Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a chilly night in Musutafu, Japan. A woman was walking hand in hand with her boyfriend. The night was windy, and the wind didn’t seem to want to let her hair sit still on her shoulders, she had to fix it every second. With yet another gust of wind, an old paper flew to her feet. She bent over to pick it up, eyes widening with concern when she saw the word “Missing” with a faded photo of a green-haired boy smiling at her right from under the red letters. She didn’t bother to read the rest, turning to the man beside her.

“Honey, look!” she turned the poster to him.

The man didn’t seem as shocked as her, barely looking up from his phone and just humming in return.
“Well can’t you use your quirk to find him?” the girlfriend asked.
He took the poster from her hands, reading it. The woman waited a few seconds for him to take a look before speaking again.

“W-well your quirk lets you see the location of someone as long as you are looking at their photo doesn’t it?” the man nodded, “then let’s use it and find the poor boy!”

The boyfriend sighed, shaking his head, “No,” he finally spoke.

“W-why not?” his girlfriend looked at him confused.

“You didn’t even read the rest of it, you know my quirk doesn’t work on dead people.” the man said, handing the poster back to her. She took it, quickly reading it.

Name: Izuku Midoriya
Gender: male
Date of birth: July 15th, 2134
Eyes: Green
Hair: Green
Last seen on: October 6th, 2142
Quirk: None.
If you see or hear about the boy please contact one of the following…

The woman lifted her eyes from the paper. “That’s horrible,” She said quietly.

“He disappeared five years ago and they still haven't found the body,” the woman looked into her boyfriend's eyes, “don’t you think that there may be a chance he is still alive?”

The man huffed, “Didn’t you read it? He was quirkless, of course not.” He said, turning to walk away.

The woman glanced at the boy in the photo one more time before dropping the poster to the ground.
“Yeah, you are right...” She sighed, following after her boyfriend. Not noticing another poster- a newer one that was still attached to the wall with big red letters that said “wanted villain”.

Somewhere elsewhere in the city, a masked figure stood over the paralysed body of a hero.
“If you are going to kill me then do it already!” The hero cried, but the figure didn’t move towards him, instead taking a few steps back.
“What do you want from me? Who even are you?!” No answer came.

Sirens could be heard in the distance, someone was shouting.
“Here! He is supposed to be around the corner!” footsteps of people running were getting closer.

The figure turned back to the hero who was helplessly laying on the pavement.
“You need to find yourself a better backup team” He suddenly spoke in a low voice. “In the time it took them to arrive I could have killed you seven times.”

The hero opened his mouth but no sound came out. At that moment people came running into the alleyway. The masked figure hovered above the ground for a second more before disappearing on top of the building.

Just as the figure disappeared the hero could move again, but he was too shocked to run after the man who pinned him down. And when his sidekicks climbed the building they found no one.

They didn’t see the masked figure that was slowly floating on the other side of the building.

As soon as the sounds of sirens faded away in the distance the hidden figure climbed to the roof, sitting down on the edge but not before looking around to make sure he wasn't followed by any of the heroes.

There he sat, looking down. For a few minutes he didn’t move, if someone saw him they could think it was a statue.

Eventually, he pulled his mask off, slowly revealing green eyes and a face full of freckles. He breathed in the chilly air of the night, it was calming. The man – no, the boy hid the mask in his backpack and pulled his hood off. His green curls flew in the wind. He sat there, looking down, legs over the ledge.
He wondered for a second what would happen if he did it if he jumped off right now if he didn’t use a quirk to catch himself.

He quickly shook his head squeezing his eyes shut. He couldn’t. Ifhe found out then-No. He wouldn’t be able to keep her safe, he would break the promise.

The boy took a deep breath in, trying to focus on something else, his mother- that's it. He got up back on his feet, now standing on the edge, looked down one more time, and ran to the ladder.
He made his way down fast, looking at his clock he still had time. He ran through dark alleyways, making sure he wasn’t noticed. A few homeless people or thugs looking at him running by wasn’t a problem but he couldn’t have people who would call the heroes or police see him, not with the mask on nor without it.

He finally made it to a nicer part of town, he slowed down to not look suspicious. Walking up to one of the many almost identical apartment complexes. The green-haired boy stopped when a light flashed in one particular window. He looked in awe at the silhouette that walked into the room, he sighed, oh if only he could run in there right now, tell her that he is alright, that she doesn’t have to worry, that he will make everything work out fine…

His gaze moved up to the roof with hope only to notice a black figure watching over him. He looked down in disappointment, but what was he expecting? A bodyguard that was chosen by his father isn’t that easy to get rid of. He glanced at his watch while fixing a loose bandage on his arm, it was nine forty PM.

He looked out the window one more time, he knew that at this time she was coming home from her shift. He stared at the window like some creep until the light flicked off, she had probably gone to sleep. The boy turned around, he had to go back to the meeting spot – it’s better to be there first.

When he made it to the meeting place it was already 45 minutes past nine, he still had time but not enough to go anywhere. He sat down, back to one of the buildings.

Putting his backpack in front of him, and pulling out a notebook with a simple name written on it. Many would say it reads Deku but the boy wrote it as something else.

He flipped to an empty page, took out a pencil, and looked at the paper before him. He started to write about the hero he encountered today, that hero had so much to improve, it was so entertaining to write about him. He scribbled in his notebook for a few minutes, when he was done he looked over what he had written. Then it struck him- it most likely would fall into the hands of a villain and that hero would be doomed if that happens.

The boy quickly ripped the two pages out, looking around to see if he could dispose of it anywhere but not noticing any trash cans nearby he stood up, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. He could probably put it in there, but he will be searched when he enters the base so no use in that.

Looking around he made his way to a bigger street, there was a whole lot more light and people. He stopped in his tracks, it would be too dangerous, someone can see him. He crumbled up the paper in his hand and clenched a fist around it, turning around to go back into the small ally when something made him jump.

Someone was touching his coat, pulling on it slightly. He turned to face the one doing it, hand slowly reaching for his dagger.

“Oh sorry if I startled you.” it was just an old man, “Could you give me directions? Do you know where the main street is by any chance? I think I’m a bit lost....”

The boy squinted his eyes in suspicion, was it really just a passer-by? It could be a hero in disguise… or a villain sent to see if he is doing his job… Which he wasn’t.

The greenhead pulled his hood back on his head before silently pointing in the direction of the main street.

The old man let go of him, “Oh there?” he looked in the direction the boy was pointing, “Thank you so much, young man!” He smiled.

The man turned to walk in the direction given to him when the boy stepped toward him. He pulled out of his pocket two crumbled pieces of paper and shoved them into the old man's hand without saying anything. The man turned around and looked at the boy, who took a step back, two, or three, and ran into the small alleyway he came from.

The boy ran into the alleyway only seconds before a purple mist appeared. Soon bright yellow eyes and a silhouette dressed in formal clothes could be seen.

“Greeting Yamiyo,” The mist man bowed his head slightly in the boy's direction.

“Why can’t you just call me by my name?” The boy–Yamiyo said, coming a bit closer.

“My apologies but this is what the master ordered me to call you, He said that he is the only one who can call you Izuku, everyone else has to call you Yamiyo to spread word of who you are,” the mist man replied.

Izuku huffed, “Couldn’t he be more stupid? Doesn’t he himself know how dangerous that is? Does he want me to get caught?”

“Be careful,” He looked at Izuku, voice serious, “by saying stuff like that you are only making it worse for yourself, you know that. He does not intend for you to get captured, he wants more heroes to be aware of your existence.”

“I like you,” the green-haired boy suddenly said, “Why can’t you be my bodyguard Kurogiri?” as much the boy did like the mist man he probably couldn't handle being on his watch 24/7.

“You know it’s not possible Yamiyo, I am the protector of Tomura Shigaraki.”

The boy eyed the roofs where his own bodyguard was. The man assigned to protect him wasn’t very talkative, doing his job in silence and rarely talking to Izuku. He just followed him around, not really checking what he was doing, his only goal was to make sure he didn't run away. That way it didn't matter to him what Izuku did, he never even told his father if he stopped to talk to a citizen. Izuku didn’t know what would happen if he saw him talk to a hero though – or if he was close enough to understand that the boy wasn’t completing his missions, but failing on purpose instead.

“Well then, let’s go on now.”

When the words left his mouth a portal started to grow in front of the two. Izuku waved to the man in all black, who jumped down from the nearest building, entering the portal with them. The men made Izuku walk in between them, like always. That way he wouldn't stay behind, not that he would try to escape — he knew what was at stake. Izuku looked back at the night city one more time, for a second he felt like someone was watching him. He glanced up at the building, catching a glimpse of a black figure, one that wasn’t his bodyguard.

“Go in,” His bodyguard slightly pushed him into the portal, and he obeyed.

When the portal closed completely and all the purple mist disappeared the black figure lowered down to the ground with his capture weapon, taking off his yellow goggles. Those three villains were cautions, another time again he hasn’t managed to put a tracer on any of them. He sighed at the thought that it was another night trailing the mist villain that he got barely any new information. And the information he did get made no sense. But today he did learn something new, there was another member of the villains, one he hasn’t met yet nor ever even read his files. The man in black shook his head, this was all too much thinking that he could leave to Tsukauchi and the police, he turned around exiting the alley to go get another cup of coffee.

Chapter Text

Izuku watched from the roofs above the fountain square, he was done with his mission for tonight sooner than expected.

Well, actually he didn’t actually do it, of course not. He had just let the hero escape after slashing her arm, it will probably leave a scar, but she’ll survive. He made the hero think that he was afraid of her quirk. But In reality, if he tried he could probably overpower her even when he was quirkless.

She relied too much on her quirk, and yes it was quite powerful, but this put her at a disadvantage in places where it didn’t work. Izuku had noticed that this seemed to be the problem of most heroes, they would be utterly useless in situations where they considered their quirks to be not suitable, and would rather just get defeated or just stand on the sidelines watching instead of trying to adapt to the current situation.

Izuku let out a breath, he would have to write that all down later.

He looked down over the city, it was almost relaxing, it felt as if he was a hero on patrol.
Izuku shook his head. No. There is no way he could even consider himself anything close to a hero. He was a villain.

Izuku looked down at his watch, it was nine-thirty. Kurugiri was supposed to arrive to get him at ten, he had time to kill. He made his way over to another roof looking at people below to pass the time. There weren't a lot of people out. A couple walking hand in hand, a father carrying a sleeping child and an old man with a small gift box.

Izuku decided to follow the man with the kid just to pass time, after a few turns when they made it into an apartment complex and went inside while Izuku turned to go back to be closer to the alleyway where he was supposed to be waiting for Kurogiri. He jumped across rooftops using his quirk. No, it wasn't his it was stolen…

When he made it back to the city square he noticed that there was no one left but the old man, Izuku squinted his eyes, he felt like he had seen him before. So Izuku decided to watch what he was going to do. The man looked around noticing a street sign, he came closer to read the name of the street. He seemed lost.

After observing the man for a few minutes it became obvious that he was indeed lost. Izuku debated if he should jump down for a second and give him directions…

No, he couldn’t. The man would know who he is by the mask.
But maybe he could take it off for a second?
No, Izuku shook his head, he couldn't show his face in public.

“Then I will fly a paper plane at him with a note and a map on it then!” Izuku said out loud, standing up and putting his hands on his hips.

But while Izuku was having an argument with himself the old man disappeared somewhere. The boy jumped to a neighboring building. He couldn’t just let the man get lost! After a few jumps he heard a voice from below, stopping and listening he could make out what they were saying.

“No! You are going to give it, or you’re not leaving alive!” one hissed.

“Please don’t take it away! It is for my wife's birthday, I was saving money for almost two years to buy it…’” another pleaded.

“Shut up! I don’t care!”
Izuku heard a loud thud as if something big fell to the ground. He jumped down without even thinking.

He slowly lowered himself with the help of a quirk to not hit the ground. Before him was standing the owner of the voice, someone with some sort of octopus mutation quirk.
“Who are you? What’cha want?” The octopus-quirked man roared.

Izuku reached for his dagger. The old man sat up groaning as he looked up towards his savior who had his back turned to him. The octopus man tried to reach two of his tentacles to the small box that was still in the old man’s hands, but Izuku was fast to cut them off. The old man let out a cry.

But to Izuku's surprise didn’t turn around and run away as most people did, he looked even more determined and angry now. Izuku sighed when the man rushed toward him in an attempt to strangle him.
Izuku really didn’t want to cause a big scene. Why couldn’t he just run away? Izuku clenched his dagger and sliced off two tentacles in one motion. The man fell to the ground.

“Thank you so much!” The old man said grinning, “But was this all necessary?” He was slowly standing up, clinging to the wall of the nearest building for support.

Izuku turned to him, bloody dagger in hand.

The man's eyes widened for a brief moment before he said.
“I saw you on the television, they call you Yumiyo right?” He smiled at Izuku. “Thank you so much for helping me, You are such a good guy!”

Izuku tilted his head to the side in confusion. Didn’t he hear that Yamiyo was addressed as a wanted criminal, not a good guy?

“It’s Yamiyo.” He finally let out.

“Oh Yeah! “ The man chuckled, “Thank you so much for helping me out here, would you mind walking me home? I don't know where I’m right now, and I’m sure my wife will give you some biscuits for helping me out.”

Izuku stood frozen. Was the man genuinely being nice or was it all a trick, a trap to catch him?

When the man noticed that Izuku wasn’t speaking he continued, “Well of course I understand stranger danger and all that but if you ever want to say hello — I live in house number two on the fountain street,” He smiled cheerfully at Izuku.

Izuku looked at the man confused, didn’t the man know he was a wanted villain? He couldn’t really be this nice. Even if he didn’t recognize the villain mask at first but he literally just saw him stab someone in the heart, wasn’t he concerned at all?
While Izuku was lost in thoughts the man came up to him and shoved something into Izuku's free hand, the other hand was still holding on to the bloody dagger. Izuku hesitantly looked down. Money?

“Buy yourself something nice to eat,” The man smiled, waving to Izuku as he left the alleyway with his gift box. The man had given him one thousand yen. Izuku stared at the money when it hit him, he remembered where he saw this man before, it was the same old man he handed the hero analysis to a few days ago, but he couldn’t possibly recognize Izuku when he was wearing a villain mask and his hood up. Right?

Izuku didn’t know how long he was staring at the money when his alarm sounded, right he had to go back. He quickly put the money in his pocket and took off.

—--
October 30.

When Izuku got back it was already past midnight, but with his almost nightly missions his sleep schedule was completely ruined, and he didn’t feel like sleeping at all. So he went to his notebooks right away, scribbling about Eraserhead. His quirk is so interesting! So useful but yet full of disadvantages.

Here in the room given to him there were no cameras, and he could write as much as he wanted to. Izuku had written four whole pages on the underground hero, he was so focused that almost didn’t hear anyone approaching, he jumped to cover his notebook when the door opened with a bang.
“Sensei has a new mission for you,” The one at the door said in a rusty voice, not even bothering to look in Izuku’s direction. The boy turned around in his chair to face the person walking in, it was Shigaraki, but he could tell that much from the voice.
Izuku nodded quickly, closing and putting away his notebooks that were scattered on the table.
“I know that you already did your mission for tonight and all that, but Sensei wants you to get us some valuable files from the police station,” Shigaraki continued while Izuku was putting notebooks in his backpack, “it has to be a green folder, and don’t you dare look in it, brat! There is secret information inside.”

“Yes sir.” Izuku said standing up, backpack ready with the villain mask, smoke bombs, three of his notebooks, a few pens just in case, and also a few other things he might need.
—
Izuku landed on top of a building that was neighboring the Musufasu police station, he sat on the edge trying to see inside the building and thinking over his plan. After a few minutes, he decided it was time.

"Antantaru, you can wait up here, so you won’t be seen, I will be done in no time” Izuku turned around to the man who just barely lifted his eyes from his phone and nodded. Izuku sighed, but it was probably for the best having a bodyguard that doesn’t guard you and plays video games on his phone all day like Antantaru rather than having someone like Kurogiri watching over you at all times. Though Kurogiri was nicer, but with Antantaru he could do whatever he pleased, just not run too far away. Antantaru was probably there only because he was ordered to, and he couldn’t say no, well that was the position most of his men were in.

Izuku made his way down the building without using any quirk to not raise suspicion. He walked up to a window on the back of the police station building. He adjusted his mask and made sure his hair was all covered by his hood before stepping in the sight of the surveillance cameras. Izuku came close and took a look inside, it was a long hallway with a bunch of doors on every side, but he already knew the one he needed was on the second floor, two doors to the right. The only problem seemed to be the policemen walking back and forth in the hallway, but Izuku had prepared for that. He pressed a button and there was a sound of an explosion coming from the other side of the building, everyone started running and soon there was no one left in the hallway. Izuku jumped inside but just as he did the alarm sounded, as to be expected.

He ran straight to the stairs, hoping there won’t be anyone there, to his relief there wasn’t. He quickly made his way to the right door, swinging it wide open. The room was an office, and on the table was a nameplate with the name Detective Tsukauchi. Right by it laid the green folder that Izuku had to get. Izuku closed the door behind him running up to the table, he grabbed the folder and that was when he heard the door open behind him.

“Yamiyo.” Someone said slowly, in a calm yet almost threatening voice. Izuku turned around to see Detective Tsukauchi himself. Everything was going according to plan.
Izuku backed away to the window with the green folder in his hands. Now the desk was separating the two. Izuku followed the detective's hand with his eyes as he reached to his belt for his gun.

“Wait!” Izuku started as he realized in horror that his voice changer wasn’t on. Tsukauchi stopped for a second, most likely startled by the boy's voice. He was eyeing Izuku suspiciously. Well, there was no matter now, he heard his voice already so Izuku continued.

“I am not taking the files,” he said, making the detective narrow his eyes. Izuku sighed seeing that Tsuahuchi was slowly pulling his gun out and decided that talking isn’t going to work, so he put the folder on the desk and opened it. Tsukauchi took a step closer, but Izuku didn’t move. Instead, he took all the papers out and carefully replaced them with the blank white paper that he pulled out of one of the desk drawers. The detective stepped one more step toward Yamiyo. He watched as the masked boy in front of him closed the green folder that now contained no value and shoved it into his backpack. Then he took all the papers that were in the green folder just a moment ago and extended his arm.

"Keep this locked away in a quirkcanselling safe.” He said, giving them to Tsukauchi. The detective sheepishly took them, not sure what was going on. Izuku’s head jolted up when he heard footsteps of people running getting closer and while Tsucauchi was staring at the files in his hand, Izuku backed all the way to the window and was about to climb out when the detective finally spoke.
“Stop! We are on the second floor”

Izuku smiled under his mask, “oh is the detective suddenly caring for a villain like me? Weren't you just a second ago about to point a gun at me?” he huffed, “don’t worry I know how to get down,” the footsteps were getting too close, “oh, and I know you are also worried about that explosion I set up, but don’t be- it’s just a bomb… A glitter one!” He quickly added,

“The worst that can happen is that all your colleagues will be covered in glitter.” with that, he turned around jumping out of the window.

Tsucauchi hurried to the window to see how he would get down only to catch a glimpse of him flying to the nearest building.
“Detective, what happened here?” Everyone ran in at once. Tsucauchi sighed “nothing that you can do anything about now” he turned around, “But I could ask you the same thing,” he said looking at the glitter-filled uniforms.

Chapter Text

When underground hero Eraserhead walked into the Musufasu police local police station he immediately felt by the atmosphere that something was wrong. There were almost no people around, even the lady at the front desk was missing. Even at this time of night there were usually people. He took the elevator to the second floor and walked up to an office, he knocked first, but no answer came and then tried the handle, it was locked.
But this time there was noise on the other side of the door, something fell.
“Who's there?” came a startled voice from inside the room.
“It’s Eraserhead.”
Some rustle could be heard and then the door swung open.
“Hello there.” Detective Tsukauchi was putting his gun back in its holster. Eraserhead lifted a brow, did he startle him that much?
Looking into the office it was a complete mess of documents on the floor, the detective's deck had only one file on it.
The hero looked a bit around before glaring at the detective whose hair was pretty tousled, and he was awkwardly holding the door half open.
“What happened here?”
Tsukauchi sighed, “come in,” he opened the door wider, letting the hero step inside and leading him to sit in a chair on the opposite side of the table to his own.

“You call this a villain attack?” Eraserhead questioned after hearing out what happened, “This looks more like a prank some student would pull to mess with me before I expel them. Are you even sure it was Yamiyo? The one who broke into your office?”

Tsukauchi took a deep breath in and handed Eraserhead the only file that was on his desk- titled Yamiyo, Villain.

“Well the flight quirk, costume and mask with the voice changer all line up, oh right about that! I think I did manage to get something useful from this evening.”

Eraserhead looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
“He didn’t turn on the voice changer in time or something, maybe it just didn’t work, but I heard Yamiyo’s real voice, sounds like a young boy around fourteen. Not so rare for a villain nowadays.” Eraserhead didn’t answer, he looked like he was deep in thought.

“I see Yamiyo is slowly piquing your interest,” the detective chuckled, “Take a look there, the file has a photo of the mask, it’s quite blurry but still might be helpful, you might run into him on patrol or something, though he never went after underground heroes like you, you might still see him, if you do try to take him into custody, I know a lot of other heroes have tried but maybe with your quirk you’ll be able to do it” he pointed to the photo, it was indeed blurry, but you could make out the white mask with green stripes. “He made sure to avoid any cameras outside or maybe messed with them somehow, but I recognized that mask immediately.”

“But Yamiyo didn’t steal any documents, right?” the hero asked, his eyes scanning the words in the file. There wasn’t a lot as not much was known, just height- estimated around 160 cm and green eye colour (possibly a quirk) and quirk that has something to do with flight.
“Took only the empty folder? On purpose? Doesn’t sound like something a villain would do.”

“Well a ‘villain’ is what’s what’s written in the file, I honestly don’t know who put it there but that’s how it came to me.”

Erareshead hummed, placing the file back on the desk. “Change it, looks like a vigilante to me.” he

Tsukaichi sighed, “that won’t make it any better, vigilantes still break the law- Yamiyo breaks the law.” He put his hands on the desk. “Use of a quirk without a license is against the law, breaking and entering, threatening heroes, and what more. Yamiyo is a villain.”
There was silence for a few seconds before Tsukauchi spoke again, "Let’s go get coffee, I feel like I’m about to pass out any second now.”
And that was something that Eraserhead couldn’t refuse, he still had something to think of and coffee would certainly help.
—
Izuku watched from a roof above a few police cars coming closer and a van of sidekicks. Today he was just told to get some key, he did, just the wrong one. When he came out with the folder from the police station and Antantaru was waiting for him, he suddenly got a call, it was Shigaraki which was quite unusual, but he was asked to get the key, get it and not ask questions.
He didn’t know for what the key was needed, he was never told that sort of stuff, but it certainly wasn’t something good. He shoved the key into his back pocket. Soon there will be news articles about Yamiyo attacking another villain. He imagined how it would go.

“Last night, at-” he checked his watch, “- 2:43 a young hero was coming back from patrol when suddenly attacked by none other than Yamiyo, thankfully and fortunately for the hero this had happened only a few streets away from the local police station, if not the hero would not have been saved in time. Nothing is known about the true reason behind these attacks, but our best detectives are on the job to get the villain behind bars.”
Izuku never liked hearing about himself on television because he didn’t want to hear any more times than necessary that he is a villain but this is probably how it would go.

Oh, right! The bright red and blue lights made him snap out of his thoughts. He was supposed to be running away from police and the hero’s sidekicks.

Propelling himself using the flight quirk, Izuku jumped from one building to the next. He didn’t like this quirk at all, ̶ i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶.̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶l̶e̶n̶.̶ But with the tasks, he was forced to do he had to admit it was useful, at least he liked to believe that. Whatever happened to the owner of the quirk? Were the quirkless… or dead? For most people in their society, being quirkless was almost the same as being dead, being nothing. Every quikless person could only dream of a quirk, Izuku used to be the same. But not, when he had been given multiple it makes him wonder if it would have just been better to remain quirkless. He shook his head. Well, there is no turning back now. Izuku had been given four quirks. If he is given one more there’s a risk of his becoming a nomu while on the other hand if they were taken away he would most definitely die. His body wouldn't be able to handle that. Master decided that, and Izuku knew it was true.

Izuku came to a halt. He could swear he heard footsteps behind him but when swung to look around there was no one there. He looked into the darkness for a few extra seconds just to make sure. He should really focus on not spacing out when out. As there was nothing in sight Izuku continued, just a bit more cautiously this time. He didn’t go to his meeting point but stopped on a random house where the view looked pretty. He just sat down on the ledge, waiting for the one following him to do something. They did. Soon enough Izuku could feel someone behind him and the moment when Izuku turned around he felt quirkless all over again. The person before him had glowing red eyes and a floating capture weapon around them.
“Eraserhead!” Izuku swung his hands excitedly, “Mr. Eraser!” The hero only stared at him. Oh right, he was supposed to be capturing him, and it wasn’t some meet and greet, though underground heroes don’t have these. Izuku reminded himself.

The hero looked at the person before him suspiciously, Yamiyo was muttering something about underground heroes.

“I didn’t expect them to send you to capture me” Izuku looked at the hero in front of him, he could not fully process that he was standing face to face(well, mask to goggles) with the Eraserhead! So cool!

“They didn’t.” The hero didn’t move and there was no emotion in his voice.

“Oh?” Why was he here then? Has he just ran into him by accident?

“I was just curious so I came.”

“Wha? You weren't told to come here to capture me?” Izuku asked to make sure.

"People shouldn’t be so quick to judge it’s irrational,'' Eraserhead's eyes turned grey, hair falling on his shoulders, though he was still holding onto his scarf. “You haven’t killed anyone, is that true? You only scare them away and always make sure their backup is coming for them and explain their weaknesses, so they can improve before disappearing. Not only I have noticed that,”

He took a step closer, now they were standing face to face, “So what is your true goal Yamiyo?”

Izuku stood before the hero, not daring to look up. Does he truly have any goal? To protect his mother? To survive? But he couldn’t say that, could he? Master would kill him. No even worse - he would kill his mother.

Why was he not completing his missions? Did he pity the heroes? Maybe he still looked up to them? Not that's not it. He wanted- he wanted to-

“But I was asked to capture you, yes.” As soon as the words left his mouth Yamiyo was standing on the ledge of the roof, facing him.

That was when Izuku’s alarm went off, he looked down at the time, Kurogiri will be coming in two minutes! He had to hurry. “I can’t stay for any longer. “ He finally said, his voice slightly trembling.

“Well it was nice meeting you Mr. Eraserhead but I gotta take my leave now, would love to meet you again when you aren’t like, capturing me.” and with a wave Yamiyo was falling. Eraserhead rushed to the ledge of the roof to look down only to spot Yamiyo safely landing, right at the flight quirk… he had completely forgotten. When he came down using his capture weapon no longer than five seconds later Yamiyo was as never there. He sighed. He won’t be able to find Yamiyo now and his patrol time has ended already anyway, so he decided to head back to get some sleep.

Izuku ran as fast as he could, glancing from time to time behind him but to his surprise Eraserhead didn't follow.

Chapter Text

When Izuku finally got back he was exhausted from the night, it’s been a long time since he had to do several missions at once. But he couldn’t go straight to sleep, but he was forced to explain and wait until everyone had yelled at him about how dumb could he be for taking the wrong green file.
Izuku was only repeating, again and again, something along the lines of how he could have known that there was more than one green file, that was the only excuse he could think of at the moment.

Finally, after what felt like ages he was let go to his room where the boy flopped on the bed without even changing clothes, only taking off the mask to put it on the table. But no one could leave him alone for long, so after only a few minutes Shigarki was already barging in, telling him to be more careful when completing Sensei’s orders, but the boy was already fast asleep.

At six in the morning, Izuku jumped from his bed to the sound of the alarm clock, at least he slept two hours, better than nothing. Exiting his room he almost bumped into Kurugiri who was walking behind Shigaraki, heading to the meeting room.

“Oh Good morning Izuku,” the mist man squinted his eyes. Izuku always wondered if all emotion he could show was within his eyes, he had a few notes on Kurugiri's page about that.

“G’morning,” he slightly bowed his head, still half asleep.

“He wants to speak with you,” Shigaraki said, turning to look at Izuku.

The boy looked surprised at that, to tell the truth, he was quite scared. He was only ever called in the evening at around seven to tell him about something he needed to do and after getting back, to report. At four in the afternoon, twice a week- usually Friday and Sunday to remind him why he was here, to remind him of his mother. Or on Mondays at any time when he didn’t like what Izuku had done enough and requested he’d do more training. Today wasn't any of these.

The only other reason that it could be called in is only if he found a quirk to test on him. He shut his eyes praying that the last one wasn't true. He couldn't deal with that today, his body won’t take it, and he was already tired enough.

Shigarki huffed seeing Izuku's scared expression. “Bet he is going to punish you for not getting the files, Sensei really needed them y’know?” The man stepped toward the boy.

“There was information about the heroes that even you can’t find out on your own, about quirks. Especially about that one hero Sensei likes for some reason. The erasure one, Eraserhead.”

The villain smiled showing his teeth, “I don’t know why Sensei wants to know more about him, but I have to admit he is pretty cool.” With that, he put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. Which made the smaller boy yelp, “Pff relax I’m not using my quirk, I'm touching you with only three fingers, can’t you tell? Sensei said you are pretty smart, but I can’t see it, you didn’t even complete one mission as he asked since he took you in. I’m surprised he hasn’t killed you by now. He has taken a liking to you, maybe it is because of your mother, but I can’t be sure.”

Shigarki patted him on the shoulder, “Though I don’t think it will last once he finds out how you cheat, no matter if he is your father or not he won't be able to overlook it for too long, soon he will see that you are only sabotaging him.” He finally let go of Izuku’s shoulder and turned to Kurugiri who was silently waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

Before turning the corner, Shigaraki stopped, “Good luck in there, and don’t die, kid.” And with that, he disappeared.

Izuku couldn't figure out if the older boy liked him or not, maybe he saw him as a bother, as much as someone who was raised by his father to be a villain since he was a toddler could. Sometimes Izuku felt as if he really did care for him, even if he didn’t quite know how to show it.
—
Izuku took a deep breath. In and out. Squeezed his eyes shut and knocked.

“Come in, My boy.”
Izuku couldn’t help but shiver, he opened the door and his eyes at the same time.
“Hello, how did you sleep?'' The man asked, it was one of these questions that you ask without waiting for an answer. He was sitting on a big throne-like chair at the end of the huge room. He gestured to Izuku to sit in a smaller chair that stood in front of him. Izuku did.

“I see that you haven’t been completing your missions lately,” Izuku gulped.
“At first I thought I hadn't trained you enough. I gave you more training, Quirks — You never had any, so it was magnificent seeing you train to fight with them, so why do you never actually do it? You know I picked out the best quirks for you?”

Izuku nodded, gripping the fabric of his pants.

“I know you are smarter than this. You couldn’t just grab the wrong folder by mistake.” Izuku could feel the man's eyes on him, he couldn’t look up. "By the time you grabbed the files at least a security camera would have spotted you, then why haven't there been any scandal about 'oh the mighty villain Yamiyo’ breaking into the Musufasu police station? “ Izuku didn’t know.

“At least one policeman would have been there, would have seen you, it was the office of the lead detective after all. So tell me, how did no one notice you? Don’t tell me you have a deal with the police.” The man said the last part slowly, Izuku could practically hear his maniacal smile.

“Look at me.” He obeyed.

“Now tell me the truth.” Izuku opened his mouth, closed it, and looked back down. He wasn’t able to find anything convincing enough.

“Go on.”

Izuku took a breath in.
“W-well I set up a smoke bomb by the entrance... and a few glitter ones just to make them mad.” Izuku heard the villain chuckle, “And when everyone ran to check out the explosion I climbed in through the window and got the green folder that was on the detective desk, it was the one I gave you as instructed I didn’t look inside, so I couldn’t see it was only blank paper.”

“You didn’t huh?” Why was he saying it so slowly?

“You are certain that they fell for the explosion? Don’t you think some would understand it was a distraction? Not even their lead detective? You say they were all fooled by it?”

“I was surprised myself, but it seems like they did fall for it.”

“But you didn’t have anything else with you, while you didn’t expect them to fall for it?”

The villain paused as if waiting for Izuku to answer. He didn’t, so the man continued talking.

“You know what quirk their lead detective had?” Izuku shook his head, this was probably the only truth he told since entering this room, he truly didn’t. He had no access to the outside world besides his ‘missions’ but he could never get too close to the police without risk of getting discovered.

“Well, Detective Tsukaschi’s quirk is called lie detector.”

Izuku tensed up.

“You see, years ago” His voice grew louder, more confident. “I met one of his ancestors. He had a similar quirk- not that developed of course, but it was amazing, truly fascinating, a human lie detector. An amazing quirk. A rare find."

“And you know what I do when I come across quirks like that?” He didn’t let Izuku open his mouth before he continued.

“I took this quirk to myself.” Izuku noticed that his hands were shaking in his lap.

“And from the time you entered this room you were already rigged with lies.” He spat.

“I’ll let you redeem yourself if you complete this task for me. I need you to find one of Endeavour's sidekicks- Burning, and kill her.” Izuku’s head shot up, only to be greeted by the evil grin of the villain, he quickly looked back to the ground, his eyes wider than ever.

Chapter Text

With the help of Kurogiri, Izuku was teleported near Endeavour’s agency.
When the last of the mist disappeared, Izuku began to move. He headed towards the agency carefully.

The sun was setting, the time for daylight heroes to finish their shifts. Izuku checked the time on his watch. Endeavour and his sidekicks would be passing on the street he was standing on in approximately two minutes.

Izuku checked that the mask was on right and that no strands of green hair were visible from under his hood.
He tried to calm himself down, trying to think over what he is going to do one more time. Izuku would try to get her into the alleyway from the eyes of the main street- which was difficult already, Burning is loud and her quirk can easily hurt, burn… actually a bit like Kacchan’s. Her personality was also similar to his too.

He’d had to make sure not to get burnt and to keep her from alerting more heroes and not to get the attention of Endeavour. Then explain to her and tell her to pretend to fight him, Izuku didn’t know if it would work, no he was sure it wouldn’t work. But he had to try something, he knew what was at stake and fighting her wasn’t an option, Endeavour would hear and interfere and then he is done for. Not even multiple quirks can save him from the number two hero and his team of sidekicks.

Here goes nothing. Izuku took one deep breath before jumping from around the corner right when Burning was walking up to it. He quickly grabbed her hands before she had time to react and pulled her into the alley.

He had three seconds before she would activate her quirk. Three seconds to convince her to play along with his play, to pretend like he injured her.

“You got someone who is out to kill you so stay low or pretend to be injured and-” He // too fast. He didn’t think this through enough.

“Burning listen, I didn’t come to fight, I-”

“You villain!” she seemed to not even hear him, sending a kick that almost swept him from his feet.

“Please, yo-” Izuku tried again but Burning had activated her quirk already and slashed with it in his direction, aiming for his torso but Izuku quickly flew up a bit but it still hit his right leg pretty hard. He winced when landing, it wasn’t good to have injured legs in a fight, much less when he was planning on running away.

“Wait, listen to me! You don’t understand!” she wasn’t listening. Sending another attack at him that he barely managed to duck.

“What’s going on here?” came a new, deep voice from behind Izuku, one he knew belonged to Endeavour. Izuku couldn't possibly fight the number two hero, not right now.

Izuku clenched his teeth standing up, his only option left was to run. So he did. Ducking and jumping to get away from the flames, he managed to get away from all of Endeavour’s sidekicks and was just about to turn around the corner when the number two hero himself sent a literal fireball towards him. Izuku tried to jump to the side but the fire was faster, grazing his right side. Fantastic, just fantastic. But Izuku didn’t stop, only clenching his left hand around himself while holding his dagger in his right hand, ready to throw.

Izuku could feel his legs shaking and was sure he would fall if he continued to run. He made a quick turn into an alleyway but not before making sure it wasn’t a dead end and hid behind a huge dumpster that very conveniently stood there. He slid down the building and sat there between the wall and the dumpster.

He could hear Endeavour shouting but with every second it was further away, it seemed as if they had lost his trail but he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, so only when he couldn’t hear any shouts at all did he let out a breath of relief. He decided to stay there for a bit and then when time to go back comes hopefully by then Burning or even better - Endeavour himself will report the incident as an attack, and hopefully, they recognized him as Yamiyo, they had two hours to write the report and Izuku hoped they will because it would certainly save him trouble.

A few minutes went by in complete silence if you are not counting Izuku’s heavy breaths and the occasional drip of blood from his leg. Izuku just had to wait a bit for the wound to close, he really tried to be as silent as possible but with the injuries the heroes caused him he had to be more focused on even staying conscious.
Izuku debated if he should remove his mask to breathe better but decided against it, and was happy he did because from the corner of his eye he noticed someone watching him from the rooftop of the opposite building. In the dim light, he couldn’t make out anything more than black clothes and something lighter, grey. Izuku squinted his eyes, a scarf maybe? Oh no…The figure jumped down, using the scarf to land smoothly.

“Eraser…” Izuku muttered, trying to get on his feet.

The hero didn’t hear or just didn’t say anything in return. Izuku looked around to find an escape route but Eraser was standing in front of him while Izuku himself was backed against the wall with the dumpster blocking the other side, normally he could just jump over it or go straight up the building but using a quirk took a lot of energy he didn’t have, and even if he did it’s Eraser he’d be up against. Izuku turned his gaze on Eraser who was studying him, his hand on his capture weapon and eyes glowing red. Yup, definitely can’t use a quirk.
The boy tried to prepal himself up with his hand.

“H-Hi there!” He gave the hero a wobbly smile that he couldn’t even see behind the mask.

“You are hurt.” it wasn’t a question, of course not, anyone could see how Izuku was limping at every move.

“Fancy seeing you here!” Izuku chuckled,” But I should get going now.” he walked a few steps past the hero, grabbing on the wall for support, hoping he would just let him go this time.

“I would love to chat but I still gotta patch myself up before I have to go you see.” He let go of the wall to wave the hero goodbye but as he did he lost his balance and fell to his knees.

“You have to go to a hospital and get proper treatment.” Eraserhead said in his usual monotone voice without moving an inch.

“Well if you let go of your quirk I will heal just fine.” Eraser only faintly heard him mumble. Adding to his mental notes of possible quirks the kid could have self-healing, which was weird because it had nothing to do with flight. But that wasn’t the time to think about it.

“You can’t go anywhere like that,” he turned to the kid on the ground. “You need to get to a hospital or something.”

This seemed to startle Yamiyo, “No, no it’s all good, no need for that. ” Eraser could hear his voice trembling even though the voice changer.

The hero couldn’t help but sigh watching the kid try and get up. “At least let me treat your wounds.” Izuku stopped and turned his head around. Did he hear that right?

“I’ve seen how you treat injuries, kid.” Eraser sighed.
“And I don't know where you are getting these bandages but they are not the cleanest,” He kneeled down before the boy. “Burns need to be bandaged in clean bandages.”

Izuku had given up on escaping at this point, it didn’t seem Eraser wanted to capture him at the moment and it would be nice to get his wounds treated for once.
“Oh, so it won’t get infected right?” The hero just made a humming noise in return and extended his arm. Izuku looked at it a bit confused.

“Your leg is hurt, let me take care of it so you could at least run away from me a bit better.”
And with that Izuku’s leg was washed from a small water bottle Eraser pulled out of his little pouch and bandaged into white, almost sparkly bandages.

Izuku didn’t know how to feel about this, he was sitting on the ground, completely defenceless. If you aren’t counting the dagger in his pocket. He looked at the hero. If Eraser was planning on capturing he would have done it by now but he should still be careful.

“Kid?”
“Huh?” Izuku’s head jolted up.

“I’m done with your leg, would you let me take a look at the bigger burn or you are ready to run now?”

Izuku didn’t answer right away so the hero pulled out his work phone.
“If you won’t let me take care of it I will have to take you to a hospit-”

“No!” Izuku let out before the hero could even finish. That made Eraserhead lift an eyebrow in interest, or was it concerned?

“No hospital, ever.” Izuku added, quieter. Dropping his gaze to the newly done bandages on his leg.

“Alright.” Eraser took out another roll of bandages, not mentioning anything about a hospital again. And Izuku was thankful for that because then he definitely would have had to run away because how could he possibly explain that there isn’t any medical file for him and his name won’t be recognized in the system.
“Hold your shirt up, I’m going to wash it first.”

Izuku let out a small breath of relief when the hero didn’t say anything about the older wounds and scars that he could surely see.

Eraserhead was quickly done, which surprised Izuku a bit since he honestly thought that it was just a trick to buy time until the police arrived or something.

“Here, all done.” The hero said, packing the supplies back into his pouch.

Izuku carefully stood up, Eraserhead didn’t move.

“Thanks.” Izuku mumbled, Eraserhead opened his mouth to answer but the kid was already flying up the building.

Chapter Text

After running and getting patched up by Eraserhead Izuku waited for a few minutes on the roof for two things, to make sure no one was following him and at the same time wait for the regeneration quirk to heal him a bit. When finally Izuku stepped into the hideout he was expecting to be called to report and was coming up with yet another story as to why he couldn’t do it, though this time it was easier, he could say that Endeavor was there and how could he possibly overpower the number two hero. But he wasn’t called, which was weird because that never happened before.

He was too nervous to do anything, so he just sat on a chair staring into nothing, thinking about what would happen if he was seen with Eraserhead.

Would his mother be killed? He wouldn’t, would he? Izuku shut his eyes, he probably would.
How could he explain himself? His father had some sort of truth quirk, he didn’t know how it worked, but lying was definitely out of the window.

Izuku flopped back on the bed, looking at the plain ceiling, thinking of how he got tied into all this in the first place. It was around five, almost six years ago already.

—
Izuku didn’t remember his father, so when one late evening some unfamiliar men came into his and his mother's apartment, saying that they were sent by his dad he was very confused. He was told to pack only what could fit in his school bag and come with them, he looked at his mother who only nodded. But when he started to pack his bag, still not understanding what was happening they told him to leave most of his stuff behind as it was All Might themed, as most of his things. While he was slowly packing, not sure what in the world for. He could hear the two men talking with his mother in the hallway. Something about his father being severely injured, needing him as if someone was to happen to the other. Izuku did not understand a thing.

When his backpack was full his mother hugged him and told to follow the men as he will have to be living with his father for now. She hugged him tight and whispered in his ear.

“Do as you are told, don’t try to run away, and don’t mention the heroes. It is for your own safety.”

Walking out of the apartment he looked back, his mother was crying. That was the last time he saw her face to face.
———

About half an hour or so passed like that when he was finally called. He walked into the room anxiously, eyes on the ground.

“Please have a seat for a moment.” He did.

“There is no time for you to report, I am too busy with preparations, you see- this base is not safe for us anymore, the heroes are going to find this place soon, they have come very close to finding it out. So we will be leaving when everything is ready, I expect it to be less than three hours.”

From all the endless possibilities Izuku thought of this wasn't one of them.

“And also I have also been informed that some hero has been tailing you lately, and we don’t want that do we?”

Izuku gulped, he had completely forgotten about his bodyguard, who wasn’t really there to guard him but to oversee what he did, as the man wasn’t paying attention to him most of the time and just stayed in the shadows it completely slipped his mind.

“That bastard wasn’t doing his job, so I had to get rid of him.”

Izuku’s head shot up.

“But it’s alright now, you won't have to worry about any hero finding you where we are going, I will be looking after you myself.” The villain’s lips formed into a creepy smile.

Izuku walked back through the dark, grey corridor deep in thought.

He looked at the door leading outside and then to the corridor to the rooms he couldn't just sit and wait.

This may be his last chance! He will be soon taken somewhere far away, he couldn’t be further from his mother, this may be his last chance but maybe this is just the chance he needs. And with that determination and probably not enough thinking though he put on Yamiyo’s mask and slipped out of the front door.

Izuku ran and ran, flying over gaps between buildings until he reached the area where he knew Eraserhead patrolled. He hoped the hero didn't go home yet.

There was no one in sight, but Izuku decided to wait for the hero to find him as he did before, he sat on a rooftop, hoping sooner or later he would spot him.

At first, he was impatient, turning around at every gust of wind and hearing footsteps from everywhere made him turn around. But minutes passed and Eraserhead didn’t appear. Izuku decided to wait ten more minutes was the most he could before someone would start looking for him if they aren't already. He took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself down. Telling himself to think of something else.

When the ten minutes were up and no one appeared, Izuku stood up, he couldn’t wait too long, someone might be already looking for him. And that was when he saw a dark figure running across rooftops. It was Eraserhead, and Izuku made his way as fast as he could towards him.

“Hey, hey!” Izuku stopped a roof away from the hero, panting.

Eraserhead stopped as well and turned around but made no move to activate his quirk. So Izuku flew a bit closer, landing on the same roof as the hero.

“Hi there Mr. Eraser! Please restrain from capturing me for a moment, I have something to tell you.”

“It depends on what you have to say.”

Izuku reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper where he wrote the address and made a small map earlier.

“This is a villain base, it is going to be abandoned in a few hours. If you want to catch some villains you should find some heroes to team up and like ambush, I suggest the faster the better.”

Eraserhead took the paper, looking at both sides.

“Will you be there?” He looked up but Yamiyo was already gone.

———
Izuku slipped back, this time through the window. Just a few seconds later his door was opened by none other than Shigaraki, telling him that Sensei wanted to speak with him again.

Wary, Izuku stepped into the room, this time he wasn’t asked to sit down.

There was no smile on the man’s face this time, he looked completely serious.

“Get ready, in two hours you are going alongside all my men to wait at the warehouse, and ambush the heroes when they think they have an advantage.” Izuku looked up horrified.

“There won’t be too many heroes as they are not expecting us to be ready and won’t be able to arrange for the stronger heroes to come in such a short time.” he continued, leaning closer to Izuku.

Izuku’s eyes widened when he suddenly understood.

It was because of him. He was essentially used as bait.

So that’s why he talked with Eraserhead freely, no one ever said anything about it. He wanted Izuku to befriend Eraserhead to get his quirk. If only Izuku had realized that sooner. His father often spoke of how he failed at getting the erasure quirk last time, he was just looking for the best chance to get his hands on it.

“So, I have a special task for you, a last chance to prove yourself.” He paused for a second.

“You will have to kill a certain hero for me, and don’t try to make another scene like with Burning. I know that you are more than capable of doing it. If you don’t- you know my men have your mother's apartment already monitored, but I would take the time to personally do the job.”

“Oh! And one more thing-”

Chapter Text

And just like that, before Izuku could process anything he already stood behind the swarm of villains who were waiting for the command to attack. To tell the truth, he was scared. His father outright told him he had to kill a hero, and not any hero, a good one. There seemed no getting out of this one.

Izuku clenched his hand around the dagger he held, he had to do it if not he himself could get killed, if not by his father then by one of the heroes, it rarely made it on the news, but villains do get killed by heroes. A lot. And he couldn’t let that happen to him because then there would be no one to protect his mother.

“Hey brat,” Izuku jumped a little, being pulled out of his thoughts. “Don’t forget to put your mask on dumbass, they’re going to see your face.”

“Uh… Right,” Izuku brought his free hand to his face which indeed didn’t have a mask on it. He was confident he had put it on already… Guess he didn’t.

Izuku sat on the ground, putting his dagger beside him. He opened his backpack searching through all the things for the mask, it was made especially for him — it was white with dark green accents, covering all his face with only slits for his eyes, it had a voice changer and probably a tracker too, as in most of Izuku's things.

“Oh, nice hair colour you have,“ Kenta, one of his father's men- an informant, came up to him.

Kenta was always nice to Izuku from the day he saw his face, Izuku thought that maybe it was because he pitied him, as he often mentioned that a kid like him shouldn’t be involved in villain stuff. And even if Kenta didn’t know that Izuku couldn’t just walk away if he wanted to and thought he was there of his free will he was still really nice to him, always bringing a snack from his store when exchanging information.

“You are always wearing that hood, so I never saw it.” Izuku didn’t have time to answer because Shigaraki was already doing it.
“Sensei told him to dye it,” Said Shigaraki, putting on his own ‘mask’. “It’s not permanent dye though, so after a wash, he’ll be back to his green-haired self.”
Kanta was about to say something more when someone shouted. “They are here!”

Izuku picked up his dagger and stood on his feet. He didn't dare look up, it was his fault the heroes were here to begin with, it is his fault they are going to die.
The plan was simple — lore in heroes by ‘accidentally’ revealing their base but when the heroes show up be ready and attack. Kidnap those who his father wishes to take quirks from and kill the rest.
If only Izuku had figured it out sooner. If only he figured out from the beginning that he was a part of the villain's plan, if only he knew that him revealing the base to Eraserhead was the most crucial part from the start.

The big doors of the warehouse flew open with force, heroes ran through, the glass on the ceiling-high windows shattered with more heroes jumping in.

Gripping his dagger in one hand and adjusting the mask with his other. He still didn’t look up, instead looking at his hands only to realize that they were shaking and the knuckles on his right hand were turning white from how hard he was gripping the dagger.

Izuku took a deep breath in and looked up at the sea of heroes before him, there were daylight heroes as well as underground heroes alike. So they really came with all their forces huh? Eraserhead really listened to him? Eraserhead trusted him? But now he almost hopes he didn't.

Izuku didn’t think they could win, even though he was secretly rooting for them. He took a deep breath one last time before locking his eyes on his target. His hands were shaking, he didn’t want to hurt a good hero, but he had no choice, no matter how much he didn't want to do it, his mother’s life depended on it. So he clenched his dagger as hard as he could to stop his hands from shaking and ran forward. He ran through the swarm of people, everyone was fighting, there wasn’t one standing still.

Some heroes with suitable quirks were taking on a few heroes at a time while others did one on one. Izuku ran past most of them to the entrance where a group of people didn’t fight, they were laughing, and before them was standing the laughing hero herself- Ms. Joke. The one Izuku had to kill.

He made his way through the laughing villains, they were clearly under the effects of the heroine's quirk. He had to be careful not to get the heroine's attention, or she might use her quirk on him too. Coming up from behind her, he moved slowly approaching her until he was able to touch her shoulder from behind, paralyzing her. In a split second, he put the dagger to her throat and she wasn’t able to move out. Izuku had to do it. He closed his eyes, his hand was shaking. He moved the dagger to her neck, but then he heard something.

Someone was shouting, well everyone was, but this one voice was closer, more clear. Someone was calling for Ms. Joke.

Izuku opened his eyes and looked to the left trying to find the owner of the voice. In the middle of a group of thugs with mutant-type quirks that Shigaraki found especially for the occasion was Eraserhead. And he was looking straight at him. But Izuku knew it shouldn’t be possible for Eraserhead to be able to erase this quirk because of how many others he was surpassing already, it seemed like he was right because Ms. Joke still wasn’t moving. Right- Ms. Joke. He turned his attention back to her. He had to kill her. But could he? He had to…

Izuku's eyes darted around the hall of the warehouse. Shigarki was looking at him, watching to see if he would really kill her. Izuku's eyes moved up to the security cameras where his father was probably watching him thought to see him do that too, if he doesn’t he will immediately teleport to his mother.
Maybe he had already got his hands on his mum? Izuku was terrified by the idea. Who knows what he could do to her? He gripped the dagger harder, not that he wasn’t holding onto it for dear life before. He moved it closer to the hero's neck. Everything was as if in slow motion. Eraserhead ran through the crowd. Shigaraki was maniacally smiling, wanting to witness Izuku's first kill.

But Izuku couldn’t do it. No! He has too. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Izuku moved the dagger closer

"Sorry..” he whispered, he could feel it hit the skin. Then it cut. His hands were trembling. Even with his eyes closed, he imagined the blood. He pressed his hand closer and the dagger ran deeper.

Suddenly someone gripped Izuku harshly by the shoulder, almost making him fall over. It made him drop Ms. Joke, who fell helplessly to the ground. Izuku moved around fast, cutting the arm of the person who attacked him. But the person didn’t seem to care, instead kneeling down by the heroine, trying to pick her up. Nonono- Izuku couldn't let this chance go. If he doesn’t do it his mother would die!

Izuku jumped at the hero who had his back to him, someone was screaming close, and it wasn’t the hero, it was Izuku himself. He felt tears in his eyes.
He pushed the hero in black that was separating him and his target, and holding the dagger with both his hands he raised it over her chest and stabbed, closing his eyes yet again to not see the blood.

He felt the dagger stop. He felt that he hit her. He slowly opened his eyes.

The hero he had stabbed wasn’t Ms. Joke. It was the man in black. Eraserhead.

By the looks of it, he pushed Ms. Joke to the side and took her place. The dagger was in his left shoulder.

And before Izuku could come to his senses, Eraserhead picked up Ms. Joke and stood up.

Izuku let go of the paralysis quirk, Ms. Joke moved her hand slightly.

Izuku looked up at the camera, he was being watched.

He couldn’t just let them go! His mother…

Izuku stood up, he was surprised his legs didn’t give out the moment he did.
He ran after Eraserhead, the hero was already at the doors of the warehouse. The two heroes made it out by the time Izuku was at the doors.

Izuku’s gaze followed them both, he thought about his mum, she wouldn’t want to hear from him ever again if she found out he killed a hero for her, would she? Izuku was almost caught up to them by this point. He slowed down.
The moment he did Eraserhead turned around, making eye contact with him. What if he let them go? There weren't any cameras here…

While Izuku was thinking it over the heroes were around the corner and out of sight, having jumped to a smaller street to the left. Izuku ran a bit more, coming to a stop by the turn. He spotted the heroes a bit further in, Eraserhead was putting Ms. Joke down, making her lean on the nearby building. Izuku jumped back, hiding behind the corner.

“Just hang in there, I'm calling for backup immediately! Who would have thought they were so prepared…” Eraserhead’s voice.

Izuku peaked around the corner and his eyes darted to Ms. Joke, has he hurt her that much? He couldn’t get a proper look at her, but could he really cause that much damage?

Izuku stuck out his head to see a bit more. Ms. Joke was all covered in blood, her neck and shirt were all dark red but even though all that she was smiling. Eraserhead was applying pressure to the cut with his capture weapon.

Izuku could almost cry. Is it really all because of him?

Ms. Joke mouthed two words to Eraserhead that Izuku couldn't make out. The hero answered her in a hushed tone, almost a whisper.

Izuku sighed, now there wasn’t any way for him to kill her even if he tried. Eraserhead would erase the quirk immediately.

He looked back, and just as he did there was a weird, sudden loud noise. The sound was coming from the warehouse. Were the heroes retreating? No, it was the villains coming out.

“Run!” he looked at Eraserhead, he didn’t know why, but maybe he wanted to at least save someone.

The hero looked a bit startled but nodded, helped Ms. Joke up, and scaled the building, not turning around as they ran.

Izuku watched as the heroes disappeared out of view and let out a breath trying to calm down just a bit but his father's face and the words echoed in his head “This is your last chance.” his face felt, well there wasn’t anything he could do now.

Izuku turned around, accepting whatever fate his father chose for him. A mist portal started to appear under his legs and soon he was falling into it. A dark room slowly came into view. Despite knowing what is about to happen to him Izuku couldn’t help but smile, he managed to let Eraserhead escape, now his quirk won’t be taken away and that’s all that matters right now.

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t dare look up.

“This was your last chance! You ruined it for yourself! I was hearing rumours about you and turned a blind eye to the missions you came empty-handed from. But despite that, I gave you plenty of chances to prove yourself. You never did- you didn’t even try”

Izuku opened his mouth to speak.

“Do not interrupt me! There is no getting out for you from this one so don’t bother coming up with lame excuses. You know how much time I spent looking for quirks that could be suitable for you, right?

Quirks that a quirkless body could handle?! Before you, there wasn’t a person who could handle more than three quirks while remaining level-headed. And I’ll say, giving you quirks helped me figure out that if I need a person to have a lot of quirks but still be conscious I will simply have to pick quirkless people.” he smiled with his maniacal smile, looking at Izuku's terrified reaction.

“Now I can give Tomura quirks without being afraid of my plan failing, that’s the only helpful thing that happened because of you.” his smile disappeared. “But other than that discovery, giving you quirks was a total waste, you didn’t even use them.” he paused, trying to look Izuku in the eyes, but the boy was staring at the floor.

“I think I’ll have to take them back, all of them.” He said slowly. Izuku's head shot up.

“N-no!” Izuku let out without thinking, he saw what happened to people who got their quirks taken away. Having one quirk taken away can be very painful, and two can make you pass out. Izuku saw three quirks being taken away from someone at once, and that person never woke up.

“Well you should have thought of that sooner, I made myself clear when saying that is what would happen if you didn’t obey.” Izuku watched as the tall man towered over him, hand glowing red with the activation on his quirk. There wasn’t anything left for him to do.

—-
Izuku couldn't think straight, his head was pounding, the sensation was similar to when he was given the quirks, only ten times worse. He was on the cement floor tied up. He wasn’t sure where he was hurt, but he did definitely see blood. It was everywhere- on him under him and some even on the far wall.
His eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden, his vision went blurry.

“Mum…” he whispered, for some reason he was sure he saw her for a split second, which was impossible because his eyes were almost close shut.

“That’s enough, we are leaving,” the voice wasn’t directed to him, or was it? He couldn’t tell. Everything went black.

Next time Izuku woke up everything was still hurting but not as much as before. He would have thought he didn’t even pass out if not for the light of the setting sun shining through the window and that there was no one to be found in the room.

Izuku was completely alone. He tried to push himself into a sitting position, which was very hard taking into count that his hands were tied up behind his back and that he couldn’t really feel his left arm. But after a bit of struggling, he finally managed to sit up by the wall.

He looked around, trying to catch his breath- this simple action seemed so hard. The room was completely empty. Not just from people but also all the furniture was missing, even the clock.

Izuku crawled to his yellow backpack that was pushed away into the corner. It was harder than usual to get it open but eventually did it. He sat with his back to it and dug inside, searching for his dagger. He quickly felt the case and slit it out, cutting his hands free from the rope. He put it back and closed his bag.

What was he going to do now? It seemed like he was just left there, but that couldn’t be true, could it? Izuku sat with his backpack in the corner thinking of every possibility until he fell asleep, dropping his head on the bag.

Next time he woke up it was dark out, he couldn’t know what time it was though. Soon he started hearing footsteps and voices in the corridor, listening a bit it was clear that these were heroes. Or maybe the police? They ran around opening doors and shouting about everything being empty.

Was Izuku really left behind? He looked at the door that could be swung open any second, he had no time to think about it, he had to think of a way to get out first. He put on his backpack, (which was a struggle because his left shoulder didn’t quite let his arm move). But he could worry about it later. His whole body throbbed as he tried to stand up, especially his left leg. But now that his hands were free he could hold onto the wall for support which made it easier.

He eyed the room- on his right was a conveniently open window leading outside with the moonlight just barely shining through. Only when he made his way to it did he realize it was a bit higher than a normal window but that was his only option, so he started climbing. He had to clench his teeth to not cry of the pain, every movement made it worse. He didn’t know how long he was struggling for but when he eventually made it out he couldn’t find the strength in him to get up. He just sat there on the ground panting.

To his luck the room he was in was partially underground, so the window led him right out on the street. Izuku sat there for a while but he knew he had to keep going. Suddenly there was a loud noise that made him jump up, it was coming from below him.
Someone destroyed the door to the basement room he was in minutes ago. He stood up and made his way as fast as he could just to get as much he could away from the building. He wondered looking back why they had to take the door down instead of just opening it, was it locked? Was he locked in? But then why was the window open?

Izuku walked on the dark, empty night streets. There was almost no one around if you don’t count a few occasional drunk people who weren’t paying attention to the boy, so he didn’t have to worry about explaining where he was going in the middle of the night covered in blood and barely standing. Izuku came to a full stop. Where was he going?

After thinking it over for a few seconds Izuku decided to go to his mum’s apartment, he certainly didn’t want her to see him all hurt as that could give her a heart attack but that was the only place he could go to.

“My men have your mother's apartment already monitored, but I would take the time to personally do the job.” Izuku’s eyes opened wide when as the words echoed in his head.

Was she hurt? He didn’t hurt her because of him, did he?? And forgetting all of his pain Izuku started running, hoping he wasn’t too late.
—
Izuku panted as he made his way up the stairs, his whole body hurt, but he couldn’t waste time waiting for the elevator. When he finally made his way to the apartment everything was dark and quiet, but how else should a normal apartment building be this late at night?

Izuku leaned on the door, trying to catch his breath when he felt something with his head, he turned around to see a piece of paper put on the door with tape. He probably didn’t notice it earlier because of the little light or just because of how exhausted he was.

Izuku squinted his eyes, trying to read the writing but even with how used his eyes were to the dark it was still unreadable. Curious of what it might be he took it off the wall and put it where the moonlight was shining through. But when he could make out the words he dropped the paper, and it slowly fell down to his feet.

He was too late.

This was a notice of a funeral.

For Midoriya Inko.

Hushed voices from inside the apartment made Izuku jump. He put his ear to the door to catch the end of a conversation.

“-re is done, they did their job, the police won’t find anything connecting this to Sensei.”
Then there was a woosh, a sound Izuku grew familiar to- a portal opening.

Izuku let out an audible gasp only to quickly cover his mouth with his hand. He grabbed the paper from the floor and ran to the ladder leading to the roof.

That couldn’t be right, could it? His mother was killed, murdered because of him. After everything he did to keep her safe, it wasn’t enough. Izuku pulled himself up to the rooftop and crumbled the paper in his hand and put it in his pocket, clenching his teeth. His mother was dead. No matter what he wanted to believe, that was the truth.

Chapter Text

Aizawa Shota was tired, to be honest, he was tired most of the time.

But right now more than ever. He was sitting on top of a building in a less familiar part of town — that wasn't even his usual patrol time or area, but he had to cover for some heroes who got injured earlier that night.

There was a raid on a villain base and almost all the heroes who were there got seriously injured. Aizawa was one of the least injured, so he decided to take it upon himself to protect this neighbourhood tonight, he couldn’t just leave it without a single hero around.

The night was awfully quiet as if everyone was hiding from something that Aizawa didn’t know of. In the last three hours, he came across only one attempted theft, it was too little crime for the kind of neighbourhood he was, it was almost suspicious.

The pro hero left the rooftops when he saw a figure slowly walking on the sidewalk. He lowered himself down with his capture weapon, clenching his teeth as the pain in his wounded arm made itself known. But his two small knife wounds weren’t anything compared to the other hero's injuries. So he didn’t let Recovery girl treat him, that way her power would be saved to help the others, those who needed it more. So he shook his head focusing on completing this patrol.

Looking around he spotted the figure again. It was an old lady on her way home, he escorted her home and she was very thankful for that. He wondered what she was doing out at a time like this. But she was nice and insisted on giving him a little box of home-made biscuits, so he wasn’t complaining, and after trying one he could say that they were actually wonderful.

Would be better with coffee though, he put the small box into the pocket of his hero suit for later and jumped back onto the roofs.

Just when Eraserhead thought to finish his patrol he saw a figure a couple of roofs away. He hurried towards it, it was a person- no, a child. Walking towards the gap between buildings as if not knowing he could fall.

“Hey!” He called but the boy didn’t seem to hear him.

Eraserhead made his way jumping with his scarf as fast as he could but before he reached the rooftop the kid jumped.

Eraserhead reached the roof where the kid was just a moment ago, sending his capture weapon after the boy, catching him mid fall. The hero carefully pulled him back up. The first thing he noticed was that the boy’s shirt was covered in blood.

“Kid, kid what happened to you?”

The boy's head shot up, his expression changed quickly, and he looked terrified.

“Don’t worry, I’m a hero” Aizawa tried to reassure him, but it seemed to do the opposite
because now the kid looked even more panicked than before.

“Mr. Eraserhead.…” The white haired boy whispered in a small voice.

“Yeah, that’s me” Eraserhead didn’t let surprise slip in his voice, it was rare for people to recognize him, he is an underground hero for a reason.
But he didn’t have time to think, the boy in his arms started crying and mumbling apologies.

Eraserhead wasn’t the best at comforting, so he tried to remember what Hizashi would do.
“Hey kid, it’s alright.”

“N-no it’s not” the boys looked at him with teary eyes “You are hurt.”

“What do you mean? You shouldn't worry about me right now.”

The kid just almost killed himself, and now he is concerned about me? How does he even know I’m injured in the first place? Was all Eraserhead could think of when the boy continued apologizing.

“I’m sorry! I-I didn’t-” the boy's hands were shaking as he took the hero's right arm and touched the bandages.

“Hey kid, listen to me OK? I am alright, and you are going to be fine, understand?”

The boy slightly nodded, “B-but you got hurt and the other heroes got hurt a-and everyone and she- and i-it’s a-all ‘cause o-of of-” He didn’t finish and just buried his face in Eraserhead’s scarf sniffing quietly.

“Don’t worry all the heroes that got injured were healed up.” He gently (as much as he could anyway) hugged the kid who leaned into his touch immediately.

"W-what a-about Ms. Joke? How is her throat?” the hero tensed at the question, seriously how could the boy know all this?

“Recovery Girl healed her, so she will be fine after resting a bit.”

Ms. Joke was one of the heroes who were hurt the most, if Aizawa didn’t interfere she could have been dead by now. He didn’t know where the kid knew all this from, but he decided that he would figure it out later, after he calmed the kid down and got him to a hospital.

“I am going to lift you up right now okay? We have to get you checked.”

“NO! N-no… Please n-no hospital!” Izuku was too exhausted to handle a hospital right now and in no condition to run away, so he just clenched Eraserhead's scarf in his hand and hoped the hero would listen to him.

“Fine, no hospital. I’ll have Recovery Girl herself check you over how does that sound?”

Izuku didn’t have any strength left in him to fight any more, his head was spinning and vision was blurry again, so he just mumbled “Okay…” dropping his head, eyes slowly shutting as if he struggled to keep them open.

Eraserhead cursed under his breath as the boy in his hands went limb.

He stood up sighing, he had to go to find Recovery Girl now, why did he even promise the kid he would take him to her? Could have just insisted on a nearby hospital.

The hero put the kids backpack on his shoulder when he noticed a small piece of paper fall down. It made him wonder if it was a suicide note but put it into a small side compartment without taking a look. Then he picked the kid himself into his arms, who was to his dismay very light, a bit too light.

—
Izuku slowly opened his eyes. He was in an unfamiliar room that looked too much like a hospital. Was he brought to that doctor again? But he did everything as he was told, didn’t he?

“Looks like someone's awake” Who? Izuku quickly sat up.

Wait he could sit up? He wasn't tied down? Definitely not the doctor, what a relief.

“Hey don’t push yourself, you were pretty hurt,” The boy looked around trying to find the owner of the voice.

“Look down kid.”

Izuku did, and almost screeched when he saw a yellow caterpillar on the ground. When taking a closer look he realized it was just a sleeping bag with someone inside it, that someone stood up and unzipped the sleeping bag. Ooh… Eraserhead,

And then it all started to come back, the raid, how he ran and how he found out about his mother, and then that rooftop.

“How are you feeling?” Eraserhead came closer to the bed.

“Um, better.” that was true, he didn’t even remember he was hurt when he woke up at first. His left shoulder was almost back to normal, all he could feel was only a dull pain in the back of his head, he wasn’t sure where it was from though, did he hit his head or something?

“When I found you, you were bleeding. Mind telling me how you got injured?”

“I-I um...” Izuku obviously couldn’t tell him the truth, but thankfully he didn’t have to come up with an answer because someone walked into the room.

“Good morning sweetie, how are you feeling you were out for almost two hours,” she turned to Aizawa, “Would you mind leaving the room for a bit? I need to do a quick check-up.”

Aizawa nodded, gave Izuku a reassuring look, and exited the room.

“So sweetie, you can call me Recovery Girl. What's your name?”

Izuku didn’t answer right away.
Because first: AAH it’s Recovery Girl, the youthful heroine!
And second: He couldn’t really tell her his real name, he debated about just saying a random name but decided against it as it would probably just cause him more trouble than he was already in.

“I-I don’t know?” it sounded more like a question but what could he do.

“Oh?” She seemed as if she wasn’t expecting that kind or response, Izuku looked at her confused face, scared of what’s gonna happen now when they figured out he was lying, but Recovery Girl quickly composed herself and continued.

“That’s alright, now give me your hand I need to check your blood pressure. Also, I have used my quirk to its limit, so I won’t be able to help you heal any more today. I did take care of the most serious ones with my quirk, but it looks like even if my quirk was all charged your body wouldn't been able to handle more, as my quirk uses-”

“Amplifies and speeds up the natural healing process but is fuelled by a large amount of life energy that comes from the recipient, that could potentially drain enough energy to kill said recipient.” Izuku repeated from memory what he had written about the Youthful Heroine in his notebook without thinking.

He only realized he said it out loud when Recovery Girl chuckled, “Yes, indeed. And that is why I will be able to completely heal you in twenty-four hours, so come back tomorrow alright?” She smiled but Izuku couldn’t look her in the eyes, he knew why she couldn't use her quirk, why it was all used up already, and if she knew he was responsible for all that then she wouldn’t be so happy helping him.

The moment Recovery Girl was done she exited and closed the door behind her. Izuku was immediately on his feet, he had to find a way to escape.
Don’t get him wrong, he was thankful that the heroes took care of his injuries even if he didn’t deserve it… But they are going to ask where they came from. And sooner or later they will find out who he is. Recovery Girl already asked for his name and he wasn't able to answer even that. Not his fault that he was legally dead.

But running away turned out to be a bit more complicated than he thought-
The first thing he did was of course check the window, which for some unknown reason was locked. He quietly put his ear to the door listening just to hear both Recovery Girl and Eraserhead talking, so no luck escaping through the door either.

There was only one thing he could do and that was to come up with an explanation.

He was injured by villains?
Was he captured and escaped?
A villain is after him and that was his only way out?

While all these technically were true none of them would be believable excuses as to why he was so injured and jumping off a building in the middle of the night.

Izuku beamed when an idea came to his mind. What if he tells them that he got abusive parents and decided to run away? That would explain why he didn’t want to give out his name. That’s a good one!

Oh. But then there will be questions about the parents. Izuku's smile disappeared, they would want to know who and where, they wouldn’t let it go. No, digging himself into a hole of lies would just make it worse for him.

No, excuses won’t do, he had to run away.

He stood up on the bed, inspecting the ceiling and even though lifting his arms hurt a lot he didn’t care. To his disappointment there were no vents or liftable pieces he could fit into.

Izuku sighed in disappointment, hunching his shoulders (which hurt even more from the movement). But before he could come up with a different plan the door opened. He quickly sat down and the bed made his bunce a bit.

Eraserhead opened the door and walked in only to find the kid standing on the bed reaching for the ceiling. When the boy heard the door open he quickly sat down as if he was doing nothing. The hero raised a brow but didn’t mention it, he was sure the boy wouldn't answer anyway so instead he came closer and shoved a bento box into the boy's arms.

“Eat, I got it from Lunchrush.” He said when the kid didn’t move to take it.

The kid hesitated but slowly took the box. Eraserhead made his way to the chair that stood to the side and brought it closer to the bed, he sat on it opening his own lunch box.
He took a few bites and stopped when he saw that the boy didn’t move to do the same

“Why aren’t you eating?” he asked.

“Not hungry,” the boy answered, handing the box back to the hero.

“That can’t be true, even if you have eaten right before I found you it would be almost ten hours since then,” Eraser shoved the food back to the boy.

Actually Izuku felt like he was starving, he didn’t even remember the last time he ate. But he couldn’t eat now, he didn’t have the time. He had to find a way to run away and hide, his father probably suspects that he is alive and could send a search team to look for him, and if that was the case he could not stay here any longer.

“I won’t let you leave this room until you eat something.” Eraserhead started in a firm tone, looking directly at Izuku.

“What? But Mr. Eraser!”

The hero arched his eyebrows, no one called him Mr. Eraser, well almost no one did.

“I’m off duty now kid, so you can just call me Aizawa, and if you don’t like this I can ask if Lunchrush has anything else to offer.”

“No it’s not it.” Izuku stared at the food before him, it did look appetizing. He opened his mouth to say something but shook his head and sighed. Maybe he could stay for a bit, just a couple of minutes to finish the food wouldn’t hurt.

And like that in less than ten minutes he had finished everything. It was so exciting to try Lunchrush’s food that if he closed his eyes he could almost imagine himself as a hero student at UA, enjoying these lunches every day. But that wasn’t the truth, maybe in some alternate universe, but for him, it was not possible.

Izuku mumbled a ‘thank you’ looking down, giving the hero the empty lunch box. He couldn't look him in the eyes. Era-Mr. Aizawa would probably throw him to jail and not be handing lunches if he knew the truth.

Chapter Text

When they were both done with their food Aizawa reached under his chair, Izuku peeked to see what was there.

“It was on the roof, it’s yours right?” The hero put it up for him to see.
Izuku nodded grabbing his backpack, scared that Ereaserhead had looked inside.

While Aizawa, as if reading his mind, sighed.

“I didn’t open it if that’s what you are scared about.”

Izuku breathed out in relief, hugging his old yellow backpack.
What Eraserhead said had to be true because if they had really opened it Izuku would probably be arrested by now, he did have the villain mask there with at least one of his daggers, just like the most suspicious things he could think of off the top of his head... Probably his analysis notebooks would look suspicion too, Kacchan did always tell him how creepy it was. But now he didn’t have to worry about the heroes seeing that, though it wouldn’t take long before Eraser or someone else finds out who they actually have sitting in the nurse's office of a hero school and-
“What’s your quirk?”

“What?” Izuku perked up. Ereaserhead didn’t repeat himself.

“I, My quirk ?… Well mine” He trailed off, “It’s not mine,” he mumbled under his breath so quietly he doubted the hero could hear. He hoped he didn’t.

Eraserhead looked at him with clear confusion in his eyes.
“When I used my quirk on you when I found you nothing happened.”

“Well yeah I wasn’t using any quirk” Izuku smiled weakly, he didn’t want to lie but also couldn’t just give all the information to the heroes. He had revealed enough already.
It seemed that the hero was saying something, but Izuku didn’t listen, he wouldn’t be able to answer anyway.

Eraserhead hummed, studying the boy who was looking around the room.

“Is there any parent or guardian I could contact?”

Izuku noticed that the door wasn’t fully closed, he could make a run for it, then he wouldn't have to answer any more questions. He looked back at Eraserhead who was sitting calmly, on a chair in the corner, he looked relaxed, his capture weapon hung behind him, on the chairs back.

Izuku grabbed his backpack and ran through the door. The moment he did, Eraserhead was on his feet. He could hear the hero shouting for him to stop, his body ached, his chest hurt, and he was pretty sure he was limping, but he had to run, he couldn’t risk getting found out.

Izuku ran through the maze of corridors with ceiling-high big glass windows, all looking almost identical. The halls were surprisingly empty and there was no one to stop him. Well except Eraserhead whose footsteps were getting closer every second.

It felt as if he was running in circles, his left foot hurt more and more with every step he took, the corridors were all the same, long, white. Where was he again?

Trying to escape from this never ending maze he took a sharp left, which made his leg throbs, he had to restrain himself from letting out a cry.

This corridor was smaller, more narrow than the others; he had finally reached some stairs when he almost came rolling down due to a sharp pain in his chest. He had to lean on the railing for support. Izuku was out of breath and his vision was getting blurry again. It felt like he was back at the doctors, but he wasn’t, was he?

He looked around to make sure, it didn’t seem like it. But there were footsteps, someone was approaching him. He had to run. Izuku took hold of the stairs railing and stood tall, with that motion. Pain shot through his left leg and made his chest hurt more which made him collapse to the floor. There was someone calling for him, he thought they were at least. All sound was muffled, and it was impossible to make out.

No, no no! He had to get out, he had to find a way. He gritted his teeth trying to endure the pain as he forced himself to make his way down the stairs. He had to get away from the heroes. He had been told countless times what the heroes did to people who worked under him, who knows what they’ll do when they find out. He had to get out.

When he finally made it to the bottom of the stairs he continued where his legs took him, as he didn’t really know where he was headed, he just had to get out. To get out before something happens for him, to get out before something happens to the school, to the heroes.

He saw a door. A door different from all the identical others, and pushing it he found himself outside. He had to stop for a second to squint his eyes as the light of the setting sun was right in his eyes.

When footsteps could be heard again, he ran.

—
Aizawa ran after the boy who took off right when he mentioned his parents, was it something showing that his home life was bad and he doesn’t want to be sent back? Or maybe he just remembered how worried his parents might be and is running home? The hero shook his head, the first seemed more possible with how the boy was acting, how his eyes widened when Aizawa mentioned parents. But he couldn’t think about it as the kid had already reached the stairs. Aizawa grabbed onto his scarf and hurried towards the boy who suddenly stopped.

But just when he was about to help the boy up he shot his head up, almost bumping into Aizawa, and he stumbled down the stairs.

The hero could see that he was clearly wounded, the injuries made it hard for him to run, but he still headed to the entrance. And running outside after him, Aizawa had to admit he was a pretty fast runner, despite limping all his way he could outrun a pro hero.

Izuku was running, running to get away as fast as possible. He just had to make it to the gate and then use flight quirk to fly over. Just get to the gate.

He couldn’t tell if Eraserhead was close and couldn't risk turning around as it would slow him down. So he continued running not looking at his surroundings, he just knew he was in some sort of forest with a big pathway with no people around

Finally, he made it to the gates, they were closed– why? Izuku didn’t have time to think about any of this. He stopped and began powering up the quirk. But nothing happened.

Izuku tried again, maybe he was just in a rush and too scared to properly use it. He took a deep breath and tried again, a third time. Nothing. He didn’t even feel the usual tingling it gave. He felt nothing. This feeling was familiar, he had felt it before. In some distant past that he had long forgotten.

Izuku looked up, Eraserhead was coming into view and was getting closer with every second, his eyes glowing red. A wave of relief washed over Izuku. Right, Eraserhead. He erases quirks.

Aizawa was running, hand on his scarf and quirk activated ready for whatever the kid would try to do, but the closer he got, the more he could actually see the boy the more distressed he looked from afar, he didn’t like the feeling of his quirk taken away, did he? Didn’t like the helpless feeling of being quirkless.

When he was only steps away from the kid, Aizawa stopped running and let his quirk stop and hair fall down. The kid didn’t seem trying to run now but rather he was deep in thought.

Izuku stood there looking at his hands. He had forgotten that feeling, having been given quirks years ago. It felt nice, calming, and painless. Eraserhead stopped before him, releasing his quirk. Izuku shut his eyes, preparing for the quirks to be back but nothing happens. Nothing happened! What could that mean? All the quirks just vanished? How could that be?

Izuku couldn’t help the ‘oh ‘ sound escape his mouth.

“I gave them to you but I can take them back at any time for myself, I hope I won't have to do it, but you know if I have to, you will die.”

The words echoed in his head. The one who stole these quirks to give to him could take them back.

He took them back.

Aizawa ran up to the boy, who fell down on his knees, the look on his face was of confusion, worry and happiness all together.

“Hey kid, are you okay?” He held the boy by his shoulders.

Izuku slowly nodded, deep in thought.

Aizawa explained that the school is going to close soon and that he would have to spend the night at the hero’s place before he is healed.

Izuku didn’t protest, only nodding when it seemed needed. His mind was in a different place. A few times again in the car he tried to activate a quirk, any quirk but even the warm sensation was gone.

He was quirkless all over again.

Chapter Text

The hero unlocked the door, letting Izuku in. The boy stood hesitant for a few seconds before stepping inside.

When they both took off their shoes off, Eraserhead offered Izuku his guest slippers and said to follow him.

Walking through the dimly lit corridor, Izuku didn’t look up, only focusing on the long carpet under his feet.

“Here,” the hero turned to him, opening a door to his left.

“This is where you’ll be staying, my room is there,” he nodded towards the door to Izuku’s right.

After that the hero left him alone. The room didn’t have a lot of furniture or any decorative pieces at all but it had everything needed. In front of the entrance stood a chair and a desk with a few almost empty shelves above it. A bed, in the far corner and a big closet in the other.

The boy looked around, how did he even get here? Who would have thought he will be asked to stay the night at a heroes aparment, all becaouse they want to get his healed proparly? When did that last happend?

Izuku took off his backpack and sat on the bed, upon opening it he looked through to remember what things he managed to grab. Taking everything out one by one here were a few of his notebooks- the most important ones, his dagger in a nice dark green sheath that was designed for him, and- oh no.

On the bottom of the bag was a mask. The mask of Yamiyo the villain. Izuku quickly closed his bag, which now contained only the mask, in fear that Eraser would see.

Izuku looked around the almost bare room.
He had to do something about the mask.

He had decided to stay with Eraserhead until the morning when Recovery Girl could heal him but with this… He had to think it all over.

If any of the heroes saw it, if they figured out he was Yamiyo it would be the end. Heroes were known for killing dangerous villains. Maybe they already knew? Was it a trap to lure him in? To get him locked in Eraserhead’s house until someone is sent to kill him or take to jail? Wait, is it actually his house?

Izuku stuffed his backpack, which was almost empty now, only containing the mask, under the bed and came to the door. He carefully tried the handle– it opened easily, it wasn’t locked. That made the boy worry less that it was a trap but not turn down the need to get out.

He put his head out, the hallways looked cosy, definitely home-like. He stepped out of the room, seriously studying the hall that he didn’t pay much attention to earlier.

There were pictures on the walls, mainly of three students in U.A uniforms, Izuku quickly recognised two of them as Eraserhead himself and President Mic, he knew about their highschool friendship from all the research he did, but the third one looked unfamiliar- light blue hair, big smile, a bandaid on his nose and goggles, suspiciously similar to Eraser’s.

If it was a trap they wouldn’t bother with all the little touches.

“Yeah that’s me and my friends from high school.”

Izuku almost jumped, Eraser was standing to his right, having just come into the hallway. He took down one picture frame that Izuku couldn’t see off a high shelf.

“His name is Sushi,” he said, showing Izuku the picture.

Izuku inspected the photo, it was of the third student, the one he didn’t know of. Smiling and holding a small orange kitten in his hands, handing it toward the camera.

“And who is that?” Izuku curiously asked, pointing at the boy.

Eraser didn’t answer immediately, Izuku waited.

But before speaking, he slowly put the photo back on its place on the shelf. “It’s an old friend.” he finally said. Looking at the photo, it seemed as if he was remembering old memories.

He huffed, then smiled and shook his head- shaking away memories. Izuku guessed

“Let's go eat dinner,” he said, turning to Izuku.

Izuku silently followed the hero to the kitchen, he should probably at least eat some food before running.
—
At three AM Izuku couldn’t wait any more, Eraserhead had surely gone to bed already.

Slowly standing by the closed door, he listened, it seemed like no one was on the other side.

But just to make sure, Izuku looked under it–no sign of feet or even a shadow. All right, time to go!

He swung his backpack on his left shoulder and winced from the sudden pain, he had already forgotten that he had been stabbed there. It was one of the smaller wounds that Recovery Girl said she will heal when her quirk is restored.

Izuku rolled his eyes, as if he could stay for that long, his father and his men were certainly looking for him already, he had to return or Eraserhead would be in danger for unknowingly helping him escape.

And if not the villains, the heroes would send him straight to Tartarus if only they got a glimpse of the mask.

For a second in the back of his mind a voice told him that the door would be locked. Holding his breath, he touched the doorknob, before slightly pressing it.

It instantly opened with almost no sound. Izuku let his breath out.

The hero really didn’t lock him in for the night, not that would be a problem, but it would certainly slow him down. The boy walked out to the hallway, it was dark as no lights were on.

He slowly closed the door behind him and crept through the dark apartment to the front door where he put on his red shoes. Just as he tied the shoe laces and stood up, ready to go, the lights turned on.

Izuku jumped and quickly turned around hand reaching to his dagger only to realize he didn’t have it on him. He sheepishly looked up to see the hero looking at him, raising a brow “Going somewhere?”
—
Now Izuku was sitting in a dark room on the bed, not bothering to put on the lights. The door wasn’t locked, but on the other side was sitting Eraserhead, who put a chair in front of his door and said to not try anything until the morning.

Technically it was already morning, 3 AM is morning right? Izuku looked down at his shoes, he felt kind of bad for wearing them in the house. Well more reasons to get out as soon as possible.

So stnaidnh up quitly he made his way to the window. When he nudged the window, and it slid open easily. Izuku looked back at the closed door before tightening his backpack straps and climbing in the window still.

Getting down proved to be a bit harder than he would have liked, Eraserhead lived on the third floor.
It took a few tries but alas, he found a sturdy and (partially) safe way to get down, a pipe.

When both his feet touched the ground he let go of the steel pipe, pulling on the straps of his yellow backpack.

Izuku’s eyes darted back up, in the window he had just escaped from, stood Eraserhead– his quirk activated.

Izuku hesitated for a second out of habit but remembering that he was quirkless now just darted to the closest alleyway he could see.

Izuku ran as fast as he could, he was running for some time already, only barely recognizing the neighbourhood he’s in. His leg ached, and he was pretty sure he could feel a would on his side reopen, it wasn’t pleasant. But he knew that if Eraserhead caught up to him, there would be no chance to run away.

After running for another minute or so he spotted a gap between houses and headed there. Soon there were no more buildings in front of him, but instead something that seemed like a big junkyard.

Izuku glanced behind him, the hero was right on his tail.

Escaping from Eraserhead while quirkless was pretty ironic, the hero had no quirk to erase, so he was basically quirkless too.

Izuku was grabbed by the shoulder.

The hero was still faster than him.

“Kid,” Eraserhead tried to make eye contact with him.

Izuku didn’t look up, trying to get the mask out of his backpack a fast as possible, his fingers were shaking, but he managed to unzip the bag and hiding the mask as much as he could from the hero’s view, he threw it with all his might over the fence, the sound of it landing on the junk could be heard.

“What was that?” The hero's voice was serious.

Now Izuku turned around, “Uh…” He didn’t think he would have to come up with excuses. “You see, Mr. Eraserhead…” He trailed off, eyes darting around, trying to find something to say.

The hero shook his head, deactivating his quirk, “Let’s just go back now.” He pulled the boy by his hand.

Izuku walked obediently behind the hero, he knew there was no chance he could escape now.

“And you should just call me Aizawa.” He added after a few seconds of silence.

Izuku nodded slightly, even though the hero couldn’t see that.

When they made it to the apartment, Aizawa locked the door behind them and turned to Izuku, who was grudgingly taking his shoes off.

He waited until the boy stood back up.

“Listen, I have only the best interests for you, I understand how you must feel, but it’s my duty as a hero to at least get you healed, so let’s do that, and then you’ll be free to go if you want, I won’t stop you.”

Izuku looked at the hero with tired eyes. Seeing as he clearly was waiting for some kind of answer or reaction, he nodded.
—
Izuku stood in the room not bothering to turn the light on, he didn’t know what he was supposed to feel. Accomplishment that he got rid of the mask that easy(or maybe worry? Did Eraserhead see it?) Or perhaps disappointment that he couldn't run away and now the hero would have him guard up. Or good that the hero worried about him?

Izuku shook his head, shaking the thoughts away.

No, as he said, it was only his duty as a hero to the civilians, but once he finds out who Izuku actually is, it’s all over.

The air in the room stood still, nothing moved.
Izuku looked at the window, the hero must have closed it.

He looked through the glass from afar. If they find the mask it would be easily traced back to him.

He had to restrain himself from face-slamming himself, how could he have been so stupid to not even think of washing off his fingerprints??

He glanced back at the door with the light shining under it, he could hear Eraserhead move a chair, it seemed that after Izuku’s attempted escape the hero wasn’t planning on going to sleep.

Izuku let out a breath, there was nothing else he could do at this point in time.

He came closer to the bed, slowly putting the stuff he scattered earlier back into his backpack, almost mindlessly, as he was on autopilot. When he was done he pushed the bag off the bed and just laid back. His mind was black, there wasn’t anything for him to do. So he stared at the ceiling until he eventually, when the sun was already shining through the locked window, fell asleep.
—
Aizawa pulled the chair back to the kitchen and dialled a certain number on his phone. It took a bit but someone on the other side picked up eventually.

“Hello! Eraserhead? Definitely rare to get a call from you,” the person laughed “you are always so busy.”

The tired hero sighed, “Habaki, I wanted to hear more about what happened to Yamiyo, what did the team find? And I got time now, do you?”

“Yeah well I'm mostly done with my mission it seems,” the other hesitated, “But you know that by the rules I'm actually not allowed to tell you anything right? You were never officially on Yamiyo’s case and this is classified information.

Aizawa sighed again.

“Ugh yeah you did seem worried about the kid last time,” Habaki took a deep breath in that could be heard on the other side, “Well I will tell you this,” He began, sounding a bit unsure, “We have no information yet as to why his own team killed him, but if the suspicions of the lead detective are correct, it may be because they saw his actions as attempts to side with the heroes. They did manage to find quite a lot of blood on the scene but after checking in the database no match was found, the blood sample has been sent to a pro with a suitable quirk so soon enough we will know his real identity.”

Aizawa didn’t answer.

All the time since the raid the thought about Yamiyo couldn’t leave his mind, the kid surely was assigned to kill Ms. Joke but decided against it, even let them go.

The hero bent forward and put a hand over his eyes.

That only proved that Yamiyo started trusting him, now all that went to waste.

“Eraser, you there?”

Aizawa strongly suspected that the kid wasn't doing these things out of his own will, but now he couldn’t even visit the child's grave.

“Uh well I have to go now, someone’s coming but when I’m officially done with the mission let's meet up alright?” Aizawa hummed, not really listening, “I understand that you are upset but soon we will have his real identity.”

That would not bring him back to life.

Habaki hung up and the phone beeped twice. Aizawa put it down on the table before him.

He didn’t have any luck with children, did he? First Yamiyo, who clearly was a kid. Died.
He could have done something, he could have forcefully taken him. He could have taken him away from the villains.

And now.

Aizawa looked up at the corridor to his side where a door could be seen.

Now he had a child in his house, one that clearly something wrong happened to.
But one that also very clearly does not trust him whatsoever.

And he didn’t even know his name.

Chapter Text

Izuku rubbed his eyes as he stepped out of the bedroom, he barely got any sleep, but it was mostly his fault.
Eraserhead was sitting on one of the chairs in the kitchen by the dining table with a hot cup of coffee in hand, looking at his phone. When he heard Izuku approach he raised his head and nodded to him.

“Good morning problem child, glad to see at least one of us got some sleep.” The hero's voice was firm, but he did not sound angry, just exhausted.

Izuku fiddled with his shirt in embarrassment, did Eraserhead not sleep because of him?

“Sorry...” he mumbled, looking away.

The tired hero sighed, “Apology accepted, now eat some breakfast.” He pushed a bowl of steamed rice with an egg on top towards the boy, “I don’t have much as I usually have only coffee in the morning but if you want anything else we can get it on our way.”

Izuku looked up, confused, almost scared. Has Eraser figured him out? He is going to hand him in, isn't he?

He managed to let out a small, “Where?”

“To see Recovery Girl, she needs to heal you completely, remember?”

“Oh,” He had completely forgotten.

“What? Where did you think I was going to take you?” The hero asked in a deadpan voice, he wasn’t looking at Izuku, instead blowing at his coffee.

“Nothing, never mind,” Izuku replied, looking over the chairs and trying to find the one further from the man, which happens to be difficult because there were only four of them. He ended up sitting on the one that was diagonal to the hero.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Eraser finished his coffee before Izuku was done with his food and made his way to the living.

“Aren't we going to Recovery Girl?” questioned Izuku when the hero didn't seem like he was getting ready at all.

“We are, but she comes to work at 7:45, it's 6 am now, so we have some time. U.A. it’s only ten minutes from here.” Izuku almost fell from his chair.

“We are going to U.A.?”

Eraserhead eyed the boy, curiously. “That is where she works.”

“Do we have to go there?”

“Yes, you need to get healed.” Eraserhead paused, trying to catch Izuku's gaze, but the boy was avoiding it.

“And I distinctly remember you saying that you won’t go to a hospital, or maybe you have changed your mind?”

“No!”

“Well that’s good, we had already arranged for you to get healed at U.A”

“We?”

“Mostly Nezu, he seemed quite interested in you, you would have to thank him and Chiyo, Recovery Girl. If it wasn’t for them, I would have to forcefully drag you to the hospital.”

Izuku nodded, notting that.

Eraser sat on the sofa, turning on the television, but he didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the TV as he was looking through some papers that he had a stack of on the coffee table beside him.

Izuku tried to finish eating as fast as he could as he didn’t feel comfortable being alone in the hero's kitchen, there was just something wrong with that.

Just as he was about to put the bowl down he heard someone say something familiar.

“...Yamiyo.” he almost dropped his bowl. “Yes Yamiyo '' Izuku recognized that voice from somewhere.
“Where is he? Isn’t he like your sidekick or something?” The two voices were coming from the TV. Another voice a lot clearer and closer, one of a woman was speaking now.

Izuku froze and listened.

“We have our reporters from the lone factory not far from the city where two villains seem to be fighting.” Her voice disappeared, it was back to the first two.

“He isn't my sidekick!” Izuku knew this voice, it was Tomura Shigaraki. “He isn’t my sidekick and no you can’t see him because that cheater is out of the game now.”

“I just saw him the other day, and he was with you and the mist freak!” Izuku now recognized where he heard this voice before, it was the octopus-quirked man.

“Well, he isn’t here anymore because he was a traitor! Sensai killed him, but not before torturing him. Want me to do the same to you?” The villain shouted.
There were whooshing sounds and then a cry. Izuku knew it meant the man was dead by the hand of Shigaraki.

The voice of the reporter was back. “As you just heard and was just now confirmed by heroes, the villain previously known as Yamiyo has been killed by his own team. What does it tell us about the villains? Doesn't it show tha--”

Izuku didn’t listen anymore. He had better things to think about.

Shigaraki thought he was dead? His father thought he killed him? Was it why he was left unguarded? Izuku's eyes widened as he stared at a spot in the wall before him. It could all be lies to deceive the heroes. Though Shigaraki isn’t a very good actor, maybe he was just told Izuku had died? There

was no way his father would actually believe that right?

“Hey kid,” this time Izuku actually jumped.

“You alright? You've been mumbling something to yourself for a few minutes now.”

Eraserhead was standing at the other side of the table, when did he even manage to get there?

Izuku covered his mouth with his hands. Did the heroes think Yamiyo was dead too? They said it on the news but was it the truth? Did Eraser think he was dead? What if it was all a scam? What if they know it’s him and are going to kill him now? Was he kept at Eraserheads house for that?

When received no answer Aizawa just silently retrieved the boy’s dish to the sink.

“I will give you some old clothes of mine for now, would that be alright?” He turned to izuku.

“Problem child?”

“Ah? What? Yes? I mean if you want? I mean if there is nothing else.”

“Okay then, get changed, I will be waiting for you in ten minutes.” He handed the boy in front of him an old T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that he could hopefully tie to fit him.

“Yes Mr. Eraserhead,” Izuku jumped up.

The hero sighed, “Please do refrain from calling me by my hero name when I’m off duty, especially when we go outside.”

Izuku nodded apologetically, that was just out of habit.

“Yeah, underground hero and all that.” And with that he ran to his room, almost forgetting to grab the clothes that Aizawa was handing him.

—-
Izuku was still thinking over the recent news of his own death(how funny that sounded right?) when Aizawa was dragging him to the car.

Izuku was a bit afraid, to say the least, that this will be the time Kurogiri will be sent to get him, and he didn’t want it to be in a school.
But he did have to get healed. Now without the self-healing quirk the injuries actually stayed, that was something Izuku hasn’t experienced in over four years.
So he let himself be dragged into the hero school, but not without sending nervous glances around to make sure that there actually wasn’t anyone following him, not villain not anyone else. He certainly didn’t believe that the villains thought he died, sure getting quirks taken away can really hurt and make you pass out, but they couldn’t actually think he died because of that, could they?

When Recovery Girl healed him she gave him a gummy bear and started monologuing about how his body is still weak as her quirk just speeds up the healing process and takes all of his energy or something like that.

Izuku wasn’t really listening, instead checking the places where has been injured.
It was as if he never had been in the first place, no sign of a wound, not the slightest scar.

The nurse's quirk really was amazing. It was nothing compared to the quirk he was given before, it did the job- yes, but it only would close the wound which certainly helped him with not getting infections but all the marking still remained.

After repeating herself again in case he didn’t listen (Which he didn’t, both times.) Recovery girl let him go.

The car ride back was silent. Izuku was staring at his arm. Some of the older scars faded a bit too.

“You remember what you have to do?” Aizawa turned to him for a brief moment when they stood at a red light.

“What?” Izuku turned to him, not completely understanding what he was talking about.

“What Recovery Girl said you should do,” Aizawa eyed the boy next to him, who looked fascinated by the ability of the heroine's quirk, “She said you need to rest, no I should say she ordered you to rest. He quirks uses up all your energy, so you might feel sleepy already-”

“I feel fine,” Izuku looked into the hero's eyes, “Better than ever actually, this- this is amazing, it's so cool!”

Aizawa sighed, “When we get home you still have to at least lay in bed for a bit.”

The boy nodded, “Yeah I will.”

Izuku smiled.

He had no intentions of doing so.

Chapter Text

When they made it back to the apartment, Izuku headed straight to his room.

He closed the door behind himself and rushed to his backpack which was still unpacked, he saw no use in unpacking it. He didn’t plan on staying anymore and there was nothing to unpack anyway besides a few notebooks and a couple of glitter bombs.

He checked the small pocket on the left side, he got a bit worried when found it empty but quickly calmed down when he reached into the right pocket, there was the paper he found on the door of his mother's apartment.

The paper was shaking in his hands, he read it again.

“In sorrow, we announce the death of our dear and kind friend, that took her life on Saturday night.
We invite you to the funeral services that will take place in-”

The date on it was today. He read over and over the address of the funeral, having a rough idea of where it was.

Some noise could be heard from the hallway, Izuku quickly put the note into the pocket of his pants and jumped on the bed.

A minute or so had passed, and it seemed like Aizawa wasn’t coming in, so Izuku’s eyes slowly slid to the window, it was to his right and close shut.
Standing up slowly, to not make the bed squeak. He cautiously made his way to the window and pulled, then pushed- tried to slide it to the left, then right but nothing. It was locked. Of course Eraserhead would lock the window, especially after he climbed out of it last time.

It’s only rational from the hero’s point of view to lock the window of a room of the person you found jumping off a building, Izuku was surprised he didn’t do it sooner.

Izuku rolled his eyes. He hasn't found a chance yet to explain why he was there in the first place.

Now thinking about it again it made sense, back then he didn't realise why he was falling. He didn't realize yet that he was quirkless again, he tried to use a flight quirk that wasn’t there. He couldn’t really explain that to Eraserhead though. He wouldn’t even believe him that quirks can be transferred and taken away. Izuku truly couldn’t explain anything to the heroes. He had to run away.

He took another, a closer look at the window and then back at the door where a light was shining under.

Breaking the window would make too much noise. Izuku eyed the window for any ideas, maybe he could take out the glass? It shouldn't be as noisy.
He noticed the rubber around the glass, the first step for taking out the glass would be to take out the rubber. To pull off the rubber he had to find its end. Izuku touched his finger over the sides of the glass, the rubber band seemed to begin in the lower right corner.

Izuku hurried back to his backpack that lay on the bed and slowly unzipped it, making sure to not make any noise. He took out his dagger and ran back to the window. He dug the dagger in the place where the rubber split, lifting the tip up. Then he took it and pulled it, it came out easy and quick after that. When all the rubber was all off it was time for the harder part (literally) the glass itself.

But after a bit of struggling, he managed to get the window completely open, meaning the only thing that was left in place was the metal frame.

He quietly put the glass on the bed before climbing out the window, just like last time.

—
He was late, of course he was.

It wasn’t like he had actually planned on attending the funeral, he just planned to watch from afar, but he got lost on the way and only came towards the very end.
He hid behind a nearby bush, only to be able to hear the voices and barely make out the people that came.
It wasn’t a lot, only a few of her co-workers, but then he looked a bit to the side, there stood three rather familiar people, the Bakugo family.

Izuku hid further into the bush, he definitely didn’t want them to see him.
He waited for a while until the people started to diverge, and pulling on the hood of the oversized hoodie Eraserhead let him borrow, stood up from his hiding spot. He slowly made his way, looking down to hide his hair if anyone was to look at him.
—-
“Go wait for me in the car, I’ll be in there in a moment.” Bakugo Katsuki told his parents before coming closer to the sign that said Midoriya. He stood there for a moment, he couldn't believe it could happen. First Izuku, now aunt Inko. He was looking down at the freshly made grave when he heard a sound from his left, someone's footsteps toward him.

“I told you to wait in the car!” He turned around, fully expecting it to be his mum but instead he saw someone in a grey hoodie, and face not visible. The person stopped for a second before brushing past him, bumping him on the shoulder.

“Hey! Why are you ignoring me?” He called after.

The person stopped but did not turn around to him, instead by a small memorial stone. Katsuki looked down, it read “In the memory of Izuku Midoriya”.

If before that Katsuki was a bit annoyed now he was confused. Who would want to visit the grave of that quikless boy, last time he checked the nerd didn’t have any friends.

The figure stood over the stone, not moving.

“Hey who are you?” he stomped in the direction of the figure. The figure didn’t move.

“Show your face, you idiot! Who are you?” He grabbed the hoodie, pulling the person closer.

When he did a few things happened at the same time. The hood fell off from the person's head and sharp, green familiar eyes were staring right at Katsuki. His hair ruffled in the wind.

Bakugo stood there stunned, the face was so much like Deku's but his hair was white.

Izuku hurried to pull the fabric out of the stunted boy before him, taking advantage of his confusion. He quickly pulled the hood back on, praying that his childhood friend wouldn't recognize him.

He turned to walk away when he was grabbed by the shoulder again.

“Where are you going? Who are you?” Katsuki tried to get another look at his face, Izuku didn’t answer, hiding his face as much as he could to not him get another, better look at him. He pulled the blonde’s hands off him and ran.
But he didn't run to the main entrance where the parking was, but to the side. There was some construction site, and he hoped to hide there a bit to lose the explosive boy that was running behind him. Izuku ran between trees and hid behind some wood pallets, but Katsuki seemed to find him everywhere.

Izuku started getting tired, which surprised him since he had been training to be able to run much more. But then he remembered that all his energy was wasted from the healing earlier. He glanced behind his shoulder only to see the red eyes much closer than he would have liked. That was when he got grabbed by his hood, Katsuki pulled it down once more, and the moment he tripped, the ground was some kind of sand, and it seemed to be wet as it was all sticky. Both boys rolled down the hill. When coming to a stop they were both all covered in dirt, one was shouting at the other while that said other tried to get up and out from under the screaming one.

“Who are you,” yelled Katsuki, demanding, “tell me right now!”

Izuku couldn’t deal with it anymore, he flipped the blonde off him and ran out, he ran until he reached some building and slid into a familiar ally, the other boy didn’t seem to follow, Izuku hoped he had lost trace of him.

Izuku stood there trying to get his breathing under control, his head ached and his feet threatened to give out, he was exhausted.

Slowly getting himself together he started walking down the alley. He sighed, he couldn’t even attend the funeral of his own mother in peace. But then his thoughts moved to the stone with his name engraved on it. It made him wonder who made it. His first guess would be his mother herself but that would not make sense, she knew he was alive. That thought brought tears to his eyes, that sole fact proved that she didn’t kill herself, she knew he was being held against his will, trying to protect her.

Izuku didn’t bother to wipe the tears from his cheeks, just continuing to the only next place he could think of where he could find how to get to the new villain base.

Chapter Text

Izuku walked through the grim streets, looking around he realized he never walked there by foot, always flying from one building to another. It looked very different from the ground, and also the sunlight changed the feel quite a bit, before that the only two times he was told to go there was at night.

It made him notice how dirty the streets were and how many homeless people were there. Izuku, whose clothes were all covered in dirt, fit right in.

You could tell by the look of the neighbourhood that no daylight heroes bother enough to patrol there, places like this could only hope on an underground hero to swing by once a month, no more than that. In any other circumstances Izuku would be mad about it, how unjust and fame-hungrey most heroes were, but now it worked in his favour, he didn’t have anything to cover his face other than the hood, which after what happened at the graveyard proved to not be as useful.

Izuku almost passed by the house he was heading to, it was barely recognizable at day time. A small convenience store. Izuku pulled the door and entered, to his surprise, despite how old and rusty the door looked it didn’t make any noise. Izuku walked to the front desk which had no one behind it, but just as he came close a head popped from behind the curtains in the back. It startled Izuku a bit, he always thought his footsteps were quiet but maybe not to this extent.

“What are you doing here??” the person practically ran up to him, making sure it really was him, and eyeing the stains on his clothes. That person was a convenience store owner by day, informant by night, Kenta. Izuku didn’t know his full name. Kenta proved to be useful to Izuku's father, with his shop located in such a neighbourhood he heard a lot of information, so Izuku often saw him.

“Yamiyo? You spaced out there for a second, are you alright?” Kenta waved his hand in front of Izuku's face.

“Oh? Sorry,”

“Oh you are back with me!” Kenta cheered, “Now answer me, how are you alive?? Do they know you are alive? How did you make it out alive?” he babbled questions staring into Izuku's tired eyes.

When Izuku didn't answer, Kenta sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, the other resting on his hip.
“Okay sorry, that was too much, wanna come in and have a cup of tea?”

He gestured to the blue curtain with the flowers that hung behind him.

Izuku nodded.

Kenta seated Izuku in a tiny living room space with a small kitchen counter in the corner, chuckling. “Welcome to my house! Now let me get the kettle, I was just about to have tea before you walked in.”

Izuku looked around the room. It was very simple and didn’t seem to hold any personal things. It was very empty despite the small space. Kenta sat before Izuku, handing him a cup of steaming tea.

“A friend of mine gave it to me, taste and see how you like it, it’s supposed to be some expensive blend or something,“ he said, taking a sip out of his own cup. “Tastes quite good, but I don’t really know about teas.”

Izuku took a sip of his own, it was… well he didn’t really know anything about tea either, but it was good. Just a bit too hot for his liking.

“Now,” Kenta's mood changed in a second, he was completely serious, “Can you explain what happened?”
He put his cup down and looked straight at Izuku, who was avoiding eye contact by staring into his reflection in the tea.

“About what?” he mumbled “I just came here, so you could tell me where did everyone go, where’s the new location? Why didn’t they take me with them?

“No!” Kenta threw his hands in the air, “They didn’t take you because they thought they killed you! Everyone thinks you are dead Yamiyo, didn’t you hear??” Now Kenta was overly worried, the quick switch in his emotions seriously impressed Izuku, maybe he could go into acting?

“I heard that on TV, yes but do you actually believe he thinks that? He is smarter than this surely…” Izuku added the last part quieter, almost to himself.

“No, no! While I was there, I heard him saying that to that student of his. They thought that after torturing you and taking away your quirk will kill you, I thought you died! “

Izuku stared into his tea in disbelief, that couldn’t be true, could it?

“If all the villains think you died, don’t you think this is your chance to get away? To start again? Why do you need to go back?”

Izuku huffed, “You sound quite a bit like a hero,” Kenta opened his mouth but no sound came out, “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” Izuku looked up at him, “You could say I’m living with one myself now.”

Kenta moved closer to Izuku, waiting for him to explain. “I’m listening, tell me from the beginning.” Izuku had never seen the man so interested in something before.

Izuku sighed and began, “I am not totally sure on what happened either but I think he got mad when I let Eraerhead and Ms. Joke go so then–”

Izuku only started and Kenta already butted in, “You let them go?? I was sure you just couldn’t catch up or somethin…”

“Of course I let them go, with the quirks I had, if I tried I bet I could have killed both of them, I just didn’t try.”

“I feel like you are just bragging now,” Kenta let out a laugh.

“Well maybe I am, but I can't do that anymore, so it doesn't count.”

“Okay, okay, I don't have much time, the moving company will be arriving shortly so please continue.”

“You are moving?” Izuku asked, taking another sip of the amazing tea.

“Yeah, I only stayed here because… ugh continue already, we are getting away from the subject.”

Izuku took a few seconds to compose himself and try to put in order the events in his head and when was he actually ready to tell. As much of a great guy Kenta was, Izuku didn’t feel like he could trust him completely, informants are always up to something fishy.

“So basically long story short I was really injured and some hero found me and took care of the injuries , and now I’m staying with him. Well, was, because I kind of ran away.”

“Why?” Kenta threw his hands in the air and then put them on Izuku's shoulders, shaking him, “Why?”

“Well I thought there is a hundred men looking for me already,” Izuku looked to the side, not meeting his eyes.

“There isn’t right now, but if you show that you are alive there will be even more looking to kill you.”
While speaking, Kenta was making animated motions with his hands in the air.

Izuku sighed, “That’s why I ran away, even if they think I’m dead for now, somehow sooner or later word will get out that I'm alive, I can't risk them going after the hero that saved me. That’s why I have to go back myself, before that happens.”

Kenta took his head in his hands “AAH! But if you go back he will find out who helped you and will make it his mission to go and kill them! He wouldn’t let anyone walk away after seeing your face.”

Izuku remained quiet. He didn’t want that of course, he didn’t want anyone else to die because of his stupid choices.

Kenta didn’t say anything either, looking at Izuku for any kind of reaction.

“I say,” he said quietly after a few seconds, looking at the boy, “go back to that hero, heroes are obligated to look after the minors they saved until they find their parents.”

“Won’t happen.” Izuku cut him off.

“Okay… Well you gotta stay close to him in case they will find out you are alive, then you can be right there to save the hero in return,” Kenta smiled.
"And one more thing, I think it’s best you try to be true with that hero, I think that would make things easier.”

Izuku huffed, “You want me to confess to being Yamiyo?? He would throw me into Tartarus!” He doubted Eraserhead would actually do it, but he had to admit, he was quite scared it would happen.

“Well yeah that’s probably what you’ve been told, but I’m sure not all heroes would. And I’m not saying outright say you are Yamiyo, I say be your true self, you have this one in a million chance to restart, take it.”

Izuku looked down at his empty cup. If not as an actor Kenta could easily find a job as some sort of motivational speaker.

But what Kenta said was true, Izuku couldn’t deny. No, he knew better than anyone what his father would do to Eraserhead if he finds out, he couldn’t let it happen. Couldn’t let another person die because of him. He would stay close and protect him, even if he is quirkless.

Izuku put his empty teacup down with so much force it almost broke, it made Kenta jump.
“Alright, I will stay with him for now and see what happens, but if he takes me to prison-- I blame it on you, okay?”

Kenta laughed, reaching for a piece of paper and a pen and scribbling something down.
“If he does, just give me a call and I will figure it out.” He handed the note with the phone number to Izuku who took it and just stared at it.

“I don’t have a phone.”

“Ah well prisons do.”

Izuku looked into Kenta's eyes, who just returned a sweet smile.

“Thanks,” Izuku chuckled, “But I need to at least know the location of the new base, even if I’m not planning on going there.”

Kenta crossed his arms, “Even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you because if you do go, it would get you killed for real this time, and I can’t trust you not to go.”

“So you don’t know?” Izuku asked, ignoring the last part as it was nothing new, no one trusted him.

“No. He said there is no need for me anymore.” Kenta waved his hand like it was nothing.

“So you got fired?”

“I got fired.”

“Then how are you still alive?”

“The same way as you are.”

Izuku huffed, “What a hero found you?”

“Well you could say that.” Kenta smiled a bit, looking to the side. Then he clapped his hands together, “Alright! Time for you to go to your hero before he thinks you ran away.”

“But I did...”

“Well that doesn’t matter anymore because you are going back.” With that, he started pushing Izuku toward the exit. “Oh and take a bit of the tea, you can enjoy it with that hero, give it to him like a thank-you gift or something.” He shoved into Izuku's hands a little box, you could feel the smell even through the lid.

“Now, now get going, and don’t forget I don’t live here anymore so don’t come again, call me only if something happens as it’s my work number and I think that’s it. Bye!” Kenta shouted after Izuku who walked away smiling, looking at the tea box.

When Izuku made it to Eraserhead’s apartment he stood by the door for a bit, contemplating if he should actually go in. He shook his head, Kenta was right, he had to stay by Eraserheads side in case people are sent to kill him for helping Izuku.

He knocked on the door. There were footsteps and soon the door opened to a quite surprised Eraserhead. He didn’t say it but by his looks, Izuku knew he didn’t expect for him to come back.

“Hi...” Izuku slowly lifted his hand to an awkward wave. The hero didn’t say anything but stepped aside, letting him in.

Passing the kitchen, Izuku could see food being made.

“It will take twenty more minutes for the food, meanwhile you can go shower, there is a towel and some clothes on your bed,” Eraserhead said, walking into the kitchen, barely even looking at Izuku. Was he mad? The boy couldn't tell.

On the bed he did find a towel and clothes, they were sweatpants and a plain T-shirt a couple of sizes too big.

Chapter Text

Aizawa slowly chopped scallions on the kitchen counter. He did prepare dinner for two, but he didn’t actually expect the kid to come back, he thought he ran off once his injuries were treated. The hero was surprised, he fully expected the kid to disappear completely, though somewhere deep down he was glad he came back.

But he did try to run away before, why didn’t he now? There wasn’t a way to get these answers now, but it didn’t stop the hero from wondering about it.

If Izuku had looked in the mirror before exiting the bathroom he would have remembered that his hair dye washes away with water. He wouldn’t be as surprised when he sat by the table.

When he came into the kitchen the hero had his back turned to him.
“Um… Eraserhead? This is for you.” he said, putting the box with tea on the counter next to him.

The hero sighed, “Call me Aizawa when I’m out of costume.” He took a look at the box and, noticing the expensive brand, asked. “Where did you get this? Did you buy it?”

“Ah no I don’t have any money on me.”

The hero just looked at him, the question of did you steal it went unasked, but Izuku knew that Eraserhead was thinking it, so he hurried to say.

“No, no I didn’t steal it! A…um friend said to give to you as a thank-you gift after finding out that you saved me.”

“Oh so that’s where he’s been all day long,” Aizawa mumbled to himself.
“Well that’s very nice of your friend.” he said louder to Izuku “Now sit and let's eat before the food gets cold.”

Izuku nodded and took a seat by the table.

As the hero was putting their plates down he noticed something, he nodded towards the boy and asked, “Green?”

“What?” Izuku didn’t understand at first.

“Your hair,” Aizawa said, sitting down before him, maintaining eye contact and waiting for an explanation.

Izuku reached to his head and pulled a strand of hair to his face, “Oh,” was all he said before taking his chopsticks to eat.

When he noticed that Aizawa wasn't doing the same, he decided that he had to say something.

“I dyed it,” he simply said, hoping it was enough to satisfy Aizawa.

“You look familiar,” Aizawa slowly said, continuing to intensely stare at Izuku. “I think I saw you somewhere before.”

Izuku's heart skipped a beat. Did he figure it out already? But all the times Izuku met Eraserhead as Yamiyo he had a mask and a voice changer on, did his hood slip down sometime?

“Really? Because I haven’t seen you.” He said, looking down, hoping his face won’t give away the lie.

“My bad then,” Aizawa hummed before taking his own chopsticks.

Izuku let out a small breath of relief, he still wasn’t discovered. In all honesty he wasn't even sure if he should be hiding his identity, wouldn’t that just make the punishment worse? Well that is a problem for the future, he sighed, before focusing on his food.

After that Aizawa did not press further, Izuku could see him still a bit confused, but he slipped to his room, hoping to fall asleep before more questions would arise.

--

The next morning he was dragged by Aizawa back to the U.A. infirmary again, even though he clearly didn’t need it, but the hero insisted on seeing if everything was healing correctly, so there he was. He looked around, the room was clearly made to be used for a few people at the same time, but he was completely alone. Recovery Girl had just stepped out after mumbling about his leg and told him to wait.

Last time he was in this room he tried to run away, so he already knew that other than the door there was no way out.

But he didn’t have to run away, did he? Izuku sighed, it was so nerve racking just waiting for his father to figure out he was alive, maybe he already knew, who knows.

Minutes that felt like hours passed but neither Aizawa nor Recovery Girl came, soon he started to worry that they figured out he was Yamiyo, but he destroyed all the evidence right? And no one saw his face or hair when he was out as Yamiyo, there should be nothing to worry about, he tried to calm himself down. He flopped back on the pillow of the white medical bed, he had nothing to do but wait. But just when he decided that the door opened, Izuku jumped up to see who it was. But to his surprise didn’t see Aizawa or Recovery girl. In the opened door stood the infamous Nezu himself, who was the high spec quirk which makes him much smarter than most.

Nezu walked up to Izuku, waving his paw, “I was just popping in to say hello before my meeting and introduce myself, but I see you already know who I am.”

Izuku didn’t realize once again that he was mumbling. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say in this situation, so he just let out a quiet, “nice to meet you…”

Nezu looked at the boy before him, green hair and green eyes and face full of freckles, he had seen this face a few years back.

Not a lot of people would remember a face from a photo they saw that long ago but Nezu wasn't human, and he did have an amazing quirk that let him recall anything, that made him immediately recognize the boy as Izuku Midoriya, the quirkless kid that went missing years ago and was presumed dead.

“Nice to meet you too, Izuku Midoriya.” He smiled. “I have to go now, but I suggest you tell Aizawa your name soon, he tries his best for you even if he doesn’t show it, and it seems he is quite distressed you don’t trust him with even that.”

Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but the principal was already shutting the door behind him.

Izuku tensed, he didn’t hear anyone call him by his name, no one used his full name in such a long time. But that was not the point! Nezu just figured out his identity by taking just one look at him, doesn’t that prove that he could find out much more with time?

But he didn’t have a lot of time to think as Recovery Girl returned.

She was filling him in on what to do and to not over strain his body and rest enough. Izuku truly tried to listen, he did, but his thoughts escaped in another direction, he could not stop thinking about what happened earlier.
If he had to worry of someone figuring out he was Yamiyo that would have to be Nezu, the principal of U.A hero school.

Chapter Text

In the biggest office of the school, that had tons of secrets that only Nezu knew, the principal sat in his chair and poured himself tea into a fancy tea cup, “Would you like some?” He asked, lifting the small teapot in Aizawa's direction.

“No, thank you,” Aizawa shook his head.

“Well your loss then,” Nezu shrugged, stirring his tea with a silver spoon. “You probably know why I called you in here.” He looked at Aizawa who sat in front of him.
“Yeah, you want to talk about the problem child huh?”

Nezu smiled, taking a sip of his hot steaming tea, “He is definitely an interesting child.”

“So what are you going to do with him?” He continued after a pause, “You know the boy has to go to school eventually, the new school year is just around the corner,” he said, looking up at Eraserhead, who could sense that this wasn’t a normal conversation and Nezu was implying something, Aizawa studied him, but it was hard to the tell what the principal of the most pretentious hero school in Japan was thinking.

Aizawa sighed, “We can’t make him go to school without finding his parents first, scratch that without even knowing his age, God I don’t even know his name.”

Nezu smirked, “Well that’s my dear Aizawa is where I come in.”

Aizawas' eyes widened “You figured out who he is? His name?” Nezu nodded smugly, “That quirk of yours really surprises me sometimes.”

“It was very easy actually, I doubt my quirk had much to do with it,” The principal was still creepily smiling, “His face is very recognizable, and hair too.” he huffed.

Aizawa nodded crossing his arms, “Yeah, when his hair dye washed off, and I first saw his green hair I could swear that I had seen him somewhere, don’t know where though.”

Nezu tilted his head to the side “You mean that the kid didn’t have green hair when you found him?” He looked surprised, an emotion Aizawa rarely saw from his inhumanly intelligent boss.

Aizawa shook his head, “His hair was dyed, but not with permanent dye, so it came out in the shower.”

Nezu’s smile suddenly fell, “May I ask what colour his hair was?” He asked in a serious tone.

“It was white,” Aizawa answered, curious as to why the atmosphere changed so quickly.

“Oh well then it makes the boy a whole more interesting,” Nezu mumbled to himself smiling, before taking a sip of his tea. “I want him to go to U.A.“

“What?” Aizawa didn’t expect that.

“I want him to enter U.A. in the next school year,” Nezu repeated himself, “More specifically the hero course.”

Aizawa sighed, “So you just want my new class to be full of problem children.”

“I never said to enrol him in your class!” Nezu defended.

“I am pretty sure you meant that thought.”

“Yeah, maybe I did.” Nezu looked at his computer as a notification popped up. “Oh it seems I have something urgent to do, Aizawa you talk to the boy and offer him to take the entrance exam and then come to me with his answer.”

“Aren’t you going to at least tell me his name?” Aizawa asked.

“No, that I will let him tell you on his own when the time comes.” Aizawa rolled his eyes.

“I mean if you are so impatiend you can try to find it out yourself, it isn’t that hard.” Nezu added, “Now go, I have an urgent meeting to attend.”

When Aizawa exited, closing the door behind him, Nezu turned to his computer, turning on his microphone.

“Yes Habiki? What did you find? You said you had something to report yesterday, excuse me for only finding the time today, you know how busy I can be.”

“Wait a second Mr. Nezu, I gotta add the other members of the team.” the one on the other side said, clicking on some keys on his laptop.

“Oh? So there is new information, I knew you wouldn't disappoint,” Nezu smiled.

“Huh? Habiki why are you calling us all of a sudden, I thought this case was closed,” a new voice sounded.

“It’s Yamiyo,” the one called Habiki answered.

“Well of course it is, idiot! This whole team is about him,” another voice grumbled.

“Yeah but didn’t we already disestablish the team? Isn’t the guy dead?” another voice added.

“No! That's exactly why I had to call you, he is alive! I saw him yesterday, I was just about to leave that room I lived in for the mission as ‘Kenta’ when he came back,” the (former?) informant announced excitedly.

All voices started talking all over each other “What? How? Did he fake his death? Why did he come to you?

Suddenly one voice overpowered the others “Quiet all of you, can’t you see that Habiki is trying to explain?” Everyone quieted down quickly.

“Thank you Tensei,” Habiki breathed out, he straightened up and cleared his throat. “As I wanted to tell you, as for two days ago Yamiyo was believed to be dead, but yesterday at around four in the afternoon, he came to me trying to find a way to contact the villains.” he stopped to inhale when another hero butted in.

“Wait, he contacted them? You said he was a good guy, you are always going on about how he is just a misguided kid, now you tell us he isn’t ??”

“Please, let Habiki explain,” Nezu said calmly.

“Yes sir!” was the answer, everyone knew it’s better to listen to Nezu.

“So as I was saying: Yamiyo came to me, completely unaware that everyone thinks he's dead. I explained the situation to him and told him to stay low and not get any attention on himself, he listened to me, and we parted ways.”

“Well why did you let him go? I know he isn’t a villain by his own will and all that bullsh*t but if we captured him we could question him and get information on that league of villains and where their base is, he has to know that much.” Hero started.

“Y- yeah, and we could protect him from the villains that will go after him when they find out that he is alive,” another one added.

“I can assure you that he doesn't know where the base is, that is why this all started in the first place! The villain boss didn’t trust Yamiyo with the location. It may be safe to say that he knows less than I do.” Habiki said to the hero that spoke first, “And also he is staying with someone who is taking good care of him and I won’t be surprised if he is having his wounds treated by the best healer in the country right now.”

“Well, how do we know if the person Yamiyo is staying with is trustworthy? What if it's another villain?” a hero asked suspiciously.

“He is staying with a hero.” Habiki said and everyone erupted in questions and spoke over each other, so it was difficult to tell what each one was saying. But everyone quieted down when Nezu spoke.

“Hmm… This is truly an interesting case.” the rat…bear? Smiled, emptying his cup of tea, “Thank you for the information Habiki, it was a good plan from my side to send you undercover there, I will check right away what I can do about it, I already have an idea in mind that might just be the best solution.” he chuckled.

If someone else heard him they would think that he was just that full of himself, but these heroes knew how high his intelligence was. If Neku says something, you listen to his plan.

“I will be ending this meeting now, thank you all for joining, I will update you on how it goes in an hour,” and Nezu exited the meeting and turned off his computer. Leaving the heroes to wonder what plan the principle could have come up with in such a short amount of time.
''Oh Izuku, Izuku Midoriya… You seem to hold more secrets than seems at first glance...even I didn’t suspect you of being Yamiyo…”

Chapter Text

After Nezu had left, Izuku was left alone once again. The boy looked around the room but there wasn’t anything else besides some medical cabinets that were locked and the beds. There was nothing to do. Izuku tried to open the window but as last time it wouldn’t budge. He eyed the door. He didn’t hear Nezu lock it.

After hesitating for a few moments Izuku tried the door, and it opened easily. He peeked into the hallway, it was completely empty and quiet. He slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Izuku slowly continued down the hallway, not sure where he was headed. He wandered around the empty hallways, all the doors were closed and probably locked. Fast enough Izuku noticed that he didn’t know where he was, the huge hallways and closed doors were everywhere. He tried walking back the way he came from but seemed to be only walking in circles.

“What are you doing here?” Izuku jumped when he heard someone call from behind him. Turning around he saw Aizawa walking fast toward him.

“Oh hi! I think I got lost?” It sounded more like a question than a statement.

“Were you trying to run away again?” Aizawa eyed him suspiciously.

“No, I was just looking around, you were taking so long and Recovery girl didn’t come and Nezu left the door unlocked and-”

“The door was never locked.”

“Oh… So then why are you asking what I’m doing here if you left the door unlocked??”

The hero sighed, “let me at least show you around if you are already here,” he handed Izuku a small map, “And take this, we give these to students on the first day of class, so they would know where to go.”

Izuku unfolded it, he shouldn't have been surprised by how big U.A was, wanting to go there all his life, but the territory was just huge!

“I’ll show you the support department first as it is just around the corner here.”

Aizawa showed Izuku the support department, where Izuku freaked out from seeing Powerloader working on some project.

Then they went to the cafeteria where Lunchrush gave Izuku his autograph.

The battleground where Vlad king was preparing for his classes, the teacher's lounge where Midnight was looking through paperwork. After that, they went to see the outside perimeter where Cementoss was fixing the building's wall that, as he said, a student accidentally broke yesterday.

Wherever they went, Aizawa could see how excited Izuku was, about seeing the heroes that worked there, and how the places were constructed to fit different type of quirk users, he seemed so enthusiastic about everything, completely opposite to the first time he brought him to U.A. Maybe he was just scared then.

Aizawa wondered if he would even like Nezu’s suggestion. So when they finally went around the entire place and sat on a bench to rest, he asked.

“I see you quite like it here, and the entrance exams are soon, what do you think about attending U.A?”

Izuku's smile dropped, and he sank down on the bench. Aizawa looked at him, trying to understand how it could have upset him so much.

“No.” Izuku said in a firm, serious tone.

“I can put a recommendation for you,” Aizawa suggested.

“No!” Izuku practically screamed standing up. But before Aizawa could say anything the door at the near end of the hallway opened and Nezu peeped out from behind the door.

“Oh, you are already here! Aizawa, would you mind giving us a moment to speak? “

“Come on kid, I will be waiting here.”

Izuku walked into Nezu’s office, head down. Nezu slowly closed the door behind him.

“Take a seat,” he gestured to a chair across from his own, a desk separating the two.

Izuku sat on a chair, fiddling with his fingers and waiting for Nezu to say something.
The principal clapped his paws together. “Well then Izuku Midoriya, I have found something quite interesting.”

Izuku gulped, he didn’t find what he thought he did he?

“You are Yamiyo.” It wasn’t a question, and Nezu didn’t wait for confirmation.
“I will be honest, when I first saw you it didn’t cross my mind, but after hearing certain information it matches perfectly.”

Izuku couldn’t bring himself to say anything, there wasn’t anything for him to say.

“Now,” Nezu tried to catch Izuku's gaze, but the boy was trying to avoid him by staring anywhere but the principal, “I would like to make an offer,” He paused.

“I will keep your past a secret from the public and testify in your favour,” He looked for any reaction, but Izuku was still staring at the ground, now even harder than before.
“I will also take care of your record, completely erase it if you’d like, I will make it so that there won’t be anything the hero commission or the police could possibly accuse you of.”

There was a few seconds of silence before Nezu asked again, “So, what do you say?”

“I-I think that's-” Izuku looked up, “But- if possible could you not completely erase my criminal record? I don’t know, it just feels wrong, and I don’t-”

“I will just fix a few things that they got wrong,” Nezu smiled, “You never willingly helped the villains, never actually helped them, often more sabotaging their plans. You even save a few heroes. But the police don’t know that yet, so I’m just going to add a couple of remarks about that.”

“Wait, how do you know all that?”

“I know a lot of things, don’t question it.” Nezu’s grin grew bigger, “So, what is your answer?”

“Well what do I have to do to meet my end of the deal?” It couldn't be that simple, there had to be a catch.

“Oh simply attend U.A.” Nezu quickly answered. Izuku looked at the principal, eyeing him suspiciously, there had to be some sort of catch.

Seeing that Izuku was clearly waiting for him to say something more Nezu chuckled, “There is no catch as you humans would say, I just predict it would be best for the school to have you here, and I am trying to show you how beneficial it would be for you too.”

Izuku didn’t say anything for a few long seconds.

“So what do you say? Just say the word and in an hour Yamiyo’s case will be closed, and you will officially be a part of U.A high school.”

“Yes.” Izuku finally said, “I agree,” Nezu beamed, “But, I want to take the entrance exams as the rest, if I don’t pass I will not have to attend here.”

“Only if you truly try your best in the exam.”

“I will.”

“Spectacular! It is decided then, I will go take care of it right away.” Nezu slid off his chair and made his way out of the office, while Izuku remained there, thinking over if he should have agreed.

—

Aizawa looked up as the door to the principal’s office opened and Nezu walked out grinning, he could never get used to how creepy that smile looked, as if the principal was plotting something, which he probably was.

Walking past Aizawa, Nezu stopped for a second, “He agreed.” He looked very proud of himself.

Aizawa opened his mouth to speak but Nezu was happily walking away already. Aizawa looked back at the door.

“Kid?” Izuku sighed, he didn’t know why he even agreed to it, wasn’t keeping his identity a secret worse? That was what Kenta said at least. “Kid, you’re there?” Izuku walked to Aizawa and flopped on the bench next to him, hand over his face.

“Did he threaten you??” Aizawa looked concerned.

“Well… kind of,” Aizawa was grabbing his capture weapon, mumbling something along the lines of “That rat.”

“But I did agree to it!” Izuku hastened to add.

Aizawa just sighed.

When they got back to the apartment, Izuku went right to his room and sat on the bed. Staring at one spot on the wall he played over in his head the meeting with Nezu. Izuku wasn’t sure he had made the right choice but the principal was so intimidating he could not think straight.

A bit later, Izuku walked out of his room only to hear voices in the kitchen. Not sure who it was he carefully peeked from the corridor, making sure they didn’t see him, and after recognizing the person, he was thankful he did so.

Detective Tsukauchi was standing in the middle of the room, his back to the entrance. Izuku moved fast backward, knocking over a small succulent flower and running straight to his room, slamming the door shut. He couldn’t let Tsukauchi see him, if he did he could find out he is Yamiyo, if he heard his voice it would all be over, so it would be safer to just wait until he is gone.

Tsukauchi turned around at the sudden noise, “You didn’t tell me you got a cat.” He looked at Aizawa, who looked up at the noise too.

“I don’t.”

“Oh?” Tsukauchi eyed him curiously, clearly waiting for an explanation.

Aizawa sighed, “It’s a kid.”

“You adopted a child??”

Aizawa shook his head and sighed, “No I saved him, and his parents weren't found yet. Now,” He looked up at the detective, “why did you come here?”

“Here,” Tsukauchi put a document on the table, “Everyone who encountered Yamiyo or worked on the case has been asked to sign here.” Aizawa looked at the signatures it already held, one of which was Ms. Joke’s, which reminded him to see if the hospital allowed visitors yet.

“Why?” He asked.

The detective shrugged, “Ask your boss, Nezu had requested it.” He took out a pen from his pocket.

Aizawa took the offered pen and signed the paper, wondering yet again what Nezu was up to and why in the world didn’t he let him sign it earlier in his office.

Chapter Text

When Izuku woke up the light was shining through the window for a few hours already. He stretched in his bed and went out of the room, still half asleep. This had to be the most he had slept in a long time.

He made his way through the corridor, yawning. When he heard hushed voices talking, he slowed down . Izuku could hear that the voices were coming from the living room, but it was hard to make what they were talking about.
He looked inside only to be frozen in shock because it wasn’t what he was expecting. Izuku thought it would be Aizawa talking on the phone to Nezu or something but instead, before his eyes sat four heroes out of uniform with little birthday hats with a cute cat face on them. Each had another one in their hands.

Looking deeper into the room he noticed Aizawa too, he was in a big lounge chair while the rest shared the sofa. He was the only one that didn’t have a cat-hat on. They probably had noticed Izuku staring from the entrance of the room as they quieted down and all turned to him. No one said anything for a few seconds.

“You slept well kid?” It was Aizawa.

Izuku nodded, still not fully understanding what they were doing.

“Tensei brought cereal if you want some, it’s in the kitchen.” Izuku nodded again, silently making his way to the kitchen, where on the counter stood a box of whole grain cereal.
When he was out of sight the whispering started again, someone laughed.

After Izuku had fully woken up and came back to the living room Aizawa was wearing a cat-hat too. Next to him, the famous Midnight was jumping happily up and down and cheering for herself.

“We had a game, who could put the birthday hat on Shota here first,” It was Present Mic who spoke, probably noticing Izuku’s confused face.

Izuku opened his mouth, now that he was fully awake he realized who were said heroes in the room. He didn’t notice how he began to mumble about Mic’s quirk.

The hero that was sitting to the left of Present Mic laughed, “He reminds me of my little brother a bit, I bet they could be great friends,” he said, turning to Aizawa.

“Come on sit,” Mic made room next to him, “You want a birthday hat too?” and before Izuku could answer, the hat was already on him.

“Whose birthday is it? “ Izuku dared to ask.

“Wait, you don’t know?” Midnight put a hand over her mouth and gasped, “You didn’t tell him? You didn’t tell the kid about your own birthday??” She was holding Aizawa by his shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

Izuku looked at Aizawa.

“You are being overdramatic Nemuri, you know I don’t tell anyone about my birthday as I don't see it nessery.”

“But how?? He is literally living with you! Don’t you want your closetest people to know at least? What would you do without our surprise parties?”

“Sleep.”

“Shota…”

“Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever telling you my birthday.”

“Oh, that's me, I found it out when we were still first years in U.A.” Mic laughed, “But don’t hide it Shota, you like when we come visit you, so stop pretending to be a grumpy dad.”

“I am not.”

The heroes continued playfully arguing, and giggling in between.
Izuku looked at the three, they seemed to be good friends. He read somewhere that they went to UA hero school but only remembered it now.

“You want some cake?” Izuku looked at Ingenium, the Turbo hero that was sitting to his left. He looked very kind without his helmet and was just like a copy of his father, the hero that came before him in the Iida family. The family was a family of heroes for generations, Izuku wondered if his younger brother would be joining a hero school, probably U.A, this school year to be a hero as well.

Ingenium laughed, “You seem to know your heroes,” Again, Izuku was mumbling. “I am quite flattered but yes, my brother is trying out for U.A. I have high hopes that he is going to pass the exams.” The hero smiled, “And please, just call me Tensei. So you want cake or not?”

Izuku took the plate he was being offered, it looked appetizing.

Tensei handed him a small fork.

The cake was indeed delicious.

When he was finished, Tensei handed him a birthday hat. Izuku looked at him a bit confused.
The hero pointed at Aizawa, who had taken his hat off already. Izuku immediately understood, looking between the two.

“Try to put it on him,” Tensei whispered, smiling.

Izuku slowly stood up, Mic noticed but quickly looked back at Aizawa as if helping him. Izuku went around Midnight standing to the right of the Aizawa chair, and when he was behind the chair completely he slowly lowered the hat onto the hero's head. The hero didn’t seem to notice. Or so Izuku thought because just as he let go of the hat Mic gaspted, “You let him put it on at the first try but fought us for two hours??”

Tensei laughed, shaking his head “Not fair man…”

Aizawa sighed as Izuku made his way back to where he was sitting before. When he did, he looked back at Aizawa, and a hint of a smile could be found on the hero's face. He did not try to take the hat off any more.

“Now let’s open the presents!” Mic shouted.

While Izuku watched the presents get unwrapped he felt a bit bad that he was the only one in the room that didn’t get Aizawa anything when he was the one in the most debt. So he just sat quietly on the sofa, eating another slice of cake that Tensei put on his plate.

After a few more hours, when no one could eat anymore cake the living room became much quieter.

Tensei stood up, all heads turned to him.
“I would love to stay longer, but I have to go to work.”

Midnight stood up too, pulling her skirt down(which didn’t change much, it was still very short.) “Yeah me too, and I gotta feed Sushi too before patrol.”

And with that, they both left.

Aizawa turned to Mic, “Don’t you have a broadcast soon?” He asked.

“Ah no,” He shook his head, “I cancelled it for today.”

Aizawa turned his gaze to Izuku, “Well then would you mind going to get some clothes for the problem child? My shirts don’t exactly fit him.”

Mic beamed, “I thought you’d never ask!”

“Whatcha say little listener?” They both looked at Izuku, who just shrugged. He did need new clothes but going out without a mask…

“I don’t have any money…” He finally said.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Mic waved his hand up and down.

“If that’s what you are worried about, Nezu arranged some for you.” Shota said.

Izuku looked up at him, surprised. Why did Nezu want him to go to U.A that badly to have to do all that?

“Now go already, I want to go to sleep.”

“You sound like a tired dad,” Mic laughed teasingly.

“Well I am tired,” Aizawa could feel his eyes slowly closing, “Not a dad though.” he added when saw the look Mic was giving him.

Mic snickered, mumbling under his breath, “Not yet.” he turned around, “Now are you ready little listener? Let's get going!” the last part he practically screamed, so Aizawa had to use his quirk.

When the two left and Aizawa was just about to go to sleep his phone rang. It took him some time to find it, but when he did he noticed who the caller was.

“Nezu? Did something come up?”

“Oh hi! No you are still free to have your day off, but I just have to ask for your permission on something,” The principal chimed.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes in suspicion, there weren't a lot of things he could think of that Nezu would have to ask for him for permission first, he was his boss after all, not the other way around.

“What is it?”

“You see, I was looking into the boy's background, to enrol him in U.A and all that. And turns out that I can’t exactly do that.” He paused. “To sign up for the exam you have to list your guardians, turns out the kid doesn't have any official guardians so unless I’m going to hack my own system…” He trailed off.

“Ah And yes I called you because I wrote you down as his main guardian.” The smile on his face could be heard through the phone.

“You what??” Aizawa looked at his phone, dumb folded.

“Don’t you need to ask permission beforehand?” he sighed, “So what do we do now? As in the hero rules, after a hero saves a minor the child is in their custody until a guardian is found, and you are telling me he doesn't have any?”

“Yeah… So now we make it a bit more official… Don’t you think? I will gladly help you! You don’t want the poor boy to go to an orphanage, do you? And it's technically only for U.A so only I know, and well if another teacher will have to call his guardian so don’t stress out.” Nezu laughed on the other end of the line.

Aizawa sighed, accepting his fate, “Oh what a delightful birthday gift.”

—
When Mic finally let Izuku go home he had three shopping bags (which mind you, the hero said was the bare minimum).

Izuku was very tired. Last time he had been to a mall was when he was around seven, it was as crowded as he had remembered, and even with Nezu’s promise to keep his identity a secret he didn’t feel quite comfortable being out for so long. He couldn’t shake off the thought that someone might have seen him. So he let out a sigh of relief when Mic(Who insisted to call him Yamada) said his goodbyes and left and Izuku stepped into the apartment, ready to just fall down on his bed.

But when he walked past the living room and saw Aizawa sitting there, he remembered something important. Izuku hasn’t given Aizawa a birthday gift. He would probably say it's not needed anyway, but Izuku felt as if he had to, he already was living in his house and spending money that wasn’t his.

He still had the money that old man gave him, but it completely slipped his mind and now he couldn't even buy anything with it. So after setting the bags in his room and changing clothes he walked out to the living room fiddling with his fingers.

When Aizawa saw him, he nodded toward the free space next to him. But Izuku didn’t move.

“How was the trip? I know Hizashi can be a bit tiring at times, but you really needed new clothes, and I'm no good at shopping, that’s his thing.” He eyed Izuku who was still standing by the entrance, stepping from one foot to another.

“Hope it didn’t overwhelm you too much, you can go straight to sleep if you want, but you have something to eat before though, there is food in the fridge and also some cake leftovers.”

Izuku opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking.
“I-I wanted to give you a birthday present but-” He stopped, “But I didn’t have any money on me and well- I didn’t feel like asking from Mic would be the right thing to do so-”

“Don’t sweat it kid, I’m not a big fan of birthdays anyway. Come on, sit, lets watch a movie.”

Izuku made his way stiffly and sat down, still messing with his fingers. Aizawa was typing with the remote, looking for movies. He didn’t seem to care that Izuku didn’t have a present, but the boy still felt bad. He was the only one that didn’t bring him anything. Well he wasn't obligated to and Aizawa himself told him but-

“No, but I wanted to give you something, something as a thank-you gift for- for everything so...” He hesitated for a moment, and Aizawa turned to look at him.

“Izuku.” He said.

“What?” Aizawa eyebrow arched, he put the remote on his lap.

“That’s my first name,” Izuku said, looking at the floor before him

“Shota then.” The hero smiled.

“What?” It was Izuku's turn to be confused.

“We are on a first-name basis now, so you should call me by mine too.”

After a pause, Shota huffed, “Well I’m glad you are ready to share that with me kid, I promise I won’t look further into it, but it will be better now, having something to call you other than ‘problem child’,” He paused, “Which you are still are.” And not saying anything more, he picked up the TV remote again, looking through the movie genres.

Izuku relaxed a bit, letting his back rest on the comfortable cushions of the sofa.

Aizawa put on a movie but Izuku fell asleep as soon as it started. His head resting on Shota's shoulder and a smile on his face. The first genuine one in a long time. Soon after Shota drifted into sleep as well, a smile could be seen on his face too.

Chapter Text

When Izuku woke up in the morning, Aizawa- or no, wait he was supposed to be calling him Shota now. Oh Wait — that means he now knew his name too… he did not think this through yesterday.

Shota was standing in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee.

“Good morning,” He said, not turning his head.

“Hi…” nothing was different, or so it seemed. Maybe he really didn’t try to find out more like he promised.

“I will have to leave soon,” the hero looked at the clock that hung on the wall to his right,
“In a bit less than half an hour.”

He turned his head to Izuku, “And you will have to go with me.”

“Where to?” Izuku dared to ask.

“To pay a visit to a friend in the hospital, today is the first day visitors are allowed.”

Izuku nodded slightly, looking at the cereal, the one that Tensei brought the day before. He put some in a bowl, it wasn’t that testy but Shota had only coffee for breakfast, so it was probably better.

He sat by the table where the hero sat down too, taking out his phone and scrolling through some hero news.

Izuku’s thoughts wandered around while he ate, he managed to imagine how Tensei’s brother looks from the cereal that he said was his favourite, about the cute birthday hats, and the overwhelming amount of shops at the mall but finally his thoughts came back to who was the “friend” in the hospital. But he didn’t ask.

Soon they were in the car, they both sat in the two front seats in silence the whole ride. The first time anyone had spoken was Shota, when they entered the parking lot.

“We are here.”

When they made their way up five floors and down a big while hallway, Izuku felt nervous. Nervous because all the doctors and nurses that they encountered stared at them, and he didn’t have a mask, so they were freely seeing his face, nervous of the possibility someone would recognize him, but most of all, nervous about who that friend of Shota is.

They finally stopped, Izuku didn’t look up, just following in the footsteps of the man before him.

Shota greeted his friend, but no answer came, Izuku timidly raised his head only to see one of the heroes he didn’t want to see the most.

On the bed before them sat a woman around Shota’s age, she had light, mint green hair and dark green, almost black eyes. She was half laying on the pillow behind her, bandages were wrapped all over her neck and a bit on her hands.

He did it to her.

It was his fault.

He-

They locked eyes, she smiled at him.

“Ms. Joke…”

Her smile grew, but it seemed as if she couldn’t say anything, maybe she couldn't. Oh God- did he injure her that much? Did she lose her voice because of him?

“Fukukado was injured a few days ago,” Shota informed him, “But I think you already knew that, considering the first time I found you,” He turned to Ms. Joke “When I came across the kid he seemed very worried about you, said that you were badly hurt.”

The heroine tilted her head to the side, as if asking, “is that so?”
Izuku lowered his head in embarrassment.

Ms. Joke pointed to a night stand that stood to the side of the bed, on it was a notebook and a pen. Shota immediately handed it to her.

For a minute or so she was writing. When she finally finished and turned in around towards them Izuku read it, it said:
“I am touched that you were worried about me, I’m all alright, the healers here are the best in the industry! They said that in about three weeks my voice will start to gradually come back, the others are just shallow slashes.”

Izuku didn’t even notice himself apologizing before she smiled at him and shook her head. Then wrote something again, “Happy birthday by the way! Remember what I asked you then? Did you come here because you changed your mind?”

Izuku looked up at Shota whose eyes were focused on the heroince, Izuku looked at her, she was winking at the hero.

Were they dating?

Shota shook his head and sighed.

Probably not.

“Could you wait in the corridor for a bit? I will come in a few minutes,” Izuku nodded and Shota slightly nudged him in the direction of the door. Izuku closed it behind him and sat on one of the chairs that were in what seemed to be a waiting area.

Izuku didn’t know how much time passed when the door in front of him finally opened.

“Let’s go,” the hero said.

Izuku didn’t ask what they were talking about, if he was told to leave it was surely because he wasn’t supposed to hear what they were discussing.

He must have looked curious though because taking one look at him Shota explained.
“I had to fill her in on a case, she missed quite a lot while stuck here.”

Izuku hummed in return. Wondering if by any chance it involved him, Yamiyo.

Just as they sat in the car Shota's phone vibrated, he checked it to find a message from Nezu, saying there were some materials that Izuku should look over before the entrance exam.

Shota told and kid and their changed their course to the school.

He noticed how anxious and jumpy the kid, Izuku, was on their way to U.A. but didn't say anything, he used to be intimidated by the principal too.

Izuku couldn’t sit still. He was worried, even though Nezu promised to take care of everything, what if something happened? What if he changed his mind?

So he jumped when Shota announced, “We are here.”

On their walk to the main building they ran into Cementos who greeted them both and waved to Izuku who could only return a weak smile, he had other things on his mind. Walking through the long corridors Izuku could hear voices from behind the doors that were located on both sides. Come to think of it, today was a regular school day, meaning that he was in a building full of future heroes, learning to be heroes. He really shouldn’t be here.

“Well hello there!” Nezu smiled cheerfully, opening the door for Izuku.

“Come on, sit.” the principal gestured to the chair. Izuku did as told.

“So,” he grasped his paws together, “I do not know what exactly what you had leaned befroe but nonetheless I have gathered some things on subjects that will be in the entrance exam. Feel free to review it and if you find something that you don’t know at all tell Aizawa.”

Izuku nodded as Nezu pulled from underneath his desk a stack of textbooks.

“Oh let me get you a bag!” Nezu jumped off his chair and opened a drawer to his side. “Oh I completely forgot to give you tea! How rude of me…” he shook his head.

“Well at least take some with you,” Nezu pulled out a bag for the books and shoved a smaller bag with tea into there too.

“I think that is it!” He announced.

Izuku slightly bowed his head, “Thank you,” He said receiving the bag.

When they made it back, Izuku headed straight to his desk, staring with the textbook on top, it happens to be English.

The deal he made with Nezu was that he would have to try his best on the entrance exams, for now he had to prepare.
—
It was over two hours since they came back, when Shota called for Izuku, asking if he wanted dinner, no one answered. It made him wonder if the boy had sneaked out again. He knocked on the door and when there was no answer he peeked inside. Izuku was still there, sitting by the desk, his head resting on a textbook, deep asleep.
—

When Izuku woke up in the morning he was a bit confused, he did not remember getting into bed. But he did not question it, he probably did half asleep and just did not remember.

When he came out to the kitchen Shota was already done with his morning coffee.
“Good morning Izuku,” the hero greeted him. It made him jump a bit, he still couldn’t get it to his mind that someone else beside his mother calls him by his given name. It has been years since someone else did.

“Good morning,” Izuku said in return, getting the box of cereal from the counter, "You want some tea?"

Izuku nodded and took the mug Shota was offering him.
When he sat in front of Shota by the table, the man looked up from his phone and said to him, “I am free today, and it seems the training ground in U.A is too, before lunch, that it. So what do you think about training a bit, to get ready for the entrance exam?”

Izuku looked at him stunned. He did not think a moment where Eraserhead would ever offer to train him was possible. But then again he did not actually know who Izuku was.

He touched his chin in thought, making sure to not mumble anything out loud. The offer did sound nice, but he wouldn’t be able to actually trian, there was no way for him to explain how and where he knew anything from. After a minute of thinking he decided that he could just focus in areas he was not trained in previously, that way nothing would be suspicious, and he would actually get to learn something new.

“Let’s do it.”

Shota smiled, seeing how determined the kid was.

“But there is no need to hurry, you got time.”

Izuku nodded but still ate his food fast, leaving the tea to cool down he ran into his room to change.
Looking through the clothes Yamada made him buy he noticed a sports set he mentally thanked the hero for forcing him to get stuff, if not for him, Izuku would have to go around in t-shirts three sizes too big for him or his or a white one where the blood stains were not coming off.

Only five minutes later he came out, “I’m ready,” he announced, grabbing his now just barely warm tea.

“Okay then, let's get going.” Shota was waiting for him, in his black hero suit and scarf around his neck.

Izuku took the tea with him on the way, and tasting it he could swear he had tried it before somewhere else, but he was too excited to think about it.

Chapter Text

When they made it to the training ground Shota could see the sparks in Izuku's eyes. The boy looked around at the different challenges of the obstacle course with awe. Shota did hope he could get into U.A.

“Now, let’s see what you are capable of,” He put a training mat down, “Fight me.”

“What?”

Izuku turned around from his notebook, where he was writing down some notes about the obstacle course that stood to their side…

“I won't go easy on you so try your best, you can try to dodge or do anything you want,” Shota continued, “All you have to do is stay on the mat until the timer is up, you got it?” He looked up at Izuku after putting the timer on for two minutes.

“Oh and we fight quirkless.”

“Huh?”

“No quirks allowed,” Shota clarified.

How ironic, Izuuku thought. Not knowing that he is quirkless, Shota suggested that himself. Izuku smiled, putting his notebook and pen aside.

“This could be fun.”

Izuku didn’t fight for a while, his muscles were sore and his left leg still hurt, ( even though it was supposed to be completely healed he felt a sharp pain when moving too much). So he wasn’t surprised to see that he was overpowered so easily. At first, he moved out when the hero threw a punch, but the third one pushed him off the mat.

He told himself that could do better.

“Let’s start over,” Shota reset the timer.

Izuku stood on the mat, taking a deep breath in. Only two minutes, he should be able to do this. But he couldn’t.

But every time he was pushed off.

—-

“Go drink some water,” Shota gestured to a water cooler that stood to the side, “And then we could move on to the obstacle course.”

Izuku nodded.

He had to succeed at least there.

“Ready, set, go!”

And Izuku was running. At first, it was easy, he climbed over a fence, rolled under some contraption, and crawled under some net.
But then the course took a turn, suddenly he was forced to run uphill. His leg ached, but he did not stop, instead pushing to run even faster. He rolled down the hill and almost fell into a pit. That’s where he had to come to a stop.

It was most likely fitted to test student's quirks. Izuku looked down, the fall was long, but he could see a safety net showing, so took a deep breath and walked a bit backward before running, running, and jumping over the pit. He was almost sure he wouldn’t make it, but he grasped at the ledge.

Somehow was on the other side! Now there was only one problem, he had to get up.

At first, he tried to get his leg up, but it hurt so much that he was scared he would let go, so then he decided to just pull himself with his hands up. Which wasn’t easy, but he made it out at last.

He stood on the solid ground, catching his breath for a second before even he remembered that it was all on time, he was wasting time.

He continued to run up ahead only to see that there was only one obstacle left, a pretty tall fence that he had to climb over. Izuku climbed up fast but when he was about to put his right leg over his left gave out, and he came dropping to the ground.

“Izuku!” He could hear shouts before his vision went blurry, then black.

When he opened his eyes he was in the infirmary, again.

He sat up, he moved his leg a bit, it didn’t hurt at all, but he was exhausted.

He looked around the room, there was no one there besides him, but voices could be heard from behind the door to the corridor.

“Hey… I woke up!” Izuku called, but after waiting a few seconds it seemed no one had heard him. He stood up and slowly crept up to the door. The voices behind it were muffled, so he couldn’t really make out the words.

Izuku opened the door. In Front of him, the corridor was full of kids, everyone was rushing somewhere.

He closed the door.

He may have forgotten he was in a school.

Going back to sit on the bed and wait was a better idea.

It didn't take too long before Shota arrived and without a lot of talking walked him to the parking lot.

“When we get back to the apartment you are going right to sleep!” Shota declared, turning the car on.

Izuku didn’t even try to disagree, he was feeling sleepy and this time he did not have anything else to do, so he just nodded before placing his head on the window to rest while they drove.

“But this time,” Shota looked at him, “You are going to sleep in the living room, so I would be able to keep an eye on you, last few times had proven that you can’t just go to sleep, so this time I will make sure you don’t come out of the room, not even the windows before you rest up.”

As much as Izuku wanted to protest, he didn’t argue.

His eyelids were getting heavy, and he could already feel himself drifting to sleep.

Recovery girl must have used quite a lot of his energy.

“Fair enough I guess,” He mumbled.

Chapter Text

The morning sun didn’t wake Izuku, nor did the alarm- it didn’t even sound for some reason. He continued to sleep peacefully and even Shtoa didn’t wake him. So when he finally opened his eyes and realized it was nine already he rushed to get ready.

“We aren’t going to U.A. today,” Shota declared when Izuku ran out into the kitchen where the hero sat, afraid that he was too late.

The boy who was stopped in his tracks, “Why not?” he looked confused.

“You need to have a rest, overworking yourself isn’t good,” Shota paused, “and yesterday you went the whole day hiding from me that your foot wasn't healing correctly, so you can consider this punishment if you want.”

He looked up from his coffee at the boy to see his reaction, Izuku just sighed and settled down in the dining chair in defeat, he was really looking forward to actually training.

“Eat up, we are going out after breakfast,” Shota said before taking a long sip of his coffee.

“Oh, where?” Izuku lit up, straightening in his seat.

“To an electronic shop.” Shota answered shortly.

Izuku nodded, not questioning it further, he supposed the hero needed to buy something and couldn’t leave him unsupervised. And he did not ask any questions, supposing it had something to do with his hero work. So when they made it to the shop Izuku was surprised to hear Aizawa say.

“Choose.”

“What?” Izuku didn’t quite understand what he meant at first.

“We need to have some sort of way to connect with you,” Aizawa said quietly, studying the big options of different kinds of phones in front of them.

He wasn’t sure which phone to get and what was the most trending at the time, he had his phone for almost four years and didn’t think of getting a new one for himself anytime soon.

Izuku looked up too, did Aizawa specially bring him here to buy him a phone?

“I am not sure which one is the best, so you are free to look,” Shota said after a minute of silence.

Seeing that the boy seemed totally surprised and at the same time probably uncomfortable with choosing one in front of him, Shota decided to add, “I’ll leave you to choose while I buy a SIM card, alright?” Hoping that would make Izuku more comfortable.

The boy didn’t answer at first so Shota began to turn around. When he did, Izuku called after him, “Wait!” Shota stopped and turned his head to look in the boys' direction, “Are you sure I need to get it?”

“Yes you do,” Shota hummed.

“And don’t worry about the money,” He added, looking behind his shoulder, as he turned to walk away.

Izuku was left to stare and the dozens of screens before him.

A few minutes later, (which felt like forever) Izuku saw Shota making his way toward him with a small bag in hand.

“Did you pick one?” he asked.

Izuku didn’t.

“Yeah.”

Shota watched as the boy granted one of the phones, “That one,” he said.

Izuku chose a phone that was known to be good, from a nice brand but not the latest model they had in stock.

“You sure?” Izuku nodded, “Alright.”

When they walked out of the store and made their way down the escalator Izuku heard some faint sound, some sort of ringing. And walking out of the sliding glass doors the sound became closer and clearer, it was an ice cream truck.

“You want some?” Shota asked.

And just like that, they ended up on a bench, each with two scoops of ice cream.

When they were mostly done Shota spoke up, “It probably isn’t very wise to eat ice cream in the winter.”

Izuku hummed, finishing his cone, “It’s not that cold anyway.”

—
On another side of the city, somewhere underground, in a place hidden from any heroes, some sat in a big, throne-like chair. He was looking at the big, glowing screen before him and humming something when a knock sounded behind him.

“Come in.”

The door opened slowly, and the person stepped inside.

“How is it going? I want to fast it out as soon as possible,” he said without turning around.

“Well the nomu is almost done, I will have to only slightly upgrade the regeneration and then everything is ready.”

“Perfect.” A sly smile could be heard in the voice.

“I also wanted to ask you something, if I may.”

The person in the chair hummed, “Go ahead.”

“What you plan of doing about the boy? Because you aren’t doing anything people are starting to think that you actually believe he is dead.”

“Oh that?” the voice huffed, and the chair finally turned towards the door.
“Don’t worry everything is going according to my plan.”

“Thank you, sir,” the other bowed, “I am sure that you know what you are doing, the amazing plan you have certainly can’t fail.”

—-
Back at U.A Izuku stood in front of the door to Nezu’s office. The principal had agreed to be interviewed about his quirk. And so Izuku stood there, notebook in hand. For him, it was a dream come true that he thought would stay a dream forever.

“Come in.”

Izuku opened the door in front of him.

Nezu was sitting in his chair, tea cup in hand. He gestured for Izuku to sit, so he did.

“I was delighted to hear that you are interested to hear more about my quirk,” He began, “And when Aizawa said you’ll be bringing a whole analysis notebook too? I was truly intrigued,” He paused and smiled for a second.

“I would love to read what you write about me in the end.”

Chapter Text

“Let’s spar again,” Shota suggested the next morning while they both sat by the dining table.

Izuku was excited, to say the least, he worried that he won’t be allowed to any more because of what happened last time, but it seemed he was wrong as after less than an hour they were back at the training ground in U.A.

“You're Not hiding any injuries this time, are you?” putting the mat down, Shota turned to the boy.

Izuku waved his hands in front of him, “No, no of course not.”

“Alright, well then,” the hero took a fighting stance, “Like last time, two minutes, try to not get pushed off the mat or find yourself on the ground. No quirks allowed.” He studied the boy in front of him for any sort of reaction.

Izuku just huffed.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Aizawa had to admit, this time the kid was fighting much better. But his fighting style was weird, he knew a lot of attacks that seemed to be from different martial arts, but he was combining them in a way the hero had never seen before. But even despite that, something felt familiar somehow.

This time, even though Shota landed a few hits, Izuku remained standing on the mat.

“Let’s do it again!” Izuku smiled.

The hero nodded and turned to reset the timer.

“But Mr. Eraser, could you actually try this time?”

“What?” Aizawa turned to the boy.

Why the change in name all of a sudden? Weren’t they already on a first name basis? Shota arched his brow, letting Izuku continue.

“No, it just feels like you are holding back.” If Eraser won’t be holding back that means he could go all out too!

“Of course I am.” Izuku looked disappointed.

“Well could you try not to?” Shota gave him a look, “just this once?”
The pro shook his head.

“Please? It will be more fun… if you won’t hold back, I won’t either.”

Shota looked at him, he was pretty interested now. He didn’t think the kid was actually holding back much, but he wanted to see it for himself.
He sighed, “Alright.”

Izuku smiled, maybe now the hero could help him actually improve a bit until U.A.
Maybe that way he could at least stand a chance against the amazing quirks of the other students.

Shota was hesitant at first, but seeing that Izuku was trying harder now he was basically forced to fight. He was surprised at the sudden change, it seemed that the Izuku was actually also holding back all before. Shota’s eyes widened when he had to retreat because of a kick the boy sent to his face, he had to lean back to not get hit. There was no time for him to stand up as Izuku sent his leg now from under the hero, almost swapping him from his feet. Shota barely remained standing, now sending a punch in his turn.

That went on for some time until suddenly Shota no longer felt the mat under him, he was out. In that very same second when he was pushed out, the timer went off.

Izuku dropped to the ground while Shota stopped the alarm.

The boy sat on the ground and was trying to catch his breath, panting and brushing his curls away from his face.

Shota turned to him.

“Did you have any prior training in hand-to-hand combat?” He asked, Izuku's head shot up, “You actually managed to win this time.”

“No! No, no,” Izuku waved his hands in the air, “You stepped out just as the time was up, so it doesn’t count.”

Shota didn’t argue, if the kid didn’t think of it as a victory there would be no use trying to convince him. But it didn’t matter the time, Izuku was able to overpower him.

After a water break they decided on another spar.

“The same as before, no weapons, no quirks.”

Izuku giggled.

“What’s so funny? You seem to always be humoured every time I explain the rules.”

Izuku smiled, looking at the confused hero.

“You just say it every time,” And after a second he added, “You can use your quirk if you want.”

“Will you be using yours?”

Izuku shook his head, still smiling. This was fun!

They spared, Izuku almost won twice. After that they moved on to trying to improve Izuku’s kicks. They trained for what felt like a few minutes before Shota checked the watch.

“Two hours have passed, the second years will be using this area soon.”

Izuku nodded, trying to catch his breath. It turned out to be great practice, and he was having fun at the same time, he almost didn’t want to stop.

Shota checked his phone, “Nezu is asking for you to come up to his office.”

On his way to the principal's office Izuku took all precautions to ensure that no student would see him. He was allowed to be there, yes. But he wasn’t wearing anything that resembled the school uniform but the sports suit Yamada chose for him. There would be questions and Izuku just didn’t want to encounter anyone.

Just as he raised his hand to knock, the door opened and Nezu’s head popped out.

“Why hello there, been waiting for you.”

Izuku came in as the principal sat in his chair and arranged some papers.

“Please, take a chair.”

Izuku closed the door behind him and sat.

“First of all I want to say that what you were able to find out, the analysis of my quirk from the little information I gave you is truly incredible.” Izuku was quite scared at first of what the principal would think, but now he couldn’t help but feel flustered and even a bit happy.

“Your quirk analysis skills are amazing, I would love to be able to see more of your work.” the principal stopped smiling.

“But this alone won’t get you into U.A.”

Izuku looked at Nezu, wondering what else he had in store for him.

“See this,” Nezu slid a stack of papers toward the boy, “I made this especially for you, to see what you know already and what you need to prepare before the entrance exam.”

Izuku studied the papers, it looked like a regular test.

“A mock test if you will.” Nezu finished his thoughts for him, “So take this with you and when you are done bring it back to me and will see what you should improve.”

Izuku nodded while Nezu put all the papers in a bag.

“Oh and you should probably time yourself as the real exam will have a time limit.”
—

The way back from U.A took the main street. It was usually crowded but this time the traffic wasn’t even moving. Perhaps a villain attack, Izuku thought.

Shota turned to a side street where he knew a way to get home, avoiding all the big streets.

Izuku had his head in the window in deep thought when all of a sudden his eyes darted to something outside. Shota didn’t notice, but Izuku spotted something.

The boy straightened up in his seat and looked back as the car drove away. He knew the neighbourhood looked familiar but didn’t pay much mind to it until they passed that apartment complex, his old home, him mothers-

“Kid are you alright?” Shota sounded worried.

Izuku took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself, “Yeah I just um remembered something.”

“And that is?” Shota was looking straight ahead at the busy road but seemed to sense the change in Izuku’s mood.

“Ah, just about my mum.” Izuku said quietly.

“Is she worried about you? Do you know where she is?”

“No!” It came out a bit louder than Izuku would have liked.

Shota seemed startled, and didn’t question any more.

Izuku felt like he should say something but truly did not know what, so he remained quiet too.

But as soon as they got home, Shota called him into the kitchen.

“Sit,” he gestured to the dining chair, his voice was serious.

Izuku sat, prepared to be questioned.

Shota took a long look at Izuku before saying, “Is there perhaps something happening at your home?”

The hero watched as Izuku froze. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say so closed it fast.

"Are your parents.." the hero took a deep breath, “Are any of your parents hurting you in any way?” He had a feeling that was the case since the beginning from how the boy was acting.

Izuku did not expect that to happen. Well there have been a lot of surprises for him lately.

The boy sighed, then shook his head and said.

“I suppose we could pay her a visit.”

Shota studied the boy’s expression for any hits of- well anything but Izuku seemed just as if had given up.

“Is there any food left that we can take?”

Shota nodded. And after Izuku packed a portion of their last leftovers they went down to the car.

“Drive to U.A but by the route we took today on our way back, I'll show you the way from there.”

After a few minutes of silence Izuku suddenly said, “Here go right.”

The car made a sharp turn, “Continue a bit straight, and we will be there.”

Shota looked around, it wasn’t too far from his apartment, but he had never been in this place before as his patrol route was in the opposite direction.

As the car continued forward the path cleared from buildings, only to their right was a big, quiet, abandoned construction site.

Izuku pointed at a wall that could be seen just after the fence of the site, “There.”

Shota parked the car and they both got out, he continued after the boy who guided him to a gate in the big wall.

Coming closer to the gate Shota could read what was written on it, it was a civilian cemetery. When they entered through the gate he also noticed how small but cramped it was and how cheap and dirty everything looked. He thought to himself that it was most likely the place where people who didn’t have enough money for something more grand.

The boy in front of him suddenly stopped and Shota almost bumped into him.

The hero looked over to see that Izuku was standing over a freshly made grave, but it had a flower bouquet covering name, so he couldn’t see it.
Izuku slowly put his offering down.

“That’s my mother’s,” He said quietly.

After they paid their respects in silence Izuku moved to turn around and exit but Shota spotted something on the opposite side of the gravestone, it was a small stand, made from the same stone with some words engraved on it, what caught his eye was the big letters on the top-

In loving memory of Izuku Midoriya.

The boy noticed that Shota read it as he took a step closer to it himself.

“And this one was made for me,” Izuku said as he read over what was written on the gravestone one more time before picking a rock off the ground and smashing it. The plate was small and only after three tries it cracked- on the fourth it completely shattered.

“Let’s go,” he muttered, turning around and walking away from the stunted hero who remained a second longer.

Shota turned on the car and turned to Izuku who still had the gloomy look on his face and was staring straight ahead and out the window.

“So what was that about?” he asked.

“People think I’m dead.” Izuku answered, not turning his head.

Shota hummed, “I can see that.”

"What about your father?" Sounded after a few minuted of silence.

Izuku looked out the window for sometime before answering. "He is not someone I'd like to meet again."

—
When they got to their apartment Izuku went straight to bed, even though he didn’t fall asleep for long he just stayed laying in bed, not moving.

Shota on the other hand was pacing back and forth in the living room, cursing under his breath and muttering to himself.

The hero sat down on one of the dining chairs and putting a hand on his temple.
How didn’t he recognize the boy sooner? The hero shook his head. For the past few days he was so caught up on Yamiyo, always thinking about the outlaw that he didn’t even notice that he had a missing child just casually staying at his apartment.

Chapter Text

Shota barged into Nezu’s office at seven in the morning unannounced.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well good morning to you too Aizawa,” the principal said, smiling innocently.

“When were you planning on telling me that the kid- Izuku is legally dead?” He continued, not returning the greeting.

“Oh goodness,” Nezu clasped his paws together.

“Took you long enough,” he said, looking directly at the man across from him. Aizawa didn’t have time to open his mouth when the rat asked.
“So how did you figure out?”

Shota hesitated for a moment before answering, “He showed me himself.”

Nezu leaned closer, interested. If he was human he would have probably raised a brow.

“Showed you?” he repeated after Shota, “interesting choice of words.”

“It’s-” Shtoa put a hand over his face, “This is not important, I came here to ask you questions, not the other way around.”

“Very well then.” The principal relaxed a bit, sitting back in his chair.

—

When Izuku woke up Shota was already finished with his coffee and was putting on his coat. Izuku hesitantly walked into the kitchen, but the hero did not greet him, not even looked in his direction, instead grumbling that there was some urgent business he had to do and disappearing behind the apartment door.

So just like that, before Izuku could completely wake up he was left alone to wonder what Shota had to do. He sat on the sofa, pulling his legs under him. The hero had never left him alone before, it made him curious about what was that urgent business he spoke of.
Looking around the room he felt weird being here alone, technically he could do anything he wanted.

Izuku suddenly jumped up. Could it have to do something with the fact that he showed to Shota yesterday? Of course it did. Izuku facepalmed, why did he even do it? He didn’t know what came over him then. He looked around, the living room window was slightly open. Maybe he could use this chance to run away?

Izuku stood there for a second, debating, before he shook his head. No.

Running won't achieve anything.

Izuku walked laps around the living room as it helped him think. Shota should only know about his real name, which means there isn't any way for him to find out about Yamiyo, Right?

Finally he settled back down on the sofa, deciding that the best course of action to take would be to just answer whatever questions the hero has for him. Which probably is a lot, he sighed.
Why did he even have to stay here in the first place? Right, Kenta. Izuku stood up, making his way to his room, almost running even. Pushing aside the notebooks on his desk he almost made one fall off, but caught it before it could fall. Under all the notebooks laid his brand-new phone. Under it was a small note.

Izuku took both, and slowly went back to the same place on the sofa where he sat before. Izuku unlocked his phone, that passcode was a simple pattern, the first he could think of, and he had to admit- it felt nice having something for himself that he could lock from others. Even though Shota showed no interest in looking through his phone, all he did was put his number on it and give it back, letting Izuku pick the name himself. So Izuku put him under Shota Aizawa. At first, he put in brackets his hero name but decided against it.

The only other contact on Izuku’s phone was principal Nezu. The number was the first thing Shota sent him. Well, after a simple “hello” to test that it was the right number.

Izuku taped on the add a new contact and looked down at the note in his hand, adding his third number- Kenta. After double-checking that he got the number right, Izuku saved the contact. Opening messages he began to type, “Hi this is Yamiyo” but very quickly deleted it. someone else could see it, which he definitely didn’t want. If not here, on the other side someone might. It would be too risky.
Izuku put a finger on his chin in thought. What else could he say to make it too obvious that it was him? Kenta didn’t know his real name.

After typing in and deleting everything a few more times Izuku finally settled on “thanks for the tea, the hero enjoyed it(though was suspicious at first from where it came from). You gave me a note with your phone number and only now i remembered to put it in my new phone, sorry about that. But im all good(for now, i told him my name so i might not be in half an hour). But yeah, test this number:)”
He read it again. It didn’t sound half as bad. Izuku tried to reference what he could to make Kenta understand that it's him.

Izuku looked it over once more, this time he didn’t like it. the sound of the front door being suddenly opened, made him jump, accidentally pressing send. Izuku just sighed and decided to leave it like that.

Putting the phone in his pocket Izuku popped his head out to the hallway. There by the entrance, Shota was taking his shoes off with clearly too much force and a scowl on his face. Was he angry? Izuku disappeared again into the living room. He was definitely angry.

Shota walked past Izuku and sat down on the sofa. Izuku fiddled with his fingers before asking quietly, “are you angry at me?”

“Angry?” Shota looked up with a rather puzzled look, before sighing, “Yes, I am quite irritated,” He watched as lowered his head, “But not at you.”

Izuku looked up with questioning eyes.

Shota put a hand over his face, “I went to talk with Nezu,” Izuku tensed up again, “he always knows everything from the beginning but likes to play games with everyone else, so yeah, I am pretty angry because of that.” He looked at Izuku and gestured for him to sit on the sofa too. Izuku slowly sat down, not relaxing yet.

After a second of silence Shota spoke, “I just want to confirm a few things that Nezu told me, would you mind answering honestly a question or two?”

Izuku hesitantly nodded, eyes fixed at one dot on the floor.

Shota sighed, he could see that the kid didn’t really want to talk.
“Okay just one question,” the hero said, “are there any family members or guardians we can contact? If yes, we will have to inform them that you are alive.”

“No,” Izuku answered immediately, “There is no one you can contact,” he looked up, “and I'm not saying this because I don't want you to tell, they already knew.”

Shota raised a brow, “Knew? Do they know now?”

“You said one question,” Izuku looked back down.

Shota hummed, “That’s right… I did.”

Izuku stood up, “Is that all? Can I go now?”

Shota nodded, and the boy made his way to his room. In the doorway to the hallway, he stopped to say, “It's a long story, I’ll tell you another time.”

Closing the door behind him Izuku let out a breath of relief, he didn’t reveal too much, at least he hoped he didn’t.

At the same time Shota sighed in the living room. When he finally thought he found something out the kid became more of a mystery.

Chapter Text

“We aren’t going to spar today?” Izuku asked as he walked into the living room where the hero sat, working on something on his laptop. After the talk that they had before Izuku hid in his room for a few hours, but now, he noticed the sun was already up high. That made him remember that by noon they should be training already.

“No,” Shota didn’t even stop typing or lift his head, “Nezu gave you a mock test to fill, didn’t he?” Izuku nodded, “So focus on that today, it isn’t good for you to train every day yet anyway, your body isn’t completely recovered.”

And like that Izuku was back in his room. Sitting by the desk he couldn't help but wonder if Shota was still mad at him. Yes he said he wasn't, but what if he was?

Izuku shook the thoughts away, putting the stack of papers on the desk and pulled out a pen. He looked at his watch and watched as the second hand moved, once, twice.

Closing his eyes, Izuku took a deep breath in, then out.

Nine minutes past nine, he wrote it down on a small note to not forget and starting the stopwatch on his hand watch got right to doing the test.

Izuku was very focused on answering the questions correctly. It was mostly just memorization of the hero laws, simple multiple choice questions. Izuku knew all of these by heart. All the hero analysing he did since he could write and read. The boy had read the hero laws book at least ten times. Though he did come across a few questions that he had no idea what would be the answer, but thinking logically of what a hero is supposed to do he marked the answers, hoping they are correct.

Flipping yet another page to the other side, ready to do it, Izuku realized that he was finished. Checking one last time that he didn’t miss anything he looked at his watch. Forty-six minutes had passed.
—
Izuku peaked out to the living room, where Shota was still typing on his laptop, though slower this time and an empty coffee cup next to him.

“Um I did it,” Izuku said walking closer.

“Hm?” Shota lifted his eyes from the screen, looking a bit confused.

The boy fidgeted with his fingers, “I finished, and well Nezu said to call him when I do.”

“The test?” Shota asked, then checked the time, “Already?” Izuku nodded.

“Then tell him that yourself, you have his number right?”

So Izuku returned to his room and sat back on his chair, taking out his phone. While he was looking at the contact name of the principal, debating on how he should say it, a notification popped up, a new message. Izuku looked up at the door of his room, where on the other side sat the hero who had no reason to text him. There were only two other people in his contacts. Izuku opened the messenger app, it wasn't Nezu. The message was from Kenta.

---
I didn’t think you would be back so soon,” Nezu said, smiling as Izuku walked into his office.
“But I am proud of that fact as well,” he said when Izuku sat down in front of him, “would you like some tea?” And when the boy agreed, Nezu jumped up from his chair and reached for the traditional kettle with matching small cups.

He handed Izuku a cup full of steaming tea and the boy thanked him.

“So,” he crossed his paws, “How much time did it take you? Did you time yourself?”

“Yes, you didn’t specify in how much time I was supposed to do it, but I managed to do it in just a minute over forty-five minutes.”

Nezu clapped, “Unbelievable, truly.”
He looked straight up, meeting Izuku's eyes, “you know what is the time given for this exam?”

“No?” Izuku hesitantly answered, though he assumed it to be 45 minutes, never actually told him that.

“It’s three hours.”

Izuku almost spilled the boiling tea on his lap.

“This exam right here,” Nezu waved one of the papers in the air, “isn’t actually the mock exam for the entrance, there is no such thing and I never created such a thing.”

Izuku looked at him, puzzled.

“This is in fact an actual test, on heroic laws but not for the entrance, but the written test for a licence,” Izuku looked up at his confused, not completely realizing yet, “A hero licence.”

This time Izuku almost fell from his chair. He put the tea cup down to not spill it.

“You have scored a passing grade with only three mistakes. Now, if you only do the practical exam you will be qualified for a licence, it isn't a regular hero licence, no- this one allows you to help out heroes in need, defend yourself or- train others, usually it is given, so people can freely use their quirks, but your case is quite different, which is why I am suggesting you partake in the practical exam, and if you pass it you could help teach here at U.A high heroics.”

Izuku was dumbfounded and just sat there frozen, jaw to the floor.

“You definitely have what it takes,” Nezu continued, “Your observation skills are very valuable, and with a bit of guidance it may even match mine.” Izuku stared at him with eyes wide open, “You can point out weaknesses easily and your outings as Yamiyo definitely helped with that. So what I am saying is, I want you to simply analyse the students and see how they could improve and help out in hand-to-hand combat too.”

Nezu stopped and looked at the boy for an answer.
But Izuku couldn’t bring himself to say anything. All of this was weird and made no sense.

He had just barely made peace with the fact that he is probably going to study at U.A when the principal himself basically scouted him to do work for him??

“Well that's all if you pass the exam for your licence, if you don’t we can agree to never speak of it again, what do you say?”

Chapter Text

The evening before the exam Izuku sat in front of the principal, both sipping their tea while
Nezu explained.

“The exam is a special case, it isn't like the normal hero licence exams.”

Izuku nodded, he thought as much.

“It is meant for those who had shown themselves useful to the heroes or certain vigilantes that had proved of being able to be great heroes.”

“The exam does not allow any additional weapons and is not taken in hero suits like the regular hero licence exam, though I suppose I could ask them to make an exception for you and allow you to bring something as it is targeted toward people to utilize their quirks,” Nezu said, pouring himself another cup of tea.

“No, there is no need for that.” Izuku shook his head, he didn't want to drive any unnecessary attention to him.

Nezu smiled, before saying, “If you are sure.”
—
Shota woke Izuku up in the morning, and they made quick breakfast before going to the car. The ride was rather long as the exam took place in another city. Izuku couldn’t sit still, fidgeting with his fingers. He couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Despite knowing that Nezu probably told Izuku everything there is to tell, Shota wanted to prepare him somehow. He finally spoke when they sat in the car and put their seatbelts on.
“You will most likely be put into groups and will have to play some sort of competition game against each other, it will test your team work, fighting ability and heroic traits- such as running in to save people.”

Izuku nodded, taking note of that.

“But keep in mind, it isn’t like the usual hero exam, so things are going to work a bit different than at a regular exam you might have heard of, though I’m sure Nezu had told you all about that already.”

After that no one said anything for the rest of the ride. Izuku looked out of the window in anticipation while Shota drove in silence, not taking his eyes from the road.

“We are here,” Shota said as they pulled into a huge parking lot that was almost full, it took them some time to find an empty pot.

The warm wind rattled Izuku’s hair as he stepped out of the car. In Front of him were huge gates.

They both went on inside and had to sign in before walking through a long corridor.

“Good luck,” Shota said, a hint of a smile on his face as they came close to a door.

It opened automatically when Izuku was close enough.

Izuku nodded, stepping inside, “I’ll do my best!” And with that the door behind him closed, and they were separated. Izuku was pushed into a loud crowd of people. Looking around he was surprised as to how many were there.

“Hello candidates!” a voice in a loudspeaker rang above them, everyone quieted down and lifted their heads. “As you know, today we will be testing your heroic traits and overall skills. The test will last only half an hour, try to not get caught. But pay mind that not everyone here is going to pass. From the 400 people that are here in this hall only around 10 will make it.”

The crowd erupted into murmurs, but it didn’t startle Izuku, he was expecting that.

“Now,” The voice sounded again, “You are going to play a simple game, there will be two teams, the goals of both is to capture as much of the opposite team members as they can and bring them to your base where they will remain until receiving a high five from someone of their own team, understood? Oh, and if you have been caught you have to go with the one that got you, not running away as it will be taking away your points.”

Now, there is a red line in the middle of this hall, if you are standing on it please move to the side.”

There was a bit of movement in the middle.

“Alight, now we have two groups. Each side has a door where you’ll go through and receive a shirt in the colour of your team.”

Izuku couldn’t help but think that this way of separating the teams and not making them even wasn't quite fair as it would give one of the sides a disadvantage.

The door was pretty close to him as he didn’t get too far away into the crowd, so he could see when it opened, though this time it wasn’t the same hallway he took with Shota to get here, but a room, empty and rather big. In the middle of the room stood three white tables with staff sitting behind them and blue shirts neatly folded on the tables.

Despite being so close to the door, because of how everyone was pushing Izuku found himself getting his shirt when the tables were almost empty.

When everyone in the room stood with their blue shirts on there was a minute of waiting, when nothing happened. People started looking around confused when suddenly, scaring a few, a horn announced the beginning and one of the walls came down, revealing an area. It looked exactly like a city, though completely empty of anything or anyone.

“Start!” sounded across the area with a second blow of the horn and everyone started running, so Izuku did too.

He didn’t stop running until the crowd thinned out, and he was almost completely alone. Deciding to go hunt out for the other team he looked around, trying to see anyone wearing a different colour, but he seemed to be surrounded by blues. Only then did he realize that he had no clue where his team's base could be located, his teammates didn’t seem to care for that, as when he asked the closest person to him if they knew they just ran away shouting that he was wasting time. Izuku let out a breath, how could he even go to try and capture the opposite team if he didn’t know where he was supposed to be bringing them?

Izuku finally stopped running, he had to think.
He lifted his head, taking another look around, only to notice that now he was completely alone. Everyone hurried to caputre as many of the oppside team as they could in the time given, but izuku couldnt run in without some sort of strategy.

This being a mock city gave him advantages, he was used to scaling buildings and hiding in alleyways, but as he remembered Shota saying that this exam is a special case, some of the people here have worked as vigilantes for years.

He shook his head, there was no time to get anxious now. He looked around him to find the highest building and made his way closer to it, trying to find a fire escape but to no avail.

Now he was actually wasting time.

This is where a quirk would actually be helpful, like the flight one he had before. Izuku shook his head, no it's better that he doesn't have those stolen quirks now.
Trying not to think about it any more and not caring of any ambush he ran straight into the building and up the main staircase. As he was just nearing the eighth floor of the ten-story building, a door to his left burst open and someone jumped out. Izuku climbed on the railing, avoiding the snakes that seemed to come out.

A snake quirk huh? Not very good.
The person stayed hidden behind the door, hoping to catch Izuku without showing themselves.

Izuku couldn’t think of fighting them at the moment, his goal was to find his team's base. So with that, he climbed to the next railing. On the next floor the snakes couldn’t reach, so he went back to taking the stairs. The quirk user behind him wasn’t pleased and didn’t want to let him go in peace, running up the stairs after him.

Izuku hurried to the tenth floor, and running out to the roof he closed the door behind him.
He made his way to the ledge and looked around. In the far right on some rooftop rose a red flag, the enemy's base.

It took him more time to find the blue flag of his own team. But finally, he noticed the blue colour visible behind a building to his left, it was much closer than the red one. What a relief.
At that moment the door behind him opened with a crash.

“Don’t you think you can get away that easily!” Izuku jumped to the side just as three huge snakes launched at the place he was just standing at.

Now that he knew where to go he could actually start fighting back and capturing.
“What are you smiling for?!” more snakes were launched at him.

Izuku huffed, standing with hands on his knees. It took him to long to capture the snake person. But to his dependence he had nothing more than a stick he picked up from the ground.

Izuku stood there for a second, deciding what to do next when he caught a glimpse of some red shirts on a building down the road. He started heading there when a sudden explosion made him stop in his tracks.
Izuku saw glass falling out of a window of a house nearby, then a scream sounded, followed by the sound of rubble falling down. The building was shaking, and not thinking any more, Izuku ran straight to the building.
The scream came from somewhere near the ground, so he didn't have to check all five floors, which would have been difficult because the entire building was shaking and small parts of it were falling off, soon it would all fall completely. Izuku checked all the rooms on the ground floor but there was no sign of a person.

“Hey! Is anyone there?” He called, making sure to not be too loud.

Izuku stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around, trying to listen but no answer came. He let out a sigh, maybe the scream didn't come from this building. But then why would the building suddenly break? It had to be some quirk accident for sure. That was when Izuku spotted an opening leading to the basement. Carefully he made his way down the half broken stairs and as his eyes adjusted to the half barely lit room, he could see in a pile of rubble something moved.

Running forward Izuku could make out that it was a person. As he slowly made his way closer, the window to his left let the sun shine and make Izuku see the other person more.

They were barely keeping their head up, blood dripping from their temples and hair covering the forehead.

“Hey are you alright? Can you hear me?” Izuku squatted down and brushed the hair away from their face.

“Yeah…” came a weak answer.

Izuku hurried to try and get them freed from under there, for that he had to get rid of some log, which took some struggling but finally he pushed it aside and with that out of the way the other could climb up and out of the rubble.

“Oh that's great! But what happened here? Did you lose control of your quirk?” Izuku asked when they were both sitting on the pile.

“Not me.” This time the answer was cold.

“Is there someone else here?” Izuku looked to the sides but couldn't see anyone else.

“I hid from her, but th-” Izuku turned around quickly as he heard some sort of zapping sound from the far wall behind him. The wall came crumbling down, and with that the building shook. In the newly created hole was visible a silhouette.
“Oh there you are!” a new voice chimed, a young girl came closer. Her hands in the air, ready to activate her quirk.

“Wait!” Izuku shouted, waving his hands infront of him.

“Hm? And who are you?” The girl lowered her hands and took a step closer. She was wearing a blue skirt and an almost matching blue shirt that was clearly not her size.
“Could you get away please? I saw her first, so, I should capture her,” she chimed.

“Capture?” You almost made the whole building collapse, that can kill someone.”

“Huh?” the girl with the blue shirt scowled, “are you trying to stop me? Can't you see? Maybe the lights here are too dim for you but she is on team red.”

Izuku turned around to the other girl that was sitting behind him, hurting her legs with one hand while wiping the blood from her face with the other.
“I just saw that someone was hurt, shouldn't that be the top priority? ” Izuku thought out loud, he actually didn't notice the red shirt until now.

“Alright well now you see it, get out of my way I need to capture her, and you are wasting my time.” the girl began to activate her quirk slowly.

“No no stop!” Izuku stood up, “She needs medical attention right now.”

“Ugh I can't with you.” the girl rolled her eyes.

Seeing that she wasn't going to listen, Izuku sighed, he had to think of something!
“Yes, I am wasting your time,” he slowly said, “but in the next house across the street are hiding at least two from the red team, with this time you could capture both of them.”

It seemed to work, as she stopped to think. “You are not lying, are you?”

“No, why would I lie?”

She put a finger on her chin, “Yeah you are right, it is against the rules of the exam to lie, so if was a lie I could just report it, and you will be disqualified, and I will likely get more points.” She straightened up and clapped her hands together, “alright! It's a deal then.” and with that, disappeared through the same hole in the wall she came from.

Izuku looked at the hole in the wall a bit confused, from what he could remember the rules didn't say anything about lying, but they did specify about not hurting other participants.

Izuku shook his head, there was no need to think about it, he let out a breath of relief. “Can you stand?”

Chapter Text

Turned out the girl's ankle was probably sprained, so when finally, after some struggling to help her walk Izuku got with her to the first aid tent, the voice roamed with another announcement.

“You have only five minutes left, the team that has the most teammates captured when the time ends loses.”

Izuku stood up straight, they didn’t mention that earlier, probably on purpose. So saying bye to the girl he took off in the direction of the red team, hearing her shout thanks after him.

Izuku ran towards the danger while all his teammates were running in the opposite direction. He ran without stopping until he was one building away from the red team’s base. He was behind the corner but peaked a bit out to be able to observe. Izuku had to release as many of his teammates as he could. In all that time he caught only one, so he didn't hope for a lot of points, but freeing his team members seemed as the right thing to do and could probably save their team. He couldn't really capture anyone, both teams were gathering at their base. Looking up he couldn't see much, but it appeared there were around ten people from the blue team captured inside, with around fifteen red, guarding their base. The base stood on top of one of the buildings but not the highest one, you could probably get there by climbing on top of the other, taller building and then jumping down. There was a slight problem though, Izuku didn’t have anything with him, not a rope nor his dagger. And without any gear, support items or quirk he couldn't possibly get down the bare wall. Izuku put a hand on his chin in thought.

But he did not have much time to think because someone suddenly shouted, “There!”

Izuku turned around, afraid he had been spotted, but the guards on the roof were pointing in the direction opposite to him, from the other side of the building.

While they were distracted, that was his chance. So not wasting time to find out what they were distracted by, Izuku ran to the house. Spotting the emergency staircase from its side he climbed up as fast as he could. It was rusty and wobbly but in a minute or so Izuku was on the rooftop. He ran up to his teammates, hand extended for a high five. They were already watching him, and waiting for him to come closer.

The guards didn't notice him yet, they were shouting to one another and looking for something, or someone. Not waiting for them to find him out, he came close to the circle.

Izuku freed one.

Two.

Three.

Four.

“Hey!” One of the guards spotted him, and Izuku ran faster.

Five, six, and seven.

He put out both his hands and two more people high-fived him. Eight and nine.

The second Izuku freed them, they were using their quirks to get down from the roof.

Izuku looked around, counting. There had to be another one, he was sure there were more.

There! On the far side of the roof, where the building connected to an adjoining house, someone sat on the ground. Heavily breathing and hand over face. From the looks of it, quirk exhaustion- Izuku guessed.

Izuku hurried their way but was stopped by a harsh pull on his shirt.

“Gotcha!” he heard a voice behind his shoulder.

Why did he have to get captured in the last what– two minutes?

Izuku stood in the red circle, while the guard that caught him put hands on his hips proudly and left to look over the edge of the building after smugly mouthing, “We are gonna win.”
After glancing over the edge and not seeing anyone who was coming to free Izuku, as everyone was running in the opposite direction, the guard calmly joined the group of the others.

Izuku looked behind him, at the others from team red, they weren’t really guarding any more, sitting on the ground and talking. Probably thinking that nothing was going to happen at the last minute.

Izuku sighed, that didn’t help him though, he couldn’t escape without someone from the outside. And he had no one who could come to his rescue. This made his stop to think, did any of his teammates actually work in a team? Yes they had the same goal, but everyone was working on their own, without any plan or anything. That could possibly make the whole team fail, wouldn't it? He shook his head, well at least he was able to save the others, the red team had two captured, including him now. He wondered how many team blue had.

Looking around the guards didn’t seem concerned at all. Were they sure two was a lot? Did none of their teammates get captured? How would they even know, there wasn't any way to keep in contact with your teams. Izuku crossed his arms and his brows drew together, deep in thought. There could be someone with a quirk that allows that, something like telepathy, though these are very rare. Or maybe they are just so full of themselves?

“Everyone, high five me, quick!” Izuku looked up, being snapped out of his thoughts. Someone had jumped off the taller building, like he thought of doing before. The person rolled before standing up and running towards him. The guards were startled, and rushed after the intruder who high-fived the person sitting down and was now hurrying to Izuku.

Izuku put his hand up, ready.

“Yes!” the person cheered.

And- Izuku was free!

The horn sounded less than a second after he stepped out of the circle. Izuku smiled at the teammate that saved him, only to see the horrified look on their face, Izuku’s smile dropped too. He knew this face.

“Yamiyo?”

What are you doing here?”

Chapter Text

“What are you doing here?” in front of Izuku stood a confused, familiar face.

“Kenta?” Izuku faintly asked, “What are you doing here?”

The other guy just grabbed Izuku by his sleeve and pulled after himself, walking away.

“Let’s go somewhere more private, it seems we both have some explaining to do.”

Soon enough Izuku found himself in an empty hallway, close to the room from where they started that test.

Kenta turned around, crossing his hands, “So how are you here?”

Izuku hesitated before speaking, “You go first.”

Shaking his head Kenta said, “But that’s not fair, I asked first.”
But seeing as Izuku didn’t move or say anything more he sighed.

“I helped out heroes by giving them information and got the chance to get a real hero licence, that’s the short version. I’ll tell you the longer one after you explain how you got here.”

“Well um a hero recommended I take it.”

Kenta was clearly waiting for more.

Izuku took a deep breath in before saying, “Well you know already that I've been staying with a hero, well he introduced me to a certain powerful hero that figured out who I was, and we made a deal as he has something he wants me to do, but I have to get this licence for that,” he looked up into the other’s eyes, “That is the short version.”

“Izuku?” they both turned their heads around in the direction of the voice, and only a second after Shota peaked from around the corner.

“Hi!” Izuku put his hand up.

Two people spoke at the same time.

“Who is that with you?” Directed to Izuku.

And another, louder, “You know him?” also to Izuku.

Shota came closer, “Habiki?”

“Hello Eraser!” he happily greeted, before turning back to Izuku with a more serious look on his face, “Where do you know him from? Is Izuku your actual name?”

“Wait, why do you call him Habiki?” Izuku looked at Shota, confused.

“That's my real name,” he smiled explaining, before throwing his hands in the air, “And yours is Izuku?? It sounds so- so cute?? But wait- how does Eraser know that?”

“Eraserhead is the hero I’ve been staying with.”

“What??” Kenta, well- Habiki jumped up.

“I see that you two know each other, so I will leave you to talk for now,” Shota turned around, “Izuku, I will be waiting by the entrance, don't forget to fetch your results sheet.”

Izuku nodded.

“You didn’t tell me you were staying with Eraserhead??” Habiki whisper-shouted as soon as the hero was out of sight.

Izuku smiled weekly, “Well um surprise?”

“Why haven't you told me sooner?” No answer came, Izuku just stared at the floor.

“You know how he is worried about you?” Habiki looked completely serious, “He had called me, you know how the guy hates talking on the phone? He called me! He called wanting to know more about Yamiyo, which is well- I wasn't allowed to tell him much, but he really is worried about you!” He paused for a second and then added in a quieter, calmer tone, as if coming to a realization.

“He thinks you are dead.”

“Wait he called you?” Izuku asked, coming to a realization of his own, “where do you two know each other from?”

“Let’s sit down,” he gestured to the row of chairs that stood by the wall and sat, Izuku followed suit.
—

Shota walked slowly to the exit and made his way to the car, where he sat for around ten- fifteen minutes. Just as he started to wonder if he should be worried, Izuku appeared out of the building.

The boy came closer and finally sat next to Shota, putting on his seatbelt.
“Did you go to receive the results?” He asked the kid, figuring out he could ask about how he knows Habiki later.

Izuku turned his head to his, and smiling, shoved a card to the hero’s face. Shota pulled it away a bit, trying to read what it said, though with Izuku’s excitement he could guess.

“Good job problem child.” He patted him on the shoulder before turning on the car.

As buildings passed by and the lights of the mid-day sun were shining through the car window, Izuku couldn’t help but smile at his new licence, even though the photo was not the best.

“You did it.” Shota said with a sly hint of a smile, turning only slightly to look at the boy.

“Send a picture to Nezu, knowing him he knew you’d pass but is waiting anyway.”

Izuku nodded, he was in awe of it to think about stuff like that. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Izuku snapped a quick picture and sent it to the principal without any captions.
Only two seconds later he got a message back.

“Good job, I knew you would do it,” it read.

Izuku looked at the shiny card in his hands again.

With the golden light and birds chiming, it felt surreal.

The boy even pinched himself once or twice, but no, he seemed to be pretty awake.

A beep and vibration of the phone in his hand awoke Izuku from his trance.

“Mr. Nezu says to stop by his office at U.A,” He reported to Shota, and just as he said it, another message popped on the screen.

“Hmm alright,” Shota nodded, “What else does he need?”

Izuku looked at the message, “Oh the other isn’t from him.”

Shota let out a surprised hum, but didn't say anything. Wondering who could be in the kids’ contacts.

“Congrats on passing the exam Izuku! I passed too yayy! Wait can i call you Izuku? it feels weird…” Izuku smiled a bit at the massage to his own surprise.

“It’s from K- Habiki, he admitted.”

“Oh?” Shota glanced in his direction.
Not knowing how he could explain it all, Izuku said nothing.

Shota sighed, turning in the direction of U.A.

When they stopped in the parking lot of the school, Izuku opened his door to leave when Shota spoke.

“Go on now, but I would like to talk to you when we get home.”

“Yes,” Izuku gulped, stepping out of the car.

Running towards the building, mixed thoughts were running through his head. On one hand, he was worried about what the hero is going to ask but on the other, he felt some comfort, warmth that he called his home theirs.

—
“Congratulations on passing the exams! I never doubted you would.” Nezu greeted, as Izuku sat down in front of him.

“I have more great news for you! I have decided there is no need for you to do the usual entrance exam,” he looked up from his tea at the boy, to watch his reaction, “there is no need for you to take that sort of exam, right?”
Izuku nodded, even though he knew full well it wasn't needed.

“So let us just look over the summary of the exam, have you read it yet? It points out where you have made mistakes and what you could improve. You have it with you, right?”

Izuku nodded again, “yeah, here,” and handed the principal a paper. He himself didn't have time to read through it yet, being too excited about the meeting and the fact that he passed.

“Hmm,” Nezu quickly scanned the words with his eyes, “it seems they didn't quite like that you stopped to save a person from the other team,” He paused.

“But you were also given extra points for doing so, and for that your top priority was helping, interesting, interesting.”
—
Shota lifted his eyes when after almost an hour, the door of the principal's office finally opened and Izuku slipped out, closing the door shut behind him.

Izuku let out a breath of relief before making his way towards the hero.
“He lectured me there forever!” He whisper-shouted, making the ‘r’ long.

The boy sat down beside Shota.
“He didn’t like what I did, neither did the examiners, saying that in real life it could have gotten me killed,” He stopped for a second and turned to the hero, “If it was you, you would probably say what I did was irrational.”

“Well we do not know that, you haven't told me how it went. Though if you passed, the good decisions clearly overruled the bad. Let me read it.” He said with no emotion visible on his face.

“Why, so you will lecture me too? Nooo…” Izuku pleaded despite putting the paper on the hero’s lap.
—
Sitting on the couch in the living room, the hero finally took the paper out and read through it carefully. Izuku sat by his side, nervously waiting as he slowly read it, not saying anything. After the scolding and the lecture he got from Nezu he wasn't sure how the hero would react.

“Hmm,” Shota finally let out, putting the paper down on the coffee table.
Izuku patiently waited for him to speak.

“You got side tracked from your mission, you would even had abandoned it completely if not the last call. You rushed to a ‘villain’ from the opposite team with nothing to defend yourself and seemingly no plan.” Shota stated.

Izuku sunk into the couch, he was right.
“But,” the boy’s head jolted up, “I think what you did was completely right.” a shy smile was visible on Shota’s face.

Izuku looked at him dumbfounded.

“Our top priority as heroes is making sure others are safe. When you noticed someone in danger, in need of saving, you rushed to help not even caring that it was supposedly a villain and could get you captured and fail the exam.” He paused for a second before continuing.

“Despite that she was from the opposite team who was playing your enemy, all you saw was a hurt person, a child in need of saving. So no matter what anyone says, I say good job, you did well.”

There was a moment of silence, where neither spoke.

Izuku couldn't help but think that the hero was talking about himself, about Yamiyo. Shota was apparently thinking the same, because when he spoke Izuku almost jumped up.

“I experienced a similar situation not long ago, so I can empathize with how you felt. There was this troubled young villain,” He spoke slowly and quietly, “I approached everything slowly and with caution, but that was my first mistake. I wanted to help the poor child, but it turned out that things were much more complicated. In the end, I couldn't save-” He stopped suddenly, blinking his eyes as if snapping out of some trance. “We haven't had anything to eat yet, what do you want to order?” he cut himself off, speaking louder now.

Izuku stared at the carpet under his feet, guilt overcoming him.

He wanted to say, “But you did, you did save me.” but instead he sat there not moving.

Chapter Text

And with that, the time flew by, and it was already April first, the first day at U.A hero academy. Izuku walked behind Shota as they entered the building, as he had come with the hero they were of course early, there was not a single student in sight but many teachers and staff were rushing to get everything ready before they arrive. Izuku checked his watch, it was definitely too early for students to be here.

“Here is the classroom,” Shota gestured to a huge door to their left.

Izuku had seen it already, when the hero gave him a tour of the place the first time, but now it suddenly looked much more menacing.

Despite how gloomy and scary it looked, Izuku convinced himself to get just a peek inside. He slightly pushed the big door which slowly opened to reveal an empty classroom, well- almost. Izuku was confused to find one student already sitting at their desk, blue hair just like Tensei’s, and glasses. Izuku guessed it to be Ingenium’s younger brother.

It seemed the other boy had spotted him, as he stood up and started marching towards him.

But just as he started getting close, Izuku slammed the door and turned around.

“What?” Shota raised a brow.

“There’s someone inside already,” Izuku was quickly walking away.

Shota mumbled something under his breath but Izuku, who was already far ahead, couldn't make out what it was.

They made it to the teacher’s lounge which was empty and Shota pulled out a yellow sleeping bag. When he noticed the look Izuku was giving him, he explained.

“This is what I use on school days to sleep between classes,” He said, laying down in the corner behind the door, “And since there is some time now I am going to sleep.”

Izuku nodded, slowly turning to the window. Soon more and more students started pouring through the gates. It made him think that he was the first ever person in U.A’s history to be quirkless, he was quite proud of that fact. Though the way he got in wasn't entirely fair…

Izuku dragged a chair closer to the window and watched the students, all in the same uniforms and with new bags. He watched them for a while, examining and trying to guess their quirks.
The next time Izuku looked down at his watch, almost half an hour had passed.

That was when he heard some rustling behind him.

“Isn’t Nezu hosting orientation right now?” he asked Shota who was standing up in his beloved sleeping bag.

“Yes he is, but it does not mean my class will be going.” Izuku eyed the hero, it did sound like something he would do.

Izuku got reminded of something he read about a teacher in the hero course who expelled his whole class on the spot last year. That was certainly Shota, but he wouldn’t do it this year, right?

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Izuku opened the door in front of the two.

Staring right at him was Tensai’s brother and- Oh no please not- it was Bakugo Katsuki. Of course, just Izuku's luck.

He changed his mind, he wouldn’t mind if the teacher would actually expel someone.

Izuku hid behind the door, not daring to look in any more. He could hear some yelling, Kacchan’s voice and Tensai’s brother? Yeah, it seemed the two were arguing.

Shota stood up, sipping the remaining of his jelly pouch.

“You are not coming in?”

Izuku shook his head, seeing it as a chance to save himself.

Shota raised a brow, “And why is that?” Usually he wouldn’t even ask, but Izuku was a special case.

“T-theres someone inside,” Izuku mumbled, “Someone that I don’t think… I don’t think we are ready to meet yet… He kind of thinks I’m dead”

The hero sighed, mumbling “problem child’’ before speaking louder.

“I see it sounds complicated, and I would not want to cause a commotion in the first homeroom of the year,” Izuku nodded.
“Then for now go join the orientation outside, but after I’m done with classes we could talk about it.” Izuku nodded again. “I was planning on letting you sit out this one anyway, so it doesn’t change much, as I will be doing quirk assessment to see who of them are fit,” He turned to look the boy in the eyes, “And we already know that you are more than worthy, no quirk needed for that.”

If Izuku wasn't so stressed it would have definitely made him tear up.

Wait-

Izuku froze,

Eraser knew he was quirkless?

Well he did know his real identity now, so no wonder he looked him up. Izuku sighed, too many things were happening at the same time.

“After class…” He started, “Could you tell Bakugo Katsuki to stay behind?”

Shota nodded, trying his hardest to remember the file of said student.
Bakugo Katsuki, graduated from Algera middle school, was known for a strong quirk among his peers. Was known as the one with the most potential to become a pro hero until an incident that occurred 11 months ago.

What connection could he possibly have to Izuku?
It was a piece of information regarding Izuku’s past, so the hero could not let the chance slip. All he knew about the boy was only the basic information, his file didn't even have an address. Only name, name of mother and quirk status- quirkless. In fact when he read that quite a bit of things made sense, though some became even more mysterious. He had too many questions to ask the kid but understood that if he would overwhelm him, he would completely shut down.

“Alright, will do. When orientation is done, wait for me in the teachers lounge, and I’ll call you.”

Izuku nodded again before walking away, thankful that his reunion with Bakugo will be postponed at least a bit. He wanted to explain to him, he truly did- at least some of it. But now that he saw him, Izuku was sure he wasn’t going to just let that go. Bakugo will not give up until he knows everything, but before that, Izuku had to mentally prepare himself.
—-

Nothing interesting happened at orientation and Izuku was thankful for that. Nezu explained some rules and schedules and students were given small maps of the place, but Izuku already knew all that and had the same map somewhere.

Some students gave him odd looks as he was the only one that stood alone a little afar from everybody else, without a class or a teacher. Somewhere glancing at his incomplete uniform, (Izuku didn't figure out how to tie his tie in the morning so just gave up on it and Shota didn't mention it) But the stares didn’t bother Izuku.

After that he made his way straight to the teachers lounge, it was empty of teachers as they were all busy at this hour. Only one person sat in the furthest room and looked out the window, Izuku was sure he had met all the stuff at this point, but he was never introduced to the person that sat there.

When Izuku came closer, his eyes grew wide as he recognized that person. In front of him sat All Might.

Chapter Text

The number one hero wasn’t in his musclier, hero form and wasn’t even wearing his hero suit. He didn’t have anything on him that could give away who he is, but Izuku still knew. He knew about the hero’s injury, the stories of that incident six years ago flashed before his eyes. It was the main reason his father went out of his way to give him quirks in the first place.

“Hello?” He must have been staring for too long.

“Uh hi!” It was a bit hard for Izuku to pretend not to know who the person in front of him was. He could barely contain himself from asking for an autograph. Despite who Izuku’s father was, before he was found and while he still lived with his mother he looked up to All Might.

“Are you allowed in here?” All might slowly asked, looking at the boy in front of him who stood frozen, “This is a staff room only.”

Izuku snapped himself back to reality, “Ah yes! I actually can- um here.” he dug in his pockets for the stuff card Nezu provided him.

Taking a close look at it the hero hummed.

“I see, but you look a bit young to be teaching ah?” He shrugged, “But I’m new here anyway, so who am I to know.” he extended his hand.

“Toshinoyi Yagi.”

Izuku hesitantly returned the handshake, though his hand was actually shaking.

“Nice to meet you,” He replied simply.

All Might raised a brow, clearly expecting a name in return, but Izuku just smiled.

But he didn’t have to think of a way out because the door behind him opened.

“Oh hello there!” it was the loud voice of Yamada, present Mic. Izuku was saved! He let out a breath of relief, which only one of the blondes noticed.

“I see you two met.” Yamada put a hand on Izuku’s shoulder and the boy tried his best to not flinch.

“But unfortunately you won’t have any more time to chat now,” He smiled at Toshinori before turning to look at Izuku, “Shota’s looking for you.”

Izuku nodded.

Yamada pushed him slightly towards the door, “We don’t want to keep him waiting, do we?”

Izuku was relived that he didn’t have to spend any more time awkwardly standing before his fathers arch enemy.

So he made his way through the halls quick, though not too much. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention from the occasional students walking the same halls.

When Izuku approached the classroom and peeked inside he found no one. He looked around the corridor confused, there were no students, the first day had ended and most had already left the building, but where was Shota then?

Just as he was thinking that, he could hear people approaching from the right end of the corridor, so Izuku quickly turned around the left corner. The voices turned out to be of the 1-A class, who were coming back to get their stuff from the classroom after the quirk assessment test Shota spoke of.

The corner Izuku hid in proved to be the opposite to the exit so no one passed by him. He waited a bit until he didn’t hear any more footsteps at all before peaking around the corner. The corridor was empty but the door of the classroom half open and light was shining out of it. Coming closer Izuku could see Shota standing with his back to the door.

Stopping by the door Izuku took a deep breath in trying to calm down his nerves, before he slipped in the classroom. Shota didn’t show any signs of noticing him.

“Why did I have to stay behind?” Bakugo grumbled, he was definitely the strongest, he got first in the practical exam after all. But Mr. Aizawa wouldn’t call him to praise him in private, would he?

“Someone had asked me to let you stay behind.”

“Who is it?” he roared. If its wasn’t the principal himself Bakugo was ready to fight whoever it is that decided to waste his time. Time that he could be spending on training, studying.

“I think it would be better if he told you that himself.” Bakugo watched as his teacher stepped aside, revealing someone in the same boy’s school uniform as him, timidly standing by the entrance. Great, not a teacher, he could definitely beat him up.

“Who is that?” He purposely directed the question to Aizawa.

The boy came closer, messing with the seam of his button up and avoiding looking up.

Bakugo turned to the other boy again, he didn’t look anything out of the ordinary, plain hair and no signs of a mutation quirk visible.

“Who the h*ll are you?”

He looked the kid again up and down again, why in the world would he want to meet him? Why would the teacher listen to him?? Who could h-

“Hi Kacchan.”

“Oh fu-”

Bakugo Katsuki fell from his chair. But he stood up fast, so it doesn’t matter.

“DEKU?! What in the-”
He raised his hands in the air, quirk popping in his palms.

That was when the teacher moved back to stand in between the two.

“It seems you two have history,” He said. Activating his quirk.

“Well duh,” Bakugo was fuming at this point. “Now let me through to him. We need to talk.” he said the last part looking directly into Izuku’s eyes.

“I came here for that, to talk.” It was Izuku speaking this time, and compared to the other teen, his voice was no louder than a whisper.

Bakugo looked at him and then back at the teacher, “could you get out of the way??”

Izuku nudged Aizawa a bit, who immediately stepped aside, crossing his arms and observing from the side.

“Aren’t you gonna give us privacy to talk or something?”

“No.”

The explosive boy made a ‘tsk’ sound.

“I’m staying here.”

When Bakugo saw the teacher wasn’t planning on leaving them alone he turned to Izuku.

“I thought you were dead.”

“Yeah, I figured, everyone thought that.” Izuku humourlessly chuckled.

“Where have you been?!”

Izuku looked to the side and didn’t answer. Bakugo turned to see and what he was looking at. Was he afraid of Mr. Aizawa? Did he not want the teacher to hear?

“Auntie was sad, you know that. She didn’t know where you had gone.” He added in a calmer tone.

“No, she knew.” Bakugo gave him a confused look.

“She knew?” He repeated Izuku’s words.

Chapter Text

“Yeah… Well it’s complicated…” Izuku looked to the side.
He seemed to be hesitant in picking the right words, as if not wanting to reveal too much.

When Bakugo didn’t speak, Izuku continued.

“She knew where I was and that I was alive,” He trailed off, and after a silent pause, added a bit quieter- “At least I hope she did…”

Shota frowned his eyebrows at that, looking at the kid when Bakugo spoke.

“Why didn't you come back?”

“I couldn’t.” Izuku answered simply.

“But now you are here,” Bakugo squinted his eyes, “Why now?”

Izuku hesitated before speaking again, moving from one foot to the other. Shota noted how uncomfortable he looked and wondered if he should butt in. One part of him told him to not this go on for too long, to not to make the kid uncomfortable while the other wanted to hear his story.

“Well…” Izuku began but nothing more followed. He closed and opened his mouth a few times, looking for something to say. “Now things have changed.”

Bakugo squinted his eyes and then raised his brows, leaning closer. He gave the other boy a few seconds to explain- to say anything more but when he didn't, Bakugo spoke again. “Huh? What changed?” He demanded an answer, but Izuku didn't say a thing, only continuing to stare at the floor.

That was when the teacher decided to speak.
“Alright, this is enough.” He took a step closer. “You should go home now.” he looked at Bakugo whose eyes were looking past him, at Izuku. The teen didn’t answer, instead walking past Shota towards the door.

“I-I will tell you more later,” Izuku finally looked up when Bakugo was passing him, “I can't tell you right now- and well I don't know everything myself yet.” His voice was quiet, but he was looking straight into the eyes of the other.

“You’ve been gone for years… disappeared without a trace. I need to know what happened sooner or later.” the boy said in return, voice quiet and only glancing in Izuku’s eyes for a moment as he passed by.

Bakugo stopped at the door, “You never kept secrets from me before.” He huffed over his shoulders before slamming the door shut.

Shota watched as Izuku jumped from the sound of the door. “Is-” he started, but couldn't finish because Izuku fell in the chair closest to him, laying his head on the table.

Instead, Shtoa sat next to him cautiously, slowly putting his hand on the boy's back. Izuku didn't protest or raise his head but Shota could hear a muffled cry. They sat like that for a minute or two before Izuku raised his head and whipped his face with his hand.

Just as Shota was about to speak, Izuku turned to him.

“We used to be friends,” He quietly said, looking at the door. “Though that was long ago.”

Shota didn’t say anything, it was hard for him to picture the two, completely different boys being friends. Though he himself had friends with completely different personalities to his own.

—
Izuku walked slowly out of the school building, one hand on his chin and looking down. Shota said he had to quickly drop off some papers in the office and he will come right after him.

Izuku was honestly quite glad to get a few minutes alone in peace, he had stuff to think about. Walking a few steps forward he noticed the big stairs going down and took mental note to not fall down them. But it seemed he miscalculated something, because less than a second later he was falling down. It took him even less time to understand what happened.

He forgot that he was back to being quirkless. Izuku mentally facepalmed himself, he grew to rely on quirks so much that he instinctively was about to fly over the stairs.
But now that he was quirkless again he couldn't do that.

Wait, why hasn't he hit the ground yet?

Looking down Izuku could see the ground only a few centimetres away from him, but despite that he was still in the somehow in the air.

The boy slowly raised his head, it was a bit hard to see as he was almost upside-down and his vision was quite blurry, but he could make out a U.A student uniform.

“Oh sorry!” the person spoke, and with that, Izuku finally fell down. Though he was almost at ground level anyway, his cheek and hand got scratched a bit. Sitting up Izuku rubbed his cheek as it stung from meeting the ground.

A hand was pushed in his face, “let me help you up!”

Standing up, he could finally see his saviour(?). It was a smiling girl with shoulder-length brown hair.

“I’m so sorry, I tried to catch you the best I could, but I'm already pretty exhausted,” she awkwardly laughed, rubbing her hand behind her head.

“Are you alright?” she asked when Izuku didn't say anything, “Should I take you to recovery girl? Wonder if she is still at work…” the last part was added quieter.

“Oh yea she is. Recovery girls stays until eight at U.A on weekdays.” Izuku replied almost out of habit, giving information about heroes has grown to be a big part of his life.

“Oh!” the girl seemed startled that that was the part that he answered to, “W-well I should take you to her office then.”

“Oh no no!” Izuku quickly came back to his senses. The girl was a bit taken aback.
“Um well I’ve been treated by her too many times in the last few mounths, so she won't be happy to see me, especially over nothing. You did prevent me from hitting the pavement too hard.”

The girl let out a short laugh, “Ah alright then,” She nodded, “I think I have a band ait in my backpack, hold on a sec-” and before Izuku could blink, he had on band aid on his cheek and one on his palm, both bright pink with small hearts.

“Uh- um thank you.” he sounded a bit unsure.

“Ah it's nothing,” the girl smiled, “Oh you mentioned knowing Recovery Girl for some time now already yeah? I only met her on the day of the physical exam, I got hurt pretty badly,” She awkwardly laughed, “So you are second year, right?”

“What?” Izuku had completely forgotten that today was the first day of school, “Um-”

“Izuku.” The boy turned around to see the person walking down the stairs towards them.

“Shota!” Izuku was saved.

“Oh hello Mr. Aizawa!” the girl tilted her head in a slight bow.

—
The drive home was silent, only the sounds of drops of the light rain that begun on the windscreen disturbing the silence.

“Izuku.” Shota called in a serious tone from the kitchen not even five minutes after the two got to the apartment.

“Yes?”

“Here is your dinner, grab the soy sauce from there,” he gestured to one of the cabinets, “I have to go to sleep now.” and with that Izuku was left alone, wondering why would he need to go to sleep so early and without even having dinner.

After finishing his food, Izuku made his way to the living room and put on a show on the TV. Though not even one episode could pass when Shota came in.

“Can you pause for a second? I need you to listen.”

Izuku silently did as told, a million thoughts about what it could be racing through his head.

Shota came closer, “I will have to leave now, I am going on patrol.” Only then did Izuku notice that the hero was in full costume- even the goggles were on his neck.

“I had sort of a break to take care of other stuff,” He paused, and Izuku was sure Shota was talking about him. “Don't wait for me, you should go to sleep early as tomorrow is your official first day at U.A.. As I have a lot of work piled up I will be back only by morning. Set an alarm for 6 am, though I will try to be back by then, if I won’t, just be ready by 6:30, and I will come to pick you up.” Finishing, he looked at Izuku who sat on the sofa in front of him.

Shota took a few quick steps toward the boy, “are you crying?”

“No no- its just-” Izuku raised his head. Tears were streaming down his face, “It’s because of me, isn't it? I made you miss so much hero work, because of all the trouble I caused you- you- you couldn't go out and save people because you were stuck with me- because- because I tried to run away and got hurt again and and- you had to-”

“Stop.” The hero put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, which unlike earlier that day made him flinch.

“I am not “stuck” with you.” He paused for a second, “You see, my duty as a hero ended already, I could have sent you away to any orphanage weeks ago.”

Izuku looked at him through the tears, “But you didn’t ?”

“But I didn’t.” He took out an envelope and handed it to Izuku.
“Here, read this and tell me what you think when I come back.”

Izuku took it confused while wiping his face with his other hand.

The hero stood up, “Good night.” and with that, he was off.

Izuku opened the envelope, not sure what to expect. Inside were a few folded papers.
Izuku’s forehead scrunched up, not understanding what all this was about. Suddenly a word stood out to him. “Adoption”

An audible “huh?” escaped his mouth.

Chapter Text

“Hey Izuku, are you ready? We need to go.”

Izuku could hear Shota’s voice from the hallway.

“Just a second!” He shouted back from the bathroom, where he stood by the mirror, struggling with his tie. Also he noticed that the band-aid from yesterday was still on his cheek and decided to keep it from now (the one on his hand came off pretty quick).

The day before that he didn’t manage to tie it and just went without it, and Shota didn’t say anything about him not wearing the full uniform, so he figured it was OK.

This time though it was a different case, he was going to meet his classmates, so he had to leave a good impression, and someone who didn’t care about the dress code wasn’t in his plans.

“We need to leave now or we are going to be late.” Shota put his empty cup in the sink.

“Yeah I’m coming,” Izuku left the undone tie on his neck and granted his backpack, stepping out of the room.

He put the bag on the ground by the entrance, putting his shoes on as he decided he could do the tie in the car.

“OK I’m ready.” Izuku stood with the yellow backpack on his shoulders, (Yamada tried to buy him a new one, but Izuku insisted on keeping this one).

Shota stepped out of the kitchen and after glancing at Izuku with his peripheral vision, asked.

“Do you need help with that?”

Izuku didn’t understand at first but was more than glad when the hero tied his tie for him.

“You put this under, and then bring this part over,” He explained, crunching down to Izuku’s height.
—
As they came close to the school, Izuku, who was looking through the window the entire time, noticed a commotion outside the main gates.

“What's going on there?” He thought out loud.

Stepping out of the car, Izuku's eyes were still locked on the crowd. There were mainly reporters, some possible paparazzi and just a bunch of people pushing one another while trying to get a close look and talk to the students who were trying to come in.
“Oh they are probably hear to hear about All Might,” Shota stood by Izuku’s side, “I don’t need to be swarmed by reporters, lets go through the second entrance.”

Izuku was about to turn around when his eyes spotted a familiar face.

“Yeah I’ll be right behind you,” he said.

Shota looked at what Izuku was looking with a bored look on his face thought in reality he was quite interested. “Alright, but we don’t have much time, we were almost late as it is, oh and keep your card close, you need it to open the door.”

“Okay,” Izuku slightly nodded his head before heading to the person he recognized.
It was that girl from yesterday, she stood on the other side of the street from the school, looking conflicted.

“Hey!” Izuku came up to her.

“Oh,” she jumped from surprise, “hi!”

Even though the girl was not in the big crowd by the gates two cameras and a reported surrounded her not letting her go, shouting questions she clearly didn't have the answer to.

“Hey come here,” Izuku grabbed her by the hand and ducking under the camera they made a run for it. when they were on the other side of the road, no one followed them.

“Um thanks, but we still need to pass through even more people.” she pointed at the chaos in the gates.

“Not necessarily, there is another entrance if you wanna go from there,” Izuku shrugged. He didn't think of it before, but it was dangerous to have his face get caught on camera. So he barely waited for the girl to answer, “oh there is another one? Sure” before running away from the gates.

When they were around the corners Izuku stopped running, looking around the girl did follow him. When he slowed down she quickly caught up.

“Wow you run fast!” she breathed out, “I didn't even know there was another entrance!”

“Well it's technically only for the staff,” Izuku took out his stuff card, trying to make it as subtle as possible. The door made a beeping sounds and opened. It was a lot smaller than the main gates and led slight to the main building, you didn't have to go through the whole forest that for some reason Izuku didn't know yet was planted in fornt of the school.

“Woah did you still this from a teacher??” the girl practically screamed as Izuku put the stuff card away.

“Um-”

"Aw you kept my band-aid!” the girl already changed subjects.

“You seem excited,” Izuku noticed as they were walking into the building.

“Yes! Well today is like the official first day of hero training! You believe that our class was forced to miss orientation yesterday?? Our teacher made us do some kind of unfair test instead, but I hope today we actually get to do some training!” she punched her fists in the air.

When they made it inside the girl stopped and turned around to face Izuku, “Thank you so much for helping me out,” she smiled, “it might seem like nothing, but it was getting really overwhelming.” a small laugh escaped her lips.

Just as Izuku was about to answer the bell rang which made him jump and lose his thought.

“Oh!” the girl jumped too, “I gotta go, thanks, hope we meet again, bye!” the girl babbled running down the hallway.

“Wait!” Izuku called after her, certain she was from Shota’s class but the girl was already out of sight.
He sighed before going after her, in the direction of classroom 1A.

The door of class 1A looked intimidating as ever and voices could be heard from the other side.

Izuku took a deep breath in. Some sound could be heard from the side, Izuku turned his head slightly to see a- walking sleeping bag.
“Come on problem child,” Shota pushed the door to open, “You talked with Bakugou already, so I hope he won’t cause you trouble, but if he or any other do, tell me right away alright?”

Izuku nodded, clenching his hands and lifting his chin up.

“Good morning class.” everyone was by their desks in a split second.
“Today it took you two and a half seconds to quiet down, an improvement from yesterday but most of you hadn't noticed me until I spoke, pay more attention to your surroundings. Now-”

Izuku stood by the door, glancing at the students in the class through the/ crack in the door/, who looked quite afraid of their teacher. One of them, hair half red and half white(Who Izuku could swear he saw somewhere before) met his gaze.

Izuku hurried to look back, Shota did look intimidating, he had already forgotten what reputation he holds.

“We have a student today, he wasn’t able to make it yesterday.” Shota looked to the side, all the students did the same. “Please introduce yourself.”

And like that, with all eyes on him. Izuku walked to the centre of the classroom.

“Uh hi I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

Izuku tried his best to give a nice wave and a smile but standing before nineteen heroes-to-be was stressful. Any one of them could somehow recognize him.

He looked around the class, Ingenium's brother was eyeing his suspiciously while Bakugo was interested in something in the window.

“Ah!” a girl jumped up, standing up from her desk, “The messy haired boy! I thought I’m your junior, but we are in the same class?!” she squealed.

“Please sit down,” Shota sighed from behind Izuku, “You’ll be able to talk later.” and before he finished she was back on her chair.

Izuku was a bit worried about what questions he was going to get asked as he knew there were some he couldn’t answer, but at least right now, his new classmates didn’t have time to ask his questions. Some were sending glances or smiles his way, though Izuku was sure that when they get the chance he will be drowned in questions.

And he was right, just as the bell rang, faces turned to him.

“Hi nice to meet you! I’m Ochako Uraraka!” the girl from before smiled.

“I’m Kaminari and that’s Kirishima!” a boy with a black streak in his hair sat on a desk new to Izuku.

“I’m quite curious- which exam zone were you in?” the red haired one, Kirishima turned his chair around, sitting with his face to the chairs back. “I didn’t see you in zone B.”

“I was in A and didn't see you, and I mean sure, I could have just missed you with that plain hair and face- no offence but-” Kaminari huffed.

“Yeah yeah, I was in zone C and didn't see you either.” Mina jumped closer, cutting him off.

Izuku was flustered with all the attention on him. “Uh I- wasn’t in any of them. I was um- in a different special one.”
This drew Bakugo’s attention, the explosive teen side eyed the other and decided to listen in.

“As far as I am aware you weren't in the recommendation exam,” Tsu added, coming closer too.

“I didn’t see him there,” Momo Yayurozu joined the conversation.

“He wasn't there, only a certain amount can be recommended and only four pass, so it is impossible.” Everyone turned around in the direction of the voice.

“Ahh hello there!” Mina jumped up and down excitedly, “Mr. Todoroki spoke!” she turned to Izuku, “He hasn’t spoken to any of us yet, so he must be very curious with you,” she let out a small laugh.

“I-I didn’t do the recommendation exam either,” Izuku replaid.

But he didn't have time to explain more because the next teacher walked in. Izuku sighed, he really needed to come up with a believable story if he didn’t want people to get suspicious.

—

At the end of the school day, when all the classes were over and Izuku walked with Shota to the parking lot he couldn’t help but think about how no classmates recognized him as the missing kid, maybe because you don’t usually hear about any quirkless kid going missing or perhaps simply don’t care. Though this time it probably worked in his favour.

—
A light flickered in a dark room, it was dim but in the windowless room it looked bright, so bright that you had to turn your eyes away. The room was filled with strange smells, and you could hear someone pour a drink into a glass. Except a clean shining bar that stood on one side of the room the walls were damp and bare. On the wall opposite the bar hang an old, torn All Might poster that had been serving lately as a target for knives, darts and anything else. The other wall had a locked door while on the one in front of it hung a big television screen. It turned on as if by itself and a voice sounded from it.

“Tomura Shigaraki, you said about having some important information? What is it, I’m listening.”

The face of the one sitting at one of the bar stools wasn’t visible, but seeing as he was the only human in the room he was Shigaraki himself. He shook a glass around in his hand, listening to the sound the ice cubes made.

“Yes,” He let out, in his raspy voice.

“I have now confirmed, he is indeed with the heroes.”

The call was audio only, but by the laugh the one on the other side let out you could imagine a big grin on his face.

“He fell right into our plan perfectly.”

Chapter Text

“So have you thought about what I gave you yesterday?” Shota asked as they sat by the dinner table.

“Huh?” Izuku didn’t understand at first, “oh- Yes and um yes.” he answered, stuffing noodles into his mouth.

There was silence for some time after that, but it wasn’t quite awkward, they just sat and ate their food.

“First we will have to go and make a passport for you, I don’t suppose you have any documents, do you?” Shota finally spoke.

Izuku shook his head, “Nope nothing.”

“We will check in the database”

“Doubt there’s anything there.” Izuku said, looking away.

Shota looked up at him from his plate, “And why is that?” he asked with a raised brow but all he got in return was a shrug.

Looking at the cup of coffee in his hand, Shota hummed in thought. “Are you sure there isn’t anywhere we can get at least the copies?” he looked back up at the boy before him.

Izuku was about to answer that no, nowhere but stopped to think. There might be something in his old apartment! If it wasn’t cleared out after m-

“Firstly we will go to an acquaintance of mine who can check if there is anything in the system,” Shota continued when Izuku didn't answer, “I will figure out what to do from there.”

Izuku opened his mouth but then shut it, just nodding instead.

—
Izuku stepped into Nezu’s office after a short knock. This time the way there was more stressful, as he was wearing the full U.A uniform and he could feel eyes on him. Even though the walk from the car was almost non-existent and everyone was probably not even paying attention. In the hallways of the hero school people were also in a hurry to where they were supposed to be too, but Izuku couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching him. That all disappeared the moment he closed the door behind him. Izuku didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he breathed out in relief.

“Good morning!” the mammal chipped, “come here have a seat, tea?”

Izuku nodded and sat down, he couldn’t just refuse. And though he heard Nezu’s tea is supposed to be the best blend or something, but to Izuku it tasted exactly the same as the one he drank at his- no- was it? Shota’s home. He couldn't be at home there, even though sometimes it really did feel like it, the hero didn’t know. What was he thinking saying yes to staying with him more?? Izuku mentally facepalmed himself. It only complicates things even further. What will Shota do when he finds out he is Yamiyo? Sent to prison of course, a voice in the back of his head reminded, one too similar to his. But he cares for Yamiyo, doesn't he? He mourns his death at least… another voice added hesitantly, one similar to ke-Habiki’s. This raised even more questions and doubts. Habiki lied to him, took on a different identity, and yes you could pin it on the mission he was given or whatever but when Izuku went to visit his store (was it even his at all? Probably not.) he didn’t think to tell him the truth, only giving him tea and leaving it at that. He was shocked at the licence exam when the other told him the truth, hurt even.

A thought lingered in the back of his mind- but aren’t you doing the same to Eraserhead?

“Alright, I wanted to talk with you about today's schedule,” Nezu started, pulling Izuku out of his thoughts when they both had their tea (the prinsipal himself just refilled his half empty cup).

Izuku nodded unenthusiastically, staring at his reflection in the tea.

“Is something the matter?” Nezu raised his brow- or at least he would if he was human.

Izuku’s head shot up, “I-I am not really sure why I'm needed here at all, and like- if half of the time I'm supposed to study as a regular student in 1A and the other you want me to help teach… it’s just that people are bound to get suspicious, and I don’t know what to say.”
That was one of Izuku's other concerns, though he wasn’t as worried about people being suspicious, but more about people like Kacchan hating him because he is special or something. Though now Kacchan didn't seem to be the same as when Izuku saw him last, but still.

“Well I can take care of that, we could say that you are my personal student, would that suffice?” chimed Nezu.

Izuku shrugged looking back at the steaming cup in his hands, clearly not satisfied.

Nezu hummed, “It seems it’s something else troubling you.”

“Well- Well I just don’t know if I can do it!” Izuku looked back up at him.

“And why is this?”

“Eveything!’ Izuku put his tea cup on the table before him, hot tea almost splashing on his hand, “everything, starting from-from the beginning doesn’t seem right, and well- not even talking about the whole Yamiyo mess, let’s say if that all didn’t happen, would I still be here then?”

There was a silence for a moment, too many moments of silence and hesitance already in Izuku's morning.

“Is that because of your quirklessness?” Nezu finally asked, trying to catch the boy's gaze.

When Izuku didn't answer or met his eyes, Nezu continued.

“I made it so people can enter U.A even without a quirk as one of the first rules I changed when receiving this position.”

“But there is still no one quirkless in the whole school,” Izuku said quietly, as if reminding him.

“And why do you think is that?” Izuku didn't answer.

“Though I must admit, the entrance exam could be quite tricky for someone without a combative quirk they could have applied to the general department and try their luck in the sports festival.” Nezu paused.

“But no one did, no quirkless person even applied, why do you think is that?” He asked again, “I think it's from the same reasons as you.” Izuku lifted his eyes.

“They don't think they can do it, as society makes it clear that the ones with powerful quirks are on top,” Nezu sighed, “But I am completely sure that everyone has their own unique talents, something that those with powerful quirks could often overlook.”

Nezu clapped his paws together, making Izuku straighted a bit in his seat. “I have an idea!” he declared, “why don't you do a little experiment hmm? Don't tell anyone at U.A that you are quirkless but at the same time don't make them believe you have some quirk, simply let them guess. I'm sure the kids from 1A will come up with things you are good at so much they think it's a quirk.”

The two finally locked eyes.

“Something like those analysis skills of yours,” Nezu folded his paws together, “if I didn't have my knowlege of you, from those notebooks and exegetical skills I would have been convinced it has something to do with your quirk.”

Safe to say Izuku left the office with much more confidence, even if not the best, certainly better than before. He was already planing on hiding his quiklessness (though not sure how it would work with Kacchan there) but now he got a fun reason to do it.

He made it to a big training room where he was told to go by Shota earlier. There all class 1A were gathered already, with Shota sitting on a bench in his sleeping bag and some jelly pouch?

Izuku's attention was quickly moved to Uraraka came up to him, almost running when she saw him (only thing stopping her was Tenya Iida himself, Ingenium’s brother). “Hi hi! Mr. Aizawa told us something about you being a special student, but I don't really understand, can you tell us more about it? It sounds cool.”

“Um hello,” Izuku scratched the back of his head, “yeah kind of, um it’s complicated.”

“Hello there, my name is Tenya Iida, nice to meet you!” the taller boy was already in front of Izuku, “I did not get a chance to talk with you yesterday, I apologize for that!”
He bowed and then extended a hand for a handshake.

“Oh hello! Ah it’s alright- I know who you are and I-um Izuku Midoyia, but I guess you know that too.” Izuku tried to give a warm smile, though he was nervous.

The other boy continued, “I was quite startled on the first day, I was about to greet you, but the door just slammed close before I could.”

“Oh sorry about that,” Izuku laughed awkwardly.

“Good morning young heroes!” The conversation is cut off with All Might- the number hero himself making a grand entrance, almost breaking the door as he does.

Shota sighed, standing up and making his way to the side of the loud hero. “Today we will have your first hero exercise, and Izuku here,” his eyes slid into the boy's direction, “will help out a bit.”

Now curious eyes were on him.
—
Izuku was a bit uncertain at first. He was told to sit and watch as the class got suited up and did exercises for quirk practice. Izuku could catch glances in his direction and some of them, like Tanya, approached Shota who stood a bit to the side while All Might was with the rest of the class to ask about him. Izuku didn’t hear what they asked exactly, but he could guess. He curiously looked at what the hero would do, but he didn’t even give an answer, only staring in return and guiding them back to the training area.

Izuku sighed, focusing his attention there. They were in a big hall, with a few benches to the sides and training mats in the middle with some rocks added by Cementos for training purposes.

Izuku listened as the rules for the exercise were explained- which weren’t much.
The main point seemed to be to make the students use their quirks as creatively as possible, and despite that not everyone did quite that (or could- like the invisible girl, but Izuku was quite sure that there should be something more than invisibility.) But that was just what Izuku needed, to see them all in action. Izuku pulled out his notebook to write things down, so he wouldn't forget. Izuku knew the quirks of some people already: Tanya Iida- engine, it was hard not to know, the boy came from a famous family of heroes. The same case was with Shota Todoroki, Izuku knew that as the youngest son of the Todoroki family he was the only with both fire and ice powers. Looking up Izuku noted that he was only using half of his quirk, the ice. He also knew that Ochako Uraraka’s quirk had something to do with gravity and was activated by touch. And he of course knew Kacchan’s quirk too.

Izuku didn’t ask what their quirks were beforehand, but it didn’t matter, it was even more fun figuring it out, it made him think more.

Finally, when the exercise ended Izuku had notes on all of them, not only the students.

“Alright everyone, great job! Go drink some water and then come back here!” All Might said, hands on his hips, his never disappearing smile on his face.

All the students went for their water bottles and Izuku was left alone with the number one hero standing before him. All Might was avoiding looking at him, where Izuku on the other hand was studying his every move, every twitch.

“All Might,” He finally spoke, voice calm and thoughtful.

“Yes my boy?” Izuku cringed at that.

“You seem to struggle to keep your power up,” Izuku looked up at him, “Is there any actual reason as to why you chose to show up and teach here while you could use that time saving people? You are not retired yet, I don’t see any reason for you to be at U.A, you don’t need a second job being the number one. You haven't done anything extraordinary or taught the student something this whole lesson, even I could say go and stop. So if this is hurting you, hard for you to keep this facade, why are you even doing it?” Izuku was full in analyst mode, not even stopping to think that he was actually saying all that to the hero’s face.

All Might’s smile didn’t disappear, though the corners of his mouth twitched. No one spoke for a moment, but when All Might was about to answer the other teacher came close.

“Izuku, do you have everything ready?” Shota asked, suspiciously eyeing the two. He saw how the boy fanboyed over heroes, almost passing out after getting Lunchrush’s autograph but the main hero, the number one- All Might himself, seemed to cause a different reaction.

“Oh, yes!” Izuku closed his notebook fast, the sound echoing in the big room.

“Alright then,” Shota gave a small nod. There was no particular reason for him to step in, but he did.

That was when the students started coming back, and after two minutes everyone was gathered.

Izuku took a deep breath, and not looking at the faces of the people befroe him began.

He didn't dare look them in the eyes until the end. Izuku who was starring just above their heads at the walls looked at their faces. Everyone looked back at Izuku stunned(except from Kacchan who was staring at the floor in silence uncharacteristic for him) and then everyone busted in questions, about him, his quirks, their quirks, how could they improve and more Izuku couldn't make out. Izuku excused himself and with the agreeing nod from Shota made his way to the principal's office- where he had been so much he had grown comfortable with the nice chair (it had wheels! A spinning chair!). So there he was, sitting and sipping his last bits of tea as Nezu praised his work today when there was a knock on the door, and it opened without waiting for an invitation.

Izuku spinned his chair around only to see-

“Oh Hi All Might!”

It took the other by surprise (even though he was the one barging in) he blinked before unsurely returning the hello. The hero wasn't in his hero form, and was wearing a yellow suit.

Then Izuku was told to leave the office, the two clearly had something important to talk about. At any other time Izuku could have been freaking out about calling All might by his hero name while he is not in the form nor in costume- from what the hero knew he was just Mr. Yagi to Izuku. But Izuku was too happy to think about that, it felt nice being asked to do and being praised for something you enjoy doing.
—
Back at home Shota sat down before Izuku at the dinner with a serious look on his face (even more serious than usual so that was scary).

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Um- yeah” Izuku nodded.

“Do you want to be a hero?”

Izuku froze, he was not expecting that at all and just stared at the adult in front of him.

After a few seconds of silence, Shota continued, “Well I’m quite positive Nezu and you discussed it, but still, you were just thrown into it and everything seemed to happen so fast,” he sighed.
“So I want to hear the answer from you, do you, Izuku, want to be a hero?”

There was a pause.

A pause that lasted a second too long.

Izuku finally opened his mouth, though no sound seemed to come out, so he closed it. Before opening again and lifting his head, only to bite his tongue and look back down.

Chapter Text

Toshinro Yagi was walking to the teachers lounge in the morning, he wasn’t one of those teachers that came super early- there was no need for that anyway. After all he had only two hours of heroics to teach. At this time there were already some students around, all walking past him, with no way to know that he is All Might as he was in his true form and hero suit folded in his bag. As he was about to turn a corner, he saw one of his colleagues- Shota Aizawa. Toshinori was about to greet the other with a “Good morning” when he noticed that he was talking with a student.
Only sending a glance at the green-haired boy, before turning away with a huff, it reminded him of the talk he had yesterday with Nezu.

—
Toshinori waited for the door to close before turning to Nezu who was sitting behind his desk as always. Just as he was about to open his mouth, the principal put his teacup at the table and titled his head slightly.
“Is there something the matter?” he asked.

“It’s about Izuku Midoriya.”

“Oh?” Nezu put his teacup down, inviting the other hero to sit, but All Might continued to stand before him.

“The kid seemed to know about my disappearing powers!” He threw his hands in the air, “From where could he have found it out?”

He paused for a moment, and when Nezu didn’t speak, continued.

“And I don't know for what reason you took so much liking to him, even Aizawa! So much that you let the kid have almost as much authority here as any other teacher, but he is just an inexperienced, quirkless kid. What is he even doing here?”

The hero was pacing back and forth, refusing any invitation to sit down.

“And even if no one told him, if he didn’t know before doesn't it make it even worse? That would mean that from forty minutes of me just being in the same room as him, he realized that!”
He stopped to look at Nezu, to see any reaction, for him to say- well something.

Nezu hummed, his paw in his chin in thought. He lifted his eyes from his desk to look at All Might. “So, what I gather is that you are scared of him?”
—
“It’s alright if you are not sure yet, but I want you to think what kind of hero you want to be.” Shota reassured Izuku as they entered the building.

Izuku just nodded slightly. The conversation yesterday didn’t go so well, Izuku wanted to say yes, he did at first but then doubt crept into his mind, so stumbling over words, he couldn't come up with an answer, so the hero just told him to take his time.

They continued to walk down the corridor when suddenly, from around one of the corners stepped all might. Izuku looked up at the number one hero who was out of costume and seemed to be deep in thought. When the other noticed him, he just turned around, completely ignoring them as the two weren't even there and started hastily walking away. Izuku wondered if what he said yesterday made him suspicious.

As they reached the stairs Izuku had to stop for a second, to remind himself to not fall down face first. The flight quirk has been in his possession the longest, so after years of flying over every flight of stairs he had to remind himself to actually walk. Shota stopped too, brow raised. As if asking, “what’s wrong?”

“Oh it's just last time I fell down the stairs- though Uraraka managed to catch me in the last second but um- don't want to fall again.” Izuku answered the unspoken question with a short laugh.

Shota hummed, remembering seeing the two together. “But we are going up the stairs.”

—
The second Izuku stepped into the classroom, everyone bursted into questions, some praising him for his ability to pinpoint weaknesses, some with questions of how he does it so well, why did he arrive only at the second day and more that Izuku couldn’t make out in the noise of the others. Izuku sighed, he knew that he couldn’t just keep avoiding the questions forever, so he sat down and decided to try and answer as much as he could. Just one question stood out to him, even though it wasn’t shouted as the rest, he could clearly hear it.

“What is your quirk?” The question itself wasn’t what surprised him, many others wanted to know that too, but something made Izuku turn his head towards the owner of the voice. He heard that voice somewhere before.

Izuku looked to the side to find the owner of the voice sitting at their desk, head in hands.

Meeting eyes, Izuku couldn’t pinpoint where he heard that voice before, though he was a hundred percent sure he had somewhere.

Could it be-

“Class 1A, you all future heroes and should not overwhelm Midoriya! Everyone can ask a question at a time!” Iida makes his way through the firm circle around Izuku while swinging his hands in robotic motions.

“Ugh Iida no need to be so uptight,” Mina rolled her eyes but did step back a bit, as did the others.

There was a second of silence, until the biggest question was repeated, but this time by another person.

“What’s your quirk?”

There was complete silence, no one spoke any more, eagerly waiting for the answer.
Most of the class was surrounding Izuku, with only three sitting at their own desks. Two of which looked up, interested in his answer- Todoroki and Tokoyami. Izuku glanced towards the window seat where Bakugo sat, he glanced at Izuku too, before tuning to the window with a ‘tsk’ sound.

Izuku closed his eyes, when he opened them again everything in the room was the same, everyone was still waiting for the answer. But now a sly smile speared on Izuku's face.

“Well you will have to figure it out yourself.”

He could hear Bakugo huff.

—
As soon as the bell rang
Izuku made his way backwards, trying to get out of the crowd of the shouting students. He slid out and door and ran in the teachers lounge’s direction.

He ran not looking up when he busted into someone, “Where are you going kid?”

It was Shota.

Izuku stood silent for a second, trying to think of a way to say it.

Shota took him by the shoulder, “Is everything alright?”

“T-There might be a traitor in the class.” he said, eyes darting around the room to note who else was able to hear what he said.

“What?” That was one of the few things the hero clearly did not expect.

“I am not a hundred percent sure, but I think there is a student you should pay close attention to.”
—
Izuku paced back and forth in the corridor in front of the meeting room. He was told to wait a bit as all the teachers gathered inside, which included Shota too and well Izuku couldn't go anywhere. So there he was- muttering to himself, deep in thought. He didn’t expect Shota to immediately call Nezu who requested an emergency meeting. He didn’t know what he was supposed to expect, but it did seem reasonable to do so if a traitor is suspected- in the hero course no less.

Izuku didn’t know how much time passed before the door finally opened and people started to leave. Midnight gave him a small wave with a rather sad smile. Present Mic greeted him with a smile on his face which didn’t reach his eye that were filled with worry. All the others didn’t spare a second glance at him, and All Might seemed to be in a hurry more than the others. Lastly exited Nezu, accompanied by Shota. Izuku perked up.

Nezu must have noticed how interested the boy was in their meeting and decided to fill him in on some of it, “A schedule for the hero course went missing for the teacher's lounge. Thus confirming there is something up. Though we won’t take any action yet, we will be more cautious and the student will be under constant watch but just enough to not raise any suspicion. We cannot let them alert whoever they are working for, as we do not know who that is.”

Izuku wanted to say something but decided against it, Nezu noted that.

“Come on, lets go,” Said Shota in his regular tired tone.

Izuku quickly thanked the principal for telling him and hurried after the underground hero who was already on the other side of the hallway.

“To restore documents from scratch usually takes more time,” Shota said when Izuku caught up, “but good for you, I know some people and managed to get you an appointment for tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

“Today in hero practice I want you to join too.” Shota declared as they pulled into the parking lot of U.A.

“What?” escaped Izuku's mouth. He was equal parts surprised, excited, and worried.

“I will have other things to attend to though,” Shota continued, “All Might will be leading the exercise.” Izuku couldn’t help but tense at that. It’s not that he himself had anything against the hero as for right now- yes he wasn’t the perfect hero, but he was number one, and also the number one enemy of his father.

Izuku had planned at first to stay low, so the hero would have no reason to even send a second glance in his direction- but he just had to let it slip that he knew about the power limits. Izuku wanted to facepalm himself. Now All Might doesn’t seem very fond of him

—

“For today's exercise, we will have you in teams of two against two-”

Izuku looked around everyone, he had seen their costumes the day before but this time he could see them more up close. He noticed how many had costumes too flashy and not practically suited for their quirks. He himself was dressed in the regular U.A. gym set with a utility belt with a few things that Nezu was more than happy to let him bring.

“-Midoriya and Kaminari versus Jiro and Iida.” Izuku lifted his head, searching for Kaminari but the boy found him first.

“Hi, hi!” Izuku turned around at the waving teen.

Kaminari stopped next to him but didn’t drop his smile.

Izuku nodded as a greeting and put a hand on his chin, “We need to think of a plan.”

“No offense,” Kaminari huffed, “but no plan is going to save us from them. My quirk would fry you too and well if it doesn't turn out you have some amazing quirk we are toast.”

Izuku bit the inside of his lip at the quirk remark but didn’t let it get to him. “We will just have to outsmart them to get close and the fight, which depends on who-”

Izuku put a hand over his mouth, feeling someone's eyes on him. Looking around he wasn’t sure who that could be as the other students were taken to some room to the side from where they could watch the exercise unfold. Still, Izuku didn’t want anyone to hear his plan so he did his best to not think out loud. At the end of the five minutes they were given to strategize, Izuku whispered to Kaminari his plan.

“You sure?” The blond looked skeptical, but Izuku just nodded his head in confirmation.

Kaminrai shrugged, “All right, but don’t blame me if it doesn’t work.”

Entering the building, they didn’t make any effort to hide themselves. Having Jiro on the enemies team made it almost impossible to get close without being noticed, though izuku had an idea on how to get around her quirk with the use of Kaminari’s, but for that, he would need a speaker that he couldn’t really get his hands on at the moment.

As Izuku predicted both of their opponents stayed to protect the bomb, as Iida didn’t come running at them- probably staying with Jiro who could tell him where the two others were if needed.

To tell the truth, Izuku’s plan was very vague as he didn’t have enough time or things to work with. They also had no way to know where the opposing team was hiding, so slowly but surely the two boys explored the building up from the basement. Only when they got to the fourth floor did Izuku stop.

“Are they here?” Kaminari whispered.

Izuku shook his head, then shrugged. He had no way of knowing, but something else moving caught his attention. In the corner of the staircase, near the cursing a security camera. It was following them, turning as they went up.

“All Might and the others are watching us from these,” Izuku pointed with his hand to the ceiling.

Looking up, Kaminari nodded, “Yup, I saw how many there were downstairs, one in every room.”

“They also have small speakers, for the teachers to say something in case something happened or I don't know something- ugh what I'm saying is- We have speakers.”

“Are you saying that-” Kaminari didn’t finish, his eyes lit up and he changed his tone. “I need to show you something downstairs, come on!” He turned around and started walking down the stairs, “Can’t say what cuz Y’know, she is listening to it.” A sly smile was on his face.

Izuku didn’t really know what to expect but followed Kaminari, as the boy seemed to be very confident about- whatever it was.

Soon they stepped into a small room that was on the ground floor. It was just to the side of the entrance and was too small to hide a bomb in, so when they passed it before, Kaminari only peaked inside, just in case.

“Tada!” Kaminari swung his hands to his side. There, under another camera, and speaker was a small panel. “I think we can do something with that,” he said with a proud smile.

Izuku was surprised for the best, “Kaminari, you are a genius!”

“Thank you, thank you,” Kaminari lifted his head, smiling. “But can you actually do something with this?” he asked.

“I think I’ll manage,” Izuku nodded, “We just need to not speak about it as they are surely listening in. Though Jiro can hear out heartbeats, I don't think she’ll be able to figure it out, at least I hope not. Alright um, lets do it!”

“Wait, she can do that?” Kaminari whispered, his eyes wide.

Izuku nodded to the other boy before stepping closer. The control panel was old- not just old, ancient! It resembles those from the pre-quirk era. But that only meant it was easier to figure out how to work and wasn’t protected by a quirk. The side of Izuku’s mouth arched in a smile, he wondered if Nezu put it here on purpose- though it was no doubt, of course he had.

“Okay, okay,” Izuku whispered to himself, “Where is it?” He looked at his small pauch in the utility belt, which was the only thing differentiating his get up from the regular gym clothes. He didn’t have a hero costume, which he could already hear murmures about. Finally he found a mini screwdriver. “Now I will just have to make sure that it’s-” Izuku hunched over, very focused on the task before him. It’s been long since he had done something like it, but it was fun to finally-

“Dude, you’re mumbling.”

Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth, “sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s fine,” Kaminari waved his hand, “we just need to make sure Jiro doesn’t hear what we are doing, right? You said it yourself.”

Izuku just nodded, embarrassed, and turned back to his work.

A few minutes passed, Kaminari was starting to pace around, clearly worried for their time running out. Sometimes he stopped beside Izuku and looked at what he was doing before going back to pacing in circles around the small room.

“Kaminari, I need your electricity!”

“Yup!” He was by Izuku’s side in an instant.

Izuku pulled on some things and only on the fifth try he managed to do it. A sharm sound, one as if a microphone isn’t working well, sounded across the building, coming from every room.

“Go!” Izuku whisper-shouted.

Stepping into the room with the fake bomb Izuku was in full mission mode, set on winning the exercise. Giving Kaminari tips on what he should do while running up, Izuku himself was focused on what he had to do. So he didn’t notice how closely Kaminari was watching him.

The moment the two boys appeared in the room this was the scene they saw. Jiro was haunched on the ground, hands over her ears, while Iida was next to her, having lost focus on the bomb he had to be protecting. But as soon as Kamiraki headed in their direction, Iida was up, ready to fight.

Kaminari continued coming close, now in the direction of the bomb, while Izuku didn’t move, waiting. Then it happened- Iida used his quirk- running toward Kaminari. He made the mistake Izuku had been relying on- he touched Kaminari. Izuku didn’t even have to yell “Now” as Kaminari was already zapping him.

Izuku ran straight to the bomb, he was just about to touch it when he was pulled back by his shirt, almost falling back. Glancing over his shoulder Izuku saw Jiro.

“Not so quickly,” she said, her eyebrows frowned in pain, but hands pulling Izuku backward.

That was when Izuku grabbed her shirt in return, flipping her over. But that wasn’t the end of it, as Jiro quickly stood back up. He didn’t see it before but now it was clear she knew some kind of martial art- if Izuku had to guess Judo. It had proved to be quite the challenge. Having only sparring with Eraser he had forgotten what it feels like to fight someone else, whose fighting style is completely different. Izuku didn’t know how much time had passed while they were fighting, but during it Iida came back to his senses. Snatching the bomb from its place he moved it to the far corner of the room. Looking back, Izuku could see Kaminari.

“Kaminari!” Izuku threw Jiro on the ground once more, this time he was closer to Iida than ever, the other ready to run at any moment, but for now standing with his side touching the wall.

“Yes!” Electricity flooded the room, Kaminari stood up, using the wall for support and at the same time electrifying it. Being mostly metal, it transmitted the electricity around the room, to Iida who fell to his knees. Izuku ran as fast as he could and he felt his fingers touch the fake bomb, but it was filled with Kaminari’s electricity and ended up electrifying him too. Everything went black.

Waking up, Izuku slowly opened his eyes. He expected to find himself in the nurses room but was surprised to see he was still in the mock city, laying on a stretcher and being rolled out of the building by robots.

“Wait!” He jumped up.

The robots started saying something but izuku didn’t listen, running into the room where class 1a was supposed to be in. running into the open doors izuku came face to face with All Might- well Toshinori Yagi, he was not in his hero form.

The man seemed startled to see izuku here, “oh, Midriya, everyone went to change out of their costumes. You should go wait go get checked up by recovery girl, you won't miss anything as the class will be discussing their quirks and how they used them during the exercise. And you shouldn’t be there, seeing as well, you are quirkless. I still don’t know how you are in U.A at all.” The last part was said quieter, as if to himself, as the hero shook his head.

Izuku huffed, still standing in the doorway. What the hero said was true but it just pissed him off, maybe because it brought memories of his old school. “Are you sure you should be say stuff like that, being born quirkless and up until what- fourteen was it?” Izuku turned on his heel and stomped out. All he wanted was to find Kaminari and celebrate their victory, not run into the number one hero who clearly hated him, even without knowing who he was.
—
“Don’t you think Midoriya’s fighting style is familiar?” heads turned around in the direction of Aoyama. They were all gathered in the classroom, being already dismissed for the day but no one had left yet.

Kirishima hummed, head in his hands. “Yeah it feels like I've seen it somewhere, can't put a finger on it though.”

“His way of fighting is similar to Yamiyo,” some quietly suggested.

There were gasps, “the villain?”

“Now that you mention it-”
“Yeah his whole “special case student” is weird...”
Some whispered.

Humming, Kaminari rocked on his chair, “He was a great teammate, y’know, not what I would imagine a wanted villain to be.” He stopped his chair and turned to his classmates. “Though I noticed something too. I was trying to figure out what his quirk is at first, which I still think is some kind of mental one- like coming up with the perfect plan. Could you believe we won?” he laughed, “I was so surprised when Jiro told me when I woke up. But yeah, he acts like he is used to it, he took into count the quirks of our opponents and all. When fighting he also was very careful, like he wasn’t thinking of it as just an exercise but that his life depends on it or something, y’know?”

“Wow, you are not as dumb as you seem,” Jiro giggled.

“Shut up!”

Everyone seemed to turn away from the two’s bickering and continued to talk.

“But isn’t Yamiyo dead?”

“Well no one found the body, only blood so-”

“Oh maybe that’s why he hides his quirk! He doesn’t want people to make the connection.”

Bakugo made a tsk’ sound, moving to the door, “There’s no way in h*ll that he is Yamiyo so stop with this bullsh*t.”

There was quiet for a second before the murmures continued. Bakugo rolled his eyes and was about to leave when he stopped dead in his tracks.

“What quirks is Yamiyo known to have? I think it was to paralyse people or something, flying and what else was there?”

They were busy trying to remember all the quirks they heard be mentioned on TV. While Bakugo made his way to the door. Suddenly it opened, revealing the freaking principle himself. And from the look on his face Bakugo could guess he was not pleased.
–
“I insure you that no villain could have been admitted to U.A without me knowing,” the principles stare hardened, “And Midoriya is not a villain, so I advise you to stop as
bullying is not tolerated in this school, so even if he was, you shouldn’t be so quick to judge people.”

“We are sorry..”

“We were just- well worried. This whole thing is weird,maybe if we were given an explanation we wouldn’t have to come up with one ourselves.” Bakugo couldn’t remember which one of the extras that voices belonged to, well except for this one, this was almost 80% certainly The red hair smoky boy.

“It is completely understandable,” Nezu smiled. “But next time you are worried about a classmate of yours, indeen do tell a teacher.”

The class lowered their heads in silence, some nodding.

There was complete silence as the door closed, but just as the sound of the footsteps disappeared in the distance the murmurs rose up again. Bekugo watched the door in confusion. Why did Nezu just burge in the classroom, say something and leave? How did he even know what they were talking about?

“Yeah… Accusing Midoriya of being Yamiyo was a bit too far..” Kaminari rocked on his chair as he looked at the ceiling.

“Yea! There is no way he is the villain!” Mina stood up from her desk. “Okay then now: Topic change topic change!” she shouted, washing her hands in the air.

“Yeah…” Kirishima nodded his head.

“Oh guys, guys! There is something interesting with Midoriya-kun though,” heads turned to the voice. Bakugo, once again, was stopped from leaving the classroom.

“I thought we were leaving this alone,” Jiro looked up from her phone.

“Yes yes but- hear me out- on the first day of school I was held back a bit and when I was about to head home I bumped into him- well- more like he fell on me, stopped him with my quirk though.”

“But midoriya didn’t come to school on the first day,” Iida said slowly, putting a hand on his chin in thought.

Only then did Bakugo notice that he didn’t stand up to stop his classmates about Deku being Yamiyo. Did he think he was Yamiyo too? This was getting ridiculous.

“Yeah! And he also knew a lot about Recovery girls so that’s why I thought he was an upperclassman, but that's not even the most confusing part!” Uraraka exclamad, “you know who midoriya-kun left with? Our Mr. Aizawa himself!” Everyone except Bakugo looked at her. Bekugo started at the door, but couldn't bring himself to leave, it was all getting more confusing. Some classmates seemed interested and even Todoroki lifted his eyes. Mina was about to open her mouth but it seemed that Uraraka wasn’t done yet. “They are even on first name basis!” This drew Bakugo's attention. He sharply turned his head, but that was when the door was opened once more, so when Bakugo, who was still standing close to it, turned his head back. He came face to face with Izuku.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Izuku moved past him.
“Um, I’m just here to take my things.” he said, trying to get past everyone that were gathered around the middle.

Everyone watched in silence as he did. Izuku already informed on his way by Nezu what happened, and though he was relieved that everything was swept under the rug for now, he felt miserable for digging himself this deeper hole of lies.

Taking his things, Izuku quickly left.

—---

Sitting in the car Izuku’s thoughts wandered around, thinking about all that happened that day. But the longer they drove, his mind slowly came to a stop. It was a weird feeling, but he enjoyed just looking out the window and observing things. Soon they turned into a neighbourhood Izuku could recognise but wasn’t sure from where. He paid attention to the buildings, billboards, and people. Most of the buildings were newly restored but you could catch glimpses of old, run down ones in the backstreets, which the newer ones blocked out of view of whoever wasn’t paying close attention. The people on the street looked poor, you could see just how much more homeless people were here than around U.A. a lot of people with mutant type quirks, while others didn’t show any physical characteristics of a quirk. Izuku secretly wondered if they were quirkless.

They came to a stop in front of one of the newly restored buildings. A government building.

“Why are there so many homeless people and petty criminals around here, why aren’t the heroes doing anything about it?” Izuku thought out loud.

Shota sighed, “Most heroes like to be in the spotlight kid, want to get paid more, to perform.” He paused, “Underground heroes keep it under control but no more than that, nothing else they can do.” He said, crossing the street.

Izuku hurried to follow, “But that doesn't solve anything, does it? How many of thuds from here turn to villany? How many do it to survive?”

The hero stopped, turning to Izuku, who continued. “If I'm going to be a hero, I want to be the kind of hero that saves people in need, save them before then have a reason to turn to villany.”

Izuku could see a smile appeared on Shota’s face, “Then be that hero.”

—
Inside the building, on the sixth floor. Izuku was told to sit at one of the waiting chairs in the corridor while one of the people working there said they needed to talk with Shota in private. Izuku wasn’t sure what it could be about. His identity before being separated from his mother was basically erased by the villains, and the one of his time with the villains erased by Nezu. If the mammal did keep his end of the deal.

“The ID number is saved in the system, and though it would take some afford to bring it all back, it's not that hard. The confusing part is that there is little to no information at all- the medical file hasn’t been updated since the boy was five years old, same with most of the other things. It seems that someone has specivialy gone out of their way to delete and get rid of anything in the recent years.”

Shota listened closely, though his mind threatened to slip to thinking about who could have done that and what is there to hide in the problem childs past, he nodded and took the info in.

Izuku sat on the chair that stood against the wall, in front of him was the door the two adults disappeared into. They were in a part of the building where no one else was. Total silence stood there, only interrupted with a sound of a printer from some room down the hall. So when the person spoke, even in a hushed tone, only for Shota to hear- Izuku could still make out some parts of it.
After some time, Izuku decided to look around a bit. And standing up from his chair, he firstly made his way to a water cooler that stood a bit to the side of the door. Slowly filling the disposable plastic cup and then drinking the water, he looked around the corridor. It was empty and bare, the walls painted white with a slight tint of grey colour. The only thing in the walls was a board with different notices and some wanted posters- pictures and a few words describing the criminal. Izuku didn’t notice himself coming close to it. One of the posters caught his eyes. “Yamiyo” was painted in big letters on it. But Izuku didn’t have much time to study it as he heard footsteps approaching.

It was a young woman. She didn’t pay him any mind, heading straight to the board. Izuku took a step back, watching as she started taking down some of the posters- the one with Yamiyo amongst them, and putting up new ones. Why was she changing them? Did the police already find these? Would that mean that-

“Ahem,” Izuku jumped as she turned to him, he hadn’t realised he was mumbling.

“Um sorry?”

The woman smiled, “It’s alright, I just have to throw these out and um-” she waved the papers she took down in her hands, as if debating on what to say next.

“Can I have them?”

“What?” her head shot up, clearly not expecting that.

Izuku shifted from one foot to the other, “well if you are throwing them out anyway- they look cool so um.. I was just wondering.” Izuku didn’t really want all the posters of course. It's just that he wanted to read what it said about Yamiyo, and well- wouldn’t it be fun to have a wanted poster of yourself?

“Well-um that’s- it's actually not allowed.” Izuku kind of expected that, though her voice sounded unsure.

Izuku was about to just say it's nothing and let it go when someone came up and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

“It’s alright, the boy is living with Eraserhead so I don't think there is much to worry about.” Izuku looked up in the man’s eyes. Detective Tsukauchi. He was smiling, looking kindly at Izuku, but Izuku could only repeat one thing to himself in his head- dontspeakdontspeakdontspeak!

Tsukauchi was the only one, well- ever, that heard Yamiyo’s voice. Now if izuku was to speak, even if his hair is green and there is no mask he will certainly put two and two together.

As the detective handed Izuku the paper he just bowed his head in thanks, his eyes squeezed shut, and the man didn't seem to question it.

The two started walking away, and only when they turned around the corner did Izuku straighten and open his eyes. What he saw almost made him gasp. In his hands was the poster of Yamiyo. Only Yamiyo. The detective threw all the others away, giving Izuku only the one he actually wanted.

Was he onto him?

—

Stepping out of the room Shota didn’t see Izuku at first, but turning his head he noticed him further down the hall. Shota called the boy, who jumped up at his name. The hero came closer looking at what Izuku was holding.

It’s some basic information the police had about Yamiyo. Hight, eye and hair colour-
Shota huffed. What a funny coincidence, it matched Izuku almost perfectly.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Izuku putting his shaking hand on his own, “can we go now?” the boy let out, no louder than a whisper.
Shota didn’t comment at how weird Izuku was acting, but as they got back he told him to get ready to bed. Izuku just nodded, not having spoken the whole car ride. Someone seemed to be troubling both of them.

Chapter Text

In the evening, when Izuku disappeared in his room. Shota sat down with his laptop and shot a text to Tsukauchi. Who in return sent him the file he was asking for.

A few minutes passed as Shota studied the screen in front of him fully desiccated- trying to find something. A notification made him look down, to the side of the screen. It was a message from Detective Tsukauchi.

“Yamiyo is dead.” it read.

Shota didn’t answer, continuing to scroll through blurry pictures.

A shadow of doubt never crossed his mind about it before, but now he wasn’t so sure.

—

Izuku was walking down to Nezu’s office who he hadn't spoken to since the incident in the class yesterday.

This morning the principal shot him a text, asking to pay him a visit before school. It had been a regular thing at this point.

Walking through the big long corridor was still pretty confusing, but Izuku started to learn what turn to take where and had the way from the 1A class to Nezu’s office memorized. But this time he seemed to take a wrong turn somewhere as he never usually had to pass near the teachers lounge. Izuku moved to open the door, but just as he was about to walk in and ask one of the present teachers to give him directions, his hand froze on the handle. There were voices inside, one he heard before and a new one, younger, a student.

Izuku didn’t mean to eavesdrop and started to walk away, deciding its best to just figure out the way on his own. The two inside seemed to have a serious talk and Izuku didn’t want to interfere. But as he was already walking, he heard All Might say “All For One”. Izuku stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. His curiosity couldn’t let him simply walk away now.

He knew some things about the brother conflict, the power passed through generations of heroes and all that but never from the perspective of said heroes.

Izuku stood there for a while, he didn’t know how much time had passed, but he heard a lot. Some stuff he knew already, but one fact was entirely new to him. Finally, he forced his legs to move in the direction of Nezu’s office, mind busy thinking about what he had just discovered.
—
Shota was sitting at his desk. Just now did he get around to find a time to sit down and watch the recordings of the exercise 1A had the day before. He had heard from All Might what had happened, and saw the injured students. But had to watch for himself- both as his duty as their teacher, and also because he was honestly curious. Mostly about one particular round, where a certain quirkless boy and his teammate managed to knock out both of their opponents right before the timer ran out.
He was a bit confused at first, but when the camera switched to Kaminari painting on to an electric panel, he understood how they did it. Well- partially. So he kept watching. Everything went as he predicted up until the room with the fake bomb. There his attention was quickly focused on Izuku, who took on fighting Jiro. He had to note- she was an amazing fighter, despite being clearly affected by the speaker, she kept on going. He had to applaud her for that. Then Shota realized something- the one she was fighting against, Izuku, wasn’t that bad of a fighter himself. Of course, he had known the boy knew some stuff already from their sparring sessions. But in this, the boy was fighting differently. His moves were much swifter and smoother. He felt as if he had seen it before. Somewhere else, long ago.

Then suddenly, his eyes went wide. Shota realized where he had seen this fighting style before. He sat there frozen as the video ended from the camera being shut off from Kaminari’s quirk. Shota continued to sit there, eyes on the screen.

—
Izuku slowly walked down the hall to the principal’s office. He was deep in thought. Considering the spy in school, the stolen schedule and his father being too intelligent to think he was actually dead. Izuku could be in great trouble. Now also with the knowledge that All Might has passed on his power and is now weaker like never before. There was no doubt in Izuku's mind that someone- he could name a few, who will act. Izuku came to a stop. Tearing his eyes from the floor he looked out of the big glass windows to the side of the hallway. That would mean that- that would mean that not only Izuku isn’t safe at U.A, but he is also putting everyone there in danger. His eyes went wide as a thought came to mind- Eraserhead. Eraserhead doesn’t even know how much danger he is in. how he could get attacked any time. How the boy he wants to adopt is a presumed dead- wanted villain.

Some student sending his weird looks forced Izuku to continue walking further. But it didn’t snap him out of his thoughts. Izuku continued to walk slowly, deep in his thoughts.

“You are a bit late,” Nezu pointed out as he opened the door to Izuku.

“Sorry,” Izuku mumbled, sitting down.

“What kept you so long?”

“I got lost,” he admitted, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to mention what he overheard.

Nezu nodded, “The layout can indeed be confusing sometimes if you are new, but do not worry, you’ll get the hang of it soon. Now for what I called you here.”

Izuku looked up, he was pretty sure it would be something connected to the villains and the stolen schedule- or the fact that class 1A almost figured out he was Yamiyo. Probably the latter.

“Do you know who the student that stole our schedule works for?”

Izuku nodded slowly, “I think so, I’m not quite sure, but I believe we briefly met.”

“And what is their goal?” the principal questioned, “Why would they need to know the schedule of the hero class?”

Izuku squinted his eyes, wondering if Nezu actually didn’t know or if it’s some kind of way to test him. “Don’t you know? To kill All Might, to take One for all back.” he was sure that Nezu was trusted with that information, about All Might’s quirk and all, so he thought he wasn’t revealing anything new, turns out he was.

The principal moved closer, gaze cold.
“Take it back? Are you saying he is alive?”

“He?” Izuku raised a brow, gaze stiff.

“All for one.”

Chapter Text

“All for one.”

“What?”

“I am quite certain you know what I'm talking about.”

“I, I do but-” Izuku paused, “Even you didn’t know he was alive?”

Nezu didn’t answer, just humming something under his breath. “That makes things a lot more complicated. All Might reassured everyone that he could not have survived with the wounds he received.” he paused, “and if he knows that you are alive, it puts Aizawa in danger too.”

Izuku didn’t answer, he knew that already, he knew it from the beginning but- well he tried to hope it wasn't the case. Izuku looked down at his feet, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. What was he even thinking? He knew it was all a bad idea- this whole thing was a bad idea. Why did he even come to U.A at all? He isn’t even sure he wants to be a hero at all…

Nezu sighed, clasping his paws together. “Alright,” he spoke, and Izuku's head jerked up, being pulled out of his thoughts. “Now it's my fault that we haven’t discussed this sooner, but even I had no way of knowing that you are somehow connected to the most dangerous villain in this country.” he paused. “First of all, I want you to tell me- what is he planning?”

Izuku didn’t answer right away. Was that a trick question? There is no way that Nezu- the smartest being he knows of doesn't know that.

“Um right now? Probably take One for all back.” He finally said.

“Right now? ” Nezu repeated his words, “You sound quite unsure.”

“Well, with taking into count that All Might passed down his power and being weakened while his successor isn’t in full power yet and has not mastered the quirk. I would suppose that to be the goal, but I can’t be sure of his plans and can’t really go get more info, if that's what you are hinting at. You know, since everyone thinks I'm dead.”

“I wouldn’t think it’s that easy to fool him to think that you are dead, and based on all the evidence we have,” He looked Izuku is the eyes, completely ignoring Izuku's confrontation, “You are probably being watched.”

Izuku nodded, struggling to keep eye contact. “I think so too,” He took a breath in. “But I don’t think the spy in 1A was sent for me, he looked surprised to see me, so I think there is another mission for him, probably something to do with All Might.”

—
When Izuku left the principal’s office he was deep in thought, so he didn’t pay too much attention to where he was going. He knew he had to find Shota, yes, and remembered to pay attentions to stairs to not go rolling down again. But what he didn’t notice was that he walked right into someone. Izuku hurried to apologize, and lifting his eyes from the ground found himself face to face with no one else than Bakugo Katsuki himself. They both froze for a moment before Izuku mumbled another apology and tried to continue walking. Izuku was grabbed by his arm, and turning around he looked at the other’s face- he found something he was not expecting. Bakugo’s face wasn’t in a scowl, and he didn’t seem angered at all. In fact, his features were filled with worry.

“Let’s talk.”

“You’ve been avoiding me all this time, but I need to know the truth.” he added when Izuku didn’t move.

Izuku sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a second. Then he pulled his hand free, mumbling to himself that too many people want him to tell them something. Bakugo seemed to have heard it, by his quite confused look, but he didn’t say anything.

“Alright, let’s go somewhere more private, at least around the corner or something- away from the main hallway.” Izuku finally answered.

Bakugo barely nodded, as Izuku turned to a small opening to their side. Bakugo went after him, as Izuku went around a few turns down smaller hallways that were poorly lit and only stopped in a corner where there were no people and only one lamp above and a vent opening. Izuku had found this dead end while wandering around before, though he was quite positive it wasn’t a real dead end but there was some kind of secret door, he wasn’t interested in that now.

The two boys stood both with their backs to opposite walls, staring at each other. Izuku folded his arms, clearly not wanting to speak first and waiting for Bakugo to do so.

“Alright- sorry! Is this what you want to hear?” Bakugo lifted his hands up and then slammed them back down to his sides with a ‘tsk’ sound.

“Thanks,” Izuku flashed a small smile, closing his eyes, but only for a second, as the next moment his face was back to serious, eyes still staring daggers at the boy in front of him.

Bakugo huffed, stuffing hands in his pockets. He leaned back at the wall behind him. There were a few moments of silence, with only faint voices coming from the far away rooms.
“When you disappeared I didn’t believe it,” He started slowly.
“Everyone had different theories as for what happened to you, the most popular was that you died.”

“Killed myself.” Izuku butted in. He knew what people thought of his disappearance, how everyone, even the police didn’t want to investigate further, writing it off as ‘another quirkless suicide’.

Bakugo only stiffly nodded, as he bit his tongue and looked away before continuing. “The old hag called your mum, thinking so too. I was there when she was calling, and could hear that your mum aggressively dismissing all thoughts about it- saying that there is no way you are dead. She said that you just went to live with your dad in America.”

Izuku perked up at that, Bakugo paused to see if he’d say anything.
But Izuku only mumbled to himself, shaking his head, “So that’s what she told everyone… Wasn’t too far from the truth.”

Bakugo raised a brow but continued.

“I didn’t believe all that stupid bullsh*t of course, so I went to investigate myself.” he paused. “I went up to your apartment and I wanted to get answers. Your mum only evaded all questions, only continuing to mutter under her breathe that everything is fine.” He took a breath in. “I got tired of all the excuses and got pretty mad, my quirk went out of control and- and caused some damage,” he wasn't looking at Izuku, but the other boy could tell it was hard for him to say it. “Broke a window or two and burned a cupboard,” he lifted his head, “and then the hag got some f*cking civil harassment restraining order against me,” he huffed, “afraid that I’m going to try to dig something up,” he paused once again.

“That’s of course only made me more suspicious, but I couldn't do anything but accept these stupid excuses if I didn't want property damage and what not to get on my record and ruin my chances of going to U.A. And now you-” he caught Izuku's gaze, “Now you pop out of nowhere, with an attitude change and some provisional licence that makes you a teacher helper? Like what the f*ck??”

Bakugo eyed the boy in front of him, he could tell by just how he stood that it wasn’t the same little Izuku that went missing then.
“Then out of nowhere we get told about your moth-”

Izuku’s eyes locked on Bakugo’s, “She didn’t kill herself.” his voice was low and the blond would never admit it, but it sent chills down his spine.

“Then what was it?” he tried, leaning closer to Izuku.

Izuku just shook his head, “You finish first.”

Bakugo scowled, but continued. “At the cemetery I saw you. I knew it was you but couldn’t believe it. Your hair was white but if you think that could fool me, you are stupid.” he pointed a finger at Izuku, “And then you just ran away, clearly knowing something. So tell me,” He crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall. “What is it you know?”

—
On the way back in the car Izuku stayed silent, thinking. It was a weird feeling, revealing things he never thought he would. He told Nezu about the villains and Bakugo about where he had been. Well, not everything, but he was pretty sure Bakugo got the big picture. Izuku sighed. He didn’t know if it was wise telling his childhood friend turned tormentor something that no one else besides Nezu knew. What if he tells everyone? Izuku tried to shake the thought out of his head. Even if he does, Izuku didn’t tell him about everything- just said that his father was a criminal, and he was forced to stay there. Enough to answer Bakugo and shock his enough, so Izuku can leave in peace but-

“Izuku?”

“Ah?” Izuku’s head jerked up, “Oh, right.” He got into the car and closed the door.

When both Shota and Izuku got in the car, neither spoke anymore.

Izuku looked down at the passing building as he clenched his hand into a fist, there were too many thoughts and worries swirling around in his head. Bakugo was not even close to the main thing he was worried about.
As much as he didn’t want to go or say anything only he knew Shigaraki’s quirk and what he was capable off, and if they brought nomu it would be over for the teachers- which they would most definitely bring as it the first time Shigaraki and his so-called league of villains are going, so they are probably will do a grand entrance. And if nomu is equal with strength to All Might then-

Izuku glanced to the side at the hero who was driving. As if sensing his gaze, Eraser looked at him back, but that only made Izuku avert his gaze.
If they were coming for All Might, what would stop them from going after Eraserhead?

This thought made Izuku shiver, but it could be totally possible.

He was putting everyone in so much danger.

–
When they got home Izuku made his way straight to his room and when Shota called after him, telling about dinner, said that he wasn't hungry yet, which was a lie.

Izuku sat on his bed, taking a deep breath in, then out. He had to tell Eraser the truth, and sooner the better. He could feel Kenta- well Habiki, yelling at him for thinking like that again but - but maybe he could actually be happy that Izuku comes clean? Izuku shook his head, no point overthinking it. He will just text him and say he is going to do it. That way, also when he phone is to be taken away and if he is thrown in jail at least Habiki will know why. So Izuku pulled his phone from his pocket and typed in a quick message.

‘I’m going to tell Eraserhead the truth.’ was all it said, because Izuku just couldn’t think more about how to rephrase it, he was too nervous.

Chapter Text

Izuku came out to the living room where Shota sat, fidgeting with his fingers. “Can you lend me your laptop?” He was doing it, actually doing it!

Shota looked up from the email he just sent, “Yes, but why do you need it?” His voice was the same monotone as even, and eyes were as tired as always.

“I need to show you something,” Izuku said, not waiting for a response and without even looking in the hero's direction disappeared back into his room.

Only less than a minute later he reappeared again.

Sitting down on the sofa beside Shota, Izuku took the laptop for the other's extended hand. He didn’t say anything about the curious look for the hero.
“Just wait a sec,” Izuku said quietly, his fingers typing away on the keyboard. He could feel them shaking, which made him often misspell things.

Some time had passed, when Izuku finally let out a sigh and pushed the laptop a bit away from him.

“Alright so, before everything,” Izuku looked at Shota, “I wanted to say thank you, thank you for everything. You not just saved my life, but continued to take care of me.”

“Kid, is everything alright?” Shota asked concerned, when Izuku stopped to take a breath.

“Y-yup!” Izuku stiffly nodded, turning his attention back to the screen. “Here, look at this. It’s a small Ramen restaurant that is in front of the villain’s base some time after it was abandoned but just before the heroes came.” Izuku said it all in one breath as he opened a security camera footage. It didn’t have much security and was quite easy to get his hands on.

“It is rather dark, and you can't see the whole building, but it is known that the villains teleported from there, not using any doors or anything so no one bothered to check this camera outside- it's a private one after all and well, um- I don’t think anyone thought it would be necessary.” He paused, glancing at Shota who was listening, his face not giving away what he was thinking.

“Nezu knows, but I am not certain you do- um the villain in charge of that place was one that thought to be dead, with multiple quirks as his original quirk is to take powers from others and either keep them to himself- of which he has is teleportation. Or give it to another person. But the body isn't suited for a certain quirk can reject it- usually that happens if a person is given multiple quirks, and well- in the rare case when a person lives through the receiving process, they are certain to die if the quirks are to be taken back, away.” He stopped to take a breath, staring at the screen before him, he wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore, he didn’t have a script in his head to follow as he usually did so he was just rambeling on. “But when a person is born quirkless and is given quirks their body adapts to it better, and well if the quirks are taken back and the person returns back to being quirkless they have a bigger chance to survive.” Izuku paused again, “And um- the villain didn’t know that until recently.”

Izuku took another deep breath in, and pointed to the laptop screen. “Here from the security camera of the restaurant you can see a small window, it's the window of the room where the heroes found Yamiyo’s blood.” He turned the laptop more so that the hero could see better, the latter scooted a bit closer to Izuku. He nodded, looking at the blurry video where to the side, barely in the frame you could see a half open window. Shota waited for Izuku to continue, but looking at him, he saw the boy’s eyes glued to the screen. He looked back too. After some time he noticed some movement in the window. The quality of the video was just horrible, but you could make out a figure of a person climbing out- a person covered in blood.

“This is -m-um Yamiyo.” Izuku’s voice was shaky and raspy. He was unbearably scared, but had to get this over with.

The hero was about to move closer to the screen and try and make out something more- anything to identify the person climbing out of a villain’s base when Izuku stopped the video and deleted the tab.

“And-And at the time,” Izuku tried to gather his words together, “At that time you were on patrol, covering for another hero that was still unconscious at that time. You made your way across the rooftops and then somewhere close to a residential area noticed someone falling off a building and- um. You caught him- I mean Yamiyo- um-.” The last past was said faster and quieter than the rest. “And that’s um- me.” Izuku didn’t move his head, not daring to look up at Eraser. Izuku just needed someone to know the information he had, and well Eraser was his safest bet, considering that villains are going to target his anyway for helping him. Even if the hero is not going to help him any more. Eraser is probably not even going to want to see him. And even if he is going to send him to Tartarus after, he had to tell him- well, he already did, there is no going back. He had heard it time and times before- from the villains and the news. The heroes are going to put Yamiyo in the most secure prison they have. That would be Tartarus. They were afraid of how slippery he was, how much quirks he held. Though it made Izuku wonder- would anything change now that the quirks were taken away, and he was back to being quirkless.

His mind continued to sprint around thoughts in chaos until the hero to his side moved. Izuku froze, but Eraserhead just took the laptop out of his lap and put in on the coffee table in front of them. Well at least Izuku guessed that by the sounds, he didn’t look.

“Kid.” Izuku shuddered, still looking away, “kid.”

“Ah- I know that now you will have to- and um do whatever you need and- I’m sorry I haven’t told you sooner, and um took advance of everything- and- and you even trained me a bit and all. You didn’t know, and I'm sorry I never told you I’m a villain.” he babbled in one breath, before adding another "I'm sorry".

“Izuku.” the boy stopped talking, and looked up at his name, “You are not a villain.”

“But-”

The hero put his hands on both Izuku’s shoulders, “Listen to me. You are not a villain.”

Izuku didn’t try to argue more, just looking at the hero beside him with a confused look on his face. Meanwhile, Shota reached for the laptop again. Izuku held his breath as he watched the hero open a file titled ‘Yamiyo, evidence’.

“Now it's my turn to show you something.”

He opened up a report, “This is from a few months ago. An elderly man came to the police station and told about someone who called themselves Yamiyo.” Izuku sank further into the couch.

Izuku listened as Eraser read the report out loud. Izuku slowly lifted his eyes in confusion and surprise. The man not once even mentioned his as a villain, referring to Yamiyo as a ‘helpful vigilante that does everything in his power to help’ If Izuku had heard it any other time he would have even smiled, but now he was too tense. He remembered the money that was still somewhere in his backpack, the same that the man gave him as a thanks for helping him out.
Izuku was still playing over in his head that meeting with the man as Shota moved over to another document, another report.

“This one is from a hero who was reported to be cornered beside their agency around a year ago, and knocked out. After they came to their senses and were asked to describe what happened, they just with a confused face informed the police that Yamyio told them in detail all their weaknesses and even gave tips on how to overcome them.”
Izuku looked at the screen too, skimming through the report and not believing his eyes.

“Do you know what they are doing now?” Izuku sheepishly shook his head, still looking at the screen of the laptop.

“Now they have worked to improve these weaknesses, and have gotten support items to help with the blind spots or their quirk that you pointed out.”

There was silence, Izuku could feel the gaze of the older man on him but didn’t raise his head to meet it.

“In a recent interview they even said that they have to thank the one who pointed it out. Of course they didn’t mention who it was, but we can clearly see.”

Izuku didn’t answer.

“So, in conclusion. Yamiyo’s reputation as a villain was only caused by one person, and I suppose you know who it is, but right now it isn't necessary for me to know, though it will be in the future." Shota sighed, and then took a breath in before continuing. "What made the public think of Yamiyo as a villain was only fear of the unknown and blind trust in the heroes who were afraid themselves.” Shota closed the laptop and put it back on the coffee table.

There was another moment of silence. Izuku watched the hero as he just rested back at the couch, eyes on the ceiling. Izuku’s whole plan in his head of how the talk is supposed to go was slowly shattering as he watched the hero before him. He wasn’t hurrying to do anything, just calmly sitting there.

“You know,” he started again, still not turning to Izuku, so the boy looked away too. “I have found Yamiyo’s real identity myself.” To that the boy jerked up, head turning sharply to Eraser. “Not that long ago,” he continued, “But pieces just fell into place, everything suddenly made so much sense.”

There was the silence again, this time Izuku wasn’t sure what to expect next.

Shota sighed, “I’ll admit, it does change a few things,” Izuku stiffened at that.
“But I assure you,” He finally turned to Izuku and the two locked eyes, “it doesn’t change my attitude towards you, nor my decision to take you into my care.”

Izuku sat there, mouth slightly agape. He had thought of different ways the conversation could go, but not one them were this.

“Even though I figured it out myself already, I’m glad you told me, so thank you.” Izuku could swear he saw a hint of a smile for a split second.

Izuku was ready to burst into tears. He shook his head, “No, thank you,” He said as he leaped at Shota and tackled him into a hug, silently sobbing into his shirts as he mumbled “thank you” over and over again.

Shota put a hand on the boy’s back to comfort him, and couldn’t help but feel the situation was similar to when the two met, though that seemed like forever ago.

Chapter Text

“Today is the trip,” Shota said simply.

Izuku just nodded, tying his shoelaces. He couldn’t shake a thought off his mind.

Glancing up at Shota, Izuku’s mind jumped to the end of their conversation the day before.

Izuku didn’t know how long they were sitting there, hugged together on the couch, but the sun in the window had long set. Izuku didn’t want to let go from the comforting hug, and Shota didn’t move away either, both his hands on Izuku’s back. Suddenly the doorbell rang, making them both perk up. After a few seconds a knocking followed.

Shota straightened up, “I’ll see who it is.” He said, and stood up. Before turning to Izuku once more and patting him on the head. Izuku rapidly blinked, more in confusion than anything, but before he could even muster a nod, Shota was exciting to the living room.

Another series of knocks could be heard again, this time stronger and louder. A muffled but loud voice sounded, “Detective Tsukauchi here”. Izuku froze. Oh no

This is it.

Izuku peaked into the kitchen. There, the detective settled down on a chair, talking. While Shota stood in front of him, hands crossed on his chest.

“And imagine my surprise,” He could hear when he was close enough, “when the lady with the searching quirk tells me the location, and it turns out to be your apartment,” the detective huffed in disbelief, “Now you mean to tell me that the kid you took in is Yamiyo?” He was talking quietly, as if to himself. Tsukauchi put his hands on his staples and let out a sigh.

“Izuku,” Shota called, not turning around.

Izuku almost jumped up at the sound of his name. How did he know he was here? Though of course he did. So taking a deep breath in, Izuku stepped out of his hiding place.

“Hi,” Izuku nervously lifted his hand.

“Oh my God… it is him,” Tsukauchi whispered. Izuku didn’t know how the detective knew, maybe his voice. Probably his voice.

“H-how are the files doing?” Izuku asked, trying his best to smile.

“Locked away in a quirkcanseling safe, as you suggested.” The detective then smirked, “And many policemen still have glitter on their uniforms, even after countless washes”

“Ah, Sorry,” Izuku looked down.

Tsukauchi smirked, “Don’t worry, after all I didn’t get any of it on me, and watching them trying to get rid of the glitter is quite entertaining.”

After a few more meaningless exchanges, Tsukauchi’s face became serious.
“We will have to do a real questioning on a later date, but I must ask you two crucial things now.”

Izuku stiffly nodded, looking down at his feet. He knew that this is something he has to do when deciding to reveal his identity. It was his responsibility.

“Why were these particular files needed?”

“I don’t know…” Izuku slowly said, and looking up, he could see Tsukauchi titling his head, and waiting for more.

Izuku sighed, “It supposed to have valuable information about quirks of underground heroes.”

Tuksauchi nodded, Izuku knew that he was stating the obvious but-

“And they were needed for?” Izuku looked back down.

“Probably to take them.”

Izuku could see Tsukauchi frown, “Take what? The files? That’s not answering the-”

“The quirks.” Izuku cut him off, looking up at his reaction.
The detective stiffened, and slowly lifted his head. Then frowned his brows, mumbling something under his breath that Izuku couldn’t make out.

“Let me guess,” He finally spoke, when he was out of the state of shock, “He is after erasure?”

Izuku hesitated a moment, glancing at Shota who was watching him before nodding, “Yes, since years ago, though the information about quirks in the files is probably about something else.”

Tsukauchi hummed, While Shota shook his head, and Izuku could hear him mumble under his breath “Problem child.”

“Who did you work for as Yamiyo? Did you work for him?” Tsukauchi was glaring daggers at Izuku.

“You said two questions.”

Tsukauchi leaned back on his chair a bit, “Make it three.”

Izuku didn’t think it was wise to argue, so he just gave a small nod as an ‘ok’.

“So,” the detective's eyes were watching Izuku closely, “Did you work for the one who can take and give quirks?”

“Y-yes.” if wasn't really a lie, maybe half truth? Izuku never worked worked for him. Though he did follow orders.... Izuku wasn't entirely sure.

Izuku could hear a quiet gasp from Shota, who had probably realized why he was quirkless now, while Yamiyo was seen clearly using quirks.

There was a moment of silence before Tsukauchi whispered, “How are you even alive right now?” to which Izuku could only shrug.

“Wait-” Tsukauchi looked up, coming to a realization, “Does Nezu not know yet that you are connected to All For One?”

Izuku flinched, “No, he knows,” He answered, well aware it was well past two, or even three questions.

“That Rat…” Tsukauchi cursed under his breath, “Never filling in the police or HRSC”

“He doesn't like trusting humans that much,” Izuku quietly tried to defend the principal.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you one more thing,” He didn’t wait for Izuku to nod this time, “Are you somehow still in contact with him or know someone who can contact him for you?”

Izuku’s head jerked up, “N-no!” It came out louder than he would have liked, but the detective seemed satisfied with it. Izuku let out a breath of relief (so did the detective). He didn’t even have to lie. After all, Kenta was his last way to get in contact with, but now he himself is on the hero’s side.

Tsukauchi just signed, shaking his head. “Alright, thank you, that’s all for now. Could you step out for a bit? And preferably not listen in… I need to discuss something with Aizawa here.” He looked up at the hero before Izuku could answer.

Izuku nodded, “Alright,” and walked out to the hallway. There he stopped, just around the corner. After a few seconds, he could hear Tsukauchi begin to speak.

“I have discussed it with Nezu already, though…”

Izuku shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t supposed to be listening in. So he forces himself to move, and bolts to his room.

Back in the kitchen Shota finally sat down in front of Tsukauchi.
“...And as long as he is cooperative- which it seemed he is, and will answer everything without lies there shouldn’t be a problem.” The detective paused, looking up at Shota.

“Nezu said that you are willing, but I have to ask you personally. He can continue to stay with you, but You will have to be fully responsible for the boy, meaning that if he is to run off or try anything you’ll be responsible.” Shota nodded, but Tsukauchi wasn’t done yet.

“It is all so complicated, but the boy already has a provisional hero licence, which the HPSC want to confiscate,” he sighed, “But Nezu, who may I say has taken a little liking to the boy, has talked it over and convinced them of something. Now Nezu will be taking any responsibility if he does anything while in U.A or when using that licence.”

Shota raised a brow, “Izuku can stay in U.A?”

Tsukauchi clicked his tongue, “well it is not decided yet, but with the power Nezu has, I am quite certain he will make that happen. Turns out Nezu knew of him being Yamiyo from the very beginning so-”

Shota huffed, “Yeah, finding that out was quite frustrating.”

"Also," Tsukauchi straightened up, "One important thing that I haven't solved yet is that all evidence connecting the boy to being Yamiyo had been deleted. now if not for the quirk, the police would have never even come close to suspecting him."

Shota just curiously raised a brow.

They talked over some stuff a bit more, before Shota told Tsukauchi that he had a busy day ahead, and after a bit of time, and apologies Tsukaushi left.

Now, the next morning Shota watched as Izuku slowly, grudgingly put on his shoes and took his backpack. It seemed like he did not want to go at all. Though when he offered the boy to stay, Izuku said that he had to go.

When Izuku finally stood up, Shota moved to the front door.

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t listen to what Shota was explaining about the trip as he was deep in thought.
“...And now, go put your hero costumes on, I will be waiting for you by the bus.”

Izuku lifted his head as the students started to make their way to the changing rooms.

“Hey.” It made Izuku jump.

He turned around, it was the one and only student, the one working for his father.
Izuku froze, did he know who he was?

“Hi… Mr. Aizawa told us to change, right?”

He received a smile in return.
“I’m just quite nervous for today, gives me a bellyache.”

And with that remark Izuku was left alone.
Izuku watched as the other disappeared around the corner. He wondered if he could find a good time to talk with spy. Izuku was curious. He definitely recognized Izuku but made no move. If Izuku was to guess, the spy was sent to UA to be closer to all might and didn’t have anything to do with Izuku, in the beginning at least.
–
Izuku was the first to run out to the bus that stood waiting outside, ready to take them to the USJ. All of his classmates were still putting on their costumes and talking happily with each other.

In front of the bus stood Shota, “You are worried?” he noticed.

Izuku nodded, “The schedule that was stolen proves only further that they want to attack, and today seems like the perfect day for them to do so- but when I told Nezu he didn’t seem that worried about it and-”

“Some of the staff will be on standby in case anything does happen,” Shota reassured him.

The hero could see that the boy was scared, but it didn’t seem what you'd expect any other kid to react, he seemed somewhat more worried.

“Also you will be able to help if something happens, right?” The teacher tried to catch Izuku’s gaze unsuccessfully.

Izuku nodded, looking at his get up and making himself remember all the positions of the secret pockets. If he wasn’t so worried he would be probably freaking out how cool it was. He was wearing a hero suit! He did show a design and a few ideas to Nezu a while back, mainly because they were in the notebooks Nezu looked over. But with all that happened he couldn’t actually believe it. They even let him have daggers after he just confessed about being a villain to Shota. What surprised Izuku more was that morning, when they both went to take his case with the suit, Shota was the one that demanded they switch his daggers from training to real ones.
Izuku patted his dagger holster. It was weird, even surreal. If he was being honest, he missed it a bit. The last thing he would have thought to happen after telling that he is in fact a wanted villain was for Shota to just stand firm on giving him weapons.
But Izuku was glad. Nezu didn’t seem worried at all about the possible attack, and now Izuku would be able to defend himself if needed. Though he hoped to stay hidden and unnoticed.

Tearing his eyes away from his costume, Izuku looked up at the sky. They had no way of knowing for sure that the attack would happen today and at the USJ trip of all places, the schedule that was stolen was of the whole first semester. But in the back of his mind, something told Izuku that they are going to come today. He could just feel it. The USJ is so isolated from the rest of campus. Today both All Might and Izuku will be there, so no matter who they are after they will be able to kill both birds in one stone.

When Izuku didn’t say anything more, Shota turned to the bus but as he brought his foot up to board the bus Izuku stepped toward him.

“Wait!” He clenched his hands into fists. Now that the hero knew, Izuku didn’t feel as he could hide the fact that the villain may be there for him. Why were they coming for him. He wanted to just get it all over with, as the confession the day before had gone much better than he would, he thought. Though he supposed telling the heroes that you are related to a supervillain isn’t going to go as great as saying you had no choice but to act on command of said villain. Izuku sighed. That could change things, change how Eraser saw him.

Shota turned to look at him, waiting for the boy to speak.

“I-I think there’s something you need to know before- before what’s about to happen.”

The hero looked at him curiously, the problem child definitely knew something more than everybody else. “Something more?”

He took a step closer to the boy himself.

Izuku looked down at the ground, “I just don’t want you to be even more disappointed after.”

Shota raised a brow, what in the world could the problem child have done to behave like that? Didn’t he already reveal himself.

“I-” Izuku turned around as the whole class busted out, Iida came running up to them.

This very second Iida appeared by their side.

Izuku sighed, “Well never mind,” He whispered.

“Let us all board in formation and keep the order!” his classmate announced.

“Oh no but that’s boringgg” Mine was running up to the bus too, followed by Kaminari and Sero.

“Can it wait till we are back?” Shota asked in a low voice.

Izuku looked up for a second before hesitantly nodding, “Yeah.” but it couldn’t, it couldn't
wait.

–
They entered the big area, with a globe like ceiling made of glass. In front of them was standing the space hero, Thirteen.
Kaminari was laughing about the meaning of the name USJ, and a few other students joined in.

Next to Izuku, Uraraka started jumping up and down, “That’s my favourite hero!” she squealed. “I want to be this type of hero! To rescue, to save people!”

Other of his classmates whispered something about how exciting it was but Uraraka seemed to be the happiest out of the bunch.

As Thirteen was explaining, Izuku couldn’t help but space out, looking around and waiting for something to happen. Everything seemed so calm, so clean, and no other entryway than the main doors. But Izuku knew that with Kurogiri they didn’t need doors.

A tap on his shoulder made him jump away.

“Oh sorry for starting you!” It was Uraraka who whispered, “You seem a bit anxious, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, all fine.” Izuku turned to her and tried to smile, but the wobbly smile didn’t seem to convince her, But Uraraka didn’t have time to say anything, because Iida appeared next to them. “You should be listening to the instructions!” he motioned with his hands. “We were!” Uraraka defend, whisper-shouting, as some students started to turn their heads to the three. “Yes, just Uraraka here was freaking out over Thirteen.” Izuku smiled. “Hey!” Uraraka made a face, “Don’t act like you didn’t recite facts about Recovery when I mentioned her.” She laughed. Izuku turned his head away, “What? She is a good hero.” Iida opened his mouth to speak but closed it fast

Izuku looked to his side, Shota was standing there. He put a hand on his shoulder and looking ahead whispered, “Appears you were right.”

Izuku looked ahead and so did the girl only to find a portal appearing from the fountain in the centre. They are here. Izuku knew it, he knew they’d come. Why did everyone seem to doubt that?

“Thirteen, protect the students!” Eraserhead put on his goggles, jumping down towards the opening portal, quirk activated.

“Wait Eraser!” Izuku ran a bit forward as he shouted after him, he needed to warn the man that saved his life.
“The Nomu- the- the monster with the brain exposed, be careful!” That's the least he could do.

Eraserhead turned his head back and nodded before continuing to change towards the swarm of villains. Izuku couldn’t see a Nomu yet, but he was positive it was here.
“And you get back to everyone.” he could barely hear the hero’s voice.
It was Izuku's turn to nod, even though Shota couldn’t see it. And after looking back one last time at the hero surrounded by the villains with mutant quirks, Izuku ran back to the group.

There Thirteen tried to say something in the communication device, probably to alert the other teachers but was unsuccessful.

“They messed with the-” Izuku gasped. It was well-thought-out. Even sending people with quirks Eraserhead cannot erase.

There were whispered between the students who clearly didn’t expect anything to happen.
Kirishima asked if it was part of training, someone other wondered if it’s a secret test.

“IIda!” Izuku ran through the crowd to the other boy, “Go get the teachers!”

“But-”

“Go!”

Uraraka ran to them, “Something is definitely wrong, Iida go call for help!”

Iida looked around and then far down the stairs at their teacher who was fighting.

“Yes Iida, the communication isn't working, you are the fastest, go!”

The boy hesitated for a moment more before running towards the doors.

Izuku let out a breath of relief and ran to the nearest big rock that stood just to their side to hide, now that the teachers are getting alerted there would be no use in showing himself.

“Not so fast.” Izuku turned in the direction of the familiar voice, but it wasn’t referring to him.

In Front of the glass doors that were only half closed was Kurogiri, blocking the path for Iida to run away. Izuku gritted his teeth. Of course it wouldn't go smoothly.

But he couldn’t do anything against Kurogiri nor did he have time to think of a plan as Kacchan and Kirishima jumped on the villian.

Izuku could barely help the urge to shout at them and facepalm himself at the same time, but they didn’t know any better and had no clue as to what his quirk could be so he couldn’t really blame them… only maybe a tad bit. Just as Bakugo set his explosion the villain activated the portals and most of the students disappeared. Izuku hid back away, he probably didn’t get wrapped too as Kurogiri didn’t know he was there, better to keep it that way.

Not even a second after there was a scream, Izuku rushed to the sound, still keeping himself as hidden as he could. He made it where the trees and rocks ended, that was where he could see what was happening.

Eraserhead was bleeding and Shigarki was standing over him with a nomu to his side, monologuing.

Izuku’s head turned to the side at another scream, not too far away from him Kurugiri wrapped a few students into the shipwreck zone, he noted to himself that they were still all here, at the USJ. If there were to be teleported somewhere else it could have been a problem.

Just a few seconds later, a blood-curdling scream made Izuku turn to his left. There, at the top of the stairs by the entrance lay Thirteen and two students were crying.

Chapter Text

Izuku couldn’t watch any more, the students were getting hurt, Thirteen, Shota.
He grabbed his new dagger out of its holder and ran straight at Shigaraki, who was muttering something about Eraserhead and slowly coming closer to said hero with his nomu.

He made it close before the other saw him, but when he did he started laughing. Izuku didn't stop, trying to ignore what he was saying completely, instead attacking him with the dagger. But it didn’t reach, just when he put it against the skin a small portal appeared and wrapped the dagger away.

Izuku looked around the ground, trying to find something he could use and thinking over what he should do when he started feeling the weird tingling, he was slowly getting sucked into a portal.

Shigaraki stood in front of him, “Well hello there Yamiyo,” He was grinning, “Master is waiting for you,” A dry chuckle escaped his lips.

Izuku tried his best to get away but there was nothing he could do and his hands were just going through the mist, not doing any harm.

Suddenly a loud explosion roared over him, Izuku only managed to shield his head when the sparks went flying. Bakugou and Kirishima were here.

Izuku looked up, he wasn’t getting wrapped anymore and all the portals disappeared completely. He looked at the two boys, Bakugo figured out the only vital spot of the villain, and they were pinning him down. Though they couldn’t keep him down for long.

Shigaraki came closer, “Well isn’t this interesting,” Izuku could hear him smiling, “You don’t know who you two are trying to protect huh? Well it’s no surprise that he lied to you too.”

Shigaraki reached his hand to Izuku's shoulders, but it didn’t touch.

“Get away!” Izuku looked to the right only to see Uraraka running towards them.

Shigarki looked in her direction too, mumbling something to himself about cheating.

Uraraku came closer to them, “Don’t you dare touch him! ”

“Huh?” Shigaraki turned to her, but no one could see his expression, “Don’t you know who is in your little hero class?”

“You didn’t tell them Izuku huh? Of course you didn't, why would you? But let me do the honours.” He turned to Bakugo who was trying to get closer to the villain from behind for a surprise attack.

“I’ll tell you and then you’ll have to think twice before protecting him.”

“Oh shut up!” Bakugo shouted, now that the villain saw him trying to sneak up he didn’t have to worry about being loud.

But Shigaraki didn’t let Bakugou get too close, turning to Izuku, “Izuku here is known to me by another name, you might have heard of it too,” he looked the boy in the eyes, “We call him Yamiyo.”

Uraraku looked at Izuku confused, he didn’t seem to do anything to deny it, only staring a hole in the ground.

“Is it true?” She whispered, standing there, stunned.

Izuku didn’t answer as Shigaraki was speaking again.

“But we didn’t see him in a while, thought he was dead at first.” He took a step closer to Izuku, explosions could be heard close by his side.

The girl took a step in their direction, only to be stopped by Kurogiri who blocked her way. A portal started appearing. Shigaraki turned to see what Izuku was looking at, and grinned.

“Oh you wouldn’t,” Izuku breathed out. Completely ignoring what Shigaraki was saying, Izuku ran in Uraraka’s direction. By that time, she was already half way thought the portal, which was closing. If it to close, she would have been cut in two. Pulling her out was almost impossible, so Izuku went towards Kurogiri, and managed to knock his to the ground. The villain still didn’t release hold of Uraraka, but instead sucked her in the portal completely.

Izuku was frozen for a moment, but then he heard another wush of a portal, and Uraraka came falling out of the sky right into the water zone.
Izuku watched as she quickly reamurged from the water, but as soon as she did, some water villain tackled her. Izuku clenched his teeth, and trew his dagger towards the girl. Luckily she and the villain were need the shore and Izuku managed to hit the villains in the side. Hopefully Uraraka can make use of it. Izuku’s eyes darted towards Shigaraki, who was standing still. Then looked back to the water, but seeing Urarka fighting back he was sure he had nothing to worry about, so he turned back to Shigaraki who was studying him from behind his ‘mask’.

“And you are here meanwhile having fun with the heroes? Making friends?” Shigaraki hummed, continuing their conversation. Izuku looked up and met his eyes. “Well that’s over now because I need you to come with me.”

The same second Bakugo was able to make himslef closer, and slammed an explosion into the villain’s side.
“Would you just shut up and die?!”

“Wait Kacchan!” But Bakugo already sent an explosion and all they could do was shield their faces.

The explosion didn’t seem to affect Shigaraki much, as he was protected by Kurogiri. He stood up and ordered nomu to attack Bakugo before calmly continuing his conversation with Izuku. The boy watched as Kirishima ran to help Bakugo.

“What reason do you need coming here?” Izuku looked up at the question, the villain seemed genuinely curious.

“I didn’t,” Izuku repleid, “They brought me here to heal, it all happened by an accident.” He lifted his head to catch Shigaraki’s gaze, “And you were actually to help with that, so thank you.”

Shigaraki adjusted the hand on his face, “So why did you stay?” he didn’t move to attack and didn’t give any more orders, as nomu was preoccupied with Bakugo. Glancing there, Izuku could see Shota come to Bakugou's aid, as Kirishima could only defend. though Izuku was quick to see that Shota's quirks wasn't really working at the nomu. of course. Nomu had more than five quirks.

“Well,” Izuku hesitated, eyeing Shigaraki. it's not like he wanted to have a conversation right now but keeping him occupied would be good while he thinks of a plan.

“You see,” Izuku straightened up, he did not need to appear afraid, “yes hero society isn't as all sunshine and rainbows as it can appear, you know it better than anyone. Some heroes don’t value saving lives, don't think it's necessary to even patrol rough neighbourhoods. It has turned into a profession, a job to get money and get popular.” Izuku could think of more than a few examples of such heroes, screw it, who was he kidding- more than few. But it can still be changed. “But destroying it won’t change a thing, it-”

“Oh I’m done listening to some sob stories, come on, let's go back.” He met Izuku’s eyes. After a second where Izuku didn’t answer, and taking that as an agreement, Shigaraki turned to order Kurogiri.

Explosions and thuds could be heard in the background.

“I’m not going.”

“Huh?” Shigaraki turned back around to him.

“Master promised to give you your quirks back, you can even choose any other you’d like.” He tried to convince Izuku.

“No.” Izuku said quietly. They weren’t his quirks to begin with.

“What?” his hands reached to his own neck, scratching.

Izuku raised his head, taking a fighter stance. “I don’t need a stupid quirk!”

“Huh? Not anymore?” The villain was clearly running out of things to say as he continued to scratch his neck even faster. “Isn't that what you always wanted?” he repeated his master's words, “You are a valuable piece.”

“I won't fall for that again!” Izuku shouted, jumping towards the villain, aiming for the hand on his face. Izuku heard how important it was for him and decided to try and use it against him. And it worked, because as soon as Izuku threw the “mask” to the side, Shigaraki gasped, mumbling ‘father’.

He quickly reached for the hand, and taking it stood back up, eyeing Izuku who jumped back to a safe distance.

“I don’t understand,” Izuku could see Shigaraki squinting his eyes, before his face was hidden again. “I don’t understand,” he repeated, “Why do you insist on staying with them when they wronged you so much,” he paused, “never saved.”

“Maybe that’s because this way I can actually save people like me!”

“Nomu, grab him.” Shigaraki ordered, deciding that it’s enough talking.

Less than a second later Izuku found himself in the grip of the monster, he tried to wiggle out but to no avail.

“Here!” He looked around to see Uraraka flaying his dagger back to him.

“Thanks!” he shouted in return, setting himself free.

The Nomu didn’t seem to like that as Izuku was thrown to the side, he landed quite rough, his left hand hurt and the pain became sharper as he moved, but he ignored it, running towards Shigaraki, who still wasn’t giving up.
“Listen you brat!” he shouted, “Last change, I will give you a last chance to come until you are out permanently!”

But Izuku didn’t answer, instead when he was close enough, Izuku jumped at him with his dagger and Shigaraki in return extended his hand, trying to touch Izuku with all five fingers. At the last second, when Shigarki’s hand was almost on Izuku’s face and Izuku’s dagger was barely touching the other's throat, a purple mist appeared, wrapping Shigaraki, despite his protests.

Izuku jumped back to not get sucked in too, only his dagger falling into the portal.

When he was out of reach Izuku didn't waste any time, knowing full well he couldn't follow the villain- it would be too dangerous if he did, he still wasn't sure if they wanted to kill or use him. Either way, not the best intentions. Izuku instead leaped on the nomu that stood beside him, waiting for a command.

Izuku could see the purple portal begin to appear, he had to act quickly. Soon the monster will be sucked in too and used to kill someone the next time Izuku hears of it.

He climbed on the back of the nomu and made his way to the exposed brain. He swiftly pulled out his second dagger that he kept for later if he needed it, which is a good thing he did. Stabbing the mindless nomu made them both fall down.

Izuku hit his head on the ground, making his vision blurry for a second. He remained laying on the ground, trying to stop his head from spinning. The nomu beside him wasn't moving, so he counted it as a victory. He tries to turn to his side, which made him hiss at the sharp pain in his left shoulder. Finally he managed to turn so he could see his surroundings better. He was with his back to the stairs, to the entrance, but the whole USJ was in front of him. Izuku blinked, as his vision for some reason started blurring again. He could see the last of the low level villains being taken down, but couldn’t see by who. He blinked slowly, and when his eyes opened again, someone was by his side. He tried his best to make out who it was. Izuku’s eyelids became too heavy, and he slipped completely into darkness.

And like that, the heroes made the villains retreat, while left scattered and injured across the facility, and Izuku was in their lines

Chapter Text

Slowly, Izuku could make out sounds again, voices, they were getting closer. Finally, after a few attempts, he managed to crack his eyes open. Blinking a couple of times to get used to the bright light.
“Huh?” Izuku blinked a few more times, trying to understand where he was and what happened. The glass dome above his head made him soon realize he was still in the USJ.

Izuku sat up, feeling a little dazed. It seemed as if not too much time had passed since he passed out. He looked around. The villains that didn’t get teleported back were getting restrained by the police, while a group of heroes were talking far enough that Izuku couldn’t make out a thing.
Izuku brought his right hand to his head. His head wasn’t spinning anymore, but it did hurt.

“Ah!” someone squealed, making Izuku squeeze his eyes shut, Which hurt his head even more. “You are awake!” was added in a joyful, and much quiter tone.

Izuku blinked a few more times. Who could be talking to him?

“How are you feeling?” Izuku came to realize it was Uraraka. Wait- hasn’t she heard that Shigaraki called him Yamiyo? Why is she being nice… Izuku squinted his eyes in suspicion(which made his headache only worse)

“The heroes came,” Urarka informed him.

Izuku glanced at the group to their side and chuckled dryly, trying to sit up, “Well a bit late hah?”

Uraraka helped Izuku stand up, and they walked out the dome. There stood an ambulance with a few paramedics, as well as medical bot and the rest of 1A. Izuku looked around as they climbed the stairs, trying to spot Shota, but to not avail.
—
Izuku stood behind most of his classmates as detective Tsukauchi explained some things to them. He tried to not himself noticeable, standing behind the others, as he still didn’t know what exaclly Tsukauchi thought of him. Now more than ever, what if the police thinks he brought the villains here?

“Your teacher is in stable cognition but is still unconscious,” At that Izuku looked up, breaths of relief could be heard. The detective went on about how Thirteen was feeling and what is to happen now and how they all need to give their statement.

Izuku was about to ask if he could see Shota, but he didn’t want to deal with the police right now, and not with some of the student- some of whom definitely heard how Shigaraki called him. He looked to the side at Uraraka who stood and calmly listened as the detective finished. Izuku wondered why she hasn’t said anything yet. Izuku knew Bakugo would corner him later about it, while he hoped Kirishima was far enough to not hear anything.

“For now, all of you need to get checked for any injury.” With that the detective left, and they were crowded with paramedic robots.

“I think I overused my quirk,” Uraraka was holding a hand over her mouth. “But other than that I’m fine.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Iida who stood close by Izuku, asked, “You seem a bit out of it.”

“Yeah when you were doing all the jumping and stuff,” the girl waved her hand in the air, “it looked so cool, but it must have hurt to fall.”

It took Izuku a second to realize they were talking to him.

“Ah no, it’s nothing.”

He could still feel the sharp pain in his shouler from when the nomu threw him, but it mustn't be anything more than a scratch. And his head was throbbing, but it was all fine. So he assured them that.

“But you did pass out!” Uraraka moved her hands upwards, “that cannot mean anything good…”

“No, no! I’m really am fine.” Izuku gave her a reassuring smile.
“If you sure…” Uraraka moved toward a robot that was handing her some medicine and a small bottle of water.

Iida was not as easy to convince, as when the girl crunched down to the robot he came closer to Izuku.
“You passed out?” he asked. To which Izuku only hesitantly nodded, ignoring the pain in his head and the dizzy feeling.

“Come with me, you need to get looked over by a paramedic,” he took Izuku by his hand, as Izuku tried to give him another ‘I’m fine’. “People don’t pass when they are fine.” the other boy retorted, pulling Izuku after him.

Izuku freed him hand hastly, “I’m not going.”

“Midoyia, you have to.” Iida insisted.

“I’m not going to them,” Izuku glanced in the direction of the ambulance, where the medical staff and the police gathered around.

Iida looked between the ambulance and Izuku in confusion for a second.

“Then Recovery girl it is.”

—
Izuku sat on one of the beds in the infirmary yet again.

He couldn’t help but sigh, it wasn’t anything serious.

“You sprained your shoulder,” stated Recovery Girl.

Izuku looked at her, not impressed, as if to say- See? Nothing serious.

“You also have a concussion.” her tone was serious.

“Here, have a gummy bear,” she handed him a jar full, “I will still need to bandage your arms, and I will not be letting you go until you rest.”

Izuku rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue.

“All done.”

Izuku couldn’t help but mumble ‘thanks’ as he looked to the side at his bandaged hand.

The heroine smiled at that. Heading to the exit, but before reaching the door she turned around, “You need to rest. So don’t even think about running.” Her tone clearly showing that she isn’t going to take any excuses.

So Izuku just nodded.

As she opened the door she was almost swept off her feet.

“I am terribly sorry for their behaviour.” That was Iida's voice.

“Can we see Midori-kun yet? Please.” Uraraka was already in the room before Recovery girl could react. Izuku blinked at the nickname.

“Yes, you may.” she finally said, “But no running and bumping and causing a mess, no disrupting my patients.”

The girl nodded her head fast and made her way to the bed Izuku was sitting on.

“Hi Midori-kun! You told us you weren't hurt!” She sounded upset.

“Um sorry?” Izuku wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do in his situation.

“Wha-” she came closer and Izuku realized he still didn’t have his shirt on, so he hurried to put it back.

Before him stood Uraraka, While Iida and Kaminari were a bit behind, further from him. And Izuku could also see Kirishima at the door. Everyone was frozen in their place, well except Kirishma who was trying to pull someone into the room.

They must have seen his scars.

Well Shi-

—
A knock on the already half open door made everyone turn. Izuku titled his head as Detective Tsukauchi came in.

“Hello there you lot,” he smiled kindly, though Izuku could see that if was a bit forced, “Would you mind stepping out for a bit? I need to ask some questions.” the last past was said while he was looking straight in Izuku's eyes. The boy gulped, he didn’t know what to expect from the policeman. From what Izuku found about him, Tsukauchi was a man that does everything by the book and has a strong sense of justice.
Their last conversation seemed to go alright but, now with the USJ attack, Izuku couldn’t be sure what to expect.

“Alright, we’ll be back.” Iida was the first to speak, and act, as he moved back to the door, pulling Kaminari after him.

Uraraka lingered a bit longer, sending worried glances between Tsukauchi and Izuku.
“Mr. Detective,” she started when the other classmates were out of earshot, “Is everything okay? I mean…” she twirled with her hands, “Midori-kun’s not at fault, th-the opposite actually! He even saved me.”

“Oh really?” Tsukauchi asked her before turning his gaze to Izuku, who found the light pattern of the U.A logo on the bedsheets suddenly interesting.

“Well,” Izuku looked up at the man, as he smiled at Uraraka, “That’s nice of him. And don't worry, no one is in trouble. I am just here to take a simple statement from everybody, you can be next and then tell me all about it.”

“Okay then…” The girl nervously glanced one last time at Izuku, before stepping out.

When the door clicked close, Tsuksuchi came up to the hospital bed. He sat on a chair to its side and took off his cap.

“She seemed to know that you were Yamiyo, is that right?” Tsukauchi looked at Izuku for an answer.

“Um, yeah… Shigaraki kinda shouted it for everyone to hear…” he trailed off, “I’m surprised it’s just her who seems to actually realize it. Well aside from Ka-” He sighed, stopping mid-sentence.

Tsukauchi pulled out a notepad, “Alright, could you maybe then start from the beginning?”

So Izuku retold what happened, starting since they entered the USJ. He didn’t forget to add that he warned Nezu, saying that that’s probably where the villains are going to show up, in case Tsukauchi would think that it's somehow his fault.

When Izuku got to his and Shigarkai’s talk, he tried to skip over it a bit, but Tsukauchi was quick to ask. “And what did he tell you?”

So Izuku sighed, and had nothing to do than recite the talk.

Tsukauchi was scribbling things done in his notepad almost non-stop.

“Hm… I see,” He said, tapping his pan on the paper when Izuku came to the part where he passed out, “So that means that…” He hummed, putting the pen to his lips in thought.

Izuku contemplated asking what he realized, when the detective sighed.

“Alright, this is all for now, we will have to do an official questioning about Yamiyo and all, but that’s when this mess is settled down.” he closed his notepad.

“But I must ask you one thing just to be sure. The creature called ‘nomu’ possesses multiple quirks. I assume it is all connected to the man who wanted the files about quirks from the police stations?”

“Yes.”

Tsukauchi nodded, quietly saying, “I thought so.” he turned towards the door.

“This is a serious matter then.” His face was serious and ton low.

Izuku didn’t say anything, he simply couldn’t think of anything to say.

Finally, Tsukauchi stood up.
“Thank you for your statement. This is all.” he smiled, “You have five friends waiting to speak to you just outside the room, so I won’t keep them waiting any longer,” Tsukauchi put his cap back on, “Until we meet again.”

Izuku lifted his hand in goodbye as the detective opened the door. Wait- did he say five?

Chapter Text

First thing Shota saw when opening his eyes was blinding light, so he closed them again. There was no one to tell him that he had to wake up, so he slowly closed them and drifted back to sleep.

When he finally woke up again, it was to the sound of some kind of knocking.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light, Shota realized that both his hands were aching and bandaged. The bandages went up to his face. There was only a little gap for his mouth and a slit for his eyes.

He grouted.

“Ah! Eraser, you are awake!” Shota perked up at the name. The voice was of Izuku, and he wondered what made him slip back to calling him that.

“Kid.” his voice was raspy and throat dry.

Shota looked at the boy in front of him, who sat in a plastic chair and was nervously tapping his leg against it.

Izuku looked tired. Worn out. As if he hadn’t slept in days. And more than anything, he seemed scared. He was chewing on the inside of his cheek nervously and seemed really upset. Or maybe worried. Probably the two combined.

“Are you alright?” Izuku looked up at the question, puzzled, as if the thing he least expected to hear.

“Um, yeah.” He fiddles with the bandage on his left arm, “Recovery girl used her quirk on me, so it’s all good. You,” he gestured with his hands, “You are really hurt.” there was a pause.

Shota opened his mouth to speak, when Izuku shook his head, “But-” he stopped, and didn’t continue.

“Don’t worry, I'll be fine too. As you know, Recovery girl's quirk.” Shota tried. As he recalled, that was what the boy worried about most when the two met.

“Yeah…” Izuku adverted his eyes. It was clearly something above injuries.

“You should be resting right now.” Shota tried to reason, “Recovery girl's quirk takes a lot of energy out of you.”

“I know,” Izuku hesitantly nodded, “She told me to rest.”

“Then why are you here?” Shota questioned, “How, is the question. She wouldn't have let you leave.” he paused, “The other children- where is my class? Is everyone okay?”

Izuku nodded, “No one got hurt too bad. They were called to be questioned by Tsukauchi,” he paused, “I was first to go, so after that I came running straight to here.” his voice was shaky.

“And why is that?” Shota asked.

But he could guess the answer before the boy spoke. “I wanted to see you.”

Izuku was messing with the bandage on his left hand and his foot was nervously tipping against the chairs leg. Shota looked in the kid’s tired eyes, that were mostly covered by his hair.

“Kid, what’s bothering you?” he only blinked a few times, and averted his head.

Was he crying?

“Izuku?”

“It’s just- it’s all because of me. Th-t, from the very beginning! If I wasn’t there to mess things up-”

“Kid-”

“Not just the USJ! Even before, and what happened to miss joke. Since that time we visited her I couldn’t stop thinking about it, she got hurt because of me- no, not just because. I hurt her. Eraser,” he looked up with eyes filled with tears, “I almost killed her. If you haven’t shielded her- oh my God- and then because of that, because you did, I hurt you! I-i injured you with that dagger-” the boy's body shook as he put his hands to his face, in efforts to hide his tears.

The kid didn’t seem to pay attention to Shota’s calls, as he continued to ramble on. Shota couldn’t even make out half of what Izuku was saying through the sobs.

“Izuku!” He tried once again.

This time the boy seemed to hear him, but didn’t want to respond, instead drawing in on himself as he sunk into the chair and moved as far from shota as it let.
Shota can admit, he was never the one good with words. That was always Hizashi’s, or even Shirakumo’s job. But now, both hands in cast and with no strength to even sit up, he had to resort to words to calm down the practically hyperventilating kid in front of him.

“Izuku,” his voice was firm, “Listen to me- it's not your fault.”

Izuku lifted his head at that, ever so slightly. “But I lied to them and-”

“No buts.” Shota cut him off, “You fought at the USJ and helped,” he paused, looking at Izuku, who was shaking. It was clear that the boy wasn't really hearing him.

“Kid, listen to me,” Shota raised his voice just a bit, “For now just focus on my breathing and do so we me, can you do that?” there was a little nod in return.

Slowly, with Shota's help, Izuku's breathing evened out. Neither spoke, so they set there in comforting silence for a few minutes. Shota on the bed, and Izuku on the plastic chair, with his legs pulled on too.

“I have to tell them.” The boy was the one who broke the silence.

When Shota didn’t say anything, Izuku continued.
“I have to tell them, and as soon as possible. Especially Uraraka and K-Bakugo. They deserve an explanation.”

Shota studied the boy in front of him, who was nervously twisting the hem of his shirt now, leaving the bandaged arm alone.

“Alright,” they met eyes, “But it doesn’t need to be because you feel like you have to, I think it should tell them when you are ready to.”

Izuku averted his eyes.

“I-” he slowly started, “It’s just that I never wanted to hide it. Well- well I did, but that was because I was afraid that it will somehow get to him and- and he might come after them for knowing.” he paused, before putting a hand over his mouth and mumbling to himself, but in the silent room Shota could hear. “But he still can…”

“Izuku-”

“No,” the boy shook his head, as if shaking thoughts away from him, “no, I have to tell them now.” Shota studied his expression.

Why was he so set on telling everyone now? He himself knew that it is going to put them in danger, then why-

“Please? I have to tell them.” Shota looked into Izuku’s pleading eyes.

Why are you even asking me for permission? He wanted to say.

“I have to tell them, I have to tell them now.”

Shota suddenly realized. The boy was afraid of building relationships set on lies, wasn't he? He didn’t want to become close to any of the other children, scared of what they might think of him when they find out.

“Just wait until I’m back, so I can keep the chaos in check.” Shota gave in.

“But how- I mean, I owe an explanation now, I can’t just act like everything- ugh I-” Izuku was pulling on his own hair, and oh, how Shota just wanted to be able to take his hands into his and calm him down. But words, words was the only things available to him now.

“Izuku,” Shota spoke as calmly as possible, “Don’t worry. And you don’t owe anyone anything, right now the only thing you need to do is get rest. But,” He sighed, closing his eyes for a second, “I will be coming back to teaching in one day anyway.”

He could hear Izuku quietly gasp, then whisper. “Because of me?”

“No Izuku,”

“Then why?” The boy looked up, “You were badly injured by the nomu and-” his sentence slowly stopped.

“Well, as I said. Someone needs to keep the chaos in check.” Shota huffed. “Who’s gonna look after the hellspwan.”

Then he heard a laugh. A laugh.

Shota turned his head more, as much as he could toward Izuku. The boy sat there, whipping his cheeks while he laughed.

“Okay then,” the boy said, looking up, “I’ll tell them when you come back.” he met Shota’s eyes, a smile of determination on his face.

—
Izuku sat in silence as the unsuspecting 1A around him, chatted about the resent evens. Guessing and taking bets about who their substitute teacher will be, since their Mr. Aizawa is too injured. Izuku didn’t see any point telling them, as in a few minutes they’d see for themselves.

Izuku nervously looked around. Every student seemed to be in some sort of conversion of was just sitting on their phone, but Izuku could feel eyes on him. If he’d have to guess, he’d say it’s Bakugo.

The two had a decent talk last time, something that Izuku didn't quite expect. But now, he wasn't so sure what was up with them, as the other boy seemed to be avoiding him at all times. Like back when after the USJ Kirishima tried to visit his room with Bakugo, only for the latter to burst in curses and stump away.

Izuku didn’t know how much time had passed as he was lost in his thoughts and internal rehearsals. When suddenly the classroom door opened with one swift motion. Every face turned and silence fell over the students. In front of them stood their homeroom teacher, both his hands in casts and bandages on his face.

Izuku watched closely as Shota stood before the class, as he answered a few questions. Then- they locked eyes. Izuku nodded his head slightly. His cue.

“Izuku Midoriya wants to share something with you all.”

Now everyone’s eyes were on him. Izuku slowly stood up and as confidently as possible made his way to the front.

“I-” His eyes scanned over the curious eyes of his classmates, then a brief glance at Shota.

“I’m-” his vision was getting blurry all of a sudden, head spinning- like back at the USJ, though no, less. Izuku tried to compose himself. Everyone was looking at him. Waiting. Just get this over with, he told himself.

“I’m Yamiyo.”

Just two(three) words, but oh how Izuku was scared to looked up at the hero student infornt of him after these words...

Chapter Text

"I'm Yamiyo."

There was silence.

For the first few seconds, there was total silence, the name hung glumly in the air. All eyes were wide and peering at him.

Then they all erupted in questions, well not everyone, Bakugo and Aoyama remained as they were. Bakugo’s hands crossed and a scowl on his face. While Aoyama just coved his mouth with his hands.

There were some that jumped up from their places, like Mina, Hagakura and even Sero.

In the erupted chaos, Izuku felt small, though that wasn't enough for him- Izuku wanted nothing more than for the ground to just swallow him whole that second.

His vision was getting blurry for some reason. Head hurt from all the noise. His legs threatened to give out, so he held onto the teacher’s table for support.

Izuku sent a glance over the class, he could see Iida’s figure slowly standing up. Soon his voice sounded, even louder than everyone else. But it wasn’t to calm them down, but to ask questions of his own. Izuku squished his eyes shut and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long though.

“That’s enough.” Shota’s voice rang.

There was silence.

“Are you alright?” Izuku nodded.

“You should go to Recovery girl.” At that Izuku violently shook his head.

“No.” That would feel too much like running away.

“I’m fine.” He straightened himself, and blinked a few times. His vision was still somewhat blurry, but he could see the looks of the class on his, ones of confusion and- worry?

“Hey dude, you look totally out of it, you should prob sit down.” Izuku looked up confused. That was Kaminari, and he looked genuinely worried.

Next spoke Iida, “I’m sorry for overwhelming you, sit down, and maybe drink some water. But we would like you to explain.”

Izuku hesitantly nodded.

Izuku wasn’t sure why his head hurt so much and the world felt like it was spinning. He didn’t know why suddenly everything became blurry for a moment. Probably he was still not fully recovered from when that nomu threw him at the USJ.

“No, no it’s alright. I can stand.” Izuku smiled, even though he knew it looked forced.

Izuku was so fucused on not letting his let give out, that he didn't notice how Uraraka cam up to him. He only saw her, when she put a plastic cup with water on the teacher's table to his side.

She smiled at him, and he whisped a thank you. With a bow of her head, Urarak quickly made her way back to her chair.

Izuku had to do this.

“So um, I should probably clear this up… shouldn’t I?” He looked over everyone. They seemed to have calmed down a tad now, but were clearly, very eagerly waiting for him to explain.

Izuku took a deep breath in. He just couldn’t look at them, so instead Izuku’s eyes scanned the ceiling. Subcuntiunsly taking in every dilait.

“So,” Izuku started, but he didn’t really know how to say it. Even though he practised time and time again in his head, none of the things he thought of saying before felt right to say now. He had to somehow explain to them the whole confusing situation, with saying how he is Yamiyo, and that comes with convincing everyone that he is not a villain. That's it not his fault. (but is it not actually?) and not even connected to villains anymore. But isn’t he? Something rang in the back of his mind. If they find out who his father is, no convincing from even Nezu will be able to defend him. Izuku iternely sighed. His shoulders slummed. Even though he was supposedly explaining everything, he was still hiding the hardest truth.

“I-” he started again. This time his voice was quiter, and clearly less confident.

Alright, drink some water. he told himself.

They were all waiting.

Izuku looked over the students infront of him. No more running away from it.

Not adeverting his eyes this time, Izuku tried again.

“Um- well.” he took a deep breath in and closed his eyes.

—
Shota watched from the cornner of the room, though half open eyes. He had retreted to the corrner saying he'd get some sleep, even though he knew now wasn't the time. No one seemed to even notice that he wasn’t actually sleeping. Izuku stood with his back to him, and all eyes were focused on him. Shota turned his full attention(well, much of it, he was still always keeping one eye his students). The kid looked uncomfortable, but that’s understandable- he was standing infont of a class full of heroes in the making and telling them that the villain called Yamiyo, that is thought to be dead is actually him.
Well, Izuku wasn’t actually telling them yet. Shota glanced up. The boy didn’t seem to know how to say it, how to put it into words.

How would Shota say it himself? “Oh yes. Well, Izuku was used by some villain group, had to do some stuff that he didn’t want. Then he tried to get me to bring heroes to capture that group, but they found out and tortured him. Luckily he survived and then I found him. Was too afraid to go to the hospital for some reason, so I brough him to U.A. to see Recovery Girl.” Shota wasn’t too sure yet why the kid had such a reaction at the mention of the hospital. That thought brough up the memory of Tensei’s little brother informing him how after the USJ attached, Izuku refused to be treated by the paramedics. Shota made a mental note to not forget that.

Ah right, his imaginary monologe.
“Then Nezu saw him, and-” Shota’s experciton changed, “Nezu figured out at first glance that Izuku went missing years ago and then, the same day realised he was Yamiyo too. Nezu made some sort of plan, like he always does, and made some deal with Izuku. Now Izuku has to help or something while Nezu protects him and his identity.”
Shota paused on that thought too. Wouldn’t their deal be off, now that Izuku revealed both his secret identities? That could be a problem.
“And well I adopted thee kid.” obviously he won’t say any of it outloud.

Well,

Maybe just some part.

Shota moved a bit in his sleeping bag. Izuku seemed to have found his words, and was explaining. He was telling them everything needed for them to not see him at fault, and to prove that he is not connected with the villains anymore. No more than that. Only the necessary. Everything Shota already knew (he silenghtly hoped he’d hear something new).

“And that in short how I ended up here- because Eraser saved me, and well Nezu realized some stuff and came to the conclusion that i should stay. And dont ask me why, I'm not too sure either.” he added when Sero and Kaminari opened their mouths.

Shota huffed. Izuku seemed to think something similar to himself.

Oh- Shota finally figured out what makes Izuku switch to calling him by his hero name.
But he didn't have time to think about this, and well, not about anything.

There was silence. It was as if they were expecting something more. Shota wondered if that was his cue to step in.

“Um, I think that’s it?” Izuku said. Hmm, maybe not yet.

Just a moment later chaos erupted. All the silence was gone.

Oh well- yup now's the time.
—
Izuku glanced over everyone. All had different expressions on their face, different reactions.

“Are you now helping the heroes?”

“Does that mean that you never wanted to be a villain?”

“Wait I don't really understand-”

And similar things were shouted, though above all sounded one question. A question that seemed to in some form of another interest every one present.

This was the only question not directed to Izuku himself, but behind him- to the sleeping bag.

“But Mr. Aizawa, how can he be here when he is practically a criminal? Shouldn’t there be at least some punishment for villainous acts?” there was a pause. Everyone quieted down.

Izuku didn't know who said that. He didn't want to know.

“Even if mostly only completing orders, isn’t some of the things still his fault?”

Izuku clutched the side of the table with one hand, while he could feel his other shake. He clenched that one into a fist to, to stop it. It didn’t help much.

He didn’t even think about how rude it probably was to ask a question as if he is not there.

Izuku looked at the ground in silence. He couldn’t answer that question, even if it was directed to him. He couldn’t think of any reason, because there wasn't anything. It actually was his fault, wasn’t it?
He could have figured out his father's plan, and not told Eraserhead. It was stupid, he should have figured it out. He should have realized that his mother is going to get murdered no matter what. He should have though of something instead of actually attempting to kill ms joke. Not only that, but he should have-

“Alright, that’s it.”

Relief. Oh how Izuku was relived. He let out a breath. He was saved.

Standing beside him was now Shota.

“Izuku, sit down.” They met eyes, Izuku gave a small nod.

“And all of you,” the teacher turned to the classroom, “enough with the questions for now.” Izuku was pushed slightly towards him chair. And briefly meeting eyes with Bakugo’s red ones, Izuku wobbly sat down.

“Can’t you see that you overwhelmed him enough?”

There were thoughtful(?) glances in his direction, but Izuku could have just imagined that.

“Now," Izuku looked up, only a tiny bit as Shota continued. “Your next class is English, and Mic is not going to be happy to see you all so down. So, compose yourselves. Is that clear?’

There was a pause, after a round of ‘yes’s went around.

“Wait but I gotta ask,” Kaminari put his hand up for a split second, before he rocked his chair back a bit, looking at Izuku.

“What are- is your quirk?.”

Izuku stiffened at that. He could feel all eyes in the room on him, including Shota from his sleeping bag in the corner(how did he manage to get back there already?).

Kaminari didn’t seem to notice how uncomfortable Izuku had become, as he continued.

“Like I heard you could fly, also something to do with papalizing people and some other stuff- but it doesn’t have to do anything with one another so, do you like have a half an' half like Todoroki or?”

Izuku clenched his fists, but before he could open his mouth, he was cut off.

“Oh wait, wait!” Mina put her arms on her desk with a loud bang, but didn’t continue to say anything more.

Instead, Tsuyu spoke, who had remained pretty quiet before, “Could it be something like with that nomu monster at the USJ?” that made Izuku flinch, ever so slightly. He hoped no one noticed, though he knew Shota did. “Do you have multiple quirks?”

“I’m quirkless.”

Izuku clenched his hands into fists on his lap and didn’t look up. There was a beat- silence for a moment overtook the whole room. Before someone in fornt of Izuku broke the silence by clapping hands of the table, stronger than Mina did before (and with a bit of smoke).

“Yeah and you decided to play smart hah?” Bakugo huffed, “What did you say- ‘try to guess’? That’s bullsh*t considering you’ve been quirkless your whole life.”

Izuku whipped his face up, and putting his hands on the desk in front of his, leaned forward.

“Actually, I had quirks for a few years. Those were the worst years of my life and the quirks only added to that.” he pointed a finger at Bakugo, preparing to say something more, but that was when a loud sound over the speakers startled him.

An announcement sounded.

“Izuku Midoriya, please come to principal Nezu’s office immediately.”

Izuku huffed at the perfect timing, and not waiting to hear what more 1A had to say, he made his way quickly out to the hallway, only to bump into someone.

“Oh wow, wow! How on, what’s the hurry?”

Izuku didn’t have to look up to recognize that it was present mic.

“Going to Nezu.” Izuku mumbled, even though the teacher should have heard that over the speakers. And not waiting for a second longer, Izuku brushed past him.

Not really watching where he was going, and almost bumping into people a few more times, Izuku made his way to the office on the outer part of the building.

Izuku knocked, and a less enthusiastic than usually ‘come in’ could be heard.

Hesitantly stepping into the office, Izuku slowly closed the door behind him.

When Nezu gestured to the chair, Izuku sat down.

“Tea?” was the first things the principal said, and not daring to refuse, Izuku just nodded.

“Explain your reasoning please.” the principal's voice was low, too low.

“Um well- I mean,” Izuku wasn’t sure how to put it, “The spy recognized me anyway, and well that’s the main reason I didn’t want to tell them, well- well because then he would know, but now he knows so-”

“Please,” Nezu lifted his paw, “Slowdown.”

Izuku took a breath in.
—
Shota sat in peace in his little office, sipping on yet another cup of coffee, as he looked through some assignments, when someone bursted in without even knocking. His first guess was Hizashi, but as he lifted his eyes from his already half cold coffee, Shota could see the green hair.

He studied Izuku, who stood in fort of his desk as he tried to catch his breath. He looked as if he had been running.

“He wasn’t really pleased that I outright told everyone, without even informing him.” the teen let out in-between breathes. “Also it was so hard to find you, and even harder to do so without anyone seeing me.”

Shota raised a brow.

The elder man watched as Izuku sighed, and plopped down on the sofa that stood in the corner, between the table with the coffee machine and the bookcase.

“And why is that?” he asked Izuku.

“Ugh,” Izuku rested his head back on the sofa, “He was all like- ‘Why did you then hide it in the first place? And- ‘you made me kill Yamiyo and bring to life Izuku Midoryia just for that?’ And blah blah blah.” Izuku glanced at Shota through half-closed eyes, “But he was also somewhat happy- or proud as he put it, but mainly he was kind of irritated that I made Nezu do so much work that is pretty illegal to keep my identity- Y’know.”

Wait. Shota turned his head, as he put his cup down.

“Nezu did that?”

“Oh,” Izuku slowly lifted his head, “You didn’t know that?” he quietly said with asking/ eyes.

Shtoa sighed. He could rarely know what kind of plans the mammal was up to, so he wasn’t too surprised that he was the one to do that, taking into count that the principal knew from the beginning who Izuku was. Now that Shota thinks about it, that’s probably why Nezu wants Izuku to be at U.A so badly. Though what could he gain for that? Shota wasn’t sure, though he had a few ideas in mind.

“So is that all for why Nezu kept you for so long?”

Izuku nodded, “Well kind of, he asked me to explain myself and stuff, guess that was a lot.” He trailed off.

There was a pause, a moment of silence when no one said anything. The only sound was of Izuku’s hand tapping his foot and the droplets of a drizzle on the window.

“Why are you hiding then?” Shota asked, though he could guess the answer. So when Izuku said that everyone will jump onto him with many questions, and he can't handle that right now, he wasn’t too surprised. If he was being honest, he himself, despite being a teacher at a high school or years and a pro hero for even longer, couldn’t handle too many people. Shota was proud of Izuku for making it to the end of all the questionings from his class as it is. And Nezu was a different kind of intimidating.

“... I’ve had enough questions for one day,” Izuku nervously laughed.

“Alright, if that’s all, we should head home.”

“Ah- already?” Izuku stood up. Suddenly his expression because serious and some kind of determination glint shone in his eyes, “Actually there’s one more thing I have to do.”

Shota watched him, he wouldn’t admit it, but he was curious. He waited for the boy to explain, but he didn’t.

“Fine then,” Shota spoke up, “I will be waiting for you by the entrance.”

Izuku quickly nodded, “I won’t take long,” and the next moment he was gone through the door.

–
As soon as the door behind him clicked closed, Izuku took off running.

Shota’s office was closer to the main part of the building than Nezu’s, so he could make it in time.

Izuku hoped he would catch the person he needed to speak with. He had missed heroics while he was with Nezu — (Which was led by All Might, who still gave him weird looks, so Izuku wasn’t really disapinted/ he missed it), so right about now the students should be heading back to the classroom. Izuku came to a stop in front of the huge 1A doors. There was silence, and upon opening the door Izuku found it empty. So they haven't returned yet.

Looking around, he couldn’t see anyone from 1A coming, so he decided on running to catch them at halfway. Izuku bolted towards the boy’s changing rooms.

He waited around the corner until the person he was waiting for left the changing room. He followed, and no, he didn’t really feel bad about it(well, maybe only a bit) as the other had been following his for weeks now.

Izuku caught up to the U.A traitor and matched their speed.

“Hi,” he glanced up to meet their confused eyes.

“Do you think he will be mad that I told them?” Izuku asked cautiously, as they continued to wall slowly.

They like that in silence for a bit, clearly slower than the rest of the people in the hall, before the other spoke up.

“W-well, I’m not really sure why you did reveal that and um- mu-”

“Yeah well,” Izuku cut them off, “I thought of a plan, so that’s the first step to it. You see, I can’t stand to spend another minute here, but getting back to my father proved to be harder than i thought, as they are watching over me at all times.”

“Uh?”

Izuku nodded, “But you see, now they slowly start to trust me! I’m not sure how you communicate, given that even Nezu doesn’t suspect there to be a traitor, and frankly I don't care how you do it. I just need you to tell him one thing- tell him that I will get him Erasure.” he smiled.

The other looked unsure for moment, but then nodded. “Alright, will do.”

“Thanks,” Izuku beamed, “But don’t let anyone discover that I’m not working with the heroes, or else..” They locked eyes, and Izuku waited for the spy to nod once more.

“Good, and don’t get caught either, that would be just a waste then. Now go, or they will start looking for you.”

Another nod was all Izuku got in return.

Izuku stood and watched the traitor speed up their pace and soon disappear around the corner.

Then, after waiting for a few more moments, Izuku made his way to the entrance where Shota was waiting for him.

“Ready to go?”

Izuku nodded, “Yup.”

He couldn’t help but smile, finally he got a plan.

Chapter Text

“The sports festival is comings up, and you all are going to participate.”

Izuku’s head jolted up. He forgot that the U.A. sports festival usually happens around this time of year. As the teacher continued talking, Izuku looked back down at his legs.
They weren’t meaning for him to participate too, were they? Logically, Izuku wouldn’t think anyone would allow it… but Nezu… it seemed the principal wanted him to be at the hero school to the most. So he wouldn’t put it past him to make Izuku participate as part of class 1A… as a normal student.

Izuku couldn’t afford to go to a place where he is forced to be the centre of attention. Not even if he was going to sit and watched from the sides. He sighed. As fun as participating sounded, too many people already knew about him. It was bound to cause problems. Even though the people that knew about him being Yamiyo had all been nice about it (for now)… in the eyes of normal civilians he is not, as Yamiyo never revealed his face. But- his face is splattered across missing posters in his neighbourhood, and he is announced dead. And even though probably not many people could remember a young quirkless boy disappearing… Izuku took a deep breath in. He really didn’t want to hide anymore, but maybe- no. he has to do it slowly, carefully. He can't just run towards cameras of the most streamed event in the county, so Present Mic can shout his name for everyone to hear. He wouldn't be able to handle that. Not yet.

So, when the bell finally rang, Izuku pulled his backpack over his shoulder. The right one! The right shoulder. He didn’t want to strain his left one, even though almost healed anyway. Though Recovery Girl used her quirk on him, his left one was still feeling weird, probably because not even 24 hours had passed. Oh, that reminded him- he had to pay her a visit sometime today.

But right now, Izuku hurried down the quickly filling halls towards the principal's office. The closer he got to the office, the fewer people crowded the halls. Izuku wasn’t sure, but he wondered if it was put thought into, to make the office in a quieter part of the building. When he made it in front of the door, there wasn’t anyone around him. But inside, Izuku could hear people talking.

Izuku debated if he should knock, but decided against it. On the other side of the door seemed to happen some sort of argument. Though Nezu’s voice was as calm as ever, the other three(3) were clearly unpleased.

Izuku stepped to the side as he heard commotion inside, and did that just in time, as the door swung open. Into the hallway marched Detective Tsukauchi, with a few officers following after, and closing the door behind them. Tsukauchi had tired eyes and scowl on his face. But spotting Izuku, gave him a small smile. Izuku raised his hand and gave a wobbly smile of his own as the policemen continued walking down the hall.

That short encounter reminded Izuku another thing- he had still yet to be questioned by the detective about being Yamiyo. Tsukauchi said that it will happen when things are settled, and judging by his face, Izuku could guess that things were in fact not settled yet.

Blinking a few times, Izuku remembered why he was standing there for in the first place, and came back up to the door. He only had time to knock once before the door opened. Nezu hurried back to his chair behind his desk, as Izuku came in and closed the door.

“Would you like tea?” The principal asked his usual question, but this- rare time, Izuku declined.

Nezu let out a (disappointed) “oh” sound and titled his head slightly. Then he clapped his paws together and smiled, “Well, what is it you wanted to speak with me about?”

“Um,” Izuku didn’t know how to start, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
“Is it possible if, if I don't participate in the first year’s sport festival?” Well, Nezu hadn’t told Izuku that he had to participate yet, but Izuku was sure that that was his plan. Though he couldn’t figure out why… “ I just, um, don’t think I want everyone to see me yet.”

“Well you had no trouble revealing yourself thus far,” Nezu chuckled, clearly still bitter about all his work going to waste simply because Izuku said something.

“At this rate, your best case of action is to publicly say that you are Yamiyo. That way it’s still not too much into the hero course and the public can watch as you train to be a hero, and you can slowly earn their trust with your actions.”

Izuku sighed, “I know but- that would mean I reveal myself to every one. Even if he knows I'm alive, and his subordinates, there are a lot of other villains that would have no reason to even think I survived.”

“Hmm, I see what you mean.”

And before Nezu could even say anything more, Izuku continued.

“So I think it’s best to use that I have some sort of advantage.”

“You want to help us stop him?” Nezu looked at Izuku with shining eyes. Izuku could swear that at that moment the principal came up with some sort of complicated plan.

—

Izuku took a deep breath in as he stood in front of the nurses' office. It was almost as nerve wracking as telling a class of heroes in the making that he is Yamiyo. He couldn’t even count on the top of his head how many times he had been treated there in the past few months. And yes, he tried to tell himself that it wasn't his fault for getting injured. But he still felt a tad guilty for wasting the heroine's power so much.

Izuku slowly opened the door. There was only Recovery Girl present in the room, and he was thankful for that.

“Ah some here, come here.” she called for him.

Izuku slowly settled on the edge of the medical bed.

“Did you rest as I told you to?” she looked him in the eyes.

“Ah- well yes!” Izuku nodded.

Recovery girl hummed, “That’s good then. Because will how you have a habit of running out and straining your body while injured…” she pointed an accusing finger in his direction.

“I promise I really didn’t do anything this time!” Izuku put his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright.” Recovery girl shook her head and changed the subject. “How have your injuries been feeling? Your head?” she said, reaching for her jar of gummy bears and gave him a couple.

Izuku didn’t answer immediately, it was weird being asked that. And having to answer honestly- he still hadn’t gotten used to that.

“Um well,” he looked to the left, “my shoulder doesn’t hurt at all anymore, but um, my head was spinning a few times, and it was like out of nowhere.”

The heroine unbandaged his shoulder and hummed again. “Yes, it looks like your shoulder is been healing correctly this time.” she paused, and Izuku wondered if she(and Shota) will ever drop reminding him how he tried to run away while injured.

“If you have listened to me and didn’t run out as soon as I looked away, you haven’t had missed your friend who came looking for you when you weren’t here.” she grumbled.

Izuku looked up surprised. Who was she talking about?

“What?”

“Yes, yes,” she nodded, “That boy Bakugo came to visit you, seemed he had something important to talk with you about.” for some reason Izuku wasn’t sure that he could be lucky enough to have another peaceful conversation with Bakugo. Especially after what he had learned about Izuku.

Izuku didn’t answer, thinking it over. He had a few ideas in mind to what Bakugo wanted to see him for.

Recovery girl leaned back. “But I understand why you felt like you had to leave this time, so I can’t blame you.” she paused, and Izuku looked up.

“You were worried about Shota, and all of us were too.” she gave him a sort of sad smile. “But you have to understand and learn how to worry about yourself too.”

“I-” Izuku didn’t know what to say, so he just sat there, mouth slightly agape.

That when a knock sounded on the door, and as both of them turned their heads. Just as Recovery Girl was about to say ‘come in’ the door was pushed open.

Uraraka ran into the room, and noticing Izuku she stopped in her tacks and smiled. Before putting her hands on her knees and panting. Behind her appeared Iida, pushing his glasses up and apologizing for barging in.

“We were…. Looking for you… and now… here,” Uraraka waved her hand as she let out between breaths.

“We were indeed looking for you,” Iida spoke up, nodding stiffly. “Mr. Aizawa informed us that you were in the nurse's office when we were trying to find you across campus.”

“Yeah maybe we should have asked him from the begging as you suggested.” Uraraka said quietly, seeming to have caught her breath.

Izuku blinked a few times in confusing. “Why?”

“So we could take you to lunch with us!” Uraraka announces happily.

Iida cleared his throat, “Yes, we have been meaning to ask you if you want to join us for lunch at the cafeteria.”

“Um, I'm not sure…” Izuku looked down. He had never been to the school cafeteria at the same time as the students, having always eaten beforehand or with Shota, on the sofa in his office.

“Come on kids go,” the nurse waved her hand, “And keep an eye on him,” she turned to the other two, “He tends to try and run anytime injured.” Izuku couldn’t help but sigh. She was not going to let that go.

Izuku stood up from the bed and Uraraka clapped her hands at that.

“So you are coming? Yay!”

Izuku nodded unsurely, “But how can you be sure the rest of the class will want me there?” he said quietly, almost if to himself.

“Don’t worry about that!” to Izuku’s surprise, Iida put a hand on his back. “No one will pay any mind to you.”

Somehow Izuku wasn’t so sure about that, but he let himself be led out of the room and down the halls to the cafeteria.

There was silence for a bit as they walked. Izuku in the middle while Uraraka and Iida by his sides. If he didn’t know better (or a few months ago), he would have thought that they are actually keeping guard of him.

“When…” Uraraka started but trailed off. Both Iida and Izuku turned to her, and taking a deep breath in, she began again.

“When you were getting treated after the USJ, I couldn’t help but notice that, um, your scars,” Izuku bit the inside of his cheek, “It looked painful."

“Uraraka!” Iida gasped.

“How did you get them?”

“It’s acceptable to ask about personal things as such-”

“It’s okay,” Izuku cut him off.

Turning to Uraraka he quietly said, “Most of them were from when I was just given quirks and was forced to fight other people to train.” He paused, and Iida moved to say that he doesn’t have to explain further if he isn’t comfortable, but Izuku continued.
“And the most recent ones is from when I- They, when I didn’t kill Ms. Joke as told to, and they had no use in me anymore.” Izuku took a breath in, “that’s when they took the quirks away too and left me to die.”

There was silence for just a moment, before Izuku was pulled into a hug by Urarka. Iida followed suit.

“I’m glad you are here now,” she whispered in a shaky voice.

The rest of the walk to the cafeteria Iida tried to fill for fun facts, that only make Urarka giggled about how nerdy they were. Without even noticing it, Izuku found himself in the line for the food, and soon it was his turn. He was nervous as they walked between the tables, but between the two of his friends it wasn’t as bad. It felt weird. But- they were his friends, right?

Izuku let out a breath as he finally sat down with his lunch tray. Next to him quickly settled Uraraka and after a minute Iida to his other side. Izuku noted what other people sat at the table. Everyone was from class 1A, and were talking amongst themselves, paying him little to no mind at all. It was- he couldn’t explain it, it didn’t make sense! Izuku glanced at Iida, had he told the class to pretend as if he wasn’t there? If he did, Izuku was thankful. Because if everyone was to stare at him, he wouldn’t be able to eat at all.

Izuku scanned over everyone at the table once more, because he could feel someone watching him, as Iida and Uraraka were talking about how good Luchrush’s food was, to which Izuku nodded (he knew it was). His eyes finally landed on Todoroki who sat at the very end on the table, next to the window. They both looked at eachother for sometime, and neither looked away. Finally, Izuku put his hand up in hello, to which the other teen gave a small nod, before turning to his own food.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he caught the end of a sentence about Iida mentioning the sports festival. He tried to listen fully now, to enjoy a normal(first ever) lunch with friends.

“Ah you know how nervous I am about the sports festival? I thought it’d get canceled or at least pushed back, but no it’s happening so so soon!” Uraraka said with a mixture of excitement and worry.

Izuku nodded, “Yeah, they don’t want to cause any panic, so everything is going according to plan but just with extra security from police and heroes.”

“I respect them for doing so!” Iida smiled.

Uraraka gathered what’s left of her rice in her plate slowly. “I have to train a lot then, I need to do well for my parents.”

Izuku could see something sad in her expression. “Well you don’t necessary need to win the sports festival, right? You just need to show off your skills so pros will notice you.” he tried.

“I will have to do my best because my brother will be watching!” Iida exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips.

Izuku nodded, smiling, “Ingenium.”

Uraraka turned her head to him, “huh?” and then looked back at Iida, “Wait, wait- you're Ingenium's brother?! Then you must be like- filthy rich!”

"Yeah... I usually try to hide that fact so people don't treat me differently. " he strainted up, "But yes, i am from the Iidaten hero family."

"Aah more of the reason I have to do better than you both!" Urarka squiled.

“Well I guess you will have less competitor to worry about,” Izuku chuckled.

Uraraka tilted her head, “Huh?”

“What do you mean by that?” Iida asked.

Izuku shrugged before answering, “I’m not competing.” He looked at the food he moved around in his plate.

“Is that even allowed?!” Uraraka slammed her hand on the table in surprise, “I didn’t that was allowed.”

“I cannot recall anything like that either,” Iida put a finger under his chin.

“Well not usually,” Izuku said quietly, “But Nezu allowed it.” he looked up at the two confused faces of- of his friends. “And it’s not like I need to be noticed or anything,” he doesn’t, “After all, that’s mainly what the sport festival is for.”

“Oh right,” Uraraka nodded enthusiastically, “Special, um- student and all.”

Izuku gave her a small nod in return.
Iida also mumbled his own, “I see”.

There was awkward silence for a few seconds.

“Ohhh- does is have something to do with Yamiyo or something?” That was Uraraka.

“I- Um,” Izuku looked around, afraid someone might have heard her, “Maybe not right now- and here?”

“Oh-” Uraraka slammed a hand over her mouth, and then gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, forgot.” she whispered, a guilty look on her face.

—
In the classroom after lunch, Izuku half listened as most of the people in the room discussed the latest assignment given to them, which slowly turned into a discussion about different villains, what they have in common and their reason for being a villain. They mentioned a few people Izuku knew of, or even some he had briefly met. The students weren’t completely right about their motivations, but Izuku wasn’t sure he should interfere. Even though Nezu would probably like if he did…

He decided to listen in just a bit longer, to see to what conclusion they’d come. So Izuku continued to stare at his notebook, here and there jolting something down.

“So that means that every villain does it 'couse they want to cause destruction and pain no? Like they have no remorse or moral code at all. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Izuku slowly lifted his head at that. There was silence in the room, as if everyone was waiting for someone to answer, to say something.

This is his time to say something, Izuku decided. Problem was, he wasn’t sure how to say it.

Izuku rocked back on his chair, and glanced on the ceiling before talking. “Well,” he began, not really realizing that all eyes turned to him, “You see, not all villains are just bad guys who want to destroy everything. I think even the majority isn’t.”

“Some do it for money, some because of their family. Some are manipulated into it, or just have no other choice.” he leaned forward, and put his chin on his hand. “So, your way of judging is just not correct."

There was silence for a few moments, everyone stood as if frozen. Izuku’s heart began to pound faster, as started to wonder if what he said was too much, if he should have said it more- more lightly. But then someone moved closer to him.

“I think you are right, ribbit” it was Tsu.

"Oui, I think you are correct too." Ayoyama said quietly.

Soon more and more voices joined in most agreeing, and some even bringing up examples.

—
“Hey.”

The sudden call after him, made Izuku shudder.

“H-hi there,” He nervously lifted his hand in greeting, turning to face the owner of the voice.

In front of him stood Bakugo, but that much he could tell from the voice. The blond had his hands in his pockets.

“Come with me.” was all he said before turning around. Izuku stood there for a moment longer, but then ran to catch up with the other teen.

Izuku walked after the other teen without saying anything.

Bakugo turned his head around slowly, “We are going to fight.”

Chapter Text

Bakugo turned his head around slowly, “We are going to fight.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me the first time,” Bakugo grumbled.

And Izuku did, and he predicted that would be the case but-

Bakugo specially led him this place- far away from everyone who can stop the fight.

“Come at me! What are you waiting for?” Bakugo shouted, but it wasn’t in his usual angry tone.

Izuku looked around, scanning the area with his eyes. There were pretty secluded area, located in-between a gym facility and a mock city for training. While there were walking there, he had noticed that there were quite a bit of security bots patrolling. Shota, or some other teacher should come soon.

Sparks lit in Bakugo’s palms, reminding Izuku a little bit too much of their past.

Izuku slowly put his hands in front of him too. Taking in their surroundings once again, and Bakugo’s stance he tried to think of something, but only thing that he could find was that there is no way for him to run, or somehow get away without fighting.

Something told him that if Bakugo told him to fight him, expecting him to fight back and not just went and beat him up, already means that their relationship improved since the last time they went to school together.

“We don’t have to fight!” Izuku tried, but that only seemed to make Bakugo more mad.

“Oh yes we do. I have to figure out what they think is so special about you to let you not only trend UA but help out pro heroes!” he charged in Izuku’s direction, shouting. “Not like anyone actually needs your help!”

Izuku jumped back, as a fist with an explosion came him way.

A right hook, as expected.

Bakugo was shouting something more, but Izuku was only half listening, as he read the other’s moves. Starting everything with a right hook has been Bakugo’s staple for a long time, but it has been years, everyone changes. Izuku had to be careful and expect anything from now on. That one was just a lucky guess.

Izuku had to jump out of the way again. To his left this time, as Bakugo used both his arms to create a larger blast. Even though it did not hit Izuku, the shock wave from it made him stumble back a few more steps.

That was something that Izuku had noticed, when watching class 1A train. Bakugo had gotten much better with his quirk, but that’s to be expected- as he trains it every chance he gets. To be the strongest. To win.

An explosion aimed for his face knocked Izuku out of his thoughts. He only barely managed to shield his face and drop to the floor, though he didn’t avoid it completely.

Izuku hissed from the sudden pain, but then bit the inside of his lip and looked up. Bakugo was slowly walking closer. He had to fight, he had to fight back!

“You think too much.” he raised his right hand, that had crackles starting up.

And Izuku knew. He knew that one of his weakness in battle(fights) is overthinking, over analysing the situation- that was how he almost got killed, the first time he was sent on a mission (he still has the scar). But, it was also his biggest strength. To understand the opponent and predict their moves. Without any superpower to help him out, thinking- analysing, and knowing the attackers next move was the only thing that helped him survived so long in this superpowered society.

Even before the villains.

“Aren’t you going to fight back?”

Izuku sent a glance at his opponents right hand, and quickly sent his let to knock him of balance, while ducking away from his usual right hook.

But his attempt to make Bakugo stumble was unsuccessful. Instead, a blast hit Izuku from his right.

“Of course it’s a fake, why didn’t I think of that?” Izuku mumbled to himself, standing back up. But he really did not see that one coming, even in training, Bakugo seemed to always prefer to use his right hand in close range.

“Did you even hear what I f*cking said!?” Bakugo shouted, even though he was close enough to whisper if he wanted to. “Don’t think, fight!”

A punch was sent his way. Izuku didn’t know what to answer with. He blocked the punch, and pulling Bakugo close to him by his arm, send a kick for his head. It only barely managed to hit, when Bakugo freed himself and pushed back. He didn’t say anything, and neither did Izuku. Instead, Bakugo took a fighting stance, and Izuku mirrored him. He hoped that was enough for an answer, and agreement to the fight. A determined look on his face only declared further:

Let's fight.

Only a moment later a huge blast came Izuku’s way. He dodged to the right, and ran. But not towards Bakugo, no. As if trying to run away. The thing is- he couldn’t hear Bakugo follow him. Izuku sighed to himself, of course he wouldn’t fall for that. He stopped, and looked up. There, above him and just a tad bit in front was Bakugo. He was prepaling himself with his quirk.

“What are you planning there huh? Can’t even face me and fight?” an explosion echoed as he landed. “Do all of your stupid plans need to include running away?”

Izuku breathed in. Bakugo is right. To get to him, and resolve this, Izuku needs to fight. Hand to hand. Quirkless against quirked.
Izuku knew chances of victory were slim for him, but deep inside oh how he wanted to win.

And so they began the proper fight.

A punch was coming towards Izuku. Think, quick. Ducking to the ground, and sliding to the side, he reached for stick that way laying on the side of the road. Grabbing it, he pulled himself up slowly, as he tried to make the stick hidden from the eyes of Bakugo.

He knew it wasn’t really fair (though they didn’t actually agree on no weapon or anything). But no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it to himself, he couldn’t stand a chance against Bakugo’s quirk.

The stick proved to be useless only a few moments later. As after it hit the side of Bakugo’s head, he blasted it to bits. Though it did make him stumble, so Izuku counted that as a small win.

Kicks, punches, everything. Fighting hand to hand proved to be incredibly thought for Izuku, especially considering who he was up against. Even though he was the one who had more actually, real experience- going out on missions every night, and though he tried not to get into fights it was unavoidable. (that ended almost a year ago, but since then he did train with Shota a bit!).

Izuku could read most of Bakugo’s moves. But that’s the keyword most. And those that he couldn’t see something, or couldn’t get fully out of the way in time left scrunch marks and burns, though he avoided the worst of it.

Getting thrown away by yet another explosion, Izuku could hear some beeping sounds. The security system. Right- why hadn’t no one told them to stop yet? Why haven't’ the security bots said anything- or alerted anyone? Or was it just also part of Nezu’s big plan to let them fight?

Izuku couldn’t think about it further, as Bakugo was standing in front of him again.

Putting his hands to cover his face from the upcoming explosion, Izuku remained on the ground. Bakugo’s hand rose with sparking of a blast forming.

“P-please…” Izuku whispered, as he lifted his eyes to look at Bakugo from under him hands. His last idea that he just though of at the moment- maybe that will work.

For just a moment Bakugo froze. His face still, no emotion visible. For only a splint of a second he deactivated his quirk.

And it did work! In the back of his mind something told Izuku that maybe that was a sigh of some kind of regret from Bakugo, but he couldn't waste time thinking about that now.

That was enough for Izuku. As putting his hands on the ground, he kicked the other in the abdomen.

Bakugo scrunched over, hands over his stomach.

Standing up slowly, Izuku couldn’t help a smile crawl on his face. That didn’t last long though.

Quickly, he was pined to the ground. His head hit hard against the pavement. It started to throb. He felt as if he is going to pass out any second. Bakugo held him down firmly, he couldn't get up.

“Hah! You think that's gonna do it? Well you’re wrong!” Bakugo exclaimed. “'Couse look at that- guess I win.”

The last part was said quieter.

Izuku titled his head, Bakugo didn’t seem happy about his victory that much.

“I-” He started, but then they both snapped their heads to the side. There was something there.

They could feel his presence before they could see him.

“Someone’s here.” Izuku sat up, blinking the blurriness away from his vision.

Sparks popped in Bakugo’s palms, “Huh?” he looked around. But neither of them could see anyone.

First thing Izuku noticed was the lack of fire in Bakugo’s palms, and his confused look. Next thing was a slight gust of air somewhere above.

Then a barely audible thud, a landing.

The teens both turned around, and were met with red glowing eyes.

Izuku briefly wondered if this is how terrified the villains feel when facing him, and then reminded himself that they probably indeed do- or at least he did.

A figure in all black slowly approached them. They both immediately knew who it was.

Red eyes glowed at them. “To my office, now.”

Izuku looked up at Bakugo from the corner of his eye. But the other was just staring down at his own palm, mouth slightly agape.

Did he not like the feeling of not being activate his quirk?
That was something Izuku thought he would never experience, but not he knew how it felt.

“Let’s go. Now.” his hair fell down as he closed his eyes. Izuku’s moved to stand up. He could hear faint sound of explosion coming from Bakugo.

Why was he so stunned at getting his quirk erased for a few seconds? Didn’t he have Eraserhead as his home room teacher for some time already? He should have gotten his quirk erased at lease once…

Izuku glanced at Bakugo, who’s eyes were still fixated him his hand.

…Or was it something else?

Did he not like that they couldn’t finish fighting as he wanted to? Or was it because Izuku could keep up with him for so long?

Shota turned around, and without saying anything more, started to walk in the direction on the main building.
—
“The cafeteria isn't cleaned yet… so you will be cleaning it.”

Izuku just looked down as he nodded, while he could head Bakugo made a ‘tsk’ sound.

“Fine, whatever.” the latter grumbled.

And here there were.

Izuku threw the dirty cloth into the bucket filled with water as he let out a sigh. The fight was meaning less.
He looked up. There, across two tables, Bakugo was furiously scrubbing the chair.

“Are we just going to go back to avoiding eachtoher?” Izuku spoke up. A bold move from his side.

“Shut up and let me clean this mess.”

Izuku sat on a chair and shrugged.

“Well I just wanted to ask you what you think about my chanced becoming a pro. You know, with you being one of the top student, and the one who got first on the entrece exam.”

Bakugo turned to glare at him. Then he turned around and continued cleaning the same chair.

Internally sighing, Izuku moved to clean too.

Izuku brought the cleaning cloth to the table, but Bakugo’s unusual calm voice startled him.
“No matter what skills you got now, the way you got them is only a bigger setback.” Izuku couldn’t argue with that.

“So if you want to be a hero you have to get better, 'couse you know I'm aiming for number one, and you ain’t even close to that yet.”
He paused, and look up at Izuku.

“You got a lot of catching up to do.’”
They met eyes.

Izuku let out a short laugh, “well you have some things to catchup with me too. I got my hero licence wayy before you- you don’t even have the exam in sight yet.”

“Ugh shut up dammit! There’s no freaking way to do that yet. you know that."

Izuku laughed.

It was the most they have just talked to each other in so long.

It was nice.

Chapter Text

Izuku was tired. He was still worn out from his fight with Bakugo yesterday, and having to clean the whole school cafeteria after that.
He had expected today to be an average day, but from the very begging it seemed very unusual.
For some time now, Nezu had been sending him texts, calling him for meeting and such. And that time, when he was with 1A, the announcement though the speakers was probably just an act to get him out of the situation- though he was kinda glad for it.

This morning he didn't receive any text from Nezu. This alone would be weird, but not too much unusual.

Slowly waking up, Izuku made his way to the kitchen where Shota sat by the table. The sun shining from the window was a lot higher in the sky than it was usually when they left for U.A..

Are they late? Maybe something happened? Is it connected to why Nezu didn’t tell him anything? Is it… his fault?

“It’s the weekend.” Shota replied in a monotone voice, only barely lifting his eyes from the newspaper he was looking through.

“Oh.” Izuku stopped. He was mumbling. He wanted to facepalm.

“We are going to go to U.A, but a bit later.” Izuku perked up. “But that doesn’t mean you have anything to be excited about. You will just wait with Hizashi while I’m in a meeting.”

Izuku slowly nodded, “Ah okay.” Why did he have to go then? Shota left him home alone already (even if it was only once) and he didn’t do anything.

When getting ready, Izuku decided to put on the U.A student uniform.
—
In the car similar thoughts couldn’t leave Izuku alone, and when they finally pulled into the staff parking lot, Izuku noticed that there was much more cars than usual.

“Why are there so many people?” Izuku asked as they were leaving the car.

“A meeting.” Was all that Izuku got in return.

One big meeting it is. Izuku thought to himself, looking over his shoulder as they left the parking lot.
As they were walking up the stairs and down the long hall, there was total silence. No sign of the car owners anywhere. There are probably somewhere on the outer wing. Izuku decided. Somewhere where Nezu’s office is.

Soon they reached the teachers lounge, and when Shota opened the door, before them appeared present pic. He and Shota exchanged a few words, before the latter left, with a small wave of goodby to Izuku and telling him to behave.

Izuku sent a quick glance to see that Shota was indeed heading towards Nezu’s office (or the huge conference room that was beside it… probably that). Mic loudly greeted him, and pulling him in, closed the door.

Mic sat back on the couch, while Izuku remained standing by the door. Thinking.
“The heroes left you to babysit me while they have some series discussion?” Izuku asked, only realizing how harsh it probably sounded by the look on Mic's face, though the hero was quick to collect himself and was laughing.

“Yup you can say that.” He was grinning. “From where did you get that it's a ‘serious discussion’ though, Little listener?”

“From the sheer number of cars outside.” Izuku replied, “Nezu could have just called, but instead he wants to meet everyone face to face. Here nonetheless.” Izuku paused, actually- what is there that Nezu would want so many people involved? Something that recently happened… Izuku gasped. “They are probably here to talk about something that is involving the league of villains that showed up and their leader. Probably this is somehow connected to Yamiyo too.” The actual leader behind the league of villains, and him, Izuku.

Izuku looked at the ground, clenching his jaw. So that’s why he needed to come here.

Mic whistled. “And you gathered all that from just a bunch’a cars outside? Impressive, impressive. Doubt I would have thought of all that.” he added the last part quieter.

A little nod came from Izuku’s side, he was barely listening. Does that mean that Nezu wants him to come? Is he going to reveal him as Yamiyo? Or does Nezu think-

“Yeah you are correct. So anyway- what do you want to do while the meeting’s going on? I heard you analyze quirks well, wanna try mine? And if you don't want, I think there is a few board games somewhere here...” he reached under the coffee table and pulled out two games. “So, what do you want to do?”

“Leave.” Izuku answered, still standing with his back to the door.

“And why would you need to do that, Little listener?” Mic tilted his head, looking geniuntly curious. “Don’t want to spend time with me?” he made an offended face.
“Come on, sit down, we can talk.” his smile was back again.

Izuku grunted, flopping down on the couch. Oh how he wished to just run out of the door not explaining anything and not needing permission.

“You see,” Izuku started, stretching his legs, “I have valuable information that I need to tell them.”

“And what is that important information?” his eyes more serious than before.

Izuku sighed, he didn’t want to repeat everything time and time again. Nezus' advice of just revealing himself on live television started to sound more appealing.

“Well first down freak out.” actually Izuku was hoping on that he would. “Nezu knows already, and well Shota too.”

“Oh wow you sound so serious,” Mic laughed. “What is it?” he leaned closer, putting his elbows on his knees.
—
Izuku came to a stop in front of big double doors at the end of the hallway. Before the door were gathered a few heroes. They were standing in small groups and talking with one another. Just as he was catching his breath, someone came up to him.

“Oh hi there Izuku!” the boy’s head shot up, “How are you doing? I’m a bit tired already and the meeting hasn’t even started yet, I had to come all the way here from Jaku city. Oh, you want some tea? Nezu is offering it to everyone, ah ah remember last time we met? Hold on- no, the time before that. Well I gave you a box of tea, right? Funny things, it was gifted me by Nezu, don’t tell him thought that I regifted his tea.”

“Kenta- I mean Habiki,” Izuku couldn’t help but smile as the other babbled on, smiling too.

The other giggled, “I see my fake name really stuck with you, if you wan-”

“Izuku.” Someone cut him off.

Both turned around to find that the voice belonged to Shota.

“Izuku I told you that you shouldn’t be here,” the hero’s voice was firm. “You need to go back to the lounge room.”

Izuku violently shook his head, before straightening his back and standing confidently.
“No, no. I’m gonna attend the meeting.”

“Kid, I told you to stay with Hizashi until the meeting is over.” He sighed, “I’ve told you this five times already.” He looked around, and then behind Izuku, to the hallway he came through. “Where is he anyway?”

“He is probably in shook right now, I don't know, I ran.” Habiki tilted his head in confusion, still standing close.

“I told him,” Izuku breathed out.

“What?” the two adults said at the same time.

Izuku waved his hand. “It’s no big deal, I am planing on telling all the heroes soon anyway.” he turned around to look at said heroes, that were chatting between each other and slowly sipping tea. He couldn't be sure, but from what he understood this was all aranged especially for that.
“Izuku, I need you to stand outside.” Shota put his hands on Izuku's shoulders.

“Alright,” Izuku met his eyes with a smile. “But I’ll come later.” right now, at the begining it would just cause a mess. He needs to wait for the right moment.

Shota sighed, but didn’t say anything, as Nezu was calling everyone to come inside the meeting room. Izuku looked at the mammal, who seemed as if he didn’t notice Izuku at all. But Izuku knew it wasn't like that.

—
“Alright then, in conclusion we don’t know anything and need to just wait to find out?”
A hero lifted their hand after they had discussed almost everything.

“That wasn’t exactly how I put it, but I suppose you understood the general idea.” Nezu slowly nodded his head.

Shota looked over the people present in the room. Everyone was sitting around the big table that took up most of the room.

“Does everyone agree with what Nezu is suggesting?” sounded in the silent room. Shota didn’t bother to look up to see who's speaking.

No one spoke. Even if some didn’t completely agree, they know that the overly intelligent mammal knew better, which means that their best course of action is to listen to what he is suggesting.

Shota sighed. He was one of those people. He didn't quite understand why his boss doesn’t want to act for now. Yes, they don’t know much- but why not at least send someone to investigate? Shota slowly lifted his gaze at Nezu. The principal had some kind of sinister smile on his face, and Shota knew him long enough to understand that he was waiting for something to happen. Something that he has predicted or has been planing.

“Does that mean we are ending the meeting then?” Powerloader sheepishly asked, “I would like to get back to my students as soon as possible.” he had an apologetic look on his face, “You see, one of them is working on a big project that keeps exploding.”

Shota could swear he head someone’s running footsteps outside the door. His eyes slid to the door for a moment, but there was silence again.

“Alright then,” Nezu nodded, as if giving up, “if that’s all we can end the meeting here.”

Shota’s head whipped as the door burst open. And not only his, every hero in the room was ready for anything. Some standing into a fighting stance, while other activating their quirks. Shota remained seated, but his hand was on his capture weapon.

“Wait!” Shota’s eyes widened when he heard the voice. “Wait, wait!” the one who burst through the door put their hands up.

Shota’s hand slowly let go of his scarf. Some of the others did too, when they noticed the U.A uniform.

The one in the doorway was no other than Izuku. Shota didn’t know if he wanted to slam face-first into the table or to sit quietly and listen to what the kid had to say. Seriously, why couldn’t he listen to him?

Seeing as the heroes were less alarmed now, though still on edge, curious and confused.
Shota followed Izuku with his eyes, as the boy came up to the table and slammed his hands on it. There was a moment of silence, but then Izuku spoke.

“You need to act now.” was all he said.

Then chaos erupted. Looking around shota wanted to roll his eyes. Everyone was acting as children. This all reminded him too much of 1A’s reaction.

People were screaming and shouting. Some telling to get lost, others just mad that he burst into a hero meeting uninvited. That was actually something that Shota could agree on.
He glanced at Izuku, who didn’t say anything anymore, but just took a step back.

Shota sighed.

“Lets hear what Nezu has to say.” It was Midnight's voice.

“Splendid.” The mammal clapped his paws together, a smile on his face. And looking at him, Shota understood that this was the moment he was waiting for this whole meeting.
—
Izuku breathed in relief when everyone slowly sat back down. “Phew, okay, thank you. So- I got a few things I thought of.” murmurs could be heard as to why they need to even listen to this kid, but Izuku continued.

“First of all I gotta tell you something, hope that’s going to help you listen to me if only a bit more.” there was total silence, everyone was looking at him, even if grudgingly.

“You must have heard of Yamiyo right? Well that was me.”

Now it only was worse than before. Every hero was on their feet, ready to jump on Izuku.

“Please, wait!” Habiki tried to calm them down, but no one was really listening.

Izuku caught glimpse of All Might, out of uniform and in his skeleton form. Toshinori Yagi was just standing there frozen, a look of shook on his face.

“Let him explain.” a firm voice sounded. Eyes turned to Shota, who had his hands crossed on his chest. He was probably the only hero besides Nezu that remained seated.

“Aizawa-kun is right. Please Izuku, continue.”

Izuku took a deep breath in a began again. “You all want to just wait and observe, right? But now can be the last chance to actually stop the leader of the villains. While Shigraraki is still injured from the bullets from USJ.” he glanced at Snipe, who slowly nodded. Izuku guessed the gun hero thought so too.

“Isn’t that why everything happened, no? That villain leader, Shigaraki doesn’t trust you as he knows-”

“Adada- see, you are wrong already! Good thing I came here…” Izuku put his finger up to shush the hero that spoke. “You see, Shigaraki is not the leader, well not yet.”

After that, no one really cut Izuku off any more. Seeing as he seemed to know more than them. Finally, when Izuku said everything, there was silence. He had ended on that All For One has to be taken down, and that he is ready to help with that.

“Even if all that is true, and we do that, how are you going to go to- wherever they are?” a hero Izuku recognized as being one on his case (Shh, yes he read some documents in Nezu’s office about himself. No, Nezu wasn’t against it). “

Izuku didn’t answer. He didn’t know how. He was just about to open his mouth when someone began.

“I-I might be able to help with that.” All heads turned around to the person who spoke, raising his hand. It was K- Habiki.

“Ha!” Izuku exclaimed, pointing his finger in the hero’s direction, “So you did know, you just lied to me.”

“I-I…” Habiki sighed, “Yes I did, but you know I couldn't just tell you! It's for your own good, you would have went-”

“Yeah I know,” Izuku cut him off. His face serious and expression blank.

There was silence for a few second before Izuku spoke again. “But if that’s the case, and if the person Kent- Habiki knows of,” he corrected himself, “If that person will be willing to give me the location it makes things a whole lot easier.”

Shaking his head, he laughed to himself, “If it's so hard for you to remember my name you can just call me Kenta,” He looked up at Izuku, “That’s actually my middle name.”

Kenta coughed, seeing other heroes silently judging his for changing the subject.
“Okay so. We can send Izuku as Yamiyo, to try and get back to the villains. Though there is no guarantee that they will give Izuku the location, but it doesn't hurt to try, doesn't it? It's the only chance we have right now. You heard him, we need to act before Shigaraki gets more powerful.” he paused, looking up, his eyes serious. “Or does someone here have another ideas they would like to share?”

No one spoke.

“Excellent then!” Nezu clapped his paws together.
—
Izuku lowly sat down when the last of the heroes, including Shota and a shouting Mic- who came running and shouting about Izuku and how could he know that he is afraid of bugs left. (Izuku left a page on the coffee table for the hero to read about himself, as he seemed eager to and well it would slow him down- and it did.)

He watched as Nezu close the door behind them, saying goodbyes and sat down too.

“I was counting on you to come it, and you did so at just the right time.” Nezu smiled.

“Wait- you knew I would burst in the middle?” Izuku was kind of thinking of coming in at the end, but hearing the heroes come to stupid conclusions made him jump in quicker.

“Yes,” he nodded. “And that way, when I did not call you and you came on your own, wanting to help is what helped convince everyone in the room that you are actually truthful about your intentions.” the principal smiled.

So Izuku almost figured out Nezu’s plan. He smiled a little to himself, that’s already a thing not a lot of people can say.

“Alright then, there is one more thing I must tell you.” Izuku curiously looked up. “We will still have to think over how best to do it, but leave that to me. But if this plan does succeed, I think its best if you attend 1A like a normal student- with extra after school sections with me on things like heroics and some other. You will be able to continue to observe the class and help with quirks and special move development,” he paused, “And I think you should look into support item making too. But i want you to have a chance of becoming a hero like every other teen here.”

“Ah um of course.” how could Izuku say not to a chance of normality?

“Wonderful then! I'm glad you agree.” Nezu clasped his hand together, “but remember that it goes into action only after the plan successes.

Chapter Text

Izuku and Shota stood in the hallways behind the huge stadium that was slowly filling up with people. It wasn’t time yet, but there were a lot of people already. Izuku couldn’t believe it was already here. He was so caught up in his talks and planning with the heroes that he had almost forgotten about it.
Now, he wasn’t sure where to go. He wasn;t going to participate, so not the 1A waiting room, but also probably just sitting in the audience wasn’t the best idea. After all, being spotten wasn’t in his plans. So instead of worrying about it too much, he did the only other thing he could think of- asked Shota where he should sit, but before his guardian could open his mouth to answer he was interrupted.

“Hey there little listener!” Present Mic appeared practically out of nowhere.
He gave a smile in Izuku's direction before turning to Shtoa. “Whatcha talking about?”

Shota told him that Izuku wants a place to sit where there will be as little attention from the media as possible. To which Mic hummed, a hand on his chin.
“Well I would invite you to sit in the announcers' booth with me, but if it's about secrecy…. Yeah the cameras are always gonna pan towards it, so you should probably find a better place.” Izuku was glad that mic didn’t burst into questions as to why izuku doesn't want to be seen but instead got straight to trying to help. Though he probably understood that its something to do about how Izuku used to be Yamiyo and how everyone thought he was dead. On that point- Mic seemed to be chill about the whole deal of a mess that was just a few days ago… because last time they saw each other, the voice hero was just freaking out. Maybe it would have been enough to just say “I’m Yamiyo” instead of giving away a page from his notebook- he copied everything from it, that wasn’t the problem. What worried Izuku Was that he had no idea where this page was now. And yes, it's not like Present mic would use it for evil- it was only information about himself there after all- but-. No, izuku actually want sure why. It just made him very nervous. It had been almost a year since he gave his page to someone- except well showing Nezu a few times.

The voice hero hummed once more, “Nemuri is going to be in the ring, that means- hmm but Tensei is not here…” he was talking to himself now, but izuku perked up.

“Why isn’t Ingenium here? Wouldn’t he want to watch his little brother's first sports festival?” Izuku remembered how Tenya had mentioned his brother times before, and so did Tensai when Izuku saw him.

“Yeah you are right,” Mic smiled, “But heroes have very important jobs they can’t just leave. Right now Tensei is on a mission in Hosu so he wasn’t able to come.”

There was silence for a moment, before Mic added to fill in the silence. “But I'm sure he will watch the recording as soon as it's out.”

Izuku slowly blinked, “Hosu…” Why did it ring some bell in his mind?

“If you want to watch the sports festival but have no one see you, you should ask Nezu.” Shota spoke.

“Hm?” Izuku tilted his head. Now that he actually thinks about it, he has never seen the principal at the events, so he is probably sitting in his office where he also probably has a live broadcast..

Izuku looked up at Shota, and opened his mouth to say that he'd go to Nezu then, when a voice called out.

“Hey, Eraser! Finally found you!” Izuku saw how Shota’s face changed as he recognized the voice. Izuku too, thought he had heard it somewhere before.

Whipping/ his head around, Izuku was greeted by a smiling face.

“Hello there! Did you miss me?”

Izuku’s eyes widened.

“Heya!” Mic greeted enthusiastically, “Haven’t seen you in a bit. Weren’t you supposed to take it easy and rest? That’s what Shota told me.”

It was Ms. Joke. Izuku stood there frozen, unpleasant memories flashing in his mind. The dagger. How it felt in his hand. How he jumped. How the dagger slashed.
He squinted his eyes shut, and when carefully opening them, looked at the heroine. She doesn’t seem hurt or any thing, and isn’t mad. She doesn’t know it was me. Rang in his mind. Because if she knew that the boy standing infront of her is the one that put her out of commission for so long she wouldn’t be chatting so happily with Present Mic next to him.

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder. Izuku looked up. Shota.

“But what are you doing here?”

“Well I'm here to ‘observe the potential of the upcoming heroes who are being supported by the most prestigious hero academy in the world.’ Y’know?” she did quotation marks in the air with her fingers, and then laughed.

Shota sighed, “Of course, but what are you doing here, in a staff only-”

“To see you of course!” She didn’t let him finish, winking.

Ms. Joke turned to Izuku. “And to see you too.” she pointed a finger in his direction.

Izuku’s blood ran cold.

“I’m sorry.” he could not meet her eyes.

“You kept mumbling that back at the hospital too kid, what’s up with that?” She let out a melodic laugh.

“Um- I-” Izuku couldn’t bring himself to say it. He knew he had to. He already said sorry, she sees that he regrets it, that he didn’t have a choice. Izuku glanced up at the heroine, who watched him, patiently waiting for him to continue. How can he even say it? ‘Oh I was actually the one who slashed your trough and the reason you almost lost your quirk, sorry about that.’ that kind of the direction it’s going in now.

“I just wa-” he felt like he couldn't say it, like something was physically holding him back. His voice is raspy, as if he hasn't spoken in a long time. twisting his fingers, Izuku could feel his hands shaking. He can’t do it. No. no, no- he has to.

Izuku looked up at Shota, who seemed to understand what was going threw his head. The man slowly shook his head, as if saying ‘you don’t have to’. Izuku’s gaze moved back to the now confused, Ms. Joke.

Maybe she will be less mad if he tells her that he was told to kill her or his mother will be killed? He stopped on that thought for a bit. But then Izuku internally(or maybe actually? He wasn’t really sure) shook his head. No, she wouldn't believe him. She had no reason to.

“Can- can you tell Ms. Joke?” Izuku turned to Shota with pleading eyes.

Shota’s eyes widened from surprise, but only for a split second. Then he asked, voice barely above a whisper, “Are you sure?” Izuku stiffly nodded. He was sure, yes- he just couldn’t bring himself to actually say it outloud. He didn’t think he would be able to say it.

“Izuku is apolagalzing because he thinks that it's his fault that you were hospitalazed.”

Then they both, Izuku and Ms. Joke spoke up at the same time, though the heroine’s voice was much louder than his.

“It was.”

“Huh? And why is that?”

Izuku could catch a glimpse of Ms. Joke still smiling, as he hid his face in Shota’s shirt. A thought that she is the smile hero, after all, echoed somewhere in his mind.

Izuku hid his face behind Shota from the guilt, and confrontations.

“Oh!” Ms. Joke exclaimed, “So that’s the kid you were looking for?” she leaned closer, to try and see Izuku’s face.

Izuku could hear the heroine laugh, then she spoke again. “Then I see you found yourself the kid.” Izuku could see a smile in her voice.

“Hey kid,” He was being called a kid too many times today.
Ms. Joke stepped closer to him, but Izuku only further turned his face away.

“Y’know,” She patted him on the head, and Izuku couldn’t help but flinch, “You got nothing to be scared of me for. Or guilty at that fact. I mean it’s great that you know it was wrong. You see, we were all looking for you.” well that as new information for izuku- well all of it. He wasn’t aware that Ms. Joke was on Nezu’s find Yamiyo team-
“As soon as we heard that you were practically held captive there and being forced to do things, I swore that I would help get you out.“ her hand still rested on his head. She paused.
Izuku briefly wondered who did they even get that information- where from.

“Everyone was worried, especially Eraser here,” she nudged said hero slightly, a chuckle escaping her lips. “So, if injuring me was the only way for you to get out, then that’s awesome! Glad I could help.” Izuku slowly turned his head to face her. The heroine wore a bright smile on her face. Izuku watched as she giggled, and told Shota that she even got to practice sign language for a while, to which Izuku was sure he could hear Shota grumble something about her being too much of an optimist. Izuku looked at that place on her throat, a barely visible line of a scar could be seen. Izuku wanted to cry. Even though she didn’t know everything, even though he hurt her- the heroine was happy; even happy for him.

Barely able to contain the tears, Izuku looked to the ground. Then, Ms. Joke turned to him again.
“You know what? You worry so much about people’s lives, I bet you’ll make an awesome hero who saves a lot of people.”
This received an affirmative nod from Shota’s side.

Izuku was so stunned that he even forgot he was about to cry. Listing his eyes, he was met with her smiling eyes.

“Aw this is all great and all-” Mic cleared his throat, “but I gotta go to the announcers both- the festival is about to begin!” The last part was shouted- though cut short with Shota’s quirk.
Then he turned to Izuku. “You are going to head to Nezu now?”
Izuku only slowly nodded in return, still in shock.

Izuku walked away from that encounter rather slowly, lost in thought. His mind was filled with contrary ideas, but what he was sure on was that they put their trust in him despite everything, and he has to try his best to do good and save people like they believe he can. (because if he doesn't, it will make them liars and leave izuku without a purpose).

As he walked through the long halls, he couldn’t help but think that everywhere you go in U.A. there seemed to be long halls. Two general study students walked to his direction. They didn’t pay him any mind, and he decided not to do so too. But then he caught the word ‘hosu’ from one of them. He subconsciously slowed his pace as the two passed him, and listened in. The feeling of unease, of not quite remembering but knowing that there was something important bothered him, so when he was sure they weren’t looking, he completely stopped.
Slowly crunching down to seemingly tie his shoe (he quickly remembered that his shoes didn’t have shoelaces), he could hear the two students. They were arguing. Something dumb, that wasn’t important to izuku. What was though, was what he heard next. “....Stain is more of a morally grey vigilante in my opinion.”

Stain. That's what was making Izuku eerie. Izuku slightly gasped. He had heard of the hero killer stain, knew what he was capable of.

The first student who said that, earned a push from the side from the second. “Dude, he is literally killing heroes. You aren't becoming a villain sympathizer on my watch.”

Izuku quickly stood up and moved along. It must be the worst way to find out about such things- from murmurs of gen ed students, but izuku didn't have time to think about how embarrassing/ that was that he didn't realize it before.
But he did have time to think about how with everything happening, he didn’t have time to think. Ugh, too much thinking.

Izuku shook his head, quickening his pace, a quite reckless plan forming in his head.

Ingenium, stain, Hosu. He hoped it wasn't too late.

–
Izuku burt into Nezu’s office, almost forgetting to close the door behind him. He didn’t wait to hear the usual ‘come in’- this was urgent.

“Hey hey-” Izuku tried to catch his breath. “Ingenium is on a mission right now, right? In Hosu?” He looked up at the principal.

“I believe so. What, is there something you're worried about?” Nezu lowered the volume of the tv, which was displaying the cavalry battle that was currently happening.

“Well, Stain is also there!”

Nezu slowly nodded, “Yes, that’s precisely why Ingenium is after him.”

“Well that’s puts one the more target on his back!” izuku lifted his hands up in frustration.

“Would you like to take a seat first maybe?” Nezu suggested, to which Izuku only shook his head.

“Hmm wait a second,” Izuku paused thinking of something. “How many sidekicks does he have again?”

“He has sixty-five sidekicks.” the principal paused, as if contemplating something- a look unusual to see on his face. “Though yes, some of them have an off day today and have even come here to watch the sports festival.” he looked up at Izuku, quite proud of that fact.

“How many are with him?” Izuku asked, his voice serious.

Nezu sighed, “I can assure you, that Tensai and his team have it handled. He is not a rookie, he knows how many people he needs for a mission.”

“But that’s not some low-level villain, it's the hero killer!” Izuku exclaimed.

“There are professional heroes who can help if something goes wrong,” Nezu said firmly.

Another way of saying you can’t be considered one. Izuku's head told him.

“But please? You have to do something!” Izuku was starting to give up.

Nezu hummed, glancing at something on his computer. “I can request to send backup.”

“No no, that would take too long!”

“Please calm down. It is not really you place to worry about the missions of heroes- from a different city nonetheless.”

Clenching his fist, Izuku looked up at the hero school principal. “Ingenium needs help. Now.” If it’s not already late.

“He has a team of sixty five sidekicks, most of whom will hurry to his aid if something is to happen.”

Izuku felt as if the conversation was going nowhere. He covered his face with his hands in frustration. Then took a deep breath. “No, that won’t help.”

“Ingenium has his agency located in Hosu, he can alert them.”

“But most of his sidekicks are off duty today, you know it was a solo mission. Some of his sidekicks are not even in Hosu. some are even here, you said it yourself!”

“Even those that are on their day off now, will be requested to come if something goes wrong.”

“Here,” Izuku slammed down something on the table between the two.

“This licence-thing lets me act as a hero when I'm helping U.A stuff or with their permission and supervision, right?”
There was a pause. Then a nod from Nezu, his face still stiff and serious.

“Well then let me go!’ Silence. No answer.

“I need to help.” He looked at Nezu with pleading eyes.

The principal remained silent.

“They don’t even know his quirk.” Izuku wasn’t a hundred present sure on what the quirk was either, but he did spend a whole whipping of three pages theorizing about it.

Silence yet again. Nezu continued looking down at the card between them.

“I want to help.” Izuku said much quieter.

A sudden clap sounded, almost making Izuku jump.

“Very well then,” the mammal held his hands together, meeting the boys eyes. “You are free to do so. Go do as you wish.”

Izuku smiled, “Thank you!” and turned around, hurring out of the room.

“Wait,” Nezu called after him, and izuku froze mid step, “You forgot something.”

Izuku turned around confused, “Huh?”

“Your hero suit.” the principal smiled, as he pushed on some button. A slide in the wall opened, and the case with Izuku's hero suit appeared before him.

“Thank you so much sir!” izuku grabbed it, and with a bow in Nezu’s direction ran out of the door.

–
Izuku hurried back through the long halls that surrounded the stadium, looking for someone specific. Izuku sped walked down the hallway. Why did Nezu keep him occupied for so long if he was planning on letting him go from the beginning? Was it to test him?

The hallways were empty of people, as everyone was watching the one on one battles. Izuku briefly wondered what pair was on right now. He climbed up the stairs, and in front of him opened the never ending rows of people, with the arena in the middle. Only freezing for a second, he continued to walk behind them.

“And this baby is remodelled from some trash I found in a dump pile!” a shout reached Izuku's ears. He wasn't paying much attention to it, but glanced at the invention anyway.
“I’m surprised someone threw out such great equipment! Really, who in their right mind would get rid of a perfectly intacct mask?” The owner of the voice seemed to be a girl with pink hair. Probably from the support department. She shook her head in disappointment, before lifting it high and shouting, “Well it got to me, so I aint complaining!”

Izuku’s eyes went wide as he gave the thing in her hands a second look. Even modified and redone, he could recognize that mask anywhere. And here he thought throwing into that trashed beach will hide it forever. Izuku sighed, at least no one knew he threw it out. Everyone has seen it already, so he convinces himself it was not worth freaking out over. No many should be able to track it back to him, and those who can, already know it's him.

With a sigh, Izuku hurried on his way. He didn’t know how much time he had.

Chapter Text

Walking behind the benches, Izuku paid close attention to the numbers of the sections and rows. He didn’t know where exactly the sidekicks sat, but he guessed it would be somewhere near the heroes. And to his relief, he didn’t have to search too long. Just as he was nearing the end of the third sector, someone rose from their seat in the beginning of the fourth. Noticing who it was, Izuku hurried over.

“Hi! You are Ingenium’s sidekick, Emit, right?” said sidekick flinched and turned around.

“Um, yeah…” Izuku nodded happily to himself. “So what is it you want, kid? Want me to get you his autograph? I am in a rush here.” He tried to take a step, but Izuku stood in his way.

“No, no autograph, he gave me that the first time we met.” the sidekick raised an eyebrow at that. Izuku shook his head, he had to get to the point as fast as possible. “I need to get to him. Right now.”

Emit, the sidekick sighed. He was clearly not taking Izuku seriously at all, and it pissed him off.
“Ingenium does a ton of meet-n-greets, go to his site and read about it. Now I really have to go.” He walked around Izuku and towards the exit.

Izuku caught him by the cape of his costume. “Take me to Hosu with you.”

“I-I can’t do that.” Emit was clearly stunned, and even though he didn’t say it. “How did you know about that” was written all over his face.

“Nah-ah. Emit, quirk: Teleportation. You are able to teleport anything up to a hundred kilograms to a set location. Teleporting yourself takes more strength that others.” Izuku met his eyes. “Teleport me to Ingenium's agency in Hosu. That is your set location, right?”

“I can’t, meaning that is not allowed.” Emit stood on his argument, "I can't just use my quirk on random people for the fun of now. Now let me go though."

Izuku took out a card from his pocket, the licence. Emit squinted his eyes, examining it. It took him too much time. They were wasting time.

“That’s a rare kind of licence.” Emit finally said. Referring to that it wasn’t as powerful as your typical hero licence, wasn’t a provisional licence, nor a sidekick one.

“Yeah, and Nezu told me I gotta help, so take me with you.” Izuku remembered that his licence gave him as much power as to a sidekick, if not more, but didn’t mention it. He didn’t want to blow his already slim chances and make Emit mad.

There was a few moments of silence. Izuku could not wait any longer.

“You are wasting time right now. If you don't want to take me with you just go yourself, but know that I can help out much more in this situation, at least in locating them. And you probably won't be able to come near them enough to teleport.”

“Who's ‘them’?” he asked sceptically.

Izuku threw his hands in the air, frustrated. “Who- who? Stain and Ingenium!”

Emit sighed, “Alright, you may come with me. You seem to know quite a bit about the situation already so I won’t need to explain much, right?”

“Right, right. Now thank you, let’s hurry up.” People started to turn their heads around at their whisper- shouting.

Emit sent a look towards the crowd and then nodded. “Alright, let's go.”

“Finally,” Izuku grunted.

—
Hosu, Ingenium’s agency. Emit joined the other sidekicks, not ready to listen to Izuku’s advice. So Izuku ran, mumbling under his breath the streets on which he needed to turn- he had memorized them from the usual Iida team patrol route. And well, he wasn’t completely sure on all of them, but remembering at least vaguely the names of the streets helped him navigate in the foreign city.

The streets were poorly lit in this part of town, and despite that it was only the beginning of the evening, drunken people wandered around. It was rather quiet. On some of the small streets and alleys Izuku couldn't even find a street name plate, so it made it harder to navigate. He only had in his mind a general direction though. Only an idea, a hunch on where he could find the hero. A neighbourhood, that as he had estimated Stain would head to. It was only a guess, but taking into account what other two neighbourhoods in Hosu Stain have been spotted in, this one made the most scenes on the map. Izuku just hoped he wasn’t running there in vain.

Izuku ran into a dark passage between two ancient looking buildings where he remembered on the map he could make a shortcut. But he made it through, only to find out that the exit was blocked by some house being rebuild or something, point is he couldn’t get through.

He had to find a way quick. Izuku looked around. Going back and finding another shortcut isn’t guaranteed, and going the long way around would take too much time.

Izuku looked up. A page on underground heroes from his old notebook flashed in his mind. Right, he could take a less usual route. So, after another second to study the building, Izuku started climbing. There weren’t any stairs he could use, not even a ladder. But it did have a scaffolding against it. So it didn’t take him too long to climb using the planks and poles to the top, and over the last balcony, to the roof.

The house was old, which probably why it was being renovated, but that didn’t matter to Izuku- what did was the fact the roof wasn’t flat. There was a small edge at the end, to where he carefully made his way. He started to walk on it in the direction he needed, as this side of the building didn’t have anything to help him get down anyway. The ledge was rather narrow, but thankfully not too slippery. Though it really did slow Izuku down. He couldn’t run. Also, it was maybe just a bit scary, knowing that if you slipped there wouldn’t be a quirk to help you out. He tried to not think about that, but did move extra carefully.

So like that, too slow for Izuku’s liking, he made it from one building to the next. Finally, when he made it to a bigger street, he spotted a fire escape. He climbed down from the roof to the rusty metal balcony, and that was when he heard a scream. It was coming from the other side of the road, from in between two buildings. The sunlight didn’t reach there, so Izuku couldn’t see much more than a figure of a person. But that was enough. Now he was certain that he had made it to the right place.

Now, not caring about making noise and not really being careful, Izuku ran down the stairs, skipping over a few steps at a time.

Once he made it to the bottom, he took out his phone mid-run. He had no idea who to call, but he had to call for backup. He had to act quickly, so he sent out a location with one word. “Stain”.

The road was not empty, but for some reason none of the few passer-by didn’t seem too bothered by the scream that sounded only counted seconds ago. Izuku ran to the other side and straight to the small space between buildings. He only made a few steps there and was met with the hero killer, standing over Ingenium. He held a sword up, which had blood on it. Stain was monologuing, and the hero on the ground made useless attempts to move. From what Izuku could see, Ingenium wasn’t injured yet, but he couldn’t more. Which ment Izuku made it just in time. If he was late by only a second, Ingenium could have been dead. Still alive. Only grazed by the weapon. Only a small enough wound to draw blood. He had made it in time.

Izuku stood there, frozen for a fraction of a second. “Stop.” He took a little steps towards the villain, his hand on his dagger. His voice didn’t come out not half as intimidating as he would have liked. Now was the first time he realized that he physically could not our run stain’s knife. And if Stain gets his blood, he dies along with Ingenium. Izuku blinked slowly, making that train of thought go away.

“Go away boy,” Stain said, not even lifting his eyes to look at him. “I have nothing to do with you kid. I only have business with these bastard who calls himself a ‘hero’.”

Izuku shook his head. He had to focus. What did he know about Stain? What has he heard? What has he observed? What did he write down? What does he remember from their one and only previous meeting? He tried to picture the page he had on Stain from his notebook (which wasn’t as full of info as the others, but he needed something).

“Tensei,” He turned to the hero who laid face down before him. Now, at the sounds of his first name, the hero seemed to realize who Izuku was. He looked at Izuku with wide eyes, and Izuku could hear him whisper, “What are you doing here?” Izuku didn’t answer that, but continued. “What is your blood type?”

At that, Stain’s head whipped up. He looked at Izuku. “You…” He hissed. “Yamiyo.” He pointed his sword in Izuku’s direction, but didn’t move.

Izuku bit the inside of his lip. Stain, the hero killer. The only one besides Shigaraki and his boss who knew the face behind the mask he tried so hard to get rid of.

No one moved for a moment. Izuku had almost forgotten that the vigilante- turned villain had seen him without his mask. What an unfortunate coincidence.
Stain still had his sword pointed in Izuku’s direction, and he could hear the hero on the ground gasp quietly.

Izuku glanced down and then back up, unsure at whom he should go after first. Does he just onto stain and fight head on? No, he will certainly lose. Does he get Ingenium away? Stain has his blood, so he can’t move for now, and it would be hard to get away with him on your back. Firstly because the hero is just heavy, but most importantly, because if stain is set on killing a hero he deems unworthy of the title, he will do anything to achieve it.

Wait…

“Tensei, you didn’t answer me.”

Izuku did his best to take a look at the hero’s expression without taking his eyes of Stain and his weapons. Why was Stain waiting for anyway? Did he want to see what Izuku would do?

Ingenium was clearly hesitating. His expression was one of shock and bewilderment.
“My blood type is AB.”

“Great, AB is just great.” Izuku mumbled to himself, despite having no clue what blood type is affected for less time. He just remembered that his quirk had to depend on somehow of the blood types of his victims. “At least you were down for a few minutes already, so that should wear off soon.” He said reassuringly, looking at the hero.

“Where do you know that from?” The cold voice was Stain’s.

Izuku shrugged, putting his hands behind his back and standing on his toes. “I mean I could have found it out using a few of different ways, but yeah I just saw you kill a hero once.” He smiled, looking at the villain. Fingers tights around his dagger.

“So you are fighting for the heroes now huh?” Stain still hadn’t moved his sword an inch. “You did seem to have heroic tendencies in you, so I respect that.” he paused, squinting his eyes. “But this self-proclaimed ‘hero’,” he relaxed his grip only a tiny bit, letting the sword point to the man on the ground, “He is nothing close to a real hero.”

Izuku took a step closer. “Well, um, okay. First of all, Ingenium is a good hero. Despite using methods you may find less heroic, he actually is very-um, heroic. Ingenium is doing is work wholeheartedly, so I’m not sure why you’re trying to kill him off right now.” He glanced at said hero, who had seemed to just give in to his plan, despite probably still being in shock. Good. His fingers were beginning to twitch. Soon.

“Perhaps that over- praised your analytic skills. I am not trying to kill him.” Stain straightened, relaxing from his fixing stance. The sides of Izuku mouth twitched upwards. Stain gripped the sword tighter and pointed it to Izuku’s face. “So you shouldn’t get in the way. Go. I am not sure how you made it out from under his care in one piece, but don’t waste your time fighting alongside people like those.”

“Well everyone would say that about their opponent,” Izuku moved a bit closer as he spoke. Hiding the dagger as best as he could. “I don’t really care what side I’m on, I just want to save people.”

A beat.

“You can’t save everyone, that’s foolish.” something changed in stains voice.

“Of course I know that. But if I do know that a person is in danger and I do have the means to save them, I am going to.”

“What gives you the impression that you can help here? I’ve seen you fight before, you wouldn’t be able to win against me. Even if you use all your quirks at once.”

There was some sound from Ingenium. He didn’t move, no, he still wasn’t able to. But he did let out some kind of cough. Izuku glanced at him. The hero did not seem to be in much pain, so probably he just got overwhelmed with all this information. Never mind that now, he could deal with that later. Izuku turned his full attention back to stain.

“Well maybe I can’t, but maybe I can. Who knows.”

“So you want to fight and protect this filthy-”

“Yes,” Izuku cut him off. “And you know what? I'm going to do that without even using a quirk.” While speaking, he threw the dagger. It didn’t hit, as Stain stepped back and dogged to his right. Izuku didn’t mind that though, it didn’t matter too much if he hit or not. Izuku sent his second dagger. Careful to remind himself he only had three.

Stain didn’t take a step this time, but blocked the dagger with his sword.
Izuku ran forward, and jumping over Ingenium, ducked as a sword was swung at him.

Next, stain had to jump to the side, as Izuku, using both his hands, slammed Ingenium's helmet at him. He had picked it up while ducking.

Izuku threw the helmet this time, letting it go at stain, who jumped back and to his left. He didn’t waste much time a slashed his sword towards Izuku neck.

This was Izuku turn to jump back. When he did, he almost stepped on Ingenium.

Izuku quickly caught his balance, and took a fighting stance. Facing stain the realization that as he is right now, without any more weapons, aid, or quirk he really cannot stand a chance. Stain wasn’t even fighting yet. He had just coughed a bit, and it seemed he was studying to see what Izuku would do. Izuku was so lucky that stain did want to go after him, that made things a whole lot easier.

“Hm… a lovely day, isn't it?”

Izuku just had to hold up against the villain for as long as he could, and that meant he had to waste time. Stain caught on pretty fast though.

“That’s it, I am tired of this. You are just stalling for time.” And before Izuku could blink, stain passed him. Izuku turned around sharply. Ingenium was slowly standing up, using his hands to push himself off the ground when Stain stabbed to sword into his back. The hero gaped for air as he fell back to the ground. Izuku rushed to his side while stain stood unmoving, satisfied.
The hero was still breathing, but not responding to Izuku calls to say something. His eyes were closed, and he was struggling to breathe through the mouth.

Izuku didn’t move. Just slowly looked at stain, without turning his head. The villain stood close, sword lowered. Izuku’s eyes moved to the weapons on Stain’s back. Izuku suddenly got a plan.

He took out his last remaining dagger, that he didn’t think was the right moment to use till now. He took it out without much caption, not bothering to hide it.

Izuku brought the dagger slowly to Ingenium's throat, hand shaking. He was sure that stain was intensively watching from behind him. He touched the blade to the skin. Images of Ms. Joke flashed in his vision. He blinked a few times to make it go away.

“You want to end his pain? I thought you were set on saving him. What a hero you are, abandoning your goal as soon as obstacles rise.” Izuku could hear Stain’s voice.

Stain took a step towards Izuku, rising his sword. Now. Izuku told himself. He moved fast, and barely dodging the swords aimed for his neck slid under the villain, between his legs. Using the dagger he cut his leg as he was standing up behind him. Stain jumped, but so did Izuku, snatching a weapon from stain’s back. He jumped away, where stains swords couldn’t reach and looked at what he got. He manneged to grab a smaller sword than stain was holding in his hand, but he didn’t really have time to choose.

Izuku looked back at stain. The villain’s right foot was bleeding, and he hissed from the pain.

A vibrating sound startled Izuku, not so much stain. Looking up, Izuku could see the bright screen of Ingenium's phone. It must have fallen out. The caller was named ‘tenya’ followed by a little smiley.

Sending a glance towards Stain, he answered the call.

“Hi there, Iida?”

Stain moved his weapon from one hand to another and took out another knife from the scabbard.

Izuku slowly rose to his feet. In one hand he was holding the phone to his ear, and with other he pointed the sword (which was pretty heavy…)in front of himself.

“Why do you have my brother’s phone?” Iida’s voice was serious and cold.

Izuku didn’t really have the time or energy to explain everything, but he could understand why Iida would be worried.

“You see, Stain-” and just as the name left Izuku’s mouth, the villain threw a knife at him. It made the phone fly out of his hand and fall shattering on the ground behind him. Izuku turned his head to look. The screen went black. The knife laid on the ground, the tip red. Izuku brought a hand to his face. There indeed was a stinging sensation, and whipping his cheek he found some blood on the back of his hand.

Stain moved, trying to get the blood. Izuku barely jump out of the way. But Stain did get discouraged by that, but moved past Izuku. The knife. It dawned on him.

And they both launched at the ground, but Izuku was faster and closer, so he managed to retrieve the knife first. Now he had to guard it. It had his blood on it, so it was something that could end the fight immediately. He put it in the sheath, which was missing two of the daggers.

A sword was swung his way, and Izuku had to duck. Right after standing back up, he tried to aim a punch at his opponent, but it didn’t land, as stain took a step back.

It felt more like a spar than an actual fight.

They went on for a while. Stain slashed Izuku's side, but Izuku jumped to the side, and it wasn't too deep. Stain wasn’t able to get any of the blood. Izuku threw his last dagger at him, injuring stain in his side.

They both started to get a bit tired.

Izuku stood with his back to Ingenium and the exit to the street, eyes locked at stains raised weapon when voices could be heard from behind him. He didn’t turn around, as stain was attaching, but to his disappointment it was not the heroes and even not the police. There were just some random people who had curiously pocked their head out from the windows and balconies.

“What reason you have to stay here, Yamiyo? I can see you’re getting tired.” Stain’s voice was low and like one of a snake.

“What you expect me to do, just leave?” Izuku wanted to sound as if he wasn’t out of breath at all, but that didn’t really work out, because he was.

“I can’t tell if that’s heroic of you or just foolish.”

“I mean, if you were asking, I think heroic.”

“You sure gained confidence since I have seen you, being able to speak like that to your opponent.”

“Well then we didn’t really have time to chat, and I didn’t really know who you were.” He didn’t rest his arm, still ready with the sword.

“Back then you were a small, scared boy, who still didn’t hesitate to come to my rescue. That’s why I told them you don’t belong. They were forcing a child who acts like a true hero be a villain for them.”

Izuku hesitated.

“You know why I told them that? It’s because you remind/ me of all might. And if all might is the only true hero, you are the closest to that.”

When Izuku didn’t answer, Stain continued. “I have seen you go on a few of your so called ‘missions’. Didn’t have high hopes, but I’ll admit I was a bit impressed with how you fake-fought, only enough for them to believe you were after them, clearly a villain, but with minimal damage done. Watching that was like a breath of fresh air in this rotten society.”

Voices could be heard clearly from behind him. “No, no you call the cops! I got this on video.” Izuku froze.
Was that why stain started talking?

“The world is run by criminals, and criminals who call themselves heroes. And I need to plague them from the world, that’s my mission, and I'm not going to stop until that's complete.” he paused. “You, boy, can be of aid too. Don’t you want to change the world?”

Before answering, Izuku jumped at stain with his own sword. “Yes, but killing a few won’t change anything!”
He rolled under the villains' sword, and managed the injure both of his legs, before the sword was flown/ out of his grasp, and a knife stuck in his left thigh. Izuku groaned from the pain, and retreated, limping. At a safe distance, he pulled the knife out. It hurt terribly. His leg started to feel numb.

Izuku bent over in pain. Stain seemed to let his guard down just a tad bit when Izuku dropped to the floor. Izuku used that half a second to throw stains knife back at him. From the hiss, he guessed it hit. There was a thud. It seemed they both were on the ground now. If Izuku tired, he could probably stand up, but he was so exhausted that he couldn't.

A few moments passed. Were they moments? Second? Minutes? Izuku couldn’t tell.

“Someone’s coming,” Izuku whispered, mostly to himself, as he lifted his head. He couldn’t see Stan anywhere.

Stiffly turning around, Izuku kicked the person that was nearing him from behind. He didn’t even care how it hurt. The next second, before he could take a proper look at his attacker, a group of people appeared from behind the corner. Sidekicks, policemen, a hero.

Right, thank goodness. Finally, someone came to apprehend stain and get Ingenium to the hospital. Izuku could relax a bit.

“Be careful, he is skilled and possibly armed. He knocked Emit out.”

Oh no.

They came to take in not only Stain.

Chapter Text

Looking down at his arms, Izuku studied the handcuffs. They were bulky, and heavy. Too bulky and too heavy. They were quirk-cancelling handcuffs for touch-activated quirks. Izuku had never seen them so close.
They clearly had outdated information.

A sudden shudder overcame Izuku. What if now is the time he gets sent to prison, or worse?

He looked around. The back seats of the car were practically made to be a cell. Izuku has been never in one like this before. Well, as they say, first time for everything, getting arrested too.

Nothing was interesting there. They took his stuff, all of it. Even checking for hidden knives in his shoes (No, he didn’t have any. For something like safety purposes he was allowed only the three daggers to begin with, and even they were in a pretty visible spot). They also took away his phone, no how was he supposed to call Kenta now? Izuku shook his head, he was right for telling the man he wouldn’t be able to.

A bump on the road snapped Izuku out of his thoughts. He looked forward, at the front two seats where sat two very serious-looking policemen. A layer of Thick, and probably bulletproof glass and bars separated them from Izuku.

They looked rather grumpy, even more than Shota and that’s telling something. One of them, the one in the passenger seat must have felt Izuku staring at them, as he looked in the rearview mirror.
Izuku lifted his hand in an attempt to wave, but the bulky cuffs prevented that. The policeman looked away, his expression not changing in the slightest.

—
At the station, Izuku was put in a chair in a white room and freed from the too-heavy handcuffs, though not for long, as he immediately was put in other ones. The new ones were far less capsule, probably because of the isolated interrogation room they were in. They were also connected with rather long chains on the table in front of him.

No one spoke to him, and after the two weak attempts he spoke, they ignored him. The two policemen with whom he was in the car were joined by another one, who looked to be their superior.

They stood in the room, just a bit to the side, and were talking between them as if he wasn’t there. It looked as if they were waiting for someone. Izuku sighed. At least they weren’t rushing to do anything, and he could rest a bit.

“He doesn’t look like he is him… I mean sure, there is plenty of other stuff to take into consideration here, but Yamiyo?” The driver spoke in a low tone.

“Yeah, you sure you didn’t just I don’t know- mishear or something. But we need to be careful, because if he is…” The one from the passenger seat glanced in Izuku’s direction, but hurried to look away when Izuku met his eyes.

“Calm down. We cannot know for sure that the kid is Yamiyo, as we cannot trust the hero killer’s screams and label it as hardcore evidence. He was taken in as a suspect.” The one who Izuku guesses to be the high-ranking one spoke, he too, glancing at Izuku, “And also he assaulted a hero.”

Izuku raised his hand as if in class. The policemen turned to him. “Um, that was a sidekick.”

“And he knows some stuff,” the driver muttered under his breath.

“Well why don’t you just ask me then, didn’t you bring me here to do that?” Izuku didn't know where he got the courage to just causally talk to them.

“Well,” the superior officer seemed taken aback. “We are waiting for someone.”
Izuku silently hoped it was Shota, but that was unrealistic, so he hoped for at least Tsukauchi.

“I figured,” Izuku shrugged. “But could you wait outside then? I’m tied.” Izuku did not know where he got the courage, he just started talking without thinking. Surprisingly though, after exchanging a few words, the policemen exited the room.

Izuku smiled to himself. Why did they even listen to him? He was in no place to tell them what to do… If that, he could have asked for a glass of water at least.

Izuku waited a bit, looking around the room. It was empty. Just the chair Izuku was sitting on and the table, with another chair on the side opposite to him. But other than that, nothing. Not even on the walls. He had expected at least a two-way mirror or something, but there wasn’t anything like it, just plain white walls.

Letting out a breath, he rested his head on the table. Waiting proved to be boring. Eventually he fell asleep.

Izuku didn't know how much time had passed when someone walked in, making Izuku open his eyes.

Looking up, Izuku was met with someone new.

“I am the chief of police in Hosu, woof.” A dog quirk? So cool.

The Chief entered the room, and taking a breath, began.
“Jumping right into danger with a solid backup plan or the right tools to deal with the situation was quite foolish if you. As well as not thinking of the consequences.”
Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but the chief continued. “But, you are not convicted of anything, as after checking the information we have found that you had full permission to do so from the principal of UA himself. Not that it matters much who it is, woof.” He said the last part quieter.

Izuku blinked. So he wasn’t in trouble? He didn’t expect the outcome to be too scandalous and terrible (though he feared it). But nothing at all?

“But now, woof, there is some trouble caused by the reveal to the public about Yamiyo being alive. Luckily for you, and for me, as I don’t have to solve a bigger mess, woof. No one could see your face. Nevertheless, the public is concerned about Yamiyo being back from the dead, even if as a vigilante this time, woof.”

“But- I wasn’t acting as a vigilante, I have this licence…”

The officer slowly nodded, “Yes, woof. Most people are unaware of that though.” He seemed to be questioning Izuku's intelligence.

“Oh… Right.” Izuku was too nervous to think straight. Izuku also wanted to ask how the chief knew he was Yamiyo so surly, but didn’t want to seem like an even bigger idiot. Probably Tsukauchi already updated everything.

The policeman cleared his throat. “Now someone else is going to come in. I have found that no official questioning had been done yet, despite the long term you were with Eraserhead as well as the other U.A staff. We shouldn’t postpone it any longer.”

“Um, of course.” It is not that Izuku had anything against it, but no, he did not feel like getting integrated now.

With a nod, Izuku was left alone again. Though this time, not for as long, as just a few moments later the door opened again.

“Hello there.”

Izuku’s face lit up. Finally, someone he knew.

“Detective Tsukuachi!” He never thought he’d like the guy but here he is.

The detective pulled out the chair in front of Izuku.

“When I was called here, I wouldn't have imagined it would be you.” He said, sitting down.

“Oh, so that’s why I had to wait so long, ‘cause you had to get here.”

“Yeah that,” Tsukauchi perked up. “How did you manage to be here if you were at U.A. less than twenty minutes before being spotted near stain/?”

“Oh, a teleportation quirk!” Izuku replied immediately.

Tsukauchi looked up, his brow scruncked up in concern.

“Not like my quirk though, one of Ingenium’s sidekicks that were at the sports festival.”
Izuku had kind of forgot about the whole festival, it must be done by now already.

Nodding, Tsukachi wrote something down on his little notepad. “Cooperative, they will like that.” He muttered.

Izuku didn’t act like those ‘they’ are because he didn’t think he was meant to hear that.

Tsukauchi asked some more, mostly why how, and when. Izuku answered shortly. Tsukauchi only nodded, as he seemed to be aware of most of it already and was just confirming.

“Could you describe how Stain acted during the fight towards you, perhaps something he said to you or did/?” He asked after Izuku said that when he got there Ingenium was already paralyzed.

“That was a weird fight,” Izuku admitted. “Like he didn’t aim to kill me so that’s probably why, but it seemed as if he didn’t really try at all.”

“So he wanted to spear you?”

Izuku shrugged, “Dunno, maybe. He was set on putting Ingenium out of commission, but when I attached, he just silently retreated.” He paused, picturing in his head how it went. “When he did do something, it was just as a threat, never aimed to seriously harm me.”

“Perhaps it was because you match his idea of a hero, and he has some kind of respect, or hopes for you.”

Izuku tilted his head a bit at that.

“He said so in the video,” Tsukauchi elaborated.

“What video?” Izuku asked, despite clearly remembering the person with the phone. Though he could only remember that Stain calling him Yamiyo was recorded. Other things seemed unimportant to Izuku at the time.

Then it was on to question's about Yamiyo.
Izuku felt half asleep, but tired to answer everything honestly.

Yes, he worked with villains.
No, he didn't want to.
Yes, no, yes, yes no.

That felt as if it lasted forever.

Luckly though, he never asked how izuku was tied to the villains in the first place. Never asked about his father.

Izuku didn't know why he felt like hiding it. he didn't. The detective didn't ask, he didn't answer. simple.

"Alright," Tsukacuhi looked over what was written in his notebook. "You will probably have to give an official statement later, but this should be enough for now."

"Oh right, one last question. Did anyone know where you were all this time?"

Izuku blinked at that. Did anyone? He wasn't sure. "Um, I don't think so?" He didn't sound certain, so he wasn't surprised when Tsukauchi asked again.

“What about your mother?” The detective looked up from his notepad.

Izuku in his turn looked down, “She knew,” he said. Without being reminded of her everyday, he had almost forgotten. It is not like she remembered him most of time.

Tsukauchi hummed, “Then why didn’t she alert the police, the heroes?”

“She- I-” Izuku bit his lip, before signing and looking at the detective, who met his gaze, “She was scared. He said that if one of us tried to do something, the other one would get killed,” he paused, trying to gather courage to say more. He didn't want to be explaining their weird family relationship. Maybe just a bit though... “Then when I-” he couldn’t. Izuku looked down and bit his lip again.

Tsukauchi didn’t ask further, just nodding and quickly writing something in his little notepad.

"I see," the detective looked up. "That was an awful situation you were put it. But it amazes me how despite everything you still always want to save everyone. That's very honourable of you."

Izuku shrugged, he didn't know if Tsuauchi was saying that in an attempt to comfort him, or just words he didn't mean but had to say something.
"Thanks I guess..." He mumbled.

"Okay, I think that concluded it then." Tsukauchi said as he closed his notebook. He smiled a bit. It looked forced.

“Can I ask you one question?’ Izuku leaned closer.

“What is it?” The detective asked interested.

“No matter how long I searched, I couldn’t find it. So, what’s your quirk?”

Tsukauschi notably relaxed. Was he expecting a diff between the two.

“Actually, I don't have a quirk.” The man smiled fondly. Not the same smile that didn't reach his eyes he'd given before.

“What?”
Izuku blinked a few times, trying to process that.
He looked up at the detective. His respect for him suddenly skyrocketed.

So he is just that smart and observant?

Tsukauchi was still smiling at him.

And facing different villains? Making a name for yourself as a great detective in a world that looks down on you just because of your quirk status...

Not that Izuku ever wanted to be a policeman, but suddenly he had gained a new idol, someone he is surely going to look up to now.

Izuku looked down, thinking. The floor was plain white and the table bland too, he was tired of this room already. So instead Izuku studied the long chain that connected to the table. That reminded him. He looked back up and opened his mouth to ask, but Tsukauchi spoke first.

“Despite what society says, quirks are not everything. And even if you got an amazing quirk, doesn’t mean life’s gonna treat you better.”

Izuku humourlessly chuckled, “Yeah, had to learn that the hard way.”

Tsukauhi froze for a split second, probably realizing what it sounded like he implied. He shook his head.

“Any who,” the detective moved in his chair. “I now have to submit some files regarding you, and you will be free to go back to Eraserhead.”

“Soo… that means we are done here now, right?”

“Yes, but you will have to stay at the station for some more time while we arrange things and wait for Eraserhead.”

Izuku nodded, decismissenly. “Yeah, yeah I get it. But can I have these off?” he lifted his cuffed hands.

“Oh yes,” Tsukauchi blinked, as if he had forgotten about that. “I will ask them right away to get the key.” He stood up to leave, adding quieter. “Though I have no idea who has the keys.”

“No need to bother detective.” Izuku’s voice made Tsukauchi turn back around.

Izuku lifted his hand up, waving. The handcuffs lay on the table in front of him.

“How long have you had these off?” Tsukauchi suddenly asked.

“Um,” Izuku slowly put his hand down. “One second?” He answered hesitantly. “Just since you said I could.”

Tsukauchi huffed in disbelief. “How did you manage to pick the lock that fast? You didn’t mention knowing-”

“Ah! No,” Izuku cut him of. “I never actually picked a lock before- well, never succeeding in picking one. So this is my first time.” He smiled proudly, happily lifting his hands again.

“Why?” Tsukaushi seemed to be a loss for words. He just stood there, a few steps from the table, and didn't move. “When?”

Izuku shrugged, looking around the room. “They left me alone here and I was bored. Didn’t think I could actually do it but turned out I can.” He was smiling again.

Tsukuashi sighed. He really is a kid. His face softened.
“I will be right back,” he said as he opened the door.

—
“He doesn't seem like he could be a villain.” Some policeman turned to the detective, as he closed the door behind him.

“No,” Tsukauchi shook his head. “He wouldn't break the law if he wanted to. The boy picked the lock in his handcuffs and literally just waited until I was about to take them off to take them off himself.”

“Did he want to brag of his skills? Like to show us that he could have escaped if he wanted to?”

Tsukauchi shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don't think so. He said he was bored.”

"Might be just a kid, but I'll admit, he does scared me quite a bit..."
Tsukauchi huffed but didn't answer, grabbing some paper from an extended hand.
—
Without the handcuffs sitting in the same white room proved to be just a tad bit better. It was still not fun though, so Izuku practically jumped up when Tsukauchi appeared in the doorway.

He nodded his head towards the hallway. “Let’s go.” The words barely left his lips and Izuku was already up and by his side.

They walked at a fast pace down the hall and one floor down. People they passed seemed to give Izuku weird looks he wasn't sure why though. They came to a stop in a room that seemed something like a waiting room, with a few rows of chairs that were connected to one another.

There Tsukauchi ordered Izuku to sit down.

“Are you injured anywhere?”

Izuku examined his hands and then looked down. His shirt was soaked in blood, his left leg too, as well as his right hand. Oh. He had kind of forgotten about that-

“Um, yeah, a bit.”

“Then-” He began but didn’t finish.

Someone approached, and Izuku looked up.

“Eraserhead,” Tsukauchi bowed his head a bit in greeting. “I thought the drive would be longer for you.”

“I took a shorter route,” the hero retorted.

Izuku beamed.

“I’ll get his injuries treated.” Shota looked at Tsukauchi, still not turning to Izuku.

"Oh, alright. Just a moment please.” and the detective led the hero to the front desk and handed him some papers. They exchanged some words in a low tone.

Izuku sat on the edge of the seat, tapping his legs against the floor.

Soon, Shota turned around.
He studied Izuku for a moment, but then turned to the door, hands in his pockets.
“Let’s get to the car.”

Izuku slowly opened the passage's door and carefully sat down. His side stung and let throbbed. How did he just notice it now? His hand didn’t hurt at all though, at least that.

Shota didn’t come to seat in the driver's seat, so Izuku turned to look at what he was doing. The man was taking something out of the trunk.

He came back to Izuku’s side of the car. The boy didn’t immediately understand why.

“I need to clean your injuries,” Shota explained, and grumbled under his breath something about how no one did anything about said injuries.

“Lit your shirt where the wound is,” he said squatting down and opening out the box he took out of the tuck.

Izuku did as told, ever so hesitantly, and Shota grumpily wrapped him in clean bandages.

A scene like that happened before. So now, Izuku couldn’t shake it out of his mind.

“Doesn’t this remind you of something, Eraser?”

The hero looked up. “If you are going to switch into calling me that every time you are reminded of Yamiyo, I will not be able to keep you.”

Despite his levelled tone, it was clearly not serious.

Izuku laughed, making Shota complain about how he just moved his new bandage out of place, making it fall. That made Izuku laugh even more. Despite the pain in his side, he wrapped his arms around and laughed.

Shota leaned back a bit. “Oh, problem child. I can't with you.”

Opening his eyes, Izuku could see a smile on the man’s face.

“Alright, that's enough.” Shota straightened. “I need to finish banding you so we can get home faster. You might not feel hungry, but you gotta eat something.”

“Maybe it’s just you who’s hungry?” Izuku playfully tilted his head.

“I am.” Shota confirmed, “But so are you.”

“Pff I am not,” Izuku waved his hand, only for Shota to catch it.

“Come on, I have to make it to Nezu on time and that’s at least an hour-long drive from here. Might be a traffic jam on the way too.”

Shota shook his head, huffing. “They had you locked up too long, you are going crazy.”

Izuku chuckled, making finger guns. It was fun, and Shota was playing along for once “Well imagine what would have happened if they put me into prison.”

“Alright, that’s it. Let me finish bandaging your hands and let’s go.” Shota rolled his eyes, completely done with the boy.

Izuku sighed in defeat but extended his hand. Shota quickly finished, as his hand was really was just a scratch.

“Now,” Shota closed the first aid kit, and meeting Izuku’s eyes, continued. “It was too reckless of you. All of it. But you will have time to think over it and find flaws in how you acted, as these will have to heal on their own.”

Izuku looked up, almost confused.

“As punishment, you will not a quirk help you out to heal faster this time,” the man paused. “Maybe this will help you learn something about throwing yourself in danger.” Then ‘without even telling me’ was mumbled under his breath.

Izuku looked up, but Shota continued after taking a breath. “Recovery Girl will steal look after your injuries, but I will tell her to not use her quirk to fasten the proses. Understand?” Izuku nodded.

“Alright,” Shota picked up the box. “That’s it for now.”

Watching as Shota was putting away the first aid kit, Izuku remembered something, something quite important.

“Wait- How is Tensei?”

Shota turned to him.

“When I last saw him, they were wheeling him away to the ambulance.”

Closing the tuck, Shota answered. “He woke up a few hours ago, in the morning. Has some nerve damage, but he’ll live.”

Izuku didn’t know if he should celebrate. Probably not, it didn’t feel appropriate for the hero/. But oh was he glad it was just nerve damage.

A few seconds later, Shota sat in his seat. Blinking a few times, Izuku put his legs in the car and closed the door too. Izuku could feel some tension in the air, something along of the lines of ‘you are grounded’ was left unsaid though.
Shota sighed, when he started the car. “We will have plenty of time to talk after. Now we have to stop by Nezu for only a brief moment,” he said as if he read Izuku’s mind. “But before that, you must be hungry, right?

Izuku titled his head. “I don’t think so?” For some reason, he wasn’t hungry at all, just maybe thirsty. “Can we just eat after everything? At home?” he looked down, biting the inside of his cheek a bit.

“Alright then,” Shota said, shrugging.

Izuku could guess that he didn’t eat much either, as usually for breakfast the man only had coffee. And he wouldn’t have time for lunch coming to pick Izuku up. He felt kinda bad…

They drove in silence for some time, before Izuku turned to Shota.

“Can I see that video?”

Shota didn’t answer immediately, keeping his eyes on the road. “What video?”

“Well you know- the one someone managed to film from a balcony, the one everyone keeps talking about.”

The man thought for a bit before answering. “Yes, you should probably watch it before everyone starts asking you about some things said in it.”

Izuku nodded. Even though he knew first-hand what was said in the video, he had to check how much it had gotten on tape.

“I don’t have your phone on me though,” Shota said.

“Can I- Use yours?”

Not taking his eyes off the road, Shota took out his phone from his pocket. “Here.”

When they got to U.A., Shota walked Izuku to the nurse's office. They walked in silence. Looking around, Izuku could see only staff. Did so much time actually pass? The sports festival seemed to have ended long ago and even all the people have left, leaving behind only the clean-up crew (That was led by Cementos, Izuku caught a glance of his fixing a wall, again. That turned out to be a frequent problem).

Once they reached the room, Shota said a few things to Recovery Girl in a low tone. At first, she shook her head as if in disappointment, but then nodded rapidly.
Izuku tilted his head a bit, wondering what they were discussing, though he probably knew what it was.

After another nod from Recovery Girl, Shota turned to Izuku.
“She will look over your wounds.” he empathized the word look. “No quirk.”
Izuku nodded at the reminder. He couldn’t say he liked the idea, as he had gotten used to his injuries healing fast, but he did understand why.

Seeing that Izuku got it Shota took a step towards the hallway. “When you are done here, come wait for me by my office.”
Izuku nodded again.

When the door was shut, the recovery girl gestured to one of the medical beds. Izuku climbed to sit on it.

“Even when not participating in the sports festival, you still manage to get injured! I just knew it, I knew something like this would happen.” Recovery girl /mumbled under her breath in disbelief.

“Now please listen to me.” the nurse sat down, and Izuku curiously looked up. Her tone was different from usual.
“I can see that you are a good kiddo, you got a good heart, everyone can see that. But throwing yourself in danger just to prove your worth is not good.” Izuku opened his mouth. “Adada- sh! No. I am not done yet.” she shushed him. “And yes, you will say that not the reason, but even just wanting to save someone is not enough either. You can go jumping in everywhere recently. You know that if you aim to be a real pro hero and go on actual hero missions you won't be able to rely on my quirk to heal everything. Yes of course there are special hospitals full of people with healing quirks, but you don’t want to break your body that much, even healing quirks are not miracle workers.”

Izuku didn’t answer. He wanted to though, because healing quirks did seem like miracle workers in his eyes. He was too overwhelmed to process it back then, but after recovery healed him the first time. Despite the loss of time, his body felt so light. And the fact that some scars also lightened only added to that.

Leaving, Izuku slowly dragged himself down the hall. Now alone, and with nothing to do or think about. (and with the adrenaline worn off) he finally realized that he was indeed hurt. His arm wasn’t much of a problem. His side didn’t let him know that something was wrong as long as he moved carefully. His leg was a bigger problem though, as with every step he took, a dull jolt of pain was shown through his thigh. That made it not so pleasant to walk.

Izuku didn’t have to hurry though, so he slowly strolled down the halls.

When he made it to Shota’s office, he tried the door handle only to find it locked. No one seemed to be inside, but Izuku still knocked. When no answer came, he turned and rested his back on the wall next to the door, putting his weight on it and the leg that wasn’t injured.

Izuku let out a deep breath and folded his arms.

“Midoriya?”

He looked up. Oh no, Iida. He probably is very much confused about the phone call.

“You are injured?” Iida asked coming closer, but it wasn’t in his usual friendly and helpful tone.

“Um, yeah.” Izuku/ let his arms fall to his sides.

“I didn’t expect to see you now, but one thing has been bothering me, so I have to ask- how did you get a hold of my brother’s phone yesterday?”

Izuku watched Iida’s expression change when he told him that he was in Hosu.

“You were the one that found Stain.” That wasn’t a question. Izuku gulped. “That video- I didn’t want to believe it. But it is true then? You were there.”

Iida’s tone was harsh, as if he was trying to not explode. “You acted as a vigilante.”

“It was utterly stupid! How did you even make it to Hosu if everyone saw you at U.A. only half an hour before?” He paused, but not enough to let Izuku say something. “Ugh, why did you even go there? You thought you could do something? Well, you couldn’t protect Tensai from Stain, and not even yourself!” He gestured to Izuku’s bandages.

Izuku looked up, trying to meet his eyes. But Iida’s eyes just glowed red. He was blinded with rage.

“Wouldn’t have you done the same?” Izuku asked quietly. Iida was mad, and was letting out on him. Izuku knew he couldn’t reason with him, but ‘what else was I supposed to do’ was on his lips.

Iida put his hands into fists but didn’t move them, both still remaining by his sides.
“Of course, I would have! But I would have thought of a different way- I would have-” he let out a grunt. “You are done more harm than good. My brother got permanent damage to his leg now. He is going to have to take on fewer hours as a hero now.” he spoke slowly, in a low tone.

“If I haven’t been there, your brother would have gotten injured more, if not killed.” Izuku's voice was cold. He couldn’t take it any more. “Would you like it more if he was missing a leg? Or paralysed?”

“That’s enough.”

Izuku- well both the boys were so furious they didn’t see Eraserhead approach.

The hero stopped at Izuku’s side, just behind him. “This is a lengthy situation indeed,” he started in his usual bored voice, though both boys knew he wasn't bored, maybe just tired.

“Iida,” he turned to him. “Yes, Izuku should have acted differently. But,” He paused. “This may have been the best he could do with the given circumstances except, so even though it might be hard to accept, maybe try to appreciate how he did his best to save your brother when no one else could.”
Shota paused, before continuing, but Izuku tuned that out. Was he being praised right now? Could it be- Wait, what does ‘no one else could’ mean? Didn’t everyone reassure him that there were a ton of sidekicks and backup and stuff? Was it not true? Did he actually save him? …. Could have Tensai been actually dead if not for him?
He quickly shook his head at that thought though. He distinctly remembered Stain saying that he did not intend to kill Ingenium but just, ‘put him out of commotion

“....Now, Nezu is free, you can continue to his office.”
Izuku looked up, as Iida just nodded stiffly and walked past them. Izuku didn't asks why he needed to go there. And when he tried to wake goodbye, the other didn’t even look.

And here Izuku thought he was starting to make friends…

A few seconds passed. “Let’s go,” Shota said pushing him a bit towards the exit. “Thanks for waiting.” his voice was nonchalant.
—
At home, they didn’t talk about anything other than food at first. But when their stomachs were full, and they sat in the living room, Shota turned to Izuku.

“What did you notice that you can learn from this evening?” he asked in his teacher's voice (Yes, Izuku grew to be able to recognize the man’s various grumpy voices).

“Than I need to remodel my suit. It took too much time to put on. Also, almost no one trusts me, but everyone trusts Nezu so the card ‘Nezu sent me’ works really well.” Izuku smiled, seeing Shota’s grumpy, and not happy with the answer expression.

“Can I have my daggers back?”

“Probably not.”

“Aw… why? And now what th-”

“I already sent a request for new ones.”

Izuku stilled for a second, then blinked. “That’s- that can’t be good for the planet if I get new every time…”

Shota raised his brow.

Izuku swung his hands up, “Well come on! I just got used to those.”

“They will be exactly the same.” the hero retorted.

“No, they will have a diffracted… feel.” Izuku grumbled back, crossing his arms, pounting.
He noted to himself that he did have to work on keeping his things, as he really did seem to love everything after each fight.

“Then try to keep these new ones and take good care of them. I’m not getting you any more at least until you graduate high school Izuku”

Izuku looked away with his arms crossed, sliding down into a laying position on the sofa.

They sat in silence for a bit, before Izuku spoke quietly.

“Why is it when I try to act like a hero, everyone thinks the best-case scenario is that I'm a vigilante?”

“Well, they are still sceptical towards you, they don’t know what to think of you.” He paused, “You did resemble a vigilante, especially in the video.”

Izuku, still laying on his back, threw his hands to the ceiling. “I didn’t even use a quirk.”

“They don’t know that. For all they know you have multiple quirks. They do not know your intentions. They are scared.”

Izuku turned his head to look at the men as he continued.

“If you want to be a hero, you need to explain things to the public. To prove yourself.” Shota sighed, resting his head back.
“You need to think of a goal.”

Izuku slowly turned his head to the window. He had no idea what his goal could be. He didn’t imagine he’d get a chance to help out heroes, nevertheless become one. He could not think of a single hero motivation.

Shota noticed that. “I said think, it takes time.” He stood up. “Now let’s head to sleep. I haven’t gotten enough sleep and I'm sure it wan’t that comfortable sleeping at the police station.

Standing up lazily, Izuku stretched his hands. “Yeah, I don’t know how much time I was able to sleep before they woke me up.”

At first, he didn’t even understand that he stayed there all that. The room didn’t have any windows or a watch. He was indeed tired.

Chapter Text

In the morning Izuku was quick to realize it was going to be a busy day.

There wasn’t anyone that told him that, nor was there a particular busy schedule. As Shota and he headed to U.A to what was supposed to be a regular day, all around Izuku could hear about the Hosu incident. Talks about Yamiyo were all around.

On a big billboard was going on on a a live program going on about him. Izuku watched it as they stood at a red light. Izuku continued to watch it as the car took off.

A vibration of his phone was what made him blink and tear his eyes away from it.

A text from Kenta. That was still his contact number, though Izuku briefly wondered to change it to Habiki, he decided against it. After all, he himself told izuku hw was fine with being called either.

> So, what have you been up to? What exactly went on yesterday and the day before that?’

I got arrested.

> I know that much!

n noone offered me to call anyone.

> What?? You are supposed to request it, don’t you know the law?!!

Oh…

Kenta asked for details on how it all went, and Izuku spent way too much time typing it out only for the other to reply that he knows what happened in the police station already, and that he had seen the video. Followed by:

> Well, see you in a few days then!

Izuku blinked, looking at the text. It took him a moment to remember. He guesses that he was still probably tired. How could he forget such an important date/?
So he just typed Kenta a ‘see you then’ and looked back out the window with a sigh.

Not for too long anymore, as his eyes slowly moved to his phone. And so Izuku happened to scroll through many articles about Stain and himself.
Many of the repeating titles with similar wording were:

“Yamiyo, back from the dead.”

“Join us as we discuss the event of Hosu city.”

“The widely debated question- was Yamiyo ever a villain?”

He sighed, not opening any of them but just scrolling through the different headlines.
“The villain Yamiyo returns as a vigilante!”

“Location of the thought to be dead villain found!”

“Yamiyo escorted into a police car- in the villain finally in custody after being on the run for so long?”

“Yamiyo has been spotted first time since his announced death- and you won’t believe where!”

“Shocking discovery! Yamiyo was never a villain?”

“Should we, as the public praise Yamiyo for taking down the hero killer?”

He scrolled and schooled through, huffing in amusement at some of the click bate titles. It was kind of weirdly uplifting, so he skimmed through them until they arrived to U.A.

The moment Izuku stepped into classroom 1A, he was bombasterd with questions. He tried to think of times that didn’t happen. There weren’t a lot.

Answering only a few, he made his way through the crowd and sat down.

Glancing around, Izuku noticed that Bakugo was scowling more than usual.

“Wait,” Izuku turned his head back. “Who won the sports festival?”

“You would have seen yourself if you didn’t f*cking run away and do something on stupid.” Bakugo crossed his arms.

“Dude,” Sero rocked on his chair before Izuku could say anything in response to Bakugo. “But why did you run off to Hosu? I mean I think we’ve all seen the video and know what happened, but why?”

“Um well I mean I just felt the need to do something?”

“There were plenty of Ingenium’s sidekicks and other heroes there!” Sero protested.

“Wait how did you even know about Ingenium being in trouble in the first place?” Jiro piped up.

Izuku looked at the girl, “It was not too difficult to find out, when Nezu wanted me to.” and then turned back to Sero.

“Then why do you think despite all the heroes and sidekicks being around, no one came until we were done fighting?” He could feel Aoyama’s intensive eyes, as well as someone else's on himself. “I wound’t have needed to do anything if they were doing their jobs properly and now waiting around for something.”

“I think it’s very admirable!” Uraraka exclaimed, putting her hands down on the desk in front of her. “You- you fought the hero killer and came out alive.” She looked down, embarrassed when everyone turned to her and turned pink. “What- what I’m saying is you acted very- very smart and um brave,” she was turning redder by the second, “And um hero like!” her voice became super high-pitched.

“I don’t know how brave it was but in the video you did look cool.” Jiro crossed her arms.

“No, no dude!” Kaminari pushed Jiro playfully, and looked up at Izuku. “It was totally brave and cool!

“Mui also think you did the right thing.” Aoyama’s voice sounded. “And-”

“Could you teach me how to look that serious and intimidating? I wanna have that scary look while looking at villains!” Mina cut him off, smiling and waving her hands in the air.

“I bet you would look super manly doing that kick!” Kirishima exclaimed.

“You think I would too?” Kaminari asked hopefully.

“Of course man!”

And so, they started talking among themselves and Izuku was left alone.
He scanned around the room to see that there were only a few not engaged in the conversation. Those being: Todoroki, who was staring at Izuku from afar. Tokoyami, who seemed preoccupied with himself. Uraraka, who was hiding her face behind her desk for some reason. And… Bakugo Katsuki- Katchan. Sitting in his chair and still scowling.

Izuku couldn’t be sure what to call him. Bakugo had gone from his best friend to a bully before his disappearance. When he came back, Izuku noticed that his childhood friend had actually started to change.

So he decided to go with something they both weren't too good at- communication.

Scooping his chair forward, and a bit to the left, Izuku asked in a hushed tone.

“Hey can I call you Katchan again?”

There was a beat of silence.

“Of-freaking-course.” Bakugo grumbled back, as if offended by the question. “It’s like me calling you f*cking Deku.” At that, he paused and turned to look at Izuku, like actually look in the eyes.

Izuku nodded and sighed. “Yes, you can call me Deku.”

Muttering something, Bakugo with his arms closed turned to the window.

“I kind of missed it actually, though it wasn’t the nicest nickname.” Izuku admitted, looking straigh ahead. The clock showed eight thirty-four.

“Sorry…”

“I'm so glad we are at least trying to do something about our relationship. 'Course I feel it's slowly working.”

Bakugo didn't answer any more, but that was enough already.

A normal conversation.

They were certainly getting somewhere.

Izuku smiled.

Then, the door opened and everyone stilled in their seats.
Shota walked to the front of the classroom and began.

“I have a few things to go over, but before that.” Their eyes met, “Izuku you have the footage of the sports festival to review. Nezu requested you take notes.”

Izuku’s face lit up. It had been a while since he could analyse something, so that should be pretty fun. So he nodded enthusiastically.

Settling comfortably in the big armchair in the corner of Shota’s office, Izuku pressed play.

Watching in awe the events unfold, he sat hugging his legs. It reminded him a tad bit too much of how he used to watch that once video of All Might on a loop. Which, in its turn made him think of his mother. It was truly tragic, and he never had the time to truly grieve. Now, the only thing he could do to set things right was to do what his mother always encuraged him to- to help people, be a hero. Like All Might. Maybe not that last part though. Izuku blinked when his vision became a bit blurry. He had to skip the video backwards a bit.

Izuku straightened in his seat and looked down at his notebook. He had to focus now. First and foremost came the task of defeating all for one. Confronting him. After Izuku made sure they all worked out good, he could get his life back together.

A normal, happy life, that's something he dreamed of since the ripe age of five.

Being quirkless, it usually isn't promised.

—
Just as Izuku stepped into the principal’s office, Nezu started criticizing the way he acted in Hosu. Only sometimes intervening it with praise about how he analysed the recordings

“What did you think I could have done then?” Izuku asked, sloping down on the chair in defeat and closing his eyes. He had come in here thinking he’d get to talk about quirks, not this. But he guesses it couldn’t be avoided. Izuku cracked one eye opened and peeked at the principle– did he call him here to discuss the sports festival just as some sort of bait?

Nezu made a clicking sound with his tongue and shook his head. “Well at the very least when the police came you had to show them you licence.”

“What makes you think that would have gotten their attention? They heard Stain call me Yamiyo so-”

“It had my signature on it.'' Nezu smiled, putting his paws to the sides. As if it was the simplest thing.

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course.

“I will tell Shota that the thing I get from this was that your name can get me out of anything.”

Nezu chuckled, “It can also get you into messes if I want to.”

Izuku stiffened in the chair that was comfortable only a second ago with a newfound fear of the rat. He really was too smart.

“Now,” Nezu cheerfully clapped his paws together, changing the atmosphere in the blink of an eye. “Tell me more of what you have observed, what did you manage to get out of the recording?”

And so, Izuku was back to talking about quirks. He didn’t know how long he rambled on for.

“ – and you can take a look at this,” Izuku extended his hand with the notebook after Nezu asked for his thoughts.

“What are some flaws you noticed?” Nezu asked, accepting the notebook.“Um well… There weren’t that many… I mean, some people still didn’t use their quirks to their full potential- or just used them poorly… But most found very creative ways to utilize them.”

Izuku pointed to the notebook, which Nezu was flipping though. “I wrote it there, how I predicted Uraraka to lose. But she had managed to stand in the ring far longer than expected. I didn’t even realize she was slowly making all the debris float till the camera panned upwards, to it. It was a cleaver way for her to make objects. I recall she did it once already, though not on this scale… It was super cool,” he added.

Nezu nodded, and Izuku took it as a sigh the rat was happy with what he had gathered.

“That’s it then. Thank you.” The principal rested the notebook on the desk.

When Izuku did rise to leave, nor said anything, Nezu tilted his head.

“What is it?”

“I- Maybe I can help them further, you know… Maybe explain to them what I saw and um help control their quirks better.” No matter how determined and confident Izuku wanted to sound, he could hear the unsurenesss in his own voice. “Maybe if that, I can help some come up with suited support items?”

He slowly looked up, to greeted by a full grin from Nezu.

The principal was happy.

It was terrifying.
—
Izuku hesitantly entered the support department, eyes searching for pink hair.
But he did not have to search at all, because an explosion sent him flying back.

Soon, Powerloader was apologizing for his students, and helping Izuku back to his feet.
Behind the support course teacher jumped the pink haired girl Izuku saw at the sport festival. Mei Hatsume.

With yet another apology, Powerloader ran off to prevent another explosion, not from Hatsume this time.

“Um excuse me?”
The girl didn’t hear him, having already turned back to her work table.

Izuku hesitantly came closer. “Hi?”

“Um… Hello?” He tapped her on the shoulder.

Finally she turned to him, face covered in soot.

“Hello there!” She put her hands on her hips. “You came to see me? Are you from the hero course, came to get something for your costume? No wait,” she squinted. “I don't think I’ve seen you before. What's your name?”

The speed with which the words were coming out of her mouth overwhelmed izuku.

“Um… I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“Nice to meetc'ya. Mei Hatsume.” She extended a gloved hand. “Though I’d think you know that, having come up to me. What is it you want?”

“Erm well I came to talk about support items.” Izuku said unsurely. “And like ask how you develop them to order and such…”

“For yourself?”

“No, no. Maybe in the future.”

“In the future then.” She smiled, shaking Izuku’s hand. “I feel that this is the start of an amazing partnership.” She continued to shake his hand with a smile on her face.

Hatsume let go when he agreed out loud. Stepping aside she revealed the table.

“So this is some of the stuff I’m working on at the moment. A couple of my precious babies and different devices I’m reassembling for parts.” Izuku scanned through the over-packed table. “Tell me, do you know a thing of two about support items?”

“A thing or two, yes… Only a bit though.” His eyes came to an abrupt stop. There, at the table, laid the Yamiyo mask. It seemed to have been remodelled and had a part taken out, but it was clearly still the same. With those white with dark green accents. It couldn’t be…

Only when Hatsume shook him, yelling something to his ear, did he realize he hadn’t been breathing.

—

Izuku sat on the benches in a training hall. He met Shota on his way from the support department (who asked him why Izuku was running and why he looked so startled, but he did not elaborate on that). So after that he was directed by the man to go watch and anaylize these hero students as they trained. Apparently 1A and 1B were having a joint lesson

Izuku turned his full attention to the many training mats, trying to drown down his thoughts with analysis. At first he paid his full attention to the class B students. He hadn’t had many opportunities to observe their quirks before. He had jolted some notes– both good and bad things about them. For one of the 1B students he had to copy Kirishima’s page almost identically.

Something that caught his attention more than anything though, was how Todoroki seemed to be struggling with his ice attacks. Breathing heavily and looking overly exhausted, almost as if he had been freezing himself…

Wait, but– what if…

Well, of course he had noticed that Todoroki is always using one side in a fight, he even wrote down somewhere that it could not be healthy. After all, quirks are physical abilities too. There is a limit. Todoroki’s body is not fully resistant to his ice, it needs to be balanced out with the fire.

How didn’t he realize it sooner? Though, Izuku guesses there was a ton of other stuff going on, so he should really blame himself. But now that he noticed, he made up his mind to do anything to help the other boy.

“...ey, hey!” Izuku almost jumped, turning his head to the left. Uraraka giggled, covering her mouth with a hand.

“You were mumbling something and have the glint in your eyes again. Like- like at the USJ.”

Izuku hummed, looking back at the training mats where a few students were practising. All Might gave them free time to work on thier quirks, moves or whatever they felt like. As per usual, Todoroki was only using ice.

Finally, after a few more minutes, the free time was up.

“Now, Now.” The voice of the number one hero boomed, when everyone gathered around.

“We will be doing sparring matches now!” He announced happily. “I will draw two cards with names on them, and it will determine who you will have to go against.”

And so, after hearing a round of ‘alright’ and ‘understood’, the hero began to draw cards.

After less than two minutes, Izuku was the one of the few left without a partner.

All might looked in concern at the lots he had drawn.

“What’s the matter?” Izuku asked when the hero looked at him.

“It appears you have to fight against young Todoroki.”

“And what's the problem with that?” Izuku tilted his head, even though he knew what All Might ment.

“I- I can draw again; it wouldn't have been fair anyway…”

Izuku shrugged. “No, it’s alright. Todoroki, do you mind?”

The dual haired boy looked up.

“Are you up to spar with me?” Izuku asked again, to which Todoroki nodded.

Izuku smiled and looked back at all might. “It’s no problem.”

“eh , you see. Its want what I was…” he was clearly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, “I am just concerned for you, you see… you are quirkless after all.” Last part was bearly a whisper, only for Izuku to hear.

Izuku pressed is lips into a thin line.
“Can we begin then? We are kind of wasting time now.”

“Um alright, yes, if you are so sure in yourself.” All Might took at step to the side and invited them to the training mat. He still looked sceptical.

And so, the match began.

If Izuku was to tell the truth, he only had a plan of what he was supposed to do, but not how to do it.

Ice blasts began to fly his way. It took all Izuku’s concentration to try and dodge the icicles.

Despite wanting to prove he could, Izuku had to admit he couldn’t stay there for much longer. Without any weapons, and on empty mats, he had nothing to use to his advantage.

An ice spike rushed towards Izuku. He didn’t manage to jump away, having been too focused on his surroundings instead of opponent.

Izuku’s left leg was frozen in place. He tried to wiggle it out, but his whole foot was frozen. Finally, he had managed to yank it free. But with it, a part of the training mat tore away, revealing the foam beneath it.

Another, bigger ice blast was sent Izuku’s way. Jumping to the side, Izuku looked at the tear in the mat. It gave him an idea.

Izuku squatted down, and looked at Todoroki who paused for a second.

“What, is it getting difficult to make more ice?” Izuku teased. “I’d give it to you, you probably are already tired from training before.” It was not something he’d ever say and actually mean, but he had to get his plan of getting the point across to work. It seemed that it did, because making a ‘tsk’ sound, Todoroki sent a wave of ice at Izuku. This one much more powerful than the last, but Izuku didn’t miss how the other teen shivered.

Izuku waited for the moment and then– lifted one of the many mats that tiled the training area. Throwing it up, he jumped back. The ice created a bit wall separating the two.

Todoroki had less control over his ice now, or maybe he was just getting weaker. Izuku noted.
“You won’t be able to being a hero if you keep using only half your strength, you know!” He shouted.

The next attach was more precise, going around the wall and right at Izuku, who pulled off the floor another mat. Though this time, the ice went around it. Izuku barely escaped the ice, climbing to the other side of the ice wall.

“Why can’t you get it?” Izuku raised his voice, frustrated. His eyes fixated on Todoroki. “By acting like this, you are only doing what your father wants! Open your eyes Todoroki, you're not doing anything to him but only hurting yourself.”

Evading Todoroki’s weakened ice attach, he could make out a ‘tsk’ sound from the other boy.

Running forward, and jumping to the side as needed, Izuku was getting closer and closer to Todoroki, who's body was getting covered in frost.

Todoroki was gritting his teeth. “You don’t know anything.” his voice was weaker too now, beraly above a whisper.

Izuku was only a step away from Todoroki when he was greeted by another ice spike, this one even smaller than the rest. He could see Todoroki shivering.

“Do you need me to spelling out for you?” his hands clenched into firsts. “It's your quirk, not his!” And with that, Izuku landed a hit on Todoroki, who seemed to be in some kind of tence. A punch in the gut. Todoroki flew a bit back, but not before touching Izuku's hand, and it was enough to freeze it.
It made Izuku shudder, and he hissed at the cold pain. But he quickly lifted his eyes to see Todoroki a few steps back from where he was before. The boy had his hands on his knees and looked as he was catching his breath.

Todoroki stayed with his face towards the floor for a moment, hair covering his eyes. Izuku didn’t move.

Slowly, Todoroki lifted his head.
The ice on his skin began to quickly melt.

Izuku gasped, lips twitching upwards.

“You want me to use fire that much huh? Shouldn’t your priority be to win? You won’t last a second in the ring if I use fire.”

Then, flames burst to Todoroki's side, and ice quickly followed from the other.

Izuku smiled in awe at the power. It was beautiful, but tearing his eyes from the flames, he met Todoroki’s gaze. The other teen was smiling too.

“Thank you.”

Izuku looked up at that, but Todoroki didn’t wait any more, diving towards him.

Of course, Izuku still tried his best to stand his ground but was soon flown out of the ring, after only two attempts at keeping his ground, unable to withstand the sheer force.

Hitting his head against the wall of the training room, Izuku groaned from the forming headache. His vision went blurry, but he could make out the flames, as they die out.

Izuku didn’t even notice that he closed his eyes, before opening them. He was laying on the ground, while concerned faces ran around.

“Oh you’re awake!” Uraraka leaned close, her voice full of worry and surprise.

He gritted his teeth, trying to push himself into a sitting position. The try was unsuccessful, as a jolt of pain in his arm made him fall back on the floor. Which in return made his head spin.

“Wait, wait! No, be careful!” the girl grasped, concerned. “Let’s not wait for the medical bots, I’ll help you to Recovery Girl’s office.”

Izuku hummed in protest, sitting up- this time without pushing with his hurt hand.

“Yeah dude, that was like epic, but you kinda got super hurt.” Izuku turned to the new voice. To his right side(opposed to Uraraka, who was on his left), Kaminari sat on the ground.

“Yeah bro, we should get healed quickly.” Kirishima squatted down beside Kaminari.
“N-no, no it’s okay, all good.” Izuku protested.

He stood up,--though a bit wobbly-- refusing Kirishima’s hand. Izuku clenched his good hand around the one that one frozen by Todoroki, his left. He could barely feel it, and it was still partially covered in ice. His shoulder ached too, and glancing he found that someone he must have not jumped out of the way enough, as his clothes are a bit burned. The ice on his leg had melted, probably from thr intense heat but the prickly feeling inside still remained. (his injuries from Hosu hurt too- mention where!)

When up, he was practically pushed to the exit by the three. He could see Bakugo sitting on the bench near the door. His arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Izuku opened his mouth to say something, but then his gaze met someone else. Shota stood in the doorway. His arm crossed as well, and a cold look on his face.

“Um guys I-”

“Shush.” Kaminari put a finger over Izuku’s mouth. “What’s up with you? You want to walk around all brunt and frozen?”

“I’m… Don’t-

“I don’t think I'm allowed to…” he barely whispered.

“What was that?” Uraraka frowned her eyebrows, she seemed the only one.

They only stopped pushing him when they were all standing in front of Shota. Izuku slowly lifted his eyes. He didn’t know what he should do, because telling all the class he was grounded did not sound like a good idea. Also, he didn’t know if he wanted to tell all of them Shota was his guardian. Though some clearly suspected it, and others knew for sure, like Urarake and Bakugo.

“Hey Mr. Aizawa, tell him to go to Recovery girl!” Kirishima exclaimed.

“Yeah, he doesn’t listen to us.” Added Kaminari.

“Go.” The hero nodded his head towards the hallway.

“But-” Izuku began.

Shota sighed, exasperated. “This doesn’t count. Now hurry to Recovery Girl.”
And before Izuku could open his mouth, the teacher was dragging him out of the room behind him. Izuku, quite confused and startled, didn’t resist. He let go of Izuku’s shirt only when the door to the nurses' office closed behind them. Then, Shota crossed his arms.

“It only applied then.” His voice was strict. “We will be talking later as self-sacrificing seems to become a problem.”

Before Izuku could say something, he continued. “Don’t bother coming back to class. Recovery Girl will tell you to rest, do that.” he sounded almost bored of that.

Izuku nodded.

“Alright, you understand?”

“Yes.” Izuku nodded again.

And with a pat on the head, (Izuku was almost he could hear ‘good job on helping him though’, but he might have just imagined it). Izuku was left alone.

For some reason, he couldn’t see Recovery girl. She wasn’t sitting on her desk, or anywhere in sight.
This time around, there was someone else getting healed. Izuku carefully peaked at the medical bed. A bright, bright smile almost blinded Izuku. It seemed to be an upperclassman. Izuku recognized him immediately. It was hard not to. He had heard so much about the guy, he was quite the celebrity at U.A so students would mention him all the time. And he had a broken arm.

“Hey, we match!” The blond pointed with his good arm, at his bandaged one.

It was not the cheerfulness of the voice that threw Izuku off guard. It was the voice itself.
Izuku could remember voices much better than names. But now he was sure. Togata Mirio was the one he overheard All Might talk to. He was the one who inherited One for All.

The way he froze must have been funny to the older boy, because Mirio chuckled.
“What are you staring at me for? Go get your arm healed!”

Izuku blinked in confusion at first, but then nodded.

Sitting there, on a chair by the wall and staring at his newly bandaged arm, Izuku let out a sigh of relief. This time, Recovery girl did not go on a rant, but instead, just warned Izuku to come up with different plans to save people next time. Despite that yes, her voice and stare was quite threatening, Izuku was relieved. He nodded to her, though he couldn’t promise he would- even if his plans might have been sloppy, it did get the job done and fast, right? So it doesn't matter if he gets hurt a bit on the way to it.

Deep inside, he wasn’t so sure it was right to think that way, but he pushed that aside. Recovery Girl left the room grumbling. Izuku didn’t make out what for.
He lifted his gaze when he felt eyes on him. He was met with a smile from the blond that sat diagonally from him, still not moving from the bed. Izuku shifted in his seat. Mirio looked like he wanted to say something.

“Um, is there…” The met eyes, “Something you wanted to say?”

“Yup! Sure did!” Exclaimed the third year, popping the ‘p’.

When Izuku didn’t say anything more, he took it as an invitation to continue. “You know, I’ve heard quite a bit about you.” The kind smile of Mirio’s face made it sound less, well threatening and scary. But Izuku still froze “And about your secret thing.” he gestured vaguely at Izuku, before putting a finger over his mouth. “But don’t worry, I'm not planning on telling anyone. I just thought you should know that I know before we like bump into each other on the field.” He laughed. “You get what I mean?”

Izuku nodded slowly, eyeing the bandages covering Mirio and the hand in a cast.

“How well do you control the quirk?” he asked.

It was Mirio’s turn to freeze. Though he recovered quickly. “Well as you can see it is a bit hard to master, but with hard work I’ll figure out how to use it perfectly, you’ll see!”

“Can I maybe some advice on how to do it?” Izuku offered, and Mirio suddenly went quiet.

“I mean you don’t have to agree or anything… But I might be able to help.” He added when Mirio didn’t reply.

“Yeah, yeah of course go ahead!” Mirio smiled after a moment of thinking. “I would appreciate learning to control it better as fast as possible.”

“Okay.” Izuku nodded. “Can I just ask you one thing?”

“About the quirk? Yeah of course, whatever helps!”

“How long have you had it for? Judging by that All Might can still use it quite well, I’d imagine it hasn't been too long.”

Mirio’s eyes widened for a moment. “I suppose you do know that.” he chuckled, only if a bit awkwardly, eye leaving Izuku to focus on the floor for a moment. “But yeah.” he looked up again. “I didn’t have it for long, only a couple of months. Still can’t figure out how to efficiently use it though.” he chuckled. “My own quirk was tricky too, so I know it can take some time. But what is it you think I can do to improve wielding it?” He tilted his head and looked at Izuku curiously.

“Maybe, and I mean it’s just a guess…” Izuku began.

“Yes?”

“I think you should try thinking of it as your quirk, as one with yourself and your original quirk. If you convince yourself that it's not a part of you, it will be just the more difficult to control.”

Mirio eyed him for a moment thoughtfully and then blinked.

“Woah you know? It is so simple yet clever at the same time! I haven’t thought of anything “No problem.” Izuku offered him a smile back. It was a bit weird, all this, but felt nice.

“Never thought I'd be hearing out a used-to-be villain for how to a better hero but here I am.” Mirio laughed, and then smiled at Izuku. “Also you know the things that are going around? The- “Yamiyo was never a villain in the first place” ? Well I'm not going to lie, was pretty doubtful of that,” he laughed, he did that a lot. “It was pretty weird learning that you are you- but don’t worry, I don’t think most people know, I see you don’t really want to reveal that yet…Oh what I was saying yeah; so until meeting you and hearing you out I wasn’t so sure what side of the debate I’m on but not I can happily say that you are just awesome! I see that you truly want to help people. You’ll make a great hero!”

Izuku just sat there, his mouth slightly agape. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little overwhelmed.

“Alright! This is fun. You asked me a question to help, now is my turn.” Mirio threw his hands up. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Um… Sure?” He probably shouldn’t have agreed.

“You spent a few years with a villain group, am I correct?” Izuku slowly nodded, trying to think where he was taking it. “And they are the villains we are after, right? With the big boss that they are sending you to find his location? You knew them, right?”

Izuku blinked, then nodded. It was already a bit over one question. In the back of his mind something reminded him that this was a bit too similar to an interrogation, but he dismissed that though. Mirio was just curious, he would have been in his place too. After all, the older boy was told he will fight a big bad villain while protecting Izuku. Of course, he’d want to know the details.

“I figured you worked under him, I mean the big boss man, is that true?”
“Um… I mean yes.”

“Is that why they are sending you to him? ‘Cause they think he will trust you or something?”

“Well, no… I don’t think so at least. “No one beside Nezu really knows that we are connected so…” Izuku chuckled. “Also he wouldn’t trust me, never had.” He added, looking down at his hands.

“You mean not even the hero you’re staying with?” Mirio asked, and Izuku was confused to see an expression of shock on his face.

Izuku kept quiet, thinking it over himself. He never planned on telling Shota his real connection to the villains because he was scared of being sent to prison and proved a villain, but now that he knows about the Yamiyo ordeal… still such a connection could make everything collapse, who knew what could happen.

“Yeah but anyway, it is not my place to tell you to tell him something, he may not even be on the mission for all I know. Wait I just got told you're staying with some hero, can I ask who that is- oop yeah I'm probably being too- ugh just forget it.” Mirio waved his hand, trying to laugh it off.

Izuku didn’t say anything, but just awkwardly played with a roll of bandages before him, rolling it back and forth, on the table to his side. Mirio waited a second before speaking up again.

“I see I ruined the mood…” the blond looked down guilty, and just as Izuku turned his head and opened his mouth to protest, Mirio continued. “Maybe I should have kept that I know about you being Yamiyo for a bit longer… well let us lighten the mood! What to hear a joke?”

“But how did you know in the first place?” Izuku asked, completely ignoring Mirio’s question.

“I’m pretty sure everyone on the team was informed.” Mirio recalled after a moment of thinking.

Izuku hummed, nodding.

That means All Might too.

“Oh! I was meaning to ask you more-” Mirio began to say, when the door suddenly opened. The upper classman quickly shut his mouth and put on a smile. Izuku could only guess that he wanted to ask about yet another secret.

“Hey, hey!” The one at the door was Uraraka. “Oh hey,” after noticing Mirio, she waved at him too, returning the smile.

She quickly came up to where Izuku was sitting.
“How are you feeling? Are you healed up yet? Don’t you have to rest?”

“Um yeah, I’m all good.” Izuku chuckled, a bit taken aback. “Recovery told me to rest a bit, but I think the time is up.”

“Oh great then! Want to go pick up our backpacks? And then maybe, walk together?”

Izuku only glanced at Mirio for a moment, who in return flashed him a smile and gave a thumbs up.

“Sure.” Izuku nodded, smiling himself also. He couldn’t possibly refuse.

“Yay! Great!” She clapped her head bouncing.

Izuku walked from the nurses' office after Uraraka with an awful pit in his stomach. Could have All Might just sent his successor to question him? Mirio was nice, yes, but… Maybe Izuku had trust issues. Very possible yes.

He couldn’t dwell on it too long right now though, because Uraraka kept jumping beside him as they walked, distracting him from his thoughts. Izuku was half grateful for that.

“And, and- it feels so weird that Iida is missing school right? I went looking for him, so we could fetch you together but then remembered he didn’t come at all today…” Izuku hummed, “I mean I totally understand that it’s a family situation and all… But classes feel so different without Iida.” Izuku slowly nodded in agreement.

“Wait,” Uraraka suddenly turned to look at Izuku. “Why do you think Iida drinks so much orange juice? He said it himself, he doesn’t even like it that much. I thought I’d ask him, but it’s not the best time right now… So I’ve been brainstorming ideas and well… they all are kinda stupid and don’t make sense.” she let out a short laugh and put a hand behind her head.

“It's like fuel for his quirk.”

“Ooh really? It's so fun that you know all these little facts.” Uraraka giggled.

“I have a page about you, wanna see it?” Izuku asked almost absent-mindedly, staring into the distance.

“Oh that's dope! Alright!”

“It’s in my backpack.”

Then, Uraraka continued her chatter, with Izuku humming and nodding and once in a while proving his intake.

Once they reached the classroom, Izuku went straight for his things and gathered his backpack. When he turned back, Uraraka was still by the doorway. She looked uncertain, as if she wanted to say something but was too scared. Izuku looked around, looking for Iida, only to remind himself that he did not come today. He came closer to Uraraka and was about to ask her what was wrong when Todoroki appeared in the doorway.

Izuku lifted his eyes, and Todoroki met his gaze. “We have to talk.”

“Um, okay?” Izuku wasn’t so sure where this could be going. Todoroki nodded, and then gestured for Izuku to follow out of the room.

Izuku looked back at Uraraka. “I’ll um, go with Todoroki now.”

Uraraka nodded stiffly. “Ok, I’ll wait for you.”

Raising a brow, Izuku asked. “Are you alright?” then glazed at Todoroki, “I’ll be just in a minute.”

“Yup. Peachy.” She nodded again.

Todoroki scanned her. “You seem to be sweating and your face has reddened, I think you should go see Recovery Girl.”

“No need for that!” she shrieked, covering his face with both her hands. “All good!” she shouted, grabbing her backpack and running out.
The two boys looked after her, and she ran down the hall to the exit. Izuku blinked. Does that mean she wouldn’t be waiting? He should apologize for leaving her next time they meet.

“Should we go?” Todoroki nodded his head to the other side of the hall. Izuku followed after another moment.

“So… What is it you wanted to talk about?” Izuku asked as they awkwardly stood facing each other behind some staircase. Voices of students rushing home could be heard.

Todoroki didn’t speak immediately, and it made Izuku a bit uncomfortable. Was he mad at Izuku that he made him use fire? Unlikely, he didn't look mad.

“Why?”

“W-what do you mean why?”

“Why did you do it?”

“If by ‘it’ you mean saved you from freezing yourself…”

Todoroki made a ‘tsk’ sound and clenched his hands which were still crossed.
“No. It is not your business. It doesn't concern you how I use my quirk.”

“Of course not! But it is my business to help you.” Izuku insisted, “Ice is your quirk right, you don't renounce that. Fire is literally the other half of it, you have to use it to balance it out.” he tried to reason, throwing his hand in the air.

“You don’t know anything.” Todoroki was clearly growing irritated. “It is not that I simply don’t use fire because I wish so. No, I renounce it and reject anything to do with the old man. I can prove to him, I can be a hero without that dammed quirk.”

“Of course it has to do with him,” Izuku muttered under his breath.

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed. “What was that?”

“Your relationship with Endeavour doesn't have to have anything with this.”

“How do you know about my relationship with the old man?” he seemed almost alarmed. His different coloured eyes being the only thing to give away any emotion.

“I mean… I heard it here and there…” Izuku scratched the back of his head. “It’s not really that hard to see though.” he shrugged.

Looking down, Todoroki sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Its not like you understand. My father… he wants me to do everything he tells me to. I can't with the kind of person he is. I cannot follow his orders.”

There was a silent pause.

“Uh funny thing actually- mine too”

Todoroki blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Doesn’t matter. What I mean is that I get what you're coming from as I sorta can relate to that.'' Izuku looked to the side as he continued, completely ignoring the question and the others that came after, asking him to elaborate.
—
The few days passed uneventfully. It seemed as if everything was normal, except for the fact that Iida was absent. Izuku heard people comment on it, as he seemed to be always so punctual, but knowing what had happened to his brother, they didn’t question it.

Two days had passed since his talk with Todoroki and meeting Mirio. Izuku was worried about Iida. He had brought it up with Nezu, but the principal said that Iida was at his childhood home with his family and everything was okay. Todoroki seemed to be calmer– as weird as it sounded– around Izuku. He still stared at him all the time, but he even came up to him once. It was to ask how Izuku knew about his father and all. It was just before homeroom, and to tell truth, Izuku was still sleepy. He couldn’t think of what to answer, and apparently just came up with nonsense excuses. The whole 1A made sure to point it out and laugh, and Izuku joined in too. Only Todoroki didn’t understand what was funny, which made everyone laugh even more.
So, they just stuck with each other. Or as Kaminari put it– they just immediately clicked and vibed. And like that, Izuku officially became Todoroki’s first friend there. Mina even suggested hosting a party for that.

Izuku got to apologize with Uraraka, and asked her what had happened. She just said it was nothing, but he could make it up for her by taking her to get some mochi after school. Izuku admitted that he is quite busy, but maybe after the… Everything.
Walking away in the hallway Izuku shook his head, for some reason his face felt hot.

He quickened his pace, and almost bumped into someone when turning a corner.

It was someone carrying a stack of files.

“Oops, sorry.”

Then, out of nowhere some student ran past them, and down the hall, making all the papers fly around.

Izuku was faced with All Might– in his civilian persona.

“Well, damn.” the teacher said, looking around. Then without saying anything more, got on his knees and started to collect the papers.

Squatting down too, Izuku began to help. Toshinori only looked up at his once, one long studious look, before continuing to collect the papers without saying nothing.
Once the papers were all put in two neat stacks, the man stood up. Izuku followed, holding one of the stacks.

“Where to?” he asked.

“To the teachers lounge. Thank you young man.” He was looking ahead but could hear a smile in the number one’s voice.

Once they reached the room, Izuku turned back to see where he should put the papers.
“Here.” Toshinori put his stack down at one of the tables. Izuku did the same.

“Um…” The hero cleared his throat. Izuku turned his head to him. “I feel that there are some things we need to discuss. Do you mind sitting down?”

And so, after quite a bit of explaining, All Might apologized for how he acted towards Izuku. It certainly didn’t make Izuku more fond of the hero, but at least they didn’t have to weary walk around each other, and izuku was happy for that. It was a good beginning, that Izuku was sure will be ruined after the mission, when All Might is to realize that Izuku is the son of his greatest enemy.

The rest of that day was rather calm, and Izuku spent time giving out analysis pages he had on the first years, from what he had observed from the sports festival footage. Nezu said it was a good idea. They were all warned though to not take the paper off campus, just in case.
—
The next morning, just as Izuku had a minute to breathe and was walking, not having to hurry anywhere, well not till after lunch, someone caught up to him.

“Hi!” A familiar voice sounded, and a hand was placed on his shoulder.

Izuku turned to return the greeting. It was Mirio.

“I heard you watched the recording of the first years sports festival, yeah? And gave the people pages full of of useful advice. Can you make one for me? ‘Cause you know a funny thing?” He paused, and Izuku slowly shook his head. “Well the thing you said about trying to think about One for all as one with me really helped! Actually never improved faster! You are a genius!”

“Yeah… Sure, I can write one for you.” Izuku agreed reluctantly. He already had a few pages on Mirio and even more about One for all anyway. He’d just have to gather all the info Mirio needs to know and make it look somewhat presentable.

“Awesome then! Thank you.” Mirio beamed.
One thing still bugged Izuku. He looked down at the floor.

“Um, can you tell me one thing though?”

“Yup, sure! What is it?”

“Did All Might send you here?” After talking with All Might the day before, he didn’t really think it was the case any more, but the number one did mention before that he doesn’t trust Izuku enough, and they need to get more answers out of him…

“What?” Mirio’s smile disappeared. “What do you mean?”

Izuku scrubbed the floor with his shoe. “Just… Did he tell you to come talk… Or like ask me something?”

“I- No. Why would that be the matter though?” Mirio tilted his head. “ I mean– I don’t know what it can bother you, but he didn’t. I didn’t even tell him, yet you were the once that gave me that advice. The only one that I did tell about talking with you was Sir, Sir Nighteye. But- but he didn’t tell me to say anything either.”

Izuku still looked at him sceptically.

Mirio sighed and brushed a strand of hair off his face“I-I apologize, sometimes I may be too talkative and that may have overwhelmed you.”

“But truly, no one asked me to ask anything. I just heard of you and wanted to talk”

Izuku nodded, not looking the older boy in the eyes.

He couldn’t prove for sure, but somehow, Mirio seemed very sincere, so Izuku decided to trust it to be the truth.

“Okay.” Izuku looked up. “Thank you. I will get your page ready soon, and– and you can show it to All Might or someone else if you want… I just wanted to ask if someone asked you to come ask me questions… That’s all.”

Mirio blinked, then nodded. “Alright.” The smile returned to his lips. “Thank you!”
—
That was when someone called him from behind.
“Hello, Midoriya.”

Izuku almost jumped at the use of his last name. It felt like ages since someone addressed him that.

Turning around, Izuku was met with Iida, who stood timidly than usual with his eyes on the floor.

“I came to find you first thing. To apologize. And that is what I’m going to do.” Iida put his hands to his side and lowered himself into a bow. “I sincerely apologize for how I acted. It was foolish of me. I let negative emotions get the best of me and leashed out on you. I know I shouldn’t have said those things and I apologize for that. I am really thankful that you were there to aid my brother. Your situational awareness saved both his and your lives. Thank you. Please forgive me.”

“Hey hey… It’s alright. Of course I forgive you.” Izuku pulled him up from the bow. “And to be fair I didn’t act the best either it’s all good.” He took a breath. “Now, I’m just glad both you and Tensei are safe.” And with that, Izuku tackled Iida into a hug. He was a bit taken aback, but then gently hugged back.
“I was afraid you’d go after Stain yourself.” Izuku whispered.

“I thought about it.” Iida whispered back.

“But you didn’t. And thank God.”

Chapter Text

Today’s the day. Izuku gulped. Just one more hour.

“Do you remember the plan?” Shota put his hand on Izuku’s shoulder, almost making him jump. “You need to know everything perfectly to minimize risk.”

Izuku nodded. He had everything memorized. Everything they told him he had already run through his head a million times.

Many of the heroes that have gathered for the mission had made it clear that they do not trust him. Don’t trust him to go with the plan and were afraid he would switch midway and turn against them.

But Izuku did not react at all to overhearing murmurs like this(He did want to prove them wrong but…). He already understood that the majority won’t risk putting their trust in him. And no group strategy can work if one party doesn’t put trust in the other. So this is why Izuku was going over another plan in his head. One he was not going to tell anyone about. One that was going to be set into action right after the plan of the heroes nears the end of victory. Or if it fails. The latter appeared more likely.

The plan the heroes thought of along with Nezu and in the presence of Izuku was simple:

Izuku gets teleported to the villains’ base. Waits a bit to survey the situation and see who is there. Teams A, B, and C use that time to get close to the location. He sends a signal. Surrounding the area, they go in. First, they go after the teleportation villain- Kurogiri. All Might is on stand-by until the villain All For One.

That’s it, just that simple. Could it work?
Izuku had been sceptical of it since the very beginning.

He shared his concerns with Nezu, but the rat-bear reassured him that he'd calculated the options, and this is the best way. Izuku only nodded at that, quietly disagreeing. But he did not want to go against someone with an intellectual quirk. On top of that Nezu was in his corner, and Izuku did not want to argue and risk losing his interest, so he just nodded along and hoped for the best.
—
The time came. Izuku had waited so long and the wait had been so dreadful. But now that it came, it felt as if too soon.

He took a deep breath in. Now it starts.

Walking into a dark and small alleyway, Izuku could already see the person that was supposed to bring him to Kurogiri. Izuku had seen them before, but only briefly. Somehow Kenta managed to get a hold of them. Good thing Kenta knew too much and wasn’t exposed. Yet. After this the villain would probably find out that he had been sneaking information and realize that it is why he disappeared right after he- Yamiyo allegedly died.

Izuku pressed once on his watch that was swapped with a special one to communicate with the heroes. They agreed that one small tap meant everything was going according to plan. Two, or no response meant they were not.

“Hello,” Izuku greeted. The other only nodded, pulling their hood higher and gesturing Izuku to follow.

They walked with a distance separating the two down a big street. No one who was there batted an eye. But then, Izuku's guide made a swift turn to the left. Izuku hurried to follow, and they both found themselves in an abandoned building that was never finished being built.

They waited for what felt like forever, but it was only five minutes. Izuku kept checking the time. He didn’t even notice how he started walking back and forth. Nothing was happening and Izuku started getting nervous. He scolded himself, he had to get fully into the role. — As Yamiyo, he was usually quiet and scared, so checking the watch. Stop it. He bit the inside of his lip. He was overthinking it.

The informant cleared their through. Then, just as Izuku lifted his gaze to his guide, a cloud of mist began to appear. Soon Kurogiri stood in between the two. The one who had led Izuku there waved a hand in goodbye and sneaked out of the building. Kurogiri squinted his eyes. Was it in suspicion, or trying to see Izuku better, the boy wasn’t sure.

“Let’s go.” he finally said. “Master is waiting.”

Izuku nodded. A warped gate opened. Stepping in, Izuku sent a look to the person who brought him here, but found the place empty. They were already gone. He stepped completely into the mist.

“Well, well. Let’s see who found out that the heroes are even more cruel and now are crawling back?” Shigaraki Tomura said as soon as Izuku appeared out of the portal. He was leaning with his back on the bar. The hand-mask on his face.

“Honesty you seem like just a throwaway piece to me, but we will see what master has to say.” Shigaraki walked to the wall with the TV screen and pushed a button. “After all, he always went on about having some use of you.”

Izuku stood timidly in front of the big ‘sound only’ screen. Shigaraki called, and after a moment of silence he could hear something from the other side.

“Here’s the brat,” Shigaraki tilted his head in Izuku’s direction, “says he is taking on the last chance to come back.”

“Hmm…” a chill ran down Izuku's spine. “Is that so?” All For One spoke slowly, and you could hear a smile in his voice.

There was a light chuckle, “Well then enlighten me,” Izuku looked up, waiting for the question, “Why didn’t you take your chance to come at the USJ?” Straight to the point, but that Izuku expected.

“I- There were a lot of hero students around, and even when Shigaraki sent a nomu after one of them, he was quickly rescues by a pro and-”

Izuku was positive that the lie detecting quirks couldn't work over devices. So he continued to list a few pretty explainable reasons he could back up. But yeah, he was straight up lying.

“I see.”

Izuku couldn’t tell if it was a convinced ‘I see’ or ‘I see you are lying’ kind of ‘I see’

A few more questions had been asked. Izuku tried to remain as calm as possible and follow the plan.

“What is there on your wrist?” A question he had not been expecting sounded.

Izuku lifted his arm to his face, as if forgetting himself.

“It seems the heroes have bugged it.” One of the villain’s quirk’s must have let him see it. Maybe the thermal vision? But through a screen…? Izuku wondered, but dismissed it. He was probably just scanning him, and searching for anything suspicious. Besides his quirk, his father is smart. And even though Izuku wouldn't confess that to anyone, as both sides would not like it– Izuku was pretty sure that even smarter than Nezu.
That was what made it all more risky. With every second it was becoming more and more dangerous. Should Izuku even follow the plan at all? Izuku warily looked at the screen. He might have seen through the plan already, it's simple enough. Izuku knew he would have if he was in his place.
—

Ereaserhead was sitting on top of a building with his group. Group A. There were three groups of heroes in total, all scattered in different parts of the city, so when Izuku is to give them the location, one of the groups would be close by already. Shota held in his hand an iPad that showed the tracking, which everyone was looking down at. He was the leader of group A, and to be frank, he only was because it was Izuku. He always preferred to work alone than have a group with him. But then again, leading the group was better than following orders.
His eyes focused on the dot on the screen- Izuku. He was pacing around close to the alleyway where the meeting place was agreed to be. But then, it seemed as if the tracking lagged for a second, and Izuku was in a different location. Teleportation, the hero recalled. Possibly the same one that showed up in the USJ, Kurogiri.

At the new location, the dot that was Izuku didn’t move at all.

“This is Vladking- Group B coming in,” a voice sounded through his earpiece. “We are only a street away from the location, requesting permission to act?”

There was a moment of silence.
“Wait,” Shota spoke up, “We are supposed to wait a bit.”

There was silence for three minutes straight. Everyone was watching the dot on the screen from their own location. Group A with Eraserhead on top of a building. Group B with Vlad King in a dirty street. Group C with Edgeshot from a backyard of an abandoned building. Nezu in his office and a di-transformed All Might glanced at it restlessly from his own. They were all waiting. The time they agreed on was five minutes.

Right as the minutes turned to five, Vlad King sounded again. “Time is up. We have to act. Surround the area.”

“He hasn’t given the signal yet.”

“Oh we all know you are too tolerant with Yamiyo, Eraserhead. But do you really trust him that much?” Vladking sounded restless. “They say- ‘no second location ever’ right?”

Eraserhead sighed.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not what that saying is about…” Habiki said under his breath from beside him.

“That’s it, we are moving in.” sounded from group B.

“Don’t.” Shota stood his ground. “We need to wait for the signal.”

“I think it is better to wait for the signal just a little while longer.” Edgeshot suggested, having kept quiet the entire time.

Someone huffed, not Vlad this time. “And what if it never comes?”

“Yeah, maybe he just left the tracking device and is being teleported somewhere else as we speak.”

A pause.

No one was saying anything, not agreeing nor disagreeing. But to Shota it was clear that almost no one trusted the kid. From their perspective as heroes, it was reasonable, but the boy had proven himself trustworthy multiple times already.

—
“This,” Izuku waved his hand with the watch above his head, an idea coming to his head. “I actually wanted to show you how useful I can be, without even receiving any quirks from you.”

“Hm, well let's see about that. Because you were the most useful person I ever gave a quirk to.” Izuku noted that to himself.

“Now show me.” It was a demand.

“So,” Izuku took the watch off and let it hang in his grip, but not before taping the screen once. “I found a tracker inside, but didn't let it show. They thought I didn't notice but actually it played right into my plan. Because you know what? I wanted to redeem myself and show you- and I realized that the best way to do that would be by bring erasure right to you.” Saying that, he smashed the watch into the concrete floor.

“That thing,” He pointed to the pieces. “That probably has someone like Nezu looking after it, so heroes will be sent out to look for me. They see that it’s broken, so they should be freaking out right now and hurry to the location the tracker picked up last. Which is here.”
—
“You seem to trust Yamiyo too much, Eraser.” Vladking spoke up again, grumbling. “The tracking signal had disappeared! We are going in.”

“Izuku will give the signal, and then everyone goes.” Shota’s voice was firm and serious, but the undertones of anger could be heard. Why did he work with such stubborn people who refuse to listen?

A little green light caught his attention in the corner of the screen. It must have been there for a few seconds already. A signal from Izuku that everything was going according to plan. Problem is, this was not the plan.

“Could you care to breathe for just a moment? With all the panic you're causing you almost missed a crucial point.”

“Ugh what are you talking about now?”

“There is a signal, he is saying everything is going according to plan.”

But of course, of course the words didn't stop them.

“What plan? Can’t you tell Yamiyo isn’t following the plan?! I do not trust what he is scheming…”

The other side was disconnected. Shota sighed, and focused back on the screen. Now that group B was going to disrupt them, the location will surely change any second. Vladking didn’t even wait long enough for Shota to say the watch wasn’t the only tracker. Not the only communication device.
Shota had hope– not in some technology the kid was given, but in his smarts. He was very set on doing it, so the underground hero knew he could count on him to do so, even if he had to go off the original plan a bit.

The silence from Nezu proved the rat thought so too, and relied on the boy.

—
There was silence for a moment. Izuku wondered if that worked. That was not in the original plan of the heroes (not that Izuku thought of following it through from the beginning), now someone should burst in at any moment. Presumably pissed off at him.

If some of the heroes had mixed feelings about him, or just trusted him a little bit, he blew even that. (Though it would help, them not having to act disliking him). From now on, he was truly on his own.

Just a gamble, to see what will end up with him. Not that it would make much difference, but at least he won’t be putting anyone in danger.
All that depends on one person.

There was silence. He could hear Shigaraki scratching his own neck slowly.

Izuku looked down. Even through the screen the king of villains was intimidating. And well it was kind of exhausting to lie to the man who knows as much as Nezu(more, probably more).

Faint footsteps could be heard from behind the door at the end of the bar. Izuku lifted his head back up, looking at Shigaraki, who didn’t seem to hear it yet, and then moved his gaze to the T.V screen.

“Someone’s here.”

“Oh?” Izuku couldn’t tell what look his father had on his face, but it did sound like a smile though. “Kurorigi, get Tomura and Izuku here.”
“Yes master.” a whoosh of air, a portal started to quickly take form.

So, just as the heroes broke down the door, Izuku was falling down into a portal.
—
Shota held his breath without realizing it. Only thing he could do now was wait with his team members. Being a hero, and an underground one at that, he frequently had missions where he had to wait a long time. Stake outs and such. But this was different.

He silently prayed in his heart that Izuku will get out of this alive, and on the right side. Even before the idea of sending him there alone did not appeal to the hero, but with each passing minute he disliked it more and more.

And disliked that he had to sit here doing nothing, while the kid is probably already face to face with the villain king, who is also a master manipulator.
—

“So what did you say prevented you from leaving?” Izuku stood in the dimly lit room. The ceilings were too high and tubes were scattered on the ground, all going in different directions but meeting around the big chair that stood with its back against the way. The one who sat on the chair asked the questions. Shigaraki was somewhere to the side, a bit behind Izuku, he could hear the scratching. This was definitely a room at the main base.

It had been what- half a year since Izuku was last here? Honestly, he didn’t count it. And no, now wasn't the time to do it.

“The heroes.” that wasn't a lie, but also not a full answer.

There was a pause, then a chuckle.

“Well of course. Oh those filthy ‘heroes’... But how were they able to stop you from leaving?”

Izuku had to pick his words carefully. To pull himself together and not think about that eerily feeling that stood in the room. The feeling of death that originated around the villain.

“Well at first I did attempt to leave. A few unsuccessful tried these were. After that, they kept a close eye on me and didn’t let me be left alone at all. Then,” Izuku looked up, “then I realized that the situation might turn out in my favour. I realized that with that, I could bring Eraserhead to you.

Didn’t you always say that- oh how you wanted his quirk, isn’t that right?”

There was a nod. Izuku opened his mouth to explain more, when Shigaraki grumbled.

“Ugh enough of this already. Can we skip the dialogue? It’s getting boring here.” Izuku turned his head swiftly; he had almost forgotten that he was there. Almost.

“Now, now, Tomura.” The villain had a sly smile on his face. “You will get to the fight very soon, and will be able to destroy everything you want.”

Izuku had to remind himself that he actually should be scared of Shigaraki’s quirk a bit more. He stood just behind Izuku and could easily lay all five fingers on his back if he wanted to.

“Now my boy, please do continue.”

“Now,” It took all his might to not look away and stumble over his words as Izuku continued. “Eraserhead will be alerted as the main/ signal is gone. But he also planted another tracker, in the sole of my shoe. I believe he hadn’t told anyone about this precaution and will not have time to alert anyone and will have come to my ‘rescue’ alone. Falling right in your pawn and being left quirkless.” Izuku started the walk a bit back and forth while explaining(the only way he could keep himself from mumbling it all).
The villain master sat in his chair, supporting his face with a hand.

“And so, he won’t stand a chance as his quirk is useless against the two of us, and despite what he claims, physical, close combat is not good enough. You saw it at the USJ, he was able to go against only the low level thugs.” Izuku stopped walking.

“Cleaver…” His head slowly rocked, nodding.

“I do need to ask you one important question though… Do you mind?”

Izuku gulped. He stopped himself from nodding and whispering yes of course and stood, raising his chin up high in confidence.

“Well, if you’d answer one for me too.”

There was a beat. A second of silence. All Izuku could hear was some liquid flowing in the tunes all around.

“Of course.” The villain spread his hands in mock generosity. “You can even go first.” He smiled. His voice was slow, and fakely sweet. That only made Izuku more scared. He slowly lowered his head, messing with his finders.

Suddenly, there was a low chuckle. “Cleaver of you to think of something like that, I am almost impressed.” Izuku looked up, frowning. What has he meant by that?

A smirk spread on the villain’s face as he watched Izuku's confused expression.

“I have predicted how this would go, you could even say word for word. But you, asking to trade questions? I haven't thought you would.”

Izuku realized the underlying- ‘you are smarter than I thought.’ and honestly, it was a great feeling. It made him almost proud, only almost.

The boy shrugged, “Well I guess I did inherit some things from you.” The villain did not seem to like that statement, he looked almost disgusted.

“But too much from that woman Inko.” It was Izuku’s turn to be disgusted, and he was already opening his mouth to defend his mother, but the other had already changed the subject.

“Keep in mind, the question has to have equal value as the one answered.”

Slowly nodding, Izuku sank in himself a bit. “But how will we decide that?” he finally questioned.

The villain rested his head back, the corner of his mouth curling upwards ever so slightly. “Well,” He spoke slowly, taking his time. Proving he is the one in control of the situation. “I supposeI will have to decide that after I hear what you have to say.”

Izuku nodded once more. He was walking on a very thin, dangerous line here. One wrong more and he can get killed. Or worse, his father can realize everything and telepot away. Then the heroes would not be able to find him and….

He had to be careful, but at the same time he wanted to know the truth more than anything. So that’s why he lifted his head and asked his question despite the very clear trap he was playing into.

“Why did you even keep me around? Why did you make it seem like you didn’t know anything, even though you actually knew that I wasn't completing any of the ‘missions’ you gave me. Then-”

“For experimentation of course”

He froze. “What?”

“It is fascinating how a quirkless body is able to function with quirks it isn’t ment for.” Izuku watched horrified as the villain continued. He seemed delighted to answer, as if he expected to be asked this exact question. “You see, it's rare to come across someone like that in this day and age, not like it was before. But before… before I didn’t even think that was possible. “ Izuku stood unmoving, his eyes at the villains feet.

“The start of that theory was my brother…” All for one paused, and frowning, Izuku looked up.
“I haven’t told you the whole story of me and my brother, have I? Did the heroes fill you in on? No matter, they won’t want you after what happens today.” A shiver ran through Izuku’s spine. It before he felt that he was missing something — that it can’t be this easy– now he was sure that he himself was playing into the man’s plan. He had to figure it out. To stop the next move.

“Unfortunately, as you know, my brother did have a quirk though utterly useless. But he contributed to my theory. It just took time to prefect my hypothesis, and by the time i had it all written down…. Quirkless people became a minority and were hard to come by.” A beat. Izuku felt a gaze on him, though his adversary was blind. “And how lucky for me, you just came right into my grasp.”

He is telling too much, why is he saying all this? Questions rose up in Izuku's mind as his eyes darted around. The villain was telling him everything he wanted to head, by why? And why so much?

“I didn’t plan on keeping you for as long as I did.” He continues, as if not noticing Izuku’s growing panic. “What a surprise that was that you actually managed to survive? I had taking into count that that could happen after taking quirks from a quirkless person, but with all the other damage on your body… if it wasn’t for the heroes…” he slowly shook his head. Then lifted his head sharply, staring at Izuku with non-existing eyes. Trying to get a hold of himself, Izuku shakily wondered what quirk was being used right now.

—

“...All might.” sounded from the screen. Nothing else followed. It seemed that it was a part of another sentence that didn’t make it though. Shota looked at the screen, lifting his brow. Was Izuku… calling for back up? Asking for all might to be the one to come? Was it because the location was far away? Or was it because the king of villains himself was there?
Thinking over a few options he had, he settled on the most logical one.

He tapped on his earpiece. “All Might.”

“What is it, Eraserhead?” came the answer.

“You need to go to the location of the kid. Now.”

“Huh? Why is that?” Shota could hear a muffled sound, the other was sitting or standing up.
“I can see the location. It is quite far. Is that why you want me there? Someone else should go if that’s the case, I need to save my hours for the main fight. There are plenty of fast moving heroes.”

Shota resisted the urge to sigh. “No, All might. You need to get there. As soon as possible.” The last part was said almost threateningly.

“Is- is he there?” All Might suddenly sounded less relaxed. “Are you trying to tell me he found All For one?”

“Most likely.” Shota nodded. He couldn't exactly back it up, but his hunch was rarely wrong.

He could hear All Might power up and bolt. Shota himself was on the move already with his group (though well, much slower than the number one hero).

“Let’s ask for another team that is closer to check the situation first.” Someone suggested.

Shota didn’t answer. He had to think it through but there wasn’t much time to do that.
So, he pressed for a long second of his ear. “Nezu? Your input?”

“Oh yes!” the cheery voice sounded. “I wanted us to wait until the boy’s signal. So now, If team C is willing, they may go ahead and survey the area. Only thing I would recommend is not to get too close, observe from afar first.”

Shota could hear an echoed ‘yes’ through the device. Team C was on board. The hero ran through his head the members of that team. Would they be able to survey undetected? The group consisted mainly of rookies such as Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady. Though there were other, more experienced heroes like Edgeshot. It was a fifty- fifty honesty. Shota wasn’t sure which of the heroes he could trust to follow the plan to finish, or at least act responsibly. Looking at the way team B did… he really wasn’t sure anymore.

And on top of worrying about the pros, as one of the main leaders of this mission he had the interns to think about.
—
“I see...” Izuku casually put his hands in his pockets. “Then why was I needed to you at all?”
He spoke slowly, as if in deep thought. His fingers carefully found the button he was looking for.
“I still don’t really understand… How did I fit into your plan of defeating…” Izuku pushed and held the button. “...All Might.” He let go of the button, but didn’t take his hands out of the pockets to not raise suspicion.

Resting his head on his fist to the side, All for one hummed. “Somehow I believed you have caught on to this already. I see now, I was giving you too much credit.” He paused, “But it’s not like it will hurt to tell you about my great achievement now.” A smile crept onto his face.

“We should start from the very beginning then, shall we?” Of course Izuku was in no position to protest. So he just stood there, holding the hem of his shirt, and listening to the story he knew already. How Shigaraki came to All for one.

“...But you know why is all that? It’s because of those damned heroes… No one at all bothered to offer help to the poor child.” Shiragaki made a ‘tsk’ sound. Glancing in his direction, Izuku could see him cross his hands.
“You see how wrong this society is, don’t you? You know it needs changing.” Izuku knew. “And that is exactly where dear Tomura comes into play. I am helping him achieve that change, isn’t that right?” The last part was spoken to Shigaraki, but Izuku nodded too.
“Glad we all agree then.”

Izuku knew. He knew and understood how much changing it all needed. He lifted his eyes from the floor. But the change has to happen differently. By actually making an effort to change it, not destroying everything.

“But you know…” The villain continued, humming. “The part you had to play in that, was helping me figure out how to pass down my quirk most efficiently to my successor.”

“After all, your bodies are very similar. They are built the same.”
Izuku frowned, trying to understand what he ment.

Then it hit him. He swiftly looked up, eyes moving between Shigaraki and All for one.
A quiet ‘what?’ escaped his mouth.

“Yes… Tomura Shigaraki was born quirkless as well.”

“You-” Izuku could barely breathe. “You mean to tell me... that you have him a part of your quirk?” Izuku turned his gaze to Shigaraki, who was standing bored against the wall.

Now, the adopted older brother, nonchalantly resting his head against the wall. The guy who was only a few years older than Izuku himself, seemed a much bigger threat than ever.

“Hello, do you copy?” Shota touched his earpiece as he landed at yet another rooftop.
A positive answer came from the other side.

“Alright. My team and I are nearing the location. Where is that kid?”

The underground hero came down, using his capture weapon. He had told his team for wait just a moment, this was a crucial part of the plan.

He saw someone waving at him, and came closer.

“Mr. Aizaw– Eraserhead.” The kid greeted, correcting himself as he extended his hand for a handshake.

“I take it as you’re informed on what you will be doing?” Shota asked before accepting the hand.

“Of course.” The boy smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

And the two shook hands.
—
“Hmm… That is all you needed to know, right?”
Izuku reluctantly nodded.
Eyeing the man in front of him, Izuku almost wondered if he was wasting time on purpose. He blinked, tilting his head a bit. Could that be it?

As if reading his mind, All for one chuckled. “It seems the time is almost here.”

“Now for my question.”

Izuku breathed in sharply. The figure looming over him, even if seated in the chair and seemingly relaxed, made him tremble. He put his hands in fists, trying to stop them from shaking. One slow breath, in and out. He was ready for whatever it was. Lifting his head confidently, Izuku looked straight ahead.

“Alright then, now that you are satisfied with the answer you were given, please do answer me mine.”

The boy swallowed.

There was noise of struggle outside. A chill ran down Izuku's spine.
A shout– Mt. Lady’s voice. A few thuds, then silence. Looking up slowly at his father's face, he realized, horrified, that the hero team C was taken out.

“Tell me, why did you side with the heroes?”

Chapter Text

-

Izuku stood frozen, his hands in firsts beside his body as listened to the plan of the heroes was being retold to him, almost word by word.

“So you told them you can get in contact with someone who will get you here. I wonder, who are the other heroes on stand-by?”

One thing was wrong… Despite how scared and trapped Izuku felt, there was nothing holding him back anymore. Ironically though, he could only hope for All Might to come before it’s too late.

The darkness… The paralysing fear… What made him want to run…
All that was overpowered by the sheer light kindness he received.
He had to push through the dreadful fear, at least for the people who helped him along the way.

“That is all, right?”

Izuku looked up at him, smiling dully. “You are wrong. There is one thing you miscalculated.” he breathed deeply, and looked straight at his fathers face. “You thought the fear you kept me in for years would work in keeping me from speaking out, and well as first may be… But,” he looked up, raising his chin high. “I have told them everything, because I’m not going to comply by nodding my head to all you say anymore.”

The wall to Izuku’s right exploded and pieces came flying down in a cloud of dust. He covered his mouth and nose with his elbow. Izuku looked to find the one that burst in, squinting his eyes. He didn’t have to search at all though, because just as he turned his head, his eyes met All Might.
The number one hero held his gaze on Izuku only for a fraction of a second, before turning to the villain. Said villain was still sitting on his chair, chin on his hand.

“I thought you were going to bring me Eraserhead first.” His voice sounded nonchalant but serious at the same time. As if scolding a child for lying, or for simply mixing things up.

Izuku stood there frozen. Unable to answer anything. Dammit, he was still scared to death by him.

“You came running I see…” His father hadn’t moved from his place yet, but Izuku could feel that he had become more tense. “From what I’ve heard, you are not too fond of Izuku here… though I do suppose you thought heroism should be above all…” He chuckled, turning back to Izuku. “Maybe there is something useful in you after all, you managed to make the number one bolt here without a second thought despite his dislike towards you.” A big smile spread across his lips. “Or is it because you heard I am here, All Might?” he said the name so mockingly, Izuku cringed.

All Might turned to face the century old villain. He was saying something. Izuku didn’t listen, instead he slowly took a step back. There was a faint but familiar sound behind Izuku. The boy turned around swiftly. Shigaraki. He knew he had to be careful of him.

He kept his eyes on Shigaraki as All Might continued to speak with All For One. The younger villain stood frozen, watching the two interact and it seemed as if he didn’t notice Izuku at all.

In a blink of an eye the two weren’t talking anymore, but throwing punches. Soon the wall was left in pieces and All Might forced All for one outside.

“Master, no!” Shigaraki gasped, trying to run outside too, but Izuku stopped him.

“Don’t interrupt their fight, you’re here with me.”

Shigraki didn’t seem too pleased with that, but turned to face Izuku anyway.
“Why do you always somehow manage to get in the way…” Shigaraki hissed. “Just like at Hosu, you came out of nowhere to somewhere you shouldn’t have and interrupted the plan.”
“And now, all the tv channels are talking about one thing- the impediment of Stain and Yamiyo. Not that I didn’t make it to the headlines, but barely got one mention!”

Izuku tilted his head. “You were there?”

“Ugh you see!” the other lifted his hands to his head in frustration.

“Why do you want to get noticed anyway?” While he was talking, Izuku might as well use it.

“I need everyone to know about the ‘league of villains’.” Shigaraki answered simply but with much drive.

“Why?” Izuku tilted his head with genuine curiosity. “Wouldn’t it be easier to operate from the shadows like before?”

“Do you, too, not understand how bad the hero system is? They use this corrupt society for fame and money instead of doing what they claim to. We need to take care of that from the root.” Saying that, he turned a debris rock next to him, into dust.

“Yeah but well, what did you do to change that?” Izuku crossed his arms, unimpressed.

“Master is–” the villain's hands rose to scratch his neck.

“Trust me, your ‘master’ only wants to get All Might’s quirk and then rule the world.”

Shigaraki snapped. In a matter of seconds he was jumping at Izuku, trying to disintegrate him. “Alright, no more civil talk then,” Izuku quietly said. He had silently hoped they could talk for more; he did set him off with that, no wonder though.
Avoiding the hand aimed at his face, Izuku ducked. And without much problem slid under the outstretched hand. He grabbed Shigaraki by his jacket and pulled. He had to act quickly, before the palm reached him, but he knew what pocket to search. Just in time, Izuku jumped back, having acquired a knife. It was one weapon Shigaraki had on himself most of the time but rarely used; preferring his quirk over anything else. Kurogiri had once suggested he keep it, just in case.

Patting his pockets, Shigaraki scowled, realising the loss. “You little punk…”

Shigaraki runs at Izuku again, but this time Izuku is more prepared, taking a fighting stance with the knife in hand.

He didn’t have to act, just wait a bit.
Once the hand was close enough, Izuku aimed the knife to the center of the palm. It went through, making Shigraki scream in pain. But with all the rubble falling around and the two powerful titans clashing behind them, even Izuku could barely hear it from where he jumped back to.

It didn’t stop Shigaraki for long though. Taking the knife out he threw it to the ground. Izuku followed it with his eyes. Not a wise move.

Waiting for the right moment, Izuku got a hold of the knife again.

This time, he let Shigraki come closer again. Somehow all this reminded him of the times the two used to spar, the only difference was that now, Izuku was trying to hurt him too.
Four fingers on his left shoulder. Izuku tried to move the hand with the knife but– he couldn’t. Shigaraki only smiled behind his mask. His left hand on Izuku’s right– the one with the knife.

He wasn’t fast enough. All five fingers touched his skin. Izuku couldn’t explain this feeling, even though he had felt it before. The only thing close to what he was feeling was his skin breaking. Izuku gritted his teeth.

“Well, well… See where wanting to be a hero gets you?” Izuku bit his tongue not to scream as the quirk slowly went up his arm. “You betrayed the only people who saw use in you for those heroes, who didn’t even come to your help. Just like all those years ago, they didn’t bother with the likes of us. They care about nothing but their fortune.”

Izuku couldn’t bear the pain anymore. With all his might, Izuku tore the hand away from him, holding it in front of him. The villains’ smile grew wider. But Izuku didn’t let him say anything else, closing his eyes and slashing at the hand.

Shigaraki let out a shout, and stumbled back. Izuku couldn’t see clearly because of the pain in his arm. But Izuku didn’t get much time to breathe, as Shigraki was charging at him again.

Izuku held up the bloody knife with his injured hand, but this time, angered Shigaraki was quicker. And grabbing Izuku by his left shoulder, Shigaraki disintegrated the knife.

“That was a gift from Kurogiri you idiot!” He continued to hold Izuku’s shoulder in his grasp. Now the pain shifted there and the one on his hand was long forgotten.

Izuku tried to fightback and get away, buy Shigraki’s hold was firm. Izuku stopped for a moment as his right hand reached to the sheath of his dagger, only to remember it wasn’t there. Izuku silently cursed.

The pain was unbearable. He could feel it with every fiber of his body.

Izuku shut his eyes. And gritting his teeth, he tried to set himself free. Kicking, and digging his nails into his opponents hands. He got a hold of Shigraki’s bleeding hand, and was trying to push it off him with all his might.

It was getting more and more painful by the second. Actually, Izuku couldn’t tell if milliseconds passed or hours. All he felt was the stinging pain rushing through him, and all he wanted was to scream.

Then, the prickly pain in his shoulder came to an abrupt stop. It didn’t disappear, no. It just– stopped. It just didn’t spread anymore. It became the same dull pain as in his right arm. Izuku carefully opened his eyes, still not letting go of Shiraraki’s arm. He noticed that Shigaraki was still holding onto him with all five fingers, and grimaced at the sight.

The disintegration wasn’t spreading despite the five fingers still on his hand. Shigaraki seemed to notice that too. They both looked up.

To his left, and a bit behind Izuku stood the erasure hero himself.
“Eraserhead…” Shigraki hissed.

Before he could do anything, Izuku was thrown onto the ground. He held back a wince. He could see the hero in black slowly come closer. Izuku blinked to admire how his capture flowed peacefully.

“Kurogiri!” Shigaraki shouted while looking around panicky. “Kurogiri, where is that bastard?!”

The grey scarf floated around intimidently as Eraserhead stepped closer. Now he was standing above and just behind Izuku . “He was apprehended first. Edgeshot and his team took care of that.”
Shigraki grumbled. “Eraserhead…” And Izuku could make out a barely audible “You really are so cool…”

Izuku’s vision was getting blurry for some reason. He tried to blink it away; he wasn’t that injured, right? Then why on top of his arm and shoulder, was his head spinning so much?
Seeing Shota wrapping Shigraki in his capture weapon, Izuku decided the hero could take it from there. So he slowly scooted away and leaned against a wall to catch his breath for a moment.

“Kid, kid can you hear me?”

What? Izuku cracked open his eyes. He could swear he only closed them for a second.
“Yeah, I’m all good.” He groaned, getting up.

“You need a medical professional to look over those wounds.” Shota insisted.

Swallowing, Izuku scanned the scene. “Later,” He replied. He wasn’t out for long, probably just a few minutes.

Standing up as well, Shota was about to say something more but Izuku spoke first.
“Where is Shigraki?”

“All For one was about to teleport him away but with the help of Lamilion he was taken into custody.”

Lamilion? Who was that? Izuku squinted. His head pounded. That was that third year, All Might’s successor, right?

“Yes.” Shota confirmed. While Izuku only blinked, realising he had muttered that under his breath.

After looking over the big fight, Izuku turned to Shota. “I have to go there.”

Izuku turned around, waiting to see if the hero would stop him, but he got only a nod of confirmation. “Be careful.”

Nodding back, Izuku turned to run.

“Wait,” Shota called, making him stop in his tracks.
–
All Might was pinned down by All for one’s quirk. The wound in his abdomen was bleeding. Izuku could hear the roars of a nomu battle in the distance. He lifted his eyes for a moment– there was also smoke in the distance. Did Endeavour decide to join the fun? He would stand the best chance against the high-ends. That must mean Nighteye’s team and Miriko began to act on Izuku’s information as well. Izuku turned his attention back to the hero pinned to the ground. They will take care of the nomu factory. He has to take care of this.

His eyes quickly scanned around. What could he do? A clear but risky idea stuck him. That’s right! A way to do something without getting too close.

Creeping slowly to behind the villain he moved forward. Making sure to keep a safe enough distance, where a quirk shouldn’t be able to sense him. He came closer to the machine with the tubes that still stood by the big chair. Somehow it hadn't been damaged by all the rubble. Just a few little pieces of cement layed on top of it.

Being careful to not press the wrong button, Izuku undid whatever the support machine was supplying. Pressing the last button for three seconds, he let go and waited. At first nothing happened. Then, the villain released the quirk for a moment, turning to face Izuku.

“Well, well… Have you decided to join in?”

Izuku didn’t pay him any attention, looking behind, at All might. But behind him, Izuku noticed Shota and a less familiar face. He quickly focused back at the hero that got up from the ground slowly, coughing. Just a second, that’s all he could give to the no. 1 hero.

And apparently, it was all he needed.
All Might rose to all his hight, and All for one turned his attention back to him.

Breathing out a breath of relief, Izuku moved towards Shota and the blonde boy. He had to go round, as far away and out of sight as possible. If the boy was who Izuku thought he was, he needed to get there quickly and tell him a better place to stay. Izuku knew that his copying abilities had a limit– probably why he had to stand near Shota– but the spot they chose was just horrible. Wait– why hasn’t anyone told him some UA students would be joining too?

Having to go slowly and hide behind rubble, Izuku wasn’t reaching them any time soon, and any second was critical now. They were standing on the far end of the half destroyed warehouse. Izuku reached into his pocket, taking out a broken pen– the communication device and a gift from Nezu– it must have broken when he was thrown onto the ground. Making a ‘tsk’ sound, Izuku threw the pieces away. He had to choice but to get to them.

Creeping behind the rocks, he looked over to the big fight, except there wasn’t really a fight now. They were just standing face to face. Mirio was getting dangerously close (since when was he here?). Izuku could see it, he was planning on fighting side by side with All Might. Would make sense considering the shared quirk and all. Izuku continued walking, looking down before him, ignoring the still very present pain in his arm and shoulder. He had the time to think about how lucky he was that it wasn’t his foot injured.

He continued walking when Mirio ran towards All for One with a shout. He really didn’t have time to help there anymore– he will be helping by giving information to the 1B kid. Izuku tried to reassure himself

All for one was talking, saying something this time to Mirio and potentially All Might, but Izuku wasn’t really listening. He was kind of busy himself. What made him whip his head back around though, was: “Now, I can finally take it back.” It wasn’t a threat or a ‘oh I’m gonna do it’. No, Izuku felt the dreadful energy. All for one was taking away someone’s quirk.

In the grip of the super villain, helplessly hung Mirio. His cape torn, and the writing ‘Lamilion’ on his chest covered in filth. Izuku breathed. Mirio, the one third year known for being the strongest and the closest to All Might with his strength –even surpassing pro heroes– was taken out so quickly.

Izuku watched in horror, unable to do anything. Mirio’s face twisted in pain for a moment. All For one’s hand glowed red. Pushing off the rocks, Izuku began to run towards them. He wasn’t sure what to do, he just had to do something. Actually, he didn’t know what he was doing at all, no he didn’t even have time to think. His legs just moved on their own.

Making Izuku stop dead in his tracks was when suddenly Mirio was thrown to the ground, tossed aside.

“What… is this?” The villain's voice held confusion as well. He looked down at his arm.

Izuku scrunched his brows. Was he unable to steal it? He hurried over to Mirio, who shakily sat up in between the rubble.

“Are— are you okay?” He scrunched down beside the blond, whose hair was messy and full of dirt. He didn’t leave All for one out of his vision.

“Can you use your quirk?” Izuku asked, helping Mirio sit up.
The other lifted his shaking hand. Light orange lighting covered his arm.

“Not- not my quirk.”

Izuku nodded, his lips in one thin line.

A million theories ran through Izuku’s mind in the spam of counted seconds, but these two were the main ones :
1. All for one took the wrong quirk.
2. One for all could not be taken away.

He dismissed the first one quickly. The villain spent more than a decade trying to take it, he couldn’t have just miscalculated and taken the wrong quirk by accident. And even if he had, he wouldn’t have stopped, but rather hurry to steal the other one too.
That left only the second one.

Lifting his eyes at the man who stood face to face with All Might, Izuku wondered:

Could there be a possibility that his fathers desire was unachievable?

A huge burst of wind forced Izuku to blink and hide further behind the rubble. He lifted his eyes again to see an angered All Might going at All for one. He was clearly going beyond– plus ultra style.

Izuku hoped it was going to be the last battle, because he knew that right now All Might was using up his last bits of strength.

–
Mirio looked at his palm. At first he slowly flexed his hand, then put it up against a part of a wall he was sitting next to. He tried to activate his quirk. Just as usual– just get it through the rock, but his hand only trembled.

The teen let his hand fall onto his knees. That’s it. Permeation was really gone.
Breathing slowly, he looked up at the younger boy before him, who was observing the fight and mumbling something to himself.

He looked down at his hand, still unable to process it. He looked at All Might who was facing his arch nemesis and it became clear to him. Now that his quirk was no more, that only meant that he could focus all the more into controlling One for all! Didn’t All Might mention something about how he suspected it being able to reach move potential with a quirkless owner?

“Don’t be too sad,” Izuku turned to Mirio and squatted down beside him. The latter lifted his head to look at him.

Izuku moved closer. “I’ve heard of someone underground that can reverse stuff. It’s a child, being held for their quirk. I do not know much more but if you manage to free them, you could get your quirk back.”

Mirio blinked, mouth slightly agape. “What are you talking about? You have to tell Sir and I, and well– probably All Might too more information!” He half whispered. “And are you suggesting I’d want to use a child that is already being used for my benefit?” The green haired boy didn’t answer. “Absolutely not. I have no problem being a quirkless hero.”

Nodding a little, with a hint of a smile on his face, the boy turned back around to watch the fight. Mirio’s eyes lingered at him for a moment more, before turning to watch All Might as well, a smile on his face as the hero was having the upper hand.

“Well you have just been added to my list of good heroes who was the make a change.” Izuku said quietly.”

“What?”

“Not- not a list like Stain’s!” the boy defended quickly, “Not for the same purposes at all… Just like to take note of heroes not corrupted by the system and who would also want to make a change.” He jabbed it all in one breath.

Mirio looked up at him, blinking. Then he smiled fondly, getting up as well to stand beside Izuku. They both turned to see what would happen with All Might.

He decided. He will give the power away.
Lamilion decided that, mumbling an apology to All Might.

And maybe, just maybe he had a person in mind.

—
Izuku watched with his breath held as All for one rose back again. It couldn’t be…
He had hoped this would be the end of the fight. How was he standing? It wasn’t fair!

Then, making Izuku freeze, All for one casually used permutations, with this unbearable smile on his face.
Izuku gritted his teeth. “What have you done??” he shouted, noticing with his side vision Shota running towards him. “How dare you take it away and use it so smugly!” He shouted on the top of his lungs standing up, his hands in fists,

“You are starting to seriously annoy me..”

Izuku gasped as black and red tendrils moved at him, and before he could do anything, Izuku was being dragged to All for one.

He was put down only mere steps from the villain. Taking a few breaths, Izuku looked around. Aside from All Might, and Mirio with Shota further away, and beside the few hiding/ injured heroes there was something Izuku hadn’t noticed until now. A news helicopter.

When the villain pushed him up, Izuku didn’t make much effort to resist. It all should go smoothly now.

“Oh poor heroes… you don’t want the whole public watching as you stand by as a child gets killed?” His fingers rose to hold Izuku’s neck. “That would certainly mess with your reputation…”

A weird, half see through dome rose around them. Izuku frowned. A force field? He didn't have that quirk before…

“Now, now… Don’t be too reckless… If you try to damage the shield, it will explode together with the boy while I teleport away. I see that you now have two people using erasure, how inconvenient,” he chuckled, “But I can still freely use any quirk, can’t I?”
He said it in a mocking way, a way to taunt the heroes and make them think they are powerless. But Izuku knew. And he couldn’t keep quiet about that.

“He can only use one quirk at a time!“ He cried out. The fingers tightened around his neck.

“Well now then… Why did we have to lie like that?” He turned, smiling creepily at Izuku, who looked away, focusing his eyes at All Might. Did his suit always shine as if sparkling in the setting sun? Izuku never noticed that…

All might was standing there, the smile long gone from his face. He clenched his fists. Why was he hesitating? Izuku gave him this good opening and distracted All for one at the same time…

At the corner of his vision he could see Mirio mouth something from his place on the ground. Izuku squinted. ‘He can’t go all out’? Now that was stupid. Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes then and there, in the grasp of Japan’s no.1 villain.
As much as Izuku wanted to tell All Might not to worry about him, that wasn’t going to happen. Izuku had to think of something else.

He didn’t have time though. For some reason, the hand around his neck let go. Instead, it was placed on his shoulder with what was supposed to be a pat. It was his right, uninjured shoulder, but the touch sparked the pain again. Izuku didn’t look up, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Though I suppose I will give you a piece of advice.” Izuku looked up at that. What was he planning? “You shouldn’t beat yourself over how to save the boy. After all, Izuku came here on his own free will. You know we are pretty close, so it’s no wonder he listened to me when I told him to bring me All Might and the news cameras.” He chuckled.

“What will you do now, when you have realised that the son of a villain was watching your every move up close for so long?”

Izuku froze. This has been his biggest, most terrifying concern all this time. It would break everything. Nezu knew, but he was an exceptional being. What would happen when everyone else knows? All the heroes? The U.A students he met? They were certainly watching the broadcast… Not just them, the whole country certainly was; what will happen now? What will they think, say– Shota…

He squirted his eyes shut. No hero spoke up. There were just murmurs and gasps. Izuku could hear the smile on his fathers face.

Then…

Eraserhead breathed a heavy breath. “If I knew that before…” Izuku could hear as he gripped his already floating capture weapon harder. His voice was hard as stone. He had never heard it like this before. “In no way in h*ll would have I let …” Izuku wanted to fall through the ground. “... You go to the bastard alone!”

What? Izuku opened his eyes. Time seemed to slow down. At the second he couldn’t care less about the superpowered hand holding him in place. He just looked at Shota, who’s eyes glowed red as he gripped his floating scarf. Shota was that mad for him?

Running, more heroes gathered around. Izuku could see some there who weren’t on the original teams. Not top heroes, not strong enough to go again All for one. Turning to them, Shota shouted something and they all stood ready. It was uncharacteristic of him to lead such a group, Eraserhead always worked alone. Were they going to do all this to get Izuku back? That couldn’t be it though…They wouldn’t sacrifice themselves for him… It as stupid, but If that was the case, Izuku didn’t want to go back.

Gathering up his strength, Izuku pushed with the tip of his foot off the ground and turned. Looking at the half erased face only for a split second before stabbing his dagger into it.

Izuku jumped back, dagger still in hand. The force field shook and broke. Izuku hurried away.

The low groan that followed made Izuku think he had done some damage, and seeing that no quirk was pulling him back, it must have been serious enough. Izuku couldn’t see clearly because of the building smoke. Stop. Where did the smoke come from? It wasn’t a typical fire smoke. Not from Endeavours fire– the no.2 was far away anyway. Just in time Izuku could see the black and red tendrils coming at him. He turned back swiftly, running at the villain and jumping from side to side as much as he could. If he can't get away, he will get as close as possible.

He made it close enough, but this time was unable to bring the dagger close as some force blew it out of his hand. Izuku watched the dagger fly away and clang at the ground out of reach. Just as Izuku decided he could do without it, and jumped forward–

Everything exploded.

Chapter Text

“Please, not again! I-I can’t!” The young boy fell down on all fours, after an unsuccessful attempt to run out of the door.

The figure of a man who was blocking the doorway slowly turned his head. “It is necessary. You know that, right?” the green-haired boy shakily sat up. “You understand, right?” the figure loomed over him, and he had to reluctantly nod his head.

The metal door clanged shut. The boy was forced to return to sit on the not so clean white sheets.

“Now now.” The doctor smiled, tilting his head as he watched the boy. “Let me see once more how has your body astonishly adapted the quirks. If all my hypothetises are proven true today, master might even give you another quirk– isn’t that wonderful?” The boy sat frozen on the rusty medical bed, his eyes fixated at one spot as the doctor continued to talk to himself.
“Almost with no side effects…. Hm, hm… I still do need to figure this out…” he typed something on a big hologram that was floating between the boy and him. “Tell me boy, what makes you so special?” He looked at the boy from over his calculations. “We brought in countless other samples, but none could handle it. All either lost their mind completely, or just had their heads go-” he threw his hands in the air “-boom!” a sneering giggle left his lips when he noticed the child shudder.

“I suggested it might be linked to your genetics, but Master dismissed my theory, telling me to dig deeper.” He shook his head.” ‘Dig deeper’- digging deeper is all what I do in my research.” the doctor clicked his tongue. “Enough chit-chat though,” he reached for a big button.
“Let us begin.” A wicked smile spread across his face.

A child’s scream echoed in the corridors.

Izuku woke up screaming.

He sat up quickly, panicky looking around the dark room. No light, medical beds, white sheets. He hurried to get down to the floor. The door opened, multiple people in white– doctors. Izuku stumbled away, trying to get the IV out of his arm. Another figure ran in, not in all white like the others. Trying to get back and away from all of them proved to be unsuccessful. Izuku’s legs gave out, and he fell onto his knees. Someone caught him right before his head hit the floor as well.

“Izuku!” He blinked at the distant but familiar voice. Izuku’s surroundings became clearer for a moment. “Da…?” He managed to rasp before falling back into unconsciousness.

The next time Izuku woke up, he was more aware of where he was and what happened. He slowly sat up at the bed, his whole body sore. It felt as if someone drained all his strength. The sun was shining from a window to his left. He was alone in the room. The room made him feel uneasy. Carefully looking around he could see the bed he was on, a small table to the right (which had a colourful pile on it), and a small couch near the window. Besides that, an IV stood by the side of the bed. Other than that, the room was empty. It looked hospital-like, not Recovery Girl’s office. His eyes fixated on the door. He thought about shouting that he woke up or something, but decided against it. After all, he didn’t really know who would come. Then, he tried to get off the bed to peek behind the door, but found that it strained him too much, and he couldn’t even walk without letting go of the bed. So he could only stay there and wait. For some reason he felt unsettled by the bed though, so he just slid to sit by it, on the floor.

After taking some time to breathe and make sense of his thoughts, Izuku realised he had nothing to do. To tell the truth he was bored. Yes, he was still pretty tired, but the uncertainty made him dismiss any thoughts of climbing onto that bed and going to sleep. He didn’t think he’d actually fall asleep. So letting out a sigh, he just rested his head on the bed behind him. He needed something to distract himself with. He didn’t want to think, because he didn’t know enough, and he would just spiral into theories and worries.
Scanning the room again, his eyes landed on the colourful pile he half registered earlier. The bedside table was covered with little gifts and cards. There were even flowers. Slowly getting up, Izuku leaned against the bed to have a better view on the cards.
Scanning them, he frowned in confusion mixed from suspicion and surprise.
He grabbed one of them, and carefully opened. Then another one. Reading through them, Izuku smiled at how different– depending on the personality of the giver they were. Izuku gasped at the never ending pile of gifts. Who could have thought so many people wished him well? Well Izuku didn’t, until right now that is. Finally, he had gone through the enormous pile. Then, something small fell on the floor. Curiously, Izuku laid down on the side of the bed and extended his hand to reach the paper without getting down.
It was a piece torn out from a chequered school notebook. It was neatly folded into an envelope. Inside, he found a piece from the same notebook. The writing in green glitter pen revealed it to be from Uraraka.

Reading through it, Izuku's eyes moved to the little writing at the very bottom.
It read: 'P.S. I borrowed a pen from Tsu, and she only had green. But that's good though, i think it suits you.' Followed by a tiny heart drawing.

He couldn’t help but smile. He really had people who cared for him, it was a weird feeling.

He spent some more time just sitting there, the cards spread before him covering almost all the bed. He looked fondly at the handwriting on each. When did his friends have the time to make all these? Izuku blinked, looking straight ahead. Doesn’t that mean he was unconscious for a while? He turned to the door. What had happened? He didn’t remember getting here at all. Had he passed out then and there?

Breathing deeply, Izuku gathered his thoughts. He needed answers (or at least confirmations to what was lingering in the back of his mind) and whoever was supposed to come– if at all– was taking too much time.
Carefully getting off the bed, Izuku started to walk, using the wall for support. He couldn’t even be sure where he was injured because his body hurt everywhere. Slowly but surely he made it to the door. He stood there for a minute or so. Nothing could be heard from the other side; no voices and not even distant footsteps.

When Izuku finally got the courage to peek behind the door, he noticed three heroes, standing with their backs turned to him and hands behind their backs. A bit further away, he could also see a few cops. They were clearly guarding his room.

Izuku frowned. What was all that?

…Was he right?

He quickly shut the door and leaded against it, trying to catch his breath.
What if now he is going to be sent away? Where is Shota? Everyone knew who his father was now, right? What is going to happen? What even happened?
Izuku tried to calm himself down a bit and think. What was the last thing he remembered?
It turned out to be the explosion

He did not remember the fight ending.
Izuku jumped when the door was pushed open. He carefully stepped back, weary of who was to come in.

Almost falling to the floor, Izuku took a wobbly step back. He looked tensely at the two heroes that came in. They were ones that didn’t participate in the mission and not from the top 1- either, but Izuku could recognise them as strong heroes who often took on serious guarding jobs. Izuku had a couple of notes on them, and knew they both were strongly against guarding both prisoners nor potential suspects. They were essentially bodyguards. That calmed him down, even if only a bit.

“Hello, I see that you are awake now. We should call a doctor.” One of the two bowed his head.

Izuku stood frozen, unable to respond.

“Please calm down sir, let us get you to the bed, it isn’t good for you to be straining yourself so soon.” Izuku blinked in confusion at the calming voice of the second hero, and let himself be guided back to the bed.

“Who are you?” Izuku asked, despite being aware of their occupation. “What are you doing here?”

The first hero introduced them both. Izuku veugly remembered hearing their code names somewhere. “We are here to insure your safety. In case villains come for revenge of some sorts. We were sent by Mr. Nezu to guarantee a calm and safe recovery for you. Eraserhead will be here shortly.”
They both bowed again while Izuku just sat there, mouth slightly agape.

“But… What happened?” He slowly asked. “How did the fight end?”

The two heroes exchanged glances.
“Well…” The one who has been doing most of the speaking, began. “The villain known as All for one took you hostage, while revealing to everyone your– er, connection to him.”

Nodding along, Izuku waited for the hero to continue. He knew that much, but what happened after?

“Then you did something to sabotage him, but got severely hurt. After that a big explosion threw you away, you were immediately taken to the nearest hospital while All Might faced the villain. All the villains were apprehended.”

He was not quite pleased to learn that he had been taken out of the scene before the fight ended. “What?” Izuku slowly stood from the medical bed, but still held onto it for support. “And that’s it? They took me away right after that? I wasn't even passed out? You mean to tell me they just dragged me out of there?”

The two tried to reason with Izuku, but the boy was too inflexible.

Izuku took a step forward, throwing his hands in the air. “I had valuable info for the fight I needed to give and they just– Hey what are you?” The heroes took a hold of him, trying to forcefully sit him back down.

The boy just angrily shouted at them. “I could have done something more!” he pushed from the hands that were holding him.

Stop. Izuku told himself. He didn’t need to give them a reason to think he was like him.

Taking a deep breath and pushing the hands off him, he sat himself down on the bed. “At least…” Izuku asked in a much calmer tone. “At least please tell me, how did it end.”

“I’ll be the one to tell you that.” Izuku turned to face Shota. How did he miss him come in?

Turning their heads as well, the guards exchanged a few words with Shota before leaving the room. The door closed after them silently.

“Are you okay? What day is it? What happened?”

“Slow down kid.” The underground hero wasn’t wearing his hero suit. Izuku eyed his bandages, trying to assess the damage.

Shota sat down, motioning Izuku to do the same.

“Yeah but besides him– I could have helped someone! Mirio for example was left in the middle of the danger. I could see the other two of the big three getting injured while trying to reach him. And I barely noticed that 1B kid using your quirk; he was out in the open, I should have shown him a better place to hide and- and gave tips.”

After hearing Izuku out, Shota slowly nodded. “You are right. It’s noble of you to think that, and I understand how you could have aided them. But,” he looked up, “I think you seem to be forgetting something.”

Izuku titled his head.

“Somehow it is always missing from your calculations,” Shota continued. “You should worry about putting the most important person in danger,” He paused, looking in the boys’ confused eyes, he leaned forward. “Yourself.” The hero jabbed a finger on Izuku’s chest.

For the first time in a while, Izuku was actually left speechless.
Some gears in his head started spinning a bit differently that moment, when the realisation hit.

"You have been repeatedly putting yourself in harm's way. And I know it was me who let you go there in the first place, and I apologise for that. I should have checked more thoroughly, I’m sorry.” The hero bowed his head, while Izuku sat there, eyes full of astonishment.

He was not expecting that, but it made his heart feel something.

After that, Shota requested a verbal ‘yes’ from Izuku to confirm that he understood. Then afterwards, he answered any question Izuku had, until.

“What about him?”

“I think it is best for you to learn once you’re discharged from here.”

Izuku tensed. “When will that be?”

“You should ask a doctor, but from what I heard it should be approximately a week.”

“A week??” Izuku shouted.

“After that you will have to come in a few times a week for physiotherapy.” Izuku turned to the window, an annoyed look on his face. “Don’t huff, you got off easy.”

“I should just escape through the window.”

“No. It’s locked– and no, you can’t take the glass out.”

Izuku puffed his cheeks and crossed his hands.
“Do I have to stay here?” He looked at Shota with a pleading look.

“Yes.” The hero crossed his arms too.

“Can’t you like– talk with someone?” Izuku asked, but Shota just shook his head.

“You have to stay in the hospital until they say you’re discharged and that’s final. You have been severely hurt. Not a chance I'm going to get you out of here until you’re healed enough this time.”

“I can just go and Recovery girl will heal me, no need to stay locked up here!”

Shota squinted his eyes. “Do you have something against hospitals?” He asked, but Izuku just looked away.
Shota sighed, but continued. “Recovery girl is working hard on healing you completely and as fast as possible, along with other experienced healers.” he paused, and Izuku looked up, because that meant the man had something important to say.

“You can’t rely on Recovery girl to heal you every time, and jump into battle knowing she will save you from the brink of death.”

Izuku dropped his eyes again, and slowly looked away. Silence arose in the room.

“You were not thinking about that were you?” Shota said after a few more beats of quiet. Izuku didn’t answer, continuing to look out the window. “Izuku, answer me. You thought to sacrifice yourself in order for us to restrain the villains?”

In return, Izuku only hesitantly nodded.

Slapping his hands on his knees, Shota breathed. “We will have to work on that.”
“Now, I want to make sure you understand that it’s important for you to stay here for the time being.”

“But it's not fair!” Izuku protested, turning his head to face Shota. “They are letting you go just after one overnight stay, and you are even more hurt than I was!”

Crossing his hands, Izuku looked away, sulking.

“I am not going anywhere. I’m going to stay with you until you are released.” The chair squeaked as Shota leaned back.

What? “Where?”

“Right here if you want.” Shota gestured to the little couch by the wall.

Izuku huffed, looking at the couch.

That night Izuku fell asleep quickly. For some reason despite being surrounded by doctors, he felt very safe in that room.

—
The next day when Shota left Izuku to get a coffee from the vending machine, an unexpected visitor appeared. It was Mirio, still in his hospital gown– apparently he was staying in the same medical wing.

“I want to offer you my quirk.”

Izuku blinked a few times at the smiling face before him. “What?”

“Oh,” Mirio laughed a little. “I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” the smile didn’t leave his face.

“Why?” Izuku couldn’t understand. What would make Mirio want to give the quirk away? Did he himself inherit it not long ago? Why would he turn to Izuku out of everyone?

Then the door opened once more, and Toshinori Yagi slipped in. Izuku’s eyes snapped into his direction.

“You are lucky I was here young man, the people guarding this room were quite startled when you zoomed past them and were about to burst in and hear all our secrets.”

Izuku blinked at All Might. Was the number one hero aware of Mirio’s plan? He couldn’t let that happen, could he?

"What do you think?" Mirio smiled at him.

Izuku breathed deeply. “I have already gotten far with the help of those around me, so I think it would only be fair if you give someone else a fighting chance." he paused, “if you actually want to listen to my advice, find someone quirkless and give one for all to them.”

Mirio chuckled. Izuku raised his brows in slight confusion. “You sounded a bit like All Might there. He said something very similar.”

Blinking, Izuku turned to All Might. “Yeah, I did say something like that…” The hero confessed, a smile at a distant memory on his face. “But now that I’m retired I think it’s only right to give it to yo-”

“You are what!?” Izuku shouted, sitting up straighter, not caring for the sharp pain in his side.

"I- I apologize, I see they did not fill you in on everything yet. Yes, I have chosen to step back. You will learn everything in due time." All Might hurried to say.

Izuku looked at the hero frowning. There was something he was missing, and for some reason no one wanted to be the one to tell him what.

Mirio let out a small laugh, changing the subject. “Actually it was me who suggested you as the next bearer. You see, I think One for all can reach its full potential when- when the owner is quirkless.”

Somewhere before Izuku had heard something similar already. Titling his head, he tried to catch the older boys’ gaze, but the blonde was looking down at his arms.

“Aren’t you now too?” He asked.

Mirio looked startled. “Well ah you see– my quirk was taken away so um my body is still is-”

“I know.” Izuku cut him off, nodding.
Flashing a smile, Mirio questioned. “Why did you ask then?” and continued, without waiting for an answer. “It doesn’t matter,” the smile did not leave his face for a second, “what I came here to ask was if you want the quirk yourself. With how you helped me wield it better in so little time, I don't think it would be a problem for you to master it. And now…” Izuku frowned as Mirio and All Might exchanged glances.

“Now it is not such a burden as it used to be,” All Might continued instead of Mirio, “and not a secret, so if you accept it, no one will question the sudden change.”

Izuku didn’t answer.

The two others waited patiently, but just as Izuku opened his mouth, a knock sounded on the door.

A nurse popped in. “Sorry if I’m interrupting something, but we need Midoriya for a test.”

“Yes of course, we were just leaving.” All Might nodded moving towards the door.

Mirio lingered a moment longer, “When you decide, just let me know,” he said quietly, before following behind the hero.

Izuku just slowly nodded, staring into nothing.

The nurse and doctor came closer, but Izuku was lost in thought.

He didn’t really comprehend what happened next. Not until he and Shota were sitting on the couch in his hospital room, huddled up close. Izuku looked down at his hands, he didn’t realise he was shaking.

“It’s okay now.” the soothing voice sounded.

Izuku blinked a few times. What even happened? He glances at the setting sun in the window.

Turned out a doctor check-up went downhill. Izuku freaked out and almost punched the doctor. Shota had to physically hold him back and calm him down from a panic attack.

Now coming back to his senses, Izuku felt bad for lashing out at the doctor who was just trying to help.

“You alright now?” Shota asked, and Izuku hummed in return. He brough is legs to his chest.

“So many things happened…” He whispered.

“Yeah…” Shota huffed out a breath.
“You know…” Izuku said slowly after another moment of comfortable silence. Shota turned his head to listen closer. “The doctors here are actually really nice.” He paused before continuing. “I just think the reason I don’t like them is that all previous experience I’ve had with doctors was… not good.”

Shota just watched him, letting the boy continue.
“I know Nezu did something this time to get me here, but since I was a kid no medical point I can remember would accept a quirkless kid. It so came to be that I associate them all with something bad… I don’t know but after that…What happened didn’t exactly help either...” Izuku took a shaky breath and leaned on the man before he continued.

—
A few days had passed. Izuku had been discharged from the hospital(finally!! Though with the hero by his side it went certainly better). Together with Shota they returned to the apartment, as the hero refused to go home without Izuku. Stepping inside, they took off their shoes. Izuku huffed, realising their bandaged arms matched.

As they both stepped into the kitchen, Shota put something wrapped in cloth on the table before Izuku.

“What is that?” He asked, trying to figure out what the object was.

Making a gesture inviting Izuku to open it, Shota sat down. Izuku didn’t follow suit, staying standing up as he slowly unravelled the layers of fabric. There were a lot. Was there something sharp or fragile?

When he finally got to the last layer, the fabric fell away to reveal a fancy sheath. Izuku stared at the dark green leather in astonishment. He glanced at Shota before opening it to find a full set of daggers. Izuku gasped. Only the night before did he mention to the hero how sad he was for looking that one Shota gave him in the middle of the fight. But Izuku didn’t think much of it, as Shota already told him he wont be getting new ones until he is eighteen.
He looked up to meet Shota’s eye. That has been only yesterday evening. Did he really go out of his way to acquire the daggers in such a short time?

Izuku quietly sat down across from Shota, putting the sheath before him. He slowly took out the daggers one by one to admire. They were not regular ones. They were custom made with various things added– almost like a real support item.

“I-” Izuku swallowed. “Thank you.” His voice shook.

Shota stood up and went around the table. “I think you more than deserve them.” He patted Izuku on his shoulder with a smile, before turning to prepare dinner.

Not too loud clangs of dishes sounded, while Izuku continued to sit there.

“You know,” Shota spoke up from behind him, continuing to pull out the plates. “I actually requested the daggers to be made as the ones from before. But the support course student that poweroaded tasked with the job, insisting on adding some upgrading when she learned who it was for.” He paused before continuing. “In class Uraraka gathered everyone to write get well soon cards for you, while young Iida rather surprisingly worked with Bakugo to buy some gifts. Some great friend you acquired.”

The corners of Izuku’s mouth rose up in a small smile. He put his hand on the sleek sheath, as tears rolled down his cheeks. Rising from the chair, he turned around and tackled Shota in a hug.

–
“Hello, my name is Izuku Midoriya.” Everyone watched the screen with the green haired teenager with curiosity. “As you might have heard, I am the son of the villain known as All for one.”

Gasps.
Loud murmurs.
Some displeased shouts.

“I am here to tell you two things today,” the boy continued. “But first of, I want to tell you the full truth.” that earn confused faces from the crowd, they listen in closer. What other secret does the son of Japan’s biggest villain have to share?

“Many of you probably only heard my name for the first time during the incident last week. But I’m sure you’ve all heard of my alias– the name I was given by All for one– long before that.”

The crowd quiets down. Everyone intently watched whichever screen closer to them– their phone, TV or the big screens on the streets. All waiting.
“Yamiyo.”

There are gasps of shock, and confusion. A riffle of fear passes through the people.
Everyone knew that name; it was as if someone made sure everyone knew.
Yamiyo- the unseen villain that went around immobilising heroes and stealing valuable information. Well–it was never revealed to the public what kind of information, but that can only mean the worst.

“But I’m here not as Yamiyo, and not as Izuku Midoriya. I’m here to make a promise as an aspiring hero student.”

–
The night after Izuku’s speech, he sat together with Shota in the living room. He hugged his legs as the latest events played in his head on repeat. The preparation, the fight. He thought to the moment a few days prior, when he was finally told the piece of information he had been missing. Only then did he understand why everyone was so hesitant about that. All for one was dead. Shota told him they didn’t know how he would react, and honestly, he didn’t know himself. How should you react to finding that your supervillain of a father was killed?
Izuku tried to think from a logical point of view. He thought to himself that every villain needs a chance of being saved, a chance of redeeming themselves, that there always has to be a chance to turn your life around, but if the person is set against it, there is nothing you can do as a hero than stop their evil doings.
But from another side, it was still something more personal, though he would not the villain ‘father’. He never wanted to, the word made him want to puke.

Shaking his head from that, he ran through the live speech he gave. Nezu was glad to prepare it by Izuku’s request.
Was it the best move? Did he say it all right? Though no matter if he did, the people knew now would see him as the son of a powerful villain. And despite revealing himself to be quirkless, he was sure many thought he was lying. It all bothered him so much.

Shota must have noticed that, because as the news in the background began to describe the weather, he approached Izuku.
“What’s the matter?”

Letting his head rest back, Izuku closed his eyes. Shota sat down next to him, not as relaxed.

Slowly, Izuku opened his eyes, and then sat with his back a bit straighter.

“They now know about my connection to him an-and the Yamiyo think.” Izuku said, messing with his still bandaged hand. “Everyone’s gonna hate me and want nothing to do with me… nethertheless let me anywhere close to being a hero. I made such a bit promise but I might not be able to achieve it. How can I even change them to trust me.”

Izuku could hear the other hum, and after a moment he spoke. “You already started.”

“But– but they won’t be able to think of me as anything other than his son… H*ll it’s even all I can think about!” It turned out a bit louder than he expected. The boy turned his eyes away.

“No.” Shota said in a steady voice.

Well that wasn’t what Izuku expected to hear. His head sharply turned around. No? Why would he said that? What does he mean by simply no? He couldn’t be telling Izuku to just stop thinking about it… Then what–

He was mumbling, wasn’t he?

“No,” Shota’s voice was firm but soothing, “You weren't, but you are now.”

Izuku closed his mouth shut, looking at his guardian to continue, hoping to get some sort of explanation.

Shota sighed, bringing his hand through his dark hair. “You did tell them about how he gave you quirks, how he gave you missions and used as basically a lab rat because of your quirklessnes,” his voice was slightly trembling, “You told them about how you tried to disobey, what it cost you.” Izuku looked away, still not quite understanding what it had to do–

“You told them how he treated you and everyone, and how you defeated him.”

“It wasn’t just me–” Izuku perked up.

Shota shook his head, “Maybe not, but that’s all there is that is connecting you to him now.”

Izuku didn’t look back, but tilted his head as his gaze was fixed at the black screen of the television in front of him. When was it turned off?

“Your blood relation has nothing to do with it. He is not your father anymore.”

Fully turning his head, Izuku smiled at Shota.
“No, because you are.” They both met eyes and then Shota pulled the boy into a hug.

Izuku didn’t realise he was crying.

But those were tears of joy, not mourning.

When Izuku calmed down a tad, he was the first to pull away from the hug. rubbing away the tears on his cheek with his sleeve, Izuku spoke. “So does that mean I can call you dad?” He looked at Shota enthusiastically.

“I’ll think about it,” the older man grumbled, not able to hide his smile in his scarf, not from
Izuku.

“But-” Izuku remembered something, as his shoulders slummed and he clenched his hands into firsts, “But what would they say now? Everyone? Nezu is right- there is no way they are going to trust me. Oh my God-” his breath hitched, “What will happen when talks go around that I’m working with the villains? People are going to think I have his quirk! Oh no… but I don't have a quirk! I'm gonna be thrown in Tartarus! And then–”

“Izuku,” the boy noticed Shota pull, taking his hands into his own that had some strands of green hair in them. Huh, he hadn't realised he was pulling on his hair.
“It’s alright,” he heard the calming voice. “You are here with me now. You’re safe. No one is coming to get you, not villains nor heroes.”

--

A few days later, after everything was solved and finished, and the public had calmed down a bit. Izuku sat on the sofa after dinner deep in thought when Shota came into the living room with a cup of coffee he always drinks before patrol Izuku lifted his eyes.

“The conversation with him made me realise something,” he slowly said, a finger under his chin.

“And what is it?” asked Shota, a bit concerned as he sat down next to him.

“I thought about it a lot and it made me figure out what kind of hero I want to be.”

Shota looked at him, not saying anything, as he waited for the boy to continue.

“I want to be a hero, the kind of hero that saves those who had no choice but to become villains.”

There was a long pause, but it wasn’t awkward at all, the two had grown to love and feel comfortable in each other’s company. Just as Shota opened his mouth to say something, a hint of a smile on his face, that was when Izuku spoke again. This time he wasn’t speaking as loudly, and wasn’t looking at Shota’s face, nor in his direction. His gaze was fixed on the sunset outside the window, and voice no louder than a whisper, as he was talking to himself. But in the silent apartment, Shota clearly heard what the boy said.

“I want to save Shigaraki.”

When Shota didn’t say anything, Izuku turned to see the look on his face. He was surprised to find the hero smiling fondly.

“I’m glad you found your goal,” Shota said, “Now I believe you are ready for this.” he handed Izuku a form. The boy took it curiously, looking at his guardian for an explanation.

“Read what it says.” And the boy did.

Izuku gasped, “You want me to sign up for the hero licensing exam?” Shota nodded, “like the real exam, the one you take to get a full hero licence?”

Shota nodded once more, “I have no doubt that you are going to pass.”

Some time later, in a Musufasu cemetery. Izuku stood by himself, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He told Shota to wait in the car, and the man did. Izuku was thankful that the man understood that he needed some time alone with his mother.
Izuku plopped down on the grass. It was getting late but Izuku insisted on going right after his exam. The songs of birds could still be heard. That was the only noise in the quiet apart from Izuku sods. Placing the flowers down, Izuku took out a brand new card from his most secure pocket. He looked back up at the tombstone. All those memories of playing hero with his mother washed over him all over again, only making the waterfall of tears worse.

He had given up on the dream time and time again in the past years. But this year had been a year of change. Izuku somehow overcame all these obstacles that seemed impossible. He made it.

Izuku smiled through the tears. “I did it mum, I’m a hero.”

Chapter Text

“....And today we are going to talk about a hero you have certainly heard of before who does not work for anyone. Being on bad terms with the HSC certainly puts him in a tough situation. This has certainly sparked much controversy, though it isn’t what we are here to discuss. but with just how much good he is done, how good he is at what he does, and just how clever- all the public had their eyes on him.” The lady paused. “Some still consider him a vigilante, though he had had his hero licence since over a decade now. But even those who don’t recognize him as a hero, can admit that he is one of the most truly heroic out there. He has fully lived up to the promise he made in his teenage years, of saving the unnoticed.” She smiled, looking directly at the camera.

“Now I might sound a bit biased with that, but I was to testify that I was one of the people he saved. And no, I wasn't caught in any villain attack or anything of that sort, and it was actually before the boy was known at all...” Her voice was a bit quieter now. “I was just living with my fiance in a simple apartment complex in a less nice part of town. Not the best, expensive place but from the outside it looked amazing, and co workers believed I'd found the one. Though behind closed door it was not as perfect… What made me finally realise his ruse and qurikist behaviour was the encounter with the hero, then known as Yamiyo.”

After she got off live, a coworker hurried to her, handing a glass of water.

“Congrats off getting rid of that bastard, you are worth so much more. You seem so much happier without him! I haven't seen you smiling so much since forever. And who would have guessed a missing poster for a quirkless boy would be the thing that opened your eyes!”

“Thanks… Who knew I'd end up interviewing the same kid years later.” she chuckled.

—
“Yes, the young hero certainly made a name for himself.” One veteran reporter nodded along at a street interview. The green haired hero standing further behind him, as he waved at the surrounding crowd. “But of course not everyone has positive feedback.”

“You rely on your support items too much, without them you would be nothing, no hero! Heroes cannot be quirkless! A powerful quirk is the whole point of being a hero!” Someone shouted, just loud and close enough for the microphone to pick up. The camera shifted to the angry citizen. Everyone quieted down, as the camera switched back to the hero, waiting for his reaction.

The young man just gave a small smile, “and what hero does not? Name me one hero that doesn't use support items in this age of time.” He paused for a second in which murmurs around the crowd could be heard. “Uravity had bracelets to help with her nausea, Chargerbolt has his discs.” Everyone watches captivated as the hero enthusiastically goes on to tell about various well known gadgets U.A graduates use. “Everyone uses somethings to help them control their quirks and perform better. So yes, heroes do relay on their support items too much, but if you want to change that I welcome you to become one yourself– become the first hero in the modern hero industry that doesn't use any support items.” he said it in such a calming yet threatening way.

“But do you really think it’s wise to do hero work like that?” a new voice sounded. “The time you had been held captive by the villains sir, did leave you disabled.” Izuku turned his head at that. Looking for the one speaking. “I mean I’ve heard you have problems with the tendons of your leg and um, we all know that you can barely use your right hand. Not to mention-”
The man– a young and new reporter from what Izuku could tell wanted to continue but the hero lifted his hand, signalling him to stop.

Leaning forward, he answered simply. “All Might spent years being the symbol of peace with half of his stomach gone. I’m not there yet.”

The flow of the same question but in different fonts continued to come at him.
“But you do realise that you are relying way too much on support items? I know you’re a master strategist and have a think with analysis but you heavily rely on such technology, that if you were to go back a few centuries back technology would not help you at all against villains.”

Izuku huffed, a smile on his lips. “You do realise that a few centuries back there were no quirks at all? And as for right now, I just have a simple Hatsume corporations grappling hook on me. Though fair, you cannot call anything Mei makes simple.” He chuckled.

The civilian opened his mouth to say something more, but Izuku continued.
“But I suggest you do think of doing the same; if you see a flaw, then act on it.”

“Is that what you did, right?”

A sly smile appeared on the hero’s lips, “I would like to say that I tried, but that’s for the people I save to decide.”

“One more question please!” Was heard from the crowd. Izuku turned to listen to yet another (pretty stupid, but that was bound to happn) question. He didn’t particularly enjoy this much attention, but when choosing to be a limelight hero, he knew what he was getting himself into. And it was necessary for his goal.

“I wanted to ask you why you encouraged the A class of UA to go out of their way to, um, well pretty frowned apon jobs.”

Izuku sighed, gathering his words for an answer. “Well you see, the loop of villains can never end if you don’t solve the problem from its source. In the end everyone deserves a chance, and you know, villains need saving too.” He finished with a smile.

There was unusual silence for a moment, as everyone watched the green haired hero take a mic from a reporter. “To achieve what I’m trying to do, I need your help too.” He looked at the camera closest to him. Help the people around you, don’t turn a blind eye when you know you can do something. Just be kind in your daily life, and don’t mistreat the people around you.”

“You don't necessarily need to swing across buildings and battle strong villains to be a hero. You can be a hero by just being kind, by caring. By checking in on people you know, or helping an elderly man carry a bag up the stairs. The mindset that the hero society is so used to is a toxic one, is one where no one offers a hand to their neighbour. Everyone just says to themselves– ‘a hero will come’. But let me tell you: You can be that hero. Offer a hand, and then when you are in need, those around you will come to aid.”

–
Across Japan a class of wonderful heroes were being interviewed. This particular UA class had become quite the legend.

“Pro hero Uravity! Can I ask you a few questions?”

The young woman turned around to the reporter glancing at Tenya Iida, the youngest of the Iida hero family, who tapped her on the shoulder.
“There isn’t much left to take care of, go ahead.” He said with a smile, turning to report to the police (a job Uravity could not stand).

Ochako Uraraka– Uravity smiled, “Well I guess I can, what is it?”

“May I ask you what inspired to work in such place?” the reported asked, clearly meaning the rough neighbourhood they were in, “Tough you are a rescue hero, it's not often we see heroes here as most like to keep away.”

“That is exactly why I'm doing it,” the hero said, smiling.“ Though well, we don’t all work at one place- you see, everyone has a goal, a reason; something they want to save, to protect. I, for once, always look out this kind of neighbourhoods because of my own upbringing. I’m thankful that my family never had to live on the streets, but I know how to feels to helpless in a world that runs on money.

“Everyone has times when they need saving. No matter who they are or their social status. Everyone, villains as well as heroes, no less than any other civilian.”

“....And you know what I came to realise?” Chargerbolt was intertwined too. “I can use my quirk in so many cool ways! Like one time, somewhere in the second year our power went out. Of course everyone used me as the electricity source, and well… I was kinda bumped from that… but Greenie– oh that’s my nickname for him by the way, not sure if I'm allowed to say it on camera ah sorry– He showed me by his actions how I can use that to be a hero! Like going to places and supplying a ton of electricity– to like places where it regularly cuts out, you know what I mean?” A nod. “So yeah, now I found a way to be happy about being a power course and actually made it something heroic.”

“That is truly admirable! Then–”

“Well thank you thank you! But as I was saying…” Kaminari cut the reporter off, continuing to speak enthusiastically to the camera. Kirishima and Jiro could barely contain their laughter behind him.

–

“I saw they caught you for an interview again today. Can’t believe how you managed to pull off the confident hero facade. It’s about damn time you live up to it.” Bakugo huffed, plopping down on the couch next to Izuku.
“It still bothers you what people think about your lack of quirk and your past, doesn’t it?" He turned to his head to hear the answer.

Izuku sighed. “You know well that I do care. Too much.” He looked down at his cup of tea. The amount of cups he drank was rivalling Shota on a good day, but the contents were making him more like Nezu. Finest tea from the same box and brand he always drinks.

“So let me guess.” Bakugo leaned his head back. “All you want to do is– make everything turn out for the better and help anyone you can.” He said it in a mocking, sing-a song voice, throwing his hand in the air.

Izuku childishly stuck his tongue out at the blonde. “I just want to try and do what I need, and if I complete my goal, who cares what the heck they are thinking.”

Huffing, Bakugo said. “I thought you were going to say h*ll for a second.”

Completely ignoring his remark, Izuku continued. “I don’t get why though everyone is so fixated on my support items, I don't even use that many!” he sounded offended. “I use like the same amount as you if not less. And I know for a fact I have less than Ochako, we counted.”

Bakugo opened his mouth to speak but Izuku lifted a finger, continuing to talk. “But the fact that the media is focused on that brings a lot of clients to Mei, which is wonderful.”

Said pink haired girl smirked from behind them. She was aggressively brewing coffee. “Yeah damn right!” snatching the cup, she jumped down on the armchair next to the guys, almost splashing the coffee. “That’s such an amazing coincidence that I found that mask Grennie threw away in the first year! Took me some time to figure out the owner was you though.” She snickered.

“I- I didn’t make the mask though,” Izuku reminded her.

The girl in return bumped a fist in his shoulder. “You did a fantastic job at remodelling that baby, so take credit for that! It’s not like that bastard can come after you now!” she scooted closer, “We were just meant to work together! You basically got me to earn my first good sum because of all that!”

Izuku smiled. Mei was over enthusiastic as usual. Some people would scrunch their nose to learn that she was profiting off his advertisements, but he didn’t mind being used to promote things as long as it was deserved. And Mei’s inventions were freaking genius.

A door opened to their side, making all three of them turn their heads simultaneously. In the doorway stood none other than Shoto Todoroki.
“Are you coming to patrol?” He nodded toward Izuku, as he fixed the sleeve of his hero suit.

“Wait, is it time already?” Putting down his almost empty cup, Izuku turned to look at the clock. He jumped up from the couch upon seeing the time.

“Bye Katchan, Bye Mei!” Izuku called behind his shoulder as he followed Shoto out of the room. “See you later guys!” He could hear Katchan grumble something in return, while Mei waved her hand above her head, sipping from the coffee.

“Bye Grennie!” She called after him.

Running out, to Izuku’s view came Ochaco. She was on time and ready before everyone (something she probably got from their friend Tenya.) And she was stomping her foot.

“There you are!” She exclaimed.

“Sorry, sorry. Was just talking with Kacchan.” Izuku apologised, while checking that he had all of his equipment on him.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a person appeared-- a reporter or something. (Izuku learned they all know how to do that, but here, infront of their agency it was less surprising to happen).

“Oh if it’s not the famous couple!” the person explained, snapping pictures.

Izuku laughed, as Ochako hid her face ‘no, no it's-’ she weezed. While Shoto just slowly blinked. He still didn’t understand why his friends even cared about the whole paparazzi and reportes deal. But having grown up well known, he guessed they just needed more time to get used to it. Even though it has been almost ten years since their debut.

“Alright, alright. Sorry, we have to go!” Izuku was the one to speak now.
Grabbing Ochako, who was still hiding her reddened face, by her hand. And tugging Shoto after him too, izuku ran down the street. Soon the two others matched his pace and ran to his sides, Shoto smiling, while Ochako shook her head giggling.

“Okay, so.” Izuku tried to clear his throat, “No matter how funny that all is, we need to be serious, we have a job to do. We are the only ones even coming there, people depend on us.”

Ochako nodded repeatedly. “Yup. Professional, got it.” She tried to keep her face straight, though snickers escaped.

“Professional face? I can do that.” Shoto nodded. The most serious and blank look on his face. But turning to looking at him, his friends only laughed harder.

“Well screw it! Who said we can’t go protect people while laughing?” Izuku quickened his pace. Yeah, fun and all but he didn’t want them to miss the schedule.

“Ahaha right! Like smiling, All Might did that first!” Ochako added.

In the end, it turned out the people loved how happy the three were while doing their patrol.
—
Izuku didn’t want to be a famous hero. Not at all! It just… all happened on its own. He just did whatever he thought was right, and as Kacchan said ‘all the extras started looking up to that’

So it just so happened that Izuku became known as the symbol of hope, perseverance. He liked the meaning, but didn’t feel like embracing the title and calling himself that. It was still something whispered around, something the public agreed on. But on the big screens and in interviews he was known as ‘the hero that started it all’ meaning, the big revolution of the hero system. The one who had worked from below the bottom and up the ladder, while changing it from the inside.

A big smile appeared on Izuku's face every time he heard that about himself. He was still surprised it was possible. Of course, he couldn’t have done it alone– and despite always mentioning that, that was a detail for some reason many interviewers left out. That pissed him off. But no, he was getting of track. Izuku shook his head and looked up at the stars, trying to organise his thoughts a bit.

Those who helped him. Shota, Nezu, Hizashi. Mostly all the UA staff. First of all, if not them, he would have been dead long ago. Then later, when the hero commision heard of him and his rather- unusual tactics, he would have been killed then. Nezu saved him again, saying that he had long thought of a way to rebuild the commission, and with Izuku it only made it easier. Now, Nezu was in charge of the commission (even though the rat had some questionable ideals of his own, he truly cared about making order between the heroes). He still was overseeing UA, but being so busy, he was represented by Shota, who grudgingly took on the role as the deputy.

Breathing in the night air, Izuku wondered if he should too, a few years down the line, come to UA. The place felt as home to him. So maybe, when he has to do less work on the field, he could come teach the next generation or heroes. Just like All Might did- though maybe not. He was not looking for one successor, he wanted to teach as many as possible to be the light themselves. If everyone shared a bit of light to one another, the darkness would slowly disappear. Pass on part the light that is given to you, to others that need it now. That was what Izuku was trying to do. To save people the way Shota helped him up.

He was sure that it could be arranged.

But for now, he just closed his eyes, and enjoyed the peace.

Suddenly, he heard a cry, “Help!” Came from below. Jumping up, and patting to see if all his dagger and equipment was on him, Izuku took off. This time, to come face to face with the danger and not running away.

—

Izuku sighed, as he opened his eyes to the white room again. The doctors must be tired of him by now. He did his absolute best to apprehend the villain without getting injured, but they caught him off guard and broke his grappling hook making him fall from the second story of the building. His eyes moved to the dawn in the window. If only he had a quirk he could have handled it quickly. He shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to think like that, Izuku knew, but sometimes thoughts snuck into his mind.
He tried to focus on the positives: His plan worked out in the end, and the villain was captured. The heroes on the scene all listened to him and acted on his orders about how to go around the villain’s tricky quirk. The hostage situation ended with no casualties. The civilians didn’t have a scratch on them, though some did need to be treated for shock.

The door opened, and Izuku turned his head to see Shota walk in. His hair held much more grey hairs than before.

“Good job out there. Though I see Nezu inspired you– your plans are becoming more terrifying.” The older man grumbled.

“It’s not just Nezu rubbing off on me. I’m literally having my third cup of coffee today while watching cat videos.” Izuku chuckled.

Shota just sighed without answering.

“I know for a fact you would do the same.” Izuku defended. “It’s very boring just staying here.”

“Don’t you even dare to think about sneaking out of here while still injured.” Izuku blinked at the distant memory of one of their first meetings. “You just love to do that for some reason.” Shota’s voice was firm, as if really expecting Izuku to bolt out of the hospital room any second.

“Wow, I didn’t think you could joke,” Izuku huffed, a smile slowly crawling onto his face. It has been a decade since he last did that, but Shota loved to bring it up.

“I am dead serious,” The retired hero replied.

The two met eyes, and after looking at each other for a second, both burst into laughter.
Warm light from the east facing window shone on them. Along with the song of the morning birds, the sound of live laughter filled the hospital wing and poured outside.