Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku thought that there’s nothing worse than being told by All Might that he couldn’t be a hero. But he certainly was wrong, as in front of him lies the lifeless body of his mother. Izuku is desperate to find any signs that she is alive, but is only met with a cold silence.

Around an hour ago, Endeavor and a villain fought each other that resulted in the destruction of an apartment building. Their apartment building.

Their home was destroyed to pieces, the roof collapsed in and flames licking up the walls. At the time it started, he was out for a walk, unaware of the destruction and death that was happening to his home. He only has his phone and some money to buy at least 2-3 meals on him! What he arrived home to would haunt his dreams for months to come.

After the ambulance came, everything became a blur to Izuku. He vaguely remembered riding in the ambulance with his mother’s body, that he didn’t eat or sleep at all, and the news that they couldn’t save her. The Bakugou’s took care of the funeral and they even tried to adopt him. But as Auntie Mitsuki asked him that, his new situation came back into startling focus. If he lived in the same house as Kac..Bakugou, Izuku would rather die. So, after he said his last goodbye to his mother, he quickly escaped and ran as fast as he could.

While he was running, his first tears broke free. How could someone's life be this miserable? This week is literally all of his nightmares combined. The first tear led to another tear, which led to the steady stream of tears falling down his face. He keeps trying to wipe them away with his hoodie sleeve but it won’t stop. He runs and cries until he’s exhausted, but Izuku doesn't stop. He only slows his pace down to a walk.

He doesn’t know what time it is. He just keeps walking and keeps crying his heart out. He stops at a nice park and sits down against a tree when he finally decides to give in to his exhaustion. He pulls up his legs and buries his face in his arms. All the events that happened come back to him again, and a new set of tears are set free. He just doesn’t know what to do with his life anymore.

He got so lost in his head that he didn’t see a person walking towards him. “Hey kid, what are you doing out here?” Izuku jumps as the person crouches down in front of him. He looks up to see an attractive man with red hair, wearing a luxury-looking navy blue suit and  white sneakers. 

“Uhh..sitting?” He answers and rubs his tired eyes.

“I know that. But seriously, do you know where you are right now?” The person, who looks really familiar for some reason, asks while lighting a cigarette. 

Izuku looks around and is now aware that he is in an area he’s not familiar with. “S..sorry I d..don’t,” he stutters.

“Need a ride?” The man offers, pointing at his motorcycle.

“I..I don’t have anywhere to go though.” Why did he say that to a stranger? Izuku must’ve lost his mind. 

The man seems to brighten up immediately and says, “Ah perfect!” 

Izuku doesn’t know what that means, and before he can question it further, the man lowers his sunglasses. Dark red eyes that look almost black stare right at him. The irises glow and the world goes black.

Izuku wakes up in a bedroom that is not his. Well, he is homeless now, so anything is better than sleeping on the streets. But where is he? He moves to sit and looks around the expensive-looking room. He’s on a very comfortable queen size bed with a light grey bed sheet just like the wall color, where pops of color are accented by the paintings hung up. There’s also a large closet room with a lot of clothes, which look suspiciously like his size, to his left. Izuku can’t remember how he got here, the last thing he recalled was a man... Did that guy just kidnap him?!

“Kid! you’re awake!” He flinches when someone drapes an arm around his shoulder. Izuku turns around to face his kidnapper(?) that is now sitting beside him on the bed. He was still wearing his sunglasses, but Izuku suddenly recognized his face. 

“M..Mind Heist?!” He blurts out.

How can he not memorize the face of an upcoming superstar of villains. He’s famous for becoming a mastermind that never fails a heist. Both police and heroes are having a hard time catching him. Some say that he’s fucking rich, and that’s why he was able to escape every time. Izuku thinks there is more to the story than just that. 

“Wow, I'm flattered. You know so much about me.” Oh he mumbled again. “I’m so glad I adopted you, kid.” 

Now wait a minute. What is he talking about! “What do you mean? You kidnapped me!” Izuku responds and moves to get away but fails, the villain’s grip too strong for him to get out of his hold. Mind Heist chuckles and smirks at him. 

“I already checked your name, Izuku.” He was startled at the mention of his name. “You have no family, no place to stay, you have literally nothing right now.” 

A wave of sadness crashes onto him. Why would he say that! Tears start forming in his eyes. “Aw bunny..” Mind Heist says in a soft voice, squishing his cheeks. Izuku doesn’t know what is going on anymore. Why would an A-rank criminal be comforting him right now? He was exhausted and the last thing he wanted was to be tortured by some crazy villain.

Mind Heist seems to know what he’s thinking, or maybe Izuku is just that easy of a book to read, and hurries to clarify. “Come on kid, I’m not gonna do anything to you!” Wow, that's very convincing. “That sounds really suspicious coming from me,” he says after Izuku stares blankly at him. 

“W..what do you want from me then?” Izuku asks after a moment of tense silence.

“Well, let me tell you first that I used my quirk on you. I know everything that’s happened to you and I know your thoughts on some topics.” Mind Heist lets go of him and stands in front of Izuku instead. Izuku is about to ask what his quirk was but decides against it. He nods and Mind Heist continues. “I know that you don’t want to be a hero anymore..” Izuku winces. “..So I'll give you a job!”

What?

“Wha..” 

“I need to get to the airport in 10 minutes, so listen carefully.” Izuku sighs and nods again. Mind Heist looks satisfied with his reaction so he continues “Ok, in the past few months I’ve been planning on bringing together the community of villains. Since heroes mostly work as a team, I think it’s time for higher ranked villains to start working together as well. I thought that if there was a place where they just sit and talk, that would be cool and help move that dream along. But I definitely didn’t want a shady club, since it’s not really my taste.” He pulls out a card and hands it to the boy. “Me and my team bought this building and we settled on a cafe.” 

“You opened a cafe for villains...” Izuku interjects, but Mind Heist doesn’t seem to care.

“That’s where you come in, bunny.” Why did he keep calling him that? “But since I heard that Americans are interested in Trigger -- and I can’t let that opportunity go to waste. Imagine the amount of money! --  I won’t be around and I will need help starting the cafe. That’s where you come in.” He grins. 

Then he suddenly remembers something. “Oh, can you make coffee?” Mind Heist asks expectantly. 

“Um..yes?” Izuku, still confused by the situation he’s in, answers truthfully. The villain looks happy, almost like he just won a lottery.

“Great! Here’s my credit card. You can buy anything you want and this entire building is all yours!” He shoves a black card in Izuku’s hand and holy shit is that an unlimited money credit card?! And he has to do what now?!

“Wait wait, you just want me to make coffees for villains?” Izuku asks because Jesus, he just gained a place to sleep and money to spend just by getting kidnapped!

“That's exactly what I just said!” Mind Heist replies cheerfully and begins to gather his things and moves to exit the room. Izuku scrambles to block the door.

“But you just kidnapped me and we t..talked for like 5 minutes!” He needs to be sure. This is too good to be true. It’s like God feels bad for the past 14 years of his depressed life, and finally decided that this kid finally deserves something good. Izuku wants to laugh at how the one who helped him was a villain and not a hero. 

“Are you not trusting me?” Mind Heist pouts. When Izuku looks at him unconvinced, he continues with a huff, “It’s my quirk okay? Now, you should go take a bath and rest, okay kid? I know it’s been a long day.” He pats Izuku’s hair then hands him a new phone.

“If you have any questions, just ask! I’ll be going now, so good luck bunny!” He waves and walks away, leaving Izuku with an overwhelming feeling of nervousness and gratitude. Well, at least Mind Heist left him with everything he needed. What a careless villain. What if he’d been a greedy kid who would’ve stolen some money and fled to another place instead? But the guy said that he checked..Maybe he knew that Izuku wasn’t a brat. 

Mind Heist’s quirk is very interesting. Activated by eye contact? Is it mind reading? Is that why he’s able to escape every time? Does he read the hero's mind then do something that wasn’t on their mind and they never expect? If that is the case and Izuku tells the information to the heroes, he could get the villain caught. But Izuku isn’t like that, he owes Mind Heist a lot.

Deciding that he will do his best in his new job, Izuku stands up to explore the place. He walks into the closet and finds a note taped to the sleeve of an All Might themed shirt.

Kid, if you’re reading this, I bought all your clothes and some necessary things already! Hope you like it! :)

Mind Heist 

Izuku looks in the wardrobe and Oh my god! All Might limited edition hoodie! Mind Heist is so nice, too nice actually. He wonders if the guy just randomly looked into people’s minds to find someone to look after his cafe. The thought of that is funny, and he can’t help but smile to himself. (It’s the first genuine smile since all the bad things that’ve happened).

There’s a section of pajamas that are full of..rabbit themed items. Okay, he can wear those, even if they look really expensive. He picks one and walks in the bathroom that is next to the closet. And holy shit..is this a five star hotel? The bathroom is almost as big as the bedroom. The floor and walls are made out of marble and the colors are the same black and gray shade too. What did Izuku do to deserve this?

He fills the tub, strips down and steps slowly into the tub. Closing his eyes and lying back, he breathes in the scent of the bubble bath and allows his body to relax. His mind wanders and he realizes something. Mind Heist knew everything about him, but he didn’t say anything about his quirklessness.

He wants to cry again.

What did he do to deserve kindness that he didn’t get from anyone aside from the villain that kinda kidnapped him?

Izuku wakes up to the sound of message notifications the next day. He opens his eyes lazily and reaches for his phone. It’s a text from Mind Heist.

Mind Heist: 

yo kid 

my friends gonna be there

7am maybe idk

make some coffee for them will you?

rough night

Izuku looks at the time. Fuck! It’s 6.30. He quickly takes a shower, wearing the All Might hoodie with some shorts and runs down the stairs to the first floor. 

He walks in a room that looks like a huge living room. The walls are white bricks contrasting with the black furniture. There’s a zone that looks like a living room, with a black sofa set surrounding a glass coffee table and a big TV with gaming consoles. But there’s tables and chairs, so a cafe with a homey vibe? To his left is the countertop that’s full of equipment and ingredients for making coffee. He turns on the air conditioner and walks to look through things and finds a back door. It leads to the kitchen that’s surprisingly a normal sized room. He spots another note on the large fridge.

The fridge is full! You can live on the stuff inside for a loooong time.

p.s. I forgot to tell you that we never opened the cafe before ^^’ 

so good luck! (pls don’t get killed, I like you)

What the fuck! How can Izuku survive this? He’s just a kid with a sad life. He sighs, already resigning to his fate and walks back to make himself a latte. Vanilla latte, maybe? 

When he finishes making his cup, the air is thick with the scent of coffee. He takes a sip and, wow, it’s actually really good. He should’ve opened a cafe instead of dreaming to be a hero if he was this good at making drinks. A wave of confidence flows through him. 

The door pushes open suddenly, revealing another familiar guy that he’s sure he’s seen every day in the news. My god! A serial killer..

His confidence plummets. Yup, he’s totally not ready.

Chapter Text

Oh no no no, he’s not ready for this. Reaper, the infamous serial killer, is walking into the cafe while holding his distinctive scythe. Is that blood on the weapon?! Izuku stares with wide eyes while trying to think of something to say to him. Hello? Welcome? Whaa! He doesn’t know!

Reaper looks more like he’s going to chop his head off the longer Izuku just stands there. Izuku fidgets with his cup, looking anywhere but the killer in front of him. He’s not going to say something that results in his death. Reaper seems to think the same because now he’s just silently watching him like a hawk. This is really awkward..

“Um.. do you like.. I mean, uh, d..do you want c..coffee..?” Great job Izuku. Now he will find you annoying and slice you into pieces. He sighs, accepting his fate, and takes another sip of his latte.

Reaper still watches him, but finally says something. “Iced caramel macchiato.”

You can’t really judge a book by its cover. Izuku thought he would want something like plain black coffee because of the vibe he’s giving. He wonders if the killer likes sweet things or not. Then he remembers that he is still standing there and hasn’t said anything in reply.

“Oh! O..ok!” He quickly goes to make the drink. He glances at his first customer -- can he call him that? Wait.. does he have to pay? Mind Heist didn’t say anything about money, and he’s already rich so maybe Izuku just needs to make the drinks? Right?

Reaper walks -- floats? Wait, what is his quirk again? Izuku watches him float around while he pours the espresso shots over ice. He snaps a picture of the drink when it is done with his new phone because wow! This is a piece of art!

“Hey,” Izuku jumps at the deep voice and whirls around to find Reaper staring at him again. He scrambles to find a straw and hands the coffee to the killer.

“H..hope you, uh, you enjoy?” His voice cracks at the end. My god! Stop being so nervous, Izuku! You just happened to lose your mum, got kidnapped, and somehow had to make coffee for villains and now there’s literally a killer in front of him. Yup, everything is fine. Yes, this is better than an orphanage. While he was talking to himself, Reaper leaves with a smile on his face, drinking the delicious drink.

coffee is pretty good

where did you find him btw

Mind Heist: lol really?

what does that even mean

Mind Heist: i picked him up from the street lmao

…

Izuku’s sure that Mind Heist said that today was the first day the cafe was open. But the amount of people that have come in is a lot. After Reaper leaves, people start pouring in. Most of them he definitely knows, but some look like normal civilians. And with how there seems to always be someone staying in the cafe with him, Izuku never feels lonely.

He can get used to this.

Even though he is really busy in the cafe, old habits die hard. Izuku always finds the time to write down all the cool quirks he sees everyday. It’s too bad all of his old notebooks are gone. Nowadays, he’s not really scared of the villains anymore. Surrounded by them all the time, he forgets all about what they’ve done and just enjoys making them drinks. But when there’s an opportunity for him to use his analysis skill, he can’t help but utilize it.

The villain duo, Umbra and Overcast are regular customers, always bringing their work to do while waiting for their coffee. Today isn’t any different. Izuku walks over to their table with their order and unintentionally listens to their ongoing conversation.

“Dude! You can’t fucking fight him! You know your quirk doesn't work on Wind Dancer-” Izuku cringes at the name. What a fake hero, only doing her job when there’s a camera nearby.

“See! Even Izuku-kun agrees with me!” Izuku startles at the mention of his name and gives them a quick smile before he walks away. His hand itches with the urge to write them 20 pages of Wind Dancer analysis.

Since there’s no new customers at the moment, he might as well do it. He feels happiness wash through him when he starts writing all of the hero’s weaknesses down. Wind Dancer craves attention, and it’s easy to find videos of her fights. Izuku watches carefully as he picks apart her flaws while she’s using her quirk.

“..always uses her left hand to control..” Izuku doesn’t realize that he’s mumbling, and that the villains around are starting to listen to him, or even that Overcast is walking his way.

“Hey kid, can I have an affogato? And the notebook you’re writing in, too.” Izuku almost knocks his drink over when he registers what the villain said. He quickly pushes the notebook away.

“W..what notebook?” He asks innocently. Overcast ignores him and jumps over the counter to read it.

“O..Overcast wha! Nononono, that’s just some, uh, nonsense writing!” He tries to snatch it back but fails. Overcast snorts at Izuku’s effort. It’s not fair that the man is taller than him!

Izuku gives up and goes to make him what he ordered. He doesn’t catch the villain’s shocked face while they read what’s in the notebook.

“Umbra, come here.” Both villains whisper to each other while pointing to things in the notebook. Izuku comes back with the dessert and is confused by the look on their faces.

“What.. what’s wrong?” Is it bad? He never let anyone read his analysis after all of his classmates called it creepy a while ago.

“Izuku, this is too good, what the fuck!”

“Can we borrow this?”

Wait, they actually like it? They want to borrow it! He tries to hide his smile behind his hand and gives them a nod. Overcast finishes his affogato and drags Umbra away with him. “Yooo, we have to try this plan!”

Well, Izuku hopes his analysis will help them. He hums happily and goes back to work. He wonders if his plan to take down Wind Dancer will actually succeed or not.

It works.

Wind Dancer Badly Injured After Encounter with The Shadow Duo.

read more

Izuku wakes up not expecting anything but a regular day. But when he walks downstairs, he is surprised to see a crowd of people standing in front of the cafe. He quickly opens the door and immediately gets surrounded.

“W..what’s happening?” He panics, thinking of what he might have done, but no one seems to want to kill him. Instead, they all look at him like he’s something unbelievable.

One guy finally says, “Overcast said that the barista in Mind Heist’s cafe helped with the plan to take down Wind Dancer, so we came to see for ourselves..” He trails off.

“Well! We didn’t expect you to be a kid!” A tall lady with bright orange hair says and walks towards him. She squishes his cheeks then introduces herself. “Aw, look at you! So cute! I’m Honeylocust! Nice to meet ya kid.” Who names themselves after a plant?

Izuku nods, but doesn’t know what to do next. “You guys want coffee?” He offers and regrets it almost immediately because there’s too many people! He sighs and gets to work when orders start pouring in. The group scatters around the room.

He is reading the order paper when Honeylocust appears again. She lifts a briefcase and puts it on the counter with a loud thud, making Izuku jump. “Oh my! You do look like a bunny!” She laughs and Izuku turns bright red. She opens the case and he almost drops the cup he is holding. The briefcase is full of money and Honeylocust picks up a stack and throws it at Izuku.

“I trust Overcast and Umbra. They told me about you and I want to hire you for my project.” She hands him a folder. “There’s a human trafficking ring around here and my underling said that a group of low rank pro heroes are responsible for it.”

“What..? Heroes..?” Izuku can’t believe this!

“Yeah! But even if they are low rank, they’re pro so we need your analysis on them. One stack of money for one hero, so you should do your job properly, okay?” Izuku nods at the demanding voice. But that’s a lot of money, how many people is that? He excuses himself to serve the coffee and to finally get a moment to think. He thought the villain community would be more vigilant. How can they trust a plan made by a 14 years old kid? Well, maybe Mind Heist will be happy that Izuku is getting him a ton of money. He owes that guy a lot after all.

He walks back to her and collects the money. “Okay..so when will you..”

“Don’t worry, bunny! I will be back to check on your progress next week!” She kisses him on the forehead and ruffles his hair before she leaves, leaving Izuku embarrassed with what she did.

And that’s how months pass by. He has two jobs now, working in the cafe and doing analysis at the same time! All the villains that come to the cafe call him bunny now, too. He heard someone say that the name spread around the underground pretty quickly because of the notebook that he gave to Overcast. He doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

He is writing the last analysis (wow all that work took almost 2 months) when Overcast walks in.

“Heyy bunny! Two iced lattes please,” he orders cheerfully and sits on the stool in front of the counter.

“Sure!” Izuku replies and moves to make the coffee.

“How’s your project? You know, Honey already planned the attack dates,” Overcast said absentmindedly while reading something on Izuku’s laptop.

“A..already?! How can she know when I finished?”

“Aw! You didn’t even notice. She sends someone to check your work everyday!”

“What?!” That’s why he felt like someone was watching him!

“And today it’s my turn! You’re almost finished, right?” Overcast looks at the stack of papers on the table.

“Y..yeah, you can collect them today..” He puts down the coffees and quickly finishes the last page.

Overcast studies his face quietly for a moment before saying something that makes Izuku want to hide in a hole and die. “You should come too, bunny.”

“Why would I go with you guys?!” He whines and bangs his head on the counter.

Overcast laughs at him and shouts, “Debut time baby!”

At least they have a heart and teach him how to fight and dodge. He now knows how to use a gun and knife. But seriously, why would you want a kid to be at the operation?

Honey (she told him to call her that) also said Mind Heist has wanted a group activity for villains to get together and bond so they have more of a chance when dealing with heroes that work in a team.

So that’s how Izuku finds himself dressed in a black hoodie, sweatpants, and a face mask, sitting on a rooftop with Reaper. Why does a serial killer want to be here? Izuku doesn’t even know.

Most of the heroes are already in the warehouse. Overcast gave him an earpiece earlier to listen in in case something goes wrong. He also has binoculars.

To be honest, he is having a great time. When Honey gives the signal, all the villains burst through the door. Of course, the heroes aren’t expecting an attack, so they decide to leave the victim there and try to escape. Izuku has a front row seat to watch a fight that involves a lot of quirks! Reaper doesn’t seem to mind that he’s mumbling while writing all the quirks in action down, instead he just focuses on playing with his scythe right beside him.

The villains all aim for the heroes’ weaknesses, just like what he wrote in the analyses. Izuku feels proud of himself. Nobody has taken his work seriously before, even his mom thought it was just a kid's imagination. He wonders if Mind Heist knew about this? The man did say he knows everything about him.

“Guys! Backup!” Someone says through the earpiece. Izuku looks down and sees that more heroes are arriving. Ah, even if they are low rank, they’re still a hero and they can call for backup at any time. He should’ve thought about that! The heroes can also say that the trafficking is the villain's work too!

“Reaper, they need to retreat.” Izuku turns to the villain.

“We need to leave.” Reaper gets up and tries to drag Izuku back.

“What about them!” Izuku tries to argue but shuts his mouth when Reaper gives him a cold look.

“You are my priority, now go with me or I’ll slice your head off.” Izuku gets up reluctantly. But suddenly Reaper stops and pushes Izuku behind him. The boy peeks around to see what happened and oh my god! Eraserhead!

“Reaper is on this building. He has a kid held hostage,” Eraserhead informs his colleagues through his own earpiece.

Hostage? Oh no! He’s gonna take him away from Reaper for sure. Shit, this is bad. He hides behind Reaper and tries to reach Overcast on the earpiece.

“Overcast? Eraserhead is going to take me away!” Izuku whispers, hoping he can hear him.

“Damn it! Hold on bunny! We’re pretty busy over here! Umbra come on-!” Welp, the situation is really bad right now..

Think, Izuku. What can you do to help? He looks around, hoping to find something to help them escape. He spots a crate that is full of weapons next to the back door of the warehouse. Izuku recalls every face of the villains and tries to think of the suitable quirk to make an escape plan.

Of course it’s them.

After he makes a plan, he walks away from the fight between Reaper and Eraserhead but still stays on the rooftop. He looks through the binoculars to spot the person he needs.

“Honey, stay still and look east of you. See that crate? Use your vines to hold the smoke bombs up in the air, but don’t let the heroes spot you. Spread them around the area. Overcast, when Honey pulls the pin, you’re going to make the smoke as black as you can. And make it quick. Umbra, you need to get high, climb up the wall to your right. You can make a quick escape from there. But before you retreat, when you spot the smoke, you need to make a monster in the middle. Everyone else, once you feel Umbra’s quirk, you retreat as fast as you can,” Izuku says in one go. Please let them trust him in this.

“Sure boss!/Okay/Let’s do this!” He hears through his earpiece and he feels relieved.

“Alright, Honey, in 3..2..1 drop it!” Izuku watches the smoke bombs fall to the ground, creating a smoke screen that surrounds the area. Overcast’s quirk spreads everywhere, making the smoke as black as possible. He hears chaos down there and hopes everything will work out. He feels someone lifting him up and almost kicks them in the face, but luckily Reaper catches his foot and glares at him.

“S..sorry!” Izuku squeaks and lets Reaper carry him over his shoulder.

Reaper jumps down the building and dashes away from the scene. Izuku almost pukes just from him jumping around. When they are far away enough, Reaper puts him down.

“I..I won’t come with you again!” Izuku sobs out, the adrenaline finally dying down and just now realizing how dangerous that was. He should’ve stayed at the cafe. And now he can’t stop crying!

Reaper looks at him and snorts.

How dare he!

Izuku can’t remember how he got back to his place. Maybe Reaper pitied him and continued to carry him back. How nice of him.

He can’t believe what happened yesterday, either. Izuku promises himself to never get involved in anything like that again. He takes a long shower and walks down to make himself a cup of coffee. He is met with almost everyone from yesterday sitting around the seating area. They all turn to look at him when he steps in, and Izuku blinks. Suddenly he finds himself in a group hug with a lot of hair ruffles.

“Bunny! You’re amazing!”

“You saved us all.”

“Thank you!”

“We’re so glad for you, bunny.”

“You should be proud of yourself.”

Many praises are said to him and Izuku can’t help it when he bursts into tears. No one ever appreciated him before. In the past, he was just a useless kid that didn't have any worth. But now? Every word that he ever wanted to hear he receives from a group of people that looks at him like he’s an equal.

His eyes are full of tears as he smiles brightly at them.

“Thank you.”

Thank you Mind Heist.

The media is quiet after the attack. Izuku thinks that they aren’t allowed to report anything about it. If they say that the heroes defeated the human trafficking ring, then why’d no one get captured? Why were there a lot of low rank heroes if a high rank villain is the one supposedly responsible? And why are most of the heroes injured? There’d be so many questions if the commission let this out. Izuku thinks it’s hilarious.

Izuku is glad that he got his peacefulness back. He is drinking his favorite drink (a frappe with a little bit of chocolate) when he hears a crash next to the cafe. He probably should ask someone to look instead of walking there himself, but hey, he’s got nothing to do anyway so might as well go out and stretch a bit.

He walks outside and peeks around the corner into the adjacent alleyway.

What he doesn’t expect to find is a body covered with scars, lying face down on the ground.

Unmoving.

So he does what anyone in this situation would do.

He screams.

Chapter Text

Izuku is pretty sure that he screams really loud because when he stops, everyone in the cafe had come out to see what had happened.

“What happened bunny!”

“Who do I need to kill?!”

“Why’d you scream!”

Izuku’s trembling hand points at the body on the floor. All eyes turn to look in that direction. Even with additional loud noises, the body hasn’t moved at all. Izuku examines the guy. Spiky black hair, wearing a long coat with black jeans, and body covered with purple-ish burn scars. Izuku can’t see his face but the scars cover his entire arm. He feels sad, wondering just how much pain this dude had to go through to get those scars.

He hears Umbra sigh and sees him walk forward, crouching down to place two fingers on the guy’s wrist.

“He’s alive,” Umbra says, looking like he really needs a nap with all the chaos that has happened lately.

Izuku recalls that just yesterday some stupid mugger decided that they would rob a cafe, and just so happened to choose the only one that’s full with killers. He had laughed at the poor guy when they had finished their monologue about handing him the money or Izuku’s going to die. They didn’t get a chance to move when in a blink of an eye, 3 guns were pointed at their head and 2 knives were at their throat. Izuku had to hold back another laugh. He didn’t want this poor guy to die, so he shared a glance at Umbra.

Umbra actually acts like a caretaker even if he won’t admit it. He always took care of any problems in the cafe which Izuku is very grateful for. With the glance, Umbra summoned a shadow wolf that picked up the mugger and dragged him out of the cafe.

Now back to the present, Izuku doesn’t know what to do with this new guy. Is he a villain? Izuku has never seen him before, so he must be new in the area.

Recently, Izuku started to go out around the area. The city he’s in is surprisingly a friendly villain zone. He heard about it before, an area where there’s no heroes patrolling at all. The government let them be because the whole city ruled themself and never caused any trouble. Izuku has a name list of the people in the area (there’s not a lot) from the boss of the city when he somehow managed to become said boss’s favorite. He said that the coffee and analysis Izuku made is worth giving Izuku the name list.

And this guy definitely isn’t on the list. But he can’t let someone die in the alley next to his cafe! Izuku loves to help people. He hopes he’s making the right choice

“Ah.. can you guys get him into the cafe? Maybe he got hit by a quirk or something..” Izuku says with his pleading eyes. He learned that it’s very effective.

“Stop with the puppy eyes!” someone complains as they all help to carry the guy inside. They put him on the couch. Wow, the guy doesn’t stir at all. Everyone moves back to where they were before, continuing with what they were doing.

Izuku spots Reaper outside so he proceeds to make an iced caramel macchiato. He knows Reaper likes to come in the evening when there’s less people in the cafe. He usually stays until Izuku wants to go to sleep, which Izuku thinks is very kind of him to do because it’s scary sometimes being alone at night. Even if Reaper’s a serial killer, he only kills bad people, so Izuku isn’t scared of him -- unlike the first time they met (that was so embarrassing!).

Reaper sits at his normal stool in front of the counter and Izuku serves him his coffee while talking about some random topics. From the corner of his eyes, he sees the alley guy begin to stir.

“Do you know that guy?” Izuku asks Reaper. Maybe he knows, although Reaper doesn’t usually like to socialize. But he keeps up with all the villains to be careful.

Reaper narrows his eyes before a look of recognition passes over his face. “That’s the arsonist guy.”

Oh no. Is he going to wake up and burn down the cafe? Izuku walks over to the guy, crouching down. He leans in and carefully pokes the man’s face, causing the arsonist to let out a low groan. Suddenly, the guy’s eyes snap open and Izuku stumbles back. He jumps off the couch towards Izuku, blue flames lighting up in his hand and Izuku flinches at the intense heat. A scythe cuts through the air and lands an inch away from the fire user’s throat. Alley guy stills.

“Careful with your next move,” Reaper hisses. Izuku lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and steps back further. He now gets a good look at the man’s face. Almost half of his face has the same patchwork of burns that is held by some staples just like his arms. Cold blue eyes glare at Izuku before turning to look at Reaper. His eyes widen at the sight of the famous serial killer.

“Where am I?” The man puts out the fire and steps away from the scythe. He looks around the place and spots more villains in the cafe minding their own business.

That’s Izuku cue. “Um.. Do you know Mind Heist? This place is his..” The guy seems to calm down, so he continues. “Do you want coffee..?” Izuku suggests.

He nods again so Izuku goes back to the counter. He decides to make the man a smoked butterscotch iced latte. It’s really delicious in Izuku's opinion, and he hopes the guy likes it too.

“So..what’s your name?” Izuku asks him when the guy chooses to sit next to Reaper at the counter.

“Dabi,” he answers while watching Izuku work on his drink. Izuku carefully places the drink in front of Dabi and goes back to his analysis work. The 3 of them sit in silence for a while. Izuku loves the peacefulness of the cafe; he always has company and they all enjoy each other's presence. He glances at Dabi who appears to appreciate the drink and is quietly drinking it while playing on his phone.

He notices that it’s already dark outside. Izuku’s stomach growls. Usually he just orders takeout from his phone, but today he wants to cook a homemade meal.

“Do you guys want to have dinner with me?” he asks nervously, hoping he won’t have to eat alone in the kitchen again.

“Are you asking someone who almost just killed you to eat with you?” Dabi asks sarcastically before chuckling.

Okay, this guy has humor. He can work with that. Dabi doesn’t look old, maybe they can be friends or something.

“Ah..it’s free?” Izuku offers.

“Count me in then.” Izuku smiles brightly at him and walks in the kitchen.

He’s looking through the fridge when a hand lands on his shoulder. Izuku flinches and whirls around to see Dabi standing there.

“Jeez kid, calm down. Sorry for attacking you earlier,” Dabi says while patting his back.

Izuku sighs in relief. “W..what are you doing here? I’m going to cook for you.”

“I’m helping you of course.”

“You know how to cook?” Izuku asks.

Dabi glares at him. “I used to cook for my little brother,” he answers vaguely and grabs the vegetables from Izuku's hands.

Izuku wants to ask more but decides against it. He finds the udon noodles in the cabinet and starts to boil the water.

“Curry Udon?”

“Yeah! Can you cut the carrots and potatoes?”

Dabi nods and finds the sink to wash his hands. “Haven’t eaten that for a while,” Dabi says absentmindedly.

“So..why were you lying in the alley like that?”

“Can’t remember. Last thing I do remember was running away from some heroes. I think one of them has a sleep quirk.” Ahh, that’s why he didn’t move at all. They don’t talk anymore after that.

Before long, the rich smell of curry fills the air. Dabi picks up a spoon and tastes it. “That’s really good.”

“Really? Thanks to you, then,” Izuku says while tasting some.

Dabi chuckles and ruffles his hair, before he freezes and moves his hand away. Izuku is not going to ask questions about that. Izuku makes 2 servings and hands one to the fire user. They sit at the dining table and devour the delicious meal. Reaper already left, so he must know that Dabi is trustworthy, right? That must be why he left Izuku with him. He looks up to see a beer can in Dabi’s hand.

“Where did you get that?”

Dabi glares at him again. “Oi, how old are you? You are too young to drink, kid.”

“What?! No! I-I asked because I didn’t see that before!” Izuku blushes at the tease. Dabi has the audacity to laugh at him! Well, he’s glad that the guy’s mood is better. He had a scowl on his face before. They finish the rest of the food and clean up the mess in the kitchen.

It’s almost 8pm when they walk back into the cafe. Luckily, there wasn’t any people who wanted coffee while he was gone. Izuku goes back behind the counter and plays some games on his phone. Dabi seems to think about something and then comes to a decision.

“Gotta go now, thanks for the free food, broccoli boy.” Dabi waves at him and leaves the cafe. Izuku waves back.

Wait. Broccoli boy?

Izuku thought that yesterday would be the last time he would see Dabi. He’s not from around here after all. Maybe he went back to his home. The dark of the next night finds Izuku working on the foam for the latte art when someone taps his arm.

“Hey there bunny.” He looks up to see Dabi smirking at him. Wait. Where did he learn about that name? Izuku is pretty sure that no one called him that yesterday.

Dabi seems to read his mind when he answers. “Gotta do some research, broccoli. A kid working in villain territory is weird enough.”

“Okay then.. What are you doing here?” Izuku asks instead and proceeds to work on the cat ears. He loves latte art even though he has to eat this masterpiece afterwards. He hears a stomach growling, and when he looks up again, Dabi doesn’t meet his eyes and looks at the floor instead.

“Free food?” Izuku asks with amusement.

“If you’re kind enough,” Dabi says with a huff. He doesn’t wait for Izuku and walks straight to the kitchen. Wow, where are your manners? Izuku sighs and quickly takes a photo of his coffee then walks to catch up with Dabi. He’s looking through the fridge while holding an egg carton.

“What do you want to eat today?” Dabi asks. That’s surprisingly nice that he asked.

Izuku is looking at the eggs and gets an idea. “Do you know how to make omurice? I kinda want to eat it with demi-glace sauce, but I don’t know how to make it..” he trails off.

Dabi snickers. “Lucky for you, I know how. Come here broccoli, I will teach you.”

Izuku happily listens to Dabi’s instructions. He’s like an older brother. Izuku has never been close to someone around his age before.

They cook and eat together, but today Dabi doesn’t leave immediately. He sits on the stool and watches Izuku make coffee. They make small talk and Izuku feels delighted. Who would’ve thought that helping some random guy on the street will result in more allies. Dabi eventually leaves when Izuku wants to go to sleep.

Unexpectedly, Dabi comes back again and again to help him cook dinner every night.

Days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months. Dabi actually opens up to him. Izuku now knows that his father is a hero and that Dabi left the house because he wasn’t enough for them when his quirk kept hurting himself.

Dabi said that he missed his brother but it’s all in the past now. Touya is dead. Dabi will be alive to get revenge. Izuku isn’t going to stop him or anything; it’s actually normal for all the villains he’s ever met.

Dabi enjoys the company just as much, probably because cooking with Izuku is like having a little brother to take care of again. The free food is just a bonus. But Izuku thinks Dabi’s like a cat. Pick him up from the street then feed him once and he just keeps coming back! Dabi glared hard at him when he mentioned that. But Izuku saw him hiding a small smile.

“Do you stay here everyday?” Dabi asks one day.

“Well, it’s technically my home?”

“No, I mean like, do you even go outside? Every time I come here, you are always just standing there,” he asks while sipping his americano.

“Yes? If something runs out then I go to the mall or the convenience store,” Izuku says and waves at the group of villains leaving the cafe. There’s no one in the cafe anymore and it’s only in the evening.

“Wanna go out for a date?” Dabi smirks, seeing that they’re now alone.

“W-what?!” Izuku squeaks, face turning bright red. Can he refuse? Is he going to be mad? Izuku has never gone out with anyone before. What do people do when they date? Wait! Is he serious?

“Woah woah woah! Calm down kid!” Dabi actually laughs and it looks painful with the staples holding his skin. “I’m just teasing ya. But let’s hangout. You look like you’ve never had fun in your life. It's depressing.” Dabi stands up and beckons him to follow.

Izuku quickly scrambles out of the cafe and finds Dabi putting the ‘closed’ sign up. They walk to the nearest shop to buy face masks and a cap before heading to the train station. Dabi buys the tickets but Izuku can’t see where they’re going.

Izuku is playing on his phone when he looks out the train’s window and sees the familiar view.

“A-are we going to Musutafu..?” Izuku asks nervously. He’s pretty sure he told Dabi about his past already.

Dabi ruffles his hair and says kindly. “Don’t worry, we aren’t even going to go near the area.”

They end up in a very large shopping mall. Luckily, Izuku brings Mind Heist’s credit card. They find the most expensive restaurant and order a lot. Dabi says that since Izuku never used the card that he should spend a lot today. Izuku hopes that Mind Heist won’t be mad at him later.

They watch a movie and walk around looking at the different stores. Izuku's eyes shine at the new heroes’ merch that’s come out and has to drag Dabi in there. Dabi complains all the while. Izuku knows that Dabi hates heroes but he can’t help it!

From the corner of his eyes, he sees that Dabi actually looks happier than before.

“I never asked this before but what do you do everyday?” Izuku asks after Dabi comes over once more for their daily dinner. Today, Izuku prepared the meals beforehand. He made Sukiyaki and bought more beer for his friend.

“I sleep all day then go out at night after eating with you,” Dabi says while chewing on the beef brisket.

“Go out to..?” Izuku presses.

“Bunny, I’m a vigilante,” Dabi says nonchalantly. Okay, that doesn’t sound correct at all.

“But you burn people alive..?” Izuku just saw that happen yesterday. It’s a really terrifying picture that will probably give Izuku nightmares.

“If my heart says that I'm a vigilante then I am.”

“...”

And that conversation leads to where they are now. Izuku wants to cry. He’s pretty sure he promised himself not to be involved in villain activity again, but Dabi insisted that this is a vigilante job. Is there a difference between villains and vigilantes in the police and heroes' eyes? No! Izuku resigned himself already, the only thing he needs to do is not get caught.

He’s pressing himself against the wall, looking out for Dabi who is currently cremating some poor gang of thugs. The smell of burning flesh lingers in the air, and Izuku thanks god for the mask. Izuku is writing in his notebook when there’s a movement in the corner of his eyes. Oh shit.

“Dabi! Let’s go!” He jumps away from the capture weapon and tugs on Dabi's coat. Why is Eraserhead always there when Izuku is out?! Wait.. is that a police car siren?

“Stop muttering kid! Run!” Dabi pushes him and they run, zigzagging through different alleys. Izuku looks at the map on his phone and feels relief when they reach the villain friendly zone.

He turns around to see Eraserhead narrow his eyes at him, but ultimately stays away from the city. Izuku quickly drags Dabi back to the cafe, carefully avoiding the gaze of the underground hero.

When they finally arrive at Izuku’s safe place, Izuku collapses on the soft couch. He can still hear the siren outside, and he watches Dabi stand at the door uncertainly.

“You could sleep here tonight,” Izuku suggests.

Dabi stares at him and sighs. “I’ll be your guard dog then.”

“Yeah you should be. I can’t believe I went out with you.” Izuku whines while getting up to take a cold shower.

Dabi laughs.

After their adventure yesterday, Izuku is tired. He should really stop believing his friends’ words. He snuggles in his blanket, not wanting to wake up.

But if he thinks his life is going to be normal, Izuku is definitely wrong. A peaceful morning for Izuku is ruined by a certain text and a scream he hears from downstairs.

Dabi: your friend kidnapped someone

What.

Chapter Text

Shouto is having a terrible day. He doesn’t even know why he really runs. Maybe it's because his father is being a piece of shit like always. Or maybe he’s in a bad mood and can’t bear anymore beatings. Before he knows it, his legs have already taken him from the house. He can hear his father shouting his name but he just keeps running. 

It doesn’t matter, what’s done is done. He’s sure that Endeavor would still force him through training anyway. Him escaping it just increases the intensity. But one thing he regrets is not treating his bruises that covered almost his entire body first. People glance at him when he passes by, and someone almost calls Endeavor’s agency thinking that he got injured from a villain. He manages to escape their sight quickly though, and hides in a random alleyway. 

And his luck is just so good that father has the guts to send several sidekicks after him. He can’t use his quirk in public so he pushes himself through the pain and gets away as far as possible. Exhaustion starts creeping in, and he feels like he’s going to pass out. 

“Todoroki-kun! Where are you? Your father said the villain that attacked you is gone! You can come out and we can treat your wounds!” a young sidekick shouts.

What?! The only villain around here is the man himself. Shouto scoffs in his mind. He peeks around the corner and curses at himself when he makes eye contact with one of the sidekicks.

“Guys! He’s over here!” He hears a lot of shouting and that means he has to leave. Now.

Shouto doesn’t even look where he’s going; he dives into the crowd hoping he can lose them. He’s so tired. The extra training isn’t helping him in this situation at all. He sees a hero coming his way down the sidewalk, and when he glances back, he spots the sidekicks hot on his tail. He finds another alley and quickly runs in there. He regrets the decision immediately. 

He faces a dead end. Whirling around, he sees that he is indeed trapped. The brown haired sidekick frowns at him.

“Why do you run, Todoroki-kun?” she asks him while trying to contact someone else with the tablet on her arm.

He doesn’t answer, instead leans on the wall, panting heavily. His vision starts to blur slightly, and he can’t force himself to move anymore. Then he hears a weird conversation from who the sidekick contacted.

“Hey! We need to leave this area right now!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“We’re in the zone! I don’t want to die! We're already breaking their rules!”

“What zone?!” Yeah, what zone are they talking about? He ran for a long time, but he didn’t look at which direction he went in.

“The villain-arghh!” What’s happening? Shouto squints through the sweat dripping off his forehead. There’s a figure that seems to be attacking all the sidekicks. He tries to escape again but someone knocks him against the wall. Ah, it’s the same sidekick from before, and she’s attempting to carry Shoto away from the scene.

But something restrains her and Shouto's body drops to the ground. Ouch, that hurt.

The last thing he sees before he loses consciousness is a splatter of blood and a man that looks like a mummy standing over him.

Rule no.??? of the Villain Friendly Zone.

No heroes are allowed in the area unless permitted.

Quirk usage by heroes is PROHIBITED.

Izuku can’t believe this is happening. After reading the text, he didn’t even shower and rushed down to the cafe. And he also forgot that he’s still wearing the embarrassing bunny pajamas too! But that’s not important right now. In front of him lays a boy that he’s pretty sure he’s seen everyday on the internet,  wrapped by Pharaoh’s quirk and out cold. Todoroki Shouto, the famous golden boy of the Number Two hero Endeavor (Izuku hates him). With the perfect combination of quirks — and Izuku’s sure that’s from a quirk marriage. Come on! It’s not that hard to figure out — and his remarkable red and white hair, the boy is rather easy to remember.

On the couch, Dabi looks like he’s just seen a ghost. But when he spots Izuku looking his way, his face melts back to the normal arrogance, which isn’t suspicious at all. He decides to ignore that and goes to address the culprit.

“Did you and Mind Heist become friends because you guys both have the tendency to kidnap a kid?” Izuku deadpans. And the answer to the question is definitely yes, even before Pharaoh puts the marker to the whiteboard.

A while ago Mind Heist called him out of nowhere and informed Izuku that his right-hand man was going to the cafe and said good luck before hanging up. 

Apparently, said guy is mute, which isn’t much of a problem because Izuku had learned sign language years ago. The problem is Pharaoh doesn’t know sign! What?! How did he even communicate with other people? So Izuku bought him a fucking whiteboard and a marker. Yes. Handy.

Now back to the situation, Izuku waits for Pharaoh to finish writing.

we become friends cause he’s cool, he wrote on the board.

“And why is there a Todoroki kid on the floor?” Izuku asks while observing Todoroki. He has bruises all over his body and he seems to have passed out from exhaustion. Pharaoh’s cloth taps his shoulder and he looks up.

he got chased by heroes and they’re breaking the city’s rule. Okay, that’s kinda acceptable. But shouldn’t we be careful who to bring in this place? What if he escapes and tells all the heroes about the villains in here? And why was this guy getting chased by heroes anyway? Is he in danger? Should Izuku help him or should he send him back to his dad?

“Bunny, you’re mumbling,” Dabi says and gets up from the couch. He doesn’t even look at Todoroki as he walks past him to go to the stairs instead. “I’m borrowing your bathroom.”

That leaves Izuku to deal with the situation by himself. He sighs, thinking of the worst case scenario that could happen if Todoroki wakes up. The villains can’t bring him back because they would totally get in a fight with the heroes. No one would believe that the bruises didn’t come from the villains. Well, Izuku could be the one who brings the guy back, but he has a lot of coffee to make.

“You know what? Just leave him on the couch and take care of the bruises. Do you want some coffee?”

Pharaoh writes down flat white on the board then uses his quirk to lift Todoroki onto the couch. He then sits on the floor next to Todoroki after finding the first aid kid and treats his injuries. Izuku leaves to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he comes back, the villains are already pouring into the cafe and Izuku becomes just as busy as previous days. 

All the villains look at Todoroki in confusion, because why is there a hero’s kid here? Almost everyone asks Izuku that as well when they order. Izuku can only smile nervously at them and point at Pharaoh. Yes, that’s the one in charge. Then Dabi finally comes down. If he had spent any more time up there, Izuku might’ve thought that he was gonna steal all the valuables.

Dabi stares at Todoroki for a long time with an unreadable face. He frowns slightly and walks back to Izuku. He grabs the cappuccino on the counter and moves to exit the cafe.

“W-wait! Where’re you going?” Izuku calls after him. 

“What do you need me for, huh?” 

“Emotional support?” Izuku tries. Dabi actually snorts at that, but he seems like he really wants to leave.

“You usually don’t have anything to do anyway Dabi!” Izuku whines before glancing at the unconscious Todoroki. Is it because he’s here? Dabi’s acted weird and uncomfortable ever since Todoroki showed up. Maybe he just doesn’t like Endeavor?

Dabi looks at Todoroki (again) then at Izuku’s puppy eyes. He sighs in exasperation because he doesn’t have anything to do just like the kid said. Why is the kid always right?

And Todoroki Shouto choses that moment to shift and slowly sit up. Everyone in the cafe stops what they’re doing and all eyes turn on Todoroki. Dabi tenses next to Izuku, eyeing the door firmly. Todoroki opens his eyes and panics at the unfamiliar place he’s in. Frost covers his arm and spreads on the couch.

Believe it or not, Izuku literally throws himself in front of another boy.

“H-hey calm down! I-we saved you from the alley! Uh..you looked hurt so we helped!”  Izuku frantically says. He holds up his hands to say that he’s not going to hurt him. Maybe thanks to the bunny pajamas he’s currently wearing, Todoroki looks him up and down and sighs in relief. His heterochromia eyes survey the area. All at once, the villains cover their faces or look away.

“Where am I? Uh, it doesn’t matter. I need to get back,” he speaks and moves to get up. Oh shit.

“Nononono! Uh, I mean, y-you can’t!” When was the last time Izuku spoke to someone his age? Must’ve been ages ago because he’s so nervous speaking now. Who would’ve thought that speaking to villains was easier than that? What is his life?

“Why? You going to call my father and claim the money?” Todoroki hisses in displeasure and the room’s temperature drops a little.

Hm. That’s an interesting reaction. But that’s for later projects. 

“What?! Why would I call that asshole?” The words slip from his mouth and it must be the right thing to say because Todoroki seems to relax a bit.

“Then why can’t I leave?”

“Um..” Should Izuku tell him that he’s in a villain district? Is he going to react badly? But he can’t do anything anyway. Ah! Whatever.

“Oh my god, you’re such a mess.” Dabi finally joins the conversation. He’s stayed silent for too long, and Izuku was starting to get concerned. But he’s back to normal now! That’s great! (And Izuku definitely will ask him about his behavior later.)

“Listen kid,” Dabi addresses Todoroki. “You’re in a fucking villain zone. Heroes are shit and they’re not allowed in here. So if you step out there, you’re gonna fucking die.” Well, gotta admit, that’s a good explanation.

Todoroki stares at them with wide eyes. Stunned.

“Um, If you want to get back to your home, one of us can walk with you to the boundary line I guess? There’s a hero on duty over there..” Izuku suggests.

“But we won’t. Why would I want to get arrested when I meet the heroes, huh?” Dabi asks humorously while downing the coffee in his hand.

Todoroki clears his throat. “..so you guys are villains..” He gathers himself and settles with that statement.

“Everyone in here is.” Dabi chuckles and walks away to the kitchen. Guess he’s done with talking. 

“Okay..” Todoroki's face is unreadable.

“I-I’m going back to my work, so you could just chill? And please don’t attack anyone! I-if you need anything, I’m at the counter. You have to wait until I’m free so I can walk you back!” Izuku says and quickly goes back to take an order from the villains that are waiting.

God! He’s such a mess just like Dabi said. Maybe he needs to socialize with someone his age more. But where to find someone to do that with?

This is not what Shouto expected at all when we woke up. It is probably the weirdest situation he’s ever been in. He thought of the possible outcomes of his stunt earlier: the sidekicks get to him and bring him back; he gets killed by a villain; or he passes out in the alley and no one knows. But he got kidnapped instead. He would’ve expected to be held hostage to lure his father out, or get tortured to reveal the hero's secrets.

But none of that happened. Now he just sits there looking dumbstruck. He notices that everyone in the cafe is a high ranked villain he sees in agency reports. At first, they all look at him with wariness and make Shouto shudder. However, no one seems to care after the green-haired boy talks to him.

Yes, the green hair boy with a bunny outfit that makes him look out of place. He appears to be around Shouto age. Why is he here? Nothing in the boy’s features screams danger, unlike the other guy that disappeared through the backdoor. The boy just smiles and talks animatedly with the villains. He looks so happy and Shouto can’t believe that the boy isn’t the one that needs help even when he’s surrounded by dangerous people.

It’s Shouto himself that needs to escape from his father, a hero.

When Izuku finishes all the orders, Dabi comes back with 3 servings of pancakes. He places the one with bananas and chocolate in front of Izuku and leaves himself the plate of pancakes with bacon and eggs. The third plate is strawberries and whip cream. Is that for..?

“Call the kid over here,” Dabi leans in and whispers to Izuku.

“Didn’t know you were a generous type,” Izuku teases him back. Dabi usually doesn’t care about others at all. He just tolerates them. If that’s not necessary, then he won’t even acknowledge them. So it’s very out of character for him to even cook a nice breakfast for a kidnapped boy, even if he’s Endeavor’s son.

Dabi just rolls his eyes and digs in. Izuku sighs fondly and walks towards Todoroki. He looks like a scared cat looking for a threat. His eyes land on Izuku and blink up at him. Izuku smiles.

“T-Todoroki-kun! Dabi made extra breakfast! Y-you should come eat with us.” Stop stuttering, Izuku! Todoroki just stares at him confusedly.

“Me..?” 

“Yeah! Come on!” Did he just grab Todoroki’s hand and drag him to the counter? Yes. Did Todoroki resist? Um, maybe? 

“There is some more in the kitchen if you want some Pharaoh!” Izuku calls back to the other guy. Pharaoh nods and disappears into the kitchen.

He pushes Todoroki onto the stool next to Dabi. Dabi just side-eyes him before going back to eating.

Izuku sits behind the counter and takes a bite of the pancakes. Todoroki looks like he can’t believe what’s happening. He carefully picks up the fork and eats quietly with them.

Izuku pretends not to see the tears in the corner of Todoroki’s eyes.

Shouto doesn’t know how they know this is his favorite food. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Touya always made him pancakes with strawberries and whip cream when he was still alive.

God, he missed Touya.

After eating and cleaning up the plates, Todoroki just sits there playing with his phone and Izuku goes back to work. Dabi surprisingly hasn’t left yet, even though he acted like he wanted to run out earlier. He glances at the clock, and thinks it’s time for a lunch break.

“Todoroki-kun, let’s get you back!” Izuku puts on his mask and a hat.

“Why do you need to cover your face?” Todoroki asks.

Izuku chuckles. “I’m kinda a missing kid?” 

“Oh..”

“Yeah.. l-let’s go. I need to come back before there’s too many people in the cafe.” 

They walk out together. Izuku is sure that Dabi can take care of the cafe while he’s out. He just hopes that the guy won’t burn down something (or someone). They pass more villains along the street. They all look at Todoroki in surprise before ignoring him and greeting Izuku instead.

“Cute outfit, bunny!”

Oh shit. He forgot to change.

“You seem to be familiar with the villains,” Todoroki suddenly says, making Izuku jump.

“Well, I’ve lived here almost a year already.”

“Are you a villain?”

“Um..not really? I’m just working for one,” Izuku explains sheepishly.

Todoroki nods at him and they walk in silence together. Todoroki looks like he’s in his own world, thinking about something. Then he decides to tell Izuku something.

“You look happy here.” 

“Eh..? I guess? It’s better than my life before this.”

“Surrounded by villains, but he has a better life than you Shouto,” Todoroki mumbles. Izuku doesn’t quite catch it. They’re almost at the boundary line when Todoroki stops him.

“Do you know what a quirk marriage is?”

Izuku is speechless when Todoroki is done with his story. 

“W-why are you telling me this?” 

“I just wanted to tell you. Maybe you can use that? I don’t know, taunt him when you guys fight him or something..” he trails off and scratches his neck unsurely. “It’s a thank you for your hospitality, I guess..”

“Aw, Todoroki-kun. It’s okay!” Izuku pats his back. Todoroki just looks at him warmly before his face becomes emotionless like before when he spots someone at the boundary line.

Ah. Endeavor.

And he looks pissed as fuck.

Todoroki just sighs and turns to Izuku one last time. “Can I have your number?”

“W-what?! Really?!” Oh my god. Did he just make a friend again? Todoroki is going to be his first contact that is the same age as him! He quickly adds the boy’s number to his phone.

“See you later Todoroki-kun!” Izuku waves at him. He doesn’t want to walk closer to the line. Who knows what Endeavor could do with that little distance.

Todoroki walks away dejectedly. Then he remembers that he forgot something important. He didn’t get the boy’s name!

Strangely, nothing happens the whole next week. Everything is perfectly normal. He wakes up, makes a lot of coffee, then goes back to sleep. Dabi stays at the cafe now, and Izuku doesn’t mind at all having company. Reaper and Pharaoh also visit daily. 

But, of course, normal is not a vocabulary in Izuku’s life. He is playing a game with Dabi on the PS5 (Mind Heist actually sent it straight from the US!) when he gets a text from an unknown number. (Texts always come with trouble, doesn't it?)

Unknown number: Can you come and pick me up?

who is this

Unknown number: Todoroki 

What the fuck? Why does he want to come back? Wait wait wait, is it okay for him to be here again? But he’s kinda Izuku’s friend though.. even if the guy doesn’t even know his name.

“What are you muttering about bunny?” Dabi asks from beside him.

“Dude, your brother- Oh! I mean Todoroki texted me.” Izuku wants to laugh at the face Dabi makes. He cornered him a while ago and asked if he’s Todoroki Touya. With Dabi’s weird behavior when Todoroki was around, how he once said that his father was a hero, and the story from Todoroki himself, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Izuku is 100% sure that Dabi is Touya. Even if the guy denies it, evidence is everywhere anyway.

“Please shut up. What does he want?” 

“Alright, I won’t annoy you anymore. Todoroki wants to come here? He said to come pick him up.” Izuku shows him his phone.

“Huh.. he must be bored or something. Go get him then. I’ll prepare dinner for us.” 

“Wait! Is it okay for him to be here?” Izuku asks uncertainly.

“You know what? Just ask the boss for permission for the kid to come when he wants. Exchange that for Endeavor’s family secret. Boom. Done,” Dabi says nonchalantly then drags Pharaoh into the kitchen to help him.

Fine, Izuku texts the city’s boss, then runs to meet Todoroki. The boy looks fine and gives him a small smile when Izuku approaches.

“What are you doing here?” Izuku asks him, because why would he even come back?

“Dabi said it would piss the old man off if I just ran away.” What, when did they even meet? 

“Um.. Then what would you do if Endeavor starts looking for you?”

“I actually need a favor from you..” Oh. Okay. “I can pay you. Um, my father is at this location and, uh, can you have him injured..?”

“You want to send villains after him..?”

“If they’re not busy then yes.”

Well, that’s a benefit from having a friend that associates with villains.

“M-my name is Midoriya Izuku, since you forgot to ask.”

“Oh..nice to meet you?”

When they’re back at the cafe, they ask everyone in the room to go hunt down Endeavor. After they leave, the only people left are Dabi, Pharaoh and them. There’re  various types of Soba on the low table in front of the couches. Todoroki stares at Dabi with wide eyes when the villain gives him Zaru Soba. Izuku gets a Kitsune Soba from Pharaoh.

“What do you mean you guys meet almost everyday?!” Izuku exclaims. Todoroki said that he sees Dabi around the area that he is in (isn’t that stalking..?) and that he just hangs around to mess with Endeavor. Like, trips him with a thin rope, pushes a bucket of water to fall on him and many other things. And how can he leave Izuku out of the fun!

“It’s personal revenge, all right? This kid just happens to be around,” Dabi says as a lame excuse. Yeah of course, Touya .

Dabi glares at him like he read Izuku's mind. Izuku just giggles at him. Yes, I’m holding your biggest secret!

Pharaoh places his white board on the table. Isn't tomorrow the UA entrance exam? 

Todoroki slurps his cold soba then he answers. “Yeah, that’s why I need my father out of commission. I don’t want to be recommended by that man.” After a few more slurps, he adds, “I want to get in on my own.. even without his quirk.”

(Here comes the classic phrase.)

“But it’s your power Todoroki-kun!” Izuku argues. Do all the Todorokis have the same problem? Like, you don’t like your own quirk! Izuku already had a conversation like this with Dabi many months ago!

“But..” 

“No! Listen, your dad's quirk is Hellflame, and yours is Half-Cold Half-Hot. Even the name is different!” Someone snorts. “But seriously, the quirks of you and your parents don’t matter and are not the same. You should make it your own because it’s yours, not Endeavor’s or anyone else’s. The only thing he can be is your dad, not the controller of a quirk that isn’t his own.” That’s kind of rambling but he should get the point, maybe?

They all stare at him. Jaws-dropped.

wow Pharaoh writes on the board.

“Oh.. uh let me think about it.” Izuku is pleased with his reaction.

Dabi just stares at his hands, thinking back to that time Izuku said almost the same thing to him. Dabi chuckles to himself and unintentionally lights a fire on his palm.

And that’s a mistake.

Todoroki must be really oblivious if he didn’t connect Dabi’s personality and knowledge of his favorite food, or how he knows what Endeavor likes to do that isn’t in the public information, to his lost brother. Well, guess the blue fire did the trick. 

“Touya?”

“Fuck!”

Izuku and Pharaoh just laugh really hard in the background.

Chapter Text

“Pro hero Endeavor found unconscious in a dumpster,”  the reporter on tv says, cutting through the silence after the Todoroki identity reveal (wow, that sounds like the title of a Youtube video). 

Todoroki gathers himself and sighs happily at the news. He glares at his supposedly dead brother, eyes seeming to scream we’ll talk later, you fuck . Dabi just buries his face in his hands and groans in despair.

Now that they’re done with the Endeavor problem, Todoroki realizes that the UA entrance exam is really close. Since his father will be in the hospital when the recommendation exam happens, Todoroki is glad he gets to do the normal entrance exam instead. Both Dabi and Todoroki want to spend more time talking and training the younger’s quirk, which leaves Izuku alone in the cafe.

Izuku is back talking to the other villains. 

There’re more newcomers in the cafe and they’re a pleasure to have a conversation with. And because of his alias, Bunny, he will always get all the news of what happens in the underground.

Recently, there’s been a name spreading through the shadows. It's like they were there the whole time, but were only starting to do something with their name now. 

“League of Villains?” Izuku repeats the name.

Overcast nods and takes a bite of the onigiri that Izuku made for him. “I think they have 2 members? If I heard right.”

“They definitely have someone behind their group. But since they haven't done anything big yet, we're just gonna watch and cheer for them from afar,” Overcast’s friend, who Izuku doesn’t know the name of and who hasn’t even bothered to introduce themself, says.

“Do you think Mind Heist got the idea to form a group from them? You said that the League has been there for a long time,” Izuku asks.

“Maybe, I don’t know. As long as they don’t fight with us then everything’s fine,” Overcast says absentmindedly. Izuku shudders at the thought of two powerful villain gangs fighting each other. The government would probably send all the heroes in the country to try and stop them.

“My friend said they’re recruiting..” someone says from the couch. Recruiting? 

“Be careful when you’re out bunny. They might not be nice like us.”

The League of Villains left his mind quite quickly. Even with research, he doesn’t know who the members are. Well, if they appear, Izuku won’t get to meet them anyway. 

Izuku is currently alone in the cafe at five in the morning. Why is he awake? A nightmare. Even if he’s escaped hell already, the past never dies. He is making a white chocolate mocha when someone walks in. The person's entire body is made out of a dark purple mist except his eyes, which are a glowing yellow. He wears a suit that makes him look like a bartender.

He’s so remarkable! Why has Izuku never seen him before? Izuku wonders what his quirk is. Is his quirk similar to Overcast?

“H-hi! What would you like to drink?” Izuku smiles and asks him.

“I apologize if I’m bothering you, it’s early in the morning after all,” the man says politely and bows a little. 

“Ah! It’s okay! I happened to be awake so I'm just hanging around here!” 

“Okay then. Can I get a pumpkin spice latte, chai latte, and a cappuccino please?” Izuku nods at the order and gets to work. The guy stands there observing the area. It’s really quiet so Izuku tries to have a small chat with him.

“So..mister? What’s your name? I-I mean your villain name of course! I've never seen you around before,” he asks nervously, hoping the guy won’t get annoyed at him.

“You can call me Kurogiri.” Kurogiri seems to consider something. “And what’s your name, young one?”

“Oh! My name is Mido- uh, I mean, I’m Bunny!” Izuku introduces himself. Yellow glowing eyes widen a bit.

“You’re the famous analyst,” he states. Izuku blushes at that. He’s still not used to the fame. That day when he was able to make a plan under a stressful situation that allowed all the villains to escape spread literally everywhere. Even the heroes are trying to find the strategist behind the plan. Well, both that and the analysis he did, but no one really knows where he is except the high ranking villains.

“Well, kinda..”

“Say Bunny, do you accept commissions?” Kurogiri asks him. 

Izuku’s not sure about that. People usually want him to go with them to their bases to work, but since he’s still a kid and they’re all villains, he prefers to work in the cafe instead. Like the analysis he does everyday.

“I can’t go with you if that’s what you’re asking. Um, I'd rather receive a task from you and work here,” Izuku explains. There’s so many people who want him to work for them in their base, almost commanding him to, really. But Reaper threatens them away.

“You might change your mind. Anyway, do you mind answering a strategy question?” Izuku pretends not to hear the first part.

“Go ahead.”

“You want to defeat a really powerful enemy, and you have a weapon to kill him. But there will definitely be a group of people wanting to intervene. What would you do with them? You can’t use the weapon that you are using to defeat the target,” Kurogiri asks. Hm? That's a really open-ended question. 

“What kind of prevention? Do you want to kill or..?”

“Our original plan is to scatter them to different locations that are full with our army.”

Izuku thinks about that a bit. “How good are they?” 

Kurogiri seems confused with the question.

“The enemies that you scatter, how good are they? If they are skilled enough, your people can still lose even with a greater number.” Then Izuku adds, “Or you can change the location of where you send them to places where they face some difficulties. Like, if you have a shark mutation quirk team, you could send someone with a fire quirk to them in a water area or something?” Izuku’s voice devolves into mumbles, but Kurogiri listens to him intently.

“That’s very wise of you,” Kurogiri admires.

“Haha, not really.” Izuku scratches his cheek sheepishly. He finishes the coffees and hands them to Kurogiri. 

And Kurogiri opens a portal, a portal?! Woah! That’s so rare! Teleportation quirks are just so fascinating. It’s not everyday you see one. Kurogiri grabs the coffee and puts it in the portal. He looks up to see Izuku watching him with stars in his eyes.

“Can I ask you some questions?” Izuku blurts out.

“Sure.” 

“Oh! Um, what is your quirk? Some kind of teleportation right? What does it do? Wait! Do you need exact coordinates? Or do you need only a clear image of a place? Oh! Oh! Since your entire body is your quirk, can you, like, warp yourself? Like, dissolve into the air? And-” 

Kurogiri watches the boy in amusement. Bunny seems to enjoy talking about and analyzing quirks. He would probably get along like a house on fire with master. It’s been a long time since All for One had someone who’s both intelligent and humble to talk to.

He chuckles lightly. “Calm down, child. My quirk is called Warp Gate. It's coordinate-based, so I need to know the exact location where I’m supposed to open the portal,” he explains. Bunny pulls out his notebook and writes it all down.

Kurogiri watches the boy fondly. He notices someone about to come in so he says his goodbye.

“It’s time for me to go, have a nice day Bunny.” Kurogiri bows his head and leaves through his portal.

Wow, Izuku must’ve saved the world in his past life to be able to see such a rare quirk in front of his eyes. 

It’s probably a coincidence, but whenever Izuku wakes up early Kurogiri comes in for the same order. He never comes when Izuku’s awake at his usual time. Come to think about it, Kurogiri never appears when there’s people in the cafe. Izuku decides to ask the other villains about him, and no one seems to know who the guy is. So, he searches the quirk database from the commission website, but there’s no information on him either.

Today, Kurogiri opens a portal in the cafe, making Izuku jump. He usually just walks in. But the person that walks out is not Kurogiri. He has messy, grayish-blue hair, and there are hands —embalmed hands? — all over different parts of his body. His bright red eyes peek through the hand on his face, staring at Izuku.

The guy clears his throat. “Whatever Kurogiri usually orders,” his rough voice, like he hasn't talked for a long time, speaks up.

“R-right!” Izuku turns around to work on the coffees. He can feel the man’s eyes boring into his back. He gulps nervously. Izuku glances back but the guy looks away, focusing on the  gaming console nearby instead. The man’s eyes widen a little and he picks up the controller to examine it. He has his pinkie raised, so a touch-based quirk?

“You have a PS5?” the guy suddenly asks, making Izuku jump again. Red eyes blink at Izuku’s antics and he lets out a short huff of laughter. “That’s why they called you bunny.”

“Um, yes!” Izuku squeaks, answering both questions.

They devolve back into silence. Izuku finishes the order and looks up to see the hand guy sitting on the floor, playing GTA V. He almost calls for him, but suddenly Kurogiri’s portal opens in the cafe and Kurogiri himself walks out.

“Ah. It seems like Tomura didn’t cause you any problems,” Kurogiri says while picking up the coffees. 

“Um, yeah? Who is he?” Izuku asks.

“His name is Shigaraki Tomura, and I’m his caretaker,” Kurogiri answers and looks around the empty cafe. “May I ask why nobody’s here?”

“Mind Heist requested most for a mission in Tokyo, and the rest are busy. So it’s only me for the rest of the week.” It was so sudden, the news of a rival group planning an attack on an important compound. They’re really strong so Mind Heist needed all the high ranks that were available. Dabi and Todoroki promised to stay with him after the entrance exam is done, but until then he’s alone.

“Tomura can keep you company. He needs to socialize more and not stay in his room all day playing video games,” Kurogiri complains, sounding like a worried dad. 

“Thanks a lot, but I wouldn't like to bother you guys that much,” Izuku says even as he considers his offer. The thing is, Shigaraki is a stranger, but he doesn’t mind making more friends. Is he trusting people too easily? 

“It’s not a bother at all,” Kurogiri insists. Then he adds, “I have some quirks for you to analyze, I will pay you when you finish it.” Yay! Izuku’s been really bored these last few days.

“See you around, come now Tomura.” Kurogiri bows before turning to speak with Shigaraki.

“Fine. I finished a lot of missions for you bunny,” Shigaraki says while saving the game.

“Oh! Thanks!”

Shigaraki walks past him to the portal, but turns around to pat his head with his pinkie lifted. They both disappear through the warp gate.

Izuku blinks confusedly at that. What a weird guy. He sighs and reads the quirks that Kurogiri just gave him. 

True to Kurogiri’s words, he drops Shigaraki off at the cafe everyday. But since they both have nothing to do — Izuku actually finished analyzing all the quirks that the mist man gave him — he and Shigaraki end up playing games all day. Shigaraki is good at every game, so he has to carry Izuku through all the levels. 

And Izuku pays him back by cooking some delicious homemade meals for them. The guy looks like he’s been living on instant noodles and junk foods his whole life. And guess what, eating and playing games together is a really good way to get to know each other.

(It’s actually Izuku’s charm, but of course he doesn’t know that.)

Izuku finds that Shigaraki is a mentally unstable individual. He switches his mood quickly between being happy, excited, unhinged, and even angry at some points. He sometimes lashes out at Izuku, but when he notices his flinching, he tries to calm himself down.

He actually reminds Izuku of Kacc- Bakugou. But Shigaraki is easy to read, and Izuku knows what to say and do to not get on his nerves. Not like his ex-friend where the existence of Izuku was enough is piss him off. Stop. Stop thinking about him.

“Fuck!” A shout startles him out of his thoughts. Izuku is so glad that he bought Shigaraki a pair of art gloves. If not, the guy probably would’ve disintegrated all the controllers by now.

“Shigaraki, stop scratching your neck! Oh my god! You’re bleeding!” Izuku practically screams at the older man. That’s a habit that Izuku’s been trying to fix but he thinks that it’s an effect of his quirk.

Wow, he feels like a babysitter.

He doesn’t even know why he’s out in the middle of the night. After he and Tomura (first name basis!) finished eating dinner, the other guy leaves, and Izuku finds himself with  nothing to do. So he decides to go out for a walk. It’s definitely his fault that he didn’t look at the time, or where he’s going, and now he’s lost. Great. 

He also just so happens to be wearing his jogging clothes which is literally his villain outfit. 

And thanks to his incredibly good luck, he meets Eraserhead. Again. He tries to run. Keyword, tries. But can he outrun a hero who’s famous for quick captures? The answer is no, he can’t.

“We meet again, kid,” Eraserhead says when he stops in front of Izuku. He has Izuku  trapped on a rooftop, blocking the fire escape and the exit door.

“H-hi?” he greets, but receives an unimpressed stare.

“I don’t know if you’re a villain or not, but every time I see you, you're either with a serial killer or running with the B-rank arsonist,” Eraserhead sighs out. Woah, he didn’t know that Dabi is B-ranked. 

“I’m technically not a villain?” Why does that sound like a question..

“Technically?” The hero narrows his eyes.

Think Izuku, what can he do in this situation? He carefully looks around, trying to  find a way out.

“Um! Oh! Help me, Reaper!” The second Eraserhead turns around, he opens Google to send his coordinates to Kurogiri. Wow, he feels like he’s on mission impossible.

When Eraserhead turns back, Izuku is in the process of jumping off the building into the swirling portal below and disappears, leaving the hero cursing after the loss of an important key to the villain world.

Izuku lands hard on a polished wooden floor. He looks up to see Tomura snorting at him from a bar stool. Surprisingly he isn’t wearing his father today. 

Izuku rubs his chin lightly, hoping it won’t bruise later. He’s not familiar with the place he’s in. He thought he would be brought back to the cafe, but he appears to be in a dimly lit bar. 

“Where am I?” he asks Kurogiri, who is wiping a glass behind the bar counter.

“I would love to say that you’re in my bar, but my master wants me to say something else.”

“Which is..?”

“Welcome to The League of Villains, bunny,” Tomura cuts in, grinning at him. 

Oh shit.

“Y-y-you guys are the League?!” Izuku has been this close to the League this whole time? What do they want with him?

“Yes. We’re truly sorry for not telling you our true motives. We wanted you to come to our hideout, which you said you wouldn’t when I asked you last time. Tomura suggested kidnapping you, but that wouldn’t gain your trust. Fortunately, you texted me, and we found our chance,” Kurogiri explains. Izuku climbs on a stool to sit next to Tomura, processing everything.

“Um..and why did you..” 

“I want you to join us,” Tomura says seriously. “You’re very talented, and your analysis skill has blown my mind, bunny. You would be a valuable asset. I really want you to be Player 2 in my game.”

Izuku is absolutely ecstatic about the praises he receives. And isn’t that alluring. But he knows he’s not worth their time. They don’t know the truth.

“That’s nice of you to say, and thank you so much. But I’m also sure that you can find a person with an analysis or intelligence quirk to work for you,” Izuku declines after a moment.

“But I want you!” Tomura raises his voice. Izuku recoils from the outburst. He can see Kurogiri looking at them with concern in the corner of his eyes. Izuku’s eyes become watery as he holds back his tears.

He can’t stop what he’s about to say. They need to know before they become disappointed in him. “I-I’m q-quirkless Tomura! I can’t be useful to you! The only reason I’m at that cafe is because Mind Heist just.. I don’t know! It’s only my luck that he found me that day! H-he could’ve found other people and I-I wouldn’t be here..” He chokes back a sob. Nobody knows that he’s quirkless except Mind Heist and Dabi.

Izuku tries to wipe away the tears and braces himself for words that are laced with disgust. Or a portal under his feet to drop him into an ocean. Anything. But instead, Izuku feels someone wrap their arms around him and whisper in his ear.

“Hey hey, shhh, it’s okay bunny. Listen to me okay? Did I say anything about your quirk at all? No. I’m always talking about you, I’m praising your skill, your brain. No quirk can replace you. Got it? I’m not some idiot who judges people by their quirks.” Izuku pulls back to look Tomura in the eyes. To find some lie or pity in them. He instead meets a sincere expression that he’s never seen before.

“R-right. I-I’m sorry for doubting you,” Izuku whispers. “But can I think about this first?” 

“Fine,” Tomura says with dissatisfaction, but lacking any bite. “Sensei said to be patient if you want something. I can wait for you as long as you join.”

“Sensei?” Izuku asks. Is Sensei the same person as Kurogiri’s “master”? 

“That would be me,” a voice that screams “ obey me or you die” speaks up from the small screen on the bar counter. Izuku stiffens. Tomura also becomes quiet.

“Kurogiri, send him here,” the voice orders. A portal appears in front of him. Izuku has to stop himself from crying again from fear and slowly walk through the portal.

“...Please don’t kill him, sensei,” Tomura pleads.

“Of course,” the voice chuckles.

Izuku comes out of the portal to find himself in another dimly lit room. He can hear some kind of medical equipment running. Then his eyes drift to the only person in the room. He’s massive, almost as big as All Might, and he’s wearing a black expensive suit. There are various tubes coming out of his throat that connect to the machine beside him. And half of his face is covered with scar tissue.

“Come closer to me Bunny,” a powerful voice calls. Izuku slowly walks to him. He can’t stop the subtle shaking of his body.

“You don’t need to be scared, little bunny. Or should I call you little Izuku instead?” He jolts in fear and surprise. How does he know his name?! 

“A-anything is fine, s-sir.” 

“My, how polite of you. Let me introduce myself. My name is All for One, but I prefer to be called sensei.” What the fuck.

“All for One?!” Izuku blurts out, but quickly clamps his mouth shut.

“Oh? You know me?” All for One asks in interest.

“I-I, um, read about you before. The power to give and take quirks. And, uh, I thought you weren't real?” 

“Well, I’m real and alive. But we can talk about that later.” What does he mean by later?! 

“You’re a great influence to my successor, Tomura. When he comes back from your daily meetings, he always has something interesting to talk to me about. He’s somewhat more mature, thinking more before doing anything. And he has many more good traits that he didn't have before he met you.” Izuku nods slowly.

“I can’t force you to join the League. I can’t bribe you with a quirk either.” How did he.. “I have a quirk for that.” Oh shit..

“Again, you can do whatever you want. But please, stay by Tomura's side so he can grow to be a great leader.”

“I can do that..” Izuku agrees quietly.

“Of course you can.” The supervillain chuckles and pat him on his hair. And then he’s falling back to the bar.

Tomura is in front of him immediately, looking relieved.

The next thing he knows, he’s back at the cafe. Tomura waves goodbye to him and goes back into the portal.

Wow, he’s still alive.

“What’s up boss?” 

“Your kid is good, Mind Heist.”

“Huh! The great All for One already met him?”

“Well, my successor is quite fond of him.”

“That’s great then. When I found him, I just knew that he was gonna go far.”

“You’re never wrong. How’s America?”

“I managed to find 2 regeneration quirks. But I’m trying to find some mind quirks that would benefit you. Um, you never said the specifics, so I’m just gonna find as much as I can.”

“Thank you. I’ll go now.”

“Talk to you later boss! See ya!”

Chapter Text

The League actually gave him some time to think about it. Thank god. So, like any normal person, he uses the time to find more coffee recipes to try. Because why not? And the tester is none other than Todoroki Shouto, since he’s free from the entrance exam being over and Dabi getting hired by some rich people to do some jobs. So it’s just the two of them.

Izuku doesn’t even know how Shouto (yay, first name basis!) manages to get out of his house this frequently. But he won’t ask ‘cause that’s none of his business anyway.

Right now, Shoto is trying the new cold brew coffee with mint chocolate while Izuku tells him everything that’s been happening since the last time they saw each other.

“You joined a villain organization..?” Shouto asks incredulously. Izuku has to stop himself from choking on his milk.

“What?! No! I said they wanted me, but I don’t need to join them!” Izuku explains. If he’s not with them then he’s not really a villain! 

“So now you’re a full time villain.” The red and white hair boy doesn’t seem to listen to him, and somehow he looks proud?? What the..

“Why’re you looking at me like that?” 

“I can pay you to do illegal things now. No need for you to get help from your villain friends anymore.” 

“Is that why you became my friend..?”

“Yes?” Oh, for fuck’s sake!

Not to be rude but Shouto doesn’t look like he has many friends. Well, not that Izuku minds. Shouto is always at the cafe when not at UA when the academic year begins. He always comes back and tells everything that is happening at the school to Izuku. It’s good to know everything, but he should consider the villains in the room too. They’re not good people. Izuku doesn’t care, of course. But they can use the information...

After Shouto leaves to catch the train (why’d he even come here this morning?), Izuku continues working in the cafe until it's lunch time. A group of villains invited him earlier to eat Thai food with them in Musutafu. Izuku agrees and leaves with them. 

They part ways when they finish the food and Izuku ends up walking around the area a bit. His feet take him in the direction of UA. There’s a group of reporters and cameras crowding the gates and they’re shouting something about All Might. Oh, that’s new. He didn’t even know that the Number 1 Hero is teaching at the school.

Then he spots someone looking rather suspicious hanging at the back of the crowd. Izuku doesn’t know why he walks towards the man, but suddenly there he is. He notices the grayish-blue hair peeking out from the hood.

“Tomura?” he asks quietly, for only the villain to hear.

Tomura jumps and almost grabs Izuku’s face, and would have succeeded if not for the quick reflexes of Izuku stepping back. “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

“Can’t I just live my life like a normal teenager?” Izuku asks humorously.

Tomura doesn’t seem amused, but then he looks at Izuku's face with an unreadable expression. Izuku feels a chill go down his spine when he meets those red, intense eyes. The villain grins at him and asks him a very suspicious question.

“Are you free right now bunny?” 

“Y-yes?” Goddammit, he should’ve answered no. “What do you need me for?”

Tomura doesn’t even answer his question. He instead pulls Izuku’s hood over his head then grabs his wrist with 4 fingers. He drags him through all the people and before he knows it they’re in front of the UA entrance barrier. Izuku watches in horror as Tomura lifts his free hand and touches the door.

“W-what are you doing?!” Izuku hisses in Tomura’s ear. The guy doesn’t bother answering at all. Tomura moves Izuku's still shocked body to the side, avoiding the excited reporters that are now rushing to get in the school. What the hell? Isn’t that trespassing?

“Perfect!” Tomura says happily. He then proceeds to push Izuku through Kurogiri’s portal. Wait. Portal? When did it even appear? 

“Tomura? Tomura. Tomura! Where are we going?” Please don’t be what Izuku thinks it is. God, please. He doesn’t want to go to jail. He still has a future!

Tomura ignores him. 

When they walk out of the portal, Izuku isn’t disappointed. They’re in a hallway. A fucking UA hallway. They going to fucking die. Goodbye Mind Heist’s lovely cafe, we’ve been through a lot. Tomura just looks at him and snorts. He hears the school alarm go off and some chaos coming from the other direction.

“Come on, we need to hurry before the teachers come back.” Tomura lets go of his wrist and opens the door of the nearest room. Izuku looks at the door’s plaque and sees it reads ‘Teacher’s Room’.

Izuku runs to catch up with him while observing the huge room. He can spot some of the teachers’ desks. Present Mic, Cementoss, Snipe...Eraserhead?! He's a teacher?! Tomura isn’t interested in Izuku’s astonishment; he’s putting on gloves and carefully searching for something on the underground hero’s desk. 

“What are you doing?” Izuku asks once again, hoping Tomura would finally answer after disregarding all his previous questions.

Tomura doesn’t look up and continues on to the desk’s drawers. “Since you’ve been busy at your cafe, we’ve been planning an attack on UA. Um, actually, it’s more of a plan to kill All Might, but you know that already.” Yeah… Izuku hasn’t had the time to visit them.

“And now you’re looking for..?”

“The hero class schedule.” Oh, right. Tomura needs to know when the perfect time to strike is. Should he tell Shouto about this? He’s not really a villain, but he doesn't care about his classmates that much either. Welp, Tomura doesn’t even know that there’s a hero student living in the cafe and that they come to play games almost everyday. Izuku’s not gonna tell either of them then.

“If you’ve finished standing there, would you mind helping me find it?” Tomura scoffs.

“S-sorry!” Izuku squeaks. He quickly walks to the drawer cabinet. Tomura throws him a pair of gloves before continuing looking through the folder in his hands.

After what feels like an hour passing (but is only a few minutes), he hears a growl of frustration from the man next to him. “Where the fuck is this shit?!”

“You’re too loud!” Izuku whispers. The alarm sound is already gone, and Izuku is feeling increasingly anxious that someone will come in at any moment. 

Yes, any moment. That moment becomes, unfortunately, now.

“What are you guys doing?” a cold voice says up from the door. Both he and Tomura freeze. Neither dares to move. They could call Kurogiri, but they don’t know the person’s quirk. What if he’s quicker than Tomura’s skill to type quickly on his phone?

Izuku, who resigns to his fate, turns around slowly. Okay, think of something not too stupid to say Izuku. We’re turning in our homework? No! They aren’t even wearing the school uniform!

Izuku practically drops to the floor and sighs in relief when he sees who the voice belongs to. He quickly pulls off his hood before the guy loses his patience and walks away to call a teacher. He can hear Tomura screaming in his head asking why Izuku reveals his identity like that.

“H-hi?” 

“Izuku?” Shouto's shocked expression passes over his face briefly before morphing back to the usual calm demeanor. “I change my mind, I don’t even want to ask what you’re doing.”

“Haha, um... do you know where your class schedule is by any chance?” Izuku begs with his puppy eyes. Of course, it works on everyone.

Shouto looks at Tomura for a second and sighs. “Top drawer of that cabinet to your left.” Tomura just stares at the other boy unbelievably.

“Tomura!” Izuku hisses. The villain quickly opens the drawer and picks up the first paper. 

“Oh, we got it. Uh, let’s head back?” Wow, they’re such a mess.

“See you tonight?” Izuku turns to smile sheepishly at Shouto, who nods, pats his hair, and leaves.

A familiar purple portal opens behind them. They check that everything looks the same before they go through and come out, back at the bar, safe. Tomura hands Kurogiri the schedule and school layout paper, then turns to look at Izuku and pouts(?).

“You have a spy of your own and you didn’t even tell me!”

“What?! He’s not a spy! He’s my friend!”

Tomura just glares at him. “We have our spy in 1-A too! And they didn’t do shit!”

Izuku can smell the jealousy in the air...

Shouto doesn’t get expelled, so Kurogiri must’ve done something to the security cameras. What a flawless mission. Totally would not do it again. 

Tomura has been quiet since yesterday. Izuku is sure that they must be planning their attack. 

He and Honeylocust are watching the news in the cafe when she speaks up. “Hey bunny-kun, do you know what happened recently?” Honey asks while sipping on her honey, almond-milk, cold brew. She’s laying on the floor with pillows and blankets all over her.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, aside from us, the criminal activity outside the zone is really low. Like, it suddenly dropped to zero this morning! Not only that, all my underlings are all busy today! I’m lonely! That’s why I’m here!” She whines out the last part. Izuku laughs internally at her childish behavior.

“Maybe they all have something to do together? Is that something that has happened before?” They’re all gone? That sounds like something is going on.

“I lived here all my life! This has never happened before!” 

“I don’t know Honey, um...” Izuku looks around the files on his desk and settles on the small piece of paper. “Oh! There’s someone paying anyone who will come to this location. It’s a warehouse, I think?” Who gave Izuku this? He can’t remember.

“What?! Why didn’t I know about this?” 

“Uh… It’s only been passed around to thugs? But, like, the underground talks about it?”

“I’m not even caught up with the news.” Izuku listens to her complain but then he gets a notification from his phone.

Tomura: alley next to your building 

They want him on a mission again? He isn’t even a member of the League! Didn’t he promise himself not to get into trouble? Izuku can only sigh. Well, it’s not that bad. Who would’ve thought that his life would get this exciting. This is the closest to hero work he will ever get (even if he’s on the opposite side haha). 

He gets himself a paper (yeah, we love the earth, no plastic!) cup of vanilla latte and turns to address Honey.

“Hey Honey, I’m gonna go out for a bit. I’ll come back for lunch if you're still here.” 

“Bunny! You’re leaving me too,” she whines. “Just go, don’t leave me too long.” Izuku waves at her and walks out to the alleyway. He texts Kurogiri a smiley face and a moment later the portal appears in front of him. He walks in.

When he reaches the other side, his heart almost stops. He’s falling… onto two giant hands… Nope, Izuku doesn’t want to look up to see what is holding him. The person doesn’t move at all. He can see a black muscular body that has many scars on it. Izuku is like a tiny mouse compared to this huge body. He gulps and looks up. A beak-like mouth, a brain that is exposed on the top of the head, large eyes that are looking at Izuku.

He would’ve screamed if not for Tomura speaking up. “What do you think? It’s a Nomu, a weapon to defeat All Might,” Tomura, standing off to the side, says proudly.

“Weapon?” So this thing is not human then. How does that even work? But with All for One, Izuku thinks anything is possible with a lot of quirks involved.

“We won’t talk about that. But I can say that it has shock absorption and super regeneration. And only follows my orders.”

“Oh, cool.” Izuku shifts to sit cross-legged on the Nomu's hand. He drinks his coffee while observing the beast. He kinda wants to see it in action. Izuku turns back from Nomu and immediately meets the eyes of dozens of petty villains. He can see some of Honeylocust’s minions in the crowd. 

“Um. What are you guys doing today?” he asks nervously.

Tomura just chuckles at him and snatches the cup of coffee from his hand. “You’ll see.” He then glances at Kurogiri.

“Our spy confirmed that they’ve arrived,” Kurogiri states. Everyone in the warehouse stops talking. Kurogiri shifts to his other form, covers himself in his fog, and opens a large portal. Izuku doesn’t feel good about this…

“Do you want to make an entrance bunny?” Tomura covers his face with his father and looks at Izuku expectantly.

“N-no?” Oh god, don’t do something stupid please.

He grins at Izuku mischievously. Oh no. “Nomu, lift him up. Gently.” Nomu obeys and holds him on the sides of his torso, then lifts him up in the air, leaving his feet hanging. Izuku shuts his eyes. This is- scary! What the fuck Tomura?!

“Help!” he screams and squirms in the large hand that locks him in place. He can hear a lot of people trying to hold back laughter as they all go through the portal. Wow, guys. Thanks a lot. But then he hears Tomura's serious voice speak up.

“All Might isn’t here?” Wait. What?

Izuku opens his eyes and shit. They’re in UA again. He didn’t even notice the Nomu walking. And he just screamed asking for help in front of the hero students. Plus Tomura is pissed because All Might isn’t here. Yup, great day.

“Villains?!”

“How could they break into a hero school?!”

“Evacuate the students!”

“Is that a kid?!”

“They have someone hostage!”

“Is that a Lion King reference?”

“This isn’t the time, Kaminari! What the hell! Use your quirk to contact the school!”

There’s chaos up there. He glances at Tomura, and… the guy is scratching his neck again. Izuku sighs. Alright, he will become Bunny. Only this time, for them!

“Shigaraki Tomura, calm down.” Tomura glares at him, but, well, at least he’s listening. “Alright, since your target is not here, you either retreat or you continue. You’re already able to break into a prestigious hero school, and that’s an achievement for new villains like you. But do you want to fight them? No need to panic, Tomura.”

Tomura takes a deep breath, sips Izuku’s coffee, and regains his composure. “Fine. I wonder if he’ll come if we kill some kids.”

That’s not what Izuku means, but guess that works too.

With Izuku high up in the air, he can see Eraserhead jumping down to fight the villains. He’s probably trying to buy some time for the students to leave. Tomura sees that too.

“Kurogiri.” The man disappears in a matter of seconds. Izuku can see him teleport in front of the students. He watches in interest as he uses his quirk to scatter the kids all over the area. His eyes go back to Eraserhead. Even with the disadvantage of fighting by himself, he still takes out a lot of the thugs. Maybe Honey needs to train them more.

“Tomura, can you let me go yet? I wanna take a look around,” Izuku asks the man who is still sipping his coffee.

“Alright, alright. I actually want you to come and analyze the students’ quirks. And to watch the Nomu fight so we can improve it,” Tomura explains. “Nomu, let him down.” Nomu suddenly drops him, and he lands on his butt. Ouch!

“Oops, forget to order him to be gentle,” Tomura says while trying to stop himself from laughing. 

“Wow, thanks, Mr. League of Villains Leader,” Izuku deadpans. He sits up and looks for familiar red and white hair. He can see Bakugou at the ruin zone, but fuck him, Izuku doesn’t care about the blond anymore.

He finally sees Shouto at the landslide zone after looking for a while. After seeing the boy is fine, Izuku decides to go to the control center so he can fully observe all the quirks. 

Since Tomura didn’t tell him to bring his notebook, his phone will have to do the work instead. He quickly types what he sees on the security screens into the notes app. He watches the wind quirk guy use his quirk to send the frog girl and ball head boy to the shore of the water zone. That’s a really powerful quirk. Most of the villains definitely will have a tough time fighting him.

He sits there for a while, when suddenly he hears a loud scream from the central plaza. Oh, Eraserhead. That’s a lot of blood. Erasure probably doesn’t work on Nomu. Tomura is still monologuing. Maybe he should help the hero, he’s a good one. 

Izuku walks out when Kurogiri comes back. “One of them got away.” 

“Kurogiri!” Oh no no no. “Whatever. It’s game over. Let’s just go home. We can’t fight all the pros.” Tomura disintegrates the cup in his hand and his eyes meet Izuku, but then he turns to the students that hide by the water.

“But let’s destroy his dignity first. I wonder what All Might will think if the symbol of peace let some kids die!” 

Fuck! Tomura is going to kill them! Before Izuku can do something, Eraserhead uses his quirk and the Nomu would’ve smashed him to the ground again if not for Izuku catching Tomura’s eyes. The Nomu is instead told to fight the wind kid. Izuku can’t intervene, not with the howling wind that has picked up, so he chooses to help Eraserhead. Izuku runs to the underground hero that’s slowly bleeding out on the ground. Thank god he’s still breathing. 

The hero is too heavy for Izuku to carry, so Izuku lets Eraserhead lean on his shoulder as Izuku drags him away. Luckily, Shouto — who managed to clear his zone all by himself — is now walking towards Izuku. 

“Hey! Your teacher is hurt!” he shouts at his friend.

“Thanks Izu...” Izuku's eyes widen in panic. 

Shouto clears his throat. “Uh, I mean, let him go!” He shoots his ice weakly for Izuku to dodge. Wow, great acting.

“Get your teacher first!” Izuku doesn’t have the heart to throw Eraser at Shouto. So he just carefully hands the hero to his friend. Shouto just stares at him like, are you serious?

“Uh, I’m gonna go now. Bye!” He steps to the side to avoid Shouto’s ice again. But before he runs back, All Might burst through the main entrance. Shit.

But lucky him again, All Might sees that Eraserhead is with Shouto, so he goes straight to Nomu. Though the problem remains, Izuku can’t go back to Tomura or he's going to get Texas Smashed to the ground. Shouto looks so awkward, like he doesn’t know what to do with Izuku. 

“Um.. Don’t move? I have a… gun? Uhh, let’s watch The Number 1 Hero fight our weapon!” Is Izuku improvising? Of fucking course!

“…Alright he has a gun, definitely can’t fight him,” Shouto mumbles to himself. 

The three of them watch All Might fight the Nomu. All Might soon becomes trapped in Kurogiri’s portal and the Nomu has a tight grip on his injured side. Huh, is it supposed to be this easy? And, at that moment, an explosion blasts in Kurogiri’s face and a powerful wind pushes the Nomu away. Aw, Bakugou should’ve attacked Nomu instead. Izuku hasn’t gotten to see the regeneration aspect yet. 

Kurogiri gets pinned down by Bakugou, making Izuku frown. But Izuku can’t do anything anyway. Tomura could think of a way out himself. Then a gruff voice speaks up.

“I-It’s you again kid,” Eraserhead finally speaks up. Then he proceeds to cough out some blood. “Why are you helping me?”

“Huh? Oh um I don’t? Shou- Todoroki helped you… I’m holding you guys hostage? Well, technically not. I just want to watch the fight safely, which is easier to do over here.” The struggle here is real guys.

“I saw you running to me.” More blood soaks Shouto clothes.

“Oh my god Eraserhead! Stop talking! You're gonna bleed to death!” Izuku screams at the hero. Why does the school take so long to arrive? He turns to All Might and damn, he really lives up to his name. He turns back to Eraserhead, who’s watching him like a hawk.

“Plus Ultra!” All Might shouts and sends the Nomu flying through the roof of the facility. Oh. Guess that’s a sign to retreat.

Izuku waves at Shouto and Eraser, then runs to Kurogiri who stands to the side. “There you are. I'm starting to worry when I don't see you.” Kurogiri’s mist flows out to hide Izuku from sight. 

He can see Tomura and All Might saying something to each other, and he can also see the smoke coming out of All Might's body. Oh, just like that day on the rooftop. Izuku tenses when he notices that Tomura’s going to go for All Might. He can also spot all the pro heroes from UA that are arriving. Izuku runs.

Before Tomura can move an inch forward, Izuku pulls his shirt back, which results in the villain stumbling and knocking Izuku to the ground. Ouch.

“What are you doing!” Tomura snarls. Suddenly, a couple of bullets shoot past his back. “Oh.” Yeah, oh.

“I’ll kill you next time, All Might!” Tomura shouts at the hero before quickly disappearing into the portal. Izuku follows, but before he steps through, he turns around to look at All Might once more. The hero is now in his skinny form. All Might looks at Izuku in horror. Huh, he doesn’t seem to recognize Izuku with his hood over his hair

Izuku smiles at All Might before he turns around and leaves.

Fuck is the only word that comes to Toshinori’s mind the moment he meets the villain’s eyes. How is he supposed to tell Naomasa that? Hey, so I’m so careless and I let one of the villains see my true form. Haha.

What is wrong with you, Yagi Toshinori!

Aizawa Shouta slowly opens his eyes to the white ceiling of the hospital. His body aches and he can feel the bandages all over his body. Surprisingly, he can still move just fine. It’s wrong to say, but  if it weren’t for the kid moving him away, he would’ve been severely injured.

He needs to find out who the kid is. Shouta always finds him with high-ranked villains. But the kid never does anything that is considered villainous activity. He’s just there, watching the others do the work. He sighs. What a problem child.

He then notices the smell of coffee lingering in the air. They allowed visitors already? Can’t be. He carefully sits up and spots a cup of coffee on the bedside table. There’s a note beside it.

I'm so sorry that they hurt you :( I hope you get better soon! I'm a barista so I made the coffee myself! it's good and doesn’t have any poison i swear! you can check with the doctor or something 

talk 2 u later eraser! if you don’t put me in jail that is 

Definitely a problem child. He gives the coffee a try. He’s in a hospital anyway, who cares about poison. 

And wow, that’s really good.

(How did the kid know Shouta likes cinnamon cappuccinos?)

Chapter Text

The first time Izuku hears about The Hero Killer is from a news report. The USJ incident was kept under wraps by UA, so all the channels kept reporting about the murders instead. Izuku thought that the guy was just like Reaper, a normal serial killer, but after a while Izuku notices that the guy starts getting really popular. Izuku is surprised. He does a little bit of research and finds that Stain has a very interesting ideology. Purge fake heroes and change current society, huh?

Izuku isn’t fond of killing but if it’s not innocent people then that’s probably fine. He literally has Reaper around.

The first time Izuku meets Stain face to face is around midnight in his empty cafe. He’s supposed to be asleep, but he drank too much coffee so he’s killing time by reading through the hero forum while laying on the couch.

He hears the door open so he looks up from his phone. He isn’t surprised when he sees Reaper, but the one that follows behind him makes Izuku’s eyes widen. If his signature red scarf doesn’t give it away, then the blood-covered katana definitely does the trick.

Stain!

“Two black coffees and a bandage if you have them,” Reaper says from the door.

“Ah, okay!” Izuku gets up and begins searching for the first aid kid. He finds it and places the box on the counter.

He’s washing his hands to start on the coffees when he notices Stain watching him.

“Why’s there a kid here?” Stain asks Reaper, who starts bandaging his arm. Reaper just shrugs and continues what he’s doing.

Stain scowls but doesn’t ask anything more. Izuku finishes making the coffees and finds an old rag for them to clean their weapons off. He puts the items on the counter and backs off to watch the two in interest.

Aren’t they both solo villains? Izuku doesn’t think they’ve ever worked with others before.

The two men finish cleaning up before grabbing their coffees and departing, leaving Izuku alone in the cafe. Huh, that’s the first time that someone came in and didn't cause any trouble (sorry Todoroki’s) for him.

Just the feeling of having existed in the same room as the notorious Hero Killer makes Izuku sweat. Stain had a malevolent aura around him, making Izuku fear making the guy angry.

The duo starts coming for a coffee almost every night. And Izuku sees the news on his phone about each dead hero that pops up every night right before the two come into the cafe. Yes, the blood on the floor that Izuku has to clean up is a hero’s blood. If the two continue like this, hero society is gonna crumble because they’re too low on heroes.

“Do you know that you’re quite famous on the internet, Stain-san?”

Stain looks at him weirdly because yes, this is the first time Izuku has spoken to him. “Really? I don’t have time to check that.”

“Ah. Can I say something?” Izuku asked nervously, fiddling with the straw of his drink.

“Go on.”

“You’re influential in some ways. Like, they kinda admire you for taking down the fake heroes? You can use that to your advantage. Y-you can change society that way ‘cause people will listen to you...” Izuku glances at the man and he seems interested in what Izuku is trying to say. “But, um, you and Reaper have just been killing random heroes recently. People will probably see that you are just another murdurer on the street and your supporters may not like that? Uh, my point is that you can use the way they idolize you to prove your point by killing only the total fake ones...”

“You’re criticizing who I kill.” That’s definitely a statement, not a question. Izuku gulps and nods meekly.

Stain doesn’t say anything for a moment. The tension cuts through Izuku's poor heart. He goes to open his mouth to apologize for meddling when he hears Stain laugh. The man chuckles to himself and Izuku, standing there, doesn’t know how to respond.

“What an interesting kid you are,” Stain muses. Izuku blushes in embarrassment and goes back to his analysis work.

They don’t talk anymore afterwards, but Stain reads over his shoulder the weaknesses of the hero Izuku is currently analyzing.

After a while, Stain and Reaper leave like they always do. Izuku feels like he should get an achievement for talking to the man.

Apparently, after talking to each other a few more times after that (more like debating on which heroes are fake), Izuku manages to become Stain's favorite person. At least that’s according to Reaper, who says that the guy won’t shut up about Izuku’s opinion on society. Should he be grateful?

Because he was up late talking to the Hero Killer yesterday, Izuku wakes up late. The sunlight passes through the curtain and shines directly on his face. He groans and turns to see the time on his phone. Fuck! It’s almost noon. He quickly runs into the bathroom then jumps down the stairs into the cafe.

He finds Dabi (yooo! he’s back!) and two strangers trying to keep the villains from barging to the second floor to wake Izuku up.

“Oh my god guys! I’m so sorry!” Izuku squeaks and quickly slips through the crowd to get to his place behind the counter.

He spends almost an hour making large amounts of coffee after that. This definitely teaches him a lesson to set an alarm before he goes to bed.

When he finishes the last order, Izuku sighs and stretches his arms a bit. While cleaning up, he’s distracted enough that he doesn't notice that one of the stranger’s that had been with Dabi was creeping up behind him, or the object they’re holding glints slightly, about to strike down.

But what he does notice is the sudden, panicked screaming of a girl's name; his instincts make him pick up the gun hidden under the counter.

In a matter of seconds, he’s holding the gun to the would-be attacker’s blonde head and a lizard-looking guy is clutching said girl’s hand which still has a knife. Dabi, who comes running out of the kitchen, pales at the sight of all the villains in the room standing and pointing their weapons or summoning their quirk, ready to charge at the girl.

Dabi clears his throat nervously. “Uh, please put down your shit. She’s with me.” He glances at Izuku.

“My name is Toga Himiko!” She smiles widely, showing her sharp teeth.

Izuku carefully puts down his gun and signals the other people to sit back down. They obey(?), but don't take their attention off of them.

Toga, still grinning at him, finally puts away her knife. Izuku sees Dabi sigh and quickly walks towards them.

“Yo kid, uh, I met them at work. I was leaving but then they followed me...” Dabi says, irritated.

“Aw! Come on Dabi! We missed you!” The girl hops over to Dabi but he just glares at her.

“More like you missed him and I got dragged here,” the lizard guy mumbles. He then notices Izuku looking at them. “Um, sorry for intruding. You can call me Spinner.” Spinner scratches his cheeks in embarrassment.

“..R-right.” What is he supposed to do with them?

“Toga is just like that, by the way. She didn’t mean to attack you or anything,” Dabi says before going back to the kitchen. He must’ve missed cooking there.

“What’s he doing in there? Oh! Oh! What’s your name? You look like my crush, since you’re both cute! And you’re gonna look cuter covered in blood!” Isn’t that disturbing. Toga bounces back to Izuku and shoots tons of questions at his face. He sees Spinner facepalm next to her.

“I’m Bunny,” Izuku answers, ignoring the other questions as he turns around to make a coffee for a villain that just walked in.

“Why do you guys use aliases? That’s so not cool,” she pouts, leaning over the counter.

“Do you two want anything? Uh, Dabi might be making you guys lunch, so you either can go help him or... just don’t bother me?” Wow, that’s rude Izuku. “I-I mean, not that I don’t welcome you guys, but I got work to do...”

“Yes, let’s not annoy him Toga-”

“I want a strawberry milkshake!” They say in unison.

That’s a very interesting dynamic. “I can do that. You go help him in the kitchen. I’ll be right behind you.” He watches Spinner drag a whining Toga away.

Izuku can only sigh.

Izuku puts a strawberry milkshake and two glasses of coffee-flavored beers for Dabi and Spinner on the tray. He then walks into the kitchen, getting blasted by the wonderful smell of garlic fried rice. He sets down the drinks and watches the two try to help Dabi.

Who would’ve thought that Dabi would come back with some friends. Even if he’s in denial, Izuku knows that he’s a loner. He wouldn’t let them in if he doesn’t trust them. Even though one of them tried to kill him to form a friendship...

“Dabi, there’s wagyu in the fridge. I think it’ll go well with the fried rice,” Izuku suggests, heading to the fridge.

“Meat!” Toga shouts happily, trailing the beef with hungry eyes when Izuku takes it out and brings it to the pan.

“How do you like it done?” he asks while putting salt and pepper on the meat.

“Rare, bunny-kun! The color is so pretty! Just like blood!” She grins at him brightly. He wonders how much energy Toga has. She’s so energetic, and blood huh?

“Is it something to do with your quirk? Hm, you also said something about blood earlier. You have canines, too. I guess you need blood to trigger your quirk… or maybe it's just a side effect?” Izuku guesses. The other three stare at him.

Toga eyes sparkle. “Wow!”

“That’s very accurate,” Spinner says in amazement.

“Really?” Izuku giggles. When he can guess people’s quirk before it’s been shown to him, he feels proud of himself.

When the meat is done, he slices the steak then places them on top of the rice. They begin eating and Izuku has to sigh. The meal is so good. Without Dabi, he only eats takeout food with Shoto and the other villains sometimes. Toga and Spinner seem to like the food too. Wait, why are they crying?

“Fuck~ I missed quality food. Broccoli, did you know that I had to eat instant noodles everyday while I was away?” Dabi grumbles while chewing on the beef.

“You live like this?! We literally live on the street!” Spinner complains and finishes the plate. “Can I have more?”

“O-of course!” Izuku replies in surprise. He then turns to Dabi. “Where did you find these guys?”

“We got hired by the same person. And we kinda have the same interests, so we started talking I guess. And now they won’t stop bothering me if I ignore them.”

“Hey! I didn’t bother you! Toga did!”

“You were literally standing next to her!”

Izuku watches them argue in amusement. He’s glad that Dabi found someone else to hangout with.

“Aw, come on Dabi. When the word Stain comes out of my mouth, you start talking back to me!” Toga smiles at the fire user.

“I’m not-”

“Just admit that you’re a fan dude.”

Woah, hold on. Don’t tell Izuku that they’re all Stain followers? It’s kind of funny, but he can see why they all like the killer. Only if they know that the guy they’re discussing literally comes to the cafe for black coffee everyday.

Later Izuku would join in the conversation and get to know them better. He may not realize it, but his new family is growing bigger everyday.

“Your fans are really something, Akaguro-san,” Izuku says when he reads a text that Spinner just sent with an article about Stain’s change in hero victims. With some convincing speeches from Izuku, Stain now only goes after heroes that have a bad reputation, not some random hero he finds in an alley and declares them as fake.

“You know I don’t care about them,” Stain says dismissively.

“Haha, I know. But he kinda lives with me, and his friends are also gushing over you. Toga learned your knife skills and Spinner’s costume is just a cosplay of you!”

He then tells the killer all about the three fans Izuku knows and sees everyday.

“Do your friends even know you talk about them behind their back?” Stain asks in amusement after Izuku finishes his story.

“They don’t even know you’re here! Maybe you should have a fanmeet or something,” Izuku muses.

“Why would I do that?”

“I’m just kidding! But consider-”

“We’re back Izu-kun!” Oh shit. He thought they would be back tomorrow? Stain doesn’t look interested in leaving. Guess this is their lucky day then.

Even though they’re all villains, Stain is very hard to catch. He never really associates with other people. They only see a glimpse of him then he’s gone.

Which is why the three of them freeze at the door when they see who Izuku is currently talking to. Izuku, who’s wiping blood off Stain’s katana, waves at them from the stool he’s sitting on.

Spinner is the one who breaks the silence. “I-Is that S-Stain?” His finger trembles slightly when he points at his idol.

Toga looks like she’s about to jump or throw a knife at Stain, but she holds herself back. She couldn’t look happier.

Dabi just gapes at Izuku.

Izuku smiles innocently at them. “Hehe, welcome back guys!”

“Oh my god! Can I scream!? Stain! Ahhh!”

“I think I’m gonna cry.”

“Am I dreaming right now? Can you stab me Toga?”

Izuku bursts out laughing and Stain snickers quietly.

“Here’re your fans Stain, time to be a good idol.” Izuku smirks at the killer. Stain sighs as the group tries to regain their composure and confidence. But once they do, they talk seriously about his ideology and how it inspires them. Stain attention increases immediately.

For the next hour, Izuku listens to them talking and he thinks Stain definitely likes them.

“When did you meet Stain?! I almost got a heart attack seeing him with my own eyes.”

“I knew him before I knew Toga and Spinner!”

“And you let me fanboy over him then you go and tell the guy?!”

“Why not?”

“Fuck you broccoli!”

Stain seems full of pride talking with the younger generation to change the current society. Good for him. Stain even agrees to spar with Toga, and the 2 boys go with them to watch. That leaves Izuku with Overcast and Umbra who just came back from the south. But they then give Izuku a gift.

“You got me a UA Sports Festival ticket?!” Izuku can’t help but jump in excitement. Overcast chuckles at him.

“Yup! Don’t ask how I got it though, it’s a secret bunny.” Overcast hands him the tickets and stands up to grab his iced americano. “See ya later!” He then leaves with Umbra to do some business.

Not only does Izuku get to see so many quirks, he gets to cheer on Shouto too! Maybe he can surprise Shouto.

They don’t hang out much lately because Endeavor wants to train him to win the tournament. Fuck him, Izuku wants him gone from his friend’s life. Hopefully he can find Endeavor and prank him.

Should he bring someone with him? All his other friends are well known and wanted criminals... Guess he’s going alone then. Oh! No one has seen Tomura without the hands, maybe Izuku can ask the guy.

Ah! He needs to tell Stain that he can’t go on patrol with him. Just then the man walks in. Perfect timing!

“I can’t go with you tomorrow,” Izuku says while making him his usual coffee.

“That’s fine, you can go with me anytime kid.”

.

.

(Izuku would regret his decision to not go with Stain later, but hey, Shouto is important to him too!)

Chapter Text

Izuku should’ve expected this, but come on! It’s not that bad! Tomura is just overreacting. What’s wrong with going to UA again but this time legally? And no one would even recognize him. He could just wear a cap and a mask and baam! A normal civilian who’s lucky to get their hands on Sports Festival tickets.

“Please Tomura! You’re not gonna get caught! And you have Kurogiri!” Izuku tries to assure him.

The guy glares at him and goes back to fishing in Animal Crossing. Izuku pouts and pays attention to the drinks in his hand instead. Not only is he good at making alcoholic drinks but Kurogiri actually makes a good milkshake. He should ask for some recipes later.

Tomura glances at him and speaks suddenly, “Sensei, what do you think?”

It seems like All for One listens to them all the time, because he replies immediately.

“I see no harm in going, Tomura. You can practice on your disguising skill for future undercover missions,” The supervillain states. And if his authority already suggests it, of course Tomura can’t do anything but follow.

“Fine,” Tomura huffs. “When is it?”

“Today!” Izuku says enthusiastically.

“...You gotta be kidding me.”

“I want to fucking die,” Tomura says, hands twitching. Izuku puts a bandage on the older man’s neck so he wouldn’t scratch it.

“You’re exaggerating! It’s not that bad, you look good in his colors!” Said color is an All Might hoodie, matching with Izuku. No one would bat an eye at two teenagers wearing the Number One hero’s colors. Even though Tomura almost disintegrated the other one with All Might’s face on it, Izuku managed to make him wear this one which was only All Might-color themed.

They’re already inside the school. He remembers Shoto saying that they will increase their security after The League of Villains invaded USJ, which is definitely not true. He sees various heroes hanging around the stadium but the school only has three security guards at the gate.

But enough of that, Izuku doesn’t really care. Now he’s dragging Tomura around to different food booths. Tomura complains all the way, but Izuku knows that the guy loves to hangout with him. After grabbing tons of food, they decide to find their seats in the stadium.

There’s so many people! Is this half of Japan?! People love seeing kids beating each other up huh? And how did Overcast even manage to buy them front row seats?

“You’re mumbling,” Tomura says while eating his takoyaki.

“Wha-”

“WELCOME TO UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!” Jeez, Present mic is so loud.

“Is he using his quirk?!” Tomura shouts at him. Talking normally definitely wouldn’t be heard over the blond’s booming voice.

“I think he’s just this loud!” Izuku shouts back. They obviously will need some honey lemon tea for the sore throat they’re bound to get after this.

“-HERO COURSE, CLASS 1-A!” The class walks out into the field. The stands are screaming and cheering at the kids. People are excited to see the class that survived a villain attack. He can spot Shouto, but his friend can’t see him.

Izuku ignores what Bakugou says into the mic for his speech and eats his okonomiyaki instead. He looks up when Midnight announces the first event, which is an obstacle race. Okay, time to predict what will happen.

“Shouto will freeze the entire floor and then-”

“Oi, don’t give me spoilers. I’m sure you can tell me exactly what happens during the entire event,” Tomura murmurs and pokes Izuku’s cheek.

Izuku blushes at that. What Tomura said is undeniably a compliment. Sensei once told him that his analysis skill can expand into predictions if quirks are involved. Like, if he analyzes a person's quirk for a long enough time, he can guess which moves they’ll use without even needing to see them first. Which is really cool.

Back to the race, the school must’ve spent a lot of money on this festival. There’s like ten giant robots on that course. And is that a minefield?!

Izuku watches in excitement the whole time while Tomura finishes all the food. Is it that boring? Isn’t the villain supposed to be observing the kids? Izuku remembers vaguely that he plans to do something with class 1-A again.

Ah, whatever.

He's just here enjoying the moments that Shouto is in first place, which is all the time.

Izuku decides that Endeavor would be better off dead. When he sees Shouto’s distressed expression, he just wants to trip the man or maybe drop a bucket of water on him or something. He can’t do anything too extreme, he really doesn’t want to get in trouble.

And if Izuku wants something, he’s gonna get it. With the power of technology, he’s able to locate the exact location above Endeavor’s head. The man is still shouting something in his friend’s face. So Izuku texts Kurogiri to prepare a bucket of water with a lot of ice in it. Oh wait! This is just like an Ice Bucket Challenge!

When the text is sent, he tries to catch Shouto’s attention from his spot behind a water dispenser. Shouto probably wouldn’t read his text. What if he jumps up and down and waves at him? Wow, that sounds stupid.

But it works! Shouto stares at him with wide eyes briefly before quickly turning back to his father so it doesn’t look suspicious.

Kurogiri, the kind man he is, doesn’t ask questions and does what Izuku tells him to do. He can see the moment Shouto’s eyes widen again when he spots the familiar portal opening above his father’s head.

The cold water gets poured on the fire hero and it puts out the fire on his entire outfit. Endeavor stills. And Izuku chooses that moment to dash in, picks up Shouto bridal style, and get the fuck out of there as quickly as possible. When did he even get this strong to be able to lift his friend?

“SHOUTO!!!” Endeavor screams in rage behind them. But Izuku doesn’t look back and instead finds a place to hide. Which ends up being a restroom stall. Nice. He’s panting heavily and trying to catch his breath. He feels someone tap his shoulder, and he looks to his left to see Shouto blinking at him. Right, he forgot he was still carrying his friend.

Izuku puts Shouto down and looks at him attentively. “You okay?”

“I’m fine?” Shouto doesn’t meet his eyes.

Izuku really wants to say something to cheer him up, but he hears Present Mic announcing the third round event. He sighs. Then he figures something out.

Izuku’s arms wrap around Shouto suddenly, making the guy stiffen. He then relaxes slightly. “...What’re you doing?”

“I’m giving you a hug! Come on! Hug me back!” Izuku whines. But Shouto just looks at him in confusion. Wait. “Have you ever been…um, hugged?”

“..No?” Wow. Tragic life for real.

“Great! I’m your first then! Now hug! And you gotta go beat the shit out of everyone!” Izuku hugs him tightly and Shouto gives in. He buries his face in Izuku’s fluffy hair and Izuku pats his back lightly. “Remember what I said? It’s your power, right?”

Shouto nods meekly.

Yeah, they’re just two teenagers hugging each other in a school restroom. Not weird at all.

“Where’ve you been?” Tomura asks when Izuku comes back with two cups of coffee. It’s actually only for pro heroes, but just like he said, this school’s security sucks. He ran in the room, grabbed the coffee, then left without any problems!

He hands one of the cups to the villain and takes a gulp from his own. Ew, it’s disgusting.

“Is this coffee that bad or is my tongue just used to your high quality, delicious coffee you make?” Tomura stares at the cup in distaste.

“Nah, I’m just too good of a barista.” Izuku winks at him.

When the battle tournament begins, Izuku brings out his notebook. There’s class 1-B and Gen-Ed kids participating in this event, too. Even if he doesn’t get to use the information, it’s still useful to have on hand. He’s literally doing analysis for fun at this point.

He sees the wind-quirk guy and looks up his name in the pamphlet he was given. Yoarashi Inasa. He thinks that the guy is definitely in the top three in his class. Izuku’s kinda excited to see more of the quirk in action.

But then the purple-haired, tired-looking kid goes beyond his expectations. What’s that quirk?! Izuku sees him say something to Yoarashi, Inasa answers, and his eyes become blank. Oh! Mind control? That’s such a cool quirk! If Shinso manages to get into the hero course, Izuku needs Shouto to introduce him to the boy.

When it’s Shouto’s match, Izuku frowns at his friend. He still looks conflicted and a little pissed. Then Izuku sees Endeavor on the other side of the stadium, his fire back. Izuku should do something, this thinking isn’t healthy for Shouto’s mental health at all. How could he endure this for his entire life? He should add the downfall of Endeavor into one of Dabi’s or Tomura’s plans.

His thoughts get cut off by a sudden drop intemperature that makes him shiver. A massive pillar of ice that almost covers the entire arena appears, completely immobilizing Sero Hanta. Poor guy. But that’s an amazing power display, which is completely unnecessary. He can also see Shouto trembling a little from here.

He jumps when Shouto turns to him and gives him a wave before walking back into his tunnel. Ah, he just wants to piss off his old man. Izuku is sure that Shouto will one day meet a strong enough opponent that’s gonna make him use his full power today like when he’s training with Dabi.

Izuku jumps again when his phone rings. He brings out his phone to see that Stain is calling him? What?!

Tensei is about to die. A minute ago he had been patrolling on his own when he saw The Hero Killer Stain about to end a hero’s life in an alley. Without thinking to call for backup, he rushes in to stop the killer.

And now he’s laying on the floor bleeding out, and he couldn’t even save the now dead hero who Tensei doesn’t know the name of. The Hero Killer looks at him with wide eyes and Tensei quickly closes his eyes to fake being unconscious. He doesn’t know why he decides to do that, but apparently it’s enough to have Stain turn his focus onto his phone.

Stain turns around, and starts talking on his phone with someone.

“I might have a problem.” Tensei can’t hear what the other side says, but he thinks he might get some information out of this.

“Um, I kinda have an injured hero I didn’t mean to hurt at my feet right now.” What does that even mean? Didn’t mean to hurt? The Hero Killer didn’t mean to hurt him? A hero? What the hell is happening?

“I’m not gonna tell you his name! You’re going to get mad at me!” Stain is afraid of someone getting mad? Does Tensei have a concussion?

“I’m calling you because I don’t want a true hero to die.” Wow, that’s… nice of him.

“...Right. Thanks for the advice.” Stain hangs up and turns back towards him. He picks up Tensei's unlocked phone from the ground and calls… an ambulance?

“Hello? Ingenium is injured at…”

What a weird day.

“Yeah, sure, Akaguro-san. You know what, just use the hero’s phone to call an ambulance. Then you can leave,” Izuku suggests.

“...Right. Thanks for the advice.”

Stain then hangs up. Izuku can’t believe the Hero Killer panicked because he almost killed someone who’s not fake. But did he need to call Izuku? No!

His reason for giving out his number to all the villains is in case they want some quick analysis. But everyday they just sent him pictures of random, cute animals and memes. Not that he minds, of course. But like, what if it's an emergency? Some villains don’t act like villains at all.

Izuku should-

“IT'S THE FINAL MATCH EVERYBODY!!” Present Mic screams into his mic. Izuku quickly runs back to his seat to see Tomura looking at the stadium’s screen in interest.

And, oh, Shouto and Bakugou are up next. The latter’s name still leaves a bad taste in his mouth. No matter how long it’s been, almost a whole life of bullying and torture can’t be erased from his memory that easily. This is not personal, but he hopes Shouto wins.

God, Izuku wants to wipe that arrogant grin off Bakugou’s face. Shinsou would’ve been a perfect match with a guy like that.

“He’s perfect isn’t he.” Tomura's eyes sparkle. Who? Bakugou?! “Powerful quirk, shitty personality, and attitude. You should’ve seen the way he beat the gravity girl. That’s a villain in the making, bunny.”

“Hm.” Well, he is. But he’s more like another Endeavor. He has too much of a drive to become Number One for him to turn villain. He won’t tell Tomura that, of course. Izuku wonders what Bakugou's face will look like when he knows he has a villain's eyes on him because he acts like one.

Shouto isn’t looking too good right now. Why won’t he use both parts of his quirk? Not only will he lose, but Dabi might be mad at him for not using his fire as well. What can Izuku do in this situation...

Hmm, Izuku has never asked anything from Shouto before, except for dragging him to eat dinner together once because Izuku was lonely. Shouto has said he’ll do anything for him if Izuku asks him to.

“Hey, do you ever want to do something that you’ll definitely regret later?” Tomura raises his eyebrows when Izuku asks.

“All the time.” The villain snorts, then looks at Izuku's determined face. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I think I’m gonna enjoy this.”

Izuku takes off his mask, takes a deep breath, and cups his hands around his mouth.

He shouts, “BEAT HIS ASS FOR ME SHOUTO!!!”

The entire studium suddenly stops talking, so Shouto hears Izuku’s voice clearly. At first, Shouto didn’t really want to win. He’s trying to throw the match. Making Endeavor angry is his goal today. But when Izuku, his first friend, stands up and shouts his wish like that? It’s like everything in his head is gone instantly and he focuses on winning for Izuku.

His left side lights up, ‘his’ fire bigger than ever. It’s dancing around him as he charges at Bakugou.

He didn’t mean to cheat but he’s already looked at Izuku’s notebook for his class. Bakugou quirk relies on his sweat, that’s why his ice is effective, but it’s still not enough. His fire attack will make him sweat more, but what if his power pushes him out first?

He does just that.

Bakugou can destroy his ice all he wants, but his fire? He can’t destroy it, and it sends him out of the ring.

He wins.

Nononononono-

That can't be De-Izuku. No.

But he can remember his voice even if he hasn’t heard it in years. He can still remember their last conversation before the nerd disappeared.

Want—a quirk...swan dive— ..the roof!!

He looks up to see Izuku, still alive, with the same vibrant green eyes. Shouting encouragement, but it’s not for him like all those years ago. It’s for his opponent, who’s now swallowed by his fire, ready to attack.

The next thing he knows, a punch lands on his face. And the fire that he’s tried to make Half and Half uses this whole time propels him out of bounds.

This bastard owes him a fucking answer.

Tomura laughs at him after his stunt. Who would’ve known that the whole stadium would suddenly become quiet! And now they’re all looking at him. Fuck! He wants to crawl into a hole and hide in there forever.

But luckily, the hotness of Shouto’s fire brings back all the attention to the battle. Front and center is Shouto standing proudly, smirking in his direction. Bakugou's unconscious body lies off the stage.

Yooo, Izuku’s gonna make soba for the rest of the week for him!

When it’s the closing ceremony, Izuku watches happily as Shouto receives his medal. He can also sense Tomura’s satisfaction when the school chains Bakugou to the podium for his fury. Bakugou looks like he wants to jump at Shouto the moment he’s able to break free.

Izuku won’t allow that. He says goodbye to Tomura after the guy says he has a meeting with a possible recruit. Izuku then runs down to meet Shouto in the field. Who cares if civilians aren’t allowed in there.

“Shouto!” Izuku jumps to him and wraps his arms around his friend. And this time, Shouto hugs back immediately. He ignores Shouto’s classmates who pull out their phone to take a rare picture of Shouto with a smile.

“Let’s get out of here before my dad comes looking for me,” Shouto murmurs.

Izuku is happy to comply.

Mind Heist: Is this u lol
(A video of Izuku shouting, taken by a person a couple seats away. The caption says ‘how to win the sports festival by todoroki shouto lmao’)

You: wtff
nooo
why am i viral!!
*angry rabbit sticker*

Mind Heist: im so proud of you

You: …

“Stain is working under someone?” Detective Tsukauchi repeats what Ingenium just told him with confusion.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m not hallucinating, don’t worry.”

“Right, so he was calling them because he didn’t mean to harm you?”

“The person seems to have control over the Hero Killer. You’ve noticed his change in victims, right? He only kills the ones who have a bad file that is known to the media,” Tensei says.

“We need to find the leader of all these villains. First, the Honeylocust Group, then the League of Villains, now Stain? Whoever is behind all these plans must be really dangerous. We need to find some connections to all of them.”

(Izuku sneezes.)

Chapter Text

Ingenium’s Career is Over? Hero Killer Strikes Again.

What the fuck?!

Izuku stares unbelievably at the headline on his phone. Didn’t they just talk about the Iida family like, a few weeks ago? 

You know what, no coffee for Stain today!

Stain and the other villains will know better than to break Bunny’s agreement. Where else could they even get coffees like the ones he makes? Nowhere!

(Not making coffee for them is actually a pretty good punishment, Izuku thinks.)

Shouto thinks about the previous two days of constant partying that happened while he sits in homeroom. The school gave them two days off and Izuku, Touya, and their villain friends insisted on a congratulation party for him winning the Sports Festival. 

He never had a party for HIM before. But those two days were the best experience he’s ever had. Karaoke, playing games all day, laying around on Izuku’s bed, eating delicious food that Touya and Izuku made together, and many more fun things. Shouto knows that they just don't want him to go back to the house.

He’s thankful because the cafe is already his new home.

He’s lost in his head but he’s aware of someone looking at him. And he knows that it’s Bakugou. Ever since returning to school, the guy won’t stop glaring at him. He glares even harder when Aizawa sensei shows the offers everyone got from Pro Heroes, with which Shouto ends up getting a lot more than him. Shouto knows the history between Izuku and the blonde, which reminds him too much of his father, who values power over everything else. 

He’s successful so far in avoiding a confrontation. He can see Bakugou trying to corner him, but he doesn’t hide his intense aura that radiates off him so Shouto can slip from his sight easily.

He usually sits with Yaoyorozu during lunch. She’s a great company who doesn’t push him too much into talking with her. Sometimes Jiro joins too. But today Bakugou and his squad end up all sitting beside their table and try to have a conversation with him.

“Woah, Todoroki-kun! Your bento looks so good! That can compete with Lunch Rush’s for sure!” Kaminari compliments him on the left. Wait, when did he sit there?

Shouto blinks at him impassively. “My friend made it for me,” he says while munching on his karaage.

He’s sure that’s the topic Bakugou is waiting for because he straightens up immediately. 

“Who is it? Oh! Is it the same cute green-haired boy that cheered for you?” Ashido asks, intrigued.

“Hm.” 

“How do you know him?” Bakugou cuts in. His friends look at him weirdly.

“That’s none of your business, is it?” Shouto replies nonchalantly.

A small pop of an explosion comes from the blonde’s hands. “Fucking-” 

Kirishima restrains his explosive friend from jumping at Shouto and changes the topic. “Hahaha! Let’s talk about our offers instead! I want to go with Fourth Kind! How about you guys?” 

They talk about that while Shouto just listens quietly. Yeah, listening while having the blonde stare at his back. Seriously, what’s his problem? Regretting his past and wanting to apologize to Izuku? He wants to laugh at that. 

Shouto decides to ignore him and thinks about his offers instead. He normally would choose to go with his father, but he noticed a name that looked out of place on his list earlier. 

Why would he even send an internship offer to him? 

He thinks it would be funny if he accepts the guy’s offer just to piss his father off (again).

“Wow, you actually accepted my offer,” the Number 3 hero Hawks states, astonished.

Shouto shrugs. “Just want to annoy the old man. And I’m interested in why you offered your internship spot to me.”

“Oh, I’m gonna have some fun with you!” Hawks chuckles. “And the reason, uhh, let's just say I want to try out something with your quirk. It might or might not work. And even if it doesn't, you can still learn about paperwork!” Hawks flap his wings excitedly.

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, who also accepted Hawks’ internship offer, blink dumbly at them and decide to look around the agency with one of the sidekicks instead. Hawks only offered it to them because they both are birds, anyways… 

“So, what do you have in mind?” Shouto asks, wanting to get this over with. Their quirks don't have any similarities, so interning with the Winged Hero won't benefit him that much in terms of his quirk ability. But he might get some knowledge about hero work.

“I was watching your final match and when you burst out in flames — which was so cool by the way — and it got me wondering if you can control the fire that exploded out from you to look like wings. Like a phoenix! That could be your hero's name, Shouto!” It’s like listening to Izuku ranting about quirk but less pleasant. 

“Okay..?” Fire wings?

“That can be an intimidating technique, and you will also look ten times cooler. You probably can’t fly but oh well! Let’s get to work buddy!” Not waiting for his answer, Hawks drags him inside a training room.

This internship looks promising.

He can’t believe that Shouto actually chose Hawks. But hey, he should live his life! 

Izuku’s been working at the cafe and helping at the bar recently. People in the bar are very different from the ones in the cafe. There’s a variety of villains there, from lower-life thugs to some dangerous assassins. Izuku is there as Bunny, so he gets to analyze so many new quirks for them. He’s so popular that within an hour, he’s able to get almost enough money to buy a mansion.

He sometimes brings his coffee for the clients too.

Izuku didn’t tell them that he’ll be visiting their hideout today. He doesn’t want to bother Kurogiri to open a portal for him. So he walks with his cardboard box that he cut holes in to make a temporary tray to carry all the coffees. Wow, he looks like a delivery boy.

He makes sure no one is around then he knocks on the bar door. He waits for a while but nobody comes out. Well, he's just gonna walk right in. It’s not like some random person would knock on the door except for him.

He sticks his head in the room. And he gapes at what he sees. It looks like he’s interrupting some meeting… should he even call it that? At the Sports Festival, Tomura said he’d be meeting a possible ally later. And a while ago, Stain told him that there’s a group seeking him out. So both guys were talking about the same thing then.

Stain has a knife by Tomura’s throat, and Kurogiri is out of commission. They both can’t move from Stain’s quirk. Maybe he should leave and come back later? Nah, he’s a good friend, let's intervene.

“Hi! What’re you guys doing?” Three sets of eyes are on him immediately, four if you count All for One, because that guy’s always watching. He hops past Stain and Tomura on the floor and sets the coffees on the bar counter. Kurogiri’s mist flickers nervously.

Tomura tries to get away at that moment but fails when Stain takes out another knife and stabs it on the wooden floor next to the villain’s hand. Izuku grimaces.

“Bunny, what are you doing! Get out! There’s a fucking murderer on me and you’re greeting us?!” Tomura shouts at him. Izuku can see the fear in his eyes behind his father.

Stain blinks at Izuku and decides to get off of The League’s leader. He collects his knife then walks to grab a black coffee from Izuku. “You’re with this League of Villains? I thought you wouldn’t join any group,” he states.

“I’m not in The League, just hanging around! I’m here to give them their coffee. What’s happening here?”

“Maybe you should ask your friends over there.” Stain motions to the paralyzed villain on the floor.

“You know him?!” Tomura hisses. But then he realizes something. “Oh right, you’re Bunny. You know everyone,” he mutters. “Sensei said that The Hero Killer would be a great addition to the team. Well, it doesn’t seem like that!” Tomura explains.

“Whaat?! I think you guys' goals are kind of aligned though. Rebuilding society right? That’s literally the same thing!” Izuku states. Then he adds, unsurely. “But different methods?”

“They do not, Bunny. The League of Villains don’t have a conviction. Kill All Might? Then what? You can’t go far if the only thing you do is destroy what you don’t like,” Stain says.

“You’re describing yourself, Stain! And I’m not only killing All Might!” Tomura snarls. He’s now able to get up, and he’s flexing his hand, ready to have another round with the killer.

“Wait wait wait!” Izuku puts himself between them. He doesn’t have to do this, but it's better if they’re on the same team, you know? Okay, let’s think a little bit. Shigaraki’s goal is to kill the Symbol of Peace and destroy current society, while Stain wants to purge the fake heroes from society. So technically, cleaning the system is part of destroying it? Is that how it works? His head hurts! Is being a villain supposed to be this hard and confusing?

He remembers that he still hasn’t said anything yet. He looks up and is about to open his mouth when he sees their faces.

Goddammit, he mumbled again. But hey! It's helping!

He sees Tomura take a deep breath and shift his stance to one less threatening. Izuku decides to back away, because he literally said everything he wanted to say already. How embarrassing! Should he try to stop his mumbling habits? But all the villains said they didn’t mind it. They actually find it relaxing and informative. 

“So let’s ignore that you had a knife to my throat a minute ago. Just like Bunny said, killing All Might is just a part of my end goal,” Tomura calmly explains to Stain. His hands twitch a bit. Izuku knows his self restraint is so high right now. The Tomura from before probably would’ve barked at Kurogiri to take Stain away by now.

“I want to destroy what I don’t like, yes. But I don’t like this so-called society where All Might is the pillar that holds everything. He created an illusion where the perfect hero has to be like him, where they just smile for the camera and act like everything is okay, like he can save everyone- which he can’t! I want to destroy this, to let people see how fragile hero society is.”  

That’s right, no hero helped Tomura before; that’s why he became what he is today.

“You don’t need to join us. I already made my point. Just wanted to make sure that we’re on the same side and all.” Tomura sighs and grabs the almond-and-honey latte that Izuku hands to him.

Stain observes them quietly. 

The League leader pays him no mind. He slings his arm around Izuku's shoulders and pulls him close. “Thanks,” he whispered.

“What did I do?” Izuku asks, confused. 

“I don’t know why, but when you’re in this room, my anxiety is just, uh, gone?” Tomura says, almost like he's not sure either.

“Am I your emotional support?” Izuku chuckles amused. He’s glad that the two villains don't want to kill each other anymore.

“Did you know that a rabbit is one of the more popular animals for emotional support? I now think you are mine,” Tomura ruffles his hair and backs away when he sees Stain wants to say something.

“Sorry for not letting you explain more and misjudging you. I see that we both want to destroy the current society, but I think I won’t join you. And I won’t get in your way either. If Bunny approves of you and is comfortable here, then I want to see what this League of Villains will become in the future,” Stain says and turns to Kurogiri who’s now able to move. “Please bring me back to Hosu.” 

“Can I join in on the fun?” Tomura asks before the guy walks out.

Stain doesn’t turn back from the portal. “Sure.” He then leaves.

They all stare at where The Hero Killer was a second ago. Kurogiri is the one who breaks the silence.

“That… went better than I thought,” he says incredulously.

“Fuck, I should’ve decay one of his knives or something,” Tomura grumbles, but Izuku can see the tension disappear from his form.

“You know, you don’t really need to prove yourself to Stain. He’s just another murderer. He has his own twisted ways of thinking. Just another villain,” Izuku thinks out loud. And All for One chooses that time to speak up.

“That’s right. I just wanted to see how you handled someone like him. Which you did great, Tomura,” the villain compliments.

Tomura blushes at the praise. But he quickly regains his composure. “Thank you sensei. Do you have any available Nomu right now?”

“Hm, I’ll give you three.”

Izuku thinks that’s the signal for him to leave and go back to his work, but a hand grabs his collar, preventing him from walking away.

“Nuh-uh, you’re coming with us bunny,” Tomura grins at him.

Izuku can only sigh. What can go wrong while watching over a city while it gets destroyed by artificial humans with multiple quirks?

This is too relaxing.

Izuku is currently lying on a couch — yes, a couch — on the rooftop of an abandoned building, which Kurogiri warped here for him. The guy is standing beside Tomura who’s watching his work through binoculars. 

The city is on fire and Izuku is here, almost falling asleep to the sound of people screaming. Hey! He needs sleep okay? He was working on more analysis last night. He only rested for like two hours before he had to wake up again.

He’s about to close his eyes when he hears the faint sound of an engine. He catches sight of pale silver armor running around like they’re looking for something, or someone. Izuku sits up and walks to the railing. He peers over to see Shouto's classmate. Iida Tenya? 

Izuku frowns. The boy doesn’t look like he’s saving civilians or doing anything that would help in this type of situation. Is this the future generation of heroes? Izuku then realizes something. 

Ingenium got injured by The Hero Killer, Stain.

Stain is in Hosu.

Iida is Ingenium’s brother and right now, he’s running through different alleys while not batting an eye to the situation around him.

Ah, kid these days… (Isn’t Izuku the same age as him?)

Hopefully Stain won’t kill a kid who wants revenge for his brother. Come to think of it, Stain will definitely see him as another fake. Doesn’t care about the city and runs straight to the killer to seek vengeance? Yup, he’s dead.

Let’s think about the end result. Stain will get a bad reaction from the media and his followers for killing a hero student. While they can think that Stain deems the kid as fake, it still doesn’t look too good. UA will also get backlash for letting a kid go and become a vigilante who does what he thinks is right which results in the death of himself.

Izuku doesn’t have to pry but, hey, there’s always been a part of himself that wants to play hero. Even if he’s now working with villains, he’s helping. He helped Dabi and Shouto, he helped Tomura to be better, he helped Stain to walk in a straight line. And that’s what he’s going to do again.

“Guys! I’ll be back! Kurogiri, please be alert on your phone!” With that, Izuku pulls up his hood to cover his face and climbs down the fire escape.

He runs along the road, avoiding people and trying to find Iida or Stain. After running for a while, he finally hears sword and engine sounds. He hides behind the building and takes a peek in the alley.

Okay, Iida is on the ground, bleeding. There’s also another hero, Native. Izuku can’t remember what he did to be considered a fake. Izuku could just walk in and drag Stain back, but the killer seems pretty mad. And if something goes wrong, if someone sees his face, Shouto might get in trouble.

Oh, speaking of his friend, he’s with Hawks! Izuku can text him and let the hero do his job. Then Izuku can help Stain escape instead of engaging in the fight! Or maybe let the hero fight, then Izuku shows himself as Shouto’s friend and talks some sense into Iida's brain or something.

He quickly texts Shouto and hopes for the best.

Turns out, Shouto can actually make wings with his flames. He usually just creates fire then attacks, nothing more. So this is like a whole new world for him. And they’re not only for show, he can glide in the air for a bit before the fire goes out. He’s looking through the photos and videos that Hawks sent to him.  That’s some superhero landing right there! 100/10! Hawks texts.

Suddenly, Shouto gets a message from Izuku, and he’s about to read it when Hawks chooses that moment to dive down and pick him up.

“Hawks?” In the blink of an eye, they’re up in the air and soaring fast through the sky.

“Villain attack in Hosu,” Hawks replies in a serious tone. Shouto then read his friend’s text. It’s a location in Hosu as well. There’s also a video of- is that Iida? Having an argument with Stain while bleeding on the ground?

He quickly shows this to the hero.

“Tell your friend good job for asking for reinforcements,” After a few minutes of flying, he finally sees the burning city. Hawks flies closer to the marked location. Shouto wants to facepalm, because why is Izuku always there when things get dangerous? His friend is hiding behind a dumpster, watching Stain monologuing.

Izuku tenses when Stain goes to strike down to end Iida’s life. Shouto quickly jumps down from Hawks' arms and bursts into flames. His fiery wings light up the dark alley, bright enough to blind The Hero Killer for a bit. That gives enough time for Hawks to use his quirk to attack and capture Stain.

After fighting for a while, which ends up being more like the Number 3 hero doing his job while Shouto puts up ice barriers, Shouto lets Hawks restrain Stain and runs to Iida, who’s able to move now. He seems guilty, and he looks down in shame. 

Izuku is standing to the side, looking nervous. When did he even travel to Hosu? He isn’t wearing a face mask, so he must be here as a civilian or Shouto’s friend.

“I shouldn’t have let my anger blind me. I’m really sorry Todoroki-kun! I’m so selfish, I didn’t even see Native, a-and if your friend hadn’t called for help, we might all be dead! I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!” Iida cries, falling to his knees and clutching Shouto’s leg weakly.

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” Shouto says instead of the harsh words that he feels bubbling up. How could Iida think a student with little experience such as himself could beat a notorious serial killer?

He turns to Izuku who glances at Stain every few seconds. Wait, does he know the Hero Killer? Is that why he’s here?

“Hey Shouto! I- wait, you aren’t a hero student.” Hawks appears beside him and blinks at Izuku. “Ahh, you must be the one who sent the video. Thanks little bird! But you might want to go home now,” The Wings Hero ushers the boy to go elsewhere.

They walk out the alley to see other heroes coming towards them. They notice the defeated Stain and gasp. The sidekicks then quickly call an ambulance for the injured Iida and the police to arrest the Hero Killer.

Shouto wants to check on Izuku but he’s already gone. He doesn’t get a chance to look for his friend, because a Nomu suddenly swoops down from the sky and snatches Shouto from the ground.

What the..?

What the hell is that Nomu doing?

Izuku slips away quietly to text Kurogiri the location beneath Stain. The Hero Killer might be discontent, and it might not be cool with him to escape with other people's help, but Izuku doesn’t want him to get arrested. He can do so much for the future.

But when he looks back, a winged Nomu has Shouto in its claw. Does it have a mind of its own? 

Before Izuku could get lost in his head, a scream from one of the heroes brings him back to the current events. Oh my god! Stain is out! And he’s the one who rescues Shouto and finishes off the Nomu by stabbing it’s brain.

Endeavor chooses that moment to show up. He’s about to attack the villain if not for Hawks stopping him first. His son is literally right there! Is he losing his mind or something?!

Stain for sure is having the same opinion of the Number 2 hero, because his face morphs and he starts monologuing again.

“This society is so full of fakes! If there isn’t one who sacrifices themselves to wipe out someone like you, there won’t be true heroes left anymore! Come at me, you fake! The only one who’s allowed to kill me is a real hero! Which is definitely not you, Endeavor!!” Stain yells while releasing a malicious aura that paralyzes everyone, making even Endeavor step back. Izuku is surprised that it doesn’t affect him that much. Well, he’s a little bit shaken, but that’s it.

He notices that Stain is swaying lightly, like he’s about to lose consciousness. The heroes on the scene don’t realize that yet. Wouldn’t it be cool if after that speech, Stain is able to escape while the heroes are still stunned in fear? 

While stepping through his own warp gate, Izuku sees someone filming the whole event from down the street.

What everyone will see later upon reviewing that footage is a familiar portal opening up behind the Hero Killer. Stain doesn’t turn back, but it looks like the villain lets himself fall into the warp gate. Leaving the heroes to stare at the empty street.

“You had fun?” Tomura asks with amusement in his voice when Izuku stumbles through the portal with the unconscious Hero Killer next to him.

Izuku sighs.

“Huh, it’s the same kid,” Eraserhead mumbles to himself while watching the security camera footage of the Stain event that happened a while ago, which Tsukauchi managed to access.

“Who?” 

“That kid who came out of the portal and pulled Stain back. He’s everywhere, detective,” the underground hero says in his monotone voice. The video that got uploaded didn’t show this angle, so the kid didn’t show himself to the internet.

Interested, Detective Tsukauchi motions him to continue.

“It started with the trafficking last year, then patrolling with Dabi and others, the USJ, and now this video. This kid is always there, wearing his stupid All Might hoodie. He’s not doing anything bad though. He even helped me at the USJ,” Aizawa clarifies.

“Did you try to talk or capture the boy?” 

“I tried, but he always has at least one high-ranking villain accompanying him. So it’s hard for me to get him alone,” Eraserhead grumbles.

Detective Tsukauchi sighs. “At least we have a lead.”

“I’ll try to get the boy’s name. The underground probably knows something. I haven’t been in that information circle for a long time, though, so it may take a while.” 

Eraserhead soon says his goodbye. He needs to go to the hospital and have some words with Iida.

“Maybe I should start with kidnapping cases...” Tsukauchi says to himself after the hero leaves.

Chapter Text

Once Stain had woken up yesterday, he had  insisted on treating his injuries himself, so Izuku let him be. Kurogiri and Tomura later agreed to drop off Izuku at the cafe, since after a long day he deserved some good night's sleep.

And today?

Stain went viral.

And so did the league.  At first, Izuku thought that everyone would focus on Stain, and Tomura would be mad that the Hero Killer got all the credit he deserved. Turns out, the League of Villains seemed to be the more interesting topic.

Once he woke up to a peaceful morning, Izuku did his usual chores and then hopped down the stairs to make himself a cup of coffee. When he reached the entrance, however, he’s surprised to see the room full of people already. It’s still early in the morning! 

He wrote all the orders down and got to work. While making the coffees, he listened to the conversations that all of them were having, most of which seemed to be on the same topic. The video of Stain that got uploaded by someone. The Commission tried to take it down but it kept getting reposted and shared. Izuku’s sure that everyone must’ve seen it by now.

The question everyone is asking is ‘who is the League of Villains?’. The group that started their debut with attacking a hero school, while not succeeding in their goal to kill All Might, still managed to break into the school full of pro heroes.

Another question wandering around is ‘now that Stain is a part of the group, what exactly is their ultimate end goal?’. To be able to get the Hero Killer — who has ideals of his own — to agree to be a part of this organization, there had to have been something worthwhile for the man. What changed? They’ve been open for new members for a while, so why did he join now?

Speaking of recruiting, more villains seemed to be interested in joining the group. But they don’t know what they will gain or what will happen if they do. Izuku listens to some of their opinions on the matter and thinks about what Tomura's next move will be.

Izuku is lonely. Like, really lonely. It’s just like in the beginning when he started working here. Villains come in for coffee then leave, leaving Izuku alone with himself and the smell of coffee lingering around the room. 

Dabi is out again. Toga and Spinner don’t even come here that often. Shouto is busy with his final exams. And all of his villain friends disappear after their morning coffee. Izuku rests his head on his hand and stirs his iced pistachio latte absentmindedly. He just wants someone to talk to!

God apparently hears him because a moment later there’s confetti and glitter exploding in his face. He yelps and jumps back towards the wall, looking up to see a tall man with a white mask decorated with a cool black geometric design. The man wears a dark yellow overcoat with buttoned shoulder pads and a high collar. He’s also carrying a silver cane with a gold handle.

The guy chuckles. “Didn’t mean to scare you little bunny!” He bows apologetically. Izuku stares at him in bewilderment. But, gotta admit, that’s an awesome way to announce your arrival.

Izuku smiles and asks him eagerly, “Hello! What would you like to drink?”

“Whatever you make for me,” the stranger says while pulling a cute white stuffed rabbit from his top hat. Is he a magician? Or is that his quirk? Izuku watches from the corner of his eye in amazement while making a salted caramel cream cold brew for him.

“Um, Mr…”

“My name is Mr. Compress. Glad to make your acquaintance, the legendary Bunny.” He then throws another set of golden confetti in the air. Does Izuku need to clean that up..? But wait..

“L-legendary?!” He squeaks and blushes. When did his status change from the “famous” one to this?

Mr. Compress hums. “Don’t be so humble.” He picks up a fork, adjusts his mask, and tries the lemon yogurt cake that Izuku sets before him. “I actually came here to have a chat. Someone recommended this place to me. They said if you’re stressed or just want to relax, this cafe is the best for us villains.” 

Izuku nods at that. He’s glad that what Mind Heist wanted actually came true. Izuku is happy to be a part of it. 

Mr. Compress is actually a great entertainer, Izuku soon learns. He has a nice sense of humor and can lead a conversation for quite a while. Izuku enjoys his presence; it’s like he’s a cool uncle who wants to show off his skills to his nieces and nephews. They talk a lot. Well, more like Izuku claps and oohs to every trick he does with his quirk. 

Then Mr. Compress suddenly asks a weird question out of nowhere.

“What do you think about commitment?” Mr. Compress takes a sip of his coffee. Izuku’s eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. Compress takes the hint and elaborates, “Well, recently there’s been an opportunity for me to like, you know, take a step towards my goal of fighting against a corrupt system. But if I take it, I don’t think I can take a step back. I’m not sure if they’re even the right choice! I know nothing about them too…” He trails off.

Is he joining a cult or something?

“Er, I don’t know you that well to decide it for you. But if it’s beneficial to you then why not? And they really won’t let you leave?” Izuku speaks the last part more likely to himself but the guy catches it anyway.

“It’s not that I can’t leave, it's just my kind of thing that if I choose it, I have to stay with it till the end.” Then he adds, “That sounded just like what Stain would say. Wow, I’m such a fan.” Izuku laughs with him. It’s refreshing to see other’s views on their own goals. 

This alley probably is cursed. How come he always finds a not-so-normal individual in this place(sorry Dabi). He was just taking the trash to the dumpster when he notices a shadow hunched over near the wall. And since yes, he’s curious, Izuku carefully sneaks to look more closely. He takes a step forward and accidentally trods down onto a random beer can on the floor.

“Jesus Christ! You scared the shit out of me! You didn’t scare me at all you brat!” The person lurches and two contrasting voices speak up. Izuku jumps back (how many times does he need to do that!) and looks at the person wearily, only to see a normal enough man — well, normal enough for this quirked day and age — wearing a black and gray bodysuit that covers his entire body, along with gray boots. He wears a similar color mask and now is looking at Izuku with wide eyes.

“A-are you okay over there?” Izuku asks with uncertainty. His suit reminds him of an American comic that Mind Heist sent to him yesterday.

“I’m fine. Do I look fine to you?!” Again, a secondary voice speaks after the first sentence, almost like there’s more than one person who’s talking. Izuku decides not to ask and only listens to the first part.

“Well, you’re sitting alone next to a dumpster in the middle of the night. Totally looks fine to me.” He didn’t mean to speak like that, what if the guy finds it offensive and stabs him?!

“Whatever kid, just leave me alone. Please don’t leave me! I’m definitely not a creeper!” Izuku stares at him in concern. 

But being the kind person he is, he decides that leaving this person having a crisis by himself wouldn’t be good.

“You know what, I kinda own the building behind you. So, if you want, I can make you a cup of hot coffee?” It comes out as a question, but Izuku knows that it was accepted when the man looks at him with wide, hopeful eyes. Izuku just smiles at him and turns around to leave the alley.

He hears the guy scrambling to catch up. “Thanks I guess. Free food!”

Izuku leads him into the cafe, which has emptied for the night. The guy follows him like a lost dog. 

“Do you like alcohol?” Izuku asks while searching for some ingredients in the cabinet.

“Yeah. Heck yes, I’m an alcoholic!”  

Izuku laughs. The guy’s probably good at reading faces, or Izuku is just easy to read because he doesn’t take offense to his laughter. 

“I’m Twice by the way. I’m not! You seem chill so you probably don’t care about my...” Twice gestures to himself. Izuku nods at him. He thinks it’s from his quirk. He’s positive he’s heard the name Twice before in the underground, since the guy is literally the most sought-after for doing illegal jobs. A quirk that can create an exact duplicate of anyone? What a cool quirk. If they meet again, Izuku really wants to ask him questions.

“So, why were you sitting out there?” Izuku asks as he places down a cold brew Sangria, mentally noting that he should once again thank Kurogiri for teaching him how to make several alcoholic drinks. Izuku plops into the seat next to Twice.

Twice dips a straw in the drink and tastes it excitedly. “I was just thinking about some decision I made. Kinda stressed actually. I’m not stressed at all! Stupid! ” Swirling his straw around in his drink, Twice takes a deep breath. “Ah, I don’t know if they will accept me like this. You’re actually the first person in these past few months who wasn’t freaked out by me or anything. Ah ah ah, kid! You’re definitely creeped out! But you won’t say it out loud!”

Izuku scratches his chin awkwardly. “Well, I meet a lot of different kinds of people here. I guess I just respect and am okay with them.”

Twice stares at him. “What’s your name again?” Izuku did not, in fact, tell him his name yet.

“...Bunny.” 

Masked eyes widen, so he must-

“Who?”

Oh.

Izuku doesn’t even know what this place is. He’s supposed to deliver some coffees for Honey and her friends, but now he’s here in an illegal underground fighting ring. Izuku looks so out of place, not only because he’s a tiny ass kid, but because there’s only women here! 

He tries calling her phone, but she doesn’t answer, and everyone is looking at him weirdly! They’re so intimidating and Izuku doesn’t have the heart to ask any of them for help. 

Izuku pushes through the crowd towards the left side of the massive room. He reaches a more peaceful area than the middle and takes a moment to catch his breath. He’s just about to spend the rest of the night searching for Honey when he bumps into a tall, muscular body.

The woman in front of him has shoulder-length, reddish-magenta hair. She wears a black tank top, showing off her muscles, which is paired with some sunglasses and red lipstick. She looks down at him in concern and confusion.

“Hello little boy, are you lost?” a deep voice greets him.

Izuku quickly nods. “Um! I’m looking for Honey!” He points to the coffee bag in his hand.

She looks even more confused. “Who?”

Wait. Doesn't she own this place? And isn’t she the leader of their group?

“Honeylocust? Aoki Ichika?” he tries.

Now that does the trick. Her face lights up in recognition. She lifts him up. Hold on, lifts? While still in shock, he holds on to the stranger’s arm.

“I didn’t know that Ichika-chan had a kid! Who is the father? I’m about to leave her group and she didn’t have the heart to tell me that I’m an aunt now?!” she murmurs to herself.

Izuku blinks. What is happening. Before he can get caught in his head, he finally spots Honey who is chatting away with some girl he doesn’t know.

She turns around when they get close and stifles a laugh. “Oh Magne! Whatcha got there?” Honey asks while taking out her phone to take a couple of photos.

Magne finally lets him down. She ruffles his hair before she hands the bag she had somehow managed to take without him noticing to Honey.

“Magne, this adorable kid is Bunny!” Honey pulls him next to her. “Since you’re leaving to be a full-time, badass villain, this little analyst and informant here will be important in your career. He’s the best, in fact.” Wow, she sounds so proud and Izuku can’t help but smile a little at her compliments.

“Oh! That’s great. I thought that you have a kid and never told me.”

“You what?!”

Dabi

i might be away for a while

sorry buddy

They said a fuckboy says goodbye through text. Guess that’s true.

After a seemingly self-imposed silence, Tomura suddenly comes back from the dead. And he’s now waiting for Izuku to finish cleaning the cafe after he randomly walked in and said he wanted Izuku to come with him to their hideout.

Tomura looks excited, like a kid wanting to show off his new collection or something he achieved. 

Izuku follows him through the portal once he’s finished and is met with the villain’s bedroom instead.

“What about the usual spot? I didn’t get to pet the cat,” Izuku complains. There’s this cute calico cat who walks around the base in the evening. Kurogiri doesn’t want to let it in, so Izuku can only give her some food when he’s around their normal spot.

Tomura pats his head. “Well, there’s been heroes patrolling in the area lately cause someone spotted me outside. It’s not like we’re safe in the villain friendly zone like you.” He grabs Izuku's arm and pulls him out, heading towards the main room, which is, of course, the bar.

He can hear a lot of voices the closer they get. Doesn’t Tomura hate too many people? When Izuku looks up at him with a question in his eyes, Tomura explains.

“I found some NPCs to join my team. You’re going to rate them for me bunny. Maybe they can become a real player,” Tomura states. 

Izuku isn’t too sure if he’ll be good at this. “I’ll try my best then.” But then he mumbles to himself, “Aren’t I a quirk analyst? How the hell am I going to know if they’re good for the League…”

They arrive at the wooden polished door that separates the living area from the bar. The people must’ve heard footsteps, because they quiet down immediately.

Tomura opens the door and Izuku prepares himself to look professional as he can while wearing his All Might Silver Age hoodie and basketball shorts.

Please don’t be a couple of 6 ft tall, big, muscular, scary men , he prays.

He peeks through the gap and meets all familiar faces. They all stare at him with various expressions.

“Everyone, meet my most valuable cheat code, Bunny.”

He jumps when Tomura pushes him into the middle of the room.

“Uh...Hi guys? Long time no see…”

Chapter Text

The eyes of all his latest…. friends? — Mr. Compress, Magne, Twice, and Spinner — are on him right when he steps through the door. The only one missing from the group is Stain, but it is his patrol time after all, and he didn’t say for sure that he was going to join the League.

“What! Why are you here?! Don’t answer that!”

“Oh, Bunny boy!”

“Why is he with Shiggy!?”

Ah chaos. Come to think of it, Izuku never told anyone that he knew the League of Villains. And when they talked to him about leaving a gang, starting a new life, or making a decision, Izuku never thought about them joining Tomura. 

Oh! That's why Tomura and Kurogiri have been quiet the whole week. They were recruiting and choosing suitable people to be their members. 

Izuku looks around the room. Mr. Compress is chatting with Kurogiri at the bar counter. Magne, Twice, and Spinner have their own corner to stand in. Toga is playing with her knife on the leather couch. And of course, Dabi. Izuku meets his intense blue eyes briefly before he averts them back to Tomura.

He hasn’t seen him since, what?, before the sports festival? Dabi is sitting next to Toga, and he’s staring at Izuku with an unreadable face. Damn, the Todorokis really like to do that, huh.

Tomura, with how good a leader he is, throws a job at him instantly.

“Oi, quiet! Now be nice to each other. Introduce yourself or whatever people do these days. I’m gonna go and water my crops upstairs. So if you want something, don’t ask me. Ask him.” A finger points at Izuku.

With that, he goes to leave the room. But before he takes a few steps, he turns back to whisper in Izuku’s ear. “You probably know all of them already, so go do your thing.” And then he’s out of the room, closing the door in his face. Izuku gapes. Did this guy just leave his team to Izuku?

Before he can think of what to do, he gets tackled down to the floor. “Oof!” What the hell?!

Izuku looks at the culprit to see Dabi above him with a disappointing frown. “What-?” 

Dabi cuts him off with a hug.

“The reason I didn’t hangout with you anymore was because I was considering joining this group ’cause it’s easier to achieve my goal somewhat. Then Stain got spotted with the League, and I was like ‘I want to follow him!’. And then I had the realization that associating with those villains from the cafe is dangerous enough for you. I didn’t want the hand guy to know you and.. I don’t know!” He rambles against Izuku’s fluffy hair.

Izuku pats his kind-of-brother’s back sympathetically. Seriously, Dabi needs to speak up about what he’s thinking sometimes. If not just so Izuku doesn’t have some bad thoughts of his own, like thinking that he’s leaving Izuku...

“See Dabi! I told you to tell him!” Toga pouts. Oh, so she must’ve followed the fire user here. And had gone along with the plan to leave some distance between him and them. 

He hears Mr. Compress clear his throat. “What a nice reunion.” He claps his hands. “Sorry for interrupting, but doesn’t Bunny have a policy where he doesn’t join any villains groups?” 

“That’s an interesting question! Not that I care or anything!” Twice chimes in. He also sees Magne and Spinner nod along as well.

Izuku peels himself out from underneath Dabi, who glares at him one last time before he gets up to stand against the wall behind Izuku like the cool, badass villain he’s supposed to be.

“Well, it’s nice to see you guys again! To answer your question, I’m really not part of the League. They pay me to do stuff just like other people do. I just like to be around and I’m kinda friends with Tomura!” He explains with his usual smile.

“I can confirm that he is, in fact, not our member,” Kurogiri adds.

Everyone seems to be satisfied with the answer. Izuku doesn’t understand why people prefer  him to be on his own and not with anyone. Maybe so that nobody starts a war to get Izuku on their side? Probably. 

Speaking of work...

“Err, so what does Tomura want to do? He never told me anything,” Izuku asks. He walks to sit down on the couch. Dabi uses that chance to play with his hair by starting to work on the knots. Izuku leans in to the touch.

“He said something about summer camp and kidnapping some kid. I think that’s it?” Magne answers with uncertainty.

Why do villains like to kidnap kids? Is that a standard nowadays? 

That reminds him of Mind Heist, who said he would be back soon. When is ‘soon’? Even though Izuku actually only met the villain for like ten minutes last year — and not including the texting and video calling almost everyday — he misses him. Izuku really wants to meet him face to face again and maybe give him a hug, or say thank you to him!

There wouldn't be Izuku today if Mind Heists didn’t accidentally kidnap him that day.

“Didn’t he say something else too?” Spinner asks. Wait, is there anyone who actually pays attention to their leader?

“I don’t think so. I didn’t listen to him at all!”  

Izuku has to stifle a laugh when he sees Kurogiri sighing to himself. 

Then he remembers what he wanted to do before he even knew that they were in the League.

“Never mind! You guys are free after this, right?” Everyone turns to him. Izuku pulls out a notebook from under his hoodie and slams it down on the table in front of him. He looks up with wide sparkly eyes.

“I have some questions about your quirks…”

Two hours later sees five thick notebooks filled to the brim. Izuku thanks them by bringing the group to the cafe and making them their favorite coffees and some beef curry – made with a little help from Dabi. They all eat together in his large kitchen. 

Izuku’s definitely addicted to the feeling of eating with as many people as possible. Probably because of him living with only his mother and no friends his entire childhood. When he gets the opportunity, he always invites at least 2-3 villains to eat with him. Thankfully they never have a reason to refuse a free delicious meal!

He’s cleaning up when he gets a call from… All for One? When did he even get his number? He walks away from the others and answers.

“Yes, Sensei?” 

“Hello Izuku. I wanted to know your thoughts on Tomura’s new group.” Why does he always call him by his first name?

“I know all of them personally, so I think they’ll make a great team.”

“Hm. That’s good to hear.” Silence.

“Anything else?” Yeah, Izuku’s the only one who talks like this and is still alive, luckily.

“What do you feel about me giving them a mission?” Izuku can hear the amusement in his voice. And the request is surprising coming from All for One, he usually just uses his own underlings to do his dirty work. He guesses the guy just wants to know how they work together.

“What is it?”

“Bank heist.” What.

“..Do you need more money?” Is that a good question to ask a 200-year-old supervillain who definitely has an underground empire?

“ Come on now, it’s a test. Bank robbery is basic for every villain group.” 

“Isn’t that too easy? I can do that by myself!” Twice asks. 

Honestly, Izuku thinks All for One is messing with him. He can make up like ten plans for each one of them to complete the heist solo already.

Wait. Izuku can make it harder so the old guy can see that they are capable and useful to him. AFO may act like he doesn’t want to care about what Tomura does, but he’s basically his son, even with the way he raised him.

Izuku searches through all the files on his laptop while the League members, except Tomura and Kurogiri, exchange comments and ideas. Finally, he finds what he’s looking for.

“How about the Hero Public Safety Commission’s bank?” Dabi and Mr. Compress come to stand behind him and look at the screen in interest.

Toga perks up. “Ooh! What’s that? Can I get a Commission worker’s blood?”

“I’ve never heard of it before,” Magne says.

“It looks like a normal bank, but the Commission owns it. So basically the money is theirs. You guys break in? The heroes will be there within a minute. Challenging enough?” Izuku giggles when he turns around to see everyone looking.. hyped?

“Let’s go right now!” Dabi declares. 

Do these people want to die?

Turns out, Tomura doesn’t know about the heist. And Sensei wants to keep it that way. All for One said that he’ll be busy today, so they can do whatever they want without their leader.

Which ultimately leads to  the rest of the League arguing about what to wear, because they want to do it incognito. They can do a face reveal later at the summer camp.

“Let’s wear neon colors! Come on, me and big sis Magne want to wear the pink one!” Toga throws a neon pink bodysuit at Spinner's face, who looks at it in disgust.

“Can I quit now?” Spinner groans. 

Twice shoves another green neon jacket into his hand. “It looks cool! It looks so stupid!”

Dabi pokes a neon shirt like it’s Endeavor merch. This guy’s closet probably has only  black outfits like he’s some edgy emo boy on the internet.

Mr. Compress just admires  his new favorite coat that’s too bright for Izuku to look at.

And Izuku? He's handing Mind Heist’s black unlimited money card to the store owner. She smiles widely at him when he says she can take as much money from the card as she wants, as long as she doesn’t say anything about what happened here.

He’s sure she recognizes some of them. But hey, money is a good deal.

Izuku won’t join them on their heist of course. He doesn’t want a repeat of the human trafficking incident last year. 

He’s already finished the analysis of the heroes that walk around the bank, and some of the other heroes that he predicts will come when they get the alarm of danger.

It looks fun and challenging enough for his friends, but Izuku’s worried things will go wrong.

Izuku was worried for nothing. He should trust his and the League's skill more, honestly. 

He’s sitting at the corner booth in a cat cafe not too far away from the bank. It’s far enough, however, that the people won’t need to be evacuated if things go pear-shaped.

He’s petting a big, fluffy, grey Persian cat that is curled up on his lap while watching the live stream on his laptop,  headphones in and his back to the wall so no one can see the screen. Dabi has a camera attached to his shirt so Izuku can see everything. 

Toga somehow convinced Dabi and Spinner to wear neon outfits too so they’re all wearing neon clothes, sunglasses, a wig or hair spray, and black face masks. To be honest, they look kind of cool. 

Izuku thought they would do it the normal and easy way, aka just go in, get the money, then get out. But no. Twice kicks the door open and they walk in like they’re on a runway. And like the dramatic people they are, they stop in the middle of the room and pose. And the workers just stare.

“What’s up citizens!” Mr. Compress steps forward, throws his marbles in the air, and two machine guns fall down to his hands. People start screaming in the background.

And after that is just more chaos. Mr. Compress fires the gun randomly but avoids civilians. Dabi releases a blast of fire to block the exit when people try to run. And Toga stabs one of the Commission’s workers, who Izuku recalls vaguely having a history of corruption. 

Okay… he will pretend not to see that.

Spinner, Magne, and one of Twice’s clones go to find the money while the other three stay in the main room. Heroes should be coming in in the next minutes or so. Izuku sips his chocolate and banana smoothie while watching them like he's watching a movie.

And of course he suddenly remembers why he chose this bank in the first place. Izuku puts the cat down, closes his laptop, and walks quietly to the restroom. With no other way to communicate with them, Izuku pulls out his phone. Dabi picks up immediately.

“Bunny?”

“There’s a row of bank computers to your left, right?” Izuku asks in a hurry. He’s afraid that the heroes will arrive before Dabi has a chance to do what Izuku is about to ask of him..

“ Yeah, why?”

“Do any of them not need a password?”

“ Wait...Ah! there’s one.” Izuku sighs in relief. It’s probably the best and only chance to get his hands on HPSC information.

“Great! Now listen and do exactly what I say. The Commission’s bank officer is likely to have the same access to the database as  other Commission workers. You need to click on the..” Izuku proceeds to explain how to find what he’s looking for. He hears someone, maybe Spinner, shouting that the heroes have arrived. “Stay low Dabi, your life is more important than fighting them.”

“ Alright, alright. Section 384, type in your hacking shit code and...done.” Izuku hears Dabi suck in his breath. “Is this?…How did you know about this? God! This is like, everything! I’m gonna go back and worship you.”

Izuku splutters and blushes, then quickly tells Dabi to transfer the data. What’s he transferring? Nothing much, just all of the confidential data about all currently active heroes. All meaning literally everything. Things they hide from the public, private information, literally anyone who gets this information can end many people’s careers.

“Copy all of that to my USB drive and get out!” Thankfully Izuku had snuck in and put the drive in Dabi’s coat before the heist. Izuku doesn’t really need all of the information, but  it's better to be safe than sorry. And it would take too long for Dabi to find and then transfer the things he did need. 

Hopefully all of the information will have at least something about Endeavor for Dabi’s project. And he himself wants Hawk’s information. He’s a little bit curious about the hero.

Izuku ends the call and walks back to his seat. He hopes they get out fine. This stunt to rob the Commission’s property probably is enough to satisfy All for One’s unknown standards.

As he walks back to his table, he spots someone familiar playing with the cat he had been petting earlier. Shinsou Hitoshi. Izuku looks at his phone and sees that it’s already past the time where school has ended. Shouto probably will be at the cafe soon. He should go back and check in with the League there.

But before that…

“Hi, Shinsou-kun!” Izuku smiles at him.

The purple-haired boy jumps and looks up. He almost glares at Izuku but stops himself. “Who-”

“Did you get in? The hero course! I was rooting for you, you know? Well, you and Shouto. Hehe, you probably saw the clip.” Shinsou looks so confused. But it seems like he decides to focus on the rooting part. He blushes lightly.

“Um...They said the next term…” He clears his throat. “Sorry, I mean I’m trying to catch up with them. Thank you for...cheering for me?”

Izuku giggles. “That’s great! I’ll see you later!” With that, he grabs his things and goes back to his cafe, leaving  the even more confused Shinsou alone. 

“Oh my god! That was fun!” Magne says excitedly while high-fiving Toga, who won’t stop bouncing while throwing money at Twice. The guy will probably get suffocated soon by the pile of money on top of him.

Dabi and Spinner disappear into the kitchen to find some cold beer. And Mr. Compress is sipping his red wine and looking at the money thoughtfully.

Izuku checks on the files he got from Dabi. He needs to be careful where he reads it, villains in the cafe sometimes are more nosey than they should be.

He also doesn’t know what to do with the money. Nobody around him seems to need it that much. And they don’t like the idea of giving it back.

Then Shouto, who doesn’t mind these strangers and is leaning on Izuku, speaks up. “Give it to some cat rescue place.”

“I thought you’re a dog person!” Dabi says in betrayal. “There’s a dog rescue organization around!”

“Heya, Shouto-kun! I like cats too!”

“Cats are rude. Dogs are better!”

“ I vote for dogs.”

“You guys have no taste, cats are kings and queens to us mere humans.”

Izuku stares at them arguing in a deadpan expression. “Guys.” They shut up and turn to him. “They’re a place called ‘Animal’ rescue centers. You know why?”

“..Because they have all kinds of animals?”

“Obviously! You go to that place and they have both! Let’s go now, come on!” They all scramble to follow him like ducklings follow their mother. Cute.

“Hey! That homeless girl looks sad! Let's throw her some money!”

“Isn’t that a prostitute?”

“We can still give her the money and walk away, duh!”

They end up giving most of the money to random homeless people. Luckily, with his quirk, Compress, they don’t have to do multiple trips back and forth and waste all of their time walking because Kurogiri is busy.

(A satisfied smile forms behind the magician’s mask along the way when they give away the money. Grandfather would be proud, he thought.)

Mysterious Villain Group Robs Bank, Then Gives Money Away.

Various anonymous reports state that local Animal Rescue Centers and homeless people around Musutafu have received money from the as-of-yet unnamed neon group of villains that robbed the HPSC bank last week. Local authorities are certain that the money is the same that was stolen, but when approached, most said that they will not return the money.

Many are debating for both sides of this ordeal, including... read more

Goddammit, they forgot to change out of those eye-catching outfits.

On the other side of the city...

“Kurogiri! What the fuck did they do without me?!”

Chapter Text

Izuku wakes up feeling lazy. He still can’t believe he’ll be alone for the whole week. Shouto of course will be at the summer camp. So is The League of villains, Tomura wants them to be at the hideout early to brief them on the plan. After that, they will settle somewhere at the camp.

Izuku wants to be mad at Tomura. He doesn’t even tell Izuku that he brings two unstable, sadistic sociopaths and someone younger than Izuku to this mission! If it weren’t for Izuku’s puppy eyes that he used on Dabi to tell him, he wouldn’t know!

And everyone said he shouldn’t be there. Come on, Izuku’s literally with them all the time. He always said no, but the villains still brought him with them. Why is this time different? Afraid Izuku would get lost in the forest?

Well actually, he probably would.

Izuku sighs into the comforter. He doesn’t want to get up yet, so he snuggles against the warm body. An arm throws over his side and pulls him closer. The other hand is on Izuku’s head, tugging his hair and scratching his scalp gently. If he were a cat, he would’ve purr at the sensation.

Izuku breathes in the fresh, kinda fruity cologne, it makes him immediately think of a successful man with power and money. Literally an expensive scent, and he loves it. Izuku nuzzles and leans in more.

Wait.

Body? hand? mens cologne? Isn’t he alone right now?

His body goes still, but the person next to him doesn’t seem to notice. Calm down Izuku. Okay, it can’t be Shouto. Dabi isn’t here. The whole league isn't here. Stain is on the other side of the country. Reaper? The shadow duo? no idea where they are, but definitely not here.

Izuku slowly opens his eyes, he carefully glances up to see those pretty ruby red eyes staring back at him fondly.

“Good morning bunny.” Mind Heist greets and boops him on the nose.

What does Izuku do?

He squeaks, jumps back, and falls out of bed.

Tetsuya peers down at his boy, who stares at him with his adorable shining big green eyes. They look at each other for a moment before Izuku blushes, turns around, and dashes inside the bathroom.

He chuckles at that. Bunny is really a cute nickname that fits perfectly with the boy. Tetsuya lays back on the mattress to wait for Izuku to come out. He thinks back to last year when they first met. He doesn’t know if he or Izuku is the lucky one. He remembered he caught a glimpse of a rooftop in the boy’s mind when he used his quirk. Honestly, he thinks it’s a good choice to kidnap the little bunny. Can it even be called kidnapping when you make someone’s life better?

Look where he is, the best barista, the famous analyst, a charming kid who captivated all of the villains' hearts just by smiling and talking with them.

He doesn’t need to kidnap Izuku that day, but it’s the best decision he’s ever made.

Since he never did anything with his boy except throw him all the money and send him everything that he saw in America. Today he plans to go out and do something that dad and son would do. Wait, he’s only 10 years older than Izuku! They can be brothers! Actually, brother sounds a lot better. He isn’t that old to become a dad!

Tetsuya looks up from his phone to see Izuku poke his head through the door. He’s wearing the outfit that he prepared for him. It’s an even more limited All Might hoodie, which they produced only 5 around the whole world. He managed to win it at an auction yesterday.

Izuku looks so cute in the oversized hoodie, matching it with a pair of leggings and a Nike Air Jordan 1 High original sneakers. Ahh, he loves spoiling his little bunny. Is this what parents feel like?

He wouldn’t stop admiring his kid if not for Izuku to suddenly pounce on him. He yelps, then there’s a kid in his arm hugging him tightly.

“ ‘m miss you” He mumbles into his clothes. Tetsuya really wants to cry at how adorable he is.

He pats the boy’s back adoringly. “Aw, I miss you too.” He thinks that cuddling all day doesn’t sound bad, he won’t leave again anyway. But taking Izuku on a trip is more fun.

“Why am I wearing this today? Are you gonna take me out somewhere?” Izuku asks excitedly. It’s the first time that he goes out and is not involved in a villain activity.

Tetsuya smiles. “Of course, now let’s go, we’re going to have some fun today.” Not waiting for Izuku to get up, he carries the boy in his arms and walks out of the room.

Before they leave, Izuku quickly makes them some drinks first. He made iced caramel macchiato for Mind Heist and iced vanilla latte for himself.

He knows his real name of course, but he chooses to call him by his villain name instead. The word Mind Heist has a meaning to it. It’s the name that led to where he is now. Izuku will cherish the name forever.

He follows Mind Heist eagerly into his red Lamborghini. He doesn’t wear a suit today. He wears a grey turtleneck, matching with a black pants and a soft red long coat.

And would you look at that! His car is the same shade as his hair! Is the villain showing off how rich he is? Izuku already screams internally in the closet room when he sees the hoodie a minute ago. He sees the news, but who would’ve thought that his kind-of-dad is the one who won!

With how fast the car is, they arrive at the destination pretty quickly. He gets out of the car to see that they’re in the private parking lot in the airport. Izuku follows Mind Heist along the corridor and finally they reach the hangar. The villain walks inside and straight to the thing in the middle of the room with pride. Izuku stares at it with astonishment.

“You owned a private jet?!” Just exactly how rich he is? Izuku quickly goes in, to observe the jet he wouldn’t have thought one day he’ll be able to see with his own eyes.

The pilot who’s standing at the front smiles at him. He doesn’t have a sign of a mutant quirk. But his eyes look like some kind of predator's eyes. Izuku is not a professional at animal, so he has no idea what quirk he has.

“My quirk is called Eagle’s eyes.” He answers before turning around and goes back to the cockpit. Did Izuku just mumble again?

“Your mumbling habit is cute bunny, come on, let’s head inside so Hiroto can finish his shift early.” Mind Heist leads him in, he takes sight of the very modern and luxurious interior design. A marble floor, a large brown leather couch to the side with a table in the middle. There's a TV at the other side and he assumes there’s a small kitchen and a restroom at the back.

They settle comfortably on the couch. Let’s just say that Izuku never takes his eyes off the window. They fly past the city, and it doesn’t take long to be above the beautiful ocean.

He can see I-Island in the distance. But Hiroto, the pilot, flew to the right of the artificial moving island instead. Izuku sees another island, it’s massive! The island is isolated from the land. Looks like the only way to travel here is by air transport. Or maybe by boats.

The jet landed on an apron next to the beach. He follows Mind Heist down, and immediately knows what this place is.

This is where the rich hangout.

There’re boats and yachts parking around the island. People having diamonds or gold accessories walking or laying on the beach. There’s a bar, a food stall which only sells the expensive foods Izuku saw on the internet. There’s lobster, king oysters, Is that a bluefin tuna?

Mind Heist smiles and ruffles his hair. “Ayy bunny, this place is amazing isn’t it? But let’s head inside. The fun stuff is over there.” Then he whispers. “The food is more delicious too.”

Intrigued. He quickly runs to catch up with the villain.

This. Place. Is. A. Paradise.

It’s like this is a whole different world for the wealthy. There’s hotels, restaurants, cafes, and many more that’s literally all 5 stars rating. Everywhere he stepped on screams luxury.

And in front of him, a casino, which takes up the most area of this island. He knows instantly that this building is why there’s a lot of people here. Normally casinos would become crowded in the evening until night. But when he walks in with Mind Heist, Izuku meets with so many gamblers around!

The most surprising thing is, Izuku definitely knows most of them. Top 100 pro heroes, politicians, even villains and vigilantes! He blinks at them confusedly.

“Villain friendly zone is already weird right? but look at this.” Mind Heist speaks casually. “Do you know why they can be in the same place without any problems?”

Huh. That’s an interesting question. The villain friendly happened because the boss negotiated with the commission. But this place, they don’t care about the hero-villain thing at all. It’s like they pretend the other side doesn’t exist. Is there something that he’s missing?

Izuku looks around. “Maybe a common ground?” He guesses. If not, then maybe there’s someone powerful that can control both black and white side. But he doubts it.

“You really live up to your name, little bunny.” He pets Izuku's hair. “That’s right, their common ground is Money.” Ah! That makes sense. “It’s above and more important than anything else. Honestly, I think money can solve anything. But what’s the thrill if everyone has it. So this place is 100% a neutral zone, forget your villain or hero name, ‘cause the only thing that matters is the money in your pocket.” Izuku nods in understanding.

He walks around, looking at people losing and winning a ton of money. Izuku’s really interested. He’s still considered underage to be in here, but like Mind Heist said, money solves anything.

Then comes in another question. “..but why did we dress like this?” The dress code in this casino is definitely not a hoodie or a fabulous long coat. Izuku sometimes sees people glancing at them, but he doesn’t know their reasons. Because Mind Heist is famous?, because there’s a kid?, or their outfits looking out of place?

Mind Heist looks at him like he just said something funny. “If we’re rich, we can wear anything we want.” And he adds. “Your hoodie is worth more than half of these people's wallets.” With that, he walks away to the blackjack table and sits on the empty seat.

Izuku wants to watch but then he spots a group of familiar faces. He pushes through a crowd that just formed because they want to see the famous villain play. He walks towards the men in the expensive suit that are currently hanging out at the bar. Wow, they look good. He never saw them in this attire before.

“Reaper!” Izuku waves at the serial killer, catching the others' attention too.

Overcast, Umbra and Pharaoh look up. “Oh my! Izuku-kun! I missed you!” Overcast grabs him and pulls him in for a hug.

“Ahh! Where have you been? Oh my god, you guys look so good in a suit!” Izuku looks him up and down. Damn, he could be a model.

“I always look good.” Umbra speaks up and pets his head lightly.

Reaper and Pharaoh reluctantly received a hug from Izuku too. Did he mention that they look good yet? Reaper normally wears a cloak and covers his face with a hood. But now? His hair done, he’s in a tuxedo, why's the villain need to be this attractive again? And don’t forget to mention Pharaoh! Who would’ve thought that a royal blue tuxedo would look phenomenal on his cloth quirk.

“What’re you even doing here?” The villain aska.

“Mind Heist wants to take me out, didn’t know he would bring me here.” Izuku chuckles.

They look at each other then back at Izuku. “Well then…” Overcast trails off.

Cloth shoots from underneath Pharaoh's sleeve, wrapping around him. And the next moment. Izuku gets dragged to the nearest roulette table.

“Let’s have some fun baby!”

“Let’s go boys!” Tetsuya laugha, he just won another stack of money. The bystanders clap at him and he bows back happily.

The pretty croupier shoves the cash in his hand and gestures to the others that she’ll take a break for a moment. That leaves him with her, a couple of high rank villains and some vigilante on thin ice before becoming a villain gathering around the table.

A waiter brings glasses of wine for them. “So..” She starts.

He nods for her to continue. The guy with a wolf mutation speaks instead. “You bring your little All for one here today?”

That makes him huff. “Don’t say that in front of him. My bunny is way too cute to be called that.”

“You didn’t deny it.”

Tetsuya sighs. “All for one’s plan sucks, I can’t believe he’s going to do that.” He still can’t accept the supervillain suggestion. Even if his body is on the verge of death, throwing himself into Tartarus in such a stupid thing to do.

“Maybe 200 years of constant killing One for all users is starting to get boring.” The mint hair vigilante says jokingly.

“But he can’t just let one child take care of the league, then another even younger kid takes care of his business!” The silver hair villain exclaimes, but there’s a hint of amusement in his tone.

Actually, Tetsuya isn’t too serious about this matter just like all of the people in the underground. He just hopes maybe All for one could rethink again.

Think of a plan that doesn’t involve his bunny to be a part of it.

People around Bunny just got a whole new image of him. Overcast and his friends introduced the boy to the gambling. And guess what happened?

Maybe Izuku’s feeling the inner self too much. The moment he won the first ever game, it’s like he released so much adrenaline that he wants to play more.

So the next hour, he beat the shit out of the millionaires, villains or heroes alike. And right now, when his energy has run out, he thinks he really needs to stop. Not that he pity the guy who won’t give up to win against the famous analyst. And somehow lost all of his money.

“Man, maybe you should become a professional gambler.” Overcast says in amazement after he and Pharaoh collected all the cash inside the briefcase.

“Scary..” Reaper mumbles.

Izuku blushes. “I just won a couple games! I even lost in the wheel game thing!”

“That game depends on luck bunny...That’s the only game you play that doesn’t use your brain.” Umbra comments.

He gives up. People wouldn’t stop staring at him with wide eyes, shaking hands and empty wallets.

It isn’t his fault they lost!

“My bunny! Look at you! You wiped all the cash!” Mind Heist appears out of nowhere and hugs him from behind.

“Do you guys even need all of these?” Overcast grumbles. He and the boys are carrying both Mind Heist and his money. Which is like 10 briefcases.

“Come on now, I’ll pay for our lunch. Put the things in my jet, Hiroto is waiting there.” With the promise of free expensive food. The villain gang practically rush to the exit.

Mind Heist then beckons him to follow. They get outside and walk straight to the most expensive restaurant on the island.

The 6 of them enjoy the freshness of the seafood. They talk a lot actually, Izuku doesn’t see them for a while, so is Mind Heist. The guy is happy to be able to catch up with his henchman after going to America for a while.

After that, it’s time for a departure and the end of this trip. Mind Heist has something to do in the evening with his boss. When does Mind Heist even have a boss?

Who is the boss anyway?

Izuku doesn’t know what goes on in Mind Heist mind, to walk back to the cafe, in the daylight, where heroes patrol literally everywhere.

But whatever, at least they stop by at an ice cream shop. Izuku got a mint chocolate ice cream. Which Mind Heist has the audacity to say it tastes like toothpaste! He himself got a red wine ice cream, isn’t it enough alcohol for today?

They walk along the pavement and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. They pass the Nighteye agency, where he sees the man looking at them briefly. Not wanting to risk anything, he drags away Mind Heist to walk quicker. Does he want to get caught or something?

Wanting to get away as fast as possible, he doesn’t see a figure running towards him. He jumps back but doesn’t fall down like the one who collided with him. Izuku looks down to see a little girl with a small cute horn sticking out of the side of her forehead. He has light blue hair and big red eyes. What makes him feel uneasy is the dirty hospital gown she’s wearing and a bandage wrapped around her entire arms.

Mind Heist stops behind him. Izuku then kneels down to her. “Sorry! Are you okay?” He smiles at her assuredly. He tries to hold her hand to bring her up. But she flinched away from him.

He’s about to ask for help from Mind Heist when he hears footsteps coming from the alleyway where the girl ran from.

“Sorry for my daughter, she’s been naughty lately.” Izuku looks up.

Oh. What’s his name again?

Overhaul his mind supplied.

“Come on now Eri, don’t bother him too much.” Overhaul says to the girl, Eri. But her eyes widen and stiffen up instantly. Izuku carefully lifts his hand and places it on her head gently.

He’s about to move when she grabs his hoodie and whispers. “p-please don’t g-go.” Damn it, what’s he supposed to do? Well, he can’t do anything, but what about Mind Heist? Does Overhaul know him?

He feels a hand landed on his head and ruffles it. Mind Heist walks past him and stands before the yakuza. Probably the most convenient quirk activation Izuku’s ever seen. The villain mastermind makes eye contact with the Shie Hassaikai leader immediately.

Izuku lets out a sigh and smiles down at the now confused girl. “It’s okay now.”

“w-what?” Eri asks him uncertainty.

Mind Heist can’t interact with them at the moment. Izuku hopes he can get out by himself. He lifts Eri up in his arms, she hangs on to him and leans in unsurely. At least she doesn’t seem tense.

“You won’t be seeing the bird guy for a while. Maybe forever! who knows?” He can see a little bit of hope in her big round eyes. Eri nods at him.

“Now, do you want ice cream?”

“What a cool quirk you get there, Chisaki Kai.”

Chapter Text

Somehow, Izuku makes it back to the cafe with no problem. He’s still holding Eri in his arms. There’s no sign of Mind Heist, so Izuku will let him be. He pushes open the door, and peek inside to see a couple villains hanging around in the room. Some are playing games at the consoles, some are doing their work on the table. They all look up when Izuku walks inside and greet him like usual.

“Oh, hello bunny..?”

Their eyes drift to the little girl. Eri doesn’t seem to like the attention very much, she quickly closes her eyes and hides her face in his hoodie. He can hear some awws from the people in the room.

He smiles at them and gestures that he’ll be making them their coffees later. The villains nod and go back to what they’ve been doing.

Izuku carries Eri to the stool and settles her on the seat. She looks around the room nervously, sometimes she glances at the door, like she’s afraid someone would break in at any moment.

“Eri-chan.” She jumps and looks at him with wide fearful eyes. Fuck, Izuku want to throw All for one at Overhaul face.

“Hey, it’s okay! He can’t come in here, and if he can, these guys can beat him with no problem!” The villains in the room smile or give the girl a thumbs up assuredly.

“He can’t h-hurt you?” Eri asks quietly. Izuku just replies to her kindly. “And he can’t hurt you too Eri.”

She nods and instead of looking down on her lap like before, she looks at what Izuku’s doing. He’s glad that Eri gets something to focus on, it’s better than to think of Overhaul. Izuku decides to put on a show for her too, he brings out 3 cups of latte. He then makes a latte art of a clover leaf and a heart for her.

Eri stares at him like he just holds the answer of the universe. Her eyes brighter than before. “h-how..?”

Izuku decides to not answer and shows her another one of his creations, which is a 3D latte art. A smiling cat is resting it’s paws on the rim of the cup. Eri gasps, holding the warm coffee in her tiny hands. Izuku lets her enjoy it, and walks over to serve various coffees to the villains.

Kid definitely doesn’t drink coffee, so Izuku is here, trying to find something that he can make and Eri will like it. He finds one, and quickly runs to the kitchen, hopefully would have all the ingredients he needs.

Ice cream, milk, whipped cream, some bright food color. Oh! sprinkles! there's a star and heart shape. Why is it here? no one can answer that. Izuku then finally found marshmallows. He carries them back to the counter and starts preparing the drink.

Izuku starts mixing the milk and ice cream, he throws in strawberry and vanilla ice cream in there. He then drops a red, blue and yellow food coloring in a mason jar. He carefully pours in the drink, Eri eyes widen at the sight. The color blends and mixes with the milkshake. He adds a few more drops of food coloring at the top, adds a bunch of marshmallows, adds whipped cream and lastly, the sprinkles.

The colors continue to swirl inside of the jar. It’s really pretty actually. He takes a picture then slides it to Eri. “Try it?.”

“waa- t-thank you..?” Izuku wants to facepalm. He doesn’t even tell the girl his name.

“My name is Izuku! but people called me Bunny though..” Eri looks at the other people in the room then back at Izuku. “I like Bunny.” She mumblea quietly.

“Then you can call me that!” She tries to smile at him, but it’s more like a cute little grimace. Izuku feels sad at what she has been through, but he’ll do his best to make her smile naturally.

She picks up the straw and tries the colorful drinks. If he thinks her eyes couldn’t be bigger, he’s certainly wrong. Eri looks up at him and tears are forming. And damn, Izuku panicked a little bit.

“Ahh Eri-chan? w-what’s wrong? Is it bad? Is it too sweet?” He moves his hands around anxiously.

She takes another spoonful of marshmallows, drinks the milkshake and wipes her tears. “Bunny..” Eri sobs. “I-It’s good! I never eat anything like this..”

Izuku's heart breaks. He swears he’s gonna make her every delicious drink in the world if it means she’ll be able to be happy like this.

This time, Izuku wakes up first. Yesterday, after cheering up Eri, he and a couple of villains watched some kids show with her until dinner. They ate spaghetti bolognese with meatballs, which Izuku already asked a villain who has a kid that kid her age can eat.

A kind villain also offered to help him buy Eri’s new clothes and help him shower her. Izuku then realized that he sucks at taking care of kids.. Well, except for the food part. Eri doesn’t like touch very much, so Izuku set a futon next to his bed. And he guesses she might have a nightmare and wakes up to an unfamiliar place. So he put a lot of stuffed animals and plush toys on the mattress.

And it’s worked, because he peers down in the middle of the night to see her cuddling with a big pink stuffed rabbit.

Now that Izuku’s awake, he blinks his eyes open slowly and he has to hide his smiles. Mind Heist is sleeping deeply next to him. The villain’s wearing a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, snoring softly. Izuku would love to sleep more, but it’s already 9 in the morning. Lately he feels like he doesn’t work in the cafe that much, so today he hopefully will be able to stay here all day.

He reluctantly gets up and goes to do his usual routine. When he walks down, he meets with the familiar sight that he comes to love more. The cafe is filled with people! He quickly greets everyone and dashes in behind the counter to make their coffee.

It’s around noon when Mind Heist comes down with Eri piggyback on him. He’s wearing a grey suit without a tie. And Eri’s wearing a white polka dot dress. She yawns cutely while rubbing her eyes. “g-good morning Bunny.”

“Good morning! Sleep well?” He asks. Izuku already prepared their breakfast, which is scrambled eggs on toast with a side of bacon and avocado. A hot cocoa for Eri and a cup of hot mocha for Mind Heist.

“Yeah..” She answers shyly.

After they eat breakfast, Izuku gives Eri a new coloring and drawing book, so she can be busy with herself while Izuku discusses some important things with Mind Heist. He drags the guy in the kitchen and locks the door.

“So.” Izuku starts.

Mind Heist blinks. “What?”

Oh my god. “Overhaul! What did you do to him?”

His expression hardened. “Ah right. That abusive asshole.” He crosses his arms and huffs. “Did you know that that guy is the absolute worst of a human mankind? He fucking use his quirk on Eri for his stupid project! Oh god, I saw so much blood in his mind, and it’s not his!” Mind Heist says angrily.

Izuku gasps in horror. What is wrong with people? He has to be so sick to be able to use a quirk in this disgusting way. Izuku’s hands itching for a thousand ways a horde of villains could do to a foolish yakuza organization.

Mind Heist sighs. “You don’t wanna know what his project is.” Izuku’s about to argue when the villain just chuckles at him. “And I know that you will be stubborn, so here goes nothing I guess.”

“Chisaki Kai’s goal is to delete the quirks from his society and uh restore the yakuza power. He’s working on a project about quirk erasing drugs. I don’t want to think about this shithead too much but Eri’s quirk is called rewind. You can imagine the rest of the story bunny.”

Izuku grimaces, he doesn’t want to, but his brain already connects all the dots. And the picture is not a pretty one, he can’t believe a girl so young has experienced a whole nightmare. That brings a question though..

“So what did you do to him after I left yesterday?” Mind Heist didn’t kill him right? That would be too risky, being near a hero agency like that.

The guy now looks sheepish. Uh-oh, Izuku might not like the answer that’s about to come out.

“I may or may not change what he thinks he saw..” He explains while avoiding eye contact. Hm. He’s looking kinda sus.

“And that is..?”

“...Instead of us, I replaced myself with Sir Nighteye and some Tintin-looking intern I randomly saw with you. Basically if Overhaul decides to get Eri back, it’s not us that will have a problem...haha. And if...they don’t find the girl…”

…

Ah shit.

He thought that was all the headache he needed to hear, but he certainly was wrong. Very wrong.

“...and this morning when I used my quirk on Eri-” “What?!” Izuku interjects.

Mind Heist looks defeated. He pouts and holds Izuku’s hands in his. “Listen to me first bunny!” He whines. Who’s the adult here? Izuku wants to facepalm.

“My curiosity won against my moral-” Not that villains nowadays still have it. “-I really want to know how her quirk works, why did Overhauled use her like that.”

“You didn’t even ask for her consent!” Izuku argues.

“Then she’ll be afraid of me too! Even if my quirk is summoning flowers, she’ll still be afraid of the phrase ‘I’m gonna use my quirk on you’!”

Okay. That’s reasonable “...Fine, just finish the story please.”

“Rewind’s ability is to reverse the individual's body back to a previous state. It can make the body physically younger, heal injuries, or even undo bodily modifications! I saw this image of her rewinded someone’s body to a point where they didn’t exist.”

Izuku doesn't know whether he should be concerned at how much he knows, because Eri is always thinking about it or how Mind Heist seems more exciting the explanation goes on. And the way his eyes shine like he’s just figured something out is not worrying at all.

“Okay..?”

“My boss has been injured for so long, If we-no. If you manage to convince Eri to use her quirk on him, He wouldn’t need to throw himself into Tartarus and watch the young generation of villains try to rebuild the society. Please please please bunny! Tell me you’re in with my plan.” Mind Heist shakes Izuku's hands rapidly. Izuku's brain is still trying to catch up, and when it does, he gapes at the red haired villain.

“What?! no wait. Why?! no-Who is your boss? No! Isn’t Eri afraid of her quirk? probably traumatized too! And you’re going to use her too!” Izuku practically rambled. There’s too much to unwrap from that. He doesn’t know if he should be mad that Mind Heist wants to use the girl’s quirk for his own good.

Before they can argue for 3 hours straight, there’s a hastily knocking on the door. Izuku quickly unlocks it and the girl who’s taking care of Eri is right in his face with a panicked expression. She’s about to cry actually..

“b-bunny-kun, please don’t k-kill me or write my name on your d-death note please! I didn’t mean it! I’m sorry!.” By the end of the sentence, she already kneels down to his feet. What did she mean by kill? And what is a death note? Who the fuck spread a random and totally false rumors about him again?!

Mind Heist snorted behind him, but a glare from Izuku shut him up. They’re not done with the conversation!

“Oh my god why’re you on the floor!” He pulls away his feet from the villain’s trembling form. Is Bunny supposed to be scary? No! “What happened?”

“I-I asked Eri about her quirk and she started crying..” She mumbles apologetically. “I tried to cheer her up but Eri wouldn’t stop..”

“Here’s your chance to make her think her quirk is good.” Mind Heist chimes in. My god, the audacity of this man.

Izuku ignores him “Okay okay, no need to apologize! I’m just a barista, and I’m just a kid! Why would I do anything?” He pouts.

That seems to reassure her, she chuckles quietly. “Right! Sorry Bunny-kun, I’m new here.”

Izuku smiles at her before he walks to the couch. It’s Eri sobbing in the middle and a group of panicking villains trying their best to stop her tears. Which they of course failed.

He’s about to come up with a plan when Mind Heist grabs his hood. “My boss is All for one, now go!” He whispered excitedly and pushed Izuku to the front of the couch.

Wait.

Hold up.

Did he just say-“b-bunny.” Eri cries out. Ahh his head is going to explode. Okay, let’s just solve the problem one by one. He somehow is able to withstand all of this, so let’s calm down a bit.

“What’s wrong Eri-chan?” He asks kindly while carefully holding her tiny hands in his.

She hiccups. “I-If I tell you then you would-” Then she continues to cry.

Izuku smiles patiently. “I would never ever leave you Eri. I promise, whatever you tell me, I will never change my view on you.” He brings up his pinky and Eri stares at it before she brings hers to lock with him.

“I-I have a curse.” Eri mumbles quietly. Izuku frowns, but doesn’t let her see his face.

“Why do you think you have..it?” He would like to avoid the word curse because she doesn’t deserve that, thank you very much.

“Because he said it. My quirk is a curse, it makes people go away.”

“Didn’t me and everyone already said that he’s a fucking moron.” Mind Heist says from the back. Did he just curse in front of a child?!

“Um, anyway, No one in this world has a curse Eri-chan.” “But-” “Do you realize that you’re still very young right? When your quirk comes in, almost everyone has some problems. Eri-chan, You are just unfortunate. Trust me. And Overhaul is wrong in so many ways. Honestly, you should delete the memories of that man from your mind. I’m very bad at this kind of thing-” because he doesn’t have one. “-but trust me that you’re not a curse, far from it.”

In a swift, a blur of white tackles him in a hug. His heart melts, Eri just hugs him! Izuku tightens his hold a little and murmurs some encouragement into her ear. He looks up to see all the villains smile or give a thumbs up at him. His gaze flickers to Mind Heist who’s expecting something more. Izuku rolled his eyes at him. Fine.

“How about I show you how great your quirk is?” He suggests carefully. He doesn’t really like the idea, but it’s not that bad to try. Because if Eri doesn’t want to, Izuku would be happy to respect her decision.

Eri becomes quiet for a bit, Izuku’s about to say that she doesn’t need to consider it or anything, but a hopeful spark lights up in the big red eyes and makes him falter.

“o-okay.”

If Izuku turns back to Mind Heist, he would’ve seen the man chuckles delightfully at the scene in front of him.

Now it’s time to freak out that Mind Heist boss is All for one. Like dude, does every villain know each other? Somehow, everyone who Izuku is close with all have some connections to one another. He wouldn’t even be surprised if tomorrow he wakes up and finds out more secrets.

Since All for one is available at night, Eri goes back to the coloring book, Mind Heist right by her side. And Izuku goes back to making coffees.

While he’s working on a latte art, he’s thinking about Mind Heist’s plan. So he, and Izuku’s sure that there’s a whole group of the supervillain’s loyal followers who want to heal the guy. Izuku is aware of the history of All for one and One for all, so if the former is back to completely normal, what will change?

He will of course have the same power as before. Sometimes, All for one would call Izuku to have a chat with him, they talked about the society, studied some quirks, or shared their views on politics. So in his experience, Izuku is gonna predict that the lord of the underground will probably destroy the commission first. The word destroy has a variety of ways after all.

All for one will want the society to go back to its prime. Where he is the only one that decides the fate of everyone. It might be scary, but if he continues making pumpkin spice lattes for him, Izuku life will always be good.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in their own world. After they eat dinner, Mind Heist goes to contact his boss, so Izuku is left with a nervous Eri on his lap.

“Are you sure you want to do this Eri-chan? You don’t have to.” Izuku says while brushing her hair.

Eri turns around to face him. “I want to..” She says quietly. “I want to see how it’s not a curse.” Izuku sighs, but accepts her answer. Rewinding All for one from a potato to a man probably would make her feel a lot better.

“b-but what if I make someone go away again? Will you be angry at me like my m-mom when I make someone you know gone?” Eri asks worryingly. She holds his hoodie tightly.

Izuku then surprisingly got a great idea formed in his head. “Eri, can you count to 10 for me?” He suddenly speaks up.

Eri looks at him with confusion before she complies. “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.” She counted with her fingers, that’s good!

“Is 10 a big number?” Izuku asks.

“..no? I can count it with my hands.”

“20?” She thinks and answers uncertainty. “A little, I need your hands too.”

“Now, how about 100?”

“Very big number!” She replies.

“That’s right! We need a lot of people's hands! And there’s also 200, can you count to 200?”

“I can’t.”

Yes! The plan is going great! “Imagine someone who’s 200 years old Eri-chan. Your quirk is like counting with your finger, you can’t count it right? Even if you use your quirk for a very long time, that person will still be there!” The last part is a lie, but Izuku is pretty sure Eri’s quirk is like a storage, it can run out. If she wants to use it again, she needs to build up. This is all according to Mind Heist when he used his quirk on her.

“Really?” He can hear a hint of doubt, but there’s a little excitement in there. Wow, can't wait for her to see the before/after of All for one.

“Are you ready kids?” Mind Heist appears behind him, making Izuku jumps. A little. Only a little.

The guy coos. “Aw, you’re still a bunny.” Yeah right.

Eri glances at both of them. “His name is Bunny?” Eri asks confusedly.

Izuku knows Mind Heist wants to scream at how adorable Eri is, but he decides to ruffles on Eri’s hair instead.

“Yeah little girl! Now, it’s time to go, we don’t wanna make the old guy wait, do we?”

Eri nods. “200 years old is very old!” Izuku laughs. They’re so cute.

He takes Eri’s hand in his when a familiar portal forms in front of them. He gives the girl a light squeeze before they all walk into the swirling portal.

Chapter Text

All for one is sitting on his throne with his medical equipment like always when they walk in. It’s like he expects them to be here, eh, Mind Heist probably informed the guy already. At least the supervillain pretends to be cool and not get too excited to be healed.

“Hello Izuku, what brought you here today?” Oh great, he wants to talk with Izuku.

“Well, Mind Heist thought it was a great idea to introduce you to her.” He steps closer to show All for one the little girl that’s hiding behind him.

“This is Eri and I think you already know why we’re here.” Izuku dismisses the villain easily. How is he still alive? No one knows.

“My, let’s get to work then. Your bunny doesn’t seem to agree with this Tetsuya.” All for one chuckles and motions them to come closer.

Mind Heist huff, he brings out a chair out of nowhere for Eri to sit at All for one side.. She sits on it hesitantly but a smile from Izuku comforts her a bit. She glances at the big villain shyly before she asks something.

“a-are you really 200 years old?” Aw.

“Yes child. You see, my quirk let me live a very long life. But if I get hurt-” He points at his scarred face. “-I just can’t make it go away.” Izuku actually wants to clap his hands at how All for one chooses his word.

“...So my curse won’t make you go away like other people?” If All for one had a face, he would’ve frowned.

Izuku sighs. He knows that Eri has so much going on, and it just makes him feel horrible to see a kid her age suffer something like this. Healing All for one would show her how great her quirk is, but she still needs a lot of love to cover all those trauma. Maybe he should introduce her to the league, Magne and Toga would love her.

“I would call it a blessing, you know. Now, come closer and put your hand on mine.” Eri looks at Izuku again. He nods and steps back to stand beside Mind Heist, who looks far more excited than he should have.

Eri slowly puts her tiny hand on All for one’s much larger one. The supervillain is so gentle to the girl, Izuku might not believe it if someone told him about this.

“What do I do now?” She asks.

“Let it go child.”

She does. Her horn glows in the dimly lit room. And it doesn’t take long before the light starts to engulf the villain. Eri squeezes her eyes shut. Her body is trembling but a firm hold of the other guy will still confirm that he’s still there with her. Izuku is pretty sure that is some kind of persuasion quirk. He did tell All for one that he shouldn’t use any physical or a quirk that can be seen using on Eri.

Izuku keeps looking at the time on his phone. It’s a great time to analyze Eri’s quirk. He’s sitting at the corner of the room while writing about rewind. Everything seems fine. He’s actually about to take a little nap when Mind Heist screams in delight. Well, it’s a silent scream. Izuku startles, he quickly looks up to see the scars on All for one’s face lessen. The flesh formed back to what it was before.

The eyes are back first, red blood-like colored eyes blink open slowly. Why does everyone has red eyes? If Shouto is here, he would say something like, they are all related or something. The eyes are followed by a white short, a little bit curly hair that’s now back on his head. It’s been only a few minutes, so Eri must’ve let loose her quirk. If she’s able to rewind her dad out of existence like that, then those little times can make a person around 30-40 gone. So now All for one is around 150?

“Ah shit.” All for one murmurs. Why does everyone like to curse in front of a child?

Izuku and Mind Heist look up in concern. “Are you okay over there?” The red-haired villain asks.

All for one picks up Eri and settles her on his lap. His handsome face frowns anxiously. Oh yeah, handsome. Did he mention yet that villains around him are too good looking? What is wrong with society? The villains stole all the good genes huh?

“I don’t want Eri to use all her quirk and pass out.” He explains. His voice isn’t hoarse like before, usually it sounds breathy and strained. But now, his voice is clear and sounds young? Well, it’s deep and powerful. Definitely what he had imagined how the overlord voice would be like.

“You definitely have some kind of quirk-stopping quirk.” Mind Heist says with confusion.

“I’m going to, but I did not know that her quirk would rewind other things that aren't my physical body.” All for one chuckles humorlessly. Ooh, rewind can do that? What happens to the quirk that disappears then? Could they go back to the owner before All for one stole them? Or are they just gone?

“Er, not to interrupt your thinking bunny. But can you please help my boss over here before all of his precious quirks vanish and not come back?” Mind Heist tugging his shirt. All for one will not disappear but his quirk will, that’s some funny shit right there.

In the end, Izuku and All for one come to the same solution. He brings out a Nomu and transfers almost all of his quirk except the necessary ones in the beast body.

Eri is still closing her eyes and doesn’t let go of All for one suit. The supervillain is holding the child in one hand and the other is holding and stroking his face while looking in the mirror. Eri’s quirk should run out soon, they all don’t want her to become unconscious out of quirk exhaustion. But they don’t have a quirk like Eraserhead’s erasure. So after this session they might need some quirk counselor for Eri.

That thought of All for one doesn’t have erasure scares him a bit. Maybe in the future, he might need to tell the underground hero to be careful.

The light from Eri’s horn slowly fading and now she’s peacefully sleeping on All for one’s arm. She’ll probably wake up from a nightmare for sure. Izuku has been there before, he knows how she feels. Izuku takes Eri from All for one arm carefully but then Mind Heist is in front of him.

“...I’ll take care of her. I’m the one who suggested this anyway.” The thought of healing his boss just overshadowed the fact that Eri can’t control her quirk at all. Izuku can see a little bit of guilt in his eyes.

After Mind Heist talked with All for one about something, he left with Eri in his arms. That leaves Izuku with the supervillain who won’t stop running a hand through his hair or stop looking in the mirror for the past hour.

“Are you done yet?” Izuku asks tiredly. Damn villains and their good looks.

All for one smirks. “Come on now Izuku, it’s been a while since I get to see my face again. Did I tell you that lady loves me a lot?” Sighs.

Izuku ignores him. “How old are you now?”

“I think I’m around 100. Thank god for that, I almost lost like 20 great quirks.” All for one stands up from where he’s sitting and teleports right in front of Izuku. He jumps back in surprise.

“Let’s go see Tomura.” With that, Izuku is lifted up by an invincible force and now he’s being carried by All for one. Great day.

A warp gate similar to Kurogiri opens up, but this one is more black than purple. Izuku blinks once and now they’re at the bar. Izuku wiggles his way down from the villain's arms and comes to meet with a wide-eyed Tomura and a shocked Kurogiri who almost drops the glass he’s cleaning if not for Izuku to catch it.

“s-sensei?” “master?” They both speak up with bewilderment.

“Oh wow Tomura, you’re all grown up now!”

Don’t know if it’s only him, but All for one seems… more friendly and fun? When they met for the first time, Izuku was so scared of him. With the scarred face and dark room? And the way he’s speaking so formally and radiating some unnerving aura? Yeah, that’s All for one before he gets healed.

Izuku lets them have a conversation and disappears into the kitchen behind Kurogiri’s bar. It’s smaller than his own at the cafe, but at least there’s some ingredients for him.

...There isn't enough for a fancy coffee though. Time to bring out a tea recipe that is hiding in the back of his head.

He comes back with 4 drinks. Apricot lemonade iced tea, sweet citrus iced tea, cranberry tea, and a vanilla chai tea for himself.

All for one perks up and grabs the cranberry tea before he opens the warp gate again. “Now, I’m going to do some business, so you kids have fun.” And then he’s gone. Just like that.

“Where did you even find an overpowered quirk like that to fix sensei?” Tomura says while sipping the sweet citrus tea in interest.

Izuku goes to sit next to him on the couch. “She’s a kid I helped. Mind Heist saw the opportunity so he brought her here.”

“Who the fuck is Mind Heist?”

Izuku looks at him. “Dude, he’s literally All for one no.1 minion. And he’s the one who kidnapped me.”

“Never heard the name in my entire life.”

Excuse me?

“…So, when will the gang come back?” Izuku changes the subject. Who in the world doesn’t know the famous mastermind? Oh! the league of villains leader! Izuku can’t believe him.

“Er, tomorrow? I assigned Dabi to be the leader of the Vanguard action squad. So I let them do their job.” Actually, the name is pretty cool. Tomura is definitely the one who came up with that.

“Hm…” There’s nothing for him to say, really. Tomura told him last week that he won’t tell anything to Izuku. He wants it to be a surprise. But Izuku doubts it, he learned to read people’s facial expressions from some vigilante. And the look on Tomura's face that day? Izuku’s sure that he won’t like what he will see tomorrow. Let’s call it a hunch.

Summer camp is great in Shouto’s opinion. He gets so far away from Endeavor, and he gets to use his quirk freely. The only thing that's bad is he doesn’t get to talk to Izuku. Since they’re both busy, and Shouto is too tired to do anything after the heavy training. He hopes he’ll get a hug from his friend soon.

Oh wait, there’s another thing that’s worse. The constant glaring from Bakugou. Shouto doesn’t know why this guy is so obsessed with Izuku. Even his personality pissed him off so much.

Hopefully they won’t be seeing each other anytime soon. Or Shouto is going to burn that cocky face away before he even can speak any single word to Izuku.

Two day pass by and everything is fine.

Well, not today, he guesses.

Villains attack the camp, great. He should’ve asked Izuku that day because his friend looks like he’s about to say something important but changed his mind when Shigaraki walked in.

He saw Touya’s blue fire in the distance and sighs to himself. Time to run.

God must’ve hated him, because he somehow ended up with Bakugou. And now they’re fighting a crazy villain with a teeth quirk. What’s his name again? Shouto surely saw him somewhere in Izuku’s villain analysis book. Moon something..

Moonteeth?

Definitely not that.

They somehow defeated the villain. Not exactly they, Shouto did nothing. Yoarashi brings the rampaging Dark shadow with his wind and throws Tokoyami at the villain.

And they meet with more people to form a Bakugou protection squad-something because apparently the villains want to kidnap the blonde.

Did they even ask Shouto that he wants to protect this guy?

Oh, would you look at that, Mr.Compress just used his quirk on Bakugou and Tokoyami and now he’s escaping. Oh no, Shouto is at his limit, he can’t use his ice anymore. Sorry for the inconvenience everyone.

Yoarashi must’ve loved his classmates so much, he summoned a very strong wind to make everyone fly towards the magician. They collide, and smash him onto the ground.

Shoto looks up to see Dabi walking to them. Oh, this is the rendezvous point.

His brother launches his flames, the only people who're able to dodge is him and Mr.Compress.

Fast forward, they’re all now fighting with the villains. Shouto is trying his best, so is Toga. That’s clearly a fake knife she’s throwing at him, at least she’s having fun avoiding Shouto’s weak fire.

After a long time of wonderful acting by Shouto, his classmates are able to retrieve a marble of Tokoyami. Unluckily for the hero side, Bakugou is in Toga’s hold, and a knife is digging lightly onto the guy’s throat.

Shouto sighs, finally. He can go back home and sleep for an entire day. Maybe he should visit Izuku first though.

His thoughts get cut off by a screaming of his name from his classmates. He blinks and there’s an arm wrapped around his shoulder and he gets dragged to the portal.

What the fuck.

His head whipped to the side and he hissed in the villain’s ear. “T-Dabi what are you- grab my neck!”

Dabi seems to realize he’s kinda fucked up, so he quickly moves his hand to Shouto’s throat instead.

“Oh shit I forgot that you’re a hero student.” He mumbles guiltily. But his brother doesn’t look sorry at all.

With that, they all disappear into Kurogiri’s portal. Shouto tries not to look at either of his classmates' horrified faces.

At least he’ll meet Izuku faster.

Mind Heist is long gone before Izuku comes back to the cafe. But he left a note saying that he’ll be back when the vanguard finishes their mission. So Izuku let him be.

Izuku has had a normal day so far. Woke up in the morning, made a lot of coffees and tea, facetime with All for one to let Eri see that the guy is still there and healthy as fuck. Eri is so happy she cried again, so he and a group of villains had a group hug with her. Izuku also made her unicorn milkshake and rainbow cupcakes for her. Eri likes it a lot, so Izuku has to make a ton more.

Which it all ended up in the villain’s stomach because he and Eri definitely can’t eat it all. If any of them has diabetes… Izuku can only say sorry. But hey! it’s made Eri become cheerful!

At night, after he sent Eri to bed, he changed his clothes and comes down to chilling in the cafe couch.

Izuku knows they’ll be back soon, and Izuku is not gonna like it at all. Why does he become paranoid like this? But he always trusts his instinct okay? Maybe he should text Shouto or Dabi to test the water first.

He doesn’t need to wait for long because Dabi is already calling him.

“Aghhh bunny, we’re back and we need your drinks asap-” “Kurogiri won’t give us alcohol-” “You heard him! throw tons of ice in there!”

Izuku never pulls his phone away from his ear that fast in his entire life. Damn, they’re so loud.

“Right… Anything else?”

“We accidentally brought you a friend so come pick him up quickly before the other brat figure something out because your fucking boyfriend can’t act shit.” Izuku is gonna just ignore the last part. And how did they accidently kidnap Shouto? Ugh, let's just make that a future problem. He hangs up and leaves to do this work.

Since he definitely can’t carry all of that, he texts Kurogiri to open a portal for him. The drinks are going first, because they won’t stop whining and Kurogiri is so tired of their bullshit.

Izuku stares blankly at the swirling portal. Why does he feel like this? His feet do not want to cooperate with him to walk in there.

He takes a deep breath and steps in. He landed next to the door. Great for escaping he thought.

His eyes take in the situation. The league of villains are either sitting at the bar or standing in their usual spot. They’re drinking what Izuku made thirstily. He almost sighs because there is nothing wrong. Then fuck his life, there’s someone at the middle of the room.

And fuck him again for not wearing a hoodie.

Fucking Bakugou Katsuki is here, in a restraints. But why not a muzzle? Because the moment their eyes meet. Izuku goes still. That different shade of red from both Mind Heist and Tomura eyes are looking directly at him. He should’ve trusted his gut feeling.

“Deku?!” So does everyone in the room when that word comes out of his mouth. All eyes that have various emotions in them stare at the explosive kid.

.

.

“Fuck no.”

He turns around, yanks open the door, and closes it in their faces.

Not today asshole.

Chapter Text

What the fuck.

Why is he even there? Why did they even kidnap him? Out of all the students, there are so many interesting quirks, and it has to be Bakugou?

Oh right. Tomura said that his personality is like a villain, which serves him right. Or maybe it’s Izuku's fault, he never told the name of his biggest nightmare to anyone except Shouto and Dabi.

Speaking of Shouto, Izuku totally forgot that his friend is also in the room. And Izuku left him there! Can’t he just tell Kurogiri to drop him here and Iuzku doesn’t have to go back?

Wait. There’s another problem. Does Mind Heist know about Bakugou? Definitely.

Oh he’s dead.

Just kidding, Mind Heist doesn’t kill. But in this case? Izuku is not so sure.

He walks away from the bar and ends up at the Nomu factory. It looks like the doctor isn’t here, that is great. Who even wants to see your childhood doctor?

At least the guy acknowledged his talent, and Izuku found himself helping with the Nomu project once or twice. He walks absentmindedly along the containers and comes across to the chainsaw Nomu. He would’ve walked past it if not for the very observant eyes of his, because that’s definitely a tracking device. Great, Bakugou’s classmates loved him so much.

Now he has to go back and tell someone. His traitor phone ran out of batteries at the best time. Can’t he just ignore all of this and go back to sleep? Well, if he wants the heroes to arrest them all then he could.

Obviously not!

Izuku sighs. Or he could just go back, act like nothing happened, tell them about what he saw, then ask one of them to bring Shouto back to the cafe and never step in there until Bakugou is gone. Sounds like a plan.

“What just happened? Don’t answer that!” Twice says after the complete silence that follows after Izuku shut the door. Honestly, Shouto can’t blame him. But can someone please get him out of here?

Dabi glares harden. “Oh, you guys wanna know? This brat is the ‘Kacchan’- “What the fuck did you just called me?!” Bakugou interrupts with a snarl. “And why the fuck is Deku here?!” The question gets thrown at him, and he blinks. Oh shit, he should say something.

“Don’t you dare cut me off you piece of shit.” His brother grabs Bakugou’s face and heats up his hand in warning. The blonde reluctantly shuts up and grits his teeth in anger and pain.

“Oh my god, we shouldn’t recruit him then! Let me cut him instead!” Toga joins in. She appears out of nowhere, walking slowly around them while licking her knife excitedly.

Shigaraki sighs and scratches his neck lightly. “…Fuck, I should’ve include him when we planned this.” He mumbles and then he turned to Shouto. “And we have another problem too.” Shouto tries not to get offended.

“At least we got the attention of the media. They’re all attacking UA for not protecting their students again.” Mange says from where she’s leaning over Spinner, who’s looking at his phone attentively.

Shouto doesn’t pay any more attention to their conversation, he’s instead trying to look for a way out of here. Maybe he could throw some ice shards at Kurogiri. He doesn’t have a quirk-suppressing handcuff like Bakugou. Wait, honestly he could just
break out and the villains would probably even bother to catch him.

But then if heroes find this place and rescue his classmates, Bakugou will say something like Shouto left him on purpose. And with the lie-detector detective, they could ask a question that will get him in trouble.

Before they could do anything else, the door suddenly opens, making everyone jump and bring out their weapons and quirks. Izuku looks at them weirdly.

“What?” He glances around and then settles at Shouto. They stare at each other before his friend tiptoes to whisper something in Touya’s ear. With that, he’s now being carried like a potato sack on his brother’s shoulder. Oh, he just notices that he isn’t even bound to the chair. Nice.

Ah he should say something for sure. “W-What?! What are you doing? Put me down!” With his emotionless face, that is good enough. He sees Izuku facepalm at the corner of his eyes. And looks like they’re going to leave just like that, thank god. He really want to-

“Are you that pathetic Deku? You aren’t useless enough now you fucking with a villain huh?!”

There are hundreds, even millions things to say, but what came out of his stupid mouth is that?

If they think the room can’t get any more quiet, they’re all very wrong. They probably can hear a pin drop with how silent it is. No one dares to move. With how long they’ve known Bunny, he would sometimes spill a couple of his stories to them. Dabi and Shouto are the only people who know the whole thing.

But there’s one thing that they’re all agreeing on. Bunny isn’t just full of intelligence, fluffiness, or sunshine. There’s a hidden rage behind those cute adorable eyes. That’s why there’s no one who dares to be on the wrong side of the analyst. Even if nothing ever happens, the boy never let out his anger in any way.

That sentence definitely is a burning match that gets thrown into a pile of fuel. The fuel that would never even catch a fire if left alone.

“What is your problem?” Izuku asks. There’s nothing in his voice that shows what his current emotion is.

Bakugou growls. “Why are you even here? What about the dream of becoming a hero?”

This guy is starting to get on his nerves.

“Why do you even care?” Izuku speaks calmly. Seriously, he could just walk out and forget all about this. But his feet would not move! He puts up his arm in front of Dabi to prevent the guy from turning a hero kid into ashes.

Then Bakugou just stops. “Look, D-Izuku I’m sorry, okay? I know I’m a shitty person and you disappear and I don't have the chance to say this to you.”

What the fuck is this. Is this some kind of friendship fiction? Where the bully apologizes and they suddenly become best friends forever?

“Right, sounds great. Let's just forget each other and move on okay?” Izuku turns around and hopes that his feet are quick enough. Of course it’s not.

“What the fuck? I just apologize to you!” Bakugou shouts. What is wrong with him and what does he want with Izuku? He can’t really deal with this today.

He is so tired of whatever bullshit this is. “And I said that sounds great! What else do you want?”

“You’re pissing me off Deku!” Izuku, for the tenth time, has to glare at the villains behind the blonde, who’re holding different types of weapons in their hands, ready to strike. Bakugou doesn’t even notice the immediate death behind him. He’s blind by the anger towards the once pebble in his path. Izuku pity him.

“That sounds like a you problem.”

“FUCK YOU!” Bakugou is seething at everything right now. “I’m trying to be better here!” Then he adds, “We both know that I’m being like this because that shitty school and everyone in my entire life are treating-” Nope. Not happening.

“Oh fuck that! How everyone treats you is not an excuse for you to be a shitty person!” Dabi growls. Can everyone please calm down?

Izuku takes a deep breath. “You think you change, but I don’t think so. You’re just a self-centered prick who thinks you're and always be the best by beating everyone down. Bad news, the world doesn’t revolve around you. No one needs to listen to you. Including me. You’re just like Endeavor, Bakugou, not only your personality, but the fact that you’ll never be number one with an attitude like that. If you’re still confident, then I'll be the one who makes sure you won’t make it.” He’s out of breath when he’s done. The league looks like either they want to smash Bakugou’s head with the baseball bat in Twice’s hand, or they want to smother him with hugs.

Bakugou looks shocked. And he’s speechless. One thing Izuku sees is a rage that’s building up. Welp, time to go. “Fuck you, we’re done here.”

But before he leaves, an order that they’ll want comes out of his mouth without him realizing it. “Do whatever you want with him.”

With that he turns around, grabs Dabi’s free hand, and drags him out of there. Fast.

If they hear a punch or a scream, or a sound of something hitting something behind them. They don’t acknowledge it.

“I want to frame that Endeavor speech in my room.”

And if Izuku cried himself to sleep that night? At least there are two warm bodies cuddling him. To remind Izuku that no matter what happened, he has people that’ll always be there for him now. He snuggled against Shouto and drifted off to sleep.

“Bunny, He looks like a candy cane.” Eri stares at Shouto with wide eyes. This is the first time that they met. She’s hiding behind his legs and pokes her head to look at his friend.

Shouto crouches down and offers her a handshake. “Hello.” He greets her.

Eri shakes his hand. “…You’re pretty.” Shouto blinks at her then at Izuku. Dabi snorts next to him.

Aww, the villains must’ve taught Eri some vocabulary.

He restrains himself from facepalm when he hears Shouto mumbling. “Is she Shigaraki's secret love child or something?”

Hey, they just both have red eyes and pale kinda white hair!

Izuku sighs fondly to himself. He pats Eri’s head lightly before he walks past them to make some breakfast.

The 3 of them just enjoy their rest day in the cafe. Nothing interesting happened, because Izuku doesn’t feel like doing his work, the cafe doesn’t open today.

He’s resting his eyes on the couch when he suddenly remembers something super important. He sits up quickly, startling Dabi who’s sitting next to him.

“What the fuck bunny?” He asks confusedly.

Oh my god. He forgot to tell them about the tracking device!

“We have a problem...”

He then turns to Shouto who’s watching Frozen with Eri on the floor. He’s already showered and threw away his dirty clothes yesterday. That’s the issue. How could he explain it to the heroes about the clothes, how he’s clean, and how he doesn’t have any injuries?

Ah shit.

Dabi disappears in a second after hearing about the device that got attached to the Nomu. They don’t know if the heroes are already on the move or they’re still planning.

If Izuku guessed, they would be attacking the location this or tomorrow night.

The real trouble is Shouto, even if they manage to make up a lie to tell everyone. Detective Tsukauchi, the lie detector, would surely participate in this operation.

Maybe they could say that Izuku is the one who helped Shouto? But then he has to show his face, and Eraserhead will definitely remember him.

“Or you could just go back there and when someone kicks the door open, you’ll become a kidnapped kid again.” Izuku suggests. Shouto grimaces. Alright, he doesn’t want to go back there.

Izuku pacing around the room thinking what to do, and his friend doesn’t seem interested in leaving soon. Hm, Shouto could just go back and they’ll still see each other almost everyday.

You know what? Izuku just gonna let everything be and hope for the best.

For now.

That moment when you’re worried about Tomura and the league of villains but you don’t want to see that guy who’ll ruin your mood in three seconds.

When he opened the news and saw the UA press conference? He knows immediately that that is a ruse.

But seriously, why do they need to protect Bakugou like that? He wants to laugh. They said his behavior is a result of his tenacious pursuit to be the best hero. Would you look at that, even Shouto rolled his eyes at the statement.

Eraserhead could do better than this.

And he doesn’t have to worry for long because he gets a text for a confirmation.

Stain:
they escaped for a while now
shigaraki told me to tell you

thank you akaguro-san!
are you around there?

Stain:
met them a min ago
now i'm just watching from afar

okay👍
enjoy your time then!

Izuku sighs in relief. He really wanted to go to Kamino, but Mind Heist said that he shouldn’t be there. The villain didn’t even care that Shouto is still here. He looked at the two-toned hair boy once, ruffled his hair, then walked out to do whatever he’s been doing.

Guess he’s got another child on his kidnap-adoption list.

Izuku gives Shouto a script of possible questions that he is 100% sure will be asked. Now they wait for everything to be fine, then Shouto can go back. The story is, Shouto got kidnapped, then got rescued, and stayed somewhere safe because the villains might still find them.

Totally accurate.

“Oh look, your other dad is fighting All Might.” Shouto speaks up. Izuku turns to the TV. This news station is broadcasting a live fight between the number one hero and the mysterious villain.

All for one is still wearing that ridiculous mask. The guy really likes to play with people’s minds. So no doubt, he’ll surprise All Might with his fully healed state. Izuku noted that they’re two teams of heroes. One is at the Nomu factory, and the other is at the bar.

He goes back to sit on the couch and squeeze himself between Shouto and the cat mutation villain. He turns around and blinks at the amount of villains inside the cafe. They’re all surrounding the living room area to watch the epic fight.

Now Izuku feels bad for not making any coffee today.

It’s like they’re watching the football premier league with the boys. They cheer every time All for one avoids a hit, or when All Might gets smashed to the ground.

If All for one is fighting a week ago, then Izuku thinks it would’ve been a tie, or the supervillain might lose too. But looking at the live now, while All Might is beaten pretty badly. The guy is still perfectly fine in his black suit.

Then there it is, All Might's body reverts back to his weak form, revealing the fragile body to the public. He hears some shock gasp from the villains behind him. And Izuku knows how this will end.

All for one stop attacking, he monologues for a minute, which the news station doesn’t catch, and then salutes to the camera one last time before he disappears into the portal behind him. Leaving the symbol of peace defeated on the ground.

Eventually, Izuku wants to send Shouto back to the police by himself. Of course there is disagreement from everyone. And in the end, Reaper and some not-on-the-police’s radar villains will be following them from a distance.

They walk to the Kamino ward quickly before more people panic before Endeavor’s kid isn’t there. Oh, that brings a question. What does the league do to Bakugou and where is he now? He didn’t see the guy on the livestream, and no one told him anything yet. They must’ve been busy changing their hideout. He hopes All for one doesn’t turn him into a Nomu or something.(Even if it sounds great.)

They arrive at the street where most of the civilians gather to watch the fight on a big screen. He remembered there’s a police station nearby, which the heroes probably would be meeting there.

Izuku just follows Shouto while listening to the conversation about All Might from the people they’re passing. Some of them said that he’s doing his best and he’ll always be a number one for them. Some are disappointed at the commission who hide the existence of a powerful villain and the weak form of All might.

He walks right to Shouto’s back when his friend suddenly stops. “Oww. What was that Shouto?” He rubs his head.

“Um, my classmates? and Bakugou.” He points at the group of weirdly-dressed teenagers. There’s Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Iida, Yoarashi, and a bloody, beaten body of Bakugou lying on the floor. They’re either crying, panicking, or trying to do first-aid to help their friend.

Now Izuku feels bad with the ‘Do whatever you want with him.’ he said. Honestly, he worries the media might paint the league of villains as a child beater. He might need to send someone to release a clip of Bakugou bully behavior. He really doesn’t want to do this. He sounds like a villain seeking for revenge, but he just wants to protect the league reputation alright?

They rush to the group and they stare wide-eyed at Shouto.

“Todoroki-kun!” They scream and tackle Shouto to a hug. Only Kirishima who stays by Bakugou's side and just offers a small grateful smile instead.

“Are you alright?” “Who’re you?” “Where’ve you been?! We looked everywhere for you!” Questions are thrown at them.

“He’s the one who saved me. We had to stay somewhere safe in case the villains find us-” Shouto explains and Izuku quickly nods.

“y-yeah. I’m really sorry for not helping Bakugou-kun! I-I swear, I didn’t see him when I got Sh-Todoroki-kun out of there!” Oops, he almost forgot that he’s covering his hair and face right now. Iida probably won’t recognize him.

“That’s okay. You did good. Thank you so much.” Yaoyoruzu reassures him kindly.

They would have talked more, but Mt. Lady and the other heroes arrive, and they spot the kidnapped kid immediately.

“See you later.” He whispers in Shouto’s ear before slipping into the crowd and disappears before the heroes reach them.

What he doesn’t notice is that Eraserhead, in his suit attire, trailing after him until he takes off his beanie and meets up with the undercover villains.

It’s that kid, again.

“Do you know this boy, Todoroki-kun?” A picture from a security camera of a boy with green hair, wearing a hoodie, is shown to the kid in front of him.

“…No.” Lie.

He blinks. “That’s a lie.”

“…”

“…No way... I think I saw him before.” Truth.

“…Right, next question.”

Oh boy. This is going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

He should’ve known that UA would increase their security yet again. Now that the students have a dorm, he has to wait until weekends to see Shouto again. Though Shouto usually visits his mother on Saturdays, so that only leaves Sundays for them to hang out..

It’s okay, really. Izuku could just stay in the cafe, make coffees, take care of Eri, and do his analysis work! Just like before. Sometimes he wonders how Eri’s able to live like this, staying in the same room and never experiencing the outside world. She should be out there running around with friends her age, not hanging out with a boring teenager who works in a café while surrounded by villains.

Speaking of villains, after the fall of All Might happened, there seems to be an increase in crime rate. Since there’s no symbol of peace anymore, all of the bad guys who hide in the shadows are slowly but surely coming out to see the sun.

That doesn’t affect Izuku that much, as he just makes coffee for whoever comes in. Though the League sees the opportunity as possible recruitment, Tomura’s sending the members out for that.

Mind Heist visits daily, which is very nice of him, but he only stays for an hour at most since he still has to go out to do his business. With everyone so busy, it’s been a while since Izuku gets to do something other than taking care of Eri and the café.

Izuku is trying a new coffee recipe in the kitchen when Eri wanders in. She’s wearing a pink cardigan with a denim skirt. Izuku smiles brightly at her. She looks so cute wearing pretty clothes. Villains really know their things when it comes to fashion, as they were the ones to help pick out her clothing.

“Hi Eri! Is there anything I can help you with?”

She fidgets with her sleeve. “Um, Over..?”

“Overcast?”

“Overcast! He showed me this video,” she starts explaining.

“Yeah? What’s it about?” He lifts her up to sit on the counter. Eri brings a tablet out of nowhere and shoves it in his face.

It’s a... vlog? A vlog of a group of friends filming themselves walking around town. They’re playing in a park, eating at different food stalls, just doing overall fun stuff until the video ends with them at the beach.

Okay? “It’s very interesting….” He trails off. Izuku doesn’t know what Eri wants.

“I want to do something like that,” she speaks shyly, but her eyes are filled with hope.

He blinks. Oh. Of course she would want to go outside and do something other than being stuck inside of a boring room.

But two defenseless kids wandering on their own? Nope! Even if he brings his gun with him, who knows if there'll be some weird quirk that can counter that. And who knows if Overhaul would send his underlings to patrol around the area. They would have to go very far away from their base after all, in order to do things even close to the ones in the video.

Hm. “Let me think about it, okay?”

“Okay!” She jumps down into his arms and looks at him like he just hung the stars. Eri is such a cute kid, he wants to cry.

He gives Eri a bread pudding and sets her down before leaving the kitchen and going out to the main room. From the couch, Overcast raises his eyebrows in silent question.

Well, since he doesn’t seem to be busy…

“Why are you even here?” Shigaraki asks in slight annoyance. Dabi has to silently agree with their group’s leader. The scarred man thought that bunny would come with them, but instead, they got...this. But come to think about it, the boy probably wouldn’t want to see Overhaul, aka, the one that hurt Eri. Why did the league even agree to meet the yakuza anyway? All For One never told them the reason.

And now Mind Heist is here. Bet he didn’t even tell Izuku what he’s doing today.

“Can’t I just come to see my boss' kid?” Mind Heist said with a smirk.

They’re waiting for the Shie Hassaikai in an abandoned warehouse. Twice was the one who suggested that they should become an alliance, and Shigaraki had thought it would be a great idea to meet with them. So there was nothing Dabi could do but wait. Ever since he had joined the League of Villains, Dabi’s free time was reduced to nearly nothing. He misses the moments when it’s only him and bunny sometimes.

But he’s still happy where he is now. So, no complaining.

The sound of footsteps can be heard entering the room. He turns to see Overhaul with his ugly ass jacket walking in like he owns this place.

He sighs. Fingers crossed. Hopefully nothing goes wrong.

Everything goes wrong. They should’ve known from the very beginning, the man’s overall atmosphere made Dabi feel disgusting. And what the fuck is his logic? Quirks are a disease? Then why are you even using yours? Of course no one in the League agrees with his bullshit. Overhaul pisses him off so much.

But then Magne dashes to him, completely done with the crap the man is spewing out, and tries to strike the guy with her magnet pole. Dabi doesn’t know why, but he glances at Mind Heist and the guy is already on the move.

Mind Heist pushes Magne out of the way and when Overhaul’s hand brushes against her weapon instead, it explodes into a million pieces. Dabi almost gags at the images of if Magne was the one who was touched instead.

Overhaul looks surprised at the newcomer. But before anyone else can attack, bullets shoot past them and more Shie Hassaikai burst through the warehouse. Ugh, fucking knew the guy would bring backup.

In the end, nobody dies, though there are a few injuries like Compress getting shot and one of Overhaul’s own men getting a nasty cut along their cheek. Overhaul and the rest leave after asking Shigaraki to call him and leaves his card on a box. Dabi’s sure that his boss wants to disintegrate it immediately. Unfortunately, Mind Heist snatches the card and leaves them with a wink.

Dabi picks up a bullet from the floor while Twice and Spinner go and help Mr.Compress, who said that couldn’t use his quirk after he got shot. Dabi twirls the bullet in his hand while he walks out of the building.

This bullet makes people lose their quirk…

He makes a mental note to check it out later.

Many days later, Izuku and Eri find themselves out here, in a lively park near Tokyo. Overcast is somewhere around, but he said that he’ll let them have their fun. They had taken a train to get there, since Umbra had mentioned that he used to visit this place all the time before he became a villain.

Izuku can see why. The park doesn’t have too many people but it’s filled with pretty flowers and massive trees along the path that cuts through the rolling greens, places to sit or have picnics. There's also a playground in the middle and a fish pond off to the side. Kids are playing with each other and he can feel the excitement radiating from Eri.

“Can I play with them, Bunny?” Eri tugs his hand while waving her hand back at the other kids who see her.

Izuku remembers the time when Eri was still scared of everyone.Ever since they kidnapped her from Overhaul, she’s been getting better everyday. It’s mostly from the nice people who treat her the way she should be treated, so now Eri is more open and has the courage to start a conversation.

“Of course! I’ll be around the pond, yeah?” He smiles down at her. He almost bursts into tears when she gives him a small one back. She runs off to a flower haired boy who is playing on the swings.

Izuku watches her for a bit, and when nothing wrong happens, he walks towards the pond. He wishes he could live here. It's so peaceful and vibrant at the same time. Izuku crouches down by the pond, watching as beautiful and colorful Koi fish swim around aimlessly. If he had known there would be fish here, he would have brought some food for them. He sighs, and he's about to get up and look for a bench to sit on when a bag of fish food gets handed to him.

"Here," a softly-spoken voice says by his side

Izuku looks up to see a really pretty, yet kind-looking woman smiling softly at him. "O-oh! Thank you!" He bows to her and takes the fish food.

They throw the food in a comfortable silence, only the sound of splashing water from the Koi and the kids playing in the background being heard. Izuku glances at her. She’s a middle-aged woman who has straight white hair, and she’s currently wearing a hospital gown.

He startles when she suddenly speaks up, “Are you new around here?”

“Yeah, I just brought her out to see the world.” He points at Eri, who’s now playing on a seesaw. He can’t help the smile that forms. Wait, she and Eri kinda look alike…

The woman chuckles and Izuku blushes. He must’ve mumbled again.

“Isn’t it school time right now?” She asks. Izuku doesn’t mind the company, so he’ll gladly talk with her while waiting for Eri.

“It is, but I kind of... dropped out?” He scratches his cheek sheepishly. He’s surprised by the concerned look on her face.

“Dropped out? Are you doing well with your family?” What?

“I’m fine! I just work in a cafe and my life is really good!” Izuku assures her.

She looks at him with fondness before she puts her hand on top of his hair and pats gently. She freezes and Izuku blinks in surprise.

“Sorry… I- I haven’t seen my children in a while.” She sighs. “And I never got the chance to take care of them when they were still young.” She takes her hand back and stares at her lap tiredly.

Come on Izuku, cheer her up. “Ah- It’s okay, really!” He gives her a genuine smile. “You kinda remind me of my mom. She always worries about me and everything,” Izuku’s voice is quiet, not wanting to break the somber air that settles around them.

The white-haired stranger looks at him again. “Really? I’ve been told I’m not a good mother.”

Ouch. “…People aren’t perfect, I guess.”

She hums in response.“So where’s your mother? Does she let you come out here often with a little kid?”

“Oh, she died last year actually,”

Her eyes widened in guilt. “Ah I’m sorry for bringing it up-”

“No no! I’m the one who started it.” Izuku waves his hands frantically at her as she starts to look panicked. Then they stop at the same time and burst out laughing.

She coughs in her hand. “Sorry. This is so awkward. I only speak to the nurse and my son once a week.”

“Hey, it’s fine! It’s not like I’m any better than you.”

She chuckles. “I think you have some kind of charming aura. You're a very likable kid.”

Izuku never wanted to cry this much from a compliment from a total stranger before. It’s like after he got kidnapped, he became a whole new person.

(Or it’s the same Izuku, and the only thing that changed is that he’s now surrounded by people who cherish him as he should have from the start.)

“T-thank you.”

They both share a small smile before they go back to sitting in silence. It’s not an uncomfortable one. They just sit there, looking at the kids, or looking at people jogging around. A while later she speaks up.“I think I have to go now.”

Izuku stands up with her. “Oh, okay! You’re probably busy and I’m here keeping you. Sorry.”

“Ah-no! You’re not. I escaped my hospital room and I think my nurse will come to check on me any minute now.”

What?!

Dabi can’t even believe Shigaraki actually went to meet with the yakuza earlier. And they ended up demanding the presence of Toga and Twice.

Great job, boss.

Izuku is surprised to see the lady again after that fateful meeting last week. This time, however, it’s in the evening. He just wanted to see the sunset for once, instead of working into the dark hours of the night. And Honeylocust had been more than happy to look after Eri for him. So he takes the train and goes to the quietest beach he knows. Takoba Municipal Beach would’ve been his first choice, but between the amount of trash that litters the sandy beaches, and the closeness to his old home, he decides against it.

So he instead finds himself on a beach on the outskirts of Tokyo. When he arrives, there's only a man fishing at the dock, and two stray puppies playing at the shore. He doesn’t hesitate to take off his shoes and let his bare feet touch the soft, warm sand.

He walks along the beach, letting his feet brush the cool water that laps up the shore. Izuku walks aimlessly and just enjoys the atmosphere, only coming to a stop at an area where all the empty seashells got washed up. It’s there that he spots that familiar white-haired woman with her hospital gown again.

He jogs to her. She looks up and her eyes light up in recognition. This time, Izuku’s able to see her face more in detail. He swears he’s seen those beautiful grey eyes somewhere before.

Her eyes crinkle when she smiles. “Hello!” He waves cheerfully at her.

“Good evening,” she greets him back.

“Did you run away again?” He catches up to her and they start walking side by side along the shore.

She laughs. “Staying in the same room all the time can make someone go crazy.”

“When will you get discharged?” Izuku asked.

Her face falls. “Never? I’ve been at the hospital since forever.”

“Are you ill? I know someone who can help you.” Goddammit, he shouldn’t have said that. Izuku, you can’t use All For One to fix every problem you see. Since the guy is back to normal, he's hunting down quirks nonstop. But a little helping wouldn’t hurt the man, surely.

She gives him a small, thankful smile. But there’s sadness hidden in there. “I’m in a psychiatric ward. I know I’m fine, even the doctor has said so. But the person who put me in there...” She doesn’t need to continue and Izuku can already guess what happened.

Izuku doesn’t know her that much but damn, he wants to break her out of her shackles. Technically he can, but he doesn’t know if she wants him to. Or if she wants to be associated with villains. Or who’s behind this whole mess.

He mumbles quietly. “You might not believe me, but if you ask, I can help you.” She turns to consider him. Izuku doesn’t know what she finds, but she must approve because she smiles again.

They watch the view of the fiery orange sun that is just about to touch the water on the horizon. He feels relaxed, staring at the contrast between the dark sea and the luminous sky. It seems like she likes it too.

“Maybe I should come out here everyday,” she muses.

Before they part ways, Izuku remembers to introduce himself. And he’s happy to finally learn her name.

”Nice to meet you Izuku-kun,” she had said. “Call me Rei.”

The heroes suck in all honesty. They can’t even beat Overhaul and now the guy’s escaping. To make matters worse, a group of villains are able to beat his ass easily.

With a little reconnaissance from Toga, a bit of his own fire, and Shigaraki’s decay, it takes them not even ten minutes to have the guy pinned and out. And if Mr.Compress chops off the guy’s arm and puts it in his marble? They will call it a trophy. They’re about to leave with the remaining quirk erasing bullets when someone texts him.

Mind Heist:
hey hot guy
don’t forget to bring chisaki back to the base

Dabi:
wtf
why

Mind Heist:
all for one wants his quirk
lol

They’re glad to have Mr.Compress as a member. He can’t imagine carrying this guy back to the base.

“The League of Villains defeated Overhaul?”

“Yeah.” Truth.

“And they brought his body with them?”

“That’s right.” Truth.

The detective sighs. “…All For One.”

“Who’s that?” Izuku snaps his head to the side to see Mind Heist walk over to him after Rei leaves. How long has he been there?

Izuku squints at the red-haired villain. “I met her a while ago. Why?”

The guy clears his throat and averts his gaze from the direction where Rei is going. “She’s cute.”

.

.

What?!

“The league of villains are rising in the villain ranks. They are even starting to influence more villains to come out and create chaos. And now All For One is out instead of hiding in the shadows. We can’t risk incidents like Kamino anymore. People are starting to lose faith in the heroes-”

Hawks hides a yawn behind his big, red wings. He can count the number of times where he almost falls asleep listening to the head of HPSC speak about boring shit.

“Hawks.”

Hm. Maybe he could get some chicken wings later. He can’t wait for this stupid meeting to end. He-

“Hawks!”

He straightens. “Yes, ma'am.”

“Are you even listening to what I am saying?” She asks in her cold, uncaring voice.

“Of course.” He flutters his wings uncomfortably.

She observes him before turning around to leave. “Good. Then prepare yourself. Your infiltration of the League of Villains will start this week.” With that, she steps past him and closes the door in his face.

Wait.

He has to do what?!

Chapter Text

It’s Saturday morning when Shouto walks in, yawning like he needs 12 hours more of sleep. He walks past Izuku into the kitchen and comes out a moment later with a bowl of cold soba in his hand. Who in the world eats soba in the morning? And why is there soba leftover in the fridge? What is even happening?

“Hm… Can I get an iced matcha and salted caramel latte?” Shouto asks while slurping his food.

Izuku blinks. “…Sure.”

He places the drink in front of his friend and is about to go back to his work when he realizes that Shouto never comes to the cafe in the morning. He usually comes after he visits his mother. Izuku turns to his friend to find that the heterochromatic eyed boy is already looking at him. They stare at each other for a moment before Shouto sighs.

“Would you like to meet my mother?” Shouto asks.

Huh? “Um, sure? Does your mother want to meet me, though?”

“Let me ask that again. My mother actually wants to meet you. Do you want to meet her?”

Izuku blinks again. “O-of course! When do we go?”

Shouto finishes the last bite of his food and stands up abruptly. “Right now.”

“Wait wait. Who’s going to look after Eri? Do I need to bring something for her?”

“Don’t worry-”

“Don’t worry! Why? Because I’m here!” Honeylocust kicks open the door and makes an All Might pose at the entrance, flexing her nonexistent muscle while smiling at everyone in the room.

Her underlings that are currently in the cafe gape at their boss in astonishment.

“Off you go young man! I’m going to take care of my daughter!” Should Izuku be amazed by how good her All Might impression is? Or should he be concerned about the fact that Eri is now her kid?

“Um, okay.”

But before he can get ushered out, he swings around to look for something to give to Shouto’s mom. Since he doesn’t have any idea at all, and it’s still a bit early for shops to open, coffee would be the best bet. He wonders if she likes rose water or not?

They arrive at the Fujiya Hospital and Izuku can’t help but feel slightly nervous. He’s going to meet Shouto’s mother! He has heard a lot of things about her: how she’s kind and gentle; how Shouto has the courage to see her again because of Izuku; and how she’s doing a lot better than before.

The nurse smiles at them as she leads them to Shouto’s mother’s room. His friend knocks twice before a familiar voice speaks up. “Come in.”

Izuku doesn’t have time to think about why he knows that voice because Shouto is already opening the door to reveal the person who he’s been talking to for a while at the park and then the beach.

“Mom, this is my friend that I’ve been telling you about-”

“Izuku-kun?”

“Rei-san?”

They speak at the same time, staring at each other in bewilderment. How many times will this happen? It’s kind of funny that he seems to know everyone now.

Izuku and Rei, after a beat of surprised silence, laugh at each other. Shouto just stands there awkwardly before deciding to sit down.

“Oh great, you guys know each other already.” Shouto huffs.

Izuku chuckles and joins him on the comfortable sofa.

“Did I not tell you about a boy I met?” Rei sits up on her bed, getting a better angle to face them, and asks her son curiously.

Shouto raises his brows. “No?”

“If you tell him about me, then you probably will need to tell him how you escaped the hospital, too,” Izuku reveals her secrets with a smirk.

Rei gasps at him in betrayal. “Izuku!”

“Really mom?” Shouto asks in shock. Who would’ve thought that his mother would run away out of boredom. “I’m definitely telling Fuyumi about this.” Shouto brings out his phone.

Rei sighs tiredly, but she has a smile on her face. “Look what you did, Izuku-kun. Now I’m in trouble.”

“Hopefully my drink can make up for it.” Izuku takes the coffee from Shouto’s hand -- glad the boy had helped him keep the drink cool -- and gives it to her. “As you know, I’m a barista! So here’s a drink I hope you like. It’s a rosewater cardamom iced coffee.”

While he lets Rei enjoy the delicious drink, Izuku can’t help but connect all of her stories to Shouto’s and Dabi’s in his head. The person who locked her in here is none other than Endeavor himself. He shouldn’t be surprised at all, with all the things he did to both of his sons.

Knowing that the number 2 hero is behind this does make things easier, in a way. If Izuku decides to get Rei out, then it wouldn’t hurt anyone since Endeavor probably doesn’t care about her, and, if Dabi’s plan comes to fruition, the fire hero’s about to be dead soon anyways.

Speaking of Dabi, Izuku turns to Shouto and whispers, “Hey, did you ever tell your mother about Touya?”

By the look on his friend’s face. He totally didn’t. “I-I…fuck. Why did I never tell her that?!” Shouto facepalms.

“Should we tell her now?”

“Tell me what?” They both jump out of their seats when Rei suddenly appears in front of them.

Izuku nudges Shouto with his elbow and Shouto casts a pleading look at his friend before turning to look up at his mother.

“Um.” Shouto takes a deep breath, a sheen of frost forming on his hand. “So… I never told you this before because it slipped my mind.”

She nods in understanding. Shouto decides to bite the bullet and get it over with.

“Touya is still alive.”

There’s a pause in which they can hear a pin drop. Rei’s mouth opens and closes, trying to find words to say, but before she can gather herself, the door gets kicked open and 2 people tumble down into a pile on the floor.

“What did you just say?!”

“Shouto! What?!”

A boy and a girl, both of them older than Izuku, groan from the floor where they fell. They both share a resemblance to Rei, white hair and grey eyes. While the boy’s hair is short and spiky, the girl’s hair is shoulder-length and flecked with red.

They quickly get up from the ground and scramble to Shouto.

“You aren’t kidding, right?”

“Where is he now?”

Izuku blinks at them. He can see the resemblance between the family. These must be Shouto’s siblings.

He moves quietly to the side, listening to the siblings that try to interrogate Shouto. Izuku is surprised that his friend never mentioned Dabi before. If he was Shouto, he would’ve told them immediately that their supposed brother is still alive.

“Yo man, are you keeping a secret from us now?” The white-haired man shakes Shouto’s collar back and forth. “When did you meet him? How did you meet him? Wait, where is he now?”

The other person tries her best to calm down her brother, but Izuku can see that she wants to throw a lot of questions in their little brother’s face, too.

He notices Rei looking at him, an almost pleading look in her eyes. Izuku smiles at her in confirmation. “Yeah, he’s alive. Shouto and I met him last year, and we still see each other almost everyday.”

The two older siblings probably only noticed Izuku now, because they whip their head around so fast in his direction.

“Um h-hello, I’m Shouto’s friend,” He starts, voice unexpectedly soft.

“His name is Izuku,” Shouto introduces him while trying to peel himself from under his brother’s strong arm.

“Woah, I didn’t know Shouto has a friend! My name’s Natsuo!” Natsuo takes Izuku’s hand and shakes it enthusiastically.

“I’m Fuyumi, It’s nice to meet you.” Fuyumi smiles kindly at him. Her smile is almost the same as her mother's.

“Back to Touya, where is he?” Natsuo asks, turning back to Shouto.

“Is he okay?” Rei says quietly beside him.

Izuku makes eye contact with Shouto. There’s one thing they need to know first before they tell them anything else.

“Before I tell you guys more, please be open-minded, yeah? And maybe think about what he’s been through.” When Izuku says this, they all absorb the words carefully, taking a moment, before nodding for him to continue.

“D-Touya is a villain.”

Izuku can hear a sharp, shocked intake of breath from all three of them. A gasp from Fuyumi has Shouto quickly coming forward and holding his sister’s hand.

“Oh…Touya,” Rei says, drifting to sit down on an armchair near the window, but there’s an understanding in her eyes that pains Izuku’s heart to see.

Natsuo and Fuyumi are quiet. Izuku is almost at the point where he just says that they should forget about what he just said, but Natsuo suddenly turns to him with fists clenched in determination.

“Where is he?”

“Natsuo, he’s a villain,” Shouto says again.

The white-haird man just shakes his head. “No, Shouto. He’s my brother, and he’ll always be that first.”

“Y-yeah,” Fuyumi agrees as she brushes her tears away.

Izuku sees Rei smile to herself. He wishes to take her to see her son as well, but there’s no way they could unless they get a teleportation quirk. However, the only one Izuku knows at the moment, Kurogiri, is currently busy with some League business.

A plan forms in his mind, and he turns to face Rei. “I promise I’ll make Touya come and visit you, Rei-san.”

He then starts explaining everything from the beginning.

Yay, he’s gonna bring a family back together. Even though his mother is long gone and he doesn’t have his own family anymore, he would be more than happy to fix this family.

To think that Dabi is a little bit confused is an understatement. When he received news about a certain number three hero seeking him out yesterday, he swears to god that it was definitely a trap.

But now he’s here in a secluded abandoned building, because somehow Shigaraki finds this very funny and wants him to go and see what the bird has to offer, and he is waiting for his ‘guest’ to arrive. To be honest, he really doesn’t want to be here. What if he gets caught? Hopefully Mind Heist would be able to bail him out of jail.

He puffs away at the cigarette in his hand when he catches his first sight of those red wings. Hawks drops down in front of him and waves in greeting as Dabi looks him up and down. Why would a hero even want to come in contact with a villain? Definitely suspicious.

“Greetings, Dabi.” Hawks holds a relaxed posture and a cocky smile, both of which grate on his nerves. Dabi can feel his eyes twitch in annoyance. God, he suddenly hates his job.

He scoffs. “Quit the act. I don’t have all day for this shit. What do you want?”

Hawks stares at him for a moment before answering. “I want to join the League of Villains.”

“Bullshit.” Dabi glares, a few strands of smoke filtering through his clenched fists.

“Hero society is corrupted, we all know that. I’ve seen past those grand illusions and want to destroy it. The League is a great start. I know that you guys could do it. Destroy this mess and build it up again. I want to be a part of that future. Even if doing this is a betrayal to my career, I think it’s worth what lies ahead-”

“Ugh, just stop.” Does he seriously think Dabi would believe that and let him in? That sounds like it comes from a poorly-written script. Honestly, he should just burn the bird right then and there. But he remembers those files that bunny asked him to retrieve at the commission’s bank months ago. This guy has some history. He can’t help but think that they can actually make use of him.

And if they can’t, corrupting a hero’s mind sounds fun.

“Give me your phone,” Dabi says suddenly, startling Hawks a little.

He doesn’t wait for it to be handed to him. Dabi snatches the phone and he doesn’t have to look twice because this is certainly a tracking device. He ignites his fire, destroying the phone into a pile of ash. Hawks blinks at him.

“I know you have a listening device hidden somewhere, but I’m not gonna burn that too,” He states. “And I don’t care what you said.”

Hawks' wings flutter.

Dabi gives the hero another look over before he turns around to the perfectly timed warp gate. “We’ll contact you when there’s a mission.”

The B-Ranked villain disappears, leaving a confused hero behind. Is he in the league now? Or was that a rejection?

Dabi knows right away that something’s up when he walks in the café. He scans the room carefully. Nothing looks out of place, but there’s definitely something…

He spots bunny at his usual spot, making some drinks at the counter. For a while he just stands there, but when nothing happens, he sighs and strides to get his usual coffee.

He doesn’t notice the ice that’s creeping along the floor until it’s too late. The ice engulfs his legs, and he doesn’t have enough time to use his quirk to melt his way out when something… someone tackles him, sending them both to the ground.

Dabi would’ve punched them in the face if not for the fact that he’s staring into familiar, angry eyes that are filled with tears.

“Nii-san!” Fuyumi cries.

Wait. Fuyumi?!

“What the f-” He can’t even finish the sentence when another body collides with him, knocking the breath out of the both of them.

“I knew it! I told you he is the villain Dabi. Oh my god, Touya!” His brother, Natsuo, pulls him in for a tight -- bone grating -- hug. Damn, when did he start working out?

But wait wait wait.

“What the hell? Bunny?” He sends a question to the boy that definitely is the culprit.

100% the culprit because said boy is now smiling innocently at him, too innocently. He also notices Shouto sitting on a stool nearby, looking amused.

“Why didn’t you contact us if you’re alive?” Fuyumi finally lets go of him, sitting back after Natsuo gets off of them both. She still looks the same as ever.

“Fuyumi, I’m a villain now. Why would I want to associate myself with you?” He says, trying to be reasonable.

“A little text like ‘Hey! I’m alive and kicking!’ would be great,” Natsuo replies with sarcasm.

Dabi rolls his eyes. “That one text alone would’ve made you guys want to find me even more.”

They both pause for a second. “Touché”

“So why-”

“The other reason we’re here today-” Natsuo cuts him off like the brat he is. Dabi sighs. “-is because you’re going to go and talk to mom.” What?!

Dabi mumbles, “She probably hates me.”

It’s Fuyumi's turn to sigh. “Nii-san, she could never hate you. We all know who’s at fault.”

“That’s why I’m going to destroy him.” Dabi growls.

All of his siblings look at him. There’s a lot of emotion in those eyes. Fear, excitement, intrigue.

“…Just, meet her first.” Fuyumi says, after some silence.

He huffs. “Fine, but only if that barista boy over there agrees to meet someone for me.”

Bunny has the audacity to pout at him.

This is going to be fun.

Hawks has tried so hard to get to meet Shigaraki Tomura, but no matter what he did, Dabi didn’t seem to change his mind. He just kept putting Hawks on drug transportation or elimination missions. Honestly, he doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything different from what he’s done for the commission.

Speaking of, the head of HPSC is starting to get annoyed with his reports. But what can he do? If Dabi doesn’t let him in the League, then there’s nothing for him to write in there. He doesn’t know what else to do to prove to the fire user that he’s loyal.

He almost jumps out of his bed when he gets a notification on his phone, the number getting more familiar by the day. Dabi wants to talk to him! Does his hard work finally pay off? Hawks quickly dresses and flies to the coordinates as fast as possible.

He can’t even keep the smile off his face when he lands in the decrepit building. Dabi doesn’t bother to greet him and grabs his hand instead. His body goes stiff. Red feathers that are floating around are ready to attack, and would have if not for the piece of paper that gets shoved into his hand. Hawks looks down in confusion. The scarred villain gives the floating feathers a side-eye before letting go of his hand.

“If you attack then we’re done here birdie.” The villain takes a step back and points at the paper.

“Go to that place, and if he approves of you, maybe you can meet the boss.” Hawks gets even more confused. There’s someone higher-in-command than Dabi? He’s pretty sure that Dabi is the second-in-command. That’s why he’s even here in the first place! Ugh! Then what’s the point of doing all of those stupid missions!?

“Sure.” He gives Dabi a salute and takes off. Even without looking back, Hawks can sense that the guy is rolling his eyes. Why is it so hard to make a villain likes him?

Oh right, he’s the number 3 hero.

He looks at the paper while he’s in the sky. The address is in… the villian friendly zone? He doesn’t know how the city still exists, truthfully. He remembers that the commission tried to get rid of it a long time ago but after so long of getting their asses handed to them, they finally gave up. It’s not like the villain area does anything and normal civilians don’t know the existence of the place anyway.

Hawks lands at the borderline of the area a couple of minutes later. There’s no heroes on-duty around, but a couple of low ranked villains stop and stare at him curiously. They don't seem to be hostile, but that could change the moment he steps over the line. Isn’t there a rule where heroes aren’t allowed in here without permission?

“Whatcha doin' here, number 3?” A C-Ranked villain with metal arms asks him when she walks past by the border.

Should he even be talking to them? Oh fuck it, everything is for the mission, it’s not like they can get him in trouble!

“Well, Dabi wants me to go to this place.” He shows her the paper. “I don’t know if I can go in there, though.”

She gives Hawks a grin. “Go ahead, my man! If you’re not attacking me and Dabi sent you here, I think you can continue your journey!”

It’s that easy to enter the area? While he’s still gathering himself to the fact that this zone is not hard at all to enter, she pats him on the back and leaves to do her business. “Good luck with the little bunny, Mr. Hawks!” She shouts over her shoulder before disappearing into an alleyway.

Another question adds itself to the list. How many does he have today? A hundred questions? And who is the little bunny? Is that a code for some secret chamber? Is Dabi sending him to die?

He sighs. Why is it so hard to be a spy? Hawks folds his wings and decides to walk to his destination. As he strolls through the streets looking for the address that he is supposed to go to, he notices that the city doesn’t look any different than the normal one. It looked… well, normal too.

When he arrives at the address, he can tell that the place is owned by a high ranked villain. Every A-class tends to have more money than normal villains, seeing as having a higher villain status is usually equated with stealing and other jobs worth more money. Hawks doesn’t understand why they keep being a criminal after they attain all that money. Maybe doing crimes is more fun. The adrenaline they get from being chased by heroes is probably why they’re still in the field.

He sighs and pushes the door open.

He expected a room full of villains, weapons and quirks ready to attack. Or maybe that the room would explode or something.

The last thing he expected is a normal-looking cafe. The first thing that hits him, surprisingly, is not a gun, but a scent of coffee and tea that lingers in the room.

Hawks blinks. His eyes scan the room looking for any danger, but there’s nothing except the kid at the counter.

The boy’s green hair and freckles are the first noticeable things about him. Overall, nothing in this baby broccoli screams danger. He doesn’t even look like a villain. But hey, you can’t judge a book by its cover, right?

Hawks clears his throat. The kid jumps at the sound, spinning around to look at him.

His big, shining, forest green eyes turn to him and freeze.

“H-hawks?” The boy squeaks.

He raises his eyebrows. “Hello baby bird. Is there someone that I need to meet here?”

The kid tilts his head in confusion, and Hawks suddenly remembers him. It’s the same kid that sent Todoroki to the location of Stain. Wait, if this friend of his intern is in a villain zone, is he a villain? Does Todoroki know about this? If he does, then the chance of them working with the league is pretty high…

The dots are all aligned, but he needs to meet Shigaraki to connect them. Destroying the League from the inside shouldn’t be hard, right?

Hawks doesn’t see the gleaming eyes of the boy as Hawks debates with himself. Unknown to the hero, the boy already formed a plan to deal with him.

Izuku wants to smack Dabi over the head. He didn’t tell him that the person he wants Bunny to meet is Hawks! Izuku has so many questions right now. Why is the number 3 hero here? How does he know Dabi? Does that mean he’s turning to the villain side?

Hm.

While the winged hero looks around the place, Izuku comes to a conclusion. The hero is definitely a spy. Based on the commission’s file, if Hawks wants to be a villain, he would’ve done that a while ago. He doesn’t even need the League at all. His quirk alone could defeat almost all of the Top 10.

And if he really does want to betray the commission, Hawks still wouldn’t need the League. Does he think the League could rebuild society? Maybe. But whatever the reason, Izuku doesn’t doubt his thoughts that the hero would stab them in the back in the future.

But that’s because the hero’s still tied to the commission.

“I think that would be me.” Izuku, after a moment, answers cheerfully.

Hawks blinks at him, then looks him up and down. It’s like a hawk analyzing its prey.

“So you’re a villain then,” he observes.

Izuku smiles. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not a villain. You’re in the right place, though.” Hawks narrows his eyes. Izuku decides to make him something to drink while the hero continues trying to read him.

A maple pecan latte is placed in front of Hawks when he sits on a stool. He observes the drink and sips it slowly. Izuku stifles a laugh when the man’s eyes light up and downs the coffee when he’s sure there’s no poison.

Hawks clears his throat.

“So, who exactly are you?”

Izuku points at the empty cup. “I’m a barista.”

Hawks snorts. “Villain’s barista.”

The greennette ignores that. “So, what’d you do to make Dabi send you here?”

“Do I need to answer that?”

Izuku shrugs. “If you don’t want to get into the League, then that’s fine.” With that he turns around to make some more coffees for the villains that just came in.

Hawks flaps his wings and quickly answers. “No!- I mean, yes. Yes, I want to join. But Dabi won't let me see Shigaraki, and now I’m here.”

Okay…

Oh wait.

Izuku giggles. “Hm. Are you sure? Do you want to be in the League…-” He glances over his shoulder with a smile. “-or do you want the League to cut you off the commission’s leash?”

Hawks stills.

Izuku wants to laugh. Time to fix another problem.

Chapter Text

Shouta doesn’t know why the kid is always on his mind. Class 1-A is supposed to be his only problem, but this boy is like a whole new level of problem child. From the constant appearances with villains to where the kid would join in the fun, most things happening would lead back to him. And the green-haired boy didn’t even seem afraid to get caught.

It’s like the kid’s job is to keep the villains in line. It’s noticeable. Reaper, Stain, Dabi, and many more; If the heroes or the police spot the boy with them, the next time the villains appear, the villains will seem a bit more…tame. Reaper stopped killing people, Stain only kills those who really deserve death-

Shouta can’t even say that without it sounding wrong in his brain. No one deserves death, no matter how wrong or bad of a person they are.

But Shouta is open-minded, alright? He isn’t that naive. So he guesses what they do is fine.

Maybe.

Yeah, so that’s the current case he’s on. Find some information about the kid. He and Naomasa are the only people on the case, as they both don’t want to imagine what would happen to the kid if the commission learned of him.

Shouta lists the major events in which the green-haired boy appeared, writing them down in the file.

It started with the human trafficking last year -- Ugh, he’s still pissed about that. He was informed that the heroes were attacking a villains' warehouse, but turns out the villains were the one who were destroying the heroes' illegal activity. If he had known, he wouldn’t have been there in the first place.

But that was the first appearance of the mysterious kid. Shouta didn’t see him doing anything though, apart from just being there. Well, the boy was terrified. Hiding behind the famous serial killer, Reaper, like that’s the safest option.

And then A-Ranked villain Overcast used his quirk to block everyone’s vision, causing hell to break loose and the villains to get away. And that’s about it. The commission forced them to close that case, because if the news got out, only the heroes’ side would be at fault.

But, as time goes on, the boy gets more and more confident.

The next time he sees the kid he’s with vigilante turned B-Ranked villain, Dabi. That had surprised him at the time, as Dabi is known to be a bit of a loner. The fire villain was burning down some thugs while the kid was writing something in his notebook when Shouta chanced upon them. Shouta thought that was the chance to catch them both, but he was once again surprised by the quick reflexes of the boy as he dodged his capture weapon. In the end, they escaped into the villain friendly zone.

And then there was that time when they met while he was on patrol. Shouta had cornered him, talked to the kid a bit, and he still escaped. Again. Good job Eraserhead, you had 1 job and you failed.

What concerned him later was the fact that the purple swirling portal that the kid jumped into was the same one as the villain, Kurogiri, used at USJ. Knowing that the two knew each other should be the answer to the all encompassing question. The kid is, in fact, a villain.

But then the kid went beyond what Shouta had assumed of him, again, and helped Shouta escape from Nomu's crushing hand.

He doesn’t want to admit it, but if the kid hadn’t intervened, he would be dead.

Shouta still couldn’t believe that the boy even dared to bring him coffee as an apology after that.

The next major event is probably the Hosu incident. Shouta pinches the bridge of his nose when he recalls the security camera feed he watched with the detective.

Not only did he help the hero killer escape, the kid also… Ugh, the kid fucking slept on a couch while the League members watched the city burn.

Well, that’s surely a sign that they should bring the kid in, right?

But that’s the problem. They don’t know the true intentions of the green-haired boy. Should the kid be treated as a criminal like his villains friends? But just being in association with villains isn’t enough for the boy himself to be labeled as a villain. Association, yes. But not a villain itself. Shouta and Naomasa always hesitate when it comes to younger people. And they always end up helping them all in the end.

What if this kid is a supervillain in disguise, collecting villains left and right to do his bidding? What if he’s not, though? What if he is just there at the wrong place and wrong time?

He’s probably the same age as Shouta’s class.

Shouta sighs and rubs his temples. He should probably go out and get some more information, so they can decide what to do. Hopefully he can do it without any more problems.

Aizawa walks into the familiar pub. The building itself is shady as hell, but the people who reside there provide good information, so he always comes back regularly.

He nods in greeting to the bouncer and walks in. The person he’s meeting today probably already arrived. He spots the curly mint undercut amongst the crowd almost instantly and stalks up to the guy.

The vigilante looks at him briefly before he leads Aizawa to their usual booth. 2 glasses of beer are served to them before the waitress lets them be.

“So, what do you want from me today, Eraserhead?” The man asks, leaning back against the booth’s rugged seat. He sips his beer and waits patiently.

Aizawa brings out a folder and slides it across the table. The guy doesn’t hesitate to open it. Several pictures of a boy in a hero’s hoodie and a mask greet him.

“Do you know this kid?” The hero asks.

“That’s Bunny.”

Aizawa finally has a name. After so many times the kid has been seen, they finally have a name to call the League’s kid. “Tell me more about him,” he pushes.

The vigilante downs the rest of his drink and orders another glass of beer. “Um, he’s a very famous analyst in the underground...”

“And?”

“...And he only sells his analysis to villains.”

Hm, it seems logical, considering the fact that the green-haired kid is with the villains 24/7. Aizawa motions the guy to continue and crosses his arms.

“He doesn’t work with anyone and doesn’t join any group.”

Huh. Aizawa’s brows furrow. “What about the League?”

The vigilante waves his hand. “Nah, they pay him like the rest of the villains. No one has the privilege.” A pause where the vigilante seems to think of something. “Well, maybe one...”

That gets his attention. At least they’ll know who employs the kid. “Who?”

The mint-haired man slams down the second emptied glass on the table between them, a few of the pictures fluttering. “That’s too many questions, Eraserhead.”

Aizawa scowls. “Just a couple more and I’ll stop trying to arrest you for a week.”

The vigilante huffs and answers reluctantly. “Mind Heist.”

Mind Heist?!

Oh wow, maybe they should leave this case as it is, then. The only villain who Shouta thinks should’ve been S-Ranked instead of A-Ranked is Mind Heist. How can any villain have a 100% escape rate? He’d even escaped from Shouta himself. He hadn’t even been able to use his quirk because Mind Heist had avoided his sight and disappeared within seconds.

The commission and even some heroes underestimate the villain, since Mind Heist never hurts them directly. But Shouta knows different.

And now the kid is working under said villain?

He hopes the heroes are ready for them if they decide to come out into the daylight.

Naomasa shows Shouta a picture of a kid at their next meeting. The boy is in a middle-school uniform and smiling at the camera. And despite being scrawny -- compared to the healthy, well fed, and happy boy Shouta is coming to know -- in the picture, it is most definitely the kid Shouta is investigating.

“This is Midoriya Izuku,” Naomasa reads the file. “He’s quirkless and was reported missing by the Bakugous, a family friend, last year.”

Shouta raises his brows. “So that’s the All Might hoodie kid, right?”

“Yes.”

Shouta hums. He can’t help but think that Midoriya, or Bunny as he is now known, looks oddly familiar. He’s pretty sure he has seen this kid before.

Naomasa probably has the same thought, because he squints at the picture and rubs his chin thoughtfully.

“Hey…” The detective starts after a few moments of them both racking their brains.

“Yeah?”

“…Isn’t this the same kid who went viral from the sports festival?”

“Todoroki’s friend? The kid who screamed into the arena?” How can Shouta forget? Hizashi wouldn’t shut up about how amazing that stunt was.

“This is definitely him.” The detective sighs.

Shouta rubs his eyes tiredly and brings out his report from after his meeting with his informant vigilante. “He goes by another name too,” he says while putting down a recording device on the table.

“Really?” Naomasa groans.

Shouta understands the man’s feelings. This boy is just getting more and more complex, and that means more work for them both. “Unfortunately. His alias is Bunny. A famous analyst in the underground.”

Naomasa runs a hand through his hair. “Wow, this kid is something else.”

They go through the reports that they’ve both been compiling. It’s not much, but it’s more than they’ve had before. What Shouta notices is that no one would spill anything about Bunny. Villains would rather go straight to jail when they get caught instead of telling him about their analyst. Some even denied knowing the name all together.

“And the commission is going to ignore him because he’s quirkless, no matter how dangerous we think Bunny is,” the detective concludes. It’s happened too many times before, the HPSC ignoring villains or vigilantes who they think aren’t dangerous.

Shouta hopes it comes back and bite them in the ass someday.

After the press conference ends, Shouta quickly excuses himself from the room. A cool breeze brushes against his face when he steps outside. The night would be considered peaceful, if not for the fact that there was a war happening right that minute in the middle of Kamino Ward. Even blocks away from the incident, Shouta can hear the screams and sirens.

Shouta’s not on the list of the pro heroes that had to be there. He can’t believe that other heroes think that his role as 1-A’s homeroom teacher is more important than the fact that he has a quirk that can erase others’ quirks. Shouta could at least weaken All For One while All Might fights the guy!

He leaps across the buildings and lands on the busy streets of Kamino proper. All around, people are gathered to watch the live fighting of the number one hero against a myth on a large screen plastered to the side of a skyscraper. Just as Shouta is about to go and meet Tsukauchi at one of the cordoned off areas, he sees a group of weirdly dressed teenagers. Weirdly dressed teenagers that he knows well.

Shouta sighs.

He’s disappointed but not surprised. His class is full of reckless children who don’t know what is right and wrong anymore. He wouldn’t even be surprised if he gets grey hair soon.

As Shouta makes his way closer to the group, he is able to determine who exactly it is. Kirishima, Yoarashi, Yaoyorozu and Iida. Wow, as if the Stain incident isn’t enough. If their class representative is like this, breaking the laws left and right, he wouldn’t expect more from this hell class. He should’ve expelled them on the first day so he doesn’t have to worry about them like this.

He sucks in a breath when he sees what’s lying on the ground in the middle of the group.

The unconscious Bakugou with various injuries covering his entire body.

Shouta is speechless. Why’d the League of Villains do this? The whole point of kidnapping him wasn’t for recruitment?

Another important thought struck him. Where’s Todoroki?

He looks around and spots the distinctive red and white hair moving in the crowd. Oh thank god. The kid probably sees the group now, as he’s quickly walking towards them. But Shouta’s eyes become stuck on the person that is with Todoroki. Some might think that it’s a stranger just going in the same direction, but the green eyes and oversized All Might says otherwise.

The wig doesn’t hide Midoriya’s identity from the sharp eyes of Pro Hero Eraserhead. Shouta decides not to intervene yet and moves back a good distance from his students.

The other heroes arrive and Shouta notices Midoriya quietly walking backward and melting into the crowd. He keeps his eyes on the kid until Midoriya arrives at a secluded alleyway far away from people.

Shouta curses when he notices the other figure that appears next to the boy’s side. Midoriya is with Reaper again, and Shouta knows he can’t fight the serial killer alone. Deciding to save the fight for a different day, Shouta goes to find Tsukauchi in the crowd. This time, Shouta will make sure Naomasa asks some important questions to Todoroki. Maybe they can get something about Bunny from the kid.

“Alright, last question. Are you the UA traitor?” The detective asks. Shouta can only hope that Todoroki is not the traitor. The kid stopped answering the questions about Midoriya when he realized that he’s bad at lying. But at least Todoroki answered truthfully about the summer camp and what happened after he got kidnapped.

A ‘stranger’ helped Todoroki get away from the League, then he stayed there in case the villains were still around.

When Naomasa asked about said stranger, the kid went quiet. But Shouta knows the truth, because he saw the kid with Midoriya with his own eyes.

All the questions about Midoriya Izuku are left unanswered.

Todoroki sighs in relief when he hears the question. “No, I’m not.”

Everyone present lets out a sigh of relief when Tsukauchi says ‘True’. Ignoring the questions the kid didn’t answer, Todoroki is off the list of the suspects of the possible traitor. But Shouta will continue to keep an eye on him.

For now.

It should’ve been easy to cover up the injuries of Bakugou, according to the rat principal, from getting out to the public. But no, Nedzu underestimated the League once again.

Pictures and videos spread across the internet at warp speed. Waves of disappointment and anger towards UA crashed against them once more. They just had a press conference days ago, do they need another one?

How can a prestigious high school let their student get hurt? The media has said.

That’s not all, an anonymous person sent a clip of middle school Bakugou to all of the news stations. They didn’t say or demand anything at all, they just sent the clip and disappeared.

The clip is… horrible, to say at least. It features Bakugou using his quirk on several people and the harsh words he said to them. The victims are blurred, thankfully, so the only thing that gets shown to the entire Japan is the boy’s unacceptable behavior.

How can UA let a villain into the school? The questions get poured onto social media platforms and headlines, spreading like wildfire. Even The League of Villains doesn’t want that boy.

UA receives backlash from people all over Japan. Turns out, all the things that he said to defend Bakugou at the press conference are worthless. The kid really is…bad.

Ugh, Shouta is so fucking tired. Almost everyone wants them to expel the kid, but Shouta knows how that would end. Bakugou would turn vigilante or villain. His drive to be the best wouldn’t be stopped just by expelling him, it’d just be a little roadbump.

General education course and therapy it is. And if Bakugou gets better, then Nedzu will enroll the boy back into the hero course.

Bakugou himself hasn’t recovered from his injuries yet. The boy is still unconscious, and the doctor is not sure when he’ll wake up. His future is uncertain. Shouta feels a little bit bad about that.

Let fate decide his future. He isn’t sure that fate will be on Bakugou’s side this time.

Shouta should rest, really.

But he also has the case of Bunny that he doesn’t know what to do next with. Should they treat Midoriya like he’s a villain in the League? Or like a harmless kid that needs their help?

Shouta walks into the police station like it's his second home. He expects to see Naomasa sitting at his desk, doing his work like alway, but when he steps inside the detective’s private office, Naomasa is standing in front of his table, reading something with wide eyes.

When the guy notices Shouta, Naomasa beckons him over.

“Looks like we got a gift, Shouta.” The detective chuckles humorlessly.

Shouta looks down to see 2 cups of coffee, one smelling suspiciously like his favorite, cinnamon cappuccino. There’s also a note taped to one of the cups.

I heard that you guys are looking for me :D
So here's a gift I guess! No poison!

p.s. idk what Mr.Tsukauchi likes, so just try my new almond coconut chai latte recipe

Bunny (๑╹ᆺ╹ )

Shouta pinches the bride of his nose

Wow, this kid is something else.

Chapter Text

Hawks holds the kid’s gaze. The boy doesn’t seem to want to be the first to break their staring contest, and Hawks isn’t one to lose. Even if, only a second ago, the green-haired kid read him like an open book.

Broccoli huffs in amusement before averting his eyes and turning back to whatever he was doing.

Hawks sighs, glad that the kid’s attention isn’t on him now. Wow, who the fuck is this? Is this just another test for him before he gets to meet Shigaraki? If the number 3 hero can’t handle a 15 year old, then he can’t be a villain or something?

The kid doesn’t speak to him after that. But it can be explained, because apparently, this place is… quite popular. For villains, of course.

Villains of different ranks come in continuously. Some come for coffees then leave, some throw money on the counter then leave with a suspicious folder in their arms. There’s even villains who come in just to chat with the little bird. So to say that Hawks is confused is an understatement.

“Yo, bunny. One white chocolate mocha for me, please.”

Now that is another thing. ‘Bunny’. Hawks does nothing but observe this place and the kid. The thing he notices is that everyone calls the boy Bunny. Is that his name? Or is that just a nickname the villains gave to this adorable yet terrifying barista?

Also, villains that come into this place, a cafe specifically, spare a glance at Hawks once before they ignore him. Villains ignoring the number 3 hero? What the hell.

Agh, he’s wasting his time here! Hawks flutters his wings with frustration.

“All done!” The kid’s voice cuts through his ongoing thoughts. His bright, shining eyes turn to him. “It’s break time! What do you want?”

Finally!

“Tell me your name first, little bird.”

The boy smiles. “I’m Bunny.”

Bunny it is. “No real name for me?”

Bunny blinks, then tilts his head. “You want to be called Takami-san?”

Hawks has to force himself not to startle by how Bunny knows his real name. Because that’s confidential information.

“No, thank you.” Damn it, change the subject! “Hawks and Bunny seems like a good duo name.”

The kid laughs, light and bubbly, his whole demeanor contrasting to the dangerous vibe that Hawks has slowly picked up since he arrived here.

Or is he just being paranoid?

“That sounds cool! We’re gonna be a duo? Villain duo?” Bunny teases him. Wow, this kid.

Hawks rests his chin on his hand. “Yuh, villain duo.”

Bunny stares at him, unimpressed. Is this kid absorbing Todoroki's personality?

“Okay, let's just pretend the number 3 hero wants to be a villain. I can work with that.” Broccoli nods to himself, like said hero isn’t sitting in front of him right now. Wow.

“Um.” Shit. He doesn't know what to say. Is he supposed to make the kid approve of him or something?

“Oh Hawks, want to tell me how you plan to infiltrate the League?” Bunny asks. He sounds like he’s asking him about the weather.

Hawks groans. Nobody taught him how to handle a kid who seems to know everything about him!

“I’m planning to ‘join’ the League by proving that I’m willing to do anything for them. Willing to do anything to change society, even though I have to become a villain for it,” Hawks explains.

Bunny eyes widen. Finally- “Woah! That sounds so cool! How long did you prepare for that speech?”

Oh. My. God.

Why is dealing with this kid so hard?!

Why did Dabi agree to this again? It should’ve been easy to say no. But nah, let’s meet mom after all the shit that happened to the both of them. And oh, apparently mom only found out that he’s alive, like, yesterday?

Fuck his siblings.

Ughh, not that he doesn’t love his mom or anything, but does he really deserve to see her?

He knows he’s one of the reasons that made his mom lose her mind and end up in the mental hospital. It’s not that obvious, but after he ‘faked’ his death everything seemed to go downhill, so isn’t it his fault?

He should’ve grabbed Shouto, or maybe all of his family, and just ran away together.

Dabi always thought that Shouto was just a replacement for him, a perfect masterpiece that Endeavor would use to surpass All might.

But he never stopped to think that Shouto was going to go through all of those tortures too…

All this time, Dabi’s been only thinking of himself. He regrets not thinking about his family at all.

But also, the choice he made to leave everything behind and become a villain brought him some good things too. Dabi can say with all his heart that Bunny is the best thing that happened to him. And he would never trade the experience he had with the kid for anything else.

Izuku literally gave him a place to live, food to eat, and reunited him with his brother. Dabi doesn’t want to admit it, but the soft side of bunny is starting to rub off on him.

That’s probably why he agreed to meet his mom today.

He puts on his sunglasses and mask, following all of his siblings into the hospital.

He blinks once and they’re already in front of their mom’s room. Alright, he could do this. He’s done so many dangerous missions and jobs, how could meeting one’s mother be harder than that?

Dabi’s hand trembles when he touches the handle. Someone squeezes his shoulder lightly. He opens the door and comes face to face with the smile of the person he has longed for since he left.

If Dabi could cry, we would. “Mom,” he says.

“T-Touya,” his mom sobs. And fuck, he doesn’t need to move when she rushes towards him and pulls him in for a hug. A hug that he missed so damn much.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry,” she cries into his hoodie. “I should’ve done something. I should-”

Dabi doesn’t say anything, only holds his mom gently while his siblings watch them from the side.

“It’s not your fault,” he says.

She cries harder at that. It takes a while before she calms down and steps away from him.

Silence.

Well, it’s a little bit awkward. But Fuyumi, god bless her, comes and saves the day.

“Well,” she clasps her hands. “Maybe you could catch up with mom while we go out and get you guys something to eat?”

Or maybe not.

Natsuo and Shouto try to protest, but of course they fail. He watches his siblings leave and turns back to his mom. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed and observing him quietly.

“How’ve you been, Touya?” she asks quietly.

Dabi wants to tell her everything, so he does. Starting from the day he leaves the name Touya behind, to the day he meets another little brother, Bunny.

Is Izuku having fun messing with Hawks? Absolutely!

He can’t help but troll the man a little; the hero looked so tense when he came in. Izuku just wants to ease some of the tension. Hawks doesn’t notice it, but he’s already a little bit more relaxed from the stupid things Izuku has said to him.

Izuku doesn’t know why Hawks was even okay with this mission to become a spy for the commission. Does he really not know that no matter how much he proves to be loyal, there’ll be no one that will trust him with their whole heart?

Izuku is sure that Dabi knows what he’s doing, and no doubt that it somehow involves his plan to deal with Endeavor soon. Wow, he can’t believe that in less than a month, All For One and the League will start their scheme to change society. If Izuku has to guess, Dabi probably would want Hawks to help them fight the Meta Liberation Army.

Which All For One may or may not have decided to go solo against the MLA. The supervillain secretly told Izuku that he might do the job all by himself and let Tomura and his friends live their life. All For One already stole his kind-of-son’s childhood, so he might as well not let Tomura be stressed about fighting an army and taking over an empire.

That’s so nice of him.

So Izuku has to tell the League that they should go and plan to destroy the commission instead. And Hawks might be a great help to do that. That’s why Izuku’s here with Hawks in the first place.

Izuku snaps out of his thoughts when he remembers that Hawks is still here in front of him.

“I’m just kidding. I was messing with you,” he finally says to the hero after quite some time.

Hawks whips his head to meet Izuku. “For real?” Hawks runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “Are you testing me or something? Let me tell you, I definitely failed. I don’t know how to handle you at all, little green bird.” Aw. Poor guy.

Izuku chuckles. “Sorry.”

The hero facepalms. “Oh god, why does Dabi want me to see you? He wants me to get trolled by a kid?” Hawks asks and perks up when Izuku puts down a chocolate ganache tart in front of him.

Izuku takes a bite of his own tart before he answers. “Nah, maybe he wants me to help you? I don’t really know...” He mumbles the last part.

“Help me with what?” Hawks furrows his brows. Then he seems to recall what Izuku said to him earlier. “…Are you serious? How did you even know about that?”

Izuku hums and turns to his laptop, which is showing him a file of the hero in front of him. “I don’t know, Hawks. Maybe it’s the fact that your handler keeps a whole file of how many times you tried to refuse their orders?”

Hawks almost chokes on his snack. “What?!”

Izuku doesn’t stop. “Or maybe because the commission documents everything you do in a day? Here, let me read this one for you. 12 January, 11.34 a.m. you went out for fried chicken. They highlighted this one and said, you need a better diet-”

Izuku can’t even finish the sentence before he bursts out laughing. Damn, he should’ve read this beforehand. All of his professionalism is gone -- not that he had any in the first place. He looks up, sees Hawks’ horrified face, and continues to laugh.

Hawks sends his feather to pat Izuku on the back.

Izuku wipes the tears in his eyes. “S-sorry.”

“Damn, I don’t know if I should laugh with you or be sad at my fucked up life.” Hawks snatches the last tart from Izuku's plate and eats it while waiting for Izuku to calm down.

Izuku catches that last sentence. “Now you admit it! So you want the League to free you right?”

Hawks stares at him again, and Izuku just smiles at him in return.

“It’s not like I've been trying to do that since, I don't know, 15?” The number 3 hero grumbles. Oh oh, is he finally giving in?

Honestly, this might be easier than he thought. When Izuku said that he had a plan, in reality, he did not. But he knows that Hawks really tried to get away from the commission before. The hero even tried to maim some of the workers and sabotaged some of their more illegal plans.

The file has everything. So Izuku only has to make Hawks open up to him and get the League to help the hero back. The commission made a mistake in writing everything in the report. Do they really think that their security is that good?

“And you’re going to succeed soon, Hawks,” Izuku says and closes his laptop.

Hawks shrugs. “Sure kid, whatever you say.”

Eh, this is better than not making any progress at all. “You know what? Since Dabi is busy this whole week, you’re gonna meet me here everyday”

“…Why?”

“Because you can! Now go, you probably have better things to do than talking with me.” Izuku waves him off.

Hawks sighs and gets up reluctantly. “Alright baby boss. But you better make me the coffee you made earlier today.”

“Exchange some information on the commission that you think I don’t have and we have a deal.”

If Hawks could scream, Izuku thinks he would.

“But you have everything already!”

Hawks actually couldn’t find anything that Izuku didn't already have. But Izuku still makes him the maple pecan latte anyway. For the past few days, they haven't really been doing anything. Hawks just comes in for his morning coffee then goes to work, just like all the other villains.

The two haven’t talked about freeing the hero after that first day, but Izuku told the League about it. Hawks is going to destroy the HPSC with them, whether he likes it or not.

Tomura said that he doesn’t care about Hawks betraying them in the future if they’re able to accomplish that, so Izuku should take the hero to see the League’s leader soon.

But before that…

“Is he a bird?” Eri asks from where she’s hiding behind his legs.

Hawks blinks. “I didn’t know you had a child in here.”

Izuku chuckles and lifts Eri up to sit on a stool. “He’s a bird! A Hawk!” He points at the hero’s red wings.

Eri seems to have a better idea. “Parrots have red wings!” she says excitedly, her eyes practically sparkling. “My favorite bird is Parrots! Can I call you Parrot-san?”

“Um. Sure?” the hero says confusedly.

“Yay! Parrot-san!”

Wow, she’s so cute. “This is Eri,” he introduces the little girl. She waves shyly at Hawks. Izuku would love to talk to Hawks more about how adorable Eri is, but Mind Heist picks that moment to poke his head through the front door.

“Eri-chan, come on now!”

“Okay!” With that she runs up to the villain and they leave together.

Hawks stares with wide eyes at the spot where the A-Ranked villain just left. “Is that Mind Heist?!” He gapes.

“Well duh. Also, we have something to do today!”

Now that gets the attention of the number 3 hero. “We’re going out together?”

“Of course! We’re going on a kidnapping mission!”

“We’re what?!”

Dabi isn’t sure if he hears it correctly, or if it’s just his mind twisting his mom and her doctor's words to satisfy his current thoughts.

“Repressed Anger?”

“Well, yes. The doctor said I subconsciously ignore and avoid being angry…” she sighs.

Dabi grabs his mom's hand and holds it gently. “Why?”

Rei grimaces. “Because of fear.”

“Fear of what- Oh, that bastard!” he growls. That son of a bitch. He’s gonna fucking destroy Endeavor until there’s nothing left off him. Bunny better prepare Hawks for him.

“Language!” his mom chides.

“Mom, I’m literally a villain. Why would I care about that?” Dabi deadpans.

She laughs and decides to let that go. “Fine. The doctor also said that I’m not crazy. T-the thing I did to Shouto was just a hallucination from sleep deprivation and I saw Enji in front of me…” Her face falls, and Dabi wishes he could make his mom happy again.

It won’t be long until that time arrives.

“I couldn’t believe I did that to Shouto. But Izuku said that I should forgive myself like Shouto forgave me.” She traces the cup of coffee that Dabi brings to her. Bunny and his coffee really are a wonder.

“So you’re fine? Like, perfectly fine?”

“Yes, my therapist is a great guy. My anger is only towards Enji, so I started journaling, and it helps me attune my thoughts and emotions. I also do meditation. And because I don’t get to see him anymore, I’m a lot better than before.”

“Wow, I’m proud of you, mom.” Dabi gives his mom a small smile, and she returns it with one of her own. “So, you no longer repress your anger? Did you get rid of it?”

She blinks. “Oh, not really. There’s no way for me to release my anger.”

“No Endeavor around here to beat up?” he jokes.

Rei chuckles. “Don’t make me join the dark side, Touya.”

“You watched Star Wars?”

Knock Knock Knock

They both startle at the sound from the window. Dabi stands up and draws the curtain to see what's behind it.

Hawks and Bunny stare back at him. The hero is flying and carrying the boy bridal style. The kid brightens up when he sees Dabi.

He huffs a laugh and slides the window open. “Food delivery?”

Hawks rolls his eyes. “I wish.”

“Rei! Hello!” Bunny waves at his mom and she waves back hesitantly.

“Hello? What’re you doing here?”

“Kidnapping you!” Bunny answers.

Mom meets Dabi’s gaze and he shrugs.

“Oops, forget to tell you.”

After Izuku and Hawks arrived at the hospital, he and Rei switched places and let Hawks carry Dabi’s mom instead. They don’t know how long they have before someone notices that she’s gone, so he and Dabi quickly gather all of her personal belongings and then they sneak out of there.

The group re--meets at an abandoned warehouse near the hospital, far away from prying eyes. How did Izuku manage to find this place? No idea.

And there’s even some random crates in here for them to sit on, too!

Izuku settles next to Hawks while Dabi explains his plan to take down Endeavor. He watches in amusement as both Rei and Hawk’s jaws drop at everything the fire villain says. The original plan that Izuku suggested at first was to reveal Endeavor's crimes and send him to jail. But Shouto, Natsuo, and Dabi said one thing in response.

It’s too dull and boring. What’s the fun in that?

Hey, if you’re a villain, you gotta live your life to the fullest, right?

Plus Ultra and all.

Dabi wanted Rei in the plan too, and today he looks so confident that Rei would agree to do this.

She gapes at her eldest son unbelievingly after Dabi finishes. She seems speechless, just like the number 3 hero next to him. Rei glances at Izuku and he can only smile at her. Everyone will respect her decision, because she’s the star in this show.

Rei says nothing as she looks down at the floor, thinking. Izuku knows that Dabi is about to say something like ‘you can take your time to think’, but before he can, Rei interrupts him.

She slams her foot down on the floor, ice spreading out until the entire building is frozen. The ice glistens under the light that shines through the gap in the roof. The temperature drops and Hawks wraps his wings around Izuku without taking his eyes off the insane power in front of them.

She sucks in a breath and says, “…I might need to learn a little bit of control?”

Dabi grins.

…Let's just say they have a little bit of fun for the rest of the week.

And Izuku had never seen Rei smile this much before.

Chapter Text

Izuku decides to bring the Todoroki family over for breakfast at the cafe that morning. He has fun cooking with Dabi, so he is going to use it as an excuse to do so again as it’s been a while since they last had the chance to be in the kitchen together.

They decide to make a traditional japanese breakfast set consisting of bowls of steamed rice, warm miso soup, salted salmon, rolled omelette, spinach salad with sesame, and pickled cabbages and cucumbers. Dabi had said that Rei hadn’t eaten a good meal for a while, so they went all out.

Izuku’s mouth waters just from seeing the array of food alone after it’s done. He also makes various coffees to accompany the food. Izuku is in the mood for latte, so lattes it is. After making several cups of hazelnut, lavender, mocha, caramel, chai tea, and vanilla lattes, he joins the table that the family are gathered at.

Izuku sometimes feels like he’s intruding on precious family time, this time included, but a reassuring smile from Shouto and Rei, and a hair ruffle from Dabi, is enough to sate him.

The fun doesn’t last long after breakfast, however. Fuyumi has to leave early because she has a teaching job to do and Natsuo has to prepare the camera and other things for Dabi’s plan later on that day. Thankfully the guy somehow became friends with The Shadow Duo, so he has a helping hand from Overcast and Umbra if he ever needs it.

That leaves Shouto, Dabi, Rei and Izuku there. Though Dabi is already asleep on the couch and Shouto is preparing to go to school... Izuku’s about to find some work to do when he remembers something. Izuku runs up the stairs and finds Eri yawning in her bed. Aww, she must’ve just woken up.

“Good morning Eri,” Izuku greets

She gives him a small smile. “Good morning, Bunny.”

“I would like you to meet someone again.”

“Really? Are they nice like Parrot-san?”

Izuku chuckles and pats her hair. “Of course!” He helps Eri through her usual morning routine then carries her down to meet Rei.

Rei looks up and smiles kindly when she sees the girl from that time in the park. “Hello.”

Eri blushes, jumps down from Izuku arms, and runs to Rei. Rei crouches down in front of the little girl and Eri grabs her hand.

“You’re very pretty,” she says shyly. Rei’s eyes widen and she giggles.

“You’re very cute too..?”

“E-Eri.”

“You’re really cute too, Eri-chan,” Rei says and gently picks her up, carrying her to the kitchen. Eri is more than excited to be held by another kind person and goes along willingly.

Before she leaves, Rei turns to him and mouths something. She’s mine now. I’m adopting her.

With that, they’re gone.

Well, at least Eri will have both a mom and dad.

The group decided to combine all of the plans together; Tomura and the League wants to create chaos, Izuku wants to publish documents about Endeavor’s crimes, and Dabi wants to get revenge. The meeting to check if everyone is ready just finished a while ago. As long as everyone knows what to do, Izuku thinks that today will go smoothly.

Izuku sighs as he finally finishes getting the documents ready to publish and spread across the country. His hands are trembling in… excitement? Izuku has never participated in something this big before. Technically, the human trafficking ring and the USJ only affected certain groups of people, and Hosu was just him making a name for Stain, but this is different.

Everyone will be able to see the downfall of the number 1 hero again. Not long after the defeat of All Might.

This time it was a little more personal to Izuku, too. Endeavor is the one who took his mother and his home away after all.

“You guys ready?” Tomura asks from where he’s standing in the middle of the room.

“Aye aye, captain!” Toga and Twice chirp.

The League’s members leave through Kurogiri’s portal but before Tomura follows them, he turns around and glares at Hawks.

“If you try anything funny I’m going to decay all your feathers and feed the leftovers to my goldfish,” he threatens. Since when did Tomura even own a fish?

Hawks, who is standing silently behind Izuku, nods rapidly.

The number 3 hero only met the League’s leader a few days ago. But so far, Hawks would rather trail after Izuku than join Tomura. So there’s that.

Dabi goes to meet with his mom alone, so Hawks will bring Izuku to the meeting point. Nobody would spot the giant red wings in the sky anyway, since people will be busy watching the LOV’s live stream as they infiltrate the top 3 news stations in Japan. The body cameras they’re using for the livestream are attached to Tomura, Spinner, and Mr. Compress. Both Kurogiri and Izuku have the livestream pulled up on their laptops, the former to watch their progress and warp them out when needed, and the latter to make sure nothing bad happens.

Ignoring the fact that they chose their buddy by rock paper scissors, the teams work great when they start the infiltration. Nomus that All For One graciously loaned distract the heroes that try to stop the League.

And that’s just the appetizer before the real meal that is Endeavor’s downfall.

When it’s time, Izuku jumps in Hawks’ arms and they take off into the sky. As they get closer to the spot, Izuku spots Endeavor fighting the intelligence- and regeneration-quirked Nomu in the distance. And Nomu is leading the fire hero right to the target area.

Hawks silently lands on top of one of several buildings that surround an open, circular field. The place reminds Izuku of the Roman Colosseum from ancient times, with the way the buildings can be seen as the spectator seats to view the upcoming fight. The area is owned by All For One, and the residents are more than happy to watch the show.

Izuku jumps down from Hawks’ arms, carefully balancing the tons of coffee. He can’t believe the coffees didn’t spill while they were flying.

Izuku leads the winged hero inside through the door on the rooftop, and down to the floor right below, which looks like a giant conference room, just with all the chairs put aside to one corner.

They spot Natsuo sitting on the floor while setting up his expensive video camera, and he doesn’t seem to notice them as they approach.

“Natsuo-san~” Izuku sings. He skips over and sits down. Natsuo greets him with a hair ruffle, the other hand snatching an ice biscoff latte from Izuku’s hand, ignoring his pouts.

“Oh, there’s Dabi,” Hawks says from where he’s standing by the window. The glass itself is one-way, so they can see outside, but Endeavor won’t see in.

The Nomu gets thrown into the middle of the field, and Endeavor lands on top of it. The hero grabs the Nomu's face in one hand and lights up his other. Endeavor intensifies his flames and releases a fire blast, creating an explosion that sends pieces of Nomu in different directions. When the fire dies down, the hero is left panting. But he doesn't have the chance to take a break.

Blue fire spreads around the area, surrounding the grounds in a wall of blue flames. The hero lets out a frustrated groan and turns to the newcomer.

Natsuo rechecks both the camera and mic on Dabi, before he gives them a thumbs up.

The livestream begins.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here? The current number 1 hero,” Dabi sneers at the fire hero who looks ready to murder someone if provoked any more.

“Dabi,” Endeavor growls, the fire on his suit flaring up. Even though they’re in a building, Izuku can feel the heat that radiates from the hero. Izuku has to snuggle into Natsuo just to keep himself from sweating. The guy’s body is so cold; Izuku wonders if that is part of his quirk or not.

Natsuo scowls at the livestream they can see on his laptop. “Ugh, this is so annoying. Everything he does must somehow involve his fucking fire.” Even though the boy is complaining, Natsuo doesn’t seem to be bothered by the heat all that much.

“Dude, we’re live. Everyone who’s watching is gonna hear that,” Hawks whispers.

Natsuo snorts. “Good for them.”

Izuku stifles a laugh and looks down at his own laptop which still shows the LOV’s stream to check if everyone is doing alright. The League already seems to have the reporters and workers as hostages and appear to be doing their villain monologues, but Izuku can’t really hear them talking. Dabi is the only one with a mic. It’s necessary for the reveal after all.

And how lucky they are to have Natsuo. Not only does he want to see the downfall of Endeavor, Natsuo is a film major! He helped make it so people can watch both live streams in 4k and the audio will be clearer than any youtube videos out there!

What a perfect way to end someone's career.

And Shouto would be happy! Unfortunately, his friend has to study on Saturdays, so he can’t be here today. At least Shouto can rewatch it later.

“I still can’t believe we’re doing this in broad daylight,” the winged hero mumbles before deciding to sit down beside Izuku.

Izuku just shoves a cup of coffee into the man’s hands and continues to focus on the fight.

“You’re the one responsible for those Nomu, aren’t you?!” Endeavor shouts through his current attack, sending fireball after fireball towards the villain. Dabi doesn’t seem to be in trouble and continues to dodge the attacks easily.

“You could say that-” A fired-up punch cuts off his speech and Dabi narrows his eyes in annoyance. Yet he still keeps up the cocky attitude.

“Tsk, not good at civil conversation?” Dabi taunts.

“There’s nothing to talk about, villain!” Endeavor roars, sending an inferno of flames to the villain in front of him. They both ignore the nearby trees that catch on fire.

Dabi grins. “That’s great! Because I have plenty to say to you, Todoroki Enji.” He steps out of the way of another attack.

“Leave my name out of your mouth, Dabi,” Endeavor pants. The guy had been fighting Nomu for a while, and now he has to fight a villain who’s been toying with him nonstop. The hero is starting to show signs of fatigue and overheating after such a long fight.

Oh, but that’s the perfect moment. The wind blows, the only other sound being the fire burning in the background. Wow, even god gives them some dramatic effects.

Dabi brings out a bottle of some strong hair color remover and says, “Well, I know your name. You might as well know mine.” He pours the substance over his head and it washes away the temporary black hair dye, revealing the white hair underneath.

The villain shakes his head to get rid of the liquid and looks up to stare straight at the hero’s horrified face. “Call me Todoroki Touya, dad.”

.

Hawks chokes on his coffee, and Izuku turns to see him gaping at the scene in front of him with wide eyes. “What the fuck?”

Izuku rolls his eyes. “I thought you knew. And don’t waste my coffee like that.”

Hawks huffs but focuses back on the fight. “That’s why you guys didn’t say anything when he explained the plan. I thought it was because they both have fire quirks, but that doesn’t answer why Endeavor is the only hero that you’re going to destroy today. This answers a lot.”

Izuku nods in confirmation

“No-” Endeavor doesn’t get the chance to say anything else as Dabi dashes forward and summons his own fire. The hero doesn’t dodge and gets sent through one of the abandoned buildings.

“Come on now, get up. I didn’t fight you properly earlier.” Dabi lands a kick on Endeavor’s face, the hero jumping away and spitting out some blood on the ground. Dabi quickly goes after the hero, not waiting for Endeavor to recover.

“D-don’t lie to me- Touya is dead,” Endeavor wheezes out. He clenches his fist, ready to fight again, even if his physical state doesn’t look too good.

Dabi grins like a predator.

“Sure. Let’s reveal the Todoroki household’s secrets while I beat you down to the ground.”

Dabi stretches out the fight. Izuku knows that Endeavor is at his limit, but does Dabi care? No. Not at all.

The long fight is enough to let Dabi say everything that is needed. And the entire country that’s watching now knows what the HPSC has hidden from everyone. Izuku posted his documents on the heroes forums, mailed it to all the news stations, and he doesn’t know why, but he also sent it to UA as well.

Hawks has gone quiet beside him, and Natsuo sends the winged hero a look of pity.

Endeavor really lives up to the title of number one hero, because he doesn’t back down, even when he is pushed past exhaustion. “I’m going to bring you in, Touya. And I’m going to make things right.” The hero summons his fire once more.

Dabi scoffs. “It’s too late, old man. It’s time for you to taste the consequences of your actions. You’ve been free long enough.”

A trail of frost creeps its way across the ground, and that’s the only warning they get before a series of ice spikes shoot forwards on the floor, turning the area into an arctic battlefield. Before the spikes get close, Endeavor jumps to the side, turning to face the new attacker. Izuku can see the man freeze at the sight of the newcomer.

The star of the show is here.

Rei is in a fireproof vigilante outfit that Izuku borrowed from one of his clients, consisting of a black hoodie, skin-tight pants, and combat boots. Her stunning white hair is in a high ponytail which sways side to side as she walks up to the hero. Snow flows around her, and every step she takes, ice patterns form underneath her boots.

“Rei?” Endeavor falters. His fires flicker, many emotions passing through his eyes before ending in confusion. The hero still hasn’t recovered from Dabi’s attacks and reveals earlier, but he doesn’t back up or wants to retreat yet.

Dabi sends a spiral of blue flames around the fire hero, creating a circle that leaves no exit, just him and Rei in the middle.

“If no one isn’t going to punish you, Enji, I will.” Snow swirls around her like a blizzard. Sharp snowflakes form together into hundreds of spears, and Rei sends it to the crumbling hero. The storm does cancel out some of Dabi’s fire, but the blaze that remains creates a really pretty background for Rei.

“Rei! What’re you doing?!” Endeavor shouts over the raging storm. He tries to light up a burst of fire but it’s useless against the snowstorm. “Why’re you here?!”

Rei says nothing, just stomps her foot down on the ground. Ice shoots out, gaining speed and height the farther it goes. Endeavor, weakened from the fight and nearly at his limit, isn’t fast enough to move out of the way. A mountain of ice forms in the middle of the makeshift arena, all jagged edges and icy spikes. Snow falls down, like a final touch on the show. Hawks lets out an impressed whistle. Even though he and Izuku have witnessed her sheer power before, they can’t help but still be amazed by the elegant structure.

Izuku and his other 2 buddies look around for Endeavor, and when they spot him, they gasp.

Endeavor is in the middle of the structure, ice engulfing most of his body, only leaving out his face and neck.

“R-r-rei.” The fire hero’s teeth chatter from the cold. They can hear Dabi’s quiet laugh through the mic.

“Maybe in another universe, we could do it the right way, through the law. But I can’t stand you any longer. You don’t deserve to be a hero after what you’ve done to my family,” Rei says.

For the final blow, she takes a deep breath, and slams her foot down again.

“Eternal Ice”

“Jesus Christ…”

That’s the first thing Hawks hears as he lands behind the group of heroes that had been called onto the scene. He had flown Bunny back to the cafe and was making his way back when he received the notification to come here.

Even though he had seen the sculpture being formed, seeing it from a faraway building is different from being up close and personal. It’s even bigger than he had imagined. Mountainous is definitely a good description for it.

Everyone’s breaths fog out, and Hawks is immensely glad that he has a thick jacket included in his hero outfit. The usually grassy area is entirely covered in ice. The main pillar is in the middle, housing the frozen flame hero, and what surrounds it are countless of jagged spikes. It makes up a stunning scene. A stunning, yet horrifying scene.

As Hawks and the rest of the heroes pick their way across the icy ground towards the middle, he notices that all the spikes are pointing in the same direction. Right at Endeavor. An iron maiden of his own creation.

But what seems to shock everyone the most is probably the ice crystal structure thing in the center. With Endeavor frozen in the middle of that pillar of ice, the hero seems to be reaching for something…Heaven, probably. The fire hero’s eyes and mouth are open wide, stuck in a scream of pure desperation.

It shouldn’t be hard to rescue the hero out of that glacier, in all honesty.

And that is the problem.

They can’t melt the ice.

The commission brings all the fire heroes that're available here, and their quirks do nothing. There’s even a civilian that gets called in with an ice manipulation quirk, which doesn't do anything either.

Some heroes come up with a ‘genius’ idea of trying to break the ice instead of melting it. And that’s probably the worst choice ever made.

The ice cracks.

So does Endeavor.

They can literally see the hero’s cracking hands when they hit the ice.

Hawks watches all of this and he thinks, Damn, better not pissed off Ms.Todoroki…

“Rei-san! Today I watched Frozen with Candycane.” Rei coos at her adorable child.

Shouto is holding Eri’s hand while the little girl tells the story of ‘Elsa’ to the smiling woman.

“And then she made the ice very sharp at the bad guy! Like this-!” Eri lifts her hands up and imitates the move that Elsa used.

The league can’t even hold themselves from awwing.

“-Then she built this huge castle with ice!”

Izuku smiles to himself as he prepares dinner with Dabi.

“I think my mom just got an idea on what to do with her quirk from Eri for sure,” Dabi chuckles.

Elsewhere, All For One looks down at the chaos below. The expensive and luxurious apartment gives the supervillain a clear view of the massive glacier in the middle of the city.

“They did a great job today, don’t you think?” He asks his right-hand man.

Mind Heist raises his brows. “Yeah?”

“I think I need to start on my plan as well.”

That gets a smile from the red-haired villain. “Finally! I’ve been waiting for too long!”

All For One chuckles and walks to grab his coat.

“Come along now, Tetsuya. It’s time to meet an old friend.”

Chapter Text

Denki thinks that breaking rules is fun, and fun means no boredom. He started by ignoring his curfew, stopped doing the house chores, and caused trouble at school. Denki knew that he is smart -- he knows all the answers on the test after all -- and he avoided the correct answers on purpose. The teachers must’ve known that too; you can’t get all the answers wrong unless you knew the right ones to begin with.

The thing that he likes the most, it being the most fun activity he’s ever done, is acting. You could fool someone just by lowering your head and speaking softly, getting enough money thrown at him to survive by himself for weeks. Or he could act tough and unhinged, scaring away the weak, wannabe bullies. Denki’s favorite act, however, is probably being dumb. Seriously, you can get away with anything, nobody will spare him a glance if he’s harmless.

The only person who can see through his act is All For One. The guy just appeared out of nowhere and offered him a job. A job where an illusion quirk is used on him, Denki goes to the place the villain wanted, acts as the person he is told to distract the target, and lets others do the rest of the job. He never hurts or kills anyone, so is he really considered a villain? He just likes to cause trouble and have fun, and All For One can give him all of that. And the extra money is a bonus for doing a great job.

So of course Denki would accept the role of a spy in UA. He has a perfect quirk for heroics after all. The supervillain doesn’t need to give him a quirk, Electrification itself is enough. And he comes up with the best script too: Kaminari Denki, a boy who has little to no control over his own quirk. If he overuses it, the quirk will causes his brain to short circuit, aka the dumb state for an hour. He’s trying his best to use his quirk without becoming a burden to others.

Wow, that’s such a perfect role to play.

And everything turns out better than Denki expects. He has friends, no one can figure out that he’s acting, and he’s having fun training to become a hero! Sensei has said that he has no problem if Denki really becomes a hero, as long as he doesn’t interfere with his business. That’s fine.

The problem, though, is that there’s definitely another spy that Sensei and The League sent other than Denki. He’s a little mad about that. They used to tell him everything and they trusted him with every task. So he’s confused why Shigaraki sometimes already has the latest information from his class, even when it’s been a while since Denki last stepped into Kurogiri’s bar.

The other thing is that he got left out from all the fun stuff. Denki didn’t do shit at the USJ; he only got to alert Kurogiri when his class arrived, used his quirk to fight a few thugs, then acted dumb the rest of the time! That’s it! And there was still Hosu, the summer camp, and many more of the villains' activities! Denki didn’t even get to know the League’s members! He only caught a glimpse of them through the news.

It’s not like he’s jealous or anything. He knows he chose to be a hero, but he misses the fun times he had as a law-breaker.

The only person who seems to have a fun time is probably Todoroki-kun. Seriously, the guy was in every villain encounter! Got helped by The Hero Killer Stain, then got choke- he means, got captured by Dabi. God, that must’ve been so much fun.

Whatever, complaining about it won’t change anything. Denki grabs his bag, says goodbye to his friends, and walks out of the classroom. He walks by a group of students, and huh, they are still talking about the Endeavor incident.

Denki was speechless when he watched the live stream yesterday. The class had a free period, so they watched it together. Almost everyone was worried about Todoroki, but said guy was just laughing. Fucking laughing! The son of the number 1 hero laughed at his father’s demise. And today the red and white haired boy is absent. No one in the class is close to the guy, so they could only wait for his return.

Denki gets so lost in his head that he doesn’t see a person in front of him. He walks right into them and he’s about to apologize but the person speaks up first.

“Hey Kaminari, are you the traitor?”

Denki never looks up so fast in his life. He finds himself standing in front of Todoroki, who came out of nowhere, and is now looking at him expectantly.

…

What the fuck?!

Nedzu stirs the spoon in his cup and lets the scent of the jasmine tea calm his racing heart. It’s not that he’s scared. No, Nedzu is excited. He’s excited to meet his savior, the man who freed him from hell. Nedzu has no doubt that he wouldn’t be as successful today if he hadn’t been saved all those years ago.

His tail flicks back and forth when he senses something forming in the middle of his room. In a blink of an eye, two men step out from a pitch-black portal.

The villain looks good as ever in his luxury black suit with no tie. White hair and glinting red eyes still remind Nedzu of that day. His companion, Mind Heist, looks around the room in interest before he finally stops at the principal. Nedzu nods in greeting but is careful not to make eye contact with the mastermind.

“Welcome, Shigaraki-kun! It’s nice to see you again!” Nedzu greets.

“Ah, hello Nedzu. It’s been a long time since I last saw you,” All For One says as he and Mind Heist sit down on the couch.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you today?”

The supervillain nudges his right-hand man.

“Well, our original plan was, of course, to declare war with you guys. No offense, but we’re very confident that we’ll win,” Mind Heist says while sipping his coffee.

Nedzu nods and sips his tea.

“Then after we win, All For One will come out and take over Japan with his villain army. That’s what you said, right?” The red haired villain asks his boss uncertainly.

“Let's just say that I was thinking about throwing myself in Tartarus and letting the League of Villains do the work. But after I got healed and got to see some things, I’ve been thinking of different ways to approach the ‘taking over’ thing. And I think that this new plan of mine might need a little bit of your help.”

“Of course Shigaraki-kun. I owe you a lot for helping me in the past. I’ll try my best to help you in return,” Nedzu says as he clasps his paws together.

“Come on, Nedzu. You always get what you want anyway. Your intelligence is beyond everyone else.” All For One chuckles.

He smiles at his savior. “So, what can I help you with?”

Mind Heist stands up, bringing out some folders from his coat, and puts them on Nedzu’s desk.

“These hold the information necessary for bringing down the Commission. I know that you have a bad history with them and you’ve been gathering info yourself, so I think the documents will help a lot.”

Nedzu reads through the paper quickly and his eyes widen a bit. Not only is it about the child soldiers program that they use on Hawks, but there’s also an in-depth analysis of the HPSC. Nedzu can think of many ways to take them down with this.

“I assume that you aren’t the one who did this,” Nedzu says, gesturing to the folder.

All For One shrugs. “They’re one of my subordinates, nothing special.”

Nedzu doesn’t believe that at all, but if the supervillain says so, he won’t ask.

“So your only target is the Commission?”

“Oh Nedzu, of course not-.”

Nedzu’s ears twitch.

“The Commission is tied to the government, after all.”

Shouto stares at Kaminari confused. Why does the guy look like he’s about to cry? Shouto just asked a question to confirm if his classmate is really the traitor, so he could invite him to Izuku’s cafe since the spy never interacts with them that much. Izuku also wants to get to know more people his age too.

So he is confused as to why Kaminari is looking at him like he just grew a second head.

“W-what are you talking about, Todoroki-kun?” Kaminari smiles at him, while looking left and right rapidly.

Maybe Shouto could change the way he phrases the question. “I know you are the traitor…” And now the guy is even paler. Ah shit, what did he do wrong? Or maybe Kaminari isn’t the spy? Shigaraki said he has an electric quirk… Wait, is it Aoyama? Laser is kind of electric, maybe the League’s leader gets confused or something.

“…How’d you know?” Shouto blinks at the question. But he kind of doesn't have time to answer. He brings out his phone to check the time, completely oblivious to Kaminari who is panicking internally beside him.

“Please just say yes if you are.”

Kaminari stares at him with wide eyes.

Oh, fuck this.

Shouto steps forward.

Fuck, Denki can’t believe that the second person who can see through his act is the son of the number 2 hero. Well, number 1- wait, the guy just died.

But that’s not important!

He steps backward from Todoroki, and the guy frowns. “I don’t have all day for this.” Shit shit shit. His back hits the wall, and Denki turns to the two-toned haired boy who is typing something on his phone, not paying attention to him anymore.

Oh no, is he calling for heroes?

All For One is going to be so mad at him. He shouldn’t have panicked and let his act slip like this. He’s trying to find a way out when a familiar portal opens in front of him. Oh my god, Kurogiri, the life saver.

“Y-you’re done here, T-todoroki-kun. You can’t get away from the League now,” he threatens(?)

Todoroki raises his brows. “What are you talking about?”

“Do you not see that?!” Denki points at the warp gate.

The guy glances at the swirling portal then looks back at him. “Yes, now let’s go.” He grabs Denki’s arm and drags him into the portal.

Wait, what?

Todoroki lets go of his arm when they reach the other side. Denki still doesn’t know what’s going on, because Todoroki Shouto just walked in Kurogiri’s warp gate like it’s normal. There’s no fucking way, the son of Endeavor is the other traitor?

Todoroki leaves him to stand there and goes to sit at the counter, so Denki decides to look around first. He turns to his left and finds Shigaraki already looking at him, the guy laying on the couch with a controller in hand.

“Sup, traitor,” the villain greets.

The rest of the League turn their attention to him, and Denki finds himself panicking again. Himiko Toga, Spinner, Magne, Twice, and Mr. Compress are all scattered around the room, which seems to be a cafe. The League of Villains sitting in a cafe? What is happening?

“Um, hello?” Denki says.

“Hi! You’re Kaminari, right? Nice to meet you! I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while!” He turns to the owner of the voice, and meets one of the most innocent faces he’s ever seen.

Dabi, who drapes his arms around the new boy’s shoulder and rests his head on said boy’s fluffy hair, looks up at him briefly before he goes back to sleep.

“Yes… And you are?” Denki comes to the conclusion that the green haired boy is probably the most normal person in this room.

“Oh god Dabi, get off! You can call me Bunny!” Bunny says as the boy finally gets Dabi to sleep on the counter instead and walks to Denki.

“Honestly I thought you were the traitor! Like, how can you have your quirk for like 10 years and not know how to control it? But you definitely have a really powerful quirk! And-”

“Bunny,” Shigaraki says and the boy quickly slaps his hand over his mouth.

“Damn it, I thought I didn’t do that anymore,” Bunny mumbles to himself. “Anyway, Tomura is here to discuss your part in the plan. Since you still want to be a hero, I got a perfect job for you!”

Denki can only nod, because holy shit, he finally gets to be in their villainous activities! But he also has too many questions to ask as well.

Bunny seems to know what he’s thinking. “You can ask me anything!”

“Um.” Denki points to Todoroki, who’s sipping on his coffee and doesn’t look interested in their ongoing conversation.

The green haired boy blinks and answers with uncertainty. “Ah… Shouto isn’t a villain?”

“I’m just here for Iz- Bunny,” Todoroki speaks up. Wow, what an… honest answer.

Bunny blushes and goes back behind the counter. “Would you like something to drink while we wait for the others?”

“There’s more people? And iced mocha please.” Denki sits next to Todoroki and decides to watch Bunny make coffee in silence.

Is this the same guy who became viral at the sports festival? He should ask for his autograph later, he’s literally a legend.

They don’t have to wait long before the cafe’s door opens and a group of well-known villains walks in. Denki gapes. Oh my god, he’s in the same room as A-ranked villains!

There’s Reaper, Overcast, Umbra, Honeylocust! And Pharaoh too!

Shigaraki stands up and looks around the room. “Alright, everyone’s here-”

“-Let me tell you guys how this plan works.”

Nedzu is honestly impressed. All For One’s plan is well thought out and quite scary for the heroes' side.

“I don’t want citizens to live in fear like they did hundreds of years ago. This plan should be better and more secure,” the supervillain says.

“And it’ll be harder for the heroes to take back their power as the citizens won’t let them do that,” Mind Heist adds.

Nedzu nods. He can’t wait to start working on it.

“Are you sure you’re not going to tell me who prepared the documents?” he asks before the villains leave.

“Well-” Mind Heist looks excited to answer it, but All For One doesn’t think so.

“I would rather keep him to myself, Nedzu. I don’t want you guys to take over the world yet.”

That sounds interesting.

“Of course, of course,” Nedzu says as he waves goodbye to them.

Subject 8̷̩̖̪͆̀̊͐̍ͅ4̵̱̜̬̈͛̓5̷̢͓͇͔̹͚̐̔-

L̵̨͉̥̆͒̓͂͝ab 4-

strap- i̷̢̝̔̋͐͒͊͠t̷̗̩̯̰̽̈́— to the chair-

—electric t̷o̸r̸t̵u̸r̵e̵

quirk: h̵̯͍̩͎͛̿͂̚͝ȋ̴̢̟͍͂g̵̮̼̏̊͘ḩ̴͖̪͔̂ ̶̛̯̅̐͑̚s̶̛̺̰̫̬̥̈͗̈p̵͙͚̱͚̾͑̑̈́͝e̶̬̫̿̎͠ç̵̙̯̯͋͗̈́̍

zap

it’s hurts h̶̰̲͎̀ų̷̜̬͑r̴͔̫̱̓̔̎t̶̏ͅs̸͎̽̑̽ ̷̗̟̪̅̽h̵̲͓̏̚ử̴̜̪r̶͔̹͙̓͒t̵̹̝̪̽s̸̯̄ ̸̢̠̯̑͛ ̴̛͎͍̎h—

Explosion

Silence

Ned- Subject 845 blinked its eyes open, narrowing them from the bright sunlight. The faculty doesn’t use light, so where does it come from? Before it could do anything, Ned- Subject 845 realized that it’s still stuck to the chair. There’s no way for it to escape. There’s a commotion outside the lab and there are no researchers in the room. It can only wait in silence.

“Ugh, what the hell is this place? Could you believe that the government experiments on animals? Bet the commission knows about this too,” a deep voice rang through the hallway. Nedz- Subject 845 suppressed a shudder that went through him.

“Oh, what’s this?” Nedzu- Subject 84- looked up to see the biggest man it’s ever seen. The man was wearing a black suit with no tie, white hair, and scary-looking red eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Nedzu- Subje— was free from the thing that locked him in place. It twitched its nose and waited to see what the man- his savior has to say.

“Hm, you seem to have a quirk, little stoat. No wonder these guys have tight security. But don’t worry! They're all dead! Go and run, I guess.” The man was about to leave but “Nedzu” grabbed his pants with “his” paw.

“W-what’s your n-name?” He didn’t remember the last time he spoke, so it came out more as a squeak.

The man didn’t seem surprised to hear him speak.

“You can call me Shigaraki, or maybe All For One.”

Chapter Text

1

Toshinori knows that the title “Symbol of Peace” won’t last forever. Almost everyone who knows about One For All wants him to retire ever since he got his injury from All For One. But he’s still going. People need him just as much as he wants to save them. And Toshinori can keep going until he finds the ninth holder. It’s a good thing that he defeated the supervillain, even though it caused his own body to deteriorate. But in the end, the purpose of One For All is finally fulfilled.

But his nightmare comes back in full force; All For One is still alive. They suspected as much from the Nomu, but to see for himself that the guy is not only alive but back to full health? Toshinori never wanted to cry like this before.

And All For One won’t shut up. That bastard goes on and on forever about anything, from his villainous tendencies to how bad All Might is. It’s frustrating as fuck.

Yes, he expects to win against his arch nemesis, but sometimes things just don't go as planned. Not only does he lose to that scum, but the fight was live-streamed by several news stations as well. Ugh, damn you, reporters.

Toshinori can’t even face his students at UA after he loses the fight; he just asks Nedzu for a vacation and throws himself into Gran’s arms. Literally. His mentor doesn’t even get a chance to say anything before the ex-number one hero comes barging into his house.

After an hour of getting his ass kicked, Sorahiko -- finally pleased with himself -- allows Toshinori to stay there for a while. Toshinori then tells his mentor everything that All For One said, including Shimura Tenko and the very last thing the villain said before he left.

“I have a feeling that you’re going to retire, Yagi-kun. So I think I’ll do the same.”

That’s the last thing he hears from All For One before he disappears off the face of the Earth. It’s leaving Toshinori paranoid; who knows when the villain is going to strike? Society without a Symbol of Peace is just… so fragile. The crime rate has been going up after the Kamino Incident, but it’s become low once more within the last week. It’s probably nothing, so he doesn’t pay attention to it much. The only important thing here is: where is All For One?

Toshinori sighs as he sips his tea.

“Still no sign of him?” Gran asks. They’ve been trying to find All For One or the League of Villains for a while, but there’s no sign of them at all. Apart from the Endeavor Incident, it’s like they are ghosts.

“Sadly, yes.”

Gran sighs. “Do you think he really retired?”

“Not at all. He’s been pursuing every One For All holder for ages! Why would he suddenly stop?”

“What if he’s tired or something?”

Toshinori shakes his head. “I doubt it. He saw me defeated, but he decided to mock me then left! He could’ve, I don’t know, killed me or maybe kidnapped me to make me give him the quirk?”

Sorahiko stares at him. “Toshinori, you don’t have to think so hard about it. You know that bastard is a lunatic and unpredictable. Maybe he just wants to humiliate you and come back later.”

“Gran, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“What?! I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, brat!” His mentor huffs and walks into the kitchen.

A minute later, Gran comes back with a plate of taiyaki and a thoughtful look on his face.

“I don’t think you need to pass on One For All, Toshinori.”

“W-what? Why?”

“You could wait until All For One makes a move again. But if he really doesn’t come after you anymore, that means he’s moving on from getting One For All back. Then we all can forget about this never ending war and just live our lives,” Gran says as he finishes the food.

Toshinori looks at his mentor. While he does make a good point, Toshinori still doesn’t trust that 200 year old bastard.

But it doesn’t hurt to move on, he guesses.

“Maybe you could be the last holder of One For All, and the quirk will die with you,” Sorahiko adds.

2

Hizashi looks up at the streetlights. It’s the middle of the night and he’s walking around while thinking about random things.

But his mind always comes back to the Endeavor Incident.

He always believed that the flame hero was just rude but full of ambition to become the number one hero. In reality, not only did he have a bad personality, but the guy also did bad things to his own family.

Honestly, Hizashi had watched it live on his phone, so he had read all the comments. It’s 50/50, Endeavor’s fans don’t believe Dabi and accuse the guy of making up a story for attention. Others weren’t so sure, but cheered for the villain nonetheless.

Then this comment came up:

“GUYS!! DOCUMENTS ON THE FORUM!!”

Hizashi didn’t get a chance to look at it because the cameraman of the livestream zoomed in on something coming from the other direction.

Himura Rei, formerly Todoroki Rei, walked into the frame.

The comment section literally exploded, and Hizashi could only watch in silence as the two ‘punished’ the guy who hurt them.

The whole incident got him to wonder how things like this get swept under the rug, how no one saw the red flags from Todoroki Shouto. When Hizashi thinks about it, the boy's quiet and cold personality is probably due to what his own father has done to him.

He’s quite disappointed in himself, even though he has nothing to do with it. But he’s Present Mic! He’s supposed to be on the lookout for these kinds of things.

Maybe he should work harder so that there are no children who’re ever put in this situation again. He could set up a hotline on his radio show…

But the biggest problem here is probably society itself though.

Sigh, there’s so much that needs improving.

Hizashi finishes his last stroll around the city when he realizes something.

He’s been patrolling since 4 p.m. but he hasn’t come across any villains at all. Hizashi starts to look in their usual areas, but he still finds none. This is unusual.

He’s about to give up on his villain search (wow, can’t believe he’s looking for villains this time) when his phone rings.

“Hey Hizashi, have you finished your patrol yet? Wanna hang out?” Nemuri asks.

“Perfect timing, Nem. I want to ask ya something.”

“Hm?”

“How many villains have you come across today?”

“Oh yeah, that. None apparently. I also asked Tsukauchi-kun about this, and he said that all the heroes that patrolled today didn’t come across any villains at all. He said, and I quote, ‘Midnight, this is like my day off!’”

Huh, weird.

“So you wanna hangout or nah?” She asks again.

“I want to go to sleep, maybe tomorrow.”

“You? Sleep? Wow, am I dreaming?”

He sighs. “Yes, ma’am. Can I go now?”

“Fine!” With that she hangs up and Hizashi quietly walks home. It’s only a 10 minutes walk from where he is, so it doesn’t take him long to arrive at their apartment.

He puts in the passcode and opens the door. He walks in and finds that the light is still on.

“Shouta! It’s 2 a.m.! Go to sleep!” Hizashi yells at his roommate when he finds the guy buried under cats and paperwork in the living room. Hizashi expects his best friend to have gone to sleep already, but turns out he’s so wrong.

Shouta groans from the couch. Jesus, did he get any sleep this week? Hizashi quickly walks up to the guy and drags him out from the pile of papers.

“Shoutaaaa, come on! What’re you even working on this late?” Hizashi peeks over to see a file on a… kid? A green haired kid named Midoriya Izuku and with an alias, Bunny.

“Is this a case you’re on?”

Shouta glares at him and answers halfheartedly, “Yeah, me and Naomasa are trying to figure out what the kid’s purpose is. But recently Midoriya hasn't come out at all. Hell, villains that are associated with the kid are all gone too.”

Oh? “Speaking of villains' disappearance, do you know that I didn’t find any ranked villains while I was patrolling?”

Shouta looks up in interest, so Hizashi continues, “Usually I would find some of them, but this week I found none! The whole patrol I only greeted some fans and stopped like 2 amateur robbers!”

“Huh, interesting,” Shouta mumbles.

“Yeah, yeah, and now it’s time to go to sleep. C’mon.”

Shouto gives the cats one last scratch before he stands up. “Fine.”

3

The Commission has been too quiet lately. Keigo hasn’t heard anything from them in a long time. Even when he stopped sending them daily reports and visiting the president, they still didn’t text or call him. Which is very unusual and worrying.

Keigo isn’t sure what they’re up to and that’s more than a bit concerning.

He has been staying with Bunny for a while now, and during his stay Keigo didn’t go out to do hero work. He just… didn’t feel like it, and isn’t that concerning for the now number one hero? Ah shit, he still can’t believe that the position fell to him like that. Keigo doesn’t even need to work for it.

And that makes the fact that the HPSC is a bit too quiet bother him a lot.

Keigo is brushing Eri’s hair when he gets a text from one of his closest friends.

Mommy Bunny: come to your apartment

He hasn’t heard from Rumi for a very long time, and it’s weird for her to reach out to him first. Whatever it is about, it must be important. Keigo gently lifts Eri off his lap and hands her to Rei.

“Where’re you going?” Bunny asks.

“Uh, my apartment.”

The kid blinks then smiles at him. “Can I come with you?”

Keigo raises his brow. “Why would you want to come with me?”

“Aw, it gets boring in here sometimes, you know,” Bunny pouts.

Eh, Rumi probably doesn’t know the kid anyway.

“Fine-.” He doesn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence as Bunny jumps into his waiting arms.

Fuck, why is he so soft for this kid.

They arrive at Keigo’s apartment balcony less than half an hour later, and he knows immediately that something is wrong.

“Stay behind me,” he mumbles to Bunny.

Keigo brings out his feather sword and slides the door open quietly. He walks in slowly, his gaze sweeping the room and he frowns. Keigo arrives at the living room and he stops dead in his tracks. Bunny walks right into his wings.

“Ow, what the hell?” the kid whines, but Keigo just gapes at what is in front of him.

“Oh, hey Kei!” Rumi, still decked out in her Miruko outfit, greets from the couch, as if she doesn’t have 5 unconscious men at her feet. All of which wear a black outfit and a mask to cover their identity.

“What the fuck happened here?”

Rumi ignores him when her eyes land on the adorable green-haired kid behind him, who coincidentally, is wearing a limited edition Miruko hoodie today.

“Oh my god! He’s so cute-.” In the blink of an eye, Rumi has Bunny in her arms and is hugging him tightly. “Don’t tell me that the reason why you are gone is because you’re taking care of your son.”

Bunny blushes.

“He’s not my son! Can we get back to why you texted me and why’s there a pile of bodies on my carpet?”

Rumi stops hugging Bunny but doesn’t let the kid go, her face turning serious. “The Commission revoked your hero license.”

“What?!”

“What? Why?”

He and Bunny speak at the same time. But why would the Commission do that? Hawks is the number 1 hero, and they get rid of him just like that? That’s so unreasonable.

Rumi tilts her head. “Personally, I think they suspect that you’re gonna betray them.”

Keigo makes a face. “What did I do?”

“Kei. I broke in and read your report; anybody could tell that you’re withholding information. So they probably cut you off before you try anything funny. They've been on fire since Endeavor’s secret got revealed, they must be afraid you’d reveal yours too since you’re with the villains now,” she explains.

Keigo sighs. “What about these guys?” He points at the unconscious men.

“Oh that. Pfft, the Commission fucking sent them to eliminate you. I didn’t even break a sweat beating them.”

Keigo goes silent. He needs time to process this. Luckily, Bunny is here to fill in the silence.

“So, Miruko-san, what’re you going to do next? From the way you phrase it, Hawks really betrayed you guys.” Keigo shoots him with a glare but the kid ignores him.

Rumi looks down at the boy. “Well, first of all, call me Rumi. Secondly, I’m not with the Commission, because, as you can see, they don’t have anything to tie me down unlike this stupid bird. And, I don’t really care anyway, as long as I get to save people and Kei is still alive.”

Bunny smiles. “Wow, Mi- Rumi-san, you’re a great hero.”

She ruffles the kid’s hair. “Thanks, kid. Wait, what’s your name?”

“Ah, I’m Izuku.” Ooh nice, he finally knows Bunny’s real name.

“Okay, Izuku-kun! What should we do with the bodies? I could just kick them out the window.”

“Rumi, this is, like, the twentieth floor.” Keigo cuts in.

“Who cares?”

“Anyway!” Bunny cuts their bickering short. “Maybe we could send them to the police for trespassing.”

“Aw, little bunny, you’re so smart,” Rumi coos before she walks away to call the police.

“She seems to… like you a lot,” he says to the boy.

Bunny huffs. “Better than she dropkick me because I’m a villain.”

“You think she could be on your side?” Keigo can’t help but ask.

“She said she’ll always be on your side.”

Oh, right.

“And you don’t have to worry about being a villain anyway, Hawks.”

Keigo tilts his head. “Why? Is this about your guys’ plan that I don’t know about?”

“Yup.”

He wants to ask more, but Rumi’s voice cuts him off.

“I’m back~ Let’s go out for lunch and discuss how to end the Commission!” Rumi shouts.

Bunny grins at her. “Already started on it, Rumi-san!”

“Tell me about it, baby bunny!”

Keigo sighs fondly as he follows them out of the apartment. He really wants to know what is up with the Commission. But he just has to wait and see how everything will turn out. While they walk, he decides to bring out his phone and check the hero website, and wow, Rumi wasn’t kidding. His name has been removed from the official website; it wouldn’t take long for people to notice.

“Oh shit!” Izuku curses before quickly hiding behind him.

“What-.”

He gets cut off by a flaming lasso being whipped towards his face. Keigo barely avoids it, sending 5 feathers towards that direction and 2 feathers to look out behind them. He pulls Bunny closer to him.

“Heck yeah! Time to kick some ass, baby!” Rumi shouts as she kicks some guy in the head.

It’s only a few moments later that the area is completely surrounded by people that got sent by the Commission. They’re wearing similar black outfits as the men in his apartment. Damn, they really wanted him dead, huh?

“Maybe I should call Kurogiri… Just in case,” Bunny mumbles.

Keigo couldn’t agree more. This is gonna take a while.

4

Mirai considers Foresight as an overpowered quirk. How could he not? To be able to see the person’s future is such a good power. The only bad thing about it is that the future can’t be changed, which means that Mirai can only accept what he sees and continue on with his life.

So when he sees his death at the hand of Overhaul, Mirai could do nothing but fight the villain until his time has to come to an end. He still remembers the moment, the spikes only inches away from his face. Mirai remembers how he already gave up and hoped that Mirio would make it out alive.

But what he definitely didn’t see with his quirk was Shigaraki Tomura and his League of Villains coming through the roof and falling on top of Chisaki Kai, shouting something about ‘Bunny’ and ‘Eri’. Mirai sees Overhaul escaping, but he thinks he passes out for a while because the next thing he hears is a scream of agony from Overhaul. And that’s the only thing he hears before passing out again.

It really is a miracle; there are no casualties at all except for the disappearance of Overhaul and the last set of quirk erasing bullets. Mirai gets out of the hospital within a week. And that gets him thinking.

This is the second time that his quirk was wrong.

Mirai had been so sure that All Might would die at the hands of All For One. He has been telling Toshinori since the guy got the injuries, but of course the oaf didn’t listen to Mirai.

But it doesn’t matter, because somehow, Toshinori is still alive. Mirai watched the livestream and he couldn’t believe that All For One let his arch nemesis survive.

Maybe Mirai doesn’t know this quirk as well as he thought.

He finishes his paperwork and decides to take a walk to clear his head. Mirai strides along the sidewalk as he enjoys the cool breeze of the evening when he passes by a coffee shop. Mirai is about to enter but an arm blocks his path.

He turns to the person before immediately looking away. Mind Heist stands there in a luxury black suit, grinning at him. The villain isn’t wearing his usual sunglasses.

“Aw, come on Nighteye. I’m wearing contacts, so no illegal quirk usage,” the villain says and winks at him.

Does Mirai trust him? Not at all. But what can he do in this situation? He doesn’t have any weapons on him and he doesn’t want to waste his quirk on fighting this guy.

Mirai sighs as he turns to face the red-haired villain. True to his words, instead of disturbing blood-like red eyes, he meets glowing golden irises. Actually, it kinda reminds him of Hawks’ eyes.

“What do you want?” Mirai finally asks after he deems the villain not dangerous. For now. They walk away from civilians and end up in a secluded alley.

Mind Heist, still smiling, steps away from him. “Well, I heard you got injured! So I came to visit my favorite hero.”

“Since when did I become your favorite?” Mirai asks tiredly.

“Since you’re the first hero who got assigned to my case!” Then the villain adds, “I still don’t know why you quit. Am I too troublesome?”

Mirai pushes up his glasses. “I don’t know why I’m going to tell you this, but the commission said that catching you would be a waste of resources and time, so they just removed my name.”

Mind Heist’s grin widens. “Good thing they’re about to be gone then.”

Mirai stills.

What did he just say?

“Well, that’s the reason I’m here. I don’t think you used your quirk today yet, so use it on me please. I really want to know if the future will be good.”

Mirai narrows his eyes. “Why would I even want to waste my quirk like that?”

“Don’t you want to know why it’s so calm lately? I would call this a ‘calm before the storm’ y’know?” The villain teases.

Mirai stays silent, thinking about the pros and cons of if he actually decides to use his quirk on Mind Heist. While the villain could use Mind Steal while Mirai looks at the future, his curiosity gets the better of him. His colleagues have been telling him about how all the ranked villains have disappeared lately, including All For One. So Mirai takes the chance in front of him.

“Fine,” he says.

Mind Heist perks up. “Nice! I know you’re interested too!”

The villain lifts his hand up in front of him, like a high-five. Mirai reluctantly touches the guy’s hand and activates Foresight.

Mind Heist leaves Mirai alone in the alley.

He steps into the purple swirling portal.

Kurogiri’s, his mind supplies

Mind Heist hugs a green-haired kid.

Mirai fast forwards his quirk and stops when he sees All For One.

All For One in a black suit, walking in front of Mind Heist. They’re in a big hallway decorated with red and gold carpet, chandeliers, and white walls spotted with paintings and photographs.

Mind Heist looks back at a group of high ranked villains wearing suits trailing behind him.

They walk into a large, luxurious room with a stage and a microphone at the front. Reporters and their teams of cameramen fill the room, chatting quietly amongst themselves. The villains take a seat behind all the cameras.

It’s a while before Nedzu walks into the room. Silence washes over everyone.

Why is he there?

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen-.”

His vision gets cut off when Mind Heist brings his hand back, the villain’s eyes now their usual red tone. Mirai blinks and sighs. Only Erasure and Mind Steal can stop his quirk, which is why he doesn’t get along well with Mind Heist. But anyways, that vision was definitely not what he was expecting. He has so many questions: Where are they? Why are they all in suits? Why is Nedzu there?

When he looks up to ask some of those things to the villain, the guy is already gone.

Mirai quickly leaves the alley and goes back to his agency. He has some calls to make and maybe he should try to find the location of that building he saw too.

There’s something big coming.

5

Recently, Nedzu has been acting weird. Shouta doesn’t know exactly what makes him come to that conclusion, but he just gets these feelings every time the rat principal is up to something. Nedzu has been… gleeful. The rat has been like this since Endeavor was defeated by his own family.

Shouta suspects it was because the fire hero finally got the consequences he deserved, the man had abused his wife and children after all. Nedzu probably can get behind Dabi’s plan since the rat also experienced something like that.

Nedzu never told him about his past, so Shouta can only guess so much. He decides to let his concern slip away. There’s more important things to be focused on than the principal who will always be a mystery to Shouta. For instance, Todoroki Shouto, a boy who associates himself with Bunny, aka Midoriya Izuku. Even though the kid isn’t the traitor, Shouta still keeps an eye on him.

The Bunny case is one thing, but the other is how calm the kid is, especially after the Endeavor Incident. Shouta suspects that Todoroki might’ve known or had something to do with it. How can someone keep their cool after their family has a bloodbath in front of people on live television? Not to mention the documents that got spread like a wildfire across the internet about everything Endeavor has done. Normal kids probably couldn’t handle all of that, but here Todoroki Shouto is, not seeming to care at all.

The rest of the kid’s family also disappeared, coincidentally, at the same time as Bunny. It’s only because of the dorm system that Todoroki is still here, which means Shouta can keep an eye on the kid in case he decides to do something.

But the boy can’t go outside anyway, unless he wants to get pounced on by the hungry reporters.

There’s no class today so Shouta goes to check on the kids in their dorms. When he arrives, almost everyone is lounging around the common room. Except for Kaminari and, of course, Todoroki.

“Where’s the other two?” he asks Asui as she passes by him.

She tilts her head. “They said they went out for a jog.”

Jogging at 10 a.m.? When did Todoroki even become friends with Kaminari? No, when did Todoroki even have friends? The only person who Shouta saw hanging out with the dual-haired kid is Midoriya. He’s about to go out and find them himself when the ringtone he set for Naomasa rings. Huh? Naomasa never calls him unless there’s an emergency or there’s something important.

“Yes?” He answers.

“Shouta-, the villain friendly zone is open,” The detective pants out.

“What? How’d you know that? What happened?”

“Only few people know, and a vigilante told me about it. They said that the boss is out of town and as you know, villains have all disappeared recently, so the zone is safe to enter as long as we don't do anything bad.”

Shouta forgets about Todoroki and quickly walks out from the dorm. “Where are you right now?”

“Station’s parking lot. I’m starting my car right now. See you in front of UA in 5.” Just as Shouta makes it to UA’s gate, he spots Naomasa’s car immediately. Shouta quickly gets in. It’s so rare for the villain zone to be open. And there’s no one to antagonize them either, they could get a lot of information by just looking at the town. If they get lucky, they might find some civil villains’ relatives who won't get bothered to be questioned.

Shouta is too excited to notice that something wrong is happening behind him. He is oblivious to the electric spark that runs along the school’s gate, making the door malfunction and creating an electric dome that covers the entire school, locking useful pro heroes and students from the Commission.

They decide to walk into the villain friendly zone as it would be easier to look around than staying in the car.

Shouta walks a little bit behind Naomasa, letting the man lead the way since he seems to know where he's going.

Surprisingly, they pass a lot of people and none of them are villains. Some share a resemblance to some, but Shouta knows they’re just villains’ relatives who just want to live a peaceful life away from the Commission.

The people seem to know who he is too, judging by the ‘Hello Eraserhead’ he receives from literally everyone.

Isn’t that weird?

“Maybe the vigilante not only told us but the residents as well,” Naomasa suggests.

Shouta nods. “At least they aren't mad at us for using our chance to get in here.”

They walk for a while before Naomasa stops in front of the most expensive-looking building on the entire street. He can’t see what’s inside so Shouta could only wait for the detective to say something.

“This place is where all the villains usually come for a meetup. According to my source, this place is like a center hall in this city,” Naomasa says as he grabs the door handle.

“Are you sure we won’t be charged with trespassing?” He asks just in case.

“70%.” Where’s the other 30% then?

With that, the detective opens the door and steps inside, Shouta following behind closely. He peeks in and finds himself staring into familiar green eyes.

Midoriya blinks at them and then smiles. “I knew it! I was so sure that you guys would come!”

“True,” Naomasa whispers.

Shouta sighs. He couldn’t expect less from the number one problem child.

“Come in, come sit! Let me make some coffee…” Bunny trails off as he disappears inside the door behind him.

Shouta feels like someone is staring at them, so he turns to the side…

… And the entire Todoroki family is there, looking at them with various expressions.

Todoroki Rei, Todoroki Fuyumi, Todoroki Natsuo, and a little girl who looks similar to them sitting on their mother’s lap.

“O-oh, you’re Shouto’s home room teacher,” Todoroki Fuyumi says quietly.

“If I may ask, why are you guys here? ” Naomasa asks as he moves to sit on the couch opposite of them. Shouta follows him.

“W-well, um,” Fuyumi turns to her mother and her brother for help, but none of them seem interested in the conversation.

Bunny comes to the rescue as always, the boy coming back with a tray of dessert and coffee.

“I still can’t believe I’m in the same room as you guys and you aren’t trying to catch me! I still wonder why the boss decided that it’s okay to let people know how you can get in the zone today-.”

“Kid-.” Midoriya would have rambled for a while if not for Shouta.

The kid blushes and puts down the tray. “A-anyway, you’re welcome to stay but you gotta leave before the villains come back.”

“The real question is, where are they? They’ve been gone for a while now,” Naomasa asks the boy.

Midoriya hums, looking at the clock then back at the television. “You will get your answer in a few minutes, detective.”

Shouta doesn’t trust that at all. Something is going to happen today, isn’t it.

“You’re not going to tell us?” he asks.

“Nah, it’s a surprise.”

And right on time, the documentary on the TV gets cut off. A broadcast starts, and judging by the reporters who just came into the frame, it’s live.

“Good Afternoon, I’m Asahi Ryuu from JNN. We’re sorry to interrupt your regular scheduled program to bring you this breaking news. This just in, we received an invitation from UA high school principal, Mr. Nedzu, to join in a press conference that he himself has organized. We-”

Shouta whips his head to face Naomasa, but it seems like the guy didn’t know about this either. What the hell is the rat doing?

“-live from the Government house, and we haven’t seen anyone from the ministry yet. But Mr. Nedzu is walking onto the stage right now.” A video pops up right next to the news reporter, probably from the cameraman at the conference. Nedzu is at the microphone.

The principal taps the mic a couple times. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's me, Principal Nedzu. You’re probably wondering why I’m here today. Let me get straight to it then…

“… ‘We’ are here today, to tell you all the crimes that the Hero Public Safety Commission has committed since the start of their organization-”

They can hear murmurs and even a gasp from the reporters. Shouta can only sit there, looking at the TV with wide eyes.

“Let’s start with their very first project, a laboratory that got buried after a war many years ago. Let me introduce you to Subject 845…”

+1

Izuku sits there, smiling proudly as Nedzu announces the next speaker, and he’s even prouder when Keigo appears in the video. If he were one of the reporters at that place, he would’ve screamed from the sheer amount of shock, not only from the story by Nedzu and the appearance of Hawks, but also the fact that the information on the Commission is real. There’s evidence in everything Nedzu has said, and there will be more.

Keigo chuckles into the mic. “Wow, this is the first time you guys are hearing my name, huh? Let me introduce myself again. Wish I could say my name in different circumstances but hi, my name is Takami Keigo, and today I’m going to tell you guys about a child that got ripped from his family to fulfull some stupid project. I don’t know what it’s called, but most of my friends named it The Child Soldier…”

As Keigo's speech continues, Izuku has a fun time scrolling through his phone, reading through the internet’s reaction. Everything is going well, just like he expected, and there’s no chance for the government to cover this up now. There’s even some people who are forming together to protest at the Commission building and the government’s house as well. They want all of the staff and ministers gone as soon as possible. But unknown to them, Mind Heist is already starting that part.

Eraserhead and Detective Tsukauchi have gone quiet, but Izuku can sense the awe coming from them. Who would’ve guessed that the villains could do what they couldn’t, huh?

After Keigo, there’s more people, a family who got threatened by the Commission, a relative who lost their loved one to the corrupt organization, and many more.

When everyone finishes, they all think that the conference is done. But then Nedzu walks up again.

“That’s all for the reveal.” The principal laughs. “Now, to the most important part in this event.

“Usually, all the people who are responsible for this would all be stripped from their positions and face their appropriate penalties, which includes the current government who act oblivious and let this all happen. Then, we would hold an election later, right?

“But me and my ‘team’ have been working for a while now to make a plan to make this society better. It may come as a rush thing to do, but let me introduce you to the new prime minister and his team.

“Please welcome-

A very familiar white-haired man walks onto the stage next to Nedzu. Red eyes full of amusement nods politely at the reporters.

“Mr. Shigaraki-.”

Detective Tsukauchi stops what he’s doing and stares at the screen in horror.

Izuku stifles a laugh behind his cup of vanilla latte.

The beginning of a new era has begun.

.

(Elsewhere, All Might spits out his tea.)

Chapter Text

“Bunny! Iced cappuccino and hazelnut latte, please!”

“Coming!” Izuku replies as he quickly finishes cleaning up the table. He runs back and jumps over the counter to make the order as fast as possible. There’s still people that haven’t ordered yet, and there’s some tables that haven’t been cleaned too.

The front door opens and a familiar fire villain walks in. “Dabi! Come help me!” Izuku shouts.

Dabi rushes to the kitchen and comes back with an apron on, ready to help Izuku like he does everyday. It’s their new routine, Izuku works alone in the morning and Dabi will come and help in the afternoon since people usually like to come in during that time.

The cafe is busy as always. Nothing has changed there at all. Unlike society since All For One and all the villains took over the government.

Izuku still remembers it; the only word that suited the situation that day was chaos. The moment when Nedzu announced All For One as the next prime minister, Izuku can’t even describe what the citizens felt. Shock? Surprise? Betrayal? Nedzu supported the mysterious villain that ended All Might?

But the people could only ask questions, not do anything about it. The new number one hero Hawks was also there, and the rest of the top ten who had been quiet for a while now. It’s like they all agree with this happening. Other heroes tried, but what can a small group of heroes do against high-ranked villains that surround the entire government and Commission building?

And if someone is ‘lucky’ and their names are on the list of heroes who receive money from the HPSC to do bad stuff? Well, they may or may not get caught and disappear off the face of the earth. It’s like a heroes wipe out actually. Stain was so happy about this.

After the heroes’ disappearances occur, a news report of their actions come out as well. The plan is to keep the balance of the citizens' feelings. They feel scared that villains are taking over the country, but they are also seeing what was hidden from them. So while they don’t trust the villain government (yet), their trust in the heroes starts to crumble.

The next part is the law, and this one is the best change in Izuku’s opinion. ‘People are not born equal’. This sentence won’t be happening any longer. All For One takes discrimination very seriously. The supervillain told Izuku about the time when he was young, a story about people with quirks who got shunned by the society.

And it’s still a deep-rooted problem today. But instead of the one with a quirk being pushed down, it’s the quirkless, villainous-, weak-, and mutation-quirks that get tossed aside by the ones with ‘better’ quirks.

All For One rewrites the law and adds punishments to quirk discrimination, which Izuku doesn’t get a chance to see in action. (Yes, Izuku doesn’t see how Aldera burned down to the ground. Yet.)

Society that determines someone’s worth by their quirk would soon be gone. It might take a while, but they’re getting there.

Heroes also used to only care about doing their job in front of cameras and fans, which led to some parts of the country being left behind, but the villains who got assigned to take care of the heroes also send them out to the neglected areas that homeless and poor people are living in. Some high ranked villains suggested canceling the hero's power-based ranking altogether. In the villain world, the rank is based on how dangerous they are to the heroes, but heroes ranking is different. The commission is responsible for the chart, which is why someone like Endeavor could still become number 1. The HPSC didn’t care for anything else except for powerful heroes running around.

So now with Nedzu becoming the new Commission’s president, the principal would make sure that no one like Endeavor would get in the rank again. They can’t cancel the hero’s chart after all, people still need to see the pillars that they could rely on.

As for the heroes, they all still have their job. Even though a group of high-ranked villains now rule the country, there will still be some people who just want to hurt, destroy, or create chaos no matter how society changes. That’s the line that separates All For One’s villains from the others. And now it’s the hero's job to keep the peace of the country by fighting all those criminals.

That is just some things that have changed since All For One took over the government. There'll be a lot more coming, and Izuku can’t wait to see how this society will be like in the future. (He isn’t too sure if All For One still has that ‘Emperor’ thing going on…)

The last customer leaves and Izuku slumps down onto the couch. “Wow, I can’t believe we actually finished all the orders.”

Dabi snickers and flops down next to him. “You say that everyday.”

Izuku huffs. “Well, I can’t help it. At least I have you to help me now. I would’ve died if I worked alone.”

The fire villain ruffles his hair. “See? I told ya that me rejecting the position in the office is a good thing. I like it better here.”

“But you could do so much with the laws…”

Dabi snorts. “There’s a lot of people who are suited for that. Let me live my life. I still can’t believe Shigaraki is interested in politics.”

“He does have a politics degree though.”

“Good for him then.”

Izuku lets his head fall onto Dabi’s shoulder. “Speaking of Tomura, do you want to visit him today? We could bring dinner and coffee.”

“Sure I guess? Do we need to pick up the kids at UA?”

“Nope. Shouto will come here when he finishes his classes.”

They rest for a while before they decide to get up to prepare dinner. Izuku really wants to eat something fancy and he knows the other wants to as well. Yesterday Fuyumi gave them a cookbook and Mind Heist also stuffed the fridge full of expensive ingredients, so Izuku and Dabi have been choosing some dishes, and they’re going to make them today.

“We don’t have to pack it in a container. We could just put it on a plate and let Kurogiri do his job and drop them in the dining room,” Izuku says as he carefully puts down the sake-poached chicken onto the soba noodles. They’re making different soba dishes today, and it looks so good already. All For One could hire them as his personal chefs and Izuku wouldn’t even complain. He’s come to love cooking as much as making coffee now.

“Nice! They wouldn’t look as fancy as they are on the plate, right?” Dabi chuckles while he grills the fish that got marinated in miso beforehand.

Ahh, the smell of that alone makes his mouth water.

It might’ve been difficult to make more than ten dishes of fancy soba, but Dabi and him count themselves as professionals, so they finish the entire table before it’s dinner. Shouto and Kaminari arrive just in time, so they and Dabi help Kurogiri carry the plates while Izuku works on the coffees.

He puts everything on a tray and hurriedly follows everyone through the portal. Izuku steps onto the crimson red carpet — he’s in the main hallway, judging by the paintings and artworks along the wall — before turning to the closest door and walking in.

The large dining room has dark hardwood flooring topped by a soft-looking rug. In the center, a long marble dining table stands with cushioned chairs, and crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling. There’s also a fireplace and a built-in wine rack to the side of the room as well. The room is decorated with paintings just like the hallway. The most remarkable thing in this room is probably the glass sliding doors that open to the balcony with an expansive view.

Wow, is this where all the taxes went?

Izuku puts down the coffees at the bar next to the wine rack, almost dropping it when someone suddenly hugs him from the back.

“Bunny! I missed you!” Mind Heist says as he nuzzles Izuku’s hair.

He chuckles. “Mind Heist, that tickles! And we just saw each other this morning, Mr. Minister of Finance.”

Mind Heist turns Izuku around to greet him properly and smirks. “Aw, are you going to call everyone by their position from now on?”

“Come on, it’s cool.” He gives the villain a cheeky grin before he walks up to the table.

Izuku and Dabi made a lot of food, too much food actually. So it’s a good coincidence that the League and all the villains that are close to him came to work today. Izuku gets a head pat from Pharaoh’s cloth as he sits down next to Izuku. He beams at the amethyst-haired villain; it’s been a long time since they last saw each other.

While greeting all of his friends, he spots something white in the corner of his eye. Izuku turns in that direction and has to stop himself from screaming when he stares into Nedzu's eyes.

Nedzu is sitting on All For One’s shoulder, sipping Izuku’s homemade sweet tea while looking at him like he’s the most interesting thing in the world.

“Oi, Nedzu. Stop looking at my kid right now, he’s about to lose his fucking mind!” Mind Heist complains as he settles on the other side of Izuku.

The UA principal snickers. “Now now, Tetsuya-kun. I apologize, but the boy who’s behind almost all of your projects is finally here! I can’t help but want to get to know him a bit.”

Wait, Nedzu knows about him?!

Izuku doesn’t know whether he should be scared or honored… So he decides to give the principal a small smile instead.

They all settle into their seats and start eating their dinner, and conversation flows like it used to. Izuku gets to know what they have been up to with their new jobs. The villains really want society to become better, even though they kind of didn’t do it in the right way. It’s to be expected that citizens will be wary of them, so the villains have to work harder if they want to succeed.

The progress is slow, but it is noticeable. Hopefully the citizens will warm up to them soon. Izuku considers them lucky, in other universes, citizens and heroes might not be this willing to move on from all of the villains’ activity, or let them rule the country at all. But in this case, they all just want to see their society become better, and it’s easier if they just forget the ‘black and white’ side and help each other instead.

It takes a while for everything to settle back to normal. And it's time for Izuku to explore the government house. He never got the chance to take a look around yet, with him being busy at the cafe and everyone still trying to work out how to take care of their country, but now it’s time!

Izuku walks along the corridor, looking at all the pictures and paintings in interest. When he passes by any room, he goes inside and takes a look around. Izuku is alone today, but that won’t stop him from exploring the place.

And just as expected, this building is definitely where all the taxes went, because oh my god, there’s a massive indoor pool in the government building. Not to mention a library, computer room, arcade, gym, basketball court, and the most important part, an entire cafe on the first floor. The first three floors are all for entertainment, but at least the rest are all offices and work related rooms.

Izuku kinda craves some coffee right now, might as well make one right here. He walks to the coffee bar, checking all the ingredients and looking for any dust. When Izuku’s sure that it’s clean, he gets to work.

While making the coffee, he can’t help but think that this reminds him of the first day at the ‘villain’ cafe. Izuku was all alone in the cafe, trying to understand what the hell is going on after he got kidnapped by a notorious villain. He’s all anxious and scared, but after he met with Reaper and made it out alive? Everything seems to get better after that.

Everyone loves his coffee, and the coffee is like a string that attaches him and all the villains together. If someone told Izuku that he would have a whole army of friends just from being a barista when he was a kid, he wouldn’t believe it at all. And to make things even better, his analysis gets… appreciated. Who would’ve thought that villains would cherish some kid’s work like that.

And it all spirals from there. Izuku’s life is so full of… happiness? He’s surrounded by kind and nice people, and he never comes across a day where he doesn’t smile. Then comes Dabi, who’s like a brother to him. A guy who stayed by his side from day one until now. Following his brother, Shouto comes into his life by accident, but it turns out to be the best thing for both of them. Two kids with no friends their age find comfort in each other and are inseparable ever since. Everything then leads to Endeavor's downfall, which would become the greatest event that ever happened for the Todoroki family.

The family now lives together happily in a new mansion that Shouto bought with Endeavor’s money. They officially adopted Eri and have lived happily in their new life ever since.

Not to mention the League of Villains. A group that started with two guys who just wanted Bunny to join their little gang. The only goal was just to kill All Might, but as time goes on, everything changed for the better. They formed a team, a family, and they’re rebuilding society together.

Tomura realized that he enjoys politics and working alongside All For One, so he got a degree and started working in the office. Kurogiri became his assistant of course, so nothing much changed between them. Spinner also got a position in the office, so he and, surprisingly, Gang Orga are now working towards helping kids and people with mutation quirks who got wronged by society. This is the first time that a hero is working with a villain to improve things, and it’s getting a positive response.

So more team-ups follow. Mr. Compress teams up with the Idaten agency in working with charities for poor and homeless people. Magne and female heroes also help in women’s charities and such.

Izuku hasn’t heard much from Twice and Toga. But he does know that Twice somehow ended up as a vigilante. The guy isn't afraid to use his quirk anymore, since he now knows that he’s the original. So the villain is now beating up bad guys at night, and with his quirk, he’s having a lot of fun with that. As for Toga, she somehow made friends with almost the entirety of 1-A. Izuku doesn’t know how the girls forgave the villain who hurt them at the summer camp, but he guesses it has something to do with how close Toga and Kaminari are recently.

Lastly is Dabi, who doesn’t want to do anything except stay with Izuku and his family. The fire user insisted that he just wants to live his life, and he doesn’t want anything to do with the government. Since his goal when becoming a villain was to destroy Endeavor, he got what he wanted already. Now he just wants to chill and watch everything from the sidelines. Izuku has no problem with that of course, seeing his family happy makes him happy as well.

“Enjoying yourself?” A familiar deep and toneless voice speaks up, startling him just a bit. Izuku looks up and smiles at Reaper. Damn, now this is totally like his first day in the cafe.

“Yep!” he answers as he sips his favorite drink, vanilla latte. “You want some?”

The villain pats his hair gently. “Iced caramel macchiato. And I’m not the only one here.”

Huh? Izuku turns to the side and meets with almost everyone that came to work today.

“W-what?! Why are you guys all here?!”

The villains either chuckle or smile at him. “Aw, come on Bunny. The smell literally spread all over the place. We can’t help but miss your coffee.”

Overcast walks through the crowd and grabs the coffee out of his hand before the villain takes a sip from it.

Izuku sighs before he turns back to make more drinks. Believe it or not, he actually remembers all of their favorite coffees.

The villains seem to forget about them needing to get back to work because after they all get their coffees, they are still hanging around the area either talking to him or their colleagues. It’s such a lovely sight to see, everyone enjoying themselves while drinking his coffee. Izuku doesn’t know how to explain, but it just makes his heart warm seeing all this.

“Don’t you guys have work to do?”

Izuku, and probably everyone, stiffen, all eyes on All For One and Mind Heist when they step into the room.

“A-ah boss! Of course- But can’t we get just a little break?” Overcast says sheepishly, trying his best to look guilty.

All For One sighs, his handsome face frowning lightly. “It’s 9 a.m. You’ve only worked for an hour.”

“Fine,” the villain huffs, before he grabs Umbra’s and Reaper’s hands, drags them away, and disappears into the elevator. The other villains follow them, giving Izuku a wave before they leave to do their work.

Izuku, who doesn’t have anything to do today, doesn’t move.

“Now you, little bunny,” Mind Heist says as he takes the coffee from Izuku’s hand. What’s with everyone taking his drink today?!

“What?”

The villain says nothing and instead squishes Izuku’s cheek with his free hand.

“What?” Izuku tilts his head as he repeats the question.

“What are you going to do next?”

“Eh? Maybe go back to the cafe-”

All For One clears his throat, cutting him off. “What he means is, what are you going to do in the future? Help Tetsuya in the office? Analyst? Do you want to work with the heroes? Or are you going to continue what you do?”

Izuku blinks. He never thought about that before. What does he want to do in the future? Now that the villains kinda rebuilt society, Izuku could be literally anything. But what does he want though? He loves being a barista, but he is also passionate about analysis.

“I-I don’t know yet?” Izuku says uncertainly. How come he never thought about this?

A hand ruffles his hair and he looks up to see Mind Heist smiling softly at him. “Well, you don’t have to think about it too much. Even if you just want to do nothing and sleep all day, I would still spoil you until I run out of money. And that would never happen.”

“We’re just curious, is all. Pumpkin spice latte for me?”

Izuku nods and quickly makes it for the supervillain. He can feel both eyes on him still, but he doesn’t mention it.

“Are you free this monday?” All For One suddenly speaks up.

“Yeah? I think Dabi can take care of the cafe alone. Why?”

“I got a job for you.”

To say that the heroes are nervous is an understatement. This is the first meeting that both villains and heroes will be in the same room for since All For One became the new prime minister of Japan. Aizawa Shouta is one of them; he was so surprised that the supervillain considered some underground heroes to be present in this meeting.

So here he is, sitting quietly beside Hawks who hasn’t stopped talking to him since he sat down.

“-and I was like, I didn’t even know that Endeavor is that bad-”

“Where were you when you became number one? You disappeared for months.” Shouta cuts his rambling and asks the important question. He can see some heroes become quiet and listen in to their conversation.

Hawks blinks and his wings flutter lightly. “Uh, I just needed some time to process all the things that happened, ya know?”

“That’s it?”

“Um-”

“Nope!” Miruko appears out of nowhere and sits next to the winged hero. “He just got adopted by a baby bush! He almost retired and became a full time dad, you know?” The heroes around them look at them confusedly, but some villains chuckle at that.

Bush baby?

His mind supplies him with an image of that certain green-haired child. But he shakes his head; that can’t be the kid.

Hawks splutters. “W-what?! No! I just like his coffee! And he already has a dad!”

Before they can continue the conversation, the door opens.

Silence washes over the room as All For One, followed by Shigaraki and Mind Heist, walks into the room. It’s like there’s a spotlight shining down on them because no one can take their eyes off the group. They’re all in luxurious suits yet each looks different. They even lack the malicious aura that surrounds them when they’re monologuing about their villainous tendencies.

The supervillain sits on the chair at the head of the table, and Shouta immediately knows why some people call him the emperor. He still can’t believe this is really happening. Villains somehow rule the country, and are actually making it better.

It's just so sudden, and no one was prepared for it. And even if they really want to fight, Shouta is sure they wouldn’t win anyway. Just knowing what the government and the Commission hid from the citizens makes some of them become reluctant to fight. Some heroes (including Shouta, of course) want to risk their careers just to see how things will turn out. And they didn’t disappoint, the society really began to change.

So now he’s here, ready to listen to what the supervillain has to say in this meeting.

“-thank you for joining me today. There’s so much to discuss, so let’s start on it. First though, I would like everyone to meet someone very important. His existence is such a godsend to me and all the villains-” Every hero in the room tenses. There’s someone who’s important to All For One? There’s someone worth mentioning like that?

Right on cue, someone knocks on the door and everyone holds their breath in anticipation.

Whoever behind that door must’ve been on the same level or even higher than All For One and-

“Ahh guys! Come help me! I can’t carry all this!”

…

A very familiar soft voice speaks up, and an adorable kid with freckles and forest green-haired pokes his head around the door.

No one speaks for a moment and that makes the kid, Midoriya, blush.

“Guys!”

A couple of A-ranked stand up and quickly make their way to the kid. They come back with a tray of coffees, and the delicious scent fills the room. The heroes look at the kid in astonishment as the boy serves the drinks and desserts for them.

All For One clears his throat, gaining back the attention from everyone. That should be the sign for the unknown kid to leave, in other heroes' opinions. But the boy, in an All Might hoodie, walks up to stand in the lion’s den, next to the supervillain.

“Introduce yourself, little bunny,” Mind Heist says as he pat the kids back. The villain’s eyes are filled with adoration? Like a father looking at his son.

Midoriya looks around the room, making eye contact with everyone including Shouta,

“Hi everyone! I’m Midoriya Izuku! I’m looking forward to working with all of you!”

While everyone stares wide eyed at the kid, Shouta chuckles quietly.

Damn, this kid really is something else.

Who would’ve thought that a chance encounter with a villain would change a quirkless boy's life completely.

It leads the boy to a new life. He meets friends, families, and people who cherish and appreciate him thoroughly.

His journey is still ongoing, and the future is uncertain.

But what is for sure though is that the boy now has all the happiness in his life like he deserves.

Midoriya Izuku, The Villain’s Barista.