Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This takes place after the Overhaul Arc. Everything until then is the same. I will be showing both the cannon story and AU’s. I might make this into a series where they react to other fanfics if you guys like this and would want to read that. Feel free to comment AU ideas that you would want them to react to and I will do my best to add them! While this takes place in the canon universe there will still be some of my personal headcanons and ships that may be different than cannon, but nothing major.

There will also be some characters that are dead or died by this point canonically, but will also be here alive. Any that will be joining later in the story has an ‘*’ next to their name. Here is the list of characters that will be joining us:

Class 1A

Hitoshi Shinsou

Mei Hatsume

Eraserhead/Shota Aizawa

All Might/Toshinori Yagi

Sir Nighteye/Mirai Sasaki

Present Mic/Hizashi Yamada

Midnight/Nemuri Kayama

Recovery Girl/Chiyo Shuuzenji

Gran Torino/Sorahiko Torino

Nana Shimura

Nezu

*Eri

*Kota Izumi

*Inko Midoriya

*Mitsuki Bakugo

*UA Big Three

*Todoroki Family

*Hawks/Keigo Takami

*Mirko/Rumi Usagiyama

*All For One/Hisashi Midoriya (Yes, he’s Izuku’s dad in this.)

*Tomura Shigaraki/Tenko Shimura

*Dabi/Touya Todoroki

*Himiko Toga

*Stain/Chizome Akaguro

*Neito Monoma

*Itsuka Kendo

*Vlad King/Sekijiro Kan

Chapter Text

“Okay, sit down and shut up. Today we’re working with the only 1C Gen-Ed student to make it to the third round in the sports festival this year. Shinso Hitoshi. We also have Hatsume Mei from the support crouse because some of your costumes need some serious work, and I lost a bet to Power Loader .” Both students enter the room.

“Toshi! MeiMei!” Mei practically bounces over Izuku, while Shinso scans the room while walking over and taking the EMPTY (A/N Mineta moved to Gen-Ed or expelled from UA. Whichever you want.) seat behind Midoriya. The class just stares as the two new additions chat with Izuku as if they've been here the whole year.

Suddenly they start to fall…

“Where the fuck are we?” Bakugo yells, palms sparking.

“Kids, get behind me!” Aizawa tried to quickly make sure all of his- THE kids were with him.

“Let me at that warp bastard!” He yells out to Aizawa, terrified of being caught unaware again.

“Kacchan, that wasn’t Kurogiri’s quirk…”

“Whoa, where are we?” Denki asks, holding his head. The feeling of falling is eerily similar to the feeling of the warp gates at the USJ. The only thing keeping him calm is knowing that everyone is here with him. 

“Get behind me, now! We might not be the only ones here!” They heard other people crash to the floor. Everyone got into a battle stance, ready for whatever was there. Long-range quirks on the perimeter so they could fight without fear of hitting a friend.

“Eraser?” The voice of the principal was recognized quickly.

“Nezu? What are you doing here?” Aizawa questioned, still on guard. You never know with quirks these days.

“Heyo Sho! Do you know what’s happening?” Present Mic asked, his hair down from his usual updo as he was pulled here from his day off.

“Mic? Who else is here?” Aizawa asked, looking around he saw many of his other coworkers.

“I AM H- *cough* here…” Recovery girl smacked him for trying to push himself. Aizawa let down his guard slightly and looked over at the students behind him, impressed that they were quick in remembering the formation and making sure Shinso and Hatsume were included.

“I did a headcount of the students. All of 1A is here, as well as Hitoshi Shinso from 1C, and Mei Hatsume from 1H. We got pulled from a joint training session.” He informed them, trying to compile as much information as they could.

“That’s good that we’re still all together. It seems the rest are Pro Heroes. We have Midnight, Present Mic, Nighteye, All Might, Recovery Girl, GranTorino, and who are you?” Nezu continued, looking over to a woman with black hair pulled into a half-up style.

“Nana? Is that you?” All Might stepped forward to get a better look at his old mentor.

“You know her Yagi?” Aizawa asked, lowering his scarf slightly, still not sure who this was.

“Yeah, she was my mentor. I thought she died. What happened?” He asked her, unsure what to make of the situation. 

“I’m just as confused as you, ‘Nori.” Only she knew that nickname. They used it to reassure them that the other was real.

“It is you, Nana.” They quickly hugged, before she noticed something, or rather someone they missed.

“I think we missed someone.” Shinso pointed out. Everyone’s eyes landed on the teen, curled up in the corner of the room. They looked as if they were pulled right out of bed and dropped on the floor. Blue plaid pajama pants, most likely a size too big, and a black zip-up sports bra stood out against their pale skin.

“Does anyone know who this is?” Nezu asked. Everyone shook their heads.

“Just let me explode them! That solves our problem!”

“Murder is very unbecoming of a hero in training, Bakugo!” Iida scolds, stepping in front of him.

“Wow. Wonder where you learned that Iida?” Shoto sassed back to him. (Sassy Shoto is my favorite)

“While Iida is right, we also don’t know if they could have information that could help us. They could also just be an innocent civilian who got caught up in this mess or used as a hostage.” Izuku told him. Bakugou turned to yell at him before Aizaw cut him off.

“Problem child is right. We have zero information about them. Just to be safe, though,  we should restrain them until they wake up. Midnight, use a little bit of your quirk on them to make sure they stay asleep.” Everyone took a step back to make sure they weren’t knocked out as well. She let out a small amount of her quirk from her hand right under their nose to keep them asleep and not knock everyone else out as well.

“Miss Yaoyorozu, can you make handcuffs? If not, just some strong rope?” She nodded to Nezu before the glow of her quirk started up.

“Here you go.” Momo hands Midnight the cuffs as well as a sweatshirt to place on the unknown person. She carefully sits them up against the wall sliding on the sweatshirt and securing the cuffs.

“They should be up soon since my quirk is less effective on females and I only used it a little bit. Just to be safe, let’s move all the students to the other side of the room.”

Chapter Text

They woke up in a familiar room. What does she want now? They started to panic when they felt the cold metal of cuffs digging into the skin of their wrists. The room was suddenly too warm, but too cold at the same time. They heard voices, but they couldn’t focus on them.

Where? How? Did she- She wouldn’t- Why am I- Their thoughts continued flowing through, disjointed and overwhelming. The pressure in their chest continued to build. The irregular breaths combined with the quick pounding of their heart made the broken thoughts unintelligible.

The sharp sting of the now raw skin against the cuffs just made the struggling worse. Get them - Off! Off! I can’t- I need-. They heard movement and tried to see what was going on, but they could only see colored blobs through the tears running down their face.

++++

“Aizawa-sensei, may I have permission to use my quirk?” Shinso asked one of the few people he was comfortable asking questions to without having to reword them as statements as he saw the fear on their faces, the sound of their breaths too fast to be good.

‘Why do you need to use your quirk, Shinso?” Aizawa asked, unsure of what Shisno was planning on doing in the situation. They had no information about this person, he wasn’t letting his student just go in without a plan.

“They’re starting to have a panic attack, and Zuku said that my quirk can be very calming during that time. Plus we might be able to get some information.” He added as an afterthought to try and appeal to his logical teacher, though the look of his face softened slightly in the face of a kid hurting.

“Okay, but be careful. We still don’t know who they are or where we are?” He replied, his capture scarf ready to pull his student out of danger if anything changed.

“Hey. Are you okay?” He calmly asked, walking forward slightly.

“No, no. Off. I can’t-” He tried to take control, but they were talking to themself and not responding to Hitoshi.

“Hey, can you hear me?” He asked, close enough now to lightly place his hand on their shoulder. Away- Get off- Move-. They jerked away, their head hitting the wall behind them as they had nowhere else to move. His hand was removed, with a wince from the sound of their head hitting the wall.

“Are you okay?” He stayed where he was, not wanting them to hurt themself more if he got closer.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Sorry- sorry-” The words directed at him were enough to catch them in his quirk. The second they fell under, they went still. All the little movements and squirming stopped, but their breathing was still too fast.

“Even out your breathing, until it matches mine” he commanded. The fogging of their brain started to calm them down, their breathing evening out quickly to match his.

“Good job. What is your name?”

“Cameron,” They answered evenly, their voice still hoarse from the crying and yelling earlier.

“Do you know why we’re here, Cameron?”

“No.”

“Okay, last question. What is your quirk?”

“Quirkless,” Many of them wrote them off at this except a few of the smarter Pro Heroes and students. Shinso released his control on them.

“What was that?” (That was possession, any ghost can do it in less than one lesson-) They asked, all the usual sharpness and on-edge feeling was gone. Maybe I passed out?

“My quirk?” He answered, afraid of their reaction. He technically used his quick on them without permission and that never really ended well.

“Thank you so much for helping me calm down. It always takes me much longer when I have to do it alone and the feeling follows me for a while after sucks,” They kindly replied. Hitoshi looked unsure at the response.

“Does that happen often?” He asked sadly.

“More than I’d like to admit,” They gave a light self-deprecating laugh to try and lighten the mood, “Speaking of that, could you take these off me?” They motioned to the cuffs. “I’d rather not have another so soon after.” Midnight handed the key to Aizawa before he walked over. 

“Hey, I’m going to have to move you over so I can reach the lock. Can I touch you?” Hitoshi asked, remembering the earlier response. “Or if there is someone else here that you’d prefer they can as well.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn’t really thinking clearly. I hope I didn’t hurt you,” he quickly removed the cuffs from their wrists. “Thank yo-wait! You’re Hitoshi Shinso. You’re Eraserhead, right?” They both nod, hesitantly. So many others here are more recognizable than those two, why them?

“Do we know you?” Aizawa asked.

“Wait, you’re all here? You-” They cut themself off. “No, no, no, no. Is Izuku Midoriya here?” Again they nodded. Fuck. “I’m so sorry. Let me see if I can fix this. This is all my fault. I should have never-” They continued to mumble as they pulled out their phone. 1 unread message from Evelyn. They quickly open it

Evelyn: You know what to do. I already built the pocket world. Lead them to the theater. See you soon.

“Can you guys follow me? I promise I have no intentions of harming you or getting you hurt. I will do my best to protect you, but if we want answers we have to go to the theater.” They asked hoping they would agree so Cameron could get them back to their world as soon as possible.

“Why can’t you just tell us here?” Nezu asked, not wanting everyone to walk into a trap.

“Because I don't know what’s going on here either. All I know is that Evelyn, my mother, is behind this.” They followed them to the theater.

“I see you finally listened. Well done.” The figure on the screen clapped patronizingly.

“Good. I passed your test. Now let them go.” Cameron told the figure firmly, arms crossed.

“Now, now child. I have decided it’s your turn to run this Multiverse. Isn’t that exciting?” Cameron's expression just crumbled. “Don’t be like that Emi-”

“Don’t call me that! My name is Cameron, and you know that! I don’t want to be like you! You ruined all of it. This is the last of the good. You said you would leave them alone! You promised!” They yelled clearly frustrated at the dismissal of their request.

“You know what happens if you don’t. Maybe a visit from Storm will help you decide.” The screen shut off. Cameron’s eyes go wide.

“No! Don’t touch her!” They could all feel the pain in their voice. Storm was one of the only friends they had left, and she knew how to use that against them. Suddenly a bright green light lit up the room.

“CAM!” Strom yelled, dropping to the floor the second they tried to move. Cameron ran over to them.

“Storm! What did she do to you?” They were a mural of black, blue, and red. She looked like she needed five coffees and a 24-hour nap.

“It doesn’t matter. Fig can help me once I get back, but you have to do this.” Their faces dropped at this.

“She got you too, I guess? Why does she have to ruin every good thing I have?” Cameron went to get up when Storm grabbed their arm.

“She didn’t, I promise but think about it Cam. You can be different. Your power is so much greater than hers. Show them things that will help them. Show them AUs of how their actions affect others. Save them. You know that they’re all that we have left, you have the power to save them. If all goes well, I’m sure they’d let you join them back in their world.” She offered a sad smile at that. 

“I’m not going to abandon you! I can’t leave you and the others with her.” Cameron argued. “You guys have helped me so much!”

“Cameron. You are mentally 20 at the oldest, the rest of us are centuries old. You don’t need to take care of us. Plus, we can always visit you. We’ll be fine, but we want you to live your life as much as you can. Heaven knows you deserve it.”

“I’ll think about it, okay? I have a feeling I’ll have some time still, seeing as my head is already pulsing from the surplus of things they have to watch. You think I can save them?” Cameron asked hopefully as if they were afraid that once they asked everything would shatter. A certain green-haired boy was very familiar with that tone, and can only wonder what happened to them to make them sound like that.

“You can do anything? Ultra plus! Right?” They laughed, along with the rest of the group.

“Plus ultra, but close enough. Thank you, Storm.” They gave her one last hug before the green light pulled them away again.

“Are you going to cooperate now? Or should I get Fig here too?” She asked with a sickeningly sweet smile.

“Fine, you win, but leave them alone. They have nothing to do with this, and you know it.”

“I’ll be checking in, so you better follow through.” The screen turned off.

“Okay. Can you all sit down? I can explain what happened, why you’re here, and what’s going on now. Does that work?” They nodded. Here goes nothing I guess...

Chapter Text

Here we go…

“Evelyn, my mother, is the goddess of the anime multiverse. She had many children and waited for one who shared her power. (Think Ego from Guardians of the Galaxies) Sadly, that was me. She brings people from their world and turns them against each other and their world. Your’s is that last one she hasn’t messed with. She wants me to follow in her footsteps and help her finish what she started. She wants to take over all the multiverses. Yet, if I don’t she will corrupt your world as well. So I’m going to do this. I have the power to show an alternate Universe of what could have been, what caused the change, and why. As well as showing the past and future like Evelyn. Your world always intrigued me because your catalyst is so unpredictable. Even a small change like whether they caught the bus or if they saw a certain piece of paper or not changes your world substantially!”

“Okay. I know all of you since I have been watching over your world for a bit, and you know each other so I’ll quickly introduce myself before we get started. Hello, I’m Cameron or Cam. You can give me other nicknames if you want, I don’t mind. They/Them pronouns, please. Feel free to ask questions. I will randomly pause it if too many of you aren’t paying attention or if I need to explain something. I will see the universe before it’s projected, and if any sensitive secrets are also true in this world I will give you the option to say something beforehand or just wait until it’s shown for you to explain. I can explain them for you as well if you don’t want to and you will be welcome to sit in the side room while I explain if you feel more comfortable. The secrets that will be revealed can’t be acted on or shared outside of here without the persons’ permission. Unlike Evelyn, I can bring and remove people from here whenever.”

“Time doesn’t exist here so you won’t be missing anything in your world. You will still get time to sleep, eat, and drink. Use these times to process what you see and comfort those who need it. There is also a library and training ground. I know those will help some of you a lot. We’ll discuss that more later on. Lastly, I’ll be bringing and taking people as we go as some things are more relevant to others. Most of you will be here the entire time, but that can change. Any questions?”

“What are your intentions of showing us this Miss Cameron?” Nezu asked, skeptical of this just being pure kindness. He had seen enough people to know that this was rarely the case.

“Like I said before, Nezu. Evelyn will destroy your world if I don’t. Plus some of you need help, but either don’t know it or aren’t sure how to ask for help. I’m hoping to help.” She answered honestly.

“How long will we be here?”

“Always trying to be logical! I like that about you, Eraserhead. As I said, time doesn’t work here. We are pretty much frozen in time. We can still track it and say it has been one hour, but it won’t affect your world. Honestly, I’m not sure how long you’ll be here. It all depends on how many universes we have to watch.”

“Then how old are you?” 

“Physically or mentally, Kaminari? Physically I’m 16 since she decided that I had enough ‘training’ to live here full time. She would usually train me on Friday so I could heal over the weekend to avoid questions. Mentally I’m probably between 18-20. I stopped keeping track since I thought I would be here forever.”

“You said you noticed one person, a catalyst, who changed a lot. Who is it and are we going to focus on them in these universes?”

“I knew there was a reason I kept my eye on you! You got it Midoriya! Funny enough, it’s you.” Chaos… ”Okay, all of you shut up!” They went quiet.

“Why me?

“You are one of the most unpredictable catalysts I’ve seen. There are changes for all of you, but usually, you’re about the same. Yet Izuku here changes in almost all of them.” Here it is! I found the outlet to plug in the screen. “If you need something, feel free to ask. Yes, I have coffee and your sleeping bag. Feel free to ask for snacks or drinks. While the projector warms up, I need All Might and Izuku to follow me into the side room. I need to ask you something.” I walked towards the black door at the side of the theater. The two of them hesitantly followed.

“I will be showing Izuku’s past. This includes One For All. Do you want to tell them now or just let them watch and find out then?”

“Young Cameron, you can’t share-” All Might went to object to the fact that the secret of One For All would be shared with so many people.

“Yagi. First off, don’t call me Young Cameron. I can’t believe you don’t find anything weird about an old man calling high schools that. Gives creepy pervert vibes. Second, this isn’t just your secret anymore. I’m aware of why you needed to keep this a secret, but society can’t rely on one person. You should have learned your lesson already. Izuku needs all the help and support he can get. This class is going to become one of the greatest groups of heroes ever, but they need each other.”

“Can we wait until it comes up? It would be easier to explain if they already have some context of my life before that.”

“My boy you can’t-” Seriously!

“Of course green bean!” They cut him off before he could say something stupid, as they smiled softly at the boy who went through so much alone. “Do you want anything? Snacks? A blanket? A notebook? A hug?” They held their arms open knowing how touch-starved he is but also knowing his boundaries might not extend to them.. His eye bags were worse than they’d ever seen them, and he hadn’t gone on a hero rant the entire time. He slumped against them and they picked up the sleeping green bean before turning their attention to Yagi.

“What did you do to him!” Yagi demanded. 

“Shut up. He’s sleeping, you idiot. I don’t like you, Yagi. I haven’t punched you yet because then my green bean wouldn’t trust me if I did. You are on thin ice. I hope you learn from this. You didn’t even notice the fact that your student and successor looked dead on his feet, and most likely hasn’t slept much, if at all recently. He’s barely had a break since you met him. First, you say he can’t be a hero and leave him on a roof after crushing his dreams, then saving Bakugo only to be berated for it, then the training, then UA, then the USJ, then more training to not break his arms. Sports Festive, internships, Stain, finally gaining some control over HIS quirk. Then we have the training camp, and Bakugo gets kidnapped right in front of him. His arms get broken almost beyond repair, he helps save Bakugou, has to learn a whole new fighting style, then runs into Eri and has to let her go back with the man he knows is hurting her. 

“Finally gets Eri back, but almost dies since her quirk went out of control. His Senpai lost his quirk, and he had half a mind to give One For All to Mirio since he knows how to survive quirkless and knows how hard it is and doesn’t wish that on anyone. All while never saying anything to you in fear of letting you down or you taking One For All back, he also can’t confide in anyone else because of how you reacted when he even mentioned it to Bakugo. You forced him to be alone again to keep up your Symbol of Peace front. Don’t come near me and leave the green bean alone unless he approaches you.” They walk back inside with Midoriya still in their arms. Everyone else had already situated themselves on the couches and bean bag chairs in the theater.

“What happened to the Problem Child?” Aizawa asked with a hint of worry. Yagi better not have done something idiotic again.

“He probably hasn’t slept much since the training camp. Is it okay if I sit here with you guys so he has a familiar face when he wakes up?” He nodded. They place him down across them.

“Of course, the little listener can sit with us.” Aizawa still looked worried. What did I miss?

“I won’t lie, he’s not 100%, okay, but I’m hoping I can help him while he’s here. He’s been through so much, and most of it he had to deal with alone. He needs you and he trusts you. Don’t break it.” They finally settled between Aizawa and Yamada with Izuku laying across all of them. Aizawa lightly ran his hands through his curls as his feet rested in Nemuri’s lap. “Okay. You need to learn situational awareness.” Most of them jumped as they called them out.

“We just had an entire conversation and you were none the wiser. Guess I know what I’ll be adding to your training when we get back.” Aizawa gave them his Totoro smile at the thought of adding stealth training to their schedule. The kids were not as happy.

“What happened to Izuku?” Shoto asked.

“He’s fine, just needed some extra sleep.” they sighed, “Yagi, stop hiding behind the door like an eavesdropping child. You’re the number one hero, yet you’re scared of getting scolded by a teenager.” They didn’t turn around to see Yagi scamper to the open seat between Nana and Chiyo. I’ll let them deal with him. 

“Okay, first we will be watching a bit of Izuku’s past. This will show you a bit about why he acts as he does. Remember, this is the past. These actions have already occurred and there’s nothing you can do to stop or change them. You may see people you know, again there is no changing the past so don’t judge them based on past actions unless they haven’t changed since or don’t see what’s wrong in their ways. Everyone ready?” Most of them nodded, “Let’s begin…”

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Chapter Text

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In a playground stood a young Midoriya in front of a little boy. Both of them were crying. "Why are you being so mean? You're making him cry, Kacchan. If you keep on hurting him, I- I'll. . . I'll stop you myself," the young Midoriya said.

Mina squealed, “Awww, baby Midori is so cute!” 

“He always was a hero, even when he was young.” Kiri pointed out. But why did he need to protect the kid from Bakbro? 

The screen then showed a young Bakugo and two other kids. They all laughed at what Midoriya said and then activated their quirks. One of the kids grew wings, the other kid’s fingers stretched, and Bakugo let off an explosion. "Hmph. You wanna pretend to be a hero. You don't stand a chance without a Quirk. Deku," Bakugo replied. The three kids rushed to Midoriya.

“But Midobro has a quirk? We’ve all seen it.” Kaminari looked around for confirmation, and everyone nodded.

“They look fairly young in this, he said he was a late bloomer.” Momo helpfully chimed in.

The screen now showed Midoryia lying on his back, dazed. 

"Here's the sad truth. All men are not created equal. When I was four years old, I learned that some kids have more power than others." Midoriya, now in his last year of middle school, began to speak, "but that won't hold me back. If anything, it pushes me to do better." Midoriya is seen running through the streets, finally ending with him showing up to a villain fight, "that's one huge supervillain!" 

“Why is he narrating this? Isn’t this pretty much a large flashback we can all see?” Hagakure asked.

“The format of viewing the past is like an anime. So I guess the future Midoriya is narrating the past for us.” Cameron explained.

“I know that it’s an important lesson, but why did the little listener have to learn it so early?” Present Mic asked his husband. What have we missed about the Little Listener? We are trained to notice these things so we can help them.

“I think we’re about to find out..” What the hell happened to you, Problem Child?

The intro began to play.

“We also get awesome anime opening music! This is awesome!” Jirou beamed.

“I can send you a playlist of any of the music we hear before you leave if you want, Jirou?”

“REALLY? You’re awesome, Cam! Thank you, I would love that!” They are so awesome, look wonderful, and have great music choices! I just can’t.

Thank you, Jirou. I’m glad you’re enjoying the music, but I’m honestly pretty normal-looking. Jirou’s face went red when I heard that. A side effect of my power, I hear the thoughts of the people in the theater and can talk with them telepathically. I learned how to tune them out most of the time, but since I was focused on talking to you it came through. I’m sorry for invading your privacy.

It’s okay Cam. I just wasn’t expecting it, and may I ask why you think so lowly of yourself? You’re so beautiful and kind, and you’re doing so much to help us even if you barely know us.

Thank you Jirou. Years of being told otherwise are hard to reverse. They cut off the connection as Jirou’s face dropped, she looked back at them, but they were focused back on the screen. Mina looked over, but Jirou just shook her head.

“Later.” she mouthed.

The screen now showed a hospital with a glowing window. Midoriya started to narrate, "the first incident was in Qing Qing City." A glowing baby is seen.

"An extraordinary child was born who radiated light." The screen then showed a child wielding fire powers, another wielding ice powers, and another telekinesis. "After that, reports of people with superpowers popped up all across the globe. No one knew what was causing quirks. Before long, the supernatural became normal. Dreams a reality," Midoriya continued.   All Might is seen on the screen, his cape billowing out behind him.  

“That’s impressive that he knows all of that! Most people don’t think to look into how quirks came about!” All the teachers sweatdropped at the idea of Nezu getting his hands? Paws? On Midoriya and training him as his personal student. They already have Shota, they don’t need another.

"The world became a superhuman society, with about 80% of the population possessing some uncanny ability. Our streets look like scenes from comic books. A city swirled with chaos and confusion. A new profession dominated our collective consciousness." The screen went back to the scene with the giant supervillain from before the Intro. "It was an age of heroes."

Pro hero Death Arms is seen running to the scene before catching a piece of rubble that the villain had thrown.

"Oh, nice! Way to go, Death Arms."

"The punching hero. I wish I had a quirk that made me super strong."

The pro hero backdraft is then seen moving water to create a barrier to stop the crowds from moving closer to the villain. "Everyone, please stay back. This area is far too dangerous."

"Wow, the rescue specialist Backdraft is here? He'll make sure we're ok."

"This guy must be desperate to go full monster in the middle of the city. Do you know what happened?"

"Some amateur. Stole someone's bag and then got himself cornered."

"With a quirk like that, and he's just a petty thief."

"I got held up. Trains out. Another villain. I'm not sure when I'm gonna make it into the office."

Kamui Woods rushed in and began to fight with the villain.

"AAAHH! Mister Kamui, we're your biggest fan," a group of his fangirls called out to him.

"Get away from me! RAH! Or I'll break you like a twig," the villain screamed at Kamui Woods as they continued to fight.

"AH! This is gonna be good," Midoriya said, finally making it to the front of the crowd. "It's Kamui Woods. He may be new, but he's making a big name for himself."

"One look at that dopey grin, and I know what you are. A fanboy," a man standing next to Midoriya said.

“He always was a fanboy,” Yagi commented quietly.

 "Uh, sorta," Midoriya replied sheepishly.

"Assault, robbery, and illegal use of powers during rush hour traffic. You are the incarnation of evil," Kamui Woods stated as the fight continued.

“Incarnation of evil? That’s illogical to call him that.” (I’ll give you three guesses as to who said that, and the first two don’t count.)

"There, his special move," Midoriya pointed out. 

"Go on, tree man. Show us something flashy."

The hero begins his special move. "The Preemptive..." Midoriya started. 

"...Binding..." Kamui Woods continued.

"...Lacquered Chain Prison!" the two finished.

“Of course, he would know the name of a new Pros special move,” Kaminari whined.

“I would expect nothing less of the nerd.” They all looked at Bakugou like he grew a third head. “What?” Everyone just turned back to the screen.

But before he could finish his special move, a new hero yelled, "Canyon Canon!" as she kicked over the villain.

"Money shot, money shot, money shot, money shot," the reporters all chanted as they took pictures of the new hero.

"Piece of cake for the world's next hottest hero. Hi there everyone. I'm Mt. Lady, and you don't have to worry about this bump anymore."

“Really?” Nemuri sighed.

“We know you hate her, Nem. Now I can see why. You turn your Rated-R persona into a weapon and a way to help, she just uses it for popularity. Plus, Kamui did all the work, and she’ll get the credit.” Hizashi patted her shoulder, reassuringly. Izuku started to shift around and slowly woke up.

“Hey green bean, how was your nap?”

“What?” he cutlery rubbed his eyes “Tenshi-Sama? Is that you?”

“It’s me green bean, are you ready to watch yet? Plus, you can call me Cam.” His brain finally caught up.

“Wait, your Tenshi?” Bakugo asked skeptically.

“Yup, that’s me pup.” His eyes widened.

“How the fu-” She shot him a quick look, “heck did you get here?”

“Remember when I said I’d been watching you all for a while? I wasn’t lying. I can visit worlds for short amounts of time, but I can’t stay unless someone from the world invited me there. I’m not sure how many of you remember me seeing as I look a bit different now, but most of you know me as Tenshi (Angel in Japanese) since that’s what green bean called me the first night I visited and thought that it was a good name as I never planned on you coming here..”

“Thank you Ten-chan, you helped me a lot.” Shoto bowed his head, “Or do you prefer Cam?”

“Cam is just fine with me peppermint,” he went red at the nickname, “That goes for all of you,” They looked over at the other kids she’d helped.

"Money shot, money shot, money shot, money shot." 

"She's getting all the credit?" asked Kamui Woods, the pro hero that had done most of the fighting.

As the crowd cheered for her, Midoriya's voice is heard narrating in the background, "With the rise of superpowers, came an explosive increase in criminal activity. While governments were stuck trying to figure out how to reform law with quirks in mind, courageous people started performing heroic acts to keep our cities safe. Protecting us against villains who abuse their power for evil. With overwhelming public support, heroes found an official place as peacekeepers, overseen by the government. Those who perform the best will be paid the most and get all the fame and glory. Their career is dependent on their abilities to stay in the spotlight."

“While this is good to remember, some of the best Pro Heroes we have will never even be on the hero charts.” Nezu reminded them, looking over at his old student.

"Gigantification, huh? Well, she definitely has the looks and attitude to be a crowd favorite, and her quirk is really showy, but it'll be kinda hard for her to get around much in the city without damaging lots of things. That means she might not be very useful..." Midoriya muttered to himself as he began to write notes in his hero analysis notebook.

“That’s a very good analysis, especially that quick. Would you mind if I saw your notebooks when we get back?” Nezu asked the now awake Izuku sitting on the edge of the couch with Cameron.

“I can bring them here during the next break, Nezu? If Izuku is okay with it?” They looked to Izuku to get his permission.

“Umm sure, but they’re really not great, it's just a hobby I’ve had for a while.”

“Nerd, you could kill everyone here both without and with a quirk and get away with it. Give them the notebooks so we can watch them freak at all the dirt you have on them.”

“Kacchan! I would never do that!”

“We know Zuku, but that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t, and I’ve only heard a few of your hero rants. Honestly, we’re lucky he’s on our side and didn’t become a villain. I heard his idea on how much worse the USJ could have been with a better plan, a plan he was able to come up with. One that ended with most if not all of you dead or injured beyond recovery, meaning that it could have ended all of your hero carers before they started.”

“Problem Child, may I see the notebooks as well.”

“I guess, but Toshi and Kacchan are over exaggerating though.”

“I doubt that Problem Child.”

"What's that, fanboy? Are you taking notes over there? Wanna be a hero too, huh?" the man from earlier asked.

"Ah! Yes! More than anything." Midoriya replied.

The words "Episode 1: Izuku Midoriya: Origin" appeared in front of a yellow background on the screen before it switched to a middle school classroom.

"So, as third-year students, it's time to think about your futures and what you want to do with your lives," the teacher said, as Midoriya jotted down notes from the fight earlier.

"I could pass out your career aptitude test, but why bother? We all know you all want to go to the hero track." The teacher threw the papers into the air as the kids in the class started showing off their quirks. 

“That’s not how you’re supposed to do that, plus what happened to illegal quirk usage.” Commented Aizawa.

"Yes, yes, you got some very impressive quirks but no power usage is allowed in school. Get a hold of yourselves."

"Hey teach, don't lump me in with these bunch of losers. I'm the real deal, but these guys will be lucky to be a sidekick to some busted D-lister. Ha!" Bakugo said.

“So you have always been like that!” Kaminari exclaimed, looking at Bakugou on the other end of the couch.

“What are you talking about Pikachu?”

“We wondered if you had always been as loud and angry as you are now. Now we know you were!”

"You think you're better than us, Katsuki?" the students in the class asked angrily.

"Let's go. I'll take you all on," Bakugo responded.

"Huh. You've got an impressive test result. Maybe you will get into UA High," the teacher said.

"He's gonna try for the national school?"

"That school has a 0.2% acceptance rate!"

"It's impossible to get into!"

"That's exactly why it's the only place worthy of me. I ace all the mock tests. I'm the only one at this school who stands a chance of getting in. I'll end up more popular than All Might himself and be the richest hero of all time. people all across the world will know who I am, and it all starts with UA High." Bakugo said, jumping onto his desk.

"Oh Yeah, Midoriya, don't you want to go to UA too?" the teacher asked, causing the room to break into laughter.

“Why is everyone laughing at Midobro?” Almost everyone looked just as confused as Kaminari.

“Yeah, that isn’t very manly. Midobro is amazing. He has such a strong quirk, and he’s gonna be an amazing hero!” Midoriya winced at Kirishima’s reasoning and leaned against Cam, their hand combing lightly through his hair.

"Midoriya, you're kidding, right? There is no way you're getting into the hero course without a quirk."

“WHAT?” A majority of the class yelled, looking back at Izuku. He tried to shrink into the couch with all the attention.

“Umm, I’m sure it will be explained later. Just keep watching.” He offered back to them, and they nodded, seeing that Cameron agreed with him, they would find out soon enough,

“Problem child, when did you get your quirk?” No wonder he had no control over his quirk, he had less than a year to train it.

“You’ll see,” Cameron told him, not wanting to stress Izuku more.

"Uh, actually, they got rid of that rule. I can be the first one," Midoriya replied.

Bakugo exploded Midoriya's desk, causing him to fall to the ground. "ARGH!! Listen up, Deku. You're even worse than these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe. You really think they'll let someone like you in when they can have me?!"

"Huh?! No way, you got it all wrong, really. I'm not trying to compete against you. You gotta believe me. It's just that I wanted to be a hero since I was little. I may not have a quirk but I can still try my hardest, can't I?" Midoriya replied.

"You'll never be able to hang with the best of the best. You'll die in the exams, defenseless Izuku. The school's already crappy. You really want to embarrass it more by failing so hard."

“What that fuck Bakugo?” Kirishima turned to his best friend, realizing he never talked about his past. ‘ Why did it hurt when he didn’t call me by that stupid nickname?’ Bakugou thought as Kirishima turned back to the screen at the lack of response

“Why are you being so mean to Izuku? He did nothing to you.” Uaraka turned.

“Just keep watching…” Bakugo explained quietly, knowing it would get worse.

The screen showed the outside of a shopping district. 

A scream was heard as a lady fell to the ground after being run over by a man made of slime. A storekeeper exited their store yelling, "Hey, get back here."

"Dude, where are the heroes?"

"It's weird. Normally, someone will swoop in right away. Maybe they're all still busy from that scene this morning." 

A skinny man with blonde hair could be seen exiting a grocery store.

"Remember when we didn't have to worry about randos with quirks all the time?"

"Seriously, nothing is stopping him."

The skinny blonde man can be seen transforming into All Might. "Yes, there is. Do you know why? I am here!" All Might says. (No one is surprised since they already knew of All Mights deflated form)

The screen showed the middle school classroom again, but this time it was at the end of the school day.

"Man, that fight from this morning is all over the news. Better write some notes down before I forget anything," Midoriya muttered to himself as he grabbed his notebook. 

His notebook is then grabbed from his hands by Bakugo, "I don't know what you think you're doing, Deku, but we're not done."

“Why can’t you just leave Izuku alone?” Shoto asked angrily.

“Give it a few more minutes, and then you can be angry.” Everyone was confused by Shinso’s answer but kept quiet.

"What you got? His diary?" 

Midoriya reached out for his notebook.

"Huh?! don't tell me you're taking notes on how to be a hero?!"

"That's so pathetic."

"Haha. He's delusional."

"Yeah... Real funny guys. Just give it back." Midoriya said before Bakugo exploded his notebook. "That's so mean," Bakugo threw his notebook out the window.

“Just why? All he wanted to do was leave. Why did you feel the need to bully him?” The force of Uaraka’s words hit the Bakusquad. Had they really tried so hard to befriend a bully? They all had been bullied, and the fact that Bakugo had bullied one of the sweetest people in the class. The one who had helped them so many times. The one who risked his hero career to go with Kirishima to save Bakugou. It was a lot to process.

"Most first-string heroes show potential early on. People look at them and just know they are destined for greatness. When I'm the only student from this garbage junior high to get into UA, people will start talking about me like that. They'll realize I'm legit, the next big thing. That's not my ego talking. I just know I'm that good."

"Ego."

They all laughed at that hoping to cheer up the mood a bit.

Bakugo put his hand on Midoriya's shoulder and activated his quirk, "Here's a word of advice, nerd. Don't even think of applying or else." Midoriya couldn't even speak.

"That's just sad. I thought you would have at least some fight in you."

"He finally gets it. He'll never be a hero. Better find now than later, I guess."

Bakugo and his friends began to leave before Bakugo turned around and said, "You know if you really want to be a hero that badly, there's actually another way.”

“Why are you offering him advice after telling him not to be a hero?” Mina asked, confused.

“Just wait for it..” He said quietly, knowing that they would hate him soon.

“Kacchan, come over here.” Bakugo looked confused and just stared at him. “Katsuki Bakugou, come over here now. You know the plan. I know it didn’t go how we thought, but I’m still starting it now.” Bakugo walked over to the teacher’s couch where Izuku was sitting and sat down in his spot as Izuku sat on the floors between his legs knowing how combing through his hair calmed him down. Everyone was confused by the interaction but kept quiet waiting for Cam to unpause the video.

“Are you both ready?” They nodded. Cam unpaused the video.

“Just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building." 

Midoriya turned around to say something, but Bakugo activated his quirk, and Midoriya shut up. "Something wrong?"

Cam paused the video knowing that they would need a break after learning this.

“BAKUGOU!” 

“WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT TO IZ-MIDORIYA? BETTER YET, WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT AT ALL!” Kirishima yelled, jumping up from his seat.

“Izuku said you two were childhood friends? What happened?” Iida asked.

“Bakugo, do you know how many of us were bullied for things out of our control? Do you know how many of us faced discrimination because we had a ‘useless’ or ‘villain quirk’? Do you know how many of us were this close to making what you said a reality? Do you understand that we could have lost the next greatest hero and one of the kindest people we know because of you and your stupid ego? Do you understand? DO YOU!” Kaminari yelled with tears running down his face. Bakugo just looked down. Izuku got up and walked over before wrapping his arms around the blond electric user as he continued to sob. Izuku whispered sweet nothings in his ear until he calmed down enough to talk again.

“How can you still talk to us? We befriended your bully and never stopped him. How can you even still look at him? He’s beaten you down every chance he got. How can you still smile after all of that? How the fuck are you still nice to people? No one has ever given a fuck about you and you still manage to make everyone feel like they’re the greatest hero here.”

“I’ll never get over the fact that people have tricked you, bullied you, stabbed you in the back, broken your heart, crushed your dreams, told you to die, and yet you’re still kind. I’ll never understand how you could do that seeing as I went through maybe half of what you went through and I had given up on people until I befriended you.” Hitoshi chimed in from his place on the couch next to the Bakusquad.

“Pure spite.” He answered, making everyone laugh. “This is why.” They looked at each other and realized that even now he could get them all into a better mood with just a few words. “I know you don’t like Kacchan right now, some of you may hate him, but remember he has changed. It doesn’t excuse his past actions, but he knows they were wrong. He apologized to me, and I have forgiven him. Even now he feels like he has to earn his forgiveness. Please don’t make it harder by isolating him and taking away his friends. He needs you. You don’t have to pretend like it didn’t happen, but please do your best not to hold it against him.” Everyone seemed conflicted at this but quieted down.

“How about we take a break for today, and continue tomorrow? You can follow me to the kitchen for dinner if you want to go straight to bed. You each do have your own room, but you're welcome to stay together if you prefer. Just tell me and I can change the room set up. Off to the kitchen, we go!” Cam led them to the kitchen while pulling Izuku and Katsuki to the side.

“Do you guys want to stay together tonight?” They nodded. “Okay, follow me to your room. Katsudon and spicy curry for dinner okay?” Again they nod. “Perfect, I’ll bring both to your room in a few minutes.” After delivering their dinner I went back and led everyone else to their rooms.

-----

“What are you going to do about Bakugou? I know the little listener said that he’s changed, but I still think he should face some sort of punishment. We all know how much bullying can affect someone, and the fact that we didn’t pick up on all of this can’t be good in regard to Izuku’s mental state. Being able to hide years of abuse from multiple Pro heroes, many of whom also faced abuse and are trained to see these things, and still walk around with kindness and a bright smile. How can he not hate Bakugou? I know we all wanted to destroy our bullies the second we were able to. What's different here?”

“He knows him,” Aizawa said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“What do you mean, Sho?” Hizashi asked.

“We never had any connections to our bullies outside of the bullying. Izuku and Bakugo knew each other before the bullying started and Izuku knows him almost as well as he knows himself. I think we’re still missing parts of their story. Honestly, I’m never sure if we’ll ever understand their relationship. What’s your view on this Nem?”

“I think we should leave it alone for now. Deal with it once all this is over.” She responded to Aizawa.

“That’s probably for the best Nemuri.” They all jumped at the new voice. “Sorry for scaring you. I know you guys don’t have the full story yet, but not even the two of them can explain their relationship. They need each other. Yes, their friendship dissolved as they grew up, but they don’t know what to do without each other. I would recommend getting some sleep seeing as you're going to want to kill a certain hero tomorrow as more gets revealed.” They left the three to draw their own conclusions about that statement.

Chapter Text

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The screen showed outside the school.

'That idiot, you can't go out telling people to kill themselves. What if I really jumped? What will he do then? Uh?' Midoriya thought to himself as he walked out of the school building. He saw his notebook lying in the fish pond. "My dreams have turned into fish food. That's enough, give it back. Damn it. Stupid jerk." He grabbed the notebook from the pond.

“Please tell me you didn’t,” Uraraka pleaded.

“I didn’t, I promise.” She nodded but still moved closer to him.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard Midoriya curse,” Kaminari thought out loud.

“Really Denki? that’s what you noticed from that?”

“It’s a valid observation Jirou! We never hear him curse!”

“You idiots do know he grew up with me right?” Bakugo chimed in.

“Wait, so Midobro does curse?” Kiri turned, still unsure what to make of his best friend with everything they learned.

“Obviously. He grew up around the old hag and Auntie. Where do you think I learned it from?” He pointed this out as if they asked if the sky was blue.

“I mean yeah, but unlike Kacchan, if I curse it helps get my point across. The more you use them the less effective they will be. If I only curse when I need to. For example, if Kacchan says to ‘shut the f up’, it’s Monday morning, yet if I walked into class and told everyone to ‘shut the fuck up’ you would all go silent.” Bakugo just laughed at the shocked faces of the class.

“Okay, let’s get back to watching and we’ll all deal with the sinnamon roll later, " Cameron called their attention back to the screen.

The screen showed Midoriya's House.

"Mom, hurry! Come on, mom. It's computer time..." A young Midoriya said, holding an All Might Figure.

“Aww, we get more baby Midori!” Mina cheered.

"Already?!" his mom asked.

"Faster. Let's go!" Midoriya led his mum to the computer room, where you could see All Might posters on the wall. Midoriya was excited and rocked his head up and down.

"Geez, I think you added 10 thousand views to this one yourself, Izuku. I don't know why you like it. I think it's scary."

“The video that I loved was an old one. Disaster footage from a long time ago but more importantly, it was the debut of the greatest hero the world has ever known." An older Midoriya was heard narrating as a video began to play.

All Might was seen carrying a bunch of people in his arms out of a disaster area. "Who is he? The guy's saved a hundred people at least, and it hasn't even been 10 minutes. This... This is crazy! I can't believe it," a civilian said as All Might started laughing. "LOOK, AND HE GOT MORE!!!"

"Fear not citizens. Help has arrived," All Might said, "because I am here."

“I remember that video! I used to watch it all the time!” Ojiro called out.

“Same here, Ojiro! I loved that video!” Hagakure chimed in.

“I think we all watched that video, at least a couple of times,” Shoji added.

"He's the coolest in the universe. And once I get my quirk, I'm gonna be a hero just like him!" the young Midoriya announced as he began to try to imitate All Might's laugh.

The screen faded away to now show Izuku and his mother sitting across from a doctor in a hospital.

"Sorry, Kid, it's not gonna happen." the doctor said. The young Midoriya dropped his All Might figure in shock.

“Who let this man have his license? You don’t say that to a kid!” Recovery Girl continued her angry rant about healthcare professionals today, just quiet enough that only All Might had to endure her ramblings.

"Oh dear, do you think there's something wrong then? Most of the other kindergartners in his class began to show signs, already," Midoriya's mother asked.

"My record says you're a fourth-generation quirk user. What power do you and the boys' father have?"

" Nothing too special. I can float small objects towards me, and my husband breathes fire. They're useful enough, I suppose." She showed off her quirk, using it to bring Midoriya's All Might figure to her from the ground.

“How did you get a strength quirk from fire breath and telekinesis?” Momo asked, confused.

“Umm, you’ll see.” Bakugo started running his fingers through Izuku’s hair again, knowing that it calmed him just as much. 

"Izuku should have already manifested one of these quirks or a combination of both, but after viewing his X-rays, I don't think he's going to. You see, when superpowers first began appearing, there were many research studies conducted, and doctors discovered a link between a bone in a person's foot and their likelihood of developing a quirk. People with powers have only one joint in their pinky toes. Their bodies have evolved into a more stream-like version of the human form. You can see here that Izuku has two joints in his pinky toe, like roughly 20% percent of the population these days. Based on the available research, it's safe to say that your son isn't going to develop a quirk."

“How do you have a quirk with the double toe joint?” Tokoyami questioned.

“Just stop asking about Deku’s fucking quirk already! You’ll learn soon enough, and he can explain it then!”

The screen showed Midoriya's house again.

The young Midoriya is seen watching the video of All Might's debut again. "See that, mom. There's always a smile on his face no matter how bad things get. Even when things seem impossible, he never gives up," Midoriya says. "Do you think...I can be a hero too?" he asked as tears ran down his face.

"I'm sorry, Izuku. I wish things were different," his mom said as the two cried.

"Mom, that's not what I needed you to say. Couldn't you see? My world was crumbling. There was one thing I wanted to hear," the older Midoriya is heard again.

“Nooooo, you can’t just leave us there!” Mina wined at the cliffhanger.

The screen showed the entrance to a tunnel. 

'I made a decision that day. No matter what anyone else thinks, I have to believe in myself, and I'll keep smiling just like him,' Midoriya thought to himself as he began walking through the tunnel imitating All Might's laugh. He heard something behind him and saw the sludge villain, "a villain?"

"You'll make a perfect skinsuit for hiding, kid," the villain said as he attacked Midoriya, trying to force himself down his throat. "Don't worry. I'm just taking over your body. It'll be easier for both of us if you don't fight back. It will only hurt for a minute. You'll feel better soon."

“You were also attacked by the sludge villain? Why did no one hear about it?” Aizawa asked

“Umm, yeah. I don’t think he ever filed a report since then he would have to go over why he lost it again.”

“What?” You just made more questions Problem Child, instead of just answering the first one.

“I’m sure the show will explain, then you can ask questions.” He told him for the second time since this started. This show has a lot of explaining to do.

 'I can't...breath.' Midoriya tried to grab at the sludge villain, but it didn't work.

"Grab all you want. My body's made out of fluid. Thanks for the help. You're a real hero to me, kid. I didn't know he was in the city. I gotta get out of here fast before he tracks me down."

'My body...getting weak. I...I...think I'm dying. No way... this can't be the end. Somebody... Help...' The lid of the sewer flew off.

All Might appeared, "Have no fear, you're safe. Now that I am here, that is." The sludge villain tried to attack All Might. "TEXAS SMAAAASH!!!!" All Might yelled as he punched the air. 

“ALL MIGHT!”

“Yay! Midobro was saved!”

'Huh?! I... Can't... hold...together.' The sludge villain said as he was ripped apart, releasing Midoriya from its hold.

'Is that All Might' Midoriya thought to himself before the world turned black.

The screen showed the tunnel. Midoriya lay on the floor, and All Might stood above him.

All Might is seen slapping an unconscious Midoriya, "Hey... wake up...HEY!! Uh! Thought we lost you there."

“You slapped a civilian, who just went through a life-threatening experience?” Aizawa asked with a deadpan expression.

“Tornoshi you idiot!” Recovery Girl yelled while swatting at his kneecaps with her syringe.

“The best way to wake up a civilian? Slap them, recommended by the number one hero!” Yamada yelled sarcastically.

“Okay, okay, stop! I was running out of time!”

“And that was the solution?” Hizashi asked him.

“Not my best moment, I’ll admit.”

Midoriya freaked out at seeing All Might.

"Well, looks like you're moving around all right. Sorry about that back there. I didn't mean to get you caught up on my justice-ing. Usually, I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe. But it turns out the city sewer system is pretty difficult to navigate!!!" All Might said, laughing, "Anyway, you were a big help, thank you! I've captured the evildoer."

'The most amazing hero in the entire world... All Might, the real thing, in the flesh standing right in front of me. He looks so much cooler in person,' Midoriya thought to himself. "Holy crap. I gotta get an autograph. I gotta have a pen around here somewhere. Ha! Please, sign my notebook." He looked in the notebook to see it had already been signed. "He already did it. Thank you so much! This will be an heirloom, a family treasure, for generations to come," he said as he bows about a thousand times.

“Really Deku? A family heirloom?” Uraraka laughed at her friend’s antics.

“Hey! If Thirteen saved you, and then you got their autograph you would do the same thing, Ochako!”

“Dude, if you bow anymore you're gonna hit your head on the ground,” Sero added, unhelpfully.

"Well, I gotta take this guy to the police so they can take care of him. Stay out of trouble. See you around."

"Wait, you're leaving?! Already?!"

"Heroes are constantly fighting time as well as enemies."

'He can't go yet. They're still so many questions I have to ask him.'

“I apologize in advance, Aizawa-sensei.”

“What did you do now?” At the lack of response, he looked back to the screen.

"Now stand back. I'm taking off." All Might jumped into the air. "Thanks for your continuous support." All Might then realized that Midoriya had grabbed onto his leg and is now flying with him. "Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing? Let go. I love my fans, but this is too much," he said, trying to swat Midoriya off of him.

“Yagi, did you just try to swat Problem Child off in mid-air?”

“No?”

“Wrong answer.” He replied, letting Recovery girl and Gran Torino deal with him, for now.

"No way! I'm flying. If I let go now, I'll die."

"Oh! That's a good point."

“You’re an idiot, Toshinori. You didn’t realize this until the kid told you?” Torino asked.

"I just have a lot of things. I wanted to ask you personally. You're my all-time favorite hero, All Might, Please."

"OK, ok. I get it. Just keep your eyes and mouth shut." All Might coughed as blood bleeds onto the corner of his mouth. 'Shit!' All Might landed on top of a building.

"My whole life just flashed before my eyes," Midoriya said.

"Not a very smart move. Bang on the door for a while. Someone will let you in. Now I have to go, see you on the flip side."

"Wait, not yet. One second."

"No! I don't have any time."

"Wait, I HAVE TO KNOW..." 

"Sorry, Kid, it's not gonna happen," the voice of his childhood doctor is heard saying.

"I'm sorry, Izuku. I wish things were different," his mom's voice said.

"Defenseless Izuku. The school's already crappy. You really want to embarrass it more by failing so hard," Bakugo's voice said.

'Sometimes, I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up, ever.' Midoriya thought to himself. 

“Do you really think that Izuku?” Shinso asked knowing how damaging that mindset could be and was only able to break out of it with the help of his dads.

“I mean only the normal amount. It’s not a constant thought.”

“Problem Child. The normal amount is not at all. How about we talk about this later? I have a feeling this will be a long and probably more private discussion.”

"Is it possible to become a hero even if I don't have a quirk?" This made All Might stop. "I'm a normal kid without any powers. Could I ever hope to be someone like you?" All Might turned to face Midoriya. "Meeting All Might was a dream come true, a real miracle. Standing in front of me was the hero I idolized most of my life. I didn't realize that time, but that chance encounter would change the course of my future." Midoriya narrated.

The outro began.

“You can’t just leave it there! We need to know what he says!”

“I mean, he must have said yes, right Mina? He had to have said yes.” Kiri looked back to Midoriya for confirmation, only to find him sitting in a hug between Bakugo and Cam.

“Is everyone okay to continue watching the next part?” They nodded. “Okay, the next part is a bit happier than this one is.”

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Chapter Text

All Might's pro-hero debut videos can be seen on the screen. All Might laughs carrying numerous civilians out of a disaster zone. "Fear not, citizens. Hope has arrived. Because I am here."

The younger Midoriya can be seen watching the video. "He's the coolest in the Universe! And once I get my quirk, I'm gonna be a hero, just like him!" Midoriya said.

The screen then switched to the hospital. "Sorry, Kid, It's not gonna happen," the doctor told the younger Midoriya.

Then Midoriya is shown on the rooftop that the last episode ended on. "Even if I'll never have superpowers..." his voice can be heard narrating. 

The scene from the school can be seen. "You're worse than the rest of these rejects, you quirkless wannabe. Do you really think they'd let someone like you in when they could have me? You'd never be able to hang with the best of the best," Bakugo told Midoriya.

"Even if everyone thinks I'm useless..." Midoriya continued.

"I'm sorry, Izuku. I wish things were different," Midoriya's mom told the young Midoriya as tears ran down both their faces.

"Mom. That's not what I needed you to say. Couldn't you see? Despite everything, I still dream. And I have to know," Midoriya finished narrating.

"Is it possible to become a hero, even if I don't have a Quirk? I'm a normal kid without any powers. Could I ever hope to be someone like you?" Midoriya asked All Might.

This caused All Might to stop walking and turn his head, "Without a quirk?" All Might asked before suddenly hunching over in pain as steam started to appear off of his body. 'Oh, no. Not now, dammit! Not here!' All Might thought to himself.

Midoriya didn't notice what was happening to All Might and continued talking, "People think I don't have a chance. Not having any powers makes me some kinda weakling. My classmates like to make fun of me. But you know what? That makes me wanna prove them wrong." More steam appeared around All Might. 

“I’m hoping that your situational awareness has gotten much better since the incident, otherwise I’ll be adding more of this to your daily training.” 

“Okay, I’ll add it to my training. Could you give me some tips on how to improve it?

“Kid, I’m not asking you to do this alone. I’ve decided you’ve had a shit teacher and Hizashi and I will be training you from now on.” He saw the kid start to object.” You'll mostly join in during Shinsou’s training lessons, so don’t go saying it’s too much work for us.”

“Really? You’re going to do that for me? Thank you so much Aizawa-sensei!” He shouldn’t be so thankful for me doing the least I can to help him succeed. It makes a bit more sense seeing his past, but it still doesn't sit right with me.

" Ever since I was a kid, I've thought that saving people is the coolest thing you can do. I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe. And be the kind of hero everyone in the world looks up to. Just like you!" Midoriya finally looked up, just as the steam cleared, and All Might was seen, but he was skinny and looked like Toshinori. Midoriya screamed in shock.

“Really Izuku, that’s your reaction?”

“Hey! If you randomly saw your idol turn into that, you're telling me you wouldn’t scream?”

‘I’d like to think I’d have a bit more composure than that.”

“You forget that we did stealth training together, Hitoshi. I doubt it.”

“HEY! WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT ZUZU!”

“Oh, so we're back to nicknames now. That’s fine Toshi.”

The intro began to play.

“I love this song! I can’t believe that this is our theme song!” The rest of the Bakusquad started to dance along.

The intro ended, and the Tatooine shopping district is shown on the screen.

The sludge villain is seen in a bottle lying on the ground of an alley. "Where am I? What happened?"

The screen then showed All Might punching the air and defeating the sludge villain, "TEXAS SMASH!" he yelled.

"Oh, yeah. That bastard! If it wasn't for him, I'd be out of town already," the sludge villain said.

Bakugo and his two friends are seen walking down the alley. "That was rough. Weren't you and Midoriya good friends back when you were kids?" one of his friends asked.

"Yeah, you were a little harsh with him today," the other added.

“A LITTLE HARSH! HE TOLD-” 

“Kiri. We agreed to drop it already. How about after this episode we go train together? Let off a little steam.”

“Yeah, sure, okay. Thanks, Midobro.”

"It's his fault for getting in my way," Bakugo replied, kicking the bottle that contained the sludge villain. The bottle opened.

“Karma,” Jirou said in a singsong voice.

"You shouldn't waste your time on the guy."  

"It's just that I've wanted to be a hero since I was a little kid. I may not have a quirk, but I can still try my hardest, can't I?" Midoriya's voice from earlier that day can be heard.

"Someone has gotta teach that worthless nerd how the world works," Bakugo replied, exploding the can in his hand, "I hate it when he talks about heroes."

His two friends laughed. "Hey, I got an idea, we should go to the arcade. Get your mind off it, ya know?" one of them suggested.

"Fine."

"Or we can sneak into the bar at the station. Pick up some ladies," the other suggested. 

"Now that's a good idea," the other one agreed.

 "Idiots! If we get caught, there's no way UA would let me in," Bakugo responded.

“That was your reason not to do that? Ker0. Not that it’s just a bad idea or illegal. You need to get your priorities straight. Kero” Asui chimed in.

His two friends pointed behind him in fear, "Hey, what's that?"

The sludge villain had escaped the bottle and appeared behind Bakugou, "perfect. I like a skin suit with some fire."

The words "Episode 2: What It Takes to Be a Hero" appeared in front of a yellow screen. The screen then changed back to the rooftop with Midoriya and All Might.

Midoriya screamed. "I... Wait. Who...? What happened? You deflated! Ah! Where'd All Might go? You! You're not him. You're a fake! An Imposter!" Midoriya said in shock.

Now in his skinny form, All might sighed. "I assure you that I am All Mi..." he said before coughing up blood.

Midoriya screamed again, "Impossible!"

"You know how guys at the pool are always sucking in and flexing and trying to look buff? I'm like that." All Might tried to explain.

“Is that really how you think of it, Nori?” He looked sheepish at being called out.

"This can't be real! No. I'm dreaming. All Might's a giant of a man who saves everyone. He defeats all obstacles and wins the day with a fearless smile," Midoriya said, still in shock.

"There's plenty of fear behind that smile," All Might said before sitting down, "I'm counting on you to keep your mouth shut. Don't go talking about this online or telling your friends."

"Huh?" Midoriya asked before reeling back in shock.

The screen showed All Might with his shirt lifted, a giant scar on the left side of his stomach. "Pretty gross, right? I got this in a big fight five years back. My respiratory system was destroyed. I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out. And it can't be fixed. Right now, I can only do hero work for about three hours a day. The rest of the time, this is what I look like."

“I have no idea how you kept this a secret for so long. You met a random teen and defeated in front of him and showed him your greatest weakness. You're an idiot, Yagi.”

“You’re in for a big surprise later than Aizawa.”

“What are you talking about Bakugou?”

“You’ll learn soon enough, Aizawa-sensei.”

“I’m extremely concerned about the fact that both you and Bakugou know what it is and both want to keep me in suspense.”

Midoriya gasped in shock, "No way... Five years ago? So does that mean it was the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?"

“How the fuck did you just know that off the top of your head?”

“Well, All Might was one of my favorite heroes so I kept track of his fights.”

“What he means to say, Pickacu is that his stalker notebooks are only there because he thinks too fast to process it all without writing it down. He has almost all of that information in his head.”

"Wow, you know your stuff," All might said impressed, "but no. The punk may have landed some hits, but he couldn't bring me down. Most of the world has never heard of this fight. I did everything I could to keep it under wraps. I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling, right? I'm the symbol of peace. People everywhere have to think that I'm never afraid. But honestly, I smile to hide the fear inside. It's just a brave face I put on when the pressure is high. This job isn't easy. Pro heroes are always having to risk their lives. Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So, can you be a hero? Not without a quirk."

“No…” The entire class couldn’t believe it, “He’s the number one hero, he can’t say that. He has to say yes.”

“It’s okay Ochaco, he was right. I couldn’t have gotten into UA without my quirk.”

“Yes, you could have.”

“What?’

“You could have done it, Problem Child. I fight quirkless, and my quirk is useless against mutant quirks. It would take a bit of training, and you probably couldn’t be a limelight hero, but you could do it. If anyone could, it would be you.”

“Thank you,” He responded as he went to hug Aizawa. “You don’t know how much that means to me…”

"I see..." Midoriya said quietly, still in shock.

"If you wanna help people, there are plenty of other ways to do it. You could become a police officer. They get crap because the heroes capture most of the villains. But it's a fine profession. It's not bad to have a dream, young man. Just make sure your dreams are attainable. Realistic . Understand?" All Might said, getting up and walking out the door. "Now, let's get you to the station," All Might said before realizing that the bottles with the sludge villain were no longer there. An explosion is heard in the background, 'not good,' All Might thought to himself.

“YOU LEFT HIM THERE!”

“Yes. I had to go find the villain.” Yagi responds obliviously to the problem.

“YOU- you know what, I’m going to leave this one to the rest of the teachers.”

“Thank you, Sho,” Hizashi smiled just a bit too sweet, “ We’ll be right back.”

All Might, Hizashi, Nemuri, Recovery Girl, and Nana went outside the theater.

“Should we go help him?”

“Goddammit Deku, no. He is a grown-ass adult and the former number one hero. He should face the consequences of his actions.”

“How about we take a break. I have a feeling they’re going to take a while.” Cameron leads them out the opposite door. They also left a note for the others once they finished destroying, or um talking to the former number one hero.

“Hey, is it okay if Kiri and I go train for a bit?”

“Sure Green Bean. Go get him and all show you where they are.”

==

“Hey Hitoshi, if Problem Child is okay with it as well, would you be okay with him joining our training and being your sparring partner? I know I said that he would join your training before, but I want to check with you as well. We can always train him separately.”

“Yeah, I think that it would be nice to have another sparring partner. Not that I don’t like sparring with you, but you're on a whole other level, Dad. You're going to have to give me a few years before I can even try and beat you.”

“Okay, I just wanted to check with you."

Chapter Text

Back on the rooftop, Midoriya heard the explosion. "A villain! I wonder which heroes will show," Midoriya gasped, running for the door.

"Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So, can you be a hero? Not without a quirk," All Might's voice can be heard saying. This stopped Midoriya in his tracks. He sighed and looked down before walking off.

The screen showed All Might in his skinny form running towards the explosion.

At the Tatooine shopping district, civilians can be heard screaming. "It's a monster!" one yelled as another explosion went off, causing a building to start collapsing.

Death Arms and two other pro heroes showed up at the scene. "It's taken, someone hostage! How dare you prey on a child!" Death Arms said as he rushed at the sludge villain, who had Bakugo. Death Arms punched the villain, but it did nothing. His fist started sinking into the villain, "What the hell is this? Some kinda goo." The sludge villain hit Death Arms, sending him flying into a wall.

“THAT WAS YOU?” Denki turned wide-eyed to Bakugo.

“Yeah, was about it?” Bakugou couldn’t stand to watch it again. The feeling of helplessness, that fact that even with his perfect, heroic quirk he couldn’t save himself. The feeling of the slime sliding down his throat and suffocating him. The complete silence. He could see everyone yelling, he could see the green, black and yellow blur that came rushing towards him. Yet no sound made it to his ears until he was able to pull his head out of the slime that engulfed him. All the sounds hit him at once. The yelling of the heroes, the crowd behind them talking about him, that breathing of the person who helped him. He turned, expecting to see a hero, instead, it was Deku. He couldn’t believe it, how quirkless Deku was able to do more to save him than he was. He shouldn’t even be here! He suddenly felt arms wrapped around him. He went into a panic until he felt the hardened skin underneath his hands. He opened his eyes to Kirisima hugging him and the Nerd standing off to the side giving him a knowing, but worried smile. 

“You okay now Bakugo?” Ouch, that name from Kirisima’s mouth still hurts more than it should. “You respond to Kami and then sort of zoned out.”

“Yeah, I’m fine Shitty Hair. Just don’t want to watch the Nerd throw himself into danger again.”

“What do you mean, Bakugo?”

“Kacchan! We didn’t get that far!”

“Just giving Aizawa a heads up about his Problem Child.”

“HEY! That’s not fair! I was supposed to have a break from being the Problem Child.”

“You’re always a Problem Child, even when we were younger. You were always the Problem Child, I doubt half the teachers even knew your name.”

“But that was different! They were just mean, I don’t think Aizawa means it like that. Sort of like Uraraka calling me Deku on the first day of school.”

“Of course not Pro-Midoriya. I call you Problem Child because of the problems that seem to follow you, not because you’re a problem. I would never do that, and any teacher who did should not be a teacher.”

"You okay, Death Arms?" one of the heroes he arrived with asked.

"Heads up!" yelled the other as the villain attacked the two heroes.

"Ha! Stay back, or I'll snap his neck!" the sludge villain told the heroes.

"You picked the wrong guy to mess with. I'm gonna send you back to whatever sewer you crawled out of! Let me go," Bakugo yelled, struggling to break free from the villain's hold, setting off more explosions.

"You've got so much power. I hit the jackpot. With a quirk like yours under my control, I can take all might down with one punch," the sludge villain said, growing bigger.

"Whoa, is that some kinda special move? This dude is a legit supervillain."

"It's her! That new hero, Mt. lady, will stop him!" 

Mt. Lady could be seen running to the scene, but she stopped before she could get to the villain. "My only weakness! I need at least a two-lane road if I'm gonna make my way through here," the hero stated.

“You were on point with the earlier analysis, Midoriya!” Nezu chipped back with a smile.

Bakugo's friends can be seen panicking surrounded by fire before getting rescued along with some other civilians by Kamui Woods. "Fire and wood don't exactly make a good combination. I'll let someone else stop this guy," Kamui Woods said.

"Don't look at me. I've got my hands full here. Where are those fire trucks? Can you guys get to him?" Backdraft said as he used his quirk to try and put out the fires that Bakugo had started.

"Can't get a grip on his weird body. Plus, that kid's Quirk's causing explosions left and right," Death Arms responded.

"This is a shutout. We've gotta rally and knock him outta the park somehow. Incoming," one of the other heroes commented as the sludge villain attacked the two heroes.

"It's no good. None of us have the right Quirks to stop a villain like this!" Death Arms replied.

"We'll do damage control until someone with the right powers shows up," another hero piped up.

"There are still plenty of people to save," Backdraft stated.

"Don't worry. I bet every hero in the city's coming," Kamui Woods responded.

'I'm sorry, kid. You'll have to hold on a little bit longer. Damn! If I only had more power, I could blow this guy away.' Death Arms thought to himself.

“They’re just going to leave him there! They’re supposed to help him!”

“This is why I make sure to make you know the importance of quirkless fighting. You can’t use your quirk all the time, but that doesn't mean you can’t still help.”

"Uh, this looks bad. Maybe we should run?" one of the civilians said as All Might finally make it to the scene in his skinny form.

"C'mon, heroes. You've got this!" 

'Must've dropped him in the air. I was distracted, worrying about my time limit. I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake, and after lecturing that kid about what it takes to be a hero. I'm pathetic.' All Might thinks to himself, grabbing his scar.

Midoriya can be seen walking down the street, reading his hero analysis notebook.

"He'll never be a hero. Better to find out now instead of later, I guess," the voice of one of Bakugo's friends can be heard saying.

"Make sure your dreams are attainable," All Might's voice said.

Midoriya sighed, 'Even All Might said it. A hero needs a quirk. Don't cry, dammit. Deep down, you knew this all along. You've just been avoiding reality. That's why you were trying so desperately to prove yourself wrong,' he thought to himself. An explosion is heard. Midoriya looked up. 'That's strange. Is the fight from earlier still going on? Why am I here? Did I subconsciously walk this way to check it out? I shouldn't even stop. All my notes are useless.' 

“Why does that not surprise me? If anyone was going to subconsciously walk towards a fight, it would be Midoriya.” The rest of the class agreed with Shoji’s statement. (Bet you forgot he was here.)

“He literally walked into Eri and Overhaul. It’s like he has either a sixth sense for them or just a hidden villain magnet quirk.” 

“But Sir Nighteye, Miro was with me! He walked into them two!”

“First, you literally crashed into Eri and second that was one time for Miro. I could fill an essay with all the encounters you’ve been involved in.” Izuku just pouted at the answer, unable to find a rebuttal for his argument.

Midoriya looked past the crowd and saw the sludge villain. 'That's the guy who attacked me! That can't be right. All Might captured him. But the bottle... if he dropped it...' " that means... It's my fault, " he mutters to himself.

"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?"

"It looks like they've met their match. Plus, the villain captured a kid. Things aren't looking good for him."

'He caught someone? I wonder how long they've been in there. How can they survive being suffocated like that? I thought I'd die after only a few seconds of struggling. Oh, man.' Midoriya thought, remembering how horrible it felt being suffocated by the sludge villain.

"Wait, I'm confused. Isn't that the villain All Might was chasing earlier today?"

"What? All Might? No way he lost. Where is he?"

"Well, can someone call him or something?"

 "Seriously! Why hasn't he shown up to help the heroes?"

'I'm the one to blame. He wasted his energy on me.' Midoriya thought.

'I'm worthless.' All Might thought.

'He can't power up yet. And none of the other heroes have the quirks to stop this monster.'

'So pathetic...'

'It's my fault. I'm sorry. So sorry.'

'A disgrace.'

'Help will show up and save the day, I'm sure.'

'I'm not a real hero.'

'Someone... A real hero will come soon.' Midoriya thought before looking up and recognizing Bakugo. 

“Okay, well that was depressing.”

“Yeah. For once I agree with Kaminari-”

“HEY! NOT COOL JIROU!”

“You both need some more self-worth.” They continued ignoring Kaminari.

“Again, I’m sorry Aizawa-sensei,”

“Not again, Problem Child.” This kid is gonna give me grey hairs. Jirou had a good point, though. Problem Child has zero sense of self-worth, which probably leads to his self-sacrificial tendencies.

He dropped his notebook and ran forward, past the heroes.

"No, you idiot! Stop! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Death Arms yelled.

The sludge villain recognized Midoriya and said, "not this brat again."

"Deku," Bakugo said as he recognized the boy running at him.

'What am I doing? Why am I running? Why can't I stop?' Midoriya thought to himself as he kept running towards the villain. 

"You're toast, Kid!" the sludge villain yelled, getting ready to punch Midoriya.

'What do I do? What would a hero do right now?' Midoriya thought, before remembering his hero notebooks, 'Page 25, right!' Midoriya threw his backpack at the villain. "Take this!" he yelled as one of his notebooks fell out of his bag, hitting the villain in the eye. This gave Bakugo a chance to breathe. "Kacchan!" Midoriya yelled as he began to claw at the sludge villain trying to free Bakugo.

“YOU’RE THE KID WHO SAVED HIM!”

“Yes?”

“Midobro! You’re the reason I decided to try out for the hero course! My quirk isn’t really flashy and I wasn’t able to help my classmates when they needed it. So I was going to give up on my dream of becoming a hero, and then I saw this news article of this kid, you, helping save Bakugou and decided that if you could face something like that without a flashy quirk, that maybe I could be a hero as well!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! That’s so cool! I always wanted to meet the person who helped me chase my dream, little did I know you were here the whole time!”

“That is the other thing. Like I mentioned earlier, most of you change decisions because of Midoriya. There’s a universe where Midoriya sat on the roof for a bit longer. The result was Bakugou suffocated and was in a coma for two years, so he missed the entrance exam and never became a hero. Kirishima also never had the push to pursue his dreams and instead, he became a martial arts instructor.

"What the hell? Why are you here?" Bakugo asked.

"I dunno. My legs... They just started... moving!" Midoriya replied. 

"I don't know why I did what I did," Midoriya began to narrate. 

Memories begin to flash by.

"Sorry, kid..." the doctor said.

"I'm the one to blame," Midoriya's voice is heard saying.

"You really think they'd let someone like you..." Bakugo said.

"He's the coolest in the universe," the younger Midoriya said.

"Kachan!" Midoriya shouted.

"I've wanted to be a hero..." Midoriya said.

"I honestly don't think you can become a hero..." All Might's voice is heard saying.

"There's always a smile on his face..." the younger Midoriya said, crying.

"Maybe it was the look on his face," Midoriya finished narrating.

"Kacchan! I couldn't just stand there and watch you die!" Midoriya told Bakugo.

“Wow, that's ironic.” Nemuri laughed.

“Really Nem? Why would you say that?”

“So you’re gonna tell me you didn’t think the same thing, Hizashi?”

“I’m not denying that I did, but at least I didn’t say anything about it.”

“Fine.”

"Get the hell off me!" Bakugo yelled.

All Might transformed from his skinny form into his muscular one. 'I have to do something. No matter the cost,' he thought to himself.

"Just a little bit longer, Kid. And I'm done playing with you!" the sludge villain said with his hand raised about to hit Midoriya.

"Save the boy! This thing will kill him!" Death Arms yelled as the pro heroes rushed forwards.

The sludge villain brought his hand down, and a cloud of smoke was seen. 

"I really am pathetic," All Might said, standing over Midoriya, blocking the sludge villain from hitting the boy.

"All Might. but..." Midoriya muttered.

"I told you the traits that make a great champion, but I see now I wasn't living up to my ideal. Pros are always risking their lives! That's the true test of a hero!" All might be said, blood coming out of his mouth.

"Damn you, All Might!" the sludge villain yelled, trying to attack him.

"Detroit... Smash!" All Might yelled, punching the air right in front of the sludge villain. This created a blast of wind that ripped apart the sludge villain. All Might grabbed Bakugo and Midoriya to make sure they didn't fly away, while Mt. Lady protected the civilians from the blast. The blast was so powerful that it created a tornado. Once the tornado had settled, it began to rain. 

"Huh? It's raining"

"Don't tell me all that wind just now was..."

"Look at the clouds. they're moving!"

"Holy crap. He changed the weather," Death Arms commented.

"Did that just happen?"

"He changed the weather with a single punch. All Might saved the day again. He's amazing!"

All Might stood up, raising his right fist in the air, as the crowd broke out into cheers. The two boys can be seen unconscious, lying on the floor.

"After that, the heroes collected all the scattered mounds of sludge. And the villain went into police custody where he belonged." Midoriya began to narrate.

"You moron. Do you have a death wish?" Kamui woods asked Midoriya.

"There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger like that," Death Arms said.

"I got chewed out by the heroes, big time, while Kacchan was praised for his bravery," finished Midoriya.

“That’s not fair. Bakugou could have died if Midoriya didn’t do anything.” 

“While that’s true Todoroki, heroes also can’t praise him for running into danger without any training. We can’t have civilians running into danger and hoping for the best. Midoriya was fine, but if he wasn’t it would be on the heroes for not controlling the crowds.” 

"Man, you're tough, Kid! And that quirk is somethin' else! When you wanna go pro, head over to my agency first! I'd love for you to be my sidekick while you're training!" one of the pro heroes told Bakugo, but he paid no attention scowling at Midoriya.

'I wanted to apologize to All Might, but he was swarmed by interviewers. I didn't wanna interrupt. I can always try to send a message through his website when I get home,' Midoriya thought to himself as he walked home.

"Deku!" Bakugo yelled, running to catch up with him.

"Kacchan?" he asked, confused.

“Is he actually going to thank him? Am I in the twilight zone?”Denki asked, draping himself dramatically across Mina.

“I highly doubt that. I haven’t known Boom-boom-boi for long, but he doesn't seem like the type to thank people. He is more likely to yell at them instead of thanking them.” 

“Mei! Have you been here the whole time?”

“Hey One-Million! Yup, I’ve been here the whole time. Cam gave me a broken phonograph. I think that’s what she called it. Apparently, you would put a disc on it or something and it would play music.”

“Cool! Would it be okay if I tried to help? I’m pretty sure my mom had one that my dad got her years ago, but it’s broken. Maybe we could fix that one and you could help me fix ours!”

“Sure thing One-Million! I’m not sure what it’s supposed to look like so you could be helpful!” Midoriya went over to Mei and they began working together to fix the phonograph.

“Should we be afraid of the two problem children working together, Sho?”

“Maybe she’ll occupy him enough that he won't go chasing villain fights.”

“I still don’t think we should leave them alone with anything. From what I’ve heard Powerloader removed all the combustible, explosive, and flammable items from her lab and she still made an explosion that was heard across the school and a flamethrower that can shoot fireballs. That paired the Little Listener mind they could take over the- Fuck.”

“What now Zashi?”

“Nezu is over there with the two of them, having a pleasant conversation and playing chess with your Little Listener. We’re all doomed.”

“I think you missed something. Midoriya’s winning, and only half paying attention since he’s also working on the phonograph with Mei.”

“That’s it. We are all going to die here and they’re going to take over the world.”

"Listen. I would never ask for a weakling like you to help me. Don't think you can look down on me. Huh? Got that? I was fine by myself. You're just a quirkless failure who won't even cut it as a rent-a-cop. You didn't help me. You did nothing. Don't forget. I don't owe you anything!" Bakugo told him before walking off.

“Told you.”

'What was that? Kacchan is right, though. It's not like I actually did anything to help today. But... At least I tried. Guess now I should get back to giving up on my dreams.' he thought.

"I am here!" All Might yelled, appearing out of nowhere.

"All Might! Where'd you come from? Uh, how'd you get rid of all those reporters?" Izuku asked.

All Might laughed. "I stand for justice! Not soundbites! because I ... I am all mi..." he said before coughing up blood and transforming back into his skinny form. "Young man. I came here to thank you. And also to discuss your question from earlier."

"Huh?"

"If you hadn't told me about your life... If you hadn't run into the fight... I would've been a worthless bystander watching from the crowd. So thanks."

"Oh, no. It was my fault he was there, to begin with. I got in the way of your hard work. I wasted your energy. And... not to mention your time."

"I'm not done. You told me you didn't have power. So when I saw this timid, Quirkless boy try to save a life. It inspired me to act, too. There are stories about every hero how they became great. Most have one thing in common. Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think. Almost on their own."

"For some reason, I remembered my mother's words at that moment," Midoriya began to narrate.

"I'm sorry, Izuku, I wish things were different," his mother is heard saying. Midoriya began to cry.

"And today, that's what happened to you," All Might told him.

"You never told me, mom. Back then... the thing I wanted you to say... the words I needed to hear," Midoriya continued to narrate, falling to his knees crying. 

"Young man. You too can become a hero," All Might told Midoriya.

"Dreams can become a reality. Oh, by the way. I forgot to mention that this is the story of how I became the world's greatest hero," Midoriya finished narrating.

The outro began.

...Chaos.

“OKAY! EVERYONE SHUT UP!” Cam yelled, “We still have to watch one more episode, then we’ll move onto new AU’s. We might go back to watch more of your universe to look at different events, but for right now we’re almost done. If everyone’s okay, we can just watch the last episode, and then we’ll take a break while I load up the new videos.” Everyone agreed. “Okay! Let’s go! This episode is a lot happier than the past ones we’ve seen.”

Chapter Text

Loading ‘The Training Arc’

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"The world's most popular hero. All Might! Age unknown. Quirk unidentified," Midoriya began to narrate as All Might is seen on the screen. "He broke onto the hero scene and was an immediate hit, thanks to his abilities," different All Might merchandise is shown on the screen. "Ever since he appeared, crime rates have drastically decreased. His very existence, a deterrent for many would-be villains," a graph showing the effect of All Might's existence on the number of crimes committed by villains are seen.

 "The world's a safer place. They don't just call him the symbol of peace. It's what he is. And this pillar of justice said to me," Midoriya finished as the scene the last episode ended on is shown.

"Young man. You too can become a hero," All Might said, standing in front of a crying Midoriya in his skinny form.

"Midoriya? You're kidding..." one of his classmate's voices is heard.

"Quirkless wannabe. You really think they'd let someone like you in when they could have me?" Bakugo can be heard asking.

"Sorry, kid, it's not gonna happen," his childhood doctor's voice is heard.

"I'm sorry, Izuku," his mother's voice is heard saying.

"I needed someone to tell me that. And then...the person I admire most in this world did. Honestly, part of me never thought I'd hear those words. Much less from him," Midoriya narrated while kneeling on the ground crying.

"I deem you worthy of my power. My quirk is yours to inherit," All Might said.

Midoriya stopped crying and gasped in shock, "Huh?"

The intro began to play.

“WHAT! You can’t just leave it there!”

“Does that mean the rumors of the underground are true?”

“Midoriya, you are All Might’s son. My theory has been confirmed.”

“Shochan, no. Do you really think All Might would tell his son he couldn’t be a hero?”

“You’re right. By that logic, you must be Aizawa-sensei’s son. That makes so much more sense. That’s why you’re so close with Shinso, who looks a lot like Aizawa-sensei and you have the personality of Yamada-sensei. How could I have missed this!”

“Shoto no! Ew, that would mean I’m dating my brother. No, thank you. Going back to the All Might is my dad's theory.”

“You’re dating someone?”

“You and Shinso are dating?”

“I told you, you couldn’t keep it a secret. Now you owe me a cat cafe date.”

“Fuck.”

“Language Problem Child.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know” He sighed as he went to sit with Shinso. Only Aizawa and Shinso saw the longing look in Todoroki’s eyes as Midoriya walked away.

“Why do we have the most traumatized ones?”

“Because our son decided to date the sunshine listener, who is actually one of the most traumatized and happens to be a trauma magnet.”

The intro ended, and the screen showed the earlier scene again.

"Wait. What do you mean, inherit? Inherit what?" Midoriya asked, confused.

All Might laughed. "You should see your face right now. Don't worry. I'm not gonna force this thing on you. Listen well, young man. This is your choice. Do you wanna accept my awesome power or not?" All Might asked while coughing up blood.

'W-What is he talking about? What is this?' Midoriya thought to himself, still in shock.

"There are a couple of things you should know about my abilities. Journalists always guess my quirk is super-strength or some kind of invulnerability. When people ask in interviews, I always make a joke and dodge the question." All Might said while the screen showed him making a joke in one of his interviews. "That's because the world needs to believe that their symbol of peace is just a natural-born hero, like any of them. But I'm not. There's nothing natural about my ability. I wasn't born with this power. It's a sacred torch that was passed on to me from someone else," he said, the screen showing him and Midoriya again. 

"Someone gave you this quirk? No way," Midoriya said.

"Yes, way. And you're next. I can give you my abilities," All Might responded.

"Wait. Hold on. This is a lot to process. It's true that there's a lot of debate as to what your quirk actually is. Nobody's ever figured it out. It's one of the world's greatest mysteries. People are constantly talking about it online." Midoriya said, before starting mumbling, "butwelltheideaofpassingonaquirkorinheritingitjustdoesn'tmakeanysensetome.I'veneverheardanythinglikethatbefore.Powersaresupposedtobeuniquetoeachindividual.Imean,sincethefirstsuperpowers,noone'severbeenabletojustgivesomeoneelsetheirpowerlikeapresent.That'scrazy.Ifthisistrue,itwouldcauseustorethinkeverythingweknowaboutquirkstobeginwith.Allbetsareoffthetable." (AN: If you don’t feel like trying to decipher all of that here you go: "but well the idea of passing on a quirk or inheriting it just doesn't make any sense to me. I've never heard anything like that before. Powers are supposed to be unique to each individual. I mean, since the first superpowers, no one's ever been able to just give someone else their power like a present. That's crazy. If this is true, it would cause us to rethink everything we know about quirks, to begin with. All bets are off the table.")

“Did anyone just understand what he said?”

“Yes?” Todoroki asked, oblivious to the fact that most people haven't been around Midoriya enough to pick out what he just said.

"Uh, sounds like you're overthinking this whole 'inheriting thing.' Stop nerding out! You'll have to adjust your reality and accept this new truth! I can transfer my quirk to someone else. And that's just one facet of my secret abilities. The true name of my power is One for All," All Might said, breaking Midoriya out of his mumbling.

"One... For... All," Midoriya repeated.

"Yes. One person improves the power, then hands it off to another person. It continues to grow as it's passed along. It is this cultivated power that allows me to save those who are in need of a hero. The truth behind my strength," All Might said, as the screen showed a light being passed from one ball of light to another, growing brighter and faster with each ball of light it touched.

“Wait, so that’s the quirk you have! You have All MIght’s quirk awesome!”

“Yeah! That’s so cool that you got given a quirk!”

"But why would you choose to give me a gift like that? What if I can't live up to it?" Midoriya asked.

“And we're back to the trademark Midoriya tears and self-depreciation.” as he untangled himself from Midoriya.

“Toshi, come back.”

“Nope. I’ll only go back when you stop putting yourself down every other thought.”

“Fine, I’ll go cuddle Shochan then, He’s warmer anyway.” He walked off ignoring the wide-eyed look of his boyfriend. That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. Shinso looked to his parents for help just to see them laughing at his situation. He then looked over to see his boyfriends laying across a very confused Todoroki.

"I was on a long hunt for a worthy successor. And then, I watched you jump into action as the rest of us stood idly by. You may just be a quirkless fanboy. But you tried to save that kid. You acted like a hero. Seriously! You gotta stop crying so much if you want my quirk. Come on, kid," All Might replied as Midoriya began crying again.

'He's said so much to encourage me. He even told me the secret behind his powers. Is this... Is this what I've been waiting for all these years? How can I turn him down?' Midoriya thought. "Okay, I'll do it. Yes!" he told All Might.

"No reluctance. That's exactly how I figured you'd respond," All Might said.

"But it wasn't that simple. Receiving All Might's power turned out to be no easy task. As I'd soon find out," Midoriya narrated.

The screen showed the words "Episode 3: Roaring Muscles" behind a yellow background before changing to show Dagoba Municipal Beach, a beach covered in trash.

Midoriya grunted, trying to drag a large industrial refrigerator with All Might sitting on top of it across the beach. "Hey, hey, hey. It's pretty comfy up on this fridge. How are you doing down there? People move these every day, y' know. And most of them don't even have any super strength," All Might said as Midoriya collapsed. 

"Well, yeah, but... there's an extra 600 pounds with you sitting on top of it," Midoriya responded.

“Fanboy alert.” 

"Nah, I've lost weight, so I'm down to 560 these days. In this form, at least."

"Great, much better. Why do you have me dragging trash across the beach, anyway?"

All Might laughed, taking a picture of the kid, "Take a look at yourself. You're not ready for my power."

"But I thought you said that I was worthy!" Midoriya started to cry.

"I'm talking about your weak body. My quirk, one for all, is a whole lot to handle. The combined physical abilities of everyone who's ever used it creates a hurricane of pure force. An unprepared body can't fully inherit it. Your arms and legs would shoot off if you tried to," All Might said, getting down from the refrigerator.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, breaking my bones was probably the best outcome after getting the quirk.”

"Seriously? Okay. So this whole trash thing is really some kind of hardcore gym workout. And... you're my trainer."

"You got it. But there's another reason, too. I did a little online research yesterday. Turns out this part of the beach used to be beautiful, but it's been a mess for the last few years."

"That's right. Because of the ocean currents, anything that's dropped in the water ends up here. People take advantage of that when they're illegally dumping their trash. Now, all the locals avoid this place."

"Heroes these days are all about showing off and capturing flashy villains. Things were different before quirks. Service was what mattered. Back then, heroes were those who helped the community. Even if it was kinda boring, you will restore the coastline for this entire section of the beach. That is the first step on your path, young man. Towards being a hero," All Might said, crushing the fridge with one hand, making a blast that cleared a little section of the beach.

So maybe I judged him too harshly about his love of the media

"Um... all this? But there's so much. That's impossible!" Midoriya said, glancing around.

"Young Midoriya, you wanna go to UA, right?"

"Well, yeah. Of course! You went there. So it must be the best school around, right? It's a long shot. But still. I'm gonna shoot for the moon. UA!"

"You've got a lot of spirit, fanboy! But, as I've mentioned before, hero-ing isn't easy to do without a quirk. It's not fair, but that's the reality. And UA is the hardest hero course to get into. So that means..."

"...that I have to prepare my body for your quirk really fast. UA's exam is in ten months!"

"Not to worry, kid. I've got you covered. With the help of my handy 'Aim to pass: American Dream Plan!' Follow this to the letter, and the beach will be cleared up just in time. I also detailed every other aspect of your life while I was at it," All Might said, handing Midoriya the workout plan.

"Even my sleep is scheduled," Midoriya pointed out, flipping through the plan.

"If I'm being honest, this is going to be super hard. Think you're up to it?"

"Yeah, sure I am. I have to work way harder than anyone else to get in. So what choice do I have, right?"

"Just like that, I began ten months of absolute hell," Midoriya narrated.

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“You have no idea.”

"Come on, put your back into it, Midoriya! It's not gonna move itself!" All Might said as Midoriya dragged a set of lockers across the beach.

'I'm using different muscle groups depending on the size and shape of the trash I'm hauling,' Midoriya thinks to himself, running across the beach carrying a tire.

"Let's go, let's go! The clock is ticking, and ten months will be over before you know it! Don't you give up! It's time to go beyond!" All Might yelled in his skinny form as Midoriya tripped.

The screen now showed Midoriya's middle school.

"So you see, with the appearance of quirks, the building standards act in place had to be..." Midoriya's teacher said.

'So tired. But I gotta focus. It'd be better if I could finish the cleanup a week before the exam.' Midoriya thought to himself, looking exhausted. 

He began to mumble to himself, "ThatmeansI'veonlygot294daysleft.IfItakerecoveryperiodsintoaccount,assumingI'llberestingtwodaysbetweeneachhardworkout,thenthatgivesmeabout98daysofactualtraining,evenatmymostefficient.Icangetinaroundfivehourseverymorningandnight,sothat's490hours.Also,I'llneedtomakesureI'mhittingeverymusclegroup,whichmeansIneedtopayattentiontotheworkI'mdoingonthebeacheveryday.Icouldstartsneakinginextraworkoutsandliftingweightsonmyown,Isuppose.Yeah,yeah.Thatwouldhelpmefocusmyworkoutsandisolatespecificmuscles.Butit'llcostmetime.Lotsofit.I'llhavetocutbackonthehoursofsleepAllMightscheduledforme,butindependenttrainingcouldhelpmecatchupalittlebitmore.Excellent." Everyone in the room except Bakugo, turned to look at the muttering boy.  (A/N: Here you go. "That means I've only got 294 days left. If I take recovery periods into account, assuming I'll be resting two days between each hard workout, then that gives me about 98 days of actual training, even at my most efficient. I can get in around five hours every morning and night, so that's 490 hours. Also, I'll need to make sure I'm hitting every muscle group, which means I need to pay attention to the work I'm doing on the beach every day,, I could start sneaking in extra workouts and lifting weights on my own, I suppose. Yeah, yeah. That would help me focus my workouts and isolate specific muscles. But it'll cost me time. Lots of it. I'll have to cut back on the hours of sleep All Might scheduled for me, but independent training could help me catch up a little bit more. Excellent.")

"Hey! Midoriya! I know you had a run-in with a villain. But pull yourself together, kid! If you really wanna get into UA, you might have to know something," his teacher told him after hitting him over the head. All the students laughed at him.

“Okay, who’s joining me in taking down a school?”

“I’ve already started creating a case against them. I think as long as Midoriya agrees to have a recorded talk with Tsukauchi then he wouldn’t even have to be a witness with us backing him.”

'Oh, right, I've gotta study too,' Midoriya thought to himself. 

"You hear him? Nuts!"

"Idiot!" one of the students said as Bakugo just ignored Midoriya.

The screen showed the first seven months of Midoriya training on the beach with All Might. Running on the beach. Pushing a tire through the sand. Showing his mother the meal plan. Eating a lot of food. Staying up late to study and do school work. Pushing another set of lockers across the beach. Doing pushups. Being half asleep during class. Scarfing down a bunch of food.

Running through his neighborhood at night. Throwing up on the beach. Trying to push a truck across the beach. Swimming in the ocean while All Might got swarmed by fans.

Lifting weights in his room. Throwing trash into the truck. Working out in school.

And giving All Might a piggyback ride.

“Okay, maybe he wasn’t exaggerating about the training,” Uraraka commented.

“Yeah, I would have been given up by now,” Denki respond.

“Yeah, but the Nerd over here turns all of his anger into determination.” And if the class shivered at the thought of knowing that Midoriya’s biggest traits were kindness and determination.

The screen now showed Midoriya running through a park carrying trash and All Might, in his skinny form, riding a segway.

Midoriya collapsed. "Hey, hey, kid, look alive now! You've only got three months left! What, are you gonna give up after all this work? Wanna flush it all down the toilet and take it easy?" All Might asked. Midoriya tried to move but couldn't. 

"You're overworked. The 'Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan' was created with your body in mind. It was fine-tuned to ensure your progress was swift but manageable. Which means... You haven't been sticking to it. You're overdoing things; that's gonna have the opposite effect of what we want!" All Might said.

“Of course he did. Problem Child, you need to learn how to pace yourself and take breaks.”

“But I didn’t have time for breaks. I barely made it as it is.”

"I have to work harder. Or I won't stand a chance against the other applicants. I don't just want into UA. I want to excel. I want.. to be like you. I want... to be the greatest hero in the world! So I'll keep on trying. Until I've got what it takes to do that," Midoriya responded, still trying to get up.

"I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe. And be just like you!" Midoriya's voice said to All Might on the rooftop.

'Gotta hand it to the kid. He's given a lot of thought to the future,' All Might thought. "That fighting spirit's what I like about you, fanboy! It serves you well. I do get your concerns. That said, Now's not the time to go and rush progress. Fear not! I can get you back on track. Leave it to this old man to adjust your plan!" All Might said, transforming into his muscular form and lifting Midoriya.

"You're not an old man, All Might," Midoriya replied weakly, making All Might laugh.

The screen showed the beach early in the morning on the day of the entrance exam. 

All Might, in his skinny form, got out of his truck.

"And suddenly, it was the morning of the exam," Midoriya narrated.

Midoriya screamed, standing on a pile of trash in the parking lot.

"Hey, hey, holy crap, kid. You even cleaned up outside the area I told you to. Seriously... There's not one speck of trash left on this beach. Only a few minutes to spare. But you exceeded my expectations! Holy... Stinkin'... Supercrap! Excellent work," All Might said, transforming into his muscular form, catching Midoriya as he fell from the pile of trash. The screen showed the beach, with no trash anywhere in sight.

"I finished everything. All Might. I did it. Do you think I'm ready now?" Midoriya asked, still in All Might's arms.

"Yeah, you did good, kid. I gotta say, I'm impressed. I knew you had it in you, but this is beyond. Look at this." All Might replied, setting the boy down and showing him his phone.

"Um?" Midoriya said, looking at the picture of him crying.

"It's you crying ten months ago. Look how far you've come—such improvement. There's still a long road ahead of you before you can inherit my full power set. But it's starting to look like you can do it." The screen showed Midoriya, super muscular after training with All Might for 10 months.

“Wow Midoriya, you really bulked up quickly!”

“Thanks, Mina!” Shinso has decided that he’s done being mad at Izuku and wants cuddles again. He goes over and picks Izuku up from next to Todoroki so that now he’s laying across both of them. 

“Hey, Zuzu.” Shinso leans against Todoroki and relaxes into the warmth of his left side.

“Hello Toshi, did you just realize how warm Shochan is?”

“Shut up, and let me enjoy the warmth. We’re inviting him to movie night.”

“Shouldn’t you ask him that?”

“Todoroki, you’re joining us for movie night.” Izuku hits his arm lightly.

“What Toshi means to say is, would you like to join us for movie night?”

“Sure, but what is movie night?”

“That’s it. We’re keeping him, Toshi.”

“You can’t just adopt people. He has parents.”

“Yeah, but we all know Eneawhore is a flaming trash so he doesn’t count.” 

“Fine, but we still can’t adopt him.”

"All Might... Do I deserve this? Are you sure?"

"Hm?"

"You put so much time and energy into helping me. How did I end up so lucky?" Midoriya asked, beginning to cry.

All Might laughed. 'Are you really worried about that after all these months?' All Might thought to himself. "It was your hard work that did this, not mine. Now. For your reward, Izuku Midoriya," All Might told the boy.

"Yes, sir!"

"Someone told me this once. There's a difference between being lucky and deserving. One's an accident, the other a reward. Never get the two confused. Take that to heart, young man. This gift. You earned it with your own valiant efforts," All Might said, plucking a strand of hair from his hand and holding it out to Midoriya.

“Wow. All Might’s actually said something helpful. That’s new.”

“Denki, I didn’t know it was dish-a-bitch time! Why didn't you invite me?”

“Guys, this is very inappropriate behavior.”

"And so... I held out my weak, quirkless hands, and grabbed the future," Midoriya narrated.

"Eat this," All Might said.

"Huh?"

"To inherit my power, you've got to swallow some of my DNA. That's how it works," All Might said, embarrassed.

"This isn't exactly how I imagined it."

"C'mon, there's no time. You'll be late for the exam. Eat. Eat. Eat!" All Might insisted, making Midoriya scream.

“What you do for your dreams, I guess?” Shoji shrugged.

“Revelry in the dark.” 

The screen shows the entrance to UA high.

Midoriya is seen running up to the entrance. "Made it just in time," he said. "I was so worried about missing the exam that I didn't have a chance to test out my new power," Midoriya narrated.

“Wait, so the first time you used your quirk was the entrance exam?”

“Yes, Kayama-sensei.”

“Damn kid. You got that quirk under control in less than a year, even with constant villain attacks interrupting your learning.”

"Eat this," All Might's voice is heard saying.

"I may have swallowed the hair, but I don't feel like anything great has happened to me yet," Midoriya said to himself.

"Stupid Deku," Bakugo said as he walked towards Midoriya.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya said in surprise.

"Get out of my way, now, before I set you on fire," Bakugo told the other boy.

"Oh, hey, good morning. Um, let's just both do our best out there, okay? Good luck!" Midoriya replied, jumping out of the way of Bakugo, frightened. 

"I think that's the kid who withstood the sludge villain. His name's Bakugo, right?" 

"Yeah, he's the real deal."

'Ever since that day, Kacchan's been taking it easier on me. I guess I was just scared out of habit.' 

You shouldn’t have to be scared out of habit, Problem Child.

'But I'm not defenseless anymore. Yeah. I have to remember all the work I've put in. Thanks to All Might, I'm actually going to be a hero. Or, I'll just die,' Midoriya thought before tripping over his own feet.

“Wow. What a mad banquet of darkness.”

“Yeah, you were quick to give up after that.” Shoji agreed

"Heh. Are you okay? I stopped you with my quirk. I'm sorry I didn't ask first. But... I figured you wouldn't mind me catching you. Isn't this all like way nerve-racking?" Uraraka asked, stopping Midoriya from falling using her quirk.

"U-uh, I u-uh..." stuttered Midoriya, unsure of how to talk to a girl.

"Well, guess I'll see you inside," Uraraka said.

'Holy whoa, I just talked to a girl!' Midoriya thought as the words "didn't actually talk" appeared on the screen. Midoriya laughed.

“Way to go Midoriya,” Denki laughed.

The screen showed Present Mic standing on stage in a large theater.

"What's up, UA candidates? Thanks for tuning in to me, your school DJ. C'mon. And lemme hear ya!" Present Mic said. The word "silence" appeared on the screen as no one made a sound. 

“You really thought that a bunch of nervous teenagers, who are going to get their once chance at their dream school would respond?”

“I was just trying to lighten the mood, Sho.”

"Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fine. I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, okay? Are you ready? Yeah!" Once again, the word "silence" appeared on the screen as no one made a sound.

"Oh my goodness, it's the voice hero, present mic. So cool! I listen to his radio show every day of the week. It's so crazy nuts that all the UA teachers are pro heroes," Midoriya muttered as the people around him stared at him.

"Will you shut up?" Bakugo said.

"As your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super-hip urban settings. Gird your loins, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center. Sound good? Okay?" Present Mic said as the screen behind him changes to show the different battle centers. The word "silence" appeared on the screen as no one in the room replied to him.

"I see. they're splitting us up so we can't work with any of our friends," Bakugo said.

"Yeah. You're right. Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but we're assigned to different battle centers," Midoriya replied, looking at their cards. 

"Get your eyes off my card. Damn. I was really looking forward to crushing you," Bakugo said.

"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it! Make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?" Present Mic said. The screen behind him changed to show the three robots, and then a mini-present mic figure crushing the robots.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question," Iida said, raising his hand.

"Hit me!" Present Mic yells.

A spotlight shines on Iida. "On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three. With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do. Additionally, you with the unkempt hair," he said.

"Huh," Midoriya said, pointing at himself.

"You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us," Iida said.

"Sorry," Midoriya muttered as the people around him laughed.

"All right, all right. Examinee number 7111. Thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's... Kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus in the lines toppin' the charts," Present Mic said, as the screen behind him showed the mini Present Mic figure running away from the zero pointers.

"Thank you very much. Please, continue," Iida said, bowing, before sitting down. The spotlight turned off.

"Oh, I get it. So they're kinda like traps you have to get by in games."

"The whole thing's kinda like a video game, huh?"

"That's all I got for you today. I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto! As general, Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down. 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Mm-hm. Now that's a tasty soundbite. Are you ready to go beyond? Let's hear a plus ultra! Good luck! Hope you practiced hitting more than just books," Present Mic said. No one in the theater said plus ultra.

The screen now showed the battle center where Midoriya would take the practical exam.

'Well. This is it. Time to put the ten months of training with All Might to the test. Time to give it my all. I will become a hero. Just like I always dreamed. I won't let myself down!' Midoriya thought, shaking.

The outro began.

“Well, we know you did well since you’re here!”

“Yeah, I guess I did Mina.”

“Okay, I need to go lay down for a bit before showing the AU. You’re welcome to go do whatever you want and I’ll call you down once I’m ready. See you soon!” Cameron left to their room.

“Okay Problem Child, we have to go talk. Are you okay with Hizashi, Nemuri, and Hitoshi joining us?”

“Sure, where do you want to go?”

“We can just go to my room. There should be enough room for all of us there.”

-----

“Hey Bakugou, can we talk for a minute?”

“Yeah, sure shitty hair. Let’s go to the training rooms and do something productive while we talk.”

“Sure thing, Bakugou.”

----

“Who’s making dinner tonight, cause I’m starving!”

“I can, does anyone want to help?”

“Sure, kero. I can help you Momo.”

“Yay! Mom’s cooking is always great and Tsu makes awesome rice. I don’t know how she does it.”

“Mom?”

“Yeah! You’re like the Mom of our class!”

“Right! Momo always has anything we need and is always there to help us if we need it. We should get her a gift!”

“Really, that’s not necessary. I’m just surprised that you thought of me like that.”

“Aww, Momo.” Everyone joined the group hug.

Chapter Text

Cameron: Hello! Please join me in the kitchen for breakfast and then we will go to the theater to watch more.

Everyone eventually got to the kitchen, some more awake than others. There was a selection of breakfast options to choose from as well as lots of coffee, and tea. Once they were all awake enough, they headed into the theater.

“Sho! You have to get out of your sleeping bag if you want coffee!” He yelled to the yellow log on the floor. Slowly Aizawa opened the zipper, already sipping a cup of dark roast coffee with a dash of cinnamon from who knows where

“Ha, jokes on you Zashi. I already have coffee.”

“How the hell- Who gave the yellow caterpillar coffee?” Nemuri quickly tries to hide the matching coffee cup she was holding to give to Hizashi. Spoiler, he noticed. “Nem! I thought you were better than this!”

“Does it help if I tell you that this coffee was for you?”

“Possibly.”

“Hazelnut light roast, with two sugars, and a dash of cinnamon?” She finished holding the cup out to him. He quickly took a smile and smiled at the taste of the coffee.

“You are forgiven, Nem. I couldn’t find any hazelnut over the- Wait how is it not burned? You have never made coffee without burning it?”

“Rude, but no I didn’t make it, Cam did.” 

-----

“What do you guys think we’ll be watching today?” Denki asked grabbing chopsticks for the rest of the Bakusquad.

“I’m hoping it will be a happier one. So far we’ve had a lot of angst.” Kirishima said in between bites of rice.

“Knowing the Nerd, I doubt it,” Bakugo said as he took out the last of the spicy curry from last night.

-----

“Good morning! Today we get to see a small part of a different universe! Just to preface, any relationships, events, anything we see might be completely different and might not reflect this universe.” They all nodded. “The title for this AU is Our Past is Ours. There are two parts so we’ll have the option of a break after the first one. Let’s begin!”

“That doesn’t seem like a title for a happy story,” Sero whispered sadly.

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“Hey Midoriya, mind if we sit here,” Kaminari asked the presumed “Deku Squad” who were sitting down eating lunch

“Umm sure. Go ahead.” Izuku responded clearly confused on why. Not that he didn't love or care about his classmate but they had their own little group. Izuku scooted over so Kirishima and Kaminrai could sit on his side while Mina and Sero took a seat on the sides.

“Where Kacchan?” Izuku asked clearly not seeing the blonde with his friends

“Umm... he's busy with.. something…. right now,” Kirishima responded rubbing the back of his neck.

“Wow, that was the most convincing argument you could come up with Shitty Hair?”

“Hey! What was I supposed to say?”

“Anything more convincing than that.”

“Oh okay,” Izuku responded. What could Kacchan be doing right now? He does like his quiet moments but he loves his friends even if he won't admit it. He always spends lunch with them.

“Hey Midoriya, we have a question,” Mina asked picking at her food clearly bothered by something.

“What is it?” The “Bakusquad” got quiet just looking at one another as if asking for permission. 

“How was middle school like for you?” Sero chimed in when he saw Mina wouldn't ask. Izuku took a minute to process what she asked. Sure he's told them a bit about middle school but it wasn't exactly something he wanted to talk about.

“Wow Sero, that was Todoroki subtle,” Kaminari joked.

“Harsh!”

“It was fine, why?” Izuku asked tilting his head to the side innocently

“Problem Child, from what we’ve learned your childhood was anything, but fine.”

“Oh okay.”

Lunch finished with the question still on the back of his head. They made their way back to class seeing that Bakugo had already taken his seat.

-------------------------------------

Last weekend when the Bakusquad had gone to the mall running into some students from Bakugo's old school. All Bakugo wanted to do was ignore them, but his friend wanted to talk to them, ask them questions on how he was back then. No matter how much he told them to stop, to not ask, to not bother, they didn't. Not until they found something they regret. He still remembers his friends’ expressions when those stupid idiots told them. Kirishima already knew some aspects of it, but he still looked horrified. Kaminari and Sero were devastated and Mina started crying. He couldn't understand why, why they couldn't let it go? 

Why couldn't they stop asking questions when he asked? Why did those dam extras keep talking after he told them to stop? Why did they ruin the only true friendship he's ever had?!? 

“Aww, Kacchan you admitted they were your friends. I’m so proud of you!” 

“Shut it, Nerd.”

But deep down he knew it wasn't their fault. It was all Bakugo’s fault for being that way in the first place. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he didn’t know how to deal with all his emotions at the time. His friends, well not really sure he could call them that anymore. They started ignoring him. Every time he would try to talk to them they would walk away, not even acknowledging him. By the end of the day, the whole class knew what he had done in middle school and there was no avoiding their piercing gazes. It was time for sparring and Bakugo wasn't sure who he was going to spar with. When Mr. Aizawa said to choose partners, everyone, every single person looked away from him. Well almost everyone.

“Hey, Kacchan do you want to be my partner?” Izuku asked, making his way towards Bakugo waving his hand in the hair with that smile. The smile that held no hate, no judgment just pure joy. The smile that told him somehow everything was going to be okay.

“So I’m not the only one who thinks that?” Shoto asked obliviously.

“Hey, you didn’t have to call me out like that Shoto.” Shinso wined.

“I mean, I think all of us feel like that sometimes. Midobro is always there when we feel down and his smiles are nice.”

“Th-thank you Kiri,” Izuku said as he buried his face into Shisnosu’s chest who just laughed at his misfortune.

“Y-yeah sure,” Bakugo responded, hating himself for stuttering but you can't blame him. He was so damn happy. Izuku must not know, or must not care.

“Sorry Midoriya, but Bakugo is training with me.” Todoroki got in the middle of both of them taking Bakugo by the wrist dragging him off somewhere secluded so they could spar. Bakugo was shocked at what was happening until he turned around. His classmates were all hovering over Izuku. It wasn't until they turned towards him that the soft gaze they held turned ice-cold, almost deadly. That's when he confirmed it. Izuku didn't know what was going on.

“Wow, way to ruin the moment Todoroki.” Denki laughs.

“Let go of my you dam Icyhot bastard!” Bakugo pulled his hand away from Todoroki. Todoroki sighed and looked back at him.

“Look I'm only going to say this once. You better stay away from Midoriya.”

“You can tell me what to do, you-” He stopped as he realized he was copying his counterpart.

“You can tell me what to do, you bastard,” Bakugo said, sending an explosion his way. Todoroki managed to dodge it responding but sending ice his way. “I'm not going to let you hurt Midoriya. You're just a self-centered prick who nee-”

“I told you to shut up!” Bakugo cut him off with a flying kick “Don't talk about stuff you don't understand!!!”

“I understand clearly. Do you really think anyone in this class is on your side? Even your supposed friends have left you.” Todoroki yelled

“STOP TALKING!” Bakugo yelled at this point, his movements and blast becoming eradicated, getting affected by his emotion.

“He's never going to love you. You know.” That was the one sentence that caught Bakugo off guard. What the hell did that bastard know? Who the hell does he think he is? Bakugo keeps telling himself what he thinks is wrong!

“Love me? Wow. I know you have your theories Shochan, but that’s a bit far-fetched don’t you think?”

“I’m sure the other me has his reasons for that observation.”

“Well, that’s not fucking ominous,” Shinso grumbled from the side of the candy cane-haired teen.

“W-what?!” Bakugo managed to croak out

“Don't think I don't know how you look at him. He will never love you. If anything I have a shot.”

“Hah? Yeah, like Mr.Daddy Issues has a shot.” Bakugo snapped gathering all his sweat into his palms for his biggest attack yet. Todorokiknew what was coming and took a defensive stance “I may have daddy issues but at least I'm not an abusive, toxic piece of shit.” …..Toxic?....Is Bakugo toxic? No no no. Bakugo froze. He froze. Was he abusive?

“I'll give you what you want,” Todoroki said once he saw Bakugo freeze. He sent him the fire he so desperately wanted in the sports festival. Bakugo didn't have time to react to the fire. The moment it made contact with his sweat. BOOM!

All his sweat that has accumulated in his palms was sent back to him. He was right. It was the biggest explosion yet. Bakugo landed on the floor, Todoroki hovering over, leaning over whispering “You're better off dead.”

“Okay, that was a bit far.” Tsu crooked uneasily, seeing her friend tell her classmate to die.

“I call karma.”

“I mean, Jirou’s not wrong.” Mina butted in.

That struck Bakugo's heart. It felt deep, suffocating. Is that how Izuku felt when Bakuogu told him to- no no no no. It must have felt worse. Why should Bakugo care about what Icyhot thinks? He wanted to so desperately believe what he was saying wasn't true. But deep down he knew everything he said was true. Bakugo was toxic, Bakugo was abusive.

“See! This could have been what Midobro felt. Do you understand now? Even worse, he was probably told many times before you, and then his best friend said that he wanted him to kill himself. I know he said to drop it, but I need you to understand that impact of-”

“You don’t think I know that? I went over to his house and found the notes! NOTES! Multiple, all the way back from the sixth fucking year! I read and reread what he fucking felt about it! I read what he thought I felt about him! The only difference is that he stopped apologizing for giving up our dream after the third one. He started saying that he ‘hopes Kacchan does better without me’! I know what I did! I know I was a fucking asshole and did a lot of fucked up shit! The second I apologized to the damn nerd he told me he already forgave me a long time ago, yet I still try to do my best to earn that forgiveness because I know I will never fucking be worthy of it! Do you still think I don’t understand what I did?” He relaxes into the scared arms of the green-haired teen.

“You never told me you found those? I never knew anyone had seen them…”

“I came over to get the notes for the Statistics quiz. Your mom said you weren’t home, I went to your room and saw papers on your desk. Assuming they were your Stat notes I took them, knowing you already knew the material. I got home and started to study when I actually read them. I kept them for a bit until I knew you weren’t home a returned them.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? That couldn’t have been easy for you. I know what’s in those notes.”

“Yeah, and how would I do that? Hey nerd, I read your suicide note. Wanna go chat about it?”

“Fine you win, but still-”

“Still nothing. I know what I did, and now I have to live with it. It shouldn’t be your responsibility. Stop worrying so much about it.”

“You know I’ll always worry about you.” Izuku leaned in and whispered to him, “And I think you should try to talk to Kirishima after this. I think he finally understood, and also know that the movie night invitation is always there and my door is always open. Do you want me to stay here for a bit?”

“Nah, go back over to your boyfriends. They look like lost puppies without you.”

“That’s not nice Kacchan, they would be just fine without me.”

“That was a bad choice of words Zuku,” Shinso called over.

“Not helping Toshi! You sure your good?”

“I’ll be fine Nerd, plus you’re moving 5 feet, not across the world. I know where to find you.”

“Kacchan!!! Are you okay?!?” Izuku yelled, causing Bakugo still on the floor to turn over and look at him but as Izuku got close he stopped in his tracks. That look. That look Izuku had on his face was a look he didn't deserve. Stop looking at me like that? Stop! after everything I did? How can you look at me like that? How can you worry about me?

“Wow. Doesn’t that sound familiar,” Bakugou commented

“Never change Zuku,” Shinso told him.

“He's fine, Midoriya,” Todoroki said rushing over to Izuku's side trying to push him away from Bakugo.

“No, Todoroki he's not fine! What were you thinking? He was just standing there and you blasted fire at him! The explosion was caused by his sweat. You're lucky he reacted fast enough to shake some off. Do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been? He could have hurt his hands!” Izuku yelled pushing past Todoroki making his way to Bakugo.

“Maybe that's what he deserves,” Todorki said in the most monotone voice

Izuku was reaching out to Bakugo before he froze.

“Todoroki what the hell! Look I don’t know what's going on between you two but you need to knock it off. It's not nice! I'm taking Kacchan to the nurse's office.” Izuku said picking up Bakugo who wasn't saying anything.

“Yeah Todoroki, it’s very unheroic like to try and kill someone!”

“Wow, wonder where you learned that Iida,” 

“No! I'll take him to Midoriya,” Todoroki said, pushing Izuku out of the way causing Bakugo to fall.

“TODOROKI!!!” Izuku yelled sending all eyes to them.

“I'll go on my own.” Bakugo finally said trying to pick himself up but failing.

“No, I'm taking you!” Izuku said with a voice that left no room for discussion. Bakugo could see all the looks his classmates were giving him.

“Come one.” Izuku picked up Bakugo again, placing his arm around his waist to support him. The walk to the nurse’s office was filled with questions and no responses. The question going on in Bakugo's head: Why are you helping me? Why do you care? Do you still even care or is this just you being you? Why can't I get rid of my feelings? Why am I a waste of space? Am I better off gone?

And the question Izuku was asking Bakugo. “Are you okay?” “What was that about?” “You're not hurt are you?” “Why didn't you fight back?” “Why would you just take it?” “Are you in pain?” Then a question he wasn't ready for- 

“Kacchan why are you crying?”

Bakugo hadn't realized he was crying until Izuku had pointed it out. “K-kacchan what's going on?” Izuku said trying to wipe off the tears streaming from his eyes.

“Nothing Nerd, I’m fine”

They both finally managed to make it to the Nurses office only for Izuku to be sent back to class. Bakugo spent a while in the nurse's office getting bandaged up. He went back to class once his eyes were no longer red or puffy. The class was loud and talkative but as soon as Bakugo walked through the door everything became quiet.

“Kacchan!” Izuku yelled relieved to see him back in class. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, idiot. I could take Icyhot’s heat.” Bakugo brushed off Izuku's concern.

The class went by much too slowly for Bakugo's liking. He could feel all the piercing gazes directed towards him when Izuku would ask him a question.

“Hey, Kacchan!” Izuku whispered into his ear.

“Mhmm” was the only response Izuku got.

“All Might and I are going to train if you want to join us,” Izuku said cupping hands around his mouth to hide what he was saying. Bakugo was about to say yes, but when he turned around there they were again. Those menacing gaze. Why was it getting to him now? He never cared about what people thought about him so why now?

“And stick around with your dumbass no thanks. I’m just hit the hay. ” Bakugo said in a loud enough voice so the rest of his classmates could hear him.

------------

The training with All Might had not gone well. His shoot style still needs a whole bunch of work! He needed to hurry up and get a hang of it if he wanted to be the next symbol of peace. Izuku walked into the dorm completely drained and unmotivated to do nothing. All he wanted to do was shower and relax, but before he did any of that Izuku really wanted to go talk to Bakugo. He's been acting really weird for the past few days and knew something was wrong.

“Hey Deku! We were waiting for you.” Uraraka said, walking up to him along with the rest of his class.

“Hey Uraraka, what's going on?” Izuku asked looking around to see his classmates holding snacks and pillows.

“We're having a movie night with all of Class 3-A! We were waiting for you to start the movie. We're watching the Notebook!” Mina said, pushing Izuku to the couch.

“That's really sweet. But I need to go shower I’m sweaty.” Izuku said getting up from where he was placed. He looked around and one person was missing. The person Izuku wanted to talk to. “Hey, where’s Kacchan?" Izuku said but once he did, all of his classmates looked away from him and towards each other. "He loves this movie."

“Well, he umm..” Kirishima tried to talk but was cut off by Todoroki

“He's an asshole and he's not invited,” Tododroki said, walking up to Izuku, pushing him towards the couch once again.

“What are you talking about. Kacchan’s just Kacchan you've never had a problem with it before.” Izuku said, pushing away from him, making his way up the stairs. “You guys are acting weird. I'm going to go talk to him.” Izuku made his way to Bakugo's room a bit hesitant about what he should say. He wanted to know what was bugging Bakugo but was not really sure how to bring it up. Izuku knocked on the door to hear shuffling inside.

----------------

Bakugo was sitting down on his bed, eyes red and watery from too much overthinking. Everything his dam classmates said about him was getting to him. He heard a knock at the door and got up to find a rag to wipe his face with. Hopefully whoever was at the door would just leave him.

“Hey Kacchan, it's Izuku.” Izuku knocked once more before opening the door and stepping in.

Shit shit shit shit. What was Deku doing here? Katsuki knew he couldn't let Deku see him like this. “What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be downstairs with everyone else?”

“You should know better by now Bakugo. Deku can’t leave anything alone.”

“That’s not fair, Ochako!”

“I think everyone here agrees with me on that one though,”

“You weren't down there and I came to look for you,” Izuku responded making his way over to him.

“Why would I want to be with those extras?” Bakugo responded but that was a lie. Even when Bakugo acted like a prick and an asshole he liked his friends.

“You like those extras,” Izuku said putting up quotation marks around the word extras. That caused Bakugo to let off a small scoff, “Yeah well they don't seem to like me.” Bakugo said unconsciously.

“What's going on with you and the class? What did they do?” Izuku asked getting closer to the blonde placing a hand on his shoulder only for it to be slapped away.

“Nothing. They didn't do anything, just drop it shitty Zuku.” Bakugo said not realizing he called Deku, Zuku. Izuku was taken back by Bakugo calling him his childhood nickname. He hasn't heard that in years. He's surprised Bakugo still remembers it.

“Aww, Baku calling someone by a real nickname is so sweet!” Mina gushed.

“Hey, Kacchan talk to me.” Izuku got closer rubbing Bakugo's arm. Bakugo didn't know what to say. What would Izuku do if he told him what he knew? What would he do if he told him what Todoroki said? Bakugo was thinking too hard to notice the tears streaming down his face.

“Kacchan! What's wrong?” Izuku screamed

“I am! I’m what's wrong?” Bakugo yelled back not being able to take the voices in his head.

“What?” Izuku asked clearly confused about the turn of events. Bakugo whipped the tears from his eyes taking a deep breath before whispering.

“I'm wrong. I'm a terrible person. Everyone hates me.”

“No, they don't. You can be strong-headed but your friends love you.” Izuku said pulling in Bakugo closer

“No. You don't get it. They found out.”

“Found out what?”

“W-what I did in middle s-s-school. What I did to you in middle school. What I said to you in middle school.” Bakugo said sobbing.

“Well did you explain to them?”

“I t-tried to but they just wouldn't…... listen to me,” Bakugo said with his hand on his eyes depressedly trying to wipe the tears that wouldn't stop falling. 

“Everything they said about me was true. I deserve the threatening looks there giving me.”

“Wait what? What are they doing? What are they saying?” Izuku said getting irritated with what he was saying.

“Oh no, you pissed off Zuku. Be ready to face the consequences.” Shinso laughed.

"What is that supposed to mean Toshi?" Izuku asked cluelessly, "I'm not that bad!"

"Sure you aren't, Zuku. sure you aren't." Midoriya just pouted.

“They’re right I was a complete asshole to you. Everything they said was true.”

“Kacchan what did they say?”

“I don't understand why you don't hate me. I don't understand why I feel like this after everything I did.”

“Kac-”

“I'm trash, I'm a horrible human being. How can I hold these feelings for you after everything I did? How can I act like this after everything I did!”

“Why don't you hate me! Why don't you push me away! Why don't you! Why do I lov-” Bakugo was cut off by lips pressed onto his. The hics and whines coming out of his mouth were trapped and swallowed by the other boy. Bakugo hid his face when their lips disconnected.

“See the other me wasn’t too far off.”

“Shut it IcyHot.”

“You were about to have a panic attack. It was all I could think of to calm you down. You weren't listening to me anymore.” Izuku said pushing his hair from his face.

“Why would you do that?” Bakugo asked.

“Because Kacchan I love you too. I always have and I always will.”

“But I'm abusive and toxic. After everything, I've done. So why? Why are you so stupid!” Bakugo tried to reason with him.

“Who told you that?” Izuku barked

“Kacchan what did they say? Who told you that.” Bakugo keeps his lips shut. Not trusting his mouth to keep quiet.

“Katsuki. I need names. I need to know what they said.” Bakugo knew Izuku was not about to let it go. So unless he wanted to end up on the wrong side of

him. He needed to let the green-haired boy know everything.

“Good choice Boom Boom Boi,” Mei commented, finally looking up from the project she was working on.

“Hey! I’m not that bad!” He continued to insist.

“When someone insults a person you care about you are,” Mei responded.

“Umm, it was nothing just let it go. It wasn't even that bad just that I was toxic,... abusive,....trash, just small stuff but I was also told that…….. I was better off…... dead.” Katsuki said whispering the last part hoping he wouldn't hear and drop it.

“YOU'RE BETTER OFF WHAT!!!” Izuku yelled after hearing what the boy said “Who the hell told you that!” Bakugo kept his lips shut. “Katsuki I need a name,” Izuku said, grabbing Katsuki's chin, forcing it to make eye contact.

“Kinky!”

“Shut it sparkplug.”

“Icy-” Bakugo tried to say but was cut off by Izuku walking out the door. Izuku was furious. They didn't even understand the full story yet they were throwing accusations. They didn't have a right to involve themselves. This was between him and Katsuki, not them and their class. Do they not realize what hypocrites they are being! They shouldn't preach something they don't intend to follow themselves. 

Izuku made his way to the common room with Bakugo falling behind him trying to talk him out of whatever the hell he was going to do. Bakugo knew a mad Izuku was not someone anyone should mess with.

“Zuku stop! It's fine!” Bakugo said holding Izuku’s hand trying to prevent him from going downstairs but Izuku just gripped it and pulled him along.

“Hey, Deku’s back!” Uraraka yelled happily until he saw Bakugo following behind him.

“Why is he here?” Uraraka remarked clearly upset with the turnout.

“Shut up and sit down!” Izuku barked.

“Zuzu stop! I’m fine. It's fine. It doesn't matter.” Bakugo yelled, but Izuku was too far gone to listen to what Bakugo was saying.

“Who the hell do you guys think you are!” Izuku yelled causing everyone to flinch.

“Zuzu stop,” Bakugo said, pulling on his shirt. Everyone in the room was surprised to see an angry cursing Izuku dragging a tear-stained face Bakugo.

“No!” Izuku yelled towards Bakugo, pulling him into a hug. Pressing his face into the crook of his neck.

“But Bakugo he-”

“I don't care. What happened in the past is between me and him. You have no RIGHT to involve yourself in something you clearly don't understand.”

“But-” someone tried to fight back causing Izuku to snap at them.

“NO! You guys are such hypocrites. You think what he did was so wrong but you guys can’t see you a lot worse! Kacchan changed himself. He is no longer the same person he was in Middle school he's been going to therapy and anger management. But you all. Wow. You guys are worse. It's funny really. You all can't see what the hell you're doing. Making him cry, break down. If anyone is toxic here it's you guys.”

“Midoriya were sorry we-”

“No I'm not the one you should be apologizing to,” Izuku said rubbing his eyes with his one free hand. The other one never let go of Bakugo's waist.

“Bakug-”

“You can't talk to him. Not after all the crap, you pulled.” Izuku said, pulling him closer making eye contact with Todoroki. Izuku had almost forgotten about him. Izuku let go of Bakugo to walk over to him.

“If you ever tell my boyfriend he's better off dead, you and I are going to have problems. You do not want to end up on the wrong side of me.”

“Some friend you all are,” Izuku said walking back to Bakugo before dragging him back upstairs. Bakugo got dragged into his room only to be pushed to the bed.

“Imagine being that surprised that Zuku can get angry,” Shinso said laughing.

“Not cool dude, how were we supposed to know that our cinnamon bun was a firecracker of rage?” Denki asked.

“You’ve seen him fight villains before, right?” Shinso asked.

“I mean yeah? I don’t know what that has to do with this?” Denki responded confused.

“Wait, now thinking back to our work studies, kero. This is tame.” Tsu pointed out.

“What did we miss?” Denki asked.

“Just Deku taking out a supervillain that could have defeated All Might,” Uraraka commented.

“Kacchan! Why wouldn't you tell me!” Izuku said sitting down on his desk. Bakugo just kept quiet thinking about what to say next.

“I thought you knew.” Bakugo clearly lied. He knew Izuku didn't know, but he didn't know why he didn't tell him.

“You really think any of that would have happened to you if I would have known. It's impossible. You know that right.”

“How did they find out?” Izuku asked sitting next to to the blonde boy.

“We ran into some old classmates,” Bakugo said leaning into Izuku, he need his warmth. Izuku stayed quiet thinking about how that could have ended. That must not have been a good conversation especially if they didn't let Bakugo explain. Izuku was too busy thinking to hear what Katsuki had said.

“What did you say Kacchan?” Izuku question.

Katsuki clicked his tongue irritated at having to repeat himself. “You told them I was your boyfriend.” His face grew red as he did. 

Izuku thought about it for a while before realizing he did. “Yeah, I guess I did. Are you mad?”

“No you idiot,” Katsuki said before bringing him into a kiss.

“Aww, that was actually a really fluffy ending to the angst before.”

“Okay, everyone. There is a second part to this AU. Let me just load it up and we can watch. Does anyone need anything before we start?”

“Coffee.” They got everyone the things they needed and then moved on.

“Okay let’s begin.

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Chapter Text

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It's been a few days since Izuku had yelled at his classmates. He has stuck to Katsuki like glue, eating, and going everywhere with him making sure his classmates were no longer giving him any trouble. 

“I told you there was more to the story!” Kirishima jeered. Both the Baksquad and Dekusquad were sitting together talking about the event that had taken place. Neither of them were sure what to do next. They had crossed the line with Bakugo and it took Deku screaming at them to realize it. They wanted their friends back but were not sure how to make that happen. They messed up, they messed up really bad. They made the most precious and innocent boy in their class snap. 

“Wow. I guess I need to get the Problem child to just yell the lessons at you. Then maybe you would pay more attention.”

“Hey! It’s not our fault that we forget that the kid who literally is the definition of pure sunshine happened to have a hot temper to match when needed!”

“You just said that we forgot. That makes it our fault Kaminari.”

“Not fair Jirou. Don’t use my wording against me!” Kaminari whined, flopping down across the Bakusquads laps.

“Well, what were we supposed to think?” Todoroki is still upset about why Deku chose Bakugo and not him. He doesn't understand what his friend sees in the angry little man but if his friend was happy that's all that matters. 

“Angry little man,” Denki laughed, “Todoroki called you an angry little man!” The rest of the class is trying not to lose their shit and get exploded by the angry little man sitting off to the side.

“Shut the fuck up, you knock off Pikachu!” Bakugou yells while walking over to Kaminari. Kaminari jumps up and tries to outrun Bakugou. Eventually, Cameron gets them to sit down with the rest of the Bakusquad and they resume the video.

“A lot. We could have let him explain like how he wanted to.” Kaminari confessed Everyone looked to Kaminari who looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown. He knew what it felt like to be messed with. Everyone in his old school would constantly tell him he wasn't good enough to be a hero, not smart enough. All the emotion he held against his old bullies, he took it out on one of his best friends. 

“Why is the Problem Child like this?” Aizawa asked, sighing with his head in his hands.

“You are going to have to be more specific, Sho,” Hizashi asked with a slight laugh. Familiar with Aizawa’s conflicts and thoughts about his problem child.

“Kaminari reacted the way we would have, how you normally would to people who hurt you.” 

“Angry. We hated our bullies and most likely would have reacted the same to this situation.” Nemuri chimed in. Remembering how they would practice to make sure they would never be in a situation like that again. 90% of what made them such good hero students was spite to prove their bullies wrong.

“I honestly don’t know how I would have reacted to finding out either of you were bullies,” Hizashi answered honestly.

“Yet, I have a feeling Probl- Izuku wouldn’t. He would try to stop it if it continued in UA, but I don’t think he would stop trying to befriend or help them because of their past. Hell, he would befriend villains if they didn’t try to hurt his friends!” 

“About that,” Cameron chimes in bashfully.

“He did, didn’t he.” Aizawa sighs, leaning into Nemuri

“Well, not in your universe, but he has in many others.” Cameron clarified.

“I wish I could say that surprised me.”

“I told you guys there was more to the story!” Kirishima said picking at his food not eating. Bakubro was his best friend and he should have trusted and followed him instead of letting people he didn't know impact his judgment of him. What he did was very unmanly. “I'm going to go apologize! I can't stand this!” Kirishima said getting up from where he was sitting made his way to the two boys. 

“Yay! My other self is extremely manly!” 

“I think every version of you is manly,” A certain blonde whispered back at him. Let’s just say his face matches his hair now.

---------------------------------------------- 

Today was the first day back to school since Izuku had yelled at his classmates. When the weekend hit both boys took advantage and decided to go home. Possibly even having a date or two. Katsuki and Deku were currently eating lunch by themselves in a corner while the rest of their classmates were watching them and talking amongst themselves. 

“Hey Kacchan, how are you feeling?” Izuku asked Katsuki, who was just staring at his food, not eating much. Izuku knew he was worried. No matter how much he tried to deny he didn't care, the truth is he missed his friends. Katsuki was pulled from his thoughts responding.

“Aww, you miss us Bakugo.”  

“Don’t get used to it Pinky.”

“Wow, he even used my hero name! I’m moving up in the world!’

“Don't worry so much nerd, I was just thinking.” Izuku laughed.

“That's never a good thing” That was true. Leaving Katsuki with his thoughts was never a good idea. Everyone thought Izuku thought too much but they hadn't met Katsuki when something bad happened. Katsuki was always too stubborn and prideful to ask for help so his thoughts would run wild. 

“Oh screw you,” Katsuki grumbled, kicking his leg under the table.

“O-okay I'm sorry but you seem lost in thought” Izuku mumbled. 

“Wow. Izuku. Midobro, Buddy. You need to get some self-worth.” Kaminari sighed.

“You first.” He fired back.

“Ouch, I didn’t ask to be called out. You’re the important Catalyst person here, not me.”

“Hey. We are not doing that here. Now you have been called over to the cuddle pile. Now get your butt over here.” Kaminari untangled himself from Sero and Kirishima and started to walk over to Izuku’s cuddle pile.

“Now you’ve done it,” Shinso said once he got closer.

“Done what?” He was confused about why this was a bad thing.

“Zuku will not let you go now. You’ve been adopted into the group and there’s no escape.” Shinso said as if this was a death sentence.

“Being adopted by Izubro doesn't seem so bad,” Kaminari admitted as he sat down next to Shinso.

Izuku was right; he was lost in thoughts. After the argument with his classmates, his past smashed right into him. So much regret and self-doubt came rushing back. All the progress he's made over the past years has just plummeted to zero. 

“Look, it's just a lot happening, and so many things are running through my head.” Katsuki finally managed to say. 

“Like…….?” Izuku said trying to coax more out of Katsuki because trying to get him to talk about his feelings was hard enough as it is.

“Your friends hate me,” Katsuki said.

“And I hate them at the moment. What's your point?” Izuku said clearly unamused by what was taking up all his boyfriend's attention.

“Wow. Savage Izuku. Never thought I’d see that.” Denki mused, still combing his hand through Izuku’s curls.

“Look I’m serious-” Katsuki tried saying but was cut off my Izuku. 

“I am too at the moment. I really don't care for them. I'd much rather be with you.” Izuku said, causing Katsuki to blush. 

“It was my fault you didn't have any friends back in middle school and it's my fault everyone is mad at us. I don't want to ruin your high school experience right now.” Katsuki said while studying Izuku's face trying to see his reaction Izuku sighed, his boyfriend clearly was not understanding what he was trying to say. 

The light mood created by Denki was quickly broken by the thought.

“Kacchan, I don't care about what happened back then. We were kids, were young and stupid. You've changed. What they did was wrong.” Izuku pleaded for Katsuki to understand.

“Hey guys,” Kirishima said, walking up to the two boys. Izuku looked over to Katsuki to see if he was okay with Kirishima coming over. Izuku knew Kiri was Katsuki’s best friend and it deeply hurt him when turned his back at him. 

“What's up Shitty-Hair,” Katsuki said, not turning to face him but instead keeping his eyes on his food, occasionally glancing up to see Izuku.

“Umm, I wanted to talk to you guys,” Kirishima said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

“About?” 

“I wanted to apologize to both of you ?” Kirishima said sitting down Katsuki felt a light kick to his leg and looked up to see Izuku's worried ugly smug. He could practically hear the nerds' worried voice in his head. He sent a reassuring smile letting Izuku relax. 

“Bakubro I'm sorry for being such an unmanly friend. You trusted me back then when you told me what happened. I told you I wouldn't think of you any differently but I was an idiot and let other people influence my decision. I should have trusted you instead of people who I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I miss my best friend! Bakubrooooo.” Kirishima said letting his sentence turn into a whine towards the end Katsuki smiled and hit Kirishima in the head.

“Took you long enough Shitty Hair.” Kirishima held his head and responded with tear eyes.

“Wait so you forgive me? We can be friends again?!?!?” 

“Yeah idiot but next time, I expect you to have my back,” Katsuki said looking over to Izuku who was smiling at him and Kirishima.

“Of course bro! I will ALWAYS have your back. That's a promise. When Midoriya isn't there to look out for you I will!!!” Kirishima chanted, pulling Katsuki into a hug. Katsuki just pushed him off sending a small explosion his way. 

“I'm so happy for you guys! I didn't know you were dating!” Kirishima yelled sitting next to Izuku bringing him into a hug to which Izuku gladly returned. 

“Hey Kiri, hands off my man,” Katsuki said seeing Kirishima still clinging on to his boyfriend Izuku laughed, his cheeks becoming pink while Kirishima threw himself off his face, becoming as red as his hair. 

“So what about everyone else? Are they still arguing and talking ?” Izuku asked now finished with his food 

“Yeah, they're not really sure what to do. I took a long shot and came over here. I was kinda scared Midorirya was going to kick me to the sun.” Kirishima honestly said. 

“Hey! I wouldn’t do that to you!” He argued!

“From what we’ve seen earlier you might have if I angered you enough or insulted Bakubro again.” Bakugo did not smile at the use of the nickname again. Nope. You’re seeing things.

“What, you weren't afraid I was going to blow you up?” Katsuki said sending small pops from his palms.

“Well I was but Midoriya was really scary. I didn't know he could be so scary.” Kirishima said laughing.

“Never thought I’d see the day where someone was more afraid of Greenie than Boom Boom Boi.” Jirou laughed.

“I’m sorry. That was embarrassing! I was just really mad!” Izuku said, his face turning red, covering it with his hands. The three boys were so into their conversation they didn't notice the big group of classmates going up to them. 

“Umm Deku?” Uraraka said watching the boys’ smiling, laughing faces turn stale once he turns to them.

“Oh hi, Uraraka what’s up?” Izuku asked, looking over to Katsuki who was now clearly uncomfortable. He looked over to Kirishima then back to Katsuki and he understood. His classmates looked over at each other, obviously not sure what to say. Kaminari was the 1st to speak.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be such a dick. I used to be messed with in middle school and I just took all my anger out on Bakugou.” 

“Todoroki was rude and shouldn't have said that.” 

“Me? I wasn't the only one!” 

“Kamirani said stuff too!” 

“So did Iida.” 

“I was wrong but Mineta was the worst.” 

“I didn't do anything for once! It was definitely Todoroki's fault.” His classmates were now in an argument on whose fault it was that the two boys were mad. They still didn't understand. 

“This is exactly it!” Deku shouted. Everyone stopped talking to face the green-haired kid. “You guys really don't see what you're doing, do you?” Izuku asked only to be faced with confusing laughs. 

“Well, maybe when you figure it out, try talking to us again. Come one Kacchan class is about to start.” Izuku said walking away from his classmates with Katsuki and Kirishima following.

“They are a bunch of idiots,” Uraraka said. The class agreed.

------------------ 

“What are we doing?!” Mina asked, pulling Kirishima into their little circle. 

“You guys are idiots. Take responsibility.” Kirishima said to his classmates before running to catch up with the two boys. 

“Guys we need to own up to what we did. We can't blame each other. We all had a part to play. We are all at fault.” 

“We need to make it up to them.” 

“What a mad banquet of darkness.”

“What are you talking about, Toko?”

“Just that fact that it took our alternate selves this long to realize that’s what they needed to do. Why didn’t they just do that in the first place, Shoji?

“I’m not sure Toko, I’m not sure.”

----------- 

“What do you think they'll do?” Izuku asked the two boys walking back to class 

“Mhm, something dumb probably,” Katsuki responded. 

“Wait so you guys aren't mad?” Kirishima asked the two boys who seemed to be rather calm considering everything. The two boys made it to Class 1-A walking through the door shutting it behind them. No one was in the room since it was technically still lunch, but knowing their classmates they would be back to try again. 

“Oh, furious,” Izuku said, sitting down in his seat.

“I'm pissed,” Katsuki said, sitting down on his lap, letting Kirishima take his seat so they could continue talking.

“But we're not little sensitive bitches. All I want is for them to own up to what they did and apologize,” Katsuki said leaning back onto Izuku letting the boy wrap his arms around his waist. Kirishima was trying hard not to smile at his friend. Who would have ever thought Bakugou dam Katsuki would ever let himself be seen like this.

“I know right! We don’t get to see soft Baku, but he’s so cute!” Mina wined.

“What about you Midoriya?” Kirishima asked. 

“Umm, I'm fine as long as Kacchan is,” Izuku said, setting his chin on Katsuki’s shoulder so he could see Kirishima.

------------------------------------- 

When Izuku and Katsuki got back from training with All Might, they saw their classmates waiting for them in the common room. 

“Did they finally get themselves together and are ready to own up to their mistakes, kero?”

“I’m hoping so. Otherwise, I’m going to slap the other me.

“Same, Ochako.”

“They're back, kero” Tsu said announcing to the rest of his class All of class 3-a came running down gathering around the two boys for the third time that day. They better hope that 3rd time's a charm because at this point Katsuki was getting fed up with his classmates. 

“What the hell is going on now?” Katsuki screeched trying to push past the group. 

“We're making dinner for you guys?” Sero cheered, dragging the two boys into the kitchen.

“HAH? I don't want food poisoning.” Katsuki whined, letting himself be dragged. As soon as they got to the kitchen the smell of the food hit them like a truck. Everything smelled delicious. He wasn't sure if it was the actual food or if it was his hunger itself. 

“Are you trying to buy our forgiveness?” Katsuki said, walking over to the pot that was on the stove. It looked edible. 

“That sounds like something we would do,” Kaminari said, shrugging.

“No, yes, maybe?” 

“Look, we really are sorry. All of us. We all did something stupid. It wasn't just one of us.” 

“Wow, really who would have guessed,” Jirou commented sarcastically.

“Yeah, it was all of us.” 

“We shouldn't have judged you.” 

“We crossed the line.” 

“All of us are to blame not just one of us.” Everyone in class 3-A took turns apologizing for what they did not pinning blame on anyone but themselves. Finally, they were owning up to what they did and apologizing. 

“Yeah Deku, we're sorry, we didn't mean to upset you. We didn't know you were going out with Bakugo.” Uraraka said, walking up to Izuku grabbing onto his arm.

“Oh my fucking god. Can I slap her?”

“THAT IS VERY UNHEROIC BEHAVIOR, URARAKA!”

“So is murder.” Todorkoi chimed in at the same time Uraraka answered.

“So is not owning up to your mis- wait what did you say Todoroki?”

“I said, so is murder.” 

“Problem children. All of them.” Aizawa sighed, laying across his partners’ laps.

“Uraraka that shouldn't have mattered, you guys were being mean to your classmate. It shouldn't have mattered if you knew we were dating.” Izuku said, crossing his arms.

“Midoriya we really are sorry. I don't want to lose the friendship we have.” Iida said.

“Midoriya,..” Todoroki tried saying but was cut off by Bakugo.

“Hands off Round face,” Katsuki said, taking Urarakas place next to Izuku.

“Are we okay?” Uraraka said, hoping that their friendship still stood.

“If Kacchan’s okay with it then so am I?” Izuku said, wrapping his arm around Katsuki.

“You're good round face. You're all good. That food better be good too.” Class 1-A stayed quiet for a few seconds then the silence was replaced by cheering. Izuku and Kastuki were ambushed by hugs.

“Get off idiots!” 

“Wait there's more!” Uraraka announced.

“What do you mean ‘Raka?” Izuku asked.

“Oh yeah!” 

“So we all already ate, and we're going to head to bed early so you and Bakugo get the common room. You guys can watch movies or whatever on the big tv.” Kaminari smiled, clinging on to Bakugo.

“Okay, so you guys can head to the showers because you stink and by the time you come back we will be gone and food will be served,” Kirishima said, shooing them upstairs. 

“Hey, Bakugo. Just don't dirty the couch okay.” Kaminari whispers laughing when he sees how red the boy's face has gotten. 

“Good going Kaminari!”

“Don’t encourage this Mina!”

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud, class prez!”

-------------------- 

Katsuki was sitting down on a stool while Izuku rubbed in the conditioner into his blonde locks. “How are you feeling?” Izuku asked placing a kiss on his forehead 

“Mhmm” Katsuki responded clearly, enjoying the attention his scalp was getting. Izuku stopped scratching Katsukis's hair so he could start washing his own but was met with a whine. 

“Since when did the great Lord Explosion Murder whine .”

“You obviously haven’t met Bakubro then.” Kiri laughed at Denki’s confused face.

“I do not whine, Shitty Hair!”

“You keep telling yourself that Kacchan,” Izuku responded, laughing.

“Do you have a death wish Deku?” he asked, his sparks popping from his hands.

“I’ve been told I do.”

“What the fuck, Problem Child? That is not a healthy response.”

“Whoops, didn’t know you could hear me. Sorry Aizawa-Senesi,” He responded bashfully.

“I swear, all of you need major therapy.”

“Probably, but that’s expensive and time-consuming. Ice cream, on the other hand, is much cheaper and has instant dopamine.” (A/N: This is an ongoing joke in my family. Unlike a normal family, after some died (which happened a bit), or we were sad, we would go to an ice cream shop and eventually my sister pointed out that ice cream is our therapy.)

“Why'd you stop?” Katsuki said, opening his eyes for the first time in minutes. He had let Izuku do all the work while he just sat back and relaxed. Izuku laughed, pouring shampoo into his own hair.

“I need to wash my own hair. We should hurry. I'm hungry and the food smelled really good.” Izuku said trying to motivate Katsuki because he knew he was just as hungry as him. Katsuki whined mentally agreeing he was hungry. He could relax later. When they got back to the 1st floor everyone was in their room like they said they would be. It turns out the food they made was spicy meat curry with white rice. Two plates were served with soda on the side. Both boys sat down with their hair still dripping wet.

“Do you think it'll be good?” Izuku asked Katukis who was cautiously looking at the food.

“Depending who made it,” Katsuki responded, taking a spoonful of food and shoving it to Izuku's face.

“Say ahh,” Katsuki said.

“What why me? You try it first.” Izuku said keeping his mouth shut while Katsuki was trying to feed him.

“Come on Nerd. I'm trying to be all boyfriendy.” Katsuki encouraged.

“Yeah right, ‘boyfriendy’. Do you really not trust their cooking that much, Kacchan?”

“What if I was actually trying to be sweet?”

“I call lair.”

“Lair” was the only thing Izuku said before opening his mouth allowing Katsuki to shove a spoonful of food in his mouth. 

“Wow, who could have expected that?” Izuku responded sarcastically.

“So? You're not dead. That's a good sign. How's it taste?” Katsuki asked, placing the spoon back on his plate.

“It's really good, it's even spicy!” Izuku cheered, grabbed a spoonful of food and followed what Katsuki did.

“Say ~aah~” 

“You’re a Nerd.” Katsuki scoffed before opening his mouth, eating the food that was placed in front of him.

“Holy shit this is good!” Katsuki said, chowing down the food in front of him.

“Our food got praised by Bakubro! Awesome!”

“You do know most likely we bought the food or got Sato to make it.” Ojiro chimed in.

“Still! He doesn’t know this!”

“Right!? I wonder who made it.” Izuku laughed watching his boyfriend enjoying his food. When they finished eating Izuku had run upstairs to grab a blanket and a few pillows from his room before bringing it back down. He sat down on the couch and Katsuki laid his head on his lap, grabbing his hand and placing it on his head so Izuku could pet him like he did in the shower. 

“That was such a cute ending!” Uraraka commented 

“Did everyone enjoy the AU?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah! It was sort of weird to see how we react to things,” Kirishima responded.

“I agree, it was also a bit odd to watch ourselves. Especially since we couldn’t control how we acted.” Mina answered.

“Fair enough. Is everyone good to continue or do you want a break?” They looked around at the nodding heads.

“Think we are all excited to see the next AU,” Iida responded.

“If everyone is okay to continue, I will start loading up the next part.”

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Chapter Text

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Aizawa let out a groan of pain as he hit the wall before falling to the ground, scrapes of rubble cutting into his palms as he tried to keep himself from falling to the ground. Blood and sweat trickled down his face from the gash on his forehead. He could feel his clothes clinging to the blood that leaked from the cuts that had been scattered across him alongside the many bruises that were sure to form if he lived through all of this.

“Is this the USJ?” Shinso asked, knowing that his mentor was badly hurt during the attack. He really didn’t want to watch that. Seeing his pseudo father figure’s face bashed into the ground wasn’t really on his to-do list.

“No, but you will be seeing that later. This is a separate incident from another world.” Cameron answered. The class flinched at watching that again. 

“Do we have to?” Mina asked. Watching her classmate disappear before her eyes, not knowing where they went was not something she wanted to relive outside of her nightmares.

“Unfortunately, yes. But, it will be a different day and you will have the entire day to recover and relax afterward.” Cam comforted.

Aizawa gritted his teeth as he forced himself to stand back on his feet, gripping tightly to his capture scarf as he felt his eyes glow red as his hair began to float. He looked at the villains that had swarmed him and who were slowly creeping towards him, knowing how dangerous he was. They also knew that he was wounded and cornered, so if they timed it just right, they could take him down.

“No…” Izuku turned his head towards Denki’s torso, not wanting to see what happened next. Just because it wasn’t the USJ doesn't mean seeing Aizawa in a similar position didn’t bring up bad memories.

The thought made his stomach twist in slight fear but he forced it away knowing that even if they did kill him,  he would at least die protecting the people he loved the most. 

Both Hizashi and Nemuri moved closer to Aizawa, not ready to watch another friend die. Knowing every day that they could go to sleep with one less person, is something that plages them every time they leave.

He would die protecting the next generation of heroes who would actually make a difference. He would die protecting his class, he would die protecting his students, he would die protecting the kids he had helped raise, and he would die protecting his family.

“You think of us as family?” Kaminari asked. The entire class looked to Shota, some with tears in their eyes, others with shock and hope. Cameron paused the episode.

“Of course I do. I think we have enough shared trauma to be considered at least a dysfunctional family.” The entire class came over and piled him into a hug. All for One looked sadly over at his son, you don’t even have the right to call him that Hisashi, as he hugged the person he obviously looked to as a father figure.

After the signature Midoriya tears had subsided, the class sat back down to hopefully finish this episode quickly and move on to a happier one.

He kept his eyes on the villains before him, not letting a single emotion but his usual stoic appearance show across his face.

Inside, the thought of dying here and never seeing how wonderful his kids would become made him want to be sick, but if he had to die for them to live, then he would do it.

Most of them were tearing up, if not openly crying at the thought of losing their teacher, friend, or partner. 

Aizawa took a deep breath, keeping track of each of the villains that were getting ever so closer. He was trying to find an opening where he could attack without being attacked right away himself. 

He gripped his scarf tightly, feeling the material underneath his blunt nails as he watched two of the villains ready themselves to attack without their quirks.

Hands held tightly, waiting for the killing blow to land. Half of them looked away, unable to bear seeing Shota killed.

“Shoto, Katsuki take them out now!” A familiar voice ordered, causing Aizawa to lose his focus as the world around him suddenly grew colder. As he stood there trying to gain his focus back, he watched as half of the villains that had surrounded him were suddenly thrown back by a mixture of ice and fire. Before watching as the other half were hit with explosions causing them to hit the ground.

Cheers. Everyone let out the breath they were holding seeing that Aizawa was safe.

Aizawa stared in surprise before a group made up of none other than a few of his students filled his vision, allowing him to blink. 

“Aizawa-Sensei, are you okay?” Ochako asked as she reached forward to touch his shoulder from where she was now standing beside him, being careful of the wound on his shoulder that was currently bleeding. “You took a lot of hits before we could get here,” She said in a slightly shaky voice, but he could tell she was trying to keep it level as the villains were still around.

“I’m fine, Ochako, thank you,” Aizawa said, wanting to pull away from one of his adoptive daughters’ touch not wanting her to be scarred by the memory of her teacher’s blood on her hand but he had no actual strength to pull away. “What are you all doing here?” He demanded, wanting to know why his students were back and putting themselves in danger when he had told them to run. “I told you to leave,” He said turning to look at Izuku, knowing well that he was the one that besides himself that Class 3-A had started taking cues from. Of course, Shoto and Katsuki were his seconds in command, though Katsuki would never admit it.

Aizawa had hoped that the USJ would be that last time his kids saw him hurt, even if he knew it was illogical. Izuku was sitting up now, smushed between Denki and Shinso.

“You guys would trust me that much?” He asked, confused. He intended it to be heard only by Shinso, Denki, and Shoto, but it was so quiet in the room everyone heard it.

“De-Izuku. You literally broke all the bones in both, both, your arms helping us at the summer camp and continued to run around and fight. I know I would trust you with my life cause sadly you’re more likely to sacrifice yourself than ever get us hurt.” Uraraka said from her place on a pink beanbag.

“Your quick thinking is what saved me at the USJ. We would have sunk to our deaths on the boat without your plan. If you have a plan that you think will work, I trust you and would be willing to help wherever you need me.” Tus chimed in from next to Uraraka.

“I know I don’t have some great story to add, but you were the first person I meet that called my quirk cool and perfect for heroics. I trust that any plan you create will put us in the least amount of danger possible, while still getting our job done. We trust you, so please trust us when you need something.” Hitoshi pleaded.

“Did you honestly think we were going to let you face off against a gang of villains again?” Izuku asked honestly, seeming a little hurt that Aizawa hadn’t expected them to come back. In all honesty, Aizawa had expected them to return, but he had hoped that just this one they would have followed his orders.

“Problem child, please let me hope.” Aizawa deadpanned.

“But you really thought we wouldn’t come? We think of you like family as well. We wouldn’t leave our friends to die, we’re not going to leave you.” Jirou said. The class nodded in agreement.

+++

Dabi watched his brother with his found family. He knew Shoto use to hate being touched at all, but now he sat squished next to the purple mini Eraserhead and was cuddling with the green bean earlier. 

“I was hoping,” Aizawa said as he turned a little more to look at his green-haired student who was almost taller than him now. “Where are the others?” He asked, finally noticing that the students around him were only a handful of his children.

He noted that the surrounding ones were Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, Ochako, Iida, Tsu, Kirishima, and Mina. Each were looking at him with wide, determined eyes as if they were ready to destroy the ones that had hurt him.

“Don’t worry, they haven’t gone to far,” Kirishima piped smiling with his sharp teeth as Mina leaned against him, a smile of her own on her face.

“That’s not what I meant,” Aizawa said, sending him a look, but Kirishima's smiles didn’t waver, making Aizawa silently curse at how soft he had gotten for the kids around him.

“Aww, Sho! You found our kiddos!” Aizawa looked at Yamada confused. “I know we’ve talked about having our own little listener, but it looks like you already found them. Plus, we have Eri.” Shota went to protest, “I already heard you talking to Naomasa about the possibility of adopting her.  It’ll be nice to have a little one around.” Shota just cuddled closer to Yamada, with a soft smile.

“They’re outside trying to get a handle on the situation outside,” Mina answered as she pulled away from her companion to stand tall as she spoke to him. 

“What situation outside?” Aizawa asked a strike of fear running through his heart at the thought of his kids being alone and being up against other villains that might have been outside waiting to ambush them.

“The evacuation,” Shoto answered, this time from his spot next to Izuku. “We split up to make sure everyone got out safe,” He assured their teacher, who acted more like a dad than an actual teacher.

“Shitty Deku came up with the idea,” Katsuki spoke from where he was on the other side of Deku. “All of us would come here to help your ass, while Eye bags, Dunce Face, and Flate Face took the others and went outside to help civilians,” He said as he told Aizawa the plan that had been formed in under five minutes. No one batted an eye at Katsuki’s words, having grown used to the way he spoke after all these years of being around one another.

Everyone laughed at the fact that their resident Bomb never changed.

“He means, Hitoshi, Denki, and Sero,” Ochako explained what Aizawa already knew, having heard the nicknames for years just as the others had.

“Shut the hell up, Pink Cheeks,” Katsuki snapped towards her with a glare, but she didn’t even flinch as he growled at her.

Aizawa didn’t pay attention to the growls that left his explosive student as his gaze drifted to Izuku, who stood tall between his two friends.

“This was your idea?” Aizawa asked as he looked at the younger man, waiting for the answer that he already knew to come.

“Yes, Sensei,” Izuku nodded without hesitating, clearly not afraid to admit that this entire thing was his doing.

“Okay, can we all agree confident Izuku is hot?” Denki asked. The class nodded as Izuku buried his head into Hitoshi’s side.

"Midoriya Izuku, I gave you the order to fall back,” Aizawa started wanting so badly to chew into his Problem Child and into his other students for believing that his life was worth more than theirs when they had so much life left to live.

“Ooooh, he brought out the full name card,” Kirishima snickered out earning a glare from both Aizawa and Izuku at the same time.

“Nope! I take it back! I never want Izubro to glare at me. That’s scary!” Kirishima decided.

Before Aizawa could reprimand him for his words Izuku spoke up once again gaining his attention.

"No offense, Aizawa-Sensei but I was just following one of the lessons you taught us," Izuku stated as he looked at the other man with stern eyes.

"And what lesson would that be?" Aizawa asks about ready to ground the young man here on the spot despite all the villains that were slowly starting to come back to themselves after the surprise attack.

Everyone waited with bated breath for Izuku’s response.

"In your own words," Izuku started still looking at his teacher with stern eyes. "You don't have to follow orders when your leader is acting like a dumbass," He said making everyone look at him with wide surprised eyes as a few gasps filled the air around them.

“Nevermind. Sassy Izuku is my favorite!” Denki declared. 

“Well, you’re in luck! I have many sassy Izuku AU’s for you all to watch!” Cameron said from behind them, scaring Denki from the sudden appearance.

“What about Izu-kun as one of us? I want to be friends with him!” Toga pouted.

“I also have ones where Izuku is a villain or works with the League of Villian. I also have ones where you become friends with him and become a hero.” Toga looked at Cam in aww.

“I’m a hero in some of them?”

“I told you anything is possible.” Toga smiled back at them.

"Midoriya!" Iida gasped out as he reached forward and covered Tsu's ears as if she hadn't heard worse when helping Katsuki cook dinner.

"It's the truth," Izuku said with a shrug as he addressed his friends/teammates who were still looking at him like he had lost his mind.

Aizawa, on the other hand, knew the young man hadn't gone insane and though he wanted to be mad he knew he couldn't. Izuku was right that was one of the lessons he had taught them and he had made sure that it was one of the most important lessons that they learned.

Before Aizawa could say anything Tsu finally spoke up drawing attention to where Iida was still covering her ears.

"I hate to interrupt this conversation," Tsu said as she reached up and carefully removed Iida's hands from her ears as she moved forward a little so she wasn't so close to him anymore. "But the villains are getting back up," She explained as she motioned to where the villains who had been knocked down by Shoto and Katsuki were now regaining their footing.

All of their eyes went wide as they watched the villains before getting into their fighting stances in order to defend themselves and one another. 

Before Izuku could move to the front Aizawa quickly grabbed him by the shoulder making sure to keep him close as he moved forward with him.

"That is the only time you call me any sort of dumbass," Aizawa ordered quietly in Izuku's ear making his student laugh as they moved to stand in front of the others.

"Yes, Aizawa-Sensei," Izuku said with a nod as they came to a stop as the villains were back on their feet ready to try and kill the heroes in front of them.

None of them flinched as the Villains showed off their quirks just like they always did when they were trying to install fear in the heroes but it was clear it wasn't working at least not with this small group of heroes.

“Class 3-A!" Aizawa yelled out as he watched his students get ready to fight knowing that he couldn't stop them as much as he wanted to.

"Yes, Sensei!" The small group replied wanting for their moment to strike like Aizawa had taught them so many times.

"Give’ em hell!" Aizawa ordered as he activated his quirk causing his eyes to glow red and his hair starts to float.

Aizawa didn't get a response back from his few children that were with them as the fight began once more.

“I really liked that one!” Mina called Cameron.

“This just proves that you all will give me gray hairs before I’m 40.” Aizawa sighed.

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Chapter Text

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Izuku Midoriya has been afraid of many things in his life.

Kacchan.

Disappointing his mother.

Kacchan.

Dying at the hands of the sludge villain.

Kacchan.

Disappointing All Might.

Having to fight All for One or Shigaraki or the League.

Kacchan.

Failing and disappointing everyone.

Watching all his friends die.

And also, Kacchan.

Everyone’s happy mood from the end of the last one dropped at the reminder of the two’s past.

He can honestly say though, that this is the first time he’s been sitting at his desk, quaking in fear at… an oral report.

“HEY! Some of those projects are really hard!” Kaminari pouted.

“Just because you don’t want to do the work, doesn't mean it’s hard.” Shinso jabbed back.

“Meanie. Izuku is now my favorite.” Kaminari declared.

A five-minute presentation.

And he’s not even the one that needs to speak.

It had all started last week when Aizawa had walked into homeroom and written three words on the board.

Route to Villainy

  “Is Izu-kun a villain in this one?” Toga asked excitedly. The other members of the League, looked almost as intrigued at the possibility of the green bean joining them.

“Sorry Toga, this is more about how close Izuku was to becoming a villain. Like one more bad day could have thrown him from the path of heroics, and does in other universes.” Cameron explained, apologetically to the blonde vampire. Toga pouted but accepted it.

“Okay, really when did they get here?” Jiro asked Cameron.

“I brought them in during the last episode since I wanted to see their reaction as well. I can bring and take people whenever I think I need to.” They responded. 

He’d underlined the words and then added another word beneath it.

Origins

~last week~

Aizawa faces the class with his signature stare. “Villains. What makes them turn to villainy? What makes them decide to go down a path that will in all likelihood end with them behind bars? This class is usually taught in third year but since you’ve all come into close contact with villains already it was moved up the curriculum.”

The room is silent as Aizawa continues. “You will find what motivates them differs from villain to villain and a vast majority of them don’t even consider what they are doing as ‘wrong’. In fact, most villains turn to crime for one reason alone. They were failed by the hero system.”

“Is that why you’re villains?” Denki asked.

“My family abandoned me because of my quirk, but I had to eat somehow. No one ever offered me another way.” Toga explained, uncaring as it was in the past now.

“My father was a hero and abused me. I escaped and made it my job to kill him and all the other fake heroes.” Dabi chimed in.

“Great, another stain fanatic. Can villains please pick a new mentor? Knowing my first piece of fan mail was from him is unnerving enough.” Izuku whined.

“Hey! You should be honored Stain looks at you as a true hero! He was the only one who didn’t care about my appearance.” Spinner yelled.

“Sorry, I’m not thrilled my first piece of fan mail was from a murderous sociopath who tried to kill me and my friends.” Izuku deadpanned.

“Do you talk with Mr. Stainy? Can I talk with Mr. Stainy? His blood was really pretty!” (I’ll let you take a guess as to who said that.)

There’s a sharp intake of breath, and a couple of shocked gasps, but Aizawa continues undisturbed. “This is a fact of life as heroes. You can’t save everyone, you can’t be everywhere at once and sometimes. People fall through the cracks. This doesn’t make it our fault. Just our responsibility. At the end of the day, no matter a villain’s origin story it still all comes down to a choice. But it doesn’t hurt to understand why… ”

The class is silent as they hang on his every word.

“Over the course of the next week, each of you will be taken off campus to interview a low-level villain in prison. You will be accompanied by myself both for safety as well as to grade your overall performance. The interviewing itself and subsequent note-taking will be all on you so make sure you adequately prepare in advance. Upon your return to campus, you will have the rest of the week to compile what you’ve learned into an essay and prepare a separate five-minute speech to share with the class on why that particular villain chose to go down this route. Yes, Iida?”

The boy lowers his hand and gestures wildly as he speaks. “Is it really safe for UA to be exposing us to villains one on one? What if the fiends are simply using this as a way to get us off campus?”

Aizawa sighs. “You'd be surprised at how many villains jump at the chance to share their ‘tales of woe’. A willing audience that will then be writing up what is essentially their life story and then providing them with a free copy is something most incarcerated villains would kill for.”

The incident of five years ago flashes through his mind and he mumbles under his breath “Have killed for...”

“What happened, Mr. Aizawa?” Sero asked.

“Nothing I can think of in this universe, or maybe it didn’t really affect me as much.” He answered, thinking back.  

The list of villains approved for the study is passed around.

Aizawa stops Midoriya from taking one. “Not you, Problem Child. You’ve been requested and I’ve already approved.”

“Requested? By who?”

~20 minutes ago~

“and that’s when Stain officially shed his persona as a vigilante and chose to become the Hero Killer instead.”

Izuku had volunteered to go first but now, with the class staring at him in shock he is rapidly coming to regret it.

“YOU GOT TO INTERVIEW STAIN!” Spinner yelled.

“He requested you? Damn, you must be the real deal then, kid.” Dabi whistled.

Did I talk too much?

Too little?

Too fast?

Oh god did I mumble?

I should have let someone else go first.

What if I-

Iida, pale-faced and wide-eyed finally looks up and claps. His other friends join in and Izuku quickly bows and make his way back to his seat, beyond grateful for his wonderful friends.

Aizawa hadn’t exactly told them to take notes but Izuku has a fresh notebook out anyway. Keeping track of things that can push people to villainy will only make him a better hero in the long run.

So as Ashido gets up to speak next Izuku quickly writes down.

1) Disillusioned with heroes

That’s actually a pretty common theme now that Izuku thinks about it. Stain still has fans and at least two of the league have claimed to follow his ideals so maybe it’s something heroes need to actually work on changing...

Ashido clears her throat and Izuku quickly cuts the train of thought there.

He can always think more on this later.

“I met with the villain known as Sedusa whose quirk is the ability to kind of hypnotize anyone that meets her gaze unimpeded for five seconds.”

Mineta promptly falls out of his chair but Ashido ignores him as her tone turns somber. “After her quirk came in her parents bought her special glasses that were thick enough to block her quirk. But it didn’t matter. Once her classmates found out, she was ostracized and even her teachers didn’t want to acknowledge her. It came to a point where she couldn’t even lift her head without being accused of trying to use her quirk. She was even physically attacked a few times and the teachers just turned the other way without intervening at all. As she got older she started thinking that if she was going to be treated as a villain anyway then she may as well gain something from it. So at her high school graduation when it was her turn to step on stage for her diploma she took her glasses off and well. She had her revenge. It took weeks for the police to find everyone she’d snared but by then all of her classmates had been involved in some kind of public scandal and she’d left town.”

Ashido shuffles her notecards awkwardly, a conflicted look on her face. “If I had to pin down the reason she became a villain I’d say she was really lonely…”

Aizawa is speaking now, gesturing for Ashido to sit back down and calling up Jirou next.

It all goes over Izuku’s head as he stares down at his paper.

2) Loneliness

3) Isolation from peers

There’s a feeling creeping up on him. Because kids are cruel and he can’t imagine what Sedusa went through.

Well.

Actually though.

He can.

And isn’t that something?

I don’t like where this is going, Problem Child. Aizawa knew some of his kids had dark backgrounds, some more than others, but to see the reasons being listed off made him uneasy. 

He tugs at his necktie lightly and listens as Jirou begins.

~Present~

4) They were ignored when they asked for help

5) Nobody believed they’d ever amount to much

6) Their best friend turned on them for something they couldn’t control

Izuku licks dry lips and digs his nails into his palms.

This is fine.

He’s fine.

Everything is fine.

  Obviously, it’s not. Was the collective thought, but no one was brave enough to say it.

Iida gets up next and Izuku can’t hold back a flinch.

It’s just a speech.

A five-minute presentation.

But he’s never been more terrified in his life.

“When Reaper was around 5 years old her father left, ostensibly to work overseas. She later discovered that he had abandoned his family because he was afraid of her quirk. Her mother struggled to provide for her, both financially as well as parentally. Reaper would come home from school covered in bruises but her mother was too tired to notice and so...”

Izuku’s heart stutters as something grips it tightly.

He’s starting to feel floaty.

Detached.

I really don’t like were this is going. Present Mic recalls his early days in the system, going to school like that and no one caring.

Like he’s listening and watching and still writing down observations but at the same time, it’s like he isn’t here at all.

His pen drags on the paper as he fights the urge to dissociate fully.

7) Abandoned by their father for something they couldn’t control.

8) No one noticed they were being bullied

The League flinches as the list continues, knowing they can agree with many of these.

He knows his classmates would keep things simpler.

Would write simple things like ‘no friends’ or ‘abandoned because of their quirk’ but that feels too harsh to Izuku.

Too clinical.

Izuku understands their pain, understands that it’s not the fact that they were judged for their quirk that hurts, but the fact that a child can not choose what they are born with.

They were blameless and yet were judged as if it were their fault.

As if I had any choice in being born quirkless-

His head snaps up in horror, the fog receding in an instant.

No.

Not me.

The villains.

It’s.

It’s not the same.

The words don’t ring true, even to himself.

Probably because they aren’t.

***

Eijirou is called up last.

He’s a bit nervous honestly. About three of the villains had had some form of extreme bullying as the root of their convictions but his. His is a whole new level.

He stands at the front of the class but immediately wants to cower under the weight of everyone’s stares.

His mom told him that if he got nervous he should just picture everyone in their underwear but that’s just going to make him laugh.

And laughing right now would be wrong on so many levels.

Not manly at all.

So instead, Eijirou picks out the kindest kid in the class to focus on while talking.

Except.

Except Midoriya isn’t looking too good.

Aizawa coughs lightly and Eijirou rubs the back of his head. “Sorry sorry. Heavy stuff here.”

Midoriya sinks even lower into his seat.

Which is weird but Eijirou’s not gonna puzzle that out right now. He’s got a speech to give.

“Remote Control was the only quirkless kid in-”

Hitoshi pulls Izuku closer, knowing this can’t be easy as his childhood had many similarities.

Midoriya falls out of his chair.

Eijirou immediately stops and moves to help him but almost as soon as the green-haired boy had hit the ground, Bakugou had casually grabbed his wrist and hauled him back to his feet.

Midoriya flinches, hand jerking out of his classmate’s hold. He steps back and holds up his hands. “I’m good. Sorry. I must have zoned out for a second there.”

He bows to Kirishima before retaking his seat and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

But his eyes stay glued to the ground.

His friends are all looking overly concerned so Eijirou quickly continues his speech to take the focus off. It’s the least he can do for a manly guy like Midoriya.

“Remote Control was the only quirkless kid in his school and was treated as ‘different’ from everyone else. It started out as calling him fragile and keeping him from playing with them but eventually devolved into acting like he wasn’t even there. His classmates would often speak badly about him while both he and even the teachers were right there but nobody ever said anything about it.”

Which really pisses Eijirou off but he has to stay objective while giving over the facts.

“It got really bad around high school...” 

***

Izuku keeps his head down as Kirishima heads back to his seat. His pen presses against the paper so hard it scores a line through the page.

29) being suicide baited

The pen slips through his fingers as his hands start to shake.

That makes twenty-five.

Twenty-five things that he went through that villains have stated is bad enough to justify-

He feels nauseous and ill and has to press a hand over his mouth as Aizawa Sensei claps his hands together for silence.

“I’m sure some of you have already realized but the point of this class is to show you how easy it is for people to become villains. It doesn’t take as much as you’d think. In fact, studies show that most, if not all children have faced at least one of these struggles throughout their childhood. To that end, we’ll be doing a little experiment.”

He motions with his hand and holds out a stack of papers.

Iida practically leaps to his feet to start handing them out.

“This is the official list of top ten contributions to a villainous mental state. I want everyone to cross out everything you haven’t gone through personally and then tally your score with what’s left. We’ll review the results in a minute.”

“Cameron, can you possibly create a copy of this for each of us?” Aizawa asked.

“Sure! Let's watch until they show the test and I’ll pause it there!” A stack of paper and a cup of pens appeared on a coffee table that everyone forgot existed until now.

Izuku grips his fists tightly to try and stop the shaking but luckily Iida simply places the page on his desk and moves on.

Izuku side-eyes it and resists the urge to push it off his desk.

That would be stupid.

And childish.

And he’d still have to do the assignment, he'd just have to pick his paper up first.

He touches it gingerly with the barest tip of his finger and slowly slides it in front of himself.

He doesn’t want to look.

Can already guess what the paper will say based on his own notes on the presentation.

He already knows he’ll be hitting at least half the scenarios on the list.

But.

But maybe.

Maybe he’ll be able to cross off four?

Maybe three?

Please?

He squeezes his fists one last time before picking up his pen.

Here goes nothing.

1 Being picked on / bullied on a daily basis

2 Lack of support from teachers/authority figures

3 Lack of support from family members

4 Were categorically shunned by peers/family

5 Being told on a daily basis that your dreams are unrealistic

6 Having a loved one / very important person suddenly leave your life

7 Being discriminated against for having what is referred to as a villainous quirk

8 Asking for help and being denied/ignored/blamed for the situation instead

9 Being emotionally / physically hurt by a pro hero

10 Being discriminated against for being quirkless

“Okay everyone, grab one and truthfully answer. You don’t have to share it if you don’t want to, but it can be interesting to see how many you get!” Cameron sat down in a comfy chair as everyone took the quiz. Maybe I should take it later? Once everyone finished, they reastarted the AU.

Izuku tugs on his necktie with numb fingers.

His throat is dry and he can feel his heart racing as he forces himself to take steady breaths.

...at least he can cross off one...

He draws a shaky line through number seven.

And in the box at the top for his score, he manages an even shakier 9.

“9? You got nine and you’re still the sunshine, cinnamon roll of the hero course. How? I got 6!” Dabi yelled. “How the hell you survive that, short of being suicidal is unfathomable.” (A/N Random headcannon that Dabi sometimes uses big words from his private schooling when he’s emotional.)

“Well, I have been told I have a death wish. You take that how you want.” Izuku responded flopping back down across the boys’ laps.

“Problem child, that is not an appropriate response.” Aizawa sighed. Izuku just shrugged, the League looking at him like he’s crazy.

“There is something seriously wrong with that kid.” Dabi muttered, shaking his head.

“Seeing as the only person who I saw got a 9 was Shigaraki, I’ll have to agree with you on that one.” Spinner responded to his burnt league member.

***

Eijirou startles at the tiny clattering sound that seems to shatter the silence of the classroom.

His head jerks up to see Midoriya’s pen rolling along the floor.

The boy himself doesn’t seem to care about it, wide green eyes staring unblinkingly and straight ahead.

“May I be excused Sensei?”

Eijirou frowns at the emotionless and scratchy tone of voice; so contradictory to the brightness and cheer of Midoriya’s usual way of speaking.

“I never want to hear him speak like this again. He sounds dead, like Shinso before coffee.” Kaminari shivered as Shinso turned his Aizawa grin torawrds him.

He’s not the only one staring at the boy in concern. Bakubro is half turned in his seat as if to hide the fact that he’s watching at all and upfront Aizawa Sensei’s eyebrows are furrowed. “Can’t it wait, Problem Child? There’s only a few minutes left.”

Midoriya doesn’t say anything but Eijirou can see shoulders hunching in, and head ducking low and Aizawa Sensei sighs loudly. “Off you go then. Just bring me your paper so we can update the statistics.”

Midoriya gets to his feet slowly and holds his paper close to his chest.

Bakugou tries to get his attention by poking at him with his pen but Midoriya continues on as if he doesn’t even feel it.

His feet shuffle and drag and Eijirou is almost surprised that nobody besides him and Bakugou are watching.

The explosive boy makes one last grab at Midoriya’s back and it’s enough to throw the boy completely off balance.

He flails as he trips and his paper flutters to the ground at Aoyama‘s feet.

“D-D-Don’t” Midoriya stutters out.

But that’s as far as he gets as Aoyama glances down and gasps loudly. “A Nine???”

“Aoyama! What did Mr. Aizawa say before about theses being confedcntal?” Iida lectured, chopping his hands out in front of him.

All noise in the room cuts out immediately and Midoriya’s face turns so pale his freckles stand out from across the room.

He lets out a noise akin to a terrified squeak and in a blur of green lightning, the door is swinging shut behind him.

Mina leaps from her seat and jumps for the paper as Kaminari shouts “You sure you weren’t just reading it upside down dude? How could Midoriya get a-”

“It is! It’s a nine!”

Mina’s scream silences the room as Bakugou’s head thunks solidly onto his desk.

“Holy shit! The only one he crossed off is-”

Aizawa Sensei snatches the paper from her hands, his eyes narrowed in a fierce glare. “This exercise is supposed to be anonymous. And I am sure you will be keeping what exactly you saw to yourself.”

He doesn’t say anything else, merely turns his glare from Aoyama to Mina to Bakugou’s head now covered by his arms.

The silence turns oppressive and Eijirou slowly raises his hand. “C-Could I… go check on Midoriya?”

“Yay! The other me is super manly checking in on a friend!” Kirishima grinned at his universal counterpart.

Those eyes turn on him next, and he fights the urge to look away.

Aizawa Sensei scrutinizes him, seemingly looking for something and Eijirou swallows and waits him out.

Whatever he’s looking for he must find because he suddenly looks away and jerks a thumb over his shoulder.

Eijirou books it.

***

Izuku fumbles with his necktie as he staggers into the wall.

His dorm room is just up ahead.

He’s almost there if he can just-

His hands are trembling and the knot just.

Won't.

Come.

Loose.

Everyone held their breath, hoping Kirisima got to Midoriay before the panic attack got too bad.

He slams into his door gasping and tugging and just struggling to breathe.

It’s over.

It’s all over.

Stupid

Stupid

How could he actually answer it honestly???

Now they've seen-

They know-

He used to be quirkle-

“Midoriya?”

A collective sigh of relief filled the theater as they herald Kirisima’s voice.

Izuku stumbles, fingers still hopelessly tangled in what used to be his tie.

He opens his mouth but all he manages is a high keening noise as he gasps for breath.

“Shit shit. Hang on.”

There’s hands on top of his. His body is torn between flinching back and continuing to panic and he simply quakes as rough fingers gently free his own shaking ones and finally he is free.

His fingers immediately fumble with his top button but luckily his savior makes quick work of that too.

He presses back against the wall and just breathes for a minute till he can finally work up the courage to open his eyes.

Kirishima’s concerned face comes into view and he slowly closes his eyes again.

“Thanks” He croaks.

“Don’t mention it.” Kirishima murmurs.

Izuku slips his key from his pocket and slowly opens his door.

Kirishima hovers in the doorway and Izuku feels bile rising in the back of his throat at the thought of what this is.

He’s here to watch me

They must not trust me anymore.

If I try to leave

Will he stop me?

The thoughts swirl and race and he almost doesn’t hear Kirishima when the boy asks him if he’s alright.

For some reason, the question pisses him off.

“Am I alright? No, I’m not fucking alright! I’ve just had the entirety of my childhood broken down into the millions of things I have in common with villains! Am I alright??? I don’t think I’ve ever been alright in my fucking life!”

Everyone looked to Izuku to see him hiding his face in Shinso's shirt as he glared at the rest of them to keep watching so they can finish this.

He storms into his room, and flings that useless tie onto his desk, followed swiftly by his jacket. He runs his fingers through his hair and pulls hard.

“Fuck! This is so stupid. I can’t believe after everything, this is what’s going to get me expelled!”

“What? Dude no! They’re not gonna expel you cuz you scored high in some social experiment.”

Izuku laughs.

Kirishima is naive.

He doesn’t understand.

Izuku’s been threatened with expulsion for less before.

He laughs again but it catches on a sob and he shakes his head rapidly as he grips his hair tighter.

“You don't get it! I could’ve been a villain! I should’ve been a villain! If All Might hadn’t seen me run in to save Kacchan from that sludge guy then I wouldn’t even be here!!!”

Kirishima blinks, looking startled, and Izuku ducks his head lower, already preparing to be pushed away, written off, abandoned by another frie-

“That was you?”

The tone is so soft, reverent almost and Izuku flushes and looks up despite himself.

“Uh… what?”

“The. The kid that ran in and threw his backpack. That stood up to the villain without having a strong quirk. That was you???”

Now it’s Izuku’s turn to blink in shock. “Uh… y-yeah, I-I guess…”

Kirishima stares at him and Izuku averts his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable and embarrassed at his previous outburst.

A hand moves into his peripheral vision and he can’t help flinching back, but Kirishima’s touch is gentle as it taps his face to get him to look up again.

“You could never be a villain Midoriya.”

His classmate’s smile is wide and soft and oh so bright as he says “Midoriya, you’re the one who inspired me to become a hero! I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“You better believe it was the same in this universe. You were so manly Midobro running to save Bakubro!” Kirishima smiled at the light dusting of pink on Midoriya’s cheeks at the compliments.

Izuku’s breath catches and his eyes water but Kirishima doesn’t stop smiling at him.

Not even when he clings to him and sobs into his shirt.

“Okay, we’re going to take a short break after that. The next one is sad but has a happy ending. Eat, sleep, relax, and I will get you up when I can present the universe.” 

“Can we see what happens next in that last universe?” Mina asked.

“Sorry, I can only load specific moments or parts from the universe.” Cameron explained.

“Okay.” Mina answered as she joined the rest of the Bakusquad in the kitchen.