Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kitsune ran across the rooftops, a grin underneath the mask as adrenaline pumped through his veins. His quirk hummed underneath his skin as he pranced above the city, using the grappling hooks in his bracers to bridge the distance between buildings when the gaps were too big. He had the lights of his mask turned on, and anyone watching would just see the neon green outline of a kitsune face as he leaped. 

The night was still young, but so far it had been quiet, even in the nastier parts of Musutafu. He got a cat down from a tree, stopped a few muggings, and even managed to hit a drug dealer. Drug dealers were the ones who usually had the most cash on them. While Kitsune never really wanted to steal from criminals, he kind of had to. His survival trumps whatever morals would’ve otherwise gotten in the way. 

He took a breather, perching on the ledge of a rooftop while he silently counted the stacks of bills he collected from patrol. Normally he would have company, but the AI in his mask was actually turned off today to process the updates he made last night. It was pretty lucky that tonight’s patrol was so quiet. 

Really, all her being quiet meant was that he had to actually scroll through the computer in his mask manually instead of Shiryoni opening the information he needs on her own. 

“Shit,” Kitsune muttered, stuffing the bills back into one of his pockets. The night was still young, but he needed to hit a few more criminals. The way this was going, he’s going to have to rely on charity if he didn’t want to have to skip a few more meals. He supposed he could cut the water, but that was something he absolutely would not do. It’s not a measure he’s had to take since he was thirteen, and he intended to keep it that way. 

Pulling out his phone, he did some searches. It was a burner phone, not connected to a network, and specially modified for his work. One of the cases he was tracking for “anonymous” tip offs to the law was a drug ring. He’ll go look for updates, maybe see if he could knock a few out and steal enough for groceries. But the underground chatter said that a deal wouldn’t be happening until tomorrow at the earliest. 

He groaned, pocketing his phone as he stood up and continued onwards. Apparently, crime wanted to stay in, as he only stopped a couple more muggings. He supposed he should count himself lucky, as his arm was still healing from a burn he got from Endeavour a few days ago (and wasn’t that flattering) but that didn’t he wasn’t bored as hell. 

A gunshot rang out in the night, and a chill went down Kitsune’s spine as he pivoted, changing directions quickly. 

He stopped on the rooftop, quickly taking stock of the situation. It was a gang fight in an empty parking lot, five on five. Looked like it was between the Emerald Mambas and the Demon Riders. A couple of emitter types, a couple of transformation types, but mainly mutant quirks.

He may be a little in over his head. 

He checked his mask computer. Eraserhead was, in fact, on patrol (didn’t that man have to teach a class?). He pressed the coms, switching them to Eraserhead’s channel. 

“Hawks, I’m patrolling here, so if you please-” Another gunshot rang out, interrupting the conversation between Eraserhead and Hawks, apparently. There wasn’t really time to figure out that one though, since he could already hear both men swearing. 

“Hey Eraserdad, McChicken,” the vigilante said, looking back over the railing. He kept his voice light to try and reassure the pro heroes. “There’s a gang fight between the Emeralds and the Demon Riders in the empty parking lot on 5th and Lotus.” 

Kitsune flinched reflexively as another gunshot rang out. “Are you alright?!” He could practically hear the concern and worry in Eraserhead’s voice. This is why he called him Eraserdad.

“I’m fine,” he huffed, disguising his nerves with annoyance (he may be an adrenaline junkie but he’s not stupid). “I haven’t engaged and they haven’t noticed me yet-” 

There was a little girl. Hiding behind a bush, too close to the fight, was a little girl. 

“On second thought, I’ll get back to you on that,” Kitsune said, turning off the coms to the twin shouts of ‘Problem Child!’ and ‘Kid!’ He got up, running towards the ledge, and taking a leap of faith. 

He snapped his wrist forward, and the grappling hook shot out, catching on the taller building across from him. He swung through the fight, feet out to kick a few people in the face as he swung. When he made it over, he landed on the plateau, continuing to move as a few gunshots fired after the soles of his shoes. 

He spared a glance at the fight. It seemed like the gang fight had all but ended as the gang members focused on shooting him instead. 

“Wow, there are ten of you and you can’t even manage to hit me!” Kitsune quipped, continuing to run across the rooftops, not daring to risk jumping down to the girl just yet. “Are you sure you guys aren’t stormtroopers?” 

He dodged a turkey sized ice cube (he was hungry, sue him), and used the momentum to leap up into the air. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he pulled a smoke bomb from his utility belt, chucking it down into the parking lot. 

The panicked screaming of the gang was incredibly satisfying. He snickered, modeling the smoke bombs after grenades was a fantastic idea.

Smoke billowed through the parking lot, and Kitsune leapt down, landing next to the little girl. “Hey, I need you to get on my back,” he said gently, not at all like how he addressed those criminals. 

She nodded jerkily, and he swung her on his back, jumping up as the smoke started to thin. “I’m going to need you to hold on tight, okay?” She tightened her grip as he raised an arm, the grappling hook pulling them both onto the roof. 

He could hear gunshots going off behind him, but his focus narrowed to only running and the little red head on his back. She flinched at every gunshot and attack from a quirk, but Kitsune kept steady. 

The sound of wing beats swept through the night, and he didn’t waste any time finding a place to duck behind the railing of the roof as the two pro heroes, as well as several police officers, arrived at the scene. Kitsune curled himself behind the concrete barrier, pulling the young girl off of his back and into his arms. She was shaking like a leaf, so he tried to calm her down by running his fingers through her hair. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he muttered reassuringly, moving one hand to his mask to turn off the lights. “You’re safe now. Breathe in for four, and out for four, can you do that for me? In for four, out for four. In for four, out for four. You’re doing very well. In for four, out for four.” 

They repeated that for a little bit, and she managed to calm down a little, although she still flinched at the sounds of fighting below. Kitsune narrowed in to focus on the girl. She was about the same age as Eri, with long red hair and blue eyes. He could feel that she had some sort of transformation quirk involving iron. There was a familiar urge in the back of his mind to take it, but he pushed it away. 

“You’re safe, okay?” He rubbed soothing circles in her back, noting the way that she was shivering, although he couldn’t tell whether it was from the cold or from fear. “How about this, let’s play a game, okay? I’ll ask some questions, and you answer them, okay?” She nodded shakily. “What’s your name?” 

“M-Morimoto Ikumu,” she stuttered. 

“Good job, Mori-chan. That’s a very pretty name. What’s your favorite color?” 

“R-red. Like my hair. Mommy said it was very pretty.” 

“She’s right, your hair is very pretty, like you. Where is your mommy?” 

The little girl shook her head, tears springing up. “Daddy said she’s where the good people go when they leave.” 

Now he didn’t have time to unpack all of that. “Well, where is your daddy?” 

She hiccupped, calming down while Kitsune slowly braided her hair. “He’s on a business trip.” 

“Do you know when he’ll be back?” 

“He said- he said Friday. He left yesterday.” 

“Has he ever lied about that?” 

The little redette furrowed her brow. “Daddy’s never lied about that. He only lies about where the cookies are.” 

“Good, good,” Kitsune reassured her, while privately searching for a Morimoto Ikumu in the police database. “Who are you staying with while he’s away?” 

“With- with my grandpa and grandma but- but- but-” She was full on crying now, and she flinched at the sound of an ice cube shattering. “T-T-There was a villain and they- and they-”

Kitsune quietly shushed her, rocking back and forth as best as he could. The picture she painted wasn’t pretty. “It’s okay, it’s okay now. How about this, do you want an apple?” 

She perked up at that, and in a fluid motion, he pulled out a red apple from a pocket. She started munching on it, and Kitsune finally had the information he needed on the girl in his lap. Morimoto Izumu, nine years old, Quirk: Ironclad. Her mother, Morimoto Lamada, died when she was little, and her father, Morimoto Fukio, was currently on a business trip to China. 

“You’re doing very well, Mori-chan,” Kitsune said, peeking back over the wall to check on the fighting. Thankfully, it seemed that the gang members were focused on the two pro heroes, who had it handled. “How about we play a different game, okay?” 

She nodded, rubbing her eyes as he pulled out his phone. He opened a simple game he programmed, one of those match the picture to the word games. He made it specifically to distract Eri if she had a nightmare, or for situations like this. She took to it immediately, using one hand to play and the other to eat her apple. Kitsune pulled her into his lap, sitting up to observe the fight. 

The fight was over in a few more minutes. While the police were busy bundling the gang members into vans (after doing nothing during the actual fight, thanks a lot), the two pro heroes looked around for him. It was hilarious, watching them whip their heads around, so Kitsune let himself snicker internally for a few moments before taking pity on them and turning on the lights of his mask (his favorite pastime was messing with Eraser, sue him). 

Hawks noticed him first, pointing up to the ledge they were on. He grabbed Eraserhead under his arms, flying them up to the rooftops. It reminded him of a falcon flying a grumpy cat, and he was glad his mask was still recording. This was comedy gold. 

“Mori-chan, it’s time to go,” he gently nudged the little girl, taking his phone back and putting it away. He stood up, holding her carefully in his arms. Her messy braid whipped gently in the wind, starting to come undone as the vigilante didn’t have anything to tie it with. 

“Problem child!” Eraserhead shouted, landing neatly and running over to them. Hawks took a little more leisurely pace behind him. “I swear, you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” 

Kitsune shrugged, the little girl still in his arms. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Hawks. Number twelve hero and all that. “Look, if it wasn’t going to be me, it’s going to be one of those brats you’re teaching.” 

Eraserhead levelled an unamused glare at him. “You’re barely older than those brats.” 

Hawks finally made it over, one of his feathers moving to dance in front of Morimoto, to her absolute delight. “Who’s the little bird?” He asked casually, with a hidden emotion behind his eyes. Kitsune spent too long honing his ability to read people for it to slip by him. 

He handed the star struck little girl to Hawks. “Morimoto Ikumu. Her father’s Morimoto Fukio, currently on a business trip til Friday that he left on yesterday. She was staying with her grandparents, but they got caught up in a villain attack. She got too close to the fight for me to reasonably leave alone.” 

Hawks nodded, wrapping one of his wings around him for the girl to pet. “I’ll bring her down to the station so that we can call her dad,” he said, nodding towards Eraser. “I’ll meet you at the udon place.” He took off, leaving the pro hero and the vigilante on the roof. 

Kitsune raised an eyebrow, although Eraserhead couldn’t see it from underneath the mask. “Is this about the trigger case?” 

Eraserhead shook his head. “A different case. Hawks was assigned to the same one I’m on today, which means I have to take the time to brief him on it.” 

He tilted his head, trying to do his best impression of puppy dogs eyes with a mask covering his face. “A different case? What is it? If the oh so great Hero Public Safety Commission is getting involved, it’s gotta be something juicy.” And involving a lot of money, but he kept that thought to himself. 

“It’s your case, problem child,” Eraserhead said gruffly. 

Kitsune exaggerated his surprise, raising a hand to his chest. “The Commission wants to catch little ol me? I’m flattered!” 

The perpetually tired pro hero rolled his eyes. “You can come to the briefing. Considering it’s about you.” 

“Hmm,” Kitsune shifted, raising one hand to his chin and tilting his head as if he was considering it. “On two conditions.” 

“Name them.” 

“One,” he said, raising a finger. “It’s just a conversation. No trying to capture me while we’re talking.” When the hero nodded, he continued. “Two. Buy me food.” 

Eraserhead cuffed him upside the head, and even through the mask, he was pretty sure that the hero could feel Kitsune’s shit eating grin. “Fine, problem child,” he muttered, then started taking off across the rooftops. 

Kitsune grinned, jumping alongside him as they made their way across the city, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had a short list of heroes he worked with or even talked to in his three year vigilante career, and one of them was Eraser, simply because he treated the vigilante with respect and never tried to bring him in. Well, he did in the beginning, but their relationship had settled into one of a partnership.

They stopped in one of the better parts of Musutafu, a district he’s never patrolled in before (he focuses on the poorer districts). They made quite the sight, a semi well known vigilante and an underground hero dressed like a hobo picking up food. Afterwards, they swung up to the rooftop, and Eraser passed him his food. They sat back to back, Kitsune pushing the mask up to rest on top of his head as he dug in. 

They sat there quietly, the peace and quiet soothing to the young vigilante, as it was rare to have in his line of work. He could hear Eraser texting something, probably Hawks to inform him of the situation. By the time the winged hero had arrived, picking up his order, they had both finished, and Kitsune had his mask back on. 

“So,” he got up, leaning against the railing and folding his arms as he faced the two heroes. Underneath his skin Shadow Cloak buzzed, ready to activate if he needed a quick escape. “I heard that the number twelve pro hero was assigned to deal with little ol me. And that Eraserdad was going to brief you on my file. So, I’m going to listen in, because I’m awfully curious about what the police have on me, and then I’ll offer you a deal.” 

They both looked at each other, surprise on both of their faces. Kitsune leaned back, flexing his hands to make sure the spikes in his knuckles still worked. They did. 

“Alright,” Eraser said, getting straight to the point. “This is Kitsune. He’s been on the scene for three years now. We know his hair is green, although whether it’s dyed or not is unclear. He’s a teenager, we’ve guessed between 15 and 19, and small and fast. We have no idea what his quirk is. He has a grappling hook in those bracers of his, and based on the conversations he seemingly has with himself, we’ve guessed that he has a partner named Shiryoni. His current charges are vigilantism, multiple cases of assault against criminals, multiple cases of theft from criminals he’s subdued, and a few cases of arson. He vapes, which isn’t illegal but is worth mentioning. He has a very efficient combat style, able to hold his own in fights, and usually leaves the criminals barely injured, with only a few cases of injuries bad enough to need to be hospitalized. He’ll also leave tip offs for the police for things that he can’t handle by himself. We’ve seen him use a bo staff that pops up, as well as a variety of knives, multiple which were identified as knives he’s stolen from criminals-”

“It doesn’t count if they stabbed me with the knife.” 

“Yes it does. Anyways, he’s been seen electrocuting criminals with his staff, but it’s unknown if it’s part of his quirk or if it’s a part of the staff. He’s a slippery little shit, and doesn’t really get caught in fights, usually he’s caught after the fact. He’s semi known in the public eye, as there have been some videos leaked, but he’s not well spread. That’s it.” 

“That’s gonna change soon,” Kitsune said, drawing eyes to him. “I made a Twitter account. It’s darealkitsune if you wanna follow.” 

“Why da instead of the?” Hawks asked, already pulling out his phone. 

“Some bastard already took therealkitsune.” 

Eraserhead sighed, probably already feeling the incoming headache that was about to be inflicted on him. “Problem Child, why are you like this?” 

Kitsune did some jazz hands. “It’s the trauma.” 

Hawks snorted “mood” while Eraser just put his face in his hands. “What’s this deal you mentioned earlier?” He asked. 

“Well,” Kitsune drawled, making sure both pro heroes' attention were on him. “I need to be able to pay a little something called rent. You need a little something called information. So I have a deal. 5,000 yen per question. I have the right to veto any question. When we’re done, you give me the money in cash and we part our separate ways.”

The two heroes looked at each other, a silent conversation between them. “I’ll pay for the questions,” Hawks said, using a wing to lazily gesture to Eraser. “You ask the questions. You’ve known him the longest.” 

“What is your quirk?”

Kitsune laughed. “Sorry, Eraserdad, you’re not going to get me that easily.” 

“Worth a shot,” he muttered. “Why did you become a vigilante?” 

Kitsune tilted his head, judging whether or not to answer. Eraser was clearly asking him questions he asked before, questions that he usually shut down. “I’ve always wanted to be a hero, for as long as I can remember,” he finally said, a little bit of wistfulness in his voice as he let a bit of the mask drop. “But I could never get into a hero school.” 

“Why not?” Eraser asked. “Is it because of your quirk?” 

“Everything comes back to that nowadays,” Kitsune replied. He pulled out one of his knives and started playing with it to ease his nerves. 

“You’ve always wanted to be a hero, so why do you steal from criminals?” 

“Like I said, I’ve got bills to pay,” Kitsune shrugged, the knife easily flipping through his fingers. “Besides, I can’t get a legal job.” 

“Why can’t you get a legal job?” Hawks asked, after slurping up a bunch of noodles. 

“Because legally speaking I don’t exist.”

The two heroes looked incredulously at one another. “Not a single medical file?” Eraser asked in complete shock. 

Kitsune shook his head. “I checked, they’re all gone. Were before I managed to get to them. And I sure as hell haven’t been adding more.”

“Problem Child, you’ve been stabbed multiple times. Hell, you’ve been shot multiple times. You haven’t gone to a hospital for any of it?!” 

“Do you think they’d treat someone who legally doesn’t exist?” Kitsune asked. “Besides, hospitals are a no go. Either they’d test me and then the Commission would pluck me up to secretly murder me, or I’d be assassinated. Personally, I like being alive, thank you very much.” 

“How old are you anyways, kid?” Hawks asked, one eyebrow raised. “Depending on your age, the Commission would either charge you for vigilantism and put you behind bars, or they would try and rehab you to be a hero. I’m pretty sure secret murder is off the table, even for the Commission.” 

Kitsune snorted. “I can’t disclose my age, but I will say that they would definitely murder me if they find out exactly who I’m related to.” 

“And who is that?” 

Kitsune leaned forward, his center of gravity far enough back that he could still escape if he had to. “Wouldn’t you like to know, feather boy?” 

Eraser groaned as Hawks broke out into laughter. Once the chucklefuck calmed down and Eraser seemed to stop questioning his life decisions, the elder hero asked, “How did you know what to do with Morimoto?” 

It was Kitsune’s turn to sigh. “A lot of experience,” he said. “I’ll tell you this because it’s been a good day. I have a younger sister. She’s my little sunshine, and everything I do is for her. And by the way.” Kitsune’s stance shifted from easy going to threatening, the knife he was playing with landing in his hand. “If you hurt her, I will kill both of you.” 

The two men shuddered, and the vigilante leaned back, going back to flipping the knife up and down in his hand. “That’ll be all for our little Q&A session,” he said. “Ten questions. 50,000 yen. Cash please.” 

Hawks fished out his wallet, pulling out the bills and handing them to the vigilante. Kitsune put them away, giving them a little salute. “Pleasure doing business with you, boys,” he said, before leaning back and falling into the alley, letting the shadows envelope him. 

“So, that’s the infamous Kitsune?” Hawks asked, finishing up his noodles. 

Shouta sighed, looking back in the direction the vigilante had just left. He could already feel a headache coming on. “That’s him.” 

“I can see why the Commission wants him.” 

Shouta turned back to the hero. “What does the Commission want with him?” 

Hawks dumped his empty plastic container into the bag, stretching out his wings as he did so. “They want to rehab him, turn him into a hero. Even if he was over eighteen, they probably would’ve done so. He’s a good kid.” 

Shouta raised an eyebrow. “He threatened to kill us.” 

“Only if we hurt his Lil Sunshine,” Hawks shrugged. “Besides, you would kill for your students.” 

There was a lull in the conversation. Hawks spoke up, the wind ruffling his feathers. “Look, I know your stance on the Commission. And you obviously care for the kid.” 

“What’s your point?” Shouta grumbled. 

“You’re against Kitsune falling into the Commission’s hands,” Hawks stated simply, as if he was stating that the sky was blue. “So am I.” 

Shouta raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to continue. “I may be a part of the Commission, but I don’t agree with everything they do,” Hawks said. “He’s a good kid. I don’t want them to break him. I’ll help with the investigation, but I’ll do what I can to make sure he stays safe.” 

Chapter Text

Kitsune pulled himself up onto the balcony, unlocking the door and sliding it shut behind him. He locked it carefully up behind him, slinking to his office and stripping himself of his gear. 

First were his brass knuckles, then his bracers. He pulled off his mask, turning off the soft green lights, then his elbow braces. Then he unbuckled his belt, letting it fall to the floor, and tucked his compact staff into it. He painstakingly pulled off his specialized high tops and his knee braces, finally pulling off the dark green sleeveless hoodie. He pulled off his kevlar vest, the cream and dark blue undershirt that went to his elbows, and his dark blue cargo shorts. Finally he pulled off all of the knives on his person, as well as the fingerless gloves. 

Midoriya Izuku, no longer Kitsune, could finally breathe as the last of his vigilante mentality was pulled away from him. He stashed all of his vigilante gear into a special bag, then tucked the bag into a special compartment in the closet. He pulled out a pair of ratty sweatpants and a tee that he got for free as a part of some sale, stretching and feeling his spine crack. 

He crouched down, quickly opening up the safe and taking a look. With a sigh of relief, he deposited the money that he got from patrol. Maybe he can get a few hours of sleep before he has to-

The shuffle of socks on wood pulls him out of his head, and he turns to the doorway with a soft smile. Eri stood in the doorway, long white hair going down to her waist and the horn on her head fairly low, although still a few centimeters because of the practice they’ve been doing. She wore one of Izuku’s old shirts, a ratty tee that said ‘Long sleeved shirt,’ which went down to her knees, and fuzzy socks that bunched around her ankles. A blanket was draped over one shoulder, and she had the stuffed bunny that she always carried with her. 

“Hey, Eri,” Izuku said gently, closing the safe. “Did I wake you up?” 

She shook her head, clutching the bunny close. “I woke up because I was hungry, then I heard you come back,” she muttered, wiggling her toes. It warmed Izuku’s heart that she trusts him enough to come to him. 

“Do you want a small snack before going back to bed?” He asked. 

She nodded, then paused. “Can I- Can I have apple bunnies?” 

Izuku smiled, getting up and walking over. “Of course,” he said, using one of his quirks to pull an apple out from behind his back. “Here, let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll cut this one up for you, okay?” 

They slowly walked over to the kitchen, Izuku holding Eri’s hand and the apple in the other. The apartment wasn’t necessarily in a great part of town, but it was clean, which was the important part. It was pretty barebones, aside from Eri’s drawings taped to the walls. Most of the stuff that furnished the apartment was previously trash on Dagobah beach that was functional enough to be dragged back to the apartment and used. Food and bare necessities were bought with money from Izuku’s night job, and the rest of the money is put away in a rainy day fund for Eri. 

The little girl took a seat at the table, a long yawn escaping. Izuku smiled fondly and pulled out a knife, falling into the rhythm of cutting up the apple, letting them form into little bunnies. He set the apple slices onto a plate, gently plopping the plate down in front of her. 

About a year ago now, Izuku first found her in an alleyway, running from Overhaul. He was helpless as the man dragged her away, back to the hellhole. Fortunately, Izuku had been a vigilante for two years by then, so he donned a different mask unrelated to Kitsune, snuck into the Shie Hassakai compound, and rained hell to get her back. Now, Eri was his little sister, his little sunshine, and he was proud of the progress they’ve made. 

Izuku shook his head, shaking off the cobwebs of dark memories, and sat down next to his sister. They sat in comfortable silence, Eri eating her late night snack and Izuku braiding her hair. 

“Izu-niichan, what’re we gonna do tomorrow?” Eri asked, while munching on an apple slice.

He smiled reassuringly, continuing to braid her hair, even though she couldn’t see it. “Well, we’re going to go to the library.” He homeschooled Eri, taking her to the library and teaching her from various books. “And then afterwards, we’re gonna go to the beach and you’re gonna continue practicing with your quirk.” 

Eri smiled back, standing up and moving over to put her plate into the sink. She insisted on doing as many chores as she could, so one of the chores that Izuku gave her was clearing the table after meals. 

He looked up at the clock, seeing that the time was about 3 in the morning. “Alright, little sunshine, it’s time for bed, okay?” She nodded, another yawn escaping, and they went to the bedroom. It was pretty bare, like the rest of the apartment, but they managed to get a bedframe and a mattress. There were a few blankets that Izuku had sewn from scraps of fabric, and at one point he had managed to get enough money together to buy a couple of pillows, and there were a few throw pillows that he made. 

Eri paused in the doorway, tugging at Izuku’s hand to get his attention. He turned to her, and she fiddled with his hand, the scars over his hands and arms noticeable in a short sleeved shirt. “Are you hurt? I can help.” 

Izuku smiled, cupping the back of her head with his free hand. “Don’t worry, Eri, I only have a few bruises. They don’t need your quirk, they can heal on their own just fine.” Eri was aware of his night job, although not of the details, and she often insisted on using her quirk to help his injuries. Izuku only let her help when it was absolutely necessary, even though she has a pretty good control over her quirk now. He wanted Eri to live as close to a normal life as possible. 

She nodded in satisfaction, bringing them both into the bedroom. Izuku lifted her up into his arms, three years of vigilantism making him fairly strong, and laid them down onto the bed. He curled them together onto the bed, pulling the blankets over them and pulling his sister close to his chest. Eri clutched onto his shirt with one hand and tucked her bunny into her chest with the other, and Izuku’s hands settled around her back and head. 

“Izu-niichan, can you tell me a story?” She whispered. 

He smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, and started quietly talking, letting stories of his escapades as Kitsune lull them both to sleep. 

Izuku grinned as he walked to the beach, bag over his shoulder and Eri on his back. They were walking to Dagobah beach, where they usually went to after they were done with Eri’s “school” and Izuku’s online classes. 

The beach used to be a complete dump, but three years of on and off cleaning had reduced the amount of trash by about half what it used to be. In the beginning he was hardcore clearing for physical training, but now he does so on and off. The trash is useful to help Eri practice with her quirk, and the obstacles are useful to keep eyes off of him so that he can practice with his quirks without drawing suspicion. 

Izuku himself was dressed like he could probably live there. He had on his red high-tops (the non-modified, normal versions) and fingerless gloves, dark blue wide jeans with a rip and a patch over the knee, a red and white jacket that also had patches, and a white tee that says “Pants.” He had his studs in, he got earrings during that time, and his long dark green hair that reached down to just below his shoulders was currently in a messy low ponytail. His bag was covered in Eri’s stickers. His clothes were clean, but you could tell that they were found in a thrift store and stretched to last as long as possible. 

Eri was dressed better than he was. She was wearing a pair of simple pink sandals and a simple dress that Izuku made with light blue fabric that had unicorns printed on it. She wore the locket that Izuku gave her, a simple gold heart that used to belong to his mother, and a sun hat that covered her horn. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, like usual, tied with a simple hair tie with a flower on it. 

“Alright, little sunshine, I’m gonna put you down,” he said, kneeling down to let her get off his back. “We’re going to start with some simple warm ups. Do you want to work on precision or strength?” 

Eri scrunched her nose, sticking her tongue out as she thought. He always makes sure to give her options on what to work on, something that both of them haven’t had in the past. Eventually, she said, “I wanna do pre-ci-sion.”

Izuku beamed, pulling an apple out from his sleeve. He placed it in her hands, taking the sun hat gently off of her head. “Warm up time. Start with turning it into a blossom, all right?” 

Eri nodded, furrowing her brows in concentration as she focused. Her horn started to glow, a soft yellow light enveloping it, and the apple also started glowing. With a pop, the apple quickly reverted into a blossom, and the glow disappeared. 

“Good job Eri,” he said, and she preened at the praise. He took the blossom and tucked it into her hair. “Now, let’s do that again, but a little slower this time.” 

She took the apple he offered, biting her lip as she kept going. They did that a few more times, the process of turning the apple into the blossom going slower and slower each time. By the time they finished, she had five apple blossoms in her hair. The point of the exercises, despite its repetitiveness, was to master controlling the flow of her quirk so that she can control how much she’s using it. 

“Alright, we’re going to work on precision now, okay?” He said, guiding her to the trash mounds still there. “Pick out something to work on today.” 

She gazed over the mound, before pointing at something on the side of the pile. Izuku used one of his quirks to pull it towards him, it was an old handheld game device. Perfect. 

“So, we’re going to start with sensing what it is you can affect with your quirk, okay?” He got a nod in return, so he gave it to her. “I want you to close your eyes, and try to feel.”

She closed her eyes, her horn glowing but the device not glowing like when she uses Rewind on an object. Eventually, it stopped glowing, and she opened her eyes. Izuku had pulled out one of his notebooks and pens, the notebook labelled “Eri’s Training.”

“How did it feel, little sunshine?” He asked. 

“It felt like, it felt like I could touch the thing, umm, device, with my hands, but they weren’t my hands. Like they were a second pair of hands, like ghost hands, and I can touch what was inside the device too. It felt really weird when I started touching what was inside the device though, like my hands were really cold.”

“Okay, that’s very good,” Izuku said, writing everything she said down. “Now, try doing that again, but using your quirk on something inside the device, okay?” 

Eri nodded, closing her eyes once again. Her horn started glowing, and so did the device, but as Izuku watched, he couldn’t see the device changing from the outside. His eyes widened as he backed up, his hands moving up as he activated his quirk before-

The device flew out of her hands, and Eri’s eyes snapped open as her quirk stuttered off. The device rocketed towards Izuku, but halfway there, the device exploded. Soot stained the sand underneath it, but thankfully both Izuku and Eri were spared of any burns or soot stains. 

“That was very good, Eri!” Izuku smiled, willing his heart to calm down from it’s palpitations. He may be an adrenaline junkie, but the heart attack of something almost exploding near his little sister was too much. “But next time we’re going to practice from a distance.” 

Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking a little. “I’m sorry Izu-nii-” 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Izuku dropped down to his knees, holding her gently by the shoulders. “It’s not your fault, I should’ve known better. But now we know that when we practice, it’s going to be from a distance.”

It took a few minutes for Eri to calm down, but eventually she did, and they continued to practice. Izuku pulled interesting looking pieces of trash for Eri to practice on, and Eri used her quirk on something inside of the trash, from half a meter away from this time. After a few more hours, they headed home, and Izuku treated his sister to some mochi with dinner. They may be a little strapped for money, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t treat themselves sometimes. 

Izuku opened his notebook after dinner, and Eri listened to Present Mic’s radio show while she colored. He updated his notes on Eri’s training, based on the progress they made today, and then opened a different, secret notebook, simply labelled ‘Kitsune.’ This notebook had notes on his quirks, as well as support items and fighting styles. He took some notes, before ushering Eri to bed and then going out into the night. 

Quirks:

• All For One: The user can give and take away quirks on contact. This contact is limited to the user’s fingers, but the user only has to use a minimum of one finger. The process takes at least 2.351 seconds, which was a result of training. Victims don’t feel when their quirk is taken, with the exception of mutation quirks, which results in pain for both the victim and the user. The user does not take any mutations or physical characteristics that don’t relate to the quirk. Any physical characteristics related to the quirk only appear when the user actively calls upon the quirk, otherwise they don’t appear. A secondary aspect of the quirk is the ability to sense quirks and their general types within a 30 meter radius of the user. The quirk is partially sentient, causing urges within the user to take quirks and hoard them for the user. The quirk also allows an immunity to the normal effects of having multiple quirks in one body, which is insanity. The current user obtained this quirk genetically from the father’s side.

• Attraction of Small Objects: The user can pull small objects from the user, previous testing and training put the maximum amount that can be pulled at 10 kg. The current user obtained this quirk from the previous user’s death, Midoriya Inko.

• Boost: The user’s physical strength and agility is minorly enhanced. The current user obtained the copy of this quirk from All For One, who acquired it from an unknown user. 

• Shadow Cloak: The user can cover their entire body with a cloak made of shadows. The cloak is only effective in dim lighting or shadows, otherwise the black cloak sticks out. The current user obtained the copy of this quirk from All For One, who acquired it from an unknown user. 

• Resistance: The user’s resistance to the elements is fairly increased. The current user obtained the copy of this quirk from All For One, who acquired it from an unknown user. 

• Crow: The user can turn into a crow at will. The time it takes to switch between forms is currently 3.41 seconds. As a crow the user’s mind is still human, although they may gain some instincts as a crow. The current user obtained this quirk from a drug dealer trying to kill them whose name is unknown. 

• Deflect: The user can throw up an invisible but strong barrier by crossing their arms. The barrier isn’t indestructible, but is fairly strong, and hasn’t been broken through yet. It is currently unknown the force it takes to break through. The barrier is one meter in diameter and forms in front of the arms. Once the barrier is put up, the barrier will remain up until the user uncrosses their arms. The current user obtained this quirk from a mugger trying to mug them whose name is unknown.
• Apple Summoning: The user can summon apples from thin air. The apple can only be pulled out from a place out of everyone’s line of sight, including the user. The apples are always ripe, but the user can change which kind of apple they produce. The current user obtained this quirk from a robber trying to kill them whose name is unknown.
• Confession: If the user’s question is answered, the user can force the victim to answer the question truthfully. The answers are always very literal to the questions, and the responses will be what the targets believe to be true, not what is always true. The current user obtained this quirk from Shin Nemeto of the Shie Hassaikai.

Chapter Text

“Izuchan, Izuchan, Izuchan and me are returning from the grocery store!” Eri sang, skipping along next to her brother. She had a couple of bags of stuff, the lighter bags that she could be able to carry. Izuku walked next to her, holding the heavier bags. “Izuchan, Izuchan, Izuchan and me have food galore!” 

Izuku chuckled, keeping a steady pace with the energetic eight year old. Galore was one of her vocab words. They were going out together, so Eri has a hat that covers her horn. Her hair is also cut a little shorter, down to her shoulders instead of her lower back, and dyed green, so that the siblings look like siblings. 

“What do you want for dinner tonight, little sunshine?” He asked. They were walking through downtown Musutafu, in a district that was still relatively poor but nicer than their neighborhood. At least they looked nice enough that they only got a few weird looks. 

She thought very hard. “Katsudon?” She asked. It seemed she inherited her brother’s love of the dish. 

Izuku smiled. “Of course, little sun-”

BOOM!!!

A series of explosions blew up nearby, where a crowd was starting to form. The two of them took off, coming up behind the crowd. He could hear the crowd, but could only pick up “hostage” and “kid.” 

“Izu-niichan, you’ll save whoever the villain has, right?” Eri asked, eyes tearing up. “Like you saved me.” 

Izuku was about to object, but then the crowd shifted, and he got a look at the situation. Four pro heroes, two of them covering crowd control, and two of them standing around doing nothing. A villain made of sludge, holding a kid his age with spiky blonde hair and an explosion quirk, and brilliant red eyes that he’d never forget. 

Kacchan.

“Eri, you stay right here with the bags, alright?” Izuku said seriously, catching the little girl’s attention. She nodded, and then he took off, pulling out one of the knives from his jacket sleeve. Thank All Might for his constant paranoia and refusal to leave the house without at least one knife on his person. 

His mind started racing, and time seemed to stop around him as he watched the situation. The sludge wasn’t solid, but it seemed like the eyes were solid. He should be strong enough from his many years of physical training to just pull him out, even without Boost. 

Mind made up, time kicked back into gear, and Kitsune (not Izuku) felt the familiar pump of adrenaline in his system, the world kicking into focus. He barely registered shouting as he jumped over the police tape with practiced ease, whipping the knife with muscle memory and the adrenaline high. 

The sludge villain roared as one of his eyes were cut in half, giving Kacchan a few moments of air. Kitsune grabbed onto one of Kacchan’s free hands, changing direction and pulling the blonde out with a pop. They stumbled backwards, Kacchan not resisting as Kitsune dragged him back towards the police tape and away from the villain (prioritize the rescue). He could feel Kacchan’s eyes on him, wide eyed in shock. 

“I AM HERE!” 

It was only due to years of instincts that let Kitsune anchor himself to the concrete wall, his other arm wrapped around Kacchan’s waist to keep him from flying with the force of All Might’s punch. The scent of caramel filled his senses, and he grounded himself in the rain that spontaneously appeared to keep himself from drifting into childhood memories. 

Experience kicked in, and while Kacchan was a ghost of his past, right now he was a scared civilian that almost died. Kitsune grabbed his arm, gently maneuvering them to the paramedics, picking up his knife on the way. He wiped the blood and sludge off on his jacket, then slid it back into the holster under his sleeve. 

“Ma’am, I’m fine, but he needs to be checked for infection,” Kitsune said, his voice steady and gently firm where Izuku’s voice would’ve wavered. Kacchan was hacking beside him. “The sludge got in his lungs.” 

Kacchan was still staring at him as he sat down in the ambulance, being checked over. Kitsune started doing some basic breathing exercises, letting his mind empty out before opening his eyes again. Izuku looked out this time, his eyes sweeping the area. Eri was still dutifully sitting by the groceries, All Might was distracting the press before fleeing for some reason (that’s a lie, he knows why), and Backdraft was still managing the fires and the crowds while the other heroes walked over to him. Oh boy. 

The three heroes started praising Kacchan for his strong quirk and bravery, and then started admonishing Izuku for his stupidity. Now, Izuku was the anxious, easily flustered nerd, the anxious Yang to Kitsune’s sarcastically confident Yin, but he was still slightly high from the adrenaline rush. So he did something stupid. 

“Excuse me, but what gives you the right to scold me when you three were standing back and watching a kid die!” Izuku snapped, officially done with everything going on. “Backdraft could have handled the crowd on his own, and I have no doubt that one of you could’ve thought to throw something at the villain’s eyes.” 

“Look, kid,” Kamui Woods said, apparently the unofficial spokesperson of the three. He was visibly nervous, probably of the media catching their attention. “We were waiting for someone with the right quirk to come along-”

“Bullshit,” Izuku snarled, low enough so that hopefully Eri didn’t hear it. “I didn’t use a quirk to throw a knife at the villain’s eye. I’m sure one of you could’ve thrown a rock and been just as effective!” 

Death Arms spoke up this time. “Not everyone has an analysis quirk like you do kid-” 

“Hah, an analysis quirk?!” Kacchan was the one who shouted this time. “He’s quirkless!” 

They all rounded on him again, and Izuku was officially getting fed up with everything. He slapped Kacchan’s arm out of the way as he dodged the pros, running over to the police tape. 

“Wait, we need your statement!” One of the police officers shouted in vain. 

“Here’s my statement,” Izuku said, stopping before the tape. “Three pros stood around and did nothing while a quirkless kid did their job.” Ignoring the shouting behind him, the media included no doubt, he leapt easily over the police tape, his heart starting to slow as he made his way to Eri, the crowd parting easily for him. 

Eri was standing where he left her, holding all of the handles of the bags in her hands, even though they were on the ground. She grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “You saved him!” She shouted in delight. 

Izuku smiled, a soft smile that’s reserved only for his little sunshine. “That’s right,” he said softly, picking up his bags again. “But that’s enough excitement for us today, hmm? Let’s go back home.” 

They started walking away, leaving the noise of the villain attack behind them. Izuku focused only on Eri, keeping their own little bubble of calm. 

They were being followed. 

Whoever was trailing behind them clearly wasn’t used to being stealthy, because they were terrible at it. They hadn’t pulled anything yet, so they were likely harmless, but paranoia kept him alive this long (is it really paranoia if they’re really out to get you?). 

“Hey, what do you think about taking a little break here?” he asked gently, stopping at one of the park benches. They were in a park, one still in the relatively good part of Musutafu, so it was clean and pretty. There was a little bit of litter, but not a lot. 

Eri nodded, so they sat down, Izuku pulling out an apple for her. “Don’t freak out, okay little sunshine,” he muttered quietly but reassuringly. “I’ve got this handled.” 

Her eyes shone with curiosity, but she nodded, staying quiet as she continued to eat. “You can come out now,” Izuku said louder, looking at the shadow behind one of the trees. “If you’re trying to tail me, you’re not doing a very good job at it.” 

The man stepped out, and he got a good look. He was skeletal, looking like he would keel over if the wind blew too strongly. He had spiky blonde hair that was reminiscent of All Might, and piercing blue eyes. He wore a white tank top and dark green cargo pants, the outfit that All Might was wearing at the villain attack. With what he knew about All Might, and with what he saw at the attack, it wasn’t too hard to put together. 

Izuku patted the bench next to him, and Small Might shambled over, clearly nervous. “We don’t bite, I promise,” Izuku said, and that seemed to make up his mind as he took the spot. 

“Young man, I saw what happened earlier. What you did was incredibly reckless and put yourself in danger, but-” Small Might held up a hand as Izuku was about to interrupt him. “It was the action of a true hero.” 

His eyes widened, as the words truly hit him. All his life, he wanted to be a hero, and the only one who really supported him was Eri. To hear his idol, All Might, the one who beat down All For One and gave him a chance at freedom, it hit him. His eyes welled up, the Midoriya genes striking again. 

“You have the heart of a hero, and that’s what’s important,” Small Might said. 

Izuku sniffed, wiping his eyes. “Thanks Small Might.” Then they both froze. 

Eri giggled, her feet kicking off of the bench, and they both looked over at her. “Small Might,” she whispered to herself, then giggled again. 

That was what broke the sudden tension, and they both chuckled as well, looking back at each other. “How did you know?” Small Might asked, eyes filled with nerves and curiosity. 

“You look like a deflated All Might, and you’re wearing the same outfit he wore to the villain attack,” Izuku said. “Plus, you said you were there, cause the media is not fast enough to have already put up footage of the attack, and it makes sense that All Might wouldn’t constantly be in his muscle form. You never hear about All Might going to go get groceries, after all.” There were other clues, other signs, but Izuku didn’t mention them. He figured he’d already stressed the man out enough. 

Small Might smiled. “You’re very smart, my boy.” 

Izuku flushed a little at the praise, and Small Might ruffled his hair. “I want to ask you something, although you should know that there's no pressure to say yes,” he said, and Izuku perked up. “But this is something we should do in private.” 

They both glanced back at Eri. She looked up at the curiously, stilling munching on her apple. “Little sunshine, I have to go talk to Small Might for a little bit.” That elicited a giggle from his sister. “Do you want to play on my phone while I’m gone? I’m only going to go a bit into the forest.” She nodded, and he pulled the device out of his pocket, putting it into her hands. “You know what to do if anything happens, right?” 

She nodded seriously. “Scream as loud as I can and throw things.” 

Izuku smiled. “Good job.” He adjusted her hat, making sure her horn wasn’t visible, before turning to Small Might, who was fondly smiling. He lifted his hand, making the universal gesture for ‘after you,’ so Izuku led the way into the forest, judged that they were a good distance away, then turned back to Small Might. 

“First, can I ask you something?” Izuku asked, then continued when Small Might nodded in response. “What’s your name? I can’t just keep calling you Small Might.” 

Small Might snorted in response, then smiled. “Yagi Toshinori,” he said. “I’m trusting you with this.” 

Izuku smiled then. “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word,” he reassured the other man. “You had something to ask me?” 

Yagi nodded, his face serious. “Let me tell you a story.” 

And so he did. He talked about the origins of One For All, and All For One, and how they were slated to battle against each other. He talked about how One For All was passed down, and how he was the recipient, using the power to finally defeat All For One and become the next symbol of peace. He had seen Izuku’s actions, and deemed him worthy of inheriting the power. Izuku knew most of the story, and a shiver went down his spine when he heard that All Might had presumed All For One dead, and he was split in two. On one hand, Izuku’s quirk screamed at him to take it, to take the power. One For All would give him more power to protect Eri, to protect the citizens he’s responsible for, but it would be incredibly selfish. 

“I- I’ll have to think about it, Yagi-san,” Izuku said, his mouth dry at the implications of the Symbol of Peace offering a great power to him, the descendant of the Symbol of Evil. 

“That’s quite alright, my boy,” Yagi said, pulling a pen and a scrap of paper out of one of his pockets. “Here, it’s my phone number. Let me know when you decide. Take all the time you need to decide.” 

Izuku grabbed the slip of paper, tucking it into one of his jacket pockets. “Thank you for trusting me, Yagi-san.” 

Yagi smiled, the smile he’s associated with the Symbol of Peace, but it felt warmer, more genuine somehow. “You have the heart of a hero,” he said. “That’s what’s important.” 

Bakugou Katsuki was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. 

He made it home pretty quickly, and had to deal with the hag’s yelling about his safety, then instantly being taken to the hospital to be checked on. The doctor reassured his parents that yes, he was fine, there’s no infection, but to be alert if something comes up. He thinks he still worried his folks though, because he was pretty out of it, not shouting like he usually would. 

His mind was too preoccupied with the ghost who had saved him. 

Midoriya Izuku. They’ve known each other since they were babies, grown up together. He got to shoot explosions out of his hands by his fourth birthday, Izuku got diagnosed quirkless on his. Katsuki knew that he was shitty towards his friend, anger at the unfairness of the world and praise from his environment funneled into talking down at his friend. The name Zuku turned to Deku, and he wasn’t proud of what he did. If Katsuki met his six year old self now, he would punt the brat into the sun. 

Everything changed at six years old. The fire enveloped the house, and Midoriya Hisashi, Midoriya Inko, and Midoriya Izuku were declared dead. There were no remains. 

Katsuki grieved at the loss of both his Auntie Inko and his best friend (even if they were drifting, even if it was Katsuki’s fault, Zuku was the one constant in his life). His grief was rage, anger at the world for being so unfair, for taking away Izuku’s quirk and then his life, and it escalated, until he was being pulled from school after he punched another kid in the face. 

He was put into therapy, and at first he hated it. But then he grew, and managed his rage, his grief. He was still a prickly bastard, he wasn’t going to change from the brash kid he is, but he started coping with his pain in a healthy way. He cooked instead of snarled insults, trained for U.A. instead of punching others. The pain never went away, it never does, but it was manageable. 

Fourteen year old Katsuki was a different person than six year old Kacchan. And fourteen year old Izuku was a different person than six year old Deku. 

His parents sat them on the couch, Katsuki facing his parents on the other side of the couch. His dad looked at him with a sad expression on his face, while his mom fiddled nervously, clearly worried but shit at expressing it. That was something he got from his mom. 

“Katsuki,” his dad said, being the spokesperson of the two. “We’re worried about you.” 

He started fiddling with his fingers, tapping the familiar rhythm of the Morse code language he made up with Izuku forever ago. He hoped that Zuku still remembered it too. “You don’t have to tell us what’s going on,” his dad continued, when Katsuki didn’t say anything. “We’re scheduling you an early appointment with your therapist for tomorrow, so that you can talk to her. But if you can, you should-” 

“I saw Zuku.” 

The silence was tense. The moments ticked by, then his mom spoke up. “Kat, Izuku’s dead-” 

“I saw him!” Katsuki shouted, slamming his hands on the table. “He saved me, it was him! He’s not dead, he’s alive!” 

The sound of sizzling wood jolted him out of his head, and he breathed, sitting back on the couch and using his breathing exercises. There was a new set of handprints seared into the wood (this wasn’t the first time Katsuki’s lost control). At least the fire alarms weren’t set off. 

It took a few moments for him to settle, but his mind was still buzzing. Of course his parents wouldn’t believe him, they weren’t there. They didn’t see Izuku. 

“Katsuki-” 

“I’m going upstairs,” he said roughly, cutting his dad off. He stomped up the stairs, but paused when he felt something slide down his arm, under his jacket. Closing the door to his room behind him, he pulled the thing out. 

It was a piece of paper, with simply a phone number scrawled on it. Katsuki grinned, the first one he’s had since the sludge villain, and plugged the number into his phone. 

Bakugou Katsuki -> Unknown Number

Zuku, is that you?

Hi Kacchan

Where the fuck have you been???

It’s a long story. Best told in person.

The usual park at 3?

Yeah. I’ll be bringing someone important to me along as well.

You should come over for dinner afterwards, the old hag didn’t believe me when I told her you weren’t dead.

We’ll see. 

I’ll see you tomorrow, Kacchan. 

See you tomorrow, Zuku.

Your Favorite Vigilante @darealkitsune

*kitsune.png*

Hello Musutafu, it’s your favorite vigilante, the Watcher of the Dark, Kitsune! Here to take down baddies both online and offline.

McChicken @officialhawks

#followed

Chapter Text

Shouta jumped over the rooftops, mulling over the information that the vigilante had given him last night. His Problem Child has a little sister, doesn’t legally exist, and is related to someone so awful that he believed the Commission would kill him. Logically, Shouta could conclude that he was related to a villain, but he had no idea which villain would be so damning as to incur murder. 

Speaking of problem children, he saw Kitsune sitting on a rooftop, the bright green glow of his mask coming from on top of his head rather than his face. And was that-? Yep, that was smoke. He was vaping again. 

“Even though it’s not illegal, you do know that hurts your lungs, right?” Shouta snarked, being careful to stay behind him and not catch a glimpse of his face. Maintaining the trust between them was more important than finding out his identity. Although the fact that he didn’t legally exist made that probably moot, but still. 

The vigilante shrugged, putting the vape away and sliding his mask on. “It gets me into the headspace,” Kitsune said, standing up and rolling his shoulders. “Besides, it’s not like I’m high. Just enough to take the edge off, y’know?” 

Shouta frowned. He knew his Problem Child enough to tell that something was bothering him. “You only vape in public when something’s bothering you.” 

“Astute as ever, Eraserdad.” He gestured for the pro hero to come up, and they perched on the rooftop together. He waited, but then eventually Kitsune spoke up. “Someone important offered to give me power.”

“What sort of power?” 

Kitsune sighed, his head tilted, and Shouta could swear he could hear the gears turning in the kid’s head. “It was someone on the right side of the law,” he said. “And it was someone who didn’t know about my night job. The power is a great one, untainted, much better than I deserve. If I had it, I could help save so many people, but giving it to me would put the power in danger.” 

Shouta could already feel the headache coming on. The combination of his kid’s normally abysmal self esteem plus whatever the fuck was going on was too much for his poor, sleep deprived brain. “So it’s a moral issue rather than a physical issue.” 

“Pretty much, yeah, although there’s the whole danger thing.” 

“Danger thing?” 

Kitsune shrugged, like those words didn’t just send a spike of panic through the pro hero. “I’m on the run from a lot of people. This power is very important, important enough that the entire underground would be after my head if they knew I had it.”

“Kid, that’s a risk, but I’m pretty sure that you’ll be fine,” Shouta chose his words carefully. “You’ve lasted as a vigilante for this long, messing with some of the most dangerous groups around. I’m sure that you’ll keep the power safe.” 

They sat in a tense silence before Shouta asked the question in his mind. “What are your morals?” 

“Talking philosophy, never pegged you as the type,” he teased, then sobered up a little. “I guess pretty standard. No murder, don’t steal unless you have to, give a helping hand if you can, don’t be a needless asshole. But you know my stance on the laws. If lives are on the line, break them. People’s lives are more important than the law. And a moral code is just a set of laws. I’m willing to break them if it means saving lives.” 

And that was a loaded statement. Shouta felt the steel undertone to his words, the conviction of someone who had to do exactly what he said. 

“Kitsune, have you killed anyone?” He asked quietly, if only to satisfy his own morbid curiosity. 

The vigilante tensed next to him. “It’s a dark world out there, Eraser,” he said finally. “It was either them or the civilians. My hands would have either been covered by the bloods of villains or of the civilians I failed. I’m sure you understand which I chose.” 

He understood. He understood completely. In fact… “Kid, I get it,” Shouta said, allowing himself to get brutally honest for a minute. “I’ve been put in the same position, I’ve made the same choice. I won’t tell anyone.” 

Kitsune slumped as the tension suddenly left his small body, then he sat back up straight. But his posture was relieved rather than fearful, so Shouta’ll take what he can get. 

“As for your earlier predicament,” he continued to speak, the vigilante’s full attention on him. “It’s like you said earlier, a moral code is a set of laws for yourself. You’ve just got to consider which is more important to you, the lives you could save or who the power goes to.” 

He tilted his head thoughtfully, letting Shouta’s words fully sink in. Then he jumped up, the moment passed as he was filled with energy once again. “Well, Eraserdad, the night is young!” He exclaimed, starting to skip backwards. “People to save, villains to detain, yada yada. Have fun on your patrol!” 

Shouta rolled his eyes, but then started running in the opposite direction. Kitsune was right after all, he did have a job to do. 

And if he was relieved to see that the kid clearly felt better when Shouta ran into him a few more times? Then that was information he was going to keep to himself. 

Izuku, to put it simply, was nervous. No, nervous was an understatement. He was a living ball of anxiety. 

At least Eri was doing better than he was. She was wearing a different sun hat, apple blossoms tucked into the ribbon, to cover her horn. Her hair was undyed, as the Bakugous would know that she wasn’t his actual sister anyways, but still in a braid. She was wearing a simple pair of sandals, a dark green dress with white lace accents that Izuku had made (and that lace was a bitch to get ahold of, but it was worth it for his little sunshine), and a pair of simple black shorts underneath. Eri was a limpet on his back, always a sucker for piggyback rides when she had the opportunity. And Izuku, always a sucker for his sister, usually lets her on. 

Izuku was dressed somewhat better. His curls were the same mess they always were, he doubted even a force of nature could tame them, pulled into a low ponytail like usual. He wore his red jacket even though there was a patch in the elbow because that was his best jacket dammit, along with his best pair of jeans (they were torn in the knees, but it could reasonably be shrugged off as fashionable) and a tee that said “Socks.” He wore his usual high tops (they were the only pair of shoes he had, modified ones notwithstanding) and the usual studs. He had taken a longer shower than usual, actually bothered with deodorant, and got a somewhat decent amount of sleep so the bags under his eyes didn’t look quite so deep. 

They had forgone going to the beach after “school,” instead making their way to a very specific park. They were in a fairly middle income neighborhood, the neighborhood that Izuku used to live in before everything happened. Even though he hasn’t been there in years, he could still navigate the area through muscle memory alone, and soon he was at the park. 

He internally cursed at his paranoia for making him arrive half an hour early, because it seemed Kacchan had the same idea. 

The blonde looked almost the same, his hair the same amount of spikiness, his eyes the exact shade of red he remembered them to be. The differences were stark though, his eyes holding a kind of emptiness and sorrow that he’d only seen in his own. Kacchan- no Bakugou- was dressed like shit, dark baggy jeans and a flannel with a stud also in his ears. He was standing casually, leaning against a tree with his hands in his pockets, but his eyes betrayed his nervousness, as they scanned the clearing around him. 

He was similar enough that Izuku could recognize him as Bakugou, but different enough to throw him off. Then again, he was pretty sure Bakugou felt the same way about him. 

“Alright, Eri, I’m going to put you down, okay?” Izuku said, and when he felt the nod behind him, he let her down. He felt a small hand clutch his own, so he gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand before going forward. It was sweet how she was using his own tactics to try and reassure him. 

As soon as they entered, they locked eyes. Izuku gave him a small, if bittersweet, smile, while Bakugou observed him. 

“Are you Kacchan?” Eri asked, her eyes filled with wonder rather than nerves. When Bakugou gave her a strained nod, she grinned, bounding up to the blonde without fear. “My brother’s told me all about you!” 

Bakugou raised an eyebrow, surprisingly quiet (although what would Izuku know, he hasn’t seen him in years). Izuku smiled, a small genuine one. “This is Eri. She’s my little sister. Adopted.” 

“Legally?” Bakugou asked, and damn that was not the question Izuku expected. 

“O-of course legally!” He flushed, shaking out his hands. “W-What kind of question is that?!” 

“So, definitely not,” Bakugou said flatly, as Izuku continued squawking and Eri giggled adorably. Which was definitely helping Bakugou’s murder attempt. “Don’t worry, Zuku, I won’t snitch. But at least dye her hair.” 

“Izu-niichan usually puts the green stuff in my hair when we go out, but he said it was okay, because you would know anyways,” Eri giggled, bouncing on her feet. 

“You dumbass,” Bakugou rolled his eyes, smacking Izuku in the back of the head. “You do it every time, not most of the time. Are you trying to get caught?” 

“First of all, watch your language,” Izuku smacked him back, and god he missed this. Light and friendly bantering rather than sharp edges like he was used to. “And nobody saw us on the way here, so we’re fine.” 

Eri’s giggling broke them out of their argument, and they looked at each other. “So, you gonna explain what happened?” Bakugou huffed gruffly, and Izuku could tell that it took all of his self control not to drop an f-bomb. It was impressive. 

Izuku just shook his head. “Not here, somewhere more private,” he said, even though they were in an empty park. 

Thankfully Bakugou seemed to understand what he meant, as his eyes flicked to Eri and then back. “We can go back to my place,” he said. “The old hag and dad would be happy to see you, and you can stay for dinner.” 

“What do you think, Eri?” Izuku asked. “Do you want to go? Remember, it’s okay if you don’t.” 

He could feel Bakugou’s eyes on him as he addressed Eri. She looked between the two of them, then shook her head. “I wanna go with Kacchan, Izu-niichan.” 

Izuku beamed. “Alright then, do you wanna go on my back again?” At her nod, he swung her onto his back with a shriek of delight, then walked up to Bakugou. 

“Now she’s calling me Kacchan,” he grumbled as they trudged along. “It was already bad enough when you were calling me that stupid name.” 

Izuku rolled his eyes, his Bakugouan wasn’t rusty after all. “Says the one who’s still calling me Zuku,” he grinned. 

They bantered like that the rest of the way to Bakugou’s house, with Eri occasionally giggling in response to something they said. Eventually though, they were there, and Izuku’s nerves were back. 

“Oi, nerd,” Bakugou bumped into him, pulling him out of his head. “Get out of your head, or else I’ll smack you out myself.” Izuku just smiled gratefully, following his tentative friend in. 

“Katsuki, what the fuck are you doing home already?!” Auntie Mitsuki’s voice rang out from the kitchen. 

“Watch your fucking language old hag!” Bakugou- Katsuki shouted, pulling off his shoes. Izuku rolled his eyes, setting Eri down before pulling off his high tops. 

“Why are you telling me to watch my damn language, you brat?!” Eri looked up at Izuku quizzically, and Izuku just shrugged. He mouthed ‘They’ve always been like that’ to her and she giggled quietly. 

“Zuku’s come over!” Katsuki shouted.

Izuku helped Eri pull off her own sandals. Auntie sighed from the kitchen, before coming out. “Brat, you know that Izuku’s…” 

He smiled, standing up and facing his aunt for the first time in eight years. “Hi Auntie Mitsuki.” 

Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked almost the same as he remembered, wearing a simple dress and apron and house slippers. “It- Izuku- Is it really you?” 

He opened his arms up a little, and instantly he felt arms around him. He smiled, blinking back tears and hugging his Auntie. It filled a place in his heart that he didn’t realize he was missing, the part of him that hasn’t been hugged by anyone except for Eri in years. 

“It’s really me, Auntie,” Izuku whispered, making Auntie cry more. “I promise it’s really me.” 

Katsuki dragged Izuku into his room. Uncle Maseru had been just as teary eyed as Auntie Mitsuki, though with much less swearing. They were also both instantly taken with Eri, thankfully without questioning the legality of the situation. It took a lot to reassure them that yes they are fine, no they don’t need to move in, and that they were aware that they could come back over any time they liked. Now, Eri was talking with Auntie and Uncle (distracting her more like it) while Katsuki was about to grill him. 

The door was closed behind him, and Izuku was struck with the thought that this was either the beginning of a horror movie or a sexy scene out of a rom com, and he didn’t know which he preferred. 

“Alright, there, privacy,” Katsuki growled, small explosions going off in his palms. If he were anyone else, Izuku would think the blonde was threatening him, but he knew that he would pop off small explosions when he needed to relieve stress. Or nerves. “Now tell me where the fuck you’ve been.” 

Izuku sighed, sitting down on his bed. Katsuki hesitated, but sat down next to him. “Alright, I can’t tell you everything, but I’ll tell you what you can.” 

Katsuki was about to interrupt, but he stopped himself, gesturing for Izuku to continue. “I- Mom is actually dead. The fire wasn’t an electrical accident, it was staged. A group of villains kidnapped me and set the fire intentionally to cover their tracks.” 

The blonde’s eyes were wide, and he just kept talking before he chickened out. “They- they captured me because I was quirkless. They were trying to turn me into their weapon. I- I escaped a few years ago. Living on the streets wasn’t pretty, but it was better than staying there. I’ve managed to get on my feet though, don’t worry. Anyways, I found Eri about a year ago, she’s in a similar position as me, don’t mention it, and we’ve been laying low ever since.” 

There was a tense silence in the air. Katsuki cleared his throat. He moved, and Izuku flinched, before finding himself pressed against Katsuki. His senses were filled with the smell of burnt caramel and spiky blonde hair, and arms were wrapped around his neck. Izuku was tense, but he relaxed, wrapping his arms around Katsuki’s waist. 

“Shit, Zuku, I’m sorry,” Katsuki- no, Kacchan mumbled. He could feel tears dripping onto the back of his jacket. 

“K- Kacchan,” Izuku sniffed, Midoriya genes already kicking into overdrive (despite being trained to keep them down, being around his childhood friend brought it back) and his eyes watering up. “I-It’s okay.” 

“No, it’s not,” Kacchan growled, clutching him closer, moving his arms from his neck to his shoulders. “I should’ve- I was- Fuck- I knew I was being a bastard then, but I never apologized. And then you left. I shouldn’t have said any of what I said back then. Just- Fuck- I’m sorry.” 

Izuku sniffled, the tears starting to slip down his face now, but he tried to keep himself in check. “It’s okay, Kacchan, really.” 

“No! No it’s not. Because you were hurt and now you have to go into hiding like a goddamn fugitive, and you’re still hurting, and I can’t do anything to help.”

“You’re helping,” Izuku muttered. “You’re helping right now. I’m- well, I don’t want to lie to you and say that I’m fine, but I’ll be okay.”

There was a tense moment of silence. Then Kacchan spoke up. “Uh, Zuku, well my parents insisted on going to therapy, after you know, and I’ve been going since, and my therapist said that it helped if you let your emotions, so if you need to cry it out, I’m uh- I’m right here.” 

Izuku took a deep breath in, burying his face in Kacchan’s neck, and something inside him snap. He went boneless, silently sobbing, letting everything out. The hatred, the grief, the loneliness, the tiredness, the pain. He was wrapped in safety and warmth that he hasn’t had since he was six. 

Eventually, he pulled back, wiping his eyes. He was sure he looked ugly, with the eyebags and red eyes, but Kacchan wasn’t looking at him with any sort of judgement. 

“You’re different, you know,” Izuku mumbled, then flushed when he realized he’d said that out loud. “N-Not in a bad way. It’s nice. I-I like it.” 

Kacchan’s eyes went wide, and he looked away, not wanting to see his friend’s(?) face. All he heard was a gruff “You too,” and he looked up to see Kacchan also looking away. 

There was knocking on the door, and Izuku squeaked as he fell off of the bed, with Kacchan shouting something he couldn’t really hear. He could hear Auntie Mitsuki shouting back and Eri giggling behind the closed door. Despite his embarrassment, a small smile crept onto his face, and when Kacchan offered a hand, he took it. 

Despite having cried his eyes out, he felt lighter, freer. And laughing along with Auntie Mitsuki, teasing Kacchan, encouraging Eri, complimenting Uncle Maseru on his Katsudon, he felt more at home than anywhere else. 

He wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Your Favorite Vigilante @darealkitsune

also fuck @therealkitsune for taking the username, ur not the real me

please stop @detectiveliedetector

Why are you like this?

Your Favorite Vigilante @darealkitsune

as a vigilante im obligated to call out identity fraud tsuki-kun

please stop @detectiveliedetector

I need more coffee...

Chapter Text

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

im about to make a mistake so if yall dont see me on patrol tonight im probably dead

please stop @detectiveliedetector

Excuse me???

Professional child wrangler @needsmorecoffee

Kitsune no

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

Kitsune yes

It’s a week after the sludge villain incident, a week after his life was in a collision course with Kacchan’s. A week after Yagi had given him the offer. 

Izuku and Kacchan have settled into a friendship, banter and awkwardness and familiarity. It was strange how quickly they settled into a sense of normality, like they were never separated at all. It made Izuku cry when he heard that Kacchan had remembered their code to remember him by, and it made Kacchan cry when he heard that remembering the code kept Izuku sane. Even between eight years, even with the changes they’ve made, friendship was easy for them. 

But currently, he was on his way to a meeting with All Might. To accept One For All. Izuku was either really brave or really stupid. Eri would tell him he’s being brave, Kacchan would probably tell him he’s being really stupid. 

Anyways, Izuku was standing on Dagobah beach. Waiting for All Might to arrive. A meeting with All Might. It was still processing in his brain. He has a meeting with All Might. 

Bare with him, he’s only human. 

Izuku stood up straighter when he saw Yagi walking onto the beach. He smiled, running over to meet the man halfway. “Hello, Yagi-san!” He called out, waving his arm. 

“Hello, my boy!” Yagi called out, matching Izuku’s joy. “I must ask, what is your name? I don’t remember you telling me, although even I can admit my memory is lagging behind.” 

“No, it’s okay,” Izuku smiled sheepishly. It was hard not to be happy around the man, while All Might was the Symbol of Peace, Yagi was real. “I never said. It’s Midoriya Izuku.” 

“Well, Young Midoriya, you’ve told me you reached a decision?” Yagi asked. 

Izuku nodded. “I accept.” 

“That’s wonderful!” Yagi pulled him into a hug suddenly, and Izuku reciprocated whole heartedly. He may be a bit touch starved, sue him, but it was a really good hug. 

“Now,” Yagi pulled back, putting his hands on Izuku’s shoulders. “I can’t give you One For All yet. Not because I don’t think you’re worthy anymore, you still are-” Yagi said when Izuku was about to say something, “But because One For All is incredibly powerful. If you use too much of it at once in your small body, all of your limbs will blast out of your body.” 

Izuku paled at that. He rather liked his limbs, thank you very much. “Umm, well I’m not getting taller any time soon.” 

Yagi laughed. “You’re decently built,” he said. “A fair amount of lean muscle. But you need to be building more muscle in order to handle One For All. It should only take nine months. Then you’ll have one month to fully handle using the quirk, and you should be ready for the U.A. entrance exam!” 

“U.A. entrance exam?” Well, things were certainly moving fast. “But, I won’t be able to-” 

“If you’re worried about money, I can certainly take care of it,” Yagi said. “And if it’s about your younger sister, I can ask ahead of time and see if they can set up a daycare program for her while you’re at school.”

“I-” It’s always been his dream to attend U.A. and become a hero. A legal hero, not just skulking around the shadows and dodging the law (even if there’s a part of him that screams he’s a monster that doesn’t deserve to be one). “Yeah, you know what? Yeah, I can do this!” 

“That’s my boy!” Izuku grinned at the praise. “Anyways, you need to bulk up, and I know just the way. Cleaning the beach! I know this beach has been slowly being cleaned up over the past few years, but you can certainly help them. After all, community service is an important part of being a hero, not just locking away villains.” 

Izuku brightened at that. “Oh, actually, that’s been me! At first I cleaned the beach for physical training, but now we’ve sort of been using it to practice with my little sister’s quirk.” 

“Then you’ll have plenty of experience! Now come on, there’s no time to lose!” 

Izuku cracked his knuckles, doing a few stretches, then started running. Yagi was right, there was no time to lose. He had to take advantage of every second in order to come out on top. 

“Alright Kitsune, what the fuck did you do?” Shouta asked, dropping down next to the kid. Said kid was currently tying up a few unconscious thugs in zip ties. 

“Oi, I just knocked these guys out with tranqs,” Kitsune snarked back. “They were the ones trying to rob a jewelry store.” 

“That’s not what I meant brat and you know it.” The kid dodged the capture weapon. 

“How about this,” Kitsune lined the thugs up outside the alleyway. “I’ll answer that question if-” 

The vigilante ran at the pro hero, knocking him aside and continuing to run. “If you can catch me!” 

Shouta swore, pivoting to run after the kid (his partner had likely already called the police for them). Kitsune ran up a building with his grappling hooks, so Shouta followed with his capture scarf, and the game was on. 

They raced over the rooftops, continuing to banter. There were a few things that Kitsune said only to Shiryoni that he couldn’t catch, probably wasn’t meant to catch, and Shouta could only speculate what those words were before another taunt was thrown his way and he was pulled back into the race. 

Eventually, Kitsune slowed down in one of his usual patrol neighborhoods, and his capture scarf reached out, completely binding the teen. 

“Oops, you caught me~!” The kid giggled, wiggling a little. Shouta raised an eyebrow, but loosened the capture scarf. Kitsune wiggled out, but leisurely strolled to the pro hero. 

“You let yourself get caught, you little shit,” Shouta sighed. “Anyways, answers.” 

“You know how I talked about that power that got offered to me last week.” The hero raised an eyebrow. “I accepted it. Honestly, I was half convinced that it was going to make me explode as soon as I accepted it, but thankfully it won’t. Probably. I accepted it but I don’t actually have it yet, so that’s a problem for Kitsune in nine months!” 

“Problem child, what the fuck?” 

“Anyways, I have a patrol to get to~!” Kitsune skipped backwards. “Also, this is yours, see you around!” 

“Damnit, get back here!” Shouta ran forwards, catching the object that the vigilante threw in his off hand, not really paying attention as he threw his capture scarf and tried to capture the kid. But he simply jumped off the edge of the roof, and when Shouta looked, he was gone. “For fucks sake.” 

The hero finally acknowledged what was in his hand, and swore once again. It was his phone. He was already feeling the migraine coming on. 

Friendos :3 - 2:19 AM

God’s Mistake added Eraserdad, Fus Roh Dah, Tsuki-kun, McChicken and Jessica Rabbit.

God’s Mistake (Kitsune), Eraserdad (Eraserhead), Fus Roh Dah (Present Mic), Tsuki-kun (Detective Tsukauchi), McChicken (Hawks) and Jessica Rabbit (Midnight) are online.

Eraserdad: oh what the hell

God’s Mistake: dont worry, its not hell

God’s Mistake: i have a restraining order

Jessica Rabbit: i like this kid!!!!

Tsuki-kun: first Twitter, now a gc

Tsuki-kun: I don’t get paid enough for this

Eraserdad: neither do i

God’s Mistake: dont kid me eraserdad

God’s Mistake: u work at UA

Eraserdad: how did you

God’s Mistake: :)

McChicken: thats a terrifying answer, have a nice day

Fus Roh Dah: ok but why am i here?

Fus Roh Dah: i lovve yall dont get me wrong but ive never met u kitsune?

Fus Roh Dah: im also not on ur case??

God’s Mistake: bc ur cool as hell???

God’s Mistake: also any chance to annoy eraserdad is a good chance

Tsuki-kun: speaking of which

Tsuki-kun: are you okay kitsune???

McChicken: oh yea

McChicken: ur twitter

God’s Mistake: dont worry

God’s Mistake: i still have all my limbs

Tsuki-kun: kid what the FUCK

Kitsune ended his patrol a little early, instead swinging through to the abandoned warehouse district (he never bothered learning it’s name). Of course, some of the warehouses were owned by companies, but seeing as this was the poorer side of the city, it was mostly bankrupted property, which was convenient for villain hideouts. Or vigilante meeting spots. 

The other vigilantes he met up with were the closest people he could call friends (aside from Kacchan, but that was a recent development). They were kept at the same arm's length as everyone else in his life, but they got the privilege of seeing his face. Again, not that it matters because he legally doesn’t exist, but it was nice to have a spot to be able to take off his mask while in costume. Plus, there’s an unspoken rule that they don’t know each other’s real names. 

He stopped in the window, looking over to see that everyone had already arrived. A section warehouse was covered in bean bag chairs and pillows that the more profitable members of their group could afford, with a small kitchen in the corner for a snack bar. In another space was a med center, as well as a computer rig and mini lab for the more tech savvy of their group to upgrade gear. The rest of the space was a large training area, to learn and improve each other's fighting styles or to just let off steam after a particularly rough patrol. 

Gentle Criminal, Quirk: Elasticity. His M.O. was breaking into corrupt organizations while livestreaming it, airing out their dirty laundry for the world to see. He was the uncle of the group, the one who made sure the kitchen was stocked with tea and that no one would die of a heart attack on a caffeine overdose, and the one with the most money from his show. 

La Brava, Quirk: Love. Her M.O. was helping Gentle on his show, while also hacking various places in order to find new targets. She’ll also help the rest of the group as the computer wizard, and she makes sure their hideout reminds hidden, as well as helping iron out Shiryoni’s bugs. 

Himi-Chan, Quirk: Transform. Her M.O. was murdering rapists, serial killers, and pedophiles. She’s the same age as Kitsune and thus the group baby, as well as keeping the peace and helping everyone bond. 

Dabi, Quirk: Cremation. His M.O. was mainly information brokering and gathering, but he also torches criminals who try to kill people when he finds them. Surprisingly he’s the common sense of the group, and also the one who makes sure the kitchen is stocked with legal and not-so-legal goods (it was legal to vape but illegal to sell vapes). 

And finally, Kitsune, Quirk: that’s too much of a rabbit hole to go down now. His M.O. was patrolling like an underground hero, trying to keep to minimal injuries while also stealing from the criminals he apprehends (sue him, he has bills to pay). Himi-chan may be the group baby, but he’s the heart of the group, the one who pulled them all together to be kind-of friends. He’s also the brains of the group, the one who mainly planned everything out and kept on top of the latest moves of the big villain groups. 

“Ey, it’s the man of the hour!” Himi-Chan grinned, as Kitsune jumped down, the window closing behind him automatically. He bowed, causing her to giggle and clap for him. 

He slid the mask up on top of his head, grinning as he fully took in the scene. Himi-Chan was laying on a bean bag, lazily sipping a Bloody Mary that had the alcohol replaced with blood (Dabi made them for her). La Brava was in the lab, working on Himi-Chan’s support gear with some difficulty. Dabi was on the training floor, going through some movements from a martial art he didn’t recognize, thankfully not using his fire. Gentle was sitting at the bar in the kitchen, on a laptop as he sipped tea. 

“Oh, perfect timing!” La Brava looked up, waving him over. “Something in Himi-Chan’s Compressor broke, and I can’t fix it!” 

“I’m on my way,” he smiled, taking the time to stretch and crack his back. Himi-Chan snickered at the sight, so he flipped her the bird and made his way over to the lab. 

The Compressor was one of Kitsune’s pride and joys. It allowed her to take the blood of someone with a syringe, then compress the blood into a little pill that she could take whenever she wanted. 

Now the syringe that was supposed to be there was not there. 

“How are you missing a syringe?” Kistune asked. 

“Look, it’s not my fault that the fucker had a knife!” Himi-Chan shouted from her spot. 

La Brava looked back up at him worriedly. “I know you custom made these syringes, so I can’t just order another one. We have the parts, but you’re the only one capable of recreating it!” 

He sighed, simply bending over and using Shiryoni to unlock the safe under the counter. He pulled out a replacement syringe, closing it back up. 

“Oh,” La Brava scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. “I guess that makes sense.” 

“Wait, so is that’s what in that safe?” Himi-Chan spoke up. “Replacement parts for all of our support gear?” 

“Yeah,” Kitsune shrugged, pulling his mask down again as he welded the syringe to the wire. “I keep it locked because I don’t want any villains getting into it and tampering with the equipment or replicating my gear.” 

Everyone else in the warehouse looked at each other, even Dabi and Gentle. “So,” Dabi spoke up, “What do we do with the money if we all lost the bet?” 

He pushed up the mask, raising an eyebrow as he finished working on the Compressor. “And what did you guys think was in there?” 

“A shit ton of money.” 

“Shiryoni’s mainframe.” 

“Those notebooks you mentioned with plans to take down almost every hero and villain in existence.” 

“The good blood that Dabi puts in my Bloody Maries.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Give the betting money to me.” 

Everyone grumbled, but eventually Kitsune was 800 yen richer. He sighed in relief as he flopped down onto one of the bean bags, and Dabi (bless the man) threw him a vape from the kitchen.

“Oh, by the way, Kitsune,” La Brava piped up, flopping down onto a different bean bag. Sensing the impromptu meeting, as well as tradition by this point, Dabi claimed his own bean bag. Gentle dragged his stool over, holding his tea in one hand and his tea plate in the other. “Some stuff came up on the forums.” 

“Fire away,” Kitsune said, letting light blue smoke come from his mouth and feeling himself relax. La Brava had a program that combed through various villain forums on the dark web and alerted them whenever certain keywords popped up. 

“The Shie Hassakai are on the move.” 

He sat up then, still a little slouched over, but eyes locked on La Brava. “What’re they up to?” 

“It seems that they’re still looking for Eri, but they’re also looking for someone by the name of Akatani Mikumo.” 

A shiver went down his spine, and he could tell that Dabi recognized the name too. Himi-Chan and Gentle just sent questioning looks at each other. 

“Do they have a death wish?” Dabi muttered, and then three pairs of eyes were on him. 

“Who’s Miku-Chan?” Himi-Chan asked, voice serious despite the cutesy nickname. 

“Akatani Mikumo is the true name of the ‘Monster of Japan.’” Himi-Chan paled, but the vigilante duo still looked confused. “No one knows if he’s real or not, but rumor has it that he can steal quirks and use them against you. No one knows his motivations or reasoning, he just sometimes appears and slaughters an entire group or gang before disappearing again. That’s the only thing anyone knows about him.” 

“Right, but wasn’t his only confirmed sighting the Shie Hassakai Massacre a year ago?” Himi-Chan asked. “Why would they want him?” 

“Now that Eri’s gone, they want to see if they could use quirk to the same effect,” Kitsune piped up, voice devoid of the usual snark. “And if they could torture him as revenge for the massacre?”

The warehouse was deadly quiet. Kitsune sighed, “Listen, I know you’ve been helping with the Shie Hassakai, but you guys can’t continue. Just let me handle them. If they’re looking for Akatani Mikumo, they have some connections, powerful connections, and it’s too dangerous for you guys to get involved.” 

“But what about you?” Gentle asked, concern showing on his face. “If it’s dangerous for us, it’s also dangerous for you.” 

Kitsune shook his head, leaning back and taking another breath of his vape, letting the chemical forcibly relax him from the panic attack he was on the verge of. 

“You know something, don’t you?” Dabi asked, breaking the tense silence in the warehouse. “Is it related to your weird insistence on tracking the Shie Hassakai and the League of Villain’s movements?”

“Are you ever gonna tell us what’s up about that?” Himi-Chan whined. “And who the hell Eri is?” 

He shook his head, slumping into the bean bag, not quite sober but not completely high. “Yes, I know something, but seriously, it’s dangerous,” he said. “Simply knowing could put you all in danger.” 

Sensing that they weren’t going to get anything out of the vigilante, they left him to his vape, continuing to talk about other matters around him. Eventually, he ran out, and waved to his kind-of friends as he left out the window he came in. 

Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated. 

Chapter Text

One Month to the Entrance Exam

Gentle Criminal @gentlecriminal

Thank you to @darealkitsune for joining us in our most recent expose!!! It was truly wonderful to work with you. Link to the newest episode here!

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

It’s a pleasure to be on! I’m always down to bring corrupt organizations to light =D

McChicken @officialhawks

how r u both a ray of fucking sunshine and a little bitch???

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

it takes talent 2 b me

please stop @detectiveliedetector

Please, for the love of everything, stop

Gentle’s Expose #40: Oishi Naoko (HPSC)

(The video starts off with Gentle Criminal and Kitsune sitting in Gentle Criminal’s office, the recognizable intro to every episode. The table and chairs were recognizable as from Victorian England, made with dark oak and red velvet cushioning. The backdrop was a sheet made out of star covered fabric, and the china set was the familiar white with gold accents, Gentle Criminal’s signature set. Both vigilantes were in their usual attire, and they were both drinking tea, with Kitsune miming the gesture by bringing it up to the mouth on his mask.)

Gentle Criminal: Welcome, Internet, to my humble corner of the world, Gentle’s Exposes! Today is a very special episode, as we are here with a special guest! Why don’t you introduce yourself, hmm?

Kitsune: Hello, thank you for having me. I’m Kitsune, the Watcher of the Night, and my job is to take to the streets and protect the parts of Musutafu that the heroes often overlook. 

Gentle Criminal: Thank you for making it, Kitsune. It’s not often we have guests on our show, especially not one as well known as yourself. 

Kitsune: It’s an honor to take the title of first guest, especially since I’m a big fan of the work you do here. 

Gentle Criminal: Oh, you flatter me! It’s true, you are our first guest, but what an impact you’ve made. Crime in the districts you patrol goes down by 30%, that’s no small feat. 

Kitsune: Now who’s the flatterer?

(La Brava could be heard giggling behind the camera.)

Kitsune: I’m just doing the right thing, even if in the eyes of the law it might be wrong. Saving lives is more important than following the law. 

Gentle Criminal: Well, I’d love to continue to talk philosophy, but we do have an expose to continue with. Being a fan, I presume you are familiar with our tradition?

Kitsune: Oh I’m well aware. (He lifts the tea bag out of the cup to show to the camera.) The tea I’m currently drinking is the Gingerroot Fox, quite a clever choice. And you?

Gentle Criminal: (He also lifts the tea bag out of the cup to show off.) Mango Sour is my tea today. It seems to be a bit of a theme, officials that should be working for the people being soured by the power that it gives them.

Kitsune: Then I believe it’s time to show them how bitter this fox can be. 

Gentle Criminal: La Brava, take it away!

(The video transitions to La Brava, standing in front of a lavender striped background. In the left corner a little above her are pictures which display something related to what she talks about.)

La Brava: Today’s target is Oishi Naoko, a member of the Heroics School Regulations Branch of the Hero Public Safety Commission. The responsibility of the branch is to create regulations for Hero Schools in Japan. However, we are currently investigating Oishi for child neglect, cruelty to animals, aiding in drug trafficking, and bribery. How can an official who abuses children and animals be trusted to do what’s right to ensure the safety of our future heroes?

(The video transitions from La Brava’s segment to footage in Musutafu. Gentle Criminal and Kitsune are hiding in the forest, an estate visible from the distance, and Kitsune’s mask lights are off. The area is blanketed in moonlight, the only companion to the vigilantes in the night.)

Gentle Criminal: We are on the ground now, to break into Oishi’s estate and gather the evidence to expose this dastardly fiend. La Brava hacked their security earlier to get their security plans, but she wasn’t close enough to turn any of the systems off. 

(The camera turns to Kitsune, who had one hand up to his mask and his head tilted like he was pondering something.)

Kitsune: Our best bet is to enter through the underground tunnels. He meets up with various gangs for drug deals, and they need a place to enter conspicuously without being seen in broad daylight. There should be an entrance in the forest around here, it’s just a matter of finding it. 

La Brava: The only connection to the underground I could find on the security plans was the beginning of a tunnel in the wine cellar. We could be combing the forest for hours before we find anything. 

Kitsune: I’ll have Shiryoni scan the forest for an entrance as we move. It should only take an hour at most before we find something, her search radius is thirty meters. 

(The footage is sped up quickly to not bore the audience, but it shows the two vigilantes trekking through the forest to find the entrance. It slows down just before Kitsune’s mask pings.)

Kitsune: Found it. 

(The camera turns to the left, and finds a rather thick tree. Upon closer inspection, however, there is a cut out of a door in the tree trunk.)

Kitsune: I’m obligated to say that that is a very thick tree. With three cs. (La Brava’s muffled giggling and Gentle Criminal’s sigh could be heard. Kitsune moves to the tree and knocks on it, revealing that the tree is made of metal.) Shiryoni, any way to open this?

(He lifts his hand to his mask again, and there is a muffled monotone female voice, the words can’t be distinguished.)

Gentle Criminal: What did she say?

Kitsune: She says there’s an electric lock, but it’s only accessible from the inside. It opens magnetically, and again, the only handle is from the inside. 

La Brava: From the security plans I saw, the system doesn’t extend to the door out here. If we brute force it, the security won’t go off. 

Kitsune: Then allow me. Gentle Criminal, can you help me with this?

(Gentle Criminal picks Kitsune up by the armpits, and he goes to put the soles of his high tops on the door. Tapping the mask, he grunts, pulling his legs in as Gentle Criminal also starts to pull and walk backwards. The metal door pops free, and when Kitsune taps the mask again, the door falls to the forest floor.)

La Brava: What a masterful display of technology! Can you explain for the viewers?

Kitsune: Of course. My shoes, which I made myself, have a special strip on the bottom that’s magno-electric. When activated, I can stick to metal, and the force of me and Gentle Criminal pulling on the door was enough to override the weaker magnetic force of the door. That’s science baby.

(The camera moves to the open tree trunk, looking down at the darkness.)

Kitsune: I’ll go first. (La Brava steps back and Kitsune steps into frame, the lights of his mask on and illuminating the forest in a soft teal light.) I have the lights, and the infrared and night vision built in here. 

La Brava: Darn it, I should’ve brought my night vision lens. 

Gentle Criminal: It’s alright, we know for next time. Besides, I think Kitsune makes a much better flashlight. 

(Kitsune snaps his fingers, then salutes the two vigilantes and slides down the ladder. Gentle Criminal goes next, and the camera is jostled a little bit as La Brava follows, landing in the arms of Gentle Criminal before being set down. A tunnel similar to a subway is revealed, illuminated by Kitsune’s mask.)

Kitsune: You would think for a rich man, the tunnels would be better decorated. Zero out of ten, definitely not making it onto MTV cribs. 

Gentle Criminal: The decoration is quite lacking. If it were I, I would’ve added some candlebers, made the sides out of cobbled stone, and added a nice deep purple carpet. I’d put up some paintings, tie the whole look together. 

Kitsune: It certainly fits the whole Victorian vibe you’ve got going on. Personally I would go for sleek black walls, with green lights in the walls to illuminate the way forward. I also would add some rail cars, magnetized to keep it with the aesthetic, to make the path faster. Maybe have some smoke machines, just to fit with the future vibe.

La Brava: Wow, you have an eye for design!

Kitsune: What can I say? I know my aesthetic. Though, if I had an unlimited budget, I would totally make this tunnel an aquarium tunnel, like from Animal Crossing. Fish on all sides, what more could you need in life. 

Gentle Criminal: Animal Crossing?

Kitsune: It’s a PQ video game. One of my favorites actually, the only point is to relax. 

La Brava: The Kitsune, Watcher of the Night, relaxing?

Kitsune: Hey, I get enough action on the job. Even I need a few hours to clock out and decompress. I don’t just vape for three hours straight. 

Gentle Criminal: With what I’ve seen, you had me fooled. 

Kitsune: You wound me, Gentle. I don’t just do drugs in my off time. 

La Brava: You continue working in your off time. I’m convinced you don’t have an off time. 

Kitsune: Hey, evil never rests. Case in point, right now we’re breaking into the Oishi estate for evidence in the middle of the night. 

Gentle Criminal: That may be true, but you’re going to have a heart attack from the amount of espresso you drink. 

Kitsune: I haven’t died yet. 

Gentle Criminal: That’s hardly-

La Brava: We’re here. 

(The camera stops, as they stand in front of a door, made of metal and half a foot off the ground, the size of a large painting. There’s a panel next to the door.)

Gentle Criminal: Alright, hand me the camera. La Brava, work your magic. 

(The camera shifts, and suddenly La Brava is on screen. She plops down next to the panel and opens a laptop, the case covered in heart stickers. Kitsune leans over her shoulder, watching the screen and then looking back up at the camera.)

Kitsune: Yeah, that’s all foreign to me. 

La Brava. (Giggles) You can hack decently. 

Kitsune: I can forge a few documents. That, that is a masterpiece. 

Gentle Criminal: She’s the best for a reason. No one else can come close to her skills with the keyboard. 

(After a few moments, the door opened with a click. They slipped through quietly, sneaking through the darkened hallways of a large mansion.)

Gentle Criminal, whispering: So, Kitsune, do you wanna explain what we’re doing now?

Kitsune, also whispering: We’re currently sneaking through the hallways because La Brava took down the security system. We’re going to get evidence of the drug trafficking, as that’s gonna be the easiest thing to put him behind bars without breaching anyone’s privacy. 

Gentle Criminal, whispering: It’s truly a genius plan, simple and effective. And the charge we’re bringing him in for, truly magnifique. 

Kitsune, whispering: (Gets up close to the camera.) Sometimes I have braincells despite being Jared, nineteen, and never learning how to fucking read.

(The camera turns to Gentle Criminal’s gobsmacked face and La Brava’s giggling could be heard.)

Gentle Criminal, whispering: Is this another one of those Vine things?

Kitsune, whispering: You’re learning. 

(The footage fast forwards through them sneaking through the compound, and then gets back to normal speed in front of an office door.)

La Brava, from behind the camera and whispering: The security system is still down, so you should be able to open it.

Gentle Criminal, whispering: Do the honor. 

(Kitsune opened the door, everyone shuffling in, before he shut the door behind him. The office is smaller, made of dark wood paneling and dark red paint, dark hardwood on the floor. There are a couple of bookshelves with books that have unreadable titles, and the desk is large, with a few photos that couldn’t be seen and a nameplate that says “Oishi Naoko.”)

La Brava: The office is soundproof, we can be as loud as we want. 

Gentle Criminal: Excellent! Hand me the camera my dear, you should be able to star in the episode as well. 

(The camera is jostled a little, as Gentle Criminal is no longer seen, but instead La Brava.)

Kitsune: Work it, girl! (La Brava struck some poses for the camera.) Yeah! You go!

La Brava: Alright, the safe is under his desk. 

(They moved over to his desk, showing the safe underneath. As they passed the desk, all of the photos were covered in black boxes.)

Kitsune: This dumbass thought that he could get away with letting the safe collecting his sins be connected to his security system. All we have to do is open it. 

La Brava: As our special guest, you should do the honor. 

Kitsune: No, you got us most of the way here, you open it. I already got the office door. 

La Brava: If you insist!

(She opened the safe. They started pulling out documents, and you can see various drug deals organized like business transactions. They showed off a few pages to the camera, then La Brava passed them to Gentle Criminal behind the camera.)

La Brava: Those papers will be delivered to the police as soon as this video goes up. (She closed the safe behind her.) Now, how are we gonna get out of here. 

Kitsune: Have you guys ever travelled by vent?

The Day Before...

Izuku stretched in satisfaction, letting his back crack. Next to him, Eri mimicked him, which made him and Yagi chuckle at her antics. 

Izuku was getting stronger, noticeably filling out. The time spent at the beach was really helping him, even though he complained when Small Might as All Might and Eri stood on whatever he was trying to move. He was more sure of his steps, having lean muscle to back his barbed tongue whenever he went out as Kitsune (not that he didn’t have it before, but more of it). He could throw an actual punch without his wrist breaking. 

In addition, Izuku was pretty sure that Yagi had noticed that he was too thin to be getting enough food, so after their workouts, he would treat them to dinner. They went to various restaurants and even had a few picnics. Eri was always delighted in whatever they were eating. 

The Midoriyas would go over to Kacchan’s house for dinners and just to hang out. Him and Kacchan would train together, play video games, study for the U.A. entrance exam, normal best friend things. It was a little unsettling just how perfect their friendship felt, how right the world seemed to be these past few months. Even as Kitsune, he hasn’t taken as many injuries and has taken down a few drug rings. Life was great. 

Which was why it was the perfect time for it all to go to shit. 

Last night he had already forged the documents necessary for Izuku and Eri to legally exist. Midoriya Izuku was a fourteen year old kid living in an apartment alone with his little sister Midoriya Eri. Their custody was under Midoriya Sakkuku, their uncle currently living in America who sends them money and checks in with them over the phone every week. Izuku’s quirk was Superpower, an emitter quirk that was a basic physical enhancement quirk. Eri’s quirk was Backstep, a quirk that centered around her horn but is unknown what it does because she’s young (Izuku decided to lie to protect her from Overhaul). 

Now, on a picnic with Yagi and Eri in that park they first met at, Izuku had his laptop open to send in his application to the U.A. hero course. 

Everyone was silent, breaths held as the clicking of his keyboard signaled his progress. Izuku took a deep breath in, then clicked ‘Submit.’

They waited with bated breaths, watching the screen as the little symbol in the corner rolled around. Waiting for the automatic computer to confirm that the application had been sent in. And-

‘Your application submission was denied.’

Everyone stared at the screen. Izuku frantically started reading, one phrase spinning around his head. ‘Blacklisted from all hero courses.’

“But why?” Yagi muttered. 

Eri sniffled, and Izuku tore his eyes away from the screen. Tears were welling in her eyes. “Does that mean Izu-niichan can’t be a hero?” 

“Oh, sunshine,” Izuku muttered, pulling his little sister close to him. 

“You saved me,” she cried, gripping onto his jacket. “You saved me, and you wanted to save so many people. You should be a hero. You are a hero.” 

Yagi cleared his throat, getting their attention. “There’s still a chance,” he said. “If you get high enough in the U.A. sports festival, then Nedzu would have to put you into the hero course, and the Commission couldn’t do anything about it.” 

Izuku smiled, wiping the tears out of his eyes, then started filling his application for the Gen Ed course. “How- How did you know that?” he asked. 

“Don’t go telling anyone,” Yagi said with a wink, making Eri giggle. “But I’m going to be teaching at U.A. next year.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, then paranoia from years of bad teachers kicked in (they were villains but still). “You’re taking some teaching classes, right?”

“Of course, my boy. I’m getting some advice from my fellow teachers as well, as they are experienced in teaching Heroics.”

Izuku smiled, sending in the application for U.A.’s Gen Ed course and having no problems with the submission this time. 

The air tensed though, and he looked over at Yagi. “If I can ask, Young Midoriya,” he asked, “Why are you blacklisted from heroics?” 

Izuku gnawed on his bottom lip, looking down at his hands. He could feel Eri wrapping her arms around one of his, and was touched that she was trying to cheer him up. But all he could feel was the insecurities pressing down onto his chest. He knew he’d been lying to Yagi, leading him on without telling him who he really was, but he was scared of losing Yagi, even though he would deserve it-

Izuku felt a small finger poke his cheek, and he snapped back into awareness. Guilt gnawed at his stomach when he realized that both Yagi and Eri were worried. He gave them a small smile, taking a deep breath and steadying himself. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he said shakily, but then got poked in the face again. 

“You can’t ah-po-lo-gize,” Eri frowned. “I don’t need to say sorry when I go to the bad place in my head, so you don’t have to either.” 

Izuku chuckled, squeezing her hand. “You’re right little sunshine,” he said, then steeled himself. 

He faced Yagi head on, and could see the confusion and concern on his face. He smiled genuinely, squeezing Eri’s hand again. “I’m sorry for not telling you this earlier, but I’m related to a villain. A pretty high ranking one. I’ve tried my best to keep myself and Eri from him, but that doesn’t change it. It- It’s okay if you want to give One For All to someone else.” 

There were a few moments, and then Yagi was speaking. “Young Midoriya,” he said, in a soft and firm tone that reminded him of Eraserdad and fuzzy memories of his mom. “Who you're related to doesn't matter. I chose you because of your spirit. You’re still worthy, and I’m still going to give you One For All tomorrow.” 

Izuku wiped away his tears, letting his mentor and younger sister pull him into a hug. He let them hold him as he pulled himself back together, a little closer to his dream than he was. Maybe there was a roadblock, but he had his family, and that’s what mattered. 

“Thanks, Yagi-sensei.” 

Zuku -> Kacchan

guess whos been blacklisted from the hero course bc the hpsc r all a bunch of bastards

who do i have to kill????

kacchan

we talked bout this

who do i have to beat down

kacchan

idk yet, but i can transfer in2 the hero course if i get far enough in the sports festival

u better

idc bout these other extras

ur shitty nerd ass better be there so that its a real challenge

once i get in2 the hero course im gonna kick ur ass

no IM gonna kick UR ass

no im gonna

no IM gonna

no i

eri says that if we fight each other we cant be the wonder duo together and that would make her sad so i guess im not kicking ur ass

fine

i dont wanna make the unicorn cry

Chapter Text

Izuku sat down in his office at home, having already shed his vigilante gear. He just got back home from the Expose with Gentle and La Brava, and he wanted to pick through the files before the vigilante duo sent the evidence to the police. 

There’s a reason he asked to investigate Oishi Naoko, a member of the Heroics School Regulations Board. One of their duties is overseeing the list of students who were blacklisted from heroics courses. 

The problem was that he was blacklisted as Midoriya Izuku. He only had legal papers a couple days ago, for all intents and purposes, Midoriya Izuku died in a fire eight years ago at the age of six. He checked the blacklist, Akatani Mikumo was also blacklisted. The only people alive who knew the name Midoriya Izuku were the Bakugous, who would never blacklist him, and…

All For One. The man he called Sensei for five years, the one who had tortured and abused him to forge him into the perfect Nomu to be the other right hand to Shigaraki. The creator of the League of Villains. The man who turned him into a monster. 

Anyways, there’s a mole in the HPSC for the League of Villains. The real question is who, and how many. 

He skimmed through the documents, looking for a few key phrases he remembered. A good stack of the papers were ledgers for drug dealings, but there were a few letters in the back that were of interest. The most important one though was the one with his name on it. 

Dear Oishi Naoko,

I have a message from our Master. One of his work in progress Nomus escaped, apparently a very important one. He was supposed to be the other advanced Nomu to be Shigaraki’s right hand, but he escaped. He’s still intelligent and aware, and had dreams of being a hero. His name needs to be blacklisted from all heroics courses. If they need a reason, tell them that he’s related to a high ranking villain. 

His name is Akatani Mikumo, but his old name was Midoriya Izuku. Master wants you to blacklist both names, as a precaution. In addition, he wants you to blacklist any other civilian names he tries to use if he slips past you. 

If you find him, don’t kill him. He may have burned down the old compound and killed a good amount of thugs, but he’s still useful. He has three quirks: a minor physical enhancement quirk, an elemental resistance quirk, and a quirk that allows him to summon a shadow cloak around him. He’s trained by Sensei, so don’t underestimate him. I’ve included a picture so you know what he looks like. 

Don’t disappoint. To the next reign of evil. 

Sincerely,

Dadoku Nisemono

Vice President of the Hero Public Safety Commission

Well, shit. 

There is more than one mole. And one of them is the goddamn vice president of the HPSC. Which means there could be who knows how many other moles, connected to different parts of the underground. At least they didn’t know he was using his civilian name. Until now. 

He was so fucked. 

Izuku turned the letter, looking at the last picture of himself. His hair appeared to be a darker green than it really is, covered in dirt and grime, and the bags under his eyes were somehow deeper than they were now. There were fresh bruises and cuts on him, and he wore the familiar grey sleeveless suit that they put him in for “training.” He could see that his eyes were filled with a cold fire, burning fury instead of the hope that he saw in Eri’s eyes. 

Izuku sighed, pulling himself out of the dredges of past memories. He took a picture of the letter, leaving the others in with the rest of the files (they didn’t mention or incriminate him). He pulled out a lighter, burning the letter and then the picture. Arson was always therapeutic. 

He tucked the files back into their folder, shooting off a quick text to Gentle and La Brava that he was done with them and that he would drop them off tomorrow. They replied that it was fine, they were still editing the video anyways. 

He opened up one of the drawers, pulling out the false bottom and slipping the folder in. It laid there with other folders of damning evidence against both the Shie Hassakai and the League of Villains. There were even a couple of folders that explained how to make and use the suppressants they made out of Eri’s blood. He has some of the suppressants too, but they’re in a different drawer. 

He shut everything off, making his way to their bedroom and opening the door. Thankfully tomorrow was a Saturday, so he could hopefully get some sleep (not good sleep, never good sleep) before he had to face tomorrow. Dredging into the past was never good for his mental state. 

Eri was still asleep, clutching the stuffed bunny to her chest. Her face was peaceful, and she looked like an angel, her hair spread around her like a halo illuminated in the moonlight. 

Izuku smiled softly, closing the door and wiggling into bed. He gently pulled Eri to her chest, letting himself be soothed by the aura of her quirk and the beating of her heart. The tension and adrenaline melted out of his body, and he closed his eyes, drifting off to the steady rhythm that reminded him that his sister was still alive. 

Blood. Fire. Smoke. Burning. Scars. Blood. His hands were covered in blood. Pain. He ached. Lights. Floating around him. A human heart in his hand. A bird mask on the floor covered in blood. A vice around his throat. A voice in his head screaming ‘take it take it take it take it’ to the beat of his pounding heart. His mother’s screams. Sensei’s shouting. Shigaraki’s cackles as he dragged his hand across his skin and left trails of blood. Eri crying. Blood on his hands. Dripping out of his mouth. Snake venom. Like the lies he tells. 

“Monster.” “Villain.” “Murderer.” “Quirkless.” “Worthless.” “Freak.” “Thief.” “Liar.” “Monster.” “Liar.” “Monster.” “Liar.” “Monster.” 

Shigaraki loomed over him, and he scrambled backwards, one arm up to try and save himself-

Izuku shot up, sweat covering his skin as he threw the blanket off of him. There was blood everywhere and it was dark and he couldn’t see and Eri wasn’t safe, where was Eri-

“Izu-niichan!” 

His entire world narrowed, and he swiveled looking for his little sister. She was kneeling on the bed, a scared look on her face, one hand out in front of her. 

“Eri,” he breathed, then darted over, pulling his sister into a hug. He gathered her up in his arms, nuzzling into her hair, letting her heartbeat and the aura of her quirk ground him, reminding him that she’s alive and here and safe. On instinct he pulled it towards him, mind still running half on fear as his brain jumped through hoops to keep her safe keep her safe keep her safe-

Eri returned the hug, fingers digging into the ratty tee he wore. He could feel his face getting wet, knew that he was crying on her, but he could feel a wet spot on his tee right above his heart, so he figured it was okay, for just a little bit, to let it out. Just a little bit. 

He let himself settle, the buzzing and urge from his brain slowly fading as the dream melted away. He started running his fingers through her hair, feeling both of them relax bit by bit. Eventually, they had both cried themselves out, so he brought the two of them onto the bed and back under the blankets. Izuku leaned on the headboard and Eri was in his lap. 

“Are you okay, little sunshine?” His voice was a little shaky, from everything. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, sending a little jolt of shock through him. Her eyes watered and her lip wobbled as she continued to talk. “You were tossing and turning, and you were crying, and you were saying things I couldn’t understand, and then I touched you to try to wake you up and it made it worse and I- and I-”

His heart sank as he understood that he caused this, he was weak and scared Eri. “I’m okay now,” he whispered, pulling her back into a hug. “It was just a bad dream, but I’m okay now, because you woke me up.” 

She sniffled, wiping her eyes away. “Do you wanna talk about it?” 

He smiled a little as he understood what she was doing. He was so proud of her, and how smart she is. “It involved a lot of fire,” he said simply, continuing to run his hands through her hair. 

Her eyes widened a little. “Should we stop using the stove cause there’s fire? Or stop lighting candles? I don’t wanna trig-trig-trigger you.” 

Something warm and soft settled in his chest. “No, it’s okay,” he said honestly. “Little fires are okay. It’s the really big fires that scare me.” 

“Okay,” she said quietly, playing with her fingers, a habit she picked up from him. 

He waited a few minutes, letting the moments pass in silent tranquility. A part of him urged to go pick up a vape to relax, but the more pressing, important part of him reminded him that he just scared his sister, and that he needed to stay with her. So he wiggled down into the bed again, tucking Eri into his chest with her bunny, and let himself drift off to sleep. 

All For One (Quirk) Advanced Notes:

There are certain quirks exempted from All For One’s sensing ability. The quirkless, of course, as well as the dual quirks All For One (all forms, even slightly mutated ones) and One For All. Thus, the people who cannot be sensed by All For One (the villain) are the current user of One For All (All Might), quirkless people, and the current user. This is how I was able to pretend I was quirkless while I was still there. It’s unknown if All Might will pop back up onto the radar of All For One (the villain) after he passes on One For All because of a latent quirk.

Izuku was jogging to the beach, having just dropped Eri off at the Bakugous. He loved his little sister, and thus wanted her away when he got One For All. Just in case it does take off all of his limbs. 

There were lingering doubts in his mind still. All For One and One For All were enemy quirks, so how would they react to each other? Would he simply explode? Would his body be torn apart because they were fighting each other? Would they instead merge, creating an even more powerful quirk? That wasn’t even mentioning the original problems with simply having a powerful quirk in a small body. 

He breathed, grounding himself by running, the thump of his bag on his side pulling him out of his head. He was just treating it like a science experiment, the same experiments that made his support gear as Kitsune. He had a quirk training notebook, a blank one that was a gift from Yagi when he found out that he enjoyed quirk analysis. The title and contents were encoded of course, the process of writing out his thoughts in code second nature by now (that led to some awkward situations where he wrote down a new address to try dinner at for Yagi and accidentally wrote it in code, thankfully the man just laughed it off). 

Just treat it like how he trained Eri. He could do that. He’ll be fine. 

He came up to the beach, smiling when he saw the waves hitting the clear sands. It was beautiful now that it was clean, and he knew this place was going to be a tourist hot spot in a few months. The people around here deserved it, they lived in poverty for far too long. 

Taking a moment to soak in the tranquility, he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and started down the beach. He saw the two men standing on the beach together, in the same tranquility: Small Might and Gran Torino. 

“Yagi-san!” Izuku called out, running forwards with a wave. His mentor beamed, and Gran Torino chuckled next to him. 

“Young Midoriya!” Yagi called back, letting the fifteen year old catch his breath. “To help training go smoother, I brought my old homeroom teacher to help. This is-” 

“Gran Torino!” Izuku interrupted him, to the surprise of the two. “Your quirk, Jet, allows you to be the fastest hero in the world! And you trained All Might when he was attending U.A.!” He flushed then, his rambling cutting off suddenly. “Sorry if I got carried away.” 

Gran Torino laughed, patting Yagi’s arm. “You really are a fanboy,” he chuckled, which just made Izuku go even more red. “I enjoy your enthusiasm. When I’m not in costume, I’m Torino Sorahiko. Toshinori’s told me a lot about you.” 

Izuku bowed, almost smacking himself in the face with his own bag. “Thank you for helping to train me, Torino-sensei. It’s an honor.” 

He yelped as a cane met the back of his head, standing up and rubbing the growing bruise. “Just Torino, kid. I’m too old to care about those sorts of things.” 

Izuku simply raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you care about those sorts of things because you’re old?” 

Torino laughed, thumping his cane on the ground. “I like this kid,” he said. “A real spitfire. I see Nana in him.” 

Yagi smiled. “You’re right. It’s why I chose him, he’s got her spirit.” 

“And yours too,” Torino smacked Yagi with his cane. “Recklessly charging in to save a kid who needed it.”

Izuku sniffled, wiping his tears from where they threatened to fall. “Thanks.” 

“Of course, my boy,” Yagi strode over and ruffled his hair. “Although I am curious, where is Young Eri?” 

“Ah yes, the little sunshine,” Torino nodded sagely. “I would like to meet the genius who came up with Small Might.” 

Izuku chuckled. “Well, that was me, but I kept using it because Eri liked it. I dropped her off at Kacchan’s house beforehand, because I didn’t want her watching in case something went wrong.” 

“You’ve filled out quite a bit,” Yagi said. “It’s unlikely that your limbs are going to explode off of your body.” 

Izuku shrugged. “Unlikely is still a chance. Besides, it’s less of a logical thing and more of a big brother thing.” 

“Speaking of things,” Torino thumped his cane on the ground. “Toshinori, give the boy One For All so we can practice before the sun sets.” 

“Oh, right.” Yagi cleared his throat, then in a puff of smoke, he was in his buff All Might form. He plucked a piece of hair off of his head. “My boy, eat this!” 

“What?” Izuku asked dumbly. 

“One For All is transferred through DNA, and this is the least disgusting way!” 

It then occurred to Izuku that this was indeed the least disgusting way, and that he lived with a five year old, and this was not the most disgusting thing he’s had to do. He took the strand of hair, muttered to himself “This is not the most disgusting thing you’ve had to Izuku, it’s fine,” and then ate it. 

It took a few moments, but then he felt a warmth settle into his chest. Unlike the freezing cold of All For One that demanded quirks to fill its void, One For All was a warm hearth that spread it’s light into the void. The quirk was a roaring flame, currently contained but ready to burn at a moments notice, including himself. The raw power electrified him, sending shivers down his skin. 

He could also feel quirks bundled within One For All. He decided that was a mystery for another day. 

One For All settled into his body like it belonged there, like his body was missing something for his whole life. It complimented All For One extremely well. It was more than fine, it was amazing. 

“Kami,” Izuku muttered, his eyes wide as one hand gravitated to his chest. “This feels amazing.” 

The two men grinned. “How does it feel?” Yagi asked, back as Small Might. 

“Like, like something that was missing is finally there,” Izuku said. “It’s like a fire, but right now it’s pleasantly warm, but at any moment could start burning me if I stoked it. It’s powerful.” 

Gran Torino looked him up and down. “So you’re going to be a Nana rather than a Toshinori,” he said, as if that wasn’t confusing. “Which means your training is going to be different than Toshinori’s.”

His eyes lit up at the mention of training. “Oh!” Izuku pulled out his notebook and pen. “Let me write some things down first. I dedicated this notebook to One For All and it’s training.” 

Torino raised an eyebrow at the cover of the notebook. It was a limited edition All Might print, which clearly didn’t escape his notice. Plus, the words “One For All’s Training” were scrambled in the familiar code. 

Izuku scribbled down how One For All felt, putting a note that his training was gonna be more like Nana Shimura’s rather than All Might’s.

“You’ve gotta be careful with that notebook,” Torino said gravely. 

He nodded in response. “I know. That’s why the entire thing is in code.” 

Torino held his hand out, and Izuku handed it over, letting the man flip through the few pages that had writing on it. His eyes widened, clearly impressed, and he looked up at Yagi. “This is impressive, kid.” 

“It’s second nature to him,” Yagi said, making Izuku flush under the praise. “He’s given me addresses for diners in code. On accident.” 

They both laughed, and Izuku just groaned, covering his face in his hands. “You’re never gonna let me live that down!” He whined, which made the two men cackled more. 

“Alright, alright,” Torino threw the notebook back, which Izuku caught easily. He nodded in approval, probably at his reflexes. “Now, let’s see what you can do.” 

Izuku stumbled home alone, groaning as he flopped onto the couch in the living room. Eri was staying at Kacchan’s house tonight for a sleepover. Izuku was sore, his entire body aching from the beatdown he got training One For All. Despite that, he felt giddy, the familiar satisfaction of working his body settling in his chest. 

Then he looked over, remembered what time it was, and groaned again, rolling over and stumbling to the bathroom. He didn’t want to stink up the living room, and he was a sweaty mess. 

A headache was forming in his head, but he chalked it up to pushing himself harder than he usually did at the beach. He just groped in the medicine cabinet until he found some Tylenol to dry swallow, then quickly stripped and stepped into the shower. He sighed in relief when the hot water hit his skin, soothing his aching muscles. 

One For All still hummed in his blood, but it seemed like it was calmer now, settling more into his skin. It was funny, the first time he activated the quirk he had punched towards the ocean and then promptly broken his arm. Yagi freaked out when he called Recovery Girl, forcing Torino to take the phone from him and explain, who then came over and healed the arm. Thankfully he had a good night’s sleep (and chugged three 5 hour energies) and so he wasn’t knocked out, but it still took an hour before they had to go back to training. 

It was interesting. After he broke his arm, the quirk calmed down, like he needed an initial release of energy before the quirk fully settled in his body. Yagi had shared a story similar, where after he got the quirk he went to give his mentor a high five and then broke his hand. Then Torino hit him with his cane. It was a good time, despite breaking an arm. 

Izuku scowled, clutching his head. He didn’t think Torino hit him hard enough to give him a concussion, but his headache was only getting worse. He chuckled as he remembered earlier, but his lungs felt like they were on fire. He coughed, covering his mouth with his elbow as he spasmed, leaning against the wall. 

When he pulled his arm back, it was covered in blood. 

Fuck. 

Chapter Text

Izuku sat on the couch, drumming his fingers onto the soot stained coffee table. He was at the Bakugous, Eri excitedly bouncing around as Kacchan went to pick up the mail. He was a bundle of nerves, anxiety nipping at his heels despite Yagi reassuring him over text that yes, he was still going to train him as his successor even if he didn’t get into U.A.

A smack knocked him out of his thoughts. He glared at the angry pomeranian, who was holding the rolled up newspaper he just smacked him with. “You’re gonna screw up the coffee table,” he growled, dropping two letters onto the table. 

Eri gasped, running over and jumping onto the couch. “Careful,” Izuku warned half-heartedly, his heart still racing as his eyes bore holes into the letter with his name. He could still remember the entrance exam like it was yesterday and not a week ago...

“Kacchan!” Izuku waved, jumping up and down. He was standing outside the gate, waiting for his best friend. He had finished the Gen Ed exam a while ago, spent his free time hacking U.A. (it was easier than he thought), and then started exploring the vents of U.A. It’s how he found the footage of Kacchan’s exam and watched it. 

Anyways, Izuku was jumping up and down, waving his arms up and down. He saw the spiky blonde hair, being followed by the brunette who helped him earlier and a tall boy wearing glasses who looked like a brother of Ingenium. 

“Green-kun!” The brunette waved back, bounding over to him. Izuku beamed, running over to the group. 

“Hi Kacchan! Hi Kacchan’s new friends!” 

“Don’t call these shitty extras my friends!” Kaachan growled, making Ingenium boy and Gravity girl raise an eyebrow. 

Izuku rolled his eyes, lightly smacking the angry pomeranian. “You guys were so cool!” He saw Kaachan roll his eyes in his peripheral vision, but his brain was already on a roll. “Kacchan, you took out so many robots! You probably should’ve been more careful with the rubble, it almost hit some other students, but it also took out other robots! Gravity girl, you were so cool, just lifting the robots into the air and crashing them into each other, which is so smart! Can you lift yourself, or is it only your environment that you can raise? And Ingenium boy! You’re Ingenium’s brother, right? The way your fighting style focuses on your legs, that’s smart, and your mobility is incredible! And Kacchan, the way you destroyed that zero pointer was amazing-!”

Kacchan smacked the back of his head. “Breathe, shitty nerd,” he snarled, even though there was a faint flush to his face. “How did you know all that, hah?” 

“Oh, after my Gen Ed exams, I decided to hack into U.A. cause I was bored,” Izuku shrugged, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Then I finished and got bored, so I started exploring the vents and found the proctoring room for the heroics exams!” 

“You shouldn’t be hacking! It’s illegal and immoral!” Ingenium boy was chopping his arms in the air like a robot. “Have you no respect for the law?!” 

Izuku shrugged. “It’s not like I was doing anything, I was just seeing if I could. Besides, I’ll send Principal Nedzu a report of how I got in so he can patch it up.” 

“Zuku, you fucking gremlin,” Kacchan muttered. “How many times have I gotta make sure you don’t get into shit?!” 

“Oh, you’re Zuku?” The brunette asked. “That’s so cute!” 

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself!” Izuku grinned, bowing to the two. “I’m Midoriya Izuku, and this is Bakugou Katsuki! I’m the only one allowed to call him Kacchan.” 

“Midoriya, Bakugou, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, especially since Bakugou said such high praises earlier,” Ingenium boy said. 

Izuku flushed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Kacchan scoffed, smacking him again. “Damn right I did. You’re the only one who can match up to me.”

“Every time we spar I kick your ass.” 

“Shut up you damn nerd!” 

Izuku rolled his eyes, turning back to the other two. “What did Kacchan say about me?” 

“Oh, it was so sweet!” Gravity girl smiled despite Kacchan’s sputtering. “When he saved me and I thanked him, he said that he did it because it’s something Zuku would do, and how Zuku would be disappointed if I got crushed and he didn’t do anything, and how he needs to take care of Zuku because you would forget to take care of yourself.” 

“Aww, you do care,” Izuku cooed, glomping onto Kacchan. The spiky blonde seemed to seethe, but it was really just for show. 

“The Unicorn would be sad if you died,” he grumbled, crossing his arms. 

“Who’s the Unicorn?” The brunette asked. 

“My little sister,” Izuku smiled, pulling out his phone and opening up a picture. Eri was sitting in Izuku’s lap, and they were sitting in front of the Bakugous’ piano. Izuku was wearing his best jacket, this time wearing a pair of ratty jeans and a tee that says ‘Music Man.’ Eri’s hair was dyed green like his, a sun hat covering her horn as she wore a dark pink pinafore that Auntie Mitsuki gave her (she insisted on getting Eri a bunch of clothes because “Izuku’s fashion sense was fucking awful, how was he and Inko related”). 

“She’s adorable!” Gravity girl cooed, and Ingenium boy nodded in agreement. 

“Oi, nerd,” Kacchan smacked him. “We’ve got to go to the station before the old hag yells at us for being late.” 

“Oh, I gotta take the train too!” Gravity girl said. “We can go together!” 

“I’m also headed that way, and I would quite enjoy going with you all!” Ingenium boy added on with enthusiastic arm chops. 

“Of course, uh…” Izuku trailed off, as Kacchan started literally dragging him off. The two followed them though, appreciating their antics. 

“How rude, we never told you our names!” Arm chopping boy exclaimed, arm chopping and all. “I am Iida Tenya!” 

“Uraraka Ochako!” Gravity girl said, bouncing after them. 

Izuku beamed, and Kacchan scoffed. Their conversation continued like that the whole way to the train station, Izuku being a sunshine boy and Kacchan trying to keep him in check while maintaining his reputation while Uraraka and Iida interjected. When the two of them left to head back to Kacchan’s house, their phones were two numbers heavier. 

Izuku got smacked in the back of the head again. “Open your da- darn letter, nerd,” Kacchan growled from right next to him on the couch. 

“You open it first,” Izuku shot back. 

“No you!” 

“No you!” 

“No you-!” 

“I’ll open it!” Eri bounded forwards, snatching Kacchan’s letter. She ripped the envelope open, a disc falling onto the coffee table. 

They all started as a hologram projected from the disk. 

“I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION!” All Might boomed with a laugh. “Bakugou Katsuki, on the written exam you got 96%, and on the practical exam you got 77 points, which alone would’ve gotten you into U.A. However, points were not our only metric for your success.” 

The hologram played a clip of the entrance exam, where Kacchan had destroyed the zero pointer and helped Uraraka up. 

“We also had rescue points! For your incredible actions of bravery, you got 60 points, making the total 137 points! You got the top score in U.A.’s entrance exam, and you have placed in class 1-A in the hero course. Welcome to your hero academia! Plus Ultra!” 

The hologram cut up, and Kacchan started shouting in success, thankfully free of curse words. Eri cheered along with him, and Izuku grinned, happy to bask in his friend’s happiness. 

“Open yours, open yours, open yours,” Kacchan grinned, poking him in the side relentlessly. 

“Ow, ow, ow, okay, okay!” Izuku laughed, his nerves temporarily forgotten as he opened the letter. Like Kacchan’s, another disk fell out, and Izuku frowned. “I thought the Gen Ed students got regular letters.” 

The hologram turned on, revealing Nedzu onscreen. “Am I a bear? A dog? A mouse? More importantly, I’m the Principal of U.A. High, here to deliver a very special message to you, Midoriya Izuku. You placed a perfect score on our exam for the Gen Ed course, which guarantees you a spot in class 1-C of General Education, but you have caught my attention.” 

The hologram played a few clips of Izuku on his laptop, boredly typing away, and then of him exploring the vents. 

“You are a very remarkable student, a stand out among every applicant,” Nedzu continued. “Even the top placement of the hero course, Bakugou Katsuki, praises you highly-” 

“Cause you fucking deserve it,” Kacchan interrupted, and Izuku smacked him. 

“And I feel it would be a waste for you to remain in Gen Ed. So, I would like to extend the offer for you to become my personal student!” 

Izuku’s jaw dropped to the floor. “All you have to do to let me know you accept is to come to my office during dual periods 5 and 6, and we will start on your lessons. This is your hero academia! Plus Ultra!” 

His eyes started to water, and he could already feel tears of joy slipping down his face. Two sets of arms wrapped around him, and he hugged them back as he laughed. They made it, they really made it!

He was going to U.A. 

Young Midoriya -> Small Might

i made it in!!!!!!

and im nedzu’s personal student!!!!!

Young Midoriya

Promise me something

????

Please don’t take over the world

??????????

Kitsune swung into the warehouse, just there for a quick pit stop before he went out on patrol. He groaned internally when he saw Himi-chan there instead of Dabi, but he plastered a smile on his face and did a flip, bowing at his applauding audience of one. 

“Did you get it for me, Himi-chan?” Kitsune asked sweetly, strolling over to the girl. She was lounging in a bean bag, sipping on a bag of blood. 

“I did, Foxy,” she giggled, slurping up another mouthful. “Seriously, you’ve upped your blood game in the last month. What’s your secret?” 

He winked, catching the pill bottle she threw at him and tucking it into one of the pouches on his utility belt. “A magician never reveals his secrets,” he quipped, pulling out a vape and falling onto a bag. Himi-chan didn’t say anything, she’s used to his pre-patrol routine (which was to vape enough to draw out the anxiety, he doesn’t need it anymore but it’s familiar, routine). 

She frowned though, crumpling up the plastic and chucking it behind her. “Foxy,” she whined, an edge of seriousness to her voice. “Why do you need these pills anyways? Tell me the street name of the drug, you know I don’t know those fancy scientific names.”

Kitsune sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes. “It’s medication,” he said. 

“Foxy, that has Dr. Needle’s name on it,” she warned. “You know Dr. Needle laces his drugs with totally un-cute shit.” 

“It’s not a normal medication,” he responded. “Something he made specifically for me. And he knows enough not to fuck me over.” 

“Is this related to your weirdness over Akatani Mikumo and the Shie Hassakai?” 

Kitsune opened one eye and just looked at her. 

“You have a fair point,” Himi-chan relented, focusing her gaze on him. “Foxy, we’re all worried about you.” 

He sighed, giving her a lazy grin as he dropped the vape. He stood up and walked over, putting his hands on her shoulders, lazy grin turning Cheshire. “Himi-chan, I will be alright. I’ve been playing this game for a very long time, and I’m a damn good player. I’m a cunning, tricky fox, and no one will be able to pull one past me.” 

She grinned in return, putting her hands on his. “You’re right, Foxy. Although if you ever need help killing or hiding a body, I’m here. And the others, although I don’t think they’ll help as much as I can.” 

Kitsune laughed, standing up fully and cracking his back. “I’ll let you know if I need your help,” he promised, slipping the mask back on. “I’ve got patrol to get to.” 

“I’m still waiting on my target from Dabi,” Himi-chan sighed dramatically, draping one arm over her face. “Go, enjoy your freedom.” 

“If you insist, my lady,” he bowed, earning a giggle from the other girl, then snapped his wrist. He was pulled out of the warehouse and into the night, melding into the shadows. 

Kitsune had a secret agenda, other than eradicating the Shie Hassakai. Annoying Eraserhead was an agenda but not a secret one. No, his secondary goal in life (his first is protecting Eri) is to get a piggyback ride from every single pro hero in Japan. 

He’s already crossed Eraserhead off the list, he’s gotten multiple piggyback rides from the pro hero over the course of his career. But that’s one pro hero out of… a lot. He needs to step up his game. 

And who else to start with than Hawks, number twelve hero? He had some things to tell him anyways. Like the hobo caterpillar says, it’s free real estate. 

Friendos :3 - 11:28 PM

God’s Mistake (Kitsune), Eraserdad (Eraserhead), Tsuki-kun (Detective Tsukauchi) and McChicken (Hawks) are all online.

God’s Mistake: ey yo mcchick

God’s Mistake: u down to get me some kfc?

God’s Mistake: i gotta talk to u

Eraserdad: kid wtf are you doing

Tsuki-kun: what do you need to talk to hawks about kid?

God’s Mistake: important things

God’s Mistake: dw tsuki-kun, i’ll send u the important bits in an email tmrw

McChicken: which kfc?

God’s Mistake: hares way and 83rd

McChicken: omw

Tsuki-kun: no one ever listens to me

Eraserdad: now you understand how i feel

Kitsune giggled, pocketing his phone as he heard wing beats. He stood up as the winged hero landed next to him on the KFC rooftop, and he spun to face him. 

“You come here often?” He quipped, leaning back and relaxing his posture. 

Hawks rolled his eyes. “Alright kid, whaddya want?” He asked. “As much as I like hangin' with ya, the Commission’s been up my ass lately.” 

Kitsune tensed, and so did the hero, noticing the change in atmosphere. “Straight to business then, huh? I can respect that,” the vigilante quipped, his voice unbothered despite his body language poised. “Let’s cut to the chase. I have info, you have money.” 

Hawks raised an eyebrow. “What do you want?” 

“Buy me chicken.” Kitsune tossed a piece of paper at the hero. “And also get me this stuff to the PO box at the bottom of the page.” 

He squinted at the list, brows furrowed in confusion. “Why do you need ten sunhats and fifty bottles of green hair dye?” 

“Don’t ask questions, bird man,” Kitsune responded, taking a seat on the concrete roof against one of the vents. “Get me my chicken. There’s another part to this deal later, but I’ll cash it in after food.” 

Hawks rolled his eyes, but spread his wings, jumping off the roof. He closed his eyes and leaned back, keeping an ear around him and knowing that Shiryoni would send him a soft alert if something happened. 

Eventually he heard wing beats again and scooted over, letting the hero sit back to back with him. He was passed his chicken bucket, lifting up his mask and starting to eat. They sat like that for a while, a ritual that was surprisingly familiar despite the fact that he usually only performed it with Eraserhead. It was nice. 

“Alright, what’s your info?” Hawks asked. 

“How much do you know about the League of Villains?” 

The hero hummed, his wings twitching a little. “We know that it’s a very old but very small group, but very inactive. It’s been starting to stir recently though, as if preparing for something, and gathering forces together, but we’re not sure for what.” 

“It’s not small,” Kitsune said. He heard a sharp breath behind him. “The network is actually quite large, only a few members identify themselves as a part of the League of Villains. How familiar are you with All For One.” 

“The boogeyman of the underground?” Hawks asked. “I’m not sure how a quirk stealing fairy tale is related to this.” 

“He’s no fairy tale,” Kitsune said glumly. “He’s the real deal, and he’s the real mastermind pulling most of the strings of the underground. Including moles in the HPSC.” 

Hawks was deathly silent. “Evidence,” he said suddenly. “I need evidence.” 

Kitsune slid him a thumb drive. “Everything’s on there,” he said, silently leaving out ‘Everything you need to know.’ “Look, the Vice President is in on this. Be careful.” 

“I will, fledgling.” Gloved hands took the drive. “What’s your part in all this?” 

Kitsune stood up, sliding the mask back down over his face. “That’s not a part of the deal, Hawks,” he said, a clear dismissal. The hero got it, and he nodded back. 

“So, you said there was another part to it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Kitsune grinned, delighting in the way that the pro hero shivered. “Give me a piggyback ride.” 

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

went flying with @officiallyhawks

[image ID: Kitsune, his mask lights on, taking a selfie while riding on Hawks’ back. They’re flying above Musutafu, and the pro hero is making a peace hands symbol while Kitsune’s other arm is wrapped around his neck.]

Chapter Text

“Alright, Eri, do you have your bag?” Izuku asked, for the third time that morning. He was struggling to tie his tie, while shoving a protein bar into his face. Eri was sitting at the table, eating some apple slices with peanut butter for breakfast. She was wearing a white button shirt, dark pink pinafore, dark grey leggings and uggs, all gifts from Auntie Mitsuki. She had a dark red backpack on, one of Izuku’s old ones that he managed to salvage from being on the run, and a sun hat with apple blossoms tucked into the ribbon to cover her horn. 

“Izu-niichan, that’s the third time you’ve asked,” she muttered in response, taking another bite of an apple slice. 

He gasped dramatically, clutching his chest as he gave up on his tie. “Eri, you wound me!” He slid his bright yellow backpack onto his shoulders, slipping on his red high-tops. “Are you missing anything?” 

“Izu-niichan, I’ve got everything, I promise,” she responded, getting up and putting her plate into the dishwasher. 

“Alright, I’m going to double check that I’ve got everything, and then we’ll go meet Kacchan at the station, alright?” Eri nodded, so he slipped back into his office. His bag had all the textbooks and materials he needed for school (he was so glad that All Might was covering costs because he didn’t want to have to go on extra patrols), his personal laptop, both of his phones, and a couple of tranq darts. He slipped a ceramic knife into the holster on his right arm, a carbon nanofiber knife into the one on his leg, and a small fiberglass knife into his hair. He came back out, smiling at Eri. “Ready to go, sunshine?” 

She nodded, taking his hand. He gave it a little squeeze, warmth filling him as she squeezed back, making sure to lock up the apartment behind them and starting off. 

They got some looks, especially with the part of the neighborhood they’re in. But even in a U.A. student uniform, Izuku must look mean enough to scare off some of the bolder crooks. Eventually they moved into a better part of town, and he relaxed off of the dirty looks, letting a little of the excitement he feels bubble up to the surface. 

Kacchan was waiting for them at the station, as well as Uraraka. Izuku brightened up, letting a grin out as he made his way over to them, Eri in tow. Kacchan rolled his eyes and shielded them while Uraraka beamed in return. 

“You’re late, shi- nerd,” Kacchan smacked him. “The train’s coming soon.” 

“I needed to make sure we didn’t forget anything,” Izuku pouted, then looked away as he felt Eri tug on his uniform leg. “Uraraka, this is Eri. Eri, this is Uraraka, the nice girl who helped me at the exams.” 

Eri looked up at the brunette, adjusting the brim of her hat. “You’re Izu-niichan’s new friend?” Uraraka nodded in response, holding something in. “Can we be friends too?” 

“Aww, of course, Eri!” She cooed. “I’d love to be your friend!” 

The girl looked up at Kacchan and Izuku, but visibly relaxed her grip on Izuku’s pants. Kacchan caught her gaze and softened a little bit, before scoffing and looking away. “She’s nice, Unicorn. And if she ends up not being nice I’ll- mmph-” 

Izuku had covered Kacchan’s mouth with his hand, then narrowed his eyes as he felt the other boy lick him. “That won’t work on me Kacchan.” 

Eri giggled, and Izuku let go, wringing his hand. “You’re nice, Kacchan. You just pretend to be mean.” 

Kacchan stewed as the other two teens laughed. “Called out by an eight year old!” Uraraka giggled, making Izuku laugh even harder. 

Kacchan smacked the back of his head, and Izuku smacked back. “Hey, Uraraka was laughing too!” 

“I’m not gonna smack someone I barely know, Zuku!”

“Uh huh, that certainly stopped you from biting Tsubasa.” 

“I was young!” 

“That was two weeks ago!” 

“Guys! Our train!” 

Both their heads snapped up. Kacchan snatched Eri up, running after Uraraka who was running after their train. 

They did catch it, but just barely. 

Izuku waved to Kacchan and Uraraka as they split off, making their way to the Hero course wing. Izuku and Eri made their way to the teacher’s lounge, and he squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, as she relaxed a little. There weren’t very many students around, but he could tell that Eri was still nervous. 

They entered the lounge, and there were a few teachers milling around. Izuku could only really see Yagi, Snipe and Thirteen at their seats. 

Thirteen looked up, and got up from her seat, making her way over to them. “Ah, you must be Midoriya Izuku and Midoriya Eri. I’ve been informed of your situation.” 

“Yes, we are,” Izuku bowed, and after a moment Eri copied him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Thirteen-san.” 

Her eyes moved as though she was smiling under the mask. “Kurana Sorano,” she said. “If I’m going to be teaching your sister, you should know my name.” 

“Thank you, Kurana-sensei.” He turned to Eri, putting his hands on her shoulders. “What do you think, little sunshine?” 

Her head tilted thoughtfully, and she looked back up at the hero. “Izu-niichan talks about you,” she said, to the growing mortification of her brother. “He says you’re a rescue hero, and that you focus on saving people. He really likes you.” 

“Eri,” Izuku whined, hiding his red face behind his hands. 

The eight year old bowed next to him, letting go of his hand. “I would really like to learn from you, Kurana-sensei!” 

Izuku smiled fondly, putting his hands back on Eri’s shoulders. “Alright, have fun. If you need anything, you know what to do, right?” 

She nodded, hiking up her backpack. “Press the panic button, find you or a pro hero, and scream and throw things.” 

He smiled. “Good girl.” He stood back up, putting his hand on Eri’s shoulder. “I’ll see you later, alright?” 

Eri smiled, a little nervous but still excited. “Bye Izu-niichan!” 

Izuku waved back. “Bye sunshine.” 

Izuku tightened his grip on his backpack straps, mentally reviewing the map of his mind and making his way to Class 1-C. Finding it was still mostly empty except for a couple of other quiet kids, he made his way to the back of the room, stealing a seat next to the window. 

He pulled out one of his notebooks and started to doodle in the margins, slumping down in his seat and looking out the window. Of course, he was feigning his inattentiveness, one ear on the class of students trickling in, and his quirk giving him some impression of who the students were. 

He nodded at the kid who sat down in front of him before going back to his charade. Fluffy purple hair that defies gravity and deep eyebags, likely caused by insomnia. He has some sort of mental quirk that deals with the mind, the dark purple light low and swirling, underdeveloped. Just as quiet as he was, taking out his phone and putting in his earbuds but not playing any music. Pretending to not be paying attention while still being aware of his surroundings. 

Izuku turned back to the window. Whatever the kid’s problems were weren’t his problem. He had to get through to the sports festival without airing any of his personal problems. 

Easy. Definitely easy and not at all going to kill him. 

The door opened, and a loud “YEAHH!!!” echoed through the classroom. Izuku perked up at Present Mic’s entrance. Present Mic was their homeroom teacher.

This year was gonna be awesome. 

It was all standard first day of school stuff. Orientation was boring, and Izuku zoned out the whole time, standing next to the purple haired kid (whose name was Shinsou Hitoshi, he memorized the names of all his classmates from habit). He noticed that class 1-A wasn’t at orientation, and wondered what they were doing. He could intermittently hear explosions and the occasional “Die!” in the distance, and resisted the urge to smile. Some things never changed. 

The rest of his day was spent getting his syllabi from various pro heroes, holding in the urge to fanboy at every costume he saw. He chatted with Shinsou a little bit. Their sense of humor was similar, their eye bags matched, and they were both fans of Eraserhead. It was perfect. They didn’t exchange phone numbers or anything, and they weren’t necessarily friends, but they were okay with each other. 

Izuku waved goodbye to Shinsou as he made his way to the teachers lounge, stopping by the hero wing. He saw Kacchan leaning on the door, presumably waiting for him. But what stopped him was the people surrounding him. Uraraka and Iida were talking to each other, but a group of kids were absolutely pestering Kacchan, trying to include him in their conversations. 

“Shut it, shitty hair! I’m not going to tell you who I’m waiting for!” 

“Kacchan! I didn’t know you made friends already!” Izuku interjected, beaming as he readjusted his backpack straps and pushed his way through the crowd. 

“What did you just say, hah?! These shitty extras aren’t my friends!” Kacchan shouted, but Izuku knew his friend well enough to know when it’s an actual shout and when it’s just Kacchan being Kacchan. 

He took it in stride, beaming at the others. “Hi Mido!” Uraraka waved, joining the conversation alongside Iida. 

“What’s that all about?!” Kacchan snapped. 

“Well, if we can’t call him Zuku, we’ll find another nickname for him,” the brunette said, rolling her eyes, then turned to Izuku. “How was your first day?” 

Ignoring Kacchan sputtering, he shrugged. “Boring, to be honest. I zoned out all through orientation, but we have Present Mic as our homeroom teacher.” 

“Wait, your Zuku?” The one with spiky red hair asked. At Izuku’s nod, the boy beamed, sharp teeth making him look like a shark. “You’re the one that inspires Bakugou? That’s so manly!” 

Izuku flushed, running his hand through his hair nervously. The pink skinned girl grinned. “He’s turning into a strawberry!” 

Uraraka gasped. “He is!” 

Iida started arm chopping, about how making those sorts of comments about classmates is rude. Izuku wasn’t really paying attention, trying to push down the blush on his cheeks. Despite that, a warm feeling buzzed in his chest, a feeling of acceptance settling next to his heart. 

“Shut it, four eyes,” Kacchan growled. “We need to get going.” 

The blonde with a black streak in his hair piped up. “Where do you guys need to go?” 

“Oh, I have to go down to the teachers lounge to go pick up Eri,” Izuku smiled. 

“We’ll walk with you!” Uraraka exclaimed, and Iida nodded. The other three agreed too. Kacchan growled angrily, like usual, but Izuku said they could come along. 

“So, what was your first day like?” Izuku asked. “I didn’t see you guys at orientation.” 

“Yeah, it was crazy,” the spiky redhead took up storytelling. “Instead of going to orientation, we did a quirk assessment test! Our teacher said that U.A. has a lot more freedom, so Aizawa-sensei had us do like a physical fitness test but with our quirks.” 

“Oh!” Izuku perked up. “All the teachers are pro heroes, right? Who’s your homeroom teacher?” 

Everyone looked at each other (except for Kacchan). “We didn’t recognize him,” Iida said. “He must be an underground hero.” 

“Give me a description, I know most heroes!” He ignored the “damn nerd” that Kacchan muttered under his breath. 

“Black baggy jumpsuit, hideous yellow goggles, and light grey scarf,” the pink skinned girl started rattling off. “Long black hair, like it hadn’t been washed in a while, and eyebags almost as deep as yours.” 

Izuku gasped, starting to bounce up and down on his feet, literally vibrating in place. “Kacchan! You never told me that Eraserhead was your homeroom teacher! I’m so jealous!” 

“Excuse me, who?” The blonde haired student asked, and was promptly smacked in the head by the pink skinned girl. 

“He’s an underground hero, one of the shitty nerd’s favorites,” Kacchan grumbled, smacking Izuku, who was still bouncing around as they made their way through U.A.

“You’re a fan of the underground heroes?” Uraraka asked curiously. 

“Absolutely!” Izuku was practically pinballing off the walls, and okay maybe he overdid the coffee this morning, but it was worth it. “They go far out of their way to actively avoid the vultures, and spend their time really being on the ground and protecting civilians! It’s not that I don’t respect the daylight heroes, they’re important as a deterrent for villains and reassurance for the public, but the underground heroes get into the nitty gritty! Besides, they get to jump around rooftops during the night like Batman!” 

Everyone else looked confused, except for Kacchan, who was already used to his pre quirk era references by now. Instead, the spiky blonde smacked him. “Adrenaline junkie.” 

Izuku smacked back. “Asshole.” 

“I’m sorry, but did you call the media vultures?” Iida asked, arm chopping as usual. “It’s disrespectful!” 

“So are they,” he shrugged in response. “I understand their importance, but they will cross so many boundaries in the name of a scoop that it’s just plain embarrassing.” 

“You just hate attention,” Kacchan snarked. “You’d die if anyone asked for a picture.” 

“Oh, and you’d just love the spotlight,” Izuku snarked back, well versed in their language.

“Of course, the spotlight’s a part of number one!” Kacchan shouted, letting off a few explosions in the palms of his hands. He could tell some of the others were nervous, but he knew that was just Kacchan releasing some energy. “You’ll have to get used to it!” 

Izuku rolled his eyes, continuing to bounce along the hallways. “Please, you’ll just handle the vultures in the daylight and I’ll be underground covering for your ass. It’s a perfect balance!” 

“You act like you guys are gonna be a hero duo together!” The spiky redhead said with a grin. “That’s so manly!” 

Kacchan scoffed. “Tch, we promised Eri that we’d be the Wonder Duo together, and I don’t back down from a challenge.” 

Izuku rolled his eyes, smacking him on the head. “You act like spending time with me is a chore.” 

Kacchan smacked him back. “Because you’re stupid!” 

“So are you!” 

It was only years of trained reflexes that allowed him to avoid the metal door that flew off its hinges, tackling Kacchan alongside him.

Smoke billowed from the workshop, and he noted that the door appeared to say 1-H. He coughed, opening one eye to scan his surroundings as his body unconsciously tensed, moving in front of the group of students who had followed him. 

“HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO BLOW UP PIPE CLEANERS?!” 

He raised an eyebrow as the smoke cleared. Power Loader was losing his mind, pulling out his hair through his costume. One student with pink curls was standing in the middle of the class, laughing maniacally. 

As the students behind him started shouting their complaints about almost being hit with a heavy metal door, Izuku grinned in return. He has found a kindred spirit. 

“Oh, you!” The mad inventor turned their attention towards them, pointing at Kacchan. “You’re the kid who ordered those grenade gauntlets! Kacchan, right?” 

The spiky blonde spun towards Izuku, shooting him a nasty looking glare. “How does she know that, hah?!” 

The pink haired girl tore one of the blueprints off of a board on the wall. Sure enough, Izuku could see his own concept sketch staring him back in the face, including the “For Kacchan” he put in the corner next to a little heart, and suddenly he wanted the ground to swallow him. 

“Zuku, you dumbass!” He shouted, smacking him. “I’m convinced you don’t even remember my actual name at this point!” 

Izuku smacked him back. “You don’t either!” 

The mad genius got literal stars in her eyes, bouncing over to Izuku. “You’re the one who designed this baby?!” She asked incredulously, holding up the blueprints. 

He grinned in response. “That’s me.” 

“Do you have any more babies?!” 

“Of course I do!” 

The girl stuck her hand out, still covered in soot, but Izuku didn’t care as he took it. “Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume Inc and your new business partner!” 

“Midoriya Izuku, future hero. I look forward to working with you!” 

The two of them laughed maniacally, and if he looked, Izuku was pretty sure he’d find his friends’ horrified expressions behind him. “Oh dear god, there’s two of them,” Power Loader muttered, and if he had one, he would’ve given the poor man a vape. 

“Oh, we didn’t introduce ourselves, I totally forgot!” The pink skinned girl said. “That’s Kirishima Eijirou, that’s Kaminari Denki, and I’m Ashido Mina.” 

Iida bowed, arm chopping as usual. “I am Iida Tenya, and this is Uraraka Ochaco and Bakugou Katsuki.” 

Hatsume’s eyes widened. “Are you all volunteering to be my helpers?” 

Kacchan bristled at that. “And why can’t we all be business partners, hah?!” 

“Broccoli-kun has the brain to match with me,” she responded easily, looping her arm over his shoulders (and now Izuku could see their terrified expressions as they both vibrated in excitement). “Besides, I only need one business partner. I need more helpers!” 

“We should all exchange phone numbers to keep in contact,” Izuku piped up, whipping out his personal phone and an apple as everyone did a double take. 

“Kami, we’re all going to die,” Kacchan groaned, and Izuku smacked him. Kacchan smacked him back, and then it was on. 

This song and dance was familiar to both of them. Many times while they were hanging out, they would have an impromptu spar. Honestly, Izuku was mostly surprised that he held off this long, as he aimed a jab at Kacchan’s throat. 

Kacchan deflected it, running into the boy and tackling him, pinning him down. Izuku managed to break his hold and roll them over, but he used too much momentum, and Kacchan had him down on his stomach and in a chokehold. 

“Izu-nii! Kacchan!” 

Izuku brightened up, looking up at his sister in the doorway, as well as a rather concerned Thirteen. “Eri! How was your day?” 

His sister giggled while walking over. He felt Kacchan’s hold slack, so he elbowed him in the stomach and shook him off, dusting himself off and picking her up, easily placing her on his hip. 

“What was that?” Thirteen asked. 

Eri looked back at her teacher. “Oh, they’re just like that.” 

Kacchan looked back at Izuku. “By the way, I won. I’m in the lead now.” Izuku just kicked him in the shin. 

Iida looked like he was about to have a heart attack, but Uraraka spoke up first. “Eri, are they always like that? Always arguing and fighting?” 

The little girl nodded seriously, adjusting the hat on her head. “It’s their language.” 

Izuku also nodded seriously, mimicking her sister, who giggled next to him. “Trust me, I am well versed in the language of Bakugouan.” 

“What did you say, you da- you nerd?!” 

“I said what I said.” 

Kacchan stewed, and Hatsume bounced over. Her pupils widened as if she was studying them. “Who is this, Broccoli-kun?” 

Eri shied away from her, probably because she was so close, and she tried to hide herself in his shoulder. Izuku softened, knowing that this was probably a lot for the young girl, even with previous exposure to Kacchan. He started running his fingers through her hair, hoping to soothe her nerves. 

“Eri, she’s okay, I promise,” he said softly, ignoring Uraraka and Ashido cooing over him in the background. “She’s just loud and makes a lot of explosions.” 

The little girl looked up, still clutching onto his uniform blazer, and gazing at the mad scientist with both suspicion and curiosity. “Oh, so like Kacchan.” 

Izuku and the others started laughing as the blonde in question sputtered, and even Eri giggled along with him. “Yeah, like Kacchan,” Izuku responded easily. 

The blonde in question looked up at the clock, then almost swore, cutting himself off at the last moment before running up and grabbing Izuku’s arm. “We gotta go before the old hag yells at us for being late!” 

He rolled his eyes but let himself be dragged along, much to Eri’s amusement. “Auntie Mitsuki will only yell at you. She loves me.” 

The pack of students they’ve collected from 1-A’s door followed them along, and he could swear that Ashido had a bucket of popcorn. “Where are you both heading?” Iida asked, arm chopping. “We could accompany you both!” 

“No way!” Kacchan shouted immediately, but Izuku turned to Eri. 

“What do you think, little sunshine?” He asked gently. He knew meeting more people would be good for her, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her. 

She nibbled at her bottom lip, an unfortunate habit she’s picked up from him, then looked up at him. “If you say they’re okay, then they’re okay.” 

Izuku smiled, turning back to the group. “Eri says it’s okay.” 

Some of the others whooped and cheered. Iida’s arm chopping had begun again. 

“We’re going down to the train station,” Uraraka said, tightening her hold on her backpack straps as she power walked through the school, catching up to the pair of best friends easily. There were a few whines and groans, then Kaminari came up to them. 

“I have to head down there too!” He exclaimed cheerfully. “I’ll come with you!” 

“I’ll make a group chat for everyone!” Ashido shouted, waving at them as she and Kirishima split off from the group. They waved back, and there was a skip in everyone’s step as they walked towards the station. 

“So, you wanna be a hero too?” Kaminari asked. The other two also turned to him. 

“I was also wondering,” Iida said. “You took the Gen Ed exams, but I didn’t see you at the practical.” 

“Oh, eh, I would’ve taken the exam if I could,” Izuku sighed, and Eri gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “But I’m blacklisted from any hero course in the country.” 

“But why?” Uraraka asked, clear confusion on her face. “You’re easily the smartest kid here, you managed to hack into U.A.-” “Wait, what?!” “And you managed to sneak around in the vents without pros noticing you. You would make a great hero!” 

He was sure his face was red by this point. “Well, I’m related to a villain, so that’s reason enough for the Commission.” 

Kacchan smacked him suddenly. “Very, very distantly related. It’s complete horseshit.” 

Izuku smacked him back. “Watch your language!” 

Iida started arm chopping. “I’m sure no matter who you’re related to, you can still be an amazing hero!” 

“Izu-niichan is a hero!” Eri shouted, wrapping her arms around Izuku’s head. “He saved me. And he and Kacchan will be the best heroes!” 

He smiled, grateful for his sister as she shifted her so that her arm wasn’t covering his eyes. Uraraka tilted her head curiously. “So, what’s your plan then? You might be attending U.A. but you can’t get a license unless you’re actually in the hero course.”

Izuku grinned. “I already planned for that. I’m going to transfer in through the sports festival. U.A. has a policy that any student who does well enough in the festival can transfer into heroics.” 

“But even a transfer can’t get you around the fact that you’re blacklisted,” Iida said, then paused. “There must be something I’m missing.” 

“The sports festival is televised every year. I’m gonna use the vultures to my advantage.” 

“Oh, I get it!” Kaminari piped up. “Because the festival is televised, if you do well enough that you can transfer, they have to transfer you, because otherwise the media will be up in arms!” 

The other hero students looked at him strangely, and he raised his hands. “What? Just because my brain gets zapped every time I overuse my quirk doesn’t mean I don’t have one.” 

Izuku gasped, and Kacchan groaned while the other two looked excited. Eri squealed, clapping her hands and muttering under her breath “He’s gonna do the thing!” 

“I’m assuming based on the way you spoke, your quirk has to do with electricity,” he started rambling, and never stopped for breath. “Do you produce electricity, or control electricity around you? If you produce electricity, where do you produce it in your body? How resistant is your body to the electricity you conduct? When you overuse your quirk, what’s the effect on your brain. Is the electricity normal electricity, or can you conduct it through objects that wouldn’t normally conduct electricity? What happens if you get struck by lightning? What’s your max voltage? What-” 

Izuku wheezed, finally taking deep breaths in. His rambling always does that to him. Uraraka and Iida were paying attention, and Bakugou was too, although he didn’t look like it. Kaminari looked like he had run face first into a wall, while Uraraka was puzzled and Iida was processing it. “Sorry, I tend to ramble-” 

“No, not at all!” Kaminari started flipping his hands. “It was really cool, even though I couldn’t understand half of it!” 

His face burned, turning red. “It really is!” Uraraka jumped in. “I knew you were smart, but it’s really cool to see your mind at work, you know?” 

“It’s really interesting,” Iida piped up. “You’re quite good at analysis.” 

“Oh, it’s just a hobby of mine-” Izuku dodged a tiny hand trying to poke his eye out. 

“Bad Izu-niichan,” Eri frowned, trying to poke him again. This time he licked the tiny appendage, and she squealed, rubbing it off on his uniform blazer. 

They managed to talk all the way to the station, and he was lighter, a weight lifted off of his chest that he hadn’t realized was there. Sure, he talked to Kacchan and Yagi-san, and Eraserhead while on patrol, but he hadn’t realized how lonely he was. He’d poured all his energy into his responsibilities and ignored making friends. 

Which yeah, as a teen who is raising a child and also poor and also a vigilante was a given, but it was still kinda sad. 

They managed to get back to the Bakugous fairly quickly, Kacchan literally dragging him and Eri once they got off the train. The family had insisted on having a celebratory dinner for their first day at U.A. Izuku was pretty sure they were looking for an excuse to feed him and Eri, but food was food, so he’ll take it. 

“Izu-niichan?” Eri tugged on his sleeve. They were back at the apartment, and she was sitting in his lap while she watched TV. Izuku was on his laptop, scrolling through a few security cameras idly. “Those people were really nice.” 

“The ones we met today?” At her hesitant nod, he smiled. “Yeah, they are.” 

“Can we see them again?” 

“Of course.” Izuku pressed a gentle kiss to her hair, now undyed and free of the hat. “Anything for you, little sunshine.” 

Anything for you, Eri.

Chapter Text

Katsuki is many things, but a fucking idiot is not one of them. 

These past few months, Zuku’s been acting weird. Or maybe he’s always been this weird and he’s just missed it. But anyways, he’s been hiding something from him. He’s always off doing something whenever he’s not with Katsuki, and he knows the nerd doesn’t have any other friends and doesn’t go to school (online maybe, none of his business). And Eri has been dropping off at his house more and more. 

So he has a genius plan. After leaving the unicorn with the old hag, who was absolutely delighted at the fact that he would be out of the house, he put on his disguise and started to shadow Zuku. 

For someone who’s so paranoid all the time (like kami why does he have three knives on him) he is surprisingly dense. Katsuki has been shadowing him for the past half an hour and the nerd hasn’t noticed him. Honestly Katsuki doesn’t know whether that means his stealth is just that good or if Zuku is just an idiot. 

Eventually, they wound up at the trash beach (Katsuki doesn’t remember the fucking name of it, it’s the fucking trash beach). Apparently, someone’s been cleaning it, as it’s almost halfway cleared. A skeleton man was standing on the cleared area waiting for the nerd, who beamed like the fucking sun and bounced over. They were talking too quietly for him to hear, so Katsuki crept forward a little bit. 

“You must make sure you’re not overworking yourself, young Midoriya,” the skeleton man said, handing Zuku a water bottle. “But you’re filling out nicely! You’ve been keeping on top of that meal plan I gave you, right?” 

The nerd nodded enthusiastically. “Well, I had to swap a few ingredients out here and there for stuff that was cheaper or in season, but it works just the same! All I really needed to make sure was that whatever I chose had the same nutritional value of what I was replacing-” 

Skeleton man put his hand on Zuku’s shoulder before he could go into full rambling mode. “I’m glad, my boy. Your sister is staying with your friend, right? I remember you said something last week about her never having gone on a picnic, so I was thinking we could go after training today.” 

“Of course! I’m sure she’ll love it.” 

“Now let’s get going, my boy!” Skeleton man pat Zuku on the back. “Your body won’t just spontaneously manifest One For All!” 

The nerd grinned in response. “Right!” 

Katsuki frowned as Zuku topped off the rest of his water bottle, running towards the trash pile nearest to them. Skeleton man hadn’t seemed to notice him either, so this was his best bet to get more information. 

It was pretty funny to see him jump when Katsuki managed to sneak right up to him. 

“Ah, hello young man!” Skeleton man managed to recover fairly quickly, to his credit. “What’s going on?” 

Katsuki just narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Who are you?” 

“Hey Yagi-san- Kacchan!” Both of them looked over at Zuku, who was lugging a fridge along behind him. “What are you doing here?!” 

“I could ask you the same thing, dumbass!” Katsuki shouted back. “And how did you know it was me?” 

“You’re literally just wearing sunglasses and a fake mustache,” Zuku responded. “And you’re dodging the question!” 

“So are you!” 

“Boys, boys, settle down,” Yagi presumably held his hands up, and the two managed to break off their bickering (an accomplishment for both of them). “Young Midoriya, do you know him?” 

“Yeah, that’s my friend Kacchan,” Zuku said nonchalantly. 

“I really hope you don’t introduce me as Kacchan to everyone.” Zuku just smacked Katsuki for his grumbling. 

“Speaking of which, you’re supposed to be watching Eri!” 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Relax, shitty nerd. The unicorn’s with the old hag, the hag was excited to kick me outta the house. Something about a girl’s night. Anyways, you’re still dodging the question!” 

“I asked you first!” 

“I followed you out here to ask you!” 

Yagi cleared his throat, shifting nervously. “How much of our conversation did you hear?” 

“Enough, you two are fucking loud. Also what the fuck is One For All?” 

The two of them looked at each other nervously. Katsuki narrowed his eyes, glaring at Zuku, knowing he’ll fold eventually. Zuku swallowed but held out, so Katsuki folded his arms and fashioned his normal-banter-with-Zuku scowl into his disappointed-you-are-such-a-fucking-idiot scowl. That made him cave. 

“Fine! One For All is a quirk!” Yagi looked shocked, and Zuku had tears in his eyes (fuckin crybaby). “I’m sorry! I can’t lie to Kacchan!” 

Katsuki snorted. He knows that he and Eri are the only two people on Earth who could get through to Zuku, and no matter how apparently familiar Yagi is with Zuku, he is not on the list and will likely never be. “Look, Zuku’s given me the spiel about dangerous information and shit, so I get that, but you better fucking tell me what you can. I don’t give a damn about any shitty ass villains, I’m strong enough to blast them all away. Besides, Zuku’s an idiot who needs to be reminded to eat, he needs someone keeping an eye on him.” 

Yagi looked back over at the nerd, who was desperately trying not to cry as if he didn’t have Midoriya genes, and sighed. “I suppose it would be beneficial to have someone else in the loop,” he said, then started to tell a tale of a quirk that could be passed down. Of a line of heroes who held and cultivated the sacred power to keep it growing. Of how he, All Might (and no, Katsuki didn’t have to take a moment to freak the fuck out, shut up Zuku) is the eighth bearer of One For All, and how the shitty nerd is going to be the ninth. 

“Of course you’d try and get a quirk that’ll blow off all your limbs,” Katsuki muttered, which earned him a punch in the arm from said nerd. 

“It won’t blow off all my limbs if I get stronger!” Zuku shouted, pumping one fist into the air. “Which is why I’m cleaning the beach!” 

“Fine, I’ll help you with your lame ass training,” Katsuki grumbled, ignoring the cheer from Zuku and the raised eyebrow from Small Might. “But you better fucking get into UA. I’m not going to go through all this work for you to fail.” 

“Pff, I’ll go beyond passing. Plus ultra!” The shitty nerd pumped his fist in the air again. 

Katsuki strolled to the trash pile, ignoring Small Might’s comment about “Maybe you should stand back and let young Midoriya train-” and planting his ass on the fridge that Zuku was in the middle of dragging. 

“Well, you gonna clean or are you gonna stand there like a fucking fish, hah?” Katsuki shouted from his throne. “C’mon, the fridge isn’t gonna drag itself to the damn dumpster!” 

“Kacchan! Get off- It’s not funny!” The nerd was slowly turning red as Small Might started laughing next to him. He stomped over, grabbing the ropes around the fridge and starting to drag, but noticeably slower this time. 

“C’mon! You’re not going to get halfway across the beach at this rate!” Katsuki started heckling Zuku. Small Might could later try and justify it as part of the training, but really it was because fucking with the nerd was hilarious. 

And above all else (a new power that will potentially endanger his friend, All Might being their new personal trainer, and the nerd aiming for UA) Katsuki was never going to give up a chance to fuck with Zuku.

Chapter Text

Actually Kitsune @therealkitsune

@officalendeavour I’m gonna harvest your toes

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

nevermind, the identity fraud can stick around, your threats are fantastic

please stop @detectiveliedetector

why are you like this

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

im just saying that ‘i will boil your teeth’ is quality gold and im gonna add that to my vocab

Actually Kitsune @therealkitsune

Feel free to use any of my unsettling threats as long as you aim some of them at Endeavour

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

fuck yeah #endeawhore

Now trending: #endeawhore

Friendos :3 - 9:24 pm

God’s Mistake (Kitsune), Eraserdad (Eraserhead) and Tsuki-kun (Detective Tsukauchi) are all online.

God’s Mistake: oh im a FUCKIN IDIOT

God’s Mistake: @mcchicken r u alright man????

McChicken (Hawks) is online.

McChicken: its ok ur good

God’s Mistake: im worried bout u dumbass

McChicken: rude

McChicken: but seriously im fine

McChicken: i managed to bs my way out of it

God’s Mistake: good good

Tsuki-kun: Hey Kitsune

God’s Mistake: uh oh

Tsuki-kun: What in kami are you doing on Twitter?

God’s Mistake: the lords work

God’s Mistake: also bless the identity thief for only using that account to shit on endeawhore

Eraserdad: are you just gonna call him that

God’s Mistake: yes

Eraserdad: …

Eraserdad: mic approves

McChicken: ???

God’s Mistake: hes reading over eraserdads shoulder

McChicken: what the FUCK

God’s Mistake: also on a completely unrelated note

God’s Mistake: how do u make pancakes

Tsuki-kun: what

Eraserdad: what

McChicken: what

God’s Mistake: the lil sunshine wants pancakes 4 dinner and i dont want 2 set my apartment on fire

McChicken: but u love arson

God’s Mistake: while arson is my husband

God’s Mistake: i need somewhere to live that isnt on fire

Eraserdad: Easy Pancakes Recipe  

God’s Mistake: thanks dad

God’s Mistake: wait

Kitsune jumped over rooftops, cackling as he heard the police sirens behind him. While chasing a drug dealer (whose cash was now his) he had crossed over into a better part of Musutafu, who were bothering to send police after him. Adrenaline thrummed through his veins, giving him a high that made him feel like he was flying. 

An idea popped into his head, one that really was a bad idea, but it sent his heart pumping. To get back to the district he was actually supposed to be patrolling, he’d have to cut through the populated city center. 

A certain pre quirk hero bubbled at the back of his mind, and he grinned underneath the mask.

He changed directions, running towards the cluster of skyscrapers. He could hear the police swearing behind him, but it only encouraged him to go faster. A part of him, his common sense (the part that sounded suspiciously like Kacchan), told him that this was an awful idea, but the adrenaline high was overriding his brain. 

He snapped his wrist forward, the grappling hook on the underside of his bracer launching forward. It anchored itself into the side of a skyscraper, and he jumped. 

The wind rushed past him as he flew, adrenaline thrumming in his veins as he hollered in delight. His hood was pushed back, revealing dark green curls pulled back into a low ponytail, but he didn’t really care. The heroes already knew his hair was green. 

Spiderman really was the best PQ hero. 

Kitsune repeated the motion with his other arm, drunk on the feeling of freedom as he swung through the city. He could hear the crowd of people underneath him gasping in delight or shock, and knew that this stunt of his was gonna go viral, but he didn’t care. He felt alive.

Unfortunately, being in a better part of the city meant that there were actual nighttime heroes. Well, nighttime heroes that patrolled there because they could rather than because they were chasing him. 

His quirk felt the transformation type quirk behind him. Sneaking a glance behind him, Kitsune saw the hero Edgeshot at the edge (haha) of his vision. Shiryoni, the wonderful AI that she is, helpfully popped up information on the pro hero. 

He dodged a razor thin body part (he’s not questioning which for his own sanity) and the game was on. 

“You know, it’s quite flattering to have the big shots after me!” Kitsune quipped, swinging around a building as the pro chased him. “But really, if you want an autograph, you can just ask. Chasing me around the city is a bit creepy!” 

“You know exactly why I’m bringing you in,” Edgeshot responded coolly, continuing to follow him. “If you come quietly, it’ll be easier for you.” 

The vigilante laughed, something mischievous and bitter and jaded, all at once. “Yeah, like I’d believe that!” 

The hero flinched mid jump like he’d been slapped in the face, and Kitsune took the opportunity to tuck and roll into a dark alley. He activated Shadow Cloak, letting the dark shadows settle over his body as he slowly and silently crept to the other end of the alley. 

A few moments later, Edgeshot ran to the alley, confusion visible on his face as he observed a seemingly empty alley. He continued running though, and Kitsune let out the breath he was holding, releasing his hold on Shadow Cloak and pulling up Crow. 

The world grew around him, and he could feel feathers run up his skin as his arms morphed into wings. Kitsune, now a crow, flew up into the night, returning to the district he was supposed to be in. 

Flying as a crow was always peaceful to Kitsune. It was the feeling of weightlessness, the feeling of freedom as he let animal instincts take over and guide him back to where he belonged. 

Dropping down in the slums of Musutafu, he released Crow, landing onto the roof of the building in a power pose that would make Spiderman himself proud. He took off across the rooftops, making his way to the sounds of a scuffle that he could barely pick up. 

He crouched over the edge of the ledge, keeping his mask lights off as he peeked over. Two men, one with a mutant quirk and another with a weak sand based emitter quirk, were standing in front of another young man, who was hunched in on himself. One had a gun, while the other seemed to rely mostly on their tail mutation. 

Kitsune smirked under the mask, dropping down from the roof and landing with a thud. Three heads whipped around as he brought up his hand to turn his mask lights back on, and soft greenish blue light filled the alleyway from the grinning kitsune face. “And what seems to be the problem here?” He asked, twirling his compacted staff in one hand, ready to pop it open at a moment’s notice. 

“Kitsune!” “Shit!” Both muggers shouted at the same time, the gun now pointing at him instead. “None of your fucking business!” The one with the gun shouted back. 

“Well, I’m pretty sure you were just mugging that dude,” the vigilante responded with a shrug, eyes sweeping over the situation. “Unless you wanna correct me on that?” 

He took a step forward, and the one with the gun tightened his finger on the trigger. “Any step closer and I shoot!” 

“Oh, really?” Kitsune tilted his head, flicking his wrist. The grappling hook snapped out, snatching the gun from the mugger and pulling it towards him. “You know, it’s kind of boring to fall back on a gun. I mean, you have a sand quirk, you’d think that you’d be more creative with it.” 

The man flinched, and the other mugger with the tail mutation started to run. The vigilante simply snapped his other wrist forward, wrapping the grappling hook around him and dragging him backwards, alongside his mother’s quirk. 

Sand mugger stepped backwards, creating a small cloud of sand from his fingertips and flinging it towards him. Kitsune simply lifted his wrist, letting a small burst of green fire out to disperse the cloud. “I could tango all night guys, but I do have the rest of the city to patrol. So you could surrender, or I’ll drag you to the ground like your buddy over here.” Tail man groaned on que. Sand mugger raised his arms. 

The vigilante tied up the two criminals to a light post at the end of the alleyway. He went back to approach the mugging victim, who was currently huddling in on himself. “Hey, are you hurt anywhere?” He asked gently, helping the man stand. 

He shook his head in response, leaning on the wall of the alley. “Thank you so much,” he said. “I thought they were gonna kill me.” 

“It’s alright, the zip ties are reinforced, they aren’t going anywhere,” Kitsune reassured the man when he noticed him looking nervously at the thugs. “Shiryoni’s already called the police, so they’ll be here soon. Will you be okay waiting here?” 

The man nodded, so Kitsune let his awareness spread (not that he was really unaware, but he focused on it). He felt the presence of Erasure behind him, and turned to see Eraserhead standing at the end of the alleyway. 

“Hi Eraserdad!” The vigilante chirped, reveling in the faces of both the criminals and the hero in question. “School just started for you, right? How many students have you expelled?” 

The hero in question rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to know that, problem child.” 

“Aww, but you know I won’t stop bugging you unless you tell me~!” 

Eraserhead grumbled. “Just one.” 

“Only one! That’s a new record for you.” 

“Kitsune-” The hero was cut off when he skipped backwards, giving a small salute as the grappling hook pulled him onto the roof. 

“Thanks for taking care of the clean up, Eraserdad!” Kitsune said, perched on the ledge of the roof. “I’ve gotta get back to patrol. Enjoy the paperwork!” 

The vigilante skipped off into the night cackling as he heard Eraserhead swearing him out behind him. 

Musutafu Central Broadcasting @mcbofficial

Kitsune has been spotted traveling through downtown Musutafu, swinging from building to building in a chase with Edgeshot! Watch the news clip here.

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune

look dad im famous @catsarelife

dont talk to me before my coffee @catsarelife

problem child what the fuck

The second day of school was better than the first, at least for Izuku’s anxiety. 

He put in the same amount of knives as he did yesterday, and he made sure he had everything he needed (he was pretty sure that his backpack was heavy enough to count as a weapon of its own). They met Kacchan and Uraraka at the station, same as yesterday, although they didn’t nearly miss the train this time. Eri was excited to see Kurana-sensei again, and waved hello to Yagi when they passed through the halls. 

He and Shinsou figured out that they both used sign language, so used sign language to communicate through classes (it was standard ice breaker stuff, so Izuku was gonna zone out most of the time anyways). They mostly talked about how cool Eraserhead is and Izuku nerded out about quirks. It was nice, certainly much better than what he remembered school to be like when he was six. He even managed to convince the boy to sit with him for lunch. 

Uraraka and Iida had already claimed a table, and waved them over. They were next to the table with Kacchan and his friends, so Midoriya sat next to Kacchan while Shinsou sat next to him. 

“Oh kami,” Izuku’s eyes widened after taking a bite of his katsudon. “Forget everything I ever said. Lunch Rush is my new favorite hero.” 

Kacchan rolled his eyes next to him. “Anyone who makes you food is your favorite hero.” 

Izuku simply poked his friend as Uraraka and Iida laughed. Kacchan poked back, and then the poking war was on-

“Izu-niichan!” 

Izuku looked up, narrowly dodging being poked in the eye, as he watched his little sister run through the cafeteria with a tray of food, Kurana-sensei following her. He stood up, going to meet Eri and picking up her tray of food. She was bouncing up and down next to him, one hand clutching the edge of his blazer. 

“Your sister wanted to eat with you in the cafeteria,” the hero explained, with a bit of a questioning tone. 

“Of course my favorite little sunshine can come sit with me,” Izuku grinned down at Eri, who beamed in return. “Come on, Uraraka and Iida and Kacchan have already sat down, as well as a new friend too.” 

Kurana-sensei left as Izuku picked his way back to their table, Eri following dutifully behind him. He regained his seat, scooting his tray over as his sister sat on his lap and ate her udon, much to the cooing of Uraraka and Ashido from the other table. 

“Shinsou, this is Eri, my little sister,” Izuku explained. “Eri, this is Shinsou Hitoshi.” 

“Hello Shinchan!” Eri smiled, then turned to Izuku. “Where is Hachan?” 

Iida and Shinsou seemed to be confused, while Uraraka was still cooing over Eri. “I’m sure Hatsume will be here soon, she’s probably getting her lunch.” 

“Shinchan?” Shinsou asked curiously, as if testing the nickname. 

Eri nodded, then pointed at the teens around her. “Urachan,” Uraraka, “Iidachan,” Iida, “Shinchan,” Shinsou, “Izu-niichan,” Izuku, “and Kacchan!” 

“I really like Urachan!” Uraraka exclaimed, and Iida looked like he was about to say something, but she covered his mouth with her hand, to his dismay. “And Iidachan is really cute too!” Shinsou nodded in agreement. Eri beamed. 

Izuku looked at Eri’s bowl and sighed. “Eri, you’ve got to eat your veggies.” 

The little girl pouted. “But they’re gross and they taste gross.” 

“If you eat them, you’ll grow up big and strong!” 

“Then why are you so short, Izu-niichan?” 

Izuku sputtered at that, and the rest of the table laughed (including Kacchan, the traitor). “Well, Iida is tall, and I’m sure he ate his vegetables growing up!” 

“That I did!” Iida started hand chopping. “Eating vegetables is very important to make sure you’re healthy and happy!” 

Eri nodded sagely, pointing her chopsticks at Izuku. “Then you need to eat more vegetables.” 

He just levelled a look at her. “Eri, I’m not going to eat your vegetables for you.” 

“What vegetables? What are we talking about?” Hatsume popped up suddenly with her food tray, goggles over her eyes. 

Izuku took the opportunity to steal one of Eri’s noodles. “Big brother tax,” he slurped. “Now you have to eat your vegetables.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a pair of chopsticks pluck a piece of his katsudon, and he watched, betrayed, as Kacchan ate it. “I trusted you. I thought we were friends.” 

“My only loyalty is to the Unicorn,” Kacchan responded. 

Eri nodded sagely. “Your loyalty is app-re-cia-ted, my loyal servant.” 

As the rest of the table laughed, and Izuku reached over to steal some of Kacchan’s curry, he thought that life couldn’t get any better than it did then. 

Izuku shook himself out, trying to dust the soot off of his blazer as much as possible (definitely a story for another day). The period after lunch for class 1-C was a free period, which was when Nedzu was claiming him for their private lessons. 

Right when he held up his fist to knock, the doors swung open. Nedzu was seated behind an enormous desk, pouring tea into a couple of tea cups. 

“Welcome, Midoriya Izuku,” Nedzu greeted him as the boy walked forwards to take a seat. “Am I a mouse? A bear? A dog? I am Nedzu, the principal of U.A.” 

“Actually, of everything you could be, you look like an albino stoat,” Izuku muttered on instinct, then slammed his mouth shut. The creature across from him only grinned and pushed a steaming tea cup towards him. 

“Excellent deduction, Midoriya. I believe this year is going to be very interesting.” Nedzu took a sip of his tea. “As my private student, we’ll be going over anything you would like to learn. I was thinking of starting with a base curriculum of psychology, logical fallacies, as well as programming and polishing up your analysis and hacking skills. In addition, I was also thinking of including criminal justice, how to track where a criminal will strike and take preventative measures rather than reactive measures. And of course, information gathering and ciphers. Is there anything else you would like to add?” 

Izuku nodded, taking a sip of his tea. It was a pleasant blend, Imperial Gold; he recognized it as Gentle’s favorite. “I want to know how to manipulate the media and public perception as well. Knowing how to eliminate the influence of a villain and how to better society from the shadows. If I get into a hero course, I’ll likely be an underground hero, so this way I can still have the know-how to change the public like a limelight hero without actually being in the limelight.” 

Nedzu grinned, and it felt like Izuku passed some sort of invisible test. “Excellent. Now, can you pass over the laptop you used to hack into our systems?” 

He silently handed the laptop over, observing as the stoat watched the screen with interest. “The cybersecurity on this is excellent, however, I will be adding a few programs that will increase the encryption and some that we’ll be using for our lessons.” Nedzu handed the laptop back. “I don’t think I need to say this, but please bring your laptop every day. We will be using them for lessons.” 

“Of course,” Izuku nodded, putting it safely back in his bag. 

“Now, I do need a baseline of your analyses,” Nedzu clapped his paws together. “So for your first bit of homework, I would like you to submit a notebook of analyses on the students of class 1-A. You cannot ask them about their quirks or prior training, and you must do so in secret. You’ll be allowed to go to Ground Beta where Class 1-A is currently training.” 

Izuku took the notebook that Nedzu gave him. “Would you like me to encrypt the information I write down?” 

Nedzu shook his head. “This is just a test of your analyses. I wouldn’t want any errors in the encryption process to muddy your work, after all. Encryption and ciphers can come later.” 

Izuku nodded in response. “Now, our time is almost up,” Nedzu said, clapping his hands together. “You’re gonna want to go now if you want to make it to Ground Beta before Class 1-A.” 

Izuku gave his teacher a mock salute, before backing up and activating One For All. At Nedzu’s questioning expression, he jumped, hooking his fingers on the edge of the open vent and climbing in. Izuku grinned at his teacher’s delighted laughter, and let himself cackle as he zoomed through the vents, green lightning crackling around him. 

Class 1-A won’t know what hit them.

Chapter Text

Izuku bounced through the vents, letting out shrieks of joy as he ping ponged through UA. Every startled shout from the hallways above and below him only fueled his mad dash, making his cackling sound insane. Which is just the way he liked it. 

It only took a few minutes for him to slide into position. He found the observation room rather quickly, laying down flat on his stomach and pulling out his notebook. 

Izuku was vibrating in anticipation when Class 1-A and All Might finally entered the room. His pencil was furiously scratching away as he wrote down observations on everyone’s costumes, his mind already five steps ahead. 

“Welcome, heroes! Today, we will be conducting your first combat exercise!” All Might’s voice boomed. The students started talking all at once. 

“Slow down, I have super strength, not super hearing!” All Might laughed. “Let’s see, young Asui, this will be more of a pre-test than an exercise, to test where you all are at and what we need to work on, and will be perfectly safe. Young Iida, you are kind of correct, we will be fighting in Ground Beta. And young Aoyama, your cape is fabulous!” 

He waved to the board behind him, a graphic coming up behind him. “Today you will be fighting within this building. The exercise is simple: you will be divided into teams of two, one side being the hero and one side being the villain. The villains will be hiding a paper mache bomb within the building. For the heroes to win, they can either capture both villains or touch the bomb. For the villains to win, they can either wait out the timer or capture both heroes. The villains will have five minutes to hide the bomb and the heroes will have those five minutes to plan their entrance. Your teams and battles will be determined by random lots. Are there any questions?” 

Iida raised his hand. “All Might-sensei! Is determining the matches by random lots the best way to sort us?” 

Yaoyorozu surprised almost everyone by responding instead. “Out on the field, pros have to team up randomly all the time.” 

“You are correct, young Yaoyorozu!” All Might boomed. “In addition, it is only the second day of class, and this is a pre-test. Me putting you in teams would be the equivalent to drawing random lots anyways! Although,” here the man faltered a little bit, “It seems one of you will have to be in two teams. Are there any volunteers?” 

Everyone looked around and started to talk, but Kacchan pushed his way to the front. “I’ll do it!” He shouted, with a characteristic smirk that was so Kacchan that it made Izuku snort. Yaoyorozu, who was closest to the vent he was in, looked up at the ceiling suspiciously. 

“Alright, Young Bakugou! Now, everyone come forward and pick a slip!” 

The hero stepped to the side, waving his hand at the screen as the teams came up, the names coming up slowly. 

Team A: Aoyama Yuuga and Mineta Minoru

Team B: Asui Tsuyu and Todoroki Shouto

Team C: Iida Tenya and Tokoyami Fumikage

Team D: Ashido Mina and Katsuki Bakugou

Team E: Uraraka Ochako and Kaminari Denki

Team F: Ojiro Mashirao and Hagakure Tooru

Team G: Satou Rikidou and Katsuki Bakugou

Team H: Kirishima Eijirou and Yaoyorozu Momo

Team I: Kouda Koji and Jirou Kyoka

Team J: Shoji Mezou and Sero Hanta

“Take your time and find your teams, before I show the match ups!” 

Team G vs Team J

Team H vs Team I

Team A vs Team C

Team B vs Team F

Team D vs Team E

Izuku wondered idly if Kacchan’s matches were separated so far because of random chance or a certain stoat intervening. He perked back up when All Might sent the four students out, hastily scribbling down his predictions for the match and watching the screens with a narrow focus. 

Shoji and Sero placed their bomb on the third floor, and Sero started wrapping the entire area in tape traps while Shoji just kept an ear or three out. Kacchan and Satou were crouched down the street, with their eyes narrowed in on the windows. Everyone on both the hero and villain teams had comms that allowed their teammates to communicate with each other, which were also all funneled into the control room. While Shoji was busy directing Sero over where to best place his tape traps, Satou and Kacchan were strategizing. 

“Tape Arms is using his quirk to make traps,” Kacchan said. When the other boy raised an eyebrow, he scowled. “You’ve got eyes, take a look.” 

“It’s just tape though,” Satou pointed out. “I can brute force it.”

“Depends on your quirk,” Kacchan grumbled. When Satou frowned, the explosive rolled his eyes but gestured towards him. 

“I can increase my strength five fold when I eat sugar,” he explained. “I can get three minutes out of every ten grams of sugar.” 

Kacchan huffed, before tossing a packet of-

“Those better not be my fucking gummy worms,” Izuku grumbled. 

A packet of gummy worms. “That should last long enough,” Kacchan scowled. “You go in from the bottom and I’ll go in from the top, we’ll work our way through and meet in the middle. Got it?” 

Satou looked like he was about to say something, but the bell for the exercise went off, and Kacchan was already off. He used his explosions to leap into the air, landing on the roof of the building. Satou rolled his eyes, but downed the entire pack of gummy worms and bulked up. Izuku’s eyes went wide at the possibilities as the boy entered the building. 

Shoji and Sero were in the room with the bomb, with Shoji keeping lookout and Sero listening. Izuku could hear the explosions going off on the fifth floor as Kacchan blasted his way through the tape. “Satou is entering through the first floor, and Bakugou is entering from the fifth floor,” Shoji said. 

“My tape won’t last long against explosions,” Sero frowned. 

“You should go confront Bakugou,” Shoji said. “The extra traps on the first and second floor should hold Satou.” 

“You’re right!” Sero grinned, skipping backwards with a thumbs up. “Hold down the fort, I’ll be back in a jiffy!” One of Shoji’s tentacle mouths nodded in response, and the boy turned back around. 

Sero dodged and weaved through his spider’s nest of tape, until he came to the fourth floor, the same floor where Kacchan was using his explosions to blast away the tape. 

“Yo! Bakuhoe!” Sero shouted. “Catch!” 

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CALL ME TAPE ARMS?!” Kacchan shouted back, blasting away the tape that was shot at him. Izuku snickered from the vents. He was definitely using that. 

“I don’t know Bakuhoe, you’re kind of fighting awfully hard,” Sero kept heckling him, slinging around the blonde with his tape and trying to wrap him up. “You can just admit you like the name~!” 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP SOY SAUCE FACE!!!” Kacchan evidently got tired of blowing up the tape that was sent his way and launched himself at the other boy. 

Sero made a face as he dodged, but quickly shouted as he fell back into his own trap. The tape he created wrapped around him, and the more he struggled, the more it ensnared him. Kacchan’s smirk as he wrapped the official capture tape around his wrists was unbearably smug. 

“Sero Hanta from the Villain Team has been captured!” 

“Sorry, Bakugou. They put a lot of tape down here.” Satou’s voice crackled over the comms. 

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Kacchan declared, putting his hands towards the ground and blasting a hole into the floor. 

He landed in the room with the bomb, avoiding the tape traps as he landed on the slab of concrete that fell in the first place. Shoji barely had any time to react as Kacchan twisted around-

“The Hero Team has reached the bomb! The Hero Team wins!” 

Izuku was vibrating, energy humming in his veins as he watched the fight. He was pretty sure that the familiar green lightning of One For All was buzzing over his skin, he was that excited, his pencil flying fast against the pages. 

The whole situation should have tipped him off to the fact that it was too good to be true. 

The four students had just gotten back to the observation room when the vent cover buckled. Izuku had just enough time to think ‘oh fuck’ before he was falling, landing flat on his face. He had just lifted his head up, when his notebook fell down and hit the back of his head. 

“Zuku!” “Mido!” “Midoriya!” 

Izuku grinned, picking himself up and bouncing on his toes. “Young Midoriya! I didn’t know you would be here today!” All Might said. 

“It’s part of my first assignment from Nedzu,” Izuku explained simply. All Might simply went ‘ah’ and moved along. It seemed like the other students wanted to ask questions, but decided against it as their teacher bowled along. 

“Well, that was a very interesting match!” All Might boomed. “Now, who wants to explain who is the MVP of this round?” 

Yaoyorozu raised her hand. “I think Midoriya should,” she said. “He’s- uh- very thoughtful about the match. I heard him in the vents.” 

Izuku flushed, covering his mouth with his hands. “Sorry!” He squeaked. 

All Might smacked him heartily on the back, which was probably meant to be light hearted but sent him stumbling. “Well then, let’s hear it!” 

He cleared his throat and straightened up. “The MVP of the round is Shoji,” Izuku said, his voice clear and confident once he was in his element, ignoring the betrayed glare from Kacchan. “He planned with his teammate and kept a level head the entire match, using his quirk to direct the best places for traps, optimizing both of their abilities to their advantage.” 

“What the fuck, Zuku?!” Kacchan shouted from the back. “I won!!” 

“But your communication skills are shit and your temper is as explosive as your quirk!” Izuku would never pass up an opportunity to roast his best friend. He also threw his pencil at the blonde. 

“Ow! What was that for?!” 

“That’s for my gummy worms!!” 

All Might cleared his throat. “Alright, alright, settle down.” Izuku blushed and hid his face behind his notebook. “Thank you for the insight, Young Midoriya. Now, it’s time for the next match!” 

There was no way that Team I could’ve pulled a win out. Kirishima and Yaoyorozu’s quirks were too versatile, and they’ve both clearly been training with their quirks a long time. I recognize a few of the martial arts styles that Kirishima blended to get his fighting style, and Yaoyoruzu is knowledgeable about her chemistry. 

To their credit, they did try. Jirou tracked their progress through the building and Kouda used the rats to fight the heroes. But alas, the rats were no match for a hardened Kirishima, and the redhead distracted the two heroes for Yaoyorozu to use spring boots to jump over and touch the bomb. Overall an excellent strategy, although Kirishima needs to get more of an eye for strategy. He can’t rely on other heroes for strategy all the time. 

 

Was it bad that I was rooting for Aoyama to smack Mineta the whole time? Mineta kept making pervy comments about the girls, he’s going to get expelled at some point, especially with Eraserhead as their homeroom teacher. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. 

However, when Aoyama threw Mineta out the second story window, I knew it was over. Iida and Tokoyami are both powerhouses on their own, together they were a terrifying duo. Theoretically, it could’ve been an interesting matchup if Mineta could put aside his creepiness and used his sticky balls (that felt gross to write out) to trap Iida while Aoyama used his naval laser to cow Dark Shadow and get to the bomb, but that did not happen. 

Iida’s strategy was sound, as Tokoyami guarded the bomb in a room in the center of the building that had no windows and only the door as light, so that Dark Shadow was at its strongest, while Iida patrolled the area. It ended up working, as he quickly captured Aoyama and ran out to capture Mineta. A solid win for the villains, who I was personally rooting for. 

 

OHH BOY- Todoroki engulfing the entire building in ice was the hottest thing I’ve seen in my life (note to self, don’t leave this in when you turn in the analyses for Nedzu). Asui just stood off to the side while Todoroki stood to the side and did all the work. Todoroki’s power is certainly impressive, but his communication skills are six feet under, and he would be even more impressive if he used the fire I know for a fact he has just use it goddamn it-

Anyways, getting back on track. I will have to go and get the footage from the entrance exam to make an accurate analysis of Asui, Ojiro and Hagakure. It’s a shame, those three were the ones I was interested in the most. 

Izuku was pretty sure he was going to be sore as hell tonight, but he didn’t care. He has been buzzing with excitement the whole hour, and was thrilled to see Kacchan’s next match. 

“Good luck, Kacchan!” Izuku chirped. 

The explosive pomeranian scoffed. “Don’t confer your shitty luck onto me, nerd.” 

He was pretty sure his brain had to physically reboot. “What does that even mean?” He just got a middle finger for his troubles. 

Izuku would soon learn what that meant. 

Uraraka and Kaminari went in first, with Uraraka going right up to the top of the building and floating the bomb right above them. They talked under the bomb, and Kacchan and Ashido talked from a block away. 

“So, Round Cheeks and Dunce Face are on the roof,” Kacchan smirked. “That makes my job easier.” 

“What’s the game plan?” Ashido asked. “I mean obviously we’re going to the roof, but the bomb is floating.” 

“We don’t go for the bomb then,” Kacchan rolled his eyes. “We capture the villains instead. I’ll go for Pikachu and you go for Round Cheeks.” 

“Wait a minute, why-” 

The bell interrupted her, and the explosive blonde jumped up, blasting his way up to the roof like he did in his last match. Ashido rolled her eyes, but ran forwards and started climbing up the side of the building using her acid. 

Kacchan touched down onto the roof at the same time that Ashido reached the top of the roof. He rushed Kaminari, while Ashido ran towards Uraraka, flinging around acid while Uraraka dodged. Kaminari did the same, not making any moves to fight offensively and dancing around Kacchan. 

The floor was starting to be covered in sizzling acid. Izuku grinned as he realized the team’s plan. 

Uraraka jumped off of the roof, making herself float as she left Kaminari on the roof. “Kami, now!” 

Kacchan’s face was priceless, and lightning danced around them as Kaminari let his quirk go, electricity flowing through the acid and arcing into him and Ashido. 

They flopped onto the floor, and Kaminari blinked dumbly. “Huh, I thought that would take more volts.” 

“THE HERO TEAM HAS BEEN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS. THE VILLAIN TEAM WINS!” 

“I’ll go get Kacchan,” Izuku said, having finished his notetaking. Before All Might could object, he jumped into the vents, using One For All to zoom to the battleground. 

He popped up from one of the vents going up to the roof, to see that Uraraka had landed back on the roof with Kaminari’s help. “Hi guys!” 

“Oh, hi Mido!” Uraraka waved as Izuku walked over. “Are you here to help out?” 

“Yeah, I’ve done my assignment for Nedzu, I just need to polish it up, but I can do that at home.” He looked over the two hero students. “Kaminari, can you take Ashido? Uraraka, you should probably go down and see All Might, I can take Kacchan.” 

“Are you sure?” Kaminari asked. “No offense, but you kind of look like a stick.” 

Izuku answered that by bending down and picking up Kacchan, easily slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “The uniform makes me look smaller than I am,” he shrugged, starting to walk to Recovery Girl. 

Kaminari stood there blinking for a few seconds, before something adjusted in his brain and he got Ashido on his back, following the greenette back to the main campus.

Chapter Text

“And that’s for my gummy worms!” Izuku smacked Kacchan on the head again. The explosive blonde clutched his head but didn’t say anything, probably because of Eri sitting right next to him. And because Izuku’s made it quite clear that he won’t escape an ass kicking if he swears around Eri. 

Kaminari whistled from his chair next to Ashido’s bed. “Remind me not to get on Midoriya’s bad side.” Ashido nodded in agreement. 

Him and Kaminari were still in the school’s infirmary, waiting for Ashido and Kacchan to wake up from their healing with Recovery Girl. Eri was there too, as she really wanted to make sure ‘Kacchan-nii’ was okay, while Kaminari reasoned that resident idiots gotta stick together. Izuku got through polishing up Todoroki’s, Iida’s, and Aoyama’s analyses before Ashido woke up, and only a few minutes later Kacchan woke up. Which was when he started yelling at Kacchan. 

“Ow! Okay- okay, I fu- I get it!” Kacchan growled after a few more smacks. Recovery Girl had given them the all clear, so Izuku was in the all clear to smack him as many times as it takes for the message to get through. 

Eri tugged on Izuku’s sleeve. “Izu-niichan, I wanna go to Auntie Mitsuki’s.” 

Izuku sighed, grabbing Kacchan by the arm and dragging him out of the infirmary. “Come on, let’s get back home. I only told Auntie that you got hurt, so it’s up to you to answer her.” 

Kacchan paled, but let himself be pulled along. “You left me at the hag’s mercy?!” 

“Karma, Kacchan, karma.” 

“What does that mean?!” 

Izuku had just tucked Eri into bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead and tucking her stuffed puppy in with her. He slipped into his office, closing the door with a soft click, before changing quickly and slipping out the window. 

He breathed in the cool night air, letting the mask slip on. Kitsune flicked his wrist, his grappling hook taking him up into the air and launching him into the air. 

One For All still took some getting used to. He didn’t use it on patrol, because he didn’t want anything linking his vigilante persona with his civilian one, but his other quirks were more powerful. And All For One, it settled, it stopped constantly screeching in his ear to take quirks. Almost like it was satisfied. 

Kitsune did not like the implications of that. 

He pushed his personal problems to the back of his mind as he started his patrol, keeping his ears open as he ran over the rooftops of the red light district. The familiar buzz of Shiryoni’s chatter in his ear, the sounds and chatter of the city, the lights of people’s quirks. This is what he lived for. Right next to the adrenaline that he feels in every fight. 

Doesn’t make getting shot any more fun though. 

“Codeword League of Villains detected in a conversation in an alleyway. Location marked on street map.” 

Ice cold dread shivered down his spine. “Thanks Shiryoni,” he muttered, switching directions to the ‘Deadzone.’ 

The Deadzone was a special area in the red light district that was completely abandoned. All the buildings were in ruins, and even the homeless didn't dare to set foot there. It was the hunting ground of a few different serial killers, and it was so deserted that the police have just abandoned it with warnings to stay away. Dead bodies were left to rot in the street. Criminals dared to enter in order to arrange meetings because nobody except the known serial killers lived there, but most of them died grisly deaths. A long time ago, Kitsune stayed a few months in one of the apartments, but after a particularly nasty near death experience, he decided to pack it up and leave. 

Kitsune normally avoids the Deadzone. No civilians go in there anymore, and the criminals who go in are either pretty strong or pretty stupid, so he decided a long time ago that the risk was not worth trying to patrol it. Unfortunately, the information about the League was too important to not go in. 

He ducked down on the edge of a building, poised to make a quick escape if necessary. Across from him was a deathly familiar figure, perched like a raptor about to strike. The glint of metal caught his eye, and Kitsune started to panic. 

‘Wait,’ he signed. 

The figure tilted his head. ‘Why?’

‘Need information. They’re yours after.’

After a pause, the figure nodded. Kitsune let out a breath of relief, then focused back into the conversation. 

“Dude, you serious?” One of the thugs said. “That’s it?” 

“Guys, I know it’s crazy, but I think they’re legit!” Another thug responded. “Just imagine if we were a part of the group to kill All Might!” 

“Did they at least promise pay?” The third thug asked, earning a dirty look from the first thug. 

“Yeah, a massive one! One billion yen!” 

“Woah, we’d be set for life!” The third thug responded.

The first thug sighed. “Did they at least give a location?” 

“Yeah! You know that one warehouse in the docks?” 

“The docks have only warehouses.” 

“Where that one madman lived who hoarded a fuck ton of sternipro only to set it on fire?” 

“Oh, that warehouse.” 

“Anyways, that’s where the meeting for the showdown. They don’t have a date yet, but they’ll let us know when it’s gonna go down.” 

“Well, I’m out,” the smart thug said. “That’s just a recipe for disaster.” 

“But the money-” 

Kitsune zoned out. That’s all the information he needed. He nodded to the figure across from him, then stood up, running across the rooftops out of the Deadzone to the charming screams of the thugs as they died behind him. 

He pretended that their deaths didn’t weigh on his shoulders. They were three more new names on the list of people he’s failed. 

“Hey! Eraserdad!” Kitsune shouted, running across the rooftops to catch up to the underground hero. The man turned around, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the vigilante. 

“Hellion,” the long suffering hero responded. 

“We need to talk.” 

Eraserhead stood up straighter, looking more serious. “About what?” 

Kitsune shook his head. “We need to speak somewhere private.” He spun on his heel, starting to run off. Eraserhead swore behind him, following the vigilante as they raced across Musutafu. 

He dropped off of a smaller building, slipping into one of the abandoned subway tunnels. Japan had long since abandoned the underground subway, instead making new ones above ground that were more suited for mutation quirks. The underground tunnels were now the stomping grounds of those who knew them, especially of Kitsune himself. 

He didn’t go too far into the tunnels, just enough to avoid the security cameras. Eraserhead slipped in after him, leaning on the tunnel wall across from him. 

“Alright, what’s this about?” the hero asked, crossing his arms. 

“The League of Villains.” 

… “The what?” 

Kitsune sighed. “Sorry, I’ve been keeping so close of an eye on them that I forgot it’s pretty unknown. The League of Villains is a group that’s been around for a very long time, but it’s making moves recently.” 

“That explains some of the talk of the underground,” Eraserhead said. “But why?” 

“Their goal is to kill All Might.” 

“To kill All Might? That should be impossible.” 

“Should be.” Kitsune crossed his arms in a pseudo hug. “And yet you can temporarily disable quirks despite quirk factors being encoded in DNA. There are multiple shapeshifting quirks and quirks that seem to bend physical reality. Don’t rule them out.” 

“Do you have a time or location?” Eraserhead asked. 

Kitsune shook his head. “A location but not a time. It looks like they don’t either though. I can send you the exact location that they’re meeting at. Just- be careful. I know All Might teaches at UA now. I wouldn’t put it past them to try and attack the school.” 

“How- You know what, I’m not even going to question that,” the hero sighed. “It’s UA, the safest place on the planet.” 

“And they expect to kill All Might, the greatest hero in the world,” the vigilante pointed out. “Just keep an eye out. Be safe.” 

“You stay safe too, Problem Child,” Eraserhead said. 

Kitsune chuckled as he turned around, facing the tunnel entrance. “You know I can’t promise that.” 

“Wait.” The call from the hero made him turn around, and he caught the jelly pouch thrown at him. “I know you have a habit of skipping meals.” 

He gripped the jelly pouch (now that he looked at it closer, it was a three pack of jelly pouches, lovely). “How do I know you didn’t lace them?” 

“They’re still sealed,” Eraserhead deadpanned. “Also I’m pretty sure I can’t lace anything in there that would actually affect you.” 

“Okay, I’m not that bad.” 

“I watched you pick up a hot dog off the ground and lift up your mask to eat it.” 

“Touché.” Kitsune turned around again, giving off a finger gun salute as he left. “Whelp, see ya round, Eraserdad.” 

The man simply grunted behind him, and Kitsune shot off a grappling hook, flinging himself into the city once again. 

If he paused during his patrol for fifteen minutes to slurp up the jelly pouches, that was his own business. 

It looked like it was gonna be another all nighter. 

Izuku had just gotten back to the apartment and stripped himself of his vigilante gear, tucking it into the safe under his desk. He’s readjusted his office to more easily hide things from snooping Kacchans (not that he ever comes over but it pays to be safe), with everything important going into the safe. Everything important includes all the legal papers that don’t get set on fire, Izuku’s vigilante gear, all the rainy day money, and the quirk suppressing bullets. The safe was modified by him, so it’s now protected by both a fingerprint scanner and a physical six number password. Plus it has a handle on top. 

He’s just put on the old gym shorts and tee that serves as his pajamas when he hears soft keening whines coming from their bedroom. 

On high alert already because of his nerves, Izuku shuffled across the hall, peeking into the bedroom. Eri was still asleep, but her brow was furrowed, and she tossed and turned in bed while she whined. Usa-chan was on the floor next to the bed. 

Izuku walked in, sitting down on the bed next to her. Unfortunately, nightmares aren’t uncommon for either of them, but it means that Izuku knows what to do. 

He started humming a tune from his childhood, gently grasping Eri’s wrist while she flailed. He tugged on the soft light of Eri’s quirk, feeling Rewind settle in his chest. Once the quirk was settled, he scooted over on the bed, gently shaking Eri awake. 

She gasped awake, shaking like a leaf in the wind, and Izuku tucked her into his chest, gently rocking them while he whispered meaningless platitudes, more to fill the space than anything else. He was rubbing circles into her back, in a breathing pattern to bring her down from her panic attack. 

“It’s okay, breathe in and out with me sunshine, it’s just a nightmare. Breathe in, and out, and in, and out, that’s very good Eri bunny. In, and out, and in, and out. Good, you’re doing so well, little sunshine.” 

They stayed entangled for a few more minutes, with Eri tucked into his chest, and Izuku cradling her gently, until Eri was calmer, gasping breaths turned to shuddered shaking. 

“You okay, Eri bunny?” He asked, gently stroking her hair. When he got a nod from her, he then asked, “Do you wanna talk about it?” 

Eri shook her head. “No thank you, Izu-niichan.” 

“That’s okay,” Izuku hummed. “Do you wanna move to the couch and watch something?” 

Eri nodded, so Izuku stood up, wading over to the living room. The sofa, TV stand, and TV itself were all dragged from Dagobah beach and fixed up. They don’t have a cable box or anything like that, so Izuku uses his laptop. 

Izuku set Eri down onto the couch, going back to grab a few blankets and Usa-chan. Once she was properly tucked in, he went back for his laptop, hooking it up to the TV and opening Netflex. “What do you wanna watch, Eri bunny?” 

“Ummm,” she gnawed on the bottom of her lip, scanning the list of shows and movies. “The dog documentary, please?” 

He smiled, putting on the documentary about golden retrievers becoming service dogs for the blind. It was one of her favorites. He grabbed his Kitsune notebook and started writing down information, also sending off a text of the meeting’s location to Eraserhead. He stayed awake with the help of coffee and his nerves, even as Eri’s breathing evened out and she slumped against his side. 

And soon, it was time to gently wake up Eri and get her some breakfast, because it was time to go to their third day of UA.

Chapter Text

“Oh, for fucks sake.” Izuku didn’t even correct Kacchan, holding Eri’s hand. Uraraka stood next to them. In front of them were a mass of reporters in front of UA’s gates. 

“We’re not going in there,” Izuku said, gently pulling his sister to the side. “Uraraka, you can use your quirk on yourself, right?” 

“Yeah, but I get super nauseous if I do so,” she responded. 

“You willing to get nauseous to float everyone over the wall?” 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“Great, everyone hold hands.” 

They all locked hands, Kacchan taking the edge because he was going to use his quirk to push them over the wall. Uraraka touched everyone’s hands and they lifted off, her free hand clutched over her mouth. Kacchan used some smaller explosions to get them over the wall, and Izuku held on tight to Eri as they dropped down onto the grass. 

Aizawa-sensei (he taught the Gen Ed hero ethics) was walking over to them, but Izuku was more focused on pulling out the first aid kit from his backpack. He offered a couple of tablets to Uraraka. 

“Chew them, they’ll make you feel better,” Izuku said. 

“Chew them?” Uraraka asked, even as she took the tablets from his hand. Izuku showed her the box. “Why do you have the kid’s chewables version of Dramamine?” 

Izuku just gestured to Eri. 

“Hellions,” Aizawa-sensei said, as Izuku finished packing up his backpack and putting it back on his back. “Get to class. I would give you detention for quirk usage outside of class, but I’m too busy fishing out your classmates from the vultures.” 

“The cockroaches with cameras seem like a safety issue,” Izuku said, holding Eri’s hand again. 

The pro hero snorted. “There’s not much we can do about them. Get to class.” 

“Yes sensei!” “Tch.” “Of course, Aizawa-sensei.” 

“Midoriya, you should refrain from putting that much espresso in one cup!” Iida arm chopped behind him, Shinsou standing next to him with an expression of awe and shock on his face. Izuku was standing in front of the espresso machine, filling a very large thermos entirely with espresso shots. He’s pretty sure he’s on nineteen shots. 

“It’s U.A., they can afford it,” Izuku muttered, topping off his thermos at twenty three shots. 

“I’m more worried for your health, Midoriya,” Iida said loudly. 

“Eh, this is about my normal cup of coffee,” Izuku shrugged, making his way back to a table. 

“How the fuck are you still alive?” Shinsou asked. 

“Spite.” 

“We’re learning about the different kind of heroics!” Uraraka said excitedly, interrupting the conversation at hand. “Today we’re going to be learning about underground heroics, tomorrow investigative heroics, the day after that limelight heroics, and at the end of the week we’re going on a field trip for rescue heroics!” 

Izuku was sitting at the same table for lunch. Hatsume had pulled herself out of the lab today, and was sitting at the end of the table (she had to drag a chair over) and was fiddling with some sort of machine. Iida and Uraraka were across from him, Shinsou to his left and Kacchan and his table to his right. Eri was balanced on his knee. 

“That sounds fun!” Izuku sighed. “We’re still doing ice breakers.” 

“Have you picked class reps yet?” Uraraka asked. 

“No, we’re still doing ice breakers,” Shinsou deadpanned. 

“You did?” Izuku asked. 

“Yes!” Iida started arm chopping. “I was elected president, and Yaoyorozu was elected vice president.” 

“I don’t know who that is,” Shinsou deadpanned at the same time Izuku nodded. 

“Oh, speaking of which!” Uraraka said. “Mido, did you finish that assignment for Nedzu?” 

“I did!” Izuku said between bites. “I turned it in already. You guys should get them Friday.” 

“Them?” The table asked. Even Hatsume looked intrigued.

“Yeah. I couldn’t tell you then, but the reason I was spying on your pre-test in the first place was to write everyone individual analyses about your strengths, weaknesses, ways to creatively flex your quirk, your fighting style, ideal support gear, personality, teamwork matchups, and costume modifications.” 

The table was silent. “You went to spy on the hero course?” Shinsou asked. 

“He fell out of the vents.” Uraraka said. 

Eri perked up. “Izu-niichan crawls through the vents all the time. Sometimes he’ll say hi to me between periods. But he usually uses the vents at home to get groceries up without using the stairs.” 

“Just use the elevator?” Shinsou said in absolute confusion. 

“It’s always broken,” Izuku said. “People have been complaining about it for years. The landlord will never do anything about it, so it’s stairs or vents.” 

“Izu-niichan says these vents are nice.” 

“This is so bizarre, yet I am not surprised in the slightest,” Shinsou muttered. 

“Broccoli-kun, do you still have the analyses?” Hatsume asked. When Izuku nodded, her eyes lit up. “Bring them to me.” 

Izuku grinned. The table collectively shuddered. Nedzu cackled from his office. 

As the conversation drifted, Izuku closed his eyes, expanding his awareness with his quirk. He could feel Rewind, Zero Gravity, Brainwashing, Engine, and Explosion right near him. He expanded outward, feeling the lights of quirks in the cafeteria, then in the building, then around the building-

Pain, blood, sharp. Void, corrupted, slimy.

Izuku stood up abruptly, panic taking over. He dropped Eri down in his seat, grabbing his backpack and swinging it onto his back. “Eri, stay with Kacchan.” 

He vaulted over the table, ignoring the shouting of his sister and his friends as he sprinted across the cafeteria, slipping into the vents. An alarm started blaring in the school, and Izuku willed himself to focus, pulling the ceramic knife out of its holster in his right arm. 

Kitsune-Not-Izuku focused his quirk. He could see the quirks of the press surging onto the campus, and the quirks of Kurogiri and Shigaraki teleporting from outside the gate to the teachers lounge. He pulled on Crow, flying through the vents to the teachers lounge, then letting go of the quirk. 

He pulled out his phone, recording the whole time he spied on the two villains. Shigaraki was huddled over All Might’s desk, sifting through papers, while Kurogiri stood just behind him. 

“No, no, no- Aha!” Shigaraki pulled one to the front, scanning the paper. “Let’s see. Saturday is a field trip to a compound away from the main building? Perfect. We’ve got what we need.” 

Kitsune held his breath as Shigaraki left UA through one of Kurogiri’s portals. He let it out as he stopped the recording on his phone, then slipped out of the vents and into the teacher’s lounge proper. 

Kitsune clutched his phone in his right hand, the knife still in his left, and he took off. There was only one hero on his mind, the only one who listened to him and respected his boundaries. 

He skidded through the halls, One For All powering his limbs in his panic as he raced along to his panicked heart. He locked onto the dark red light of Erasure. 

The police were herding the press off of the campus, and Kitsune skidded to a stop in front of Eraserhead, dimly aware of Present Mic standing next to the hero. “Eraserhead.” 

“Midoriya, what the- why do you have a knife?” Present Mic asked, but Kitsune only focused on Eraserhead. 

“Kid, breathe.” Kitsune was vaguely aware of the panic cloying in his throat, but he shoved it aside. 

“Eraser,” he wheezed, and once the words were out past the lump in his throat, Kitsune couldn’t stop the tirade that came from his mouth. “The press break in was a cover up for an actual break in. There were two villains in the teacher’s lounge. They were looking at papers on All Might’s desk, they were looking for his teaching schedule and they found it- I think they’re going to-” 

“Midoriya, breathe.” He was snapped out of his reverie when he felt two hands with fingerless gloves grasp his wrists, bringing his hands down in front of him. He didn’t even realize he was gesturing with his unsheathed knife and phone as he spoke. Kitsune recognized the breathing pattern being tapped on the inside of his wrists. 

He pried his hands free, quickly unlocking his phone and shoving the recording to Eraserhead. “Watch it, please!” 

Eraserhead grabbed the phone out of his hand. Kitsune’s hands were still trembling, the knife still in his hands. Present Mic grabbed his left wrist, twisting it a little so that the knife fell from his hands to the grass, and Kitsune was so busy cursing himself internally for dropping the knife (need to be armed to fight off the danger it’s still dangerous don’t they understand the danger-) that he didn’t notice it when Present Mic pulled him into a hug. 

Kitsune’s brain shut down at the hug. Someone was hugging him, and it was warm and smelled like hair spray and citrus. 

It took a few minutes for his brain to reboot, and it was Izuku who managed to come back to himself enough to function. His face went bright red when he realized that he was still tucked against Yamada-sensei’s chest, but his touch starved ass made no move to pull away. 

“Kid, you do realize your thumb was over the camera the entire time, right?” Eraserhead asked. It just made Izuku flush more. 

“You back with us, little listener?” Yamada-sensei asked. 

“I- Yeah.” 

“Thank you for bringing this to us,” Eraser- Aizawa-sensei responded, picking up Izuku’s knife. “But we are going to have to take this. How did you get a knife past the metal detector, anyways?” 

“It’s not made of metal,” Izuku shrugged, still in the hug. “It’s ceramic.” 

Aizawa-sensei sighed. “Well, I’ve got to take this. You can have it after school once you get off campus.” 

“Listener, are you okay?” Yamada-sensei asked. “I understand if you need to sit out the rest of class, that’s quite a shock.” 

Izuku shook his head, then a jolt of fear went through his spine, and he pulled back in panic. “Where’s Eri?! Is she okay?!” 

Yamada-sensei put his hands on Izuku’s shoulders as Aizawa-sensei tapped on his comm. “Your sister is fine,” he said gruffly. “She’s with Thirteen.” 

Izuku suddenly deflated, trusting the word of his teacher. “You know,” he said weakly, hating how his voice shook. “I might take that break. I think I need a nap.” 

He leaned on his homeroom teacher, letting the man guide him to the teacher’s lounge. The adrenaline crash left him unaware of what was going on around him, and he was only vaguely aware of Yamada-sensei tucking him on the couch of the teacher’s lounge and letting him drift off. 

Izuku woke up slowly, his head in someone’s lap and someone playing with his hair. He could feel Eri bundled up next to him, curled up with her head underneath his. He groaned awake slowly, blinking as the events of the day sunk in. It was Yagi-sensei whose lap he was on. 

“Hello, my boy,” the man said kindly, with a shy smile. “Aizawa-san and Yamada-san told me you had an exciting day.” 

Izuku groaned at the reminder. “Hopefully I don’t have homework,” he grumbled. 

“Well, it is the first week of school,” Yagi-san muttered. “It would be rather odd to be assigned homework now.” 

He shrugged, sitting up and adjusting Eri on his chest. He could feel scratchiness at the back of his throat, and it came through in the raspiness in his voice. He shuffled over carefully. “Can you take her real quick? I’ve got to go to the bathroom.” 

“Of course, Young Midoriya.” The hero took his sister, and she just settled in with a soft sigh, still fast asleep. “We’ll be here when you get back.” 

Izuku nodded gratefully, hurrying to the nearest boys bathroom. He was surprised to open the door to see Shinsou, washing his face at the sink. They just kind of stared at each other for a moment. 

“Midoriya,” Shinsou said, frowning in concern. “Are you okay? You weren’t in class-”

“I’m-” He barely managed to get that out before he could feel the wetness at the back of his throat. Holding his hand up, he rushed to the sink, quickly coughing up blood, using one hand to brace himself against the counter. 

“Holy shit!” Shinsou rushed over to him as Izuku sputtered. “Do you need to go see Recovery Girl?”

He finished coughing up what felt like his lungs, grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser and wiping his face off, turning on the water to wash the blood down the sink. “I’m fine,” Izuku said, clumsily reaching into his blazer to find the hidden pocket sewn inside. 

“You just coughed up a shit ton of blood,” Shinsou said. “That is not fine.” 

Izuku finally pulled out the pill bottle, shaking one out and dry swallowing it, before tucking it back in its place. “I’m fine,” he insisted, turning back to Shinsou. “This just happens sometimes if I don’t take my meds.” 

“Your meds?” Shinsou asked. “For what? And where were you?” 

Izuku shook his head. “I was napping in the teacher’s lounge. Apparently having a panic attack leads to me passing out and concerned teachers.” 

“You freaked us all the fuck out,” Shinsou shook his head. “You should go see Recovery Girl-” 

“No. She can’t help. As long as I take my meds, I’ll be fine. I just slept through it this time.” 

“And when are you supposed to take your meds?” 

… “After lunch.” 

Shinsou gaped. “Is that why you always disappear after lunch?” Izuku just levelled a deadpan look at him. “Right, stupid question.” 

Izuku just shook his head, standing up properly instead of leaning on the counter of the sink. “You wanna come with me to pick up Eri?” 

“Sure.” 

They walked to the teacher’s lounge in silence. Izuku ended up carrying Eri home on his back, Shinsou carrying his bag all the way to the train station. Yagi saw them off, alongside Aizawa, who gave Izuku his knife back, with the warning that he better not bring it back to school tomorrow. Izuku didn’t notice the suspicious look that Aizawa gave him, but Shinsou sure did. And he wondered what else his friend was hiding.

Chapter Text

Friendos :3 - 10:29 PM

God’s Mistake (Kitsune) is online.

God’s Mistake: hey any1 from ua here

God’s Mistake and Jessica Rabbit (Midnight) is online. 

Jessica Rabbit: mic and eraser r on date night, but im here!!!

Jessica Rabbit: wats up kiddo?

God’s Mistake: This may have to interrupt date night. 

Jessica Rabbit: ooo, proper punctuation

God’s Mistake: I’m serious. 

Jessica Rabbit: I could tell. 

God’s Mistake: There’s going to be an attack on UA. At the USJ. To kill All Might. 

Jessica Rabbit: We knew that already, Foxy. Anything else? 

God’s Mistake: There’s going to be a villain that has a warp quirk and a villain that has a five-point contact disintegration quirk. They’re the leaders and they’re very dangerous, despite whatever other low level grunts show up. Please be careful. 

Jessica Rabbit: We will be, don’t worry. Nedzu’s already taking precautions. 

God’s Mistake: Good luck. 

Izuku sighed, dropping into his office through the vents. He called into the school to let them know he was taking a sick day, and he had just dropped off Eri at the Bakugous. Today was it, today was the day. 

He peeled off the bulky sweatshirt, sweatpants, and medical mask that he wore to the Bakugous to convince them he was truly sick and needed someone to watch Eri. He pulled on his vigilante gear, making sure his mask and bracers were working. Grappling hook on the underside? Working. Flamethrower on the topside? Working. Shiryoni? Responsive. He strapped on no less than twenty two knives, thirteen smoke bombs, a small glass bottle of Kacchan’s sweat, and the air pressure glock that went with the tranq darts. His hand hovered over the five quirk suppressing bullets, before he shook his head and closed the safe up. If worst comes to worst, he could steal their quirks. No need to waste those. 

Finally geared up and ready, Kitsune slid open the window, closing it shut behind him and pulling up Crow. He lifted off, flying over Musutafu and towards U.A.

Shouta was having what was called a shit day. 

Because of some fuckery with the Commission and finalized teaching schedules, Nedzu couldn’t cancel the field trip or assign more teachers. Shouta and Kurana were each given a flare gun, but that was it, the assumption being that All Might should surely be able to take care of whatever’s gonna happen. Only stupid criminals would try and pull something like this. 

But stupid criminals weren’t enough to make his kid Kitsune worry, so something wasn’t adding up. 

Of course, because today was the worst, All Might was out of time and remained back on campus. Despite the imminent security threat. Wonderful. 

Shouta tensed when the purple portal appeared, shifting into a fighting stance. “Thirteen, protect the students!” 

He could hear his students shouting behind him. Surprisingly, it was Bakuogu’s voice who was the loudest behind him. “You can’t fight all of them alone! You’re best suited to ambushes and shit!” 

He turned slightly back, to reassure his students. “No good hero is a one trick pony.” Then he turned back to the plaza, flinging himself into the fight. 

Kitsune landed outside of the USJ, deactivating Crow and landing on two feet. He didn’t have time for subtlety, so he pulled up Boost and used the electromagnetic strips on his soles to kick the metal door in. 

It went flying, thankfully missing all of the hero students and clipping Kurogiri on the metal armor. He mentally took note of the terrified students (not everyone from Class 1-A), Thirteen’s condition (not great) and Kurogiri (insufferable). 

“You kids better get out of here,” Kitsune said, twirling two knives in each hand. “It’s about to get ugly.” 

There was a bit of shouting, but Kitsune whipped the throwing knife in his left hand at Kurogiri. Predictably, he opened a portal in front of him, redirecting it towards him, but it gave Iida the window of time he needed to rocket past him and back towards the main campus. Kitsune, meanwhile, held up his hand, using Attraction of Small Objects to rotate the knife so that the hilt hit his palm. 

Kurogiri disappeared, presumably to go to Shigaraki. Kitsune ran forward, sheathing the knives and pulling out a couple of smoke bombs. “You kids take Thirteen and get out of here,” Kitsune ordered, using his scared civilian voice that he perfected for this very purpose. 

CRACK!!!

Kitsune snapped his head back to the center, standing on top of the stairs gave him a clear view of the horror going on. Kurogiri was standing next to Shigaraki in front of the fountain. Eraserhead was face down in a crater, head being held down by a burly fist. And looming over him was the monster straight out of his nightmares, one of Sensei’s pet projects. 

A noumu. 

Fear pulsed through his veins, and unfortunately when he’s afraid, he slips further into his persona. So without thinking he ran, chucking down a smoke bomb and racing forwards, finally feeling One For All charge up in his limbs. 

One For All, and something else. 

Smoke billowed out of the grenade as he hit the plaza. Time seemed to slow down around him as the noumu lifted its fist one more time, and he desperately snapped his wrist forwards, like he was using his grappling hook, and something inside him burst like a dam-

A black, shadowy tendril snapped out from his palm, tearing apart his glove, and wrapping around Eraserhead’s waist. It snapped back towards him, but the tendrils kept wriggling, even as Kitsune used his other arm to gently lower Eraserhead to the ground. 

Someone, a voice he recognized somewhere but he didn’t know what from, whispered in his ear “Calm down.”

The smoke was still covering him, so Kitsune took a shaky left arm and pressed it to Eraserhead’s neck, all while holding his right arm far away from him, the black tendrils snapping around and tearing up the bricks. He sighed in relief as he felt a pulse. Eraserdad was going to live. 

His heart marginally slowed down, and he watched as the black tendrils receded back into his arm. That was something he could figure out later, but he stood up, the world coming back into focus as the smoke cleared out. 

“NPC! Show yourself!” Shigaraki shouted from the other side of the plaza. Steeling himself, Kitsune straightened up, striding confidently forwards as the smoke trailed around his ankles. 

“So this is the League of Villains?” He asked, stopping about three meters away from the villains. “A man child, a living butler, a giant zombie, and a bunch of d list thugs?” 

“You!” Shigaraki screeched. “How dare you talk to us like that? You’re just an NPC!” 

Kitsune laughed, ugly and biting, and he could see Shigaraki flinch back. “Still as pathetic as ever, Shiggy? No wonder the League is so disappointing. If all you have to replace me is the scraps of Sensei’s experiments.” 

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes. “Mikumo.” 

“It’s Kitsune, actually, Shiggy, unless you want me to start calling you Ten-kun again.” 

Kurogiri spoke up this time. “Shigaraki Tomura, it is unwise to stay any longer, the heroes will be here soon-” 

Shigaraki simply held up his hand. “Noumu, kill the traitor.” 

It was only years of honed instincts that allowed him to jump up, avoiding the Noumu’s large fist. As time seemed to slow down around him, his brain kicked into high gear. He could feel two quirks in the Noumu’s body: Shock Absorption and Super Regeneration, two standard enough quirks that he was unfortunately familiar with. 

Landing back on the ground, he pulled out a knife, but the action cost him, as the Noumu punched him directly in the chest, launching him across the plaza. He felt the crunch of his ribs, reasoned that they’ve got to be broken, before he hit the ground, felt another crunch, and knew that if they weren’t broken yet, they definitely were now. 

The Noumu leaned over him, and Kitsune rolled out of the way, bracing himself to jump up. He landed on the Noumu’s back, and could feel the thing try to shake him off. Thinking quickly, he used one hand to stab the thing’s back, and use the other to press against it’s back, grabbing one of the lights in its skull-

He was flung off, the knife coming out with a disgustingly slick noise. The quirk settled into his bones. Shock Absorption. Not the one he wanted, but he’ll take what he can get. 

Rolling back to his feet, he lunged forward, Boost giving him momentum as he flung himself forward, climbing onto the Noumu’s back. This time he managed to crawl onto its shoulders, raising the knife above his head and stabbing down. 

Something seemed to break, as the Noumu screamed, but Kitsune held on, using One For All in his legs to hang on alongside Boost. Switching tactics, he pulled out the small glass bottle and shoved it into the stab wound, ignoring the feeling of brain matter against his fingers. Pulling off the lid, he aimed one arm straight down, activating the flamethrower. 

Ochaco stood nervously by the open door, alongside Todoroki and Kirishima. Iida still wasn’t back with the heroes, and she could only dimly make out the sounds of conversation and fighting. The rest of their classmates had made it out, the only ones still inside the USJ are the villains, the vigilante, and Aizawa-sensei. 

“I want to go back in,” Ochaco admitted with a whisper, looking at the two nervously. “The vigilante saved our lives! If he hadn’t given Iida the opening to escape and kicked down the door, we’d all still be in there. Besides, Aizawa-sensei is still there.” 

Surprisingly, at least to her, they both nodded. “It would be super unmanly for us to stay up here while they fight all alone!” Kirishima whisper-exclaimed. 

They crept in, at first, but they barely made it to the top of the stairs before a deafening explosion rung out, and they ducked down behind one of Todoroki’s ice walls. 

When the world stopped ringing, she opened her eyes, and then wished she didn’t. The ice on the other side of the wall was covered in blood, and there were even a few chunks of dark flesh around her. When she looked over the wall, she saw the carnage, blood and chunks of flesh everywhere, coating the plaza. There was the misty villain from earlier, standing next to a man with a hand covering his face. Aizawa-sensei was laying at the base of the stairs, and the vigilante (Kitsune, she thinks his name was) was laying on the ground a little ways away from the center of the explosion, although she saw him get to his feet. 

“Well, what now, Shigaraki?” The vigilante taunted. “You lost. Game over.” 

The man shrieked in a fit of rage, running towards Kitsune, who adopted a fighting stance. But he was too slow, and the man grabbed his neck-

And Kitsune was judo flipping him, pinning him down with a knife pressed to the man’s neck. The man looked over at their teacher, and so did Ochaco. “You really are so cool, Eraserhead.” 

Aizawa-sensei had looked up, his eyes flashing bright red that signaled he had used his quirk. 

A portal suddenly appeared under them, and Kitsune kicked up, pushing the man into the portal and leaving it to close underneath him, dumping the man right back next to the misty villain’s side. “Shigaraki Tomura,” the misty villain spoke again. “We should leave now before the heroes get here. We’ve lost the Noumu, and Mikumo won’t give up.” 

“The Noumu did a number on him,” the man growled, raising up one hand again. “I can kill him now.” 

Kitsune got up shakily, holding up a bracer. “You’re not immune to fire, Shiggy,” he said, a raspiness to his voice. 

They stood there for a few moments, then a shot fired off from behind them. Blood spurted out of the man- Shigaraki’s arm, and he stepped back. Ochaco looked up behind her, spotting Snipe and the other teachers. 

Ochaco kind of zoned out the gunshots, laser focused on watching as the vigilante dropped onto his knees. The three hero students slid down the stairs on Todoroki’s ice, and she saw that Yamada-sensei, her English teacher, was sliding down with them. 

Yamada-sensei went over to Aizawa-sensei, so the three hero course students went over to the vigilante. “Are you okay?” She asked, dropping down to her knees next to him despite the blood getting on her costume. She saw Todoroki kneel down next to her, and Kirishima squat down next to him. 

The vigilante tilted his head, the Kitsune mask betraying nothing (probably the point of the mask, and probably the origin of the name). “I’ll be fine. Didn’t I tell you kids to get out of here?” 

“There was a massive explosion,” Todoroki deadpanned. “You probably need medical attention.” 

“It’s nothing a little rest can’t fix-” Kitsune suddenly doubled over, adjusting his mask as he coughed up blood onto the ground. Fixing it back onto his face, he looked back up. 

“That was blood!” Kirishima shouted. “You definitely need medical attention!” 

“Kirishima, can you carry him?” Ochaco asked. 

He nodded, scooping the vigilante up into his arms with a hiss of pain. “Sorry, dude, but we gotta get you up the stairs.” He went over to Yamada-sensei, Ochaco and Todoroki following along behind him. 

Yamada-sensei had Aizawa-sensei in his arms, and it looked pretty bad. The fact that the plaza was kind of covered in blood and chunks of flesh did not help- she should really stop thinking about that. “Let’s head on up, little listeners,” he tried to smile reassuringly, but it came across pained instead. 

“Hey, Mic,” Kitsune waved a little from Kirishima’s arms as they started up the stairs. 

“Hello, Kitsune,” Yamada-sensei responded, voice more subdued than their usually bubbly English teacher. “You were the one who protected my students?” 

“Of course,” the vigilante shot back. “It’s my job, after all. Prioritize the rescue.” 

“Thank you.” 

It was silent, as they walked up. Ochaco kind of zoned out, and she could barely remember paramedics coming up to bundle away Aizawa-sensei and Kitsune. She was checked out, mentally, and only came back to herself hours later, when she was sitting in front of the detective. 

She wondered how the heroes who saved her were doing. 

Kitsune was pulled out of Kirishima’s arms (yes, they were as good for hugging as he speculated) and onto a stretcher by a paramedic. He sat up, pushing past the hands and the pain that threatened to pin him to the stretcher. 

“Hey, listener, we’re just trying to help,” Present Mic said, moving towards him. He could see Midnight and Nedzu coming up behind him. “You were coughing up blood.” 

Kitsune was about to protest, but Nedzu held up a paw. “Before you say anything, I would like to say that because you saved the lives of our students and our faculty, we are willing to turn the other cheek, so to speak. We will leave your identity a secret, and we will let you go once the hospital clears you for release.” 

He went quiet, letting the words process in his ear. Whatever villain was jamming the signal between the USJ and the rest of the world must have been defeated or knocked out, because Shiryoni was turning back on again. He didn’t know anyone in the underground who could help him with broken ribs and a punctured lung that wouldn’t stab him in the back. This really was his only option if he didn’t want to die. 

“Fine, but I have a few conditions,” Kitsune said. “One, no anesthesia or painkillers. I don’t want them to mess with my quirk. Two, the mask stays on, as well as every piece of gear that isn’t necessary to take off. Three, any gear you do remove I get back.” 

“That is acceptable,” Nedzu said, and the other two teachers also nodded, both of them with anxious looks on their faces. “I will inform the paramedics.” 

As Kitsune finally accepted, laying down on his back, he raised a hand to his mask. 

“Entering hospital mode.”

Chapter Text

Izuku opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times for his surroundings to set in. Everything was dark, except for a patch of brick tiles on the ground, on which sits seven chairs in a semicircle, all facing the center. On these thrones were wispy ghosts, of which a few are familiar to him. Floating around him were glowing wisps, orbiting him, some slowly and others very quickly. Among these wisps were a wispy crow, flying around him with a few caws. A pitch black snake rested on his shoulders, twirled around his neck with unsettling red eyes that reminded him of All For One, the villain.

“What the fuck,” Izuku said, because really, what the fuck.

One of the ghosts snorted. “So eloquent, kid,” he said, and Izuku had to do a double take, as the ghost was a near spitting image of Kacchan, only with a sexy scar over his face.

“Give Nine a break,” another ghost said, and if Izuku squinted, he could’ve sworn she looked familiar. “I mean, that was my response when I first got here.” 

The ghost with straight white hair sighed. “Maybe we should introduce ourselves,” he said. “I’m Shigaraki Yoichi, but you can call me One.”

The ghost that heckled him earlier just huffed, leaning back in his throne-chair-thing. “Omoiyari Teiko. Just call me Two.”

Next to him, the ghost with the bandana and ponytail spoke up. “I’m Chujitsu Tateru. The others call me Three.”

The ghost with cracks on his face went next. “It’s Shinomori Hikage. I’m Four.”

The next ghost had goggles on his forehead and no shirt. “My name is Banjo Daigoro, and I’m the pro hero Lariat! But everyone calls me Five, if you couldn’t tell from the order.”

The ghost next to him sighed, hunched over with his jacket collar covering his mouth. “Shizukesa Kakureta, I was the pro hero En, and I’m Six.” 

“Well, I’m Seven!” The ghost who looked vaguely familiar said. “But you might know me better as Shimura Nana, or by my hero name, Nana Neon! And you definitely recognize this fellow.” She pointed behind her, and sure enough, if Izuku squinted he could see the faintest wispy outline of Yagi behind the chair.

“Well, uh, I’m Midoriya Izuku,” Izuku felt extremely awkward speaking, but he supposed that the ghosts had introduced themselves to him, so he should introduce himself. “I- uh- I don’t have a hero name yet. And I guess you could call me Nine? You already are…” 

“So, I bet you’re wondering where you are right now,” Nana leaned forwards. Izuku simply nodded, that was the million yen question. “Welcome to your subconscious!” 

“What?” Izuku sputtered, then took another look around him. The wisps orbiting him looked like the lights of quirk that All For One lets him see, and he could tell that the wispy crow was the quirk Crow and the snake around his neck was the quirk All For One (don’t ask him how, he couldn’t tell you). “Oh. So then how did I get here? Because no offense, you’re all dead, and I’m not.”

“We don’t really know,” Four said. “It might be because something happened with One For All.”

“What- oh!” It clicked, the memories of the past day. “The black tentacles!” 

“Yeah, that was my quirk, Blackwhip!” Five piped up, thumping his chest. 

“It seems that in the stress of battle, in the face of losing a loved one, you triggered it,” One said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “It opens up the interesting possibility of you also being able to wield everyone else’s quirks too.” 

“But why him, as opposed to anyone else?” Three asked. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Nana asked, gesturing to Izuku. Everyone quieted down at that.

“You have All For One, don’t you?” One stated more than asked. 

Izuku nodded, ignoring the hissing of the snake. “I was born with it. I am related to the villain All For One.”

“That’s why One For All was reacting so strangely,” Six spoke up. “And why your quirk is also acting strange.”

“And why your body is being slowly ripped apart,” Four pointed out. 

Izuku huffed, then grinned, more confident than he felt. “Don’t worry about that! I’ve got that handled!”

The edges of his vision started to blur. “Well, it seems like our time is nearing its end,” One said. “It’s time for you to return to the waking world.” 

He could only barely see the ghosts wave goodbye to him as his vision went dark.

Iyashi Nitto has been a hero doctor for many, many years, but this is the first time the situation was so weird.

One of their patients was a vigilante. Not just any vigilante, but Kitsune, the vigilante who was slowly becoming viral. And everything about him was so goddamn weird -

Someone cleared their throat, and Nitto pulled herself out of her head. Present Mic was standing in front of her, looking a little sheepish. Right, they had placed Kitsune in the same ward as Eraserhead. 

“Hello, I’m Dr Iyashi Nitto,” she said. “I’m the doctor treating both Kitsune and Eraserhead.” Or in charge of their healing. 

“How bad is it?” Present Mic asked. Upon a closer look, he wasn’t sheepish, but nervous. Probably afraid. 

“Well, they’ll both pull through,” she said. “Eraserhead suffered from multiple broken ribs, and both his legs and arms were broken. In addition, his orbital floor suffered some damage, and we are unsure how that will affect his quirk. The skin on his elbow disintegrated partially, but the muscles remained undamaged, and will just leave a scar.”

Present Mic sighed in relief. “And the kid?” 

Ah yes, the headache. “To be honest, we don’t know. His injuries will heal, that’s for certain. He had a punctured lung and was suffering from heavy blood loss, but surgery and blood transfusions have helped alleviate those issues. He has multiple broken ribs, but those will also heal with time and recovery. No, what’s concerning is what happened during surgery and during our tests.”

“What happened?” 

The doctor sighed. “The quirk of one of our nurses is called Assess, she can determine the physical condition of a patient with a touch. According to her, Kitsune’s body is constantly tearing itself apart, and it was only abated when we put heavy quirk suppressing cuffs on his wrists. In addition, every time we send test results to our computers for analysis, it comes up blank. And his medical profile is being remotely tampered with.” 

“Almost as if someone is purposely erasing his test results and clearing his medical file,” Present Mic muttered. “I’ll bring this up with the detective. Thank you.” 

She nodded in response. “Recovery Girl will be here soon, you can go see them now,” Nitto said, giving the hero a small bow and moving out of the way of the door. As she watched him enter, she thought they looked like a family, especially since they were able to confirm that Kitsune was fifteen.

She shook her head and straightened up, getting back to work. She had a paper file to write up.

Friendos :3 - 12:39 PM

Fus Roh Dah (Present Mic), Tsuki-kun (Detective Tsukauchi) and Jessica Rabbit (Midnight) are online.

Jessica Rabbit: how bad is it?

Fus Roh Dah: pretty bad, ngl

Fus Roh Dah: shou’s gonna be in bandages for a pretty long time

Fus Roh Dah: and god the kid

Fus Roh Dah, Tsuki-kun, Jessica Rabbit, and McChicken (Hawks) are online.

McChicken: i just heard the news, is every1 ok???

Tsuki-kun: 13, eraser and kitsune got severely injured

Tsuki-kun: the students all had minor scrapes and bruises

McChicken: SEVERELY INJURED?????

Jessica Rabbit: what about kitsune????

Fus Roh Dah: his injuries will heal

Fus Roh Dah: but apparently his body keeps tearing itself apart and they don’t know why

Jessica Rabbit: WHAT

McChicken: WHAT?????

Fus Roh Dah: and some hacker keeps meddlign with hsi medical files

Tsuki-kun: i’ll look into it

Fus Roh Dah: shou’s looking to recover enough to be discharged in a few days w RG’s help

Fus Roh Dah: he’ll be back to norm a few days after the sports festival

Fus Roh Dah: under normal circumstances w RG’s help should just be a week

Fus Roh Dah: but they just dont know

Jessica Rabbit: poor kid

McChicken: do u think he’ll let us help him

Tsuki-kun: i just dont know

Kitsune wakes up at seven in the evening, and his first words when he was awake was “What the fuck?”

Chapter Text

“What the fuck?” 

Someone sat up next to him, and Yamada-sensei entered his field of vision. “Kitsune! Are you alright?” 

He groaned, as awareness hit him like a truck. “I feel like shit.” 

A chuckle had him turning his head. Recovery Girl stood on the other side of his bed. “Well, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and blood loss will do that to you. Especially since you insisted on no painkillers.” 

“Oh.” Kitsune shrugged lopsidedly. “That would do it.” 

“So snarky even when you’re in pain,” Yamada-sensei said. “No wonder Shouta likes you.” 

“Why thank you,” he responded. “How long have I been out?” 

“It’s about seven at night,” Present Mic said, “So about nine hours.” 

“Well, shit,” Kitsune said. “That’s a long time.” 

He could feel the burning glare of Recovery Girl drill into his soul. “Your body clearly needed it. You’re going to need energy for my quirk, which means you’re going to sleep more.” 

“Eh, I’ve got a few 5 hour energies and espresso shots on me, I think I can make it.” 

There were a few beats of silence. “Well, I guess I know why your heart rate is erratic,” Recovery Girl said. 

Under the blanket, Kitsune palmed a 5 hour energy from one of his pockets. “I’m fine,” he grinned under the mask. “Just kiss me and let me go, yeah? I do have places to be.” He’s gotta go pick up Eri, after all. 

Recovery Girl rolled her eyes, but kissed Kitsune’s arm when he offered it. A wave of exhaustion hit him, but he still hung on. 

“How’s Eraserhead?” He asked. 

Yamada-sensei sighed. “It’s rough, but he’s gonna pull through. We’re all more worried about you, little listener.” 

“I’ll pull through,” Kitsune tried to reassure him. “If five bullets and food poisoning can’t take me down, nothing can!” 

“Kid, you are the sole reason I am going grey.” 

“Eraserdad!” Kitsune cheered, trying to sit up but not being able to due to a big ouch. 

“Hello, Problem Child.” Eraserhead grumbled. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yamada-sensei go over to Eraserhead. “Shouta!” He cried out, lightly pulling his husband into a hug. 

“Hi Hizashi,” Eraserhead softened up, as much as he could tell from his mummified bandaged self. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” 

“Honey, you broke like, all your bones.” 

“It makes them stronger!” Kitsune chirped from his bed. 

“Kid no-” 

Thankfully, the doctor came in. “Good, you’re both awake,” she said, then looked wearily at the two people who weren’t in hospital beds. “Recovery Girl, Present Mic, we need to talk.”

The three adults left the hospital room, and Kitsune grinned under the mask, taking a quick assessment of all of his gear. Surprisingly he had almost everything on him, the exception being his kevlar vest. Looking around, he could see that it was lying on the nightstand, with the straps being cut through. It would be a bitch to repair, but not undoable. 

“Kid, what are you doing?” Eraserhead asked from the other bed.

He slowly sat up, looking to the side so he could lift his mask and down the 5 hour energy. “I can’t stay, Eraser,” he responded. “You know that.” 

“You could,” the man practically begged. “You could let us help you.” 

Kitsune winced, moving around a little, and then pushed the pain away, like he always did. He picked up his vest, putting it under his armpit and pulling his hood back up. 

“I can’t,” he said, his voice surprisingly sorrowful. “I’m sorry.” 

Ignoring the hero shouting behind him, he quickly unlatched the window, sliding out and jumping down. They were on the fourth floor, so he activated the new quirk he got from the noumu, and let the ground crack underneath his feet. 

By the time the heroes got back to the hospital room, there was no trace of the vigilante. 

He stripped himself of his vigilante gear, instead taking the time to put on a pair of ratty pajamas. He grabbed his laptop and his phone, because if he was going to take a few days to heal instead of patrolling, he was still going to get work done. 

Thankfully there was no school tomorrow, and there most likely won’t be for a couple of days afterwards. 

Opening his phone, he saw all the notifications on his phone. 

The Favorite -> Auntie

hi auntie, im still not feelin good, can u keep eri for the night?

Oh sweetie, of course

Remember to have fluids

of course :)

i saw the news, hows kacchan?

He’s doing ok, eri is cheering him up

You kno we could take care of u too if u came over

thanks for the offer auntie but im ok

Alright but let me know if that changes ok?

i will promise

Squad of Wild Dumbasses - 8:51 PM

Dumbass 1 (Kitsune), Dumbass 2 (Himi-Chan), daddy issues (Dabi), secretly british (Gentle Criminal) and *hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (La Brava) are online. 

Dumbass 1: hey yall, cant patrol 2day, can 1 of u cover my route

daddy issues: alright wat bs happened now

Dumbass 1: y would u assume somethin happened???

secretly british: Because you NEVER take a break unless your forced to due to an injury

Dumbass 1: i came out here 2 have a good time and im honestly feelin so attacked rn

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): so what’d you?

Dumbass 1: lets just say there was a hole in my lung and leave it at that

daddy issues: WHAT THE FUCCK

secretly british: HOW

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): HUH

Dumbass 1: i got some top notch healing tho so im fine

Dumbass 1: just on bedrest

Dumbass 2: ill cover ur shift foxy

Dumbass 1: THANK YOU himi

Dumbass 2: no prob man

Friendos :3 - 8:55 PM

Fus Roh Dah (Present Mic), Tsuki-kun (Detective Tsukauchi) and Jessica Rabbit (Midnight) are all online.

Fus Roh Dah: HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT

Jessica Rabbit: what? whats going on???

Fus Roh Dah: according to sho, kitsune JUMPED OUT OF THE FOURTH STORY WINDOW

Jessica Rabbit: IS HE ALRIGHT???

God’s Mistake (Kitsune), Fus Roh Dah, Tsuki-kun, and Jessica Rabbit are all online. 

God’s Mistake: chill im fine

Fus Roh Dah: YOU HAVE BROKEN RIBS

God’s Mistake: i HAD broken ribs

God’s Mistake: theres a difference

Tsuki-kun: kid your gonna make me go grey

God’s Mistake: that makes 2 of u

Fus Roh Dah: ur goin 2 rest, right?

God’s Mistake: i will rest

God’s Mistake: pinkie promise

Tsuki-kun: good

Jessica Rabbit: im legally allowed 2 kill u if u break a pinkie promise

God’s Mistake: well when u put it like that…

Tsuki-kun: KID????

Fus Roh Dah, Tsuki-kun, and Jessica Rabbit are all online. 

Fus Roh Dah: KITSUNE????

Izuku smirked, then put his phone on his nightstand (nightstand is a strong word, it’s a cardboard box). He sighed, wincing as he laid down on his bed. 

The exhaustion of the entire day settled over his bones, pain throbbing throughout his entire body. He missed his medication, but they had put quirk cancelling cuffs on him, so hopefully he could hold out until tomorrow. His breath tasted like blood though. 

Instead of doing the work he was supposed to be doing, he rolled over, hugging a pillow close to his chest. He almost lost Eraser, the first person since Eri to get close to him. The man who is almost a father figure to him. 

He almost missed the tears that soaked his pillow, sticking to his face in a cruel mockery of the blood splattered on Eraser’s. He just clutched it closer, silently sobbing as the ghosts of his past floated at the edge of his vision. 

I promise. I promise I’ll do better. This will never happen again.

Chapter Text

Izuku sighed, leaving the tie a knotty mess. The bags under his eyes looked deeper than usual. He hasn’t been sleeping, his father’s Eraserhead’s mangled body haunts him every time he closes his eyes. Eri was concerned, insisting on trying to take care of him, which just made the guilt worse. He should be okay, his little sister shouldn’t be trying to look after him. 

“Little sunshine, are you all packed?” He asked, poking his head out of the bathroom. From the table, his sister nodded as she stuffed sliced apples into her face. With a quiet chuckle, he came out into the living room, packing his bag and making sure everything was secure. 

She insisted on sticking close to him, glued right next to his side as they walked to the train station to meet Kacchan and Uraraka. She chattered on about anything she could think of, whether it was the games she played while she stayed at the Bakugous to the new book they had gotten from the library for her to read. Despite the tiredness lingering in his bones, Izuku still swung her hand like usual, and the relieved smile on her face was worth it. 

“Nerd, you look like shit,” Kacchan said, both him and Uraraka with concerned looks on their faces. 

“I’m fine,” Izuku waved them both off. “Just didn’t get much sleep is all.” 

“Weren’t you sick?” Uraraka asked. 

“Kind of hard to get any sleep when you’re puking your guts up,” Izuku chuckled, trying to play it off as a joke.

“You were puking?!” Kacchan shouted. “Kami, you should’ve come over!” 

“I’m fine now,” Izuku smiled, although it seemed to make them more concerned. “No more puking for me.” 

Eri nodded next to him. “Nurse Eri checked. He is free of the plague!” 

“Then you must’ve done a good job!” Uraraka cheered, picking up the girl. Izuku smiled, looking over as Kacchan bumped his shoulder. 

“Cheeks, can you carry my bag?” He asked.

“Uh, sure?” She shrugged, putting Eri down and accepting his backpack. 

“Kacchan, what are you- Ack!” Izuku was scooped onto Kacchan’s back, scrabbling to get his arms around Kacchan’s shoulders so that he wasn’t choking his friend. Eri was giggling from where she was standing next to Uraraka. His face flushed as he pressed his head down, trying not to reveal how red his face was to his friends. From where his hands were around Kacchan’s shoulders, he could really feel his friend’s muscles, and logically he knew that Kacchan had bulked out, he’d seen it, but seeing is it different than feeling it-

“Guys! Let’s go!” Uraraka shouted. 

“Shit! We’re coming Round Cheeks!” “Kacchan! Language!” 

Thankfully, they were not late to class, although Izuku got a side eye from Riyudo-sensei (Ectoplasm). He wondered where Yamada-sensei was, but taking his seat next to Shinsou was more important right then. 

‘Dude, you look like shit,’ Shinsou signed, while Riyudo-sensei started talking. ‘That stomach bug really did a number on you?’

Izuku just nodded. ‘I’ll be back to usual as soon as I get some caffeine in my system.’

“Anyways, the Sports Festival is coming up,” Riyudo-sensei continued on, Izuku only bothering now to tune back in. “It’s mandatory for all classes, but only the top fifty or so continue to the semi-finals, so if you really don’t want to participate, you can just lose on purpose. The recreational games are completely optional. For anyone who wants to transfer into the hero course, this will be your chance to prove to the administration that you’re worthy enough to transfer in.”

Both Izuku and Shinsou looked at each other with matching grins. It was game time. 

“Use these next two weeks to prepare wisely, whether you decide to try and transfer or not. It’s self study for the rest of the period.” 

At those parting words, people started getting up to talk. Izuku shuffled his desk over, scooting over to Shinsou to continue their sign conversation. 

‘I’m gunning for the hero course,’ Shinsou grinned. ‘I’m not going to go easy on you just because we’re classmates.’

‘I would be insulted if you did,’ Izuku shot back. ‘I’m not going easy on you either.’

‘I’m curious though, your quirk is perfect for the entrance exams. Why didn’t you make it in?’

Because you only know one of my quirks. If you knew everything, you’d abandon me right here. Izuku shook his head. First day back after being out, he was going to be positive damn it. ‘I never took the hero course exam.’

Shinsou raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? Why not?’

‘I’m blacklisted from the hero course.’

Shinsou stared at him for an uncomfortably long amount of time, to the point where Izuku was starting to sweat a little bit. ‘How the fuck are you blacklisted from the hero course?’

‘Discrimination.’

‘What fucking kind?’

‘The kind where your distant ancestor was a villain, but because you’re related by blood, you are blacklisted from the hero course.’

“Oh shit,” Shinsou muttered out loud, turning some nearby heads. ‘Sorry man.’

Izuku shrugged. ‘It’s okay, not a particularly touchy subject for me.’

‘How are you planning on getting in then?’

‘I’m going to use the Sports Festival against them. If I win, then it would be stupid for the HPSC to not let me into the hero course.’

‘And they would know because it was broadcasted all over national TV,’ Shinsou signed, picking up on what he was putting down. ‘Smart.’

‘Thanks. I try.’

Riyado-sensei left, and Kayama-sensei entered. Izuku turned back to the board, eyes glued to the screen. Despite the dark thoughts lingering on the edge of his mind, he was hopeful. This is his chance to make All Might proud. 

“Stop, Zuku stop, for the love of-” Izuku was slowly tuning his friend out as he filled a big cup with espresso shots. “Kami, you’re gonna have a heart attack!”

“It hasn’t killed me yet, I’ll be fine,” he replied easily, topping off his cup with his twentieth shot. He turned just in time to see Kacchan sputter, and walked back towards his table. His friends were already sitting there, talking among themselves about the sports festival. 

“You can’t just say things like that!” Kacchan shouted from behind him, catching the attention of the table. “You know what, give it here.” 

“Kacchan no!” 

The explosive blonde lunged forwards, hands aiming for the cup of coffee. Years of honed reflexes and just knowing Kacchan let Izuku dance around him as the blonde pivoted, trying to snatch his hard earned coffee. 

“Watch out!” 

The warning from Iida came too late. Izuku tripped backwards as Kacchan lunged forwards, the coffee flying out of his hands and onto Hatsume, who was working on something. Which started to spark. 

“Duck!”

Izuku slid underneath the table, covering his head as he heard a muffled explosion from above him. When he peeked back over the table, he saw that Kacchan had ducked behind a nearby potted plant, Shinsou had joined him and Iida under the table, Uraraka had floated herself up towards the ceiling (and was still floating, that might be an issue), and Kirishima from the next table had grabbed Eri and protected her using his quirk. Hatsume just sat there, covered in soot, fully protected due to her goggles and what he was fairly certain was an explosion immunity quirk.

“What is going on?!” 

“So, let me get this straight,” Snipe-sensei said, a hand to his forehead. “You,” he pointed at Izuku, “had gotten a cup of coffee made of twenty espresso shots, which caused you,” he pointed at Kacchan, “to try and fight him to take it from him which caused it to spill on your,” he finally pointed to Hatsume, “invention.” 

“I- yeah?” “Yep!” Kacchan just grumbled. 

Power Loader-sensei just sighed. “Hatsume, you’re not supposed to be working hands-on on any projects outside the labs.” 

“But it’s just little projects! I don’t need anything from the lab!” 

“It’s about safety, Hatsume!” 

“And you,” Aizawa-sensei, who was basically a mummy- seriously why was he at school- turned to Kacchan. “Why did you think it was a good idea to fight your classmate for his coffee?” 

“It was a fucking intervention!” Kacchan growled. “This idiot is gonna die of a heart attack one of these days!” 

“Hey!” Izuku said. “I’m not gonna die of a heart attack.” 

Snipe-sensei said, “And what makes you think that, Midoriya?” 

“I mean, it hasn’t happened yet.” 

Kacchan groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Hatsume just cackled. The teachers let out a collective sigh. Kacchan looked at the teachers like, you see what I have to deal with?

Izuku looked back at him. Like what Kacchan?

Kacchan rolled his eyes and smacked him. 

Power Loader-sensei spoke up. “Alright, Hatsume, one day of no lab time-”

“Awww!” 

“And a thousand word essay about lab safety.” 

Hatsume pouted, and then Aizawa-sensei rounded on them. “Bakugou, detention and a thousand word essay on what you should’ve done in this situation.”

“What the fuck?!” 

“And Midoriya,” Snipe-sensei addressed him. “You are banned from using the coffee machine.” 

“What?!” Izuku jumped up. “But I need it to survive! I’ll keel over and die without it!” 

“Ooh!” Hatsume jumped up too. “If I record the results of Broccoli-kun’s deprivation, can I get extra credit?!” 

“No.” 

“Aww.” 

“Midoriya, you will be fine,” Aizawa-sensei sighed. “You’re all dismissed.” 

Izuku pouted, as Kacchan grabbed him in a headlock and literally dragged him away. He didn’t even eat his lunch. 

Dabi stood in front of a corkboard, pinning up index cards and connecting them with red string. It’s not often he indulged his inner conspiracy theorist, but when he did…

“What are you doing?” Gentle asked from behind him. Dabi turned around to find the older man standing there with a curious look on his face, La Brava standing next to him.

There were various pieces of information connected to Kitsune, with the center of the board being a card labelled “What the fuck is up with Foxy?” There was everything from his insistence to keeping an eye on the Shie Hassakai, to his weird insistence on Akatani Mikumo being left alone, to the League of Villains. Some of the information he had to dig deep for, relying on old favors from scattered contacts.

“I’m trying to figure this out,” Dabi said, the cigarette still hanging out of his mouth. “So Kitsune, we know his face and that he has a younger sister named Eri. Then there’s the Shie Hassakai, apparently they were running some sort of Trigger business and were in the process of making quirk removing bullets. A couple years ago, Kitsune hit the Shie Hassakai for some reason, taking something vital for the production of those bullets and erasing the quirk of some member. Then there’s Akatani Mikumo, only like five people know his name, otherwise he’s the Monster of the Underground. He has no MO other than stealing people’s quirks and then killing them. However there’s been rumors that he has some connection to the League of Villains. The same group that attacked U.A. with the intention to kill All Might, that Kitsune had been tracking and went to go stop. And then there’s this Kacchan kid that he keeps mentioning, I have no idea where he fits in at all. Plus we still don’t know what his actual quirk is, despite having known him for years and him knowing all of ours.”

Finally taking a deep breath after pacing around and gesturing wildly to his board, he looked back at his friends. Gentle just looked done with everything, while La Brava looked confused.

“Dabi, don’t you think you’re just looking a bit too much into things?” Gentle asked.

He flailed, gesturing back to his board. “There’s something here and I know it! I just don’t know what!” 

La Brava started thinking to herself. “I think you just don’t have enough information,” she finally said. “We just need to wait for more information, otherwise you’re just gonna drive yourself crazy.”

Dabi sighed, but he does know that the hacker’s right. “Well, can you help me cover this up? I don’t want Foxy seeing this.”

As his friends found a blanket to cover his corkboard with, he continued to ponder. Dabi will get to the bottom of this, however long it takes.

Chapter Text

Izuku once again judo-flips Shinsou onto the mat, both of them huffing for breath. He dropped down to his knees and pinned him. After feeling a couple of taps on the inside of his arm, he got up, offering a hand to his friend. 

“I’m not falling for that again,” Shinsou huffed, getting up on his own. 

Izuku gasped dramatically. “Why would I ever do that?” Eri giggled from the side, where she was slurping up a juice pouch while drawing. 

“You just did that last match!” 

Izuku tactfully chose to ignore that last jab, looking over at the door that just opened to reveal Yamada-sensei. “Time's up, little listeners! You’ve gotta go back home.”

"Alright Yamada-sensei!" "Yes, Yamada-sensei." Both boys started cleaning up, and Eri started putting away her sketchbook and colored pencils that Kurano-sensei had given her.

The past two weeks have been rigorous training after rigorous patrols. At least his nights have been nightmare free, due to the fact that he was too exhausted after training with Shinsou at the gym and then tracking down criminals during the night. His body protested, but his mind has been the best it’s ever been due to the leaps and bounds that he’s been improving. 

“Ah, just the three I was hoping to catch,” Yagi-san said, ducking his head into the gym sheepishly. 

Squeezed in between training with Shinsou and going home, Izuku has also been having sessions with All Might to improve control over One For All. He hasn’t told his mentor about Blackwhip, but he did tell Yagi about the ghost realm he visited while he was sick. And now he could even hold One For All at 5% for a whole three minutes!

Gran Torino had helped a lot too, sharing anecdotes and techniques that Nana Neon had used when she was alive. Izuku hadn’t been back to the ghost realm yet to ask Nana firsthand, but he figured that Gran Torino was the closest he was gonna get. 

“Hi Yagi-san! Just let me finish cleaning up real quick,” Izuku said with a wave, pushing the mat up onto the side of the gym. 

“Nah, go with your spooky mentor,” Shinsou said, waving Izuku off when he tried to protest. “I’ve got this.” 

“You sure?” 

“Yeah. Besides, aren’t you the one always up my butt about how I need more muscles?” 

Unable to argue with that, Izuku just shrugged, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Eri hopped over to join them, her bag over her shoulder, although he could see a couple of colored pencils sticking out of it. They followed Yagi out of the gym and towards the main campus, a different route than into the forest where they usually go to practice with One For All. 

“Uh, Yagi-san? Where are we going?” He asked, readjusting his bag when it dug into his shoulders. 

He turned back to Izuku, placing his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “We’re not going to be training today.” 

Izuku just blinked as his mind processed the statement. “Why not?” 

“The Sports Festival is tomorrow,” Yagi said, then buffed up into All Might. “YOU’LL NEED ALL THE ENERGY YOU CAN GET TO SAY ‘I AM HERE’ TOMORROW!” 

He then deflated and started coughing. Izuku didn’t freak out and just pulled out a handkerchief, which Yagi gratefully accepted. 

“What I’m saying, my boy,” he continued, “Is that you’ve been working hard to prepare for tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll do wonderfully, but only if you give your body time to rest.”

It seems that it’s not only his best friend who’s trying to give him an intervention. 

Izuku smiled sheepishly. “You’re right. I’ll rest, I promise.” 

“Pinkie promise?” Yagi asked, holding out his hand. 

It was something that he had picked up during his time in America, and a habit he started early in Izuku’s training. Yagi had noticed that Izuku wasn’t finishing his meals when he ate with his mentor, so Yagi started making Izuku make pinkie promises that he couldn’t break. Now it’s too late, Izuku has been conditioned to always keep pinkie promises. He’s just lucky that Kacchan hasn’t picked up the habit too. 

Izuku hooked his pinkie with his mentor’s. “Pinkie promise.” Guess he wasn’t going on patrol tonight.

“And Young Eri, you promise to make sure Young Midoriya gets his rest?” Yagi knelt down, holding out a pinkie to his sister. 

“Pinkie promise!” Eri said enthusiastically, hooking her pinkie.

"Now get home safe," Yagi said with a smile.

"Of course." "Bye Yagi-san!"

“Are you ready, Shinsou?” Izuku asked, vibrating at the speed of light. He had managed to save up, and while it was initially to get Eri a candy apple from the fair, he also had enough left over to get himself a venti cup filled with espresso shots from a nearby Starbucks. 

On another note, he was now banned from said Starbucks. 

Of course I am, Shinsou signed. Do I even want to know how you got so hyper?

“I had a big ass thermos filled with espresso shots.” 

Shinsou raised an eyebrow. Aren’t you banned from the espresso machine?

“I stopped by Starbucks. I’m now banned from that Starbucks.” 

Shinsou rolled his eyes, smacking his arm. “Well you better not have a heart attack on the field.” 

“I’m not gonna have a heart attack,” Izuku shot back. “If it hasn’t killed me yet, it won’t kill me now.” 

“That’s not how that works-” 

“All classes, please report to the entrance. All classes, please report to the entrance.” 

At the voice of the intercom, Izuku held out his hand, taking Shinsou and pulling him up. The rest of Class 1-C was standing up, stretching out and getting ready. 

“May the best man win,” Izuku said with a grin. Shinsou matched it, and they both put their hands together. 

“Plus ultra!” 

“And now, for the pledge from your student representative, Bakugou Katsuki!” 

“Oh no,” Izuku groaned. 

His best friend slouched onto the stage, taking the mic in his hands and saying, “I pledge to be a good sport, and to do my best.” 

That was met with some clapping, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. “That wasn’t that bad.”

“But just so you know, I am gonna win this thing.” Izuku spoke too soon. 

Among the boos from the crowd, was one very loud shout. “BAKUGOU KATSUKI!!!!” 

Kacchan’s eyes widened slightly. To everyone who knew him, it was a terrified expression. His best friend calling him by his first name put the fear of the Kami in him. 

For good reason, as Izuku pushed his way through the crowd and climbed onto the stage. Pushing his idiot back into the crowd (out of the corner of his eye he saw Kirishima catch him), Izuku strolled up to the mic and proceeded to deliver an actual pledge. 

“What my friend meant to say,” Izuku smiled, one of those smiles that was hiding rage behind it, “Was that we pledge to be fair to our other competitors, and to do our best. Plus Ultra!” 

This pledge, delivered by someone other than the Angry Pomeranian, was met with resounding cheers of Plus Ultra. Satisfied, Izuku hopped back down, regaining his place beside Shinsou. 

"Chaos gremlin," Shinsou declared. Izuku just flipped him the bird.

"And with that riveting turn of events, let's begin the games… with the obstacle course!"

“Woo! Pre-game!” Himi-Chan cheered, then proceeded to chug the bottle of whiskey in her hand. Gentle ran after her to try and pry the bottle from her hands, but to no avail. 

La Brava was setting up the projector to play the U.A. sports festival onto one of the warehouse walls. Apparently, Dabi’s little brother was going to be in the first year festival, so they were all going to watch. 

“The fox still hasn’t responded,” Dabi said from where he lounged on a bean bag. Himi-Chan whined as Gentle finally confiscated the whiskey. 

“Well, we’re just gonna have to watch it without him,” La Brava said, finally finishing the set up. “It’s starting in a minute.” 

“Just enough time to make popcorn!” Himi-Chan cheered, already sticking a bag into the microwave. Gentle just sighed and made himself comfortable on one of the chairs. La Brava sat criss cross on the bean bag chair next to him. 

La Brava was kind of zoning out through the ads and the introductions of the classes, more focused on shouting at Himi-Chan about popcorn flavors, when suddenly Midnight cracked a whip. “The student pledge is about to begin! Hurry!” 

Himi-Chan managed to arrive with the delicious snack when the angriest kid imaginably walked onto the stage. His hair looked like a blonde cactus. “I pledge to be a good sport, and to do my best.” 

The half hearted pledge was met with muted applause. Then the kid grinned insufferably and said, “But just so you know, I am gonna win this thing.” 

Dabi started booing and throwing popcorn at the projector. Himi-Chan squawked at him to stop wasting valuable popcorn, and Gentle sighed while La Brava snickered. A gasp from Himi-Chan brought their attention back to the projection as a kid shoved his way out of the crowd of kids and onto the stage. 

A very familiar kid. 

“Kitsune?!” 

A face that La Brava’s seen for the past few years from under a kitsune mask was standing in front of a crowd of people, giving an actual pledge and getting actual applause from the crowd. 

“We should stop watching, we agreed not to learn each other's names,” Himi-Chan said. 

“I mean, we’ve been working together for a while,” La Brava said. “And I’m pretty sure we all know each other’s names anyways.”

“We’re all ride or die by now!” Himi-Chan declared. 

“Cheers, I’ll drink to that,” Dabi said, holding up the bottle of sake he had before taking a big drink. 

“A toast!” Himi-Chan stood up, glass of blood in her hands. Gentle held up his tea cup and La Brava held up hers. “To us and our ride or die friendship!” 

“To us!” 

As they cheered, La Brava pretended that Kitsune’s fist bump into the air was also a part of their cheer. 

Chapter Text

“Now, the rules,” Midnight said, cracking her whip. “No serious injuries, even if we have Recovery Girl on standby. Sabotage is allowed and encouraged. If you leave the course, you are disqualified. The top forty two advance to the next round. Everything else is fair game!” 

Everyone got into position, and Izuku moved to the back, crouching down and feeling for One For All within his bones. The lights of everyone’s quirks made the crowd seem like it’s glowing, and it would be overwhelming if he weren’t used to it by now. 

“Three!” Shinsou cracked his neck next to him, stretching himself out. 

“Two!” He saw Todoroki out of the corner of his eyes, moving to the back of the crowd. 

“One!” To his right, Kacchan let some sparks out in his palms, warming up. 

“Go!” And everything happened at once. 

Izuku jumped up, catapulting off of Shinsou’s shoulders and launching himself into the air, just enough to avoid the crowd rushing the gate. Explosions popped behind him as Kacchan soared above everyone with his quirk, and there were quickly shouts of alarm as ice coated the floor, sticking people’s feet to the ground.

He could hear people struggling to free themselves behind him, but Todoroki’s ice actually worked to Izuku’s benefit, as he used the shoulders of people stuck in the ice to propel himself further. When he got through the gate though, other students had passed him, but he was still pretty far in the lead. 

Letting Yamada-sensei’s commentary go in one ear and out the other, he sprinted ahead to see a fuck-ton of the zero-pointer robots from the entrance exam (he heard a lot about them from Kacchan’s bitching after the practical). Todoroki had frozen one in a way that left it unstable, and Kacchan was already blasting his way over them. A smart strategy, even if Izuku desperately wanted to fight one. Just for kicks, you know? 

He let the lightning flicker around him, powering up One For All at 5% for a moment before he leaped up. He reveled in the feeling of the flying, of the wind in his hair and of being weightless, and flashed a quick peace sign at a flying drone before gravity quickly took hold of him. 

“Since when the fuck could he do that?! ”

He summoned One For All at 5% for a few more moments in order to land, cracking the earth underneath his feet, before letting it go and starting a dead sprint. Using Boost instead of One For All this time, he made his way to the next obstacle. 

He caught a glimpse of it while he was in the air, but the nexus of wires over the drop of death made him giddy with excitement. Not just because he loves perilous danger, but because he’s run over thinner cables as Kitsune. This was easy for him. 

Fuck it, he could have fun. 

He heard several people shouting at him from behind for showing off as he ran across the cables, doing flips and handsprings and cartwheels. Nothing that would be slower than just running, but some fancy things just to show off and earn him a couple of students flipping him off. Every time the cable wobbled, he cackled, enjoying himself far too much. 

He was allowed to enjoy himself. At least until Kacchan inevitably kicked his ass for risking his life just to show off. 

All good things had to come to an end, and Izuku finally got to the other side. It was another dead sprint until the next obstacle. 

According to Yamada-sensei, it was a minefield. 

Now, there were a few things he could do. He was very good on his feet and could easily just run through the minefield. He could do what he did with the Robo Inferno and just jump over it again. Or, he could give both Kacchan and Yagi-san a heart attack. 

He did get that Shock Absorption quirk after all. 

With a grin, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he took a running start, jumping and landing directly on one of the mines. 

He soared in the air, angling correctly to hit another one. And another one. And another one. He could hear Kacchan screaming his name up ahead, and Izuku jumped once again. Shock Absorption was really coming in hand, dispersing the force of the blasts away from him and giving him more air time. It only took five mines to almost catch up with Todoroki and Kacchan in the lead. 

He cackled as he jumped on another mine behind them, reveling in the glimmer of fear in Kacchan’s eyes. He landed between them, using both of their shoulders to propel himself forwards, onto another mine. 

Ignoring the sputtering of Kacchan behind him, it only took one more mine to land on the other side of the minefield. Summoning One For All at 5% for the final sprint, he rushed ahead, ignoring explosions and crackling ice behind him. His heart pounded in his throat, a grin plastered on his face as he raced forwards-

Kacchan was neck and neck with him, so Izuku elbowed him in the face and-

Passed the finish line in first place. 

He tumbled over himself, releasing the quirk as he rolled over the turf. He laughed in relief, which was interrupted when Kacchan tackled him. That started up a hearty brawl, both of them releasing steam while Kacchan unleashed a stream of curses. 

“You fucking idiot! What the fuck were you thinking? You jumped on the fucking mines- It’s a miracle you aren’t dead yet dumbass!” 

Izuku just kept giggling as Kacchan put him in a chokehold, waving to Todoroki who looked on in mild concern. “You missed the bit where I did flips and handsprings on the wires!” 

Kacchan groaned, tightening the chokehold. “You fucking adrenaline junkie.” 

“Bakubro, is that really necessary?” Kirishima asked, approaching the pair. 

“Yes! Apparently this dumbass decided to do acrobatics over the drop of death!” 

“Kacchan- Air-” Izuku wheezed. He tightened it just enough for him to breathe. 

“Oh, I saw that!” Kirishima said. “That was so manly bro!” 

“See, someone appreciates me!” 

“And that someone is an idiot, because you’re an fucking adrenaline junkie with no self preservation.” 

“Ouch.” Izuku slumped down in his hold, going completely slack. “I came here to have a good time and I honestly feel so attacked right now.”

“Oh- Goddamn it- Stop being a fucking liquid!” Izuku melted onto the ground, sticking his tongue out as he rolled over, escaping Kacchan’s grasp. 

“Shinsou!” He cheered, bounding over to the tired student as Kacchan kept shouting behind him. “You made it!” 

“Kami, you gremlin!” Shinsou responded, smacking him lightly. “If you aren’t gonna have a heart attack, I might just have one!” 

“It’s fine! I was never gonna slip anyways.” Izuku bounced up and down, still hyper from both the caffeine and the adrenaline. 

“I’m not talking about that-!” 

Midnight’s whip cracked, interrupting the students chatting in the field. “Now that everyone is back, we will be announcing the top forty two shortly. Don’t worry if you didn’t make the cut, there will be recreational activities later for all students to participate in! And our next event is…”

Chapter Text

“Our next event is the cavalry battle!” Midnight cracked her whip again, getting the attention of the crowd. “You children will be forming teams of three to four people, in order to collect these headbands, representing points. You’ll be choosing one rider, and you’ll be eliminated if the rider ever touches the ground. Points will be assigned based on the place you got in the obstacle race, ascending by five, with the exception of… 1,000,000 points for first place!” 

Izuku felt a chill go down his spine, as all forty one of his competitors eyed him up like chopped liver. 

“You have five minutes to choose your teams!” Midnight cracked the whip again. “Go!” 

Izuku watched as everyone fled from him, mingling with everyone else. Surprisingly, Kacchan came up to him and punched him in the arm. 

“Stop looking like a kicked puppy and find a team, nerd,” he said. “I can’t kick your ass in the finals if you don’t make it there.” 

Izuku rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Go find your team then.” 

Having apparently done what he set out to do, Kacchan wandered away. Izuku snorted, turning around and shaking his head. Classic Kacchan. 

He turned and found Shinsou wandering over, holding out his fist. “Gen Ed kids should stick together. Besides, you’re crazy enough that I don’t want to be on a team against you.” 

Izuku grinned, giving him a fist bump. “I’m gonna take that as a compliment! You’re always welcome here.” 

“Broccoli-kun!” Hatsume bounded over, zooming into his face. “You’re in first place!” 

“Yes, I am.” 

“Let me be on your team!” Hatsume shouted, wringing her hands. “You’ll be in the spotlight so much, and it’ll be great press for my babies!” 

Izuku leaned over when she pulled out a suitcase from somewhere. “Show me everything.” 

Hatsume started pulling things out. Rocket boots, a fucking jetpack, a high powered fire extinguisher. The plan was slowly coming together in his mind. 

“I have an idea for our last person.” 

Izuku stood up, and he looked over to see Uraraka coming over to them. “Hi Zuku!” She waved, looking a little nervous. “Can I join your team?” 

“Just the person I was thinking of!” She yelped as he grabbed her arm, bringing her into the group. They all huddled together, bumping shoulders. 

“So I’m gonna take that as a yes?” 

“Yeah, you’re on the team now,” Izuku said with a grin. “Does everyone here know sign language?”

“Yeah!” Hatsume said excitedly. “Sometimes my babies have sound components, so I need to test them in silence.” 

“Yeah, my grandma is hard of hearing,” Uraraka said, a little more sure of herself. 

“Good.” Izuku switched to sign, keeping his hands between their bodies and away from prying eyes. Here’s the plan…

Hitoshi couldn’t really register that this was real. 

He was the rider, a jetpack strapped to his back and a fire extinguisher in his arms. Midoriya held most of his weight, being in the back and also physically the strongest out of all of them. Uraraka was in the front, mostly responsible for just removing their weight, and Hatsume was on the other side of Midoriya. Both Midoriya and Hatsume had one rocket boot, for maneuverability, and they had fucking flamethrowers . 

Even after going up and getting the headband tied around his forehead, the plan still seemed insane. But then again, he did decide to team up with the craziest person, so he really shouldn’t be surprised. 

“Three!” Uraraka grunted, her face already looking a little pale, which didn’t really bode well.

“Two!” Hatsume adjusted one final thing on his jetpack, before slapping his back and taking position. 

“One!” Midoriya shifted underneath him, taking most of his weight. 

“GO!” 

Everything seemed to explode. The teams rushed them, and Midoriya shouted “Now!” 

Then they were weightless. 

“That’s it. I’m going to kill him.” 

Hitoshi just barely managed to keep himself from screaming, just barely managing to hold onto the fire extinguisher he was given (it really seemed unfair that the two gremlins got the flamethrowers and he only got the fire extinguisher). He registered Yamada-sensei’s voice but not any of the words, as his brain was still processing the fact that he was in the air. 

“Why did I agree to this?!” He shouted. 

“Because it’s a brilliant idea!” Midoriya cackled, sending them farther and farther up. 

“Incoming!” Hatsume shouted. They jolted to the left, and Hitoshi heard a muffled “DIE!” followed by explosions. 

He heard the sound of the flamethrowers going off and maniacal cackling, and he heard Bakugou shout “WHAT THE- WHO LET HIM HAVE A FLAMETHROWER?!?!?!” 

“I did!” Hitoshi shouted, taking the opportunity he presented. “What’re you gonna do about it?!” 

“I’M GONNA KILL-” The Angry Pomeranian was cut off as the mind control took hold. 

“Leave our team alone,” Hitoshi commanded. Bakugou started falling to the ground, and he could feel when Bakugou broke out of his control. And could hear it too, judging by the very angry swearing. 

They were still getting bombarded by attacks from the enemy, although no one was as bold as to send their rider up like Bakugou. Hitoshi filtered out the madmen underneath him, instead choosing to focus on securing their front. “You think that’s good enough?” He shouted, while spraying the fire extinguisher. 

“Tape won’t do anything to my babies!” Hatsume shouted, right alongside Midoriya who shouted “I’ve got a flamethrower!!” 

Suddenly they started to wobble. 

“Fuck you Naozane!” Hatsume shouted. Hitoshi risked a glance over to see a girl with horns, carrying a guy he recognized as Aoyama from Midoriya’s rambling, sticking her tongue out and flipping them off. 

“What’s going on?!” Hitoshi shouted back. It was hard to talk without shouting. 

“Naozane’s quirk is EMP pulse generation!” Hatsume responded, shooting off the flamethrower to burn some purple balls. “She’s knocked out the hover boots!” 

“We’ve got to land, we’re sitting ducks up here!” Midoriya shouted back, fending off a net. 

“But we’re the target on the land!” Uraraka shouted from the front. 

“It’s the best chance we’ve got!” Midoriya kicked off the hover boot, probably beaming some poor soul in the head. “Let’s do it!”

Hitoshi braced for impact, feeling the entire shudder through his body as they landed roughly on the ground. Immediately they started sinking into the ground. 

“Lift off a little bit, get us out of here!” 

Hitoshi obliged, wildly spraying the fire extinguisher around to mask what they were doing. They managed to pull themselves out of the mud, but not before they were assaulted by the same team that grounded them in the first place. 

He barely dodged a laser to the face, ducking underneath a bird that flew at his head. “Were you planning on killing me?!” 

“Oh, non mons-” Hitoshi’s quirk kicked in.

“Leave our team alone!” 

The next few minutes went by in a blur of spraying his fire extinguisher and using his quirk. A migraine was starting to build up behind his eyes, and he could only thank those two weeks of quirk training with Midoriya for the fact that it was only starting to hurt now. 

“With one minute left, Team Yaoyorozu shakes things up by enclosing Team Shinsou in an icy arena!” 

Hitoshi shivered, as he watched the other team. A girl he recognized as Yaoyorozu was the rider, and Iida was in the front, with two people he recognized as Todoroki and Tokoyami were in the back. Suddenly he was thankful for all the times Midoriya rambled about whatever 1A classmate he was stalking instead of doing the group project they were assigned. 

“Remember the plan, stay defensive!” Midoriya shouted. Hitoshi nodded to himself, hoisting up his fire extinguisher. 

He won’t let some hero student brats take their victory. 

“Up!” Hitoshi turned on the jetpack, and they went up a couple feet just as ice froze the floor. They would’ve been sitting ducks otherwise. 

They were rushed, and it was only a bright tower of flame from Midoriya that kept Tokoyami’s quirk at bay. “Is that all you got?!” Hitoshi shouted, looking for any thread for his quirk to take hold. 

Surprisingly (or maybe Hitoshi just tuned this part of Midoriya’s ramblings out) the quirk talked back. “Don’t talk about Fumi that way!” 

Hitoshi’s quirk took effect. “Drag your team away from us.” 

The quirk grew bigger, latching onto the two back team members and dragging them away. “No, Dark Shadow! Free yourself of the darkness you’ve been trapped within!” 

He sprayed the fire extinguisher around, fending off the other team. “You really think you can handle the darkness?!” 

Tokoyami was about to respond, but there was another column of ice rushing them, and only the combined force of Hatsume and Midoriya’s flamethrowers, plus an evasive maneuver from Hitoshi got them to safety. 

“Ten seconds left on the clock, Todoroki’s really gunning for the first place headband!” 

“Engine Recipio Burst!” 

Everything seemed to happen at once. He counted three sources of fire, a shadow that seemed to block out the sun, and a hand reaching out. All of a sudden, Hitoshi was left with no headband on his forehead, and the creation girl was holding their headband in her hand.

“And that’s time!” 

They have no points.

“You know you’re not getting this back, right?” Izuku asked Hatsume, gesturing with the flamethrower still in his hands. 

“Of course! Go ahead and keep the baby!” Hatsume grinned, pushing her goggles up on top of her head. 

“How can you guys be so cheerful?!” Shinsou groaned from where he was lying face down on the ground. “We have nothing! No points! Zero!” 

“Umm,” Uraraka spoke up. “We actually do have points.” 

Everyone looked over at her, and she held up a headband. “I managed to snag this from Yaoyorozu’s neck.” 

“And here’s the scoreboard!” Midnight got everyone’s attention with the crack of a whip. 

First Place: Team Yaoyoruzu

Second Place: Team Bakugou

Third Place: Team Monoma

Fourth Place: Team Shinsou

“We made it!” Uraraka shouted, jumping up and tackling Shinsou in a hug. His other friend made an agonized noise that sounded like a gargle, but didn’t pull away. 

“Broccoli-kun! We did it!” Hatsume jumped up and down, and she high-fived Izuku. “My babies are gonna get so much attention!” 

Izuku and Shinsou grinned at each other. “Just cause we made it this far doesn’t mean I’m gonna take it easy on you, you hear?” 

Izuku just laughed. “I’d be insulted if you did.”

Chapter Text

Hitoshi sat down at the table, trying not to stare at his classmates (maybe friends(?), unclear which). Midoriya was shoving Katsudon in his face like he was going to die if he didn’t eat it. Which was probably correct. Similarly, Uraraka was also shoving food in her face, but less ‘rabid raccoon who hasn’t eaten in months’ and more ‘track athlete who just finished a marathon.’ Iida was eating at a relatively calmer pace to the other two, still fast but less messy, and Hatsume had a robot feeding her while she went over her machines.

He started shoving food in his face (trying to still be neat about it, he wasn’t going full feral animal like Midoriya). First there was a break for lunch, and then there were gonna be recreational games. He was going to use the time to prepare himself for his fights.     

“What are you guys going to do during the games?” Uraraka asked, having picked her bowl clean.

Hitoshi shrugged. “Probably gonna prepare for my match.”

“I’ll be visiting Eri up in the stands,” Midoriya said between bites of food. He’d finished his first bowl, and had moved on to a second bowl. “She’s watching with the Bakugous.”

Before Iida could respond, the electric kid and the kid with the grape orbs on his head came over. He didn’t like the look on grape kid's face, especially since their table was near the other tables with other girls from Class 1A.     

“Aizawa-sensei wanted the girls to wear cheerleader outfits for the recreational games!” Grape kid said.      

“Yeah, something about school pride and showing solidarity with the other classes?” Electric kid nodded.     

Hitoshi and Midoriya looked at each other as the other girls hesitantly started to nod. “I mean, if he asked-” Yaoyorozu said, before being cut off by Hitoshi.

“That doesn’t sound like Aizawa-sensei.”

He could see grape boy sweating as electric kid just looked confused. Midoriya looked like he was about to plan a murder as he stood up, glaring at grape kid. “Did Aizawa-sensei actually ask you to do this?” He asked, but there was a weird undertone to his voice. Hitoshi just chalked it up to him being pissed.      

“No,” the grape boy responded immediately, before slapping his hands over his mouth.

Protest broke out immediately. Electric boy gasped, turning to grape boy. “Seriously dude? What the hell?”      

All the girls expressed disgust and anger, and Uraraka stood up, what almost looked like murder in her eyes. She stomped over to grape kid, grabbing him and making him float with her quirk. “Let’s go talk to Aizawa-sensei.”      

As the girls stormed off, Midoriya stood up. “I’m gonna go make sure they don’t murder anyone,” he said, swiftly following them.

Hitoshi and Iida looked at each other, then Hitoshi stood up. “I’m gonna go make sure Midoriya really doesn’t kill anyone.”  

With the testimony of practically half of 1A and two kids from Gen Ed, Mineta was expelled on the spot. Hitoshi swore he could hear a muffled “fucking finally” from his Law and Ethics teacher, but he didn’t look to far into things as Yamada-sensei dragged the little pervert off.     

“Thank you for telling me about this,” Aizawa-sensei said, looking over the assembled collection of students. “You lot go back to lunch, you need all the calories you can get.”

There was a collection of “Yes Sensei” from everyone, and Hitoshi made his way over to Midoriya and Uraraka, who thankfully looked a little less murderous. Uraraka was complaining about Grape Kid (yes he knew his name now but he wasn’t obligated to use it) and Midoriya was listening, interjecting on occasion.      

“Thank Kami he’s gone!” Uraraka exclaimed. “Seriously, he complained so much about the girls' costume changes, saying we’re less attractive and beautiful. Gross!”      

“Disgusting,” Midoriya nodded along.      

“Pathetic,” Hitoshi added, sliding in next to them.     

The other girls came up to them, individually thanking Midoriya for calling Grape Kid out on his shit. He started flushing red, as he tried to brush off their thanks as just something anyone would do. Which yeah, Hitoshi did also call him out, but Midoriya was the one who scared the kid shitless.     

How did you do it? Hitoshi signed, still not fully comfortable with asking questions verbally, especially around so many unknown people.     

“Do what?” Midoriya asked.      

Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “Get Grape Boy to talk.”      

Midoriya shrugged, and said with a wink, “Trade secret.”      

“Alright then, keep your secrets,” Hitoshi shoved the other boy.      

He chuckled, shimmying his way outside the circle a little. “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom. Bye guys!”      

“Bye!” “Goodbye!” “Thanks again, Mido!”      

All the girls rounded on him, and Hitoshi gulped. Dammit Midoriya!    

Izuku slipped out of the bathroom, having taken his meds with the sink water. Not the most pleasant way to take medication, but it was better than dry swallowing it. His hands were shaking as he slipped out to a maintenance tunnel, and he pulled out one of his vapes to blow.      

Tell tale signs of a nicotine addiction, kid, Three said at the back of his mind. He scowled, taking a long drag and pushing that back.      

Yeah, that was a new thing. A week ago, the past One For All holders decided to speak in his mind. It was only every once in a while, and only a passing thought, but it was still a new development.      

Was he going to tell Yagi about it? Fuck no.

His hands stopped trembling as badly (they never really stopped shaking), and he relaxed as the smoke filled his lungs. He let it out with a long sigh, feeling tension leave his shoulders as he closed his eyes. Was this a good way of coping with his problems? Probably not. Was he going to stop? No.

He felt the ice cold and burning heat of an elemental quirk approach him, and he kept his stance open and relaxed as he opened one eye. When he saw Todoroki lean on the other side of the wall, he hummed, closing his eyes and taking another draw.      

“I don’t think you’re allowed to do that on school grounds,” Todoroki said blandly.

Izuku shrugged with one arm, letting the smoke drift out of his mouth. “All eyes are on the hero course, maybe the support course. No one cares if a gen ed kid vapes in a back hallway, away from prying eyes.”      

That was meant to be a lead into an answer from Todoroki, about why he’s snooping around maintenance tunnels instead of preparing for the finals. Instead, what comes out of his mouth is, “I don’t think All Might would approve of his son vaping.”      

Izuku started hacking, caught off guard. He quickly caught his footing, making his posture still appear relaxed while ready to pick fight or flight. “With all due respect, what the fuck?”      

“Yours and All Might’s quirks are similar, and you’ve been getting favoritism from Nedzu-san and secret training with All Might despite being in Gen Ed,” Todoroki narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t think All Might’s son would be someone so crass, but if you’re a secret love child, then I suppose the rules would be looser for you…”      

“He is not my father!” Izuku was still wheezing a little bit. “I am not a secret love child! My sister isn’t related to him either!”

“Regardless, you made me break my pledge.”      

“Your what?”      

And that’s how Todoroki ended up telling him the story of his family. Of how his father used a quirk marriage to create him and his siblings, and tried to craft each of them to be the number one hero to surpass All Might. The abuse got so bad that his mother snapped and poured boiling water on his face. And to rub it in his father’s face, he’s decided he’s going to accomplish this goal by only using his mother’s ice.      

A part of Izuku wondered if this is what he would’ve become if he hadn’t escaped All For One’s clutches. Then he remembered that he didn’t have time to spiral into an existential crisis, put the implications of Todoroki- no, Shouto’s story into a box, and shoved it into the back of his brain.      

“That’s why I have to beat you. I’ll beat the son of the number one hero-”     

“Still not his son.”      

“And prove that I don’t need my father’s fire.”      

Izuku sighed, taking another drag of his vape and letting his mind process a little. Shouto was tense in front of him, as if he was waiting for some sort of verdict. “Shouto- can I call you Shouto?” The other boy nodded hesitantly, a hint of confusion showing on his face. “Can I tell you something? A secret for a secret.”     

Shouto gestured for him to continue. Izuku tucked the collar of the sports uniform jacket away from the side of his neck, revealing the long scar that went from halfway down the right side of his neck down underneath his jacket. “I was homeless for a while. It was me and my sister on the streets, and we only had each other, before our uncle took us in. I got this during that time.”      

He could see Shouto suck in a breath. Izuku released his collar, taking another drag. “Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to mug two kids for drug money. He had a knife, and when I insisted that we didn’t have anything worth shit on us, he decided that I was lying, and he’ll take anything of worth off of my corpse.”      

He closed his eyes and took another drag, settling his nerves as he pulled open old wounds. Even if he was telling a warped version of events, it still hurt. “If I hadn’t used my quirk, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’m lucky that I only got away with this scar, and that Eri was unharmed. As for the other guy, well, he wasn’t so lucky.”      

He opened his eyes, seeing the thinly veiled horror on Shouto’s face. “My point is, outside U.A., you won’t have the luxury of only using half of your quirk. You either give it your all, or you and whoever you’re protecting dies.”

The vape was empty, so he stuffed the empty cartridge back into his pocket. “If we face each other, I’m not going to hold back. You shouldn’t either.”      

Izuku turned around, heading back to the stands where the Bakugous were waiting. As he was leaving, he caught a glimpse of Shouto looking at his hands. 

Katsuki turned around, sneaking back to the prep room. He’s heard enough. There were a few big questions on his mind, but the biggest was…     

Since when the fuck did Izuku have an uncle? 

Izuku gave Eri a kiss and headed back to the prep room that he shared with Shinsou and Hatsume (they’re sharing because there aren’t enough people who made it through both 1C and 1H to justify them having their own prep rooms). As he went, he heard Yamada-sensei announcing over the intercoms. With a smile, he pulled out his phone to check the next matches.   

Hatsume vs Midoriya 

Todoroki vs Ashido 

Ojirou vs Monoma 

Shinsou vs Kaminari 

Uraraka vs Iida 

Shiozaki vs Momo 

Bakugou vs Tokoyami 

Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu      

Izuku looked up, meeting Hatsume’s gaze and grinning widely. This was going to be fun.  

Chapter Text

Eri watched from the stands, sitting in Auntie’s lap while she watched her brother down below on the platform. Him and Hachan had split a variety of con-trap-tions between them, stuff more comp-li-cat-ed than her brother made. They were all probably Hachan’s babies.

They pranced around the arena, shouting joyfully about Hachan’s babies while they dem-on-stra-ted them. They were having a lot of fun. They had hi-jacked the broadcast system, using it to promote the in-ven-tions.

Auntie complained about them acting like used car salesmans in front of an audience, but Uncle laughed at their antics. She wondered what was wrong with being a used car salesman.

After about five minutes, they had dem-on-stra-ted everything, and both of them bowed as Hachan walked out of bounds. Midnight-san declared Izu-niichan the winner.

“Auntie, why did Hachan walk out?” Eri asked, tugging on the sleeve of her sweater. Auntie was a busi-ness-wo-man, so she would know.

Her aunt chuckled, readjusting her hat. “Well, Hatsume has already made her point to the audience and to any investors watching from the stands. She’s made her pitch, she doesn’t need to get any further in the festival. Izu-chan needs to win in order to transfer. They probably made a deal behind the scenes.”

Eri nodded. That sounded just like her brother. He was very smart. She watched as Izu-niichan waved to the stands, and Eri waved back with a wide grin.

Her brother was the best. He’ll win for sure!

Todoroki v Ashido

Continuing the theme of being too much, Todoroki has completely encased poor Ashido in ice. She made a valiant effort to free herself using her acid, but after a minute of struggle, Kayama-sensei gave the win to Todoroki.

I feel bad for her but that was pretty hot.

Ojirou v Monoma

Ojirou’s martial skill is impressive and nothing to sneeze at, he lasted a good three minutes. However, Monoma’s preplanning was what gave him the win. It also seems like Class 1B is continuing to cooperate with their classmates in the finals. I recognized all the quirks that Monoma used as coming from 1B.

It’s an impressive strategy. The match up just wasn’t the best for Ojirou, honestly. I hope some heroes still notice his effort.

Shinsou v Kaminari

I’m so proud of Shinsou. He’s really embracing the strategy of confusing the fuck out of people. He made a hand signal and then said a really terrible knock knock joke. Kaminari was out of bounds in an instant.

Normally I would feel bad for Kaminari, but Shinsou needs the W just as much as I do. Also I’m pretty sure that Kaminari asked for Shinsou’s number and kept flirting with him, so I don’t feel as bad.

Update: Kaminari definitely asked Shinsou on a date. They’re going to a cat cafe. I’m happy for them, and Kacchan owes me a thousand yen.

Uraraka v Iida

I’m surprised. Uraraka won! She played it smart, dodged, and managed to get in the hit that caused Iida to float. His own momentum did him in.

It isn’t like him to get in his own head though. I’m going to go check on him. I hope he’s alright.

Izuku frowned, closing his notebook and slipping it in his pocket, sticking his pen in his hair (hopefully he doesn’t lose it, he’s lost a few pens to his hair). He stood up. “Tell me how the next match goes, alright?”

Shinsou raised his eyebrows. What’s up?

“Iida’s acting weird. I’m going to make sure he’s okay.”

Shinsou shrugged, waving him off. “Get me a Gatorade.”

Rolling his eyes at his friend’s antics, he slipped out of the bleachers.

He was familiar with the winding hallways of the stadium, so he didn’t waste any time at all in getting to class 1A’s dressing room. He knocked gently on the door, and at the quiet “Come in” he entered.

Iida was leaning against the table, his head in his hands. His phone was laying next to him on the table. He looked up for a moment, then put his head back in his hands. “Hello, Midoriya.”

Izuku frowned, taking the seat next to him. “Hey Iida. Are you okay?”

Iida sighed. “My brother is in the hospital. They don’t know what happened. He’s still in surgery.” Iida looked over to his phone. “I’m worried about him.”

Izuku scooted closer, pulling Iida into a hug. He imagined Eri sitting there, worried about him on patrol, but quickly pushed the visual aside. “I’m sure he’ll pull through, Iida. He’s a good hero, and he wouldn’t leave you like that.”

Iida hunched in on himself. “How would you know that, Midoriya? You don’t know him.”

“You’re right, I don’t. But I’m an older brother myself. I know I’d do anything to stay by Eri’s side, and keep her safe and happy. I imagine your brother feels the same way, Iida.”

They fell into silence, and after a few moments, Iida hugged him back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Iida quietly soaking up comfort and Izuku gladly giving it to him, before Iida pulled away.

“My mother is coming to pick me up,” he said, adjusting his glasses. Izuku didn’t call him out on the tears. “Since I’ve been eliminated, I’ll be going to the hospital. I- I need to be there for him.”

Izuku nodded. “I understand. Do you want me to walk with you?”

Iida looked at him, a little surprised. “But- I know you take pride in your analysis, and that you were excited to watch the festival in person-”

Izuku cut him off. “I can rewatch the festival later. This is more important.”

Iida stayed quiet, probably thinking about something, so Izuku stood up and helped him to his feet. “Where are you being picked up? I’ll walk with you.”

“I don’t want to keep you any longer than I have already!”

“Don’t worry about it Iida! You’re my friend!”

Izuku grabbed his arm, humming a tune under his breath as he started walking. It was worth it when he saw Iida smile.

They’ll be okay.

Izuku slid back in his seat, in the middle of a match. A quick glance saw that Kacchan was fighting Tokoyami. “Who won the last one?” he muttered to Shinsou.

“Girl with vines for hair,” Shinsou muttered back. Izuku frowned: Yaoyorozu was objectively stronger and smarter. He’s gonna have to go back and watch the replay.

He pulled out his notebook, then struggled to find his pen. Shinsou rolled his eyes, plucking a pen out of Izuku’s hair and handing it to him. With a quiet “thanks,” Izuku started working on Kacchan and Tokoyami’s match.

Kacchan v Tokoyami

It’s a bad match up. Explosions create a lot of light, a weakness of Dark Shadow. To be fair, Tokoyami is trying his best. The fact that he lasted this long shows how smart Dark Shadow and Tokoyami are together. (Which makes sense, two brains are smarter than one).

Shinsou has informed me that this is not always the case because me and Kacchan have two brains but get dumber when put together, note to self experimentally test this.

Shinsou just called me a nerd. I have no rebuttal.

Kacchan’s playing it smart too. He’s using smaller explosions, which seems to be a detriment to the match (I know for a fact one big explosion could’ve ended this match about two minutes ago) but he seems to be accounting for future matches. It wouldn’t do him any good if he’s immediately knocked out right after this round.

… And Kacchan just grabbed Tokoyami’s arm and threw him out of bounds. (I forgot just how muscular he was, that was really hot)

Shinsou called me a simp. I have no rebuttal for this either.

“This is really going to be a matter of brains,” Izuku muttered, scribbling in his notebook as Kirishima of 1A and Tetsutetsu of 1B entered the arena. “They have essentially the same quirk, so it’s going to be a matter of who is smart enough to use their quirk creatively. What do you think, Shinsou?”

The other boy shrugged, sipping on his Gatorade.

Kayama-sensei cracked the whip, and Izuku leaned forwards, anticipating a great match of wits. He was sorely disappointed as they both went for the obvious strategy of wearing each other out.

“This is gonna take forever!” Izuku whined.

Shinsou raised an eyebrow. “If this goes longer than ten minutes, you owe me a pack of choco cats.”

“You’re on.” Izuku doubted that the school would let them fight for more than ten minutes. His bet was on five being the cap.  

They decided the winner based on an arm wrestling competition. Izuku was the proud owner of a bag of choco cats.

Chapter Text

“My point is, outside U.A., you won’t have the luxury of only using half of your quirk. You either give it your all, or you and whoever you’re protecting dies.”

Shouto scowled in the training room, the air in the  room growing colder by the minute. His classmates were up in the stands, so he was alone in the room. He was trying to meditate, clear his mind in preparation for the battle ahead, but all he was doing was turning the conversation with Midoriya over in his head. 

“If we face each other, I’m not going to hold back. You shouldn’t either.” 

Shouto wasn’t going to let anyone break his pledge, even if it was All Might’s son. No, he was the son of Endeavor, and he was going to prove to his father that he doesn’t need him or his flames to be a top hero. 

Izuku had his Top Secret™ notebook open, the pages on his list of quirks. He couldn’t go all out on Shouto, not if he wanted to keep all of his secrets, but it would be unfair of him to yell at Shouto that he needed to go all out and not go all out himself. So, he made a compromise to himself (compromises were what Eri was learning about the week or so before the Sports Festival, and sometimes you just need to go back to the ideas of kindergarten); he would go as all out as he can without blowing his cover. 

That means he needs to make a list of all the quirks he can and can’t use in the fight. Hence the blank page with only the names of the quirks he has written down. 

• All For One (sensing purposes only)
• Attraction of Small Objects (for redirecting ice spikes, BE VERY CAREFUL)
• Boost
• Resistance
• Confession (use sparingly)
• One For All
• Shock Absorption

Seven out of twelve quirks is still the majority of his quirks (counting the two he’s using sparingly and carefully). 

This isn’t just about winning the Sports Festival anymore. It’s about helping Shouto. 

It’s about the fact that he sees a reflection of himself in Shouto, the version of him that stayed with All For One. And despite everything, he’s a hero at heart, and he can’t just leave Shouto alone. He has to save him.

Izuku stood in the arena, steadying his breathing as he stood across from Shouto. The arena was already cold. He steadied his grip on One For All, feeling the warmth in his chest from the quirk and letting it fill him. He grinned across from the stadium, and Shouto only scowled at him. 

Midnight cracked the whip. “Begin!” 

Izuku jumped up, dodging the aggressive volley of ice sent his way. He activated One For All at five percent, the familiar lightning sparking around him. 

He tuned out Yamada-sensei’s commentary, subtly redirecting the shards of ice as he dodged another ice volley. Izuku landed on the ice, only perched there for a moment before dodging another volley. 

He’s not going to get anywhere if he’s just dodging. He needed to stop thinking of this like Izuku and more like Kitsune.

A part of Izuku realized that this was a bad idea, that he was shooting himself in the foot later, and that Izuku’s life and Kitsune’s life weren’t supposed to intertwine like this. But a much larger part was high on the adrenaline of the fight and the nicotine in his system, and Shouto was NOT going to be another name on the list of people he’s failed. 

He ducked behind one of the volleys, taking a few breaths in as he switched mindsets. “Sorry Shouto, but this is for your own good,” Kitsune muttered, before sliding back out. 

It was another volley of ice, and instead of dodging, Kitsune roundhouse kicked, shattering the ice. “You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting it to do something different!” 

Shouto’s eyes were wider, before he scowled again, sending another wave of ice out. Once again, Kitsune kicked, using Attraction of Small Objects to make sure the ice didn’t nick him. 

“Did my father put you up to this?!” Shouto shouted back.

Kitsune barked out a laugh. “I’d rather die than accept money from that bastard!” There was an opening, so he launched himself forwards and aimed a punch.

Shouto sent out a volley of ice at the last second, so he redirected into a slap that shattered the ice and sent him flying back a meter. Shouto was also pushed back closer to the edge, but he had braced himself with ice. 

“Then why?” Shouto asked. “Why are you doing this?” 

Kitsune dodged the ice again, lunging forwards and managing to get a good hit in, fist hitting Shouto square in the jaw. “Because your attitude is going to get someone killed!” 

He launched into a backspring as he dodged the ice coming for his face. He could tell that Shouto was starting to shiver, starting to succumb to hypothermia from overusing only one half of his quirk. 

“You’re going to get hypothermia, Shouto,” Kitsune called out, shattering a small volley of ice. “And your ice is getting weaker. Of course, that’s not an issue if you just used your fire.” 

He flicked a finger and shattered apart the ice, that’s how small these volleys were getting. “In fact, the arena is so cold that you could end this right now. One spark would be enough to light up an explosion. A beautiful fireball.” 

Shouto scrunched his eyebrows, confusion showing plain on his face. Kitsune smiled, he was much prettier when he actually expressed his emotions. “Why are you telling me this?”

Kitsune smirked, something a little too close to crazed, his own version of Eraserdad’s smile. Probably because he bounced the line between thrill-chasing danger-seeker and suicidal maniac like a tightrope acrobat (Dabi’s words, not his). Probably because despite his trauma, fire ran through his veins, and he always lit up whenever he set a trash can full of Endeavor merch on fire with his friends. Probably because Shouto was a little too close to who Kitsune could’ve been, and he wanted to push him to the light. 

What he actually said was “Because your fire is too pretty to be wasted by locking it up.”

He just barely managed to dodge the ice coming for him. “I’m not going to use his fire!” 

And there was the root of the issue. “Do you truly believe that?” Kitsune asked, lacing Confession in his voice.

“Yes,” came the immediate response. No hesitation, not in the slightest, not even after Shouto realized what he just said. 

There was a lull in the battle. Kitsune and Shouto stood across from each other. There were a million things he could say, all of them touching on things a little too close to home. What he settled on was “So am I a villain then?” 

Shouto blinked. “What?” 

“I’m blacklisted from the hero course because I’m related to a villain. I have a quirk similar to his. Even if I never used it for evil, that didn’t matter to the HPSC.” Kitsune shrugged. That’s not the only reason he was blacklisted, but Shouto didn’t need to know that. “So am I a villain?” 

“Of course not.” Shouto’s immediate response kicked in, before he paused and thought about it. 

“My quirk is not his, it’s mine. Your quirk is not Endeavor’s, it’s yours, Shouto.” 

Kitsune activated Shock Absorption, letting it settle on his skin as he watched Shouto. His eyes lit up as fire engulfed the boy’s right side. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen (well, third most; All For One’s compound in flames and Eri were always gonna take second and first respectively). 

“Beautiful,” he muttered, before everything went white.

Izuku groaned, opening his eyes for a moment before shutting them against the harsh white lights. His entire body throbbed, and he distantly realized that he had ice pressed against his chest. Hopefully he didn’t rebreak his ribs. Although hoping never got him very far. 

“Midoriya!” “Zuku!” “Broccoli-kun!” His two very loud friends and his quieter friend were sitting next to his bed.

“Oww.” 

“Yeah, no shit!” Kacchan shouted. “What the fuck was that about, hah? Where did that talk about winning go?! And why the fuck would you just stand there when he was about to explode the entire stadium?!” 

Izuku shrugged lopsidedly, being mindful of Kacchan’s death grip on his left arm. “It was pretty.” 

“So you almost died because Icy Hot’s fire was pretty?!” 

“Yeah.” There was a pause, and then Izuku said, “Do you think he’s single?” 

That earned him a smack. 

“Stop smacking my patients!” Recovery Girl came out of nowhere and beamed Kacchan upside the head with her cane. Izuku winced in sympathy while Kacchan seethed, muttering something about old hags under his breath. 

Izuku tried for a smile, but he quickly cowed under a cane being aimed in his face. “And you! You came in broken ribs, ribs that were rebroken, which means they were broken in the past, and then you come in with the worst heart rate I’ve ever seen in a student.” 

He could feel Kacchan staring into his soul. “Uh, oops?” 

Recovery Girl sighed, pinching her nose. “I have half a mind to make you heal naturally, young man. However, you seem to have plenty of energy, as your friend here informed me about the amount of caffeine you had this morning, so I will heal you and you can go back to the stands to watch the rest of the festival. But you better come in on Monday for a follow up.” 

“Yes ma’am,” Izuku gave her a single handed salute, and then she kissed her forehead. He tried to hop out of bed, but stumbled and had to be caught by Kacchan (he absolutely didn’t turn red when he brushed his friend’s arms, shut up Shinsou). Recovery Girl simply rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath something about teenagers before shooing them out of the infirmary. 

“Shinsou, shouldn’t you be preparing for your match?” Izuku asked. 

He shook his head. “I won already.” 

“You did?!” Izuku’s eyes widened. “How? You’ve got to tell me everything!” 

“Don’t worry Broccoli-kun, I’ve been recording the whole festival with one of my babies,” Hatsume said. “I’ll send you the footage.” 

“That’s it, you’re my new best friend-” “Hey!” Kacchan smacked him again.

“Uraraka’s match is currently going on,” Shinsou said. “If you hurry you could make it.” 

Izuku’s eyes went even wider, and he slung his arm over Hatsume’s shoulder. “To the stands! I can’t miss this!” 

Shinsou v Monoma

Shinsou’s a big meanie who won’t tell me how he won >:(

Uraraka v Shiozaki

Uraraka kicked ass! She’s getting really good at removing her own gravity and dealing with the nausea. She’s smarter than she thinks, she dodged and managed to trap Shiozaki in her own vines!

Note to self: Eri wants to be babysat by Ura-chan.

Kacchan v Kirishima

This was an amazing fight! Kacchan and Kirishima have been sparring with each other for the past few weeks, so it’s really a battle of an unstoppable force vs an immovable object. And they know each other so well that they could anticipate each others’ moves, so it really comes down to who’s smarter. 

My (theoretical) money’s on Kacchan, he’s one of the top of his class in academics. And Kirishima’s a pretty good guy, but I’m rooting for him. Go Kacchan!

Izuku didn’t stand up, but he did grin and cheer as Eri jumped up and down next to him. Kacchan threw Kirishima over his shoulder and over the boundary line. 

“Kacchan! Kacchan! Kacchan!” Eri shouted, jumping with each word and flailing her arms up and down. From the arena, he looked up to about where they were sitting, grinning and giving the stands a wave.

Izuku laughed as Eri waved enthusiastically back, and then full on wheezed when Kacchan dabbed on the stadium as he was leaving. 

“Izu-chan, are you alright?” Uncle Maseru asked, patting him on the back. 

Izuku was still coughing, his sides protesting from the violent laughter, but it was one hundred percent worth it. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” 

Zuku -> Kacchan

I FUCKING DID IT

IM DYING KACCHAN

I CANT BREATH

U BETTER B ABLE TO BREATHE

PAY UP FUCKER

[image ID: The picture is in the U.A. Sports Festival stands, a thumb covering one corner of the picture. Izuku is slumped over the banister, grabbing his sides. He was laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes.]

hi kacchan :D

Hello Unicorn, how are you doing?

im doin good :) u were so awesome!!!

Thank you. Can you make sure your brother isn’t dying?

okay!!!!

is kacchan using correct grammar+punctuation???

shut up shitty nerd, im setting a good example 4 the unicorn

Chapter Text

Hitoshi breathed in and out, trying to keep his cool as he stood in front of the 1-A powerhouse, Todoroki. He tried to remember everything that Midoriya had told him about the dual haired student.

It was only that he was the son of Endeavor (so daddy issues) and that his quirk is creation of ice from the left side and fire from the other side. And that apparently if he uses both, the entire arena fucking explodes. 

He was not liking his odds. 

“So, Endeavor, huh?” Hitoshi asked, trying to get the lead early on. For that, he was forced to dodge a barrage of ice. Alright, that’s NOT the angle to go.

“Gonna assume you’re not a fan.” He was so thankful that he spent time training with Midoriya, because Midoriya’s bullshit prepared him for dodging whatever fuckery this is. “I’m sure there’s a story there, wanna tell me?”

That got him more ice barrages. He spent a couple more moments dodging and weaving (because he wasn’t good enough to hold entire conversations while running from the specter of death). “No story? That’s fine, we’re not at that level of frieEYYEEEndship yet. Let’s get to know each other first, what’s your favorite color?” 

Hitoshi was not proud of the totally manly and not at all squeaky sound he just made as he ducked to avoid being decapitated. He was starting to think that someone leaked his quirk’s conditions. It’s not something he has the brain power to think about right now, but he makes a little note to himself to think about later.

“No that’s fair, we’re not ready for favorite colors yet. What about- Everyone loves jokes! Do you wanna hear a joke?” 

There was no response. “I’m going to tell one anyway. Knock knock!” 

Hitoshi was about to think that it wasn’t going to work, and then there was a small “Who’s there?” from Todoroki.

He grabbed the mental link, literally sweating from both the physical and quirk strain. “Walk out of the arena.” 

Todoroki slowly meandered out of the arena, and he was sweating bullets as he watched the other boy make his way around jagged ice structures. He was getting really close to the border when Hitoshi felt the link snap.

He braced himself to be obliterated, but Todoroki was standing there, staring at one hand and shivering. Hitoshi’s quirk can only be broken out of by pain, which means that Todoroki was so cold that he managed to almost get hypothermia. Which was not healthy.

And what kind of hero wouldn’t at least check in with the guy?

“Hey, man, you okay?” Hitoshi asked, stepping forwards. “We can take a rain check real quick, you can go see Recovery Girl for a bi-AAAH!!!!”

For Hitoshi’s kind generosity, he was encased in an entire fucking glacier of ice. 

He heard a whip crack, and Midnight-sensei declared Todoroki the winner. He wiggled a bit, and Todoroki just stared at the right side of his hand, as if contemplating using it to get Hitoshi free. 

“Do not do that, I don’t want to have broken ribs,” he deadpanned, catching Todoroki’s attention. “And why are you just staring at it? Is it going to bite you?” 

“Of course no-” 

Hitoshi pulled on his quirk again. “Go to Recovery Girl.” 

As Todoroki walked away with a dazed look on his face, Midnight-sensei came back and stood within eyesight. “You know that’s technically against UA's policy, right kid?” 

“I know, but I also didn’t want to end up like Midoriya.” 

She snorted. “Fair enough. We did end up calling someone to get you out-”

“Hi Eyebags-kun!” Hatsume floated down from the stands with a jet pack. “I’ll get you out real quick with one of my babies!” 

“Oh no.” “Oh no. ”

Katsuki grinned, counting his money. He did the bet, he dabbed in front of a live audience, he was going to get his fucking curry money. 

His mom’s curry was the best, followed by his own, but there’s one shop in downtown Musutafu that’s pretty tasty, and he is going to enjoy the fuck out of that victory curry-

He turns the corner on the way to the locker room, and sees Endeavor standing there, waiting. Katsuki looked around, but he saw no one around them, and the hero was already walking forwards. 

“You’re Bakugou Katsuki, the other strongest student in 1-A,” the hero said. 

“Yeah, that’s my name,” Katsuki responded. He was both flattered that the number two hero thought he was strong and wary, because he’s heard many, many, many rants from Zuku about how Endeavor was the worst hero ever. It also didn’t help that this was supposed to be for staff and students only, and that he was not supposed to be here. 

This entire situation was if Zuku was wearing a bunch of red flags and also pulling a fridge full of red flags. 

“You will be the one fighting Shouto in the last match.” 

“I mean yeah, but I know that cause I’m me and fucking awesome,” Katsuki said. “How the hell do you know that?” 

“You will easily crush the frail girl, and then be fighting my Shouto.”

“Frail girl?” Katsuki asked, raising an eyebrow. Round Cheeks is friends with Zuku, that girl is anything but frail. “I’m sorry, are you presuming that she’ll lose just because she’s a girl, or because she has a relatively weak quirk? Because you need to check both your sexism and your quirkism.” 

His mom is the head of the fashion industry, alongside his dad, and he has heard so much sexist and quirkist bullshit about her from snobby rich assholes. He didn’t expect to hear the same bullshit from the number two hero, but he is willing to throw hands, rankings be damned. 

Endeavor ignored him and continued steamrolling ahead. “Shouto needs to learn that he cannot only use ice, and must be willing to use fire. I expect you to fight hard, to prepare him to surpass All Might.” 

Red Flag Zuku was now pulling two fridges full of red flags. “Your All Might fetish has gotten way out of control. Shouto can do whatever the fuck he wants and not whatever this surpassing All Might bullshit is about. Maybe if you pull your head out of your ass, you’ll realize that he’s his own goddamn person.” 

Endeavor looked like he was fuming, but Katsuki kept going. “Besides, old man, me and my hero partner are going to become the number one heroes, and once we’re up on that pedestal, you can kiss my ass.” 

“You are not allowed to disrespect me like that!” Endeavor shouted, his fire mask flaming up as he took a step closer. 

Katsuki scoffed at the obvious intimidation tactic. “Yeah, and what’re you gonna do about it, hah? This area is for staff and students, so you are trespassing.” 

“I will be reporting you to your teacher and principal. It’s a student’s word against the number two hero’s-” 

“Actually, it’s a student’s word against a trespasser’s,” Katsuki responded. “So you can go ahead and try, but you will not win.” 

Having thoroughly won the argument, he walked past Endeavor, continuing to make his way to the locker room. The hero called out from behind him, “And how do you know you’ll reach the number one spot?” 

Katsuki turned around with a grin. “Because I’m friends with Midoriya Izuku, and if I can survive being friends with that crazy bastard, I can do anything.” 

His heart was still pumping when he made his way to the locker room. He sat down, just kind of processing everything for a moment. He could feel adrenaline running through his veins, as if he had just run a fucking marathon. 

He’d just mouthed off to Endeavor, the number two hero known for a hot temper and high amounts of civilian collateral, which displayed a remarkable lack of self preservation, dignity and respect on his part. 

Katsuki had a sudden, horrific realization. 

Zuku is rubbing off on me.

“By the way, Bakugou,” Round Cheeks said, beaten up but still grinning. “Thank you for keeping your eyes on me.” 

Katsuki looked up, and saw a massive fucking meteor storm of rocks above him. 

As he saw his life flash before his eyes, he remembered the earlier conversation he had with Endeavor. “I’m friends with Midoriya Izuku, and if I can survive being friends with that crazy bastard, I can do anything.”

Turns out, he made a crucial mistake. Round Cheeks was also friends with Zuku, and she turned out much crazier. 

Katsuki was giving out. An explosion required to destroy all the rocks would break his fucking wrist, and then his arm, and maybe even his shoulder. The only way to win was to dodge, and the only way to do that was to go out of bounds. 

But Round Cheeks was in bounds too.

All rational thought left him after that. When she pressed her fingertips together, all Katsuki could hear was his heart pounding in his ears as he rushed forwards. He barely registered the look of shock on her face as he shoulder checked her, using a couple small explosions to rocket them both out of bounds. 

He rolled onto his back as a thunderous boom sounded through the arena, a cloud of dust billowing from the impact. When it cleared, there was a fucking crater , and Round Cheeks was on her feet, one arm against the wall while she puked rainbows. 

Katsuki wasn’t feeling much better. He was pretty sure he sprained both his wrists, and the festival certainly took a toll on him: he felt like he got run over by a truck. 

The stadium was dead silent. Midnight-sensei made her way over to them. “Technically, you both went out of bounds at the same time, so you’ll both go to Recovery Girl and we can figure out how to fix that ,” she gestured to the crater, “For your guys’ tie breaker-” 

“Don’t bother,” Katsuki rasped, coughing a little from the dust. “I yield.” 

When both of them just stared at him, he gestured limply with his arm. “She’s the one still standing.”

At that, Midnight-sensei cracked the whip and declared Round Cheeks the winner. Said winner hobbled over unsteadily, one hand still on the wall. “Are you okay?”

Katsuki just sighed, gesturing with his already swelling wrists. “They’re sprained.” 

Round Cheeks leaned down, pulling him up by his elbows instead. She slung an arm over his shoulder, and they carefully shuffled off of the field while Cementoss fixed the arena behind them. 

“Why did you dodge?” She asked, as they hobbled through the corridors. “Mido’s said that you can create a big enough explosion.” 

Katsuki grunted. “Physically, I can create a big ass explosion. But a big ass explosion will break my wrist and arm for sure, and maybe even my shoulder. I’d rather take the loss than get killed by my mom for ‘prioritizing one of Izuku’s ideas before my own health and safety,’ her words.” 

They hobbled a little more, before Katsuki could finally spit out the words at the back of his throat. “Round Cheeks, you’re almost as crazy as Zuku.” 

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” 

“Yes.” 

Chapter Text

Ochaco was so thankful she had such good friends. 

She was sitting in the infirmary, being plied with Dramamine from Midoriya, while Bakugou sat in the bed next to her, two braces on his wrists with ice wrapped around them. He had rejected Recovery Girl’s healing, saying that he “didn’t want to worry the old hag” and that “three days is plenty of time to heal sprained wrists.” Shinsou was sitting next to him, using chopsticks to “feed the angry chihuahua his treats.” 

That’s when Midoriya had to remind Bakugou that he’s not allowed to explode his friends. So Kirishima took over, and the rest of the Bakusquad was hanging with him, while Shinsou tried to keep Hatsume from turning the infirmary beds into some other creation. 

“So you’re sure the nausea is gone?” Midoriya asked. “I have more Dramamine if you need more-” 

“Mido, you are one of my best friends, and I love you very much,” Ochaco said. “But I think I only need four tablets.”

“Yeah, let’s not overdose her right before she has to fight Todoroki,” Shinsou deadpanned. “It would be bad if she died in the middle of her match.” 

“She will not die from an overdose on children’s Dramamine,” Midoriya responded. “I mean, I ate ten at once because it was the middle of the night and I thought they were grapes and I was fine.” 

“I watched you eat a Thin Mint off the classroom floor.” 

“Nah, if she overdoses, she wouldn’t collapse,” Hatsume said. “We’ll know she’s fucked when she starts hallucinating!” 

“Which is why I’m going to stop,” Ochaco interjected, closing her friend’s fingers around the bottle. “But I appreciate you very much Mido.” 

There was a knock at the door. “You can come in!” Ochaco shouted, looking around to notice that the Bakusquad (sans Bakugou), Hatsume and Shinsou were now involved in a game of Uno. 

The door opened to reveal Todoroki. He walked in, giving Midoriya and Ochaco a nod, then stood next to Bakugou’s bed. 

“What is it, Icy Hot?” he grumbled, crossing his arms. 

“I heard about what you said to my father.” 

“Well, I hope you’re not here to say you’re going to kick my ass about it, because it’s a little too late for that now. Also he totally deserved it-”

“Thank you.” 

“So don’t say- Wait, what?” 

The game of Uno was abandoned by now, and everyone was trying to listen in while making it seem like they’re not listening in. “No one’s stood up to him before. Not to his face. You’re the first one.” 

“Of course I did, I’m the best,” Bakugou said. “Also, it was sketchy as fuck. He was trespassing specifically to tell me not to go easy on you to teach you a lesson? Like what the hell? Also he was quirkist and sexist as fuck. He called Round Cheeks a frail girl. That crazy bitch is not frail. And his All Might fetish is ridiculous -” 

The room immediately burst into laughter at that. “Kacchan-” Midoriya wheezed. “Kacchan- Please tell me that you said that to his face.” 

His smug grin said it all. 

Ochaco was about to step onto the field, side by side with Todoroki. They had finally finished fixing the arena, so it was time for the final match. 

Todoroki was frowning, staring ahead at the field. And what sort of hero would she be if she didn’t cheer him up. 

“Hey, I know you want to spite your dad, but I want to earn this win, prove to the audience that I’m not a frail little girl.” She heard the audience’s yelling. She had been tempted to float up and start punching some people until Aizawa-sensei stepped in. “So you better go all out.” 

He looked down at his hand. “I don’t want to seriously hurt you like Midoriya.” 

“Then don’t wait until the arena is completely cold to use your fire, and the arena won’t explode,” Ochaco said. Her parents ran a construction company, and thermodynamics were essential for construction work. She never thought it would apply to heroics, but the more you learn. 

“I can’t control my fire.” 

She shrugged. “No time like the present to figure it out.” 

Todoroki stared at her for a bit. “Bakugou’s right, you are a little crazy.” 

“What can I say? Mido rubs off on you.” 

Izuku bounced up and down, Eri sitting next to him. He had gone back to the stands to see his sister again, who was currently munching on an apple. Thankfully, Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Maseru didn’t question where it came from. Izuku has pulled out enough pens and snacks from his hair that they’ve learned not to ask. 

The whip cracked, and ice started filling the arena. 

Shouto was launching volleys with his left hand, and Izuku was pleased to see that he was holding out his right hand to keep a small flame generated there. Meanwhile, Uraraka was dodging, and he could see that she was using her quirk on herself.

Izuku leaned over, watching as she crept closer and closer. Her face was pale, but the Dramamine seemed to be working, because she didn’t look like she was fighting back nausea. Meanwhile Shouto was slowly edging backwards, clearly sensing that she was trying to close distance but not quite realizing why. It was a slow inch race, and Uraraka was winning. 

His eyes widened as she realized her plan. 

One day, Uraraka asked him if she could train with him and Shinsou, Kacchan trailing behind her. They accepted, since that day was when they were working on Shinsou’s physical body mass rather than his technique. They only had a few weeks to get him in physical shape enough to not be knocked over by a gust of wind, so they were all going to use one of U.A.’s gyms. The one with actual gym equipment, since Kacchan was the only one with an actual gym membership.

They had started with bench presses, and had moved onto squats. Izuku was writing both Shinsou’s progress and his own, with Kacchan yelling tips at Shinsou from the side. Uraraka was doing warm up stretches, because she spent the time that Kacchan and Izuku were doing their squats refilling her water bottle and making sure she had snacks.

“Alright, your turn Uraraka,” Shinsou wheezed, flopping face first onto the floor. Kacchan rolled his eyes, dragging him out of the weight cage.

Her bench press wasn’t that impressive, a couple sets of 15 kg. He expected her to keep Shinsou’s weight, maybe add a kg or two. 

No one expected her to start stacking on plates. Or to complete her two sets without dropping the bar.

Izuku took a glance at the plate count, and had to do a double take. 70 kg. She was squatting 140% of her body weight. 

“Round Cheeks, what the fuck?” Kacchan asked, jaw still on the floor. 

She smiled, all innocent as if she couldn’t roundhouse kick a man. “I’ve always been stronger at my core than my upper body, so I decided to focus on that. Besides, a stronger core was more important for my quirk.” 

They all stared at each other. “Uraraka,” Izuku asked, “Do you know any martial arts?”

She shrugged. “I took an intro to karate class as a kid at the YMCA, but other than that no.” 

The boys all breathed a sigh of relief. They probably wouldn’t be murked by a kick any time soon.

Given the fact that Shouto made no move to brace himself with ice, he probably thought she was gonna float him. 

He couldn’t be more wrong. 

Izuku held his breath as Uraraka got closer and closer. Shouto eventually realized that he had to stop backing up, so he dug his feet in a meter from the border. A dangerous decision.

Finally, she stood in front of Shouto. He took a fighting stance, but it was sloppy and looked like it was directly taken from a shitty movie. It makes sense that Endeavor wouldn’t teach him any martial arts. 

Izuku grinned as Uraraka did, spinning around and aiming a kick straight in Shouto’s gut. He was launched across the border, skidding on the ground. 

Izuku cheered when Kayama-sensei declared Uraraka the winner. He leaned down and picked up Eri, spinning her around while they celebrated. 

He may not be on the podium, but he was going to celebrate his friends who are.

Katsuki grinned, standing proudly on the third place podium. Mind Fuck stood next to him, still in shock. Icy Hot stood on the second place podium, glaring at his dad in the stands, who looked pissed. Round Cheeks was standing in first place, the biggest smile on her face. 

All Might landed in front of them, holding four medals in his hands. With a grin, he started by placing the medal around Mind Fuck’s neck. “Shinsou, keep developing your quirk and your physical prowess, and someday you’ll make a fine hero.” 

Mind Fuck looked like he was about to cry. All Might moved to drape the medal around Katsuki’s head. “Bakugou, you have a fighting spirit, prioritizing both yourself and your classmate’s safety. You’ll be an excellent hero.” 

Katsuki tried not to cry as All Might moved on. He had a reputation dammit. 

He didn’t pay attention to the rest of the ceremony, too focused on clutching the medal close to his chest. He did, however, climb up onto the first place podium and fist bump Round Cheeks. 

(Was it another dare from Zuku? He would neither confirm nor deny, but he would say that Round Cheeks deserved a fist bump.)

Chapter Text

Hitoshi shuffled in nervously, still holding the Bronze medal to his chest. It was still surreal: a Gen Ed kid with a villainous quirk getting joint third place in the Sports Festival. 

Students had been escorted back to U.A.’s main campus to wait for their parents to pick them up. That’s when Hitoshi was called to the principal’s office. 

He tried to be optimistic, but doubts still swirled in his head. Was he in trouble? Did they think he cheated? Did they not want him to use his quirk? Surely not, it’s the Sports Festival after all…

The principal’s office did not look like how he expected it to. For one thing, it was enormous. There was a big, intimidating desk with a bunch of windows at the back of the room. But closer to the door were two couches facing each other, a coffee table between them with a stack of papers on top and an electric kettle. Three cups of steaming tea were in each of the adults’ hands, while there was one empty one where he would be presumably sitting.

His homeroom teacher, Yamada-sensei, and his Law and Ethics teacher (and personal idol), Aizawa-sensei, had taken seats on opposing couches. Principal Nedzu was sitting next to Aizawa-sensei, and he looked comically small next to the taller man. An empty spot was next to Yamada-sensei, which was where he was presumably sitting. 

“Please, come in, Shinsou-kun,” Nedzu smiled. When Hitoshi nervously slinked over, he continued. “Would you like some tea? It’s chamomile.” 

A relaxing tea. He didn’t know whether that was a good sign or a bad sign. “Sure- uh, I mean yes, please.” 

Nedzu seemed to take his blunder in stride, pouring a cup of tea for him. The warmth of the cup was grounding, seeping into his hands as he sat down. 

“Let me start,” Yamada-sensei said, putting his tea down. Hitoshi turned to nervously face his homeroom teacher. “You are one of my best students. I’ve been so happy to teach you, and I know how hard you’ve worked to get to the podium today, both in class and after school. I’ll miss having you in class.” 

Hitoshi’s eyes widened as his teacher started crying. He looked over to Aizawa-sensei and Nedzu, but Aizawa-sensei just rolled his eyes. “You’re still going to be teaching him in English.” 

“It’s just not the same!!! It’s like losing one of your babies!!!” Yamada-sensei wailed dramatically, flopping back onto the couch.

Hitoshi looked over at Nedzu, who slid the stack of papers towards him. The words “Transfer to U.A.’s Hero Course” stared back at him. 

“Should you choose to accept,” Nedzu said. “You will be moved to class 1A. Aizawa-kun will be your homeroom teacher.”

“You’ll need to get these papers signed by your guardians,” Aizawa-sensei said in his usual gruff way. “As soon as you bring them back, we can get you transferred over.” 

He carefully grabbed the papers, as if they would crumble in his hands if he wasn’t careful with them. “I will, I promise!” 

His gruff Law and Ethics teacher (soon to be homeroom teacher) ducked his face into his scarf, but Hitoshi swore he could see the faintest hints of a smile in his teacher’s eyes. “Don’t be late for class.” 

“You may go, Shinsou-kun,” Nedzu said, collecting his abandoned cup of tea. As Hitoshi was leaving, Nedzu continued, “I’m excited to see what kind of hero you will become.” 

Hitoshi’s foster parents were not the greatest.

Granted, they could be worse. It’s not like they physically hurt him, or anything like that. They didn’t starve him, not intentionally. But being one of the oldest of six foster kids, he was often ignored, and most days he had to eat out of a snack stash (mostly supplied from Midoriya, from who knows where because he’s pretty sure the boy is poorer than he is) in his room, because his foster siblings had already eaten the rest of the food in the house (that was for the kids). 

Most of the time, this is a boon. He was left alone, mostly unbothered by his foster family about his quirk and what he was doing at U.A., which meant his stuff was untouched (how he has the snack stash in the first place). They don’t even notice when he leaves the house, he was pretty certain he could run away and they would never notice a damn thing. He’s pretty sure they don’t know he goes to U.A. He feels bad for poor Yuki: as the oldest, she’s basically become a live-in maid and babysitter for the rest of the kids.

The one problem is that Hitoshi’s foster parents would never sign a permission slip. He had a work around for this too, ever since he and Midoriya met. The beginning of school had a lot of papers that needed to be signed, mainly stuff like lab safety for Science and permission slips for Quirked P.E. Both him and Midoriya figured out that they didn’t exactly have reliable guardians to sign permission slips, so they decided they would forge the other’s guardian’s signatures.

Midoriya wrote “Dadoru T” in scribbles that could just barely pass as Japanese, and Hitoshi wrote “Midoriya S” in much neater script.

As Hitoshi walked back to 1C’s classroom, he started flipping through the papers in his hands. A waiver for heroics lessons, permission for U.A.’s nurses to treat him, a space for him to submit a costume design, and the paper allowing for him to be transferred. It was a lot, and a lot of the legal words flew over his head. But he was really doing it. He was really going to become a hero. 

He sat at his desk, seeing that Midoriya had already dragged his desk and pushed it next to Hitoshi’s. One of Riyudo-sensei’s clones is standing at the front to supervise, but for the most part the class is doing whatever they want. 

“Are those what I think they are?” Midoriya asked, his eyes practically sparkling. 

Hitoshi nodded. “My transfer papers into the hero course.” 

Midoriya grinned, and Hitoshi jumped as the rest of the class started cheering too. He smiled sheepishly as the class started congratulating him, to the chagrin of Riyudo-sensei. 

“You did it dude!” One kid shouted. “You showed those 1-A jerks!” 

“1-C is not to be messed with!” 

“Don’t forget us when you become a big shot!” 

When, not if. Hitoshi may be a brash asshole at the best of times, but then he smiled, simply saying, “Thank you.” 

After a few minutes, Riyudo-sensei had managed to get the class to calm down. Hitoshi finally managed to sit down, and Midoriya was leaning over his papers, a pen in his hand (probably pulled out of his hair) and signing his documents.

“All done,” he said, pushing them back to Hitoshi, the pen laid down on top of the papers.

“Thanks,” Hitoshi said, not just for forging his foster parents signature. For all of his help. “Here, hand your papers over.” 

Midoriya’s smile never wavered, but the sparkle in his eyes went out. “I don’t have any, Shinsou.” 

He faltered, capping the pen and putting it down. “You’ve got to have papers.” 

Midoriya looked away from Shinsou. “Don’t worry about it, we’re celebrating your transfer.” 

That’s when it clicked. “They refused your transfer.” 

“U.A. policy apparently. There can only be one transfer into the Hero courses from the Gen Ed courses every Sports Festival.” 

“That’s bullshit,” Hitoshi said, resisting the urge to slam his hands on the desk like some kind of shitty lawyer. “When we checked a couple weeks ago, there was never a limit!” 

Midoriya shrugged. “Policy changed.” 

“When?” 

“Half an hour ago.” 

Hitoshi threw his hands up. “This is some pretty blatant discrimination!” 

Midoriya smiled, but it was hollow. He hated seeing his friend so… empty, like the light has been extinguished. “I’ll just try again next year.” 

He opened his mouth to argue, but a newscaster’s voice cut through the class. Hitoshi looked over to see one of his classmates broadcasting the news on his phone, the rest of the class huddled around his desk. 

“We’ve received reports that the hero Ingenium was attacked in Hosu by the Hero Killer, Stain. He’s been in the hospital for several hours, and has survived the attack, although he has lost the use of his legs. Heroes across Hosu are left reeling as the speed hero continues to recover with the help of his family. The Ingenium Agency has declined to comment.”

Hitoshi looked over at the sound of a chair scraping the floor. Midoriya had stood up, his knuckles white as he clutched them into fists on his desk. The fake smile he had was gone, and he had turned pale. 

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” he said quietly. 

Hitoshi simply nodded. “Midoriya,” he said, as the other boy was leaving. When Midoriya turned around, he said, “If you need to talk, or anything, I’ll be here.” 

Midoriya simply smiled. “I know.” 

As he watched his friend leave, Hitoshi felt like a door was closing between them. He may have won his place in the hero course, but he felt like he just lost his closest friend. 

Izuku walked to Nedzu’s office, having memorized the route by now. Excitement hummed in his veins. He may not have gotten onto the podium, but he showed the world that he was there, and the fight between him and Shouto was truly something to watch (he would know, he’s rewatched it already). 

He’s long given up on knocking, as right when he stood in front of the massive doors, they swung open. The stoat was sitting alone on the couch, tea already served. Izuku could smell the peppermint, his favorite. 

“You are looking cheerful as always, Midoriya-kun,” Nedzu said, sipping his tea. Izuku smiled in response, taking his seat and a sip of his tea. “I’m glad that you’re looking better after your last match.” 

“Recovery Girl healed me up nice and well,” Izuku said. “And that fight was the best I’ve had in ages! Shouto should use his fire more often, it’s very pretty.” 

“I’m glad.” Nedzu set his tea down. “I have unfortunate news.” 

Izuku frowned. A number of different scenarios went through his mind, each worse than the last. “What is it?” 

“As of twenty minutes ago, the school board decided that there shall be a maximum of one transfer per class per year into the hero course.” 

It felt as if he was dunked into an ice bath. “They changed the policy that fast?!”

Nedzu nodded. “And unfortunately, since Shinsou-kun placed higher than you in the Sports Festival, he is the only class 1-C member who is eligible for transfer into the hero course.” 

His shoulders slumped as he looked down at his tea. A white paw rested on his knee. “I’m sorry, Midoriya-kun.” 

Izuku didn’t even realize he was tearing up until he saw a tear drop into his tea. He set the cup down onto the table, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. 

“I will continue to teach you, of course,” Nedzu said, as if that was an obvious fact. “Just as I would’ve had you entered the hero course.”

Izuku steeled himself. It wasn’t the first time he’s faced rejection, he can handle himself better than this, crying like a baby. “Of course. Shinsou deserves this opportunity, he hasn’t trained as long as I have. And Yagi-san will still be training me after school. I’ll just have to try again next year.” 

Izuku smiled, just as hollow as the determined act he was trying to project. Nedzu must not be willing to pry though, as he retracted his paw. “This was not your only chance into the hero course, Midoriya-kun. You’ll have next year, too.” 

Izuku stood up, bowing to Nedzu. “Thank you for telling me. I know you didn’t have to.” 

“You’re my student,” Nedzu said. 

As he turned to leave the room, Nedzu spoke up again. “You’ll make a fine hero, Midoriya. This was just a setback, nothing else.” 

“Right.” Izuku managed the best smile he could, before walking back to class with a heavy heart. 

Izuku sat in the back of the class, burying himself in his notebook. This one was different from his analysis one, using a different code entirely. This notebook is dedicated to villain analyses and information that he's gathered either as Kitsune or from his friends. 

Of course the hero course would find some way to block him. Exposing one man on the Heroics Regulations Board will do jack shit if the entire Commission is corrupt. While the little fish at the bottom of the chain that have ties to the League and All For One have been churned out and replaced, the big fish at the top haven’t been disturbed in the slightest. In fact, they’ve looked better, as if an investigation into the small guys will prevent something like the USJ from happening again. 

But Izuku was paranoid. They had to know that he was at U.A. He was an idiot for taunting Shigaraki at the USJ, when he could easily blow his cover to the Commission. Best case scenario is that they execute him on the spot. 

He didn’t even want to imagine the worst case scenario. 

So he’s doing what he does best: throw himself head first into his other problems. 

Izuku felt Shinsou coming towards the classroom, so he dragged his desk and plopped it next to Shinsou’s. A Riyudo-sensei clone looked annoyed at him, but a few kids were already throwing paper airplanes and playing something that looked like Blackjack in the corner, so it’s not like he could do anything about one desk. 

Shinsou walked into the classroom, clutching a stack of papers to his chest. He looked starry eyed, his head completely in the clouds. 

“Are those what I think they are?” Izuku asked as he sat down. If Izuku couldn’t make it into the hero course, then he sure as hell was gonna live vicariously through his friends. 

Shinsou nodded. “My transfer papers into the hero course.” 

Izuku grinned, and he saw Shinsou jump as the rest of the class started cheering too. “You did it dude! You showed those 1-A jerks!” “1-C is not to be messed with!” “Don’t forget us when you become a big shot!” 

Shinsou was clearly flustered, but he managed a simple, “Thank you.” 

While Riyudo-sensei tried to wrangle the rest of the class into being somewhat decent, Izuku pulled the transfer papers over to his desk. He flipped through them quickly, signing papers in Shinsou’s foster dad’s name. When the class had finally settled down, he had finished, pushing the stack of papers back with the pen on top. “All done.” 

“Thanks,” Shinsou responded. “Here, hand your papers over.” 

Izuku just barely managed to keep a smile on his face. “I don’t have any, Shinsou.” 

His friend faltered, capping the pen he’d just picked up. “You’ve got to have papers.” 

Izuku looked away from him, struggling to keep the cheerful facade up. “Don’t worry about it, we’re celebrating your transer.” 

There were a few moments of silence, and then it must’ve finally clicked. “They refused your transfer.” 

He kept his eyes out the window. “U.A. policy apparently. There can only be one transfer into the Hero courses from the Gen Ed courses every Sports Festival.”

“That’s bullshit!” Shinsou said, and Izuku dared to look back at his friend. He was angry, pissed off, seemingly for him. “When we checked a couple weeks ago, there was never a limit!” 

Izuku just shrugged. “Policy changed.” 

“When?” 

“Half an hour ago.” 

Shinsou threw his hands up. “This is some pretty blatant discrimination!” 

Even Izuku could tell his smile was hollow. He had to remind himself that Shinsou didn’t know. He only knew Izuku was related very distantly to a villain. Shinsou didn’t know about the blood on his hands, or that the relative was All For One, or that Izuku could steal quirks. “I’ll just try again next year.” If he wasn’t dead by then.

Shinsou opened his mouth to argue, but a newscaster’s voice cut through the class. 

“We’ve received reports that the hero Ingenium was attacked in Hosu by the Hero Killer, Stain…”

Izuku tensed up immediately. He looked down at his hands, and he swore that for a second, they were covered in blood. He remembered Iida, sitting in the locker room alone, worried for his brother. He remembered whispers of Stendhal's death and Stain’s emergence.

If I was out patrolling and wasn’t at the Sports Festival playing pretend, Ingenium wouldn’t be in the hospital right now.

He felt like he was gonna puke. 

Izuku stood up. “I’m going to go to the bathroom,” he said quietly, more for Shinsou’s benefit than anything else. 

The other boy nodded. “Midoriya. If you need to talk or anything, I’ll be here.” 

Izuku smiled, just as hollow as the others. “I know.” 

He left the classroom, literally and metaphorically closing the door behind him. He’s been selfish enough, he can’t trap someone else in the clusterfuck that was his life.

He told himself it was for the best. He wasn’t sure he could bring himself to believe it. 

Izuku looked like a mess. The bags under his eyes were deeper than ever, and his hair was still greasy and damp from the quick shower he took after the Festival. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was somehow both pale and sunburnt. He had dropped his backpack when he entered the bathroom, so it was lying under the sink while he stared at himself in the mirror. 

As he was staring, something black coiled around his neck. It lifted its neck to reveal that it was a snake, with piercing red eyes that ran a shiver down his spine. It hissed, revealing that the inside of its mouth was coated with blood. 

Steal more gifts. Need more GIFTS.

Izuku stumbled backwards, flicking his wrist almost instinctively. The mirror shattered, but he could still see the snake in the mirror shards. 

He scrambled for his bag, pulling out a vape and closing his eyes, sucking in a breath. Immediately, the nicotine kicked in, and Izuku relaxed, letting the tension pool out of his shoulders. 

He opened his eyes, and the snake was gone. Just like the spirits inside One For All. 

He leaned his back against his bag, continuing to smoke and letting his body unwind. He didn’t even realize tears were falling down his face until he turned his head to look at the mirror shards.

Izuku sat in the bathroom, alone, staring at the shards of a broken mirror and doing a drug that was illegal on school grounds. 

How could I ever be a hero when I can’t even be a person?

Chapter Text

To say Hitoshi was nervous was an understatement. 

He was wiping the sweat off his palms. He could hear Aizawa-sensei’s voice talking to his class, which didn’t make him any less nervous. Especially since he couldn’t hear what he was saying. For all he knew, Aizawa-sensei could be telling his class to bully him for the rest of the year. 

He’s pretty sure his Law and Ethics teacher wouldn’t do that, but anxiety is illogical. 

He heard Aizawa-sensei stop speaking, and took that as his cue. Reminding himself that they can’t possibly be crazier than Midoriya, he stepped through the door. 

“Introduce yourself,” Aizawa-sensei said gruffly, looking like he hasn’t slept in days. Which he probably hadn’t. 

Hitoshi cleared his throat, clenching his fists to hide the sweat in them. “Hello, my name is Shinsou Hitoshi.” 

“He’ll be taking Mineta’s seat,” his teacher said, pointing it out from the podium. “Starting today, he will be a member of 1-A.” 

Aizawa-sensei had the decency to let Hitoshi scramble to his seat before dropping the next bombshell. “I know none of you hellions will be able to do any actual work, so it’s a free period. Don’t scare off or hurt him, and keep the noise at a tolerable level. I’m taking a nap.” 

His teacher zipped up the atrocious sleeping bag, flopping behind the podium. Hitoshi gulped, prepared to face the onslaught. 

“Are you Aizawa-sensei’s secret love child?” 

Kitsune didn’t even bother to pull on his usual costume. He dug out a large black hoodie from the back of his closet, a pair of leggings, and the high tops from his costume. He slid his mask on, pulling on the finger less gloves, and braced on the windowsill. 

Midnight. Eri was sleeping, holding onto Usa-chan. He was forgoing his usual patrol tonight. There was something more important he needed to do. 

Usually, flying as a crow was freeing. Usually it was just what he needed to unwind after a patrol. Right now all he felt was dread. 

It took a little bit of flying around, but he managed to find the quirk and followed the light, landing on the windowsill and peering in. Ingenium was laying in his hospital bed, alone, the heart monitor beeping slowly but steadily. 

Kitsune released Crow for Shadow Cloak, gravity pulling on him as he clung to the windowsill. Internally, he thanked All Might for all of that strength training at the beach, because he would be screwed otherwise. He opened the window and slipped in. 

The first thing he did was close the window behind him. The second thing he did was tip toe over to the security camera, pull a roll of duct tape from his pocket and cover the lens. 

Once that was done, he released Shadow Cloak, tip-toeing back over to Ingenium. He took a deep breath in, braced himself, and pulled on Rewind. 

Pain erupted from the left side of his forehead, and blood ran down the side of his face. The horn pierced through his hood, and he could feel blood sticking his hair to his face. 

He grit his teeth and kept going, taking out the IV and all the various monitors. It would cause more problems to leave the IV in and use Rewind, and he was here to fix a problem. 

He didn’t have a lot of time before the nurses showed up, so he pressed his fingers to Ingenium’s temple and activated Rewind. 

He held his breath as the quirk activated, keeping a careful eye on Ingenium as he worked. He held through the recovery stage, the surgery, the ambulance ride, and the injury. A few seconds after the injury healed, he let go of the quirk. 

The only injury Ingenium had now was a few scrapes. 

Kitsune reached up, relieved to feel that the horn was gone, and all that was left was torn skin. 

He saw multiple quirks running up to the room, so he turned around, running over to the window and slamming it open. 

When the nurses got to the room, all they saw was a trail of blood and a couple of crow feathers.

Izuku pulled off the mask, wincing as he realized that there was blood on the edges. He pulled out the first aid kit from under the sink, wrapping himself up and wiping off his face and mask. He realized that there was blood on the edge of his hood, in addition to the hole, but just shrugged it off and tossed it onto the floor. He can patch it up and wash it off later. 

He heard the padding of little socked feet, and saw Eri peek into the bathroom around the corner, holding Usa-chan in her arms. Like Izuku, she also had a bandage over her forehead. “Izu-niichan…” 

Izuku smiled, kneeling down and bundling Eri into a hug. “Hi, Eri-bunny.”

They sat there for a few moments, just basking in each other’s presence. “Do you want your quirk back?” He asked. “I’ll give it back to you, we’ll rewrap your head, and then we’ll get you some tea and painkillers, and we can go to bed. How does that sound?” 

She nodded, looking up at him and clutching her hands in his tank top. “Did you help the hero, Izu-nii?” 

He smiled, giving his sister a kiss on the forehead. “I did. You saved a hero today, Eri-bunny.” 

The smile she gave him was worth everything. It might be selfish of Izuku, but he would burn down the entire world to protect her. 

Musutafu Central Broadcasting @mcbofficial

Ingenium is miraculously healed by a mysterious shadow! Watch the news report here .

God’s Mistake @darealkitsune 

guys im not behind every mysterious thing in the city pls stop @ing me

Izuku slurped up his soup, ignoring the questioning gazes of his friends. He knew the bandage on his forehead was gonna look suspicious, but he hoped that “I banged my head against the door frame in the middle of the night trying to get a snack” would hold up. It helped that the bandages on Eri’s forehead were covered by her hat. 

“And people on the train kept congratulating me on being number one!” Uraraka said, gesturing with her chopsticks. “It was really cool!” 

Iida nodded, seemingly absentmindedly as he monotonously shoveled noodles into his face. Shinsou was nodding along, while Hatsume ignored everyone and was making… something… it was unclear what. 

Izuku decided to switch gears. “Iida, how’s your brother doing?” 

“He’s gotten much better! I just wish I could’ve gotten to thank the person who healed him.” 

He frowned behind his bowl of soup. Iida sounded off, like he was faking his usual cheer and bravado. He could tell that Uraraka noticed too.

“Iida, how are you doing-”

THUD!

She was interrupted by a lunch table being slammed onto their table. Shouto sat down, having dragged over a chair from another table. 

“Hey Icy Hot,” Kacchan briefly acknowledged, before being pulled back into the debate between the ‘Bakusquad’ about whether a billion lions or every Pokemon would win in a fight. 

“Hi Shouto.” “Hello Todoroki-kun.” “Hi Conspiracy-kun.” “Hey.” 

Eri wiggled in his lap. “Are you Shouto-kun?” 

Shouto seemed to blink at being addressed by Eri, but gave her a small nod. She giggled, “Izu-niichan thinks your fire is pretty.” 

His face went bright red, and he pressed it to the table to avoid the laughter of his friends. “Shut up you guys.” 

“I’m sorry, mister ‘I’m going to ask if he’s single right after waking up in Recovery Girl’s office’ does not get to act shy now,” Shinsou said, the traitor. 

“You never answered my question,” Shouto said, turning his attention (and the table’s) attention on Shinsou instead of Izuku. 

He sighed, like this is a question he’s had to dodge or answer a lot. “No, I’m not Aizawa-sensei’s secret love child. That’s about as likely as Midoriya being All Might’s secret love child.” 

Izuku looked up just in time to see Shouto pull out his phone. “Actually-” 

“No, you are not convincing my friends that I’m All Might’s son!” 

Katsuki watched as Raccoon Eyes got rejected again, going back to her seat and the drawing board. The rest of his classmates were struggling to come up with good names. Some of them were pretty good, like Round Cheeks and Frog Face, but others were terrible. Seriously, Sugar Man and Tail Man? How lazy could they get? 

He had written his name at the very beginning, laying the board so that it was face down, and now he was judging everyone else’s names. Seriously, Ear Jack named herself after her quirk? That was so boring. 

Icy Hot went up next, showing off the name he picked. “The Equilibrium Hero: Thermo,” Perv-sensei read aloud. “Ooh, I like it. Approved!” 

Everyone raised an eyebrow when Iida went up with just “Tenya” on his board. “Are you sure?” Perv-sensei asked. “Names can be changed, but it’s pretty difficult.” 

He was planning on taking his brother’s name, wasn’t he? 

Katsuki kind of zoned out after that, coming back to when Mind Fuck was standing on the podium. “Hypno, the Control Hero. Very mysterious. Approved!” 

He raised an eyebrow when Mind Fuck passed his desk. “That was a Pokemon reference, wasn’t it?” 

“Like you’d do any better, Bakubitch.” 

Oh, it was ON!

Katsuki stood up, glaring at him as he stomped up to the podium. He revealed the board, daring Mind Fuck or anyone else to make fun of the name.

“But even the Wonder Duo needs names! How about… Pyromight and-”

“Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight,” Perv-sensei said. “Well, I can’t allow Murder or God, but the rest of the name is fine.” 

Katsuki’s eye twitched as he stared her down, reaching over to the marker and slowly crossing out Murder and God. 

Deciding not to argue any further, Perv-sensei clapped her hands. “Approved!” 

He ignored the extras praising (or panning) the name, sitting back in his seat and staring out the window instead. 

It would’ve been perfect if Zuku was here.

“Yeah, we’ll be Dynamight and Pyromight! The number one hero duo in the world!”

Chapter Text

“We’re picking internships now,” Uraraka said, picking at her lunch. Iida wasn’t there, apparently using lunch to turn in his decision, and Eri had decided to eat her lunch with Kurana-sensei. 

“I bet you got a lot of offers,” Izuku said, shoving food into his face. Thankfully, the bandages were gone now, courtesy of Kacchan dragging him to Recovery Girl’s office this morning. “Have you picked already?” 

“I did!” She grinned suddenly looking a lot more maniacal. “I’m interning with Miruko!” 

Everyone else at the table collectively shivered. Uraraka did not need to get scarier. 

“Iida’s interning with Manual,” she continued. 

“Manual?” Izuku asked. “I thought he would intern with his brother.” 

“Apparently he’s being kept at the hospital to make sure the ‘miracle healing’ didn’t fuck him up further, and by the time he returns to the field, Iida’s internship will be over.” 

“But why Manual?” Shinsou asked. “Not that he’s a bad hero, he’s pretty good, but they don’t seem similar at all.” 

Kacchan scoffed from next to them. “Do you really think it’s a coincidence that he picked the hero stationed in Hosu, right after his brother was attacked there and where the Hero Killer is probably going to be lurking around? Use your brain, Mind Fuck.” 

They all sobered up at the mention of the Hero Killer. In order to direct the conversation to a better, less depressing subject, Izuku turned to Shinsou, despite already knowing the answer. “Who are you interning with?” 

He raised an eyebrow. “Eraserhead, obviously.” 

“Obviously.” 

Shouto spoke up. “Are you sure you aren’t-” 

“For the last time, I am not Aizawa-sensei’s love child.” 

This time Uraraka spoke up, probably to interrupt the argument and prevent it from going any further. “Todoroki, have you picked who you’re interning with yet?” 

He shook his head. “I haven’t yet.” 

“Well, what do you want out of this internship?” Izuku asked, mind immediately racing. 

“I want more control with the fire side of my quirk.” 

Izuku scooted over, placing his head on Shouto’s shoulder as he looked over his shoulder at the list of names. “I’d recommend Edgeshot. He has precise mastery over his quirk, and I’m sure he’ll be able to teach you better than most of these heroes.” 

He felt Shouto tense against him, and when he scooted back, he saw that part of Shouto’s hair was on fire. “Oh, sorry! I’m sorry, I live with Eri, sometimes I forget that personal space is a thing.” 

His face was bright red as he muttered, “Thank you, Midoriya.” 

Izuku could feel Kacchan glaring at him, so he turned towards his best friend with a smile. “Who are you interning with, Kacchan?” 

Kacchan puffed up. “I’ll be interning with Endeavor.” 

“Why?!” Everyone else at the table practically shouted.

“Oh, I think I get it!” Izuku said. “While Endeavor himself is a dumpster fire, the other heroes at his agency are much better and deserve way more credit than they’re currently receiving! Plus, interning with the number two hero can build valuable connections, and it’s a valuable PR lesson, even if it’s a lesson on what not to do.” 

Kacchan flicked him in the forehead. “Nerd, you’re overthinking it.” 

“Then why are you interning with him?” 

He grinned. “To make his life miserable .” 

“Kacchan no!” 

Wild Squad of Dumbasses - 6:20 PM

daddy issues (Dabi), Dumbass 1 (Kitsune), Dumbass 2 (Himiko), and *hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (La Brava) are online. 

daddy issues: we need 2 talk

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): WHO DIED

Dumbass 1: WAT

Dumbass 2: WHO DO WE HAVE 2 KILL

daddy issues: bout the sports festival, calm ur tits

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): jeez

Dumbass 2: so no murder

daddy issues: no 

Dumbass 1: u couldnt have said that 1st asshoel

Dumbass 1: i have anxiety

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): bitch since when

Dumbass 2: ye i watch u pull shit all the goddam time

Dumbass 1: listen

Dumbass 1: im not afraid of death

Dumbass 1: but if u ask me 2 correct my order i will cry

Dumbass 2: valid

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): valid

daddy issues: valid

“So, you know my name now.” 

The room was really tense. Kitsune was sitting in his usual chair, curled up instead of sprawled out like usual. Gentle was sitting at the bar, La Brava next to him, both of them having a cup of chamomile tea. Dabi was pacing, which was not helping, and Himiko sat criss-cross applesauce on the floor, slurping blood out of a blood bag. 

Identities were important in this business. Giving your name out to the wrong person can land you in prison or dead. An identity being revealed can collapse alliances that have lasted for years. Betrayals were unfortunately common. No one could blame him for being wary. 

“We haven’t looked up anything else about you,” Gentle said, sipping his tea. She could see that Kitsune relaxed, ever so slightly. “We all know how important privacy is.” 

“And knowing your name hasn’t changed anything,” La Brava added on. “You’re still Kitsune, our friend.” 

“Our ride or die friend!” Himiko cheered. “Ride or die squad!” 

“Besides, it’s a nice addition to Dabi’s Conspiracy Theory Board,” La Brava teased.

“Hey, we agreed not to talk about that!” 

Kitsune chuckled, and that’s when Himiko decided to speak up. “Besides, now that we know your name, we should tell you ours!” 

His eyes widened at that. “Wait, guys-” 

She stood up with a flourish. “Toga Himiko! It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” 

“Tobita Danjuro,” Gentle bowed. “Also known as the dashingly dapper vigilante, Gentle Criminal.” 

“Aiba Manami, also known as La Brava! … I’m not getting up.” 

Kitsune chuckled, finally uncurling himself. “Midoriya Izuku, also known as Kitsune, Watcher of the Night.” 

La Brava frowned. “That’s such a cool epithet, I’m still jealous.” 

Himiko turned to Dabi, who was still pacing. “C’mon, Dabster, you’ve gotta say it too! Ride or Die Squad! Squad! Squad! Squad! Squad!” 

Foxy and La Brava joined in on the chant, and eventually Dabi groaned, flopping down onto one of the bean bag chairs. “Todoroki Touya.” 

“Wait wait wait,” La Brava said. “Like the missing Todoroki, Todoroki Touya?” 

Dabi nodded. 

“Well, I was not expecting that,” Gentle said, sipping his tea. 

“I never expected the conspiracy theories to be genetic.” 

Everyone stared at Foxy. “Shouto is convinced I’m All Might’s secret son,” he said, as if that explained anything. 

Dabi pulled out his phone. “Well…” 

“No, not you too!” 

Chapter Text

Her heart pounded as her back hit the mat again. Ochako barely caught the water bottle that Miruko threw at her, gulping it down greedily as she sat up. 

The past few days had been hectic, with Ochako going through non stop combat drills and rooftop patrols. She could feel herself improving, getting faster and stronger as she learned every new technique. She even got some recommendations on how to improve her costume to better protect her joints and make use of her strengths. 

Miruko didn’t have an agency, so they were at Gunhead’s agency, and she’s been getting useful tips from the other hero too. Now she can last a whole minute against Miruko!

Gunhead’s agency was in the suburbs of Hosu, a good twenty minutes from downtown. They never went into downtown Hosu, mainly sticking in the area that Gunhead’s agency operates in, since it’s relatively quiet, and it’s harder to parkour. Miruko’s justification is that if Ochako was good at parkour in the suburbs, she could easily maneuver in the city. 

“Miruko!” One of Gunhead’s sidekicks came in, holding her ringing phone up. 

The heroine caught it easily, giving the sidekick a short nod and taking a swig of water while she answered the phone. Whatever she heard on the other side of the phone caused her to spit out her water. “Three A rank villains?! Are you shitting me?!” She listened, one foot thumping on the floor in a manner that Ochako recognized as her letting loose some energy. “I have an intern, I can’t just bring her in… I’ll figure it out. Right, bye.” 

Miruko hung up, scrolling through her phone, becoming more and more tense. 

“Sensei, what’s going on?” Ochako asked, standing up fully. 

“Listen, kid, you’re going to stay here,” Miruko said. “There’s an attack in downtown Hosu, and I can’t bring you into it. I’m getting the debrief through the HN and then I’m leaving. You need to stay here and stay safe.”

Ochako peeked over the heroine’s shoulder, and a shiver went down her spine. “Those- those are Noumu!” 

Her ear twitched as she turned to Ochako. “You know what they are?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “They’re the same as the one that attacked U.A.” 

She could see her mentor arguing with herself, and eventually losing. “Get your costume on and meet me in front of the agency. You are not allowed to engage them, you are only helping civilians, and on our way there, you are going to tell me everything you know about these Noumu. Got it?” 

“Yes ma’am!” Ochako bowed, then started running to her room to get changed. 

She remembered the bloodied body of her teacher, and the bandages he had to wear for weeks afterwards. She remembered Kitsune, bloody and beaten, standing in between her and Shigaraki. She remembered the blood and gore that covered the plaza of the USJ. 

This time, no one was gonna get hurt on her watch. 

“Your quirk is going to follow your emotions, and that’s natural. You must be able to keep a clear head, even in battle, or you will lose control. Use your emotions, don’t let them use you.” 

Shouto nodded, but kept his eyes on his hands. They were sitting in the center of the dojo, and Shouto was breathing deeply, in and out, while both the flame and ice crystals in his hands grew and shrunk with his breathing. It was peaceful, almost meditative, sitting for a few minutes and breathing with his quirk.

They did this before every quirk control and combat exercise, and a few minutes before curfew. His internship with Edgeshot has helped a lot. He’s taught him exercises to get more precise control over both his fire. Unlike his father, Edgeshot prioritized precision over power, so he learned a lot of control over his ice too. Plus the martial arts training has helped to put the exercises into a more practical perspective. 

He doesn’t think he’ll go full ninja like his mentor, but he might ask Aizawa-sensei if he could learn some more quirkless combat. 

It also put some perspective on his father’s training. Edgeshot never hurt him, the most he got hurt were a few burns from when Shouto lost control, and those were quickly wrapped up. It was strange, but not in a bad way. 

It seems ever since he got into U.A. he’s been doing a lot of thinking. 

Then there was a deafening crash, and the peace was literally shattered. His mentor was immediately on high alert, and so was Shouto. 

“We’re going to investigate,” Edgeshot said. “You are not allowed to engage, just to rescue and evacuate civilians. Do not use your fire, your control isn’t ready yet. You do have permission to use your ice.” 

Shouto nodded, getting up on his feet and brushing off the shards of ice. This wasn’t exercises in Edgeshot’s dojo, this was a real situation with real lives. 

“You must be able to keep a clear head.”

He took one last deep breath in, and out, and followed his mentor. 

Katsuki’s internship was going surprisingly well, all things considered. 

While Dumpster Fire has been as much help as a sack of shit, he’s gotten genuinely decent advice from his sidekicks. When he isn’t corralled into a patrol or fucking with the Dumpster Fire, he’s usually sparring and hanging with the sidekicks, soaking up valuable wisdom from the actually useful members of the agency. And they were like him: brash and unapologetically themselves without being pieces of shit. 

As for fucking with the Dumpster Fire, he’s been consistently pulling pranks. He’s hidden garbage themed rubber ducks around the agency, filled his desk with packing chips, drew little mustaches on all the photos of the Dumpster Fire, and has moved all the furniture in his office an inch to the left. The best part is that when the Dumpster Fire tries to yell at him, he just takes out his hearing aids and pretends they were never in. 

Plus, it’s not like the Dumpster Fire could really do anything to him. If he got seriously hurt under the hero’s care, U.A. will take his ass out with the rest of the trash. Hell, he’s been in close enough proximity with the rat that he’s pretty sure the principal would just murder Endeavor. Which means Katsuki could enjoy his wrath, and the hero can’t do anything about it. 

Anyways, like previously mentioned, Katsuki’s internship was going surprisingly well. Which meant that of course, it all had to go to shit. 

How did it all go to shit? Three fucking Noumus. 

The Dumpster Fire gave him permission to use his quirk to fight, but Katsuki’s not a fucking idiot. He’s not gonna risk getting burned because he tried to get in the way of the other hero. Instead, he’s being productive and using his explosions to destroy rubble and free trapped civilians. 

“Oi, watch it dipshit!” 

He turned to see a heavily scarred man dodge Dumpster Fire’s flames, holding a little girl in his arms. 

“And what is a lowly broker doing here?” Dumpster Fire huffed. 

“Doing your job better than you, apparently,” the man shot back, setting the little girl down and giving her a little push. She ran towards Katsuki, who directed her over to Burnin. 

“Criminal scum like you should be-” 

“Will you shut the fuck up and do your job?” Scarred man shot back. “Go kill the Noumu so that the actually useful people can work.” 

While they were arguing, the Noumu had gotten back up. And while he didn’t like the Dumpster Fire, Katsuki had to admit that he was their best chance at defeating these things, so he flew over and unleashed a gauntlet powered blast into its face. 

He then quickly got out of the way as the Dumpster Fire started fighting the Noumu again. 

Katsuki spotted the other guy trying (and failing) to free a man pinned down by a slab of concrete. He ran over, lifting it up while Burnt Chicken dragged the man out. Only when the civilian was freed did Katsuki use his quirk on the concrete.

“Burnin and the rest of the Agency has an evacuation station at the deli,” Katsuki said quickly. 

Burnt Chicken nodded, slinging the man over his shoulder. “Thanks kid. This should be everyone in this area. When I passed the other heroes, it looked like Manual needed help.”

Katsuki looked over at the Dumpster Fire, saw that he was handling it, and turned back to Burnt Chicken. “Where?” 

“By the Walmart on 5th.” 

He nodded, turning and running off. He couldn’t afford to wait around.

Ochako released her quirk, letting the heavy slab drop to the ground. She and one of Ingenium’s sidekicks, Bigshot, were working together to evacuate civilians, while Miruko and a few other pros were taking on one of the Noumu. 

Bigshot draped the civilian over his shoulder and ran off, so Ochako looked around to see if she could spot anyone else. 

“Watch out!” 

All she had time to do was look behind her, eyes widening as a large hunk of rock was hurtling towards her-

CRASH!!!

A blur had knocked the rock out of the way, sending it crashing to the ground next to her. The blur revealed itself to be a girl, in a high school uniform with a cream cardigan over her shoulders. She was wearing a strange apparatus over her shoulders, and a scarf(?) covered the lower half of her face. The most striking thing about her was blonde hair pulled into two high buns and gold eyes with cat-like pupils. 

“You okay?” She asked. 

Ochako nodded. “Thank you. Who are you?” 

Her savior grinned, revealing fangs. “Call me Himi-Chan!” 

“Then call me Uravity,” she said with a smile. “Why are you here?” 

“Same as you, silly! I’m here to help.” 

She hesitated. “Then can you help me free civilians?” 

Himi-Chan practically beamed. “Of course, Urachan!” 

Katsuki helped a civilian up on his feet, making sure he was good to walk before handing them off to another sidekick. He then made a beeline to Manual. “I was sent by Endeavor to help! He gave me permission to use my quirk.” 

The hero looked back at him from where he was restraining the Noumu. “Have you seen Iida?” 

Katsuki shook his head as the hero swore. “Alright, evacuate civilians so the rest of us can focus!” 

He nodded as he dashed off, running to where he spotted a trapped woman. No sooner than when he got the woman free, did Edgeshot fly in, with Icy Hot following him. 

Edgeshot immediately engaged the Noumu, and Icy Hot skated over to him. “Where’s Iida?!” 

“I don’t know, but Four Eyes probably went to fight Stain!” 

Icy Hot raised his hand to his ear, as if he was listening to something, then said, “I’m going to go look for him.” 

Knowing it was probably futile to argue with him, and currently busy, Katsuki just told him, “Don’t fucking die.” 

Icy Hot nodded as he skated away. Katsuki rolled his eyes, slinging the lady’s arm over his shoulder and helping her to the evac point that Manual’s agency had set up. 

He was busy with his own shit, he didn’t have time to worry about the extras. 

Shouto skated over to Bakugou as his mentor engaged the Noumu. He was lifting up a piece of rubble, as a woman scooted her way out from underneath it. He scanned the rest of the area, frowning as he realized someone was missing. 

“Where’s Iida?!” 

Bakugou grimaced, as if he was holding back an eye roll. “I don’t know, but Four Eyes probably went to fight Stain!” 

Shouto opened his comm link, knowing Edgeshot was listening. “Go find the kid. Do not engage the Hero Killer, escape if you run into him.”

He closed the comm link, after tapping it to make sure Edgeshot knew he heard him. “I’m going to go look for him.” 

Bakugou finally rolled his eyes. “Don’t fucking die.” 

Shouto nodded, turning around and skating off to the alleys. Based on the constant ramblings of his father, Stain was an ambush villain, and almost all of his attacks had been in alleys. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he opened it to see a message from Iida. A location ping. 

He kept it out as he followed the little marker, praying that he wasn’t too late. 

Chapter Text

Tenya was certain he saw his life flashing before his eyes. 

He was laying face down on the ground, shoulder bleeding out from where Stain had stabbed him. He was immobilized, paralyzed due to the villain's quirk. 

He remembered his brother, lying on the hospital bed. He remembered Manual’s advice against hunting down the Hero Killer. He remembered the anger that coursed through him as he saw a hint of red in an alleyway. He remembered when he first met his friends, and his determination to be a hero that followed in his family’s footsteps. 

And he realized that he wasn’t going to be a hero, worthy of the Iida name. He was going to die in an alleyway, alone, a failure. 

He closed his eyes, preparing himself to die. 

"Tenya, you can't go after Stain. The family name is not more important than your life. I'll be back on the field soon anyways."

"Just because- He still hurt you! If some mysterious person didn't heal you, you would be paralyzed!"

"Tenya! Promise me you won't go after the Hero Killer."

"... I promise, Tensei."

He heard the clash of steel on steel above him, and opened his eyes to see a glowing kitsune mask in the darkness. 

“It’s been a while, Sensei.” 

Kitsune stood at the end of the alley, holding a knife in one hand, having just thrown the other one. He stared down the scene: Native slumped against the wall, slowly bleeding out, Iida lying face down on the ground, bleeding from his shoulder, and Stain, poised above Iida, the katana he was about to kill Iida with having been knocked out of his hands. 

He had thought he’d been prepared to see his teacher again, the man who took him under his wing when he was stumbling on the streets, hands and face stained with blood. He thought he’d grieved properly when Stendhal lost his mind and became Stain, the monster.

He was wrong. 

“Monster,” his old teacher hissed. “Or is it Kitsune now?” 

“I don’t know, Stendhal,” Kitsune fired back, still poised to fight. “Or is it Stain now?” 

Stain snarled. “Leave, now. I have no business with you.” 

“We had a lot of disagreements, but we both agreed that going after children was too far.” Behind the mask, he frowned, desperately pushing his emotions down. “What happened?” 

“It’s better to cull the hero students who would become false heroes than to let them live and become false heroes anyways.” 

Kitsune snarled, biting his tongue to keep in the words he wanted to say from tumbling out. He knew from experience that arguing with Stain would get him nowhere. He couldn’t pin down when his old mentor started believing that All Might was the only true hero, but he did remember the exact argument that finally drove him away, for good. 

Retreading the same ground was not gonna keep Iida from bleeding out. 

“Good to know you’re still crazy,” Kitsune said. “But I’m gonna do what I should’ve done a long time ago.” 

He raced forwards, pulling a knife for his off hand and swiping for his throat. Stain parried, and he used the bracer on his other hand to deflect the katana going for his neck. 

He ducked underneath the katanas, lunging forwards. Stain elbowed him in the shoulders, which he turned into a roll under his legs. He tried to go for Stain’s back, but with a quick snap of his wrists, he had parried with his katanas. 

It was easy to slip into the routine of dodging and parrying, brain working overtime while muscle memory carried the weight. Sparks flew from the force behind both blades when they met.

He knelt on the ground, blood covering his face and his hands. Time had blurred since he left the compound, the imprint of fire on the back of his eyelids.

He hadn’t expected freedom to be so hard. Everyone ignored him. He’d gotten a few people that called the police on him, believing him to be a runaway from a local orphanage, and he’d had to run. Worse still, there’d been the people who tried to hurt him, for no other reason than he looked like an easy target. 

He barely managed to keep himself from falling into muscle memory, picking flee instead of fight. The few times he lost control, he had blacked out, only waking up to see corpses. 

The voice in his head got louder, demanding he steal quirks from people. Thankfully, he hadn’t taken any while he was blacked out. He knew it was his quirk, knew it was like All For One’s, but he couldn’t control it. He didn’t know how. Only All For One could teach him how to use it, and that was out of the question. 

It was better that the villain believe he’s quirkless and have quirks forced into him than to be twisted into becoming the next All For One. 

Yes, freedom was hard. But it was infinitely better than being back there again. 

He heard footsteps behind him, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up. He was so tired and so hungry. 

“What the-” he finally looked up, seeing a man standing in the alleyway. The only features he could make out was a ponytail and a mask. “A kid?” 

The man was the last thing he saw as he passed out. 

Kitsune leapt over a katana that would’ve slashed his tendons, pushing off of the alley wall to give himself some momentum. Stain parried, and he rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding having his head cut off. 

He twisted, finally nicking Stain in the arm. It wasn’t enough, as the man spun around and Kitsune dodged just in time to avoid being stabbed. 

When he woke up, he was laying on a ratty couch, a warm blanket draped over him. He sat up, taking note of the fact that there wasn’t any blood on him and that the room he was in looked old and kind of decrepit. 

He looked up when a man entered. It was the same man who he saw earlier: he had the same blood red aura. The man’s hair was down, pushed back by a headband, and he wasn’t wearing a mask that covered his face. He was wearing clothing that seemed to be casual (if his months of observing had taught him anything) and was carrying a tray with food on it. 

“You’re awake.” The man set the tray down on the table next to him, revealing that it held a bowl of white rice and a steaming cup of some sort of tea. “Here, eat. You’re way too skinny.” 

He did as he was told, dutifully shoveling rice into his face while the man watched him. Only once the bowl was empty did he set it down.

“What’s your name, kid?” The man said gruffly, folding his arms. He didn’t seem to be unkind, just blunt. 

“Monster,” he said, the word tumbling off his tongue. “Sometimes, I saw Akatani Mikumo on the paperwork they had, but they only called me Monster.” 

The man’s brows furrowed, as if he were upset. He was harder to read than the Doctor or Tomu-nii. “That makes this more difficult. I’m not calling you Monster.” 

“Why not? I am one.” 

“No, you’re not.” The man walked over, kneeling on the ground next to the couch. “You’re a fucking kid. You’re only- god, how old are you?” 

He just shrugged. 

“You don’t know?” He shook his head. “Is Akatani Mikumo even your real name?” He shook his head again. 

“I had a name once,” he muttered. “But I don’t remember what it is.” 

“And it gets worse- I’m getting off track. Kid, you’re not a monster.” 

When he stayed silent, the man sighed. “Do you remember where you came from?” 

He shrugged. “I set the compound on fire when I escaped. I don’t remember how long it’s been since then.” 

The man sighed. “Well, you can stay here until I can figure out what to do with you. What do you want, kid?” 

“Freedom.” 

“Aside from freedom.” 

He frowned, looking down at his hands. “I want to help people. Maybe if I help enough people, I won’t be a monster anymore.” 

He grit his teeth as he felt the blade whiz past the mask. Kitsune swung upwards, elbowing Stain in the chin, giving him the upper hand for a moment. 

He needed to stay focused. He couldn’t afford to let his guard drop. As soon as Stain gets one cut, it’s over. 

He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t breathe. He drowned out everything around him, trying to get air into his lungs, but he couldn’t. 

“Count with me.” He froze when Stendhal’s hands wrapped around his own. “Breathe in for one, two, three, four. Now breathe out for one, two, three, four.” 

It took a few minutes, but eventually he was able to force air through his lungs. His mentor’s hands never removed themselves. Once he came to, he ripped his hands out of Stendhal’s. 

“Why are you still touching me? Why are you still being nice to me after I stole your quirk?” He choked out, tears in his eyes. 

“Because you didn’t mean to,” his mentor said, holding his hands back out. “Because if you took my quirk, you can give it back.” 

“But I don’t know how!” 

“Then we’ll figure out how your quirk works. Together.” 

He can’t do this for very long. He never won against Stendhal when they sparred. But Stain’s fighting style has stayed the same, while Kitsune has improved. He can’t rely on the same old tricks that got his ass handed to him. 

He did not get strong enough to haul two fridges just to be defeated by a Sensei who hasn’t changed in years. 

He ducked under the katana, using his mother’s quirk to pull it out of Stain’s hand. He kicked up, his shoe connecting with Stain’s knee. As the man buckled, he went in for the kill. 

His back hit the mat again. He groaned when he felt the chalk knife against the back of his neck, and smacked his arm twice on the ground to show that he conceded. When he rolled over, he grasped onto his mentor’s hand, letting him pull him up. 

Training with Stendhal was nothing like training with Sensei. When he was training with Sensei, he was often just beaten by Sensei or Tomu- or Shigaraki. With Stendhal, it was a spar, and they were on semi even playing fields. And he didn’t continue to be hurt after he lost: he was helped up, they figured out what he did wrong, and they tried again until he stopped making that mistake. 

With Sensei, he was hurt for asking questions or disobeying. With Stendhal, he was encouraged. 

His mentor encouraged his goal of becoming a hero, stating that they needed more heroes who were like him. They figured out he was far behind where he needed to be for school, so trips to the library to try and catch him up were frequent, and he was learning very quickly. Stendhal often praised him, telling him that his mind was his biggest weapon. Not his quirk, but his brain. At this point, he was going to be ahead of kids his age soon. 

Well, he would be, if they could figure out his age. 

Slowly, memories were trickling back to him. He thought he could vaguely remember his parents’ face, and his mother’s first name. It’s not a lot, but it’s certainly more than he had before. 

They were also working on his quirk. Separately from the sparring (Stendhal insisted that he learn how to fight quirkless, and then incorporate his quirk into his fighting style), they were learning how his quirk works. The auras he saw around people were actually him seeing their quirks. He could only take quirks through his fingertips. The person he took quirks from couldn’t feel it, nor could they feel it being returned or given. They were working on getting the transfer time down, but it took practice. 

It still baffled him that his mentor trusted him with his quirk. 

In turn, he learned all about Bloodcurdle. His advice even helped his mentor. Stendhal had no idea that the time limits were based on blood type until he brought it up. 

He was broken out of his thoughts by a water bottle being thrown at his face. More out of habit than anything else, he caught it easily, taking a long swig. 

“Focus.” 

“Right. Sorry, Sensei.” 

“As I was saying.” Stendhal handed the chalk knife back to him. “You need to be faster than your opponent. Any hesitancy in your movements would be the end of you, and you would be dead in an actual fight. Do you remember what I said earlier?” 

He nodded, dutifully reciting what his mentor said. “Take any opportunity you can, even if it’s a killing blow. You must do whatever you can to survive and protect.” 

“Good job.” Stendhal ruffled his hair, and despite his exhaustion, he smiled. 

He let his guard down. 

He stumbled, the knife inches from Stain’s neck as pain erupted from his side. He managed to regain his footing, but it was too late. There was a large gash in his side, and Stain held the bloodied katana in his hands. 

In one last desperate attempt, he lunged forwards, throwing the knife in his hand. At the same time that he licked the blade, the knife pierced his shoulder. 

Kitsune felt the familiar weight on his body as he crashed to the ground, his other knife clattering to the ground. His eyes blurred, and he realized that it was because of the tears gathering there. 

He failed. 

The realization hurt so much more because this wasn’t just a stranger, or a hero he knew distantly. This was Iida, his friend, the one who will wave his arms around wildly when he’s making a particular point. The one who has a stick up his ass about the rules, yet chose to befriend him anyways, despite his rampant delinquent-ness. The one who was concerned about his health and constantly tried to get him to ditch his caffeine addiction, or at least lessen the amount of espresso shots. The one who tried to explain to Eri what new words mean (and usually failing) and who thought of Izuku first even when his brother was in the hospital. 

Tears fell down his face as he realized that Iida was about to die, and he couldn’t do anything. 

“You know why I do this, Mikumo,” Stain said, getting up from where he had been kneeling. “I cull the false heroes so you don’t have to walk the same path I do.” 

“I am no longer Stendhal. I have a new mission, to cull every fake hero.” 

“Sensei… No, if you’re no longer Stendhal, then you’re no longer Sensei, either. I’m leaving. I can’t stand by this madness!” 

“If you are willing to abandon me so easily, you really are a Monster.” 

“At least being a monster is better than what you’ve become.” 

K- Izuku couldn’t look away. He knew that Stain was walking to Iida’s death, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. 

Behind him, he felt the alley’s temperature drop by a couple of degrees. Izuku sent out a prayer that who he thinks has arrived has actually arrived. It seems his prayers were answered when a pillar of ice rushed past him, encasing the lower half of Stain’s foot. 

“Stain!” Shouto shouted. “I will not allow you to take any more lives!” 

La Brava didn’t usually feel fear. She was a genius hacker, after all! She and Gentle were undetectable, professional heisters, who laugh in the face of fear because they are always three steps ahead. She’s felt worry, when her friends are hurt, and when Kitsune insists on doing something stupid, but it was different than fear. 

Yet she was feeling a lot of fear right now. 

They had agreed to accompany Kitsune on his patrol in Hosu. He wanted to finally take down and arrest the Hero Killer, who was apparently his old mentor (and it took forever to find that out, seriously Kitsune was even worse than Dabi about opening up, and that was saying a lot, getting Dabi to talk about himself was like pulling teeth). Himi-Chan and Dabi were there for backup, and Gentle was protecting La Brava, who would be overseeing the whole thing and letting the backup know when and where they were needed. 

What none of them anticipated were the fucking monsters. 

Yes, she knew they were called Noumus, but they were monsters! Reanimated corpses with multiple quirks that were mindless killing machines. Textbook definition right there. 

(And how Kitsune knew that was concerning, but again getting the information about Stain had been a fucking nightmare, and they were in the middle of an actively on fire city, so they would have to drill for that information later.)

So Dabi and Himi-Chan, the assigned backup, were busy helping evacuate people. Which meant that Kitsune was alone with Stain. 

Now, she trusted Kitsune. Really, she did! But even Kitsune admitted that he might need help with the Hero Killer. 

So when Shiryoni alerted her that ten minutes had passed since he started fighting Stain, she made the executive decision to get back up. 

Hacking into the hero student’s phone was easy (seriously, what kind of horseshit password was 5555). It was even easier to send a mass text to everyone on the kid’s contact list with a location pin. 

She hoped he was okay. 

Chapter Text

Shouto remembered what his mentor’s instructions were. If he encountered Stain, he was to grab Iida and run. Under no circumstances was he supposed to engage. 

And yet here he was. Standing in the alleyway, he spotted three people who were down for the count, and Shouto cannot carry three people while outrunning the Hero Killer. So his only option was to stand his ground. 

He has a feeling Edgeshot was not going to see it that way. 

“Another kid, really?” Stain scowled, flicking his wrist and shattering the ice around his foot. “I suppose I will just have to cull you too.” 

“Iida, you really should send more than just your location when you send an SOS,” Shouto said, keeping his eyes on Stain. “I was almost too late to help.” 

“No, don’t interfere! This is my fight!” 

“Two brats generously offer to help, and this is the thanks you give them?” Stain snarled. “All the more reason you should be culled.” 

Shouto thought he heard Kitsune mutter something on the ground (it sounded like “thank you, Bra Lava”). That made sense: if Iida didn’t send the signal, the vigilante probably did. 

Before Stain could refocus his attention on Iida, he sent out another volley of ice, separating him from Iida and Native. 

“Don’t let him get any of your blood,” Kitsune said. “That’s how he paralyzes you.” 

Shouto nodded, keeping his eyes on the villain as he shifted into a fighting stance. 

He wouldn’t let anyone die. Not while he was there. 

Izuku grit his teeth, struggling against the weight of the quirk. He knew that he couldn’t do anything, that he just had to wait it out, but his body instinctively fought. 

There was a timer ticking in his mind. He’ll be able to move soon. 

He made himself ignore the fight, shutting his eyes and counting. He’ll die if he thinks like Izuku. Izuku is a bleeding heart who crumbles under actual pressure. 

When he hits ten, it’s Kitsune who opens his eyes. 

“Why are you fighting?” Iida asked from the end of the alleyway. 

“Oh, would you have preferred we left you to die?” Kitsune snarked back, his eyes never leaving Shouto or Stain. “A hero prioritizes the rescue above their own feelings.” 

“Stain deserves to see justice for every hero he’s hurt and killed!” 

“No shit!” Kitsune shouted back. “But that’s not the hero’s job.”

“Then what is?!” 

“Did you listen to anything I said?!” 

He saw a flash of steel in the corner of his eye, and Kitsune whipped his head around. “Don’t take your eyes off him!” 

It was too late. Shouto took his eyes off of Stain for a second, and he barely dodged the knife going for his face, cutting his cheek instead. Stain threw his katana at the same time he rushed forward, and only the release of his fire kept him from Shouto’s blood. 

Kitsune’s fingers twitched. 

“Please, stop!” Iida shouted again. “I inherited Ingenium’s name, I should stop the Hero Killer!” 

Shouto sent another volley of ice at Stain. “Ingenium never had a look of vengeance on his face.” 

“Pay the fuck attention!” Kitsune shouted. 

Stain slashed through the volley of ice. “It’s foolish to block your view when your opponent is faster than you.” 

He rushed forward again, but Kitsune was finally free. When Stain was about to reach Shouto, he rushed forwards, kicking one of the katanas out of Stain’s hands. He parried the other one with a bracer, using his momentum to kick Stain in the gut with his other leg. 

“Listen to me,” Kitsune said, keeping his eye on the villain as he addressed Shouto. “Get the small Ingenium and Native out of here. I’ll hold off Stain.” 

“Are you sure?” Shouto asked from behind him. 

He had never won against Stendhal in a knife spar. Him being Kitsune and Stendhal being Stain wouldn’t change that. But knives weren’t the only available weapon he had. He could never beat Stain in his own game, so he just had to change the game.

Even under the mask, he smiled, pulling out his bo staff from one of his pockets. “I’m sure. I won’t make the same mistake again.” 

He lunged forwards again, staff firmly in hands, as he parried the two knives thrown at him. Stain swung the katanas towards his neck, so he whipped the staff up. Winning the strength battle, he easily pushed Stain backwards, causing the man to stumble. 

Heart pounding in his ears, Kitsune decided to start building up momentum. Feeling Boost under his skin, he started bouncing on the alley walls, using his staff to parry Stain’s blades. 

When he saw an opportunity, he ducked under Stain’s katanas, delivering a roundhouse kick to the gut. 

The villain was launched from the alley, landing in the street with a crack. Kitsune raced forwards, meeting Stain’s blades with his staff. He twisted his wrists, making sure the top of his bracers lined up with Stain’s hands. 

He grinned under the mask as he activated the flamethrowers. 

Stain dropped the katanas, and Kitsune took the opportunity to kick them away. Granted, the fire wasn’t that hot (the mechanism was resting right above his wrists) but it was still hot enough to give him a window of opportunity. 

He kicked hard, feeling his knee connect in between the villain’s legs. He heard the tell tale sound of engines behind him, and wisely dodged out of the way. 

Iida’s kick connected squarely with Stain’s jaw. 

The villain collapsed, out cold. While Iida started panicking about maybe killing Stain, Kitsune knelt down, pressing his fingers to Stain’s neck. Both All For One and One For All crackled under his skin. He could hear Second and Third yelling at him not to take it, while the snake coiled around his neck and hissed at him to take it. 

Once the snake started tightening around his neck, he tugged hard. Bloodcurdle settled in his chest. 

God, he needs a vape. 

Kitsune stood up, pretending like he didn’t have an internal conflict and addressing Iida. “He’s alive, just unconscious.” 

Iida let out a sigh of relief. Shouto came over with rope, and Kitsune stepped aside to let the hero student restrain him. He took in the scene: Native was leaning heavily against a wall, trying to stem the bleeding from his shoulder. Iida was doing something similar, standing aside as he pressed his hand against his still bleeding shoulder. 

Which reminded him that he was still bleeding from his side. 

“Leave the knife in,” Kitsune said, as Shouto was about to pull out the knife still stuck in Stain’s shoulder. “He’ll only bleed out faster if you take it out.” 

“Shouto, Kitsune,” Iida said, giving them both a bow. “Thank you for your help, even if you didn’t have to save me.” 

Shouto stepped forwards. “Saving people is what heroics is all about.” 

Kitsune halfheartedly shrugged. “You don’t become a vigilante by staying in your lane and not sticking your nose into other people’s business.” 

“You’d make a good hero, kid,” Native said.

He shook his head. “That’s not an option for me.”

Shouto frowned. “Are you okay?”

Kitsune laughed, injecting as much false cheer into it as he can manage. “Oh I’m fine, but it’s gonna hurt like a bitch later. Adrenaline’s a hell of a drug.” 

Before anyone could say anything, he felt the tell tale sign of two quirks behind him. He lunged forwards, pushing Shouto to the side as he felt talons wrap around his torso. 

He felt his world tilt a little to the side as he moved on pure instinct, bringing up a knife and slashing through a wing. 

The talons that had been pressing into the wound on his side released him, and he was suddenly hurtling to the ground. 

He pulled up Shock Absorption, bracing himself for impact.

“Luna Arc!” 

Ochako followed her mentor as she leapt across rooftops, following the flying noumu. Out of nowhere, the monster decided to fly off, so she and Miruko were chasing it down. 

Her heart leapt into her throat as she saw the noumu dive down. She recognized her classmates standing there, along with an injured pro, the Hero Killer, and the vigilante who saved them at the USJ. 

He pushed Todoroki out of the way as the noumu grabbed him. 

She heard her mentor swear and leap up. She could only watch from the street as Kitsune slashed through the noumu’s wing, sending him hurtling to the ground. Miruko bounded from a rooftop, launching herself into the air. 

“Luna Arc!” 

Miruko caught the vigilante at the same time she split the noumu in half with an axe kick. Ochako ran up to her mentor when she landed, at the same time Endeavor ran over from the other side of the street. 

Kitsune was stumbling to his feet when she caught up to them. She could see that he was bleeding from his side. 

Everyone froze when Stain stood up. There was an aura of pure bloodlust around him, and the fear froze Ochako to the core. “If I don't fix it... if someone isn't... stained with blood...! If heroes aren't restored...!! Come! Just try me... you fakes! The only one allowed to kill me is... All Might, a true hero!!"

“It’s a good thing I’m not a hero.” 

One moment, Kitsune was standing next to Miruko. The next, he yanked the knife out of Stain’s shoulder, using it to slice the villain’s throat. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blood gushing from his throat, as the villain’s body fell limply to the street. 

There was a moment of silence, as blood dripped from the knife in Kitsune’s hand back down onto the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw Endeavor, across from her, bring up his hand, about to release his fire upon the vigilante. 

“Wait!” 

She felt arms around her right before the blast of heat, closing her eyes on instinct. When she opened her eyes, Miruko was holding her in her arms, safely out of the range of fire. Stain’s body was mildly charred, and the vigilante was gone. 

Before she could start freaking out about the fact that the number two hero just killed Kitsune, the familiar snarky voice sounded off from a rooftop behind her. “Thanks for the free cauterization, Endea-whore!” He cackled, presumably disappearing off into the night. 

Endeavor was about to follow him, when Native stood up. “Wait. We need to prioritize the kids.” 

She looked around. Todoroki was bleeding from his cheek, Iida was pressing a hand against his shoulder, and Native was doing something similar. 

Endeavor huffed, but stomped away as the ambulances started arriving. Miruko put Ochako back on her feet as one of Ingenium’s sidekicks came up to them. 

A blanket was draped around Ochako’s shoulders, and she clutched it to her as Miruko went to make a call. 

She was sure that Kitsune was a kid like them. 

Dabi groaned, cracking his back. He is going to be sore for days, weeks, maybe even months after this. He groaned again when he heard the distinctive flapping of wings. 

“No, I’m not homeless, and I don’t need to go to a hospital,” Dabi said, turning around to see Hawks touching down amid the rubble. There were so many heroes who kept asking if he was homeless or if he needed to go to the hospital, he remembered why he brokered online. 

“I know who you are, Dabi,” the hero said, red wings folding up as he brushed off his jacket. “I heard about what you’re doing. Surprisingly kind of you to help, I might’ve thought you had an emotion in your shriveled dead heart.” 

He rolled his eyes, continuing to try and stretch out his muscles. “Surprisingly cutthroat of the number twelve hero to order a bottle of poison.” 

The man child squawked. “I would never! That would be extremely unheroic, and the number twelve hero doesn’t need poison, thank you very much!” 

“You set your username as Not A Chicken,” Dabi deadpanned. “It’s very obvious.” 

Before the hero could respond, the comm crackled in his pocket, and Dabi hurriedly pulled it out and put it back in his ear. “Dabi! Are you there?!”

He turned his back on the hero, responding quickly. “I’m here.” 

“Foxy needs help.”

His blood turned cold. Kitsune did say he might need backup, but he didn’t expect to actually be called upon. He was pretty sure that Himi-Chan would be first in priority for backup. “Send me a location, I’m on my way.” 

“Location sent. Be prepared for anything.” 

Dabi swore, extensively, as he pulled out his phone. The location popped up as an alleyway, perfect for a Stain ambush. 

Hawks walked over, and Dabi did not shriek when the hero put his hand on Dabi’s shoulder. “Seems you need some help.” 

“How did you-” 

“Advanced hearing,” Hawks said, tapping his ears. “I’ll fly you there, it’d probably be faster than running.” 

As much as he hated accepting help from a hero, he did see the Twitter post about Kitsune and Hawks flying together, so it shouldn’t be too bad. “Fine. But don’t fucking drop me.” 

Hawks grinned, grabbing Dabi under the arms, and lifting up into the sky. “Wouldn’t dream of it!” 

He was sitting on the couch, reading a book he didn’t remember the title of when he heard the apartment door open again. 

Stendhal walked back in, a bag slung over his shoulder. Knowing he wasn’t going to get any more reading done today, he put a receipt in as a bookmark and watched curiously as his mentor walked over to the couch. 

“Do you remember the conversation we had a few weeks ago?” 

He nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything. 

“Well, I couldn’t find any legal papers about you or your parents,” Stendhal said. “It’s like none of you existed. But I was able to figure out where you used to live, and I found this.” 

He pulled something out of the bag, putting it in his hands. It was a book, with “Memories” written out on the cover. 

He gasped as he opened it up. He was greeted with a picture of what looked like a baby picture of him, in the arms of the woman he identified as his mother. There was also a picture of his baby chart. 

He flipped through the scrapbook. It was filled with pictures of his childhood, his parents, and another family that must’ve been friends. He went through the people, placing names to faces. Bakugou Maseru. Bakugou Mitsuki. Bakugou Katsuki. Midoriya Hisashi. Midoriya Inko. 

“Midoriya Izuku,” he said, slowly unociating the letters. “Midoriya Izuku. Midoriya Izuku.” 

“Do you recognize anyone?” Stendhal asked. 

He shook his head, running his fingers over the pages. “I don’t know any of them. But I’d like to.” 

Chapter Text

Musutafu Central Broadcasting @mcbofficial

The vigilante Kitsune killed Stain in Hosu! Watch the news clip here .

no milk 4 me @bonebreaker2047

Stain killed 17 heroes and maimed 23 others and were debating about Kitsune? Really? 

Slimy Bunny @slimebunny405

There were 3 pros on the scene, 2 in the top 20. It was not necessary for him to step in, or for him to kill Stain.

Professional Herpetologist @feedthefrogs

@bonebreaker2407 its not about Stain, its about the fact that no one can be an arbiter of justice. everyone forgets that Stain started as a vigilante who went off the deep end.

Simp first person second @theothergirl

ok but that luna arc??? i would kill 2 b in kit’s position

Slimy Bunny @slimebunny405

Please take your simping somewhere else.

Izuku groaned, curled up in bed and lay on his non-injured side. He never thought he would be thankful to Endeavor for anything, but the fire actually cauterized the gash on his side, so all he needed was burn cream and bandages. And an order to not do anything too strenuous until it’s fully healed. Which he’s going to ignore, but the sentiment was touching. 

Thank goodness Mitsuki took Eri for the week. He would have no idea how to keep this from his sister. 

He was exhausted, ignoring his phone blowing up. He didn’t have the patience to try and pretend to be fine after everything. 

The only thing he had the energy to do was to email the school, pretending to be his Uncle, informing the school that he was calling out sick. 

He knew he should respond to his friends calling him, the heroes’ texts, and probably check Twitter, but he didn’t have the energy. Only part of that was because of his body’s need to recuperate. 

The rest was grief. 

xX Water Girl Xx @xxwatergirlxx

Ok but is no one going to talk about how Endeavor was willing to kill Kitsune? Like everyone’s talking about how Kitsune killed Stain but Endeavor is the legal hero here. Double standards. 

xX Fire Boy Xx @xxfireboyxx

Preach girl!!!

Just a Dude @actualhero999

ok but kitsune is more likely than endeavor to turn villain. see: stain

No.1 Kitsune stan @unitedstatesofsmashorpass

dont u dare treat my boi dirty like this, kitsune would never turn villain!!!

Why y’all so STUPID @speedreader

@actualhero999 ok but there is precedent for legal heroes to switch and become villains. Like i see ur point but theres absolutely precedent there

Wild Squad of Dumbasses - 11:26 PM

Dumbass 2 (Himi-Chan), daddy issues (Dabi), secretly british (Gentle Criminal), and *hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (La Brava) are online.

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): foxy gets some rest

*hacker voice* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°): we’ll cover ur patrols 4 the next few weeks

Dumbass 2: yea! we got u

daddy issues: actually heal this time dumbass

secretly british: If you ever need to talk, we’re here for you.

Musutafu Central Broadcasting @mcbofficial

The Hosu Investigation brings to light new information: Kitsune was a former apprentice of Stain. Watch the news clip here .

Professional Herpetologist @feedthefrogs

Stain: vigilante -> villain
Kitsune: vigilante -> might turn villain

What I’ve been saying this whole time

Deez Nuts @myquirkisdeeznuts

I feel like everyone’s going insane, like did people forget that murder was bad? Are we sitting here debating the ethics of murder? Am I going crazy?

Thomas the Thank Engine @thomasthethankengine

Thanks

Hidaka Asuka @allmightsdaughterinlaw

@myquirkisdeeznuts but you’ve got to realize that this is not binary. the law allows for murder in self defense, with the hero exception of murder in defense of civilians.

Deez Nuts @myquirkisdeeznuts

I’m not taking legal advice from someone with the handle All Might’s Daughter-in-law.

Villaim William @villiamwilliam

coming from twitter handle my quirk is deez nuts :p

Izuku laid in bed, scrolling through Twitter. He was munching on an apple he summoned, since he had neither the energy nor the fucks to give to get out of bed and make something for him to eat. 

Musutafu Central Broadcasting @mcbofficial

According to a note on Stain’s body, he believes that the only true heroes are All Might and Kitsune. Watch the news clip here .

He sucked in a breath, rereading the tweet to make sure he saw right. He switched from Twitter to Firefox, scrolling through several news sites, and every site said the same thing. 

“The only true heroes are All Might and Kitsune.” 

He rolled over, dropping his phone and burying his face into his pillow. Tears went down his face without his permission, as he tried to keep it together. 

It seems he’s been doing a lot of that lately. 

Bloodcurdle pulsed in his chest, almost as if it sensed that he was thinking about its former owner. If he focused, he thought he felt the sensation of hands, gently holding his. 

“Count with me, Mikumo.” 

He threw the pillow, flailing around for the vape he had on the nightstand. Grabbing it, he scrambled his way into sitting up, taking a hit and breathing as the sensations finally left him. 

Now that his head was clear, he could admit that the fact that these sensations from his quirks were getting worse. He didn’t know whether that was because One For All was amplifying All For One or if it was because his mental state was down the fucking toilet, but he has no idea what to do about any of this. 

He just barely managed to remember to take the medication preventing his body from falling apart. He can’t afford to be fighting hallucinations either. 

Dr. Needle’s already trying to hike prices. 

When he jumps because the floor above him creaks, he knows he needs to get out of there or he’ll lose his goddamn mind. 

He stumbles out of the room, ignoring the pain in his side that is telling him that this is a bad idea, and into his office. He hurriedly donned Kitsune’s suit, smacked his face a couple of times, and jumped out the window. 

La Brava was totally gonna yell at him for this. 

Friendos :3 - 12:03 AM

Eraserdad (Eraserhead), Tsuki-kun (Tsukauchi), McChicken (Hawks) and Jessica Rabbit (Midnight) are all online. 

Tsuki-kun: i have bad news

McChicken: i also have bad news

Jessica Rabbit: oh no

Tsuki-kun: the hpsc has raised the threat level of kitsune, theyve put him on the villain scale

Jessica Rabbit: THEY WHAT

McChicken: bc kitsune killed an a-rank villain, they put him at a rank

Jessica Rabbit: the kid doesnt need this

Eraserdad: he is a MINOR

Eraserdad: a FUCKING CHILD

McChicken: the comms put pressure on me to bring him in

McChicken: so im gonna have to stop talkin to the kid

McChicken: theyre getting sus

Tsuki-kun: the only good thing is that they’re not going to announce this to the public

Jessica Rabbit: yah, the public would fucking riot

Eraserdad: im about to fucking riot

Jessica Rabbit: no

Tsuki-kun: PLEASE DO NOT

McChicken left the chat.

Jessica Rabbit: kid pls respond if ur alright

Jessica Rabbit: were worried bout u

Actually Kitsune @therealkitsune

We will continue to post unsettling threats, in honor of Kitsune. This account stands by Kitsune, and we hope that people will continue to tweet “I will boil your teeth” at #endeawhore even when he can’t.

Totally All Might @realallmight

Dude he deactivated his twitter, he didn’t fucking die

Now trending: #endeawhore

Kitsune sat on his favorite ledge, overlooking the red light district. He is taking it easy, mostly for his friends’ sake. It’s not like crime made it hard for him: he would pop in an alley with a mugger, turn on his mask lights, and the criminal would go running and screaming (a quarter of the time the civilian would run too, which did not hurt). 

He had to have Shiryoni block his usual information gathering through the police networks, because most of it is how to catch Kitsune, and debates about whether he was a villain. Which he went out on patrol to escape Twitter, not to be reminded of it. 

Although it was nice to learn through the networks that he was apparently now an A rank villain. So that was fun. 

He felt the presence of Erasure behind him. “Heya, Eraserdad.” 

“Problem child.” The hero sat down next to him. “You’re supposed to be resting.” 

He grinned at the familiar back and forth. This was easy, familiar. “You know me. Kitsune and rest don’t exactly get along.” 

“Sure, and this has nothing to do with yesterday.” 

His grip minutely tightened on the ledge, and he prepared to flee if he needed to. “Speaking of which, how’re the hero brats?” 

“They’re both fine, recovering in a hospital, which is what you should be doing,” Eraserhead leveled a dad glare at him. “You sustained the worst injuries, brat.” 

“Nah, I’m pretty sure that Noumu had it worse than I did!” 

“Kid, you’ve got to stop using humor to deflect.” 

“What I’m hearing is you think I’m funny-” 

“Kitsune, listen to me,” Eraserhead cut him off. “You don’t have to pretend you’re not hurting.” 

Even after all this time, when he’s backed into a corner, he lashes out. “It looks really bad to sympathize with a villain.” 

“Kid, you’re not-”

“It’s fine, really,” he lied through his fucking teeth. “It’s not the first time I’ve been called that.” 

“A villain?” 

“Something like that.” 

The hero frowned, concern and worry on his face, and he hated that look, especially directed at him. “Look, if you come with me, we can get you the help you need, and we can protect you from the Commission. You don’t deserve to be labeled a villain.” 

He closed his eyes against the tears welling in his eyes. “If you knew everything, you’d be agreeing with them.” 

He shifted forwards, preparing himself to launch himself off and run. “Goodbye, Eraserhead.” 

“Kid-!” 

Kitsune let himself fall, snapping a bracer forwards and pulling himself away from one of the closest people to a father he (still) had. 

He tried to convince himself that shutting him out now would keep him from feeling betrayed when Eraser(dad)head turned on them like everyone else. 

He shut down the pain of pushing everyone away. 

Monsters don’t feel pain.

Friendos :3 - 3:12 AM

God’s Mistake (Kitsune) left the chat.

Chapter Text

Stain was all anyone was talking about. Stain this, Stain that, was Stain right, was Kitsune right, was Endeavor right? The press release from Endeavor’s agency basically saying that he was right to try and torch both Stain and Kitsune because they were both villain’s only fueled the flames of the conversation. 

Katsuki just wished the extras would shut up about it. He didn’t want to remember Hosu, and he was sure that Four Eyes and Icy Hot and Round Cheeks didn’t want to remember either. 

Sometimes he thought the images of dead and mangled civilians would be burned into the back of his eyelids forever. 

Kami, he’s gonna need to ask the old hag to schedule an appointment with the shrink. 

He had snapped at Pikachu when he initially brought up Stain, and since then the self proclaimed Bakusquad hadn’t brought it up. 

He didn’t even yell at them for bringing up the lion vs Pokemon argument again. It was really a testament to his patience around these idiots. 

“So, you interned with Endeavor?” Pikachu asked, poking him in the shoulder. “Whatcha do to him?” 

Now fucking with the Dumpster Fire he could talk about for ages. So he proudly told them the story about how he moved all the furniture in the Dumpster Fire’s office an inch to the left. 

Ochako was lying on her desk, quietly looking out the window. Iida was sitting next to her, writing something down in his notebook, although she could tell he wasn’t very enthused about it. On the other side of him was Todoroki, quietly doing some sort of breathing exercise. 

She was pulled out of her stupor by a pack of choco cats being set in front of her face. When she sat up, she saw that Shinsou was putting packs on Iida’s and Todoroki’s desks too. 

He slid a chair over, opening his own bag and popping one into his mouth. “I’m not gonna start talking about it,” he said with his mouth full, referring to the elephant in the room. “I just wanted to ask if you guys were okay.” 

“I’m doing better,” Iida said. “I had a talk with my brother, and it helped.” 

Ochako shrugged, popping one of the cookies in her mouth. “Could be better, could be worse.” 

Todoroki was quiet, still kind of staring at the cookies. 

Shinsou shrugged. “Well, I’ll listen, if you guys ever want to talk.” 

She smiled at him, tired but genuine. “Thank you.” 

This time, when she laid back down on the desk, she didn’t feel like her and her friends were in a depressive aura, but that her and her friends were simply basking in each others presences, sharing some cookies. 

Izuku tried to focus on his katsudon, ignoring the buzzing all around him. All he heard on the train to school was about Kitsune and Stain. All his classmates gossiping was about Kitsune and Stain. Even without being on Twitter, all of social media was about Kitsune and Stain. 

Sometimes he felt all of the pressure was slowly crushing him. 

The plus side was that his friends weren’t talking about it. The downside is that his friends weren’t talking about anything, so they were awkwardly sitting there in silence. There wasn’t even the cuteness of Eri to distract them all, as she was having lunch with Kurana-sensei. 

Hell, at that point, he was tempted to join in the conversation about whether the ocean was a soup. 

Hatsume plopped her tray down, sitting down with a huff. “Alright, this is depressing. Let’s talk about how we’re feeling like civilized people.” 

“What the fuck are we gonna do, go around in a circle and talk about our feelings like it’s kindergarten?” Shinsou asked. Izuku could feel the sarcasm oozing from his sentence. 

“If that’s what it takes for you guys to stop being sad, then yes!”

Everyone looked at each other, trying to figure out who would go first. Surprisingly, it was Uraraka who spoke up first. “I guess I’m still thinking about what happened. I just can’t stop seeing it. People are calling it a victory when we were barely surviving.” 

Like the USJ went unspoken. 

“If I’ve learned anything,” Izuku spoke up, hesitantly. “Survival itself is a victory.” 

Todoroki seemed to wince, while Shinsou nodded in understanding. That was something Izuku tried to impress early on in their rapid fire sports festival training. There was no such thing as honor or dishonor, there was just what keeps you alive and what doesn’t. It was probably reinforced in his internship with Eraserdad, they shared similar views-

Izuku shook that thought away. Eraserhead and him were on opposite sides now. 

“You can’t help anyone if you’re dead,” Shinsou said.

They lapsed again into silence. 

It seemed to always come back to silence lately. 

“Young Midoriya! A word, please.” 

Izuku stopped, turning back to see Yagi waving to him from his office. “Kacchan, I’ll meet you and Eri at Auntie’s.” 

The boy in question raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” 

He nodded, so Kacchan turned to pick Eri up and put her on his hip. “Alright, guess it’s just gonna be you and me for a bit, Unicorn.” 

Once he waved goodbye to Eri, he turned back to Yagi, following him into his office. When they were inside, he sat down next to his mentor on the couch. 

“I know I’ve been busy these last few days, but I wanted to check in with you,” Yagi said. “I know we were both banking on the Sports Festival to get you into the Hero Course.” 

So that’s what this was about. 

Later he would blame his lack of sleep for what came out of his mouth next (for what he allowed to speak next). “I think you should pick someone else.” 

“My boy, what are you-” 

“I failed!” Izuku knew he wasn’t talking about the Sports Festival. When he closed his eyes, trying to press tears away, Stain’s body was burned into his eyelids. “I failed. I don’t deserve it. You should give One For All to someone better.” 

He gasped when he felt himself being pulled, tucked against Yagi’s side, being cradled like he was fragile, being given comfort like he deserved it. 

“You didn’t fail, Midoriya. The Commission purposefully kept you from heroics. This was just a setback. Your heart and mind are truly heroic, and you deserve to have One For All. You’re a worthy successor, and you will become an amazing hero, no matter what anyone else says. I’m not going to give up on you, Midoriya. You shouldn’t give up on yourself either.” 

Izuku finally broke. He let himself lean into the comfort offered, let himself feel every emotion he tried to keep locked away, as he sobbed into his mentor’s shirt. He felt Yagi tighten his grip, almost as if his mentor was afraid to let him go. 

In what felt like hours later, but was realistically only a few minutes, he finally ran out of tears to shed. And surprisingly, he felt better, like a bit of a weight was lifted off his shoulders. 

“Do you feel better, my boy?” 

Izuku nodded, wiping his face with his sleeve. “Thanks, Yagi-san.” 

“Of course, although I’d like to ask you something.” Izuku looked up to meet his mentor’s eyes. “If you ever feel like you aren’t worthy, or are doubting yourself, or need anything at all, please come talk to me. I want to help, and I promise that you won’t be bothering me.” 

“I will.” 

Yagi smiled, holding up his pinkie. “Pinkie promise?” 

Izuku smiled back, hooking his pinkie with Yagi’s. “Pinkie promise.” 

He knelt at Stain’s grave, laying a bouquet of Zinnias at the base of the headstone. He was wearing an oversized hoodie, cargo pants, and a black mask, because he didn’t want to risk getting caught as Kitsune or Midoriya. 

Stain had to be stopped, but he didn’t have to die. He went off the deep end and was slaughtering heroes, but he saved him, trained him and practically raised him. He was glad that Stain’s reign of terror was over, and he was grieving Stendhal. 

Fittingly, it was raining. 

He heard footsteps coming up behind him, and didn’t move as he saw a bouquet of Lavenders placed at the grave. “Are you also a follower of Stain?” 

“In a way,” he responded, pulling his hood up further. 

“I wish to carry on Stain’s legacy!” The man behind him declared. “I will purge this world of false heroes!” 

“Are you sure?” 

The man faltered. “What?” 

“Stain was so obsessed with his beliefs that he isolated himself and pushed away everyone important to him. His view of morality was so narrow that only perfection was white, and everything else was black. Before you try and take on the mantle of Stain, you have to ask yourself what your morals are, and if you’re willing to cast them aside for the sake of Stain’s cause.” 

… “Kitsune?”

He stood up, turning to face the man behind him. He recognized him from patrols through the red light district. “Killing is not a decision to be taken lightly. I watched as my mentor went insane, and I don’t want to watch it happen to anyone else.” 

He walked away from the grave and out of the cemetery. Miraculously, he felt a little bit lighter. 

He needed the closure, and clearly Spinner needed the help.

Chapter Text

Eri was very observant. 

She knew that people un-der-est-i-mate her, because she was a child. But she paid attention to everything around her. She knew more than most people think. 

She knew that Overhaul was hurting her, that he did something to her grandfather. When she first spotted Izu-niichan, she knew that he would be the one to save her, and paid attention to the guards talking about an annoying little vermin. She knew that when Izu-niichan took her in, he had to sacrifice a lot to take care of her. She knew that Overhaul was still alive, and she knew that something else was chasing Izu-niichan too. 

Most importantly, she saw that her brother was happier at U.A. 

Eri was very observant. So she noticed very quickly that Izu-niichan wasn’t feeling well. 

It started after the Sports Festival, when her brother explained that he wasn’t transferring into the hero course yet. Then he sent her to stay at Auntie Mitsuki’s for the week, which only happened when Izu-niichan was doing something related to his job. 

She didn’t understand what people talked about or who Kitsune or Stain were, but what she did understand was that it made Izu-niichan and his friends sad. 

So she came up with an easy five step plan to cheer up her brother!

Step One: Find a puppy.

Izu-niichan and his friends were at Momochan’s house for another study group. The first study group, with the entirety of Class 1A and her brother, was really fun! Eri had a lot of fun at Momochan’s house, but this time she stayed with Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Maseru, because the study group was the perfect distraction. 

Auntie Mitsuki was working, so Uncle Maseru was the one who went to the park with her. More specifically, she ran ahead, keeping her eyes peeled for a puppy.

She knew they couldn’t afford the fees for adoption, and Izu-niichan has talked about the number of stray dogs and cats on the streets. He talked fondly about how, when he lived on the streets, he would pet and snuggle with various stray cats and dogs, so she figured that she should find a stray for him.

Eri grinned as she saw a bush wiggle. She ran towards the bush, eagerly giggling as she caught sight of a tanuki!

She grabbed the tanuki around the torso, lifting it up with difficulty. She read in a book somewhere that tanuki were a kind of dog, and tanuki was close enough to a puppy.

“Uncle Maseru! Uncle Maseru! Look what I found!” She ran back to her uncle, the tanuki sitting politely in her arms. “I found a tanuki!” 

“Umm, Eri, please put it down,” her uncle said nervously. “That’s not a tanuki. That’s a raccoon.” 

She employed her best puppy dog eyes, holding the tanuki in her arms. “Can I keep it? Please?” 

Her uncle folded. She knew he would. 

Step Two: Bring the puppy to the vet. 

“Sir, are you aware that that’s a raccoon?”

Her uncle sighed, cleaning his glasses. “I’m aware. Can you please look it over? Maybe check if it has a quirk? Any diseases?”

“Sir, we can’t accept-” 

Her uncle was folding, so Eri was going to have to step up. She walked up to the counter, where the tanuki was sitting, and she crossed her arms, channeling her inner Auntie Mitsuki. “I demand you look over my tanuki, and I will not take no for an answer!” 

The vet behind the counter paled. “Of course, we’ll just, uh, take her back then.” 

Step Three: Channel her inner Auntie Mitsuki to get the vet to look over the puppy. 

So far her plan was a success.

“So the raccoon has a full bill of health,” the vet said, with significantly more bandages on him. “She’s a bit overweight, but that could be helped with a diet. She does have a quirk, which is probably why she is so… mellow around Eri.” 

The tanuki, who she learned is a girl, was sitting in her lap. She was petting her fur, which was now glossy and clean. 

“So, thank you for bringing her in, but we are going to have to bring her to a specialized zoo.”

“I understand.” Eri glared at her uncle. “I’m sorry, but you cannot keep a raccoon, even if she has a quirk. Especially if she has a quirk.” 

As her uncle and the vet started chatting, Eri put the skills she learned from Izu-niichan to the test. She crept her hand into Uncle Maseru’s pocket, pulling out his phone. She tapped her way through his contacts while the adults were talking, calling her aunt. 

“Maseru, what the fuck? You know I’m working, you better be fucking dying-” 

“Hi auntie!” 

“Oh, hi sweetheart!” Her tone changed immediately. She looked up to see her Uncle Maseru making gestures to get her to stop talking, and the vet slowly backing away with his hands up. “What’s going on, sweetie?”

“Uncle Maseru isn’t letting me keep my puppy.” 

“Maseru!” 

“Dear, the puppy in question is a raccoon with a quirk. She cannot keep-”

“I mean we keep Katsuki.” 

“Katsuki is our son-” 

“Is the raccoon hurting Eri?” 

“No, she’s been very nice!” Eri interjected, giving her a few pats on her head just to prove her point. 

“I’m pretty sure the raccoon scratched up the vet.” 

“Well, if it’s not hurting Eri, why not?” 

“Dear-” 

“Ma’am,” the vet spoke up. “The best place to take the raccoon would be a specialized zoo.”

The room was silent. Then Auntie Mitsuki spoke up. “Sweetie, please cover your ears.” 

Eri obeyed her aunt, covering her ears with her hands as she started shouting at both of the adults. She kept a grin on her face. 

She knew her auntie would win. 

Step Four: Get the puppy a collar and a name. 

Auntie Mitsuki won. 

Eri picked out a pretty color, covered in purple glitter, and picked out a tag shaped like a fox. The vets let her pick out her name while her uncle filled out all the paperwork. 

“Mm, Missy!”

She watched as the vets etched the name, quirk and phone number onto the tag, hooking it onto the collar, and then gave the collar to her to put on Missy.

Apparently they didn’t want to risk ending up like the other vet. Which was ridiculous! Missy was very nice and well behaved. 

For example, she sat very still as Eri put the collar around her neck. 

She picked up Missy, holding the tanuki close to her chest. Once her uncle handed back the paperwork, she tugged on his sleeve. 

“Uncle Maseru, can I go visit Izu-niichan and Kacchan? I wanna show them Missy.” 

Her uncle sighed, but nodded, and she held her new friend close with a smile. It was time for the final step. 

Step Five: Show Izu-niichan the puppy. 

Being here was weird. 

Izuku was keenly aware of the fact that he was out of place in the fancy mansion. Everything felt so clean and rich , and he felt like he was making everything dirty simply due to his presence.

On the plus side, he’s not the only one feeling uncomfortable. Kacchan definitely was, as well as Shinsou and Uraraka. Of course, the legacy kids were comfortable, and they told him that they’d been there multiple times for parties or balls with Yaoyorozu’s family.

Izuku chewed on the end of his pencil, trying to focus on the worksheet in front of him. His skin still crawled around his friends, he felt like an imposter in his own body. 

“Midoriya-kun?” Yaoyorozu asked, getting his attention from his spiraling thoughts. “Do you want some tea?” 

He smiled, nodding politely as she poured him a cup. He wasn’t stupid, his friends were studious and they certainly didn’t need a study group, especially with just them and not with the rest of the class. He had a feeling that Yaoyorozu just invited them over so that she could try and get them to feel better. 

“Miss Yaoyorozu,” a butler walked into the room. “There are visitors for you and your guests.” 

She smiled, standing up straight. “Please, let them in.” 

Izuku zoned out a little as he tried to focus back on the worksheet. He tried to get his brain to focus on the numbers, tried to get his brain to crunch and calculate, but it was moving at the pace of a snail. It took an embarrassingly long amount of time to get to the answer: if everything was normal he would’ve been able to do it faster-

“Izu-niichan!” 

His head snapped up, as he looked over to see his sister and Uncle Maseru walking in. He went from surprised to confused when he saw that Eri was holding a collared raccoon in her arms. 

“Hello Sunshine,” he said, ignoring his friends sputtering in surprise behind him. “What do you have there?” 

She beamed, running up to him. “I found a tanuki! Uncle Maseru and the vet called her a raccoon, but that’s very rude, because she’s clearly a tanuki.” 

When she was smiling that wide, Izuku didn’t have the heart to correct her. He saw Iida about to do so and glared at him, reaching out to scratch the raccoon under the chin. “What’s her name, Eri-bunny?” 

“Missy!” Eri giggled, plopping down on Izuku’s lap. “She has a quirk! They wouldn’t let me keep her at first, but I called Auntie Mitsuki and she let me keep her.” 

“What’s her name, again?” Uraraka asked, leaning over. “I didn’t hear it.” (Izuku pretended that she wasn’t asking because Kacchan was adjusting his hearing aids and didn’t hear it.)

“Missy!” 

Kacchan nodded. “Of course. Short for missile launcher.” 

“Kacchan, no!” 

Izuku laid on the couch, a documentary on animals playing while Eri doodled in a notebook. It was a normal evening, only this time Missy was laying on his stomach.

She had a soothing quirk, where anyone who pet her fur would be soothed and calmed. He didn’t know why she had attached herself to Eri or Izuku specifically, but he would not look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Missy was very calm and let Izuku’s friends pet her, but snarled at every adult. In fact, Uncle Maseru laughed (albeit nervously) as he described how the vet was covered in bandages when they finally came back from the check up. 

Izuku couldn’t say why Missy had come to them, but as he relaxed when he pet her fur, he could say that he was glad Missy came into their lives.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi was terrified. 

Here he was, standing in an observation room over Ground Beta, surrounded by his new classmates. He’s had a total of three training exercises that weren’t being taught by Dumbass McGee. He’s been in his new costume a total of three times, and the first time was just putting it on to make sure everything fit. 

So when his teacher said something about “assessing their progress” he started to sweat.

“This is an assessment to see how far you have come since the beginning of the year, and how far you still have left to go!” All Might exclaimed. 

“Use this as a test to see if you’re ready for the final exams,” Aizawa-sensei said, cocooned in his sleeping bag and leaning against the podium that All Might was standing behind.

“We will be redoing the pre-test you all did at the beginning of the year! Like last time, teams will be randomly pulled through lots, and like last time, someone will need to volunteer to go twice-” “DIBS!” “Which will be Young Bakugou!” 

Hitoshi was nervous as he pulled his lot, seeing that he was being paired up with Ojirou, and watched as his doom was spelled.

Team G (Uraraka Ochako and Bakugou Katsuki) vs Team J (Ashido Mina and Kouda Kouji)

Team F (Shinsou Hitoshi and Ojirou Mashirao) vs Team A (Tokoyami Fumikage and Todoroki Shouto)

Team I (Hagakure Tooru and Yaoyorozu Momo) vs Team C (Kirishima Eijirou and Satou Rikidou)

Team H (Asui Tsuyu vs Iida Tenya) vs Team B (Jirou Kyouka and Sero Hanta)

Team D (Kaminari Denki and Shouji Mezou) vs Team E (Aoyama Yuuga and Bakugou Katsuki)

“Hey.” He looked up at Ojirou. “Shinsou, right?” 

He nodded, looking back up at the match list. “We have the first match to come up with a plan.” 

“Alright. So here’s what I know…” 

“Alright what the actual hell?” 

His teammate wasn’t much better, his jaw dropped on the floor as they stared up at the building. Or what used to be a building, because it was more of a glacier now.

Hitoshi was having war flashbacks to the Sports Festival. “Is it too late to forfeit?” 

“We’ve got to try.” Ojirou said. “We have to prove that we can overcome a seemingly impossible challenge.” 

“I get that, but I also don’t want to break my ribs in a training exercise.” 

“It’s fine, this doesn’t change the plan,” Ojirou said. 

“Yes it does! I’m not going in there!” Hitoshi sighed, putting his head in his hands and mentally rearranged the plan. “If we capture the villains, we still get the win, right?”

“Yes? Where are you going with this?” 

“Todoroki didn’t freeze the fire escape, just the entrance in through the fire escape,” he pointed out. “My quirk doesn’t require me to be in the building. If you bring them roughly around there, I can snare them and you can capture them.” 

“Do you think they’ll figure it out from you very obviously pointing out where we’re going to lure them to?”

“That isn’t one way ice. If we can’t see them, they can’t see us.” 

The buzzer went off, startling them both. They very silently nodded, awkwardly stood there, and darted in different directions. 

Ojirou darted into the door while Hitoshi slowly crept up the fire escape. He adjusted the Artificial Vocal Cords, taking a gamble and setting the vocal cords to Tokoyami’s voice. Maybe. His best guess at it, anyways. 

So he waited. And waited. And waited. They had comm pieces, so he could tell that Ojirou was fighting Todoroki, but he knew that they weren’t anywhere close to him. 

Shaking his self preservation instincts, he reluctantly entered the building, sneaking his way through the winding hallways towards where he could hear Ojirou and Todoroki fighting. Crouching around the corner, he made sure the Artificial Vocal Cords were still set to where he wanted.

“Todoroki? Are you there?”

He could only imagine the look of pure confusion on the hero student’s face. “What are you-”

Hitoshi grinned under the mask as he used his quirk. He stepped around the corner to watch his teammate bind Todoroki’s wrist, and only then did he release his quirk. 

“I thought you were waiting outside?” Ojirou asked, as All Might’s voice boomed over the intercom. 

“I was sitting there for two minutes and we’re on a time limit.” Hitoshi walked over to them, where Todoroki had decided to just wait. “Where is your teammate?” 

The boy just stared blankly at him. “Can you use your quirk on him?” Ojirou asked. 

“Not how it works.” 

“Sorry, I thought it was worth a shot.” 

Hitoshi shrugged, turning on his heel and walking besides Ojirou as they went through the hallways. “Tokoyami’s quirk gets stronger in the darkness,” Ojirou said, “So presumably he’ll be in a room with no windows.” 

“That knocks out the top two floors, they all have windows. So we’re looking at the first three floors.”

“Floor three,” Ojirou said. “I can’t hear anything, and Dark Shadow can get pretty loud.” 

They both sprinted up the stairs, skipping steps as they went (and Hitoshi didn’t almost slip and fall on his face, that didn’t happen), which meant that Hitoshi was slightly winded by the end. But on the bright side, both of them could pretty clearly hear Dark Shadow roaring. Hitoshi adjusted his vocal cords to match Todoroki’s voice as close as he could get while he followed Ojirou. 

Crouching outside the doorway to the room with the bomb, Hitoshi spoke. “Are you alright, Tokoyami?”

Surprisingly, he got a response from Dark Shadow, and kind of a response from Tokoyami. “We’re good!” “Dark Shadow, no-!” 

Carpe-ing that diem, Hitoshi reached out with his quirk. Ojirou took the opportunity to sprint to the bomb and touch it. 

“THE HERO TEAM WINS!!!”

With a sigh, he released the quirk. Now that the adrenaline rush was starting to fade, he realized he was shivering. 

“Can someone please tell the Ice Prince that not everything needs to be an Elsa castle?” Hitoshi snarked, then realized that he’s been spending way too much time around Midoriya because he’s the only one who would get that reference.

“How are you cold? You’re wearing about the same thing I am,” Ojirou said, completely ignoring the fact that his costume was fucking fur lined.

“My costume is optimized for stealth, not freezing buildings.” 

As the three of them were slowly walking out of the room, Tokoyami, who he was just fighting against (yes fighting is a bit of a stretch but he was being dramatic, sue him), pulled off his cloak, revealing that he was wearing short sleeves underneath it. He tossed it to Hitoshi, who gratefully wrapped it around his shoulders. 

“Thanks, but what about-? Oh, yeah I guess that works.” Dark Shadow had immediately wrapped around Tokoyami’s arms and shoulders like a weirdly shaped jacket. 

“We should probably pick up Todoroki,” Ojirou said. “I think he’s still standing where we left him.” 

“How is he not cold either?” 

“He can use the fire side of his quirk to keep himself warm without actually creating a flame.” 

Hitoshi grumbled, pulling the cloak tighter around him. “Lucky bastard.” 

Katsuki can handle a lot of shit in life. 

People think he can’t, because he starts yelling whenever something goes wrong, but they’re wrong. Yelling is how he handles that shit, because if nothing else at least he can shout about it and it will make him feel marginally better. 

The point is, he can handle a lot, but being backstabbed by his teammate was the last fucking straw. 

They were against Dunce Face and the Octopus extra as the villain team (Katsuki learned from last time and made sure the room was completely dry). There wasn’t any use in hiding the bomb because the Octopus extra would know where they were, so they decided to be on the roof and just focus on defending the bomb instead of taking the risk that one of them would slip by. Ideally it was a stalling match, which he and Twinkletoes could easily win. 

When Twinkletoes said that he was going to scout out the top floor, Katsuki believed him. Instead, the traitor went to the heroes and let himself be captured, ratting out where the bomb was. Which the other team probably knew where it was, neither of them were exactly quiet, but it was the principle of the matter that pissed him off. 

Twinkletoes spouted some bullshit to the teachers about how realistically, if he was on the side of villains he would do the heroic thing and turn himself in, but he could tell that Hobo-sensei didn’t buy a single word of that. 

So here he was, trailing Twinkletoes on the campus after school’s just been let out. Despite what people think, he can be sneaky sometimes. 

He paused, standing next to the fountain and scanning the area around him before pulling up his phone. Unfortunately, the noise of the fountain means Katsuki can’t hear the call, but the fact is that Twinkletoes purposely sabotaged his performance and is calling someone on school grounds-

“Kacchan! There you are!” He was pulled into a tackle hug from behind by his green idiot. “We were looking for you, and the Bakusquad said they didn’t know where you went!” 

“That’s what the idiots are calling themselves now?” Katsuki said, but it fell a little flat as he and Twinkletoes made eye contact. He glared at Twinkletoes while he hurriedly put his phone away, and only when the bastard was out of sight did he let himself be dragged off by Zuku. 

I’m onto you, Traitortoes.

Chapter Text

Touya stood in front of his board, continuing to pin pieces of paper up onto it. Manami had her laptop open, helping him put stuff on the corkboard, while Himiko egged them both on. Danjuro himself was making tea in the kitchenette, ignoring what was going on behind him for a few blissful moments. 

But the little bubble of peace he had managed to cultivate had to burst eventually, and he grabbed the cups of tea he made (as well as a donut box that Touya probably stole), bringing it over to the others. 

“And who would be at a high enough position to make sweeping changes in the favor of the League of Villains?” Touya asked dramatically, pointing to a small photo on the board. “The Vice President of the Hero Public Safety Commission!” 

“What’s the crazy conspiracy now?” Danjuro asked, sitting down on his stool. 

“Uhh,” Himiko squinted at the board. “The Ministry of Education works for the MLA and the Vice President of the HPSC works for the League of Villains. I think.” 

“It’s not crazy!” He started desperately pointing at strings connecting the portraits and newspaper clippings. “Follow the money!” 

“Right,” Danjuro deadpanned, taking a sip of his tea. “And how is this helping Midoriya at all?” 

While the meeting did give Touya an excuse to pull out his conspiracy board again, the real purpose was to figure out a way to help Midoriya. They had all noticed that their fox was withdrawing from them, and it was about time for an intervention. Or as close to an intervention as possible when it was being arranged by four vigilantes. 

“I’m just saying that the quickest way to remove the villain ranking is to kill the vice president.” 

He sighed, setting his mug down. “We’ll keep that as a last resort. Any other suggestions? Preferably without murder.” 

Himiko had excitedly raised her hand, but slowly lowered it when he rejected murder ideas. 

“Well, the two groups that Foxy was always keeping an eye on were the League of Villains and the Shie Hassakai,” Aiba pointed out. “Maybe if we take out one of those groups, he can relax a little.” 

“It’s like he’s running from both of them,” Touya muttered. 

Danjuro cut him off before he could go into another conspiracy theory spiel. “We’re all running from something, Touya.” 

There was a moment of silence, before Himiko spoke up. “Stop making me think about depressing shit. Back to the plan!” 

“So we’re either dealing with a villain group with massive pull and influence, or a yakuza group,” Aiba said. “Our odds are fantastic.” 

“Well, the yakuza have been waning,” Touya pointed out. “Our odds are better tackling the Shie Hassakai.”

“Still not great,” Aiba muttered under her breath, furiously typing on her laptop. “They’ve been dipping into Trigger dealing as a way to fund their experiments into quirk canceling drugs. Plus apparently the boss, Overhaul, has been slowly turning the group into a cult, so there’s that.” 

“Trigger happy yakuza cultists was not on my bingo card,” Himiko said, taking a massive bite of her donut. 

“If Overhaul has been turning the group into a cult though, there’s bound to be a divide between those loyal to Overhaul and the Shie Hassakai as a whole,” Danjuro pointed out. “We can use that to our advantage.” 

Everyone looked over at Touya. “I’d like to put killing the Vice President back on the table.” 

“Come on Touya!” “You can do it!” “Touya.” 

“I’m just saying that I’m only a broker,” he put his hands up. “I can’t pull off a stunt like making the Shie Hassakai implode.” 

“No that’s fair,” Danjuro said. “If we’re going to bring down the Shie Hassakai, we need to do so together. We can’t try and do this alone: that’s the exact mistake that Midoriya made.” 

There was a long moment of silence, as everyone processed what he just said.

Touya reached up and kicked his conspiracy theory corkboard. It spun wildly, landing on the empty side. “Aiba, gimme the deets.” 

… “The what?” 

Touya slapped a sticky note onto the board labeled ‘Yakuza Cultists.’ “If we’re gonna go in on destroying the yakuza cult we need a new board.”

“This is kind of sad.”

They were all staring at the board with the addition of five scraps of paper. And one of those scraps just said “Kitsune???”

“No, Touya’s onto something,” Aiba said. “We just don’t have enough information yet.” 

“So we have to get more information.” Danjuro said. “Do we have locations that we can scout out?”

“Ooh, I do!” Himiko raised her hand. “There’s a warehouse on the docks where they distribute Trigger from.”

“Huh?” “Which warehouse?” “How do you know this?” 

“A couple warehouses over from where the guys set a bunch of sternipro on fire. A guy I killed a couple days ago told me before I killed him.” 

“I’m glad you clarified otherwise I would’ve thought you were a necromancer,” Touya snarked, slapping another piece of paper on the board. “Do you think the sternipro guy was related to the Shie Hassakai-”

“I”m gonna cut you off there,” Aiba said. “We can’t just bust in there, that’ll attract too much attention-” 

“HEIST PLAN!” Himiko shouted, pulling out a binder from who knows where and slamming it down. She was practically vibrating with excitement. 

Danjuro sighed. “I knew that letting you introduce her to Leverage was a bad idea.” 

“The fuck is Leverage?” Touya asked. “Is it-”

“It’s not related to the Shie Hassakai.” 

Aiba looked over Himiko’s shoulder. “How many heist plans have you come up with?” 

“This is only binder number five.” 

“Number five? We just started watching a week ago!” 

“Your plan to break into Endeavor’s agency has some flaws.” 

“Can we please get back on track?!” 

Himiko opened up to a section with a little bookmark labeled ‘Recon.’ “I’ve got different plans depending on what we got. Obviously we don’t have Foxy, but do we have a drone?” 

Aiba looked over at her. “Excuse me? Do I have a drone? Who do you think I am? Of course I do!” 

“Great! Here’s the plan then…” 

“Touya you can’t avoid our movie nights forever.” 

“Look, some of us have things to do- Put the gun down! I’ll come, I'll come!”

“Great, make sure you bring snacks! We’re watching Ocean’s Eleven!” 

“Nerds.” “Conspiracy nut.” 

Chapter Text

Eri sat at the table, munching on a carrot as she sat with Shouchan. She was with Izu-niichan at Yaomomo’s house again, they were all studying for some sort of test, so she was working on her schoolwork too.

They were all taking a break, since they’d been studying for a while. Eri had finished her math worksheet, so she was just doodling on the back. She’d finished drawing Izu-niichan, Yaomomo, Urachan and Kacchan, and now she was looking at Shouchan to draw him.

“Midoriya-chan, are you alright?”

“Hmm?” Eri blinked. “Oh, I’m alright. I’m trying to draw you.” 

Shouchan leaned over to observe her artwork while she held her pencil up to his face like she’d seen Izu-niichan do.

“You’re pretty good,” Shouchan said, his hand hovering awkwardly above her head. She leaned up to press the top of her head to his hand like she’d seen Missy do.

Shouchan gave her a few pats on the head, and she smiled as it felt like a nice warm hat was being set on her head. 

Making an executive decision, she crawled onto Shouchan’s lap, sitting on his warm side. “You’re comfy.” 

“Thank you?” 

Eri looked up. “Can I borrow your hand?”

“Sure?” 

She pulled his arm over her shoulder, gently pressing his palm to the inside of her arms. She sighed, as the pain from her scars slowly ebbed away. Remembering her manners, she said, “Thank you Shouchan.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

They sat there for a few moments, with Eri just enjoying the warmth. Shouchan broke the silence to ask, “Are you okay?”

“Mmhmm. The heat is nice. No more hurty.” 

“Why were you hurty?”

“Scars.” 

“Scars?”

She held out her arm, rolling the sleeve down a little bit to show the scars off. “They’re from before I lived with Izu-niichan. Please don’t ask.” 

“I won’t, promise.”

She reached up, booping Shouchan on the nose. “Can I stay here?” 

“Yeah, you can.” 

Izuku came back from the bathroom, a small smile on his face when he saw that Eri was sleeping in Shouto’s lap. She was snoozing on the side of Shouto that gave off heat, and Shouto was holding her like she was the most precious person in the world. 

Thank you, He mouthed to the other boy. 

Of course. Shouto responded back.

Project confidence. Act like you’re supposed to be there. Know the lingo. 

Dabi- because he’s Dabi while he’s working, healthy work/life balance and all- cracked his neck, turning the tracker on and slipping it into his pocket. The tracker is so that La Brava is aware of where he is, so that she can send Gentle if he gets into some deep shit. 

He knows that they’re using one of Himi-chan’s heist plans, but all he remembers is that he’s on distraction duty. And if he can fish for info, that will also help. 

“Hello~?” Dabi called out, spinning around in the warehouse. “Anyone home?” 

He stood in place as he felt a knife to his throat. A man with dark green hair covered by a stupid fedora stalked his way in front of his line of sight, with a couple of goons following behind. The knife at Dabi’s neck was clearly the man’s quirk, since he was telepathically floating another one in his hands. 

“And who the fuck are you?” 

“Name’s Dabi.” He kept his hands in his pockets, trying to look as nonplussed as possible. “Word is that certain drugs are being sold here.” 

Fedora man squinted his eyes. “You aren’t one of them shapeshifting narcs, are you?” 

Of course they recognize his name, but he hadn’t heard anything about cops with shapeshifting quirks. He made a mental note to look into that and said, “Come on. No pig can get my handsome mug this accurate. They would’ve fucked up the staple placement!” 

Fedora man gestured with his hand, and Dabi let out a sigh of relief as the knife floated away from his jugular. “Do you treat all your prospective business partners like this or am I special?” 

“We treat all intruders like threats.” The man rolled his eyes, flicking his wrist and making all the knives disappear. 

“Not that this floor is bad, but do you have an office we can discuss in? My back bitches at me if I stand for too long.” 

The man’s eye twitched. Dabi was clearly on his nerves. “Back to your posts,” he addressed the goons, waving his hand as he started walking off. 

Dabi jogged to catch up. “So what’s your name? I can’t just keep calling you Fedora Man in my head.” 

Fedora Man glared at him. “Doku.” 

“Ooh, what kind of venom is on those knives?” 

“Shut up.” 

“Yeah, that’s fair.” 

“The security guards are moving back to their posts, are you in?” 

“Yeah, I’m in the vents.” Himi-Chan’s voice crackled through the earbud. Despite how she was whispering, it came in clear as day to La Brava. 

She and Gentle Criminal are standing on the rooftop of a warehouse, a couple buildings over from the one they were breaking into. Well, Gentle was standing and keeping watch, while La Brava herself was sitting down with two laptops. One had the camera feed of the drone following Dabi and/or Himi-Chan from the rafters of the warehouse, while the other had the map with both of the trackers on it. 

“Alright, you’re making your way to the office wing at the back of the building,” La Brava said, moving the drone to keep a tab on the locations of the guards. “Focus on going right.” 

“Your right or mine?” 

“It’s the same right! Oh, and don’t drop down into any room, I’ve got to make sure you don’t drop into the same office that Dabi’s in.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” 

“Also, can you make sure you throw in some fun quips? I need to make sure we have footage to work with for the video-”

“You’re turning this into a video?” 

“Duh? How do you think this all gets funded?” 

“The heists?” 

“No! It’s the YouTube ad money! Or it’s more like the merch company, most of our videos get demonetized.” 

“Ooh, can I have merch of myself?”

“Sure, we can get you a mug or a sweater or something.”

Dabi’s tracking spot stopped in one of the offices, and La Brava used the drone to scout out the filing room. “Alright, now turn to the left, take the next right turn, nope your other right, alright three vent covers in, yes that one. That’s your room.” 

She heard a soft thump as Himi-Chan landed. “Oh, they label their drawers, that’s helpful.” 

“Stop making fun of my organization system and start searching.” 

“Aye aye, captain.” Himi-Chan started rifling through the cabinets. La Brava used the drone to look over her shoulder (because while she has the GoPro strapped to Himi-Chan’s forehead, she likes having multiple angles to work with) and saw that she was currently looking through the drawers labeled “Shipping Logs.”

“These should work.” She held up four stuffed manilla envelopes for the drone to see, then placed them on top of the drone while she pulled out four identical manilla envelopes from her bag. She slipped the dupe envelopes, filled with blank printer paper, right where they pulled out the intel, and shut the drawer again.

When she reached out to grab the folders from off the drone, La Brava snickered to herself as she moved the drone just out of Himi-Chan’s reach. She made a great face (that was definitely gonna go on the thumbnail) as she managed to jump and grab the folders, sticking them in her bag. 

“Alright, you remember the way out?” 

“Absolutely not, I’ll just wing it- Do you mind if I use the drone as a jump point-”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT- HIMIKO!!!!” 

And that’s how Himiko was sitting in the corner of the room, wearing a sweater that said “Time Out” and a dunce cap. Touya still hasn’t stopped laughing.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Shouto.” 

Izuku jogged towards the other boy, catching up to where he was walking towards the gates of U.A.

“Hello, Izuku.” He waited for Izuku to catch up. “How are you?” 

“I’m doing fine!” He was, really! Despite his mental health going down the toilet, the ghosts of his past, and the villain status on his head, his grades were still good and he got a new dog! Everything balanced out. 

If he keeps telling himself he’s fine, eventually he’ll be fine. That’s how that works. 

“Are you okay, Shouto?” He asked, deflecting from himself. 

The other boy nodded. “Father’s been obsessed with catching the vigilante, so he isn’t home often. Which is nice. Fuyumi is stressed though.” 

Izuku nodded, holding his hand out. “Gimme your phone.” 

“Why?” Shouto asked, as he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over. 

He opened up the contacts, adding himself and putting his phone number in. “If you need any help, let me know,” he said, handing the phone back to him. “We don’t have a guest bed or anything, but our couch is pretty comfy.”

Shouto put his phone back in his pocket. “Thanks. You can ask me if you need anything too. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right, friends!” Izuku smiled, and he got a very small smile back. “Actually, if you’ve got time, me and Kacchan were gonna take Eri to the arcade, and we could use a third person to break the DDR machine and finally get the game console at the top of the shelf.” 

“I’ll have to ask Nee-chan first, but I’d love to come. For Eri, of course.” 

For a moment, Izuku felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, and he was a normal teen just going to the arcade with his friends. “Of course!” 

With a groan, Kitsune leaned against the side of the building’s roof access door well. He was just thankful that he wasn’t bleeding. Unfortunately this is the third time he’s broken his ribs in like a month. 

Oh well. As long as his lungs weren’t punctured, he was fine.

He froze up as he heard the door open, about to abandon his plans of taking a break for a few minutes, when a voice called out, “Wait, please!” 

Against his better judgment, he did wait. A woman came around the corner, with a notable cat quirk that seemed familiar. She was wearing a simple sundress and house slippers, and she held a basket in her arms. 

“Kitsune? Is it really you?”

“It is,” he replied, simply observing her. Ever since the death of Stain, it’s rare for civilians to approach him anymore. 

“I never got a chance to say this,” she said, stepping closer. “I don’t know if you remember, but thank you for rescuing my daughter.” 

That’s why she was familiar. “Of course. It is my job, after all.” 

“No, it’s not. You’re not like the heroes who have an obligation. You made the choice to go out and help people.” She bowed, holding out the basket. “Please, accept these.” 

He took the basket, lifting the cover to reveal fresh chocolate chip cookies while she continued to ramble. “It’s not just from me, it’s from the whole neighborhood. No heroes patrolled here before you came, and they don’t care about keeping people safe. But you care.” 

He stood up, carefully pushing himself up off the wall and covering the cookies back up. “Thank you.” 

She smiled. “No, thank you .” 

He dropped down, creeping in the darkness around the streetlight. A little girl was sitting on the curb, curled up and sobbing into her arms. 

He slowly walked into the light, taking care not to startle her. “Hello.” 

She looked up, tears still running down her face. She was shaking, and couldn’t be older than five at most. “Kits-soo-ne?” 

“That’s me,” he said, kneeling down in front of her. The lights of his mask were off, and he made sure that he was below her eye level. “It’s very late. What are you doing out here alone?” 

She sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes. “Are you gonna take me home?” 

“I won’t take you home if it’s not safe for you,” he promised. “But I can’t help you if you can’t tell what’s wrong.” 

She curled up further on herself. “My parents are good! They don’t deserve to take care of me.” 

He held out his hand, palms up, and she latched onto it. He had a feeling about what happened, and was already flipping through his mental catalog of quirks. 

“I heard them talking about how much money a quirk-less kid is. I don’t- I can’t-” She started breaking down, squeezing his fingers as she openly cried. 

He remembered being her age, pulled out of school and taken to a doctor to be told that he was quirkless. How everyone at school turned on him, how he was kidnapped by a supervillain to be turned into a weapon because of his quirklessness. Having reached a decision, he pulled Crow out, pushing it through and watching it settle in her chest. 

“Hey, can you look at me?” She sniffled, looking up and making eye contact behind the mask. “Please don’t worry about your parents. I’m sure they love you very much, and I’m sure they’ll be okay. Besides, there are plenty of late bloomers out there who were told they were quirkless and aren’t. I’m sure that at some point, you’ll manifest a very cool quirk.” 

“Do you really think so?” 

He smiled behind the mask, and he was sure that it got across from the growing smile on hers. “I know so.” 

She wiped her eyes, giving him a wobbly smile. “Thank you, Kits-soo-ne.” 

“Of course,” he said, standing up and holding his hand out. “Now, let’s get you home.” 

Hitoshi shuffled nervously into the office, holding the report for next week tucked to his chest. “You wanted to see me, Aizawa-sensei?” 

“I did,” his teacher said, gesturing to the couch across from him. “Go ahead and take a seat.” 

“I know this probably wasn’t the point of me being here,” he started rambling as he sat down. “But since I was gonna be here, here’s the report on Collateral Damage due next week.” 

“Thank you,” Aizawa took the stack of papers, tucking it into a folder on his desk. “Do you want tea? It’s an unfortunate habit I’ve picked up from the rat.” 

He chuckled nervously, nervously intertwining his fingers. “No thank you.”

“Right.” He watched as his teacher dumped a bunch of ground coffee beans into his tea, swirling it around before drinking the horrible concoction. “As you’re aware, we’re in the process of preparing for final exams. That includes some new permission slips.” 

“Okay… I can get those signed-”

“We know you’ve been forging them.” 

A chill went down his spine. Were they gonna tell his foster parents? Was he gonna be kicked out of the hero course? Would Midoriya get in trouble for helping him-? 

“Relax, Shinsou.” He was pulled out of his downward spiral by a cup of tea being slid in front of him. This time he took it, taking a sip. Green with no coffee beans. “You’re not getting booted from the hero course.” 

He sighed in relief as his teacher continued. “I did want to talk about your foster parents.” 

Oh. His teacher was worried about him. That was a new feeling. “They’re fine.” 

“Kid, you’re going to need to give me more than that.” Aizawa leveled a knowing glare at him. “Chiyo told me that you’re underweight. Not enough to be dangerous but enough to be a red flag.

“We can’t help if we don’t know what’s going on.” 

There was a long pause, where Hitoshi turned the words over in his mind. “There’s not enough food for all of us, so usually I just skip breakfast or have something from my stash.” 

“You said ‘all of us.’”

“There’s uh, six of us. Foster kids. I’m the second oldest, so they generally ignore me. It’s nice.” 

“Nice?” Aizawa raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Yeah. I’m lucky. Most other kids with villainous quirks got beaten by their foster parents. These ones just ignore me.” 

“Kid.” 

“Yeah, yeah, no such thing as a villainous quirk.” 

Aizawa took a sip of his tea monstrosity, seemingly absorbing the information. “And what about your previous foster parents?” 

He shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about them.” 

“That’s fine. Your current foster parents… If they can’t get enough food, why are they fostering six kids?” 

“I don’t know. Probably the money?” He paused, still nervously sipping his drink. “What’s going to happen now?” 

His teacher sighed, so tiredly. “I’ll talk to Nedzu about a home visit. If they’re found to be neglectful, you’ll be taken into UA’s custody as a ward, probably moving into the dorms with the international students. There’ll be some sort of legal battle, but you won’t have to be involved.” 

“And I won’t be booted from the hero course?” 

“No, you won’t be booted from the hero course.” 

Hitoshi relaxed, practically melting into the couch. “Thank you.” 

“It’s my job to make sure you hellions are taken care of.” Aizawa pulled a piece of paper out of a drawer, scribbling something onto it and handing it over. “In the meantime, if you need anything, call or come into the office.” 

He carefully folded it up and tucked it somewhere safe. Before he got up to leave, he paused. “What about Midoriya?” 

“Right, the other problem child.” His teacher took a very long drink, practically chugging the rest of his coffee tea hybrid (and even that was generous). “We’re working on him, don’t worry. If there’s anything you can tell us though…” 

Hitoshi shook his head. “No, he hasn’t been talking to me. But Bakugou might know something.” 

Aizawa rubbed his head like he was willing away a headache. “Right. Go on home. Contact me if you need anything.” 

He stood up, pulling his backpack on. “Thank you, Aizawa-sensei.” 

“Course, kid. Stay safe.” 

For the first time in a while, Hitoshi had a small smile on his face as he went home.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi was sweating bullets.

Principal Nedzu had just finished explaining the rules of the practical exam. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one nervous, pretty much everyone in class was nervous, but for Kami’s sake, he’d only joined a month ago! He was not ready to be fighting his teachers!

“And finally… the pair fighting All Might will be Bakugou Katsuki and Shinsou Hitoshi.” 

Hitoshi looked over at Bakugou, who was scowling at everyone. He looked over at All Might, giving a signature smile. He looked over at Aizawa-sensei, hoping his teacher would save him, but all he got was a tired glare. 

He didn’t know whether it was the lack of caffeine or the sheer stress that caused him to faint. 

The Mind Fuck extra was hyperventilating.

They had the five minutes it takes for the bus to get to Ground Beta to plan, and Katsuki had spent three of those minutes waiting for his classmate to wake back up. He didn't blame the guy for panicking, but they were 100% guaranteed to pass. Katsuki is the best in 1-A and Mind Fuck used to be the second best in 1-C.

All Might didn't stand a chance.

"Are you done?"

Mind Fuck gave him a look that seemed to be a mix of awe and terror. "How the fuck are you so calm?!"

"Cause we're gonna win." Katsuki scoffed at Mind Fuck's disbelieving look. "You're the second best of 1-C, paired with the best of 1-A. We're gonna kick All Might's ass."

"Alright, do you have a plan then?" Mind Fuck raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I do.” 

Eyeing everyone else in the bus, Katsuki leaned over and whispered in Mind Fuck’s ear. The other boy paled considerably. 

“We’re so fucked.” 

Mind Fuck darted off to another portion of the city arena. It was important for the plan that he was hidden out of view.  

Katsuki wasn’t stupid. Neither of them could hold their own in a fight against All Might, even if he’s weakened. However, running was out of the picture, as All Might could easily catch up to them, and running is cowardly. So they’ll have to cuff All Might through trickery, which they could easily achieve.

Instead of running off, Katuski marched right to the center of the arena. In order to guarantee that All Might was in their trap, someone had to be the bait, and only the best can go toe to toe with All Might. He wasn’t going to gas himself up and say that he could beat All Might, but he can go toe to toe with All Might long enough for them to get the win.

“Where are you, All Might?! I’m not gonna fucking run!” Katsuki shouted, marching right into the center of the city. 

He felt the goosebumps on his skin before hearing the tearing of metal and concrete. He only had a moment to dodge before a wave of air tore through the city center where he was just standing. Peeking out around the corner, he saw All Might standing in the distance. 

He knew how a lot of his classmates and teachers saw him. A brash kid who doesn’t think before he punches, who is only focused on winning. While normally he’d hate this perception of him as a reckless idiot, if he’s going to beat All Might, he’ll have to run with everything he’s got. 

If they don’t think he’s got a brain, they’ll never see it coming when he does.

He waited patiently to strike, while All Might stepped further and further into the center of the square. “Where are you, Young Bakugou?! You made quite the statement earlier!”

Finally, Katsuki leapt into action. Sprinting from the alley, he pooled the sweat in his palms, releasing a blinding flash right in All Might’s giant grinning face. 

“I’M RIGHT HERE!!!”

He realized that this might backfire a moment too late, as he felt a large hand grab around his face. On instinct, he raised his hands and gripped All Might’s wrist, letting out explosions.

“That won’t be enough, Young Bakugou.”

He was flung backwards, landing on his back and rolling backwards. He dodged the incoming kick, scrambling to his feet and using his quirk to dodge All Might’s punches. 

“You can’t dodge forever!” 

The weights were definitely slowing All Might down. Katsuki knew that he could move faster than the human eye can process, but the fact that he can dodge effectively means that the weights were significantly limiting All Might’s power.

“I can see that you’re weaker. I WILL BEAT YOU, HERE AND NOW!!”

He can’t keep dodging forever. He lunged forwards to release a blast to All Might’s weak point, but he was swatted away like a fly. The fact that he was swatted away so easily hurt much more than the landing (and maybe his ribs were broken but that’s not important). 

He stopped thinking, kept his ear out, and put his head solely into the fight.

Why did he have to get partnered with Bakugou? The second craziest friend he has? Were they even friends at this point, or just friends-in-law through Midoriya? Why was he thinking about this when his grades and therefore his future is on the line?!

He flinched at the explosions and sounds of punching coming from outside. Thankfully, he can always hear Bakugou shouting, so it was relatively easy to try and adjust the mask to match his voice. 

Relatively easy. As he was using a piece of support equipment he’d only used a few times before, and he had to match the pitch of someone constantly shouting, while trying to focus, while also trying to gauge the sounds of fighting outside so he isn’t the target of collateral damage.

If he didn’t have a migraine before, he certainly had one now. 

He winced as he thought he heard the sound of his classmate vomiting, trying to move the pieces correctly. He knew that Hatsume had given him detailed instructions on how everything worked, but they were slipping from his memory as he panicked.

He knew this plan was stupid from the get go, but it was the only one they had so Hitoshi had to make it work. 

Finally, the pieces clicked into place. Setting it back on his face, he started shouting some random bullshit. 

“I AM THE GREATEST!!! I WILL SURPASS EVERYONE, EVEN ENDEAVOR, EVEN YOU, AND BECOME THE NUMBER ONE HERO IN THE WORLD!!!”

He didn’t know how, or what All Might even said in response, but he felt the tug on his quirk. Holding his breath, he pulled, closing his eyes and keeping a tight hold.

Why does he hear voices in his head?

Who are they?

Why do they keep talking about the numbers eight and nine?

What the wisps on the back of his eyelids?

Who is the interloper?

Why is he in here?

Why is he in the Eight’s head?

Who is he?

Why-?

He was broken out of the trance by the buzzer, violently ripping the hold of his quirk out of his grasp. It was wet under his nose, and he raised his hand up to see blood coating his fingers. 

What the fuck was that?!

Katsuki was going on sheer spite. 

His ribs were definitely broken by this point. His throat was sore, due to the fact that he’s been screaming random bullshit this whole time. His entire body was screaming at him to stop, but he couldn’t, not when this entire plan hinged on him distracting All Might. 

He heard someone else shouting as him, and let a giant grin spread on his face. He had All Might’s full attention as he lip synced along to Shinsou.

All Might let out a booming laugh, then fell silent and still. Moving slowly and carefully, Katsuki unclipped the cuffs from his utility belt and clipped them around the hero’s wrist. 

When he heard the buzzer, he sighed in relief, released his grip on reality, and passed the fuck out.

Chapter Text

The first thing that Katsuki noted when he woke up was the sensation of bone deep tiredness. The second thing that he noted were chubby child fingers poking him in the face. 

“Kacchan’s gonna bite your fingers, Eri.”

He groaned, resisting the urge to smack the fingers away. “Wh- The hell?”

Cracking an eye open, he hissed at the bright lights. He confirmed the fact that he’s in the infirmary, and the small child was hovering over him. Thankfully, she had stopped poking him in the face, but now Katsuki had a different, taller problem.

He made eye contact with Eri. He made eye contact with Izuku. He turned away, putting his backs to them. “I’m asleep.” 

“But Kacchan!! You can’t be asleep if you’re talking!” 

“But Izu-niichan, you talk in your sleep all the time.”

Katsuki couldn’t keep the snort in. Despite how fucking tired he is, he pushed himself to sit up. Eri scooched her way off the bed, tottling over to hold Izuku’s hand. Now that Eri has moved into a safe range, Katsuki has the freedom to shove the nerd out of his personal space. 

“Back the f- back up, dumb butt.” 

Next thing he knew, Katsuki felt his knuckles being whacked by a cane. “No roughhousing in my infirmary,” Recovery Girl chided, before handing him a pack of gummies. Katsuki immediately popped one in his mouth, wrinkling his nose at the taste.

Izuku, the clever bastard, picked up Eri and put her on his back, keeping Katsuki from shoving him any further out of his personal space. “The others are already at Mei’s place. Eri wanted to wait for you to wake up before we went.”

It took Katsuki’s tired brain a bit to catch up. Crazy was hosting a party at her place to celebrate the hero students passing their finals. “What about Mind Fuck?”

“Hito woke up an hour ago, he was texting me a few minutes ago about Mei’s cats. You needed more sleep for obvious reasons.”

Eri giggled. “Reco-very Girl scolded All Might.”

“And I missed it?!”

Izuku grinned. “Don’t worry, I recorded it.”

“Fuck yeah.” 

“Kacchan!!!”

Bakugou Mitsuki was not a woman who trusts easily. 

She was keenly aware that the system had failed little Izuku and the Midoriya family. And while she didn’t know the background on little Eri, based on the scars the little girl has, she can assume it wasn’t good. She had to intervene when she heard that the school was putting quirkist nonsense in her kid’s head, and she ensured that the Aldera School District was (metaphorically) razed to the ground.

Mitsuki was very happy to hear that her boys (because despite how long it’s been since she’d seen Izuku, he will always be one of her boys) was making friends and generally happy at U.A. She remembered calling the principal after the attack on U.A, and being pleasantly surprised and reassured after their conversation. She is generally okay with the kids going to U.A, and even with them taking the train with their friends to U.A. 

But she is not going to let her boys and little Eri go to the Hatsume’s place without her and Maseru.

Now she is regretting that decision.

Not because the Hatsumes were quirkist or anything terrible. Hatsume Hanabi was very sweet, if a little lax about safety when it comes to machinery, and extremely wealthy. Her husband, Hatsume Akio, was a retired firefighter who was responsible for installing the robust fire prevention system and carbon monoxide detectors in every room of the house. 

And when Mitsuki said wealthy, she meant wealthy. Mitsuki was a fashion designer, owning her own brand and regularly collaborating with heroes, and she was upper middle class. They lived in a relatively average house with a nice backyard and a nest egg for when Katsuki graduates and becomes an adult. The Hatsumes were in another tax bracket: they had a giant modern mansion with the most up to date smart appliances, an indoor pool and dedicated jacuzzi, a staff of butlers and cooks, and an honest to god hedge maze.

No, what is making Mitsuki regret the decision to tag along with her son was the roller coaster in the backyard. She’s watched two panels fall off of it, and she’s pretty sure she’s developed four gray hairs just from the stress of watching the tracks rattle. 

Maseru was smarter than she is, having gone inside to continue chatting with Hatsume Aiko. Her husband is also prone to heart conditions, and Mitsuki feels like she is going to develop a heart condition just watching her kids climb into the kart to go again.

The only comfort she had was that little Eri was in her lap, sipping on some lemonade. If the girl had gone on the coaster, Mitsuki would have had a heart attack.

While she tried to calm herself down with the macarons that the Hatsumes were serving, one of Katsuki’s friends approached her. Based on what she’s caught of her son's rants and the hurried introductions, she was Round Cheeks, or Ochachan, or Uraraka. Despite being at a party celebrating every student passing their final, she looked worried, continuing to chew her lips.

“Bakugou-san?”

“Oh, you don’t have to be so formal with me,” Mitsuki responded. Eri waved from where she was sitting in her lap. “What’s wrong, hon?”

“You’re Midoriya’s aunt, right?”

Mitsuki sat up in her chair. “Yes, I am.”

“We’re all really worried about him,” the girl was playing with her fingers as she spoke. “He’s not eating as much, and he isn’t getting enough sleep, and Shouto said he was vaping, and Shinsou said he’s coughing up blood-”

Seeing that Uraraka was working herself into a panic, Eri slipped out of Mitsuki’s lap, setting her lemonade down and walked over to hug her. Uraraka stopped talking, untangling her fingers and patting the little girl on the head instead. 

Mitsuki stood up, walking over to Uraraka and placing a hand on her shoulder. She is Bakugou fucking Mitsuki, and she'll be damned if she lets her boys be hurt. “Hon, we’ll take care of Izuku, I promise. But you have to tell me everything you and your friends know.”

Uraraka took a deep breath, and Mitsuki could see a steely determination in her eyes. “Alright.”