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Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya was about to turn 5 but had shown no sign of a quirk, so his mom and booked him an appointment after a loud phone conversation with his father. His mom had sounded more angry than usual.

“Hisashi, I’ve given up on asking when you will come back but I need you to help me book an appointment for Izuku."

“I’m not trying to be difficult! What else am I supposed to think when you haven’t been home in almost a year! Nevermind, we can sort this out later. No obvious quirk has come in yet. I’m worried if it shows up late it might not be in the best circumstances. The kids have started to pick on him. If he has an offensive quirk I don’t want him accidentally lashing out and hurting people. He would hate that."

“Of course. Yes. Thank you,” Inko hung up the phone and turned to Izuku with a pained smile. Izuku had heard her yelling and came over to give her a hug. Hugs always made him feel better. Inko smiled and patted his green hair soothingly.

“At least, I have you!” She whispered in his ear; making Izuku giggle as she poked his freckles. If she was being silly, it meant she wasn’t sad anymore! Izuku gave her a blinding smile.

He had also stopped asking when Dad would come home just as Mom had. He knew it made her sad. Izuku didn’t really know his father. Mom said he was a fire breather and that he had the same freckles and nose as Izuku. He could faintly remember the smell of smoke and white hair when he thought of him, but other than that there was nothing.

The next day Inko Midoriya and Izuku climbed into the family car and drove towards the doctor’s office. It was Dad’s old car. He had left it behind when he left on his long business trip. Inko had insisted on learning to drive it before he left. She was convinced it would be helpful, and it was. She usually preferred to walk, but the doctor’s office Hisashi had book was on the other side of town. She just knew Izuku wouldn’t stay still long enough. He was always so excitable, and she knew he would run off after strangers with interesting quirks the moment her back was turned.

After she buckled Izuku in, she poked his freckles once again and gave him a smile. Izuku giggled and smiled back. “Mom, I love your smiles! They are almost as good as All Mights!”

Inko gave a fake gasp. “Almost!” She exclaimed as if highly offended, but the curve of her lips gave away a hint of amusement.

Izuku patted her hand comfortingly and responded with all the seriousness an almost five year old could muster. “Almost.” They both laughed then. Izuku loved making his mom laughed. It was a beautiful mesmerizing laugh the sounded like music. He had heard less of it since his dad went to live at work.

Izuku had been talking non-stop about the newly debuted hero Death Arms. One minute he was swooping his All Might action figure through the air, explaining how Death Arms was Super Strong with his big Arms, and the next he was jolted forward in his seat as his mother slammed on the brakes. He looked up at his mom to ask what happened, but the words died in his throat.

**** Graphic depiction of death if this is a trigger do not read please****

In horror, he took in the sight of his mother being impaled by a length of rebar that had shattered their windshield as the pickup truck in front of them made a sudden brake. She grunted and held the bar that was sticking out of her ribs.

“Mom!” Izuku yelled her name and undid his seatbelt so he could reach her. When he reached her, she looked at him and smiled. It was a genuine everything will be alright smile that made Izuku think for a moment that she wasn’t hurt at all. At least it did until she opened her mouth to say something and blood fell out instead of words.

****End of Warning Summary: Izuku’s mom was hurt and she smiled at him to reassure him even though she couldn’t speak******

Izuku began to cry and call out for help. The car began to shift. Izuku looked through the broken windshield to discover there was a battle occurring in front of the car. The pickup and its offending rebar had been thrown at the local hero Death Arms by what looked like a large rock golem.

Normally, Izuku would watch in silent awe, but he had to let the hero know that they were there. Izuku was four, but he knew that they weren’t supposed to move an injured person. His mom was injured, so they needed to make sure the cars wasn’t thrown. He called the hero’s name. The hero looked and shock overtook his features as he spotted them. In that moment, the golem hit Death Arms right in his stomach. Death Arms was thrown through the glass windows of a nearby shop.

The Golem turned and saw Izuku and his mom. There was no hint of remorse in his eyes at the sight of a tear stained face and a dying woman; instead he said, “Thanks for distracting him kid!” Then he ran, crushing the pavement at first, but then shrinking down and turning into an ordinary man. Izuku stared after him.

***** Description of death if this is a trigger do not read****

He had helped the villain just by yelling a name. His throat felt tight as he turned back to his mom. Her eyes had closed and her hands had dropped to her sides. He scrambled to feel her neck and check for whatever the EMT people on TV did to see if victims were alive. He couldn’t feel anything. His tears rolled down his face silently now. He couldn’t distract anyone else or he would hurt more people. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned to see Death Arms holding his stomach. He looked grim as he gently but swiftly pulled Izuku out of the car and handed him to a police officer. Then did what Izuku had just done. He saw him look at the other officer and shake his head. She was gone.

*****Trigger over. Summary: Izuku and Death Arm take Inko’s pulse and realize she is dead. Izuku is handed over to a police officer****

He looked at the officer holding him and saw that same grim face. His brown eyes would have been kind and inviting if not for the inevitable truth he had seen there. He closed his eyes and put his head on the officer’s shoulder. He thought of Mom’s smile. Her last smile as if she was trying to say that everything would be okay. He didn’t know how, but he believed in that smile. He knew eventually everything would be okay. He also knew, more than ever that he had to be a hero who smiled like his mother. All Might smiled like everything would be okay because he was there. His mother had smiled to give him hope that everything would be okay even if she couldn’t be there. His mother’s smiles were definitely better than All Might’s.

Chapter Text

When the officer handed him to the EMT’s to be looked over; He saw the determination in those electrifying green eyes. Curiosity got the better of him and he knelt in front of the child. “What is your name?” Izuku looked at him and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The officer saw the frustration on his face. “Can you write?” Izuku nodded and the officer pulled out his notebook and pen. Izuku wrote in broken Kanji:

Izuku Midoriya.

“Who were you in the car with?”

Mom. Inko Midoriya.

“Do you know where your dad is? What’s his name?”

At work. I think he lives there. Hisashi Midoriya.

The officer smiled at the innocence of a child thinking his dad lived at work, while the EMT nodded that he was alright.  “Can you tell me what happened?” Izuku’s eyes watered but he wiped them away determinedly. He knew what the Golem guy looked like. He wrote everything and then drew a picture of what the golem man had looked like as he ran away with as much detail as a four almost five year old could muster and even labeled colors so the officer could know who to look for.

The officer looked at the notes and pictures with awe and quickly handed the explanation off to Death Arms who nodded and then made a call. The officer came back to Izuku and ruffled his hair. “Good job Kiddo.” Izuku smiled a little then looked down at the notepad, and wrote. He had to know for sure.

Mom’s dead isn’t she? The officer looked at the question and at Izuku and nodded. “Yes, she’s gone.” Izuku’s eyes watered again and then overflowed as he mourned. The officer patted his shoulder as he cried. Izuku wrote again. Is it because I distracted Death Arms? I yelled his name so he would know we were there, but then the golem man hit him and ran away. If I hadn’t distracted him would mom still be alive?

The officer lifted his chin up and looked him in the eyes to make sure he heard and understood him. “It’s not your fault kid. Death Arms needed to know you were there. It was the right thing to do to tell him you were there. That golem man would have hit him anyway. Your mom was hurt real bad. It’s not your fault she died.”

We were going to the doctor’s to find out what my quirk would be. He wrote. If I had just gotten my quirk like everyone else we wouldn’t have even been here. The officer read it and looked him in the eyes. “Whatever circumstances led you to this situation were out of your control. That means there is no possible way any of this could have been your fault. It was bad luck. A coincidence. Nothing more. You did everything you could to save her in a bad situation just like a hero, and something bad still happened. It’s a part of life. Not even All Might can save everyone, so don’t expect yourself to be able to. Do you understand?”

Izuku stared for a moment processing everything he heard then nodded vigorously. He liked this officer. He listened to him and made sure he was okay. He opened his mouth and tried to thank him, but once again he felt like it was blocked up. He felt his throat in frustration and then wrote again in the note book. Thank you! What’s your name?

“My name is Officer Noamasa.” Another officer came and whispered in his ear, Naomasa nodded. “It looks like your dad is here. Let’s go.”

He offered his hand to Izuku and Izuku took it. They walked out of the rubble and Izuku spotted a tall white haired man with freckles and a nose that matched Izuku’s. When Hisashi spotted Izuku an emotion flickered over his face that looked suspiciously close to disgust, before it faded to a neutral expression that betrayed no emotion at all.

Naomasa confirmed his identity before handing Izuku over. Hisashi took Izuku’s hand firmly and dragged him away. Izuku peeked over his shoulder at Naomasa and waved with a small smile before getting in Hisashi’s car.

Naomasa watched the car drive off after returning Izuku’s wave and took note of the car’s license plate to check later. He did not like the look that had passed over that man’s face when he saw Izuku. He also did not like the repressed anger he saw there. He was worried for the boy. He decided then and there that he would check up on him as soon as time allowed.

Chapter Text

Izuku glanced nervously at his father. He knew it was him. He looked like the man in the wedding pictures with mom. Except for the fact that he did not look happy at all. In fact, he looked angry. He knew from being friends with Kacchan that sometimes people would choose to be angry to cover up their sadness or fear. Maybe that was what Dad was doing. He was afraid to show Izuku that he was sad and scared to live without mom.

As he comforted himself with this thought, his Dad pulled up in front of an old bar. Izuku tried to ask where they were but his voice wouldn’t come out. His dad got out the car without a word, and Izuku scrambled to follow. He followed him inside and immediately coughed. The smoke in the air hurt his throat and his lungs. His dad looked at him with annoyance and grabbed his arm roughly.

Izuku gasped in surprise and pain; but didn’t fight it as he was dragged up the stairs and into a bedroom occupied by an older boy on some kind of gaming system. “Tomura,” The boy looked up. “Play with Izuku until I get back.” Then he swiftly closed the door before either boy could protest.

The boy was probably a preteen. He had dark scraggly hair and very dry skin. His neck was covered in painful looking scratches. His cold eyes felt like they were freezing Izuku to the ground as he stared. Unable to take the stare anymore, he waved shyly at Tomura who snorted and turned back to his game.  Izuku looked around the room and realized that it must be Tomura’s bedroom. There was a bed against the wall and a dusty desk crammed against the same wall. On the other wall, was a dresser and his various gaming systems. The back wall had a closet and shelves that contained some books and lots of games. He decided to sit by Tomura and watch as he played the game. Izuku watched Tomura skillfully collect team members and fight some wicked beasts as he controlled his team.

They stayed like that for a few hours until Tomura’s stomach growled. Tomura paused the game and looked at Izuku. Until now neither boy had said anything, aside from Tomura swearing at the screen in frustration. (Izuku was impressed that he knew more swear words than Kacchan.) Tomura shoved his hands into the pocket of the hoodie he was wearing and stood up then walked to the door. He looked at Izuku who had stood up to follow and rolled his eyes. “You’re a quiet one aren’t you?”

Izuku brightened at being spoken to and nodded his head. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, and then frowned and pointed to his mouth and made an x with his fingers. “Ah! So you don’t talk at all! That’s great. I hate loud NPCs. Come on! I bet we can get Kurogiri to make us something for dinner.” Tomura opened the door and raced down to the bar. Izuku followed. Once there, Tomura pulled himself up on one of the barstools heedless of the others in the place. The smoke didn’t seem to bother him at all. Izuku followed hesitantly.

Izuku stared at the Barkeep, Kurogiri. He was made of smoke. He kept trying to guess his quirk. He came up with a thousand theories in his head while Tomura pestered him to make some food for them. Kurogiri bowed elegantly while he placed some sandwiches in front of the two boys.

“Kurogiri, When is sensei coming back? He just dropped this NPC off and left again!”

“Master is taking care of Izuku’s things. His mother died earlier today and he will be staying with us for the forseeable future.”

“Eh! No Way!” Tomura exclaimed. He turned to Izuku and asked a question that chilled him to his bones, “Did you kill your mother?” Izuku shook his head vehemently almost tipping over his stool in the process. Naomasa’s kind words replaying in his mind. Tomura clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned back to his sandwich. “I thought you were like me,” He mumbled under his breath.

Izuku looked at him curiously. Tomura looked so forlorn. He reached out and gave him a comforting pat on his back. Tomura violently shoved his arm off and sneered at Izuku. “If he’s not like me why would Sensei bring him here? He can’t even talk!”

Kurogiri regarded the boys cooly while he spoke. “Because he is Sensei’s son.” Tomura looked at Kurogiri in shock then sent a venomous gaze at Izuku. Izuku saw Tomura’s pinky hit the plate that once held his sandwich and watched with fascination as it turned to ash.

“I’m Sensei’s successor!” Tomura yelled. “He doesn’t need a son!” Tomura lunged towards Izuku and tried to grab his arm. Izuku closed his eyes to brace for the pain, but felt nothing. He opened his eyes wide as he took in a miniature purple portal that had enveloped Tomura’s hand.

“You cannot disintegrate people unless Sensei gives you permission!” Kurogiri said in an even tone.

“But I want to destroy him!!!! Sensei said I could destroy anything I wanted!” Tomura pouted as he pulled his hand out of Kurogiri’s portal. Just then the door opened, and Hisashi walked in flanked by a tall man in a business suit. He stopped short at the sight of the boys at the bar.

“Boys, I hope you have behaved yourselves.” He said in a charismatic voice. Tomura visibly brightened and ran up to him; receiving a pat on the head. Izuku, unsure of himself, fiddled with his fingers and bowed slightly from his stool. Hisashi raised an eyebrow and whispered something to his friend who nodded and took a seat at the bar. “Come here Izuku.” He said Izuku jumped down from the stool and hurried over to him. “Kurogiri, a portal to the doctor if you would.” Kurogiri bowed and a larger portal opened. His father grabbed his hand and took him through “Stay here Tomura. We are going to determine young Izuku’s worth.”

Chapter Text

Izuku swallowed nervously as he went through the portal. They ended up in a large space that had huge test tubes holding strange creatures. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and held on to his father’s hand a little tighter. Izuku was led to a corner of the room next to a large computer with many numbers next to different pictures of the creatures suspended in the tubes on its screen. A short bald man swiveled in his chair as they approached. Izuku took in his bushy mustache and goggles, and wondered if he had some kind of sight quirk that he needed the goggles for. ”Is this your boy?” The doctor asked.

“Yes, I can’t sense a quirk in him yet. I need you to run a few tests to determine his worth.”

“Very well.” The doctor replied. Hisashi pushed Izuku forward and left. “What’s your name boy?” The doctor asked. Izuku tried to speak his name, but all that came out was air. “Hmm, it seems we’ll need to check your vocal cords first.” The doctor led him to a table and ran his tests. “You should be able to talk just fine. There must be some trauma. That aside, it doesn’t look like you have a voice quirk of any kind.”

The doctor continued to mumble, and Izuku’s ears perked up. He listened to every word trying to understand what he was saying as he had him sit in various machines. A long time passed, and Izuku was beginning to get sleepy before the doctor finally finished. Izuku looked at the man expectantly, and almost recoiled at the sinister smile he found there.

A portal opened up and the clack of Hisashi’s footsteps echoed in the large room. “What did you find?”

“It’s incredible sensei!” The doctor gushed. “He has an anti-quirk factor!”

“Are you sure?” The doctor nodded excitedly.

“It will be impossible for him to develop any kind of quirk. His body will reject it.”

“It that so? No wonder I couldn’t sense it.” He put a hand on Izuku’s face and suddenly Izuku felt as if his face would explode. The sensation traveled throughout his whole body. He tried to moved, or scream or anything, but all that came were silent tears. Eventually the pain subsided. Hisashi took his hand away and Izuku collapsed to the floor barely conscious. “Remarkable. The quirk I tried to force on him was literally destroyed on contact!” The doctor nodded along excitedly and whispered something about more experiments while Izuku lost consciousness.

****Trigger warning. Medical Gore, lots of blood, abused animal****

When he awoke next He was strapped into a hospital bed. The doctor had on a surgical mask and gloves that were stained with blood. Izuku began to panic and wriggle. The doctor noticed and shuffled over. Izuku wriggled even more. “Stop wriggling or you’ll ruin the experiment!” The doctor said. Izuku looked down at his body to see what the doctor was talking about and almost screamed. There was an animal that had been cut open and was bleeding out all over Izuku’s bare torso.

“This animal has a healing quirk. It can take energy from another living creature and heal itself. It’s quite fascinating, I was going to put it into one of my Nomu’s, but I wanted to see if it could steal energy from you first.” It couldn’t. Izuku wished it could. He could tell that the creature was in pain and wanted to heal it. It looked like a rabbit of some kind, but He really couldn’t tell from all the blood. It drew in a shuddering breath and let out a long loud death wail.

It sounded like a young child screaming. The sound pierced Izuku’s very soul. It felt like it was letting out all the pain and frustration Izuku wanted to. The doctor, grabbed the animal quickly and put it in a cage with a large dog. As soon as this was done, the rabbit started to heal while the dog slowly became older. Izuku sobbed in relief that the rabbit had lived, while the doctor wrote his observations down on his clipboard. A knock on the door drew their attention.

****Trigger over Summary: The doctor hurt an rabbit with a healing quirk that steals other's energy to see if Izuku's quirk would allow it to do so. It did not work. The rabbit was placed in a cage with a dog, and regained it's health *****

Tomura walked in with Hisashi. Izuku met Hisashi’s Gaze with a pleading look, but only received a cold cruel smile in return. He looked at Tomura and saw the same cruel smile on his face and shivered. “I can dust him now yeah?” Tomura asked giddily. He looked like a hungry wolf eyeing his prey. Izuku tried wiggling out of his bonds, but quickly gave up. There was no escape. Tomura giggled as the doctor nodded in affirmation. Tomura extended his hand slowly towards the center of Izuku’s chest relishing the fear in his eyes. Unbearably slowly, Tomura pressed all five fingers down.

Tap. Thumb.

Tap. Pointer finger.

Tap. Middle finger.

Tap. Ring finger.

Tap. Pinky.

Nothing happened. Tomura frowned and slapped his hand down his time. Again, nothing happened. Izuku sighed in relief.

“His anti-quirk factor is always active. There is no way to shut it off.” The doctor spoke to Sensei who hummed in acknowledgement. “It doesn’t prevent quirk related injuries aside from those that require touch to activate. For example, if a man with a knife quirk sliced him he would still get hurt, but if they tried to create a knife with their quirk while touching his skin they would not be able to. It doesn’t seem to have any adverse effects to Izuku or those whose quirks are blocked unless they are forcing a part of their quirk into Izuku’s body as you did when you tried to give him a quirk.”

**** Trigger animal abuse****

Tomura had tried to disintegrate him several times during the conversation and eventually had given up and disintegrated the dog instead. The dog yelped pitifully as it dissolved into ash while Tomura laughed maniacally.

***Trigger over. Summary: Tomura kills the dog and laughs because he can't kill Izuku*****

“Has he spoken at all?” Hisashi asked. The doctor shook his head distractedly as he typed more data into his computer.

“Not even a whimper. He should be able to speak, medically speaking. There is some kind of mental block preventing sound. Perhaps some emotional trauma. You said you picked him up when his mother died. If he saw her die, that might be responsible for his silence.”

“He could be useful.” Hisashi said. He walked up to the operating table and Izuku looked back at him. Hisashi’s eyes began to glow and Izuku watched fascinated but wary. He wasn’t sure what was going on. “Speak.” Hisashi said. Izuku simply stared back. “It seems even mind control quirks that don’t require touch are ineffective on him. Tomura! I have found you a training buddy.”

“But he’s too young! I’m twelve he can’t be older than five.”

“He’ll grow. We’ll teach him how to fight. He might be pitiful, but he is my son. He has to have some use.”

“Fine, but I am your only Successor! This NPC will never be better than me!”

“Of course,” Hisashi placated Tomura with a pat on his head. He turned to Izuku. “When you decide to speak again you will call me Sensei. I am no longer your father, instead I am your master. You will train with me and my associates. If you do not meet our expectations you will meet your mother in the afterlife. Do you understand?”

Izuku nodded with a terrified gaze. Hisashi strode forward and patted his cheek fondly. “Good.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was ten now and still hadn’t found his voice. Instead, he had taught himself sign and carried a small notebook and pen around with him to communicate. Years passed by in a haze of experiments with the doctor, beatings from and martial art’s training with Tomura. Schooling was done online under Kurogiri’s watchful eye. Throughout it all Izuku kept notebooks on Sensei and all of Sensei’s associates and plans that he was privy to. His father was a villain but he wasn’t just any villain; he was the bogeyman of the underground: All for One.

He watched helplessly as Sensei actively took quirks from double-crossers and heroes who opposed him then murdered them to keep them silent. Sometimes, He would take Tomura and Izuku to meetings with his underground associates. Giran was someone they often met. Sensei would always tell them how it was useful to have someone on their side who was willing to play both sides of the field. You could get more information that way.

***Trigger Warning Nightmares, Gore***

In the beginning, Izuku would have nightmares about his mom. He would see her dying smile and the blood spilling out of her mouth as she tried to speak to him one last time. Sometimes she would blame him, but eventually in his dreams she tried to warn him about his father. Later on, he saw the bodies of those Tomura and Sensei murdered littering the ground around the golem man.

***Trigger Warning Over Summary: Izuku is reliving his Mother's death and his brain is adding the trauma of the other deaths he has witnessed as Tomura's Training buddy****

Izuku had refused to kill anyone, or anything. He had been severely beaten many times for that. Eventually, they gave up. Instead, making him incapacitate the victim and watch as they were mercilessly killed.

Sensei himself did not seem to care for killing. He did it to prove a point, and to preserve his secrets. Tomura, on the other hand, took great pleasure in killing. He had an insatiable desire to destroy anything he disliked, and very rarely was the chance to do so denied. Izuku would often think back to that moment on the operating table when Tomura had gleefully tried to disintegrate him and shudder.

Izuku knew he had to get out somehow. He had to leave, but he had to be smart about it. He couldn’t just run. He had to know who Sensei’s informants were, gain enough information to take down Sensei so the heroes could take him down when he fled. It was the only way to truly be free.

It was late Tuesday night when his chance came. Kurogiri had gotten a call from a frantic underling saying that Sensei had been injured in a fight with All Might. Kurogiri immediately warped Sensei to the doctor.

Tomura had disintegrated half the bar before Kurogiri got the all clear from the doctor to allow him a visit. Izuku had been dragged along in his capacity as Tomura’s shadow. They came to a room filled with medical equipment and saw Sensei all wrapped up in bandages. An IV was in his arm and a heavy duty ventilator was strapped to his head.

Sensei had never looked so weak. Izuku did his best to keep his face even and contain his excitement. He could run while Sensei was down. He could get away and take all of his information to the police. He could get away from Tomura’s thrashings and stop helping villains! The excitement and anxiety were bubbling inside his stomach.

Tomura grabbed Izuku’s hands for support as he knelt by Sensei’s side. Izuku knew the seventeen year old only did this to keep himself from disintegrating everything in the room in his grieving. Izuku squeezed back. He had found it easier to err on the side of compassion with these villains. It calmed the bitterness he felt towards them and their actions, and helped him keep his sanity. No one could be hurt from simply being kind.

Tomura stilled. Izuku assumed it meant that Sensei was using his telepathy quirk. He wondered how he was even conscious with such devastating wounds. “Yes, Sensei,” Tomura said. “I will make sure that All Might is taken down. I will make you proud.” Tomura stood tall regaining strength with a manic smile. “I will work with the doctor to devise the ultimate strategy. The final boss will fall before me.” Izuku did his best not to shudder at the one sided conversation.

“Come Izuku, we need to find out what happened to All Might. If we can take him down now, it will ensure our victory.” With that, Izuku was pulled out of the room and set in front of the computer. Izuku had been taught hacking by one of Sensei’s associates and was arguably one of Sensei’s best hackers at this point; despite his youth. He was famous among Sensei’s associates for creating new and unique ways around firewalls. “Find out what hospital they took him to. Now!” Tomura demanded.

Izuku started tapping away at the keyboard with Tomura breathing down his neck. It took several hours, but Izuku was able to narrow it down by tracking rescue activity. If there was a fight between All Might and Sensei, It would have devastated a small town. He knew that Sensei only worked in the cities; meaning there would have had to be massive casualties or damage in a fight that wounded both All Might and Sensei to that degree.

Tomura called Kurogiri and gave him the coordinates. “Are you sure this is wise Young Tomura?” Kurogiri asked. “We should be contacting our associates to verify our info before plunging in head first.”

“What is it Sensei always says? Strike while the Iron in hot,” Tomura shot back. “All Might is already wounded. If we can take care of him now. He will no longer be a threat to us in the future. Sensei already told us that All Might is convinced of his death. If I can disintegrate him now there will be nothing left to stand in our way once sensei is healthy again.”

Izuku hurriedly grabbed his emergency backpack with his incriminating notes while Kurogiri and Tomura squabbled. He knew that All Might would probably be guarded by several heroes while he recovered. If he could nab one of their phones during the fight. He could send their contacts the location of sensei’s recovery room. It was now or never. Izuku had spent the last five years plotting and planning, and now thanks to Tomura’s haste it could finally come to fruition.

Kurogiri finally made a portal and Tomura dragged Izuku through. They arrived at the back entrance and casually strolled inside. The trick to infiltrating anywhere is to act like you belong there. Izuku quickly found the employee locker room. Tomura stole a lab coat from the locker room, pulled his black hair up in a half bun and then gestured to a wheelchair. Izuku plopped down in the chair, knowing it was the more likely scenario with how short he was, and started to give Tomura directions.

He silently led them up to the floor with the Heroes wing. When the elevator opened, they stepped onto the floor and found it eerily deserted.  Surreptitiously, the two boys moved forward. One with the intent to save, and the other with murderous intent.

Eventually, they came upon a dramatic scene. ”If you continue this way you will die!” Nighteye yelled at his friend.

All Might looked over his shoulder with a grimace. “You looked. Didn’t you?” At the sound of his voice Tomura surged forward. Izuku didn’t even have time to blink as Tomura turned the corner and ran towards the tall blonde hero, blinded by his rage.

Even in his wounded state All Might sensed the danger and dodged out of the way of Tomura’s grasp. His hands hit the wall and left an ashen handprint sized hole there instead. Izuku rounded the corner in time to see Nighteye attempt to restrain Tomura. Izuku tossed his backpack in the wheelchair and sent it careening towards Nighteye. His aim was sure. Nighteye let go of Tomura to dodge the chair and Tomura scuttled out of the way to pursue All Might once again. At the sounds of the struggle, a security guard rounded the corner and called for back-up.

Tomura’s outstretched hand grazed All Might’s forearm causing the hero to flinch backward and knee Tomura in the gut. Izuku dove into the fray by tackling Nighteye as he attempted to help All Might. During the tackle, he succeeded in nabbing the hero’s cellphone and slipped out of his hold. Carefully avoiding eye contact he backed up and grabbed Tomura roughly by the collar; forcing him to retreat from the fight as he dodged NIghteye’s kicks.

They broke away and Izuku pulled Tomura into an unused room. Tomura raged at him to let him destroy All Might. Izuku rolled his eyes and tapped him twice to signify Sensei was calling them back. Tomura calmed at that and instead decayed the floor of the hospital beneath them. When the door opened revealing Nighteye, Izuku smiled cheekily and raised his hand to his hear in a mock telephone gesture while looking him straight in the eye. They dropped straight into Kurogiri’s portal and returned to the bar.

****Trigger Warning Abuse****

Tomura turned around and slapped Izuku across the face hard enough to see stars. “That’s for stopping me!” Izuku stayed down as Tomura kicked him a few more times to release his pent up aggression. Then turned to Kurogiri. “Sensei wanted me?” Kurogiri inclined his head and made a portal Izuku pulled himself up and followed. The boys stood once more at Sensei’s bedside. This time Sensei was more awake and aware. He spoke in a pained way. “I heard you tried to Kill All Might in his hospital.”

**** Trigger Warning over: Izuku gets beat up by Tomura for stopping him. Then they go visit Sensei who asks what happened.*****

“Just as you asked! I would have gotten him too if you hadn’t called us back.” Tomura

“I did?” Sensei asked.

“No,” The doctor interrupted, “I called them back. I need Izuku to monitor you while I check on the more time sensitive Nomus. At this revelation, Tomura tremble with rage and he reached out as if to disintegrate the doctor. Izuku stepped in his path to block his quirk receiving another slap for his trouble.

“I see,” Said All for one. “How disappointing. Tomura, Go get some rest.” Tomura was warped out by Kurogiri before he could argue further. Izuku took the chart from the Doctor and nodded. The doctor ran back to his nomus and left Izuku alone with his father.

“It’s been a while since we had time together like this.” Izuku nodded. “I am proud of you boy.” Izuku whipped his head around to look at the man on the bed. Sensei never praised him. “You could have run, and turned yourself into those heroes, but instead you chose to protect Tomura and return to me. Good Job.”

Izuku’s mind whirled. It had been a test. For him. Sensei was beaten nearly to death and he was still thinking up sick tests of loyalty. He had been tempted to let Tomura get caught and stay there, but then he couldn’t lead the heroes back to this place. Despite having lived with these villains, Izuku had never managed to find out the location of this warehouse. He had always been warped there by Kurogiri.

During the fight, he had swiped Nighteye’s cellphone knowing they could track his location. He knew the the doctor would trust him enough to monitor Sensei’s condition. After all, The doctor had mentioned to Sensei that He would be a possible protege for the doctor with his ability to learn quickly. Also, they knew That Izuku couldn't stomach killing anyone, which meant it would be safe to let him watch over patients. He just prayed the heroes had gotten the message with his cheeky hand signal. He had purposely looked Nighteye in the eyes at the last minute hoping he would use his quirk and know he wasn’t trying to toy with them. He knew even if they didn’t they would find the information in his notebooks useful and be able to stop a few of Sensei’s more nefarious activities.

His stomach twisted at the thought of the punishment he would get if they figured out what he had done. They had spoken before about trading him to the Yakuza to help with their quirk destroying drug. He had met Overhaul a few years back while Sensei spoke with the yakuza head. He shivered at the calculating look in his eyes when he was told Izuku was quirkless. He knew being traded to the new yakuza head would be worse than anything Sensei had planned for him.

Sensei had finally fallen asleep. Izuku looked at the man, so vulnerable. Izuku thought about killing him then. He knew several ways to do it. Heck, he could just turn the ventilator off and Sensei would stay asleep forever. Izuku stood up and hovered his hand over the switch as if he was in a daze. He came to himself and snatched his hand back. He wouldn’t do it. If he killed now his father would have won and laughed at his victory in death. He would laugh at the son he had finally made into a killer while his mother watched on in horror. He couldn’t do that to her deceased or not. He would wait for the heroes to pull through. He pulled out Nighteye’s phone, and sent out a text with his current location with “All For One” as the message to the one hero he knew without a doubt would act on it. Nedzu.

Chapter Text

Nedzu had been sipping on his tea and contemplating All Might’s plight when his text notification went off. He smiled at the message and called Naomasa and Recovery Girl who gave the phone to Nighteye as his had been stolen. He put out an emergency mobilization signal and pulled together a small army to storm the compound in which All for One was surely hiding.

Back in the warehouse, Izuku hid the phone inside sensei’s ventilator after turning all sounds and vibrations off to avoid detection. He nodded in satisfaction and sent up a silent prayer to any God who would listen. Please Let this work.

The next morning Izuku woke to the sound of frantic beeping as his alarm went off so he could check the machinery keeping All for One alive yet again. Everything looked normal. Sensei was still asleep. Izuku looked at his bandaged face. He knew the man was his father, but Izuku had not thought of him as such in a long time. In his head the man had 3 identities. The first was All for One; the evil supervillain that controlled the entire underground of Japan. The second was Sensei; a stern unforgiving man that refused to allow you rest until you had met his expectations. The third and final identity was Hisashi; the man who lied to his wife and begrudgingly took in his son after her death. Never had Izuku thought of this man as a true father. He shook himself from his musings and switched out the IV. Before he could return to his chair the doctor returned. He ran all the checks again and nodded to Izuku.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. Izuku braced himself against the wall as a hole appeared in the ceiling. Gran Torino jumped straight down and landed in front of Sensei’s bed. The doctor panicked, and ran to hit the button that would alert the bar to their distress. Before he could Midnight dropped through the ceiling and sprayed her knockout gas effectively putting all three males out.

Gran Torino blasted through the rest of the warehouse to see if there were any others, but found no one. He nodded to Midnight who signaled that it was safe for the police to come in and remove the suspects. They stayed vigilant, knowing that there was a warp quirk user from Izuku’s Notebooks. Once they had secured the suspects, they let the police investigate the warehouse as a few heroes stood watch in case the teleporter sent any surprises their way.

Kurogiri watched the security feed silently as they raided his Master’s room and Nomu warehouse. He rewound the footage and watched as Izuku hid the phone in the ventilator. If only he had been more alert, he could have stopped this. Now he would have to keep Tomura from rampaging long enough to flee and plan their next move.

…

Izuku woke up chained to a metal table. He looked at the quirk suppressing cuffs on his hands and laughed remembering the doctor’s experiments. He knew they would not work. He looked up at the one way glass and took in his reflection. It had been a long time since he looked in a mirror. He almost didn’t recognize himself. The bags under his eyes looked like bruises, and his emerald eyes looked cloudy. His Bushy green hair was starting to escape from his long braid. (They had never allowed him to cut it Tomura liked being able to play with it without it turning to ash.) The door clicked open and Izuku’s eyes lit up in recognition. A genuine smile lit his face as Officer Naomasa entered the room.

Naomasa didn’t know what to think when they had brought in the boy as one of All for One’s associates. He had tried to find the boy to check up on him, but instead had found a stolen car and a dead end. He had tried to look up Hisashi Midoriya and found that the man didn’t really exist. His identity had been expertly forged to the point that he had paid taxes up until the point where he had disappeared with Izuku. His drive to find Izuku had led him to become friends with All Might and one of the leading detectives in the department. His quirk only served to further his reputation across the whole of Japan. Seeing the boy smile at him now, brought him a sense of relief.

He sat across the table from him. “So you remember me then?” Izuku nodded and signed his name. Naomasa frowned. “You still can’t speak.” Izuku opened his mouth and tried to respond, but only got out a quiet whisper. “That’s alright. Let me get an interpreter before we go any further. My sign is not the best and I need to make sure we get everything the first time.”

Izuku nodded and Naomasa returned with a shorter woman with bright blue hair and a kind smile. “Alright,“ Naomasa began, “For the record, What is your full name?

Izuku Midoriya

“Did you go by any aliases while working with All for One?”

Most of Hisashi’s associates called me Shadow or Mute because I followed his protégé Tomura Shigaraki around on his orders.

“Is Hisashi another name for All for One?”

Yes. Hisashi Midoriya was the alias He used when he married My mother Inko Midoriya and fathered me. Most of his followers called him Sensei. Only his closest associates called him All for One. All of this information along with several other aliases should be in the journals I threw at Nighteye.

Naomasa blanched. He had seen the journals filled with doctorate level analysis and highly detailed information on the illegal activities All for One conducted. Many of the things he saw churned his stomach. The calculating evil had been so impressive and the consequences so long reaching it put Nedzu’s conspiracy theories to shame. “So you were the one who created those Journals?”

Yes. I was with All for One for over five years. I could not escape without fear of retribution so I gathered what information I could and handed it over when I knew the law would be able to take him down without massive casualties.

“How did you end up with All for One?” Naomasa grimaced as he asked the question. He knew he shouldn’t have handed the child over but legally there was no way to keep him from the man.

Izuku tapped the table to get Naomasa’s attention and began signing. It’s not your fault. Remember what you told me about circumstances outside of our control. Bad things happen. Don’t blame yourself. Naomasa looked at him in awe. When my mom died, my father who we believed to be on a business trip came to pick me up from the scene of the accident. He took me to a bar and led me upstairs to the room that housed his protégé Tomura Shigaraki… Izuku told his story and answered clarifying questions as they were asked. By the time they were done Noamasa was reeling with the realization that this young child had seen the darkest the world had to offer before he had even been old enough to shave. There was three taps on the window, signaling that Naomasa had forgotten a routine question. He went back over his notes looking for what he missed.

Suddenly it occurred to him over the course of the interview, he had not once asked what the child’s quirk was. Izuku sat there patiently then made a sign of recognition when the question was asked. I have an anti-quirk. Emitter type quirks don’t work on me when used directly and I can stop someone from using an emitter type quirk when I am in skin contact with them. For example, If I could speak, your quirk would not activate to tell you whether it was true or false, and if I was touching you , you would be unable to use your quirk on anyone else. I also cannot receive quirks. All for One tried, and it was not a pleasant experience. My body will forcibly reject any quirks that attempt to enter my body it is extremely painful for both parties when this happens. It is always active. According to All for One’s doctor, I would appear on most medical tests as completely quirkless. Naomasa thanked Izuku and told him that he would be back soon.

He entered the soundproof room on the other side of the glass to find Nedzu, Nighteye and the Police chief quietly discussing the interview. All of them turned towards Naomasa as he entered. “I believe he is telling the truth about his anti-quirk. At the confrontation in the hospital, He looked me straight in the eyes intentionally. I was unable to activate my quirk with the eye contact. I thought he was mocking me with the telephone hand signal until I discovered my phone was missing.”

“He is highly intelligent, and seems compassionate despite his circumstances, if what he said to the detective was any indicator. We are lucky he was raised with a love of heroes before he was taken. I would not want him for an enemy.” Nedzu replied. “I would love to take him as a student.”

“He is still a criminal. He admitted to being an accessory to over 50 murders, and knowledgeable about several crime rings,” The police chief said in a stern tone.

“Yes, but it was arguably done under extreme duress and he is still a minor, even according to Japan’s legal system, as such he will need a guardian,” Nedzu countered. “With both of his parent’s out of the picture, and All for One’s associates on the run. He will need a guardian that can protect him if necessary. Allow UA to take him in. We can monitor him if he poses a threat, and put his skills to good use for the country.”

“We will have to see what the lawyer’s say before we say anything. I will let them know of your offer.” The Police chief replied reluctantly, “The Hero Commission will most likely also want to take him. I can’t do anything if this reaches their ears.” Nedzu’s smile would have sent chills up Naomasa’s spine if he weren’t so grateful for the chance he was giving Izuku.

Nighteye stepped in as well. “I would also like to offer the boy a place under the watch of my agency. It would be nice to have someone that I can’t predict around.” The Police chief nodded and left.

Naomasa led Izuku to a solitary cell to bunk down for the night and explained that legal was still trying to work things out. Izuku nodded and signed. It was good to see you again. Your words after my mom died helped keep me sane in that madhouse. Thank you.

Naomasa broke down in tears as Izuku patted his shoulder consolingly. Then Naomasa pulled Izuku in for a hug. Izuku tensed, unfamiliar with the gesture after so long and then melted into the man’s arms. The other officer just rolled his eyes, and pulled Naomasa away after a long while. Leaving Izuku alone, but smiling through his tears for the first time in a while.

Chapter Text

It took about a week for Izuku to be cleared of any charges. After all, the media outcry for charging an abused ten year old would not be pretty for anyone involved. Being cleared, however, did not mean he was no longer a target; especially after he had learned that Tomura and Kurogiri had escaped.

Of the 30 bases Izuku had reported through his notebooks, 10 had been abandoned, 15 had been hastily abandoned with prisoners left behind, and 5 had been successfully seized but only contained those who were low on the chain of command. Overall, there had been 75 prisoners recovered; 50 of which were now effectively quirkless, and the remaining 25 with quirks that were not previously their own.

There was also the fact that he was for all intents and purposes an orphaned child. Izuku had assumed they would turn him over to the Hero Commission. Surprisingly, he had been offered several alternatives.

Both the Nighteye agency, and UA had offered to take him, and they had both been cleared to have him. After several talks with Naomasa, Izuku chose UA. After all, he had always dreamed of going there one day.

He was surprised to find that Nedzu himself had chosen to escort him to the campus from his cell. The creature entered his cell with a wide smile and a duffel bag with Izuku’s clothes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Midoriya san!” Nedzu chirped happily and handed him the duffel bag. Izuku peeked inside and saw some new clothes to change into, as well as the clothes he had on him when he was arrested. “I am Principal Nedzu. It is an honor to have to with us! Officer Naomasa here will show you to a changing room and I will explain the terms of your status as a ward as we go.”

Izuku bowed respectfully and followed Naomasa to change. He donned the plain black t shirt and blue jeans, he exited the bathroom to find Naomasa fiddling with a small box wrapped in green. When he saw Izuku approach he held out the box. Izuku cocked his head curiously and raised his eyebrows. In answer Naomasa simply told him to open it; inside was a new phone with his contact number in it. Izuku had hugged him fiercely while holding back tears. Naomasa smiled returning the hug before he broke it off.

“Come young one. Your new guardians are waiting for us,” Nedzu said with a fond smile on his face. The intelligent creature had worked alongside Naomasa for a long time and was pleased for the man. He knew he would have taken in Izuku if he didn’t work as many hours as he did. “Naomasa is welcome to visit with you whenever he likes.” At this admission Naomasa nodded and promised he would come and visit as soon as work allowed. Izuku smiled at him and entered the cab with the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Naomasa watched with a light heart as the vehicle drove out of sight. He knew this time Izuku would be safe.

…

In the car, Nedzu kicked his legs from his booster seat as he sat next to Izuku. “When we arrive, I am going to introduce you to all of the staff.” Izuku’s eyes widened in excitement. He was going to meet the pro heroes from his childhood fantasies! “It might be uncomfortable for you regarding your former status, but I assure you that no harm will come to you.” Nedzu observed as the excitement faded to nervous fidgeting and then resignation and asked himself how a child raised by villains could be so expressive. It made him all the more fascinated with the green haired boy.

He continued, “After meeting with the teachers you will take a psych evaluation with our school counselor. Then we will break for lunch and have you take a test to determine your academic standing. After which, we will show you your new quarters and have you settle in for the night. The teachers will switch up caretaking duty on a weekly basis. You will need to be on school grounds as much as possible, but when you go out, make sure to clear it with a teacher. They will need to escort you to ensure your safety.”

Izuku nodded and then handed the principal his phone. Nedzu quickly understood and typed in his number. “If you have any problems you can contact me directly or find any teacher close to you for assistance.” Izuku nodded again and sent a text to Nedzu and Naomasa to confirm their numbers. He smiled when both men quickly replied.

A sudden thought occurred to Izuku and he turned to Nedzu to sign with a determined look on his face. If any of the teachers needed to ask me for information on previous endeavors for their current or cold cases, I would be happy to comply as much as I am able, he signed.

Nedzu smiled at his eagerness. ”All of your notebooks are available to them if they have need, but I will let them know you mentioned this.”

Izuku hesitated before asking if All Might was alright. Nedzu nodded. “All Might is healing up nicely. Recovery girl had to threaten to put him in a medical coma to avoid having him reopen his wounds though.”Izuku chuckled at this information. “Please be aware, that his injury is highly privileged information, and you are not to speak of it with anyone other than myself or Sir Nighteye. Speaking of which, Nighteye will be attending the meeting as well. He wants to speak with you.” Izuku began fiddling with his fingers to expel the nervous energy overtaking him at that news. He couldn’t help thinking the hero would be angry at him for running him over with a wheelchair.

…

Aizawa walked into the meeting with a yawn. He stopped short at the sight of Sir Nighteye. It was unusual to see the man anywhere without All Might. Yamada let out a loud “OOMPH!” as he ran into the tired man. “What was that for?” He asked, before seeing Sir Nighteye watching them with amusement. “Sir Nighteye! It’s good to see ya!” Yamada called with a raised hand.

“Likewise,” Sir Nighteye responded.  Aizawa gave him a nod of acknowledgement and grabbed a seat next to Midnight. Aizawa had been hired on earlier that year, but had done some freelance work in the past for the hero. Although Aizawa could not stand how often the man tried to get him and Miss Joke together, he admired his thoughtful and thorough work ethic.

Soon enough, Principal Nedzu arrived sitting on the shoulders of a short green haired child. “Greetings staff and faculty! I have gathered you all together so you can meet UA’s newest ward, Izuku Midoriya.” The green haired child looked up and waved as he flashed a nervous smile. Nedzu patted the child’s curly braid and Izuku set the principal down in his chair. “Some of you may recognize him, but for those who don’t; you have all been sent a file on his history which I expect you to read ASAP! He helped us take down a rather nefarious organization and is need of our protection.”

Aizawa observed the boy as Nedzu continued to fill them in on what his schedule would look like and what the teachers would need to do to ensure his safety. The kid had been sneaking peeks at all of the teachers before looking down and fiddling with his fingers all without making any noise whatsoever. When he snuck an anxious glance at Nighteye, the man caught his eye and smiled causing the boy to blush and look back down at his feet. He was definitely a problem child if he had been able to catch the eye of All Might’s sidekick. Nedzu concluded the meeting and led both Nighteye and Izuku towards his office. Aizawa was intrigued.

Aizawa was even more intrigued when Midnight leaned over to whispered that he had been found during the top secret raid she had been brought in on two weeks ago. “You mean that little listener brought down the bogeyman’s organization!” Yamada whispered back conspiratorially until Aizawa smacked him on the back of his head.

“Don’t gossip. Read his file,” Aizawa scolded, ignoring Yamada’s pout as he himself pulled up the file on his phone. Yamada did the same and chuckled as he heard Aizawa whisper under his breath “Problem child indeed.”

…

Izuku accepted Nedzu’s offer of tea as he sat across from Sir Nighteye. Izuku took a sip to steel himself, and looked Sir Nighteye in the eye with a determined gaze. Nighteye raised and eye brow and seemed to chuckle to himself as the boy’s expression. The boy bowed and signed an apology for attacking them that night in the hospital. Nighteye did laugh at that, and Izuku looked up in confusion. He was sure the man would be upset at him.

“I should be thanking you Midoriya,” Night eye said with an amused expression. “Without that incident All Might and I would have let our pride tear us apart.” Izuku’s wide eyes began to glisten with tears. ”It was incredibly brave of you to go against your father. If he had been allowed to recover and roam unchecked, I know for sure the future of All Might’s death I had seen would come to pass. Not even my quirk was able to account for your bravery.” Nighteye stood and bowed formally to Izuku. “Thank you for showing me that the future can be changed.”

Izuku sobbed. He had done that a lot these past few weeks. He didn’t know what to do with the wholly unusual emotion that had grabbed hold of his heart these past few weeks. For the past 5 years he had been treated like dirt. The only kindness he knew was the kindness he imparted to others. Never had anyone returned it. Now here was a pro he highly admired and looked up to bowing and thanking Izuku.

Nedzu smiled and patted the boy on the back comfortingly as Sir Nighteye straightened and watched on fondly. He knew this boy would be a great hero. In fact, he already was one despite the world’s ignorance.

The rest of the day past Izuku by in a blur. Evening arrived and he was led to a room in the teachers’ apartments on campus. Aizawa had volunteered to watch the boy for the first week. He showed the boy his room and was surprised when the boy looked at him as if asking permission to enter. “The door isn’t locked, go on in.” The boy seemed dead on his feet, but he followed Aizawa’s instruction. He saw the bed and plopped down face first on the soft mattress before rolling over. It took a second before Aizawa realized the boy had literally fallen asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

He looked at the boy with jealous wonder. He wished he could fall asleep that fast! Looking at his peaceful face, you would have guessed he was just any other ordinary boy. Aizawa shook his head and left the room firmly but quietly closing the door with a quiet click.

Chapter Text

The next morning Aizawa was nursing a cup of coffee when he heard a thump coming from Izuku’s room. He ran up the stairs and opened the door to find the boy tangled in blankets and soaked in sweat after having fallen off the bed. He looked around disoriented before he spotted Aizawa and his eyes cleared. Aizawa kept his distance as he scanned the boy for injuries. At some point in the night, Izuku had taken his shirt off revealing the litany of scars on his torso and arms. Aizawa kept his expression carefully schooled at the sight of them.

Izuku drew in a shaky breath and signed to Aizawa that he was alright before picking himself up off the floor.

“That seemed like a pretty intense nightmare kid.” Aizawa spoke keeping his voice carefully even so the boy didn’t feel judge or threatened. The boy just nodded and looked away. “You don’t have to tell me about it, but I suggest you talk about it with your counselor.” Izuku nodded. “There’s a spare set of clothes for you in the bathrooms. Clean up and I will meet you in the common area.” Izuku shot him a grateful smile and left for the bathrooms.

When he was done showering, Izuku went to meet Aizawa in the common area. The man had somehow managed to fall asleep in a bright yellow sleeping bag on the common area’s couch. Not wanting to disturb him Izuku moved silently towards the kitchen and found a note sitting by a bowl full of blueberry muffins.

Take as many as you want.

Midnight will be here at 10 AM to take you shopping for necessities.

Wake me up if you need anything. –Aizawa

Izuku smiled and marveled at how much his life had changed in two weeks. Immediately after this he was hit by the guilt that he was alive when so many others weren’t because of actions he had contributed to. He remembered his nightmare last night. It was more intense than any he had had before.

****Trigger warning nightmare/ panic attack****

In his dream, his mother’s smile had turned into Tomura’s vengeful laugh, and the bodies of victims had risen from the dead and pelted him with accusation after accusation.

You didn’t pull the trigger, but you held me down while it was pulled! A tall dark haired ghost of a yakuza traitor wailed.

I just wanted to protect my baby, but you cut off my exit before I could make sure he was safe! another woman, that All for One though had a useful quirk, screamed.

 It should have been you that died not me! a child he had fought in the gladiator pit sobbed.

There were so many of them! He had listened to them all knowing they were right. Wishing he could have saved them, but the last one, the voice that had scared him to wakefulness was the voice of his mother. I didn’t know I was having the child of a monster when I died for you!

***** Warning over. Summary: Izuku remembers his nightmare. His father’s victims blame him for getting out while they died, and his nightmare version of mom called him the child of a monster*****

Izuku opened his eyes and realized he was on the cool tile floor of the kitchen. He took a deep breath and sat up. He thought about the breathing exercises he had received from his counselor the other day and took some deep breaths in and imagining all of his worries blowing away with his exhale. He did this until he felt normal, then stood and grabbed a muffin before looking at the clock. He had roughly 10 minutes before Midnight came, so he returned to his room to grab a notebook and a pen that he could use to communicate with before she showed up.

Midnight was in the lobby bantering with a grouchy Aizawa when Izuku returned. Izuku nodded to her when she spotted him and before he could blink his face was squished into her shapely bosom as she squealed about how cute he was. Izuku turned bright red from the embarrassment and tried to shove her away. (He hadn’t been that embarrassed since Tomura had decided to turn his clothes to ash in front of one of Sensei’s potential clients as a demonstration of his skills.) Eventually, Midnight backed off at Aizawa’s nagging.

They ended up at a nearby mall. Izuku followed Midnight to a clothes shop and looked around unenthusiastically. He probably should have been more excited, seeing as how all of his previous clothes were hand-me-downs from Tomura, but he just wasn’t feeling it. Midnight more than made up for his lack of enthusiasm. She dragged him down aisle after aisle until he finally picked something to add to her pile.

Midnight made him dress up until she was satisfied he had several different outfits for any occasion she could think up before they checked out. There was a hero merchandise store that caught Izuku’s eye on the way out. It reminded him of his old room, where he had watched that stupid All Might video on repeat before he had lost it all. He didn’t even notice the tears streaming down his face as he walked to the car with Midnight. She didn’t say anything either; simply took the bags to put them in the car and shooed Izuku to the passenger seat.

When she entered the car, she turned to look at the child silently weeping. “It’s okay to cry out loud,” She whispered gently. Izuku covered his mouth with his hand and continued his silent cries.

Occasionally, Midnight could hear a ghost of a whisper escape his lips. When the boy had calmed down, she pulled a water bottle out of the back seat to pass to him. “Want to talk about it? I know sign.”

Izuku looked at her. Her smile was gentle and it reminded him of his mother. Shakily he signed, The Hero store reminded me of my Mom. I miss her. I wasn’t allowed to cry for her when I was with HIM. A flash of anger and guilt crossed his face while he signed as he remembered his nightmare. The familiarity overwhelmed me when I walked past the store. Thank you for letting me cry.

Midnight listened to it all quietly, secretly impressed that a ten year old had realized he needed to grieve and was able to be so open about it. “It is okay to be sad, and that it’s normal to be overwhelmed, especially in new situations such like these.” Izuku rewarded her with a watery smile and signed that crying made him hungry. She laughed, “Where should we eat?” Izuku signed that Udon sounded good, so they stopped at a noodle shop for take out on their way back.

Izuku took the new clothes up to his room and took a short nap. He woke up to Aizawa knocking on his door.  He opened the door to reveal the tall, eternally tired man and Principal Nedzu. “Good Afternoon Midoriya!” Nedzu sang. “It’s time for an physical assessment test! Aizawa here decided it was necessary after reviewing your file, and I dare say I agree. Are you up to it?” Izuku, a little more awake now nodded. “Good throw on some gym clothes and follow us!” Nedzu cheered. Izuku did so and followed Aizawa out onto the field. Nedzu had mysteriously vanished during the walk.

Aizawa explained the tasks and Izuku had above average results for his age particularly in his agility. It seemed his nickname shadow was well deserved. Aizwa asked him next what martial arts he was familiar with. Izuku demonstrated several stances from a variety of disciplines before Aizawa stopped him. “What weapons are you familiar with?” Izuku signed that he was proficient in firearms, archery, staffs and knives. Aizawa had him demonstrate his expertise in each area, even calling snipe down to supervise his firearms. He hit dead center every time.

Needless to say Aizawa was impressed at Izuku’s mastery. He was better than many of his students at this point. He didn’t want to know what kind of desperate determination the kid had needed to push himself to this level. It impressed him even more that he had been able to avoid using these skills to kill anyone under extreme duress for five years. If only his class were that determined. Aizawa looked at Izuku and asked, “Would you like to meet my students?” Izuku beamed and nodded enthusiastically.

Aizawa couldn’t help the mischievous grin he returned.

---

Nedzu grinned when Aizawa suggested Izuku be allowed to spar with his class. He wholeheartedly approved it.

Aizawa’s homeroom class was buzzing excitedly when they entered the practice area. They all hushed when they saw a green haired boy waiting next to their teacher in a black combat suit. The girls whispered and cooed at how cute he was while the boys eyed him curiously. Aizawa clapped his hands to get their attention. The noise stopped and he cleared his throat. “This is Midoriya. He will be assisting with our practices this afternoon. He’s young but skilled. Underestimate him at your own peril.” At this the class straightened up and began sizing the boy up as they would an enemy. They hadn’t survived his expulsion spree without understanding Aizawa never lied about one’s skills.

Aizawa continued, “Today you will pair up in teams of three. Midoriya is your target. You have three objectives. First, locate and flush out Midoriya. If you cannot find him in the first 5 minutes his location will be revealed to you but you will lose half your points for this exercise. Second, subdue Midoriya without lethal force. Third, have one team member still standing by the end of the 10 minutes. Understood? Good. Midoriya go set up. Class come draw lots.”

By the end of the exercise, only one team had succeeded in completing the first objective, two in the second and none had completed the third. Midoriya had creamed all of them. He walked off the field with a worried look on his face and signed to Aizawa. What year students are these?

“Second year students, Why?”

They are loud, overconfident, and to be quite frank lazy. There were only two who actually tried, although they did go a little overboard. If I were inclined to use lethal force, I could have killed all of them in the first five minutes.

“Hey!” one of his students protested, but quickly shut up as Aizawa leveled him with a glare.

“Which two?”

The giant and the tree, Izuku signed. The students who understood sign stifled laughs at the impromptu nicknames. Aizawa hummed in approval then called the two students up and told them to find a spare mat to spar with Izuku on before turning to the rest of the students for a lecture and very real threat of expulsion.

“I’m Takeyama by the way,” The giant introduced herself.

“And I am Shinji” the tree said as he bowed. Izuku returned the bow and showed them his name sign as they reached the mats. It was incredibly convenient that the second years were taught sign as a part of their rescue training.

Who wants to go first? Izuku asked.

Takeyama stepped forward confidently saying, “Ladies first.” Shinji just rolled his eyes. “Quirks or no quirks?” She asked getting into position.

Mine’s always active so we might as well go with quirks. Izuku signed then settled into a neutral stance.

Shinji Called the match and Izuku raced forward quickly closing the distance between them. Izuku’s speed caught Takeyama off guard and she instinctually used her quirk to tower over him. Before she could do anything Izuku grabbed her bare ankle with his hand. Her quirk forcibly deactivated and Izuku used his body weight to throw her off balance. She fell forward, but caught herself with her hands to stop herself. Izuku had rolled away from her legs and jumped on her torso before she could fully pull herself up. He yanked her hands out from supporting her body. She fell face first to the mat as he pinned her gracefully. “Midoriya’s win!” Shinji called out.

Izuku released Takeyama and scanned her for injuries while he helped her to her feet. “I just got schooled by a child!” She said as she tried to laugh off her wounded pride. “Alright Shinji. It’s your turn to taste defeat. Trade ya!” She lightly tapped his shoulder as he traded places with her on the mat.

With both boys in position, the match began. Kamui was the first to dash in this time. Izuku dodged his grab and used him momentum to throw him over his shoulder. From his position on the ground Shinji activated his quirk and tried to ensnare Izuku in his branches Izuku dodged and weaved putting distance between them until he was at the edge of the mat. Then Izuku vaulted himself over the now thick branches and ran on them straight towards the other boy. In hopes of disorienting his opponent, Shinji began growing thick foliage. Izuku used them as cover to get even closer and knocked the hero student out with a swift chop to the neck. The foliage began to recede at the contact and Izuku let it pass before he checked the other over for injuries. Finding nothing wrong, Izuku and a laughing Takeyama simply waited for him to wake up.

Aizawa had finished his lecture and sent the others back to the lockers before coming to check on his pupils. Shinji had just woken up. “I’m glad I wasn’t the only one schooled this round.” Shinji only groaned. “I didn’t even see him coming!”  

“So what did you learn?” Aizawa asked; locking his eyes on the two hero students.

“Never underestimate a leprechaun in fatigues!” Takeyama responded cheerfully uncaring of Aizawa’s glare. “…. And pride will be your downfall.”

“Skill can overwhelm raw power, which is why it’s important to have both.” Shinji said in a much more subdued tone as he rubbed his neck.

“Hmm, Good. Go get ready for your next class” he said. He turned to Midoriya. “Well what did you learn?”

It’s fun to fight to showcase skills instead of fighting to survive. Izuku signed. He turned to look at Aizawa who had an unreadable expression on his face. May I write the students some analyses and have you pass them along. There is a lot of talent in this group, but they will all die in the field if their pride continues to get in the way.

“That’s fine,” Aizawa said. “You should return to the apartments and shower. Then, go see Nedzu, he has the results of your tests.” Izuku responded with a nod and walked away. Aizawa watched him go and swore that he would keep that child safe.

Chapter Text

Nedzu poured a cup of Jasmine tea and placed it in front of Izuku. “Your tests came back. Your IQ is remarkably high. Additionally, you have doctorate level knowledge in Computer Sciences, English, Japanese, Mathematics, Art History, and Biology. Your knowledge on quirk genetics is particularly fascinating. Additionally, your tactical knowledge and analysis skills are very impressive. I have petitioned the Government to allow you to claim said doctorates without the need for further schooling in those subjects.

“There are not many who would be able to teach you here. Your learning is advanced far beyond high school level. As such, I am the only one qualified to teach you when it comes to academics, and will gladly do so. I have also asked Majima sensei to take you under his wing in regards to learning mechanics and engineering; as well as Recovery Girl to help you understand proper procedure in regards to human health with regards to receiving a medical license. That being said. I would also like to offer you a job for the future.”

A Job? Izuku asked.

Nedzu nodded. “Unfortunately, due to the laws of this country, we cannot allow you to obtain any heroes licensing until you are at least fifteen years of age. However, you have more than proved yourself worthy and able of completing the tasks that you would face to obtain said licenses. Therefore, I would like to offer you a job as a teaching assistant. You would tutor students both in the training grounds and in the classroom, as well as help the teachers with grading papers and the like. Are you interested?”

Nedzu smiled at Izuku’s enthusiastic nod. “I cannot officially hire you until you turn twelve, so until then please take the time to recover from your experiences and find what makes you happy.” Overwhelmed, Izuku nods again.

“Very good.” Nedzu says as he rubs his paws together. “Now, have you ever played chess?

Aizawa walked into Nedzu’s office later that day to see Izuku giving the principal a run for his money in a chess tournament. He could have sworn he heard Nedzu give a sigh of relief when he entered.

“It looks like it’s time to head back to your room for the day,” Nedzu said with a bit too much cheer. Izuku shot Nedzu a suspicious glance which was blatantly ignored. “Let’s call this one a draw.“

Izuku smiled mischievously, stood and walked over to Aizawa. Aizawa returned the smiled and asked, “So what’s the score?”

Izuku signed 3 to 5 with one draw.

Aizawa raised a brow at Nedzu who pointedly ignored him. “Izuku, fill free to spend some time exploring the grounds for the rest of the week while I take care of your schooling schedule. You have full access to anywhere on campus, with the exception of the highest floors. I will send you a text when I am free for chess. It has been a while since anyone has been able to beat me.”

Izuku gave Nedzu a blinding smile. I look forward to it. Nedzu returned the smile and waved goodbye as Aizawa escorted him home.

…

As the years passed, Izuku healed. By the time his old childhood friend took the entrance exam, Izuku had familiarized himself with every nook and cranny he could at UA. The teachers had fallen in love with his insatiable desire to learn and help others (as well as his knack for getting into trouble). Eventually, he even spoke; although he still preferred to sign.

The students lovingly referred to him as a leprechaun. They quickly learned how fast and cunning he was and joked that if you could catch him or outsmart him, he would grant you a wish or favor. Izuku had laughed at first, but as the rumor caught ground, he began to play into his role as a school mystery. In his five years living there, only two student had managed to catch him and ask him for a favor. One had asked for help confessing to his crush, and the other just claimed he would cash in his favor when Izuku was officially a pro hero.

The hunt for Tomura and Kurogiri went cold after they broke the doctor out of jail. Izuku was allowed greater freedom outside of the school; although he still left with supervision as a precaution. Aizawa would take him to cat cafes. Midnight and Mic would take him shopping. Powerloader sensei would take him to the movies and support shops. Hounddog and Snipe would take him camping during breaks. Vlad Sensei would take him to sporting events, and Lunch Rush would teach him how to cook. Recovery girl would take him with her to help at the hospitals. Nighteye would visit often, asking for his opinions and analyses on villains he was pursuing. Naomasa stayed true to his word and visited him often both on school grounds and on excursions with his teachers, and Nedzu learned to relish the challenge of chess with a child he couldn’t predict.

Izuku felt blessed beyond words. It made him think of his mother’s final smile. When he was still living with his All for One there were moments he had doubted that smile. It was not alright. There were no comforting smiles around him, no caring hands, only experiments, training and death. Almost every time he was losing faith, he would get some kind of miraculous breath of fresh air. Tomura would let him play a game with him. His father would be away from work, and Kurogiri would sneak the boys extra desserts. The doctor would be distracted by a different project and forget about him. That was how Izuku knew his mom didn’t want him to lose hope. She was guiding him to this safer, happier place, and he made it. He had to make his own opportunity, but her smile did not lie. In the end, he was okay.

At least, until he met Class 1-A, and his past came back to bite him in the worst possible way.

Chapter Text

The entrance exams were as exciting as usual. Nezu had him psychologically profile all of the candidates during both the practical and the written exam. He caught quite a few cheaters that probably would have been admitted otherwise.

He smiled as he watched his purple haired friend from the cat café defy the odds and take down several robots with a piece of scrap metal he had scavenged off another candidates’ kills; thanks to a hint from Aizawa. (He insists it was not a hint, he was talking to the kitten! If Shinsou overheard while he was hanging out with Izuku, well, he couldn’t help that.)

He also cheered as two kids with hardening quirks teamed up to save a girl from the overbearing zero pointer. The metallic kid literally wedged himself in the wheel rotors to stop it while the rocky kid removed her from the area. Then went back to unwedge the metallic kid from the rotors.

He worried when he saw the blonde boy happily explode everything in range regardless of the other candidates in the vicinity. (Why did his explosions sound so familiar?) It was clear he had a head for battle tactics and the power to back it up, but his reckless abandon would have to be addressed.

There were so many talented candidates and interesting quirks! Izuku couldn’t wait to see who made it in. Nedzu kept the results secret even from Izuku. (He kept the official list on paper because he knew Izuku could hack circles around him now) Not that he couldn’t guess it anyway.

…

On the first day of school, Izuku was introduced as the traveling teacher’s assistant during the orientation assembly. Then he spied on Aizawa’s quirk assessment tests. Only Todoroki was able to spot him from where he observed, but he didn’t say anything. Izuku guessed this was because they had met at the recommendation exam. (It had been an interesting conversation to say the least.) After Aizawa announced the results and sent them off to the lockers, Izuku walked over to compare notes.

“So much potential in this class!” He said excitedly.

“Problem children every single one of them!” He groaned in reply. “Whose behavior stood out to you?”

“Hagakure, Shinsou and Kouda are lacking in confidence. Bakugou and Todoroki both have anger issues. Bakugou’s is more prevalent and entitlement based; while Todoroki shows a lot of symptoms repressed emotions consistent with physical abuse. Tokoyami shows excellent self-discipline, but relies too much on his quirk. Iida most likely has autism, but it shouldn’t interfere with his regular work. If any emotional issues come up we will need to keep an eye on him though. Aoyama is a classic case of misdirection. He may struggle with depression. Same with Kirishima but to a lesser degree. Yaoyarozu will most likely have a tendency to get stuck in her head. Uraraka has incredible potential but lacks observational skills and perhaps confidence in her motivations. Kaminari is purposely acting the part of class clown to distract from his real skill set. I would keep an eye on him for safety purposes. The others seem fairly well adapted and motivated,” Izuku replied softly knowing the students with listening quirks were just barely within range if they cared to listen.

Aizawa nodded in agreement then walked with Izuku to the teacher’s lounge. “You up for a visit to the cat café later?” Aizawa asked; not even bothering to look at the smile he knew had been directed his way.

…

Izuku smiled as a large tabby cat crawled on his lap. Shinsou rolled his eyes as he continued petting the tuxedo cat on his lap. “Why does that cat like you so much? It won’t let anyone else near it?” Shinsou complained. He had been trying and failing to coax it over to him for months now.

“He has an empathy quirk that is overwhelmingly strong when physical touch is involved so it avoids most people. I cancel its quirk and pet it so it comes to me for a break,” Izuku answered. “It likes Aizawa for the same reason.”

“Ugh fine. I admit defeat!” Shinsou said dramatically as Izuku laughed. “The first day of class was so stressful!” He complained. “Especially, when I know that Aizawa has, in fact, expelled an entire class once. Poor Yaoyorozu couldn’t have been farther from the truth, but I didn’t have the heart to correct her.” Aizawa smirked at the comment as he was only a booth away, lying on the ground and letting the cats curl up on his stomach.

“You should have,” Izuku responded. “It will hurt worse later if he actually does follow through on his threat. I would hate to see someone get expelled because they didn’t take the threat seriously enough.” He had seen that mistake often enough in his time on campus.

Shinsou declined answering by burying his face into the soft fur of the cat he was petting. Izuku didn’t mind the lack of response. He knew Shinsou put up a hard front to dissuade bullies, but was truly just a softy that wanted to fit in with everyone else.

He still remembered the first time he had met the boy 2 years ago. He and Aizawa were on their way to the café when they heard some banging coming from the dumpsters. Aizawa had motioned for Izuku to stay back and approached the dumpster with his capture weapon ready. It sounded like someone had been stuck inside. Aizawa hit the side of the dumpster with a closed fist and yelled a warning. The thumping had stopped. Quickly, Aizawa unlatched the lid to reveal Shinso.

Shinso had winced at the harsh afternoon sunlight but immediately stood when Aizawa opened the lid. All he had wanted was to check out the new café, but could he do that noooo! Why? Because some bullies had decided to gang up on him after school. They had gagged him from behind, tied his hands and promptly threw him in the dumpster. He had managed to get his hands out of the rope they had tied his hands with. The gag soon followed, and he began pounding on the sides of the dumpster until his savior came along.

Seeing there was no threat, Izuku came up as Aizawa helped Shinso out of the dumpster. Thankfully, the café’s trash had just been emptied so the boy didn’t smell too bad. Aizawa was grilling the purple haired boy when Izuku came into view. He was impressed that the boy had been able to keep his dead pan expression throughout the entire rescue process.

“Care to explain why I found you in a dumpster?” Aizawa asked, one eyebrow up. The boy just shrugged and looked away with practiced disinterest. His eyes found Izuku who gave a small wave and introduced himself in sign. Shinso’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he returned the gesture in sign as well. Aizawa watched the interaction and then gave his name sign as well.  

Izuku invited Shinso to talk in the café and the rest was history. It turned out they were both selectively mute due trauma. Eventually, they had gotten comfortable enough with each other to speak and commiserated over bad childhoods and fluffy cats.

Aizawa had also taken a liking to Shinso and invited him to train for UA afterschool on Wednesdays. Shinso had agreed and trained with both Aizawa and Izuku as often as he could. Izuku chuckled softly and Shinso poked his shoulder to bring him back to the present. “What were you thinking about? You zoned out pretty hard,” Shinso asked lazily.

“I was thinking about our first training session. I can’t believe we’ve known each other for almost 2 years now,” Izuku replied with a smile.

Shinso rolled his eyes at the pure cheesiness Izuku was radiating. “Ugh. Nostalgia!”

“Oh speaking of nostalgic,” Izuku replied as the thought fluttered through his brain. “You know your classmate Bakugou?”

“What about him?”

“I think we used to play together when we were super young,” Izuku whispered excited at the prospect of reuniting with someone who remembered his mom. “His explosions seem pretty familiar.”

“No kidding?” Shinso said finally sitting up. Izuku’s memories from before Hisashi had taken him in were spotty. It was like his life started when his mother died. Most of his memories were of him and his mother in their small apartment playing heroes together. He knew he had gone to preschool, but the other kid’s faces were fuzzy. He had been pretty young when he was taken. Between the experiments and training, he hadn’t really been given anytime to reminisce.

Izuku shook those thoughts away and hummed an affirmative to Shinso’s question.

“Well if you did grow up with him, I could see how he would be hard to forget. He’s acts like a porcupine made out of dynamite.” Izuku laughed at Shinso’s description of the boy.

“That is an accurate statement,” Aizawa chimed in, as he carefully set aside the cats that had been using him as a heater and stood. “It’s time to get going boys. Don’t forget to get that packet I gave you filled in.” Izuku laughed and stood up as well. Shinso groaned and hugged the cat in front of him once more before finally standing to follow them out. The door chimed as the trio stepped out into the evening air. Shinso split from the group and headed towards home as Aizawa and Izuku made their way back to campus in companionable silence.

Chapter Text

Izuku walked behind the new heroics teacher, Gran Torino, as they entered the classroom for the first day of battle training with class 1-A. Apparently, All Might was supposed to be the new teacher, but had ended up going to I-island for some reason instead. Nedzu had ended up inviting All Might’s old homeroom teacher to take his place. The class turned to the two short men at the front of the room.

“Alright you zygotes! I am Gran Torino, your stand in teacher for heroics.” Gran Torino said as he stood in front of the desk. “This,” Torino gestured to Izuku, “is our traveling teachers assistant Izuku Midoriya. He will be assisting you for the remainder of your schooling so be nice to him.” The class looked at him warily with the exception of Bakugou, who glared at him suspiciously as he gave a small respectful bow. “Alright, introductions are over. Grab your hero gear and meet us on Ground Beta. First students there will be team leaders. Go.” He clapped his hands and they walked out of the room as it turned into a warzone.

As it turned out, Bakugou and Todoroki were the first two students there, and judging from the trail of ice leading from the locker rooms it had been a close call. Gran Torino handed each boy a colored flag as they waited for the rest of the class to appear. Izuku eyed Bakugou’s gauntlets and whispered something to Gran Torino who nodded.

The rest of the class appeared and Gran Torino stepped forward. “This class we will split into two teams and race each other to complete the objective. The green team will be led by Todoroki, and the Blue team by Bakugou. Your grade will be based on your participation and ability to work together. Before we begin, we are going to go over a few safety rules. Disregard any of these rules and you will be sitting out of the exercise, or expelled depending on the severity of your violation. First rule, the teacher’s word is law. Any instructions or advice you receive from Midoriya or I, is to be heeded. We have an overview of the situation and know how to help you avoid any mishaps that could lead to the end of your hero career before it begins. Second, any use of force needs to be done with the goal in mind. Any use of force that is found to be excessive will put the user in supplemental classes to help control their actions or usage. Third, look out for your team mates. Heroes more often than not, work in teams to avoid serious injury. Even All Might works with teams when pursuing highly dangerous villains. Teamwork is a sign of trust in your partners, not a sign of weakness. Are there any questions about safety?”

Iida’s hand shot up. Gran nodded at him. “Sir, I understand that you have highly desirable skills as a retired pro, but what about Midoriya-san? He can’t be older than us.” At his statement, the class broke out into whispers. Izuku, quite used to this by now didn’t even take offense.

“Due to his unique upbringing, Midoriya-san has had field experience and has been a member of the UA staff for 3 years now. He holds several medical licenses and doctorate degrees in other fields as well. The only reason he does not have a pro hero license is his age. He is more than qualified to give you instruction and aid in a learning environment,” Gran Torino responded. “Is there anything else? No? Good! Midoriya, will you explain the exercise please.”

Izuku nodded and stepped forward. “In a few moments, Todoroki and Bakugou will pick their teams. Each team will have 10 minutes to come up with a plan to complete the objective. The green team will start on the South side of the practice area, while the blue team will start on the North side. Your objective is to find and capture me. I will start the exercise in the middle of the field; whoever finds me first will have the advantage. Everyone will have capture tape. Blue team and Green team you can choose to fight or flee from the opposing team; but remember your goal is to capture me, not kill each other. Gran Torino will be observing from this room. When he says you are captured, you are to stay where you are. No helping or moving unless you are in immediate physical danger. Any questions?”

Yaoyorozu’s hand was the one that shot up this time. Izuku nodded to her. “May we know your quirk for this exercise?”

Izuku flashed her a blinding smile. “Great question! Not for this exercise. If you have not guessed what my quirk is by the end of this exercise, I will tell you for the next class,“ He replied then shot a look at Shinso who made a zipping motion over his mouth and threw away an imaginary key. “Anyone else?”

Todoroki raised his hand this time and asked, “How much time will we have to complete this exercise?”

“The exercise itself will last for 20 minutes, not including your planning time,” Gran Torino answered this time. “Line up against the wall. Todoroki and Bakugou, Pick your team mates and start planning as you move to your starting location.”

Todoroki picked: Shoji, Yaoyorozu, Koda, Shinso, Hagakure, Uraraka, Mashirao and Aoyama

Katsuki picked: Jiro (Ears), Iida (Four eyes), Kirishima (Hair), Tokoyami (Bird Brain), Sato (Fat Lips), Mina (Pinky), Kaminari (Pikachu), Asui (Frogger), and Sero (Elbows).

The teams made their way to the practice field that was set up like a city block in the business district.

After the group explained their quirks, Todoroki turned to Shinso. “You know Izuku outside of school yes?”

Shinso shot him a deadpan look and asked, “Why?”

Yaoyorozu looked at him in surprise, “That would mean you have an advantage of knowledge. Could you tell us what his quirk is or any habits that would make it easier to find him?”

Shinso shrugged and answered thoughtfully, “I can’t tell you what his quirk is. If I’m being honest I don’t really know the extent of it, and I promised not to. As for his habits, all I can tell you is that he is stealthier than Eraserhead when he wants to be, and that he can communicate in sign”

Hagakure and Uraraka leaned into Shinso’s view on either side of him. “Can’t you give us a hint of what his quirk is?” Hagakure wheedled as Uraraka nodded determinedly. Shinso just shrugged and returned Todoroki’s uncomfortable stare.

Yaoyorozu clapped her hands to stop the uncomfortable stare down and asked Todoroki, “What’s the plan?”

Todoroki looked around at the group impassively. Shoji will listen and try to pin down where Midoriya and the other team is. Koda, See if you can get some birds to keep you informed of what is happening from above. The rest of us will spread out and move forward as we check out the buildings.

“What about the other team?” Mashirao asked.

“I think that unless we have a sure way to capture them we should focus on Midoriya. Even if they capture him first, it’s the team that has him at the end of the time limit that wins. We shouldn’t fight them until we have to.” Yaoyorozu offered.

“Oui, oui,” Aoyama interjected with a flourish of his cape, “I agree with the mademoiselle.”

...

Across the faux city block, Bakugou’s team was having decidedly less luck with their planning.

“You dorks just need to stay out of my way!” Bakugou snarled as they stalked towards their starting grounds.

“Not cool man!” Sero grumbled as Kirishima tried to make peace with the boy.

“C’mon man!” Kirishima said patting Bakugous shoulder but quickly withdrawing when he earned a growl in return for his efforts. “Jiro’s got good ears. Maybe she could figure out where Midoriya is hiding. Iida can check. And then, you can go crazy capturing him while the rest of us back you up”

“Yes! We cannot sit idly by while you do all the work for our team!” Iida said while his hands chopped the air in agitation. “Torino-san did mention that even All Might needed help when going after dangerous villains.”

“I DON’T NEED ANYONE BECAUSE I’M GONNA BE BETTER THAN ALL MIGHT! GOT IT!” Bakugou shouted right in Iida’s face. (Thank goodness he already had his helmet on otherwise that spit would have ended up on his glasses!)

“We get it!” Jirou said uncovering her ears from the sudden noise. “You need to chill.” Bakugou simply shot her a death glare and stalked forward. Kirishima trying to calm him and receiving a fistful of fire to his hardened face for his efforts. (Gran Torino took note of the time stamp and wrote a note to put in Bakugou’s file for later.)

Mina and Sero hung back with Jirou and Iida. “It doesn’t look like we will be able to rely on him as a leader,” Jirou sighed as the others agreed.

“Kirishima’s plan is probably our best bet,” Sero pointed out. “I don’t think Bakugou will ignore you if you give him useful information on where Midoriya and the other team is.”

“Sero can get up high pretty quickly and relay what he sees from above,” Mina added excitedly. “And I can get from point A to point B pretty fast. If Iida wants to take one side, I can take the other.”

“Agreed!” Iida said.

“What about me?” Kaminari pouted and Jirou rolled her eyes at the display of immaturity.

“You have lightning correct?” Iida looked at Kaminari for confirmation and he nodded. “I would suggest you back up Bakugou and Kirishima. They will most likely end up brawling with the other team over Midoriya. You can help them level the playing field.”

Kaminari perked up at the thought of being part of the strong group. “You got it!” He replied cheerfully with finger guns before running to catch up with Kirishima and Bakugou.

Gran Torino’s voice rang in their earpieces as the Blue team finally made it into position. “Your ten minutes are up! Your exercise starts now!”

Chapter Text

Izuku grinned in anticipation as Gran Torino announced the beginning. He had always loved the challenge of outwitting large groups. Even when he was living with his father, it had been his favorite task. There was something so satisfying about being where you are least expected and watching a group of opponents get more and more frustrated. It was almost like playing hide and seek in a maze.

He pulled out his phone and activated the non-lethal traps he had prepped in all of the buildings. He knew the teams were most likely to try and scout using the listening quirks first so he had rigged up several different recordings of his voice, and previously recorded sounds of his footsteps in each of the buildings to counteract those. Then he swung to the top of the building and began free running until he found a vantage point away from the center of the city heading towards the sound of familiar explosions.

Bakugou had taken off as soon as the exercise began much to the chagrin of his teammates. Kaminari and Kirishima had followed him as Jirou walked to the first building and shoved her headphone jack into the cement. Jirou grunted in frustration and pulled her jack out of the wall. “He’s set up recordings of his footsteps and voice throughout the whole block. We can’t pin him with sound,” She reported with a grimace.

“I guess we’ll just have to do this the hard way then,” Satou said as he pounded his fists together.

“I will take the high road,” Asui said before wrapping her tongue around the edge of a building and hauling herself up. Sero smiled and shot tape from his elbows to pull himself to the roof tops on the opposite side of the street. Iida and Mina gave each other a nod and quickly shot towards the first buildings. Jirou and Satou ran to the further buildings to start their search as well. Tokoyami slunk in the shadows.

Mina and Iida had been taken out by trip wires in the first buildings they had entered. Satou and Jirou had fared a little better; making it to the third building before they had been trapped by some kind of instant cement. It had blocked access to Satou’s sugar reserves and Jirou’s boots so they could not blast their way out.

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow had literally run into Hagakure who had quickly backed off. Dark Shadow was able to sense where the invisible girl was somehow, and had wrapped her in capture tape. “Aw no fair!” Hagakure pouted cutely as Tokoyami pressed forward.

Todoroki’s team had stuck to their plan, but Shouji quickly ran into the same problem as Jirou. Luckily, Koda’s birds had come through. He quickly signed that Midoriya’s last known location on the roof of a building with a water tank on it. The teens wasted no time heading towards said building.

Todoroki propelled himself forward and up with his ice only to find the rooftop empty. In seconds, Bakugou had stepped onto the same roof. The two looked at each other for a moment. Todoroki waited for signs of aggression, but none came. Bakugou simply growled at him and looked around. Trying to spot Midoriya’s black military fatigues. While keeping one eye on Bakugo, Todoroki did the same.

Izuku had seen the birds circling overhead and let himself be spotted to draw the two most volatile quirks together. Hoping, to have them take each other out. Seeing they had come to an uneasy treaty Izuku smiled, and activated his newest invention.

Bakugou and Todoroki both spotted Midoriya’s outfit disappearing into an alley at the same time. They both scrambled to reach him first. Todoroki called over his team with the coms, and was surprised to find that they had also spotted him on the opposite end of the field.

Bakugou had shoved Todoroki and caught up to their Izuku. He roared and attempted to grab the green teen but found only air. Confused, he looked back at the image of Izuku as it cheekily saluted him and disappeared. Bakugou shook with rage Todoroki simply shook his head and went to help his teammates.

Kirishima and Kaminari finally caught up with Bakugou. “Did you find him?” Kirishima asked slightly out of breath. Bakugou ignored the question and stomped up to Kaminari who was panting heavily from the run.

“Oi. Can you sense electronic devices and fry ‘em?” He asked with a quiet anger in his tone. Kaminari looked surprised at the question then nodded and closed his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to find several drones above the testing grounds.

Bakugou launched into the air to destroy the devices. Asui and Sero had both taken notice of the conversation and did the same. Both had found a drone and using their quirks had lassoed them into the sides of the buildings to destroy them.

Yaoyorozu had come to the same conclusion and was holding Uraraka with a grappling gun as she floated herself to grab and smash several drones as well.

Once the drones were gone, all of the Izuku sightings stopped. Todoroki and his team mates regrouped to talk strategy again. Aoyama and Mashirao had both fallen prey to Izuku’s traps and were no longer in the game. Shouji tried to listen again to find Midoriya, but this time he heard nothing at all. Aside from Bakugou’s team, an eerie silence had fallen over the practice grounds.

“Ten minutes remaining zygotes!” Gran Torino’s voice boomed over the speakers.

Shinso raked his hand down his face and groaned. He had known this would be hard, but it seemed like no one had even seen the real Izuku yet. Yaoyorozu and Uraraka turned to him. “He must have some kind of tech quirk. I have never seen holograms that advanced!” Todoroki clenched his fists in frustration. There were only ten minutes left! He could not fail!

“Midoriya is a master strategist. He has at least ten plans for any given scenario, most of which us mere mortals would never have thought of,” Shinso stated, then turned to Yaoyorozu and Todoroki. “Think outside the box. Where have we not looked?”

“The buildings are booby trapped,” Uraraka chimed in. “Why wouldn’t he have bunkered in there?”

“It would be too easy to corner him,” Yaoyorozu said thinking aloud. “If he is a master strategist like Shinsou said, he is probably trying to maneuver us into the positions he wants.”

“That’s why we have had so many run-ins with the other team the more of us that are willing to take each other out, the better chance he has of beating us,” Todoroki replied.

Guys, Koda signed as a snake slithered up his arm, My friend says he is in the sewers. Without hesitation Todoroki immediately found the closest man hole cover he could and filled the sewers with ice.

Izuku felt the temperature drop and immediately hightailed it out of the sewers. He could not afford to be frozen underground. He barely made it out as a massive string of Ice occupied the space he had been moments before. Quickly he took stock of his surroundings, and found himself face to face with Tokoyami and Dark Shadow.

Tokoyami blinked in surprise at Midoriya’s sudden appearance in the alleyway. Before he could think to warn his teammates, Izuku was on him. He diverted Dark Shadow with a flashlight on a strobe setting and karate chopped Tokoyami’s neck effectively knocking him out. Unfortunately, their fight had drawn the attention of Sero and Asui.

Asui lashed out with her tongue, while Sero told the other’s Izuku had been spotted. Quick as a thought, Izuku grabbed Asui’s tongue and pulled her off balance. Sero shot some tape towards her to catch her fall. Izuku took advantage of the close alley walls and leaped from side to side. He grabbed Asui and deftly spun her in the air. With Sero’s tape still around her, Sero was pulled off balance, but managed to cut his tape before he fell. Asui was thoroughly taped up in Izuku’s arms. He dropped her and scaled the wall as Kirishima, Bakugou, and Kaminari rounded the corner.

Bakugou immediately launched himself up to the roof, cutting off Izuku’s exit, while Kirishima and Kaminari started scaling the fire escape. “YOUR MINE!!!” Katsuki roared as he threw a right hook, which Izuku dodged while he simultaneously grabbed Sero’s tape, which he had launched across the gap, and slapped it on his gauntlet. The gauntlet flew off and smacked Sero’s head, rendering him unconscious as well.

Kirishima and Kaminari arrived just in time to see Bakugou get his legs kicked out from under him. The angry blonde was then knocked out by a swift kick to the head. The commotion on the roof top, caught the attention of Todoroki’s remaining team, and they quickly scaled the buildings to join the fight. Izuku took note of the newcomers and remained in a defensive stance.

“Three minutes remaining!” Gran Torino’s voice announced. Kirishima ran forward to try and grab the green eyed menace but was cut off as Todoroki skated in on his wall of ice. Midoriya got in close to Todoroki and traded a few blows before effectively knocking him out. He then slid down the ice bridge Todoroki had left behind just as the remaining students arrived.

Koda had a bird fly above him to mark his path. Shouji let the girls and Shinsou chase down Midoriya and stayed behind to fight Kirishima and Kaminari. He managed to take down Kirishima when the red headed boy slipped on the ice, however Kaminari took both Shouji and himself out when he set off a large bolt of electricity.

“One minute left!”

The crow Koda had tracking Izuku landed on the roof of another office building. Koda nodded his thanks to the bird and asked it to keep a look out. “Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, go to the roof and work your way down. Koda and I will work from the ground up,” Shinsou said before dashing forward. Nodding to each other, the girls followed the instruction.

“Thirty Seconds!”

Even in his haste, Shinso kept his eye out for traps. After a quick scan of the open lobby, the boys headed up the stairs. Koda opened the stairwell door, only to receive a massive pink glitter bomb to the face for his troubles. Shinso pushed through and followed the sound of Midoriya’s laughter.

The girls heard Midoriya’s laughter and ran towards the noise as well. All four of the remaining students entered the room battle ready, but found only a cellphone on speaker.

“Time’s up!” Gran Torino’s voice came over the speakers once more. “Those of you who are conscious please return to the observation deck. Midoriya, take care of the unconscious ones.”

Chapter Text

Bakugou was livid when he awoke in the nurse’s office. He had not expected to be knocked out on his first run. Heck, he had expected to beat that leprechaun black and blue, just to prove he was better than some freakily familiar nerd! A groan from the next bed over drew his attention. He looked over to see Peppermint sit up in bed.

Todoroki was not expecting to wake up in the nurse’s office on his second day of school. He groaned at the thought that his father might hear about this, and sat up slowly. He saw Bakugou glowering at him from another bed. He returned the stare with equal malice. For some reason, this boy reminded him of his father in all the wrong ways. He was prideful, loud and full of poorly concealed rage that could only hurt those around him.

Tokoyami walked in interrupting his thoughts. “Are we interrupting?” Dark Shadow teased when he saw the stare down.

“Heck no! You Bird brain!” Bakugou hollered at the sentient quirk.

“Aw you’re too easy to tease!” Dark Shadow laughed as Tokoyami shushed him.

“Sorry about him,” Tokoyami said. “Recovery girl sent me in to check on you two. The class is about to review the exercise.” Bakugou grunted and stomped past Tokoyami while Todoroki stood and nodded to the avian headed boy and followed him out.

Gran Torino and Midoriya watched as the three boys entered and sat in their respective seats. “For those of you who thought this would be an easy win, ha! You have been served by the cinnamon roll!” Gran Torino laughed as the class erupted into chaos. Izuku rolled his eyes at the old hero with a fond smile. Gran Torino hadn’t even been there a week yet, but he was quickly growing on Izuku. He was a professional prankster. In fact, the glitter bomb trap had been his largely idea. Except, he had wanted it to be ketchup so the victim could play dead if they wanted to. Izuku didn’t want to worry about allergies so he changed it to glitter instead.

Gran Torino clapped his hands and brought the class back to order. “In the Hero business, there will always be incidents that occur which are outside of your expertise. You will have to team up with others who you may or may not know well in order to overcome obstacles. This exercise should have made clear your strengths and weaknesses regarding team work in the face of overwhelming odds. As we review the video feeds, I want you to examine your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as review Midoriya’s actions.”

The lights dimmed and the feed from the exercise came up on the screen. The screen was split three ways, showing the blue team, the green team, and Midoriya. The class was surprised to see that Midoriya had barely moved during the first 10 minutes of the exercise, opting instead to monitor and control everything from his cellphone. His first real movement, aside from letting Koda’s bird spot him in the beginning, was when he escaped the sewers and fought the students.

Todoroki’s team gasped as they watched Midoriya effectively use Bakugou’s team mates’ quirks against each other. Bakugou watched with grudging respect as the green teen effectively took him out. Todoroki’s simmered with anger as he realized that Izuku had used his ice bridge as a get-away after he had been knocked out. The entire class gasped as Koda’s lookout was bribed and distracted by the shiny mirror and birdfeed Izuku had thrown on the roof of the building they had entered as he himself had hid in the opposite building. Shouji patted Koda’s back sympathetically when the glitter bomb hit him in the face.

The lights returned to normal and Izuku had to struggle not to laugh at the slack-jawed expressions he saw on the student’s faces. Gran Torino had no such qualms. “So, did any of you figure out what Midoriya’s quirk was?” He asked when he had contained himself.

Yaoyorozu’s hand shot up. “I believe he has a technology quirk,” She said with confidence.

“Nope,” Gran Torino said. “Any other guesses?”

“An Intelligence quirk?” Mina guessed.

“An illusion quirk,” Guessed another.

“A quirk suppressor quirk,” Tokoyami offered. Izuku smiled at him.

“That is very close Tokoyami, why did you guess that?” Izuku asked.

“In the brief moment before I was knocked out, I could no longer feel my connection with Dark Shadow,” Tokoyami supplied.

“That is correct!” Izuku said. “Officially, my quirk is known as Anti-Quirk. I can stop or negate any quirk while I am touching said quirk user. For example, if I touched Mina she would no longer be able to create acid until I let go. I am also unable to be influenced by mental quirks such as empaths.”

Todoroki’s hand shot up. “So are you related to Aizawa sensei then? Do your quirks cancel each other out?”

Izuku laughed. “Good eye! Unfortunately, I am not related by blood. I don’t think we have ever tried that.”

The class began to get rowdy again until Aizawa slammed the door open. Gran Torino and Izuku waved good bye and Aizawa sent the class home after handing out permission slips for the upcoming field trip.

…

Naomasa and Sansa sat across from Midoriya in an old diner. The two had been fidgeting and sending each other uneasy glances all night long. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to guess?” Midoriya asked. Sansa was a relatively new detective that had taken a liking to Izuku when he had stopped by to visit Naomasa. Now he was a regular in their visits. The man literally had the face of a cat which made him hard to read, but he was sending out plenty of signals for Izuku to pick up on the fact that he was nervous.

“It’s about your biological father Izuku,” Naomasa began. “He passed away in his sleep last night.” Naomasa had said the words cautiously. He knew that Midoriya did not like his father, be he also knew that he had spent half of his childhood with him before he had come to U.A.

“Oh.” Izuku said and stared at his half-finished strawberry milkshake. He couldn’t make sense of the mess of feelings that news wrought. He felt a sense of relief that the man could no longer come back to haunt him. He also felt guilty that he hadn’t gone to see the man on his deathbed. Izuku knew he was a a manipulative man who had treated him as nothing more than a tool. He knew that, but he couldn’t help but think that his mother had seen something in the man. She had loved him once upon a time and been hurt when he had left her behind.

He didn’t realize he had been crying until he felt Naomasa and Sansa had each taken one of Izuku’s hands in their own. They squeezed his hands gently while he mourned the loss of the man who had twisted his fate in such a horrible way. “It’s stupid,” he sobbed. “I shouldn’t miss that man. It’s not like he ever showed any affection for me. In fact, I am pretty sure he actively hated me at one point. I don’t know why I’m crying. He was a monster masquerading as a man.”

Naomasa tilted Izuku’s chin up so He could see his tear filled eyes. “It’s okay to mourn someone who had an impact in your life. It doesn’t matter what that impact was. Okay? You should never feel bad for showing compassion. It’s one of your best qualities.” Izuku gave a tearful nod. They paid the bill and dropped Izuku off at the dorms.

Nedzu was the one who greeted them. He had already heard the situation from Naomasa and had come to see if he could offer the boy some comfort. Izuku smiled and picked the Principal up in a hug which was returned. Izuku sat on the couch and sobbed as Nedzu patted his hair and whispered encouraging words in his ear until the boy cried himself to sleep. Izuku’s dreams that night were haunted by Hisashi Midoriya. The Hisashi Midoriya that had loved his mother; not the dreadful All for One that has experimented and used his traumatized son as a tool for world domination.

In his dreams, His mother was smiling like in the wedding pictures Izuku remembered from before he left. He was a toddler again. Trying to keep up with his father’s large steps as he snuck into the kitchen to watch him make mom laugh. Then he left on an airplane. Mom was crying but hopeful. Then just crying sadly as he slipped away and became a distant stranger.

Dream Izuku wanted his dad to come home so mom would be happy. Then Hisashi did come back, except he had turned into nightmare Hisashi. The man called All for One.

Nightmare Hisashi frowned as if inconvenienced when his wife died and dream Izuku was taken and weighed on a scale. “How much are you worth?” Nightmare Hisashi’s cruel voice echoed in his ears over and over as the ground crumbled underneath dream Izuku’s feet.

He screamed as he fell and landed in a graveyard. He read the tombstone in front of him. Here lies Midoriya Inko and Midoriya Hisashi parents of a useless ungrateful monster it read.

Izuku’s eyes snapped open and he sat up straight. Still half stuck in the nightmare, he reached out for something, anything for comfort. He found Principal Nedzu still there with him sleeping on the couch. Izuku let out a grateful sob as he cuddled once more with the creature that had saved him from that terrible fate.

He was grateful. Grateful to this chimaera for giving him a family and a purpose. Grateful to his mother for her kindness and compassion. He was even grateful for Hisashi for bringing him into this world and making his mother happy, even if it had only been for a short while. He thought about everything he was grateful for as he fought off the remains of the nightmare and fell into a deeper dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

On the outskirts of a rural town, Shigaraki cursed and kicked at the rundown generator again. Kurogiri’s nagging, and the knowledge that they had no funds, was the only thing that saved it from being disintegrated. He took a deep breath to calm his homicidal tendencies and dropped the wrench he held in his gloved hands. Then he left the garage and headed inside to talk to the man made of mist.

Kurogiri sat at the kitchen table typing quickly on the laptop. “The stupid generator is busted again.” Tomura grumbled at him.

“You haven’t disintegrated it have you?”

“Of course not!” Tomura growled, “But I don’t know how to fix it either. Ugh, I can’t believe that stupid doctor deserted us!” Tomura mimicked the doctor’s voice, “You’re not worthy of being his successor. Until he gets out, I answer to no one. What a joke! We should have left him to rot in prison! Why couldn’t we have gotten sensei out of prison instead?”

“They have him in a special containment field that negates quirks,” Kurogiri replied. “Even with Sensei’s resources, we wouldn’t have gotten close enough to see him, let alone get him out.”

“I miss being able to destroy things whenever I want!” Tomura groaned. “This work should be done by Lowly NPC’s not MC’s like me.” Kurogiri’s phone rang cutting off Tomura’s complaints.

“Undying,” Kurogiri said as he answered the phone.

“Devotion,” came the voice from the other end. “The flame went out. The strings are cut. The heir must rise or fall with fate. Science found a new master, but still the giant waits.” The call ended abruptly, leaving behind a silent Kurogiri.

“Well, what did they say?” Tomura asked impatiently.

 “Tomura,” Kurogiri stated in an urgent voice. “Come with me.” Kurogiri stood and walked out the back door. Tomura followed.

In the five years since sensei had been taken from them, Kurogiri was the only ally the spoiled Tomura had left. All of Sensei’s other subordinates had jumped ship the moment Sensei was no longer able to control them. They refused to follow a spoiled brat, and Tomura found out how powerless he truly was without Sensei there to back him up. Sure, he could destroy things and influence anyone he was bodily near, but he had not had enough influence to take over Sensei’s vast connections.

Even Tomura was not sure why Kurogiri was taking care of him after all these years, but he knew the man had never let him down before. In fact, he had saved his life several times as Sensei’s support network collapsed around him. Therefore he followed, with no hint of the tantrums that had plagued his time with Sensei.

Kurogiri led Tomura to a clearing with a large rock formation in the center before turning to him. “Tomura,” he said softly. “I have some bad news.”

“Get on with it then.” Tomura said grouchily as a cold pit started to grow in his stomach. “What is it?”

“The doctor has found a new master,” Kurogiri started, watching Tomura carefully for a reaction.

“Is that it?” Tomura scoffed, feeling a little relieved. “He’s been refusing to help us for years why should I care if he has a new master? Sensei will rip him to pieces when he gets out.”

“Sensei is dead,” Kurogiri said bluntly. Tomura froze in shock.

“No.” Kurogiri stayed still as a statue, he knew the boy had heard and was processing the information despite his denial. “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!” Tomura fell to his knees and smashed his hands into the ground beneath him leaving sizeable craters despite not having unleashed his quirk. The only reason his quirk was not reacting was the gloves still adorning his dry hands.

Tomura ripped the offending gloves off his fingers and turned to decay the rock formation in the clearing. It was gone in an instant. The decay however, did not stop at the rock. It continued to spread outward, as if it was the epicenter of an earthquake. Eventually, the shockwave faded leaving a distraught 22 year old sobbing as if he were a young child.

Kurogiri deeming the danger to be over walked up to Tomura and knelt beside him pulling out a new set of gloves for him to wear. Tomura, too blinded by his grief to see his surroundings, didn’t notice or flinch when Kurogiri gently put the new gloves on his hands. Then he warped Tomura to his bedroom to rest.

Tomura awoke several hours later and walked down the stairs to find Kurogiri once more. Kurogiri gave him a glass of water and led him to the table where he had some soup ready for him. Blankly, Tomura finished what was in front of him. “Tomura,” Kurogiri began, “Sensei left you an inheritance of sorts not too far from here. When you are ready, would you like to see it?”

“I’m ready,” Tomura said. “Let’s go now.” Kurogiri made a portal and waited for Tomura to enter before he stepped through.

The first thing Tomura saw was a giant. “This is Gigantomachia. He was one of Sensei’s most loyal bodyguards. Sensei told him about you, and he has been waiting to test you.”

“Test me?” Tomura asked a bit of his gruffness returning to his voice. At the sound of his voice, the giant began to stir. His eyes popped open and he turned to stare at the lanky man.

“The heir is here to test his mettle,” Gigantomachia said in an exuberant voice. “Let’s begin.”

Tomura barely dodged the first blow, and let out a malicious smile. “Ah I see. Sensei created a training quest for me. I must not fail!”

…

A man in a decorative plague mask followed the old doctor through a maze of tunnels before he reached his ultimate destination. “You’re sure that your beasts are strong enough to nab us the anti-quirk brat they have hidden away at UA?” The man asked condescendingly.

“My nomus are strong enough to do what you need if you use them correctly,” the doctor replied nonchalantly. “With your funding, I was able to create several different variations. I just need to program them to respond to your orders now. Hence the visit.”

“If this doesn’t work I will be unable to get you the funding you need for our future projects,” The young man reminded the doctor.

“Yes, Yes. I have full faith in your ability to grab the boy,” The doctor hummed as he led the man to his new nomu factory. “I have missed him you know. He was always so much fun to experiment on. It’s a pity your quirk won’t work on him. It would be highly satisfying to be able to bleed him dry and then revive him. Unfortunately, it won’t work on him even after he dies. I tried it once you know. Stopped his heart for a few moments to see if his quirk worked even after his death. Then quickly brought him back. Yes, it was fascinating.”

The doctor continued to reminisce but the man was no longer listening. He thought instead to future plans. He would see the Shie Hassaikai rise again. The former head had retired leaving the group to Chisaki so he could raise his granddaughter in peace. Chisaki had cleaned up the group and looked for ways to outdo the competition when he caught rumors of a shadow that could erase quirks with a touch.

When he heard this, he thought of the old boss. The man had been looked down upon for not having a quirk, even though he was easily the strongest fighter in the group. His analytical mind had served him and his group well. However, Chisaki had felt oppressed by the old man’s overly cautious methods, and easily disgusted by the blatant quirk discrimination he witnessed in the streets.  If he could show the world what it was like to be quirkless, while maintaining own men’s quirks, the Shie Hassaikai would reign supreme. All they needed was the child.

With the century old bogey man dead, it was time for a new face of evil to rise. Chisaki knew if he could pull this off, he would be that new bogey man. Soon the world would fear the name OVERHAUL.

Chapter Text

Shinso and the rest of the class excitedly boarded the bus to the USJ while Aizawa watched wearily. Izuku yawned beside him catching his attention. “You could have taken today off you know,” Aizawa said to the boy. “No one would blame you.” Izuku looked at him confused, but then his eyes widened in understanding. He looked down for a moment before looking at Aizawa with the determined expression he had learned to never underestimate.

I can’t let that man rule my life after he’s gone, Izuku signed. It would mean he won when it mattered most. My mom wouldn’t want that. 

Aizawa let a smile peek out from his capture scarf before he answered, “Taking a break to put yourself in order isn’t a loss. It’s a strategic retreat so you can win the war.”

Izuku sent him a mischievous smile and signed, I’m going to tell Present Mic you said that.

Aizawa scowled, “That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Izuku just laughed and climbed on the bus after Todoroki. He chose a seat next to the boy despite his Icy glare and started asking the boy about the inspiration for his hero suit. Aizawa gave a small sigh and nodded to the bus driver after Gran Torino took his seat.

Todoroki took the time to look the small sensei over as they chatted. The boy was eternally happy but always aware of his surroundings despite his bubbly personality. If he had not been siblings with Fuyumi, he might have been fooled by the act. She carried herself the same way when his father was home. “What inspired you to use fake ice to cover your fire side?” The boy asked amiably.

Todoroki gave him a side glance but answered. After all, this boy technically was a teacher. “It reminds me of my mother,” He said softly as he turned to look out the window.

Izuku saw the glint of pain in his eyes as the boy turned away. He felt a twinge of sympathy and answered softly, “That’s a good reason.” Todoroki turned back with a hint of surprise on his otherwise emotionless face. “Mothers should be every child’s champion,” Izuku continued with a wry smile. Todoroki was about to ask more when they were interrupted by a small explosion detonating on Bakugou’s palm along with some raucous shouting.

“YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN FROG FACE!” The boy shouted halfway out of his seat and shouting at Asui and posturing threateningly. The girl just laughed while Kirishima tried to calm the boy down. The bus lurched to a stop and Aizawa asked them all to gather on the steps of the USJ.

As soon as the class had gathered, Aizawa led the excited teens to the central plaza where 13 stood. Izuku smiled as Uraraka squealed with excitement from beside him. “They are my favorite rescue hero! I got into hero work because I was inspired by them!” Izuku nodded along with her remembering his first training with the rescue hero with a fond smile.

“I am Thirteen!” they had said so happily when they met. Izuku had watched her warily as they gave their speech. He looked down in shame when they mentioned how dangerous quirks could be. He knew that. He had detained many for his father using his anti-quirk. “But dangerous quirks can be used to save, just as they can be used to hurt! It is all in how you use them.” Izuku had broken down in tears at the sentiment. It brought him such hope.

Thirteen clapped their hands bringing Izuku back to the present. Alright class, you will each be assigned a teacher to lead your group and we will begin the exercises.  Izuku ran to the control room so he could help coordinate rescue team efforts while Gran Torino split each team up for the exercise.

Izuku and the class learned a lot about different aspects of each other’s quirks; especially when the teachers had the students take turns being the survivor. Izuku frowned as he saw Todoroki refuse to use his fire side to save some one, insisting that only his ice was useful and necessary. He filed that note away in his file as something to work on with the boy. Aside from that and Bakugo refusing to act as “a beaten up Deku who needs help all the time,” The trip went smoothly and the kids filed back onto the bus tired, but happy for the most part.

This time Izuku chose to sit next to Bakugou for the return ride. Bakugou bristled at the green teen next to him. He snarled back in response to the bright smile Izuku shot at him, but otherwise settled down in his seat. He looked out the window; praying the boy wouldn’t want to talk. His hearing aid batteries had gone dead towards the end of the trip and he couldn’t hear anyone quieter than Present Mic. He snarled at the boy as he tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

Do you know sign? Izuku signed, surprising Bakugou. Nobody but his parents and the doctors had ever spoken in sign to him.

Bakugou covered his surprise with a smug smirk and signed back “Of course I know sign. I’m not an idiot.” Midoriya’s smile got even wider and jostled a familiar memory he couldn’t quite pin down.

“Sweet, I have a question,” Izuku replied not even put off by the attitude the boy emanated. “Who is Deku?” At Bakugou’s confused glance, Izuku signed more trying to explain the question. “When you were asked to be a fake survivor, you said you didn’t want to be a beaten up Deku who needs help all the time. You made it sound like you were talking about someone specific, so I’m curious. Who’s the Deku in your life?”

Bakugou growled and signed back. “None of your business!”

Izuku just smiled sadly at him and replied again. “This is me talking as a teacher’s assistant. You are strong and powerful, but there will be times in your life when you are powerless like Deku. Granted, UA is teaching you to be stronger and your own personal strength will greatly limit the times you are in that position. However, it is important to know how to deal with the situation from both sides of the playing field. If you can’t understand what it’s like to be a victim in practice; you won’t be able to sympathize with them in the field. Additionally, if you are the victim; you won’t know how to help your rescuers when they come to get you out.”

“I’m not here to save people. I am here to prove I’m the strongest.” Bakugou replied haughtily.

“Then you should have joined the military.” Izuku replies without skipping a beat. “Just think about it. You’ve got a lot of potential. I would hate to see it wasted because of your pride.”

If Midoriya wasn’t a teacher Bakugou would have hit him. As it was, he just scoffed and turned back towards the window until the end of the ride. Midoriya didn’t try to talk to him again, instead listening to the conversations going on around him.

…

At the front of the bus Gran Torino elbowed Aizawa in the ribs as he retold the story of Tokoyami’s mudslide fiasco. “You should have seen it Aizawa!” He exclaimed. “The boy had finally gotten Yaoyorozu from the ledge and was heading back when the water fall sequence activated. He immediately threw the girl to Dark Shadow who passed the girl off to Shoji then took the mud slide right to the face while Dark Shadow held on to the closest tree laughing at his handler’s misfortune. Can you imagine your own quirk laughing at you while you are using their body as a rope to pull yourself out of a pile of muddy water! Hahaha, His reaction was priceless!”

Aizawa just rolled his eyes and looked back to see Bakugou and Midoriya signing back and forth. He got Gran’s attention and they both watched the conversation. They could only see Izuku’s hands, but the blonde’s facial expressions were more than enough to gauge his reaction to the advice. Izuku noticed the teachers gaze and shot them a smile and a wave. They waved back and returned to their gaze to the road up front.

“Midoriya is a wonder!” Gran Torino said, “Although he definitely could lighten up a little bit; that boy would have figured it out sooner or later.”

“That boy learned those lessons through a lot of pain,” Aizawa replied. “He just doesn’t want them to have to go through the same pain he did to learn them.”

“Look at that you do care!” Gran Torino teased his lanky coworker. As Aizawa let out a long suffering sigh, and turned the conversation to lesson plans for the next few days. Neither men noticed Todoroki and Asui listening in on their conversation.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks flew by as the students got ready for the sports festival. Izuku had been assigned by Nedzu to work in Gym Delta with any students who wanted combat tips or sparring partners for practice leading up to the event. Shinso was a regular, coming by nearly every day to spar or get help on his homework if time allowed. Izuku enjoyed his company, but knew that the boy didn’t want to go home. “Are they treating you badly?” Izuku asked him one evening.

Shinso snorted at the thought of his new foster mother hurting anyone. “No,” he replied. “It’s the opposite actually. They are so kind and normal it scares me a little. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, or for the façade to shatter. It never does.”

“Have you talked to them about it?” Izuku asked remembering how he had felt much the same way when he had been taken in by UA. He had been most suspicious of Present Mic with his overly loud and happy personality. He had clung to Aizawa, taking refuge in his stoic neutrality instead.

“Kind of. I don’t know. How can you tell these kind people: I know your being nice but I’m terrified you’re going to turn on me like all the rest! Where do you hide your muzzle? I know you want to put it on me! I can feel you judging me!” Shinso said hiding his anxiety behind his dramatic display.

“Any one would get offended if you put it that way!” Izuku laughed more to help Shinso relax than because he was funny. He knew that Shinso had passed through several foster parents who had been abusive and used muzzles on him. “They know your past Shinso,” Izuku said calmly. “They’ll understand if you are paranoid. I think they might be overdoing the niceness to make up for it. If that is making you uncomfortable it’s better to tell them.”

Aizawa had reported the parents Shinso had had during their fortuitous meeting in the dumpster after he and Izuku realized the marks on his face were from a specific type of muzzle meant to suppress voice activated quirks. Izuku had made sure to meet the new foster parents with Shinso. They had seemed like nice people. Earnest and kind-hearted to a fault. They had a history of fostering children with trauma and had done a lot to make Shinso feel welcome.

Shinso just sighed, “You’re right like always.” and packed up his bag to head home. He stopped before he got to the door and turned around. “Hey, Thanks for always being here to talk to me. It means a lot,” Shinso said with a slight blush on his cheeks as he looked down towards the floor.

Izuku smiled softly thinking of all the times Midnight and Nedzu had done the same for him. “Any time Shinso.”

“Hitoshi.”

“What?” Izuku sputtered caught off guard.

“You might as well call me Hitoshi now. We’ve been friends for almost 3 years. It’s about time we started using first names; don’t you think?” Shinso said nonchalantly even as his cheeks tinted a darker shade of pink.

“Of Course Hitoshi!” Izuku beamed. “But I still need to call you Shinso in class, alright?”

“Fine.” Hitoshi left with a smile on his face, and a warm feeling in his chest.

…

“So the boy visits a cat café with Eraserhead occasionally.” Overhaul said after hearing Chronostasis’s report. “He’s never alone?”

“Not that I can see. There is a friend that he meets there occasionally as well. Perhaps we could kidnap him and barter one for the other.”

“No that will be too messy. Too many things could go wrong, especially if we are identified too early.” Overhaul dismissed the idea quickly. “The sports festival might be our best chance to obtain him. He will be helping recovery girl run the medical tent if I understand correctly.”

“Yes sir. He has been assigned to help run the medic booth for the festival goers while Recovery Girl runs the student’s booth.”

“Perfect. While the crowd is distracted by the sporting events, we will lure him from the booth with a fake emergency. Since quirks don’t work on him, we’ll have the doctor prep a tranquilizer. He will most likely have a hero escort as well. I will send you and mimic to take care of it. If you fail, blend in with the crowd and regroup.”

“Understood.” Chronostasis replied with a quick bow before leaving the room. Overhaul picked up his phone to inform the doctor of the arrangements.

…

Todoroki paced in front of Gym Delta impatiently waiting for Midoriya to arrive. Aizawa had asked everyone in the class to train with Midoriya at least once to help with preparations for the festival. Todoroki had put it off until the last possible moment. His father’s training had gotten harsher as the event drew closer. As a result, he had spent the morning in Recovery Girl’s office after Aizawa had caught him sleeping in class.

A curly mop of green hair came into view as Midoriya rounded the corner at a sprint. “Todoroki!” He called running up to the teen. “I am so sorry! My coding class with Hatsume from support ran long!” Todoroki impassively nodded as he observed the boy unlock the door and wave them in. The teen didn’t even sound winded, and Todoroki knew the support course was on the other side of the campus. “Aizawa told me you fell asleep in class this morning,” Izuku said conversationally. “What made you so tired?”

“My father is in town for the festival and decided to have a late night training session to help me prepare,” Todoroki replied struggling to keep his tone even though he hated calling that man his father. He must not have done a good enough job because he saw Midoriya’s eyes light up in concern.

“Your father is Endeavor right?” Izuku asked watching Todoroki closely. He saw the boy’s fists clench as he nodded. “So that’s why you don’t use your fire!”

Todoroki’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “How—“

“Let’s just say, I have experience when it comes to terrible fathers.” Izuku said as he dropped his duffle bag and strode towards the center of the gym floor. “Come over to the mat and sit with me.” Todoroki followed cautiously and sat across from Izuku who had chosen to sit criss cross. “Tell me your story.”

“What does this have to do with training?” Todoroki asked. He knew that even if he admitted to his situation it was unlikely to change. His father was protected by the Hero Commission after all.

“You are refusing to use your entire power because of a mental block,” Izuku replied. “That is dangerous not only to yourself, but also to those you will be working with in the field. It is important for you to work through that mental block so can alleviate and control that danger. So, tell me your story. Let’s figure this out.”

Todoroki looked at him skeptically, but decided to trust this odd sensei. He told Izuku about the quirk marriage. He told the story of how his mother had been so afraid of his father that she had thrown a kettle of boiling water at his head directly on his father's side. He told how his father was so obsessed with the number one spot that he had mercilessly trained his four year old son to grab a hold of the spot he could never attain. He told Midoriya about his oath. His oath to never use his father’s fire.

“Is your fire side capable of pyro-kinesis?” Izuku asked.

“No.”

“So you can’t control the fire that comes off of your father’s body?”

“No.”

“So you literally cannot control his hell flame in any way correct?”

“I don’t get what you are asking?”

“Todoroki,” Izuku stopped the confused teen. “Your father’s Hellfire is a part of him. You cannot control him or his flames. The flames you produce are your own creation. You will not break your oath by using the flames you yourself produce.”

“But Flames hurt.  Flames symbolize rage and unending greed.” Todoroki said in frustration.

“It’s also a symbol of hearth and home,” Izuku replied calmly. “Quirks are a part of us like fingers and toes. They are tools for us to use. What we do with those tools is up to us. We own our choices.” Seeing Todoroki’s eyes light up in wary understanding Izuku pressed on. “It’s your power, not his. If you believe your father is the greatest villain in your life, you need to overcome him by being your own person.”

“I’ve never thought about it that way.” Todoroki said. “It’s my power, but what about my mother? If I use this power I feel like I will be becoming him in her eyes. She’ll be just as terrified of me as she was of him.” Tears began to pool in his eyes as he relived his mother’s rejection. He felt Izuku’s hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. There was understanding there. Not pity. Understanding. Midoriya had been through the same struggles. He understands; so he’ll know. “What do I do?”

“Have you been able to see your mother since her accident?”

“My sister has asked me to come a couple of times, but I just didn’t feel ready. I don’t want to hurt her with my presence.” Todoroki said through his tears.

“Go and see her,” Izuku said kindly. “It sounds like she has been asking for you. Talk to her. See what she really thinks, now that she’s not in such a stressful environment. Quirks aside, she may surprise you.”

“Is that what you did?” Todoroki asked as he managed to get his tears under control.

“My mother died, so I don’t know what she would have said about my situation. I knew she loved me and that helped a lot.” Izuku responded his smile turned wistful but still full of compassion. “Todoroki, Thanks for telling me your story. It can’t have been easy. Do you feel your father’s training is abusive rather than helpful?”

“Sometimes.” Todoroki said.  “Honestly I think it’s the isolation that hurts the most. He has never laid his hands on any of my other siblings aside from Touya. I was very young when he died, so I don’t know the whole story.”

“If you wish, I can set up a meeting with a detective who can put together a case for child abuse for you and your siblings,” Izuku offered. “Talk to your siblings and mother and let me know what you decide. I will have to tell Aizawa and Nedzu what we talked about so they can better help you; but no other staff or students will know if you don’t wish them to.”

Todoroki nodded and thanked Izuku. “Any time,” Izuku replied as he handed him a water bottle. After Todoroki calmed down, Izuku worked with him on some close combat fighting and taught him how to meditate. He insisted that meditation would help him balance both his emotions and his quirk’s dual nature. Then they said their goodbyes. Todoroki walked home feeling lighter than he had since his mom had been sent away.

Chapter Text

Asui stuck to the side of the rock formation and whipped her tongue at Izuku. Instead of dodging, Izuku simply grabbed her tongue and waited. Asui desperately tried to pull her toungue out of his grasp, but her body began to feel strange. Her feet slid off the wall and she was pulled towards Izuku as her tongue shrunk back to a quirkless size. Izuku let go when her tongue was half its normal size and watched unsympathetically as she fell onto the padded gym floor.

“Your tongue is your greatest weakness against fast opponents,” Izuku said as she shook off the disorienting feeling of losing half her quirk and having it return to her. “Unless you can keep it slick enough for your opponent to be unable to grab, it’s better to be up close and personal. Your hand to hand combat can be adapted to your body style if you put in the effort. If you stick to it I bet your kicks could even rival Mikumo’s!”

“Yes, sir! Kero!” Asui responded enthusiastically and Izuku laughed. She was determined to land at least one hit on the green haired teacher by the end of the semester. She loved watching him interact with her classmates, and highly respected him for checking up on Koda after the glitter bomb incident. She knew from experience, that not many teachers, or even peers would think he needed cheering up.

At the end of their training session, Asui went up to Izuku and asked the question that had been on her mind since she had overheard the conversation between Aizawa and Gran Torino. “Midoriya?” She asked.

“Yeah?”

“I’m a pretty blunt person, so I’m just going to ask you. I overheard Aizawa sensei saying something about how you were so good at helping people because you had a painful past. Is that true?” Asui held her breath after she asked. She knew it was probably a sensitive topic.

Izuku smiled at her even as he cocked his head to the side. “What’s your real question?”

Asui was surprised he saw through her so quickly. She had always been told she was hard to read because of her facial features. “I guess my real question is how do I help people who are struggling with things that are so dark I never could have imagined them in my worst nightmares?”

Izuku smiled, and patted the ground beside him as an invitation to sit down. “That’s a good question. Where did it come from?”

“It’s something that has been on my mind lately. I am the oldest of five kids and I became a hero so I could protect kids like them from coming to harm. I started researching and watching the news so I could get an idea of what heroes deal with. I had no idea what kind of evils were out there until I started paying attention.

“I’ve read up on some psychology for trauma victims, and It is intimidating to say the least. I have had a happy family, lived in a safe neighborhood and had a generally pain free life. So how can I relate to these people who haven’t? I know I will be able to save them from physical danger, but how can I save their hearts?” Asui asked passionately looking over to see Izuku tearing up with a smile on his face.

“That’s a powerful sentiment.” Izuku started. “As you heard, my past was not pain free. What sustained me throughout my pain though were the kind words and love that were shown to me by those who did not know of my situation. The answer to your question is simple. You can listen and be there. As a hero, you won’t be able to save everyone, and you might not be able to stay with the victims long enough to feel like you really made a difference. However, if you make sure the time you do have with them is filled with a listening ear and acceptance you will be able to begin the healing process for them.”

“Thank you Midoriya-sensei,” Asui said with tears glistening in her own eyes.

“Any time,” came the kind reply.

…

The day of the sports festival finally arrived. Izuku found himself manning the medical booth with Gran Torino. That is when he could get the man to stop flirting with Recovery Girl.

The man had introduced himself to her by squirting Lunch Rush’s ketchup all over the front of his hero suit and hobbling into her office like he was minutes away from death. She took one look at him and smacked him with her cane. “You crazy old coot, I know the difference between ketchup and blood!” she yelled and chased him out of her office. He had fallen head over heels for her at that moment, but she was just annoyed by the man.

Izuku found the whole thing hilarious but loved listening to Recovery Girl rant about “how frustrating that man is!” and to Gran Torino telling him to “chase the ones you love no matter what.” Sometimes, he thought they were secretly already married and just liked being dramatic.

“It looks like we will need some more hand sanitizer,” Torino said. “I’ll go get some!” He squawked when Izuku grabbed the back of his cape before he could get too far.

“We have plenty of hand sanitizer Gran,” Izuku said in a no nonsense tone. “I programmed the bots to scan our supplies after every client and restock when necessary.”

“Shuzenji put you up to this didn’t she?” Gran Torino said with a small pout.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement,” Izuku said with a smirk that gave Gran Torino his answer anyway.

“All right,” Gran said leaning on the booth’s counter from his stool. “I’ll let it go this time.” Izuku laughed at his forlorn expression and turned his attention to the monitors where the students were lining up on the field.

Bakugou was called up to the stage by Midnight as it announced he was the top scorer in the entrance exam. Izuku watched him stomp up the stairs and grab the microphone. He stood tall instead of staying in his signature grouchy slouch and began to speak.

“I’m gonna win!” He said staring fiercely into the camera hovering in front of his face. Izuku tried not to laugh as he watched Aizawa face palm from the announcer’s stand. “But I’m gonna earn it, so all of you losers better do your best!” The students roared at his declaration. Izuku smiled. Even if it was just a small step, Bakugou was trying to put himself in other’s shoes.

“That kid’s gonna be fun to watch!” Gran Torino said chuckling at the declaration. Izuku nodded in agreement.

Just as the obstacle course began, a tall man with black dreadlocks and a pale face came running up to the booth. “Help! There’s a man in parking lot C having some kind of a seizure!” Izuku and Gran Torino leapt into action. Gran Torino took the emergency bag and rocketed towards the parking garage while Izuku put up the sign redirecting patrons to Recovery Girl’s tent and sent a message with the bot as he grabbed the tall man and had him lead the way.

“How long has he been seizing?” Izuku asked dialing emergency services and giving them a code and a location so they would know what they were dealing with.

“About 5 minutes. I left my friend with him and ran to you. He said he would call if he stopped or got worse. Let me give him a call!” The man said as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a needle and promptly stabbed it into Izuku’s arm. Izuku immediately distanced himself from the man and activated his distress signal  built into the bracelet Nedzu had given him for emergencies like this.

“What is your purpose here?” Izuku asked as his limbs began to feel heavy. He clenched his hands tight enough that they bled to try and keep himself awake a little while longer.

It didn’t work. Darkness closed in on him as the man answered, “The doctor missed you!”

Chapter Text

Gran Torino swore when he arrived to the parking lot to find it completely empty. Moments later an SOS with coordinates and Izuku’s code announced itself through his coms. Torino immediately booked it to the location to find Izuku’s tracker bracelet on the floor with several smeared drops of blood on the metal. Torino immediately contacted Nedzu who informed him that the man who took him was heading south in a red minivan. The police had been notified and Eraserhead was on his way. “I’m going ahead.” He said and took off praying they could catch him before the worst occurred.

…

Bakugou finished the race with a burst of light. He gave a victory roar and turned to see the rest of his class finish in varying spots. He grunted, Good. Now he could beat them all and show Midoriya he was too strong to ever become a victim.

Todoroki had placed second, just behind Bakugou. The boy’s explosion had slightly knocked him off course towards the end of the mine race. He had been disappointed, but not as angry as he would have been if he hadn’t met with his mom the day before. She had apologized and told him that his fire was beautiful. She and his siblings were divided on whether or not to push forward with the abuse case, so they had decided to meet up again after the festival to discuss it. He couldn’t wait to tell Izuku all about it.

Todoroki looked to the announcer’s booth and was surprised to find that Vlad King had taken Eraserhead’s place beside Present Mic. He had remembered Midoriya teasing Aizawa in class about having drawn the short straw and getting stuck in a recording booth with the loudest man on earth. Maybe he had weaseled himself out of it somehow.

Shinso crossed the finish line in 6^th place right behind the metal man from Class 1-B and right in front of the crazy inventor girl from Class 1-H. As soon as he collected himself, he looked around to see who else had made it with him. It appeared his entire class had made it. Even Hagakure, though no one really knew when she had made it through. He then noticed that only one girl from Support had made it, but most of Class 1-B had made it. The mushroom girl and calligraphy looking guy had just barely been beat out by a pair of twins from the general classes. He wondered if Izuku had seen him make it. He had been bummed when he found out that the greenette had to man the medical booth, so he wouldn’t be in the stands.

…

When Eraserhead caught up with Gran Torino he found an abandoned minivan with Izuku’s second tracker necklace abandoned with the rest of his clothes, and no indication of where they had gone.

...

Mimic hummed contentedly as he waited for the cameras to pick up his form as the “getaway car”. Honestly, becoming a minivan was kind of fun, and it definitely helped when he could change his form to a different kind of car to evade officials. He had copied a minivan he’d found abandoned earlier on the side of the road earlier that morning. Taking the mark’s belongings and dumping it in the real van before turning into a rock and waiting to see if they would take the bait was all too easy. He was literally made for this.

He thought back to the moment their contact with dreads had shown up and thrown the boy in the back seat where Chronostasis was already waiting with a jumpsuit and gloves to change the boy into so his anti-quirk wouldn’t affect the people holding him. They had changed him and promptly left out the door opposite of the cameras and stuffed the boy into a smaller car that took off in the opposite direction after the heroes had rushed past them to pursue mimic’s recklessly driving minivan.

When the last officer left, Mimic changed himself into a smart car and drove back to the compound. He was sure Overhaul would be pleased.

…

Izuku woke up to a nightmare he had hoped he would never see again. He was strapped to the doctor’s table devoid of clothing with an IV in his arm. He still felt groggy from whatever that man had put in his system, but he was aware enough to pick up the voices of two men arguing outside his door. He recognized the doctor’s voice, but the other was foreign to him. It was a deep voice that somehow sounded youthful.

“Doctor, when can you start making the drug?” The unknown voice asked demandingly.

“I can start drawing blood in about an hour when the drug leaves his system.” The doctor replied in his usual nonchalant tone. “After that, I can hand the blood off to your chemists for prototypes. I can only safely take 2 pints of blood a day due to his quirk. We won’t be able to take more than that because we aren’t able to heal him with a quirk.”

Izuku’s mind raced. They were making a drug from his blood? How would that work? His mind raced with all of the different possibilities and medical theories but his thoughts were derailed at the sound of the door clicking open.

"It's so good to see you again Izuku!” The doctor said as he entered alone. Izuku heard the other man’s footsteps echoing down the hall as the door clicked shut with a finality that left him reeling. “I know what you did!” Izuku didn’t reply. He couldn’t his mouth clogged up as if he was 5 years old again and left his gasping for air.

“Oh I see you never took care of that mutism of yours,” The doctor replied as if he was amused at Izuku’s attempt to speak. “Tell me Izuku,” The doctor said suddenly serious. “Did you cry when you heard Sensei died?” The doctor was leaning over Izuku on the table now his face hovering inches away from Izuku’s “Did you know that you sentenced him to death when you turned him in?” Izuku shook his head as tears began to form.

“DON’T LIE TO ME!” the doctor bellowed spit flying and landing on Izuku’s bare skin. “I trained you. I know you knew that he would die if he was placed in a quirk suppressant field. Five years he struggled; slowly dying because the heroes that stole him away from me couldn’t be bothered to realize his healing quirk had been turned off by their quirk suppressants!” The doctor said before he abruptly pulled away.

He continued, “I don’t blame them though. They’re heroes not scientists like us. No, I blame you. You should have known this would happen. You knew he would be sent to Tartarus to slowly waste away!” The doctor’s voice turned fond as he said, “He would be so proud of you, you know. You refused to kill when you were with him. It drove him up a wall. ‘I know he could succeed me if he could just abandon his sense of mercy’, he would always say.”

Izuku’s stomach churned at the admission. He honestly hadn’t thought of what would happen to his father if he was thrown in prison. Had he really become a killer by neglecting to even visit the man? If he had gone to visit even once; he would have noticed. He was sure he would have. The doctor was right. He had killed his father.

The doctor continued oblivious of Izuku’s internal dilemma. “Tomura was an agent of chaos. He had no place on Sensei’s throne. He couldn’t even keep the empire sensei built from crumbling around him. No, your notes were too thorough, and he was too spoiled to be a leader. It’s unfortunate that Gigantomachia was wired by Sensei. He would have been a great asset for the new candidate I chose.” Izuku’s eyes widened at the implications of that statement.

“You might have been my choice if you hadn’t bit the hand that fed you; but that’s all water under the bridge now. I have a new master now. He’s young, but he understands the importance of progress. And that’s all that matters.”

The doctor fell silent as he turned to the medical equipment and began prepping to take Izuku’s blood. Izuku’s mind whirled with the new knowledge the doctor had shared; as he tried to distract himself from the imminent experiments awaiting him. He steeled himself for what would come. He would observe and wait as best he could. He had done it before, he could do it again.

Chapter Text

Sir Nighteye paced his office. Nedzu was sitting in an armchair sipping tea with an uncharacteristically brooding face. “It’s been three days,” Nighteye spoke expressing the frustration they both shared. “If the boy hadn’t canceled that man’s quirk we wouldn’t even have a lead!” The man that had kidnapped Izuku had some kind of electrical interference quirk that affected the cameras. The moment he put the needle in Izuku’s skin, his quirk had canceled just enough for the camera to pick up his face.

“We put the man’s photo through Izuku’s facial recognition program,” Nedzu replied calmly. “We have been able to trace him to a group of Yakuza called the Shie Hassaikai. They have been under the radar lately. Apparently, their former head retired a few years ago. The new leader had to take care of in-fighting and secure loyalty when he took over. There have been rumors that they are claiming to be able to make a drug that disables quirks for a short amount of time. Apparently, there will be a demonstration of this drug in the red light district this weekend.”

“Eraser?” Sir Nighteye asked.

“And Midnight” Nedzu responded.

“Good. Naomasa has been running himself ragged these last few days. Sansa had to ask Midnight to put the poor man to sleep,” Sir Nighteye said as he pushed up his glasses to rub his own eyes. “I can’t say I’ve fared any better. It would be easier if I could help with the investigation.”

“It’s hardly your fault that any future including young Izuku remains unseen,” Nedzu said. The chimaera put his tea cup down and readied himself to leave. “I myself have to rely on experience rather than my quirk when it comes to Izuku. It’s why he’s so good at beating me in chess.” Nedzu came over to pat Sir Nighteye on the shoulder before heading out. “We’ll find him. I assure you.”

“And if we don’t?” Sir Nighteye asked softly, not expecting Nedzu to hear him.

“Then we’ll tear apart the villains responsible,” Nedzu replied darkly as he walked out the door. “No one hurts my kit.”

…

Asui kept glancing at the door. It had been almost a week since the sport’s festival, but there had been no sign of Midoriya. She looked around the classroom and noticed Shinso laying with his head down on his desk. The boy had been more quiet than usual since the festival. It was surprising at first because he had won the whole event, but as the days went by and Midoriya stayed absent, the boy’s mood had quickly turned stormy. It gave Asui a bad feeling.

Todoroki sighed as Bakugou once again made a point of telling him his second place medal meant nothing and he was still stronger. He was so done with his attitude. “Bakugou,” Todoroki said. “If you want my medal so much you can have it. It doesn’t matter whether or not I won. It only mattered that I moved forward.” Bakugou let go of the dual wielders collar as if he had been shocked. “If you don’t think third place is enough just get stronger for next time. Stop getting caught up on your perceived failures and let things go. I am done with you yelling in my face.” Having spoken his mind, Todoroki quickly sidestepped the blonde boy and made his way to the teacher’s lounge to turn in his intern papers.

He had decided to work with Everflame, a lower ranking hero that had amazing control over the flames he created from his fists. His father had thrown a fit, but seeing as how his mother was working on trying to forgive the man, Todoroki had decided he needed a break from the constant beatings Endeavor claimed was training. He did need to learn to control his fire side though. He had run from it for so long that when it was used, he could barely control it and he often ended up burning more than his intended target. He needed a mentor who could teach him control, not excess destruction.

He stopped short when he saw Shinso come out of the teacher’s lounge with determined eyes and clenched fists. The boy had been even more closed off than usual of late. Although, Todoroki mused, that could be because Midoriya was absent. The boy had been missing from their classes since the sports festival and he had been aching to talk with him about his meeting with his mother. The teen-sensei had a way of making you feel like everything would be alright even when he was pointing out your deepest flaws. He knew he could talk to Aizawa, but he just felt more comfortable talking about his situation with Midoriya. He hoped the boy would get over his illness soon.

Shinso was determined to find his best friend. Izuku had done so much for him, and although he had been sketchy about the details of his own past, Midoriya had shared enough for him to know the boy had seen true evil in his lifetime.

After winning the Sports festival, Shinso had desperately looked for the boy to celebrate. Instead, he had been informed by Nedzu that his friend had been kidnapped and they were working on retrieving him. Shinso knew that Izuku was a ward of U.A. but he had never truly been able to ask what the reason was. He hadn’t even realized the teen had had teachers following him around on their outings to the cat café. At least, not until he had found out Aizawa was his homeroom teacher. Nedzu had suggested he saved his questions for Midoriya for when he got back, and had assured him that the school was doing everything in their power to find and retrieve Izuku.

Aizawa had noticed Shinso struggling and made sure to put his own name on the list of internship offers he gave to the boy after the festival. The boy had been Izuku’s best friend since they met, and he knew that if he had left him unattended the consequences would be dire. The boy had surprised him when he had stormed into the teacher’s lounge during lunch and slammed his consent form on his desk. “If I intern for you, I get to help find Izuku right?” It came out as more of a demand than a question but Aizawa nodded an affirmation anyway.

“We have a lead we will be investigating,” Aizawa said. “But we may or may not find him during your internship.”

“Anything is better than nothing.” Shinso said before leaving the teacher’s lounge practically on fire with his determination.

Aizawa sighed and dropped his head to his desk before he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. He looked up to see Todoroki standing there with a paper in his hand. “Here is my form sir.” Aizawa sat up and accepted the form. Looking it over he smiled as he saw the name of the hero Todoroki had chosen. Izuku would have approved.

“Good choice.” Aizawa said when he saw Todoroki still standing at the edge of his desk. He saw the glint of curiosity in his eyes before the boy opened his mouth to ask a question.

“How is Midoriya san doing?” Todoroki asked hesitantly.

Aizawa arched his brow. The official story that teachers had told the students was that Midoriya was sick with a bad cold. They did this hoping to way lay any panic that would surely come if the student’s knew he had been kidnapped. “He’s still out of commission for the time being. Is there anything I can help you with?” Aizawa replied, remembering Izuku telling him that he had an seemingly abusive relationship with his father. He knew the boy probably felt more comfortable with Izuku than with him, but he also knew Izuku would not want the search for him to leave those who he could help right away by the wayside. Surprisingly, the boy answered.

“Midoriya might have told you about my complicated family issues.” Todoroki said almost nonchalantly ignoring the nervousness pooling in his stomach. The nervousness subsided somewhat when Aizawa nodded. “Well, my mom is trying to forgive my dad for what happened when I was younger, so I’m trying to give him a chance. My other siblings are split on whether to press charges or not, but they agree that they can’t really do anything until mom gets out of the mental ward.”

“How old are your siblings?” Aizawa asked.

“Nineteen. They are fraternal twins.” Todoroki replied.

“Do they currently live with you?”

“Fuyumi does,” Todoroki replied. “She stayed because she worried what would happen to me if I was left in the house alone with Endeavor. Natsuo blames him for what happened with Touya so he moved out as soon as he could.”

“If you are not safe staying with your father we could try and get your siblings to take custody of you if they are willing,” Aizawa said. “Talk with them and schedule a meeting with me after internships are over and we can talk about how to proceed. I would rather have you safe from harm than enduring for the sake of someone else’s feelings. Understand?”

Todoroki looked surprised, but nodded and turned to leave. When he got to the door he stopped and turned around. “Thanks,” he said before disappearing into the hallway.

Chapter Text

**** Trigger warning Bondage, Medical Horror****

Izuku writhed against his restraints in silent agony as the doctor injected him with yet another highly suspicious liquid before leaving the room. The boy had lost track of time between all of the experiments and drawing of his blood. Izuku knew that at least half of the doctor’s experiments were more likely to see how high his pain threshold was so he could move on to the more invasive experimentation. The doctor had always enjoyed keeping his patients awake as much as possible so he could brag about exactly what revolutionary medical technique he was performing on their bodies.

*** Trigger summary: The doctor is a egotistical sadist. Izuku is in pain***

Izuku turned away from those thoughts and pondered on what he had learned during his torture sessions. He had more than enough useful information about the doctor’s new master. Apparently, he was the head of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza group, and his ideals lined up with Sensei’s. He believed that society was skewed, and hated that quirkless people were looked down upon. Apparently, he held them to such a high standard, it could almost be seen as worship. He had discovered the doctor and his nomu projects through Giran.

Overhaul, that was the name the doctor used for him, had heard about the doctor’s ability to medically transfer or implant quirks and began playing with the idea of regulating quirks. The man apparently abhorred quirks, even his own, but was not blind to the power they possessed. He knew that in order to tear down society, and rebuild a new one, he would have to destabilize the very foundation of that society; quirks.

He asked the doctor if there was any way to destroy quirks. That had led to Izuku’s current status as a kidnapped guinea pig. The drug made from his blood had been a success, but the effects were only temporary so far. Izuku knew that even if the drug’s effects were temporary, those drugs had the ability to turn the tide of the battle in Overhaul’s favor. The man was gearing up for full scale war. He could only pray he was found in time for his information to be of any use.

…

****Trigger Warning Burns***

Dabi was once again grateful for his dead nerve endings as he was kneed in the gut by the shady drug dealer he was trying to apprehend. Dabi pushed the assailant away and set his shirt on fire causing the man to panic. Dabi quickly kicked the man to the ground and rolled him over a couple of times to keep the poor man from burning to death. Before pinning him, and managing to get the information he needed. The man fell unconscious from the pain of his burns and Dabi quickly called the police from a burner phone and left a file folder on the body before disappearing into the night.

***Trigger Over summary: Dabi burns a drug dealer's shirt and then puts it out. He gets the information he needs and leaves him behind with a file for the police to find***

He slid into the attic of the abandoned home he had made his base and collapsed on the threadbare couch he had salvaged from some dump somewhere. His roommate’s maniacal giggling only brought a groan of frustration from the man as he opened his eyes to find the giggling blonde terror leaning over his prone form with her trademark chesire grin.

“What do you want Toga?” He finally said acknowledging her presence.

“Aww, did you have another rough night?” Toga replied teasingly. “I’m not surprised though. It’s almost 6am! What took you so long?”

“The punk drug dealer tried to run,” Dabi said as he threw an arm over his eyes trying to forget the fact that he literally had to set the man on fire to get him to behave. “I got the info we need though.”

“Do tell.”

“The presentation of the quirk canceling drug is supposed to happen tonight at this warehouse in Hosu. Apparently, Jin volunteered to be the test subject.”

“Why would he do that?” Toga asked indignantly. “He has such a fun quirk!”

“The toll it takes on his mind is rough, though,” Dabi pointed out. “He’s basically the poster boy for schizophrenia ever since the incident.”

“I doubt erasing his quirk would fix that problem though. He should be talking to a counselor not taking drugs!” Toga exclaimed.

“Your one to talk,” Dabi said and immediately regretted it when he saw the offended look on Toga’s face.

“The same could be said about you!” She said. “How did the Yakuza even find him anyway?”

“Apparently, Giran sweet talked him into the deal.” Dabi said.

“Figures! He’s a meanie!” Toga said.

“So are we on for tonight?” Dabi asked.

“Of course!” Toga confirmed in her chipper tone. “I have the perfect blood for the occasion.”

…

Shinso tried to shake out the nerves he was feeling as he crouched on the roof of the warehouse overseeing their target location. Aizawa was crouched beside him listening quietly. Midnight was the only hero on the ground. She had dressed in civilian clothes and blended in with the crowd surprisingly well. Midnight’s job was to get information and knockout the crowd if things became too hectic. Shinso and Aizawa were there to hopefully trace any runners back to their base. Shinso clenched his fists. He could do this.

Inside the warehouse, Midnight scanned the crowd. A tall scarred man and lanky brown haired man caught her eye. They both wore matching fox masks and scanned the crowd warily. The lanky brown haired man caught sight of Midnight and whispered something to her partner who shook his head and face-palmed as if exasperated before nodding to his partner. The brunette made his way through the crowd towards the undercover hero and Midnight subtly got ready for trouble while trying to feign nonchalance.

The brunette whispered something in Midnight’s ear who blinked in surprise and nodded. The brunette clapped his hands in delight and returned to his partner who made eye contact and nodded as well. Moments later, the demonstration began. A makeshift stage had been made from the crates of cargo the warehouse held, on it appeared three men. One was a blonde man probably in his late twenties. He seemed visibly distressed and was cuffed to a large man who seemed to be made of muscle. The other man was a white haired man with two bangs that resembled the arms of a clock. The lower half of his face was entirely covered by an ornate plague mask.

Midnight sucked in a breath and waited for the man to start speaking before she let loose her sleeping gas in the crowd. The two men in their fox masks creeped to the outer perimeter and towards the stage hoping to save their friend before the presenter noticed the crowd falling asleep. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side. A shout from the guard alerted Chronostasis and he fled through the back door. The two fox vigilantes were on the guard as quick as a thought. The brunette one stabbed the guard with a syringe and drew blood while the scarred one burnt the cuffs off the blonde and handed him a handkerchief to cover his face. Midnight radioed Eraserhead to let him know that Chronostasis was on the move and followed his path from behind. Police began to pour into the building to apprehend the unconscious drugdealers, and the fox vigilantes and Jin slipped away in the confusion.

Eraserhead and Shinso watched as Chronostasis raced for his car. Quick as a cat, Eraserhead jumped from the firesecape he was on to the roof of his car. Chronostasis dropped into a fighting stance with the briefcase that supposedly held the drug behind his back.

“Hey bird breath!” Shinso yelled from his position on the roof. “Whatcha got there?”

Chronostasis ignored him in favor of staring down Eraserhead. The capture scarf whipped out to capture the man, but was expertly dodged. Midnight ran around the corner and let loose some sleeping gas in Chronostasis’s direction. Unfortunately the mask had a built in filter so it was ineffective. Midnight edged closer and the white haired man attempted to use his quirk only to find it had been erased. The capture weapon wrapped around the man and Midnight threw some quirk suppressor cuffs on him before calling an officer to retrieve him from their location. Shinso came to stand beside his mentor as the man opened the briefcase to find a tranquilizer gun and bullets. They finally had a lead.

Chapter Text

Tomura roared at the giant as it rolled over and fell asleep yet again. “How am I supposed to get stronger and take revenge if you’re always sleeping!?!” He yelled and kicked gigantomachia in frustration before yelping and holding his foot. Not even decay had an effect on this sleeping giant.

“Why don’t you take a break for today?” Kurogiri asked from his perch on top of the overhang. “It certainly seems your opponent has.”

Tomura had been trying to beat this creature for months now with minimal success. The young man had gotten quicker, and stronger, but he still lacked control over his emotions.

Kurogiri sighed. When All for One had died the man made of smoke had found himself slowly coming out from under the influence of some kind of hypnosis quirk. He had some very foggy memories of a building landing on his head, but not much else. He knew that logically the desire to stay faithful and assist Tomura in carrying out sensei’s legacy had been implanted as part of the hypnosis, but with no memories. He had little else to do. It was nice to be able to think for himself again though.

Tomura had noticed the changes in Kurogiri. He was no longer as compliant as he once had been, although he was still loyal to him. The biggest change was that the man had started cracking jokes. It was as if the man had suppressed years’ worth of humor and it was finally breaking the surface. The second, perhaps more surprising change was that Kurogiri would engage in combat with Tomura every once in a while. It was always a friendly spar or a suggestion here or there, but he would comment and encourage.

At first Tomura had hated it, but now he enjoyed it. It almost felt like he was becoming a father figure for the boy. Honestly, he had done more to make Tomura feel special than even All for One had when he was alive. Despite this, Tomura still felt the itch to destroy Izuku and the heroes that had taken away his sensei.

“Why don’t we take a break in town?” Kurogiri suggested. “We can meet up with your friends.”

Tomura tsked but stepped away from the slumbering giant to walk over to Kurogiri. “Might as well. It’s about time for me to beat Iguchi anyway.” With that they were warped to the Lizard man’s apartment to find the man surrounded by his collection of katanas.

“Admiring your knives again Iguchi?” Tomura sneered. The lizard man simply rolled his eyes and continued cleaning his favorite katana. “You up for some games?”

“No. I have company coming over tonight.”

“Oh? What kind?”

“It’s a friend I met at the bar. We commiserated over drinks and she’s coming over to hang out because this stupidly small town doesn’t like either of us.”

“Do they like heroes?”

“Heck no!” Iguchi cried. “Apparently, there was a hero that openly mocked her after failing to save her family from a building. She’s been against them ever since.”

“Sounds like good company to me.”

“You know I haven’t actually invited you to our meeting?”

“Unless this is a booty call, I’m staying.”

Iguchi let out a long suffering sigh before both men heard the sound of a knock. “Fine, you can stay, but be nice! No disintegrating!”

“Tsk. Fine,” Tomura agreed before watching the Lizard open the door to reveal the tallest most macho looking she he had ever seen. She was tall and built like a tank with huge lips and a cutesy way of speaking.

“Iguchi-kun!” The mystery guest chimed excitedly. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Magne-chan! Come on in!” Iguchi replied enthusiastically. “These are my friends Tomura and Kurogiri. They popped in unexpectedly just before you got here.”

“A pleasure to meet you madame,” Kurogiri replied. Tomura just waved.

“Awe, how cute!” Magne gushed and rushed up to them. “A young master and his butler!”

Tomura growled even as Kurogiri let out a small chuckle. “It’s been a while since I heard that one,” Kurogiri replied. “Iguchi, would you like me to prepare some snacks for us?”

“That’d be great!” The green man said. “We’ll be in the backyard testing Magne’s new weapon.” It was then that Tomura noticed the large metallic magnet Magne was holding.

“Where’d you pick up that?” Tomura asked. It had been a while since he had seen a real quirk related support item.

“Ah, I heard some stories from Iguchi about this Detnerat company that would make any support gear you requested under the radar,” Magne said nonchalantly. “Most of their mainstream stuff is cheap, but their weapons are works of art.”

“Apparently the owner of the company supports the idea that people should be able to use their quirks without restrictions, so he bends the rules and will put out unregistered support gear when he receives requests for them. I got half of my Katanas from them.” Iguchi threw in as he led them to the small patch of yard behind his apartment. “All right Magne, are you ready to show me this crazy quirk you’ve been telling me about?”

“Sure thing sugar!” Magne said and winked before pointing the magnet at Iguchi and activating her quirk.

“Woah!” Iguchi yelled as he was pulled from his spot on the porch directly to her magnet. Tomura was laughing until Magne pointed her magnet at him with Iguchi still pinned on it and sucked him into the magnet as well. Magne deactivated her quirk and let them fall on the ground in a heap with a sassy smile on her face.

“How’d you like it?” Magne asked cheekily.

“Ouch!” Iguchi said before he began nerding out. “That would be a great weapon for melee fighting Magne-chan!”

Tomura laid on the ground groaning. He was still sore from his sparring with Gigantomachia and was seriously contemplating breaking his promise to Iguchi and using his quirk on Magne’s new weapon. Then an idea came to him. Perhaps he could use a weapon to strengthen himself to fight the giant Sensei had left for him. “Iguchi,” Tomura said as he picked himself up off the ground. “How do I get in contact with Detnerat?”

…

“Thanks for saving me!/ I HAD IT UNDER CONTROL!!” Jin said to his friends when they were safe back at the warehouse.

“Yeah, Yeah,” Dabi said. “Why’d you let Giran talk you into such an obvious scam anyway?”

“That meanie only cares about the money you make him!” Toga said pouting. “I don’t see why you put up with him.”

“He saved me once before/ I HATE HIM FOR BETRAYING ME!” Jin said sinking into the couch in resignation.

“Saving you once doesn’t make up for the crap he’s putting you through now!” Dabi said. “Heck, at this rate he’s going to kill you! This isn’t right!”

“He’s right Jin,” Toga said uncharacteristically serious. “He crossed the line this time.”

“Not really/ OF COURSE HE DID!” Jin replied. “I initially said yes because he told me they had something that could help me calm my mind, /I AM CALM/ But then they took me to the testing room and they had this kid, no older than Toga strapped to an examination table. /A KID WHO COULDN’T TALK!/ The kid looked like he had been beaten half to death and had all these IV’s sticking out of him./HE LOOKED LIKE A FREAKING FRANKENSTEIN! SO MANY SCARS!!!/ They made me touch his hand and when I did my quirk was gone. /I WAS GONE!/ The crazy doctor man asked me to make a clone of him, but when I tried the clone immediately canceled itself out because of the kid’s quirk. /GOOD QUIRK!/ The bird men got frustrated and told me they would use me for the drug demonstration instead. /NOT MY FAULT!/ I tried to get the kid out so they knocked me out and stuck me with that ridiculously big muscle dude. /SO MANY MUSCLES!!!!!/ and next thing I knew you guys were rescuing me. /AIDING MY ESCAPE!!!!”

“Did Giran know the kid was there?” Dabi asked suddenly more alert as he focused on his friend.

“I don’t think so/ OF COURSE HE DID.”

“I don’t like this Dabi,” Toga said looking at the scarred man. “Do you think it’s him?”

“Of course it’s him. He’s the only person I know who has a quirk like that.”

“Do you guys know the kid?/ I FEEL LEFT OUT!”

“When we were younger we got picked up by this human trafficker, and taken to their warehouse. One of the man’s associates had a trance quirk that he put all the slaves under to keep us complacent,” Toga said. “We were caught up in it until one night there were two kids under the orders of a rival group that came in a busted the operation. There was a lanky teen with blue hair that went around decaying the group leaders, while his shadow, this child with long green hair, went around and tapped all of the slaves. It canceled out the quirk trance we were in and allowed us and the other kids to run.”

Dabi picked up the story where Toga left off. “The green kid actively showed us the exit while he kept an eye on the blue haired psycho killing the adults. He got everyone out, never saying a word, and then slammed the door shut behind us. After that night, Toga and I decided we would look for him. To thank him for what he did for us. It’s one of the main reasons we became vigilantes.”

“Woah/ WHAT AN ORIGIN STORY!!!/ The kid I saw there definitely had green hair. /LIKE A PIECE OF BROCCOLI!!” Jin said.

“Do you remember where they took you for the tests?” Toga asked, practically bouncing at the thought of getting to meet the boy again.

“Of course/ I WANT TO MAKE YOU HAPPY!”

“Then let’s go find the kid.”

Chapter Text

Shinso entered the large conference room with Eraserhead and looked around to spot Gran Torino standing next to Hawks, Ryukyu, Asui and Tokoyami. On the other side of the room, there was Fat gum, Kirishima, Nighteye and Nedzu. They stood by several third years He vaguely remembered from a sports festival a few years back. Sir Nighteye strode to the front of the room as the remaining heroes took their seats.

“Saturday night, Eraserhead, Midnight and their intern Thrall captured one of the leaders of the Shie Hassaikai,” Nighteye said. Shinso sat a little straighter at the mention of his hero name. “They also recovered a sample of a new drug created by the yakuza group that will temporarily disable any type of quirk, including mutations.” A collective gasp was heard as Nighteye continued once more. “We also found human DNA in the chemical make-up of the drug. We have matched it to Izuku Midoriya; a TA and ward of UA high school that was kidnapped during the sports festival.” Shinso watched as his classmates paled at the news. “We have called this meeting to ask for your aid in raiding the Main Shie Hassaikai compound. According to our sources, there is an underground portion of the compound where they may be running their experiments, and creating the drug.”

“Usually you are more certain about the whereabouts of the victims, what is so different about this case?” Ryukyu asked Sir Nighteye.

“Unfortunately, due to the nature of Midoriya’s quirk, I cannot see any possible futures that involve him,” Sir Nighteye replied.

“What exactly is his quirk?” Fat Gum asked.

Nedzu replied, “Midoriya’s quirk is registered as Anti-Quirk. If he is in physical contact with somebody that person’s quirk is automatically disabled no matter what type of quirk it is. Additionally, anything that is made by a quirk will be disabled once it comes into contact with him. The only quirks that can affect him are quirks that affect his surroundings, rather than his person.”

“That is a dangerous quirk in the wrong hands,” Ryukyu says with concern. “If they can create bullets with his quirk, they could turn society on its head. Count my agency in on this raid.” The rest of the heroes quickly echoed Ryukyu’s declaration, and the strategy was laid out.

Asui, Tokoyami, Kirishima, and Shinso gathered together at the end of the meeting. “Did you know he was kidnapped, and not just sick Shinso?” Asui asked bluntly as worried pooled in her stomach.

“Nedzu told me, and asked me to keep it quiet until we retrieved him,” Shinso replied.

“Why would they tell you and not us?” Kirishima asked. His stab of jealousy was overcome by worry when he heard that Shinso had known Izuku outside of school.

“We would hang out regularly outside of class. We were actually best friends,” Shinso responded.

“We’ll get him back,” Tokoyami said patting Shinso on the shoulder comfortingly.

…

“Why did I let you talk me into this?” Dabi groaned as he and Toga ran for their lives through the halls of a mostly abandoned hospital. Toga just cackled in response and dropped a smoke bomb to disorient their pursuers while the two vigilantes knocked them out one by one.

After depositing the 6 guards they had managed to bait into Toga’s favorite cat and mouse game in a janitorial closet, the pair of vigilantes made their way into the basement level of the facility. They were horrified to find a vast area filled with hideous creatures floating in some kind of liquid. Dabi grabbed his phone and took pictures as the pair they pressed forward. The duo found a single door at the end of the room. Toga pressed her ear to the door while Dabi looked around warily. Hearing nothing Toga stepped away and signaled to Dabi, who cautiously opened the door.

The room revealed an unconscious teenager with green hair strapped to a hospital gurney. Toga gasped and ran to the boy. “It’s him!” Toga said pushing past Dabi before literally jumping on top of the poor boy to embrace him. Dabi scanned the room again. Only a heart monitor and an IV surrounded the boy’s bed. The room was devoid of everything else except for a security camera that Dabi immediately torched.

The boy groaned, but otherwise did not stir. “He’s as cute as I remember!” Toga squealed delightedly as Dabi yanked her off the boy by the collar of her shirt.

“The lab shouldn’t be this lightly protected, especially if this kid is their main source for this drug,” Dabi said as he released Izuku from his bonds and wrapped him in his long coat. “We should hurry before someone else shows up,” Dabi continued as he kicked open the door. “Swipe what info you can off the computers we ran past and we can drop the police a tip.”

“Dabi,” Toga asked with a waver in her voice. “Where did the floaters go?” Dabi scanned the room to discover the previously filled tanks were completely gone.

“Nope! Not dealing with that,” Dabi said. “We’re running; keep a sharp look out.” With that the two vigilantes ran out the way they had come with no obstacles. They made it back to their car and Toga checked their unconscious cargo while Dabi drove.

“He looks delicious!” Toga said, “but he doesn’t have enough blood for me to suck.”

“No eating our rescues!” Dabi scolded. “He would give you a stomach ache anyway if he really does cancel quirks.”

Toga stuck out her tongue before continuing. “He’s got some bruises and broken bones, but he’s unconscious from lack of blood, not anything else. His IV was full of nutrients. We should probably take him to a hospital or recovery girl instead of the police.”

“If we get too close to UA they’ll take us in,” Dabi said clenching the steering wheel. “Why don’t we call Midnight? You still got her number from the drug raid right?”

“Aye Aye sir!” Toga said before pulling out her phone.

…

Midnight was not expecting a call from vigilantes at 5AM, nor was she expecting to find her adopted nephew unconscious on the docks 30 miles away from where the raid on the Shie Hassaikai was taking place. She called the ambulance and picked up the large manila envelope containing pictures, a sticky note with an address and several letters inside.

…

Izuku groaned and rolled over to his side before his eyes flew open. He could hear the heart monitor pick up as his adrenaline surged through his veins realizing he was no longer restrained. He took a quick survey of the room to find Midnight’s familiar face as she opened the door and made eye contact with him from across the room. Izuku opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Midnight’s eyes flashed with worry as she ran across the room to give him a hug.

“We’ve been so worried!” Midnight said as Izuku inhaled her familiar scent and began to cry into her shoulder. “You’re safe now.” Izuku took a deep breathe to steady himself and pushed her away and began signing to request Naomasa

...

Shinso, Asui, Kirishima, and Tokoyami breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard that Midoriya had been found. The raid had uncovered an abandoned base with no usable evidence. Shinso had almost burst into tears of frustration before Eraserhead pulled them aside and told them the news. Midoriya had been found 30 miles east of the base on the docks, and was currently recovering in recovery girl's office while filling in the police on what he knew.

...

“Is everything in place?” Chisaki asked the doctor as they opened two double doors to reveal a pristine lab.

“Of course Overhaul,” The doctor said. “The last Nomus arrived early this morning. It is unfortunate that we had to leave the boy. I had so much more planned for him.”

“We couldn’t afford the heat the search for him was causing anymore. We had to abandon two bases to keep them off our tail. We have enough of our permanent serum to accomplish our goals. The Nomus are frankly more important for us in the long run. It’s fortunate that you were able to put a tracker in the boy. We can always find him at a later date.” Chisaki said as they walked through the lab to the Office where Nemoto stood waiting. “Nemoto, were you able to find the vigilantes?”

“Unfortunately not,” Nemoto answered. “However, they did send the boy back to UA.”

“Perfect.” Chisaki said. "The false information we gave him should serve as an ample distraction."

“Is everything set up with the Hero Commission?”

“Everything is ready,” Nemoto said.

“Then gather the men together,” Chisaki said. “It’s time to begin phase two.”

Chapter Text

The silent take-over of the Hero Commission was almost pathetically easy. They only had to kill one man and replace him with their own sympathizer. The Commission’s chain of command was conveniently similar to a dictatorship. The President of the HC gave an order that was approved or vetoed by the board and then it was carried out. It had taken surprisingly little for the board to be bribed or turned to their cause; especially with the previous Yakuza Head’s legacy backing him up. Only the current president had stood in their way before he had gone missing *cough killed by Chisaki Cough*. The only obstacles now were Nedzu and the HC’s pet hero Hawks. If Nedzu caught wind of the takeover before they were ready to attack, the next step in Chisaki’s plan would not go as smoothly as he wanted it to. Hawks was an asset, but had a mind of his own. If he went against orders they would be exposed publicly and he was charismatic enough to turn the public against them as well.

Releasing Izuku should be enough to throw off Nedzu, but Hawks would need to be kept busy. Chisaki had heard a few rumors about the Detnerat company president from Giran and his sympathetic HC agents. That should be enough of a distraction for their new bird while they set up for their next phase.

…

“It’s good to see you again Chizome!” Toga squealed with delight as she ran to hug the skinny, noseless man that had entered their base. Chizome simply grabbed her by the forehead to ward off her impending hug and sighed as she pouted still making grabby hands. “Awe c’mon. I just want to hug my fellow bloodsucker!”

Chizome gave her a light shove backwards and waved to Dabi as he came to sit down at their kitchen counter. “There’s been a lot of movement in the underground lately,” He said in his raspy voice.

“We know,” Dabi replied as he slid the file he had compiled of their findings in the lab with Izuku. “Toga and I rescued a victim from a lab last night. When we went in there were several creatures floating in those huge tubes, and only six guards to secure them. When we came out, the creatures were gone, leaving only empty tubes and a sparking computer.”

“Whoever moved them was super quiet too!” Toga said as she draped herself over Dabi’s shoulders. “We can’t have left the room for less than 5 minutes before coming out and seeing everything and poofed,” she continued as she dramatically opened her hands as if performing a magic trick.

Chizome raised an eyebrow at her antics, but scanned the file and looked at the pictures Dabi had given him. “I’ve never seen creatures like these. Were you able to get any data off the computer before you split?” Dabi shook his head and Chizome hummed his acknowledgement. “If these creatures are sentient, we could be looking at someone’s self-made army. You remember that huge villain bust a few years after you got out of that slaver’s market?”

“The bogeyman?” Dabi asked.

“Yes,” Chizome said. “According to my sources, he died in prison a few weeks ago. Since then the underworld has been buzzing about who will get control of his assets. Apparently, there was a lot the heroes missed. Giran has had the best luck at locating his hand-me-downs and passing them on to a villain willing to pay his price. Most of his appropriated wares have been going to a small yakuza gang that recently started recruiting like crazy. They were the ones who also claimed to make a quirk canceling drug.”

“Shie Hassaikai?” Toga said tilting her head to the side as she stood up straight and started fiddling with the knife she kept in her sleeve. “That’s who we just saved greenie from!”

“Greenie?” Chizome asked. “You mean the little hero that saved you from the slavers?”

Dabi nodded. “Apparently, he has an anti-quirk quirk that they needed to make the bullets. It was a good thing we got there when we did. Apparently they had drained him of nearly all his blood and just abandoned him with the warehouse.”

“Was he abandoned or left behind on purpose?” Chizome asked.

“Why would they leave him behind?” Toga asked “If they needed him to make drugs, they would have kept him closer to them.”

“Unless they found a way to clone the DNA that gives him his anti-quirk.” Chizome pointed out. “Were you able to talk to him before you handed him over?”

“He was looking pretty rough. I didn’t want to take the chance that he needed more medical attention than Toga could give him with her nurses training.” Dabi replied tightening his hands into fists as he remembered the boy’s broken legs and bruised torso.

“I’ll hack into the police’s database and see if we can’t find out what the kid told them about his abduction,” Chizome said as he put one hand over Dabi’s clenched fist. “If he’s a true hero like All-Might and you two crazies; he’ll have brought more than enough info for us to find out what they are planning next.”

Dabi looked his long time vigilante mentor in the eyes and smiled back at his attempt to comfort him. He would never forget the day Chizome had found him and Toga half-starved and still trying to stop the noseless psycho from killing some no name hero. They had managed to talk him down, and had been surprised when he offered them a place to stay. “You brats saved me from becoming a serial killer; it’s only fair I save you from starvation.” He had said before dragging them home with him.

Toga ruined the moment by slapping her hand on top of the two men’s and yelling “Go Team!” Dabi rolled his eyes at her cheering and Chizome got up to leave.

“I’ll let you know what I find,” Chizome said before he left. “For now just stick to your regular patrols and keep your eye out for anything else unusual. I have a feeling this is going to be bigger than anything we have seen in a while. Stay alert.” With those foreboding words he shut the door and disappeared into the night.

…

Izuku gave Naomasa the information he had gleaned from the doctor as Nedzu listened intently from his corner of the room. “The doctor kept talking about Overhaul as if he was the second coming of All for One. He also went on and on about how they kidnapped me to figure out how to revert others back to their quirkless pure state. It sounded like they were gearing up for full scale war against society itself!” Izuku signed after he had quoted as many of the doctor’s monologue sessions as he could verbatim. “Honestly it sounded as if the doctor had practiced his monologues.”

“What do you mean by that?” Nedzu asked.

“I basically lived in the doctor’s lab for the majority of my time with All for One,” Izuku replied. “He’s always had an absentminded muttering habit. He would speak his hypothesis theories and findings out loud so he would remember to write them down later, but these monologues were practiced and fluid, not incoherent babblings like he usually said. I don’t know how much of what he said was real but I know not all of it was. As far as I know, they were never successful at recreating my DNA so they could produce anti quirk bullets without me. If they let me go, even to vigilantes, it means I am serving their purpose somehow. Most likely I am a distraction from some other action they are taking. Were the doctors able to find any tracers on my body when I came in?”

“Recovery Girl found one that had been implanted in the base of your neck,” Naomasa said. “It has been removed and is in evidence.”

“That means they were planning on recovering me sometime in the near future,” Izuku said.

“We will not let that happen,” Nedzu said as he stand up from his seat and comes over to card his paw through Izuku’s now buzzed hair. “We’ll keep you updated on the case, but you need to take your time to heal before rushing in again. Do you understand?” Izuku looked him in the eyes and nodded before sheepishly looking away. “Good. Now I believe you have some visitors!”

As soon as Nedzu said this, the door opened revealing Asui, Tokoyami, Shinso, Kirishima and Eraserhead. Izuku’s eyes opened wide and he sent a reassuring smile to the students. Asui and Kirishima immediately started crying from relief when they saw him; While Shinso, Tokoyami, and Eraserhead noticeably relaxed.

“These students were the only ones aware of your kidnapping as they were assigned to hero agencies that took part in a raid on the base we believed you were most likely to be in.” Nedzu explained. “Gran Torino said he would come by later as well. I will be heading out. Students, don’t keep him too long. He needs his rest!”

“Understood!” The students said. Eraserhead simply nodded as the principal left the room and took the chair the principal had previously occupied. Asui stepped forward and gave Izuku a gentle hug, still crying while Kirishima kept trying to wipe the tears from his eyes. Shinso watched it all as if he was behind a window. He suddenly felt awkward, as if he was intruding. Tokoyami put his hand on his shoulder and nudged him forward. The shock of this brought Shinso out of his funk and he gently pulled Izuku into a hug as well after Asui let go.

“We missed you,” Tokoyami said from his spot next to Kirishima.

“Class hasn’t been the same without you!” Kirishima said through his tears.

“When I heard you were gone I was so afraid!” Asui admitted. “Then the raid found only an abandoned base and I thought we would never see you again. When Eraserhead told us that they had found you I think I almost collapsed from relief right then and there.”

“Don’t scare me like that again!” Shinso said. Feigning indifference, even though he knew Izuku could see right through it. Izuku let out a soundless laugh and Shinso’s fears spiked again. “Can you talk Midoriya?”

“No but I can sign,” Izuku signed to the purple haired boy. “They broke my legs, and ribs not my hands!” Shinso rolled his eyes at Izuku’s attempt at humor while the other students winced at the admission of his broken bones when Shinso acted as his translator. “I’ll be back in Class by Monday. I hope you haven’t been slacking on your work!” Eraserhead scoffed and Izuku shot him a knowing look. “How did the sports festival go? I only saw the speech and the start of the race.”

That seemed to lift the student’s spirits at least a little as they took the time to explain what had happened in the events. Izuku laughed at their stories and gasped in all the right places, but Shinso could tell their teenage sensei was getting tired. Apparently, Eraser head could as well, and ushered the students out when they finished telling Izuku about the placements. “Visiting hours are over for now,” he said. “You can come back and tell him about internships tomorrow.” Izuku waved as they left before gratefully collapsing back on the bed and losing consciousness.

Chapter Text

Tomura scoffed at Magne and Spinner’s awestruck faces as the trio waited in the Detnerat Lobby while Kurogiri quietly read a book that had been left in the lobby for guests. It was a book that had been published in the era where quirks emerged and new laws were being put into place. Kurogiri gave a quiet hum and shut the book as a mouse faced man asked to see them. The group followed them up to a fancy office with a lanky middle aged man lounging in a desk chair. “Ah it’s good to meet you Tomura Shigaraki,” The man said as the mouse man left.

“How do you know my name creep?” Tomura asked in a condescending tone. Kurogiri just sighed as Spinner and Magne both put hands on his shoulders and whispered frantically about his rudeness.

“Hahaha!” the man laughed grating on Tomura’s nerves. “It looks like you are still Sensei’s entitled little protégé after all! My name is Re Destro!” Tomura shook off Magne and Spinner’s hands and scowled at the man. “I recognized you and Kurogiri right away. It’s an honor to have such relics of the past visiting us. Have you come to join the movement?”

“What movement?” Spinner and Magne asked at the same time.

“The revolution that will allow us to stop repressing our quirks!” Re Destro exclaimed. “Quirks are a precious part of ourselves that the government wants us to repress! Everyone should be able to use their quirks freely! Not just the Heroes!”

“Blah Blah Blah” Tomura said interrupting Re Destro’s impassioned speech. “I only came here for a weapon that would allow me to jumpstart sleepy head so I can kill those stupid traitors!”

“Ah,” Re Destro said. “If you join my Paranormal Liberation Federation I can help you achieve that goal!”

“I am a Boss not a Follower!” Tomura spat. “Why don’t you give me your army and I can take it back myself.”

“Ah HA HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA!” Re Destro laughed. “Fine, how about a bet? If you and your friends can defeat me then I will give you my army! If not you will join me in whatever aspect I see fit.”

Tomura smiled maliciously and Spinner and Magne readied themselves for a fight while Kurogiri just sighed. “Sounds perfect.”

…

Nedzu steepled his paws as he looked at the information on his computer screen. After Izuku had returned he had gone to work analyzing the information they had gotten from the boy and putting his quirk to work to try and find the villains responsible. His vigilante contact had reached out and asked for the information as well in exchange for some interesting Information on Izuku’s rescue. The letters that had been found on Izuku had revealed an interesting adventure from Izuku’s past, as well as some chilling information about a possible army of experimental creatures similar to those that had been recovered when they caught All for One the first time. Not wanting to cause panic, Nedzu set up a meeting with the Hero Commission’s current director to discuss his grave findings.

…

Izuku’s ribs had healed enough that the hospital released him to Recovery Girl’s custody. Both of his legs were in casts, and he was in a wheel chair, but at least he was out of that sterile room that reminded him too much of the doctor’s lab. He laughed at the looks on the student’s faces as he rolled himself into class next to a subdued Gran Torino. Todoroki stood up in alarm and Bakugou’s scowl deepened. Izuku shot them a reassuring smile and gestured for them to sit down. Gran Torino interpreted Izuku’s sign language for those who didn’t understand.

“Hello! I heard that there was some confusion about my absence.” Izuku signed and gave a reassuring smile. “I was down sick with a bad case of kidnapping! I was taken during the sports festival, but I was recovered about a week ago. Aside from my broken legs and some bruised ribs, I came out of the situation physically fine. However being imprisoned drudged up some mental issues from the past that make it hard for me to speak so I will be speaking in sign or using my whiteboard to communicate until my voice returns. I thank you ahead of time for your patience while I recover.”

The class erupted in a flurry of questions and exclamations until Gran Torino Jetted himself to the top of the desk and hollered “SILENCE!!!” at the top pf his lungs. The class immediately quieted and Gran Torino continued. “Midoriya was the only one targeted and the school has taken extra precautions to make sure that the rest of the staff and students are safe as well. Izuku’s experience is his own and if he chooses to share it fine, but I will not tolerate anyone pestering him for details unless they are freely given. Understood?”

“YES SIR!” the class said.

“Good! Now let’s get to work.”

The class changed to their hero costumes and made it out to the field to practice some sparring while Gran Torino gave suggestions from the sidelines and Izuku took note of their progress. Many of them had greatly refined their techniques throughout their time with their hero mentors. Bakugou’s spar almost took a turn for the worst when one of his explosions loosed a rock from the mountain area they were sparring next to. It fell towards Midoriya’s chair. When Gran Torino shouted a warning Izuku promptly used his core muscles and legs to tilt his chair backwards and smoothly somersault out of it into a handstand just moments before his chair was crushed by the rock. Panting from the sudden exertion and the pain, he waited until Gran Torino got there to help ease him into a sitting position.

“Are you all right boy!?” Gran Torino asked. Izuku nodded and calmed his breathing.

“That was so manly!” Kirishima cheered once he knew Midoriya was alright. “What kind of upper body strength do you have to be able to pull that move from a freaking wheelchair!” The rest of the class chimed in until Gran told them to shut up.

“Bakugou,” Gran yelled. “It was your loose cannon tactics that murdered Midoriya’s wheel chair, so you get to take Izuku to Recovery Girl’s office for a new one!” Bakugou, surprisingly, didn’t argue. He scooped Izuku from the floor in one smooth movement and made his way to the nurse.

Midoriya probably should have been embarrassed that one of his students had to take him to the nurse’s office, and not the other way around, but he wasn’t. Being this close to the boy felt awfully familiar somehow. Bakugou shifted his weight and Izuku winced as it aggravated his bruised ribs.

Unbidden, a flashback hit Izuku. He was a tiny child playing with an angry blonde that looked like Bakugou. “Kacchan!” The little him said. “I hurt my foot and can’t get up!” The child version of him pretended to be a wounded civilian.

“Never fear! I AM HERE!” The blonde boy boasted and scooped little Izuku up before tossing him in the Sand box.

The flashback ended as quickly as it began as Bakugou unceremoniously dumped Izuku on a cot in Recovery Girl’s Office. “I’m going to go find the old lady,” Bakugou said turning to leave. Izuku reached out and grabbed his hand before he could go. Annoyed, Bakugou turned and snarled “What?”

Izuku signed, “Thanks!” with a smile.

Bakugou growled and turned to face his teacher. “Is this what you meant when you said I should know how to take care of a victim?”

“It’s a good start!”

“Good start my butt!” Bakugou shouted. “You are nothing but a weakling getting kidnapped like that! You don’t deserve to be my teacher!” Izuku stilled at the accusation, but Bakugou wasn’t done with his rant. “Only losers and victims get themselves caught by the enemy! Heroes have to be strong enough to never be taken! It doesn’t matter what fancy tricks you have, nothing will change the fact that you are a weakling!”

Izuku’s eyes turned hard as flint. Fast as lightning, he reached out and bent Bakugou’s arm behind his back, putting him in a submission hold. Bakugou struggled but was unable to break free with his quirk deactivated. Izuku waited a good ten minutes until he stopped cursing and struggling before letting him go free. Bakugou collapsed on the floor then turned and scrambled back yelling “What was that for!?!”

“You were just subdued by a victim,” Izuku signed his eyes still cold. “I could have killed you in that position even with both of my legs broken. Did I still look like a victim then?”

“No, you looked like a villain!”

“Oh so now I’m a villain for subduing an aggressor?”

“What? No!”

“According to you, I went from Teacher to Victim to Villain in the span of a month. Bakugou, titles are a matter of perspective. A hero reserves his judgement until after he saves lives. If one of your fellow comrades fell, would you save him and then never work with him again because he failed? Or would you wait until he recovered and team up with him again? What if the tables were turned, and You were the one that was hurt? Would you expect your team mates to never work with you again? Would you throw your gauntlets in the trash and be a civilian?” Bakugou was silent but had lost the aggression. “Victims can become heroes and vice versa. Titles such as victim, villain, and hero are relative and constantly changing. If you can’t learn how to adapt to those changes, you shouldn’t be here. Do better.”

Bakugou grunted and pushed himself up from the floor. His hands were clenched in fists, and he opened his mouth as if to say something. He was interrupted by Recovery Girl opening the door and taking in the scene. Bakugou closed him mouth and walked out of the room silently. Izuku allowed himself to sink back onto the bed and have Recovery Girl fuss over his injuries while he fell asleep.

…

Asui and Shinso made a beeline for Recovery Girl’s Office after classes let out. Neither had seen Izuku return to class and wanted to make sure he was okay. They arrived to hear Recovery Girl humming a tune as Izuku slept like a baby. The old Heroine turned when she heard them come in. “Ah, I was wondering who would show up first,” She said in a kindly tone. “He over worked himself, and has been sleeping since he got here. Could you dearies keep an eye on him while I take care of some errands?”

“Of course ma’am” Asui said respectfully. Recovery Girl nodded at them and left the teens alone. Shinso went over to the bed and stared at the sleeping teen. His hair was finally starting to grow out again, and Shinso had to fight the urge to run his hands through it. “He looks so peaceful,” Asui said. Shinso noticed she was holding her hands close to her heart as if she was restraining them from touching their unconscious teacher.

“He does,” Shinso said. He thought of all the time he had spent with Izuku. A warm feeling filled his chest and a blush rose in his cheeks. “I love him.” Shinso gave words to the feeling that had been slowly building since he had met the odd scarred boy.

Asui looked at the slight blush on Shinso’s cheek and the way he looked at Midoriya and felt a tinge of awe. The purple headed boy often succeeded in looking apathetic about nearly everything. She couldn’t help but feel happy for him even as she declared her own feelings on the matter. “I love him too.”

Shinso snapped out of his reverie at Asui’s proclamation. He looked at the girl and found her looking at him with a determined look in her eye. “I love him too,” She repeated. “Let’s both be there for him, no matter who he chooses.”

Shinso’s eyes widened in surprise before he held out his hand to the girl with a competitive smile, “Of course.” Asui didn’t hesitate to grab his hand and return his smile. A groan drew their eyes to the bed where Midoriya shifted before settling once more. Shinso smiled at him fondly and before he could stop himself leaned over to place a kiss on Midoriya’s cheek. Asui did the same before looking at Shinso. Both teens immediately started blushing when their brains caught up to their actions. Recovery girl walked in to see the two teens squatting on the floor and hiding their blushing faces in their hands.

Chapter Text

Kurogiri sighed and dodged another piece of concrete as the Tomura, Spinner and Magne fought with an over enthusiastic Re Destro who had somehow grew 3 times his original size. The roof of the building was long gone by now. As Kurogiri looked at the wreckage, he swore he could have seen a gangly teen in a black jumpsuit and goggles screaming desperately at the giant towering over them. The moment passed and Kurogiri saw that Magne and Spinner had been knocked aside. Tomura howled with a vicious smile on his face and plowed his hands into the ground, and then everything began to decay.

Tomura loved the thrill of the fight. He had missed the adrenaline that came from knowing he could beat someone even if they managed to fight back a little. His fights with Gigantomachia had become routine, but had gotten him into shape. He felt his quirk flare beneath his hands. He knew from fighting the giant that he could charge his quirk up to land heavier hits that would decay a large area of ground. He also knew that his quirk was built to respond to his emotions. Tomura let his malicious glee overtake him as Re Destro swept Spinner and Magne out of the fight with a steel beam he had broken from the wall and plunged his hands into the ground beneath him. Decay worked fast turning not only the floor, but anything touching it to ash as it swept outwards. In moments, the entire building and Re Destro’s legs had been turned to ash. Tomura laughed at the destruction he caused and looked at Re Destro. “So, where’s my army?” He asked cheekily.

Re Destro looked at Tomura in awe. Utterly entranced by the childish glee with which he had used his quirk. He could see now what One for All had seen in the boy. His thirst for destruction and joy in causing it inspired the man in a way he had never imagined. He would follow this boy to the end.

…

Hawks greeted Nedzu as brashly as ever when the Chimaera stepped into the board room where he sat talking with the new director. Nedzu bowed politely in return before climbing up the winged man’s back and sitting on his shoulders. Hawks only laughed in response as the new HPSC Director cleared his throat. Nedzu turned to stare at the man, his primal intelligence and quirk at work. To his credit the man kept his returning stare even. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person Nedzu-sama.”

“Same to you Director-Sama.” Nedzu chirped back cheerfully before handing Hawks a folder to look at before he slid it towards the Director. “Unfortunately I wish our first meeting could be more pleasant. This folder contains pictures of what we believe to be a new but recently relocated nomu facility that was discovered when we recovered our ward from his most recent kidnapping adventure,” The director’s face was unreadable as he glanced at the data, but Hawks gave a low whistle.

“Do you know who obtained this information?” The director asked.

“We don’t know for sure. Midoriya was unconscious when he was being taken out of the lab,” Nedzu began, “But I believe it was the work of some vigilantes. We cross-referenced the handwriting and it is consistent with the work of the Kitsunes.”

“Thank you for sharing this information with us. We’ll take it from here.” The director responded with a small smile. Hawks’s eye brows twitched in surprise at the director’s frank dismissal of the Chimaera. Everyone knows not to get on Nedzu’s bad side, especially when his ward was involved.

“Of course, we will keep investigating on our side as well.” Nedzu said in an even tone as he stared the director down once more.

“Do what you feel is best,” the Director said with a slight bow. “I would be happy to share anything we learn as well. Hawks will be our liason on the case.” He stood and Hawks stood as well with Nedzu still on his shoulder. “If you will excuse me, I have another meeting to attend.” The Director stood and stepped out of the room.

Nedzu and Hawks shared a look. “Is that normal for your new director?” Nedzu asked as he flicked his tail contemplatively.

“I haven’t seen him act like that before,” Hawks responded as he walked with Nedzu to the exit. “He doesn’t really act as if he is the director though. He consistently leaves meetings or postpones answers on any important decisions until later.” Nedzu let out a thoughtful hum. It seemed he had some more work to do.

Hawks waved as Nedzu drove away. He knew something suspicious was happening from the first meeting he had with the new director. Nedzu would be able to investigate where he couldn’t due to his posterboy position. For now he would continue taking missions from the HPSC and see where it takes him.

…

Izuku’s fingers flew across the keyboards as he hacked into the HSPC’s security tapes and files on Nedzu’s prompting. It had been several weeks since his wheel chair was unceremoniously disposed of, and his ribs had finally been unwrapped and legs freed from the bulky casts and replaced with braces for another few weeks. He still wasn’t allowed to work out physically, but this allowed him to work out his brain at the very least. The algorithm he had created scanned for trends of his specific target, the new director. Once he had gotten in and made sure his program was working, he leaned back and stretched. It would take another hour for the program to complete. He just had to baby sit it for a while.

A knock at the door drew his attention moments before it swung open to reveal Kouda followed closely by Midnight. Izuku waved at the boy in surprise. “Kouda asked if he could visit with you for a while,” Midnight said as she came over to pinch Izuku’s cheek. “He was so eager I couldn’t say no!” Izuku simply rolled his eyes at her innuendo and shooed her out with a fake scowl. It was surprising that Kouda had been willing to come and see him, especially on his day off. He knew the boy would much rather be at home with his rabbits.

“I heard you were working on vocalizing again,” Kouda said with his head down and his arms hugging a small animal crate he had carried with him. “I thought it might help to have a furry friend. I know it helped me a lot.” Izuku smiled at the boy, remembering the way the boy could barely speak at all and now he was comfortable enough with him to talk out loud when they were alone.

“That’s very thoughtful of you!” Izuku signed while he mouthed the words to Kouda. He hadn’t quite been able to get past the mental block that kept him from speaking, but he was close. Kouda visibly brightened and placed the animal carrier on the ground before opening it. Moments later a small, long haired rabbit hopped out. Carefully sniffing its surroundings, it made its way over to where Izuku had slid onto the floor. Izuku smiled and verbally giggled as he petted the silky black and white fur. Kouda’s smiled widely at the noise. The first two weeks Midoriya-sensei had been back, he had laughed and cried silently. It had been unnerving for most of the class. “How long can you stay?” Izuku signed.

“I have about an hour before I have to take Oreo back,” Kouda responded. Izuku nodded and continued to play with the rabbit. “If you want to talk about anything, I’m willing to listen,” Kouda hesitantly offered. Izuku shot him a grateful, but guarded smile.

“Are you curious?”

“Yes,” Kouda said, “But you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything.”

**Trigger Warning description of experimentation**

Midoriya was silently petting the rabbit as if he was deep in thought. “Before I lived here at UA, I was under my father’s care. He was not a good man. My quirk intrigued him so he would let a doctor who worked for him experiment on me to figure it out.” Kouda shivered but listened intently. “The first time I woke up in his lab the doctor had actually put a wounded rabbit on my chest. It was a rabbit with a quirk that allowed it to absorb another living creature’s life energy to heal itself. It couldn’t use me to heal. It was almost dead before the doctor sat it next to a dog so it could heal itself.”

**Midoriya describes an experiment where a quirked rabbit was unable to heal because of his quirk***

Kouda sat there quietly; deeply saddened that his teacher had to go through that. “Oreo here looks a lot better cared for than that poor rabbit had been.” Oreo leaned into Izuku’s side as the Green-haired teen gave the rabbit a one armed hug and looked up at Kouda. “Thanks for bringing her by.” Kouda nodded and tried to keep his own eyes from watering. Izuku saw the errant tears and held his arm out for a hug, which Kouda accepted. The two boys and Oreo enjoyed a companionable quiet after that.

Eventually, Kouda left with Oreo and Izuku managed to send him off with a whispered thank you that made Midnight squeal and Kouda beam, leaving Izuku time to check the program. Izuku looked at the results and immediately called Nedzu.

…

Chizome sat cross legged staring at his computer screen. Everything Toga’s “Greenie” had said had been catalogued in the police databank. He had had to break through so many firewalls to get close to the kids file, he had thought the child was some kind of national secret. He wasn’t that far off. He was deeply impressed by the analysis the boy had given of his time in captivity. Combined with what he had found on the hard drive Toga and Dabi had given him, he was more concerned than ever.

Apparently the “floaters” Toga had mentioned had been One for All’s homemade army. He did not want to think about what Overhaul’s deluded self would do with those creatures. He knew that the Shie Hassaikai were on the move, but according to this; they weren’t planning to just overthrow the underworld, they were planning a literal war. With the resources he had picked up from Giran, It would be possible for him to overthrow the system. Chizome hesitated only for a moment before picking up the phone and calling Nedzu.

…

Bakugo paced back and forth in front of the train station. He was beyond frustrated by what had occurred in the recovery girl’s office. He had been pinned and talked down to by a small teen with broken legs! He hated feeling so powerless and weak. “Bakugo!” a cheery voice called his name. If he hadn’t had his hearing aids in, he wouldn’t have heard her over the crowd. The blonde boy turned a scathing scowl to the gravity girl from his class.

“Whaddya want round face!” He knew the girl was no pushover. She had come very close to beating him in the sports festival.

“I just wanted to check up on you after that crazy class today,” She said with her trademark smile. “You seemed real quiet after you came back from helping out Midoriya-sensei.” She began fiddling with her fingers as Bakugo continued to stare at her. He was surprised. He didn’t think any of his classmates cared all that much. Sure Kirishima and his group of friends kept following him around like lost puppies, but, with the exception of Kirishima, they didn’t really hang out outside of school and training.

“Tch,” Bakugo said to cover his surprise. “I’m fine.”

The girl beamed at the response and started babbling away. “It’s crazy how he got kidnapped, and now he can’t talk! I’m not going to lie; It’s strange to see someone with casts and a wheelchair wandering around when we have recovery girl. I guess it makes sense though with and always active anti quirk quirk, healing quirks won’t be able to work on you.”

Bakugo could feel the frustration grow as she continued talking about the green teen. “Shut up about it already!” He finally growled. “I can’t stand that guy!”

“Why?” Uraraka asked with her head tilted, not even phased by his aggressive tone.

“He acts like he’s so much better than us, when he’s our age!”

“He’s never looked down on us though,” Uraraka said, “and even you have to admit he has the skills to back up his position as a TA.”

“Whatever,” Bakugou huffed. “My trains here. Later.”

“Okay,” Uraraka shrugged. “See you tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

Nedzu paced his office having received two very similar and alarming reports from two very different sources. He had known something was wrong when he had that meeting with the director, but to uncover something of this proportion brought a deep sense of foreboding. He had contacted the head of each of the largest agencies personally in an effort to try and keep Chisaki’s spies from catching wind that they were on to them. He had also contacted the other principals of hero schools. He needed to keep them informed. If Chisaki had the ability to take away someone’s quirk permanently, he needed to make sure they came up with a counter strategy. The only problem was they did not know Chisaki’s timeline. When was he planning to attack? Hawks would probably be the most suitable hero to obtain that information; but he had gone off the grid shortly after their meeting. For now they would just prepare as much as they could.

…

Hawks was currently swearing under his breath. He had been sent by the new director to check out a new lead on illegal weapons manufacturing. He was sure it was supposed to be a wild goose chase considering how suspicious his new boss was; turns out it definitely wasn’t. When he showed up on the scene he discovered an entire building turned to ash, and All For One’s would be successor and his friends being made military commanders for the Paranormal Liberation Federation. Immediately he had sent his feathers out throughout the city to see how the citizens were reacting to the loss of a skyscraper in their city. He was surprised to find that most of the citizens were in on the Paranormal Liberation Federation. With the exception of children, most of the adults and teens were well trained in the use of their quirks. “I’m gonna need some help with this one,” Hawks hummed as he recalled his feathers. “I can’t rely on the HSPC. Not with that shady director in charge. I guess I’ll have to call in that favor.”

…

Dabi shot straight up from his nap when he heard his chicken dance ringtone go off. He glared at the phone in horror and annoyance. He knew that Hawks would call in the favor he gave him eventually, but he couldn’t help hoping that he had been forgotten. Groaning, he picked up the phone and growled out a hello as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line with growing dread.

…

Shinso hesitated before knocking on Izuku’s bedroom door. Eraserhead was, luckily, his guardian today. If it had been Midnight, he was pretty sure he would have chickened out immediately. She had a nose for crushing teenagers, and had no qualms about teasing you and making sure the whole staff knew that she knew who was in love. Izuku answered the door and promptly blinded him with a smile and a soft hello. Shinso gave a small but sincere smile when he heard the green haired teen’s voice for the first time in over a month. He knew that the boy would most likely switch between speech and sign like he had when they had first met, and he was okay with that.

He stepped inside as Izuku shuffled back to his desk chair. He had several monitors each displaying several lines of code and some camera feeds on his desk. On his walls were various posters of UA heroes and some framed pictures of him with them. Shinso paused and blushed furiously when he realized that there was a picture of them peering out from under a pile of cats with a huge smiles that had been framed and put on his wall as well. “I didn’t know you had this picture? Did Aizawa take it?” Izuku looked over his shoulder and nodded.

“I can get you a copy of it if you would like,” Izuku signed and whispered at the same time.

Shinso nodded, “Yes! Please.” Izuku laughed at his eagerness.

“So,” Izuku asked. “What brings you by?” They had been friends for a while, but this was the first time Shinso had actually been in Izuku’s room, usually they hung out in the lobby.

“I just wanted to hang out for a while,” Shinso shrugged as he plopped down on the bed. “We haven’t really done anything together since you returned.”

“You visited me in the infirmary plenty,” Izuku said as he typed something on his keyboard, completely missing Shinso’s fierce blush. “I’ve been pretty busy trying to get caught back up with classes and analyses. Hatsume managed to build and destroy a psychotic AI named Waldo while I was gone. Majima Sensei had to call Nedzu in to keep it from crashing the entire system. It’s really fascinating…” Izuku continued to mumble, not even realizing that he was speaking. Shinso smiled and closed his eyes letting himself bask in the sound of the voice he had missed.

After a few minutes, Shinso opened his eyes as Midoriya abruptly broke off in mid-rant and watched one of his screens intently. “What’s wrong?” Shinso asked as he got up and made his way over to the desk Midoriya was sitting in.

“One of Nedzu’s associates just contacted me with some updated information for a case I am working on,” Izuku replied as his hands flew across the keyboards. “Could you grab my phone from the nightstand please? I need to call Nedzu right now!” Shinso was a taken aback by the urgency in the teen’s voice, but responded quickly, handing the phone to Izuku. Izuku quickly dialed the Principal who answered on the first ring. “He’s making his move. Endeavor’s Agency. He mobilized at least five nomu. Two flying types three strength types.”

“Understood,” Nedzu said. “Keep tabs on him and text me any new developments.”

“Will do.” Izuku replied and hung up. He turned to Shinso and said. “I’m sorry about this, but I need you to go and get Eraserhead for me.”

“Only if you tell me what this is about.” Shinso said.

“You’ll know soon enough.”

…

Chisaki laughed as he stood over a flameless bleeding Endeavor with a smoking gun and the world burned around him.

---

Chapter Text

Hero Agency after hero agency fell to the overwhelming power of the Nomus under Shie Hassaikai’s control. By Monday morning, the only Hero strongholds left were the Hero schools. Excluding All Might, who was still out of the country and Hawks who was undercover, all of the top ten heroes were pronounced quirkless or dead. It had taken exactly two days to demoralize all of Japan.

Chisaki had taken control of the broadcasting system and spewed his anti-quirk propaganda and talking about how people were meant to be quirkless, how it was a pure state of being, and how quirks were corrupt and unjust in their influence in society. He told the citizens that their lives would not be in danger as long as they were willing to give up their quirks for the betterment of society. He told them they had a week to decide their side before breaking off the broadcast.

Scared people flocked to the Hero schools by the thousands. The Pros and sidekicks who had managed to survive the unexpected raid directed the citizens and kept the violence and rooting under control. The police aided in this and designated protective shelters within their precincts to guard.

Nedzu had managed to hack into the broadcasting system after the attacks began and issued a warning that the HSPC was under Overhaul’s control before returning to his war room to coordinate rescue efforts. Nedzu authorized Izuku access to the student and teacher address book so he could contact them and tell them to bring their families with them to the school. Cementoss built temporary shelters all around the school.

An ocean away two blondes booked a flight to Japan.

…

Tomura and the P.L.F. watched the broadcast with a growing sense of anger. How dare they beat them to the punch!?! Plus their anti-quirk nonsense, was everything they despised. Re Destro specifically gave an impassioned speech about why this wasn’t true. Being a smaller town, there were no Hero Agencies here for the Shie Hassaikai to crush, so their army was still under wraps for now. Tomura called an emergency meeting for all off their troops.

Tomura stood on a tall overhang where everyone gathered could see and hear him with Re Destro and Spinner and Magne standing behind himm for support. Kurogiri had chosen to mix in with the crowd. “Friends,” Tomura started. “We have been beaten to the punch in the beginning of this war, but we will not falter in our purpose. The anti-quirkists have had the chance to spew their propaganda, but they have also provided us with a unique opportunity! They have taken down the system for us!” The crowd roared their approval at this sentiment. “So for now, we will wait! We will let Overhaul take out as many heroes as he can. We will start a rumor mill of our cause, and people will come flocking to join us when the Hero Schools are unable to keep them safe. When faith in their heroes is lost, they will come to us. And we will take back Japan and mold it after our own cause!”

Kurogiri had to hand it to Tomura. He had grown. He was still young and self-centered, but he had gained some of All for One’s Charisma. He had gone from a villain in hiding to a commander in just two months. Despite being unable to beat Gigantomachia, he was getting stronger and more confident and arrogant in his new position. His penchant for destroying things had returned full force as well. He followed Sensei’s teaching to a tee. Rule By equal parts Fear and Inspiration.

Kurogiri felt a strange sensation in his gut. He was proud, but also worried. He had never had these feelings before. He had killed hundreds in his time employed with All for One. He knew he was just as much a villain as Tomura was eager to be one, but now that he was starting to get these fragments of memories, His urge to protect others was growing stronger than his urge to follow Tomura on his killing sprees. That being said he was attached to Tomura. He felt as if he was watching his nephew walk down the path of evil without any guidance, but what guidance could he give him now. Years of teachings with All For One are not so easily overcome, and thanks to the doctor’s handiwork, he had a need to destroy. His brain and body literally craved destruction. That was why they had lived by the forest, so he could decay things that no one would miss. Kurogiri shook himself out of his thoughts as he returned to Tomura’s side after his impassioned speech. It was no use thinking about it now. What will be will be, he just had to watch a little while longer.

…

Hawks, Dabi and Toga had somehow managed to worm their way into the Army meeting. They were shocked by what they heard, but found it very useful. With the Overhaul crisis coming into effect, Hawks knew being a member of the HSPC was no longer an option. He had to get this information to Nedzu. If they could figure out a way to mobilize this resistance force earlier, there was a chance they could save more people. Dabi and Toga stayed with the army to keep tabs and updates on their movements and plans while Hawks took off to deliver the news to Nedzu.

…

Chisaki grinned. His plans were working perfectly. While there had been a few HSPC members who resisted the fact that they were now part of a revolution, most simply stayed and followed orders. The fact that most of them agreed that quirks should be heavily regulated lent itself to the idea that they could and should be taken away entirely. The Nomu’s were more effective than he had imagined. His men barely had to do anything once the beast was ordered to incapacitate or kill the heroes. Phase two had been beautifully implemented. Now that all the citizens were contained in specific areas, His men only had those areas to worry about. They were trapped like fish in a barrel. Now he just needed to regain the anti-quirk factor to make his drugs, and luckily, he knew right where to find him.

Chapter Text

Izuku had finally healed. Though he still technically had to rebuild the musculature he had lost in his healing process, he was glad to be able to stand on his own two feet again. The sheer chaos of Nedzu’s war room as they coordinated with the hero schools and emergency shelters across the country was dizzying. The Principals’ and Police chiefs’ had been catapulted from simple civil servants to Army commanders overnight. There was, luckily, no dispute over Nedzu’s role as the head commander especially when combined with Nighteye’s analytical support as they undoubtedly brought some vague semblance of order and comfort to the populace and hero community.

When Hawks had brought the news of Tomura’s army Izuku had been both terrified and relieved. He was terrified as he thought of the abuse and the grudge that Tomura would no doubt hold against him because of his betrayal. However he was relieved to know the man was alright. He might have been abusive and blindly loyal to the ruthless man that had a hand in his birth; but in his quieter moments Izuku had seen the pain hiding behind those eyes, and the desperate need to connect with someone who could understand him.

It had been three days since Chisaki had revealed his ultimatum and Hawks had revealed that there were truly two armies the heroes would have to face in this moment of crises. Luckily, the public was only aware of Overhaul’s threat, but the rumors were circulating of an extra safe haven that was beginning to tempt some citizens away.

Due to this Nedzu Sensei had Izuku and Majima sensei’s support course students had come together to create a large network of hackers to keep tabs on Chisaki’s movement, as well as Tomura’s newly discovered PLF Movement. Due to this network, they were able to pick up on Chisaki’s efforts to prepare for a full scale invasion of UA in order to obtain both Izuku Midoriya, so they could make more quirkless bullets, and strike even more fear into the citizens’ hearts.

Nedzu saw this as an opportunity and had Hawks leak the information of Chisaki’s target to Tomura in an attempt to goad the Paranormal Liberation Federation’s Commander into action. Whether he would be patient enough to wait until Chisaki obtained him to snatch the boy back, or if he would simply come after Izuku remained to be seen, but both Nighteye and Nedzu believed it would be the best chance at mobilizing the PLF and Izuku had agreed.

…

Tomura was livid. So livid in fact that it was taking everything in him not to disintegrate everything in his path. Some of his newest soldiers had come to him with news of how the cursed Doctor was using Izuku’s body to help Chisaki take people’s quirks away. The ungrateful little runt never stopped causing him problems. He was always getting in his way, whether he meant to or not. That Traitor! He should just send Kurogiri to finish the boy off. No that was too good for him. He needed to get to Izuku before Overhaul could. Once the teen was in his hands, he would show him the true meaning of pain. He would rue the day he had betrayed Sensei.

But how could he do it without revealing his army? If he mobilized them now he would be helping those heroes that had killed his master. He would also risk losing his men in a pointless struggle with the nomu. He knew they were somehow programmed to be puppets of whoever the doctor had registered as their master. Wait, Izuku. Izuku had been the doctor’s protegee. He might know of a way to turn the Nomu. But if he did, why did he not already do so?

It was no use speculating he would have to send a small group to retrieve Midoriya either way. He would send Kurogiri and Magne to snag the boy. Izuku would recognize Kurogiri for sure, but he had never met Magne. She was also brilliant at both quirked and non-quirked fighting so she should be able to apprehend the teen with ease. A wicked smile graced his pale face as he thought about their upcoming reunion.

…

 All Might set his feet down on Japanese Soil for the first time in nearly five years with his new successor by his side. He had originally gone to I-Island to see if his good friend David Shield had any solutions to help with his failing health. When no solution had been forth coming, he finally decided to pick a successor. Although he had played with the idea of simply letting his quirk die with him since All For One would most likely no longer be a threat; he had been touched by the passion and intelligence of his good friend’s daughter, Mellissa Shield. When the Island was nearly taken over she had done her best to aid him in taking down the villains with only her determination and her brilliant inventions. She was inspiring and he felt it would be wise to share his quirk with her if she had the desire. She had accepted and trained with him until they got the news about Japan’s critical situation. They were ready to help in any way they could.

Chapter Text

Tsuyu and Shinso spoke in hushed tones outside of the 1- A Classroom. It had become an impromptu gathering place for them and their fellow classmates to catch up with each other. “He’s working himself into the ground trying to keep everyone up to date all the time!” Shinso whispered to Tsuyu, “He just finished creating an AI that would be able to keep everyone updated for him, and now he’s helping Nedzu strategize and create units for if we have to weather a siege. I don’t think he’s slept in the last 72 hours!” The purple-eyed teen ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.  The chaos of war and the evacuation of his foster family had already put him on edge. Now that he knew they were safe, he was extremely worried about his crush.

“That’s no good!” Tsuyu exclaimed as she put a hand on Shinso’s shoulder, not sure if she was trying to console him or gain her own kind of comfort. She had been at home when she saw the news and had promptly evacuated her family to UA even before the news had claimed it was a safe haven. Now that she had her family safe, she figured she would be able to ask Shinso about Midoriya. She had volunteered to help find volunteers to fight and train if UA’s walls were breached in an effort to see Midoriya-sensei, but she had to settle for news from Shinso, who had done the same. “He just finished healing from his kidnapping, although it is good to hear that he is speaking again.”

“Tsuyu,” Shinso said turning to her and whispering in a serious tone. “I can’t help thinking that Izuku will be targeted again. Especially, since we know that Chisaki needs him to make more of his quirk destroying drug.”

“I’ve heard that Aizawa and Nemuri sensei have been guarding him,” Tsuyu replied. “The support students have been complaining about it since they work with him the most often. There is no way they would let Midoriya get taken away from them. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open as well.” Shinso sighed and nodded. He knew she was right. All he could do now was wait, like everyone else. He hated waiting. He didn’t know how she could be so calm about it all, but he could feel the slight tremor in her fingers when he talked about Chisaki taking Midoriya away again. He knew she was just as worried as he was, even if she wasn’t able to show it.

…

Bakugou and Uraraka held hands as they walked to the training grounds. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that the new couple needed to destress with a good spar. Uraraka had been living alone, and her parents had ended up evacuating to a different shelter due to their distance from UA. Bakugou and his family had found her pacing the sidewalk inside the gate and tearfully assuring her parents that she was safe. She had been so relieved to see the blonde that she had practically face planted on his chest and hugged him as if she was sure he would disappear. Bakugou had blushed from surprise, but quickly held her just as tightly even as he ignored his mother’s teasing smile and his dad’s fond smile. Bakugou knew he wouldn’t be letting go of her anytime soon.

…

Kurogiri watched Magne stretch as the duo prepared to infiltrate UA. He knew they would be cutting it close, but he also knew that there would be no going back once he grabbed the boy. He thought back on his days with the green headed boy. He had been furious when Sensei was betrayed, but couldn’t remember ever feeling any kind of emotion towards the boy before that. He knew from his observations, that the boy was kind to a fault. He had always reached out to help anyone who was wounded or hurt emotionally or physically; and, despite his obvious dislike of the work his father and Tomura had made him do and their near daily beatings of him, he would still try to cheer them up. He remembered one particular instance where Tomura was plagued with nightmares after he had disintegrated a family that Sensei had wanted to make an example of. Izuku had allowed Tomura to use him as a Teddy Bear and even sang him to sleep so he could function. He did that until the nightmares had lessened. Looking back on it now Kurogiri could feel admiration and awe at the idea that this child who had known nothing but cruelty from Tomura would try to help him in anyway.

“Are you ready Darling?” Magne asked blowing Kurogiri a kiss as she slid her magnetized weapon into her holster. Kurogiri snapped out of his reminiscing and gave a slight nod before summoning a portal to an alleyway right outside UA. Magne tossed Kurogiri a bracelet that he slipped on to conceal his appearance. Black smoke faded to reveal Ivory skin and bright blue hair that seemed to be defying gravity. “Ooooh,” Magne gushed. “You’re a real cutie aren’t you!?” Kurogiri simply proceeded to enter the gates with Magne trailing behind him.

The plan was simple. Pretend to be refugees. Find Izuku. Have Magne grab him and return to Tomura. Kurogiri tried to shake off the odd sense of Déjà vu as he and Magne searched the halls for the boy. Magne suggested they split up to cover more ground and Kurogiri agreed. Magne went left and Kurogiri went right, almost immediately bumping into an oddly familiar man.

…

Aizawa Shouta was tired. He had just finished his shift watching Izuku when he was bumped into by a blue haired man in an expensive looking suit. The man stepped back, but kept his face down as he muttered an oddly eloquent apology. Upon hearing his voice, Aizawa snapped fully alert. He knew that voice. He had heard that voice in his mind when he was still a student. It was one he sorely missed and had wept over the loss of. With no warning, Eraserhead wrapped the man up in his capture weapon and force the man to look at him as he activated his quirk. Gold eyes flashed with surprise as Aizawa stared down at the man who looked and sounded exactly like his dead classmate. “What’s your name?”

…

Kurogiri was taken aback. He hadn’t expected to run into Shouta. Wait why did he call him Shouta? He shouldn’t know Eraserhead’s name. “What is your name?” The raven haired man demanded with a glare. Kurogiri tilted his head in confusion, not quite sure what was wrong even as he felt some memories wriggling in the back of his mind trying to get free.

“Oboro.” Kurogiri said with surprise. Where had that name come from? Eraserhead released his quirk and drew Kurogiri/Oboro? Closer as if trying to tell if he was lying.

“You can’t be Oboro,” Eraserhead growled threateningly. “I watched him die.” With this statement Oboro/Kurogiri?’s memories came flooding back. His time before waking up in the doctor’s lab, ready to serve sensei. He had been a hero course student. He was interning with Midnight, and had been best friends with Shouta and Hizashi before he had been knocked out by rubble from a villain attack as he protected a pair of small children. He started to hyperventilate as all of his memories came flooding back. Who was he? Where was he? What was his purpose? What side was he on? Tomura, he had to take care of Tomura. No his strings were cut. He didn’t need to take care of Tomura. He had just been doing so because he didn’t know what else to do. Disoriented thoughts plagued his mind, until he felt Shouta lowering him to the ground and clutching his shoulders telling him to breathe. Oboro looked at the poorly concealed concern on his old classmates face as he talked him down from his panic attack and he laughed. He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony and cruelty of the man he had been programmed to be loyal to.

Shouta startled as he was pulled into a hug by the man who had been panicking only moments before. “Oh Shouta,” Oboro said through joyful tears. “How did you manage to keep those wrinkles away when you are so grumpy!? Did you and Mic finally get together?” Shouta gripped the man in his arms tighter. He knew for sure now. This was Oboro. Hurriedly, he called Nedzu as he stood up with a viselike grip on a man he had thought he would never see again.

Chapter Text

Izuku had been banished from the war room by Majima-sensei after the older Hero had realized that the boy had not slept for the last 24 hours. With all of his programs running stats for him and the support students and volunteers manning the computers, Powerloader had banned the boy from the coffee he had been relying on and sent him to sleep for a few hours.

Izuku stretched as he walked down the hall back to his makeshift cot he had set up down the hall from the war room. The adrenaline that had been fueling his work frenzy was quickly disappearing. As he slid the door open to the room housing his temporary bed, he briefly thought about his students. Nedzu had confirmed that all of the students had made it to the shelter with their families if they lived close enough. All classes had been canceled in favor of distributing ideas from the war room and training themselves and their families how to fight in case the need arose.

He thought about Tsuyu and Shinso who had somehow become close since he had been gone. He noticed them hanging out more often when things were still relatively normal. He yawned loudly and fell face first on the pile of blankets he was about to sleep in while wondering if those two were dating. They would always look at each other and blush whenever he walked by. It was cute. He had seen Bakugou and Uraraka walking towards the gym holding hands on his surveillance cameras earlier and was genuinely glad that they had found comfort in each other in such a stressful time. Groaning with fatigue, he rolled over and bunched a pillow under his head as his eyelids closed.

…

Oboro/Kurogiri was sitting beside a sobbing Present Mic while Eraserhead stood at the door and Nedzu made them tea. “We all thought you were dead!” Present Mic sobbed as he threw his hands around Oboro/Kurogiri. “Where have you been all this time?”

Kurogiri/Oboro frowned his head reeled with the implications of his long lost memories. “Technically, I did die. A villain named All for One revived me with some kind of quirk and had his doctor use me as a base for a loyal, but free thinking Nomu. You probably know me by that name as well.” Oboro/Kurogiri explained and took off the bracelet that let him appear as his previous self.

Present Mic gasped as black smoke burst out of his pores covering him until he was once more the villain Kurogiri. Uncomfortable with the tense silence, Kurogiri returned the bracelet to his arm once again becoming their beloved Oboro. It felt more natural to him among his old friends. “The doctor who changed me tried to program my brain so that I would not remember anything about my past and I would have and instinctive need to be loyal to All for One and raise his successor. After his recent death, that programming became unstable and I began to remember bits and pieces, but ultimately stayed true to the order to take care of his successor, because I couldn’t make sense of them. Then I saw Shouta and my memories came back in full.”

Present Mic’s face became serious and Aizawa scowled into his capture weapon. Nedzu, however, however asked, “So what did All for One’s successor send you here for?”

“Tomura Shigaraki sent me and an associate here to retrieve All for One’s son. We gained intelligence that he was the source of the bullets, and Chisaki’s aim in his upcoming attack. We hoped to attain him and use him for our purposes instead.” Kurogiri replied promptly.

“Perfect!” Nedzu chirped in a delighted tone as he crossed the room and gave Obor/Kurogiri a communication device. “We’ll lead the way!”

Aizawa slammed his hands down on Nedzu’s desk in protest. “Over my dead body!” The black clothed hero yelled. “That boy has been through more than enough these past few months and using him as a pawn in another one of your games will not end well for him! Do you not remember the stories he use to tell us about Tomura’s torture sessions?”

Nedzu stood up slowly. “I understand that Eraserhead,” The Principal said slowly and carefully. “However, ever since we discovered Tomura’s SLF forces we have been looking for a way to have Izuku join them to avoid Chisaki. Our agents have informed us that Chisaki will strike, and if we have an insider as close to Tomura as Oboro clearly is, we might have a chance to bring Tomura’s forces to our side.”

At this point Kurogiri/Oboro chimed in. “Tomura’s time away from All for One has softened him somewhat. Izuku, although Tomura blames him for his father’s death, was ultimately the only kind influence the boy had during his time with All for One. If Izuku has recovered to the point where he can speak, he might have a chance in turning Tomura to your side. You have my assurances that I will not let Tomura harm the boy as he has in the past. I have been watching and raising Tomura since he was a small child. I do have some sway when it comes to helping him overcome his anger. At the very least, I can guarantee I will return him to you alive and in one piece.”

Nedzu nodded to Kurogiri/ Oboro and turned back to Eraserhead and Present Mic who had come to put a hand on his dear friend’s shoulder. “Izuku knows all of the same information we do, barring the fact that Kurogiri is now on our side. However, we gave him a code that will let him know who is on his side should he be captured by enemy forces. As long as we can keep feeding him information, he is prepared to operate from behind enemy lines if need be. Now we have an opportunity. Oboro, although he has been working as a villain for almost half his life now, still has the same desire to protect children, but even if he double-crosses us, we have the advantage of knowing where Izuku is. It’s time to put our plan into action.”

At that moment Kurogiri heard a faint ping as Magne signaled to him her position. “It seems my associate has found Izuku. I will be going now.” Kurogiri/Oboro bowed and portalled himself to her coordinates.

Chapter Text

Magne signaled Kurogiri while looking down at the exhausted teen and clicking her tongue. He looked so tired! The poor boy had dark circles under his eyes and hadn’t even twitched when Magne had stubbed her toe on the edge of his cot. Perhaps he could sleep before Shigaraki started using him for whatever he had planned. Quickly, she put on the long gloves she had brought to hold the boy after she put him in some cuffs.

The door clicked open, and she turned expecting to see Kurogiri, but instead was met with the astonished faces of Tsuyu and Shinso. Before any of them could react, Kurogiri opened a portal that Magne promptly stepped through. The last thing she saw were two desperate teens just barely missing the sleeve of her shirt in their bid to rescue their friend.

…

Chisaki double checked everything one more time. He could not afford to mess this up. Even if the attack on UA failed, he would need to secure the doctor’s favorite test subject for his anti-quirk solution. His men had spotted All-Might and a new hero at the airport. The man was about as subtle as a bulldozer, but that had worked against them this time. They were currently facing off against a small portion of his Nomu army. They should be too worn down to do any actual fighting. Chronostasis entered and nodded. It was time.

…

Kaminari Denki checked his phone. It was time. Stealthily, he made his way into UA’s generator room and sabotaged their back-up generators. Lightning arced across the room as Kaminari manipulated it freely, making sure there was no possible way they could salvage the vital machinery. Across town, Overhaul’s men were taking down the power grid. It was time for the siege.

…

Tsuyu and Shinso rushed into Nedzu’s office in a blind panic. “Izuku’s been taken!” They blurted out as they opened the door to find Eraserhead, Present Mic, and Nedzu standing around Nedzu’s computer.

“Ah Good!” Nedzu said with a joyful smile, “Our plan is in motion!”

Shinso gripped his fist tightly and glowered at the principal. “Say what?” Eraserhead and Tsuyu came and place their hands on the frustrated teen’s shoulders.

“Calm down,” Tsuyu said gently. “I’m sure they’ll explain.” She leveled a glare at Eraserhead who raised his eyebrows at her uncommon show of aggression. “Right, Sensei?”

“We can’t tell you everything for safety reasons,” Present Mic said with suspiciously red eyes. “But he is as safe as he can be right now.” The determined look as he declared this caused the teens to relax slightly.

“He better be!” Shinso said. “He’s gone through too much crap to be kidnapped; yet again without a way out!” Eraserhead sent a pointed look to Yamada who smirked slightly in response. A moment of levity during their tense situation. Then the lights went out.

Nedzu frowned and checked his watch before his eyes widened. “The power is out all over the city and our back-up generators have been sabotaged. Chisaki is making his move. Follow the plan! Kids, rally with your class and wait for further instructions.” Shinso and Tsuyu nodded and ran for the door.

…

Izuku woke up in a bed that was much softer than the one he had woken up in. He bolted up and looked around the room. He was still in the same clothes he had gone to sleep in, but he had no weapons or communication devices on him anymore. The only opening in the wall was a small air vent that would not allow him to escape. The room was completely white, but other than the bed, its sheets and a small security camera in the corner of the room, it was completely bare.

The room felt eerily familiar in a way, but the only possible way in or out of this room would have to be… Kurogiri! Izuku took a few deep breaths to keep himself from hyperventilating at the thought. Kurogiri himself had never been overly cruel to Izuku unless it was on All For One’s orders. He had been more like a loyal robot than anything else, but Izuku knew that the man was a Nomu. He had apprenticed with the doctor long enough to know the signs. He had never been able to figure out who the Nomu’s base was, but he had theorized that once his master died, he would slowly regain his former personality. Izuku could only hope that his personality was not as sadistic as Tomura’s. There was also the possibility that he would try to hold onto his last given orders for as long as possible. That would mean that he had followed Tomura and had taken care of the boy since his fall from grace. He hoped he was doing alright.

“I like hearing your voice,” a raspy voice said. Izuku spun around to face the speaker. His hair had been dyed light blue, and he had gotten taller, but there was no mistaking who the speaker was.

“It’s been a while Tomu-Nii,” Izuku said with a nervous smile as he met Shigaraki’s eyes.

Tomura had thought rage was the only thing he would feel when he met the quiet boy once again. He had not counted on how much the boy would look like Sensei, or even on the boy being able to speak. He felt nostalgic, frustrated, angry, but also relief. That surprised him. This boy had always followed him around. An Annoyance, that got to claim blood relation to the man that was for all intents and purposes His father. He had been a constant playmate, partner in crime, and cuddle buddy, as well as his favorite punching bag and a large source of jealousy. Hearing his soft tenor ramble about Kurogiri’s loyalties and even express concern for his own wellbeing brought home how much he had missed the little traitor even if he was too busy being angry at him to actually notice it previous to this moment.

“Huh, I never thought you would call me that, after what you did to Sensei!” Tomura said with sarcastic bite. He watched Izuku’s face fall and stomped forward to grab his arm roughly. “No! You don’t get to feel sad after you betrayed him.” Izuku stayed silent but his eyes burnt with the silent compassion and hurt that he was too familiar with. “Gah!” Tomura said and let go of his arm. He didn’t have time for these feelings. He had things to do. “Do you know where you are?”

Izuku shot Tomura an impressed look. He had never seen Tomura actually restrain himself from violence before. Time had changed him. “You probably heard me mumbling about it. This is a room only Kurogiri can get in and out of; so I’m obviously at your base somehow, but I have no idea where.”

Tomura sneered and gloated, “Correct! You are in my new base!” He couldn’t overcome the desire to show off to the younger boy; it was nostalgic in the best way. “Of course this is your special room! You can have visitors, but I won’t let you leave. Not after last time! Plus, Chisaki can’t get to you here!” Izuku’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of Overhaul’s name. Tomura took note of his expression and leaned in close to Izuku’s face as the boy stood still out of habit. “That’s right! I know Chisaki needs you to make good on his threat to take away quirks. I also know, that you know how to reverse engineer his Nomu’s loyalty.” Tomura placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder and felt the boy flinch slightly. His smile widened as he realized that the boy was still afraid of him. That would make getting him to comply much easier. “You’ll help me won’t you?” Tomura said his smile widening even more as he patted Izuku’s pale cheek before signaling towards the camera. The tell-tale sign of Kurogiri’s portal made its appearance and Tomura strode towards it purposefully, laughing. “After all, that’s what brothers are for right, Izu-Nii?”

Izuku stood frozen as Tomura strode through the portal. This Tomura was familiar, but different from the one he once knew. He was still impulsive, and emotional, but he had learned how to control his emotions and hone them as weapons. Izuku fell to his knees and clutched his chest in fear. Tomura had acted like a very young version of Sensei. The overwhelming need to be appreciated and approved of unconditionally was still there, as well as his penchant for violence; but instead of throwing tantrums to obtain it, he was using charisma and intimidation to convince those around him that he was worthy of it.

Chapter Text

Bakugou and Uraraka stood back to back as all around them their peers and teachers fended off the flood of child-sized Nomu that had swarmed over the front gate as soon as the power went out. Bakugou let off blast after blast of explosions while Uraraka flipped one of the creatures over her shoulder and slammed it into the ground. Bakugou saw the take down out of the corner of his eye and smirked. His girlfriend was awesome!!!

Overhead Hawks swooped in and dropped some lanky guy covered in bandages who went to town on the larger Nomu that had just entered the gates. Within minutes all of the Nomu were incapacitated on the ground. The man looked at his handy work and grunted, then tapped his com and asked, “How’s the back gate look?”

Hawks replied from his perch on the top of the building, “There’s a kid with a hardening quirk and a shiny French guy holding their own. It looks like the Todoroki kid is coming as back up. They should be fine. The pros have secured the outer perimeter so all the traffic has been bottlenecked in these areas. There has been no sign of any flyers yet.” As he spoke the building below him slowly began lighting up once more. “It looks like they got their alternative power source up and running. Nedzu should send out the signal any moment now.”

On the ground below, Todoroki arrived in time to create an ice wall that gave Kirishima and Aoyama a reprieve from the onslaught of nomus he was trying to barrel through. Aoyama clutched his stomach and shot the dual wielder a grateful thumbs up. If he was honest with himself, his nausea was just as much from nerves as it was from his quirk. If he hadn’t seen a trembling kirishima throwing himself into the fight he might not have had the courage to join either. No matter how much he had been prepared for it in class and the mini training sessions in the week leading up to this siege, the real thing was beyond anything he could have imagined. He just hoped the rest of his class was safe.

Nedzu cackled as he hooked Midoriya’s latest project up to the mini generator Hatsume had designed, and pressed the button. A signal was produced and proceeded to blast its way out in a 12 mile radius around the school. Any Nomu within its broadcasting range instantly crumpled to the ground.

Kaminari had never been more afraid in his life. It had only been an hour since he sabotaged the generators. They should not have power back yet. When the nomus started dropping like flies, he knew he had miscalculated. He needed to be gone with Izuku like yesterday. Unfortunately someone else had neat him to it. He had overheard Tsuyu and Shinso’s conversation on how Midoriya had yet again gone missing as he helped them evacuate civilians into the center of UA’s facilities, where there would be the least fighting. Now he was being escorted to Nedzu’s office by Iida who had been acting as a courier and scout among battle fronts when they could not communicate over the coms for some reason.

Iida was worried. Not about the battle. There had yet to have been any actual humans to fight. Instead there were these hideous monstrosities with their brains on display for all to see which had been taken down somehow with no casualties on their side. No, He was worried about how fidgety his classmate was being. He kept glancing around as if he was in enemy territory and was sweating profusely. He hadn’t even been close to the fighting, yet he was reacting as if he was having a very harrowing experience. There was also the fact that Nedzu himself had asked Iida to bring him by any means necessary as if there was a chance he might resist the orders.

He knocked on the doors which were promptly opened to reveal Nedzu and a rather lanky man covered in bandages. “Ah there you are!” The chimaera seemed jovial as he greeted the two boys. “Iida, I need you to check on sector three for us and report back as quick as you can please!”

“Yes sir!” Iida said and was off in a moment leaving Kaminari and his questions behind in a cloud of exhaust fumes. He had a job to do.

Nedzu lifted a paw and Chizome moved in a flash securing Kaminari in quirk suppressing cuffs before he could even open his mouth. “We know you sabotaged the generators, and we know why,” Nedzu said with no trace of the cheer he had used to mollify Iida. “Your sister and father are safe with our evacuees. Chizome here infiltrated your group and secured them himself. Now we need you to do a favor for us.”

Kaminari’s eyes flashed with shame and hope. His father had been a small time yakuza in the Shie Hassaikai that asked Chisaki for help with his daughter’s condition. His sister’s quirk had been slowly killing her because she refused to use it. Chisaki had agreed but only if Kaminari would be his spy. Kaminari had agreed and had undergone intense training before getting into UA. He had genuinely enjoyed his classmates and his teachers. When Midoriya-sensei had returned injured from his time with Kaminari’s boss, Kaminari started to subtly look for a way out. Chisaki had picked up on it and had threatened his sister and father if he would not comply. Finally, there was hope. “What do you need me to do?” Kaminari asked.

Chisaki raged as he watched his nomus crumple. The doctor had been surprised that they had managed to find the correct frequency to disrupt the link of orders he had programmed into the beasts. He informed Chisaki, that there was nothing they could do until they could gather and reprogram the fallen creatures. A phone call interrupted the doctor's mumble’ and Chisaki answered it when he saw it was their inside man. “Izuku Midoriya has been taken by a rival group.”

“Explain.” Chisaki said in an icy tone of voice.

“A tall woman and a man made of smoke portalled him off campus grounds right before the attack. I managed to get some coordinates off of the tracker device they planted on him after the first time he was kidnapped. I’ll send them to you now.” Chisaki hung up the phone and resisted the urge to throw it across the room before he got the coordinates. Chisaki had waited too long for his goals to be thwarted now. It would take a while to regroup, but he would. His plans hinged on Izuku. He had promised not to touch his old boss’s darling grandchild after all. He would get him back no matter what.

Chapter Text

It took about an hour by Izuku’s reckoning for his next visitor to show up through the vortex of Kurogiri’s tell-tale smoke. A tall lanky man with black hair slouched through the portal looking annoyed as a blonde teen with her hair up in buns hung off his arm. Izuku watched them warily while wondering why they looked so familiar.

“Hello Green!” The blonde chirped cheerily as she made a beeline for him.

“Yo,” came an unenthusiastic greeting from the tall man as he yanked the girl’s collar halting her progress. Izuku’s eye’s widened as he took in the scars and staples. He remembered this boy. He looked closer at the girl, and realized that both of them had been in a rival gang’s warehouse he and Tomura raided. Izuku had been starved for a week after he let all the “merchandise” go while Tomura fought the leaders.

“It’s been a while,” Izuku said with a small smile wondering if they even remembered him.

Dabi’s eyebrows rose as Toga giggled gleefully. “He remembers us!”

“Do you like music? That Fat Rat is crazy!” Dabi said.

Izuku’s eyes widened at the code words and replied, “Yes, but I broke Benjamin yesterday.” Dabi shot him a smile and released Toga who tackled Izuku in a hug. Knowing the cameras were being monitored, Izuku asked, “Why are you here?”

“That gremlin currently hugging you is a registered nurse believe it or not. She’s supposed to look you over for any injuries. Kurogiri was worried your conversation with Tomura would get physical.” At this point in the conversation Toga started smiling while patting Izuku over.

“It looks like your most current injuries have healed nicely, there are no new ones, but you should really sleep more!” Toga scolded with a cute pout before pulling out a syringe. “I know this will probably bring up some bad memories, but I need to take some of your blood.” Izuku eyed the syringe, but stuck out his arm knowing it would be easier to just give it to her while she was asking nicely. She might act like an air head, but he could tell from the way she moved that she was a skilled fighter.  As he did so he could swear he saw her eyes sparkle. Toga hummed happily while she filled up two syringes worth of his blood while Dabi looked idly on.

“Do you know why Tomura brought you here?” Dabi asked once Toga was done.

“He mentioned that he was keeping me from Chisaki and something about reprogramming Nomu for him.”

“Can you actually do that?” Dabi asked with a note of interest in his voice. Izuku’s eyes flitted to the camera in the corner of the room but he stayed silent.

“Wow!” Toga said dramatically, “We knew you could put up a good fight, but who knew you were that smart! I might be falling in love.” She drew Izuku into another enthusiastic hug that had Izuku flailing and throwing a hopeful look at Dabi who rolled his eyes.

“Don’t take her too seriously,” Dabi said. “She gains a new crush every 20 seconds.”

“At least I never crushed on you!” Toga said as she finally released Izuku and bounded over to try to chop Dabi who fluidly dodged her strike.

“That would just be weird!” Dabi said with a shudder. Izuku let a small smile grace his face as he watched the two banter. “After you saved us from that gang, we kind of adopted each other.” Izuku’s eyes widened with emotion as he understood that he had been remembered, but it was quickly quelled when Kurogiri’s portal showed up once more.

Toga hugged Izuku close once more and whispered, “We’ll find a way to get you out of here. Just be patient.” Izuku leaned into the hug to hide his head from the camera as he nodded and Toga patted his head as she stood up and entered the portal. Dabi gave Izuku a small smile of reassurance before he stepped through as well. The teen looked determined, but he couldn’t hide the small tremble in his hands as the undercover vigilantes stepped through the portal.

Kurogiri was waiting for them in an abandoned hallway. Toga gave him a thumbs up and Dabi gave him a small nod to let him know that the boy had not been hurt. Kurogiri gave a small nod in return before leaving to answer Tomura’s Summons.

Tomura was wrapping up a meeting with ReDestro about their defenses when Kurogiri stepped in quiet as a shadow. After a few moments, ReDestro wheeled himself out of the room exclaiming fervent loyalty and praising Tomura’s leadership. Tomura turned to Kurogiri as soon as the doors closed. “How did Zu-nii like his new friends?”

“He recognized them just as you said he would,” Kurogiri said with a small bow. “He seems to trust them a small amount.”

Tomura smirked. He also remembered the two small teens that the brat had set free on their first mission. He had been secretly relieved he hadn’t had to disintegrate the merchandise like Sensei had wanted him to, but there was no way he could admit that. He knew that Izuku would remember them from the severe punishment he had received in letting them go. The best part was that they were on his side this time. It was amazing how everything was falling into place for him.

Chisaki must be ripping his hair out trying to find the teen. The doctor would probably be even more frustrated knowing that his ex-protegee was the reason their raid on UA had failed. Tomura’s smile turned vicious as he thought of what he had planned for them when they caught wind of his army. But first, he needed Izuku on his side. If he could stop the Nomu’s that had attacked UA, he should be able to reprogram who the beasts would take orders from. “I think it’s time we paid my brother another visit.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was sleeping when Tomura came for another visit. Tomura watched the teen’s peaceful face as memories of their childhood flashed through his mind.

The screen flashed a game over and Tomura disintegrated the controller in his hand as he roared in frustration. Izuku curled into himself a little more as the new scars on his arms caught the light of the now sparking game station Tomura had kicked into the wall. “What a stupid level!” Tomura exclaimed. “Those cheat codes weren’t worth my time! They didn’t help at all!” He huffed and turned around raising his eyebrows at the sight of izuku curled up in a ball and rocking back and forth in an effort to comfort himself. “What are you so scared of?” Tomura had sneered. “Did the doctor try to inject some new stupid drug again?” The small greenette had frozen at the mention of the doctor so Tomura figured that he was right. “Eh, don’t worry about that quack! I heard sensei say you were fairly smart. You’ll have to learn coding so you can make me a better video game!”

Kurogiri had walked into the room to see what all the fuss was about and overheard this last statement. “Hmm,” The smoky man said in his silky voice, “That might not be such a bad idea young Tomura. Izuku has gone above and beyond in his studies. I’m sure he is capable of learning code.” Izuku slowly uncurled himself from his ball and stared at Tomura with shining eyes and a bright smile.

“Gross,” Tomura said wincing when he saw Izuku’s smile. “The broccoli is smiling at me. Get it to—oof!”Tomura was interrupted as Izuku launched himself from the floor to give the teen a crushing hug of gratitude. The hug made Tomura feel all mushy inside. It reminded him of someone from a long time ago… a girl? And a dog? The foggy memory made his head hurt and he shoved the smaller boy to the floor. “Don’t ever do that again!” He yelled at the boy whose smile vanished as he hit the floor. Kurogiri pulled Izuku up by the arm and roughly escorted him from the room, but not before Tomura caught the worried look on Izuku’s face as he watched the teen clutch his head. Why did the brat worry about him when he hurt him all the time? It didn’t make sense, but it felt nice.

Izuku shifted on the bed breaking Tomura out of his reverie. In a swift motion, Tomura yanked the sheetsoff of the teen and sent him rolling over the edge. He was surprised when Izuku caught himself in a perfect pushup position rather than taking the brunt of the damage as he always used to do when they were children. “Morning Zu-nii!” Tomura chirped in as creepy as way as possible, just to see his reaction.

Izuku looked over with wide eyes that had a surprisingly soft look in them. “Morning Tomu-Nii,” came the whispered reply. “It’s been a while,” Izuku asked his voice slowly becoming more confident as he stood. “What do you need from me?”

“Is your memory really that bad?” Tomura asked trying to regain control even as he was reeling from how different this Izuku was from his memories. “I need to know how to reprogram the Nomu to obey me instead of Chisaki.”

“I would need to have access to a computer and a nomu for that,” Izuku replied meeting Tomura’s eyes with a straight face.

“There’s no way I am letting you near a computer or a nomu,” Tomura said crossing his arms. “You would probably program it to obey you instead.”

“Then I can’t help you,” Izuku said simply as he held Tomura’s gaze.

Tomura smirked, “Is that so?” Izuku said nothing but his eyes held a glint of fear at the change in Tomura’s tone. “You’ve already met your new caretakers, haven’t you? Toga-chan is skilled enough to take care of any work you need done on the nomu, and Dabi, believe it or not has made quite the name for himself as a hacker. He might even give you a run for your money should you ever be up for the competition. You tell them what needs to be done, and they’ll do it.”

“It will take quite a bit longer to do it that way,” Izuku said. “It would be quicker and easier for me to teach them how to disrupt the signal in their brains around a certain radius, like I did for Nedzu.”

“How long will it take to change who the Nomu’s take orders from?”

“Two months if you have all the parts on hand,” Izuku said as he brought his hands up to his mouth in a pensive pose. “The signal disrupter would take two to six days depending on how strong you want to make it.” Izuku slapped his hand over his mouth, realizing he was giving out more information than necessary. It had been far too easy to fall back into the rhythm of working with Tomu-Nii again; especially now that he could actually talk instead of relying on Kurogiri to read his answers to Tomu-Nii. He looked up at Tomura as the man started to laugh.

“Hahahaha!” Tomura laughed sincerely at the irony of his little brother being a mumbler. “You used to be so quiet! Hahaha! I’m so glad I got to see the silent traitor become a talkative lark. Hahaha! You know when we were little I tried to imagine what you would say if you could talk. Now I’m glad you couldn’t! You would have ended up dead before Sensei even got you home! Hahaha!”

Izuku’s eyes sparkled at Tomura’s admission. “So you did like having me around!” He said excitedly before slapping his hand back over his face. However the damage was done. Tomura’s laughing stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Sensei had drilled it into him. Izuku must never know he is valuable. He has to feel like he needs to prove his worth to be useful. He must know who it is he needs to impress to survive. Tomura must ALWAYS be the more powerful one, and he had been; until Izuku had betrayed them all. The boy had been smarter than even All For One had acknowledged and had severely crippled an underground operation that was over two centuries old, before he was even old enough to shave, and no one had seen it coming.

Tomura looked at Izuku with a familiar gaze of loathing that made the younger’s stomach drop and his body trembled in anticipation of pain. “Why wouldn’t I like my favorite tool?” Tomura said with a hint of hysteria as he stepped forward menacingly. “It’s been a while since I’ve used you to relieve some stress, what do you say to being my punching bag again for old time’s sake hmm?”

Izuku took a deep breath and did something he had never done before. He stood up tall and met the gaze of an angry Tomura. “No.” Izuku spoke out clearly and with a power Tomura had not expected.

“No?” Tomura said tilting his head to the side as if curious at this new creature before him.

“No,” Izuku said again. “I do not want to be your punching bag anymore. Those days are over. You may have kidnapped me and are planning to use me to win your petty little war, but I will not cooperate with you if it turns into a torture session.” Izuku was sweating, but he could not and would not fall back into his old habits. Tomura was no longer a child following Sensei’s commands, and he was no longer a small child with no support.

Before Tomura could respond Kurogiri’s portal appeared beneath Tomura’s feet and the lanky man fell out of the room into a soft chair in his private room with Kurogiri standing as composed as ever. “What was that for!” Tomura yelled as he promptly disintegrated the pillows beneath his fingers struggling to get up.

“Chisaki is on the move.”

Chapter Text

All Might and Melissa brushed the dirt and other unmentionables off of their hero suits as they entered UA’s gates after finishing off the Nomus that had met them at the airport. Apparently, they had still been too late to help with UA’s siege. Melissa stared wide-eyed at the unresponsive Nomus as they had been brought to a designated area on one of UA’s training fields. Almost none of them had any significant injuries to render them unconscious. “All Might,” Melissa asked, “How did they stop so many Nomu? We had to go all out, and still just barely made it out alive.” She shuddered at the memory of the gruesome fight.

“I have no idea!” All Might said, “Perhaps Principal Nedzu can enlighten us!” As if summoned at the mention of his name, Nedzu strode out of the front doors with Recovery girl and Gran Torino in tow to meet the new arrivals. All Might awkwardly coughed in surprise at the sight of his old mentor Melissa just gave a knowing smile as she recognized the old man. Her father had told her stories of how All Might was always being scolded by his mentor over the phone whenever he made the news.

“Well now, if it isn’t Toshi, late as always!” Gran gave his old student a grandfatherly frown as he looked him over. “What held you up this time? You look like you waded through a river of blood.”

Recovery Girl had already sideled up to the two blondes and was giving them a once over, scanning them for any injuries. She knocked on All Might’s new metal torso that was hidden by his costume. When he had been injured by All For One, he had sought out David Shield’s help and the man had effectively turned him into a human cyborg. Unfortunately, his new body parts, could not hold up under the stress of All Might’s quirk, so the one man Symbol of Peace had chosen to pass his quirk on to David’s daughter Melissa. After he had been impressed by her intellect and blunt bravery during a hostage situation that had arisen while he was recovering from his surgeries.

“We might as well have,” Melissa answered as All Might continued to be prodded by Recovery girl’s nimble fingers. “We were mobbed by a small army of these things when we landed at the airport. How did you manage to contain these creatures with so little damage?”

“Young Izuku came up with a device that messed with their brain waves so they could no longer receive orders from their leader,” Nedzu replied.

“Surely, you don’t mean All For One’s son do you?” All Might asked incredulously. He had heard that the boy was smart from his frequent conversations with Nighteye and Tsukauchi, but the boy had only been mentioned in passing due to All Might’s awkwardness about learning who his father was.

“Why does that surprise you?” All Might and Melissa both let out a small yelp as Eraserhead appeared behind the duo with his dead pan glare.

“Well, ah, um you see…” All Might hemmed and hawed trying to get out of this embarrassing conversation. “Ouch!”

Gran Torino had smacked All Might in the lower back once Recovery girl had given a nod of satisfaction at his health causing the tall hero to straighten up. “Stand up straight boy!” He scolded as he gave a nod to the underground hero. “Stop pussyfooting around the issue and just man up. Everyone here knows the boy’s heritage unless you forgot to mention it to your gaping protégé over there.”

Melissa’s eyebrows raised at the implications and sent a questioning look at her mentor as she asked, “Who are Izuku and All for One?” All might flinched at the question as all the adults gave him their best looks of exasperation.

“Idiot!” Gran Torino and Eraserhead said in sync. They had both grown to be parental figures for Izuku over the course of his stay at UA, and knew about the huge role All Might had played in his youth. The dolt himself was too emotionally constipated to even thank the boy for what he had done, but now keeping it from his protégé despite how important it was to the quirk he had passed on to her.

Nedzu gave a small cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh and redirected the groups focus. “We’ll have to fill you in as we go,” Nedzu said to Melissa kindly. “Why don’t you get cleaned up and come to my office so we can fill you in on the situation. I suspect Chisaki is about to make his move.”

…

Dabi and Toga listened intently as Izuku tried to explain how to create the device Tomura had requested. Since their stand-off, Tomura had not returned, but he had sent Dabi and Toga who had explained the situation. According to his two friends, Chisaki had discovered their base and surrounded it with his men. They were holding them off, but it was almost as if Chisaki was just flushing out their defenses. He hadn’t sent any of his nomus yet, although that could be because the majority had been taken out by their raid on UA. At least, that was what Izuku privately hoped.

Izuku knew there was the possibility that they were fighting heroes instead of Chisaki, but he also knew that Chisaki and the doctor would not let him go. If Chisaki wanted to deliver on his promises, he needed Izuku, and the doctor was far too sadistic to let Izuku run free if he had the chance to turn him into his experiment. He also knew that Tomura would visit him more to rile him up. It was one of his favorite things to do when he was younger. He would visit Sensei’s prisoners and tell them they could save their families if they would cooperate, when sensei had sent someone out to assassinate them the day before. The fact that his two most frequent visitors knew the code he and Nedzu had created also spoke volumes about their loyalties. Until he found a way out, he was stuck trusting the duo that he was quickly growing fond of.

It didn’t take him long to figure out Dabi was likely Endeavor’s relative and that Toga had had just as messed up a childhood as he had before she had met Dabi. He felt a kinship with the undercover vigilantes. The two bickered like siblings, but you could tell that they trusted each other implicitly. Dabi’s sarcastic stoicism and Toga’s cheerful chaos never failed to lift Izuku’s spirits.

They were also intelligent enough to understand the vague machinations behind Izuku’s nomu stopping device. It hadn’t taken Dabi long to figure out the coding language Izuku had made to run the system, and Toga had been able to perform brain surgery on a nomu they had somehow acquired from UA’s raid from only his instructions and pictures he had sketched of what she should find. They could have finished the disabling device in 3 days instead of 7, but Izuku purposely drew out the time with extra explanations so he could get as much information and time with the vigilantes as possible.

“Hey kid,” Dabi said nudging Izuku as he finished his explanation on how to complete the code.

“Yeah?” Izuu said looking down at his hands trying furiously not to cry. He was going to be lonely, vulnerable. He knew Tomura wouldn’t let them return unless he somehow managed to carve out that month to reprogram the nomu. Dabi’s hand hooked under the boys chin and gently lifted the watery green eyes to meet his own icy blue ones.

“You have more friends than you know. Next time Kurogiri’s portal appears after flickering twice jump through it. That will be your ticket out of here.” Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion.

“How will you manage that?” Izuku asked as Toga peeled herself off of the teen’s back. It was her habit to hang on him throughout his explanations.

“We have our ways Izu-kun!!!” She smiled and squished his face in her cheeks as she turned his face away from Dabi to hover inches from her own. “We have a debt to repay after all!” she whispered. Izuku’s eyes softened at the explanation and he nodded causing Toga to squeal at his cuteness and hug him to her chest. Toga’s celebrating was interrupted by the temperature drop that announced Kurogiri’s portals. The two said their goodbyes and left Izuku to stew in his anxiety.

Chapter Text

Nedzu couldn’t keep the smile on his face. Chisaki’s moves were becoming more and more obvious as he continued to whittle Tomura’s forces down slowly. Tomura himself had not made a move, but his commanders had been ordered to fight more and more aggressively as they failed to capture the majority of Chisaki’s ambushing team.

Either Tomura had been caught unawares, or Tomura was stalling until his ultimate weapon was revealed. Nedzu knew there was a 40% chance of it being the first and 60% chance of it being the second. The latter was more likely considering the fact that Nedzu had purposely leaked the information about Izuku being the mastermind behind the device that had disabled the nomus.

Kurogiri himself had become somewhat of a concern as he and their other spies had not been able to report back due to the recent attacks. Nedzu had managed to send Chizome in undercover with Hawks playing scout, but it had proved harder for them to communicate than Nedzu would have liked; even with one of Hawks feathers planted on the bandaged vigilante.

Nedzu knew that strategically it was better to have Izuku behind enemy lines of a third party aggressor and have them destroy each other for the boy who had somehow become the center of this tragic war; but as a person who had watched the boy overcome a past of heinous abuse he wished more than ever he could just snatch his kit back and defend him in his nest. It was what everyone else wanted him to do, but that would not help either of them. Nedzu did this not only because he knew it would be more advantageous for him in the long run; but because Izuku had told him, more than once about how much he cared for the other boy that he considered a brother even through all the abuse. He just hoped that Izuku would be able to turn his estranged brother to his side, or Nedzu might have to permanently end that dream before he got the chance to try. He had taken up with some heinous criminals as of late.

Shaking off his foreboding thoughts Nedzu tapped his paw on the computer console. “Begin.”

…

The doctor turned to Chisaki with a manic grin on his face, the blood still fresh on his surgical clothes. “I fixed it. Kaminari’s information on the device was very useful.” Chisaki’s cold gold eyes glinted as he turned to Chronostasis and nodded. The white-haired man nodded in return and left the room.

…

Dabi swore as Toga narrowly dodged another bullet from one of Chisaki’s goons. You could tell they were just pawns because they had no quirks. They fought solely with pre-quirk weapons. Since Izuku had finished explaining the first device, Dabi and Toga had barely had time to make it before they were thrown back into the increasingly frequent attacks. Chisaki had somehow managed to turn quite a few citizens to his cause and had them prove their loyalty by becoming cannon fodder to his cause.

“This is getting really annoying!” Dabi said. A wall of blue flame cut off their aggressors as the duo escaped to the roofs. The rest of their team had booked it back to headquarters earlier to regroup with the main force. Toga transformed her arms to Midnight’s (a gift from Nedzu via Chizome) and released a purple mist to put their surprised enemies to sleep before regrouping themselves. “How did we go from a secret organization of extremists to rebel forces being harassed by nobodies?”

“Was that a Star Wars reference?” Toga asked as her replicated arms melted back to normal ones and they made their way back to base.

Dabi let out an exasperated sigh and instead nodded to the bandaged figure that had silently began to run beside them. “Got a new feather in your cap, I see.” Dabi said in a monotone voice that had Toga cracking up beside him.

Chizome rolled his eyes and nodded. “We heard there was a big meeting, and decided to join the group.”

“So it’s almost time then?” Toga giggled excitedly. “Izuku has been alone for practically a whole month since these annoyances kept popping up like daisies!”

“Stop quoting archaic Disney movies!” Dabi scolded as Chizome let out an amused smirk.

“The fat rat has officially begun the operation,” Chizome said, “and Hawks says your debt is repaid after this. How did you even end up in debt to the crazy bird?”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” Dabi replied defensively as Toga started cackling.

“He burnt the poor guys wings off trying to escape capture and then got him to blame it on Endeavor’s overeager fighting style since he was in the area when it all went down,” Toga said in between laughs. “Hawks hunted him down and asked him on a date to which he replied, and I quote ‘I would rather be indebted to you for the media fiasco you caused Endeavor than go on a date with your feathered behind!’ It was classic.”

“Never a dull moment with you huh?” Chizome said not bothering to hide his teasing smile as Dabi tried his best not to combust from embarrassment.

“Yea,” He replied resignedly, “All it took was a war to repay that stupid debt.”

“We’re here,” Toga said, abruptly halting the conversation and allowing the vigilantes to return to their well-practiced and hard won silent communication as they entered the base. They found a large gathering of at least 10,000 people with all kinds of quirks. On a platform high above them, stood Tomura and Kurogiri calmly overlooking the room. Magne and Spinner stood just behind them as well as a man in a straight-jacket and a muscular giant. ReDestro clapped silencing the large crowd of people.

Tomura strode to the front of the platform and held out his hands as if he was inviting old friends to a dinner party instead of a deathtrap called war. “Thank you for coming tonight my friends!” The blue-haired man began in a friendly but raspy tone that sent chills down Dabi’s back every time he heard it. “We have been plagued by those who would take away our gifts and turn us into slaves of a madman. Take a look at this.”

Tomura said as he flung his hand over to his left as Kurogiri opened a portal bringing Izuku Midoriya onto the platform with him. Shackles held his wrists together and he was clothed in a loose white jumpsuit almost as if he was returning from some form of painter’s prison. His hands were covered in white gloves and he was muzzled as if he was a rabid dog. The concerned and angry look in his eyes spoke volumes to the speechless vigilantes as they watched on in increasing horror.

“This is our secret weapon!” Tomura said after the gasps from his audience had died down. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t really want to be here right now, but eventually that will change. This is why Chisaki has been so adamant on hunting us down.” Tomura said as he patted Izuku’s face with all five fingers. Everyone who had joined the Supernatural Liberation Federation knew of Tomura’s destructive quirk. He had exhibited it without abandon. The warehouse exploded in shouts until Tomura slammed his hands down on the rail of the platform, disintegrating it immediately. “As you can see, his quirk allows him to stop other’s quirks, but only if they are in physical contact. Chisaki used him to create the formula that has caused such chaos to our world.”

The revelations caused boos and shouts that promised death to the green haired boy as he slowly felt his worried eyes slip into a neutral mask.

“Now, now,” Tomura calmed the crowd with a raised hand. “When he first arrived. I thought the same as you, but that would make us the hypocrites now wouldn’t it? We would be claiming that everyone should be able to use their quirks but getting rid of those whose quirks might get in the way of our own. That’s not what we are fighting for. We are fighting to build a world where everyone will have the chance to live life while using their gifts without restraints.

“Fortunately, this child is useful for more than just his quirk. He was the one who singlehandedly engineered the device that upset Chisaki’s attempt at overthrowing UA, and he has shared his knowledge with us willingly in exchange for his freedom and safety. Unfortunately, we cannot release him yet due to his high value in this war. The next battle will be the last. With the device Midoriya Izuku has engineered, we will be able to not only defend ourselves as we have been, but also to launch an attack that will bring Chisaki himself to his knees and announce our supremacy using Izu-chan here as bait. When we win this war, we will be able to fill the gaps that Chisaki’s raving lunacy has caused and overtake the country. We will overrule their ridiculously restraining laws and restore Japan to the country we wish it to be; a country of Gods. We will be taking the fight to Overhaul. Let’s end this war!”

The entire crowd roared their approval save for three vigilantes desperately trying to hold in their horror amidst the celebrations.

Chapter Text

---

“What the heck am I doing in the middle of a WAR!?!” Spinner groaned internally to himself as he ran headfirst into a group of Yakuza flunkies with his blades drawn. “All I wanted was to show my friend where to find a good weapon and complain about quirkist jerks!” his internal monologue continued as he defeated his opponents gracefully and successfully parried a baton with his tail.

He finally made it beyond the threshold of the small guard house in front of Chisaki’s traditional Japanese home, and paused to catch his breath as he made sure his team had made it safely as well. His mind flashed back to Tomura’s impassioned speech at the warehouse. He knew the man had been raised by a supervillain he highly adored, but to think the man that had literally thrown a tantrum at losing to him once in Mario Kart had such charisma that he could convince 10,000 people to become accomplices in a kidnapping and raid the base of a highly televised supervillain that had literally been terrorizing Japan for the past month and a half was beyond his comprehension. He just knew that he was definitely in over his head with absolutely no way out other than death or possible dismemberment. Maybe his mother was right, he really needed to find some better friends. If he got out of this alive, he might just do that.

…

Tomura was grinning like a maniac. He was so excited to be fighting on the frontlines of a massive battle. There was destruction wherever he looked. He had purposely abandoned his shoes and walked through the battle field decaying the field where he walked. To his troops he looked like an angel of death leading the charge into battle.

He had learned that particular trick from Izuku’s mutterings. After he had pulled Dabi and Toga to fight the ambushers Chisaki had sent their way, he had taken to visiting Izuku himself. The teen’s defiance had needed to be dealt with. At least that was what he told himself, but part of him missed the days when the greenheaded boy had been his shadow. He had been able to walk into any battlefield with confidence because his shadow was there. Sure the boy had been too compassionate to kill anyone, but he was skilled and intelligent. He had gotten Tomura out of one too many scrapes his foul mouth had dropped them in, and that had been before he could even talk. Now that he could talk, the boy was an overflowing source of information. He seemed unable to keep himself from giving pointers when Tomura mentioned anything about quirks or his battles with Chisaki’s subordinates. Even if the teen wasn’t giving him the information he really wanted about how to make the Nomus switch sides, he was contributing greatly to his own growth. He suspected Izuku was just trying to get as much information out of Tomura as Tomura was trying to get out of him, but he was confident the brat would never see the light of day outside of this battle. Kurogiri was too loyal for that to ever happen. The plan was to set Midoriya free in the middle of the compound to draw Chisaki’s attention and forces into their surprise setup. Tomura checked the time and continued his assault taking out unquirked and quirked followers of Chisaki’s group left and right as he ventured down into Chisaki’s underground facilities.

…

Kurogiri/Oboro knew it was now or never. Chisaki had shown up to confront Tomura’s bold assault when Midoriya had shown up in his white jumpsuit and muzzled form portalled there by the smoky man as per Tomura’s orders. He had waited patiently while Tomura had boldly antagonized the young yakuza leader and presented Izuku as a gift he would receive if he would surrender to Tomura and work under him as he revolutionized Japan to allow quirks to be used in everyday life. Chisaki had vehemently declined stating everything that was wrong with quirks; how they were a disease that blinded society from a person’s true worth and abilities. Seeing they were at a standstill, Tomura’s manic grin widened with amusement as he gave the signal for Kurogiri to portal Izuku away and attack. Chisaki yelled in frustration as Izuku fell through the floor and signaled for the doctor to unleash the modified Nomu. Kurogiri thought back to his modification of Nedzu’s plan and hoped beyond hope that the heroes still trusted him enough for the teen to pull this off.

…

Izuku was beyond confused. Seconds ago he had been a sitting duck in the middle of a war zone, and now he was being released from his restraints by a second Kurogiri next to a sleeping giant. The past month had been harrowing to say the least. Between his anxiety attacks and his attempts to get information out of Tomura Just in case he was ever rescued from his solitary confinement, Izuku had never in a million years thought that Kurogiri would help him in anyway.

He had known Tomura would most likely slaughter him on the battlefield in front of Chisaki if he had not proven himself useful in some way, but he could not have imagined the number of followers he had been able to get to follow him despite his unstable lust for destruction. Although it did seem that Kurogiri had managed to spirit Tomura away whenever he was about to get violent because of Izuku’s refusal to turn the nomu he had assumed it was just Kurogiri’s way of protecting an asset. He stared at the misty man with a confused look as his muzzle was removed from his face. “Where--?”

“There is no time,” Kurogiri interrupted, “This is gigantomachia Kurogiri said gesturing to the sleeping figure. Your father programmed him to be loyal to his successor if said successor could best him at combat. I fear that Nedzu and Tomura have miscalculated Chisaki and the doctor’s ambition. If worst come to worst; Gigantomachia is our best bet to defeating the mega-nomu the doctor was working on before your father died.”

Izuku’s eyes went wide at the implications off a mega-nomu, but he stayed silent as Kurogiri turned to him and continued his explanation. “After your father’s death, my original memories returned slowly. My name is Oboro.” Izuku gasped and Kurogiri/Oboro let out a small smile. “Yes, Aizawa and Yamada’s Oboro. I have been duplicated by an acquaintance of your friends, which is why I can be at two places at once right now. My real self is helping out Shigaraki right now. I will stay and help you return to the battlefield once this is over.”

“How did you know I would help him out even after all he’s done to me?” Izuku asked suppressing his emotions and shock.

“Because of your compassion,” Kurogiri said with confidence. “Even when you were with sensei it was not something we could beat out of you. You could never leave anyone in a bad situation even when it compromised your own safety. Tomura is a confused man in a bad situation. He’s someone only you can save.”

Izuku took a deep breathe and gave Kurogiri a small smile. “So I’m really that easy to read even after all these years?”

“No,” Oboro said. “We are just that much alike now that I have my memories back.”

Izuku nodded and his face turned serious as he turned once again to look at the sleeping giant. “Tomura was Sensei’s successor, not me.”

“You were sensei’s back up plan as a successor if something happened to Tomura,” Oboro said without missing a beat. “You were smart intelligent and charismatic enough when you were confident in what you were doing that he pitted Tomura against you and encouraged the boy to undermine your confidence so he would have a fighting chance against you if you ever came into your own as a villain.”

Izuku shuddered at the thought but accepted the explanation. It was something his father would have done. “Any pointers?” Izuku asked Oboro as he gestured towards Gigantomachia who’s snores had stopped signaling a return to consciousness.

“Be quick and confident,” Kurogiri said. “Tomura might have learned Sensei’s cruelty, but your intellect, patience and eye for details gave you a far greater chance at taking up his mantle. It’s why Tomura was so threatened by you. Also, he loves All For One and you are a spitting image of the man with the exception of your hair and eyes being a different color.”

“Understood” Izuku said as he pulled the gloves off his hands and rolled up the sleeves of his jumpsuit.

Gigantomachia stretched and yawned at a decibel that could rival a lion’s before looking up and spotting Izuku. “Master?” He said still blinking the sleep from his eyes. “When did you get so short? Why is your hair green?”

“My name is Midoriya Izuku,” Izuku said. “Your old master is gone. Will you follow me?”

Gigantomachia bellowed in grief and rage at the audacity of this look alike of his master. “Only Master was ever stronger than me! If you can beat me I will follow you!”

Izuku let out a confident laugh as he analyzed his opponent’s quirks and size. He hopped over the giant’s outstretched hand as it lashed out with surprising speed and brushed his bare fingers over the revealed skin causing the giant to shrink for an instant effectively disorienting him. Izuku wasted no time in dashing forward and running up the giant’s back. He successfully managed to put his bare hands on the giant’s exposed neck and held tight as the man shrunk allowing Izuku to put him in a proper choke hold. The man yelled and thrashed. He threw himself down on the ground and began to roll in an effort to get the boy off, but to no avail. Izuku held on for dear life and ignored the bruises he was receiving as he effectively cut off the man’s oxygen. The man below him finally stopped struggling and Izuku released him; rolling away to a safe distance as Kurogiri checked the once-again giant man’s pulse. He gave Izuku a small nod then opened a small portal that gushed out water on Gigantomachia’s face quickly awakening the man.

“What happened?” Gigantomachia asked.

“I beat you,” Izuku said picking up his discarded gloves and returning them to his hands.  

Gigantomachia narrowed his eyes as if trying to remember what just happened. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he leapt up from the ground laughing joyously. Izuku jumped in surprised at the reaction but then smiled at the joyful expression on his face. Gigantomachia fell to his hands and knees with a wide smile on his face as he looked Izuku in the eye. “So what do you ask of me little master?”

Chapter Text

Jin argued loudly with himself as he waited next to Eraserhead as Nedzu finished his meeting with All Might and his protege. "This is a bad idea!/ No going back now! what's done is done! How do I get myself into these things?/ You don't KNOW how to say NO!" He was interrupted as the doors swung open to reveal the two blondes as they hurried to make preparations for their next battle. Nedzu turned to Eraserhead after cheerfully waving after the duo and peeked at Jin.

"Who is this?" Nedzu asked.

"Jin is my name!" Jin replied. "/HOLY CRAP! IT'S MASTER SPLINTER!"

"I found him by the gate," Eraserhead said without so much as raising an eyebrow at the man's outburst. "He said that Kurogiri sent him with a message." At the mention of the teleporter the white chimera ushered them hurriedly into his office.

"Kurogiri/ MISTY MAN!/ said to tell you that he is giving Izuku / THE GREEN BEAN/ an extra tool to obtain his freedom./WHATEVER THE HECK THAT MEANS!," Jin said while his eyes scanned the room as if hoping to escape the scrutiny of the Chimera.

"When did this happen?" Nedzu asked.

"Early this morning./AFTER THE CRAZY RECRUITING PARTY!," Jin said with a shiver as he remembered falling through the man's portal into a corner that might have been even darker than the portal had been. The only reason he didn't completely lose it was the fact that Dabi was standing right next to him."A local vigilante that burns things was there /HE SHOULD BE CALLED AN ARSONIST/ and told me that the group was going to raid Chisaki's compound soon./THEY DIDN'T EVEN INVITE ME SO RUDE!/ They had me create some clones to help get the green kid out./I LIKE MAKING CLONES AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT OF ME!"

"Interesting," Nedzu said. "Who did you make clones of and how long will they last?"

"MISTYMAN/Kurogiri, /ARSONIST/the burning vigilante, /VAMPIRE/ a bloodsucking vigilante, /A BURNT CHICKEN/ Hawks, /AND NOSELESS, some guy in bandages," Jin listed off.

"Perfect," Nedzu said with a predatory grin before looking to Eraserhead. "It's time to begin phase one." Eraserhead simply nodded and left the room.

"WHERE'S HE GOING?/I should go," Jin said as he tried to leave the office.

"Before you go, please tell me more specifics about your clones!" Nedzu asked with the predatorial look still on his face. Jin gulped and shivered again.

...

Tomura laughed as he took out yet another of Chisaki's concrete pillars. The plan to use Izuku as bait had worked splendidly. Tomura could tell the Yakuza was beginning to tire so he began to mock the man. "Did you really think we would hand over the one person who could fulfill your plans? You must take us for fools."

Chisaki dodged a swipe of Tomura's hands even as they disintegrated the plague mask off his face. Chisaki jumped backwards out of reach and stood up raising one finger above his head. out of nowhere, a Nomu, the size of a Endeavor burst into the battle and stood directly in front of his Chisaki who simply said "go." The nomu was off in a flash. The monster rushed Tomura who dodged a full body slam from the creature by the skin of his teeth. Tomura laughed manically as he retaliated with a punch through the Nomu's stomach. As hw withdrew his hand he realized that the nomu was already healing.

Chisaki stood tall and pointed around the room allowing Tomura to see that he was now surrounded by seven Nomu poised and ready to strike. "Can you still look at these poor mangled creatures and say that Quirks are not a disease? " Chisaki asked as he kept his eyes peeled on Tomura and his men who had come to assist him after the device Izuku had created was set off, but to no avail. Seeing that the experiment was a success, Chisaki monologued a little more; "The doctor happily agreed to make and improve your poor nomus who have been stuffed full of the terrible disease you and your society worship. Would there be any place for the quirkless in your world Tomura? Or would you just exacerbate the issue and look down on those who have been purified of their filth? You love destruction too much for me to bow down to you in any way shape or form. I will bring Order to your unruly Chaos by relieving you of your abilities. Restrain them nomu."

The nomu's obeyed his orders, and restrained Tomura and his team in such a way that they could not use their quirks at all. Overhaul walked straight towards a growling Tomura and slowly reached out his hands. The tips of his fingers barely grazed Tomura's dry skin before there was a loud BOOM announcing the entrance of All Might and Melissa crashing through the ceiling.

...

Far from the chaos, the doctor stood watching the monitors with a crazed look in his eyes. He saw the man truly responsible for his precious Sensei’s passing, and lost all reason. Unheeding of the decimation of his current master’s troops, he pressed a button that would release every Nomu available in their facility. There was no going back now.

…

Dabi, Toga, Chizome and Hawks had managed to keep the high ground as the battles raged below them. They watched the showdown between the two factions and felt the ground tremble as a tidal wave of nomus, every size and color began to overtake not only the leaders of the opposing groups, but All Might and Melissa as well. Hawks looked at Dabi who returned the look with a deep sigh. “You up for some snatch and grab?” The scarred vigilante asked.

“Ooh! Me too!” Toga said gleefully before transforming into Hawks and deploying her feathers with the same skill and ability as the hero himself. “This is almost like reverse fishing!” Toga giggled as she nabbed several more combatants from the fray. “Save the bait!”

Chizome rolled his eyes at her commentary before snagging Dabi and running to retrieve the nomu disabling device that had not been sabotaged and turning it on. They waited 2 minutes, then 5, but it never worked. The pair looked at each other with despair and prayed that Kurogiri and Izuku would be back soon and that Nedzu’s plan wasn’t just sending All Might, who should have retired by now.

Chapter Text

Todoroki stood next to a short Blue-haired sempai and shuffled awkwardly as she kissed her girlfriend a very passionate goodbye kiss. Nedzu had insisted that the first year students begin patrolling with some more experienced students while the senior heroes were out on a mission of some kind. Todoroki had been assigned to Nejire-sempai, a girl with some kind of spiral energy power. She seemed highly excitable and overly passionate. He wondered why Aizawa-sensei had felt like it was a good idea to pair him up with her and her incessant chatter, he had no idea.

“Alright, Todo-kun!” Nejire said after her girlfriend had literally fainted from lack of oxygen. “Let’s go!” she grabbed the boy by the arm and took him towards the front gate literally dragging him from where he had bent down to make sure the poor girl was still breathing. (She was.) She eventually let go of him as they reached the beginning of their patrol. “Keep your eyes out for anything unusual,” Nejire reminded him in an upbeat tone. “There has been so much going on recently, it wouldn’t do us any good to be caught unawares just because we won the first battle.”

Todoroki gave her an affirmative grunt trying to keep himself from blurting out any rude comments he might have had about the odd girl. She was not what he had expected when he was told he would be patrolling with one of UA’s big three. Luckily, the girl’s chatter stopped as they began to scan their surroundings on their patrol. They had gotten about halfway through their task when the pair heard hushed voices coming from a corridor ahead. Quietly the pair got close to listen.

“It’s been a month!” a frustrated male voice said. “A month and we haven’t heard anything from anyone about Izuku. I have to go and find out what happened to him!”

“You can’t!” A female voice replied pleadingly. “Overhaul’s men are still out there you would lose everything you had before you even knew where to look for him.”

“I overheard the new guy in camp talk to Aizawa sensei about the Mistyman,” The boy whispered back. “I got him to tell me where the portal guy would be. I know where to go.”

“Then I’m going too!” The girl proclaimed.

“ME TOO!” Nejire said as she promptly burst out of her hiding place to see Shinso and Tsuyu jump at her presence. “You are going to find your friend right?”

Todoroki stepped out of the bushes and walked towards the group with as much dignity as he could muster. “Nejire, we are supposed to be on patrol!” He said without much conviction before turning to his classmates, “This is about Midoriya-sensei right?”

“Are you talking about the leprechaun?” Nejire asked as she titled her head to the side.

“Leprechaun?” Tsuyu asked as she copied her sempai’s head tilt.

“Enough!” Shinso said clearly irritated at being caught. “Why would we let you come along?”

“Because I’ll tell if you don’t?” Nejire said. “Also, I’m suuuuuper curious about why the leprechaun hasn’t been seen around in a while. I want to help rescue him too! He still owes Tamaki a favor!”

“If Midoriya-sensei is in trouble, I want to help. I owe him,” Todoroki said stoically. Hitoshi and Tsuyu looked at each other and nodded with a determined look.

“All right. Here is the plan…” Shinso said beckoning the two closer before laying out his new plan.

…

When Eraserhead and Hizashi arrived on the scene, they found not one but two hawks extracting All Might and Melissa from an ocean of nomu. One of the Red-Winged heroes turned to acknowledge their presence with a cocky grin. “New Blood!” They said in a lilting voice. The other Hawks turned and yelled in a thankfully familiar tone, “Yo! Care to join the fun? You didn’t happen to bring Midnight with you by chance?”

“Midnight is on her way with some more reinforcements,” Yamada said as Eraserhead quickly joined the pair of Hawks to pull out what was left of Chisaki’s and Tomura’s respective armies. Overhaul and Tomura though had somehow broken through the ocean of bodies with a wall of ash and spikes. However the nomu disregarded the two men and began to swarm together under the beam that All Might had been placed on when Hawks fished him and his protégé out. All Might just gave his fearless laugh as he looked at his protégé and nodded in response to her determined gaze. Without another word, the two jumped into the fray alight with power from their quirk. As Present Mic sent out sonic blasts to disorient the beasts making them easier to pick off, he prayed that they would all somehow make it out of this alive.

…

Below on the battlefield Chisaki and Tomura once again stood face to face, ignoring the Nomus who had found themselves smart enough to not be in the radius of either of their destructive quirks. Both were furious at the interruption although Tomura would begrudgingly accept that they had saved his life. “Stand down Tomura,” Chisaki said in his authoritative voice. “It seems All Might has decided to entertain my Nomus, but I can still beat you whether I have them or not.”

Tomura just scoffed and darted forward his hands outstretched. Overhaul responded in kind bringing up spikes to block the lanky man’s path and slamming him with a thick column of cement he had repurposed for his fight. Tomura dodged the spikes admirably and crumbled the column meant to slam him with his quirk. Undaunted, Tomura reached out his hand to grab his opponent, but managed to only grab his jacket. Chisaki grabbed one of the spikes he had made to maneuver over Tomura’s attack while simultaneously creating a cement cage that was also quickly disintegrated. The two pushed their quirks and reflexes to the limit as they fought desperately for control of their future.

Chapter Text

All Might would be forever grateful for the decision to make Melissa his successor. The girl was smart and had the power to back up her great ideas now that she had figured out how to use One for All. The wave of nomus were thinning but a small minority of them seemed to have some kind of enhanced self-healing quirk of some kind and refused to fall. Melissa had managed to trap many of the nomus by weakening the floor the beasts were standing on and having them drop through it. It bought them some precious time at least.

All Might’s body was not what it once was. While he no longer had One for All, he had had his good friend David Shield essentially turn him into a cyborg. An artificial stomach and lung resided in his body. At first that was all that he wanted, but after meeting with Melissa and those subsequent events on I-Island, he had ended up discovering that his new artificial organs could not handle the strain of his quirk and promptly passed it on to the young woman who had shown such bravery despite the disadvantages of her circumstances.

After this David Shield, his old classmate and his new protégé’s father, had asked All Might if he was interested in some of the more specialized weapons they had created to allow him to at least have enough strength to make it look like he still had a quirk. After a long debate, All Might had accepted. Ultimately it was the thought of sending her into her first battles alone that had tipped the scales. He could remember how hard his first solo missions without Nana had been.

The old hero turned to see Melissa take a hit that sent her flying backwards. Concerned, he turned to see where she landed and found her struggling to stand. A victorious Tomura dyed in the blood of a downed and now handless Chisaki had noticed the girl dressed in an outfit closely resembling All Might’s and had almost lazily put one foot on her back, effectively pinning her to the floor. All Might’s blood turned to ice as he saw the familiar face of the lanky teen that had attempted to assault him all those years ago in the hospital.

…

Melissa was so full of adrenaline that the hit that had sent her flying had not come with an overwhelming amount of pain. However as she tried to get up and assess her surroundings, she felt a large foot press itself into the small of her back, forcing her back to the ground. She turned her head and saw Tomura, the man she had been told to steer clear of, smiling like a child that had discovered a new and interesting toy. She let out an involuntary shiver as she realized that the man was covered in blood from disintegrating the hands of his opponent. She stilled as he leaned down to inspect her then began laughing. “Hello little miss protégé,” Tomura said in his raspy voice as he locked eyes with All Might who was even now trying to battle his way through a small group of nomu to get to her. “It seems like Izuku has brought me more than one fish,” Tomura taunted. “I’ll have to use him as bait more often.”

Melissa activated her quirk, but Tomura was faster he slapped his hand on her shoulder, effectively disintegrating the top layer of her skin and exposing the muscle underneath before lifting his pinky finger. Melissa cried out in pain and lost her grip on her quirk. “Don’t you dare touch her!” All Might roared as he punched another Nomu across the room and sped towards them.

“Why should I?” Tomura asked with a snarl. “You took the only father I ever knew from me, why should I not take something just as precious from you? If the world can make it without All for One; It can make it without One for All.” With a wicked grin, he returned his pinky to the open flesh wound he had created moments before letting the familiar hunger of destruction roar through his blood. He anticipated a shrill scream and a devastated All Might. Things did not go as planned.

…

Izuku and Gigantomachia stepped through the portal to see Chisaki bleeding out on the floor and Tomura pinning down All Might’s current protégé with the intent to kill. In no time at all, the green haired teen had closed the distance between him and Shigaraki shedding his gloves and grabbing his older brother by the scruff of his neck before he could activate his quirk. “Gigantomachia,” Izuku ordered, “Take care of the Nomu. I’ll take care of this one.”

“As you wish little master,” Gigantomachia said in his rumbling voice before taking off. In moments the giant had turned the tide of the battle in their favor; freeing the former number one hero to help Melissa stand on her feet once more as Izuku took on his older brother.

“YOU ALWAYS GET IN MY WAY!!!” Tomura yelled at Izuku as he slapped the hand away from his neck and turned to face the green menace.

“Tomu-nii,” Izuku said calmly, but with feeling. “This battle has been lost. Give up so I can help you.”

“Ha!” Tomura scoffed. “I have been fine for 5 years without you, what makes you think I need your help now?” he said as he lashed out.

“Aside from the fact that you kidnapped me to create a nomu disabling device that no longer works,” Izuku said while parrying his attacks, “I want to help unravel your past for you.”

“Oh you meant the past where you betrayed Father and I at his weakest moment?” Tomura said as he unleashed another set of blows that were deftly blocked and parried.

“Do you remember where All for One found you?” Izuku asked as he let loose his own set of attacks that clipped Tomura’s arm, but otherwise did little damage.

“It doesn’t matter where he found me,” Tomura said as he landed a punch square on Izuku’s jaw. “All that mattered was that he cared for me. He let me destroy whatever I wanted and never let me down. AND YOU TOOK IT AWAY FROM ME!!!!”

Izuku spat some blood out as he rolled away from Tomura before popping back up to continue the fight. “Then who is Shimura Tenko?” The question stopped the Blue haired man in his tracks as a hint of confusion passed on his face. A gasp was heard from All Might and Gran Torino who had just arrived on the scene. “Do you not remember your Grandmother? Shimura Nana?” Izuku paused his blows once he saw Shigaraki had stopped to gain his footing. “You had an older sister, and a dog.”

Izuku pressed on watching Shigaraki war with himself as long repressed memories began to surface. He had known that All for One had a fairly powerful charisma quirk that he blended with a suggestion quirk he had used to keep people under his thumb. He had seen him use it, and had long theorized that he had used it to keep his power over Tomura and Kurogiri specifically. He knew the only way to reverse it was for the quirk wielder to die and for some familiar faces or memories to bring the old memories back to the surface.

“You and I drew pictures once during a power outage,” Izuku said. “Do you remember? You showed me the picture you drew of the Shimura family. The father was big and mean. You said he beat kids up and left them outside in the cold. The mom was kind and distracted him so the sister could bring the boy, Tenko, a blanket and their puppy and show off her good luck charm. It was a picture of a female superhero that was their grandmother. That wasn’t a story you made up Tomu-nii. That was your past.”

Tomura was still but at the mention of his nickname he looked up with uncertainty clouding his ruby red eyes. “Tenko, the boy who was punished by his father for wanting to be a hero like his grandmother manifested his quirk in the middle of a beating. He didn’t know how to control it, or stop it. Before he had any idea of what was happening, everything he knew and everyone he loved had turned to ash. All for One took notice of the destruction and found a traumatized child who thought he was only fit for destruction and groomed him to be his new successor. The boy who had suppressed his memory gladly accepted the new name and mantle All for One gave him. He became you.”

“How do you know all of this?” Tomura asked, as blurry images that coincided with Izuku’s story flashed before his eyes.

“After I betrayed All for One, I started looking for a way to save you. I found your history in the doctor’s files and remembered all the times All for One manipulated the memories of those around him,” Izuku replied as he moved cautiously forward. “Kurogiri has a similar story, but his manipulation wore off earlier because he was older than you when he was turned.”

“Kurogiri?” Tomura asked his voice unsure, as he turned to see the man made of black mist who nodded in silent affirmation of Izuku’s words.

“He’s right,” Kurogiri/Oboro said as he moved forward to stand next to Izuku. “I was there when sensei found you. I helped him make you into what you are now. Come now Tomura,” The portal wielder said as he stretched out his hand for Tomura to take, “It’s about time we stopped fighting just for the sake of it, don’t you think?” Tomura made a motion as if he were going to grab Kurogiri’s hand only to slap it away at the last minute with an audible thwack echoing around the now silent room.

“You betrayed me too?” Tomura asked eyes narrowed as he hissed at Kurogiri. There were so many memories bouncing around his head, giving him a head ache, but this anger was something familiar; something he could latch onto in the sea of uncertainty he was currently floating on. “I guess I should have expected this. You always had a soft spot for the true son.” Tomura said as he spat the vicious words at the pair of men both of whom he had trusted with his life at varying times. “I am going to leave, and you are going to let me or I will disintegrate the rest of this already unstable building before you even have time to—“ Tomura’s words slurred and stopped as he was surrounded in a purple mist that put him to sleep.

Izuku shot a grateful look at Midnight who ran forward and squished the teen between her breasts reminiscent of the first time they had met. “You did well honey!” She cooed when she finally let him out of her grasp before shifting her attention to Oboro/Kurogiri who had made sure Shigaraki was uninjured before restraining him with the quirk cancelling cuffs he had warped from somewhere. Izuku laughed as the well-mannered portal man was given the same treatment before he was kissed squarely and soundly on the lips. “That’s for making me think you were dead Oboro!”

“I should pretend to be dead more often then,” Oboro/ Kurogiri joked before receiving a punch to his shoulder from a blushing Midnight.

…

Dabi and Chizome stood over the paralyzed doctor in the control room. “It’s amazing how stupid someone can be despite their intelligence,” Chizome drawled as he and Dabi proceeded to truss the man up like a Christmas tree and roughly drag him down the hallway to the officers waiting outside. Dabi nodded as he handed the doctor over to the heroes and flashed the temporary hero license Chizome had managed to procure for this fiasco. The two doubled back to meet up with Toga who had thankfully found some clothes and a new disguise before disappearing into the night.

Chapter Text

Tsuyu, Todoroki, Nejire and Shinso arrived to see flashing red and blue lights and feared the worst. Shinso clenched his fists and strode forward into the mess of injured and shaken soldiers being treated by the local police and EMTs Nedzu had sent to the scene after the fighting had died down. The rest followed the tense purple teen through the maze of triage until they found Hawk’s familiar face.

Upon seeing the group the hero stood and flashed a quick smile. “Looks like some students got a little lost. What are you kids doing all the way out here?”

“Hawks-san!” Nejire greeted him cheerfully. “We came to find the leprechaun is he here?”

“Oh you must be talking about Greenie!” Hawks said as he pointed behind him. “He’s trying to figure out how to get his new friend out the door without destabilizing the entire building. Midnight has our teleporter otherwise occupied.” Shinso, Tsuyu and Todoroki took off running before the pro had finished. Nejire extended a bright smile and a thank you as she followed closely behind. “Must be love.” Hawks said with a smirk as he tried not to think of a certain angsty man who had left him high and dry not even an hour before.

Shinso didn’t even pause to take in the gigantic face that was peering out the double doors as he tackled the green haired teen who was trying to convince him that he couldn’t permanently take his quirk. “Shinso!?!” Izuku cried in surprise as he looked down at the boy who had wrapped his arms around his torso and buried his face in his chest. “Tsuyu! Todoroki?! What are you guys doing here?” He asked as the other two teens promptly added themselves to the dogpile.

“You’re okay!” Tsuyu said as she sobbed into his shoulder.

Todoroki said nothing but held his teacher tighter as Shinso lifted his tearstained face and grabbed Izuku’s face. Startled, Izuku looked to see Shinso’s determined gaze moments before the purple haired teen lunged forward and planted a kiss on Izuku’s lips causing his eyes to widen even more. “Stop getting kidnapped!” Shinso said as he pulled back to take in Izuku’s red face.

Before Izuku could respond Tsuyu pulled his face towards her own to give him a second kiss. “And stop leaving us behind!”

Izuku had now been reduced to a puddle of confused and sputtering tears, Shinso and Tsuyu got off of him and Todoroki pulled him up. “Don’t expect me to kiss you, but I agree with them,” Todoroki said with a hint of amusement on his usually stoic face.

“Wowee!” Nejire said as she took in the scene. “I haven’t seen this much drama since Mirio and Tamaki fell in love with the same girl! Oh wow, is that a giant? What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time to get kidnapped and end up coming home with a freaking Giant?!”

Izuku regained himself and laughed as Gigantomachia watched the reunion with tears in his eyes; mumbling about how his little master was all grown up. A cough caught the group’s attention and the entire group turned to see Eraserhead and Present Mic standing side by side with their arms crossed. Izuku immediately started blushing again as Eraserhead asked why the students were there. In the end, Oboro and Midnight finally appeared and helped Gigantomachia and the students return to UA.

…

Tomura woke up in a cell, but not alone. Spinner and Magne both greeted him as he groaned and sat up. “Looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake!” Spinner joked as he leaned back on his own cot. An officer came in a moment later stating that Tomura had a visitor. Tomura silently lifted his hands and allowed the guard to cuff him and escort him to an interrogation room. After being interrogated about his purpose at the Yakuza base, the officer left and some new people came.

He had expected another police officer, but instead found himself face to face with Nedzu and a grumpy looking grandpa in a black mask. “Who the heck are you supposed to be gramps?” Tomura sneered.

“Tenko Shimura,” Nedzu said cheerily as he hopped up on the table. Tomura’s eyes snapped to the chimaera the moment that name was spoken.

“Who’s that?” Tomura said as his head began to ache.

“Cut the crap kid!” Gran said as he sat down in the chair. “Do you not remember Midoriya spilling your villain origin story to anyone with a pulse last night?”Tomura’s eye twitched as his head started hurting even more. “What was your father’s name?”

“All For One,” Tomura responded without hesitation.

“What about your biological father?” Nedzu asked as he stopped his pacing to watch the young man with a calculating stare.

Tomura’s head felt like it was about to burst as he tried to answer the rat/bear/dog things question with a snarky comment that somehow died in his throat as memories came rushing in. He relived the memories Izuku had pieced together for him last night, as well as several he didn’t. He saw his grandparents who had taken care of his bruises from dad’s beatings and his sister’s smile as she showed him a picture of his grandmother. He started breathing heavily and grabbed the sides of his head. A heavy hand fell on his shoulder snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts, and he immediately flinched from the contact.

Nedzu and Gran Torino backed away from the young man as he regained coherent thoughts. It seemed that Izuku’s theory of brainwashing had been correct. It saddened the men to know that it all could have been avoided if they had been able to keep tabs on Nana Shimura’s son; but the past was past. They could and would help this young man if he would allow it.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat on his bed with his head between his knees after Recovery girl released him back to his room in the teacher dorms. His brain was going a million miles a minute as he contemplated his reunion with his students. He blushed furiously as he thought back to the moment that Shinso and Tsuyu had kissed him. He had never been kissed before in his life. He had never even thought of himself as anyone’s romantic interest.

As if the old man had sensed his distress, Gran Torino knocked and opened the door. Izuku peeked up at him and sat up straighter as the man came closer with a serious look on his face. “How is he?” Izuku asked softly once the man had plopped himself down next to the teen. He knew that both Gran and All-Might would try to see Tomu-nii.

Gran groaned and ran a hand down his tired face, “As you suspected he is showing some severe side effects from a memory tampering quirk. The lawyers are taking that into account as they go through his case files. The fact that Kurogiri is fully cooperating in the investigation and Nedzu is offering his expertise in their rehabilitation makes it look like it will be alright in the long run if he cooperates. His sheer stubbornness is worrying me.”

Izuku laughed a little at that. “That is one of his best qualities,” Izuku said as he subconsciously rubbed a bruise that was still healing from his latest capture. “I remember when we were little he would pester Kurogiri relentlessly for whatever videogame had caught his eye at the time. When Kurogiri said no he would make me help him steal it. ‘Training’ was the excuse he would give if we were caught.”

A complicated smile had lit up his face at the memory he was sharing. Gran grunted in acknowledgement as he threw an arm around the teen in a loose hold. Izuku recognizing the unspoken apology leaned into the older man’s side. They sat in silence for a few precious moments before Gran cracked a mischevious smirk and said, “I heard you kissed some students last night.” Immediately Izuku flinched back to his fetal position, as he buried his flaming red face in his knees, while Gran laughed at his misery.

“They kissed me!” Izuku protested through his knees before a thought occurred that had him sitting up straight in less than a second and grabbing Gran’s collar in desperation. “Will I get fired?!” Gran’s laughter got even louder as he lowered Izuku’s hands and patted him on the back.

“No boy,” Gran said when he finally caught his breath. “You won’t get fired. You’re a minor and they are minors. If you were an adult there would be legal issues. Plus, Nedzu actually put it into your contract that as long as you are a minor and did not use your position in an untoward manner you would not be penalized for any interactions with your students that happened outside of work hours. Feel free to date whoever you want boy.”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief before another thought occurred to him. “Wait a second. I know it means they like me if they kissed me, but I have never been on a date before. How am I supposed to decide who to date? I don’t even know if I want to date! Although it is highly entertaining to watch you and Granny Chiyo flirt. Are you actually dating yet?”

Gran Torino stopped Izuku’s rant with a gentle slap on the back of his head. “Yes, Gran said with a slight blush and an embarrassed cough. Chiyo and I are dating, but don’t change the subject. What do you think about the kids that kissed you?”

“Well,” Izuku started hesitantly, “I have been friends with Shinso for a long time. He’s nice and comfortable to be around. I trust him with a lot of things, but I have never thought of him in a romantic way. I’m not weirded out by same sex relationships either, but I have never had any inclination to be in one. That being said, I have never had any inclination to be in any kind of relationship with a girl either. Tsuyu is a wonderful girl, and she has a kind heart. She has this aura of calm around her that I appreciate that a lot.”

“Kid stop overthinking things. You don’t have to feel obligated to date either of them. Although I would suggest you talk things out with them and make it clear where you stand. As far as I know that Purple kid has been crushing on you at least since the beginning of the school year. It’s been really funny watching him pine and pretend not to, he’s so obvious! Tsuyu though is hard to read. Her amphibian features make it hard to read her face. It seems like they have somekind of system worked out to cause you as little drama as possible.”

Izuku stared at Gran incredulously for a moment before taking a steadying breathe and nodding his head. “You’re right. I have time to think about it and I can be honest with them. I’ll have to study some more.”

“As long as you don’t study from fictional romance novels. None of that stuff is real. Read psychology books on relationships from people other than Freud and you’ll do fine.”

“Freud was a chauvinist pig who only had a small sample of wealthy men to study, I don’t rely on any of his findings, although I can admire the fact that he helped open the door to mental health and developmental psychology,” Izuku began to ramble.

“Hah, sure kid,” Gran said as he patted Izuku on the back to break him out of his rant. “Give yourself and the others some time to deal with what happened the last few months. We have a lot of stuff to rebuild, and you somehow ended up with more responsibilities than when you went in.”

“They’re worth it,” Izuku said as he flashed Gran a cheeky grin.

Gran paused and looked at the teen with a sincere smile as he thought of his dear friend’s son. “Yes, they are. Thanks for not giving up on him.”

“Anytime,” Izuku said with the brightest smile he had seen since the kid’s return. Gran thought back to a conversation he had had with Nighteye before he had taken on the teaching job. The kid really was a true hero.

Chapter Text

With Chisaki and Tomura’s respective forces subdued, the world began to return to a new normal. The HPSC was thoroughly investigated and reorganized with Hawks as the hero spearheading the project.

Izuku was put on the team of medical experts dedicated to discover whether or not they could return the quirks of those who had been shot by the permanent quirk erasing bullets. They could not. Seven top rank heroes were now effectively quirkless.

All were offered the opportunity to work in the new HPSC headquarters, only 4 cleared the new qualifications. Endeavor was publicly outed as an abuser due to the nature of the qualification process, and after signing custody of his children to the oldest living Todoroki child, he moved to America.

Nedzu emphasized the ability, quick response and organization of the emergency response organizations that kept people safe during the crisis. He called them true heroes. As a result, the reputation of Police Officers, Firefighters, and EMTs skyrocketed.

The Doctor, Chisaki and his leading men were locked in Tartarus; as were ReDestro and his original army officers. Tomura, Spinner, Magne and Kurogiri were sentenced to 5 years of incarceration with the chance of parole as recommended by their respective psychologists. When they got out, Izuku, Aizawa, Nemuri, and Yamada, were there to help them adjust to life on the outside.

All-Might finally had a heart to heart with Izuku and thanked him for saving his life, while also apologizing for his distance and awkwardness. Melissa thanked him for saving her life and bonded with him over analyses and technological marvels quickly becoming a good friend.

Gigantomachia eventually gained his independence from his need to follow a master’s orders; although he was still partial to following Izuku around out of gratitude.

Shinso, Tsuyu, and Izuku had a heart to heart. Both Tsuyu and Shinso agreed to be just friends until Izuku figured out his own feelings. Izuku took both of them out separately, but eventually decided to date Tsuyu until she moved to the coast for work. They separated on friendly terms.

Shinso was heartbroken, but eventually overcame the rejection with the help of a certain electrifying blonde. Bakugo and Uraraka, dated off and on throughout high school, but eventually ended up tying the knot after opening a joint agency that specialized in rescue, recovery, and firepower.

Chizome, Toga, Dabi, and Twice became official informants of Nedzu and gained special underground licenses allowing them to continue on in their nightly activities. (No one wanted to know how Nedzu was able to pull that off, but Izuku had laughed when he heard the news from Dabi and Toga on their weekly coffee visits.)

Twice left his toxic relationship with Giran behind by turning him into the police as soon as he received his informant license.

All of the students in Class 1-A eventually graduated and became Pro-Heroes catching up to Izuku who had received his licenses at the end of their first year.

Izuku ranked number one hero in the world 5 years after his debut due to his ability to be an all-arounder and a team leader. He successfully worked as a full-time spotlight hero for 20 years, before eventually choosing to return to UA as a teacher under Principal Cementoss’s request. (Nedzu had retired 5 years after class 1-A graduated.) He taught for 10 more years before eventually taking up the mantle of UA principal.

The End