Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He choked, sent flying through the air and slammed into a building, watching as the villain ran out of his sights. His entire body convulsed, like he was being shocked by electricity, tearing through every cell in his body. He made a weak attempt to stand and his legs buckled under him, sending him face-first back onto the ground.

It wasn’t as if he had been counting on seeing a villain on his way to school, and he hadn’t used his quirk or tried to use force. What else could he do though? Nothing? No he had attempted to block the robber’s way, had tried to reason with him, asking him to stop. Was it stupid? Maybe, yeah ok it was a little bit stupid, but his hands were tied; he couldn’t repeat the Stain incident but he couldn’t do nothing! So here he was, the crook getting away and he was a mess in some alleyway.

With a deep groan he pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his back. It was aching from the impact, actually all of his body ached, though really wasn’t that to be expected? He tried to stand again but to no avail, settling for sitting down on the dirty concrete as he waited for his head to stop throbbing. He hung his head and something white brushed the top of his eyes, startling him. He grasped at it and stared when he felt a tug from his scalp. Wait…was that…his hair?

Izuku grimaced, pulling his phone out to look at himself in his camera. Yup, that was his hair, he entire head had turned pure white, stark against the dark gray of the wall. The quirk had shocked him pretty badly as well as thrown him aside, such a stress on your body could do that, he heard. Well it was weird, but nothing some hair dye couldn’t fix, he was far more concerned with the sharp pains that were beginning to develop in his body, even his face felt-…wait….what…?

His eyes widened, staring at himself in the camera as his face began to shift. He felt his bones stretching, crunching sounds reverberating through his skull. His chin was becoming more pronounced, his large eyes sleeking down to better fit his changing facial structure. He yelped and dropped the phone, only to notice his hands were becoming larger as well. There was a hitch in his throat when he groaned, hugging himself as the pain became more intense. The sounds of his bones cracking as they grew seemed unbearably loud, and even as he hugged himself he felt his body continue to change. His school jacket began to tear at the seams as his shoulders broadened and his arms thickened, his usual baggy pants becoming fitting, then snug, then tight, riding up and becoming short for his longer legs.

He gripped at the tie that was beginning to choke him and ripped it off, gasping for air. His jacket was in shreds, his favorite shoes had been split open, and his undershirt and pants now fight uncomfortably tight. His entire body ached horribly and he flopped back down on the ground, curling up slightly and shutting his eyes tight, waiting and hoping for the pain to pass. Eventually it began to fade and he became aware of his own labored breathing, slowly opening his eyes to start at the grimy floor.

With a grunt a bit too deep for his usual voice, he pushed himself up. He weakly pulled off the remains of his jacket and pulled off his shoes, sighing in relief at the alleviated pressure. He glanced over at his phone and shakily picked it up, noticing how it seemed smaller in his grip. The camera was still on and he stared at himself, still breathing hard. The man staring back looked familiar, but only a face he had seen in some old pictures his mother had. The man he couldn’t remember ever meeting, his father, was nearly identical to the image he had looking back at him now. He covered his mouth, shutting the phone off.

What had happened to him!? Was it that crooks quirk?! It had to be, but why do this to him-? No, no wait, this probably wasn’t the result the robber wanted. The end results weren’t what they cared about, they cared only that it managed to both get him out of the way and incapacitate him long enough to escape. What was he going to do? Maybe it would wear off? In the meantime…no, ok, think rationally. First off he should head home and explain the situation to his mom, maybe see if she had any of his father’s old clothes he could wear. Then he’d try to get a hold of All Might and tell Nezu and any other faculty that might be able to help him.

Luckily, he wasn’t too far from home, he looked awkward but if he hurried he would only get a few weird looks. Shakily he got to his feet, scooping up the remains of his clothes and stuffing them into his backpack. Without thinking more into it he rushed home, ignoring the strange looks. He made it home in pretty good time, thought it felt like way too long. In his haste he opened the door without pausing to think his actions through. He rushed in and immediately ran into his mother, whom stared at him as if a two-headed giraffe had just moseyed into the apartment.

Oh. Right. He should probably have called her and warned her.

“Hisashi?!” Inko blurted.

“Wh-? No!” he shook his head. “Mom- Mom it’s me! It’s Izuku! I got hit by some quirk and- and now I look like this!”

“I- Izuku?!” Inko covered her mouth. “I-…”

Her eyes scanned him and he felt very self-conscious, moreso than before, but noticed she was focusing more on his small clothes, lack of shoes and the backpack he carried.

“Izuku…! Wh- what happened?!”

“I’ll explain, mom, but uh…before that,” he flushed, his ears turning red too. “Did…Dad leave any old clothes behind?”

“Oh- Oh! Of course! Hold on, I’ll get them!” the woman flailed, quickly scampering off to her room.

Izuku stood there awkwardly a moment, going over in his head how to explain the situation to her. First thing’s first, he had to change into some clothes that fit properly. It only took a couple minutes for Inko to rush back out, holding the folded clothes up to him which he hastily took, thanked her and ran off into the bathroom to change. It was an uncomfortable experience, alien to disrobe and find a completely different body underneath. He shuddered and changed more quickly, eager to be finished with the process. Once he had done so he looked up, catching sight of the mirror again. He really did look just like the pictures, especially in his father’s clothes. He shook his head and hurried back to the living room where his mother was waiting.

“Izuku-…”

He stood there uncomfortably as Inko stared at him, bringing her hands to her mouth.

“I- I’m sorry, you just- you look so much like him…” she shook her head. “That’s not important right now, please, tell me what happened to you!”

Izuku frowned, going over to the table and pulling out a chair.

“Sit down, Mom, I’ll explain.”

He waited for his mother to take her seat and then pulled one up himself, looking at her. After taking a breath to steady himself he recounted the story to her, biting his lip and waiting for her reaction once he finished.

“I…will it wear off?” she asked.

“I- I don’t know, I was going to ask the teachers for help,” he said. “I think one of them might be able to…figure something out.”

“Maybe we should take you to a doctor?” she frowned.

“I’m not hurt, I don’t know what they’d be able to do to ‘cure’ a quirk,” he frowned. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Inko bit her lip.

“Well…ok, we’ll try UA first, but if they can’t help we’ll go to a doctor,” she said.

“Okay,” he nodded.

Even his voice was different, it felt so foreign in his ears…

“I- I’m sorry, Izuku, I need a moment. Just…relax a bit, okay? I’ll be back.”

She got up and left for her room without saying another word. Izuku flinched, looking after her and then sighing, staring at the table. He was that similar? Enough to make her react like that?

His phone buzzed.

He blinked, checking his texts. There was one from All Might.

"Kid, you okay? Where are you? You’re not at school."

He hesitated a moment and then texted back.

"I need to talk to you, can you meet me the usual place?"

"Uh, sure, kid…what’s wrong?"

"It’s hard to explain…just meet me there, okay?"

"Well…all right. When?"

He hesitated; would it be better to wait? No, no it made sense to do it as fast as possible.

"ASAP, please"

"Okay kid, I’ll be there in a few minutes"

"Thanks"

He looked back toward his mom’s room, frowning. He’d just text her letting her know he went to talk to a teacher. She didn’t seem to be handling it very well, he wanted to give her the time she needed. He’d just go off by himself for now.

It didn’t take too long to get to the beach and he could see the skeletal figure of his mentor long before he made it to the actual beach himself. All Might wasn’t looking his direction, instead staring at his phone with a concerned expression, perhaps waiting for him to text him again. Izuku hesitated, wondering how best to explain the situation. Well, even if he didn’t recognize him if he just walked up and said ‘hi’ that was a good place to start, right? Then he could explain.

For some reason, he began to have a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he approached. All Might seemed so much smaller now, still tall of course, but…
He went over in his head how he was going to say things, but then All Might looked up, meeting his eyes. Izuku froze in place and All Might did as well, the sound of the ocean crashing against the beach drowning out any other noises.

“..All Might-“ he began.

Izuku wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. It however, was definitely not this.

In a split second, All Might had buffed up and charged him, Izuku let out a cry of pure horror when his mentor grabbed him by his throat and hauled him off his feet, glaring up at him with pure and unadulterated hatred.

“A-?!” he choked, unable to force any words out.

“ALL FOR ONE!”

All for one?! All Might had only recently told him about the man behind One For All’s origins, but what did that have to do with this?! What was going on?!

“I don’t know how you survived, but I won’t let you get away again!”

Izuku began to black out, the only thing he could see were his mentors bright blue eyes wishing him death.

Chapter Text

            His vision was going, he was on the verge of passing out when suddenly he could breathe again. That was the good part, the bad part was that he had gotten thrown into the wall. Two times in one day wasn’t a new record persay but with this amount of force was new. He let out a shout of pain, then collapsed onto the sand, coughing up his stomach’s contents and saliva into the ground. Through blurred vision he looked up and the sight horrified him.

            During their finals he had been made to go up against All Might with Kacchan, and he had seen how intimidating All Might could be, but this was a whole other level. Intimidation didn’t begin to cut it. Pure, boiling rage mixed with absolute loathing was on his mentor’s face as he approached him.

“W- wait-“ he barely choked out. “Stop…”

“SILENCE!” All Might roared.

            He was going to die. There had been several moments where he feared for his life in the last couple years, but never with this kind of certainty. He managed to force himself up onto his feet, shaking as he tried to steady himself. Before he could do anything else, All Might charged him again and on reflex he tried to dodge. It was pointless, he thought, there was no way he could move faster than-

Oh.

Apparently he was wrong.

            Deku had activated full cowling in an instant, but the output of power he found himself using was far more than 5%. With one movement he was at the other end of the beach, skidding to a halt and kicking up sand around him. How it happened without him breaking anything, he had no idea, but he didn’t have time to question it at the moment. All Might came charging once again, slamming his fist into the ground where Izuku had been a half-second before.

In his panic and fear-stricken state, Izuku did the only thing he could think to.

He turned and ran like hell.

            He didn’t pay attention to where he ran, just that he put as much distance between them as possible. His heart pounded in his ears and the world blurred by, doing his absolute best not to run into anything or anyone. That level of speed didn’t last long, however, and in only a little time he was back down to his 5%. Still, there wasn’t any other option but to keep running. No option he liked, at any rate.

Eventually, after running and running and running, he found himself running into a wooded area he didn’t recognize and then quite abruptly his quirk simply…stopped. The power and adrenaline fueling him had reached some kind of limit and the resulting momentum sent him slamming into several trees, rolling through quite a few more before he finally skid to a halt.

            Izuku panted, gagging as he attempted to catch his breath. He curled up on the ground, wondering if he had managed to actually escape. If he hadn’t, All Might would be on him in just a few moments. So he curled up and waited…

And it never came.

As he managed to calm he sat up, looking around. The trees were dense, he wasn’t sure where he was exactly, but it seemed…he had lost him? Lost All Might? How was that possible? Unless…his limit? Had he hit his limit for the day? That had to be it. So he had gotten away then.

            He flopped back down onto the ground, staring up at the sky. Okay, so he was safe, but what the heck had all that been?! All Might had called him ‘All For One’, the villain he had told him about shortly before finals, the villain One For All had stemmed from. Why would All Might mistake him for someone like that? Did he look like him? That didn’t make sense, he looked like his dad, apparently, not some archvillain-

Unless…

            Izuku paled, sitting upright and fumbling for his phone. He had to get in contact with his mom, he had to ask her if she knew anything about this. But- where was…? Crap, he’d dropped it! It could be anywhere at this point, he didn’t even know where he was or where he had been…

“Um…ribbit…you ok, Mister? Ya look like you ate dirt pretty hard there.”

That voice!

“Asui?!” he turned, staring at the girl.

“Ribbit? Um, weird that you know my name, but okay…?”

“Asui- it’s me! It’s Midoriya!” he blurted.

“Suuuuuree…ok, Mister, I’m gonna need you not to come closer to me, ribbit.”

            “Please, Asui…” his eyes teared up. “Please, I- I need your help, I don’t know what’s going on and- and-“

He covered his mouth, shaking as the tears began to slip loose. Tsu let out a confused ‘ribbit’ and slowly drew nearer, scanning him intently.

“…Prove you’re Midoriya,” she said. “Tell me what happened at the USJ when we got separated from the class.”

Izuku twitched, looked at her, then promptly blurted out everything that had happened in the flood zone from how they escaped up until when they saw Aizawa being beaten by the Nomu.

            “…Holy shit, Midoriya?!” Tsu went bug-eyed. “What the heckie hoo happened to you?”

“I- I’ve had a busy morning,” he said simply, allowing tears to flow freely.

“Morning? Mirdoriya it’s like, late afternoon.”

“..W- what?!”

Had he been running for that long? Or had he passed out for a while once he made it here? His head did hurt, everything was a blur, either one could’ve been possible…

“Yeah, ribbit, that’s why I’m out here, we’re camping out, we hiked in a couple hours ago- me and Ochaco, anyway.” Tsu tilted her head. “You should come back to camp with me, then you can explain what’s going on.”

            “Y- yeah, hey Asui-?”

“Tsu.”

“T- Tsu,” he corrected. “Can I use your phone?”

“Ribbit? Um, honestly my phone has kind of a crappy connection out here…you could try asking Ochaco, but she still has a flip-phone, I doubt it’ll work.”

“Oh,” he frowned. “Ok…I wanted to get a hold of my mom but..”

“Ribbit, we’ll figure it out, come on, it’s this way.”

She hopped off a ways and Izuku followed, ignoring the horrible aches through his body.

            They arrived at a little campsite not too far off, where Ochaco as grumbling as she attempted to start a fire.

“Stupid twigs won’t burn- oh, hey Tsu….and…random guy?”

“It’s Midoriya,” Tsu said flatly, pointing at him. “Weird stuff happened, he’s going to explain.”

“Deku!? Really!?” she stared.

Izuku waved awkwardly and Tsu nodded.

“I’m convinced, anyway,” Tsu said. “Let’s hear him out.”

“I mean, okay, Tsu…”

“Also, he started crying when I was asking him questions so I’m fairly sure it’s him, ribbit.”

            Izuku flushed bright red and covered his face, letting out a muffled squeak of embarrassment.

“Oh my god it is him,” Ochaco stared.

“Told ya.”

“Asui- Tsu! Come on, please, I’ve had a really, really stressful day and I’m tired beyond all reason, cut me some slack, please?”

“Okay, okay,” Tsu rolled her eyes. “Sit down and start talking about it, then.”

            Izuku did so, changing around his story so that he claimed he simply ran into All Might, whom then attacked him, leaving out the bits about his mentor’s depowered form or their connection.

“So you got quirked, look like your dad, who looks like a villain All Might hates, then All Might attacked you, ribbit? Is that right?”

He nodded fervently.

“Holy shit,” Tsu and Ochaco stated in unison.

“You’re telling me,” Izuku mumbled.

            “Well- wow, ok, um,” Ochaco frowned. “What if we get Mr. Aizawa’s help? He can probably figure this out and get All Might to calm down enough to hear us out.”

“Yeah, ribbit,” Tsu nodded. “It’s getting dark though, we should probably wait until the morning to make our way outta here.”

“Yeah…don’t worry, Deku! First thing tomorrow we’re gonna get you some help!” Ochaco grinned, pumping her fist in the air.

“Thanks, guys,” he smiled weakly. “But uh-…I assume you have something to eat for dinner? I’m starving.”

“You haven’t eaten since breakfast, yeah? Ribbit, don’t worry we got you covered.”

            “Uh…as for sleeping, though, um, the tent’s only big enough for two…” Ochaco fidgeted.

“Do you have an extra sleeping bag? I can sleep outside, it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain,” he said. “Besides, it’d be…awkward, all in the tent, uh, so I can just sleep outside.”

“You can use my sleeping bag, ribbit,” Tsu said. “I don’t mind sleeping on the ground one night, I’ll be warm in the tent anyway.”

“Are you sure?” he frowned.

“Of course, don’t worry about it, you’ve had enough of a day without having to sleep on the dirt outside…although it looks like you did that already, honestly.”

“Yeah, Deku, you don’t look too good,” Ochaco frowned.

            “I’ll be fine…” he rubbed his neck absentmindedly. “I mean, a few bruises but…honestly I’m surprised I’m not worse, given…everything.”

The girls remained silent for a moment, then Ochaco began to remove things from her pack, setting out ingredients for sandwiches.

“Eat up, then get some rest, okay?”

“Yeah, ribbit, you need it.”

Izuku sighed but did as he was instructed, settling down into the sleeping bag the instant he had finished eating.

He passed out almost immediately and slept like a log until morning.

Chapter Text

   There was darkness, he could barely move but managed to turn his head to the side. To his shock, a line of people stood beside him, shadowy figures made of light. A couple of them were more defined than others, but the most interesting thing was what they were all looking at.

            Two men, one on his knees and another standing before him. The man in the suit- wait- those clothes…the hair, that face-

Oh no.

The man looked like him- or rather, he looked like the man. He watched as the man grabbed the smaller one by the head, grinning as the man on the floor writhed and screamed. On reflex, Izuku reached out, trying to stop what he was witnessing.

            It was over in an instant, the man in the suit was gone, but the smaller man was standing before him suddenly, scanning him through tired green eyes.

“You…of all people…” he cracked a weak smirk. “Ironic…

He reached out and grabbed Izuku’s still-outstretched hand.

“It’ll be all right, stay strong.”

He smiled up at him, raising a hand to ruffle Izuku’s hair.

“I’ll do my best to watch out for you.”

            The man began to fade and Izuku was left in darkness once more. He looked around, trying to see where they had all gone when two bright blue dots appeared in the dark before him. Izuku blinked, trying to make out what he was seeing. The dots grew closer and then the figure formed. He yelped, stumbling back as All Might appeared before him.

“A- All Might-?!”

He tried to step back but was unable to move; helpless as his mentor once again charged him and grabbed him by the throat.

            Izuku awoke with a start, gasping for air as sweat poured down his body. He must’ve screamed or something, because he heard Ochaco and Tsu rushing out of the tent.

“Deku?!”

“Midoriya?!”

“I- I’m fine,” he swallowed.

The girls looked between each other, Ochaco slowly approaching him. She sat down next to her friend, gently touching his shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

Deku frowned, thinking back to All Might’s face in his dream, that terrifying look in his eyes…

“I’m fine,” he said again, absentmindedly rubbing the bruises on his neck. “Just…a bad dream.”

            Ochaco eyed the bruises but said nothing, glancing back at Tsu. Tsu mimicked her frown but shrugged and shook her head, unsure of what to say.

“Did…All Might give you those bruises?” Ochaco asked hesitantly.

Deku winced, pulling his hand away from his neck.

“Yeah…I guess he really hates…my dad,” he finished quietly.

He had to confirm it with his mom to know for sure, but he had put two and two together quite a while ago.

            His father looked like All For One, he looked like his father, he looked like All For One. The dream made very little sense but he couldn’t bring himself to doubt it was real- at least up until the last part. That man that had talked to him, that must’ve been the original holder, and the way he treated him, what he said… It certainly seemed like a thing a relative would say, an uncle...

He didn’t want to believe it, but it was likely All For One was his-

“Deku?”

            Izuku shook the thoughts away, glancing back down at Ochaco. She seemed so much shorter now…

“Deku, let’s pack up camp,” she forced a small smile. “We’ll go find Mr. Aizawa, he’s usually at school on days off anyway, it shouldn’t be too hard to find him.”

“Yeah, ribbit,” Tsu concurred. “We- ribbit?!”

Ochaco gave out a yelp and Izuku felt a sharp chill. He whipped his head around in the direction the girls were looking and felt the color bleed from his face.

            There he was, straight out of his nightmare, All Might standing there in their camp.

“Get away from those children!” He bellowed.

“W- Wait! All Might please-!”

He saw the fist coming for his face and he flinched, shutting his eyes tight and bracing for the impact.

The impact never came.

He peeked open his eyes and then gasped in shock at the sight.

            Tsu had thrown herself between All Might and him, the pro’s fist barely an inch from the girl’s nose as she held her arms out in a protective stance. Ochaco had flung herself onto All Might’s arm on reflex in a futile attempt to stop his punch but she refused to let go, weakly tugging on their teacher’s arm.

“Children! Get away from him! He’s-!”

“Midoriya!” Tsu squeaked. “He’s Midoriya!”

“Don’t hurt Deku!” Ochaco snapped, glaring up at the man. “Just listen to us!”

All Might flinched just a bit but renewed his glower.

“This man is dangerous! He’s deceived you-!”

“Stop it!” Izuku scrambled to his feet, pulling Tsu behind him. “Don’t hurt them!”

“Deku-!” Ochaco yelped. “Don’t!”

            Izuku stood his ground against All Might, his body shaking as he stubbornly met the man’s eyes. The bright blue eyes seemed to be piercing into his own, radiating rage and…something else. Confusion? Doubt?

“Please…” Izuku whispered. “Please, stop…please, it’s me.”

The words felt weak, flimsy, but he kept his eyes locked. He felt like he was going to pass out, and he was dimly aware of the tears slipping down his cheeks. All Might scanned him, eyes lingering on the freckles on his cheeks and then locking on the mangled, scarred right hand. He slowly lowered his fists, dawning realization flickering into his expression.

“Young…Midoriya?” he whispered, shocked.

The poor boy nodded, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground in a trembling heap.

“Deku!”

            Ochaco and Tsu both were at his side in an instant, attempting to console him as he wiped his eyes in a bid to stem his crying. All Might stared at the trio in silence, unsure how to react for a moment.

“I don’t…I don’t understand, what happened to you?”

Ochaco glared at him.

“I’ll explain, okay? Just don’t…just don’t hurt him again, got it?”

All Might looked at her, then at the blubbering ‘man’, noting the bruises on his neck and imagining the other wounds he must’ve had under his clothes.

“I- …all right, please explain.”

            As the girl explained, Izuku calmed, sitting there in silence as his mentor was told of the situation.

“So we get he looks like some villain you hate,” Tsu added. “But that doesn’t mean it’s okay what you did to him.”

“Of course it doesn’t!” Ochaco glared, crossing her arms. “You need to apologize! Like, right now! Look at him! He was already going through enough when you tried to kill him!”

All Might winced and frowned, Izuku speaking up then.

“It’s…it’s okay,” he said. “He didn’t know-“

“I don’t care if he didn’t know!” she snapped. “He needs to take responsibility! All Might? Apologize! Now! And while you’re at it, apologize for nearly killing Tsu, too!”

“Gotta admit, that scared me half to death itself, ribbit,” Tsu chuckled awkwardly.

            All Might looked between the three of them and lowered to his knees, bowing his head against the ground.

“All Might?” Izuku paled. “You don’t need to-“

“I am truly, deeply sorry!” the man said. “Please, forgive me, children! I shouldn’t have jumped to such conclusions without understanding the situation!”

“That’s better,” Ochaco muttered.

“Oh wow, um, ribbit,” Tsu added nervously.

“All Might, please, get up,” Izuku frowned, approaching him.

The man lifted his head and Izuku flinched, pulling back at the sight of his face. All Might twitched as well, frowning and glancing aside.

            “Young Midoriya…I- I am so sorry,” he said again. “I hurt you…are you..all right?”

“I’m fine,” he lied. “Just…a bit sore, heh heh, um…”

All Might was silent a moment, then rose back to his feet, looking down at him with a concerned frown.

“We should tell Nezu, he might be able to help with…this.”

“That was the plan,” Izuku replied, not meeting his eyes. “Mr. Nezu knows a lot about quirks, so maybe he- I’m just kind of being redundant, aren’t I? Um- well-…let’s…get going, I guess.”

“Right…”

“Wow, it got really awkward here, didn’t it, ribbit?” Tsu bit her lip.

“Well he did almost kill you two,” Ochaco added icily. “Come on, let’s pack up and get out of here.”

“I- I’ll go on ahead and tell them,” All Might said.

“What?!” Ochaco glared. “You do all that and then you’re going to ditch us?!”

“Uraraka- wait, it’s okay, the three of us can handle things,” Izuku smiled weakly. “It’s probably best if they know ahead of time anyway, in case they make the…same mistake.”

“Ribbit? You think they know this guy too? I guess they would if he’s such a big deal to All Might…”

“Whatever,” Ochaco huffed. “Go on.”

All Might glanced briefly at Izuku, whom met his eyes just a second before averting them again. The pro was already running out of time for the day, he wouldn’t be so quick to leave unless that was the case. Izuku understood that, and honestly he didn’t feel comfortable being around him at the moment anyway…

            “Young Midoriya,” he spoke up. “Here…your phone.”

Izuku blinked, looking at his phone in All Might’s outstretched hand.

“Oh, that’s where it went,” he frowned. “I must’ve dropped it back on the beach…thanks.”

He reached out to take it and noticed how All Might tensed. What had that villain done to him that just looking like him had this affect on his mentor? Quickly he took the phone back and turned from his mentor, quiet.

“We’ll meet you at campus,” he said.

“Be careful.”

And just like that, All Might was gone.

            Izuku’s shoulders relaxed and he was surprised he himself had been so tense.

“Are you all right, Deku?” Ochaco asked.

“I’ll be okay,” he forced a little smile. “Let’s get out of here.”

They began to pack up camp, all of them unnaturally silent.

“So we almost friggin’ died,” Tsu said.

“Yes, Tsu, I was there,” he chuckled awkwardly.

“He owes you bigtime for all this,” Ochaco huffed, glaring at the tent she was packing as if it had been the one to wrong them. “I’m never going to forgive him.”

“Uraraka…” Izuku sighed.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” the girl replied.

He did appreciate his friend being so defensive, but he had other things on his mind right now. All Might not wanting to kill him anymore was a relief, but it still left him a slew of other issues to think about.

Mainly that his father was All Might’s archnemesis.

Chapter Text

               They got a few odd looks on the train, Izuku painfully aware of how he looked: a grown man hanging out with two high-school girls. If he had looked older, maybe middle-aged, then they might’ve just assumed he was one of their fathers but here they were. Most people dismissed it, luckily, and they didn’t have much of a problem until they were off the train and out onto the streets. That’s when some small-time pro stopped them.

               “Excuse me, young ladies,” the man pulled them aside. “Are you…all right?”

“Um, yes, ribbit?” Tsu blinked.

“Who’s this man you’re with?”

“He’s my uncle,” Ochaco said flatly. “Why?”

“Oh? He just doesn’t seem to look like either of you-“

“It’s by marriage,” the girl bit back an insult. “Are we done here?”

“We appreciate the concern, sir,” Tsu added. “But we’re good.”

Did he look that sketchy? Really?

               The pro left and Izuku mumbled an apology, his eyes downcast.

“Oh shush, you didn’t do anything wrong, let’s just get to campus,” Ochaco said.

The others nodded and went on their way, Izuku hesitantly taking out his phone as they walked. He desperately wanted to talk to his mom about his ‘dad’, but it seemed like a conversation best had in private, not walking down the street. It was agonizing to have to wait, but he had dealt with a great deal of agony in the last 24 hours anyway, he could deal with a little more.

               Finally, they made it to UA, they barely got into the building when Aizawa and Nezu intercepted them. Aizawa scanned the three of them, seemingly annoyed more than anything, while Nezu frowned, craning his neck to look up at Izuku.

“Hi…” Ochaco waved awkwardly. “All Might told you, right?”

“He did,” Aizawa stepped forward. “Midoriya?”

“Yes-?”

“This is your own fault, you do realize?” the man snapped. “You got involved in a situation you had no right being in, now we’re all dealing with the consequences, when are you going to get your head on straight and learn your lesson?”

Izuku winced, lowering his head and accepting the scolding.

“Hey! Even if that’s true, that doesn’t mean it’s his fault someone tried to kill him!” Ochaco snapped.

“Yeah, ribbit, aren’t you being a little harsh, Mr. Aizawa?” Tsu frowned.

               “Now, now, everyone calm down,” Nezu spoke up. “Let’s discuss this in the teacher’s lounge, okay?”

“How are we supposed to undo a quirk like this?” Aizawa shook his head. “Probably the only one who can reverse it is the one that did it to begin with. Unless it wears off on its own…”

“We’ll see what the police can do about that,” Nezu nodded. “For now, please come with us.”

“Where’s All Might?” Tsu asked, looking around.

“He’ll be with us shortly, thank you two for bringing him, we’ll take it from here.”

“Wait- you want us to just leave?” Ochaco frowned.

“What do you intend to do?” Aizawa rose a brow. “Do you have any other input?”

“Well…no, but-“

               “The two of you, head home,” Aizawa reiterated. “Midoriya can keep you updated if he wants to.”

The girls eyed Izuku a moment, then nodded.

“Okay, just…tell us if you need anything, okay?”

“Yeah, ribbit.”

Izuku smiled a bit, thanking them before they turned and went on their way, leaving him with the two teachers.

“Come on,” Aizawa turned on heel. “We’ll take you to see Recovery Girl first, then All Might.

               They didn’t say much on the way to the infirmary, and no one was present in the room except for All Might and Recovery Girl. The skeletal man jumped to his feet, concern etched into the gaunt face.

“Young Midoriya-“

“Ah! Not so fast,” Recovery girl hobbled over to Izuku. “Sit down, I’ll treat your injuries.”

All Might winced and Aizawa glowered at the man.

“I can’t believe you were so stupid as to attack your own student,” Aizawa scowled. “Have you ever once in your life thought something through before acting?”

All Might hung his head much like Izuku did beforehand, glancing over at his protégé whom was being fretted over by Recovery Girl.

               “Let me see your back,” the woman said. “Turn around.”

Izuku obeyed despite his obvious discomfort, tensing when the woman pulled up his shirt to scan his wounds. The woman tsked, glaring back at All Might. The man winced, seeing Izuku’s battered body bare before him.

“I’m honestly surprised it’s not worse,” Recovery Girl said, administering a smooch. “You did attack him after all, I assume without holding back?”

“Please don’t be too mad at him,” Izuku mumbled. “He thought I was- someone else.”

“It doesn’t matter what he ‘thought’,” Aizawa scowled.

“Heh, Uraraka said something like that,” he smiled weakly. “Thanks, Mr. Aizawa.”

“Aizawa…leave us alone for a moment, if you would.” Nezu spoke up.

“Any particular reason?” the man rose a brow.

“Yes, sorry but I do have to ask you to step outside.”

Aizawa was silent a moment, then sighed, turning and heading out the door.

“I’ll be out here if you need me.”

The door slid shut.

               “…So it’s likely due to One For All that the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” Nezu spoke. “You did say he escaped from you, Toshi, so I take it his body has better adapted to using the power.”

“I did go pretty fast for a while, and I didn’t break anything,” Izuku nodded. “I guess since my body’s stronger I didn’t get hurt as bad?”

“That’s my theory, anyway,” Nezu nodded.

“He still wasn’t in great shape,” Recovery Girl scowled. “Honestly, Toshinori! You owe this boy an apology!”

“I-“

“He already did.” Izuku said, sliding his shirt back down. “I want to talk to him, please, alone.”

               “…If you’re fine with that, Midoriya,” Nezu nodded.

“Please,” he said again.

Recovery Girl sighed, making her way outside the room.

“We’ll be right outside,” Nezu said before joining her.

In a moment, they were alone.

               Izuku looked over at All Might, whom glanced aside. It was easier to see him like this, as ‘Toshinori’, the skeletal figure was familiar and far more welcoming than the giant that had attacked him, that had nearly killed him. He could look at him comfortably now, but it didn’t seem to be mutual.

“Is it really that hard to look at me?” Izuku frowned. “I guess…that’s kind of hypocritical of me, though.”

“What-?” All Might looked back at him. “Kid- kid, no-“

“I look that much like him? Like All For One?”

The man fell silent a moment, he went to speak but Izuku cut him off.

“What did he do to you, All Might?” he frowned. “I know he’s…he’s bad, but what did he do that made you act like that?”

               “Kid, that’s not important-“

“Yes, it is!” he snapped. “As your successor, as HIS son, I think I have the right to know!”

“We don’t know if you’re his-“

“Of course I am! I’m not stupid, All Might! Look at me! He looks just like this, right!?”

All Might flinched and Izuku deflated, slumping his shoulders.

“I- okay I guess that doesn’t mean I have a right to know, but I…”

“He killed my master, the previous holder,” All Might said, still not looking at him. “That’s why I…did that.”

Izuku frowned.

“I’m sorry.”

               “You have nothing to apologize for,” All Might frowned.

“But he’s my-“

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said again, finally looking at him. “You have nothing to do with his actions, it doesn’t matter what your relationship is.”

“All Might…”

He began to tear up again, wiping at his eyes with his sleeve. Everything was so overwhelming, he didn’t know how to process it all. He wanted to talk to All Might more, but he knew how he kept tensing, flinching back from him. It wouldn’t be right to hang around him just to make himself feel better.

               “Kid, it’ll be all right…we’ll figure this out.”

“I- I’m gonna dye my hair green again,” he mumbled. “That way it won’t look…completely the same, that’ll be easier for you, right?”

“You’re thinking of ME right now, kid?!” All Might shook his head, baffled. “I’m the last thing you need to worry about!”

“But I- you keep- you know…”

“No, listen to me, I haven’t- I’ve screwed this entire situation up, it’s already a lot for you and I just made everything worse,” he frowned. “I need to make this up to you, I need to help you through this, not the other way around, understand?”

“I-“ he swallowed, the nodded. “I understand.”

“Good,” All Might sighed. “So…tell me, what can I do to help you right now?”

Izuku fell silent.

“Leave me alone,” he said. “Please.”

The man looked slightly hurt but hid it quickly, nodding as he stood up.

“All right,” he said. “Just…call me if you need me.”

Shortly thereafter, he was alone. He sighed and pulled out his phone, searching his contacts for his mom.

He needed to talk to her.

Chapter Text

She didn’t give him much time to ask questions. The second she had gotten a hold of him she hit him with a barrage of questions, mainly asking where he was, what had happened, if he was all right, that sort of thing. He managed to answer her, trying to keep the more…worrisome, things out of the conversation.

Some things, though, he couldn’t leave out.

               “He ATTACKED you!?

“Mom- it’s okay, he didn’t know it was me-“

“Why did he attack you!? What possible reason could he have to-?!”

Now, Izuku was usually not a very irritable or snappy person, but he had been through a lot in the last day- dear God it had only been a day- and he had a million different things on his mind.

“Because I look like Dad!” he snapped. “That’s why! Okay!?”

“Your…your father?” Inko said. “What does your father have to do with that, Izuku?”

“I…” he hesitated, then took a breath to compose himself. “Mom, what does Dad do? Really?”

“What are you talking about, Izuku? He works overseas…”

               “Mom,” he said again. “I need you to be honest with me, please, what do you know about him?”

“Izuku, that’s really it,” Inko said, obviously troubled. “Why? Why are you bringing this up?”

Izuku frowned; did she really not know?

“So he’s not…a villain, right?”

“A villain!? Sweetie, what are you talking about?! Of course not!”

“But I look just like him, right?”

“Well- yes, you do, but-“

“All Might thought I was Dad, Dad looks like the villain that killed his teacher,” Izuku explained flatly.

“That doesn’t- Izuku, there must be some mistake,” she whimpered.

“I…I’ll figure it out, I’ll be home later, okay?” he sighed. “Just letting you know I’m okay.”

Inko hesitated a bit.

“Okay, be careful, Izuku.” She paused. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Izuku smiled weakly. “I’ll see you later.”

               He sighed as soon as he hung up, settling down on one of the chairs in the infirmary. It really seemed like she didn’t know anything about it…was that a good thing or a bad thing? He wasn’t sure.

“Midoriya?” he heard a knock. “May we come in?”

“Oh, uh, sure,” he called, “I’m off the phone now.”

Nezu and the others entered, scanning him as they filed in.

“Okay, Midoriya, I’d like to run a few tests on you if that’s all right,” Nezu said. “They shouldn’t take too long, I just want to get an idea of what’s going on with you, is that okay?”

Izuku nodded.

“If that’ll help, okay,” he said.

“Great, we’ll make it quick as possible,” Nezu nodded. “After that, however…”

               Aizawa stepped forward.

“If you get the clear, do you want to come back to class?” he said bluntly.

“C- Class?” he stared.

“Yes, class, do you want to go back to class? You’re still able to attend if you want to, we understand given the situation that you might not, but the option is there.” Aizawa stuffed his hands in his pockets. “It’s easy to explain to your classmates that you’re under the effect of a quirk, really it’s up to you whether or not you’d be comfortable with it.”

“I…” he hesitated.

It’d be incredibly awkward, but Uraraka and Asui had accepted him, hadn’t they? If the rest of the class knew it was him, would he be able to deal with that? He didn’t want to keep missing school because of this mess, though…

               “I don’t want to keep missing school,” he sighed. “If Mr. Nezu says it’s ok then I’d like to go back.”

Aizawa nodded.

“We’ll make preparations.”

“In the meantime, Midoriya, please come with me,” Nezu said.

“Right.”

               It seemed like forever before he was home again, Inko nearly tackling him as he came through the door. Did she really not know anything, he wondered? His mother wasn’t the lying type, and certainly if she knew something about a villain she would have said something? No, his gut told him, she didn’t know. She already had dinner waiting and Izuku gratefully accepted, still exhausted from the last couple days.

               After a very uncomfortable shower he plopped down onto his bed, half-asleep already. His dreams were half-formed, ephemeral, nothing he could fully grasp and focus on. It was enough to make him somehow even more tired when he woke. He made his way to the bathroom, half-awake, and almost had a heart-attack when he caught sight of his reflection.

               No no, calm down, remember what happened, he told himself. How could he forget, really? He shook his head, leaning forward to scan his appearance.

His freckles were still present, it was a little thing, but seeing the familiar trait calmed him a little. Slowly he noted things like the bridge of his nose, the shape of his chin, more developed but still familiar. Little by little, the face became his own, older, but his. Speaking of his chin, though, he brought up his hand, feeling the scratch of stubble that had grown on his face.

Crap, he didn’t know how to shave. Did they have razors? It couldn’t be too hard, right?

In short, it was harder than he thought.

               He sighed as he left the house with his nicked, scratched up face. Maybe it was best he didn’t return to school so quickly, not until he had settled down a bit. What else was he going to do, though? Stick around at home feeling awkward? Wouldn’t it be better to go to class and distract himself? Mr. Aizawa said he would tell the class the situation and to come in a little later, but…

               The entire trip there was awkward, but he didn’t get any weird looks given the plain clothes his mother gave him. He looked like a man on his way to work, except for the backpack, but a man with a bag wasn’t exactly a spectacle. No it was awkward more for the change in perspective, how it took conscious effort not to trip up on longer legs, that sort of thing. The most awkward part was yet to come, though. Even if Mr. Aizawa explained the situation, there was no doubt his classmates would be weirded out.

               He mulled over what might happen as he made his way to campus and before he knew it, he was standing outside the door to class. He hesitated, wondering if Aizawa had already informed them. Should he wait a little more? Or wait to see if he’d come out? Luckily he was spared from making the decision because the door opened, Aizawa looking at him with is usual tired expression.

               “Well? Come in,” he said, turning and walking back to his podium.

Izuku hesitated a bit, poking is head in. Uraraka and Tsu waved meekly at him, while the rest of the class gave him blatant stares. Well, except Kacchan, whom was glaring at him albeit skeptically. He slid into the classroom, awkwardly returning Uraraka and Tsu’s waves and made his way to his seat. It was so tense-

               “Holy shit, Midoriya!” Kaminari blurted.

“Hey! Kaminari, behave yourself!” Momo scolded.

“Yeah, it’s weird but it’s not his fault! Geez!” Hagakure added.

The entire class erupted into a chattering mess, Izuku very much wishing he could be invisible himself.

“Everyone settle down!” Aizawa snapped. “None of this is beneficial, you’re just wasting time and energy. Now quiet down and sit!”

The class did as they were told, still giving Izuku weird stares.

Now imagine if they knew his father was a villain…

               Despite the difficult time Izuku was having at class, he had some other, unknown problems developing elsewhere.

“Master, I believe you have an impostor.”

There was no response at first, the karaoke bar quiet except for the hum of the tv and Shigaraki’s soft muttering. Kurogiri waited patiently for his Master’s response, standing at attention.

“An impostor, you say?” came the voice.

“Yes, sir, I spotted him myself, walking about the city. His likeness is uncanny to your prior to the incident.”

“Now isn’t that interesting…” there was a pause. “Hm…I suppose we’ll have to look into this, won’t we?”

“Yes, Master.”

Chapter Text

               “Midoriya, you’re going to sit this one out. Rather, you’re going to be doing something else.”

“Huh?”

The class had already assembled in one of the training grounds, preparing for a basic hero training exercise. Aizawa had approached Izuku almost immediately after arriving, pulling him away from the rest of the class. Izuku had been busy marveling at how fast they had put together gym clothes for him, but then, there were larger statured students at UA, Shoji for example. Anyway, he’d been mulling over how they managed to get them made so quickly when Aizawa took his attention.

               “You’re going to be doing individual training,” Aizawa said. “From what we know of the situation, you managed to use a stronger version of your quirk the other day, right? We don’t want you doing anything else until you’re sure you got that under control.”

“I…right, that makes sense,” he nodded, frowning. “So what am I going to do?”

“We have an area sectioned off with some of the robotic villains, I’m going to be busy with your classmates but All Might said he’d show up and watch you.”

Izuku tensed slightly at that, unable to fight back the images from the other day.

“Right,” he said, forcing the memory back. “Thanks.”

               Aizawa nodded and lead him off to one area of the training ground, gesturing for him to go through. Izuku did so, running into All Might midway in. To his relief, his teacher was in his true, skeletal form, so at least he didn’t have to deal with looking at him like that- oh. Right.

“S- Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to dye my hair yet,” he said sheepishly. “I will today-“

“Kid, I told you not to worry about it. If you want to then of course do it, but stop thinking about it for my sake, okay?” the man forced a small smile.

“Right,” Izuku bit his lip. “Well, anyway…should I just use full cowling as I usually do?”

“We’ll start there,” he nodded. “If you’re up to it we can try increasing the percentage, but only to whatever’s comfortable for you.”

               “Maybe I’ll start at 5 and then up it bit by bit,” Izuku muttered. “If I do it gradually I should be able to see what my limit is like this without breaking anything.”

“All right, sounds good, start low though, ok? Careful.”

He nodded, focusing one-for-all through his body. 5%...okay, that felt normal, so maybe just a bit more, 8%? That felt fine too… On one hand, he didn’t want to push it, but on the other he was curious what point he could get to before it became a problem.

10%. Still fine.

15%?

20%?

30%?!

               “Kid- kid are you okay? Are you taking it a bit far?”

Izuku panted, trembling slightly. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t even feel strained, that was good, right? Then why did it feel so…wrong? Was it just the abrupt change? This level in his whole body, when 5% had been a limit just a few days ago?

40%?

50%-

He winced. There it was, the limit. He dropped back down to 40%, breathing easier.

“About 40%,” he mumbled.

“Wow, really?” All Might blinked. “That’s…a heckuva leap.”

“But I’ve matured, physically,” Izuku muttered. “Does this mean I’ll never be able to use 100%?”

               “I…doubt that, it’s probably more that your body isn’t used to all the stress yet.” All Might frowned. “You did use 100% the other day, when you- well when you dodged.”

Izuku twitched slightly but focused on that movement, on that feeling. That had been 100%? It made sense, he had tried to dodge but he had only meant to move aside a foot or two, not clear the entire beach. So he was able to do it, then? But he had some adrenaline going there, and it still hurt to push it halfway, so maybe All Might was right, just that despite his new body, it just hadn’t had time to acclimate.

               “Well…still, even if you can do 40, start lower,” All Might suggested. “Get a handle of it at say…10%, then work your way up as you get used to it, sound good?”

“Yeah, okay,” he nodded, lowering the output. “Got it.”

“Okay then, whenever you’re ready we can start.”

               It was quite an hour. He started low, like instructed, but before he knew it he was zipping around at 40%, slamming a few of the larger robots into the buildings. He didn’t work his way up to any zero-pointers, no, but everything thrown at him ended up rubble in no time flat. Izuku skid to a halt, out of breath as he looked over his handiwork. He looked back at All Might, subconsciously expecting to see pride on the man’s face but instead saw concern.

               “A- All Might?” he frowned.

“Eh-? Oh, it’s nothing kid, just…are you sure you’re okay? Using that much all of a sudden, you’re not pushing yourself are you?”

“No, I’m fine,” he frowned. “I guess it is a little…startling.”

“Well, if you’re feeling fine that’s what matters,” All Might smiled weakly, giving him a thumbs up. “You adapted to it pretty quick, but you always were a fast learner.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up.

“Thank you!” he smiled.

All Might made a face, he wasn’t sure what it meant, but it slid into a smile, a genuine one.

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

               Izuku made his way back to the man but slowed as he approached, not wanting to stir any…reactions, by moving too fast.

“Let’s get you back to class,” All Might said.

“Yeah.”

               “Deku! We’re all going to the mall to prepare for the training camp, are you gonna go?”

The training camp? He’d completely forgotten about that! Would they even still let him go? Then again, it’d be a hugely wasted opportunity if he didn’t- surely they’d get in touch with him if they found out something, right?

“I- yeah, I should go,” he nodded. “There’s probably stuff I need, also I can probably pick up some hair dye…”

“Right,” Ohcaco chuckled a little. “Miss the green, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“People are gonna think he’s our chaperone,” Kaminari laughed.

               “Kaminari!”

Izuku winced at that, frowning down at his notebook.

“He’s got a point- maybe I should just go on my own.” He smiled weakly. “Thanks for inviting me though-“

“You know what? No, you’re coming with us,” Ochaco huffed, hands on her hips. “We’re not excluding you from stuff just because some quirk went and weirded up your life.”

“I agree,” Iida nodded. “It might be a bit odd but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Someone thought I was up to no good when I was with Uraraka and Asui,” he cut him off, frowning. “I don’t want to cause problems.”

“We’ll just tell the truth,” Iida retorted. “You’re our age and under the effect of a quirk, if all of us vouch for you then they’ll accept it.”

“Yeah, c’mon Deku! We’re here for you!”

“I- well….okay,” he smiled a little, sheepish. “Thanks guys.”

               “Besides,” Shoji spoke up. “I get mistaken for an adult all the time, I understand where you’re coming from, but people usually don’t give me trouble when I’m around friends.”

“Oh- wow, Shoji, I didn’t even think of that, I’m sorry,” he frowned. “I guess I was being insensitive.”

“Not at all,” his classmate chuckled. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Let’s just all go have fun, hm?”

“Yeah, Midoriya,” Tsu added. “You could use some levity, ribbit.”

Yeah, she was right, he could have used some levity.

Too bad that’s not what happened.

Chapter Text

               There was no avoiding the odd looks he got walking into the mall with a bunch of highschoolers, but he did notice Shoji had some as well. A pang of guilt hit him, he’d never noticed it before. Come to think of it there were probably a lot of kids with quirks that made them look older, they had to live with this? He’d never even thought about it…

               That problem fixed itself pretty quickly though, since within a few minutes everyone had shot off into different directions, leaving him with Uraraka.

“Oh…well so much for going all together,” she chuckled weakly.

“Yeah,” he cracked a weak smile. “Um…so, I guess it’s just you and me.”

“Yeah, you and…and me…”

He blinked, looking down at her. She was turning red, was she ok?

“Uraraka…?”

“HEYSORRYIFORGOTIWANTEDTOTELLTSUSOMETHINGI’LLMEETUPWITHYOULATEROKAY!?”

Annnnnd she was gone.

               Izuku sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. It had been healed but he felt like he could still feel the marks… He shook his head, returning to the matter at hand. Uraraka had just run off…he supposed he could understand that, it would look even more awkward with just the two of them. He was on his own, it seemed, but…that was ok. He had to get some clothes so he could stop wearing…his, and there had to be a store that had hair dye around here somewhere. Where was the directory…?

               Suddenly, an arm was around his shoulders.

“Hey, buddy…why don’t we have a talk?”

Before he could even glance down at the person he noticed the hand on his shoulder had just disintegrated a bit of his shirt. His eyes widened and darted down, locking with one Tomura Shigaraki.

“You-“

“Uh-uh,” his eerie grin split more. “Make a scene and I’ll take off your whole arm…I just want to talk, hm? Let’s find a nice spot.”

Izuku tensed, glancing at the hand on his shoulder. One finger was lifted now, did he need the entire hand to use his quirk? Even if he could throw him off before then, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t just make a break for it…and kill a few people on the way out.

“I can see you understand, good, why don’t we sit over here?”

               Izuku sat, weakly glaring back at Shigaraki. He was taller than him now, a weird perspective, but height didn’t make a difference when a touch from a single additional finger could take his arm off.

“So,” Shigaraki said. “You’re the one posing as Master, hm?”

Master? Then All for one…he was with the league? He was LEADING the league? Of course, at this point that might as well be the case.

“I’m not posing-“ he cut off when Shigaraki’s grip tightened.

“Like hell you are, so, what are you trying to do, hm?” Shigaraki glowered. “When everyone who knows Master wouldn’t fall for this? We all know better, so are you trying to rile up some others?”

“I told you, I’m not posing as anyone, I didn’t choose to look like this.” He said stubbornly.

“You expect me to believe that-..wait…”

               The man’s eyes narrowed, locked with Deku’s.

“Those eyes…”

Izuku said nothing, tensed.

“I know those eyes,” Shigaraki hissed. “You…how did you do this?”

“A quirk,” he said flatly. “It did this to me.”

“…Why do you look like Master?”

Izuku bit his lip, finally breaking his gaze away. There was a long moment of silence before the villain spoke again.

“I see…heh..hehheh…how…very funny.”

“I don’t agree,” Izuku hissed.

“Oh but you do look just like him, that glare you’re giving me…I’ve seen it before, mhm,” Shigaraki grinned. “What an intriguing plot twist, I’m sure he’ll want to have a little chat with you.”

               Izuku went to retaliate but was cut off.

“If you cause a scene, how many people do you think I could kill before you get me, hm?”

Izuku twitched. Damn it, it was just like he feared.

“So here’s what’s going to happen, I’m going to walk out of here like nothing went down, and you’re going to let me, because if you don’t, I’ll touch everyone I run by. It wouldn’t take much, just a slap on the throat, or the head, even if it’s only a little bit, I can kill them. So…”

He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Be a good boy until Master comes for you, hm?”

Izuku flinched, staring as Shigaraki disappeared into the crowd.

               “You did good, kid, you stayed calm and handled the situation.”

The praise from his teacher helped a little, but not nearly enough.

“Kid?”

“All for one is Shigaraki’s master,” he said flatly.

All Might winced, frowning deeply before he sighed.

“I had a feeling that might be the case, kid…”

“He said his master was going to come for me-“

“That’s not going to happen,” All Might cut him off, glaring. “We won’t let it.”

“But…”

               All Might sighed, frowned a moment, then reached for him. Izuku tensed just a bit but forced himself to relax. It was All Might, it was his teacher, and not the All Might from his dreams, no it was the real All Might, the frail man before him.

All Might ruffled his hair.

Izuku blinked, staring at him. The man smiled, genuinely, warmly.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, okay kid? It’s going to be all right.”

He knew it was a brave face his teacher put on, but he felt reassured anyway.

               “Izuku!”

“Mom?” he turned.

“Izuku, are you all right?!” Inko blurted, tackling him in a hug, looking him over.

“I’m fine, Mom,” he smiled gently. “It’s okay.”

“I can’t keep doing this, Izuku, I don’t think my poor heart can handle another scare!”

“I’m sorry,” he frowned. “…Hey- Mom?”

“Yes? What is it, sweetie?” she fretted.

“…Are you sure you don’t know anything about…dad?”

“What do you mean? Sweetie, is this about the villain thing?” she shook her head. “Your father works overseas, of course he’s not a villain!”

Izuku exchanged a look with All Might, whom frowned but said nothing.

“Sweetie?”

“Okay, Mom, nevermind.”

        A couple of days passed, to his surprise the teachers still seemed to be allowing him to go to the training camp. He was about as safe there as he was anywhere else, they said, and he needed the training now more than ever. So, Izuku packed his bags, and made his way with the others to the bus.

               “Hey! Green again, I see,” Ochaco smiled.

“Hm-? Oh, right,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I managed to get it dyed.”

“Hey…sorry for…ditching you the other day,” she frowned. “I- if I hadn’t left you alone, maybe-“

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you didn’t get wrapped up in it.”

“Still…” she sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Let’s get on the bus, we’re gonna make everyone late.”

               On the bus he ended up with a window seat, settling down for the ride. He glanced outside the window and flinched, catching sight of his reflection. It looked better now that his hair was green again, but it was still disconcerting to see. Though…now that he thought about it, it’s not like he really looked bad, right? No, if anything he was actually kinda handsome; if it wasn’t for how everyone was reacting, he might have actually not minded it as much. Not that he wanted it to be permanent, no, but for the time being he wouldn’t have had such a hard time with it.

               He sighed, turning away from the window and popping open one of his journals, scribbling down additional notes he had thought of since the last time he had written. He thought of that dream again, the one with the line of people, with One For All…and All For One. If they were brothers, that meant One For All was his uncle? Somehow, that made things feel a little better. Maybe he was descended from a villain, but he was also related to the first holder, who had been kind to him- at least, in the dream. It had to be more than a dream, though, he wasn’t stupid enough to think that.

He closed his notebook, no longer able to concentrate.

Chapter Text

               “Ooooh Eraser, you didn’t tell me you were bringing another chaperone!”

Izuku flinched back, startled as Pixie Bob of the Wild Wild Pussycats flailed around him.

“He’s soooo handsome! Is he single?!”

“W- What-?!” Izuku blurted, turning bright red in the face.

“Pixie,” Aizawa cut in forcefully. “He’s a student.”

The woman froze, staring at Deku, then Aizawa.

“Wait like…a kid-student?”

“He’s fifteen, Pixie…” Mandalay rubbed her face. “Didn’t you read the memo about his situation?”

               Pixie Bob slowly turned her attention back to Izuku; who was trembling with discomfort and more embarrassed looking than anyone had a right to be. Pixie slid away from him, clearing her throat as her own face began to burn red.

“I- I see! I- uh- I owe you an apology!” she bowed her head. “I’m so sorry I made you uncomfortable!”

“Er- that’s….I forgive you,” he finished lamely, not looking at anyone.

“Lucky dog,” he heard Kaminari mumble.

“Kaminari,” Aizawa warned.

“Er- sorry, sir!”

               “Anyway, if we can focus here a moment,” Aizawa said.

“The training camp is over there, at the base of that mountain. If you start now you might be able to make it by lunch time.” Mandalay said.

The class froze.

“Wait, by that do you mean…?” Hagakure began.

“Oh no,” Ashido added.

Izuku sighed, feeling the ground begin to rumble underneath them. He hadn’t even gotten to nerd out about the Pussycats, he was too busy being harassed by them, and now this?

               They were flung through the air, down into the forest. Izuku managed to activate full cowling and land on his feet, quickly catching anyone who came down close enough.

“Oh hey, thanks, Midoriya!” Jiro said, shaken.

“No problem,” he said, putting her down in time to catch Koda.

A lot of the others managed to land without any problems, like Uraraka with her gravity quirk and Sero with his tape to catch onto the cliff, propelling himself down. Soon the entire group was gathered, on their feet ready to tackle their challenge.

               “Well, nothing to do about it but head for camp!” Iida stated, always the pragmatist.

“Well, back in the woods,” Ochaco chuckled awkwardly. “Seems like we just left, huh, Deku?”

He absentmindedly rubbed his neck.

“Yeah, definitely seems like it,” he mumbled, then shook his head. “Anyway, we should-…oh no.”

“Oh no-? Oh no.”

               Giant golems of earth had appeared through the trees, wasting no time in attacking them. Izuku’s eye twitched. He found he was far more irritable as of late, it had to be the stress of everything happening to him, he reasoned. Almost dying twice in the last week, finding out his father was an archvillain, dealing with All Might flinching away from him and simultaneously terrifying him… But even with all that, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being a bit irrationally angry…

But there’d be time to think about that later.

               “SMASH!”

He jumped straight to 20%, knocking the head clean off of one of the ‘monsters’, the remnants of the body thrashing around before he slammed down on the middle of it, splattering it into dirt and clay. Maybe he had gone a little overboard, but damn it felt good. He grinned a bit, turning his attention to another golem and smashing it as well. He was loathe to admit it, but he kinda hoped they would keep showing up, at least until he’s gotten whatever this was out of his system.

               It was sunset when they arrived at the camp, the majority of them worse for wear, exhausted. Izuku panted, tired, but not nearly in the state the rest of them were in. He almost felt bad about it, except for Kacchan, who hadn’t stopped glaring at him since the last fight they had gotten into. Whatever, let him throw his tantrum, he didn’t have the strength to deal with him being petty right now.

               The pussycats welcomed them, congratulating them for their hard work and then told them of the meal they had prepared. His classmates erupted with glee and Izuku noted the boy standing to the side.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“Oh, my nephew,” Mandalay explained. “He’s a little…shy.”

He didn’t know why, but the dark look on the boy’s face drew him over and he smiled, bending down and holding a hand out to him.

“Hey there, I’m Izuku Midoriya, what’s your name?”

The kid slammed a foot into his shin.

               Izuku’s eye twitched. It didn’t…hurt, not really, a sharp pain that quickly fleeted, but he certainly didn’t appreciate the gesture.

“Kota!” Mandalay snapped. “Apologize!”

“No!” the boy shouted. “I don’t want to get chummy with a bunch of wannabe heroes!”

“Kota-!” she shouted as he ran off. “Oh that boy…I am so sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” he smiled weakly. “Maybe I was overstepping…”

He frowned. Maybe his appearance had set the boy off? Oh well…

               They were rewarded with a nice hot meal, which they all were grateful for, and then were led to the baths.

Oh.

The baths.

Izuku fidgeted nervously. It was already uncomfortable to shower like this in his own home, alone, but to sit and soak in a bath with a bunch of other people? Maybe he could ask if they had a normal shower he could use?

               “Hey, Midoriya, you coming?” Kirishima asked.

“Er- why don’t you guys go ahead, I’ll find a shower,” he chuckled weakly, trying to pull back from the group.

“Oh come on, man, you’ve earned a good soak!”

“Yeah, you basically carried us all the way here! You wrecked those monsters!”

“Er…well…”

A nice hot soak DID sound really good…

“Well, okay, just for a little bit,” he conceded.

               He was uncomfortable beyond all reason at first but once he hit the water he sighed, sinking in up to his chin, hoping the steam wouldn’t mess with the dye. It had been long enough according to the instructions, but he had never dyed his hair before, so he wasn’t quite sure. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, clearing his mind of all the day’s events. If he wasn’t careful he could fall asleep here, he thought-

The image of All Might charging him-

His eyes snapped open and he sat up a bit, rubbing his face.

“Midoriya?”

“I’m fine,” he lied. “Just- wait what is Mineta doing?”

               The miniscule degenerate had begun to climb the wall separating them from the girls, Iida had already run after him and Izuku went to interfere, but it seemed Kota had already done so. The boy had shoved Mineta off the wall (Izuku found himself uncaring of that development) but then the boy himself, for some reason, fell off the side as well. Izuku leapt out of the water and snatched the child up before he hit the ground, sighing in relief when he saw the boy was all right, merely unconscious.

But hey it was an excuse to get away.

“I’ll take him to Mandalay,” he said.

               Unfortunately, he doubted he had the time to get dressed fully, so the towel would have to do. His ears burned red with embarrassment but he had to make sure the boy was really ok, so off he went. Mandalay reacted with confusion and then concern, running over to check on her nephew. Izuku recounted what had happened as the woman lay Kota down on the sofa, looking him over.

“It looks like he’s fine.”

“I’m glad,” Izuku smiled.

“…Midoriya.”

“Hm?”

               “…Are you okay?” she frowned.

“What? Where’d that-? I’m fine,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

“We watched you out in the forest,” she said. “You were…venting quite a bit against Pixie’s monsters.”

Was it that obvious?

“We understand you must be going through a lot; changing like this, finding out about your father like that-“

“You know?!” he blurted, going pale. “How- who told you?!”

 “Shhh…” she sighed. “They didn’t tell you? I’m sorry you had to find out this way, then.”

               “What did they…say?” he asked.

“Well since you’re connected to the league of villains, they had to inform us,” Mandalay said. “It’s not your fault, but it’s something any pros interacting with you have to know now.”

He understood, but that didn’t mean he liked it. His shoulders sagged and he glanced aside, rubbing his neck.

“I…I see,” he said.

“Look, just…if you need anything, even if you just need to vent, ask us, okay?” she smiled gently. “We know you’re just a kid with a whole mess dumped on you, regardless of how you look.”

He blinked, then smiled weakly.

“I appreciate it…” he said. “By the way, is it okay if I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Why does Kota hate heroes?”

Chapter Text

Izuku sighed, walking back down the path where he had come. After Mandalay had explained Kota’s situation, he had been trying to comfort the kid in his own way. He had failed it seemed. He had brought the boy some curry at his ‘secret hideout’ and even managed to talk to him a little bit about quirks and heroes. The boy didn’t seem to have any kind of positive reaction, so Izuku left him there.

He made his way back to camp and gratefully back to bed.

               The dream again, the dream about the holders, about One For All and All For one. He watched unable to move, unable to speak as scenes played out before him. All For One giving and taking quirks as his brother tried to stop him, All For One parading through the streets, gaining followers to his name, locking his brother up, and then finally, forcing the quirk upon him.

The images faded to white.

               “Things are going to happen fast,” One For All appeared again, looking up at him. “It’s going to be rough on you.”

Izuku tried to speak, but was unable. The man slowly smiled, a kind if not weak expression.

“Your eyes are different than his, they’re kind. That’s good. Remember that.”

He wanted to respond, to say anything at all, but he couldn’t do a thing.

His eyes flickered open in the dark room.

               Another day of training passed and before he knew it he was drawing lots for the ‘trial of courage’ that the pros had set up for them. He tried to focus on that, it could be fun, right? He could use some fun, not lingering on everything else that was going on. Who would he be paired with, he wondered? He counted over his classmates and then-

Oh.

He was by himself.

He sighed, of course.

               With nothing left to do but wait, he settled down and watched his classmates depart into the forest pair by pair. Ochaco and Tsu both gave him a wave as they left, apologetic, but Izuku merely smiled and returned the gesture. So there he was left to his thoughts again. He winced and then got up, stretching himself out. Maybe he could get a few sets in before it was his turn. Training always helped get his mind off things.

Luckily for him, he didn’t have time to think about things.

               “Is that smoke?!” he heard someone blurt.

The forest was on fire, Izuku froze, his eyes darting around, trying to get a good grasp of the situation. Abruptly, Pixie Bob was thrown the air, slammed into a large object held by a villain.

“Pixie!” Mandalay cried.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves!” came another villain, a reptilian man. “We are the vanguard of the league of villains!”

               Izuku’s eye twitched and he had to hold back the urge to rush the two of them and knock their heads off. What did the universe have against him having a break? No, focus, there was a situation at hand that needed dealing with. He quickly scanned the situation, trying his best to figure out what- Oh.

He caught sight of Mandalay’s face and instantly knew what was on her mind.

Kota, Kota was somewhere off by himself.

               “Mandalay!” he said. “I know where Kota is!”

The woman flinched, glancing back at him. The pair exchanged a look, that was all that was needed and Izuku turned and ran off into the woods, back toward Kota’s secret hideout. As he ran through the forest he smelled the smoke become thicker, but luckily he seemed to be upwind of it. His thoughts raced about his classmates, but he had to focus on one task at a time. Kota was defenseless, just a kid, he had to make sure he was safe before he went after his classmates. He would just have to trust that they would be able to handle themselves.

               As Izuku broke through the clearing he saw Kota, cowering before a large man. Without thinking Izuku dashed in, slamming his fist into the man.

Then froze when the man barely flinched.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” the man turned, glaring. “I-…wait…you!”

Izuku quickly made his way between the man and Kota, taking a defensive stance. What percentage had he been using? The man seemed like he barely felt it!

               “I know you,” the man grinned. “You’re on the list! I guess it wasn’t completely useless finding this brat!”

List? What list? He didn’t like the sound of that.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where a kid named Bakugo is, would ya?” the man grinned. “If I get him too, then the job’s as good as done!”

Kacchan? What did they want with Kacchan? Unfortunately, he had a vague idea what they wanted with him…

               “Not talkin’, huh?” the man laughed. “Okay then! I don’t mind having to beat you senseless and drag you back! Come on then!”

The man’s muscles bulged out of his skin, grinning like the madman he was. In an instant he had crossed the space between them and Izuku barely had time to bring up his arms to block. It was pointless, as he still got pummeled into the wall.

Shit!

Okay, this guy was strong, he had to up the percentage and finish this quickly to save Kota.

               Izuku forced a grin back, as All Might had always told him, and upped the percentage to 40%. It was about as much as he could handle before it began to hurt, he just hoped it would be enough.

“Oh! That look on your face!” Muscular grinned. “I like it! Come on, come on! Give me a good fight, huh?!”

Izuku charged, leaving rubble in his wake across the ground. He aimed for the man’s elbow, hoping he’d be able to take advantage of the weakspot.

In short it didn’t.

               He barely managed not to get thrown into the cliff-wall again. He was getting kinda sick of getting thrown into things. Still, 40% wasn’t doing it?

“If you’re not going to put up a real fight I’m just gonna kill the kid, come on, you don’t want that, right?” Muscular laughed. “Show me what you really got!”

It seemed like he had no choice.

               Izuku dashed behind the man, channeling 100% into his arm and slamming it into the small of the villain’s back. This time, Muscular was the one that went flying into the cliff-face. Izuku gasped, feeling his bones break. Dammit! But…but at least it looked like that did the job.

Izuku sighed, letting his arm fall limp and walking over to Kota, forcing a reassuring smile.

               “It’s okay, Kota,” he said. “I’m going to get you somewhere safe.”

The boy looked nothing short of terrified but Izuku lowered down to his level, his smile growing.

“Come on, let’s get you out of-“

He flinched, jerking his attention back to the wall. The villain was still up! In fact, he didn’t seem hurt!

“Now we’re talking!” the man crowed. “I guess I will get a good fight out of you! Try not to die, okay? I need you alive for the boss!”

               “What does the league want with me, huh?!” he demanded.

He needed to stall, he needed time to think of a plan.

“Hell if I know, I just know you’re supposed to be brought in alive, but hey, it’s not my fault if you’re too weak and you die!” Muscular jeered.

“I wouldn’t do that,” he said, quickly glancing back at Kota. “I hear your boss is a force to be reckoned with, I wouldn’t want him ticked off at me, that’s for sure.”

He saw the man hesitate, just a bit. So he was right, any villain that could possibly do those things to All Might had to be feared by anyone who knew about him.

               “Okay, yeah, I guess I won’t kill you.”

He lunged, but not for Izuku.

“BUT THEY DIDN’T SAY ANTHING ABOUT THE BRAT!”

Izuku rushed in, taking the blow for the child and getting slammed into the ground in the process. However, that hadn’t saved the boy, as the shockwave from such a close hit sent the boy flying, right off the edge of the cliff.

               “KOTA!” Izuku cried, reaching out with his unbroken hand.

From his spot on the ground, there was no way he could catch the child, and there was no way he could get up fast enough. Still, he tried, scrambling to the cliffside, attempting to grasp the boy only to find he was already beyond reach.

No! No no no no no! Kota would die! What could he do?! He had to-

He grunted, a sharp pain going through his body, through his arm. Something had changed, he didn’t understand it, he just did it.

Long black whips had sprouted from his fingertips, reaching out and grabbing the child safely.

Chapter Text

               Izuku stared, unsure of what had just happened, looking down at Kota, wrapped up in the black tendrils. The boy looked just as shocked, staring up at him. Before either could process, Muscular had grabbed Izuku by the wrist and yanked him backwards, the whips retracting and dragging Kota back up with it.

               “Hey! You some kinda freak?!” Muscular shouted, tossing Izuku aside roughly. “How many quirks you got, huh!?”

Izuku managed to recover from the throw, just in time to dive and catch Kota with his good arm. Quickly, he put the boy behind him, glaring up at the villain. He had no idea what that was, but he didn’t have time to question it, only to act. How could he use this power? There had to be something, if he combined it with 40%...

               Muscular charged, Izuku threw the whips out again, wrapped around his target and then used the man’s momentum to swing and throw him to the side. The villain recovered quickly and was on them again, Izuku used the whips to grab Kota, throwing him back toward the path that led away from the hideout.

“Go!” he shouted. “Run as fast as you can!”

               The villain threw a punch which Izuku barely avoided, and at close range, had no other choice but to counter with a punch from his unbroken arm.

Which then promptly became broken.

He grunted, doing his best not to scream.

               It was a bit of a blur after that, he remembered throwing a punch with his broken arm, getting shoved into the ground, suffocating. He remembered hoping that Kota had gotten away, remembered apologizing to his mother, to All Might, all for not being strong enough…

That was when the water hit.

               He managed to focus, seeing Kota, trembling, standing there with his hands outstretched toward the villain.

“Let him go!” the boy cried.

“Hey, calm down kid! I’ll kill you in a second! So just- what the-!?”

He wasn’t sure where he found the strength, but find it he did. He forced his way up, and forced Muscular back. Then proceeded to force Muscular deep into the cliff-face.

It was oddly satisfying, but more a relief than anything.

Now he just had to get Kota to safety and find Kacchan.

               After one ordeal after another, Izuku found himself with a few of the others, surrounded by the league’s vanguard.

“Give Kacchan and Tokoyami back!” he shouted.

His arms may have been screwed up, but his legs still worked, and he had Todoroki and the others with him.

“Well this is a problem…” the man called Dabi said. “Kurogiri? You around?”

               A warp portal appeared beside Izuku, a huge arm reaching out in an attempt to grab him. He jumped back as a nomu with multiple arms stepped through, reaching for him. It made another grab for him and Izuku slid to the side of it, slamming it with a 40% kick. Unfortunately it only seemed to make the nomu flinch, but there was a distinct cracking noise, and a spark of electricity. Izuku had smashed something that had been attached to the nomu’s back. A tracker?! Shit! One of his classmates- probably Momo- had attached a tracker to it and he’d broken it!

               “Look what a mess he’s in,” came a voice from the warp gate. “Master won’t be pleased, but we have a job to do…”

Izuku got slammed upside the head by the nomu, his vision swimming. The adrenaline was wearing off, he knew, as he hit the ground. His arms were too damaged, his legs would move but only if he didn’t crash first.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have met his limit, just staying conscious enough to watch Kacchan get pulled into a gate before he himself passed out.

               He grimaced, his head pounding as he pried his eyes open. The room he was in had no windows and the mustiness of it made him think he was underground. Slowly he managed to look around, frowning. He was on some kind of hospital bed, an IV stuck into his damaged arms, which had been bandaged up. There was an assortment of medical equipment, but he didn’t know what it all was.

“Oh, you’re awake,” came a voice.

               A short man stood in the opened doorway, one that looked familiar but he couldn’t place it. Judging by his attire he was some kind of doctor.

“Good, good,” the man approached. “You really messed up your arms, you know. If you do damage like that again you probably won’t be able to use them anymore. So, I wouldn’t try it, if I were you.”

He probably couldn’t even try, his body was heavy, he was probably sedated.

“You really do bear a striking likeness,” the man said, scanning him. “Master’s very eager to see you, I best fetch him.”

               Master? He didn’t like the sound of that, but couldn’t say anything, his tongue felt numb. The man left him alone again and he managed to turn his head, trying to get a better understanding of his surroundings. Where was he? It wasn’t a hospital, no normal hospital anyway. The whole place was chilling, unnerving, he wanted nothing more than to get up and run out of the place but his body wouldn’t respond.               

               How did he get here? He remembered the league, the nomu, and the warp villain. Then Kacchan…and he was knocked out- oh no. He paled. The league had him, he realized, they had him and Kacchan both. Frantically he ran through his options in his head, but in his current state none of them were possible, he couldn’t even speak right now.

The door opened.

               From his place on the bed he could see the doctor enter, accompanied by a tall man in a suit.

“Ah, so there he is.”

The voice from his dreams. Oh no.

The man approached, grinning down at him.

“Why, just look at him! Nearly a perfect likeness, what a delight.”

That man didn’t seem to have eyes, how could he know what he looked like? He must’ve had some quirk that acted as his eyes, he thought, how would it work? Some kind of sonar?

               “Well the hair is not quite right, but we can take care of that,” the man nodded to himself, as if pleased with the realization.

The man lowered his hand to Izuku, whom flinched, but wasn’t able to move away. He touched Izuku’s face, feeling it over and the boy made an attempt to move away with little success.

“And I heard, about the quirks,” he chuckled. “How…interesting.”

“What do you want to do with him, Master?” the doctor asked.

               “Well, it has been a good while since I’ve been with the boy,” the man pulled his hand back. “I suppose I can try to make up for lost time, he might be a proper heir after all.”

Heir? No, no no no this had to be another nightmare. This man was…this man was All For One? This man was his…father…

“He’ll resist, Master.”

“Oh he will, no doubt,” the man smirked. “But anyone can be trained properly, with enough…technique.”

               “Master, there are other uses, we could use him for parts, or his quirks,” the doctor suggested. “You could even use him as a…backup.”

Backup!? Backup for what?!

“Well I have no doubt he’d be compatible,” the man said. “And it would almost be just like I never got damaged at all. Well, except for his arms he’s damaged. I t would be nice to have my old face back.”

Oh god this couldn’t be happening.

“But,” the man said, ‘looking’ down at him. “He is my son, I do love him, as misguided as he is…so we’ll see if his behavior can be corrected. Hopefully it won’t come down to the alternative, for his sake, hm?”

               “Stop,” he managed.

“Oh? He can speak? The drug’s wearing off pretty quickly.”

“What did you…Kacchan-“

“Oh, your classmate? We still have him,” the man said, pondering. “That might be useful…yes, I think so. I’ll be frank with you, boy, we have every intention of using your classmate for…parts. He rejected Tomura’s offer, he’s locked up right now.”

Izuku twitched. All For One grinned when he noticed, leaning down.

“But you can save him, you know…if you just promise to behave, we’ll return him, unharmed.”

Izuku’s eyes widened.

“So? What’ll it be? Promise to stay here and learn like a good boy, and we’ll warp him back to freedom, no questions asked. Or, of course…we can take his quirk and use his body for a nomu. Your choice.”

               Izuku mumbled.

“Hm?”

He drew up what strength he had and responded.

“Let him go.”

“Are you going to behave? Do what I tell you to? Hm?”

Izuku’s throat tightened, he’d never felt so helpless, so terrified. Still, he swallowed, forcing out his answer.

“Yes.”

The man’s grin widened.

“Good boy.”

He wanted to scream.

Chapter Text

               He carefully adjusted the collar, then the cuffs. If he wasn’t presentable, if he didn’t do it just right, he’d get punished. All the previous attempts to defy him, even the haphazard ones, had always ended in punishment. He didn’t know what kind of quirk it was, but it was horrible. Like every cell in his body was being pierced, like his eyes were being gouged out, like someone had set literal fire to his insides. He shuddered, closing his eyes tight. No, no don’t think about it, and if he didn’t hurry he’d have to deal with it again.

               Izuku took a deep breath to brace himself, stepping out into the hall. He had already memorized the layout, all he had seen anyway; he still didn’t know where the exit was. There were no windows, the place would’ve felt like a prison if not for the furnishings. Well, it was still a prison, but it had the façade of being anything more than that. Carpeting, light fixtures, furniture…if it wasn’t so dark, if there were windows, if he wasn’t trapped in it with a madman, it would almost be nice.

               He did his best to quell his trembling as he reached for the door handle, desperately trying to steady himself. If he was shaking, if he didn’t hold himself right, he’d get punished. If he didn’t have the right posture, the right expression, the right…everything, he’d have to go through it again. The last time had lasted…he wasn’t sure. Time didn’t make sense here, had it been hours, days even? How long had he even been here? How long since he’d gotten whisked away, how long since he and Kacchan had gotten snatched by the league?

Crap! He was taking too long! He forced a deep breath, relaxed his shoulders, calmed his expression and entered the room.

               There he was, seated on his chair, grinning that same old, chilling grin.

“My boy, come in.”

“You sent for me, Father?”

The grin grew more at the title and Izuku did his best not to wince; the word felt like poison every time he used it, like something was digging into his core, tightening its grip a little more each time. Soon it felt like he’d never be able to dislodge it.

               “Come,” All For One rose, beckoning him. “Come with me.”

He obeyed, what else could he do? He fell into step behind the man as he led him to the wall. Izuku twitched, realizing where they were going and then frantically wondering why. A full length mirror.

“I know you’ve seen the pictures, hm?”

               Izuku’s heart skipped a beat and he, for a just an instant, thought to turn and run. No, his fear of the man kept him in check, like the good son he was.

“Well? Go on,” the villain grinned, urging him forward.

Izuku felt his shoulders begin to tremble but did as he was asked, standing before the mirror.

               He wanted to cry. The shock of white hair he’d been forced to keep, the suit he’d been made to wear, the slope of his nose, the shape of his jaw, everything, everything was like the pictures, like the dreams.

All for one, behind him, placed his hands on Izuku’s shoulders, holding him in place.

“Look, dear boy…” he chuckled in his ear, one hand lifting to stroke the boy’s face. “You’re me.”

The freckles, focus on the freckles, the difference, he told himself. The other difference, the eyes, they were too hard to look at, too hard to see the tears welling up in them.

               All for one grabbed Izuku’s chin lifting it up, pushing his back upright with his other hand.

“Stand proudly, boy, it’s an honor.”

“Please,” he whimpered. “Stop.”

“Do you need another lesson, boy?”

He silenced, stiff. All for one move his arms around, posing him like a doll in the mirror.

“I must admit I missed my face quite a bit, it’s so nice to see it again.”

It’s not his face, Izuku told himself. It’s not All For One’s, it’s his, his face damn it, even if it looked so much like his. His face, his body, not HIS.

“You’re doing so well, too,” he felt the hand ruffle his hair. “I’m proud of you.”

               A warm sensation filled him, making him lightheaded, almost giddy. He couldn’t help it, he smiled, content, only vaguely aware of the smug looking reflection that had replaced his teary one.

“There we go,” All For One pat his shoulder, releasing him. “Now come sit with me, it’s time for dinner.”

The warm sensation fled and Izuku shook his head, trying to shake off the lingering effects. The torture quirk was bad, but that pleasant one was equally terrifying. He was being conditioned, he knew, negative consequences for unwanted behavior and positive for wanted. He desperately tried to resist both, but just thinking of the pain scared him witless, and the positive one was so…so…good.

No, no he had to stay strong. They would come for him, he was sure, he just had to last until then.

               He sat at the table as he was instructed, trying not to look downcast.

“What’s that face, boy?”

He quickly corrected his expression, keeping a pleasant but neutral look. All For One seemed contented with that, drawing his attention back to the table.

“Let’s eat, then.”

Izuku was hyper-aware of his every moment. His posture, how he held the utensils, even how he breathed in between bites.

“Very good.”

               The wave of pleasure washed over him again and he did his best to ignore it, focusing on his ‘tasks’. That was the more dangerous quirk, he knew, the ‘positive’ one. He continued on but thought it over in his head what he wanted to know, steeling his resolve.

“May I ask something- Father?” he finished.

“You may.”

Oh yay, Izuku thought dryly.

“Where did you release Kacchan?”

“I believe we stated you were not to speak of anyone from before-“

“You also said that I was being trained to take my proper place,” Izuku interrupted, praying he wouldn’t get ‘punished’ for it. “And in my proper place you said I would have the right to have whatever I requested obliged.”

               If the villain had had a brow, he was sure it would’ve risen. Izuku tried not to look tense, holding his stubborn gaze on his so-called father. A smirk cracked into the man’s face, nodding.

“Very good.”

The wave of warmth- no, focus.

“Well since you’re clearly learning what’s owed to you and how to demand it, I suppose I can share that tidbit of information.” He said. “He was warped outside a police station, where, you needn’t know. From what we know the boy is back at UA.”

So Kacchan was okay? At least, if he was telling the truth.

               “Now then, let me respond with a question of my own,” All For One’s face fell oddly serious. “How is your mother doing?”

Izuku scowled. The nerve! How dare he-?!

A prick of pain-

He quickly fixed his expression.

“…I thought you said we weren’t to speak of anyone from before,” he retorted icily.

“Turning my words on me now, are we?” the man chuckled.

He expected the start of pain, instead felt his body flushed with the other quirk. Izuku bit down on his teeth, holding back a gasp. It was intense this time, more intense than usual, he couldn’t help it, he smiled.

               “But despite that,” All For One’s voice cut in again. “I want an answer, Izuku.”

He twitched, wanting to frown but corrected himself before he could.

“She’s…worried, probably. About me, about where I am, about what I’ve been going through,” he glared stubbornly again. “You’re putting her through a lot.”

The man frowned.

“You’ve put her through a lot even before this,” he continued, his body tensing. “You left her, you left us- she misses you, did you know that?! She misses you even though you’re a monster! Even though you abandoned us and now you have the nerve to pull all this and claim you-!”

               Ah, there it was again. The pain. Izuku choked, his body jerking and he fell off the chair onto the floor, curled in on himself as he bit back screams. As abruptly was it had happened, though, it stopped, leaving him panting on the ground. He lay there, trying to catch his breath as he heard the sound of footsteps nearing him.

“I had my reasons.” He heard the voice. “That’s all you need to know.”

Like hell it was, but he couldn’t speak.

“I did plan to give this all to you, at some point. Ah, but I already had a successor, one that fit my plans, that hit All Might more deeply…and you were quirkless, obsessed with heroes and their false glory.”

               “So you only want me now that I have a quirk?” he hissed, glaring up at him.

“You can’t achieve anything without power, boy,” he said. “And I could’ve given you one, but I suppose I had hoped, quirkless as you were, you would not get yourself wrapped up in all the struggles between heroes and villains…but you did so anyway, and made your way back into my hands. So, it must be fate then, that you were to properly be my son.”

Fate? What a bunch of…

“It doesn’t matter now, you’re here, that’s what matters.”

Izuku managed to push himself up, his arms trembling. He knew he couldn’t win if he tried to fight, he didn’t have the authority to harm him anyway. He loathed that law, now more than ever, but…

               All For One grabbed his arm, pulling him up onto his feet. Izuku twitched, staring at the man who reached out and ruffled his hair. The quirk forced its feelings of warmth on him again, trying to trick his brain that he was happy about this development. How dare he act like this? How dare he pat his head like- like-

Like All Might.

The warmth was pushed back by a wave of sorrow and longing, thinking back to the man’s bright smile, the proud look in his eyes, the kindness…

Tears! No, no tears, tears were weakness to him, tears would get him punished. It was so hard to fight them, though…

All Might...he missed him so much.

Chapter Text

               He controlled everything: how he dressed, how he talked, how he moved, held himself, ate, his expressions…

And everything, he knew, was mirroring him.

It seemed like the villain was more trying to make him into another All For One than trying to ‘train an heir’. Was he really so self-absorbed, such a sociopath that he believed ‘being’ like him was an honor? Something to be wanted?

He knew the answer to that.

               Izuku kept his eyes locked as he shaved in the mirror, frowning slightly. He’d gotten pretty good at shaving at this point, because if he messed up he’d get punished. How long had it been? He kept asking the question but he wasn’t sure. It felt like forever, but in reality it couldn’t have been more than...he wasn’t sure, but some part knew that it hadn’t been that long at all. He sighed, placing down the razor and then washing his face. He frowned up at his reflection and internally winced.

               Even without being told, he was copying his mannerisms, the way he was holding himself, the way his mouth curled into a frown…

He smirked bitterly, glancing down.

It seemed he was being successfully conditioned, oh joy.

               He went to his closet, slipping into the suit as usual, adjusting it to the perfect specifications. His thoughts drifted to his mom, to All Might, to his friends…were they looking for him?

Would he still be him when they found him?

               All Might’s words came back to him, that regardless of his connection to All For One, he was not responsible for his actions. His own words, too, from what he told Todoroki that day. ‘It’s your quirk’. This was his body, his life, not All For One’s, he told himself. This was just a waiting game, until he could escape, or until he was rescued. If rescue was coming- no, he had to believe that, he needed to believe that.

               He made his way into the hall, heading down to the room where he had all his meals that weren’t scheduled with his ‘father’. Waiting for him in the room, however, was not just his breakfast.

“Young Master.”

Kurogiri, the warp villain. Izuku twitched at the title but said nothing, only acknowledging the man with a curt nod, as he was taught. He pulled up his seat and settled down. The villain usually only showed up when he had instructions for him, so Izuku turned toward him, gesturing that he should speak.

               “Master wishes that today you train your quirks,” Kurogiri reported.

Izuku frowned, suppressing a sigh. He had been taken to that kind of training before. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience, but he had finally been able to practice using the black whips. What they were, and why he had them, he still wasn’t sure, but for all he knew it could’ve been inherited from All For One, on top of having One For All. The thing was, the training had basically been throwing him to a nomu in a room and forcing him to defeat the beast before he was allowed out.

‘Experience is the best teacher’ as they all say.

“I see,” he said. “All right then.”

“We shall leave within the hour, Young Master.”

               He knew it did no good to resist. Besides…training was still training, right? If he learned to use his quirks better, he might be able to find a way to break out. It was so frustrating, Kurogiri was a warp gate, something that he could use to escape, right in front of him, but wouldn’t do so.

At least quirk training got him away from All For One, away from the manipulative quirks. He had put together quite a bit ago that there was a limited range- both to the torture and the happiness quirk- that could affect him. All For One had to be within six feet in order for it to affect him. It wasn’t an exact estimate, but it had never been activated on him from any further distance, which he was sure he would’ve used if he could.

               So he found himself shortly warped into a room, it had no windows, no doors, but a space big enough to throw a nomu or two in with him. He immediately activated full cowling, extending the whips from his fingers and wasted no time, grabbing the nomu he saw by the neck and subsequently hurling it into the wall. He didn’t know how All For One was watching, but he knew he was, he was always watching.

               The nomu shrieked, pulling its way out of the wall. Damn, he thought, the walls were thick, it hadn’t made a hole for a potential escape. It wasn’t as large as the one from the USJ, but it wasn’t a weakling, he knew that by the dark coloration. Those ones were stronger, he’d learned.

It didn’t matter, he would just get this over with as soon as possible.

               Using the whips he yanked the nomu forward toward him, bringing his other fist back and slamming it into the creature’s face. He didn’t give it time to recover, hurling it around with the whips and slamming it back into the same wall as before.

Dammit, still no hole. Was he underground? In that case…

               He threw the nomu up in the air just enough for him to deliver a swift kick at 40% to the beast, slamming it up into the ceiling with all the force he could muster without breaking himself.

Still no hole!

“Grr…” he grit his teeth. “I’m so sick of this!”

He slammed the nomu back up into the ceiling, again, again and again and-

The entire place shook.

Okay, he hadn’t done that, had he?

               The ceiling abruptly collapsed, the nomu being crushed by rubble. Izuku dodged the falling debris, punching a large block of it away before it landed on him. He peered through the dust up through the ceiling- light! His heart skipped a beat. The outside! He jumped up out of the hole without thinking about it; out, out! He was out!

               Then he saw where he was. Apparently he had been in a room under a warehouse of sorts- a warehouse full of nomu. His eyes widened in shock, partially because of the sheer number of the beasts, and partially because of who he saw with them.

Best Jeanist, Mt. Lady, Edgeshot, Tiger, Gran Torino and-

“Young Midoriya!”

All Might! Despite the surge of terror he had seeing the man in this form, it was completely overridden by his sheer relief. The pros were here! They had the nomu! He tried to run forward to them, but only managed to cross a bit of the distance before…before he showed up.

               “How rude,” the voice rang. “Coming in uninvited.”

Izuku felt his blood run cold, whipping his head around to see All For One laxly approaching the pros.

“Kurogiri, remove the boy,” All For One stated calmly.

“You won’t be touching him!” All Might roared, charging forward.

Izuku saw the shadow encroach on him only for it to collapse thanks to Edgeshot’s handiwork. Kurogiri was out of commission, but that didn’t mean they were safe. It happened fast, he wasn’t sure what happened exactly. There was a blast, the entire area just…gone. Someone had tackled him aside, a flash of yellow- Gran Torino?

               Izuku sat up, his head spinning as he tried to make sense of things. Gran Torino had pushed him out of the radius, Kurogiri had been blasted back but seemed to be alive. It seemed most of the damage was facing forward, and they had only been caught up in the recoil.

Everyone else, however…

Izuku choked, seeing the bodies of the pros scattered about, everyone except All Might was out of commission.

And the look on All Might’s face triggered some very unpleasant memories.

Chapter Text

               “Oh dear, you were not supposed to get caught up in that,” All For One looked over at him. “I do hope you’re all right?”

Izuku glared.

“Yeah you can go straight to hell,” Gran Torino spat, clearly not in the best shape himself.

“Well- Oh, that’s going to have to wait.”

All Might charged the man.

               Izuku reflexively tried to get to his feet, Gran Torino grabbing his wrist and yanking him back down.

“Don’t be foolish!” the old man snapped. “You’re the target here! If you can run, run, otherwise, stay down!”

“I have to-! Ugh…”

He grimaced, looking down at his leg which appeared to be twisted in an unnatural angle. In the rush of adrenaline he hadn’t noticed it, but now that he had the pain was beginning to set in. He fell back onto the ground, gasping at the pain in his leg. He glanced at Gran Tornio, who appeared to have taken a blow to the head, given how he was bleeding.

“Kid, I don’t think I can move,” the man said. “I can’t get you out of here, I’m sorry.”

               The nomus the pros had captured were, for the most part, obliterated by All For One’s attack. Still, a small group survived stumbling to their feet. Izuku’s mind raced, trying to figure out what to do when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Endeavor appeared, leaping into the midst of the hoard.

“I’ve got these monsters!” Endeavor shouted. “You better take care of him then, All Might!”

“That’s the plan!” All Might snapped back.

               Izuku paled, turning his attention back to All Might and All For One. The two men clashed, it was a sight to behold and if he hadn’t been in the situation, he would’ve frantically been taking notes. Instead here he was, watching from the sidelines. He grit his teeth, even if he couldn’t move his legs, he could use black whip from here, right? He could- he could…no, he couldn’t. His fists clenched angrily. He couldn’t do anything, he had already made that mistake once before. He loathed that law in that moment, wracking his brain to think of anything else he could do, anything at all. He might not be able to attack All For One, but…

               “Not everyone is so fast, All Might,” he heard the villain say.

Izuku flinched, looking where the man was gesturing his arm. A civilian was caught up in the debris! Could he reach them with the whips?! No, they were stuck under the rubble, he wouldn’t be able to just yank them out of harm’s way. Then…!

Oh.

Of course.

               All Might had rushed forward, taking the hit point blank. In doing so, when the smoke cleared…

Izuku paled.

There he was, a tall, battered skeleton in a too-big costume, barely standing there in the wreckage.

“Well! Look at that!” All For One gloated. “There goes that façade you tried so hard to keep up! How does it feel, All Might? Knowing that the world sees you for what you are now?”

The world? Izuku looked up, noting the news helicopter flying above. Oh no.

“You don’t have any of One For All left, do you? You’ve used up whatever sliver of it you had.”

               “Shut up…” All Might glowered. “I still have enough of it to beat you!”

“Oh do you? Well, before you ‘defeat’ me, I have something I’d like to tell you.”

Izuku couldn’t see the grin, but he knew it was there.

“Not only did you pass your dear quirk onto my own son-“

“It doesn’t matter what he is-“

“I took a leaf out of your own book, All Might. Tomura Shigaraki is Nana Shimura’s grandson.”

An indescribable look flashed over the pro’s face. Shock, confusion, horror, despair…

               “I think it’s only fair, don’t you? You take my family, I take yours,” All For One laughed. “But that ‘doesn’t matter’, right, All Might? Tomura is still a villain, after all, it doesn’t matter ‘what’ he is, right?”

“Sh- shut up!” Izuku shouted.

“Young Midoriya-!”

“Stop messing with him!” Izuku shouted.

Tears began to pick at his eyes- no! No tears, tears led to pain- no, he didn’t have time to think about that! He had to do something, even if it was hardly anything at all.

“Now now, boy, I thought I taught you not to interrupt?”

               “All Might!” Izuku ignored him. “You can do this! I know you can!”

All Might stared back at him, stunned.

“Please, All Might! Everyone’s depending on you- I’m depending on you! We need you!”

All Might stared at the boy. He couldn’t help it, he still saw All For One, but he heard…he heard Izuku, the voice of his student, his protégé, his successor. His boy. He heard his boy.

His boy, and he wasn’t going to let this villain take him again!

               All Might turned, glaring at All For One, channeling what was left of One For All into his arm. It was a longshot, but it was the only chance he had left. It wasn’t like him, a more clever idea, one that he liked to attribute to something Izuku would come up with.

“Ah, your last stand, then?” All For One said. “You know I still sometimes dream about you charging me, your entrails strewn across the ground…ah, but, I suppose that’s something the boy and me have in common, hm? Nightmares about you.”

Izuku choked. How did he know? He knew he had nightmares still, but had he been talking in his sleep? That had to have been it, but how didn’t matter right now.

“Don’t listen to him!” He cried. “All Might! I- I still trust you! I still believe in you!”

               The blonde sent him a look, meeting his eyes. The eyes were different too, All Might thought, the expressive, soft green eyes. He forced a smile, nodding.

“Don’t worry, Izuku...I’ve got this.”

For the first time in a while, Izuku felt like things were going to be all right.

“Watch closely, boy!” All For One shouted, his arm distorting into some monstrosity. “I’ll show you the true mettle of your so-called hero!”

               It was only a minute or so, but it felt like it was in slow-motion. They charged each other, fist meeting fist, and at the last second All Might switched power between arms, not once, but twice, and pummeled the villain into the ground. He looked up, meeting Izuku’s eyes and then looking overhead at the helicopter. He forced one last transformation and held his fist up to the sky. Izuku felt the tears come on again, forcing aside the subconscious order in his head that he shouldn’t do so.

               The man only held the pose a minute or two before he made his way over to them, forcing a smile.

“You two okay?” he knelt down by them. “The EMTs should be here soon- kid?!”

Izuku flung his arms around the man, hugging him as tightly as he could without breaking the injured man. The boy sobbed into All Might’s shoulder, his whole body shaking.

“Kid…” the man hugged him with his good arm. “I’m so sorry it took so long…”

Izuku mumbled something between sobs. All Might frowned, patting him on the back.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Dad...”

All Might froze.

“W- what?” he stammered.

“I missed you, so much, Dad…” Izuku blubbered.

All Might didn’t question it and settled for hugging his boy tighter.

Chapter Text

               “I’m going.”

“Absolutely not!”

Izuku sighed, glancing to the side as his mother scolded him.

“You’ve been involved in too much ever since you enrolled! Enough! It’s- It’s my fault, I know,” she trembled, gripping her skirt. “I was so…so stupid, I had no idea what Hisashi really was, I had no idea he would do something so horrible…”

“Mom…”

“But!” she shook her head, glaring at All Might. “No more! I won’t allow it, I won’t allow him to get in any more trouble!”

“Mrs. Midoriya, please,” All Might began. “We just think it would be safer for him on campus, with his classmates, with pros around. The league of villains is still out there, they escaped when we tried to rescue his classmate, it’ll be more dangerous if he just stays on his own-”

               “No! I’m not going to hear it! I- Izuku?”

Izuku had silently stood up from the table, walking out of the room. All Might and Inko stared after him, then glanced at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to do. All Might began to push his chair back to go after the boy when he returned, holding a piece of paper.

“Mom,” he said calmly, rather uncharacteristically. “They gave me this letter the day after I was rescued, it’s from a boy at the training camp. Please read it.”

Inko hesitated, glancing up at him and then taking the paper, scanning it.

“He thanked me for saving him, Mom,” Izuku smiled weakly. “After all that, after those couple weeks, when I felt…trapped, weak, and useless…I got this letter. A thanks from someone who I managed to save.”

He smiled grew, a warm, but oddly solemn expression.

               “It made me feel like despite everything, I could still be a hero.” He said. “And I want to be, one way or another. I still want that, Mom, I still want that more than anything. I know you’re worried but I need to do this. Not just for other people, but for myself, now. Because I need to know I can still help people, even if I couldn’t help myself.”

“Izuku…” Inko’s eyes teared up. “I…”

“Ma’am,” All Might spoke up, getting out of his seat. “I need to be honest with you.”

“All Might-?”

               The man stood away from the table and then bowed against the floor. Izuku twitched, staring down at him. This was the second time he’d seen All Might like this, but it was still bizarre.

“All Might! Wh- what are you doing?!” Inko flailed.

“Ma’am, I truly believe Izuku to be the one to surpass me, to be my successor.”

“Your what?!”

“I promise to devote myself to him from this point on, even if it costs me my life!”

Izuku went to say something but his mother beat him to it, lowering down to the ground before him.

               “If you mean that…All Might, then don’t die for him, live for him,” she said softly. “Be there for him, to raise him…be there for him like Hisashi wasn’t.”

All Might lifted his head a moment, looking at her. He slowly nodded and then lowered his head again.

“I promise.”

“Izuku?”

“Yes, Mom?”

The woman looked up at him, was silent a moment or two, then spoke.

“I need you to promise me something too. Promise you’ll be all right.”

Izuku smiled.

“I will.”

               Izuku walked with All Might outside the apartment, the blond chuckling awkwardly.

“Your mom is really something, kid,” he smiled. “Really an amazing woman.”

“I think so too,” he said. “…All Might?”

“Yeah, kid? What is it?”

“It was really only a month?”

All Might frowned.

“A month too long,” he sighed, glancing aside. “But yes, it was.”

“So the licensing exam hasn’t happened yet.”

“What? Well, no, but you don’t have to worry about that right now-“

“I want to take it.”

               “Kid?!” All Might stared at him. “After all that?! You don’t even have to go to class for a while, everyone understands. You need time.”

“I don’t need ‘time’,” Izuku said flatly, his fists clenched at his sides. “I need to move on.”

“I understand that, kid, but-“

“I don’t want to be useless again, All Might!” He blurted. “I want to be able to fight back, to help! I don’t ever want to- want to feel like that again…please, please understand that!”

“Kid…”

               Izuku felt tears prick, pushing them back. A hand was placed on his head and he flinched and nearly pulled back. He was going to but then looked up, seeing it was All Might, his gentle smile and warm eyes. He didn’t pull away.

“I understand, if that’s what you want…then ok. I’ll talk to Nezu and Aizawa.”

“Thank you,” he said, unable to stop a tear or two from slipping. “Hey…one more thing?”

“Sure, kid, anything,” All Might said.

“Didn’t you-…he had a quirk,” Izuku bit his lip. “A quirk that…hurt, a lot. He didn’t have to touch you or do anything, but it felt like torture. It felt…”

He shuddered, then shook his head.

“Why didn’t he use it on you? I mean I’m glad he didn’t, but-“

               “Oh, that?” All Might frowned. “No he used it on me, whenever I got close enough.”

Izuku twitched, staring.

“H- He did?!”

“Yeah, he did. Hurt like a b- it hurt, a lot.” He sighed. “He used it on me before, the last time we fought…”

The man glared suddenly.

“He used it on you?” All Might asked.

“Well- yes, but how did you-? He used it on you and you just kept fighting? How?!”

“I had no other choice but to fight, kid.”

               Izuku stared at him, then his gaze lowered down to the ground.

“I- I…” more tears slipped loose. “I couldn’t fight it, I tried, but it hurt so much- it hurt so much and I couldn’t- but you- am I that weak?”

All Might wrapped his good arm around him.

“No, kid, no,” he said. “Kid you’re one of the strongest people I know.”

“But I-“

“No buts,” All Might said, hugging him tighter. “You’re not weak, I just have more experience. With pain sure, but a lot of other things. I have enough experience to know too, that you’re not weak.”

Izuku hugged him back, carefully.

               “I…um…” he mumbled. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Sorry for what?” All Might pulled back. “Kid we’ve been over this.”

“No, not that,” he flushed, glancing aside. “I’m sorry I just- I just called you that without thinking about it. It must’ve been a bit awkward.”

“Called me-? Oh,” he chuckled awkwardly. “No, kid you don’t have to apologize for that. I didn’t mind it.”

“You…you didn’t?” Izuku blinked.

“Not at all,” he smiled. “I’m totally fine with you calling me that- er, if you want to anyway.”

“I do,” he said without thinking about it.

“Oh- oh,” All Might chuckled a bit, grinning. “Well, okay kid…if you want.”

“Ok,” Izuku smiled, his eyes tearing up again. “Ok, Dad.”

               All Might beamed.

“Hey- can I ask you a favor?”

“I told you, anything.”

“Can we take a picture?”

All Might blinked.

“A picture? Uh, sure.”

Izuku smiled, taking out his phone and standing next to his mentor. He took the picture and thanked All Might before saying their goodbyes.

               He packed for moving into the dorms over the next couple days, after quite a bit of shopping. He refused to wear any of All For One’s old clothes and had insisted on buying new ones for himself, as well as some other necessities- like hair dye, though he supposed it wasn’t really necessary, but it felt like it to him. Still, as he packed, he couldn’t bring himself to pack certain things. All his All Might paraphernalia remained on the walls and shelves, anything with an image of the man, he couldn’t bring himself to take. Things like his bedding, things with All Might’s patterns he took, as well as some various other hero merch.

               Still, it felt like way less than it should have been, but that was ok, he told himself. He reached for the photo of him and his mom, gently wrapping it up to protect it and then reached for the other photo. He smiled, looking down at the picture. All Might seemed genuinely happy, he didn’t look awkward or uncomfortable at all, standing next to him, looking like that.

Izuku smiled, wiped the tears from his eyes and gingerly packed the photo with his things.

They’d both go on his bedstand.

Chapter Text

               Izuku settled in, looking around at his new room. It felt oddly bare compared to his old one, but that was ok, he told himself. He’d get some new stuff, UA stuff maybe, and maybe when he could he’d grab some other hero merch. He glanced around, smiling gently at the photos on his bedstand. Mom and…Dad, he smiled. Yeah, Dad, it felt great to call All Might that. It was like he’d…won, really. That man he’d been forced to call ‘Father’ was out of his life, and the man he’d chosen to call ‘Dad’ was still around.

               The thought made him happy as he made his way down to the common area. He was a bit hungry from moving in, there had to be something in the kitchen he could make. On the way down he ran into a couple of his classmates, who greeted him.

“Hey, Deku!” Ochaco waved.

He responded with a curt nod- wait, no, he shook his head. That wasn’t how you’re supposed to greet people.

“Er- hi,” he forced a smile. “Sorry about- that. Anyway, what’s…what’s up?”

“Nothing much, you all finished settling in, man?” Kirishima asked.

               “Yeah,” he nodded.

“Cool, cool…”

An awkward silence descended.

“So are you okay?”

He winced.

“Oh dude- sorry, nevermind, forget I said anything,” Kirishima said quickly.

“No, no it’s okay, I’m fine,” he forced a smile. “Thanks for checking on me.”

               Kirishima responded with his usual grin, pumping his fist in the air.

“But yeah! You’re probably starving right? We should make something special!”

“Yeah! Maybe Sato can make some sweets!”

“Oh! Oh I’ll make tea! Mother sent me some great leaves!” Momo clapped her hands together.

Izuku blinked, watching his classmates all make declarations of what food they should have. It was nice, he thought, to have this weird sense of normalcy back.

               They ended up with a small feast on their hands, to which Izuku gratefully participated, happily munching whatever variety came his way. A couple times, though, he caught himself eating a bit off, sitting a bit stiffly, like he had been ‘taught’. He immediately would attempt to disregard the behavior, focusing on something else. Luckily his classmates were good distractions, constantly chatting up or getting into some antics or another.

               “So hey…” Ochaco said. “You know that there’s a hero-con going on next week, right?”

There was? He frowned. Usually he was on top of everything like that, but he had other stuff going on…

“No, I didn’t,” he said.

That question seemed to shock them a bit but they quickly masked it.

“Er, well, anyway,” Ochaco continued. “I know we got the exam coming up and we’re going to be training hard, buuuuuuutt…..”

“We talked to Aizawa, dude!” Kirishima grinned. “He gave us permission to go! He and some of the teachers are gonna be escorting, but we can still leave campus!”

“I even bought the tickets!” Momo said happily, clasping her hands together. “What do you say? Do you want to go?”

               He stared at them.

Did he want to…go? After these last few weeks, after everything that had happened, after all the horrible things he’d gone through, and they were asking if he wanted to go to a nerdy hero-con?

Absolutely.

“Really?!” he blurted, his eyes lighting up. “Are you sure it’s okay? I mean- you bought the tickets? I can pay for mine, it’s okay, you didn’t have to-“

“Nonsense!” Momo said. “My pleasure!”

“Yeah, ribbit,” Tsu chimed in. “We thought you would like the idea.”

               They were trying to make him feel better. He smiled, scanning them. They were good friends, really, and it was nice to be back with them…really nice.

“Deku are you crying?”

He was, wasn’t he? He hadn’t even noticed, and while that urge to ‘STOP’ was there, he managed to push it away.

“Thanks, you guys,” he said. “Thank you so much.”

They smiled in response.

“Oh! I can wear my All Might hoodie-…er, I guess that…won’t fit.” He frowned. “But anyway! It sounds like fun!”

Ochaco and Tsu exchanged glances.

               It was nice to have something to look forward to again, he thought as he made his way to the room he was meeting All Might in. Class was even kinda fun, learning something he actually wanted to be  ‘taught’. He shuddered at the memory and focused back to the matter at hand.

               “All Might?” he opened the door.

“Young Midoriya,” the man smiled. “Sit down, I made some tea.”

Izuku gladly accepted, sitting across from his mentor and slurping the tea.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“…Better,” he said. “There’s some things I should still tell you, though.”

“You don’t have to force yourself, if it’s something you’d rather not.”

               Izuku shook his head, frowning down at his tea.

“Apparently…my arms are getting too damaged,” he said. “That doctor that worked for him, he said if I break them again I could lose use of them.”

“They did look pretty beat up,” All Might frowned. “I guess we were more focused on your leg after the incident.”

“It’s healed fine, what’s what the doctor said,” He said. “But I am concerned about my arms…there is something else, too.”

He fidgeted.

               “All Might…I have another quirk.”

All Might stared at him.

“What?” he frowned. “Did he-?”

“No, at least I don’t think so, it happened at training camp.” He said. “When I was fighting that villain, I activated some new quirk, I’ve used it a bit since then but I’m not sure where it came from. I thought maybe I could’ve inherited it and it was just dormant, since it’s not like One For All and I don’t know how many quirks HE had.”

“Hm, what is it?”

               “I guess I can show you,” he hesitated, glancing at his hands. “Let me just put this down.”

He placed the tea back down on the table and searched the room, looking for a target. Another chair was against the wall, that’d do. It was easy to do now, after using it a few times with the nomu. The whips spread out and grabbed the chair, which he drew back to him, waving it in front of All Might.

“Holy shit,” All Might stared.

“Y- Yeah,” he chuckled weakly, setting the chair back down. “I’m not sure where it came from.”

“Hm…is it- it doesn’t hurt or anything, right?” he asked.

“No, it doesn’t,” he shook his head. “But I don’t know where it came from…and I thought I should tell you.”

               “Hm…I guess we’ll have to look into that too,” he sighed. “Sadly we still haven’t made any progress on catching the guy who aged you up, and Nezu hasn’t found anything that could reverse it.”

Oh. Right. How was it possible he’d nearly forgotten about all that?

“I see,” he frowned.

“But hey,” All Might gave a thumbs up. “We’ll stick to it, I’m sure we’ll figure it out in no time. So…in the meantime I heard Aizawa was gonna let you kids go to a con?”

               “Er- yeah!” Izuku’s face lit up. “Apparently they all asked him and he allowed it.”

“Allowed it?” All Might rose a brow. “That’s weird.”

“Huh?”

“Well, nothing, it’s just that sounds weird to ‘allow’ it when it was his idea.”

“It was what now?” He stared.

“Well I heard him talking about it, and then your classmates showed up and asked, so I guess it was all their ideas?” he shrugged. “Aizawa had come to me asking what kind of things you’d like so I figured…”

“Mr. Aizawa? Really?” Izuku smiled weakly, glancing to the side. “Wow…I- I’ll have to thank him, I guess.”

“Well, I won’t be able to come with you, but I do hope you have some fun. You deserve it.”

“Thanks…” he frowned. “But…”

               “Hm? Something else?”

“I just- how am I going to fight in close combat? I can’t keep messing up my arms…and I really don’t want to use the whips unless I have to,” he glanced aside. “I don’t really want to figure out how to explain that on top of everything else.”

“Hm…” All Might pondered. “Well, kid…it’s not that hard to figure out.”

“It isn’t?” he blinked.

“Yeah, think about it, if you can’t use your arms, what do you use?”

Silence.

“…Oh!”

“Yeah, kid, you forgot you had legs?”  

Chapter Text

   Izuku happily made his way back to school with his classmates, feeling better than he had in…what felt like forever. The con was a complete blast, and it seemed like everyone else was having fun, too! He hadn’t even gotten too many weird looks, in a center filled with fans of all ages he was practically ignored, it was great.

               “Hey, Midoriya, ribbit.”

“Hm?” he turned to Tsu, Ochaco beside her.

“Weeelll…” Ochaco said. “Remember how you said your All Might hoodie didn’t fit anymore?”

“Sooo…” Tsu added.

Ochaco pulled out a folded hoodie from behind her back, Tsu making a ‘ta-dah’ motion toward it.

“We got you this! Ribbit!”

“It should fit!” Ochaco beamed.

               “Guys- that stuff isn’t always cheap-!” Izuku frowned. “I mean I appreciate it but-“

“We went halfsies on it, ribbit,” Tsu said. “It wasn’t bad.”

“Besides! I’d been saving so I could have spending money for this! Don’t sweat it!” Ochaco chirped.

“But then you spent it on me?! Uraraka, Asui-“

“Call me Tsu.”

“-Tsu, you didn’t have to…”

               “Hush! Ribbit!” Tsu glared. “Take the thing.”

“Yeah, Deku, take the thing! Try it on!”

They all but forced it into his arms and he cracked a little smile, unfolding the hoodie and trying it on for size. It fit nicely.

“Thanks…it means a lot.”

The girls grinned.

“Oh, by the way, ribbit,” Tsu thought. “Don’t you need a new hero costume?”

Izuku froze.

“Deku?”

“Oh my god, you’re right!” He gasped. “I haven’t been to the support class-“

He winced. He wasn’t supposed to get so excitable. He half expected a surge of pain, silencing him a moment. Uraraka and Tsu exchanged glances.

“Deku?”

He shook his head.

“Er…like I was saying,” He cleared his throat, composing himself. “I guess I’ll have to see them, even though I don’t want to have to explain all this…but I guess I have to, I’ll need a suit for the exam…”

               “Maybe you can get it upgraded, while you’re at it!” Ochaco said, pumping her fist in the air. “Get like, a cool cape, like All Might’s!”

“That might be cool, ribbit.”

“Well…I mean I guess I’ll see what the support course wants to do, but yeah that might be cool.”

After all, he did have to speak to them about the new thing he had been working on. It was going to take a bit to transition to using his legs more, but he kind of had experience using his whole body, so maybe it wouldn’t be quite so hard.

               So the next day he paid the support course a visit.

And completely forgot about Hatsume.

“Wow! Look at you!” the girl exclaimed, darting around him. “I heard about the quirk mess but this is quite a change! We’re going to have to revamp your whole getup! I have a great design in mind!”

“I-“ he began.

“You really bulked up, huh?!” the girl said, grabbing his torso and feeling him up.

Izuku shuddered and leapt back from her in an instant, his pulse pounding. Hatsume twitched, frowning a little at his reaction, but quickly brushed it off.

“So! Anyway!” she said. “Great design! But is there anything specific you need? Braces for your arms, maybe?”

“Er, well that might help,” he said. “But I was actually thinking of changing up my style to use my legs more.”

“Ooooh! I have just the thing then!”

               The class was working on ultimate moves, apparently, since he’d been gone. There was still a couple weeks before the licensing exam though, so he might be able to catch up. After all, he had had his own ‘training’, technically, but using his legs was still relatively new territory. He fidgeted a bit, looking over the new costume Hatsume had designed. It wasn’t too different, he supposed, except for the high leg braces and the cape. It looked kind of cool, he thought, the cape was not too different in appearance from All Might’s, just white. Overall, it looked pretty good.

               He was a bit late to the training, but he got there pretty fast using 40%. It was a good thing that he got there so fast given that he was just in time to see the rubble hurling down toward All Might. Without missing a beat he leapt into the air, slamming the hunk of rock away with a kick. He landed and skid to a halt, sliding a good ways away before he managed to stop completely. Quickly he dashed back over to All Might.

               “Are you okay?!” he blurted.

All Might was smiling at him, a proud look in his eyes.

“I’m fine, thanks for the save, Young Midoriya.”

He smiled, then looked up to see where the debris had come from. Kacchan was looking down at them with an indiscernible expression.

“Sorry for the scare, young Bakugo!” the man waved up at him.

“Watch yourself, All Might!” the boy responded angrily.

               “Eh heh…” All Might rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, then turn to Izuku. “So, new getup, huh? It suits you.”

“You think so?” he fidgeted with his hands a bit.

No. No fidgeting! Fidgeting wasn’t allowed-

He shook his head.

“I wasn’t sure I could pull off the caped look.” He continued.

“Heh, you’re doing great,” All Might smiled.

“All Might,” Aizawa said, coming forward. “You really shouldn’t be standing around in here, accidents can happen pretty easily, like right now.”

“I hate to say it, but he’s right,” Izuku said. “Maybe you should watch from a distance?”

All Might frowned, but nodded.

“All right, makes sense, I guess…”

               Izuku frowned at the look on his mentor’s face. He’d seemed pretty despondent since he had lost One For All. A pang of guilt struck him at the thought. All Might had given his power to him, that was why he lost it, and he nearly lost it at the most important time. Now, even after that, here he was beating himself up over it. Izuku bit his lip. It really was all his fault, it wasn’t right for All Might to blame himself…

“Hey, why the long face?” All Might spoke up, forcing a smile. “You get working on your new style, okay? I’ll watch from a distance.”

“I-…okay,” he said with a nod. “I’ll do my best.”

               It was a long day of training, he was exhausted by the time they were all finally dismissed to the dorms. They walked back together, commenting on each other’s new moves.

“Yeah mine still needs some work! But I’m getting there!” Kirishima said happily.

“Ribbit, yeah I think we’re all making good progress.”

“Yeah!” Ashido said. “Especially Midoriya! That was insane!”

“Er- oh, not really,” he blushed.

“And that new costume looks great!” Hagakure said.

He blushed more.

“You do look quite dashing,” Momo said, smiling sheepishly.

               “Er, thank you,” he said. “So uh, what should we do for dinner? Or should we all just eat on our own?”

“I have to catch up on some things,” Todoroki said. “So I can’t tonight.”

“Me neither, sorry,” Jiro added.

“That’s quite all right!” Momo said. “But if anyone is interested, I can make some tea?”

“That sounds great!” Ochaco smiled.

“I could make a vanilla loaf,” Sato added.

Izuku smiled a bit, just happy to be involved.

               That night he dreamt again.

The line of people, All For One, One For All…

“You have one of the others now,” One For All spoke, in front of him suddenly. “That’s good, it’ll help you.”

The others? He still couldn’t speak.

“The black whips, they came from one of us,” the man explained perhaps seeing his confusion. “From one of the other holders.”

His eyes widened. So it came from them? Not All For One?

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do more for you…” the man frowned. “I hope you heal well. I know how hard it is when he…has you.”

               The man smiled up at him, tired looking.

“I’m proud of you for being strong and getting through it,” he raised a hand, placing it on his shoulder. “Don’t think you’re weak, okay? I know it’s easy to get wrapped up in it and feel that way, but you’re not.”

He smiled gently, his form beginning to fade away.

“You’re not alone.”

Chapter Text

               He was getting used to weird looks by now, especially when they met the other schools. No one said anything to him directly, but he could hear them muttering as he walked by.

“How old do you think he is? Did he flunk out as a kid?”

“Maybe he just has a quirk that makes him look older?”

“Maybe this is like his millionth time taking the test?”

“You think he was scouted or something? Like he never went to hero school as a kid and then someone vouched for him later?”

               Then of course there were the…other, rumors.

“Isn’t he that guy from All Might’s fight?!”

“Yeah, I think he is!”

“The guy that was yelling at him, right? What do you think he said?”

“Didn’t he hug him after? That’s a little weird, isn’t it?”

“He’s kind of scary looking though.”

               Scary looking? He frowned. Sure he was tall but that didn’t mean he was scary. What were they talking about?

“Hey, Kirishima?” he asked when they were away from the other groups.

“Sup, man?” his classmate said.

“Am I ‘scary’?”

The boy’s usual smile flickered, just an instant, but it was enough. Izuku frowned, just slightly, but his mind raced. Scary? He was scary? Why? Sure his appearance scared him, after everything, but to other people?

“No, man, no,” Kirishima said quickly. “You just...you know how some people their neutral face just makes them look…er, not scary, um…intimidating?”

That wasn’t much better.

               “You haven’t been as expressive as usual,” Tokoyami chimed in, coming into step with them. “Stoic expressions can be off-putting.”

“That and he walks like he owns the place now,” Kaminari added. “Anyone notice that?”

His expressions, the way he was walking….oh. His blood chilled a bit. He hadn’t realized he was still…doing that.

“I…”

“Just relax a bit, man,” Kirishima said, smiling. “It’s okay, you know?”

“Besides that,” Tokoyami said. “There’s nothing wrong with holding yourself with confidence. I imagine it can be quite an admirable trait for a hero.”

For a hero. That made him feel a bit better, much better than what he was thinking beforehand.

“Besides!” Hagakure piped up, apparently having been there the entire time. “Stoic heroes are really popular! They’re hot!”

Izuku blushed deep red, attempting to speak but finding he had nothing to say in response.

“All right, everyone,” Iida spoke up. “Let’s all focus on getting ready for the exam and leave Midoriya alone.”

Izuku sent Iida a grateful look and they continued on, heading to the changing rooms.

               It didn’t take him long to put it together.

“Everyone! Stay in one group!” he said.

He expected someone to ask why, but no one did. That unnerved him and he continued talking.

“They know all our quirks because of the sports festival, since they all know what we’re capable of, it’s likely they’re all going to target us first!”

“Midoriya’s right!” Iida echoed. “Our best chance is to stick together!”

               No sooner had they said it, a huge group of examinees ambushed them. A wall of the exam balls flew at them and Izuku wasted no time in slamming back with a kick, which forced a good deal of them right back at their throwers.

“Holy shit!” he heard Ashido exclaim.

He regrouped with the others, not wanting to stray too far from them. It looked like Kacchan’s group had left, and Todoroki too, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Their best chance was to stick together- but of course that wasn’t going to happen.

               One of the other examinees, Shindo his name was, ran forward. He had introduced himself to his classmates earlier, basically ignoring him, but his attention seemed to be locked on him now.

“Okay then, old man!” he mocked. “Let’s see how you all deal with this!”

Old man? He wasn’t that old-

Oh! Shit! He lost focus!

               The entire stadium began to shake, the ground jutting up and out at outrageous angles, throwing his entire class in a multitude of directions, himself included. Great, he thought, their best plan had immediately been thrown out the window. His best bet was to regroup with the others-

One of the targets on his body blared, the color changing. While he had been lost in thought, a girl had appeared from nowhere, landed the target and then flipped away.

“What the-?”

“You know…” the girl purred, smiling at him. “I really dig mature guys…”

Creepy.

               “Where did you…?”

It didn’t matter, he took a defensive stance, glaring her down. He was already down one, and they had barely started, fantastic.

“Oooh, you’re angry now, are you?” the girl grinned. “That’s a good look on you.”

Her grin split more widely, almost unnaturally so, it was completely unnerving. He didn’t like that look in her eyes, it reminded him of…

His eyes narrowed, glaring death at the girl.

She flinched, her grin disappearing and her eyes widening slightly. She looked just as unnerved as he felt at the moment, for a second, anyway, then her grin returned in earnest.

               “OOooooooh!” she giggled, putting her hands on her cheeks and wiggling about. “Now THAT’S hot!”

That’s it. He’d had enough of her.

He launched forward, swiping a kick at her. He did his best to keep it at a low percentage, he didn’t want to overdo it and seriously hurt her, even if she was creepy. That proved to be a mistake, as the girl evaded his attack and then, seemingly disappeared again.

               A cut appeared on his cheek and he quickly moved away, dodging the incoming attacks.

“You’re faster than I thought,” she mused, looking at the blood on her fingertips. “Hm…oh well.”

She grinned again.

“See you later, Izuku!”

She turned and ran. He started after her then stopped, frowning. That was…odd, the whole thing was odd, she had appeared, took one target, scratched him and then left like nothing happened. Something about this was wrong, maybe she was trying to lead him into a trap? If that was the case it was best to ignore her and go about finding his classmates.

Wait, how did she know his name? Surely she didn’t recognize him from the sport’s festival?

               He didn’t really have too much time to think about it, he instead began searching for his classmates through the rubble.

“Deku!”

Ochaco and Sero, running up to him. He sighed in relief, smiling at the sight of them.

“Guys, are you okay?”

“Yeah, we found each other pretty quickly,” Sero said.

“I knew you’d be okay,” Ochaco said. “But still, I’m glad we found you.”

“Yeah, we might not be able to find the others quick enough to wrack up some points, though.”

“That’s okay,” Deku smirked a little. “I’ve got a plan.”

Chapter Text

               While his plan in the first part of the test had gone off without a hitch, using Uraraka and Sero’s quirks to trap people, the second part of the test was proving to be more challenging than he thought. It wasn’t that he was having a hard time finding people to save or actually saving them, more it was…he had no idea what to actually say to people.

               The first ‘victim’ had openly scolded him for some callous words, and after that it was at the forefront of his mind. What would All Might do, he thought,  how would he handle it? He knew the answer to those questions but his insides began to squirm when he thought about copying it. The image of his hero had been tainted by those nightmares, of the man charging him with the intent to kill. No, he thought of All Might differently now, the skeletal Toshinori Yagi with the kind eyes and gentle smile, subtle, not showy.

Maybe he should be more like that?

               The next victim he ran across he found pinned under some rubble, it was relatively easy to lift it off of them. He smiled gently, trying to channel his mentor’s as he reached out to them.

“It’s all right, I’m here for you.”

He thought he saw a sparkle in their eyes, but he couldn’t be sure; instead he focused on getting them to the ‘first aid station’, taking care to carry them as if they really were wounded. He successfully got them to the pretend EMTs, and then zipped off to find more.

               It was a good ways into this process when the test threw a wrench into the whole thing.

The entire place shook again, a small army pouring in through one of the entrances. A simulated villain attack, then? Crap, they really weren’t pulling any punches with the test! Okay, so defending the civilians while fighting off villains. The others were still focusing on rescue efforts, so it was best to evacuate the people at the makeshift camp while at the same time defending them.

               He wasn’t even really aware he was doing it, but the next thing he knew he was throwing out orders. There were some people whose quirks were better suited to evac, others better at fighting, he’d watched them all during the exam and quickly came up with a plan that utilized them to the best of their abilities. True, he was a bit surprised when they listened to him so readily, but he had other things to focus on.  His budding presence as a leader was lost on him, but not anyone else.

               Izuku went to intercept the ‘villains’ but saw the mass of ice shoot out, carpeting some of the villains. Todoroki! Great, and it looked like that wind-user from Shiketsu was here too. They were both incredible, they should be able to handle them while he helped with the evac. So he turned his attention back to the victims and the EMTs, doing his best to handle the situation on that end. He’d just have to trust his classmate and the wind-user to watch their backs.

               It didn’t take long for him to realize that wasn’t the best idea. He had to jump in to stop them from hurting Shindo in their little grudge match.

“What are you two doing?!” He shouted over them.

Despite his scolding, he continued to work at the task at hand. The civilians were top priority, he’d come in and deal with the villains once they were out of harm’s way.

               Luckily, it seemed like Todoroki and the wind-user had decide to work together, forming a literal cyclone of fire. Izuku even stopped to gawk at it, awed by the display. That was, until Gang Orca simply dispelled it.

Oh.

That meant it was his turn, apparently.

He upped the percentage.

               He zoomed in, closing the distance between himself and Gang Orca in a second. The pro threw up his arms to block the kick but still ended up thrown through the air and slammed into a pile of rubble.

Oh crap! Izuku’s eyes widened. He had upped the percentage thinking it would be needed against a top pro, but had he really used too much!? What percent did he just use?! Crap crap crap-

The sound marking the end of the test blared, but Izuku dashed over anyway.

               Gang Orca struggled out of the rubble, Izuku quickly at his side, helping him to his feet.

“I am so, so sorry!” Izuku blurted. “I didn’t mean to hit you that hard- I mean I know it was a test and you were playing a villain but I thought if I held back I wouldn’t be able to make a difference but I really didn’t think it’d-“

“Calm down, calm down,” the pro said. “I’ll be fine.”

“O- Oh…still, I’m sorry,” Izuku flushed. “Er…while I have you, though…”

“Hm?”

“…Can I get your autograph?”

               “Oh my god!”

Izuku was giddy, nearly bouncing on his feet. It was quite a sight to see, the huge man grinning like a little child as he looked at the little plastic card in his hand. He quickly took out his phone and snapped a picture, happily sending it to All Might.

His provisional license! He got it! Sure he’d have to get the picture swapped out when he got back to normal, but! He had it!

Also he had Gang Orca’s autograph so that was cool!

               “Wow, Deku,” Ochaco smiled. “You look so happy!”

“Yeah man, nice to see that grin back on ya!” Kirishima grinned himself.

Yeah…yeah, he really was happy. The thought even made him happy.

His phone gave him a notification. From All Might? He eagerly opened the text.

“I’m proud of you, kid.”

He was over the moon.

Chapter Text

               “Hey, Deku.”

Izuku blinked, turning and looking down at the speaker. Kacchan was glaring up at him.

“We need to talk.”

“Uh…sure, Kacchan, what is it? It’s getting kind of late.”

“Shut up and come with me.”

Izuku frowned but obliged, following his classmate. They made their way out to the training grounds and Izuku became more fidgety, not liking the situation at all.

               “Kacchan,” he said, “We really shouldn’t be out here-“

“I’m going to cut the crap, Deku,” he glared up at him. “You told those league bastards to let me go, didn’t you?”

Izuku flinched, then frowned.

“I did.”

“Why?! I didn’t need your damn help!” he snapped.

“Maybe, maybe not, but I had the chance to help so of course I-“

“Shut up!”

               He felt a surge of irritation, beginning to bristle. Why was he doing this? All he did was help! How dare he- he shook his head. No. ‘How dare he’? That was All for One talking, not him. It still didn’t change the matter at hand.

“And on top of that!” Bakugo continued. “The old villain bastard was your father, huh!?”

Izuku looked like he had been slapped.

“How did you-? “

“I’m not an idiot, those league bastards liked to talk,” he glowered up at him. “I put it together pretty easy.”

“Kacchan, please don’t-“

“Then why the hell did All Might give you his power?!”

               Izuku’s eyes widened.

“He- I…”

“I know he did! So why, huh?! Did you trick him?! Are you trying to trick all of us right now?! Well, Deku!?”

“That’s not it!” Izuku snapped. “I didn’t ‘trick’ anyone!”

“How do I know that, huh?! How do I know you didn’t trick All Might to giving you his power so you could weaken him for your dear old daddy-?”

“He’s NOT MY FATHER!”

               “So why, huh!? Why did All Might give his power to someone like you?!” the blonde snapped back. “If you really were just a loser with a bastard villain of a dad that wanted nothing to do with you, why did he give you his quirk?!”

Izuku blinked, realization slowly dawning on him.

“What did he see in you if you weren’t trying, huh!? What was so great about you that he chose you!?”

Bakugo’s fists clenched.

“I want to know,” he growled. “I want to see what he saw in you.”

The red eyes flashed up at him.

“Fight me.”

               “…What?” Izuku stared.

“Fight me, damn it!” Bakugo snapped. “If you’re soooo fucking strong now, if you’re so great chosen one then it should be easy.”

“Kacchan I’m not going to fight you!” he shook his head.

“Why?! Not a real fight for you, huh?!”

Well that was probably true, but…

“It’s your fault, dammit! It’s your fault All Might lost his power, not mine! It wasn’t my fault!”

Izuku stared again.

“Your…fault? Kacchan that wasn’t your fault-“

“Of course it wasn’t! I just said it!” the blonde glared, tears beginning to prick at his eyes.

               “…You think it’s your fault?”

“SHUT UP!”

Bakugo charged him and Izuku easily dodged, sparks flying.

“I said I’m not going to fight you!”

“It’s not my fault, damn it! It’s yours! It has to be yours!”

“Why would it be your fault, Kacchan?!” he blurted, dodging another blow.

“It’s NOT! Now stop dodging and fight me!”

Bakugo continued his assault, Izuku continued to dodge. They were getting nowhere! Maybe…? He sighed.

               He stopped in place, letting Bakugo charge him, the blonde went to let off a blast and Izuku grabbed his wrists, turning him around and pinning him. Bakugo went absolutely feral, yelling, thrashing about, screaming obscenities. Izuku said nothing, quietly holding him in place as the blonde’s yelling slowly turned into sobs, dropping his face into the ground.

“Why…why did a weakling like you get so strong? Why did…” he choked. “You got strong and I…I killed All Might…”

“You didn’t, Kacchan,” Izuku frowned. “If anyone did, I did, he lost his power coming to save me- “

“And you only got caught because your dumb ass was trying to save me! That’s what you do! That’s what you always do! You always try and save everyone, even people who don’t deserve your goddammed help!” Bakugo turned his head, glaring up at him with watery eyes. “I was weak and got caught, so you got caught too! I was so weak I needed your damn help, and then All Might had to save us both! It’s my fault, damn it, don’t you see that?! It’s my fault All Might’s- ! That he’s- !”

               “That’s enough,” a voice spoke.

All Might rounded the corner, frowning as he made his was over to them. Izuku backed off, letting Bakugo get to his feet.

“I heard what you said, I’m sorry,” All Might frowned. “Listen…both of you, I didn’t lose my power because of either of you. I was always going to lose it, no matter what happened…so don’t blame yourselves.”

“I was weak,” Bakugo insisted, his hair obscuring his eyes. “I was weak and- and look what I did to you…”

All Might frowned and approached the boy, slowly pulling him into a loose hug.

“You didn’t do anything,” he said gently.

               Izuku was silent, hesitantly looking between his mentor and his childhood friend.

“Kacchan,” he spoke up. “You are strong, but as strong as you are, you’re still a kid-“

“You’re both still kids,” All Might interjected, locking eyes with Izuku. “No matter how strong you are now.”

“R…right,” Izuku frowned.

Bakugo tore away from All Might.

“Why him?” he asked, head down. “Why’d you choose Deku?”

“Because he was more heroic than anyone else there, he charged in when everyone, including myself, stayed on the sidelines. You were already strong, young Bakugo, he deserved a chance to stand in the ring.”

               Bakugo snorted.

“Not what I wanted to hear…” he sat. “Start talking, who knows about you two?”

Izuku sat down as well, not too close but near Bakugo. All Might explained about One For All, how it came about, how it was passed, and Bakugo glared at Izuku.

“So you got dragged into all this without knowing about that villain at all?”

Izuku nodded slowly.

“Of course, anything else I should know?”

“Well…I suppose since we’re telling you all this, Young Midoriya has another quirk.”

“He does?” Bakugo scowled. “What, did that All For One bastard force it on him?”

“We don’t know-“ All Might began.

“Oh.” Izuku made a sheepish face. “Er…actually I do know where it came from.”

They both stared at him.

               “You what? Why didn’t you tell me?” All Might frowned.

“I was going to,” Izuku shook his head. “But so much happened- I’ll explain now. So I had this dream…”

The blondes listened to Izuku’s story till the end, and Bakugo threw his hands up in the air.

“Of course, you talk to your dead uncle and he gives you quirks, why not?” he rolled his eyes. “I guess people just hand them out to you like candy.”

“Starting to look that way,” Izuku chuckled awkwardly.

“Well, whatever,” Bakugo got up, brushing himself off. “You may have a lot in your corner, Deku, but I got time. I’ll get stronger than you.”

For some reason, Izuku doubted it, but instead he smiled.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Chapter Text

               The big three weren’t exactly what he imagined. His upperclassmen were- well, for lack of a better word, quirky. Mirio was bright, chipper and friendly, he seemed like a nice guy just a little…much. Tamaki was not what he expected at all, and Nejire-

Didn’t understand personal space.

“So hey, hey!” she leaned right up to his face. “You’re the boy that got ageified, right?!”

“Ah-!” he pulled back.

She didn’t seem to pick up on his discomfort.

“So like, did you just poof! Adult? Or was it like a gradual thing and your age just went shhhooom? Did you have to buy a bunch of new clothes? What happened to the ones you were wearing, did they just fall off? That had to have been awkward! Oh! Wait you’re also the one that was there during All Might’s fight, right?! What did you say to him, huh, huh?!”

               “Nejire,” Aizawa spoke up, stern. “That’s enough.”

“Oh! Ok!” she chirped, skipping back to stand next to her classmates.

Izuku’s pulse began to slow, taking deep breathes. She had been too close and just…too…much. Too much all at once. He settled back down in his seat but found his arms were trembling. The class gave him questioning, concerned looks and he stood up.

“Excuse me.”

He left the room.

               He quickly made his way to the bathroom, luckily no one was in there. He leaned against the wall and hugged himself, shaking. He wasn’t sure what it was, the close contact? The barrage of questions? Or the questions she was asking?

Calm down, he told himself, calm down and breathe.

He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing.

Images flashed in his mind, All Might charging, All For One looming over his shoulder in the mirror-

His eyes snapped open and he stifled a yelp. Okay, maybe not close his eyes, maybe just focus on what was in front of him, on his surroundings, ground himself…

               “Midoriya.”

He flinched, looking at the door where Aizawa had entered.

“I- sorry, Mr. Aizawa,” he said, trying desperately to stop trembling. “I don’t know what- I just-…”

“It’s all right,” the man said. “Take your time and try to breathe. Sometimes weird things can set it off.”

“Set it…?”

“You’re not the first hero, aspiring or not, to have trauma,” the man said. “Everyone deals with in in their own way.”

That’s what it was; he was having a panic attack. He choked a bit, covering his mouth as the tears began to run down his cheek. He didn’t want to cry in front of Mr. Aizawa, he didn’t want to look weak.

               “It- It doesn’t make sense,” he whimpered. “I was able to do the exam just fine- it was loud and chaotic and- and there was fighting but I did it, so why is this-? Why is something stupid like this…? Why am I so-?”

“You’re not weak, Midoriya, I’ll say that right now,” the man cut him off. “Like I said, everyone deals with it in their own way, and sometimes it just doesn’t make sense what sets it off. You just…you just have to feel it, then let it go.”

Izuku shuddered, closing his eyes again, pushing back the images in his head.

“I’m not a professional in this kind of thing, kid,” Aizawa frowned. “I’m just going based off my own experience. Even so, I hope it helps.”

               He hesitated, drawing closer and Izuku opened his eyes, tensing up. The man raised a hand and Izuku flinched back from him. Aizawa frowned, pulling back from him.

“It’s hard to tell if physical assurance will help or hurt in these situations,” Aizawa said. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“I…” he swallowed. “I’m sorry, but I appreciate it.”

“Don’t say sorry,” Aizawa sighed. “Look…just take the time you need and calm down.”

“No- no, I’m fine,” he gave a shaky smile. “I do feel better now…thank you.”

Aizawa nodded.

“If you’re sure, then come back to class, we’re going to have a…demonstration.”

A demonstration?

               He returned with Aizawa to class and Mirio smiled, waving at them.

“Hey! You doing all right?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said. “Sorry about that.”

“Hey, no worries! I’m just glad you’re okay!”

Izuku blinked. Mirio kind of reminded him of All Might, with the sunny smile and disposition.

“So anyway! Your class is gonna fight me!” he chirped.

What?

“What? Why?” he stared.

“It’s the best way to demonstrate, of course!”

               Before they knew it, they were at one of the training buildings in their gym clothes, Mirio happily humming to himself while stretching. Izuku hesitated. Was it really okay for him to fight with the others? All of them against him? It didn’t seem fair. He thought back to during the exam when he’d tossed Gang Orca aside, if he did that to a pro, what if he went too far with Mirio?

“Mr. Aizawa,” he hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“If you’re not up to it then come watch with Todoroki and Bakugo.”

“Why do I have to watch?!” Bakugo snapped. “I can take him! I can take him by myself!”

“You both failed the exam,” Aizawa said curtly. “I think it’s best you take some time to observe and learn from your failures.”

Bakugo grumbled darkly but Todoroki didn’t seem to mind, waiting patiently to watch the match.

Izuku thought about it a moment, then nodded.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

He’d just have to hold back a little. Maybe just ten percent?

               Apparently, he quickly learned, that was a mistake.

Half the group was out in a few seconds, and the close range people were dropping like flies. Izuku was shocked a moment but then leapt into action, throwing a kick at his upperclassman…only for it to pass right through him.

Crap! Even if he could hit him, he couldn’t make contact!

Okay, well, if he upped the percentage and got faster, maybe he wouldn’t have time to phase through?

No, that wasn’t all, he had to concentrate. What was the pattern in his attacks? If he kept this up then-

Behind!

               Izuku whirled around and he saw the moment of surprise on Mirio’s face, just a moment though. Izuku charged up to 20% and hurled a kick- which also passed right through.

Damn!

Mirio pinned him.

“Wow! That was pretty cool!” Mirio chirped. “I- whoah!”

Izuku threw him off, sparks flying and in an instant had slammed Mirio in the gut. The upperclassman went pummeling toward the ground but phased through it, disappearing again.

“Sorry about this!” Izuku heard.

And abruptly took a slam to the back of his head.

               Izuku saw stars and hit the ground, groaning.

“Wow, you really did a number on me!” he heard Mirio pant. “Ouch! Hah hah! Sorry but I had no real choice after all that. You did great!”

“Ow…” Izuku whimpered.

“Well, anyway! I’m gonna get my clothes back on!”

Izuku groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Even a high percentage didn’t matter if he wasn’t able to actually hit him. No, he’d managed to get a blow in, didn’t he? What percentage had he used? It was rather heat of the moment, but it couldn’t have been too high, right?

               “Togata, Togata!” Nejire rushed to him. “Are you okay? Huh? Huh? You got pretty hard!”

“I’m fine! I might have to pay Recovery Girl a visit though, hah hah!” the blonde smiled, giving her a thumbs up.

Izuku slid over. Mirio blinked, looking at him.

“So how does your quirk work exactly!?” Izuku blurted, his hands making a writing motion even though he didn’t have a notebook.

“Oh wow, I’m flattered,” Mirio smiled. “But I’ll answer your questions later, okay? I think I broke a rib or two!”

Izuku paled but Mirio merely laughed it off, smiling.

“I- I’m sorry-“

“Don’t be! You should probably come with me, though, I think I might have given you a concussion.”

Oh.

Yeah he probably should then.

Chapter Text

               “You know! You’re really good! You should come to Sir Nighteye’s agency for your work study!”

Izuku blinked, looking over at the blonde sitting on the infirmary bed that was next to him. Recovery girl had healed their wounds and they had been about to leave when Mirio had spoken up.

“For my work study? Sir Nighteye?” he mulled.

Where had he heard that name before?

“Sure! You’d be great!” Mirio grinned.

Wait…

“Wait like, All Might’s sidekick!? That Nighteye?!” he blurted.

“Yup, that’s the one! You need a place to go, right? If you haven’t picked yet you should totally come!”

A work study with one of All Might’s sidekicks, that sounded amazing!

               “Absolutely not.”

Izuku flinched.

“What? Why not, Sir?” Mirio blinked. “Midoriya’s great! He even got a good hit on me!”

The tall man glowered, his eyes locked on Izuku with unbridled loathing. Izuku fidgeted, downcast but quickly corrected to his neutral expression. He had barely met the guy, why was he so hostile?

“Mirio,” the man said. “Leave the room.”

“Huh? But why?”

“Just do it.”

               Mirio frowned, glanced at Izuku and smiled.

“Hey, don’t worry about it! I’m sure you can convince him!”

Izuku smiled gently back as Mirio left the room. No sooner had the door closed had Nighteye approached, glowering.

“You’re not fit to have One For All,” he said flatly. “Mirio should’ve inherited the power.”

Izuku winced, frowning.

“You know about…wait, why Mirio?”

“Mirio was going to inherit the quirk from All Might, but you went and got yourself involved,” his eyes narrowed coldly. “No one with All For One’s blood has a right to that power.”

The boy looked like he’d been smacked.

               “I- but I’m not-“

“How do I know you’re not like him, hm? Based on what others have said? I know he had you for a good while, how am I to know for sure that that wasn’t by choice? How am I supposed to know that you didn’t feign capturing as a trap to lure All Might to your father?”

“He’s not my father!” he snapped.

Why did this keep happening?! It was like Kacchan all over again!

“That’s not what I see, and that’s not what All Might sees, either.” The man glowered. “You can’t possibly imagine the torment he must be going through seeing your face, constantly being reminded of that fight, of when his Master died. If you had a shred of decency, you’d remove yourself from him, you’d pass One For All to someone more qualified than you, someone with the right spirit and his own power. Mirio has that spark, that light All Might brought to people. You’re just a bad memory he’d rather forget.”

               The boy stared a moment, mouth agape, then slowly clenched his fists, glaring at the man.

“All Might said the things he did aren’t my responsibility, and they’re not,” he said. “You have no idea what you’re talking about- do you think I didn’t suffer because of him?! Do you think I don’t know how hard it’s been on All Might!? You- and then you just start blaming me for being born?! I didn’t ask for any of this! You’re really going to turn me away because of something that wasn’t my choice?! What kind of hero does that make you!?”

Nighteye locked eyes with him, just a second, then pulled a stamp out of his pocket.

               “If you can take this seal from me,” he said. “I’ll take you on for the work study.”

“What?” Izuku blinked, thrown off by the sudden change.

“You heard me,” the man said. “So go ahead, take it.”

Izuku frowned, then began channeling a bit of One For All. The man clearly wasn’t going to just let him take it, and he knew what his quirk was. Foresight, he must’ve used it, so he was going to predict his movements and doge them, then. Well fine, it didn’t matter if he could see his movements if he wasn’t fast enough to dodge.

Wait, if he knew that, then, why was he bothering at all?

No, he couldn’t stand there thinking about it.

               He dashed forward and swiped for it, trying to keep the speed to where he could control it without overshooting it and slamming into the desk. Nighteye dodged easily and Izuku grit his teeth, bouncing off the walls in an attempt to throw off the man.

In this small room he was limited to the percentage he could use, if he used too much he could overshoot it and slam right into a wall, or worse bring the whole place down. Nighteye must’ve known that much, and known he could take advantage of it.

               He was getting nowhere! It was so frustrating! He wanted to up the percentage but knew if he went too far or let his emotions get the better of him, of course he’d fail.

“Time’s almost up,” the man said.

Don’t listen, he told himself, he’s just trying to make you panic and slip up.

Wait.

He didn’t have to rely just on speed. He didn’t want to have to use it but…if this man new the secret of One For All, he’d keep know enough to keep this a secret too? Wait no, he might rat him out, he didn’t like him already so if he used black whip-

               “Time’s up.”

Izuku tripped up and crashed onto the ground.

Damn it!

“Just as I thought.” The man said.

“…I had to be careful,” Izuku mumbled.

“Of course, if you used any more of One For All you would’ve-“

“Not just that,” he pouted a bit, sitting upright. “I didn’t want to ruin them.”

“Ruin-?...” Nighteye blinked.

               The man looked around at his office, seeing the impact marks all over the walls and ceiling, but not a mark on any of his All Might merch.

“That poster’s priceless,” Izuku mumbled, downcast.

“…You’re really such a fan of him you’d rather lose this than damage his merch?”

“I know, I know,” he sighed. “It sounds dumb.”

Nighteye was silent for just a moment.

“All right.”

“Huh?” Izuku looked up at him.

               “I said all right,” Nighteye repeated. “I’ll take you on for the work study.”

“You- you will?” Izuku stared.

“Yes, but only so you can see for yourself and realize Mirio’s better suited. So go ahead, give me the paperwork.”

Izuku hesitated but then nodded, getting up and searching through his bag for the papers. He was unsure if he even really wanted this work study now, after everything Nighteye had said to him, but the opportunity to work with one of All Might’s sidekicks and one of the big three was too good to miss. He handed over the papers which Nighteye began to go over, ignoring him.

               Izuku mulled over what had just happened, and the things the pro had said to him. He stood by what he had said in response, but there was that seed of doubt. Was he really just a bad reminder to All Might? He knew that to some extent it was true, but he also knew All Might cared about him. Right? Even though he knew that, he couldn’t help but doubt.

               On his way out, after he said goodbye to Mirio he pulled out his phone. The lockscreen had the picture of him and All Might and he smiled weakly, looking at the beaming smile on his mentor’s face. That should be reassurance enough, right? …Right? He hesitated, going through his contacts and calling him up.

               “Hey, kid,” he answered. “Everything all right?”

“Uh- yeah,” he said. “I just…hey, do you really not mind it when I call you ‘dad’?”

“Of course not, kid, but like I said if you’re not comfortable with it you don’t have to do it, I understand.”

“No, I just-…it doesn’t bother you?”

“Not at all.” He said without hesitation. “In fact- well…honestly kid, it makes me happy.”

“It does?”

“Yeah, heh.”

Izuku paused a moment, then smiled gently, his eyes beginning to water.

“Ok, Dad,” he said quietly. “Thanks, I needed that.”

“No problem, kid.”

Chapter Text

               The girl clung onto him, trembling. He smiled gently, rubbing her back.

“Hey…are you okay? What’s wrong? Did you get lost?” he asked softly.

The girl shook her head, she went to speak but was cut off by another voice.

“There you are, Eri…didn’t we talk about running off like that?”

Izuku recognized him almost instantly, the Yakuza man, Chisaki, the guy from their briefing.

“We don’t want you bugging the nice heroes, do we?” the man said.

               “Oh hey! It’s no problem, kids will be kids right?” Mirio chirped.

Why was he keeping a smile plastered like that, he recognized the man right? Of course he did, he was just trying not to draw any suspicion. Izuku knew that, but something about the act rubbed him the wrong way.

“Eri, come on, let’s go home.” Chisaki said.

Izuku moved slightly and the girl gripped onto him more tightly.

“Please…” she whimpered. “Don’t go…”

               He noted the bandages on her arms and legs, the scars, the terrified look in her eyes. His own eyes widened, his throat tightened, he knew that look. The look he had in that mirror, abject terror, silently screaming for help.

He drew the girl closer to him.

“What are you doing?” he said, his voice a low hiss.

“Excuse me?” Chisaki rose a brow.

“To this girl, what are you doing to this girl?” he glared up at him. “She’s got bandages all over…she’s terrified. What are you doing to her?”

               “She’s my daughter, she’s rather clumsy and has a bad habit of running away,” the man said without missing a beat.

“Is that so?” Izuku responded flatly.

“Hey, well, kids can be a handful, huh?” Mirio laughed it off. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

Izuku felt a pang of rage, both at Mirio for how he was handling the situation and for the villain in front of him.

“Well now…this is embarrassing,” Chisaki said with a shrug. “All right, why don’t we discuss this somewhere private, huh?”

The man turned and began walking down the alley.

               Izuku nearly snatched the girl up and dashed away right there but instead began to follow the man with Mirio beside him. They had barely gotten away from the main road when the Yakuza began to pull off a glove-

Eri wriggled out of his grip, falling onto the ground with a soft thud and then ran after the man.

Izuku went to pursue but Mirio grabbed his arm, shaking his head.

Izuku watched the girl disappear down the alley.

               “You made me let her go!” he snapped.

It had barely been a few days when Nighteye held the briefing, going over what they had found out about the villain Overhaul and his plans. The pros and his classmates that had assembled sat through the meeting, told about the quirk-repressing bullets, about what they had found in them, about how Overhaul was using his daughter’s body to make them. Izuku had barely been able to keep silent during the briefing and once they had exited, Mirio went to say something to him. Izuku wasn’t sure what he had been going to say, he hadn’t given him the chance.

               “Midoriya-“ Mirio began.

“I had her! I had her right in my arms and you made me let her go! You made me watch her leave!”

“I know that!” Mirio snapped back at him. “Of course I know that! I didn’t- I didn’t know what he was doing with her, but I had to keep to the mission! We couldn’t risk- we needed him to get away so we could-“

“I know why!” Izuku snapped, glowering down at him. “But we- if we hadn’t-“

He began to tremble, forcing himself to take deep breathes.

“I had her,” he choked out a sob. “I had her right there…”

               “Midoriya,” Aizawa spoke up. “We understand how you must feel but-“

“No! No you don’t!” he snapped, glaring at his teacher. “None of you know what that feels like! None of you know what she’s going through! To be some plaything for your so-called father-!”

Izuku cut himself off, covering his mouth. The boy had turned frightfully pale and looked like he was going to throw up. His fellow classmates, Mirio, and Aizawa fell silent.

“Midoriya, maybe you shouldn’t be on this mission.” Aizawa said flatly. “You’re emotionally compromised.”

“No. That’s why I have to,” Izuku said, his eyes downcast. “I have to save her, because I know what it’s like.”

“It’ll do her no good if you’re too emotional to be rational,” Aizawa pressed. “If you’re going to do this, you need to have your head on straight. Do you understand?”

               “…I do,” Izuku nodded slowly, glancing aside. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey man, we’re all kinda emotional right now,” Kirishima chuckled awkwardly. “Better to get it out now than later, right?”

“Just take some time to calm down, okay?” Mirio said. “We’ll definitely save her.”

Izuku nodded slowly.

“Yeah.” He paused. “I’m sorry, Mirio, I shouldn’t have said all that to you. I- I know you feel just as bad about it. I was wrong to take it out on you.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Mirio smiled. “We’re a team, sometimes that happens, but the important part is we pull through it together, right?”

He really did remind him of All Might; maybe Nighteye was right? Mirio kept a cool head and an upbeat presence, maybe…maybe he would be better with One For All.

“Right,” he said, ignoring the thought for then. “Thanks, Mirio.”

               Back at the dorms he lay awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Aizawa was right, he couldn’t let his emotions control him, not if he wanted to actually help. For her sake, he had to be calm, he had to think rationally. Even so, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, couldn’t stop wondering what she was going through right now, what was happening to her because he hadn’t just taken her right there. He sighed, sitting up and looking out the window. He liked having a window, just that little thing made it so much better than that dark, musty dungeon. She probably didn’t have one, he thought, they probably didn’t want to give her any other options for escape, especially now.

               He got up and changed into his gym clothes, there was no way he was going to be able to sleep now, so he might as well get a jog in. He made his way around campus trying to focus on the movement of his body instead of the clamor of thoughts in his head. The sun began to peek up over the horizon after a couple hours and he finally stopped, breathing hard as he looked up over the trees.

“Kid?”

               He looked back the direction he had been running, where All Might, wearing a tracksuit, had just rounded the corner.

“All Might?” he blinked. “What are you doing out this early?”

“Trying to keep healthy,” the man chuckled a bit, pausing when he made it up to him. “I may not be able to fight anymore but Recovery Girl says I need to stay active.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

“…Kid?”

“Hm?”

“You look troubled by something.”

               Izuku frowned.

“Just…having a difficult time with the work study, honestly.”

“Oh? Nighteye’s not giving you trouble, is he?” All Might mirrored the frown.

“No, just- just…hey, have you ever…have you ever regretted something you did? As a pro?”

“What kind of question is that?” All Might smirked bitterly. “Every pro has, kid, no one’s perfect, we’ve all made our share of mistakes.”

“How do you deal with it?”

“…You try to learn from it and move on, it’s all you can do.” The man sighed. “No matter how powerful a pro is, they’re only human, we all are, there’s limits to what we can do. Accepting that is hard, but it’s a truth we need to.”

               Izuku said nothing, looking at him and then back over the horizon.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will, you always do,” All Might smiled. “That’s just who you are.”

“Thanks, All Might…” he hesitantly returned it.

Who he was, he liked how that sounded, Nighteye had made it seem like he knew ‘who he was’, but All Might’s opinion meant much more to him. It was nice that was what his mentor thought was really him.

Chapter Text

               “Just hold on to me, Eri,” he said.

He’d torn off his cape, using it to wrap the girl to his back as she clung on to him. Overhaul, having turned himself into a monster, mashed of different bodies, loomed down on them.

“She’ll reverse you down to nothing if you keep a hold of her,” Overhaul jeered. “I’m the only one that can keep her power under control.”

It had been a hell of a day, being woken up in the dead of night to convene for the operation, the mission starting in the morning, and as the day went they had all been through ordeal after ordeal.

               Just getting into the place, someone’s quirk had made the building itself distort, leading to him having to slam through wall after wall until they found the Yakuza behind it. Then, on top of it all, they had run into Toga from the league, who apparently wasn’t there on her own. They got separated from comrade after comrade, Mirio had been beaten within an inch of his life, Aizawa taken, Nighteye probably dying right that moment…

Then on top of all that…

               “I did my research you know…” Overhaul loomed. “I know who you are…”

Izuku didn’t respond, bracing himself to jump out of the way with Eri. If she’d revert him to nothing, then he had to just keep creating damage in his body.

“All For One’s brat.”

He tensed.

“What, are you surprised? You think we wouldn’t know about him? About you?” the villain said, shambling closer. “We know he had you, we know what the league told us about you, we knew you were going to be a pain in the ass.”

Overhaul rose a giant arm, slamming it down toward them.

“But I’ll fix that right now!”

               Izuku leapt into the air, his teeth gritted from the strain of his body. The limbs of Overhaul’s amalgamation struck out at him and he did his best to dodge them mid-air, frantically thinking about how he was going to land. It’d be difficult to control his fall and dodge at the same time, especially with Eri to worry about. Maybe he could use One For All like All Might had, using the pressure from kicks to keep himself darting through the air-

Wait.

He…wasn’t falling.

His eyes widened at the realization, looking down beneath his feet and then up at Overhaul. He wasn’t falling, he’d jumped up so high in the air and now he was just…floating there.

Izuku grimaced, it was difficult to keep 100% even with Eri constantly reversing the damage. His eyes narrowed on Overhaul, or rather the behemoth he had become. The constant surge of One For All created sparks around him, from him, coming from his eyes. Eri clung to his back, trembling against him. He wasn’t sure how he was floating in the air like this, but he didn’t have time to question it. The villain before him lurched toward him. It seemed like he had no choice.

               He floated there, the sparks zapping around him, and he pulled one hand forward, extending the black whips from his fingertips.

“It’ll be all right Eri.” He said with a gentle smile. “I’m here for you.”

He turned back to his opponent and forced a smile, but for some reason, perhaps nerves, his face split into a full on grin, glaring death at Overhaul.

He would never forgive him.

Treating his own child, blood or not, like a means to an end, locking her up in some underground complex, torturing her as a means of compliance.

His grin split wider.

He was going to tear him apart!

               Overhaul had never seen All For One in person, but he had heard of him, so many things he had heard about him. The man was a monster, on par with All Might, an entity more than a person, a force to struggle against rather than a foe to beat. He had seen him on the news, during the fight with All Might, had seen the grin that stretched upon the villain’s face when his mask had been broken, had seen the power, the black tendrils that had formed from his fingers. Now, floating ominously in the air before him, he saw the same grin, the black tendrils stretched out from the hero’s fingers, that glint of pure rage in his eyes. He hardly looked ‘heroic’ at all, he looked more like a demon come to drag him down to hell.

Like father like son, he thought.

               Izuku shot the black whips out and wrapped them around one of Overhaul’s giant limbs. The villain jerked the limb forward, whipping Izuku back toward him while another giant hand reached forward to grab him and Eri both. That proved to be a mistake on his part, as Izuku simply pulled back with the other arm and slammed his fist into the limb, splattering it into a million tiny pieces.

In an instant he dove under the behemoth and slammed upward with a kick, knocking Overhaul straight into the air.

               Izuku wasted no time in jolting right back up after him while Overhaul reconstructed his body again, grasping out at them. Overhaul nearly wrapped a hand around them until that limb also was smashed into pieces. The young hero lashed out with the whips, successfully wrapping around the villain’s real torso that stuck out of the monster made of flesh. Izuku yanked the behemoth forward, grinning as his target came into range.

He slammed him straight down into the ground below.

               Izuku panted, floating there in the air. He adjusted himself and kicked off, hurling himself back onto land. He stumbled a bit when his feet hit the ground, looking up to try to spot Overhaul. Apparently Eri’s power had rewound him apart from his fellow Yakuza and Uraraka had restrained him. Good, it looked like it was over-

He choked.

Eri’s power increased, it was beginning to cause more pain faster than he could keep up with One for All. He tried not to panic but he couldn’t even focus on his breathing. Eri was screaming, he was panting-

And then everything went black.

               “That’s another one,” the white-haired man said. “Float.”

Another one? Wait, where was he? The blank space again…

“I’m not sure how many you’ll gain if you stay like this,” One for All said, frowning a bit. “The girl probably could’ve put you back to normal, if she had control of it.”

Did he mean Eri? Normal…normal felt so foreign at this point…would he ever be normal again?

Or was this his normal now?

“Ultimately it might not be your choice,” One for All said, as if reading his thoughts. “But you’ll be left with what to do with it. That’s the reality of it.”

He cracked a sad smirk.

“I wonder what you’ll become, either way.”

Everything went black again.

Chapter Text

               Izuku had a lot on his mind.

His fight with Overhaul, saving Eri, Nighteye’s death, offering One for All to Mirio…and on top of all that…

“So tell me when, exactly, you were going to speak up about having multiple quirks?”

Aizawa glowered down at him, All Might sweated nervously and Izuku sat there, uncomfortable.

“Aizawa…”

“You knew something about this, didn’t you?” Aizawa glared at All Might.

“Well- I mean- okay, I did, but-“

               “They already decided they’re going to keep quiet about this,” Aizawa interrupted. “But it doesn’t change the fact. You should have said something.”

“He did, Aizawa, I was the one that didn’t speak up about itt,” All Might frowned.

There was a moment of silence.

“Was it All for One? Did he give you those quirks?”

Izuku flinched, biting his lip and averting his eyes. He glanced up at All Might, pleading for some guidance, but the man wasn’t sure how to respond either. But to keep One for All a secret…

“Yes,” Izuku spoke up before All Might could. “He gave me the quirks.”

Aizawa frowned.

“….And you accepted them?”

Izuku frowned.

“No.”

He hadn’t accepted them, he hadn’t asked for them, he hadn’t been given a choice in the matter.

               “I see,” Aizawa sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I suppose it’s understandable why you didn’t bring it up, then. It doesn’t change things, though, you’ve got to keep it under wraps that you have multiple quirks.”

“I understand,” Izuku said, eyes downcast.

He quickly rose his gaze, looking back at his teacher.

“I won’t use them.” He said.

“Right, I bet you thought you wouldn’t use them during that fight with Overhaul either, huh?” his teacher sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know you’re going to want to use them, but you need to have some self-control, am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

               “While I have you,” he said. “There’s another matter we need to discuss.”

Izuku blinked.

“Eri wants to see you, you and Mirio both.”

“She does?”

“We’re making arrangements already, provided you want to see her.”

“Of course I do! Is she doing okay?!”

“Calm down, she’s unharmed physically, but the doctors don’t want her out and about in case her quirk acts up. They think it’s under control for now, her horn which seems to be the source of it has shrunk, it’s barely a bump now.”

               The man frowned.

“I’m sorry, Midoriya, but I don’t think we can rely on her to put you back to your real age,” he said. “She’s got no control, she might just kill you.”

“That’s not important.”

Aizawa blinked and All Might frowned.

“It’s…not?” Aizawa rose a brow.

“I mean- it is, but Eri is more important,” he corrected.

It was true, but it was odd he had jumped to that. He had thought about that earlier, hadn’t he? On whether or not this was ‘normal’ now… Was he really just used to it? Then again, if he’d been younger, weaker, would he have been able to win the fights he had? Would he have been able to save Kota, to save Eri? Was it better that he was stronger, so he could save more people?

Was it better this way?

Did he…want it this way?

               “Kid?” All Might frowned.

“I’m sorry,” he shook his head. “I was just…thinking.”

No, of course he wanted to go back to normal, he wanted to be able to hang out with his class, his friends without getting weird looks. Then again, Shoji put up with that, didn’t he? Maybe…well it’s not like he had a choice in the matter at the moment, anyway. He’d handle that when- and if- they had a solution. It was a very real possibility he wouldn’t get a choice to begin with…

“Well at any rate, you can return to the dorms for now,” Aizawa said. “We’ll get a hold of you when you can see Eri.”

Izuku nodded.

               He made his way back to the dorms, mulling over his strange thoughts. Of course he’d thought about what he would do if he couldn’t change back, but it never occurred to him to wonder what he wanted if he could. All Might didn’t flinch back from him anymore, but there was still his own reactions to his reflection-

He thought of All for One and winced, shaking his head.

No. Like he’d told himself a thousand times in that hell, this was his face, his body, not that monster’s. His. So…had he already accepted his new self, then?

               “Deku?”

He shook out of his daze, looking up down the hall.

Uraraka and Tsu, they looked like they’d been waiting for him.

“Hey...can we talk?”

“O- of course,” He nodded. “What is it?”

He knew what it was. They’d been present, they’d seen his fight with Overhaul.

“Ribbit, maybe we should talk in private.”

“Okay-…” he sighed, shaking his head. “Guys if this is about…the quirks, I really- I really don’t want to discuss it.”

“Oh,” Ochaco frowned. “Sorry…”

               “I know you’re curious and I’ll talk about it later, okay?” he frowned. “I just…I just can’t right now.”

“Well, ok, ribbit…”

“We were just wondering if you were okay,” Ochaco bit her lip. “Since…that happened, and we know where you were so…”

They thought All For One gave him the quirks too, then? That made sense…

“Thanks, guys, but I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just been…a lot.”

“May I pat you?” Tsu asked.

He blinked.

“Um…ok, I guess.”

He tensed only slightly when she patted his arm.

“Pat pat, have the comforts,” Tsu said.

“Yeah, pat pat,” Ochaco mimicked.

He chuckled, smiling gently.

“Thanks guys.”

               He went to leave but paused, something about their expressions, Uraraka’s in particular, stood out to him. Something was wrong, more than just questioning about his quirks. He frowned.

“Uraraka? Are you okay?”

The girl stared up at him a moment. They met gazes and the Uraraka’s eyes began to well up with tears.

“Uraraka-?!” he twitched. “What’s wrong?! Are you okay-?”

“I’m sorry,” the girl blurted, wiping at her eyes. “I’m so sorry- I just- you’re going through so much and I’m trying so hard to support you but you still end up trying to comfort ME? I’m so sorry, I’m sorry I’m so weak I- I-“

“Ochaco…” Tsu frowned.

               “What’s going on? Uraraka, it’s okay, tell me what’s wrong,” he said.

The girl wiped her eyes, looking up at him.

“I let Sir Nighteye die,” she said, trembling. “I had him right there- if I had been faster, maybe he would still be alive. I let him die.”

“Uraraka, no…” he frowned. “That…that wasn’t your fault. Somethings are just…”

He thought of All Might.

“We’re only human no matter how strong we are,” he said, mimicking his mentor. “I know that doesn’t help much, but it’s something we need to accept. That’s not your fault.”

               The girl responded by covering her face with her hands, stifling sobs.

He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, the brunette blinking and looking up at him.

“You’re not weak,” he cracked a little smile. “I’ve been feeling weak a lot lately, so I know it doesn’t make it go away just to hear that, but I really believe you’re strong, Uraraka. Just…know I’m here for you, okay?”

“Oh, Deku…” she smiled sadly, glancing aside. “…Thanks.”

Izuku smiled, and Ochaco couldn’t help but wonder when he’d gotten so mature…

               It was only a couple days before he got to see Eri, eagerly rushing to the girl’s side. He was so worried about her; she was all he could think about the last couple days. That was saying something, given all the things that had been on his mind the last few months-

Months. It had been months. Surreal…

               He arrived at the hospital with Aizawa, being led to her room in the hospital.

“Where’s Mirio?” he asked.

“He’s on his way, he’s been delayed,” Aizawa explained. “I’ll bring him in when he gets here.”

Izuku nodded, led through the hospital halls. It didn’t take them long to find Eri’s room and Izuku smiled in relief upon seeing the girl, making his way in.

“Mr. Deku?” she blinked up at him.

               “Yeah,” He smiled gently, sitting down on the chair next to her bed. “I came to see you. Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah…” the girl said quietly.

Izuku frowned, it was to be expected, he knew- he knew better than anyone- but she was still upset, quiet, troubled. The sat there in silence for a little bit and Izuku sighed, forcing a gentle smile.

               “Hey…I…I understand, a little,” He frowned. “My…my ‘father’ did bad things to me, too.”

Eri blinked looking up at him.

“He did, Mr. Deku?” her voice was so quiet, so flimsy…

“Yes, he did,” he frowned, then forced the smile again, trying to comfort her. “But we’re here for you now, okay? They were here for me too.”

Eri frowned.

“Are all …dads bad?”

He blinked.

               “What?”

“Yours was bad and mine was bad, are they all bad?”

Izuku shook his head, thinking of All Might.

“No, they’re not,” his smile softened, more genuine. “I have a new dad now, a good one, he’s kind, and cares about me, and tries to teach me things and protect me.”

Eri blinked up at him.

“You can have new dads?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Anyone who’s like that, who cares about you.”

Eri was silent a moment, biting her little lip. Izuku hesitated, and they sat in silence.

               “Mirio is here,” Aizawa spoke up, looking at his phone. “I’ll go get him, can you stay with her just a moment?”

“Uh- sure,” Izuku nodded.

Aizawa responded with a nod of his own and left the room, leaving him with Eri.

“Mr. Deku?” she spoke up.

“Hm? Yes, what is it Eri?” he asked gently.

“Can I have a new dad?”

“I’m sure you can,” he smiled softly. “Everyone will help you find a-“

“Will you be my dad?”

Izuku flinched, staring at her, his mouth slightly agape.

               Eri looked up at him with her wide, teary eyes. Sad, tired, hopeful, scared…desperate.

“I- Eri I’m not-“

Her face fell, it was the most heartbreaking thing he’d ever seen.

“Eri…”

“Okay…” she said softly, letting out a small sniffle.

“Okay.” He blurted.

“What?” she wiped her eyes, looking back up at him.

What was he doing? What was he thinking? He berated himself but smiled gently, slowly patting her head.

“You can call me dad.”

Chapter Text

               “You told her WHAT?”

Izuku winced. When Aizawa and Mirio had returned, Eri had told them what he said, claiming he was her ‘new dad’ now. Aizawa and Mirio hadn’t said anything about it in front of her, but Aizawa had pulled Izuku outside, leaving Mirio in there with the girl.

“I…” Izuku frowned. “She- she was saying she wanted a ‘new dad’ and then she asked me if I would be and I just…”

“You told her yes,” Aizawa scowled. “Midoriya, you’re nobody’s father. You’re just a kid yourself-“

“Well, I’m not anymore.”

Aizawa stared at him.

               “Are you kidding?” he stared, he didn’t even muster a scowl. “Midoriya have you lost your mind?”

“I- “

“You’re not an adult and you can’t take care of a child.”

“I…look, she thinks a dad is someone that cares about you and protects you,” Izuku said. “She just wants someone who can do that, I can do that, she just wants to call me that.”

“And what are you going to tell her when you’re back to normal?”

“I’m probably not gonna be ‘back to normal’ anyway!” he snapped. “It’s been months! No one’s found the guy and no one’s found a way to undo it!”

“Midoriya…” Aizawa sighed, rubbing his face.

               “I-…” Izuku frowned. “I just couldn’t say no to her, I just…”

He thought back to Kamino ward, when All Might had saved him and rushed over, how he had clung to the man and called him ‘dad’.

“She needs this, right now, she needs someone,” he said, glancing aside. “I’m just trying to be that someone for her.”

Aizawa scowled.

“I hope you realize what you’ve done, Midoriya, I really hope you do.”

Izuku felt a twinge of anger. Subconsciously he drew himself up, glaring down at his teacher with an expression of displeasure, not realizing he was channeling some of his ‘lessons’ from All For One.

“I think we’re done here.” He said flatly, turning on heel and heading back into the room.

Aizawa frowned after him.

               Izuku went back in and sat beside Mirio, smiling at Eri. Eri looked back at him, quietly munching on a peach that Mirio had brought for her. Izuku’s smile fell, the girl had earlier told them that she didn’t know if she could smile anymore. It broke his heart, but what could he do for her? They hadn’t really saved her, not yet. There had to be something they could do to help her…

Then, it hit him.

               “Mr. Aizawa,” he got up, looking at his teacher as he entered.

“Hm?”

“Can Eri come to the school festival?”

Aizawa blinked.

“That’s a great idea!” Mirio grinned.

“Festival…?” Eri blinked.

“Yeah! A festival is a lot of fun! There’ll be games, shows, and great food! They even have candy apples!” Mirio told her.

“Candy…apples?”

“It’s like a normal apple but even sweeter!”

“Even…sweeter?” the girl gaped.

Izuku vowed that second, hell or highwater, that he was going to get that girl a candy apple.

               The school festival planning itself was…stressful. It was stressful just for what it was, but…

“Should I even be involved?” Izuku frowned. “I mean- I can’t play an instrument and there’s no way I’m joining the dance team- no offense, Ashido, but I’m definitely not comfortable with that right now, I get enough stares as it is lately…”

“Don’t be silly, Midoriya!” Ashido grinned. “You’re part of the class, and it’s not like it’s a secret to everyone on campus these days!”

“Not to mention you’ll totally bring some girls in to our show!” Hagakure giggled.

“Why would I…?” Izuku blinked.

               “DUDE! You HAVE to do it, Midoriya!” Kaminari leaned on him, throwing an arm around his…well attempting to throw an arm around his shoulders. “If not for your sake then for ours! I’m begging ya!”

He was completely lost.

“Eri’s coming, isn’t she?” Tsu ribbited. “I’m sure she’d like to see you.”

“Well…” he flushed, hanging his head.

Would it make her happy? She still hadn’t smiled, and he’d been going to see her every chance he had.

“I guess I’ll…ok, I’ll do it.”

He wasn’t even sure if he could manage it, but he’d at least try.

               So the next morning, a Saturday, he found himself outside with the rest of the dance crew with Ashido lecturing them relentlessly.

“Midoriya! You’re too stiff! Try not to be so rigid!”

“R- right, sorry!”

Could she really blame him for being stiff when he wasn’t even completely used to his body? He’d gotten a lot better, sure, but it was awkward to try completely new movements.

That and he kept bumping into people.

               He spotted a head of blonde hair hiding behind a bush.

“Oh- hey, it’s Togata!” he blinked.

Mirio pouted, but performed his ‘peach’ gag anyway, which was largely overlooked by the appearance of Eri.

“Eri!” the group for the Overhaul operation rushed over.

“Oh hey! I never got properly introduced!” Kirishima smiled. “I’m Kirishima!”

“It’s good to see you, Eri!” Uraraka smiled, Tsu nodding in agreement.

“Eri-“ Izuku began, smiling.

“Hi…Dad,” she said quietly, looking up at him.

He tensed a bit, the other three slowly looking up at him. Izuku quickly continued the conversation.

               “Hey, Eri,” he smiled, patting her head. “It’s good to see you, that dress is cute, did Mr. Aizawa get it for you?”

“He got it but he sure didn’t pick it out! You should’ve seen the monstrosity he tried to pick, hah hah!” Mirio laughed. “It was nothing but cats and glitter!”

“There’s nothing wrong with cats,” Aizawa said flatly, annoyed.

Izuku chuckled, pulling himself back up.

“Anyway!” Mirio chirped. “We came to give Eri a tour around the school!”

“Nezu thinks it’s best she see it for herself before the festival, that way she doesn’t get overwhelmed,” Aizawa explained in his usual deadpan. “You’re coming too, Midoriya.”

“All right,” he nodded. “Sounds good.”

“It’ll be fun!” Mirio added.

               He made his goodbyes to the rest of the group and headed off with Mirio and Eri, the girl gripping onto the straps of her little backpack, tense. It made sense, really, all this newness had to be pretty scary, but hopefully showing her around would help calm her nerves.

“We’re going to check out the festival grounds, first!” Mirio said. “We’ll get to see all the different things people are getting ready!”

“Okay…” Eri nodded.

He envied Mirio, he was always so upbeat. He’d lost his Master, lost his quirk, potentially lost the dream he’d been working so hard for all his life and yet here he was, bright as ever, doing so much to help Eri… He could learn some things form him, Izuku thought, it had been so hard for him to feel upbeat since…everything.

               The made their way onto the grounds, the whole place was bustling with activity, students rushing about working on this and that. The energy was infectious and he hoped it would help Eri-

The girl wrapped her hand around his fingers.

He blinked, looking down at her. The girl drew closer to him, looking up at him with her big red eyes.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Mirio smiled, patting her on the head. “Don’t be scared, we’re here with you.”

The girl hesitated and then grabbed his hand too.

“Let’s show her around, yeah?” Mirio grinned.

Izuku smiled and nodded. Eri was apprehensive, but between him and Mirio they’d manage to help her. Right?

Chapter Text

               “Well, Eri? What did you think?”

The girl sat at the table, slurping her juice box.

“I don’t know,” she said.

She paused.

“I guess I do want to see how it all turns out,” she added. “Everyone’s working so hard…”

Izuku and Mirio exchanged a smile.

               “Dad?”

“Yes, Eri?” Izuku said without missing a beat.

“Are you going to go?”

“He’s not just going to go! He’s gonna perform!” Mirio grinned. “His class is doing a concert, you’re dancing, right, Midoriya?”

“Er, yeah,” he smiled. “I’m working hard on it.”

“You’re gonna dance?” Eri looked up at him with wide eyes. “Can I watch you?”

“Of course!” he beamed, ruffling her hair. “I’ll do my best, so I hope you have fun.”

               “Well, it’s been fun, but it’s time we got you back, Eri,” Mirio said. “We don’t want anyone worrying about you.”

“Okay,” Eri said.

She pushed back from the table, hopping off the chair. Izuku and Mirio both did the same, readying themselves to leave. Eri looked up at them and reached her hands up expectantly. They both took a little hand, leading her out of the room.

               “I’ll take her back,” Aizawa said, suddenly appearing in the room. “You two have other things to do, don’t you?”

“Oh! Hey, Mr. Aizawa!” Mirio waved. “You sure you’re okay taking her by yourself?”

Aizawa nodded.

“Well okay! Go on, Eri,” Mirio smiled down at her, letting go of her hand. “We’ll see you soon, okay-? Uhm…”

Once Mirio had let go of her hand the girl clasped both of hers around Izuku’s fingers, sticking close to his side.

“Eri?” Izuku frowned. “It’s okay, Mr. Aizawa-“

               “I don’t want to go yet,” she said, pressing against the side of his leg. “I want to stay with you.”

Aizawa shot Izuku a glare that seemed to say ‘look what you’ve done’, but said nothing himself. Izuku frowned but turned his attention back to the girl clinging to his hand.

“Eri,” he said, smiling gently. “I’ll see you again soon, okay? Mr. Aizawa is going to stay with you, isn’t he nice?”

“…Yes,” she mumbled. “He’s nice.”

“See? Nothing to worry about,” he ruffled her hair. “I promise I’ll see you soon.”

The girl slowly let go of his hand, nodding and then running over to Aizawa’s side.

“I’ll make sure she gets back safely,” Aizawa said.

They left.

               Mirio’s face fell, glancing up at Izuku.

“Are you sure about this? I mean…you’re really a kid, too.”

“I could say the same to you,” Izuku looked at him. “You’re acting like she’s your kid, too.”

“I guess I am,” Mirio chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess…I guess after Sir died, I’ve been thinking a lot.”

Izuku blinked, then frowned, wondering if he should press.

“Sir was a lot like a father to me, I realize,” Mirio smiled sadly, his eyes downcast. “So I guess we’re the same a bit, we both think we need to be that to her right now.”

“Togata…”

               “Hey, sorry, didn’t mean to get dark there,” Mirio smiled again. “But yeah, I guess I do understand what you’re doing. Just…it seems like you’ve been forgetting you’re not an adult, you know?”

Had he been doing that? Now that he thought about it, it seemed like that, didn’t it…?

“I guess…I guess so,” he frowned, rubbing his neck. “It’s just been…weird.”

“Yeah I guess I can’t say I understand what that’s like,” Mirio shrugged. “But…look, honestly, I’m worried. When you get back to normal, what are we going to tell her?”

Izuku furrowed his brow.

“…Midoriya?”

He didn’t answer.

“I guess it doesn’t matter either way,” Mirio smiled gently. “Even if you get small again, I’m sure she’ll always be happy to see you.”

Izuku blinked, looking at him.

Yeah…maybe it didn’t matter either way.

               “What’s the matter, kid?”

Izuku sighed, placing the tea down on the table. All Might frowned at him, clearly concerned.

“I told Eri I’d be on the dance team, but they need me on special effects instead,” he said. “I mean, I should be able to do that a little bit at first, so I guess she’ll still see me, but I still feel kinda bad.”

“I’m sure it’ll work out,” the man smiled gently. “She’ll be happy as long as she sees you, I imagine.”

“I hope so,” Izuku returned the smile. “I really want to make her happy.”

His smile fell.

               “Kid?”

“Do you think I’m…that I’ve…changed? I mean yeah I’ve changed, of course,” he mumbled. “But like, not physically? I’ve just been having a lot of weird thoughts lately, and people keep commenting that I’m...”

“Honestly, yes, you’ve changed,” All Might said.

Izuku winced.

“It’d be impossible to stay the same, with all that’s happened,” the man said. “It’d be stranger if you hadn’t changed.”

“I…I catch myself, sometimes,” he mumbled, his head lowered. “Doing stuff…like he taught me to do.”

All Might said nothing.

“And then with Kacchan, and Eri, I don’t…we’re all kids, I know that, but I don’t feel like I am.”

               “I really don’t know what to tell you, but…well, you’re still a kid to me,” All Might chuckled awkwardly. “But I guess even if you were really an adult, you’d still be ‘kid’ to me.”

Izuku smiled weakly.

“That…that helps, weirdly.” He nodded. “Thanks.”

“You’ll always be you, no one’s the same as time goes, you know,” he said. “Yeah you’re different, but everyone is different, even day to day. So…all you gotta do is try to be more like what you want to be, but that’s the same for everyone. So don’t stress it, kid, you’re still a good kid and you always will be. I know it.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Chapter Text

                              Izuku smiled, leaving the store with his required items. He still had time to get back to UA before the concert, so he’d best hurry up and go. He mulled that over to himself but apparently hadn’t been paying attention as he ran into a tall man and a short woman whom had just left the adjacent building.

“Oh- sorry about that,” he bowed his head.

“Quite all right,” the man said.

They were both covered up, it was rather suspicious…he eyed them and then heard the man mutter something about ‘gold tips imperial’ to the woman.

               “Oh, the tea?” he said without thinking, looking back at the building. “That must be a café then.”

The man turned on heel.

“Well! It’s so nice to find another connoisseur of fine refreshment! It’s a pleasure to meet you, good sir, perhaps we should convene for tea sometime?”

“Er, that’d be nice,” he smiled gently. “But I’m kind of busy right now and-….”

               The wheels in his head started turning. Wait…

Gold tips imperial? The video about Gentle Criminal and…

Oh.

His eyes narrowed.

“So what exactly are you planning to do with my school?” he said curtly, his voice cold.

“Your…school? Excuse me? Aren’t you a little old for school?”

Izuku calmly set down his bags.

               Great, now he had to get more rope, he thought. He had used what he had to tie up the unconscious would-be intruders and dropped them on the steps of a nearby police station. The elasticity thing had been a little annoying, so had that woman’s quirk she used to help Gentle, but as much as he had powered up with the quirk it still hadn’t been much compared to 40%. He had made short work of them. Now he had to grab more rope and make it back with the others, then after the performance he had to get that candy apple ready for Eri….

               He mulled over his plans as he ran off, briefly wondering what Gentle and La Brava had been trying to accomplish. Oh well, couldn’t have been that important, they didn’t seem too competent, really.

Or maybe they were and he just was too much for them? Huh.

Not important.

Now he just had to get back to UA and get changed. He wondered if Mirio had already been showing Eri around.

               He arrived with more than enough time to spare, quickly preparing for the act. He felt incredibly awkward when he first got on stage with the others, but was encouraged by his friends’ supportive smiles. During the show itself, he scanned the crowd, trying to find Mirio and Eri. He smiled when he saw them and kept his eyes on them even when he left the stage to help with the effects. He didn’t get to see them well from up in the rafters, but it seemed like the whole thing had been a hit, given by the cheers.

               As soon as it was over he found Mirio and Eri.

And his heart almost burst.

“Dad! Dad!” she jumped up and down, waving, a huge smile plastered on her face. “It was so good! It was so good! Everyone was dancing and singing and you were dancing- and then you went away for a bit…but then there were sparkles and- and-!”

She continued on like that, bouncing on her heels and Izuku stared at her, silent.

“Yeah, she really had fun!” Mirio smiled. “Isn’t it great?”

Izuku beamed, his eyes tearing up.

“I’m so glad! I’m so glad you had fun!”

               “Yeah!” Eri chirped. “And Mr. Mirio says there’s a lot of other fun stuff, too! I want to see the fun stuff! You’ll come, right?!”

“Oh…I gotta help clean up, Eri-“

“But…” her smile faltered.

“Hey, Deku, don’t worry about it,” Ochaco smiled, passing by him with a chunk of ice. “You go spend time with them, we got it.”

“Yeah man, don’t sweat it!” Kirishima grinned. “You can make up for it some other time!”

“Are you sure…?”

“Oh shut up and get lost, nerd!” Bakugo shouted from the side.

Even Kacchan? He smiled gently. Even Kacchan was trying to be supportive…

“Okay, thanks guys,” He nodded. “Come on, Eri, let’s go.”

               She rose her arms up to him, he blinked, perplexed.

“Mr. Mirio carried me on his shoulder,” she said, expectant.

Izuku chuckled, scooping her up and placing her there on his own shoulder.

“There, good?”

“Wow! So high!” she gaped, looking down. “Don’t drop me!”

“Never,” he smiled.

               He and Mirio took her around, showing her all the stands, taking her to the shows and demonstrations. Eri happily babbled the entire time, except when her face was stuffed with sweets. He kept in mind the other task he needed to accomplish, but figured he could spend some time with them first. Though there was something else on his mind…

“Dad?” Eri said on his shoulder, frowning. “You look…sad.”

“Hm? Oh, no I’m not,” he said gently. “I was just thinking-…Eri…what if…later, I look different?”

“Different?” she blinked.

“Yeah, like…if I um- shrink,” he said awkwardly. “Would that upset you?”

“If you shrank?” the girl seemed confused.

“If he becomes a kid,” Mirio said. “That’s what he means.”

               “A…kid?” Eri tilted her head. “Why would that make me sad?”

“It wouldn’t bother you?”

She shook her head.

“Uh-uh,” she said. “You’d be Dad still right?”

Izuku frowned.

“Eri…maybe-…look, maybe you shouldn’t call me that any-“

A look of utmost heartbreak splayed across her face.

               “Eri- wait, no, that’s not what I mean.” Izuku said hurriedly. “I’ll still spend time you, I’ll still be there for you, just…maybe you should call me Mr. Deku, yeah? Like with Mirio and Aizawa.”

“What he’s trying to say, Eri,” Mirio said. “Is that no matter what you call him, he’ll be doing the same things. So maybe call him Mr. Deku too, huh?”

Eri frowned.

“You’ll still be there, right? Like Mr. Mirio and Mr. Aizawa are, I’d just call you Mr. Deku, right?”

Mirio smiled with a nod.

“Yeah, exactly, Eri,” he ruffled her hair.

“Okay…I’ll call you Mr. Deku, okay?” she said, looking at Izuku.

He smiled.

“Yeah.”

               Wait, what time was it?

“Oh sh- Mirio, can you watch her for a bit? There’s something I need to get done.”

“Huh? Of course,” Mirio nodded, gently taking Eri from him.

“D- Mr. Deku?” she blinked up at him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” he patted her head. “I just gotta do something first.”

Eri nodded and Mirio exchanged an understanding look, Izuku saying his goodbyes before dashing off.

               With Sato’s help it didn’t take him long to finish his task and he was quite pleased with the red candy apple they’d created.

“Thanks, Sato,” he smiled. “I’m sure Eri will love this.”

“No problem, man.”

He hurried off back to the festival grounds. It was getting a bit late, maybe he should text Mirio to meet him at the entrance? He paused, pulling out his phone and sending said message before continuing on his way.

               “Deku?”

To his surprise, Ochaco met him on the path.

“Oh, hi, Uraraka,” he said. “Sorry I don’t really have time to talk, I’m in hurry-“

“Are you not going to change back?”

He paused.

“…What?” he frowned.

“I’m sorry, I guess really it’s none of my business,” the girl frowned, wringing her hands. “Just…Eri’s calling you ‘dad’ now, isn’t she? And I keep seeing you with her…”

A shaky smile cracked her face.

“You…do really look like a ‘dad’, like this. It’s sweet, really, but…I…” she frowned again. “I can’t help but think maybe…maybe you want to stay like this?”

               Izuku fell silent, hesitating. What was he supposed to say to that?

“I mean-,” she took a deep breath. “Like I said I guess it’s not my business, it’s not my life. You’ll always be Deku and I’ll support you either way. Just…I…”

She fidgeted with her skirt.

“I…” her face flushed lightly.

“Uraraka?”

She shook her head and then forced a smile, looking up at him.

“I’m sorry, I’m keeping you, aren’t I?” she moved aside. “Go on.”

“Uraraka…”

“Hurry up, go on,” she waved him on. “Eri’s gonna be leaving soon, right?”

               Not knowing what else to say, he nodded, waving awkwardly back at her as he left. The girl waved back at him and he left her there alone on the path.

He mulled over what she said as he went. It was nothing he hadn’t been asking himself lately, after all. He still flinched at his reflection, but his past affirmations always came back to him, the mantra he’d always recite to himself back when All For One had him. Not All For One’s, his body, his face, his life. This body was his, regardless of the age, and thinking that to himself had been a means of coping with it. Did that mean he accepted this as him, now? It was debatable, really, he wasn’t sure himself…

But he’d think about it later.

               “There you are,” Mirio smiled. “Hey, Midoriya!”

“We were about to leave,” Aizawa said. “Hurry up and do what you have to do.”

Izuku nodded, keeping the candy apple behind his back as he approached Eri.

“Mr. Deku?” she blinked up at him.

Aizawa made a slight face, but said nothing, glancing at Izuku with the slightest nod of approval. Izuku knelt down in front of her, pulling out the candy apple with a smile.

“Here! For you!”

“Wh-!? Where did you find one?!” Mirio gaped. “I looked all over!”

“Sato helped me make it,” he said as Eri took the apple. “I knew there weren’t going to be any at the festival, so…”

Eri chomped into the apple, making a face even sweeter than the treat.

“Thank you, Mr. Deku!” she chirped.

Izuku smiled.

Well, whatever happened, he knew he’d still do his best to be there for her.

Chapter Text

               He was quiet.

All Might fidgeted from across the table, frowning. Izuku had said nothing, staring into his tea with a frown plastered on his face.

“Kid? You’re starting to freak me out a little, what’s wrong?”

Izuku hesitated, glancing up at him and then away, biting his lip.

“All Might…have they made any progress? I mean, about me?”

All Might frowned.

“Sorry, kid, no.”

“I see.”

Another uncomfortable silence.

               “I want to talk to him.”

All Might blinked, then frowned.

“Kid? Talk to who-?”

“Him.” He said, locking eyes with All Might. “I want to talk to him.”

The color bled out of All Might’s face.

“What? Why?”

               “I’ve been thinking a lot lately,” Izuku frowned. “About how I am now, and whether or not I’ve accepted it. On one hand, it’s caused a ton of problems and…some…horrible things, like when he had me, and the things he said. On the other, it’s made me strong, I’ve helped save people like this, and…and honestly, at this point, it almost feels normal. I see myself and I think of him, but then I think how it’s me, only me, but that means…this is me, you know? How I am now, this is me now. So I’m…I’m just not sure, I’m really not.”

“I…I see,” All Might frowned. “But what does talking to him have to do with this?”

“I don’t know, I just feel like…” he hesitated. “I feel like my biggest conflict over this stems from him, both for what looking like him has done to me and for what he’s done to me forcing me to accept myself. I…I guess I need closure, I feel like if I face him, I’ll be able to figure out what I want.”

All Might frowned.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“…I’ll see what I can do.”

               He stepped through the hollow halls with the guard escorting him, unnerved by the place. It was literally a prison, this time, but it didn’t feel too different than where All For One had had him. After what felt like forever they led him to a door, gesturing for him to go on ahead. Izuku frowned, thanked the guard and turned to the door.

He thought back to entering the door to that room, how he tensed, how his heart pounded, how his body trembled. He took a deep breath much like back then and entered the room.

               He saw the grin before her processed anything else but stubbornly walked in, taking the seat on the other side of the glass. He glowered at the man, his posture stiff, his expression stoic.

“Ah, looks like some of my lessons stuck, hm?”

Izuku twitched but responded by intensifying his glare.

“You know, those clothes really don’t suit you.” The man tsked.

“They suit me perfectly,” he said flatly. “And I didn’t come here to discuss clothes.”

“I figured as much, well then? What did you want to discuss, hm, dear boy?”

               Izuku faltered a bit. He had been thinking and thinking, but he still wasn’t sure what he actually wanted to say. He just knew he had to come, knew he had to face him.

“You don’t even know? Hm, perhaps you should’ve planned a bit more.”

He steeled himself, glaring at the man.

“I’m not you.”

“Hm?” he smirked.

“You were trying to make me like you, I’m not you, and I’ll never be you.” He reiterated.

“Your mannerisms say differently, boy.”

               “Even so,” he continued. “Even with what you’ve done to me, even with what I look like, I’m still Izuku Midoriya.”

“You sound like you’ve been thinking about this an awful lot, like you’ve had doubts.”

He fell silent.

“Yes, I’ve had doubts,” he admitted. “But I don’t anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.” He said. “It is.”

“Hm, gotten a bit more confident I see,” the villain smirked.

               “Don’t act like it’s something you did,” Izuku snapped.

“Isn’t it, though?”

“No. It’s not, because what you did doesn’t make people ‘better’, what you did just damages people,” he said. “I might be damaged but I’m not…I’m not weak.”

“Never said you were.”

“You didn’t have to say it,” Izuku scoffed.

“Are you sure you’re not just projecting a bit, hm?”

Izuku frowned.

               “…I spoke to your brother.”

All For One would’ve rose a brow, had he had one.

“Excuse me?”

“Your brother, the first,” Izuku said. “I haven’t talked to him much, but I have. He told me that I’m not weak because of what you did to me, he understood how hard it was. He’s been more family to me than you ever have or will be.”

All For One said nothing, a slight frown curling into his face.

“How…interesting…so did you come just to tell me that, then?”

               “I came to show you that you can’t control me,” Izuku said. “That I’m going to move on with my life, without you.”

“I don’t control you, hm? Then why was it so important to come see me at all?”

“I’m not going to let you mess with me,” he replied. “I came on my own, because I had something I needed to say, and I’ve said it.”

He took a deep breath, then got up from his chair.

“And now I’m done.”

“You can tell yourself whatever you want, Izuku, but we both know the truth.”

“Yeah,” Izuku said flatly, stubbornly glaring at him. “We do, don’t we?”

He turned toward the door, hearing the deep chuckle from behind him.

“You may be done with me, boy, but I’m not done with you.”

Izuku ignored him and headed out the door.

Chapter Text

               “And that’s what happened,” Izuku finished.

“Ah,” All Might frowned. “Wow, are you okay?”

He nodded.

“Yeah- or, I think I’m going to be, anyway.”

All Might smiled gently.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”

Izuku hesitantly returned the smile.

               “I...I think, I’ve figured it out.”

“Hm? Figured what out?”

“Me,” Izuku said. “I told All For One that no matter what, I’m Izuku Midoriya, and that’s true. Even if I’m stuck like this or even if I change back, it doesn’t matter, I’m still me. I’ll still be me and I’ll keep doing what I have to do, what I want to do.”

He smiled gently, staring into his tea.

“Yeah…either way, I’ll be fi- fine-“

His body seized up.

               “Young Midoriya-?”

Izuku choked, dropping the cup onto the floor.

“Kid!?”

It hurt! What was it?! The quirk- no, no this wasn’t the same, and by comparison it was a lot less painful, but painful enough. He hugged himself tightly, shaking, feeling an intense pressure from outside his body. Like something was crushing him from all sides, pushing down on him, compressing him-

He felt bones crunch, felt- felt-

               His eyes snapped open, panting heavily as he stared up at the ceiling. All Might hovered above him, concern and fear evident on his face.

“Kid? Are you all right?”

Izuku slowly pushed himself up, fumbling a bit. The uniform was too big-

Too….big…

He looked himself over, alarmed.

He was a teenager again.

               “Kid? Are you okay? Does it still hurt?” All Might asked.

“N- no, I’m fine,” he choked out.

His voice sounded just a bit too high, it was strange.

“I…I’m…” he swallowed. “It wore off?”

“Looks like it,” All Might nodded slowly.

“It wore off,” he chuckled a bit, shaking his head. “Wow…”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

               White brushed over his eyes and he pulled down a strand of hair. White again, he supposed the dye didn’t carry over, as odd as it was to put it that way. He stared at it a moment, frowning. All Might hesitated and then spoke up.

“No worries, kid, you can just dye it back-“

“No.”

“Hm?” All Might blinked, more confused than anything.

“No,” Izuku shook his head. “I…I’m fine with it. I don’t need to change it just because of what it might remind me of. It’s okay.”

The boy jolted a bit.

“Er- if it bothers you though I can still-“

               All Might ruffled his hair, cutting the boy off with a small smile.

“Been over this, kid, do what feels right for you, okay?”

Izuku smiled, looking up at him. It was kind of nice to look at him from that perspective again, oddly enough. He wasn’t quite sure why.

“…I’m so tired,” Izuku sighed, groaning a bit.

“I don’t blame you,” All Might chuckled weakly. “Still, let’s get you to Recovery Girl so she can make sure everything’s okay.”

“Right.”

               A few days had passed, oddly enough, while tiring, it hadn’t been too eventful at all. Nezu and Recovery Girl had given him the clear, he went right back to his old clothes, right back into the dorms. The only real thing of note for his change back were his quirks. He couldn’t seem to use as high a percentage, the blackwhips seemed harder to control and he couldn’t use float at all. He supposed that was to be expected, really.

               “Hey, Deku! Headed out?”

“Yeah, ribbit?”

Izuku smiled at the two girls. They had been a great help as well as source of comfort since that whole debacle had happened. He still couldn’t believe it, even know, when they had thrown themselves at All Might for his sake. If he hadn’t seen it himself, he wouldn’t have believed it.

“Yeah, I’m going to go see Eri.” He paused. “Hey, guys?

“Yeah?”

“Ribbit?”

               “Thank you,” he beamed, tearing up a little. “Thank you for everything, I really- you’ve really done a lot for me. You all have, but…I mean you two were with me from the beginning, and the whole thing with All Might was crazy-“

“Heck yeah it was, ribbit.”

“I still haven’t forgiven him,” Ochaco pouted, her arms crossed. “But…I guess he did save you after that, so I’ll try.”

Izuku chuckled lightly.

“Really…thank you.”

“Nor problem, ribbit,” Tsu croaked.

“We’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Ochaco beamed.

He knew they would, and it made him smile even more.

               So he head off, back into the school where he was supposed to meet up with Aizawa, Mirio and Eri….

               He seemed to have a thing nowadays of getting nervous before going through doors, he thought darkly to himself. He hesitated, reaching for the handle, apprehensive to what reaction awaited him inside. Just take a breath and go, just like always. He did so and entered the room.

               “Uhp! There he is!” Mirio chirped.

Eri looked up at him curiously, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Izuku shakily smiled, coming toward her.

“Hey…Eri.” He said.

“Mr. Deku?” she blinked. “Mr. Mirio was right, you got small…”

“Yeah,” he chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry- is that bad?”

Eri frowned.

“Can I still ride on your shoulders?”

“Yeah, I think I can still manage that,” he smiled gently.

“Okay!” she grinned.

Deku returned the grin, ruffling Eri’s hair in the same way All Might did for him.

Like father like son.