dog earing the page before tossing the book aside.

“Of course he’s a valuable asset. Kid’s got a talent for finding weaknesses in everything from security systems to quirks. Shigaraki punished him because he messed up.” Dabi explained in a bored voice, he was slightly annoyed that she’d come to him about this. Couldn’t she have talked to Shigaraki himself about the matter?

“Yeah I know that much but…look I like stabbing people more than anyone and I would love to cut Izuku up-”

“Creepy as hell but continue.” Dabi interjected.

She pouted before carrying on, “I just think it was an overreaction and a risk we didn’t need to take. What if he survives but decides to help the pro heroes instead? Or dies and we no longer have access to the information Izuku could have provided us.” An expression of exasperation crossed Dabi’s face as he spoke, “Shigaraki is prepared in part for if Midoriya dies. That’s why we launched that attack on the police department’s hoard of information.”

“But what if he joins the pro heroes? What’s stopping him?” Dabi smiled, menacing in all aspects but did nothing to intimidate Toga who was unfazed by it at this point.

“Do you know why I go by a fake name?” He asked, still grinning wickedly.

“Is it because you think it makes you sound cooler?” She asked sarcastically and smirked as Dabi scowled at her response.

“No, it’s to hide my identity. If I were to use my real name the league could track down everyone I’d been affiliated with in the past including friends and family. Things that could be used against me. Those weaknesses are something that Midoriya didn’t have the luxury of protecting in any manner before he was recruited. He has a weakness which Shigaraki has made clear he wouldn’t be afraid to exploit.”

The realisation hit Toga as she cried out, “His mother!” Dabi nodded and Toga face split into a smile, satisfied with the knowledge that Midoriya Izuku would return.

Chapter Text

“Alright,” Iida began, “You found a known villain in your room and you didn’t think at any point that it would be a good idea to tell anyone? You just fell asleep next to him!” Todoroki tried to defend himself but Iida angrily continued on, “You could have been killed, or kidnapped or had your quirk stolen or-”

“Uh Iida?” Tsuyu cut in, “Didn’t Midoriya help you and Todoroki out when Stain attacked?” Banging and shouts of agreement sounded from the wardrobe but Iida shouted them down, “You’re not part of this! And the incident with Stain was before the training camp, he still helped in the kidnapping of Bakugo.” More frustrated mumbling came from the wardrobe but the others ignored it.

“What did you want me to do? He’d been hurt and I couldn’t just leave him to die.” Todoroki said, soon silenced by the harsh looks his friends shot at him.

Uraraka sighed, “We’re just worried Todoroki. You’re the one who told me that the league considered taking you as well. Plus Bakugo’s the room below this one, it might have been part of a plot to hurt him again.” Their eyes met and for a long moment Todoroki questioned himself. Bakugo hadn’t stayed in his own room the previous night so it was possible that Midoriya looked for him but couldn’t find him and instead came to his room. But it didn’t explain the wound, it didn’t explain why he hadn’t attacked while he slept or why he hadn’t run away. It certainly didn’t explain Midoriya’s face while he tried to make him feel better or the lengths he went to try and get Todoroki a hobby.

“Uraraka, I think he didn’t have anywhere else to go.” Todoroki said in a small voice. Iida looked like he wanted to protest but doubts darted across his face and he fell silent along with the rest of the room as the nature of Midoriya’s situation sunk in.

“He still could be dangerous.” Iida said angrily breaking the silence, “We don’t know what he could do, or if we can trust anything he says.”

“I know that, but he wasn’t in any state to hurt me. If I’d called the authorities he may have complained but he still would have been powerless to stop me. I didn’t want him to hurt himself more if I’d gone against his wishes and he’d tried escaping.”

Iida scowled but said nothing, understanding, in part, why he’d done it.

From the wardrobe, a small, tired voice asked, “Can I please be let out of the wardrobe now?” Earlier Iida had closed and tied the doors shut, placing it face down on the floor to keep Midoriya inside and preventing him from escaping while Todoroki explained what had led to this development. Iida looked to the others and after they had all nodded he lifted the wardrobe and unwrapped the ties across the handles. Midoriya stepped out with a wobble, grabbing the chair to steady himself before easing himself to the floor.

“What do we do now?” Tsuyu asked, looking down on the hunched over Midoriya, “Do we get one of the teachers?”

Midoriya’s eyes shot open, wide and fearful as he yelled, “You can’t!”

“Why?” Uraraka asked, more bite to her question than she’d intended and unintentionally scowling at him.

Midoriya couldn’t answer as he felt his breath quicken as panic took over.

She’ll die if you tell them

They’ll kill her if you don’t come back

You’re running out of time!

He could feel arms trying to ground him and voices trying to speak with him but everything was muffled and numb. It was similar to how he’d felt with Shinso but his vision slowly seeped back and he saw his opening.

Tsuyu’s weaknesses: Heavy attacks, attacks from behind

Uraraka’s weaknesses: Quirk can only work for so long, limited combat skill, long range attack

Iida’s weaknesses: Dodge attacks, be quicker than him, make him have to turn in a tight space (slows him down)

Todoroki’s weaknesses: Overheating or frostbite

He didn’t want to fight. He was tired and he wanted to stay but his head was screaming and all it took was for Iida to side step just a little to the left. He activated his quirk as he pushed off on Tsuyu’s back, knocking her into Todoroki as he swerved from Uraraka’s touch and dodged Iida’s tackle causing him to collide with Todoroki’s desk. His hand curled around the handle as he threw back the door but a piercing pain shot through it as Todoroki froze his hand in place. He glanced back and a pain grew in his chest as he saw Todoroki’s face, a mixture of anger and betrayal. Midoriya gritted his teeth and ripped his hand free, leaping out of the way of Iida and Tsuyu’s attacks as he vaulted over the balcony railings. He landed and didn’t stop running as he scrambled over the wall of UA, fighting every urge to turn or even look back.

The sounds of sirens and alarms rang out from UA and he continued to run, sprinting down every alleyway and path. He didn’t care where he was going anymore, he just wanted Todoroki’s face to disappear from his mind. He wanted the ache in his chest to go away and the thoughts that ran through his mind to leave.

Eventually he could take it no more, slumping down against a fence in a small side street in exhaustion, both emotionally and physically. It was only then that he realised the hoodie he was wearing wasn’t his own. It was too large, the wrong colour and flecks of blood were non-existent. He didn’t need to check the label because he already knew it was Todoroki’s and it only made everything hurt more.

“I don’t know what to do.” He whispered out, burying himself in the fabric as tears streamed down his cheeks and he let out chocked sobs. He didn’t know what to do anymore and it sucked. Everything sucked. He was so lost in the tangled web of emotions he didn’t hear shuffled footsteps approaching.

“Are you ok?”

Midoriya knew that voice. It was the voice that had wished him goodnight every night when he was younger. The voice that had told him stories when he’d been scared and comforted him when he was sad. It was the voice that had cried with him and apologised for something she never had any control over. He had brought himself home. How had he not recognised the streets he had walked down so many times and the roads he’s run across as a child? How had he not recognised his mother simply by her footsteps?

“Do you need help?” Inko asked and Midoriya had to turn from her to resist the urge to leap into her arms.

“I’m fine.” He told her, hoping that his hoarse throat would hide his voice from being recognisable.

“Are you sure?” She asked again, stepping closer to him, “You sounded like you were crying. I have some cake and sweets inside if you’d like.”

Midoriya would have given anything to have said yes. He would have done anything to pull back his hood and have her sweep him into her arms. He considered it, his hand hovering by the hood in preparation but he never got the chance.

“Brother! We were looking everywhere for you!” An arm was swung across his shoulder and the scars peeking out from beneath the long sleeves confirmed his suspicions of who it was. Dabi lowered his sunglasses and Midoriya knew that if he hadn’t been wearing a bandana then he’d be grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Come on!” he said, “The others are all waiting for you.” Dabi gripped his shoulder so hard Midoriya could feel the nails digging into his skin but he stayed silent. He was forcibly moved forward but all of a sudden there was a pull on Dabi’s coat.

“I’m sorry but I need to know that your friend wants to go with you! He looks uncomfortable and-”

“It’s fine.” Midoriya interrupted, he didn’t want Dabi to lash out and he didn’t want the league to hurt her. “I want to go with him.”

Inko let the fabric slip from her fingers and watched as the pair walked away. She felt uneasy and was still worried for the smaller boy as he vanished from her sight. Perhaps she was overreacting but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been off as she collected her bags and went inside.

Chapter Text

 Midoriya felt numb as he lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling. He’d received a brief greeting from Shigaraki and an overly friendly welcome back from Toga but now he’d been left to his own devices. This so far had consisted of him removing the label of Todoroki’s hoodie, laying down on his bed and zoning out as he absentmindedly stroked the fabric between his fingers. His head was a fuzzy mess and he felt trapped in an eternal state of having no idea what to do with himself. Did he want to leave? Even if he did he wouldn’t, they’d hurt his mother and anyone else he cares for. Shigaraki would probably make him watch if he could. Plus why did he need to leave? It was fine here.

Todoroki’s face flashed in his mind again and he screwed his eyes shut once again, desperately trying to block it all out. He didn’t need him or the heroes or anyone. He would be fine so long as he just forgot about everything.

There was a light knock on the door and he heard Magne tell him, “I’m coming in.”

Midoriya sat up as the door opened and Magne stepped inside. She flashed him a pitying smile and placed a pack of notebooks and some pens on the edge of his bed.

“Kurogiri wanted you to create updated profiles on the UA students and Endeavour.”

“Why Endeavour?” Midoriya asked, tearing the plastic wrappings off of the notebooks with all his bottled up anger.

Magne shrugged, “I guess because he’s the number one hero now. It’s probably in preparation for an attack of some kind.” Midoriya nodded sadly, it would offer him a potential distraction but he didn’t feel like he had the energy or motivation to do anything right now except continue to lay on his bed. Even the threat of being hurt again felt meaningless next to the inner turmoil battling in his brain.

“You ok?” Magne asked and Midoriya nodded his head quickly but keeping his gaze fixed on the notebooks clutched in his hands.

“I was just scared, that’s all.” She patted him on the arm and gave him a comforting smile before leaving him to work.

With a sigh Midoriya began browsing through videos, he decided to start with Endeavour as information on him was easier to find. Most of the information Midoriya had already gathered about him remained accurate so after only a few minutes he stopped writing unnecessary notes in the margins and flicking through various recordings of his fights with a distracted mind. The only information he could think of writing down was about how he took down the Nomu’s. Perhaps Shigaraki could create a Nomu that could withstand Endeavours attacks or continue to regenerate past carbonization.

He closed the tab and began searching through recordings of recent sports festivals, internships and fights for the UA students. He started with the older years, noting down potential weaknesses and crossing out inaccurate info or disproven theories.

His head began to ache and a glance at the clock made him wish for sleep even more. Maybe he could persuade Kurogiri to make him a coffee or something to give him an energy boost. He slipped from his chair and shuffled towards the kitchen where Kurogiri was angrily mumbling about how they must be feeding an army. He heard Midoriya approaching and stood up to greet him, “Evening Midoriya. Do you need anything?”

“Do you have any coffee or energy drinks?”

“Still filling out the notebooks?” He asked and Midoriya nodded sadly.

“Get some sleep.” He told him turning back to the cupboards as Midoriya looked at him in confusion.

“What? Why?”

“Shigaraki is in no rush to do anything right now. He’s still recovering from the loss of his master and isn’t thinking straight. That’s probably why he lashed out at you like that.” Midoriya had figured as much as Shigaraki had acted almost entirely on impulse and Midoriya had seen the crazed fury blaze in his eyes as he’d been stabbed. Shigaraki had supposedly been saved by All for One and owed him everything, worshiping his every action like a messiah. Midoriya was, in part, also indebted to All for One as without him he’d have never received a quirk… or ended up in the league.

Midoriya nodded his head and trudged back to his room before resuming his position on the bed. Everything felt so awful and he hated it. He wished he could go back in time and fix everything, but he didn’t know if it meant not getting involved with UA or joining the league in the first place.

Tears welled in his eyes and he wrapped his arms tightly around himself while burying himself in the fabric. He began to slip into a restless sleep as he heard a buzz sound from his bedside draw.

To his knowledge he’s placed nothing inside other than a few bundles of clothes from the old hideout. As he wiped his eyes with his sleeve he reached over and rummaged about the various shirts and jeans until his fingers curled about a small hard object. He pulled at it and found clutched in his hand his burner phone which in bold letters told him that Todoroki was calling him.

Part of him lit up at the sight but he also felt a wave of fear crash over him and hastily shoved it back into the depths of the draw as he resisted the urge to call back.

Todoroki held the phone up to his ear, listening as it rang and praying that this time he’d hear Midoriya answer. Instead the voicemail message played out again and he felt like throwing his phone into a wall out of frustration. He cursed and continued looking down every side street and alleyway he came across.

“Midoriya!” he called out, searching desperately along the road. After Midoriya had leapt from his room he’d almost jumped after him, Iida had held him back and they’d agreed to spread out and look for him which they’d done for the entire day and as night crept over the town and stars settled over the sky Todoroki had continued to comb through the entire surrounding area.

“Any luck?” Asked Bakugo, jogging over to him. Earlier in the day as Todoroki had been leaving Bakugo had approached them asking if he really had witnessed Midoriya jump from Todoroki’s bedroom. Uraraka had quickly explained the situation and Bakugo had told them he would come to help look.

“No.” Todoroki told him before once more yelling out, “Midoriya!”

As he continued to shout Bakugo suddenly noticed the street they were on, rushing over to Todoroki and telling him “Todoroki, you need to shut u-” Bakugo was promptly ignored as he called out, “Midoriya!”

“Excuse me?” The pair turned and saw a small woman with dark green hair partially pulled into a bun peering at them from behind a concrete wall.

“Have you seen a-”

“Dog!” Bakugo cut off, pulling at Todoroki’s arm and digging his nails in to make a point. “Have you seen a dog go past here?”

“Oh,” said Inko, “No I haven’t. Sorry I thought you were calling for me.” She smiled to hide her embarrassment as Bakugo proceeded to introduce her.

“Todoroki, this is Midoriya Inko.” The realisation hit Todoroki like a freight train and he mouthed a small thank you at Bakugo as he bowed to Inko.

“Lovely to meet you Todoroki and it’s wonderful to see you again Bakugo. How’s school? I didn’t know that UA would allow you to keep pets.” Inko said and the pair glanced at each other nervously.

“Um, well. We were actually walking a friend’s dog but it got off its lead and now we’re looking for it because it got off its lead.” Todoroki said and Bakugo nodded to try and make the story sound more believable.

“Well, we should be going. Let me know if you see a dog run by here.” Bakugo said, dragging Todoroki away.

“I will!” Inko told them waving at them until they rounded the corner with a bright smile on her face.

Todoroki kept letting Bakugo drag him until he deemed they were far enough away. “So that was…” Bakugo nodded, the question not needing to be finished.

“C’mon.” Bakugo said, “We still might be able to find him.” He moved forward but Todoroki remained rooted to the spot.

“What are you waiting for? We need to keep looking.” Bakugo yelled attempting to grab onto his arm but Todoroki swatted it away. “Bakugo, why do you think Midoriya keeps going back?”

“What?” He said, “I don’t know. He probably thinks that they’re the only people who want him.”

“What if he’s being threatened?”

“Of course he’s being threatened. They fucking stabbed him!”

“Then why go back? And why so soon?” He asked and Bakugo shrugged.

“I don’t know, probably so he doesn’t get stabbed again.” He didn’t know what Todoroki was trying to do but it was wasting time. They should be trying to find Dek-Midoriya, not answering a load of bullshit questions.

“If he ran away they wouldn’t be able to hurt him.” Todoroki said, “So clearly they aren’t threatening Midoriya Izuku.”

There were a few moments of silence before Bakugo uttered out a soft “Shit.” as he finally got what Todoroki had been implying, “They’re threatening Inko?” Todoroki nodded solemnly and watched as Bakugo slumped against a wall.

“Fuck!” Bakugo said, “What the fuck do we do? He won’t come back if he thinks Inko’s in danger!”

“Could we get the pro heroes to put her into some kind of witness protection?” Todoroki asked, sitting down next to him.

“Maybe. Would they believe us?”

“Aizawa might.” Todoroki said and Bakugo nodded, biting his lip and running his hand through his hair as he thought. If Aizawa did believe them and they were able to do something about protecting Midoriya Inko there was still no guarantee that Midoriya would come back.

“It’s better than nothing.” Bakugo said as the pair made their way back to UA.

Chapter Text

Mirio had no idea why All Might had called him away at lunch. He had initially panicked, wondering if he was about to be lectured about something he’d done wrong or and assignment he’d forgotten to hand in. Instead he had settled down in the empty teachers’ lounge and listened intently as All Might explained his quirk and how it could be passed from person to person, how he wanted to pass it onto him next and how it would affect him. After listening he almost wished he’d been lectured as he felt heavy with the weight of what he been told. Mirio nervously sat opposite All Might, processing everything in a tense silence.

He could inherit All Might’s quirk, making his own even more powerful but it would take longer to regain control again. He would have to relearn everything and that would set him back a long time. Right now it didn’t seem like the world could afford to lose another hero but All Might looked desperate.

“Can I have some time to think about it?” He asked.

“Of course!” All Might exclaimed, “I merely wanted to put the offer forward, you are under no obligation to accept if you don’t want to.”

Mirio smiled and nodded his head. He thanked him for inviting him and watched as he made his way down the corridor before returning to the food court. He wanted to help as many people as possible but would this help? Wouldn’t the quirk be better used to strengthen someone with a weaker quirk instead of one that was already strong?

He quickly scanned the room till he spotted the unmistakable hairstyle of his boyfriend. He jogged over to the table and slid across the bench to sit next to him and opposite Nejire.

“Heya!” He said and Nejire waved while she continued to drink her milkshake. Tamaki muttered out a small greeting as Mirio turned to him.

“Kiss?” He asked, patiently waiting for Tamaki to answer. After a moment he nodded and Mirio leaned over and placed a small kiss on his cheek that made Tamaki blush and curl into himself but beneath the table he reached over for Mirio’s hand and gave it a small squeeze.

“What did you talk about with All Might?” Nejire asked and Mirio shrugged, averting his gaze.

“Nothing important. It was just about something Nighteye had said.” Mirio replied, squeezing Tamaki’s hand back as he spoke.

“He wanted your help on something?” Nejire asked and Mirio nodded.

“Yeah. I told him I’d get back to him on the matter in a bit. I just need some time to think it over.”

“Was it related to hero work?” Tamaki asked as he leaned over to steal some of Nejire’s leftovers.

Mirio nodded, “I’m not sure about it though. It would give me the chance to get stronger and possibly save more lives but…” A dawning realisation hit him. He didn’t need All Might’s quirk!

“I have to go.” He said, leaping up and sprinting from the food court much to Tamaki and Nejire’s surprise. He ran back to the teacher’s lounge and down the corridor All Might had gone down. He jogged down it poking his head round the doors of the class rooms as he searched until finally he found him.

“Wait!” He said, stopping All Might as je was unpacking some textbooks and making him turn round to look at the boy. “I can’t accept your quirk. Not now. Maybe when I had first joined UA or if my quirk was weaker but that’s not the case I’m almost a fully-fledged hero, I’m part of a hero agency and I’ve helped lots of people already. If you want my advice I’d tell you to choose an underdog, someone with the heart but not the strength to be a hero, someone who needs it and doesn’t just want it.” Several seconds of stunned silence passed before All Might smiled.

“I respect that Lemillion. You will be a fine hero with or without my quirk. If you change your mind let me know.”

Mirio grinned but told him, “I don’t think I will change my mind.” He bowed, “But thank you for the opportunity and for all you’ve done.” He beamed and All Might couldn’t help but feel disappointed that someone so deserving had turned down his offer.

Meanwhile Todoroki and Bakugo were waiting for Aizawa, Bakugo nervously juddering his leg as they sat.

“What’s taking him so long?” Bakugo asked glaring up and down the corridor impatiently.

“He probably fell asleep in the teachers’ lounge or something.” Todoroki said which only made Bakugo pout harder, sinking further into his seat in frustration and boredom.

“Bakugo.” “Hm?”

“What if we can’t get Inko to go into a protection scheme, or she doesn’t want to go? What do we do then?” Bakugo thought for a second and he honestly didn’t know. If the pro heroes wouldn’t help him he assumed he could try and find a way to hide her but if she didn’t want to go. Perhaps he’d have to tell her about Izuku but he didn’t know how she’d react to that news. He himself hadn’t taken it well and he would never tell anyone about how he had shut himself away after being rescued and cried at the thought of what had happened to his friend. It may break Inko’s heart if she suddenly found out.

“I don’t know, most of my ideas are shit so we just need to hope this one works out.” He replied, wanting to change the subject and think of something else.

After several long minutes Aizawa finally shuffled round the corner and beckoned them inside, tossing his sleeping bag into a corner of the room. They took a seat as Aizawa slumped down into his chair as though he hadn’t slept in a week.

“What is it you two wanted to talk to me about.” He asked, disappointedly staring into his empty coffee mug.

“It’s about Midoriya Izuku,” Todoroki began, drawing Aizawa’s attention away from the lack of coffee as he continued, “We think that the league is threatening to hurt his mother so that he stays with them. It just seems odd that he’d keep going back even after they hurt him especially after he got what he originally wanted, what reason would he have to stay?”

Aizawa was now leaning forward in interest, his hands intertwined and his brows furrowed in thought. “I take it you don’t have any solid evidence behind your claim?”

Bakugo and Todoroki glanced at one another in panic before silently shaking their heads. Aizawa sighed and placed his head in his hands.

“I believe you but it’s going to be near impossible to get Midoriya Inko into a government protection scheme, especially with the spike in crime lately, the police are laden down with work.” Aizawa could see Bakugo fuming and held up his hand to silence him as he opened his mouth to protest.

“However,” Aizawa said, “We could unofficially hide her. It might not be as secure but it would still offer more protection than her current predicament.”

The pair’s faces lit up and Bakugo immediately asked “So we can get Izuku back?”

“Quite possibly but we’d have to find some way of talking to him as I don’t think the league would tell him that his mother is out of their reach and safe from harm. Plus we’d need to be entirely certain that she’d be safe as they’re most likely monitoring her house. On the other hand…” Aizawa paused for a second, shifting his gaze away, “There is still the possibility that he won’t come. That he may be genuinely working with the league or not believe that his mother is safe. Remember that Midoriya has been living in an environment filled with violence and distrust for over a year, we have no clear idea as to how deeply he’s been affected by the situation.”

There was little left to discuss other than Aizawa promising to let them know when there were any new developments.

“He’ll come back.” Bakugo said to Todoroki after leaving Aizawa and when he was sure they were out of earshot, “He came here for help so I think he knows it is better here.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Todoroki asked.

“Well we might have to kidnap him but I think that’s fair game at this point.” Todoroki smiled slightly, letting out a small chuckle and hoping that Bakugo was right and that Midoriya would come back.

Chapter Text

Midoriya’s skin crawled and he felt sick as he stared down at the grotesque remains of Magne that spread across the ground. He seen violence and members had been lost before but Magne had been a friend and now she was simply a red stain forever etched onto the floor, his clothes, his shoes and his mind as a reminder not to cross Overhaul.

After the incident Shigaraki had shut himself away in a rage at feeling so ridiculed and helpless while Kurogiri had disposed of Magne’s remains discretely. Twice had gone out to supposedly run various errands but it was heavily suspected by all that he needed time alone to grieve. He and Magne had been close friends and they had had many conversations about the cruelty of society and the struggle with identity the pair both dealt with at times. But now the room that had been filled with idle chit chat was bare as everyone had dispersed and been relieved of all mandatory duties for the night.

Although the league had lost people like Moonfish, Muscular and Mustard they were all still alive, albeit imprisoned, but none of them had been as close or as well liked as Magne. It seemed only yesterday that Magne had taught Midoriya the self-proclaimed: “art of bludgeoning” which consisted of him learning to block and use blunt objects in combat. He often had to use his quirk to use the heavy objects favoured by Magne for blocking and so Magne had promised to help him practise later that evening. The fact that he’d never be able to see her, talk to her, train with her hit a painful nerve within him as he sadly wiped several tears away at the loss of it all. It was odd how he’d simply forgotten all the times she’d been harsh or cruel towards him now that he would never see her again.

That’s how you’ll end up. An unrecognisable corpse that few will mourn and less will remember.

No one will know and no one will care.

Midoriya reached into his draw and pulled of the small phone he’d hidden within it. Todoroki had attempted to call him 37 times and in some ways it offered him a small comfort that someone did care for him. Why else would he so regularly try to contact him?

He’s just a hero who just wants to arrest you.

Midoriya pushed the thought away in denial. Todoroki had been given several chances to turn him in when he’d come seeking aid but he hadn’t. Maybe he trusted him to an extent? Which would be downright stupid on Todoroki’s part. He really shouldn’t trust a villain.

He watched as right on time the screen lit up as Todoroki called him once again and Midoriya allowed a small smile to pull at his features, immediately feeling a wave of guilt crash over him as he did so.

Just think of what will happen when they find out.

You could run away but they’d find you and they’d hurt you, your mother and they might even go after the students.

The brief fantasies which arose whenever Todoroki called were shoved aside as Midoriya remembered his situation. He’d imagined calling Todoroki and telling him everything, then he’d save his mother and he’d live a normal life away from everything related to heroes and villains.

He couldn’t tell Todoroki all of that though. He couldn’t risk anyone else because it was his burden to bear. He’d agreed to the terms and even if it had felt like dealing with the devil it was better than having god turn his back on you. He knew his place and he accepted that he shouldn’t be free of it.

The ringing stopped for a few seconds before promptly restarting and Midoriya wondered if perhaps he could allow himself a brief conversation. Something small and mundane about nothing of interest. The sudden desire that flooded his brain drew his finger to the button. It would be so easy to just answer but what if was a trap? What if Todoroki was only calling to try and convince him to turn himself in? What if Todoroki hated him now?

He drew his hand back as there was a frantic knocking at the door and Toga’s voice asked him “You decent?” before barging in. Midoriya had only just been able to hide the phone beneath his pillow as she entered and worried about what she’d seen. Toga however, said nothing regarding the phone and merely told him, “I need some of your blood.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m running low on all my supplies and I don’t want to give Shigaraki a reason to get mad at me. Please, it’s just so that I can fake having more samples than I do!” She said, tossing her blade up into the air with one hand while clutching a syringe with another. She caught the blade and smiled over at him, fluttering her eyes slightly

“Fine” Midoriya said in an exasperated tone, lifting up his sleeve to allow her to take his blood so that she would leave quickly. He looked away as she did so, partly lost in his own thought and partly because he didn’t want to see the needle go in.

A small conversation wouldn’t hurt so long as he didn’t talk about anything relating to the league. He wanted a break from the stress and grief just for tonight.

When Toga was done she handed him a cotton ball and masking tape for him to fix himself up as she skipped out of the room. For most she may have appeared unaffected by the recent loss of Magne but Midoriya noticed how there was less of a bounce in her step and her eyes were dim, the shine that held constant joy and interest was gone.

Fishing the phone out once again he saw that it had stopped ringing again.

Please ring again.

Don’t call again.

Please.

Don’t.

The screen lit up once more and this time he didn’t let doubts have any time to creep into his mind. He knew what he wanted and he was going to let split second impulse drive him to do it. He pressed down on the green button and held the phone to his ear.

It was quiet and Midoriya began to worry that it had all been a trick and that Shigaraki was about to barge into the room and leave him as nothing but a corpse on the bed. Panicking he pulled the phone away prepared to end the call when he heard a voice call out.

“Midoriya?”

Chapter Text

“How long have you been keeping contact with Midoriya Izuku?” Aizawa asked, scowling down at Todoroki with a harsh bite to each of his words.

“A while.”

“More specific.” Aizawa demanded.

“Since the fight with Stain. He sent me his location and he helped me defeat the villain as well as save Iida and Native.” He sheepishly answered as he felt the anger radiating off of Aizawa.

“If we were in America right now I would give you so many detentions you’d never see the outside world again.” Aizawa said sternly, “As schools in Japan have different rules I’m instead going to set a curfew. Until I say so you are not to leave school property during the week without written permission from a member of staff nor are you to leave your dorm after ten o’clock.” Todoroki slowly nodded before Aizawa told him to follow and they began marching through the school. Eventually they reached the computer labs and Todoroki was instructed to go inside and wait.

Todoroki sat down at one of the computers and placed his phone beside him. He was annoyed at his punishment but he’d already expected Aizawa to be mad and had already prepared himself for expulsion at the worst. However none of that mattered if it meant that they could find Midoriya and get him out.

Talking wasn’t working, Midoriya simply wasn’t picking up and you couldn’t have a conversation with someone who isn’t listening even if Todoroki knew he was receiving his calls. Sometimes the call would end quicker than normal and he suspected that Midoriya purposely ended it. He didn’t know if it was his way of letting him know he was still on the other side or if he was sick of the calls but either way Todoroki hadn’t stopped trying, he couldn’t bring himself to stop trying.

After a few minutes Aizawa returned but was now accompanied by a man dressed in a police uniform. He took a seat next to Todoroki and began to busy himself on the computer while Aizawa connected Todoroki’s phone to it.

“You call him regularly, yes?” Aizawa asked, setting the phone back down on the table.

“I’ve tried calling every day for the past week at five in the evening.” Aizawa glanced at his watch.

“It’s ten minutes to five now. Is everything set up officer?” The man nodded and as Todoroki glanced at the screen he saw several windows open, some with numbers on them, others with graphs and a few with various maps.

“Are we going to track his location?” Todoroki asked, turning to Aizawa who had now pulled up a chair beside him.

“We’re going to try. It’s going to be difficult seeing as he doesn’t pick up but hopefully, if the signal is strong and the location is fairly nearby, we’ll be able to get a general search radius. Did I get that all right officer?”

“More or less.” The officer replied not away from his screen. Aizawa handed the phone to Todoroki and tapped his watch. Todoroki took a deep breath and called Midoriya.

The dull ringing droned in his ear, a sound he had grown so used to now but never ceased to fill him with anger at the fact that Midoriya wasn’t picking up. To his side he could hear the officer tapping away frantically as a large ring appeared on the world map showing all the possible locations he could be along the edge of the ring. Clearly they could do almost nothing with this data as it was too vague, millions of locations were shown in Japan, let alone other countries which was still a possibility with a quirk that allowed for long distance travel on the league’s roster.

The call ended and he was urged to try again. The ringing continued for what seemed like forever before once more falling silent. A quick glance over at the computer showed that the number of possible locations had dropped significantly put there were still an unreasonable amount.

“Call again.” Aizawa told him and he did so. He wasn’t sure how many times he would have to call Midoriya just to try and help him. Why couldn’t he just pick up and let him explain everything?

Anger was rising up within him as he desperately wished for an answer, he let his hand fall knowing that it wouldn’t make any difference if he listened to the drone of the dial tone as it wouldn’t change.

All of a sudden he noticed the officer hitting Aizawa’s arm to get his attention and he pointed to the screen. The number of locations were dropping rapidly and Aizawa swung his head round and mouthed “He picked up” at Todoroki.

In his shock and bewilderment he almost dropped the phone before pressing the phone to his ear and asking “Midoriya?”

He heard the faint sound of breathing and asked again “Midoriya?”

Several long seconds dragged out and Todoroki held his breath before Midoriya’s voice greeted him with a nervous “Hi.”

“You picked up.” He said, “Did something happen?”

Again there was a moment of silence and when Midoriya once more spoke sadness cracked his words and Todoroki could feel the tears being held back. “I lost a friend today. We weren’t overly close but… it still hurts. I’m just upset and angry and I wanted someone to talk to.”

“Midoriya. I’m sorry.”

“Can we talk about something else? I don’t want to talk about the league or UA or anything important.”

Todoroki glanced over at the officer madly typing at his computer and saw that the circle on the map was getting smaller and smaller the longer he spoke.

“Promise me two things.” Todoroki said.

“What?”

“Promise me you won’t lie.”

“I won’t” Midoriya told him, “What was the other one?”

“Promise me you’re safe and you’re not going to get hurt.”

Todoroki felt that he’d pushed the boundaries with Midoriya and even Aizawa flashed him a look as though to tell him not to upset him, to keep him talking.

“I can’t.”

“Why?” Todoroki insisted, the circle enclosing more and more with each second.

“I… I said I didn’t want to talk about this.” Midoriya replied, his voice breaking and Todoroki could tell he was on the verge of crying. His heart ached at the knowledge that he’d upset Midoriya but he had to try and make him see sense. Midoriya wasn’t safe and he needed to realise that if he was given a way out, he needed to take it.

“Please. If you talk about it I can help, this can be fixed.”

“No it can’t!”

“Midoriya-”

“Stop!” he yelled and Todoroki fell silent as he listened to the frantic breathing from the other line.

“I shouldn’t have answered.” Midoriya muttered to himself. To Todoroki it felt like a punch to the gut, his insides painfully twisting around a reaction he couldn’t quite understand.

“Midoriya.” He breathed out.

“Stop calling me. I don’t want you to call.” The words short and sharp and painful as the line went dead. Todoroki sat frozen in place with the phone pressed to his ear and his hand clenched so tight around the phone his fingers began to ache. Had Midoriya truly meant that? Had he gone too far in his bid to keep him safe?

“Todoroki” A voice called to him and he snapped back to the present where Aizawa was crouched in front of him. He’d lowered Todoroki’s arm and removed the phone gently from his clenched fist before gently telling him to breathe. It was only then that he realised he’d been holding his breath, exhaling slowly and shakily. He focused on breathing while the officer explained the location radius they’d managed to get from the phone call to Aizawa. Aizawa thanked him and the officer left shortly after printing out the necessary information.

After his breathing had levelled and his head didn’t feel like it was shutting down Aizawa asked “You ok?”

Todoroki nodded, his body ridged and still, as though he’d been carved from ice meant to trap his whirring mind and keep it locked away.

“You want me to walk you back to the dorms or are you good to go back on your own?” He asked, slowly so that Todoroki could process every word.

“I can go back on my own.” He said, voice calm as he rose from his seat. “Do you need me for anything else?”

“No. Not this evening. Head back and relax, I’m still placing you under curfew.”

Todoroki nodded silently and began walking back to the dorms. The sun had just set and the air was cool upon his skin as he let the gentle breeze rush over him. It was calming, the cold was always calming. He raised his right hand and stopped as he let flames blossom and grow upon his palm in twirling dances. He always used to regard them with such disgust, hating the heat and the colour and the sensation whenever he used it and although he wouldn’t say he loved them nowadays, he didn’t despise their dance and he didn’t fear its use.

That was Midoriya doing. It was all Midoriya’s doing. How long would he have wallowed in hatred at something that he couldn’t help? How many people might have been hurt because of his selfishness? How many more could have been saved if he’d acted sooner? There was so much he felt he owed Midoriya for a few lines he spoke to him and for so much more. Midoriya was so caring and passionate and brilliant. He smirked at the mere memory of his joy and felt his heart flutter as he pictured Midoriya smiling.

Suddenly it clicked, like the answer to a riddle that seemed so impossible at first but now appeared as obvious as the freckles on Midoriya’s face. His heart pounded in his chest and he watch the flames grow with the light blush that dusted his cheeks.

He had feelings for Midoriya. Terrifying, wonderful feelings that had baffled him for so long but now made so much sense.

Todoroki was calmed by the cold but the warmth that grew within him made him hurt with longing and soar with love. He was in love. He was in love! He was in love with someone who was meant to be a villain and he didn’t give a damn!

Chapter Text

Todoroki was pretty sure he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep the previous night and instead spent it battling his brain. Revelations had seemed wonderful at the time but after remembering what Midoriya had said to him he’d wallowed in pity and sadness for at least an hour before switching back and forth between optimism, despair and being a giggling idiot.

Unfortunately his late night turmoil and subsequent lack of sleep meant that he was flitting in and out of consciousness during lessons. Most teachers scolded him and told him to pay attention but Present Mic yelled so loud his head was still ringing as he exited the classroom. As he left however he was cut off by Aizawa who told him to meet him outside the teachers’ lounge at the start of lunch.

He sat through his lessons with feigned interest occasionally glancing up at the clock, counting down the minutes until he could leave. After a while he began to notice he wasn’t the only one obsessively checking the time as Bakugo was also flashing the occasional look upwards.

Curious, Todoroki peered about the class to see if anyone else was eagerly awaiting the end of lessons and saw Yaoyorozu scan her watch every other minute while everyone else seemed relatively normal.

After what seemed like a millennia the bell for lunch finally rang and Todoroki hurried from his seat with Yaoyorozu and Bakugo close behind.

“Bakugo wait!” Kirishima called out grabbing hold of Bakugo’s arm, “We still up for lunch?” He asked and Bakugo hesitated for a moment before pulling his arm back from Kirishima’s grip.

“Can’t, I’ve got something I need to do.” He said, beginning to walk away.

“Huh? What is it?” Kirishima asked, jogging over to Bakugo and keeping level with him. Bakugo didn’t reply and simply widened his strides. Kirishima scowled and raced forward causing Bakugo to break into a run as Kirishima followed swift. Soon the pair were sprinting down the corridor, passing Yaoyorozu and Todoroki as they ran, both shouting at each other until Bakugo stopped before the teachers’ lounge.

“Why don’t you want me here?” Kirishima demanded, glaring at Bakugo while panting from the sudden run.

“What does it matter? Just go back to the food court!”

“Then tell me what you’re doing!” As Kirishima yelled Aizawa threw back the door to the teachers’ lounge.

“Stop yelling in the halls. Get inside now, both of you.” He ordered and the two silently obeyed while still throwing each other dirty looks. They were so preoccupied with their sudden anger at one another that neither of them noticed two other guests were currently present within the room.

“You’ve got real angry students Shota!” The pair’s heads whipped round to see a woman with a green hair dressed what looked like a casual clown outfit (if there was such a thing) as well as a girl around their age in a school uniform different to their own.

The older woman stood up and the other girl followed her lead as Todoroki and Yaoyorozu entered and took their seats. The pair bowed and the woman introduced herself, “Ms Joke at your service. I’m a teacher at Ketsubutsu Academy high school and Shota’s partner in crime!”

“No she’s not.” Aizawa bluntly replied as Ms Joke laughed and slapped him on the back. As Ms Joke cackled away the other girl stepped forward and gave a wide smile and a waved as she introduced herself, “Heya! You can call me Camie. I’m a second year at Shiketsu high and I’m gonna help y’all.”

The others muttered their greetings before Yaoyorozu politely asked “Aizawa-sensei, may I inquire as to why we have a teacher and a student with us from two other schools?”

Aizawa pried Ms Joke off of him and sat down as far away from her as he could before replying. “Ms Joke is someone I can trust and is useful when it comes to distracting people. Camie can create detailed illusions and has agreed to act as a decoy until Midoriya Inko is safe.” Kirishima raised his hand, “Yes?”

“Um, I kinda tagged along with Bakugo and don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t drag me into this I told you to leave!” Bakugo yelled over at him.

“You wouldn’t tell me what you were doing!” Kirishima shouted back, “If you’re going to cancel plans at least let me know why!”

“It was meant to be confidential!”

“Then you could have told me that instead of keeping me in the dark like you keep doing!” Kirishima was now stood, looming over Bakugo who was frozen in place, his teeth clenched and his body shaking. He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly and letting his body sag. “Forget it. I’ll leave.” Kirishima said quietly before turning and hurriedly stepping out of the room.

“Kir-” Bakugo began but the door had already been slammed shut behind him leaving the room in a tense silence. Part of Bakugo desperately wanted to run after him and explain everything but for now it would have to wait, they were on borrowed time and had to act fast.

“I’ll tell you all the plan.” Aizawa said and Bakugo forcibly drew his attention away from worrying about Kirishima to memorising every word that Aizawa spoke.

Meanwhile Kirishima made his way towards the food court where he slunk over to Kaminari, Jiro and Ashido.

“Bakugo not with you?” Jiro asked him as she poked at her food with distaste.

“No. He had to do something with Aizawa and some people from out of school.” Kirishima replied in a sulky tone.

“Oh yeah, Yaoyorozu told me about that. Aizawa asked her to help get Midoriya’s mum out.” Jiro said.

“Wait what?”

Jiro shrugged, “I don’t know. She was explaining why she wouldn’t be at lunch today and said that Aizawa needed her help getting Midoriya’s mum into protective care.” Kirishima felt a wave of anger wash over him again as he wondered why Bakugo hadn’t just told him that. Why hadn’t he spoken to him about what he’d been planning? If it was confidential then Aizawa wouldn’t have let him in the teachers’ lounge and Yaoyorozu wouldn’t have been able to tell Jiro all of that.

He slowly stood up from the table and Ashido asked, “You not going to eat?”

“Nah, I feel pretty sick. I’m going to go lie down somewhere quiet for a bit.” Kirishima replied before trudging out of the food court and made his way to a secluded area outside. He sat down beneath a tree and looked up at the clouds which drifted slowly through the blue above. He could feel the sun on his skin and the breeze in his hair and wondered why Bakugo had been avoiding him so avidly recently. At first he’d thought he had been overreacting but soon he began to notice Bakugo’s constant excuses and frequent disappearances. They used to head out to town with Ashido, Kaminari, Jiro and Yaoyorozu every weekend but now he couldn’t even recall the last time he’d been present on one of their outings.

Even during lessons he seemed to avoid Kirishima and instead of being faithful sparring partners Bakugo had been training with Todoroki and Iida. He wouldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t jealous and it was likely that he was simply learning to fight against different quirks but Bakugo had never given him any clear explanation as to why they’d stopped training together. Perhaps he was being selfish by wanting explanations all of the time, Bakugo was allowed to keep secrets but it still hurt.

Kirishima heard the lesson bell sound off in the distance but ignored it. Even if he went back to class right now, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything. Bakugo was right about one thing; feelings were dumb.

Chapter Text

“This plan seems really stupid.” Bakugo said as he pulled along the cart with a large box down the street, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu in tow.

“At least you’re not hiding in a box man. This sucks!” Camie said as Aizawa passed by and told them to shut up while he was dressed in his disguise. It wasn’t the best disguise but the bright flora shirt and shorts ensemble certainly stopped him from looking like the Aizawa they had all grown used to. The students weren’t the only ones who found it amusing however as Ms Joke could barely contain her laughter when he’d revealed his new look, though it was doubted as to if she’d even tried to stifle her reaction at all.

They reached Inko’s house and Bakugo told Yaoyorozu and Todoroki to wait a second as he approached the door. He knocked loudly and with a rhythmic tune that he knew Inko would recognise and after a few seconds heard her footsteps approach.

“Bakugo!” She said, smiling widely and pulling him into a hug which he readily accepted, “Oh you brought your friends and…a box?”

“My mum told me to ask if you wanted any photo albums or stuff as she was having a clear out. My friends wanted to tag along too, is it ok if we come inside?” Bakugo said and Inko smiled again ushering them in and helping to pull the box inside herself.

“My you must have a lot of photo albums. It’s really heavy.” Inko told him as they finally shut the door to the street.

“Actually Mrs Midoriya, we kinda lied about what the box actually contained.” Yaoyorozu said as the lid was pushed back and a slightly frazzled Camie clambered out, much to Inko’s shock.

“What the-”

“Allow us to explain.” Bakugo insisted pulling her gently towards the living room, followed by the others. She sat down in an armchair and the rest took to the sofa with Camie perched on the arm, looking about the room in curiosity.

Todoroki began, telling Inko about how he’d been given help by an unknown villain when defeating the hero killer Stain. Yaoyorozu then explained that during the summer camp when the league attacked the unknown villain appeared again. Bakugo went on to talk about how, when he was kidnapped, the police had discovered the identity of the villain whom had later returned to the league where Bakugo had also met him. Todoroki continued on to explain how the villain had been hurt by the league and come to Todoroki for help but had run away once he was better due to some seemingly unexplained fear.

“When we said we were searching for a lost dog that day we were lying.” Bakugo said, his eyes fixed to floor as he knew that Inko would soon work it out. He took deep breath “We were searching for the villain working with the league. We called out the name Midoriya because…because…” Bakugo couldn’t say it. He didn’t what to drag Inko into all the pain that he’d gone through, not after all her mourning.

“Because it was Izuku, right?” Her voice was small and her face void of all emotion and all Bakugo could do was nod as he felt hot tears well up in his eyes again. Inko bit her lip and cupped her hands across her face. She was silent. She didn’t cry or sob despite the fact that her shoulders shook with heart ache. They watched on helplessly as her breathing was frantic and her body curled into itself. Slowly she lowered one of her arms and reached over to grab Bakugo’s hand giving it a small squeeze, smiling mournfully as the smallest of tears beaded in the corners of her eyes.

“You should have told me sooner Bakugo. You shouldn’t have gone through this alone again.” Bakugo fell forward to bury himself into a tight hug, Inko not complaining about the silent sobs that left damp marks on her shoulder. She gently stroked his hair, pulling him onto her chair and wiping the occasional tear from his cheek as he clung desperately to her cardigan.

“What about the girl?” she asked, still holding Bakugo tightly while she spoke to the others, who ignored the emotional outburst out of respect.

“We think the league is forcing Midoriya to stay by threatening to hurt you if he doesn’t obey. Camie can create illusions and so we were going to use her to make it seem like you are still here and sneak you out. Aizawa and a hero known as Ms Joke are patrolling outside to make sure no one attacks.” Todoroki explained and Inko nodded her head in understanding and dabbing away one of the tears that managed to escape her seemingly numb exterior.

“I take it I’ll be snuck out in the box?”

“Well… yes.” Replied Yaoyorozu sheepishly, “We’ll get Camie to create an illusion of you as we leave and once you are safe we’ll have her sneak back out. I’m sorry it’s not the most comfortable way to get you out but it’s all we could do with our resources. Oh, if you don’t mind can I go and set up the light timer?”

“Light timer?”

“It’s something to make the lights in the rooms turn on and off at certain times to make it seem like someone is still inside.” Yaoyorozu explained, “It’s an extra layer of protection we though to add to try and fool the league for as long as possible.” Inko gave her a proud smile and told her to do whatever she needed to do.

As Yaoyorozu busied herself with the lighting and Camie perfected her Inko illusion Bakugo finally untangled himself from Inko and stood up. “Hey Inko, can I go and look at his room?”

She looked startled for a second before rising from her chair and grabbing the key for his room out of the kitchen.

“Go ahead.” She beamed at him and squeezed his shoulder before asking if anyone wanted anything to eat as she headed back into the kitchen.

Bakugo headed down the hall and stood in front of the door. He was nervous and scared about entering even though he’d most likely just see a ton of All Might merchandise. Ever since he’d been told about Midoriya’s fate he’d never been able to enter his room. To be honest he didn’t even know why he wanted to go in it now, perhaps it was because he knew he wasn’t wandering into a dead man’s room.

Just as he expected, when he opened the door he was met with a sea of yellow, red and blue. Posters and figures of the former number one hero lined every wall with the occasional merchandise from other heroes mixed in here and there. A few pictures were pinned to his wall, mostly of himself and his mother but the occasional photo of his younger self poked out from behind the others.

Gently he pulled it down off the wall and stared down at their beaming faces, Deku proudly holding a net over his head while Bakugo triumphantly lifting a large toad towards the camera. They must have been about three or four when this was taken, just before Bakugo’s quirk had manifested.

Bakugo gently sat down on the bed and reminisced in a bittersweet manner as he wondered if he’d have treated Deku the same if he’d also been quirkless. Maybe they would have grown closer by both facing the bulling that came with it.

A gently knock pulled Bakugo from his memories and he raised his head to see Todoroki awkwardly standing in the doorway.

“Mrs Midoriya wanted me to ask you if you’d like anything to eat.” He said, curiously looking about the room.

“I’m good.” Bakugo replied, turning his gaze back to the photo.

“I’ve never seen you cry like that before.”

“What?” Bakugo snapped, scowling up at him, “If you say anything about that I’ll-”

“I’m not going to tell anyone anything.” Todoroki explained, “I just didn’t know how much it had hurt you.”

“Of course it hurt me! He was my best friend and I was some asshole who couldn’t even show a shred of decency whenever he spoke to me.” Bakugo groaned, placing his head in his hands and slumping back onto the bed. “Why do I keep doing this?”

Todoroki strode over to him and placed himself on the edge of the bed asking, “Is it about the whole Kirishima bit earlier?”

Bakugo nodded into his arms before letting them flop down beside him. “I just don’t think he needs to be involved with this. I know he feels like I’ve abandoned him for Midoriya but that’s not true! I just need to set things right then everything can go back to normal.” He sighed heavily, “Midoriya was awesome but I don’t really know him anymore. He’s my past but Kirishima is my present and I don’t want the two to mix.”

There was a long pause before Todoroki said, “That was super cheesy and sounded pretty romantic.”

Bakugo bludgeoned him with the pillow yelling, “Shut up Icyhot!” While the redness from his cheeks spread across his face. “It’s not like he’d date me anyway.” “What?” “What?”

The pair stared at each other, utterly dumbfounded before Todoroki asked, “You like Kirishima?”

“Have you seen him?! How could I not?” Bakugo insisted, “Please don’t tell him though. I don’t want us to stop being friends over this.”

“Oh, Ok.” Todoroki replied nervously before promptly closing his mouth and averting his gaze. Unsure of what to say the two sat in a tense silence before Todoroki rose to his feet and mumbled  something about going to help Yaoyorozu and left.

Bakugo lay back down again and gazed at the picture. He hadn’t treated Midoriya well, but to hell if he was going to treat Kirishima with the same level of shittiness he had back then.

Chapter Text

“You ready Mrs Midoriya?” Yaoyorozu asked as Inko climbed into the box.

“It’s either this or possible death.” She joked but her voice trembled with fear as she sat down and let Bakugo close the lid above her. Once he made sure it wouldn’t fly open and Inko could breathe he turned to Camie. “You good?”

“Sure thing fam. It’s going to be lit.”

“Alright then.” Bakugo said, “Let’s get this over and done with.”

Toga had been watching the Midoriya residence for about half an hour after having shape-shifted into a middle aged man whom she’d met in the library and had provided her with awful book recommendations. She was already bored out of her mind from waiting the mere thirty minutes and was somewhat pleased to see Bakugo, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu approach the house.

Straining to hear she found that Bakugo was supposedly dropping off some old photo albums. It seemed harmless enough but the possibility that Midoriya had told the heroes about being blackmailed had been made evident to everyone in the league and it was clear that Magne’s death had shaken him more than usual. Due to these suspicions she’d been instructed to keep an extra close eye out for any activity that may suggest Midoriya Inko being moved from her current location. For now, however, she could only wait until they exited to check that she was still present.

After a little over an hour the door opened and Bakugo leapt out with the box and companions close behind.

“Sorry you didn’t want any of these Inko.” She heard Bakugo say.

“No problem.” Came the reply, “Just try and pop round more often.”

Toga watched as the three left, bidding their farewells and continuing down the street chatting happily with one another.

As soon as they were a good ways away Toga crept forward towards the house and knocked on the door. Panicked footsteps could be heard on the other side before the door was thrown open revealing an empty corridor.

“Hello?” She asked poking her head through the doorway. Inko suddenly hopped round the door smiling.

“Hello? Can I help you?”

Toga fumbled for a moment, she’d been convinced that they’d tricked her but Midoriya Inko was stood right in front of her. “Uh, sorry I must have the wrong house number. Sorry for bothering you!” Toga quickly turned and left as Camie kicked the door closed and let out a sigh of relief.

They were safe for now.

As soon as they had arrived back at UA Bakugo had dumped the box and began sprinting to the dorms. He ran up the stairs and pounded on Kirishima’s door and after a minute or so the door opened.

“Oh, it’s you.” Kirishima said, an angry expression worn upon his face, “It’s late. Can we do this some other time?”

“No. I want to talk about it now!” Bakugo demanded, forcing his hand onto the door to stop Kirishima from closing it.

“Bakugo, let go!” He said, shoving against the door in an attempt to shut him out.

“Not until you let me speak!” Bakugo responded, leaning his whole body against it and trying to widen the gap to slip through. Kirishima groaned and began to push the door back.

“I swear to god Kiri I will blow this door off its hinges!” Bakugo yelled as he threw himself against the door again.

“Like hell you will! Get off and leave me alone!”

“Not until you let me talk to you and explain everything!” Bakugo shouted as Kirishima lost his grip and fell back with Bakugo collapsing on top of him. Bakugo wasted no time by kicking the door shut behind him as Kirishima hurriedly shoved him off of himself and onto the floor away from him.

“What the hell Bakugo! I told you to leave!”

“And I said I needed to speak!” Bakugo insisted, panting slightly.

“Jiro already told me what you guys were doing so you can go.” Kirishima told him sternly as he reached for the door but Bakugo caught his arm and pulled him back across the floor.

“Please Kiri, just let me talk.” Kirishima cursed himself as he made the mistake of looking into his pleading eyes. He had no right to look so fucking beautiful when Kirishima was dead set on being mad at him.

“Fine. Say your piece.” Kirishima said averting his gaze so he wouldn’t see how Bakugo’s face broke into a smug smile at his victory.

“I’m sorry about keeping you in the dark and making you feel like I was avoiding you. I just wanted to help Midoriya, I needed to make things right with him and I ended up hurting you in the process.”

Kirishima sighed, “Its fine you don’t need to worry about me. I know that when you get Midoriya back you’ll want to make things right with him so you may as well stop hanging out with me now.”

Bakugo was stunned into confused silence. What the hell was Kirishima on about? Just because he got his childhood friend back didn’t mean that he would suddenly cast him aside.

“Kiri, I wouldn’t do that! You know I wouldn’t do tha-”

Kirishima cut him off angrily, “You’ve already been doing that and he’s not even here yet!”

“Kiri I-”

“Stop calling me that!” He shouted as hot, angry tears began spilling from his eyes, “Can’t you just make this easy for me? Can’t you just stop being…you?”

“What… what do you mean?” Kirishima was sobbing, curling into himself. Bakugo reached towards him but Kirishima angled his face away and moved his body from his reach.

“Feelings are so fucking dumb. Why do I have to feel like this? Why am I like this?” He muttered to himself angrily as he buried his face in his knees and hid his head in his arms.

“Kirishima, please talk to me.” Bakugo begged, concern bleeding from every word and stabbing Kirishima’s mind with guilt. There was a long pause as he took a shaky breath before lifting his head. His eyes were red and puffy, with cheeks blotchy damp with tears. He must look awful. Bakugo probably though he looked awful and would leave him soon. He needed to know so Kirishima could save himself from more pain.

“I like you. I like you so much I sometimes fell like my heart is going to burst out of my chest.” He stood up and turned away, “See now it’ll be easier to ignore me.”

Kirishima could feel his shoulders shaking and his heart pounding but was thrown completely off when he heard Bakugo ask “Why?”

He turned and saw Bakugo standing in front of, tears rolling down his face as he asked again, “Why? Why would you like me? I’m awful! I’m a fucking asshole!” he cried, gritting his teeth together and clenching his hands into fists out of frustration. Kirishima’s guts twisted and he felt himself run forward, wrapping his arms around Bakugo’s shaking form and sending them both sprawling to the floor with the force of it.

“I like you for a thousand reasons; you’re strong, you’re smart, you’re beautiful.” He saw Bakugo’s ears go red as he returned Kirishima’s hug with a tight squeeze to his waist.

“I could never ignore you Kiri.” He whispered into Kirishima’s ear, “Especially after this. You’re too perfect.” Kirishima pulled back to look at Bakugo’s face, as if looking at him would tell him he was lying but instead, when he gazed down, all he could think of was kissing him. He felt his blush spread further as he told himself it was too soon, he didn’t want to rush anything. Plus Bakugo had never told him if he liked him back, they’d just hugged…it was probably a friendship thing…

He pulled himself up till he was sitting upright despite the fact he was still straddling Bakugo’s legs and Bakugo also sat up as the two stared at each other for several awkward seconds before Kirishima began to snicker. Bakugo began to smile and joined Kirishima in laughing at nothing but their own stupidity.

“Is it bad that I wanted to ask why the fuck you were crying when I turned round?” Kirishima asked after they had moved onto his bed, both laying on their backs and keeping a decent distance away, unsure on boundaries.

“I probably would have yelled about how you were also crying.” Bakugo responded with a laugh.

“Hey can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.” Bakugo said with a grin.

“Are we… uh… are we dating?” Kirishima asked nervously, a blush once more rising in his cheeks.

“Kiri, you tackled me to the floor and I called you perfect. If you want to be dating then we are 100% dating.”

“Oh ok.” Bakugo felt like he’d made him feel awkward as the two sat in silence. He sat up and leaned over Kirishima’s face. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he attempted to ask if they could kiss, “Can…can I-”

“Yes” Kirishima replied, feeling his heart flutter as Bakugo slowly cupped his cheek with his hand and leaned forward. Bakugo hovered over his lips and Kirishima could feel his soft breath run over his skin.

Bakugo pulled back slightly and Kirishima considered pulling him in to the kiss but could tell he was nervous and he didn’t want to push him out of his comfort zone. Instead he leaned up towards Bakugo letting his hand curl around the others as Bakugo pressed down.

He could still taste the salty tears on his lips but it still felt wonderful. Their fingers intertwined as Bakugo gently pressed him into the bed, drawing back for a quick breath before kissing him again as if desperate.

Kirishima had no idea how long they had laid there kissing each other’s faces, cheeks, foreheads, necks and wherever else they could find as Bakugo finally pulled back with a gently smile dancing upon his face. “We still dating?” He teased and Kirishima reached over to hit him with one of the pillows as he laughed the pair play fighting and kissing until they collapsed over one another, exhausted. Arms gently draped over one another the pair continued to chat idly before they both drifted off to sleep in one another’s arms.

Chapter Text

Bakugo awoke in the early hours of the morning and looked down to check if Kirishima was still there. He was, arms wrapped tightly around his middle and legs intertwined with his own. His face was gently laid upon Bakugo’s chest, moving up and down with his own steady breathing.

Slowly, Bakugo shuffled himself down so that Kirishima’s face was now resting on his shoulder and his arms held onto his chest. He watched in amusement as Kirishima wrinkled his nose in discomfort for a second before his features smoothed and he nestled his face back into Bakugo’s shoulder with a soft sigh. He smiled warmly and leaned forward to press a kiss against Kirishima’s cheek as he wrapped his own arms around him and waited.

After several minutes of dozing Bakugo’s eyes opened once more as Kirishima stirred and rolled away to rub the sleep from his eyes.

“What time is it?” he asked in a hoarse voice. Bakugo reached over for his phone which lay discarded on the floor to check.

“8:45” He replied, tossing his phone away once again and rolling back to Kirishima. A smile broke across both of their faces and Kirishima leaned in to place a kiss on Bakugo’s lips. Bakugo grinned into it, looping his arms over Kirishima’s head and pulling him down a second time… and a third. They soon lost count as they cuddled one another, kissing and laughing till there was a quiet knock on the door which made them both freeze.

“Kirishima? You in there?” Todoroki asked through the door. Kirishima hastily pulled himself off Bakugo calling back, “Yes. Do you need something?”

“Aizawa’s looking for Bakugo and no one can find him. Do you know where he is?” Kirishima looked down at Bakugo, eyes wide as the two had a frantically silent conversation which mostly involved the panicked flapping of arms.

“Yeah he, uh, slept on my floor after we ironed everything out.” Kirishima called back, sending a silent prayer that it sounded believable.

“Ok,” Replied Todoroki, “Send him over to the teachers’ lounge when he’s up.” They waited until footsteps could no longer be heard before they both let out a sigh of relief.

“I take it you want to keep this on the low down right now?” Kirishima asked.

“If you don’t mind. Just for now I don’t want people bombarding me with questions.”

“I don’t mind.” Said Kirishima, climbing off of Bakugo and strolling over to his wardrobe. He rummaged through for a few seconds before pulling out two shirts and a pair of jeans. He threw one of the shirts over at Bakugo.

“Hurry up and change.” He instructed, tugging his pyjama shirt off as he did. Bakugo averted his eyed from the sight, even though he’d seen it multiple times before it felt more personal now.

He looked down at the shirt Kirishima had thrown at him, it was navy in colour with a v neck and long sleeves. Bakugo dumped the shirt from yesterday onto the floor as he pulled the new one on. It was a little loose on him as Kirishima had undoubtedly stretched the fabric but he didn’t look out of place wearing it. The sleeves seemed a little odd as usually his quirk tended to destroy anything around his arms so he often opted for short sleeved options.

“Looks good.” Kirishima told him.

“Shut up.” Bakugo said, rising from the bed and joining him beside the door. Their hands briefly intertwined as Bakugo once again leaned in for a quick kiss before separating and opening the door.

“Morning!” Uraraka and Tsuyu called to them as they took their empty cereal bowls over to the sink, “Where are you two off to?”

“Aizawa wanted to speak to Bakugo. Thought I’d tag along.” Kirishima said placing some bread into the toaster.

“I’m gonna head off now actually,” Bakugo stated, “Meet you there Kiri.” Kirishima waved back at him, humming happily and grabbing a plate from the cupboard. As he walked over to the fridge to grab butter he noticed Shoji lurking next to it.

“Good morning Shoji!” He greeted, pulling the door open and grabbing the butter. Shoji glanced about him, checking that everyone had left and when he was quite sure they were alone he leaned forward and whispered: “Next time you two decide to shout your confessions at one another, make sure it’s not while I’m trying to sleep.”

“We’re going to attack tonight.” Aizawa told the room. He had gathered all the people he knew he could trust and were willing to help; Ms Joke, Mandalay, Tiger, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Bakugo and Kirishima. He had tried to persuade Pixie-bob to come along but she was looking after Ragdoll and declined the offer.

“Isn’t that too soon?” asked Yaoyorozu, “We just barely got Midoriya Inko to safety.” “We need to act quickly as the league could have already found out about her absence and any day they could move from their current location. From our research the place they’re currently inhabiting is small and likely temporary.” Aizawa explained, projecting a floor plan of the building onto the wall behind him, “From the little information we could gather the building has two entryways: a door on the east side of the building and a hatch leading into the sewage systems. Additionally the league still has the ability to open a warp gate to a separate location. This means we will need to locate and capture Midoriya Izuku before he is taken away. To achieve this we will be separating into two teams during our entry and then splitting off into pairs to cover the most ground.”

Group A would enter through the door, consisting of Ms Joke, Bakugo, Tiger and Todoroki. Group B would sneak through the hatch and be made up of the remaining members. Once inside the team would split into the pairs: Ms Joke and Bakugo, Tiger and Todoroki, Aizawa and Yaoyorozu and Mandalay and Kirishima.

After the meeting had ended and they’d all had lunch, Kirishima and Bakugo decided not to return to the dorms instead deciding to stroll about the playing field while they talked about the evening ahead and the events of the morning. Bakugo laughed as Kirishima told him about his earlier encounter with Shoji but wasn’t worried about him telling anyone.

“You worried about tonight?” Kirishima asked him, leaning his head against his shoulder and rubbing his thumb along the back of his hand.

“No.” Bakugo stated firmly, “I know we’ll get him back. We have to.” Despite his words a flicker of doubt crossed his face. Kirishima gave his hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

“Shit.” Kirishima breathed, looking down at his watch.

“What is it?”

“We should get going. It’s almost time.” He began to walk towards the buildings, dragging Bakugo behind him but he was pulled back.

“Stay safe Kiri.”

“I will.” He promised, letting himself fall into another embrace. Both begging the universe for the other to be safe.

Chapter Text

Dabi sat absentmindedly poking at the burning documents and photos he had placed in the middle of the room. Out of boredom he tossed the smoke detector ripped from the ceiling onto the blaze.

A small raid on a local library had provided him with several newspaper articles containing pictures of him and a later break in to his old home had given him access to several family photos. He had to erase all evidence of his past to keep himself safe.

After first joining he’d found that Midoriya had ended up straying a little too close to the truth when asked by Shiguraki to do some research on him. Luckily he’d been able to cover his tracks just in time but close calls like that couldn’t afford to happen twice and even if it hurt to see photos of his family go up in smoke, it was safer for him, his family and their memories of him. Not to say he didn’t enjoy part of the experience, seeing his own small and frail figure erased from documentation was satisfying, knowing he was better now than he had ever been back then. Additionally when certain figures ended up lurking in the backs of some of the photos he would always smile as they were consumed by the flames again and again. Perhaps it was out of irony or maybe just simple hatred and spite that he enjoyed that part so much.

“The fuck are you doing in there Dabi?” Spinner called through the door, “You got smoke everywhere!”

 Dabi didn’t reply as he picked up the bucket of water beside him and drenched the flames. He kicked the damp ashes and melted smoke detector beneath his bed before throwing open the door.

“I’m going out!” he called out to the rest of the inhabitants with no expectation of any follow up questions. No one cared enough to ask, which was one of the nicer things about living with a bunch of eccentric murderers.

“See ya.” Spinner replied, heading into the kitchen after checking it was empty before grabbing as much food as his arms could hold.

Dabi rolled his eyes and made his way towards the hatch to the underground sewage tunnels. Kurogiri had instructed everyone to avoid using the door due to the discovery of their last hideout. The tunnels were better for entering and exiting by as you could access the surface from multiple points. Plus their maze like design made it easy to lose anyone following. Unfortunately they smelled awful but that was to be expected from sewage.

As he approached he thought he could hear muffled voices. Out of suspicion he ducked into one of the rooms on his left and strained to listen to the conversation. He couldn’t make out any particular words or sentences but none of the voices sounded like any other members of the league.

Two sets of footsteps could be heard beginning to head down the corridor behind him but a different pair were making their way along the hall towards him. Dabi saw a flash of red through the crack in the door and leapt forward slamming the boy into a wall.

Mandalay was caught off guard by the attack but regained her composure quickly, reaching forward and pulling the villain off of Kirishima. As she did the villain whipped his elbow round hitting her jaw and knocking her away slightly. Mandalay could taste blood in her mouth and scowled at the villain, remembering his quirk was fire based and remaining cautious in regards to his next attack.

He shot a jet of flames forward and Mandalay leapt aside while telepathically warning the others that their presence had been detected. Kirishima staggered to his feet and glared over at Dabi, activating his quirk while he charged in from behind. He managed to pin Dabi to the floor and prepared to knock him out but all of a sudden a pair of arms wrapped tightly around his throat and dragged him away.

Kirishima pulled at the arms as he struggled to breathe and frantically tried to kick the legs out from his attacker. Craning his head round his eyes briefly met those of the person they had come to rescue. Midoriya’s eyes shone with murderous intent as Kirishima felt the strength from his body ebbing away and his quirk deactivating as he desperately tried to breathe.

“Midoriya stop! You don’t have to do this anymore,” Mandalay stated through her telepathy, “We rescued your mother!”

Kirishima felt the grip around him loosen and he gasped for air frantically, still too weak to fight or even move. Dabi glanced back at Midoriya with a worried look apparent on his face before Midoriya suddenly tightened his grip once more around and Kirishima was left clawing for air again.

“Stop!” Yelled Mandalay as one of Dabi’s flames caught her arm causing her to cry out in pain. Her brief distraction allowed Dabi to run forward, grabbing a hold of her hair and slamming her head into the nearby wall. She slumped to the ground, breathing heavily, her eyes only just open and her teeth gritted together in anger. She attempted to push herself up on shaking limbs but a harsh shove from Dabi kept her fixe to the floor as she pleadingly gazed over at Midoriya.

“Please.” She begged before Dabi knocked her out with a final blow and Kirishima’s head finally lolled with his arms falling limply to his sides.

Dabi walked over to Midoriya as he let the unconscious body of Kirishima collapse onto the floor with a dull thud.

“I’m surprised you didn’t leg it kid.” Dabi said, his eyes narrowed and dark as if he was daring Midoriya to attack or run.

A grin split across Midoriya’s face, wide and sinister that would have looked more at home on the face of a hungry wolf than the kid Dabi knew, “That’s because I’m not Midoriya.”

“Toga?” Dabi asked and she nodded, grin growing impossibly wider.

“We need to get him out of here before the heroes do.” She told him, “I can pretend to be Midoriya to throw them off. You take red-head here. We can use him as a hostage negotiation if worst comes to worst.” Dabi nodded in agreement and threw Kirishima over his shoulder as the pair separated and headed off in two separate directions.

Chapter Text

Toga was cursing under her breathe as she darted down every hall she came across and peered into every room she could find. She had to find the heroes before they found Midoriya because if she didn’t, and they told him everything, she had no doubt in her mind that he would take his chance to leave. Perhaps he would have stayed before getting involved with UA or before Shigaraki’s latest outburst or maybe even before Magne’s death. It was impossible to tell but Toga was convinced that if they told him today that he could leave, he would.

She glanced at her watch, checking how long she had left in this form. It had only been about an hour and from the amount taken she was fairly safe but it all depended on how quickly she could find the heroes.

She rounded the next corner and ran straight into the very people she’d been looking for. She leapt back, eyes wide with suspicion and resisted the urge to smile at her own fortune.

There were two of them: the pro hero who’d been at the training camp called Tiger and the youngest son of Endeavour. Tiger looked at her warily, his stance defensive and his eyes watching her every move. Todoroki, on the other hand, had relaxed his body language almost as soon as he’d recognised her form.

“Midoriya?” Todoroki asked, holding up a hand towards the giant of a man looming behind him to let him know to remain where he was.

“Todoroki? What are you doing here?” She asked, feigning confusion and cowering slightly, as though she was scared of Tiger.

“We came to rescue you.” He explained, holding his hand out towards her.

“I don’t want to leave.” Toga replied as she kept her body close to the wall and her body language drawn in.

“Midoriya, we saved your mum!” He smiled hopefully and Toga felt pity for the poor boy at his blind optimism and trust, “You don’t have to stay here.”

She let her face relax, breathing out a sigh of fake relief as she dashed towards Todoroki and let herself fall into his arms, which quickly swept her into a tight hug. She noticed Tiger remain in his defensive position for a few seconds before relaxing ever so slightly, still keeping his eyes fixed upon the pair with caution.

“You’re safe.” Todoroki muttered happily into her shoulder as Toga, hidden from both Tiger and Todoroki’s view, rolled her eyes. Midoriya was where he needed to be, even if he didn’t see that at the moment, this is what he was good at and this is where he belonged. Todoroki was a fool for following the flawed mentality set in place by today’s heroes. He could have looked at his own father and realised that but instead he chose to live in blissful ignorance while trying to infect others with his poisoned beliefs.

She looked over to Tiger and watched as he turned his eyes from the two of them to glance down the corridor, checking for any villain’s approaching. Toga smiled gleefully to herself as she saw her perfect opportunity to keep the blind sighted heroes away from Midoriya forever.

By the time Tiger noticed the flash of metal in her hands it was already too late as it quickly disappeared into Todoroki’s back.

He didn’t scream, letting out only a small gasp as the blade pierced him followed but a painful groan as he staggered away from her, collapsing backwards into Tiger’s arms. He looked over at whom he thought was Midoriya with a terrified and betrayed look in his eyes that Toga had to resist mocking.

“Don’t try that again.” She warned, brandishing the knife at him threateningly before running back down another hallway, satisfied with her work.

Todoroki could barely process what had happened, one moment everything had been going so right and so perfect, and now he was watching Midoriya betray him.

He felt like he should feel angry but instead he wanted to crawl into a ball and cry. A bigger part of him wanted to continue to chase after him, to still save him. As he was lifted he briefly thought that they were going after him but he soon began to notice they were heading in the opposite direction.

“Where are we going? Midoriya ran the other way.” He mumbled out into Tiger’s chest.

“Are you mad?” Tiger said, raising his voice slightly, “I need to get you to a hospital.” “But, Midoriya…” He pleaded, tears appearing in his eyes against his own will.

“I’m sorry Todoroki.” Tiger said, a sympathetic look on his face that only made Todoroki feel worse.

“He still needs help.” Todoroki mumbled, his eyelids growing heavy but despite that still attempting to crawl out of Tiger’s grip. He already felt exhausted and let his body fall back almost immediately, wincing in pain and still keeping one hand loosely holding onto his shirt.

Tiger pressed down on the wound, knowing that Todoroki’s movement was at least a good sign which meant he hadn’t been paralyzed, but the risk of bleeding out was still large and Tiger knew time was of the essence. He sent out a message through his earpiece to let the others know that they had to leave and waited for a response. Yaoyorozu and Aizawa messaged back promptly, shortly followed by Bakugo and Ms Joke. He waited for Mandalay and Kirishima but the lines were silent. He called again, his voice panicking slightly as he feared for the loss of another one of his teammates, Todoroki’s wellbeing the only thing stopping him from tearing through the building to search for them.

He was almost at the hatch, meeting up with Bakugo and Ms Joke just outside when he saw her. Mandalay was lying against one of the walls, her face bloodied and a large burn angrily clawing its way up her arm. Her hair was messy and her breathing heavy as she slowly raised her head to look at the others. She tried to say something but ended up coughing violently as Ms Joke began to pull her up on her feet.

“We need to get them to a hospital.” Ms Joke instructed, her voice void of its lightheartedness, replaced with a serious tone that almost scared Tiger. Her eyes were dark and fearful as she maneuvered Mandalay so that she was hung over her back.

“Kirishima…” Mandalay gasped out and Bakugo’s eyes went wide with panic.

“What happened to him?” He yelled, grabbing Mandalay’s arms a little too forcibly.

“They took him.”

She had barely finished speaking before Bakugo began sprinting down the hall. He knew what the league was like and what they might do to Kirishima. The voices of the others couldn’t deter him as he blindly ran throughout the building, throwing back door after door and desperately scanning every room before moving on. He prayed that they hadn’t left yet, that they were still somewhere in the building. He slowed, panting heavily and feeling a sharp pain blossoming in his chest, partially out of exhaustion and partially out of fear as he heard voices through the door in front of him.

He held up his hand and fired the strongest blast he could muster. Wood and brick shattered into splinters that filled the air and sank through the heavy smoke that Bakugo pushed through as he entered the room.

Kurogiri was letting members of the league walk through his body, Bakugo watched as Mr Compress, Spinner and Toga disappeared. His eyes caught Midoriya’s and then fell upon Kirishima’s limp form slung over Dabi’s shoulder.

He felt his blood boil as he propelled himself forwards, swinging his arm round to attack Dabi with all the fury he could muster. He never reached him, Midoriya activating his quirk and swing Bakugo round to smash him into the nearby wall.

“Nice going kid.” Dabi complemented, stepping towards Kurogiri as Bakugo leapt to his feet, glaring at the pair. He fired a blast at them but Kurogiri swept his body round, shielding them from the attack.

“Deku you asshole!” He screamed, launching himself forwards and grabbing Midoriya by his hood, tossing him against the wall which he used to push off from, leaping forwards to pin Bakugo to the ground beneath him.

“Leave me alone!” Midoriya yelled at him, aiming a punch at his face which was blocked by Bakugo.

“Give Kiri back.” Bakugo demanded, kicking Midoriya off him, “After what we did for you, it’s the least you could do.”

Anger set itself upon Midoriya’s face as he dodged a blast and jabbed Bakugo sharply in the jaw with his elbow, “After all you did?” He said, kneeing Bakugo in the chest, “What would that be?”

Bakugo hugged his stomach with a groan, “We saved you’re mum and organised a whole damn rescue team just for you.” He pulled himself up once again, his hand pointed once more at Midoriya, “We shouldn’t have bothered.”

Bakugo felt an intense pain rip up his arm as he tore the room apart with a single, destructive blast aimed solely at Midoriya. The light from the attack blinded him, the heat and power making him step back as he blinked the spots of light from his eyes. Searching across the room he felt his breath leave his lungs and his heart being torn from his chest as his knees gave way. They were gone.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he felt his hands spark again, tearing apart the floor beneath him. He pounded the ground with his quirk till he felt it disappear. His head turned to see Aizawa standing in the doorway; eyes red and hair swirling above his head. His face was blank and expressionless, just looking at it made even more anger rise up in Bakugo.

“Why did we have to go after him?” He screamed, tears streaming down his face as he clumsily stormed towards Aizawa. “Why didn’t you do anything? Why, Why, Why!” he hammered at Aizawa’s chest, punctuating every why with a slam of his fist. Bakugo’s body shook with rage and upset, pounding Aizawa’s chest with his hands, screaming and sobbing as Aizawa hugged him gently. Bakugo continued to cry and shout until he no longer had the energy to, he simply stood, shivering in Aizawa’s arms as he wondered what they would do next.

Chapter Text

The words rang in his ears again and again as Midoriya stood frozen in place. He barely processed a hand being wrapped around his arm and pulling him back, away from the blast that shook the room and burned his eyes. It felt more like the ground hit him than he hit it as he stumbled back, shaking off Dabi’s hand and dusting his shoulder in an almost disgusted way.

His mother was safe. His mother was out of their grasp and they could no longer control him. If they wanted to stop him they’d have to kill him, and a few words and well placed traps would stop them from doing even that.

Rising to his feet he felt the leagues eyes fixed upon him. As he turned to look he met Shigaraki’s gaze, his head cocked to the side and a goading look across his features.

“What?” he asked, staring them down, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Most of the league remained either uneasy or suspicious of Midoriya for the remainder of the day. There were exceptions: Dabi didn’t seem to care about what Midoriya decided to do, more amused by how it would pan out as opposed to the end result and Twice changed his opinion on the matter every two minutes. Shigaraki and Kurogiri watched him mill about with intent interest and Toga followed him relentlessly until Midoriya swatted her away but eventually everyone tired of casting curious glances over at him and filtered off into different rooms, still no less wary. He was like a wild dog let off his leash and now everyone was observing him to see if he would remain obedient or bite the ones whom had once restrained him.

Meanwhile, Kirishima had been locked inside a makeshift cell that had been set up in the basement of their new hideout. He had awoken shortly after being left inside and had already orchestrated four attempted prison breaks but hadn’t managed to be successful. He had yet to attempt a fifth as Shigaraki had quickly grown sick of the noise and instructed someone to make him shut up; thus the last of Mustard’s knock out bombs had been used and Kirishima was once again left unconsciously slumped against a wall.

Dabi had retreated back to his room almost as soon as he’d disposed of Kirishima and had been left relatively undisturbed without taking into consideration the frantic shouting caused by the previous escape attempts. Now, however, everything was quiet and still and for just a moment, he could relax without having to think about their all too recent attack on their previous hideout. This peace was to be short lived as no sooner had his head hit the pillow and his eyes closed there was a loud knock on his door.

Rolling his eyes and groaning, he lifted his head to shout various profanities at whoever it was disturbing him when the door was flung open. Midoriya barged in, slamming the door shut behind him and storming towards Dabi.

“What the fuck kid? Get out!” Dabi yelled, leaping from the bed to loom over him, attempting to look as intimidating as possible.

Midoriya looked up at him unphased, his eyes empty and his face unreadable as he said in a low and threatening voice “Sit down Touya.” Dabi froze in place, his eyes widening in fear as Midoriya’s smile widened with satisfaction. He slowly eased himself back onto the bed, face contorting into a scowl as he did so.

“How do you know that name?” Dabi asked, spitting each word out with distain, “I made sure to cover all my tracks. You never even came close, so how-”

Midoriya cut him off with a laugh, “You honestly think I tell Shigaraki every little bit of information I find?” His face shifted to a sinister expression, eyes dark and smile wide and menacing. It made Dabi’s blood run cold, how could he look so terrifying? How much did he know?

“I give Shigaraki just enough so that he’s happy and trusts me. I shut myself away and I don’t stick my neck out, but that was so I could keep my mum safe. Tell me Touya, how is your mum doing these days?” Dabi felt his mind go blank and his blood boil.

“Don’t you dare.” He threated, his fists clenching the sheets beside him and Midoriya scoffed.

“Or what? My mum was my one weakness and now you can’t touch her or me, but I can send a lovely note to your dad letting you know where you are or I could let your siblings know who you are or I could do exactly what you planned to do to my mum to yours.” Midoriya watched as Dabi restrained himself from burning Midoriya to a cinder, noticing smoke slip through his fingers.

“What do you want me to do you asshole?” He growled out, gritting his teeth and making him look like a snarling dog.

“Simple,” Midoriya smiled, “All I need is for you to create a distraction long enough and loud enough that no one notices or tries to stop me and Kirishima from leaving.”

“Is that it?” Dabi cautiously asked.

“Well, I might stop by for some information every so often, but for now, yes, that’s it.”

Dabi didn’t have to think long on his answer. The rewards far outweigh the risks so he agreed bitterly and watching in disgust as Midoriya once more grinned at his own success.

“Good. Be ready tomorrow at noon. I’m guarding Kirishima with Mr Compress so you just need to make sure no one catches us leaving.” He patted Dabi on the head mockingly, clearly enjoying the torment he was being put through, “Should be easy enough for you.”

Dabi stared at him as though he had daggers for eyes as Midoriya made his way out of the room. The second the door had clicked shut Dabi lobbed the nearest hard object at the door before screaming into his hands, fire peeling off of him and scorching nearby objects as he hurled his anger at the room.

A child! A child had found out the one thing he’d kept hidden from the rest of the world and was now blackmailing him. He had been so careful and so sure of himself when covering his tracks. He wasn’t recognisable by name or by appearance and had already managed to fool his family. How was it that he had been found out by a nosy child?

He wanted to burn him and everyone he cared for to ash but for now he was helpless. He’d let himself fall into the same trap Midoriya had leapt into, the same trap he’d been avoiding for years. Feeling like an idiot and mad beyond sense or reason Dabi threw himself back onto his bed. He wouldn’t sleep that night and instead sat thinking up the countless ways he would end Midoriya Izuku for knowing what he knew.

Chapter Text

“So he didn’t want to come back?” Inko asked, placing her mug back down on the coffee table.

“We’re not sure. It could be that simple but there’s all sorts of psychological reasons as to why he’d convince himself that it’s better for him to stay.” Aizawa sighed, “I’m sorry we couldn’t get your son back.”

Smiling warmly Inko shook her head, “You tried your best and he at least isn’t a puppet for the league anymore.” Despite her bright expression a sadness still shone through in her eyes as she stared down into the warm swirls of her tea. Aizawa admired the strength she had shown in escaping and the lengths she had gone to keep her son and herself safe. She’d even suggested dyeing her hair in order to better change her appearance but Aizawa had managed to persuade her that cutting her hair into a bob and wearing a pair of glasses in addition to changing her name was more than enough. After her transformation she’d joked about how she was a hero herself now, “With my own mask and alias.” She’d said, pushing her glasses up her nose and laughing

The pair conversed for a while, mostly about any suspicious activities she’d seen and how she had been enjoying her new home but eventually Aizawa took his leave. Bidding her farewell and thanking her for letting him stay, as well as making a wonderful cup of coffee, he made his way down the steps and headed towards the train station.

Inko had been placed quite a distance from her pervious home and it was in the centre of a housing complex where many heroes lived and worked. Alarm systems had been put in place and Aizawa had asked some of his close acquaintances in the area to check in on her every now and again. Aizawa prayed that it was enough to keep her safe as the train pulled to a stop at his station.

After a short walk from the station, lost in his own thoughts, he finally made it to the hospital. He approached the front desk with the intention of making his presence known but the receptionist waved him through, gesturing to the crowded waiting room and the phone currently pressed to her ear.

Aizawa trudged up the stairs to Mandalay’s room. Tiger was already inside, holding up a tablet so that Mandalay could video chat with Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob. She was beaming as they recounted their day to her and her smile only grew wider as Kota bust on screen waving a handmade card at the camera with glee. Tiger noticed Aizawa hovering in the doorway and waved, soon joined by Mandalay and the others onscreen.

“You need anything Aizawa?” Mandalay asked cheerily.

“Just checking in but I can see you’re all go. I won’t intrude.” A few goodbyes could be heard as he exited and quietly made his way down the hall.

As soon as he opened the door Todoroki and Bakugo swept the paper they had laid out onto the floor, panic clearly visible on their faces as they tried their best not to look suspicious and inevitably making themselves look even more suspicious.

Aizawa rolled his eyes, “If I go and pick those up are they going to contain more escape plans?”

Neither of them spoke or met his gaze and Aizawa sighed, pulling up a chair to sit beside Bakugo at the foot of Todoroki’s bed.

“I’ve told you countless times that the pro heroes will solve it, I don’t need any more injured pupils. The school is under enough stress as it is.” He could see Bakugo frowning beside him, clearly not heeding any of his advice. Ignoring him and making a mental note to talk to him later Aizawa turned to Todoroki, “You’ll be pleased to know that you’re going to be released tomorrow morning. The hospital instructed that you should be on bed rest for the next week so the wound doesn’t reopen.”

“Am I staying at UA?”

“No,” He replied, “Your father was insistent on you staying at home for the week. Your sister will be picking you up at around 10.” He saw Todoroki visibly tense at the mention of having to stay with his father, relaxing only slightly at the news that his sister would be the one taking care of him. He’d tried to convince Endeavour that Todoroki would be safe at UA but it was clear that his son’s safety wasn’t what he worried about. No matter how he’d protested Endeavour hadn’t changed his mind and in the end there was little else he could do.

“OK.” Todoroki muttered out quietly, “Uh. The phone I used to call Midoriya, have you…”

“We tried calling but a woman picked up. I looked into it and she had no relation to the league, she just got a new number.” As he watched Todoroki’s face fall he let a small, “Sorry.” Slip from his lips as he stood up.

“Do you want me to bring you anything from the dorms before tomorrow?” Aizawa asked.

“No.” came the short, defeated response. For the third time that day Aizawa said goodbye and left the pair to continue with their pointless planning.

Kirishima felt exhausted despite the fact that all he had done successfully so far was sleep for hours. Opposite, sitting cross-legged, was Toga, pouting while she gently tapped her broken syringe against her leg. Earlier she had made the mistake of trying to collect Kirishima’s blood but he’d simply activated his quirk and broken her “favourite syringe”. He’d had a few rocks and broken pieces of glass thrown at him out of frustration afterwards but Kirishima simply referred to her as a toddler throwing a temper tantrum and she’d stopped. However, he did wonder if she thought sulking was meant to stop him from comparing her to an annoyed two year old.

After what seemed like hours of bored glaring, two sets of footsteps made their way down to the basement.

“Izuku!” cried Toga leaping up and attempting to tackle Midoriya with a hug. Midoriya casually side stepped away from her, avoiding the initial attack. This did little to stop her as she merely pivoted on her foot and grabbed him from behind, squeezing tightly around his waist

“Have fun on guard duty!” She cried, as she let go and dash away and up the stairs, giggle as she went.

Mr Compress sat himself down on the only chair in the room, looking very uneasy as the chair creaked and wobbled. It looked like it was about to collapse but He seemed determined to remain off of the dirtied floor.

As though he could feel Kirishima’s burning gaze upon him Midoriya turned to look over at him.

“Can I help you?” He asked, sounding monotone and bored.

“Other than letting me out of here? No, but I will tell you that you’re a fucking asshole for free.”

“Really.” Replied Midoriya, turning his back on Kirishima and walking across to a small shelving unit at the far end of the room. “Do continue.”

“You want me to continue? Fine. How about I talk about how you dislocated Bakugo’s arm?”

Midoriya peered across the shelves before pulling out a large coil of rope and tossing it onto the table beside him.

“Or,” continued Kirishima, “The fact that you helped kidnap Bakugo?”

He dragged a large metal pipe from off the shelf and tossed it about his hands feeling the weight and balance of the object.

“Not to mention the number of people also hurt at the training camp!”

Midoriya walked back over to Mr Compress, standing behind him with the pole grasped tightly in his hands before quickly casting a glance down at his watch.

“You done?” he asked, voice empty and void of emotion.

“Done? I’ve only just-”

“Good.” A loud crash sounded out above them as Midoriya raised the pipe high in the air and swung it down hard, a sickening thud being heard as Mr Compress slumped to the floor. Midoriya stepped over the body and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck. Several seconds passed before he stood up and grabbed the rope.

“What are you waiting for? Help me tie him up.”

Chapter Text

“I’ll try and do some more research while I’m home.” Todoroki said receiving a small grunt of agreement in response. Bakugo had his gaze turned towards the floor as he walked level with Todoroki’s wheelchair currently being pushed by a disinterested nurse.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Clearly I am not okay.” He scowled harder at the ground as though the earth itself had offended him, “It doesn’t matter just text me whatever you find.”

“Ah…”

“What?”

“I left my phone back at the dorms.” Todoroki replied somewhat sheepishly, “I’ll have to call you from the landline.” Bakugo seemed disinterested in what was being said to him, although he looked angry, his eyes appeared distant and it was evident his thoughts were far from focused on either the conversation or their current location.

“I’ll drop it off when I have time.” Bakugo told him, shoving his hands into his pockets and nodding towards a woman with glasses and white hair streaked with red standing at the front desk. “There’s your sister.”

As she saw them approaching she smiled and stepped towards them, leaning over to gently hug her brother before turning to Bakugo and offering her hand in greeting. He ignored it, turning from the pair and walking away with a slight wave of his hand.

“Talk to you later!” He called out behind him as he marched away from the hospital.

He felt awful. Todoroki had been a welcome distraction but now he was left to wallow in his thoughts. He was a failure and a disappointment for letting them take Kirishima. He’d been so close why hadn’t he been able to reach him? Why had he let himself get so blinded by anger? Had Kirishima felt like this when he’d gotten kidnapped? Now he felt like an asshole for getting kidnapped! He was an asshole and a failure and a disappointment. He wouldn’t be surprised if when Kirishima finally got back he wanted to break up with him.

Bakugo could feel the anger traveling to his hands, small sparks scattering across his skin as he threw himself down on a bench leaving small scorch marks beneath his hands. What had Kirishima seen in him?

You’re strong. Not strong enough to save him

You’re smart. That wasn’t a trait that made people fall in love. Albert Einstein was smart but he didn’t want to date him.

You’re beautiful. No he wasn’t. Kirishima was delusional and he’d realise that sooner or later. Bakugo should never have kissed him or told him how he’d felt but he didn’t want Kiri to be sad. He didn’t what Kiri to hate him.

Bakugo placed his head in his hands out of frustration, but also to hide the hot tears spilling silently down his face.

Kirishima stared in bewilderment as Midoriya finished tying the knots to restrain Mr Compress, trying to wrap his head round the situation. Midoriya had attacked him, so why was he now trying to free him? Was this similar to when Bakugo had gotten captured? Were they similar motives?

Midoriya tugged the rope one last time to make sure it was secure, “You going to keep staring or…”

“Sorry,” Kirishima replied, “But why are you helping me all of a sudden?”

Midoriya shrugged, “Spite mostly. It’s kind of the whole reason I’ve been doing anything for a while now.” He glanced down at his watch while dusting himself down as he continued, “We need to get moving. I’m not sure how long Dabi’s distraction will actually last or how long until they notice that we’re both gone.”

Kirishima nodded, following Midoriya up the stairs while casting a worried look back at the unconscious villain they’d left behind.

“He’ll be ok right?”

“He was alive last time I checked.” Kirishima could feel that there was a but to Midoriya’s answer:

But he’ll be fine.

But he’ll probably not make it.

But I don’t really care what happens to him.

Kirishima didn’t press the matter, worried that the answer he’d receive would make him feel guilty.

They reached the landing and Kirishima could see bright blue flames licking at the walls further down the corridor and angry screeches.

“WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO DO INSIDE?” Came one of the frantic voices behind the wall of fire. Despite the danger of the situation both Kirishima and Midoriya chuckled slightly as a flailing Shigaraki came into view through the doorway, desperately trying to put out the flames upon himself.

“C’mon.” Midoriya whispered, tugging on Kirishima’s sleeve and pointing towards a flight of stairs. He received a nod in response and the two darted across the hall to the staircase, trying to keep their footsteps as quiet as possible even though it was unlikely to be heard over the noise produced from the common room.

“Why are we going up? Isn’t the exit on this floor?” Kirishima asked quietly while they tiptoed upstairs, freezing each time the wood creaked or groaned beneath their feet.

“That door has an alarm and is bolted shut with a key that I don’t have access to. Apparently the league don’t trust me anymore.” A smug smile burst across his face along with a small chuckle, “Suppose they got one thing right.”

They stopped just in front of a large metal door with chains and locks by the dozen securing it into place. Large bolts stabbed into the wall as they barred the entry to the roof.

“Damn, do we have to pick all of these? There’s no way that you can open it in time.”

“Kirishima, do you know what people always forget about locked doors?”

“Uh, what?”

Midoriya raised his foot and slammed it against the hinges of the door and Kirishima watched as the metal bent away and the screws were ripped from the wall. “They never check the hinges.”

Kirishima activated his quirk and hit at the gap in the door, smoothing down the edges slightly and knocking the screws out of place so Midoriya wouldn’t cut himself when he climbed through. As he chipped away he noticed Midoriya edging back down the stairs, listening with a concerned look darting across his face.

“That’s enough, go through.” He said, pushing Kirishima towards the door while facing the stairwell before him.

Kirishima hoisted his leg up, sticking it through the gap before ducking his head down and out as he pulled the rest of his body through. He stepped back from the door and Midoriya finally turned his back on the stairs to clamber out. As he hopped to the ground they both heard it. The pounding of feet hurrying up the stair and looking on they saw a pale hand and a red, rage-filled eye barrel round the corner.

Midoriya yelled at Kirishima to run, grabbing him by the wrist and sprinting towards the edge of the roof. Behind them Shigaraki was disintegrating the door, giving them only a slight head start.

“Jump!” Midoriya yelled as he dove from the roof and Kirishima’s heart dropped. He looked back over at Shigaraki who was stepping through the doorway and leapt. As he fell he silently prayed that his quirk would be enough to protect him.

Chapter Text

When Midoriya finally hit the ground he felt his whole body strain and ache as he forced his quirk to protect him. He’d attempted the manoeuvre before but never from that height, it had knocked the wind from his chest and he desperately gasped for air, feeling as though a tight band had been fixed around his chest. He managed to pull himself up onto his hands and knees as he looked round in a daze for Kirishima who he found laying a few feet away, groaning as he sat up.

“We need to hide.” Midoriya told him as he staggered to his feet, bones protesting violently causing him to wince as Kirishima grabbed his arm to support him.

They hurried down the nearest alley, searching for anywhere they could hide or a form of transport that they could use to travel closer to UA. Midoriya had pulled his hood over his head and drawn the bottom half of his old mask over his face. He’d see Kirishima give him a curious look but thankfully he hadn’t asked him about it. In truth Midoriya didn’t want to be recognised by anyone, he had plans that still needed to be put into action and anyone knowing about him was dangerous.

They continued to dash through the town, darting from shadow to shadow in fear and after a while Midoriya began to get desperate. There was no way that they would be able to get back to UA without any money so when Kirishima’s back was turned he sidled up to an unsuspecting member of the public and swiped their purse from their bag.

“I’ve got some money, c’mon.”

“What? How did you…”

“Do you want to get out of here?” Midoriya said, interrupting him angrily. The fear building up in the back of his mind was getting to him.

“Yes.”

“Then for peace of mind don’t question where I got it from, we need to move.” Kirishima said nothing as Midoriya flagged down a cab and told them where they needed to go.

After a few minutes of driving Midoriya faked a miniature freak out about losing his phone, muttering about how his mother would be so angry about not calling her. As he began blubbering the cab driver sympathetically told him not to worry and handed him his phone telling him to call his mother with it.

“Thank you so much.” Midoriya exclaimed winking at Kirishima as he began typing in the number he had now firmly fixed in his memory. The phone began to ring and Midoriya muttered a quiet chant of “Please pick up. Please pick up.”

“Hello?” Came the voice from the other side.

“Todoroki!”

“Midoriya?”

“Bakugo?!”

“You called Bakugo?” Kirishima cried out.

“No! I called Todoroki!” Midoriya protested, “Why are you on Todoroki’s phone?”

“Why should I tell you? You’re the one who stabbed him in the back and kidnapped my boy- my friend.” Midoriya placed his hand over the speaker and turned to Kirishima.

“Are you and Bakugo dating?”

“Uh, yeah.” Kirishima blushed as he replied, fidgeting slightly under Midoriya’s gaze.

“Cool, I wish you the best of luck.” He said before he lifted the phone up to his ear again, “Kirishima’s with me right now. I’m going to drop him of at UA but I need to talk to Todoroki.” “Do you think Todoroki is going to want to speak to you after what you did?” Bakugo growled out.

Midoriya sighed, “Probably not, but at least I didn’t hurt him.” “How is stabbing someone in the back not hurting them?” Bakugo yelled, causing Midoriya to have to pull back from the phone slightly.

“Ok fine, at least I didn’t physically hurt him.”

“HOW IS STABBING SOMEONE IN THE BACK NOT PHYSICALLY HURTING THEM?” He once more yelled, somehow louder than before.

“What are you on about?” Midoriya asked, “I’ve never literally stabbed him in the back.”

“How come he ended up in the hospital with eye witnesses saying that you did then?” Bakugo snapped back at him and Midoriya fell silent. He’d never even seen Todoroki during the attack on the league of villains last base and now they were saying that he’d hurt him! What must Todoroki be thinking? Did he truly believe he’d hurt him like that?

“Where is he?” Midoriya asked, his voice was dark and sinister as he envisioned all the pain he would inflict on those responsible for hurting him.

“I’m not going to risk his safety by telling you.” Bakugo said. Midoriya waited a few seconds in silence as if he expected Bakugo to change his mind before ending the call.

“Can I get out here?” Midoriya asked as he handed the phone back to the driver.

“Sure.” The cab driver responded, pulling in beside the pavement. Midoriya thanked him as he threw open the door and hopped out.

“Are you really leaving?” Kirishima asked him, unwanted concern clearly visible on his face.

“Yeah, you’ll be fine getting back to UA on your own.”

“I meant are you really done with the league?” Midoriya looked at him and smiled.

“Not quiet.” The door slammed shut and Kirishima watched as Midoriya disappeared from his sight. He was scared. He was so scared about what Midoriya was about to do that he barely paid attention to the rest of the journey until the cab driver grabbed hold of his arm and told him they’d arrived.

He stepped from the cab and shielded his eyes as he stared up at the gates of UA that shone in evening sun. The sky was blood red, splattering across the sky and he thought back to the sickening crack of metal against bone before Mr Compress had slumped to the ground. What was Midoriya planning?

“Kiri!” The voice pulled him from his own mind and filled him with relief as Bakugo crashed into him, arms wrapping tightly around his chest and head nestling into his shoulder.

“I’m so glad you’re ok.” He murmured into Kirishima’s chest, “I missed you.” Kirishima tugged him closer, drawing his head up as he cupped Bakugo’s cheek.

“I know we’re in public, and I know you wanted to keep this private for now but can I kiss you?” Bakugo smiled softly, making Kirishima’s heart pound in his chest as he drew his own hands up to Kirishima’s face, answering his question with a desperate kiss. Kirishima felt like his legs would give way as he clung to Bakugo, turning his head to deepen the kiss.

“I knew it!” Cried Mina as the pair darted back from each other, blushing profusely. Mina was beaming and ran over to Kirishima and tackled him with a hug Kaminari and Jiro close behind her.

“I’m so glad you’re back but oh my gosh! I knew you guys liked each other!” She turned to Kaminari grinning, “You owe me so much natto!”

Chapter Text

Midoriya had managed to clamber up onto the roofs and was leaping from building to building as he made his way towards the Todoroki residence. He wasn’t sure how Todoroki would react, whether he would be turned away or even attacked but he needed to explain everything and set the record straight. He didn’t think he could leave things the way they were at the moment.

Eventually he reached Todoroki’s home, with its high stone walls and neat gardens that was surrounded by a large building equipped with everything a pro hero would need to train.

Midoriya quietly slipped over the wall and landed softly on the ground below. He wasn’t entirely sure which room was Todoroki’s but at least there was little chance of him running into Endeavour as he was currently attending some destructive (but ultimately harmless) villains that happened to break out of a local police station near where Endeavour had been working earlier that evening.

Taking a deep breath Midoriya crept round to the covered walkway where the rooms could be accessed from. He stepped towards the first room and lightly tapped on the door. After a few seconds of silence Midoriya tried knocking again before slowly opening the door to peer inside. It was an empty training room, with scorch marks crisscrossing the walls and the floor in anger streaks. Midoriya gently shut the door and moved onto the next room, and the one after that. He continued round until a groan was heard in response to his small tap. Hesitantly he knocked again and this time a small “Come in.” was murmured from the inhabitant and it was evident that the person who’d spoken was not Fuyumi.

For a second Midoriya considered leaving, simply turning round and disappearing off the face of the Earth. No explanations. No revenge. No more death. Midoriya thought of his mother and of Todoroki and of Shigaraki’s hideous face and turned the handle.

Todoroki had propped himself up on one arm, the other shielding his eyes from the light that now spilled into his room. As his eyes adjusted and recognition clicked in his head Todoroki asked, “M-Midoriya?”

Biting his lip, he stepped inside and the door swinging shut behind him with a gently click. He held his hands up to show he had come unarmed, “I’m not here to hurt you. I’ll leave if you want me to but I just need to speak.”

Todoroki looked warily at him and after a brief moment of consideration spoke. “Answer me two questions first.” “Ok.”

“Was it you on the phone?” Todoroki asked and he watched as Midoriya’s face contorted into one of regret before nodding.

Satisfied by the answer Todoroki continued, “Were you the one who stabbed me and hurt Kirishima when we went to rescue you?”

“No!” Midoriya said, stepping closer before realising his actions and raising his hands again as he stepped back, “I wouldn’t hurt you like that. The only person I hurt then was Bakugo.”

“Because you were told to?”

“That’s three questions.”

“Answer it anyway.”

Midoriya took another deep breath. This was easy, he told himself, just tell the truth even if he doesn’t like it.

“I was told to but… part of me wanted to as well. Bakugo made me feel awful for so many years and the league only helped to grow that anger and resentment but I made sure they didn’t kill him or Kirishima.”

Seconds dragged on in painful silence before Todoroki finally broke it. “You can sit down.”

A smile flashed across Midoriya’s lips as he took a seat at the foot of Todoroki’s bed. He began to explain everything that he’d dealt with since joining the league. He explained what had really happened when they’d come to rescue him. He described his meeting with All for One and how he’d received his quirk. He told Todoroki how he’d researched day and night for the league and how he’d been punished by Shigaraki for failing. He explained the first time he’d tried to run away and the threat upon his mother that he’d been given in return.

“I had to remain obedient. I had to do everything they said so she would be safe. I began to hide information from Shigaraki, anything that would be beneficial to me. I thought that one day I’d be able to get my mother to safety on my own. You and the pro heroes were never part of my plan and now everything is complicated and weird.”

“What was the plan originally?” Midoriya looked up into Todoroki’s eyes and wished time could stand still in this moment forever.

He glanced away, “I planned to get my mother to safety and then take out Shigaraki and the rest of the league one by one. Then I was going to disappear and hide away, pretending I was dead but…” Midoriya furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth. This was ridiculous. Todoroki wanted to become a hero and here he was telling him that he was set on murdering a bunch of people. Todoroki deserved so much better.

You really think someone like him would ever like someone like you?

He felt fear and panic rising up in his chest, he was ready to bolt but a hand gently laid itself on top of his. The grip was loose and it would take next to no effort to break free of it but Midoriya felt frozen in place as his eyes wandered from the hand back up to Todoroki’s face.

“But you ruined it all with your stupid face and your stupid…youness.” Midoriya suddenly snapped as he grabbed Todoroki by his shirt and pulled him forward, crashing their lips together. It could barely be called a kiss as Midoriya simple held their lips against one another’s, shaking as his insides twisted painfully.

This is wrong

This is what you can’t have because you don’t deserve it.

You’ve ruined everything!

“Shut up,” Midoriya breathed, pulling his head away while his hands still clutched at Todoroki’s shirt desperately, “SHUT UP!” He screamed, voice trembling and tears rolling off his cheeks creating wet trails across his skin.

“Midoriya.” Todoroki said, grabbing him by the wrists, “Midoriya look at me.”

“I... I can’t. They won’t let me.”

“Who won’t?” Midoriya slowly pulled his hand up and tapped at his head.

“I know why Shinso’s quirk hurt me.” He whispered, trembling as Todoroki wrapped his arms around him, “It…it was another quirk.”

“A mind control quirk?” Todoroki asked and Midoriya nodded slowly into his shoulder.

“I don’t know but I can’t… I can’t…” A shaky breath was drawn in by Midoriya as Todoroki stroked his fingers through his hair, “I can’t betray them. They won’t let me, he won’t let me.”

Chapter Text

Todoroki lay on his bed, gently stroking Midoriya’s hair and soothing him as he cried. His arm was wrapped tightly around his shoulder and he’d pressed his forehead against Midoriya’s, his face still wet with tears. Every now and again he would whimper or curl in on himself as he lay and Todoroki watched on cautiously, offering what little support he could.

Slowly Midoriya’s breath began to slow, his breathing becoming more regular and his body relaxing slightly. He remained silent, resting against Todoroki as streaks of light peeked between the curtains.

“Sorry,” Midoriya mumbled into his side, allowing himself to lean slightly closer to him, “I should have… I shouldn’t…”

“Its fine,” Todoroki interrupted, “Take your time.”

Midoriya fidgeted about, pulling at the sleeves of his hoodie as he spoke, “All for One told me that I can’t harm Shigaraki or reveal where he is. I know he used some sort of quirk but I don’t know how to stop it or what the specific quirk is.” Midoriya drew himself almost reluctantly away from Todoroki, who shuffled himself into a more upright and comfortable position.

“This is a list of all the quirks that I know All for One has.” He said handing the paper over to Todoroki.

The list wasn’t very long, torn from a notebook and folded so many times that the page was mostly creases. Next to some of the quirks there were question marks and comments such as “Maybe not???” or lines that pointed at two similar quirks and had the note “Same???” written beside them.

“It’s definitely not the most detailed thing in the world but I thought maybe you and… I thought you might find it useful.” Todoroki nodded, tucking the piece of paper into a book beside his bed. “I looked up the records for missing person’s cases and missing quirks and compared them to the ones I’d seen or heard of him using. I tried to make it as accurate as possible.” Midoriya smiled softly, avoiding Todoroki’s eyes as he spoke, nervous at what he might find there.

“Do you want to talk about my stupid face and stupid meness now?” He asked, cutting through the silence which had briefly grown between them.

Midoriya grew red, stuttering and sputtering about as he tried to explain himself, “I just…what I meant to do was…UGH!” He flopped down onto the bed as he groaned. “Why do you have to make everything so complicated?”

“You really want to know why?” Todoroki asked, the smile sprouting on his face as he leaned over Midoriya, “It’s because I like you Midoriya Izuku.”

Midoriya looked up at Todoroki with a sad disbelief in his eyes before whispering out softly, “That’s a terrible idea.”

Todoroki laughed as he leaned closer, feeling Midoriya’s breath warm on his face. His heart was pounding in his chest as their fingers intertwined.

“This is a really bad idea.” Midoriya breathed out, not being able to take his eyes off of Todoroki as he loomed above him, wishing he was flipped the other way so he’d be able to touch his chest and his back, he wanted to pull him down on top of him and trail his body with kisses. Right now, however, he didn’t feel like he could move. His face felt hot while his heart hammered in his chest and he wasn’t sure when he’d last blinked, he was almost afraid that if he closed his eyes Todoroki would vanish and this would have been a heart breaking dream.

“I don’t care.” Todoroki told him and Midoriya felt the air leave his lungs as he suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Midoriya’s with a gently force. It was better than the previous night; no one was crying and no one was frozen in shock. But it felt like it was over too soon as Todoroki pulled back to catch his breath. Midoriya saw his chance, flipping himself around so their bodies were level as he quickly pinned Todoroki beneath him and pressing him down further into the bed with another kiss.

Everything felt so warm and nice. Midoriya felt like he was melting into each kiss that he laid upon Todoroki and he wanted it to never end.

They pulled back for an instant, holding onto one another like they were scared the other would disappear. Midoriya leaned his head forward, once more letting their foreheads touch as he looked down at Todoroki.

“You’re unbelievable.” Midoriya said with a laugh and Todoroki smiled, “And so stupid.”

“Let’s leave the stupidity about this up for debate.” Todoroki replied, reaching towards Midoriya’s hand as Midoriya reached for his cheek. He tensed slightly as he ran his thumb lightly over the scar.

“Sorry if it’s off putting.” Todoroki whispered, almost too quiet to hear. He remembered a girl he’d had a crush on admit to him that thought he was nice enough and was definitely popular, but she found the scar unpleasant to look at. Others found his scar cool, telling him he must feel like a badass. He didn’t feel like a badass. He felt like a child, constantly told one thing or another and having his entire being boiled down to a trauma and its awful side effect.

He felt Midoriya raise guide Todoroki’s hand to his face and moved his fingers to feel the small scars that rested beneath his eye and moved his arm down to trace the scar Todoroki had helped heal below his shirt.

“I’ve got scars too Shoto,” Midoriya said, “But I won’t pretend that yours don’t represent a pain far greater than I could understand but know this, I will never find you off putting.” Todoroki let himself be eased into another kiss, a bittersweet happiness worn upon him as he did so.

“Shoto? You up? I brought breakfast!” The pair instantly froze at the sound of Fuyumi’s voice and broke away.

“Go.” Mouthed Todoroki pointing to the window of his room. Midoriya nodded, quickly grabbing a pen and Todoroki’s arm, pushing back his sleeve.

“What are yo-”

“Shoto?”

“Just a second!” He called back just as Midoriya finished his message. Todoroki felt him press a kiss to his forehead before he pulled up the window and disappeared.

The door opened and Fuyumi stepped inside with a tray of food. “Sorry it’s a little early I need to head off for work. Don’t worry, Natsuo is popping round to look after you while I’m out.” She smiled as she set it down across his legs. “Not sure what you wanted so I made a bit of everything…You ok? You look a little red. Do you have a fever?”

“NO! Everything’s great.” Todoroki replied with a tense smile. Fuyumi narrowed her eyes but eventually put it down to boys being weird, she’d grown up with enough of them to know.

“Alright then, call me if you need anything. Dad said he’d going to stop by around 11 so be warned that your brother will be sassy.” He nodded overenthusiastically until the door was shut and Fuyumi’s footsteps were distant. Todoroki pulled up the sleeve of his pyjamas and looked down at his arm. On it was a phone number and the message "See you soon.”

He made to reach for his phone before realising that he’d left it at the dorms. Slumping back against his pillow he picked up a piece of toast, taking a bite out of it in frustration. There were a lot of things he still needed to clarify but he felt happy. There was still a lingering concern about Midoriya’s actions but past experience would suggest that he was against needless violence and it wasn’t like he could out rightly harm Shigaraki or the league due to the quirk All for One had used on him but the fear ate away at him.

Would it be better to talk to Aizawa or to keep it to himself? Should he go to All Might? What would Bakugo think about it?

Placing his head in his hands he sighed. He didn’t know what to do right now but that was ok. For now it was ok. Everything was ok.

Glancing back down at the message on his arm he smiled to himself, jotting down the number and continuing to pick at his breakfast. Everything was going to be ok.