Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Happy birthday Izuku!" Izuku wakes up on the day of his fourth birthday to both of his parents in his room. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up. He opens his eyes and there is a cupcake in the hands of his mother with a single candle in it. He’s quick to blow out the candle. There was more spit than air when he did so; Inko thought it was adorable but was also glad that she would not be the one that had to eat this cupcake. She truly loved her son, but that doesn’t mean that she enjoys eating spit covered cupcakes.  

"Are you excited to get your quirk?" His father asks him.

Once his sleep filled mind clears enough to remember that he is now 4! And this is when most kids would be getting their quirks his eyes light up and he screams out,

"I'M SO READY! I WANNA GET MY QUIRK SO THAT I CAN BE HEROES WITH KACCHAN!" His excitement was palpable as he bounced on his bed. Both parents shared a fond look with each other over their son.

"Alright baby, well we'll see if it comes in today or not. But just remember that sometimes kids don't get their quirks right on their birthday. But it should be coming any day now." His mother brushes his bangs away from his face and sees his beaming smile.

"Alright mommy! I'll remember that!"

"Alright kiddo well let's get you ready for school okay?"

"Okay! I'll get ready super fast so that my quirk gets in faster!" Izuku gets out of bed and proceeds to fall on the floor since he was so tangled up in his blankets. His parents just shake their heads with a smile at the amazing logic that the 4 year old has and help him get ready for school.

It was about 4 months after his birthday and Izuku still didn’t show signs that he had gotten his quirk. Izuku was starting to get discouraged by the fact and his parents were getting more and more worried that he would be left behind. He would come home sad more often than not. Telling them that more kids in his class had gotten their quirks. It wasn’t until December,  5 months after his birthday, when he confided in them that he was starting to feel left out. There were only two kids in his class that didn’t have their quirks yet. Himself and one other. But the other kid had said that neither one of his parents had gotten their quirk until they were 6. With that explanation, a lot of the other quirked kids left him alone. Which made Izuku the sole target of all of their ridicule. 

His parents just kept telling him that he just needed to be patient. 

That worked up until it didn't. It was becoming more and more often that when they would pick Izuku up from school that his head was hanging low and his shoulders were hunched over. This wasn't like their son at all. He was normally upbeat and running to meet them to tell them what happened in school that day. So when he doesn't do that they know that something is wrong. They thought that it would pass and they tried to let it go. But the longer that it went on, the harder it was to not ask questions. By now more than a year has passed since his 4th birthday and there was still no sign of a quirk. They had suspicions, of course, but wanted to spare Izuku the probably heartbreaking talk. After talking about it with each other several times, they decided that it couldn't go on like this for longer. Today would be the day that they would ask him what was going on with school. And it looked like it was a good day to do so. He came out of the school with tears threatening to spill over.

"Izuku honey what happened?" He finally made it over to his mother and she knelt down so that they were closer to eye level. She attempted to wipe the tears from his face, but they were coming down faster than she could move.

"All of the kids in class are making fun of me. They don't think that I'm going to get a quirk. They all said that I should have already gotten it since my birthday was so long ago. They're starting to call me quirkless..." He trails off. That was even worse than what she had anticipated. She is at a loss for what to say so instead she takes time to think it through. Not wanting him to think that she is brushing this off she pulls him into a hug and picks him up. Once he's settled on her hip, she and Hisashi start walking home. Izuku's crying doesn't let up until they make it back to the apartment. He had cried so much on the way home that he ended up going to sleep before they got back. Instead of waking him up, Inko chose to put him in his bed. She grabbed one of his stuffies from next to his bed and set that with him as well. So that he would have some comfort while he slept. Her heart lurched when he grabbed it in his sleep and cuddled it to his chest. She quietly moved out of his room and back to the kitchen where her husband was waiting. He was in the middle of making tea for both of them. She whispered a quiet thanks as he handed her the finished cup.

They sat in silence as they thought about what could be done with their son. They both had quirks so the chances of him being quirkless were slim to none, but still there. It wasn’t until they were working on dinner when they remembered the obvious solution. 

"You know dear we could always take him back to the doctor. They said that we couldn’t take him back until after he was 5 to see if maybe his quirk was just going to come in late and it’s already past his birthday. They should be able to run some tests to see if he has an active quirk factor. And depending on which one we go to they might be able to give us a more detailed time frame as to when his quirk should be coming in." Hisashi was helping Inko get dinner ready for the night and after Izuku had woken up from his nap, he was still quiet. He was currently sitting on the couch watching hero news. He hadn’t uttered a single word since coming out of his room. It was more subdued than either adult has ever seen. He wasn't even trying to pick apart the quirks of the hero's that were just debuting. He was just blankly staring at the TV. 

"I think that would be for the best. I don't like seeing our baby like this." Inko bit her lip as she cut the vegetables. A hand on her back told her that Hisashi was right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug that she melted into. 

"I don't either. I'll make a couple calls tomorrow and see if I can get him in as soon as possible. At least that way we'll have some answers." Hisashi only removes one arm from around her waist so that he can get out his phone. With the note now in his phone he places it back into his pocket and hugs his wife again.

" Thank you honey." Inko tried to press a small kiss to Hisashi's lips in gratitude. It was a little hard to do so when they were like this so settled for his jaw which was all she could really reach. 

" Of course. Izuku! Dinner is ready." Thanks was given for the food and they decided to tell Izuku what their plan was in hopes that it would cheer him up.

Hisashi was able to get an appointment for later in the week and Izuku couldn't wait for the day to come. He just wanted the kids to stop making fun of him and go back to being his friend.

The day of Izuky’s appointment came quickly. And when they checked in they immediately started doing all sorts of tests. Some of which included taking blood. He didn't like that part but it would be worth it when the doctor comes back with the results. 

So he only cried a little during the process. He counted that as a win. And he got a really cool hero bandaid! Which was honestly the best part.

Waiting for the doctor to come back felt like forever but his mother told him it had only been a few minutes. 

The doctor came back in with a file in his hands and a smile on his face.

“I've got some good news! Your son has a quirk all right.” The attending doctor had said. His eyes scanned over the lab papers that were just brought in. 

"His quirk factor is active and is responding the way that it should for a kid around his age. It just might be taking a little bit longer for his quirk to come in. But I don't think it should take any later than a few months. I haven’t specialized in quirk science, so if you want more information I would highly suggest going to a quirk councilor. They would be more equipped to tell you what kind of quirk it is, how to control it and depending on who you see, they might be able to give you a more accurate timeline as to when it will come in. ” The doctor hands Inko and Hisashi a sheet of paper that has a couple of phone numbers and addresses on it. They were more than happy to hear that their son had a quirk. They could handle it being a little late. Any more now, when a child had their quirk come in late, that just meant that the quirk was going to be a powerful one.

A sigh of relief came out of his parents’ mouth. They smiled at each other and then at Izuku. Izuku could not hold it in any longer. All of the excitement was getting to him.

“Mommy! Daddy! When will my quirk show up?! I wanna be able to be a hero with Kacchan!” He said excitedly as he jumped up and down for joy. At least now he knew for sure that he was going to get one. This was also the most happy he had been in months.

“I don’t know honey. Sometimes these things take a little bit to show up. But I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we make an appointment with a quirk specialist and let’s go see if he can find out okay? Does that sound good?” 

“Yea Mommy! Then I can be a hero just like All Might and save people!” Izuku waves his hands around excitedly.

“And I have no doubt that you can do it baby!” She said, matching the excitement in her kid’s voice.

“If you are lucky it will be a combination of your mother’s and I’s quirk.” His father chimed in. Chest puffing out with pride just a little bit at the thought that his son would have a powerful fire quirk like his own.

Izuku’s eyes got wide, and he started rambling about all the possibilities that it could be. While he was muttering Inko and Hisashi had thanked the doctor and led Izuku out of the room. He was talking the whole way home about the different ways that he could use his quirk once he got it. His parents looked at each other and smiled again. They would chime in every now and then with suggestions or new ideas. Later when Izuku was in bed they went to cuddle on the couch and unwind from the long day. They would deal with his quirk when it came in. 

For now they would wait until he manifested said quirk. Thankfully, he was going to have one so it couldn’t be so bad could it?

Chapter Text

So from the time he was 4 his life was increasingly more stressful. The whole time was stressful not only for Izuku but for his mother and father too. His father’s boss was constantly asking about Izuku’s quirk and the longer that Hisashi told the other man that it hadn’t come in yet, the colder he became. And Inko’s job wasn’t much better. Her coworkers were talking to her less and less as time went on. It was draining all of them. Constantly making all of them worried. The one thought that was also a constant throughout all of this was the fear that he was truly quirkless and the tests that the doctors had been doing were all just lies. 

It did not go unnoticed to Izuku that his parents had been fighting more and more. They would often do it when they thought that he couldn't hear them but the walls in the apartment were super thin and so he could hear everything that they were yelling at each other. He would also often cry silently into his pillow when this would happen.

They wouldn't be fighting if he could just get his quirk in. They would be the happy family that they were when he was younger. He felt bad for not getting his quirk in like the rest of the kids but there wasn't anything that he could do. So he did the only thing that he thought of. He tried to make himself as helpful as possible. He tried not to be a further burden on his parents then he already was. 

When he could come home from school with cuts and bruises from his classmates he stopped asking for help. He learned through Herotube how to take care of his own injuries so that he wouldn't have to bug his parents. 

This was more his father than his mother though. The first few times that he had asked them for help his father was commenting under his breath that if Izuku would only get his quirk then this wouldn't be happening. After a solid month of this happening his father had made an off handed comment to his mother about how tired he was of treating Izuku's wounds everyday. 

Izuku knew that he wasn't supposed to hear that but he did. So he stopped asking for help. He thought his parents would still notice but they didn’t. They just turned a blind eye to it all. The only reason why Izuku even knew that they knew that he was still getting hurt was because the medical kit that they kept in the bathroom under the sink always was stocked with the supplies that he would need. 

The relationship between all of them was straining as the years went on. They had all been talking to each other less and less at home. More often than not when Izuku got home from school he would just go up to his room to treat whatever wounds he had gotten that day at school and do his homework. He wouldn't dare venture out of his room until one of his parents had called him down for dinner. And when dinner was over he would just go back to his room. This was a lot easier to deal with constantly hearing his father being angry with him.

With all of this time isolating himself in his room, he had a lot more free time than before when he would spend it at the park with his mum or at Kacchans. So he did the only thing he could do at the moment: researching and analyzing quirks. He thought that if he just knew more about them than maybe his would come in faster. Or at the very least he could learn why his was taking so long to come in. So he would spend hours upon hours researching and making theories. He started keeping his thoughts in a notebook and updating them when needed. It started out of guilt and boredom but quickly became his favorite hobby. All the kids at school thought that he was weird for doing this but it made him happy. Over time he got a lot better about hiding them too so that they wouldn't get destroyed at school. Sometimes that was in the form of writing everything in a code that he made up and sometimes it was disguising them as text books. The other kids wouldn’t look twice at a text book after all. They often assumed that he was just trying to study more since he ‘obviously wasn’t  smart enough to keep up with them.’ Sometimes, they would destroy the textbook outcover to try and prove a point, but thankfully it usually didn’t damage his notebooks on the inside. And that was the reality that he was forced to live. 

He was still hopeful that his quirk would come in soon though. He had read online that sometimes you can be a late bloomer and not get your quirk until 7. Through his studies he discovered that the latest somebody had developed a quirk was at the age of 9. So he kept holding on to the little thread of hope that maybe his was just late. Even with his extensive research about quirks, he couldn't find a thing to make his quirk come in any faster. He even had started reading research papers and articles that were well above his reading level to try and get answers. He found a couple of the papers that Nezu had done and was fascinated by them. The way the animal? (Izuku wasn’t sure if that was the right way to refer to him but it felt better than calling him something mean.) theorized that even though the population was getting more powerful quirks as time went on, their bodies were not able to handle that. There were becoming more and more problems and timeline changes the more powerful the quirks became. And Izuku could see the truth in that. Even with Kacchan. His explosions were amazing! But he could also see that whenever Kacchan tried to do some bigger explosions, ones that were more like true fireworks than the small pops that he normally did, it hurt the other boys wrist. He would be rubbing at them for a long time after he showed off like that.

Reading and understanding the papers was a slow process, but he liked it and it distracted him well enough; he was getting better about waiting. Normally not getting his quirk earlier wouldn't have been a problem, but the problem was that he needed to hurry and get his quirk. Kacchan was getting impatient and he was too! And he didn't want to admit it but since his parents were pulling away from him, his research had become more comforting. 

If he would just get his quirk, whatever it was it would make things so much easier.

He didn't like the mean things that the kids and teachers were saying about him at school.

They would say that he was just putting off the inevitable by continuously pretending to have a quirk. And there were some days when Kacchan was mean too. It's not his fault though! It was everybody else around him that caused him to be mean. He was just doing what everybody else told him to do and thinking it was right. Even if Izuku knew somewhere deep down, that his best friend already knew better.

He finally had found a small breakthrough in his constant research. He found that sometimes there were requirements that needed to be met in order to gain your quirk. It was like that with a lot of the mental quirks, because apparently they needed more brain capacity to work. He only knew what that meant due to all of his research. With his not coming in when he was 4 that just meant that it was a mental quirk. It was going to be like his mother's! He was a little disappointed at the fact that it might not have the fire aspect like his father's but at least he would have one! 

Then maybe Kacchan would stop being mean. It wasn’t likely but there was a chance.

Maybe then his parents would love him like they did before all of this happened.

—-

When he woke up the morning of his seventh birthday, things were off. There was something in his bed that he didn’t remember being there before. He slowly shifted awake and tried to figure out what was going on. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and that was his second clue that something was not exactly right. It looked like it was dawn in his room. If it was that time of day his mom would have woken him up a lot earlier to get ready for school, but when he looked at his alarm clock on his bedside table it read that it was only 2 in the morning. At first he was excited cause that meant it had to be a night vision quirk right? It wasn’t the same or even similar to his parents, but he was just happy that it had manifested. This also meant that he would be a much better underground hero because he would be able to see better than most other people in the dark. The happiness lasted until he felt that same weight that woke him up (that he forgot about up until this point) shift to be on top of his legs, almost pinning him to the mattress. 

Shifting in bed, he turned to see what was now weighing his legs down. What he saw confused him even more. The thing that was weighing his legs down looked like a glowing cat. It was about as big as a large Maine coon. The cat had a dark black fur coat that he would also see some purple markings in the coat as well. 

He knew that they didn't have any pets in the house cause his father was allergic to cats but his windows were closed so there was no way that a cat could have gotten into his bedroom. And normal cats don’t glow, even a deku like him knew that. He wrinkled his face in confusion. So he did the only thing his seven year old brain could come up with.

He stared at the cat pinning his legs to the bed.

The cat's lilac eyes settled on him, slowly looking him over. He didn’t shy away but he also didn’t make a move to touch the cat either, instead opting to carefully watch it. He didn’t know if it was nice or not and he would rather not be bitten today. 

“I, for one, am not a mere house cat. I am a panther, thank you very much.”  Despite the words, the panther's voice was like warm honey in his head. It was soft and soothing. It made Izuku feel all warm and surprisingly safe.

“Secondly, I am a part of you just like you are a part of me. So hello little one.”  There was a sense of awe. This must be his quirk! Izuku smiled back at the panther and reached out a hand to touch them. He retracted his hand at the last minute and a look of terror crossed his face.

“Oh, I’m sorry, can I pet you? I know I should ask beforehand and I’m sorry that I almost didn’t!” Stupid Deku. He should know that he needs permission before doing things like this. Before his thoughts could further spiral out of control warm laughter filled the room. He put his hand over his mouth to forcefully stop his apparent mumbling.

“Of course, you can little one. Afterall we are going to be by each other’s side no matter what. But thank you for asking.”  A big smile came across his face and he lifted his hand back up and the panther met him halfway. Izuku wasn’t sure what he was expecting. When his hands met the silky looking fur of his panther (That’s a thought he was going to have to get used to, but it was so cool!) it was indeed silky but it wasn’t warm to the touch. Instead, it was cool. Not cold like he put his hand on an ice cube but more like how he thought a person with an ice quirk would be. The body temperature running lower than most people.

His panther must have sensed his confusion and spoke

“Yes, I’m not as warm as you. But don’t worry about me.”

Izuku continued to run his hands through her coat when an important thought came into his mind.

“Oh! I need to know what to call you. Do you have a name, or can we come up with one?”

“As far as I know I do not have a name so let’s come up with one together.”

Izuku tapped his chin in thought and thought about it for a minute. He wanted it to be something cool but also simple. He had a song stuck in his head from the movie that his parents had put on earlier. It was about this  boy who didn’t have any powers at all but then turned out to be a demi-god! The thought crossed his mind to name her Hercules just like the hero the movie was about but decided against it. He liked the character but not enough to name his panther after him. And Hercules was a boy, but his panther sounded like a girl. There was another idea from the movie that he had though, and one that he had a feeling his panther would like too. 

“What about Zero?" Izuku said. He was practically vibrating with how much excitement he had. His panther stretches out her long inky limbs and then proceeds to settle herself into his lap. She started purring and replied. 

"I think that is a fantastic name, little one. I like it." He sat on his bed for a while just petting Zero. Feeling her fur between his fingers. Basking in the feeling of excitement and happiness.

He finally had his quirk.

He finally had his quirk! 

 It was totally worth having to wait if that meant that he got Zero. He let his mind drift through what would possibly change now that he had her. Things with school, his hopeful friends, his parents. 

Wait, his parents.

The realization struck him that his parents didn’t know yet.

“We need to go tell mommy and daddy! They are going to be so excited that you're here!” He tries to jump out of bed but gets tangled in his sheets. 

With an excitement that he hadn't felt in a while Izuku made his way to their bedroom where his mother and father were.

He ran down the hallway as fast as he could with Zero hot on his heels. He threw open their door and launched himself at the their bed. 

"Mommy daddy! I got my quirk!!" He says as he reaches his father. He landed on his fathers side of the bed and looks at the man with his emerald eyes shining. Izuku was bouncing with so much energy that made his parents smile at the small child. He was so excited to tell them that Zero was here! That meant that they could finally stop fighting!

“Wha-? What time is it Izuku?” His dad tries to wipe the sleep from his eyes but stiffens when he feels a second weight being added to the bed. 

“Daddy! I got my quirk!” Izuku says again as he continues to bounce on the bed. Hisashi follows his sons gaze over to where the other weight is and is shocked to see...a cat? Any feelings of lingering sleep have been brushed to the side now.

“This is your quirk?” He says slowly. He wasn’t sure what to make of this. This was not like either his or Inko’s quirks. 

"She's right here!! And she’s super cool! With her I’ll be able to be a hero like Kacchan for sure!"

She?

What is going on?

Zero makes her way over to Izuku from the other side of the bed and comes to sit right next to Izuku. Not knowing what else to do she starts to rub herself over the small boy, much like a house cat.

Both of his parents just stare in disbelief and shock. 

"Izuku honey, I told you that we aren't allowed to have a cat. Your father is allergic to cats." Inko blearied mutters as she finally wakes up. Hiashi looks over to his wife to see if she was also seeing what he was seeing. Because maybe, this was just a dream.

"But she's not a cat mommy! She's my quirk!" Inko sits up straight in bed and looks over at Hisashi. The questioning look in her eyes reflecting his own. This isn’t what they thought his quirk would be.  

"It would seem that the boy is speaking the truth cause I'm not having an allergic reaction like I normally would." His father says slowly. Still staring at what was happening in front of him. His son’s quirk was sitting in their bed. Like nothing was wrong. 

"Oh well in that case um, I'm happy for you!" Inko smiles warily

Izuku sat down on the floor and the cat walked over to sit in his lap.

"Does it have a name, son?" His father carefully asked. Not sure how to correctly address a quirk.

"I am not an it." Zero says to Izuku.

"Please don't call her an it, daddy. She doesn't like it. And her name is Zero!" 

He nods his head and turns to his wife. She also has a look on her face that says that she's not entirely happy with the situation. But at the same point, she didn't know what else to do.

"How do you know that she's a girl, baby?" Despite the less than stellar situation Inko is genuinely curious about this. She knew that Izuku was only 7 and didn't really understand how to check the sex of a cat. So how did he know that his quirk was a girl and maybe not a boy?

"Cause of her voice! It doesn't sound like daddy's. It sounds more like mommy's or Mrs. Abe's." 

"She talks to you?" 

"Yea! But it's not in Japanese! It's something different. I don't know what it's called but I can understand her perfectly fine!" The parents look at each other and the back at the cat that is sitting on their son's lap. His eyes are closed and he's petting his cat. 

"That's...good baby why don't you and ...Zero go back to bed. There is still some time before we all have to get up and then we can talk more about this in the morning okay?" His mother says quickly. 

"Okay mommy! Come on Zero!" He makes to stand up and the black cat jumps off of him and follows him back to his bedroom. 

“What are we going to do about this, Inko?” Hiashi turns in bed when his son and quirk leave. 

“I don’t know Hiashi but it is 2 in the morning. We both need to get up early. So let’s just go back to bed and think about what we can do after we have slept some more.” Inko refluffs her pillow and lays back down to go to sleep. 

“Yea, okay. We can do that. Not like we could get much done at this hour anyways.” Hisashi falls back asleep slowly with his thoughts turning on how this could have happened. And even though he was glad that his son finally had his quirk, he wasn’t sure that he was happy with the result. 

Back in Izuku’s room, he was too excited to fall asleep. He wanted nothing more than to talk to Zero. He wanted to know everything about her. What she could do, how big she would grow up to be, were there things that normal cats could do that she couldn’t do? 

“Little one, I can hear the string of thoughts in your head. And I will be more than happy to talk to you about them, but for now,” She yawned. Mouth opening wide to show the sharp teeth that she had. “We should get some sleep. I will still be here in the morning.” Seeing his quirk yawn made Izuku do the same. He snuggled back under his All Might comforter that was on his bed. Zero curled up next to him and started purring. Between the fading adrenaline of what happened and the soothing sound of Zero Izuku found himself falling asleep faster than he thought he would be able to.

“Okay, then we will talk...in the... morning..”

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up again when his alarm went off to start the day. 

Flashes of what happened the previous night float through his head. Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, he hopes that last night actually happened and it wasn’t just an elaborate dream that his mind made up . 

"It wasn't a dream, little one. I'm right here." To emphasize her point she nuzzles her head in his hands. Tail swishing around on top of the comforter. 

He feels her inky black coat slipping through his fingers again and smiles. His quirk really did come in! He was on cloud nine! He didn’t make it up! When he reached her jaw to scratch under her chin, she stuck her tongue out and licked him. He giggled at the sensation of it and wiped his wet hand on his pajama pants.

“Well, we should probably head into the kitchen for some breakfast.” As if on cue, his mother called out that breakfast was ready. He got up out of bed and stretched. Zero was quick to follow suit. Bounding after him as they set off to get food. 

Inko was standing at the stove making breakfast for the morning and Hisashi was at the table trying to read the newspaper. He had been trying for 5 minutes to read the same article about a new school being put in but he couldn’t concentrate on that. Not when the manifestation of his son's quirk was still circling his mind. Sighing he gave up and folded the newspaper in front of him. He checked to make sure that he couldn’t hear his son and when he was satisfied that he didn’t, he spoke.

“I just don't understand. How could he have a quirk like that? You have a telekinesis quirk and mine is fire breathing. Even with quirk mutations, how could he have gotten..... that.” He spit the last word out. He didn’t like his son’s quirk at all. While the panther seemed nice and all he just didn’t want his son to have that kind of quirk. What would other people say? Decent people didn’t have shadow quirks like that. Even having a villain's quirk would have been better than that abomination. 

" I don’t know either. It does seem odd that he would manifest a quirk like that. I guess we're going to have to set an appointment with a quirk specialist so that we can figure out how to navigate this turn of events." Inko says to her husband.

“ Do you think there is any way it could be...molded.. Or shaped? " Hisashi mutters. He might not like the type of quirk that his son had but that wouldn’t stop him from trying to think of ways that it could help. Panthers are naturally sneaky so maybe it would do good in stealth? But they also have speed so that could be useful too.. Just because it was a panther doesn't mean that it can’t be useful. Maybe if he reached out to some of his...contacts in the underground, they might also have use for something like that. He could make a lot of money off the brat and his quirk. It would have some use that way rather than just being a burden. 

"Yea I'm not sure either but the specialist should be able to tell us more." Hisashi studied his wife as she finished making breakfast. He was unsure of what her stance on this was. Admittedly it would be easier if she was on his side with all of this, but right now he couldn’t tell. She never had problems in the past with going along with his plans, even the less than savory ones. In fact there were some that she made that she was excited about. But this? This was new. It had to do with their own son after all. 

She had just set the table and was calling to Izuku to come to breakfast. He was still in his room and thankfully so was his quirk. At least the damn thing was well behaved. Light footsteps in the hallway notified the adults that both Izuku and his quirk were coming to the kitchen. Izuku smiled brightly at both Inko and Hisashi before climbing up to his seat at the table. While he was settling in, Hisashi was pleased to see that the panther didn’t also try to sit at the table. Instead, Zero settled herself on the floor at his son's feet. 

“Now Izuku, do you know if you need to give Zero food or not?” Izuku may not have noticed it, but there was an edge in Inko’s voice. One that had the underlying tone that she really didn’t want to feed the panther. Zero was quick to pick on the shift in tone, but kept quiet. 

“Huh, I didn't even think about that.” Turning to his panther he asked.

“Hey Zero, do you want some of my breakfast? Do you want something else?” Izuku also held up his plate as an offering. He was completely willing to share his food if she needed some too.

“I do not need to eat little one, you're fine. As long as you're fed everything will be okay.” Which she hoped was the truth. Because honestly, she herself didn't know, but she didn’t want to give the parents another reason to dislike her. She doesn’t even understand why they dislike her in the first place.

“Okay Zero.” He reaches down to gently pet her on the head and looks back at his mother. This is the first time since last night that Inko realizes that Izuku's eyes have changed. He also no longer has the emerald green eyes that she also has. She can now see the purple pentagram shape that is around his iris. Even more apparent  was the fact that his pupil wasn’t black anymore. It was a stark white. She sucks in a gasp and clutches her chest. She doesn't hear the response that Izuku gives her over the sound of her own erratic heartbeat. She nudged for Hisashi to look. When his gaze slides over to where his son sits at the table, he has a similar reaction. The two adults exchange looks between each other, not sure what they are supposed to do.   Noticing that his parents aren't paying attention to what he is saying he tilts his head to the side.

“What's wrong?”

“Izuku, have you had the chance to look at your eyes?” Hisashi asks carefully.

“No, why?” Izuku furrows his brow in confusion. His eyes are the same as they were yesterday. At least he thought they were. 

“Well It seems that your eyes have changed...” Inko trails off not knowing what to say next. She shares another look with her husband and he is just as confused about the whole ordeal like she is. But another underlying emotion that Inko can see in her husband is anger. It’s buried deep within, as to not scare their son. But it is still there. And it is burning brighter behind the careful mask that Hisashi had put up the more he looks at Izuku. 

“Wait really!? I have to go see it!” He scampers off to the bathroom to go look at his eyes. Zero trailing after him. Once their son and his quirk are out of earshot, Hisashi furiously whispers to his wife.

"His eyes were green when he smiled at me just 10 minutes ago." 

"Maybe it's a side effect of his quirk then?" She replies back with a sigh. It’s not like this is her fault. Izuku didn’t get that quirk from her side of the family that is for sure. But Inko knew better than to state that fact right now. Her husband, judging by the look of malice in his eyes, was already angry. And she really couldn’t afford for them to move again because he lost his temper and burned down another building. 

"Maybe but I don't like this. Having him be quirkless would be better than him being a demon." 

"Let's not jump to conclusions quite yet. We might have an explanation for all of this. We just need to make that appointment with the counselor and go from there." She placates. Granted, she was on the same page as Hisashi with this. She didn’t want to have their son have this quirk either. It wouldn’t look good for the image that they tried to portray. They needed to look like just the average family. And Izuku’s quirk was not going to let that happen. Granted, he might be really useful for their... less than savory side of life. Only time would be able to tell with that one. 

Hisashi just nods and goes back to drinking his coffee.

Both parents know exactly when he sees the change in his eyes, cause they can hear the excited sounds that he is making.  

Neither of them had said much else throughout the morning after Izuku and Zero came back to the breakfast table. It’s not like Izuku would have noticed anyways.  He was too excited about his quirk to notice them being quiet. He kept going on and on about the different things that he and  Zero could possibly do. As well as how they could go on to be heroes. There was a certain light in his eyes when Izuku talked about becoming a hero. It was admittedly something that he had always talked about ever since he could speak. And while it was certainly not their first choice in careers for their son, it was.... Something. But now? Knowing what his quirk is? When the idea of heroes is mentioned this time, both of his parents share a look of pity and slight disgust. They knew that the chances of him becoming a hero with this type of quirk were slim to none. They just didn't want to be the ones to break it to him. They would just let somebody else do it for them.

After breakfast was over Inko excused herself so that she could go make a few calls. When she came back into the living room she announced that they had an appointment with a specialist for later in the week so they could get some answers.

The day could not come soon enough for the distressed parents. The school was telling them that with his quirk and what it did to his eyes they wouldn't let him come back until they had more information on his quirk. They claimed that he might be a danger to his fellow classmates and they couldn't help but agree. They knew that Izuku's quirk was sentient. And they know that she could communicate with Izuku. But really that was about it. They didn't know if she was also more or less intelligent than Izuku. They had suspicions that she was more so than Izuku but if that was the case then where did she get it from? There were so many questions that they had that they agreed with the school to have him stay home until they knew more. 

Inko looked over at her son playing in the living room with his quirk. Seeing that he was thoroughly distracted, she started talking with Hisashi in a hushed tone.

“What are we going to do about this? What in the hell is that?” After the past couple of days she was at her breaking point. She just wanted answers.

“I don't know hun. I just want to know where that could have happened. You have a minor attraction quirk and I have a fire breathing quirk. In what world does that lead to our son having a sentient demon panther quirk?” Hisahsi asks his wife after she had gotten done with her phone calls. 

“That’s what I want to know too. I also don't think I have any family that would have had this kind of quirk? Do you know if you do?”

“No. Not that I can remember anyways. I mean there was some family on my great grandma's side that we didn't really associate with so it’s possible that it came from them.” Hisashi runs his hands down the side of his face. This was turning out to be more of a headache than he signed up for. 

“I don't know what to think about all of this.”

“I don't either. But you know that we have other...options if we don't like what the quirk counselor has to say.” Hisashi offered up.

“Yea, you're right.” Inko takes that minute to lean into her husband.

“I really don't want it to have to come to that but I know that we also can't have any suspicions on us right now. It’s too dangerous.”

“Well, dear, we will just have to wait and see what happens. I don't want to do that either but we may not have a choice.”

"Well we do have those other options. If we find out that we need them." Inko suggests. Even if Izuku wouldn’t be useful that didn’t mean that they would have to take care of him. There were many ways that they could rid themselves of the boy. Both legally and not. The easiest would probably be to just give up on him and send him out to the streets. 

Which brought up another point. They were young. They could always try for another baby. And maybe this time, it wouldn’t turn out as much of a fuck up. 

"Love, do you want me to get in contact with those people just in case?" Hisashi asks his wife. He hadn't been in contact with them since Izuku was born but that didn't matter. He knew that they would help him. With any means necessary. It was a good back up plan just in case. And with the more time passed, it was looking like it was going to be their best option.  

"I think that we should." She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked out to where Izuku and Zero were in the living room. Dread and disgust filled her mind.

"Then I will see to it this afternoon." Hisashi kissed her forehead and they went back out to the living room. 

The waiting game had started. 

In the meantime they did what they could until the morning of the appointment. But that day could not come soon enough.

Chapter Text

It was the morning of the appointment. Inko was both dreading the doctor visit but it also couldn’t come fast enough. She was grateful that her husband was able to get the day off so that she wouldn’t have to do this alone. She stretched as she got out of bed, sighing softly at the sleeping form of her husband. The time on the clock said that they still had at least another 4 hours before they had to be at the office, so she decided to let him sleep a little longer and went to go check on their son. 

When she knocked on the open door frame she saw that Izuku and Zero were both lounging on his bed. Izuku was reading a book and Zero looked like she was taking a nap. It took a lot of self control for her to not sneer at the scene in front of her. She knows that it should be cute, but it was anything but. She couldn’t wait to find out what the quirk Doctor had to say. Because there was a chance that they would be able to get rid of her forever. She and Hisahsi agreed that they would rather have a quirkless child, then one with a quirk like that.

"Okay Izuku you need to start getting ready. We're going to go to the quirk specialist so that we can find out more about...Zero." Inko had him eat a small breakfast before they left the house. If this was going to go anything like hers had when she first for her quirk then she knew that he would need the energy. 

Hers had been simple though. They had brought her into a room that had various objects in it. They ranged from items that were super light to things that weighed more than buildings. They had her go through all of the objects until she got to one that she couldn't bring to herself. She found that her limit was objects under about 30kgs.

"Okay momma!" He had a glint in his eyes that told Inko he was excited. She was too if she was being honest with herself. She just wanted to make sure that this quirk wasn’t going to ruin her and Hisashi’s life. There was also the chance that they would be able to use the pair as runners for the underground criminal network. That would be the most ideal situation out of all of this. But in the meantime, they had just been treating Zero like an intelligent house pet up to this point. They weren't sure what else to do. But it seemed to work cause neither their child nor his quirk said anything about it.

She silently hoped that it could continue on like this but she didn't have a prediction quirk so there was no way to tell for sure. 

The only thing that she knew is that if this quirk of Izuku’s started to be unfavorable…Not what she wanted, then she and her husband would find a way to deal with it. 

Permanently.

The three of them made their way to the train station. Inko noticed all of the stares that they got along the way. She noticed how some people would purposefully get out of their way to not be next to her family. Thankfully there weren't too many people on the train when they got on. Inko had looked at her son to see if he too also noticed the stares that they had been getting and he seemed blissfully unaware. She glared at her son. He was the reason that the other people were acting like this. And he can’t even see the harm that he is causing by just being here. Why did he get to be so blissfully ignorant? 

The family arrived 15 minutes before their appointment. Hishashi went to take their son to the waiting room that had children’s toys which left Inko to check them in. 

They didn't have to wait long for the doctor to come get them. 

"Midoriya?" A short portly man asked the waiting room. Inko felt like something was slightly...off? About this man. But she couldn’t place why. It might just be the unease that she constantly felt. 

“That’s us. Come on Izuku. Stop playing with the toys.” Izuku stands from where he and Zero had been playing with the blocks and follows his parents back into the small room. Izuku waits for either one of his parents to lift him onto the exam chair like they normally do. When they sit down in their own chairs, he shrugs and gets up by himself. Zero has to help him a little bit by using her head to give him the leverage that he needs to get into the chair but he still manages to get up there by himself!  

“Thanks Zero.” he smiles at his panther as he swings his legs back and forth. He misses the questioning look that he gets from his doctor and the glares that his parents wear. 

"So, I’m Dr. Tsubasa. I heard you got your quirk young man! That must be super exciting!" 

The doctor does not miss the way Izuku's eyes light up and he smiles with his ten thousand watt smile. 

"It is exciting! Zero is amazing! I can't wait to see what she can do! I just know that I can be a hero with her by my side!" He tells the doctor as he bounces up and down. 

"She? Zero? I'm afraid I don't understand?" The Doctor looks at Inko and Hisashi with a questioning look. He spares a look at the shadowy figure that is by the boy's feet. He didn’t think that the figure really had a shape but if the boy said that it did then this could be a quirk that his boss could very well be interested in. 

"It seems that his quirk is... sentient. Zero is what Izuku says her name is and she can talk to him." Inko replies. And oh isn't that fascinating? The boy had a sentient quirk. And a shadow quirk at that. All For One would most definitely be interested in that. There is so much that he would be able to do with a quirk like it. He almost couldn’t wait to take it from the boy and see everything it could do. There would be so many tests to run. But first, he would need to figure out if he could take this quirk. With it being sentient, that did sometimes pose a problem. He would hold off for now and gather more information. 

"Yea, yea, yea! She can but it's not Japanese! It's a different language but I can understand it just fine! We haven't tried to see if mommy or daddy can understand her yet though. They said that I should wait until after today."  Izuku’s eyes lit up when talking about his amazing quirk. He couldn’t wait to see what the doctor would say that Zero could do. There was no doubt in his mind that he and Zero would be able to make an amazing hero team! Granted he had to think of Kacchan too. Kacchan wanted to be a hero duo with him, but he would understand if they had to be a trio! Afterall, it wasn’t like it was another person that would be joining! It was Zero. She’s different. 

"Ah I see. Well then let's see if we can get you some answers today. Can you show me Zero?" The doctor shifted uneasily in his chair. But it wasn’t due to the fact that he was scared. It was quite the opposite in fact. He was intrigued. And maybe a little nervous. He would definitely be reporting this back to his boss when he had the chance. There was no way that All for One would want to pass the quirk up. Not when there are so many uses that this could possibly have. 

Izuku looks at the doctor with puzzlement and motions to his feet where Zero sat. 

"She's already here though. She's right here." 

"I see. Now Izuku, I'm going to touch your head and then Zero’s and see what my quirk tells me okay? I have an analysis quirk that helps tell me what the extent of your power is." He looks at Inko and the green haired woman just nods her head. He starts to reach his hand out to Izuku and Zero’s head when Izuku moves back out of reach. Doctor Tsubasa quirks up an eyebrow and Izuku rushes to explain. His hands up in a placating manner. 

“It’s okay with me but we need to ask Zero first.” Without waiting for an answer he turns to Zero. His hand was on her head and petting her as he asked,

"Is that okay Zero?" 

"I'm not too excited about it but if it will give us answers, sure." Zero replies easily. She sits up so that her head is within reach of the Doctor. And waits for him to go through with the analysis. 

Dr.Tsubasa just looks at Izuku and his mouth drops open. 

"Did you understand what she said?" 

"Of course. She's not happy about you touching her but it's okay, cause she understands that it needs to happen." Izuku shrugged at the end of it. Like the translation that he just did was nothing. If someone could even call that translating. The quirk didn't really speak words. It was more of a combination of grunts and growls that switched in pitch. It didn’t make a lick of sense to Tsubasa, but he also had a feeling that whoever held the quirk would know exactly what was meant to be said. Almost like a telepathy quirk. 

Dr. Tsubasa schools his face and nods. This quirk was getting more and more interesting the longer they were in his office. If he wasn’t sure now, he definitely was now. This is one that was taking top priority when he reported back to All for One. 

He reaches out and touches Izuku's head and Zeros. They stay like that for a minute and Tsubasa gasps. This goes beyond what he thought was possible for this kind of quirk. Not only was it powerful, but deadly too. This quirk had the ability to bring an entire city to its knees. And through training? It was very possible that it could rain hellfire down on all of Japan. There was so much that this quirk could do. If Tsubasa wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes, he would have thought that this was the work of multiple quirks at once. One thing was for sure though, he needed to make sure that this boy couldn’t or wouldn’t want to go and become a hero. That would make all of his plans for naught if that were to happen. 

"What is it?" the woman asks. 

"I've never seen any quirk like this. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad one." Tsubasa responds truthfully, but also with a little lie thrown in. 

“This type of quirk is certainly powerful. That much is obvious. And the more Izuku grows, the more Zero will grow too. But not just physically, this also means mentally, intellectually and so on. The possibilities are almost endless. They also have the ability to share a single body. Whether that be the body of your sons or the body of the panther. It doesn’t matter, they can switch between them. That of course doesn't mean that they can’t stay as they are right now.”

“Could that be the reason for the change in Izuku’s eye color?” The father had finally spoken up and made Tsubasa eye him over. He seemed familiar but that could just because he had lived a lot longer of a life than most humans without an immortal quirk would. But the doctor would also admit that he hadn’t noticed that the boy's eyes were in fact different. Intriguing. 

“It is a very real possibility. But I do think that it is the most likely cause for it.” 

"Is there any idea where he got his quirk from? Cause I have a minor attraction quirk and his father has a fire breathing quirk. So to go from that to a quirk like... Zero is almost unheard of." Izuku was sitting in the chair not really paying attention. His attention was more focused on the panther at his feet. 

"And I would agree with you on that statement. So allow me to explain a little more. My quirk doesn’t just look into the quirk of the individual that is in front of me. I can also look into the lineage of that person. The quirks that generations of people had before them. It’s been very helpful in cases like this one. Where kids seem to get quirks out of nowhere. But a very long story short, it would seem that his quirk was actually a mutation from his great great grandfather on your side of the family.” Tsubasa gestured to Inko for the first part. “And it seems it mixed with a quirk on your husband's side of the family called Demon familiar. Izuku’s maternal great-great grandfather had a similar quirk. Granted his quirk wasn't nearly as powerful as Zero. He could only talk to the shadows and make them into animals for a short time. As for your husband's side of the family, Izuku's great great grandmother was able to summon demons to help her. This could range from simple tasks like getting a bowl down from a high spot to more complex things like helping her shapeshift."  Tsubasa replies. Both parents were looking uneasily at their child and with his quirk. This was turning out to be a lot more than they bargained for. 

"What kind of drawbacks do we need to look out for?" 

“The first part of the quirk does have to do with fire. Izuku did inherit some of your” He said this while gesturing to Hisashi “Fire power. They are able to both control flames and create them. The difference being that since it is a mutation quirk, their flames are more than likely going to be either black or purple. At least that is my guess based on the color of their eyes and the strips in the panther's fur. Since it has mixed with a demon quirk from earlier in your bloodline, I would say with full confidence that this is a type of Shadow fire. There isn’t much recorded on Shadow fire but I can provide you with references and learning materials so that you know what could happen. From what little we do know, their flames could either be hot or cold, the likelihood of both is rare but not unheard of. I also have to strongly recommend that Izuku and his quirk do not try to use the shadow fire. There is no one that would be able to stop it if it were to get out of control. If he can keep it under control, then I don't see the need to issue a quirk suppressant at this time. But if you feel that in the future it is needed, we can make another appointment and discuss what path to take.  Another interesting item is one that will be seen the most in day to day life is the fact that they both share pain. If Izuku gets hurt then similar injuries and or pain will be felt by Zero and vice versa. For example, if Izuku were to break an arm, Zero would either have a similar pain in her right paw or that it would be broken as well. There is not saying as to how much will be felt because I myself am not sure. But it is something to be aware of.” Tsubasa started writing down notes in a spare notebook. Both to record this in the boy’s record but also for his own notes. The notes that he will be handing to All for One at the earlier chance that he got. 

“With that in mind, I would recommend not doing anything that would directly put them in a position of getting a lot of injuries. All of that brings me to the last part that is honestly the most concerning out of all.” He finished writing the final bit of notes and he set his pen down. He turns to the family and meets every one in their eyes. He wants to make sure that all of them understand this before he continues. This is not something that can be taken lightly. And this is also his best bet for not letting this boy get into heroics. At least it would be if he played his cards right. 

“If anything fatal were to happen to Izuku, Zero would still be around. She would more than likely be the last part of him to go if he were to die. She is bound to him after all and since she is a quirk, she would reside in the part of the brain that controls and deals with the quirk factor. And this next part is only speculation, but be that as it may, I think that you have a right to know. There is a very high chance that she would not be able to control the urges and impulses that she would have. And with Izuku not being around to control them either, there is a chance that she would bring chaos and destruction to everything around her. This will be directly linked to the grief of losing Izuku. Even at the skill level they are at right now, it would be a catastrophe. There is the prospect of getting stronger so that they can defend themselves but that is a double edged sword. You need to be careful with him.” 

"Oh my goodness. That's a lot." The woman breathes out. She looks between where her son was sitting and her husband. Tsubasa wasn’t sure, but he thought they might be communicating something silently with the looks that they were giving each other. It was a lot to consider. He just hopes that maybe he pushed the right buttons for them to consider having their son on the Potential Villains Registry. It once was a way to genuinely help people that had quirks that were considered violent or unsuitable. But over time, (and with a lot of Influence from his boss) it became a picking list of sorts. While it may not be published to the public, it wasn’t that hard to find and get ahold of the names that were on it. This day was turning out pleasantly well, he had to admit. 

---

Inko couldn’t get what the doctor was saying out of her head. Yes, she was grateful that her stupid son finally got his quirk, but now? Now it was looking like it was going to be more effort than he was really worth. A pit in her stomach was formed when the doctor started to tell them about the power and abilities that Izuku would have later down the line. And that scared her. Like what if she was disciplining Izuku for doing something bad and that damn demon got in the way? Or what if the demon decided that Inko and Hisashi were a problem? She couldn’t deal with that kind of knowledge. With this development there was a huge possibility that when Izuku grows up  he might turn towards villainy.  Before today she never thought that he would be able to do such a thing. Not just because he lacked a quirk in order to be dangerous, but also because of his demeanor and hero worship. But with his quirk being as unheroic as it is, and with the way that damn thing has been changing the way her son thinks? He's already becoming more outspoken at home. It’s probably only a matter of time before he does something stupid or gets into the wrong crowd. 

Inko realizes that this might be extremely hypocritical of her to think. She knows almost for a fact that Hisashi was not in the most legal crowds either but he also has a job! A well paying job! He’s respected out in the world because of his job and the things that he has been able to do. So he gets a pass for that. Izuku on the other hand doesn’t. He is nothing. 

All she wanted to do was raise Izuku to be a respectable citizen in society. Right now Izuku is a sweet young boy that wouldn't even dream of hurting a fly. Hell, the one time that he accidentally stepped on a bug in the park he was in tears and apologizing over and over again.  This was supposed to be the day that would put their worries to rest. When she could finally just exist as a happy mother and wife. Only having to worry about the trivial things in life. But with what the doctor is saying and the more she found out about his damn quirk, the more and more likely it seemed that that wouldn’t be happening. God, why couldn't her son be more like Katsuki? Why couldn't he have gotten a normal quirk?

"It is, but nothing bad should happen as long as he's healthy and taken care of. With the combination from both of your lineages I would say congratulations on the strong quirk. Inko sees the doctor write another couple of notes on the pad of paper he had. There had to be a way that she could do something. She shared a look with her husband. He was entirely too calm about this entire thing. He almost seemed... Proud wasn't the word for it, but excited? Maybe? There was a gleam in his eyes that Into couldn't quite figure out. 

Her face must have betrayed her confusion at the situation cause Hisashi waved it away and turned to the doctor. He put his arm around to rest on the back of Inko's chair and easily asked doctor Tsubasa.

"Do you think that we should put them on the registry? For both their sake and others?" The doctor seems to think the question over in his mind for a bit before finally answering. She decides that she might as well get a head start while Izuku is young. There isn't any harm in putting him in the registry, especially if he does grow up to be a good person. And it’s not like there were a lot of people that knew about the registry in the first place. It is a collection of quirks that have been deemed to have the potential to fall to villainy. They are considered dangerous quirks or quirks that would harm a lot of people in a short amount of time. With Izuku and Zero she figures that it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. They use the registry to keep track of people with these quirks to make sure that they don't fall to villainy and also to make sure that police officers and heroes also know what they're dealing with if they ever come across a person with a volatile quirk. It is only used by the police force, Hero commission and the hero’s themselves. It was kept like this so that the people on the list wouldn’t be hunted down. 

"What is the registry?" Zero asks Izuku. Izuku just looks like he's about to cry. He kinda knows what his mommy and Dr. Tsubasa are talking about. He knows that it's meant for people with bad quirks. There was a girl in his preschool class, her name was Himiko Toga. She was like him when they first started and she didn’t have her quirk either. So they became fast friends. 

They did a lot together and so when she didn't come to school for a little bit it made him sad. He missed his friend. About a week later when she came back to school she told him what was going on.  He remembers Himi-chan talking about how she had to go on it because her mommy and daddy were scared of her quirk. Her quirk required her to drink blood to stay sane. But the other aspect of her quirk is that if she drank the blood of a human she could transform into them as well. He didn't think that she had a bad quirk - she could be such an awesome hero and sneak into the villains hideouts! - but the teachers and everybody else thought that it was. And they didn't treat Himi-chan the same afterwards. It didn’t take long for her parents to pull her out of the school. She had told him that she wasn’t allowed to attend his school anymore.  When he asked the teachers about her so that he could still be her friend, the teachers had said that her parents had transferred her to a different school. 

Something about that statement didn't sit right with Izuku but he had reluctantly let it go anyways.

"It's like a list of people with bad quirks. But I don't get it, it'll be like what they did to Himi-chan.. she wasn't a bad person. And her quirk wasn’t bad either…  She just needed different things than the rest of us.." 

"No, she wasn't bad and neither are we, little one. I also don’t like the notion that a quirk is bad; is a knife bad because if someone gets stabbed they can die? It’s not the knife's fault, it’s the people holding it that’s bad… But maybe it'll be different for us?"  Zero says to try and comfort him. Izuku had the fleeting thought that Zero seemed a lot smarter than he originally thought, but it was dismissed before he could properly think about what that could mean. The comfort she offers sort of works, but both of them are still a little on edge. The way that Himi-chan was treated was still running through his head like a broken record.

"I would say it's better to be safe than sorry in this situation. With how much potential there is for them, it would be safer to do it this way. I don't have doubts on your parenting skills but we can never be sure on how somebody will grow up.  As soon as we get his quirk registered we can fill out the additional paperwork to put him there as well." Inko breathes out a small sigh of relief. 

"That would honestly make me feel better if we did. So we will fill that out as well." Inko and Hisashi took the offered forms and signed where they needed to. Doctor Tsubasa was smiling at the family. When the doctor said that, why did it feel like Izuku's fate had already been decided? But more importantly, why did his parents agree so easily? He didn’t want to be treated like Himi-chan…

Chapter Text

Izuku half expected school would get better because he had a quirk now. But maybe hoped was a better way to phrase it. Cause really, Izuku knew better than to expect anything by now. But even if school didn’t get better at least his relationship with Kacchan would!

He thought that since Zero had manifested his and Kacchan's friendship would go back to the way it was before the blonde boy had gotten his quirk. 

Izuku missed his best friend dearly and wanted nothing more than to go back to the way it was with the two of them. Like when they would play tag together and when they would stay over at each others houses and stay up way later than they should making and designing their hero costumes. They even went so far as to plan out the agency that they would start! They named it Falling stars because there was a meteor shower the night that they had been planning this. He still wanted to be heroes with the other boy and now that was possible! Now that Izuku had a quirk they could go be heroes together! It would be just like how they planned! He was so excited to tell Kacchan!

So imagine his surprise when that's exactly what didn't happen. 

Izuku hadn’t been let back into school since his quirk came in because his doctors said that due to his quirk being sentient they both needed time to accumulate. So today would be the first day Izuku would be able to show Kacchan his quirk! 

His parents had left for work that morning but since he was still sleeping he didn’t notice that they left. Normally they would have at least left breakfast for him but he justified it with they were both busy and so they probably didn’t eat breakfast themselves. It also wasn’t like he couldn’t make food for himself. 

He and Zero had spent most of the morning lounging around and watching the news. She was more than content to just sit at his feet and sleep while he took notes on all the new heroes that were debuting. When it came close to the time that school was going to end, he left a note for his parents. Telling them where he would be so that they wouldn’t worry, and set off for the school. 

It was a sunny day and the kids had just been let out of school. He and Zero were waiting near the gates of the school. Zero was at his feet with her tail swishing back and forth. He ran his hand through her fur as he waited for the final bell to ring.  When he saw his best friend coming out and ran over to greet him. 

"Kacchan!" 

The older boy did a double take as he saw Izuku. His eyes were also drawn to the shadow panther that was trailing behind. Not sure what else to do, Katsuki rolled his eyes and asked,

"What do you want, nerd?" By this time, there were also other students that were gathering around to watch what was happening. 

"I just wanted to tell you I got my quirk!" Izuku bounced on the balls of his feet as he told his best friend the good news. 

Izuku could see Kacchans eyes get wide and then his face returned to the normal scowl that was there most days.

"Tch. I bet my quirk is better than whatever shitty quirk that is. " Kacchan gestured to where Zero was sitting. Izuku felt a rise from Zero at that moment he knew that he shouldn't really pay any mind to what, Kacchan said. He knew that Kacchan was just mean sometimes. Zero’s eyes narrowed at the motion but didn’t do anything else when Izuku’s hand came down on her head once again. 

 But that also didn't stop him from shouting out in her defense,

"Zero isn't a shitty quirk! You don't even know her!"

He huffed out a breath when he was done shouting at Kacchan. By now, the kids that were just idly standing by were watching with rapt attention. Waiting to see what was going to happen to Izuku. It wasn’t like him to shout like that, but at the same point, it also wasn’t like Kacchan to take that either. Izuku didn't know what to do with all the attention.

"Zero? She? What the fuck do you mean nerd?" There was a hard line set in Kacchan’s mouth. Like he was pissed. And if that wasn’t enough of a clue, the pop pop pop  that was coming from his hands was enough of an indication. His hand was curled like he was about to use his quirk, but Izuku was unsure if it was going to be at his detriment or not. 

“Y-Y-yea Zero. That's what I named her. She's my quirk. She came about a week ago but mommy and the teachers were worried so they had me stay at home until I could go to the quirk doctor to figure out what she could do." He shuffled around nervously as he waited for the boy in front of him to say something. Anything really. Anything was better than this silence. Izuku at least knew how to act when Kacchan had a reaction. But this silence? That was something that Izuku didn’t deal with a lot.  All of the other kids had crowded around in a loose circle around them. Izuku shifted uncomfortably as the crowd moved. He didn’t like being surrounded like this. It never ended well for him. That is how he got some of the worst injuries from his bullies. Zero picked up on this energy and leaned against his leg. Her tail was now wrapped around his leg as well. Not enough to restrain him if they needed to run, but enough that he knew that she was there .  

Everyone was watching and waiting to see how the explosive boy would treat Izuku. Cause if Kastuki treated Izuku badly then everybody would follow suit . That's just how it went. Everybody followed Kacchan’s lead because he had the most powerful quirk in the school. So naturally they all defaulted to whatever he did and said. 

But on the off chance that Kacchan thought his quirk was okay then everybody would want to be his friend again . So this small amount of anxiety was worth it to see if he and Kacchan could be closer like they were before.

"Well I don't see any quirk around you except for your eyes so where is this ‘Zero?’" The other boy made sure to put her name in air quotes. Like he didn’t believe that she was real. Izuku shared a look with his panther that was at his feet. He looked back over to where the other boy was standing and gestured to where she was.

“Does he really not see me here? I didn’t think I was that unnoticeable.” Zero huffed and she swished her tail. Izuku rested his hand on her head to comfort her. 

“I’m sure that’s not it. Kacchan just doesn’t notice obvious things all the time. Especially when something else has his attention. Either that or he wrote you off as just a shadow.” Izuku shrugged. Not sure what else he could say in the defense of his best friend.

“I’m not sure which one is worse then.” The pair turned their gaze back to where Kacchan was standing. Kacchan’s jaw had dropped right to the floor.     The other boy was trying to say something but nothing was coming out. He was just staring at Zero. Nobody else in the school yard moved a muscle. It was like they just noticed her there. But she had been there the whole time. 

“What in the fuck is that thing?!” Kacchan yelled when he finally figured out how to get his brain working again. 

“This is Zero. She's my quirk. The doctors said that she's a mutation from my great grandparents! And we can do so many things! Like we can control these flames called Shadow Fire! It’s like a normal fire but super cold!” And Izuku went on to describe some of the parts of his quirk. What he didn't see in all of his excitement is the amount of fear that was shown on the kids' faces. The horror and disbelief at what they were all hearing . The only one that didn’t hold a look of absolute fear was Kacchan. His red eyes were almost glowing with anger. His mouth was set into a tight line that seemed to get tighter the longer Izuku went on. It didn’t take long for him to snap at Izuku. 

“Will you shut the fuck up nerd?!”

“I-I-I’m sorry Kacchan I ju-just got excited! That's all! Since I got my quirk in, we can still be a hero team like we talked about! I  know that I might be a little behind in some ways but I’m sure that Zero and I can make it work!”

There were a couple of gasps from the surrounding students and a harsh laugh coming from the blonde boy. Izuku physically took a step back at that laugh. The reaction stunned him to say the least. It was harsher than anything that he had ever heard from the blonde. But his step back also brought in to focus on how the other kids were reacting to his quirk. In his excitement he thought that they would have also been excited. He, like the stupid Deku that he is, thought that they just would have been stunned at his quirk. And that is why they weren’t saying anything. But he now realized that he was oh so wrong. He saw all the fear and he also saw the way Kacchan was looking at him like he had just said the stupidest thing in the world.

Izuku tilted his head to the side in confusion. He didn't understand why they would all be this scared. Zero wasn't doing anything scary. She was just laying at his feet with her tail swishing back and forth. 

When the blonde haired boy finished laughing he wiped a tear from his face and the same malicious smirk was back on his face, 

“A hero? A fucking hero, Deku? You really think that you can be a quirk with a quirk like that!? Don't be so fucking stupid. The only thing that you can be with a quirk like that is a villain.” He spat out the last word like it was actually poison in his mouth. Izuku's mouth went dry. The sinking feeling in his gut was threatening the tears in his eyes to spill over. Zero was next to him, glaring at the other boy.

“Why would you say something like that? I can be a hero if I want to be!”

A short laugh was the only sound that could be heard.

“Don't kid yourself Deku! That thing is not normal. And neither are your eyes for that matter. There's no way that you can be a hero with a quirk like that. You’ll end up making people scared of you! And didn’t you say she would turn into a monster when you die like a stupid Deku like you will anyway? Might as well just give up now.” Kacchan smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. It was a look that Izuku was very familiar with, but the words that were being hurled at him still stung, a lot more than he wanted to admit. 

Izuku was crying now. He couldn’t stop the tears even if he wanted to . He really didn't understand. First the doctor at the quirk office and then his parents and now his best friend? Were they right? Was the only thing that he could ever amount to a villain? Did he really not have any chance at being a hero? He had done some research after his parents had put him on the registry. And the one thing that became very clear the more and more he looked into it, is that of those that made it onto the registry, very few of them turned out to be pro-heroes. For every 175 people that made it on the list, only 1 was a pro. So the odds were not in his favor already but that didn't mean anything....

Right?

“Little one, you know as well as I do that we can be whatever we want. Just because these people can't see it doesn't mean that it’s not true.” Zero was probably the only thing keeping him upright at this point. She was leaning against his legs in a way that didn’t let him fall over the way he wanted to. 

“I know Zero but it's just hard to remember that when everybody is telling us that we can be you know?” He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes but the effort was in vain because as soon as he did, there were more to replace them.

“Yes I know but we just have to- '' His panther was cut off mid sentence but the sound of sizzling pops leaving Kacchan’s hands. 

“What the fuck were you just saying? I know that you can speak Korean, English and Japanese cause of your parents but that wasn't either of those!” Kacchan was staring at him and Izuku realized that they had been talking out loud to each other in Zero’s language of Shadowspeak. They all stared at him like he was a freak. He started to shrink in on himself and Zero started purring trying to calm him. It only worked so much since the situation was just getting worse. 

“Th-th-Thats just h-h-how Ze-z-zero talks. And I know how to respond because sh-sh-shes my quirk..” Izuku could feel his heart trying to beat out of his ribcage. It was almost painful with how loud and fast it was. 

“Even more reason why you can't become a hero. How do you expect to save people when they can't even understand your quirk? You stupid Deku. As the next number one hero, I have an obligation to show you your place in this world. You are nothing more than a villain in the making. And your rightful place is beneath my feet. You will just be my first stepping stone on my way to being a hero.”

He had a feral grin plastered over his face as he lunged at the smaller green haired boy, h ands ready to use his quirk against Izuku.

  From there, so many things happened at the same time, it was hard for Izuku to keep track of it. 

Kacchan launched himself at Izuku. Recognizing the moves that Kacchan used all the time, Izuku tried to turn his body to block some of the damage that he knew would go straight to his head if he didn’t. At the same time somebody - Izuku wasn't sure who but that didn't matter - screamed. The sound echoing through the school yard. 

Zero had launched herself at the blonde haired boy trying to attack.

The teachers that had just been watching up to this point had finally decided that it was time to step in. They all rushed over and through the crowd of kids that surrounded the two boys and panther. 

By the time the teachers made it through the sea of kids to the middle, some damage had already been done. Izuku had his arms up to protect his face and there was a spot on his forearms that was smoking. Little embers could still be seen around the edges where the explosion hit him. The smell of burning flesh soured the air. But just a few feet away from him were Zero and Kacchan. Shorely after the burn landed on Izuku, Zero had launched herself at the other boy with all her weight and was now pinning him to the ground. Her fangs were beared as she growled at her captive.

Izuku peered out from behind his elbow to see what was happening. When he took in the scene in front of him, he immediately went over to his panther and started trying to reason with her. Not even caring about the fact that his arm was badly burned. 

“Zero, you need to get off of him! The teachers will get us in trouble!”

“We should not be the ones getting in trouble! It should be this brat that burned and attacked us for no reason!” She growled again to emphasize her point. Izuku made the conscious choice to not look at the face of his best friend and instead continued to reason with his quirk.

“I know! And you know that I appreciate when you do this but right now we just need to let him go and go about our day. We will never get into a hero school if we have a fight on our record.”  He said that last part mainly in hopes that she would get off of him. 

Izuku knew that he could control Zero and get her to do whatever he wanted. She was his quirk after all. He could make her get off of Kacchan with just a simple order and she would be forced to do as he told her to. But that just felt wrong to Izuku. He didn't want to treat her like a mindless puppet. They were more of a team. They both preferred it that way. 

Zero was still growling and fletching her teeth but Izuku could see that she took a moment to think about what Izuku had said. And Izuku let out a huge sigh of relief when she snapped her maw at the boy beneath her, before   removing herself off of him. She stalked back over to where Izuku was and leaned most of her weight against his leg. The grounding touch was something that they both needed. 

The teachers were there not even a few seconds later. Most of them went to Kacchan and the rest of the kids to make sure that they were okay. And 2 teachers made their way over to Izuku and Zero. The looks on their faces were a mix between horror at what they had just seen and anger. 

“Principal's office. Now!” Izuku just hung his head and trailed after them. Zero did the same thing but with her head held high. Not even bothered by the looks that they were getting as they all made their way into the school building. 

The visit to the principles wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. They did give him detention for the next month for starting the fight but they had also said that they wouldn't put it on his record since it was his first fight. And that he should be thanking them for being so lenient with him. They did warn him that any other fight that he got into wouldn't be as nice. (Izuku later found out that they actually couldn't put it on his record since there wasn’t enough evidence. The cameras didn’t reach all the way to the part of the school grounds where the fight happened. But they also wanted to make sure that Izuku as well as the rest of the students knew that they were giving a pass to the villain kid. Which is why they phrased it the way that they did. At least being on the registry did something good for him for once.)

In the weeks following the fight, Izuku had gotten his wish. But the saying be careful what you wish for, was really coming back to bite him in the ass. Things certainly did change after the fight in the school yard. But it was not for the better. Now that the other kids had seen Zero and they heard some of what they could do? They only got more creative with their insults and the way that they would go about bullying him. 

He went from being the quirkless freak, useless and a waste of space to being the new villian, creepy Deku and soulless. Or their current favorite,  Demon Spawn.

Whenever he tried to defend himself against his classmates, they would always go crying to a teacher and tell them that Izuku and Zero ganged up on them. 

And as it turned out, nobody cared if Izuku had a quirk or not, the teachers still believed the other students. Even though Izuku always had more injuries than the other parties. 

There was only one time when they tried to put a muzzle on Zero. But it didn’t go the way that they had hoped. They had backed her into a corner and then proceeded to try and hold her down as they forced the muzzle on. That was ultimately where they went wrong. When she realized that she was trapped, she engulfed herself in Shadow Fire. It wasn’t hot enough to burn anybody but it was an attention grabber. And it worked. When they started to feel the heat of the flames they backed off.  

And this is what led the teachers to having a better idea. 

They tried the same song and dance as last time, trying to corner Zero but this time, there were 3 teachers that were holding Izuku back. Last time there was only one. Alarm bells were going off in his head. Right when Zero started up her flames, the three teachers holding Izuku, forced the muzzle onto his face. He tried to scream but it was no use. He was breathing too fast. He tried to claw the device off of his face but it was stuck there. He heard the tell-tale click of the lock being secured on the back. 

“There, now try and do something.” His  math teacher hissed at him as he walked away. Making a bog show of putting the key on a chain around his neck.  

It was the really bad days that he dreaded the most. He could almost never tell when they were coming. Those would be the days when the teachers were particularly angry or just needed somebody to take everything out on. It was those days when they ‘forgot’ to remove it so that he could eat lunch. And it also happened to be the days when they were actively telling the other students that they could do whatever they wanted to him. 

It was those days when Izuku would just sit in his room and cry at the unfairness of it all. 

Today was turning out to be a particularly bad day. None of the teachers would let him take off the muzzle so that he could eat. On top of that, he had left this morning without breakfast because there wasn’t any food in the house. Whether that was because he couldn’t find it or if it was just because his parents hadn’t gone to the store yet was to be determined. But he was leaning towards the latter. 

So he was tired, hungry and just wanted to lay down and maybe do some research on Shadow quirks. His face felt itchy from where dried blood had been all day and his jaw hurt from how tight the muzzle was on his face. 

When Izuku came home, he was hoping that his parents would say something. Anything. Get mad at the school for treating him like this, have a talk with the teachers about this was allowed to happen, hell even a frustrated sign would have been something! He was their son for kami’s sake! Shouldn’t they care about how he is being treated? 

He knew they should care... but the reality of the situation is something he didn't want to face...

Today was really bad though. One of the teachers had made the muzzle a lot tighter than they normally would, so he had a constant streams of blood running down his face. There were four main points that it was coming from. Two were a couple of centimeters below his eye and two were on his lower jaw.

The sensation of dried blood on his face due to the wind was uncomfortable to say the least but what hurt more was when Izuku looked over at his shadow companion and saw that she, too, was bleeding. 

“Oh, would you look at that. The boy got put in his place.” Was the only thing that his mother said to him when she saw the blood and the left over marks from the muzzle. Izuku had his answer then. His parents didn’t care. Not a single bit. The lump in his throat was hard to swallow around and there was a tight knot in his stomach. He tried to push the feelings to the side but it was proving to be difficult. Especially when the twin glares he got from his parents never left his back until he was well out of their sight.

 He made his way up to his room without saying anything. It wasn’t like there was anything that he could say anyways. 

He stopped by the bathroom on his way to his room so that he could pick up the first aid kit that was under the sink. He couldn't count how many times he had gone back to his room and had to clean the blood off of his face from where it had sat all day. When he got back to his room and opened it, he was pleased that it had been restocked but also hurt. Because that meant that his parents knew that he was getting hurt at school and didn’t care. Sitting on his bed with Zero at the head of the bed, he began to clean up and disinfect the new cuts on his face.

  He had gotten past the point of hoping for a hero to come save him. Nobody was going to save them. Why would they?  

He knew exactly how people saw him and Zero. He wasn’t blind. When he was done with the first aid kit he didn’t take it back to the bathroom. He would probably need it tomorrow so there was no sense in it. 

“Zero...” He started. 

“Hmm?” She shifted her head so that it was on her paws. She looked into his eyes as she waited for him to continue. 

“One day, I promise that we are going to make it out of this house. We will go somewhere where we are loved...” tears had formed and blurred his vision. All he wanted was for somebody to care about him. He didn;t think that it was too much to ask but here he was..

“I believe it. One day, we will make it happen.” She agreed easily. Without any other words, the pair got ready for bed. They would do whatever it took to be heroes. And when they finally were heroes, they could leave these awful memories behind. And they would make sure it wouldn’t happen to anyone else. That night, he and Zero curled up in his bed and he fell asleep with tears on his face and the beginnings of a plan.

Chapter Text

Izuku should have known that all semi-good things have to come to an end. It’s just the way things go. He just wasn’t expecting them to come to an end so soon. 

It was just after his 8th birthday. Things were… alright between him and his parents. Yes, they were acting a little cold towards him, but he just chalked it up to them being tired and not having the energy. 

At least that’s what he tried to tell himself and Zero. 

It was about two weeks after his birthday passed, his parents told him to come to the living room. 

“I wonder what this could be about?” Zero questions, as Izuku sets their homework down on their desk. He started doing it on the floor, so Zero could comfortably look at it too. They learned early on that his parents did not appreciate her sitting on furniture. Izuku just shrugs his shoulders and walks to where his waiting parents are. They normally don’t ask a whole lot of him so when they do ask him to do something, he tries to comply as soon as possible. 

When he sits down on the couch, Zero takes a place next to his feet on the floor. Izuku looks at his parents sitting across from him and waits for them to start talking.

“Izuku, we can’t let this continue on.” His mother starts. His brow furrowed in confusion. What can’t they keep doing? Was it something that he was doing? If that is the case, then why wouldn’t they have told him about it sooner? He had come home from school like he normally did. Nothing was different and he even made sure to treat all his wounds in the school bathroom before he came home. There were so many questions going through his head that he couldn’t keep them straight anymore. 

"What do you mean mommy?" He tries to settle the growing knot in his stomach but it just won't seem to go away. He doesn't like the way his mother and father are looking at him. They're looking at him the same way that the kids and teachers do while he's in school. With disdain and barely concealed disgust.

“What your mother means to say,” His dad cuts a sideways glare at his mother, “is that we can’t keep taking care of you any longer. These past years where you didn’t have a quirk and then you got... Zero.” Izuku’s heart thumped painfully in his chest when his father spat out Zero’s name like a curse. Like even having her name in his mouth was causing him pain and discomfort. “These have been some of the roughest times we have experienced. And it’s all your fault, Izuku. At first, all of our friends pitied us because our ‘son’ was worthless and not going to amount to anything. But then... then you got that demon of a quirk. We thought that things might go better for us. After all, you had a quirk. You were no longer useless. But that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it was the opposite.

 “Things started spiraling even more. Your mother is on the verge of losing her job. And if that wasn’t bad enough when my boss found out about the fact that you were on the PVR registry? He started docking my pay. Told me it was because ‘It’s like a savings account for when your....'son’ gets into trouble. We all know that he is going to, so might as well start now.’” His father was breathing heavily when he finally stopped. There were whips of smoke that would exit his nose and mouth every time he exhaled. 

“And I refuse to lose my job because of the sorry excuse of a son like you.”

Normally Izuku wouldn't have been worried about it. Before this, he was never afraid that his dad would harm him. But this time? This time it was different. His father’s body language was tightly wound like a cobra waiting to strike. The look in his eyes was a look that Izuku had only seen from hardened criminals on TV. This was nothing like what he and Zero had grown used to. He didn’t even know he was shaking as badly as he was until his hand was met by Zero’s head. He wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to do with the movement, but her fur gliding through his fingers was grounding enough to not break down crying. But only barely. 

"But I have nowhere to go! I won't survive out on my own!" The panic in his voice was apparent. Not only in the way he was almost screaming out the words at his parents but in the way his breathing was hitching. He can't help what his quirk is. Zero was watching to make sure that his dad didn’t do anything but for the most part, was staying quiet. She didn’t really feel like there was anything that she could say or do that wouldn’t make this situation worse. So she opted for trying to offer silent support and hope for the best. 

"You'll figure it out. You're smart." Inko replies in a cold harsh tone that she had never used with Izuku before. He recoils at it and stares up at them in disbelief.

"But mo-mommy...da-daddy-" He hates how his voice stutters. He hates how it shows just how much this is affecting him. He should know better. It was just like in school. If he stuttered in school, that would make the bullies target whatever made him stutter even more. He knew better than to let them see his weakness. But he also can’t stop it. It was like ice water had replaced blood in his veins. He felt so cold even though it was the middle of summer. Even though he was familiar with the physical sensation of an oncoming panic attack, it didn’t make it any easier to deal with. 

"Don't you dare call us that anymore! You haven't been our son since the moment that blasted demon quirk of yours came in!" His father yelled at him. He can feel the pinprick of tears starting at the back of his eyes. He looks over to his mother and instead of the warmth that he is used to seeing there, all he sees now is a cold mask. There is no trace of the love that had once been there. There was only cold calculating indifference. And if he's being honest, that hurt more than any words could have. 

" We have done some research into this and we found that in article 35 paragraph 6 sub section 7.2 of the laws regarding those on the Potential Villain Registry, we are allowed to let you go off on your own once you are able to sufficiently take care of yourself. Age doesn’t matter as long as you can feed yourself, clothe yourself, and get to and from school on your own. You have been able to do all of those things for at least a year now. Therefore you have until we are finished with dinner to leave. And once you step foot out of that front door, you are never allowed to contact us or come near us again. Now I suggest that you start packing." With one final glare, both of his parents turn on their heels and head to the kitchen table. 

Even once they are out of his sight, he doesn’t move from his spot. 

“This has to be a dream.” he thinks to himself. He tries to pinch the skin on his arm to see if he could wake himself up. Cause there’s no way that this is really happening... Right? What they’re doing has to be illegal right? Isn’t there some sort of law that would prevent his parents from doing this? Knowing his luck the law was probably just vague enough to allow this to happen. He remembers reading a little bit of it, but he didn’t understand most of the legal words that were used so it’s possible that his parents were well within their rights to do this.   

“Izuku, the clock is ticking. Get a move on.” His mother calls harshly from her spot at the table. He tried to get his arms or legs to move, but his body just wouldn’t respond to him. As much as he willed his limbs to move, it was like they were stuck in concrete and moving them was a task that he just didn’t have the strength for. 

Izuku felt a tug on the edge of his school uniform sleeve. He turned his head to see what was the cause of the tugging and his eyes met Zero’s. Her eyes were wet, like she wanted to cry. In a detached way he wondered if she even could cry. Do panthers have tear ducts? But at the same time he saw the understanding and determination that were in her eyes as well. He focused all his attention on her and the floaty feeling receded enough for him to move his limbs enough to follow her as she gently pulled him along.

His entire body is numb going into his room and getting the suitcase and backpack out of his closet. It was almost like he was watching himself pack through the eyes of somebody else. He could feel that his body was moving, but he was not the one in control of it. 

Long sleeve shirts, pants, his school uniform, underwear, socks. He makes sure to pack a little extra of the last two just in case. Even through his haze, he knows that socks and underwear are going to be his most needed article of clothing. Mainly for keeping warm at night. He also layers clothes on so that he can take just a little bit more without having to put them in the backpack. He grabs his laptop and chargers. He needs to be able to do school work somehow.... How is he going to manage to still go to school? He shakes his head. As if the motion could make the thoughts actually get out of his head. He’ll worry about that later he decides. He has other things that are more pressing at the current moment. Like how he’s going to take care of himself when he’s out on the streets. Because the more time that passes where his parents don’t come to him and tell him that this is all just a joke, the more real it starts to feel. Before leaving his room, he looks around to see if there was anything else that he would want. His gaze lingered on the All Might collection that he had acquired over the years. He wanted to take it with him, but he knew that it would be impractical. So instead, he settled on a keychain that he could hook to his backpack and a small blanket. At least the blanket would help him to stay warm so there was a practical side to it. 

He thought about taking more, but he couldn’t fit anything else into his pack. It wasn’t like there was much that he could want anyways. All of the pictures and other items that were in his room would end up just reminding him of what was happening today. 

He stops by the bathroom and remembers the first aid kit that they kept under the sink. It had -thankfully- just been restocked. He knew that this wasn’t exactly his but he justified it with the fact that his parents don't use it very much. So it’s not like they will miss it if he takes it with them. 

“They also have the means of getting another one. So just take it. We will need it more than they do.” Zero adds in . He takes the kit and ties it to the outside of his backpack with some spare twine that he had left over from a school project, m aking sure that it is secure before swinging the pack over his shoulders. 

By the time he is done his parents are waiting by the front door. They hand him a bento box with some food, a water bottle and a large sized envelope.   He brings his suitcase to a halt next to himself with Zero on his other side. He reaches his hands out to take the bento box and water bottle out of their hands. He would really rather not accept food from them. Just so that he wouldn’t have anything else that they could hold over him. But he understood that as soon as he stepped out of that front door, nothing was certain anymore. Not where he would be able to get his next meal, not where he would be able to get clean water, not even a safe place to sleep. So he would rather take the offerings and hope that down the line, it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the butt. 

He hangs his head down and tries to not let the tears fall. He can't show them how much this hurts. The food and drink feels like a heavy weight in his hands. With just a glance, Izuku could tell that there wasn’t much thought put into the small bento. If he had to guess, his mother wasn’t even the one that made it. They probably just picked it up from the Konbini down the road. 

“There’s no reason to cry, boy. You should have seen this coming. You should also be thanking us that we are just letting you go on your own. At least you have a chance that way. We could have been a lot meaner and just dropped you off at a random orphanage or in the foster system. But we didn’t.” Izuku nods his head, showing that he had heard what the older man had said. He wouldn’t be able to get any words out right now anyways. 

"In the envelope is your birth certificate, and other important legal documents that you might need. Now if you somehow manage to survive, we are still required to pay for your schooling up until highschool. So if you're still going to go, that will be taken care of. But once you are in highschool, it’ll be on you to pay. Now, I'm sure this goes without saying, but you will not speak a word of this to anybody, do you hear me? If you get caught, or if the authorities have any reason to contact us, or bring you back to us, we will not be so nice next time. We will personally make sure that you are put in the worst foster home that we can find. Is that clear?” Izuku nods his head again. He knew that foster homes could be bad or they could be good. But from what he was able to gleam from a couple of the kids in his school that were in one? He would have a much better chance on his own. 

 “ Good . Now get out." His mother pushed open the door and waited for him to walk through the doorway.  As he’s walking through the door, he wants to look back. He wants to beg and plead with them to not do this. He wants to scream and cry at the unfairness of this all. 

How is any of this his fault? First they all hate him because he didn't have a quirk. But now that he has Zero , they hate him even more. He was stuck in a lose-lose situation, no matter what he did.

Zero nudges his hand. He weakly smiles at her and gives her a couple of pats on the head. She had been silent the whole time this was going on. She was just as shocked as he was about this. And now that he was actually starting to concentrate on her, he could also feel a sliver of guilt in her mind.

He doesn't regret getting Zero as his quirk. She's the best thing that has happened to him. She understands him in a way nobody else does. In a way that nobody else could. He lightly scratches behind her ear and offers her a wobbly smile. She gently nuzzled back, guilt receding,

  “And you’re the best thing that could have happened to me, little one.” 

That thought is more comforting than he thought it would be. And it gives him just enough strength to calmly walk out of the door. And away from the house that he had spent his childhood in. Not even a full second after all of his belongings, himself and Zero are across the threshold of the house, the front door is slammed shut. The sound of  the lock being engaged, only solidified the fact that there is no going back now.  Even if he wanted to.

"Well Zero I guess we need to go find a place to sleep."

"Alright little one. Let's go." 

------

Izuku knew that being on the streets was going to be hard. He was only 8 for crying out loud. But, admittedly, he didn’t think it was going to be this hard. He was only out on the streets for a week and he was struggling.

He already knew that due to his age, getting a job would be out of the question. Well, a legal job that is. There were plenty of... opportunities if he did want to go a less legal route but Izuku tended to shy away from those. He might be desperate, but it wasn’t that bad yet.  

Finding a place that he could stay was also turning out to be more challenging than he thought. But most of the warm places were either already taken by some other homeless people that were not nice, or he found out exactly why they weren’t occupied. He can still feel the slight burn on the back of his neck from the rude awakening he got from the police a few mornings ago. 

The very fleeting thought about going to Aunt Misuki and Uncle Masaru was a tempting one. They had always treated him really nicely and they hadn't done anything negative since he had gotten Zero. On the other hand, he wasn’t even sure if they knew about Zero. But what stopped the pair from asking for their help was their son. 

There was no way that Katsuki would stand for it. He hated Izuku, that much was clear from the treatment he got at school. So if he couldn't stand Izuku at school? He could only imagine what the treatment would be like. It would either be easy at home and then even harsher at school or it would be so subtle that nobody could tell what was going on.In the end there was a better chance of his favorite hero (Eraserhead) adopting him than there was of the blonde boy allowing Izuku to live with them. 

Since he had no constant place to stay, he and Zero would oftentimes find themselves just wandering around town. Sometimes they would get lucky and they would be able to find a place to stay for the night. And if Lady Luck was really on their side, they would find some food that they would be able to eat. Izuku thanked his lucky stars more times than he cared to count that he and Zero could blend in with the shadows. Stealing wasn’t his first choice but when he needed to eat?  Anything was better than the alternative.

All of that brings Izuku to this very moment. He and Zero were in an alleyway that had a reputation for shady people loitering around. But that wasn’t the reason why he was here. He was here because there was a really nice lady that would leave food out for the kids and teenagers that frequented the area. He never learned her name but she also never asked for his. She would only ask him if there was anything that he couldn’t eat. He shook his head no and she never asked any other questions. 

He found himself in the alley to pick up the food that he hoped would be there. He and Zero had been keeping to the shadows just in case. Apparently, if you could believe the rumor mill, there was a person going around and causing trouble in back alleyways recently. There was no motive or agenda that people could tell yet, so he just chose to stay out of it. What could he really do anyways? He was just a kid.

Stepping into the alley, he heard the sounds of a scuffle. He motioned for Zero to stick close to the wall and he did the same. During the time it took them to get closer to the sounds at the other end of the alleyway, Izuku was chastising himself. What could he really do if there was anything that was going on? Would he even be able to stop it? But he ignored those thoughts and continued down anyway. What's the worst that could happen anyway? They both get caught in a fight? It wasn’t like he was going to be missed anyway. But maybe....maybe he could help.

When they got close enough to see what was going on, the scene in front that was unfolding shocked him. There was a woman that was being held at knife point. The woman was backed up against a wall with the knife at her throat. The criminal hadn’t seen them yet and neither had the woman, who was whimpering and crying. So they still had the advantage on their side. 

“What do you think we should do?” Zero asked. She made sure that her voice didn’t carry. 

“I’m thinking that if we circle around we might be able to get this guy and do something before he has the chance to hurt anybody.” Izuku was crouched down in the shadows observing the man. The man that was holding the knife was breathing hard and could barely get the threats out that he wanted to. Almost like he was extremely winded. But that also didn’t hide the way his hands were shaking. So that ruled out that he was used to doing this. It might just be a one time thing and it could be extreme circumstances. 

“But should we do that though? We could get into a lot of trouble for that.” Zero was hesitant in voicing her opinion. And that was the question of the hour. If they did do something, (if they got caught) they could possibly go to jail or worse for acting as a vigilante. But if they didn’t do anything, that could also mean that this woman could lose her life. And there wasn’t enough time to call the police or heroes and have them do something about it. 

Izuku briefly thought about waiting for the chance that an underground hero would show up and do something. There was a small chance that there was one patrolling nearby. But he quickly dismissed the thought. There wasn’t enough time for him to wait. This woman was in trouble now. She didn't have the luxury of time.

“I will admit that it is a risk and a costly one at that, but I can’t stand by and do nothing.”   

"Alright, then let's just hope that we don't get caught." Izuku nodded and as silently as he could crept towards the pair in the alley. He picked up a stray brick that he saw out of the corner of his eye. He might be going into this fight not completely prepared, but he wasn’t going in unarmed. That was just stupid. 

No one was the wiser when Izuku threw the brick at the man holding the woman. Izuku wasn’t sure if it was dumb luck that was on his side or if his aim was truly that bad, but the brick landed a few feet away from where the man was standing. 

The man jumped in surprise when the sound of the brick landed on the alley ground. He quickly turned around, eyes frantic, and shouted,

“Who's there?!” The words were almost slurred but not enough for Izuku to determine if he was truly impaired or just had a speech delay. 

“Just let the woman go.” Izuku tried to reason. He attempted to make his voice deeper than it actually was so that maybe this guy would take him seriously. 

“Why should I?” His attention turned back to the woman that was in his hold. She was crying but not a sound could be heard. Whether that was from how hard the man was pressing on her windpipe or the amount of sheer terror that she was feeling Izuku had no idea. 

“Because it’s the right thing to do. She didn’t do anything to you.” Granted Izuku didn’t know that for sure but it was a good guess with how the man was acting. And maybe he would be able to buy some time for a hero to show up. He wasn’t betting on it but there was a chance. 

His eyes flicked over to where Zero was waiting in the shadows. Hidden from everyone in the area but himself. She was also looking at him as if he was stupid. 

“I don’t think he really cares about doing the right thing right now. Considering the fact that he has a knife held up to a woman's throat, you know. Just a thought.” Thankfully she was quiet enough that the man in the alley didn't hear her. His gaze was jumping between the two trying to decide what he was going to do. When his eyes settled back on Zero for longer than a second, she made a motion with her head that told Izuku that she wanted to jump on him but Izuku shook his head ever so slightly. 

“I know that she didn’t do anything! I KNOW that! But I had no choice.”

“Everybody has a choice.” 

“Not me! I don’t! I have to do this!” Tears were making the man’s eyes glassy. The shine of the street light caught them before they could fall. 

“And why don’t you have a choice?” Izuku took small steps forward. He didn’t want to crowd around the man and possibly spook him, but he did need to be closer if he was going to try anything.

“Do you know how HARD it is, to exist in this world when you are on the PVR? The amount of jobs that won’t hire me? The amount of landlord’s that will tell me that they won't rent to me?! Just because of a quirk?!” 

“He’s on the PVR too...?” Zero’s voice sounded small in the wind, Izuku almost didn’t hear them.. But the weight of the words hung in the air like lead. And if there was one thing knew better than himself, was the amount of quirk discrimination someone in their shoes could and would face. 

“Yea, actually I do...”

“You're just a fucking kid. How the hell can you know?” The man’s eyes met Izuku’s for a brief second before focusing back on the woman in front of him. The knife was pressed further into her throat causing a small line of blood to appear. The whimper that the woman made had Izuku scrambling for anything to say. 

“And why do you think I’m on the streets at ass o’clock in the morning and not in bed with my parents tucking me in, dipshit?”  The bite in Izuku’s tone shocked even himself. It certainly wasn't a lie but out of all the possible things he could have said, that is what he went with?

“Look, I know it’s not easy. Being like us. The PVR is supposed to help us, but we both know that it doesn’t and that it hasn’t in a long time. So tell me, why would doing anything to this woman help your situation?” The closer Izuku got to the pair the more he could see trembling. Not just from the woman who was held captive but from the guy holding the knife as well.  

“Nothing...I guess..”

“Exactly! You would only prove them right. Look, I know that this world is hard on us. But this isn’t the answer. I know of a few places that I can send you to, that actually help people like us. And they don’t do it for show. They do legitimately help. But for me to do that, you have to let her go.” 

“There you go, now you're actually helping Izu. This is how to help people. Not by bluffing and hoping they do what you say. I’m so proud of you.” Izuku could practically hear the sarcasm in her voice. He chose to ignore that for right now, though. 

“And how do you know this?” Izuku fought the urge to roll his eyes both at his panther that was in the shadows apparently doing a running commentary about how well he is doing, and the stupid man in front of him. 

“Trial and many many errors. The first couple of places wouldn’t help me because I'm a kid. They told me that there was no way that I am in need of their help and they sent me on my way. And the other more popular ones, don’t help those on the PVR. But after a couple of weeks of looking, I started hearing some rumors on the street about places and shelters that aren’t advertised. They are the ones that help. They run off of donations. As long as you don’t hurt anybody in the shelter and you try to help them out, they let anybody stay.” The man looks Izuku up and down while trying to gauge whether or not to trust him. Izuku was praying to whatever deities decided to listen to him that this man just did what he asked. 

A sigh broke the silence along with the shuffling of clothes. The woman -he felt bad that he didn’t learn her name but to his defense, there were more important things to worry about- took the chance that she was given, and with a brief glance of thanks in Izuku’s direction, she ran away. 

When it was just the two of them, Izuku internally deflated. At least she was safe. Then he realized that the man in front of him had sunk on the ground with his head to the wall, staring into space. He looked slightly out of it, so he decided to write down the most important things and carefully handed the man the folded paper, earning a nod and a shaky smile in return. 

“You did good, Little one.” Zero assured him as she came up next to his side and they left the alleyway. Leaving the man to contemplate on his own. Izuku had done what he could. He wasn’t sure that he had really done that much in terms of helping but he did something . And that had to count for something. He ran his fingers through her fur and breathed. 

“I’m just glad that I could help. And I hope that he gets the help that he needs.” 

The events played in their minds over and over again. For the first time in weeks they had had a positive encounter - as positive as an almost robbery could be, but hey, it worked out fine.

“Do you think this is something that we could do?” Izuku asked as they both lept over to a neighboring rooftop. Zero was quiet for a moment. The only sound was their breathing and the regular rhythm of their feet and paws hitting the roof. 

“I think... That it could help us. We want to be heroes so this is like practice, right?” Izu could tell that she was a little skeptical. Which he can’t blame her for. It was a risky move that they were thinking about doing. One wrong step and they could both land in Jail, or worse. Izuku shrugged off those thoughts as he stopped in a secluded part of an office building. During the day, Izuku wouldn’t come within 5 buildings of this rooftop because a lot of the workers there liked to eat lunch on the rooftop. At night, however, it was quiet with nobody in sight. When Zero stopped next to him, he knelt down and pressed his forehead to hers and scratched her ears, trying to soothe the worry that he could feel radiating off of her. 

“We would of course do research. That way we know what we can and can’t do. And we can also take it slow. Just because we decided to do this doesn't mean that we have to go all the way into the deep end. We can start with like one or two nights a week and go from there. And if at any point we both feel that it’s too dangerous, we can stop.” He offered, trying to put her worries to rest. 

“Then I don’t see why we can’t see where this goes. It can’t be any worse than what we are doing now. We also need to put in the time to learn how to properly fight. We can’t always rely on random bricks in the alleyway as weapons.” She teased him. Izuku made a sound of offense but was also smiling. Things would certainly be different from here on out. 

Because, now, he will help people. Even if it is as a vigilante to start with. He figured he would start doing it more regularly so that he could get practice. He still wanted to be a hero so what better way to train than to just jump right into it? Everybody has to start somewhere right? And this seemed like as good of a place as any.

What they didn’t realize is that the woman that they saved was not just a normal civilian. She was a reporter who worked closely with underground heroes named. She knew that privacy was absolutely necessary. She could lose her job if she didn’t adhere to the very strict privacy rules that were in place. So while she wouldn’t go out and release this to the general public, she would talk with the other underground heroes to find out just who this person was. After all, Mika owed them her life. And that is not a debt that she is ever going to forget.

Chapter Text

That first night was just one of many to come. Looking back, that was the turning point.  Their vigilante activities only snowballed from there. After knowing what it felt like to help people, he couldn’t just stand by and let things happen. Not when he knew that he could help. It might not have been much, but he and Zero still felt like they were doing something to contribute to the safety of the people around them, to be useful. That feeling is what drove them out night after night, saving countless amounts of people. Everything from just walking somebody home, to stopping someone from being killed, Izuku tried to help. Zero for the most part would stay in the shadows and would only come to help Izuku if and when he really needed it. When they were doing their research into vigilantism laws, they came across a part that apparently most people didn’t know about or care to remember. One can only be considered a vigilante if the use of quirks is involved. Therefore she would be like an invisible back up. It also helped when the heroes caught wind of them. Due to the fact that she was always nearby and ready to run, but also blending in with the shadows, they never knew that she was there. Therefore, he technically couldn’t be charged with vigilantism even if they did manage to catch him. 

But jokes on them, he got good at avoiding people thanks to all the bullies in his school. So that's exactly what he did with the heroes. He always made sure that he knew what heroes were patrolling where and when so that he could avoid them as much as possible. The latest one that had been assigned was an underground hero. If Izuku understood correctly it is THE Eraserhead this time. Which he has to admit is so cool! He has lost track of how many times he has said as much to his panther. But can you really blame him? Eraserhead is his favorite hero! The way that he fights, and also the fact that his quirk is not an offensive combative one! And the way he was able to parkour everywhere?! That was the coolest thing Izuku had ever seen. He mentioned to Zero that he needed to learn how to do that. Cause he’s pretty good at avoiding the heroes and police as he is right now, but there’s always room to improve. So far the hero hadn't really tried to do anything other than watch them from a distance. He hasn’t tried to make any sort of contact, which Izuku thought was weird. All the other heroes had tried to catch or at least stop him. But if the hero wasn’t going to intervene then he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He did take extra precautions on the days that they spotted Eraser to take a longer way back to their sleeping spots though. Just to be on the safe side.

The unexpected part was the people. He was expecting half of them to be mean like the kids in school were and he was honestly expecting the other half of them to just nod in thanks and go about their life. While some of them did one of the two things, there was a third type of person. One that neither he nor Zero saw coming. 

“Please, you saved my life, please just take the money.” The man in front of him that he had just saved was trying to hand him a wad of cash. Just by looking at the numbers on the bills on the outside, he could see that there had to be at least 70,000 yen. Izuku looked longingly at the bills that were being handed to him. He certainly needed it. That much money would be able to last them at least 2 months if they spent it right wisely. In the end, he took the money to the relief of the man in front of him. He still felt bad about taking all of it. He was just a vigilante after all. He was at war with himself about what to do when he found a solution that could work. 

"While I do appreciate it, I'm out here helping people because I can. And because I see the people that most heroes don't. One of the few advantages being a vigilante gives me." Izuku smiled at the man and before he could be interrupted he continued, 

"So I'll compromise with you. I'll only take half.” Izuku handed the other half of the money back to the man who took it with a sigh. 

“I guess that’s better than nothing. But thank you all the same.” The man took back the money and gave him one last smile of thanks. The red and blue lights started bouncing off of the buildings around them, warning Izuku that the police and possibly heroes will be here soon. 

“Well, that is my cue to go. Are you going to be okay until they get here?” Izuku moved his body so that he could quickly run up the drainpipe that was to his right. Ready to run as soon as the man said he was okay. 

“Yea, I’ll be okay for the 4 minutes it takes for them to get here. But who are you? Who do I tell them that saved me?” Izuku turned so that he was facing the man. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the lights were getting closer. He had been a successful vigilante for about 3 months when the media and subsequently the police gave him a hero vigilante name. They called him Shadow Weaver. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten the name, but it slowly spread in the communities that he and Zero frequented. Even if the heroes didn’t know that she was there, he thought the name was fitting, seeing as how Zero was mostly made of shadows and he could control them to an extent. And it was for that reason that neither one of them made an effort to change the name that they were given. With a smile that he knew would reach his eyes, he looked at the other man and told him,

“All you have to tell them is that Shadow Weaver sends their regards. ” Izuku didn’t wait to see if the man had recognized his name or not. No sooner than the last syllable was leaving his mouth he makes sure that his mask is in place, covering the lower half of his face, and begins the climb up the fire escape. When Izuku was satisfied that the heroes and the police wouldn’t see them from their hiding spot on the rooftop, he watched as the scene unfolded.

Not even two minutes later Detective Tsuchachi and Pro Hero Eraserhead were on the scene and taking the statement from the man. Izuku was only half listening to the questions being asked. It was always the same ones after all. Do you know who did it? Do you know why they did it? Are there any defining features that you can recall? If so, would you feel comfortable talking to a sketch artist? Izuku was content to tune everything out until Zero nudged him and tilted her head back towards the hero and detective. 

Izuku was glad that his panther had been listening in because when he tuned back into the conversation, it was starting to get interesting. 

“Thank you so much for your help in this matter, Shinsou-san. Did you by chance see what direction the criminal went in?” Detective man asked. Izuku wanted to laugh at the look that crossed Shinsou-san’s (Apparently that was his name. Izuku didn’t think to ask before) face. The man with purple hair that was weirdly floating in the air (it almost seemed to have static electricity constantly going through it? What an interesting quirk) turned his head from where the criminal was zip-tied to a nearby trash can and back to the detective. Even Eraser was looking at the detective like he had lost his mind. The hero nudged Tsukauchi and gestured for him to look over to where the criminal was starting to wake up. He had finished writing notes in a little notebook and followed the direction that Eraser was gesturing towards. Izuku let out a small giggle when the man connected the dots. His shoulders slumped ever so slightly and he may not have signed externally but Izuku was willing to bet 100 yen that he did so internally.

“I see. Now, did you do this yourself? Did you use your quirk to help you?” The pen and notebook were back out and waiting for the responses. 

“No, I did not use my quirk to help in this situation. I also was not the one that tied him to a trash can.” Shinsou-san smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“...True.” The hesitancy in Tsukauchi’s voice was apparent. Eraserhead's stoic features only broke to have one eyebrow raised in question. 

“Then how and why is he tied to a trash can?” The gruffness of Eraserhead’s voice sounded curt, all but demanding answers.   

“I was told to tell you that Shadow Weaver sends their regards. I hope that helps in some way. They were very good Pro Hero.”  Izuku could not tell if the man was being serious or not. He did tell the man before he left that he was a vigilante. But either way, this was so much better than he thought it was going to be.

Eraserhead and the detective share a look and this time, the sigh is audible. Even from the rooftop where Izuku was hiding.

“We will keep that in mind, sir. Thank you for your time. Here’s my business card if you need anything regarding the case, or if you have any other information that might help.” The card was exchanged and Shinsou-san took his leave.  When he was out of hearing range, the detective ran his hand down his face. Not even bothering to actually face the hero he stated ,

“That is the seventh one this month and it’s only the 15th! ”

“I know. We know for a fact that they aren't a pro hero. Hell, we don't even know who they are. All we have is a name that was given to them, and a few possibilities for a quirk.” Izuku shied further behind the ledge when Eraser looks towards where they were hiding. He would like to think that the hero couldn’t see them but he also wasn’t taking any chances. 

“It’s already a risk sitting here and listening to them.” Zero stated. 

“I know that. But if we can get some information on what they know about us, it’ll be easier to hide later. It’s a risk that will hopefully pay off.” Zero chuffed. Most of the time that meant that she was acknowledging that Izuku was mostly right, but still on edge about it. Guessing that enough time had passed that the man was no longer looking up for them, he slowly leaned forward again so that he could hear better.

  “And when we looked, there is nobody in the system that has that quirk that fits. The closest one was a kid that was about 8 years old.”   

“Which means we're back to square one. Not any closer to figuring out who it could be.” Izuku let go of the breath that he was holding. They weren’t close to figuring out who he was. That was good. The last thing that he needed to have happened was for the heroes to get involved and try to drag him back to the people that gave birth to him. He knew that they would. It happened before. He was thankful that the one time that it happened, Inko and Hisashi weren’t at home. So as soon as the hero was gone, Izuku hightailed it out of there before either one of them could get home. It didn’t matter that they were the ones that told him to leave. The heroes didn’t listen to him. They just thought that they were ‘doing the right thing helping a poor kid get back to his family.’ 

“I think we should get going now. You got the information that you wanted. We’re going to get caught if we stay here for much longer.” Zero nudged his side to get him to move faster. She was right though. They needed to get moving, it was starting to get dark and Izuku still had homework that he needed to do. 

“Alright let's go.”  

All good things have to come to an end. One would think that Izuku would know that by now. Considering all that he has been through. But the universe is bound and determined to make him the butt end of a joke today. He hadn’t taken more than 5 steps from where he was hiding when none other than Eraserhead vaulted himself up and onto the same roof that Izuku was on. 

“Fuck.” Izuku pressed himself closer to the wall, trying to remain out of sight of the hero. Zero was next to him and hopefully more out of sight than he was. 

“Indeed. This is not… amusing.” 

“Who are you?” Eraser asks when he notices them. Apparently today was not the day that he could get a lucky break. 

“I’m going to distract him, you take that time to get and remain out of sight. He can’t say that I was doing anything if he can’t see you.” He made sure that his voice was low enough to where only she could hear. Instead of responding verbally, she chuffed. Her tail grazed over the back of his legs. Izuku took one steadying breath and peeked out from around the wall. 

“Sir? Are you talking to me?” He feigned innocence in his voice. He was also glad that his vigilante clothes weren’t anything special. Just a pair of black cargo pants, a black hoodie, and a beanie, accompanied by a face mask. At least this way he could pass as a civilian if he really wanted to. 

“Seeing as how you and I are the only ones on this rooftop, yes I am talking to you. Now who are you?” Izuku noticed the slight shift in Eraser’s hands as he took a ready stance. To someone who wasn’t looking for it, it would almost seem like the hero was bored, non-threatening even. But Izuku had observed (not spied on, thank you very much, Zero) the hero enough to know that was far from the case. His hands were relaxed but not in his pockets. Instead, they were crossed over his chest, ready to grab for the capture weapon that sat coiled around his neck at a moment's notice. 

Izuku brings his finger up to his chin and taps it as if in thought. Stalling for time while also keeping Eraser’s attention solely on him. His mind is racing. Trying to figure out how he is going to get out of this situation as well as Zero not being seen. 

“I have been told that I have many names. Some of them might be helpful, others not so much. So I’m gonna need you to be a bit more specific.” 

“I would rather have your real legal name.” The hero shoots out his capture weapon to try and bind Izuku in place. It’s not as… graceful or direct as it was earlier. He has seen Eraserhead use his capture weapon even before today. Was he holding back? And if so why? Was the hero just tired from another fight?

‘Holy shit if that isn’t the coolest thing! I can’t believe that I can see it up close-’ His thoughts were cut off by a sharp reprimand from Zero. 

‘We need to get out of here. Fanboy later!’ Well, that also answered if Zero was nearby enough. They can only communicate with their thoughts if they are less than a city block away from each other. He did his best to shove aside the excitement and focus on what was happening in front of him. 

“Nope. Try again. I don’t give out my legal name to strangers. Stranger danger and all that. Also, why would I give you my name when you are throwing your scarf at me?” He cringed even as he called the man’s weapon, a scarf. He knew it wasn’t but the average person wouldn’t know that it was a weapon. So he played the part. 

“Alright, then how about a name that a lot of people will know you by?” He noticed that Eraser didn’t answer his last question. Whether that was on purpose or not, Izuku couldn’t tell. He had half a mind to tell Eraser false information just so that he could be done with this. Zero should have had more than enough time to at least get on the other rooftop by now. With his mind made up, he started messing around with the hero. This is the moment that Izuku knew he would look back on with fondness. He just couldn't keep the cheekiness out of his voice. 

“Well if you ask the people in my school? Dumbass, asshole, dipshit, fucker, are the most common so take your pick.” He dodged yet another lackluster attempt at capturing him. Maybe Eraserhead was trying to figure out how skilled he was? Or maybe he thought that Izuku was just a normal civilian? Those were at least the best running theories he had. 

“I’m not about to call somebody- or anybody really- who has the stature of a child, a slur.” While the hero may not have meant it like that, it made Izuku falter just a step. He knew that the man was one of the better heroes. It was still another thing entirely to hear it said out loud. That Eraser wouldn’t call him a slur. He shoved the thought down deep into his subconscious. He would look into that when he had more time. 

“I do have another name that I was given recently that apparently a lot of people know me by.” The attempts of trying to bind him stopped as Eraser waited for Izuku to continue. When Izuku only smirked (not that the hero could see that), the hero sighed in exasperation. 

“And what would that be?”  

Unable to keep the smile from reaching to his eyes, he backed up towards the edge of the roof. He would need to make a quick exit so that he wouldn’t be caught. He knew that Zero was going to have his head for doing this, it was not his brightest idea. He couldn't even really be sure why he was doing it. But the words were already slipping out of his mouth before he could stop them. 

“You can call me ShadowWeaver.” To add to the dramatics he also bowed to the hero. Eraser stopped in the middle of throwing his weapon out (When had he thrown that?!) again and just stared at Izuku. The weapon was suspended in mid-air. 

“This adds to my theory that his scarf is somewhat controlled either through brain waves or through nanotech....or both. Probably both. There's no other way that it would stop mid-air like that.” Izuku grumbled under his breath. Izuku took the chance to look at his surroundings and was pleased that he couldn't see Zero. She must have taken the chance and got off the roof. Knowing that he could now leave at any point was a small relief. But now it was the hard part. Actually getting away from the hero. 

“You're ShadowWeaver?” Eraser called his weapon back to his person and regarded Izuku with what could only be suspension and apprehension.

“The one and only.” Izuku smirked, not that the man could see it. The medical mask that he still had on blocked most of his facial expressions. Somewhere he could almost feel Zero giving him a disapproving stare for that comment.

“And how do I know that it’s really you and not some imposter claiming to be ShadowWeaver?” Izuku tilted his head in question. There were people out there saying that they were him? Really?  But now there’s also the question of, how is he going to get Eraser to believe him? This wasn’t going how he thought it would go.  He wasn’t prepared for this. Then again, he also wasn’t prepared for the fact that there might be people impersonating him? This was just weird. In the end, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. 

“I don’t know. Ask me something I guess?”  

“What kind of calling card do you leave?” Izuku stared at the man. Was this really a test? Cause Izuku wasn’t like some of the other vigilantes out there that would leave something behind. It just wasted time in his opinion. And it made it easier for them to get information on him. And he wasn’t looking to get caught. The threat that his.....’parents’ made still echoes in his head to this day. So the less that they could find out about him the better. The only thing that he could think of was his parting words with the victims. It was the only thing that could be considered a calling card. 

“I don’t? I tell the victims to tell you that I have sent my regards. But that’s not really a calling card?” 

“You really are ShadowWeaver.” The hero shifted his stance so that he appeared less like he was going to attack Izuku and more like he was studying him. Which for Izuku probably wasn’t the better option. Izuku eyed the edge of the building that they were on and slowly started shifting his way over to it. Maybe if he did it slow enough Eraser wouldn’t notice.

“Yup! I had no idea that people were going around and pretending to be me though. I don’t know if I should be flattered or annoyed.” The last part he mainly said to himself rather than Eraser but the hero answered him anyway. 

“People often say that the highest form of flattery is imitation.” Izuku fought back the urge to laugh at the flattery comment. If people really knew, he didn’t think that they would want to be like him. Or maybe they did. Who was he to judge? Eraser continued, “But with that aside, why did you...” The hero trailed off his sentence. Izuku guesses that he was trying to look for the right words to say. Something that would give him both information but also not scare Izuku off. 

“You're trying to ask me why I became what is commonly referred to as a vigilante aren’t you?” Izuku prompted him. 

“I wasn’t going to come out and say so directly but yes. We want to know why.”

“I had no choice.” Izuku admits. Because in his eyes, he really didn’t. Between not standing by and letting people get hurt? No chance in hell.  The inevitable practice that he gets through it and desperately needs so he might actually have a shot at a hero school was another good reason. Overall, the choice had been obvious and easy. The money and food that people gave him for saving them was a bonus and much needed. Another step towards the edge. He’s only a few paces away now. 

“Everybody has a choice. You don’t have to break the law.”

“But I haven’t broken the law. The law states that in order for a person to be considered a vigilante one would have to use their quirk, or quirks, if we want to be specific, in order to prevent a crime from happening or stop it when it is already in motion. I have not used my quirk to stop or prevent a crime.” Izuku worded in such a way that if there was a chance that the detective was listening either now or later through a recording device, his quirk wouldn’t be set off. Lie detector as a quirk was extremely useful but only when you don’t know the (theoretical) loopholes around it. When Izuku first heard Tsukauchi interviewing a witness and his quirk was mentioned, his mind started going down the rabbit hole of possibilities. Of course he and Zero hadn’t been able to test out any of their theories but now was as good of a time as any. 

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow at that. Like he didn’t believe what Izuku was saying. 

“We have multiple eyewitness accounts that state that they saw you use a quirk.” Izuku wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Cause if he kept denying it, the hero would eventually ask what his quirk is. So instead, he decided that the conversation is over and it’s time for him to meet back with Zero....He wasn't really looking forward to telling her about this though..If she doesn’t already know. And what’s even better is that Eraser didn’t notice them moving the whole conversation. So now, he was within distance of the edge. Just like he wanted to be.

“I don’t know how they would think that. I have never used my quirk to stop or prevent a crime. Therefore, by that logic and definition I am not a vigilante and I haven’t broken the law. But if that is what the people want to believe I can’t stop them. I know what I have been doing. But I must be going now. I have a pet rock to feed and a fish to walk. See ya!”  Izuku made a move to the edge of the roof so that he could jump off of it. On this side, there should be a trash bin at the bottom that was mainly used for cardboard. It would break his fall enough but also not break anything when he landed. 

“You do know that now that we have an idea of what you look like, we have to bring you in, right? We can't let you keep doing this. If you let us, we can probably help you! ” The man shot out his capture weapon again. This time, with more precision and force. Izuku barely dodged it when he rolled to his left. The edge of the building was close. Taking a quick glance over the edge, he smiled. He could land that fall. It was not where he had originally planned to escape but it was right where he had climbed up just a little bit ago. Might not be the most graceful landing he’s done, but he’s going for more of a survivable vibe, not a pretty one.

“ You can’t help people like me .” 

Izuku leaped off of the rooftop and landed close enough to the detective to startle him. A quick glance back at the top of the building shows that Eraserhead was going to follow him. So either that means that he didn’t see Zero or that he thought he had a better chance with Izuku. Seemingly regaining his thoughts, Tsukauchi made a move to grab Izuku while he thought Izuku was distracted. The arm was coming at the height of his chest, so Izuku leaned back to duck under the arm and rolled, feet going over his head. He popped back up again and gave a two-finger salute to them. 

“You tried! But you're going to have to be faster than that to catch me.” Izuku turned on his heel and began running. 

He rounded the corner of the building and felt relieved. Zero was waiting there for him. He ran past her and she wasted no time catching up to him and matching his pace. 

“Why are we running? What did you do?” 

“Not time to explain. Just know,” he motioned with his hands that they needed to split up at the fork in the road ahead. Izuku took the left hand path and Zero veered towards the right. Once he was running at a steady pace again he telepathically continued to tell his panther the shorter version of what happened on the roof. 

“Eraser knows who I am. As ShadowWeaver. We are currently running from him cause I didn't want to answer questions.” 

“Izuku.” And if he hadn't already been running from something, Zero using his full name would have made him want to start. She might have been more mad than he thought she would be. 

“Zero I-” she cut him off before he could say more.

“We will talk about this later. For now, we need to make sure that we lose them.” 

The two of them lead the detective and hero on a chase through the winding alleys and back streets of Musutafu.   Being able to split up in situations like this was key to being able to lose them. When they thought they were closing in on Izuku, Zero would make noises down a different alley. She falsified leads and confused them as Izuku kept running. 

They only stopped once they were sure that Eraserhead and Tsukauchi were no longer on their tails. The shadow duo went to a nearby building to watch over and make sure that they were successful in getting their pursuers off of their trail.   

Eraser stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked around. Probably looking for either Izuku or Tsukauchi. The latter was running up to where Eraser was standing but from a different direction. They talked for a while before they both parted ways. Tsukauchi got into a squad car that was heading in the direction of the precinct and Eraser made his way up to the rooftops again. Heading in the same direction that he had been chasing Izuku in. 

They still huddled in the nice corner that they had found for at least 15 minutes. He was tired after all of that running, and if he was, there was a chance that Zero was too. Izuku wanted nothing more than to head back to the pseudo-home that he and Zero created. 

They noticed the building on their many patrols around town when they found an abandoned warehouse and hoped for a place to sleep. They were forced to leave their previous spot because somebody had called the city officials on them. The city had apparently noticed the increase in electricity from the abandoned building and sent somebody out to investigate. He and Zero had barely managed to make it out in time before they could be noticed. Although, he swears the only reason why they noticed it now was because somebody called them. 

It was a colder night when they decided to take the chance and set up camp in the small office space. It wasn't perfect but they made it work. They had set it up so that they could at least sleep there. The only thing that they didn’t have was running water and heating. It was an easy enough problem to solve though. He was able to get drinking water at school and he could sometimes even shower there! It might not have been as much as he wanted, but he figured he was more lucky than some of the other homeless. They lucked out by finding the warehouse when they did. They tossed around ideas of maybe trying to get electricity from a nearby building, but decided that it wasn't worth it (especially after what happened last time.) It was mostly enclosed so it kept the wind and a lot of the cold out and it was bearable with the clothes and blanket they had. When it got really cold,  they used a small black kettle that they could light fires in from Takoba beach. At least this way Izuku would be able to be a little bit warmer though the nights.

It retained heat decently well so once he got the fire going in his kettle, it stayed pretty warm. It was abandoned, that much Izuku knew, but there were conflicting stories as to why. One appearance said it was because the people that owned it ran out of the contract and were in hiding. Another said it was because it was haunted and they couldn’t get anybody to take care of the ghost that was apparently haunted here for at least a few years. So in the meantime, they left it to its own devices. Izuku was more inclined to believe the latter. There were a bunch of people that were still scared of the paranormal. On a whim, Izuku checked into the priest/Father/Exorcist that he found in the one article. According to the website, it had a 4 year long waitlist. Apparently the ranking on said list had something to do with what quirks they had. 

As for the rest of the warehouse, there wasn’t much there. It had to have been a workshop of some kind back in the day, judging from the benches along the walls. During the first few nights he found random screws, nails, drill bits and bits of glass here and there. There were also holes in the ground from where he assumed additional benches or work stations had been. They didn’t leave anything behind minus the random screwdriver or hammer. He promised himself and Zero that the next break they got, they could try and fix it up so that it could be used more often. So while it might not be much to the outside, to them it was home. One that for once, he was looking forward to returning to. 

Zero and Izuku let out small giggles about what had happened. It was nice to know that even though she was mad at him (which he figures she has every right to be) they can still laugh at the way the two of them looked when they realized that neither one of them had managed to catch Izuku. 

“Alright, we should be good to head back now. If they would have doubled back, they would have already done so. We need to rest.” Izuku brushed off the dirt and random debris from his pants as he stood up. He stretched to hopefully stave off the soreness of the muscle until he was able to crawl back into bed. 

“Yes and we also need to talk about what you did and why.” Zero gave him a pointed look. He knew that with that look, there was going to be no way out of this, so he silently resigned himself to his fate and continued walking.

Izuku wasn’t sure what made him stop and watch this family. They didn’t seem to be in danger, quite the opposite actually. But even so, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him. 

The woman and man were walking down the street and the man was holding a small sleeping child. The two parents were laughing quietly so as to not disturb the sleeping child. The way they leaned into each other made it clear that they loved each other. They both looked down at their child and shared a kiss.The scene was so innocent but yet so full of love. Not only for each other, but for the sleeping child as well. They rounded a corner and were out of sight. But that didn’t stop the sudden torrent of emotions that broke loose in Izuku. The feeling of longing and want hit him so hard it almost knocked the wind out of him. Izuku clenched his hand over his heart. As if that would somehow stop the pain welling up inside. He tried to shake off the feelings and the memories that had been brought up. 

In the end his mind kept circling back to that moment. The moment when his entire world came crashing down. He can hear the words that his ‘parents’ hissed at him the last time he saw them. The way they kicked him out without even a second thought. The absolute coldness that was there instead of the warmth that he was used to. He just wanted to go home and curl up under the covers and sleep. He just wanted his parents to love him. He hadn’t thought about them in so long. He thought he was over it. Or as much as he could be. Seeing the way that family interacted with each other, reopened the wound on his heart.

He was feeling it all again like it had happened yesterday rather than almost 10 months ago. He wasn’t sure just how long he had been standing on the edge of that rooftop looking after the family that was long gone by now, but it had to have been a significant amount of time. His hands were stiff with coldness and seemed to seep into his bones. He was shivering and his nose was running. He wasn’t sure when the tears started but he knew that they were there. The biting cold of the wind made sure to let him know.  

“I just don’t understand Zero.” His voice was thick with both unshed tears and the ones that were currently trying to spill over. “What did we do to end up like this? It's not our fault that the kids at school started picking fights with us. You’re not the evil demon that they say you are and neither am I. Why would they kick us out?” It was nights like these that made it hard for both of them. Most of the time, they were able to not think about what had happened, but they weren’t as lucky tonight. The weight of the true questions that Izuku wanted answered hung heavy in the air. The ones that neither of them had the answers to. His knees were shaking and he finally just let them give out. Zero was there at a moment's notice and got under him enough so that he fell more into her rather than the unforgiving roof. He wrapped his arms around her neck and he sobbed into Zero’s silky black and purple coat. 

Why didn't they love us? 

Why don't they want us?

What did we do wrong?

The urge to go back to their parents and give them a piece of their mind had crossed their thoughts more than once. They even acted on it one time. Only to find that Inko and Hisashi had moved. And it wasn’t even their own choice to figure it out. It was one of the very times they had been picked up by the cops. Thankfully it wasn’t for anything serious, just staying out past curfew. So once the cops placed them at the front of the house they had left. But even that was more than enough time to see that it was not the same. The plants that Inko normally had out front were wilting from lack of water. The gray fireproof door that was once the front door was no longer there. Instead, it was a simple white door. With a window on the upper half. Even the car in the front of the house was different. When the pair could confidently say the cops weren’t coming back, they left. They didn’t stick around to ask the neighbors where the couple had gone. Taking the knowledge that the people that were supposed to be their parents had moved to Time knows where, and hadn’t even left a note.  It had hurt to find out that they had left like that, but what were they really expecting? They had kicked them out onto the streets. 

Instead of focusing on the pain that they were left with, they had spent more and more time at libraries, learning whatever they could. Izuku took this as an opportunity to keep up with his ability to read and speak Korean. They had a lot of books on the language and he would pick up any of them, no matter the subject, to keep the language fresh in his mind. That is also how he stumbled into quirk theories. 

He had picked up a book that Nezu, the Principal of UA published. It was a translation from the Japanese copy, but it was still fascinating. (He couldn’t find the Japanese copy in the library so he settled for the English one) It was one topic that made him really think about quirks in a new way. Not just the way that everybody else looked at them but expanding. Going farther than that. Testing to see just how much somebody could do. There was an interesting case in the book that referenced the possibility of people with water quirks also being able to control plant life. Only to  an extent of course, but still.Once the initial spark was lit, he dove head first into studying quirks, their science, origins, facts and even fiction. Nothing was off limits. He figured the more he knew, the better he could be and it was interesting! A complete win-win situation. He already knew that something like this would be able to help him when he goes out at night. Being able to pick apart somebody's quirk, maybe even before the fight, was an easy way to get the upper hand. 

He started practicing his skills on the people around him, keeping notebooks of most of the quirks that he came across. Once they jotted down everything they could see, they tried to make sense of it, kinda like a puzzle. He and Zero could sit for hours and just come up with theories on the quirks that they have seen. It hadn’t taken more than a couple excited rambles on his side and she had been just as taken with the topic. She was amazingly patient with him as he came up with new ideas to try and often pitched in with some of her own. 

During their research they stumbled upon a theory  in one of Nezu’s books (he was by far both of their favorite authors and they had read every one of his publications that were available in the library). Apparently there was a chance that people with fire quirks were not just limited to heat. There was a chance that they could also deal with frozen fire. It was possible due to the chemical makeup of each person. And while it was possible to do both hot and cold, most people tended to prefer one over the other. 

Of course the duo immediately tried it out and discovered that what Nezu was talking about was true, at least for them, just like the quirk counselor had said what seemed like a lifetime ago. He and Zero could both produce and control not only hot, but also cold flames at will. This came in handy when they didn’t have any lighters available to light the fires on cold winter nights. The other discovery they made is that their flames were very close to their sperm donors. It was after they discovered that, that they both vowed to not use them unless they have to in a life or death situation. They already had enough reminders of the people that left them; they didn’t need to add any to that. 

Zero licking away his tears shook Izuku back to reality and out of the downward spiral of his thoughts. Seeing that family had really shaken him. More than he wanted to admit. He was able to ground himself more when Zero started speaking. 

“I do not know, little one. But I do know that we will always have each other, and you can’t forget that. We will prove everybody else wrong. We will become heroes. Just wait and see.” His panther took this quiet opportunity to nuzzle into Izuku. Her nose was wet and cold against his neck but he couldn’t bring himself to care. To him, the cool dampness had grown to be a source of comfort. 

It was at times of uncertainty when Izuku didn’t know if anybody was listening, that he spoke in the language of his companion, the language of ShadowSpeak. To most people who didn’t know or understand it just sounded like grunts and hums and his parents very quickly decided they didn’t like them speaking it and strictly forbid it. Izuku could see how their preferred method of communication could be off-putting to some people. At the same point, it was no different than someone speaking English when they didn’t understand what was being said. Granted yes, Zero could also speak Japanese, Korean, and English just fine. 

  Izuku had done some research on the amount of Shadow quirks like Zero. Just to see if there was anybody that he could learn from. Most people would call the quirks demons but that’s also not right. They were just like any other quirk. They just also happened to be sentient. To his surprise and dismay, there were only 3 other people in Japan that had a similar quirk to him. One was a kid around his age, but due to his age, name, city, and region had been privatized. And the other two were in Okinawa. Exiled there and forbidden from coming back to the mainland. He tried to find out why, but all of the newspaper articles and documents had been locked away and needed permission from the Hero Commission president to access. So, needless to say, the chances of somebody understanding him and Zero were pretty much none. For that reason , they saved this language for when they wanted to have a truly private conversation and for when nobody was around just in case they were being eavesdropped on. It was their secret and their weapon and they didn’t want other people to know about it.

"Yea, you're right Zero! We will show them. We will be heroes” There was a slight tinge of anger in his voice that he couldn’t keep out. Not at her of course but at the situation. He got up off of the pavement and dusted off his pants. The moon was setting and the sun would be out soon. They had better get back to the warehouse if he wanted any hope of getting a small nap before school started.

“But for now, I guess we can just go back to the hideout and sleep. I'm tired and I’m sure you are too. " He does feel a little bit better knowing that someday they will be heroes and they will be able to prove so many people wrong. But the weight of survival is slowly taking a toll on both of them. Izuku wonders just how long they are going to have to keep this up for. Silently, he hopes that they get a lucky break soon. Every day was just a little bit harder than the last one and it was bound to stack up and overflow at some point. 

"Sounds good to me. Let's go back. We can always pick up another patrol tomorrow after we have slept. And don't forget that we need to talk about what you did." She reminded him as she headed off in the direction of their warehouse. He sighed and called after her,

“I said that I was sorry! Zero!” He ran after her and caught up to her easily .  Both of them blending in with the shadows as they set off into the night.

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

“It’s not fair that my favorite shop isn’t open! It’s only 2am! Since when have they started closing at 10p.m?! It’s not even that late! I just need to replace my soldering irons! ” She kicks a rock that was in her path. She followed the rock to where it landed and saw someone - or was it something? -  move out of the corner of her eye. She crept towards the mouth of the alley to see if she could figure out who it was. Carefully eyeing around the corner, she saw a human figure cuddling what looked to be a strangely dark and purple.....Tiger? Maybe? Some sort of bigger cat. 

She could tell that they had probably been on the streets for a while now due to the state of the persons's clothes.   She had a feeling that she knew who they were. Mei had been trying to get a sighting of them for a while now. She wanted to just ask them questions. Actually she really wanted to ask them if they had any gear that she could make for them. It had to be ShadowWeaver. The infamous Vigilante that was patrolling the streets. 

She may be the next person to get ownership of her mothers’ support gear business but that doesn’t mean that she wants to be handed everything. She wanted to be able to say that she also brought in her own clients with her own ideas. And the earlier she started the better.

Going to UA was going to help that tremendously. There would be so many little hero kids trying their best to get support items that she would almost have her pick of who she wanted to work with. At the same point though, her moms didn’t just work with heroes. They had a very strict, don’t ask, don't tell policy. If somebody were to come in and ask for something to be done, as long as they didn't give details about where or why it was going to be used, most of the time, they would still make it. 

That wasn’t the case for well known villains of course, but for vigilantes that needed protection, weapons or things like that, it was all fine and dandy. She shook her head as if to stop her wandering thoughts by force. She could think about all of this later, but right now, she needed to focus on the duo in front of her. 

Mei knew for a fact that neither one of them had noticed her. If they did, they were doing a good job at not showing it. She stayed hidden behind a trashcan that was about 4 meters away from where they were. She thanked her lucky stars that it was a quiet night as she could hear them talking. But she couldn’t understand what they were saying.

She was listening to try and see if she could figure out what language they were speaking and came up with a blank. She waited a while longer until the duo(?) left running. And then she waited another 2 minutes before stepping out from behind the trash can. 

Her mind raced with all of the possibilities that could come from this. And to add to it, ShadowWeaver might be two people! That was the most exciting thing that she has heard tonight. It almost washed away the annoyance that her favorite tool shop was closed. Almost. 

She was definitely going to have to try and corner them. She has so many ideas. So many ways that she could help them. And so many ways they could help her. IF they wanted to of course. 

But that also brought her back to the point of she couldn't understand what he was saying. She shrugs her shoulders and moves her pink dreadlocks out of her face. Oh well, that just means that she has to make a baby that will understand them first and then help them. That won't be a problem at all. And after that, rest should come easy peasy. 

Afterall, how can she say that she's the future CEO of Hatsume Tech if she can't build a simple translator?

Chapter Text

Mei left the alleyway with a pep in her step. She wasn’t exactly sure of who this new vigilante was but she did know one thing. And that was the fact that he (they?) were a vigilante and they would need support equipment. And since they probably weren’t legal, they wouldn’t be able to get them through legal means so getting them through her would be perfect for both of them. She would be able to get her name out there and they would also get the materials that they needed. In her eyes, it was a win-win no matter which way she went about it. 

But first, she would just have to build that translator. It shouldn't be too hard, she thought. The databases for all known languages were available on the internet and just waiting to be  downloaded. She would just have to take the time to build it. She was lucky that her moms’ where still here and hadn’t set out again. If she was going to pull this off, she might need their help. 

Mei entered the house and took off her shoes, sloppily setting them in their place at the gherkin, dumping her bag next to the door so that when she (inevitably) woke up late tomorrow morning, she wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time looking for it.“I’m home!” She called out. 

“Welcome back, kiddo. How was school?” When Mei rounded the corner that would lead her into the kitchen she saw MommaMai sitting at the table looking over blueprints for a new support item that she was commissioned to do. 

“It was.. school.” Mei shrugs. She didn’t really mind school but she also didn’t enjoy it either. It’s not like she had any friends at her school to look forward to spending time with, and while she liked learning, topics at school usually were pretty boring. Most of the other kids were more interested in being heroes or talking about their crushes. Which Mei didn’t really understand. Like she knew that people get romantic feelings for other people, but she has always been so caught up in her babies that she never really took the time to notice others? So while she understood how it worked, it wasn’t something she could fully comprehend. And if she were being honest, the vigilante in the alleyway was the first time that she really noticed somebody else. Speaking of which,

"Mom, MommaMai, how do you make friends with somebody that doesn't speak the same language as you?"  She looks to where her moms are and waits for an answer. 

“Well, is it a language that you already know? Or do you have to figure it out?” 

“Is it somebody at school?” MommaMai asked. Mei sat down at one of the kitchen chairs and leaned her head on her hand as she answered, lazily snacking on some grapes. 

“No, it’s not somebody at school. And I’m not sure if it’s a language I know. I know for a fact that it is not Japanese, English or Russian, but they were also speaking so quietly that I’m not sure what it was.” 

“Then who is it?” MommaMai asked. Her eyebrow raised in suspicion. 

“This new vigilante that is roaming the streets of Mustafu.” There was no sense in lying to her moms. They would find out either way. And besides, she wasn’t going to let that stop her from being their friend. Or at the very least the person that they come to when they need more gear. She may be able to inherit the Hatsume name and Title when she gets to be old enough, but she also wants to be able to say that she gained her own clients and not everything was given to her. She did want to work for what she got. 

“Mei-”

“I know Momma. But they are my age. Or at least I think they are. They don’t seem that old and they don’t have any gear. They weren’t carrying around any weapons for Kami’s sake! Even if I can’t be their friend, I want to know that they at least have somewhat decent equipment.” 

A look crossed over MommaMai’s face. One that said that she already was thinking of what they would need in order to survive. The creative part of her mind is already overriding logic and exactly what Mei was hoping would happen. 

“Do you know anything about them?” She asked, carefully setting aside the items that were commissioned to do in favor of a blank blueprint. The question wasn’t even fully out before the sound of a pencil scratching the blueprint paper was becoming a familiar background noise.

Mei thought back to the alley, and started to rattle off details that she could remember. 

“I know that they are about my height. And at least a similar build?” It was dark so there wasn’t much that she could tell them. But there was the curious part about the animal that they had with them.  

“Did you happen to see them use their quirk? Or are there any features that would tell you what it could be?” Her mom asked. She wasn’t the  only one with a pencil now, both moms had started sketching. A giddiness filled Mei. The urge to flap her hands was overwhelming when she finally gave in, accidentally throwing a grape across the room. She glared at the offending grape but made no move to retrieve it from the floor. Yet.

“That’s what might be the hard part. There were technically two...” Mei had hesitated on what word to use. She shook her hands back and forth as she thought of the right word to use. Giving up on the right word she instead went with, “So, I’m not sure what was going on. One of them looked human and the other didn’t. The other was almost like a big cat? Like a tiger or a panther maybe? But I don't know if that is their quirk, or if they could shapeshift as their quirk.” She stood up from her chair and went to make herself and her moms some tea, picking up the grape and plopping it in her mouth. This might turn out to be a long night, so she might as well get a head start on the drinks. It also had the added bonus of giving her something to do so that she could move some of her energy around. 

“That could pose a problem. Cause we don’t know if it’s 2 humans or not, and I would hate to make something for them without knowing...” Mai trailed off. She looked over her sketches that she had so far. They would work, but without knowing their quirk, it made things harder. Especially when it came to the type of material that she needed to use. If they had an electrical quirk, then she wouldn’t be using anything that would conduct it, and she would also add something to help ground them so that they wouldn’t have to worry about overloading their brain with electricity.

On the other hand, if they had a fire related quirk, insulation would be almost required, so they wouldn’t burn themselves. But then came the question of what or who was the other one? Was Mei right and was their quirk shapeshifting? Or was it more complex than that? Either way, she needed more answers before she could start making anything. Simply because the materials that she would need and use vary greatly from quirk to quirk. This is exactly why she double majored in college. Both in support equipment, but also in quirk science. In her mind, they went hand in hand. You could do one without the other but in the end it would just make for more problems. Either that or she would have to hire enough people to fill those jobs to make sure that her clients were safe. And that just wasn’t worth the hassle when she and her wife could both do both.  

“Mei, before we do anything, we need to get more information.” Mai looks up from her blueprint sheets and meets the eyes of her daughter. 

“MommaMai, I know this. That’s why I was asking about how I can make friends with somebody that doesn’t speak the same language as me.” She gave her a look that clearly said: “Keep up, MommaMai.” But there was a spark in her daughter's eyes that she hadn't ever seen unless Mei was talking about or working on her inventions. Heaven help this soul that Mei wants to befriend. Cause there is one trait that all Hatsume’s have in common: Once they set their sights on something, come hell or highwater, it was going to happen. Even if it seemed impossible.  

She laughed, “So, about that translator...” 

--------

Izuku was standing on the edge of the building, watching to make sure that the police and/or heroes came to pick up the criminal that he just left tied to a flagpole. He felt a little bad cause there was no way that he could make it comfortable, but he was limited in his choices! It was either this, or he tied his arms and legs together and he didn’t think that doing that while the guy had a broken leg was the best idea. Zero was next to him also watching the scene unfold. When the red and blue lights started to come closer to their location, he ducked further behind the rooftop so that there wasn’t a chance that he would be seen by the people below. It wasn’t like they would look for him anyway, but he couldn’t afford to become sloppy. 

“Well, that makes 4 tonight.” He whispers to his companion. They both watch as the criminal is loaded into the back of the cop car. Not even a second after the doors close, the car is speeding away to the precinct. 

“Do you want to continue or do you want to head back?” Izuku doesn’t say anything right away but does point out the one person that stayed behind, the tall lanky, and by now familiar frame of Eraserhead barely visible, as he was standing just outside the radius of the streetlight. The only reason why Izuku knew it was the infamous underground hero was because he has been evading the man for about 2 months now. Ever since their first encounter on the rooftop, Eraserhead has not relented on trying to capture Izuku. It was now a constant game of cat and mouse. There was no doubt that he stayed behind again to see if he could catch Izuku. But sucks to suck Eraserhead, that wasn’t going to happen today!

Without saying anything, they quietly back away from the ledge and go to the opposite side of the building and scale down. Izuku checks the area to make sure that the hero wasn’t anywhere near before landing softly in the dark alley, Zero landing next to him without a sound. 

He nods to her and they set off down the alleyway. A few minutes go by and Izuku can’t shake the feeling that somebody is following them. 

“Do you feel it as well?” He makes another left turn down another alleyway. This wouldn’t actually lead to the place that he was planning on sleeping tonight, but if it is Easerhead that is following them, it was better to not take any chances.  

“I do. I can’t be sure, but they might be about 40 meters behind us.” Zero was walking next to him, her ears flicking back and forth. It took everything in him to not look behind them and check. Not because he didn’t trust Zero, but because he wanted to know what or who he was up against. But he also knew that she could see and hear better than he could, especially in the dark. He might have slightly better night vision than the average person due to the nature of Zero, but hers was still far better than his own. He wasn’t complaining though, cause if you add the fact that she is a panther and has all the related panther qualities: boom - perfect vigilante companion! And he’s not just saying that because he is biased. 

They made more seemingly random turns, hoping that the person that was following them would just give up. But as relentless as Izuku and Zero were for trying to give them the slip, they were also relentless in their pursuit. Which was a point in favor for Easerhead. Dammit, admiring the hero tasked to capture you was hard sometimes… In hindsight, it really should have crossed their minds that there might be two different people following them for completely different reasons.

The more alleys they went through, the more the pair became uneasy. Whoever was following them wasn’t letting up. Izuku’s mind was racing as he tried to think of some solution, any solution to get out of this. He placed his hands in his pockets and picked up his pace to a slightly faster walk. 

“Zero, we need to throw them off of our trail. They probably know that there are two of us. Or at least we need to assume that they know..” He spoke softly in ShadowSpeak so that if on an off chance he was heard, at least nobody else would be able to figure out what they were saying. And maybe, hopefully, they would just think that Izuku is thinking out loud or something like that. 

“We could split up. We know that they wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.” Zero offered, “But then you would be alone and I don’t really like that.” Izuku fullheartedly agreed. The idea of splitting up from her put a knot in his stomach.  Zero was not just his quirk, she was his best friend, his constant companion, his safe space and everything in between. Separating from her was like temporarily losing a limb.

“No. We need a different way.” He cracked his knuckles on the inside of his hoodie pocket, thinking about their possibilities. 

“If we fuse together, then it goes from 2 people that they are tracking to one.” He flicked his eyes down to where hers were and met them for a brief moment. 

“But that won't work. We are in back alleys that don’t have a lot of traffic.  Which currently means not much, if any, foot traffic. If we fuse then they will have good grounds to think that a quirk is involved and we would be more likely to have charges of vigilantism. And if it is Eraserhead, that is just more information that he can bring back to the precinct.”  Izuku hated it when Zero was right. But she was. But he still pressed on with his idea. Cause there was a chance that it could work if Lady luck was on their side. 

“We would need to go to a busier street for a little bit. Dip into another alley way, fuse and then continue on our way. It could work as long as we can get lost in a crowd long enough to make sure that they lose sight of us.” 

They continue to walk as Zero thinks over the plan. Izuku was heading towards the direction of the busier streets just in case she gave the go ahead. 

“It’s the best idea that we have right now. If worse comes to worse, at least the jail would give us food.” Izuku smiled briefly at the attempt of humor and headed for the busy street. Thankfully there was an influx of people on this street and he and Zero seamlessly slipped into the crowd. They got some looks because of Zero but nobody said anything. Judging by the smell of alcohol in the air, they just figured that somebody was using their quirk to transform and went back to their business. 

As he and Zero weaved their way through the crowd, he felt the eyes of whoever was watching them. This was probably the only time that he would be grateful for drunk people. They made it harder for people to follow. And he very much took advantage of that.

He found a group of what looked to be 16 year olds and slipped into the middle. A drink was handed to him by a bigger blonde man and something was said to him but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He smiled and took the drink anyway. He had no intention of drinking it but it at least helped him blend in. Zero was close by his side as he made his way through what he assumed were friends. Making sure to pass off the drink in his hand to another person in the group before leaving the stumbling crowd, he backed into a back alley way. He figured that they would only have a few precious seconds while whoever was tailing them figured out that they were no longer in the group of young adults and they didn't waste a single second. As soon as he felt no eyes on them, he and Zero fused together. 

“There, that should get them off of our tail for at least a little bit.” Izuku pulled his hood down lower over his eyes, hopefully shielding their gleaming pentagrams from view. 

“Let’s hope so and head back to the warehouse. If we get back soon we might actually be able to sleep for longer than 4 hours tonight.” Despite the uncomfortable feeling of being fused and restrained, Zero sounded hopeful. And Izuku was too. He would love to have some real sleep tonight. He looked around to make sure that the coast was clear. Not seeing anything of concern, he started off in the general direction of the warehouse. He took three steps before everything was wrong. 

There was no air in his lungs.

He couldn’t breathe. 

He clawed at his throat as if that would somehow let in the precious air that was around him, but it didn't work. 

Fuck, he can't breathe! 

Why can't he breathe!? This has never happened before. Panic was settling in.

 “Zero, why can’t I breathe?!” But to his horror, he couldn't hear Zero anymore. His mind was silent. He couldn't hear anything other than his own racing heart. Eraserhead hopped down from where he must have been running on the rooftops. His quirk was active, his red eyes glowing in the dimly lit alleyway. Izuku could see the dark hair floating up and if he wasn’t in a struggle to get air into his lungs, he would have been fascinated to learn that little tidbit about him. Zero was still strangely quiet within him. That didn't help his nerves at all. He couldn't even feel her within the confines of his skin. It was like she wasn't there at all. The panic from the situation was overwhelming. He started to hyperventilate, his body automatically tried to rapidly heave for air only for nothing to happen, causing him to panic even more.

“Now do you care to tell me why you are out this late at night? A kid like you shouldn’t be wandering around the city like this.” The hero continued to approach him slowly, but Izuku couldn't get a single word out even if he wanted to. 

Tears were welling up in his eyes as he backed away, black spots appearing in his vision. He couldn’t do this for much longer, but hopefully Easerhead wouldn’t be able to either. If any of the research that he did was right, Erasure would end when the man blinked. As it was right now, there was something wet trickling down his neck. Whether that was sweat or blood he didn't know or care. 

“Are you able to answer me?” Suddenly Eraserhead was right next to him. Izuku could barely make out his features through the black spots in his vision. If he would have the energy he would have glared at the hero for that comment. There might have been concern in the hero's voice but Izuku didn’t really care at this moment. He fell to his knees on the unforgiving pavement. He was still clawing at his throat trying to get even the smallest bit of air into his lungs.

“I don't know if you can see it or not, but I don't think he can answer you.” Now, whether it was because of the newcomer, or the fact that Eraser had to blink, Izuku wasn’t sure but he also didn’t rightly care. 

Sweet air was filling his lungs and he gulped it down greedily. Taking heaving breaths in between coughing fits, the black spots in his vision lessened and he was finally able to make out what was going on around him. He was also sure that if he hadn’t already fallen to his knees earlier, his coughing fits would have him there anyways. Bracing his hands on the ground for stability, he just focused on getting the much needed air into his lungs. He grounded himself with the feeling of his lung expanding and retracting with each breath he took. 

Eraser and whoever the other person was were talking and gesturing towards him but he didn’t want to pay attention to what they were saying. 

“What in the hell was that?” Izuku is not ashamed to admit that when he heard Zero’s voice in his head he started to cry. 

“I’m not sure but I am so glad that I can hear you again.” 

“I couldn’t hear anything...or see anything. It was… odd. It was like I was completely detached and couldn’t find a way back to reality.” Her voice was soft and laced with sadness. 

“One thing is for sure, we aren’t doing that again. Ever. That sucked. I don’t know why but I couldn’t breathe. Like I could not make my lungs work even if I wanted to. I’m sure that it’s because of whoever is talking to Eraser right now, that I can breathe again.” Izuku rubbed his chest, willing his racing heart to calm down now that he was mostly okay and slowly stood up, happily surprised when he didn’t immediately keel over again from the dizziness. 

“Do you think it could be because he used Erasure on us when I was fused with you? I am a quirk afterall.” While it did make sense, Izuku wasn’t too keen on testing out that theory. Not again at least. Once was more than enough. 

“It’s possible,” He replied mentally. “But I also think that-” He was cut off by an arm slinging around his shoulders. Izuku was brought out of his and Zero’s conversation and abruptly into the one that had been happening in front of him. Eraser was still in front of him and had his arms loosely hanging by his sides. Staring at Izuku and whoever had their arm around him, incredulously. He tried not to flinch at the arm that was around him. He had no idea who this person was. Or why they were touching him for that matter.

Looking to his left, he saw a head full of pink dreadlocks that came down to the person’s shoulders. His gaze trailed down and was met with a black tank top and black overalls that had the top half tied around her waist. Well at least he knew that was a girl...Or female presenting at the very least. The smell of motor oil and grease was strong but in the sense that she worked with tools and equipment all day. He wanted nothing more than to remove her hand from where it was, but Zero stopped him. 

“Wait! I think that she is helping us?” The questioning note in her voice did not escape Izuku’s notice. Maybe he will play along with whatever this stranger is doing. He can always backtrack later if he needs to. 

“Isn’t that right, bestie?!” the girl squeezed him tighter and her face was inches from his own. She was smiling at him and the way she was talking was urging him to agree. Was this her quirk at work? Or was that just the way she was phrasing it so that he would know to agree with her? Not knowing what else to do, while also hoping that it’s the right choice he muttered out 

“Yea, sure.” 

“So let me get this right, on this night, you two just so happened to be testing out field tracking equipment for your parents and you managed to get separated and only managed to find each other again once I cornered him in an alleyway?” Okay, at least Izuku had agreed to something logical. It wasn’t that far out that they could be doing this.....Wait, did he hear that correctly?! Did he say support equipment?! That was the most interesting thing that has been said since this whole interaction started. He didn’t know any of the other stuff that was said, obviously, but still!

“That’s why it’s called field testing! It’s better that the two of us find out the bugs and glitches before it makes it into the hands of heroes! Honestly it's like you've never seen or done support lab work!” The girl threw her hands up in the air. She was very big on theatrics, Izuku noted. He was also glad that he did in fact hear that right. She worked on or at least with people that did support items. Maybe he would be able to ask her if she could either help him get some of his own or at least point them in the right direction as to where to get some. They couldn’t last with what they had forever. He was saving up some of the money that he got to get some better stuff but a lot of it was too expensive unless you had connections or an agency. Which as of right now, Izuku very much did not have. So maybe this is a small blessing?

“You really should be paying attention to what is going on.” Zero whispered to him. Even though there was no reason why she should whisper. It wasn’t like either of them could hear her. Before he could ask her why the girl next to him was yelling. At Eraserhead. What the hell had he missed?

“Yea! So if you don’t mind! He and I are going to get back to it! We have a lot to test before we can put this out on the market! Now shoo!” The girl yelled at the hero. Her hands were on her hips as she stared at him defiantly. Izuku would give her one thing. She definitely had a lot of determination. And capital A Audacity. An amused smile made its way to his face as he watched what happened. Eraser on the other hand, seemed less than amused. He rolled his eyes, and checked his watch. 

“Well, if that’s the case then, don’t let me hold you up from ‘field testing’” Even Izuku could hear the air quotes the hero was putting around the term. The hero looked between the two of them one more time before shaking his head. But true to his word, he left. Izuku was shocked. He was sure that Eraser would have put up more of a fuss about it. He knew that Izuku was a vigilante so why did he let him go this easily? This situation that he found himself in was bizarre in the strangest ways. He had so many questions and didn’t even know where to even begin to start asking them. Or if he should.

Once the hero was gone and most likely (hopefully) out of hearing range, the girl turned to face Izuku. Unsure of what she would do, he took a half step back just in case he needed to run. 

“Hiya! Name’s Mei Hatsume! But you can call me Mei! We’re going to be great friends!” She stuck out her hand so that Izuku could shake it. He eyes her hand warily as he takes it. He was… wary. Thankful that she saved him, but definitely wary of her as well. When she gripped his hand, he could feel the power behind her grip. Suggesting that she too, might also work on the support items as well. 

“Now what’s your name, Greenie?” The amount of excitement that she had was… overwhelming for almost 2 in the morning. How can she go from yelling at a pro hero to this? It made Izuku feel more tired just by looking at her and he carefully took another step back. 

“ShadowWeaver.” He told her simply. He wasn’t about to give his real name out to a girl that he just met. Even if she is a little cute. And able to help them with their support needs. ‘I know better than that at least, Zero.’

She leveled a glare at him. But not one that had any real heat. It was almost like she was exasperated with him. She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow her. With the direction that she was heading in, it happened to be the main street which could lead anywhere. She was talking about something but he was more focused on what Zero was saying to him.

“I... don't know what to think about this. I can sense that she doesn’t have any ill will towards us, but it’s not all....benevolent either..” Like hell he was going to follow her now. If Zero wasn’t getting a good feeling from it then he would truly be stupid to not listen to her.

“No, I meant your real name. Your vigilante name won't do me any good.” She must have noticed that he was not following her because she turned around 

“How do you know that I am a vigilante and not a hero?” Damn what was with this girl. Just how perceptive was she? 

“Is she stalking us? Cause not even the police know this much about us.” Zero added in skeptically.  

“I don’t know? Maybe? But if she has then wouldn’t she have followed us all the way back to the warehouse? Or even showed up there? Maybe there is a reason why she came to us like this?” Izuku was trying to come up with theories that wouldn’t have him being paranoid all the time but he only had questions and no answers. Just how much did this strange girl know about him?

“-use if you were a hero, you wouldn’t be running from Easerhead. And you would actually have weapons and better support gear. Both of the last two, you have none of. So either, your quirk is god-tier and you don’t need them, -which I highly doubt- or you're a vigilante.” She answered simply.  He might have missed the first part of whatever she was saying but he got the gist of what she was trying to tell him. Unfortunately. She was right about the part that he did hear though. Fuck.  

“Give me one good reason why I should give you my real name, Mei.” Izuku crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for her answer. He was at least willing to hear her out on this. But if she didn’t have a good enough reason, he would run. 

“Because I just lied to a pro hero for you. Eraserhead is at least now leaving you alone for the night. And I have given you an out for future references too.” She stated smugly, a smirk crossing her face. And, well, shit. That is actually a good reason in his book. Izuku stayed silent. At least outwardly. She hasn’t brought up Zero yet so there was no reason to give her more information than she had. So either she doesn’t know about Zero, or she’s holding the rest of her cards close to her chest. Either way, it was a smart move. Izuku admitted he would have done the same thing in her position but damn it, it sucked when it was used against him.   

“What do you think, Zero?”  

“Like I said, I don't sense any malice from her.  Cause she is right...She did just lie to a pro hero for us. And it could be useful for us to have somebody like her on our side.....Who knows, maybe she’ll turn into a friend?” The hope in her voice was what made him cave in. He was still apprehensive about her, but if Zero was willing to trust her, then he could try too. For both of their sakes.

“Alright, we’ll give her a shot.” 

“My name is Izuku.” Mei squealed and hugged him. He wasn’t sure what to do so he awkwardly patted her on the back. When she decided that he had been hugged sufficiently, she held him at arm's length.

“Izuku! You and I are going to be the greatest of friends!” 

“I saw ShadowWeaver tonight.” Eraser said as he practically flung himself in the chair opposite from where Tsukauchi was sitting.

“Yea? I take it he got away before you could bring him in?” The detective asked without bothering to look up from his paperwork. 

“Not exactly.” Shouta gruffed out. Surprised, Tsukauchi looked up and took in the underground hero’s expression. 

“Care to explain what happened then?” He set aside the paperwork that he was working on in favor of listening to Shouta’s story, sensing that this was going to be more than just a simple story. 

Eraser let out a breath. “So it started out with me catching a glimpse of Shadow from the rooftops. They had just called in a pick-up.”

“Yea, that would have been around midnight right? That guy that was left tied to the flagpole?” The exasperated sigh that resounded in the small office was enough to confirm. 

“So I decided to follow them to see where they went. Maybe to see if I could get him to talk? They said last time that they didn’t have a choice. I thought that maybe if I followed them I could figure out why they think they don't have a choice.” Shouta braced his arms on his thighs as he leaned forward. 

“As any hero worth their weight would do.” Tsukauchi reassured the man. “What happened after that?” 

“I followed them for a while. They must have known that somebody was tailing them. They took the alleyways and side streets. Taking as many turns as they could to lose me. If I wasn't the one that they were trying to lose, I would have been impressed. I wish my second year students had as much situational awareness as this vigilante does. And admittedly, I did lose them for a while.” Tsukauchi raised his eyebrows. 

“You did? How?” 

“They disappeared into a crowd of American University kids.” Shouta shook his head as he recalled the memory. “Almost didn’t see them as they left the crowd. The only thing that tipped me off was they made their way directly to another alley. That’s the only reason why I knew where they went. If they would have stuck to the main road, or even stayed with the University kids longer? I wouldn’t have found them.”  The air in the office changed and was more somber than before. 

“And that’s when it got weird. I came into the alley and used my quirk, like I always do when I go into unfamiliar situations, and when I asked them questions, they wouldn’t answer me. I don’t know why but it was like they couldn’t breathe? I was shocked and didn’t drop my quirk. I thought that it might be another villain in the area that was using their quirk but it isn't affecting me because my quirk was active? I didn’t drop it until a girl came out from literally nowhere and told me that I needed to drop my quirk so that her friend could breathe. When I did, Shadow fell to the ground coughing and sucking in air like their life depended on it...” Shouta trailed off. He looked to where the detective was sitting, seeing if he could make sense of this. 

“The only thing that I can think of is that you were stopping their quirk. But since we don’t know what they’re quirk is..” Tsukauchi trailed off.

“It’s hard to say if they were actually using it or not. It could be a passive quirk that they can’t turn off. And if that is the case then according to the law that passed 2 decades ago, they still can’t be charged with vigilantism.” Shouta finished. “Which just brings us back to square one.”

“Well. What else happened there? You said there was a girl that stepped in? What happened with her?” 

“See, that’s where it’s also strange. She came from the opposite direction of where Shadow and I came from. But when she got there, she started yelling at me.”

“Yelling at you? Why on Earth would she do that?” 

“She was the one that was telling me that Shadow couldn’t breathe and to let up with my quirk.”  Shouta stopped and brought his hands together. He looked at Tsukauchi and then let his gaze fall again. 

“But before I left the two, she told me that they were doing field testing. But who would let kids do their field testing? And this late at night? It just doesn’t make any sense.” Shouta let the last words hang in the air as they both thought about the question at hand. 

“Well, we can at least start with looking at support companies. It’s a pretty broad search but it’s a hella lot more than we had earlier.” Tsukauchi offered. Shouta tossed the idea around in his head. There wasn’t much of a chance that anything would come of it but he couldn’t get the nagging feeling in his gut to go away. The feeling that it could lead to something important. His gut had never led him wrong before so he nodded his head. 

“Yea, let's do that. I have this feeling that something will turn up if we do.”

“Alright, I’ll get started on that, but it’s late. Even for you. Hizashi is probably worried if he hasn’t already called you eight times.” The detective teased. Shouta looked at the clock that was on the wall and sure enough it was almost 6 in the morning. About 3 hours passed when he would have been off. He tried to check his phone to see if his husband had in fact tried to call him but found it dead.

“PLEASE tell me Eraserhead is here!” Hizashi came flying through the front of the precinct like a hurricane. His long blonde hair in a messy bun and eyes frantically scanning the room for his husband. Shouta shared a look with the detective before smiling fondly at his husband. He could be a chaotic mess sometimes, but that’s one of the many things that he loved about the man.  

“I think that's your cue to go home. I got this. I’ll call you if I find anything of interest.” Tsukauchi patted his shoulder and playfully pushed him to Hizashi. Who was currently doing a pretty good job at integrating the poor newbie that was behind the desk. Shouta feels a little bad that this poor kid has to deal with this so early. If he remembers correctly he only started about 2 days ago. 

“I’m sorry, sir. But I don’t know who that is?”

“HE PRActically lives here! At least when he’s not at home. How can you not know who he is?” Between the fact that Hizashi was having trouble controlling his quirk/ emotions, and the kid looking like he was 3 seconds away from crying, he figured now was a good time to step in. 

“Hizashi, I’m right here. I’m okay.” Shouta put his hands in his pockets and stepped out from the back of the precinct. “And please stop yelling at the poor kid. It’s only his third day, I think?” The kid nodded his head, agreeing with the statement. 

“I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere! It was scary! I didn’t know what to think when you wouldn’t answer your phone! AND then I couldn’t see your location anymore! What else was I supposed to think?” When Shouta was within arms reach, Hizashi did his standard checkover to make sure that he didn’t have any injuries. Apparently coming home one too many times with life-threatening injuries was too much and so now it’s mandatory unless Shouta wants to be taken to the hospital. Which he thinks is unfair cause if he is injured he ends up going anyway! 

Satisfied that there are no injuries, Hizashi turns his attention back to the kid and politely bows. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you. I was worried about Esaerhead and I let that get the better of me. I will do better next time.” The kid frantically started waving their arms and dismissing the notion. 

“It’s okay! Really! I have a similar quirk to Tsukauchi! But instead of knowing when someone is lying, I can tell what their intentions are. Like if they are hostile or not. I knew you were only worried, so it’s okay!” The smile they had was easygoing, so Hizashi let it go. Offering a smile of his own. 

“Alright, if you say so. Let’s get you home Eraser. I’m sure that you need to get some food and coffee before we go teach.” Shouta groaned. He completely forgot it was a weekday and he had to go teach. He wouldn’t get his before school nap now!  

Chapter Text

After the events of last night, Izuku just wanted his day to be uneventful. A neutral one to catch his breath, neither good nor bad. 

Was that too much to ask?

Apparently it was. Because after only 10 minutes, Izuku just knew that the day was going to get worse. It started in the morning. He and Zero walked into the school like they normally do and promptly got called into the principal's office before the school day even started. 

He knocked on the door leading into the office and a voice called ‘Come in!`

He turned the knob and walked in. The room was familiar to him. After getting Zero he probably spent more time here than he did in classes. Izuku sat down in the chairs that were positioned in front of the mahogany desk. Zero was sitting at his feet with her head in his lap.  

“Now, Izuku. I’m sure you already know why you have been called in here.” The principal sets down the paper that she was reading to look at him over her thin framed glasses. She folded her hands over the desk and waited for his reply. 

Izuku racked his brain. There wasn’t a particular instance that stood out to him that would warrant him coming here. There was the normal bullying that he dealt with. But this school was unlikely to actually do anything to help him. Not when the faculty encouraged it. And seeing as he was sitting right in front of said faculty that couldn’t be it. Sensing that Izuku wasn’t going to answer, or didn’t know the answer, the principal spoke. 

“There are 10 more complaints about...you quirk in the past week.” Izuku could tell that she wanted to sneer at the last part and only barely refrained from doing so. He mentally rolled his eyes. This was a song and dance that they did quite often. She would tell him that the other kids were scared of Zero. He would tell them that there wasn’t much that he could do about that because she is literally his quirk. She would tell him that he needs to keep Zero on a tight leash (it’s not like she would want to stray too far from him anyways) and they would go about their own business until this came up again in another week. 

“And like I've said, plenty of times, Zero doesn’t leave my side. She doesn’t start fights, hell she doesn’t even leave a mess on the school grounds! She’s literally a shadow.” Izuku just wants this conversation to be over already, the boredom of it already settling into his skin like an unwelcome friend that won’t leave. 

“Be that as it may, this is too many complaints for me to ignore. What would the other parents say if they found out that I wasn’t taking them seriously?” 

“Oh no. Not the other parents. What will we do about that? Oh, the tragedy that has befallen the school. Indeed. Whatever shall we do?” The eye roll that accompanies the statement can almost be heard. It takes everything in Izuku to not burst out laughing at the comment that his panther made. Her usually calm demeanor only dropped when she was completely done with the situation or completely at ease. His fists are clenching at his sides and his cheek has taken on a coppery tang from how hard he is biting it. 

“What did she say?” There was both anger and fear in his voice. Both of the emotions were battling for dominance and Izuku honestly wanted to see which one would win. If only for his own amusement. 

“Nothing really. She was just saying that she’ll keep her head down.” Izuku put on a fake smile to accompany his lies. Not for the first time, he is glad that nobody else knows ShadowSpeak. It made lying so much easier when the person in front of him didn’t even know what language he was speaking. From what he gathered they all thought that he just instinctively knew what Zero was saying with her growls and grunts and he wasn’t too inclined to correct them. 

“Are you sure that’s what she said?  Tomato, tomato, weedwacker, spin spin jalapeno asshole  seems to be more than just ‘I’ll keep my head down.’” There was now blood running down his face and he knew it. Izuku was probably halfway to giving himself a new piercing with his teeth. The grip that he had on the arms of the chair that he was sitting in was bound to be white with how hard he was gripping it. And honestly? Can you really blame him? The principal of the school was sitting in front of him demanding to know what his panther just said and trying (and absolutely butchering) to repeat what he thought Zero said. 

Zero on the other hand, does not hold back. She stares at the Takahashi in shock before snorting and hiding her face in her paws. Izuku knows that it’s an attempt to cover up the fact that she’s literally laughing at him, but it’s a pretty poor one. Apparently they were at the hysterical stage of ‘done with the world’.

“He tried so hard! Oh my time, that was terrible. I can’t!” 

“I’m glad that your quirk finds this funny. Midoriya-san. But this is no laughing matter. So I will put this in a way that I hope you both understand.” He clasps his hands together and takes a few seconds to stare right into Izuku’s eyes. There is a chill that goes down Izuku’s spine. Thankfully Zero has stopped laughing by now and is carefully listening in. 

“Either you find a way to fix this” Takahashi gestures to where Zero is sitting. Izuku starts to open his mouth so that he can defend his quirk. She doesn't deserve to be treated like she’s lesser. She is more than just an object. But before he could find the words, the principal was speaking again. “Or, I will personally see to it that you will be expelled from this school. And as you know that also means that you will have a black mark on your record that will prevent you from getting into UA or any other high school for that matter.” Izuku’s stomach sinks heavily. The weight of the words are not lost on him. Swallowing hard, he tries to force words out. 

“If that’s the case then, it won’t be a problem anymore.” Zero shocks the principal by speaking. Not only out loud but also in a language that he can understand. Izuku can almost see the gears turning in his head about what just happened. In a small flash of light that made the principal cover his eyes, Zero was confined to the four walls that were his mind. Trapped within his skin. He can feel her stretch to try and get comfortable but it’s no use. He scratches at his skin again. Takahashi was looking at Izuku like he was trying to figure out the secrets of the universe. He personally thought that it should be pretty obvious what just happened.  She was his quirk, she wasn't just going to go away. It was just that up till now, she was a tangible being next to him. That’s all.

"This is so stupid." Izuku curses under his breath as he leaves the office. Of course, they would try and find a way to make his school life more miserable. He doesn’t know if he should be thankful that they haven't read his quirk file or not. On the one hand, if they did, they would see that Zero doesn’t actually go away. 

“Maybe that is for the better though. Cause then they can’t put the muzzle on you every day.” Zero does have a point there. But still, this whole thing is frustrating. Mentally he throws his hands up in the air. Izuku feels his shadow stir within the confines of his skin. It makes them both anxious yet calm at the same time. 

"I know, little one. But we need to play by their rules if we want to get into UA. From the research that you've done, we can't afford to have any black marks on our record." Zero’s voice is calm and soothing, shaken out of her giddiness by the seriousness of the situation, his shoulders relaxing when she talks and he lets out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding until now.

"I know. And you're right... But it just… sucks." The lingering itch is also back. The itch to claw his own skin off. He rubs his hands up and down his arms to try and soothe the feeling dwelling under his skin but it doesn't do much. The only thing that will take the feeling away, was the one thing that the principal said that he couldn't do. 

The sound of his stomach growling reminded him that they hadn’t been able to eat anything for a while. He had meant to see if the lunch person that was there today was at least willing to let him have an apple but he got pulled into the principal's office instead. He rubbed his stomach to try and make the pain of hunger go away. 

They both knew that going to school even while homeless was going to be hard but it's not like they had very many other options. They have to get into a hero school to be a hero. And to get into a hero school you have to graduate middle school. There was a small chance that he could get an apprenticeship with an established hero and become a hero that way. But with his name being on the PVR, the chances that a hero would actually take him on are slim to none. Even if he got Mei’s moms’ to give a character reference of him. He knew that they would in a single heartbeat, but all around it was just easier for him to try and make it through the hellscape people call a middle school. 

And it wasn't like Izuku didn't try to get out of Aldera Middle School. Izuku had tried to look into online schools. Partly so that his grade wouldn't drop as he continues to be a vigilante at night but also so that he wouldn't have to deal with the constant bullying. He was able to do everything but in the end, they needed a parent or guardian to sign off on it. At this point, Izuku hadn't seen either his birth giver or sperm donor for almost 3 and a half years. He didn't check up on them or anything. The last he knew was that both of them had moved to America. He doesn't know why they did and honestly? He didn't care either. The only reason why he knew that they moved was cause Katsuki had been telling everybody that his aunt was moving away and that hopefully he would be able to visit her in America. 

So with that in mind, the last thing that he wanted to do was go back to his birth giver and try to get her to sign it. He knew that she wouldn't, so what was the point in even trying? She had made it very clear the day that she kicked them out of the house that she wanted nothing more to do with either of them. She would continue to pay for his middle school fees because it was required per the Japanese government but he was on his own for high school.

"Oh my god there goes Deku and his creepy ass eyes!" One girl said to her friend. He couldn't even be bothered to remember her name. All he knew was that she was in the same year as him but a different class. That was also another downside to their current state . His eyes changed. Normally they took on black coloring where the white would normally be and a pentagram around his purple iris. They had been like that since he was a kid. It was one of the reasons why his biological parents wouldn't look at him after he got Zero. But when he and Zero were sharing a body, there was a light that came from behind his eyes. It made it look like his eyes were shining . It didn't impede his vision so it wasn't horrible but it didn't do well for making friends either. Before his parents kicked him out, they had tried to get him to wear contacts. To try and hide what was going on with his eyes. But just like his luck with everything concerning his quirk, they didn't work. Either they were too small and they couldn’t cover up the sclera all the way, or his real eye ‘color’ could still be seen when he was wearing them. He continued down the hallway to his classroom. Trying to not pay attention to the whispers in the hallways. 

"Yea! I wish the teachers would make him wear a blindfold or something cause we shouldn't be forced to deal with that! Like it could give us nightmares!"  

Izuku again just rolls his eyes again. These insults were getting old and overused. They might have hurt in the beginning when all of this started but when he hears them at least 6 times a day? They tend to lose the hurtful edge that once was there. 

"When will the other humans learn?" Zero questions. Her voice is soft. Like she was trying to genuinely understand. But Izuku knew that it was just the way things were. 

As quietly as he could he let out a sigh. What he wouldn’t give for just one friend....or even just a person that could tolerate being around him in this school. He had Mei of course but she went to school on the other side of the city so it still made for a lonely day until school let out. Not only that but there were also times when their schedules were so packed that they couldn’t see each other. He often wished that he could go to her school, after all, he was the one who wasn’t bound to a single place, but in order to do that, he would have to get in contact with his birth mother and ask that she send the checks for his tuition to another school. Which wouldn’t happen. So he and Zero made do with seeing her when they got the chance. 

"When hell freezes over? I don't know. We just have to get through the rest of this year and next year and we will be in high school. And at least we don't have to deal with Bakugou this year in our class."   He can feel Zero's hum of agreement. He should really be thanking somebody for that stroke of luck. He and Bakugo had been in the same class since they were old enough to attend school. And at first, it was great. They were best friends because their mothers were. They wanted to be in the same class. But when Izuku got Zero, all those years of friendship went down the drain. Like they never even existed. So this year, Izuku guessed, Bakugo finally had enough and told the principal that he couldn’t focus if Izuku was in his class. That the other boy was too distracting and that he ‘needed to focus on his studies’ so that he could get into UA. 

And being the star student and Aldera’s ticket to more funding, the school was quick to put Izuku into a completely different class. He had only seen his new classmates in the hallways but never really interacted with them before. They were… alright. Of course, they would talk about him behind his back but at least they didn’t hit him. So that was a plus. For the most part, he kept to himself and they left him alone. 

Thankfully today he managed to make it to the classroom without anybody trying anything so he actually had 5 minutes left to spare. He sat down in his chair and waited for the teacher to start the day. 

At least today the teachers were at least attempting to be nice and they didn't put a muzzle on Izuku. Yet. They did that on the really bad days when they thought that Zero was going to just go ballistic and attack everybody. Not that she would. But they worried about it regardless. Quirk discrimination at its finest. 

Part of him hoped that maybe all his teachers knew about the meeting that he was a part of earlier and would leave him alone. And with Zero not here, there was a real chance that he could get his wish. 

His desk was the closest to the window and in the back corner. The closest students to him were at least two desks away in both directions. He knew that it was strategic planning on Ms. Ito’s part. They didn’t want him anywhere near the other students after what happened with Bakugou. And really if they would have it their way? Izuku wouldn’t be in the school at all.   They didn't want him corrupting or tainting the rest of the class with his villainous quirk.  

He also can’t say that he minded all that much. With fewer kids near him, the more he was actually able to relax and concentrate on the work at hand. That and it did make it easier for him to plan his patrol routes without anybody knowing what he was doing.  

He took out a notebook and started putting the finishing touches on a drawing in his hero notebook and talking with Zero about what they should do for dinner that night when the teacher started class. Now normally he doesn't pay attention to this because it wouldn't matter anyway if the teacher wanted to make him absent there wasn't much that he could do about it. He was really only here to learn what he couldn't teach himself in the libraries so that he would have a better chance at passing the entrance exam for UA.

Izuku learned very early that he didn’t need to listen to what was said at the beginning of class because none of it was geared toward him. It was almost always just normal school stuff. Like when tests were coming up, who you could go to get help if you needed it, and taking attendance. When he tried to go to those teachers for help? They said that they were all busy and couldn’t help. And if the teacher really wanted to mark him as absent for a day, there wasn’t anything that he could do about it. He tried to fight it when it first happened but all he got for his efforts was detention. So he stopped trying. Choosing instead to go to the public library and research the topics himself. 

Today was a little different cause she stopped at the podium at the front of the class and clapped her hands for the class's attention. Izuku lifted his head from his notebook to see what would cause the change in routine. 

"Now, class, I have some exciting news!" Izuku groans inwardly. 

The last time she said something like that, she told them that they were going on a field trip to Kyoto. And conveniently forgot to hand him a permission slip. So he ended up not going and getting detention for it as well. Cause that made so much sense. Maybe if they were going somewhere this time, Izuku would be able to just meet them there... it wasn’t like they could say no...

"Now I know it's a little strange," Ms. Ito continues "But we have a new student that just transferred in. He and his family just moved into the area not too long ago. Go ahead and come in and introduce yourself!" She states the last part to the open door and gestures for the person on the other side to come in.

A boy with lilac purple hair walks into the room. His hair looked like it was defying gravity with the way it stood up. But it was the new boy's eyes that intrigued him the most. They were the most brilliant purple that he had ever seen - i t almost reminded him of his own eyes in a way - and they were scanning the room as if he expected a threat of some sort. The look that was on the kid's face hit a little too close to home. That was almost what Izuku would expect that he would look like going into a situation that he wasn't sure about. He was making a note to check on this kid when he went out tonight when his gaze met the new kids. Izuku felt a spark, like he should be ashamed that he was caught staring but held on to the gaze anyway. The other boy wasn’t breaking eye contact either. Izuku honestly half expected him to look away when they first made contact. Or at the very least glare at him.

Neither of those happened though . Surprising Izuku, the other boy held his gaze until Ms. Ito was telling him to introduce himself to the class. He blinked and returned his gaze to the rest of the class.

"Hello, my name is Shinsou Hitoshi." Unlike his rather gruff appearance, his voice was… melodic. Hypnotic even. He was willing to bet money (that he didn’t have) that this boy had some sort of voice quirk. There was no other way his voice would sound like that. Not unless he trained extensively for it. Hell, not even professional singers could get the lilt that Shinsou seemed to just have. Either way, Izuku found himself shifting forward just a bit so that he could hear more of it.  

The rest of the class was waiting for that standard introduction of his quirk. After a minute when it became clear to the teacher that he wasn't going to she tried to coax it out of him.

"And do you wanna tell the class your quirk Shinsou?" The way she asked Izuku could tell that it was laced with a false sense of niceness. She was only truly nice once she found out that you had a 'good heroic' quirk. But he didn't care. This boy could have a quirk that allowed him to only replicate the sound of a dying keyboard and he would still be intrigued. Shut up Zero, stop laughing!

"Nope. Not really." Shinsou deadpans. 

That sent the entire class reeling. Normally everybody was willing to share. So the fact that  Shinsou wasn't, piqued Izuku's interest even more . Could he possibly be quirkless? While everybody else seemed to have a problem with the quirkless population, Izuku found that they were some of the most amazing people. And hella smart at that. There had been a few times on patrol that another vigilante that went by the name of Spaceless, saved his ass. Spaceless was quirkless. But that did nothing for the power that they had behind a punch. Izuku always respected them for that. So in return, he tried to help when they needed it and when he could. At least he did until they went missing a year ago… Izuku tried to look for them but nothing came up. He still was searching to this day. Just in hopes that his friend is okay.

But there was one thing that Spaceless had told him that stuck with him. How to identify another quirkless. Spaceless told this to Izuku so that he would know who to help. Cause they all knew that most heroes wouldn’t.

 When Izuku looked over Shinsou he didn't see the normal red shoes that Spaceless said quirkless people wore. He also didn't see any signs of fabric paint on his shoes to try and hide it. So the idea that he was quirkless was out. 

Was there a possibility that Shinsou possibly had a quirk like himself? One that was considered villainous? Was it possible that he might be in the registry too? 

From the way, Izuku noticed Shinsou’s voice sounded and the fact that he didn’t have any outward signs of a quirk made this theory very possible. But there was also a possibility that he had a mental quirk and that his parents were the ones who had a voice quirk. All of these were pointing to the fact that there was a high chance that he was either on the registry or he had a weaker quirk and didn't want to talk about it. Izuku didn't let himself hope too much but a kernel of hope was still there. If this boy was indeed on the registry it would make becoming his friend so much easier. Even Zero, confined as she was, was itching to find out. 

"Now Shinsou. I don't know how they did it at your previous school but here at Aldera you need to tell-" Izuku stifled a laugh as Shinsou cut off their teacher.

"Not sorry to interrupt but I don't have to tell you anything. My quirk is my business and if you or the rest of the school faculty have a problem with that you can take it up with my dad." He explains. Shinsou puts his hand that wasn’t holding his backpack into his pocket and shrugs.

Ms. Ito's eyebrows raised in a shocked manner. She continued to stare in bewilderment. It takes a minute for Ms. Ito to regain her composure. When she does, she points to where Izuku is in the classroom and almost growls out.

"Fine. Then you can take a seat next to Midoriya. Midoriya! Raise your hand."

Izuku halfheartedly raised his hand so that Shinsou knew where to go. 

Shinsou made his way over to where Izuku was seated. And much to Izuku's shock, the boy took the seat to his right. 

While he was settling into his seat the teacher made another announcement.

 “ Alright, now that Shinsou has been introduced, we will move on to the next topic. High School. This is the time when you all need to be working very hard to make sure that your grades don’t drop. Your choice of high school could make or break the rest of your life. So don't waste this time and make sure that you ask questions and get the help that you need. Midoriya, this also means not causing trouble for your classmates. They have a real chance of being able to get into a good high school. I can’t have you doing the same thing that you did to Bakugou in your last class. If I hear that you have been disruptive I'm sure you remember your punishment for that." The look in his teacher's eyes tells him more than words would. If he was found disruptive he would have detention. Again. And if it continues a muzzle would be put on his face. Again. 

"Yeah, sure, I get it." He says dismissively. He can feel her glare at him for another minute before returning back to her desk.

Izuku takes out his maths homework and pretends to be working on it. He had already finished it a couple of nights ago when he couldn't sleep but it was better for him to look busy than not. 

"Shinsou! You must have a really powerful quirk if you didn't want to tell the class! Either that or it's hella weak. So which is it?" A kid named Sato came up and sat in front of the purple-haired boy. Sato had a similar quirk to Izuku's birthgiver but much stronger. Where his birthgiver could only move small objects, Sato could move something that was about 3 times his own body weight.

Izuku knew all too well exactly how much Sato could lift with his quirk.  Izuku would have been impressed if Sato hadn’t used him as quirk practice. He had been on the receiving end of Sato's quirk more times than he cared to remember. Most of the time that meant that he was lifted up over the stairwell and letting gravity take over from there. He had been dropped so many times that he had learned how to land correctly so that he would have the least amount of bruises and sprains. It wasn’t exactly how he wanted to learn that skill but it did come in handy for more than just when he was lifted over a stairway. That was leaps and bounds better than being on the other end of Kacchan's explosions though. At least being dropped didn't leave permanent marks all over his body.  

"Or it could just be that I don't want to tell anybody my quirk. It's a mental quirk. That's all you need to know. Now shoo." Shinsou states flatly while waving his hand away.

“Okay, so we were right about the fact that it’s a mental quirk. Do you think that he would want to be our friend? I mean it’s a 50/50 as to whether or not he'll be on the registry... but there’s a chance?” Izuku internally asks. Zero thinks the question over for a few before answering. 

“It is possible that he would. I will admit that if he is on the registry trying to be his friend might be easier. Judging by the way he came into the classroom and looked over everybody here, I would say that he probably isn't the type to trust easily.” 

“That may be true, but we are kinda the same way. But it’s worth a shot. The worst that he can do is say no.” Izuku counters.

Zero hummed in agreement.

" It would be nice to have a friend at school... " She trails off. 

"-ne, keep your secrets, new kid. But a word of advice."

Shinsou raises an eyebrow in question. Izuku already knew where this was going. Sato was going to Shinsou about Zero. The ghost of a touch was on the outside of his arm. Right where she would rub her head against him if she would have been out. He took the little comfort that he could from his panther and continued to 'work' on math. He bit his lip as he waited to hear how Shinsou was going to react.

"Stay away from Midoriya. He's a villain in the making with his freak ass quirk. If you want any decent friends I wouldn't recommend  getting involved with him." Shinsou slid his eyes over to where Izuku was. Izuku made sure that he wasn't looking when he did but Zero was still ever vigilant and let him know.

"Doesn't seem like that to me. Looks like he's just working on a math worksheet." He wasn’t paying full attention before since he was conversing with Zero, but now that he was able to focus? He couldn’t help but listen.  The words fell out of his mouth like honey from a jar. And Izuku wanted nothing more than to just sit there and listen to Shinsou speak. It wouldn’t even matter if he was reading an instruction manual. 

"Well yea! He's not doing anything now but when that quirk of his comes out, that's when you should be worried. His quirk is a hell demon that takes the form of a panther. It's only a matter of time before he also goes to the dark side. That's why his eyes are like that. Like who has a normal quirk that turns their eyes into pentagrams?" Sato says everything with so much conviction and pride that Izuku wonders, if only for a second if that what he is saying has truth to it.

Izuku hides the wince that comes with the words. He tries so hard to not let them affect him but some days are better than others. But he also won't lie to himself or Zero. If he was a little more petty or if he was more shortsighted he would have let Zero out to show everybody just how scary they could be. But as it stands they both have a lot riding on becoming a hero. So they would play the long game. They both had to. He and Zero would show everybody that they could do it. Until then the duo would run on spite and take out their frustrations when they went out at night. They'll know eventually. Everybody will. 

“When we get to UA we will be safe. We just have to make it through the rest of this year...” His mantra was a whisper in his mind. It was a statement that he and Zero often found themselves saying when things were getting hard at school. 

“And when we get there, we can breathe...” Zero finishes for him. Acceptance and calm wash over both of them at the words. They might not be much to anybody else but for them, it was a source of rare comfort that they allowed themselves. He almost gives in to the temptation to look over at Shinsou. Almost. But he holds himself back from doing so at the last second.

"I just hope that he will still consider being our friend after this.." they both thought. They knew that they had each other as well as Mei . But it was different when you had another friend that you could talk to and share things with. Meeting Mei showed them just how lonely they were before. And now it has become glaringly obvious in all areas of their lives.

"Well I don't know about you or this area really, but I was told that a quirk is just a tool that you can use however you want. It's your actions that determine if you are a villain or a hero. So thanks for the unwanted advice but I'm gonna make my own opinions and not be a sheep that follows the masses." Shinsou shrugs. That kernel of hope that Izuku was trying to keep in control was slowly pushing its way up. He didn't let it get far though. He knew that if he dared to hope for too much he would only be left sad and disappointed. And he couldn't go through that again. 

"Fine. I warned you though. Don't come crying to the rest of us when Creepy Deku does something evil or dangerous. " And with that Sato went back to his own desk. 

"What a fucking tool. Are all the kids in this school like that?" Shinsou says while turning to Izuku. Those lavender eyes meet his for a brief second before flicking away to the window behind him. 

"Unfortunately." 

"Well that blows, but not unexpected. Anyway, my name is Shinsou Hitoshi, as I’m sure you heard earlier. What's yours?"

"Midoriya Izuku." 

"Nice to meet you, Midoriya." Shinsou was leaning over to ask another question when the teacher’s voice cut through the classroom. 

"Midoriya! I told you to not disrupt class! You will be staying after school for detention." Izuku rolls his eyes and just accepts it. Today was a record though. He only said 3 words and he had detention. His previous record was 7. This will be going on the accomplishment wall of the warehouse when he gets back. It was an accomplishment after all. Mei might not think so but that’s okay. It’s going right next to her award of only lasting 2 minutes in between inventions blowing up.

"Well if he has detention then so do I. I was the one that was talking to him." Shinsou spits out. 

" That's because you just started here, Shinsou. We have rules and certain ways things are done to ensure that everybody has an equal opportunity to learn." She replies easily. Of course, that's how it worked. Even the kid that they didn't know gets better treatment than Izuku. He really shouldn't be surprised. Shinsou didn't respond right away so Izuku snuck a glance in Shinsou's direction.

Shinsou had a pensive look on his face. He was running his tongue over his teeth like he was debating on what to say.  After a couple more seconds he smirks a little bit and Izuku feels his stomach and heart do funny things. His heart rate was speeding up and his stomach was flipping. He had never seen anything more attractive than when this other boy smirked like that. That, coupled with the fact that his body language was relaxed and unbothered. 

"The ruffy bad boy vibe really suits him..." He feels Zero go still. 

“Little one, what in the world do you mean by ‘ruffy’?”  

“You know exactly what I mean Zero. It’s a word that means not very pristine or well-kept. But more chill and less gross looking.” 

“Do you possibly mean, rugged or scruffy?” She asks. Tone flat and he swears that if she had eyebrows one of them would have been raised.  

“Maybe?” If he would have been talking out loud, his voice would have risen at least an octave. 

“Did you really just make up an entirely new word so that you could pine over him?”

"Shush Zero! You know he's affecting you too"  he quickly says to his internal counterpart. Hoping that she will just drop it and let him be with his new word and possible crush. Zero lets out a small huff of laughter at the blush that was trying to make itself apparent on his face. 

" Oh yes, I know that but I at least have the benefit of being able to hide it."  She let out another snicker of amusement and Izu rolled his eyes.

  Before this, Izuku knew that he wasn't just straight. While he did find girls attractive, boys also caught his eye too. So he figured that at the very least he was bisexual. But in all his time of thinking about his sexuality, he never thought that his first gay crisis would happen at the beginning of a study period in Aldera Middle School. 

"Wow, you're just as much of a bitch as the last teacher that my dad got fired. I wonder how long you'll last." Shinsou finally says. He was leaning back in his chair with air about him that said he did not care one single bit. With that smirk still plastered to his face and his arms crossed over his chest. Just waiting to see what the teacher would do from there. 

 The rest of the classroom went so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. The entire class froze and watched with bated breath to see what was going to happen. Izuku was openly gaping at the purple-haired boy that was sitting next to him. Zero let out an amused snort in her surprise.

  It was rare that any of the kids went against the teachers like Shinsou was going right now. Most of them were more than content with the way things were run. The ones that it affected the most were ones that were more often than not ignored and told that it wasn’t that bad. Needless to say, somebody going against the status quo was making everybody in the room speechless.

He really wanted to be Shinsou's friend. If he had to pick a moment, that solidified the fact that he wanted nothing more than to just at least be friends (... Or more. Izuku would certainly not complain if things progressed that way) with Shinsou Hitoshi, it would be this moment right now. Ms. Ito's face was red at this point. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, Izuku couldn't tell. 

"I don't know how your previous school did things but we at Aldera don't tolerate kids back-talking and threatening teachers." She responds stiffly. Her composure waned thinner the longer this conversation went on.

"Oh, I can answer that. They actually did their jobs and didn't let the topic of quirks interfere with their ability to teach." Shinsou was picking at his nails and lifted his eyes to look towards the front of the classroom.

"Fine. Then if you want it so bad, Shinsou, you have detention after school too." She all but yells. Her face was bright red with how hard she was straining her voice .

There was no amount of money in the world that could have made Izuku pick his jaw up off the floor. It just wasn’t going to happen. He was in too much shock to process anything beyond the fact that the new kid, the literal kid who just started school that day, talked back to a teacher. On his behalf! And was now also being sent to detention . This just wasn’t something that happened. Izuku was used to people talking down to him and encouraging the teacher to give him more detention time so that they wouldn't have to see him, but this? Izuku was not sure how to deal with this. Even Zero didn't have anything to say about what happened. The duo just sat there in shock much like the rest of their class. 

Shinsou just sat there with a smile on his face. The grin was almost mocking. Taunting even. Like they were doing him a favor by staying after school and giving him detention, instead of Shinsou being in trouble. 

"See you there." Shinsou flicked his gaze to Izuku for a brief second. When they made eye contact, he winked and returned his attention to the front of the classroom where Ms. Ito was still angrily lecturing the class. 

“Zero, did he really just...” It was taking a lot of self-control to not let his inner emotions out. He wanted to giggle like the other girls did when they had a crush on somebody. He could feel his face heating up and he couldn’t bring himself to care. Is this what it's like when people flirt with you? If so, Izuku doesn't think his heart or mind can handle it. 

“Did he really just wink at you? Yes. Yes, he did.” The teasing note in her voice is apparent. Which really just made it all the harder to not do anything other than take deep breaths to try and calm down his racing heart. 

“I think this is how I die, Zero.” And of course, she didn’t have anything helpful to say and just laughed at him for the rest of class.

Chapter Text

The rest of the classes went pretty much the same. All the teachers tried to get Shinsou to tell them why his quirk was. He would make some comment about how he didn't have to and they would drop it. 

Izuku was more than ready when the lunch bell finally rang and he could just go up to the rooftop and eat in peace.

He didn't have much. Just half a sandwich that he didn't finish last night and an apple. He would just have to make do until he could find a way to get more food. If they went out patrolling tonight there was a chance that that one cafe that they both like will give them some of the old bread..

"Hey Midoriya!" The sound of his name being called brings him out of his thoughts. He was ready to defend himself until he saw that it was Shinsou. 

He relaxed a little and called back.

"Oh hey Shinsou. What's up?" 

"I was looking for you. I figured we could eat together if that's cool with you?" Shinsou brought his hand up and Izuku's reflexes took over for a split second. 

He flinched.

Zero was ready to burst and defend him if need be.

They both stood in the hallway frozen. 

Shinsou was the first to break the silence. 

"Sorry about that. I have this nervous tic of scratching the back of my neck when I'm nervous or uneasy. I didn't mean to startle you."

The duo calmed down at the honesty in his voice. 

"It's all good. Just a little jumpy. But to answer your question, sure we can have lunch together. We were about to go up to the roof and get away from everybody else." Izuku tried to sweep his actions under the rug. He knew that Shinsou meant no harm so why was he flinching? The other boy had literally not done anything that would make him act this way. 

"Probably because neither of us are used to interacting with people anymore." Zero explains.

" We?" Shinsou looks a little confused and Izuku internally groans at the accidental slip up. 

" Well goes a good time to see how he will take it. At least this way if he doesn't like us then we can not dwell on it longer." Zero was quiet in his mind when she said this.

He knew that she also wanted another friend. She wanted a pack that she could rely on. And while they didn't fault each other it was hard to find people that were willing to be friends with them. 

Most of the time the only people that wanted to be close to them were the people that didn't have good intentions or were just doing it as a joke. So that the class and school could laugh at them later for their stupidity. 

" Well here goes nothing."  

" Yes Zero and I. That's my quirks name." 

" Oh okay. Are... They here now?" He asks slowly. 

Izuku schools his face into a mask of boredom. He did take notice that the other boy had refrained from calling Zero an it which he greatly appreciated. That made both quirk and user a little more at ease for what was about to happen. But He doesn't know how Shinsou will take this next piece of information but he's ready for anything. 

Zero stirs in him like a cat would. 

"Just remember little one, you always have me."  If she would have been out he would have been leaning into the touch that he knew his panther would have provided.

"Yes." 

"That's cool. We can talk more about it on the roof though. I don't know about you but I'm hungry." 

Izuku just nods his head and shows the way to the stairwell. 

Once they get onto the roof they both settle down and start eating. 

Shinsou chews on his rice for a little bit and takes a breath. 

"I'm going to put on a limb here and just ask cause I have a feeling but I have to know."

Izuku slides his gaze over to the purple haired boy and lifts an eyebrow.

"Does the phasing PVR607 mean anything to you?" 

Izuku sucks In a breath. He had been right. He's also on the list! 

Zero is practically prancing around in his skin. She wants to be out so bad. 

So he lets her. 

Within seconds she's out and making her way to Shinsou and she's crawling forward with her belly as close to the floor as possible. 

"Shinsou this is Zero. She's my quirk and she's sentient. But to answer your question, Yes cause we're PVR910." 

Hitoshi swears that his eyes were going to come out of their sockets. He just knew it. But PVR910?! How in the world did that happen? 

Everybody that was a part of the registry knew what these numbers meant but people outside of that list didn't know. PVR stood for Potential Villain Registry. It was the system that the Hero commission came up with back about 250 years ago. It was meant for kids that had volatile quirks. The ones that could be incredibly dangerous If they ever fell to the wrong side. 

It was originally intended to help the kids get proper counseling and make sure that they had the resources they needed to not fall to villainy. It was a helping hand up in most cases. And it was a great program when it started. They noticed that it actually helped and that the kids that were put on it ended up being some of the most brilliant people and making huge discoveries in so many aspects of their lives. 

It was actually thanks to one of these kids that they now knew how to cure previously incurable diseases. The kid in question had a body manipulation quirk. He could do anything to a body that he wanted. This ranges from helping people heal more quickly without quirks to the more damaging like making a heart stop beating. 

With the help of the program he was able to go to medical school and he was able to learn how to control it to help others. He was a hero in his own right without even being a hero. Hitoshi knew this cause he had spent so many hours looking up everybody that had ever put on the list in the past.

That's also how he knew that it was only recently like within the past 50 years that he started to notice that it started taking a turn for the worst

 Suddenly the kids weren't getting anything and they were treated as if they were already villains. They no longer got help and were instead shoved aside. The hero commission started turning cold and completely cut off funding about 19 years ago.

It was also about that time when they started adding rankings to the registry. The first number was the type of quirk you had followed by the threat that was posed. Types 1 and 2 were more geared towards transformation type quirks. These were the types that could transform their bodies. Whether it be simple like making an arm into a sword or more complex like changing a whole body into a dragon or something similar. 

Types 3 and 4 were solely for the technology based quirks. The ones that would allow people to hack into whatever they wanted or mess with the electric system that Japan was on. 

Types 5 and 6 are for mental emitters. Like himself. They are the types of people that can control what a person does or doesn't do. This also included quirks like paralysis or blindness. 

Types 7 and 8 were reserved for what they called mass panic quirks. These were ones that if activated wrong could send the whole society into a tailspin. Quirks like these were often time travel, reality shifting, time bending or immortality. 

And finally types 9 and 10 were what the hero commission deemed the most dangerous. They were the ones that they could classify in the other categories or ones that fit more than one. These were the quirks that defied all laws. They were ones like being able to kill without a thought, nullifying quirks or even just straight out taking them. 

The funny thing to Hitoshi was that , depending on how a person looked at it, anybody could be on the registry. But they only had the ones that wouldn't be 'productive' to society on the list. A girl that he knew at his previous school could control water molecules. And he was the one that found out the hard way that also included controlling a person's blood pressure. She would have easily been a PVR504 since she could only use her quirk on one person at a time. But of course since her quirk was pretty she never had to worry about ending up on the registry.

The only other person that Hitoshi could remember being so high on the scale is a person that has long since died and he was an underground mob boss of sorts that went by the name All for One. He had the ability to take quirks from people and he did. It was said that when he finally died about 7 years ago that he had almost 100 quirks that he had taken. That guy had a ranking of PVR1010. It was said that he was the most dangerous that somebody could ever encounter and that society was lucky that he finally died. The only reason why Hotisoho could even know that is cause everybody that is on the registry is public knowledge. ‘For the safety of the community.’

The second two numbers were the danger ranking. Most people who got on the registry were between a 1 and 4. It was impossible to get a ranking of 0 cause if you did, you weren't on the registry. But 1-4 were considered low levels. Ones that heros could take on themselves and not be too worried about it. 

5-8 were more dangerous. They were the types that could require multiple heros and came with the understanding that you don't go in without at least some semblance of a plan. 

9 and 10 where long story short of you didn't come with a full army and a heavily detailed plan, people were dying. Even if the first two were managed there still might be casualties at very best. Fatalities at the worst.

With all of that running through his head he turned to the green haired boy in front of him. How on earth did this kid manage to get that far on the list. He snuck a peek at the panther, Zero he reminded himself. And with the way she was inching towards him. They did not seem like the type that would just go on a killing spree. They didn't seem that dangerous at all in fact. So how?

Izuku must have seen the face that Hitsohi made when he was thinking cause he finally spoke up. 

"I see I wasn't the only one that did research into how the rankings were made. You must be curious. " 

"Yea not going to lie I am." 

The other boy losed a breath like he was about to be shot. 

"Zero and I are very powerful. We have a slightly heightened intelligence aspect and also the ability to control what the hero commission deemed is Shadow fire. Which is fire that is black. It doesn't burn hot like normal fire does but cold. We can make it hot but it kinda feels like petting a cat in the wrong direction. It's uncomfortable and also unpleasant.

 But we get the ranking from what would happen if I were to die. Long story short if something were to happen to me, Zero would still be around for a time. But she would be flooded with the emotions of losing me on top of whatever pain I had felt before I died. It is theorized that she could/would go on a rampage to avenge me and that nothing would stop her. Not that she would but they wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell them that. There are also other aspects that we haven't even touched yet cause we don't want to draw attention to them. So we really haven't even discovered what we can really do... Now knowing that if you don't want to be our friend anymore we understand and we will leave you alone." 

There was a course of grunts and hums that came out of Zero. Hitoshi didn't understand what they meant but it seems as though the other boy did. 

" Yes I know Zero but we still have to respect his decision." 

" You can understand her?" Hitoshi says a little baffled. One would think that with everything else that he had just learned that this wouldn't even be a speck on his radar but for some reason he didn't mind. He appreciated the honesty coming from Midoriya. He didn't have to tell him anything but he still chose to anyway. He also knew in his gut that he wasn't scared of either of them. And he had learned long ago that he should trust his gut. Most of the time it was right.

"Of course. And if I wanted to I could reply back in the same tongue but I didn't want to leave you out." He shrugs. 

Hitoshi notices that he tries to make it look like it doesn't bother him but he could see how the smaller boy was shaking ever so slightly. He saw the way that his hands were gripping the material of his school pants. Zero seemed to notice this too and gave Hitoshi a look but then went back to Izuku. 

Almost immediately he started running his hands through her inky fur. The tension that the boy had lessened to a degree but didn't go away.

He knew that he had already made up his mind about the boy in front of him even before hearing all of this. 

" Well since you told me about your quirk it's only fair that I tell you about mine. And if you want to still be friends afterwards." 

Izuku paused his motions of running his hands through Zero's fur and tilts his head to the side. 

'fuck he's cute when he does that.' Hitoshi thought to himself. He shakes his head and starts to tell the duo about his quirk. 

"It's called brainwashing. Whenever somebody answers a question I can take control of their body and their mind goes blank. I've been told it's like disassociation. As of right now I can hold somebody for about 2 and half minutes before I start to get drawbacks. I can make them do simple commands like forgetting I was there or making them walk away but I haven't tried anything else."

And with that out in the open Hitoshi prepares himself for the worst. Granted he knew that with Midoriya also being on the registry he wouldn't have to worry as much. He still had that little bit of fear that Izuku would also leave just like everyone else had. He still had that fear that the boy in front of him would end up just like everybody else that he had met. Whether they were on the registry or not. He couldn't count how many times someone had told him that they didn't want to be his friend anymore or that they couldn't be his friend anymore due to whatever bullshit reason they came up with.

Even with other people on the registry, he had problems making friends. The only other person that he had ever met that was also on the registry. Told him that his quirk was too volatile and that they couldn't risk being associated with him because it might make their standing worse. They only had a rating of PVR201 and it's not like your rating can get any worse with who you associate with but they still left and that was when he was 8. So while he hoped and prayed that Midoriya wasn't going to be the same way, he still had his doubts. 

So he waits to see what the other boy will say. 

It takes him a minute to gather his thoughts but Hitoshi can visibly see the mask that Izuku had carefully maintained on his face fall away. His eyes light up with a light that could have rivaled the sun shining through a green forest.

"Wait really?! That's such a cool quirk! You could do so many things with it! Especially if you wanted to go into heroics! You would be able to calm down civilians, get the bad guys to turn themselves in! And you are invaluable in hostage negotiations! Not to mention if you were to start training with it -" 

Midotiya was still talking about all of the things that he could possibly do with his quirk but Hitoshi sat there dumbfounded. He was expecting a lot of reactions but admittedly, this wasn't one of them. This boy just said that he could be a hero . He didn't even know Hitoshi and he knew that he was on the registry and yet here he is saying that Hitoshi can achieve his dream. That thought alone made Hitoshi's heart swell. He was at a loss for words.

Izuku was still in the middle of rambling about Shinsou's quirk when he noticed the other boy go quiet. He stopped and looked over at him. The other boy had a look on his face that was a mix of disbelief and something else. There were also tears in his eyes.

"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to make you cry!" He started flapping his hands around trying to figure out what to do.

"Let me try something little one. I have a feeling it will work." 

Izuku just nods his head as Zero gets up and in much the same manner as before starts to crawl over to Shinsou. Once she was within arms reach she huffed out a snort. More to make sure that the boy knew that she was there. When even that didn't get a response she got a little closer and pushed her head under his hand.

That startled him enough to look at what was going on. Midoriya was still sitting across from him but his hands were flapping about but he didn't see Zero. A light rumbling came from under his hand and he realized that she was pretty much in his lap with his hand on her hand and she was purring?

And much to his surprise her coat was cool. It wasn't warm like most other cats. He tentatively started running his hand through her fur. It was so much silkier than any other cat he had pet. Her purring got louder and Midoriya had stopped his stimming. A smile crossed his face. 

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry." The other boy said to him after a moment of silence.

"It's ..not you. I'm just not used to other people besides my dad's thinking that I can be a hero. And it shocked me." He replied truthfully. He kept running his hands through Zero's fur. Liking the way it felt. 

"I get that. We get that all the time. But since we're friends now we have each other to believe in us too! So it makes it easier." 

"We're friends?" His hands stilled as he asked the question. He wasn't used to having friends. Is this how friends were made? 

"Not-not if you don't want to be but I figured since you don't mind about Zero and I think Brainwashing is really cool I just thought .." he trailed off. 

Hitoshi just smiled at the other boy. 

" Don't worry about it. We're friends." 

The smile that lit the other boy's face would have been bright enough to power a small city Hitoshi thought. 

“Yea, yea we are.” Hitoshi agrees.

They finished their lunch while talking about nothing in particular and went back to class when the warning bell rang out.

Chapter Text

The rest of the school day for the boys goes by like the first half of the day. The other kids don't stop sneering at them or giving them dirty looks. They stick close together though. 

Once the end of the day comes Shinsou stands next to Izuku and asks,

“Hey so I know that you know where we are going but I have an idea so lead the way.”

“Yea I do, so let's get going before they add more time.” Izuku leads both of them in the direction of the principal's office. Shinsou faintly recognizes the office when they get there. 

“ So the teacher that gave us detention isn't even the one making sure that we show up? She’s making the principal do it?”

“Normally for any other student it would be the teacher that gave the detention that would be sitting through it. But since its us- well primarily me- the principal needs to do it so that ‘Nothing bad happens to the teachers’”

Izuku rolls his eyes when he states the last part. Shinsou does too. Stupid quirkest bastards. They both think unknowingly at the same time. 

When they get into the office the secatay is already waiting for them instead of the principal.

“Wow Dek- I mean Midoriya. I do believe that this is a record for you. And here I thought I was going to get to go home early for a change. You villain types are all the same.”

“Oh you know me, Hina-san. Just can't seem to stay away from your lovely shining personality. But where is Takahashi-san? He’s normally the one that supervises my detention. ” The smaller of the two teens says to the portly woman. The sarcasm was dripping off each word he said like tar. The air in the room was tense for a second before the secretary - Hina reminds himself. (He was probably going to end up here a lot so he might as well remember the woman's name)- Breaks it and leads them over to a day. 

“He had some other business to attend to. He decided that today I would be the one to deal with you. Now in. both of you. Midoriya you know the rules but since you're new Shinsou i guess I'll tell you what they are. Do not talk to one another. No passing notes. If you have any homework then you may take this time to get it done. The door will be locked from the outside. You will not be able to leave unless somebody comes to let you out. A bathroom break will be in about 30 minutes and then you will be brought back to the room until it is time for you to leave. You are not allowed to have food or drinks in this room.”

Shinosu raises his eyebrows at the list of rules. He can't even think as to where to start with how much this type of treatment is wrong. He glances over at Midoriya and sees that the other boy is already bored with it like he has heard this many times over. 

“ So when does detention end? I need to message my parents that they know when to pick me up.” He made sure that he didn't end anything he said with a  question. He knew that they didn't have access to his files due to how his dads took care of everything. But in his experience it was better safe than sorry. 

“ Seeing as how you both are here for talking out of turn it will be until 7 p.m tonight."

“That’s almost three hours from now!” Shinsuo exclaims. He again looked over at Midoriya and was shocked to see that the smaller boy was surprised. But whether it was from it being more or less time than normal for him was undetermined. 

“ Well, then let this deter you from getting detention with Midoriya again. He's just a bad influence.” and with that she turned and left the room. And sure enough after a second, there was the sound of a key going into a lock and the lock turning. 

The two boys make their way over to a long table that spans most of the room and set their books and binders out and wordlessly start working. Hitoshi was more quiet out of confusion and trying to think of why the school was able to get away with this and Izuku was because this is a game that he plays frequently. He knows - from previous times in detention.- that if he tries to speak they will just add another hour on to his time. Now in the winter he doesn mind as much because that means that it's less time that he is spending outside and therefore in the cold. But any other time he just keeps quiet. The longer that he is stuck in this room is the longer that he has to wait to go out on patrol. 

Also most of  the time he was just with Zero anyway. And they don't need to communicate out loud so really there was no point. 

Izuku was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't see the shinsou was trying to get his attention. It was actually Zero that had to bring his attention to the fact that they were trying. 

He gave a small apologetic smile to the purple haired kid and raised his eyebrows. A silent question. 

When Hitoshi saw that he had Midoriya's attention he started to sign. 

“Do you know JSL?”

Much to his surprise the younger one nodded. 

He raised his hands to sign and stopped. A look that Hitoshi couldn't decipher crossed his face but left seconds later as he signed back.

“I know enough but I haven't had much practice with other people.”

He nodded. He wasn't very good either when he first started but only got better with a lot of practice at home with his dads. 

“ I can teach you more and help you practice if you want. Since we are going to be here for a while.”

“That would be great!”

“ So I have a question.”

Midorya just tapped the table in front of him Taking that as a sign to go on he asked,

“So I noticed your reaction to the time frame that Hina-san gave us and you looked surprised. Why?”

“Oh, she normally had me spend more time in here. So it came as a surprise that I was getting off....easy." there was a slight pause when he had to think of the word. 

"How late are you normally here?" Hitoshi didn't like the way this way going. He knew that quirk discrimination was prevelent in this school but he didn't think it would ever be this bad.

Also how is the school getting away with this? His parents would have to know wouldn't they? If that was the case the why haven't they said anything?

" Normally it's until 8p.m cause the school knows that they can't get a hold of my parents. The longest though was the whole weekend." The green haired teen just shrugged at the end of it. Like it's nothing. That does answer the question about his parents though. Hitoshi was slowly getting a clearer picture of what was going on with Izuku Midoriya and he had to say that he didn't like it. 

At all.

The rest of detention was spent in a quiet silence. They would let out small snickers at the jokes that the other one had told but after Hina found them signing to each other she had to sit in the room with them.  When they were finally let out, the sky outside had already started to turn dark. 

Hitoshi saw his parents waiting for him near the front of the school, and to his surprise he also saw another girl waiting there. She was a respectable distance away but it was clear that she was waiting for somebody. She had just looked over and he could see her body language, lighten up and she started walking in their direction. 

“Izuku! Come on, we're going to be late! We need to get back so that we can-” She was cut off mid sentence. 

“I know MeiMei. But we can talk more about it when we get there. You know how it is.” Hitoshi could see the wordless communication that passed between the two of them and she just nodded. 

“That’s alright I have so much to tell you and I might have made a breakthrough with that baby that I was telling you about!” She was waving her hands around excitedly. It also confused Hitoshi as to what she meant by baby. Did she actually mean a small child? Cause if that is the case the Why would she be talking about it like it was an object? Also, wasn't she a little young? He guessed that she would be about the same age as himself and Midoriya. Not that Hitoshi would be one to judge that but some things just weren't adding up. 

“Alright MeiMei. Tell me about it when we get there. But let's get going. You know that we have that meet up with Penciltip tonight. Don't wanna keep him waiting.” 

“Ya you're right let's go. So much to do!” and with that the duo ran off. Hitoshi just stared there in wonder trying to process what had just happened. 

He made his way over to where his dads were waiting. 

“ Hey kiddo.”

“Hey Pops.” He went into pops’ waiting arms and grateful returned the offered hug. His Papa was also right there and gave him a hug too, 

“So wanna tell us why you got detention on your first day at a new school?”

“Ya, i’ll tell you about it on the way back home.”

Once they were out of earshot from Shinsou and his parents Izuku let Zero come out and she was walking beside her humans. 

“Sorry MeiMei. I didn’t want him to overhear anything. I just met him today and I don't know if we can trust him enough to tell him about everything."

“It’s all good. I didn't notice him so it's probably for the better that you stopped me. But Still I have to tell you about my breakthrough!” She had excitedly told him all about the helmet that she was making. It was one where he would be able to wear it instead of the beanie that he currently had with his vigilante costume. She had gotten it to where she was able to put facial recognition into it. She was able to hack into the hero and villain databases so that both could be loaded into it. 

“Granted right now it's just in the preliminary stages and so it should be tested. You said that you're going out to patrol tonight right?”

“Ya, I told Eraserhead that I would be out tonight and you know as well as I do that he will be looking for me since they had assigned him on my case to try and bring me in.”

He smirked at that thought. He remembered when Eraserhead had told him about that new development. It was kinda funny actually cause they wanted to put Endeavor on his case but since Eraserhead had already had contact with him in the past, he had argued that he would have been the better choice.

That and if they actually wanted him to be brought in alive then it was better all the way around. 

“Well then let's go back to the hideout and get everything sorted out before you headout.” Izuku nodded and they set off. 

It didn't take long for them to get back to the hideout. It was only about 15 minute from the school. The other nice thing about it, is that when he and Mei became friends he also found out that it was a 30 minute walk from her house. It made it so much easier for them to transport everything between the two places with them that close. 

Izuku set his stuff down next to the makeshift desk that he had built with a couple of pallets that had been left there. 

Mei followed suit and got out the helmet that she was telling Izuku about.

“Okay here it is. Try it on!” He took it from her and turned it over in his hands.

“Don't give me that look! There’s only like a 38% chance that it will explode.”

“I wasn't even looking at you.” Izuku deadpanned back to his friend.

“Yes, but I know you well enough to know when you're trying not to give me that look. So, just put it on so that I can make some final adjustments to it before you go.”

Resigning himself to his fate as her friend and also field tester, he puts the helmet on. 

Much to his delight it did not explode when he went to turn it on. 

The screen that was built into the helmet did start to glow. When everything was powered up he just tilted his head.

“Okay it's on but nothing is here. What do I do now?”

“OKay good. I was worried for a second there that it wouldn't even power on so that's good!” Izuku sighs as his friend continues. 

“Okay since nobody is in your field of vision you're not seeing anything. Now I didn’t have time to hack into the civil database and get you EVERYBODY's stats. So for now until I have more time to crack that code you are stuck with just villains and heroes. That should be all that you need for right now anyways.”

“Ya, that's true. It’ll be helpful in the future but you're right. These are the only ones that I need at the current moment.”

“Good that we are on the same page. But I did manage to at least get mine and yours in there so that we could test to see how it works.” She had been standing beside him and made her way to stand directly in front of him.

“Now tell me what you see.”

It took a second for the program to catch up but when it did Izuku was able to see her name, her quirk, where she went to school and a bunch of other information. 

“Holy shit Mei. This is a lot of information. Do you have this kind of detail on everybody?”

“Mostly right now it will just be name, alias-if they have one-, quirk, and home prefecture. But that's where you come in Green bean.” Izuku shut off the helmet and took it off of his head. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, you can't hide the fact that you and Zero have been doing analysis on a lot of people. I know about your notebooks and what is in them. So when you get done with them we will be able to upload them to the helmet!” He gently sets down the helmet and rushes over to hug her.

“Mei! You're a genius!”

She returns the hug and smiles at the boy.

“I Know that I am but thank you. I do like hearing it every now and the though.”

“Well since you're my support tech i think that you need a code name as well. You know, it only makes sense.” Still in his arms she drops her head so that it is resting on his shoulder. He doesn't mind though. He doesn't have a lot of people that he can get affection from. So in response he runs his hand up and down her spine. 

They stood there in comfort until she pulled away to look at him. 

“I think I have an idea.”

“And what is it?”

“Arcane Dreams. Cause most people don't or won't understand how a lot of this tech works and most people think that this is just a dream that I have no chance of reaching.”

Izuku mulls the idea over in his head for a brief second. 

“I think it suits you. It's perfect.”

Chapter Text

Izuku didn't want to spend too much more time in the hideout. Afterall he needed to get ready to go out for the night. And the sooner he got started the sooner he could sleep.

“Are you going to stay here tonight or are you going back home?” He asks Mei over his shoulder as he starts getting ready.

Once the two of them became better friends, Mei found out exactly what happened to Izuku. But it wasn't an easy road. Their friendship had a little bit of a weird start. Mei had actually followed them back to the warehouse that they were staying in. Mei being the amazing person she is, didn’t question it at first but did ask him if she could use him as a field tester for her inventions. He and Zero talked it over and ultimately decided that there was no harm in doing so. (He also had looked up her name cause it sounded familiar and found out who her parents are. He was shocked to see that they were big time inventors not only here but in a couple other countries as well.) 

It wasn’t until they all felt comfortable within their friendship when Mei had started to ask about his and Zero’s situation. It had been a particularly bad night. He was missing his parents (even though he knows that he shouldn’t but sometimes the feeling sneaks up on him) and the kids in school must have all woken up on the wrong side of the bed cause they all were pissed therefore taking it out on him. Bakugou was the worst out of all of them. (He had 3 new burn scars on his back to show for it too.) and to top it all off? He and Zero had been jumped earlier that day. To his dismay It wasn't even because he was a known vigilante. It was just cause he was a kid and they thought he would be an easy target. Normally something like that wouldn't have happened but he was distracted. He was lost in his own little world and didn’t even hear the other guy until it was too late. By the time he was aware of what was going on, the guy had already taken all of his money. (It also didn't help that the guy that stole from him had a speed quirk but he didn’t find that out until later when he went after him. If that guy was then later found by detective Tsukauchi with a beat up face and 6 broken fingers, that was neither here nor there.)   

So when Mei had gotten to the warehouse that night and asked him the simple question of ‘Hey my moms’ caught on to the fact that I’m making support gear and they know it’s not for me, they insisted that they meet you so that they know that you are safe. Would you be okay with that?’ He had broken down. He told her the truth about what had happened to him and Zero. As well as the fact that this is the first time since he and Zero were about 7 that anybody besides each other had shown him kindness. (besides Mei of course.)  

Mei had been horrified at what his birth parents had done. He just shrugged it off cause there was nothing that they could do about it. She flat out told him that he needed somebody in his corner just in case something happened to him. Both he and Zero were reluctant at first. They didn't have anybody that ever stayed and so when Mei was trying to tell them that she would? Naturally they both were hesitant. But over the next couple of months she proved herself. Much to the relief of both Izuku and Zero. 

She started showing them the inventions that she made with them in mind. The ones that previously had been a secret. She also admitted to them that yes her moms’ did ask about them, she hadn't really made an effort to try and hold anything back. Mei was worried about them and didn’t know how to help. She may have also needed help in making the stuff that she wanted for them. Izuku and Zero were mad at her for all of 10 minutes for it. 

They really couldn't be too mad because she had only done it with their safety in mind. It was also one of the best things that could have happened. 

Mei’s moms were able to help him with food and also medical supplies. It also helped that they never wanted more information than was necessary. At least when it came to his night time activities. They wanted to know all about what was going on at school and they actually seemed to care. They also took to Zero like a fish to water. They didn't say that she needed to kept hidden away or that she was a demon. They just let her be. They even let her get relaxed enough to play with string like a cat. Something that she had never done before.  They reminded him of what parents should have been like. That realization made him start crying. In their house no less. They comforted him like they did their own daughter and told him that if he and Zero wanted to they could also call them Mom and MommaMai like Mei did.

 They even offered to adopt him. They all talked about it and decided that at this point it wouldn't work. MommaMai and mom spent a lot of time over in Russia for their lab work and it was already pushing it, leaving Mei for that long. But seeing as how he would be an adoption case and he is not a biological kid to one of them already none of them wanted to risk it. So they worked it out to where Izuku and Zero knew that he could come home any time that he needed to or wanted to. Even if they were out of the country.

Some time later Mei had mentioned to Izuku that she sometimes got lonely when her moms would leave. So they started spending the night together either at her house or in Izuku's hideout. It made both of them feel better cause they could keep an eye on one another. Her parents didn’t mind at all. They were just happy that they had each other. 

“I'm gonna stay here tonight. MommaMai and mom left this morning for Russia again.” Izuku snapped out of his thoughts on the past and refocused on the conversation at hand.  There was a small note of sadness in her voice but he wouldn't call her out on it.

“How long are they going to be gone this time?” He continued walking around the hideout getting the rest of his vigilante gear on. The helmet that Mei had shown him wouldn't be much help right now so he left it on the table so she could continue to work on it while he was on patrol. 

“They’ll be gone for two weeks this time.” That's not as bad as it has been in the past. Izuku can remember one time when they said that they would only be gone for a week and for some reason they got held up and weren't able to come home for almost a month and half. 

“That's not too bad. If you want we can spend half the time here and half at the house?” he offered. 

“Yea I would like that.” She gave him a small smile that did quite reach her eyes. He set down the utility belt that he had been about to put on and wrapped her in a hug. She returned it and he could feel the silent tears that she was crying start to leave a damp spot on his uniform. 

“I know it's really hard every time they leave. It’s hard for me too. But you still have me and Zero.” He tried to reassure her that she's not alone. Making good on that point, Zero had come up to her side and nuzzled her head into Mei’s thigh. Causing the pink haired girl to smile wetly at the panther. She reached a hand down that wasn’t around Izuku to pat the panther's head. 

“ I know and its dumb to get sad everytime they leave cause they do so so often but it always makes me worry, ya know? Like what if they don't come back? What if they get held up like they did that one time? What if a lab-” Izuku could tell that she was starting to go into hysterics. He pulls away from her just enough where he can cup her face in his hands. 

“Meimei. I need you to listen to me,” He waits until he knows that she's at least trying to listen. She leans her head into his hands. He brushes his thumbs over her cheeks in a soothing manner. 

“Those are all very valid worries to have. I will not say that they aren't. But they will come back just like every other time they have left. They always videochat both of us almost every night to make sure that we knew that they are okay. Not to mention you have to remember who taught us to fight. I’m sure if something did happen it would be us getting a call that we need to bail them out of jail.” She let out a small wet laugh at that.

“Ya you're right. MommaMai would be the worst out of the two of them though. She would be the one trying to beat them and mom would be trying to hold her back but super half heartedly.” 

“Exactly.” He wipes the remaining tears off of her face and pulls her back in for a hug. 

“I’ll try to make it a quick patrol tonight so that I can come back sooner. And when I get back, if you're still up we can watch a movie or something. Sound good?” He could feel her nod into his chest. 

They stayed like that for a little bit longer before he said that he needed to finish getting ready so that he could come back sooner. 

He finishes getting ready and looks over to his friend. She’s immersed herself into her work again. He has a soft smile and calls out that he’ll be back as soon as possible. When he hears her hum, he knows that she heard him and sets out. 

 It was about half way into his patrol when something interesting happened. 

Zero had just told him that she heard a whimper from a nearby alley and they were making their way over to it. They settled on the rooftop and looked down on the scene so that they could make a plan. 

He saw three people in the alley. One victim and 2 villains. He studied them just a bit longer so that he could try and figure out what their quirks are. One of them was easy enough. They had the head and hooves of a ram. Izuku made a mental note to not be in their direct line if they charged. But it was the other one that was harder to piece together. They had no physical mutations that he could see. So that must mean that it is either an emitter type or possibly a transformation type. Either way, they would be the ones that were taken out first. He knew that he could handle the other one just fine.

“So, what's the plan?” Zero asked. She had been sitting quietly next to him also watching what was going on. It seemed to be a mugging gone bad. 

“I’ll need you to distract the one with the ram head. And while you're doing that I can focus on the other one. I don't know what his quirk is so I want to take him out as soon as we can.”

He heard his quirk give a hum of agreement and they both jumped in action. They silently landed behind the villains that were still yelling at the poor victim. They were saying something about money but Izuku wasn’t really listening. 

He heard Zero pounce on the guy with the ram quirk and that was loud enough to where the other one took their eyes off of the victim. 

“What the fuck is a panther doing here?!” The villain screeched. 

“Oh sorry. She’s mine.” Izuku let a feral smile spread across his face. 

“Oh, so that must mean that you’re Shadow Weaver.” the guy growled at Izuku.

“Oh so you have heard of me? That’ll make things a lot easier!” Izuku reaches back to grab his escrima rods. He felt for the slight indent in the metal. Once he did he pushed down on it twice to enact the middle setting for voltage. He knew that the weakest setting wouldn’t do much against a villain this big.

“You’re the one that ruined our bank robbery last week!” The villain yelled at him before charging towards him. 

Izuku remembers that now. He had seen it on a forum that he joined when he first started out. He was a small one that was just a bunch of people that talked about crimes. Normally it was just people talking about ones that had already happened and He didn't pay much attention to it. But when somebody had started posting details about how and when they would go about performing such an act? It seemed a little too detailed for his liking. 

So on the night that it was supposed to happen he made sure his patrol route took him past that bank to check it out. Turns out that he was right to cause they were literally in the middle of doing the exact plan that had been online. The heroes and cops that he had called for backup managed to get a few of the people that were in the heist but 2 had gotten away. They also had not gotten a good enough glimpse in the dark of the alley way to actively go looking for them. They just had to hope that they would pop again soon and arrest them then.

He smirked as he dodged the hit that was coming for his head. 

“Well then maybe next time don't post about it online, dumbass!” And let it be known that while Izuku may be smart, he can also be very dumb. It turns out that calling a person a dumbass that you don't know the quirk of is not a very smart move. 

One second he was fighting the villain in front of him and was holding his own, then the next minute, he was doing the exact opposite of what he wanted his body to do. When he wanted to punch with his right arm? He kicked with his left foot. When he wanted to take a step back to avoid the blow that was coming at him? His body went forward a step instead, and the punch landed solidly on his head.

Izuku sighed in frustration. Trying to think of the opposite of what he wanted to do was extremely hard. And with the hit to his head adding to the mix, he knew he needed to end this fight as soon as possible.

“Having a little bit of trouble there, pipsqueak?” The villain laughed and again dodged the shitty attempt of a kick Izuku made. (At least he had managed to make his body semi cooperate. Even if he had messed up and kicked to the right instead of the left.) 

Izuku just glared and concentrated on thinking. 

“Oh come on! My quirk isn’t that bad! It's called opposite. Pretty self explanatory. But just in case I’ll tell you about it. Whenever I touch a person with all five of my fingers any action that you do will get mixed up in your brain and result in you doing the opposite.” The villain continued to monologue about his quirk while laughing at the pathetic  attempts Izuku made to take him down. Now if it would have been any other time, Izuku would have agreed. This is a really cool quirk and he could think of a ton of uses for it. But right now? It was the bane of his existence and he wanted it to end. 

“Keep telling yourself that.” Izuku managed to grit out and he (Finally!) punched the guy in the face. The guy wheeled back and Izuku could see the blood coming out of the guy's nose like a leaky faucet. He took the opportunity to look over at where Zero was squaring off with her own villain. Thankfully she didn't seem to be under the effects of the quirk like he was cause right when the ram started charging at her, she jumped up and landed on the guy's back again. Shocked at the new weight he went down. Hard. The resounded smack of his head hitting the concrete echoing in the alley.

He smiled at the scene and turned his head back to his own fight. Opposite guy was glaring at him. 

“You’re not supposed to be able to do that! It should have taken you longer to coordinate your body!” He yelled at Izuku. Izuku had meant to shrug at the guy in indifference.  But that’s not what happened. Instead to his horror, he opens his arms wide like he would when asking for a hug.

A.

Fucking.

HUG?! 

The villain had stopped advancing towards him and looked at him in shock. After a tense moment he burst out laughing.

“Never mind! I take it back! Oh fuck that is great! Got to admit, I've never gotten this reaction before!” Izuku’s only saving grace is that in the same time that it took for all of this to happen, Zero had managed to finish her fight that she was dealing with. She sent him a quizzical look and proceeded to do the same thing that she had just done to the ram guy. Izuku felt the exact second that the guy was knocked unconscious. It felt like a small string had snapped and he was able to thankfully move his limbs the way he wanted to. 

He finished Zip tying the villains hands and feet together so that they couldn't escape before the police could pick them up. And if Opposite guy had another few hits to the head, well it's not like they were not deserved. When he stood up Zero had asked,

“Why did it look like you were getting ready to give him a hug?”  

“He had an opposite quirk. So literally anything that I would want to do, the opposite would happen. I tried to shrug and apparently the opposite of that is asking for a hug.” He rolled his eyes skyward “I’m just glad that you were the only one to see that cause that was embarrassing.” He sent a text off to the local precinct so that they would come and pick the guys up. He waited until he got confirmation that somebody would be here shortly before putting the burner phone back into his pocket.

“Um, little one.” Izuku looked down at Zero and saw that she was turned towards the victim. Not that he would admit this outloud but he kinda forgot that they were here. 

“Right. Let's go see if they need any first aid.”  He reached around the back of his suit and proceeded to pull out his small first aid kit. 

“Little one...”  She tried again.

When Izuku looks back on this moment, he will realize that Zero was trying to tell him something important. But at this moment he realized no such thing. The hit he had taken to his head was messing with his logical thinking.

He made his way over to where the person was prone. He noted that the person had lilac hair and knelt down in front of them.

“Hey my name is Shadow Weaver. Your safe now and the police are on their way. Are you hurt anywhere?” Izuku had been so focused on making sure that there wasn't any noticeable blood that he didn’t look at their face. When his gaze had made it way up to the other person's face, he saw very familiar features staring back at him. His stomach dropped a little bit. This is not how he planned on telling the other boy about what he did. He didn't really even plan on telling him at all until much later. But sitting in front of him was Hitoshi Shinsou. Staring at him and then at Zero. Putting the pieces together.

“Mi-”

“Shadow. Right now.” He knew that it was rude to interrupt but he couldn't exactly have Shinsou saying his real name right now. The police and heroes would be here shortly and he didn't need that nightmare. 

“Right Shadow... Is that really you?” He had asked in a quiet but strong voice. 

“If I say no will you let me leave and forget that you saw all of this?” He added the hopeful note to his voice but knew that the actual chances of that happening were ironically? Zero.

“Not a chance.” Izuku just sighed into his face mask.

“Right, kinda figured that. Well if you want some answers to your questions, you'll have to follow me. The cops and heroes will be here soon and I do not want to deal with them tonight.” Izuku stood up and extended a hand to help Shinsou. The lanky boy took it gratefully. 

“Alright make sure you can keep up.” And without any further preamble Izuku started running. Zero and Shinsou hot on his heels. Just in time too cause not sooner than they had gotten out of the alleyway, the place was being flooded with lights and sirens.

Chapter Text

When they get in sight of the warehouse, Izuku could not be more grateful. He smiles under his mask and pushes harder.

He can hear Hitoshi and Zero behind him and he's not surprised when he finds Shinsou, panting. He comes to a stop just outside of where Mei will be and turns to face the other teen. He’s bent over with his hands on his knees and gasping for air. 

“He must not run like we do.” Zero remarks. She butts her head against Shinsou and  who promptly just collapses over. 

“That was torture. Why the hell do you do that?” 

Izuku snickers while removing his mask. The cool breeze feels good on his flushed face. 

“Cause getting caught by the heroes and the cops is a worse alternative to running.” He shruggs. Getting caught was not on his list of things of things to do so he made sure that he wouldn't be.

“You are crazy.” Shinso glares at Izuku out of one eye. 

“Meh, I’ve been called worse. Now you want to get some answers or are you gonna become one with the concrete?” He holds out a hand to the boy that is laying down. 

Shinsou grabs his hand and lets himself be hauled up to his feet. 

“You owe me so many answers.”

“Yes yes now-”

“Shadow! I didn’t expect you back this early! But I'm glad that you're back! Does that mean that we can get started on the movie?” Mei asked. She had also made it a point to launch herself on to his back. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her legs were around his waist. He reached back to pat her head a few times and answered.

“Well MeiMei, we can but I need to introduce you to somebody first.”

She tilts her head in the direction of Shinsou and stares at him. 

“Umm, Hi. My name is Shinsou hitoshi.” The purple teen just awkwardly waves while Mei continues to stare at him. He looks back at Izuku and Zero for context. 

“You're the kid from earlier huh? The one that Shadow had detention with right?” She asks him. 

“Uh yea that's me.”

“Okay! You're cool then!” She hops down from Izuku’s back and walks over to Shinsou. She sticks her hand out. 

“I’m Hastume Mei! You can call me Mei though! Cause Hatsume makes me think of my mom. I'm best friends with this crazy dou over here!”

A squawk of offense is heard but not paid attention to. 

“At least I’m not the only one that thinks they are.” He smiles and shakes her hand.  

“Now when I was eavesdropping on you three I heard that Shinso over here is wanting some answers. And considering the fact that you're still in costume, it’s cause you probably just saved him as a vigilante huh?”

Shinsou turns his face to hide the blush that he can feel creeping up his face and murmurs out an ascent to the question. 

Yea, we stopped a mugging that was happening and you’ll never guess what happened to the little one.”  

“Zero! Don't you even!” Izuku tried to get over to his panther to hopefully shut her up but was stopped by his best friend. She had her arms around his waist and was digging in her heels so that he couldn't get to her. Mei just holds on to a struggling Izuku and motions for Zero to continue.

Zero proceeds to relay the events to Mei that had happened not even an hour ago.

“And apparently when he was dealing with one of the villains they had an opposite quirk. So in the fight when little one tried to shrug at the guy but instead he opened his arms like he was asking for a hug!” Zero chuffs out laughter while Mei cackles.

“Izu! You should know better than to hug random strangers!” 

“I hate both of you.” He says with not real venom in his voice. “That’s it. My panther and my best friend have betrayed me. Shinsou-kun is my new best friend.” In a moment of boldness he wraps his arm around Shinsou in a side hug. Well he tries but Shinsou is about 6 inches taller than him so it’s a little awkward but he’s determined to make it work. Until Shinsou opens his mouth that is. 

“Yea, Midoriya. What they said. You really shouldn't be hugging random people. It can't be good for your health.” Izuku turns his betrayed stare towards Shinsou and sees the other teen just smirking down at him. 

He retracts his arms and crosses them over his chest and puffs out indignantly.

“You all suck.”

“You love us. Don’t lie!” Mei comes over and tries to wrap him up in a hug and Izuku dodges it. 

“‘M not lying.” He pouts.

“I’m gonna tell MommaMai that you did this.” Wide eyes turn and see that Mei is not bluffing. He hangs his head in defeat.

“Okay fine I don't hate you. Just don't tell MommaMai. I don't wanna hear that lecture!”

“That’s what I thought. Now lets go inside and you can answer all of Shinous questions and tell me what penciltip said about that thing that coming in in a few days.”

Izuku and Zero Stop in their tracks and turn towards each other. 

“Oh shit..”

“We forgot!”   They both say at the same time. 

Mei just shakes her head at them and makes a shooing motion. 

“I’ll get Shinou caught up on some of the stuff but there are some questions I will be leaving for you cause it’s not my place to say.” Shinsou looks at her with curiosity and she just waves him off. 

“But if you go now you should be able to make it to the meet up spot and not be too late.” The shadow duo nod their heads and head off into the night. 

Shinsou watches them disappear into the night. Mei grabs his bicep and tugs him into the warehouse. 

“Come on, blueberry. We have a lot of things to talk about.”

“Blueberry?”

Izuku and Zero ran like a bat out of hell to get to the meeting place on time. They stopped a short ways before the rooftop they were supposed to meet Eraserhead on so that Izuku can catch his breath. Zero turned towards Izuku and asked.

“Okay how do you wanna go about this? I can either wait in the shadows nearby or we can fuse.” Izuku ponders that for a moment. On one hand if he fused with Zero he wouldn't have to worry about her being caught or seen. But on the other hand, they both didn't like it when they fused together. It felt too confining. And not that Izuku would admit it to anybody other than his panther, he didn't feel as safe as when Zero was out and about acting as an extra set of eyes and ears. 

“I think it would be best for you to wait in the shadows. Cause that way, we’ll  both be ready if anything happens. I don't think that Eraser would try anything but that’s not to say that somebody might get an idea to do something.” 

“Okay I’ll be within hearing distance then.” 

“You're the best Zero.” He ruffles the fur at the top of her head and she purrs softly in appreciation. 

“Now go, little one. Don't keep him waiting too long.”

Izuku nods and jumps onto the roof that Eraser was waiting on. 

He quietly walked up to the hero in hopes that he might be able to get the jump on him today, but to his dismay, the hero turned around.

“You're late, Shadow.” Eraser gruffs out. 

Izuku looks at his watch and see that yes in fact he is late but it’s only by two minutes. 

“It’s only 2 minutes Eraser.” 

“But that’s two minutes I could have been at home sleeping, Problem Vigilante.”

Izuku used to his sass by now just sasses him back.

“Eraser, we both know that your relationship with sleep is tumultuous at best and down right pitiful at worst.”

“Brat. Like yours is any better. Anyways, we need to talk about the upcoming raid.” Izuku just rolls his eyes at the hero avoiding saying that he's right. 

“Okay what about it?”

Eraser starts to explain  the plan that he thought would work the best. It was a relatively simple plan. Izuku would act as a decoy and the hero would go in and after the signal was given and apprehend the gang members.  Other heroes would be on stand by incase they needed it. But there were only about 6 members right now so the two of them should be okay on their own. 

“Alright that sounds easy enough. When will we strike?” Izuku questions. He was really hoping that to wouldmt be in two days. He had a math test that he really needed to study for. He might invent stuff with Mei but that does not mean that he is good at math. Now that he’s thinking about it, she really isn't either. They both go for the trial and error method. Much to the dismay of her moms. 

“In two days. I have intel that states that should be when most of the gang members will be in the hideout. If we strike then we should be able to get most if not all of them into custody.” Internally Izuku groans. He should have known that his luck wouldn't hold out. Oh well that just means that he will have to study tomorrow night instead of going out. Maybe he can actually get Mei to study with him.. Or Shinsou. Maybe he was better at math and could help? He’ll have to ask. He mentally shakes himself and refocuses on the conversation with the hero in front of him

“Okay sounds good. Where do you wanna meet up?” 

“We’ll meet about 5 blocks down from the hideout and go in after checking last minute things.” Eraser said while pulling out a jelly pouch from his capture weapon. He had it opened and completely drained in less than a minute.  

Izuku just nods his head. He’s amazed at the fact that Eraser can down the nasty jelly pouch like that but maybe that’s why he drains it so quickly? A wave of exhaustion crashes over him. He is starting to feel super tired now and wants nothing more than to just go back to his warehouse and crash into sleep.  Which kind makes sense. He’s been up for about 36 hours now.

“Alright well that’s all then. I’ll see you in a couple days.” And before Izuku could start to say anything back, the hero was already on the roof next door. Izuku shook his head and tried to fight off the tired feeling that threatened to have him take a nap right where he was standing. 

Feeling just awake enough to start making the ak back he goes over to where Zero had been for most of the night. 

“Alright little one, let's get back to the hideout and get some sleep.” As if on ccue she opens her jaws to let out a yawn. He does the same and starts to follow her back.

It took  a little bit longer to get back than it normally did just cause they were both so tired. But they make it! 

When they finally get within sight of the warehouse Izuku is greatful. He feels like he's ready to just pass out on the concrete. Mei must have heard the duo coming cause she was rushing out to greet them.

"Izu! You're back! How was the meeting? What did you guys decide on? Should I be making more babies for you?" Now normally he would answer every question that Mei has but right now? He just wants to sleep.

"Meimei, I will gladly answer all of your questions after I sleep. But right now? I can barely stay awake." She steps back and really looks at him. She can he's practically dead on his feet. Instead of bombarding him with more questions she just takes his hand and leads him back to the office/bedroom where they had a makeshift bed. He goes to just flop on the bed and she stops him.

"What?" He doesn't mean for it to come as harsh as he did so he quickly apologized. 

"You're not going to sleep in your costume. It will be  uncomfortable." 

He just nods his head and proceeds to take it off. When he was just in his civilian clothes she finally let him pass out. She also had made her way over and cuddled up next to him. It wasn't the first time that they had done this and it certainly wouldn't be the last. And with Mei in his arms and Zero at the foot of the bed Izuku finally passes out.

The previous night in Hitoshi’s POV

“Blueberry?” He questions the girl as he follows her into the warehouse. When he gets in he’s surprised at what he sees. On one wall he can see the blueprints for multiple support items. And right below that is what he guesses is a work bench with a wide array of tools that he can’t even begin to guess the names at. 

Across from that is where he is guessing the girl Mei and Shadow?...Midoriya? Eat cause there is a table that is devoid of anything else other than  a couple of plates and chopsticks. To the side of the table is a sink and what looks like a stove? He wasn’t too sure. It was really just a container of some gas that had coils over it. Wasn’t the most fancy thing he’s ever seen but it sure wasn't the worst. 

Mei brings him out of his musing when she replies. 

“Yea! I give almost everybody names cause most of the time I truly just can't remember people's names. And since your hair is a bluish purple, I will call you blueberry!” She stands with her hands on her hips and a huge email across her face. Satisfied with her explanation he just shrugs his shoulders. He’s heard worse nicknames than that so he'll let it slide. 

“Alright now that that is out of the way I know that you have questions that you want answered so come on. Sit down and I'll answer the best that I can while Izu and Zero are out.”

She leads him over to the part of the warehouse that he couldn't see from the exterance and is again surprised. It looks like it should have been an office at one point but instead was turned into a giant bedroom. There was a bed that looked like it was on pallets in the middle of the far end wall and a couple of tables that looked hand made on each other side. The entire place is set up with fairy lights that give off a gentle glow and make it feel more homey. Mei walks in front of him and sits down on one of the 4 bean bag chairs that are there. He plops down in the one across from her. 

“You're right I do have some questions.”

“Well you're not gonna get any answers without asking. My quirk isn’t mind reading, Blueberry.” There’s a slight ote of teasing in Her voice and something else that Hitoshi can't place right away. But judging by the fact that she is fidgeting in place slightest he assumes that it’s nerves. 

“How long has Shadow been a vigilante?”

Mei brings her hand up to her face and taps her fingers on her chin thinking. 

“Well, I’m not entirely sure when they started but I know that I have been helping them for at least 3 or 4 years now? Yea That sounds about right.” 3 or 4 YEARS? Hitoshi did the math and that must have meant that Midoriya started when he was younger than 10. And that’s just how long Mei has been helping them. That's not to say that he didn't start younger. 

“Damn, I didn't realize that they started so young.” 

“Yea, they didn't have the best biological parents.” She trails off the thought but not in contemplation. It was in anger.

“What happened?”

“I don't know if I can answer that question. Not because Izu doesn't trust you or anything like that. It’s just cause I don't have the full story. He doesn't like to talk about it all that much ya know? So I try to not push him” Hitoshi nods his head in understanding. He didn't have the greatest parents either. At least not until he found the foster family that he was currently with. They treated him better than anybody else has before. They always gave him food and clothes when he needed them. And they never yelled at him when he would use his quirk on accident. He also knew that they might want to adopt him one day if the papers that he found in the desk drawers were anything to go by. 

“What can you tell me? If you feel comfortable doing so?” He asks.

Mei sits and thinks for a long moment. When Hitoshi was getting ready to just ask another question she starts speaking in a low voice that promises nothing but violence towards the people that she’s speaking about. 

“I know that he was told to get out of his parents house when he was really young. And that he had been on his own long enough that he heavily distrusts most people. It took him years to just trust me and my moms’ enough to let them feed him. I can tell that he already trusts you more than most people.”

“How?” He is genuinely curious. Why does he trust Hitoshi more than most people? They hadn’t known each other that long. It seems weird that this normally distrusting person would trust somebody like Hitoshi so readily.

She shrugged her shoulders. 

“You’ve met Zero. And she’s playful with you. Zero’s a pretty good judge of character from what I’ve seen. But other than that? I’m not sure. He didn't really say much about you before he went out on patrol.”

“It might have to do with my quirk then..” He trails off thinking about what had happened on the roof of the school.

“Your quirk?” She raised an eyebrow,

“Ya, I met Zero at school and that's when I told him about my quirk. That’s when Zero seemed to calm down a lot. She also let me pet her.” he smiled faintly at the memory. Hitohsi could see Mei light up at that fact. 

“Well then I hope that you plan on staying around cause she doesn’t just let anybody do that.”

“Really?”

“Yea, it has to do with the fact that they haven't had any real positive attention. So they are both used to being hit and stuff like that.” That sent a wave of anger through Hitoshi. He knew what it was like to be in a place like that. Being on the receiving end of that so many times himself. He knew that didn't know the full story and he didn't need to. But what he did know is that these two were the first people his age that hadn’t left or bullied him due to his quirk. So he will do his best to make sure his friends won't have to go through things alone. 

“What can I do to not trigger them then? I kinda already did it once and I want to avoid it when possible.” Hitohsi knew as soon as the boy and his panther didn't react in a bad way about his quirk that he would want to stay friends with them for as long as possible. And with the one person that knew them the best he wouldn't pass this up. He really didn't want to send them into a panic again if he could avoid it. He was also kinda hoping that Mei would end up being a good friend of his too. He liked the way that she was blunt but not hurtful about it. And the way that she was incredibly loyal to Midoriya. 

“Keep in mind I don't know all of their triggers but the biggest one is don't ever mention Zero being a demon. That makes both of them shut down. It takes forever to get them out of that state. Another one would be don't sneak up on them. If Zero sees you and you sneak up on Izu that's fine. As long as it's me, my moms and possibly you. Mainly cause she’ll probably think it's funny. But if neither one of them sees you, try to get their attention first, Since they are a vigilante they kind of have the ‘Attack now ask questions later’ approach to that.” Hitoshi nodded his head. All of these make sense. But that also makes him ask the question of who called Zero a demon? Anybody could see that she wasn’t. He’ll have to ask that question another time cause a giant yawn escaped his mouth. 

Mei gets up and extends a hand to him.

“You're tired. Why don't you stay with me and Izu tonight?”

Hitosho thinks it over before nodding his head. He was much too tired to make the trek back to his dad’s house. Not to mention he wasn’t really sure he knew how to get back.

“Let me just text my dads so they know where I’m at.” Once that was done, Mei came back (She was gone?) with more blankets and pillows in her arms. 

“Now I will give you the choice. You can either sleep on the bean bag chairs or in the giant bed with Izuku and me. I know that it seems a little rushed since we haven't been friends for that long but neither one of us likes to follow the rules of society anyways. And honestly? Even if you did try something, Zero would do something about it.” He felt his face flush slightly at the thought of sharing a bed with them. But also he didn't hate the idea. It was quite the opposite actually. The thought of cuddling somebody did sound really nice.  He could kinda agree with Mei that it was a little soon but if she didn't care the surely Midoryia wouldn't care either right? Or would he get mad at the thought of having to share a bed with another guy? Hitoshi knew that he was bi but had a heavy preference towards guys and so he didn't want to make Midoriya feel uncomfortable in his own space. 

“You really wouldn't mind me sharing?” He asks hesitantly. 

“Nope. I will warn you though that both of us cuddle in our sleep. It's a trauma thing!” She explains as she sets the blankets on the bed. 

“I don't mind.. I haven't actually shared a bed with anybody so I don't know if I am or not.” He says sheepishly. 

“That’s okay Blueberry! It’s not that hard. Just lay in the same bed as somebody else and go to sleep. I promise you that if you do end up cuddling one or both of us that we won't mind. In fact Izu will probably wake up and convince himself that he forced you to do so. That’s how he was when it first happened with me.” She trailed off slightly remembering the events.

“Is there anything that I can do to let him know that it's okay?” 

“Yea, just go find him and tell him bluntly. His mind runs a million miles a minute so being forward with him is often best.” Mei had finished arranging the pillows and blankets and motioned him to the bed. He looked at her expecting her to also get some sleep but she waved him off. 

“ I won't be able to sleep until Izu gets back. So I’m gonna stay up and work on the babies that I have in the other room. If you need anything just let me know.” She left and let the fairy lights in the room on. Hitoshi was grateful for that cause sleeping in the dark was sometimes hard for him. He made his way over to the bed and flopped down on it. And to his surprise it was extremely comfortable. He didn't even notice that he had closed his eyes and slipped in the land of dreams. 

Izuku’s POV

Izuku woke up before the sun was shining. but he couldn't figure out why. His alarm wasn't set to go off for a while yet and he couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Trying to sit up so that he could figure out what had caused him to wake up, he realized that he couldn't. There were arms wrapped around his waist and a leg haphazardly across his own. That didn't make any sense though cause Mei was in front of him and still sleeping and Zero was at the foot of the bed 

...which means...

His face turned bright red. He turned his head to see if he was right. Sure enough a very pretty looking Shinsou fucking Hitoshi was on his left side cuddling him. If it was possible his face was heating up even more than it already was, his face probably would have set fire to the blankets. 

He didn't even realize that Hitoshi was still there when he got back. He  just fell into the bed. 

But that wasn’t the problem. He was really enjoying the cuddles from both of his friends and his panther. The problem was that he didn't want to push Shinsou. They had only met that day! Well... yesterday now but that was beside the point! Yes he thought the lavender haired boy was attractive and he wouldn't mind cuddling with him. But he didn’t want Shinsou to think that he was pushing him. 

So he carefully extracted himself from the cuddle pile. Zero, ever the obversevant panther, followed him out when he went up to the rooftop. 

“What's on your mind, little one? You seem confused.”

“I just don't know what to do.” He finally admitted. He looked out over the rooftop to the city below. He could see The sun starting to come up over the horizon and paint the sky in gentle pinks and oranges.

“I’m guessing this has to do with the fact that you woke up and Shinsou was cuddling you and Mei?”

Izuku just nods, not trusting his voice. He knows that if anybody would understand it would be Zero. 

“Well, from what I can tell there are a few things that you could do. You can either confront him about it, or you can pretend that it didn’t happen.”

“I'll have to think about it. Cause on one hand I know that confronting him about it might not be the best idea but it would give us answers a lot quicker. And I don't want to hurt him by pretending that it didn't happen if-”

“Pretend that what didn't happen, Greenbean?” Sinshou said as he wrapped his arms around Izuku’s shoulders. 

“Well I think that answers the questions that you were thinking little one.”  Zero chuffs out a laugh at the predicament. Izuku feels the blush that had faded away come back in force. BUt he also made a conscious effort to relax in the other boys' hold. 

  “Well... the cuddling this morning..”He stammers off. Not really sure how to put everything into words. Shinsou loosen their hold and Izuku feels Shinsou start to pull away.

“I thought you wouldn't mind. Mei had told me a little bit about what happened and she had mentioned that you probably wouldn't mind the cuddling. I’m sorry if I overstepped any boundaries..”

Izuku grabs onto the other boy's arms  to keep him there and quickly gets out.

“No-No that’s not it. You didn't overstep anything!” It must have been the right thing to say cause he felt the other people relax his arms again and Izuku leaned back.

“I just thought that I was the one that was overstepping.” Izuku admits out quietly. 

“I can assure you that you did not. I wanted to cuddle.” Shinsou rests his chin on Izuku’s head as they stare out at the rising sun.  Izuk still had his hands gently wrapped around Shinsou’s arms. A sense of calm and serene floats over him. He revels in the way Shinsou’s arms feel around him. They remind him of Mei’s hugs and he doesn't want it to ever end. Zero made her way over to where the two boys were. She laid down next to them and Izuku could faintly hear her purring.  

“You can call me Izuku if you want.” He blurts out into the silence of the morning. He can feel Shinsou chuckle against his back. 

“Well then it only makes sense that you call me Hitoshi.” Izuku smiles and reaches down to pet Zero. This was so much better than he ever thought his life could go.   It may have been a rough road to get here but at this moment? He didn't mind. He heard the warehouse door open. He listened and heard the footsteps of Mei coming up. She was still sleepy and just flopped against him. 

“Couldn’t find you...was cold..” Izuku just smiled at her and wrapped his arm around his to bring her closer. She snuggled into him and now it was perfect. There were no bullies taunting them. He almost didn't have a care in the world as they all sat up on the roof. 

The blaring of his alarm going off in the warehouse brought him out of his thoughts. He really didn't want to go to school today. After not getting a lot of sleep last night and with the way sleep still tugged at his brain, he just wanted to go back to bed. 

“Meimei. Do you wanna skip school today and sleep some more?”

Mei grumbles something unintelligible and presses closer to him. He’ll take that as yes. 

“What about you Hitoshi? Wanna skip school with us and just hang out here? I can also answer more questions later if you want?” He lets out a yawn.   

“Yea that sounds nice.” The taller boy also lets out a yawn. He shakes Mei awake enough to where she can make it back inside. Once the other three are comfortable in bed, he makes calls to the school letting them know that the three of them wouldn't be in classes that day. Satisfied with that he also goes back to bed and cuddles his two best friends and panther. Sleep comes easily for once.

Chapter Text

Mei was the first to wake up later. When she looks out the window she can see that the sun is high in the sky. She stretches as she gets out of bed and her back pops much to her satisfaction. 

Not wanting to wake up the boys just yet, she makes her way over to the kitchen area and gets started on something for all of them to eat. With what's left in the refrigerator she can make miso soup, rice and some fish. It wouldn't be much but it's better than nothing. And she also knows that the boys (And to a smaller extent Zero) won't want to travel all the way to her moms house for food. Especially Izu. But with how late he got back she can't really blame him. 

Mei was lost in thought and cooking when she felt arms go around her waist. She jumped a little but when Izu’s voice said softly ‘it’s just me’ she relaxed. 

“Smells good Meimei. Thank you for making food for us.” 

“Well, it’s not gonna be much but I figured that you wouldn't want to go to my mom's place so this is what we get.”

“I’m sure that nobody is complaining.”

“I’m sure as hell not. I’m grateful for any and all food as long as it’s edible.” Hitoshi announces his presence to the room and makes his way over to the table. Mei looked at him over her shoulder. His bed head was really something and Mei made sure to tell him that. Izu let out a small laugh as he detangled himself from around Mei and got water for everybody.  

“Okay, but not all of us can have our hair in dreadlocks and still look good.” He glares at her but she knows that there is not real heat to it. 

So she sticks her tongue out at him. 

Izuku just watches the two of them with a soft smile on his face. He’s really glad that they are getting along. It will certainly make things easier. Izu brought all the water glasses to the table at the same time that Mei was bringing the food. 

“Itadakimasu.” Hitoshi and Izu dig in gratefully. Mei also started but albeit at a much slower pace. 

“So since we’re not in school today whats on the to-do list?” Hitoshi askes. 

“Well, I have some babies that I need to get done. So I’m going to be doing that.” Mei declares.  

“We should probably get some training in today. We are supposed to go on that raid with Eraser tomorrow night. Kit, do you think you could have the helmet fully operational before we need to go on the raid? I really don't wanna send in Izuku without as many precautions as possible since I won't be able to be out for the majority of the raid. ” Zero reminds him. Hitoshi;s flick over to where Zero is laying on the floor. Her tail is flick back and forth and he has the sudden urge to pet her. She’s pretty much a big cat after all. And he is so weak from any and all cats.   

“Oh yea! Thanks for reminding me Zero! Since we have the day off it shouldn't be too hard to get everything ready before you leave. I also have that formula that MommaMai just got done to help out too. I can make a couple before you head out just in case. What else did Pencil tip have to say about the raid?” Hitoshi does a double take at that. Did she really understand what Zero said? Hitoshi could have swore that only Izuku would know what she was saying. Was that not the case? Clearly not cause Mei and the Shadow panther were having a full conversion.

“Oh yea, that's right. You don’t know Shadowspeak yet.” Izuku mentions. Hitoshi watched as Izuku pulled a notebook out of nowhere and started furiously writing. Unsure of what else to do, he just sits there awkwardly. 

“Okay! I got it! Hitoshi! While Mei and Zero are working on the final preparations for the raid, you and I are going to have language lessons!” The confusion must have been on his face cause Izuku continues and explains what he's talking about. 

“Shadowspeak is a language that not many even know exist let alone understand. To my current knowledge there are two ways that you can learn. Either you're born with the ability to understand and speak it, this normally also involves a quirk having to do with the shadows, or you are taught by somebody that knows. I don't know how many people in Japan can speak it, but it is kept under careful wraps. It’s kinda like a security blanket. At least to me. We taught Mei because we knew that she could be trusted and now we are going to teach you.” Hitosho nods his head in understanding. Not really sure what else to do. He was terrible at learning new languages. His dad had been trying to teach him Spanish for the better part of year and he was still on the basics. He could barely talk with his dad’s parents in Spain and it wasn’t from the lack of trying. Something just doesn't click for him. 

“Don't worry! It’s actually really easy once you get the hang of it. It just takes practice and All three of us are going to help!” The smile that Izuku aimsat him is blinding. It makes his heart flutter a little bit. It takes everything in him to not start blushing. Fuck he has it bad. Is it normally for somebody to fall for another person this quickly? 

“Yea sure Izu. That sounds great.” He mentally hit himself. Really? Of anything that could have come out of his mouth it was that? 

“Yea! It’s not so bad Hito! Come on, let's get started so that you can at least have the basics.” 

Meanwhile at UA

Shouta twirls his pen around in his hand. The vigilant case that he got put on by Tsukachi is really starting to get to him. He knew that letting them on the raid with him is not the best move in terms of the law, but what choice did he have?

He doesn thave anymore more information on them than the day that he started. He can't even confirm what their gender is or their quirk. And trying to get any information out of them is almost impossible. He’d be more likely to win an argument with a brick wall than get any helpful information out of this kid. Cause he did know things about this kid. It just wasn’t helpful. Like he knew that this kid is bad at math and that science was their favorite subject. He also knew that this kid knew more than one language but he couldn't tell you what they were. He could also tell you the two out of the three heroes that were their favorite. And surprisingly All Might wasn’t on this list. He also knew that they’re favorite color is pink and/or purple and that they hated spinach. But did any of this help him find out who this kid really is or their reasons for becoming a vigilante? 

No. 

No it did not. 

And that's what has him so frustrated.

He roughly ran his hands over his face. He could feel the beginning of a headache coming on but he paid it no mind. Due to his quirk headaches were a commonplace for him and he didn't really do anything until it became a full blown migraine. Or unless his husband noticed and made him do something about it. 

Shouta reopened the file that sat mockingly on his desk. They had an approximate age for the kid. About 15-16 years old. But that also didn't make any sense. If they were that old then why didn't they try out for a hero school? Was it possible that they had gotten kicked out? If so, it wasn't from Shouta. He knew the faces of all of the kids that he had expelled this year and none of them were even close to the features that this kid had. 

Not only that but none of the kids that he had expelled this year were as smart or attentive as the vigilante. What we wouldn't do to have this kid in his class and teach him for real. It seemed like this kid was more mysterious than Shouta knew what to do with. 

He let his head fall down onto his desk and he groaned. He was going to have to involve the rat wasn't he? He hit so many dead ends that he couldn't even tell where he had originally started. 

“Aww come on Sho! Don't be like that!” the grating voice of one of his best friends comes through the doorway as she enters the teachers lounge. Don't get him wrong. He loves Nemuri and she's an amazing friend and would do almost anything for her but her voice is just at the right pitch to irk him with his developing headache. 

“Shh Nem. It’s too early for you to be this annoying.” He gets out. But that doesn't stop her in the slightest. 

“No, it's not. It's after lunch time. Therefore by office rules I can be as loud as I want.” She plops down on the couch that is situated close to his desk. He turns his head to glare at her with one eye and she just laughs it off. Zashi, his wonderful loving husband, sashays his way through the room to place a small chaste kiss on his head.

“Nem, you know that Sho has been working really hard ever since he expelled his whole class. so don't be mean.” Zashis says that with a teasing lilt in his voice. Shouta glares at him sideways. Did he say that he loves the other man? Cause now he doesn't. His husband is just plain mean and no Shouta is not being dramatic. Shota can feel himself start to melt into an unwilling puddle on his desk when Zashi starts running his fingers through his hair and lightly massaging his scalp. Damn his husband for knowing him so well. He’s kinda forgiven now.

“Still don't have any information?” Zashi asks. He must have glanced at the paperwork that Shouta didn't put back into the folder. It still only had the same minimal information in it.

“Not anything helpful. I can tell you so many things about this kid but none of it will actually help lead to their identity or what drove them to be a vigilante rather than go to a hero school.” Zashi hums in acknowledgement. 

“Have you tried running some of this information by Nezu? He might be able to help?” Shou knows that the blond man is just trying to help and he greatly appreciates that but he doesn't know if he’s ready to open that can of worms.

“Wait. it's really to the point where Nezu might have to be involved?”

“Unfortunately. I don't know what else to do. I’ve tried looking up their quirk or what I think it is. I only got a few people that it could have been but none of them fit.”

“What's their quirk?” Nem asks.

“I think that they can control shadows. They seem to blend in with them too well and it is almost like they bend to their will. They also have shadow-like tendrils that seem to float off of them. But when I ran that through the quirk database all we got was a kid that is 4 that bends light to make shadows and then there’s an elderly person that lives 2 prefectures away from here. But they are too old to be the one that I’m looking for.”

“Could the shadows just be an aspect of their quirk rather than the whole thing?” Zashi suggests. 

“That’s almost exactly my train of thought, Hizashi-kun.” Nemuri almost jumps out of her skin when Nezu came out of the vents. The only reason why Shouta and Zashi didn’t is cause they were used to it. They had both been the rats' personal students when they attended school here so they were used to the antics by now. But Nezu continues on like nothing happened.

“That’s the only way that it makes sense. It has to be a multifaceted quirk and the shadows the only part that we know. It will be a little bit more troublesome to find them but oh how I love a good challenge.” Nezu gets that gleam in his eye that tells both Shouta and Hizashi that he is up to something. Well, that can of worms if officially opened now. Knowing the Rat he wants this kid to be his new personal student when they have an identity. Shouta sends prayers up to whatever god or goddess that will listen that he will make it out of that partnership relatively unscathed.

“I also think that we should be expanding the age range. Shouta-kun I know that you think that this child might be 15 or 16 but I think if we increase the search parameters to 11-18 we might find more possibilities and a possibility of more routes to try if the search is null.” Shouta had thought about doing that but something stopped him every time. He just didn't think that this kid would be that young and they didn't hold themselves like they were older. But if Nezu thought that it would be worth it, Shouta is willing. He made to say as such to the present company.

“Excellent! Now that that is settled, I have some things to look over and a child to find.” And Nezu leaves the room just as quickly as he dropped in. 

Nemuri shudders from her spot on the couch. 

“You know, I have been working here for years and I don't know if I will ever be able to get used to that.”

“It comes with time.” Zashi and Shou say at the same time. It also just happened to be when The blood hero Vlad King was coming in. He took one look around and muttered something about not today and walked right back out.

Undisclosed location in Japan

She didn't know what she did wrong. All she wanted was to not feel like she was dying from thirst but nothing was working. It wasn’t her fault that her quirk made her drink the blood of that poor bird. It's not like she even really wanted too!  It all happened so fast and she was in a haze when it happened. She didn't even know what was going on until her parents started screaming at her. She tried to tell her parents that her mouth was hurting and that no matter how much water she drank it was never enough.

But they didn't listen to her. They thought that her quirk was going to be the same as her dads. Her dad was able to figure out what kind of diseases and problems somebody had just by having a drop of their blood placed on his finger tips. His quirk was highly sought after in the medical field. The fangs that he had were just a mutation that got passed down in their family.  So when she started expressing an interest in blood her family was hopeful. They had hoped that she would be able to follow in the footsteps of her father and carry on the family name.

That changed though when she hurt that bird. It didn't really do much. It just took the edge of. It was like taking a painkiller for a broken leg. It helped to dull the pain but it was still very much there.

It was shortly after that incident that her parents pulled her out of school and finally took her to a quikr councilor. ( She would find out later that her parents should have done that right when she got her quirk rather than trying to navigate this at home but now that's neither here nor there.)

That's when they all found out that she needed to ingest regular amounts of blood. And when she did so, she was able to transform into that person. It was really cool at first! She was so proud of her quirk and she thought that she would be able to do so much to help with it. Her thoughts immediately to her dad. If she was able to also copy quirks she might be able to follow her dad's footsteps after all. It would be like there were two of him! And better than one! 

Or so she thought. 

She was roughly brought out of that fantasy when her parents stated that they would not allow their daughter to ingest blood in any way and they would just deal with the consequences of that choice. The quirk specialist tried to tell them that if they did that they would be signing a death warrant for their child. 

They didn't care. They just wanted a normal child. They were also the ones that pushed for her to be put on the villain registry. The counselor tried to argue that she didn't need to be but in the end her parents won. And that's how she wound up with the rating of PV208. They justified that with the fact that if she did ever fall down such a path it wouldn't take much for her to copy a person that had a destructive quirk and thus making it double the trouble. But she didn't want to hurt people! She just didn't want to be in pain anymore.

That's what led to her fleeing her house in the middle of the night with not where to go. She didn't have any friends that she could run to and her family all but disowned her. 

 Her fangs were hurting her like crazy and she could feel her sanity slipping. She managed for a little bit on her own. That's also how she found out that human blood was the only way she could really stave off the effects of the thirst that she was feeling. 

She felt queasy every time she had to take blood from somebody but she was only doing it to survive.

She was walking under a bridge when she felt the full effects of her quirk trying to take over to let her drink. It had been about a week, maybe a week and a half since she had last had any blood. She knew that she could go up to three weeks without any but the last time that she did that she almost killed the person cause she couldn't stop. She felt the wave of dizziness wash over her and she reached her hand out to the cement wall to steady herself. It was over after a couple of minutes, but she didn't move. Instead she sunk to her knees and the tears that had been pooling in her eyes were now pilling over. 

Why couldn't she have been normal? If she would have gotten the quirk that her parents wanted her to get she would have had to run away from home. She would have been able to continue to go to school. She would have been able to live without the sense of guilt eating away at her. She often thought back to the greenahried boy that had been in her class before her parents had thrown her out. They had bonded over the fact that neither one of them had gotten their quirks yet. She had long forgotten his full name though. But Izu-chan was so nice to her. She misses him but doesn't even know where to begin to look for him. And if she was being honest with herself? She kinda didn't want to. He was probably happy with his family and she didn't want to come in and ruin that for him.  And he probably had forgotten about her. 

“Hey are you okay? You look a little pale?” A voice startled her out of her thoughts and she turned her head so fast that the world started spinning. 

“Hey! Hey! Don't faint on me now.” The voice was rough and scratchy. Like they had spent a lot of time around smoke. Somehow it was oddly comforting. The person had reached out a hand like they were going to steady her and she flinched away. The hand stopped but didn't move away. 

“I’m not going to touch you unless you say it’s okay but you don't look so good. Do you need food or something? I know that you don't know me but I can help if you want?” She pulled her strength together to look at this person. She could see the scars that went all along this boy's face. They covered most of his lower jaw and somehow right below her his eyes. She wondered how he got scared there but not his cheeks. She didn't voice those thoughts though.  Instead she just leaned towards him. She figured that the worst that could happen is that he kills her. And she could not bring herself to care at this moment. 

“Alright I’ll take that as a yes on the food. Is there anything else that you need?” She rolls the thought around in her mind about telling this strange boy that she needs blood and quickly.  She weighs her options before sagging in defeat into his arms. They were warmer than a normal person but she just chalked it up to the fact that she was really cold. 

“I...need....blood.” She manages to get out though her now labored breathing. The world was also progressively becoming more hazy. She notes to herself that this was a lot quicker than the last time but doesn't have the energy to figure out why. 

“Okay, I would ask if you need animal blood but I don't think you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be like this.”

”Need...human....blood.” 

Insteading of saying anything else he just guides her to his neck. She hesitates a little bit but he just urges her on. 

“We can talk about this after you get what you need and you're coherent.” Not being able to think any more about it she takes him up on his offer.

When she's done she wipes the back of her hand across her mouth and stares at him.

“Now what do you want in return?” She wasn’t stupid. She knew the ways of the streets. Nothing came free and everything had a price. She was just hoping that she could pay it.

“Well if I’m being honest I would like to see Endeavor unseated from his position of power and to be put down like a rabid dog but a friend would be nice too. What's your name?” He holds out a hand to help her up from where she is on the ground.

“Himiko.” 

“Well nice to meet you, Himiko. You can call me Dabi.” With that she smiles. She accepts the hand that is offered and follows Dabi through the alleyways into the night.

Chapter Text

Much to Hitoshi’s surprise and glee, learning ShadowSpeak was much easier than learning Spanish. With Mei, Izu and Zero helping him learn he had picked up on it pretty quick. Izuk had said something about the fact that they were teaching him via immersion rather than classroom settings. He found that he learned better that way anyway so it worked. Now maybe if he could get his Pops to teach him Spanish like that he might actually learn... But that is an issue for another day. 

He looked around the warehouse that he had become increasingly familiar with. He spent more time here than he did at home. In the year that he became friends with Izuku and Mei a lot has changed. He had finally met Mei moms and they were just as amazing as Mei and Izu made them out to be. They also had started teaching him Russian in the same way Mei and Izu got him to learn Shadowspeak. He didn't know why everybody that he was now surrounded with was so adamant about speaking anything other than Japanese but he wasn’t going to say no. He knew that it would be a valuable skill set to have so he just accepted it. It turns out though that was a good thing because the more comfortable Mei became around people the more she would just switch languages.

 He knew that it made sense. She had grown up in a house that had  spoken both and with her moms being in Russia as much as they were, it was bound to happen. It even happened to his pops on more than one occasion after he had gotten done talking to his parents back in Madrid. At least he could understand what she was saying. 

Also in this past year he had convinced Izuku that he would be a vigilante with him. At first that was met with a lot of back push. Izuku didn't want him to for whatever reason. It wasn't until He had told Izuku that he already had been a small-time vigilante in his previous neighborhood that Izuku had let him come along. (Granted his name never really gained much traction because he was limited as to what he could do, but it still counted. That also meant that he could use the name that he had been using without it being a huge deal. Silent Psyren is what he had picked cause it sounded like it shouldn't make sense. And He admits it doesn't but at the same time it does. Izuku and Mei liked it so that's what really matters here.)

All of that had been what led to where they were at right now. The three of them were sitting on a rooftop stargazing waiting for Izuku’s contact to show up. There was something stirring in the underworld and of course Izuku wanted to know what it was. 

“What are you thinking about Psyren?” 

“Just thinking about the past year and everything that we have been through.” 

Izuku just hums in acknowledgement and continues to stare out at the midnight sky.

“Yea it's crazy to think of how much has happened.” 

Hitoshi was about to reply when he saw Zeros head perk up and face towards their left. 

“He’s two rooftops away.”  Is all she said but both of them knew what it meant. Izuku’s contact was here. What Hitoshi didn't notice though is that Zero disappeared. She had fused with Izuku. They both got up and stood towards the middle of the building. The other person had just stepped onto the same roof that they were on and Izuku called out.

“You're late!” Hitoshi just stared at him. He knew that the mask that he was wearing covered all of his facial expressions but he was really hoping that Izuku got the vibe that he was trying to give off. Izuku had gone on and on about how this was important but wouldn't tell him why. Hell, even Meimei knew why this was important but wouldn't tell him. So how can he stand there and treat his contact like this? None of this makes sense. 

“Brat! I’m only two minutes late. I got caught up on the way over here.”

“Well in the wise words of someone that I know, ‘That is two minutes that I could have been in bed sleeping.’”

“You are a menace, Shadow.” The other person made their way into their line of view and hitoshi almost fainted. The contact of Izuku’s that was standing in front of him was none other than Eraserhead. THE ERASERHEAD! Why didn't Izuku tell him that his all time favorite hero was the very person that they were coming to meet? Judging by Izuku’s body language, the other boy was getting a kick from Hitoshi’s reaction. 

Eraserhead tilted his head Hitoshi’s way and Hitoshi thought he was going to die. Whether it be literally or figuratively has yet to be determined.

Eraserhead just raised an eyebrow and turned his stare back to Izuku.

“Alright, where did you kidnap them from and where do I need to return them?” Eraser also pinched his nose in between his eyes and sighed when he said this. 

Izuku had the nerve to look offended.

“Raser! I did not kidnap them! Pysren wanted to be my partner. Thank you very much! Some people actually like me!”  And this is where Hitoshi felt the last little bit of his sanity slip away. Izuku fucking Midoriya Calls Eraserhead by a nickname.

“Okay well if he likes being around you so much then why do they look like their about to pass out or run away?” Hitoshi’s cheeks flare up as the attention is brought onto him. 

“Oh it’s cause you're one of their favorite heroes and I didn't really tell him that we were meeting you tonight.” Izuk snickers and Hitoshi could also swear that if Zero had been fused with Izuku she would also be quietly laughing. And then what Izuku had actually said struck him. Did he really just out that?! Histoshi steals a look over at where Eraser is trying to gauge the man’s reaction. He was an underground hero for a reason so having somebody say that he’s their favorite hero was bound to be uncomfortable. 

Oddly enough the hero in question didn't even look awkward. He just sighed and muttered out,

“Oh course you would find another problem child that shares that sentiment. Alright Problem Child 2, what's your name?”

“Ah. it's um... Silent Psyren...sir.”

Eraserhead just stares at him like he did something wrong. It took a minute of this before Izuk leaned over and in an exaggerated whisper told Hitoshi,

“Don't call him sir. He says that it makes him feel old or something. Which I mean he is so I don't know why he gets offended by it. I mean we’re just showing respect for the elder-” Izuku is cut off by the red glow of Eraserheads quirk and his capture weapon (Hitoshi is not freaking out about seeing up close and in person and anybody who says otherwise is a lying liar that lies..) trying to wrap around Izuku’s waist. The other boy just laughs and dances out of the way of the weapon coming for him. 

“Brat! I am not that old!”

Izuku just laughs as the hero tries to catch him again. When it fails he just rolls his eyes and turns back to Hitoshi.

“Don't call me sir. It’s weird.” Not knowing what else to do, Hitoshi just nods his head. Izuku takes that moment to jump onto Eraserhead’s back. The hero doesn't even stumble at the new added weight to his back. 

“Problem child one, get off of me.” But he doesn't try and get Izuku off himself which Hitoshi takes note of. Even though Eraserhead looks like he’s completely done with all of the antics from Izuku he’s not actually doing anything about it. In fact the hero just shifts his weight to hold on to the younger vigilante a little easier. There might also be softness to his eyes but Hitoshi isn't sure. Maybe Eraserhead has a soft spot for his best friend?

“Nah! I don't think I will. We also have to go over that raid that has been continuously pushed back. I think that Psyren should come with us.”

“Why is that?”

“Now now Eraser I’m not gonna tell you their quirk. You should know that by now. Just know that I think that Pysren would be a good addition and you know that the hero commission isn't giving you any more heroes as back up.”

“How did you  know that?” Eraser tilts his head to try and look at him. 

“I have my ways. So what do you say?” Completely deflecting the question.

“Do you think that you would be able to go on the raid with us? I’m sure that since you're partners with Shadow that you already know most of what's going on so I won't waste the time to tell you.”

“Yea, I have some combat experience and I’m good under pressure.” Hitoshi is so proud of the fact that his voice doesn't waver. A curt nod is all that he gets in response. 

“Well if that’s the case then I think that we should go on a few patrols first and then see how you do. I already know how Shadow fights and they can handle themselves. So prove yourself and we can talk about details.” Hope and anticipation wells in Hitoshi’s chest. He never thought in a million years that he would be able to work alongside his favorite hero. It’s like a dream come true.  He knew that he couldn't and wouldn't fuck this up. It’s just not an option. So with a smirk that he knew that Eraserhead couldn't see he said,

“I won't let you down...Sir.” Izuku bursts out into a laughing fit and Eraserhead just looks betrayed. Thinking that he stepped too far he went to go start apologizing to the hero but instead was cut off. 

“Why am I the one that always gets the Problem Children that don't listen. I never asked for this.”

“Oh quit being dramatic, ‘Raser! But now that that's out of the way Pysren and I must be going. We have important things to do and people to see.” He gets off the hero's back and walks over to where Hitoshi is standing. 

In an actual whisper Izuku says,

“He likes you. Don't worry too much. With things like this he’s all talk.” That settles the feeling in Hitoshi's chest a lot more than he wants to admit. Loosening his shoulders, he turns to Izuku. 

“Alright well it was nice meeting you sir. I’m looking forward to working with you. Now Shadow lead the way.” Izuku lets out a small giggle and turns to start running off the rooftop. Hitoshi follows not too long after him and they disappear into the night. 

Shouta feels the weight of Shadow disappear off his back and watches as they walk over to their new partner and whisper something into the others ear. He sees the tension that the Psyren has been carrying ever since he stepped foot on the roof fade. Problem Child 2 calls him sir again and they disappear into the night. 

Shouta knows that if he really wanted to he could follow them but with what he and Nezu had discussed it would be better to let them trust him and to allow them to come to him. He sighs as he waits for another couple minutes.

The rest of his patrol shift is uneventful. He stopped a few muggings and escorted a couple of women home that thought they might be followed. They try to thank him but he just tells them that he's only doing his job. They still thank him and offer up a business card. They tell him that if he ever needs and support equipment that he should call them. He looks down at the business card. It’s a simple white and maroon card and has Hatsume Industries written across the card. He flips it over and finds the standard email and phone number to call. Hatsume Mai and Hatsume Yui. He thanks them and tells them that he will call them if he needs to. 

Satisfied with his answer the two women go their separate ways from Shouta. Well he looks at his phone and it reads 12:30 in the morning he decided to go home and sleep.  It may only have been half of a normal shift for him, but it's been quiet. 

When he gets home he is quick to shed off his support gear and hero costume and get into his pajamas. He takes a minute to just admire his husband in their bed. His golden blonde hair is splayed out around him like a halo and he can see the gentle rise and fall of his husband's chest as he sleeps peacefully. He smiles towards the man and finally gets into bed. Arms are wrapped around him the second he settles in.

“How was patrol Shou?” Zashis sleepily mutters to him. Knowing that while his husband would sit there on the brink of sleep and listen to whatever he has to say he instead murmurs,

“I’ll tell you about it in the morning sunshine. I’m safe. Just go back to sleep.” He kisses the other man's cheek and he hears the mumbled ‘okay’ 

Snuggling into his husband's arms he also falls asleep not too long afterwards. 

The next morning Shouta wakes easily and almost well rested for once. He basks in the feeling for a couple of minutes before getting out of bed. He follows his nose to the kitchen where the smell of Zashi making pancakes and bacon is coming from. When he enters the kitchen he sees Zashi dancing around the stove while making food. His radio station is playing in the background. Shouta smiles easily at the scene in front of him. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the door frame that leads into the kitchen and just watches for a little bit. Seeing his husband act so carefree and smile so easily always warms his heart. It was one of the reasons why he fell in love with the other man. 

He stands there for a few more minutes before Zashi notices him. When he does Zashi smiles at him and turns off the stove. Once that's done he quickly walks over to where Shouta is leaning against the door frame and wraps his arms around him. Zashi kisses him and says

“Good morning my love.” 

“Morning Zashi. Food smells really good.” He tries to pull his husband in for another kiss but the blonde just smiles at him and tugs him into the kitchen. 

“Not right now, my love. I know that your hungry so we can cuddle and stuff after you have eaten. I know that you didn't eat when you got home last night.”

Shouta sheepishly smiles and proceeds to put some pancakes and bacon on his plate. Zashi does the same  thing and they both sit at the table to start eating. 

About halfway through the meal Zashi speaks up. 

“So, since you didn't tell me last night, how was your patrol?” 

Shouta plays with the few bites of pancake left on his plate. 

“The work was easy enough but..” He wasn't sure how to say the next part. He knew that his husband already knew about Shadow. By the same extent he already knew that his husband didn't share the same thoughts about vigilantes that most spotlight heroes did. But it still made Shouta feel like he failed at something knowing that there was another one with his problem child. Shadow was too smart and he wasn't able to get any information that would help identify them. They just looked so young to be out doing what they were. Granted If they were anything like Shadow he knew that he wouldn't have to worry too much but he still did. 

“But...?” 

“Shadow has a partner. Psyren. I met them last night.” He finally says. Figuring that just saying in the most blunt way possible would be the easiest way.

Zashi always picked up on the things that Shouta couldn't say without Shouta having to say it. It was another reason why he fell in love with him.

“ You're worried about both of them aren’t you?” He doesn't say anything and just puts another bite into his mouth to have a reason to not talk. 

“Judging by that look I would say yes. And I know that you're worried but look at the bright side.” Shouta turns his head towards the blonde and raises an eyebrow,

“At least Shadow now has somebody to watch his back when you're not there. If the little listener found somebody that he trusts to go with him on patrol then that has to mean something right?” Shouta mulls that thought around in his head. And it did make him feel a little more at ease and breathe a little easier knowing that Shadow wasn’t alone anymore. He was glad that the young vigilante had some help. Even if it was from another vigilante. 

“Yea, I guess that’s true.” 

“And it also says a lot that Shadow was willing to introduce you to them. He could have kept them a secret from you. If they are doing so with their quirk then you know that they could do it with a partner too. I think that says a lot on how much Shadow trusts you.” 

“So then why does it still feel like I failed somehow?” Shouta says quietly.

“Because you care. I know that you have this reputation of being an uncaring hardass but I also know you, Shou. You are the person that will save kittens out in the rain and also has a huge heart especially for young kids. But this isn't your fault Shou.” Zashi stops speaking long enough to grab Shouta’s hand and  wait for him to meet his gaze. 

“You were not the one that put these kids out into the street. You were not the one that pushed them into risking their lives. What you did do though is give them a person that they can learn to trust and lean on. And hopefully when the time comes they will. They will trust you enough to let them how and we will help them, Shou. But like Nezu says, we have to wait.” During this time Zashi was rubbing his thumb back and forth on the back of his hand. He knew that what Zashi was saying was right. And he makes sure to say as much. 

The smile that graces his husband's face is almost enough to rid all the feelings of guilt in his head. 

“Good, now that you know that, why don't you go pick out a movie and find our cats? Since it's Saturday and neither one of us has work today, so we can cuddle on the couch and have a lazy day?” Zashi stands up and takes their dishes to the sink. And thinking about it, a lazy day is exactly what Shouta needs.

Chapter Text

 When Izuku judged that he and Hitoshi were a good distance from the hero he slowed down to a walk.  He could tell that Hito was getting better stamina. A year ago Hitoshi would have fallen over and been panting for air. But now he was keeping pace with Izuku. He was proud of the progress that his friend was making. When Hitoshi stopped next to him, Izuku turned his head to try and say something. 

And promptly forgot what he was going to say. Hitoshi had lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat that had started forming at his brow. Before Izuku could restart his brain he caught sight of Hitoshi’s stomach and the six pack that was forming due to all of his training. He could feel the blush sweep over his cheeks and his mouth was dry. All thoughts went out of his head. He could really only think of just how good Hitoshi looked. He knew that he shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts for his friend though. He didn’t even know for sure if his friend would be interested in him like that anyways...

Is this what gay panic is? Izuku is mostly sure that this is what this is. He doesn't even know why! That’s a bold face lie. He knew exactly why.

He is pulled from his thoughts when he feels a small pinprick on the back of calf. Does not yelp and he most certainly does not jump a foot in the air trying to figure if they were under attack. Seeing that they were not and that it was just Zero trying to get his attention, he playfully glares at his panther.

“Was that really necessary Zero?” He gives Zero a small smile so that she knows that he isn't really mad.

“Considering the fact you werent answering Hito or me and you were so far into you're own thoughts you were having a debat with yourself about whether or not you were experriencing gay panic? Yes. Yes it was necessary. Why don't you just tell him how you feel?” The words catch him off guard and he ends up choking on his own spit. He braced his hands on his knees and started coughing.  

The entire time Hitoshi was standing off to the side of Izuku just watching the two interact. Izuku was thankful for the hand that Hitoshi started rubbing circles on his back. 

“Easy there Shadow.” They stayed like that for another few minutes while Izuku managed to get his breathing under control. When he did, he straightened his spine. 

“Thanks Psyren.” 

“No worries but you wanna tell me what that was all about? One minute you're walking just fine and then you stop. You didn't respond to anything Zero or I said and then you start hacking up a hairball after something that I’m guessing Zero said to you?” The purple haired treen in front of him looked genuinely concerned. He debated on whether or not to just tell Hitoshi. 

“What if he likes us back little one?” Zero’s voice in his head was soft and timid. But also laced with hope and hesitation. Izuku wanted nothing more than to grab Hitoshi but the front of his costume and just pull him down into a kiss. The pining that and dancing around each other (and that was for all three of them. Including Mei but that is another can of worms that Izuku does not have the mental capacity to open right now.) is getting to him. He has two options He can either just let this continue how it is, or 

“We can take a leap of faith..” Zero finishes his thought.

“You're right Zero. We need to do this.” 

He turned his eyes to the captivating purple ones. He found himself getting lost in them. The color of purple that is Hitoshis eyes is one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. And he doesn't think that he could accurately describe them. He feels Zero nudge him again and he is grateful this time. He needs to say this before he loses the sudden bout of confidence about it. 

“Psyren, I have something that I need to tell you.” He manages to get out. Hitoshi steps closer to him and rests his hands on Izuku’s biceps. The touch is warm and lingering. Hitoshi squeezes them and quietly replies,

“I’ll listen to anything you have to say. There’s no need to worry that pretty little head of yours.” And of course the other accompanies that statement with that smirk that sends Izuku’s heart fluttering.   

They are so close together now. Izuku didn't even notice that he had stepped closer. He also didn't notice how his hands had traveled their way up Hitoshi’s chest and how he could now feel the heartbeat underneath them. Its strong, steady and grounding. And just the push that he needs to take that leap of faith. 

It would seem that the universe has other thoughts though cause before he was able to open his mouth to speak there is a shout that caught his attention. And it's not because it was a shout of pain or even help. It’s because he recognized it. And she normally never shouted like this unless it was really important. 

“SHADOW!!! PSYREN!!!” Groaning Izuku lets his head land onto the taller boys chest. Maybe if he just stayed like this....

Chuckling lightly Hitoshi moves his hand from where it was on Izuku’s bicep and tangles in it his green hair. Lightly scraping the scalp in a soothing motion. 

“She’s not gonna give up until she finds us huh?”

“Nope.” 

“Any ideas what would make her like this?”

“My guess is that Mom and MommaMai are back early. That's the only reason that she would be like this.”

What Izuku doesn't see is the soft look that the purple haired teen on his face. It’s partly directed at Izuku and it's also partly for the pink haired girl that is currently running towards them with grease stains on her overalls and smiling like an idiot. 

“It’s adorable though. I like seeing her this happy.” Izuku lifts his head and also sees the same scene in front of him. And now that she has caught the attention of both boys she is running full speed at them. 

“It really is though. I love it so much when she's this happy. I know how much it hurts to see her moms go and It's almost worth it to see her this happy when they come back.” 

When Mei is within distance she launches herself at Hitoshi. It was really only thanks to the instincts that he has been training as a vigilante that he was able to catch her and prevent both himself and Mei from landing on the pavement. 

“Oh my Time Guess what?!” She's practically vibrating happiness within Hito’s arms and he doesn't mind in the slightest. 

“Meimei, if you shake any more, you might explode like a soda bottle.” Izuku says to her with a smile on his face. She’s just so happy that it's infectious. 

“I don't care!! I’ll be okay! But Mom and MommaMai are back!!! We have to go see them!!” She clings harder to Hitoshi and for a split second Izuku is worried about him choking with the hold that Mei has on him. But he adjust her so that it's not cutting off his air supply and just smiles at her. 

“We will Mei. We just need to change out of our costumes and probably grab some food.”

“You know my moms don't care about your costumes in the house. Just as long as you don't tell them what it’s used for.” Izuku could see just how impatient she was to get back and he didn't blame her. Izuku knew From the way she was clinging to Hitoshi she wasn't going to let him go anytime soon either. So he came up with a workable solution. 

“Why don't we split up? You guys can go back to the warehouse and grab civilian clothes and Zero and I will pick up food on the way back to Mei’s Moms’ house?” Izuku looks towards his best friends. They share a look between each other but shrug. 

This would also give him time to think about what had just happened between him and hitoshi and figure out his feelings about it. And also figure out what exactly his feelings for MeiMei are. Time, feelings are complicated. 

“Sure Izu. Can we get Ramen from that place next to the bank in Shinjuku?” Hitoshi asks. Izuku does a mental tally of the money that he currently has on himself. It should be enough to get food for all of them and still have some left over. That place while being super cheap, had amazing food and really big serving sizes.

“Yea that sounds good!” He calls out his see you laters as the part ways. He and Zero start heading towards the ramen shop. They had decided to take a short cut through an alley when he heard the sound of a manhole cover being moved. Now since he is a vigilante his senses are better than most and he moves towards the edge of the building. 

He sees a thing, maybe a person? glide out of the sewer systems and look around. They hadn't noticed Izuku yet so he stayed in the shadows trying to get a read on the... man? Woman? person? He doesn't want to misgender them but he also doesn't want to call them an it either. From what Izuku can tell they are entirely made up of slime. Or at least a slime-like substance. Izuku knows that since he doesn't have any of his gear on him that he would be doing this almost blind. That isn't the issue though. He had done that plenty of times before Mei had made his hamlet and before Hito had started helping while on patrol. Hito wasn't super good yet but he was good at being a  sounding board to bounce ideas off of. 

He also knew that he didn't have anything to deal with slime either. Zero’s claws wouldn't really work and Shadow Fire was pretty useless.

“Zero, I think it’s better if we just go. We don't have anything to deal with that person right now.” He made a mental note to tell Eraser that see? He does have self preservation skills. They just don't make an appearance that often, that's all. 

“I would have to agree with you on -” Zero was cut off by the sound of the slime person Sliding? Running? Away from another noise at the end of the alleyway.

Right towards where he was.

He moved to try and climb the wall to get away from them. 

“Oh perfect! A smaller meat suit and one with a pretty quirk. You’ll be perfect for hiding in!”

Adrenaline kicks in and Izuku tries to scramble up the wall faster. He was almost out of reach when he felt something tug at his ankle. It was enough of a tug that he was sent back down to the pavement.  He crashed down and Zero was next to him in an instant. His head was a little fuzzy from the fall but he could hear her growling at the person. 

“I don't have time to deal with you yet! I need an escape route!” The slime barrels under Zero and latches on to Izuku. He could feel the slime working its way through his eyes, nose, ears, and pretty much any other point that they could gain access through. He was trying to claw his way to get air but it seemed like nothing was working. Black spots were starting to float on the edges of his vision.

“Izuku! Just hang on a little bit longer. If what he said is true there might be somebody after him!” Zero’s voice sounded panicked. He tried to send her reassurances but he doesn’t think that they went through. His attempts at freeing himself were feeble at best. He could tell that he didn't have long left cause the black spots were most of his vision now.

Just when he was about to let go, he felt the earth around them tremble and suddenly he could breathe. 

He tried to take in lungfuls of the sweet air that he had been deprived of but ended up coughing instead. It burned when he coughed. It felt like swallowing glass and it made his eyes sting with tears. Zero was by his side and trying her best to ground him. He shakily let his hand come up to rest on top of her head.

“Ah good to see that you survived young man!” A booming voice said from above him. He turned around and saw that none other than All Might was standing before him. They had just gotten saved by All Might! The number one hero! Now he might not be Izuku’s personal favorite but he could appreciate what the man did for society. He tried to find the words that he wanted to say but just ended up coughing more instead.

“Ah I know that you are so struck by my presence that you are rendered speechless! But fear not! I have the villain in custody and I have the time to sign one thing for you!” 

“Little pretentious?” Izuku said to his panther.

“That’s kinda what I thought too. Maybe it just comes with all of the fame?”  Zero questions and Izuku just shrugs in response. Turning to face All Might,

“I..Don't think I have anything that you can sign...” Izuku trails off. He is still coughing a little bit and All Might finally seem to notice that. 

“We should probably get you some medical attention! That cough doesn't sound good dear boy!”

Izuku flinches a little at the name. Not because it was All Might but because he didn't like to have nicknames from people he didn't know. 

“Yea it kinda burns when I breathe.” Izuku admitted. All Might didn't look nearly as concerned as he should be but Izuku just chalked that up to the fact that this is something that the man deals with on a daily basis. 

“I have sent for medical service to be here soon! Now if that is all I must go get this vile villain in custody!” Izuku knew that this would probably be his only chance. He just wanted to know if the number one hero thought he could also be a hero. In his heart he knew that he could. He knew that he and Zero could do some much good stuff together but he wanted to see if the number one hero thought so as well. Afterall, He and Zero were already helping out Eraserhead. They were already doing hero work even if it wasn’t exactly legal.  

“All Might! Wait! I just have one question for you!”

“Make it quick! I have to get going!” The man stands proud in front of him with that same smile on his face that Izuku could remember watching over and over again when he was a kid before he got his quirk. It was a little awe inspiring to be in front of that same man now. He thought of how to work his question before he settled on,

“Do you think that somebody with a PVR number could be a hero? Like if they worked really hard to show everybody that they are more than just that number?” Izuku twisted his hands and waited for the reply. He could also feel the uneasiness from Zero as well. The longer the silence went on the more Izuku thought that asking was a mistake. 

Finally the hero seemed to have an answer.

“Of course not! The reason why we have the registry is that we can keep track of these people so that when they go to the bad side we can find them and bring them in. They have no potential to be a hero! That's a funny thought though. Somebody like that being a hero! Haha!” Surrounded by booming laughter, Izuku stood there starstruck but for a different reason this time. He really couldn't believe what had just come out of this person's mouth. 

“So you're saying that no matter what they do or how they act, they only have the chance to be a villain? Like there is no room for anything else?” Izuku just needed to clarify this. There was no way that the number one hero could be this quirkest right? He has to be dreaming.

“No! That's the reason why they are on the registry my boy! They do nothing but leech from society and taint this world with their evil ways!”

Izuku was boiling over mad now. Not only was the number one hero truly this quirkest but he was also stupid. KIDS were put on this list. Some as young as 3. How can a 3 years be the evil that All Might is talking about?

And he made sure to say that to the man in front of him. In Izuku’s eyes this man was no longer a hero. 

“ All well yes but boy you are still young and naive. So it's understandable that you don't know how the world works. I’m sure that you will understand someday.”

“I know how the world works. All Might! I’m not stupid! I was and still am one of the kids that got put on that damn fucking registry because my birthgiver didn't like my quirk!” Izuku snapped his mouth shut. He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. He didn't mean to tell this piece of shit that he was on the very list that had damned him most of his life. The man in front of him was now towering over him. Zero took her place next to him and let out a soft warning growl. Izuku let it slide for now. All Might didn't even spare her a glance when he started glaring in Izuku. The hero that saved hundreds of people with a smile on his face was now gone. And in that place was a person that was glaring at him like he had just just done the most vile thing. The look made Izuku gut churn. He didn’t like the way this was going.

“I see, Well in that case I shouldn't have saved you. I should have let you drown in the sludge so that this world would have one less villain to worry about.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong! I haven’t broken the law.” Izuku tried to defend himself but he knew from all the times that he had fought with other people that once they are set in their ways they rarely change their mind. When he saw the hate filled glint in all Might's eyes he was also incredibly happy that his vigilante costume didn't have any major identifiers and that he had taken off his helmet a while ago. Cause Izuku knew that look. It was the same look his sperm donor and birthgiver had given him when they kicked him out. He knew that All Might was about to do something so he prepared himself to run.

“Good so then when I also take you into custody, it will be a preventative measure.” All Might made a move to grab Izuku and thankfully his reflexes were quicker. He danced just out of range of the towering hero and set off running. He took to the rooftops as soon as he could cause he knew that he would have an easier time getting up there now to travel rather than when the hero is right on his tail. Zero was keeping pace next to him easily. He could hear the hero gaining on them quickly. Izuku knew that with the leftover sludge in his lungs his stamina would give out quickly. It was already a lot harder than normal to be running. The feeling of glass sliding down his throat was almost unbearable but he had to push through it. If he didn’t, he doesn't even want to think about what would happen.

“We need to find a place to hide.” Zero mentioned as they jumped over a small gap in between two buildings. Izuku took the time to look around and find out where they were. 

They were actually pretty close to the ramen shop now and if he was right there was a small alleyway that you could barely see unless you knew where to look. Izuku knew it was there because he had met some informants there a couple of times. And he’s banking on the fact that All Might doesn’t know where it is. Hearing his train of thought Zero made her way towards the alley. When they finally got there they had to hide underneath a pile of who knows what. It doesn't smell the best but it would work as a hiding spot for now. At least until All Might passed.

Izuku strained his ears to hear anything about where the number one dick would be. Finally he heard the telltale sign that All Bitch had landed somewhere close to where he was hidden. He covered his mouth with his hand so that the hero wouldn't be able to hear him breathe. It was still too ragged for his liking but at this moment he was just grateful for the shadows that encased both him and Zero from sight. 

They stayed there for 10 long moments before the hero gave up and went about his own business. 

Izuku tried to stand up when he thought the coast was clear but Izuku grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged him back down. 

"I can still faintly hear him in the area. We need to stay here a little longer to make sure that he actually leaves." Izuku just nodded and sat back down next to his panther. His thoughts were reeling at the events that had just happened. He didn't expect All Might of all people to be completely quirkest and a dick. But he learned the whole lesson of ‘Never meet your heroes’ the hard way. He also knows that all of the All Might merch that he had managed to take with him and collect over the years would get a pretty penny on the underground market. He wasn't about to keep the merch of the hero that had such a shitty personality. 

When Zero called that the coast was clear they both left the alleyway and into the ramen shop. The owner of the shop looked at them a little warily when they walked in, but still gave them food and even put a little extra in there. They didn't ask any questions and for that Izuku was grateful. They left the shop and Izuku had a bag in both of his hands and Zero had one in her between her teeth for easy carrying. They had made it about a half mile from the ramen shop when Izuku starts to rant to his panther about what had happened.  

“I can believe that he said that!” Izuku rants to his panther.

“I can't believe it either. Like who does he think that he is telling us that we can't be heroes?”

“I don't know but he’s stupid and wrong. I mean seriously judging people like that?! Like what if he would have been the tipping point for us to turn?” 

“Exactly. He probably thought he was doing the right thing in some delusional way. But we need to tell the Cub and the Kit about what happened. Mainly cause Kit needs to know so that she’s in the loop and Cub cause he needs to know ahead of time what an asshole that hero is.” Zero spits out the word hero like it's poison and Izuku can't help but agree. He also groans at the thought of having to tell them what happened. But he knew that Zero was right. They both had to know. 

They continue to walk; They are both distracted with what had happened as well as trying to work out a way to tell Mei and Hitoshi what had happened. Coupled with the fact that they would have to go get medical help for the sludge that was still in his lungs. He was not looking forward to that. Maybe Mei's moms' could help him? That would honestly be more preferable than actually going to an ER and dealing with those people.

Shouts of anger from up ahead of them bring all those thoughts to a screeching halt. Izuku took the time to look around to figure out what was going on as well as put his helmet back on. Better safe than sorry. From where he was standing it looked like a drug deal gone wrong.

Izuku could see two groups of people. One of them only had two but the other had around 5, maybe 6. He would be outnumbered either way so trying to intervene would not be a smart choice. 

He motioned to Zero that they should just walk away. She also knew that the two of them wouldn't be able to do any real damage. They might be good but they weren't that good. He also didn't want to take the chance of the other two joining up, in hopes of getting on the good side of the other 6. So as quietly as they could, they turned around to head the other direction; Away from the fight. The sound of running footsteps came up behind him. His heart is racing right now cause he doesn't have anything to help him. His hands are full and Zero is too recognizable to use as defense. With him also being on that damn list and with what just happened with All Might, Izuku has a feeling that even if he were to use self defense to protect himself, he would still end up as the one in a jail cell.  

Not knowing what else to do he just got as close to the wall as possible and hoped to any deity that would listen that they would just rush past him and not give him a second thought. 

 But that's where his luck ran out for the night. He probably used all of it to hide from All Might. 

He was suddenly crowded in by the 6 that he saw earlier. They made a semi circle around him and Zero, cutting off all means of escape. 

"Oh look at what we have here. You must be the infamous Shadow that has been stalking the nights and ruining everything the boss has been setting up." The person in front of him sneers. Izuku racks his brain for anything that could remember. He couldn't think of an organization that he had been trying to take down recently so his thoughts ended up blank. Unless they were talking about the raid that he did with Eraser a long while back. It had only been a small one but they did get a lot of information out of it. So all around it was considered a success even though they hadn't been able to arrest everybody. 

He pales at that thought. Cause if it was the same people, there is a very small chance that they would actually let him out of this alive. He tries to take note of anything that would be able to help him. The ramen in the bags will not do good and the chopsticks he could use but right now they were still in the package so not as helpful. 

He brings his hand up that isn't as full with the food and tries to activate the hamlet screen so that he can at least see what quirks he's going up against. 

“Oh not! I don't think so! We aren't about to let you call for help!” One of the guys on the edge of the circle says. They all draw knives from where they were hidden and one of them grabs his hand. He dropped the food and a spike of pain radiates up from his wrist. It's twisted the wrong way and if the guy applies any more pressure Izuku is sure that it will break.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I’m not Shadow.” Izuku grits out through clenched teeth. He probably should lie to them since they recognized him on sight but he’s slightly panicking, sue him. 

“Oh yes you are. We would know that stupid costume anywhere. Not to mention the helmet is kinda a dead giveaway.” 

“I don't know what you're talking about! I have never met Shadow and this is now the third time this week that I have been accused of being him!” He tries to shake off the guy that has his arm in a hold but all that he gets out of that his the guy holds on stronger and twists his wrist even more. He can feel the strain of his bones trying to not break.

“Yea, that’s a bold face lie, Shadow. We’re not believing a word that you say. And for lying to us, we’re gonna make it hurt worse. And don’t even think of using your quirk to defend yourself. We know exactly who to go after if you do. We wouldn't want poor poor Mei Hatsume or Hitoshi Shinsou to get hurt, now would we?” Izuku’s eyes widened in fright. They didn't just know who his vigilante persona was. They knew his civilian one too. How had they managed that? He had made sure that he was never tailed and that he kept his two identities as separate as he could. The thought also hit him that if they knew who Mei was the Her moms would also be targets. How could he be so selfish? They had done nothing wrong in this whole thing. Guilt was now a contending factor in this whole mess. He had just wanted to help people. That wasn't so bad! Granted yes he was going about it in an illegal way but right now it’s not like he could get into a hero school! Fuck He can't believe this, Eraser is going to kill him if these people don't...

“Does that mean that he knows too?” The worried sound of Zero's voice in his head voices that same thought. That made the knot that had formed in his throat drop down to his stomach. If Eraser knew that it was really only a matter of time before they were all arrested for vigilantism.  What if he was just waiting for Izuku to slip up and confirm his identity so that they wouldn't make a mistake? Was it possible that everything Eraser has done for them was nothing but lies? He didn't want to think the man was like that but Izuku couldn't say for sure. Did he and Zero make a mistake of taking Hitoshi to meet him tonight? 

All of his thoughts were now boiling to two lines that were constantly on repeat. He couldn't protect them. There was nothing that he could do.

He felt so useless. 

He knew that the people surrounding him were talking but he was surrounded by the thoughts that were speeding through his mind. That is until he felt a knife pierce through his costume and cut him. His eyes flicked to where the wound was. He wasn’t that big thankfully. It was only about half an inch and not that deep. He unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. The villains holding him caught on to that though. 

“Oh you think that this is all we are going to do to you? That’s cute that you think so.” 

And without any further monologuing, they cut into him. He hissed everytime the knife opened his skin and tried not to think about the amount of blood that he would be losing. 

Izuku wasn’t sure how much time had passed from when they had caught up to him and now but he was sure that it was a while. He was panting and trying to not scream out in pain. All the while, somebody had apparently apprehended Zero. She was struggling on the ground of the alleyway. Trying as hard as she could to turn and bite the people holding her. A fresh wave of tears was rolling down his cheeks now. He hadn't even noticed that he had started crying throughout all of this but it made sense. 

“Oh look boys, he's finally crying!” The last one that had cut him said. Izuku tried his best to glare at them through his tears but he knew that it wasn't effective. It just seemed to taunt them more. 

“Well, I think that we have had our fun for tonight. It wouldn't do any good to kill you yet Shadow. But I will leave you with this parting gift. So that you know exactly what is at stake if you decide to cross us again.”

If the pain from the previous cuts had been like a stream of constant pain, this new cut was like a tsunami hitting him at full force. The fire that spread throughout his body was unbearable and he couldn't hold in his screams any more. The pain was all consuming and his nerves were somehow both on fire and numb at the same time. He couldn't even tell how big it was cause the thought of trying to move his head to look was too much effort. 

Satisfied with their work they drop Izuku and he just crumples to the ground. 

The leader of the group squats down next to him and whispers in Izuku’s ear. 

“Now remember little Shadow. I know a lot more than I have even told you tonight. Don't make me hurt your friends.” Without another word or glance all of them were gone. Izuku was laying on the ground and Zero had walked over to try and help him up but it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to move out of the alleyway. He fumbled for the switch on his helmet that would send his location to Mei and Hito so that maybe they could help him. After 4 tries Zero bats his hand away and hits it with her paw. He spares a thankful thought that Mei had designed it for this exact reason.

“Zero..” He tries to speak but she hushes him.

“No, little one. Save your energy. I’ll protect you until they show up.”

“Mmmk” Was the last thing that he was able to get out before the pain and blackness overtook his senses.

Chapter Text

Mei and Hitoshi had separated from Izuku and were walking back to her parents house. She still hasn't let go of Hitoshi and was going on and on about how she couldn't wait to show her parents the new baby that she had made. 

Hitoshi smiled softly down at the girl that was in his arms. He knew that he liked both of his friends as more than friends. But he didn't know what to do about it. He wasn't sure if they would even agree to something like that. He was sure that Izuku was so close to telling him but Mei came running up and in typical Mei fashion had put things on a different path. He couldn't even be mad at her for it cause the way that her face was lighting up, it made his heart stutter. 

But for now until he could figure out how to navigate all of this (Which really means when he grows the balls to actually say anything to both of them he thought bitterly) he will just be content with what he has now. Which is two slightly touch starved friends that have 0 problems with making it Hitoshi’s problem. (Not that he minds. Like at all.)

“Hitoshi! Are you even listening to me?” Hitoshi smirks down at her as she pouts/glares at him with no real heat.

“I always listen to you, Princess.” Mei looks at Hitoshi with a questioning look and Hitoshi realizes what he said. He hadn’t meant for that to slip out.

“Oh! You gave me a nickname! It’s about time, Blueberry!” And she continues on with her what she was talking about beforehand. He mentally sighs in relief that she thought it just a nickname. But it also kinda hurts to think of at the same time. Now wasn't that just a predicament to be in?

He contemplates this for the rest of the walk back to Mei’s house. 

When they get there, Mei wiggles out of his grasp and Hitoshi gently sets her down. She walks through the door while dragging Hitoshi with her while yelling,

“We’re home!” They both take off their shoes and go deeper into the house. 

Hastume Yui, otherwise known as mom, was the first one out of the kitchen. She was only slightly taller than Hitoshi and had dark red hair. When she saw them standing in the living room her black eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Oh my babies!” She rushed over to them and gathered them both in a hug. He forgot just how strong she is though. She had the frame of a dancer like Hitoshi did, so it was easy to forget that she got all of her strength lifting heavy machinery. He hugs her back and she takes the chance to ruffle his hair. Hitoshi loves the fact that they aren't scared to hug him. It reminds him of his dads, but it’s also different. While his dad's hugs feel more physically protective the hugs that he gets from Meis moms are more emotional. It’s something that he didn't even know he missed until now.   

She looks around and when her eyes fall back on Mei she askes,

“Now where is the Green Bean? I need to know that he is safe too.” 

“Oh he went to get Ramen for everybody, mom. He should be back within the half hour though. He went to the ramen place that you and MommaMai like so much.”

As if saying her name summons her MommaMai also stepped out of the kitchen. Mei was almost the spitting image of Momma Mai. But instead of the yellow eyes that Mei got from her sperm donor, Mai had slate gray eyes. (And that is literal too. They had conceive Mei through IVF)

“Now I wish that you two would have said that sooner! Like oh I don't know when you were on the way home after I texted you! I wouldn't have cooked!” MommaMai had a teasing note in her voice but was still being dramatic about it. 

“I think Princess over here was just excited that you two were home and forgot.” Hitoshi says easily. He looks at Mei who is beaming at him and he misses the knowing look that is shared between the adults. 

“Well if that's the case then why don't we all go to the living room and Wait for the broccoli boy to get back. And you can tell us all about what happened while we were away.”   

They had been talking for about 45 minutes when Mei started to get antsy. She was checking her phone almost every 30 seconds. Hitoshi wasn't much better. Izuku should have been back by now. The ramen place wasn't that far away from where they had been and it also wasn't that far away from the house. It was a max of like  a 15 minute walk. And even if he had gotten caught up in the dinner rush which was possible, it shouldn't have taken this long. 

“It’s weird that Izuku isn't back yet.” MommaMai said from her spot on the couch.

“Ya, he’s normally faster than this. And I know that he looks forward to us coming back as much if not more than you two do.” Yui said with a note of softness in her voice. 

“I’m going to try and text him.” Hito pulls out his phone to do just that. He texted Izuku to see if he was okay and promptly shut his phone back off. Not even realizing that his phone is at 1 percent.

 Another hour passes by and they still haven't heard anything. They all were not sure of what to do. If they had to start looking for him they didn't even know where to look. MommaMai was trying to comfort Yui on the couch and Hitsohi was trying to do the same thing for Mei. The four of them had debated at length about whether or not they should call the police. They knew that the topic of Izuku’s quirk would come up and they didn't know if they should risk it or not. When midnight had rolled around, and they still hadn't heard anything, they decided that involving the authorities would be much easier. They would just have to find a way to explain why his vigilante gear. (They decided that they would go with the cover that the Hatsumes were having him field test their equipment. It was short, sweet and to the point as well as a little true.) They also didn't notice that during this time while they were talking both Hitoshi and Mei's phones had died. So they never got the distress signal from Izuku.

Around 2 a.m is when they got a call. 

They all had been in the living room when exhaustion had finally taken over. The blaring of the ringing cell phone brought all of them out of their restless sleep and Yui lunged for the phone. She answers quickly and puts it on speaker so everybody can hear.

“Hello! This is Hastume Yui!”

“Yes hello Hastume-san. This is Detective Tsuchauchi. I’m sorry for calling at a late hour but I was wondering if you had some time to talk?” She could see Hitoshi and Mei tense up and they mentioned that they would tell her later.

“Yes I have some time. I just want to find Izuku.”

" That's what we want too. Now I know that you and your wife were the ones that called in, so can you tell me what happened up until that point?" 

Yui paces around the living room as she tells the detective about how he was supposed to grab food for all of them and how he never made it back. She also made sure to slip in there that he was frolf testing some products for them so that if they were the ones that found him there wouldn't be questions as to what he was wearing. There wasn't a dry eye as she finished telling the story. They were all scared at what could have happened to Izuku.

"Alright, is there anything that he could have had on him that could be tracked?" 

"I would have gotten a signal by now if he had! Mei states from her spot on the couch. She grabs her phone to show that she hadn't gotten anything and her phone didn't turn on. Her eyes snap to Hitoshi and he does the same thing. Realizing that both of their phones had died she races to grab a charger. 

Yui relays what happened when Mei got back and plugged her phone in. They all wait for her phone to power back on. 

When her phone had enough to power to turn on her phone immediately starts blaring with the distress signal from Izuku. 

Hitoshi is on his feet in a matter of seconds and so is Mei. They were both getting ready to go. Phone forgotten about on the table. Yui picks it up and tells the detective the last known location.

"Okay we will have some heroes and the task force will look for him. Just stay at home and don't go out looking for him." 

"Okay we will wait here then..." She trails off. She knows that trying to keep the kids from looking for him was not going to happen but doesn't say anything.

The kids come back into the living room and they are both dressed in their vigilante gear. Yui had already hung up and was pressing a small container into Mei's hand.

"Take these. If he is bleeding they should slow the blood flow as well as help him recover some of what he lost. Let us know immediately when you find him." She presses a kiss to both of their foreheads and they leave without another thought.

Yui makes her way back over to her wife and her head falls into her hands. Tears still flowing down her face and without the kids here she starts to break down sobbing.

"Sweetheart, Izuku is strong so he's going to be okay. We just have to wait for them to find him." Mai says as she runs her hand up and down her wife's back.

When Mei and Hitoshi finally came up to the alley that Izuku had sent to them, they couldn’t believe the sight. The alley had the metallic stench of blood. The smell alone was nauseating. Hitoshi looked around to see if he could see his best friend somewhere in the mess. The alley was drenched in so much blood, it was making him sick to look at it. His gut clenched when he couldn't tell if it was just Izu’s or if it was the villain that he had been dealing with moments prior. 

Mei spotted Izu semi hidden behind a pile of trash. They both cautiously walked over to where he was. They didn't know if there might be somebody hiding in the shadows. Once they got close enough they could see Zero. She was hunched over and letting the shadows do most of the work hiding for her. The wisps of shadow flame that normally danced all around her were muted now and her feline eyes were constantly scanning the area for other threats. The shadow panther relaxed when she noticed that it was just them. 

“Zero, what the hell  happened. How badly did this go?”  Zero was swaying just a little bit when she made her way over to them. She took one look at Izu and then turned her attention back over to the duo trying to banagde him up. 

“I can't say for sure. It all happened so fast. One second I was walking next to him and the next I heard the sound of footsteps rushing in our direction. We tried to not fight cause we had a run in that I will explain later but then we were cornered. He tried to lie his way out but they had caught on. They pinned me down and we're already cutting him. The smell of his blood pooling out onto the concrete and the threats that they were making had both of us not being able to do anything. I know that he's not in a good place though cause he won't wake up back up. He will grunt every now and then and I'm not running feral but that is the only indication that he is at least alive.” the panther rushes out. The two teens that weren't injured shared a look at that. It had been bad then. They both feel bad that they hadn't gotten the distress signal earlier. Racking his brain for any sort of idea Hitoshi asks

“I know that you both hate this idea but would you be able to fuse into his body and possibly speed up his healing?”

“As much as I would like to do that Cub, I can't. We both have to be conscious in order to do that. Even if I were to force myself back in there now I would be stuck until he woke up again. I’m not taking any chance at leaving him or either of you unprotected in a vulnerable situation like this.”  She said the last part with such conviction that they knew they wouldn’t be able to argue with her about it. 

“Okay then it's time to think of another plan.” Mei was starting to spiral again and Hitoshi caught on to that fact because she was switching languages faster than he thought he could keep up with. 

“Well first things first. Arcane, do you have that container that they just gave us?” Hitsohi was careful to never say the names of any of their parents while they were out on patrol or in their vigilante costumes. He could never know who was listening in or what cameras there might be. 

The way Mei’s eyes lit up at the idea made him think of a sunny meadow. He could have stared into them for hours if she would let him. 

He mentally shakes himself. Now is not the time to be thinking about things like that, Hitoshi. Focus! He mentally scolds himself.

“Psyren you're right!” Mei busies herself digging through her utility pouch that she started carrying around with her. She finds what she's looking for and crouches down next to her passed out friend. 

From where Hitoshi was in the alley he was able to see when Izuku opened his eyes. 

“Shadow!” Hitoshi exclaims a little too loudly. He's just happy that his friend -maybe something more?- has his eyes open. That's at least a step in the right direction from a few minutes ago.

Izuku was in a lot of pain. He knew that he was losing a lot of blood. That's exactly why he had called both of his friends to come help him. He knew that he didn't think there was a likelihood that he wouldn't make it out of this alleyway alive. He couldn't let that happen. He was also pretty sure that the group wouldn't be back so quickly. They did say that they didn't want him to die just yet. So the threat to his friends was minimal for now. He could hear voices near him but he couldn't tell who they were. Judging by the fact that Zero wasn't telling him to be wary or just straight out attacking whoever was at the end of the alleyway, he guessed that it was Mei and Hito. When he heard somebody crouch beside him he mustered up all of his will power to open his eyes. 

When he did he locked eyes with Hito. 

“Shadow!” 

He winched slightly at the amount of noise that the purple haired teen was making but didn't say anything otherwise. 

Where’s.....Ar...cane?” His breathing was raspy and it was getting harder and harder to hold on to consciousness. Holy time he just wanted to sleep...He is so tired...

“They are right next to you.” Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief but didn't make a move to turn his head. That would have taken up way too much effort and stamina that he just didn't have at this time. 

“How....bad....am.. I?”

“Not gonna lie Shadow you're pretty bad. I need you to open your mouth and take this.”

His thoughts were too jumbled to try and piece together what she meant by that. But he knew that she would never harm him so in a great show of trust for the other girl he opened his mouth. A second later there was a small object being placed on his tongue. 

“This is something that I will explain later. You just need to know that it should help. We will still need to get your wound looked at though.”

He swallowed the pill that Mei had given him. It was a little bitter on his tongue but he could feel it when it had started kicking him. The amount of blood that he was losing was significantly less and he felt a little stronger. Not strong enough to sit up or walk but at least enough to keep his eyes open.  

“And I hate to say it but this goes beyond what we can treat in an alleyway or even back where we have more supplies.” Mei started slowly.

“NO Hospitals!” Izuku managed to get out, but he grunted in pain again. That small movement of trying to reach out to them had been enough to aggravate his stomach wound. That must have been the last one that he got before they left. If it was as big as he thought it was it made sense why he didn't feel it at the time.

“We know not to do that but we have to do something here!”

“Yea! Shadow! The only way that we are leaving this alley is if it's to get your help so that you can stay alive. That is not up for debate!” Hitoshi seeing the small bit of defiance rise in the other boy was quick to tack on the last part. He smiled smugly when the bleeding boy just dropped his shoulders in defeat.

“Okay but if you're going to get help then there's only a couple of people that we can trust to not rat us out.” Izuku hoped that he had actually said all of that out loud and not just in his head. Turns out though he didn't cause a second later he could hear the sweet tones of his panther relaying the message to his friends. He could also hear her distress at the situation. 

“I’m sorry Zero. I know that I should have brought them with us.”

“We can worry about all of that later little one when you are not bleeding out in an alleyway in the middle of the night. Just focus on saving your strength.”

 He knows that his panther is right. He also knows that she will do everything she can to protect his two best friends since he can't. They are at least a little safer since he's not able to do anything. Zero knows who did this and she knew what to watch out for. And that was the last thought before he succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness for the second time tonight. 

Zero was the first to notice that Izuku had passed out again. She felt it. It was like everything had gone silent. She couldn’t hear his thoughts anymore but she could still feel her attachment to him. That comforted her a little but this was getting dangerous and quickly. 

“Cub, kit. He passed out again. One of you needs to go get help. Now!” she didn't mean to come off as harshly as it did but she was scared. She didn't know how much longer her little one would be able to hold on. 

“I’ll stay here with Shadow and keep pressure on his wounds while you go find help. I have more medical training and you're faster. Remember, it's the ones that erase quirks that will help. PencilTip! You know who I'm talking about. He might still be patrolling the area. Go!” Hitioshi made sure that when he was telling Mei what was going to happen that he was firm but not mean. That was the kind of tone that Mei needed right now. She was absolutely brilliant when it came to tech and inventing and even trusting her gut feelings. But it was in situations with high anxiety like this is where she struggled. She could sometimes lose sight of logical thinking. And that is where Hitoshi excelled. That's also why they had decided that Mei would be the brains behind everything and she wouldn't be out with them in the field.

He looked over at his conscious partner that had started getting ready to go. He raised an eyebrow at her. A silent way to see if she was going to say anything else or had any questions. 

She just nodded her head and took off running into the night/ early morning light. When she had rounded the corner of the alleyway, He brought out the bandages that he kept on him for times like these and started to press them to Izu’s wounds. He felt the teen shift a little under him but kept the pressure constant. Silent tears had started running down his face and he didn't even know it until he felt Zero come up next to him and lean against him. He tilted his head towards her and let out a shaky breath. 

“She'll be back and little one will be okay. I’ll give you a heads up when they are coming back.”  Feeling the knot in his throat tighten he just nodded that he had heard the panther and took comfort in her leaning on him. There was no sound in the alleyway other than his own ragged breathing as they waited for Mei to come back with help.

Hitoshi just hoped that she would be back with help before they all lost Izuku. He didn't even care if Mei had found the police force before Eraserhead. He just wanted Izuku to come out of this alive. He didn't want to lose his best friend before he had the chance to tell him that he loved him.

Chapter Text

Shouta had just sat down to start their lazy Saturday. He had grabbed Spirited away to watch today. He felt like it was a cozy anime type of vibe today. He was sitting on the couch waiting for Zashi to get back before he started the move. He knew that his blonde husband would be a little hurt and not tell him if he started it without him. He figured that out in their last year at UA when they had moved out together. Shouta didn't really mind waiting anyways. 

He sat crossed-legged on the couch and one of their many cats had decided that she also wanted in on the lazy day. She meowed at him and made herself comfortable on his lap. He smiled down at their cat Watermelon and gave her the pets and head scritches that she was demanding. She looked nothing like the fruit that she was named after. She is a Maine Coon with silver almost pure white fur and brilliant green eyes. Shouta is also like 90% sure she has a quirk of some kind with how intellegent she is.  She was named Watermelon though cause that's what Shouta found her in when he was patrolling one night. Zashi tried to get him to name her something like Luna, Pearl or something to that effect. Needless to say it didn't work and Watermelon stuck. 

Zashi was coming back into the living room from the kitchen and plopped down next to his husband also giving the cat head pats.

“Good to see you out and about Watermelon. Now do you know where JellyBean and Jupiter are?” Jupiter is their orange tabby and JellyBean is their Kinkalow. (They thought that she was a munchkin cat at first cause of her legs but when they took her to the vet they found out that she is a Kinkalow. Which makes sense cause she always wants to be the center of attention.) 

   “I think Jupiter is sleeping in his cat bed and JellyBean is probably in our room trying to chase that patch of sunlight that is always there.” Shouta responds. He continues to pet the cat in his lap as he reaches for the remote to start the movie.

Zashi grins and continues to talk to the cat.

“Well they I guess they will miss out on all the prime cuddles and head scratches huh?” Watermelon meows at the man and starts to purr.

About 5 minutes into the movie Shouta feels his phone vibrate. He silences it without looking at who it was. Everybody knew that this was his first day off in a while. He was going to enjoy it. If they needed him that badly they knew to call back. He snuggled into Zashi’s side as he put his arm around Shouta. He could feel the other man start to tap out his fingers. Which is something that he normally did when he was trying to think through something. He mentally shrugged. Shouta would give him some space to collect his thoughts and maybe ask later if the blonde needed to talk about something. 

Shouta’s phone was going off again. Groaning, he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his pajamas. Zashi being the loving person he is, pauses the movie. 

“What.” Shouta answers the phone with a huff.

“Eraser, I know that it’s your day off but we need you to come in.” Tsuchauchi’s voice.

“And why do you need me to come in? I’m an underground nocturnal hero and in case you havent noticed it’s daylight out.” He deadpans.

“Yea, Eraser I know that you're practically a vampire but I need you to listen.”

Zashi tries to stifle his laugh at the jab and fails. Shouta glares at him but it only makes the other man laugh harder.

“I know you can't see it but I’m glaring at you.”

“Okay.” That one word response made both men sitting on the couch suddenly on edge. Normally Tsuchauchi would say something sarcastic in response. Or at least something witty if he truly wasn't feeling up to it. This kind of response only came out when he was one a serious case.

“Tsuka, what’s going on?” Shouta grips the phone in his hand a little harder as he waits for a response. Zashi is practically draping himself over Shouta so that he can be as close to the phone as possible. 

“Now, like I was saying. I know that you normally work at night and that today is your day off but I could really use your help. I have a missing kid. He’s been missing since last night at about 1900. A friend's parents called it in when he didn’t come home last night. He was supposed to pick up dinner for the family and he never came back.” Shouta was already putting on his hero costume before Tsuka had started giving him details. He knew the kind of time crunch they were under. They needed to find this kid and fast. Glazing at the clock in the hallway he saw that it was already 7 in the morning. Meaning this kid had been missing for about 12 hours already. 

He could also hear Mic getting ready so he tossed the jacket that he normally patrols in over his shoulder and the blonde grunted out a thanks.

“What other information do we have?”

“The kid's name is Midoryia Izuku. Age 12. He has black hair and eyes that are purple with white pentagrams around the iris. We couldn't find much on his quirk except for the fact that it’s a shadow quirk. We are still waiting on the quirk office to release the records of his quirk. I couldn't find any parents listed to contact  which is concerning by itself but I do have the number for the friend's parents that called it in.” Shouta felt his heart stop. The only reason why they would need to wait on the quirk records office to release the information on a person is if they were on the PRV. 

He knew from personal experience that those records were sealed to prevent diacrimination in both hero and police forces. That small fact had saved his ass more than once. 

Mic nudges him out of his thoughts and refocuses on the conversation. 

“Got it. Both Mic and I are heading out now. What is the last known location?”

“Last seen location was at the corner of Keyaki and Sarusuberi. But he was heading to the ramen shop on Shinjuku according to his friends. I already have heroes and police looking in the southern part of that region.”

“Good the Mic and I take the northern part and we can meet in the middle.” Both of the heroes were ready and heading out of the door. He notices that Hizashi didn't put his hair up this time. (Personally he thought hat his husband looked better without that stupid bird like hairdo but Hizashi loved it so he kept quiet about it.”

“Good. Call me if you find anything.” The line went dead and Shouta put his phone into his pocket. He relayed the information that the other might have missed and they set off. 

They had been out looking for about half an hour when Shouta calls for a stop. He had been taking to the rooftops and Mic was on the ground. Thast wa there was little chance that they missed something. But he also forgot that it’s daylight out right now which means that people can see him hopping from rooftop to rooftop. He also wanst a well known hero like Hizshi so he was already getting some weird looks. 

He had made it down to the sidewalk and motioned for Hizashi to continue walking. They can plan and walk. Once on the ground he explained why he had called a stop and continued walking. 

Searching for this kid with Mic had brought back memories from their UA days. That was one of the last times he had actually worked alongside his husband. Granted they did the occasional raid together but then Hizashi’s radio show started taking off and was climbing the charts rather quickly. That coupled with the fact that he was a limelight hero and Shouta was an underground one, their schedules often didn’t match up. 

He may look like he hates this time but he secretly loved it. It was also hard to keep Zashi in line sometimes like now when he was feeling overly clingy and wanting something. Shouta looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Zashi was again wringing his hands together like he does when he is nervous to ask about something. Shouta looks around to make sure that nobody is within hearing range and says quietly.

“Zashi, I know you want to ask something so stop stressing yourself out and ask me.”

“Oh Shou! You know me so well…” he trailed off.

He stayed silent for another couple of minutes and Shouta let him try and get his thoughts together. If it was taking him this long to try and ask then it must be more than a small thing. He wondered if this case was hitting hard for him too. But couldn't be the whole reason cause he was like this even before they got the call. Zashi took another deep breath before speaking. 

“You know I Love you right Shou?” The voice hero asked.

Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose in between his eyes and sighed.

“Yes Zashi I do. I married you, remember? ”

“Right so I was curious as to what your thoughts are on kids…” 

Okay that was not the direction he thought this conversation was going to go.

Truthfully Shouta hadn’t thought about kids. Not in any real capacity anyways. He likes kids, don't get him wrong. He wouldn't be a teacher otherwise. But to have kids of his own? That he would be responsible for taking care of? He wasn’t too sure about that part. Would he be able to do it? He didn't think that he would be good parent material. But he knew that Zashi would. Hell he couldn't even keep his vigilante out of trouble when the two of them were together (Not to mention now there was another one?!), so what made him think he could take care of another small human? One that would be completely dependent on them no less.

But he also knew that Zashi loved kids. And this wasn't the first time that he had been brought up, maybe wanting to adopt one. Earlier in their relationship Shouta had said no but that was only because they were just starting out as pro heroes and they didn't have a schedule conducive to being able to be at home when they needed to be. But now things are different. Nezu would be understanding and would be able to give them the leeway that they needed. They also both made enough from his radio station and their teacher salaries that they both could cut back on the amount of patrols that they do for their respective agencies. They were at a point where they could make it work. It could work. 

Should they though? It was a big step to go and adopt a kid. 

Just as he was about to open his mouth to respond, a young teenage girl with pink hair came running out of an alleyway. She was panting like she had been running for a while and she was turning her head left and right trying to see something.

“Zashi hold that thought. I think we have trouble.” The underground hero said under his breath and subtly pointed to the direction of the girl.

Putting his hero persona back on Present Mic started to walk over to the girl.

When she turns her head back towards them, Shouta studies her as she makes her way over.

She was wearing an all black workout suit with some deep red highlights that ran down the sides and wrapped around the wrists. The top half was almost skin tight but still allowed for  movability.  Shouta had the fleeting thought that this was more geared towards stealth than working out but dismissed it. She also had on black combat boots and black and black harem pants that had the same deep red markings on as the top but wrapping around the ankles. Shouta knew that this allowed her to run faster but also quietly. Shouta knew that from experience cause his own hero costume was much the same but without the red markings on it. She also had on a mask that  obscured the lower half of her face. He could only tell the color of her eyes were yellow cause the goggles that the girl had them pushed up like a headband and were resting on her head rather than her face.

 What interested him the most though is her body language.  Most people would let out some  sign of relief or come running over to a well-known hero. Interestingly enough, she did not do either of those things. If anything she seemed to tense up even more.  But what was even weirder is despite that, she was still waving at them frantically and saying something in what sounded like Russian? Could she be a vigilante? Shouta hadn't heard of a female vigilante running around. The only ones that he currently knew of were Shadow Weaver and Psylent Psyren. Could she be possibly working with one or both of them? But if that was the case then why is she out now? As far as he knew the duo did all of the work under the cover of darkness. There was a slight chance that she could be one of them. After all, the hero's and the police force hadn't gotten a good look at either of the vigilantes. 

Outside of the first time that Shadow talked to Tsuchauchi and the fleeting meetings with himself they didn't have many chances to talk to them. They always ended running shortly after the hero's and police got to the scene. He was fairly certain that it wasn’t the same kid as last night but he could also be wrong and either one of them could have been using a voice modifier.

Mic was walking towards the girl and Shouta was a couple of steps behind him when Mic called out a reply.

 “Hey listener, I don’t exactly know what you’re saying.” He had his hands up in a manner that said that he wasn’t a threat.

She seemed to curse and take a breath and tried again. Only this time it was in Korean. He and Mic shared a look between the two of them. Was she a tourist that didn't know Japanese? But if that was the case why was she dressed like she was going to go into a fight? None of this made sense and he only hoped that this wasn't a trap for the hero's to fall into. It wouldn't be a half bad try at it either. Distract the pros looking for a kid but then have a small girl like this take down a couple of heroes. Shouta didn't have a good feeling about this. And that freeling intensified when she got closer. Shouta could see the blood that was on her hands and no doubt also on her body from some sort of injury. 

She didn't look to be injured though with how she came running up to them. So whose blood is on her hands?

Shouta kept that line of thought in the back of his head and thanked Nem for wanting to try to learn Korean a few years back. He still  remembered enough Korean to tell her that they couldn’t speak it very well and asked if she knew Japanese. Shouta also knew enough that the next thing that came out of her mouth was very colorful cursing.

“Am I speaking the right language now? Cause I swear to Time if I’m not and he dies cause I can’t communicate this right I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She looked up at the men and with matching faces of horror she knew that she must have it right this time.

“Little listener, what do you need help with? What is going on?” She eyed them warily.

Mei was so happy that she had stumbled upon some heroes. But now it was the question as to whether or not they could be trusted.

 Mei knew that she had to get help back to Izuku, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember if these were heroes that he said were safe. They talked about so many of them that she had a tough time trying to keep them all straight. It also didn't help that her mind was going a million miles a minute. She looked at the blonde one. He seemed nice enough and she vaguely remembered that he is a spotlight hero or at least had a spotlight persona. The only other thing that she could remember is that his quirk had something to do about his voice but not much beyond that. It was times like these when Mei wished she had put more focus on what Zuku was saying about heros. At this point she would have also settled for at least going with him and Hito on one of their patrols so that she could get an understanding of what heroes were and were not after them. That will have to be dealt with later though. She was looking at the other man now. He was the one that she was wary of. 

She knew that he had to be part of the underground heroes. At least with the way he was dressed and the way he was assessing her. It was almost like he was analyzing her as much as she was him. It kinda honestly reminded her of how wary Zuku was before. Always assessing the other person to see if they were going to hurt him. It hurt her heart to think like that but she had to forcefully shove those thoughts into the back of her mind. She had to focus on getting him the help that he so desperately needed. 

 She bit her lower lip and tried to think. Izuku and Hitoshi were always going on about one underground hero in particular because he fought essentially quirkless. She vaguely remembered him talking about a specific hero that always carried around a scarf and kinda looked homeless. He had always told her that if she ever needed help then that hero would be the one to run to. She was now really cursing her past self for not following either of the boys and meeting the hero that they both tentatively trusted. Or even just paying more attention to what they said about him. That would have made it so much easier if she already knew-

Wait.

Then it clicked into place.  

“You're PencilTip!!” She exclaimed and pointed at the man. He was okay! He had the scarf and everything! He was one of the ones that would be able to help. She started getting excited but then remembered that Izuku was waiting for her to come back so that he didn't bleed out in the alley way. Well they can nerd out later she supposes, When Izuku isn't in danger. 

The blonde next to Penciltip had let out a small laugh and tried to cover it with a cough but it didn't work. 

PencilTip just looked confused. Why would he be confused though? She knew that Izuku called him that name to his face but...

Oh that's why.

He didn't know that Mei knew Izuku.

“Sorry you're Eraserhead.” She wanted to tell him that Shadow was hurt but she was wary of the person next to him. She didn't remember who he was and didn't want to take the chance of him being one of the heroes that would actually take them in. She knew that she would be able to buy a little bit of time to figure it out. With the pill that she made Izuku take before she left and Hitoshi back there putting pressure on the wound he should be alright for at least another 30 minutes (hopefully). And it took about 5 minutes to get here so she had 20 minutes to figure out if this other blonde man was safe enough to bring back.

No pressure or anything.

“I'm surprised that you know who I am but at this time that doesn't matter. What was this that you said about somebody dying?” 

“Fuck that’s right we need to get back to Iz....” She halts herself from saying his full name. He’s in his vigilante gear right now and she did not want to blow his cover. Or her own for that matter. She knew that her moms had said that Izuku would have some testing gear on but she had a feeling that if this hero saw the costume he would be able to put two and two together to get four. 

She kinda already blew it by forgetting her helmet in the alley way before she was running to get help. She could have really used her helmet right now though she had just installed both the villain and hero databases into her’s and Hitoshi’s headgear so that they would know who they were dealing with and be able to react accordingly. But in her frenzy to try and find somebody that could help forgot it in the alleyway next to Izuku.  She still had her mask though which helped and there were a lot of people that had pink hair nowadays so it would still give them troubles to find out who she is.so while she thinks that it'll be okay she also knows that her identity was that cost of making sure that Izuku could live, she was more than okay with paying that price. It's not like they could get her for anything anyways. She made all their weapons and had a license for all of them.

"Shadow. We need to get back to him. He's bleeding really badly and it goes beyond what we know how to treat." She said quickly. And beyond what she can make a baby to help with.

At least time wise, but the hero's didn't need to know that part.

She knew the name Shadow would be recognized by Eraserhead. Afterall the man had spent the better part of a year trying to chase after him and the meetings they recently started having. She didn't know how much the blonde hero knew but he must have recognized it too cause he looked a little uneasy. 

She quickly tacked on "You can't arrest him though. He hasn't done anything wrong." She looks at the hero's waiting for them to agree with her before leading them back. She looked down at the blood that was on her hands. It was Izukus. Before she ran off to try and find help she had bound the wound as much as she could to hopefully slow the amount of blood pouring out of his side. She also had made Izuku take a pill that they had been working on to try and stop the bleeding for situations like this. Now she wasn't a biomedical type engineer but her mom was and Mei had helped in making it. Mei's parents knew exactly what all three of them were doing. They are also on board with the whole thing.

 They were the ones helping them with materials that they should have been able to have access to. They also made sure that they had a way to keep themselves safe and healthy. They didn't ask questions and none of the teens gave any details. Plausible deniability and all that. While they wanted to help the kids they also didn't want to risk their jobs or the hero commission coming down on them. That damn pill and Hitoshi putting pressure on it were the only things keeping Izuku alive right now. If he hadn't gotten whatever bad luck the universe decided to hand him this wouldn't have happened.If they had only gone with him this would have turned out differently....She shook herself. She had to focus even though it was hard. She was running out of time. She needed to make a choice to either trust them or to run and get somebody else. And fast. 

When she spoke next she already knew that she had made her decision before it was even a question.

"He just wanted to help." She repeats quietly.

Chapter Text

Shouta of course knows that name almost instantly. This is the vigilante that he has been trying to track down/ working with for close to a year now. He didn't know that they had yet another person helping from in the shadows though so that was new. He had only found out about Psyren last night. So he guesses it was possible that there were more helping out the Shadow was willing to tell the hero. But that also begs the question, just how many people does Shadow have helping them? 

 The fact that the girl had said 'we' and not 'I' had Shouta now thinking that all of them were working together. How could they have missed a whole other child helping them out? Was this just an occasional thing, or did this girl work from the background? Either way, this confirmed what Shouta had already thought. This girl definitely is not Shadow. But she did know who they were. She even knew the nickname that Shadow had given him. So she had to at least be working with Shadow or at the very least be in contact with them. So it’s a start. All this conversation was doing was reinforcing the fact that they don't have a lot of information on the vigilantes. Shouta hoped that by the end of all of this he could at least have some answers. 

Both heroes looked at each other and then back at the girl  in front of them. This seems a little sketchy but what is it really is Shadow? And they are just bleeding out in an alleyway? Shouta wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let anything happen to Shadow.  But he also told Tsuchauchi that he would help look for the missing boy. He looked over at his husband again. He could see the clear lines of worry and also trace amounts of hesitation. He was probably thinking the same things. They had to take the chance though. He didn't want to find out tomorrow that his the vigilante had died throughout the night because he didn't do anything. Besides, the Midoriya kid had half the town and multiple heroes looking for him. He would be found sooner or later. Shadow needed help now and he and Mic were the only ones that knew anything.  

Shouta finally had his decision made. (And if he had already known which choice he was going to make before that was him to know.) He nodded ever so slightly to Mic and the tension in his face lessened. 

"Okay. We need to get back to him. He's bleeding really badly and it goes beyond what we know how to treat." the girl says quickly. 

"You can't arrest him though. He hasn't done anything wrong." And even more quietly the girl in front of them adds on "He just wanted to help."  She's also shaking at this point. Whatever happened to Shadow must have been pretty bad if they are willing to reach out and try and make deals with pros to not get arrested. But she also has at least confirmed that Shadow is a boy. That's at least something that they didn't have before. He tucked that little piece of information away for later. 

"Kid, we can focus on that part later. Just show us where Shadow is so that we can help him." Shouta says to try and ease her worries. She is still not making a move to head back to him though. He looks over at Zashi and motions to try something. If she says that it's bad then time is of the essence. Zashi thankfully catches on to both problems. 

"I also promise that we won't arrest you or any of your other friends, Little listener. Like Eraserhead said we just wanna help. We won't even call for backup or anything like that." Mic holds his hands up in a placating manner. To try and convey that they didn't have any ill intentions. She looks up from her hands and there's a moment of silence when she meets Shouta’s gaze. He stares right back. He’s not hiding anything and hopes that it has the intended meaning. She must have found whatever she was looking for cause she turns and does the same intense gaze on Mic. Once she is seemingly satisfied that they won't do anything, she continues.

“Okay, I will trust you for now.” And motions for them to follow her. Shouta takes note of the ‘for now’ part of her sentence but files it away for later.  

Both heros follow her without question and she leads them down the alleys with a sense of purpose but also familiarity. Shouta tries to keep a mental map of where they are going but quickly gets turned around due to the amount of sharp turns and seemingly round about ways they take. After another couple minutes they hear something in the distance and the girl calls out.

"Psyren! I found the hero's that could possibly help!"

"Thank fuck cause I'm loosing him fast. I'm not sure how much longer-Fuck!" Shouta can hear the worry and anxiety in the other teens' voices when he responds to the girl. 

They finally come up to where Shadow is. The girl automatically goes over to Psyren. The smell of blood and iron hits him before he sees just how much is in the alley. At a glance the only thing that can be seen is the amount of blood there is. Its splattered all over the alley walls and it also in random pools on the ground. Indicating that at some point there was a fight with more than just Shadow. It covers the Psyren  that is currently putting pressure on the wounds Shadow has. It also is slowly pooling around the smaller teen and they haven't heard anything from Shadow. Which is concerning in itself. 

Zashi was the first one to make it over and Shouta can see his eyes widen at the amount of blood that is around. He can see his husband trying to figure out what to do first. But seems to be at a loss.  

Shouta comes up to stand next to Zashi and takes a look at what's going on. It becomes obvious as to why Zashi looks the way that he does. As a limelight hero he doesn’t have to deal with injuries this bad on civilians or even with other heros. They almost always have medic teams on hand for this exact situation. 

On the other hand with Shouta being in the underground he’s much more versed in this situation. But this shocks even him.

 There is a long gash that is at least a foot long across Shadow’s stomach and a couple smaller ones that are around that. The smaller ones didn’t look too bad but Shouta was more concerned with the bigger one. Whoever did this had done a gruesome job. This was clearly personal.  

"Kid I need you to move out of the way so that we can look at what's going on and help." Shouta tells Psyren as he kneels down next to Shadow. Grabbing more bandages and other supplies out of his med kit.

The teen meets his eyes and sees that his eyes are purple (which he didn't notice the previous night) and filled with appreciation and hesitation. 

"Okay. Okay. But don't try anything funny." It takes everything in Shouta to not roll his eyes at that. 

"We just want to help. We can sort everything out later when everybody can be a part of the conversation." Shouta says easily. 

The purple eyed teen nods his head and moves to get up and both teens more a little ways back to give the heroes some room to work.

"Do you think they're going to do anything shady? I mean I know that I met him last night and Shadow has been working with him for a while but with something like this?" Hitoshi asks Mei when he sees the hero's start to examine the damage Izuku. He made sure to ask in Russian so that the hero's wouldn't understand. He was just about to tell her that she needed to grab her helmet from the spot on the ground when he saw that she already had it. Those stealth lessons must have really been helping if he didn't even notice when she got it. He grabs the hand that doesn’t have her helmet in it and squeezes to tell her that he’s here. She laces their fingers together and grips it like it’s her only lifeline while answering the question at hand.

"Honestly I don't think they would try anything. Before I led them here they made the promise that they wouldn't even call for backup. But where's Zero?" 

Hitoshi tilts his head to the side a little bit and Mei glances over in that direction. Sure enough Zero is in the shadows. Without raising her voice she starts to talk to Zero.

" How is he doing? How are you doing?" 

"Little one is barely holding on. Not going to lie, I'm not doing much better. I hate to say it but he might need to go to a hospital if these heros can't help." 

Both teens stiffen at the word. They both know exactly how Zero and Izuku are treated in the hospital and they are not fans of it. Neither is Izuku. The last time they had tried to go to the hospital, they kicked them out as soon as they found out he was on the villain registry. They made up some excuse that they weren't covered for things like that happening and they were left to treat Izuku at their hideout. Thankfully they had the help of Mei's parents and they were able to get medical supplies that they needed.

 But since they were all in their gear her parents couldn't come to help them. It would jeopardize everything that had been built. On both sides. So they couldn’t risk it. Not right now. She made a mental note to text them as soon as they could to tell them that they found Izuku. She would do that later when they weren’t trying to keep him from death’s door.

Hitoshi's parents would have been an option but they were out of the country on emergency. They were visiting Spain to check on his Papa's mother who just had major heart surgery. Hitoshi had wanted to go with them but they couldn't get his passport renewed in time. So they promised that he would go next time. They were truly out of other options if these heroes couldn't help. 

"Well we will try and make sure that doesn't happen. There has to be another way." Mei says finally. "I'm sure something can be made to help. I just need the time." Hitoshi squeezes her hand again and when she raises an eyebrow in question he motions to where Zero is.

Zero started swaying from where she was sitting. Slowly she lowered herself to the ground and lay there panting. Hitoshi was looking between where the heroes were with Izuku and Zero. It was concerning that his condition was affecting her to the point that she was acting and bit his lip. At this rate they were going to last long. He also knew that while Mei could invent almost anything they were on a major race against time.

"Arcane, I don't know if we're gonna have that much time." 

"Listeners, we need to get him to a professional. This is beyond what we can do in the field." Mic calls out to the teens. Both of them startle a little bit and let go of each other's hands. They could see the sickly wet sheen of blood on the hero's hands. They looked over at Izuku and were greeted with the sight of a lot more bandages on his body. But to both of their horrors, they were all bleeding through faster than they should be. The telltale sign that the medication is wearing off.

"No hospitals. It won't end well."

Both Hitoshi and Mei call out in unison. 

"Then what if we take him to Recovery Girl at UA?" Easerhead queries. They look at each other.  

"Cub, kit, something anything needs to happen. I know.....we can't go to a hospital....but it isn't...looking good." Zero breathes out. She doesn't sound like she normally would.  Or even as she had just moments ago. She sounds breathy and airy. Normally she sounds as grounding as the earth itself. And the pauses that happen in her speech also don't help the anxiety for the situation. They both knew that this was bad. They needed to do something. And fast. This puts them on the defensive. Decisions needed to be made and Mei wasn’t sure what the correct one was.

" What do you think? Do you think he would react better if it is UA? Cause it's not a hospital? And of course we would be there as well..." Mei trails off the thought. The smallest bit of doubt crept into her voice, and she hoped that only Hitoshi noticed it.

"It's the only option that we have right now if we don't wanna lose him." Hitoshi says. Mei sees him clench his jaw trying to show that he’s confident about the decision. She knows that he’s just as scared as she is. But she doesn’t call him out on it. Instead she takes comfort in what he’s trying to do. Trying to comfort her without drawing attention to it. With one last look at where Zero is laying in the alleyway, she nods her head in acquiesce. 

Hitoshi switches back to Japanese so that the hero's can understand him. 

" Fine. We can go to UA. But we all go with you. Our masks will stay on and you don't ask any unnecessary questions." Thank Time for Hitoshi's quick thinking and his skills at negotiating. Mei wouldn't have thought about that until they were already at UA. If she had been able to think at all. 

"Fine. Let's go." Mic agrees without complaint.

Eraserhead takes his capture weapon and turns into a makeshift bandage that he can keep on the bleeding kid. 

At the return of pressure the teen in question lets out a soft grunt. That's at least something. That shows that he's at least still somewhat alive. Hitoshi and Mei notice that at the same time Zero lets out a small huff of pain as well. And then she starts panting again. Like Izuku's injury is causing her pain too. She gets up and tests if she can stand before nodding to the two worried teens.

Without any more preamble the Eraser hero picks the kid up and they all start running. It would take too long for either of them to get their car that was parked and if these kids didn't want to go to a hospital then they sure as hell didn't want to be sitting in the back of a cop car. Shouta had the feeling that if a cop car showed up, even with Shadow being as injured as they were, the three would be gone like the wind before he could even react.

 He tries to run as easily as possible so that he doesn’t jostle the teen in his arms. It worries him that the kid hadn’t shown any other signs of life other than that low grunt of pain. They were going to have to rush him to Recovery Girl as soon as they got to campus. 

"Mic, I need you to call ahead so that Recovery Girl knows what's going on." And to make sure the healing heroine is awake. He mentally tacks on that last part not wanting to give the kids a reason to back out and disappear. 

Without missing a step the voice hero pulls out his phone and makes the call. 

"Mic, it is half past 8 in the morning on a Saturday. There are no hero students that could be injured so you better have a good reason for waking me up." Recovery Girl says with a little bite in her voice.

"Does a bleeding kid count?" He asks.

"How badly are they bleeding?" She's all business now. Hizashi can hear some shuffling in the background letting him know that she is getting ready. In this moment he is eternally grateful that she isn’t asking him any more questions then she needs. 

"Not gonna lie, it's pretty bad." He proceeds to go into detail about the wounds the kid has as well as what he was able to do in the field to help. He knew that she would need as much information as possible before they got there so that she could prepare.

"There might also be more but those are the most concerning." He finishes quickly.

"Okay how old is the kid in question?"

"Um.." Hizashi looks over at the kids running next to him. If it would have been almost any other time he would have been impressed that the kids were keeping up with him and Eraser. They didn't even seem winded by the brutal pace that he and Eraser had set. He was also mildly surprised (read worried) that Shadow still hasn’t made any noise. 

"By any chance will you tell us how old Shadow is?" 

" Hell no. The only thing you get to know is that he is a teenager." The girl spat out. He bit his lip but relayed the information anyway.

"The only thing we know is that he is a teenager." 

" Hizashi! That doesn't help me!" 

"I know but there's not much that I can get out of the kids." He mutters quietly into the phone.  

"Is there more than one injured?!" 

" No, it's just the one." 

He can hear the healing heroine sigh on the other end of the phone. 

" Alright well then I guess I'll just figure it out when he gets here. I'm also guessing that he's not a student at UA so you'll need to talk to Nezu?"

"You would be correct on that one." 

" Okay I'll have him call you in a second. How far out are you?"

Looking around he saw the gates of UA in the distance. From here and at the pace that they were running at they would probably be at the gates In About 5 minutes. She hums and asks,

“With as little information as you have given me, I doubt this is the kid that is missing. Is this by chance the vigilante that Shouta has been tracking for a while now?”

“Yes, and his um, friends." 

“I see. I'll see all of you when you get here.” 

He thanked her and hung up. 

Nezu was next to call. 

Before Hizashi finished dialing his number, his phone was already ringing.

"Am I a mouse? A bear? Who knows, I'm principal Nezu! I hear that you're bringing some teenagers to be treated by Recovery Girl?" The principal gets right to the point. In a situation like this Zashi is greatful. 

"Yes. We are. We need clearance to let them in. Shadow is really injured and his friends won't leave his side." The group was coming up on the gates to UA. When Zashi sees the creature he was talking to, he hangs up.

Chapter Text

They all come to a stop just outside the gates. Mei and Hitoshi are surprised to see a creature? Waiting for them. They can see the way the creature assesses the situation and he say

"Oh my. He is not looking too good. Here kids I need you to wear these so that it doesn't set off the alarms." They proceed to hand the kids a light gray badge that says UA VISITOR on it in big blocky black letters. 

The two kids in question stare at them with a little hesitation. 

" Wear your gloves. We don't need them getting our fingerprints." Mei says to Toshi in Russian. 

"Now I'm intrigued that you think that I would do that but when I learn who you are I would rather not have it be in an underhanded manner like that. I would much rather you four learn to trust me."  The creature replies in flawless Russian to the two. 

Everybody minus the bleeding boy in Eraser's arms gapes in shock. But for varying reasons.

“Nezu, I didn't know that you knew Russian.”

“I in fact know a lot more than you think I do Eraser. But for right now that is not pressing. Kids, I know that you won’t tell me your real names and that’s fine. But you can call me Nezu. I’m the principal of this school and I will make sure that your friends get healed.” 

Mei and Hitoshi look at each other in alarm. But the language fact is fine. They have other means of communication. That's not what had them on edge. The thing that makes them feel ice going through their veins is that the creature said four. And Nezu(?) iterated the fact that their friends as in plural need healing. Does that mean he already knows about Zero? He also knew that Zero is injured as an extent of Izu?

 Izu and Zero haven't met him yet. Or at the very least haven't told them about it if he had. Which also doesn't make sense cause Zuku doesn't keep secrets like that from them. Izuku made it clear that while they were doing their vigilante work they needed to stay as far away from both Nezu and UA as possible. He warned them that Nezu was extremely smart and would connect the dots if given the chance. So they made sure that they didn't. 

Which brings them both back to the question of how in the hell did Nezu know?

Zero is still in the shadows and is also on edge at the exchange. She is panting at the exertion from running to keep up with everybody but also trying to stay out of sight of the heros. She was sure that if she could feel lightheaded like Izuku could, that's how she would feel right now. But to the matter at hand. How has this creature known that she was there? She has never met him before so this is not off to the best start in her books. 

"I don't like... that he knows." The shadow says so quietly she wasn't sure if she was heard by her cub and kit. But she knew that they heard her when they started tapping on their thighs. Acknowledging that they heard but not saying anything. It does have the other two teens relax a little bit that Zuku hadn't been keeping secrets. It does on the other hand make this situation much more precarious. Since there was no way he should have known, how does this bear rat creature know? Was his quirk more than just heightened intellect? Maybe that's why Izuku referred to him as Rat-God/ Rat-Overlord and a variety of other colorful names...

Regardless of the situation that they have found themselves in, Hitoshi reaches out to take the badges from Nezu. He knows that Nezu just said that he would rather have them reveal the selves when the four of them trust him but that doesn't stop Hiroshi from taking precautions anyways. Before Hito reaches for the badges he puts on his gloves and carefully takes them. He puts his in his pocket and hands Mei hers when she also has gloves on.

"Now would you kids prefer to talk in Russian or is Japanese okay so that the hero's can understand us too?" 

The two teens in question look at each other and Mei taps her thigh. While on the outside it will look like she is thinking or even a nervous tic she is really silently asking Zero if she has an opinion. 

"Oh and that also is an interesting development. I didn't realize that you would also be out and about like this. Now why don't you step out from the shadows and be a part of the conversation." Nezu says this nonchalantly, while staring directly where Zero is in the shadows. 

The two heroes are still looking shocked that their boss knows Russian. But now he's saying that there's another kid in the shadows? How is that possible? Aizawa would have noticed if there was. But what is more interesting is the reaction of the kids. Their eyes are blown wild and their stance says that they are both ready to bolt if need be. 

Well fuck. There went that. How did he know that Zero was in the shadows? 

"I don't know. Shadow did sometimes call him the rat overlord. Well you might as well come out Zero." Hitoshi murmurs to the wind. 

Another second passes and Zero steps out.  She stalks out and places herself in between the two teens but also in front of them in a protective manner. She might be swaying a little bit due to the injuries that Izuku received but she would still protect them with everything she had.

Shouta takes note of the stance of both the kids and the panther that comes out. He's both surprised and not at the fact. While the panther is walking over he takes note of how the kids are reacting. As expected the still bleeding kid in his arms has no reaction. It piques his interest in how the other two react though. They both seem to be at ease in the Panther's presence but also still had a sense of uneasiness. While the panther is more protective and not easing up. He can also tell that the panther isn't doing well either. Would they have to get them to a vet and get them healed? Or was it another kid with a quirk that allowed them to transform? If that's the case then were they also injured in the same fight that Shadow was? So many questions and so little answers. Either way, Shouta knows that they all are not comfortable with the situation and that much is clear.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it? Now then." The mouse claps his paws together. 

"Now that we are all here, let's get Shadow to the infirmary. I'm sure that they need medical attention quickly." 

Shouta just continues to stare at the panther that comes out from the shadows. After studying the situation more He knows just by the feeling in the air that this isn't a normal panther though. Which also kinda rules out it being another kid. And if that wasn't enough he was sure that he could see purple markings on the panther. And the way little wisps came off of the body remind him of his late friend Oboro. But instead of the light blue that his friend had, the ones coming off were black. Was this a quirked animal? Or was it the quirk of one of the kids? Neither one of them had any outward signs of a quirk but he knew that didn't mean anything.

A tense moment goes by and during that time the kids are looking at each other. Probably having some sort of silent communication between them, They look at the kid that Shouta still has in his arms before they all motion to lead the way. Nezu just nods in satisfaction and starts to head back to the building.

They all followed the principal silently up to the infirmary where Recovery Girl was waiting. The kids were flanking the panther on either side and if Shouta didn't know any better he would say that the panther was leaning slightly on either one of the kids at any time. Almost like it was having a hard time staying up right. It could also be a comfort thing. Needless to say he wasn’t sure.

But it's interesting nonetheless.

Shouta set the bleeding kid on the bed as gently as he could. There was still a grunt of pain that came from the small teen. Everybody in the room let out a breath. It was the first sign from the kid in a while that they were at least alive. 

When they all got to the infirmary they were met with what could only be the Recovery Girl. Hitoshi was in awe of even being on the campus let alone meeting the healing heroine. She was actually one of the ones that helped out in the PVR program before the hero Commission decided that it wasn't worth it to keep it around. Hitoshi admired that about her cause it caused her ratings to take a hit when that information came out to the public. She did not care in the slightest. He also remembers watching an interview with her and how she put everybody in their place when they said that she shouldn't be helping out ‘those types of people.’ and what she said in response to that stuck with him even to this day. 

“If you think that I’m going to allow people to continue to suffer and die just because of what the genetic lottery gave them, then you are the true villains in this situation. It is my duty as a healer to help as many people as I can and even more so since I decided to also be a hero. They are people just like you and I are. There is nothing that separates us besides this preconceived notion that you think you're better than them. When in reality they haven't done anything wrong. And for all of you heroes out there also saying this? I would rather sooner be saved by Death himself than trust my life to you.”

In the video that he watched he saw as she spat out those last couple of lines to the people watching it. And he couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope. It was the wake up call that a lot of people needed but unfortunately it didn't do a damn bit of good for the Commission. They just kept going like they always had. And for some reason got even worse after that. Even after she retired from active duty as a hero and focused more on healing people, she still would stand up to discrimanation with that same Iron will. Just like he did when he was a kid he felt safe around the healing heroine. He wanted to thank her for everything that she did and said but knew this wasn't the time nor the place. He barely kept himself in check. 

She had started a normal examination of Izuku. Looking at his wounds, checking to see how deep they were and how many. The healing heroine made a move to remove the mask from the Izu. Probably to make sure that he didn't have any obstructions that would cause him to choke but was met with a low guttural growl. She immediately stopped what she was doing. She turned to see what would have caused that reaction and saw it came from the panther that had taken up a spot in a corner. Close enough to the injured teen to do something if need be but far enough away to not interfere with the healer. 

"I wouldn't do that. We have an agreement that our masks stay on." Mei says quickly. 

"I need to make sure that he isn't choking dearie." 

"He's not choking. He's bleeding out. The. Mask. Stays. On." Zero growls out from her corner. She had made sure that she was understood by everybody in the room by speaking Japanese instead of Shadowspeak.

"Honestly I would just listen to her. She knows what's going on with Shadow better than any of the rest of us." Hitoshi supplies to the healing heroine, but also not leaving any room for more comments. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. His worry for Izuku and Zero amplifies.  When he opens them, he looks over at Mei and sees the same shock that he feels. He reaches for her hand and again she laces their fingers together. They also reach out to where Zero is and they both run a hand through the fur on her head. They know that she is not handling this well. And if what Izu had told them was true, the closer he got to death the closer they would be to having Zero go feral. Her voice is more steady than it was in the alleyway, which could be a good thing or it could be very bad. Neither one of them wanted to think too deeply about what could happen if she went rogue. (They knew at the very least that they would not be able to do anything to stop her.) 

Recovery Girl simply nods and starts attending to the worse injuries. Satisfied that the smaller ones were properly dressed, She places a kiss on Izuku. The large gash in his stomach starts to knit itself back together. There is still a faint scar indicating what was once there. To everybody's relief, Izuku's breathing even out and was no longer ragged. Hitoshi stole a glance at Zero and was glad to see that she was also doing better. Already stronger than she was moments ago.

"You were right to bring him here rather than a normal hospital. I would have been called there instead. That cut was deep and he lost a lot of blood. There are still some smaller injuries to his legs, arms, and torso but those will have to wait. He didn't have enough energy to let me heal those. I focused on the giant one and when he wakes up we can deal with the rest. As the others are, they aren't life threatening so I'm comfortable enough leaving them for now." 

"So he's going to be okay?" The purple haired teen questions.

"Yes, he's just sleeping now." Satisfied with her answer he nods his head once. 

Zero leaves her stance from in between the other two and jumps onto the bed with Izuku so that she can lay across his legs. Hitoshi and Mei had taken up either side of the bed in the chairs that were sitting there. Their hands still intertwined over Zero’s and Izuku’s bodies. 

" We will let you kids sleep. It's early in the morning but you all have probably been up all night. So we will let you rest until Shadow wakes up. You all probably need it. If you need anything the rest of us will be out in the hallway." Nezu says to the room after a moment of silence. 

Neither of the vigilantes acknowledged that anything was said and the hero's stepped in the hallway. 

Chiyo sighs and shakes her head. 

"What is it that you didn't tell them?" Shouta asks. 

"That boy laying in the bed is very injured. He barely had enough energy to use to let me heal that cut enough to stop the bleeding. Thankfully the rest of the cuts were minor and can wait. But that's not what concerns me the most. He is also underweight for his age and dehydrated. And now that I have seen him I can tell you that he is only 13. As well as being physically male. If I had to guess I would say his friends probably aren't much older. I also saw something in his lungs. As you know my quirk does heal but it can also be used used as a diagnostic tool.... " She trails off. 

"Oh the poor listener." Zashi starts to bite his nails. He normally only does this when he's nervous so Shouta gently pries his fingers from his husband's mouth. Zashi sends a thankful look his way before turning to face the rat and Chiyo.

“Yea. So what is that you found?”

“It was a thick consistency and it was like sludge. I thought it was blood at first but it wasn't the right color. Is there a water way that he could have been in?”

“He was in an alleyway. The only type of liquid around him was his own blood.”

She hums in thought. 

“Then it must have been a quirk. That's the only other thing that made sense. He should be okay cause I didn't see any diseases trying to set in but that's also the least of my concerns right now.” She looks at the door that leads into where the kids are. She sighs and shakes her head.

"There is also the matter of how much blood there is. Or should I say how much there isn't." Chiyo continues

"What do you mean? The purple haired kid and I both are covered in the kid's blood. Mic also has stains from it, and the pink haired girl also had what I'm assuming is his blood on her person as well." Shouta states.

" I know that but with that kind of wound he should have bled out on the way here. Even with the bandages and the pressure he shouldn't be alive. "

" So you think that it's the listeners quirk then? Like a regeneration quirk?" Zashi asks.

"No, it's not. It would have done a lot more than just slow the bleeding. If it was strong enough then the wound would have closed and they wouldn't have gone through the trouble of trying to find somebody to heal him. There is something else going on, but with the kids not willing to open up their ages, I doubt we will get any answers out of them. I also want to say that I think that panther has something to do with it but I'm not entirely sure." She sighs sadly.

"So what do we do now? We know how old Shadow is and we have him here. But we also promised the other listeners that we wouldn't arrest him. And with that new information about whatever caused the kid to still be alive, we should do something right?" Hizashi asks the other adults carefully. Shouta knows that his husband doesn’t really want to do that but is asking the question that hangs over the room. If anything his husband just wants to take their the kid home and smother them with affection. Shouta knows that it's not really an option right now but with how Zashi is acting, he can tell that the blonde hero is already attached to the green problem child in the other room. (Shouta won't admit it out loud but he is too. Seeing the kid almost bleeding out in his arms pulled at his heart strings.)

Speaking of the Problem child... Shouta had so many more questions about Shadow then he had at the beginning of the night and he's starting to get a headache with it all. Nothing was making sense. It seemed like for every one question he got answers to, another 3 more would pop up in its place.

“No, we can't do anything. I’ve spent so much time trying to build up the trust of mainly Shadow. I fear that if we did do anything it would send them further into hiding. We have to show them that we won't do anything.” Shouta says with an air of finality. He would love nothing more than to just take them all in and question them about why they were out and what their motives are. But he also knows from previous experience that if they do, they could have another case like Stain on their hands. 

Seeing what Shouta was trying to say, Nezu is quick to agree.

"I agree with Shouta-kun. We can't do anything that would cause them to distrust us. We will just have to wait for Shadow to wake up and hopefully we can get some answers. Getting and keeping their trust is more important than arresting them right now. In the meantime I would recommend that you get some sleep but I have a feeling that you won't be leaving?" 

Shouta stands a little taller and replies quickly 

" Of course not. Even if he wasn't a kid, he's still a vigilante. I need to make sure that nothing happens while they are sleeping. Or at least be here when he wakes up so that he can see a somewhat familiar face besides his friends in an unknown place. If he reacts the way that I think he might then it won't be pretty. I'll stay out here and make sure that nothing unexpected happens. I have my sleeping bag. I'll be okay for the time being." 

"I just wanna make sure that they are all okay. They have been through a lot with everything that happened tonight...today?... So I'll stay here with Shou." The blonde hero agrees.

"I figured as much. Well let me know if anything happens." With nods of ascent, the rat takes off. 

"Let me know when he wakes up so that I can heal him again." And with that the healing hero also takes her leave. 

With it just being the couple in the hallway, Shouta brings out his sleeping bag and gets comfortable on the floor. His husband is not too far far behind him. Even though the blonde hero slept for most of the previous night, his eyes are still fluttering shut as he tries to stay awake.

"Sleep Zashi. I'll hear if they try and leave. I have a feeling that we will need all the rest that we can get to deal with this." 

It wasn't long before both heros were sleeping on the floor. Unaware that the teens in the infirmary were already planning something. 

Neither of the teens acknowledge what Nezu says before the heroes leave the room. They just want to be left alone. They need to figure out what rat bear creature is planning and also how to escape. They didn't think that they would just be able to leave like had been promised so they needed to be ready for anything. 

Absent-mindedly, Hitoshi had started rubbing circles into Mei’s hand. It might not be much but he hopes it helps even if just a little. He looks at Zero and Izu on the hospital bed. Both of them are sleeping thankfully. He knows that both of them need it. 

When he looks up at Mei he sees that there are tears streaming down her face as she looks at the duo on the bed. 

“Arcane..” He tries but his voice is barely there. And is also thick with the unshed tears of his own. 

“I know...Psyren.. It just hurts so much to see him like this. And what if we hadn't gotten that alert?! He could have been dead because I couldn't remember to charge my phone!” Hitoshi stands up quickly and moves over to her side of the bed. He kneels down in front of her and takes both of her hands in his. 

“Can you please look at me." His voice is pleading. He needs her to know that this isn't her fault. That there was almost nothing that either of them could have done to prevent this. They knew that  there was a chance that something like this would happen at someone but that wasn't on her. It was one the people that did this to Izuku and Zero.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. He took one of the hands that had been holding hers and brought it up to her face. He gently wiped away the tears that were on her cheeks. She leans into his touch a little and  he whispers

“Princess, please open your eyes.” He hopes that the use of her nickname will help a little.

He is rewarded with her opening her eyes. Her yellow irises are shining with the sheen of tears and bursting with emotion.  He continues to stroke her cheek. The tears are constant enough that he's probably not doing much but he doesn't mind. 

“Hey there princess.” He smiles gently at her and she tries to smile back but her eyes inadvertently go back to Izuku and Zero laying in the bed. 

“Hey,” He taps her cheek so that she will refocus on him. When he sees that she's looking back at him he continues,

“This isn't your fault. I know that it hurts. We both care a great deal for him but this isn't our fault. The only people that should be taking blame are the people that did this to him.” 

She nods her head and leans her head into his hand that is still resting on her cheek.

“I just...it..I haven’t...” She bit her lip, not sure how to continue.

“It’s okay. Take your time.” He murmurs softly. 

It takes a couple minutes for her to figure out how to word what she is trying to say. And the whole time, Hitoshi is patiently waiting. 

“I was so scared. I am still scared.” The words are barely a whisper but since Hitoshi is so close to her, he could still hear them. 

“I am too. Not gonna lie, there is something really important that I was ready to tell him and you but wasn't able to. And I was worried that I might not be able to. But we got him to Recovery Girl in time and he's going to be okay. He's going to wake up and still be the sarcastic, intelligent, and loveable dumbass that we both care deeply for.” They both smile at the attempted humor.

“I like you.” and that shocked Hitoshi a little bit. He was aware that she does cause she hangs out with him. She made that pretty well known when he first met her outside of the warehouse. Granted he really hopes that he was reading this wrong. He wanted both her and Izuku to like him back in the ways that he did them. If he was being honest, nothing would make him happier than for all of them to be together. He could go on for hours about what he loves about both of them. Hell he could even write waxing poetry about it. He has gone to his dad's more times than he can count about the feelings that he has for them. They way they all get along. The way they laugh together. The way Mei's eyes light up when she finally figures out the solution for an invention that has been troubling her. Or the way Izuku and Zero both do an adorable little happy dance when they eat Katsudon. The way they all cuddle after a hard mission. Or how they can all just be content in each other's presence without having to actually be doing things together. But he had to be realistic. The chances of that happening are slim to none. He didn't even know if Izuku played for his team and as for Mei? Would she even want to be with both of them like that? Throuples were not that uncommon as they had been in the past but still. He didn't want to pressure either one of them. 

“I know that Princess. You made that pretty clear when you let me keep hanging around.” He forced a small playful smile to his lips. 

“No, like,” And then she's leaning forwards. She pulled her hands from where they had been resting in his and brought them up to cup his jaw. Then her lips are on his. The kiss that they share is short, sweet, but everything that he thought it would be. Her lips are soft on his. When he reboots his brain to what's going on, he kisses her back. Before the kiss can become more heated she pulls away and rests her forehead on his. 

“I like you.” She made sure to stress the word like. Hitoshi’s heart fluttered at the words. He smiles for real this time.

“So I see. I like you too, M-Arcane,” He wants nothing more than to use her real name for this type of confession but he also remembers that they aren't in the safety of her moms’ house or in the warehouse. He nudges her so that they can share another soft kiss. She gladly meets him halfway. 

“I swear Blueberry, sometimes you are really dense.” She giggles when they break apart. 

“Ah, but you like me like that apparently.” 

“Yea. Yea, I do. And so does Shadow, you know.”

Hitoshi can feel his eyes widen at that. 

“He does?”

“Yea, he does. And I also know that he likes you as more than a friend. If the way that he looks at you when he thinks nobody is looking is anything to go off of.” She pulls away more so that she can look into his eyes. She kept one of her hands on his face and the other one found his and laced their fingers again. And well if that wasn’t a sign that he should confess then he didn't know what was. 

“Well, I guess it's a good thing that I like him like that too. I like you both like that if I’m being completely honest.” Hitoshi feels like he could fight any god at this point. He feels so empowered with the notion that both of the people that he likes like him back. The weight of this secret had been following him around so long he forgot what it was like to feel this light. His stomach is doing flips and he swears his heart is skipping beats. He wouldn't have changed anything about what happened. At this point it was just like them for it to happen this way that it would have been weirder for it to happen like it does in the movies or TV shows. (Okay maybe he would have changed the fact that Izuku is lying in a hospital bed and almost died but other than that.)

“I do too. And we will need to tell him when we are...not here.” She looks around as she says that. 

“I agree with you on that one. But speaking of which, we should start planning on how we are going to get out of here.” 

She nods her head in determination. He can see that she feels a little lighter. She has that same light in her eyes that she has when she gets a new idea for an invention again. (That same look that had him falling for her in the first place. He’s so happy to see that spark back. Even if it's a small one for now.) All of the heavy emotions that Mei had previously were washed away by the confessions and they set to work on how they are going to get out. 

“Alright so here’s what I’m thinking,” She proceeds to explain to Hitoshi her thoughts in careful Spanish. They knew that Nezu knew Russian so they needed to try to plan this without him knowing what is going to happen.

Chapter Text

Izuku wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he woke up. His head felt fuzzy and he still had a lingering nausea. He wanted to bring his hand up to try and wipe the sleep from his eyes but thought better of it. He didn't know what he could have gotten into so he didn't want to alert whoever might be waiting that he was waking up. Using his other senses he tried to use his surroundings to figure out where he was. Using  as little movement as possible he tried to feel what he was laying on. His fingers brushed against a soft blanket that was around him. This also brought to his attention that he was not longer on hard concrete but instead a soft bed.. The room was quiet for the most part. He could hear the breathing of two other people in the room with him and they were both coming from beside him. The air smelled like antiseptic cleaning products. Okay. So he figured out that he was no longer in the alleyway cause there was no way that an alleyway could smell like that. Especially not with how much blood he lost. 

He tried to remember why that small detail was so important but came up with a blank. That was mildly concerning but he and Zero could deal with that later. Speaking of his panther, where was she?  The heart monitor that had been quiet until now started beeping at a faster rate. The only thing that he could think of is that he was at a hospital. Which also meant that there was a high chance that Zero wouldn't be able to be out. He also couldn't feel her fused with him so does that mean that they have him in quirk suppressant cuffs? If that is the case, then where are Mei and Toshi? Could they not get him back to the hideout? They knew how he felt about hospitals so was what happened last night really bad? He can think that he made his way to a hospital and that was the last place that he wanted to be. Especially with what happened last time. 

Izuku was bleeding and badly. He didn’t think that going into that fight was that bad but apparently he was wrong. They guy that he wasn't sure of had a quirk that would allow him to pull whatever he knew the structure of out of the ground. Essentially giving him endless amounts of ammunition. Izuku had his back turned for all of three seconds when he felt the knife go into his back. He let out a small laugh cause Eraserhead had always told him that he should be watching his back. He had thought about what a stupid joke that was. He had Zero. She would always be there to watch his back for him. What he didn't notice though is that Zero was caught up making sure that the fleeing person didn't actually get away. The irony of the situation got to him as he felt himself sink down to his knees. He was in and out of consciousness when Zero alerted him that Eraserhead was on the way. 

 He couldn't tell what happened between being in that alleyway and getting to the hospital. It was a blur of color and noise that didn't make sense. Not that he tried to in the first place. When they got to the hospital and out of the ambulance , they went through the standard procedures and treated him. It was when he was more coherent that they started asking questions. They asked him things like where his parents were, what his quirk was and the like. 

Now to most people that would be a very innocent line of questioning. But to someone like him it was like walking a minefield. He had to be as truthful as possible but also not give away the fact that his parents had left him due his PVR rating. 

But that of course is when his luck for the day ran out. One of the ladies that used to work with his mom had just so happened to be passing by to inform her coworkers that she was heading home for the day. When she looked at Izuku laying on the bed a look of disgust and horror passed through her eyes. She was very quick to inform the rest of the staff who and what Izuku was. Within the hour everybody in that hospital knew what his quirk was and they were quick to inform him that he was no longer welcome. He knew better than to argue so he just let him kick him out. He was grateful that they had partially healed him before they figured it out so it could have been a lot worse! He just had to make sure that an infection didn't set in on the partially healed cut and he should be okay! Later on, after Toshi and Mei came into the picture they got to see first hand exactly how he was treated. Only that time, they didn't even partially heal him. They turned all three of them away with Izuku and Hitoshi both bleeding from their sides. Izuku felt bad that Hitoshi wouldn't be able to be healed because of him but the other boy just waved him off. They made a vow that unless it was absolutely necessary they would never take each other to the hospital. They would go to Mei’s moms or figure it out themselves. 

"We're not in a hospital, little one. We are at UA."  Zero supplies. She also starts purring which settles his nerves more. If she said that they were at UA, he trusts her. He takes a deep breath to try and further ground himself.

He opens his eyes and sees that Zero is laying over his legs like she normally does and that Hitoshi and Mei were both on his left side. He also noticed that they had put themselves in between him and the door which he was grateful for. He didn't like being vulnerable in new places. It warmed his heart that they both remembered that. They were both leaning over the bed and had their arms pillowing their heads as they slept. He ran his hands through their hair in a silent thanks. He has a soft smile on his face when they both lean towards his touch. 

He nods his head. That was way better than a hospital that's for sure. He tries to sit up and a pain in his side stops him momentarily. 

The events from the previous night and why he was here in the infirmary suddenly flood his memory now that he is more awake and aware. The villains that threatened him. The cuts that they made. The amount of blood that he lost. The sludge that tried to take over his body...

Meeting All Might...

The fact that All Might wanted to arrest him..

He shivered at the onslaught of memories. He wasn't as healed as he thought he was cause when he moves it sends a sharp shooting pain through his stomach. 

He lets out a small gasp and tries to breathe through the pain. He really didn't want to wake up his friends for something like this. But it looks like that was a foolish hope cause that wakes up the other two in seconds. 

"Shadow! You're okay!" Mei breathes out. 

" More or less." 

" Good cause now I can do this!" And Mei hits his arm. 

"Ow!" Izuku hisses on the contact.

"You can't scare us like that! We thought that you were gonna die!" The light catches Mei’s eyes at just the right angle and Izuku can see the glisten of tears in the corners. 

"Yea see if I let you go on your own again after this." Hitoshi agrees, trying to sound confident.  Izuku also notes some tears in his eyes as well. He must have really scared them if they both had been crying. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't know where they came from, I was running from...somebody and I had just gotten dinner for everybody and saw them in an alleyway, I swear I did not try to fight them. I tried to get away but they cornered me.." He explains. He purposefully left out the part with All Might cause he didn't want to tell them here. He didn't know who could be listening. It also was still too fresh to bring up. He needed to be around his own space before he could even think of trying to process what the number one asshole had said to him.

"Running from somebody? Before that fight even happened? Who could you possibly be running from that late at night?” Hitoshi questions him. He should have known better than to drop that piece of information right now but his verbal filter was not working at its best....If at all.

“Just somebody. I’ll tell you later.” He promises.

Mei and Toshi give him a questioning look but then nod in unison. They can probably sense his unease at the situation and thankfully drop that part of the conversation. 

" Still. We are all in this together. So next time I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. We are not having a repeat of this." Hitoshi says without any room for argument. 

"Yea, and that's if either of us let you leave our sights! We all need to be more careful when it comes to,” she gestures between all of them.  “Especially since the hero's have an idea of what we all look like." 

Izuku whips his head towards Mei

 "They what!?" He probably should have figured that out when Zero said that they were all at UA but it didn't click right away. He blames the pain meds he's probably on. 

" I had to make a deal with Eraserhead and a blonde hero to help you. You were bleeding so much and we couldn't stop it. Turns out it was also more than what they knew how to deal with and they called it into Recovery Girl at UA. That's how you got here." Mei explains. 

His hand flies up to his face to see if they took his mask off. When he felt the fabric and metal of his mask under his fingers he let out a small sigh of relief. 

" That was one of the stipulations that we placed. We would accept their help if we all kept our masks on. They tried to remove yours but Zero growled at them and they stopped"

Izuku ran his fingers through Zero's coat in appreciation. 

" Okay that's not the best but we can work with that. But now we need to figure out how to leave. I really don't want to stay long enough to find out what they will do." Izuku murmurs.

" Agreed." The other two teens say in unison. 

"Okay so did you guys take note of how we got here?" Izuku asks switching from Japanese to Russian. His mind was already going through the ways they could hopefully get out of here. He doesn't know the layout of the building cause even the blueprints from when the building was first made were under too many firewalls. Not that Izuku and Mei couldn't hack them if they had really wanted to. But he had found small amounts of code that would tell Nezu when and if somebody ever did. He didn't want to be on the radar of the rat so he left it alone. 

"Don't speak in Russian. The principal, Nezu, is apparently fluent in Russian." Mei says to the green haired vigilante. Carefully speaking in a mix of Korean and Spanish so that hopefully they weren't overheard making their plans. He didn't know what other languages Nezu could speak so maybe by combining the languages like they were it would at least be enough to throw him off. It was unlikely but worth a shot.

"Fuck I knew that he was smart but I didn't plan on him being that smart." Izu mutters.

"It is a little bit of a problem but we already thought of a way out." Hito says easily. The older boy tries to put on an air of nonchalance but Izuku knows him better. He's just trying to make sure that his emotions are under control so that nobody else freaks out. ANd Izuku gets it too. Mei isn't used to fighting and Izuku is injured. Not only that but they are in hero territory. This is not exactly the best case scenario. Needless to say, he’s grateful that Hito is trying to remain calm. They can all freak out when they are safe at the warehouse. 

Izu raises an eyebrow in a silent way to let Hito continue. 

"We still have a sleeping bomb that Arcane built. I know that we shouldn't use it like this cause it's our last one until we can get the materials again but it's better than some of the other alternatives." Hito and Mei also tilt their heads towards the direction of the door and tap twice on the bed frame. It was their silent way of telling each other that somebody was there. They weren't necessarily enemies but they also weren't friends. And if that's the case the It’s probably Eraserhead and whoever the blonde hero that was with them. Chances are that it's either Present Mic, Hawks or Nightfall. He ruled Hawks out cause while yes Eraser did spend some time with the number 3 hero it wasn't a lot. At least not enough to warrant Hawks to stay here for as long as Izuku had been out. So that left Mic or Nightfall. He had to force himself to stop going down that rabbit hole. He needed to focus on getting them out. Not on who Eraser had here with him waiting for Izuku to wake up.

Izu thinks it over for a minute. It would suck if they lost their last sleeping bomb but this was also a sucky situation. While he was grateful that the hero's had healed him as much as they did, he wasn't too keen on any of them being caught due to his misstep. It's also the best plan that they had at this moment. Not without knowing more about the building and who could possibly be in it. But it wasn't like everybody was just going to introduce themselves and give them blueprints of the building so that they can leave.

"It's not the best but it'll work." Izu gets out of the bed to see just how bad of a state he's in right now. After taking a few steps around the small infirmary room he comes to the conclusion that he can run. While it won't feel the best he can. He also notes that he is in no shape to fight. He's too sore for that and he makes sure to tell his friends that.

"We kinda figured that might be the case when we heard how and your injuries were. But that's okay cause if everything goes the way we want it too we won't have to fight." 

“Okay then let's hear the plan.” Izuku sits back on the bed and listens as his friends explain the plan that they had come up with. 

It was a decent plan. There were some holes but what plan didn't? Especially when they had very little information to go off of. They discussed other options for another couple of minutes to see if they could possibly find a better solution. In the end they decided that with a small amount of  last minute changes they would mostly stick to the plan that Mei and Hito came up with. Once they all make sure that they know the plan and put it into action. 

On the other side of the school in his office Nezu is watching the cameras. He tuned out the private conversation Between the two teens before Shadow woke up and opted for glancing back at the computer screen every now and then to see a change in their body language that would indicate that they were talking about something else. It ended up paying off. He had been able to listen the entire time when the other two had started planning before Shadow woke up and then again when he woke up.

 He must admit, they had a good plan. It also surprised him that they all knew not only Russian but Spanish and  Korean as well. It was even a good idea to try and mix the two. If it would have been anybody else it probably would have been a viable deterrent. That didn't deter him in the slightest. It wasn't known to many but Nezu knew a lot of languages. He lost count after a while. His quirk was high specs of course. When his quirk got registered he had only told them that he was able to draw conclusions based on very limited information. While that was true what he didn't mention to the humans was that it was actually high intelligence and also increased cognitive function. He had an IQ that passed even that of Albert Einstein. He was able to learn and completely understand a topic after only being taught a 1 or 2 times. He also had an eidetic memory. But whether that's from himself naturally or if it's a part of his quirk, Nezu wasn't sure.

Needless to say he understood what the vigilante trio was planning and he was very interested to see how it would pan out. He folded his paws together as the trio started to put their plan into action. Excitement was coursing through his veins. He hadn't felt this way about a group of humans since his Shouta-kun and Hizashi-kun had shown this kind of talent when they were still students in UA.

 If they made it to the front gates without the hero's coming after them he would have to see what he could do to help them nurture their skills more. He could admit that if they did make it to the wall they would have more battle sense than most of the current first years did, if he were to stretch it just a little bit, the second years as well. Maybe that's why Shouta-kun had expelled his entire first year class. He shrugs. That was an idea to contemplate later. For now he would sip his tea and see how things would play out. It was bound to be interesting to say the least. Especially with the sleeping bomb that they just rolled into the hallway.

He would also have to ask them how Arcane built the sleeping bomb that the trio was currently using.. It was amazing that Arcane had been able to build a gas like bomb like that, that didn't set off the smoke detectors. And one that also didn't wake up an Underground Pro Hero. Nezu knew Shouta and he also knew exactly how quiet that would have had to have been in order to not wake him up...

This was going to be a very interesting trio indeed.

Mei comes back from checking to see if the hero's in the hallway were still sleeping and gives them the signal that everything is a go. 

"Go Psyren."  Izuku says as quietly as he could, but still making sure that they could hear him. 

Hitoshi pulls the pin on the bomb and rolls it almost soundlessly towards the hero's. Neither one of them stir while this happens and the gas starts to leak out.

"Okay now we wait 2 minutes to make sure they have enough in the system to not wake up and we go." Mei and Hitoshi nod. 

When the two minutes are up the sneak past the two sleeping heros. It was a Saturday in the middle of the day so thankfully there were many other students or staff wandering the hallways. If Izuku was right, if anybody was going to be here it would have been in the early morning hours when he was still passed out. Most of the teachers valued having some down time and so they didn't often have any classes on Saturdays unlike most of the schools in Japan. He had never been more thankful for UA’s weird policies than he was right now.

That is until there was. A person that is. Zero had heard a person walking towards them and Izu held up his closed fist to signal the other two to stop. He looked around the corner and saw that it was the R rated hero Midnight walking their way. 

He signed to the other two that it was Midnight and they needed to hide. There was a classroom close to them but it would be cutting it close and she might see them. They had to take the chance though. They all wanted to get out of this school and just go back to the hideout and sleep. They crept to the door and prayed that there wasn't a squeaky hinge on the door. 

But that is where their luck ran out. There was a small noise when the door opened. Izu cursed under his breath and motions for them to get in quickly. As silently as he could he shuts the door just as Midnight was walking by. Thankfully for them she must have been distracted enough to just not notice them.

Once they were sure that she was far enough away they all left the classroom and continued to the front gates. 

Izuku knew that it would look weird if all three of them had sprinted for the gates so they took the remaining distance at a  leisurely walking pace. 

Hitoshi was certain that this was going to work. They had planned it all out. They accounted for everything. And that was paying off. They were so close to getting away. The front gate was less than a quarter kilometer away. Just another 5 minutes and they would be free to go back to the hideout and just snuggle and recover. That's what he kept his mind on.

“Okay so it looks like it might be the same height as about 4 Psyrens stacked on top of each other.” Izuku murmurs under his breath to his friends. They tried to keep together in hopes that they would just look like normal school friends and not vigilantes trying to escape a hero school.

“When did I become a unit of measurement?!” He hisses under his breath.

“When we all got that test back in math saying that we failed at trying to figure out approximate heights of objects.” Mei replies with a smug smile. 

“Yea common Psyren, Keep up. We just need to get through that gate or over it and we will be out of here. And then we can go home.”

Looking at the small amount of space that was between them and freedom, that felt like a blissful thought.

“Can we cuddle when we get there? I need it.” Izuku asks them in a small voice.

“Is that even a question?” Hitoshi raises a question eyebrow down at the other boy. 

“Yea seriously. Like we are going to say no. Plus there’s other things that we need to talk about. And I have a strong feeling that-”

Mei didn't get the chance to finish her sentence when all hell broke loose. But quietly? The front gate was right there and they were just about to walk through it when the security gate slammed shut. Effectively locking them on the inside of the campus.

The trio looked up in alarm waiting to see if they heard the alarms also blaring. Alerting everybody and their dog to their presence. Thankfully it didn't but there was now a new problem. 

"Shadow Weaver, Silent Psyren, Arcane Dreams. Where do you think you're going?" A voice that sounds a lot like the principals sounds over the overhead speakers.

Chapter Text

They all stop dead in their tracks. The glance that they all share confirms the same thing. It was Nezu. He knew that they were trying to leave. Izuku curses under his breath. How in the hell did he know? They never used Mei's alias around him and she was never a part of the stunts they pulled. Unless there was something that he wasn't thinking of? But she was always on the sidelines, so it didn't make any sense. He shakes his head to clear the spiraling thoughts and focuses on the immediate problem.

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all." He wasn't sure who had said that but right now and instead of trying to figure it out he gets ready to run.

"Fuck! We can deal with this later! Up and over!" Izu calls out to his friends. Without any hesitation they both head to the wall to start climbing it. Zero makes it over there first and gives them a boost up the wall. Izuku is immensely grateful that they all had been training together and that Zero was able to give them a boost without hurting herself. They get about halfway before Mei and Hitoshi feel fabric wrap around their waists and yank them back down. They whip their heads towards the owner of the offending fabric and see that Eraser has them in his capture weapon.

How did the sleeping bomb wear of already?! Both heros should have knocked out for at least another 4 hours at minimum! Was it defective? Did they counteract it somehow? They would have to figure that out when they weren't dealing with getting caught though. That was nearly as important as trying to get away. 

 Try as they might they were able to get out of it, nothing worked. Their knives didn't do anything and it seemed that the more they struggled against it the more they were bound. Their last hope was that Izuku was able to get away 

To their dismay, they saw their friend had also been caught. He was tangled in a rope net of sorts that had to be similar to the weapon that they were restrained with cause he couldn't move either. Zero was the only one of them that wasn't restrained at this point.

All three of them turned and glared at the hero's that were currently keeping them from running away. 

"Did you really think that you could just leave without saying goodbye?" Nezu inquired from where he was perched on Eraserheads shoulder.

"Yea. That was kinda the idea. Considering the fact you captured us trying to leave." Izu snarks back. 

"Well now that I have your attention let's go back to the infirmary and let's get you healed the rest of the way and let's talk." Nezu chirps out. 

The three teens all roll their eyes and Izuku drawls out.

"Yea. Sure. Okay not like we have much choice right now." Now that Izuku could look at who had captured him he saw that it was Snipe. That at least made sense for how the hero was able to catch him but it was still irritating. Snipe starts to grab for Izuku, capture net and all, when Zero lets out a threatening growl. He jumps back and has his hands up. ( A small part of Izuku is interested in the fact that he didn’t immediately go for his guns but right now that is neither here nor there.) 

"Let him walk."

" What did it say?" 

This time it was both Izuku and Zero that growled at the statement. Zero looked like she was ready to pounce as soon as one of her people gave the word to do so. Izuku on the other hand had the pentagrams in his eyes flaring a bright white against the purple iris of his eyes.

"I will say this only once and that's cause you don't know any better. Do. Not. 

Ever. 

Call. 

Zero. 

An. 

It. The next time you do so will result in consequences. And to translate what she said, she said 'let him walk'. And I'm inclined to agree. I do not like being bound like this." He was freaking out but channeled his anger at the situation instead. He didn't like not being bound like this. It brought up unpleasant memories of when Bakugou and his shitty middle school teachers tried this exact thing. All of those times had also ended not so pleasantly, but mainly with more scars to add to his collection. 

"Are you going to try and run again?" Nezu asked the vigilante. The tone the principal was using was almost smug. Which only served to piss the vigilantes off now. Izuku looked over to where Mei and Hitoshi were still struggling to get out of the binding cloth that Eraser had them in. Thinking of all the villains the man had done the same thing to, he let out a sigh. They wouldn't be able to get out. That much was obvious. They wouldn't be able to leave until the rat said they could. Time damn it.

"Seeing as how Eraserhead still has my companions no. I won't leave them." Izuku bites out. He's still a little pissed that Snipe called Zero and 'it' and being caught so close to the gate so he lets that seep further into his voice when he speaks. 

"Very well I'll trust you. Snipe let Shadow out of the net and let him walk." Snipe brings out a remote and presses a button. When he does the rope net retracts and lets the green haired boy get up. Zero is next to his side in an instant. She nuzzles his hand and he runs his fingers through the fur on her head to calm down a little bit. Snipe knew that he was no longer needed for whatever was going to happen next so he split off from the group. Everybody else made their way back to the recovery bay. 

Once they were in the door and the hero's were situated in a way that blocked all the viable exits they let the two captured teens go.

"Cub, kit, to my side. Now." The tone in Zero's leaves no room for argument. Not like they want to be far from her in the first place. So they make their way over and Zero makes to stand in front of all three of them in the same protective manner as earlier. Her tail was flicking back and forth.  The people in the room that were familiar with cat mannerisms understood that the panther was agitated, but wisely didn't comment on the fact. They all sat down and waited for somebody to break the silence that had fallen over the room.

After 30 minutes no one had moved to break the silence. Mic and Eraser didn't seem to know where to start and Nezu was probably just enjoying the tension that he had created. Mei was the one to finally break it with an  exasperated Huff.

"You said you wanted to talk and get Shadow healed. So talk." 

"Ah I was wondering who would break it first. But thank you for the Arcane. And yes I did want to talk to you." 

"About what? And more importantly, how do you know her name?" Hitoshi asks skeptically. Nezu contemplated for a minute before responding.

"Well about yourselves of course! This is the only time that anybody has caught sight of you three let alone had a conversation. So we're curious. And as for how I know her name, well maybe if you answer some of our questions we will answer some of yours?" There's a gleam in Nezu's eye when he says this. 

It didn't sit right with any of them. An exchange of information. They all also latch onto the fact that Eraserhead does not say anything to contradict the statement. They all know that he could have so why didn't he? 

" We could always jump out the window." Izuku states. His eyes flicked over to the window that was sitting next to them. Three other pairs of eyes also did the same thing weighing their options.

 Mei was the first to answer the unasked question.

" Theoretically we could but, do you really think you be alright after what happened last night and then making that kind of jump?" 

Izuku let out a frustrated sigh.

"Yea you're right I wouldn't be able to do that right now Not without aggravating my injuries more."

" I think the only way that we will get out of here is if we cooperate. We don't really need to know how they know her name. While that is concerning it's more important that we get out of here." Zero says to her trio behind her. She was also keeping an eye on the heros in front of her. They all looked confused. This at least confirmed the fact that Nezu did not in fact know Shadowspeak which made this a little easier. 

" Yea but if we answer questions that means that they will have information on all of us." Mei counters.  

"Who said it had to be helpful information?"  Hitoshi had that same smirk on his face that he did when Izuku first met him when he went against that teacher. And oh if that didn't make his heart do weird things.

" Little one, we can pine over him later. Focus." Thankfully Zero said this so that only Izuku could hear but righted himself either way. SHe was right of course. Now was not the time to be thinking about how his best friend/crush looked so good while wearing that smirk... 

"Hito you're a genius." 

The three felt a little better now that they had something in their control. So they all sat back and crossed their arms over their chest and looked at the heroes in the room. Nezu still had a curious look on his face like he was trying to figure out what they were saying. They all knew that since he didn't already know, he wouldn't be able to figure it out. Shadowspeak was a rare language to speak let alone know about. A person was only taught by another person with a Shadow quirk and those that did know, guarded that secret very religiously.

The other two heros on the other hand were just looking at the teens and waiting. Switching back to Japanese, Hitoshi addressed the room.

" Fine we get it, you're curious. But there will be a limit on how many questions you can ask and we have the ability to decline to answer anything. Also getting Shadow healed while we talk. But not enough to where they pass out again." Hito was always the better one at negotiating. He was able to keep a straight face even when the odds were stacked against them. He was also the better one at multitasking out of the three. 

Normally when he and Izu went into negotiations he would do a lot of the talking and Zuku would keep an eye out for anything that might be strange. And he would tell Hitoshi through a series of taps or hums. This is how the purple haired teen got really good at thinking on his feet and coming up with plans on the fly. Granted Izuku could also do it relatively well but Izuku’s strengths were more geared to the combat side of that coin. Mei didn't really have to deal with either side since she was often at the warehouse when they went out. She was normally in her lab or at the hideout guiding them when she could through security cameras that they had hacked into. Sometimes she would chime in something that the boys hadn't but for the most part she kept quiet and let them do their thing. So she was happy to stay silent during this conversation.

They also had the element of surprise on their side. None of the heroes knew that Hito's quirk was voice activated. They had spent so many hours back in the hideout testing the limits of his quirk. They tried everything that both Izuku and Mei could think of to help him out. They finally got to the point where he could activate it through just simple conversation. Of course the question based response still worked the best and was easiest to work with. So if worse came to worse, he would be able to get all of them under his quirk long enough for them to leave. It might not be the best plan but that's better than nothing right?

With that in mind, Mei and Izuku were more than content to sit back and let Hitoshi do most of the talking. They would step in if they needed to.

"That's completely understandable. I’ll call Recovery Girl in here. In the meantime, let's get started with the questions, shall we?" Nezu chirps. 

"Lets." Nezu pulled out a cell phone looking device, one that had probably been modified to fit his paws, and sent a quick text before putting it away.

"Let’s start with something easy. How long have you all been vigilantes?"

"Long enough."

"Who taught you how to fight like that?" Eraserhead was the one that asked this time.

"We picked up techniques and styles from multiple different people and meshed them together." Hitoshi answered easily. Which was mostly true. But the hero's in the room didn't need to know that Mei's moms had helped them refine everything so that it was flawless. Or that Hitoshi's dads (unknowingly) helped them train too. That and also you can't be on the streets as long as they have been and not pick up some things from not only other vigilantes but the occasional villain as well. But they weren't about to sell anybody out.

"Is there anybody else that's helping you or is it just you four?"

" Nobody of interest helps us." There was a soft knock at the door drawing everybody's attention to it. When Recovery Girl stepped back into the room, she started checking over Shadow. Not seeing anything pressing she placed a small kiss on the green haired vigilante and he seemed to sigh as the pain left his body. When Pysren gave him a quirk eyebrow, he just nodded. When Recovery Girl left the room , the trio turned their full attention back to the conversation. 

Nezu must have picked up on the careful choice of words cause there's another gleam in his eyes that says he knows that the trio is lying. Or at the very least not telling the entire truth.

" Interest to you or to us?" He carefully asks 

"Both " Hitoshi again replies back in a vague sense. He shrugs at the end of the sentence. He recognized that they were playing a dangerous game with Nezu. They all understood that he is the smartest creature and what he is capable of. And what's more dangerous is they know his quirk. Right now Hitoshi was just happy that they didn’t have the human lie detector with them. If he would have been here for the questioning, they would have been royally screwed.

Hence the reason why they are keeping answers as vague as possible. He can't connect the dots if there aren't any to begin with.

" Fine fine moving on. Where do you get your support equipment? No company would sell to you and there haven't been any reports of a warehouse being broken into." The Erasure hero leans forward a little. Seemingly more interested in the conversation the longer it goes on.

" We didn't steal it and we didn't buy it."

" Well from there we can all deduce that it was made. So who makes it for you?" The rat presses.

"Sources that we trust." Hitoshi smirks at them. He can see all of the hero's in the room in various stages of being frustrated. Mic is trying to keep his calm facade but slight hints of looks of just wanting to shake them for answers also shows. 

Eraserhead is pinching the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh of frustration. Nezu on the outside looks calm but the trio can see the hardness in his eyes. He can't call them out for not answering their questions cause they are but they aren't getting any information that would help them in the future. 

" Are you problem children going to ever give us a straight answer or are we just going to keep going in circles?" 

" Considering the fact that two of us are pansexual, one of us is asexual/panromantic, you two heros are gay, and Nezu and Zero are animals and therefore don't fall into societal confines of human sexuality? I would say that getting a straight answer is unlikely at best." Izuku was the one to answer this time. He had his legs crossed over on another. He had leaned so that he was more forward than before and had his first under his head propping up to look at the hero's in the room. Hitoshi and Mei let out small giggles of laughter and the adults in the room just sigh.

"I'm not gonna even ask."  Eraser states as he starts to massage his temples.

"Then I will. How did you know that we were gay?" Mic asks the kids.

"It wasn't really that hard Mic. Especially when somebody listens to some of your older radio shows where you dropped hints about it. I'm not sure if it was ever intentional but it's there if you listen. Also have you looked at yourselves?"  Izuku gestured to them as he said that.

Hizashi just looked at the kids in shock. He thought he had been hiding it so well all this time. Yes there were times when he slipped up but none of the other listeners had caught on to it so how did these kids? And what did he mean with the whole looks thing? He didn't think that he and Shouta had that look about them.

"And it's also the rings that both you and Eraser have around your neck. That was also a pretty good give away. If you really wanted to keep it a secret then maybe you should either wear more than one necklace so that people think it's a costume choice or not wear them at all." It was Izuku's turn to shrug this time.

Mic and Eraser just look at the kids in shock and then turn to each other. They had no idea how these kids found out that they were together.

" How did you figure out that they were together, Shadow?" 

The trio thought about answering the question. It was almost harmless. But that would open up the can of worms that they weren't ready to open. Mainly what they were good at. Thus leading to Izuku's ability to analyze. And nope this is getting too close for comfort. Zero from her spot on the floor felt the same way. She shook out her fur and proceeded to stand. 

"Welp, that's our cue to leave. We would say it was lovely chatting with you but that would mostly be a lie. So we will take our leave now." 

"But you didn't ask any questions?" The voice hero pipes up. His face contorted into a look of confusion and apprehension.

"Consider it a favor. That we can collect later." Mei says easily. Surprising everybody in the room. But Izuku and Hitoshi just nod in agreement.

“Alright, well you answered the questions that we had so I guess you're free to go.” The two heroes look over at their boss with shock but do nothing as the three teens and panther make their way to the door. Not even letting the door close all the way and they can hear them sprinting down the hallway.

“Was it really such a good idea to let them go? Shouldn't we have done more to keep them here?” Mic asks.

“We could have but this is the another step in establishing trust with them. They have to know that we aren't going to hurt them or turn them in.” Nezu replies. “Besides, we did get a lot of information out of them. Even if they weren't intending it that way.”

Aizawa just pinches the bridge of his nose again and sighs for what feels like the millionth time since he woke up. 

“They are all going to be problem children, I can just tell.”

“That they are but hopefully we can get them to turn their sights towards being heros instead of vigilantes. From what Shouta-kun has said they are all very good at what they do."

“That they are. They have managed to evade most of the pro heroes that have been set on their case and this is the first and only time that anybody aside from myself has even managed to get close to them. Let alone talk to them.” Shouta doesn't even know why he's semi hiding the fact that he works with at least two of them. But he also doesn't know why Nezu isn't also bringing it up. Nezu knows that he does, so why not bring it up? He just chalks it up to the fact that the rat is playing games again and lets it be. 

For now.

“I see. Well then this shall make for an interesting turn of events!” Nezu claps his paws together. 

“Nezu-san. I just thought of something."

“Hmm?”

“Don't you put trackers in all of the passes for UA? Wouldn't it be possible for us to track them so that we can find them again?” Mic sounded hopeful when he asked this question  but of course it was short lived.

“Yes I do. And normally yes we would be able to but I don't think it will work this time. I have a feeling that they probably dropped their passes already.”

“What do you mean by that?” Aizawa quirked an eyebrow.

“Let's watch and find out.”

Nezu pulls out a small tablet from who knows where and brings up the security cameras for the front gate. 

As soon as the three teens are on the other side of the gate, they all reach to grab their passes. Shadow must have known where the cameras would be because he looks directly into the camera and waves the passes in front of it. 

Then proceeds to throw them back into the UA grounds. Satisfied that they are on the other side and also not within reach of a random person passing by they run off. 

“And that right there would be the reason that we can't track them. They are a lot smarter than we had been giving them credit for. Arcane figured it out last night while the other two were sleeping. And she told that to Psyren and again to Shadow shortly after he woke up. I have no doubt that Arcane would have been able to get rid of the tracker. I must also say that it's very telling about how they went about getting rid of them. Shadow made sure that they wouldn't have been able to be picked up by anybody other than the staff and/or students here." The rat trailed off on the thought. Clearly not wanting to voice anything else on the matter.

The other two heroes in the room sigh yet again but let that train of thought go.

“I think I need a nap after all of that.”

“For once, I agree with you.” Mic turns to his husband and holds out his hand. Shouta thinks that his husband must be extremely tired or worried if he's actually wanting to take a nap with him. EIther way he's  not going to say no to cuddles and a nap before he has to deal with anything else today. It's already been a long day and it's only midmorning. He reached out and took the offered hand. 

“Let's get to the teacher lounge and take a quick one before we head home.”

“And while you are doing that I think I have a research project that I can get started on.” Neither Mic or Eraser like the look that their boss has on his face. But decide that ( along with a bunch of other ideas and thoughts) can be dealt with later. 

They separate after leaving the medical bay. All three of them thought various different thoughts about the vigilante children that had just left.

Chapter Text

It didn't take them long to get back to the warehouse after leaving UA. They debated just going back to Mei's house but decided that they needed to make sure that they weren't being followed first. They didn't want to get anybody else on Nezu's radar. 

Once they stepped foot into the warehouse, Izuku let's out a litany of curses. 

"I know that it was necessary for me to see Recovery Girl and don't get me wrong I am super greatful that I was able to be healed but fuck." Izuku starts to strip out of his vigilante gear and put them away. 

"Yeah, that was not great." Both Hito and Mei agree. They were also getting out of their gear but fell silent. 

Once they were all in civilian clothes, Izu flopped face down on his makeshift bed. 

Hito and Mei were quick to flank him on either side. Hito is running his hands their Izu’s hair while Mei is softly trailing her hands down his spine. He melts into the touches of his two friends. Incredibly grateful that they are here. He doesn't know what he would do without them. 

Mei clears her throat and both of the boys look at her. 

“Hey Izu...” She trails off.

He rolls over so that his back is towards Hitoshi and he's facing her. And without thinking about it, Hitoshi wraps his arms around Izuku’s waist. Grateful for the contact he leans back into Hitoshi. 

“What’s up Meimei?”   She bites her lip as she thinks. She also grabbed his hands and started to fidget with his fingers. 

“Well something else happened while you and Zero were passed out...” She starts. Zero, who had been sitting on the floor this whole time, perks her head up to look over Mei. Not seeing anything wrong she sits down next to the girl. Izuku feels Hito’s grip around his waist tightened slightly but not enough for it to be uncomfortable. He starts to worry about what happened while he was out though. What would cause them to act like this? Did the heroes threaten them with something? And if so what? He knew that they wouldn't have done anything unless it was truly necessary. 

“What happened?” He asks in a quiet voice.

“Hitoshi and I confessed to each other..” She looks up at him, through her lashes and waits for his reaction. And Based on the tensing in Hitoshi’s arms he's also waiting to see how he reacts. 

And on the inside, he’s not reacting so great. He knows that he should have never let himself get attached to them. He knew that his crushes on his friends would never be returned. He was a damn fool to think so. But he also recognizes that he is happy for them. Even if it is a bittersweet happiness. He's glad that they trust him enough to at least let him down gently like this rather than walking in on them doing something. He won't let them see just how much it hurts though. That's his pain to bear. Not theirs. 

“Oh, okay. I thought it was going to be something worse than that.. I’m happy for you guys..You make a cute couple.” He tried his dfamest to smile at them. But the words taste like ash on his tongue and the arms around his waist feel constricting. Speaking of which...

Why are Hitoshi’s arms around him if he has Mei now? He doesn't need Izuku anymore....

And isn't that a horrifying thought. The thought that they didn't need him anymore. At least not for physical comfort... While that doesn't fully bother  him it does leave a gaping hole in some part of his heart.

Either way, he doesn't want to make this awkward for them so he tries to wiggle out of the other boy's grasp. Hitoshi just responds by tightening his arms around Izuku. 

“Hitoshi, please let me go.”  The more Izuku lets himself think about the situation, the more his heart breaks. It’s all the little things that he apparently had taken for granted that he wouldn't allow himself to have anymore. 

“I will after we all talk Izu. There are some things that I think you need to hear..” The pit that had formed in his stomach was now just a gaping hole. The pinprick of tears was already forming in the back of his eyes but he would not allow himself to cry. Not while they are happy. He would not get in the way of them. No matter what... No matter how much it breaks his heart.

“But...what if they want us to?” Zero’s voice in his head cuts through all of the negative thoughts  but only just. He guesses that it could be a possibility but also not. He was not going to throw himself at them like that. And he said as much to Zero. 

“And I get that, little one. I really do but let's at least hear them out okay? And afterwards, if we need to we can go on a patrol. Alone.” He thought about it for a second before looking between his friends. They both had on matching looks of worry. Probably worried about how he will take it when they say they are going to leave.....Just like everybody else.

He internally shakes his head. That was a touch too far. He doesn't think that they would actually leave him just because they are in a relationship together. They were better friends then that, right? So he answers them and his panther in a single sentence. 

“Okay. I’ll listen.” He focuses on a stray thread that is coming out of the blanket. He said that He would listen but he doesn't have the strength to look either one of them in the eyes right now.

But what he doesn't see is the absolute look of relief that the two share. Mei still has a grip on his hands as they sit in his lap and she is rubbing her fingers over his knuckles in a soothing gesture. 

“So back on track to what we were saying,” Mei starts. Izuku holds his breath.

“We wanted to talk to you about how you felt about us.” Hitoshi finishes for her. Izuku was....confused...How he felt about them....? Like as a couple? As friends?

He tore his gaze away from the wayward thread in the blanket to meet Mei’s cat like beautiful citrine yellow eyes.  He can't let himself think that anymore.

“What do you mean?” He hesitantly asks.

“We mean,” She shifts closer so that she is almost in his lap but still away enough to give him space. “Do you like us, the same way that we like you?”

“Well, I-I-I mean I like you guys yea, but I don't know if it's in the same way that you like me...” He manages to stammer out. He also tried to leave it vague cause he couldn't straight out lie to them. He respected them too much for that. 

“Okay that's a start, but let me rephrase the question. Do you like us or do you like-like  us?” SHe made sure to stress the last two words to show that they were in fact different. And there was not lying his way out of this one. He didn't want to make either one of them uncomfortable so he would just play dumb.

“There’s a difference?” Okay maybe that was too dumb. Cause he was not only getting looks from Hito and Mei but also Zero. She was looking at him like she couldn't believe that he said that.

“That wasn’t playing dumb, that was downright stupid. Which they both know you aren’t.”

“Izuku, I swear to Time that you are so dense!” Mei sighs in frustration. Izuku just continues to try and look confused. He probably wasn’t succeeding but it is what it is. Seeing the moment for what it is, Hitoshi decided that it’s his turn to try something. 

“Mei, I don't think he gets it. So I’ll be taking a page out of your book if you don't mind.” He shifts Izuku so that the younger boy is still in his arms but faces him more directly. He brings a hand up from Izu’s wasit and rests his hand on the other cheek. Izuku brings his hand up to cup around Hitoshi's hand that is on his cheek, staring wide eyed into the deep purple lilac purple eyes that have captivated his heart. He sees a lot of emotions flit through them but none of them stay long enough for Izuku to actually decipher what they are. 

"Can I kiss you?" They were so close now that if one of them moved any closer they would kiss. Izuku appreciated that Hitoshi was asking though. Whether it was for Mei’s sake or if the other boy just knew how much Izuku hated not knowing what would happen. The gesture was appreciated either way. He did feel his heart soaring at the words and their meaning. For so long he was convinced that nobody would ever love him. But now he could see that he just wasn't around the right people. Does that mean that he now has both Hitsohi and Mei that both love him? He really fucking hopes so. 

“I told you so. You should probably answer him and not just stare at him by the way,” He mentally rolls his eyes at Zero while answering. 

"Please." Not sooner had the word left his mouth Toshi closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Izuku's. Izuku kissed him back and the hand that was previously on his cheek was now tangled in the purple locks. The kiss was  innocent, yet perfect. It spoke of all of the things the Neither boy seemed to have words for at that moment. 

Hitoshi broke the kiss between the two of them and Mei tapped on his shoulder. His head was still reeling from the fact that he did in fact kiss one of his best friends.  

“And since I wasn’t apparently clear enough.” She leans forward until her lips are on Izuku’s. While Hitoshi’s kiss was more sweet, Mei’s had a lot of passion. But that was on par for her character. She always did everything at 110 percent. And it seems like loving somebody was no different. He returned the kiss. When he started to bring his hands up to cup her face she gently broke off the kiss. She leaned back and smiled at him. 

His heart was fluttering all over the place and he had his hand over his heart trying to catch his breath. 

“Now, Izu, love,  green bean, from the first time I saw you in that stupid classroom I knew that you were different. I just didn't know at the time how much different this was going to be." When he goes silent for a moment, Mei is right there adding in her side.

“I knew that you were going to be amazing from the first time you spoke in Shadow. I was completely drawn in by the mystery of it. Then I got to know you. And I got to see the ways that your mind works. You were and still are one of very few people that can keep up with me. The way you listen to everything that I say? It makes me feel heard and seen. It makes me feel special. The ideas that you have are nothing short of being genius. But I think I finally realized that I loved you when I saw you interacting with my moms. It sounds so mundane saying it outloud but seeing just how well you get along with them? And also seeing how much they like you? That's when I caught on to my feelings and realized that what I’m feeling is more than just a friend.”

Mei got up and placed herself next to Hitoshi and also in front of Izuku. The two of them laced their fingers together but this time they also held out their other hands for Izuku to take. He took them both gently in his own. Loving the feeling of both of them. 

Hito licks his lips  getting ready to speak again and Izuku follows the motion. Wanting nothing more than to kiss the other boy again.

"Fuck his lips look so kissable right now..." Izuku whines to his companion in his head. Zero seems to smirk at that but says nothing.

" And with everything that has just happened with all of us, Mei and I have some time to sort our thoughts out. And we came to a realization." The purple haired teen looks up into the green eyes that are in front of him. Those same eyes that spoke nothing of safety and warmth.

"And what would that be?" Izuku breathes out. Thinking that he knows exactly where this is going. But wanting to hear them say it anyway. He wants to hear that they love him.

"That we don't want to lose you." Mei was the one that answered the question. Quietly but confidently.

" I don't want to lose you either. Either one of you, You're both important to me." 

"And we want to be more than just friends."

“If you want, we would both really like it if you and Zero were in a relationship with us.” Zero perks her head up again when she hears her name.

They all see her look of confusion and Mei beckoned her onto the bed with them. She hops up and settles down with them.

“What do you mean Izuku and me? ” She askes the other two out loud. 

“We mean that we know that you two are a package deal and we don't want to exclude you. You are just as important as he is, you know?” Hito smiles at her and Izuku feels the tears welling up in his eyes again. Mei is also smiling and agreeing with the sentiment. 

“Yea, Zero! Like we know that you are a quirk but you still have thoughts and feelings. And everything that happens to Izuku also has an impact on you. So if we're dating Izuku, obviously we want to make sure that you're okay with it too.” And just when he thought that he couldn't love the two people in front of him anymore, they go and prove him wrong again. They didn't have to include Zero in this. Yet they did. And he wasn't even the one that prompted it. It was all them. Them showing him in these little ways that they do care so much. That they pay attention to the small details like this.

Izuku tries to speak but his voice won't come out. 

Zero looks at Izuku and the back at the pair that has shown time and time again that they would do almost anything for her little one and responds for both of them. 

“I speak for both of us when I say this. We are in your care. Izuku would love to be in a relationship with you two. I know that there isn’t anybody else that I would trust him with when I’m not here.”

Both Mei and Hitoshi smiles are wide and happy. They tackle the green haired boy in a hug and pepper his face with small little kisses that make him giggle.   

"I promise to make you both happy." Izuku whispers the words like a prayer. A prayer that was only meant for the other two. 

Hitoshi presses another quick kiss to Izuku's lips with Mei following shortly after. They lean slightly away from Izuku to  share a kiss of their own. Izuku can hardly believe it. They all actually like each other and are now together! He knows that they will have to talk about things but they would need to do that with any relationship to be healthy. And for right now? That conversation can wait just a little bit.

"I don't doubt it." All of them are smiling at each other and a slight blush can be found on all three of them. They stay there wrapped in each other's arms.

Chapter Text

  In an Undisclosed part of Japan:

After a while of being on the streets names and faces start to blur together. And not cause Dabi wants them to. It just happens. He remembers what it was like to be with his dad. Everybody was always looking at him like he was going to be the next Endeavor. Sometimes, he could take it as a good thing. People would look up to him and see a protector. His chest would swell with pride when he got those looks. He didn't want to be exactly like his dad but he did want to be a hero. In a sense. He could admit that he wasn't much for the spotlight but maybe he could be a twilight hero? Like the ones that you hear about every now and then when they do a big take down or when they do something extraordinary. That's more in line with what he could handle.

And for a while, it's what he strived to be..

But it was the others that really got to him. Now, just cause he was young doesn't mean that he doesn't know that his dad is not really a good hero. He would never say it out loud, but honestly? The man acted more like a villain than a hero. And that's how the other group of people saw him as well. Just like his dad. But with his quirk more powerful, they feared him even though he had done nothing other than being born. People in that group often had looks of either disdain or disgust when they looked at him. It got harder and harder to ignore these people. They were everywhere. No matter where he went. They always reminded him of who he was.. and of what he could become..

Touya guessed that he should be happy that his dad only focused on him. Technically, it would have been Fuyumi that got all the attention since she was the first born, but since she didn't have a powerful enough quirk, their dad cast her aside. And the same thing happened when Natsuo got his quirk in after Touya. Fuyumi had a 'mediocre' ice quirk as his dad put it and Natsuo got a fire quirk that also wasn't up to his father's standards. So due to that, Touya was the unfortunate one that got all of their dad's attention. 

And it was like that up until his youngest brother was born. Little Shouto. He got that quirk that his dad had been after ever since he laid eyes on their mom. Half-fire and half-ice. The perfect combination of his parents' quirks.  So when Touya was 12 he did anything he could think of in order to protect Shouto. Nothing worked though. Their dad tossed him aside like he was nothing. He wasn't sure if the pain that he felt was from the fact that his own father was tossing him away like rotten garbage or if it was from his own sense of failure to protect his youngest sibling. Some bitter part of him says that it's both and he’s inclined to believe that. 

Even after all of that, Touya still tried to stick it out. Tried to protect Shouto in the only way that he knew how. Distracting Enji when he was too angry and taking each and every hit meant for his brother. 

Late one night he was in his room trying to patch up the most recent injuries when their sister came in the room with a first aid kit. He didn't even realize that they had one. Enji certainly never told him that they had one. All of his first aid supplies were either ones that he painstakingly saved up for, or got ‘gifted’ from his school.

She wordlessly just sat next to him and started attending to his injuries. The only sounds that could be heard were his hisses in pain that he tried to cover up. 

“You need to leave...” Fuyumi said it so quietly Touya doubted he even heard her. 

“He’s just going to get worse. You know this as well as I do.”

“Yumi...I can't just leave you guys like this...”

“I know it will be hard but I can't stand by and watch as he kills you. And I know that you can't take any of us with you. I-we just need you to get out and last until you turn of age. That way we can get the little ones out too. I would do it since I'm the oldest but you know that he has a stranglehold on everything that I do... ” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes but also a fearless sense of determination. It was a look that he had only seen once before. And that was on their mother before she ‘snapped’.

He thought about it for a couple minutes before answering his sister. He weighed the pros and cons and thought about the what-ifs. Ultimately, he knew the answer already. Even if he hated it.

“Okay, I will go. But I need you to promise me that we will keep in contact and that you will protect them as much as you can. I don't care where I’m at. If you think that your lives are in danger I want you to call me and we will figure something out.” He held on to her hands as he said those words. They didn't sound right coming out of his mouth but he knew that what Yumi said was true. He knew that if this continued on like it has been the Touya would be lucky to see 18... And that might even be pushing it. He hated the thought of having to leave his family like this but if it was between this and the thought of his siblings having to put his body in the ground? The decision wasn't that hard to make. 

“I promise. I think we can have everything ready for you to go in about a month. That would give us time to get you clothes, money and anything else you could need. Does that sound okay to you?” He quickly nodded his head and leaned to press a gentle thankful kiss to his sister's forehead. He always admired her ability to be strong in times like these. (later he would reflect and see just how much Fuyumi had to grow up at such a young age. He would also see that she was more like their mother than an older sister. Especially after Rei left.) 

The night that they chose for him to leave, Touya made sure that he read a bedtime story to Shouto before he fell asleep and he also made sure to spend some time with Nats. He wanted to make sure that both of his brothers had a good memory of him before he left. He also was hoping that leaving them like this wouldn't cause them to love him any less. He went to Yumi last, knowing that this was going to be the hardest goodbye out of all of them. 

“Stay alive. Touya. I need you to be able to come back.” She said to him through the tears. 

“I promise that I will. I love you and I’ll miss you.” He brought her into a bone crushing hug that she returned just as strong. The two siblings stayed like that for a moment longer before Yumi was pulling away wiping the tears from her face. 

“Go. You’ll only have second thoughts the longer that you stay. We’ll keep in touch.” Touya wiped the tears away from his face and turned his back on his childhood home. He set out into the night. Only looking back once. Seeing Yumi still there with her arms wrapped around her waist. He bit his lip but continued on into the night. Promising that he would come back for all of them once it was safe. 

The words that he didn't hear from his sister still echoed in the wind long after he left Fuyumi’s sight. 

“Stay strong my little Phoenix. I promise that I will fix this.” The light from the moon catches her eyes and makes them have a dangerous glint to them. Fire and fury coursed through her veins when she whispered out 

“Even if it kills me I will make them pay.”

Himiko withdraws her fangs from Dabi’s neck and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. She sees the memory clear as day. She can see the pain that it caused Dabi to leave his siblings like that. She also wants to ask him why he hasn't been able to go back and get them since he's over 18. He should have been able to by now, but that's one of the subjects that she won't push him on. He probably has his reasons for why he can't. She just leans into him to try and provide any sense of comfort that she can. 

“Which one did you see this time, little flame?” She had long ago told him about one of the ‘drawbacks’ with her quirk. That whenever she drank straight from somebody, not only could she turn into them with her transformation quirk but she would see a memory. She could never tell which memory it was going to be nor did she have any control about how much she saw. They tried to see if the amount of blood had anything to do with it and it didn't. Whether she took a drop or took as much as she needed it was always the same. The memories also never seemed to repeat even with how often she drank from Dabi, but he never minded. In turn though, she also opened up about what happened to herself. How she ended up on the streets. She even told David about the green haired boy from primary school that was her friend that she missed so much. He told her that he would help if she wanted to find him, but she hasn't taken him up on that for various reasons.

“I saw the night yo-you left...” She trailed off, not knowing what else to say about it. Thankfully, Dabi understood what she meant and nodded his head.

“Yea, that night was hard..” He sat back with a bandage on his neck as he looked up to the sky. 

“Do you regret it?” She asked as she sat facing him. Since she was the one that made the wounds she always made sure that she tended to them as well. It was the least that she could do since Dabi had started offering her his blood. 

“Not at all. I know that it was for the better. She would like you, you know?” He said while side-eying her. The thought of having a sister as welcoming and protective as Dabi’s was like a fantasy. She kinda wanted it, but also didn't want to ask. She didn't think that she deserved it.  Her hands faltered a little bit as she rewrapped the dressing around his neck. 

“If you want, when I can go back, I’ll take you with me? I wouldn't mind having another sister. Heh, with the way things are right now, you might as well be.” He laughs a little at that and Himiko is at a loss for words. She doesn't know what she could say to that. She never had somebody that actually wanted her in their lives. She had spent so long being told that she would never do anything worthwhile that just the thought of something like this made her scoff. The only reason why she didn't though was because she could tell that he was being serious. 

“I...think I would like that.” She hesitantly. Sensing her hesitation he offers up a small smile that she has- up until now- only seen in his memories. The smile that is reserved for the people that he truly cares about. She wouldn't admit it out loud just yet, but the idea of being able to go with Dabi-back to his family- warms her heart and gives her hope. It gives her the little bit of hope that she needs to make it through. It almost has her thinking that maybe she will turn out okay. And that she's not meant to just end up as some useless whore like her parents always told her she would be.

Maybe she does deserve to be loved and cared for...

“Alright it’s settled then. Let's get out of here and figure out what we’re gonna do until then.”  

They rounded the corner coming out of the alley way when Himiko bumps into somebody. 

“Oh sorry! Didn’t see you there!” She turns around to bow at the other person. He has scraggly bluish-blonde hair and is in serious need of chapstick. He holds himself like he's trying to portray an air of confidence but at the same time scratches at his neck until it bleeds. She stares at the small amount of blood almost wanting to taste it. 

“It’s fine..” Even his voice was rough. At a tug from Dabi she straightened up out of her bow. When they tried to pass by him, they were stopped by a hand on Himiko’s arm. She startled a little bit at the contact and made sure that she was within arms reach of Dabi. It wouldn't be the first time that they got on the wrong side of human traffickers so it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Hold on for a second. I want to talk to you two.”

“Okay then talk. But get your hands off of her first.” Dabi pointedly looks at the hand that is still resting on Himiko. And also notes that he has only 4 fingers on his sister. His pinky is up in the air as if he was having a cup of tea. Dabi’s eyes narrow in on that fact. Most people only do that nowadays when they have a 5 finger contact quirk. He doesn't know what kind of quirk this guy has but he would really rather not find out. 

“Right of course. Sensei said I should work on my communication skill stat.” He lifted his hand off of Himiko and she was quick to go over to Dabi’s other side. Dabi felt the tension ease again when she wasn't in crusty's grasp. 

“Alright Crusty. Now what did you want to talk about?”

“I need people to join my party. You both seem like you have strong stats. It would be beneficial for both of us to team up,” The boy in front of them almost seemed nervous and Dabi just wanted to laugh. 

“And why would we do that? We’re doing just fine on our own.” He slouched back waiting for a response. It was about a solid minute for the other person to think on it before Dabi got one.

“We could do an exchange? Like you help me with what I need and I can give you a place to stay and food to eat. You won't have to worry about medical supplies and I can make sure that the stupid law abiding NPCs stay off your tail if that is something that you need.” He rushes it out like he’s trying to get them to make a choice in a hurry. But thankfully Dabi is used to this type of tatic with how he grew up.

“I see. But what exactly is it that you do? We aren’t going to agree to do something blindly.” He states with no room for argument. 

“Oh, good. Your intelligence stats are higher than I first assumed. That's good..that's great even. To answer your question though, I plan to take down the heroes. I can't give you any more information than that until you decide to join. Can't have you running to the heroes now can we?” The conviction that rolls off of the person in front of them is strong and unwavering. The switch between moods is jarring.  Just who was this guy? Dabi glances down at Himiko who just scrunches her nose. He’s inclined to agree with her and just let this guy go. He seems like all he will cause is trouble. And don't get him wrong, he wants to see most of the heroes knocked down (looking at you Endevawhore) but doing it in the way that this guy wants to, seems counterproductive at best. 

“We will need time to think about it.”

“But I need you to make the decision now!” And then has the audacity to stomp their foot like a child that just got told that they couldn't have ice cream before dinner. This threw Dabi off more. This guy had literally gone through 3 different personas in a matter of minutes. He wasn't expecting somebody that looks to be close to him in age to act like this... Was this guy even for real? They haven't even exchanged names yet! Did this guy seriously think that people would just join them because they asked? 

“Kid, look, I-”

“I’m not a kid! I’m 23!” The boy crosses his arms over his chest as he ligitmently pouts at the words. 

“Right," Dabi draws the word out.  Trying to find the right words to not irritate the guy any further. "Well I don't know what else to call you so it's either kid or crusty. Take your pick.”

“The name is Shigaraki.”

“Okay then Shigaraki, we need time to think about it. I’m sure that you understand.”

“Not actually I don't. Our stats put together would make a good team so it’s only logical that we should team up.” What is it with this kid and gaming lingo? Did it have something to do with his quirk? Either that or this really was a kid in an adult body and spent way too much time playing video games. Dabi sighed. He would just have to speak the language that this kid understands. He’s now glad that his other brother Natsou was a small time gamer and that he was able to pick up some things from him.

“Look, Phoenix and I are more of a combat pair type. Not so much a group raid type, you get me? We need to think about it cause that also means that we have to share our resources as well as the loot.” Himiko has a soft look in her eyes when she hears the pet name that his sister gave to him the night he left. It makes her heart feel warm and fuzzy all over again. 

“Ah, okay. When you put it like that, it does make sense when you put it like that. Okay then how about we meet back up here in three days? Will that give you enough time?” Three days would be more than enough. Dabi just needed some time to actually talk with Himiko about this and also consult Yumi about this. He wasn't about to make any decisions without letting her know. She would have his head if he did. It all really boiled down to, if both of his sisters said it was a bad idea then they wouldn't do it. Simple as that. He trusted their judgment just like they trusted his. 

“That should be fine.”

Before Shigaraki turned to leave he asked another question.

“I gave you my name but I never got yours? What am I supposed to call you?”

“You can call me Dabi and her Phoenix.” He said while gesturing to himself and Himiko.

“Well Dabi, Phoenix. I look forward to hearing from you.”

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

Three days goes by quickly when you're debating something. It was a long three days of going over everything that they could think of. What kind of work they thought they would be expected to do. Who is Shigaraki, and who is this sensei person he talks about? They also talk about the things that they both are and are not willing to do. After all of their talks about it, they were both on the fence. Yes, it could be a good thing to team up with Shigaraki (temporarily) but on the other hand it could cause them to get into massive amounts of trouble. They also came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be the worst thing to team up with Shigaraki as long as he complied with the boundaries that they set. And as long as Yumi didn't have any qualms about it. Ultimately they were just waiting on that text from Yumi. She would be the final deciding factor in this. She has never steered them wrong before.

They were both feeling a little antsy when they still hadn't heard from her 2 hours before the meeting. They were talking of ways to put it off when a soft ping! Comes from Dabi’s burner phone. 

ArcticFrost: I would be extremely careful. It seems like they might be villains in the making. But if you can get more information and keep your distance, I can protect you both. 

Fireworks: Okay thanks. Will keep you posted.

He turns his head to where Himiko is reading over his shoulder. 

“Well, it looks like we’re doing this. Are you sure you're okay with this?”

“Yea, After All it’s just an act. Make them think that we are on their side. Make them believe that they can trust us. I think we could do it pretty well. You just need to lean more into your 'I don't give a shit about anybody or anything' vibe and I can do the whole blood crazed psycho vibe.” She says she leans into Dabi. 

“Yea, we can do this.” He agrees.

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

Hours later they are at the meet up spot and waiting for Shigaraki. He finally shows up. By stepping through a black and purple swirling vortex...portal? Dabi isn't really sure what he’s looking at but it's certainly something. 

“I’m glad to see that you came. I would have hated to try and hunt you down for answers. It’s so much easier this way.” Shigaraki with a smile that is laced with a little too much smugness for Dabi’s liking. 

“Yea well, we're here and we have an answer. We will join you but with a few conditions.” He plainly states. No need to use extra words or useless fluff. 

“Excellent. Glad that we could come to an agreement. Kurogiri, here will take us back to the hideout. When we get there we can talk.”

Chapter Text

At UA:

“Eraserhead! Mic! I need you both in my office.” Shouta was sitting in the teachers lounge after waking up from his nap with Zashi. They were just about ready to go home when Nezu called them into his office. He sent a look to his husband who just shrugged and followed him to the office.

When they entered through the door to the office Shouta was on edge. Nezu was sitting behind his desk with a cup of tea like he always was but that’s not what made this weird. 

It was the sole fact that Nezu had a gleam in his eyes that told Shouta he found something. He was shaking ever so slightly which for Nezu was the equivalent of somebody bouncing off the walls in excitement. 

Shouta raised his eyebrow and questioned,

“I take it you found something?”

“Not some thing,”  Nezu starts. He flips the monitor around to show the two heroes in the room what he had been searching for while they slept. “Some one.”

Hizashi looks at the monitor in question. It’s a school picture of a girl. She looks to be in secondary school. She has pink hair with yellow eyes. He was reading the part of the file that Nezu had pulled up and it was just a standard student file. Name, age, quirk, where she went to school and the like. There was nothing glaringly obvious to indicate what the rat could be so excited about. So Shouta studied the picture and file information trying to piece together what the rat was trying to show them. Knowing full well that Nezu wouldn't tell them anything until they figured out why they were staring at a picture of a middle school girl named Hatsume Mei. Shouta had the slightest inkling that she sounded and looked familiar but couldn't place why. 

On a hunch he opened up his wallet and dug in it until he found the Business card that he was looking for. 

Yui and Mai Hatsume. 

Was she the daughter to one of them? That would at least explain why the name sounded familiar but that doesn't explain why she looks like somebody he has met before. 

“Oh, I see that you already are in contact with her moms!” Nezu says excitedly.  

“Yea I ran into them a little while ago. They thought they were being followed. If I remember right it was also after I stopped a couple muggings so I escorted them home. They gave me this but, honestly I haven't even thought of it until now.” Shouta looks up at his mentor. Why was this so important?

“Well you see, this will give us a little edge, so to say, with your vigilantes.” Shouta feels his eyebrows practically disappear into his hair. How on earth would these two women be able to help with their vigilantes? Shouta might not have known them at all but they did strike him as the sort to do illegal acts like that. 

“Why? Because those two women are the mothers of Arcane.” Nezu clasps his paw together and starts to explain what he found. Both Shouta and Hizashi were stunned speechless. They were what?!

“I found it interesting that they had said that they didn’t buy or steal their equipment. They instead said that it was made. They even confirmed it themselves.” Shouta nods understanding so far. 

“Well, that made me think that it was possible that they were making it themselves. But then I thought about where they would get the materials and where they would have the space in order to test the equipment. Like the helmets that Shadow and Pysren were wearing. Those would have been costly to make. Especially for middle school aged kids. And they would have to have a controller environment to test them in.” Nezu brings up a file on his computer and shows it to the couple. 

“ So I did some digging around support companies that were buying some of the same materials in the past couple of years. Granted a lot of them buy the same things so nothing was outright obvious.   But what I did notice is that Hatsume Industries had a very similar design and product available.”

He clicks on another part of the screen. When it was loaded they all saw that the helmets that were pictured were indeed similar But different enough that most people would have written it off. The ones that they were currently looking at were more of a visor type that only went across the eyes and sometimes the mouth. The ones that their vigilantes had were full faced and completely enclosed around the head. Another difference was the coms. With the ones that were for sale, the coms were more pronounced like most heroes needed them to be. If Shouta had to guess, the ones that the three were using also had coms, (there was no other way that Arcane would be able to help them if they didn't.) But were clearly more hidden. The similarities were stacking up to the point where it was not a coincidence. They had to have been at least designed by the same people. 

“But that still doesn't explain how Arcane is linked to all of this. It could just be that she really liked the design and modified it to suit their needs but also not infringe on creative rights.” Hizashi comments. 

“That's what I thought too. So I spent some time looking into the Hatsume’s and I found that Mei Hastume is a support inventing Prodigy. And that she was in fact that one that designed the helmets that are available to sell. Her moms’ also owns the shop that she most likely is getting her materials from.” And just when the rat couldn't get any more convincing, he showed the couple a picture that had Mei Hastume, standing on a stage accepting an award for something. A big grin on her face while shaking the hand of the HPSC leader's hand. The exact design that they were just talking about, on display in the behind them. Her moms could be seen on the edge of the picture smiling so brightly at their daughter. And if somebody looked close enough, there was also a head of purple and green hair in the mass of the crowd. Cheering for her as well. 

“So Once I figured out that one Hastume Mei was more likely than not Arcane, I started looking into her personal life. Who she spends her time with and the like.”

“Naturally. Cause it’s more than likely if she is doing this, it would be with people that she trusts.” Shouta stated. He had to admit that it made sense. A lot of the vigilantes that he came across were either doing this by themselves because they couldn't trust anybody else or when they were in groups. And again More often than not, it was with people that they trusted outside of their nightly activities. It was dangerous to be a vigilante. Not just in the sense of going out and finding trouble with villains but also with the risk of being caught by heros and/or police. It was a high stakes game with very little reward. They couldn't just trust anybody to have their back. A lot of them wouldn't even trust the heroes to be their backup cause they would be too afraid of being turned in. Shouta makes it a habit to turn a blind eye to that type of thing because if he’s being honest, most of the vigilantes that he worked with were better than some of the fully licensed heroes. 

Some of the heroes that he came across tended to think that since they had a license that they didn't have to play by the rules and that they could get away with anything. He could not count how many times he has seen another underground hero walk away from a scene because it wouldn't bring them enough money to deal with it. And that is where the vigilantes would pick up the slack. They were often the ones that were doing the things that the heros didn't want to do. And they didn't get paid for it. The system was flawed, Shouta knew, but this was making it more apparent. 

“Which is how I came across two people that I would say have a pretty high chance at being Shadow and Psyren.” A couple of clicks from Nezu mouse had brought up two other school files. 

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Birthday: 15-07-20XX

Age: 13

Quirk: Hell Panther

PVR: 0910

Description: User’s quirk Comes from a combination and mutation of family quirks in both maternal and paternal lines. User is able to summon a sentient shadow that takes the form of a panther. It is unclear if the shadow can be any other forms at this time. It has also been noted that user can also create and control what they call shadow fire. Panther often displays this feature with fire like wisps that come off of it. It is theorized that if anything would happen to the user the panther would go on a rampage until the need for justice is satiated and itself would also be destroyed. It is unclear just how powerful this quirk and user could become. No further tests will be conducted due to the risk of falling into villainy. User is also barred from school mandated quirk training for above stated reasons. If found acting out, muzzles have been a good deterrent. Quirk suppressants are helpful but not fully effective ( See attached medical file 2050-B). Proceed with extreme caution. 

Name: Hitoshi Shinsou

Birthday: 01-07-20XX

Age: 13

Quirk: Brainwashing

PVR: 0607

Description: User has the capability to take over a person and put them into a state of hypnosis. While under the person is not able to break out unless outside force is used against them. The user can make the other person do anything that the user desires as long as it is within the capabilities of the other person. This quirk has been observed to be a call and response based quirk. It is advised to not answer any questions if the user asks them. The use of a muzzle is an effective way to make sure that the user's quirk is not set off. Quirk Suppressant will also work but the user is prone to getting sick off of them, (See Medical Form 2049-A for documented evidence.) No further testing will be done on users quirk due to the nature of the quirk. User is barred from school mandated quirk training for above stated reasons.  Enough information has been gathered so any further testing is unnecessary and possibly dangerous. Proceed with caution.            

Shouta finds himself rereading the computer screen more than is really needed. He just can't believe what is written on the screen. He feels fury for both teens and the blatant way they have both been cheated in today's society. It's closely followed by Midoriya's PVR rating. The bias is clear in the writing that whoever evaluated him wanted him to not be able to so much as breathe without heros and police thinking that he is a troublemaker. 

He has met the kid in person (If Midoriya is Shadow) and Shouta knows for a damn fact that this kid is not anything like he is portrayed on paper. They are making him out to be the embodiment of evil when in reality,  Midoriya Izuku is just a kid who wants to help people.  Same goes for Shinsou. Granted Shouta didn't know the purple teen as well as the other but the point still stands. These two are kids! And on paper they are made to sound like they are already more than half way to becoming a villain. If these two really were Shadow and Pysren it would make sense as to why they felt the need to be vigilantes. It's not like they have very many options. He would also be willing to bet that they probably don't have any sort of encouragement from anybody in their lives. He just hoped that they at least had good home lives. If it was anything like his was then he would do something about it. He wasn’t about to let kids suffer like he did just because of their quirks. 

“Oh, that would actually make sense then. If that is really them.” Hazashi comments. 

“Yes, it does. But I’m afraid I have more information that neither one of you is going to like.” 

“What is it?”

“It seems that  Midoriya has been flagged for aggressive behavior.”

“By who? If we’re the only ones that know he could possibly be Shadow then who else would need to do something like that?” Hizashi questions. 

“All Might. It seems like he got into a confrontation with Midoriya a couple days ago... and Midoriya ended up running away from All Might. It isn't  didn't mention why or what happened but it’s concerning.”

Shouta feels his quirk activate as a reflex. That blonde buffoon was always making shit more complicated than it needed to be. By flagging the kid for aggressive behavior that almost gives any hero the right to pull Midoriya into police custody. If he is caught by anybody that is not the three of them, this could set back all of the progress that they have been trying to build. A smaller part of him is also thinking that this could be the start of his villain origin story. And that scares him just a little bit and not because of what the PVR rating says. But because he knows that if this kid had to deal with anything close to what shouta had to deal with as a kid then he really couldn't blame Midoriya for finally snapping. A smaller part of him admits that if this kid did go to the other side the Shouta might just follow him.

“Well, then, we just have to make sure that we get to him first. Whether it's as Shadow or as Midoriya. We already have the contact information for Hastume’s parents. And if she is close with Midoriya then we should be able to get in contact with either the kid or his parents.” Shouta was already pulling out his phone and dialing the number on the business card before Hizashi finished talking. He was praying to whoever would listen to him that they answered. 

“Hello! This is Yui.” A light voice comes from the other side of the phone and for that Shouta is thankful. He can also hear yelling and laughing in the background. He almost felt bad for what he was going to do. Cause if Hatsume, Shinsou and Midoriya were Arcane, Psyren and Shadow, that was probably all them in the background. Not having a care in the world unknowing that Shouta was about to massively shake everything up. 

“Hello, Hastume-san. This is Eraserhead. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something important.” 

Earlier that day with the Chaos Trio:

The walk over to Mei’s parents house could really only be described as the walk of shame. Not because they did anything bad....Per Say..

But Hitoshi and Mei did forget to tell her moms that they were okay...

And that they had to go to UA....

And that Izuku was healed after receiving some life threatening injuries...

And that they were now together.. 

All of that happened yesterday..? Day before? Either way it was a lot longer than they thought it was. And neither one of them noticed that they didn't have their phones on them. Izuku had barely gotten a partial charge when his phone was ringing off the hook with unanswered text messages and missed calls. When his phone started to ring with an actual call from Mei’s parents he practically flung his phone at his girlfriend(!). They all heard the sound of yelling and cursing that followed when she picked up. 

Which is what leads them to now. Slowly but surely making progress back to Mei’s house. 

“I’m not sure I wanna...” Hitoshi started.

“But we have to. You heard MommaMai. If all of us don't show up by 4 the we will all be grounded. For eternity.” Mei countered. Both of the boys knew that technically Mei’s moms couldn't ground them but at the same point? They didn't want to find out what would happen. It was just easier to agree. 

They saw Mei’s house in the distance and they also saw two figures pacing the yard. They all stopped to take a breath. Looking at each other and the to where their moms were waiting. Izuku, being in the middle, took his boyfriend’s hand in his left and his girlfriends in his right. He gave them both a squeeze which they gratefully returned. 

“Whelp, let’s just get this over with.” 

When they get within earshot of the two women in the yard, both of their heads snap up. Many emotions crossed in their eyes but the one that finally settled was relief. 

They both ran over to Izuku and started to check him for injuries. 

“Izuku! Oh my fates, we were so worried!” 

“I’m okay..” He tried to tell them, but they waved his words away. 

“We just need to see that for ourselves dear.” Mom had tears in her eyes when she took Izuku’s head in her hands. MommaMai was busy fussing over Zero when she noticed that they were all holding hands. 

She wanted to say something but figured it could wait. They all needed to go inside and talk about what happened. Satisfied that he wasn't injured they turned their attention to the other two kids. 

They all stayed put as their moms fussed over them finally deeming them okay.

“Alright, Yu, let's get our kids inside so that we can talk.” She looks each one of them in the eyes to know that while she is happy that they are back and more or less safe, she is still a little angry with them. “We have a lot to talk about.” 

They all nod their heads and head inside.

Once they were settled with their tea, MommaMai and Mom turned to them. 

“Alright, now what happened.” The trio looks between each other unsure of where to start. 

Izuku exhales a breath. 

“I guess I’ll start with when the three of us split up.” He continuously runs his hands through Zero’s fur in an attempt to calm himself down. He couldn't believe everything that happened in the past 26ish hours. Between the run in with All Might and the subsequent accidental run in with that gang. Then all of UA. And the cherry on top (finally) getting into a relationship with his best friends. (Hands down that was the best part of the whole day)  If somebody would have told him yesterday that this was going to happen to him then he would have called them crazy. 

He made sure not to leave anything out. He trusted everybody in this room with almost everything. He felt the tears running down his face when he recalled what the number one hero had told him. The pain of the words still hitting him hard. Both Mei and Hitoshi were thankfully there to wipe his tears away and be a comforting presence.   They were also both rightfully mad at the number one hero. It took almost 30 minutes to calm them both down to where they were going to go out and hunt down the number one idiot. They refused to call him the number one hero now.

 When he got Hitoshi and Mei mostly calm,  they started to tell their side. After they had left the house in search for Izuku up until they all left UA. 

“Well that sounds like a lot.” MommaMai said after a minute of processing.

“Yea it was..” they all chimed in agreement.

“Well, I’m glad that you all are okay, but we need to figure out what we are going to do now that the heroes are more involved.”

“Oh you don't have to! I’m sure I’ll figure something out! I promise that I’ll leave Mei and Hito out of this. It’s my problem after all!” Izuku was quick to interject. The sounds of offense could be heard from either side of him but he didn't care.  He was the one that brought them into this. So it was only right that he was the one to deal with any of the fallout.

“Izu! You can't just say that. We are in this together!” Mei was practically gluing herself to his side. She had her arms wrapped around his and when he tried to pull himself out she just gripped harder. She also threw her legs over his to try and prevent him from getting up. 

“Yea Zu! You can't just leave like that. We are all ride or die! We knew what we were signing up for when we agreed to go out with you! And that's in all senses of the phrase!” Hito was also mirroring what Mei was doing but on the other side. They were all just a random tangle of limbs that Izuku couldn't bring himself to try and decipher. It brought him comfort but also made him a little worried. He didn't want to possibly ruin Mei's future with this. She didn't deserve that. And the thought of what would happen to Hito made him a little sick to his stomach.

“I would also have to agree with everyone else on this, little one. We have spent so long by ourselves, it might benefit us to have help. Afterall I did say that they were the ones that I trusted when I’m not here.” Zero said from her position on the floor.

“Yes, Izuku. Listen to your panther. You're family. This is what we do. We help each other when the other needs it. And sorry kid but you've been one of us since the first time Mei brought you home. You’re stuck with us now.” Izuku snaps his head up to look at the two women sitting in front of him. They had always been the ones that he wished had been his parents. They treated him no differently than they did Mei and they were always willing to help him even when he didn't want it. So hearing them say that he was their kid? That they actually wanted him? A small sob escaped his throat. 

“Do you actually mean that?” He asked in a small voice. 

Both MommaMai and Mom stand up from their chairs and kneel in front of them. 

“Yes we do. You're one of our kiddos. Along with the pink one and the purple one.” Mom brushed his hair away from his eyes and gave him a small smile.

Thinking more on it. Izuku decided that it might not be a bad thing to have help every now and then. Especially when he couldn't think of a single way that he would be able to get them out of this by himself. He looked over at Zero. She already knew the question that he was asking without him actually having to say it. She slow blinked at him, giving him the amount of encouragement that he needed to make yet another leap of faith. After all, the last two were going pretty well so far so what’s one more?

“Okay.” He whispers. 

“Thank you for trusting us, Izuku.” MommaMai placed a kiss on his forehead before getting up.

“I know that we need to come up with some sort of plan but can we first eat something? I’m kinda hungry.” Mei asked the room. As if on cue all three of their stomachs grumbled. She just pointed to her stomach as a show of evidence which made everybody laugh. 

“Okay we can go work on dinner but one question before we do. When did all of this happen?” Mai was the one to ask as she gestured to the three of them. All holding hands and almost being in each other's laps. Three blushes came from the question and the realization that in their explanation of what happened they actually forgot that one part. Hitoshi tried to answer but it was Izuku that stuttered out a more cohesive reply

“Ri-right be-before we came over here. At the wa-warehouse.” 

Yui smirked at the trio in front of her but not an unkind one. She knew from the first time that Mei had brought them over that they would end up in a relationship of some sort. They had bonded over the years. They were always closer than normal friends would be but Mai and Yui had decided a while ago that they would let things naturally progress rather than try and force it. And seeing them finally together is amazing. She was happy for all of them.  But that doesn't mean that she won't tease them, however. 

“Okay, well congratulations to you three.” She leaned forward a little bit and asked in a completely serious but not serious voice.

“So, that means that we need to have the consent and sex talk now, right?” Hitoshi would not look her in the eye and Izuku looks like he is trying his best to become one with the couch. She previously thought that the blushes on the three kids couldn't be any redder but here they all were. As red as tomatoes. Her own daughter was looking at her scandalized.

“That’s not-! We’re not- I’m not- ugh MOM!” A pillow was thrown at her from the couch but she sidestepped it easily. 

“Okay, okay it won't be now but we will need to have that conversation at some point.” She smiled towards them and motioned for them to go help their other mother in the kitchen. They disentangled themselves and went to do just that. She told them that she would help them out shortly, but had to stop by the workshop first. 

Now that they had all of the information and they felt better about everything but also a little worse. She was just happy that all of her kids were safe. She was still angry at the fact that the number one hero had said those awful things to Izuku but there wasn't much that she could do. It’s not like she was the one that was helping him. The man didn't even have support equipment! (Which she thought was stupid but not because she wsa a support engineer. But because even the best of heroes need support gear to help them be the best that they can be. It wasn’t just about adding to what somebody could do, but also negating the negative drawbacks of a quirk. Not that she was going to say anything now. He deserved whatever might be coming to him. She finalized the report that she needed to send off and was making her way back to the kitchen when she heard the commotion in the kitchen. 

“Mei!” Hitoshi laughs.  The sound so carefree in comparison to how he was just mere moments ago. She peeks in and sees that her daughter had just landed a fistful of flour onto her purple boyfriend.  She smiled at the scene in front of her. She was happy that her kids could smile after everything that they all had been through. She even let out a small giggle when Izuku had gotten Mei back in revenge for Hitoshi. He had snuck up on her and poured water down the back of her shirt. She shrieked at the cold water and Hitoshi was laughing so hard he doubled over. The musical laugh of her wife also joining the mix. Mai was standing out of the way of the kids just watching them pelt each other with various food items.

 The scene changed when Mei and Hitoshi shared a look then both ganged up on Izuku and Zero. Hitoshi had gotten ahold of Izuku and was holding him down while Mei made sure to rub in both flour and whatever else she had in her hands into Izuku’s hair. Zero was caught in the cross fire and now the black panther had white flour all over her. She tried to shake it off but ended up just getting it all over everybody else. To her dismay, some of it was still in her coat so she started rubbing herself all over the other two in an attempt to get it off.

Yui was startled when felt her phone Vibrating in her pocket. She debated on not answering it, in favor of spending time with her family but decided that she could always tell whoever it was that she would deal with it tomorrow. 

“Hello! This is Yui.” She greets. The laughter in the kitchen had her smiling. The laughter of all the kids was getting louder with whatever Mai had said to them. 

“Hello, Hastume-san. This is ProHero Eraserhead. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something important.” 

She doesn't remember meeting a pro hero by that name but she figures that they got this contact information from another hero. 

“Yes, what can I do for you?” She took a half step away from the kitchen so that she could hear better. 

“I was just wondering If you knew anything relating to Midoryia Izuku.” He was gruff but to the point. Yui didn't like the fact that he was asking about Izuku though. Were the heros already trying to arrest Izuku. After everything that her kids had just told her, it's one of the more logical theories. She wasn't stupid. Even if they hadn't been completely open about it She would have known that her kids were going out at night and doing hero's work without having a license. They normally didn't get hurt so she didn't mind. (And honestly she thought that they were doing a better job than some of the license heroes anyways.)

“What do you want?” She crossed her one that wasn't holding her phone arm over her chest. She tried to make her voice not betray the protectiveness that she felt for Izuku but some of it still leaked out. The laughter from the kitchen stopped and they all were looking at her. 

“I first need to know if you know who he is and how I can contact him or his parents.” 

“That is none of your concern.” She curtly replies. Mai was by her side in an instant. Even the kids had put down the food that they had been flinging at each other so they could be next to her. She reached her arm out and wrapped it around Izuku pulling him close to her. He was quick to wrap his arms around her as well. She felt Zero at her feet with her tail flicking back and forth over her calves. She felt a little better with them near but was still on edge with what Earaserhead wasn’t telling her. 

“Hastume-san, I’m afraid it is. I need to talk to him and his parents. Preferably the sooner the better.” The man sounded almost desperate. Like he was on the verge of losing something important. 

“Tell me what it’s about and I’ll see if I can help you.” She heard snickering in the background and the hero on the other end muttered something about ‘I see where he gets it now.”

“Hastume-san Please. He might be in trouble and I need to make sure that -” Yui doesn't give him the chance to finish the sentence. 

“If he is in trouble then you can take it up with me. I’m an emergency contact for him with the school system and the hospitals. I’m sure that is sufficient enough for whatever you need to talk to him about. If it is, then we can talk at my shop.” She leaves no room for argument. There is silence from his end of the phone. They all waiting for his reply when he comes back. 

“That’s fine. What time?” 

“8:30.” That was at least another 4 hours from now so it wouldn’t be a lot of time to plan and prepare but it would be better than nothing. And it would be less suspicious.

“Okay. See you there.” The call was promptly ended. The 5 of them looked around to each other and they seemed to be thinking the same thing. 

‘What in the world is going to happen now?’

Chapter Text

Yui puts her phone back into her pocket and meets the eyes of each of her kids. She's not sure how the heros managed to get Izuku's identity so quickly but it is what is now. She admits that it could also be because of something else but she doesn't really think so. 

"Izuku, since this is about you, you get to choose how you want to handle this, " she finally says. 

"What exactly did they say this was about?" He asks with some hesitation.

"Eraser only said that it was important. He didn't go into any details. He did sound worried though." She tacks on the last part as an afterthought. 

She can see Izukus eyes go a little wide at the admission. 

"If Eraser is worried then this is a serious problem." Zero states from her spot next to Yui. 

"I have to agree with Zero. But he's also trustworthy. He hasn't done anything in the time that he knew I was a vigilante. He could ba r turn us in so many times and yet he didn't. We should at least hear what he has to say..." Izuku trails off. 

"Okay, but if at any point you want out, Mai and I have ways of keeping you hidden." She and Mai had plenty of contacts in multiple other countries that would come in handy if she needed them to. They would also be more than willing to hide Izuku if that's what he needed and/or. He might be able to come back to Japan for a while but they could make it work. There were a ton of hero schools in Russia and Korea that he could get into that didn't put the same weight on the PVR system. They were actually more accepting of those types of quirks. Whenever somebody got a quirk that would have landed them in the system, the governments were always reaching out to see if there was anything that they could do to help. They adopted the program that Japan had a while ago and unlike Japan it was still going strong. They wasted no expense in making sure that the people in the registry were taken care of. If they did end up falling into villainy, it was always due to other circumstances that were often out of the control of both the people involved and the government. 

 Needless to say, there were also ways that she could get not only Izuku but Hitoshi and Mei over there as well. They would make it work. No matter what. 

Izuku mulled over the various thoughts going through his head. On one hand, it could be as simple as they found out that he wasn't loving his parents. So the heros that were in the area that he lived in were (finally) taking action. That could be it, cause he is Eraserhead’s patrol area and he knew from working with the man that it was easier for an underground hero to take point on these types of cases. Limelights would but it wasn't very often. 

On the other hand, it was possible that Nezu figured out who they were even though they did their best to not give any information to the creature. (Personally he thinks that Nezu is either a weasel or a stout but that's not important right now.) And if that is the case then what will happen to them? Will they take them in and arrest them? Will this hurt their chances of becoming heros? Will this hurt Mom and MommaMai? That's what he really couldn't handle. He could have anything that happens to himself. He was the one that made the choices that lead to this scenario in the list place. He knew the risks. But he couldn't handle it if they got backlash from this as well. 

They were innocent in this. They didn't help any of them. They didn't make any of the equipment, they didn't really help with their activities and the certainly didn't force them to go out. His breathing was picking up. He's know that they had just literally said that he was family and that they would figure this out together, but what if they changed their minds? After all, his own parents didn't want him cause he was too much trouble. All of the possibilities of what it could be sending him spiraling into a panic attack. 

Zero of course was the first to notice. She left her spot on Mom's other side and was gently head butting him. Trying to get him to pay attention to her. When Zero moved, the others in the room were brought out of the conversation that they were having and noticed the state that Izuku is currently in. 

Hitoshi and Mei moved to either side of him and grabbed his hands. Squeezing in what he thought were random intervals but were actually a breathing pattern. 

Mom took his head into her hands and wiped away the tears that he hadn't noticed. 

"Izuku, honey, it's okay. We can figure something out. You have all of us behind you and we will make sure that they don't do anything to you." Her voice was soft and sweet and oh so caring. It was something that he once had hoped to hear from his own mom but never did. He leaned into her touch and looked at her through watery eyes.

“I’m scared, mom...” The sob that follows has every heart in the room breaking. Yui brings him for a hug. He wraps his arms around her and cries into her chest. He can feel her fingers carding through his hair.

“I know, baby. I know. We will figure something out.” She looks over Izuku’s head to meet the eyes of her wife. 

Mei was next to speak up. 

“What if we wait?” She starts slowly. All eyes turn to her in question. 

“What if we bring Eraserhead here and the Mom and MommaMai talk to him first? The three of us can wait around the corner and out of sight. You guys can get a feel for how he is going to react and if it's safe, we can all talk. If it’s not...” She trails off. She didn't really put much thought into what would happen if Izuku wasn’t safe. She didn't really want to think about it. Personally she didn't think that Eraser would do something to hurt them but it’s better safe than sorry. 

“That’s actually not a bad idea. And if we need to I can brainwash him into thinking that Izuku left before he got here.” Hitoshi adds. 

“But doesn't he know your quirk?” MommaMai asked. 

“If he knows Izuku’s civilian persona then it's possible, but Izuku and I didn't tell him when we first met him.”

“Well, if that is the case, we can hope that he doesn't know the extent of your quirk but can’t rely on it.” MommaMai says thoughtfully. She had her hand on her face and was tapping her cheek while she was thinking. 

“Ultimately this is up to Izuku. Zuku, what do you think?” All eyes turn to him and he thinks on it before he answers.

“I think..”

Shouta hangs up the phone and places it back into his pocket. 

“They aren’t happy, but I was able to meet with the Hastumes to talk about Izuku. She seemed to get really defensive when I mentioned his parents though. Is it possible that they adopted him?” He turns to ask his boss. 

It wasn’t surprising when Nezu was already typing away on the keyboard in front of him. 

“No. It is not. Or if it is, then it hasn’t been legally filed.” Shouta just grunts in response. He would find out soon enough what was truly going on with everything so there was no need to waste more time sitting here discussing it.

As he was making his way to the door Zashi stopped him. 

“Should I go with you Shou?” On one hand, Zashi was better at interpersonal matters and emotions. It could come in handy to have him come along. But he also didn’t want to set off the Hatsume’s and possibly Midoriya. Shouta had a feeling that if he did show up with Zashi, it might force all of them into hiding. So while he really wanted his husband there, he couldn't chance it. When Shouta opened his mouth to try and explain that he was cut off by Nezu. 

“Hizashi, I don't think that you should go. They are expecting Shouta and if you show up, and in your hero costume not less, they might take that badly. We simply can’t afford to have that kind of reaction right now. We may have the proverbial edge on them right now but that doesn’t mean we can make reckless choices.” Shouta winced a bit at the wording, but the stoat was right. This just wasn’t a chance that they could take right now.

Shouta sees the other hero slump a little bit but also nods his head. He might not like it, but he knew that it was a better course of action. 

“Okay, then I’ll wait for you both at home. I have to go get the little listeners room ready!”  Shouta smiles at him when Zashi's face lights up. He would never get tired of seeing him like this. It was one of the qualities that he fell in love with afterall. 

“Now that’s settled, we should go over how we’re going to go about all of this.”

----

Shouta left 45 minutes before he had to be at Hatsume’s shop. He wanted to give himself enough time to get over there but also not be rushed. Admittedly he did feel better about the course of action that Nezu had planned out. Not for the first time he was grateful that the stoat hadn;t decided to become a villain. It made him shudder just to think about it. The world would certainly be on its knees if that had been the case. 

He arrived at the shop with 5 minutes to spare. He debated on whether or not he should just knock when the door was opening. A woman with dark red hair was standing in the doorway and motioning him inside. He recognized her from the night that he had escorted her home of course. Zhe just wasn’t sure if she was Mai or Yui. 

“Eraserhead. Thanks for coming out here.” She said curtly, but not rudely. 

“Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Hastume-san.” She waved away his words though. 

“Please Call me Yui. There are too many Hastume’s in this house for formality like that.”

“Alright, then call me Shouta.” He normally wasn't the type to let just anybody call him by his first name but he had a feeling that he was going to be seeing a lot of Yui in the future. 

“We will also be talking about this with my wife Mai. She’s waiting for us in the shop.” SHe turns on her heel and leads him further into the shop. 

When they get there, Shouta is impressed to say the least. They have enough equipment that would almost put Powerloader’s own shop to shame. It looked like they had almost every tool that you would ever need in their shop. The space was big too. It was easily a 60x60 room that had more doors that lead to different parts that Shouta was assuming were either a part of their own house or testing rooms for different purposes. Everything in the warehouse seemed like it was just thrown in there but Shouta could see that that wasn’t the case. It was an intentional chaos that had its own rules and flow. There were also some couches in the corner of the room which is where Yui lead them too. She sat down with her back to the wall but facing towards the doors which left Shouta to take the one opposite from it. He didn’t like to have his back to an open room but would make do.

“This is a nice shop.” He was still looking around when another woman stepped out from one of the closed doors. She had the same bubblegum pink hair that Arcane had. But instead of the yellow eyes, she had gray ones. She was also clearly a support inventor too. She had on oil stained pants and a long sleeved black shirt. She was also sporting the muscle mass of somebody that lifted everyday that he attributed to her work. 

“Thank you. It took us a lot to get to this point but it was worth it. Mai, my love, this is Shouta Aizawa. Shouta, this is Mai.”

Mai reached out her hand to shake. When Shouta grasps hers he could feel the strength behind her grip.

“Nice to meet you Aizawa-kun. And Please call me Mai. I’m sure you heard this from my wife but there are too many of us Hatsume’s for formalities.” She smiles at him but it’s a little strained. 

He extends the same gesture to Mai. She might as well call him Shouta too. 

“Okay, so, I hear that you wanna talk about Izuku?”

“Yes, I do. Speaking of which, is he here?” When Shouta first looked around the room he hadn’t seen any of the kids which was odd. He would have sworn that they would have wanted to hear this?

“Ah. He will be joining us later.” Yui  states.

“Very well. I must also inform his parents about this...” He trails off. He knows that while Yui got protective of that issue on the phone that doesn’t deter from the fact that he does have to tell them. 

“That won’t be necessary.” Mai clips. So it wasn’t just Yui then? What in the world did this kid’s parents do?

“They are no longer in the picture is what she means to say.” Mai nudges her wife who sends a sheepish glace towards the other woman. And if that didn’t already explain a lot. 

“I see. Well then, I hope you pardon my bluntness, but we have a problem.”

“And what would that problem be?” 

“Are you aware of what Midoryia does at night?”  

They share a look and seem to have a silent conversation with their eyes. 

“ We are... not stupid. If that is what you are referring to.” Mai says with some hesitancy. 

“I’m not here to get him in trouble. I’m trying to help actually.” 

“Then what exactly is this about, Shouta?” He notices when Mai glances behind him and subtly motions her head towards the other part of the warehouse. Where she originally came in from. If he had to guess one of the kids must have snuck in. 

“Well, to put a long story short, it seems like Midforya had a run in with All Might.” He starts. He's not sure how they are going to take it but decides it's better to just rip off the bandaid.

“Yes, we heard about that.” 

“Well, to get right to the point, he made a note in Midoriya’s civilian file. He flagged Midoryai for aggressive behavior.”

“Izuku is not aggressive! It’s not his fault that Ass Might is a terrible human being with no empathy!” Shouta was expecting a lot of things when he said that but he certainly wasn’t expecting Arcane to come out yelling obscenities about the number one hero. With Pysren on her heels trying to pull her back into the room that they just left.

“Mei! Go back into the house!” Yui tries to tell her but Mei (at least that confirms her two identities) wasn’t having it.

“No! I’m not gonna sit by while people talk shit about Izuku!” She turns her fiery gaze from her moms to Shouta. 

“You better not be here to make things harder! He’s already gone through enough as it is! He doesn’t need the heroes stepping in now when they have been more than comfortable letting him slip through the cracks in the past!”

 Now that was concerning. What exactly had happened to Midoryia? What did she mean by slipping through the cracks? He had a lot more questions now than when he walked in. Taking a chance he decides to ask

“What do you mean slipping through the cracks?”

“ If you know who he is, then you have read his civilian file. That also means that you know exactly what his parents did to him and what his life has been like.” The cold tone was surprising coming from Pysren. When he had first met him, he sounded nothing like this. He had been more light hearted and joking. The differences were almost night and day.

“You forget, my parents never actually put any of that in my file. For all intents and legal purposes, I still live with them. I also think that they might have bribed a couple of officials and heros to look the other way but I have no proof of that.” 

“Kid..” Shouta starts but is cut off.

“It’s fine. They didn’t want me so they got rid of me. I’m used to it. But back to the point. You said that Ass Might flagged me for aggressive behavior?” Midoyira walks over to where Yui and Mai are on the couch and perches on the arm. Mei and Psyren aren't too far behind. They take up space next to Mai on the couch and on the floor next to Midoriya on the floor respectively. 

“Yes, he did. And I wanted to talk about what we can do from here.” It’s then that Shouta notices...or rather feels that something isn’t quite right. Like he’s forgetting a big piece of information. 

“Zero stop. Come here.” Ah, that’s what he was forgetting. The panther-like shadow came out from behind the couch where Shouta was sitting and took up her place in front of Midoriya. Her gaze settled on Shouta and he felt.... hunted.  

He looked away first. He knew that this was her space and if she was anything like other cats, she was trying to assert her dominance. He didn’t mind though. If it made her feel more comfortable that was probably for the better.

Hums and low growls were echoing off of the walls in the workshop. While they didn’t sound threatening, he wasn’t sure. 

“I know, Zero.” Midoriya reassures the panther while petting her head.

“We can do that later. Right now, we need to focus on the current problem.” Mai adds in.

So, that’s how she communicates? If that’s the case then it’s impressive that other people know what she is saying. Is it another language? It would explain a lot if it was. But it was also a good thing. It would make the point Shouta was going to try and convince them easier. 

“Anyways, sorry about that. Zero is protective.”

“I understand. It’s okay,” He continues on “I am here to talk to you about how we can solve the issue that is All Might.” All of their heads perk up at that.

“I’m listening.”

“I was talking with Nezu before I came over here. He was the one that figured out who you three were. Originally we weren’t going to meet up with you like this and we were going to keep our promise of waiting until you trusted us to make a move. But with All Might pulling this stunt we had to move a bit quicker than planned. Nezu has seen from the city surveillance cameras the work that you three do, and has also heard about it from me. He wants to extend a hand to help. He is offering for you three to take on apprenticeships so that you can be covered under hero law for everything that you have done up until this point.” 

“And where do you come in for this, if Nezu is offering?” Yui asks spectically.

“I would be taking in Psyren and Shadow. Now since Psyren is still ‘new’ to the scene he wouldn’t have to be under the watch of a hero at all times. But Shadow, you would be.” 

“Where would Mei go? I mean Mom and MommaMai are support tech specialists already.” Psyren asks.

“They are but unless they also have a teaching license, it would be hard to pass off to HPSC. She would go with Powerloader, if that’s something that interests her.” 

Arcane or more accurately Mei’s eyes lit up. She was almost bouncing in excitement. At the same point he could tell that she was holding herself back a bit. Like she thought that it was too good to be true. Psyren was still looking at him like he was skeptical which he couldn't blame the boy for. This was a big change and it was almost giving them exactly what they wanted but with almost little risk. Shouta would be concerned if they weren’t skeptical.

“What happens if we don't accept help?” Shouta looks over at Midoriya. He could hear the underlying question in that. ‘What are you going to do to us if we decide that we don't trust you?’

“I’m not going to lie to you. It won’t be pretty. If you don't have the protection of Nezu and the apprenticeships, it gives All Might free reign to call the shots. And since he’s already flagged you for being aggressive and since you are on the PVR, it could end up that you're in police custody at best. Tartarus at worst.” Okay so maybe mentioning the top security prison in the world to a couple of teens wasn’t the best idea. Not sooner had the words gotten out of his mouth, Mai and Yui were glaring daggers at him. Mei and Pysren, were pale. 

But Midoriya? He looked like he had seen a date with death. His breathing was picking up and he left his spot on the couch to pace the length of the workshop. He could hear the same hums and grumbles as earlier and Zero was by his side in an instant.

He really didn’t want to scare the kids like this but he did want to give the facts. He respected them enough to lie to them. He told them the plan and now all he could do was wait for them to choose how they wanted to do this. 

Izuku was pacing the room and running his hands through his hair or clenching his shirt like he did when he was really stressed. Hitoshi and Mei looked between each other and their clearly distraught boyfriend. Hitoshi had half a mind to just go out and find Ass Might himself and brainwash the fucker into forgetting about all about Izuku. The only thing holding him back was the fact that his boyfriend's feelings right now were more pressing. But that doesn't mean that if the chance comes up in the future that he won't take it.

“Izuku honey, what's on your mind?” Mom asked from her spot next to a workbench. He hadn’t noticed her getting up from her spot on the couch.  She was probably worried that he would try and take care of this himself. It was just the type of selfless person that he was.  

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do!” He snaps. Tears were forming in his eyes but he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't care that he was currently crying in front of his favorite hero.  

“If I try to run, it’ll make me look guilty. If I go into hiding then I’m not better than I was all those years ago. I Can’t bring myself to ask for help because I can’t drag anybody else down with me... and the offer just sounds too good to be true.” The tension in the room was thick enough that somebody could have cut it with a knife.   

"Shadow," Eras-Aizawa he mentally corrects himself- looks at him. Pleading with his eyes to have Izuku understand. Izuku looks at the man and waits.

"I know you trust me as a hero. You wouldn't have introduced me to Psyren if that wasn't the case." Izuku just nods his head. He does in fact trust the man to an extent. He trusts the man more than he trusts a lot of other people in his life. But the trauma that he holds from his parents is enough to cause him to hesitate. 

"Then please trust me with you and Zero. I know that’s asking for a lot but Please let me keep you both safe." 

“But what about Mei and Hitoshi?” Izuku asks. He noticed that Aizawa didn’t mention them, which had him curious.

“They would still be safe no matter what. From a paper trail stand point you all would be apprentices. And what we can do, is have you try this out first. If you think that it’s worth it, we can bring them in afterwards. But if you don’t think that what we’re doing is enough or if you just don’t want to, Nezu and I can help you get out.” Izuku can't do anything other than fidget under the weight of the hero's gaze. He will admit that the offer is really tempting. He also likes the fact that Aizawa was thinking of his comfort in all of this too. He can handle if things happen to himself that wasn’t a big deal but if anything were to happen to MeiMei or Hito? That would destroy him. He likes that he was given a way out if he or rather all of them, decided that it wasn’t enough. 

 He turns to look at the other people in the room. His family. The ones that chose time and time again to stay by his side. They were all wearing looks of encouragement. Everybody in that room knew that Mai and Yui could only do so much to help Izuku now. With the number one hero putting in that stupid notice on him, he wasn't safe any more. He wouldn't be able to walk down the streets without somebody trying to take him in. He shudders at the thought of what could possibly happen if he lets it. He looked at where Mei and Hitoshi were sitting. They both looked like they wanted to take him and run away but were holding themselves back. 

In the quietness of the workshop it was Zero that said something first. 

If we do go with him, it doesn't sound like we're going to be locked up. It sounds like he is really trying to protect and help us. He could have easily arrested us as soon as we set foot in the door. But he didn't. He's choosing to try and help us so that we can continue to be free. That has to count for something. We may not be able to go out anymore but it doesn't sound like he's going to just lock us up and throw away the key." He can tell that Zero is trying to have him think through everything and he appreciates it. She did bring up some good points that he hadn't thought of.

"That's right. Izuku. He's not going to lock you up. We all know that even if he tried, Mai and I are pretty good at getting people out."  She sends a wink his way and he can't help the snicker that bubbles up. 

Shouta was just staring into the room trying to figure out what they were saying but came up with a blank. He can't even begin to comprehend what is being said. It doesn't sound like they are saying anything but yet with the way Midoryia is laughing, it had to have been something. He wishes that he could put the boy's fears at ease but doesn't know where to start. Maybe he should have brought Zashi along with him. Zashi was always better at being able to understand the things that people left unsaid. He didn't want to try and force the boy to come with him but he also was at a loss for what he would do if he had said no.

Izuku tries to process everything that has been said to him in the past couple of hours. He doesn’t want to believe that All Might would do something like this but at the same point? He can see it. Especially with the way the man acted the last time. It makes Izuku’s stomach turn. What's he going to do? Can he run? He might be able to get away but it wouldn’t be easy. And if he did, what would happen to Hitoshi and Mei? He couldn’t leave them behind. But he also didn't want to tie them down with this. Maybe he could go into hiding? It could work. Afterall, he had spent a decent amount of time hiding from everybody before so it wouldn't be hard. Just falling back onto old habits. Thoughts of what Mom and MommaMai said earlier were playing in his head on loop. He knew that they would help him if he asked, but was that the right thing to do? Aizawa did say that Nezu would also be on their side so he at least had that going for him. Would that be enough to go up against All Might and the HPSC? Nezu and the commission were always going rounds with each other and Nezu did win more times than not. It was possible that he could be fine. That he could finally be safe. 

The other thoughts that he kept locked away surfaced. The ones that made him feel homesick for a place he wasn’t sure existed. It was the same feeling that he got that night so long ago when he looked at that man and his wife with their child. The happy family. Fuck he wanted that so bad. And don't get him wrong he did have that here with the Hatsume’s. They loved him like he was their child. But for some reason, it wasn’t the same. Maybe it just had to do with the fact that they couldn’t adopt him. (He was kinda glad for that though cause then otherwise he would be dating his sister which no thank you.) It always felt like something was missing. Not that he wasn’t grateful for what he had! He really was. But, if he was being honest with himself, he wanted a place to call home. He wanted a place where he could be free to be himself, where Zero was comfortable enough to act more like a quirked pet rather than a guardian. The feeling of longing hit him so hard that it caused a pain in his chest. He reached up and clenched his shirt right over where his heart was. The steady beat of it was grounding. Maybe he could have all of those things with Aizawa? Maybe he could let the man in, and he could protect Izuku in the way that ( as much as he denies that he needs or wants it.) nobody else does. Hell, even if this was only temporary, he could be healing for his younger self. To finally know what it’s like to have a place where he could truly feel safe. 

“It could be nice to have somebody else in our corner. Somebody else that wants us. Somebody that isn’t scared of us...” Zero whispers this. Her voice was full of the same longing that he had but also a little bit of hope. Even though he told Mom and MommaMai earlier that he was going to trust the hero, this is what solidified  Izuku’s decision. 

"Okay. I'll trust you with both of us." Izuku can almost feel the relief coming off of Aizawa. It made him feel a lot better about his decision. 

"Thank you. I promise to keep you safe." 

“And we all will be holding you to that.” Mai states as she walks over to where Izuku is sitting. She absentmindedly was running a hand through Izuku’s curls. All the while staring directly at Aizawa. Making sure that he knew that there would be consequences if he didn't keep that promise. 

“Now that that’s settled, we all need to talk about how we are going to go forward from here.”

Chapter Text

“First things first, Midoriya-” Shouta is cut off.

“Please, just call me Izuku. I hate that name..” The boy crosses his arms over her chest. Zero is probably saying something to him, judging by the way his head is tilted and the way his eyes softened. 

“Alright then, Izuku. The first thing that we need to go over is your living situation.” All three teens stiffen at that. So he was right then. Either Izuku is currently living on the streets or with foster parents that didn’t treat him right. They wouldn’t have acted this way if he had been living with either Shinsou or Mei. Even Mai and Yui look a little uneasy at the statement.

“What about it?” Izuku’s voice is devoid of emotion. Devoid in a way that screams practiced. Like he’s had to do this so many times that it’s almost second nature. Shouta makes a mental note that when Izuku is feeling safer and in a more stable environment, to suggest getting him some therapy. Or well, he should really offer it to all of the kids here. Should he include Zero in that too? Does she have to follow the same rules? Is there even a therapist that is licensed in giving sentient quirks mental help? Is that even a thing? Either way, Time only knows how much these kids had gone through and they clearly need it. But that can wait for another day.  When they trust him more. 

“It will be the easiest if you're living with me and my husband. But that’s not to say that you have too. There are ways to work around that detail if we need to.” He’s quick to assure.  

“What's the other options?” Mei asks him.

“There’s a couple. Some are more....comfortable than others. First would be me, since I will be training you. Then there’s always another underground hero, they’re name is SoulShard. I’m not sure if you’ve come across them, but they are on the list of approved options,”

“No. Absolutely not.” Izuku is quick to refute. Shouta doesn’t press for more information, sensing that this is a sensitive topic. If the fire that is in Shinsou’s eyes is anything to go off of, it also wasn’t a pleasant meeting. 

“Okay, they are off the table.” Shouta continues “There’s also becoming a ward of UA. You would be under Nezu for the most part. You would also be given an allowance, but you would have to clear any outings off campus, and also visitors, with him. Lastly, which I think is an option that none of us want, is a detention hall. If you did choose this option though, it would be wiped away from your record upon completing the program.” Shouta doesn’t know why, but seeing Izuku contemplate living with either him or Nezu (cause let’s be realistic here, if the boy didn’t want to go with SoulShard, those were his only two options,) it made his stomach sink. He can’t even explain why.  It’s not like Nezu is a bad option. In fact, with this kid’s intellect, it might even be good for him. The rat would be able to nurture that in ways that Shouta can’t even dream of. He might have been one of Nezu’s students back when he was in school but that doesn’t mean that he even holds a candle to the Rat God. Realistically he can see that Nezu is a good choice, so why does that make him feel like he was going to vomit? 

“Are we going to be able to see Zuzu once he’s moved in?” Mei asked. 

“If he chooses to come stay with me, yes. He will also still have his phone and you will be given our address. But please don’t share it. I’m an underground hero. I would really rather not have that get out. If he chooses to go with Nezu, it would still be likely, but also not that often. With the security of UA, you would have to get visitor passes each time you went. It wouldn't be easy but it would be doable.” Shouta admits.

“Acceptable.” Is all Shinsou adds to the conversation. Shouta can’t help but think that he was much more talkative as Pysren. Could it be because Shouta didn’t know his quirk? There were more hums and soft growls from the teens as they talked with one another. The more they did this, the more it had him thinking that this was in fact a language that they were speaking. It wasn’t one that Shouta had ever heard. He couldn’t even begin to decode it. He had always prided himself on being able to at least identify what language was being spoken and was fluent in 4 others. Two of them he had picked up since he had started dating Zashi. His parents spoke English or used ASL. (It also helped that Zashi was the English teacher for UA and was always willing to teach anybody that wanted to learn) But he was also fluent in Spanish and JSL as well. But with this? Shouta was as good as clueless. 

“Hitoshi wants to know if you know about his quirk?” Surprisingly, it was Mai joining back into the conversation. There was a slight edge to her voice. One that laced with a promise. What that promise was? He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.  

“Yes, I am aware of what his quirk is.”

“I see.” Hitoshi meets the eyes of Mei then Izuku. The three were talking amongst themselves again. Shouta looks to Mai and Yui for any sort of context and their faces are carefully blank. 

-----

“Hito I know that this is not the best but it could be okay?” Mei mentions softly once they hear that Eraser-Aizawa knows what Hito’s quirk is. It's not how they planned it but it does make things harder. 

“I know okay? I know it could be okay but does he actually really want to train me? Like Zuzu I get. But me? That seems a little far-fetched. “ Hito stresses. 

“I mean if I’m on the PVR and he’s training me then I don't think it’s too wild that he would extend the offer to you.” Izuku hedges. Now Izuku knows that he doesn’t sound the most convincing right now but that's also cause he’s thinking the same thing. He knows what’s written in his file. He knows that a similar thing is written in Hitoshi’s. But this could be a chance. A chance to show the world that they are more than their quirks. That they are not always a risk. This could be the chance that they so desperately needed.  

“If it makes you feel any better, Little one and I will more than likely be staying with them... As much as I would rather not, it seems like it’s the only good option right now. But we can test the waters and see how they truly react after all of this is said and done. And if it's truly not a good option or if they back out for any reason then we can all run.” Zero said. That made everybody that could understand stop and think. It wasn’t a bad idea. It was workable to say the least. 

“That does make me feel a little better. I want to believe that he will keep his word. He’s my favorite hero after all. I want to know that there are heroes out there that don’t hate those of us that are on the PVR just because they can. But I guess we'll just have to see. That being said, I do agree with Zero. It would be easiest to see that if you stay with him rather than Nezu. Sorry I still don’t trust him.” Hitoshi looks at Izuku when he finishes. Izuku smiles at him and reaches out for his and Mei’s hands. He runs his thumbs over their knuckles. 

“I second what Hito said. It would be easier for us to see you and it would give us information that we may need in the future if we do have to leave.” Izuku bites his lip in thought. He knows what he wants to do, so why is it so hard to get the words out to say it? What’s holding him back? 

“Also that gives Mom and I enough time to figure out how we can do this without raising any flags. With that being said, also think about this. What if this is exactly what they are promising? No lies, no hidden meanings, no tricks.” MommaMai points out. And of course Izuku had thought of that. But he was still skeptical. Why shouldn’t he be? But at the same point, what Zero said earlier rings through his thoughts. Aizawa could have taken all of them as soon as they stepped foot in the room. Hell, even when they were out of patrol he could have taken them in. And he didn’t. That does count for something in Izuku’s book. 

Izuku looks over at where Mei’s moms were still seated on the couch. He also spares a glance at Aizawa. He looks lost and confused but not angry.  

“So what do you think that we should do?” Izuku asks. Maybe... Just maybe, if his family said that he should, it will make this easier. Like they agree with what he’s thinking. Maybe it’ll make it easier knowing that he won’t be alone in this. He really doesn’t want to be alone again. He can’t go back to that soul crushing loneliness that drove him mad.

“I think - and I would be willing to go so far as to say that I speak for all of us when I say this-  that you should continue to trust him. Like you said you would. Keep your guard up of course, but not so high that it’s impossible to see over the other side. Izu, this could be the chance that we know you've been craving. There’s nothing wrong with seeing what it’s like.” Mom’s voice was so soft and understanding that it made his heart clench. He felt the pinprick of tears start. The chorus of agreements was all that he needed to finally make the words that have been locked in his throat to come out. 

“Okay, I’ll stay with Aizawa. I’ll keep all of you updated on what happens.” Izuku’s heart and stomach feel lighter with the decision finally made. It was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He made a mental note to actually try with them too. Nothing would happen if he was doing everything that he could to sabotage this. Switching back to Japanese he answered Aizawa.

“Okay, Zero and I will come live with you. It sounds like it will be the best decision for everybody.” Aizawa’s lips turned up slightly at the response. Almost a smile. 

----

“Okay, then we should go over what your training schedule will look like and if Shinsou wants, we can also go over his while I’m here. Mei, I’m sorry but I have not idea what yours will look like once you start but when you want to, I can have Powerloader come over and go over it with you.” She nods her head and so does Hito. They all seem to be on board with it. 

“Okay, let's do that.” Izuku finds himself smiling faintly at the thought that he and Zero could finally see what they are truly capable of. They spent the next hour going over all of the details of training. Shouta was also reassured that he would not have them doing more than they can handle and took the time to go over the safety measures that he would be putting in place. When the three teens started yawning and rubbing their eyes, Shouta looked over at the clock that was above a workbench. It was almost 10 at night. He didn't even realize that he had spent so much time over here. Shouta should probably get himself and Izuku to head out if they wanted to make the last trains. While it wasn’t too far away but enough of a distance that he would rather not walk back. He said as much to the room and nobody said anything to dispute it. 

When Izuku was saying his goodbye’s he saw that he not only kissed Mei but also Shinsou. He thought that they had been close friends, but didn’t realize that they were all this close. Panic flared in him. He’s dating? Does that mean that Shouta has to give him the talk? Oh Time he was not ready for that. He knew that he signed up to be a parent when he left Nezu’s office just hours earlier but he didn't think that he would have to have such serious conversations so soon. How did he even bring it up? Was there a right way to go about it? They were also all together so does he have to worry about pregnancies?! He was gay! Like married to his high school boyfriend for 10 years gay. He didn't know anything about that. Don't get him wrong he knew what it was and how it was accomplished but still!

Mai must have noticed his panic and set a hand on his arm. 

“I can almost see the thoughts going through your head. Don’t worry. When that time comes, Yui and I will handle it.” Shouta breathed out an audible sigh of relief. He sent a look of thanks towards the woman and she just laughed. 

  “Alright, I’m ready.” Izuku is standing next to the door that leads outside. Shouta also said his goodbyes and left with Izuku in tow.

While they were walking he had asked Izuku if there was anywhere that they needed to go to grab his stuff but the boy just waved him off. Stating that they would be able to grab it in the morning and that he would be fine until then. He did notice that there was a small bag that Izuku was carrying that probably had enough to get him through the night, so Shouta let it go. 

They made it to the train station with minutes to spare. There was a fuss at Zero being let on the train and before Shouta could even try to argue with the attendant, Izuku just sighed and Zero disappeared. Izuku’s eyes flashed for a moment before settling back into what Shouta would assume is their natural state. Once the attendant was satisfied that Zero wasn’t going to be out, they were allowed to get on the train. They picked spots near the back of the train car and got settled in for the ride.  

Shortly after the train took off, his phone was going off. He went to answer it, already knowing who was on the other side. 

“Yes, Zashi?” 

“Shou! You're okay!”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were just out so late I thought something might have happened to you and the other listeners.” He explained.

“Zashi, we’re all okay. We just got caught up going over how everything would look going forward.”

“So, does that mean that the listener said that he would come live with us?” His husband sounded excited.  Shouta found himself smiling softly. He knew that Zashi was excited to have a kid in the house. They had talked about it so much. From the first time Shouta had mentioned the vigilante Zashi had started preparing. Shouta tried to warn him that there was a chance that Izuku could say no but his husband didn’t pay attention to that. He just would say that he needed to believe that Izuku would say yes and that it would happen. ‘Funny how that seems to have worked out like that.’ He thought.

“Yes, Izuku and Zero will be staying with us.” He felt the boy stiffen at his side when he mentioned his panther. Leaning away from the phone for a second he reassured Izuku that it’s fine. He’s just explaining to his husband who to expect. Izuku nodded at that but didn’t say anything.

“Wait, Zero? Was that the panther that was in the medical bay?”

“Yes, it turns out that she's Izuku’s quirk.”

“Oh! Okay! Well that's awesome! I think the spare room will be more than enough for both of them and we should probably get some more food so that we can feed a growing boy and a panther...” Shouta listens to his husband go on a spree about what they would need. He was only half listening. His full attention was brought back to the conversation when he heard a panicked gasp and then, the frantic question.

“Wait! Can we even feed quirks tuna?!” It took every ounce of willpower to not look at the phone that he was currently holding with a look that screamed ‘How and why is this a question.’

“I don’t know Zashi, give me a second to ask.” Shouta holds the phone away from his ear and turns to Izuku. He may not have known him for very long but Shouta can clearly tell that Izuku is not comfortable. He keeps looking around like he’s waiting for somebody or something to jump out. He’s biting his lip almost enough to make it bleed. He kinda wishes now that he had argued more instead of just letting Izuku fold like that. It wasn’t fair to him. He still thinks it's bullshit that he can’t have Zero out with him on the train. There were plenty of other people that had quirked animals on the train and Shouta has never seen anybody raise that much of a fuss about it. 

“Hey kiddo.” Izuku’s eyes meet his and he finally see’s just how much brighter they are when Zero is fused with him rather than out and about. It’s interesting. Almost like his own quirk in a way.

“Zashi wants to know if he can feed tuna to Zero.”

Izuku chuckles and shakes his head. 

“She doesn’t need to eat. Not like we do, but thank you for the thought.”

“That wasn't the question that we asked, Izuku. We want to feed her if we can. So is she able to eat?” Shouta presses. He knew that Izuku and Zero had been on the streets for a long time. So finding food for both of them was probably scarce at best. He wasn’t about to treat this kid like everybody else had. Also he just was genuinely curious. Shadow quirks like his are extremely rare. There were maybe 2 others in the entirety of Japan. 

“Oh...well...um...I’m not sure? We’ve never tried... When we were still with my biological parents we said that she didn't need to and so they never fed her.. They kinda just treated her like a moving statue.” he trails off. That was concerning. Everybody knew that sentient quirks were rare and most people praised them above all others. Shouta remembers having to take down a rogue cult that worshiped them, but they went too far. So to hear that his parents were treating Izuku this bad? That raised a lot of red flags. Ones that he and Nezu would be going over later.

“What about the Hatsume’s? Surely they would have, right?”

“Oh yea. Mom and MommaMai would have done it in a heartbeat but...” Izuku mumbled the last part. Shouta had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going. 

“But what?”

“They were already doing so much for us, we couldn’t ask for them to do that too. We don’t even know if it’s productive for her to eat. It could just be a waste of food.” He was fidgeting with his fingers.  Shouta knew that he could, he would have been petting Zero. He was also kinda worried that the kid might break his fingers at this rate. But alas they still had 3 more stops before they got off. He tried to see if he had any of the fidget cubes that he normally carried with him but he must have left them in his classroom. He brought his hand up to adjust his capture weapon when the idea struck him. 

He was digging around in his capture weapon for the end so that he could give it to Izuku. He felt the curious stare coming from him but he didn't say anything. When he found it, he smiled. He must have moved a little too quickly because he saw the younger one's eyes flash briefly but then dim back down. He sent an apologetic look towards the kid and had the tail end of his capture weapon held out.

“How about messing with this instead? I’m getting a little worried about your fingers and you were always going on about it anyways..” The way Izuku;s eyes lit up was all Shouta needed to know that he was mostly forgiven. He let the kid mess around with it to his heart's content. It wasn’t like he would be able to control it anyways. If the way his eyes were lighting up were any indication, he was probably talking with Zero about this. It was nice to see him act like a kid. It was a big change from the kid that Shouta had grown used to as a vigilante. It was a welcome change though.

Slowly so that Izuku could see his movements this time, he raised his hand up. He didn’t flinch though which Souta took as small progress. He carefully ruffled the kids’ hair. He noted that he should probably get Izuku into the shower at some point. His hair felt a little greasy but not overly so.

“Then we will just have to see if she can. Afterall, we will also have to do some quirk training for you and Shinsou. Can’t have either one of you passing out due to not eating enough.” Bringing them back to the topic of Zero and eating. If he could help it, he really didn't want them to develop more bad eating habits than they already had.  His husband picked that moment to start yelling his name through the phone. Oops. he forgot that he was on the phone..

“Is that a yes Shou? I need to know!! Cause if so then I need to go to the store and pick up more stuff!” The excitement in Hizashi’s voice was almost infectious. He smiled into his capture weapon. And if he smiled more when he felt the weapon move with Izuku so that he could see more of it? That was for Shouta to know.

“Go ahead Zashi. We don’t know if she can so we might as well find out.”

“You got it! And tell the little listeners that I’m excited to meet them!” After saying their goodbyes Shouta put his phone away. 

“Zashi says that he’s excited to meet you.” 

“Why?” It wasn’t said rudely but it did have a note of hesitancy in it. Like Izuku couldn’t actually believe that somebody would want to meet him. 

“I’ve been talking about you - you're vigilante persona I should say- for a while. And Zashi got attached. Even more so when we found out who you are. He originally wanted to be with me when I went to Hatsume’s shop but we thought it would be better if it was just me.”

“I see.”

 Shouta lets the kid sit in silence for the rest of the train ride.  

Shouta nudges him just a bit about a minute before their stop to tell him that they needed to get off. Izuku just nods his head, and hands back the length of capture weapon he was messing with, seemingly lost in thought; Or talking to Zero. Either was a possibility. 

Thankfully Shouta’s house is only a couple of minutes walk from the train station so they get there quickly. He fishes around in his pockets to find his key and opens the door. 

“We’re back.” He yells into the house. He motions for Izuku to set his shoes next to his in the gerkan. Izuku does so, switching into some guest slippers that were near the door and looks back at Shouta. Anxiety was almost coming off of this kid in waves. He’s fidgeting with his fingers again and swaying from side to side. His eyes also seem to be...pulsing? Maybe that's Zero then? He’s not at this point but he can tell that Izuku wants to ask a question so he just raises his eyebrow. 

“Can she...Is it okay...? He trails off but thankfully the underground hero knows what he’s asking. He should have really expected this. Izuku has been told so often where he can and can’t have Zero out that he’s worried about it. The incident at the train station was proof enough of that. Up until now, he’s probably only been able to have her out at the warehouse that he was staying at and the Hatsume house. 

“Of course. She’s welcome here too.” Izuku breathes a sigh of relief and once again Shouta is fascinated when Zero appears next to him. The swirls of shadow coming together to have her form a corporeal form was nothing short of extraordinary.  She seems to look around but sticks close to Izuku’s side. He can already tell that the younger boy is more at ease with her out like this. 

Zashi had come to greet them. His hair was down and flowing in long curtains down his back and he had one a pair of Shouta;’s black sweatpants and a light gray shirt that was hanging off of one shoulder. 

“Hey listeners! Glad to see you made it back okay!” He wraps his arms around Shouta in a hug that the man gratefully leans into.  

Izuku takes one look at Hizashi when he speaks and turns his head to Zero. 

---

“Is that who i think it is?” He knows that he doesn’t have to whisper but its second nature at this point. Especially after what Kacchan said the first time he spoke in ShadowSpeak. But it was comforting. He finally managed to break out of the habit at the Hatsume house but it was only after they all learned ShadowSpeak. Here? In a new house though? The habit comes back in full force. 

“If you're thinking that it’s Present Mic, I would have to agree. His voice resonates the same. The cadence is also the same.”  Izuku knew that he would have to take Zero’s word on the last two. She was far better at recognizing those types of things. Her hearing was better than his afterall. 

“Yea,  It’s a little surprising that a grump man like Eraserhead would marry a sunshine hero like him.” Izuku snickers at the admission. Both of the men are looking at him with perplexed looks but before he gets the chance to address them Zero makes him full on belly laugh. 

“How much do you wanna bet that Mic one day just said, ‘Nope you're mine now. You're my grumpy cloud. And there’s nothing that you can do about it’ and Eraserhead was just like ‘You know what? Okay sounds good.’”

“Zero!” Izuku can’t help the peals of laughter that come out. But yea, he could see it. When Aizawa had mentioned that he was married he was half expecting him to be married to Tsukauchi. Like, he saw how the two bickered when they were with each other. It was perfectly reasonable. Hito always said that he thought that Aizawa might have been married to Ms. Joke. Now while Izuku could see it, he could also see the genuine way she irritated him. Not to mention the man was gay. Like as straight as a circle kinda gay. So unless she was packing more than just jokes, he didn't think that Aizawa would ever be with her. Mei never really cared to talk about that kind of thing. So she stayed out of it for the most part. On the one off chance that she did state her opinion though, she did guess Mic. So it looks like Hito and himself owe her 2000 yen. 

“Whatcha saying there little listener?” Izuku stopped laughing and felt the heat of a blush rise to his face. Was Mic going to be mad? Should he not have spoken in ShadowSpeak? Should he have kept it quiet?

“Kid, Zashi isn’t mad that you're communicating with Zero in her language. He’s just curious as to what she said. That’s all.” Izuku searches his face for any signs that the man is lying. But he’s looking Izuku directly in the eyes when he said that. His body posture is relaxed and he isn’t trying to hide.

“She was just guessing that you're Present Mic, that’s all.” 

“Wow, it normally takes people a lot longer to figure that out! You listeners are pretty smart! But yes I am Present Mic. At least when I’m in costume. So let’s keep that on the down low ya? When we’re at home you can call me either Yamada or Hizashi, whichever one you feel more comfortable with.” He points his trademark finger guns at them which has Izuku smiling a little at him. 

“Okay, Yamada, you can call me Izuku. And this is Zero. She’s my panther.”

“How do we keep the sunshine one? I like him. If he’s here this can’t be so bad.  He’s the one that started to do that anti-quirk discrimmination segment on that radio station that we listen to at the warehouse. Well after Recovery Girl started it, that is.” Zero asks. She’s also slowly creeping towards Yamada. Not in the way that she would when they were out on patrol but more like she’s curious and wants a closer look. Izuku sees no problem with it and lets her continue. Yamada was standing still when she started advancing. His eyes were flicking between her and Izuku. 

“I’m not sure, they aren’t like Hito and Mei but I’m sure that we can figure it out.” He turns to address the rest of the people in the room. “Yea, we understand. And don’t worry she's not about to attack. She’s just curious.” 

He sees the tension in the other man lessen a bit but still didn’t move from his spot. When she reaches him she sniffs around the hero. Getting whatever it is that she wanted, she butts her head towards the man’s hand. When he makes no move to pet her like she requested, she huffed and repeats the motion a second time.  Izuku is smiling from his spot near the doorway. It’s nice to see Zero like this. Maybe it is possible to make a home here. One that he isn’t afraid of. One that he hopefully won’t be forced into leaving...

“She wants you to pet her. She doesn’t speak in Japanese much but she does have a lot of the same mannerism as a normal house cat.” Zero glares at him when he compares her to a house cat but is quickly subdued when Yamada runs a tentative hand through her fur. She purrs to show her appreciation at the gesture and he continues with a big smile on his face. 

“Shou! I’m petting a panther!” The look that Aizawa gives the other man does not go unnoticed. However it does confirm he does have a soft spot for his husband. It reminds him of the way that he looks at Hito or MeiMei.  Filled with nothing but love, trust, and affection.

“I can see that Zashi. Be thankful. She wouldn’t even let me near her.” Izuku tries to hide his laugh behind a hand when Zero perks her head up and tilts it to the side. Izuku knows exactly what his panther is going to do next and does nothing to stop it. 

Zero turns her gaze towards the underground hero. Yamada has stopped his petting in favor of watching what is about to unfold. She locks eyes with the hero and stalks forward. When she is within reach of the hero, she stands up on her back legs. Not knowing what else to do, Aizawa braces himself. She leans forward so that her paws are on his shoulders. He must have been expecting her to weigh less because when the contact comes he is knocked over and is sprawled out on the floor. Zashi makes a noise of alarm and tries to get to his husband. Only for Izuku to hold him back and whisper,

“Just watch. He’s okay.” 

Once the man is on the floor and in a more, suitably position, she takes her weight off of his chest and proceeds to curl up in his lap. Like a house cat. She’s purring loud enough that the sound is bouncing off the walls. Aizawa sits up and just stares at his lap. Then at Izuku. The look is clear enough without words. ‘What in the hell?’ 

He tries to gently shift her off but she doesn't budge. Growling playfully at the man instead.  

“She took it as a challenge, so she’s showing you affection.” Izuku states like it is the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Zero! You are not a house cat!” He tries to bite out but the words don’t have their intended meaning when he’s smiling at her. He reaches his hand up to pet her but stops right before his hand can land on her head. He’s looking at Izuku. Izuku just realizes after a moment that he’s waiting for permission. He nods his head in encouragement. That small gesture makes Izuku feel things. Things that he can’t put a name to. He just knows that it's a welcome change from how most people act when they are around Zero. 

Most people don’t see her as a sentient being. They see her as a quirk. And a lesser quirk at that. Therefore  they treat her as such. When they aren’t scared of her, they degrade her, call her names, and treat her like she is a rabid animal. Like she doesn’t have her own thoughts and feelings. It often makes both of them mad and/or sometimes will end up with one of them (Mainly Izuku) in a muzzle. Thankfully for them, most people are scared of her so she spends most of her time fused with Izuku when they are out. It’s easier that way. 

Aizawa slowly lowers his hand and starts to pet her in the same manner that Yamada did earlier. When his finger made contact with her he sucked in a breath.

“I was not expecting that.” He continues to pet her anyways. 

“I know right? Like I was expecting her to be warm like a cat but it’s kinda cool that she’s...well cool.” 

“I had the same reaction when she first manifested. She said that it’s normal for her and to not worry.” He shrugs. It is what it is. She of course could become warmer but that took a lot of energy out of both of them at this point so they didn’t bother with it. 

Shouta looked at the panther in his lap that was just purring. Content to just be there and receive affection. Izuku was right though. She was kinda like a house cat... Speaking of cats.

“Zero, since I know you can understand me, how do you feel about other actual cats?” She tilts her head at him. Almost as if she's thinking about it. 

“She says that she doesn't know. We were allowed to have cats when we were still with...those people,” Izuku glares at the ground when he spits out the words. He must be referring to his biological parents then. He wouldn't have that reaction to Mai and Yui.

“And the Hatsume’s wanted one, but they were gone so much that they could never justify getting one. This will be the first time that either one of us have been around an actual cat. I take it you guys have cats?”

“Yes we have 3. Jupiter, Watermelon and JellyBean. Well and now 4  if we count Zero.” Shouta huffs a laugh when Zero glares at him for forgetting her for even a second. Yup. She’s definitely a cat.

“I could go get Jupiter? He’s the calmest out of all of them?” Zashi offers. Izuku thinks about it but nods his head. Zero watches him disappear further into the house. He must have put them in the office before Izuku got here just in case. 

When he returns, he has their orange tabby in his arms.  He settles down on his knees next to where Zero was on the floor. She had gotten up from her spot on Shouta’s lap and chose to still stay next to the man. She had a point to prove after all. She was laying on her belly, with her head resting in her paws. He brings Jupiter close to Zero but still has the smaller cat in his arms. Just in case he needs to pull the smaller cat away.

The two just stare at each other for a long minute. 

They both are twitching their whiskers, not willing to break eye contact. Jupiter was the first one to move. He was wiggling to try and get out of Zashi’s arms. The blonde hero let the cat go. Wanting to see how this was going to play out. Once on the floor, Jupiter takes one look at Zero, butts his head against her jaw and then proceeds to curl up in the space between her paws. He pulls his paws underneath himself and completely loafs. His eyes closed and since Shouta was so close to the duo on the floor, he was able to hear the quiet purrs of both Jupiter and Zero.

----

“He’s so small...” Zero manages to get out. 

“Well, yea. He’s a normal sized house cat.”  Izuku makes his way over to where they are sitting on the floor and holds his hand out to the tabby. Jupiter opens his eyes, looks Izuku up and down once, but closes his eyes once again. Taking that as a sign to continue, Izuku starts to pet the smaller cat like he does his panther. He’s shocked (but not really) that the smaller cat is warm. Warmer than he’s used to at least. 

“I think this was the best thing that we could have done.” Zero says as she starts to groom the smaller cat. 

“Yea, I think we can get used to this.” He agrees. 

“I don’t think they’ll have any problems at all.” He hears Yamada whisper to Aizawa. He wasn’t fully paying attention to what the adults were saying. 

“I don’t think so either.” A little louder, Izuku realizes that they are now addressing him and Zero. 

“We can have you meet the other cats tomorrow. They are a little more picky about who they like. But for now, do you want to see your room?” 

“My room?” 

“Well, yea little listener! We weren’t going to invite you to stay with us without giving you your own space.” 

“Does it have a bed?” Izuku asks. He hasn’t slept on a real bed in...a while. It would be nice if he could again. His back and musicals would certainly thank him for it. But if it didn’t, they would be going to the warehouse in the morning and he would be able to get the makeshift one. If he had to sleep on the floor for one night, it wouldn’t be the worst that he’s dealt with. 

“Of course it does..” Aizawa says slowly. Like he couldn’t really believe what Izuku was asking. Looking up, his eyes were met with the concerned look of the underground hero. 

“Oh...well okay. Can we take Jupiter with us?” He tilts his head towards Zero who was still in the process of grooming the smaller cat. Jupiter looked more than content to just let it happen. 

Both of the adults nod their heads so Izuku gives them a small smile and agrees. Zero picks up the smaller cat and they all make their way to the room where they will be staying. 

It’s smaller than the space in the warehouse but it’s bigger than the room that he had when he was still with Inko and Hisashi. It was sparsely furnished with a bed, nightstand, bookshelf, and a dresser. They were all in neutral colors of gray or white. The bed was on the wall farthest from the door but it sat under a window. The nightstand was next to it and had a single lamp. The bookshelf was the closest to the door and the dresser was on the wall opposite of the bed. When Izuku stepped into the room he saw that there was a door on the other side of the bookshelf. When he opened it, it was a closet. It was big enough that if Zero wanted to, she could curl up in there and still have some wiggle room. 

“It’s pretty bland right now, but we can take you both out and decorate it however you want. The sheets were put on right before you came over so they are clean.” Yamada steps into the room. 

“I think the only thing that we would really need is a desk..” Izuku thinks out loud. He would need one for the inventions that he would still be working on. And maybe school work. But it would mainly be for inventing. 

“We can get you one.” Comes the gruff response. Izuku’s hums non committedly. He didn’t want them to spend money on him. He didn’t want to think that this would only be temporary but he didn’t want to get his hopes up too high. (He learned that lesson real quick thanks to All Might.) He really only said it outloud on accident.  

After a slightly awkward  silence, Yamada claps his hands together. 

“Well, we will leave you to get settled in for the night then. The bathroom is across the hall and our room is the last door on the left. If you need us for anything just knock.” The adults take their leave and softly shut the door behind them. Leaving just Izuku, Zero and Jupiter. Izuku hops onto the bed and is surprised at how soft it is. 

“ Zero, come feel this.”  Izuku was petting the bed next to him and Zero hopped up. Jupiter is not too far behind her. Making himself comfortable on her back. 

“Oh wow... this is...” 

“Nice. Really nice.” Izuku finishes for her. And he can’t help but agree.

“Is it bad that I hope they let us stay?” Zero places her head on top of her paws and looks up at him. He takes his time looking around the room. It may not be overly furnished, but the furniture that is in the room is quality. Aizawa and Yamada clearly didn’t withhold any expense when they bought these. Even the sheets were soft and silky underneath his fingertips. He almost felt bad for laying in the bed without taking a bath or shower first. It wasn’t like he was completely dirty. He did manage to sneak a shower in at a local gym a couple days before the accident but he would be the first to admit that he wasn’ the cleanest right now. 

“No, I don't think that's bad at all....I want it too..” He admits. And it surprises him. The weight of the words ring out in the quietness of the bedroom. He really does want to stay with them. 

“If everything goes okay, I think I wanna tell them about what happened. Like before we met MeiMei and Hito.” 

“Like, along the lines of what we told them or.... everything ?”

“Everything.” Izuku’s breathing had begun to pick up. Not enough to send him into another panic attack but enough to concern Zero. She bumped his chest so that he was laying next to her. She had put herself in between the door and him so that his back was to the wall. He snuggled into her back grateful that she was always there. Always protecting him. Even when it hurt both of them for her to do so. 

“No matter what happens, what they say, or how they react, just remember. I will always be here with you. I will never leave your side. We are in this together. Only in death will I be kept from that promise.”  Her voice is hard and soft at the same time. Protective yet delicate. He made his appreciation towards his panther known as his eyes were starting to get heavy. He’s almost certain that Zero was saying something to him but he didn't hear it. He didn't even bother getting underneath the blankets before falling asleep.

Chapter Text

Hey friends,

So I got some news in my personal life and long story short, I'm going to be spending a lot of time this month in and out of the hospital. 

I got diagnosed with cancer about 8 years ago. My doctors and I thought that it was all taken care of, but I still have to go in for check ups and making sure that it doesn't come back. Normally I would have to do this kind of thing in December but 3 out of 5 of my doctors will be on holiday after the 25. So we had to up all of my appointments. 

Now, I'm not saying that I won't posted updates but they will be slower until everything has been taken care of. The worst outcome is that I don't post until the 25th. I would rather not have you guys wait that long, but witht the tests that I will have to go through, its hard to say how much free time I will have. I would rather give you guys the same quality that I have been then have it be rushed and not come out the way that I want to. I hope that you guys understand! 

But here is a little spoiler to help in the mean time!

Aizawa and Yamada did say that they would protect him and Zero if anything came up. He would rather not have tested this so soon, but All Might wasn’t going to give him any other choice. 

He backed up, slowly. When All Might started making moves to grab him, he ran. Zero had fused with him so that All Might would have fewer chances of grabbing them. He feels her stir within his skin but is too focused on running. He was only in the bathrooms, and everybody was waiting for him in the food court. 

He made a sharp turn that would lead to an open floor plan and scanned the room. Looking for anybody that is in his family. He’s breathing hard and people were probably looking at him weirdly but he doesn't care. All Might’s footsteps are getting closer.  He needed to get back to his family.

There! A head of black hair and a white scarf. That has to be Aizawa! He has never felt so thankful in his life. He turned his body to start running towards the man but was pulled back by the collar of his hoodie. He felt the fabric dig into his neck and his balance was thrown off. With the little air that he had left and before All Might could do anything else, he shouted, hopefully, loud enough to be heard over the cacophony of the food court

“DAD!” Before he could get anything else out, All Might had by the collar again. Only this time, his collar was digging in, to the point that it was hard to get air into his lungs. 

“Now that I have you and your infernal demon quirk in my custody, You're under arrest.” Blue eyes blazing holes into his.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up the next morning when sunlight was hitting his face. He groaned and rolled over trying to get the offending light out of his eyes. After some more rolling, he cracks his eyes open. The furniture in the room causes him to pause but then remembers that he is not at the warehouse and that he is staying with Aizawa and Yamada. He groans as he sits up and stretches. 

“I got to say, sleeping on  a real bed after sleeping at the warehouse for so long is a welcome change.” Zero mentions conversationally as she too stretches and hops off the bed. 

“Yea, I won't disagree with you there. But it is weird to not wake up to Meimei messing with her inventions and Hito griping about the lack of coffee.”

“Yea, but you know Hito. He will never not complain about the lack of coffee.” Izuku smiles at the thought.

He walks out of the room with Zero in tow. He hadn’t taken the time to look at the apartment last night when he was here. But now that he had the chance... He sees that the apartment is...nice. Really nice. And it was also bigger than the one that he had stayed in with his biological parents. 

The room that he stayed in last night was almost at the end of the hallway. He looked into the doorway that was right across from where he was and saw that it was the bathroom. To his right he saw a door slightly agar and figured that it had to be Aizawa and Yamada’s room. Zero nudged him to the left. He followed her and was led into the living room. The living room was easily the biggest room in the house but it also doubled as a dining room, only separated by a breakfast counter from the kitchen. 

The living room itself was big enough to have a couch that could fit 4 people comfortably, a recliner chair and also a small loveseat. All of these were facing the TV that's mounted to the wall and in between them was a coffee table that currently had various papers and a lone laptop on it.  

From his position in the hallway he can see Yamada in the kitchen with his hair down and dancing as he cooks. As quietly as he could Izuku and Zero make their way over to the breakfast counter and just wait.  

Realizing that he wasn’t turning around to greet them, Zero asks Izuku. “Do you think he knows that we are here?”

“No, I don't think so... maybe he can’t hear us? There is that theory that he is either partially or fully deaf due to his quirk..” Izuku brings his hand up to his face in thought. If Yamada is deaf then they will either need to get his attention through lights or some sort of vibration that he can feel..

“Trying to figure out how to get his attention without scaring him?” Aizawa says from right behind him. It takes everything in Izuku not to jump 5 feet in the air. How can the man be this quiet!? 

“Agh! ‘Raser!” The name comes out almost on reflex. When Izuku first got startled, Zero had gotten into a ready stance to fight if she needed to. But since it was just Aizawa she let her hackles fall and the fur on her neck smoothed down again.

The underground hero chuckles before heading for a light switch nearby and flicking it a few times. The blonde then turns around and sees all of them standing there. 

“Oh yea guys! Hope you weren’t waiting too long!” Yamada was signing as well as talking, confirming the fact that he couldn’t hear them. 

“No, we weren’t waiting long.” Izuku signs back. Yamada must not have expected him to know sign language cause he turned to where Aizawa was sitting and was signing so quickly that Izuku had trouble keeping up.   

Aizawa chuckles at whatever Yamada had said and signs back but thankfully it’s a little slower this time so he can keep up with the conversation. 

“I didn’t know that he knew either ~~~.” Izuku furrowed his brow at the last part. That must be his sign name he justifies. 

“This will make things so much easier!” The signs are exaggerated since Yamada is excited. “Where did you learn to sign?” Directing his attention back to Izuku. 

“Mei, Hito and I got bored and decided to learn. Hito and I want to be heroes and we figured that learning would be a good thing since not everybody can talk.” He explains. When he was signing he made sure to fingerspell Mei and Hitoshi’s names so that there wouldn’t be any confusion as to who he was referring to. He also left out the part that they had learned from a quirkless deaf person. They had promised that they would not tell anybody about it cause they already had so much to deal with. Kya-san also had a good thing going for her right now including a job. She had managed to lie to a lot of important people in order for their ‘quirk’ to be listed as ‘underwater hearing.’ It also covered up the fact that they couldn't hear above ground since there wasn’t as much water in the air. 

“Oh that’s so cool Little Listener! What is your sign name?” 

Izuku showed them the combination of the number 0 and Shadow. Kya-san had said that it fit him and Zero perfectly cause it was a combination of both of them. And since Zero couldn’t sign there wasn’t much of a need for her to have her own name.  He also showed them Mei and Hitoshi’s sign names as well. 

“Geniusbomb, is Meimei and Hitoshi is HypnoticCat.” He explained when they both gave him confused looks. 

“Oh okay! Well mine is Loudbird and Shou’s is Sleepycat.” Izuku giggles at Aizawa’s sign name, it fit the man perfectly. The man did kinda act like a cat sometimes and he looked like he could sleep for a year and still complain that he was tired.  

“Loudbird, you're about to burn breakfast.” Yamada’s eyes wide wide and he rushed back over the stove. Thankfully, Aizawa told him before it was actually burnt so that they could still enjoy it. To Izuku and Zero’s surprise, Yamada also made her a plate as well. They both stared at the man in shock as he set it down for her. 

“I know it’s not fun to eat off of the floor but she’s a little too big for the chairs that we currently have at the table. So hopefully this is okay until we can get a lower table for her or something.” He smiled at them.

“I wasn’t expecting them to actually feed me...” Zero says in awe as she tries the first bite. It was a simple egg omelet with rice and what looked like salmon. 

“I wasn’t either... But how does it taste?” Izuku sits down at the table next to her and waits for her response before digging into his own breakfast. Off to the side where Izuku can’t see, both of the men are on edge waiting to see what happens.

“I...like it. It tastes good.” Izuku smiles and quickly wipes away the stray tear that tried to fall. He was so happy. This was the first time that Zero had truly eaten anything. Oftentimes in the streets they didn’t have enough food and she always said that he should be the one to eat since she was just a quirk. He didn’t agree with that point of view but also couldn’t come up with a counter argument against it. So the fact that they remembered meant a lot to both of them. Izuku still wasn’t sure what would happen if they both started eating more regularly. They probably would have a lot more energy than before. How much of that would be Izuku eating healthy and enough though and how much would be from Zero also eating instead of getting her energy from Izuku? How did her body work anyway? Did she have her own digestive system but also got some energy from her band with Izuku? He remembers that early on he and Zero were always connected by some kind of shadow string, but later they realized that they didn’t actually need it. Was it for energy transfer? Or was it …

“How does she like it, kiddo?” Aizawa asked both in sign and out loud. 

“She..likes it.” The words were mumbled but with the addition of signs his meanings still got across to the heroes at the table. 

“Well I’m glad I have her approval! We can figure out what she likes as we go and if either one of you needs more please don't hesitate to ask!” Not trusting his voice to give them away, Izuku nods and turns his attention to his own breakfast.   

As they were sitting around the table eating, Yamada tapped on the table to get Izuku’s attention. 

“So the plan, if you're up for it, is to go shopping for things that you need and want.”

“But I don’t need anything.” Izuku signed back. Realically he knows that he needs some stuff but he feels bad about taking their money like that. They were already doing so much by taking the two of them in, it just felt wrong to take more. He would be fine with what he had. He still had a bunch of stuff at the warehouse that he wasn’t able to grab and that should be enough once he can get it over here. 

“Izuku, your room is bare. And you need more clothes than what is in the backpack you brought.” Aizawa tries to reason. 

“But, still, Zero and I don’t need a lot. You two are already doing so much for us just by letting us stay here and feed us.” From her spot on the floor, Zero had finished her breakfast and sat down by Izuku’s feet. She laid her head down on Izuku’s thigh and he pet her head absentmindedly. 

“Izuku, that’s what we're here for. We are supposed to take care of you and we want to. Between Shou and I we have 5 jobs, so if it’s money that you're worried about don’t be.” Yamada smiles at him. Biting his lip, Izuku looks down at Zero, not sure what to say to that.

“What if we made a compromise?” Izuku was thankful that the man both signed it so that Yamada could see it but also spoke it so that it would get Izuku’s attention. 

“What kind of compromise?” Izuku could probably work with that. Depending on what it was. 

“You get at least 5 outfits and the necessities needed for school, and 2 decoration pieces for your room.”   izuku mulls this over in his head. That's not bad. It’s a lot less than he was thinking the man was going to say. 

“What do you think?” he directs the question towards his panther. 

“I think it's reasonable. And then maybe Hito will get off of our case about that old laptop that we have in the warehouse.” 

“That laptop works perfectly fine! So what if it has the parts from 8 other laptops and is most likely from the pre-quirk era! I don’t understand why he’s so against it. Even Meimei said that it was fine.” Granted, Mei would say anything is fine cause she would be able to work on it and turn it into one of her babies. But that’s neither here nor there. It still works. But it would also be nice to have one that didn’t need to be charged by the will of finicky sun gods. Turning his attention back to his guardians and signs,

“Fine, we can go to the mall and get some stuff. But only if Mei and Hito can come too.” When he was done signing he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“That’s fine. Text them and see what time they are free and we can plan around it.” Thankful that the conversations were done, Izuku went back to eating. He could get used to Yamda’s cooking, that's for sure. It is really good. 

---

Hitoshi and Mei weren’t able to meet them at the mall until around lunch time which was in a couple hours. So when Aizawa and Yamada told him that it was time to go, he jumped up and was out the door before the adults got their shoes on. The adults look on, watching as Izuku runs out with smiles on their faces. 

Izuku had been antsy the entire car ride to the mall. When Yamada finally parked the car, Izuku shot out of the car like it was on fire. He felt something wrap around his waist and gently tug him back a few steps.

“Izuku, there’s no need to run. They will still be there when we get in there.”  

“I know but...” Izuku struggled to put his emotions into words. This was new territory for him. He wasn’t used to any of this. He just wanted something that he was familiar with. It didn't help that he was already on edge with the events over the past couple of days. If he would have had his way, he would have had Mei, Hitoshi or both with him last night. They were his foundation, the only constants in his life so far (except for Zero). With everything around him rapidly changing, it was hard not to get too bad of a whiplash so he could really use some of the reassurance and comfort the other two brought him. But he didn't feel like he could request that of the heroes. They already had him and Zero barging in on their spare time and Izuku kinda felt like they were already getting the shit end of this whole situation. Asking them for more seemed out of the question.

Entering the mall was as anxiety inducing as he remembered. All the people and smells and noises and chaos around him were too much and did not help his already strained nerves, so he tried to stay as close to Aizawa and Yamada as he could, nervously trailing behind them.

When he saw his partners, he rushed over to them and wrapped them both in a bone crushing hug. It may have only been a night since he has seen them but it felt like it had been forever. They both returned the hug, letting him know in low whispers that they were glad to see him. They all stepped away from each other when the heroes caught up to them. 

“Alright, now that everybody is here, let’s go shopping!” Yamada’s loud voice announced. Izuku marveled at the fact that the man could still be so loud even without using his quirk. 

When lunch time rolled around, they had managed to get about half of the stuff that Izuku needed. He had picked out a nice bed set that had a star and moon pattern on it that he and Zero both fell in love with. It was also soft but more importantly, warm. He had also picked out about 4 out of the 5 outfits. 

Izuku’s stomach rumbled when they were on their way to the tech shop to get a laptop. He was just about to say something when Aizawa, who had been carrying some of the more heavier bags asked,

“Is anybody hungry? It’s about lunch time and I would like to be able to set these down for a few minutes.” With a chorus of agreements, they headed to the food court. They all sat down once they had their food. Mei and Hitoshi were on either side of him while Aizawa and Yamada were across from them. 

“So, Shinsou, We’ve met Mei’s parents but not yours?” Aizawa let the unsaid questions hang in the air. ‘What do they think about this? Are they in the picture?’

“Yea, they are just super busy right now. They just went back over to Spain to help out with my gramma.” Hito was playing with his food. Sensing that he wouldn’t be able to say much more, Mei jumped in. 

“Hito would have gone with them but they weren’t able to get his passport in time so he’s been spending time at my house.” Now Izuku knew that was a small lie. Not about Hito’s gramma, but about Hito staying with Mei. Hito stayed at his house by himself most of the time like Mei did when his parents would leave the country. After that the atmosphere at the table relaxed and they started some easy bantering, Yamada learning more about them and sharing stories of him and Shouta, while Shouta sat beside him, a smile hidden in his scarf. He was having fun and he was glad to see that Yamada and Aizawa were sticking to their compromise that they had talked about last night. And them getting along so well with his partners made him feel all warm and fuzzy. It was peaceful and nice, but the amount of activity around them still made it hard for Izuku to calm down. To much had happened in the last few days and it would take some time for him to be at his normal level of anxiousness, so being at a place with so many people was stretching his patience and he decided he needed a little time away from the loudness of the food court and the bathroom was the perfect place to do it. 

He was washing his hands after doing his business when the door opened. Eyes flicking up to the mirror, he saw a familiar face that he was hoping he wouldn't have to see again. But there he was, in his full glory. 

Oh shit. It’s All Might. This isn’t good. He left most of his knives at home at the request of Aizawa. The man had said that they would get him new ones while they were here cause the ones that he currently had, had seen better days...or years if he was being honest. He looked around the bathroom to see if there was possibly another way out, but sadly All Might was blocking the only exit. 

“I’m not out so maybe he will just let us pass by? We also had all of our gear on the night that he tried to catch us so maybe he won't recognize us?”

“Worth a try?” Izuku was skeptical that things would happen like that but one could hope, right? 

“Uh, excuse me All Might? Could I possibly get past you?” Izuku pointed to the door behind the hero.

All Might face contorted into a look of confusion. 

“Of course. Sorry about that.” He stepped out of the way so that Izuku could pass. 

“Thanks.” 

“Say, have we met before?” Izuku had his hand on the door and was ready to leave when ALl Might called out his question. His heart was beating quicker and his palms grew sweaty. Maybe if he was questioning it, he doesn’t fully remember?

“No, I don’t think so.” 

“Are you sure? Cause you look a little familiar.” All Might’s hulking form took a step closer to him. He could feel Zero thrum in his veins. She had a restless energy about her and he could feel her telling him to run. And if it wouldn’t have made him look guilty, he would have done so. 

“Nope. We haven’t met.” He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to laugh. “Well my parents are waiting for me, so have a good day.” Fuck, he knew he liked them a lot, but admitting it out loud was another thing entirely. He decided after the words left his mouth that he would freak out about calling Aizawa and Yamada his parents at a later time. Preferably in the comfort of his room with nobody else but Zero there. So that he could scream into his pillow in peace.  Right now, he needed to leave but a hand on the bathroom door stopped him. He looked up through his bangs confused at the gesture. 

“Let me rephrase that question,” All Might’s smile was tight and strained. Like he was trying to hold himself back from frowning down at him. “Are you that stupid vigilante that got away from me the other day?” The sour notes in All Might’s voice made Izuku’s mouth dry. 

“N-No! I think th-that you have me con-confused with som-somebody else!” Izuku hated that he stuttered out the protest. He tried to pull on the door again to leave the bathroom but it held firm under All Might’s hand. 

“You should know better than to lie to a hero, Villain.” The words were spat at him and accompanied with a sneer. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get back to Aizawa and Yamada. They did say that they would protect him and Zero if anything came up. He would rather not have tested this so soon, but All Might wasn’t going to give him any other choice. All Might’s hand came off the door, most likely to try and grab him but he was quick thanks to his years on the streets. He rushed for the door handle and flung the door open.  

He cursed that the door opened inward as he had to wait for it to open enough for him to slip through it. It didn’t take long for All Might to realize what he was doing and made a grab for him. This was probably the first time he was grateful that he was already fused with Zero. The four of them had discussed in the car on the way over that it would be best for them to stay together today. Mainly for the fact that he didn’t have a daily quirk usage license. They talked about getting him one once things had settled down a little bit from the previous incident with All Might. He feels her stir within his skin but is too focused on running. He was only at the bathrooms for time's sake! Knowing everybody was waiting for him in the food court, he took a sharp turn that would lead to the open floor plan and scanned the room. Looking for anybody that is in his family. He’s breathing hard and people are probably looking at him weirdly but he doesn't care. All Might’s footsteps are getting closer and Izuku has never been happier that the mall is packed with people gawking at the hero today. He needed to get back to his family and fast.

There! A head of black hair and a white scarf. That has to be Aizawa! He has never felt so thankful in his life. If he could just get back to them they would be fine. He turned his body to start running towards the man but was pulled back by the collar of his hoodie. He felt the fabric dig into his neck and his balance was thrown off. With the little air that he had left and before All Might could do anything else, he shouted the first thing that came to his mind. Hopefully, he would be loud enough to be heard over the cacophony of the food court:

“DAD!” 

Before he could get anything else out, All Might tugged his collar again. Only this time, his collar was digging in, to the point that it was hard to get air into his lungs. 

“Now that I have you and your infernal demon quirk in my custody, you're under arrest.” Blue eyes blazing holes into his. 

------

Shouta, Hizashi, Mei, and Hitoshi were waiting at the table for Izuku to get back. He had only gone to the bathroom so he should be back any minute. He was just starting to get worried when he heard a shout over the din of the food court. 

“DAD!” Shouta whipped his head around, looking for the source of the yell. It was pained and scared. The hero in him was already moving as soon as he heard the cry for help. He heard Zashi tell the kids to stay at the table as he too got up ready to help. He scanned the food court again to see if he could see where it could have come from and a cold shock went through him. He saw Izuku being held back the back of his hoodie by none other than All Might. The kid looked like he had been running away from the hero trying to get away. His face was flushed and his eyes searching for something. Shouta saw his lips move when he tried to say something but All Might just shook him like he was nothing more than a doll. 

He quickened his pace to get over to where the two were on the edge of the food court. There was already a crowd forming around them trying to see the number one hero in action. Zero was not where to be seen and Shouta wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. He knew from the little that he had seen from the kid’s school file that they were forced to be fused at school so that Izuku couldn’t defend himself.  Shouta could see the panic in the kids' eyes as they got closer.  

The closer that they got, the more Shouta was cursing All Might's fame. Of course, this idiot would draw a crowd. This also meant that he would have to hold himself back because this was bound to end up in the media. He wasn’t too worried about himself. He was an underground hero and his whole thing was to remain in the shadows. But Zashi on the other hand would be recognizable if he slipped into his hero persona. While he would love nothing more than to hit the stupid blonde hero, he would have to use his words to hopefully get them out of this and not cause more of a scene.

“What are you doing with my son?” His voice was low and threatening. He knows Izuku hasn’t done anything wrong. He had a feeling that this was more in retaliation for the last time they met rather than a legitimate arrest. And while Izuku hadn’t given him all the details about what happened that night, he didn’t need them. Izuku is a vigilante, not a villain. He may break a few laws like unregulated quirk use but he's not different from any other vigilante on the streets. Hell, most of the time, the people that Izuku, or rather Shadow bring in hardly have major injuries. Most of the time it's just minor cuts, bruises, and the occasional concussion. Adding that to the fact that All Might has made it perfectly clear in numerous interviews that he detests vigilantes and puts them on the same level as mid-tier villains? It’s clear to see this is happening based solely on that idiot's bias and his blood boils.

“Oh good Eraserhead! You're here! I was just doing some light patrolling around here when I saw this demon child use its quirk. I need you to help me and use your quirk to make sure that the civilians in the area are not harmed. I will call ahead to make sure that the officers that will be coming have quirk suppressant cuffs and the injectable medicine on standby.” Shouta just stares in disbelief. There were so many issues with that sentence that it could have a magazine company. Like how the number one hero like All Might wouldn't be patrolling a mall. Especially not a small one like they were currently in. There were better uses of his time than something like that. And why would he have the police have both the quirk suppressant cuffs and the injectable? Izuku wasn’t that dangerous. Even with other PVRs, hell even dangerous villain cases only one was ever needed not both. That was just overkill.

“Did you just call our son a demon child?” Another low angry voice made themselves known from behind Shouta. Shouta could tell from the strain in his husband’s voice that he was using every ounce of self-control to keep his quirk in check. It was fluctuating a little bit like he wanted to use it, but if somebody didn’t spend a lot of time close enough to him they wouldn’t notice. The crowd was watching with bated breath to see what would happen. Little did the heroes realize but Mei and Hitoshi did not stay at the table like they had been asked to. They knew the sound of Izuku’s voice. They were not about to sit back and let anything happen to him. Not if there was a chance that they could do something about it. 

“Why yes I did, Mic. But you aren't needed here so I’ll ask you to leave. I just need to take it in and this can all be over.” Shouta was clenching his jaw so hard that it hurt. Not only did he have the audacity to call Izuku a demon in front of them, but now he was also outing Zashi like that? He wasn’t even in his hero costume! They were out as civilians so that they could go shopping for Izuku. This was supposed to be a happy moment but it wasn’t turning out like that. Shouta had to put his arm out to stop his husband. And he did it at just the right time too judging by the way a body hit his outstretched arm. If he would have hesitated for a second, they would have a PR nightmare on their hands. 

“Let me handle this,” Shouta said in a low voice that only those around him could hear and then spoke louder addressing All Might again. 

“First, I don’t see my son using his quirk. You would know if he was. She’s hard to hide. Second, let go of him before I make you.” He stressed the words so that maybe the blonde asshole would get it through his pea brain that this would not be tolerated. He was tempted to use his quirk on him, so he would shrink into his smaller form. It would most likely just lead to the oaf hating them even more and spinning it like Izuku had corrupted him or something, so he held himself in check. He dares a glance at Izuku and doesn’t like what he sees. Izuku’s eyes are wide and terrified. His breathing is shallow and he’s trying in vain to get All Might’s hand off the back of his neck. With a closer look Shouta can almost see the pentagrams around his iris flashing. Like Zero is trying to do something but Izuku isn’t letting her. 

“He’s about to go into a panic attack, Aizawa.” He hadn't noticed that both Mei and Hitoshi arrived as well. He couldn't be sure which one of them had said that, but was grateful for the insight nonetheless. 

“Nonsense. He was using his demon quirk in the bathroom. Everybody is lucky that I was also there so that I could put a stop to it. It shouldn’t be allowed to be out and about anyways. I think that he needs constant quirk suppressant cuffs, if I'm being completely honest. I am only doing my job as a hero making sure that everybody is safe.” Izuku started thrashing in the heroes hold. His movements were erratic and wild. Almost like a caged animal, Shouta thought bitterly. All Might just tightened his hold and glared at the boy. The flashing in his eyes was a constant glow now, making him look like one of those prequirk superheroes from the comics when they were trying to control their powers.

Shouta just stared at the other man, not being able to believe what was happening right in front of him. Did this blonde idiot not just hear him say that Izuku was his kid? Does he also not realize that the kid that he literally has in his hands is panicking? And that it’s not due to being caught? Was All Might really so blinded by his quirkism that he forgot all of his hero training? Shouta mentally sighed. He knew that he would have to end this sooner rather than later. If not for the sake of his waning sanity than for Izuku. Putting more bite into his voice he growled out, 

“I will not say this again, All Might. Let. My. Son. GO.” the words verberated across the space. He would fight the number hero if he had too. He really didn't want to, knowing there would be consequences for both of them but if it came down to it, Shouta would do what was needed. Letting his anger seep into his voice he continued, 

“You don’t even know what is going on. If you did, you would have known that Izuku is training under me to become a hero. He is under my protection as both his hero mentor and his father. We are just here to get some shopping done. He didn't do anything wrong. And yet you are still standing there saying that he needs to be arrested like a villain. Do you have any proof that he did anything illegal?” He took a step closer to them. Izuku was still thrashing, trying to get away. He sent Shouta a pleading look. Tears stained his face and his eyes still held that constant glow, were also puffy and red rimmed from crying. He reached a hand out to try and grab on to him, but since he was still in All Might’s grasp, he was barely out of reach. When he and Izuku locked eyes, he tried to push understanding and comfort into his look. And it must have had some effect cause he did calm down if only a little.

 All Might watched the wordless interaction between the two and then around to the rest of the crowd that had formed. There were a lot of phones out and recording at this point. 

“Well, his quirk-.” All Might was roughly cut off but this time it wasn’t by Shouta. It was by Mei.

“Is not being used. As was said, quite clearly if I recall, earlier. You would know if she was out and about. She’s a panther. Do you see a panther wandering around?” She sweeps her arms out in an arc. Everybody that was watching looked around. There were murmurs of discontent in the crowd. None of them could see a panther so why did All Might have this kid? Clearly he wasn’t doing anything wrong. 

All Might took this opportunity to look around as well. But it was clear that he wasn’t looking for Izuku’s quirk. He was looking at the reaction of the crowd. At the unease that they were displaying, his jaw clenched his eyes narrowed at Shouta. With a huff, he roughly let go of Izuku and the boy  went crashing into Shouta’s arms, heaving for breaths. As much as he wanted to wrap his arms around Izuku’s shaking shoulders and protect him from, he kept his hold light. He didn’t want to possibly trigger the kid anymore than he already was. He leaned over so that nobody else could hear and he murmured: “Hey. Hey. I’ve got you.” Wild eyes met his for a fraction of a second before they calmed down a degree. It wasn’t much but he would take it. Keeping his voice low and soothing he continued. 

“Can you go to Zashi? I just need to finish up with this and then we can all head home okay?” Dazed, Izuku just nods numbly and walks over to where the voice hero is waiting. Once he’s within arms reach, none of them are really sure what happened since Zero wasn’t out to explain or anything but it was like Izuku’s legs just gave out. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started to fall.

Hitoshi and Mei both let out small cries of alarm as he went down; but Zashi thankfully has hero reflexes and was able to catch him before he hit the floor. He brought Izuku closer to his chest as he glared at All Might. Shouta had a feeling the only reason why All Might wasn’t getting an earful from the two conscious teenagers was because they were too focused on making sure that their boyfriend was okay. Either way Shouta would take it. He didn't need to cause more of a scene than what was already going on.  

Satisfied that his husband had the other two kids under control, Shouta turned his attention back to the other hero. 

“Don't ever touch my kid again. If you have a problem with him, you can talk to me. Got that?” Shouta leveled a non-quirked glare to the spotlight hero. When he received a nod of confirmation he turned back to where Hitoshi, Mei, Zashi and an unconscious Izuku were waiting. From the look in their eyes, Hitoshi and Mei looked like they were ready to go on a warpath but Shouta just shook his head. Hopping that they understood what he was trying to convey. 

“Let’s go back okay? We can finish this another time. And hopefully one where we won’t be interrupted.” Shouta was feeling a little petty as he said the last part louder than he needed to. But he didn't take too kindly to the stupid idiot causing a scene like that and practically making his kid go into a panic attack. 

Hitoshi looked like he had calmed down when Shouta said something but Mei on the other hand still looked like she wanted to fight. Before Shouta could say anything, Hitoshi told her something that he couldn’t understand. She looked back to where All Might was standing and then Back to Hitoshi, before finally replying back. Shouta didn’t miss the way Hitoshi side eyed him before carefully saying something back. Whatever they had discussed was apparently enough for the pink hair girl cause she said nothing else as they all left the mall.

----

Izuku’s return to consciousness was a slow process. First it was the sense that he was being carried. Then sound started to filter in but it was like he was underwater. He tried to remember why he had passed out but came up with very little. 

“Hey, Zero, do you remember what happened?”  

“Not really? I remember going to the bathroom to wash our hands and then...” As if her words unlocked a damn the memories of what happened came flooding back in. All might cornered him in the bathroom, the number one hero grabbing him by the back of the neck, saying that he was arrested, running away....Calling Aizawa dad... His breathing was picking up now. He didn't know who was holding him, all he knew is that he needed to get away and now. 

He tried wiggling his way out of whoever had a hold on him. To his disappointment they only held on tighter. He could hear words being said but it was like they had no meaning. He couldn’t understand what they were saying. The same panic that he felt in the mall was coming back in full force. He thought that when he chose to stay with Aizawa and Yamada that he wouldn't have to deal with this again. He thought that he wouldn't be arrested?! 

“Little one, what do you want to do?” Izuku was trying to think. The only coherent thought he had was that he and Zero were still fused. He could feel her in the confines of his skin. Wanting to be out but waiting to see what he wanted to do. But with Zero feeding off of his panic and then him feeding off of hers it was an endless cycle. Somewhere in the back of his head, he had the thought to talk with Aizawa about that small fact when he wasn’t preoccupied.

“Zu, Zero, you're safe. You're back at the apartment with Aizawa and Yamada.” The sound of Hito’s baritone voice cuts through the fog of panic. 

“The person holding you is Aizawa. He’s safe. He kept you safe from All Might. It’s okay.” Mei’s soothing voice joined in the reassurances. He feels himself sinking into the hold now. Mei and Hito wouldn’t lie to him. 

“Zero.” He wasn’t sure if the word was said out loud or not, but his panther would hear him either way. It was always a strange feeling when he let Zero out. It was like, something that you know should be there leaving. It felt a little hollow after she left but it made him feel safer. She was able to keep an eye on the things that he couldn’t see. It comforted him in a way that was hard to explain.

“It’s okay. We’re safe now.” Izuku slowly opens his eyes. When the lack of bright light didn’t cause him to squint, he figured the lights were either dimmed or not on. He rubbed his eyes. 

“How are you and Zero feeling, Izuku?” 

“Like we got hit by a bus.” He groaned out. His whole body hurt. His neck especially. He tried to rub it when a hand stopped him. Hitoshi’s eyes met his and his boyfriend said in a soft voice,

“Your neck is still a little bruised from what happened. Try not to rub it okay? It’s just gonna make it hurt worse.” Izuku nodded his head and let his head fall down onto Hitoshi’s shoulder. It was a little bit of a strain, but he didn’t care. He needed his people around him. Hitoshi tightened his arm around him, hugging him close.

 “Wanna watch a movie together later?” Aizawa smiled at the sight and after receiving a nod, he set Izuku down on his bed and slowly backed out of the room with Hizashi, giving them some privacy. For the next couple of hours, he and his partners just relaxed on the bed, snuggling and soaking in the feeling of just being together. Shortly before dinner, they felt Mei and Hitoshi’s phone buzz with a text notification. Mei wiggled around so that she could get her phone out to read what had been sent. She typed something back and placed her phone back in her pocket. Turning to Izuku she said,

“Alright we need to head back. MommaMai and Mom are wondering where we are.” Mei said as she locked her phone again and put it back into her pocket. He got up and walked over to where Mei and Hito were getting ready to go. 

“Thank you.” He whispered to them. He didn’t need to say anything more than that. They would know that he was referring to earlier today. 

Hito leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead and whispered back,

“There's no need to thank us, love. We will always take care of you.”  Izuku tilted his head up and was pleased when Hito met him half way for a kiss. At his side, Mei grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“What Hito said. There’s no need to thank us. We both know that if the situation would have been reversed, you would have done the same for us if not more.” She smiled at the rising blush on his cheeks and tugged him down for a kiss of her own. 

“Text us when you want us to come back over okay, Izu?” 

“I will.” The door shut softly as his girlfriend and boyfriend left. He stood there for a minute longer just staring at the door. Zero came over and nudged his hand. Shaking out of his thoughts, he ran his hands over her head. 

“Shouta said that we could watch a movie? To try and get our mind off of things?” She suggested as they went back to the living room. 

“What movie did you have in mind?” The question was asked quietly as he sat down to the right of Aizawa. Yamada was on the other side of the living room messing with the DVD player. 

“I was thinking that we could watch a pre-quirk comedy. Have some laughs and unwind after the events of today.” Izuku gave a half smile at that. That sounded like an amazing idea. 

They all shared some laughs throughout the movie but Izuku couldn’t help but feel unsettled. Zero was sprawled out over his lap but it didn’t fill that ache that he had from his panic attack. He was cursing his past self for not asking if Mei or Hito could stay with him tonight. He needed comfort. He was also cursing the fact that one of his main methods of working through emotions like this was either going out on patrol or cuddling. And since the first option was not even close to being on the table, his only option was the latter. 

Aizawa must have noticed that something was off because he turned to Izuku and asked,

“Izuku? Are you okay? Do you need something? Panic attacks aren’t over when they stop” Aizawa’s gray eyes were full of  concern. He knew what he needed. He needed physical comfort. He always did after a panic attack like he had at the mall. In previous times, he would have seeked it out from either of his significant others. But this time, he couldn't bring himself to ask for them to stay. And maybe it was because he wasn’t in the warehouse anymore. This wasn’t his place so he felt bad asking for them to stay without asking his guardians about it. He fidgeted in his seat as he tried to think of the way to tell them what was on his mind. They both were now looking at him with a mixture of confusion and worry. 

“Little one, just ask. They already showed us that they will take care of us. I’m sure that means with things like this too.” Zero tried to reason with him. He opened his mouth to try and speak but nothing came out. He tried again a few more times and before his frustration could truly take hold Zero spoke for him. 

“He wants to know if it would be alright if we could receive physical affection from you. Normally after a panic attack it drains us and makes us feel uneasy. If we would have been at the warehouse we would have asked Mei and Hito if they could stay but we didn’t feel like it was our place to ask them to stay here.” Zero explains. Both men stare at her in awe. This was one of the first times that she has talked with them (that wasn’t a threat) in a way that they could understand. They knew that she knew Japanese but Izuku had said that she didn’t like to talk like that much due to what had happened in their past. Yamada was the first one to break the silence. 

“Of course! Just tell us what you need!” Zero nodded her head and jumped up on the couch. She carefully made her way over to where Yamada was sitting and flopped down over his lap. He let out a soft grunt at the added weight to his lap but smiled warmly at her. She even started purring when he started to pet her head. 

Izuku, emboldened in his decision thanks to his panther, scooted over next to Aizawa and gave him a look, asking if it was okay. The response he got was a pair of open arms. He wasted no time in crawling into the man's lap and letting himself be held like a child. He had to admit, it felt nice. Nice to feel protected. He let himself sag further into the embrace.  

 As the movie went on, various thoughts went through his head. Most of them were centered around the two adults that were currently comforting him and his panther. Were they moving too fast? They had only been stay with them for a day at this point. He had heard that other kids when they got foster parents it would sometimes take weeks or even years for them to feel comfortable enough to get a hug. But here Izuku and Zero were, cuddling both of them. He couldn't help but think that they were both rushing into it. But did it matter? Another smaller thought in his head asked. And the more he thought about it, the more clear the answer became. It didn’t matter in the slightest. While he had Mei’s moms and they were amazing, but having a dad was different. Maybe it was the traumatic experience speaking, but for once in his life, he wanted to be selfish and take what he wanted. And if Yamada and Aizawa were offering, then he wouldn’t say no. He curled up into Aizawa’s lap and let the man comfort him. The smell of cats, coffee and spice filled his nose when he buried it into the man’s chest. The arms holding him were tracing his spine up and down. He melted at the gentle touch. It didn’t take long for Izuku to fall into a  blissful sleep.

Unknown POV:

“Tell me, why should I join you?” They ask. They were risking a lot after all. They did want to be a hero but it was more of like an itch that they wanted to scratch. It didn’t matter if they actually did. It would just be nice. But since this was a League of Villains  there better be more to it than just the lackluster promises that Shigeraki was offering. 

“Because you're just like the rest of us. Society has not been nice to you. They have told you that you are too weak to do anything. They’ve told you that you're dreaming too much. So why not prove them wrong? Why not show them exactly what you are capable of?” Shigarki had a knowing smile plastered to his face. But they couldn't help but think that he was right. They were always told that a person like them wouldn't survive in the world of heroes. That it was too dangerous for them. They were too fragile. They clench their hands together. Careful that they don’t activate their quirk on accident. 

“Okay, but besides spite what's in it for me?” 

“What if I told you that I can make all your other problems disappear. I have a sensei that would be able to do almost anything that you wanted or needed. That includes access to insider information, tech gear, financial resources, and much more. All you need to do is say that you will help us.”

“Will I have to kill anybody?” They didn't think that they would have the stomach for that. It was one thing to go against hero society but it was another to actually be the one to kill people. 

“No, you're just my informant. You're the one that gathers the information so that we can plan. You're a rogue, a spy if you will, not a front line fighter.” They aren’t sure what is up with this guy and his video game references but it’s whatever. It's minor and they can deal with it. And besides, it could be fun. While they didn't dislike hero society as a whole persay, they also weren’t the biggest fan of it. In what kind of world was popularity more important than saving people? This would be a huge risk for them to take but it would help their family. That right now, was a bigger reward and therefore worth the huge risk that they would be taking. And if they got caught, they could always say that they were pressured into doing it. It’s not like there was any evidence that they were doing this willingly afterall.  

“Alright. I’m in. But if you don't hold up your end of the deal then I walk away. You also have no right to come after me if I do so.” They make sure to sound stern with it. It was one of the negotiation tactics that they learned from their dad. Always be firm in what you want. Especially if it’s reasonable. 

“That’s fair. But if you don't hold up your end of the deal, we pull everything from you.” Shigaraki adds on. That’s also not unreasonable. This was a trade after all.  

“Sounds good to me. Now, what is it that you will have me do?” 

“You will be infiltrating UA. Specifically, the hero course. You will gather information on them. The students, the teachers, and anybody else that you think is important.” They felt their eyes go wide in shock. That was not what they were expecting. 

“And how do you expect me to do that? They have top heroes as their teachers and then there’s Nezu, the top intelligence hero in Japan. They also train the top heroes there. How do you expect me to go in and not get caught?” They were skeptical. Why wouldn’t they be? That was a hard task for anybody. Being able to get past Nezu? Without him noticing anything? That didn't sound likely. It also sounded like a one way trip into Tartarus. And being behind a jail cell wasn’t on their list of things to do. Plus they only had 10 months to plan. Their quirk was useful in a lot of different ways, but an espionage mission like Handy was proposing was not one of them. They were better suited for the front lines of battle. Where their quirk could actually be useful. 

“That’s the easy part. Or the hard part depending on how you look at it.” Shigeraki leaned back in his chair with his hands laced behind his head and smirked as he continued. “ We will train you. Compress over there can give you tips on sleight of hand, and stealth. Twice and Spinner can help you with your interpersonal skills so that more people will let down their guard around you. Magne, can help with your ability to blend into a crowd so that people are less likely to think that you're a threat. Phoenix and Dabi can teach you how to analyze but quirks and people.  But most importantly, Sensei can give you any quirk that you think you will need to lie and cheat your way in. We will give you anything that you need to do this. You just have to give us the information that we want. Kurogiri will also be able to get you out if the need arises. The wards that UA has up now aren’t able to keep him out.” The last part implied that they had already tried. That in itself was impressive and made them wonder just how long they have been planning something like this. They weren’t going to press it though. They didn't need to know that right now. But what was interesting was this Sensei person. Could he really give them whatever quirk they needed? Cause if so, then this would be easy. And so much fun. With this new found information, they had the seedlings of a plan in mind. This might just work. They just had to play their cards right.  

“Okay, Shigaraki. You have a deal. You already know what my quirk is and I can think of a few others that would help in this mission.”

Shigaraki smiles that deranged smile and purrs out, “Perfect. There’s enough time before the entrance exam for Sensei to transfer the quirks to you. You should also be able to level up the skills that everybody teaches you to at least a passable level.  It’ll be a hard 10 months but I think we both will find the reward to be worth the grind.”

The wild look in their eyes is reflected in those of all the people around them. They see the girl that they think is called Phoenix, and the scarred man that she’s always with, Dabi? A man with a lizard mutation, a woman with a giant magnet, the warp portal guy(?) person that brought them here, and hard to miss, the magician. 

They couldn't remember the names of the others but Phoenix and Dabi stood out. Phoenix looked like she couldn't be much older than they were. Barely in highschool if that. And she was always with Dabi. During most of this meeting they had noticed that the two of them would constantly be whispering about something. Dabi’s reactions were always muted, but Phoenix seems to react enough for both of them. Those two balanced each other out in a weird way. She’s maniac, borderline crazy and he’s calm and reserved. It obviously works for them, so who were they to judge? They had a silent thought that those two might be dating with how close they are. They wouldn't ask though. They might have less than stellar morals but that doesn't mean that they would go so far as to break up a relationship. That was one line that they would never cross. Even if it did suck because Phoenix was cute and very much their type. They liked their women a little on the crazy side. It made for fun times. 

The rest of the league looked happy at the development. They were all in the same boat. They just wanted revenge for the way that society had fucked them over. And this way their chance. And they were the key part in making this work. It made them feel wanted in a way that they hadn’t before, like they were a part of something bigger than themselves. Dabi just looks bored but from what little they have interacted, that seems to be normal so they brush off the reaction. 

“Then lets get started.”

Chapter Text

Dabi’s POV:

Dabi was sitting in the bar with a drink in his hand. The clear liquid burned as he swallowed it down. He wasn’t the type to drink a lot of alcohol but today, he needed it. The new person that Shigaraki had brought in was a lot. They were constantly asking questions about things that Dabi didn’t want them to know. Like why he and Himiko were villains now, how their quirks worked and the like. Shigeraki had told the group that the newcomer would be training with everybody in some aspect to get them ready for the UA entrance exam. 

That whole scenario, Shigarakis ‘plan’, if you could call it that… didn’t sit well with him. It didn’t sit well with Himiko either. The UA students were just that: students. They were just kids. They didn’t do anything that warranted the league, as Shigaraki calls their weird ragtag group, to come after them. They should be setting their sights on the people that are already heroes. The ones that already fucked society up. Not the ones that could change it. But any time that Dabi brought it up, it was dismissed.

So after a while of trying, he kept his mouth shut. He also needed to get all this new  information to Yumi as soon as possible. She might not be able to do much with it but it would at least be noted down somewhere, just in case he... he finished the drink in his hand in one go. Setting the glass down on the bartop. He needed to find a way to get him and Himiko out of the bar for a little bit without raising suspicions. He thanked Kurogiri for the drink and went to sit on the couches. They were more comfortable than they looked, he liked the fact that he could sink down into them and feel like he was sitting on a cloud.  

“Daaaaabi!” Himiko whined as she flops into his lap. He chuckled down at his sister and flicked her forehead. 

“What, Phoenix?” His words sounded harsh but she should know that they lacked the usual bite that he normally had. He wasn’t mad at her, he just had to keep up the act. Yes, he might be angry at the man child in the other room, but there was no reason for him to take it out on her. 

“I need to go out and I need you to come with me.” She turned so that she could look at him in the eye. Her pupils dilated slightly and slowly returned back to their normal size. She needed blood. He was just thinking earlier that it had been a while since she’s had some. He swears that sometimes it’s almost like they can read each others minds.  

“Alright, let's go.” 

She giggled as she got up and waited for him to do the same. They were at the door and about to head out into the street when the new person stopped them. 

“Where are you guys going?” The question was innocent enough but it didn't sit right with Dabi. Every single one of his instincts was screaming at him. He couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t trust them at all or if it was because they were up to something that they shouldn’t be. Either way, it didn’t matter. He had lived this long on the streets by paying attention to instincts so he wasn’t about to stop now.

“Out.” He ushered Himiko to go in front of him through the door that led out of the bar and into the alley way. Before they could get out of the door a hand on his arm stopped him. 

“I could go with you if you want?” It took everything that he had for Dabi to not roll his eyes and shrug off the hand on his arm. Why the hell would they want to go with them? This wasn’t the first time that this was offered but the newcomer was being oddly incessant on going with anybody that left. It wasn't like they weren't allowed to leave on their own. The door was open at all times for any of them to leave. They were a part of the league, not a prisoner. In the back of his head, Dabi felt slightly bad about never learning their name or their pronouns. Not bad enough to change the situation, but slightly bad. So until it mattered or he cared, he would refer to them as them and newcomer. While they were out, he would get a message to Yumi about them. Maybe she could do some research into them? Hopefully Himiko knew their name...  If she didn’t then he would cross that bridge when they got there.

“No thanks, we’re good by ourselves.” He tried to get out of the door, but they stopped him when the hand on his sleeve gripped him tighter. He turned around to face them. They were staring up at him with hopeful eyes. But something glimmered underneath the surface. Something that didn’t sit right with him. Instead of saying anything else, he seemingly lazily shrugged off the offending arm and just raised an eyebrow at them, waiting for them to start speaking. 

“I could provide good back up if you need it? And I’ve been training really hard with the quirks Sensei gave me. I’ve gotten pretty good according to everybody else!” Fuck this person was not going to let them go. He really couldn’t let them come with them. He and Himiko needed to talk with Yumi while they were out and Himi wasn’t that keen on letting everybody else know the full extent of her quirk. (If Dabi was also being honest, he didn’t really want anybody to know about it either. Mainly the memories portion of it. They both tended to get a little emotional after seeing some of his memories and he didn’t know them well enough to be that vulnerable around them.)

He would give the fact that they were pretty good with the quirks that they had gotten from Sensei. But none of their news quirks would help with giving Himiko blood. 

“Nope! No can do! Our friend doesn’t like new people! And it took us for- ever to get their trust! I don’t wanna see you painted red with blood!” She made her eyes go wide as she finished her thought, fully committing to the act that she was putting on. 

“Although it could be fun...” Himiko added a smile that showed her fangs. Dabi will forever thank whatever god or goddess he pleased in this lifetime that Himiko could lie through her teeth and not have anybody think twice about it. Being adorable and looking innocent sure was useful sometimes. Even when she was acting crazy. 

“Okay... Then I guess I will see you two later!” They gave what Dabi could only assume was a flirty wave goodbye as they bounded off deeper into the bar. They found Mange sitting at a table playing cards and asked to join. Dabi gladly took the out for what it was and ushered his sister out of the bar.

“Was it just me, or are they flirting with one of us?” Himiko asked as they put space between them and the bar.

“No, they are definitely flirting with one of us.” Dabi shuddered as he thought about it. He remembered that they would have been about Shoto’s age since they were trying out for the hero school as a first year. Dabi was 19 though. Wait, his birthday just passed. So he’s 20 now. Either way, they were way too young for him.

“I thought so. Not cute at all.” She muttered as she kicked a rock on their path. They walked silent side by side as they went back to one of the safe places. It wasn’t much. Just an old lean to that was barely big enough for both of them and some personal items. But they kept it either way. It was one of the first spaces that they had claimed as their own after they found each other. It still housed some of their things that they didn’t feel comfortable taking with them to the bar, like Himiko’s painting set that Dabi had gotten her a while ago and Dabi’s burner phone that he used to contact Yumi.  

He looked around one last time before shutting the door behind them and letting out a breath. Himi did the same thing and flopped down on the makeshift bed beside him. 

“Who would have known that acting like an unhinged person could take so much out of you?” She vented. 

“You don’t say. It’s not hard to act like I’m angry all the time but it does get tiring after a while.” They both sat in silence as they enjoyed the fact that they didn’t have to wear their masks. Dabi was the first one to break the silence. 

“Before I give you some blood, I need to text Yumi and get some information to her.” 

“Okay, sounds good to me.” Dabi got up to get the burner phone from its hiding spot behind a piece of paneling that was already peeling up when they found it. He was able to make it into a safe of sorts. It didn’t have any lock on it but it was held in place by quirk resistant glue. In most cases the type of glue that he used was able to withstand a fire type quirk no problem. In their advertisement, they boasted about how even Endeavor’s flames couldn’t do anything to the glue. But Dabi’s flames were hotter than the rating was tested for. 

It took little effort to remove and he grabbed the phone, turning it on. He wasn’t surprised when there was nothing on it. 

Fireworks: I have the gifts that you wanted me to get for mom. I also got her those flowers that she likes so much.

He made sure to keep it short and sweet but most importantly in code. He didn’t know what kind of quirks or people for that matter the league had in their back pocket. So it was better to be safe than sorry. The phone chimed a couple seconds later.

ArticFrost: Oh! Okay, I almost forgot about that! Thanks for thinking about it.

Fireworks: Yea, went to the usual place that gives us the good rates on party arrangements.

ArticFrost: Okay, I was thinking that we could go give everything to her on the 2nd? If not we can wait until you have the time.

Dabi looked up from the burner phone and asked,

“Hey, do you think we could meet up with Yumi in about 2 hours?” 

“I would love to meet her!” Himiko excitedly replies. Dabi smiles and returns back to texting.

Fireworks: Yea, that’s fine. I’ll have a friend with me so that mom can meet her too. I think that they will get along really well.  

ArticFrost: Great! I’ll see both of you then!

Dabi puts the phone away and back into the hiding spot. Once he is sure that the glue is even and not giving away that something is behind it, he turns his attention back to the younger girl. 

“Alright, we will be meeting up with Yumi in about 2 hours and she’s coming here. Do you want me to give you some blood before or after we meet up with her?” 

Himiko took her time to think about it. Bouncing up and down on the mattress slightly as she did so. It didn’t really matter to Dabi when she wanted to, just that she was able to get some before they went back to the bar later in the day. 

“I think afterwards would be better. That way if I see another memory....” She trailed off. He smiled softly at her and ruffled her hair. 

“Alright little flame. Then that’s what we will do.”

While they were waiting for Yumi to get there, Dabi was trying to take a nap and Himiko had gotten out her art supplies and was trying to paint. Key word here being trying. After he heard his little sister sigh in frustration for what seemed like the 10th time in about 15 minutes, he sat up and asked her

“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s wrong?” She was staring at the canvas in front of her in frustration. The canvas itself just had 3 bold black marks on it from where she had tried to start her project. She dipped her paintbrush back into the paint like she was going to start painting again and murmured 

“I’m....worried...nervous..” Dabi sat up straighter.

“About what?” 

“Meeting your sister.” She admitted quietly. Dabi got up from where he was and crossed the small room to be at her side. He pulled her into a side hug.

“You have nothing to be nervous or worried about. Yumi is going to love you. I know she will. She has a bigger heart than I do and you somehow managed to worm your way into mine.” He playfully teased her. She turned to face him. 

“Are you sure? Wouldn't it feel like I’m stealing her place as your sister? And what about my quirk?” Dabi could hear the notes of fear and concern in her voice. It made him want to set something on fire to hear his sister sound so small and vulnerable when talking about something that she had no control over. But instead, he pushed both the physical and metaphorical flames down.

“I’m sure. In fact, I’m so sure that I will make you a promise.” Curiosity lit her eyes as she tilted her head to the side waiting for him to continue. 

“I promise if Yumi treats you badly, or says anything negative about your quirk or you, I will send her away and I won’t talk to her again.” he knew that it was a lot to promise and he knew that Himiko knew that as well. But that is just how sure he was that Yumi wouldn’t ever do something like that. She just wasn’t the type to discriminate against that. She never was. 

“But she’s your sister! How can you promise something like that?” 

“You're my sister too, Himiko. And if she is the type to discriminate against people for their quirks, that is not somebody that I need in my life.” His words must have struck a cord in her because her shoulders relaxed. She breathed in and slowly let it out. 

“Okay, I’ll trust you.” 

“And I won’t let you down.” And he meant it too. He had faith that Yumi and Himiko were going to get along exceptionally well. He understood of course that Himiko would need some time. With how her own family treated her, it made sense. More relaxed now, Himoko picked up her brush again, and got to work putting the picture from her head onto the page. 

About two hours later, there was the distinct sound of two bird cries right after each other. Dabi got up from where he was lounging and went to greet his sister. When she came in view he was quick to pull her into a long hug. It had been a long time since he had seen her last. She was taller now and she had grown out her hair since the last time. Ít was now down to the middle of her back rather than the shoulder length she had when he had left. 

“It’s good to see you again.” He said as he pulled away. 

“It’s good to see you too. And you must be Himiko, right?” Yumi asked as she addressed the smaller girl. 

“Yea, I’m Himiko. Nice to meet you.” The blonde held out her hand for them to shake but Yumi brushed it aside in favor of a hug. The hug caught her off guard but soon Himiko relaxed and hugged her back. 

“Oh! I almost forgot! I have something for you!” Fuyumi pulled away long enough to reach into her pocket. Both Himiko and Dabi were confused about what she was doing. She held out the object in her hand with a proud smile on her face. Dabi was the one to reach for it first but was pulled out of his reach. 

“This isn’t for you.” She turned to where Himiko was standing. “It’s for you.” Himi’s eyes went wide as she reached out for the offered object. When she had it in her hands, tears started building on her lashes. 

“Is this what I think it is?” She whispered. Fuyumi just smiled and nodded. Himiko clutched the object to her chest,holding it like it was the most precious thing she had ever been given. 

“What is it?” Dabi finally asked when it became clear that neither one of them was going to say anything further on the topic. Anxiety was building in his chest. What did Yumi give her? Himiko was practically crying over it but he didn’t think they were angry or upset tears but he couldn't be completely sure.

“It’s a vial...”

“Of my blood. I had it taken when you told me about her quirk. I figured this would be the easiest way to show that I trust her.” and in a softer voice she continued, “And to show that I want her to be a part of the family as well.” 

Himiko handed the vial that was in her hands to a surprised Dabi. Once the glass was out of her hands, she rushed over to Fuyumi and hugged her tightly. Fuyumi wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. Her eyes met Dabi’s over Himiko’s head. The fondness in his face was painted clearly there as he watched his sisters embrace each other again. He was glad that his sister had accepted Himiko. Logically, he knew that, of course he knew that. Yumi was one of the kindest people he knew. But it was still nice to see and calmed the anxiety in his chest

“I always take care of my family. Now that you're my sister, that means you as well, Koko-chan.” She pulled away from the hug and whipped the tears from Himiko’s face. If there is one thing that Dabi would never forget it would be the way Himi’s face split into that blinding watery smile at the familial nickname. 

“Now that we have that settled, why don’t you tell me what you have learned and more about this new person?” 

Himiko straightened and started talking a mile a minute. As they were talking they moved into the shelter so that they would be more comfortable. Himiko was sitting on their makeshift bed while Dabi and Yumi were on the couch. Yumi was listening with rapt attention as they told her about what they had been up to for the past couple of months. Dabi was more than content to let them do the talking. He would add his piece here and there but for the most part was quiet. 

“Well, that does seem like a lot. But I’m sure that I can do something with that information. But did you manage to get their name? Of the new person I mean. I can’t really do much until I have a name.” Yumi shot Dabi an exasperated, but fond look when he just shrugged his shoulders. 

 “Oh! Yea their name is-”

Chapter Text

“Okay Mei, we are here ONLY for screws for your machine. We are NOT leaving with more hardware, software, tools, or anything else. JUST screws. Okay?” Shouta leveled her with a look. She was known by now for getting lost in the hardware store and coming back with at least 100,000 yen worth of tools that she said that she just ‘had to have’. She pouted at the older man but finally grumbled out, “Fine.” 

Hitoshi’s dads currently were in the country and taking him out to lunch, so it was just Mei, Shota, Izuku and of course Zero. Shouta was off in another part of the store to grab some parts that Hizashi had requested him to bring home for his directional speakers. The three of them made their way over to where the screws were located and started looking through the ones that they had. She was browsing through the different screw types while talking a mile a minute with Izuku and Zero about which ones would be best suited when she felt a tap on her shoulder. 

“Excuse me, I just need to grab some screws that are right here.” Mei’s reaction was instant. She knew exactly who it was before he had even stopped talking. 

“Oh my Time! You’re Powerloader!” She squealed as she jumped up and down in excitement. 

“I love all of your work! I’ve been begging my moms to introduce me to you for the longest time but they are in Russia so much that they haven't had the chance yet! I’m so happy to -” Izuku stopped her with a hand on her head. 

“Meimei, You need to actually tell him what your name is.”

“Oh right! I’m Mei Hatsume!” She holds her hand out to shake. Powerloader was dazed at the amount of information that he had been confronted with but shakes off the expression when he recognizes her name. 

“Oh! You must be the daughter of Mai and Yui!” He shakes her hand. Her grin is blinding. Izuku finds himself smiling at the scene. Even Zero was content at his side. She was leaning up against Izuku’s side, as they watched the conversation flow between the two.

“And this is one of my boyfriends, Izuku! And his quirk is Zero. But don't worry, she’s really nice!” Izuku heard his name and focused back on the conversation at hand. 

“I’ve heard about you two as well! Mai and Yui have said nothing but good things about all of you.” Izuku blushed at that. He wasn't used to people talking about him or Zero in a good way. But it seemed like Powerlaoder was nice. 

“Problem Children, do you have the screws that you need?” Shouta asked as he found them in the aisle. He halted for a second when he saw Powerloader.

“Majima, good to see you.” 

“Aizawa, I didn’t know that you had kids?” 

“Only the green one and the Shadow one are mine-”

“Don't be like that dad!” Mei interrupted, feigning hurt in her voice. Izuku and Zero couldn’t help snicker at. “You know as well as I do that I’m your kid too! And so is Hito!” She put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at the erasure hero. Shouta just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Ever since the incident at the mall, Hito and Mei had taken to calling Shouta dad. Izuku did as well but not as much. He needed to talk to them about that as soon as possible, he thought absentmindedly. 

Shouta grumbled something under his breath before he continued in a louder tone,

“Be that as it may, you still have parents, Mei.”

“And they don’t mind that I call you Dad!” She replied smugly. Izuku knew that Shouta wasn’t going to win this one. When Mei set her mind on something, it took multiple acts of many different gods to distract her. Or talking about inventions, preferably hers. Fortunately, Izuku was good at that and decided to save Shouta just this once, because he looked close to a mental breakdown.

“MeiMei, why don’t you tell Powerloader what you're working on? Cause you're going to use this one for the UA exams right?” It was slightly underhanded for him to say that, but it worked. Shouta sent him a grateful look as she set off talking a mile a minute again, going into detail about what she was working on. Izuku would sometimes chime in with his own observations and details, since he was helping her work on it.

“Wow, both of you are working on some awesome stuff. You said that you both are going to UA?” Powerlaoder asked. 

“They are. Mei is hoping to get into the support course and Izuku, Zero and Hitoshi are trying out for the hero course. Hitoshi is the fourth in that ragtag group I apparently adopted all of. He’s not here right now, but I’m sure you’ll see him hanging around these three.” There was an undertone of pride and smugness in his dad’s voice. Zero seemed to preen at the hinted affection. Powerloader turned his attention to Izuku and Zero. There was a calculating light in the blue eyes of the excavation hero. 

“Are you sure that you want to be a hero?” Izuku stiffened at the question. What did he mean by that? Zero had also taken up a hesitant stance. They didn’t want to think that he would be quirkiest like Ass Might but it was up in the air until they said something.

“Why? Is there something wrong with that?” Mei was the one that noticed the change in their demeanor. She took a small step away from the Support hero to stand slightly in front of them. Not enough to where she was fully protecting them, but enough to show that none of them liked where this could be going. 

“Of course there is!” The hero in front of them didn't seem to notice the change in the atmosphere. Or if he did, he was hiding it well. Dad had been waiting to see how things would play out but when the words got out, he too also took another step towards Izuku, setting a protective hand on his shoulder. 

“And what problem would that be, Majima?” The words flowed out of the underground hero and were coated in thinly covered ice. Shouta didn’t want to start a scene in the middle of a hardware store. 

“They are both clearly brilliant! They way that Izuku and Mei are able to talk about machinery and the understanding that they have is something that I wish my second years would have! Are you sure I can’t convince you to try out for support? Not because I don’t think that you wouldn’t make a good hero! I haven't seen you in action but if Aizawa is helping you out then I’m sure you’ll be a good hero! I’m asking because I think you would do really well at support?” Powerloader was waving his hands around apologetically as he was explaining this. Maybe he had noticed the change in atmosphere after all, he had to be fairly perceptive as a hero. Throughout his explanation, Izuku felt the tension leaving his body. Mei and Shouta also were relaxing more the more the other hero went on. Izuku splayed his hand at his side and Zero nudged her head into it. 

“Thank you, I might take a couple of courses if Nezu would allow that but for the most part, I really want to be a hero.” Izuku said easily. After a thought he also added, “Besides, I’ll probably be helping MeiMei with her inventions anyway. So it’s not like I’m never going to be in the support rooms.”  Majima smiled at that. 

“Well, at least it’s something then! As much as I would love to stay here and talk to both of you more, I have to go back to UA. If either of you want to help with your inventions just let Mai, Yui, or Aizawa know! They know how to get in contact with me.” He waved at them as he left the store. They watched as he left and Mei was beside herself with excitement. 

“I can’t believe that I finally got to meet him! And he’s so nice!” Shouta placed his other hand on her shoulder to limit her bouncing. 

“I’m glad that you're excited Mei.” he sighed tiredly, “Now let’s get what you need and go back home. Hitoshi should be coming over to the house soon.” 

They had gotten home and it was about an hour before Hitoshi came over as well. Izuku ran up and kissed his boyfriend chastely and so did Mei. Hitsohi was blushing by the time the two were done but didn’t hesitate in returning their affections. 

“Good, now that you are all here. I think we need to sit down and talk about some things.” Shouta stated. The three teens and the panther exchanged looks between themselves. What did they need to talk about? Had they done something wrong? There was a tension in the air that made him uneasy. Hito and Mei must have felt it too cause they were also giving uneasy looks to the hero across them.

Hesitantly they shrugged and followed the underground hero into the living room where Zashi was already sitting. The blonde hero gave them a big smile that they were sure was supposed to be reassuring. But with the words ‘we need to talk’ hanging over their heads, it was not easy to relax. They all sat on the couch with Izuku in the middle and Mei and Hitoshi to either of his sides. Zero had taken up apolace on the floor across all of their feet. Her tail was flicking back and forth as she kept an eye on the heroes. 

“What did you want to talk about?” Izuku asked. He hates waiting in times like this. He would rather just get it out of the way and deal with the consequences that might come. It seems that Shouta also shared that trait because the tension in his shoulders eased a bit as he answered. 

“I think it’s time that we talked about what happened at the mall.” Shouta started slowly. Immediately Izuku’s face went red. 

‘Please don’t talk about how I called you dad. Please don’t talk about how I called you dad. Anything else about that time is better than that.’ The words were on repeat like a broken record in his mind. But of course, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

“It’s about when you called out for me in the mall after... All Might pulled that stunt of his.” The words were cautious as they came out. 

“I’m sorry! I just blurted it out! If it makes you uncomfortable I can stop! I swear I-” Izuku stopped in the middle of his sentence when Shouta raised his hand. Izuku's breathing was erratic so Mei and Hito were by his side in seconds. He had told them that he wasn’t sure how to handle what had happened that day at the mall. They knew that the Shouta wouldn't mind that he had called him dad but still their green haired boyfriend refused to talk about it with them. That was part of the reason why they had also taken to calling the man dad. To show that he didn’t mind but it still wasn’t enough to convince Izuku. But now it looks like they would all be talking about it either way. 

“Izuku, will you look at me please?” Izuku's eyes were closed shut and he shook his head. Shouta turned to Hito and Mei and gave them a ‘Please help’ look.  

From her position next to him, Mei, took his hands in one of hers and used the other one to cup his jaw. Her finger was tapping gently on the side of his face. It was clear that this wasn’t the first time she was dealing with whatever this was.

“Hey, Zuzu. Can you please open your eyes for us?” He just shook his head again. But she didn’t let that deter her. 

“Zuzu, it’s okay. They aren’t mad. They just wanna talk about it.” He still wouldn’t open his eyes. She could feel his hands shaking in hers. 

“Izuku,” Hitoshi’s deep voice was both commanding yet gentle. “If you don’t open your eyes, I will start talking in cringy wattpad references until you do.” Both of the heroes looked perplexed at the threat but Mei was snickering. Izuku turned his head to where Hito’s voice was coming from. 

“You wouldn’t dare.” 

“But I’m different. I’m not like other boys in my grade. I don’t like things like sports and comparing muscles. I like the softer things, like books and -” 

“Okay! Okay, just please stop.” Izuku opens his eyes. They were already misting over with unshed tears. But whether it was from laughter at what Hitoshi did or the other situation at hand was unclear. 

“Now that this… is over, Izuku. Will you please look at me.” Shota tries again. Reluctantly, Izuku meets his eyes. Once their eyes met, Shouta continued. 

“I just wanted to reassure you that I don’t mind that you call me dad. It actually...made me really happy that you trust me that much.” Shouta sunk further into his capture weapon as his cheeks went red with the admission. Izuku’s mouth was gaping open as he processed the words that had just been spoken. Were they for real? They really didn’t mind him calling them that?

“Nope! We don’t mind at all greenbean! In fact, he wouldn’t shut up about it till now!” Hizashi proudly stated with an air of smugness. 

“Hizashi!” Shouta tried to scold him. 

“What? It’s true.” 

“It might be but I have a reputation to keep!” 

“Yea, with your students. But this is family. That’s different.” Hizashi explained as he waved away the concerns of his husband. Izuku mulled this over in his thoughts. He could call him Pops or something like that but that was also what they called Hito’s parents. He really didn’t want to call more than one person that, it would just lead to more confusion. Especially if and when they were all in the same room together. Not being able to think of something on his own he asked, 

“So then, since you're okay with it, what title should I call you?” Izuku asked Hizashi. The hero thought about it for a minute before answering. 

“Well I’m non-binary so I don’t really mind what title you give me.”

“Non-binary?” Mei questioned. Izuku was also a little confused. He had seen the term on the internet before but he wasn’t exactly sure what it entailed. At least in this context. 

“Yea! I was born into a man’s body but sometimes, I also like to wear dresses and like more feminine pronouns.” Hizashi explained. And that’s when the name came to Izuku’s mind

“Mama?” and he knew it was correct the second it left his mouth. Hizashi’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights and he squealed. Unable to keep his energy in, he started flapping his hands around and accidentally hitting their dad in the process. It was close to the name that they called MommaMai but it was still different enough that when everybody was in the same room as each other there would be little confusion. 

“I would love it if that’s what you kids want to call me!” 

“That wasn’t where I was expecting you to go Izu, but I think that it fits.”  

“I also think that it fits. He acts more like Mom and MommaMai than dad does.” Zero added. The three teens laugh at her comment. Izuku was quick to tell them what she said when they gave him a questioning look. Mama made a noise of offense but was waved off by Shou-dad. He was allowed to call him dad now.

“She’s right. you know? You do have a tendency to mother hen people. Especially the ones that you care about.” Dad teased. Mama wiped away a fake tear at the remark. 

“Even my own husband is against me? I’m not sure if my heart can recover from this slight against me.”

“I can always make you a baby to help with that!” Mei pipes in energetically. Izuku can’t help but snort at her choice of words. She really did pick the weirdest times to call her inventions babies. 

“Mei, hun, you are precious, but please, for the love of my sanity, please don’t call your inventions babies when we go out in public. At home is fine since we all know what you are talking about but we don’t need people getting the wrong idea.” Mama says gently. 

“But I call them my babies because I make them.” She tilts her head in confusion, not realizing what else could be meant from her choice of words. Mama just sighs and smiles at the girl. 

“But Mei darling, not everybody knows that. And with the way you put it, it sounded like-” Hitoshi was cut off before he could finish his sentence. 

“Mei, what I think Hitoshi is trying to say is that not everybody understands what you mean and instead of having to explain that to everybody let’s just keep that at home okay?” Dad tries to placate. Izuku is grateful though. The less awkward conversations that they could have the better. 

“Okay. Sure.” She shrugs her shoulders. 

“Okay. While we’re at it, let’s just get everything out of the way at once.” he sighs tiredly. Dad takes the time to look each one of them in the eyes before continuing.

“How do you want to go about your relationship with people outside of the family?”  

“What do you mean?” Izuku questions. He was proud to be with both of his partners. Were they asking if they wanted to not tell everybody? Cause if that was the case then they were already doing a shit job since Mei literally introduced him as one of her boyfriends. Polyamory relationships might not be the norm per se but it also wasn’t unheard of.   

“What Shou is trying to ask is, are you listeners going to tell everybody about your relationship? Or are you going to keep it a secret? We just want to know so that we don’t accidentally say anything that you guys don’t want us to.” And that made a lot more sense. Since the two heroes knew them, there would be no doubt that people would be asking them about it. It made Izuku feel warm and fuzzy to think that they were talking about what they would have wanted rather than just doing whatever would be easiest. Was this what it was like to have healthy relationships with parental figures? Cause if it is, he and Zero could very quickly get used to this. But there was one small issue. 

“Well we really can’t keep it a complete secret.” Izuku reminded him. Mainly to Shouta since the man was literally there when it happened. Hitoshi quirked an eyebrow at them. 

“Who else knows?” 

“I may or may not have gotten really excited when I met Powerloader and told him that Izu was one of my boyfriends.” Mei admitted. Hitoshi reached over to her and grabbed her hand. 

“Mei, I don’t mind that he knows. Honestly I don’t mind if our teachers know. They are bound to find out either way.” 

“Yea, I don’t mind either, Sweetheart. I’m proud to be with both of you, so I literally don't care that people find out. I’m just not sure I would go out and shout it from the rooftops if that makes sense?” He reached down to where Zero was and started petting her head again. The feel of her cool fur through his fingertips was calming. She leaned into his touch and started purring under the affections. 

“It is your choice on who you tell and who you don’t. If you don’t then you don’t have to tell anybody. Kinda like how Zashi and I are. We don’t go around telling everybody that we are married, for obvious reasons but at the same point, we don’t make it a point to hide it either.” Shouta offered. 

“I think that would be the best for us.” Izuku looks to his partners for confirmation. They both nod enthusiastically. 

“Yea! Cause it’s really not anybody else's business!” Mei exclaims. 

“Exactly.” Hitoshi sends a fond look over to his partners. 

“Okay, we are all on the same page with that then?” Shouta asks. Everybody in the room nods and he moves on to the next topic that he needed to discuss with them. 

“Alright. Then the next thing that we need to talk about is therapy. Since you want to go to a hero school, you will have to start attending therapy. It is mandatory for all hero students to go so that they get used to it by the time they are out in the field. They started doing this about 50 years ago so that hopefully by the time you are a full-fledged hero, you already have a therapist that you can talk to.” Shouta started. 

“Yea, it’s to help you cope with the things that you see in and out of the field. And if it makes you feel any better both Shouta and I still go to therapy. Most pro heroes do. It just makes coping a lot easier.”

I think that it would be really beneficial for us to do something like that. Not only for hero work but let's face it, we have not had the best life so far. Between our time as vigilantes, our biological parents kicking us out, and with what the other kids used to say to us, I think that it would help us a lot.” 

“I know what you mean Zero. And I think that it would help too. I'm just...hesitant.” 

“I know you are, little one, but you have to remember that all of the people in the room right now will be with you through it all. We need to tell somebody about the suicide bating that we went through as well as the death threats. I know that they still weigh on your mind even now, cause they still are on mine. And it’s not doing either of us any good to keep it bottled up inside.” She quietly reassured. 

Mei and Hitoshi were looking at their boyfriend and his panther having this conversation with looks of horror etched into their features. They knew that Izuku’s past had been bad but they didn’t think that it had been that bad. Neither one of them had any idea that he had gotten death threats at school of all places. 

Unknown to all of the teens in the room, the adults also share their own look. They have no idea what is being said and so the shared looks of horror on Mei and Hitoshi were cause for some concern. But since they didn’t know what they were talking about, they had no way of being able to help. When Shouta didn't speak up Hizashi decided that he was going to. 

“What did Zero say?” He tried to keep his tone light so that they wouldn’t misunderstand his intentions. He truly just wanted to know what had been said. He could never be mad at the little listeners for talking in a way that feels comfortable to them. 

That got the attention of all the kids and Zero. But Zerto’s reaction was the most....interesting? Alarming? Zashi wasn’t sure which one it was at that point. But when she turned her head to look at him, he could feel her eyes almost piercing his soul. He held her gaze in hopes that he could convey the fact that he meant her no harm. She tilted her head to the side like she was studying something extremely interesting. After a few more seconds of that, she turned her attention back to Izuku and growled something at him that he quickly translated for the heroes. 

“She said that it would be a good idea and that we will think about it. We know that it would be better to start off early but...” He trails off fidgeting with a stray string that he found. 

“Like we said earlier, it’s just something that hero courses require. We wanted to talk to you kids about it beforehand so that it isn’t a surprise. If you want to start early then we can do that. But if you want to wait, that is also your choice.” Shouta explained. He wasn’t going to push them. In a situation like this he was just glad that they were even thinking about it. Admittedly it did make it easier that Zero sees the benefits in going. Maybe she can help convince the others. If they have seen half of what he has seen as a hero then it would really be in their best interest. But like with anything, he can’t force them to go. It would be counterproductive and illogical at that point. 

“We will think about it.” Hitoshi muttered. He was running his fingers through his purple hair. When he meets Mei’s eyes, she nods her acceptance towards the statement but doesn’t offer anything else. Something else is clearly on her mind. Shouta was willing to bet money on it was what Zero said earlier.  But instead of prying where he felt that it wouldn’t be wanted he instead switched the topic again, this time to a lighter one.

“We also need to discuss what your highschool plans are. I know that you all said that you wanted to go to UA?” He adds on the questioning tone for clarification. All 4 of them nod their heads. 

“Okay we can work with that. As it stands right now, you kids are good but we will need to start training you. I know that you already have experience but that's one the streets. Not actually classroom training. And while that will help, it won’t be enough to get you in.” Shouta would be lying if he had said that he hadn’t already thought of a training plan for all of them. Even Mei. He knew that the pink haired girl wasn’t going to be going for the hero course but he would be damned by both of her boyfriends (and her moms) if he didn’t at least get her self defense training. She was good as a vigilante but she was unrefined and needed some help.  

“Then where should we start?” The question is hesitant because the stoic underground hero has a gleam in his eyes that they all learned only meant trouble. 

“I will start training all of you. Starting tomorrow.” Izuku swallows hard. That couldn’t be so bad.....right?

------

Izuku was wrong. He was so wrong. It was bad. Maybe even worse than he was thinking it was going to be at the beginning of the so-called training. When the man had said that he would start training them, he thought that maybe they would brush up on their skills in weapons, stealth and the like. But that is not what happened. 

2 hours ago they had made it to one of the training gyms that he frequented to start. Everything started out easy. They started with basic stretches and a light warm up jog around the interior of the building. But when they were done, he brought them to a room that was behind a coded door. He quickly put in the code and let them inside. 

Inside the room was massive. It was big enough to hold a regulation sparring ring, weapon racks that seemed to go on for days and what almost looked like an obstacle course in the back. 

“This is where most of your training will take place. Here, I am your sensei. That means that anything I might say to you or vice versa will stay here. I will push all 4 of you to your breaking point and probably past that as well. I will do this only with your best interest at heart. If you truly think that you can’t do something or if you are uncomfortable you need to let me know.” He pauses so that if they need to say anything they could. Which Mei does.

“But I’m not planning on being a hero? I’m going into support.” 

“I know. But think about it this way. If you were on the enemy lines, and you wanted to hit the one place that you knew would cause the most damage, where would you start?” 

“Healers.” Izuku answers.

“Government offices or other important people.” Hitoshi responds.

“Infrastructure!” Mei chimes in.

“Those are all good answers. Some more concerning the others, but there’s one that you're forgetting. And one that has already happened in the history books.” The three of them rack their brains for the answer. They can remember learning about the early quirked times when they were still trying to figure out how to make laws for everybody but were drawing a blank. Their dad was waiting to see if they would come up with the answer. When they didn’t he gave it to them. 

“Back in the third generation of quirks, before a lot of the laws were put into place, there was a small war in Japan. During this war, heroes, or at the time, they were just called officers, and villains, during this time were just criminals, struck each other heavily. Both sides suffered major losses. The heroes were trying to do the right thing but just subduing the villains and arresting them. But the villains were going after the places that mattered most.

One of the first places that they hit was the tech labs and research facilities. The idea was, that if they hit there, there wouldn’t be a way to research more and therefore take away even more rights that they believed that they were entitled to. These facilities weren’t guarded nearly as much as they are now, so the strike was effective and brutal. There were 40 thousand confirmed injured, 10 thousand that were unable to use their quirks afterwards and roughly about 6 thousand dead.” He let the weight of his words sink in for a few seconds before continuing on.

“This was across the entirety of Japan. And there were a lot of setbacks. Heroes weren’t able to get their gear fixed or replaced because there wasn’t enough support techs to go around. The official numbers were 1 support tech per 75 heroes. The heroes almost lost the war because they were unprepared.

In light of that event, the Japanese Government and the hero commission got together and decided that support techs needed to be protected in case something like that were ever to happen again. That's why a lot of the support labs nowadays have access codes, retina scanners, and various other forms of technology for security. They also decided that support techs should also be versed in the basics of self defense. That way they also have a fighting chance if anything were to happen.

So Mei, I know that you are going into the support course because you love inventing things, but I refuse to let you do that without a way to defend yourself if you need to. Your training won’t be as difficult as Izuku’s or Hitoshi’s but I’m still going to prepare you for anything.”  He meets her gaze directly to show that he is serious about this. She was stunned into silence and in the end nods her head in understanding. 

“Okay, now let's get started. First thing that you will be doing is what I like to call the hell course.”

“Why is it called the hell course?” Izuku finds himself asking.

“Oh you’ll see.” And that damn glint in the hero's eyes was back.

-----

“I *pant* regret *pant* everything. I regret my existence,” More labored breathing echoes off the walls of the gym. “My family *pant* and all my choices that have led me to this place.” Hitoshi was crawling to the finish line. When he made it over the white line, his arms seemed to lose their strength to keep him upright and he fell face first to the floor. Looking over to where his other kids are, Izuku and Mei aren’t doing much better. Izuku is leaning heavily on his panther and Mei is trying and failing to stay standing by spite alone. 

“I think we would make great bakers. They don't have to do this.” Izuku is breathing heavily as he gets this out. He might be used to running on the rooftops of Musutafu in the middle of night and dealing with the bad people that lurk within the shadows, but apparently he is not good at running while also trying to dodge projectiles and being quiet as to not give away his position to Dad at the same time. If Izuku hadn’t seen his dad use Erasure multiple times, he would have sworn that he has a hearing quirk. 

“That would require us to be good at math.” Mei moaned out from the floor. She had collapsed right where she had crossed the finish line and didn’t see a reason to get back up. 

“Shit, maybe not a baker then. I don’t know. I’ll think of something when I can feel my legs again.” Izuku groans out.

The whole time, Shouta was just watching his kids. His kids. He never thought that he would be the type to have kids. Earlier in his life if somebody would have told him that when he was 29 he would have a son that has a shadowpanther quirk and two bonus kids that were in a relationship with his son, he would have laughed in their face and then probably checked them into a hospital for a possible concussion. But now? He wouldn’t change anything. Even if they could be problem children sometimes. Izuku was still complaining about how his body hurt and Mei and Hitoshi were agreeing with him. Shouta was silently laughing to himself as they complained to each other. If they thought this was bad, how would they react when he told them what the difficulty level was? 

“Well you problem children did better than I expected.” He praised. “We might be able to increase the difficulty level within the next couple of weeks.” Sounds of shock and dismay were the first responses he got. Followed by hurried questions. 

“What do you mean ‘raise the difficulty level’?!”

“This can get harder?! ”

“I’m so happy I'm not going to be a hero.”

Shouta smirks down at them before answering. “Yes, it can get harder and it will. This was level 4. Most of the first year hero course students start at level 0. But with your nightly activities I figured you would be up for the challenge.”

“How many levels are there?” 

“In total? 20.” They all stared at him in shock. They all looked like they wanted to say something but were too stunned to get anything out. 

“That’s it. This is how we die. Not by being actual heroes, or even vigilantes, we die because of Dad’s hell training. Are we sure we can even survive school?” Izuku tried to reach over to comfort his boyfriend but he's just short of being able to reach him. So instead, he just mimes patting him on the shoulder while muttering reassurances. 

Shouta chuckles into his capture scarf as he watches his kids bemoan their fate. He hasn’t even gotten them started on hand to hand, or hand to paw in Zero’s case, combat training. Oh were they in for a ride. But for now, they had other things to focus on. But he had more than enough time to get them ready. The entrance exams weren’t for at least nine and a half months.  

Today, Izuku and his dad were working on quirk training without the other two. Mei needed to stay at home because she was sick and Hitoshi wasn’t feeling much better. But in the end it worked out cause Dad had told him that they would be working on his Shadow fire. He didn’t want them to get hurt on accident. Dad took both him and Zero to a fire proof training facility to practice. 

“Now Izuku. We will be working on your fire today. I know that it’s not the thing that you like working with but it is important that you do work on it.” Izuku nods as he looks around the room. It’s fairly large, with fire extinguishers in almost every corner of the room. It was bigger than the training facilities that he was used to but also smaller than where Dad’s hell course was. 

Dad led them to the center of the room and sat down gesturing for Izuku to do the same. Zero was already off in a corner of the room with her head in her paws. She also needed help to control shadow fire but they had all discussed that it would be best for Izuku to get control first and then train her to use it. So for now, she would watch. 

“Okay, now the first thing that you need to do is to call your flames. Getting used to how they feel will be the first step.” 

Izuku holds out his hand palm up and focuses on the fire. He’s still scared of it but tries to power through it. He closes his eyes as he concentrates on the here and now, pushing the anger and hurt and fear he feels down. He feels the heat build in his palm and soon he can feel the power of his flames through his fingertips. But just as soon as he was about to squeal in joy, he felt the intensity of the quirk infused gaze of his dad cut off his fire. He opens his eyes and sees that his dad is still sitting in front of him but he couldn’t help but laugh. 

His dad was leveling a glare in his direction but the man no longer had any eyebrows. Izuku reached up and put out one of the smaller flames that was still in the other man's hair. 

“.....Sorry?” Izuku tries his hardest to sound sincere but he still doubles over laughing. 

“And this is why we need to work on control, Problem Child.” He sighs as he moves back a distance so that nothing else on his person can be lit on fire. 

“Again.” 

—---------

Shouta was in the middle of watching their training session when he felt his phone vibrate. 

“Aizawa.” He answered without looking at the caller ID. 

“Shou!” The voice of his happy husband comes through the phone. He relaxes knowing that it’s not hero related. 

“What Zashi?” 

“I just need to know when you and the little listeners are going to be coming back for dinner. I don’t want to start it too late or have it be cold by the time you get here.” 

“We are doing one-on-one right now - IZUKU! Watch out where you are throwing your flames! Not everything in this dojo is fire proof!- Sorry about that. But we should be back in about - MEI! Stop encouraging him to set things on fire so that you can test out your fire resistant babies! Your moms have a room specifically made for that! 2 ish hours? And that's if the kids don’t destroy the training hall first.” 

“Sounds like you have your hands full my love.” Shouta can practically hear the smile in the blonde’s voice. 

“More than you know, hold on a second.” Shouta tilts the phone away so that he wouldn't be shouting right in his husband's ear. 

“HITOSHI! How many times do I have to tell you? Bloody noses do NOT mean that you are making progress. It means that you are reaching quirk exhaustion! Release Mei from - IZUKU!” He tries to stop his child from making a jump that he wouldn’t clear but Izuku didn’t listen. His kid tried to propel himself with his shadow fire to make it over the hole in the floor. But he hadn’t started earlier enough and so he ended up face first into the wall. From where he was standing it didn’t look like Izuku had any injuries beyond superficial ones and to his pride. But he should go look him over just in case. He brought his phone back up to his ear and sighed. 

“Zashi, I’ll call you back later. I need to go make sure that our kids are okay. Izuku just landed face first into a wall.”

“Oh I hope the green bean is okay! I’ll see you when you get home.” With that they both hung up and Shouta went over to make sure his kids were okay. 

—---------

Shouta had them running the hell course again. They were getting better, he could admit. They started off on level 4 and now were able to make it through all of level 8 without any major problems. They still stumbled a little bit here and there but that was to be expected. Especially from Mei. Shouta could see that the girl was good at running the hell course. Her quirk helped with all the planning and watching out for projectiles but she still stumbled a lot more than the boys did. 

“Mei! You need to make sure that even when you are using your quirk to help you that you keep an eye on where your feet are going. Looking ahead won’t help you when you-” He is cut short but the sound of yelp and Mei falling through a patch of loose concrete. “Don’t see what's right in front of you.” He waits for a breath and is relieved when Mei pops her head up and exclaims,

“I’m okay!” 

“Start from the beginning!” He shouts back at her. She seems to pout a little at that but makes her way back to the beginning to start again. When she is done with her run, he stops the kids from going back to the starting line. 

“Take a break and get some water. When the break is over we will go through self defense.” 

“Okay, Mei and Hitoshi, you two will start.”

“I’m gonna kick your ass this time, Hito.” Mei states as she gets into a ready stance on one side of the ring. Hitoshi took up the other side and lowered himself into a defense stance that he preferred. He wasn’t able to have his capture weapon today since they were working on hand to hand combat. But he smirked at her.

“Only if you can catch me, sweetheart. Just cause we're dating doesn’t mean that I will go easy on you!” he lunged at her. She sidestepped him and brought her leg up to do a roundhouse kick. He saw the movement and caught her leg in the air and twisted her away from himself. Thinking that he had the upper hand, he tried to pull her down so that he could pin her. 

But she twisted her upper body so that one hand could be placed on the ground. And with another point of contact to the ground she was able to move her weight to bring her leg that wasn’t trapped in Hitoshi’s grip up and around his torso. Following through with her momentum, she brought her legs down.

This caught Hitoshi off guard enough that when they ended up on the ground, she was able to use his surprise against him. Landing on her hip and elbow, she scrambled to get to her knees and pushed the small bit of pain aside. She was going to win this. When she was up and saw that Hito wasn’t yet, she tackled him. The air left Hitoshi’s lungs and he tried to worm out of her hold but that only allowed her to get a better grip. When Dad called the time, she had Hitoshi pinned underneath her. His hands were locked in a hold against his spine and she was sitting on his legs so that he wasn’t able to move them. 

“Can you move?” Dad asked. Hitoshi wiggled to see if there was any way that he could move but sighed when he couldn’t. 

“No.” 

“And that’s why you don’t mess with me, sweetheart.” Mei echoed his earlier nickname as she kissed him on the cheek. She smiled as she got up from his back and extended a hand to help him up. He gratefully took it and when he was standing again he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. 

“That was amazing.”

—--------

“Zero!” Hitoshi spared them a glance but went back to what he was working on when he saw that they were just playing around with his their fire. Izuku ran after his panther in the training hall just as Hitoshi shot out his capture weapon. Dad had given him one a few weeks ago when they were all testing out different styles of weapons. He still had his knives and the bo staff but he also found out that he did have an affinity for the ranged weapon. Dad had told him and Izu that they needed both long range and close range weapons so that they could be prepared for anything. Izuku had Zero and his shadow fire, but they needed to find something for Hitoshi. 

When his capture weapon shot out, it wrapped around a pole. It wasn’t the pole that he was intending to wrap around but it worked. He had only been training with it for about 5 weeks now but even their dad was saying that he was getting the hang of it pretty quick.

Hitoshi had been working on his fine control for about 30 minutes and he was getting bored. He wondered just how much strength it would take to haul someone around with his capture weapon like Shouta did. When he looked around for somebody to practice on, he saw that Mei and Shouta were over in one corner and Shouta was going through grappling techniques. That wouldn’t work. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to get two of them. But Izuku on the other hand was at the range practicing his accuracy with both fire and blades. He stood there and watched for a moment as his boyfriend wielded both his weapons and his fire. 

And damn, Hitoshi would never get over seeing the Shadow fire. The black fire that most would think is hot to the touch but in reality could feel like silk against skin. The black flames that Izuku used to once be afraid of were now dancing around him as he launched them out. He jumped up out of joy when he hit the target with a perfect bullseye. Smirking, he shot out his capture weapon. Izuku didn’t even notice when it wrapped around his waist. He only noticed when Hitoshi started to pull him back with it. 

With a small ‘Eep!’ and a few seconds later, Izuku was now within arms reach. Keeping the weapon wrapped around his smaller boyfriend, he pulled Izuku so that he was flush against his chest and loped his arms around him. 

“Oh hey love.” Izuku said a little breathlessly. 

“Hey yourself..” Hitoshi smirked down at him. He loved the fact that both Izuku and Mei were shorter than him.  

“I hope this isn’t how you would treat villains when we go out.” Izuku teased him. “I would start to wonder if there was something that you weren’t telling MeiMei and I.” Hitoshi laughed. 

“Nah, this is something that only you and Mei get the privilege of experiencing. Everybody else would be dragged behind me on the ground.” Izuku wrapped his arms around Hitoshi. 

“Is that all we get the privilege of experiencing?” Izuku’s smile was both innocent and taunting as he asked the question. Hitoshi’s stomach was fluttering at the words.

“No, you also get this,” He leaned down and pressed his lips to Izuku’s. They were slightly chapped from the extended period of not using chapstick while they were working out but he didn’t mind at all. Izuku pressed closer to him trying to deepen the kiss. 

“You are supposed to be training Problem Children, not making out on the mats.” Shouta shouts from across the room. They blushed as they separated from each other. But not before Izuku stole one more kiss from the purple haired teen. 

“Guess that’s our sign to get back to it huh?” Izuku asked. Zero walked over to where they were standing and started nudging Izuku to go back to the target range. 

“Come on little one. We need to go practice with our throwing knives and Bo staff. You can kiss your pretty boyfriend later.” 

Izuku spluttered as Hitoshi felt the blush on his face turn red hot. He might be used to the fact that his two partners find him attractive but it was a whole other thing to hear it from his boyfriend's panther. 

“Zero!”

Three weeks before the entrance exam:

Izuku was glad that Powerloader kept his word. After they met at the shop, they had all gone back to the apartment and Mei had wasted no time in asking Aizawa for Powerloader’s number. 

In the months that they have been in contact with him, he had been extremely helpful with all of their inventions, providing advice or feedback when necessary. He was also the one that brought up that they should try and get some support equipment for both Zero and Hitoshi. They were already planning on getting some done but he was the one who brought up ideas that they hadn’t even thought of. Like an armor transformation collar for Zero as well as multiple ideas for settings for Hito’s persona cords. He was extremely helpful in that regard. Izuku was brought from his musing when Shouta called out to them.  

“Okay, problem children. We will be sparring again today.” Izuku, Hitoshi and Zero all let out a whoop of excitement. They had been helping Mei a little more than normal with her inventions and getting her ready for the support course admissions exam the last few days. After all, who else would attempt to help her with the math for it all? (Even if it was wrong and miscalculated it was the thought that counts.) Sparring sounded like a good change of pace.

And it wasn’t until Shouta brought it up that they realized that the entrance exam was only 3 weeks away. He was carrying some boxes with him that Izuku eyed. It was either time for new weapons or it was another project for their girlfriend.  

Mei was also with them and she was tinkering on a toaster that Hizashi accidentally set on fire. The voice hero was certain that the toaster was no longer usable, but Mei was determined to prove him wrong. The piece of machinery was currently in pieces on an outdoor workbench that Mei had requested be put out there. She wanted to be able to be near them when they were outside but also still be able to do her own thing. She lifted her eyes up from her work to ask.  

“What do you want me to do?” Mei asks. 

“I have a project from PowerLoader for you to work on.” Shouta handed her a stack of three cardboard boxes. Her eyes lit up when she saw them. It took her all of two seconds for her to be immersed in the new project. She swept the toaster off of the workbench to make room and immediately got started on them. Satisfied that she was happy and distracted, Shouta turned his attention back to Izuku and Hitoshi. 

“Okay, now, we're going to take turns sparring with each other. I want to know where each one of you are. We’ve been at this for a while and with entrance exams so close, I wanna see how far you are and help me get an idea of what else I can teach you.” Izuku meets the hero's eyes and nods. He knew that while they did come a long way from their street fighting style, they were by no means pros. 

“Okay, Izuku, I will spar with you first and Hitoshi can spar with Zero. I still want you to be able to fight both with and without her. This will also help Hitoshi with thinking on his feet. You won't always have an opponent that has human features. There are quirks out there that will allow people to transform into animals. After 15 minutes we will switch.” Izuku and Zero nod their heads. Hitoshi and Zero go to the other side of the yard. Before they can get too far Shouta shouts after them,

“And Hitoshi! Just wanted to tell you that you have gotten a lot better at your capture weapon. We will work on that later.”

“Oh thanks...” The blush settles onto Hitoshi's face at the praise from their dad. 

“It’s kinda sad though that I won’t be able to see you wound up in it with Zero using you as a kitten toy though. That was hilarious.” HItoshi splutters as he tries to answer. In the end, he just huffs and glares at his dad. Zero meets his eye from across the makeshift circle. They both get into a ready stance. At Hitoshi’s nod, they launch themselves at each other. 

“Ok problem child, stop ogling your boyfriend and fight me instead.”

“Do you want me to try and use my fire…?” Izuku asks hesitantly. He had gotten a lot better with it, but still tried to not use shadow fire as much as possible. He knew that fire was dangerous and he didn’t want to hurt people if he could help it. His flames could either be cold or hot and he still had trouble regulating the temperature on a good day. There were many times when he was still in the streets and he unleashed it, he would end up sick because of the drastic change in the temperature around him. And since he couldn’t afford to be sick, he just stuck with never using it unless it was truly necessary. And he knew that times had changed, but bad habits were hard to kick.

“Yes. Your fire is as much a part of your quirk as Zero is. It would be illogical to have you not train with it. It could save a life some day.”  Izuku winced at the truth in the heroes words but didn’t say anything. They've had this conversation several times already. Of course the man was right, but that didn’t mean he liked it. 

They spent most of the afternoon training in the backyard. Cycling through sparring partners every 15-20 minutes. It was early evening when Shota announced the last round and they back to their very first pairings: Izuku was going up against Shouta and Hitoshi was back with Zero. Izuku could tell that Zero’s energy was waning. She was slowing down her movements. Not enough to where it was a concern but enough to be grateful that they would be done soon. 

Since he was already looking in their direction, he saw and felt the moment  Zero decided she had enough. She stood up on her hind legs and Hitoshi went to try and block her. But he wasn’t prepared for all of her weight coming down on him. Much like she did to Shouta 9 months ago when they first started staying with them. 

She had her paws on his shoulders and they both went crashing to the ground. And instead of getting up right away, she just let out a contented huff and let her muscles relax, getting comfortable. Izuku couldn’t stop the giggles that bubbled their way up. It was really just too cute. Hitoshi was powerless to do anything else but accept his fate. And that he did. Pinned underneath her and staring up at the sky, his hand burrowed itself out of the mess of limbs and fur and started scratching her chin and head. Zero’s low purrs could be heard from across the yard. Even Mei heard them and tore her attention away from the project that she was working on to watch the scene, a fond smile on her face. She flicked her gaze over to where Izuku was and he saw her eyes widen. She looked like she was about to say something when he felt his center of gravity shift. 

One second he was standing up right and watching his boyfriend and panther and the next he was wound up in a capture weapon hanging upside down. The blood rushing to his head was making him dizzy. 

“This is why you can’t get distracted, problem child.” Shouta said as he came into Izuku’s line of vision. He was smirking up (down?) at Izuku. 

“But Zero, “ He started. 

“Is more than capable of doing her own thing. And from the looks of it, she used her opponent's weakness against him.” Shouta stated. A huff also came from the underground hero. “I will admit that while it is an unusual tactic, it is an adorable one.” A smile spread across Izuku’s face. He wasn’t exactly sure why that statement made him so happy but he had a feeling it was because there weren’t many people that would outright say that Zero is adorable. She is, don’t get him wrong, but it was really nice to know that he wasn’t the only one that thought so. 

“Shou! Stop terrorizing our kids and let them eat! Dinner is done!” Hizashi called from the back door. Shouta let Izuku go and while he may have a panther for a quirk that does not mean that he got her ability to always land on his feet. He crash landed on the grass with a soft thump.  

“I’m not terrorizing them, Zashi. It’s called training.” He called back and he extended a hand to help Izuku up from his prone position on the ground. Izuku gratefully accepted it and got back to his feet.  

“I’m glad to hear that you finally think that they are all our kids.” Zashi teases him. But before anything could be said in response Zashi was speaking again.

“Come on kiddos. It’s dinner time and I made Soba tonight!” Izuku crosses the yard and leans down to pet his panther. 

“Come on Zero. Let's go get some food.” 

“But I'm comfortable.” 

“It’s okay Izu. I have already accepted that this is my fate. Leave me behind! Just promise me that you will go on to do great things!” Hitoshi grabs his shirt right over his heart with one hand as best he can with a freaking deadweight panther on top of him and holds the other hand straight up in the air. Izuku just shakes his head at the dramatic display his boyfriend is putting on. All the while that Zero is purring. Mei was next to him now and was leaning into him. 

“Looks like this might be it. We might have to say goodbye to Hito. It is a very sad, sad day.” She pretends to wipe away a  stray tear as she fake sniffles. 

“I may or may not have also picked up some tuna,” Hizashi calls out to the kids still in the lawn. Zero perks her head up. It was no secret among them  nowadays that Zero loved tuna. Now that she was able to eat food, it was easy to find out what she did and didn’t like. She wasn’t practical fond of vegetables due to her being a carnivore but she would eat them anyway. They just weren’t her first choice. Her getting actual food also did wonders for both of them. Izuku thought that they were okay before this but now Izuku could see that they were very wrong. While Zero could go without eating, it made a world of difference once she was able to. Their energy was through the roof and they weren’t getting tired as quickly. They were both also able to put on more weight which made everybody happy. Izuku now was able to put on muscle mass and Zero was too. They both felt stronger. It was a surprise to see what could happen when they both had access to constant food. 

“But if you don't come inside and eat I might have to give it to the house cats. What a bummer. It's really good tuna too.” Hizashi said with faux sadness. The three of them knew that Hizashi wouldn’t actually do that but it still had the desired effect.

“Not a chance in hell. That tuna is mine!”  Zero launched herself off of Hitoshi who grunted from Zero launching herself off towards the kitchen, using his body as a springboard. All of them laughed as Zero sprinted inside. Hizashi was close behind her so that she wouldn’t jump up on the counters to get what she wanted. 

Both Mei and Izuku extended a hand to Hitoshi to help him off the ground. Once they were all on their feet, they followed Shouta into the dining room.

The table was already set when they came in so all they had to do what sit down. Zero was already eating her tuna next to the table as happy as she could be. They took their spots at the table and began to eat after saying thanks. 

“So, do you think you kids are ready for the entrance exams? They are in 2 weeks? 3?” Hizashi asked. 

They looked between themselves and shrugged. 

“I think I'll be fine. Powerloader has been talking with me since we met in the hardware store. He said that he can’t wait to teach me.” Mei pushed around the food on her plate. She was nervous the boys could tell but she was trying hard to mask that from the heroes in their presence.

Izuku leaned over and put a hand on her arm. 

“It’s okay to be a little nervous, MeiMei. This is a big deal after all.” He tried to reassure her. She smiled at him and continued to eat her food. 

“That’s right, little listener! Even I was nervous before my entrance exam!” Hizashi proudly states. The three teens look at him in awe. 

“WHY were you nervous?” Hitoshi was the one brave enough to ask the question that they all had been thinking.

Hizashi set down his chopsticks and looked each one of them in the eye before answering. 

“Cause there’s more to being a hero than a flashy quirk. Sure, it helps to have one, especially with the way the commission is running things, but this is still the top school in the country. Getting into UA is not an easy feat. I knew that going in. I also didn’t have the best quirk control before I came to UA.” He admitted softly.

“But your control now-” Izuku started.

“Is only this good cause I got the help that I needed and I put in a lot of time and effort into controlling it.” He supplied.

“And if it helps any, I didn’t actually make it into the hero course through the entrance exam.” Everybody’s eyes - except for Hizashi’s - grew wide as they looked at Shouta. All of the jaws were dropped as they tried to find the words to speak. When only silence was heard, Shouta continued,

“I didn't pass the exam. I wasn’t” He thought over the words before settling on the right ones. “Prepared. Yea, I wasn’t prepared for what the exam was going to be and instead I got into Gen Ed. So I turned that failure into my determination and won the sports festival. That’s when Nezu saw my potential and was able to bump me into the hero course.” He shrugged. Like it was not a big deal. 

“I had no idea...” Hitoshi murmurs.

“Can you give us any tips on the exam?” Izuku asks hopefully. 

“I wish we could, listener. But we’re not allowed to.” There’s a sad note in the blonde hero’s voice. Izuku’s shoulder slumped.

“UA has a website though. There might be some interesting information there if you look close enough.” A knowing smirk making its way to the underground hero’s face. Izuku made the mental note to go through the website again. He and his partners had already spent some time there trying to find any sort of information that would give them the edge but were unable to find anything. But if dad is hinting at what Izuku thinks he might be, it would be worth it to go check again. 

A week before the entrance exams, the four of them found themselves in Izuku’s room again. They were looking through UA’s website again to see if they could find the hints that Dad had hinted at.