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Chapter Text

Someone finally brought it up months after Eri officially joined the Aizawa-Yamada household. It happened on a night were she was staying over for dinner in the 2-A dorms while Hitoshi, Shota, and Hizashi all ate in their family apartment. It’s Hitoshi who finally brought up the conversation.

“I think Eri likes Midoriya more than she likes us.” He whispered over his dinner as he pushed the food around on his plate, not really eating any of it. His eyes flickered up to his parents who have both stopped eating and he felt the familiar bubble of nerves hit his stomach. Immediately, he opened his mouth to backtrack, to somehow take away his comment, to tell them to ignore it, but before the words are able to come out, he sees Hizashi’s shoulders slump forward as if he’d been defeated by a great enemy.

“I thought I was the only one that noticed.” Hizashi told the group, and with that it’s like the tension had lifted and Hitoshi and Hizashi started exchanging stories about times they’ve been with Eri and she’s seen Midoriya and took off towards him, asked if he could join them, or even just asked if she could go see him without anyone else. It isn’t until multiple stories in that Shota spoke for the first time, clearing his throat to draw their attention to him.

“Problem Child was the first person Eri met that she could trust. She is still healing and that healing means being around people she trusts. It’s fine.” There was a certain edge to Shota’s voice that told Hitoshi and Hizashi both that the situation certainly wasn't fine and that he was just as upset as they were.

“But, Mirio was there too and she doesn’t act like this with him! She likes Mirio, but not like she likes Midoriya. I’d say Mirio is on our level, and none of us are close to Midoriya’s level.” Hizashi whined to Shota, defending all their hurt feelings.

“Maybe she has a crush on Midoriya.” Hitoshi said jokingly. His laugh only lasted for a second before both adults were staring wide-eyed at him and he realize that they found that to be a realistic possibility. “Guys, that’s not it, she’s only 8.” Hizashi’s eyes instantly started to water.

“What if she sees him as a FATHER FIGURE?” He exclaimed, accidently activating his quirk as he began crying.

“Why don’t we just ask her?” Shota said, clearly upset. His chopsticks were thrown on the plate before scooting his chair closer to Hizashi as the loud blonde man latched onto him like a koala.

With that, the conversation was placed on hold until they were able to do just as Shota suggested and ask Eri about the thing that was clearly bothering all of them.

It wasn’t until three nights later that they got a chance. Eri was sitting next to Hitoshi at the table, smiling and laughing as she told the other three about her day with Midoriya and his friends at the park. The other three occupants at the table were hanging on every word she said. All their lives and feelings wrapped tightly around the young girl's fingers without her even knowing it. When she had a lull in her stories, Shota glanced to Hizashi and Hitoshi seeing their encouraging nod before continuing.

“Eri, do you like it here?” He asked her lightly. Her smile started to fall and her head tilted to the side, showing her confusion.

“What do you mean?” She questioned him.

“I mean, the three of us love you very much, but we wanted to know if you wanted to be here with us or if there was another place you’d rather be.” Everyone slightly sat back, all in anticipation of her answer. Her giggle filled the room.

“Of course, there is nowhere else I’d rather be! You’re my family and I love you.” She told them as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. The group all let out a relieved sigh before smiling back at Eri. Hitoshi was the first to recover, remembering the original point of their conversation with her.

“How come you want to hang out with Midoriya more than us?” Eri immediately looked down at her food, her brows bunch together like she’s trying to find the right words to answer Hitoshi’s question.

“’Zuzu-” She began slowly before stopping, as if she knew they all needed a moment to recover their broken hearts at the cute nickname. “-‘Zuzu gets it. He makes it easier to not think about the bad things and to be happy. Like, how daddy needs naps, or papa like to be quiet sometimes, or how you want to be alone sometimes. I want to be around Zuzu.”

The trio was silent after Eri finished. They all completely understood what she was talking about. That need to recharge. It reminded them of how much she had gone through, and how she understood things that no normal 8 year old should ever have to understand. They all nodded to her, letting her know that they got it while they to recover enough to be able to form words.

“Is there something that he does that we can do, so that you can depend on us for that recharge feeling too?” Hizashi asked her, seemingly hopeful that there might be something they can do for her. She shook her head, not needing time to think about answer.

“We’re the same. It has to be him.” The words left her mouth with no hesitation, as if she was speaking a universal truth that all humans know upon birth. The confidence of her statement was almost enough to make the group accept it as a valid reason.

Almost.

“What do you mean, you’re the same?” Shota had a panicked look his eyes that Hizashi was mirroring. Hitoshi took a second longer before he understood their fear. Eri’s life pre-Midoriya had been a traumatic nightmare. Just the thought of his classmate having an understanding of what Eri went through made a feeling of ice jolt through Hitoshi’s veins.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Eri whispered out, pushing her plate away.

“Eri, we just want to understand. How are you and problem child the same?” Shota asked again, pushing the issue. Eri’s face contorted into an angry scowl that was reminiscent of Shota’s own scowl. Had it not been directed at him, a part of him would have been proud that she’d gained one of his expressions.

“I said no!” She screamed at them, pushing away from the table before running into her room. Everyone sat stunned and in silence. They’d never seen Eri get so upset. They’d never even seen Eri get mad before.

“What do we do now?” Hitoshi finally asked his parents. Shota still sat staring at Eri’s pushed back chair, not speaking.

“I think we give her time to cool down.” Hizashi finally answered. They continued to push their food around until finally accepting dinner was over. Shota snapped out of his trance and the three wordlessly cleaned up the table and dishes before putting the leftovers away.

They were almost done when Hitoshi’s phone started ringing. The contact's name showed Midoriya and his parents made a motion for him to answer it.

“Hello?” Hitoshi answered.

“Hey Shinsou! You wouldn’t happen to be with Aizawa-Sensei and Yamada-Sensei right now, would you?” Midoriya’s cheery voice came through the phone and Hitoshi nodded before flushing in embarrassment when he realized the green haired boy couldn’t see him. He quickly put the phone on speaker.

“Uh, you’re on speaker, they’re both here.” He said nervously, his hand rubbing against the back of his neck as he held the phone out.

“Wonderful! Thank you! Aizawa-Sensei, Yamada-Sensei, I just wanted to let you know that I have Eri. She was pretty upset when she ran into the dorms and said that she crawled out of her window and climbed down the fire escape. She’s eating dinner in my room right now. Do you want me to bring her home, someone come to get her, or do you want me to keep her for the night?” Hizashi gasped loudly, covering his mouth with his hands to stop anymore sound. Shock was only one of the emotions that was filling the groups hearts as Midoriya talked. He didn’t seem upset in the slightest of her being there.

“She what!?” Shota seethed, his tone a mixture of anger and terror.

“She got here about 15 minutes ago. She said she left at the beginning of dinner so I got her some curry, made sure she was safe and unhurt, and then called you.” Midoriya’s happy tone was beginning to dip into something different before he seemed to correct it.  “She’s okay. I’ll talk to her if you want.” He offered and that seemed to set Shota off in some way.

“I don’t need you to talk to her. She’s OUR daughter.” He said, gritting his teeth, and emphasizing as if he were sticking some sort of claim to the girl. Hizashi patted his arm, holding his tears back, trying to comfort his husband who he recognized was in pain.

Silence filled the other end of the phone and for long enough that Hitoshi tapped his phone screen, wondering if the call had been disconnected, but Midoriya’s contact name was still there and the call still showed in progress. The tension in Shota’s shoulders was slowly fading with the elongated silence.

“Do you have a problem with Eri coming to me?” Midoriya asked, finally responded. His voice had a slight edge to it, but still came through as somewhat light and friendly. Hizashi and Shota answered at the same time.

“No, of cou-“ Hizashi started, but was quickly cut off by Shota.

“Yes. We do. We’re her family, not you. She needs to know that she can rely on us but we can’t show her that when she’s constantly going to you.” Hitoshi and Hizashi both winced, hearing Shota say the concerns that the three of them shared aloud made them feel guilty. Even Shota uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth, wanting to pull the words he said back.

“I understand. I’ll have her back in 10 minutes.” Midoriya’s tone was more flat and harsh than any of them have ever heard before. It didn’t match the sunshine student that they’d all come to know. He hung up before anyone could say anything else.

Hizashi and Hitoshi both stared at Shota, waiting for him to say something, but he only lowed his eyes to the floor, glaring as if it had offended him personally. The air in the apartment felt heavier that it ever had before.

“Do you think we made a mistake?” Hizashi questioned, breaking the silence, and chewing nervously on his lower lip.

“It’s better that we do this now than wait until he graduates and then just walks out of her life.” Shota concluded.

“How are we going to figure out what Eri meant when she said they were the same?” Hitoshi whispered to his parents, trying to control the urge to cry at the whole situation. Hizashi’s and Shota’s panicked eyes snapped to meet his.

“I didn’t think about that.” Hizashi admitted. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and Shota leaned against the counter defeated.

“I’ll talk to Midoriya and ask him about it. I’ll do it after class tomorrow, just give everyone the night for things to settle." They all nodded their heads in agreement and slowly made their way to the living room to finish waiting on Eri.

Only a few minutes later, Eri burst in through the front door. She was sobbing into a stuffed elephant that Hitoshi recognized as Midoriya’s from the few times he’d been in the latter’s room. Hizashi ran over to Eri, opening his arms to offer her a hug. She started sobbing louder and took a step back away from him. Hizashi felt the rejection fill his heart with a clenching pain. Eri took in his hurt expression and looked down at the elephant in her arms before taking a deep breath and stepping forward again into Hizashi’s arms. Shota and Hitoshi joined the two quickly.

“Eri, how could you run away like that? You could have been hurt.” Shota scolded lightly. He reached over and brushed her hair out of her face. “You can’t do that again.”

“What’s got you so upset honey? You can talk to us. We can help you.” Hizashi rubbed her back as he spoke trying to calm her tears down. Eri shook her head, not answering.

“Let’s watch a movie, that always makes you feel better.” Hitoshi offered. Their parents both nodded to her.

“Yeah, let’s watch a Disney movie.” Hizashi picked Eri up, bringing her to the couch.

A Disney princess movie was played as Eri held onto the stuffed elephant and continued to cry. The three men were silent, all watching Eri out of the corner of their eye. Around halfway through the movie she slumped against the back of the couch, having cried herself to sleep and the trio looked to her with broken hearts before sending glances to each other. They all hoped that everything would be better in the morning, but the heaviness that remained in the apartment made them all know that it wouldn’t happen.

The next day, the family returned to the apartment all together. Eri was still holding onto the stuffed elephant and the three men all looked a differently level of upset.

“I’ll start dinner, Eri honey, why don’t you go do your homework, I’ll call you when it’s ready.” Eri nodded her head and silently went to her room. The second she was out of earshot, Shota threw his capture weapon at the wall in anger.

“Problem child won’t talk to me.” He announced. His body falling into one of the kitchen chairs. “I called him after class and he gave me the bare minimum answer to everything. Didn’t even smile a single time. He barely even looked at me today.”

“He acted normal in English, but he didn’t come around me in halls either. He just kept his head down anytime he saw me. I tried to say hello, but he was gone before I could.” Hizashi sat down in another chair, easing into it much lighter than Shota had. Both looked to Hitoshi for his interactions with the student that day.

Midoriya and Hitoshi had been sort of friends since Hitoshi had transferred into the class the year prior. They weren’t especially close, as Hitoshi liked to be alone more than in a group and Midoriya tended to be surrounded by people at all times, but they talked and occasionally hung out when Midoriya wore him down enough.

“We only really got to talk at lunch. He asked if Eri was okay and then I asked what happened to make her so upset, he said it’s because he told her he had to keep his distance from her for a while. Then he apologized for always bothering me and trying to force his friendship on me and said he wasn’t going to anymore. Then he just, walked away. I didn’t even say anything. I didn’t know WHAT to say.” Hitoshi used his hoodie sleeve to wipe away the few tears falling from his eyes. “I feel like he gave up on me. Like we took Eri away and he is just punishing us.”

“If he wants to act so selfishly, then let him. If he decides to not be your friend anymore because of this then he wasn’t your friend in the first place. I never took him as someone who would do this, but frankly I’m disappointed. I’m not going to waste my energy being upset over someone who if actively trying to hurt my family.” Shota told them, hitting the table with his fist. His eyes glowed red and his hair levitated, his quirk activating with his anger.

“I don’t think that’s what’s happening. We don’t know any of this from Midoriya’s point of view. I think we really hurt his feelings yesterday.” Hizashi told them, trying to reason with his angry husband.

“If that were the case, then why ignore us and why stop being friends with Hitoshi? Why not just tell us how he feels?” Hizashi looked down at the table and away from Shota’s angry red eyes.

“He didn’t say he didn’t want to be your friend, he said he was going to stop forcing it. When I became friends with Shota, I felt like I was forcing my friendship on him for a long time. Like, he didn’t actually want me to be his friend and I thought about giving up once or twice. It wasn’t because I didn’t WANT to be his friend, but I just wanted to stop doing something he didn’t like. Maybe Midoriya feels the same way.” Hitoshi sat down at the table finally, sniffling occasionally into his hoodie. Shota’s quirk deactivated, but his glare continued. “And talking about your feelings to someone is hard. He’s still a kid too.” A pointed look was sent to Shota.

“Then what do I do?” Hitoshi asked.

“You have to let him know that you also want to be his friend.” Hitoshi gave a nod, showing that he heard Hizashi, but didn’t verbally respond. The thought of having to tell the green haired hero in training he wanted to be his friend left an acidic taste in his mouth. It reminded him of too many times he’d tried to be friends with kids growing up only to be made fun of for his villainous quirk.

“None of this solves that he hurt both Eri and Hitoshi and is actively ignoring the both of us. If something was on his mind, then he needs to come talk to us about it. Honestly, if he thinks he’s going to be a lime light hero with this attitude then he’s wrong.” With that, Shota stood up and walked away from the pair. Hizashi’s brows furrowed as if there were more things he wanted to say, but decided against it. Hitoshi soon went to his own room, needing to be alone from the world for a little while.

Dinner was quiet that night, as was the next night, and the night after that. Eri was there every night for dinner, not asking to go to the 2-A dorm a single time. She didn’t ask for Midoriya to join any outing or to go to the park with him either. They all came home and made pointless small talk. After about 5 days, the tension finally seemed to lessen and conversations began happening again.

After a week, Shota was semi used to Midoriya’s short responses and not talking to him unless spoken to first. Hizashi stopped expecting Midoriya to greet him or even come around in at all. Hitoshi hadn’t worked up the nerve to tell Midoriya that he wanted to be friends. The pair talked about school when necessary, and Hitoshi still ended up sitting at the lunch table with Midoriya and their friends, but Midoriya didn’t go out of his way to greet him, invite him to do things, or speak to him any more than necessary. He was nice anytime they did speak, but there was nothing extra.

Eri seemed to get back to her usual self with them, but they began noticing that her smiles seemed to be getting smaller.

By the second week, she began yawning more at breakfast. Under her eyes started looking the slightest bit dark. She smiled less frequently and snapped at Shota once before apologizing and going to her room. The elephant that they’d suspected Midoriya gave to her was often found in her arms.

Shota had broken down at the beginning of the second week and asked All Might if he could talk to Midoriya about ignoring Hizashi and himself, noticing how much of a toll it was talking on Hizashi and how sad he’d look anytime he was ignored in the hall by the student. All Might said he would, but by the end of the week the avoidance only seemed to get worse. Midoriya stopped raising his hand in English all together and claimed to not know the answer anytime he was actively called upon. Hitoshi had expressed that he felt like too much time had passed for him to tell the other student that he wanted to be his friend and began to sit in a different spot at lunch because seeing Midoriya made him feel upset. Shota’s anger was still boiling at the end of the week, though he couldn’t decide where the blame should go anymore. He was angry that Midoriya was treating them like strangers, but the student wasn’t required to treat them like anything else. He knew he had a closer relationship to his current class than he’d had with any other class, due to the multitude of villain attacks that had occurred over the prior two years, and in each of those attacks Midoriya had been in the middle of it with him. He was hurt that the student was able to shut him out so easily, and that made him angrier. At the same time, he recognized that if he’d never said anything when Midoriya called, none of this would have probably happened or it at least wouldn’t be so bad.

Week three was difficult. They’d tried to recreate the things that Midoriya did with Eri to help her recharge, but it all seemed to fail. They went to the park, but Eri didn’t want to play with them at all. They went to ice cream, but she didn’t want anything sweet. They tried movies, but she’d get bored and go to her room. Her face fell into an expression reminiscent of when they’d first rescued her and Midoriya and Mirio were teaching her what a smile was. The three men were all feeling rough. Each attempt to cheer her up that failed left them all feeling worse. Hitoshi started spending more time in his room, Hizashi’s silence began to feel louder than his quirk, and Shota’s anger finally started to fizzle out and left him with just guilt. He felt like he ruined his family just because he was jealous of Eri liking Midoriya more than them. Eri’s angry outbursts because a daily occurrence. She’d often apologize right after and then would go to her room before anyone could say anything. Any time they’d ask her about how she was feeling, her not sleeping, her outbursts, she’d clam up, and refuse to speak until they let it go. They tried telling her a thousand times it was okay and that they were there for her. That they would listen, they’d help make it better, they’d do whatever she needed, but she would only shake her hear in response.

Shota made her an appointment with Hound Dog during the fourth week. Somehow, that seemed to make it even worse. She refused to talk to him during the session and refused to speak to Shota at all for the rest of the day. After breaking down himself to his husband at the end of the fourth week, he finally caved.

“Eri, do you want to go see Midoriya?” He asked her after dinner at the end of the fourth week. Her eyes instantly lit up more than any of them had seen in the past month before it quickly dropped away again.

“Am I allowed?” She asked quietly. Shota nodded his head. Her shoulders seemed to relax and a relieved smile slipped onto her face. Shota told her to go get ready and she sprinted to her room.

“We can’t keep doing this. I can’t do this anymore. We’re all clearly miserable. I’ll apologize. I’ll tell him to stop ignoring us and to be Hitoshi’s friend again. I’ll let him see Eri. I’m sorry.” Shota told his husband and son. They both quickly hugged him.

“I’ll go with you.” Hizashi said before looking at Hitoshi. “We’ll go with you.” He corrected.

Chapter Text

Soon the family found themselves standing in the 2-A commons. The students in the hall all greeted them as normal, none of them knowing the struggle the past month had been for any of them. When Midoriya rounded the corner, Eri took off like she was running the hundred meter dash. As soon as he saw her he smiled widely and opened his arms, with no hesitation, she leaped into them and was quickly caught. He held her tightly for a moment and looked around, finding the other three standing awkwardly staring at them. They couldn’t hear any of the words exchanged with the pair, but soon Midoriya began walking towards them.

“We wanted to talk to you. If that is okay.” Shota said when the student was close enough. Midoriya looked unsure until he glanced at Eri and finally nodded.

“It’s Friday, do you want to go to the ice cream parlor?” He asked her. The pure look of happiness that crossed her face cut into the three other males like a knife. They wanted to understand the difference when he brought her verses when they did.

The walk to the ice cream parlor was mostly silent. Eri held onto Midoriya as he carried her. Her eyes closed and a smile on her face. They entered the same ice cream parlor that they’d all been at the previous week.

“Izuku! Eri! I haven’t seen you guys in a few weeks, I was starting to get worried.” An elder lady greeted them with an excited grin. It was returned by both of them.

Hitoshi looked around making sure it was the same shop as before. This trip already seemed different than their previous one.

“Sorry Hitomi, we haven’t been able to come in, but we’re here now!” Midoriya told her, bowing his apology to her slightly awkwardly as Eri was still being held against his hip.

“And you’ve brought new people! Welcome to my shop!” Hitomi greeted the trio who all gave a small greeting in return.

“This is Eri’s family, Aizawa, Yamada, and Shinsou.” Midoriya introduced them all pointing out who was who, before turning to the them. “This is Hitomi, she owns the place, but she only works on Fridays.” He explained. The woman laughed.

“I gotta give those young kids their Friday nights. I remember what it was like to be young. Though, when I had fun, it wasn’t chasing criminals or exercising.” She gave Midoriya the stink eye when she spoke the second sentence. Shota couldn’t help the snort when Midoriya’s face turned pink.

“You’re two are his teachers, right?” Hitomi asked looking at Shota and Hizashi, both nodded their heads. She smiled brightly. “I thought so. Aizawa is heroes and homeroom and Yamada is English, right?” They both nodded again to her simplified version of the classes, both eyeing Midoriya for a split second before turning their attention back to Hitomi who was smiling. “I’ve heard a lot about you both! You seem like real good teachers. We need more teachers like you in the world. So, thanks for taking care of this green bean here!” Both teachers instantly felt guilt burning deeper in their stomachs. “And you’re Shinsou… Hmmm, is this that the boy you talked about who has a brainwashing quirk?” Midoriya instantly went red and Eri started giggling and nodding her head. Hitoshi went tense, waiting for the figurative shoe to drop and to be told off because of his quirk. “It’s nice to meet you too! Izuku told me about you too. He says you’re gonna be one of the top heroes in the future. You’ll have to come back when you’re in the top ten and bring your friends with you.” She sent Hitoshi a wink and didn’t seem phased by his wide-eyed lost expression. “He’s just as cute as you said.” Hitomi whispered loudly Midoriya who gave a strangled embarrassed noise in response. Hitomi and Eri’s laugh filled the store but Hitoshi was too busy having an internal crisis. All he could think about was that Midoriya told a stranger that he not only was going to be a hero, but a top hero, and that he was cute. Hizashi giggled at his side and he realized his face probably matched the red color of Midoriya’s.

“Shut up old woman, I have to see these people after I leave here.” Midoriya gripped at her. The tone was so different from his usual happy tone that it took the three men by surprise. Not only not recognizing the tone but also that he’d referred to someone by a rude nickname. She only laughed in response telling them that it had to of been somewhat normal behavior. “Can we just get our regular, please? I’d like to find a bus to step is front of sooner than later.” She nodded while still laughing and made her way to the back away from the counter.

Shota watched careful, curious as to what the regular was since Eri said she hadn’t wanted anything sweet before. Hitomi came out with a bag in each hand.

“Here or to-go?” She asked them. Midoriya looked to Eri who wiggled out of his arms and went over to the window to look outside.

“To go!” She shouted happily.

“To go… what?” Midoriya looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She gave a sheepish smile.

“To go, please!” She tried again. Midoriya nodded his approval and Hitomi handed over both bags smiling again. Shota and Hizashi stared open mouthed at the scene in front of them. It all seemed, so natural. Midoriya wasn’t concerned about tantrums or calling her out to correct her manners, she was being so good for him. He was acting like a parent. They both tried to push down the embers of jealously that sparked in them again. Both knowing that’s what got them into this terrible month in the first place. Hitoshi was still frozen beside them, as if he were a robot that had been turned off.

When they were leaving, Midoriya held out his arms but Eri shook her head. He dropped one arm and held out a hand, she looked at it for a moment before shaking her head again. He gave her a nod, never changing his facial expression once and both of them moved forward. They seemed to have a full conversation between them, one that no one in the Aizawa-Yamada house knew how to have with her. They all said goodbye to Hitomi who made everyone promise to come back and sit and talk to her soon.

Eri skipped beside Midoriya the whole way to a small lake hidden on a running trail. They never touched, but Shota saw that Midoriya’s eyes were on constant alert of his surrounding and of where Eri was at all times. It gave him a little bit of relief that Eri was safe with him when they went off campus. They soon found themselves all sitting at a picnic table by the lake. Izuku opened the first bag and began pulling out croissants.

“They‘re honey butter croissants, try them.” He said, handing one to everyone at the table. Shota looked at the savory treat in his hand.

“Why are these at an ice cream parlor?” He asked, ignoring the delighted moan Hizashi and Hitoshi made as they ate the bread.

“Hitomi gets bored. She says that baking something that takes so much time is good for the nerves and helps extend patience.” Midoriya explained as he began walking to the trash to throw away the first bag, not having eaten anything himself. As if he could read Shota’s mind he explained again. “I can’t have them. They aren’t in my diet plan.” Shota finally took a bite, instantly deciding they would be going back another Friday.

Midoriya came back over to sit by Eri as she happily ate her bread.

“You want to talk about what’s bouncing around in that noggin of yours?” He asked, giving her his full attention and ignoring the other three people sitting at the table. Eri glared at the bread in his hands for a second before shaking her head.

Shota felt a sick sense of satisfaction that she wasn’t opening up to him and that he’d be feeling the same thing they had been, but it quickly was squashed when Midoriya nodded in understand.

“Okay.” He said simply. Hizashi’s mouth fell open. “You want me to talk instead?” She seemed to think about it before nodding. “Anything specific you want to hear?”

“How’s your dad?” She asked him, her voice full of concern. Shota brows scrunched up, not having remembered Midoriya ever mention a father figure in his life and also why Eri would be concerned about said father.

“He’s normal. He went on a business trip about two weeks ago, but he just got back yesterday.” Eri nodded her head. Hizashi watched Midoriya’s eyes flicker over to them for a moment and then shift his body to face Eri more. He realized how uncomfortable the student must feel with them all there, especially after a month of avoiding them. They sat in silence for a few moments before Midoriya gave her a small smile. “I missed you a lot.” She instantly looked at him and nodded her head, agreeing.

“I missed you too. I wanted to come see you. I feel like-” She instantly stopped and looked over to her family before putting her head down and biting her lip.

“Eri, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell them, but you don’t have to be ashamed to tell them either. Just because they might not understand doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want to know. It’s okay if you’re not ready though. Don’t rush it. You know, one day, you won’t remember as much of any of this either. You’ll remember that it hurt, but you won’t remember what it felt like to be in that pain. You won’t remember all the times you cried or had a nightmare.” He paused briefly before nodding to himself slightly. “Do you remember the time we had smoothies and I got that kiwi one?” Eri nodded her head to him while Shota, Hizashi, and Hitoshi watched intently. “Do you remember exactly what the tasted like or do you just remember that we didn’t like how it tasted?”

“I just remember that it was really gross and then you got a stomach ache because you drank it all.” Eri hid a small giggle and Midoriya smiled at her nodding.

“Trauma is kind of like that. We remember what happened and how we can name how we felt, but we don’t remember the physical sensation when it was happening or even all the details around it.” She nodded her head and opened her mouth before closing it again. “You don’t have to talk about it. If you want to talk, then we can, but it you don’t, we don’t have to. You know I won’t change the way I act or think about you no matter what you say or what you don’t.” Shota sat back, understanding what Midoriya was doing. He was talking to Eri and making her feel better, but he was also telling them how to care for her.

They’d been trying to make her feel better. They’d been changing things to get her to open up. They’d been pushing when she wasn’t ready. They wanted to fix everything and Midoriya was content with how it was. It felt wrong to let his daughter be upset. It felt wrong to not fix things. He didn’t know if he could listen to her cry and not keep trying to make it better.

His fists clenched by his sides. They all had something that worked for them, to help them recharge. Something they weren’t capable of getting from each other. Just like Eri tried to tell them before, Midoriya was hers. Shota wanted to yell at himself in that moment. He tried to force Eri to change the thing that helped her and she reacted just like they would have. She got mad and pulled away. He wanted to protect her so much, he hurt her. He glanced over to Hizashi who looked just as upset and knew that he was having a similar thought process to his own.

Eri launched herself into Midoriya’s arms and began saying everything she wanted to about the last month.

“I’ve been getting mad at people. But then, I think that I can’t get mad because then I’ll be just like all the bad people that hurt us. I don’t want to be them. Then I get scared and I try not to be scared but I can’t stop it and it makes me mad again. I don’t want to be mad; I want to be happy, but I can’t be happy because what if I’m just like the bad people? Then I can’t sleep because I dream that it’s not me being hurt that it’s me hurting them. I’m the bad person and they are hurt and scared. What if I’m like them, Zuzu? What if I’m a bad person and I grow up and hurt people?” Everyone listened to the concerns of an 8-year-old who had lived through too many things as their hearts broke. Hizashi felt his hands reaching forward to comfort her before dropping them, forcing himself to accept that she hadn’t actually told him. She told Midoriya because it was his comfort that she wanted.

“I have those dreams too.” Midoriya told her, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I used to think that way too. I thought that if I was a hero, I had to smile and be happy all the time. That I wasn’t allowed to ever be sad, afraid, or angry, because heroes don’t feel those emotions.” Eri pulled back to look at him. He gave her a smile. “I was wrong. You’re allowed to feel that way. You’re allowed to feel anything. Sometimes, we need help with our feeling though, because while you’re allowed to feel all the emotions in existence, you want to make sure it’s not hurting you. It’s always okay to get help. In fact, heroes have to call for back up all the time. Sometimes, when we don’t know how to stop being angry, we have to call for backup and they can help us. They’ll have a support item, like medicine, or maybe the issue just needs another set of hands.”

“Are you my back up?” There was a vulnerability in Eri’s voice that Hitoshi had never heard before. In that moment he thought she was the bravest person he’d ever met. Then seeing Midoriya not blink an eye before sending her a smile filled with all the love and warmth a smile could muster, he knew he was looking at Japan's future symbol of peace.

“I’ll always be your back up. No matter what. I could move to the other side of the world and I would still be your back up.” Shota wanted to tell him not to make a promise he couldn’t keep, but the determination in Midoriya’s eyes left no question that his words were a promise he would take to the grave.

“Who is your back up?” Eri asked and the group all watched Midoriya’s face fall.

“I have you, right?” He joked lightly, but the light in his eyes had dimmed too much to make anyone smile.

Shota, Hizashi, and Hitoshi all began to get a bad feeling. One that they all simultaneously hoped wouldn’t come true.

“I’m too young to be back up yet. You need older people to be your back up.” Midoriya sat slightly back and Eri took the sign to climb off him and back into her original seat.

“I don’t have back up yet, but I that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.” The sad look in Midoriya’s eyes raised so many questions in the three onlookers, but they also knew that they couldn’t ask anything in that moment.

Eri turned to the group for the first time in the whole conversation before giving them a slight smile.

“I love you guys, but I’m not ready to talk about all the things that bother me with you yet. But, I have back up, so it’s okay. Please, don’t be upset with my backup again.” Shota gave her a quick nod before standing up and walking away as quickly as he could. Once he was out of sight, he fell against a tree and began crying silently into his hands.

Hizashi and Hitoshi quickly agreed with Eri and promised her they wouldn’t and that it was okay. Hizashi stood up and said he was going to find Shota, but Midoriya stopped him. He handed over the second bag they’d gotten from Hitomi.

“Stay, feed the ducks. I’ll find him.” Without waiting for an answer, Midoriya started walking in the direction Shota had gone.

“Come on! They’re fun to feed.” Eri waved both Hitoshi and Hizashi forward and as if she was holding their leashes, they followed along behind her.

Shota heard someone walking towards him, but paid no attention, thinking that it was only his husband. The person sat down next to him, but never said anything. After a moment, Shota looked over and saw Midoriya sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest calmly looking at the trees around them. Noticing that he was being observed at, he looked at his teacher and gave a small smile.

“You want to talk about it?” He asked and Shota couldn’t help but snort.

“I’m not an 8-year-old, you don’t have to treat me as such.” He told him, looking away from the student.

“Then, how do you want me to treat you?” Midoriya’s tone was surprisingly genuine.

“Like your teacher.” Shota told him harshly, hiding his tear-stained cheeks under his capture weapon.

“I am. If I saw any teacher crying, I’d ask if they wanted to talk about it.” Shota gave him a pointed glare.

“Really, because you’re been ignoring Hizashi and I for a month.” He felt a flash of the anger he’d felt over the last month coming back to him. Midoriya shook his head.

“You want the truth or a lie to make you feel better?” Shota didn’t know how to answer. He’d never had someone up front ask him if he wanted a lie. He searched Midoriya’s face and didn’t find anything telling him that this was a trick question.

“The truth.” He finally answered. Midoriya nodded before looking away from his face and back to the trees in front of him.

“You and Yamada-Sensei are different than other teachers I’ve had. You were two teachers that I thought really cared about their students, me included. Then Eri came to my dorm and said she felt like you guys didn’t want her around me anymore. I thought there was no way that could be true, because you trusted me, and you would have talked to me. Then I called and that was exactly the situation. I’ve been made to feel like an outsider my entire life, especially by teachers. I know I’m not your family. When you said it though, it felt like you were reminding me that I was an outsider. It hurt knowing that in some way, you were just like all the other teachers.” Midoriya shrugged his shoulder as if to say, ‘oh well’. “It’s my fault for putting you guys on such a pedestal.” Shota wanted to say so many things. He wanted to go back in time and yell at his previous self. He wanted to tell him that, what he said was misinterpreted, but he couldn’t do any of that. He was telling Midoriya that he was an outsider in that situation. He couldn’t go back in time or change what he said.

“I’m sorry. I overreacted because I was angry and hurt. We all felt like Eri liked you more than she liked us and it sounds stupid now. We were jealous. That’s no reason to have taken it out on you.” He tried to be as honest as he could with the student and hoped that it would somehow fix the broken trust his student now had. He felt sick knowing that his student was hurting and not only did he not know, but he made it worse. Midoriya gave a single nod. Shota couldn’t stand the silence. “Why did you stop being friends with Hitoshi and why did you start ignoring Hizashi? Why punish them when I was the one that upset you?” Midoriya gave him a confused look.

“I wasn’t punishing you. Any of you. I stopped greeting Yamada-Sensei because it felt like all the times that teachers were nice to me to make fun of me later or because they were being watched at the time. I know he tried to say he didn’t mind her hanging out me, but he never said anything to contradict that he also thought I was an outsider. So, I didn’t want to talk to him. As far as Shinsou goes, I didn’t stop being his friend. I just stopped trying to force him to be mine. I still consider him to be a friend, but I know that I annoy him, and that the only time he hangouts out with me is because he just wants me to stop talking. Contrary to popular belief, my tolerance for things is not infinite. Eventually, even I give up.” Shota sat back and digested the words Midoriya said. He felt the self-hatred and guilt that he’d been feeling come back full force. He tried to push past it and start addressing the concerning statements he’d heard Eri and Midoriya make about him, but he was finding it difficult. He wanted to know why Midoriya’s previous teachers hadn’t liked him and why he thought they would make fun of him. He wanted to know why he felt like an outsider. Why Eri talked about both of them being hurt. All the questions held on the top of his tongue.

“All of us have been miserable this past month. Not only because Eri has been so upset. Hizashi misses your greetings, Hitoshi misses you inviting him places, and even I miss you talking in class.” Shota admitted quietly. Midoriya gave him a sad smile in return, choosing to not respond to him verbally. The two sit in silence, for a few minutes, before Midoriya finally speaks up.

“We should go back. I’m sure Eri is chasing the ducks by now. Also, sometimes she doesn’t like physical contact. If she pulls away or says no to it, let her and don’t give any indication that you’re upset. If you do, she’ll pick up on it and force herself to take it.” Midoriya told him quickly as he stood up. Shota watched as the student stretched slightly. His mind finally settled on a single thought.

“Eri said you were the same. How are you the same?” Midoriya froze and looked at him. Multiple emotions crossed his face before it settled on the normal everyday smile he wore.

“Kids say the darndest things.” With that, Midoriya turned away and walked back to where they all been sitting previously.

Shota sat there for a moment longer before walking back to join the others. Hizashi instantly hugged him when he was close enough.

Hizashi was relieved when Shota had come back. He wasn’t sure if he’d call what was happening a good time, due to all of the tense emotions he was sure his husband and son were feeling also, but he was glad to see Eri looking happier.

“Eri, it’s time to go. It’s sunset, I need to do my workout.” Midoriya’s voice cut through everyone’s thoughts. They all saw Eri give a sad look but nod her head in acceptance.

“Today is running, right?” She asked him and she threw away the empty paper bag and reach out to grab onto Midoriya’s hand.

“Oh! It’s changed a little bit since last month. I moved running to Wednesday to I wouldn’t be tired on the weekends. So, Fridays are strength now.” Midoriya looked over his shoulder and motioned for the three tagalongs to join them in leaving back to the dorms.

Hitoshi felt his face heat up when Midoriya’s eyes met his for a split second before his classmate turned back around. Hitoshi was left looking at the back of his head and the very red tip of one of his uncovered ears. He started to psych himself up to talk to tell Midoriya that he did in fact want to be friends.

“Midoriya, do you want to come over for dinner this weekend?” Hizashi asked out, making Midoriya turn to look at him. The teacher was ignoring the surprised looks for his son and husband and instead focusing on the surprised look on Midoriya’s face. “We’d love if you could join, only if you want to though.”

“I’m actually going home this weekend. My father wanted to spend time with me.” No one missed how Eri’s hand gripped onto Midoriya’s tighter at the mention of him going home. “Weekends aren’t really the best for me. Tuesday-Friday is better.

“Can we go to the park Tuesday?” Eri asked him. Hizashi bit his lip, wondering how different a trip to the park would go with Midoriya verses when they tried to take her. The trip to the ice cream parlor already proved to be a completely different experience.

“If you’re up for it, you can come over for dinner and then go to the park on Tuesday.” Shota concluded, trying to satisfy all parties. Midoriya nodded his head slowly and both Eri and Hizashi let out a delighted noise.

Chapter Text

When they got back to campus, Midoriya stopped and dropped onto one knee in front of Eri, making him have to look up into her eyes.

“Are you going to be okay until Tuesday?” He asked her. Her whole face scrunched up. “Are you concerned about something?” She nodded, glancing slightly over to her parents and brother. “They won’t be upset with you, no matter what you say.” Midoriya looked over to the two teachers who nodded their heads in agreeance.

“You can tell us anything.” Hitoshi encouraged.

“I’m scared that they’ll say I can’t go around you again.” Shota’s heart dropped in his chest at her words. Midoriya frowned slightly, dropping his gaze to the ground.

“I told you before, Eri. They didn’t say you had to stop. I knew that it was upsetting them, so I made the choice. It wasn’t my intention to hurt you, and I don’t want you to blame your family either. Sometimes we all make mistakes. You know, if you need me I will always be there, no matter what. But, they are right too, they love you so much and it hurts them when they see that you’re upset but they can’t help you. ” He reached up slowly and wiped a stray tear off Eri’s cheek. “I’m sorry that I hurt you by telling you that you shouldn’t come around for a while. I did what I thought was best but I ended up letting my own issues get in the way, but I’ll do better. That’s all we can do. When you make a mistake, you try to do better next time.” Eri nodded along, trying to take in every word he was saying.

Hizashi grabbed onto Shota’s hand as he listened to Midoriya. It took everything in his power not to yell that it wasn’t the students fault. That is was his, Shota’s, and Hitoshi’s fault. It hurt to watch his student willingly tarnish his relationship with Eri, without a blink of eye. He watched as Eri cried and felt his own tears. He wanted to ask why Midoriya was so good at this, but he knew after what happened, right now wasn’t the best time to pry.

“I’m scared I’ll get angry more.” Eri whispered low enough that Shota had to strain to hear it.

“I get angry too. Your dad, your papa, and your brother, they get angry too. As scary as it is to let yourself feel certain emotions, you need to feel them so you can learn what to do with them. Right now, you’re like an empty glass. Your emotions are like different kinds of juice. When you accept the emotions and allow yourself to feel it, your glass empties out and it’s nice and clean, waiting for the next juice. But, when you don’t let yourself feel it, then your glass doesn’t get to empty out. Then when you try to add a different juice, the flavor is gross and eventually your glass overflows. As funny as it sounds, sometimes you just need to scream into a pillow. Some people run and that helps when get out that energy and also think about what is making them angry. We just have to find what works for you.” Midoriya turned her slightly to face her family. “The best thing to do now it so warn them, so they are aware and but they don’t freak out because you’re acting out of the ordinary.” Eri looked to the ground and played with her fingers before opening her mouth.

“I’m sorry that I’m angry-” She started but Midoriya cut her off.

“No apologizing for how you feel. How you feel is valid. You can tell them you’re sorry if you yell at them or accidently hurt them, but no saying you’re sorry for how you feel.” His tone was firm was still carried the same caring nature that he’d had with her the whole trip. Hizashi and Shota were both shocked with the ease that he scolded her. Also, with how good he was with emotions. Shota couldn’t help to be concerned with by his student was so mature.

“I feel angry. I don’t know how to stop that or what to do with it, but I want to get better. I’m sorry if I hurt you or yell at you. I don’t want to be angry, but I can’t stop it.” Eri stared at the ground as she talked, never making eye contact with anyone. As soon as she was done, Midoriya whispered his praise before turning to the family.

“Now, Eri has told you something very important, she needs you to accept her warning and reassure her that even if she is angry, you will still love her and accept her.” He motioned his hand to them to proceed with his instruction. There was a look in his eyes that told Shota that in that moment Midoriya didn’t care that he was a student talking to two of his teachers like children.

“We will always love you. Thank you for warning us and we’ll try to not push you into feeling better. When you find something that works for you, just let us know.” Hizashi told her moving forward and sitting on his knees in front of her, like Midoriya. Hitoshi moved forward nodding his head.

“You’re my little sister, that’ll never change. Sometimes listening to music help me when I’m angry. I just shut out the world and listen to songs written by people as angry as I am.” Hitoshi sat in between Midoriya and Hizashi, crossed legged on the ground. Shota took a step forward, realizing it was his turn.

“Eri, I owe you an apology. I’m sorry that I gave Midoriya the impression that it was best for you two to not see one another. I’m also sorry for trying to push you. Midoriya is right, you’re allowed to feel anything and you never have to be sorry about it. We will always accept you and love you. I think if you want help, that you should continue to see Hound Dog. He could be good back up.” Shota told her, remembering what Midoriya had said previously about getting help from people. “We would be your back up too. It’s okay if you aren’t ready for that, we won’t push you, but you have the option to have us too.” Eri nodded her head and then rushed forward, grabbing on to Hizashi, hugging him. She grabbing onto Hitoshi’s t-shirt pulling him in, and looked at Shota, silently beckoning him forward as well.

The four embraced for a minute before Eri pulled away, muttering a smile ‘thank you’, and wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“Young Midoriya!” The group turned to see All Might walking towards them. Shota had to hide his shock as Midoriya stood up quickly and stood in front of the group, chest out and a fake smile plastered on his face. One hand reached out to give a large wave as his other reached around and pushed Eri more behind him, hiding her from view.

“All Might! Hey, I was just going to the gym. Sorry, I’m running late. I was talking to Aizawa-Sensei and Yamada-Sensei for a moment.” Hizashi and Hitoshi both got to their feet and gave a waved at the retired hero. The family could definitely sense that something was very off.

“What conversation could be so important that you’d be late for training?” All Might asked him and Midoriya gave his same nervous laugh that Hitoshi and Shota were used to seeing during heroics class.

“I forgot to fill out my weekend dismissal form so I could go off campus to see my mom and then I saw Yamada-Sensei and had to ask about our recent English homework.” Hitoshi gave a quick glance to his parents to see if they were having just as much trouble controlling their panic as he was. Midoriya was known to not only be the worst liar in 2-A but also that he had a close relationship with the All Might. One that wouldn’t involve a blatant lie that could be called by four people. Hitoshi’s eyes trailed down to see Eri facing away from All Might and plastered to the back to Midoriya’s legs. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands clasped together.

“You need to be more responsible, Young Midoriya. A future hero should not be forgetting something like that, and slacking on your studies too.” The co-heroics teacher sighed before smiling at the person who all the teacher‘s knew to be All Might protégé. “Well let’s go workout now so you have time to study tonight before seeing your mother.” All Might motioned for Midoriya to walk ahead of him.

“Of course, All Might.” Midoriya agreed nodding and giving a smile. Hitoshi saw him glance in his direction before reaching out and grabbing onto him, dragging him to stand in front of Midoriya. His whole body tensed in the hug and he looked at both of his parents shocked faces, he was sure his owned mirrored theirs.

“Okay, I’ll miss you, see you later, Shinsou!” He happily exclaimed in his ear before Hitoshi felt his body being moved again. Midoriya flipped their positions so Hitoshi was now facing All Might, who was looking in the opposite direction, his glowing blue eyes glaring. Before Hitoshi could blink, Midoriya had let him go and was walking in front of All Might who gave them all a smile goodbye wave and trailed after Midoriya. Once they were far enough way, Hitoshi broke the silence.

“What in the world was that?” He turned to face his parents and found them both looking at a still tense Eri. Hitoshi instantly put the pieces together. Midoriya did that so All Might wouldn’t see Eri.

“Let’s go home, and then we can talk about this.” Shota told them all, sending a glance to Midoriya and All Might disappearing figures.

The walk to their on campus apartment was quick and full of side glances from Hizashi and Shota as they both kept their guard, protecting their two children. Eri had a firm grip on Hitoshi’s hand the whole way home.

“Eri, can we talk about what happened with All Might just now?” Shota asked when they were finally home and all went to sit in the living room. Shota noticed Eri’s immediate discomfort and tried to do as Midoriya had. “If okay if you don’t want to talk about it.” He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible about the whole thing, ignoring the panicked expression by Hitoshi and Hizashi.

“’Zuzu said I have to stay away from All Might and if I’m ever near him then I need to run and find you guys or him.” She immediately started playing with the quirk canceling bracelet on her wrist. “He said if All Might ever asked me to take off my bracelet that I’m supposed to start running and scream as loud as I can.” All three men felt like ice water had been pumped into their veins.

While All Might wasn’t Shota or Hizashi’s favorite person, it wasn’t a secret that the students adored the man, and none of them more than Midoriya himself. It was long theorized by the student body that Midoriya was actually his son, and after All Might announced that he was his protégé, the staff started to question whether the theory was true as well. To think that Mydoria would be scared of All Might getting close to Eri was more than a little concerning.

“If that’s what he told you to do, then that’s what you should do. Don’t worry, we’ll all keep you safe.” Shota reassured her.

“Do you know why he thought that?” Hizashi asked. Eri was silent for long enough that they thought she wasn’t going to answer and all took steps away to try and make a plan on what to do.

“Zuzu and I are the same.” She told them, repeating the phrase she’d used a month ago.

“I’m sorry Eri, we don’t know what you mean by that.” Hitoshi told her. “Can you help us understand? It seems like Midoriya isn’t safe and we want to help him.” Shota and Hizashi both gave a proud nod to him.

“People hurt us and use us because of our quirks.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Shota was running to the door. He raced as fast as he could to the gyms, trying to find Midoriya.

His thoughts looped in his mind as he ran.

He’s being hurt. All Might could be hurting him. I have to help him.

Hizashi and Hitoshi were left to calm Eri down, promising that they would help Midoriya just like he’d helped her. Hitoshi retrieved her stuffed elephant and they watched her clutch onto it like a lifeline. Both silently praying that all of this was just being taken out of context and that Midoriya was fine.

When Shota entered into the weight room, finally spotting Midoriya and All Might, he tried to take in the scene in front of him as fast as he could. Midoriya was laying on a bench with All Might holding down one of his hands. The other hand was holding a barbell with more enough weight that the barbell was bending on both sides.

“What’s going on here?” He shouted, catching both people off guard. Midoriya immediately pulled his arm out of All Might grasp, grabbing onto the bar and racking it quickly.

“Aizawa-Sensei, what’s wrong?” Midoriya asked, sitting up and looking nervous. Shota saw how the kid was already covered in sweat, even though it hadn’t even been 15 minutes since he’d seen him last.

“What were you just doing? Why did you have so much weight? Why were you holding down him arm?” Shota demanded, his quirk flicking on with his anger.

“Young Midoriya was only training Aizawa. He was lifting weights. We were just doing one arm at a time. He's quite strong after all.” All Might smiled and clasped with large hand over Midoriya’s shoulder. Shota watched the boy slightly pulled into himself.

“Doing one arm at a time allows me to lift more.” Midoriya told him, not making eye contact with either hero.

“He can’t put so much strain on his arms All Might! Do you want something to happen and him to not be able to use them anymore?” Shota watched All Might have what seemed to be a realization and then look nervous. He couldn’t help in that moment feel like the man faked his reaction. The hand that was resting on Midoriya’s shoulder seemed to tighten ever so slightly.

“Can I ask what brought you here?” There was an unfriendly tone in All Might’s voice that Shota almost didn’t register.

“I need Midoriya, it’s an emergency.” He told them. Midoriya immediately stepped forward. All Might’s hand moving with him.

“What’s wrong? Is it a villain attack?” Shota almost felt bad for making his student so nervous, but he knew it was necessary.

“Come on, I’ll brief you when we get there.” Midoriya nodded to him and tried to move closer until he was stopped by All Might’s hand.

“We’re busy, is this not something that can wait or someone else can deal with?”

“No, it pertains to Midoriya specifically.” Shota took a step towards Midoriya, preparing to physically pull the student away from the other teacher.

“If it’s that important, then I’ll come along too.” All Might was staring down Shota, clearly trying to intimidate him, but Shota wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I don’t need you there. I only need Midoriya.” Shota’s tone was as cold and harsh as he could muster. The more All Might fought him on letting Midoriya leave, the more Shota wanted to get Midoriya away from him.

“I see. Very well. Good luck, Young Midoriya. We’ll finish our training another day.” All Might let go of Midoriya and immediately went back to smiling, acting as though he normally did with all the other students. Midoriya sped walked to Shota and the two quickly walked out of the gym.

Shota continued to look back behind his shoulder, making sure the two weren’t being followed. He’d shushed Midoriya multiple times when he’d tried to ask what the emergency was or what was happening.

Shota led him back to his apartment, opening the door and pushing the student inside. The pair were met with a relieved Hitoshi and Hizashi. Eri was clutched her stuffed animal looking at Midoriya nervously.

“What was happening?” Hizashi asked the pair.

“Are you okay?” Hitoshi quickly tacked on. Midoriya looked at all of them, clearly confused before his eyes fell to Eri.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Are you mad of me?” Eri countered. Midoriya squinted his eyes, looking like he was lost in thought before straightening up and letting out an understanding sigh.

“I’m not mad at you, Eri.” He assured the girl.

“Is All Might hurting you?” Shota asked bluntly.

“He’s training me.” Midoriya shifted awkwardly. “I’m kind of gross, do you mind if we have this conversation after I take a shower?” Hizashi and Shota both looked at his clear distress and thought back to how gently he cared for Eri, trying to mimic it with him.

“Okay. Come back after you shower and we’ll talk then.” He told the teen who didn’t wait for another word to be said before turning tail and exiting the apartment. “Eri, you should get ready for bed. Hitoshi, go finish any homework you have.” Both kids looked reluctant before walking towards their rooms.

“How did we miss this?” Hizashi asked once they were both out of earshot.

“We don’t know what we missed yet. All we can do it wait.” With that, both adults went to the couch, trying to relax.

After 45 minutes, the tension had reached a breaking point.

“We shouldn’t have let him go alone, what if something happened to him?” Hizashi stood up and started to the door. “I’m going to find him.” Shota couldn’t help standing up, trailing after his husband. They stopped to tell Hitoshi quickly that they would be back and started off once again that day to the 2-A dorms.

When they entered and began walking through the dorm, they were met with the class president Iida.

“Greeting Sensei’s! Midoriya asked me to let you know if I saw you that he left for his mother’s for the weekend.” Iida told them, his hands swiping in motion with his speed. Shota and Hizashi both stared at the younger brother of their friend, speechless.

“When did he leave?” Shota angrily demanded. Hizashi’s stunned expression finally returning to normal.

“He left around half an hour ago. Is something the matter? I can call him immediately if you wish.” Iida offered, pulling out his phone to show them that he would do it.

“That’s okay, thank you Iida.” Hizashi told the student. “Have a nice weekend!” He offered, pulling the hostile looking Shota away and back towards the front door. When they exited, Shota’s stomping only increased.

“He lied to us!” He hissed. “I shouldn’t have let him leave. I should have forced him to tell us what was wrong. He’s going to have so many detentions when I find him.” Shota continued to threaten. His threats lasted until they were back to their apartment. “If he thinks I won’t go to his apartment, he has another thing coming.” Hizashi stayed quiet, letting Shota vent out his anger.

Hitoshi heard the apartment door slam, followed by the distinctive growl of his father. He walked out of his room and saw his parents back come back, but Midoriya wasn’t with him.

“What’s going on?” He asked them. Shota growled louder.

“Midoriya went home for the weekend instead of coming back here.” Hizashi told him. Hitoshi felt his mouth fall open. Hizashi looked at his shocked son and almost laughed at their similar reactions.

“I’m going to give him detention until he graduates.” Shota threatened. He walked over and sat on the couch, his head resting in his hands. “Why is he running from us?” The previous anger in his voice was replaced by a deep seeded fatigue.

“Zuzu doesn’t want help.” Hitoshi looked next to him and says Eri standing nervously behind him. Hizashi and Shota both looked at her, both confused. Hizashi motioned for her to come closer into the living room. She walked in and sat on the couch, Hitoshi instantly thought her pajamas and stuffed elephant made her look like she was ready for a sleepover.

“Do you know why he doesn’t want help?” Hizashi asked lightly, sitting next to Shota on the couch. Eri shifted from foot to foot awkwardly swaying back and forth.

“He has a secret that he says he can’t tell anyone, because if they find out it would ruin everything and he’d be expelled and he wouldn’t be able to be a hero anymore. So, he’s willing to do anything to keep his secret.” Shota and Hizashi both tried to stay calm as Eri talked, both of their minds screaming with red flags. All three men tried to stop their minds from thinking of all the villain attacks and the theory that UA had a traitor.

“Do you know the secret, Eri?” Shota asked, trying to cover the overwhelming fear and worry in his voice. Eri looked guiltily at her feet.

“I overheard him talking about it. He didn’t want to tell me, but I told him I wouldn’t tell anyone. I promised!”

“Without telling us the secret, can you tell us if it has to do with Midoriya giving information to people?” Eri tilted her head to the side giving Shota a confused look. Finally, she shook her head, confirming that the secret did not include that. A collective relieved sigh was left out.

“Does the secret involve more than one person?” Hizashi asked. Eri once again thought about it.

“Kind of. Part of the secret does.” She looked down, biting her lip for a moment. “Zuzu says that sometimes, doing what’s right, means lying to another person. If I tell you the secret, will that help keep Zuzu safe?” Shota and Hizashi looked at one another and then glanced to Hitoshi who quickly made his way to sit in the chair next to them.

“Yes. We’ll make sure to make him safe.” Hizashi promised.

“Do you promise to not expel him and let him be a hero?” She gripped her stuffed elephant tightly to her chest.

“We’ll do everything we can to keep him here and help him be a hero.” Hizashi vaguely promised.

“All Might gave Zuzu his quirk right before UA started." The second the words came out of her mouth, everything went silent. No one dared breathed. The silence seemingly making Eri uncomfortable as she shifted from one foot to the other. "I think his dad is mean too. He comes back hurt sometimes and he said that his dad just really liked his quirk and that sometimes his quirk hurts him."

Shota mind felt like it was melting with new information. All Might was maybe bad. Definitely keeping secrets. Big important secrets. Midoriya’s father was also possibly bad. Definitely forcing his son to use his quirk to the point that it hurt him, which Shota knew meant he'd either had to use more of it than he was currently capable of or that he'd had to use it for too long. 

While injuries still happened, Midoriya hadn't had any real injuries in months. Only when completely over exerting himself.

I moved running to Wednesday to I wouldn’t be tired on the weekends

Midoriya’s previous words sounded through Shota’s mind. Did he need a reason why it wasn't good to be tired on the weekends?

Hizashi wasn't faring any better mentally. He was running through quirkless statistics in his head. He'd done one of his shows about discrimination and mentioned them. 

20% of the population. 2% of Japan. 0.1% of them were under 18. 38% suicide rate for those below 18. 71% suicide rate for those 18-30. 

Getting a quirk right before UA started meant Midoriya was 15. 15 years of being quirkless. He'd had a 38% chance of committing suicide. 

The air in Hizashi lungs felt like it was on fire. It burned in his chest and no matter how rapidly he took on new air, he couldn't get the burning to go away.

"Don't worry, Eri. We'll help him." Hitoshi promised as he watched his parents silently freaking out. He knew he needed to stay calm. He couldn't scream. 

God, did he want to scream.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat on a train heading towards his parents house with shaky knees and sweaty palms. Not only had he lied to his teachers about returning, but he then basically ran away. Sure, he had a weekend pass, so he couldn't actually get in trouble for leaving, but that didn't really feel like enough to calm his nerves.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi knew he was probably watching Midoriya a little too closely when he came back to the dorms Sunday night. He was still trying to find a time to get the boy alone, though with their rooms right next to one another, it should have been far easier than it was.

Yet, the second Midoriya walked in, Todoroki was on him, dragging the tired boy away into Midoriya’s room. So, Hitoshi did the only thing that he thought he could. He went into his own room, and listened closely to see if he could hear anything through the thin dorm walls.

Either the walls were thicker than Hitoshi previously thought, or Midoriya and Todoroki spoke extremely quietly, because he didn’t hear a single bit of conversation. At one point he heard a faint high pitched buzzing sound that sounded almost like a handheld vacuum, but no direct words.

It was hours later when Midoriya’s door opened and when Hitoshi peaked out from his own, he saw Midoriya walking with a towel over his head and his shower caddy.

Hitoshi was definitely not going to request a friendship while the other was naked. Flashback to the ice cream parlor and Midoriya apparently calling cute ran through his mind.

“I’m a useless gay.” He whispered as he tried to put all thoughts of Midoriya as anything but a friend out of his head. Until Hitoshi knew Midoriya was safe, being taken care of, and they had a mutual friendship, he wouldn’t let himself think about the green haired ray of sunshine.

No matter how bright his smile was or how many abs he had.

When the sun peaked over the horizon on Monday morning, the Aizawa-Yamada men prepped themselves to act normal and to somehow not give away the frenzy they all felt to learn everything they could.

Shota tried to curb his own harsh emotion that lashed out for him to just wrap the student up with his capture weapon until he talked.

Hitoshi pumped himself up to find a time to talk to his –hopefully- friend, without giving away a future integration.

Hizashi forced a smile on his face and tried to push away all thoughts of Midoriya falling into the 38% and doing something he could never take back.

Izuku spent his morning the same way he had every other Monday morning for the past several months. Stretching out sore muscles, applying healing balm to bruises, and mentally preparing himself to swallow all his negative emotions until he couldn’t feel them.

The only difference from his usually Monday routine was how breezy his neck felt.

Inside the classroom was tense for certain people. Izuku refused to meet Shota’s eyes, but that really didn’t surprise him. Not after the last month and not after Midoriya had run away on Friday. It was hard not to look at the kid though, especially with the whole class paying attention to his new haircut.

“Deku! Your hair looks so good!” Ururaka gushed while she stood at his desk. Shota watched Midoriya turn pink and thank her briefly. Hitoshi however, looked at Todoroki. He seemed to be the only one who didn’t at least look twice at Midoriya’s haircut. In fact, there was a small nod shared by the pair.

Hitoshi began to wonder if the vacuum like sound he’d heard was actually a pair of electric clippers.

“What the heck did you do to your head, Deku?” Bakugou sneered as he slid into his seat.

“I just got a haircut, Kacchan.”

“You’ve hair the same hair style since we were kids, why the heck are you changing it now? You really think changing your look around is a good idea? What are you, stupid? You need to think about how you present yourself!” A distinct popping of miniature explosions followed almost each word that Bakugou yelled. Though, Hitoshi had to admit, his hostility did sound almost like concern. Like an aggressively loud version of watching out for someone.

“It’s just a haircut. There’s no deeper meaning.” Midoriya answered dismissively, leaning back in his desk away from the firework show infront of him.

“You getting smart with me, Deku? Try that again and I’ll blow your face off!”

“Enough! Socialize at lunch. It’s time to start class.” Shota activated his quirk to stop Bakugou’s explosions, stopping the beginnings of a fight. While Bakugou readjusted himself to face forward, Shota made brief eye contact with an exhausted Midoriya before he turned his head down, looking at the notebook infront of him.

Class progressed much the same as it had the previous month. Midoriya sat quietly with his head down while he took notes, not asking questions or offering to answer any questions that Shota asked. He tried to not let that bother him after he'd confessed how he missed hearing the kid talk in class.

As soon as the class was dismissed for lunch, Hitoshi jumped out of his chair.

“Hey Midoriya, do you think I could talk to you for just a minute?” Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to ignore how people's eyes lingered on them. How Midoriya’s own eyes widen a fraction before he nodded slowly.

When the class finally all filed out, Shota was already in his sleeping bag, hidden by a desk as he tried to give his son some privacy while still keeping an ear on the conversation.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a few weeks. Since we talked before. I uh-” Hitoshi paused to wipe his sweaty palms on his pants. He made eye contact with the cautious greens eyes in front of him before looking away as fast as he could. “-I’m not good at talking. Or being around people. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be around certain people.” He emphasized. He saw Midoriya’s brows clench together in confusion and he sputtered out a sigh. “You said you were done, forcing me to be your friend, but you never forced me.” One more glance into Midoriya’s eyes and he silently begged that he would understand what he was trying to say. The slight shake in his knees didn’t make him think he could keep explaining it without sending himself into a full blown panic attack.

There was a spark ignited in the green eyes and then Hitoshi was sent a small smile.

“You have social anxiety.” Midoriya stated, though it wasn’t a question, Hitoshi nodded in agreement.

“There are always so many people around you, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t-” He paused against, feeling his face heat up. A hand light lightly touched his elbow, causing him to flinch slightly as Midoriya dipped his head down to look up into Hitoshi hunched face, catching his gaze and coaxing him to uncurl from himself.

“You’re my friend, but I’m glad to know that I’m yours too. Todoroki isn’t a big people person either. Sometimes we just hangout in my dorm and watch movies. I’ll invite you to those instead of the big class hangouts. Okay?” Caught in an emerald gaze, Hitoshi couldn’t do anything expect nod, his whole body feeling like a pressure was lifted off of it. “Come on, let’s go to lunch. You know, your spot at the table is still open, if you want to sit with us again.”

The hand that held his elbow with a feathers light touch slid down his wrist to lightly pull him forward and Hitoshi couldn’t help wanting to latch onto the touch and never let it go.

Shota laid there, and while he was proud of his son, he couldn’t help be once again concerned how Midoriya somehow knew exactly what to say and what to do for every emotional problem. Part of him wondered if the kid didn’t have some sort of latent empathy quirk.

It was just another thing that he wanted to have answered.

Hizashi was sitting at his desk, staring off into space when 1-A came in. His fixations on Midoriya’s possible past with discrimination and suicidal thoughts reminded him of all the pictures of children's faces he saw when he was doing research for his segment. 

Kids who were quirkless or who had quirks considered weak or villainous, that would now never be able to grow up because they'd been victims of societal injustices. 

When he looked up and saw Midoriya sitting at his desk, quietly talking to Todoroki, he watched for just an extra second. Midoriya reached up touching what was definitely a new haircut before giving Todoroki a small smile and nod. It looked genuine and kind and Hizashi couldn't help how he felt the air rush into his lungs a little easier than before. 

He knew that Midoriya still had problems they needed to identify and probably long lasting damage from his past, but Hizashi took comfort in Midoriya’s smile. With a new pep in his step, Hizashi greeted the class with his usual boisterous enthusiasm before beginning their lecture on English conjugation

Chapter Text

"Ah, Young Midoriya, just who I wanted to see. Since you had to leave early from training Friday, I wanted to check to see if you wanted to finish that up today." All Might smiled to Izuku as he was nearing the dorms with Todoroki and Iida by his sides. With All Might standing in front of him, Izuku couldn't help but think how he looked like a gentle giant. 

Chapter Text

“Midoriya, it’s okay. It’ll be okay. I just need you to breathe.” Hizashi’s hands shook as they hovered beside limp shoulders. “We can go see Recovery Girl, I’m sure she’-” Midoriya cut him off with a vigorous shake to the head followed by broken choked mumbles refusing Recovery Girl’s help sending him further into a panicked state. “I need you to look at me, can you do that?” Hizashi moved his hands to hover near Midoriya’s face, still not letting them touch him.

Izuku was trying desperately to move his arms and with each failed attempt, he sobbed harder than the last. He went through the motions of flexing and stared down at the limp limbs, as they gave no indication of a single twitch. He couldn’t think about the teacher in front of him or that all of his classmates could probably hear what was happening. Izuku’s only thought was on a certain blonde realizing how unworthy Izuku was and then how his father was going to hurt his mother because of it.

It would all be Izuku’s fault.

As Midoriya further spiraled, his sobs got louder and far more broken than Hitoshi or the classmates that frantically moved towards the door had ever heard. Hitoshi stood outside Izuku’s door gripping onto the frame on both sides, as hard as he could. He could feel how his nail sunk divots into the paint, but he couldn’t let go. Not with their class trying to get in.

“Why do you want access?” Hitoshi asked Iida the second his choppy motions were in view.

“I wa-” Hitoshi latched on as soon as he could, turning the class rep into a blank eyed puppet, ready for Hitoshi to pull his strings.

“Tell everyone to go back to their dorms. Make them listen, threaten to get Eraserhead, do SOMETHING. Tell them Midoriya is fine. Make them LEAVE.” He demanded. Iida got to work, yelling, scooting people away, even putting his shoes in the middle of the open elevator doors to prevent anyone from using the elevator.

Only one student didn’t pay enough attention. Todoroki was a few inches shorter then Hitoshi, but somehow height means a lot less when being threatened by both ice and fire at the same time.

“Move, now.” Todoroki flicked his eyes up, glaring harshly through his lashes. Why Hitoshi realized in that moment of his life being threatened that Todoroki’s eyelashes were the same color on both sides, he will never know.

“My pops is in there-Hizashi- Yamada-Present Mic- He’s in there. I called for help. He’ll help.” Hitoshi stumbled over his words as he leaned as far away from the flames and ice that licked up Todoroki’s arms, plastering himself to the door.

When the intensity of the sobs suddenly died down, both teens looked at the door, ignoring their previous tension. Hitoshi saw Todoroki’s shoulders ease slightly, but his eyes still darted around the door.

“Help me keep everyone out? I don’t think Midoriya would want people to see him right now.” Hitoshi waited for Todoroki’s brief nod before releasing his control on Iida. The indignant noise that Hitoshi was oh so familiar with came only a few seconds later.

What he wasn’t ready for were the ice barriers that appealed on both side of the hall cutting off everyone from Izuku’s room. Even Hitoshi’s own room was lost to him on the other side of an ice barrier, not that he was about to make a complaint to Todoroki about it.

He didn’t have that kind of death wish.

“Go. AWAY.” Todoroki gritted out, staring at the ice. The noise in the hall diminished. Even the sounds of explosions dropped off into nothing.

“Thanks.” Hitoshi pulled himself off the door, following Todoroki’s lead, and took a seat on the floor. He already felt the temperature dropping dramatically, but once again wasn’t going to say anything.

“I didn’t do it for you.” Todoroki glared towards him again and Hitoshi sank in on himself. For a few terrible seconds they listened to the quieter, but still prevalent sobs coming out of Midoriya’s room. “Izuku told me you wanted to be his friend.” Hitoshi fidgeted uncomfortably before nodding. “Is that all you want to be?”

It took a second for Hitoshi to understand the meaning behind Todoroki’s question. Once he did, he felt all the remaining heat in his body rush to his face as he looked anywhere other than the his classmate. He didn’t answer, he couldn’t answer, he didn’t even know an answer, but his silence seemed to be enough of an answer for Todoroki who gave a slightly sour expression before nodding once.

“Hurt him and I hurt you.”

Hitoshi hoped his father was doing better inside the room with Midoriya than he was outside the room with his impromptu shovel talk.

One the other side of the door, Hizashi had long since abandoned his plan to not touch Midoriya, in fears of upsetting his further. When shaking his head back and forth, Midoriya had bumped his face into Hizashi’s hand and before he could move the hand away, Midoriya laid his face on his, rubbing his wet cheek against his open palm like a cat wanting to be pet.

Hizashi took that as a sign and laid the other on his face, forcing the boy to look at him for just a moment.

“I got you. I’m not leaving. We’re gonna figure this out together. I won’t let anything else happen to you.” Hizashi was making promises that he refused to let myself of anyone else break. He let go of the boy’s face and wrapped his arms around him. Midoriya squirmed and whined in pain, but only wiggled closer as Hizashi rocked him back and forced, rubbing a hand in circles on his back to help him calm down.

He felt the blast of cold air come from under the door and saw shadows move slightly, but he paid no attention, focusing only on soft speaking soft words to help his student calm down.

He wasn’t sure how long it took before sobs became cries, cries became whimpers, and whimpers trailed off to almost silent breathing.

“Midoriya?” Hizashi pulled away, earning another pained sound. “Where else are you hurt?”

“My muscles hurt from training.” Midoriya told him softly, keep his head down. The occasional tear slipped down his cheek, but exhaustion poured off his small frame in waves, stopping his tears from building into anything more.

Hizashi’s brows scrunched together in worry. He’d been sore plenty of times. He remembered how Shota had worked himself to the point of passing out when they were in school, but he’d never seen sore muscles make a person react how Midoriya was, at least not so close to when they’d been used. People usually felt it after the muscles had had plenty of time to rest, feeling it the day after they worked out. Hizashi got a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Midoriya, I’m going to raise your shirt, okay? I just want to take a look at your back.” Hizashi reached to the back of Midoriya’s shirt and began to raise it slightly. The kid made no reaction, and Hizashi honestly wasn’t sure if he was awake enough anymore to give one.

He didn’t have to raise the shirt very high before his fears were confirmed. Midoriya’s back and onto what he could see of his torso were covered in red and pinks bruises that’s centers bled into hints of purple. The color suggested they were brand new and Hizashi had to breathe deeply in through his nose to control the wave of nausea that hit him.

“Is it bad?” Midoriya surprised him by speaking again. Questioning him because of course he knew they were there, he’d felt them. Hizashi dropped his shirt and shuffled back in front of Midoriya’s face.

“I’m gonna pick you up, and then I’m taking you to the hospital. They are gonna look at your arms and fix the bruises, and you’re going to be okay.” Hizashi pushed back Midoriya hair and wiped a few tears off his face.

“What if they can’t fix them? The doctor before said-” Hizashi didn’t let him finish. Holding back his own tears.

“I will burst the eardrums of every single doctor I have to until they fix them, okay? I’m gonna pick you up and I know it’s going to hurt, I’m sorry, I don’t want to hurt you.” Hizashi put one arm under curled knees and the other hovered behind Midoriya’s back, waiting for confirmation.

“It’s okay. I’m used to being hurt.” Hizashi had to stop himself from crumbling under the weight of Midoriya’s confession. With a deep breathe, he picked the kid up, stumbling slightly as he got to his knees and tried to not have his heart break and the cry that Midoriya released.

“Whoever is on the other side of this door, open it.” Hizashi called through the door, hearing a slight scuffle before the door was opened. Hitoshi and Todoroki were on the other side of the door, eyes immediately looking at the curled up body in his arms.

“Izuku!” Todoroki reached his hand out, but Midoriya didn’t take it, couldn’t take it. He watched Midoriya look at the hand and caught him as he leaned forwards towards it.

“Todoroki, I need you to melt the ice. Hitoshi, call Shota and tell him to bring the car to the front of the dorms. It’s an emergency.” Both boys kept their eyes on Midoriya for a moment longer before Todoroki put his left hand on the ice. The temperature in the air changed in the blink of an eye and the hallways was once again opened up.

“I’m going with you.” Todoroki informed Hizashi. Hizashi didn’t have the time or patience to decline him. He shifted Midoriya in his arms slightly and walked towards the elevator, the sound of two sets of feet trailed behind him.

Izuku didn’t know what to say or what to do. He was tired and exhausted in ways he hadn’t been in so long, if he’d ever been before. Shoto was there and Izuku wanted nothing more than to cry to his best friend about what had happened, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t hurt Shoto. Not when Shoto already had too much to deal with, because of Endeavor. Shoto needed All Might to be his symbol of peace. He needed to know that the man his father tortured him to beat, was worth it.

It was all worth it.

Izuku didn’t want Shinsou to see him either. He didn’t want Shinsou to know how weak he was. How he wasn’t worth it. He was already 90% sure the other knew about his pathetic crush, he didn’t want to boy to have another reason to avoid him. Not when he just told Izuku he wanted to be friends.

Then there was his teacher, whose arms he was being carried in, who he latched onto like a scared child. Yamada was warm and kind and told Izuku that he would help him and Izuku let himself be smothered in affection that he didn’t deserve and promises that couldn’t be kept.

He hated himself for it. He hated himself for giving in. He hated himself for watching everyone in the elevator and every move they made, because he didn’t know when another hit was going to come. He hated himself because he couldn’t stop crying.

Mostly, he hated himself for All Might being right.

He wasn’t cut out to be-

“ZUZU!” The sound of Eri’s panicked shout pulled Izuku out of his thoughts. His quirked activated without him even realizing what was happening and he sprang out of Yamada’s arms and rushed to Eri.

Eri was panicked, he needed to help her. Izuku didn’t know how it happened, but black tendrils shot out from Izuku’s limp hands reaching out for Eri, exhaustion forgotten under the new amount of adrenaline that rushed through him. The second he was in front of her, she threw her arms around his neck and the black tendrils secured her to his chest as he pushed his body to run out of the room to get Eri away from whatever danger was around them.

He couldn’t think about anything but the head of white hair the clung onto him as he moved out of the dorms and around the building, finding a small nook big enough for the both of them to hide in. The tendrils moved frantically around them, hiding them from view, and protecting Eri from whatever was upsetting her.

“Zuzu, what’s happening!?” Eri cried, hiding her face into his neck. When he tried to speak, his own breath was coming out in short bursts, in rapid succession. He couldn’t pull enough air in to stop the burn that his lungs began feeling. The longer he thought about his breath, the drier his mouth got, and the more he tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat.

His throat was swelling.

He couldn’t breathe.

He had to protect Eri.

He had to ignore the spasming pain in climbing down his jaw in to his chest and protect Eri.

“I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you.” He repeated frantically, rubbing his face against Eri’s hair.

He tried to fight against the black dots the began to pepper his vision, but they grew larger with each breathless swallow.

Distant screams and a hands tightening their hold on the back of his shirt were the last things Izuku registered before the dark spots over took his vision and his head dropped back against the wall.

Chapter Text

Shota had been on edge from the moment Hizashi had left the apartment. The longer that time stretched on, the more his nerves were set on edge.

“Dad, will you check my homework?” Eri asked pushing the math paper she’d been working on towards him. Shota took it, scanning his eyes over the multiplication equations, trying to focus on anything else except his unringing phone. He handed the paper back to Eri, not able to remember a single thing he’d looked at and gave her a nod.

He made a mental note to recheck it later.

By the 100^th glance to his phone, he was beyond his normal amount of annoyed. He wanted answers. He wanted to know his student was okay. Hizashi was taking far too long. He rolled his shoulders a few times, fingers tapping against the table impatiently. 

He had to give Hizashi time. He knew his husband wasn’t going to call until he knew Midoriya was okay. Shota told himself repeatedly to calm down, but the longer it took, the more it confirmed something was wrong.

When his text tone went off, he all but lunged for the phone. Then even before his could open the first message, another came in. Steady text messages from Shota’s students all begging him to come to the dorms, that something was wrong with Midoriya, that Todoroki blocked off any access to Midoriya’s room. By the time Iida’s call came, informing Shota that Hitoshi had brainwashed him into keeping their classmates out of Midoriya’s room, Shota was already getting Eri into her shoes.

“Eri, we have to go to the dorms. I’m going to need you to stay with your brother when we get there, okay?” Eri’s excitement petered out quickly.

“Why can’t I see Zuzu?” She took a slight step away from Shota, fists clinching the bottom of her dress. Shota saw a confused and hesitant expression on her face, one that was waiting to know if Shota was already breaking his vow to not keep her from Midoriya.

“Midoriya isn’t feeling well. When he’s better, you can see him. I promise.” Shota let both of them out and then turned back to lock the door. When he turned around to grab Eri’s hand, he caught the last sight of her red shoes turning the corner as she ran away. “Eri get back here!” Shota hollered, chasing after his daughter. Long legs and years of chasing after villains made catching up with the 8 years fairly easy.

“Eri! You can’t run off like that!” Shota reprimanded, holding her still for a moment. “I know you care about Midoriya, but running off is not okay. Hizashi is with him right now, he’s being looked after. You CAN NOT run off, even if it for Midoriya.” Eri squirmed in his hold slightly before scrunching her face up in to an angry expression. Red eyes looking almost like Shota’s own.

“Fine.” She relented. Shota rubbed a hand through his hair before scooping her up and beginning a hasty walk towards the A-Class dormitory.

When his phone rang again with Hitoshi telling him that Hizashi needed him outside the dorm with the car, immediately, Shota was already opening the door to the common room. A few students were sitting on the couch, immediately surrounded Shota. Their voices blended together and he sat Eri down to try and placate their concerns before he went to go retrieve the car.

“ZUZU!” Eri’s scream caused Shota and the students heads to snap towards the elevator. A streak of green lightning shot from the elevator, stopping in front of Eri. Shota would have turned off his quirk, but before he could, a mess of black energy burst from Midoriya's hands and pulled Eri towards him. Midoriya’s face looked pale and uneasy before he too was covered by the black whips that slung out, keeping everyone at bay and slamming into walls, knocking large chunks of dry wall off.

“Everyone get back!” Shota screamed, throwing his arm out to block the kids from getting any closer. His quirk was activated, but he couldn’t see Midoriya through the black that surrounded him. “Midoriya!” The name had barely left his mouth when the whole mess of darkness lit up with green lightning, looking like a dangerous storm, and tore through the door, disappearing out of the room.

Hizashi, Shoto, and Hitoshi sprinted after Midoriya, only a second in front of Shota and the terrified students.

He knew Midoriya would never intentionally hurt Eri, but he still couldn’t stop from thinking about Eri’s rescue when her power and gone out of control with her holding onto Midoriya. Now he had the reverse situation, with Midoriya’s power going out of control while he held onto Eri. He prayed that nothing would happen to either of them.

It didn’t take much to find the two, not with the angry looking black coils flying all over the place.

“Stay back!” Shota demanded of his very afraid and worried students. He and Hizashi moved forward slowly, seeing the lightning and darkness begin to blink in and out of existence the closer they got. The second Shota should see Midoriya, he flipped on his own quirk, erasing Midoriya’s.

Everything cleared with just enough time for Shota and Hizashi to watch Midoriya’s head lull back, eyes closed, arms hanging by his side, with Eri clinging to his unconscious body.

Eri’s voice begging for Midoriya to wake back up was the only sound any of them made for a split second before Hizashi and Shota both rushed into action. 

The spot that Midoriya had brought them didn't allow for much space to move around, but they somehow both managed to squeeze their bodies in. Shota reached for Eri, but as he pulled, she pulled Midoriya with her. 

"No! I won’t leave him!" Eri screamed, whimpering against a tear soaked shoulder.

"Eri, we have to get him help. I can't lift him with you hanging on. I need you to let go." Hizashi tried to placate his daughter and breathed a sigh of relief when after looking between her parents and Midoriya a few times, she finally released her grip. 

"You have to help him. You promised me!" Shota hoisted her up, turning her away from Midoriya so she didn't see Hizashi pick up his limp body. 

"Dad, I got Eri, pops said he needs the car." Hitoshi held out his arms for Eri, who easy moved from their father to him. She gripped around his neck, squeezing with ever bit of strength she had, but Hitoshi couldn't care less.

"Mr. Aizawa, is Deku going to be okay?" Uraraka asked, speaking up for the teary eyed students that had followed them out. 

Hitoshi took stock of his classmates, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu all clung together. Todoroki stood a few steps away, a thin layer of frost was visible on his right side as he stared at his friend. Peaking around the corner of the dorm, Hitoshi caught sight of Kaminari's nervous discharges of electricity as he peaked around the dorm building. 

“Midoriya will okay, we’ll make sure of that.” Shota had his keys in his hand, ready to run for their car as he tried to calm down the students, but a part of him was reluctant to leave, just in case Midoriya woke back up and lost control of his quirk again, but he knew that worry couldn’t stop him. “Everyone, go to bed. Hitoshi, keep your sister. Hizashi, I’m going to go get the car, be careful.” He didn’t take one step away before voices erupted all around them.

“Shouldn’t we get him to Recovery Girl?”

“What was that black stuff?”

“Is that why he was crying?”

“If Izuku is going somewhere, I want to go.”

“I’m with Todoroki.”

“I want to come too!”

“SILENCE!” Shota screamed, flaring his quirk and letting his voice echo into the otherwise quiet night’s air. “You will do as you’re told. Go back to the dorms. I understand you’re worried for your classmate, but he is going to be with two pro heroes.” Large glossy eyes looked at him in almost every direction, making him sigh and drop his quirk. His dry eyed burned with every blink. “Look, I know you’re all worried and upset. Us standing here arguing isn’t helping Midoriya. He needs doctors and he doesn’t have any stamina left for Recovery Girl to do anything. I’ll send Iida a message when we know something. You all have permission to sleep in the common room if you want, I’ll send Midnight to supervise. Now, I need to leave.”

Without waiting for another answer, Shota turned away and began running towards the parking lot leaving Hizashi to finish dealing with the students.

“Come on, everyone back to the dorms, I need to set Midoriya down soon. He’s a little heavier than he looks.” Hizashi moved forward slightly, herding the panicky students like curious duckling.

Hitoshi needed no more convincing to get Eri out of there and quickly turned heal and headed back for the dorms. Eri was already becoming fidgety in his arms and he didn’t think he had long to get her somewhere before she stopping wanting to be touched and started wanting to get back to Midoriya.

No one spoke as they entered the dorm. Not when they saw there other classmates. Not when they all eyed the few slices that had been taken out of the walls with a mystery quirk they’d never seen before. Even Bakugou sat next to Kirishima uncharacteristically less explosive than normal. Hitoshi moved past them all as he headed for the elevator with Eri. What he wasn’t expected was to be joined on the elevator by Todoroki or the icy glare that came with him.

“Hello Eri. It’s nice to see you again.” Todoroki greeted her. “Would you like to go to Izuku’s room and watch one of his favorite movies with me?” As Hitoshi previously excepted, Eri wiggled out of his grasp, getting to her feet and moved to the far corner of the elevator.

“Can I go with Zuzu?” Eri asked as the elevator opened. Hitoshi watched as she gazed into the hallway, carpet still discolored with the water from Todoroki’s ice, and then eyed the lobby floor button.

“Sorry Eri, we have to stay here.” Hitoshi lightly touched the back of her shoulder, directing her off the elevator before the doors closed on them again. “But Dad and Pops, they’ll let us know what’s going on.”

Eri walked with her head down towards Midoriya’s room, not bothering to wait for either Hitoshi or Todoroki. She paused slightly at the door before throwing it open and running into the room, immediately burying herself under the covers on the bed, curly up into a ball.

“How come you didn’t stay with Midoriya?” Hitoshi whispered to Todoroki, as the teen moved around the room like it was his own. A computer from the desk, a hidden basket of snacks from under the bed, a new stuffed animal from the closet that was placed next to the lump on the bed before being dragged under the covers by a small hand.

“Izuku would have my head if I went with him and left Eri here upset.” He dug around in a box filled with movies until he pulled out an old DVD. “This movie is stupid, Izuku loves it.”

“If it’s stupid, why does he love it?” Hitoshi sat on the bed near Eri’s feet.

“Izuku like bad movies. He says he only likes the ones that are so bad they are good, but I have yet to figure out how that classification works.” Todoroki started up the movie and set the laptop on the bed, taking his own seat in the computer chair. About 15 minutes in, Hitoshi saw Eri’s teary eyes peeking out from under the blanket as she watched the very cheesy movie.

By the time Shota appeared back in front of the dorms with the car, Hizashi was about to lose his cool. 17 students were staring dozens of questions into his back that he couldn’t answer all while he hovered over the couch he laid Midoriya on.

He wasn’t sure if the twitch the kid gave when he picked him up for a third time made everyone feel better or worse, but it had to of done something with how the class stayed on Hizashi’s tail as he moved towards the car.

“You will inform us when you know something, correct?” Iida verified as Hizashi shut the back seat car door.

“Unless they want an explosion to the face they will. I need answers on what the hell that black shit was!" Bakugou’s fist popped alongside his threat and Hizashi was honestly surprised that Bakugou had lasted so long without setting off at least a few explosions.

“Midnight is on her way. I’ll let you know when we hear something.” Shota confirmed as Hizashi got in and shut the car door. They left the class standing in front of the door watching them drive away with the hope that Nemuri would be able to corral them all back in.

“What did you tell Nem?” Hizashi asked as Shota sped towards the nearest hospital.

“I told her Midoriya had a quirk accident and needed medical attention. I didn’t know what else to tell her. Is this what Hitoshi called about?” Shota gave a small glance towards Hizashi’s grim face and then shot a look towards the back seat at the still unconscious Midoriya.

He should have already woken up.

“Someone beat him, Shota. He’s covered in fresh bruises. There’s something else-” Hizashi paused, taking a deep breath, and Shota felt his heart drum against chest. “-He couldn’t move or feel his arms.”

Neither of them said anything more. Shota stepped on the gas a little harder and Hizashi held onto his seat belt just a little tighter. Both of them had theories forming in their heads about who might have caused this. Certain blonde heroes and mystery fathers were on the top of both of their lists.

When Izuku opened his eyes and was met with an endless black sky and empty rock ground, he filed it under just one more thing that was wrong with his day. The ghostly glowing figures that stood in front of his with distressed faces weren’t making it any better.

The last time he’d had a dream about One for All, he’d burst his bedroom windows, and honestly with the day he’d already had, that didn’t really seem like a surprising end to his Monday.

“Ninth.” The Seventh One for All user, Nana, stepped forward towards him and pet him hair softly. Just like the time before, he was covered from nose down with a dense black cloud like substance. He had sight into the quirk, but he’d theorized that his soul was still too alive to move around with the ghosts of One for All’s past.

Not being able to move his arms in this plane actually gave him a bit of hope for his return.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened to him. That isn’t the boy I gave the quirk to. That isn-” Nana was pulled away midsentence by the first and fifth user.

“Nana, we aren’t sure how much time we have. We have to prioritize what we speak about.” The first user told her softly, gesturing for the fifth to take over.

“Congratulation, Ninth! You got my quirk, blackwhip! I was honestly surprised that you used it right, at least at first. You can’t just use idle thought anymore. You need to know what your goal is when you use it! You wanted to pick that little girl up, that was a good command, but you lost focus and thus you lost control. I know you’re trying kid, you just have to change the way you’re thinking a little.” Izuku tried to respond, but it came out as more of a grumble than anything else. He had questions, so many questions. “Seems like you can’t talk here, but that’s okay!”

“Ninth, the previous user’s quirks have been dormant inside One for All for a long time. None of the other users have been able to manifest them, until you. I suspect that the core of One for All has begun to expand, allowing a physical manifestation of the quirks that it houses.” The first user explained. Izuku chattered away with question after question against the dark cloud that left each of them undistinguishable to the vestiges in front of him.

“Do you get it kid? Now you have six new quirks to discover.” Though the fifth user smiled at Izuku, he couldn’t help but feel the dread settle in his stomach. Six new quirks. Six new things to master. He and his 35% max level of One for All didn’t really know what to do with six new quirks. “Good Luck, boy! We’ll be with you!”

“Be safe, Ninth.” Nana and the First user told him before everything around Izuku began to swirl until he too was drug into the nothingness around him.

Chapter Text

Shota and Hizashi had been sitting in the waiting room for two and a half hours when a doctor finally came out to talk to them. 

Chapter Text

The doctor had told them everything should be, “Right as Rain”. Maybe that’s why Hizashi paid special attention to the rain, Tuesday tomorrow. He’d watched the news on the small TV in Midoriya’s hospital room, keeping the volume off as to not disturb anyone in the early hours of the day. There was a storm that had apparently rolled in over night, with multiple flash flood warnings active to areas around the city. By 6am, a light patter of water against the hospital windows could be heard.

At 7:20am, as Midoriya was being wheeled back to be prepped for surgery, the storm had arrived.

Unlike Hizashi, who watched the impending weather, Hitoshi woke up with is already in progress. The alarm on his phone, flashing 7:30, woke him, Eri, and Todoroki up. He and Todoroki had spend most of the night awake, watching Midoriya’s favorite bad movies, and occasionally talking. Todoroki had fallen asleep first, around 3am, but Hitoshi’s anxiety had kept him up much later. He’d stopped checking the clock around 4:30.

His mouth tasted bad and his body physically ached at his lack of sleep, but he still raised his head, blinking to his room companions. Eri silently shuffled out of Midoriya’s blanket, clutching the stuffed bear Todoroki had given her the night before, eyes swollen from her previous tears. Hitoshi watched as she leaned over to the dazed and sleep deprived Todoroki and gently started patting down the bed head present on his right side.

Bones popped painfully in Hitoshi’s back as he stood and his jaw cracked as he yawned widely. He checked his phone hoping for any more news on Midoriya and as if reading his mind, Eri broke the room’s silence.

“Why isn’t Zuzu back yet?” She asked in a small whisper, face pressed into the bear. Hitoshi wished one of his parents were there to talk to her. Her question seemed like a level of maturity he didn’t think he was ready for.

“Dad called last night after you went to sleep. He said Midoriya was resting, but he’ll call when he woke up.” Hitoshi told her after clearly his throat of the morning dry feeling and nerves that threatened to take his voice away.

“When can I see him?”

“Aizawa said that after school we can check to see if Izuku is up to visitors.” Todoroki answered, saving Hitoshi from having to. Eri hardly looked pacified when her frown was turned back to Hitoshi.

“I want to know what’s really going on. I’m not dumb. You aren’t telling me everything.” She demanded, her arms jerking down as she spoke, similarly to her stomping her foot, had she not still been on the bed. Hitoshi grimaced at his own lack of knowledge.

“Midoriya is injured. I’m not- Dad didn’t- He’s in the hospital right now, but dad said he was going to be fine. He just needs to be watched for a few days. I don’t know anything more, Eri. We’re all in the same boat here.” He confessed, holding out a hand for her. She eyed the hand for a moment before shuffling forward and pressing against his side. He wrapped his arm around her and glanced at Todoroki who seemed to be staring off into space, in the direction of their hug. Not knowing what else to do, Hitoshi held out his other arm and looked at Todoroki, offering him a hug as well.

Todoroki eyed his open arm for a moment, looking confused and almost as awkward as Hitoshi felt before reaching over and linking the pointer fingers together. Hitoshi lowered his arm and stood there for a moment, hugging his sister on one side and standing awkwardly anchored by a single finger to Todoroki on the other side.

“I haven’t seen a single injury be able to keep Izuku down for long, Eri.” Todoroki said softly.

Before any other words or thoughts could be had, a loud clap of thunder shook the windows, making Hitoshi and Todoroki drop their hands and Eri pull away from the hug.

Three heads turned to look at the window as the storm raged angrily on the other side.

Shota, on the other side of the UA campus, had both heard and ignored the thunder. He was more focused on the security footage in front of him.

After leaving the hospital, Shota had immediately went to the police station to get off the necessary paperwork to begin his investigation before going out on what could probably be considered on overly aggressive patrol. He hadn’t run into anyone committing crimes, but he had broken at least two knuckles while punch a brick wall as he waiting for Nezu to respond to him and to stop himself from going out to find and possible kill All Might.

With his hand wrapped, a brief kiss from Recovery Girl, and a few calls to check on Midoriya through the night, Shota finally was in Nezu’s office. Understandably, Nezu was highly concerned with what had transpired the night before and Midoriya’s condition. They’d reviewed the common room footage and Aizawa got to witness once again the raw power and vacant look Midoriya had shown. Next, they pulled up the gym footage from his lesson with All Might.

Except it wasn’t there.

It showed them walking into the gym, and then they walked to the corner out of frame.

The next time either were seen, All Might was walking out alone and then awhile later, Midoriya could be seen, quirk activated and looking utterly defeated mentally and physically. Nezu’s eyes glared at the screen and his whiskers twitched slightly.

“There shouldn’t be a blind spot in this gym.” He said emotionlessly, never taking his eyes away from the screen.

Shota had remembered the training schedule Midoriya had told Eri and after Nezu rolled the cameras back, the saw weeks worth of the same thing. Either All Might and Midoriya would enter the gym and then walk off screen or the two would leave campus. No matter what, when the pair would enter back into view, Midoriya would always look drained.

“How did you not know about this? Don’t you watch these cameras?” Shota demanded, his agitation turning his voice into pure aggression. Nezu uncharacteristically growled back at him.

“Do you think I have time to watch every student and teacher in this school? I didn’t think the FORMER NUMBER ONE HERO was someone that should be on my priority list.” He sneered, jerking back to look at the footage of All Might walking away from one of the training sessions, a smile plastered on his face.

Shota, a man who prided himself on his rationality, was often consumed and motivated by his own irrational emotions. Nezu, who claimed to be above human emotion, and was known for his level head, was exactly the same as Shota.

“Well, you were WRONG.” Shota shouted, smashing his hands down against the wooden desk. He ignored the jolt of pain from his newly healed hand as he entered a staring contest with the snarling principal of UA.

“Might I remind you that you didn’t notice until either, Shota.” The use of his first name caused Shota to look away, leaning back in his seat, he felt overwhelmed by the guilt he felt. He drug his callused hands over his face in defeat.

“I didn’t. Not only did I not notice, but I also let my emotions get the best of me and ended up hurting him and my own family by extension.” When he looked back at Nezu, he saw the distress and shame that he was allowing through.

Shota knew Nezu’s story. He’d been a lab experiment and tortured for the sake of being better than he previously was. Though their situations were different, Nezu had to of felt a connection to Midoriya’s trauma. He couldn’t imagine how the animal was currently feeling knowing that something similar took place in his own school.

“Did you know about his quirk?” Shota questioned.

“Yes. Finding a successor is why Yagi was here in the first place. When Midoriya came, he seemed completely enamored with the hero. I had no reason to believe there was any nefarious going on and due to the nature of the quirk, secrecy was a priority.” Nezu explained, turning back to the computer screen to look at footage from early in Midoriya’s first year. The tape showed both Midoriya and All Might, walking into one of the privacy rooms with bento boxes and smiles on their faces.

It wasn’t even close to the same smile Shota saw Midoriya give when they’d seen All Might the previous Friday.

“We’re gonna go ahead and put a pen in this quirk talk because ALL I know is that All Might gave him a quirk. Eri also said she thought Midoriya’s father was, ‘mean to him too’.” Shota quoted. Nezu quickly pulled up the same student fire Shota had seen previously before looking back.

“WHAT father?” Nezu asked rhetorically.

The sense of defeat in the office was not something Shota was used to, but it seemed that the case he was opening for Midoriya’s safety came with more mysteries than he’d excepted. As he tried to think of their next moves and how he was going to dig an inconspicuous 7ft long grave, he focused on the sound of water rushing off the slightly sloped roof.

Izuku, and the surgical team around him, seemed to be the only ones unaffected by the storm. Instead, the room filled with only the sound of machines beeping, and the occasional request for tools. It wasn’t how the usual operations went. Sometimes there would be music or light conversations to keep people focused.

Looking at the bruised and scarred upper body of a mere teenager and seeing the copious amounts of scar tissue over previously healed injuries, was enough to silence the room. Some of the team had already seen the emergency guardianship paperwork, or talked to the hero who sat out in the surgical waiting room anxiously chewing on the end of his thumb. For those that hadn’t, it didn’t take much to draw the obvious abuse conclusion.

By 10am, Hizashi had moved from his place in the waiting room chair, to pacing around the room. He’d been told the surgery would take about an hour and a half. When that had passed and the Midoriya’s name still showed, ‘in operation’ on the surgical board, Hizashi had started to internally panic. He avoided the nurse's station after the elderly head nurse had yelled at him to sit back down after his 12th time asking if there was an update.

The text messages he was getting from Shota, Hitoshi, and Nemuri were also not helping his level of anxiety. He got it. Class A was canceled due to their homeroom teacher in a meeting with the principal, where they were about to call the co-heroics teacher in to join them, the arts teacher had been up most of the night with the class, and then there was Hizashi himself, the English teacher, who was waiting for the student that everyone was worried about to come out of surgery.

If my scream wouldn’t tear this whole building down, I’d do it.

In a moment, of pure exhaustion, Hizashi slumped back in his seat and let him eyes flicker to the board once again. He almost didn’t believe it when he saw, ‘In Recovery’ finally beside Midoriya’s name.

He’s out. I’ll let you know when I hear from the doctor.

Shota read Hizashi’s message and let out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding in. At least it was one less thing he’d have to worry about when All Might finally joined the meeting. He and Nezu had spent hours reviewing camera footage and looking into Midoriya’s records. The only thing either of them learned was that Midoriya had suffered in middle school, his father had moved back to Japan during his first year, but at least Shota now had the address of his father’s house. Just in case Midoriya decided to try another disappearing act again.

Of course, Nezu had also filled him in on the fun One for All secret. Something Shota should definitely have been told about prior. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to even begin on what he was going to do with that bit of information.

Hit All Might over the head with a shovel.

Scold Midoriya while wrapping him in bubble wrap.

Kick a 200+ year old villain in the nuts.

Any and all of the above were very high on Shota’s to-do list.

When the door finally opened and All Might walked in, looking just the same as he did every other day, Shota gripped onto the arm rest on his chair as the man sat next to him. Just by the subtle glance All Might gave him, it was obvious he knew why he was there, and wasn't concerned.

"Do you know why you're here All Might?" Nezu asked, portraying his usual cold demeanor. All Might nodded gravely.

"Yes, I do believe so. I have a feeling this is about Aizawa's theory that my treatment of Young Midoriya is less than ideal." All Might admitted freely, looking somber. Nezu nodded his head before turning his monitor.

"As I'm sure you're aware, we take all complaints seriously. I pulled up some of your training sessions with Midoriya and I found something very troubling." Nezu explained calmly, turning on the video to show All Might and Midoriya walking out of frame. "This camera should be capturing the corner of the gym you're in." All Might didn’t even flinch.

“Young Midoriya moved the camera quite a while ago. He said he wanted to be able to have privacy when training.” The confidence in his eyes made anger begin to swell up in Shota’s chest, but he kept his mouth shut, trying to let Nezu begin the conversation.

“How did Midoriya seem after his training session yesterday?” All Might eyes squinted ever so slightly at Nezu before the look was replaced with a shy smile.

“Well, he had a very good training session. He was tired, but that’s to be expected. Aizawa came to get him early on Friday for an emergency, as I’m sure you’re aware of. So, we finished up his strength workout.” The accusatory tone in his voice was not lost to Shota, but again he resisted to urge to pin him to the ground and beat him with whatever was closest. He slightly eyed the stapler on Nezu’s desk and fanaticized about recreating the flame villain, Dabi's, signature look.

“After returning from the workout, Midoriya had to be taken to the hospital for injuries. Do you know anything about that?” To All Might’s credit, the surprise and shock that he portrayed almost seemed genuine. It was hard to not think that at least some part of the man cared for the boy. He lunged forward in his seat, eyes wide, and mouth open.

“Why wasn’t I called? Where is he now? Is this why class was canceled today?”

By the twitch of Nezu’s nose, it was not lost of him either that All Might never once asked about Midoriya’s condition. Shota’s previous theory that at least some part of the retired hero cared, was quickly falling apart only seconds after it formed.

“Please take a look at the initial findings from the doctor.” Nezu slide the paper over to All Might, and they watched as he took a look at the areas marked with new bruising, fractures, and the nerve damage.

“He must have received these during class that day and not told me. Young Midoriya, he’s always pushing himself too hard.”

“We looked through the training tapes, Yagi. We know he didn’t receive these injuries in class.” Nezu’s voice dropped with certainty, and it seemed like one of the flashes outside had flipped a switch in Jekyll and Hide sitting next to Shota.

“Can you prove it was me?” All Might asked, straightening up in his seat before smirking down that the principal he towered over.

“I can just ask Midoriya when he wakes up.” Shota interrupted, not even realizing that he also straightened up. A laugh was barked out. It was harsh and so unexpected that blood trailed down All Might chin afterwards.

“Do you HONESTLY believe that he would ever say anything bad about ME? I MADE HIM.” All Might wiped his chin and stood up. Without being dismissed, he walked back toward the door. “Even if you got proof that I would ever hurt a student, which I wouldn’t, who would ever believe you? I was the number one hero for over 30 years.” The light switch flipped once again and All Might was back to acting like he did daily. “I think I’ll go visit my student now.”

Shota will forever claim that the way he wrapped his capture scarf around All Might and slammed him against the wall, was completely justified. Though, he’ll concede that wrapping a hand around the dazed mans throat and launching him back into the chair was completely for his own personal gain.

“We aren’t done yet.” 

Chapter Text

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.” The soft melodic female voice came from every direction in the darkness. It floated around Izuku, bringing memories of sleepless night and bedtime stories. It was a voice Izuku knew almost as well as his own.

“Mom? Is that you?” Izuku called out, feet rooted in his spot. 

Around him began to materialize into a vaguely remembered backdrop. In the center of the fuzzy surrounds, was a much younger version of himself, crying in his mothers arms as she rocked him back and forth. 

“You make me happy, when skies are grey.” His mother sang to his younger self, completely unaware of him there. 

The bedroom door suddenly opened shocked both Izuku and his younger self, who both looked at the large black silhouette of giant figure. Izuku felt his own heart start to race as he backed up, feet finally able to move. The cries coming from the bed got louder, but he didn’t dare look away from the figure that was slowly entering. His mothers voice continued in the room, unaware of any change.

“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you.” 

Izuku’s back him the wall right as the figure stepped forward, taking up far more space in the room than he should have. A small All Might nightlight illuminated the overly wide and fake smile on the his fathers face grossly oversized form. Slowly, the face turned from looking at the bed to look at Izuku himself. The occupants on the bed were forgotten, and the fuzzy surrounding began to drop away, trapping Izuku with nowhere to go to.

As much as Izuku tried, his quirk wouldn’t work. His father slowly drew closer to him, never losing the outlandish fake smile on his face. With each new step the nightlight began to flicker, leaving Izuku submerged in darkness when it would blink off and his father closer to him each time the light came back. He tried to scream, but his jaw refused to budge, locking his lips together in silence. He could do nothing more than watch as an open hand reached out towards his face and the flickering light went out completely. 

“Please, don’t take my sunshine away.”

A lifetime of nightmares allowed Izuku to wake up with little more than an accelerated heart beat and lingering fear that he was able to mask. The heartbeat was audible to him, both by the thumping in his ears and the beeping around him.

It didn’t take long to gather that he was waking up in a hospital room. Far too many injuries in the past numbed him to that initial shock. He tried to fight against the drug induced fog over his brain and piece together any sort of coherent thought about how he ended up there. He remembered he had been inside One for All.

"You got my quirk, Blackwhip!”

He did his best to sort through what had happened leading up to him unlocking his now additional quirk. He had been in pain and couldn’t move after his training session. Yamada came to check on him and was taking him to the hospital. Eri was in danger.

Izuku felt his entire body jerk when he remembered Eri crying against his shoulder. The usual panic he would have normally feel felt subdued, which he attributed to the dripping IV next to him. He tried to lift his head up to see around the darkened room, but fatigue and a deep pressure in his shoulders pulled against him. He barely saw caught sight of someone sitting in the corner of the room on the windowsill before he was staring back up at the ceiling. It wasn’t until then that his ears registered the sound the water hitting the glass.

“Where is Eri?” He rasped out, desperately in need of a drink of water. A scuff of noise happened and a relieve sigh later, Yamada was stepping into Izuku’s line of sight.

“Hey, kiddo. I’m really glad to see you’re awake. Eri is good, she’s worried about you. Hitoshi has been calling every 30 minutes to check if you’re awake yet so she can talk to you.” Yamada told him, with a mixture of an amused and forced smile. “How are you feeling?” Izuku chose to ignore question. His brain felt too fuzzy to try and begin to decipher his own emotional state. 

“Call Eri, I want to hear that she’s okay.” Izuku demanded, not able to put any of his usual fluff into it. His mouth was still too dry, his mind still too foggy, and his emotions still far too muted.

“Midoriya, don’t you want to talk about what happen-” 

“I need to know that Eri is okay. She’s my first priority. Either call her or I’ll figure out a way to get up.” Izuku harshly told Yamada, cutting him off. Flashes of Eri screaming for him and crying against his shoulder played in his memory on a loop. Everything else felt like too much to process. A new quirk, being injured, All Might, his dad, his future, even as the fog in his mind began to dissipate, he still didn’t think he had enough mental capacity to deal with it all. 

He could only focus on one thing.

When Hitoshi’s phone rang, he, Eri, and Todoroki all whipped around to look at it. They’d been calling like clockwork all morning, to see if Midoriya had woken up. As morning dipped into afternoon, it was a wonder Hitoshi had been able to stop all of 1-A, Todoroki, and Eri from going to the hospital and shaking Midoriya awake themselves. 

The class, had understandably, broken into a fit of chaos when Shota had cancelled class. Midnight has tried to tell them all it was because they’d all been up all night and they were just giving the kids a break, but it was obvious that even she was worried about something. 

A few seconds after the incoming call registered, Hitoshi all but lunged at the phone, fumbling slightly when answering before immediately putting it on speaker so all three could hear. 

“Pops?” 

“Hitoshi, hey, Midoriya woke up, he really wanted to check on Eri is sh-” Hizashi was cut off by Eri’s gasps and grab for the phone. Shoved her face towards the screen, despite it being on speaker.

“Zuzu!?”

“Eri, are you okay? Are you safe?” Midoriya’s raspy voice broke over the phone and the room immediately fell a few degrees in temperature as Todoroki reacted to the strained sound. 

“I’m with Hitoshi and Todoroki, I’m okay. What was all that black stuff? Why was papa carrying you? Are you okay? What happened last night? Why did it take you so long to wake up? When are you coming back?” Tears built up in Eri’s worried red eyes as she rushed out question after question, and Hitoshi moved without thinking, pulling her towards him and tuckering her under his arm, hoping to protect her from everything else. 

“I’m glad you’re alright. That makes me feel-” A slight cough and the clinking of ice broke Midoriya’s sentence, when he spoke again his voice sounded far more like himself.

“That makes me feel a lot better. I'm sorry I scared you. When I see you next, you and I, we’ll sit down and talk about it. Okay?”

“I want to see you now. I want to see you’re okay.” 

“Me too. I want to see you.” Todoroki added. Midoriya gave a breathy chuckle. 

“If you’re okay with visitors, later on, a few can probably drop by.” Hizashi’s voice was far aware and clearly not for the trio less than patiently waiting on the answer. 

“Wake me up when they get here.” There was a fumble of movement before Midoriya’s soft final whisper, “Keep Eri safe.”

Hizashi watched as Izuku eyelids drooped closed and his chest relaxed down into calm steady breaths. 

“He fell asleep again. I’ll call Shota and have him bring you. You and the class with have to sort out who is coming to see him. I need to go, I still haven’t been able to speak to the doctor, Midoriya was very insistent that he talk to Eri first.” Hizashi told the kids, stepping away from Midoriya’s bed and closer to the door, trying to not wake him once again. 

“When can we come see him?” Eri asked, voice trembling. Hizashi reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to massage out the stress. 

How did everything get so messed up?

“Shota is in a meeting right now, once he’s out, he’ll bring you guy, I promise. For now, please just sit tight.” The difference in the dark room and brightly lit hallways burned Hizashi’s eyes slightly, making him wish he’d had his hero costume sunglasses. “I need to go talk to the doctors.” He couldn’t wait for anything else before he hung the call up. 

With the phone back in his pocket and once last glance into Midoriya’s room, Hizashi went straight for the restrooms. For a few minutes, he just sat in one of the stalls, head in his hands, and let the emotions of the previous 15 hours come out of him in broken and hard sobs. 

How could anyone do this to a kid?

After his few allotted minutes of breaking down, Hizashi cleaned his face, shot a quick text to Shota for him to call when he could, and then set off to find a doctor or hopefully a nurse that wasn’t still annoyed with him. 

Shota didn’t even register is phone going off in his pocket. All the muscles in his body flexed on their own accord as he tried to control his desire to lash out at the man in from of him.

“That’s assault.” All Might snapped, coughing slightly as he took in a few needed deep breaths. Had it been any other person with only one functional lung, Shota wouldn’t have choked them, and if he did, he would have at least felt bad. 

With All Might, Shota only wished he could do it again. 

“Can you prove it was me?” Shota ridiculed, tossing back the ex-heroes words in his face. 

“Really Aizawa, I thought you were better than this. You’re accusing me of things you have no proof of. Did Young Midoriya get hurt during training? Well, that isn’t the first time. How many bones have you allowed him to break? If fact, wasn’t it you who came to me to talk to him about ignoring you? You just showed your aggressive tendencies, how do we know it wasn’t you that was hurting him? Why else would he avoid you?” Shota instantly recoiled away from All Might’s words. 

He knew exactly what All might was doing. Manipulating and gaslighting were basically in the ‘abusive asshole’ starter pack. He knew the words were meant to cut into him, make him think, make him question, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, they did just that. 

“The cameras around the school can prove the injuries didn’t come from Aizawa.” Nezu commented, taking over for Shota as he tried to get his head back on straight. “I don’t think you need to continue this little charade any longer, Yagi. We are all well aware that his recent injuries came from you.”

“Okay, let’s say, I went a little too hard on the kid during his training.” All Might leaned forward in his seat, blue eyes glowing with an almost sinister gleam. “What are you going to do about it? Fire me? I can see the headlines now, ‘UA wrongfully terminates retired Number One’. The press would have a field day, UA’s name would be dragged through the mud. Young Midoriya’s name would be dragged through the mud too. His hero career would be over before it ever started.” A twitch in one of Nezu’s ears caused a brief ripple over his fur. 

“Yes, without evidence, there is very little we can do.” Nezu paused for a moment and Shota watched how All Might sat back, satisfied with himself. “Which is why I’ve taken the liberty of calling in someone who would be able to acquire such evidence for me.” Nezu paused again to take a sip of tea, letting the tension sit in the air a moment longer. “Detective Tsukauchi should be here shortly.” Shota watched the cocky expression fall from All Might’s face and turn into a toxic glower.

“It doesn’t matter what you find on me. Young Midoriya will NEVER press charges against me and neither would his mother. How do you think this is going to play out for you when he’s standing by MY side?” The threatening tone All Might did little the ruffle either Shota or Nezu on the outside, but on the inside, Shota was worried. 

Would Midoriya stand by All Might’s side? Shota hadn’t given the kid any reason to choose him over the man that gave him a quirk. He thought about the last month and felt his shoulders sag with an indescribable weight. 

God, it’s only been a few days over a month.

The wait for the detective was silent, aside from the unforgiving rain. Nezu sipped his tea, occasionally watching his monitors, All Might stared holes in the desk in front of him, and Shota stood by the door, scarf at the ready, insuring their make shift prisoner wasn’t able to leave. 

When the detective arrived, Shota met him outside of the office to give him a quick run down on how they needed his help in determining if one of the members of staff had been physically abusive to a student. Tsukauchi looked taken back, and if Shota had to guess, a little disgusted at the implication. 

“Tsukauchi, we know it happened, and it’s probably been happening for awhile. You’re here so we have tangible proof, I’m not sure the kid will admit to anything right now.” Shota told him, motioning him towards the office.

“A teacher here at UA? Are you positive about this?” Shota nodded his head gravely and let out a long sigh. 

“Look, if it had been up to me, we wouldn’t have called you.” Tsukauchi looked concerned at the words before glancing towards the door ominously.

“Aizawa, who is this about?”

“Midoriya is currently in the hospital and All Might is the one who put him there.”

Chapter Text

“That’s- That’s impossible. I know, All Might. I’ve known his for almost two decades. I’m sure there’s an explanation to this, Aizawa.” Tsukauchi doubled down, hand clenching at the fabric on trench coat. “Toshinori is a good man. He wouldn’t hurt Midoriya.” 
Shota didn’t answer immediately, instead he moved to the other side of the teacher’s lounge, towards his own desk, and picked up a file. It was a copy of everything he’d been given at the hospital that detailed injuries, and had the unsettling pictures that Shota could only stomach looking at once. 

“Here.” Shota handed the file over and watched as Tsukauchi read through it. Emotions overtook the detectives face as his eyes traced over injuries in the attached photos. 

“It couldn’t be Toshinori. He-” A shaky breath stopped any words and leftover feelings that threaten to overcome the betrayed looking man. Shota reached forward and took the file back gently. 

“My daughter is the one who let it slip. All Might and a mystery father no one here has ever met, both are hurting the kid. Present Mic and I had planned to talk to him when he joined us for dinner tonight to try and get more information. We tried Friday, when we first found out, but he pulled a vanishing act. Yesterday, he came to school, acted a little skittish, but otherwise completely normal. Sometime between the end of school and curfew last night, something happened. When Hizashi got there, that’s what the kid looked like. Cameras show he entered the gym with All Might after class. When he left, you can see on the camera that he isn’t okay. He had surgery this morning to hopefully fix all the damage.” Shota explained everything as he put the file back on his desk and walked over to the coffee machine. Making a quick cup for himself and the detective. 

Tsukauchi accepted the cup, but made no move to actual drink it. Instead, he stared into the dark liquid with a steady glare.

“His father too? Have you looked into him?” 

“Nezu and I started on it this morning. All we could find out was a name and an address. Midoriya Hisashi. Right now, neither of Midoriya’s parents even know he’s in the hospital. Hizashi and I have emergency guardianship.” Tsukauchi pulled out a hand sized notebook and wrote the name down quickly before nodding. 

“I’ve met Midoriya. He’s a good kid. A good hero. He didn’t deserve this. No kid deserves this. No PERSON deserves this. I’ll run his father’s name through the system when I get back to the station. We’ll try and dig up what he can on him.” Shota gladly accepted the help. The faster they could find something, the fast Midoriya would be safe. 

“Are you going to be able to do this interview?” Tsukauchi set his untouched coffee down and steeled himself before giving Shota a nod. 

“This is the same as any other interview I’ve done. The person in there is a suspect, but until proven otherwise they are innocent. I will refrain from making any judgement on the matter or allow my personal feelings to get in the way of that.” With that, Shota led Tsukauchi to the principal’s office.

“Ah, Detective Tsukauchi, thank you for joining us. I hope you didn’t have trouble getting here.” Nezu greeted, making his pleasantries. Tsukauchi understandably, focused only on Nezu, not sending a single glance to All Might, who didn’t look at all happy about that development. 

“A little bit of traffic, but that’s to be expected with the weather, the officers I came with dropped me off at the office and are parking the car, they’ll be in shortly. If you don’t mind Nezu, I’d like if we didn’t delay any longer with this interview.” Tsukauchi told him, voice respectful, but absent of all other emotions. Nezu smiled and hopped of his chair, gesturing for Tsukauchi to take his seat. 

“Naomasa, you can’t possibly be humoring them in this ridiculous accusation.” All Might began to stand up but Shota quickly cleared his throat and weaved a hand into his capture scarf. All Might’s glowing blue eyes glared fiercely, but he returned to his seat. 

“Toshinori Yagi, my name is detective Tsukauchi. My truth is called, polygraph. I’ll be able to tell if any statements you say are true or false. This conversation will be recorded and has been recorded since I walked in the room. Can you please state your acknowledgement for the record?” Tsukauchi finally looked up from his seat to All Might, and Shota saw how his guarded expression cracked ever so slightly before he looked back down at the notepad he’d pulled out.

“You can’t be serious, Naomasa. You know me. Do you really think I would do this? Does our friendship mean nothing to you?” Tsukauchi paused ever so slightly as he took the recorder out of his pocket and laid it on the desk between them. All Might seeing he wasn’t getting anywhere, sighed loudly and leaned back in his seat. “Yes, officer. I acknowledge this is being recorded.” With that, Tsukauchi clicked his pen and began his interview, leaving Shota and Nezu with nothing to do but watch.

“Do you know Midoriya Izuku?” 

“Yes.”

“Truth. Do you have one-on-one training with Midoriya Izuku?”

“Yes.”

“Truth. Have you ever hurt Midoriya Izuku before?”

“Yes. Young Midoriya and I have not only spared in training, but also in school mandated fights.”

“Truth. Have you ever hit Midoriya Izuku outside of training or school mandated fights?”

“No.”

Shota watched as Tsukauchi’s pen paused on the paper. The usually stoic man raised his eyes slowly to look up at All Might and Shota knew exactly what reading he got. He repressed his own desire to lash out at the man. Trying desperately to calm the emotions inside of him. 

“Did you hurt that child, Toshinori?” Tsukauchi questioned with disbelief weighing heavily on his voice. His face twisted into devastated shock. All Might looked away from his friend and stared out the window at the rain. 

“I didn’t do anything he didn’t deserve.” All Might’s voice was low and harsh. “If he wouldn’t have tried to stand in my way, then he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” When All Might turned back around to face Tsukauchi, gone was his previous reserved look. “He shouldn’t have tried to stop me.” What replaced it was the sinister face of someone with nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

“You chose him as your successor, he didn’t stop you from anything.” Tsukauchi defended. It was then that Shota realized that detective was also in on the quirk secret, he couldn’t help but wonder exactly who else was aware of his students planned future. All Might barked out a laugh that almost instantly turned into a wet cough that left blood dripping from his bottom lip.

“He was an empty shell. I knew by picking him, my name would live on forever. He’d act like me, talk like me, be named my successor. No one would be able to say his name without also thinking of me first. Then, he got a little more confident and wanted to ‘be his own person’, like that was ever going to work. So, he needed corrected, and I corrected him. Then I found a solution. I found a way to go back, and he had the audacity to tell me no. Told me he, ‘wouldn’t allow it’. I gave him his whole life and yet he betrayed me? He had to be punished.” All Might ranted on like a super villain from a movie and Shota had to stop the urge to throw up the coffee he’d previously drank. 

“’Zuzu said I have to stay away from All Might and if I’m ever near him then I need to run and find you guys or him.” 

“You wanted Eri.” Shota whispered in a disgusting realization. Izuku had told Eri not to be around All Might, he’d hid her from view, he’d taken beatings by the man that was supposed to be his mentor, at least in part, to protect Shota’s daughter, and then Shota tried to take her away from him.

It was rage that hit Shota first. Not only rage for his student, who had to suffer at the hands of an adult he should have been able to trust, but a deep boiling rage at the knowledge his daughter was also a target of an old man’s sick attempt at regaining fame.  

He attacked, even before he realized his feet were moving. His capture scarf sat untouched around his neck as he tackled All Might out of his chair and onto the floor. The desire to rip apart the man with his bare hands far out weighted using a weapon. 

There was sound all around him, voices screaming, chairs clashing, and yet Shota didn’t stop to try and make any of it out.

His newly healed knuckles burst into pain he couldn’t register as they made contact with the face in from of him. He continued to punch with one hand and choke with the other, even as All might fought back.

Shota learned quickly that All Might, though retired and crippled by his injury, had a fair amount of strength left in his body. He could taste blood, but like his knuckles, could feel no pain. It wasn’t until he was slamming All Might’s head into the ground, using his own blonde hair as a grip, that Shota was forcefully pulled away from the retired hero. 

Ectoplasm and Vlad King dragged Shota out of the office as he kicked and screamed, trying to get back to All Might to finish what he’d started.  

“I’ll kill you!” He screamed as he lost sight of his target. 

It wasn’t until Shota was handcuffed to a chair in Recovery Girl’s office that the rage finally dimmed enough for the overwhelming distress to surface. 

How long had Midoriya been getting hurt?

The way All Might told it, it sounded like it had started when he first got the quirk. How many times had Shota let All Might drag Midoriya away to train? How many times had

Midoriya been hurt, right under Shota’s nose without him even suspecting a thing? 

His stomach swelled with nausea once again, but this time the taste of blood set him too far over the edge and Shota found himself leaning over the armrest of the chair he was attached to, throwing up the thankfully close trashcan. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before the door opened behind him.

“Take the cuffs off, he needs to rinse him mouth out and clean the blood off his face.” Recovery Girl directed out of Shota’s view. 

“He attacked a-” Vlad was quickly cut off by a cane smacking into the leg of Shota’s chair. 

“Now!” She barked.

When Shota had finished cleaning himself up in the bathroom, he took a moment to checked his phone for the first time since finding out Midoriya got out of surgery.  

He woke up. The kids want to come see him. He wants to see that Eri is okay.

Recovery Girl was waiting for him, ready to reset his broken nose and heal him once again, when he finally came out of the bathroom. Vlad King and Ectoplasm were still standing by the door, making sure he couldn’t escape, each with matching looks of anger and incredulity.

He didn’t even want to fathom what they probably thought of the situation. 

“You did quite the damage to Yagi. Even with my healing, he still had to be sent to the hospital.” Recovery Girl told him calmly as she mercilessly reset his nose. An almost growl forced it’s way out of his mouth, but aside from that, Shota chose not to say anything at all. 

When Tsukauchi came into the nurse’s office a few minutes later, Shota wasn’t surprised. He saw how conflicted and upset the detective looked and tried to make it easier for him by holding both wrists out in front of the other.

“I know why you did it, Aizawa, but you still attacked someone, and in front of me no less.” Tsukauchi scolded, reaching into his pocket to grab his handcuffs. “You’re under arrest for assault.”

“Vlad, do me a favor and go find Nemuri. Tell her know she needs to call Hizashi to tell him what’s happening. I need someone to come pick me up after I make bail. Tsukauchi, please note I’ll be paying that bail as soon as I’m processed. If you could ask them to start the paperwork, that would be fantastic.” Vlad King looked rather put off at the request while Tsukauchi stood there, before shaking his head and shoving the cuffs back into his pocket. 

“I won’t cuff you in front of the students, but if try and run, I’ll tase you. Let’s go.” Shota stood up lazily and walked along side the detective. The only regret he had as they left the school was that he didn’t hit All Might’s head into the floor any harder. 

Though, he was brought a small bit of satisfaction when he found out, on the way to the police station, that All Might’s trip to the hospital had been in cuffs and by police escort. 

Chapter Text

Hizashi had been in the cafeteria of the hospital, popping down for anything that even resembled food and caffeine, when he got the frantic call from Nemuri. 

“Vlad said Shota attacked All Might and got arrested!” She hissed quietly into the phone; voice muffled by what Hizashi guessed was a hand cupping her mouth so no one else would hear. 

Had it been any other day and anything other reason, Hizashi knew he would have jumped up and began to panic. However, after everything that had already happened, he grabbed his sandwich and cup of coffee and rather calmly sat down at one of the cafeteria tables.

His emotional meter already felt far too full for him to do anything else.

“Shota had our car.” He muttered nonchalantly, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Hizashi, this is serious! Vlad said he was going to make bail and needed picked up. He assaulted another hero; he could lose his license! What the hell is going on?” Nemuri sounded angry and stressed, and Hizashi could do nothing more than take another bite of his sandwich.

“Answer me, Hizashi!” Nemuri demanded after Hizashi kept her in silence a little too long.

“Midoriya didn’t have a quirk accident.” Hizashi felt so utterly overwhelmed, he was numb. 

“But Shota said-” Her voice broke trailed over and Hizashi listened to her breath hitch. “Oh my God, Hizashi, did All Might hurt Midoriya?” 

“Can you go pick up Shota? The kids want to come check on Midoriya now that he’s out of surgery.” Hizashi asked, completely ignoring her question and realization. It wasn’t that he wanted to sound as cold as he did, he just knew he couldn’t break down. 

Not when his kids needed him to be strong. 

Not when Midoriya needed him to be strong. 

Nemuri was quick to get off the phone, demanding a to be brought into the loop of everything that was happening, but also vowing to go pickup Shota. It was at least one thing that Hizashi didn’t have to worry about. When he finally got back up to Midoriya’s room, he sat by the kid’s bed, looking at the heavy bandages and casts that prevented his arms from moving. 

“You may not know it, but there a lot of people that really care about you, Midoriya.” He began to whisper to the unconscious boy. “We’re gonna protect you.” It was a promise that Hizashi made himself, but one that he knew Shota and Hitoshi would have fully agreed with. 

At the dorms Hitoshi was quickly discovering, it wasn’t just their family that would have gladly made that promise. 

“I know you know more than you’re letting on, Eye bags.” Bakugou sneered, tossing open Midoriya’s dorm door, and interrupting the 4 millionth game of candy land Todoroki and Hitoshi were playing with Eri. 

“Bakugou! That isn’t the proper way to go about this!” Iida came barreling in after him, arms making wide movements with every word. 

“Bakubro, don’t shout man, you’re gonna catch other people’s attention.” Hitoshi watched Kirishima look around the hall before stepping into the door and shutting the door behind him. “Hi Eri.” He greeted happily. Eri gave a small half wave in response as she curled in slightly on herself. 

The dorm rooms were not nearly big enough for 5 teens, 1 child, and so many large emotions. It felt suffocating and Hitoshi felt panic setting in. 

“Bakugou, you’re interrupting our game, please leave.” Todoroki told him, taking the lead on the conversation, which Hitoshi was beyond thankful for. 

“Don’t tell me what to fucking do, Icyhot. I want to know what the hell is going on with Deku, and I want to know right now.” Small explosions went off in Bakugou’s hand as Hitoshi pulled Eri closer to him, trying to keep her out of the possible Todoroki and Bakugou danger zone. 

“Bakugou, while I do agree that there is information, we aren’t being made aware of, I will ask that you calm yourself in the presence of a child. We said we’d do this calmly.” Iida gestures turned stiff as he put himself in the middle of the room blocking everyone off from each other. Kirishima quickly slide in next to him. Hitoshi couldn’t see the face that Kirishima was giving Bakugou, but he watched as Bakugou suppressed his explosions and let his chest deflate into something that could be defined as a calmer demeanor. 

“His mom didn’t even know he went to the hospital last night. Why the hell wasn’t Auntie told?” As soon as Bakugou’s question was processed by everyone, the temperature in the room dropped significantly. Frost began to form a half circle on the bed with Todoroki as it’s epicenter. 

“Did you tell her?” Todoroki’s voice was low and threatening, and Hitoshi couldn’t help how Eri tensed next to him as well. His reaction was to pick her up and get her out of the room, but with Midoriya as the main topic, he doubted she would have left with anything less than screaming and clawing.

“What the fuck do you mean, ‘did you tell her’? Why shouldn’t I have told her?” Bakugou pushed forward towards Todoroki, who began to peal himself off the bed, ignoring how his clothes pulled against the ice as they unstuck. They met in the middle, chests puffed, with only Iida and Kirishima to act as a buffer between the two hotheads.

Bakugou must have seen something in Todoroki’s eyes that caused a big of genuine confusion to penetrate his anger. “Why shouldn’t I have told her?” He asked again, far more genuinely than before. 

“We talked to Midoriya earlier, Pops said that once Dad is done with his meeting, we can go to the hospital to see him.” Hitoshi told the room, trying to stop any fights from breaking out in a room that belonged to none of them.

“What did his mother say when you told her?” Todoroki demanded, stream rolling over Hitoshi’s intervention.

“She said she was going to go to the hospital and call All Might to see if he knew what was going on, but when I called him, he didn’t answer.” This time it was Hitoshi who had the immediate reaction. All Might was not someone who should know anything about where Midoriya was. Especially, since Shota had told them all that Midoriya had an injury that needed to be watched. Hitoshi could only assume that the injury came from someone, especially since Midoriya was fine during the school day. 

“Don’t tell him about Midoriya!” Hitoshi shouted, slightly panicked. He realized quickly when four sets of teenager’s eyes turned to him, that his outburst was a mistake. 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Why shouldn’t All Might be informed?”

Questions came from Kirishima and Bakugou, while Iida and Todoroki looked to each other with faces that only conveyed how many thoughts were running through their heads. 

“He trained with All Might yesterday after school.” Iida spoke slowly. His usually open hand slowly closed into a fist as he brought his arm up to his chest. 

“So, the nerd probably pushed himself too hard.” Bakugou justified, voice sounding just a little like he was trying to convince himself of his claim more than anyone else. 

“Maybe it’s his arms. Maybe he lifted too much.” Kirishima added, laying a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder. Had the situation been different, Hitoshi would have been impressed it wasn’t immediately pushed off and maybe questioned how deep the relationship was between the two best friends. 

“Eri, why are you making that face?” Todoroki asked, looking at Hitoshi’s side. Quickly he turned to look at Eri, whose quivering lip only added to her scared face.

“I want to see Zuzu.” She whispered before burying her face into Hitoshi’s side, hand fisting in his shirt. His heart broke slightly and the phone in his pocket began to feel far heavier than it had before. Either his pops or his dad should have called him again. Hitoshi could recognize when there was information that he also was being kept from him. 

How long did a meeting take?

His arm tightened around Eri as he glanced to the people in the room. Todoroki was tired, more tired than any second year had the right to be. The almost frigid temperature in the room gave proof to his worry. Iida’s brows furrowed low enough to almost be completely hid behind the rims of his glasses as his eyes darted from one location to another, obviously not actually seeing any of the areas they landed on. Kirishima’s sharp teeth were almost puncturing his bottom lip and his hand still rested on Bakugou’s rigid shoulder. The usually angry face was far too dampened for Hitoshi to feel any bit secure. If the people close to Midoriya were this worried for his safety then-

“We should go to the hospital right now, not more waiting.” Once his words were spoken aloud, he was far more confident in them than he thought he would have been. Once again the room turned to look at him and he only doubled down. “I’m not waiting for my dad. I’m taking Eri right now, you guys can come if you want, but that won’t stop be from going if you don’t.”

“I’m coming too. I’m not letting his father anywhere near him when he can’t properly defend himself.” Todoroki confirmed, stepping ever so slightly closer to them. 

“His dad? Deku’s dad isn’t around, he fucked off to America when Deku was 5.” 

“He came back last year.” Eri whispered, revealing information that Hitoshi was sure only Todoroki and Eri knew.

“Midoriya didn’t tell us that. Why didn’t Midoriya tell us that?” Iida looked to Todoroki who looked away slightly, letting everyone know that Midoriya had in fact, told someone. Someone who felt it important enough information that even when it was out in the open, still wouldn’t confirm it.

“We can worry about the details later, for now, we need to worry about how we’re getting there.” Kirishima clashed his fists together and put on a battle-ready expression.

“Now hold on, Mr. Yamada is still at the hospital, is he not? If something nefarious is occurring with his father, would a pro-hero not be more suited?” Iida asked, conflict and worry seeping down his face like paint being spilled over a blank wall. 

“I’m not taking that chance.” Todoroki and Hitoshi said at the same time, completely ignoring their unison response. 

“Midnight is supposed to be watching us, but I haven’t seen her in awhile. With All Might MIA too, it shouldn’t be too hard to sneak away. We can catch the next bus.” Kirishima started to plan ignoring their class president completely.

“We’re gonna have to make up some excuse for the shitty extras downstairs. They aren’t gonna let us go without a fucking interrogation.” Bakugou sneered out, crossing his arms defiantly.

“Guys-” Iida tried to cut in, but Todoroki spoke over him ignoring what would probably be another protest. 

“We can tell them we are going to train in the gym, or leave separately.”

“Guys!” Iida tried again, an arm chopping in between Todoroki and Kirishima, forcing it’s way into their line of sight.

“People would probably try to join if we said we were going training. Eri and I could easily say we needed to go home. Todoroki could probably join us with little suspicion.” Hitoshi offered, earning a nod from Todoroki. 

“Would you just listen to me!” Iida screamed, slamming a fist onto Midoriya’s desk and knocking over a few action figures. Eri flinched at the sudden shout while everyone else turned to gape at the force Iida showed. “Thank you.” Iida fixed his already pristine collar slightly before clearing his throat. “I’ll have Momo run a study group. Bakugou never joins, Kirishima will of course be with Bakugou, and Hitoshi, Todoroki and Eri will stay here. Of course, as class rep, I don’t wish for anyone to be left out, so I will join you three to ensure you’re both studying as well. Todoroki, if you could make an ice slide from Midoriya’s window to the ground, we can safely leave the dorms without being noticed.” 

No one spoke a word as they digested the plan the Iida seems to pull out of his ass. Hitoshi looked towards Midoriya’s window while Todoroki already seemed to have his right hand at the ready. 

“What happened to letting the pros do it, Glasses?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow at Iida who looked completely unfazed at the challenge.”

“Asking a question about the best way to proceed with a situation, is not a decline to join. Midoriya is my friend and classmate. I not going to let you all run off unsupervised, nor will I allow my friend to deal with something alone, when I can help.” Iida once again glance to Todoroki before rolling his left shoulder ever so slightly.

“How long ago did you call Midoriya mom, Bakubro?” 

“Long enough that we need to get going. Glasses, tell Ponytail the plan, and let’s get this show on the road.” 

As much trouble as they were probably going to get into, Hitoshi still shot a text to his parents 15 minutes later, as he, Eri, Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Bakugou snuck out the front gate. With Eri wrapped in one my Midoriya’s hoodies and the rain covering up any evidence of Todoroki melting the slide they’d used to escape out the window.

Midoriya’s parents know he’s in the hospital, except them to be there any moment. We’re coming.

Shota was the first to look at the text. He’d just pulled out his phone to let Hizashi know that he was officially bailed out of jail, with a meeting to talk about punishments already scheduled.

“Shit! Nemuri, we need to get to the hospital, not only are the Midoriya’s probably on their way, but so are the students.” Shota and Nemuri both hightailed it to the car, rushing to the hospital, hoping to beat everyone else. On the way, Shota filled in Nemuri with everything they knew so far about Midoriya’s situation, letting her newfound anger fuel her borderline dangerous driving. He’s tried to call both Hitoshi and Hizashi, but neither seemed to want to pick up his calls. Which wasn’t something that was exactly soothing to his anxiety.  

At the hospital, the text message and missed call sat unnoticed as all the attention in the room was on the doctor. 

“The surgery went well. We originally thought we were just doing a nerve repair, but when we got in there, a neurolysis had to be done as well. That's why the surgery took a little longer than previously anticipated.” Hizashi closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a relieved sigh. 

“What does that mean? What was wrong?” Midoriya asked from his new, ever so slightly, propped up position in the bed. He still wasn't able to move, and had more wraps and casts on him than free skin, but he said he was happy to at least be able to see the entire room, and not just the ceiling. 

“The reason you couldn’t move your arms was due to a rupture in the nerve. We were able to go in and cut away the dead part of the nerve and reattach the healthy part, that’s the nerve repair. We also saw a far amount of scar tissue, but we got that cleaned up too. That’s the neurolysis. That’ll increase blood flow and allow for better nerve regrowth. Looking at your file, I see you’ve had some concerns about your arms, from previous injuries.” The doctor paused, giving Midoriya a moment to process the information before giving him a kind smile. 

“I can’t make any promises, but I think the scar tissue that had built in the nerve channel is a lot of the cause for those concerns.”

“You think this will fix my arms?” Midoriya whispered, tears already brimming in his eyes. 

“I’d still recommend exercising a healthy amount of caution, but, yes. I do believe the issues you were seeing previously, with loss of movement and excessive pain will be greatly reduced. It’s something I would like to look more into during your physical therapy. We’ll take a look at how your nervous system reacts as you use your quirk, but we can talk more about that during PT when we come to it.” 

For the next few minutes, Hizashi sat dadding away the relieved tears that Midoriya cried as the doctor and nurses ran through test and did the first session of healing from one of the nurses. He laughed happily, having his own burst of relief in his chest, and he grabbed a new tissue. 

“Is Aizawa going to bring Eri? I want to make sure that she’s okay after all that. It was probably really scary.” Hizashi reached for his phone only to find several missed texts and missed calls. He skimmed over the texts, feeling the color drain from his face. 

“I think they’re on their way kid.”

Chapter Text

Hizashi’s mind raced in two completely separate directions. Half of him wanted to run to the nurses station to tell them not to give anyone Midoriya’s room number, while the other half wanted to stay at the front of Midoriya’s bed like a guard dog, not letting anyone near him. 

“Mr. Yamada? What’s going on?” Izuku out of reflex, tried to sit up further, but was completely immobilized on the bed. The doctor had told him they’d given him a nerve block during the surgery that would last at least a day. It make him temporarily paralyzed from the neck down, and prevented him from accidently moving and harming anything from the surgery. 

Being unable to move was not an experience Izuku longed to have again. 

“Who is on their way?” He asked, hoping that would spark some sort of response in the other. He watched as Yamada seemed to have a lightbulb moment and reached quickly for the nurse call button, smashing down the assistance needed button a few times before repositioning his chair to face the door. 

“I just need to get the nurse in here that’s all.” Izuku could see the worry and stress coming off Yamada as he bounced his leg anxiously. 

“Please tell me.” Izuku whispered, listening to his heart monitor as it began to increase. He still felt like his emotions were not all there, knowing that in a normal instance, he would have been utterly panicked. 

Yamada looked at him before glancing back to the door and then back to him. It seemed he was having some internal debate, and Izuku waited for the rejection. He knew most all the adults in his life never cared about what they were doing to his emotional state. It was all about what suited them best. 

“Hitoshi thinks your parents know you’re here. He thinks they’re all their way. You don’t have to worry though; I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Yamada gave him a reassuring smile and shattered the previous thoughts Izuku had in one go. 

For a moment, he couldn’t say anything. He stared at the voice hero and tried to process the muted emotions of relief, denial, surprise, and fear. On one hand, Yamada was honest. He promised Izuku would get to use his arms again, and the doctor was hopeful that would happen. He told him the truth when asked. He had apologized for everything that happened before. But, on the other, Izuku wasn’t sure if this was somehow a ploy. Or, if he just felt bad for hurting Eri and was trying to make up for it. 

There was also the new information that his parents were on their way, while he was completely unable to defend himself. Yamada was an amazing hero, but he didn’t have his directional speakers with him, so any use of his quirk would be an attack on everyone in the room and possibly the floor. He knew Yamada couldn’t risk using his quirk. 

Fists didn’t fair well against flames from his experience. 

The soft knock at the door left Izuku little time to think about what might happen. Not when the knock was followed by his mothers face popping into view, tears already at the ready.

“Izuku! Oh my gosh, what happened!?” She rushed forward only to be stopped by Yamada who blocked off her path. Izuku wanted to reach out to her and to tell Yamada that it was okay, but his eyes were drawn away from his mother and towards the figure that stood right behind him. 

With his nightmare fresh in his mind, the image on his father walking into the room and turning towards him caused his already accelerated heartrate to spike up even more.

On reflex, he tried to clench his fists, knowing nothing was happening. 

“What have you done now?” His father demanded, angry and annoyed, and exactly as Izuku remembered him. When he took his first step into the room, Izuku almost expected the lights to begin to blink, just like in his dream, but thankfully they stayed just as bright as before he darkened the doorway with his presence. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya, I’m going to ask you to leave now before I call security.” Yamada’s voice sounded different than it did at school. Instead of the light and joyful tone he usually carried, this sounded final and full of authority. 

His father had never liked to be challenged though.

Smoke began to blow from his father’s nose as he squared his shoulders. Before his mouth opened in the telltale sign, he was about to use his quirk. Izuku couldn’t help but interrupt. 

“Stop! He’s my teacher. He’s a pro-hero!” He told them quickly, knowing while he’d be punished heavily for it later, his father wouldn’t risk being taken in by a pro hero. 
Not when the majority of his business was criminal anyway. Or at least, Izuku assumed is was, based on calls he’d overheard and his fathers far above normal citizen fighting and quirk skill. 

Just as he’d suspected, the smoke was cut off and his father’s posture disengaged ever so slightly. 

“Pro Hero or not, step aside, we’re his parents.” His mother took the chance to move around Yamada, only to have an arm catch her and lightly push her back. The gesture seemed to upset his father more than anything else and he reached forward to grab his mother’s collar and yank her back forcefully behind him, not caring about the choked noise she made, or the helpless noise that Izuku made as he watched. 

His mother being hurt wasn’t something he could handle. He would take as many hits as he had to, to never watch his father’s hand wrap around his mom’s neck as he threatened them again.

“I’ve been supporting you and your whore mother for years. My hard work gave you everything.” Izuku stood, clothes seared, lip split, with new bruises forming on his ribs. Their first spar had gone terribly and his mother had tried to stop it. She held the phone in her hand, saying that she was going to call the police, but that had been the wrong move. 

If Izuku had known going into the fight what would have happened, he would have started on the offense. He wouldn’t have cared about hurting his dad. Instead, he’d been blinded by the punch in the face. The kick to his side. The fire aimed for his skin.

As soon as his mom waived the phone, flames shot out and burned her hand, making her drop the phone. She cried and cradled her hand while Izuku coughed blood and turned on his quirk, ready to attack. He stopped, he second the offending hand slipped around her throat. 

“When I watched the Sports Festival, imagine my surprise when I see him.” As he gestured toward Izuku with one hand, his other tighten ever so slightly and Izuku took a step forward on reflex. “The first two rounds, he never used his quirk, but he did good. Great even. I told everyone I was with how that was my son. Then the third round. He displays that quirk.” Once again his hand tightened and his mothers breath began to hitch was she cried. “Everyone knew. They all knew. They’ve seen Inko. They knew you were hers, but that quirk? You aren’t mine.”

Izuku’s brain went completely blank for a moment as he tried to process his father’s incorrect epiphany. He hadn’t told his own mother the truth of his quirk, but given the situation, he didn’t care about keeping the secret.

“All Might gave it to me! The quirk can be passed from person to person, he gave me the quirk!” Izuku confessed with all the sincerity in his voice. In response, his father laughed. His laugh sounded manic and unhinged. 

“Okay, then give it to me.” His father looked at him with a challenge and Izuku’s blood went cold. 

“N-no. I can’t.” 

The altercation had ended with Izuku being given a new reality. One that involved his father not believing either him or him mother when they claimed their truths; That Izuku had got the quirk from All Might and that his mother had never cheated on him.

Izuku new reality was that he was to pay back everything that had ever been given to him. Whatever his father wanted, he’d get. As long as Izuku wanted his mother to be safe. 

His mother was nothing more that a glorified prisoner in her home and Izuku already been warned that if anyone showed up at the door… They wouldn’t get in before the damage was done.

The memory made Izuku both want to fight and want to throw up, neither of which he was able to do.
Yamada seemed to get the picture very quickly as he made eye contact with his mom and gave her a slight nod. She dodged around his father, and as soon as she was past,

Yamada moved to be chest to chest with his dad.

“Izuku, baby, what happened? Are you okay? Oh my god.” Tears and hands were on his face as she leaned over him, careful not to touch any of the bandaged. Yet, Izuku was too distracted by Yamada to answer her. 

Yamada was taller, but his father was built wider. The two looked like they were one second away from an all out dual when there was a second knock at the door. 
Like so many times in his life before, Izuku wondered if the universe actually did have it in for him. Especially since his second visitor wasn’t on anyone’s watch list for who might come visit him. 

People are willing to believe a lot, as long as it confirms their previous opinions. Something Toshinori was well aware of and knew how to use to his advantage. From the time he left the school with an officer on both sides of him, to the moment they walked him into the hospital, Toshinori talked.

“Thank you so much for keeping me safe, Officers.” 

“I’m so glad the students will be safe, now that this has been uncovered.”

“I’m glad I could still help out, even without my power.”

“Let’s hope we can get out of here and to the police station quickly. I’d like to give my statement to the detective while it’s still fresh.”

“I still can’t believe that a teacher could harm a student.”

The longer he spoke, the more he saw the tension in both of the police officer’s shoulders start to drain out and the atmosphere between them completely change. Their own mental justifications being fairly easy to read.

Surely, when the detective said that he was under arrest, he meant the one who hurt All Might. Not actually All Might himself.

By the time the doctor had finished raving about how amazing Toshinori was as a hero and healing the remainder of his injuries, the police were nodding right along with her. 

“-It was so good to meet you All Might, it really was a pleasure.”

“I was merely doing what I could for the people. I deserve no special praise. Really, it’s doctors, police, fireman, nurses, and so many more, that are the real heroes. You’re the ones who are truly keeping this city safe and protected. So, thank you very much.” Years of knowing exactly what to say to the public were on Toshinori’s side. He ended his oh so sweet statement with a mock version of the smile he used to give to every camera that was pushed his way. 

It was annoying, the act. The fact that he even had to take time to take the time to sway opinions back in his favor, was something that grated on his nerves and made his hands clench into fists. A quick glance to the police officers who brought him to the hospital, made him release the tension in his hands, knowing that his little act had done it’s intended job. 

The doctor in front of him was wiping a few stray tears from blush-stained cheeks, and Toshinori couldn’t help but think she looked like another certain crybaby he knew.

“Actually Doctor, I’m hoping maybe I could ask you for a favor. Please feel free to deny me, but my protégé, someone hurt him. Unfortunately, that person attacked me before I was able to make sure that he was okay. Can you please check on him? I just need to know my boy is alright.” He hung his head in mock shame, and lowered his voice to an almost whisper. Taking his role of a concerned mentor as seriously as he could. 
With his head down, it was easy to hide the brief look of rage that flashed over his eyes at the thought of his successor. The little nuisance that was causing Toshinori all this trouble in the first place. 

I should have waited 30 more seconds before capturing the sludge villain the first time. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with him.

I should have pushed him harder.

New plans of exactly how he was going to punish Midoriya when he got his hands on him overtook his mind for a moment, almost making him miss the Doctor giving in to his request. 

“-his name?” He turned back in and looked up in time to see her standing at a computer terminal, hands hovering over the keyboard waiting to type. 

“Midoriya Izuku.” He told her, sending another glance to the officers to make sure neither looked put off by his request. 

“Midoriya Izuku, chart says he’s in Recovery Room 327. I can take you there if you’d like.” The Doctor smiled something proud and genuine and once again, Toshinori couldn’t help but make the connection to Midoriya and the naïve attitude he had around everyone else. 

Each thought of the green haired child dug under Toshinori’s skin like a festering wound. He wanted to rip One for All back from him and regain the glory he’d once had. It had been him that put in the work with the quirk, him who built his name, him who the public idolized. So, what? Was he just supposed to give all that to an ungrateful child that wouldn’t listen to him? That dared to defy him? 

Thinking about the whole mess, Toshinori couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Aizawa either. The bastard really thought Midoriya would say something against him. For all the trouble Midoriya was worth, he was a loyal. He knew who made him. The one he owned everything in his life to.

As a twinge of doubt enter his mind, the internal smirk of satisfaction began to slowly fad. He remembered how Midoriya clung onto Aizawa’s oldest brat like a koala the same day Aizawa burst into their gym session. He knew for a fact Midoriya was close with the girl he was actively keep Toshinori away from.

How much did he talk to Aizawa?

When Aizawa had asked him to talk to Midoriya because he was avoiding him, he never gave Toshinori a full story on how he’d hurt the kid. So, what was the full story? Why did Midoriya avoid him? 

The flicker of doubt began to spread quickly in his mind as he stared blankly in front of him. He mulled over his previous interactions, over the previous few days, when things seemed to tip out of his favor. It almost seemed, planned.

Like Midoriya had planned it.

The thought was like an floodgate that opened in his mind.

Maybe this had been Midoriya’s plan all along. From the moment he told him he could give him a quirk. He’d been planning how he was going to steal Toshinori’s glory, by getting him out of picture completely. It’s why he wouldn’t let the rewind child near him. Because it would ruin all of Midoriya’s plans. 

Midoriya had to have been planning this. 

His willingness to help, his desire to save everyone, his desire to be a hero. It was all fake. A clever rouse to steal the glory and name Toshinori had built. 

Did he really think he was going to succeed?

Toshinori sat on the bed, letting his mind run wild with theories on Midoriya’s behavior. Each of them ending the same. With Toshinori being named the villain and Midoriya, the hero. It was the only thing that made sense in his mind. The reason why Toshinori wasn’t getting what he wanted, why he was being blamed for punishing his protégé. It was all because Midoriya was the villain who had planned it all, but he was All Might. Fighting villains was his job. 

It was his job to hurt Midoriya.

“-ll Might?” Toshinori pulled out of his own thoughts to see the doctor giving him a concerned look. She reached inside her pocket, pulling out a small flashlight, but Toshinori gave a sheepish wave.

“I’m sorry, I got a little lost in thought. I was so worried, and with everything that happened, I guess this old brain of mine just needed a minute.” Another easy lie, but one that lit a fire in Toshinori’s chest as he told it. 

Another lie, because of Midoriya.

Everything that had happened, was all coming to the fault of one person. 

“If it’s okay with the police officers, I’d very much like to see him. It sounds a little silly, but I think I’d rather see with my own eyes.” 

“Of course, Mr. All Might, it’s no problem.” One of the officers told him, the second nodding in agreement. 

The doctor walked them through the hospital, chatting away about something Toshinori wasn’t listening to in the slightest until they finally reached a waiting room. The doctor paused happily and point to set of two doors. 

“Right through there, 327 will be on the left.” 

Toshinori thanked her before turning to the police and asking if they could give him a moment alone with his protégé. He promised to be quick and the officers seemed more than willing to take a seat in the waiting room and have a small break from responsibility. 

As All Might walked towards the doors and towards Midoriya’s room the rescue squad 2.0, as Kirishima had named them, was entering into an overly large elevator, making their way up the recovery ward as well. 

They’d entered in through the front entrance of the hospital, drenched from the unforgiving rain that had soaked them as they ran from the last bus stop to the hospital and already on high alert. 

With UA student IDs at the ready, they flashed their identities to the administrator at the front desk, with Bakugou demanding to know, ‘What room is Deku in?’
Hitoshi, basically palming the snarling blondes face out of the way, was able to get the room number, thankful and he hadn’t had to resort to using his quirk on the unsuspected worker.

“Please be respectful!” She had called after their group. Todoroki and Kirishima both crowding Bakugou to prevent him from sending someone else to the hospital too. 

“Bakugou, make sure you don’t get off any explosions what so ever while we’re here. If they were to get near any of the chemicals or oxygen machines, it could be quite disastrous.” Iida began to lecture as the elevator doors closed. Again, Kirishima planted his body in-between the lunging Bakugou and shocked looking Iida. 

“You don’t think I know that, Four Eyes? You think this is the first time I’ve been in a public place? I’m not stupid. Why don’t you lecture Icy Hot? He’s the one who catches on fire when he gets angry.” Bakugou sneered out, pointing an angry thumb towards Todoroki. 

“He’s right. Bakugou and I both will need to monitor ourselves closely. Thank you for reminding us, Iida.” Todoroki didn’t glance toward hardly anyone. He stood on Hitoshi’s side, with Eri in the middle, each of them holding onto one of her hands. 

“So, what’s the plan when we get up there?” Kirishima asked, rocking from foot to foot in anticipation. 

“Make sure the loser is okay, duh.” Bakugou answered first, crossing his arms and slightly looking away. Hitoshi had wondered about the relationship Bakugou and Midoriya had more than once. The two fought like cats and dogs, yet would fight through hell for the other; Even if it was just to drag them out so they could fight again. 

“Seems like a good plan to me.” Todoroki commented. 

Beside him, Hitoshi watched Eri chew on her lip and stare desperately at the elevator buttons as they lit up when they passed each floor. 
The entire ride, probably last 45 seconds at most, yet being so close to finally seeing that Midoriya was okay, and making sure he stayed that way, Hitoshi felt like he spent an hour looking at his slightly distorted reflection in the shinny silver walls. 

When the elevator finally reached the correct floor, the group rushed to the patient rooms, stopping briefly to get a gauge for where the number is. Hitoshi glanced from side to side, spotting the obvious pattern of the numbers.

“Looks like odd numbers are on- Eri!” Before he could finish speaking Eri ripped her hands away from both himself and Todoroki and began sprinting down the hall. Her shoes sent loud echoing clomps down the hall before Hitoshi rushed after her, not paying attention to see if the others followed or not. 

When 327 came into their view, the door unlike most others on the floor, was closed. That didn’t slow Eri down as she ripped the door open and rushed in. Hitoshi, only a few steps behind her plowed into the room after her, barely able to stop when he saw she was frozen only a few steps inside. His back arched around her body as he tried his best not to push her over with his momentum. One of his hands grabbed at the wall to help balance himself out, and brace himself incase the others had the same reaction he did. 

Before he could say anything, Hitoshi looked up to see what cause Eri to stop so abruptly and was met with multiple sets of angry eyes. Based on the uncanny resemblance of the crying woman beside Midoriya, Hitoshi had a guess that they weren’t lucky enough to beat his parents to the hospital. 

What concerned him more though, were the glowing dangerous eyes of All Might, who wasn’t staring at him, but at Eri. 

Chapter Text

When All Might walked into the room, Izuku wondered what side of his mentor he was going to see. Was it the fake side that pretended he cared and supported Izuku, or was it the side who smiled gleefully when he passed out on the ground?

Izuku prayed to anyone listening, it was the former. 

There was something beyond terrifying, knowing that 50% of the people in the room wanted to hurt him in some way and he lacked the ability to even try to block a hit. He just had to sit there and watch helplessly as everything unfolded in front of him. 

“Yagi? What are you doing here?” Yamada asked, face losing what remaining color he had. “You’re not supposed to be here.” Izuku saw something change in All Might’s eyes, a recollection that Yamada was very much aware of the real reason Izuku was in the hospital. 

“Did you get hurt?” Izuku asked without thinking. There were three bandages on the mans face and Izuku could see it looked like one of his hands was wrapped up as well. 
A part of him was worried about the man he’d looked up to his whole life. The man who had taken him under his wing, and gave him almost everything that he held dear. The other part of him was glad it looked like someone had hurt him. That someone might have inflicted a shred of the violence that Izuku saw from him regularly. 

The most concerning thing to Izuku in that moment was that he honestly wasn’t sure which train of thought was more concerning or held the majority over his mentality. 

Am I really that close to breaking?

Maybe I am a bad successor.

“I’m here to visit Young Midoriya, of course. Inko, it’s nice to see you again, though I do wish it were under better circumstances.” All Might turned to his father and held out a hand. “I don’t think we’ve met before, I’m-” 

“All Might. I know. Izuku’s been obsessed with you damn near his entire life.” Izuku sat, question ignored, with his mother on his side watching the same interaction between his father and mentor. 

“He is quite the fanboy, isn’t he?” A smug tone pulled at All Might’s voice and raised one side of his mouth. Izuku wasn’t sure, but it almost seemed like All Might was taunting his father. 

“How did this happen, All Might? You said if I let him stay at the dorms, you’d keep him safe! I had to hear about him getting hurt from Katsuki!” His mother yelled, drawing all eyes to her, with cheek so soaked in tears, they glinted under the bright fluorescent lights in the room. 

The silence in the room was deafening. Yamada reached a hand around and patted what Izuku guessed were his feet, though he couldn’t feel it, he appreciated the gesture.

There was almost something about Yamada not turning around, and keeping his eyes on the people that he thought were a danger that Izuku found confusing and heart warming.

He was keeping his promise. 

The silence and any good feelings only last until the door opened. Izuku couldn’t see the door from his position, but he could hear the force that caused it to bounce off the rubber wall protector and a millisecond later, Eri came into view. 

She came to a screeching halt in front of All Might, and Izuku tried to lunge forward to grab her. He tried to jump out of the bed and run her as far away from the blonde as he could. 

Except nothing in his body moved. 

Shinsou entered the room just as quickly as she had, only a second later, and before anyone could utter a single word. The three seconds that the room stood still and All Might and Eri looked at each other felt like an entire miserable lifetime to Izuku, before finally, Shinsou pulled her slightly behind his side as he took a step forward, tilting his head as he looked up to All Might. 

“Do you mind taking a step back so we can pass?” Shinsou asked, keeping an arm on Eri and maintaining eye contact. 

All Might didn’t say a word as his eyes lingered on Eri before flicking up slightly to Shinsou’s rigid expression. 

Went All Might finally took a step back, while strategically staying silent. He was pushed towards Izuku’s father and away from the door. Shinsou took another small step forward, leaving a gap beyond him and completely blocking off Eri from All Might’s grasp. It left her a small opening to come to the side of Izuku’s bed, which she immediately did. 

“Don’t touch him!” Yamada told her quickly keeping his feet rooted to the ground but extending an arm towards her. 

“What the fuck happened to you, nerd?” Izuku’s eyes darted back to the door and watched as Bakugou, Kirishima, Shoto, and Iida came into the room. The room felt dwarfed as too many people piled in.

Shoto and Bakugou pushed in and went toward Izuku’s mother and father. They push All Might farther towards the wall and pushed Yamada to the opposite side of the room, closer to Shinsou and Eri. 

Kirishima left Iida by the door and moved to be by Bakugou’s side, once again pushing Yamada out of his spot. Shinsou reached out and tugged Yamada’s shirt, sending him towards Eri at Izuku’s side, and completely behind the now makeshift line of heroes in training that split the room. 

On one side, Izuku’s father and All Might stood, both looking like angry outcasts. On the other, was Izuku’s hospital bed, his mother on one side and Eri and Yamada on the other. In order, Shoto, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Shinsou divided them, with Iida watching from the door, eyes darting around the whole time, like he was waiting to jump in.

“Zuzu, are you okay?” Eri asked next to him, getting as close to the side of his bed as she could. 

“You know Eri, I’ve heard about you. You could heal him with your quirk.” All Might interrupted. Making Izuku’s eye widen. 

“No!”

“Why would you mention that?”

“Don’t even think about speaking to her!” 

Izuku, Shinsou, and Yamada all spoke at the same time. Their voices clashing against each other.

“Look how much trouble you’re causing everyone Izuku. All these people, here to baby you. You need to toughen up.” His father sneered, trying in vain as Shoto blocked his way, to take a step forward. His top lip curled up when his chest bumped into Shoto’s. “Get the fuck out of my way before I move you!” He growled. Izuku couldn’t see Shoto or Bakugou’s face, but he could see the vein in his father’s forehead bulge as Shoto tilted his head and Bakugou crossed his arms defiantly. 

“Izuku has told me all about you, you know.” Shoto’s head dramatically tilted up and down as his friend gave his father a once over. “From what I can see, you’re more unimpressive than he said.” Bakugou barked out a laugh, covering the growl that came from their adversary. 

“Todoroki, don’t provoke him.” Iida scolded from the side. All Might nodded along. 

“Provoking can be okay sometimes; Don’t you think All Might?” Shinsou questioned again.

“That is correct, Young Iida. I think it’s best you kids head out now. Young Midoriya’s parents are very concerned with his well being. Yamada, why don’t you escort the kids to the waiting room.” All Might completely ignored Shinsou once again, probably trying to avoid getting caught under his quirk and instead, smiled towards Yamada; who was completely blocking his view of Eri, exactly as Izuku had done the previous Friday.

“I won’t let you hurt him again, Yagi.” Yamada stood up straight, one hand protectively on Izuku’s bed, and the other was reached back, making sure Eri stayed pressed again his legs behind him. The statement, though it was only intended for one pair of ears, had an instant reaction.

From his mothers gasp to the slow head turns of his friends, Izuku couldn’t bare to look at them. He stared at the ceiling, willing the tears that built up in the corners of his eyes to not fall. 

“What the fuck do you mean again?” Bakugou roared. Izuku was surprised by the control the other possessed when he didn’t hear the usual sound of explosions following his yell. “Did you fucking hurt Deku, you skeleton ass looking bitch.”

“I see your vocabulary is just as colorful as your mother’s was at your age.” His father commented, sounding almost bored with the whole situation. “If he got hurt from on old man, then I just need to train him harder.”

“Beating your child isn’t training!” Shoto screamed. 

“Talk about my old hag one more time and I’ll blast you so far you might end up on her doorstep.” Izuku looked up in time to see Shoto and Bakugou, both turned to trap his father in a corner.

“Izuku, call off your little guard dogs. Tell them I’ve never hit you before.” His father looked at him and then let his eyes flicker over to his mother before coming back to Izuku’s. 

It was a clear threat to do what he was told. 

As the room waited for Izuku’s answer, All Might seemed to take a step away from the center of attention and tried to squeeze through the hole in-between Bakugou and Kirishima, only to be stopped as Yamada moved forward again, filling the gap and preventing him from moving forward. The side effect of that was that it also leaving Eri visible to anyone who could look over everyone’s head, something that at 7’3 and over a foot taller than everyone else in the room, All Might was good at. 

“If you took off that bracelet, you could help him.” All Might whispered, eyes locked on Eri. 
Izuku felt his heart spudded and whatever leftover anxiety medication he had in his IV, leave in body. He tried his best to look over at Eri to make sure she wasn’t taking off the bracelet that stopped her quirk from ever activating. 

“Eri, no. Leave the bracelet alone. Don’t listen to him, I’m going to be fine.” He tried to whisper to her as Yamada yelled at All Might in the background. 

“Izuku! Do as I tell you!” His father began to shout, smoke pouring from his nose.  

“Iida, go find security. I’m not sure why the nurse I called isn’t coming.” Yamada instructed. After a moment when Iida didn’t budge from his spot, Yamada tried again. “Iida, now. We got this. We won’t let anything happen. Go get security.” Iida gave a few shaky nods before retreating out the door. 

“You know Eri, Young Midoriya got hurt because he was weak. If you used your quirk, he’d be strong again. Don’t you want him to be strong again?”

“Izuku, you tell them I’ve never hurt you right now, or so help me God, I will make you regret ever being born.”

“Touch him and no one will ever find your body.”

“Don’t let him try to lie to you Eri, he can’t even move.”

“You leave Eri alone right now!”

“Izuku, baby, did All Might do this? I need you to tell me. Tell me how this happened Izuku! Please!”

“I’ve fought you before, I’m not afraid to do it again.”

“Do you want me to move? Why aren’t you answering me?”

“You think your little fire breath will scare me? I’ve been through the fires of hell and made it out, your disposable lighter flame isn’t gonna do a thing to me.”

“Stay back!”

The voices all talking at once, demanding truths, spouting lies, and promises of what was to come. They mixed together in a jumble of sound that made his heart beat faster and hard in his chest. People moved, pushing at each other, shoulders bumping, and tensions rising.

Every moment longer that All Might towered a head over everyone else, peaking to look at trembling form of Eri, and ignoring the voices in the room that yelled over him or told him to shut up, Izuku began to lose what little sense of sanity he had left. 

“You could help him. Don’t you want to help your hero.” He heard All Might taunt. Yamada turned around, letting Kirishima and Shinsou keep the retired hero at bay while he attended to Eri.

“Shut up.” Izuku tried, his voice getting lost in the voice of noise in the room. He didn’t understand why no one had come to see what the commotion in his room was about yet.

“Eri, don’t touch that, ignore him. Just keep looking at me.” Hizashi bent down to Eri’s level, pulling the hand that played with the bracelet on her arm away before he had his hand slapped away. 

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed, pushing herself up against the wall and out of Izuku’s line of sight. Not being able to make sure that she still had the bracelet on and was safe pushed Izuku further to his breaking point. 

All Might’s cold voice was his final straw.

“If you cared about him, you’d do it.”

“I said shut up!” Izuku screamed, calling upon his quirks, both One for All and Blackwhip, with as much force as he could. He didn’t care if he couldn’t move or had a quirk suppressant in his IV, he’d just have to use more of his quirk than the suppressant could block. 

He’d used a million percent when he’d fought Muscular.

I'll do it again.

Midoriya’s scream tore through the room and stopped everyone in the tracks. Hitoshi saw Bakugou’s arms, locked in the air after pushing All Might back a little further.

The scream sounded like a guttural battle cry from the depths of Midoriya’s soul, and the machines around him began to react. His heart rate skyrocketed, alarms started to sound, and his IV began to shake in his arm. The most concerning part was how his quirk began to flicker in and out, with green lightning and black ropes blinking in and out of existence. The black ropes ripped out of his hands and danced in the air almost like the legs of an octopus in the ocean. 

Eri’s own scream joined Izuku’s and spurred Hitoshi and Hizashi back into action. She launched herself at the bed, tears and terror gripping at her face. 

“ZUZU!” She called, trying desperately to climb into the bed despite Hizashi pulling her back, begging her to calm down. 

She fought. 

She fought like Izuku was in danger and she was the hero.

It wasn’t hard to see how their panic spurred the opposite on, and how neither of them would calm down while the other was in distress. Thinking quickly on his feet, Hitoshi realized that even if he calmed both of them down with his quirk, they’d still having to worry about All Might trying to get to Eri, which would only restart the entire cycle.

“Kirishima, get Eri out of the room. NOW.” He demanded, shoved the redhead’s shoulder as he moved forward closer to Midoriya’s side. 

Kirishima moved quickly, pulling Eri from Hizashi’s arns into his own. He hardened them straight away to avoid being hurt as she scratched and bit, trying to get out of his hold. Hizashi was almost chasing after the pair, still trying to calm her down, but Hitoshi couldn’t worry about that. No matter how much the scene of her kicking and clawing at the air, screaming Midoriya’s name over and over again, made him want to throw up. 

“Midoriya? Can you hear me? Look at me, okay?” He grabbed Midoriya’s cheeks, careful to not tilt his head in any direction. He felt the electricity from the others skin creeping up his arms, boarding on being painful. 

The power Midoriya was producing almost felt otherworldly. 

“Can you hear me?” Hitoshi tried again. He jumped slightly when green eyes shot open and met his own. Power even sparked off his eyes, making their usually bright green color look like it was smeared out into the air around them.

The second their eyes met, the scream registered in Hitoshi brain as an answer, and as fast as he could, he pulled at Midoriya’s mental string like a puppet, bringing silence to one of the screams in the room.

“Calm down.” He commanded, sighing in relief as Midoriya’s body sagged immediately. Eri’s own scream petered out shortly after. Hizashi and Kirishima were close to the door, still trying to calm her down and not let her hurt herself or anyone else as Kirishima pulled her out.

Midoriya’s father and All Might both seemed to make their moves at the same time while everyone was distracted. All Might, using the new opening made by Hitoshi and Kirishima, moved to lunge to the side, pushing Hizashi and trying to grab Eri’s arm.

At the same time, Midoriya’s father bulldozed Shoto, sending him to catch himself on the bed and apparently break the no quirk rule that he and Bakugou both had, when he instantly sent a block of ice to block Midoriya’s father’s, causing him to trip and give Shoto enough time to stand back up and give him a hard shove back towards the corner of the room. 

Bakugou reached to fling All Might back at the same time as Hizashi pushed Kirishima out of the room with Eri. He inhaled a few large breaths to ready his quirk as he glowered at All Might.

All Might was propelled into Midoriya’s father’s side, knocking them both against each other and pushing them both as far away from Midoriya as possible in the small room. 

“Touch her again and I’ll kill you.” Hizashi growled out. 

“You wanna go, kid?” Midoriya’s father stared at Shoto with a feral smile as smoke poured from his nose with each exhale. “Fine! Let’s go!” Shoto left hand shot out like it did before each time he used a fire attack and Midoriya’s fathers opened his mouth at the same time they both launched themselves at each other. Before anyone could stop them, Hitoshi watched in horror as two twin red flames formed.

Chapter Text

Shota didn’t even register how wet he and Nemuri had gotten as they ran through the parking lot. Not when their shoes squeaked against the hospital floor with each stride.

Not when he heard as Nemuri’s shoe slipped briefly on one of the concrete stairs as they bypassed the slow elevator, taking two steps at a time. 

It wasn’t until they were running through the waiting room that he noticed the drops of water running down his bangs, and even then, it was only because he and Nemuri were forcefully stopped by a surprised police officer with a hand extended. 

He tried his quirk, opening his mouth to scream, but nothing in his body would move. He was stuck moving his eyes to look at the young police officer who he recognized as one with a holding quirk that he called Stasis: The ability to freeze anyone in place for 15 seconds.

Another police officer was at his side, both pulling out their weapons and pointing them at Shota and Nemuri. The few people in the waiting room all made different levels of panicked noises, moving out of the room quickly, leaving them alone. 

The police officers moved to opposite side of them, effectively blocking off both exits.

“Don’t move!” The cop called, right at the 15 seconds was up, and Shota was able to express his raging anger. Of all the times for this to happen, being only feet away from the door that led to Midoriya’s patient room, somehow made it a thousand times worse.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?” He screamed.

“We know that you’ve been arrested for the assault of All Might and his student. We aren’t sure how you escaped, but we’re taking you back in.” The police officer took a step forward and Shota’s eyes widened. 

The only people who knew could have possibly thought that, were the police officers that were at UA. The ones who were supposed to be escorting All Might… to the hospital.

“He paid his bail; You can’t arrest him again!” Nemuri shouted at his side, hands above her head in a surrounding position.

“Where is All Might?” He asked frantically looking around the waiting room.

“That’s none of your concern.” The police officer told him right as his hands were forced behind his back by the other officer.

“Shota isn’t the one who hurt Midoriya! All Might was!” Nemuri called out, dropping her hands slightly to try and stop the police officer from cuffing him. As soon as he felt the hand pause on his wrists, he yanked them away from the officer and spun around to be stand face to face with an unsure and startled officer. 

“I am still a pro hero and so is she. Are you telling two pro heroes that you let a suspect out of your custody and that you let him walk back into his victims room? Are you two completely stupid or just incompetent?” Shota stalked forward, one hand around his scarf and balled into a fist at his side. When the officer reached again for his taser and Shota almost lost his mind as rage consumed him. 

His quirk activated and pulled at his scarf before once again his body was frozen by the young officer, now behind him. Moving quickly the officer to his front cuffed him, finishing right as he and Nemuri were released again. 

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” He roared at the top of his lungs. “If that man so much as touches a hair on Midoriya’s head, or if he even looks at my kids, I’ll have both of your jobs and kill him!” He fought against the handcuffs while Nemuri tried to talk to them before she was cuffed as well. 

“JUST CALL DETECTIVE TSUKAUCHI!” Shota told them, as loudly and as demanding as he could. The officers both glanced to one another, again looking unsure. 

“That’s the officer that arrested you. You want us to call him, to prove your innocence?” One of them questioned, sounding confused. 

“Why would Shota want that if he wasn’t innocent? You have the wrong guy, and you’re leaving an injured student in danger!” Nemuri was panicked, looking towards the doors, and starting to tug at her own cuffs. Shota could tell by the look in her eyes, that she was seconds away from knocking out both officers, but with one of them still pointing a taser at them, he knew it wouldn’t end up as a pleasant experience for either of them. 

“Should we call him?” The younger one asked his partner. 

“Every second you take to call him is another second faster that I’m going to make sure both of your careers are over.” Shota threatened in his most menacing tone. 

The officer without his weapon out pulled out a cell phone and dialed, who Shota guessed, was the detective. 

“Hello, this is officer Kono and Mori, we have Pro Hero Eraserhead detained-” The officer stop talking abruptly for a moment, glancing at his partner, and then at Shota. “-But Sir, he attacked All Might and a studen-” Eyes blowing wide and face turning pale, the officer’s mouth fell open. “But All Might said…” He trailed off and pulled the phone away from his ear quickly. From Shota position, 5 feet away, he could hear the voice on the other line yelling, though he couldn’t have out the words. A moment later, the voice went quiet and the officer pulled the phone away looking down at it. “He said he was on his way and hung up.” 

“Get these cuffs off us. Right. Now.” Shota was seething. Both officers reacted quickly. One holstering his weapon before they both moved to release Nemuri and Shota of their cuffs. 

“Aizawa Sensei!” He turned his head to see Iida stopping front of him, staring wide eyes at the cuffs on his wrist. 

“Iida, what’s going on?” He prompted the student urgently.

“Yamada Sensei and Midoriya need you! All Might and Midoriya’s father, they are- Something isn’t right with them. All Might hurt Midoriya and his father seems fine with that. The others aren’t letting them near Midoriya or Eri, but Yamada Sensei asked me to get security. I went to the nurses station, but no one is there.” Iida’s usual robotic movements were practically absent, which only added to Shota’s concern. 

“GET ME OUT OF THESE ALREADY!” He snarled, noticing the officers had stopped to listen to his student. 

Right as the cuffs released, there was the sound of a scream coming from on of the patient rooms. 

He took off, not waiting for anyone else, and ran towards the screaming.

When he made it through the double door into the patient rooms hallway, the scream was rickisawing off every wall. Visitors were opening their doors to see what was happening or if someone needed help. They looked terrified, and based on the desperation that rang in the scream, Shota understood why. He had to swurve around people, listening as Nemuri instructed people to clear the halls, and to go back to their rooms, just so they could properly pass.

When the scream cut off, Shota watched Kirishima forcefully exit the room, pulling Eri with him as she pushed against his chest to get back into the room. His first instinct, was to grab Eri out of Kirishima’s arms and not only comfort her, but get her as far away from the hospital as possible. 

“Help Eri.” He told Nemuri, trusting her to protect his daughter while he took care of the bigger threat. 

He darted into the room, and slid next to the thin body of his husband as he blocked the exit. The first look into the room he got was the scene of Midoriya’s father and Todoroki lunging at each other. 

He activated his quirk instantly, ignoring the burn in his eyes from using it again, and canceled out both flames that had begun to form. Todoroki seemed undetered by his quirk suddenly vanishing, connecting a fist into the other man’s stomach. 

Hizashi Midoriya was far more startled as his fire disappearing and completely lost focus on the fight. He doubled over and Shota watched a half a second longer before stopping the fight as Todoroki’s knee rose up and slammed into the older Midoriya’s jaw. 

The sound of his scarf unraveling and launching at his student was covered by sickened snap of teeth being forced against each other with far too much force. The man fell to his knees, spitting over a mouthful of blood and also what Shota thought looked like, a piece of tongue.

“You little fucker. I’m going to roast you alive.” Coughed out Midoriya’s father, voice muffed and eyes raging. Blood dipped down from hands that covered his face and began to make a wobbly effort to get off his knees. 

“EVERYBODY FREEZE!” One of the inept police officers called from behind them. It was the older of the partners, and the one that had actually cuffed Shota. Something he was going to hold a grudge over. He had his taser pulled out, which in the presense of so many people, seemed utterly pointless.

Hizashi stepped aside, putting his back against one of the walls, to let the officer further in the room. 

Shota set Todoroki down and looked back to glare at the police officer. 

“Let me make this easier on you. The two you want are right there.” Shota told the officer, pointing at both the elder Midoriya and All Might. “Todoroki, Bakugou, either leave the room or go stand in the other side.”

“You’re pointing at me? Officer, don’t listen to him! You know I wouldn’t do anything. Bakugou, you of all people know how much I want to protect Young Midoriya.” All Might sounded so sincere, even Shota felt like he was getting whiplash. Like the person he’d seen in Nezu’s office was in his imagination. 

The officer looked confused and began to shift his eyes to just look at Midoriya Hisashi.

Bakugou stared at All Might’s feet, scowl burning holes into the floor. Even Todoroki’s eyes, that had been fixed on Midoriya’s father since Shota had come into the room slide over to look at All Might.

“Do you really want to protect Midoriya?” Shota looked at Hitoshi, who was still pressed to the side of Izuku’s bed, keeping him under his quirk. 

When All Might opened his mouth to speak, it was obvious that he didn’t know Hitoshi could put more than one person under at once. 

“Of cour-” His eyes glazed over with the same purple haze that Izuku’s had.

“What are you doing to him?” The officer demanded, frantically turning his head from All Might to Hitoshi. Shota’s lips began to curl up, just waiting for the officer to give him a reason to throw him out of the window.

“He has his provisional license, he’s allowed to use his quirk during a villain encounter or with permission from a pro. I’m giving him that permission.” Shota told the police officer, settling the mans nerves.

“Did you come here with the intention of hurting Midoriya?” Hitoshi’s question was met with no resistance what’s so ever, as All Might couldn’t fight against the brainwashing. 

“Yes.”

In the corner of the room that Shota had forgotten about, Midoriya Inko sobbed louder. She rested her head on the side of Izuku’s bed, crying into sheets. Whether it was his lack of information regarding her involvement or the complexity of the situation and its emotional rollercoasters, Shota didn’t know, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to feel sympathy for the woman.

“You disgusting son of a fucking bitch.” Bakugou whispered out, moving to charge forward until he was stopped by Todoroki, who gestured to Izuku’s mother. Bakugou’s hands clenched together, as he made sure no explosions sounded in the room, before he shook off Todoroki’s hand of looked to the cop. “PUT THESE PIECES OF SHITS INTO CUFFS ALREADY! DO WE HAVE TO DO YOUR DAMNED JOB FOR YOU?”

He turned away from the stuttering officer and moved to Mrs. Midoriya, pulling her to her feet gently with Todoroki’s help. “Come on Auntie, let’s go to the waiting room. I’ll call the old hag. You shouldn’t be here right now. Deku will be fine, he always is.” Shota barely heard Bakugou whispering, looking more than a little uncomfortable as the small woman clung to him, crying into his shoulder. 

“Inko came with me and she’ll leave with me. You’re not taking her anywhere, Katsuki.” Bits of blood spit out with the slurred words from Midoriya’s father as he pushed up to his feet, still hunching over slightly. Shota through out his scarf once again, wrapping it completely around Midoriya Hisashi.

“You’re utterly useless.” Shota told the officer as the older Midoriya struggled against the scarf that kept his mouth closed, preventing his from using his quirk. 

No amount of smoke through the nose would intimidate Shota. 

Bakugou and Mrs. Midoriya left the room, leaving Todoroki to take the latter’s place. Joining Hitoshi in staring at Midoriya’s unmoving form as he laid in the bed, still brainwashed.

With both threats in the room detained in someway, Shota looked back to Hizashi who sagged against the wall, held tilted back and eyes closed. 

“You okay?” He whispered to his husband, who shook his head slightly.

Hizashi looked at Shota’s concerned face, and then at the police officer who was cuffing a brainwashed All Might and then at his son and students and shook his head slightly. 

“I need to go check on Eri.” He told Shota, but Shota stopped him, pulling him into a much needed hug. 

“She’s with Nemuri, Kirishima, Iida, and I’m guessing the other police office. Take a few seconds to breath first. I’ll handle things here.” Hizashi nodded at Shota’s instructions before one last sweep over the room to make sure Midoriya was okay before he slipped out of the room. 

He walked down the hall towards the waiting area, ignoring heads that pocked out to look at him. He ignored as a security guard, nurse, and the other police officer jogged past him. He ignored how much he wanted to grab the nurse that never came when he called and the security guard he’d sent Iida to find, and ring their necks.

He knew Shota had it.

When he exited the patient hall, entering back into the waiting room, he instantly spotted his daughter. She and Kirishima were both asleep in two the chairs next to Nemuri. Nemuri was holding Eri, gently smoothing down her hair while Kirishima snored, head resting against her shoulder. 

“It was the only way I could think to calm her down, Hizashi. She was panicking.” Nemuri sounded ashamed at herself, but Hizashi waved off her concerns.

“It was a good choice. It’s okay.” He slumped down in the seat next to her, laying a hand on the back of Eri’s shoulder, just to feel her breathe for a moment. “I’m guessing Kirishima was caught in the blast?”

“He knew if he let go of her, she’d run, and if anybody else held her, she’d accidently hurt them.” He nodded in understanding before glancing around. He saw Bakugou and Midoriya’s mother in the far corner, with Bakugou on his phone with one hand and the other rubbing his forehead in stress. 

“Where is Iida?” He asked after not finding the boy.

“I sent his to the gift shop with my wallet. I told him I was feeling faint and that I needed a candy bar. I don’t think he believed me at all, but I knew he needed something to do. It was hard to stop him from going back into the room.” Nemuri shifted Eri as she talked a little so that Hizashi could easily grab ahold of her and pull her to him. After that she delicately moved Kirishima’s head from her shoulder to the back of the chair and stood up. 

“How is it in there?” She glanced from him to the door and Hizashi hugged Eri a little closer to his chest. It was hard to come up with an answer that made any sort of sense. 

“We’re lucky those kids are so meddlesome and caring.” He settled on, thinking about that catastrophe that would have occurred if the students hadn’t gotten there. 

Would the hospital even still be standing?

She moved to join Shota after another nod, leaving Hizashi to rock Eri as she slept, and watch the aftermath of what had probably only been 10 to 15 minutes.

The two police officers and the security guard came out, All Might and Midoriya’s father both ranting and growling like animals the entire time. 

Hizashi didn’t spare their mad man rants any energy as he focused on Eri. 

Nemuri came back, practically dragging Hitoshi and Todoroki with her, leaving just Shota in the room with Izuku. 

“They are taking him back for scans to make sure nothing was reinjured.” She whispered. 
Hizashi hugged Eri a little tighter, remembering the awful screams and horrifying quirk usage. He prayed silently, to anyone that could be listening that Izuku was still okay, and wouldn’t have to go back into surgery. 

He wasn’t sure anyone was in the right frame of mind for that. 

He wasn’t sure he personally was in the right frame of mind for anything. He barely noticed when one of the officers returned and led Midoriya’s mother out of the waiting room, with Bakugou and Nemuri following close behind. Time felt imaginary. Though, that was probably the exhaustion and relief of stress that he was starting to feel.

Is it all over now?

No. He knew the answer to that. This wasn’t something that was going away just because Midoriya wasn’t getting hurt anymore. This was something that would have mental scars that stayed open far after the injuries that had been encored, healed.

Chapter Text

After a multitudes of tests and apologies, they’d determined that nothing they fixed during the surgery had come undone and at most, there was only some slight worsening of hairline fractures from his quirk trying to go beyond his limit. Nothing that healing quirks couldn’t solve. 

The doctor had warned them that the nerve block they’d put in probably wouldn’t last the entire 24 hours it was intended for. Something about Izuku burning it up as he pushed his body. 

“If you feel any pain, tell a nurse immediately. We only have you on a low dose of pain medication with the nerve block in.”

Izuku chose to not mention his impressive pain tolerance.

“Midoriya, I’ll stay here with you tonight. I’m going to send Hizashi home with the kids, and then tomorrow when you’re in a little better shape, we’ll let Eri and then the class come. Does that sound okay?” Izuku hummed out his approval of the plan after a failed attempt to nod. 

“Please have Yamada call when she wakes up so I know she’s okay.” Izuku requested, stomach churning just thinking about how distraught she was going to be. He briefly wondered if the only reason he wasn’t beside himself is that Shinsou had told him to be calm before letting him out of his brainwashing. 

That thought certainly spurred quite a few thoughts about possible quirk applications that he was excited to think more about when he was able to write them down in his notebook. 

Though he knew, when he was finally alone with his thoughts, he was going to beat himself up over everything that happened. He was supposed to be there for Eri, to help her, and yet, all he seemed to be doing was causing her more trauma. 

“I’m staying too.” Shoto told the room, pulling Izuku from the self deprecation track that his train of thought had begun to go down. 

“I’m sorry, Sweetie. Our policy is that only one guardian can stay-” Before the nurse could finish, Shoto cut her off. 

“I’m not your Sweetie, and nothing you can say is going to make me leave. Your inadequate staff is half the cause for this whole mess, so don’t you dare tell me about a fucking policy.” His voice was cold and menacing as he glared at a worker who Izuku knew didn’t personally do anything wrong, but he couldn’t find it in himself to correct his friend’s behavior either. 

Apparently, the raging storm outside had caused a multi-car accident. The two nurses in charge of the little cluster of recovery rooms had decided that they would go down and help. Both of them thought the other would bring their pager, which resulted in neither bringing one. Paired with the only security guard on shift at the time on his lunch break, of course, because Izuku’s luck had always been phenomenal that way.

People in the waiting room had gotten concerned about something and went in search of help. They’d managed to find a nurse and the returning security guard, who still had a sandwich in hand, and alerted them that help was needed. 

The nurse in his room looked to Aizawa with a pleading look that he only returned with the kind of dead inside glare that took years of practice and tragedies to form. 

“Frankly, he could set this building on fire and I still wouldn’t help you. If he wants to stay, I won’t stop him. He’s better than your lack of security anyways.” Aizawa ridiculed.

“He almost did.” Shinsou whispered under his breath, barely loud enough for Izuku to hear. He couldn’t stop one side of his mouth from turning up and a puff of air to force it’s way out of his nose. Shinsou met his eyes quickly, realizing he’d been heard. 

Izuku wished he was in a better mental position to appreciate the pink blush that dusted itself over Shinsou’s cheeks. 

“Your hair looks awful.” Izuku whispered back to him, smiling at the damp purple strands that couldn’t decide whether they wanted to defy gravity or cling to his forehead. “I like it.” He watched the pink darken before Shinsou looked away completely.

The nurse seemed to give up and left the room, promising that someone would be back to check on them, though Izuku didn’t count on seeing her again for the rest of his stay there. 

“I’m going to go talk to Hizashi for a moment. Todoroki, Hitoshi, stay here. If anyone who isn’t staff enter, feel free to do whatever you want.”  Izuku almost laughed at Aizawa’s instructions and at the stern look he gave both of them.

As soon as the door shut, an uncomfortable and heavy atmosphere came over them. Shoto still stood on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed over his chest, glaring out the window. Izuku knew he was upset, and he wished desperately that he could fix it. While he knew Shoto didn’t think everything was Izuku’s fault, but that didn’t stop the twinge of anxious doubt that whispered that Shoto would blame Izuku for taking away his favorite hero.

“I hope you don’t mind, but we were in your room last night.” Izuku’s eyes moved away from Shoto and glanced back to Shinsou. “Todoroki thought watching movies might make Eri feel better.” Glancing back, Shoto’s arms tightened over his chest as he stared at the endless rain that pelted against the glass. 

“I don’t mind. I’m glad you both were there for her. I’m sorry about all this.” 

“Don’t you dare apologize, Izuku!” Shoto yelled at him. The tension in the air was made almost palatable.

Izuku wasn’t afraid or worried by Shoto’s outburst. He wasn’t even worried about the frost that began to crawl up the window. No, the only thing Izuku focus on was the quiver of Shoto’s bottom lip as he held himself together. 

“Shinsou, do you mind stepping out and giving us a minute?” He never let his eyes move from Shoto’s, even if he really wished he could sneak a little peak at Shinsou leaving. “Come here, Shoto.” Izuku demanded as the door clicked shut.

Shoto, stubborn as a mule, stayed rooted in his place. 

“I’m mad at you.” His voice hitched and tears that Izuku didn’t think anyone had ever seen but him formed in the corner of his mismatching eyes. “I’m so mad at you! You didn’t tell me! You let me think he was amazing, you TOLD me he was! How could you keep this from me, Izuku!? I- I thought- I thought we were there for each other! I could have helped you! I could have done something! How could this happen? He was supposed to be good. He was the one everyone said we could look up to.” Shoto yelled and cried, and Izuku wished with all his might that he could have wrapped his arms around his friend and make it all disappear. 

Shoto eventually inched closer, until he fell into the chair by Izuku side and grabbed onto one of his numb hands gently. 

“How could he do this to you?” Shoto begged, and broke any piece of Izuku’s heart that remained whole. 

“I couldn’t take All Might away, not after everything Endeavor did. I just wanted to keep the magic alive.” Izuku whispered over the tears, both standing by his past choices and regretting every moment he didn’t scream for help. 

“I’m not a child, Izuku! I don’t need you to protect me.” 

“I will always protect you, Shoto. You’re my best friend and I love you.” Izuku promised. Shoto sniffled back his tears and looked at Izuku with eyes that were pleading with him to listen. 

“Please, just let me be there for you too. More than just putting bandages in places you can’t reach. Lean on me. Let me handle things. Please. I can’t lose you. You’re my family.” 

As tears that he couldn’t wipe away dripped down his cheeks, Izuku registered the thought that, he wasn’t sure he knew how to let others in.

Looking at Shoto cry next to him, Izuku did the only thing he knew how to do. 

He started talking.

“I was quirkless. All Might is the only reason I’m in the hero course. Honestly, when we first met, I was 13, and I was just so happy to have someone believe in me. He’d say jump and I’d get a running start. It took a really long time for me to realize that his intentions were malicious, but by then, it was too late, and I owed him too much. He changed a lot, after Eri. Still, I couldn’t do anything beyond keeping her away from him; I knew people needed him to be their symbol.” He didn’t know how long he talked, but he told Shoto about his quirk, his trainings, what All Might had done the day before, and exactly what he wanted Eri for. 

The whole time Shoto just listened to everything Izuku had to say. 

“I thought I could handle it. I thought I could just use all the pain to make myself a better hero. I thought I could protect everyone.” When he finally stopped talking, concluding the long-winded story he never thought he’d tell anyone. He wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Who’s supposed to protect you?” Shoto asked in a small voice. Izuku opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

Who’s suppose to protect me?

The door creeped open after a few long moments of silence, and Aizawa, Yamada, and Shinsou made their way in, all with dark expressions on their faces. 

“Hey kiddo, Hitoshi and I just wanted to say goodbye for the night. Nem’s got Eri in the car now. Do you need anything before we head out?” Yamada moved to Izuku’s other side, pulling up the blanket slightly and brushing his hair from his face as he spoke. 

The forced smile on his face is what gave them away. 

“You heard me, didn’t you?” He wasn’t surprised that they’d heard. Izuku, hadn’t whispered, and he hadn’t even sure the door was entirely shut. No, he was surprised that it didn’t bother him that they knew as much as he thought it should. 

The hand that brushed at his hair paused slightly before Yamada pulled it back to his own side. 

“We didn’t hear anything that you aren’t ready for us to know. No matter what, our opinion of you hasn’t changed, and we’ll still be back tomorrow.” 

His previous tears came back as his thoughts began to contradict each other. Yamada and Aizawa had always been different, but then they hurt him. They proved to be just like everyone else, and yet, Yamada helped him. He stood up for him. Aizawa stood up for him.

He wasn’t sure he knew how to feel about them anymore.

“It’s been such a long day.” Izuku settled on, staring up at the ceiling as he cried his eyes out. All of his feelings felt like live nerves that had been repeatedly poked at for hours. He closed his eyes, hating that he couldn’t hide his signs of weakness away from everyone in the room.

“Do you want me to help you sleep?” Shinsou’s voice was muffled by his cries, but he answered quickly, barely getting the affirmative answer out before he was plunged into warm darkness that cradled each of his exposed feelings with care. 

When he came to again, it was to a tingly sensation moving around one of his hands. The first thing he noticed was that all but one of the lights in the room was turned off.

With the storm darkening the sky, he didn’t have any inkling of what time it was.

He saw Aizawa, sitting in a corner with a laptop illuminating his face. He felt the tingle on his hand again and found Shoto, still sitting at his side, and tracing the lines of scars on his hand. 

“I feel that.” His whisper jolting Shoto upright. “What time is it?” A chair moved on the other side of the room and Aizawa came to stand at the side of his bed. 

“It’s almost 8pm.” Before Izuku could even open his mouth to respond, Aizawa already had his phone out and to his ear. “He’s up.” He said after a single ring. He moved the phone to be by Izuku’s ear. 

“Hello?” 

“Midoriya is on the phone.” He heard Yamada’s far away voice and then a shuffle before Eri came onto the line already crying. 

“Zuzu, are you there!?” She sounded so utterly distraught, Izuku felt the self loathing coming back tenfold for hurting her again. 

“I’m here. I’m okay. Are you okay?” He immediately heard the sniffles.

“I couldn’t help you. I couldn’t do anything. I just wanted to help you. If I could use my curse, then you wouldn’t be hurt.” 

“Shhhhhhh, it’s okay. It’s not a curse and none of this was your fault, Eri. There’s nothing for you to fix either. A really good doctor already did everything, I’m going to be just fine. I have no doubt in my mind that you’re going to help so many people in the future, but it’s okay if you take your time getting there.” Izuku tried to sooth. It was harder over the phone, but after everything he’d put her through, he thought it was the least he could do. “The doctor said that he fixed me so well, I’m going to be better than I was before.”

“But All Might said,” she paused, the words getting lost in her throat. 

It wasn’t often that Izuku felt hate, and even less that he felt hate for someone that he knew so well, but in that moment, as he listened to Eri cry and blame herself, he hatred All Might.

“All Might is a bad man who was trying to trick you. The doctor gave me a nerve blocker. That means that I can’t move for a little while, but after that, I’ll be able to move again. He wanted me to rest so I could heal even more. All Might was trying to trick you because he wanted you to use your quirk.” Beside him, Aizawa let out a low growl while Shoto sat just a little straighter. 

“Do you promise you’re going to be okay?” She asked in the smallest voice. 

“I promise.”

“Was that your dad?”

“Yeah, that was him.” 

Izuku had been so concerned about All Might hurting Eri in the room, so concerned about Yamada getting hurt, and Shoto being upset. He hadn’t even begun to process any of the emotions that came along with his father getting taken away by the police. 

Was his mom, okay?

Guilt swirled in his stomach thinking about how he’d ignored her in the room. She was so worried, and he’d been so concerned with other things. 

Why did he always seem to be hurting people?

“What if they come back?” Eri questioned after lull in conversation. She sounded as fragile in that moment as Izuku felt.

“Then me, your dads, your brother, Shoto, and everyone else in 2-A will protect you. Your family and I, we’ll do everything in our power to make sure you are the safest girl in the world.” He smiled sadly, wishing for a time when she didn’t have to be reassured that she’d be safe. “I was so tired; I didn’t get to say goodbye to Yamada and Shinsou. If you’re up to it, maybe you could go give them a really big hug for me.” He hoped hugging them would give her some sort of security.

“I can do that!” There was a slight shuffle of the phone before she came back to the line. “They’re gonna protect you too, okay?” 

“Sleep well tonight, Eri. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Izuku looked to Aizawa to let him know the call was done. 

He laid there, like he could do anything else, and thought about what Shoto and Eri had said. He thought about his mother, his friends, and how utterly messed up his life had gotten. It felt like two different parts of his brain were screaming at each other a they assessed just how much of this situation was his fault. 

I wasn’t strong enough. I should have done better. He should have picked someone else.

He should have been supporting me. He shouldn’t have hurt me. Neither of them should have.

I hurt Shoto and endangered Eri. 

I didn’t make All Might a bad person.

What if I did?

His thoughts weighed on him like an immovable boulder that he tried his best to ignore, even as it crushed him under its weight. 

“Sho, where’s my mom?” At least if he could focus on correcting all of his mistakes it might make things a little easer. 

“The police took her for a statement, but Bakugou and his parents went with them. He said she was going to stay with his parents for the time being.” Shoto glanced down at his phone for a split second. “I can call him and see if he is still with her if you want.” 

“No, that’s okay. I know he’ll keep her safe. Thank you, guys, for coming. I’m so-” The word was barely started when Shoto interrupted him.

“I told you not to apologize. Of course, we’d come. We’re always going to come.” Shoto told him, wrapping both of his hands around Izuku’s partially numb hand. 

“Midoriya.” Aizawa pulled a chair to sit by Izuku on the other side of the bed, and stared at him with one of the most genuine expressions he’d ever seen directed to a student on the man. “None of this was your fault.” The words felt foreign and fuzzy entering Izuku’s ears. 

“I know that.” He responded, hollowly and on reflex. Aizawa’s expression turned softer. 

“You’re not responsible for the choices other people make.” Aizawa told him firmly. The longer Izuku looked at him, the more his chest tightened and filled with the invisible weight he was desperate to ignore. He could already feel his eyes tingling with the promise of even more tears.

I’m weak.

“If I’d done better...” He muttered to himself as he thought allowed, mind slipping back into its darker corners. 

“No. Other people’s action do not reflect your behavior, Midoriya. Everyone has a choice in how they act.” Aizawa paused slightly, shoulder dropping ever slightly. “Speaking as a person who recently let their actions hurt someone else, I can promise you that none of this is your fault.” Izuku couldn’t reply. He held his breath, trying to stop the wave of tears and emotions inside. “I’ll go let the nurse know you’re awake and get you kids some food.”

Aizawa stood up, having some silent conversation with Shoto, before he left the room. 

The second the door clicked closed Shoto was distracting Izuku from the emotions he didn’t want to think about. 

“I think I scared your boyfriend and I guess we’re friends now too.” He was almost thankful for the nerve block still affecting most of his body, because he’s sure he would have whipped his head around fast enough to snap his own neck to look at Shoto. 

“I don’t- Who are you? Shoto!” His dark heavy thoughts were swept away by images of side smirks and purple hair.

“He likes you too. It was all painfully obvious when I asked him, even for me.” Shoto gave him a smile and Izuku almost melted into the bed. He could feel heat coming from his face and could do literally nothing to hide away. 

“Shinsou is not what I’m thinking about right now!” Shoto snorted, seemingly satisfied. 

“Yet, you knew exactly who I was talking about.” Both of them stared at each other before giggling slightly. Their laughs grew quieter, and the heavy atmosphere was quick to return. “You’ll be safe now.” Shoto reminded him. 

“You should tell them about Endeavor, so that you’ll be safe too.” Shoto gripped onto the bed sheets, shaking his head.

“I can’t. They almost didn’t believe you and they literally heard All Might confess. They aren’t going to believe me when I have no proof.” Izuku wanted to tell him he was wrong. He wanted to say that it was different, because everyone knew Endeavor had a bad attitude, but he couldn’t. People didn’t like to believe things without proof, and the only way to get proof, but to already have at least some.

No one would risk investigating the number one hero, unless they could prove something was happening.

The room was devoid of human conversation for the rest of the night. Even nurses came and went in silence. The TV and rain served as background noise, but Izuku barely paid attention to any of it. 

He was thinking of plans and hidden cameras. Schemes that meant Izuku and his family would be safe and Endeavor would be taken away before he could even think of retaliation. 

What was the public going to think if the number one and former number one came out as abusers? 

Were their others? 

By the time the morning nurse brought breakfast in for the room, Izuku was both pleased that parts of his body could once again move, and displeased that he was still as square one on how to save the entire world without anyone getting hurt in the process.

For once though, it seemed like the universe was one his side. 

Barely after food had been eaten and the nurse had topped off Izuku’s medication, Aizawa was letting a man into the room. The man had on a long tan jacket with a matching hat, which he took off the second he entered the room. It took a second, but Izuku remembered exactly who he was.

“Young Midoriya, meet Naomasa Tsukauchi, one of my oldest friends.”

One of All Might’s friends. A sense of panic spread throughout Izuku’s chest as he wondered why Aizawa was leading in All Might’s friend. 

“Hello Midoriya. I’m not sure if you remember me-”

“You’re All Might’s friend.” He cut the man off rather rudely, staring at the trench coat with suspicion. The man’s face dropped slightly and he looked away from Izuku towards the windows. His brows sagged as regret flashed over his face. 

“Not anymore. Not ever again. Toshinori needs to be punished for his crimes, and as a detective, I intend to see that happens.” He looked back to Izuku with the type of fire in his eyes that Izuku recognized. The type you only got when you were fighting against something that went against your entire being. 

“And how are you going to do that?” Shoto asked, standing up from his place at Izuku’s side. Aizawa came over to pat Shoto’s shoulder. A silent indication that he could stand down. 

“I’m here to take Izuku’s statement. My quirk, it’s called Lie Detector. I can tell if anything that is said to me is the truth or not. No one will be able to say you’re lying if I back you up.” Tsukauchi pulled a recorder out of his pocket and began to move a little closer. Shoto hesitantly sat back down, reach out to hold Izuku’s hand.

“Anything I say is recorded and becomes an official record, right? You’ll tell if what I’ve said is true or not and that’s official?” Izuku verified, feeling his hands tremble slightly with nervous energy as he stared at the recorder, knowing exactly what he had to do.

“Yes, Midoriya. Anything I record is official testimony.” The small recording device was set gently in-between them and Izuku gave a nod for him to start. “Midoriya Izuku, do you consent for his conversation to be recorded?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m going to ask you a few questions now, is that okay?” Izuku curled his stiff toes against the blanket, glancing at Shoto, who held his hand ever so lightly.

“Do you think I can say something first?” Izuku questioned nervously. Tsukauchi gave him a slightly confused expression before nodding.

“Of course, Midoriya, go right ahead.”

“Todoroki Enji, better known as Endeavor, the current number one hero, has abused his family mentally, verbally, and physically their entire lives. He acquired his wife due to an illegal quirk marriage and forced her to bare him children that could be more powerful that All Might. He is responsible for his first sons suspected death, the neglect of his two middle children, and continues to physically abuse his youngest son Todoroki Shoto. Forced quirk exhaustion, verbal abuse, and physical violence are only some of the regular occurrences. There is also the physical and emotional isolation that have been ever present in Shoto, in particulars, life. Also, he continues to keep Todoroki Rei locked up in an inpatient mental health facility.” Izuku tried his best to condense the many years of suffering Shoto dealt with into a single speech, not wanting anyone to try and cut him off. 

When he finished speaking, no one in the room moved a single inch. Shoto had let go of his hand and sat like a statue, mouth gaping open and eye wide and unseeing. 

“They have to believe you now.” He whispered to Shoto, finally responding to what his friend had said the night before.

It was only then that Izuku noticed, in the quiet of his stunned room, that the rain had finally stopped. 

Chapter Text

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. 

No, that was a lie. He was expecting that as soon as trust worthy people found out, it would all just magically be better. 

He told the detective about Endeavor, so Shoto was going to be instantly safe and better. His own father and All Might were with the police, so he was going to be magically safe and better. That way of thinking though, it was just a child’s naivety. 

He and Shoto though, they were just kids. 

Kids that didn’t really know what to expect. Even as heroes in training, they understood that villains were arrested, tried, and taken to jail, but the process was so outside of their normal lives, it wasn’t something they ever really stopped to consider. 

Another thing they didn’t stop to consider was just how much money someone with the status of Number One Hero really had, and what the money could do. 

The entire Todoroki family was interviewed for several days, after Enji Todoroki had been arrested for child abuse and neglect. Shoto came out of the interviews and mostly stayed at Izuku’s side. They didn’t talk much during those time. Usually, Shoto just closed his eyes and Izuku, once he had full function of this arms again, would pet his hair as he rested. 

It had taken 3 days for Izuku to be able to leave the hospital, and even then, it was with strict instructions to not lift anything over 15 pounds, not put his arms above his head, and not sleep on his sides, until his physical therapist gave him the okay. His upper body was wrapped similar to how Aizawa’s had been after the USJ attack their first year.

Izuku and Shoto both stayed at the Aizawa-Yamada apartment for the first few days. Not only because Aizawa was confident that the class would somehow mess up Izuku’s recovery accidently, but also because of the physical therapy, police interviews, and much to Shoto and Izuku’s displeasure, the required mental health counseling. It had Aizawa or Yamada driving them around the city daily, as neither of them were allowed to be without an escort. Japanese laws made showing either Izuku or Shoto’s pictures highly illegal, but that didn’t stop the public speculation when referencing children, and both the crimes of retired Hero All Might and former Number One Hero Endeavor.

Especially when both men had named Izuku and Shoto as their successors, whether that had been wanted, in Izuku’s case, or unwanted, in Shoto’s. 

It only took 5 hours for Hawks to be named the new Number One Hero when Endeavor was arrested. The Hero Commission released a statement saying that Endeavor had his license temporarily revoked until an investigation could be done, and that they didn’t condone his crimes, if he was found guilty. 

Izuku sort of thought that was bullshit. 

It took a week in the media before the stories all but stopped, with journalists moving onto the next big thing, or they were paid to stop talking. The name Endeavor stopped being used, and Enji Todoroki started to be. All Might was the same way. His hero name wasn’t attached to his crimes anywhere. 

Neither case ever went to trial. Money and power were thrown around until lawyers came to an agreement almost a month after they'd been arrested. Both of their hero personas were retired, licenses lost, restraining orders against everyone they’d ever hurt filed, millions of yen in fines issued, and several years of probation given.  

It wasn’t justice. Everyone involved knew that, probably even All Might and Endeavor knew that, but it was the best that Izuku and Shoto were ever going to get. 

Izuku did take a sick satisfaction in seeing how fast both of their merch was pulled off the shelves. 

Hizashi Midoriya wasn’t so lucky. He didn’t have money, or power, and the police found a laundry list of other crimes to stick him with as well. The only positive part of his trial was that Izuku wasn’t forced to take the stand, or even attend. That, and he did get taken away to prison.

Aizawa’s own arrest, that Izuku learned of after his interview with the detective, was forgotten about. The official reasoning was that something was filed incorrectly and it was lost in the database. 

That was probably the only justice that happened in the hero community in the whole ordeal.

For Izuku, the doctor’s final word was that he was off hero duty for 3 months. No fighting at all. Though, the doctor did try to ease his frustration by telling him that the physical therapist may allow for some quirk usage.

At first, he thought that was the end of the world. He was already behind everyone else and he knew he couldn’t afford to not train for 3 months. At least he thought that until Aizawa got the worst sinister smile that he’d ever seen and told him that he was taking over in his One for All training. 

When the physical therapist gave him the okay to use Black Whip two weeks after he was released, he was elated. He and Aizawa started his training the very next day. 

“Why am I doing this?” Izuku asked, arms bound to his sides by Aizawa capture weapon as he sat on one side of the gym. Shinsou was on the other side, trying and failing to balance himself on his own capture weapon.

“You need to learn how to use Black Whip as an extension of yourself. When I use my capture weapon, it’s not just a scarf I throw, it’s another limb. From what I’ve seen of Black Whip, it’s the same. So, pick up the coffee pot, and pour it into the cup.” Aizawa nodded at the coffee pot before looking back at Shinsou, snickering at his son. 

“Why am I tied up?” Izuku mumbled, feeling embarrassed. The task seemed like something you’d give a child. 

“First, I don’t trust that you won’t just pour the coffee and then try to do harder tasks. Second, the physical therapist said you could only train the quirk if you didn’t use your arms. Third, because you need to learn how to use it, just like you learned how to use your limbs. Finally, I’m not giving you this task because I think you’re a child, I’m giving it to you because you need to learn precision. Do you think Sero is able to grab a single pencil from someone else’s desk, using his tape, without having spent a large amount of time work on his precision?” Izuku stared at him dumbfounded on his mind reading abilities when Aizawa gave a huff and patted him on the top of the head. “You were mumbling, Problem Child.”

Their conversation was cut off at Shinsou let out an undignified yelp, accidentally captured himself. 

Izuku turned his focus onto the simple task in front of him, letting Aizawa untangle Shinsou. 

After three days and 8 broken coffee pots later, Izuku was ready to shove this simple task up Shinsou’s butt if he heard his friend snicker one more time.

By the time the three months was lifted, Izuku felt ready to begin his training again. His physical therapist had helped him regain about 60% of his natural strength. His arms were in almost the same condition as when he first started at UA. 

Even One for All seemed to have an easier time powering through his entire body when he summoned it during his PT. 

With Aizawa’s help, he was having a little bit easier of a time with Black Whip too. He was far better at grabbing something giant and just throwing it than he was at writing on the whiteboard from his desk, but he was getting there.

“Okay Midoriya, you get to spar today. Try not to break your entire body.” Aizawa told him, throwing him a pointed glare. 

Not even a genuine glare from Aizawa could have taken away from Izuku’s enthusiasm in that moment. 

“SHOTO! FIGHT ME!” He joyously yelled, running onto the training grounds with a smile. The burning of tight tired muscles had never felt so good before.

Izuku celebrated his return to training with Eri, Shinsou, Shoto, Aizawa, and Yamada in a carb filled dinner. It was a new strange weekend activity that Izuku and Shoto were slowly getting used to. 

Right after their father’s had been arrested, Nezu had given them a choice. The dorms in the school were of course where they lived during the school year, but during breaks and holidays, they were expected to go back to their homes. He gave them the option of never having to leave. 

“If you’d like, you can live at the dorms until you graduate. That includes the break between your second and third year. You’ll still have to abide by the normal campus and dorm rules doing those times, but until you graduate UA, you’d both be a ward of the school.”

Nezu told them to think about it. 

It’s something that Izuku talked to his new therapist about every session until he finally made his decision.

Aizawa dropped him off at his moms and offered to come in with him, but he knew it was something he had to do himself. 

When his mother opened the door, she gave him a giant hug, ushering him inside and offering to make him dinner. She seemed so excited that he finally came home for a weekend. 

“Mom, can we sit down? I want to talk.” He swallowed his nerves, gesturing for them to sit down. His mother took the couch and he shook slightly as he took the seat his father had always sat it. 

It didn’t go unnoticed that neither of them had said a word about the man since Izuku had been in the hospital. 

“Mom, I think it would be better for my mental health if I stayed at UA.” He spoke slowly and forced himself to look his mother in the eyes, even though a part of him screamed to take back the words as soon at he said them. 

She didn’t seem to understand his meaning though. 

“I won’t make you quit school, baby. I know you’re gonna be a good hero.” The praise she gave him, in another life would have made him feel loved and amazing, but it just ended up crawling against his skin, leaving his hair standing on end. 

“I don’t mean for school, I-” He paused to steady his breath, repeating the same thing in his head that he’d been rehearsing all week.

“I think it would be best, if I lived at UA, permanently. This place just holds a lot of bad memories for me, and I really need to work through those before I can be comfortable here again.” He tried to explain as he rubbed one of his thumbs harshly into his opposite palm, letting the pressure help ground him. 

“You don’t want to be here with me anymore?” His mother sat back, eyes wide and helpless.

“You have to focus on your own mental health first, Izuku. You can’t heal and take everyone else’s problems on at the same time.”

He latched onto the words his therapist had told him in one of his sessions. Holding onto it for deal life and using it as his only bit of comfort. 

“I’m not leaving you. We can still talk, we can get lunch, I can even ask Aizawa if you can stay on campus some weekends. I just can’t be here. This isn’t my home. This is a place where I was hurt.” 

He’d expected the tears, but excepting and experiencing were two very different things. 

“You’re blaming me! He hurt me too, Izuku. You don’t know what it was like to live with him! I’ve lost him and now I’m losing you. You can’t leave me! How could you do this to me? How can you leave me alone here?” Her words more than stung.

The bitter taste of regret and selfishness creeped into his throat and made him feel like he was going to be sick. 

“You have to focus on your own mental health first, Izuku.”

“I- I know, mom. I’m not leaving you. You can come to the dorm, it doesn’t have to change-” His begged plea was cut off as his mother stood up abruptly, tears falling from her cheeks as she sobbed.

“No! Just leave me already! Just go run away and forget about me like I’m worthless! My husband didn’t love me, my son doesn’t love me, it’s all my fault!” 

He sat stunned at her outburst. For one of the first time in his life, his body didn’t move on it’s own. Instead, he sat frozen as she stormed off into the other room, her bedroom door slamming shut behind him. 

He curled in on himself, lightly banging his fists into his forehead as he swallowed back the cries that he didn’t deserve. 

She was right. She was a victim, and he should have been helping her. She needed him and he wasn’t doing anything except being selfish and making her feel worse.

He shuffled to his feet and moved towards the hallway that led to both his and his mother’s room. He stood in front of the closed door, listening to nothing but silence, for about two minutes. Conversations, feelings, history, and every injury he’d ever sustained in the house weighed on his shoulders. It left him with a hanging head and feeling a cold kind of emptiness. 

You can’t heal and take everyone else’s problems at the same time.

Thinking about what his therapist had told him one more time, Izuku moved. 

Turning his back to his mother’s door while he walked to his own room, ready to pack the last of the things he needed, was the single most difficult thing he’d ever done.

His heart, brain, and entire being screamed at him to comfort his mother, but he knew he couldn’t listen. He wasn’t okay. Physically, he was recovering, but mentally he knew he had scars that warped his sense of right and wrong, and he knew for the time being, he couldn’t listen to himself.

His therapist was smart and kind. She didn’t want anything from him, and wouldn’t gain anything by him getting better. Yamada and Aizawa were good people. They’d hurt Izuku once, yes, but they'd acknowledged that. They’d talked about it, they’d apologized. They proved in their actions that not only did they mean their apologies, but that they weren’t going to do it again. Yamada kept every promise he made. Aizawa helped him train. They brought Izuku and Shoto into their home on more than one occasion. They were by his side at every turn, even when it would have been convenient for them not to be. Even when he locked up and couldn’t say a word to them. They didn’t always know how to make him feel better, but they were learning. More importantly, they were trying to learn.

All three of them thought that he needed to focus on himself and him own feelings first. They all looked him in the eye and told him that it was okay to protect himself.

He would have told Eri to worry about herself first too.

Izuku opened his bedroom door and stood in the doorway for a moment. He wasn’t able to trust himself in that moment, so with a shaky step forward, he walked into his old room and began to pack, choosing to instead trust the people that cared about him.

His mother didn’t come out of her room the entire time he packed, and he wasn’t able to make himself say goodbye to her through the door before he’d left. 

For a solid month after, neither of them reached out to the other. The first week, Izuku felt guilty. The second, he was devastated. The third, he felt abandoned. By the fourth, it was just an anxious blank feeling.

He and his therapist talked about his mother in almost every session. Well, he talked, and his therapist listened. He knew she had her own opinions and probably a lot of useful advice, but he just wasn’t ready to hear it yet. She’d asked him, the very first session after he’d moved out, if he wanted her to give him her opinion of the situation or just listen. 

He hadn’t been ready for the former. Not until after he talked to him mom, after a month of silence. Then, after that call he’d practically broken down the therapist’s door, demanding her opinions. 

He wanted anything to explain the uncomfortable and foreign feeling he had.

“Why don’t you tell me about the call first.” She gestured for him to sit down in one of the soft chairs in front of her. He had to move a fur pillow to sit down, and ended up just holding onto it, letting his hand pet the soft faux fur. 

“It was ordinary. So utterly mundane. I called, she picked up, and talked just like the last time I’d called was yesterday. She told me about her day, the show she was watching, what she was going to make for dinner. She just talked about nothing. It’s like- It’s like nothing even happened!” He clutched the pillow and felt a bolt of dissatisfaction. 

“How long did the call last?” She asked, setting the pen and pad she occasionally wrote on, onto the side table next to her. 

“Around 15 minutes. I didn’t really know how to respond, so I just didn’t. She talked until I guess she ran out of things to say and then said she had to change the laundry and hung up.”

“And, how did you feel after the call?” 

“Awkward. Like a stranger told me their life story and then just walked away.” Izuku gave a half smile when the therapist snorted at his response. 

He was finding that making jokes about his past and feelings was really the only way he could talk about them without feeling like the muscles in his chest were vibrating.

“That’s a very interesting description, but I understand.” She paused for a moment, giving Izuku a smile. “Are you ready to hear what I think?” 

He knew that he’d went there, just for that. He’d been ready. Hearing her ask though, he wasn’t so sure. For some reason, he didn’t think he was going to leave the same person as when he walked in, and he wasn’t sure that he was ready for that. 

He sat there, rethinking the call with his mother before finally giving a single slow nod. 

“You are such a good kid, Izuku. You have a big heart and you’re always trying to see the best in people.” His heart raced as she kept speaking. Giving him praise that all had an underlining meaning that he was scared he was going to start understanding. “There are a lot of people, that grow up similarly to you, and they don’t adjust nearly as well as you have.” 

His eyes began to dart around the room rapidly, not able to look at her any longer. 

“You’re going to be an amazing hero when you grow up. You’re already a great hero now, even as a child.” When she stopped talking, Izuku’s eyes went back to her face. His chest was tight, like a rubber band stretched as far as it could. His hands gripped onto the pillow, squeezing it to his body. 

“Your mother isn’t perfect, and it was never your responsibility to save her, comfort her, or be her friend.” 

With one sentence, the rubber band snapped, and Izuku knew he’d been correct when he thought he was never going to be the same again. 

He left the office that day with homework, and a stack of papers. His therapist had them already prepared for him. She’d told him to start at the top and work his way down, but to take time between each one. To think about them. 

“It’s okay to be angry, to cry, to shout, it’s okay. You’re allowed to feel.”

He sat alone in his dorm when he returned and pulled out the stack of papers again. The first one was about childhood abuse, and long last effects it could have. The more he read, the more an uncomfortable feeling spread through him. 

He read more, going from physical abuse, to emotional abuse, to neglect. The papers called it all abuse. They said it was bad. Bullying. Isolation. Helicopter parenting. Manipulation.

He sat up for an entire night, hyper-fixated on the text in front of him. He didn’t go down to dinner, he didn’t turn on his alarm for school, he didn’t even hear the noise in the hall as people began to get ready for school.

He sat there, reading every paper over and over again. Then grabbed his phone and began to frantically scour the internet. The information he found there was similar. He found research articles, interviews, journals. All of them were saying the same thing as the papers he’d been given. 

He wanted to deny it all. He wasn’t to reject every paper. 

He had a GOOD childhood. His mother was amazing. She was wonderful. She loved him. 

She made him feel guilty when he wanted to do something without her.

She ignored his pain.

She always made him listen to all her issues and feelings.

It was always him reaching out. 

He gave her options to stay in his life, and she never took any of them.

She always had a reason on why it was his fault.

She stayed with his father.

She stayed with him.

She STAYED WITH HIM.

Conflicting thoughts and new realizations that his brain tried to fight off helped spark the anger more. 

Black Whip and One for All licked against his skin as his emotions became erratic. On his nightstand was a framed picture of him and his mother. It had been taken when he was 7, when he went to one of her work function parties with her. He was in a little button up shirt and his mother was holding him close as she hugged him. They were both smiling in the picture. 

Izuku could just barely remember how uncomfortable he’d been there. How everyone was adults and there wasn’t anyone to play with. He held onto his mother’s hand the whole night as she talked to people he didn’t know. He was happy that she was happy, and that’s all that had mattered. At least, that’s all he let matter.

He grabbed the pictured and launched it at the wall with all the strength he could muster without using a quirk. The glasses shattered, raining down on the floor, and before it could land, Izuku was already grabbing the next thing to throw. 

He screamed with every throw remembering the little things that he’d heard growing up. Things that the articles mentioned that were classic examples of emotional abuse. 

He was a classic example.

He told her once, that he didn’t want to watch the movie that she’d been looking forward to going to the theater to see. It was a love story and it didn’t interest Izuku. He liked heroes and action. He wanted to see bad guys get taken down and watch the hero save the day!

“Don’t you love me? After everything I’ve done, you can’t do this one thing for mommy?”

He went. He hated the movie. It had won awards and everyone praised the movie for how good it was, but it only made him hate it more. She dragged him out to see so many movies at the theater over the years, making him despise any movie that the general public liked. 

The demolition of him room was finally stopped when his entire floor was iced over, making him trip and fall into familiar arms. 

“What happened?” Shoto demanded, not looking around the room at the damages at all, only looking at Izuku’s probably sweaty and distraught face. 

“I’m angry.” He told his friend before latching his arms around the other and crushing them together in a hug. Shoto pulled him out of the room and into the hallway where Shinsou stood waiting with big eyes and a cell phone in hand. 

“Don’t go back in this room until it’s cleaned, I don’t want you to step on any glass.” Shoto shut the door behind them and pulled back from the hug just a little, so Izuku could see his face. 

“Do you want to go to the gym and hit things?” 

The offer sounded tempting but he shook his head. He felt almost like Shoto’s ice had not only covered his floor but also the fire that fueled his anger. He was just tired beyond all reason. 

“How about we go to my parents and you can cuddle a cat?” Shinsou offered giving him a small smile. “And an Eri. She’ll probably want a hug too.” 

Izuku gave a weak chuckle before moving his hug from one teen to the other, giving Shinsou the same air wheezing squeeze that he’d given Shoto. 

Days later, he asked a questioned. To himself, his therapist, even to Yamada when he drove them back to the dorms. 

“How could she just watch it happen?” 

No one had an answer for him though. The question only pulled silence from everyone, including himself. 

He found relief in Shoto during those times. As the latter had his own questions and demands towards a woman that he held on a pedestal. One that was supposed to protect him, yet he lived with the physical evidence that she didn’t. 

It was awful and hard, but as the months went on, it became just a little easier to  breathe. 

Izuku still had a lot of complicated feeling towards his mother that he knew weren’t going to magically go away. He had questions that he knew would probably never be answered. He had days when he looked in the mirror and wondered if he was ever going to be able to have a healthy relationship. 

He thought of purple a lot when he questioned that. 

Halfway through his third year and a year after his father and All Might got taken way, Izuku felt like he was in a better place than he’d been probably in his entire life. 
His therapy had been moved to once every two weeks. Shoto had broken out of his shell just a little more and was able to openly smile in class, especially around a particularly black hair hero-in-training that looked like he’d won the lottery every time one of his jokes or pranks made Shoto laugh. 

Even detentions from Aizawa couldn’t make Sero stop making a fool of himself at least once a day. 

Katsuki, who had joined their little therapy squad about 2 months after Izuku started him own, was calmer. He pushed Kaminari out of his chair when the blonde talked too much, rather than turning an explosion on the other. He and Izuku sparred without destroying themselves or buildings. They showed each other they cared, even when one of their lives wasn’t in immediate danger. 

Izuku didn’t worship him as much, and didn’t try to force his friendship. He understood now, why that always annoyed Katsuki. As a kid, he thought that was just how you were supposed to act. He hadn’t been taught any different. 

Seeing both his oldest and his closest friends both being happy and getting better, Izuku felt like they were actually growing up. They were really going to be adults one day. It was a silly thought that made him snort into the bite of ice cream he was eating. 

“What’s so funny?” Hitoshi asked him. The use of first names between the two, another one of the countless changes that had occurred over the year. 

Izuku looked over to the other side of the ice cream parlor, where Eri sat with Aizawa and Yamada, chatting openly about her day at school. 

Ice cream on Fridays was no longer just an Eri and Izuku tradition. Aizawa, Yamada, and Hitoshi joined as they could. Sometimes staying for the walk to feed the ducks or a lap around the trail, and other times they headed home, leaving Izuku and Eri until they were done. 

Sometimes during the ice cream part, Hitoshi and Izuku would share an ice cream at another table too. 

They weren’t dating. They weren’t even talking about dating. Izuku hadn’t been ready to try and love someone after everything had went down and Hitoshi had promised that at the core of everything, they were friends, and that’s what he wanted. 

“I was just thinking that we’re actually becoming adults.” Izuku told him, pulling his eyes away from the other table to look at Hitoshi. He reached forward brushing his thumb over a particular spot on the other’s jaw. “Like you and this stubble.” He teased, looking at the barely growing purple hair. 

It was cute.

This thumb lingered for a moment before he pulled away, both of them ignoring the others blush.

Izuku wondered if after a year of healing, if he was a little closer to being ready. Hitoshi had always seemed like a really good person to love afterall. 

Chapter Text

Hey Guys (:

People have been requesting a follow up for this story or at least some oneshots from this universe. I have a few in mind that I’m thinking of writing, so if you’re interest just let me know! I’ve made this into a series, in case you want to stay connected to it!

Thank you guys for reading, I’m thankful for all of you.

I made a twitter…so come feel free to yell at me there, @Red_Rider127 it’s mostly just random shindeku things at this point. Lol.

I hope all of you have an amazing day. ❤️