Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Raising of a Monster 

Prologue :  Begin

What happens to a child who’s been abandoned by society? 

A child that wanted nothing but love and care, but was instead shunned, hurt, and spat on like the dirt beneath the peoples feet? 

What happens when the child grows up, surrounded by these things that call themselves people; having to listen to their putrid words, beat down by their violent fists, hunched under their scorching glares. 

What happens to the child that was forced to survive like an animal in the wild, hunted by not only its own, but by anything that could bite? 

Well.

The child learns. 

Like all children, the child learns and absorbs and watches and catches and holds onto every bit of information it sees, hears, knows - the child learns and grows and evolves until there is nothing left that would even hint at it once being a child. 

No, it would evolve to survive, and when the people (monsters) finally let their gaze fall to what they’ve created, they’ll realize their mistake. 

Because in their wake, where once were the bright eyes of a beautiful child, would now only sit the shell of a being that's emerald eyes bore into their very souls and decided their futures. 

No one would have thought that treating a child as nothing would help them grow into the very thing they were - the very thing they were afraid of. 

No. No one expected a monster to be born. 

Prologue : End

Chapter Text

Arc 1 - P1:   The Birth Of A Monster  -  Begin 

Chapter 1:  Cross Your Fingers As You Lie

*Alternate titles : 

• Breath In and Think 
• Speak Lies To Learn
• (Dis)Trust Goes Both Ways 

How did he get here?

It was hard to breathe. 

Izuku fell to his knees, the flimsy cloth of his uniform pants finally ripping after all the wear and tear it’d been through all day. The jagged ground leaving indents in his skin, pricking here and there, allowing the scratches to bead with blood. Izuku didn’t mind though, the small bits of pain were grounding, grounding him to his mind, to his surroundings, to the earth and to this moment. 

It was hard to breathe. 

He could barely hear the words coming from the tall blondes mouth. His baritone voice just reverberated through his head like a rumbling echo, slowly quieting and lost over time. But it was fine, he may not hear the words, but some part of his mind was processing what he was saying. 

What the symbol of peace was saying. 

It was hard to breathe. 

With everything he’s been through, with how terrible a thing he was, how did he manage to do this now? 

Monster , it repeated in his mind, bouncing off the walls of his skull and sending an involuntary flinch through his body. Freak, his thoughts went on. To trick the symbol of peace - you’ve reached a new low. He couldn’t stop the thoughts, so he went through his mind and wondered and thought and calculated and questioned, crossed data and facts and statistics and anything and everything he could find about what he’s heard and what he knew to find out why, why this man would think him worthy of such things. 

How, how, how? How did he do it? How did he manage to convince this man, this symbol of peace, that he was worthy of being his successor? That a monster was worthy? How did he lie so well to such a great man? 

He was a monster, a monster that was dressed in a human skin. He sobbed harder as he tried to find the trick, as he tried to find the lie - anything that would be evidence against what this man was offering him. It couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be true. 

No one gave him anything - not without a price, not without some type of consequence. Not unless he was lying and tricked them. 

His mind whispered at him - Monster, freak, creep, worthless, pathetic, useless, cursed .  

But even as his mind ran over and over and over and tried to find some way to dispute the words being said, Izuku couldn’t find any fault - no hidden meaning. All Might wanted him to become his successor, no questions asked besides to keep this a secret. 

Emerald eyes gleamed for the first time in years as he realized the blonde meant his words. But he still couldn’t understand why such a man would want something as disgusting as him. He doesn’t remember doing anything to the man, nothing that could warrant such a response -  how had he lied to get the symbol of peace to do such a thing?! 

How, how, how, howhow- HOW ? 

He couldn’t understand, Izuku thinks he might never understand. Things weren’t given to him - him, a monster, he was a monster for a reason, he did terrible things, thought terrible things, was a creep, a stalker ( but he really just liked quirks, he was just interested, why couldn’t he have interests? So what if he was a bit extreme, when you have no friends, no family besides your mom, no life, sometimes you’ve got to take your hobbies to the extreme - he didn’t want to fade away, just let him be, just let him be ) he was a monster - no matter the work he put in, he never just got anything because he wasn’t a person. (And small part of him remembered, remembered that he fought for things at one point or another, but then eventually had to stop for fear of the wrath that was one Bakugou Katsuki and the other being a black mark that scars his records as his classmates did his body) 

His fists tightened around his uniform, tightened around his heart as the alley around them lit up in the glow of the setting sun, lighting the alley on fire with its deep golds and its burnings reds - his lungs were on fire as he tried to breathe through the disbelief - his mind was on fire as it tried to process everything that was being given to him - he couldn’t understand.  

How, Izuku placed his forehead against the cool feel of the rocky ground. How , he continued to sob, his hair getting matted between his head and the floor of the dirty alleyway. 

How did I get here?  

He couldn’t understand why…  He couldn’t understand…  

Izuku tried to slow his mind. To think a little clearer. 

He couldn’t understand… 

(For another second, emerald eyes gleamed. They blazed with the light of life again, but only for a second. Because while this man was offering him something amazing, something that could change his life, Izuku still felt he couldn’t trust this man - couldn’t trust himself, he lied, he cheated, how did he do such a thing to the symbol of peace? Nothing was right about this situation, he couldn’t understand. What did he do, what did he do, what did he DO? There was no way a monster, someone cursed, like himself would be handed a gift, he must have done something, must have done something to trick the symbol of peace - but what? ) 

But he’d try, because that’s what he did best. 

Chapter 2: To Lose What Was Never There     

Izuku was a curious boy, and as such, he often questioned things. Being only five years old didn’t help either, because as such, curiosity was a common trait for young minds. He questioned everything and anything - from the things that surrounded him in the world, to the things he found interesting about himself; especially if he felt different that day, he wanted to know why and what it was. He questioned what he’s read in books and what he might read, he questions what’s on the TV and wonders about it for hours. 

Nothing could stop his brain from trying to learn, grow, and pick apart the What’s, Who’s, Why’s, Where’s, and How’s of society. Of the world. But most commonly, you could find him questioning the environment he lived in; the people he sees, the places nearby, the plants that grow in the park, the animals, the buildings - anything and everything that sat in his small ventured environment and could catch his fancy, he questioned the most.

But he especially questioned things when they began to change. 

So, when he’d gone to school the day after his assessment, after his diagnosis , he had his head tucked to his chest as his emotions ran rampant with hurt and disbelief at the idea of being quirkless, his mind running through hundreds of questions a second at what was to come. 

‘Was Kacchan gonna hate me? He already didn’t like that I was taking forever.’

‘Would my friends stay with me?’

‘How would everyone feel about someone without a quirk?’

‘It’s practically unheard of for someone to be quirkless now, would I still be able to do the same things as my classmates?’

‘Will I be kicked out of class, or would I have special classes now?’ 

‘What’s going to change?’ 

When he got to the room, the teacher pulled him to the front of the class and quickly announced that Izuku was quirkless - why? Izuku had no idea, but as soon as that happened something seemed to fill the air, and the young boy couldn’t help but wonder ‘What’s going to change?’  

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2: TLWWNT ~ 

Apparently a lot changed. The attitudes of his peers, the attitude of his teachers, the way they talked, touched, looked at Izuku was all different now than it was just the day before, and Izuku didn’t know what to make of it. He knew the reason, it was because he was quirkless, but he didn’t know why that was such a big thing to them. It just meant that he hadn’t changed, that he didn’t have some new and cool tool to use and become a hero with. It just meant that he’d have to work harder towards his dream with Kacchan! 

So, pushing aside his quirklessness, he questioned what else could have changed, what else could be wrong with him that those who surrounded himself had to act the way they did. 

His little mind ran and worked and pushed, trying to find something that could be different about himself now as his chubby hands wrapped tightly around the red crayon and drew squiggles on the paper in front of him. 

There were the obvious ones - even before he was discovered quirkless, Kacchan had stopped using his previous nickname and started calling him names. ( They’re just nicknames, Deku! Stop being such an airhead! ) And when they played together, Kacchan and his other friends always got too rough with him. ( It was an accident! Geez! Stop being such a cry baby Deku! ) Plus, recently the other kids in his class didn’t want to talk to him anymore, usually not even getting near him. 

It didn’t take long for whispers and rumours of him being sick, retarded, or mutant to spread around, though how they came up with those words were beyond him. Because again - he didn’t change. Nothing changed, why would they think something did? ( But maybe that was the issue , his mind gently whispered to him) 

He continued to sit there each day and wonder. Wondered why everyone was leaving him when he was his same old self. Wondered why his quirklessness was such a big deal that it did change how the people acted and thought. As if he was lesser, as if he was sick and fragile. 

( He never heard the whispers and sneers that the teachers threw out when he was out of hearing. Never heard the distaste in their words as they spoke to him or about him. Izuku would never hear anything the teachers said, not about how they felt about him, until a bit later. Poor, poor Izuku would have to find out the hard way why quirklessness had such an effect on people - even if their answers didn’t make any sense, didn’t have any reason to them besides the old “You’re different and a minority so that automatically makes you worse then and below us” that continues to spread throughout history- ) 

Izuku had decided he’d ask Kacchan this. Tell him about his thoughts. 

“Haah? What d’ya mean ‘Why’s everything’s changing?’ You’re a quirkless Deku now! Useless! Did ya really think anyone would want to be friends with someone like you?! You nothing but dirt now! Of course it’s a big deal!” 

To Izuku’s disappointment, Kacchan didn’t really give him an answer. But he did hurt his feelings. 

Izuku decided he wouldn’t ask Kacchan that question anymore. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2: TLWWNT ~ 

Weeks slowly went by, and the change in his environment didn’t go unnoticed to curious eyes. 

There was a distance between him and his classmates, one that was long, cracked, and practically deadly if the way they acted was anything to go by. Nobody seemed to dare to cross it, not even to prove something - to prove what, he wasn’t sure, he’d never been good at games like that, always opting out to just watch from the sidelines - but eventually some did, and Izuku noticed how they were led by Kacchan. Noticed how they only did so to ‘play with him’ (he knew, Izuku knew. He knew he was being wronged, being hurt on purpose, but he didn’t want to believe it, like how he didn’t want to believe it was his quirklessness that made him different from others, an outlier. Didn’t want to believe the problem was something he couldn’t fix-) 

It didn’t help that the teachers began to look away from the ‘rough housing’. It had been one thing when they pulled him away from recess and isolated him from his peers because he was ‘fragile’, but this was something else entirely. 

Why did his quirkless status create such an atmosphere? He didn’t change! He didn’t suddenly become lesser! He never lost anything! He was still Izuku! Bright eyed and curious! ( Though his eyes weren’t as bright as they used to be ) But things just kept changing.

His teachers stopped looking for his answers during class, and soon stopped answering his questions at all, ignoring the small hand that was raised in the air. (soon enough, he stopped raising it) After school cleaning came with little help to his part, the teacher only helping the other students if they needed it but still expecting the same results as if they’d helped anyways. (and soon he learned how to reach places that were hard for him, and tiredly became friends with the words ‘elbow grease’) Students eventually stopped whispering around him and started saying things to his face, though they never got too close, and nobody did anything to stop them, even if he asked a teacher to make them stop while in tears. (the faces he got made him quickly rethink his choices of who to trust with these situations - quickly enough his only friends became those who lurked in the halls and worked early before or long after school - they helped him, at least they did the best they could) 

But even through all that, he still marched on, wanting to know why being himself was such a bad thing now. Why because he hadn’t changed, meant he was the bad one. So like always, he asked questions, even if he knew the teachers at the school didn’t like him. 

“Why are the other kids mean to me now? Why does me being quirkless mean so much to everyone?” 

Empty eyes would turn to him and stare, annoyance and disdain etched in their faces as they tried to smile at him, but all it did was stretch their faces uncomfortably enough that they looked like the monsters from his books. With scary faces, they’d gently begin to tell him that the other kids weren’t being mean, they didn’t mean to, didn’t understand. That at this age it was hard to control quirks, so of course there would be accidents, of course kids would get hurt sometimes, but that’s why they’re here to learn. 

All Izuku would do was nod his head with apprehension in his dimming eyes, fingers twisted together as they tried to find something to do. (A fleeting thought told him he should start writing these things down - his questions and their answers, so that maybe he could put it all together and compare what was given so that he’d have the right answer in the end) But he never spoke out against what his teachers told him, while he knew something was off, knew they were mean to him, who was he to disagree with an authority figure? 

It wasn’t until he got to a particularly nasty teacher that something cracked in his heart, in his mind. Something that made the glimmer in his eyes shatter just a bit. 

“The kids aren’t mean to you, they’re doing what they should be - especially when it comes to a little rat like you. Your kind shouldn’t even be alive , let alone brought into a school where other more talented children are learning. You’re worthless to this society, and will attribute nothing to this world. So I’ll tell you straight - don’t bother me ever again, because if you try and waste any more of my time, then your classmates are going to become just a little more rough in their ‘playing’,” and it was left like that. 

Shocked, scared, and in some semblance of disbelief, Izuku quickly bolted out the door, hurrying home as fast as his little legs would carry him, hot tears streaking down his cheeks. When he finally arrived home, he wasted no time running into his mothers arms, squeezing himself as close to her warm body as he could. 

She questioned his antics, but when he never answered in anything but hiccuping sobs, she slowly settled herself to gentle shushing and soft words of comfort. Izuku continued to cry, his mind still asking why being himself was such a bad thing. Even as he slowed his tears though, he still held his mother, trying to take in as much love and affection as he could. Because he was sure this would be the most comfort he’d get in a while. 

Izuku was afraid of what was to come. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2: TLWWNT ~ 

It was months later that he finally understood why everyone didn’t like him. Why Kacchan was always so rough and so mean. Why the teachers stopped answering his questions in class and completely ignored him, why they kept him after class for extra cleaning duties. Why the nurses barely paid attention to the small bruises and burns that decorated his skin, just barely throwing an ice pack at him and telling him to get back to class. 

Emerald eyes that once sparkled with fascination at everything, that were so full of life fell blank as he tried to understand what happened. Empty, lifeless; a look that was never supposed to decorate the face of a young child, of a boy that’d just turned five not too long ago. Izuku tried to think, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything, could barely feel anything. 

Kacchan just hurt me. This was nothing new of course. Over the span of these last few months, Kacchan had shown Izuku exactly what he’d thought of him, constantly told him how he felt. 

Blank eyes stared at the wall as the young boy seemed to barely register the flaring pain he felt along his back and neck. Barely registered the slight numbing of his shoulder. I’m lacking , he thought, I’m abnormal. A wasted space, a ruined breath of air. Those things ran through his small head as he felt himself fall away from reality and into the depths of his own mind. He’d lost his only ticket in life without even having one to begin with. So useless , his mind repeated. 

He’d never changed and that was the problem. He’d never fit society standards. And when that happened, he became an entity - something inhuman. Less than those around him. He still didn’t understand why this had to be the answer, but he understood it was. 

He understood that he had a role to fill that wasn’t actually a role, that iron boots that would make him dance. Would make him fill his so-called role. He understood that he had to change now, to ‘fit in’ . 

His mind continued to buzz and wander as he drifted through its depths and tried to fit everything together.

Izuku was only pulled from his thoughts and back to reality by a swift tug of his body that was quickly embraced by a much larger quivering one. (His back and neck burned , but he couldn’t register it. Couldn’t bring himself to feel the burned flesh that would most definitely scar) His mother must have been called, because suddenly he went from lying on the floor and staring at the wall of his classroom to sitting in a chair and staring at the walls of the principals office. 

His body still felt hot, tingly and numb, but soon he was being dragged out of the building and back home. His shirt was quickly pulled off in order to see the damage - it only made his already dim eyes darken even more. Red blotches colored his skin, some even blistering already. Izuku wondered why they were at home and not the hospital because of how bad the burns were, but he couldn’t ask his mom that. She looked distressed as it was already. 

So he sat there quietly as she fixed him up to the best of her abilities, avoiding her eyes because everytime they connected Izuku watched as his mom became more despaired. 

His mind continued to drift as he processed this new information. 

His mind continued to drift. 

Something had to change.

Chapter 2.5: Communication 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Bullying 

_____________

Dear Uzai-san,

It has come to my attention the last week or so, that Izuku is once more coming home with bruises, burns, and large scrapes all over his body. He’s tried hiding them again… Usually I would put it off to rough housing like children do, but these are similar, if not worse, to the time when Izuku was being bullied. 

That’s why I’m emailing you now. It seems that even after all you’ve gone through, the other students won’t let up with their bullying of Izuku, and I can’t bear it anymore. 

If there is some way, I would like to schedule an in person parent-teacher conference with you about what we could do for Izuku. I just want what’s best for my son, and I’m sure you feel the same way about your students. 

But before I go, I would like to bring up two topics I want to talk about the most. 

The first about possibly moving Izuku to a new class. I’m not exactly sure how many kids are involved with the situation, but I feel that moving him will be best. 

Secondly, I would like to ask if the other parents could come too. This way we can all talk about what the right punishment should be and how it’s going to be enforced. Especially after the incident all those months ago… This way, nothing like that should happen again. 

But anyways, I’m available at all times you need me, so when you have the time, just contact me and we can work out a date for the conference. It would be very appreciated. 

Sincerely,

Midoriya Inko 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Bullying 

Re; 

_____________

Dear Midoriya-san, 

I apologize for the delay in my reply, I’m a very busy man you see. In any case, because as such, I will only be able to email you about this situation as my schedule for the next few weeks is full, and even then I can’t be sure I’ll have much time for such conferences after that. 

But getting to the matter at hand - I’m sorry to hear that Midoriya-kun is still being treated as such. I haven’t had much time to see him since the incident, but I have heard other’s talking in the office, and I must inform you that it seems Midoriya-kun is the one starting such things now. He’s apparently been very antagonistic towards the other kids, even after they apologized for the things they did. It also seems that his teachers have noticed he’s become much clumsier as well - they keep commenting on how they think he might not be sleeping well, so I’d ask that you make sure he’s sleeping fine at home as well. 

Now, about moving Midoriya-kun to another class in his grade - because he seems to be the one aggravating most of these situations and almost purposely getting himself harmed by his other classmates, I don’t think moving him to another classroom would be much different than it is now. His behaviour is unlikely to change, as most of the children still mingle together outside the classroom, and plenty of classes are cross-taught, meaning that they merge the classes together to teach the lesson. 

But, if you think moving him would be the best option, then I would recommend the other schools in the area. There are plenty of schools right now that are currently short-student, so bringing him to a new school wouldn’t be too hard, plus it would have the added bonus of getting him away from the others. 

If you have any more questions or problems, feel free to call my secretary and find a time in the future where we might be able to talk during school. 

(xxx)xxxx-xxxx 

Sincerely, the principal of Aldera, 

Uzai Buta 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Bullying 

Re; Re; 

_______________

Dear Uzai-san,

I see. Well then, thank you for letting me know. 

About the school situation; I’ll think it over and let you know if there's any developments in the whereabouts of Izuku’s schooling. 

Sincerely, 

Midoriya Inko

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

Inko clenched her fists as she sat and stared at the screen of her laptop. How could anyone just accuse her son of him being the instigator when it was obviously a terrible case of bullying? 

How could anyone just so casually tell her to take her child and move them elsewhere. 

She knows what the world’s like. She knows how it feels about her baby, but as she rereads the email over again, she can’t help but think of how unfair this all is. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Student Transfer Meeting

____________

Dear Yuki-san, 

Hello, my name is Midoriya Inko, and I was wondering if we could set a meeting up for my son to possibly transfer to your school? 

I know it’s a bit late in the year, but I saw that you still had some seats open in his grade-class, so I thought it wouldn’t be too much to email and see if I could register him. You see he’s been having trouble with the other kids picking on him for a while now, and I was hoping to get him somewhere new, and possibly safer where he could make friends and learn. 

I’ll take any time you’re available for a meeting. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact me here - 

(xxx)xxxx-xxxx 

Or at this current email address. 

Thank you for your time, 

Midoriya Inko

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Student Transfer Meeting

Re; 

_______________

Hello Midoriya-san! 

It is a bit late, but our school is open to letting students come in at any time! 

Sadly, I don't have any open times at the moment for an in person meeting, however if you just list some of your son’s information below, we can start working through the transfer process! 

If you have any questions yourself about the email, please reach me at this email or at -

(xxx)xxxx-xxxx

You can also call my secretary at - 

(xxx)xxxx-xxxx 

Thank you for taking the time to consider our school for your son! I’m glad we could appeal to you, and I hope to see him in person soon! 

Sincerely, the principal of Gakko, 

Yuki Shiro 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: School Transfer Meeting

Re; Re; 

______________

Dear Yuki-san, 

Alright, thank you! Here is his information below. 

Midoriya Izuku Current School File.jpeg 

Sincerely, 

Midoriya Inko

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Student Transfer Meeting

Re; Re; Re;

________________

Dear Midoriya-san, 

I apologize, but I am here to inform you that we will not be able to take you son into our school. 

It has no reason to do with his quirklessness, I assure you, as we have a couple of quirkless children in our halls ourselves, but because of how his record looks. 

-Causes Problems With Other Students- 

-Constant Disruptions During Class-

-Lying When Questioned About Certain Incidents-

-Cheating On Homework And Tests-

We usually wouldn’t mind taking in a student with a bad record, because they are so young and can be guided away from that, but his record is almost never ending with marks, and I’m sorry to inform you that we don’t want that type of student to interrupt classes here. 

It also seems that we’ve just filled up the last of the space with some other transferring students. 

I sincerely apologize for this situation, and I hope you have luck finding different schools. 

Here’s some recommendations if you don’t mind my additional thoughts ; 

-Tinker School For The Disorderly 

-Kumo Primary School 

-Hoshi School For Special Needs

Once more, my sincerest apologies, 

Yuki Shiro 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

Tears filled Inko’s eyes as she emailed five more schools before giving up. Time and time again, the same responses - ‘we can’t welcome your son to our school because of his record’ -- ‘we assure you it’s not because he’s quirkless’ - filled the screen. Water dripped down her face as she tried to think of other options. 

Time to try online courses. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

Sakura ~ 

Hello! I’m Sakura Yuu, but you can call

me Sakura-chan! 

I heard you’re looking for a babysitter? 

Midoriya Inko

Hello! And yes, I am! 

I was wondering if you would look after 

my son while I was away at work 

so he could do his schooling.

Sakura ~ 

Sure! I just need the time you’ll be gone 

and when you’d be back, along with his age, 

quirk, and any allergies or medications he might take! 

I can also work around any price range you need!

Midoriya Inko

Alright! 

I work from 9 to 17 five days a week. 

Izuku’s only 5, and he’s quirkless.

He isn’t allergic to anything nor does 

he have any medications he takes. 

He’s pretty quiet and well behaved so you

 won’t have to do much besides check

 on him once in a while and make his lunch.

I’m offering 1000 yen for every hour if that works.

Sakura ~ 

Alright! 

Though do to his disability, it’s 

required that the price a babysitter is paid

goes up to 2500 yen an hour automatically. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

Inko stared in disbelief as they called her son disabled. How? How could they just…? And not only that, they were expecting her to pay 2500 yen an hour to watch her son? That’s more than she makes when she even gets overtime! 

Quickly declining the offer, she cut off the chat. If this was how it was going to be, she would have to try different methods. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Working From Home

___________

Dear Matsu-san, 

I’ve emailed you in order to ask if there was any way I could work from home the next few months while my son starts his online schooling. 

It would only be until I could get him into a new school at the end of the year or find a babysitter before that. 

I promise it won’t impact my performance in any way. 

Sincerely, 

Midoriya Inko

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Working From Home

Re;

_____________

Dear Midoriya-san, 

You know we’re understaffed. We can’t afford to let anyone stay home at the moment, even if you’re only supposed to work communications and online filing. We need all hands on deck right now until we can get at least three new people.

I apologize if this is an inconvenience for you, but we can’t let you go home unless you plan to stay there permanently. 

Your boss, 

Matsu Ei 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Working From Home 

Re; Re;

_______________

Matsu-san,

I apologize, and I understand. 

Sincerely, 

Midoriya Inko

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

Inko cried more tears of frustration.

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

“Hello? Inko-chan? It’s been a second! What’s up! How’s it been?” 

“Hey Mitsu-chan, it’s been fine, a bit tiring if anything- Um, look. Mitsu-chan, I was wondering if we could talk,” 

“Of course! Always! What’s on your mind? I’ve got plenty of time to talk if you need to, unless you want to go out? Like we used to before the little runts grew legs and decided running amok was the way to go - Speaking of runts, how’s little Izu-chan! I miss that little green shrub, haven’t seen him since -- well, you know - anyways, sorry what’s up?” 

“No, no! It’s fine, Izuku’s doing well… You can talk about it-- anyways, I just need to speak on the phone… And, well, it’s about Katsuki-kun…” 

“If that little runt did anything to Izu-chan again I swear to kami I’ll-” 

“Mitsu-can, calm down. Calm down. Um, but Katsuki-kun is picking on Izuku again. I’ve, uh, noticed the burns and bruises - though Izuku won’t specifically say who’s doing it, we both know Katsuki-kun’s the only one with a heat or fire based quirk that can do it-”

“Don’t worry Inko-chan, I’ll make sure to do something about Katuski’s behaviour. I knew he was acting up when he kept calling Izu-chan ‘Deku’ with harsher tones than usual. But don’t worry- I’ll make sure it stops, and if it keeps going on, then just call me! Alright Inko-chan?” 

A sigh of relief. 

“Yeah, thank you Mitsu-chan. It really helps me relax knowing something’s going to be done,” 

“Of course, but hey, let’s hang out again soon, alright? I miss seeing you!” 

"Alright, alright Mitsu-chan! I’ll call you later than to schedule some plans. Have a good night now,” 

“You better! And yeah, Night!” 

With a click the phone went silent and once more Inko sighed with relief. Hopefully something would be done, and soon at that because she’s run out of options and she doesn’t know how much more she’ll be able to watch her baby walk around like a scared and empty shell. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 2.5: Communications ~ 

Inko called Mitsuki five more times before she realized that it only made Izuku’s wounds worse. Before she realized that whatever Mitsuki was doing wasn’t working while Katsuki was away from home. 

She cried until slept that night, wondering if she’d failed as a mother. 

Chapter 3: Grow Between The Cracked Cement 

Izuku changed after he got his answer, he had to. It was the only way he would end up surviving in this world, and he knew that (but he shouldn’t have to, he was only a child ). He pushed his mind to work faster, think harder, process deeper. Everything he did from then on was thought up, calculated for risk factors and possible outcomes, before being led on. Whether it be going to the bathroom, getting his lunch, or risking doing his homework in class. Everything was checked, doubled checked, and run under scrutiny again. 

Because of this, so many things changed at a much faster pace than before. While he’d slowly and not too noticeably been isolated before, now he was a complete loner - avoiding others in the halls, keeping to the edges of the rooms, hiding if anyone came too near him for comfort. His noise level changed. From the still quiet answer boy that didn’t mind making a bit of noise running here and there through class came the child that’d tried to learn to master the art of silent stepping. While it didn’t work all the time, and sometimes he still made a bit too much noise, he learned to wander around with barely any noise coming from his feet. His breathing became almost near silent as well, and he never raised his hand anymore, never asked questions, never spoke to anyone. The only noise came from his notorious mumbling that caught him a fight each time. 

Izuku changed. And now, he lives on the edge, waiting for the next move - from anyone, from anything, from himself, from his teachers, from Kacchan, from his mother. He lives on the edge and waits and waits and waits, with a patience a saint would kill for and calculating calm that any genius would beg for. 

He changed, from a young boy that laughed and played and talked and told stories and asked questions to a soldier. One that’s seen war before, but not too much. One that’s still new to the ranks, still a guppy compared to the others, but understands the heat, understands the dangers and the pain. 

He's a soldier, creeping quietly through the jungle that is his school, waiting, just waiting for anything that might attack him. 

And they did. 

They attacked from above and below, from from his sides, his back, and his front. They targeted weaknesses ( something to remember ), they took away his strengths ( something to remember ), they snuck up on him and hit hard and fast ( something to remember ), they came at him from the front, in groups and gave stretched out beatings ( something to remember ). 

Some days they hid themselves, hid their identities, not wanting to be associated with such things that could come back to bite them. Other’s came in groups or stood in front of crowds as they beat him down and cried out as if they were some gladiator fighting a weak and starved lion that was desperate to survive. 

All this time, Izuku just took it, and watched and learned. 

It wasn’t long before his mother noticed something amis once more. Noticed the bruises he so badly covered up, the burns and scratches and even scars that began to litter his skin and cover his freckles. When that happened, he wouldn’t admit to what was going on. He couldn’t hurt her anymore than he realized his existence was. 

But even so, he was desperate for support, desperate for love, for help, for attention. He was but a child after all, and no matter how beat down he was, he still craved these things, even from the people he hated. ( Kacchan, his mind creaked) So he let his mother patch him up, but made sure to let it be known that he wasn’t going to talk about anything that’s been happening. Even if he knew she’d already figured it out… 

Izuku changed. He changed into many things. A ghost of his former self, a soldier surviving in a war, a starved lion used to building others up, a loner cryptid that hid in the shadows. And he would continue to change, continue to mold himself into different forms when the situation arose, to meet the expectations he could, to fit the time and place and needs that anything called for. 

His once bright eyes; unique, emerald, and innocent, now washed out, a foggy window that no one could see past, clear distorted curtains hiding something from the outside, that didn’t want to be seen. (and it was what society had made, what society had started - still too young, still learning, still afraid to come out and drag it's heavy limbs atop the earth’s surface, still afraid to open its maw and scream its gurgled and choked screeches at the world. Still too afraid, so it learns, and it learns until the knowledge had been seared in its horrific mind and slowly begins to bubble over in the form of the word ‘ threat ’)  

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 3: GBTCC ~ 

Despite everything he’s been through - all the harsh words, the vicious beatings, the neglect and abuse, though it all he still wanted to be a hero. But he didn’t have a quirk (and it was all because of a quirk , or a lack of one. Because he never evolved to be like everyone else, like most of the world. All because he didn’t have a special tool, a unique ability, he was useless, worthless, pathetic, mutated-) he’d have to find other ways to fulfil his dream. 

And what did he do best? 

He asked questions. He asked questions, he found answers and he put everything together until it all made sense. So he looked up heroes, ones that did paper work, ones that fought smarter. He knew he couldn’t be like All Might, so the next best thing? Try his sidekick. 

Sir Nighteye. 

Izuku scavenged the internet for everything he could on the man, what he did, how he did his work, what he prioritised, how he learned to get as good as he did. 

That led him to analysis. Which, quite honestly, wasn’t much different than what he was doing in his everyday life. Only this time, Izuku focused it on things involved in heroics. Every day and every night, as soon as he could, Izuku would rush home and plant himself in front of the TV. The news would play, or some heroics channel, occasionally he’d watch documentaries instead. He’d just sit there and watch, hands curled in his lap, kneading into his hoodie and skin as they itched to do something. He forced his mind to move and follow, to keep track and never stop working as he tried to take so much in, in so little time. He forced himself to try and remember it all. 

Soon after that, he’d try looking up live action or more basic fights on Herotube, cataloging anything and everything he could, making sure to remember certain heroes to search up later and do an in depth analysis on them (even if it was only in his mind, and on random sheets of throw-out paper that never lasted long on his desk). 

It only took about a month of this repetitive actioned schedule before his mother stepped in. Taking his twitching and moving hands and shoving a notebook and pencil in them. Grabbed his attention and with words strict, serious, yet full of desperation and love, told him to write. To write and write and never stop if it made him happy - if it made him feel something . 

Gripped his cheeks and with tears in her eyes told him in the most watery yet confident voice his mother could have that he could be a hero if he wanted to. He could be a hero. He just needed to work towards it. To push himself until he was finally caught up with the others, and then go beyond even that. She told him he could , and that she’d support him in any way she could. 

Thus began trips to the local libraries, and sudden drives out to nearby villain fights, next they were at museums filled with and for heroes, and next he had two notebooks, then three notebooks, and soon his mother was sitting on the floor helping him read through a dictionary and a thesaurus, making sure to help him understand exactly what he was writing down, helping him organize his thoughts even if she herself barely knew where to start. 

And it wasn’t only heroes, no he began to take down society as well. 

Not long after he turned five and learned a great lesson about where he truly stood in the world, and he wasn’t going to make the same mistake again thinking he could easily just step out of it. 

So he also began to watch the world. He watched how people moved and how they spoke, how they acted with others and plenty of other social cues. He learned the human language that was supposedly so above him. His eyes burned into the strangers that coincidentally passed him in their everyday lives, wanting to know more and more and more and more, about why he limped or what her horns were for. To tell that the woman on the phone was agitated, he knew because of her stance. That the boy was about to throw a fit because of how his face screwed up and his small hand clenched his parents fist. 

He learned and he learned and he learned to read people, to watch how they work - because he wasn’t considered human to any eyes besides his mothers forest green, and he needed to know what was right and what was wrong if he wanted to survive long enough to become the heroes his mother said he could be. And she continued to help. Continued to talk about how some people are manipulative, how sometimes white lies are spoken to keep from hurting someone. She spoke of how her coworkers acted and told him what she thought about the why’s and how’s. 

She helped teach him to be just like everyone else even if he wasn’t, even if she didn’t understand his reason for it. 

Soon enough, he got it down - when to be quiet, when to breathe, when to step closer, when to close his eyes and be forgotten. He learned the human language along with his heroics teachings the best he could to protect himself from the others considered themselves worth more. 

He learned to become less than nothing to ease the minds of the humans around him. To protect himself until he could fulfil his dreams. 

Yes, he moved and he marched. He moved and he moved and never stopped, not when things got in his way, not when things seemed to change or disappear. He moved and he moved and  his mother helped push, until finally - 

Izuku woke up and stared at the world.

Emerald eyes were no longer covered. 

They weren’t the same lights that once shined on before. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 3: GBTCC ~ 

(Izuku learned to grow between the cracks that society left in their wake as they strut around with their heads turned high and their thoughts filled with pride and might. They walked as if they were the pinnacle of the human race, the pinnacle of their time. But he only watched. He watched and learned and grew and grew and grew between the hard places that other’s broke in their own ignorance. 

He learned because his mother believed. 

He learned because he didn’t want to be forgotten. Didn’t want to be left to die. 

So he’d learned and grew and decided he’d play his hand in life the only way he knew he really could - even if it meant that he’d be a monster in the end) 

Chapter 4: A Mother Loves Her Son 

Inko first noticed the change soon after Izuku was discovered quirkless. It wasn’t anything major, just that the light in his eyes dimmed a little, and he seemed to come home a bit more quiet than normal. She figured this made sense, having just been told that he’d never be like the rest of the children his age. That he might never be a hero… She never thought too hard on it, not until her baby came running home in tears one evening. 

It’d taken her so long to calm him down, and even then he still seemed worried, scared, and that itself frightened Inko. She’d asked him what was wrong, but he never answered, opting instead to cling to her chest and hold on as if this was the last time he’d ever be held. So, she did what any mother would do, and held her son just as tightly back. Whispering words of comfort until it was time to eat and things had settled down. 

Inko had tried looking past that event, though it always stuck to the back of her mind. Carefully picking away at her brain, telling her something wasn’t right. And it was right, because only a few months later and Inko’s rushing to the school as if hell was on her tail, pulling up to see her baby, her baby lying still on the floor, his shirt burnt in too many places and his skin red and hot to the touch. Blisters were already forming, and just looking at this mess she’d honestly thought she’d lost her son, her baby, her everything at that point. But then he took a deep breath, and the world was moving again, and soon enough she had him in her arms carefully, but still pulled to her chest. 

The rest of the day was a blur as she brought her son home and took care of his injuries. A long phone call with Mitsuki later and she was sitting on her bed, wondering where things could have gone wrong, because the whole time she patched her son up, he never looked at her, and when he did, his eyes were empty, covered by nothing by a sheen of fog. Inko wondered where she’d gone wrong. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 4: AMLHS ~ 

It was only a few weeks later that the marks started appearing on her son again. Badly hidden bruises, light burns, deep scratches littered Izuku’s skin, even a few scars were peaking here and there - she never remembered cleaning most of them. When she noticed, she asked questions to both her son and the school, wondering how this could have happened (even if she knew how), why it wasn’t being stopped (even if she knew why), but not truthful answers were given, and quickly enough she learned not to push the topic. Izuku would always freeze up and go quiet, turning his head away before saying it was nothing. If she pushed anymore he would throw a fit. 

Eventually though, they fell into a routine. Izuku would come home, beat up and burnt (and boy, how many times did she hope that it wasn’t little Katsu-chan doing these things to her baby. How many times did she call Mitsuki in the evening explaining that she thinks Katsuki was becoming a bit too rough at school with his quirk. How many times was she told it was going to change, only for it to happen again and again and again until she finally gave up calling, knowing that it was just making it worse for her baby - how many times -) and she would clean up his wounds without asking a single question as he rambled on and on and on about this subject or that topic, his empty stare making sure to look everywhere but her face. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 4: AMLHS~ 

She noticed her son and his change from bright to dim, from outgoing to skittish, how he went from light in the center of the room to the shadow hidden in the corner. She noticed how the light of her life seemed to fall into a void of nothing before he’d even reached his double digits. And everyday, she asked herself what she could do. What she could do to help, but every solution that seemed possible brought back the same results and left her crying in frustration and near rage in her room when she was sure her boy was asleep. 

No other school wanted her son because he was ‘a disruption to the class’ ( quirkless ). 

No one wanted to watch him while she worked, because he was ‘disabled’ ( quirkless ). 

No one wanted to help care for her son while she struggled as a single mother because ‘how would I even take care of a special needs ( QUIRKLESS ) kid?’ 

What could she do? What could she do? It was so hard to know what was right and wrong in this situation, because all of society was treating her baby wrong, but whenever he did something right, he was treated as a nuisance, as a liar, as a freak- and she knew. She knew her baby was hurting, but what could she do?! 

And then one day she noticed something. The determined yet mindless way he made his way to the TV and sat down and stared . The way he twitched his hands as he watched for hours until dinner was ready, then right after he’d go to his room and she’d listen as similar things seemed to play in there instead. 

She watched it happen the next day, then the next, then the next, then the next - she watched him everyday until her mind finally put something together. Until she got an idea. 

Rummaging through her desk, she pulled out an old notebook that had most of the pages still clean and left inside it and grabbed a pen before going back into the living room and shoving them into his hands. 

“Write,” Is all she said as she watched something in her baby’s lifeless eyes flicker. Tears filled her eyes and all she could think was ‘oh thank kami’ as she watched him get to work. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 4: AMLHS ~ 

Hours, days, weeks were spent helping him. Letting him drag her around to wherever he needed her to be, even if the fights were a bit scary, even if some of the questions he asked were a bit strange. She went and she helped and she pushed and pushed and pushed him to grow, to believe in himself, to believe her words and that she actually, truly meant them. 

She went where he needed, if only to see his eyes flicker to life for a second in those moments. If only to see her baby feel something again. If only to have her baby look into her eyes… 

And one day, after so, so much time spent running around, watching people, learning and learning and learning, something finally changed. 

Inko listened as her son walked into the kitchen, getting ready to say good morning when she turned to look at him. 

The pan in her hand clattered to the ground, luckily no food had filled it. 

“Mom?! What’s wrong?” Inko watched as her young son rushed up to her, little hands waving around in a panic. But she couldn’t pull her eyes away from her son's face. Because his eyes, his beautiful emerald eyes, weren’t clouded anymore. 

She sucks in a tight breath and pulls Izuku to her chest, and sobs into his shoulder, because her baby was finally alive, he was there, he was home . 

And even when she caught the darkness that hid in the back of his eyes, she ignored it, because her baby was home, and that’s all she could truly ask for. 

~ Arc 1 - P1: TBOAM -- Ch 4: AMLHS ~ 

From then on, whenever she caught a glimpse of her son's eyes, she couldn’t help but notice the new hunger that filled them. Couldn’t help but notice the hunter, the predator that seemed to lurk in his eyes and around his being, thumped with his every step, even if he was still barely into Junior High. 

But she wasn’t afraid, not of her son, never of her son, and not of what this new tenant was. 

So long as it didn’t hurt her baby, didn’t tear him down like all actual beings did, she would let this thing be. Let it fester and grow, and watch as it transformed her son's mind into something intelligent, into something animalistic in the most humane form. 

Inko knew it made her a terrible mother, to leave something that would definitely concern anyone else who saw it alone with her son. But they’d been through so much , and Izuku was still fighting out there, a child in a warzone, leading his own one man army against the world. She wouldn’t mind, she would watch as things went, but so long as it didn’t hurt him, so long as it kept even a semblance of life in his eyes , she wouldn’t bother it. 

So Inko went on, and watched as her baby grew to be something so very dangerous, nothing but scarred pride bleeding through her chest. 

She was a terrible other, but she loved her son to death and would do anything she could to protect him the best she can. Even if it means handing her son the stone to sharpen his blades. 

Even if it means watching as her son becomes a monster. 

(A beautiful monster at that)

Arc 1 - P1:   The Birth Of A Monster  -  To Be Continued

Chapter Text

Arc 1 - P2:   The Birth Of A Monster  -  Begin

Chapter 5: Beautiful Flowers 

The first day of Junior High had been fine. Everyone had walked in, excited jitters running up their spines as they searched for familiar faces among the crowds of younger and older students. It had been similar for Izuku - he’d walked into the courtyard, bookbag held close, face stoic as he ducked and dashed through the crowds, trying to find familiar faces as his body jittered like the rest of the crowd. Except his jitters weren’t from excitement, but from anxiety. They weren’t from welcomed nervousness, but from a deep rooted fear. The faces in the crowds that everyone wanted to see? He tried to find them, so he could avoid them. Hide from them. 

The first day of Junior High had been relatively fine when he finally sat down in the seat he saw was his. It was fine, until class started and the only thing he could focus on were the heated and narrow glares of hate and mischief that bore into the sides of his messy green hair. The hair on his neck and arms stood up on instinct, he kept his eyes trained forward and on his desk, head ducked just the slightest bit. Defensive, but invisible. To hide himself from them. ( If he made himself smaller, then the feeling might go away. They might stop paying attention. They won’t look his way- they’ll go away-) 

Izuku swallowed lightly as he felt nerves build in his chest. Something’s going to happen, isn’t it… 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

The second day of school, Izuku walked through the door. 

When he saw it, he froze. 

The first flower… 

When… When did it get to this point? 

Why did it get to this point?

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

The first flower to be left on Izuku’s desk was an indicator to him. That things would be different from now on - that a crack had been forced across the dam and would burst, break, and crumble eventually. That the children he’d grown up with, were friends with at one point, were ostracized by, had now left their innocence behind, abandoned behind the locked gates of the primary school entrance. That things would get worse… especially if they were willing to threaten him with indirect death. Especially if they were going to bait him… 

The first flower had been laid on Izuku’s new desk the second day into junior high, its bright scarlet petals like long mutilated bugs dripped and covered in blood, the thin stems sticking out like needles puncturing the lifeless, shapeless guts. For all that its meaning is and for all that it looks like dead bugs, the flower was still beautiful. The flower was still one of the pretties that could be seen, and it showed as it lay listlessly on Izuku’s marked and battered desk, looking like a painting with the contrast of bright and dark, with the way the early morning light hit it.

And it called to him. Called to him in a way that he was already way too familiar with. Called to him in a way that most grocers spoke when addressing him, the way some of his neighbors did, the way he knew a few of his teachers have. It called to him in a way that he shouldn’t have already been acquainted with at his age, at any age really. Yet here he was, frozen in place as he listened to muted melodies that came with the calling of death, that softly flowed around the flower that sat innocently atop his desk. 

His body began to shake slightly, just barely noticable if you didn’t know to look, shocked at the sight in front of him. His emerald eyes widened, the blackened caves collapsing as they were pulled open, water filling the bottom line, not yet overflowing to create the waterfalls that usually showed. But even as he got overwhelmed, even as he felt himself become unstable - he didn’t make a sound. He didn’t make a sound, and he didn’t show any sign of weakness besides the freezing in place, and the widening in his eyes. He didn’t walk out of the classroom, he didn’t call his mother, he didn’t tell anyone about anything. 

Instead, with a calmness that felt falser than the idea of a true utopia, he casually strode over and picked up the flower, cradling it in his hands. Horrific fascination filled his mind's world and being as he began to twirl the flower this way and that between his fingers, hungry eyes taking in all details that he could. The flower petals weren’t only red, but a deep orange near the base of it, clashing nicely with the green of the stem. Izuku twirled it again before lightly brushing the pad of his index finger against the edges of each petal. They were soft and smooth under his touch, making him wonder mindlessly if this plant was really made of silk. 

Another minute went by. He must’ve looked insane to anyone in or near the classroom - holding the flower of death in his hands as if it was the most interesting and precious thing in the world, as if it was important enough to garner such attention. But soon enough he was snapping out of his calm hysterics, and quickly walked over to the trash bin and threw the thing in it, making his way back to his seat right after, ignoring the stares all the way. 

The first flower… 

(Something in his mind flickered, like an eye that wasn’t his own shimmered and blinked. Slowly and curiously it stared and thought. What if… Death... became a commonplace? ) 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

Time went on for Izuku, days blurring into one another and feeling like they last years when it’s really only been hours. 

One, three, ten - 

He’d get up, go to school, and deal with the hand that he’d been dealt against his will. Just like in primary school.

Twenty, twenty-six, thirty-five - 

But something was just a little different now. 

Forty-eight, sixty-four, eighty-seven - 

Flowers. Flowers were everywhere he went now. 

And that makes one-hundred-and-one. It’s been a month and they finally hit the one-hundred mark. A bit slower than I thought they would be…  

One-hundred-and-one times have people left flowers for Izuku, whether it was just a single flower placed on his desk, or a whole bouquet of the spider lilies. 

Hmm, that makes me wonder how many actual flowers there were… Probably over three-hundred-ish. 

It was a curse almost. An annoying curse at that. Like the immature child of Hades and Persephone walked the world with him, their childish steps always light and peppy as they trailed just a foot or so behind him. They would idle lazily across his desk in the early morning hours, and greedily shuffle around though his bag when his back was turned like they were looking for candy when their mother had already said no. They would carelessly dance to and around all his favorite spots to relax, doing so before he got there, bringing more attention to them then he wanted from others, and pushing him to find some new secluded area of the school to eat. They’d even run their tiny little hands through his already unruly hair as he walked the school halls. Everywhere he went, the young child followed, leaving beautiful flowers in their wake. 

It was petty. 

At first he’d been sad, horrified even, but generally used to it all the same. Used to the half or indirect threats on or to his life. Used to the hate or pity or caution or disgust from everyone that wasn’t his mother. He was used to it. Izuku was used to it… But this? This was getting very old, and very quickly. A flower a day? Wow, so scary - very threatening. A couple of bouquets? Izuku criticized the flowers he held in his hands. They were the cheap ones from the shop down the street, not at all worth any praise for their quality, beauty, or even death message - if anything, these poor things were probably just barely holding onto their last bits of life themselves at this point. If anything, these flowers needed to be put to rest more than Izuku did at the moment. 

But even so, while the mention of the death flowers started to become commonplace enough to the point Izuku had every small detail about said flowers cataloged in his memory, he couldn’t help but still be surprised and shocked by the casual usage and lingerance of death that everyone used. These were children, no older than guppies compared to the rest of the world, why and when did death become such a mainstream thing that even children thought of it as normal ? (But maybe it was because this was war, maybe it was because this was an area , a fighting rink . A place where everyone was always testing to see who the strongest was, always fighting, challenging, moving, to get better, to be better. Maybe they were so used to it because they thought they understood what it meant because of how they treated the school - but how would they really know? How would they really know until they were put in Izuku’s place? How would they know until they were pushed and pushed and pushed to the brink of destruction almost everyday. Until they had to deal with the idea of death invading their thoughts everyday because someone wanted them to die. Until they truly thought about it seriously in primary school because they didn’t want to be a burden to their own parents - ((What… if Death… became a commonplace?...)) 

He’d thought that death was a topic not to be spoken of so easily, not to be touched - was raised and told by multiples not to bring such things up because of how delicate the topic can be, because of how taboo it was to speak of something so grim. Had heard other parents tell their children the same things - that this wasn’t a topic they understood yet so not to talk about it, that this wasn’t a topic for little kids so not to listen about it, that this wasn’t a nice topic to bring up, so just don’t. Never, they were told, were they to speak of death, it’s not a good thing to talk about. So, to see all this… Normality … concerning the topic of death, well, it confused Izuku a little. 

Why would they mention it so casually? Why would they joke, laugh, talk, tell about it so casually? Why would they hint at it… Doesn’t that go against what people say? What the majority says? 

Do I not understand because I’m not considered human? Maybe it only applies to those who are human, that would make sense. Because I’m different, I don’t apply to the same rules - I forgot about this ( don’t forget this again ).  

So Izuku thought and wrote his thoughts. Wrote his ideas and some reminders. Wrote to himself that he’ll have to change, adapt in order to understand better. He did it before when stating he would be a hero, and he’ll do it again if it means he can make it through school without dying - he’ll continue to change himself and everything he is if it means he can save at least one person someday. So (don’t forget ) he (don't forget) continued (don’t forget) on (don’t forget) as if nothing (don’t forget - just remember) had changed. 

(Let’s make death a commonplace…) 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

Izuku saves the flowers now; keeps them in a clear glass vase stained with red in small patches here and there on his desk, it almost looks like it was carved from crystals that had seen war with how it’s decorated. 

He doesn’t really remember when it started, doesn’t really know why besides the fact that he just looked on one day and something clicked. 

He’d walked into the room, saw it on his desk and sighed, before going over to throw it away, but just as he turned around, he hesitated. The flower, so delicately clasped in his hands, petals slightly crinkled from whoever was the one to bring it in this time. It lay there, in his palm, dropping and wilting from the time off its natural stem, just resting, as if… it was waiting to be thrown out. As if it had already accepted its fate, and at that moment, all Izuku could think to himself was that this flower had done nothing wrong to him. It had not been the flower that brought itself in here just to scorn him, just to spit profanities until he finally jumped off some bridge. No, it wasn’t the flower, it had never been the flower. It was just going along, struggling to live and fit as he was himself. 

I wonder if flowers have a conscience… If they live, they should, right?... He carefully thumbed one of the petals. If they do, are they afraid of you? Do they treat you as something other than a flower, because you represent something unwanted?... Another stroke of the petal. Are… you like me? 

The thoughts were crazy, even Izuku could recognize that himself, but even so… he couldn’t help but wonder and wish for a friend or a connection to something or anything. He was alone. And no matter what you are, who you are; human, animal, monster, dirt, trash - no matter what, you’ll always want someone to know you - to relate to you - to suffer with you - to be kind to you - to care for you - to just be there . And that’s all Izuku wanted. He had his mother, and he loved his mother dearly, but sometimes… Sometimes you just want to know that someone else can hear you. That someone else can see what you do, experience what you do, know your thoughts, and feel your inner desires- but you can only have that if the person’s been through similar things… and well… His mother only knows what’s happened from the sidelines, and Izuku hates, he really, truly hates to say it, but that’s just not enough anymore… 

No, you can’t be like me - because they would be afraid of you, yet no one is afraid of me… They only know that I’m different and that they can use that against me in terms of power… He continued to stare at the flower, just standing there, dazing away, before he finally just dropped it in his book bag. It’s not like it’ll hurt anyone… 

( Oh, the irony of that statement) 

(Let’s make death a commonplace… )(Why do you think he kept the flowers?)

When he’d brought the first flower home his mother had been near hysterics, tears filling and flowing in her forest green eyes and down her chubby rosy cheeks. He’d taken it out of his bag halfway home, just fiddling with the petals and stem, his (newly) bandaged fingers smoothing things out as best and they could without tearing anything off. So when he walked into their home, his mother at the door to greet him like she did most days, and she saw the flower in his hands, she’d gone off. Words came from her mouth in frantic speeds, telling him to throw it away, to ignore his classmates, to think of his future as a hero, to think of the people he’ll save. He knew she didn’t get it, Izuku barely got what he was thinking either in this moment, during this day, but he didn’t want the situation to get any worse or more complicated, so he gently spoke. Voice just above a whisper, he spoke. 

“But mama, the flowers did nothing wrong,” He turned to face her, emerald eyes shining with their usual nasty void, the usual monster lurking just in the jewel filled mines. “And, I don’t know, I guess I just happen to think they’re very pretty,” Mutilated bugs covered in blood and all. He paused after that, his jeweled eyes finding their way back down to the bright red monstrosity that lay in his hands, “I’ll be bringing plenty more home in the future, so I was hoping we could go out and by a nice vase to go with them.” His eyes flickered up for just a second, “Can we mama?” 

Inko could only stare, wide eyed and trembling. She didn’t know what to think, what to do, all she could do was force her eyes to her childs and watch and watch for a sign, any sign - a movement, a thought, a flicker of something, anything to give her a hint as to what was going on inside her baby’s mind this time. There was always something going on now, always something being planned, being laid out, being completed. Always some thing working and learning in the background of her child’s mind, staying in the dark, just waiting to open its maw and consume anything and everything in its path. So she gazed, eyes latched and never left. Five minutes of straight silence passed as Inko stared, Izuku just waited patiently for her, holding her gaze out of politeness - he knew what she was doing, she’s done this plenty of times with him, like a check-up, to make sure er baby hadn’t finally flipped the bucket, hadn’t tried to kick it either. 

Inko watched out of the corner of her eye as his fingers mindlessly worked the flowers stem, standing with a contentment of someone who hadn’t just casually questioned their mother on whether or not they could buy a vase for the flowers that were used to suicide bait them. Another minute passed, and finally, 

“S-sure, baby… We… We can go pick one out for you…” She turned to the clock on the wall, “We can go now if you want to Izuku… We’ll just pick up dinner on the way,” 

When she turned back, he was gently smiling at her, and while her mind was everything but still and calm, her heart was warmed because at least the smile was genuine. At least it was genuine… 

“Thanks mama,” 

( Let’s make Death a commonplace...) 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

It’s not like everything else stopped when the flowers started blooming in his life. The abuse didn’t subside, didn’t suddenly disappear, it’s not like they had a change of heart where they decided giving flowers and using their words was the best way to go about bullying someone. No, nothing changed. All the words, touches, objects, expressions, movements, statements; anything and everything that could be  used against him, was used against him. It was all a knife that skewered his flesh and tore the layers open, snagging and catching on all that it could to make it all the more painful for him. They left him wounded, raw, and bleeding - left alone to suffer by himself, even as he occasionally stood up for others. Even as he still tried to help the people that considered him nothing, tried to help the people that hurt him. 

See, with beautiful flowers, came fireworks, came artists, came the circus. It was like Izuku walked through an endless carnival, an endless act everyday that he entered school - except he was the main attraction - he was the main act - and these shows he happened to be a part of were violent. 

Pens, pencils, rulers became throwing knives, fireworks to explosions, cheers of the crowd turned to snickers, sneers, and chants for more. Rings of children; Rings of fire. Astonishing trapeze artists, breathtaking stunts; Beat downs from classmates, objects hurled with quirked force. A caged animal; Midoriya Izuku, a curious quirkless child just trying to survive another day, Midoriya Izuku; Abused and forced to look and play the part of amazing entertainment. 

A circus; the school; the world; a carnival - And everyone, everyone else; the Ring Leader. 

They were violent, his classmates, his teachers even, were violent - more so now than before back in primary school. It reminds Izuku that these children had lost their innocence - had lost such a thing when they’d come to think up death as a solution for Izuku, when they’d gathered and agreed to enact such a plan, when they’d laid the first scarlet flower upon his desk the second day of school as if to give some sort of sick welcomed greeting into the new year. That these children weren’t truly children anymore if they could cause such pains like this without remorse, if they could just casually walk over and use their quirks on him because he was nothing . Even if he wasn’t normal, even if he wasn’t one of them, it’s not like they did this to animals on the regular, it’s not like they went around to other kids that were younger and just a bit weaker than them and started telling them to jump off roofs, started hitting and beating them, started leaving these stupid freaking flowers all over their desks - it’s not like they went around treating anyone else but Izuku like this- so it wasn’t right, it wasn’t normal. 

Something must have been wrong with them too. Something must have been wrong - something must have been wrong with them - something must have been wrong with them.

Serial killers, psychopaths, murderers, sociopaths; all of these and were said to harm, mutilate, torture, and kill animals as children - and while he might not be an animal, but something lower, it still said something about the minds of those people - about the minds of everyone that sat or stood or learned or taught in his class, in his school or around the world. It showed how the mentalities of people have become, or should he say, have evolved . It just shows what people really are like -- and if he’s trash, dirt, even a monster for being so different, then what do we call these people? What do we call them? Izuku may not know, but he knows how they were handled. He knows how they were dealt with. 

And how did the authorities deal with such horrendous people? What did they do to make sure they never went from skinning a cat alive to peeling off the flesh of a little boy? 

They killed t he m .

(Let’s make death a commonplace, his subconscious mind gently whispered, blowing against his brain to let him know it’s there. Let’s... make death... a commonplace , the monster that he was choked back wetly, gurgling on its own fluids. I need to protect myself in case they try to kill me , Izuku’s mind pushed, I need to adapt. ) 

And so he did what his mom encouraged, and what he loved. He opened his notebook and began to write… 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

1/19

Name: Narahiko Souta 

Quirk: Pop Eyes

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Weaknesses: Crush the eyes in hands, soft enough that it can be easily done - rip out the eyes - scatter sand, dirt, metal, glass, anything on them so he can’t bring them back into his head - cut the eyes so that they bleed out and become useless - ….. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

3/19

Name: Yamahata Kiyomi

Quirk: Light Telekinesis 

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Weaknesses: Break her fingers, wrist, arms - take her glasses so she can’t see, or specifically crush them into her eyes - knock her out - throw something of a weight to heavy for her to use her quick on - crush her while she is using her quirk, preferably with building chunks, brinks, ect …. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

8/19

Name: Saionji Katzumi

Quirk: Neck Growth

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..

Weaknesses: Snap neck, very easy since the neck strength doesn’t get any stronger the longer it gets - attack body while his head is away - just stab him, it’ll work well - head and neck still very weak the farther they go, drop a brick or chunk of cement on them, crush the head …. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

11/19

Name: Kobayashi Keishi

Quirk: Spike Fist

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Weaknesses: Snap the spikes off at the tips - shave them down - cut them off with a butcher knife - break the hand, knuckles, wrists, etc - use wet cloths to capture and then bind them - lay him on his back when hurting him, hands under his back to keep him from using his quirk … 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

15/19

Name: Kawasie Takayuki

Quirk: Blow Chin

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..

Weaknesses:  Scalpel to the blow up part of the chin - any type of sharp object really - punch in the throat before he blows - choke him with rope before he can blow up - spray pepper spray on the blow up part of the skin, it gets thinner when it expands meaning you can burn through it a lot easier - use fire …. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

16/19

Name: Ichisada Shusaku

Quirk: Extended Fingers

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..

Weaknesses:  Snap the fingers easily with hands - chop them off - break the hands - break the arms - knockout - use fingers to choke himself - Baseball bat would work against him because the fingers aren’t very strong …. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 5: Beautiful Flowers ~

19/19

Name: Bakugou Katsuki 

Quirk: Explosion

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...

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Weaknesses: Breaks his wrists, fingers, knuckles, hands in general - cut off his hands - cover him in tons of water or just drown him - not immune to his own smoke, suffocate him with it - fight with rubber to get the smell in the air for him to breathe, can get poisoned - pour gasoline on his body, the rest of it isn’t as easily immune to high explosives or catching fire - wear him out, the bracing his arms and wrist have to give out eventually, will cause his downfall - fire extinguisher - …. 

Chapter 6: Nothing More Than A Pebble 

Large green eyes stared into his own, small chubby hands clasped in the owner's shirt. Freckles on his face, hair green and fluffy. His expression was one of confusion as he stared up at him. A second of silence passed and the quirkless boy tried to collect his thoughts and formulate his words. Then finally, 

“Kacchan… Why’s everything changing? What’s so wrong with me now, that wasn’t wrong before?...” Green eyes looked away, the hands in his shirt clenching a bit harder, twisting and stretching the fabric. “Why’s it such a big deal that I’m still just me?” 

Katsuki stared at the boy, smaller and thinner than him. Weaker. Anger bubbled, for no other reason than the fact that Deku was the one talking to him. Quirkless, harmless, stupid Deku, thinking he can talk to Katsuki? Talk to him?

“Haah? What d’ya mean ‘Why’s everything’s changing?’ You’re a quirkless Deku now! Useless! Did ya really think anyone would want to be friends with someone like you?! You nothing but dirt now! Of course it’s a big deal!” Pride roared from his chest as he spoke, before turning and stomping away.

Stupid freaking Deku, don’t talk to me you useless trash - You’re nothing but a pebble for me to step on, nothing but a pebble compared to my mountain. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 6: NMTAP ~

Katsuki Bakugou was the best. As simple as that. 

He was the best in his grade, the best in his school, the best in his neighborhood - he was the best, he would always be the best and nothing would take that from him. He would grow better and better, and continue to be the best. And because he was the best, that meant he was the strongest, the fastest, the smartest - the one that could outshine all - and that he’s not afraid of anything. ( yet ) If it could be thrown at him, put against him, rival him, then he could defeat it. No matter what, he could fight it and win. 

Villains, backstreet goons, incredible quirks (though nothing was as awesome as his), authority figures, strange bugs and wild animals, death even - nothing scared Katsuki ( yet ). 

Nothing scared Katsuki. 

But things could put him off. Unsettled him in ways that irritated him, made him uncomfortable, made him want to walk a little faster as he traveled, act on his natural instincts a little more. Things could put him off. 

Things like Midoriya Izuku. Things like Deku. Stupid Deku, useless Deku, ugly Deku, outcast Deku, Deku, Deku, Deku.  

In the beginning - in the beginning it wasn’t an issue. Deku had just been different is all, and that wasn’t that weird, he was quirkless, so of course he would be different - feel different. It was just written into his nature, into his biology. Of course there would be this air to him, a feeling, a sensation that put him off. A sensation that annoyed Katsuki to the higher heavens. 

But slowly time went on, and Katsuki watched… watched as he became… numb… 

For all that everyone did to Deku - all the beatings, all the name calling, all the abuse deserved encounters - it wasn’t all that strange either to see him become such a thing. A baby that cries all the time, an outcast that isolated himself, a loner than never spoke to anyone, a dead beat that stopped relying on people for anything - but soon enough it reached a point where he would just stand there. Staring (at what? Katsuki was never sure) at the wall, the crowd, just staring. Katsuki would watch as Deku just seemed to… drift. Drift through life. Drift, but yet, would stay on his toes the entire time. Drift around, yet knew what was going on still. It was like he was walking a tightrope, but instead of his small feet walking along the length of the rope, touching the rough material as he moved, they just hovered. Hovered an inch or so above it, moving forward still as if they were taking real steps. But even so, Katsuki could tell that one wrong move and dumb Deku would still fall. Still plummet into the unknown. 

(That never changed his attitude though)

Katsuki watched as Deku changed from the once bright, curious, and excited boy to someone who followed others around with their head bowed and did as they were told. Turned into someone who isolated themselves until they were needed by others. Someone who always seemed to have their head in the clouds, just staring off at random things or was always busy writing in the damned notebook of his. It was a change, it was strange and it irritated him. 

How could Deku just ignore everyone, the arrogant bastard!? Yet still follow them around like a lost stupid puppy?! He’s so annoying, always doing shit like this! Always working harder, the stupid wannabe teachers pet! Kiss-ass, suck-up! 

It got worse as time went on. As Katsuki would watch as Deku just took the beatings, just took the fists and quirks lying down. Watched as he accepted what was coming to him - weak, weak, weak, weak - ! 

And then, sometime later, near the end of Primary school, it changed again… 

Dull, almost vacant emerald eyes that had always looked as such, were a bit darker, almost more determined… 

Well, Katsuki couldn’t let that happen, now could he? He’s just a pebble, a stupid freaking pebble - does he thing anything is going to change?! He needs to know his place! 

Then it changed again… 

Suddenly, emerald eyes were clearer, and everything Deku did seemed more cautious, more calculated in a way that spoke more of secrets that wanted to be kept than in an anxious need to protect himself. 

So Katsuki kept going - kept pushing him down - HE’S A PEBBLE, A PEBBLE, A PEBBLE - kept grinding him into the dirt, and then some - HE’S NOTHING COMPARED TO ME, I’M THE BEST HE NEEDS TO JUST REALIZE WHEN IT’S TIME TO GIVE UP - 

And then, his big, big emerald green eyes were completely bright, completely alight… but… somehow… they were different. Somehow, in someway… Katsuki couldn’t name how, couldn’t name why, just that they were. They were different, and his instincts screamed, they screamed at him not the mess with Deku. Not to touch the boy, not to offend him, not to threaten him, because there would be hell to pay if he so much as thinks wrong about this boy.  

But Katsuki wasn’t one to back down. He wasn’t one to listen well, wasn’t one to give up. He was one that fought (because he didn’t know the taste of death yet, the taste of a real threat, and soon enough he would. But even so, he would be too ignorant to actually pause, too ignorant, too stubborn to slow down and take in the world, to take in what he could see) So, he continued to hassle and rough Deku up, he continued to face against the other boy, continued to be an obstacle in his path and grind and grind and grind until he couldn’t anymore - until he couldn’t do anything that would be useful against him because Deku would just get up. Would just get up after no matter how bad the beat down, no matter how bad the burns, no matter how hurt he was - Deku would just get up, dust himself off, and apologize to Katsuki for the inconvenience and then try to stubble off to wherever. And when it seemed to get worse than just terrible, Deku would just lay there on the floor until Katsuki and his goons left. No matter what he did, it wouldn’t work. 

So, Katsuki decided there was only one thing left to try. 

On the second day of junior high, a spider lily was put on Deku’s tattered desk - though it wasn’t from Katsuki, he wasn’t a little bitch who did things secretly, no, but it did give him an idea. 

Not even two weeks later did Katsuki give his first ‘death threat’ if you will, gave his first suicide bait. And while he didn’t feel that bad about saying it - because words were just words, and Katsuki would never admit that they could mean anything more; a pen wasn’t stronger than a sword to him, a pen would break, snap, and get crushed under the weight of his shoe, let alone against a sword - he did feel a chill down his spine. He did feel something twinge in his subconscious mind (because he’d just baited a monster, a monster that would eat him alive, a monster that would one day come to ruin his life if it so much as even thought to lift a finger - he disturbed a monster and that, no matter the story, never went well) but he never bothered with it. Just brushed the feeling away. 

(Little did he know, that after the first time he told Izuku to jump off a roof, to take the road less traveled and get lost and starve - little did Katsuki know that had he’d just glanced back behind him a little longer, just a second longer, he would have noticed the almost deranged expression of shock on Izuku’s face. The raw emotion of surprised hysteria. Missed the way freckled cheeks would lift and pull the skin back just the slightest as Izuku fought with himself to keep down the grin, as he fought against himself the urge to break down and cry to scream out and laugh and sob at the same time. Had he just barely glanced back for a second, he would have watched in real time as Izuku’s mind crumpled a little, as something collapsed into itself, but something else clicked into place. Had he only looked back, he would have seen the first bit of monster push its way completely forward instead of just lingering in the back as it did for so long) 

Because Deku was a nobody, a freak, a worthless, weak cry baby that always had his head in the clouds, never paid attention, and let himself constantly get beat. 

He was a dirtied and forgotten pebble compared to Katsuki’s astonishing mountain. 

He was a pebble, and that would never change. 

Chapter 7: I’ve Got Friends On The Other Side

Junior high was… a lot different than primary school.

There were the obvious differences; the way the teachers taught in the classroom, what they taught in the classroom. The uniforms they got were new and unworn, strangely fitting them as they got used to the feeling of the scratchy material. Even the route to school was just a bit different, and of course so were the staff and even some of the kids. But then there were the not-so-obvious-at-first-glance differences that made Izuku frown slightly, and pay even closer attention to his surroundings. 

Izuku called what he saw the ‘Divided Staff Hierarchy’. 

He’d watched from the beginning how all the staff acted, how the teachers, principal, the nurses seemed to rival against the lunch and cleaning staff. The way they seemed to despise one another, how it seemed only one side was actually instigating these strange and silent rounds of battle. But was it really even a battle? Like Izuku said, it was more of a hierarchy where any and all of the powerful were above those who were not. It was all about positions more than about quirks in this case strangely enough. So was it really a battle if it was so one-sided between the staffs? 

Izuku would watch as the teachers purposely left extra garbage, extra spills, extra mess all over their desks and floors. Watched aghast as the adults seemed to encourage the children to do the same in the classroom and at lunch. Watched as the students began to treat the lunch staff harshly at the teachers words of enthusiastic affirmation. All just to make their jobs a little harder, all just to make their lives a little worse. 

Hidden behind corners, in the shadows, underneath the senses of those authoritarian figures, Izuku cataloged all he saw with his emerald eyes, built a map of the pyramid system that Aldera Junior High was inside his mind, and placed all the figures in their assumed spaces. He built it, and then, when no one was any brighter, he began to work his way through the bottom. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 7: IGFOTOS ~

Junior high was a lot different than primary school. 

With his graduation from one school to the next came the extended freedom to do and go where he pleased. While he couldn’t stay out too late, nor could he walk too far, he could still accomplish many more goals and tasks that he’d struggled to do with his limited time before. So, with this lengthened freedom, he took the time to stay after school and interact with the staff. 

He’d stay and wander around the building, poke around at the clubs, just looking and waiting for anyone he could approach that was a part of the staff. And when he found them, he’d politely ask if they could talk, if he could ask them some questions about their quirks, about their jobs - hinting that he’d probably be in their place one day with how society was, with how society treated him. Then he’d listen and write and feel himself become animated as he fell deeper and deeper into the analytics of this or that person's amazing, interesting, unique, or creative quirk, rambling and rambling on and on as he followed them around as they listened and cleaned whatever needed to be done. Their expressions would lighten and become warm as they glanced over him, and he’d bask in the positive attention until it was late and he’d have to run off home. Parting with a bashful goodbye and a quick add on that he’d possibly be back tomorrow if he doesn’t run into some of the other staff. 

Other times he’d stay to help an clean with them, telling them it was repayment for all the information they’d given him and for putting up with his rambles, but even so they would insist, and so he’d have to say that it was practice, for if things ever became as such, and even though it lowered the mood, Izuku didn’t let himself mind for too long because it meant he got to help them in some way. Days like this though were spent less with quirks and analytics, less with notebooks and hour long rants about one thing or another, but more about memories and personal lives. This time was spent speaking in low voices filled with pride as they talked about their children and how they were growing up so good, time spent with a more melancholy tones as they talked about why they were stuck like this, about how they just deal with it so they can pay off medical bills, debts they didn’t mean to get into, to feed their kids or grandkids because someone else was incapable of work. These days were filled more with home than with logistics, with more understanding than most other days. Izuku just listened and cleaned until his time to leave came, and he offered his partings. 

Some days, when he didn’t stay after school, but instead spent his time walking around, getting to know the city better, he’d let his mind gloss back over to the stories that’d been shared with him in those empty halls, and quiet classrooms after school. He’d let his mind wander and allow his feet to carry him where they pleased. On these days he’d notice them, see them; from the corner of his eyes, he would see them, staring at the ground, at the crowd, or asleep. Lying against buildings, hidden in alleyways, holding up cups, hats, signs, playing instruments if they could. Clothes, if you could even call them that anymore, sewn together from old rags, ragged and torn, a thin sheet against their bodies to cover them, protect them from the weathering outdoors. He’d see them on the days he let his mind wander and his feet pursue what they wanted. He’d see them and wonder about their lives, their stories, about how and what got them there, and silently ponder if he’d one day be sitting against a building, holding a cup and a sign, clothes made from sewn together rags and towels, shaking his hand gently and softly asking for any spare change, for anything anyone could give him. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 7: IGFOTOS ~

Junior high was a lot different than primary school. 

One reason being that Izuku wasn’t that afraid of approaching strangers anymore - while he still was a ball of anxiety when speaking to people, still flinched and fiddled when interacting with them, he wasn’t too afraid to push forward and carry on a conversation, wasn’t too afraid to push forward in order to get what he thought was important enough done. 

So, one day while past through the city after school, once again just mulling over all the information that was recently fed to his brain, he decided he’d approach these people, these beings who lived the life of the streets day and night, who relied on everyone and no one to take their few steps through the world, to leave even just the slightest mark. He approached them, talked to them lightly in the allowed, and learned about them like he did the workers at school. 

Some days he’d stop by and drop money in their cups or hats or hands, and lean against whatever wall they were currently occupying. Some days he’d notice them putting the money back in his pockets, but he never showed he saw, just casually dropped the payments into their cups as he walked away near the end of their little get togethers, not allowing them time to try the trick twice. He’d ask them about their quirks, about their talents, about their experiences and their lives. The ups and the downs, and anything else they could think of. When a topic seemed to bother them, he’d stray off to another, spending hours and hours just listening to these people, to their friends they’d sometimes be around, about what they saw, heard, and noticed throughout the day. 

Occasionally when he could he’d bring extra clothes to give them, scarves, hats, gloves, large jackets if he could manage to find ones that were decent size on the way to talking with them, just something to give an extra layer, some extra protection against the chilled or wet weather. Just to give some comfort to his everywhere neighbors. Other times he’d give them food, days like that he tended to sit with them, eat a snack he’d brought for himself as well, as they talked and talked and talked. Sometimes they just ate in silence. 

The question would come up every once in a while - Why are you doing this? Why hang around us? You’re a bright young kid, why make a name among the bitter streets when you could be kicking people off their pedestals up in corporate?  

Izuku would tell them then, about his own life, about some of his own secrets, but not all of them, never all of them. After all, secrets were worth gold on the streets, and who would want to find out they were being manipulated for future use? 

When becoming a hero, the most important thing to have was connections. 

No matter who or what they were with. Especially in the underground, you always had to have connections, contacts, messengers, suppliers, a network in the underground, otherwise you would be buried and eaten alive by the bugs that found you. 

And some of the best ones happened to be the people that looked the least inconspicuous. The ones that could easily pass you on the streets and you wouldn’t think twice about them. The ones that could blend into the shadows without so much as a blink of an eye. 

Izuku hated himself for using these people, for manipulating them onto his side so that he could use their beings now and later - for moving more closely in line with the monster in his head, with the monster than he was. He understood what he was, and what he was growing into even more. 

  ~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 7: IGFOTOS ~

It was only days after Izuku realized that he might die in school, only days after he wrote all those things down in his notebook under ‘Weakness’ that something lurched in his brain. That something quickly halted to a stop and turned around to do a double take, to rub their eyes and see if they were really seeing that - that he was a monster. That he was a monster, that he was possibly crazy, insane, that he was definitely messed up, and probably inhuman. Was inhuman. It was only a few days after Izuku realized his life could flicker out while he walked the halls of Junior high that he realized something was wrong with him. 

Yet, strangely enough, he didn’t panic, he didn’t freak out, didn’t really react as much as he thought he would’ve in a situation like that. Honestly, he didn’t think too much either, just let his mind move for him - if anything, he was almost completely calm if you ignore the fact that his mind was racing faster than All Might was saving people averagely (and that was fast ). Trying to understand what he’d written, why he’d written it when he would never really do such things ( but he would- ) - whether or not he’d be able to become a hero likes this, with these thoughts, with these feelings. 

So, he’d done the only thing he could clearly think of at that moment. He went to the person who supported him most, loved him most, and knew what was probably the best for him in this situation. 

He went to his mother. 

“Mama... I… Can I ask you something?” Izuku had grasped the notebook tight in his hands as he stood a short space away from his mother folding laundry on the couch. His eyes were trained on the floor, tracing patterns in the creases in the carpets his mind continued to race, as his expression stayed pinched in thought. 

His mother turned to face him, putting down the laundry that she’d been in the middle of grabbing. When she saw his posture, heard his tone, she knew something was wrong. 

“Yeah baby, what’s up? Something wrong?” She kept her words gentle and quiet, easing them out so that she wouldn’t startle her son. Izuku just kicked his foot a bit before walking over to sit next to her on the couch, moving the basket of laundry out of the way, the notebook still clenched in hand. 

“I… I wanted… Mama… is… is something… wrong with me?” He turned to look over at his mother, his expression still pinched. She was quick to reassure him that nothing was wrong with him, that he was fine just the way he was. “No… I don’t mean quirk wise… I mean… is… is there something wrong with me… mentally? Is that the right word?” Izuku spaced out for a moment, mumbling about the phrases and words he could use to define this better, when his mother nudged him lightly on his shoulder, breaking him from his thoughts. Looking over to her once again, he felt her hand cup his face, her brows turned upwards, worry dotted her eyes. 

“Baby, Izuku, I don’t know what this is about, not unless you explain it to me sweetie. But either way, I don’t think anything is wrong with you, not mentally, not physically - though we could work on your emotional side, you can be so self-deprecating sometimes,” She bapped his nose at the end, a small smile decorating her lips as she joked lightly. Izuku just gave a weary smile before deciding to just jump head first into the situation. 

“Ah… I just…”She hummed to him, giving him the comfort to take the time he needed to, “I just wrote some things, and… well I don’t think it’s normal to do this… I - Honestly, I feel like something's been off for a while now, more than just being different, being the outcast, I just - I don’t understand, but something inside me had - it’s changed and now - now it’s lead to - to this -” He hastily ripped open his notebook to show her what he’s written. 

Showed her the newest things he’d scribbled under everyone's ‘Weakness’ category, showed how they went from being something light and corrective, to something horrible and dark. Showed her how he planned to kill his classmates, his teachers. And then he went on to tell her all the things he’d felt, all the things he thought and how suddenly it was really surfacing how wrong those things were. 

His mother only stared the entire time, listened to what he said, read what he wrote, all the time with sad and knowing eyes. When he was finally finished ranting, he moved to peer at his mothers face only to see tears crawling down her cheeks as a wobbly smile tried its best to stay put. Izuku was shocked, shocked and worried about what he’d said and done to his mother. 

Please don’t be afraid of me, I can’t lose you too - 

“Ma-Mama? W-what’s wrong?! D-Did I s-s-scare you?! I-I’m sorry, I-I’m s-sorry mama-” 

A hug. The sudden warmth and weight of the embrace halted his speech. 

“No, no Izuku! You didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t do anything wrong - I’m not scared, I can promise you that a thousand times over. It's just… I’ve been waiting so long…” Disbelief filled his being at his mothers words. Pulling back, he stared at her with wide eyes as she wiped her own. 

“..What do you mean, ‘waiting’... Mama, what does that mean?!” 

“Izuku… What I mean is that I’ve been waiting for you to realize that you’re different, that you’re special, unique - Not in the quirk and quirkless way - but in the way of personal being, of brains, brawn, and all things in between. You’re so smart, so very very smart Izuku, and I’m so proud, but you’re not just book smart, you’re street smart, you’re battle and tactical smart, you’re people smart and instinctually smart - baby, you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met and that's saying something as I knew plenty of intelligent people when I was still with your father,” She sighed and brought a hand up to play with Izuku’s hair, brushing it this way and that, pulling it here and there too. 

“But… You’ve become this way because of how you’ve grown… Not that I’m saying you wouldn’t be this intelligent without your experiences, I truly and fully believe that if you’d been born with a quirk, in a different neighborhood, in a different city, you’d still grow up to be this bright - it’s just… I… I hate to admit it, because it shouldn’t have been this way, because no person should ever have to go through this, let alone a child, let alone my baby boy... but you’ve grown up in a place where no one is kind to you… In a place where the world’s against you no matter what decisions you make, no matter who you help and are kind to. No matter if you just want to live a quiet life… And because of that, Izuku, you had to change, had to adapt - I watched it all happen too. I watched as your light burned out, as you tried to mold into society’s fittings, but… I just couldn’t handle it, I did what I could to make you see how wonderful you were, I just wanted to see you alive again, because you looked so dead …” 

His mother wiped her eyes again, sniffling a bit and breathing deep, her breaths stuttered, before pushing herself to go on. 

“And in the meantime, as I worked and you did - well, I can’t say exactly what you did - but as things happened, something changed. I’m not sure when, what, why or even really how, but something happened, something in you, around you, changed one day and I noticed it…” Izuku listened intently, eyes, ears, mind collecting and taking it all in - forcing himself to remember everything so that he could understand, forcing himself to keep it all in his mind so that he would understand more, understand full what was going on, why he was this way. 

(It’s strange to think he never really noticed - he, in a sense, did notice. Did notice that he’d had to change himself, that he’d been different from the start, so of course he was different now. He had noticed that he would do, think, be different from others, generally understood why… But still… It’s strange to think he never thought about how different he would be - Then again, everyone would like to act as if they weren’t that different from others, as if they were relatively the same-) 

“I… I don’t know how else to put it lightly, but I’ll just say - I know how you like things pretty straight forward… Izuku, you’ve become a monster,” Panic immediately burst across her face as she finished saying that, and Izuku could once more only stare, “O-or! I mean! Oh, gosh darnit! That didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to! Izuku, please don’t take this the wrong way! What I mean is that you’ve become something bigger, and even darker than life! You’ve become the very thing that society would consider bad because they’re too afraid of things that could be considered better than themselves, because they’re afraid of things that can continue to get back up and evolve, especially when it’s faced against them! - Oh, Hisashi would be so much better at explaining this than I am!” 

His mother fretted a bit more, waving her hands around as she did, but Izuku just laughed, bringing her out of her stupor. 

“S-so, y-you’re telling m-me -- th-that I’ve become, that I’ve become a-a monster, a monster , because the world pushed me through the ringer a bit too much and neither us, nor my natural instincts wanted me to die?! Oh, Kami - the world we live in!” He fell back onto the couch and let the insane laughter shake his body. 

“Oh, Izuku! I’m sorry if that wasn’t the right way to word it, I just couldn’t think of anything better! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” 

“No, no - It’s fine mama, it’s fine - like you said, I’d rather have it said straight than not at all,” His mother gently grabbed one of his wrists and brought him into her arms again. 

“Izuku… I… You’ve just been through so much, and this was your body’s way of handling what society threw at you. You’ve become so bright, so adaptable, yet you’re still you…” A pause, “When I first saw the change, I had been so happy to see you alive, alight with life again, but then I saw it… It was a small darkness that lingered in the back of your eyes, a monster living in emerald mines… It was almost like a beast walked around with you, thumping with your steps, hidden just in your shadow - I had been so concerned when I first saw it, but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it either… I had watched it, and as I did, I noticed you were getting better, that you were growing more and more and doing so much, I couldn’t bring myself to poke at this figure, couldn’t bring myself to take it away. So I let you go on and do what you did, I let you bring home all those flowers, I let you drag me around wherever you needed to be, I let you plan and talk and ramble on and on and on about things I could never even begin to dream to understand. I let you do whatever you needed, because I knew this would help you in some way, in your own way - even if it seemed concerning here and there, even if it probably would have been looked down upon by plenty of society’s people - and I still think this way, I still think it will help,” 

She pulled away once more from the embrace to gaze at him lovingly. Izuku felt his eyes mist over as she gently brushed his cheek and smiled at him. 

“Izuku, after everything you’ve been through, after all society has done - I don’t care about what’s happened, I don’t care about what you write in your notebooks, I could honestly care even less if you woke up tomorrow and walked down the stairs, still ruffled from sleep in your bright yellow pj’s and declared loudly over breakfast with food still stuck to your cheeks that you were going to become the number one villain of the world - I would support you all the way. I would walk by your side as long as you needed me to - I would drag heaven and hell together across the surface of the Earth if it meant you could do what you wanted - Because you deserve it, after everything that’s happened, you deserve the world. Whether that be in the most pristine conditions because you’ll be saving it, or in the most ruined apocalyptic state history has ever seen because you’d decided humanity was overrated. I may get frustrated, concerned, I may never truly understand what, why or how you think, but I’ll be here, I’ll be here and don’t you ever forget that,” 

A sniffled and a pause, before, 

“Thank you mama,” 

“Of course baby, of course. I love you after all, hmm?” 

“Love you too, mama. I love you too,” 

By the end of the night the both of them had broken down into tears over everything. And while the words meant so much to Izuku, even though his mother said that he was perfectly alright, that she accepted him all the way, he couldn’t come to think of himself as good. Not completely anyways. No, he was a monster and even if the world shaped him to be this way, he was still something terrible for even thinking the way he did, for doing some of the things he’s done.  

~ Arc 1 - P 2: TBOAM -- Ch 7: IGFOTOS ~

As time passed and went on, the more connections Izuku made, the closer he got to them, and the more things he learned. 

Heroes rarely came to the poorer sides of town, rarely helped with the real damaging crimes. People rarely paid attention to those who truly needed it, to those who were suffering the most, and if Izuku couldn’t relate to that. But in reality he was someone who got a lot of attention put onto him, too much really and it damaged him. Damaged him so much that he could probably win against a hardened soldier, and a long experienced hero in a match of who’s got the worst trauma - though nobody should win that game, nobody should truly have so much trauma that they have to constantly change themselves and fight just to do a simple task everyday. No, nobody should. 

Ever since he started talking to the staff at school he’s noticed things have been a little easier, less flowers, his desk is much cleaner, but if it isn’t he doesn’t mind spending time after school to help clean - it allows for more time to get to know his new friends, his coworkers, if you will. At lunch it’s the same, he’s always got a second lunch prepared for him now in case other students try something, and he usually eats with the lunch staff anyways unless he wants to be alone. They were great people, good friends, good coworkers. 

It was the same for the homeless he’s met too, he goes, he interacts and does his best to help. Because of this he’s rewarded with random gossip on the streets, stories of their adventures, what it was like on the street, and the feeling of being understood a bit. He’s met those who were bullied, who were hurt, who’d even become villains because they were told they’d amount to nothing but that, similar to him, he thinks, but he’d probably be dead if he were in their shoes. 

It’s strange, not in a bad way, but in the way of looking through a distorted mirror - It’s like he’s looking at some other version of himself - someone who sorta understands what he’s been through, but doesn’t understand enough to create a full picture of who he is, not enough to reflect back properly. He doesn’t get the same feeling from them as he gets from himself when he stands in his room, in front of his own mirror and looks into the bright haunted emerald eyes that paint his face. It’s close, just not the same. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 7: IGFOTOS ~

Junior high was a lot different from primary school. 

Mostly because Izuku had three years now to slowly begin to build his empire, to slowly begin to build his life even if it was hidden in the shadows, slowly began to build his future. Because Izuku was able to learn some understanding as to what he was, to what he’d become. 

But also because for the first time he gained friends, even if they weren't from the greener sides of the pastures. Even if they weren’t as stable or as accepted as most other’s would be in life, even if they were like Izuku in some ways. 

Izuku made friends, and these friends would help him in the years to come. They’d allow his monster to thrive.   

Chapter 8: A Villain Is A Villain Is A Hero 

He couldn’t breathe. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

Izuku was late to school once again. It wasn’t like he’d meant to be, but last night he’d stayed out a bit later than usual talking to the locals, getting as much information as he could about a case he was currently working on. A boy went missing from the streets a few days ago. Apparently he’d been living on them for a few months now after running away from an abusive foster home, and had joined up with one of the small communities of people who lived in the abandoned factory district not too far away. Izuku didn’t have too much information, this boy lived on the streets after all, so not too many would pay attention to someone like him. 

Name; no one knew 

Alias; Vex 

Age; about 15, maybe 16 

Hair; short, bright red 

Eyes; neon green 

Skin; tan with rust colored spots along his neck and hands 

Height; about 170 cm 

Quirk; Was said to be some type of strong metal manipulation on a large scale, but can’t be confirmed because only two or three people are said to have actually seen it in action. 

Info; Went missing one night after he told his friends that he was going out to a nearby convenience store to buy some food for them after a generous payment from a stranger. 

He never came back that night and when it was later reported to the police they’d just brushed it off, saying that because he’d run away once, what was stopping him from doing it again? Everyone knew it was because it was a homeless teen though, nobody cared about the people who truly need their help. 

So, Izuku began listening to some of his worried friends, he started staying out later, calling his mother to let her know he was in the middle of a large project and that he probably wouldn’t be home for dinner the next few nights. She’s been concerned, but in the end, she let him do his thing, telling him to be home by eight at the latest. And there he went, walking and walking and bussing around the city, doing whatever he could to get as much information as he could and spread it. Whether than be on hero and fandom forums, different types of websites, popular social media apps, anything and everything he was connected to he spread the information on - he’d even sent it to the police anonymously, both in person and over the computer. (It wasn’t that hard to hack into their private database and give and take information, nor was it that hard to hack in to send them emails filled with the files about the boy without them finding him in return) 

But last night, last night he’d gotten a lead, someone who said that they’d actually seen the boy get taken, but in order to get to that person Izuku’d had to go through a few others, and that had taken him until around ten in the evening, way later than he was supposed to be out, no matter what the situation. So, he asked for the guy's name, Horika Tori, from the last person he was meeting that night, and if there was a high chance Horika would give Izuku the information on Vex easily. 

This led Izuku to stopping at a store on his way back home to pick up a few premade and easy to eat meals before finally making it home at around ten forty-five in the evening. By then, Izuku had been so exhausted from all of the days work, but still, he crawled into the house, kissed his worried mothers cheek, ate the cold meal she had prepared for him, before working himself up the stairs to his room to finish the homework he’d been assigned in class than day. It wasn’t until about four thirty am that he finally went to bed, and while that wasn’t too late in his book, with everything that’s been going on lately, and the lack of sleep it was giving him, his body was ready for a long coma like sleep. 

So here he was, rushing to school because he was going to be late, phone pressed to his ear with his shoulder as he called his mother and told her that she might be getting a call from his school saying he was late, some mochi still being chewed in his mouth because he’d wanted something sweet that morning, and his hero analysis notebook clasped in one hand, while his pen was clasped in the other, writing down as much as he could about the fight taking place in front of him right then - Mt.Lady and Kamui Woods taking down a purse snatcher with a growth and mutation quirk ; causing way too much damage for something that should have been easily taken care of ; they should have just let him get away to mitigate damages and to lower civilian devistations - 

It was a compliment from a stranger that shook him from his thoughts and reminded him that he still had school to get to. The phone still between his shoulder and ear had been hung up, (his mother chuckling as she heard him mumbling about) and the food in his mouth had finally been swallowed. With reddened cheeks, Izuku bowed quickly in thanks before stuffing his notebook, pen and phone into his bag and running off to school once more, making a mental note to watch the rest of this fight later. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

He couldn’t breath… Somebody… help… 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

By the time he finally got to school it seemed like he hadn't missed much as homeroom was just starting - the only thing missed was just the 3rd year assembly about choosing which highschool they planned to go to, and making sure to prepare themselves for their future - not too bad overall. 

As he entered the room, he quickly walked his way to his seat, ignoring the snickers and comments reaching his ears from all across the room. Instead, as he sat down, he made sure that he had everything needed for the day, all his homework, all his notebooks, all his little extra things like keys, phone, wallet, and an extra change of clothes at the bottom of his bag. Soon enough sheets of paper were being handed out to everyone, and they were told to fill in the boxes with their top three choices in schools and what courses they were trying for. Not even thinking twice, he filled in each of the boxes with UA, the courses being filled with Hero Course, General Education, and Business Course - obviously he knew that he might not get into UA, but it’s not like he didn’t have any have other choices for school either, but at the moment he’d just list UA because it’s not like his current school would help or aid in any of the decisions he’ll be making towards his future. So after writing everything he needed to down, he hurriedly walked up to the teacher's desk to lay it with the few others that had finished before walking back to his desk to sit until the class was brought together. 

Izuku took out his hero analysis notebook then, allowing himself to pour out everything he remembered from the fight that morning, making sure that all the writing was semi-clear, as well as making sure to add small details to this mornings melee here and there. He would have opened his other notebook - his ‘Connections and Cases notebook number seven’ - but that would have been too risky in the setting he was currently sitting in, his classroom a very dangerous place for his precious and important belongings. Too many people would see it and probably laugh at him, which wouldn’t bother him too much, but they would probably destroy it ruining all his years worth of information in one second, which would greatly hurt him, but the smarter ones would realize that something was off and could possibly start harassing him, or possibly tell some of the higher ups about this notebook, which could lead to an investigation and all that - and well, none of that was good, so he kept in the safety of his bookbag, and instead worked on taking notes in his regular Hero Analysis For The Future #13 until it was time to come together again. 

“So, I know this is an important time for you all, picking schools, making life changing decisions and what not, but, who am I kidding, you all want to be heroes am I right?!” The papers were thrown in the air as he exclaimed his words, thus encouraging the class to go wild with their quirks. Izuku just ducked lower into his desk seat, cautiously putting away his notebook so that he wouldn’t drag too much attention to himself, but also so he could keep it from getting damaged in between all his classmates' crazed quirks, especially from those who would ruin his notes on purpose. 

Ignoring the rest of his classmates, Izuku just focused on keeping his head bowed while everyone else continued to squawk and squawk and squawk - that it, until one member of the class yelled above the rest. Long legs carelessly thrown onto his desk, one crossed over the other, left hand tucked into his pocket like a thug-wannabe, his other held out besides him letting off a series of smaller explosions in time with his yelling, and a large smirk plastered on his face. 

“Haaah?! Hey, Sensei! Don’t lump me in with the rest of these low-life losers! I’m the best of the best, the only one who’s going to make it into Ua, and the only one who’s going to become a hero that’s worth a damn in the industry!” Shouting from the others ensued as the teacher just agreed with Bakugou, telling him that he was right, but that the other students weren’t too shabby either - that is, until he suddenly brought up the topic of Izuku. 

“Huh, Midoriya, didn’t you say you were going to try applying for UA as well?” Izuku wanted to curse out every higher being in existence for this moment, of course his luck was like this, nothing ever seemed to go right without some major pain involved on Izuku’s part, without something bad happening. 

Instead of answering the question, he just lowered his head farther down, bracing for what was sure to come. Soon enough a loud enraged “HHAAAAAAAHH?!” filled the air as the rest of the class burst into fits of laughter, mocking him for his choices once more like always. An explosive hand slammed onto his desk ( cut off his hands, break his wrists or fingers, douse his body in gasoline - ) and then another one, sending all the pencils and extra papers he’d had on his desk scattering to the floor. Izuku flinched back, trying to get away from the sparks and heat as his starburst scars flared up with the ghost sensation of burning pain of past clashes from years ago that still haunt his nightmares. Especially after that night ( Izuku just drifted… He couldn’t look at his mothers eyes, he’s caused so many problems, he’s such a disappointment… He didn’t think Kacchan would do it… ) Izuku still has the scar on his collarbone, going down over his shoulder and back, even up his neck slightly. 

Izuku never gets a chance to speak before Bakugou is going off again, pouting about how he was the only one who’s supposed to get into UA, destined to get into UA, and suddenly the next thing Izuku knows he’s on the floor, pushing himself to get away from the looming figure that was Bakugou as the explosive child stalked closer, and closer while the teacher pretended to be interested in some of the students high school application sheets. Finally, as his back hits the wall, the teacher glances over and sighs a little, telling Bakugou to pull back, that quirks shouldn’t be used too much in the classroom, that next class was starting within a few minutes and that everyone needed to be in their seats - including Izuku. Then with a quick warning not to aggravate Bakugou anymore, the teacher left, allowing the new one to come in for the next class. 

Nothing like a familiar routine to start off the day, huh… 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

Maybe… I’m meant… to die… now

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Bakugou would corner Izuku at the end of the day because of what’d happened in homeroom, but when Bakugou came over and ripped the notebook from Izuku’s hands as he was trying to pack all his things away and get ready to meet with his newest lead, Izuku was still put off. Turning to the blond he asked him for his notebook back, this time it was unsurprising when Bakugou just sneered and said no, before then proceeding to bad mouth Izuku as much as he could -  you’re worthless, you’re stupid, you really think you’ll make it as a hero? 

All Izuku did was ask for his notebook once more, keeping his eyes away from Bakugou’s red ones, his eyes away from his hands ( dead dead dead ).  A second later and the notebook was crisped and being flung through the air and towards the open window - Izuku rushed to follow it, almost falling out the window himself as he tried to catch it, reaching out his arm and stretching as far as he could, but it was just a bit too fast and he was just a bit too slow. Eventually Izuku just settled for watching it as it fell past some bushes, into what he hoped wasn’t the koi pond, despair filling his being. 

All that hard work… It’ll have to be redone now… again… 

The others behind him just laughed at his antics, and he quickly turned around, fists clenched at his sides, teeth tightly grit. He felt himself grow angry, felt himself want to move forwards with the intent to fight - he might not be able to win in a drawn out fight, he wasn’t that strong, he knew that, but if he could just get a few quick punches in, a few hits, even if they were weak, as long as they connected, Izuku knew it would feel good. Knew he would feel satisfying. Maybe he could break - He broke his train of thought as Bakugou glared at him with a smirk on his lips that seemed to say ‘try something, I dare you’. 

With another suggestion to go jump off a roof and hope for a quirk in the next life, Izuku felt himself flare up again and dared him to fight back, dared him to march towards the smug bastard and knock him in the lighthouse, but soon enough Bakugou and his goons were gone, and all Izuku could do was stand there and stir in his concealed bubbling rage. Suddenly though, he let in a large breath before letting it back out, allowing all his emotions to go with it, his body growing tired and unsteady - he had things to do, he couldn’t get mad now, couldn’t get overwhelmed with things that happened all the time. He had a boy to find, and that would mean getting back to work right away 

So, he picked up the rest of his things, placed them into his book bag and sped off to find his notebook - which did happen to land directly into the koi pond - what luck. As he grabbed it, all he could think about was how Bakugou was still throwing petty death threats and suicide baits at him - doesn’t he know that everytime he says those words, he could find himself in jail alone for threatening me? Doesn’t he understand that if I ever took his advice he’d go to jail for assisted suicide, or even possibly murder? I swear, he only thinks with his ego sometimes… 

With that flowing through his mind he picked up his phone and called his mother again, mentioning that he was going to be late again coming home, but that he would be stopping by soon to pick something up before leaving again. Another okay, and a quick warning to be careful  was what he got from his mother before they both said their goodbyes and hung up. Not even a second right after that, as he was shaking out his soggy notebook, he pulled up another contact he’d only had for a few days and messaged them saying he was going to need the whereabouts of the newest witness so that he could meet him today. 

As his phone buzzed in his hand with the message, he walked into an underpass, the air was thick almost and felt off, felt wrong. Next thing he knew the sounds of thick water and moving metal alerted him that someone was there, allowing him to turn around faster than he’d ever moved in his whole life, his body moving to try and jump back. There, coming out of the manhole was a being made of some sort of green sludge that smelled worse than the bathrooms at school, gurgling and bubbling out words that Izuku couldn’t even understand. (It kinda reminded him of his mind when he let darker thoughts come out, how they would seem to slug their way forward on slimy and awkward limbs, dragging their parts around as they moved) 

The last thing Izuku remembers the slug being say was something along the lines of ‘ You’ll be the perfect vessel ’ and ‘Just stop struggling’ . 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

H-help! I can’t breathe, someone please save me! I can’t go just yet - Mama, I still have mama, please, Kami, whoever is listening - don’t let her be alone, she would be devastated, please, she doesn’t deserve something like this, no matter how terrible of a son I am - please, my mama doesn’t need this - Mama, mama, mama - kami I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe - I know I’m worthless, but please let me live, please for the sake of my mama, for the sake of mama, for the sake of the people I might help - for the sake of that boy! Please, don’t let me die just yet, please just let me continue to breathe a little bit longer - Vex, Vex… mama… mama… mama… 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

I… can’t… hold on…

…

…

All Might? 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

Izuku woke up coughing out slime and a hand slapping his cheek. 

“Hey, wake up, hey!” Glancing around, he felt himself distort almost before coming back together, as if he was resetting, before his eyes started to work so that he could finally see who the person in front of him was. It didn’t even take a second for him to recognize who was there, and when he did, his mind when blank. 

“All Might?!” He screeched, yet All Might just laughed, posing dramatically before saying something about how worried he was that he might have knocked him out on accident with his punch, but Izuku was just floundering around for something All Might to sign, but it seems he’d already done that as when Izuku found his notebook it already had his signature right there in large black marker. (He would admit, that was kinda arrogant of All Might to do, but he wasn’t going to complain, after all, he was one of the fans that probably lifted his ego to such heights) Instead, Izuku turned back around to find the man putting the sludge trapped in a soda bottle into his pants pockets with a quick efficiency only a pro could have. 

“Wait - can I -” But he never even got to finish his sentence as All Might was cutting him off, telling him that he didn’t have anymore time to talk, that crime never sleeps, and that Izuku could always just leave a message on his fanboard if he had any questions. And while Izuku had to agree, he was working on his own case right now, one that was urgent and that he should really be getting too, but it was All Might, and he needed to hear his question answered, even if the answer that’s given isn’t the one Izuku wants to hear. So instead, as All Might began his launch, Izuku hopped onto his leg and latched himself to it until they had landed on a building roof not too far away. 

When they land Izuku coughs harshly, breathing as much as he can, the leftover goop from the smile monster dripping out of his mouth as he did so. 

“Kid, that was crazy! What were you thinking, you have been hurt!” He knew, Izuku knew that, but he needed this question answered, needed it answered no matter what because if just one person believes, if just one other person said year, if the best said that yes, he could be a hero, maybe he wasn’t such a monster as he and his mother thought he was. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad thing after all. This wasn’t a question that debated whether or not he could be a hero - because even the bad guys did things for the right reasons, even the bad guys were and still are heroes to somebody - it was a question on whether or not he could be human, if he was human. So, steeling himself, he turned around in order to ask only to be met with a human skeleton of a man, before he could even get his words out. 

While shocked, he wasn’t as surprised as he probably should have been - it’s not like he knew this would happen, it just seemed that his emotional capacity to be surprised by things he should be was dulled or broken, as if they had an instinct to know when stuff like this would happen so they just internally prepared him for it or something… In any case, he wasn’t that put off by it, so politely pulling out a hanky for the man, he got to his questions, his hands fiddling all the way. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a hero, to help people - but, I was always told I couldn’t be, always told that I’d be useless at it… So, I was wondering, could someone who’s considered worthless to the world, someone down trodden by society - someone quirkless, can someone quirkless be a hero? Can I become a hero, All might?” Izuku looked up and immediately knew the answer - no. But, even so, he listened to the man, listened to All Might’s words as he told him about the dangers he’d been in, about the talented people he’d lost in the field, about how it would be too hard for him to ever be a hero. Told him no. Though he did say he could do it some other way; be a police officer, they wouldn’t let him in, because he’s quirkless - become a doctor, starting fifty years ago, their had only ever been about twenty new quirkless doctors added to the list, less so in the last ten years than in the whole fifty - become a firefighter, the same reason as a police officer, though more because they wanted water based quirks more than anything since fire hydrants tend to get destroyed in the villain attacks that cause the fire - Anything he named Izuku’s mind automatically came up with a reason why he wouldn’t be able to do it. 

But he’d gotten his answer, so he didn't really think too much, just accepted that he was a monster and that he’d have to play bad guy being good until he died. Coughing a bit more, he wondered if maybe he should head to a hospital before he went anywhere else for the night, but pushed the idea away - he could deal with it at home when he went to pick up the food for his witness. 

An explosion pulled him out of this thoughts, not an instant later he was rushing down the stairs - it didn’t matter what All Might said about not being able to become a hero, he would help those he could, no matter what, even if he had to do it as a monster instead of a human. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

When he saw it was Bakugou trapped in the slime, he almost walked away. 

When he saw it was Bakugou, he almost walked away. 

But wouldn’t that just be giving into his monster? Wouldn’t that be giving into the very thing he hated? The very thing that tricked people into doing what he wanted, the very thing that lied and cheated all the time? 

He pushed the urge to leave away, because not matter human, animal, trash, dirt - if he walked away he was not any better than the people around him, he was no better than the monster inside him, but at the same time, he was still a monster, but he would be the better monster out of these people. In this world everyone is evil, everyone had some form of malice in their hearts from the moment they are born into this world, no human is without evil, greed, pride, and nothing will change that - it just depends on how much you let it control you, and the popular status of the world at the time. Izuku was a monster because of society, so that makes society an even worse monster than him at times. But even so, he was a hero, and a hero would them all no matter what, Izuku would save them all if he needed to, to be better, because he didn’t want to be a monster, he just wanted to help, he just wanted to be loved, he just wanted to be him. 

When he saw it was Bakugou, he almost walked away. 

So instead, he hefted his book bag once more and ran forward, letting the monster guide his feet and hands as he went to save the person who’s given him the most grief. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

He was on his walk home after the second incident, phone in and once more looking over the location to where his witness would be squatting for now, typing out a message to the person saying they would have to meet tomorrow, that he couldn’t make it today, but that he would make it up to him by getting what he could for him, whatever he generally wanted. The person was semi-understanding, seeing as they apparently watched the news, but also told Izuku that they couldn’t reschedule unless they were hoping for the boy to completely disappear. Flinching at the idea, Izuku gave his confirmation that he understood, and continued on towards his home. 

He was almost there when Bakugou came running up to rant at him, before disappearing himself, and then not even two minutes later All Might was in front of him. He loved All Might, he really did, but he wasn’t in the mood for another lecture, so he kept moving forward until All might said a few words that froze him in his tracks. 

Soon enough, he fell to his knees. 

How?... 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

How did he get here? 

It was hard to breathe. 

How, how, how, how -!? 

He couldn’t understand why, he couldn’t understand -

But he’d try, because that’s what he did best. 

~ Arc 1 - P2: TBOAM -- Ch 8: AVIAVIAH ~

All Might had stood and told him he could be a hero. ( That he could be human - )  

Maybe… just maybe life wasn’t so bad, maybe he could finally feel better about what he was doing, about what he was if he could be a hero as great as All Might. Even if he taints the world just a bit to get there, it’ll be better when he can save more people - when he has a quirk. 

(If only he’d known that this was anything but a redemption, if only he’d know the terror and sorrow that would come) 

Arc 1 - P2:   The Birth Of A Monster  -  End 

Arc 1: The Birth Of A Monster - Completed 

Arc 2: Start

Chapter Text

Arc 2 - P1:  To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten -  Begin

Chapter 9: Creating Pathways 

A breath. 

One for All… This quirk… It’s amazing… 

Never would Izuku have thought this to be the secret to All Might’s outrageous and mysterious power - something so strange even inside a world where practically every living thing was handed such rarities between birth and the age ten, where such gifts were practically pouring off and puddling around the fingertips of every being at any time. All might continued to talk, his voice carrying over more about how the quirk was passed and passed and passed down from one holder to the next, predecessor to successor, all the while getting stronger and stronger with every one. How it’s affected them all because of that power, positively… and negatively. 

“BLOW MY LIMBS OFF!?” Was screeched to the holy heavens of the air, echoing around the dirtied and apocalyptic like land of the beach, a few birds being scared off in the process. A hearty laugh as well as some words of reassurance quickly followed, but it did little to nothing to quell down the sudden fear that there was a large possibility he’d die to a quirk he’d been gifted ( stolen, lied for, coerced, pitied presented, manipulated for- ). Another thing to add to my long list of possible ways to die in my everyday life. The mark was sarcastic, bitter, and plenty tired as it moved through his head, this young boy drained of any real care on such topics - but even so, words like this, situations like this - where things could go horribly wrong, could harm him, could do so to such measures that it induces death - he wished he didn’t have to live it. Not everyday. Not more so than other people, more so than others who practically put themselves on the other end of the Reapers scythe - dared the being to move at them, towards them and strike, to slice them and take away their living soul and replace it with the cold, pale body of the dead. He was used to it, he was drained, but even so, even so, he stilled wished he didn’t have to deal with it anymore, wished he wouldn’t have had to deal with it at all in the first place to be exact - but life gives you lemons, so the best you can do is make lemonade until you’re strong enough to pick and push and force your way to newer possibilities. Even if it means using your blood to color and flavour the sour drink. 

“-BUT! Before we head further into anymore training, there is someone we must meet!” Izuku felt himself startle as his mind was suddenly grasped and ripped forward to the present, his thoughts halting and dissipating the moment he clued into what his new mentor was saying. Meet someone? Who would we need to meet in order to start training? His thoughts were immediately answered as the large man once more boomed out a laugh. “That! Young Midoriya, is for you to find out soon!” Ah, I said my thoughts out loud again- “I have a meeting with him in a couple days and would hope that you could attend!” Izuku hesitated, but he didn’t really see anything off about the situation, about the request. Nothing that screamed worry, fear, mischief, or disdain - so, with a creeping thought, All Might must truly, really want him to come along.  

But even so, Izuku’s mind delayed, and paused, and played every scenario out just for the hell of it, making sure to tap anything that could possibly happen, how high a chance it really had at happening going based on the situation - how All Might talked and stood and smile and moved and looked at Izuku with his glowing blue eyes clouded around by a shadow - every possibility, every detail filled his mind weaving the spiderwebbed craze down to the one, centered and repeated thought; 

This could be a trick, you look up to him so your thoughts are clouded, you can’t trust the usual with this, find a new thing, (remember this) 

Izuku took it all in, took everything he could process in a few short minutes and finally, when the air was a bit tense and awkward, enough so that it could be cut with a knife and fall apart like smooth butter, he answered with a large gulp and a tense nod. Told All Might he should be free, and that if anything came up, Izuku would notify him immediately before once more falling silent. 

Another smile from the bright man ( though this one seemed strained, awkward as well ) and then he was off, reminding Izuku to stick to their All American Dream Plan before disappearing from sight. Izuku just stood there, sweat beading on his glistening skin, the golden fire that was the sun allowing him to glow as it slowly made its way to brighten up the side’s day, allowing the stars to gently creep forward and stitch a dark blanket in the sky and cover the world for bed. His mind ran circles around itself now that All Might was finally gone, going over the things that could possibly aspire in the next few days. About the new person, the new man he was to meet. 

Lips moving, fingers twitching, and emerald eyes wide, boring into the space All Might had just taken flight to, Izuku let himself fall deeper into what would be considered the ramblings of a mad-man to many others, but would be the normal process of his mind to him and his caring mother. He wrote invisible notes, kept track of all appearing thoughts and mumbled and murmured to himself as he pushed his body to work on autopilot in grabbing his things before heading home, his eyes lost in their own caverns as he tried to figure out who would be important enough that All Might would need to introduce Izuku to them before they continued, before they even truly started his training. 

He never got an answer, no matter how much he thought, his mind finding, filing, or burning the racing words and ideas of what was to possibly come. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

It’s only a few hours later that Izuku could be found sitting at his cluttered desk, glaring intensely down at his notes, two notebooks open, his phone to one side replaying the audio of the words spoken earlier that week, just a day after the Slime Villain incident to be exact. Pages filled with sketches were laid out on to the other side, and a laptop was sat opened near the edge of his desk atop those papers, the screen showing hundreds of faces passing over the screen for a less than a second, scanning each and every one of them, comparing them to the image next to it - the local police logo decorated the top of the face recognition program. 

Horika Tori … 

The two of them had finally met the day after the Slime Villain, Izuku’s identity hidden by a simple bulletproof vest covered by a plain dark hoodie and a medical mask as he walked into the abandoned building that the man was currently squatting in. 

(Some people may have known who he was, that didn’t mean he wanted them all to know [ especially not the ones that were too useful or weren't useful enough, not ones that could be captured, tortured and killed for a name like his, especially not ones that might use that information against him, not people who could report him ina fit of revenge or to clear the board of his piece, not people who couldn’t trust -- but he couldn’t trust anyone- ] so when the situation occurred for him to keep his identity hidden and safe, he walked the streets, danced in the shadows, and kissed the hand of the devil as the largely known, yet practically, ironically, harmless informant and hacker; *Henkei,)

Flipping through his notes a bit more, he listened to the recording as it went over the words of Vex’s disappearance, of what had been seen and what could possibly be useful for his case. 

“-It-It was so str-strange! O-one minutes I’m standin there, looking at the boy pass-pass the opening of the alley and- I-I musta blinked or something, cuz the next I see is this- this ‘man’! Just poof! standing by him, trying to proposition him or something- It was like he just appeared out of thin air-” 

“-And after a that, the man just grabbed the boy and - I don’t even know, I must’ve blinked again, because just like he appeared - they were both suddenly gone - no noise, no person, no nothing-” 

Izuku nawed his lip, the habit leaving the poor pink skin red, irritated, and slowly blistering as he continued to scan over his notes and jot things down here and there. 

Appeared out of thin air, huh… Some kind of transferable and/or reversible invisibility? Instant multi-teleportation? Maybe even some type of spreading light-reflection quirk? It’s most likely teleportation based on what was said - but that quick? Nothing like that has been recorded in the system yet, at least not from any full grown man - the most recent and last known case of a teleportation quirk fitting almost that exact description was recorded in the system as the power from a little girl about three years ago, but even then, it could only transport herself relatively short distances, no other people as of what’s been tested so far to this day, though the distance has grown. Even in the past, the last known quirk to fit a description to that was over thirty years ago by, once more, another young girl, and once more, was never able to actually transport other people, only objects and strangely enough, animals. Invisibility could work, but would it work on others as well? That was another one of those rarities with these types of quirks. Even if they could, how would it work? Through touch? Was it time based - did it last longer the less people it was used on, meaning that if it could spread to another person, there would have to have been another pick-up site to kidnap the boy, but even so he would have struggled and tried to get away and Horika- mentioned that there wasn’t anymore immediate sound after they were gone even though he had clearly heard they were speaking - so bac to teleportation? Maybe some type of muted sense quirk? Could the man have taken away the senses from them to make it seem like they were invisible, or had teleported - it would make sense based on the sudden lack of sound and sight. But wouldn’t that harm themselves more in the long run? The ability to suddenly feel and become basically nothing? How would that work? So maybe it was a projection quirk that allowed the occupants around them to seem as if they suddenly didn’t exist, kinda like a fog surrounding their body to give off the allusion that they had disappeared- 

Another hour passed like this, Izuku’s mind whirling and whirling as his hand scribbled out messy kanji into his notebook, the face recognition program still running, trying to connect any faces to the drawn out pictures of the suspected kidnapper - though, he’s sad to admit, it’s not like it helped. Light skin, light hair, glasses, tall and lean, square-ish face, a bit of stubble, but that was it - nothing that could really get a match through the system without countless hours being looked over, countless hours Izuku was really worried he didn’t have. Even just a few more details could have helped narrow the faces down thousands of possibilities. The shape of the eyes, the placement of his nose, maybe even scars - but no, it was a bit too dark to see anything that wasn’t truly noticeable, and those things couldn't be pointed out that easily. 

A heavy sigh, and Izuku dragged a hand through his unruly hair, a few more notes were jotted down in his notebook before he pressed it closed - the cover title ‘ Connections and Cases notebook #7 ’ reflecting into his deep emerald orbs, almost mockingly from where it sat in the pile of papers that represented his thoughts, represented the case, the missing boy. Mocking him as he continued to struggle with the case. It’s been weeks, and he’s only now just got a lead - he hasn’t felt this useless in a while, now that he thinks about it. Another sigh.

It’s like the people who took Vex knew that no one would bother to truly look into his case, as if they knew no one would care, as if they could just get away with it easily… 

Tiredly, the boy tilted his laptop screen down a bit, making sure that it was plugged in and still running, allowing it to do so into the night while he slept so that he wouldn’t lose any precious time. Next he quickly, yet carefully gathered up all his notes, papers, and sketches and placed them into a folder, which was then deposited into a desk drawer with a lock. Recording shut off, and phone thrown onto his bed, he decided to continue the investigation later, when his eyes were new and mind was clearer, and got ready for the night. His mind muddled and slowly moved with the thoughts of what was going on, where it was going to go, before he finally found himself tucking into bed, his body settling down to rest as he tried to grasp all three hours of sleep he could - wishing for some miracle that it would possibly some how turn into for or even five. 

( In the blacker, more void recesses of his mind, Izuku wondered briefly if he’d have to kill someone to save this boy since no one else wanted to look into this case with serious eyes, to take measures to keep something terrible from happening - in the depths of that darkness, a monster, his monster gently giggled as it thought about the possibility of doing so, thought of finally giving back the world what it practically gave to him everyday - in the shadowed wetness that was in-part his mind, Izuku wondered if he’d even find the boy alive at all ) 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

A couple days later found the young boy walking to the beach as usual, yet this time his mind was a whirlpool of ideas and dark thoughts about who he was to be meeting and what if they didn’t accept him, what if All Might actually didn’t get to decide who his protege was, and so much more brain vomit. It found him scraping his feet to buy himself sometime, just a few minutes, not enough to make him late and disappoint or embarrass All might. Enough time to think and think and think, but soon enough sand bits were decorating the walkway, indicating he was at the beach, and there All Might was, standing in his small form. Quickly he was told they should be heading off as the time to get there was a bit long, and they were walking and then sitting on the train, and All Might was talking but Izuku couldn’t hear, All Might was pointing at buildings but Izuku couldn’t see, All Might was moving but Izuku couldn't process, because everything was moving moving moving, and Izuku couldn’t breathe, because everything was so much. Was this person really that big a factor to decide Izuku’s future? Was Izuku even going to become human? He couldn’t lose this chance, he couldn’t lose this chance- HE COULDN’T LOSE THIS CHANCE- but suddenly they were stopped, standing still in front of the large white gates of UA and Izuku couldn’t help but stutter, couldn’t help but slow down as him mind did the same like an old rusted and terribly oiled machine using the last bits of its life after years and years of overwork and fulfilled abuse. 

He breathed in. 

UA… His breath left his lung in a sigh of awe, his mouth hanging open enough for someone to come over and pull his thoughts from his brain themselves - and suddenly he thought he might know what this was about, might know who he was meeting. About why he was there, and why it was so important to meet before he even started his training properly. Understood enough that he couldn’t help but pull a face; not one of disgust or anger, one of confusion or mistrust, but one of calm, a facade, but still enough emotion to seem alright, as if he didn’t just realize he was going to be sat in front of possibly the smartest, most intelligent being to currently be holding such a respected rank in all of Japan, possibly the world. His anxiety flared more so than usual, and even the thing in his mind seemed to curl in on itself a bit at the idea of who they were facing - and the thing, the funniest thing about all this was - Izuku hadn’t even a true understanding of who this being was, hadn’t looked him up, hadn’t truly done his research yet. 

Yes, Izuku knew of Nedzu, the man to currently control all of UA in his tiny paws - knew enough to know that he wasn’t human, but could out match practically any on a terrible day, more so when the day got better. Yes, he knew of some rumors, because he’d be a fool not to have at least glanced over the person in control of the school he wanted to attend. He knew - Izuku knew - but in the larger scale of things, what he knew was very little, practically nothing in his thesaurus of knowledge - that, from the impression left by such little knowledge, he’d be torn apart piece by piece as soon as his name was mentioned, as soon as beady black eyes laid against his own being.

Squaring his shoulders, yet feeling them falter midway, Izuku took a step back before forcing himself forward as All Might walked ahead, practically stripping Izuku of his protective barriers the closer they got to the chimeras office. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

The door to Nedzu’s office opened and emerald green caught glossy black. 

Monster , filled their frozen minds as time moved forward. Like me…  

(The air seemed to shift, as if something was changing, the tones of everyone's body, the thoughts of their minds. Everything seemed to stutter and shift, seemed to reset itself. Little did they know this meeting would forever change the outcomes of many, many events)

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

The first time Nedzu looked into emerald eyes, he shivered. 

Because there, inside the seemingly bright eyes, were horrors Nedzu himself pushed to the back of his mind everyday. 

Because there, in young, seemingly innocent Midoriya Izuku’s eyes, were ghosts that Nedzu himself chose to shy away from. 

Because there, sat skittishly in front of himself, was a boy (he was only a boy , how could humans be so cruel ) who’d walked the paths of hell, but didn’t seem to think anything of it ( yet he did ).

...

And that scared him just a bit. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

When the boy in front of him walked into his office, he’d had mixed feelings, multiple thoughts, but the two that stood out to him were ‘Harmless, pathetic’ after looking him over and ‘Monster’ when locking eyes. The contrast in his mind had almost surprised him, almost being the keyword as if it wasn’t for his own appearance and his own experiences, he wouldn’t have thought the latter was correct. 

At first glance, Nedzu couldn’t believe the boy sat in front of him was to be All Might’s successor. He was too plain with his forest green hair, lightly tanned skin; his body was a bit lean, but he was shorter than average, if a bit underfed, and his freckles would only snag someone's attention for a second on the street before being pushed off as nothing. Not to mention he was probably the most anxious and scared looking teen Nedzu had ever seen in all his years surrounding children. 

But his eyes- oh his emerald eyes, now those were something to capture if you knew how and where to look. 

Emerald eyes seemed to glow in the bright lights of his office, hiding a darkness that hovered in the background. It was as if whatever monster lurked there was just watching the world casually from it’s caverns, as if it was a shadow that followed the sparkling light wherever it went. 

(It vaguely reminded him of himself once upon a time, when the walls of his office were thin metal bars, when his coworkers in the building were monsters in lab gear, when the paperwork and pens and books and tea on his desk were stupid tests and sharp needles and drugged food and poisoned toys and - It vaguely reminded him of himself once upon a time, when the only way out was either by death, violence, or submission…)

Nedzu continued to watch subtly at the boy's eyes, noticing that the dark wasn’t the only one taking in the world around. Irises flicking around at an almost rapid speed, gathering any and all information that they could from the room itself. If it weren’t for his animalistic instincts and his higher intelligence, Nedzu might have missed how most of the information that seemed to be catalogued were exit routes from the building. How the boy's eyes seemed to just barely hesitate on certain windows and doors, almost calculating how fast, far, safe it was to run, how high his chance of evacuation would be. 

The principal poured some more tea for the boy, speaking in tones that were generally used to express comfort and excitement for humans. Though it didn’t seem to work on the boy in front of him. His ear twitched, and the slightest tilt of his head. It was strange that it wasn’t working, though if any of his current predictions about this boy were correct ( and they had to be, had to be correct, because humans, animals, just living things couldn’t fake the look in his eyes, couldn’t fake the monster that walked their every step, moved with every motion, spoke with every word, and greeded for everything around them - nothing could fake that look ) it would make sense as to why. Would make sense as to why this human? This monster? This child acted and moved the way he did, and Nedzu just knew he would never allow this situation to leave his mind, not when it so deeply reminded and brought up his own past he’s tried to run and hide from. 

Nervous, ticking hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, in his lap, under his thighs. Fingers twitched sharp and splintered, second nature taking over in his overwhelmed state, yet unnoticeable to the natural eye - it almost seems as if he wants to pick up a pencil and write or maybe type away on a keyboard - A moment a clarity struck as he understood what the young boy was doing. Ah, so that’s what he’s doing! How strange, yet not as much as one would think, to see that this boy is cataloguing his surroundings, keeping everything in sight, and in mind… No corner left unscathed from his razor sharp eyes, no information lost the depths of his mind.

The meeting continued as the day passed away, Nedzu finding plenty of new ticks and tells as they talked over tea. 

Midoriya’s shoulders were almost constantly hunched, as if he was hiding from something, tense and braced - it almost seemed as if he was hiding and waiting to be found, waiting for when something was going to happen. He’s trying to adapt to his surroundings, but he doesn’t know how just yet… It only takes another second before the thought appears. 

A child in a war zone. He’s hiding himself from an unknown yet known danger, knowing that there’s a monster lurking in some depths out there, waiting around the corners. He knows he needs to hide, to wait and blend in, to become one with this place, because he’ll eventually be found, and the only way to prepare is to blend until it’s time to fight. Multiple monsters come, led by one leader, all day, all the time, all different and ever changing, and this boy has to fight and survive them all. It’s a child in a war zone. Why are humans so cruel?

He continues to watch, and pays extra attention to detail when he says certain words, mentions specific details. 

When he mentions being quirkless with a slump of defeat all Nedzu can do is stifle the chuckle that wants to escape him, because oh my, what an unsurprising surprise for Nedzu to find out that the successor of the Symbol of Peace was but a quirkless child! Yet the body language spoke of it all, of what it was like to be treated as less than an animal, as less than human. 

(In his mind this had been the final straw, he’d hoped that he’d been wrong about the eyes, the body language, the strangeness that filled the air around him, but this - quirkless - was the final straw. Nedzu couldn’t push it from his mind any longer, he’d been right for once when he’d hoped to be wrong, this child was like him, and wasn’t that an almost horrific acknowledgement. This boy was like him, possibly worse . It just goes to show that always being right isn’t the best thing in the world)

Nedzu couldn’t feel, couldn’t understand all the emotions that humans had to offer. But as he thought about shining emerald eyes, he couldn’t help but feel reflexive anxiety as he sat on his couch just across from him. As if a predator was watching him, waiting with its maw unhinged to swallow him whole and drown him in the depths of his own mind. 

Midoriya Izuku was just as disturbed as he was, he could tell. After meeting for only a few hours could Nedzu conclude that the boy was a mass of refused, unacknowledged potential that was bound to explode in their faces one day. 

((He reminded him of himself, Nedzu once more thought. The way he took in the world and calculated every second. The way he was watching everyone, even though he was thought to be lesser because of his quirkless status. The way torture had brought forth a monster in the making, as some would call Nedzu himself, the way they chose to ignore this monster was foolish on their parts. But unlike Nedzu - the boy would soon have the strength to enact his own plans if he so desired, he wouldn’t need to bribe and blackmail pawns into doing it for him. And unlike Nedzu as well, it seemed this boy could forgive, or at least feel the emotions that lead to truly forgiving unlike the principal himself. As they moved forward with their conversation, everything continued to remind him of himself - and when he wonders how this boy will try to get out - through death, violence, or submission - he knows it won’t be that simple, because he can tell already, yes he could tell, that not even the death would hold him down or take him away. That this boy would never submit, and violence seemed like the only right answer until he remembers that the child forgives and maybe, just maybe that forgiveness will be what gets him out ( but does Izuku truly forgive, or is it that he’s just become numb enough to grasp things with his own hands and smile dead eyed whilst he carves out his own path with broken nails and bloodied fingers-) - Or maybe it’s the gentle winds of manipulation that slowly drive his capture insane…))

Midoriya Izuku was an entity that Nedzu was genuinely afraid of. 

Imagine the power he’ll soon hold… Imagine the monster that will be unleashed at the smallest drop of a pin… 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

Not soon enough was the meeting over and Izuku was being led out of the room, escorted by the small chimera, high and airy words being presented from the principals end.

“Ah, and Midoirya-kun! It was indeed wonderful to meet you, and I’m especially excited to see what you’ll accomplish in the near future! Now, good luck with your training, and may I see you at our institutes exam in February! Have a wonderful day!” 

“A-ah, y-you too Nedzu-san!” He barely got the words out before the large door was closed, and once more was he being led about the large and bright halls of UA by All Might quickly, barely getting a chance to take in the rare sights of tall clear glass windows, or white yet pleasantly decorated and almost endless halls, or the strange, yet understandably humongous classroom doors. 

Maybe it was by chance, or maybe it was nothing at all, but just before the mentor and mentee had been able to exit the shining school, something dark crossed the edges of Izuku’s vision. Toxic eyes, curious and hungry, latched onto the moving figure, watching the bare ends of someone's back walking through the halls, slightly hunched over and moving around a corner. A patch of yellow, and maybe some grey stood out against the black. It was only a second, maybe three, that Izuku was able to capture of this person, but it was enough to snag and steal his fancy. Thoughts ran about who that could be, but were quickly diminished when he’d walked out into the bright sun of that afternoon. His thoughts of said mystery person instantly left his conscious mind, delving into the deeper subconscious for later days to join the others for when his thoughts became too much and poured everything and anything back to the front to keep him up. 

Shrugging it off as one of the staff, Izuku continued forward, telling himself that he could just look it up at any time, before finally listening to All Might talk about where their training would go from there. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 9: Creating Pathways ~

If Izuku stares disdainfully at the hero behind his back the next day when he was set to train, no one would know. It’s not like he meant to be rude or anything, it’s just that when you expect a teenager to pick up trash for the next tens months and do nothing else, it kinda bothers him that All Might would call this training. If not just that, then it was the no protective gear, no splitting of trash and recycling, and the fact that All Might would be standing a far distance away, and while Izuku believed in his speed and power, he didn’t necessarily trust the man not to use up all his time before he met with Izuku everyday. 

So again, if Izuku looks a little in disbelief and disdain at the man before him, questioning if he really was ready to be a mentor, then no one was any the wiser. 

I’ll just have to adjust the plan a little myself -- I’ve already got a short bit of training under my belt from my own time, so I should be fine to start things a little differently… 

Chapter 10: What’s A Hero? 

A blur. That’s all he was to any regular pedestrian on the street. A dark blur with bright shoes. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 10: What’s A Hero? ~

Izuku ran, ran as fast as he could with the situation as it was. His chest heaved and his breath came short, little puffs actually manifesting themselves in this hot summer weather. He could feel the sweat on his skin slowly trail down his back from under his hoodie as his arms pumped hard at his sides and his legs pushed him to further, faster. The adrenaline in his views felt like fire as he moved, turning down alleyways, sped across streets, trying his best to avoid any civilians in the way. The shouts from the people behind him spiked his adrenaline to work harder throughout his body. The gash in his arm throbbed in pain, but what else could he do but keep going, lest he let the rest of his body become something like the wound in his arm. So, ignoring the pain, he continued forward, trying to shake them off his trail. 

He hadn’t actually meant to get involved, really, it was too late in the day for that. He’d been exhausted from the days events as it was; with school, then training, before going home and working on Vex’s case ( which was taking too long, it’s already been a few months now, and Izuku’s barely got anything, the face recog doesn’t help much still, even with the occasional addition of possible looks, and even with the whispers that have been flowing around suddenly, nothings truly been helping - kami he doesn’t want to give up, but at this rate he’s afraid it might be hopeless-) only to find a small lead and decide to follow it before he tucked in for the night. But then he’d heard it. 

A scream, a sound of distress, someone was in trouble, someone needed help. 

And so, Izuku had moved - he wanted to be a hero right? Well, heroes helped people - humans help each other. So, he’d made his way towards the sounds, calculating how long it would take the police to get here; fifteen minutes at least, and with how busy things get in the evening, probably longer- checked the hero patrol schedule he’d memorized; no heroes patrolled this area tonight, not even the underground ones if I’m thinking correctly, not unless someone new was patrolling or someone had a schedule change, otherwise the nearest was even further away in time than a police cruiser- Izuku skid to a stop at the front opening where the screams were coming from, quickly assessing the situation. 

Four aggressors and two victims, a young couple by the looks of it, maybe college students? One of the aggressors has their- nails? Nails - quirk, extendable nails, possibly sharper and a bit stronger than usual nails if they haven’t broken yet even from digging into the couple bags and skin - probably a robbery, but why so aggressive? One has a sparkler quick, small, kinda like Bakugou’s quirk when he was younger, height of temperature unknown, wary, - wax mutation, looks like hands and face are melting? Possibly hot wax, be careful for long range attacks- and a pencil mutation, grows pencils out of his skin? Hands? More emitter than mutation? Not enough info to identify until put into action -  with those fleeting thoughts that took but seconds to fly through his head, Izuku was off, going for the most prioritized notion of this mission - protect the civilians. 

Just like with the Slime Villain incident, the control of his mind was pushed to his monster while he tried to lead his feet. 

Sprinting forward as quickly as he could, he felt himself grow numb as he burst through the small crowd with his less than stellar fighting skills, but reflexes that held years of experience, heading straight for the fingernails. Not even pausing, he ignored the shouts that arose and clamped his hands around the fingernails, yanking them forward as he continued to run without stopping - the nails letting the bags and civilians go. An awful scream of pain was heard as he yelled for the two victims to leave and call the police. Still moving forward, he dropped the nails and used that moment to dive under a glob of wax and grab a piece of old 2x4 that lay in the dirtied alleyway. Quickly turning around and seeing the civilians gone, he zeroed in on the aggressors standing around him, wood in hand. 

Was correct, Wax can be used long ranged, Pencils still hasn’t made their appearance in quirk usage, and Sparks was lighting up their palms, so it must be similar to how Bakugou uses his quirk. Fingernails doesn’t seem to be growing them back anytime soon, maybe it takes a while to regrow- his thoughts were cut off as Sparks lunged at him, hands out in a way that made his scars burn and his teeth clench. Quickly turning to the side, he felt the heat of the sparks brush against his face as the villain missed and continued past him. With quick movements of his own, he barreled into Sparks, knocking them onto their back as they let off their quirk in his face, the skin burning harshly, before he slammed the wood 2x4 into their face, a crunch being heard in the alley, before doing the same to their neck, a third blow was going to land when own of the corner of his eye he saw movement coming towards him. Reacting as quick as he could, Izuku tried to dodge, but he was just a bit too late and a leg connected with his chest, sending him flying into the brick building making up one side of the alley way. 

Face on fire while his vision blurred from dizziness, Izuku groaned, his body also in pain from the impact of the wall. Not a second later and he was crying out as Pencils tore his skin open with their quirk, a large and nasty gash being left in his arm. Without another moment of hesitation, he rolled away, eyes blown wide as he took in the scene in front of him. Sparks was on the ground, and whether or not they were breathing, Izuku couldn’t tell. The other three stood above him, grinning madly at him, and all Izuku could do was feel around behind him for something to use as a distraction to get away. 

I can’t take them all on, not like this, I need to move- Hand finding a half shattered glass bottle, he quickly threw it towards the trio, not wasting a second before bursting out of the alley way, the three of them shouting and hot on his heels. 

From then on it was just a large game of avoiding incoming quirks, and dumping as much of anything and everything Izuku could behind him to extend their paths of chasing him. His face and arm still hurt, the first burning while the latter gushed blood and stained his sweater, but they were suable. Granted he was dizzy, and he didn’t think that much blood should be coming from his arm like that, but he could still lift things and throw them with decent precision. So, when he got the chance, he’d nabbed a smallish bucket from outside a store filled with dirt and a small bush and chucked it at one of the villains behind him bumping into and tripping over people in the process. 

Why were so many people out this late at night? It’s like they collectively decided it was a great day for a walk!  

Getting up, he glanced behind himself to see that his plan had been a wasted effort, as it only allowed them to get closer - Running out of breath and feeling way too dizzy, Izuku decided he’d play his last card. A breath later, and Izuku was once again numb.

Running to the middle of the street, he stopped, halting as if he’d lost his footing, before turning around to watch as the three villains chased him right into the street. Why are they so close minded? He listened to the honk of a horn, the three were only a couple feet away. Why were they so stupid? The horn grew louder, and Izuku could practically feel their fingertips brush his skin, before he jumped back and watched them get slammed into by a small truck. Without stopping to see what damage was done, Izuku sped off, turning quickly into the nearest alleyway and climbing up the fire escape with the last bit of strength he had.

Once on the roof, he laid down and glanced over the edge of the building, watching the rest of the scene unfold. Two of the three - Pencils and Wax, weren’t that bad off, Wax managing to get up pretty easily, though they didn’t seem to stay up for long, their melty body dripping all over the place as if they couldn't seem to keep themselves together. Pencils seemed to have their own pencils stabbed into their arms, and blood was flowing from them, but they were trying to sit up. Fingers was probably the worst, because Izuku couldn’t tell, just like with Sparks, whether or not they were breathing. Motionless on the ground, Fingers got the brunt of the truck, and now laid on the ground, arm twisted at a weird angle, and not moving. 

Laying there a bit longer, he continued to watch as best as he could in the dark until he deemed it safe enough to slip away. Once home, he washed his wound and wrapped it the best he could before dropping himself into his bed and decided that staying low for a couple days would do him good. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 10: What’s A Hero? ~

Izuku rarely lied to his mother anymore. After the incident with the notebooks, and the monsters, and the accidentally brutality that he’d wrote onto his classmates, Izuku deemed in practically unnecessary to lie to her - hell, even before such things happened, Izuku had barely told hera fib besides the obvious about who was hurting him, but even then, if less lying and more like avoiding the truth. So, if Izuku were to lie, it was usually a situation he deemed far too large, and far too dangerous to involve his mother in - and this? Well, he couldn’t decide whether or not he should indulge in his mother or keep her in the dark about it all. 

The young boy sat in front of the toilet bowl, the events of last night finally catching up to him in the form of a blotchy and glitching nightmare, this leading to a tiring event of speeding down the hall to empty his guts into the porcelain bowl, last night's dinner also accompanying the mess that now covered once pristine white. Once more did Izuku feel the numbness spread over him as he tried to disconnect from his mind, from his being. His eyes felt dim and dark, and the monster that was his subconscious seemed to drift forward and poke at his person, reminding him of what he’d possibly done. Who he’d possibly killed - though going by the reports of the news from his phone, no bodies were found last night - meaning the four weren’t dead or the bodies had just been removed before a civilian could report them. 

A blow to the front of the head with a crunch, once more against the throat. 

Taking the brunt of the car hit, unmoving and arm broken. 

The monster in his mind didn’t complain though; just whispered excuses, nit-picked his mind. Told Izuku that in the underground, in the real world you have to play dirty to survive, trick those to win, especially when they had the advantage. Told him that in the situation it was a ‘them’ or ‘him’ and that he should always look out for himself first when the victims were saved, that if he hadn’t his mother might not get to see her baby again. Told him that it wasn’t his fault they weren’t as adaptable, smart, or tactical enough to think about what he could have been planning, that it was their fault for not looking around and outside the box. Told him they were no less monsters than he was, that they were worse for attacking and harming innocent civilians. 

Izuku couldn’t help but agree with those statements, but couldn’t help but disagree either. He hadn’t needed to go so far, he hadn’t needed to be so rough… but… 

Murder isn’t good, it isn’t, but why could it possibly be fine now? Could it possibly be fine now? Because of self defense? But then again, how many people threatened him all the time? Dared to take his life away with their own hands?

Thoughts like these aren’t good, but it seems they’re only bad when he thinks them… 

Struggles, struggles like these are what makes Izuku wary of what he is, makes him understand that he’s not human, because if he was, he would understand, he wouldn’t have to ask these questions as he’d already know. Because from what he’s been shown, from what he’s taken in and recorded and connected and figured, because of the experiences he’s collected together on the people around him, he would already know the answer, and wouldn’t be asking all these questions or be having these thoughts. They just do or don’t do it, he doesn’t understand.

He doesn’t understand, he doesn’t understand.

He’ll figure it out later… 

(Deep down Izuku doesn’t really regret what he’s done, just like his monster, he practically agrees with what the subconscious said, even on a conscious level. Izuku doesn’t really regret it, he’s just happy that he’d saved a couple people, protected them when they couldn’t themselves, and he knows, that no matter the circumstance, he would do it again in a heartbeat - to protect them, and keep doing so)

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 10: What’s A Hero? ~

When an hour later of throwing up his stomach contents comes and his mother wakes up to find him on the floor of the toilet, Izuku thinks fuck it , and tells his mother everything. Tells her about why he’s on the floor, about why he’s got a rumpled and terribly bandaged arm that’s still bleeding through a bit, about everything and anything that happened last night as she sat home safe and comfortable, sleeping and well. He tells her of the people he saved, of the young couple that might not have been able to get home without his interference. He tells her it all while his head’s propped against their toilet, and his body sweats out the last bits of sickness. 

During the time he’d sat alone in the bathroom, throwing his ideas and thoughts up, he let himself swim, let himself drift, just let his mind lead him where it wanted, so, as he tells his mother all about the night, he can’t help the the twitch of his lips, can’t seem to regret the slight carefree smile that paints itself on his face as he explains he was a hero - because that’s what he wants to focus on, he was a hero, he did something no else besides his mother and himself truly believed he could do in any form of his. (All might believed, but only when he was human, only when he was normal would All Might believe-) Yet, his smile did turn sorrowful as he turned emerald eyes away and explained how much he wouldn't mind doing it again, the same exact way if to save those people. 

His mother could only stand and stare in the doorway, listening in shock as Izuku continued on and on, before slipping to her knees, the cold tiles felt through her thin pajamas. Not even hesitating, his mother pulled Izuku to her chest and squeezed, tears wetting his shoulder as he hugged her back, his face twisting and contorting, but never finding an expression to settle on. Gently, as like that time three years ago when the words were first spoken into the air, his mother whispered into his ear. 

“Izuku, after everything you’ve been through, after all society has done - I don’t care about what’s happened, I don’t care about what you write in your notebooks, I could honestly care even less if you woke up tomorrow and walked down the stairs, still ruffled from sleep in your bright yellow pj’s and declared loudly over breakfast with food still stuck to your cheeks that you were going to become the number one villain of the world - I would support you all the way. I would walk by your side as long as you needed me to - I would drag heaven and hell together across the surface of the Earth if it meant you could do what you wanted - Because you deserve it, after everything that’s happened, you deserve the world. Whether that be in the most pristine conditions because you’ll be saving it, or in the most ruined apocalyptic state history has ever seen because you’d decided humanity was overrated. I may get frustrated, concerned, I may never truly understand what, why or how you think, but I’ll be here, I’ll be here and don’t you ever forget that,” 

Izuku cried after that, rocky in his mothers warm arms, because for everything he does and doesn’t care about, for all the numbness he’d felt through his body, for all the acceptances he’s tried to force upon his being and all the faults he constantly checks himself on, for all the constant battling that was his mind against his own being, his own will, his own self, the dark that sweeps in and through and the light he hopes was still residing inside - for all that he was in the name of contrasting energies, for all that he was unbelonging to a world like this, for all the horrors his being seemed to scream into the general air around him, for all that he didn’t deserve to feel such things; he couldn’t help but feel so loved in that moment. Like a true hero, a shining beacon, a blast of hope. Couldn’t help but let himself indulge in mindless fantasies of his humanity, as he let himself fall into his mothers embrace. He cried because he knew what his mother said was true, he knew she would help and aid him to the ends of the earth if it would make him happy, and he was thankful. 

He pulled his mother closer to himself and cried and cried and wailed as hard as he could, allowing himself to fall into a childish mindset, allowing himself to feel as if he was just a young babe still innocent and ignorant of the world around him. Held his mother tightly and tried to forget for just a moment what he’d done, the terrible things he’d done, tried to let his mother wash away his sins as she told him he was alright, and that what he did was fine. He sobbed and let her guide his childish self away from the evil that seemed to plague his mind at all hours of the day, of all his regrets and terrible deeds, let her help him keep moving. He continued to let his eyes run until they no longer could, still held in his mothers loving embrace. 

“You helped those people Izuku, you truly are their hero. And even if a few of them got hurt, even if things seemed terrible, you still saved that young couple, you still saved them, and you saved yourself - and that’s the most important thing, the most I can ask for. Izuku - you did the right thing - even if you come to regret it later, please recognize that you did something good, which makes you good. You’re a hero, baby, for saving them and for coming home to me at the end of the day. I love you baby, and I love the way you are, and if you don’t then I’ll love the new you - but in my eyes, in the eyes of most of the true and honest to good world, you did the right thing, which makes you good. If you want to forget, to pretend it never happened until you can accept it, that's fine, I’ll stand by to help you through it, just know you are good and nothing will change that ,” 

They picked themselves up after that, his mother cleaning out his wound as they discussed how long he should stay home the next few days. Izuku took in her words as she moved, he could forget and she would wait - so, trying as he might, he pushed the incident to the back of his mind and tried to forget, tried to grasp that spider’s spring of innocence and ignorance he knew wouldn’t hold, if only to feel that much more like a child again ( like the child he was ).

The next four days were spent at home with his mother when she was there, the two comforting each other with their presence, while searching more for Vex. A secret had seemed to drift the last few weeks, something about a metal manipulation quirk, and a boy looking similar to Vex being tossed around as well. 

Thankfully All Might was busy for the next week, so training wasn't disrupted. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 10: What’s A Hero? ~

It’s strangely iconic that All Might brings up a topic similar to his breakdown from the other day when they meet again. Strangely ironic that he asks what kind of hero Izuku wants to be while they resume his training. 

They’d been on the beach, this portion cleared nicely of all its trash and the golden shimmering sand feeling lighter and softer than it probably ever had. Izuku jogged in place, feet feeling heavy as they continued to bounce on the sandy shore, kicking up plenty as they moved. All Might had just been sitting near him in his small form, lounging around without any real thing on mind, blue eyes cast across the lengths of the oceans surface. The question felt open, said without much real thought put into it when All might spoke, as if he was just filling the empty quiet space that was the air between them. ‘What kind of hero do you want to be, young Midoriya?’ Izuku continued to job in place as he thought of his answer. 

It was strange, he thought to himself, that the first thing he wanted to say was ‘A symbol ’. What kind of symbol, Izuku wasn’t exactly sure, he ponders he might have an idea, but something that would take a while to fulling sum into one word. So, he lets his mind think, back to when he was a child, to when he’d watched hero fights, to when he was crying and running home and to when he was getting thrown down by the people around him physically and mentally. To a time of when he was, and still technically is, getting death threats. 

“Well… I guess… I want to be… someone everyone… can depend on,” he said in between breaths, slowing his jog a little to make it easier to speak, “I want to be someone who… notices… Someone who looks at the forgotten… the villains… and those who we’d considered in between I guess... And save them… I want everyone… to know that I’m not… only there, but that I’m going to stay… until the problem is resolved…” he takes a larger breath, “I want to save those who can’t save themselves, and I want to stick around as long as it takes,” I want to save others from becoming like me, I don’t want others to fall down the trail I’ve been, don’t want them to wake up one day and think they have to kill others in order to survive and protect themselves in just he general public, in their schools. I don’t want them to feel like they have to become a monster because that’s what the world made them. 

Izuku doesn’t say that last part. 

All might just hums next to him, still staring far away, though his eyes seem squinted. 

“What’s a hero to you, young Midoriya? What would you consider a hero?”

Again, it’s strange he thinks, that All Might would be asking this. Stopping his jog, he bends down to pick up his warm water bottle, taking a drink as he tries to think. The only thing he can come up with is what he said before. 

“I… I think a hero is just like what I said before, what I said I wanted to be… Someone who can save those who can’t save themselves… Someone who places the victim's life before their own, but doesn’t necessarily forget they also have a home to go to at the end of the day, that if they survive they can save more people…” Izuku thinks back to his mothers words, how she just wished for him to make it home and that would be enough. 

Another hum, and Izuku thinks he hears All Might say something along the lines of ‘if only it were that simple’ . 

But shouldn’t it be that simple? Is all Izuku can think. He didn’t understand, just like usual, he didn’t understand. To be a hero is to essentially save someone with the intent of saving someone for some reason. Whether that be through teaching the next generation to save themselves from repeating mistakes, to saving a patient's life as a doctor, or protecting a civilian as a police officer, or even just handling someone's paperwork to make sure their insurance can cover an expense. A hero’s job should be done with the intent to save - granted everyone has their selfish ideals - Bakugou wants to be number one, there’s probably people out there who do it for money, and others just to uphold a reputation. Essentially Izuku’s own reason is selfish because he’s trying to become a hero to keep others from becoming like him. 

This kinda feels like when he was a child, when he asked why being different was so bad, but the only answer he was ever met with was ‘because that’s the way things are, so deal with it’ basically. It kinda feels like that, in the way that people over complicate things, when really, a hero should just be someone who intends to save some, with, well, the intention of saving someone, even if an underlying cause is pushing them to do so. A brother could be a hero to his sister simply for getting down her kite from a tree. 

He doesn’t understand. 

Izuku continues to jog in place, letting his mind wander and wander. 

A quirk to be considered human and license to be claimed a hero. 

It shouldn’t have to be this way though.

His mind drifts. 

~ Arc 2 - P1: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 10: What’s A Hero? ~

It’s not much longer after Izuku’s talk with All Might that he’s bringing the topic up to his mother. 

“Mama, what do you consider a hero?” The question doesn’t startle her, but it does seem to confuse her a bit. Seeming to sense the weight of the question though, she turns back to the dishes and hums to herself before she answers. 

“Well, I’m not exactly sure honey. There’s a multitude of answers for that, and I feel that many of them won’t be the one you're looking for - but what’s this about? Any reason as to why this is suddenly on your mind?” Picking up a dish, he begins to dry them as he contemplates his answer, deciding to just bring up yesterday's conversation as a whole. 

“So, you know the person I train with regularly, right? I think I’ve mentioned him before - he asked me that, and when I gave him my answer, he muttered that ‘ it wasn’t that simple’... ”

She passed him another dish, “Well, what was your answer?” 

“To sum it up, I basically said ‘ Someone who can save those who can’t save themselves ’, and he said it wasn’t as simple as that, but shouldn't it be? Even if you do things for a selfish reason, to be a hero is to save someone else, no matter their background… But even then, to just save at least one person makes you a hero. Are people trying to imply that there’s a number? That there’s a specific group of people? That there’s a specific quota someone needs to meet inorder to be considered a hero, or be considered worth something enough to be saved?” 

Once more, she hummed and continued to wash the dishes, handing her son all the ones ready to be dried. 

“Well, what if those people who saved others, hurt others as well? Would they still be a hero?” Without hesitation, Izuku answers. 

“I guess it depends,”

“Depends on what?”

“Who they’re hurting, how they’re hurting”

“And why’s that?” 

“Because if someone can’t be considered a hero for hurting someone else, then nobody could ever call themselves a hero. Everyone’s hurt someone in their life - whether it just be by calling them a name, physically harming them, or even just accidentally making a wrong choice to talk to one person instead of another, we can’t necessarily handle who we hurt… But if you mean opponents; like hero and villain for example, compared to say heros and civilians, then I guess I would have to say that the hero isn’t a hero anymore because they are hurting the people who are considered innocents - but even then, about 65 to 85% of the heros currently out there would still be considered villains, or at the least non-heros, because civilian casualties are still a thing and property damage still exist; civilians will almost always get caught up in the crossfire of a fight, and going back to the beginning, a hero can hurt a civilian by denying them of an autograph, so are they really still considered the villain?” A pause and a breath. 

“I’m sorry mama, that went a bit everywhere, what I mean to continue with is; Yes, this topic may seem super complicated when it comes down to something of this area of heroics, but looking everything over, getting down to the point, you can be a terrible person and still be a good hero, but that’s not what we’re asking, is it? The question asked was ‘What’s a hero?’ ‘What do you consider a hero?’ and the answer should generally just be ‘Someone who saves those who can’t save themselves’ because that’s what a hero does, they save people, no matter how selfish the reason for doing so. It’s human nature to be selfish, so essentially the answer is simple, because we’re not asking the person beneath the costume, beneath the mask, we’re asking about what the person is going to do when they put that costume, that mask on. I’m a monster, and I know you don’t agree, but I consider myself a terrible thing, mama, yet, we both still call me a hero... So, what’s a hero? What’s a hero? Is it the truth behind the mask, the flashy suits they wear, the number of saves to deaths on a paper, a license that claims as such? What is a hero?” 

Inko hummed, silently wondering if her boy would ever realize how his words can apply to him more, before just smiling a small smile. Wiping her hands off, she placed the towel next to the now dishless sink, and turned to Izuku. 

“Well, when putting it that way, I guess I have to say it is generally simple in the grand scheme of it all. So yes Izuku, I’d have to agree, a hero is someone who saves those who can’t save themselves,” 

Now if only Izuku could see that he was not only a hero, but a good and amazing person as well. 

Arc 2 - P1:  To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten -  To Be Continued 

Chapter Text

Arc 2 - P2:  To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten -  Begin

Chapter 11: The Well (Un)Known Place Called The Underground

The underground… 

The underground is a place, that isn’t really a place. 

It’s a world that shines as bright as the heavens to some, but can be as dark as the deepest pits of hell. 

It’s an image in every person’s general mind, yet a picture that they could never physically paint no matter how hard they tried. 

The underground is uncommon-common knowledge to the world and amongst the people. Everyone seemed to know it exists, seemed to know that it’s there, somewhere hidden between their homes and on their streets. But they could never give a straight answer as to what it truly was. Could never give a hint to the true makings and workings of what actually conspired in such a place. 

They knew from books, moveis, and tid-bits of the news. All things that most people took such descriptions as law from. But sometimes… Sometimes, people would know from the experience they got. Just a small lick at their consciousness, at their mind that would clear their eyes to what the darkened and black caverns of the underground truly held in its old, wise, and filthy claws. These people would get a taste, a feel to what kind of dark god was just lying beneath their very feet. And these people almost always became one of two things. 

Scared, or curious.  

Scared meant they’d run with their tail between their legs, plead to a hero, and try to get as far away from the world they’d had their eyes opened to. Sometimes they would be pulled back in, sometimes they would be grabbed gainst their will and be dragged into and underneath the dirt and the ooze and the black and terrible, struggling to leave, but never being able to... Usually villains or victims filled this group. 

Curious usually meant they kept looking. Kept peaking around on their own will. These people tended to become underground heroes, villains, or vigilantes. They’d look at it with curious eyes, and poke their noses into the strange scents that lingered in the air around their head. They’d just barely dip their toes into the murky waters that seemed to lie around alleys, in the night, and around the poorer neighborhoods - in the easy places where it always seems to start for everyone. Just in the beginning. They’d peak, and depending where their cat brought them, they’d choose to take a path, whether legal or not. 

The underground was a place that wasn’t a place. It wasn’t a solid ground you could walk on, but at the same time it could be a path you adventure through. 

The underground was a very well known place. 

A place that seemed to exist in only the people’s minds. 

But a place that held so many people’s lives. 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

Boots fell onto wet gravel, the steps leaving small splashes as he moved, a light rain misting over the top of Izuku’s dark hoodie. The sky dripped black where openings in the clouds allowed, and the moon seemed to try and shadow its light through as well, but barely broke the puffy greys that littered the night above. Bricked buildings stood to either side of his body as he walked with his head down through the alley, the dark and rough features looming over his being like beasts of the night. A large puddle shown at the end of the way, rippling from the barrage of water droplets and reflecting the barest amount of moonlight, letting him know where he was to turn, though his memory would never let him forget the way. Heading right, he was met with a small opening, the space hardly large enough to fit a person, between two buildings. 

Finally, after side-stepping through and out of the tight space, he enters a small open area. It’s about the size of a large elevator, like the ones with seats along the edges, its three other sides being made up of the buildings surrounding and keeping people in when after they entered through the small gap. I’ll have to find other ways to get here besides that, it’s such a pain to move through, he let a breath fall from his chapped lips as he adjusted his hood, bulletproof vest (which now that he thought about it, was too small, probably thanks to his more recent training, he’ll have to get another soon-), his mask, and his newest addition, tight black gloves (which he’d gotten so that no one could ever get his fingerprints and find out who he was like he’d done to others in the past), before turning his head to the left and stepping forward in the direction. He wasn’t completely satisfied with his outfit, the cheap and simple disguise being nowhere near as safe as he would like, but he would live with it for now, it got the job done after all. Reaching the door, he knocked lightly with the back of his knuckles a couple of times, stepping back and lowering his head to the ground as he waited. 

A small click, and the door opened, a woman made entirely of a deep purple liquid stepping out. As she did, a clam and numb feeling settled over his bones and entered his mind. 

Louise Maria. Street name; Neutral. Maria owns a Safe Space bar and motel, The River, where villains, vigilanties, brokers of all kinds, and even underground heroes can come and rest without the fear of being turned in, hunted, or killed by any group. Only if the person had been invited by a patreon though, as there’s no way to know about the place unless you were invited or somehow stumbled across, and even then you might not even be allowed in because of the lack of invitation. This allows her to keep the place under the radar from the world and keep the patreons good to one another (as it’s a heavily enforced rule that no one should break), as well as the fact that her quirk, Liquid Kindness, allows her to emit a neutral and calm feeling around her. Not only that, but before anyone enters the bar, they must drink a bit of her body's liquid, which creates a chemical reaction in the brain to stop people from feeling any kind of need to harm others. They can still feel anger, but would never carry out the actions for that anger, as their body will push them to relax. Thus, this creates a safe space. The effects wear off when you tell her you’re leaving, as she makes sure to stop her quirks effects when you walk out the door. Not sure how she does it, but it must be the chemical in the liquids she can control, and not just the liquid itself- 

A couple seconds had barely passed as his mind recited a small paragraph of the passage of information he had on the women in front of him like always when she stepped out to greet him. 

“Neutral-san,” Izuku didn’t speak, instead he held up a phone that spoke the name for him. Paranoia pushing him to hide his voice, lest someone try to use it against him. ( But is it really paranoia if they’re out to get you? ) He’d need a voice modulator soon, but he couldn’t really afford any yet, and while the thought of building his own was an idea he’s had in mind for a while now, he wasn’t confident enough in his abilities yet to actually start the piece - sticking to tinkering around with phones, computers, televisions, and the occasional house appliance when he could (even playing with some of the more useful trash from Dagobah beach).

“Henkei-san,” Her voice was low, and had a slight spanish accent as she spoke the greeting. “You know the drill; Hear, See, or Taste?” A question asked to any person that came this way, new or old, and one Neutral would always know the answer to already, because you can’t really get in if she doesn’t know the answer first. 

Hear: this meant you were new, and you’d heard about The River from someone else. Say this, and you have to answer a load of questions before being allowed in. 

See: this meant you were here to see someone else. Whether that be you going in to meet someone already sat down inside, or that you were there to wait for someone else to come in later.  

Taste: this just meant you were here to relax, whether you needed a place to stay for a couple nights, or just planned to drink and have a bit of good fun for a bit. 

No matter the answer, she’ll always know why you’re there. Neutral’s always informed about anything and everything that goes on in the bar, it’s a rule after all. This allows her to keep cops, day-light heroes, and any other unwanted and unsavory guest from destroying her hole-in-the-wall. If you’ve inved someone, you tell her a name and she knows to look for that person. You have a meeting, you give her a name and she knows to expect them soon. You just want to relax, you meet her at the door, answer a few questions and go on with your day. It sounds so long and even complicated at times, but it’s actually quite simple, and has worked since I was invited here by an old co-worker a couple years ago- 

A digital voice filled the air as Izuku once more let his phone speak for him, “See,” She nodded, what was supposed to be her hair flowing with the movement. Then she lifted her hand into the usual cupping gesture, slowly pooling the liquid into her hand before dumping it into his own gloved ones when she was done. Not wasting any time, he brought his hands up to his mask and let the liquid seep through and into his mouth, feeling as it moved like it was controlled. Bouncing a bit on his tongue as he tried to swallow, Izuku coughed, sending a look of exasperation at the older women, watching as her own eyes gleamed in mischief. For all that I do and remember, I always seem to forget that she loves to mess with me. 

Turning around and giving him another second to cough, Neutral opened the door again as the feeling of calm, neutral static fell over his body and mind, the effects of her quirk finally kicking in. 

“Alright squirt, you know where to go. Enjoy your time and yell if you need anything,” Another look of exasperation because she knows he won’t actually yell for her, not if it could give away his identity. Neutral just chuckles as she leads them down a short hall that opens into an area filled with tables, booths, a bar, and a couple dart boards and pool tables. Neutral heads to the left, where the main bar sits in the corner of the room, and Izuku goes right, making his way over to the back of the establishment where he knows one of his oldests informants sits, waiting for him. 

Strangely enough, they’d met through a janitor that currently still works for his junior high, Okuma Matsuta, back when Izuku was still just dipping his toes into the peculiar workings that was the underground network. Okuma had a keen eye and held great intelligence even with his age, dark pink hair turning light and grey, seemingly easily picking up what Izuku had unknowingly put down when on his mission to friend the staff at school. The older man had pulled him aside one day, just a week or so after the second trimester of his first year when he’d just made himself a small presence in the underground as Henkei. 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

“So, you’ve made the decision to go against your classmates finally, huh?” He’d said it in an almost satisided whisper - as if he was proud. At the time, Izuku hadn’t understood until Okuma had plainly pointed out what Izuku was doing. Making sure to tell him that he could see something change in his eyes, that his body language was a bit different - that he moved as if he had a goal in mind, and as if the staff was a part of that goal. 

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” He waved his hand lazily in between them when he saw Izuku begin to panic, “I won’t tell,” He held up that same hand and made the motion of locking his mouth shut and throwing away the key. Calming down a bit, Izuku eyed him curiously, not bothering to hide it as he did so, but Okuma just leaned on his mop, a lazy smile on his face but his eyes lit with excitement and energy. 

“How… How did you know? I made sure to be careful- I haven’t done anything to even hint at what you described before, let alone to give myself away… So how…?” The lazy grin turned to a smirk as Okuma moved a hand through semi-long pink hair.

“Kid, did I ever tell you that I was a detective once upon a time? I told you, I could see it in the way you moved and acted - I know what to look for when things start changing,” Izuku stared in shock. If Okuma was a detective once, then why…? “I bet you’re wondering why I’m stuck here then, aren’t you?” He gave a low chuckle before resting his head on the backs of his hands as they still clasped the top of the mop. “I wasn’t a very well known detective, just did my job the best I could, tried to help as many people as I could even if it meant going against the rules sometimes. Didn’t really care about the clout, that was my sister's job after all. But even then, it seemed like I had enemies,” He paused and frowned a bit, staring at nothing as he continued. 

“A corrupt cop did it. Took me down because she was jealous of my position. The higher ups didn’t like me much either, like I said, I went against the rules sometimes to help others and that’s not what they wanted. So, when they saw some fake evidence that she planted about how I was selling drugs and using the money, they didn’t think twice before they kicked me off the force. Didn’t even get an investigation done, just kicked me like that. All my benefits? Gone. Now I’m stuck working here because no other station wanted a ‘corrupt cop’. Ironic right? Goes to show how society really works…” 

Izuku didn’t know how to feel - he wanted to ask why Okuma didn’t fight harder, or change himself to be what they wanted him to - but it felt wrong to say such things. Izuku, Izuku could do it to himself, but not to others. Other people, (because they were people, and he wasn’t. He was a monster, a freak, something less than human and dirt and animals- something that should have been gotten rid of, something that would always have to change itself to fit in and be normal , but would never actually achieve it. Izuku wasn’t human, but Okuma? Okuma was , and he shouldn’t have to deal with these issues- ) shouldn’t have to change themselves to be normal, because they were already normal. It’s that female cop that should change, those higher ups that should change - because while they were human, they were monsters themselves. Corrupt and terrible, and why wouldn’t they want to just stay human? - His thoughts were cut off by Okuma talking once more. 

“But whatever, whatever- the past is the past, and it’s something we’ve got to live with and move on from. Best to remember and learn, then forgive and forget, right? Anyways, I’m here to talk about you - I know what you’re doing kid, and you’re doing one hell of a job doing it. Collecting informants like dolls while they don’t even know already? Sneaking around with those notebooks of yours- the, ah, what are they called? The Collective and Cases ones or something like that? Secretly fighting against the world's injustice even when it’s put you down? You’re definitely going places Izuku-kun- if only I’d known more heroes and vigilantes like you when I was still a detective, they were some of my best partners,” And Izuku couldn’t help but feel something in him preen at the compliments. He was nervous, still a bit untrusting of anyone other than his mom, but at the same time his subconscious couldn’t help but take in the praise. 

“I just want to let you know that I’m here if you need me to help. I may not be as bright and spunky as I once was, but if something ever arises, give me a call and I’ll come help you in anyway I can - whether that be beating the snot out of someone, or just bailing you out of something - and speaking of helping, I want to introduce you to someone,” The older man pulled out his phone, and clicked a few buttons here and there. 

“I have a niece - a smart, successful girl, going to college for business in the support weapon industry to help start a company with her younger sister; definitely got it from my side of the family - but she’ll be of help to you,” He pressed another button and turned the phone around to show Izuku a picture. An older girl with similar bright pink hair and blue eccentric eyes. “I’ll send her your number and tell her to text you about her ‘ night time activities’ as she calls it- She’ll definitely be useful to you for where you’re going,” 

A few more buttons, and Okuma looked up at Izuku with a determined smile on his face. Izuku just stared back, something like disbelief swirling in his stomach. His hands twitched, and he felt his eyes start to get misty. It can’t be this easy, it can’t be- how could he just, how- why- “Why? Why are you doing this?” Izuku couldn’t help but ask. Okuma’s face softened, but his smile still stayed. Reaching out a hand slowly, he gently rested it on Izuku’s head. 

“Izuku-kun, you don’t understand how much of an impact you’ve had on the staff at school. On us janitors or lunch servers. You’ve really made our days better. I actually look forward to work now, knowing that you’re here, and I know the other staff feel the same way,” Izuku tilted his head down and felt himself shake a little, he couldn’t believe it, “So, seeing you doing what you’re doing, well, I thought I should help. I mean, I know what I’m doing, I know you’ll go far, so why not give you a push in the right direction? Let’s see you change the world. For the better,” 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

(And if the station that’d once housed Okuma was shut down a few months later due to a leak in how corrupt most of the cops and biased the higher ups were, how they were ignoring civilians, selling drug evidence, actively discriminating against quirks, well then that was no one’s business other than Izuku’s) 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

And while Izuku couldn’t truly believe his words, then or now even, couldn’t really understand why Okuma did what he did (even though some part of his body told him he did understand, that he did, that it was just like every other time he listened to someone tell their tragic story, that it was so similar to those times he looked in the mirror and wondered how many other people were on their way to becoming like him. That he did understand, but that he was too afraid to try and process it truly, that he needed to stop being afraid and finally learn who his allies, co-workers, and enemies were ) he’s glad that it happened. So, walking towards their usual table, Izuku waved his hand when he saw the older girl, Ayamei, otherwise known to the rest of the underground as negotiator/broker and informant, Ao-Shiki. 

Hatsumei Ayamei. Street name; Ao-Shiki. Quirk; Body Reader. Her quirk allows her to read anyones body language by the most minimal of movements. Her eyes have small circular target like shapes in them that latch on and bring her attention to all body movements a person makes without her command. It was a difficult quirk to control as a child, as it always had her eyes moving too fast for her to process things properly. She had to have years of constant practice in order to control her quirk, and even now she still has to wear blinder gear when casually going to crowded places, otherwise her quirk goes into overdrive. One thing that makes it dangerous is how easily it can read movements, even through thick clothes and from across a whole room. After so much practice, she’s gotten to the point of practically mind reading; able to determine when a body movement is natural, fake, forced, or will soon happen. She’s a terrifying opponent to fight, but also a great negotiator and broker, as she knows when someone becomes uncomfortable or turned-off to certain ideas and vise versa-  

She waved back, excitedly bouncing in place. 

“Henkei-chan~! It’s been awhile- why haven’t you talked to me~?!” The informant just bounced in place as she whined, hands in fists and voice modulator making it sound staticy and low pitched. He quickly typed a message out on his phone before pressing the button that reads it outloud. 

“Hey Shiki-chan. Been busy, getting ready for something. You know,” Shiki let out a huff, crossing her arms over her chest, pulling at the material of the cropped leather jacket she wore when in uniform, and leaning back in her booth chair. She’s always had decent taste, her outfit mainly consisting of bright electric blues, and blacks - kinda like Tomago from that old pre-quirk disney movie Big Hero 6… Though, more suited for combat that’s for sure. 

“Ya know I can get my sib to make you a modulator too, so you don’t have to use this stupid device-” She gestured to his phone, “-Kami, it’s so inefficiant, like how long are you going to type for when you need to explain something serious, or what if you’re in a life or death situation and you need to speak fast?! What happens if it’s not loud enough and-” Three minutes passed as the girl went on about all the disadvantages about his device. He just sat there staring at her. If he was being honest, he would love one, but he couldn’t. He didn’t deserve something like that from someone so amazing. He’s heard about Shiki’s sister, knows the great things she’s done, that she’ll most definitely do, but he’s afraid. 

Use every advantage. Take what you want, what you need. Who cares about the consequences. The world was terrible to you, who cares about what happens to them. Take control - push, push, push, push, move, move, move, move - don’t stop, don’t pause, grab what you can, burn what you can, and rise .  

His mind ( his monster ) constantly yelled at him to take it, even with the distrust that brushed the back of his mind, made his scars ache, made his eyes burn with insanity before flushing out and falling dim. But he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t take the item - he didn’t want to be hurt, for them to hurt him like so many others did - but he also wasn’t worthy, he wasn’t worthy of being gifted this item, he didn’t want to tarnish this girl, didn’t want to ruin her future. If anyone found out it was me , she would be ruined…She would get hurt, then I would get hurt… Heroes don’t let others hurt, that’s not what they’re supposed to do… That’s not what humans are supposed to do… 

( but you’re not human, so who cares what you do… You’ve said it before, even a monster can be a hero, doesn’t mean you’re human yet, his mind would always reply) 

“-And mine works perfectly fine, see?! You’ll never know how I sound because of this!” She points at her electric blue and black mask covering her whole face, the digital images changing as she moves as if they were her real expressions. He just stares a bit longer, ignoring the fact that they’ve actually heard each other’s voices before and quickly typed out a message. 

“No thanks. I’m fine with this. I’ll buy one later if I need it,” He watched her dramatically sigh and fall onto the table as he typed his next message, “Anyways, the information?” A change was seen as the girl straightened up automatically, a serious tone filling the air around them. Turning and digging through a bag next to her, she pulled out some files, laying and spreading them out around the table. 

“I’ve been making dips everywhere like you asked, making sure to check on the most likely areas more often,” She opened a folder, and inside were pictures of stages with fencing around them, as if it were a cage. Bright lights filled every aspect of the picture, showing in deep reds and bright yellows. Crowds of people stood around the stage, bodys positioned in ways that showed they were cheering and excited. Two people stood in the middle of the caged stage, one with hair that was lit with green fire, and the other holding up their fists. Izuku continued to flip through the pages in the folders, searching the pictures and reading the information that came paper-clipped with it as she began to speak. 

“The fighting rinks were ones I looked at the most, regular trafficking second - if the information you gave was correct, and Vex-kun had a pretty strong metal manipulation quirk unlike what people seemed to believe, then he was most likely picked up by some scumbag looking for people to fight,” Izuku looked up, tilting his head a bit in question. Shiki saw his movements and went on, “I know, you said only a couple people have ever seen his quirk in action, so how could someone know to pick him up right?” 

Shiki opened another folder - this time with person profiles. 

“When you gave me the descriptions of the guy who was said to have taken him, it irked me that he felt so familiar. Then I realized that the reason it irked me was because he was familiar, ” Izuku leaned forward, placing down the picture of some small fighting rink that looked like it took place in the abandoned subways just outside of Tokyo. The blue of Shiki’s digital mask formed itself into a sharp smile. “You ever heard of the name Giran?” Izuku shook his head slowly, it sounded familiar, but not enough to bring anything to mind. 

“Well, he’s a pretty well-known broker and trader; whether that be weapons, information, hide-outs, false paper-work, drugs, or,” she drummed her fingers on the table as Izuku sat up in understanding, “ or people. You need it, he’s got it. I know him because he’s practically my rival, though he’s much dirtier than me when it comes to this job; been here much longer too, and tends to stick to people who can give him his money when he wants it, or if he finds them interesting enough. Anyways, when I remembered him, I quickly looked into everyone who’s been in contact with him since the kidnapping all those months ago, whether that be for something small like a loan, or something as large as giving weapons to start turf wars between gangs. And guess what I found!” 

Her gloved hands pushed the profile folder in front of Izuku fully, a specific man on the front. He was large, overweight, balding on the top of his head too. He seemed foreign as well, but Izuku couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he’d been from. The name read Dimitri, but no last name, and his underground name had ‘Big Bear’ next to it - what kind of name even is that? 

“I know right, stupid name - should’ve just went with Dimitri or somthing. But anyways, this is one of the top ten rulers of underground fighting rinks right now, he’s been in rule for a while, but it seems like he’s losing business in his rings these days because of a new competitor, as he’s recently been sending out plenty of his guys to get fresh meat for fighting. While I would normally just look the other way, and push him into the category of possibilities, I noticed that he’s been sending a lot of people to the Musutafu, and not only to pick people up, but to get information on quirks in the area, and it’s been working . So Dimitri is getting people again, getting info on who to pick up, as well as making money. My idea is that one of his minions saw Vex-kun using his quirk, reported back and then Dimitri had Giran pick the kid up, knowing the broker would be able to handle the situation given to him no matter how strong the kids quirk was,” She tapped the table with her index finger as she leaned in, and Izuku could barely contain his excitement. Finally, after so long, he’d finally gotten a strong lead- something that could hold ground. He could send this to the police and - Shiki suddenly seemed to wilt. A quietness filled the air between them as he watched her for a moment, before she seemed to stare into his eyes. A sigh, and she moved her gaze down to the table.

“But… Honestly, most of that is speculation…” Izuku jolted forward and his hands slammed onto the table in shock - then what was the point - 

“I know I know… What was the point right? It’s just.. Henkei-san, I’ve done so much searching for Vex-kun, and this is the only lead I can make anything of. I’ve searched everywhere, everything, but nothing else even comes close to connecting… I mean, when going to all the fights, I never found him - people had never even heard his name before, so that means he’s never fought… But this is the only real lead, so I stuck with it for you… I’m sorry….” His eyes tracked how tired she looked, from the way her shoulder dipped, to the dimming blue of her mask and the pitches of ache in her voice. I can’t get angry, I asked for this, and she’s letting me do it for free even with how busy she is. I should be grateful I got anything at all… With a sigh, he sat down and leaned his head back, breathing deeply to clear his mind for a second. Finally, he took out his phone again. 

“Alright. Alright. It’s ok… You did what you thought was best,” he paused for a second, looking at the other folders that hadn’t been opened yet, “Can you tell me about the other leads you found? Even if they seem dead,” She turned her head to face him once more, staring for just a second before grabbing another folder. 

“Ok, ok… The other lead was that he was being trafficked. For sex, labour, quirk usage, whatever reason. And honestly, this makes the most sense; with how little we know about him quirk wise, his age range, the fact that boys are popular lately, and he’s homeless so no one would look for him; green eyes and red hair, honestly he’s a catch in the sex field, I wouldn’t doubt he’d be sold as a special item - it’s just that there’s so many people who could have wanted the kid for whatever reason, could have hired Giran to grab the kid for whatever reason, and traffic rings can get so big and complicated, hell he could be out of the country already - I couldn’t look into them all…” She knocked her knuckles against her mask, but went on anyways, “The problem is, when I look into this, the leads don’t make any sense. I told you Giran is involved, and he is, no doubt about it- but strangely enough, Dimitri is also involved, that’s why I originally thought it was a fighting ring usage and went through that route. But like I said, Vex-kun was never found fighting, never even heard of, and Dimitri doesn’t like men or boys,” Izuku opened a couple more folders as Shiki rested her head in her hands, frustration seeming to stress her body. He didn’t like the idea of Vex being used, for anything, but he couldn’t help but continue to look. He could understand her frustration, seeing as he knows how these systems work, knows the rarity of them changing their ways to do something other than what they’re used to. Especially when selling people. 

Setting down the paper in his hand, Izuku once more began to type on his phone. 

“Why don’t I take these home and look them over myself? Maybe I can find a new connection in the meantime, and you can focus on your own missions, alright Shiki-chan?” She turned up to him, and sighed, but it seemed more in fondness than stress. 

“Ah, you’re always so nice and determined, Henkei-chan~! I don't understand how you do it! But alright, keep the information, I don’t really need it anyways right now,” She helped him stack all the information back up so he could tuck it safely into his bulletproof vest. Thank kami mama sewed a large pocket on here, though I have to wonder why she did that… “Alrighty now, time to head off! I’ve got stuff, and you’ve got stuff to do, so we best be on our ways!” With that the two walked over to Neutral. Shiki sat at the bar to drink for a bit, while Izuku got the go ahead to leave. 

He had a long few nights ahead of him. 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

The next few nights showed Izuku traveling about the city, legs always moving, shoes scraping against the rough cement ground as he pushed himself to keep going. He let his feet guide him wherever they thought he was needed, never hesitating to go one way or another, even if it brought him into trouble. And that was the point; Drug-deals, muggins, murders - he let his feet guide him to these things, he wanted to be there. He wanted to stop them. Stop his thoughts. 

He just couldn’t get Vex out of his head, the negative thoughts rolling in as if forced there by a never ending wind. How long was this taking? How long was it going to last? Where was the kid- was he even alive? No, no- Izuku couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t think that, because if he did- if he failed , then- then- no, no, no I can save him - I can save him - I can’t let him down, let the other’s down, lose their trust, feel their hate, be abandoned, I can’t- no, I can’t go through it again, not again, no no no no- please no- His body shuttered and shook like an exhausted dying animal trying desperately trying to stay standing. He felt himself falling and brought up an arm to steady himself, but it had all been in his mind and now he really was falling.

Crashing into the side of a building, he leaned against the bricked material for support, gradually letting himself fall onto the dirty muck covered alleyway. The rain from earlier that day was still wetting the world and now was soaking into his pants, chilling his legs down to the bone, allowing him to keep some of his mind planted and rooted into the earth, keep it from floating up, up, up and out of orbit like it was trying to do. But he needed to breathe, the grounding wouldn’t hold him forever, already Izuku could feel the strange gravity pulling at the roots, digging them out, so he needed to breathe. Needed to calm down, he couldn’t let himself spiral anymore, he needed to stop. 

Fingers clawed and ripped at his shirt, clutched the area over his chest as he slammed his eyes shut and tried to feel for the things around him, tried to count down from ten, tried to picture his body as something calm, gentle, and flowing peacefully. He’d spent the last few nights looking over all the information given to him by Ao-Shiki, sorting people and groups that interacted with Giran into priorities and ones that didn’t seem likely to have a connection with Vex for any reason. He was stressed, and with school and training still filling up a large chunk of his schedule throughout the day, he just couldn’t handle all the work. But I will, because heroes don’t get the benefit of relaxing whenever they want. Some of them do multiple jobs at once - hell Eraserhead was an underground hero, and a daylight teacher. Present Mic had three jobs for Kami’s sake - He could handle a bit of school, training, and his extra activities. He shouldn’t complaining, he shouldn’t be sitting here chest burning, lungs gasping, and hands trying to rip away the pain while his pants continued to soak in the water and his legs became colder and colder, and number and - breathe, breathe, breathe, why can’t I breathe, why can’t I just fucking breathe?! 

It was the sudden sound of something colliding with a dumpster and two increasingly loud voices followed by horrendous laughter that knocked his mind out of panic and into gear. His head snapped up, his mind stilled, and his breathing caught, burning his lungs worse as they screamed for relief, but he didn’t care, nor did he really notice as tried to track what he assumed were drunk men at the other end of the alleyway he had just been drowning in. The two seemed to, thankfully, miss Izuku’s presence altogether as they stopped and began to babble annoyingly at one another. Taking this as his que to move elsewhere, he slowly started to get up, ready to face or repress his thoughts like usual in the comfort of his room when he’d heard something that made him pause curiously. 

Head still feeling clouded and like mush, he carefully turned his head their way from where he was still crouched, trying to lean in and hear as much as he could in his exhausted state. 

“Y-ya got ‘da note too, righ’?” 

“Mmmmmhmmm!”

“‘N ya really ‘lieve it? ‘R-reaking’nt tooo, to UA? Fucking idi-idiots I tell yaa!” 

Izuku’s body froze, and he felt sweat start to form along the back of his neck and back, chilling him slightly from the evening wind that blew cold after rain. An urge to walk up to them and ask them for more information bleed throughout his body, his fingers and legs twitching in anticipation to move. But he kept still, trying to listen to what else they would say. 

“Y-yeaaa~! St… stupid Leage of V-vaniilla’s!” The other chuckled and burped after that, before the two drunk men went back to babbling about random things. Izuku realized he wouldn’t be getting anything else, but kept the new information in his mind. He’d have to tell someone eventually, this was too big to ignore. 

Feeling heavy and drained, he dragged himself back to his home, trying to sort his brain out before his mind decided it was time to bombard him with anymore thoughts of Vex. 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

It was about a week later, as he was shifting through the files littered around his desk and hanging from his wall that a few papers fell out and onto the floor, catching his attention. He leaned over and picked them up, not thinking too much as he examined them, noticing that there wasn’t much information listed in their profile. Though it was one of the groups Giran had been working with the last few months, one that Izuku had placed in the pile of non-priority due to how small and new the group was said to be, with how little activity they actually had. Reading a bit more, he let his eyes flick back over to the top in order to find a name and something in his mind seemed to stir when he read it. 

“The League of Villains… Where have I heard that before?” It was as if as soon as he said it the memory came back; the night he was in the alley, the two drunk men, the loud noise. “The group trying to break into UA!” He exclaimed, his voice seeming to bounce off his walls, causing him to wince. His mama had just spent the last week getting up early and staying at work late every night, working extra hard now to help with money for UA’s tuition fees. She was dead to the bone with exhaustion, and Izuku really didn’t want to wake her. Calming down, he turned back to his work, eyeing it suspiciously. 

“What are they doing in here…?” Picking through the piles on the desk, he searched for more papers on the group, looking a bit at each of them before finally searching for the transaction paperwork that connected the League with Giran. He let his eyes scan over the information, and his mind lit up with some mild confusion, but also a strange clarity. “People… Giran’s been trading people…” He thought of the drunks. “Something about a note? And breaking into UA? People, notes, groups, a large scale attack? - Dimitri's been collecting people too, but - wait a second-” 

Izuku scrambled around his desk, mumbles leaving his lips a mile a minute as his brain creaked and turned its gears to work through everything it could. 

“But even though Dimitri’s been collecting so many people, gathering so much information lately to use for himself, only about a third of those people have actually shown up in his fighting rings! Not only that, but how many people have gone missing? How many of them were similar to Vex’s case- tons now that I think about it again, how could I forget that it was all started because of them - people that wouldn’t be missed, those with quirks that were deemed useless by society, though we also had the occasional outlier with a decently strong quirk; but they were all ignored by society, by the cops because of how quickly the cases turned cold, or because nobody cared… But what do these really have in connection? Where’s the missing pieces, what could it be-” Izuku stopped and stared at the mess his desk had become, papers everywhere now, some even sitting on the floor and under his feet, but right now he wasn’t worried about that as his eyes were hungrily scanning only a couple sheets of paper. 

“The night Vex-kun was taken, Giran was seen on site - the disappearance had been reported as sudden, as if the person taking them had some type of strange teleportation quirk that worked instantly, or some strange multi-person invisibility quirk. One second there, the next, gone. Other similar cases happened around that time too - all either homeless, ignored, hermits, or those with quirks that’d be deemed useless by society, not something for hero material, but were actually still very useful. Though, again, there were a couple odd balls here and there, disappearances that were later recorded as regular missing persons or runaways by the cops, those with pretty decent or strong quirks. People that hadn’t been added into the investigation until recently due to their outlier nature. Around the same time as the disappearances happened, Dimitri suddenly started sending out his men to gather fresh meat for his business, using Giran’s help, and strangely enough, just barely a month or so before hand, the League of Villains had made a similar request to Giran as well. All focused in either Tokyo, or this area - the disappearances spreading to about ten kilometers all ways around from the edges of the Musutafu area, taking people that wouldn’t be high profiled on the police priority search list, but still had semi-useful quirks, only occasionally picking up people with power. But what could be the reasons? To break into UA? No, no, no the League had sent out invites to those guys by the looks of it, wanting thugs and crooks and low level villains, people who had a decent understanding of what they were getting themselves into and would love the fame that came with it - seemingly numbers of power? I can’t tell though because I don’t know those guys' specifics yet, and besides, kidnapping people to fight for you would be so disadvantageous for yourself more than the other side - so then what are they doing? What are they planning?” 

Izuku pulled at his hair, pushing his mind to work harder and faster - come on, come one, we’ve handled cases like this before, why’s it so hard now? We can do this, we can do this - just gotta think harder, what else is there?!  

“Dimitri is working with Giran to get people, but he’s only getting a third of said people, and the other two-thirds are going to who knows where - most likely to the League through Giran if I’m correct, seeing as no other patrons of Giran has asked for anything like this on a scale more than maybe ten peopel at most - but what would the League need kidnapped people for when they’re already giving out invitations - and if I’m correct in any of this, then what does Vex-kun have to do with it all, because he wasn’t given to Dimitri, that’s practically been confirmed at this point by all the information - so he was given to the league, but what would they do with him? Force him to break into UA? Would that even work, especially if so many others are working against their will?”

Izuku stopped his pacing, not even realizing he’s started at all. Biting his lip and letting his eyes shoot over all the paperwork again, he thought and thought and thought, trying to make sense of the information given to him. 

“This could all just be a wild guess - not it is a wild guess! So wild I could believe someone telling me that aliens had finally made true contact with earth before I even looked at this idea again! I mean, I could just be throwing random things together when they have no actual connections because I’m desperate at this point- but what if I’m not? What of this is all really connected? Then where does Vex-kun fit it? Where does- Oh Kami, if this is all connected… Then how big is this really?! How would I, could I even? Would the police even believe me if I told them? I know I’ve got some influence when it comes to them picking up on my information, they’ve started taking more of my suggestions seriously now, but they believe this?!” He continued to stare, still trying to piece things together in his mind, but something was missing! Ugh! He hated when things were missing, what else could there be, what else could there be?! 

“What else could be connecting these things… Vex-kun, what the hell did you get pulled into…” 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11: TW(U)KPCTU ~

The underground is a vast and open place. It’s claws gripped around everything and everyone practically. 

We walk through it everyday on the way to work, school, or home. 

We pass its occupants in our everyday lives, and even say hello to them. 

The underground is a place where secrets thrive, and evil crawls. Where shadows are the norm, and the set laws cease to exist. Where new ones are created and followed. 

Everyone knows this. Everyone knows of the underground, but they don’t know what really goes on in its depths. 

They don’t truly understand the dangers that fill the place. That lurks and searches for new meats. 

And Izuku, young and awkwardly shined, still broken but doing his best, doesn’t realize just how far he’s sunk himself into those depths. Doesn’t realize just how much of a target he’s made of himself this last year. 

The underground is a place that isn’t a place, where safe-space bars exists; where people are sold and exchanged like currency, for currency; where information was more valuable than a life at times; where drugs are created and sold to create false power dynamics; where heroes, villains, and vigilantes alike lurk together in awkward shades of grey. Where groups are created and grow in order to achieve a goal. 

The underground is a place where chaos is released in the most subtle and quiet ways. 

Izuku, poor broken Izuku, a monster that fits well in the dark places such as this one, a monster that will settle just fine really, was in for a very big surprise. 

What to do when you capture the attention of a place that doesn’t exist but holds the whole world in its hands? 

Chapter 11.5: The White, The Grey, And The Black

The world’s full of shades. Blacks, whites, and the greys in between. Each shade is said to represent something; a person, a position, a status in society. The shades of grey are often the smallest groups, as people prefer not to acknowledge them. ‘The Thin Grey Line,’ they call it when they do. But in reality, it’s actually the largest of them of all. 

Heroic non-heroes, Villainous non-villains; the world’s full of people like these - and in the underground, we call them vigilantes… They work the grey shades of society, of the underground. They step in the mixings of black and white, evil and good, villains and heroes. They choose how they want to play the game, unbound by the rules of either side. 

I supposedly work the white, due to my status as a hero, though in the underground that’s about as good as saying light-grey. The villains I face though, work the black, and almost never stray near the grey. 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11.5: TW,TG,ATB ~

Shouta swung from roof to roof, patrolling his usual area at Kami knows what time of night. But his mind wasn’t on his patrol, wasn’t there with his being, but somewhere else, lost to the ocean of thoughts swimming in his head. 

Henkei… 

Henkei. It was a semi-popular name in the underground as of late. One that’s been building its reputation for about three years now if Shouta’s corrects, one that Shouta has yet to actually meet. As far as he knows, Henkei was an informant-hacker type of vigilante, someone who doesn’t really involve themselves much in the physical aspects of taking down villains like others did. Henkei was someone who moved around a lot, gathered the information they needed, hacked a few things, and went on with their day. They’d pick up cases to focus on, or do digging for other people on the occasion, sometimes even confronting people with knowledge they could only get first hand and not from another source. 

Shouta’s heard Henkei doesn’t really play sides, doesn’t try to warm up to one or another, doesn’t smooth talk or charm their way into higher positioned people’s pockets. Henkei just does what they want, what they need to do. Henkei’s built their own network system, everyone with a working brain knew that by now. People knew that Henkei held a large portion of Tokyo and Musutafu wrapped around their fingers, but nobody knew who these system workers actually were. That alone was considered dangerous to most people, because it meant that anyone could be a traitor among their people, and while that was already common knowledge, it was made worse when no one knew Henkei personally. It doesn’t help that when they don’t have the information they need swimming through their network, Henkei will go out and search for it personally. Walking the streets for what’s said to be hours and hours a day, just walking and walking and walking around and around, determined to get what they want. 

Henkei’s rarely hurt anyone as well, but Shouta’s heard stories, rumors, of how when they walk around, people nearby move out of their path. Give them space, because of the shear energy they give off. Watching them stalk around the city for hours a day; it scared some people. They’ve compared it to being hunted, pursued by a monster, some beast out to get them. And when they looked at you, well, Shouta’s heard people describe it as being taken apart. Not piece by piece, not from the inside out - but as if Henkei could touch and manipulate your very soul with their gaze alone. When they looked at you, it activated an instinct, to use your quirk, to hide and protect yourself from whatever was to come. They describe it not as being open or exposed, but as being hunted and played with. You feel changed, as if Henkei’s very stare could completely move your entire world. 

But that’s only what Shouta’s heard. It’s as if people are telling ghost stories, or talking about an old neighborhood legend. You’d think Henkei was a curse by what’s being spread around. 

He’s never had the chance to actually meet this Henkei yet, as they stick to their own things, paths that never seem to cross just yet. The only time their paths come near to one another is when Shouta has to listen to Tsukauchi talk tiredly about all the emails he gets regularly from Henkei, as well as all the other officers complain about this person sending them information they don’t need ( when they really should look into the claims, because the words of informants are very valuable, and they’re lucky that Henkei was willing to give it to them for free at all- ).  

Shouta stops for a second, the raven haired man taking a break as he listened for any noises, any comotions that could be going on around this area. His patrol was almost done for the night, so he wasn’t too worried about letting himself zone out again, knowing that by now, usually the night turning to dawn would be a peaceful time for criminal activity. 

Shades of grey… Which shade do they work in? Shouta wonders this a lot about vigilanties, about anyone really. Depending on where they dance, he knows whether he can trust them or not. Usually he can tell just by what he’s heard about the person, but what he’s seen them do. 

But Henkei… was a strange one. Strange in the way that Shouta, for all he’s heard about them, doesn’t know where to put them. Where to place them on his chart of mixing dulled colors. Based on the way they work and network, he’d place them somewhere near the lighter grey; place them as someone who’s willing to work with the heroes, who’s trying to help society more than themselves. But when he hears the stories of how people felt fear break their whole mind when they stare at them, at how Henkei was known to rip you down if you displeased them in some way, at how Henkei wasn’t afraid to get what they wanted, and stalked around the night like some beast looking for a snack - well, that pushed Shouta to think of them as someone trying to grow an empire. As someone trying to rule the underground as a tyrant, and that pushed him to think of Henkei as someone who was more dark-grey than light. As someone more villainous…  

Shouta didn’t know what to think, it was all so tiring. Especially right now because apparently Henkei’s been working a case for the last few months, one that was big, and from the whispers Shouta’s caught, very dangerous. Something that might be too much for just one person, might be too much for someone who’s practically just an informant, a hacker. 

If only I knew them, maybe I could help… 

The raven let out a sigh, turning his dry and itchy eyes to the horizon where the dark of the night was just starting to turn a deep purple as it entered the earliest of the dawning stages. His patrol was done for now, so he stood up and began his way towards his home, hopefully to get a decent amount of sleep with his husband before they had to go to work again. 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11.5: TW,TG,ATB ~

Henkei… Usually I can tell the motives of those who work these dirt like jobs… Jobs where nothing ever seems to go right in the end no matter how much you try… I don’t have to see them, because in the end we’re almost all the same. But you… I don’t know… Henkei, what’s your endgame here? 

~ Arc 2 - P2: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 11.5: TW,TG,ATB ~

“Those stupid heroes! Stupid Vigilanties! Stupid, stupid, stupid !” A table was thrown angrily, but no crash was heard throughout the room as it had quickly turned to dust before even reaching part way across the distance. “Those stupid cheap players with their stupid ideals, uugghhh I fucking hate them! I hate them! I can’t wait until I can finally get my hands onto All Mights ugly mug- I’ll strangle him, wrap my hands around his throat and watch him turn to dust - yes, I’ll start with the first layer of skin around his neck, thenI’ll go for an eye, and then maybe tear off one of his ears, but not both, no no, just one of each so that he can still hear and see the horror of all the NPC’s who have to watch! Then i’ll-” 

“Now, now Tomura-kun. Settle down. I know how badly you want to tear All Might down, I do as well after all, but we must stick to the plan for now,” Tomura scratched at his neck violently, the skin raw and bloody from where his fingernails had been digging into the scarred flesh. He turned to the TV, quickly bringing both his hands from his neck to clasp one another, pinkies raised as he took a step forward to the dark screen. 

“Of course Sensei! With the assassin in play, we shouldn’t fail, especially with all the character upgrades and mob building we’ve been doing recently! Our next hit should be easily won, even if there’s more than one boss, like they could ever be a boss though, those terrible heroes are barely worth anything for character choice, I bet an NPC could do damage to them-” 

“Tomura-kun,” Sensei said evenly, not as a chide, almost never as a chide, just as a small reminder that he needed to calm down. To stay focused. Taking a breath, Tomura pulled a chair over to the screen and sat down, ready to listen to his mentor. Kurogiri had just finished sweeping up the dust from the table he’d destroyed and was now behind the counter, cleaning a cup. 

“Yes, Sensei?” He waited. 

“There’s been talk of a vigilante for a while now. A loner by the sounds of it. They’re name is Henkei, and they seem to have their own… reputation , per say. I was thinking that maybe they could become a valuable asset for this escapade?” A pause. Tumura didn’t like vigilanties, most of the time they were back stabbing traitors, always playing both sides and never sticking to any ideals. Unlike their own group, which knew exactly what they wanted. The fall of heroic society and all those with similar sets of ideals. They wanted to ruin and rebuild the world. But if Sensei thinks it might be beneficial to bring them into our party… 

“Alright Sensei, I’ll see what I can do to find out more about them. Maybe if their stats and character description are good enough, they can join our party,” 

“Good, good Tomura-kun. Ah, but remember, Henkei is known for their skills as an information gatherer, not so much for fighting with power, but with the mind,” Another possible assassin? Or maybe they could be considered a support or mage type if it’s intelligence and information they only do well with. Well, once I check over their stats I’ll determine where to group them - then I can give them plenty of upgrades to help them become a good party member. 

“Yes, Sensei. Oh, I almost forgot- How are the new shipments coming in?” A creak was heard before Sensei’s voice filtered through the screen with satisfaction lacing the tone. 

“Fine so far, I’ve heard they’ve caught quite a few good ones this time,” Tomura felt glee swell in his chest. 

“Good, the stronger the nomus, the more heroes they can kill,” 

Arc 2 - P2:  To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten -  To Be Continued 

Chapter Text

Arc 2 - P3:  To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten -  Begin

Chapter 12: Different. Enigma. Klutz. Unwanted.

He’s... different… 

Again. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 12: D.E.K.U. ~

Crimson red eyes never left dark green hair anymore. 

They never strayed from the back of his head, never glanced away when he could help it; during class lectures, in the crowded halls, at lunch when they were in line, after school and before school - if Katsuki could keep his red eyes on Deku, if he could at any time, then that’s where they’d be. 

Now don’t get him wrong, no, don’t get him wrong at all! He wasn’t doing this because of some stupid infautation, some sick desire to have the fucking twerp. He wasn’t doing this because he thought the little trash bag was any actual threat. He wasn’t doing this because the stupid piece of shit made him uneasy… No… He was doing this because Deku was different . 

Different in the way that he was suddenly keeping secrets more often, was going to strange places Katsuki didn’t know at night and after school. Was trying to make himself something out of the nothing that he is, it seemed. 

And boy, was Katsuki going to catch him doing whatever he was doing. Going to grab this goose by the throat and cut off its head no matter how much it struggled. Katsuki was going to catch him, and destroy him - The fucking twerp, thinking he could get into my school , burst his way in on my story ! Stupid, ugly, horrible, useless Deku- 

So, Katsuki kept his crimson red eyes trained on the enigma that sat in his class, that called himself a person ( can you believe that ), that walked the same halls he did in this trashy school; he watched and watched as the freak that Deku was morphed into something. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 12: D.E.K.U. ~

Realistically, it was throughout all Katsuki’s junior high school years that he’d had his eyes trained on Deku, starting right after the incident in the hall; the one where Katsuki took to his words, and missed the way Deku’s mind seemed to collapse within itself. But ever since the slime villain incident, ever since Deku had run into and tried to save him, he’s practically glued his eyes to the other’s being, looking closely for anything much more so than usual. He’d stalk and hang around the halls and school whenever he could; he’d lock his eyes on him in class. He’d make sure to give all the extra beatings he could to the boy before and after school just for the sake of keeping Deku within his line of sight. He’d even follow him home some days, though Deku never seemed to walk straight home anymore after school, always going the opposite way. 

The boy was always walking elsewhere, and halfway through following him, Katsuki would lose track of where he went, of which way he turned, of who he was in the crowd, would miss any sights of green hair and have to turn around, angrily going home. 

Sometimes, at night, he’d notice something, just out the corner of his eye. A silhouette across the street from his window, walking by slowly, their shadow long and dark as it was shown stretched on the ground. He noticed it - noticed deep red shoes, and green eyes that seemed to shine under no real light, gleamed unnaturally from so far away, noticed the tufs of dark hair that stuck from under the hood. He’d stare at Deku, as he acted suspiciously, as he’d walk to his own apartment just a block down and across the street. Watch as he disappeared. 

Katsuki always watched. 

It didn’t help Katsuki’s conscience that the notebooks he’d always destroyed were constantly replaced at insane speeds, much faster than they once were. It was as if whatever was written inside of them now became far more important as of late. He’s seen multiple too, notebooks in Deku’s bag. He’s seen more than just the usual one, and though he’s never actually seen the second one pulled out during school, only shuffled around when Deku needed to fit more shit in his bag, he knows that it’s there. Knows it’s there and has to wonder what’s in it, what’s in both of them now these days. Because it definitely seemed like more than just the usual hero analysis junk the other had written when they were kids. 

He’s different, been so more the last year of junior high after the slime villain incident than before, and it bothered Katsuki. So, so much, did it bother him. Though, he would never admit it of course. 

(But the notebooks, the coming home late, the going places after school, the strange energy he gives off- it’s kinda familiar … he thinks one day, but never strays on it too much. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 12: D.E.K.U. ~

It hits him like a train one night, when he’s doing homework, sitting at his desk. Lost in thought, his mind wanders on the image of the twerps unnatural green and toxic looking eyes. How they stare at him with something strange; like a mix of fear, anger, numbness, and something much, much darker… It was different. It was unwanted. But he’s been thinking though eye, the energy, the twitchiness as of late - how he seemed so tired and busy and everywhere, and yet so collected at the same time - it was when Katsuki thought about how all the other kids had been reacting to Deku, how Deku had been reacting to them when his mind was intruded by the name. 

Tsubasa.  

Tsubasa had been a kid they grew up with, a heavier weighted kid with deep, almost blood red wings. He’d had a place within their weird friend dynamic until Katsuki was about eight or nine before he’d moved away with his grandpa. It had been unexpected, as they hadn’t even been told beforehand; not the kids, their parents, nor the school even. Apparently, the two had moved to the otherside of Japan, but that was all that was known. 

Back then… Deku had acted similarly as he was now then as well… Though, in a much more, quieted and unnoticeable kind of way. 

He’d been twitchy, his strange energy all over the place, a couple extra notebooks in his bag, secretive and extra quiet, eyes clouded over at the time, but still opened enough that it showed just the barest hints of fear, anxiety - he never understood why Deku had acted like that, still didn’t. Not like it mattered though, but it was kinda strange…  

A pause. 

Why do I keep thinking about these things?! Stupid Deku always clouding my fucking mind. 

(Little did Katsuki know, that while Izuku wouldn’t be able to explain his feelings either, now or in the past, he would tell everyone that something had felt explicitly wrong . That something had happened, something big - that he’d seen the doctor not even a week later after the family was said to have left, but didn’t say anything about it right then, no matter how strange, and wrong, and why was he here? That he hadn’t said anything, and just tried to push it off as a packaging error, or maybe that they hadn’t actually had to leave that early, it was just pre-traveling necessities. Even so, he’d written a small note in an extra notebook; of the time, place, and date of where he saw the doctor, to ask his mama about later. When he showed her, she’d only looked troubled at the paper, and ended up making a call, though nothing ever came from it, nothing ever came, only the strong sense of wrong that still floated in his mind- ) 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 12: D.E.K.U. ~

It was after months of watching Deku that Katsuki could finally come up with an answer to his thoughts. Only one idea had formed in his mind, and he grasped it with unyielding claws. 

Deku was a villain. 

He was a thug, using his useless abilities to try and climb his way up to the top of the food chain through the villain society. That had to be it, there was no other plausible reason. 

All the suck up, all the quietness, all the secrets, all the working out, all of the everything he’d done over the years - it was to hurt Katsuki. To become a villain so that Katsuki could have his name ruined by connection, to hurt him so that he could laugh in his face at the idea he’d been forming when Katsuki told him he couldn’t be a hero. 

He was becoming a villain to ruin Katsuki, to get back at him for everything, all because he was too useless to do anything else. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 12: D.E.K.U. ~

He’s different. Like a villain, a thug. Deku’s doing something bad, and no matter how useless he is, no matter how pitiful it is - I won’t let him ruin things. I won’t let him hurt Auntie Inko, I won’t let him destroy UA. I’ll do something about it, no matter how long it takes. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 12: D.E.K.U. ~

(But no matter how much he tried, Deku kept getting back up. Kept going to strange places, kept doing what he always did. Kept writing his notebooks, kept getting faster, smarter, more tired it seemed as well. No matter what Katsuki did, he wasn’t able to stop Deku from getting what he wanted) 

Chapter 13: Whispering Words Of Wisdom, (Don’t) Let It Be

Kami… It’s hard to breathe… 

Izuku continued to jog though, not wanting to stop just yet; he needed to get stronger, faster, better than he already was now, better than the future him, he needed to become the best version of himself, so he couldn’t stop. He may have been getting a quirk, becoming human for once in his life - but that didn’t mean he could stop working, could stop pushing his body to the limits so he could grow, could take a break. He understood being a hero took a lot of work, so, so  much work, but he was behind , he was behind behind behind behind behind - gotta keep going, gotta keep moving, if I stop now, I won’t be able to keep going, keep going, keep going, keep-- 

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt his foot catch on something, swinging his body down and slamming his chin into the hard cement ground, his arms that were held out in an effort to catch him collapsing under the weight of his body from the strain of the last few weeks. He’d been so busy working to find anothering connection between Giran and the two buyers, but he couldn’t find more than what he’d already had. Even when he showed what he found to Ayamei later, and asked her to look at it from this perspective, he’d gotten nothing, seeing as it’s only been a few weeks and Ayamei was busy working as a businesswoman, Ao-Shiki, and a big sister. 

Trying to push himself up, he cried out slightly, falling back to the ground as tears filled his eyes. His hands felt like they sanded down and filled with glass, his chin ached and bled and the feeling of it dripping down his neck made him uncomfortable and irritated, his body felt solid and stiff, stuck in place while his mind ran as if gravity was just a suggestion and not a law. I’m weak, I’m weak, I’m weak - why can’t I be stronger already?! I have people to save, I have people who’re waiting, I can’t stop- A loud booming voice sounded, cutting his thoughts off. 

“Young Midoriya!” He suppressed a flinch at the yell of his name, the sound seeming to echo in his ears and mind, causing a wave of pain and anxiety to flood his system. “You can’t tell me you’re tired already!” Izuku listened as the whirring of the segway All Might was riding came near before stopping right next to him, “Hey, now wait a second!” He feels his body get picked up, and it’s slack, as if it was made of lead, “You’re not following the dream plan, are you now?” Izuku’s tired body is turned to face All Might as he finishes, but all he can think about is the little dribbles of blood dripping down his chin, the achiness in his bones, and the exhaustion on his mind. They sit in silence for another second, when Izuku’s mind finally processes that he’s waiting for an answer. 

Should I answer honestly? He seems to already know that I’m not… Which he was right, Izuku wasn’t sticking to the plan. With all the cases, and small bits of fighting he does when going out, he’s definitely not following the plan - eating too late, sometimes not enough, sometimes too much; staying up late to work, getting up early to work, school beatings and more - he can’t help it though. Even though the Dream Plan was set up and created for him, he didn’t feel it was enough, especially because All Might doesn’t know of his side activities, those of which he does almost every night with the exceptions of the days his mother has off of work, and the nights he’s too exhausted to even leave his bed, letting his mind stirr and drown and eventually fall into the rabbit hole of thoughts that were dangerous and terrible. Those of chaotic murders, of massacres, of bloody one-sided battles, of ‘what-ifs’ and more, all by his hand. Of suicides, of himself of multiple people at once; the knife at his wrist, the rope at his neck, his shoes on the edge, his mind falling and falling and falling - Thoughts of society’s downfall, of times when maybe, just maybe he should give in to his inner desires of hate and pain and suffering and become a villain. Tear down his school, set it aflame…. 

He rarely gets enough sleep as it is currently, the bags under his eyes an ever present reminder that everyone has gotten used to as of late, and he’s always working out during the day when he can, even in class. Staring for another second, he began to try and pull himself out of All Might’s grip - If I’m answering him, he’s gonna have to understand how serious I am, and that won’t happen unless I try to prove a point by going past my limits. Plus Ultra and all that. 

Falling to the ground, he hears All Might let out an exclamation as he forces himself to his feet, beginning to talk. I need to convince him to give me more work, not less. To adjust the plan in my favour, not change his mind to think I’m weak… 

“You’re right All Might-sensei,” It hurts to breathe, but he moves himself onto a knee, continuing a show of pushing himself up, but seeming determined to go past his limits, it’s not really a show though, it really does hurt to do this, “I haven’t been sticking to the plan- but that’s because I’m weak ,” He lets himself slip, falling forward, but catching himself and pushing on, trying to crawl shakily as if to continue the jog even in his state. Letting tears form in his eyes more, and carefully adding a quiver to his voice, I need this quirk. “I’m weak, so that means I have to work harder , I have to push myself- I have to keep going, I have to keep fighting, because I won’t be able to get anywhere otherwise, ” He lets his voice crack as it raises just slightly, as well as lets out a sob, taking another step forward before once more collapsing onto the ground, face forward and tears pouring down his cheeks. I need to be human , “S-so I kept training! I kept fighting on my own! Because I need to be strong- to save people, to save everyone! ” So give me your quirk so I can be human! 

He takes a breath and keeps up the act, waiting for All Might’s reaction, hoping it was enough to convince the Symbol of Peace in his favour. Kami, I’m in pain, and it better have been worth it. Suddenly, he felt himself being picked up again by his collar, lead limbs drooping, as a booming laugh seemed to shake the world around them. 

“HAHAHAA! YOUNG MIDORIYA! YOU’VE GOT SPUNK! Reminds me of me from back in my days as a trainee! I can see what you mean, I understand after all!” Izuku is once more held up in a way that has him facing All Might, but all he can focus on is the ‘I understand after all!’ . But he doesn’t understand, he doesn’t understand anything - and if he did, then why this? Why the ignorance to me, to my situation, to my burns and bruises, my flinching and pain?! “But it’s still dangerous to push yourself so hard, my boy!” Izuku’s body slumped even more, barely noticeable by the fact that it was already weighing down so much. And now all my work, all my time, my chance at humanity, everything that could have made my future, gone, in seconds, because I didn’t follow what he wanted, I fail, I’m a failure, I’m a failure, Kami I’ll never be human, forever a monster, forever trash, dirt, nothing but a strain on society, something that’ll ruin its little bits of shine - “SO! How about we adjust your plan!” Izuku perked up, eyes widening as he looked at All Might, naturally tears filling his eyes this time, I still have a chance, I didn’t ruin anything - I still have a CHANCE- “While I won’t give you too much extra work to do, I’ll make sure that I adjust it in a way where you can still get your fill of training and all the rest you need!” Another laugh, and while it wasn’t exactly what Izuku was hoping for, it’s still better than nothing. 

Wasn’t really worth that whole show though, but All Might is inspired by heroic deeds, and I don’t think he’d take kindly to me just saying ‘Hey, I need your quirk so I can finally be human again! I don’t really care about becoming a symbol or anything, honestly, I’m probably going into the underground, and I would end up becoming a hero whether or not I got the quirk anyways- it’s just I need to be human, and to do that, I need your quirk-’ but whatever, whatever, I still can become human, I can still get away from the thoughts in my head, away from the monster that lurks, finally be normal to society.  

(But his mind whispers away, and his monster, the cocky little thing that it’s grown to become, opens its maw and spews its toxic gargles into his river of thoughts. But do you really think that they’ll treat you any differently? Look at how terrible you are, trying to steal the symbol of peace’s quirk. Do you really think you’ll get rid of me that easily? I’m a part of you, something that will always be here, whether you like it or not, and it seems to laugh at him, and Izuku can’t help but want to tear out his mind, to rip off his ears as the sounds choke and capture his entire mind. Your only limit is your mind, don’t make an enemy of your own thoughts… )  

But Izuku can’t help but hate his mind, his self, so he ignores his subconscious thoughts that occasionally spill over into the front of his mind and continues to run through the pain in his being, and the burn in his eyes.

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13: WWOW, (D)LIB ~

He remembers this quote, just barely, from a book he’d read once upon a time. He’d only skimmed through it, not really paying attention to it, but his mother had repeated it, and he can’t help but think about it now as his thoughts are finally cleaned of the thing in his mind, the thing that finally crept back into its cave, watching the world from its own little place in Izuku’s mind and eyes, continuously growing and growing. 

‘... Some people are just terrible human beings, and terrible people do terrible things. If you’re wracking your brain trying to understand it, it just means you’re not one of those terrible people…’ 

I do terrible things, so I must be terrible, but I question other’s on what they do themselves… What does that make me? 

He shook his head.

No, I question because I don’t understand how humans work, even after years of learning. I just need to question things more, question things so I can fit in better, so that they’ll never know I was a monster, trash before I got the quirk. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13: WWOW, (D)LIB ~

It was only a short few weeks later that All Might called Izuku over to ask about his free time, about whether or not he had any time left open in his busy schedule and so on. 

“Young Midoriya! A word if you will!” Izuku dropped the large sheet of metal onto the scrap pile that was meant to be taken to a recycling company later, one that made support testing items out of scraps. Dusing his hands, he pulled off his gloves and strolled over to where the tall skeletal man was sitting on the concrete stairs that led from the walkway to the dirited beach. Wiping the sweat, he reached down and grabbed a bottle of water from his bag as he listened to All Might speak. “I was wondering if you had any free time this week, preferably within this weekend?” 

Dropping the water back in his bag, Izuku thought about everything he had to do. Well, I had been thinking of taking a break from Vex this weekend, only staying inside and checking up on any new cases that might have developed at the police station recently for a few hours, seeing as we have a pre-exam coming up in class, something about modifying the way we’ll be taking the real end of the year exam this time and seeing how much better it’ll be for us… Hmmm. 

“Well, uh, how long would you need me for? N-not that I don’t want t-to go or anything! I just, uh, have a few things scheduled, but I can make adjustments!” He rubbed the back of his neck, pulling gently at the hairs there. Man, if only I could converse like I mumble or think in my head or even talk to my mama...Stupid anxiety, stupid fear-  

“It should only be a couple hours at most- I wanted you to meet a friend of mine who also knows about my quirk-,” ‘my quirk,’ “- He’s in the Musutafu Police Force, works as a detective actually!” At that Izuku froze, because if he was thinking right, then the only real major police department in Musutafu was that one, and that one had him. Concealing his inner panic, yet also his small flicker of excitement, Izuku turned to face his mentor. “His name’s Tsukauchi Naomasa, we got way back but I just think it’ll be helpful to have him around,” It is him.  

Izuku felt himself die a little on the inside, more so than usual, as his mind went through every scenario it could about how to avoid conversation with this man. It’s not like I hate him or anything, if anything Tsukauchi is probably my favorite of all the people on the force, as he’s one of the only few to ever really respond or look into his leads as Henkei. Hell, it’s even kind of funny that the vigilante he’s been losing sleep over will be right under his nose at one point! But he has a lie detecting quirk, one that I’ve only ever read on file about, not something I’ve ever experienced in person, as Henkei or Izuku, something that doesn’t have many details written about it on file anyways - what if I mess up, how do I avoid keeping my identity secret, what if he knows just by looking at me- no, he won’t, he’s never even seen Henkei personally, maybe I can just say I’ve got a sore throat or something, but he’ll know it’s a lie, so maybe I’ll tell All Might to make it more believable, but what if his quirk is the kind with ‘all knowing truths’ so he could tell I was lying through All Might, so what do I - 

His thoughts were cut off by All Might continuing to speak. 

“I hope that’s fine time wise! I would schedule it some other time seeing as exams are coming up, but this is his only free week, as a villain has been bothering him for a long while now! Something about hacking into the departments tools and emails to use and send information around - what did Tsukauchi-san call them? Hepnei? Heknie? Ah, whatever,” He waved his hand around and continued, “Anyways, he’s got his hands full of some criminal, but they seemed to be taking a break recently, so he doesn’t mind meeting up for a bit!” Izuku could only stare, disregarding almost everything in the sentences besides ‘Villain’ and ‘Criminal’. 

I… guess I should have known that All Might wasn’t the type to work with vigilantes, seeing as most limelight heroes don’t, but… Seeing him call me a straight up villain? A criminal instead of a vigilante kind of… hurts… I guess… It’s almost like he’s… disregarding all my hard work… All the times I’ve saved someone… as nothing… His chest felt tight now as well, accompanied by the emotions from earlier. Now, his body felt like a whirlwind of strange mixing emotions; hurt, anxiety, and the tiniest bits of excitement dancing around and squeezing his heart and mind. Keeping them in check though, he dug around once more in his book bag, trying to distract himself from his thoughts. 

“Does that work, my boy?” His body jolted the slightest bit, pulling him from his bag to face All Might who was unaware of his current inner turmoil. Blinking, he began to let out an answer as he lifted his bag, realizing how late it already was. 

“Oh! Um, y-yeah! That’ll work! J-just text me, you know! W-when you w-want to meet, and, uh, I-i’ll be there!” He bit his lip, sliding the yellow and worn straps of his bag around his shoulders, pulling at them as a way to hide his urge to leave already. Still, he took out his phone and began to text his mom that he’d be at home all night. That they could watch movies if she wasn’t busy. After hearing about this new meeting, I think I need mama’s dinner and a movie to relax… I’ll just work twice as long tomorrow instead. 

“Ah, by the way!” Izuku titled his head up to face the tall blond, “I was just thinking, you’re always so busy- what is it that you’re doing all the time? Are you in a club or something?” Another panicking moment, and wow, I really should have something prepared for this moment, because I knew it was going to eventually happen-

“H-hmm? O-oh, y-yeah! I, uh, I have this, like, information club! W-we study h-heroes, and, uh, things like that!” Kami, what is with my brain right now? It’s not exactly a lie, but what was that?! As if he’s going to believe-

“Well, if that isn’t resourceful!” Izuku was done. He’s an idiot. “Keep doing that! Though, if I have to say, why don’t you tone down on the time spent going there - you’ve only got a few months left before the exam, and much more to learn after-all! Hitting the books is good and all, but right now you need brawn!” With another booming laugh, All might puffed into his big form and took off. 

Izuku just stared, his mind playing over all the scenes where All Might had seemed to gloss over or almost outright stomp on his hard work. His achievements. 

… Was everything I worked hard for until now useless to society?... Did… Did it really not matter in the grand scheme of things?... He shook his head and began to drag his feet home, the dimming light of the sunset hitting his body and elengating his shadow. Well… It is the quirk that makes you human, so maybe brawn is a ruling over society… Emerald eyes going back to his phone, which he’d abandoned in favour of listening to All Might, he typed out a message, instead asking if maybe she would help him with some of his schoolwork he had to get done tonight as well, since he was so tired. 

Mama <3

Of course, baby! 

And why don't we look over those

files again? 

You know, the ones on that family 

robbery case from last week? 

I think it’ll do you some good to

check them over with a fresh set 

of eyes <3 

A small smile spread across his face as he read over the text his mama sent back. It was nice that she’d started helping him here and there, though he wouldn’t let herget involved in anything that was too dangerous, too risky of her feeling the negative consequences of said case or information (but let’s be honest, Izuku knew she knew some things. He’d seen the papers and files organized and moved without his doing so, but he’d never let her actively investigate, there was too much risk-). But little things like this? He loved when she helped, it was always nice having a fresh critical set of eyes helping along, seeing as her job was a filing job for the criminal justice side of the field. 

(Currently she just moves around and files the important paperwork with information about criminals, crimes, and so on. As well as documents everything that needed to be written down, making sure to organize and categorize everything in a certain order. From crimes based around this, or criminals with this type of M.O. She technically also worked plenty more in the firm, since they’re so understaffed, just waiting to be promoted so she can finally start taking part in the more active areas of the law, something of an analysis maybe, to help her son-) 

So, looking at his phone, he typed out a quick response of agreement, saying it wouldn’t be too bad to look over the case again after they finish the homework. 

It wasn’t useless, at least not to me. Because the time spent figuring out these things with mama was never useless, wasted time. The time and effort spent saving people was never useless. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13: WWOW, (D)LIB ~

(The meeting with Tsukauchi had gone fine in the end, as he was too over-worked to actually ask any questions. The most they really did was eat sad salad, drink coffee, and introduce themselves before Tsukauchi left to deal with the most recent encrypted emails from Henkei, sent just a few hours earlier. 

Thank Kami it worked , was all Izuku could think as they walked out of the precinct building. Sorry Detective, but I’ve got to keep my identity a secret a little while longer, so I can’t have you snooping around in my private life at all until then,)  

Chapter 13.5: Hush Little Baby, Don’t Say A Word. Mama’s Gonna Buy You A Mockingbird 

Three years. 

Inko has spent the last three years watching her baby grow into something of a legend. A story, a myth, and a neighborhood ghost tale. Watched him grow from the curious young boy who only lived to survive in this harsh world, who played into their hands, to someone who’s finally taking action against those who’ve wronged and ignored others, finally playing by his own rules, controlling the world in his own hands. Ripping anyone and everyone down from their perches where they thought they were safe. For three years she’s prepared meal after meal, knowing Izuku might not come home early that night, might not come home at all , but still leaving it plated in the fridge or the microwave for when he hopefully came back that night and needed to eat. 

For three years, on nights when it was late, the sun having long gone under the horizon, as she was just dragging herself in from work or she couldn’t let her mind settle enough for her to finally sleep, she’d creep into his room and check on him. She’d quietly move around and gently help him to his bed, as she often times found him asleep at his desk, tucked him in and kissed his forehead. From there, even though she knew Izuku didn’t like her doing this, knowing this information, she would organize his work; move his laptop, close his notebooks, put his files in the correct drawers and lock them when she’d find the key before hanging that up as well. All the while she’d read, through the documents, notebooks, files, see what the latest case he’d been working on was. Who his co-workers were, and where he’d be traveling around.

For three years Inko continued on supporting her son in any way she could, even if it was simple things like a meal, a clean work space, a sticky note with a tib bit of information that might be useful, or just a night filled with movies where she’d sit with him, even if she knew she’d have to be up early the next morning. For three years Inko did that, watched her baby grow and grow and grow. Watched his ups and downs, watched him fall apart over and over and over after an action he’d done, a choice he made, a person he couldn’t save. Watched him build up when tearing down someone, that gleam in his eye as a raw rage filled it, the darkness practically burning back there as he spent nights digging up the dirtiest history he could find on an enemy of his. 

Watched as he came home hurt, bruised, bloody even, from days at school, from nights out. Watched as he cleaned himself, and then went to help him as well. 

Inko, for three years, helped support her son to become the best he could in his state. Listened to him cry, cleaned his wounds, fed him whatever she could, kept his secrets, investigated his cases, comforted him when he was numb. 

She did it all. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13.5: HLB,DSAW. MGBYAM ~

“M-ma-mama-a- I-I-I- He-he’s dead- Ma-mama- I- uuugghhh- I-I-I-I c-c-coul-ldn-n’t s-s-av-ve h-i-im- I-I-I c-c-cou-ouldn’t s-s-ave- aaaaahhhhhhh,” A sob ripped its way out of his throat; harsh, loud, raw, and filled so deeply with anguish. Her baby was a mess of tears; body, soul, and mind falling apart right before her very own eyes. It was like watching a painting, so beautiful and ornate, have its picture drenched in water, and now all the colors and meanings were washing away, pouring down the canvas to leave something blotched, ruined, and meaningless. A sunflower in a hurricane getting torn apart under the rain and wind. A dam breaking after one too many cracks. A shattered vase… 

Pulling him closer to her chest, she cradled him in her arms, letting her own silent tears fall as he shook and heaved and screamed all his thoughts and feelings. Rocking their embraced bodies, all she could do was whisper silent words of assurance, of comfort, of saddened condolences, for both her son and the others mourning the loss of a man who’d been so, so much to them; a father, a husband, a son, a friend, a brother, and so much more. She held him as he fell apart in her arms, making sure to pick all the pieces she could up so that when he was ready, she’d be there to help put him back together again. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13.5: HLB,DSAW. MGBYAM ~

It was late. 

Izuku wasn’t home like he said he’d be. 

Inko paced through their small kitchen, slippers letting up quiet tap, tap, tap noises as she moved. The food on the table was cold once more, having been sitting out for another hour or so, and her glossed nails were beginning to shorten in length more than she’d prefer them to be throughout her nervous chewing. 

This wasn’t the first time something like this has happened, of course it wasn’t when your son was out in the depths of the blackened night doing dangerous things, talking to dangerous people, playing dangerous games. But tonight, tonight he’d promised he’d be home before the clock struck an hour to midnight, that he’d be home by then at the latest, yet here it was, the hand on the clock ticking away as it neared two o’clock in the morning, and Inko was worried.

What if he was hurt? What if he was taken? Maybe he just got lost, maybe he was just in a new part of town. But what if something went wrong? What if he was caught by the police? They would have called then by now, but what if they were hurting him because he’s quirkless, because he’s a vigilante, because he’s been doing their job better than them? Where could he be? Was he on the way home? He would have texted though. But maybe he forgot? Yeah, that’s it, he was busy and forgot to text. Don’t think about anything else, don’t think that he could be dea- 

Inko gasped, her hand flying to her mouth leaving a stinging feeling from where it connected with the skin, trying to hold back a cry. What if her baby was dead? What if he’d finally met the wrong people that were really out to get him? What if he never came back to her?

Izuku, baby, Izuku - Oh no, please come back home to me. Please come back home - you promised me, you promised me ! Don’t you dare come back in a box, baby, Izuku - please come back home to mama, I don’t know what I’d do without you- please just- 

She felt her legs wobble, the weight of everything, of her emotions finally pushing on her shoulders, and she had to lower herself to the floor of the kitchen, one hand gripping tightly onto the counter to steady her while the other still muffled the sobs she let out. 

Sometimes… Sometimes when the stress got too high, when Izuku was a little too late, when he seemed off, and when he was hurt a bit too much, sometimes, Inko wondered if this was ok. If this was worth all the pain. If letting her son do something like this was alright. She knew that normally that answer would be no, under different circumstances, the answer would be no, but this was Izuku, and Izuku… Well, Izuku’s almost a whole circumstance on his own. He’s just, so alive when he does this, even when he fails. It’s just, can she take it? Is this pain really worth his contentment, his happiness even for a short while? His chance at doing what he loves? 

Sometimes, Inko wonders what it would have been like. Wonders what it would have been like if she’d just told him ‘no’. That he couldn’t be a hero, that he couldn’t go around to the fights. Wonders what if she’d never handed him a notebook, but instead something else, if she’d never told him to write. She wondered if he’d be home every night, safe in her arms, in their own little bubble. 

But everytime, she throws those ideas away. Those thoughts, the images, the possible futures and pasts and consequences; she burns them. She burns them from her mind and throws them away, buries them in the trenches of her mind where they won’t return, because Izuku is wonderful and amazing and smart and creative and talented and just- Izuku is Izuku , and that’s the best version of himself he’ll ever be. Himself . And she just can’t take that away from him, she can’t just hurt him because she’s scared. 

Please… baby… just come home… 

Her heart nearly lept from her chest when she heard the front door open and the familiar sound of her sons quiet “I’m home,”. A sob left her lips as she leaned her head against the cabinet that held the counter. Oh thank Kami he’s home. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13.5: HLB,DSAW. MGBYAM ~

“Mama?” 

“Yeah baby?”

“Can you look over this file for me? I’ve read it so many times, but I can’t seem to find anything important, and I just- I think it needs a new set of eyes,” 

“Sure honey. What are we looking for?” She grabbed the papers from her son's hands and began reading over the information. Something about a series of assault cases happening on a certain street. It seemed to be the same person, the same place even for each assault, the problem is that the persons always gone before the police got there, and the victims have no idea where they leave too. 

“Mainly the perps quirk; It says that the victims aren’t blinded or anything, the perp just disappears in front of them! I’ve thought about teleportation and the likes, but it doesn’t match any of the suspects quirks, and at this point, if the cases isn’t solved soon, it’ll go cold and the perp will most likely move elsewhere to continue their assaulting,” Inko watches as Izuku lays his head on the table, his hands rubbing at his temples. Taking one of her own hands off the paper, she gently begins to run it through his hair soothingly, smiling softly when he leans into the touch. Inko takes another look at the file, reading over some of the side notes left here and there on the papers while letting out a low hum in thought. 

It says that the victims were all facing towards the person when they were being assaulted, the perp pressing their bodies chest to chest, while holding their wrists together in their hands. When the police were called, always by some bystander nearby, the perp would just disappear before the cops arrived… Hmm, what about crime-scene notes… 

Putting the papers down, she grabs another set, reading those over. It only takes her a second before she’s making a noise of confirmation, and Izuku is lifting his head off the table to see what she’s found. 

Pointing to the paper, she turns it so her son could see what she was trying to show him. 

“Here you go Izuku! Look at this, see, it says that at every crime scene there was a pack of opened cigarettes on the ground. All the same brand, all opened, all right in the middle of the crime-scene. When asked, all of the victims either said they didn’t smoke, or that it wasn’t their brand. It was also written in passing that a couple of the victims said their perpetrator smelled like smoke, or some nasty nicotine!” Inko kept her eyes on her son as he processed everything, finally when his eyes lit up he turned to look into her own emerald eyes. 

“Tanagi Kyoki has a quirk that involves switching the positions of any object with cigarette cartons, though it says non-living objects, she could have lied on her application, or something,” Inko smiled as her son rummaged through the profiles of the suspects, pulling out Tanagi’s and flipping it open. “Right here it says she smokes as well, though when questioned, she said she hadn't smoked in a few years, but she always smells like cigarettes, something that only happens when you actually smoke them, and not just carry them around- Mama, we found the perp! We found her!” 

Izuku cheered as he jumped up from his seat, quickly turning to face Inko and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before running off to his room to grab his laptop. Inko just smiled and chuckled as she began to tuck everything back into organized piles, happily watching as Izuku came running back and began typing away, his notebook right next to him as he jotted down everything new that came with hacking into the police stations emails. 

“Thanks mama,” Izuku had looked at her when he said it, and Inko couldn’t help but ruffled his hair as she answered back. 

“Of course baby, any time,” 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13.5: HLB,DSAW. MGBYAM ~

“Izuku, baby! Quickly now! The movie’s about to start!” 

“I’ll be there in just a second mama!” She huffed good naturedly under her breath as she adjusted the blankets around her, popcorn bowl in her hand. Not a second later did she watch as Izuku came speeding down the short hall to their living room, slipping on his socks as he turned too fast and cashing on to the floor. 

“Oww..” Inko couldn't help but laugh a little as she watched her son push himself up and rub his head a little. “Mama, that’s meeaann~!” 

“Oh dear, don’t stress the little things,” She chuckled again as he crawled into the blankets beside her and grabbed the popcorn. Brushing back his hair, she leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss on the head, “There. Is that better now Izuku?” 

“Yes mama!” He dragged the answer out as if he was annoyed, but the smile on his face obviously told a different story. Feeling him curl into her side more, Inko wrapped an arm around his head, letting her fingers run through his curly strands, and gave him another kiss before turning back the tv as the movie started. 

Settled and comfortable, the two sat quietly as the movie played out its beginning, starting off about a boy who could see thoughts as colors and could speak to trees. It was a few minutes before Izuku’s gentle voice broke through the sound. 

“Hey mama?”

“Yeah baby?” 

“Thanks. For this I mean… I really like it when we watch movies together,” Once more, Inko leaned over to plant a kiss on her son's head. 

“Me too baby, me too,”

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 13.5: HLB,DSAW. MGBYAM ~

For three years Inko was there, watching her baby grow into what he was now. 

Three years of torroment, of hardships, of fun, and plenty of other things. 

Three years that she wouldn’t trade for the world. 

Three years, and for however long it was to last in the future, she would stay. 

Chapter 14: To Cross A Black Cat 

They say crossing a black cat is bad luck. 

Does that count for men clad in black as well?  

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 14: TCABC ~

Exams are coming up, both final and entrance, and Izuku’s mind was in a rush.

One week, only one week before I have to take the biggest exam of my life, one week before All Might says he’ll give me his quirk, one week before I can become human… 

The beach was practically clean, the sands glistening under the sun now, not hidden beneath other’s throwaways. It smelled fresh, and the breeze from the water could be felt as you walked along the shore. Though, there was still a small pile of trash near the stairs. Mostly small things like microwaves, smaller shelves, side tables, a box tv, as well as the car that he still has to move. But those things could be cleaned up by tomorrow, thus leaving him the rest of the week to do as he pleased, preferably do some more searching for Vex (the case was getting out of hand, there was so much, and right now, the hope Izuku had for even finding him alive was little to none, but he couldn’t give up, wouldn’t give up. Not until he found him-). 

Right now he walked the empty night streets, not with any real intent, just something to work his nerves off, to help him relax before he’s thrust into an entirely new environment. The night had become something of a comfort to him, the chill of the air, the quietness in his surroundings but the low hum of energy elsewhere. He knows these streets, knows the buildings, knows the smell of the air, the smoke, the pollution - he’s welcomed inside of these strange shades of society that people would prefer not to see, not to acknowledge. He knows this place like the back of his palm, knows it like the layout of his home, and it knows him back like a book. He’s something of a legend here, dressed behind his cheap mask and ironic name. 

The villains, the heroes, the others who work like himself; he knew these people , even if he’s never actually met them. He’s walked in their shoes at one time or another, danced to their fiddle, hummed to their tune - has played his part as someone's rival, enemy, villain; as someone's saviour, their knight, their hero; as someone's informant, someone's hacker, their middleman. He lived these streets, these nights, and while paranoia, anxiety, fear swam through his veins, while he was cautioned against by other people, he was also alive, excited and almost free, he was respected and thought highly of. The parallels that charged his body and curled around his name while he strolled down the empty streets filled him with something welcoming, warm, and enticing, but also disgusting, horrible, and strange - but honestly, he couldn’t help but love it . It fed his monster while making him feel human all in one. 

His friends ( should he call them friends? ) were here, his life was basically here now and in the future, and even though his mama wouldn’t travel much, she dipped her own toes into the blackened waters of the underground, thus entering a world Izuku’s played in more so than her, no matter how dangerous the game. 

So there he was, hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes locked onto the sky as he walked around the opened dark box that was his world, watching as the small glitz and gleams of stars in the sky dripped and stirred like liquid glitter used to decorate cakes. That spotted and stitched the sky like the dusting of freckles on his face. His mind was rushed, but he was calm. His mind was something a bit terrible, but he was filled with absolute delight as he trekked around and around and around. 

Nothing could ruin his mood - well, actually, a lot of things could ruin his mood - but nothing that he could control could ruin his mood at the moment. Maybe I’ll stop by The River and give Neutral a visit, it should be a bit slow tonight, as nothing big’s been really going on as of late. Well, besides the attack on UA… But even then, that’s sorta faded out, as if it was just a trendy idea for a while… 

After the week of connecting points, Izuku had finally sent the email indicating the threat on UA to the police after feeling like it was real enough. He’d gotten as much information as he could of in that time - that it would be a group called the League of Villains leading the attack; that it would be one of the UA buildings, not just the walls; that their main target seemed to be one of the teachers, though he didn’t know which one; and that it would end up happening within the next eight or so months; as well as that this was mostly based on heavy rumors but was still something to be looked into - it wasn’t a lot, hell Izuku wasn’t too sure that he’d believe it himself if he saw such open ended information through an email of all things! But he hoped they would grasp it at least, hoped they would keep it tucked within their minds for later if anything happened. 

Business, business, always on the mind. I can’t seem to escape it can I? Just wanted one night without any trouble, yet here I am, thinking about UA getting broken into… It’s been months, and nothing’s happened… Granted, we do still have time… He let a sigh fall from his lips, closing his eyes as he continued to walk, having memorized the path years ago when he first started walking them. Letting his head fall forward, he opened his eyes, only to feel the hair on his neck rise and a shiver wrack his body. 

He wanted to hesitate, wanted to stop so bad and turn around, to find whatever stare was making him feel this way, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t stop or twitch or flinch lest he let whoever it was beknown to the fact that he knew they were there. So instead, he continued forward as if he couldn’t feel the burning stare of someone’s eyes on him, as if he couldn’t feel them tracking his every move, his every step. Who could suddenly be watching me?! Izuku didn’t really panic, his anxiety had jumped through the roof, his heart beating faster and pumping his adrenaline to every crook and cranny of his being, but he wasn’t actually panicking. He was used to this, strangely enough; plenty of people have followed him to try and find out who he was, or to try and knock him out of the game, kick him from his place so they could take it over with the prize of having defeated Henkei. But still, this stare felt unfamiliar, strange, new, and raw . As if the person staring at him was trying to dig into his being, trying to find out who he was without having to physically pull off his mask. 

Was this how people felt when I dissected their quirks? (Little did he know this was how almost everyone felt when he stared at him, whether it just be a glance or not - this was how everyone felt when Izuku turned their way if even for a second, though, it was tens of times worse than this feeling he was currently experiencing) 

He still moved forward, instead changing his path to one of that filled with a purpose, a destination in mind. I’ll just make my way to Neutrals. I was already deciding whether or not to do it, and well here’s the motivator - though I’ll take a little longer to throw them off my path. She’ll let me in, especially if she finds out I’m being followed by someone again. Oh, but the lecture I’m gonna get from her-  

He’s almost too distracted to see the man clad in black in front of him, but he does just in the nick of time, allowing him to twirl around the stranger instead of bumping into his chest. He stops and turns around to give a short and sweet apology, hating that he’s actually about to speak, but not wanting to look suspicious with his phone out if this was an authority figure. 

“A-hah, sorry ‘bout thhaa-,” The words slur and catch in his throat as his body does indeed freeze this time when he looks up and sees a white-grey scarf and bright scratched up yellow goggles. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 14: TCABC ~

Shouta had been patrolling when he noticed them. The night was dark and quiet, the area he’d chosen to work having been calm. It was as he was sitting atop a building that he’d caught the figure turn the corner of the block next to his, walking down the street away from him. A kid most likely given the general height and build he could see, clad in dark clothes, deep red or brown shoes, and casually strolling down the street, head tilted towards the sky. The kid wasn’t doing anything wrong, no suspicious behaviour at all, and Shouta couldn’t tell you why, but as soon as his black eyes caught sight of the kid's figure, alarm bells blared in his head, and the need to follow them flushed through his veins. Never having been one to go against his gut, he didn’t even question it as he silently began to move from rooftop to rooftop, making sure to keep at least a block's worth of distance between themselves. 

It’s when the ringing becomes too much and the gut feeling to finally ‘ just deal with it ’ becomes a little too overpowering that he speeds up just the slightest, annoyance filling his mind as he wonders what the big deal with this kid could be. It was a mistake on his part though, he can tell as he watches just the barest hints of stiffness enter the kids shoulders, the way their steps become slightly stalled, the way they started to move down the sidewalk as if they had intent to do something, go somewhere unlike the casual pace of their stroll they’d been in before. Still, he doesn't stop now, instead Shouta keeps forward, knowing full well that the kid can feel his stare, is aware of his presence nearby. It’s when the kid goes to turn the corner of the block that Shouta speeds forward silently to get ahead of him, dropping down from the building on the other side and planting himself directly in the way of where the kid would be turning the corner to. 

I don’t know why my instincts are screaming at them, but it better damn well be important enough. 

The kid dodges around his body at almost the last second, quickly turning back around to face him when steadied, and what he thinks is the start of an apology on their lips. 

“A-hah, sorry ‘bout thhaa-,” The kid freezes in their tracks, shaded eyes staring into his own. Are they green? Or some type of black? I can’t tell in this lighting- the sudden urge to strike as his thoughts halting, the hairs on his neck and arms lifting as if to warn him of something, and the alarms that had blared in his head before were now almost screeching that something dangerous was happening, that he needed to leave, that it wasn’t safe . He didn’t move though, because while his mind and body were telling him to fight or fly, his eyes were seeing a child also in a state of shock, probably weirded out by some strange unknown man in front of him. But still, even as he tried to ignore the feeling, he couldn’t help but have to almost forcefully repress his quirk, the power trying to automatically turn on. I haven’t felt this way since I was a teenager, what’s gotten into me?! 

Shouta tries to put out an answer in his mind, find a solution as to why this was happening. But as he continues to stare into shining eyes even though shaded from the light, he can’t help but feel as if his whole life is being ripped from his hands at this very moment, as if he was dying and these were the seven seconds before his life ended for good, as if a predator had come to claim his soul as their very own, and only one word filters through his mind as it happens, hitting him instantly as he thinks of all the rumors he’s heard filter through networks of the underground. 

Henkei .

“U-um, y-yeah! S-sorry about t-that mister… I, uh, d-didn’t see you there…” His mind was pulled from its chaos by a young males voice, and it hit him, it really hit him, that the person standing before him was a young boy. Dark eyes seemed to focus more, and he couldn’t help but stare and wonder if this really was the person that had their name whispered and passed around quietly as if they were just a legend from a long time ago, as if they were some spirit amongst men. 

You should never doubt by age… but this… I don’t think I can believe this… My mind must be tired, paranoid, something, hell maybe it’s creating scenarios so I have something to do tonight… 

The two just stood and stared at each other for a few more seconds, before finally the younger just pointed both his thumbs behind him and squeaked out that he had to go because it was late. Snapping his mind back into reality, Shouta called for the kid to stop before he could fully turn around to leave. 

“Hey, kid, what’re you doing out here so late? It’s dangerous, don’t you know?” The kid seemed nervous, sweating bullets almost, but Shouta was honestly not faring much better, and at least the kid had a reason for it, seeing as Shouta looked almost like a homeless thug himself. But his instincts kept flaring randomly, his eyes tracking every single twitch the kid made as if he was some top level villain, the need to use his quirk on the boy only heightening as time went on, and why does this keep happening?! He’s just a kid, he’s not even doing anything- 

“O-oh, y-yeah, I know… That’s, uh, that’s why I was heading home!” The kid took a step back, Shouta staying rooted to his spot, narrowing his eyes as he continued to peer through his goggles at the kid. 

“Can I ask why you were out this late in the first place?” He crossed his arms, trying to force himself to relax, to force some of the stiffness out of his body; but it was strange , this feeling, these nerves, it must be the lack of coffee I’ve had, making me paranoid or something. I’ll have to ask Hizashi to buy me some more tomorrow when he goes to get the cat's food.  

The kid didn’t speak for a second, just keeping his gaze locked onto Shouta’s own. What felt like an eternity passed, but really it had only been just a second when the kid finally spoke. 

“I-I had been h-hanging out with a few f-friends- down at Auntie Patties, y-you know? N-none of us realized how l-late it had g-gotten. T-that’s why I-I’m s-still out, s-sir…” Shouta stared for another second, trying to see if the kid was lying, but there was no real reason to doubt the kid besides the violent stirring of his guy and the constant ringing of alarm bells in his head. And while that can be used as a legitimate enough piece of evidence, Shouta tried not to use it that much incase he was ever wrong. This feels like one of those moments as well… So, heaving a sigh, he let the kid go. 

“Fine, go on now - your parents are probably worried,” And with that, the two parted ways. 

Kami, I hope I didn’t make a mistake… Who knows, maybe it wasn’t Henkei, but that kid could still have been a villain… 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 14: TCABC ~

Kami, thank Kami, I can’t believe I just ran into Eraserhead of all people tonight! 

As soon as the other was out of sight, Izuku had taken off in a dash straight for his house, forgetting completely about possibly going to the bar seeing as that man could go in whenever he wanted. The one night I wanted to relax, the one night I wanted to get my mind off of work, off of the UA entrance exams! Of course a freaking teacher of all things shows up! 

He remembers, walking down the enormous halls of UA as he was leaving Nedzu’s office, All Might just slightly in front of him clamoring away about who knows what. Remembers walking past a corner just as a tall figure dressed in black turned another, hints of yellow and grey-ish-white mixing in his vision as he passed, his eyes hungrily taking in the person, wondering who it could be. Let it be known that a couple weeks later had shown Izuku sat on his bed, buried in his covers typing furiously at his laptop, scouring the depths of the internet until dawn as a dream of the strange person played over in his mind, pushing him to find out who they possibly were. 

The only result that could make sense was found to be someone named ‘Aizawa Shouta’, though they didn’t list which prohero he was under his name. That left Izuku to look through the Hero Networking Channels, Forums, and even the Police Database for information. UA only employs heroes, and his name not being listed means he’s most certainly underground, him being underground means he’s in very close cahoots with either the police force or with at least one limelight hero, allowing him easy access to the information he needs without having to constantly verify he’s truly indeed a hero. 

Turns out he’s the type to hang around with the police, because not even a couple hours later did Izuku find his file listed under the section of ‘Prohero Partnerships’. He hadn’t even needed to read it in order to see who it was, he’d already connected the dots by then, so leaving it alone as not to accidentally offset any alarm system put in place that came with protecting heroes identities, he’d left it alone and went back to bed that night, choosing to ignore the sun starting to peak over the horizon. 

But seriously?! Eraserhead of all heroes?! When did he start patrolling over here?! Did I just not notice that I’d waltzed on into his territory maybe?! I don’t know, I’ll figure this all out when I get home! So, quickly speeding down the streets, he ran until he got to his home and made sure to lock the door when he was inside. Kami, just one night, please . 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 14: TCABC ~

For the next couple days that Izuku went out, it felt like Eraserhead was everywhere he went, always watching his moves. 

Granted, Eraserhead didn’t know it was him , but it was still nerve wracking. 

Hopefully he won't be able to identify me by my voice if I get into his class when school starts… Though I’m not too worried, seeing as I hadn’t been doing anything wrong…  

Only time would tell though.

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 14: TCABC ~

“Tomura-kun, any updates on Henkei?” 

“I’ve done my research, Sensei, and… I’m not too sure I want them in our party…” 

“Hmm, I see… But what else have you found? Are you sure you don’t want this?” 

“... Well, we’ve done some searching, and I think we’ve got a possible general spawn area where they like to farm for points… I was thinking, if we still have to get them, why don’t we wait until after the first mission… I feel, that we’ll be able to… proposition them more if we have more achievements under our belts…” 

“Ah, so you want to wait until after UA?” 

“If you wouldn’t mind, Sensei…” 

“It’s your take Tomura-kun, I’m only here to give suggestions for now,” 

“Alright then; we’ll wait, and afterwards, we’ll get our possible assassin,” 

Chapter 15: Romantics Aren’t Always Beautiful

Today was the day. 

Izuku let out a breath. 

Here we go… 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

They’d met on the beach early that morning, Izuku dressed in some track wear, doing light warm-ups as he waited for his mentor to show up as they planned. The blond had made it not too much later, exclaiming with delight at how clean the beach was, at how this was more than he’d expected. He would have noticed this earlier that week if he’d actually bothered to show up… Granted, he hasn't shown up to a good portion of the training days anyways, so it’s not too surprising… 

“MY BOY! LOOK AT THAT! THE BEACH IS COMPLETELY CLEARED!” His signature booming laugh rang out into the morning air as he walked his way over to where Izuku stood on the sand, the emerald eyed boy having turned to take in the view. The late winter, almost spring sunrise was a beautiful thing; the golden shimmering hues mixed with the deep and floral like red-pinks creating a wondrous glowing color pattern against the deep almost black of the water, seeming to set it aflame - like a match to oil. “You’ve gone far above and beyond Plus Ultra Style than I would have thought capable! This shows the world that you truly are deserving of my power! SO NOW! Onto the passing part!” 

When that reached Izuku’s ear, the boy practically spun around, almosting knocking himself down in the process, trying his best to ignore the little inkling of a seed in his mind once more commenting on how All Might had said ‘my power’ and not some other alternative. As if this was never really Izuku’s to have, as if he was only getting it to carry on All Might’s own dreams, and not his. As if Izuku was just a tool for All Might to use, a puppet for him to control down the road to complete and continue his own Symbol of Peace dream until he finally died. Standing in front of All Might, Izuku waited, watching with almost impatient and hungry eyes as his mind ran circles around itself in an almost drunken like stupor, reaping the same phrase over and over. 

It’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening, finally, thank Kami, hurry up please-  

“NOW!” Large hands reach up to tall hair, pinching and plucking a long golden blond strand from his head, and Izuku, within all his impatient desperation surrounded by relief, had to wonder what part said strand of hair played in all this. “EAT THIS!” Izuku’s collective mind, body, and soul froze at this. Even the subconscious parts of his mind that drowned in terrible thoughts seemed to halt and try to process what had just been asked of him. Blank eyes stared, and the only movements Izuku seemed capable of was the blinking of his eyes, and the slightest tilting of his head as he ping-ponged his gaze back and forth between the hair piece in All Might’s large hands to the mans face and glowing blue eyes, trying with all his brain power to see if he was joking in any way. 

M-maybe he’s lying? Was this a joke? Did I do all this for nothing? Did he really think so low of me? So badly of me that he’s trained me- but was it really even training? He made me clean a beach of junk for how many months, for Kami’s sake, he gave me a meal plan- this must’ve been a joke, oh Kami, how did I not see this? Of course All Might wouldn’t give him the quirk, of course the world wouldn’t let him live so easily, wouldn’t let him just experience a taste of what it was like to be normal, human, wanted, cared for, acknowledged even, to just be seen as something other than the living embodiment of nothing, a waste, a monster - of course this was all just a- 

“-joke… W-was this all… a-a j-joke? I-I-,” He felt numb. His eyes burned and stung, as if they would catch fire any second, but not tears ever came, never started to gloss and fill his eyes. Izuku could feel his mind quaking, cracking, shattering, collapsing into itself like it had the begun to do so the day Kacchan- no Bakugou, Bakugou, Bakugou- why do I still mess up his name as times?! - had first suicide baited him. Could feel the flames that was his inner hope and struggling desire, his determination that he’d worked so hard to keep flushed and fumeing, to keep burning and warming, quickly and painfully begin to flutter out. How could… How could people do this?... Was I… Was I really something that pitiful? That useless, inhuman, that someone- no note just someone, the symbol of peace , would play this trick for? Did he think it was just a fun past-time to mess around and give false hope to a quirkless kid? That it was just a joke for him and his colleagues to laugh at behind his back? Was I right all along to not trust him? I- 

“Young Midoriya! It’s no joke!” Izuku couldn’t help but stare at the man once more, his face blank, but his inner feelings a swirling storm of regret, mistrust, disbelief, rage, and much more complicated emotions. Though, staring at the hero's face, Izuku noticed the lines etched along it from age, creasing in a display of something like confusion and anxious regret. “The only way for my power-,”  my power, my power, it’s always ‘my power’ - was this really not a joke? “-to be passed on is through DNA transfer! That means you must eat the hair in order to ingest some of my DNA and wait for the power to settle in, though it will indeed take a few hours to work! I promise, my boy, this is no joke!” Disbelief. Disbelief was the strongest thing he felt right now; followed closely by caution, anxiety, and small bits of anger. But… But what if this wasn’t a joke? What if, on the off chance, this wasn’t some terrible joke, some horrible trick to play on the weak, useless, quirkless, hero wannabe kid? 

Taking a gulp, he took a step forward, hand outstretched towards the hair strand. I can’t waste this chance, no matter how unbelievable it may seem. I will become human.  

And just like that, he swallowed the hair. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

A long, low pitched bell sounded throughout the grounds of the school, indicating that the written portion of the entrance exam was finally over. 

Oh, finally! My time to shine~!

Tall blond hair, toxic and bright green eyes, glasses on the nose, a speaker around the neck, and Hizashi just knew he was looking his best today. Strutting onto the stage, he pulled at his black leather jacket as his boots clacked onto the wood flooring of the auditorium, his head held high, an enormous smile painted on his face, and his spirits at an all time rush of good vibing energy. 

Oh boy, oh boy, I can’t wait to see all the little listeners this year! So much potential, all packed in one room! 

He swiftly and smoothly slid behind the podium, slapping his hands down onto the stand a little harder than he probably should, but with the right feel behind it of course. It was only a second later though, that he threw his hands back up in the grandest gesture he could, eyes scanning the crowd over as he began his usual animated introduction greeting. 

“Can anyone give me a YEEE AAAHH ~!” His quirk fluctuated a little too loud, an  he cut off the greeting instantly, trying to smooth it out in a way so that it seemed like he’d meant to do that, that he hadn’t been spooked into messing up, as he hadn’t meant to almost blow the ear drums out of his listeners sitting right there in front of.  

What in the-  

Emerald eyes gleamed brightly as they stared at him, something that must have been astonishment and excitement pooling and swimming in the eyes, even from this distance away. He couldn’t help but startle just the slightest and freeze for less than a half a second before quickly moving back into character. 

What in the world is that listener doing?!  

Keeping his eyes trained on the boy a second longer, Hizashi went back to his speech, trying to ignore the feeling of his entire person being eaten alive in tiny bits and bites. 

“ WELL~! Look at that ENERGY! Moving on though!” He pulled out a remote, clicking it on so that the projector screen was showing the images he needed on the wall behind him. With plenty of dynamics and bouts of life, Hizashi went through the meanings of everything on the screen; talking about the robots, the point values, what to do and where to generally go- that is, until one of the more stiff listeners called out loudly to him. 

“Excuse me sir! I’m so sorry to interrupt, but it seems there are four robots on this sheet, yet you’ve only explained three! If that is a printing error, then I must say, that a prestigious school such as UA should be ashamed for such disregard to corrective overlooking of any paperwork before it’s handed out to the body - and you!” 

The examinee turns around, pointing at the emerald eye boy, whose gaze flicks to him as he’s put under the spotlight. A pause seemed to enter his speech, but he pushed on, his words coming out less strongly than before, but still with sure intent behind them. 

“Y-you’ve been mumbling this entire time! It is very distracting to yourself and your fellow peers! If you don’t want to take this seriously, you should leave instead of hindering the rest of these students' future chances of attending this establishment!” Once more the boy turned around, his face a slightly paler shade than it was before he’d turned around to publicly humiliate the other boy. 

Iida Tenya… Oh! Tensei’s little bro! Oh man, didn’t his apple fall far from the personality tree! 

Not even missing a beat, though he was a little annoyed that the listener was causing such a ruckus and stealing his thunder, seeing as Hizashi was going to get to that point anyways, he got back on track. 

“You are correct, examinee #7111! But don’t fret just yet listeners! This robot’s worth zero points! Yes,you heard me right! ZERO! Zilch! Nada! So don’t even bother with it! Honestly, if you see it, just straight up run! That’s all for now! Everyone get ready to head to your buses! And don’t forget- GOOOOOODD~ LUCK! PLUS ULTRA STYLE!”

With that, all the students stumbled out of their seats, getting ready to leave for their areas- but as they went, Hizashi’s mind strayed on the image of emerald eyes a bit longer, wondering what that weird feeling was all about. 

Welp, I’ve gotta get ready for the next round! We can think about the strange listener later! And with that, it was pushed to the back of his mind to be dissected later. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

When Tenya had stared into the emerald eyes of his possible future classmate, he’d felt attacked. He’d felt afraid, so very afraid of the boy that was looking right back at him. A fear he’d never felt before… More like stabbing him with hundreds of thousands of dissecting needles… Well, thankfully it seemed we might be in different arenas… 

But his hopes were for none, dashed as soon as she saw the green haired boy standing nervously at the edge of his group. Deciding he’d just avoid the boy, he began his trek to an open area to stretch far away from the other, only to see that said boy was moving towards what seemed to be another examinee, a young lady, trying desperately to focus. 

No matter how… strange… that boy is, I mustn't let him disturb anyone else before the exam! 

Quickly, he started over, a nervous dread filling a pit in his stomach fuller and fuller until it was spilling out in the form of sweat on his neck, and an even stiffer feeling throughout his body, as he walked nearer. But instead of the strange fear he’d felt before, now he felt almost perfectly normal as he grabbed the young boy's shoulder and turned him around. Emerald eyes met his, and nothing happened. Was I expecting…? Well, whatever, it must have been a fluke, exam day nerves or something is all- What I must be focusing on is telling this student to not disturb anyone else!

(Little did Iida know that it hadn’t been exam nerves or anything of the like - it had been true instinctual fear that he’d felt. Something he’d only felt because at that moment Izuku had felt a sudden urge to protect himself, and to do that, while in his conscious mind it was to make himself small, his subciouses thought he must make himself threatening. And even then, he hadn’t felt the full force of what Midoriya Izuku truly was. Nobody else had noticed the feeling, seeing as it had been directed at Iida, though the examinees did shift in their seats a little uncomfortably as they watched the scene go down. But now, because of Iida’s lack of loss and hurt and pain and despair and betrayal and pain pain pain pain pain pain from society, his family, his friends, from the world, because he’d never been hurt, he would never feel it again unless he made himself an enemy of one Midoirya Izuku-) 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Ochako had seen the boy again; the one she’d helped keep from hitting the ground in front of the school when he tripped earlier. Had seen him running around and slamming his fist into robot after robot after robot, ripping their wires out with his bare hands. She’d seen him run around and help others up, as well as take points whenever he could. After half the exam had seemed to pass, she’d seen him again, hands bloodied and bruised, broken maybe? But still continuously plunging them into robots when he could. 

It fueled the fire in her, pushing her to work harder, run faster, prolong the use of her quirk past its limits. If this nervous boy could do this well, then I know I can do just as good too! She huffed and quickly went to work… 

Though, she’d later realize that it was her downfall, as now she was trapped under some rubble, her ankle was sprained or dislocated or broken, she couldn’t tell, and the limit of her quirk had been pushed so far that she knew if she even tried using it once more, she’d be choking on her own vomit instead of floating the objects away. Then the bang came from behind her. Her body stilled and she hesitantly moved her head to see behind her. There, stood not even a two blocks away, was the largest robot she’d ever seen, a giant ‘ 0 ’ painted on its chest. Dread filled her mind and she couldn’t seem to speak. 

Help… help... Someone please- 

She tried pulling her leg from under the rubble, crying out as her ankle moved strangely and painfully. Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched with fear as the giant thing came closer and closer and closer and closer .

“-elp… Someone, please.. Help! HElp! HELP ME! Please!” She cried out more and more, pulling and pulling frantically at her legs, hoping that something would give, would budge. But then, there was a shadow, and she couldn’t help but look up, eyes trying to track the cause. 

Shock filled her being as she saw him, the shy boy, soaring through the sky at breakneck speeds and right towards the robot. A loud ‘ BANG! ’ echoed through the air as the robot was smashed and went flying back to the ground, out of commision, the power from the landing sending a shock wave of dust and air into her vision. She watched as the boy drifted in mid air for a second before he quickly began descending. Panic filled her once more, but this time for the boy. 

He- he saved me! I-I have to save him! 

Determination filled her being, and with all her might, she pulled herself forward ignoring the pain in her ankle, the weight of the rocks, and feeling of something snapping harshly just behind her. Heroes… need heroes… too! 

Stretching farther than she’s ever reached, feeling pain more severe than ever felt, gathering more determination and panic than ever held, and pushing past the limits of her quirk she’d never pushed before- she put everything into one hand and made damn sure it connected with her hero's face. 

Thank you… For saving me… and she passed out. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Nedzu sees Midoirya Izuku for the second time during the entrance exam, just as he’d hoped he would. And my, oh my, he was not disappointed with the development that had flourished within this monstrous boy the last ten or so months. That had grown so horrific and beautiful. 

He watched as brilliant emerald eyes shadowed by their usual darkness flutter around and wander aimlessly through the crowd of students that stood and filled his group for the physical aspect of their exam. Searching and searching the crowd for something, anything, but what truly? Nedzu could never possibly tell, not unless he’d asked the boy himself. And yet, that was the best part of emotions, or feeling something similar to and along the lines of said things. The curiosity, the dying need to know such thoughts, to know the monster's feelings, was enticing, exciting, addictive and even obsessive to the chimera. 

He was as the little monster ran around like the rest of the students, no real purpose to his steps but to find any robots and take their points. Though, Nedzu does find it interesting to see him heading for the side streets, the more empty areas of the make-shift cityscape. But, it seems in the end, that it doesn’t stop him from taking down robot after robot after robot with his predator like attention to detail, his eyes zoning in on one hunk of moving metal and never leaving their target until his hand is through the soft metal chest or face and ripping out a hands full ( a claws full , his mind corrects) of wires, before dropping them to the ground, ultimately killing the machine and gaining his deserved points. 

It isn’t missed how the boy saves plenty of other examinees as he goes about completing his exam, showing a sportsmanship that wasn’t too common and was considered almost strange amongst people like themselves, but his beady black eyes also don’t miss the way the boy scavenges around as he does so, taking and stealing points that would have belonged to the others he saved, before running off to who knows where in the chaos scene. 

Well, he is trying out to be a hero, so maybe it wasn’t that strange he’s more helpful than I am… though, ultimately, if I’m correct, then this show of sportsmanship is more for the advantages that come with future partnerships than it is for making friends, and being kind… But who knows, who knows! After all, the best I know is what I’ve learned through years and years of human interaction; for all I could properly know, he could truly be a kind soul - but it’s to keep in mind, we are one in the same, reflections in each others mirrors, but he isn’t exactly me , nor am I him … 

Nedzu continued to observe with a slight hysterical fascination as the boy, the monster, the thing , Midoriya Izuku, shatters all his bones in one arm and both legs completely to blow the zero-pointer away. 

He continued to stare with an almost manica glint in his eye as said monster turned to one of their cameras, seemingly knowing where it was placed ( which should, under all circumstances, be practically impossible, because these cameras were designed in a way to not be seen nor detected by anyone that didn’t have some type of sight quirk, techno quirk, or some strange animalistic sensing ability - though, he does give off quite the animalistic energy at times - but he did, he did see it, and was now currently using it to scare those who could understand - ) and glared at them. The blazing look was just light enough, just covered well enough to make it look something more along the lines of a strained and pained filled expression of someone trying their best as not to scream. But he knew, Nedzu knew, and he can see what has to be the deluted yet toxic mixture of hate, rage, disbelief, and hurt in those monstrous eyes, point directly at them, before turning away to look over at the passed out girl he’d saved, and had saved him back. 

A shiver wracks his body and his mouth wants so badly to quirk into its horrifying grin, and he can see, just barely from the corner of his eye, as another figure seems to chill slightly as well, before he turns away to tell the rest of the teachers that it’s time to count points. 

What he doesn’t see is the narrowed inky eyes that flicker over to him as he turns around to walk away. 

Oh, I can’t wait to meet him again!

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Shouta was attentive, aware, could notice things in surroundings when he needed to, when it was important enough. And right now, while his attention had indeed been on the Entrance Exam, that didn’t mean it didn’t occasionally stray towards his boss, trying to pick out any little reactions, to see what he was thinking, though he knew that was practically impossible. 

This meant he noticed things though, saw the changes in his being. 

He spotted the tremor and twitches of his paws and tail as he watched the scenes, little tells that could have been passed off as excitement. He caught the way canines kept gleaming and showing every second or so as his muzzled mouth stretched up to try and grin, only to seem to think twice and stop. He noticed eyes grow larger and shinier, as if he was pleasantly surprised or happy something went right, went his way. 

By the end, Shouta had tried to put together his bosses' reactions to the examinees on the screen. 

Sadly, it hadn’t seemed to work, because there was only one who could have caught his attention going based on his cues. The green haired problem child with the destructive problem quirk. 

But that couldn’t be right , he thinks, because Nedzu was one for the strange, and the intelligent, the hurt and broken, the lost and the dirtied and the forgotten - he was the type to find those like himself , yet this boy didn’t seem to fit anything like those idea’s at all. 

So he looked and he looked, and when the time came that emerald eyes stared straight at the screen as if the boy could see them, he felt himself shiver- because this was familiar, this feeling was familiar, it’s not as strange, definitely not as strong, but I've felt this, I've felt this strange overwhelming fear and exposure- Though no one else seemed to do so. Instead, joking at the screen as a way of saying they needed to hide the cameras better. 

Is this really the kid…? 

He couldn’t tell, because as eyes flitted away, and the feeling stuck to his mind, Shouta couldn’t really see past the quirk, the age, the recklessness of this boy and Kami, this kid’s gonna give me a lot of work to do this year - so he put it from his mind like so many others before him. 

Like so many others who ignored the threat that was really there. He put it from his mind at the moment, and decided to focus on questioning the creature later. 

Little did he know, he’d once again turned away the very person he was trying to find and figure out. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Oh my, the excitement and chaos that will surely come! I almost can’t wait!

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Will they really let a monster into their school?

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Oh, I hope Izuku did well! He really needs this… 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Young Midoirya will do great things!

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

What was so enticing to Nedzu this exam? Who does he have his eyes on?

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

I’m gonna be the best, and that damned Deku won’t stand in my way!

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Finally, it’s almost time to enact our mission… 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Two weeks passed, and Izuku sat and waited for his letter. 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

His mama had slid into the frame of his door as she came running to his room, the UA entrance exam letter clutched tightly in her hands, as she frantically spoke out. 

“I-Izuku! It’s here! I-it’s here!” Sprinting onto the floor right next to her, he grabbed the letter, ripping the top off with no hesitation. But before he could pull anything out, he froze - because it was in that moment that every collective thing that could go wrong hit him like a train. What if I didn get in? What if I failed? Would All Might take the quirk away? Would I have to revert back into... into a thing again? I can’t have that, oh Kami, please do let me fail - but if I did get in- wouldn’t I have taken someone's spot ? Wouldn’t someone else have been better - no I can’t think like that, I need to get in to be human, I will be a hero, and I’ll do it though UA I’ll- his thoughts were cut off by his mama’s hand clutching his own. 

“Baby, breathe ok? Let's get through this. Together. I’m right here, alright?” And with a nervous nod and gulp, he dumped the contents of the letter out onto the floor. Crackling to the floor was a small disk, which quickly shown up in light depicting a hologram. 

“YOUNG MIDORIYA! Good to see you, my boy! Sorry I’ve been gone the last two weeks! As you can see, I’m working here as a teacher now! --” 

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Izuku felt tears drip down his face in disbelief as the words rang through the air, his mother embracing him tightly in her arms as she sobbed herself with happiness. 

“WELCOME, MIDORIYA IZUKU! TO YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!” 

I did it, I can’t believe I did it... His hands and body shook with happiness, a smile stretched across his face. His nose scrunched, and his teeth showed, tears poured down his face, and dimples sunk in his cheeks. His eyes crinkled in the corners and almost closed and he laughed, he laughed because finally, finally, for once in my life something has finally seemed to go right - I’m human, I’m normal, I’m a real hero in training, and I’m in UA of all places to do it - I can’t, I - 

He hugged his mother tighter as they cried on his floor, her words of “My baby’s so strong, so smart, my baby’s in UA and he’s gonna wreck the world, I’m so proud, my baby’s in UA! ” almost singing through the air. 

Finally.. Finally… Maybe I can finally be free…  

~ Arc 2 - P3: TTTRU,TMTOF -- Ch 15: RAAB ~

Little did he know that all blessings come with a curse, that all good things come with something bad… 

Little did he know his attitude would quickly change about how he saw himself before and after this moment - about how his monster wasn’t just his lack of quirk, but was his being all along. About how it wasn’t something bad, but something to be matured… 

He could feel it, something coming this way, but he ignored it - like all who ignored his very own threat, and basked in the moment of happiness that he’d remember forever. 

Arc 2 - P3:   To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten  -  End 

Arc 2:   To Travel The Roads Unheard, To Meet The Ones Forgotten  -  Completed 

Arc 3:   Start

Chapter Text

Arc 3 - P1 :  On Your Mark! Get Ready! Kill!  - Begin

Chapter 16: One Sis, Two Sis, Yellow Sis, Blue Sis 

With the news of Izuku’s entrance into the greatest school of Japan, UA, came celebration from plenty of places and in all types and forms; even if some of those celebrations were not quite sure of what they were celebrating, just that they should. 

A party filled with running tears, plenty of ironic jokes, and so, so much love filling and flooding throughout the Midroiya’s small apartment. A couple texts back and forth congratulating him once more on doing a fantastic job of getting into the Heroic’s Course from All Might. Some notes and even a packed lunch mail to his small home from the staff he regularly talked with. His everywhere neighbors raising their stolen and liquored drinks, patting him on the back when he talked to them at all hours of the day and night; about achieving something big and that times were going to change from now on. Even if they didn’t exactly know what said achievements were, nor what change was to come (since Izuku wasn’t ignorant enough to offer away that information so easily, no matter if some of these people had known him before he donned a mask and a new name-) they still continued offering all the luck and good wishes they could (because they knew what kinds of change surrounded itself around Henkei - dangerous but fulfilling and wondrous change; change that saved the poor and distraught and took down those who thought themselves above others and used it to only harm everyone and gain everything-) because the light and joy and happiness that surrounded their mysterious friend and boss was something wonderful in itself, especially with how busy and stressed and tired and just down they could see he’d been lately. 

And that wasn’t all, no. As if the universe itself was trying to cheer on the child who’d pushed so hard to do what he wanted, to gain a chance at being a real hero that could influence and save legally and sear inspiration into other’s without leading them down a path he’d been. As if someone out there had just wanted to give him some semblance of a break in life, as soon as the young hooded figure with hair tucked away, bright eyes turned low, and the usual dark medical mask hiding a majority of the face entered the bar the patrons sat inside began to give cheer of congrats when an old timer with a quirk called ‘Specified Empath’ could tell that Izuku was bubbling with excitement through achievement and announced the first words of plaudits from his seat near the front; once again raising drinks and offering praise for the unknown beast he’d bested. Drinks were bought and offered (though never drunk, seeing as Izuku had a mask on and wasn’t one to drink unless his mama offered something small), small toasts were tipped in his direction, and nods of respect were thrown around as he moved past, and for once in his life the disbelief he’d felt wasn’t that of a more horrific and horrible nature. 

A swell rose in his chest, and he couldn’t believe how much Henkei had grown to be known and respected, in that bar and around Musutafu. 

(Though you would think this odd; seeing as the bar was that of villains, vigilantes, corrupted heroes, scum, murders, assassins, heroes who were dark but weren’t bad - and so, so many more. Many more titles and things that slunk around and did business or rowdied in the bar. People, things you could even call some of them, who you wouldn’t want to meet, wouldn’t want to even associate with in any term of the word. You’d think it odd that these people would congratulate the boy, recognized as Henkei by aura, eyes and looks, or not. But it wasn’t much of a surprise in reality, not when the aura he gave off to those around who could tell and understand the freaky realities of life was something dark, dangerous, and fierce. Something that could strip you down while leaving you clothed, something that could read you like a book without even opening the cover, without breaking the spine, nor ruffling the pages. When to those who understood, it felt as if he would eat you up, only to spit you out unharmed but knowing everything about you, inside and out without even unhinging his hungry maw. Though, this wasn’t the only reason of course, it wasn’t only because they were scared or cautious and wanted to stay on his good side. There was another, one that wasn’t to be believed by those who walked among the streets as if nothing was wrong; as if there were only two groups to society - the good and the bad, heroes and villains. And that other side, hidden in the deeper recesses of even in the darkest pits of the nasty people’s hearts, still cared about the fact that a child was among them. Doing business, fighting hard, killing, and cleaning up messes that they shouldn't have to. That they’d watched such a young kid grow up in that very bar and around them; watched that kid as he did all those things, as that kid watched what they did and copied but better. They congratulated him, because even though the real world was harsh and they understood that, even though they now considered him to be one of them; an ally, a co-worker, an enemy, just one of them , it was terrible for a child to ever be dragged into something like this. They may not show such thoughts, they may even speak otherwise, may believe otherwise even, but deep down it was something that clung to the backs of their minds, having to watch a kid grow up here and imaging their death in hundreds of ways because of it, because of how many things that could go wrong. So they congratulated him, cheered him on, if only to give him some sense of childish normalcy that most of them have never experienced - won’t ever be able to give their own kids, because it’s a family path now, at this point. Give him something that wasn’t the usual, didn’t bombard him with work - something that brought him down a bit and let him feel, in the best way they could understand the word, normal… Or, at least, about as normal as a bunch of terrible people could give and make in a dingy bar late at night, half drunk out their minds, other’s with drugs or weapons or blood on their beings, where a kid shouldn’t be, but was… About as normal as that could be…) 

The last of his celebrations came to him in the forms of one giant hug that he dodged, followed by a squeal of “OH MY KAMI, CONGRATS~!!” in a digitized voice, and a gentle damp pat on his hooded head with a quiet, “well done” from the two women he’s practically known since the start of his while underground life bloomed. Ayamei knew what he was celebrating, having been told over their shared above-ground contact when he’d received the news. She must have told Neutral as well (and while he would usually be annoyed, even possibly angry at her for doing something so incredibly dangerous, he couldn’t be too mad with the situation at the moment, because it was Neutral. It was Maria, after all-), seeing as the look he was given right after the words was one of happiness and… was that pride? Relief maybe? 

Why would she be proud…? Am I reading her wrong? I thought I’d gotten it down… His mind slowed a little to really capture and take in the look, trying to understand it better. No, that’s right… though, I’ve never really had anyone other than my mama look at me like that… (Nevermind that a certain blond haired mentor had given similar looks while the young boy wasn’t looking, proud to see the progress being made, how hard Izuku was working. Even if the older man didn’t understand Izuku or what he was going through and feeling, what Izuku truly felt towards the older, he was still proud-) So, it… doesn’t make sense? Izuku couldn’t understand; they’d known each other for so long, but it was such a foreign topic for the boy, to have more than just his mama feel that way for him. Though, the mild curiosity and disbelief was quick to boomerang the full way back into the more negative thoughts, and kami did Izuku hate it. Hated how his mind was always going from one thought to another to another to another , negative to positive, negative to positive; just back and forth, back and forth, back and forth like the pendulum of a clock. One second his mind would allow him to feel some type of confidence, feel some semblance security about himself - to know that he could trust some people, know that he was strong enough to do what he needed to do, only to throw it right into the negatives about anything and everything ( but it’s kept you alive, his mind always reminds him-). 

No, it can’t be that- maybe she’s just happy that a monster will be out of her bar, that Henkei will be less active, but that can’t be true, she encouraged him - maybe, or-or-or she just-, Izuku works his mind for a reason as to why it wouldn’t be true, that he was wrong and had made a mistake he could learn to fix later. He tries to come up with something, but nothing works and his thoughts eventually delve into a large loop of denial, But wait, I can’t be a monster, so that can’t be - I have a quirk now, which means I’m human, I’mhuman, I’mhuman, I’mhumanI’mhumanI’mhuman- 

Do you really think…. You can get rid of me that easily? It was back, the monster, the thing - it’s maw long and dripping, open and spitting toxic and gross. It’s presence a heavy weight, holding down Izuku’s mind so, so much, covering his whole brain. I’ve said it before… I’ll say it again, I. Am. You. I am a part of you, as much as you are me. I see everything you see, I think how you think, I’ll always be here… And you’ll always be a monster… 

At that he shuts the door that is his thoughts. Slams it closed, chains it up, locks it down, and leaves it to rust for the night. Nice and tight, sealed away until Izuku slips up and let’s it open back up. He moves his mind elsewhere to focus on anything but itself, himself, like the plenty of patrons at the bar, to focus on the two women walking with him as they moved forwards and talked to others. Of course the good moment had to be ruined… Stupid head… 

(Little did Izuku know, little did he refuse to acknowledge really, was that his monster wasn’t necessarily bad, but something to help him. Little did he know that with all it’s harsh words, and terrible thoughts, it’s only goal was to let him survive and fight and move. That it was just his own thoughts, his own natural instinct to go on. That his monster was really just a part of himself that he shouldn’t push away so much as embrace and learn to cultivate. Something he’s going to have to learn will aid him in the fields, and something that won’t just go away and stay quiet anymore… ) 

Emerald eyes were roaming over near the back, trying to stabilize himself from where his mind had thrown him off, when they caught onto another figure at the bar, near where the three of them were currently heading to. Bright pink dreadlocks poked out the end of their hat but tucked into their collar, their frame covered in a sweater smattered with stains, and a full covering face mask similarly styled to Ayamei’s, though the colors for theirs were a bright yellow against the dark digital screen from what he could see facing their back. The idea that this mind be Ayamei’s sibling passed through his mind slow and lazily, the one she always talked so highly of; the crazed genius that would one day take over and rule the support gear industry of Japan, both above and below, and possibly even further across the world. If the hair and outfit - almost similar constructed to Ayamei’s if you ignored the sweater and looked only at the pants, shoes, and mask - was anything to go by, then he was most definitely spot on with his observation. 

He and the girls were still only a short distance away from the actual bar (having to stop every couple of seconds as patrons he’s seen for years, but rarely conversed with unless on business, continued to congratulate him for his achievements they know nothing of, and talk for a bit-), but even so, he tried to maneuver himself to see more of the person clearly, being at an awkward angle from them. They were hunched over, doing something with whatever was currently in their hands. What are they doing…? Izuku peered over a little longer, studying the situation curiously, genuinely interested in what they were doing. The figure must have felt his stare or his intent because not even a second later the person was stilling lightly before perking up and swiftly turning their head to gaze in his direction. Izuku couldn’t see their face, but the electronic expression made it known that he was definitely being looked at.

As soon as they made eye contact it was like their figures were stuck. Neither moved for however long it was that they kept the staring contest going on, just keeping each other’s gazes locked; searching? Observing? Curious? It wasn’t long at all before the person just barely tilted their head to the side, and Izuku responded in favor by lifting one eyebrow and blinking slowly. He wasn’t sure if that’s what gave them confirmation of whatever they were looking for, but at the notion they practically jump up in their chair like an excited little child finding something cool and shiny, before beginning to bounce just slightly in place, as if they couldn’t wait to see him get over there to show him to their parents or friends. Well, if I had any doubts before about them being Ayamei’s sibling, I sure don’t now. A hand on his head had him turning back to Ayamei and Neutral. 

“It seems that my sib has finally found you! Best get over there before they explode~!” And with that they quickly exited the conversation that Izuku had, abashedly, not been paying any real attention to and steered towards the bar the rest of the way. As soon as the group was within a couple steps of the younger Hatsume, she nearly leapt out of her seat and ran towards Izuku; not hesitating to get all into his face with her own digitally decorated one. 

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Is this the infamous Henkei-chan here in front of me~?! The very one you talk about all the time?! It has to be!!” Izuku flushed as Ayamei gave a cheerful ‘Yup!’, before the Hatsume sister continued on, moving quickly to circle him, “A lot smaller than I figured- But that’s fine! Height, age, quirk, whatever! Nothing dumb like that determines the usefulness of a person - I mean, not unless you’re for very specific qualities in a person to do something, but eh, who cares! After all, look at me! I’m a tiny genius inventor, but I could still kick your ass!” And just like her sister, the younger Hatsume went off like a horse at a race, ranting about anything and everything from his equipment, to his body, things she could build or do to help him, and so, so much more. He almost couldn’t keep up at this point, she was plenty faster and energetic than her older sister when she spoke; her body animate and expressive in ways that were chaotic, her words like a bullet train on roller coaster tracks, fast but all over the place but with a definite ending point. Izuku’s mind was running circles trying and continuing to understand what she was saying. 

Is this what my mama feels like when I go off on tangents or mumble? She continued to hop around him, going even as far as to… examine and take my measurements?! When did she pull that tailor's tape out?! Wait- where did she even get it from-?! Completely baffled, he couldn’t help but stiffen a little as she continued to get closer into his space, ducking and twisting around his body like he was a jungle gym and she was a playful child. In the end, he left himself to fall prey to whatever she was doing, letting his wide emerald eyes drag over to what she’d been hunched over earlier at the bar to get his mind off her actions. 

On the bar sat a small pile of little pieces he could generally recognize, and some tools. A taken apart phone, though the screen was glowing on?? A small circular speaker, though all the wires had been taken out and reconnected to what had to be a small tv remote of some kind. Some of the buttons are missing, and it seems like it’s connected to the phone’s… second battery…? What is she doing?? Just as his thoughts are finished he’s pulled back into the conversation. 

“-Anyways! I got your mask right here!” She turned and dug through a bag he’d just now recognized she had, ah that’s where she got the tape from- pulling out a mask that had an electric expressions feature like theirs, but only covered the bottom half of his face like his current regular medical mask, though also a bit more. The newer digital one covering everything from just under his eyes and lower, the sides climbing up higher to cover his temples and level with the middle of his eyes like metal sideburns, the lowest point reaching under his chin just slightly to probably dip into his sweater a bit as to hide some of his neck. The only point exposed would be his eyes, a small space between them, and his forehead, the mask really doing a great job at covering his face enough to hide his identity well. 

The excited girl shoved the mask at his body and he couldn’t help but bring his hands up to grab it for fear of accidentally dropping it. “My sister kept telling me that you didn’t want this for some strange-whatever-reasons- but I wasn’t gonna just let you get off that easily! Everyone is going to know my name one day! And that includes the great Henkei-chan themselves~! So take it and no givesies-backsies! Try to give it back and I’ll break your wrists~!!” Izuku couldn’t help but stare incredibly at the young girl who’d just threatened him with an aggressive cheerfulness, leaning back the slightest bit at her antics. Man, she’s got much more… ‘personality’ than her older sister, that’s for sure. 

Getting back into his mind, he couldn’t help but feel the dread at the piece of work. I don't want to take this, I don’t want to ruin her - but I’m not the monster? So maybe it’s fine now, but what if they find out what I was- no they won’t, they can’t - Trying to settle himself, he gently began to turn it over in his hands and look at it thoroughly. Pulling out his phone, he quickly typed out a message like usual. 

“ Are you sur- ” It didn’t even get to finish before there was a response. 

“Yes! Take it! And if you can’t just take it because we said, then it’s a celebratory gift! Now stop resisting, sit down, and let’s enjoy the night!” Ayamei had said this, and he’d almost forgot she was next to him the whole time. Neutral was already behind the bar cleaning glasses and watching the whole thing amusedly. She grabbed his wrist and next thing he knew, he was sat in between the two sisters as they excitedly cheered and conversed around him; talking about his mask and the workings of it, how they should party that night, gossip they’ve heard, and just… everything. 

For the next couple hours the four of them talked and enjoyed the night. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 16: OS,TS,YS,BS ~ 

He turned back to the sleeping girl at the bar (who was muttering something, but Izuku couldn’t tell, was that rigatoni she just said…?) (he still didn’t know her first name, though he understood it was mostly because of the environment they were in at the current moment), apparently she was his age, and was basically a carbon copy of her sister except for the fact that she had bright yellow eyes with crosses in them, similarly designed to a sniper rifles scope. Her quirk, while similar to her sisters, was the ability to zoom into anything up to five kilometers away at choice. So cool… She’d be terrifyingly amazing at long distance fighting if necessary, especially with a gun, but I can see why she chose the support department road… 

Turning back to Ayamei, who’d had a couple drinks (and wow, how did I never know her mask could break into two pieces and that she could take the bottom half off- and oh, it can go back on just as easily-?) , but didn’t seem to be too incapacitated, he typed a message on his phone. (He hadn’t put the mask on at all that night, even after some asking, saying that he wanted to test in private incase anything was wrong, as well as promising that he’d report any findings to Ayamei. Though, really he just didn’t feel comfortable with it at the moment, his mind still trying to say ‘monster’ while he wanted to acknowledge ‘human’) 

“So why’d you bring her here tonight Shiki-chan? It wasn’t just to give me the mask, was it?” Her mask blinked, before she leaned in quickly, keeping her digitized voice low. 

“Well, you know what you contacted me about? The reason for the celebration?” He nodded his head, remembering all the texts he’d gotten back from her after the news of UA; all the emojis and excited keyboard smashing jiberish, as well as some broken up congrats; he huffs a little fondly at the memory, rolling his eyes at her antics. “Well, my sib here is actually going to the same place! I just thought it’d be good for you to finally, finally! have a friend- as well as someone who knows the real you, ya know? And I needed ya to meet!” He was just about to protest the friend bit when she rushed on, “Plus, it’s good to have contacts anywhere and everywhere, isn’t it? You know the rule - if there’s a space, someone’s going to be there with open ears and watchful eyes!” A digital eyebrow appeared and lifted, the electronic face looking delighted and smug by the digital smirk that was back in place after her last finished drink. 

Emerald eyes stared on a little in disdain as dealing with Ayamei was a chore sometimes and he knew, just knew that Hatsume 2.0 was going to be just as bad, if not, then plenty worse by the things he experienced that night. But, he had to admit the broker was right, even if he was worried about his identity getting out. She picked up on this easily, and was quick to reassure him it seemed. 

“Don’t worry, she understands the dangers; hell it puts her in just as much danger seeing who she knows and who I am! She won’t spill a thing! Promise! Besides~!” She wiggled digital eyebrows, “It was a bit of her own idea as well!” He looked at her a little shocked at that. Hatsume-chan wanted to be friends…? She nodded her head, “Yep! She knows what you’re capable of and would love to see it in action! So don’t worry Henkei-chan~! You’ll be in good hands! ‘Swearsies!” She winked as he let out a sigh of fond exasperation. While he was always anxious about who his friends, allies, colleagues, and enemies were, about where they stand, how powerful they were, and if he can trust them, he knows deep down that Ayamei would always side with him. Would always be there to have his back if he called. She’s probably the closest thing to a sister he has honestly. He gave an eye smile to her, before turning his attention back to the mask in front of him, letting her go back to drinking.  

Maybe… Maybe I can use the mask… Just try it out; after all, what could go wrong? 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 16: OS,TS,YS,BS ~ 

(Fortunately, nothing at the moment. Nothing went wrong, and Izuku absolutely loved the way it worked and fit on his face. His mother even complimented him on the digital green mouth that smiled back at her and changed with his emotions and movements. Though his mind still was conflicted, he promised himself that he’d wear his gift more often. Making sure to wear it on all patrols he had, and telling Ayamei about how it worked over text next time they decided to discuss bits and pieces of new and old cases. 

Besides, what kind of person ( human ) would I be not to use the gift I was given? )  

Chapter 16.5: To Watch Them Grow - Louise Maria; Neutral 

Henkei-kun… I’m so proud… 

It’s almost unbelievable how much he’s grown… 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 16.5: TWTG - LM;N ~ 

When Maria had first met the young boy named Henkei, he was small. Very small. If she’d had to guess his age by height? She’d say about ten, maybe eleven? (He’d actually been twelve, almost thirteen at that time-) The clothes he wore were baggy, and covered his frame well, and as he stood next to the tall man she knew as Knuckleduster, he seemed so harmless and small. Honestly, he looked pathetic, and she’d had to wonder why such a child was with Knuckleduster. 

She began to open her mouth with the usual questions, but was cut off by the taller man. 

“I’m giving him an invitation. His name is Henkei, and he’s an informant and hacker,” She just raised one of her liquid eyebrows at him, her arms crossing, indirectly telling him to continue speaking so she could understand what this was about. The taller male turned his head towards the kid and placed a hand on his shoulder. She watched as the young kid flinched slightly, but otherwise did nothing about the hand resting on him. “He’s helped a couple people I know; apparently he’s very skilled and ridiculously smart or something, but he’s also very new at this type of thing. I don’t want him to get killed this early on, so I thought it’d be best to allow him to hangout here with someone I trust to watch over him seeing as I’ve already got my hands full with someone else,” The masked man huffed, “Maybe even allow him to find a few people to watch his back,” He stopped speaking, deep voice finishing off there curtly, though she knew he meant no harm from it. But even so, he was trying to dump a literal child into her lap to watch, and while she was open to plenty, she didn’t know how to feel about this, she wasn't a babysitter after all, and she made that clear in her next words.

“I don’t think I’m qualified to be a babysitter, Duster-san,” She let out smoothly, tilting her head towards the child, “especially for literal children . I run a safe-space bar, yes, but that does not mean that every rebellious kid gets an invitation to sit in just because they’re new and a child who doesn’t understand what they’re getting themselves into,” While she knew that wasn’t the only reason children ended up falling into this dark pit of despair and death the underground was and would forever be, but at this rate, she didn’t want to get stuck with a kid no matter how efficient he supposedly was, and if she does deny the kid, maybe it’ll get them to backout. But if he’s already played around a bit, then it may be too late… Especially with the ‘people’ he’s helped that Duster-san knows. 

“I know you usually don’t do this, but I think-” 

“Look, Duster-san, I don’t want them-” 

“Excuse me, Neutral-san?” She froze at the use of her name, the words coming out quiet and high, but with a strong and would she dare say, threatening? Presence. She turned to the child who’d spoken.

(She huffs now, as she cleans the bar, staring at the young boy still talking to Ao-Shiki-san, remembering when Henkei-kun’s voice was so high and cute, no matter how serious he tried to sound. He may say that he switched to the phone because he was worried about people recognizing him, but she knows that deep down, some part of him was embarrassed at all the joking remarks she’d make towards him about the contrast between his serious words, terrifying aura, and cute voice) 

Her eyes flicked over to the taller man even as she kept her head turned towards ‘Henkei’, trying to gauge whether or not he told the kid her name at some point during their time together, but the expression on his face told her that he was just as surprised the kid had addressed her by her street name. While her name wasn’t necessarily a secret in the underground, it was definitely something that was kept under wraps, and wasn’t common knowledge, trying to contain it to those who knew about her place of work, and those she communicated with on the regular. She lifted her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side, indicating to keep speaking. 

He cleared his throat a little, and she could see his body was tense with nerves. Taking a step forward, the hand on his shoulder fell off. Until this moment, he’d had his hood covering his eyes, face turned down slightly, but now as he looked up, eyes meeting eyes and Maria couldn’t help but freeze in place, something deep inside her rising, trying to claw its way out and free itself from her body to run away. Trying to ignore it, she couldn’t help but squeeze the parts of her arms where her hands were still placed, wanting to alleviate some of the stress and tensity that’d entered her body so suddenly. 

What the fuck- 

“I understand that most people wouldn’t want to see a child in such a place or situation like this, nor would they want to take on the responsibility of caring for their well being either; but I promise you, I’m not like other kids. I don’t need to be looked after as such, just treat me like any other person you’d allow into the bar,” His eyes shined; toxic, dark, full of raging hunger and need for information, but there was no light to reflect such an effect. A quirk maybe…? She couldn’t help but think as such, since the only other reason being a trick of her mind, of the non-existent light from besides the lightly covered moon. Within a second, the effect was lost though as the young boy turned his head to the side and his hands came up to grip and curl into the fabric of his oversized sweater. 

“Besides, I was planning to come here anyways, seeing as how useful it’d be to have somewhere to stay where no one could hurt me when or if enemies come after me- because I know they will, it always happens, no matter what you do in the underground. So I’d searched for information on places like this, and heard about your bar and after an in depth search into your profile, I realized you’d be my best bet when regarding places to hang out with contacts and spread information and hack, especially with your quirk being what it is; I can actually feel the effects of the calming already- it’s quite fascinating, seeing that you have a secondary emitter quirk when your first is a mutation, though I don’t know how it works too indepthly seeing as your profile didn’t have much info on it anymore since you had someone clean it out when you started this business and it seemed almost nobody knew how your quirk itself work either. But anyways I was just going to come here, but thought it’d be hard with the way you do things, so I’d had to look around for people who could already get in and eventually I almost gave up, seeing as while people weren’t really tight lipped about this information around a random kid, they didn’t want to take me here either, thinking I was just joking, so it was just faster and easier this way with Knuckleduster-san, since you need a current patreon to actually get permission to get in and all that like I just explained--” And the kids mumbles continued on, all the while Maria could only stare. 

She didn’t know what to feel about this, seeing as this kid apparently already knew her and what she did. She turned her head to stare at the older man, watching him as he just stared back with a ‘see what I mean? He’s smart, but very new and naive’ look before turning her head back to the kid. He was still going (Maria, to this day, is still amazed by the lung capacity on the kid, and has to wonder if that is his quirk- though, she knows he’d never tell her) , and some of the things he was saying was starting to get worryingly personal. I think I’m going to have to get some of my information locked down even more now, but I can worry about that later… Right now I’ve got to do something with this kid; especially that mumbling. If he keeps this up, he’ll lose so much information and put himself or others in danger. Sighing, she brought up a hand to rub at her face (she could still feel the lingering effects of whatever the kid had done to her, such fear to strike into a person… It’s crazy… ). 

He must have seen the motion, because his muttering immediately cut off and he turned his head back up to her. Eyes met eyes, and she suppressed a shiver. The pure aura of this kid was crazy, something she’d only felt off the baddest of the bad types of criminals and villains - even some heroes gave off the vibes, in the years she’s been working, ones filled with too much intelligence, too much power of some type, too much trauma. People that were barely even people anymore at that point because of things that had happened to them, the experiences they’d felt in their lives. Because of the terrible things they had to go through, in order to survive. Let’s just hope this is a quirk… (she never actually learned what it was really, but she’d always had her suspicions with how he acted, moved, and talked- just the way he lived-)

“Henkei, was it?” He nodded his head, standing a little taller, and if it weren’t for the situation they were in, she might have cooed at the seriousness in his frame. “Alright, look Henkei-kun. I don’t normally take kids in- I really don't think they should be involving themselves in things like this if they can help it… But seeing as Duster-san here was the one to suggest it, and I hold him to a very high standard down in these parts, I’ll let you in,” Slight childish excitement fluttered through his eyes, followed by a surge of relief. He really was just a child… She continued on. “But I will tell you now- you will follow the rules of my establishment. You will follow them, and you will be held to the same regard as my other patrons. As an adult, as someone who is mature enough to do what they need to, and know what to and not do. And just like them, if you can’t follow these rules, then you will be removed from my property and won’t be allowed back in - if you start anything, then you will deal with the consequences. Got it?” Henkei nodded once more. 

“Yes, will do Neutral-san,” 

Knuckleduster sent her a look of thanks, but she only narrowed her eyes in a light glare, trying to express how much she didn’t really enjoy this and that he’d owe her one.  

“Good,” She lifted her hand, about to start the usual entrance allowance. “And Henkei-san?” She watched as he seemed to acknowledge the honorific change. (And she laughs now at how it’s gone right back over their time together-)

He tilted his head in acknowledgement again. She felt a smirk tug at her lips despite the situation. 

“Open your mouth,” 

And then she let herself fully smile as the kid choked slightly in surprise and confusion as her quirk went down his throat, Duster snorting a bit to himself as well. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 16.5: TWTG - LM;N ~ 

It’s been about two or so years since then, and Maria couldn’t honestly be more glad that she’d made the decision to allow this young boy into her bar. She’s watched him grow and grow, in height, knowledge, name, and power. Watched the things he’s done and accomplished, and she can’t but feel almost happy that he’d been dragged into such a terrible situation, no matter how twisted and horribly bad that sounds. 

But all baby birds leave the nest at some point. She thinks to herself with bittersweet feelings swimming throughout her liquid body. The boy was finally graduating from illegal vigilante to lawful hero. Or well, about as lawful as a hero as Henkei-kun could get, Maria joked to herself. He’d be getting out of this all, and while it’d still be dangerous, at least he’d finally be properly trained. At least he’d be able to get the things he needed much easier, and know that almost a hundred percent of the time that there will be people to back him up when he needs them. 

But even so, Maria knows he’ll always have a place at her bar, and she’ll do her damned best to let him know that. A hero student at UA… He’s grown so much, I almost can’t believe it… She turned back to the glass in her hand, realizing she’d stopped cleaning it at some point when lost in her thoughts. She was just so proud. So proud to see what he’s done, honestly a bit honored that she was one of the people to help him along his way, was allowed to even be in his life… He was basically her little brother at this point, maybe a nephew. Family in all but blood and official title, even if she never learned his real name, yet he knew hers… Finishing the cup up, she placed it down, listening to the chatter of the two in front of her. 

A sudden thought enters her head then, when she hears Ao-Shiki mention something about having a friend in who knew who the real Henkei was, and a small snort leaves her lips quietly. 

A vigilante going to the top hero school in Japan? How ironic! 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 16.5: TWTG - LM;N ~ 

(As Izuku sat in his room, he gripped the letter in his hand given to him from Neutral tightly, his eyes threatening to spill over with unbidden tears as his body shook just slightly. He read and reread the words over and over, again and again, tear drops decorating the already slightly stained paper. His mind was running over the look she’d given him earlier that night, and he couldn’t bring himself to completely doubt that she’d meant it.  

Henkei-kun,

Congratulations on making it into UA! Ao-Shiki-san told me, I hope you won’t be too mad at her.

I know how hard you’ve always worked to become a hero, even if you had to do some pretty nasty things here and there. I remember listening to all your plans and mumbles to do so, as you’d sit at the bar.

I’m so proud of you, and I know you’ll do amazing things in the future, just as you do now.

It was great working with you, and I’m glad we got to meet, even under such unsavory circumstances. I’ll have to thank Duster-san whenever I see him next…

Now, let’s hope I don’t see you for a while! You’ve got a hero's future ahead of you, and I’ll bet it’s not easy work! If I see you before at least the second trimester ends, I’m going to make sure my quirk flicks up into your nose!

But, just know you’ll always have your place here at The River, even if we never cross paths again...

Good luck again Henkei-kun, I know you really don’t need it, but it brings me comfort knowing you’ll have some.

Your best bartender, co-worker, friend, and hopefully big sister,

Maria 

P.S. - I know I said not to come back for some time, but please check in. I’ll miss you, and I’ll feel much better knowing you're still alive out there. Just please, be careful and come back soon. Promise?

He stared a bit longer as silent tears trailed down his face. Did it really hurt this bad to leave someone you’d come to care for? It was strange. He’d told himself that when this started that all the people he’d meet would be nothing but co-workers, that he’d never get too invested, yet here he was. Wiping the tears away, he tried not to acknowledge how the last part was in a quickly scribbled ink that was blurred slightly with water damage that wasn’t his own, while the rest was fine. Didn’t want to acknowledge that more people cared for him, even with who he’d been ( was ).

I’ll make sure to come back, I promise… )

Chapter 17: Me, Myself, And I. But Are They All The Same?

The extravagant halls of UA were long, bright, empty, and gave Shouta the worst type of headache. The elongated glass windows made up the whole of one wall within the halls, allowing more beams of light inside than he’d like, seeing as they reflected onto and off of the pristine, yet bland white of all the other sides in the hall; floor, wall, and ceiling. Granted, a red strip did decorate the wall opposite to the windows, so Shouta couldn’t say it was completely and utterly suffocatingly boring and mind numbing. But even so, such a red design choice didn’t make up for the length - or brightness - of such halls, one that seemed to keep prolonging as his ever growing migraine grew from the small tingle in the back of his mind into something intense and pulsing behind his eyes, forehead, and temples. It didn’t help that the emptiness allowed for the invasion of silence into the halls, for all except the bare echos of his dragging footsteps against the marbled flooring, the shh-tap, shh-tap, shh-tap a constant repeated beat within the building and his head. 

Deep down, Shouta had to wonder if Nedzu designed the building this way on purpose when he took over as principal; to create a beautiful version of the seclusive and horrible room he’d be forced to stay locked in for years. To create a building that could pass as something amazing, but still give off a subconscious feeling of low terror and anxiety. Force people to subconsciously sweat around him, fear him and itself to some degree, for a reason unknown unless you really looked at the way the building and air almost held themselves. Just to give them a taste of what he’d had to wake up to every morning for years and years and years - But that was all just an idea. Just an idea, seeing as for all Nedzu hated humans, loved watching them suffer even on occasion, he also wanted to better the people. Wanted to change the future so that things like his past situation didn’t happen again. Though another reason to think otherwise would be that most of the society that lived currently didn’t actually know what happened to his boss. Didn’t know of the tortures, of the nightmares he’d sustained, despite how big the court case for his release and the freedom and rights of other quirked animals was years ago; a case that changed society on such a level, on such a large scale in Japan, and even around the world, that you could now find quirked animals running businesses and traveling, doing things just like Nedzu, as if they were humans themselves. But the raven haired male would be honest with himself; it was of no real surprise that it wasn’t common knowledge around the world, among the people, seeing as no higher power would like it to be well known by others of any status that they’d gotten their metaphorical ass handed to them by an animal, one that was quite adorable and popular among children, despite the fact that said animal had one of the most powerful intelligence quirks found to date. 

His normal impassive frown deepened, lips dipping lower as those thoughts connected and grew, grabbing onto others and bringing him back to a place in his mind that he’d been cautiously and curiously poking and prodding about; searching around and through them for something he didn’t quite know the name of yet, didn’t know the image or the feeling of either, since the entrance exam had taken place. That green-haired kid… what was his name again? Midorima? Midora? A long and heavy sigh fell from his lips, the headache that’d been growing since he started making his way down those dreaded halls plenty worse than when he’d originally stepped into them. Lifting a large hand to his head, he snagged his fingers through his hair, quickly giving up on trying to remember the kids name, and instead trying to alleviate the pain he felt by massaging his temples. He’d see the name later anyways. 

When he’d first seen the boy on the big screens of the exam room; chaotic, helpful, sneaky, but pushing and pushing just like the rest of the examinees - seen how his old homeroom teacher, his old personal mentor, and now current boss had reacted to said boy (it had to be him, because everyone else Shouta checked around for just didn’t make any sense. Hadn’t lined up with his reactions, at least, none but the green-haired boy’s actions. And while understandable with some things - Shouta had watched the child plunge his fists into robot after robot before blowing up his other three limbs, thinking nothing of it until he later learned that said child broke his hands doing such, yet kept continuously doing so despite that fact - they were horrific stunts after all, it just didn’t make sense for it to be him that captured Nedzu’s interest, but it had to be-), had seen all the tells and tales of someone who’d genuinely become invested in whatever was there. Had struck their gaze onto the thing that lived and learned and played and moved and just existed in front of themself. He’d seen it, seen the things he’d learned over the years that played into his boss’s “emotions” - so he’d known that there was something about this kid that must be important. Something about this kid was broken (besides his bones, of course), something crazy, inhumane, strange, or whatever - just something that would catch the attention of someone powerful and intelligent and hurt. Someone that Shouta had learned over the years and through his time as a mentee himself, only grabbed things and snatched them into his “home” when he knew for certain that they were worth something. Whether that be now, in the future, or with a little bit of fine tuning and work.

But what, Shouta began in his mind, was it? 

He’d done his research a few hours after the exam, when he’d finally had the time within his busy schedule (because he just couldn’t ignore the feeling for long - the staticky buzzing that had zipped through his veins before leaving them chilled, the feeling of being seen through a screen as if the kid knew who he was, knew he was there, and wasn’t afraid to threaten him or the other’s with that small semblance of knowledge) - even if that time was only about an hour and a half, with half of that time being spent talking to Nedzu about his findings later. So he searched. Dug into the kids files and information to get some base level things, easy access stuff, just enough to find out about who the kid was a little (though, Shouta noticed how little that really was. Noticed how some stuff was restricted, or just “missing” - and wasn’t that, in and of itself, strange. It was as if someone didn’t want people looking too closely at the kid, but Shouta brushed it off for the moment - I’ve had kids before who’d had their files locked up because of this or that reason. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just because of some family traits that they don’t want getting out-) and when he was done with his, admittedly sadly done and rushed, research, he brought his findings to the chimera; marching his way over to the main principal's office and confronting him. 

The discussion wasn’t much; the raven haired man taking the lead and bringing up what he’d seen in the examination room, what he’d found in the files, what he’d deduced but couldn’t understand, and lastly pushing his questions onto the table to be answered, picking and choosing his words carefully because such things could really be the tipping point between whether or not he got an answer from his boss - something he’s learned over time working under him - all the while Nedzu just listened. He talked and talked, trying all the while to see what Nedzu saw as he went over his findings once again for the nth time; tried to see past just a normal child, with a normal file, with nothing strange to go about besides the fact that this kid actually broke the bones in his body to get an edge in the exam - poor control, lack of training, heightened pain resistance, laziness most likely - (little did Shouta seem to know was that his dark eyes were clouded; both by bias and judgement. Clouded so heavily that he’d just skimmed over the quirk registry section of his file, because he’d thought he knew what it was already, already figured this was a case of some hot-shot kid always having his ego inflated to the sky and then some to the point of lazy quirk control. If he’d just stared a little longer, he might have seen the update written in small print under such a registry talking about a quirk manifestation so late, about being quirkless beforehand, but he didn’t. He didn’t, because for all he understood and knew the harsh truths about quirk discrimination, for all he hated it and taught against it with all his might and passion, he forgot to acknowledge that it went both ways, that it was not always only limited to the stronger, more oppressive party-), so he just needed to ask, needed to know why, know “what could he be to you Nedzu? What is he?”

In the end, he didn’t get any answers to his many questions. Was told that his assumptions were all mid-glance and not thoroughly thought out, something Shouta had learned meant “kinda-right, but really wrong” - told that he’d overlooked and missed some things- How? He didn’t know, because he was positive that he’d gone through everything he could, and Nedzu wouldn’t count anything he didn’t have access to yet against him until later. At that point, though, because of what he’d just heard from Nedzu, he’d decided to drop the topic at that time. He’d realized that whatever was going on in that moment, he wouldn’t be given any answers; not then, and not until Nedzu felt like giving them to him. Well, unless Shouta wanted to dedicate so much of his time to something he doubts himself that he’d be able to understand right then and there, and while he was agonizingly curious - so curious to the point that his mind was creating ridiculous scenarios as to what it could be, wondering if this child was supposedly like him - was going to become another piece like him, was going to replace him ( I wouldn’t doubt it, it’s always good to have back ups-) , or if he was just going to become fodder in some grandeur plan Nedzu had been scheming about lately - he really didn’t want to go out of his way for something like this, especially not at the beginning of the new school year; not when he had potential students, and not when this kid of Nedzu’s might get expelled the first day. Though, I doubt Nedzu-sensei would actually let that happen… Even if it was me who asked for the kid’s expulsion.

“Damn rat, always throwing everything into chaos,” He grumbled to himself as he finally shuffled his way to the door of the teacher’s lounge, stopping in front of the door to prepare himself mentally for whatever gossip his husband and best friend have in store. Thank kami I can finally get out of these migraine-inducing halls at least… But as he stood at the entrance to the room, he couldn’t help but let his eyes fall over the long, bright yet bland, and empty halls; scanning over everything once again without much effort, his mind just drifting as it thought about all encompassing emerald eyes, filled with a tinge of something he could distantly relate to anger, disappointment, rage. Just as the halls left him feeling open, exposed, seen, and out there to be dissected like he was some type of experiment in a cage, as if he was under inspection with the bright lights all around, those dark eyes from that night so long… those emerald eyes from the exam… He hummed lightly to himself, lips pulling flat from his earlier frown, before dragging back down, this time into a more prominent scowl. 

This was taking up too much of his time and thought process, and he hadn’t even had his second pot of coffee yet this morning; only his pre-school pot he sneaks when Hizashi leaves before him. So, he dropped the matter at the door, telling himself it was nothing, that his mind was just wired from all the strange things he’s encountered these past few weeks. Besides, he thought as he opened the door, I’m probably just trying to throw stuff together at this point to settle myself, I doubt any of these things are actually connected. I doubt this is as big as my mind keeps trying to make it. And he stepped into the lounge, ready to start the first day of school as he did every year: 

With the threat of expulsion. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

Hands tightened around battered and bright yellow straps. I’m here. I’m really here.

The large H-shaped building stood tall and shining ahead of him, the glass reflecting the glowing sun, the concrete gates looming right above his head as he stood in the middle of the entrance, students of all kinds walking past him and into the establishments grounds. 

I’m here, and I won’t let anything stop me from now on.  

With that, he took a step forward. To his new school, his new life, his new future. 

He took a step forward and began his newest mission. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

Izuku may have said that he wouldn’t let anything stop him - wouldn’t let anyone hold him back from his future, wouldn’t let anything affect and get in the way of his goals, wouldn’t let things ruin nor interfere with his newest mission. He may have said this, but now, as he carefully moves through the halls of the large and prestigious school, he can’t help but feel unsure about his earlier statement. So many people wandered by him at their own paces, some just standing in small groups near the windows, other’s sitting down and keeping to themselves in some way -all just enjoying their days, snickering, gossiping, and entertaining whoever, but even so, Izuku couldn’t help what he did, what he felt. Izuku couldn’t help but track all of their movements as they passed each other in the halls, cataloging and keeping their motions in his mind. Couldn’t help but make himself smaller as he moved, tucking himself into all the edges, crooks, crannies, and nooks of the halls he could find immediately. Sticking himself to the walls and away from all the other kids. Riding his backpack up higher onto his shoulders and back to cover his neck and give better protection from behind. Continued to lighten his steps like he always does no matter where he is, even at home; he doesn’t even really have to try anymore since it’s been ingrained into him since he was a child, since he was deemed worthless, useless, and a waste. He just couldn’t help it, even after all he’s gained, even after this fresh new start, he couldn’t help but continue to use and carry on the habits, tactics, instincts that were ingrained into him for a majority of all his life. 

Emerald eyes fluttered and trailed, taking everything in as his breaths came in and out, slow and silent so as not to disturb the air, trying to capture everything that would allow him to survive if things turned for the worst. Pinpointing all the exit routes, the windows that seemed the closest and easiest to break; recording and analyzing all the students' quirks as they passed by, how they could possibly be used against him and how he could use them against their holders. His mind went over the mental list of his school supplies, recounting all the materials in the bright yellow bag, recognizing and reminding himself of those that would be the best as weapons, those he would be the best at wielding, and how to utilize them all depending on the situation confronted. Habits he knew wouldn’t just go away, ones he understood would be stuck with him for a very long time, but had hoped would leave with the new beginning, had tried to ignore, continued to flood his being against his will. Body hunched to make him small and to protect, eyes hungry for new information and with the need to keep their occupant alive. Counting the doors for all the classrooms (1… 3… 5 in this hall-) , avoiding the ones that were for maintenance but keeping their placement in his memory. Counting all the possible areas with a risk for an attack onto himself, and places he could use back against others. Deep within his mind a mantra he’d been repeating for years continues to fick, click, and scratch in his head like a broken record of - remember, remember this, remember this, remember this, don’t forget- 

The halls were so bright, so long, and filled with too many people for Izuku’s liking. Whatever wasn’t made of stunningly clear windows was white brick wall with a crimson red strip, or polished marble. It reminded him, distantly, of some type of expensive hospital. Maybe an examination room like the ones he’s had other’s infiltrate and take pictures of. Even possibly, a cage (and coincidentally just like his new, unknown sensei, he has to wonder if Nedzu did this on purpose when designing the building. To makes other’s subconsciously recognize what he’d been through, to torture them just slightly so they would always have some deep rooted and non-noticable, unconscious fear of him-). It makes him feel a little closed in, surrounded, and trapped almost now that he’s walking through the halls with so many other kids instead of with just his mentor like all those months ago when he’d first started training. It doesn’t help his anxiety nor his mind knowing that these were students chosen by UA. These were children that were deemed the best of the best in Japan, and possibly even the world, seeing as they walked these halls as well. Whether that talent lies in brute strength, tactical thinking, societal smarts, or just something else, they were all here because they were above the average for some reason, and that meant they were most likely more powerful in some way than he was. That meant they could harm him if they really wanted to, and with an advantage seeing as who they were, and he didn't like that. Even if UA was supposed to be better when it comes to their rules and the enforcement of said rules, more serious about it than the rest of the schools in Japan, Izuku had lived his whole life without rules to apply to him besides those created in some invisible list agreed on mentally by the way majority of the population. He was useless, worthless, nasty, trash, a monster - Though, with a quirk that changed. I’m human now, people should be nice, they should like me, that’s how it almost always goes. 

Some part of him aches deep down at knowing that the only reason people would even look at him now, would even acknowledge him and his presence was because of such a thing, was because such a factor has become so defining (Though, his mama, his junior high after school staff, his everywhere neighbors and his monster all knew he was quirkless and would beg to differ - while Maria, Ayamei and Hatsume, while not knowing of his status, had never judged him or questioned him on it, and have even expressed beliefs that beg to differ-). 

Anxious jitters that could easily be mistaken for nervous or barely contained excitement shook and buzzed through his body, trailing from his mind to his toes and all the way to his body’s dark core. But even so, he still made his way towards his classroom quickly; body and mind on high alert for dangers he hoped wouldn’t be there. Standing in front of the door, he couldn’t help but stare at the massive thing as it intimidated him. Is everything here so large to make everyone else feel small…? He couldn’t help the way his lips pulled flat as he nervously stared a bit longer, taking in the giant ‘1-A’ design plastered across its surface. Well, he thought, shrugging his bag a little higher, trying to muster the courage before entering, I should open the door I guess. He tried to ignore the loud sounds of what had to be shouting coming from the other side. But just as hand started towards the door, the smallest bit of movement was caught in the peripheral of his eyes, sending his mind into overdrive as the feeling of eyes on his being suddenly made itself aware in his senses and across his body through the raising of hair on his neck. Who could be-? Without indicating that he knew was being watched, he let his eyes flick over to where the movement and feeling was coming from briefly before flicking back, hand still reaching towards the door in a way as to show he was going to open the door as if the whole situation wasn’t happening. 

A yellow bag. 

A yellow bag? His eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the slight glimpse he’d gotten, and he was just about to throw away his supposed ignorance to turn around and see who it actually was (even though Izuku already had an idea of who it might be, but just wasn’t processing the thought completely because of his nerves-) when just as he was moving his head around, a sudden startled-chirp like noise sounded from behind him on his other side, stealing his attention away from the mysterious figure. 

“Gasp?! Hero-kun!” Did she just say ‘gasp’...? He stalled for a second, before; WaIT- Did she just call me ‘Hero-kun’?! 

Izuku jumped as his body turned around to face her; hands stiffening and lifting a bit as if getting ready to defend himself, but he caught the movement quickly and disguised it as if he was just going to grab his backpack straps once again. The girl didn’t seem to notice though as she stared at him with sparkling and determined brown eyes. Her face alight with something like awe and excitement, which confused Izuku since he doesn’t really remember doing anything to warrant such reactions from the girl - though, she did seem vaguely familiar. Where have I seen her…?

“You!” She pointed a finger at him, and he couldn’t help but point one of his own fingers back at himself as well while squeaking out a quick ‘Me?!’. “Yes, you! You saved me during the exam, remember? From that robot! Oh, I’m so glad you got in!” Taking in the entirety of the girl, he noted her brown bob cut, the pink of her cheeks, and the way she put her hands together, pinkies stuck out, and suddenly multiple memories from the exam surfaced to the front of his mind, reminding him of who she was. The girl who saved me from falling on my face! 

“O-oh! Y-yeah, t-th-that’s, uh, me! Um, b-but uh, H-hero-kun?!” He wasn’t used to being called a hero; usually his mom only called him that nowadays, with the occasion of Ayamei and Maria as well. Not even the people he’s saved call him hero regularly; it’s very few and far in between, seeing as he pushes for them to get out of the area so they won’t be harmed, meaning they don’t stick around to see him do anything. She tilted her head at him, hair falling with the movement, a small smile decorating her lips, helping pronounce the pink blushes on her cheeks. Her whole being and personality screamed bubbly and kind, something Izuku wasn’t used to being pointed at him. 

“Well duh! You saved me! That makes you a hero!” He felt his face flush, hands twitching lightly, wanting to hide himself away from all of the girl's words- he wasn’t used to all this positivity from strangers! But just before he could give a response to her remark, the bubbly girl looked to the door and realized it wasn’t opened yet. “We should find our seats, Hero-kun! I don’t know when the teacher’s going to get here,” And with that she stepped towards the door and threw it open without so much as a thought, blocking his view of the class as she stood in the large entrance. It's not like it mattered though, because as soon as the door was open, all the muffled noise that he’d just barely heard through the door was released, suddenly increasing by a ten fold and making his ears hurt and his body flinch back. The girl didn’t seem to notice once again as she stared into the classroom, and when he brought his attention back to the commotion at hand, he could make out the distinctive voices of one Bakugou Katsuki, and what he thinks might have been the mean guy from the exam. 

What they were screaming at each other about, Izuku couldn’t make out, their words blending together with how loud and fast they were going back and forth, but the topic must not have mattered too much though, as when he peeked around the girls body curiously, they both turned their heads up to look at the two of them standing at the door. He couldn’t help the flinch that shook his body again, accidentally brushing the bubbly girl, when the taller navy haired boy began to make his way over to them like a man on a mission, or well, more like a robot on a mission with how stiff his body was as he walked (he missed the curious glance that the young girl had sent his way when seeing his reaction. Missed the curious, cautious, and narrowed look she’d sent the taller boy quickly, a wonder in her eyes at who this boy was, and if he was someone Hero-kun didn’t want to be around-). 

As soon as he arrived, standing tall and almost menacingly above Izuku (the girl sensing his unease, pressed herself to stand a bit closer at his side-), he started to compliment and apologize to Izuku, touching on so many topics within the one that was the entrance exam. Hitting things like the main exam, the rescue points, the fact that he’d mistaken Izuku’s intentions with the girl, and plenty more things along those lines; it was honestly a lot. And all the while he was being overwhelmed loudly by one navy haired boy, he was also being overwhelmed silently by a certain blond sat inside the classroom he’d be entering fully soon. Izuku could feel the burning, sizzling rage bubbling and boiling just beneath the surface of those bright crimson eyes glaring holes his way, could feel the intent to harm behind them, the silent threat that he knew would be pursued eventually; whether that be during break, during class, or after school - Izuku knew it was coming. But, what could he really do at the moment? What could he do but shrink down and turn his eyes to look elsewhere, tell himself that he’d deal with the blond later… For all that he knew he could take his bully on, he was afraid. Afraid of him, afraid of the consequences of his actions, afraid of what he would really become if he ever fought back - it was one thing to fight a criminal on the street, to hurt a villain, and even though he could recognized his old and current classmate as one of those things, it was still different for some reason. There had been times when he’d tightened his fists, when the urge to do something back had filled his veins, pushed through his mind, turned his vision a tint of red, and sometimes it still does - no, not sometimes, all the time - but he’s never acted on any of those thoughts. I won’t be as bad as him - even if he was - I won’t hurt him just because he hurt me - but Izuku would, he wants to; and he hasn’t only just hurt Izuku. 

(‘What’s stopping me?’ He wonders, ‘from breaking his wrists one day - so easily, so quick -and deciding that enough, is enough?’)

“-If I’d know about the points, I would have done more to help!” The taller boy finished, curt and precise with his words. His arm out in a chopping motion, slicing through the air like a knife. Izuku’s attention was snapped back to the conversation at hand, and when he processed those words he couldn’t help but flare up a little on the inside at what was said, lips pulling back into a line and then ticking down at the ends barely. His mind repeated the sentence of ‘you shouldn’t have to be told to save someone, you shouldn't have to be persuaded into saving someone with points or reward’ as he thought about all people he knew who were abandoned, forgotten by a hero in favor of spotlight, money, and fame. Before he could think, before he could help himself, his lips were already forming the words and muttering out a response, the words coming out slick and sharp, similar to that of a poisoned whip. 

“Then that would defeat the purpose of those points. They’re hidden so the staff can see how you’ll react in real time on a real battlefield; whether you’ll help those hurt around you, or be selfish and only save yourself,” After he realized his words, he couldn’t help but bring his shoulders up to cover his ears, dread filling up his body, eyes flickering about to see if he could make a quick getaway somewhere, catching worried light chestnut eyes for a split second through the panic. I made a mistake, I made a mistake, I talked out of turn, I went against someone, Ididin’tmeanto- 

But instead of being met with anger and yelling and painful burns and sharp nails, instead of being met with attack after attack after attack , he was met with a thoughtful expression and tone. The taller boy bringing a hand up to his chin as he thought about the response, not even acknowledging the tone Izuku had used on accident. Then, he was given another compliment and apology for his apparent superior thinking... It was so strange to Izuku, to not be harmed after doing something like this in a school. Especially in a school… It was that moment that something once more caught the corner of his eye, and he couldn’t help but flick them down to meet dark inky eyes staring back into his own. They shared a look for what could barely be considered a full second before the man's eyes left his and turned to look around the classroom as if he hadn’t noticed Izuku watching him curiously. 

It hadn’t even had to register in Izuku’s head before he knew who was currently laid on the marbled floor in a bright yellow sleeping bag, a bored expression placed on the man's face as he just observed the classroom quietly, with no one to notice him. 

Izuku was going to die. 

Simple as that. 

Was he the one outside the door-?

It hadn’t even been the first ten minutes of the day and he’d already thought his soul would ascend quite a few times. First when he had to walk through the halls with all the students, secondly when the bubbly girl (which, I still don’t know her name, I should probably ask her soon-) jumped at him, pointing his way and calling him a hero, then when they finally opened the doors and he was met with two people that genuinely scared him, only to have one be sorta nice while the other still wanted to rip his skin off with his bare hands, and cook the beat off his bones. And finally now, as he stared at the man in the yellow sleeping bag on the floor hidden behind his feet and part of the door - that no one else still seemed to notice yet - and recognized him as the underground pro, Eraserhead. I knew he was a teacher here but oh come on! He’s my teacher?? For the rest of the year? What if he recognizes me, what if he finds out who I am, but we only met the one time? Has he heard of me? I doubt it, maybe? I’m kinda popular, and pretty well known, so maybe? I’ve never heard that he was looking for me, so maybe he won’t think to look for anything suspicious? But what’s considered suspicious?! But we met only that one time, and not much happened, so maybe he’ll think I’m a thug? But it was so long ago, I doubt he remembers- But what if he does, what if he does and he decides to expel me? I can’t get kicked out, what if All Might-sensei wanted the quirk back?! What if he finds out I'm Henkei and turns me into the police, I can’t get kicked out now, I can’t get kicked out now, not now, nonononono-

“-Anyways, I just realized I didn’t get your name Hero-kun!” He shot his head up to the bubbly girl who was staring at him expectantly, something else swimming in her light chestnut eyes as she leaned forward, almost as if she was trying to distract him. Strange… 

“Ah, I also forgot to introduce myself, I sincerely apologize!” Chimed in the navy boy. But just as Izuku was about to stammer out an introduction, a deep voice droned on from behind him, Eraserhead finally deciding to showcase his presence to the class. 

“If you’re only here to make friends, then you’re better off leaving now,” 

Izuku gulped as he started towards his desk, trying to shake off the events that’d already muddled with his mind since he’d entered the building, repeating the words he’d said earlier that morning. 

I can’t lose my chance now. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

A test. Aizawa-sensei had given them some sort of test.

They had to go get changed into the uniforms given to them and then head out onto one of the training fields. 

He’d slowly walked through the halls, dreading the locker rooms he’d have to change in; memories and experiences from years before surfaced to the front of his mind, clouding his eyes as he walked- lifting him from reality and putting him back into a time of one-sided war. It wasn’t too bad though, as throughout most of the journey there he’d gotten to listen - and even talk! They wanted my opinion even after what happened earlier - to his new classmates; ones he now knew as Uraraka and Iida. In the end, Iida ended up excusing himself part way to talk to some of their other classmates, leaving him to listen to his new - friend? Acquaintance? - classmate the rest of the way. Even so, his mind wouldn’t let the conversations drown out the negative feelings that came with the nearing locker rooms. Throat dry as they split up, he swallowed before entering.  

The locker room felt cramped, and he couldn’t help but try and take his time to get ready; hoping that the other’s would finish quickly and leave, tucking himself away as far as he could to not be seen; too selfaware and conscious of the scars lingering all over his skin from years of abuse and torture. Of the few scars he’d gotten from fighting out late at night, taking on dangerous opponents at times. Of the large scar that covered most of his upper back and curled around one of his shoulders, crawling slightly up his neck - something that was quite prominent; paler than his skin, covering his freckles, but loaded with its own dark little spots here and there - still there from the incident when he was just a young kid. It hadn’t been like most of the starburst scars, like most of the other’s that had been nicked and kissed into his skin by others. This had been an ‘overly large accident’, had been his bully’s quirk having what they called a ‘post-manifestation power-up’ when that explosion came. 

(Which was the quirk ‘manifesting’ once again, as if it was the first time a child was getting their quirk, except more powerful. This rarely happened, but it was something that was mainly connected to those who had mixed emitter/mutation quirks, or double-emitter/mutations. An example being a young girl gaining some type color changing body mutation at four causing her to have pure white skin, until she decides to change her color. It’s all by will of mind, and there’s no other mutations besides the fact that her whole body changed completely white. But then two years later the young girl has a ‘post-manifestation power-up’ - basically the manifestation of a similar but secondary and different quirk - which allows her to steal the colors from other objects; living or non-living. Pads grow on her fingers suddenly because this new emitter quirk is five point activated, and she has no control over it like her first quirk. Doctors don’t know why it happens, but it does. Though, it shouldn’t apply to the younger Bakugou seeing as he’d never gained another aspect to his quirk, nor gained a second one at all-). 

Still, as he stood in the suffocatingly small corner, glancing over the other boys as they got ready, he decided it’d be best to get it over and done with. 

‘Just eat the frog,’ as they say… 

With a speed that could break records, Izuku changed out of his school uniform and into the gym uniform, ignoring some of the glances and curious stares from the other boys around him, happy that the outfit was high collared, but disappointed that the sleeves only went to his top of elbow. Well, at least my old classmates knew I like to wear t-shirts a lot, seeing as most of the scars they gave me weren’t on my forearms… Granted, that didn’t stop those against me during the night… Even so, a few faded ones still sat atop the skin, leaving slight discolorations in the tones, covering areas where his freckles would be, but weren’t too noticeable unless you really looked. Though, a few newer ones were still there from his late night adventures, were a little more pronounced. Let’s just hope no one notices or cares. 

In the next second Izuku’s on the field, standing awkwardly off to the side from the other students that were already out there, waiting a bit anxiously for the rest of them to join the group on the training field. Involuntarily, his eyes kept wandering back and forth, always seeming to focus and land on the dark form of his teacher (though, on occasion they did drift back to the tufts of blond he could see sticking out from behind the corner of the school; only adding more stress to his situation, but was he going to point out his mentor? No, no he wasn’t-). What luck he must have had, to get a hero he knew was someone he could, and had already, encountered outside of school as his homeroom and heroics teacher. Someone who could find out his identity and report or arrest him on the spot. The universe must really hate me… Soon enough though, the rest of the class began to file out slowly, but surely. A brown bob entered his peripheral, and soon enough Uraraka was standing by him as Iida hovered nearby, dropping a few words here and there, but mainly going to talk to a tall ravennette about something. 

“So Mido-kun, what kind of tests do ya think we’ll be doing?” She leaned into his space, smiling excitedly, and causing him to lean a little back. Staring at her for a bit, he wondered if she was really asking him; neverminding the fact that she’d been asking for his opinion on things as they walked over to the locker rooms together not even ten minutes ago. She’d been nice so far as they talked, so… 

Once again, it’s strange being in such a new setting… Is this really the work of quirk? Do all people communicate like this normally? I mean, we talked like this in the underground to some degree, but that was because everyone was some type of scum in some type of way for whatever reason- It was easy to communicate with those you knew were just like you… Even if it was mostly to just talk business instead of conversation such as these… Still, as Henkei he was respected and known and even feared to some degree. He was worth something because it didn’t matter if you were human or not, everyone was terrible… But now? As Izuku? As Izuku he was just a nobody at the moment, someone who had a quirk but couldn’t do anything, someone just trying to be human, to be a hero… Before, he was Deku; people didn’t ask him questions, people didn't look to him for advice, people outside his mom didn’t care about him. People were talking to him now though, as Izuku, they were talking to him… Maybe the quirk really does mean something… After figuring that she meant no harm when asking, he decided to answer. Bringing his hand to his chin, he thought about what they could be doing for the tests, his thumb pressing into his bottom lip. 

“Well, it could be something along the lines of a prep test? Or a pre-test? You know how teachers will give a test in the beginning of class to see where the class average is in studies? It could be something like that except for our gym class in this case. We are in our gym uniforms and outside on a training field after all, it would make sense if we were doing something to see where we are athletically. So we’ll probably be doing a series of events that test where our strengths and weaknesses lie; maybe some endurance races, long jumps, ball throwing - things we would have done in junior high during PE. Obviously there will be some differences - this is a hero school after all, and this is a heroics class- so maybe we’ll be allowed to use our quirks? We’ll probably be tested on other things as well, not just the usual; maybe a grip test or something to determine the power in our hits when we throw a punch? It seems the most plausible in this situation at the moment, but that’s only a guess,” He turned back to her as he finished up, a contemplative and searching look on the brunette's face, eyes meeting eyes, something flashing through them for only a second, before she broke out into another smile. 

“You’re a smart one, aren’t ch’ya Mido-kun! I don’t think I would have guessed that much if asked- maybe I’d get the pre-test things right, but I don't think I’d get much else after that!” She poked some fun at him after that, as he flushed up. Not much later were the tests explained, the introductions to what they would be doing going quickly, while Uraraka mumbled questions to herself about orientation. It seems someone else had the same idea too, because not a moment later did they yell about orientation. 

“UA has an active individual classroom learning policy; I’m allowed to teach you anyway I want, at any time I want, so long as you’re all reaching and prepared for certain milestones in the learning curriculum. Now, Bakugou Katsuki, you scored the highest in the entrance exam. As such, you get to be the example. Here,” A ball was tossed to the angry blond, who caught it easily, “Step in the circle. You can use your quirk however you want to throw the ball, just don’t leave the circle,” With that, the blond stepped up to the circle, and Izuku couldn't help but bring his shoulders up in slight tension, knowing what was most likely to come next, years of trained beatings preparing him for the worse. It came as no surprise to him when Kacc- Bakugou tossed the ball once in his hand before reeling his arm back and screaming “DIE!” As he launched it with all of his current power, a large explosion ringing out, the air hot and intense against his skin as dust kicked up, and for a second Izuku felt as if he was flung back into dozens of different pasts. In his elementary school classroom, in the closest of the junior high, laying on the floor, getting told to jump off the roof, running at the sludge villain, being pushed down the stairs, hiding in the lunch staffs break room, crying himself to sleep, nightmares of being killed or killing, applying creams after creams after creams on his ruined and tainted skin. All within a second, he was back to a time when he was less than nothing, would never be anything. Where the only people who cared for Deku were his mother and the junior high staff, and all within a second he was flung right back to the present. Back to himself, still afraid, but something more. No one seemed to notice his moment of internal panic and conflict, nor the tension in his shoulders, and coursing through his body. 

(Little did he know that three pairs of eyes had drifted his way, if only for a moment, and while they wouldn’t say they saw anything for sure if questioned, seeing as they didn’t stare long, they would say they might have seen the way the young boy seemed to pull himself away from the event, the way his eyes clouded over, just a bit. The way he prepared himself to flee almost. Little did he know…) 

“705.2 meters,” 

Cheers erupted from the crowd around him, the noise loud and jarring in his ears, and Kami did he hate it. Loud noises always made him uncomfortable - not only because of a certain explosive user, but because noise was heard , and when you’re heard, you’re seen . You can be found and tracked, and people know you’re there - it’s just not something meant for anywhere but combat in his opinion, or for small gatherings, and even then, things should be kept to a quieter scale. A flinch was held back as he listened to them go, yelling about how cool it was, how amazing and fun this would be, and more things along those lines. Just like earlier when Iida had talked about the rescue points, Izuku felt something irk inside of him and he couldn’t help but think about how naive and ignorant they were. He understood that propaganda, companies, the media, and so much more wanted to portray heroics as a great thing to do; something fun and amazing with little downsides, understood that they probably didn’t know better due to this or that reason, but it irritated him just the slightest to see them not taking this so seriously. Hero work was dangerous, it was nasty, people died; heroes, villains, civilians, and innocents alike - you could lose some of your best friends and family out there in the field. He’d seen it, he’d experienced it - has had to watch as people he couldn't save died right in front of him. Had to watch them as they choked on their own blood while he stayed covered in it. Had to get his own hands dirty occasionally and take those lives away, had to listen and watch as people he couldn’t save had to continue living tortuous lives as slaves, as puppets, as those who were hunted and killed and just- 

(A blow to the front of the head with a crunch, once more against the throat.

Taking the brunt of the car hit, unmoving and arm broken.

“-That he’s being trafficked… young boys are popular right now,” 

“M-ma-mama-a- I-I-I- He-he’s dead- ” )  

You can’t save everyone, and it hurts… 

“So, this is all a game to you?” 

Silence. Absolute silence filled the air at that. 

“Fine, this can be a game. The person who scores last place gets expelled,” And once again, havoc rained around them, the sudden increase of noise getting to Izuku and causing him to suppress another flinch. Distantly he hears someone yell out how that isn’t fair, and before anyone else could get another opinion out Aizawa-sensei was once again talking, anger filling his voice and his eyes gleaming a flash of red for barely a second.  

“Fair? Fair? The world isn’t fair, get over it,” He titled his head, dark hair falling with it, and Izuku felt like he knew where this was going. These kids are going to get a reality check… “Do you really think that the heroics course, that heroics in general, is all unicorns and rainbows? All quirk play and little work? Because I’ll tell you right now; if you think this way, you won’t last another hour in my class. I refuse to teach kids who don’t understand the importance and seriousness of the field they're trying to get into. Life isn’t fair, and life isn’t easy. Natural disasters strike, people are starving, killers roam the streets, and children are abandoned every day. Things happen; terrible things, and it’s going to be your job one day to deal with these terrible and unfair things. You’re job to fix and try to create better circumstances. One day you’re going to have to pull a body from under a collapsed building. One day you’re going to get called to a disaster so great that a whole city could be eradicated. One day you’re going to have to fight side by side with a friend and possibly watch them die. One day you might not be able to save someone, and will have to watch them go back into whatever hell they were in. Heroics isn’t all spotlights, cameras, and money. And if you can’t understand that then I want you to turn around right now and walk back to the classroom, gather your things and leave. Heroics is a serious and dangerous field, so get your heads out of the clouds and plant your feet on the ground, because from now on you will be training to save lives one day, lives other than just your own. I won’t stand to put out dead-men walking,”

A dread fell over the group as he finished, Izuku could feel it thicken the air, and choke their breaths. At least he gave it to them straight. I prefer to just hear the truth straight out, makes things less complicated, makes people less likely to make mistakes… Distantly he wondered how many of his new classmates would drop the course because of the lecture…   (The answer was none, and Izuku was glad to see that at least these kids were willing to put in the effort and take the course seriously afterwards)

With that, the first of all the tests began. 

He was right in the end, they did plenty of different tests; most of them being the same junior high tests from gym, while there were a few extra things here and there. He kept track of most of his scores and compared them to a few others around him, changing the people depending on whether or not their quirk was suited for a specific test or not. So far it seemed as if he was around the middle, maybe a little on the lower side, but he couldn’t be too sure with how many of the kids seemed to be untrained for plenty of situations, but excelled in a couple other’s.

An invisible girl was quite fast, so she did a better than average for the meter-dash, while the perverted kid with the purple balls on his head was practically a master in the sides steps; he could do even better in most other tasks seeing as the things on his head were pretty versatile if he tried a little harder (though, Izuku had to wonder why he was even allowed in, seeing as he kept trying to look and touch the girls- maybe he’s got someone in the board?-) . The tall ravennette that had been talking to Iida earlier had aced all the tests, Izuku was sure. With a quirk like her’s it was no wonder, and with the way she’d created and used such items, he knew she was intelligent and a quick thinker. I wonder if she’s related to the Yaoyorozu family, her quirk fits their bill if I’m remembering correctly, but I can’t quite remember why else it seems familiar… The boy with dual colored hair (he had to be a Todoroki kid, there was almost no mistaking the hair, the quirk, the eyes, and even the scar-) had yet to use his quirk in any of the tests besides the meter dash, the ball throw, and long jump, yet he seemed to score higher than normal as well in them all. Uraraka couldn’t use her quirk much seeing as she’s already started to look a bit green, but she wasn’t doing too bad either. Maybe… maybe we could train together? Is that what friends do? Are we even friends? She seemed really nice, but maybe she’s only talking to me because she doesn’t really know anyone else? He let himself mull over these thoughts as he continued to take the tests. 

Soon enough, the time for his own ball throw came, and not once had Izuku used the quirk yet. Kami, with All Might-sensei watching the pressure is heavy…  His emerald eyes watch as Uraraka takes her own turn, letting the ball go to float up, up, up into the air. Soon enough the monitor beeps, showing the infinity sign. And now I’ve got to compare up to that… He felt himself fill with nervous dread, and he couldn’t help but slump a little in defeat. At least I know I won’t be in complete last place… 

So, after wishing Uraraka a great job on her score, he shuffled up to the circle, shoulders up and arms wrapped around himself when his name was called and caught the ball his teacher had thrown at him. 

I honestly have no clue how to use this quirk… it seems the only times I've done so, I only broke my limbs… He turned the ball around in his hand, trying to find a way to get a high score without completely damaging his body once again. Well, it seemed that I only broke the limbs I let it go to - however I did that - so maybe there’s a way to send it all to just my hand? The fingers maybe? I could try, but if I lose control, it could be dangerous for those around me and myself… Another hum, his fingers twitching a little as he tried to write invisible notes to keep track of his thought process, before he decided on what to do. I’ll just use my arm for now like I did at the exam, try to recreate that feeling, and then after school or something, we can go over what All Might-sensei saw from his hidden place, after that I’ll test the theory with him and see if it works. That way I can keep the other’s from getting hurt.  

So, bringing his arm back, he prepared for the breaking feel to go throughout his arm; besides, I’m used to being hurt anyways, this shouldn’t bother me. And he moved to let it go. 

Out of the corner of his eye he watched as his teacher moved, and next thing he knew the ball had only been thrown only about 50 meters. 

The quirk’s gone. Was his first thought as he felt his eyes widen slightly, his mind frozen in place. Then, in less than a second- The quirk’s gone, the quirksgone, it’s gone,itsgoneitsgone itsgoneit- Izuku felt his heartbeat pick up, the blood pumping through him so much faster and harder he could physically feel it pulsing through him, as if his body was getting ready to activate his fight or flight instinct, his breath catching in his throat and his lungs feeling as if they’d collapsed into himself like a black hole - a void entering in the space that’s almost always been empty, but recently not so. He couldn’t help but panic, not because he wasn’t used to the feeling of being quirkless - because he’d felt that for years and years and years; had to deal with the consequences of living as such, had the markings on his body as proof - but because it’s gone, I’m in the spotlight, they’ll see, they’ll see me , they’ll know- I don’t want them to see what I really am - But on the outside he showed no difference in what he did. Not really anyways. Surprise decorated his face, though plainly, as if it wasn’t the most exotic thing, but more of a thing to confuse him. He tightened his hands to keep them from shaking more than they already were trying to, knuckles turning white under the pressure, and had his nails been a bit longer, he’s sure they would’ve bit into the skin, leaving little pricks of blood in their wake. Quirk canceled, internal panic spiking, and face screwed up awkwardly, he turned to face his teacher, a questioning look in his emerald eyes, and in his churning state of mind, he didn’t filter himself when he spoke out. 

“E-eraserhead-san… W-why’d you cancel th-my q-quirk?” A lot of muttering from the crowd of students followed his statement, most wondering who the hero was, some wondering about his quirk, while one or two stared in disbelief at seeing that said hero actually existed. 

The man clad in black just stepped forward, scarf appearing to come to life around his head as it lifted and flowed through the air, black hair following as his eyes glowed brightly. It was almost like they were under water with the way each object whirled and moved, and if Izuku hadn’t known better he’d think he was standing in front of some type of ocean deity; with the pure power his sensei gave off, the way his eyes shown ruby red, how he moved with such precision and strength - it was everything Izuku had expected of the hero, honestly; just not the teacher. The older man didn’t seem surprised that Izuku knew who he was, but maybe he just didn't care that much. (He did care, if anything he was baffled, but that wasn’t important at the moment and something he could worry about later-)

“Why? Why, you ask?” He flung out his capture scarf and it took everything in Izuku not to jump out of the way in that moment, his nerves feeling white hot under everyone’s hard gazes as he stood there quirkless; that fight or flight instinct flaring to life in the need to be followed. Getting yanked towards the teacher, he came face to face with the man, their noses barely fifteen centimeters apart. “Midoriya Izuku, you have the gall to ask why after your performance during the entrance exam? Did you really think I would let you just break yourself again!?” His voice was low and tight, lips pulled into a small scowl. Izuku could see where he was coming from, truly, but it’s not like he had years of practice with it like others did. The emerald eyed boy had to bite his tongue to make sure he didn’t hiss such thoughts at his teacher, if only because he knew the man didn’t know or expect his situation involving the quirk. The nerves in his body slowly settled into something more irritated and annoyed as the older man continued. “I don’t know why or what caused you to have such lazy control over your quirk, and at the moment I honestly don't care, but do you realize how much of a casualty you’ll be in the field with such behaviours?! What you were going to do just now; what would have happened if you were in an active battlefield? You’d be useless ,” Izuku grit his teeth, because Kami, he was really fighting right now inside himself, for other reasons than before. Instead of fighting to keep his calm so as not to break down in front of his classmates out of anxiety, fear, and disgust of himself, it was to make sure that he didn’t accidentally start getting too emotional with his anger. To start going off on the man he knew as not just a teacher, but a hero - something he wasn’t afraid of flashing his fangs at when he needed to. 

See… a whisper in the back of his mind, a scratch at his conscious, toxic waste dripping in the crevices of his brain and into his ears. Things don't change so easily… It hissed at him. Deep down Izuku knew that it wasn’t talking about his teacher's words, not about being useless, but was talking about something else Izuku would rather forget. 

I don't understand people, I don’t understand. 

After first he was useless because he was quirkless, but now he’s useless because he has a quirk. 

Will anything I do satisfy the people around me? 

(Shouta watched as emerald eyes glared into his own. Barely concealed sizzling anger flared in them, but a constrained calm tried to cover it, as if the kid was trying to convince himself that this wasn't that bad of a situation he was in. He continued to glare back, meeting the boy head on, his hair raising and gut unsettled as he pushed forward with the situation, as if warning him that he was stepping into dangerous territory. Shouta ignored it and challenged on…) 

“I’ll give you another chance, but if you can’t find a different way to complete the exercise without incapacitating yourself to the point of uselessness, then I deem you have no potential and will expel you on the spot,” Izuku was let down from the scarves, and pushed back into the circle, a new ball in hand. 

“Remember,” He turned back to his teacher, lips pulled thin, “No. Potential,” 

Gritting his teeth once again, Izuku decided in that moment, as the power was flooding back into his body and filling his limbs and chest and just everything, as Eraserhead turned off his quirk and stepped back; decided in that moment of anger, determination, spite and relief, that he didn’t care about testing his theory later. Didn’t care that something could go wrong. Call it un-heroic, but Izuku was fed up and if he had to prove he was something more (again) , something useful (again) , something human just to stay in this damned school - well… no human was perfect. 

I won’t lose my chance now… I can't lose this quirk. I’m human.

He reeled his arm back and began to throw it forward. As he did so, he focused, focused as much as he could on the feeling of power running and filling and living and bursting throughout his body, zipping and ripping through his veins and around his muscles, expanding the tissues and pulling them apart. Focused on the feel of them lighting up his nerves and burning them bright and crackling and white and hot, so so hot - he honestly felt like his body would turn to dust as it burned fiercely, the skin practically glowing from being so searing and powered and stuffed with something that was never supposed to be there but was now . The buzzing boiled and bubbled throughout his whole body, and he could swear his skin would start to tear itself apart layer by layer from how much it strained as he pressed on to use it more and more, before he finally focused it all into his one finger, feeling everything that was the quirk rush straight to the index of his right hand. It felt like it was on fire, flaring and enraged with the heat of a thousand suns; this time the skin actually glowing out and bright, a flaming crimson and he could physically see it start to strain and tear and blister off as he pushed and pushed it all into one place and hold it there, small sparks appearing, bouncing off and connecting together over the skin of his finger - and for a moment he really thought that he’d held the power of the sun in his body, held the power of some great deity right there and was directing it to his finger - until the right moment when he would allow it to all be released. 

The moment he let go, he could practically feel the bones in his finger shatter to dust, could feel each creak and crack as they split and broke, splintering and piercing into the meat around it and puncturing any veins that wormed their way through. Could feel the veins burst and explode apart, the three thin layers that held them together separating and pulling and disintegrating on the spot. Could feel the muscles lift itself from the leftover bones, and mutilate and slice itself apart, each strand splitting like they’d been cut with rusty scissors before being wrenched apart the rest of the way. The rest of the tissues in there following as well, becoming nothing in the wake of a power so great his body couldn’t even hold it - the power of a sun in his body. His skin blew open with the air explosions finally, the layers peeling off and shredding apart, the nail cracking before being blown out as well. Blood gushed and spurt through the gashes into the surrounding space, covering his hands and spilling onto the ground a little as the ball went flying through the air, breaking sound barrier after sound barrier on its way up into the sky. His finger, now decorated in blacks, deep reds, and purples hung uselessly as he stared at it, small streams of blood dropping out for a second before turning into the occasional drip, trying to hold in the tears misting over his eyes the best he could. 

It hurts… It hurts so, so bad. He felt himself chuckle a bit as he turned to his teacher to lock widened emerald eyes onto inky black. But I’ll deal with it. For now, he would deal with it until he could get a better handle on the quirk. 

Besides, it’s best to break something of his own and not all other things. He was used to it after all.

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

As Shouta watched the young boy throw the ball, finger broken, air exploding out from around him and in the sky, sand and dirt kicking up, the meter in his hand indicating a solid 705.3 (just a point of a point higher than the Bakugou kids score-) , he couldn’t help but feel something for just a second. There but then gone. His surprise stayed hidden, but he couldn’t help but zone into the kid as he heard a small laugh.

The hand was brought down and Shouta watched as Midoriya (Midoriya, that was his name, Midoriya Izuku) clutched his wrist in his other working hand, gripping tightly as they shook lightly. He watched as emerald eyes turned to catch and lock his own down, alight and alive with some toxic oil driven fire, misted with light radioactive tears, screaming at him with a drive that spoke with broken determination and shattered suicide, no regard for their owner. Gleaming dangerously as a teeth bared smile grew onto the boys face; he looked like a wild animal, cornered and baring its sharpened fangs, ready to fight both tooth and nail; bloody and broken be damned, for what he wanted, for his freedom, for his need to survive, to die on his own terms. And that feeling, the one that he’d felt for a second, was back, but it was nothing like the time at the exam, nothing like the prickling on his skin from when he’d threatened to expel the kid on the spot. It was nothing like the dissection he’d felt before. No, no, this was something much different. (He wouldn’t have been able to describe it then, not knowing what it could have been, but later, much later after he’d learned and learned about this boy, this student of his; after he’d talked with Nedzu, he’d learn it was just a glimpse into the strange and insane obsessive kinship that Nedzu had felt with the boy when they’d first met, that same feeling that had continued to grow and grow and grow deeper as time went on - and at this moment, while Shouta didn’t understand, something in his mind recognized a similar soul, though only something much more monstrous, something similar to, if not worse than, Nedzu-) 

Another broken chuckle through an open mouthed smile, and those eyes absolutely blazed as they met his head on, almost seeming to dare him to do something, even though the kid's body language spoke of anxiety, pain, and the need to flee and leave the spotlight. 

“S-sensei, I c-can still move~!” 

This kid… 

He couldn’t help the way his void and black eyes began to widen, the pupils dilating large before shrinking into a pins tip; couldn’t help the way the hair on his body stood on end in excitement . The way his mouth twitched and slowly grew into something horrifying and terrible, teeth bared and lips twisted into an unhinged and deranged smile; seemingly trying to match the child's own, but worse. A hand found its way to his ratty dark hair and he pushed it back out of his face, displaying the whole thing openly, making sure to never let his eyes tear from the other’s glowing emerald. He didn’t know what this feeling was - what this need was - didn’t know why he was doing this, but in that moment he almost felt like he wanted to expose himself. Let himself be seen. Despite his underground instincts, he wanted to walk in the light for just a second, spread his arms and show himself to the world. Even if Shouta didn’t actively know what he was really feeling, what he was really thinking. Didn’t know why he wanted to be seen. Didn’t consciously understand what his inner mind was trying to express. He couldn’t help but feel it. His other hand shook lightly in what had to be anticipation, Shouta couldn’t think of any other reason it would, and he had to actively keep that one in his pocket, keep it from throwing itself up and to the side of himself as if he was some performer on a stage, opening his chest for everyone in the audience to read and see and dissect as he went through some strange playthrough scene. Instead, he clenched that fist in his pocket, and with a feeling he rarely puts into his words, 

“Yeah, kid - It seems like you can!”

I wonder if this is what Nedzu had seen… 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

What. The. Fuck. 

Katsuki could only stare as he watched Deku fling the ball with a strength that’d never been there before. A strength that couldn’t have been there before. Katsuki had wondered how the useless bastard had managed to pass the entrance exam… 

A villain , his mind whispered, reminding him of his junior high years. How else could this had happened . It continued on. But what kind of villain could give quirks? It’s not like they could just pull them out of their ass! It didn’t make sense that way… 

He lied , was the next response his mind gave. All these years, he lied because he thought he was better than you. He just wanted the attention. Of course. That had to be the reason. Of course the little shit would think he was better than Katsuki, of course he would hide his quirk so he could get all the attention onto himself and away from Katsuki - He was probably training in secret, training to get better than me. He probably mocked me when I wasn’t around. I wonder who else knew about his quirk the whole time. It would make sense as to why he never gave up even with all the beatings he was given, because he always had this stupid fucking ace under his cheating ass sleeve this whole time!

Katskui could feel his hands heating up with their usual sparks, the small pop p-pop pop-op pop’s crackling in his palms and falling on the ground. Before he could really think about what he was doing, he found himself rushing forward, a scream ripping its way from his throat as he blasted off towards Deku, the intent to harm ( to K I L L ) flooding his veins and dripping off in the form of caramel scented sweat.

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

Izuku was saved by grey tinted scarfs, yet still felt himself flinch back harshly, actually taking a couple steps back. He’d been waiting for the metaphorical pin to pull, for the shoe to drop, the alarm to detect smoke - he’d felt the boiling of the blond's rage, had seen it sizzling over the edge just barely the last hour or so. But he didn’t know what to do, so he just waited; he waited and watched and watched and waited. 

I guess using One For All was the final straw to break the camels back… 

Izuku could only stare as the blond had his quirk erased but continued to scream and scream at him. At him for lying, for hiding his quirk, for pretending to be useless, for being an attention seeker, and plenty more. Izuku only stared as Aizawa-sensei finally calmed Kac- Bakugou, Bakugou down and sent him back into the group. He followed not long after as the next person still needed to go, granted Izuku made sure to go to the opposite side of the students where Uraraka and Iida, who’d come back to comfort him, talked to him to get his mind of Bakugou , and focus on the rest of the tests. 

I should have figured that I wouldn’t be able to avoid that forever… Now I’ve just got to somehow plan around this without revealing anything… 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

It wasn’t long after the gym exercise that Izuku found where he stood on the level with his class. He was near the upper middle, definitely not first, but gladly not last. 

That would make sense seeing as I’ve trained a lot, but shouldn’t it be the same with the others? To make up for their lackings, you think they’d train? If anything, taking in the use of quirks for the test, I should be around the same level as, if not lower than, the invisible girl, the electric boy, earjack girl, laser boy, as well as Uraraka-kun because we all had plenty of disadvantages quirk wise, but they still had something to help. Even that grape kid could have been plenty higher than me with how versatile his quirk is; yet I’m sitting above almost half the class and I could only use my quirk once… Wouldn’t they know that they couldn’t always use their quirks out in the field? Wouldn’t they have wanted to make up for that loss? 

He let the thoughts run through his mind. He just couldn’t understand why people would only train one part of themselves and not others. At least Kacchan- Bakugou, I swear to- At least Bakugou knew to train both; his quirk and his body were both in shape, even if the way he trained them was by using Izuku… But still, heroics was dangerous, and not only that, if they constantly relied solely on their quirks, they might not be able to save others. In a sense, you could say they were being selfish by not thinking of others… But, He looked to the bottom of the list to see the name ‘Aoyama Yuga’, and the laser boy crumpled on the ground. They are only children, so it would make sense that they don’t see the whole picture just yet… (nevermind the fact that he was still a child himself-) He lets his eyes fall away from the stricken boy and to the ground. Just means they need to learn. Like I had to learn, they need to learn and grow. Let’s just hope it won’t have to be through the hardest way all the time, his mind thinks of scars and rejections and prejudice. Of pain and pain and pain. Of loneliness and psychotic moments; though, if our teacher is serious then it may just be a bit of the harsher way all year seeing the way he introduced the lesson… at least Eraserhead-san won’t let anything too terrible happen… Aizawa-sensei on the other hand… His lips thin as he tries to think about whether the hero will show in the teacher, or the teacher in the hero.  

He tuned back into the present just in time to hear his teacher speak out. 

“Oh yeah, by the way, this whole thing was a logical ruse,” and with that, they were told to go back to head back to the locker rooms. The whole class, though, was throwing some type of tantrum, but all Izuku could do was slump. He thought ( and hoped honestly) it might have been a joke, but with Eraserheads record, he couldn’t be sure. I don’t understand people… (granted, it really wasn’t a logical ruse, and Shouta would have actually expelled the person had he decided they had no potential-) 

In the end, he began to walk his way back with the rest class, listening as Uraraka cheerfully talked about anything and everything, his mind a little ways away as he thought how All Might had wanted to talk to him after school, and about how he’d already ended up going to the nurses office.

I hate nurses… 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

Izuku sits on the medical cot as he watched his finger heal before his very eyes, the parts seemingly following the motions of how they were broken backwards to fix it (Though, he really couldn’t tell seeing as almost all the damage was internal to the finger, the side effects of those injuries showing outwards, but still, it was so cool-) . Wow, I’ve heard of Recovery Girls quirk, but this was amazing to see it in person… He sat staring in wonder and figured he‘d have to buy a new notebook for UA specifically because of all the cool and amazing quirks he’d seen already. I’ll start with Recovery Girls seeing as I already have a couple things on her… It’s not even a second later that All Might pops into the room, announcing his presence and a cheerful, “My boy!” before promptly deflating and spitting out enough blood to fill a large carton of milk. Even so, that didn’t stop the large, now thin, blond. He just pulled out a wipe a little embarrassedly, and smiled that awkward smile he did occasionally. “My boy,” He said this time without the usual boom of his All Might form, but instead in the gentle baritone of Yagi Toshinori. “How was your first day of school?” 

Izuku hadn’t actually gone to the nurses right away, instead walking the halls for a bit, before going through his bag and taking the small med kit out, and fixing his finger; making sure to throw on some gloves (that he usually kept on him incase he found something important during his normal day to day, or needed to interrupt said day with some case working) to hide the broken finger, (and kami, did that fucking hurt, but he didn’t want to miss anything for fear that the teachers wouldn’t give it to him after class or even after school. That he’d be left in the dark for however long until he worked up the nerve to talk to one of the other students and get it from them only to receive a beating for just speaking and trying to and just wanting to learn for kami’s sake, why did everyone do that all the time, why couldn’t he just get help-) so he sat through the pain, and after school he quickly and fearfully made his way to the nurses office to get it fixed up, because a sprained finger was one thing, something he could handle that at home and so could his mama, but a broken finger was something entirely different. So pushing his feelings aside, he’d made his way over and listened to Recovery Girl as she scolded him for the waiting so long to get healed, but muttering something under her breath about this being Yagi’s fault even though he had nothing to do with the finger - (well, sorta, he didn’t really explain how to use the quirk, so maybe that’s what she was referring to?) - before healing it up. Leading to where they were right now, with the tall blond standing in the room with him. 

He shuffled over slowly as he waited for an answer, and came down to sit next to Izuku on his cot, causing the boy to scoot over to give the older man some space. Watching the older get comfortable, he thought about his answer. There wasn’t much to really comment about what happened at school or how it went. It was just one of those days like back in junior high, but the teachers weren’t immediately enacting their rules and list of things to torture him with. (The list was terrible and ugly, something that was passed on from teacher to teacher starting his second to last year of elementary school and all through junior high, depicting where to seat him, how to make him uncomfortable and how far they could go to hurt him, isolate him, bother him, and much more before he would actually tell his mother and have her call the school. Rules for him to follow, as well as giving him specific punishments for every rule- by his last year of school the paper was so used and tattered, that the pages were turning yellow and plenty of coffee stains smudged the inked kanji on it-) It also helped that the students didn’t enact anything they usually did back in his younger years either, though these were completely new classmates so it’s not like they knew, besides Bakugou of course. So, it went better than his usual first days, but it still didn’t stop him from feeling anxious, scared, cornered, and so many more negative emotions. From acting like a hardened soldier being dropped in their nth war and relying off of tactics that kept them alive for years to navigate the new territory and see what enemies it came with, what familiar dangers would follow from the past and what new dangers would arise with the area. Different uniform, different weapons, different tactics, different games, and different predators and prey. It was almost a completely new world that was so much different from his old schools already, but would still be so similar until he could prove that it wasn’t. 

So, in all? School was school. He went through his day, though in pain (but that wasn’t really anything new I guess) , got all the information he needed in some way or another, and then went to the nurses office. All Might already knew how the gym exercise went that morning, and now that Izuku thought about it, didn’t he see my broken finger, and why wasn’t he concerned about how it was only being taken care of now instead of earlier when Aizawa-sensei had clearly sent me to get it fixed hours before? Wait, then why was he even here in the first place looking for me?? Ignoring the growing questions that made Izuku slightly concerned, he just focused on answering the questions, deciding to act as if he hadn't noticed All Might at the gym exercise. 

“W-well, most of my classes were n-normal I g-guess. We didn’t really d-do anything besides get o-our syllabuses…” He paused for a second, trying to work out the right words to continue, while All Might just lit up the tiniest bit and hummed. 

“Well, that’s good!” He paused for an awkward second and Izuku had to wonder why until All Might spoke again, bringing up the topic he was just trying to think of approaching not even a couple seconds later, “... Did… Did anything else happen today? I noticed your class wasn’t at the orientation, was all! So I just figured you might have been doing something different elsewhere…” The blond looked like he was sweating and Izuku would have just stared at him for how suspicious he sounded; but if Izuku had to be honest in the moment, he’d admit that he’d had plenty of moments where he was the same way with lying - it was easier to avoid the truth than to completely lie about certain and most things anyways - but instead, he took a bit of pity and pretended that the words out of the blonds mouth were perfectly normal. 

“Y-yeah! Y-yeah, actually w-we, uh class 1-A I mean, went to take a gym exercise this morning for heroics! Aizawa-sensei was r-really s-strict and confusing at times, though that doesn’t mean he’s not a good teacher or anything! I’m not trying to say he’s bad in any way, shape or form, just that his teaching methods were something different than what I’m used t-to is all-!” He really needed to control this habit better, it gets so good at times, and at others it's like he’d never properly learned how to talk without mumbling and stuttering all his thoughts and secrets out to the world; thank kami that Neutral helped teach him how to keep much calmer when doing actual serious business- “B-but yeah, it was exciting! We g-got to test with o-our quirks, though, I-I broke my finger the first time I used it, so I d-didn’t do much else with it.. Sorry about that…” 

He turned his head down, because while he understood that it wasn’t really his fault, he just got the quirk after all, he’d didn’t have the experience his classmates did, and he’d admitted that to himself while he was facing Eraserhead, someone he respects but also sees as a sort of enemy, head on during the exercise, someone he wasn’t afraid to go against much - but now, sitting next to his idol (he may have thought the man was incompetent to a degree, but he was still Izuku’s hope for how long? Was still the man to drive him far when only his mama believed in him before, when only the people in the after-halls of the school building and the everywhere neighbors that dipped through the shadows and so on were there for him, he was still his inspiration. Still his first hero to some degree, still his mentor, still the man that gave him a chance no matter how skewed and hypocritical and honestly terrible and really unbelieving it was-) he felt almost like a failure, not only because he was worried that the man would take the quirk away if he didn't match up fast to how great he was once a time ago, but also because this was a man he’d looked up to for so long even when he’d focused on growing like his sidekick, and he didn’t want to disappoint him. Granted, he’s probably already done that a lot, he’s a failure at most things, and can barely get by without doing dirty and nasty things to get ahead of the game- 

A chuckle cut off his inner turmoil and thoughts, turning his head to glance at the man who had a soft smile on his face and was looking at him in a way that was almost similar to his mama’s, but also different. Izuku couldn’t quite pin what the emotion was… 

“Sorry for what, my boy!? It’s expected that you won’t have perfect control over what you’re doing the first day with our quirk!” Izuku felt his breath catch (our quirk) , because that… that wasn’t what he was expecting from All Might (our quirk) . From things in the past, he’d seemed to be pretty idiotic, and unaware of the airs around other people - take the day he offered his quirk to Izuku after all. That day he’d messed up a whole lot, so much that Izuku honestly was wondering what kind of person All Might really was on the inside. And granted he still wondered a bit because All Might was an idiot, but it wasn’t… Well, I’m not even sure how to describe it. He does what he needs to do to some degree; sucks at teaching though, can’t read a room, and doesn’t really focus on brain over brawn, (still calls it his, or our, quirk-) - but now that I think about it- As Izuku thinks, he really looks and sees that maybe… maybe All Might was just trying to help the best way he thought he could… His best intentions. Maybe he thought he was just helping Izuku? (Maybe he just can’t let go yet? Maybe he just still feels like it’s his because he can still use some of it? It doesn’t really matter because Izuku can barely think of it as truly his own, but as some sort of pass to being human, but at the same time - it’s not All Might’s anymore- )

(“ You’re no different… just a monster… with a quirk~” it won’t stop, why won’t it leave him alone-) (because it’s right )

Still an idiot, still presumptuous, but at least I can hope that All Might doesn’t really mean it all… Just needs to learn a few things about communication and so forth… To be more open minded, and more about the good things of being a hero… We’ve got a lot to work on, though I can’t really talk with the way I am, that’s for sure. 

He zones back in as All Might continues. 

“I know I was a natural at this sorta thing, but we’ve got completely different body types and so on, I can’t expect you to get it right away - especially with the way your limbs broke during the exam!” Izuku flushed, but didn’t comment too much besides to pout a little; he'd just wanted to save someone, he didn't really care about how the quirk worked at that point in time, didn’t honestly think it would actually work and flow through him really, he’d just jumped and went for it. 

But with that answer on his mind, Izuku decided that if they both knew there was no way of controlling it at the moment, that meant they’d need some way to handle it. We’ve got training periods he wants to work together on, though, those are very few and far in between if I’m being honest, so maybe we can add more days or something? More people? I know Nedzu-san, Tsukauchi-san, and maybe Recovery Girl know, but does anyone else…?  

“A-alright, but um, th-then how do we fix it? I mean, how can I get better control? C-can we schedule more lessons? Though that might be a bit hard with your work schedule as you have to keep up your appearance in public so no one gets suspicious or anything like that- so maybe we can find others to work on this with me? Someone who could take over the lesson when you’re not there- A-All Might-sensei, i-is there anyo-one who could s-step in while you're gone?” 

He seemed to think for a second before freezing in place, the sweat that had once been dotting his brow back full force as if whatever information he’d just remembered seemed to terrify him. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking quite like a pale fish, but eventually he started to get his words out.

“W-well! F-for now I-I-I-I was just th-thinking about how you c-c-could continue to use one limb! Y-yes! Just use the one l-limb for now and focus it there u-u-until we can get a-a-a better taste of what you can do!” He tried to let out a booming laugh, but ended up coughing up some more blood. Still, Izuku looked over to him, wondering if he would finish answering his questions. 

“B-but what about othe-” 

It was at that moment that Recovery Girl, who had left to grab some things from the teachers lounge, and search for All Might as well ironically, walked back into the room. Izuku watched relief flash through his mentors eyes, before that turned to fear as he saw the angry and annoyed look on the older lady's face. 

“There you are Toshinori-kun! I was looking all over for you! You weren’t avoiding me, were you now?!” She glared at him, and even Izuku leant back a little. She raised her cane at All Might and shook it a bit, insulting him and promising a punishment for allowing Izuku to enter this medroom for the second time barely into his first day of school. Then she turned back to him, and while still annoyed, made sure to give him a softer look. “Alright dearie, your finger seems to be healed up nicely now, so you can head on home. Make sure to take better care of yourself, and figure out how that quirk works soon-” She turns back to All Might, “Otherwise I’m going to have more than just words with you Toshinori-kun!” 

And with that, Izuku left for home after his first day of school. 

Now, I just have to do this for the rest of the year.

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

For the next couple days Izuku just putts around meeting and getting to know his classmates. Or trying to at least. He learns most of their names, and quickly decides that Uraraka (and maybe Iida, but he doesn’t know how he feels about the intimidating and very strict boy; he seems nice, so maybe, but only the future will tell-) will probably be his closest friend in Class 1-A. A few others in the class seem cool and enjoyable; like Jirou and Momo (who was indeed part of the Yaoyorozu family, and she was familiar because he’d actually helped their family once when someone tried to steal precious items from them, and he’d just happened to be in the area-). Both smart and sensible women - their quirks were very reliable and could work plenty in his favour for a lot of things if he ever needed them. Though, if above anything, learning more about them could allow him to recreate support items similar to and mimicking their quirks to put on his costume (as well as to use against them) . They’re also just really nice people in general. 

Sero and Shoji weren’t too bad either, and Izuku thinks he wouldn’t mind having long and serious conversations with the two of them, seeing as how level headed and relaxed they were. There’s so many cool things about them already- my notebooks are going to fill fast! And to think this is just the beginning, but he holds that thought in his mind for now because it reminds him that there’s a few other people he should make “friends” with in the other courses. Business for future profits as a hero, as well as legal contacts. Gen-Ed for whatever their wild card selves could become, or possibly if they decided to join the heroics course and become new allies. Other hero class students to make sure that he has people he can steadily and easily rely on and use if the need arises. And lastly the Support Course kids to help make his equipment, costumes, and gain information when needed. 

And speaking about Support Students, I have to meet up with Hatsume-chan! 

He knew what she looked like now, and had an idea of where he could find her seeing as he’d searched her file up after that night at Neutrals’ bar. Being that it would be so much easier to find her that way. Just like he’d been told by Ayamei, Hatsume Mei was a carbon copy of her sister with the expectation of bright yellow eyes with a slightly different design shown inside them. After that, he’d just looked into a bit of info on her, seeing her history of schools, and how she did in most of her classes - she really was a genius, something that Izuku could really respect and would love to question and pick apart - and with that, he worked up the nerve to find her. Plus, I need to talk to her about a feature on the mask!

On Wednesday, during their lunch break, Izuku ran to the only place where he knew the chaotic girl would be. The Support Course Department Classrooms. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 17: M,M,AI. BATATS? ~ 

When he opens the classroom door, it’s to a deafening explosion, a loud and distressed yell of “gOD DAMMIT HATSUME-KUN!” and a very boisterous cackling of high pitched chaotic laughter. He ducks down behind the door instantly before these three events can actually finish, watching it all going down in an almost slow-mo action like scene as he moves out of the opening that was the entrance to the room from the experience gained from his tormentors and the nights he’d spent on the streets. The fumes that had been rising before the initial explosion a large indicator of what was going to happen, as similar smoke left Bakugou’s hands when he’s ready to attack Izuku; allowing him to recognize the signs just fast enough to save himself from a large black cloud of smoke bursting from out the door that instant. The heat that passed was intense, but nothing compared to the feeling of calloused and sweaty caramel scented hands gripping his shoulder and arms and legs and back and every other part that the blond could grab, even through the cloth of his clothes at times.

Once the smoke started to dissipate, Izuku dared to peak his head around the door, observing as the teacher, Powerloader, exasperatedly rubbed a gloved hand down his face and told (what had to be Hatsume, if not only from the looks he could see, but for the fact that the only student in there had been the young girl and her name was yelled-) Hatsume off about ‘not exploding things so much,' and ‘to go eat lunch’ as well as to ‘go take a nap maybe, you haven’t slept since school started,’ . Stepping out, he shuffled his feet and nervously knocked on the door, because for all that he was someone, he still felt like nothing when it came to adults he’s not had the pleasure of meeting before, especially when said adults were teachers. 

Two heads swerved to his direction making him stiffen just the slightest, eyes widening in barely concealed panic, but he stood his ground and opened his mouth. 

“I-I’m here to see H-Hatsume-chan…?” It came out more as a question than a statement, low and and awkward in a way that was familiar but irked Izuku; something he wished he could better control - He’d been so good at getting rid of his stutter for a while before he started using his phone to speak for him, basically putting Neutral’s speaking lessons (which consisted of no stuttering, no mumbling, and learning how to press emotion into his voice without showing facial expression so he could properly manipulate people with his whole face covered without sounding awkward-) to waste if it weren’t for the fact that the lesson’s had stuck, just not outside of the underground. 

A curious look passed over both of their faces as they glanced at each other, Hatsume shrugging her shoulders and raising both her eyebrows, before turning back to him. Powerloader crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t do much else besides settle his posture. It still sent dread flooding through Izuku’s veins unbidden as his mind went a hundred miles an hour to figure out if he’d done something wrong. His already stiff body forced itself to raise his shoulders up to his ear, the need to hide filling him. 

Sometimes, he had to wonder how contrasting his being was…  

How he could be so confident one second, and so scared and anxious the next. How he knew he could ruin lives, take plenty of power, kill people easily - with his own hands even - but also how he was so scared to talk, let alone hold his gaze, to a teacher. How he could barely go to the store and hold a conversation with the cashier without the fear that he’d be hurt, how he could barely hold back his tears for even the simplest things and situations. It was so strange to him, the parallels that his body, mind, and being were. How some things worked times better as Henkei then they do Izuku and then they do Deku. How Henkei was a monster with so much power and the will to use said power for what he wanted to achieve, was someone that no one cared to question the quirk of, because he could do anything he wanted, with or without one. How Deku was a nasty, quirkless, useless monster that had the power but was afraid to go anywhere or do anything with it, was wasting it, and the air around himself, and the food in his stomach. How Izuku… How Izuku had a quirk, was human… But, what else was Izuku? What could Izuku do? How far would he go like this? Would he kill people if he needed to? Or would he be afraid of the power? 

“Any specific reason?” It was the curious tone that broke him out of his stupor. He zoned back in and focused on the tone - not detecting anything hostile, just genuine curiosity in the older man's voice. Probably because a random student is asking for another by name when it’s barely been three full days into the school year. Not taking the chance that something could go wrong, he answered in a way that would hopefully satisfy the teacher, but also inform Hatsume of who he was, raising his hands and waving them around like he usually does when nervous about possibly angering anyone. 

“O-oh! Well, I-I know her o-older sister! An-and when she heard I-I was going into UA’s He-heroic’s department, she s-sug-suggested that I-I-I console her for gear! She e-even showed me s-s-some of her works- l-like some use-useful masks ! And I-i-it’s all really g-great! So I th-thought that I could t-talk to her d-during lunch!” He made eye contact with her as mentioned the masks, hoping she would get it. Yellow eyes widened and she gasped, pointing at him and taking the teachers attention off him and to her as well. 

“HEN-” His own eyes widened as she began to speak, and it seems she realized her own mistake before she finished, because the next second later instead of his underground name being exposed for the world to hear, a liquor’s name did. “-NESY-KUN! HENnesy-kun! Yeeeaah! Heeey! How’s it been!!? Is the mask working well??!! My sis hasn’t talked about you in a quick sec!!! It’s nice to finally meet you!!!?” In any other situation he would have stalled at the conversation that’d just erupted because of how awkward it was and how awkward he was; but right now, he understood that it would only look weirder if he didn’t play it off, and he’d rather that not happen. So, putting on the best show he could while nervous and suddenly on the spot again, he started to walk forward, one hand waving a little and one rubbing the back of his neck. Man, this is so weird. At least it’s not too far from the truth… sorta? I’m gonna have to find a way to make sure this does not happen again… 

“H-hey Hatsume-chan! I’ve been doing alright! A-a-and it’s great to meet you finally as well, I’ve, uh, heard plenty of g-gr-great things! That mask you gave me really works like a charm too! Really filters the chemicals when I’m cleaning! Mama says the same thing!” Izuku didn’t know if having a voice modulator was strange for a civilian to own before they came to the heroics course, so he decides it’s best to play it off as something similar to a household item he and his mama could use. Enunciating his words to hint at certain aspects of the mask, he walked closer, his right hand moving out to shake Hatsume’s to make it seem like this was really their first meeting, while the other fell to his bag straps; Please, Im dying - why’d it have to continue like this?! Couldn’t we have just played it off as friends who haven’t seen each other if forever - or at least just acted normal in the first place?! Too late now I guess… 

“But, sometimes when I’m switching filters for nastier chemicals it doesn’t change, and I end up staying on whatever setting I was using, making cleaning a little harder; so I was hoping we could talk about that! Though, all the other features are working just fine!” She gets the memo, and nods her head while taking his hand to shake, saying she’ll get right on it, and that he could just bring it whenever he can and she’ll work on it. 

“Will do, I’ll stop over when I have it!” 

It was a bit awkward after that, seeing as the two didn't really have anything else to talk about- well, nothing that could be spoken around another person, at least… So they waited for someone else to say something, awkwardly shooting looks at each other to instigate some type of conversation, but Izuku wasn’t good at that ever, usually letting others initiate social interaction unless he had a goal in mind. In the end, it was Powerloader who broke the silence with an “Alrighty then, seems like you've already got your first customer! Just don’t make- what’s your name again? Hennessy? That’s a nickname? Strange, but ok. Midoriya then?- Midoriya-kun regret his decision to trust you, please,” and with that, the teacher sighed and walked out of the room, mumbling about getting some whisky in with his short lunch break before he had to deal with any more explosions and strange conversations. As soon as the door was closed Hatsume was on him, voice in a whisper-shout as she shook her fists up and down in front of her. 

“Henkei-chan~!? Are you really him?! I honestly didn’t think you’d show your face!” She hopped around him just like she’d done at the bar when they’d first met, and he could only go to grip the straps of his bag a little tighter as he tried to follow her animated form. He gave a curt nod, watching as the pink haired girl squealed a little. But then, as if you were flicking off a light switch, she stopped suddenly, a serious and neutral expression painting her face, bright honey mustard eyes narrowing as she stared at him. Sweat pricked along his back as he kept her gaze, searching for what could have just gone wrong within those few seconds. 

“Is… I-is something… wrong?” She hummed before grabbing his wrist and pulling him to one of the many work benches, grabbing out a - is that a pair of handcuffs?! Why does she have those?! - and clamping one end around his wrist before clamping the other to the table’s bolted down leg. He squawked, trying desperately to pull his wrist free, the short chain clanking about loudly as he did. Tearing his gaze away from his bound wrist (I could get out of this pretty easily, but I can’t find the lock anywhere - where is the keyhole?? Hell, where’s a hammer?!-) , he stared over to follow the crazy girl's movements. 

“What the hell?! Hatsume-chan?!” Izuku stared in confused horror as she pulled out a small torch and stalked over to him. Backing up as far as he could, he felt his backpack hit the table- what is wrong with her?! 

“Prove it,” She pressed the handle and a life of flame came out. 

“But didn’t I already?!” 

“You could be an imposter!” She held the nozzle closer to him, “I’ve had my fair share of experiences and I don’t plan to have anymore,” Well, what does that mean!? She pulled the strap of her tank down a little and Izuku hurried to avert his emerald eyes, cheeks flushing more so than usual, “I got this scar because I had to fight someone off who I thought was my sister! Won’t let it happen again,” His eyes automatically flicked over at the mention of a scar, ignoring the fact that he’d been embarrassed not even seconds before, and there he could see one - looks like it was made with a knife, or a shape slightly ragged piece of metal, long, thin and narrow. Old, but also looks like it wouldn’t have been too deep, still dangerous seeing the placement of it right there on her shoulder and collarbone- she could have died of blood loss, I wonder how it was treated? Did she lose a lot of blood fighting off that imposter? Actually, how many times does this situation happen that she’s like this? She has that scar, does she have other, more terrible, patches on her body like me? Did they push her over the edge to the point she has to threaten everyone she meets? Wait, but her sister says she’s never been involved in anything- Another click and floom of fire and heat snaps Izuku out of his mind, Focus Izuku, she has a whole torch! 

“W-well, I-I’m not!” She tips the flame a little closer, and he was tempted to break his fingers to get out of the cuffs, where is a hammer?! “H-how c-c-can I pr-prove it?!”

“Say something only the two of us would know!” but we’ve barely just met! Wasn’t the mask enough?! His mind blanked, and finally he just let his lips move without much thought, not really knowing what would fall out. 

“Y-y-you talk a-a-about pasta in your sleep!” 

Silence. Welp, I’m dea-

“That’s weird, what are you, my stalker or something?” He panicked and tried to remember where he’d heard that information and thought back to the bar. 

( “Rigatoni? ” He turned to Ayamei, pointing to the slumbering girl. Ayamei sat up, “Oh yeah, for some reason my sib talks about pasta when sleeping a lot - especially when meeting new people; we think it has something to do with our dad and how he talks about books in his sleep, specifically cooking books,” he huffed in confused amazement, “Strange,” She nodded, “Yeah, but it’s whatever, though we did start a count to see how many varieties of pasta she talks about - wanna see the list~?!”) 

“NO! No! I-tt’s just, you fell a-a-asleep at the bar, remember? W-when we met, a-a-nd I overheard you m-mumbling, and well, it was about fe-fettuccine, and maybe rigatoni? And I asked y-your sister about it, and she said that f-for some r-re-reason you talk about p-pasta in your sleep - especially! Especially when you m-me-meet new people!” 

They stared at each other, just holding each other’s gazes, Hatsume seeming to be serving him intently, before humming and finally letting him go. She unlocked the cuffs, and just seemingly moved on as if the last events hadn’t just happened. He rubbed at his wrist, thankful that it wasn’t raw from all his pulling, before standing uneasily to the side, biting his lip as he worked up the nerve to open his mouth to speak. 

“Th-thanks…I guess? But, uh, what was that about-? Have you really m-met so many imposters that you’ve got, um, a code for it now or...?” 

“Oh nah,” She threw the torch onto a different workbench carelessly, and Izuku flinched at what could have happened before he caught a glimpse of a sticker on the bottom. ‘Notice, this is just a realistic replica, and won’t do any actual work or harm’… Was that a fake?! “All of that was made up, I was just haggling you a bit more. Though I had wanted to make sure I was right, I figured you were already him,” He was floored as he swung his head back to stare incredulously at the younger Hatsume.  

“Then wh-what about the-” 

“Scar? Yeah, got that in a support accident! A loose sheet of metal blew off and in my direction cutting me up! Anyways, my sis always says to make sure and double check things before continuing in a situation such as this, so I did!” 

In the strangest ways that’s for sure, but like they say, if it ain't’ broke, then don’t fix it I guess… 

“Anyways… I, uh, I just came to introduce myself, ya know, since we’ll be working together more often now!” He looked around at her bench, wondering if he should leave since, now that he thinks about it, all he really had to talk about was the mask and an introduction. Why did everything have to get so dramatic then? Instead pink hair popped into his face again. 

“Great! Now, why don’t we talk gear! Hero and underground! I have plenty of designs and babies in the making for you Hennessy-kun, but I was never really able to perfect or finish them since I hadn’t gotten to meet you!” 

“O-oh, w-w ell, um, it’s still lunch a-a-and-” 

“That just means more time together! Come on~! I want to show you so much, plus I heard you’re a genius and want to see what you know!” And with that, his wrist was grabbed once again, this time in a light and playful manor, and for another second he wondered if he’d gained two friends already in this first week. Uraraka-kun and now Hatsume-chan? I know they’ll be good co-workers, but with the way they act... They act like we’re already so close, as if we’d known each other for years already… Maybe they could be friends while the rest stay as coworkers… yeah, it’d be better that way, because the more close friends I make the more people that will hurt me, but there’s also plenty of benefits to people who ware close to me; more willing to do stuff for me, things I don’t want to do - just like with those who constantly walk the streets and call it their homes, those who lurk in the shadows of the schools, those who need someone to depend on but don’t have anyone but me, those who have nothing but can when with me -  Yeah, a couple friends but the rest will stay coworkers, because who knows what could happen, who says they’ll still be friends if they ever learn the truth- no. I won’t let them learn. They won’t know. Ever. 

( who’s going to tell him that those words sound so monstrous, so inhumane ? ) 

“You’re actually a lot different than I thought you’d be, Hennessy-kun~! Especially from your underground persona!” He looked up at those words, the tools he’d somehow acquired stopping their mindless movements in his hands.

“R-really?- I mean, I know that they’re pretty d-different, it’s just weird hearing it from someone else… Also, H-hennessy-kun? Still? Really? Where did you e-even get that name from?” 

“You know how some family's drink wine or alcohol at dinner? Well on the holidays my family lets me have a glass with them, and I drink Hennessy mixed with cola, caramel, and vanilla! And well, Hennessy sounds kinda like the beginning of you know… so it was just the first thing to pop into my head at the time! But whatever~,” She waved her hand as the other held a small screwdriver, fiddling with something on the table, and Izuku felt he might need to back up a little, “But yeah! I was just kinda expecting this intimidating, and stoic person; you know someone who doesn’t really have fun based on what I saw and my sister’s told me! As well as the things I’ve heard about online and all that! Someone with a short temper maybe, super serious all the time? Not this nervous cinnamon roll of a child who’s so awkward and uncomfy all the time you’d think you had slime in your shoes 24/7!” 

“I-I-I can be intimidating w-when I need to be!” He spluttered and pouted a little, thinking about all the things he’s done to prove such notions, annoyance filling him. I’ve ruined the lives of plenty of people who were terrible, and I’d do it again and again the same way if it means I can help someone. I’ll do whatever I can to help those in need, and to keep them from being like me - even if that means being the most feared thing around… But that was before I got a quirk… now I’m human, and that means I need to be better - I can’t go around threatening people all the time… 

(He ignored the tiny voice in his head saying that if he’d thought about actually being better he would give up his nighttime activities, and would probably try to find a more legal way of getting his information then what he was currently doing, but seeing as he hadn’t change anything…)

“Yeah, sure,” she snorted a little, “only when you have that mask on you are- right now you look like an anxious bunny,” He grumbled and had half the mind to glare at her, but didn’t (even still, she shivered a little in place, but he didn’t notice, and her smile had only grown in size and sharpness, eyes not far behind) instead moving on from the topic. 

“W-whatever! Anyways, what are you building? I’ve been sitting here this entire time just fiddling with these tools…” He tried to peek at it.

“Oh! How great of you to ask, my cherished first customer, Hennessy-kun~!! I’ve currently been working on exploding gloves!” 

“Exploding what-?!”

A small explosion sounded and he ducked under the table, just barely missing the small boom; heart beating faster, breath a bit more shallow and choked than before, eyes wide. Hatsume was cackling away like nothing had even happened. 

I think I may have regrets… He thought, rubbing his palms over his eyes. Stupid… why can’t I just get over it. He took a deep breath and hopped back up, this time actually sending a small glare at the girl. She just cackled more. 

This will be interesting… 

Chapter 18: Surprise, Surprise! Things Don’t Always Go Your Way!

It’s as Izuku’s walking home that Wednesday night, donned in his Henkei gear, that someone grabs his arm and pulls him into an alley. Not knowing who it was, he’d quickly pulled himself from the grip, ducking under their arm, and grabbed the person's wrist, twisting their arm, spinning them around and shoving their body into the wall, locking their arm in place behind their back, while his other hand went straight to their neck, a knife (that his mother had given him as a prize for taking the UA exam even though at that time they hadn't even known whether he’d passed or not yet-) that he’d tucked into his sleeve now slipped into his hand, the point threatening the person’s jugular, just barely nicking the skin. 

“H-h-hey! B-b-boss, it’s m-m-me! Asai Yuo!” Oh.

He stepped back, letting out a breath. 

“You’ve really gotta learn not to just randomly grab people like that Asai-san; remember what I suggested? Use all the squishables I’ve given you, roll them around in your hands for a couple hours a day, and you should be good for a bit until you can find someone to help! You’ve just got to be careful otherwise, it could get you into serious trouble one of these days, you know?” They rubbed the back of their neck sheepishly, their crows feet scrunching when they smiled abashedly, completely white eyes closing a bit. 

“Sorry boss! I know… I just always forget that it could scare some people,” Asai said, their words light now, but Izuku could hear the sadness. Asai-san probably hasn’t been able to hold anyone recently... One of the main reasons they were on the street was because the older had a side effect with their quirk. ‘ Cuddle Therapy’: something that allows them to give the best hugs and cuddles; allowing people to feel less stressed, better, and more relaxed. Honestly it just left you feeling amazing overall. Whatever they needed, they’d feel it; it was perfect for any type of medical field, especially for scared children, or those who have trouble with anxiety or insomnia. When given a hug or being held by Asai-san for a certain period of time, you feel better, but a side effect was the need to hold or touch people regularly when the quirk wasn’t in use- , that pushed them to touch people whenever they could when their quirk wasn’t used much. It didn’t have to be sexual or harmful; just a hug, a brush on the arm, maybe a high five - things like that to fill the loss of touch, but if the need arose when his quirk wasn’t used much, they just went and would touch someone near them, with almost no real control over it - especially when it’s been so long since his quirk was used. 

Not many people liked being touched these days, even if those people were close to Asai, and strangers especially didn’t like it. So, when one day, Asai’s quirk hadn’t been used for almost a whole week and a half, they couldn’t help but go up to a co-worker and give them a hug. Sadly, that co-worker had been a very stuck up and terrible person, and had claimed sexual harassment, even with knowing the way Asai’s quirk worked. They’d lost their job, and had been put into jail for a couple years before they were let go on the rulling that it was quirk counseling they needed and not jail time. Even then, the damage was already done, their file forever showing the jail time and harassment claim. After learning, no one wanted to hire someone who would apparently openly harass people in the workplace, and their life had gone down from there… Izuku had come along and helped as much as he could, giving tips and objects that could help, but using squishables wasn’t the same as actual human interaction, so it didn’t always work to fill the need. 

With a sigh, Izuku opened his arms up to the older person, allowing them to fall into his smaller body while they squeezed him tight. His body immediately relaxed, their quirk turning on and allowing him to feel as if everything was alright, as if the world wasn’t cruel, and as if he could float away that very instant if he wanted to, just drift and live a peaceful and sound life with no worries. He wrapped his own arms back around them, noticing that they were skinnier than the last time the two of them had met, and worried that the quirk strain was doing more damage than usual. It doesn’t help that they barely eat, but if the quirk was becoming even more of a problem, I might have to start an intervention… Another sigh, and he could feel them tuck themselves into his shoulder and shake lightly. 

“S-sorry b-boss, I-... It’s just been so long … so long since someone’s physically interacted with me…” Izuku squeezed them harder, understanding how alone the streets could actually be, even with all the people, but then a thought made itself present, breaking through the gentle cloud of comfort in his mind. 

“But what about Nagano-san? Or Fuse-chan? Where are they?” Nagano Morika and Fuse Utaki; both wonderful women who hung around Asai after finding out their quirk, and helping them out when no one else would. Nagano was a mother who’d lost her child and life after a divorce gone wrong, leaving her bankrupt and alone, while Fuse was a younger women, probably in her mid-twenties now, who’d been homeless since she was a little younger than Izuku’s own age due to getting kicked out by her family after finding out she wasn’t as into boys as they’d hoped. Nagano had basically adopted her on the spot at the time. Then came along Asai, and the three had been practically inseparable as time had gone on, and now to hear that Asai was having this bad of an issue, well, it made him wonder where the other two had gone. 

Asai stiffened in his arms, and he turned his head down to face the older in his arms. 

“Asai-san?” He asked slowly. The shaking began once again, but this time, quiet sobs accompanied them, “Asai-san? Asai-san?! What's wrong? What happened to the other’s?!” 

“Th-they… B-b-both a-ar-ar-re g-g-g-gon-ne… I-I-I, uug-ugg-ghh,” The words were muffled and messed up, and Izuku could only rub their back until they could finally get themselves together. It took a while, but eventually their voice settled and their sobs quieted enough to just be sniffles. A few minutes after they’d settled, Izuku listened as their voice came out, quiet and empty. “They’re gone… both of them… It… They’d been out, searching for somewhere to pick up food for the night… and when they didn’t come back, I had started asking around if anyone had seen them…  These people said- well they said they’d passed by a bar, one that held a bunch of drunks…” Arms squeezed tighter and Izuku could see where this story was going, and it wasn’t pretty. 

“F-fuse-chan… She’d been nearest to the entrance, searching through the trash I’m guessing, because they said that she’d been attacked first. They said that the drunks wanted to have sex with her, but when she didn’t they hurt her- those stupid bastard drunks hurt her! and they did it again and again until Nagano-chan found out... She apparently tried to fight them off, and managed to get one of the guys, but eventually they took her down too… The worst part? The worst part was that even after those drunks killed them-! E-even after they hurt them, t-th-they still did… did stuff ! Still did stuff to their bodies…”

Izuku could only hold them as he listened, rage and a deep grief growing and growing with every word. I’ve been so focused elsewhere, so busy doing other things that I hadn’t even noticed that two of my people were killed? Were hurt so badly? How can I call myself a hero when I couldn’t save them- You can’t save everyone…  You can’t save everyone… His mind repeated the words suddenly, and he had to understand that they were right, no matter how much it hurt. Just like I’d said during the gym exercise; I can't save everyone, and it hurts, but it’s something we have to live with. A thought entered his mind. But wait, who’s ‘ they ’? And as soon as it finished, he remembered something else. You can’t save everyone, but you can avenge them. Patting their back and pulling away slightly, even with the whimpering, Izuku tried to catch their attention. 

“Asai-san, hey, hey Asai-san- who’s ‘they’? Who’s ‘they’ Asai-san?” Because whoever ‘they’ is, will be dealing with Izuku. How these people could just watch while this happened? Instead of alerting the authorities and only telling Asai-san about it afterwards? When I get my hands on them-  

“D-don’t worry about them, boss!” Asai pulled back from where Izuku still had them held, a rueful smile pulling at their lips, “I… uh, I listened to what you told us about protecting ourselves, and making sure to take down bad people if we could, and well-” they looked away for a second before turning back, eyes hardened and determined, solid; even if rimmed by red, and still holding a sadness, they were strong. “I got rid of them; when they told me what happened, I was so mad that they hadn’t tried to help, I just- I got rid of them, dumped their bodies in the sewers and made sure to leave no prints!” Izuku could only stare as Asai looked at him proudly, granted, still very sad, but still looking for praise, while his mind thought onto the case from about two months ago about the supposedly good cops off duty found in the sewers dead, killer unknown still. When Izuku had recognized one of them as Wakabae Aine, a regular buyer and addict of Yamaji’s quirked influenced meds (or drugs in this case, seeing as he wasn’t necessarily selling them legally), that were basically just very strong ibuprofen mixed with something else, and the other Suda Taketo, who, while didn’t have anything on his record, was known to be very sexist to women, and saw them fit as about as useful as regular everyday objects. 

I had been hoping to help out Wakabae-san, she looked like she had a lot going for her, just needed to get her off the meds… But if she just stood there, could it be that Suda had held her back and told her not to worry about it seeing as Nagano-san and Fuse-chan were women? Homeless women at that? Or because ‘she’ was a woman? Could he have bribed her? 

But even so, what was done, was done, and while Izuku would love to look into it more, it’d been two and a half months, they were dead, both the cops and Asai’s family, and it would get him nowhere. Instead, he once again sighed, gave a half smile though it only showed up robotically on his mask, pat their back, and gave them a small squeeze. 

“I don’t think I would have murdered them, per say - but you did what you could… Just… just be careful, okay?” Asai nodded, and they hugged each other a little longer. They deserved it, he thought to himself, they watched two women get raped and killed and did nothing… He closed his eyes, Granted I would have just ruined their lives and got them blacklisted as cops, extorted them and made sure they wouldn’t ever be known as something ever again… but I guess murder works, even if a bit easy on their part, an eye for an eye after all… But besides this, which I’ll definitely have to start checking up on Asai-san more often now, I need to know why I was pulled in here. 

So once again, he pulled away, fully this time, and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring up at Asai. 

“I’m… I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but I’m sorry. For not being there to help, for letting that happen, and for the loss…”

“N-no! Don’t worry about it boss! You’ve been busy, we all know that! You can’t check on all of us individually all the time, after all, there’s too many of us! We know the risks… of being on the street and being involved with you… It’s… it’s not fine, that they’re gone now, but… I’m getting through it, so don’t worry for now,” They stared at each other, the air thick, but Izuku had to continue, no matter how much it hurt either of them. 

“If… if you say so… But, Asai-san, why’d you pull me into the alley? Was there a reason?” The older stood up straighter, and their face got a much more serious and worried look. This had Izuku tensing up himself, and leaning a little closer, hands tightening in his hoodie pockets. 

“Oh, yeah, I had some information for you about that Vex kid’s case- I just happened to hear it about a day or so ago? I was squatting in this abandoned warehouse place, and that’s when I heard them,” They shuffled a bit, and Izuku’s heart almost leapt out of his chest because this was his last chance at this point, if he couldn’t do in now, soon, then he’d have to give up because of school and how many months it’d been, over a year's worth basically- so he listened, he listened intently.

“There had been a couple people, probably three at most? And they were talking, well complaining more like, about that Dimitri guy, about how they had a bigger load coming soon and how it would take more people than usual to pick it all up,” Asai shrugs their shoulders a little, getting a confused face on them, “I think they mentioned it being like, a large promotion? Or something like a final bonus payment? I’m not too sure about that, just that the load would be something big and that was pretty good, even if a bit of a pain, I don’t know exactly when they’re leaving but I do know where they’re staying- I could take you there if you wanted me to,” Asai rubbed the back of their neck, and looked over to Izuku. Izuku could only stare, this was big - he’d have to find someone to get onto the job, but this is my last real chance, if I missed it then what would happen? I don't usually do these types of things, especially when I know I’m not fit enough for it but-... but, I can’t let Vex-kun go again, I have to go. I have to go -

Steeling his resolve, he turned determined eyes up to Asai, and gave a solid nod. 

“Yes, take me to them,” Another nod, and they were off. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 18: S! S! TDAGYW! ~

The two are hidden behind a corner, watching in the dim light as three people, just like Asai had assumed, moved around unconscious bodies; there were about six or seven, a mix of kids and adults, all bound up and gagged even in their sleeping state; no real MO to be found in physical descriptions at least. They watched as the people were brought out a door that most likely led to a back alley or a truck or something, and that was all Izuku needed to see to move. 

“You head on back, alright? It might get dangerous and I don’t want to get you involved more than you already are,” He hadn’t turned to look at Asai, but he knew they could hear and understand his low tones and serious words. The expression on his face determined and concentrated. 

“What are you gonna do though? I doubt you could follow them all the way there like this, at least get someone-” 

“No,” His words were sudden and firm. “No, we don’t have time, I’ll find a way, just go, be safe - and here,” Izuku pulled out the phone he usually kept on him, one that he used to speak with before he started using the mask. He quickly typed a message on it and handed it over to Asai. “Take this. If I get into trouble, I can just use my mask to call it-” He doesn’t mention that technically the mask has a feature broken at the moment, so he doesn’t actually know if the call feature will work, but tries to believe in Hatsume’s technology, if only because of how short notice this trip was, “If I call, and only if I call, will you take this phone down to a place called ‘The River’ near-”

“-near the back alley of Jannie-kun’s hangout. Got it!” He nodded his head at those words, handing the phone over to Asai. (What he doesn’t know though, is that Asai plans to give the phone to the lady at The River even if Henkei doesn’t call them, but only if he doesn’t call or come back after eight hours-)

“Give it to the woman who greets you at the door - tell her specifically that ‘Henkei-kun needs to break that promise you asked of him’ - she’ll know what you’re talking about, alright? Otherwise, until then, I want you to go and find a safe place to stay within the next block or so; somewhere I can find you easily when I get back- now go!” Another nod, before Asai turns to go. But midway through the turn they stop, and look back at Izuku. He tilts his head in a show of listening, expecting a question, but instead receives another hug. 

“Come back boss, you’ve got a lot of people depending on you; people who want to see you as safe as you want them to be…” They pull back, and with one last wave they disappear into the deep shadows, blending in like they do in everyday life, no one paying any attention to such a forgotten soul, no one questioning their invisible appearance. Izuku stared for a second before turning back to the situation at hand, not commenting on that last piece of information. 

The three people were just taking out the last person, looking around before heading out the door, and Izuku took that as his cue to follow them. He ducked down and took to the walls and darker corners of the building, blending in as best as he could with a mask that glowed a dulled green - I’m gonna have to ask Hatsume to add a turnoff feature or something, this could too easily give me and my position away. So, quickly as he moved, the mask was turned off and slipped around his neck, while a plain medical mask was thrown on his face - good thing my old one is always tucked into the pockets incase of an emergency, just means no more speaking from me. 

Concealing himself into the bottom edge of the door, he peaked his hooded head out to see he was right about it being a truck that the people were being loaded in. The three people were closing it up, two of them hopping into the cab, while the last went into the back part with the unconscious people. 

It was a sudden burst of panic at losing this lead that had him glancing at the truck's mirrors before diving and rolling under the truck, quickly searching for anything that could hold him steadily and grabbing onto it as the truck revved and started up. He’d just finished pulling himself up when the truck made its way out of the deserted alleyway and onto the streets. Oooh Kami, what did I just get myself into this time?! 

He didn’t truly know the answer to that, but he guessed he’d be finding out soon enough. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 18: S! S! TDAGYW! ~

It has to have been at least hour, maybe two, since they’d started driving, possibly even more, and Izuku’s arms and legs were feeling tight and weak, tired from the constant strain of holding his body onto a moving truck going who knows how many kilometers per hour, and dealing with all the debris that gets thrown his way as well. 

We have to be out of Musutafu by now, but I have no idea where we could be - I haven’t been able to see any signs or landmarks from under here… He settles on trying to focus on something else until they reach wherever their destination is supposed to be, hoping that taking his thoughts away from his arms and legs will make them feel less strained. Though, it doesn’t help that the whole time he’d been mildly freaking out about what was going on - even regretting his decisions at times, because “I may be able to drag a car across a beach, but that does not mean I am confident of throwing myself into unknown situations that may involve fighting-” And “I’d prefer not to die like this at the moment, I still have stuff to finish, people to save, ya know-”  

It wasn’t much later that truck pulled off the main road and onto a side road, which then turned into an alley. When the truck finally stopped, Izuku had to fight the urge to just drop right at that instant, arms and legs protesting against all odds at the long journey. How do people in the movies actually do this?!! It’s crazy, holy crap… Still, he waited until the people were moving around and making noise before dropping himself lightly onto the concrete below, his boots barely crushing on the loose rocks and dirt. He stayed low and in place, watching cautiously as things moved around him; people carrying bodies around, other’s being dragged. Doors opening and closing to strange places and objects and lights - he could just barely see what was inside the building, something like a rundown factory turned workshop? He wasn’t too sure, but even so, he knew it was important to take down everything he could, so carefully he reached for his pockets, grabbing anything he could use and - fuck the one time I give up my phone, I need it the most, shit - whatever, let’s see what else I’ve got. He fumbled around some more, grabbing at pockets and folds in his clothes, and eventually managed to find some small and thin, yet usable notebooks. Must’ve started using them and forgot or something… Thank Kami for the pockets my mama sewed into my new and old bulletproof vests all those months ago, when I had no idea what they could be used for- But now he had to find a pen. 

The whole time he’d been patting himself down for a writing utensil, he had his eyes locked onto the things around him, making sure he didn’t lose any information on his surroundings. Like the fact that one of the guys seemed to have weapons strapped onto his legs, but showed no mutations or anything similar to that - it must be an emitter, something to do with manipulating the weapons on his legs? Does he have to touch them or can he do it with his mind? - or the person who was currently carrying three people on their back alone, two adults and a child, with what looked to be some type of mutation on their back that looked like their skin was protruding to make a basket - maybe it’s muscle and skin that move to create a holding place on their back, or it could just be similar to a stretchy like substance that wraps around whatever it’s carrying? - he took all these little details in, the size, shape, and color of the buildings from where he was positioned. It was about a minute after he checked off a new voice in his head that he found a broken pen - the ink spilling everywhere, but still usable. 

As quickly as he could he began sketching out what he saw, making notes about what these things could possibly be and who and what their quirks might be or do. How someone seemed like they’d been working for a long time here, while others seemed new. How the victims seemed to be random, with no positive physical MO and how the abandoned factory had a quirk being used on it to make it seem desolate while in actuality the inside was actually being used and kept in comfortable conditions. He actually hasn’t seen Dimitri yet, but he supposes the fighter king was inside somewhere, and keeping away from the hard work like most ‘bosses’ seem to do. He’s honestly probably at a different location right now, since this one seems so far out of Musutafu. 

He’s been taking these notes down for a while when a group of people yell they’re going on break and wander near the truck, snatching his attention off of the papers in his hands. Izuku slinks back the slightest bit, wanting to make sure that they don’t spot him at all as he tries to listen for anything important. 

“-sucks, we’re losing all these people, to who again? This league thing? The hell they want with these people anyways?” Izuku zero’s in on the name as the deeper man speaks. Scooting slightly to the side so he could hear better, he gets his pen and notebook ready to begin writing down anything they could give him, the smell of cigarettes filling the air as they continue to talk. 

“Didn’t you hear?” Another man starts, and if Izuku wasn’t on a serious mission, he’d think about how much they sound like old ladies or young teens gossiping for the sake of doing so to start drama. It made him want to snicker just a bit. “There’s this rumor-” A snort.

“A rumor, really? Is that all you got for us?” 

“Ah geez, let him speak, you buffoon- some rumors are worth putting trust into,” A new voice enters, an older woman's voice, rough and scratchy, probably from years of smoking. “Go on, what’s this rumor you heard?” The voice continues, and the second male begins to talk again after a small pause. Probably huffing or something…  

“So as I was saying- ” A pause, “-there’s this rumor, and it basically talks about how these people that we’re collecting? They’re being used in experiments,” Izuku freezes in his place, hand stilling from the writing, but that doesn’t stop the people from conversing onwards, “I don’t know the exact details, just what I’ve heard whispered from the people join the League in their ‘terror-coup’ - but basically, they’ve got this crazy doctor who’s taking these people and like, mutating them into these, I don’t know, indestructible beasts ,” Izuku felt his brow start to wetten as the male continued, skin feeling pale, and dread filling his being because what if Vex-kun was one of those people? 

It didn’t stop there though. No, if anything, it continued to grow, the sick and dreadful foreboding slicking his skin with sweat and paling even whiter in color. 

“But besides that, I have no idea what they could be using these people for- hey, I’ve been wanting to ask anyways-” Izuku shook himself lightly, trying to get back onto the topic and record some more information on the group, “Why’ve we been hyping up security and workers recently? I get the job is tough and plenty things could go wrong, but it’s gotten so much more prominent since I've started working…” Heightened security, huh? Could someone be threatening them? Beside me of course- 

“Oh yeah, it’s because some vigilante is out for our group, this kinda new guy named Henkei,” The women responded this time, again, followed by a confirmation from two other new voices. Wow, I mean, I should have figured, seeing as it’s not like I was trying to be super subtle about this, but I didn't think they would feel this threatened about me snooping around their territory; Though, I guess because I’m more of a neutral party, I’m not really to be trusted, but really, is that why it’s been so much harder to find them the last few months?- 

“But it’s also because if we spot Henkei, we have orders to restrain them on sight; harm to capture, but not to kill-” Izuku froze, capture me? Alive? For what reason? “Because apparently the League found out that they’ve been snooping around them as well, and are pretty interested in the power and influence they have in the underground- it’s actually pretty scary that they've got such a large connection out in the world; so many people wrapped around their fingers that they can pull about like puppets on a string. And no one even knows who’s really working for them; it’s actually caused a lot of mistrust between groups the last year or so, allowing for groups to split up and make room for ones like us to grow, but eh, that’s why,”

“Wow, now that sounds like some type of rumor that I’d mistake for as a tale - one person controlling so much? I doubt it, they would've tried to destroy a lot by now, bet - especially with their type of power,” 

But Izuku wasn’t listening. No, he was realizing what a mistake this had all been. He’s a prime target they wanted alive, and he was surrounded by those hired to capture him if they could. Something in him snapped, like a wild animal cornered, and he felt himself shrink and try to crawl away, try to leave - to find someway out of this mess he’d gotten himself into - but as soon as he snuck away from the truck and around the corner of where he thought he’d in come from, he’d walked straight into someone's chest. This someone just happened to recognize him to apparently, because there was an automatic responding yell of “HENKEI’S HERE!” with strong arms going to grip one of his shoulders and his waist to pull him into the larger man's chest. Okay, more people know what I look like than I’d thought outside the bar, though I’m just wearing everyday clothes basically? - strange that Eraserhead couldn’t notice but some thugs could, maybe it’s because I’m a threat to them? But aren’t I a threat to Eraserhead? Well, I don’t consider myself to be so -

It’s his monstrous instinct to survive, to get out, to live and make it elsewhere, to just get away that has him pulling the knife from his sleeve like earlier that night and this time, actually slamming it into the jugular of the villain with a loud squish, effectively shutting him up, before pulling it down as blood spills out, going all over the place. I didn’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this, but I can’t get caught no - I won’t get caught. 

(Look at what you did, it hissed in his mind, so long as to survive - you haven’t changed one bit… It quieted and crept and poked at his mind, but that’s not so bad, is it now? Not when you can save so many, and survive yourself…) 

(It doesn’t help that the last few months have prepared him for this, with more adventures where here’s hurt others to save innocents coming into play, though, he’s never had to to actually kill to many people, only a couple, usually choosing to just harm them enough to get everyone away- Along with all the people he’s had to watch die in front of him; civilians he couldn't save, villains that hurt each other or were hurt by him, people he needed taken care of by others yet still had to stand by and watch-  And lastly, the overwhelming and ever present fact that he’d probably have to kill to save Vex-kun, or at least face the possibility that Vex-kun would be dead by the time he’d been found - he’s so used to it, too used to it honestly, though he’ll most likely still have nightmares. So, so many nightmares for years and years about the things he’s done - he’ll still stumble to the toilet and throw up every thing that he is, as he tries to forget reality and disassociate from himself, as he regrets those he’s hurt or killed, even as some darker and more terrible part of himself thinks they deserved what came to them, and how he can’t help but agree most of the time even with the regret and guilty feelings still settled in his body and mind and lungs taking his breath and life away a bit at a time-) 

Not bothering to hide now after the shout was let out, he takes off with the knife clutched in hand, ducking and hiding any chance he could, using the stamina that had been his saving grace when running from his bullies all his life to get him out of this mess he’d created because of his naivety and stupidity. Because he was careless. Because he was careless, he’s going to get himself or someone important killed. 

I’m sorry, I’m sorry people, I’m sorry Vex-kun, I promise I’ll get out so that I can work harder - not like it matters because as soon as I get out of here, I know they’ll move locations to somewhere else- fucking A- Why do I always cause more problem than I can fix?? 

He ran, he ran as fast as he could dodging anyone and everyone he saw, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to run forever - not with the amount of people here, and especially not unscathed. This is proven when something long and sharp zips right past his head, ripping his medical mask and scraping his cheek a bit. He doesn't even think as his hand shoots to his neck to pull his electrical mask up to cover his face. Proven even more so when a bunch more came shooting past his moving body from behind him and catching on his legs and arms, one even going so far as to dig into the flesh of his upper left arm. Shouts of “ Don’t kill, only incapacitate!” Roared from behind him as his legs pumped harder and harder, shoes smacking against the ground loudly at this point with no regard for the quietness that came with sneaking around. 

More people came to try and surround him, still lagging just enough behind for him to be ‘safe’, but Izuku knew he wouldn’t be able to fight them all off if- no, not ‘if’, but ‘when’- the time came. Two villains come to swing at him and he ducks, allowing them to run into one another, though only the smaller of the two was knocked out; the other stumbling back up, moving to face him - once again did he bring his knife up, this time in a more defensive stance, the knife hovering near his chest, tip pointed outwards, while the other hand hovered a little in front of that, loose enough to expect and block any incoming attacks. They both stepped round for barely a second before the villain charged, fists hardened into bricks - Emitter/mutation: can transform hands into bricks, they look like the cheap type that’ll easily crumble, but I can’t take any chances - do other parts turn to bricks or only the hands? I can’t take the chance that more of him will, but we can test it-  A slash from his knife leaves a gash just above the bricked wrist, but caused him to get blown back by a hit to the stomach - Ouch, definitely brick and definitely hard - seems looks don't matter for the bricks, but they sure do for other things, because it looks like only the hands can change since the wrist was actually harmed and not block, which means- Izuku ran forward, straight into his face, only to drop down last second and take his knife and drag it across the brick guys stomach, digging as deep as he could to catch any and all organs, before jumping through spread legs and letting his foot catch the other’s making him stumble and fall. It didn’t do much, seeing as his knife wasn’t that large, but it left a decently deep and long enough wound that the guy quickly fell over after being tripped. Blood soaked the guy's shirt fast, and began to drip on the ground as he struggled to get back up. 

Nice, but now the other’s have basically caught up- I can’t afford to fight them all, he glances over to his left and sees the random sharp piller? Bar? Izuku wasn’t sure, it was just slightly thicker than an arrow, and quite a bit heavier, but it was stuck in his arm, and while that wasn’t too much of a problem, it really did hinder his mobility and use of left arm. Blood loss and stamina are going with all the little scrapes and the larger ones left from these weird bar things - I can’t take the one out of my arm because that would hurt me more than help, but at this rate it won’t’ really matter if I get caught. I just need to get out of here as fast as I can. 

So with a deep breath, he ducked into a small space between what had to be two storage containing area’s, and searched hurriedly for anything he could use to climb up onto the roof for now as he moved forward - a vantage point would be helpful, especially if I can find a way to get out of here - He got near the back of the space and just barely managed to find a half ladder. It was a pain, but he jumped catching it with both arms, letting out a grunt of pain, the only thing repeating in his head being, You’ve felt worse, you’ve dealt with worse, you’ve been through worse, what's this pain compared to burns that’ll scar you your whole life, what’s this compared to being pushed down the stairs and locked in closet for almost a whole day at that time, what's this compared to being suffocated by some slime villain and almost dying? Nothing, this is nothing, just focus focus focus survive- 

He gets to the roof only to be greeted with a couple more people, one who tries to get a hit on him right away, but he ducks and rolls to the side, wincing as the thing in his arm is jostled under his weight -  of course I didn’t take into account that they’d probably have scouts up here in case something like this happened! Of course! What luck, kami, what fucking luck -  

Izuku lifts his arms in pain, bloodied and red, dirty and mucky - he’s tired from the day, from the truck ride here, from the fighting, from the pain, from everything - but even so, he lifted that knife and stared them down, eyes wide and hungry and burning with rage and the need to survive. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was his way of releasing the stress and fear that was overflowing and bursting from his body, or maybe he’d just been so out of it at that point, but he couldn’t help but yell as he ran forwards, tired body protesting the movements, the noise coming out staticked and digital as the mask turned back on to it’s glowing green color when he started letting noise out into it - I forgot it did that- He slashed his arm across the chest area of one, and they jumped back in time, only allowing him to catch their inner arm barely, but he wasn’t done, following it with a punch from his left as he pushed forward once more, catching the man in their jaw. At that moment, the other person, a woman, came up from behind him and grabbed his arms. Yanking him at an awkward angle, he fell towards her, and she securely brought them down and held them tight. Her quirk must be some type of glue or belt or binding, because I can barely even move my arms, they feel like they’ve been sealed down- 

“I got them!” She yelled, and the knife in his hand was quickly squeezed out, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him, nor was he going to let her think she’d won. A growl rose in his throat and he swung his legs forward, foot flat, bending his body enough to let his shoe connect with the woman's head., catching her specifically in the mouth. It threw her off balance, but didn’t manage to dislodge him just yet, so as he brought his foot back down, he made sure to crash it into her kneecap, listening to the sharp ‘snap!’ as it gave in under his foot bending backwards. She left out a scream, and he brought his foot up once more to catch her in the head again as her body began to fall, but his ankle was caught by the first person he’d been fighting - why couldn’t he just go down, doesn’t matter now, that managed to deactivate her quirk enough to let me go - and the man pulled him forward, likely to throw him off balance, and he fell out of the pained woman's arms and onto the ground with a oomph, his back slamming the roof harshly. 

It was at that moment that he'd heard the group of people trying to get up the ladder, the sounds of hands scraping on the sides of the building as they tried to climb up, and he realized he was basically done for. Well, if this is how it’s going to go, then I’m sure as hell not going down without a fight. Sorry mama, Maria-san, I know I promised, but it looks like I won’t be making it out of here alive - or at least I won’t ever be seeing either of you again- He tried to rip his leg from the man's grasp, twisting and moving before leaning forward and grabbing the arm holding his leg and yanking back, pulling the man towards him while bending his knee up, ultimately bringing himself off the ground. Reaching his hand around and holding the other’s head while his foot was still in the guy's hand, he gripped the best he could and started his assault on the man. The man's other arm came to grab and try to pull him off, slamming his fist down onto Izukus’ back over and over, gripping and pulling at his sweater, but Izuku just held on, ramming his freed knee into the side of the guys head, and part of his eye, before eventually getting dropped when his foot was let go and he was throw off. He slammed into and rolled on the ground, the thing in his arm snapping as he cried out in pain, before dropping into a messy squat and gripping his left arm, glaring up at the guy whose face was bruised and a bit bloody on one side, the eye starting to color itself pink and red. He was slightly stumbling, but not enough to give Izuku the confidence to grab his knife. Jumping up, he ran forward again, leading with a foot and catching him in the gut, before ducking when the man took a swing at him, leaving the man to move to the side. 

His quirk must be mental or something not combat orientated if he hasn’t used it by now, might be why he was on lookout- he noticed from his position below, before he stood up and through his own punch right back, getting blocked and then grabbed by the front of his shirt and lifted before being slammed into the ground. Oh kami, the worlds really spinning huh? Before he was picked up again, most likely to get the action repeated, but even with slightly dizzy vision, as always, he has his trusty legs that he shot out, catching the guy in the nose a few times, once more being dropped and this time not wasting any time or energy on waiting for if it was the right moment or not, before heading over to his knife. Scrambling over, he backed away, breathing heavily before unsteadily clutching and picking up his knife as fast as he could, lunging onto the mans still distorted moving form, taking the knife and plunging it over and over and over into any part of the man Izuku could reach, tearing and ripping the flesh as he pulled, dousing himself in the guys blood. 

Seven stabs in and he hopped off, letting the man fall while the women continued to cry in pain behind him - calling him a monster ironically enough, but the only thing he could think was; Yeah, Yeah - I guess I am, Henkei is - that’s what my name stands for after all. I’ll ruin anything and everything to make things right, and I can’t help people from within someone else's chains. Someone else strings - no, that’s my place. I control, I fight, and I will survive so that others who can’t fend for themselves can survive too- 

He limped to the middle of the roof, mind slowly clearing but still feeling a bit cotton stuffed and slow- so at least it wasn’t a concussion, thank kami-  realizing that there was no real way off unless he wanted to jump and catch onto the windows, but he’s positive he’s twisted his ankle and with how tired and hurt he is right now, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to outrun all of them if they were still on the ground level. Though, it definitely could be a backup plan. I could always use the quirk… He thought to himself distantly as he turned to face the ladder and lifted the knife once again, finding his usual stance of both arms up, and legs shoulder width apart, one slightly stood in front of the other for support, but also with less weight on it. No, I can’t, especially because I’ll be using it at school… Though, I promised I’d call Asai-san… Guess now would be a better time than never- 

It was just as someone made it up onto the roof, ready to fight him while he was getting ready to call the phone, that a greyish scarf shot out from behind him and to the villain, wrapping them up and throwing them off the roof. A blessing or a curse? He wondered, as a tall and lean body jumped down to fall next to him. Landing in a perfect crouch, the man clad in black stood up and took stance. 

“Henkei-san; looks like you need a bit of help,” 

I hope I don’t regret this. 

“Eraserhead-san, good to see ya finally, eh?” 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 18: S! S! TDAGYW! ~

Shouta arrives to chaos. 

He’d been following a lead for a human trafficking case, and had been told to follow this truck and so he had, albeit, a lot slower than the truck. But when he’d arrived about forty minutes later, it’d been to a whole muck of things happening at once, and not in a good way.

People running about, a small figure running off and fighting them off at the same time, and at a first glance he’d thought that maybe one of the victims had escaped. But then he watched as the figure tactically fought back and ripped into the villains with their knife; as if they were reading every move the villains made and trying out anything they could to counter attack. He watched, not knowing if he should intervene, thinking this could be a smaller villain or something, but when a mask falls and another is replaced instantly before anyone could see their face, and he just barely catches a glimpse of eyes, he feels himself shiver at the expression. It was so familiar and a bunch of sudden thoughts hit him at once - about a kid he’d met on the streets not long before the entrance exams, about rumours he’s heard of a powerful person, someone who was so confusing in the way they worked, about a person he’d been wanting to meet and work with for a while just to figure them out, and finally about some things he’s heard in the underground recently. Henkei-san was working on a similar case to this, weren’t they? That’s the big and bad case that they’ve been about the last however many months… 

In the end, as he watches the smaller figure dash up to the roof; hurt, tired and baring their metaphorical fangs as only a knife, their fists and most usefully, their legs, he makes his move. He swiftly dashes across the tops of all the connecting buildings and over some wires, keeping his eyes on the fight, but never alerting anyone of his presence, even if it means not using his quirk - It could ruin everything if I use it right now, I need to make my presence know first before I start. 

Not even a second later is he throwing out his scarf to toss a villain back off the edge before falling on the roof next to the smaller figure, and standing up. He can’t help but feel an almost excited emotion build up inside of him as he stands next to Henkei, because this has been someone he’s been so curious about for so long, and it’s just strange being around the powerful person he’d never thought he’d honestly meet for quite some time. Keeping his mind on the battle however, he decides he can talk to the person whenever this is over - mission be damned - I can just say that they’re related, honestly, they probably are seeing as Henkei-san is here after all, though Tsukauchi-san’s going to have my ass for this mess. 

“Henkei-san; looks like you need a bit of help,” His gruff voice came out, and he fell into a stance of his own, scarf just beginning to lift alongside his hair and the starting of his glowing eyes. There’s a second before they respond, and it comes out staticky and pitched low, with another voice seeming to layer over it. 

“Eraserhead-san, good to see ya finally, eh?” So they’ve been expecting me huh? Makes sense, especially if we’d actually met that night when I’d felt so alarmed. 

And honestly, in the moment Shouta could say with 100 percent accuracy that it was the same person, the same boy ( and wow, this was a child? This dangerous person was a child? Though, he could understand, as he’d said that night a while ago, even a child could be a terrible villain, but still, it was just shocking and terrible and hurt Shouta deep down, no matter if this was Henkei-) from that night out; a feeling, so similar to the one of that night, but much much worse - something thankfully not directed at him, but still made the hair on his body stand and the need to fight off his hopeful ally in this case rise. But he didn’t, he just stayed standing forward and got ready as the next few villains tried to climb up the ladder, some using some self created ladder to get up. 

“Well, looks like we’ve got a lot on our plate, maybe we should throw some away?” Eyes flicked to his own as the static voice came out, and he could just barely make out some dark hints from under the hood. That's a good ass hood if it hasn’t fallen yet - especially if it hasn’t shown his hair yet either- 

(Izuku actually wears a lot headbands and hair clips under the hood to keep his hair back at his mama’s suggestion, and the hood is actually sewn forward by her with some wire like string, so the hood never falls down and accidentally reveals who he is- Inko is a very smart women and knows what she needs to when it comes to keeping her son safe) 

He grunted back in response before he took off forwards, listening as light steps followed behind him, no doubt that it’s Henkei about to leap at someone. And just like he’d thought, not a second later, the tired vigilante leapt forward and rammed the butt of their knife into the side of a person's head before taking the blade and running it along the back of their shoulder blades. He’s violent, but efficient, even if he’s a bit rusty when it comes to fighting-  as if he has practice but rarely puts it into use - as if he’s not done a lot of it; which would fit his MO, usually sending out other’s to do it for him, but then why is he out here? 

Shouta let his quirk flare, erasing a handful of villains quirks before throwing out his capture weapon to grab two and ram them into one another while throwing a punch and knocking out the third villain in front of him. Dropping the bodies he twisted around, leg positioned to kick out a fourth different villain's legs before he rolled over and rammed his elbow into the downed villain's face. Four down, but plenty more to go. 

He continued to fight, taking villain after villain as Henkei handled them a couple at a time, using smarts and no quirk that Shouta could see, just this fist and his knife and his brains. An eye was stabbed out at one point making Shouta grimace internally, because geez, he’s very violent - Though, when Shouta watches, he can see it’s desperate, can feel that it’s desperate - the need to survive and get out of this situation falling on the powerful shadows shoulders. He must have a lot of his plate if he’s fighting this desperately - a pause in his mind as he shoved another villain off the roof, listening to the scream before the silence and letting it float to the back of his mind to deal with later - He must have something to go home to, or someone to protect… He thinks of the case they’re working and of the rumors, This case must mean a lot to him… He works harder, if only to give Henkei a bit of breathing room.

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 18: S! S! TDAGYW! ~

In the end, he watches as Henkei takes down the last villain with a punch, a kick and a stomp on their skull - that’s’ gotta be what? Twenty-five, maybe thirty? Not too many, less than I’d thought honestly, but still a whole lot for either of us I’m guessing - Shouta looks down at his own body, already feeling the oncoming bruises and dry eye. It doesn’t help that he was slashed at a couple times as well, and has plenty of cuts all over his body, one of them deep enough to dribble blood down his side, but not worrying enough for him to pay attention too now, Hizashi can help patch me up when I get home . He’s got someone else here with worse injuries. 

His gaze falls over to his current partner and watches as blood drips and stains his dark clothes. Henkei looks like he could fall over any second, but his eyes tell Shouta that he’ll stay standing as long as he needs to get away and be safe - and that means from Shouta himself as well if the way dark eyes turn to him and stare intently, as if wondering if Shouta would go to try and arrest him. 

“I won’t do anything, just let me help you real quick,” He takes a step forward but Henkei drops his body a bit, and takes a step back, raising his arms up, and he stops. His gaze screams a warning, even if they both know that at this moment he could take Henkei down pretty easily. 

“Sorry Eraserhead-san, but I can’t do that - Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, but we’ve just met and I’m not taking any chances, not right now at least,” And that was that. Shouta stood, staring while the other stared back, eyes blazing and for a second, for a second Shouta was reminded of a training field, but he quickly pushed the thought away in order to make sure that Henkei was taken care of. I have questions for you, and you can’t answer them if you’re dead- Not only that, but you’re a child-  he didn’t say it, but he could tell that Henkei was picking up his energy.

In the end, Henkei growled at him, before taking another step back with a quick, “We’ll meet again,” but that wasn’t good enough, that wasn’t a promise no matter how much it sounded like one, and Shouta was going to reach out again when suddenly a knife? A stick? An arrow? Whatever it was, a something flew through the air towards them, and Shouta honestly thought it was going to hit Henkei square in the head, that he wouldn’t be fast enough to stop it, when his head suddenly snapped back just in time, allowing for only his mask to be caught and begin to get snagged off. 

Both of their eyes widened as his mask started coming off, and it was like the rest was in slow motion because one second, he was in front of Shouta with his mask tearing off, and then next he was ripping his face away from the mask and bringing an arm up to cover it so Shouta couldn’t see what he looked like, and the next he was jumping off of the roof. Panic filled the raven and he ran forwards, scarf ready to be flung, only to see that the vigilante had grasped a window ledge before dropping again to the ground, wincing, but still alive and able to stand just barely. Face still covered by his sweater, he glanced up and glared and Shouta had wanted to fall off the roof with how stiff with uncharacteristic fear he was. While he was stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide and breaths caught, Henkei had taken off, leaving Shouta to deal with the mess himself, a mess himself and honestly, the glare was worse, so much worse -

In the end, he let out a shaky sigh, knuckles white as he grasped the edge of the building and turned to find the person who’d let off the thing when he saw the mask on the ground. Picking it up, he rolled it around in his hands before stuffing it into one of his many pockets. At least I’ve got something to help with, well I don’t know… I don't know what this could help me with… 

Another sigh, and he couldn’t help but feel like an idiot - he moved too fast and scared off Henkei. Possibly even made himself an enemy of one powerful person. A powerful child - his mind supplied. But even so, a twisted grin twitched on his lips, not happy in any way, but sarcastic at the thought of ruining something he’d been so looking forward to, about being bested by a child even, and he let out a small laugh.

“Kami, what is with me? Where was the logic in this whole thing?! At least I’ve got an idea of what he’s like to some degree… I’ll just have to settle with that for now,” And then he went to work, his mind drifting off to the mask in his pocket, his grinning teeth grinding together. 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 18: S! S! TDAGYW! ~

Izuku was so tired, so very tired. He just wanted to lay down and die honestly, but he knew he couldn’t, knew he couldn't with all the things he’s learned and everything he’s still got to do. Not with his mama waiting at home, especially since he made it out of all that - Thanks to Eraserhead-san, I’ll have to buy him coffee or something, maybe I’ll drop off a lead for him on one of his cases... even if he did that stupid thing at the end… 

He’d stopped halfway home, stealing some ragged and ruined, stained clothes from a random dumpster behind an old clothes store and wearing those so he couldn't be found out - though it was pretty hard to cover up all the blood and the pointed beam-arrow-thing still left in his left arm. He’s basically running on leftover adrenalin, the need to get home, and the need to be hugged by his mama. Henkei clothes tucked into a bag he’d found along with the clothes on his back, he waited by the bus stop, hoping beyond hope that he could take it to the train station, even if he looked homeless. Not much later it was there, and he was boarding it, dropping 110 yen (thank kami for random loose change-) into the holder and taking a seat in the back, ignoring the passengers there. It’s not like they were looking at him or anything, he’s understood by now, that the only people on the busses this late are usually people dealing with a lot or sketchy people like himself, and the rule is you don’t stick your nose into others’s business, so no one acknowledged him as he hobbled by, in pain. 

That night had been so much for him, so much information he’d learned, so much he’d experienced, and now as he sits and watches out he window of the bus, he can’t help but think of his lost masks, and how he still had to go and receive the phone from Asai, before heading home.

So much, so much… just… too much…  he couldn’t help the tears that filled his tired and dead eyes, silently falling without his command nor control. No reaction was on his face to show the pain or sadness, or hurt; the look was blank as he stared at his reflection in the glass. I just want my mama… I just want to save people… I just want to be human, and liked, and wanted by some people… I just don't want to be scared, I just want to live… was that too much to ask for anymore? 

~ Arc 3 - P1: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 18: S! S! TDAGYW! ~

Izuku went about the rest of his night, collecting his things from worried coworkers, and getting plenty of strange looks from those who walked near him. Not that he paid them any mind, too lost in thought to care. 

I wonder if I should break something to get sent to Recovery Girls office so I can get fixed up… but that would probably raise suspicion, so I’ll fix up what I can and then go from there… 

He continued to limp down the road, almost to his house. 

When he opened the door, the first thing he was met with was a tight hug, a pained noise escaping his lips. His mama pulled back, took in the sight of him and tears filled her own bright green eyes. 

“Baby…” She whispered as she brushed his tears away. His face finally screwed up and he couldn't help the way his body sagged into her smaller one as something heavy, dark, yet empty filled his chest, the adrenaline rushing out of his system, and the loss of blood and exhaustion from all the pain finally catching up to him. 

“M-mama…” He sobbed into her shoulder, “I’m so tired… I hurt…” 

She ran a hand through his curls, “I know baby, I know…” 

They spent the rest of the night, or should he say morning since he didn’t get home until after 3am, fixing his wounds, talking about what’d happened, taking quick naps, and getting ready for school. It’d taken quite a bit of reassuring his mama, but in the end it worked and he went to school, in pain, some injuries fixed, and pretending to have gotten into a crash with a couple bicyclists beforehand when questioned by Recovery Girl. 

At least she isn’t questioning most of the injuries, he thought, assuredly as he healed up some - not all the way, just enough to get rid of the soreness and bruises, and the stab in his arm, because of how exhausted he still was - I wonder if she’ll question that - in the end, he went to class, acting and looking as if he’d never been through that night. 

Though, as he fell asleep later after school, the nightmares would continue to bother him enough to stay by his mama’s side the rest of the day, the feeling of blood still decorating his hands and body; his own and plenty other’s. 

His mind continued to wander on about whose attention he’d caught, how he was going to deal with it while school went on…About his apology for Hatsume’s mask - I knew I shouldn’t have taken it, I just ruined and lost it, after all her hard work, pathetic, pathetic, pathetic - About the fact he now knew for sure that Vex was dead and that he wasn't going to be saved, wasn’t coming back - You can’t save everyone, you can’t save everyone, you can't save everyone - BUT I PROMISED FOR HIM- I PROmised for him, I promised, Kami oh kami, I promised… 

(Promises… can’t always be kept…) 

(“Let’s be a hero duo one day!” “You Promise?” “I Promise! We’ll be the best of the best out there!”)

… 

… 

Oh. 

Arc 3 - P1 :  On Your Mark! Get Ready! Kill!  - To Be Continued

Chapter Text

Arc 3 - P2 :  On Your Mark! Get Ready! Kill!  -  Begin

Chapter 19: From The Piece’s Perspective

Take a breath… 

In and out.

Just like my social worker says. 

Take a breath…

In and out. 

In. and out.

In… and.. out…

What a load of shit. 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

His steps were light for all his “large” demeanor, walking along the path to his classroom on lanky legs - thin, long, and fluid with his movements. The strides were made holding incredible confidence and colorless indifference as he slipped through all the crowds, no care for the blindingly long white halls, the heavily packed spaces, and in all, just of the world around himself. His arms didn’t swing, instead they sat lazily in the clothed confines of his uniform pockets, bent slightly with the degree his wide shoulders hunched forward in the facade of uncaring. A scowl was etched near permanently onto his pale face, pulling the skin down around thin cheeks; his gaze straight ahead, burning holes into whatever or whoever stood before himself, while lavender eyes came accompanied by the darkness of many sleepless nights shrouding the under eye. 

The boy continued on, keeping to his path despite the environment around him. As if it mattered though, with the pure energy of hate sprouting out of him. Just like when Moses single-handedly called upon his god to split the sea before him and his people, the students flowed like waves to the sides, opening a passage for him. Though, it seemed no one really realized they were stepping to the side, for as soon as they did, they all just stepped right back. While similar in comparison, it was nothing as dramatic as the telling of that religious tale. 

But maybe that wasn’t all - energy that surrounded him. Perhaps it was his looks - like a lavender version of death. Hair wild and flowing, eyes pale in comparison to many others, almost as if he’d died and came back. The way his body seemed near skin and bone, face thin and pale. Dark blotches pressed the skin underneath the eyes, and his height was above most other’s despite the age he was. 

Or maybe it was just the look he held onto his face - the way he feigned his distaste and annoyance across the only bits of see-able skin. The way he mastered it to a T, granted how would others know if such an expression was false if he was so good at it? 

Because in the end, they moved for no other reason than how he held himself. People move for those who show anger and confidence in what they’re doing. And right now, in this reality, this boy painted the perfect picture of such things, but in truth? He was anything but. 

Shinsou Hitoshi. 

The walking embodiment of a criminal. 

The first place for future villain. 

The class-c lister who couldn’t do any better than that. 

Too weak to be in the hero course. Too dumb to be in support. Too short tempered and unappealing to be in business.

He was general at best. 

(This boy, just like someone so similar, was the entirety of a lie itself. Running, hiding, and protecting everything he could for himself just like the monster that roamed these very same halls. This boy, the same yet different, had lived his life in near the exact way as Midoriya had - had faced the beatings, the torture, the haunting realities that was the world. Yet… But yet, there was still. Just. One. Difference. Where one had lost all support and finally given up on the world, the other had yet to give up no matter what he did, no matter how criminalized he became…) 

Hitoshi was hiding. 

The average person would never really notice, but this ruthless boy was hiding, not just himself, but a trick up his sleeve. His body was trained - harsh in the ways of defense, growing used to the pain that came with blows and his mind was sharp, honed under the pressure of uneven battles and with the knowledge that he was never quite strong enough to beat his enemies. So Hitoshi stayed leant forward because of how easy it became to duck and evade and move smoothly. He scowled harshly to show off his fangs, to show off his bite and ward away unwanted attention. He continued to stroll with ease and fake confidence because it allowed him the peace of being unbothered. 

He had his ace. 

They played their game, so now I play mine.  

These words were uttered back to himself morning, noon, and night, no matter what he’d gone through that day. Never once letting himself forget every single way the world had and continued to wrong him. And while he might not be able to play this game too fast like them, too impulsive like them, or even too straight forward like them; he was still going to push as much as he could without being detected. He would still switch around his cards, hide his few pieces, and fool as many of those horrible assholes as he could until the moment came where he could finally go all in. Could finally move his piece. 

Hitoshi would pretend. 

He’d pretend and pretend and pretend until he could finally rub it all into their faces. Grab the backs of their heads and slam their face down into his win until the color seeped into and stained their grimy skin, until their eyes watered under the knowledge of the loss and the debris spread about, until he could finally in the same room as them with the knowledge that everyone here was equals whether they liked it or not. 

Shinsou Hitoshi would one day win. He would win, and nothing was going to stop him - even if he’d given up on the rest of truly accepting him. 

Let them laugh at me. Let them stretch their mocking smiles across their faces. Let them beat me down - I already know no one is going to care, no one is going to stop them, no one is going to help. No one will… But that won’t stop me from trying to prove them all wrong.

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

It’s as Hitoshi’s walking down to his next class that it happens. 

A four-way intersection of halls meeting. 

Crowded.

Loud.

Invading. 

The one area next to the cafeteria where the most students were found trying to get to their classes. 

From this point in the whole school building, it wasn’t that unexpected or surprising that you just might happen to run into students from other circulars; kids older or younger in class than you, many taking multiple different courses or just in different departments altogether. It was a busy four-way, no-stopping, kind of hallway. Maybe you’ll bump a shoulder here, pass a stranger there, possibly even step over the papers that some young nervous klutz dropped all over the marbled floor. 

Perhaps you’ll make friends (pfft, like that would ever happen) , or just talk to someone new. You might make a joke and hear someone laugh, or possibly help them up over a small little accident. You meet all types of people here in this hallway, granted, not all of them are good. No, because besides all the generous meetings between possible friends, another thing could happen - you could find a rival, an enemy, someone you distaste with a passion.  

A simple accident could go haywire in a school full of superpowered kids, no matter what class they’d come from, no matter what they can do. Those with their egos shot through the roof of their heads like a rocket to space and just pouring out the bottom of their shoes like a dam about to break. One simple mocking joke could turn into an all out brawl between these kids. A single light disagreement about courses, positions in politics and the overall hero ranking system, about their strength or smarts, could lead to a catastrophe of things! 

The walls of a classroom being cratered in and blown out, the magnificent glass windows shattered and smashed apart while the pieces fly every which way, leaving then, one of the students being escorted off to the hospital wing — all that… all that being of this intersectioned hallway that sanctioned the center of the school. 

This wasn’t a joke either, the young lavender eyed boy had come to see plenty of these cases over his time. From the news channels, online forums, herotube videos, and even the students own social media platforms. And something even stranger was how the school itself reacted to these incidents and leaks of footage. While most would think that UA, in order to keep up with its near perfect record, would be quick to take these posts down, or cover up all the news airings - the thing is though, is that they usually don’t. Instead, they ride the wave of catastrophe full force; showing exactly what happened, explaining why it happened, having personal talkings with the families about the situation at hand, as well as how they planned to take care of said incident. The school would even go as far as to explain that if such situations were to happen again, punishments would be dished out in a much more serious, much more harsher way than the original offenders got.

Believe it or not, society ate the whole idea up. This way of teaching made UA skyrocket in more popularity than it had been originally - putting them at top of the charts for anti-bullying, anti-violence amongst students, and so much more. People seemed to think the school was going to really, truly hold every student accountable for the things they did, especially if it interfered with other students' possible futures. But even so, things still continued to get out of hand… 

Thus, this very moment. 

The intersection. 

“HEY YOU FUCKING ASSHAT! TAKE THAT SHIT BACK RIGHT NOW OR I’M GONNA KICK YOUR GODDAMNED ASS YOU FUCKING GEN ED MUTANT FREAK!” 

“OH SO I’M THE FREAK?! YOU’RE THE ONE WALKING AROUND LIKE YOU OWN THE PLACE YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! WHAT A HERO YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE GOING AROUND AND SHITTING ON ALL THE OTHER KIDS IN HERE! IN THE FIRST FUCKING WEEK NO LESS!” 

“EEEHHH?!! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY– ! COME AT ME BITCH-” 

A sigh. 

He just wanted to get to class on time, but of course this happens right now. 

Why can’t they just take it somewhere else for fuck’s sake already? Don’t they know the both of them are going to end up expelled at this rate? Hitoshi grit his teeth, rubbing long fingers through his fluffy, yet ragged hair. His face twisting into one of disgust and disdain as he felt something fly past his way from within the commotion in the middle of the hall. Really, they’re acting like stupid children… But… A flicker of his eyes, and two adult silhouettes could be seen rushing down through the halls, their voices raised in hopes of pausing the current actions. At least they’ll get taught a lesson; less people for me to try and push through to get where I need to be. Another swift pass around the hall as he scanned over the two students brawling near to death on the pristine marbled grounds. wrestling and fighting on the ground. Blood on their faces and fists; it showed almost ornately against the white of the floor; one of them was already missing a tooth by the looks of it as well. 

One of them said something about the other being a hero student… Well, if that’s the case, then I doubt much will be done to that student. With a roll of his eyes, he turned to walk through the crowd, hoping beyond anything that he’ll make it to class with the little time he had left. Even with how strict the school is, I’ve seen how punishments have sometimes become lenient when a hero student is presented amongst the problems. UA, while considered the best of the best, was still as slimy and corrupted as the rest. 

It’s only when he finally manages to make it around the unblocked corner and nearly out of the ever growing crowd that something catches his attention, halting his journey back to class. 

Irritation. Toxic. Green. 

It was only for a second, but Hitsohi could have sworn that it felt so much longer - the deep rooted vigor of aggravation radiating off the stranger in waves that felt thick and hard to breathe in, just standing at the edge of the crowd no more than 30 feet away. 

Why…? 

He halted and felt something flick and spark within himself, perhaps something coming alive. Something buried, submerged in whatever dark caverns that laid through his body– something that this boy had killed and hid away in the nothingness of his being after years of torture and pain. After constantly being recycled by family after family, passed from hand to hand like he was nothing more than a collectors toy for others to try out and see if they liked; after developing his bullshit quirk that supposedly came with a set of terms and conditions he had to align to, otherwise he’d possibly be dead – that came with a life plan he was just supposed to take rolling over with, no matter how he felt or stood or even understood the situation. 

Who…? 

He had no idea who this person was. Did… did no one else feel it? 

He couldn’t help but question what was going on. He stared. 

He stared and stared and stared until his already tired eyes burned from more than just lack of sleep, until the bodies of the students soon started to dissipate back into the world, and the people began to move once more throughout the entire area, the topic of the fight the only thing occupying all their minds now as their words echoed down the halls. But still he stood, and still he stared. 

And then just like that–! The trance was broken. The place that had taken over Hitoshi’s mind was broken as the young green haired boy tilted his head the just ever the slightest bit over, and Hitoshi saw the shining of emerald eyes snap over to his body like they’d known he was there the whole time. How did he–?! Unlike when someone stares at him and he freezes, his body kicked back into place and his face fell back to a flat neutral expression. The boy only subtly turned his head just the barest of inches more to him, with an almost scared curiosity decorating the feature, those boring eyes seemingly scanning his body as a whole, snacking on the little bits of information he could get from the lanky teen. 

With the trance over though, Hitoshi did nothing but raise an eyebrow to the boy, and watched in fascination as whoever this was flinched up in almost a mimic of a jump, and hurried off the class, shoulders tight and bookbag pulled high on his back. 

But even as Hitoshi watched him go, he couldn't help the feeling that shivered throughout the whole of his body, making him wonder so, so many things. 

What was that energy? 

Why did it feel so familiar? 

Why did he suddenly run off as if he was scared when we met eyes? 

But then he thought of the bag. He thought back to the look of what could have possibly been genuine fear in his eyes, to the way he skuttered off like a frightened animal all alone on it’s own in some strange new land, and what happened to be a strong annoyance, an irritation that came from when he was viewing the fight. He thought of the way the boy scanned over his body like he’d himself do when strangers he wasn’t so sure of came near, and how the boy damn near seemed to disappear when he took those few steps back off down the hall and into the remaining crowd. 

He thought. 

He thought and thought and thought until finally– 

A flip. 

A switch. 

A realization. 

I wonder… 

Could it be? 

Could we be the same? 

(And the answer was yes. They weren’t too different in all realities. The only wall splitting them being that the blood on each of their hands came from different sources and reasons entirely) 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

Throughout the next few days, Hitoshi spent a majority of his time pondering who in the world that boy was. Wondering who it could have been in regards to the school, and why he was still on the lavender boy's mind (and Izuku was just like that. The uniqueness, the rarity of his situation placing him in a world away from so many others. In a world that was rarely ever explored or even discovered for that matter - and because of that, because of that he was such a mystery to so many. He was a danger unclassified by those who could rarely see him, he was a treasure amongst those who wanted him, and was a monster to those who finally got to peek into the closet of his mind-)...  He spent hours wondering, over and over and over, just flipping and tossing the very existence of this strange boy around in his mind, and by the next day he was already looking for said boy in the halls, looking for him in any of his classes, searching almost desperately just to catch another glimpse of him, wondering if he ever would again.  

He couldn’t find him though, not after the first day. 

Not during the second. 

Nor even the third.  

It was the fourth though, that gentle Thursday morning, that he finally managed to catch the boy stalking down the halls like he’d once witnessed before, bag hitched up to his shoulders and ears, eyes trained ahead yet keeping track of the surroundings that encased him, and sticking to as many corners as he could while he walked on in the packed express ways of the school. 

Hitoshi had almost reached out to him. 

Could feel his vocal cords stretch and tighten as his tongue tried to yell out without the permission of his mind. Could feel his hand lift ever so hurriedly off the strap of his bag and reach towards the smaller boy to grasp at a shoulder that was much too far away. Like a distant dream where he’d forgotten all logic, all aspects of space and time, he nearly went on with the unintentional need to talk to this boy. To know him. To know his life, his secrets, his self and everything else that could be woven into and knitted around this strange being like a blanket. 

But he stopped. 

He caught himself. 

What am I doing? 

He froze, his eyes dragging themselves down to stare at his hand in confusion and shock. 

I need to stop. I’d never do this sort’ve thing. I need to get to class. 

But just as he began to let his arm fall back, something invaded his vision. 

Green. 

Green eyes. 

They looked…

They looked at… him. 

Hitoshi almost felt his world spiral and spin when he saw that emerald eyes had found their destination in his, that the boy he seemed so unnaturally infatuated with was holding his eyes in their own gaze once more with that nervous confusion. With that unending desire to take in all the information he could about Hitoshi. 

Hunger.  

He could see it, swimming around in the endless pools that shown so lively in the light as they were caught in a stand still. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Hitoshi; the air, the speech, the gravity of everything – all of it moved as if time was never real, as if the world itself collected around just the two of them and their desires, as if he was caught in a trap and was experiencing the last moments before his merciful demise. 

But… 

He wasn’t scared. 

No, he wasn’t scared at all. Because behind that hunger. Behind the toxicity and irritation and anger, and over all prodding and invading and terrifying eyes - because behind all what had to be but a monster staring right at him in that moment, taking in his whole soul and grasping it so tightly in his hands with so much unending curiosity that Hitoshi even doubted this boy knew what he was doing at all – because behind whatever seemed to scream at him when he tried to look a little deeper into the emerald eyes of that boy so close yet so far in the never ending, yet confined hallway - all he could see was pain. 

Pain so deep, so gut wrenching and heart shattering. So lonely… He couldn’t help but stare back without a care to how his body seemed to shake under the oil driven fires that burned with hate in his eyes. 

Once more, just like before where when it had been only seconds to pass, it felt like hours, days, decades even. But he stared, not moving despite the shoulders and the comments and the noise of everything pushing and pulling and forcing around him. 

I… 

Green eyes blinked once, twice, before a nervous (sinister, horrifying, devilish, vengeful) smile was given quick and short before the boy was once more off again to class - just like the last time, with no time to talk, no time to meet, no time to even get within a foot of the boy – all of it gone in the matter it took to blink, smile and disappear back into his own world. 

I… 

He stood, shell shocked to his core. Fists tightened around his straps, and eyes glued to the area where the boy once stood. 

I want… 

He’d never felt such desperation before.

I want to know him… 

And the world where Hitoshi once stood, with his ideals and all, was suddenly thrown out when it came to the green haired boy. Tossed freely onto its head, and left for the wind to be picked up and mashed and mixed around to form something new.  

I think… I need to meet him… 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

(If only bias wasn’t such a clouding factor when it came to so many minds. Had Hitoshi only just talked to him, had he only just reached out then - maybe things would have gone better. Maybe, things would have been simpler, and maybe he might have made a friend so quickly. If only he’d had the strength to push then, and not dally until the sports festival. If only…) 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

When she’d first met Midoriya back early on at the entrance exam, she hadn’t thought much of him. To be completely honest, she was so wrapped up in the exam that she’d forgotten all about him until the physical test came and she’d watched as the near insane boy went around smashing the robots to pieces with only his bare hands and brute strength. Yet even then, she could only truly think about how much it fueled her own fire that someone so sweet and shy, from what she could remember anyways, could be so vicious and frightful when it came down to their determination to pass or fail. 

Ochako could only be surprised the more she met him though. The more she saw as she went on throughout the exam, seeing the entirety of all things that other examinees did, the more she realized how much this boy really stood out against all the competition. Especially when the time came near to an end with only two minutes left on the clock and the zero pointer was released into the fake district cityscape. The way he’d come rushing back after her despite the wave going in the opposite direction, the way he’d run into action and unleashed a power like she’d never seen before in someone so small onto the robot's mechanical face, blasting it into smithereens; just watching the way it splintered and cracked and rained upon the field. The way she could feel something swell from within the depths of her chest, searing her body with the need to save this boy because she could just tell that when he’s around, things would get interesting in many ways (She’d later learn that she’d broken her own ankle in order to land that slap across his face- which shocked her to her core, seeing as while the snap she’d experienced had hurt, she’d barely even recognized the pain under all the intense pressure of the situation-). 

After that, she’d dubbed him with the name “Hero-kun!” because of his heroic acts that could have possibly saved her life that day - even if they’d never meet again for some reason or another, she still wanted to give him the deserving title, if only known to herself. But then time had moved on, and suddenly she was running through the long halls of UA to get to class on the first day and what did she find standing at the front of the door to her class? But a boy who saved her life. 

She’d been so ecstatic! So filled with joy that he’d gotten in, that she didn’t even pretend to calm herself as she ran up in excitement and determination to friend the boy right then and there. She immediately started to talk, taking in all the little quirks about the boy she could see in front of her to determine what kind of friend he would be - though in the end, she really didn’t care! She was just so happy that she could finally talk to him again! 

But… time went on once again like a gentle flowing river, and suddenly she began to notice… little things… so many little things… 

Like the way his hands moved from his sides to the straps of his bag in a motion that seemed awfully familiar to something she’d learned years ago. Or the stance of his body when Iida had begun to walk near them; so tense, tight, almost defensive. The way he seemed hesitant to talk when others were near, even if he was having a direct conversation with them, as well as the way he seemed to mumble to only himself, lost to his rampaging mind and unlimited space. She noticed the absence that filled his eyes when loud blond kid sped through his tests, as well as the irritation but understanding towards all the kids who were suddenly shouting about the fairness of their sensei’s tests. She saw it in the way he seemed to freeze when Aizawa erased his quirk, and the look of genuine fear when the blond kid charged him, in the way he barely used his hand throughout the rest of the day with the sudden addition of gloves after their fitness tests and the stunt where he’d broken his finger. 

She noticed all these things - things that seemed trivial, or almost nonexistent to others that surrounded them, but so, so familiar to her. 

But she couldn’t just see what it was quite yet. 

It wasn’t until a few days later, while she sat at her empty home, listening to her dad over the phone about the things that had been going on lately, that something seemed to enter her mind and hit the nail right on it’s head. 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

“Hey papa, how’s it been? Anything new and exciting in the time I’ve been gone?” 

A soft gentle sigh fizzled through the old flip phone, and she could almost see the small smile that decorated his face. 

“Nothing too much baby, just the same old, same old. You’ve only been gone, what? Barely a week now? Crazy happens fast, but not that fast around here,” A low, tired chuckle echoed into the air and she couldn’t help the small smile of her own slowly pull at her lips, a warmth filling the empty room around her. 

She loved her parents. They did so much for her, and she already missed them dearly. Especially her father. She wouldn’t lie, she was her papa’s darling little princess and she knew that dearly, but she’d never use it against him. How could she after all they’ve been through, and after all the things he’s already done for her? 

“Well that’s good I guess, haha… But in all seriousness papa, nothing bad has happened yet, right? Those brokers haven’t come to collect yet, right?” No answer came from the other side of the phone, just silence and the barest hints of a breath. 

“...”

“Papa–?”

“Baby, what did I tell you about this? I don’t want you-” 

“–yeah, yeah papa, I know– ‘I don’t want you worrying about this, you have a future and it doesn’t involve the bad things we do’ blah, blah – I know you want to keep me safe papa! I know that’s one of the reasons why you only moved me here closer to the school and not with any of our relatives even though that would be the easier and cheaper solution. I know that’s why you don’t want me coming home for as long as I can while I’m studying to become a hero. I know - I know… but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you guys! You’re my parents, my mum and my papa - I can’t help but worry about the people I love and care for most…” 

Silence once more and another sigh. 

“Just… please papa… tell me what’s happened…” 

“...”

“Okay baby, alright… alright…” A breath, “They did come, to collect the debts you know. Just yesterday actually, and they weren’t very kind about it. They roughed us up a bit-”

“Papa-!”

“-Don’t worry! Don’t worry - we’re all fine here. Nothing too serious… it’s just… Aki won’t be working for a while now… But they came, and told us if we didn’t have enough money the next time they were over, there wouldn’t be any more ‘warnings’ left to give…” 

Ochako thought she was going to hurl right there. The idea that these people were possibly, no not possibly, would kill her father and mother because of the debts they owed was terrifying in her mind. She didn’t want to lose them so early, not now of all times, not when she was just beginning to start her own life… 

“But you know how things play out… We might not make a lot of money working at our company, but we know how to run, hide, and evade. If anything, your mum and I will pack our things quickly and hop around like we’ve done in the past to evade them. And if it really gets to the point of becoming necessary, I can always call up our cousin to guard the area or take care of those bastards since they still owe us a favor for building their base all that time ago…” 

It was then that Ochako seemed to have an epiphany - while her father went on about how they planned to handle this, she remembered exactly what seemed so familiar about the boy. 

Back when Ochako was just a young girl, barely 6 or 7, she’d finally gotten to meet her cousin Nawamura Outa. The reason at the time was unknown to her, why her family had to stay with them for a few months alongside all her family's close coworkers, but she later learned that it was because her father had promised to use his company to build a base for their illegal operations without such events rising in the media or onto the heroes radars. 

It wasn’t like they were being blackmailed or anything; her family got along quite well, so this task wasn’t too big of a deal seeing as her family came from poverty where everyone helped one another to make it in life, to give a chance for the next generation. Whether that be through schooling, work, or illegal activities. Cousin Outa had found a way to make it in the darker parts of a world she didn’t quite understand, and that was fine for them - so long as it never came back to hurt the children of their family. 

From that day forward, while her father worked with his crew to build up the majestic place for their side of the family's safety, her cousin Outa had taken it upon himself to train her and the rest of the kids that were dragged along with because of such a job. He taught them to defend themselves in case something ever happened. He taught them to notice the signs of someone lying or trying to deceive them - or even planning to attack. He brought notice to the signs and symptoms of those who were hurt, abused, victims, or in need of help - so that one day, if necessary, they could help one another or save their friends and families lives. Cousin Outa had taught her everything she needed to know in order to survive in the world, without allowing her to see the true harsh realities of it. 

And that connected back to Midoriya. 

The way he walked and talked. The way he moved and smiled. The look in his eyes and the way he seemed to always be on edge. 

He was a victim. To what or who? She couldn’t quite say (though she had a pretty good idea of who it might be now), but the reason it was all so familiar was because he showed signs. Signs that lit up the room like a neon board in the depths of the night to anyone with an honest to kami working brain. He was a victim to something harsh and evil, someone who had to learn to survive lest there be punishment - in what ways, though? She wondered, remembering the way he seemed so scared and helpless, yet almost ready for a fight in some instances, ready to defend himself to the last breath. 

She thought about the way his eyes jumped around - the intense and almost dark look they always seemed to hold. The wariness that seemed to crack her heart when he looked at her, the fear that seemed to swell his tongue when he and shatter her soul to pieces when he spoke a little loud or too excitedly; yet the determination to talk even so with praise and unmouthed confirmation, and the same determination to save her still swimming through those vibrant greens. 

Midoriya was a victim. A victim that had a heart of gold to be going into heroics. 

With the new found knowledge in mind, she couldn’t help but remember the words she uttered to the inner workings of her own mind the day of the exam. “ A hero needs a hero too.” 

And a hero I will be! 

She would get closer to Midoriya, no matter what it took - would break through his walls and find out who he was, and when she did, no while she did - she would do her damned best to protect him. 

I’ll protect you Midoriya! 

No matter the cost!

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

(If only she knew what she was getting into…

Granted, when has that ever stopped true heroes?)

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

That boy… who is he? 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

There was this… air to Midoriya, Shouto noted. 

An air that seemed to ooze and cling to the clothes he wore, envelope the entirety of the places he stepped, and trickle down the expressions that painted themselves onto his face each and everyday. 

There was an air to Midoriya, Shouto noted, one that reminded him of something… wild. Something lost. Something hurt. But most notably, something almost deadly. 

(Touya… what happened to you?)  

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

There was such an… interesting air to Midoriya; one that no one seemed to pick up on at all besides Shouto. An air that reminded him of an animal - one that’s faced who knows how many countless terrible things in its lifetime. One that’s been hurt, molested, tortured, and pushed to the brink of the edge over and over; time after time again, and again until it finally became just a normal pastime for the deranged thing. Until it became that animal's reality and instinct. 

Reminded him of an animal that was trained so harshly all its life to dispose of the lives surrounding it - to completely ruin and retire those who weren’t considered trustworthy, loyal, beneficial, or good in its exotic and crazed eyes. Trained to tear apart beings from the inside out - to rip out and absolutely shred the throats of anything and everything that so slightly even moved, just barely spoke, and hardly gave breaths. Midoriya reminded him of those dogs from the cage fights he’d seen on TV almost - in the way that they were forced to fight for their lives when the time came, otherwise they’d have to die trying - only for them to be locked up if they happened to win in the end. To be praised, yet still treated wrongly. 

Midoriya reminded him of something so deadly- something so vicious and terrifying, but something of a pet. Perhaps more like the caged dogs that’d won so many times they became loyal side pets to their masters. Ones that went to fight, yet were eventually trained to be seated and worthy of up front praise sitting next to their owners, ones that went hidden to the unseeing eye - sweet, kind, careful, and unassuming in how deadly they really, truly were. 

(Kind of like how Touya was all those years ago. So young and kind to me, even if he seemed to play with me roughly. So unassuming and quiet to those who looked in on the Todoroki home. Praised from strangers because of how well kept he was. But yet, it still happened… He still did that )

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

See, Midoriya was strange, Shouto would note once more. 

The green haired boy was so, so very strange to him. 

Strange in a way that he felt almost too cold when near Shouto. Strange in a way that he almost seemed filled with fake liveliness, the way it poured out of his hands and face and being. Strange in a way that felt threatening… In a way that made his own body want to fill with warmth and dare to spark that flame that he’d been suppressing for so long in the empty depths of himself. Made him want to flare up like a firework in the night, made him want to fight like he had only a handful of times before… made him want to use his fire.  

His classmate was strange in the way that when within a certain area, a wind whispered in his ear some near billion year old instinct to use fire to protect himself like his ancestors had once more some time ago - that pounded and clawed at and into his brain that if he did , if he aloud his body to be engulfed by his flames, that he’d be thoroughly protected from what entity that Midoriya was. That he’d be able to live and fight him off for at least a few minutes ( seconds, you mean, his other instincts correctly replied), allowing him the time to run and flee and find a place to gather his will. To gather his mind and his strength. 

He hated that thought. 

Shouto hated the idea of someone or something so much more powerful than himself, especially when said something or someone made his deepest desire to run and survive scream in his head and ache in his bones instead of fight. 

He hated the air. 

It rubbed him so wrong. 

He hated Midoriya. 

Hated him so very much it nearly burned through his skin and kissed at his cheeks. 

But he could be wrong. 

Maybe he didn’t hate Midoriya, no, maybe he didn’t hate his classmate at all. Maybe the hatred came from the fact that nearly every time his multi-colored eyes seemed to drift even within the a foot of the emerald eyed boy, some dormant yearning to grasp at life, at perfection without the struggle, some inner instinct he’d originally only felt as a young boy fighting his father over and over and over again came to fruition inside his entire being - no, maybe he didn’t hate Midoriya, didn’t hate the smaller green haired boy. Instead… Instead maybe, maybe he just hated the way that he made himself feel. Hated everything about the strange boy that made him want– no, not want, need to use his fire. Made him feel the need to set alight everything in his path and surroundings and hide away. Burn the world in order to cover his tracks. Hide away like a scared child, shielding itself from a monster with its blankets - as if that could solve all his problems. 

(Like he used to think when he was just a young boy. When he first developed his quirk and could hide away in his mother’s arms when everything became too much. Run to his big brother for the few seconds of brotherly attention he was given before being pulled back into the flame… If only they hadn’t gone… If only they hadn’t left me…)

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

Yet even after all that thinking, after all those ‘maybes’ and ‘perhaps’ and all other questions and feelings he’d had when being near, being close - watching, seeing, breathing, and just living, just existing next to that very boy – Shouto still finds himself landing back at square one.

He thinks he hates Midoriya, Shouto admittedly notes, locking his icy eyes with the very being to start this whole goddamned dilemma inside himself, inside his brain and head and heart and soul. Watches as he sees emerald eyes flick to and fro about his body like a map just discovered; taking in the details he seems to keep picking up no matter the amount of times he’s looked – just like he’s done every time he’s crossed paths with the boy. Always watching the way his eyes ever so carefully trace along the edges of his clothes no matter what they be; the way they seem to bore right through his school bag, picking up exactly what he might be hiding in there; how they focused on his scar, his mark, his branding, but never– no never too long, as if this classmate of his whom he’d just met somehow knew it was a topic of concern, knew that it was a releasing point for pain and suffering and so much more – as if he knew this was not something to be so involved in unless he had all of hell to pay and more. Midoriya always stared at him like he was just browsing through some grand library and decided that Shouto was the book he wanted to pick up and read for the day. Like he was the only person who seemed to matter in that very moment, in that very breath, in that very space and time –  but only because of the information he held, not because of his true being, nor true interest, but because he could use Shouto at some point - whether with or against him. It was like the boy had wanted to pick at his soul from the very first time he became a passing thought in the back of that green eyed boy's head, and did so without so much as a hint of doubt in his mind that doing such shoveling into another person's life was disrespectful, hurtful, and near terrifying behavior. 

He thinks he hates Midoriya, if not for the boy himself, nor the cloud of air and electric energy that seemed to trace his every path and being, then for only the reason that he sets Shouto on such an edge, on such a point that he felt the need to return to his natural primal instincts to use his fire to hide. 

He thinks he hates Midoryia, and he doesn’t think that’s ever going to change, no matter how much he ignores it. No matter how much their other classmates seem to treat him despite this near unsettling fact. 

He’ll just go on pretending, and ignoring, until he can finally put it behind him like he has plenty other times with similar things in the past.  

(Touya… Mom… I’m… I think… I’m scared…) 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

Mei didn’t have a tragic life. 

She didn’t have the sob story everyone is so accustomed to, the story to pull at you and your heartstrings. 

She didn’t. 

Young Mei grew up in a comfortable middle-class home on the outskirts of the suburbs for privacy. Both her parents had gone to college, and were now both respectfully business engineers, as well as support industry workers. She has an older sister who went to UA on a recommendation just like herself, and when that was over, went to an overall good college. After graduating from there, she then fell into the industry that her parents were in, but instead decided to take it her own way and create her own business that worked in cahoots with information, support gadgets, and plenty of weapons that were fit for heroes of all kinds. 

Mei didn’t have a tragic life. 

She went to a regular public school all her life; she was given what she needed in order to succeed in those classes, and when she needed more, she was once more granted the ability to achieve and aim higher. Even when she and her family realized the hidden potential, and the near never ending intelligence behind those bright yellow crosshaired eyes, they quickly rushed to accommodate her needs and interests even further - they never wanted young Mei to feel like she couldn’t do anything she put her heart into. 

They allowed her to grow as a child; they made sure to let her dabble in all sorts of ideas, topics, and things in general. From choir to band, ballet to street dancing, from painting and graphic design to spray painting and even vandalism within their own buildings, from wood working to engineering, and speaking new languages to computer programming – anything and everything she wanted to give a try, they let her take her shot at to see where this little miss might land. Because of this, because of her families near never ending support, she grew to be a very well rounded child for her age, as well as damn near thrice as intelligent as most others. 

Mei didn’t have a tragic life.

Yet, she still ended up underground. 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

With intelligence came some amount of arrogance. Whether noticeable or not by the beholder, it was still obviously there. This was just as true for one Hatsume Mei. She lived a pretty good life for her time; getting whatever she wanted and needed in balance, allowing herself to learn, grow, and overall just to become a better and more knowledgeable person than her peers. She had manners (though, quite frankly because of the eccentricities of her family, these weren’t always used), she had brains, and she even had her own brawn. But, just because you constantly can learn and grow, doesn’t mean you’ll forever feel the need to learn. Because of this, she was soon led to a disease called, “boredom.” 

She grew bored of what was given to her, whether she wanted it or not - things became less challenging, less fun, and all the more logical and easily predictable. Became less surprising and creative, and all the more trivial and kindergarten. Her interest to grow was dwindling away as the lack of opportunities came her way, even if she tried to forcefully make them. So, she began to constantly hop from one thing to another, never staying with a project for long before she felt like she could rip her own hair out at how absolutely , agonizingly bland and routine everything would soon become. 

It was finally a hit when she reached out to the idea of support gear just like her parents and sister had finally suggested. Something that had to be specifically made for each individual person for each individual quirk. Something so unique to the individual, it could almost surpass the individuality of quirks themselves. Yeah, you could make duplicates of so many of the items that were created in the field – hell, they actually did that sometimes so newbies could have some type of armor or weapons when going into their first jobs, but lacking the proper people to create something personal for them! But truly, in the end, not everything works for every one person in such a day and age, in such an era; so the solution? Find more ways to make the same thing over and over until it’s finally fit and usable for each and every person on this very earth. 

With the discovery of support gear at her fingertips, Mei became delighted and enlightened with a fire she’d never felt before. She’d found her oasis in a very large stretch of desert. She’d become more energized, more filled with excitement and hysterics. She got loud, got rowdy, and blew up things! 

So what if the kids slowly began to leave as a side effect of her happiness? (Because they thought she was stuck up and rude to turn away opportunities they so dearly wished to behold). So what if she stayed up all night long for days on end without an ounce of sleep to keep working on her “babies.” (Because this was the only thing to keep her really running anymore, so she couldn’t stop for fear that one day she would lose interest in this too). So what, if one day, she realized that maybe things went a little far and she probably wouldn’t be good at this job anyways - seeing as everything she made only managed to blow up in her face in a not so fun way anymore. So what if only her family were the only people to support her new hobby? So what? 

So what… 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

It wasn’t until her sister started bringing her strange items she’d found during her late night hobbies that Mei really got her spark back once more. When seeing something new, she couldn’t help her curiosity and fascination with the craft. Wasn’t until her sister came into her room one night, a large gash in her arm bleeding all over the workshop floor, that she started asking questions about where these strange items were coming from while patching her up with all the medical knowledge she’d acquired from her extracurricular's. Wasn’t until her 11th birthday finally came that the secret about this almost wild and imaginary place was whispered into her ears in soft tones and darkening intrigue. 

It wasn’t until but a few weeks later after said birthday that her first truly working and solid invention was created. All of it based around the strange images she’d been given, based around the blueprints for things she’d never even dreamed of making sitting on her worktop bench, based around ideas that had slowly begun to grow and form over time as she continued to dabble here and there and soon enough realized what exactly goes into making such creations. All of it, every single thing to help her grow since than, were credited to two simple words that couldn’t even dare to describe the real thing. And those were, “The Underground.” 

From that point on, her life seemed to lift to the high heavens because now? Now she was a part of something. A part of a place she knew she was meant to fit into. Such a simple girl, with a simple life well lived, had found her way into the underground. A girl that you could call arrogant, because nothing was good enough until she fell into the dark. 

Where other simple girls had seen darkness, this simple girl had seen a light.  

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

The first time she’d ever heard the name “Henkei” she’d been confused, but intrigued. 

“Vigilante’s?! That’s so cool! I’d never heard a specific one’s name before sis! Why’s he so special?!” 

She’d been bouncing off the ceiling to hear more of what her sister had to tell her. Especially now since she knew exactly what kinds of side work Ayamei had been up to in her spare time away from home. Her sister had told her so much about that world, about the opportunities and the harsh realities of it all. Talked about how this was necessary on her part, since not all the good guys wore capes, nor had their names in the hero charts; as were the same for the opposite, being that not all those who wore the flashy suits were real heroes, and not all cops served to protect. That there was a group of people the system referred to as “gray” compared to the rest.  

It made sense logically, in her opinion, that a group of people would form in spite of the system because of the wrongdoings or errors or even inequalities of such a system. In the end though, she never really cared about the finer details of such things like the law, unless it interfered with her work. After she’d masterfully built her first truly working invention, she’d found herself creating more and more, day and night, almost nonstop. Working on ideas and projects without the help of the strange necessities or blueprints her sister brought, instead her mind forming invention after invention as if something raw and rough had just been discovered and unlocked from inside her brain. Something she had the power to polish and shine. It became even more astonishing for her when Mei realized that she could market her items - sell them and make a profit to buy better materials, make stronger items, and then go on to sell even those! Her eyes and mind were open now, to the opportunities just falling in front of her, the multiple worlds she could build her name into - the ways she could help so many, while still having so much fun with herself!  

It wasn’t just heroes she could make things for - No, now she had the gray scale to work with! And oh boy was that scale ginormous compared to the rest!  

If she was completely honest - she thought it was actually kind of stupid to push yourself into the underground; into such a dangerous world that you have no true knowledge of unless you were invited there in the first place. While realistically she knows some are born there, some are captured to stay there, and others just kind of fell into the lap of that place, she happens to think that some people are quite stupid - mainly, those who chose to try and willingly join without a plausible reason.  

Take her older sister for instance; her story isn’t anything tragic either. She didn’t get bullied, she didn’t feel underachieved, she never really struggled with something so great in her life that it would force her to go towards such a place. She just happened to discover something one day back in college while she was young, saw how useful such a thing was and took the advantage while she could. Ayamei had just went with it, just took it in stride as some tool she thought necessary to use in her game of life. Though, to give credit where credit’s earned, Ayamei did get help from their uncle Matsuta who was once a very well known detective, was someone that had dipped his own fingers into the underground. 

But the point was, she thought her sister was just a tiny bit stupid for what she did. Her sister could have made it through life perfectly well without the need to go so deep, but she chose otherwise. Yet over time, even with such forward thoughts, Mei continued to watch her big sister and followed her to the depths of the underground, going anywhere and everywhere that the night streets traveled. 

In doing so, she realized just how stupid so many other people were. How many people were just as stupid as her sister, because they could all be living such happy normal lives - what brought them to the point of willingly joining such a horrible place? 

While her question was never truly answered, even as she walked around and lived this life as well - she did come to realize something about herself.

I must be stupid too. 

But stupid had brought her to such a place, to meet a certain someone that had her bouncing off the ceiling, and really change the outcome of her life. 

Henkei. 

For years she’d been looking forward to meeting him with the tales her sister spun - over how smart he was, how brave and frightfully terrifying he could be. How with one single look he could pierce through your very heart, soul, and mind. How he never seemed to use his quirk - but always seemed to have the advantage wherever he went. 

Mei would openly drool at some points because of the endless possibilities that came with such a figure. All the armor, weapons, gear, information, and more that could be built off of and sold to this strange vigilante! 

And then she got to meet him, and she wasn’t let down. For once in her life, did she feel the fire that had spurred her into action once again roar throughout her body, flood through her veins and shock her mind. The desperate need to find out everything she could about this new customer had her bouncing in her chair, and floating above the clouds. 

She had shivered when he first laid eyes on her - but she couldn’t help but let the instinctual fear consume her all the while a smile donned her face. Everything felt so exciting!

And then not too long after even that, SHE got to be ONE OF THE FIRST to ever lay eyes on the revealed face of the renowned Henkei…

Life… Life had gotten so breathtakingly colorful!

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

A grinned so cheshire in nature spread across her face as she cackled loudly, eyes tracing the movement of Midoriya as he ducked underneath the support course table once more, sending his usual terrifying glare her way.

Oh what did I do?! What did I do to earn something so great! So puzzling! So mysterious!!! 

To describe any emotion that pertained to her in these moments left alone with the renowned Henkei, she would have to say it was fascination. The way it swept through her hair, and bubbled through her veins when she was with him was near addictive! Mei couldn’t help it though! She was just too interested in him, and nothing else could enter her. 

I just want to crack him open and see what’s behind those toxic eyes of his! What tragedies happened to plague him? Why did he make all the choices he has? Was he stupid like most of the rest of us, or was he dragged into this whole world against his will?! 

Why a vigilante? Why a hero as well?! 

Oooh he’s terrifying, but oh my isn’t he fun! 

Another boom and another glare, the two a combined romance at this point now, but she could see the exasperation hidden in those eyes, the nervousness that dwelled, and the grinding of gears in his mind as he worked something, whatever it was, out with himself. 

He’s a one of a kind treasure to find, that’s for sure! I don’t think I could have ever met someone like him in my time without the help of my big sis! 

But even as she thought of all the possibilities he’d be useful for in her work, she couldn’t help the little trickle of thoughts that entered her mind as he continued to come over during passing time between their classes, or at lunch when he had nothing to do, or even after school to just sit and talk with her - to better know her, and help give her pointers and so on. 

What if… 

He gave her a kind smile, and laughed generously at a joke she made, despite the fact that he’d almost been blown to the moon mere minutes ago. Though even so, she could see the insecurity and walls up in his eyes; standing tall and strong like a fortress that needed protecting, and she could also see the gentle relief and sprinkles of happiness in them as well while they continued to talk about nothing, something, and more. 

What if we became real friends? 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

(Well, every successful genius needs a partner, don’t they?) 

~ Arc 3 - P2: OYM! GR! K! -- Ch 19: FTPP ~ 

These four. 

These four people out of so many hundreds.

These four were special.

While they may not have known it quite at that moment, they would soon come to learn just how impactful and important they were in Izuku’s little game he was playing. In his own little story where he’d come to meet over thousands of people in his time. 

Would soon come to learn that monsters were real, scary or not, and that they were just pieces and pawns in a greater scheme of things. Would learn that not everything goes as simply or as blatantly as they’d once thought. But that wouldn’t stop them, nor would it stop him. 

No, it wouldn’t stop either groups from coming together in order to survive. It wouldn’t stop them from trying to come together to better understand each other. 

No, it wouldn’t stop them from soon creating a world they would feel known in, one where they helped lift this monster up alongside other mentors and create a disaster of a family on their own. 

Even with this knowledge that they would be in cahoots with someone so dangerous, they wouldn’t back down if it meant things would change.  

Arc 3 - P2 :  On Your Mark! Get Ready! Kill!  - To Be Continued