Archive of Our Own

Sitting on the playground in the gentle morning light Izuku held the coin he’d just found gently in his hand, loving how smooth it felt, how pretty it was in the sun, and wiggled his bare toes in the sand he had been playing in when he dug up the treasure.

It had to be treasure ‘cause in the latest All Mighty cartoon he’d been fighting pirates and they had a big old-looking box full of things like this and while he did know it was called money - he was a big four fingers old after all, he knew what money was - treasure felt better to say, and was waaaaay more exciting.

He wished he had more, like in the pirate box on telly. Smiling as the sun winked off the coin as he twisted and turned it, feeling how light it was yet how heavy, he frowned, how was the little coin two different weights at once….and why was his head so fuzzy…… but he loved his treasure so much……. want more…….. want……….

His head hurt so he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Which is where Kacchan found him, covered in a surprising number of coins, asleep in the sand pit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Doctor Garaki, personal notes;

Midoriya Izuku, quirk, small item attraction, perhaps a mutation of his mother's Pull.  Allows the wielder to attract all similar/like items as that which they are holding, such as grasping a coin and all nearby coins move to him, or holding a poker chip and all the chips at nearby tables go to them.

Range, surprisingly far for a newly presented quirk, a radius of one hundred feet, or rather a sphere two hundred feet across as it doesn't seem to matter how deep the thing attracted to the boy is, just that it is within his radius.

Items being attracted travel without disruption of surrounding mass, possibly a secondary quirk effect, teleportation, or something similar.

Considered weak, not very useful, other than for the location of items such as lost keys due to the limitation of the size of items that can be attracted.

Considering the genetic lineage of the subject and how excited Sensei was for this combination of his genes and the mothers, the actual quirk manifestation is quite disappointing, perhaps more interesting aspects of the quirk will become apparent as the subject matures.

In conclusion, the subject is not interesting enough to acquire currently, keep track of for later acquisition if quirk gains strength in future.

Name given to quirk, TAKE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting at home after his exciting appointment to learn all about his new quirk, he was feeling sad that it wasn't something big and cool like Kacchan got but he did get all those coins so maybe Kacchan would like his quirk just as much as Izuku liked his.

Kacchan didn't like Izuku’s quirk at all, but since all he’d do is yell about it and call it weak, Izuku couldn't figure out why it was so bad, he already had several ways it could be useful for heroics and that was after he'd only had it a little bitty time, just think what he could do with it after he had it long enough to go to hero school!

***********

'I am NEVER going to hero school!' Izuku thought as he ran around a corner, hearing the yells of the hero chasing him, they didn't let petty thieves into high school, never mind places like UA!

Pulling all the boxes in the alley towards him - slowing down not even slightly to brush his fingers across the template box, he jumped and ran across the wall (momentary pride blooming at the ultra cool move) as he dropped the pull, landing neatly on his feet while the hero barreled into the pile of boxes Izuku would have been buried in if he hadn't perfected this escape years ago.

'Thank you fucking Kacchan,' he thought with bitter humor, 'you'll never know how the skills you and the others gave me make my life possible now!'

Two more fast turns and he was jumping into a crowded street, slowing down instantly as he pulled his hoodie off, tying it 'round his middle as he walked.  A shame about his failed theft, but if he just kept walking in a generally southward direction, he would hit the restaurant district and food was pretty easy to access over there, for his dinner today anyway.

What he needed though was shelf-life food, hence trying to get a load of tinned cans, 'Fucking hero, didn't they have real villains to hunt down?'

Huffing he fished his last energy bar from his pocket, munching it casually as he scanned everywhere around him, ignoring the frustrated voices of the hero and their backup on his coms - stolen, well, rescued after a villain attack he’d watched - that had just barreled into the crowds, settling his stance into a nonchalant teen headed nowhere important, Izuku kept his eyes surreptitiously on the roofs as well as everywhere else, the most dangerous predators always came from above!

And trust him, he’d run from underground heroes!

Listening in on hero chatter always intrigued and amused him, especially late at night, the underground heroes were so funny, dry and bitter and biting humor that he just got, well, living as he did. Why wouldn't he?

Giving a sigh he decided his best bet for feeding his friends would be dumpster diving behind the row of hole-in-the-wall restaurants he spotted on the far side of the road, much closer than his actual destination and he was tired already so, well, he was grateful for the chance to fill his bags without a three-mile round trip added to what he already had in front of him to getting home.  Finding a way to reach the back of them after a brief search, he squeezed between two buildings, even his small size almost not getting through, having to fit sideways but, once there, he tugged a waterproof bag from his pocket as he opened the first bin…

Paydirt, straight away he saw a pile of noodles and veg, some kind of meat and sauce, so, with a cautious sniff he nodded, reaching for a fistful. Concentrating on how it felt, he pulled everything like it to him, slow and carefully. He really didn't need a face full of food and if he didn't exercise proper caution, anything his quirk pulled eventually ran into him!

Using his free hand he picked up the lid from the nearest metal trash can and, giving an extra tug to speed everything up, positioned it for the steady stream of noodles now coming at him.

Tipping the lid he dropped his pull. Having caught enough to half-fill his bag, he shoved it all in and kept hunting, Kabuto needed more protein so he looked for meat now. Finding a bit of thrown-away pork, he pulled, and from all around him, bites and bits of pork rattled against him as he slammed his quirk to a halt and clenched his fists, and swore aloud, every curse word he knew.

He didn't often make that mistake lately, having worked so hard on directional control, but sometimes he still messed up. ‘Shit! I wonder how many people’s plates are now porkless?’

Giving up, he shook meat from his hair and closed the bins, he had enough for his needs for today, later he’d make another try for some canned food so, a final deep sigh and he started looking for a way up, knowing that the evening crowds would be thicker than ever and he hated the feeling of being in a crowd, too many people way too close to him made him anxious at the very least.

It took him half an hour to find a good way to the rooftops and then a further two hours to get to the edge of the industrial district where he squatted in an abandoned factory office complex combo he’d discovered when he first started sleeping rough.

Well, the second time he slept rough, the first time he’d been picked up by a cop and dragged to a “home” - put into care, they called it - but live and learn, he’d never made that mistake again.

“I’m HO~O~O~MMME!” he yodeled. Hearing the rustling from above he braced himself as almost two kilos of raven landed on him, having managed to work herself up and onto the rafters again. For a bird that couldn't technically fly, she was incredibly agile.

She also was REALLY ready for some food so he made his way to the feeding table, set up in the most open space in the building in the hopes of preventing fights between species.  Spreading the food out across its length he stood guard as Kabuto ate her fill, watching as the eight cats that lived in the building with him crept out of hiding and the scrawny dog that had shown up recently, half-grown and savage with fear crouched belly down in the doorway.

“Shit, I forgot the dog," Izuku gave a sigh, he’d definitely have to find more food sometime today if he had the pup to feed too, he didn't think it’d be back again after it's being missing a full week.

Scooping up a double handful of scavenged leftovers, he waited for Kabuto to hop onto his shoulder and then moved close enough to the dog for it to start to look ready to bolt, which is when he dropped the food and backed off.  The cats were already on the table, all of them, and his first friend was nicely full, so he made his way to the office he had turned into his living quarters, pausing beside the cable the raven used sometimes to gain height, but she seemed happy enough to keep cleaning his hair so he kept going.

If she wanted to leave, the curtain to his room wasn't going to stop her.

Actually, nothing really stopped her, not even the villain fight that had cost her her flight ability.  Reaching up he stroked her gently as he pulled the curtain out of his way, wondering if it was worth his while to shrug out of his stained clothes or not, finally settling on just collapsing into the sagging chair he’d dragged back when he first moved in.

It may be the ugliest thing on earth, but as it molded around him, he gave a sigh of relief, it was the most comfortable thing in his life and he loved it.

Not as much as the bird still grooming him but almost.

Yawning he gave up, letting his eyes slide closed, he'd get up later. Later was all the timetable he needed anymore.  Maybe he’d find a night fight to watch before stealing enough to feed his animals for the week, their numbers kept growing and they were always hungry but at least a fight would give him something to think about as he pulled off his theft.

****

He’d wanted to be a hero once, wanted it with every fiber of his being, but that dream was long dead, all he wanted now was to keep his head down and keep the animals he fed safe.  Not much of a goal really but animals were just better than people!  If an animal hurt you it was either your own stupid fault for doing something wrong or the animal itself was sick or injured.

So, again, it's your own fault if you got bit or scratched, or hurt.

Animals never betrayed him, never turned on him, never trapped him or tricked him or …. He shifted so she could reach his other side or else she wouldn't stop poking him… well, any of the other things humans had done to him over the years.

'Yeah,' he thought sleepily, 'animals are just better!'

Tiredly imagining his one remaining dream, a small shelter where he took care of all different kinds of animals, funded by a cafe in the front, with tall shelves stuffed with books for people to read as they interacted with the animals needing homes, a large room for dogs and people to play in, a much taller space for people to sit near birds like his raven maybe, although he wasn't sure how people plus food pulse bird ummmmm well, he wasn't sure he could make the bird section work but dogs and cats? Easy peasy!

And he’d bake - he loved to bake, missed it so much - and sell hot drinks and books and people would love his place and come from all over to visit it….sleep claimed him as he, once again, was deciding between tile and cork for the floors.

Waking in the small hours of the night he climbed stiffly to his feet, he was fit, and healthy, but a run like he'd done to escape the pursuing hero left its mark in stiff limbs and sore feet but he stretched himself out a few times and took two bags and a cat food can from his stash. He’d need it to key his quirk off of.

It had taken him a solid year to up his strength to being able to move tinned food, and he still couldn't move the big ones, only the single serving ones or tiny ones like sardines but it was so much better to be able to shoplift from OUTSIDE the buildings that he didn't complain, he just kept working on it, happily taking every strengthening of his quirk in stride.

Not wanting to risk stealing closer to home, he walked about a mile, ignoring the looks he got from the few people still active. They said a city never sleeps and Izuku knew that was true but the night people were different from the day ones, much more dangerous for starters so he kept his eyes open, wishing just for a moment he could be normal, the way he used to be.

But Thief was his label, his title, he remembered the first time the other kids had called him that, when he accidentally pulled all the red crayons to himself in class, remembered how they hurt as they all hit him at once, how he cried…

How he had to ask what thief meant.

He knew what it meant now, he lived it, hell, he owned it!

It was the only way he had to keep himself alive, especially after he’d run…

His new stepdad was nice enough, Izuku thought to himself as, six months after his mum started dating again they got married. The man was always pleasant enough, never touchy-feely, no hugs or anything but he doted on his mum so Izuku could forgive him anything, and then his mum was pregnant, and then, Oh the actual Fuckin Gods, he was a big brother to two perfect little babies. 

He was going to be the best big brother in the world so he learned to make bottles, to feed them, to change diapers, he babysat and read to them and learned all about early development, and was the happiest he'd ever been.

Then he spotted the men following him home from school.

And saw how nervous his step-dad suddenly became, always looking over his shoulder and calling in sick to work and then they were packing and Izuku didn’t know what was going on but he helped, packing up all the twins toys, and how did two-year-olds have this much stuff?

Being grabbed the day they were supposed to move, his last walk home from school, he fought, struggling and screaming and kicking and he managed to wriggle free after he got his lucky coin into his fist, pulling every coin from the farthest he could force his radius and the sudden assault of loose change disoriented his attackers just enough and he ran and ran and ran home…

It was empty, the stuff left behind but the people gone, his mum, his siblings, his new dad, everyone was gone, only a hasty note left, telling him they had to run, that bad people were after them, to meet them at….and he was running again, desperately trying to reach the address in the letter but when he got there, they never showed up.

He waited for three days, but they never showed up.

And now his entire life was running and hiding and stealing food to eat, water to drink, hiding all the time, finding Kabuto who was his first real friend in years but how even she took a long time to trust him. Well, maybe he’d stolen her freedom but at least he gave her care and food and love so if it was a choice of keeping her safe in the building or dead on the street from freedom, he kept her safe inside.

Until he had enough saved to get her wing really fixed properly, then she could fly away.  It’ud be sad but good too, seeing her fly away.

Crouching against the outside wall of the store he’d targeted, he held his can and called like to like, feeling Pull (he'd always hated the name the doctor gave his quirk, Take was a stupid name!) tugging a weight of cans, holding the weight at no more than about twenty total he let them come, stopping the rest from following, and dropped the pull as soon as he saw them coming at him.  They bounced to a stop at his feet after gravity took over and he grabbed them, stuffing them into his bags and then, because he now had so many mouths to feed, he repeated the process five more times, until his two bags were filled to bursting and he wondered if he could even carry them all the way home.

But they all needed him so, hoisting the bag straps to his shoulders, he started the long walk home.

*****

Watching the kid stealing cat food from a locked and closed store, Shouta hesitated to just grab them. Kids always had a reason for the things they did, and to steal pet food of all things? He hated a mystery at the best of times and these were clearly NOT the best of times!

Hanging back, watching the kid blending in with shadows, seeing how he kept not just street level covered but also kept his eyes on the rooftops, Shouta knew the kid would have spotted anyone less skilled than he was but that after a long long walk carrying such heavy bags, the kid lost some of their edge, allowing Shouta to follow closer with less chance of losing them.

Good thing too as the neighborhood was getting steadily worse and worse, the only saving grace being that it was actually getting too bad for many people to live in it, switching over to manufacturing and small factories and abandoned and derelict buildings.  Which is where the kid finally disappeared into, a boarded-up expanse of anonymous brick and debris.

Hearing the unmistakable sounds of eager cats, he easily got high enough to look inside a broken window, his goggles letting him see in the dim light of dawn, as half a dozen cats twisted around the kid's feet, meowing and yowling for food, which the kid provided, laughing at their antics.

The dog though almost gave Shouta away as it sniffed and barked was annoying but the lure of food distracted it.  He’d have to get into better cover as the brightening day left him too exposed but he was glad he'd watched long enough to see the admittedly huge bird drop onto the kid, snatching bits of food from their fingers as they retreated into a curtain off doorway, leaving only happily eating animals in view.

Did the kid have an animal communication or manipulation quirk? Why were they living in a ramshackled building? Did they have a support system of any kind or were they homeless and alone? Why the animals?

Great, now he had a real mystery to solve and he hated those!

Taking almost infinite care not to be spotted, he didn’t want the kid to bolt before he figured out the deal, he finally got enough distance to use his customary speed to make his way back home, patrol long over with the rising of the sun.  The kid had looked safe enough, hard to tell his body weight through baggy clothes but he moved without hitch or limp and the building he was using was in fairly good condition, much better than the ones to either side of it so Shouta was confident enough to leave him be, for now at least.

Better the kid squat in a derelict building for a few more days than Shouta going in blind and doing more harm than good.

****

Staggering slightly as he got in the door, he worked his first boot off, or rather, tried to, before he was being instructed firmly to hold still and, grateful down to his frozen toes, he obeyed and leaned against the wall, letting one hand fall and gently tangle into silken blond hair as Hizashi took his boots off for him, setting them aside as he stood up, wrapping his arms around the tired man just in the door.

"Hey Lovie, how was patrol?"

"Ugh," he grunted, seeing sharp concern blossom in bright green eyes, "m' not injured," a jaw-cracking yawn broke his words, "just, shit, tired. Will you look at the last footage on my goggles, bout half hour or so ago, kid, need an ID."  He yawned again, smiling as a heated protein pouch was held to his lips, "You goop, too soft for you're own good!" he muttered before taking it, draining it dry in one long swallow, handing his goggles over at the soft command.

Letting strong arms lead him to bed, undressing and tucking him in, he gave a sigh, he wasn't actually injured but that full body blow he’d been hit by - energy assault quirk was his best guess from how much it had fucking hurt, he’d arrested them early in his patrol and then spent the rest of it working the burn out of his muscles - plus the rest of the busy night, then sitting for almost an hour as he watched a kid caring for animals instead of being cared for himself had really taken it out of him so he was so blessed, so grateful, he could hand the search off to his wonderful Zashi and simply close his eyes…

The gentle kiss to his forehead made him feel special, and loved, and cared for, which really was the point.

***************

Hizashi seldom got the chance to see his husband at work so, instead of just rewinding the footage stored in his goggles to the point he’d been told to look for, he took it back to the start of patrol, scanning through at high-ish speed and then rewinding to watch the juicy bits, he loved how swift and easy the takedowns were, although he’d be having words about that hit Shouta had taken, how the paramedic was rudely waved off instead of Shouta taking the MANDATORY 24-HOUR STAND DOWN PERIOD after taking a hit like that, yeah, they’d talked about shit like that a time or two already.

Well, that was for when his naughty love - who had obviously forgotten that Hizashi always looked at the entire patrol every chance he got - woke up, for now, he’d call him in so he could be logged off for the stand-down period, starting right now, and then watch the rest and see what Shouta had been talking about.

And it was easy to spot when the target appeared, Shouta and kids, damn, he was so fuckin soft for them! 

Of course, when the footage cut to the feeding of stray cats and a big ass fuckin bird, well, Hizashi felt his own heart trying to melt into a puddle but he resisted firmly, no matter the reason, stealing was wrong!

Firmly ignoring how he too had been forced to use the shadier side of the mathematics of life a time or two as a kid, he froze a frame that gave him a good clear facial of the kid and copied and pasted it into his preferred search program and hit run.  Standing with a stretch he strolled into the kitchen, gently kicking Pest out of his way.

"Murdering devil, do you HAVE to try to kill me every bloody time?" He almost yelled when, true to his name, the cat hid right behind his feet so when he stepped back he tripped, only his truly skilled body preventing his going ass over teakettle.  "Stupid bloody PEST!" And he scooped the little bastard up, pressing his face to the inviting tummy, murmuring fond nothings to the evil bastard, well, the evil attempted murdering fluffy bastard angel that he was now holding.

Setting the pest down with a few treats, he poured his tea, adding the sugar that he only used when totally alone and with no chance of any caring eyes catching him at it, and then lashings of cream. If he was going for tooth-rotting tea, then he was going all the way, baby!

Hearing a ding from the computer he felt his eyebrows raise in surprise, 'That was quick,' he thought as he strode back to the computer, settling down to call up what he’d found, 'why did they show up that fast?'

Midoriya Izuku, the results proclaimed, Hizashi giving a surprised whistle at the rap sheet connected to his quirk usage, no official convictions but so many accusations leveled against him, so many accusations from his school and wasn't that a red flag with a quirk like the kid had, yeah, he would have been called a villain all his life with a quirk like Take (and why name it that? It’s practically setting the kid up for discrimination) but, for all of that, why is the kid living in a derelict building, apparently alone?

Digging deeper he found the missing persons report filed by the school. Hizashi’s best guess was because as an official mandatory reporter, the school had no choice but send in the report when the kid disappeared.

The pictures of the vandalized and ransacked apartment, how it looked like packed up and ready-to-move items had been destroyed, rather than a lived-in home, that set Hizashi digging deeper. If the family was attacked right before they moved, perhaps they were running from something.

He found what he was looking for an hour later, one Hirayama Yuudai, married to the kid's mother, Midoriya Inko, children, three, Izuku clearly from a previous pairing and the set of twins that would have been two when the entire family disappeared.  

Looking into the new man Hizashi shook his head, a clear manipulator with a rap sheet containing fraud, embezzlement, blackmail, gambling, and debt collection, among others, a con man, in other words, a bit player, who had fastened upon a family of two, a single mother and her son, and hidden himself inside of that little apartment, seeming not to care that if he was found by the people he’d ripped off he wasn't the only one who'd suffer for it.

Sitting back, picking up his long gone cold tea, he sipped its icy sweetness as he pondered his best guess of how this kid wound up where he was.  Stepfather finds a safe place to hide, maybe actually falls in love or pretends really hard, has children - probably not expected or planned - and then, long enough to fully be a family or maybe still only pretending - as the older boy was lost or left, after all - but he gets found or spotted and tries to pack up and run.

Then what? Ahhhhh, not found right away but enough warning given to pack, to try to run safely, but then a mad scramble and, he does a search for the nearest exit points they might have used and finds them, just four of them though, getting onto a ship of all things and then, nothing.  The trail for the four goes cold as soon as the ship hits Hong Kong, it was like they stepped off the planet.

Not totally unexpected really with who was after the man but they seem to have lost a child in the great escape.

Hizashi’s heart hurt, imagining the kid getting home from school, seeing the devastation, maybe having an emergency meeting up point but no one meeting him…

The kid had been found by the cops, taken in, sent into foster care, and then disappeared.  On a hunch Hizashi looked up the foster home and “Shhhhhhhhhhhit! Shitshitshitshit!!!” he remembered that case, that home, no wonder the kid was living in hiding, Hizashi too would do anything to avoid going back into the system if that was his one and only experience of it!

Alright, so, he had the name and history of the kid, now, what to do with it?  Cracking his fingers he placed them onto his keyboard, step one, set up to get a notification if/when the kid's name came up in an official statement. He may be safe enough right now but life on the streets could have him arrested or injured in an instant and if that happened, the kid needed someone in his corner.

He nodded, getting to work, grateful for the skills his Sensei had drilled into him all those years ago.

****************

Izuku slept four hours like the dead, waking slowly in the dim light filtering under his curtain, giving a groan of protest when he got a raucous caw echoing through the big space. Could the feathery pest not shut up for a little while longer?

But as he was awake already, he dragged himself up, knowing that he needed to find some actual money as his stash still wasn't enough for Kabuto’s healing, and after that, he had to get Mamma Kat spayed so she didn't have any more kittens and then the kittens she did have right now, hidden too well for him to find, had to be trapped and given their shots and………….. Yeah …….. He needed money!

Pulling on his shoes, huh, he didn't remember taking them off, must have done it in his sleep, he opened his cupboard where he kept what little human food he had, taking out the one can of peas still left.  He SHOULD use it to steal more but, he sighed, thieving never made him feel good about himself and he was hungry anyway so he’d just eat them and try not to think about it.

The heavy blanket feeling he’d woken up to felt heavier as he drank the peas down, cold as they came from the tin, anything to fill the aching void he lived with all the time. His animals couldn't feed themselves, well, some of them could, but most of them couldn't so he spent his energy getting them food. Anything left over he used to take care of his own needs, he just needed them to not leave him.

‘Buying their love now? How much does love cost? You couldn't pay enough to keep your own family, why would the animals love you without food? Yeah, they love the food, not you!’ and the endless cycle of hateful words spun and danced as he staggered into the much brighter light, almost tripping over…

"Heeey pup," he knelt on the floor, gently offering his knuckles, and a cold nose touched briefly, then a brief touch of tongue, and then, after an hour spent talking and encouraging, he had a lap full of not-so-savage half-grown puppy, tail still clamped to its belly but letting him pet and stroke it, making sure it wasn't injured in any way.

‘Shit, now its gonna need shots too’ he whined to himself, despite the face-splitting grin he was now wearing, pushing up to give one more pat, instructing it to “Stay HERE!” and he settled his backpack and strode out, checking both ways to be sure he wouldn't be spotted.  Today would be a very long day.

Headed down towards the bay he hit playground after park after play area, holding his lucky coin clenched in his fist, sitting quietly as he called every coin he could feel underground, keeping them under the earth as they moved to him, easing the pull on some, hastening it on others, finally getting every coin to a point just under where he was sitting.

It was exhausting but so satisfying, to finally have enough skill to hide this form of scavenging, it had taken months of effort, and he still got it wrong when he was tired, but for now at least he had enough energy to pull it off.  Scooting back he dug six inches down and uncovered his hoard and counted it into his hand.

Just under a thousand yen, not bad! He looked at the ice cream stand, wavering briefly, but his animals needed the money more than he did so he stuffed it into his pack and stood, brushing the sand off before heading to the next park. It had three play areas and was in a very good part of town so was always productive. If he did well he’d buy a ramen bowl for lunch, the peas had worn off hours ago.

Sitting down to hot food later was unusual but very welcome, even with the feeling of being watched that had been following him all day long.  Taking deep breaths to force the fear down, he adjusted the napkin holder, giving him a better view behind him. Anything shiny could be used to keep an eye out, as he didn't have the choice of sitting with his back to a wall this time, the place was too crowded.

He wanted to sit and savor the food, the feeling of being with people, well, near them anyway, and no one wanting to hurt him was usually nice when he indulged himself with a sit-down meal but the itch of being watched was too strong so he sucked the last of his broth, having already eaten fast enough to feel sick to his stomach.

Grabbing his bag and heading out the door, he passed his eyes across the roofs and both ways along the streets, trying to spot the trouble, cause trouble there was, but no one was looking out of place, or even at him, so what the hell was wrong with him today?

Shrugging it off, or trying to, he aimed at the last park on his list, he'd found almost five thousand yen all told but he’d had to walk an easy eight miles to do it.  Never mind, with it he had enough to finally pay for his raven's wing repair so, even with the worry plaguing him today, he was almost floating with joy. She’d be able to fly free by the weekend, all he had to do was book her in and then bring her to the appointment.

Easy peasy.

Wandering through the crowds, he caught someone's eye in the reflective window of a bank, just for a flicker of an instant, and his blood froze.  It was no one he’d ever seen before but the expression was familiar, a predatory focus, all on him.

Turning instantly into the next arcade he pushed into the press of adolescent bodies, aiming for the back door, reaching it and hitting a dead run at the same time the hand reaching for him missed by inches.  Giving a brief thanks for all the running he now did in his life, he never even bothered looking behind him, he was already running as fast as he could and, "SHIT!" he slid under the outstretched arms of a second person, who brings back up to grab a street rat like him?

Not just backup, but lots of it!  Dodging and darting, he could feel the effort at herding him, pushing him towards a much worse part of town, but he caught a lucky break when he found an open office building, running through it to the tune of adult yelling. He’d put up with any amount of raised voices if it got him out of the trap he was in. Bursting through the doors at the other side of the building, he turned sharply left, heading back to the crowded streets he’d been forced out of, how were they following him? Was it a quirk? Cause he knew they were, just because yep, there was the one who was so fast hot on his heels again…

He needed help, the knowledge of it burst into his brain as he dodged another grab, he needed a hero or police or even just a fucking adult to hide behind, and THERE, he saw the cape, the confident stride, and he was almost there, almost there and he had his mouth open and was grabbed but managed a strangled yell and the hero turned, seeing him struggling in the tight grip, they were moving to him, and Izuku was kicking and screaming and yelling stranger stranger stranger help me he’s not my dad and everything else he’d ever heard of and the bastard who had him hit him in the guts as he twisted out of his hold and pain hit so hard and fast he couldn't breathe…

As the assailant disappeared into the crowds Blitze turned around to check on the ragged youth that had been the focus of the attack, a surprise because kids that looked like that were usually the ones attacking, rather than the other way around, only to catch sight of them falling onto hands and knees, blood spreading from the knife handle sickeningly protruding from the side of their lower abdomen.

Catching them, they called it in, holding the kid until paramedics took them, listening to them begging not to go, beginning to fight, trying to escape, and finally collapsing after a brief run after breaking away from the ambulance.  Blitz hadn't ever had someone he’d rescued behave like this but who knows why the kid was attacked in the first place, maybe it was a gang thing.

'Never mind,' he thought as the vehicle rolled away, 'at least they’re gonna be taken care of now.'  Self-satisfied smugness filled them, a harmless emotion mostly, as they continued their patrol, doing good in the world was what it was all about.

****

Izuku was in deep, double-digits deep shit and he knew it!

As soon as he felt himself start to fall, felt the pain explode into life, knew it when the paramedic tried to hold him down, knew it when they escaped only to fall and be loaded in the fucking ambulance as he was yelling for them to just let him go and now he was in a hospital and it was hard to think, hard to breathe, but it was fucking easy to stay put because he was wearing restraints!

Maybe he shouldn't have bitten the one trying to take the knife out?

Well, he'd admit that freely, he’d even said sorry about a million times but it was no use, as soon as they ran his ID the system had pinged him as a runaway and possible risk to himself and they weren't gonna let him go any time soon. Well, they might when a case worker arrived, but with what he knew of the system from his one nightmarish jaunt in it - force back the memory of loss, of soul-crushing rejection, of abandonment, and then, oh fucking gods, and then the home where all his nightmares almost came true - he would be wearing restraints until he escaped.

And if he took too long then his raven was going to die, the cats would get hungry and eat her, and what about the pup? Desperate fear bit deeper, she’d let him pet her today, he was making headway against her fear of everyone, she’d starve if he didn't get back!

Gasping he tugged harder at the straps holding him, bracing himself, putting his back into it, arched up, pushing as hard as his body would go but all he got for it was a fire in his wrists as the restraints chafed his skin raw, and a feeling of pinging across his side, still mostly numbed from being stitched shut, wetness now hot and sticky spreading downwards as he lay panting, blinking spots away from his vision, had to see, had to hear, had to know when they were coming for him.

Head twisting to the door, he heard ratatat footsteps heading his way and all his trying failed to convince him it would just walk past and sure enough, licking dry lips he watched the doorknob twist, the door slide open, and a thin man stood framed, clutching release papers, scornful eyes taking in the leather straps holding him to the bed, helpless.

It took everything he had to say, “Heeey, sorry I can't get up right now or I’d give you a proper bow, I’m Midoriya Izuku, how can I help you?” And his voice tried its best, he even managed to keep the stutter hidden, and keep the squeak almost under control too. Overall, he’d take the win.

Of course, it would be more of a win if the Pentelho in the doorway looked anyways kinder but nope, they looked like they’d swallowed vinegar and would rather spit it at him than be kind. Then things got even worse when he caught sight of a man coming in behind the case worker, moving silently and leaning on the wall, and then it all got surreal and even more terrifying when they put their finger against their lips in a clear indication he was to be quiet.

'Ohhhhhkay, focus on the social worker and not on the strange man leaning on the wall, got it.' 

"Midoriya Izuku?" When he nodded they continued, a voice exactly matching his rudeness of mentally naming them pubic hair, "I’m here to take you to the local Group Home until we find you a foster placement, but I want you to understand that if you cause any trouble, and I mean any trouble at all, I will be recommending that you be sent to a correctional facility for young villains faster than you can blink, do I make myself understood?"

'Well, that was fast,' Izuku thought, 'offering a group home where I’ll be targeted just like before and then the instant I defend myself, bang, straight to a kid's prison, got it.' Relaxing in the bed, trying to project helplessness as hard as possible, he managed a wobbly smile and, “I understand, I don’t want to cause any trouble, please, will you let me go? The straps hurt.”

“I’ll call the doctor in a moment, until then you can stay right there where you can't steal anything!”

Ice flooded Izuku’s veins, thief, it was already starting and he was helpless but he couldn't stop himself from saying, “I just want to sit up, please, it hurts.”

The tutt of the social worker's irritation drowned out the movement of the silent man, who came up right behind the pissy control freak and watched as he texted, expression getting harder and harder to read, until, with a suddenness that was shocking, he simply reached over and took the phone, saying, “Pro Hero Eraserhead, I’m going to need this for our case against you.”

Izuku would have liked to hide under the bed when the case worker started yelling, loud voices still made him feel a desperate need to hide, but the straps didn't give this time either as he struggled but at least the hero (hero?) dragged them from the room and, bar the faint sound of the altercation through the door, Izuku was left alone for long enough to calm down, despite himself. 

The door opening silently pulled him from his blank contemplation of the ceiling tiles and he turned his head fast enough to cause spots to blind him briefly. Long enough for two people to be halfway to his bedside, only pausing when he gave a short, violent heave as his body, stupid thing that it was, forgot it was tied down and tried to escape again.

Gasping “Sorry, I forgot, please, I didn't mean to be rude” and his lips trembled as he tried to keep control of his fear, they were so tall, so big, and he hurt and just wanted it to end, so when one backed off, going to the door to call a doctor in an urgent voice and the other one knelt down, saying, “No one is going to hurt you kid, can I take those straps off?” Izuku managed to nod, tensing farther when the dark-haired man closed the distance between them.

Gently opening the buckles, raising the bed to let him sit easier, and taking the glass of water the blond handed the dark one who then tried to hand it to him but his hands were shaking too hard to hold it so it was held for him as he drank, finally downing the entire glass, only to ask for more, it must have been hours since he last had anything to drink, or else it was the bloodloss making him so thirsty, he wasn't sure.

“In a minute, let that settle, we don't want to make you sick. Now, can you lift your shirt for me, I just need to see where you got hurt, okay?” Izuku didn't expect the hiss they made when he followed the directions so he asked, “What's wrong?” as he looked down at the blood-soaked bandages.

“It looks like you broke open the stitches when you struggled, Zashi, call Chiyo?” 

“Already on it Babe! Do you want her here or at home?”  Dark eyes studied him for a moment and then said, “Home, we need to get him out of here, we’re too exposed like this.” Izuku wouldn't argue with that, it would be easier to escape from a house than a hell hole containment center or group home too so he was all for getting out of there if they were willing to spring him.

The doctor came and then, making shocked and annoyed sounds at the state of his wound, and his wrists that were red raw, and weeping blood from his struggles. Holding still to be bandaged was difficult for him but he managed it, then he stood up when instructed, careful not to move too fast, letting the blond one, “Call me Yamada, ya dig?” put his arm around him as he was led to their vehicle, the blond getting behind the wheel and the dark one, “Call me Aizawa,” sitting beside him with a soft over the shoulder, “Buckle up kid.”

It took Izuku most of the ride to pinpoint his location, and his heart wilted, he was miles from base and so tired, and his backpack was gone, and with it all his money and his bird's chance of flying again. Tears prickled his eyes, and he fiercely rubbed at them, trying to force them away, “Little Listener, hhhhey guy, easy on yourself there, you don't need any more dings, you got plenty already!”

Looking blearily at the hero, he asked, knowing the answer was going to be no, “Do you know where my stuff is?”

"Yep, we have what was in your pockets up here and your backpack is in the boot, we’ll give it back to you once we get home.  When we do get home we have a hero coming over to fix your injuries but we thought it was important to get you somewhere safe, ya dig? Those people who tried to abduct you today are bad news and being helpless in a hospital wasn't great, and even worse if that prick actually managed to set you up to go to juvie!”

"Do you have any idea what they want with you kid?”

'They both have such nice voices,' he thought as he tried to process the question, finally managing “Ummmmmm, I dunno, they just started trying to grab me, I don't have anything, I’m worthless, no one would pay a ransom, I mean, look’it me, do I look like aaaaanyone would pay to get me back?”

Panting slightly after his brief rant, he shook his head, saying, "Look, you can just let me out here, I won't tell anyone you did and you’d be clear of the hassle of having me near you.  I’ve got things to do, so, if you could just…” he tried to lift the lock on the door but it didn't budge, he gave his best hopeful smile, knocking on the door, "Seriously, just let me out, no worries, I can take care of myself!"

"Nice try kid, but until we know who wants you and why, you’ll be staying with us.”

Trying harder to unlock the door Izuku felt his breathing speeding up as he rammed it with his shoulder, the shock of hitting it a full-body sensation overwhelming the painkillers still in his system. Despite that, he tried again, feeling the car swerve over and jerk to a halt, the adult's hands in clear view but not yet reaching for him, a voice trying to get his attention as panic ripped through him, he couldn't get out, He Couldn't GET OUT!!!!

Watching the frightened kid go from carefully trying to convince them to let him go to a wild fighting feral animal clawing at the door and screaming wordlessly as he tried to escape, was seriously one of the worst moments of Hizashi’s hero career, and he’d seen many many bad things.

Knowing the kid wouldn't get past the child locks, and the glass was everything resistant, he wasn't going to get out so they simply waited for the fit to run its course, taking turns to keep a steady stream of comforting words in the air and eventually it started working, well, that and the fact the kid was totally drained. Blood loss and terror and escalating pain combining to have him gasping for breath, leaning on the door as he cried, only looking at them in the end when the words, much repeated, "We have your animals, I think we have all of them, eight cats, five kittens, one dog, and one demon bird. Please tell us if we missed any?" finally got through to him.

Eyes open in blatant shock, the words gasped out, "You have them? They’re safe? Even Kabuto?”

The kid was shaking so hard his words were almost unintelligible but, “Yeah, if Kabuto is the demon bird, then we even have her. We got Menagerie in to round them all up, she had no trouble with the cats and if you’re looking for a home for the dog she’s already in love and says she’d die for them and if you’ve named it I’m really sorry but she’s calling her Sakura, I know, sappy, but she’s like that, but the bird, well, she’s never been that great with birds and your one took one look at her and said fuck this shit and it took her entire team over an hour to catch it.”

Keeping his eyes calmly meeting frantic green ones that were slowly filling with hope, he said softly, “They’re all safe kid, all of them, and for now, Menagerie has them. If it’s okay with you she’ll foster them out until you're in a better position to care for them, that way they get used to people. The bird though, might need…”

"I have the money! I got enough today to pay for her wing, the vet on Komatsu street, they said they can fix her, she’ll be able to fly again! I didn't steal it, the money," he was almost tripping over himself with his words, "I found it, my quirk, with my quirk, it's taken me months and months but I wanted to do it right, to pay for it right, so I've been scavenging at parks and things for lost change, really I swear, it isn't stolen, it's good money it is, it's in my bag, the rest of it, I mean, most of its in my chair, if you tip it over and unscrew the right front leg, its rolled up inside the leg, please, tell the hero that, okay? All they have to do is use it and she’ll fly again, she’s really good at getting round but I couldn't let her go until she can fly again…”

The kid broke down then, sobbing as their heart broke, still managing to say, "Let her fly, just let her fly, I know she’ll fly away but she needs to fly!”

***

Settling the kid in, they took in with him four of the eight cats he’d been feeding, four cats that took no time at all to take over the house so that, while the kid was still ghosting around with no noise and almost invisible, the cats were all over everything, climbing on shelves and sleeping in laps.

"How on EARTH did you get them this tame kid?" Shouta asked, not quite believing cats that should be feral and wild were acting like they’d been house pets their entire lives, and Hizashi muttered, "And can you teach them to stay off the kitchen counters?”

Izuku laughed at Hizashi, a tiny sound that made both men smile, the kid was so skittish but when he forgot to expect to be hurt, he was full of light and joy, saying, "I just talked to them, like, a LOT, and told them all about the cafe we’d have… one…… day….."

'Shit,' he looked for the nearest escape route, "Ummmm, I gotta go!" and he was halfway to his feet when he was pounced by two of the still officially unnamed cats, giving Hizashi enough time to say, "Heeeeey Cool! A cafe? Like, a cat one or a normal one?" And his expression was open and interested and Izuku checked on Shouta where he was sitting, lap full of one of the cats and not even seeming to pay any attention and maybe it would be okay to talk about it?

"A-a-a c-cat kind? Well," he gained strength as he talked, focusing on the two in his lap that he was calling Yin and Yang in his head, "not just cats? I want a shelter but not just for dogs and cats, but one that helps any animal that needs it? But they take money to run and then the animals need to find homes so if I have a cafe and have maybe different rooms, like, one or two for cats and LOTS of books because I can sell books too and people can read them and play with the cats and maybe want to take their favorite home with them and then I’d have a big room, like a really big one for the dogs and people could play with them and have a ball pit and jumps and toys and things and I wanted to do birds too but I stiiilllll can't figure out how to do it without mess getting into peoples food and," he finally sucked in a deep breath, "yeah, that."

Hizashi gave him a big smile, and said, "I know I’d come to a place like that, it sounds a wonderful plan."

"Yeah, but," Izuku frowned, "I don't know how to start it now, I was gonna find a building like the one I was living in and just do it up a bit at a time but now, why were those people after me and are they still looking for me? How do I find out, and if they are, how do I get them to stop?"

"I can’t stay here forever, nobody needs to get saddled with me for that long," both men's hearts broke at that but they kept their reaction hidden, the kid needed to be able to speak freely first, then, when he was comfortable speaking freely, they could address some of the frankly appalling things he'd said about himself.

However, they could address the cause of the fear so, "Kiddo," Shouta said, "we’ve got several people working on it right now, but, until we know for sure our best guess is that it's something to do with your stepfather."

Seeing Izuku flinch hard at the word, Hizashi wished he could hug him close but they were nowhere near physical affection yet, the kid still shied at them simply walking past, never mind touching him, so he just took up the tale, "We ran his record and he was a small time con man but it looks like he tried to step up his game and it went bad, like, he seriously pissed the wrong set of people off. We think he met and used your mum to hide with, and we never met the man but it seems like he fell in love with her?"

"Yeah, he did.  I never liked him much at first cause he felt so fake but he started getting more, well, real I guess? And then the twins came along and we were really happy. I know he was only acting with me but he really did love Mum and I was good with that but then he started getting really scared…"

He looked up, "Do you think he meant to leave me behind?" Heartbreak in his eyes he shook his head, "It doesn't matter, even if he didn't mean it I was almost grabbed and I escaped and ran home but it was empty but they left a note and I ran," he suddenly heaved a sob, "I ran so fast but they didn't meet me, they never came and," he was now sobbing in childish abandon and Hizashi couldn't help himself, he slowly and carefully gathered him close, holding him as Izuku grabbed a double fistful of jumper and wailed his hurt, his loss, Hizashi simply rocking him side to side, the cats long gone and watching the show from a safer distance. 

Shouta moved to bracket the boy, waiting to be sure he could hear him before saying, "We think they wanted you to be with them, your mother loved you, and no one could live near you and not want you kid. We think his being discovered was an accident, and then it all happened faster than expected…"

"They had to run, and you got left, but we believe they made it safely to Hong Kong, and if they did then they made it to safety, somewhere, all of them are alive and well, and we will find them, I swear it."

Running his fingers through tangled green curls, he said, "We have a lead on the ones that tried to abduct you. As best we can tell it's in revenge for what he did, and not personal to you. Anyone he cared about would do, it just happens to be you that's got the shit hand dealt but, kid, until we catch them, until we KNOW you’re safe, the best place for you is here."

Hizashi added, "We want you here, right here, and we will not throw you out, or leave you alone, or let you go until we know it's safe and that YOU want to go."

Then they simply held the sobbing child tight, held him until he finally cried himself to sleep and they settled him onto the couch, covering him with a blanket, and leaned back, tired to the bone their own selves.

Shouta finally said, "I don't want him to go, they don't deserve him, nothing excuses him being left behind. That bastard could have given himself up, walked into the nearest police station with the entire family, and been safe as houses, fucking bastard shit," his fingers were as gentle as his words were not as he continued to work tangles free, "he doesn't get him back Zashi, they can't have him back!"

And Hizashi, voice of reason that he always had to be when living with someone like Shouta, replied, "They can have him back over my dead body!"

'Yeah,' Shouta thought, as he laughed out loud, 'there’s the reason I love this man!' His eyes met green ones afire with protective rage, “Good, now that’s settled, let's order in some dinner, he’s gonna be too tired to do much more than eat and go back to sleep later.”

Standing as a group later that week, three pro heroes and one found child, they watched as a raven flew free, rising higher and higher in the sky as tears of joy streamed down the boy's face.

He may never be a hero but this, yeah, this was just as good!

***********

"So, it’s really alright if I come?"

Having lived with his new dads for two years, Izuku was usually much better at managing his occasional bouts of insecurity but being invited on the first big field trip of the year with class 1A was a big deal, and he'd be missing his gen ed classes for the day too but, "Yeh, its all covered, just like I told you last week, and Zashi told you yesterday, and I’m telling you now and …"

"Daaaaad stop it, aaaargh, why are you like this?"

"Yeah, Shouta, why are you being all mean to our green bean, telling him he can come on a big ol’ exciting field trip and everything!"

Slumping into his Pops' hold, Izuku squirmed round and shoved his face into the man's chest, moaning as he tried to hide how much he was giggling, only to squeal in shocked surprise when Zashi dug his fingers gently into his ribs, causing his knees to try to buckle from how much it tickled.

Batting the offending hands away he managed to gasp, "Okay okay, I get it, I can go, I’m even invited so not going would be illogical!”

Climbing onto the bus later that day he still felt nervous but, smiling at the class he’d been introduced to that morning - “This is Aizawa Izuku, he will be accompanying us on today's field trip, feel free to NOT bombard him with questions. A three-page essay on respecting personal boundaries awaits anyone who can't control themselves!” - as he found a seat next to the girl with the frog mutation, Tsu he thought she’d asked him to call her but with so many people and quirks to learn, he was struggling a bit with the names.

One hand shoved deep into his come to me pocket, he ticked over its contents, one at a time. Lucky coin, old key, new key, nuts and bolts and beads, and a pocket knife and a solid washer and a bit of electric cable and anything and everything he thought might help him in a self-defense situation, more from how it soothed him than actual nervousness.

He had two years of quirk training behind him now, as well as LOTS of self-defense because, even though he still wanted his cafe and rescue center, he also had two Dads that insisted he be able to handle himself in any situation, despite his being happy in general education now that he was old enough to be enrolled in it. But ticking over his lucky pocket full of keying in items just calmed him down and the bus was sooooo loud, even the four teachers with them didn't quiet down the kids much.

Although when Present Mic threw his voice as a hiss into everyone's ears - "Quiet down lissssssteners!" - the entire bus went dead silent before erupting in amazed chatter at how cool his quirk was, and yeah, Izuku had to agree, his Pop really was the coolest.

Well, Dad was pretty much the coolest too!

Of course, Midnight was also pretty damned awesome, and his auntie beside, so yeah, his family was the coolest.

Meeting 13 on the steps of the totally awesome and enormous USJ building was also, yeah, by the time he was finished journaling about all the awesomeness of today - the weirdness of how Bakugo had reacted to seeing him for the first time in so many years was going to take up pages and pages - he'd have a notebook filled front to back, he LOVED field trips!

***

Izuku took it back, he hated field trips!

He wasn't sure how he wound up on the main plaza of the USJ, surrounded by villains, clothes ripped and soaked and all his trinkets gone which was bad enough but then he heard someone scream "NOMU Grab THEM!" and the hulking beast had Zashi and Shou down, crouched between them, huge hands pressing their heads to the ground, holding them down with relentless force, no matter how they fought to get free, blood pooling from the damage already done…

They were going to die!

Patting himself down, scrabbling his fingers across the broken ground, Izuku could find nothing to grab, nothing to pull, hearing the oily words “You two really are so cool, but at the end of the day, you're both just heroes, it's a waste but, since you won't join me, I guess your deaths will make a statement too, just not as big as killing All Might, but if we kill all the kids in here too, that’ll do just as well, I guess.”

In his panic, Izuku stumbled to his feet, yelling “NO!!!”, and reached out at the only thing he’d found to pull, something he could feel inside of himself and match with those around him, he could feel more than a dozen in the big THING holding his family down, so he grabbed the one inside of himself to anchor to and extended his hand at the monster, and PULLED!

All fifteen of the things broke free and flew to Izuku, who opened his eyes as they contacted his hand, only to see nothing, but feel everything, and he hit his knees, gasping as he was filled with sensations he couldn’t even begin to name.

Eyes blinking in shock, he stared as the thing went down, limp like a marionette with its strings cut, and the man covered with hands screamed and turned to him so Izuku Pulled and the two things in that villain came to him too, caressing his fingers as they entered and joined the ones he already had.

"Stupid fucking NPC, I’ll KILL YOU!!!" And they were storming in his direction but Pops was up again and hit them with a concentrated ultra-low frequency attack and Izuku, mind filled with confusion, watched them stumble and fall, still trying to crawl in his direction, and the purple mist villain suddenly appeared saying, "Tomura Shigaraki, I think it’s time we left here!" and no, no no no no no one gets away with hurting his family and Izuku used the last of his strength, head pounding a blinding rhythm as he grabbed the weirdly tangled cluster of shapes that the villain had inside him, and pulled them out, gathering them to him, as, blood gushing from his mouth and eyes and nose, Izuku never even felt himself hitting the ground!

*****

Waking to a blinding headache and gut-wrenching nausea, Izuku moaned, managed to cover his face with his forearm, and gasped at how bright the light was, how loud the room and then blessedly it got darker, although still too loud.

"Tell us what hurts." And thank gods, that was Dad and he tried to reach out but his hand was already being held and he couldn't help the sob as he clutched tight, whimpering as he tried to make words but they just wouldn't work.

"Okay, shhhhh okay, it’s alright, Pops and I are fine, the class is too, we don't know what you did but you saved us, now we need to know what hurts so I’m going to ask questions and you give my hand one squeeze for yes, two for no, got it kiddo?"

He squeezed his hand once and his dad gave an almost soundless chuckle, "Yeah, that's just cause you're a clever clogs, smart ass."

"Now, headache?"

Squeeze.

"Out of ten, with one being nothing and ten being agony, is it lower than a five?"

Squeeze squeeze.

"Is it seven?"

Squeeze squeeze.

"Shit, eight?"

Squeeze squeeze.

"Nine?"

Squeeze.

"Good job sweetheart, Pops is calling in the doctor and we can see if they can get that number down for you."

"Does anything else hurt?"

Squeeze

Thinking of his own experience with quirk exhaustion, he asked, "Nausea?"

Squeeze

"Same scale, eight?"

Squeeze

"Good, good job.  Do your bones ache?"

Izuku almost laughed because shit yeah, they really did.  Squeeze

"Same scale, eight?"

Squeeze squeeze

"Lower?"

Squeeze

"Seven?"

Squeeze

"You are doing so good, I’m so proud of you baby. So headache, nausea, bone pain, we can't check your balance and for fucks sake, keep those eyes closed. I doubt you could walk a straight line either but,” the doctor coming in at that moment cut him off so he switched to giving them the information already gathered.

Holding still as he was examined, giving squeeze answers, he almost wept with relief when he was told, "You have extreme quirk exhaustion, I’m adding potent pain reducers to your iv, it should start to take effect in a minute or two but while we wait for that, I’ll just say that they'll probably make you a bit sleepy so if they do please don't fight the effect, you need sleep to heal and the time you spend sleeping will be pain-free so, just enjoy the nap."

By the time he heard the word nap the bed was melting out from under him and he was floating away, light as a feather, and gave himself over to slumber.

*********

Watching their kid fall asleep under the effects of some kick-ass painkillers, they were simultaneously upset that he was in that situation in the first place and deeply grateful he could spend some time sleeping. A nine on the pain scale was a horrifying number for a child to be experiencing.

Hearing the door click Hizashi looked over, seeing Nezu-sama behind him. He tried to repress his anger at the sight. UA was supposed to be safe, and it was this person who was supposed to KEEP IT SAFE and instead, they'd been attacked and without the whatever it was their baby boy had done everyone would have died today.

As usual, trying to hide a reaction like that from their boss was futile as he said, "You are quite correct, I failed you today, I failed all of you."

The whine was tugged out of Hizashi unwillingly but, "Shhhhhhit, aargh, no," he gave a huge exasperated sigh, "it’s not your fault, well, it is, but not really. You may be the smartest in the room but you're not some kind of omniscient being, sometimes things fuck up, sometimes people get past us, and no one died, just, Nezu, what happened? What’s wrong with my baby?”

Shouta wrapping his arms around him was the best feeling in the world as he cradled the tiny hand in his, Izuku was so strong, but he was still just a kid, a child, only fourteen fucking years old for Kami's sake and he’d done something amazing, and inexplicable, and Nezu had better be able to tell them about it or else!

"I have an expert on the way but I think," he sighed, rubbing his face tiredly, reaching up to massage behind his ears as his own tiredness dragged at him, "judging by the fact that the two main villains have no access to their quirks, and the monster they brought with them is currently a steaming pile of rotting flesh, it seems your son did something to their quirks."

"The one called Shigaraki insisted the one called Nomu had multiple quirks, that it was created to defeat All Might but if it was made, then I’m hypothesizing that its quirks kept it alive so when Izuku did something to them, that killed it."

"And no, before you even start to worry, he is not in any trouble! Not only do all the self-defense laws cover him for this, but he was also on private property and had permission to use his quirk in the exercise so legally he is covered in every direction."

Hizashi felt himself relax, killing in the line of duty was an occupational hazard but Izuku wasn't a hero, he wasn't even a hero student, he wanted an animal rescue center for god's sake, not to fight insanely overpowered villains for a living!

Letting his head rest on the bed, he let Shouta take over the conversation, he just wanted today over.

**********

Watching the quirk specialist examining Izuku was tense, despite how everyone was pretending that it wasn't.

Not one of the three people that had lost their quirk access had gotten them back, although one of them was, admittedly, dead so they didn't expect that to improve any time soon.

The other two were reportedly doing well physically but the younger of the two hadn't stopped raging and the older one had seemingly said almost nothing beyond please and thank you when asked if they wanted to eat or anything to drink.

For now, they were being kept separate, despite Shigaraki’s demands to have them reunited.

Izuku politely answered the thin man's questions about how they felt, how it had felt on the day of the USJ attack, - and he and Hizashi were so relieved that the worst of the symptoms had eased over the last three days, although they were now almost desperate to get their son home - and then they waited as the specialist Nezu had flown in for them placed their hands on Izuku's head and froze.

For almost an hour they all sat, Izuku only blinking occasionally and the one holding his head simply breathing, eyes closed and face still.

Until, with simultaneous deep inhales, they broke apart and blinked back to the present.

"Oh my," the specialist said in surprise, "oh my heavens, how unexpected is that! Kid, what an extraordinary quirk you have, Take is it called? Well, aptly named although stupid, I bet you got a world of hurt growing up with a fucked up quirk name like that!"

Which is when Shouta realized how young the specialist actually was. Hiding his eye roll and his amusement when Izuku agreed, "Yeah, it really was fucked up!"

"Well, I’m gonna have to add to the general background fuckery of your life dude cause, well, Take used to only collect items you held in your hand and consciously pulled to you, yeah?"

Izuku nodded, starting to fidget so Hizashi handed him a tangle, knowing if he didn't have something in his hands he’d hurt himself.

"Well, you said you lost your keying-in items in the attack but that when you were at your most desperate you found something inside yourself to key off of and to anchor your Pull?"

Again, a nod.

"Right, there isn't any easy way to say this so I’ll just say it right out, the thing your quirk used to pull on was, well, your quirk."

A moment of silence and then the room's ambient temperature seemed to drop to below freezing as every adult in the room figured out what he meant, while Izuku said, "Huh?”

"Stop." Came the very mild voice of their boss, the tone he only used when things became suddenly and unexpectedly bad. "Before you continue, this goes no farther than this room." He checked the wrist computer he always wore, waving it in a circular motion, "Good, the room is still clear of surveillance devices, please, Zai-chan, this is extremely sensitive and indeed, potentially terribly dangerous, no one is to hear of this, am I clear?"

"No SHIT dude! Damn, Nezu-sama, this is, this is, shhhhit, this is fucked up! I can feel the danger stats upping every time I open my mouth and I am NOT getting disappeared cause I’m the one who did the first intel!"

"Now," he turned back to Izuku, "what I mean is, you held your own quirk as your anchor point and then pulled…." He made a finger wiggle, clearly waiting for Izuku to figure the rest out himself and, "Oh my gods, no, oh nonono Dad, nonono I couldn't, I CAN'T!!!"

Two strides and he had his kid in his tight hold, Hizashi coming up and wrapping them both in his long arms, simply holding him as he shook, not even trying to understand the steady stream of mumbles muffled against his chest.

He didn't bother to try to time it either, only letting go when Izuku gave a tiny wiggle, which let them all finally sit back down, when, bracketed by both of them, Izuku finally said, "I took them, didn't I? Their quirks, I have them now, all of them."

He nodded, even though no one had said anything.  "I can feel them, now I know what they are. At first, it felt like I was a bag, overstuffed and burning, but the quirk exhaustion was over in a few days, wasn't it? As bad as it was I should still be blinded by the headache, not feeling great, and I do, I feel so good, so it has to be the quirks, or one of them anyway."

He nodded again, before looking up and asking, "If there were only three people, how come I have so many, and why do some of them feel so weird?"

When the specialist asked what he meant he frowned and said, "The misty one? He had four quirks I think but they're all tangled up, like a tiny ball, and I can't make them let go of each other, and they seem to work like one quirk," he opened his mouth only for Shouta to cut him off, "NO, Do NOT activate any of them in here!"

Hizashi gave him a side hug and said, "We’ll start trying them out soon, but a hospital is not gonna be a great place to play with such dangerous toys, ya dig?" 

The giggle they got at calling quirks toys let them know their kid was going to be fine, even with this new twist to all their lives.

***********

Izuku took six weeks to learn the different quirks he now had from the first two villains, not how to use them, but simply what they were.

Portal was the bundle of quirks he’d gotten from the mist man, the one they now knew to be an old, long presumed dead, friend of his parents. That had been a surprise, not a good one either, especially because he seemed to have lost most of his memories and even the ones he had were distant and confused.

But they were working on it, he was in a secure facility and had lots of people helping him to discover who he was now, and who he might want to become in the future.

One thing he had decided, he didn't want his quirk back!

“It’s not mine, it never was mine, and I don't want it!”

So that was that, Izuku had Portal and couldn't get rid of it. Not only that but once he got the hang of it - and he knew that was going to take months and months and months at the very least - he had the feeling that he was going to be upgraded to a glorified taxi service!

Decay and a fairly high specification speed quirk came from the truly insane young man who raged about All Might and killing heroes and destroying everything but, if you gave him a video game to play, he calmed right down and even seemed to enjoy himself.

He too said “No fucking THANKS!” when offered his main quirk back, but he accepted the Speed one back, said it was all about how fast he could use the controls on his games unit.  Izuku wasn't going to argue but it was hard to like crazy gamer people, it really was.

So Izuku was forced to keep Decay as well. He studied his hands, feeling the quirk shivering in his tendons, itching under his skin, wanting to be used, trying to destroy, and while he could see ways the quirk could be used for good, it was so strong, and he could feel how it would be stronger in the future, strong enough to turn to dust entire buildings, maybe even city blocks, so it was the first quirk to try to get rid of.

~~~~~~

Standing in the middle of a small island, surrounded by an easy mile of deep water between him and the mainland, he had insisted on being alone for his idea, insisted that no one be even on a boat near the island, that he be observed from a distance, a VERY long distance! His dads had talked it over with him, they'd taken days to work it all out, and now he stood alone on rock and tugged Decay to the forefront of his mind, gently teasing it into shape, carefully cradling it in his hands, cupped together as if it would break or perhaps escape.

Once he had it in his hands he mentally held his own quirk, using it as a fulcrum, and pushed Decay downwards, deep into the bedrock of the island, not yet activated but knowing that if it began to destroy the stone, that the surrounding water, that seemingly gentle yet incredibly powerful substance, would prevent it's getting out of hand but Izuku didn't think it could, without a living host Decay should simply dissipate, its energy gone, and, as Izuku let it go, it simply faded, whispering away from his mind, and was gone.

He fell to his hands and knees in relief and stress-induced exhaustion. It worked, he could get rid of the ones he didn't want, the risky ones, the dangerous to him and his loved ones' quirks could be handled like this, no one had to keep them, not even him.

No one would mourn Decay, not even the one he’d taken it from.

They made him take a few day's rest, only letting him work a couple of hours in the shelter he volunteered at, and then only when he could be escorted by a top-tier hero.  And he really couldn't argue, he was now a target, even if almost no one knew what he could do, the really TOTALLY wrong people might already be hunting for him, they just didn't know!

~~~~~~~~~~

Working out everything he'd gotten from Nomu took him a few more weeks, but in the end he had:

Regen - which was an incredibly powerful regeneration quirk and he had a few good ideas on what to do with it.

Shock Absorber - which he’d had some AMAZING times with already once he got the hang of it, parkour was now a dream and so MUCH fun!

Iron Skin - which he’d not bothered to activate more than once because ewwwww, it was just nasty lookin’ and needed no practicing, it was either on, or off.  The one time he had it on they did some basic tests to see how much protection it offered and it was pretty much like wearing a bulletproof suit of armor so he kept it ready, just in case.

A basic Speed Enhancement - just as it said on the package.  One was plenty so he was glad the mad gamer person had taken his one back because one was enough!

Agility - Izuku had never felt very confident in his skin but now, well, it was nice to not fall over things and if he just ignored what he was doing and let his body and quirk get on with the job, he could even keep up with his Dad as they ran across not just rooftops but along power lines and across any kind of terrain.  Of course, the few times he suddenly thought, "What the FUCK am I doing!" were the times he fell but with practice, he got better at it, and it became something they enjoyed together, running where no sane person would even think to go.

Ballance - Was so closely linked to Agility that it was like two parts to the same quirk, and together they had Izuku dancing around the apartment like he’d always dreamed of doing, graceful and easy. 

Traction -  was just exactly how it felt, he was incapable of slipping and always had a perfect grip on what he was standing on or holding.  

Super Dense Bones - that one gave him some trouble as it came with a drawback in that the matter for the bone density had to come from somewhere and in this quirks case it came from his muscles. 

Without Regen, Izuku would have been badly injured the one time he tried that one out, and it was the second quirk he got rid of, only this time they found a child suffering from an ultra-rare quirk defect that was crumbling her bones to powder and gave it to them.

Recovery Girl supervised the procedure and they had Shouta on standby in case anything went wrong but, to the relief of everyone involved, the quirk transferred without difficulty - in fact, to Izuku it was like it was singing in joy as it moved into its new host - and the little girl, who hadn't been able to move herself unassisted in almost three years, was able to lift her hand and wave “g’bye!” as they left.  

A road to recovery was still before her but now they'd get there and one day she’d be running.

Izuku had asked, in private, if passing Regen over too might speed the healing process but was advised that, as they didn't know how quirks actually behaved in new bodies, that it wasn't worth the risk of losing the quirk, especially as it might do more harm than good.

Muscle Enhancement -  Izuku hated this one, he’d only tried it a few times and gotten hurt each time, finally shoving it deep into the earth under the gym in frustration as it almost broke his legs for the third time.  If it had been his only quirk he would have MADE it work but as it was, he was thrilled to get rid of it.

Primary Sensory Enhancement -  As soon as he activated this one it almost blew his head off, vision to rival a hawk (and he got night vision with it too) hearing to rival an owl, sense of smell to put house cats to shame, it took him a full day to recover from the overload but it was so incredible that he kept working with this one, managing to cut it down to one sense at a time, and steadily, with time and practice, he got it fully under control.

Minor Foreshadowing - letting him anticipate attacks - It might be a pest to have a feeling of impending doom when an unexpected pop quiz he hadn't studied for was going to happen but the trade-off was, he always knew to bring an umbrella so he kept this one active as he drank his morning coffee, getting an idea - dim and distant as it was - of how his day was going to shape up before switching it off to let a more useful quirk be active.

He found with practice that the tighter the focus in time the clearer the image impression of how the foreshadowed event was going to go, so if he focused on the day he got impressions and hunches while if he focused on just a few moments ahead in time he got crystal clear images.

Useful, but distracting, so he usually simply used it on its widest band that was actually useful and then turned it off for the rest of the day.

Oxygen Storage was a surprise, what with it letting him hold his breath for up to thirty minutes at a time, but it might be a lifesaver someday so he kept it tucked away and easy to activate in a hurry if he ever needed it.

Eat/Digest Anything - Izuku was really quite grossed out by this one but he resolved to just hold of it and maybe one day he’d find the proper home for it, until then it would be kept in reserve for emergencies.

Passive Energy Absorption - Izuku loved this one, when active, his body simply soaked up the energy in the world around him, from the sun, the wind, energy built up in the earth, the movements of even the smallest amounts of water, even the way leaves waved as they grew gave him something to absorb.  He’d wondered how the Nomu was powered but with the ability to digest anything plus energy absorption, it had given it more than enough power to perform the way its creators wanted.

Hyper Obedience he got rid of as soon as he examined it closely, not even activating it, pulling it into his hands and shoving it deep deep deep into the earth. No one needed to be chained to those kinds of emotions, he shuddered any time he thought of it, finally winding up in a cuddle pile on the couch watching Princess Bride as an antidote to the nastiness.

**************************

Over the past six months Izuku had gotten really used to working with his dads and the kids of years 1, 2, and 3, both A and B, in the gyms of UA because five days out of seven, he spent at least two hours after school in training sessions, learning to use his original quirk and how each of his new quirks worked and how to best make use of them.

They’d been working hard today on his giving a quirk and then retrieving it as they had already found out that it took several days for a quirk to bed into its new host to the point that the quirk's new owner would experience loss verging upon trauma if the quirk was taken back so, a shoving one into someone for a short time was fine. Quirks didn't seem to care where they were, just that they were somewhere they could be active.

And they’d also found that someone suddenly experiencing a quirk effect they had never had before suffered disorientation and made for an easy target when sparing so Aizawa-sensei was using that to teach all his classes to push through and fight effectively even when suffering from a range of sensory and biological incapacitation.

Of course, then Kan-sensei saw how much the A kids were progressing and asked very nicely (demanded really but for him, it was a nice ask) for his kids to join too, and there Izuku was, a teaching tool extraordinaire! Even though he still didn't want to be a hero, he was loving being involved in teaching the heroes of the future, and it was when he was sparring with Shinso that he discovered a brand new thing his quirk could do.

He’d been feeling off all day, foreshadowing poking at him relentlessly but not giving him any idea of why, it was as much emotion based as anything else, so he'd finally pushed it back into the pile and was using Agility to its full as they sparred, finally letting Ballance take over, shifting Agility into his hands and was about to shove it into Shinso when he had a momentary stab of reluctance, he didn't want to give it away, he wanted to give it away, he needed it, needed to shove it into Shinso and the diametrically opposed emotions had him stumbling to a halt…

Watching the quirk now held carefully in his hands, not even noticing how everyone in the gym was beginning to show deep concern, the emotions raging in him transferred to the quirk in his hold and it split down the middle, forming two half-sized quirk balls, visible only to him, and both equally beautiful.

Stunned he looked up, seeing Shouta in full Dad mode asking, "What's wrong kiddo, talk to me!” and he said, "It split, it split, what do I do Dad?" and in a totally instinctive move he pulled one of them back into himself and shoved the other into Shinso who was still standing there, looking slightly frantic, as no one really knew what was going on but they all loved the green bean and no one wanted him hurt or distressed in any way.

Holding his hand up in the universal signal for just give me a moment, Izuku held his half of Agility active, feeling its reduced power, how it was still useful, but how it now felt… “Young? Shit, Dad, I think I just made Agility into a baby quirk!”

****

They decided to leave the younger version of Agility in Shinso and to monitor how both halves of the same quirk acted in the two different boys and what they found was that in Shinso it bedded in, spreading out and activating the way a quirk normally would at age four, giving - "Call me Hitoshi, we have a baby quirk together after all!" - Hitoshi much more control than the usual four-year-old but not more power with it.

They theorized that it would grow faster in power and while they waited to see if that was true, Hitoshi was THRILLED with his new quirk, it gave him the edge he needed to rise fast through the rankings in the class.

However, with Izuku it worked differently because he had so much energy to spare because he was soaking it up any time he forgot and left P.E.A. on, because unlike Hitoshi and the baby quirk that was always active once inside him, Izuku had to actively activate his quirks to use them so mostly they just sat inside him, passively, soaking in energy and not burning it up.

Agility in its passive form was growing back to full strength remarkably quickly, and the baby version of the quirk now living inside Hitoshi caused him no side effects at all, which gave Izuku an idea that he just couldn't get out of his mind.

************

"No.”

Shouta said it again, flatly, "No.”

"Wait, hear me out! It's not just a good idea cause it’ll give me SO MUCH MORE DATA but it will also, if it works the same way, give you a real edge at night and keep you safer!  And it doesn't have to be permanent, if you don't like it I’ll just take it back!”

And Izuku pulled out the big guns, aiming his puppy eyes not at his Dad, but at Hizashi, saying, "You want him safer too, don't you Pops?"

"Izuku, how much time have you been spending with Nezu-sama?" Shouta and Hizashi asked at the exact same time, with the exact same inflection, and all three burst out laughing!

"But really, it’s a good ideeeeea Dad, you know it is, cause if it works then I can get so many quirks and I can give them too, but like baby ones, so the students are stronger and better. And I can get the loan of a new quirk, split it in two, and give half back!

And once my half grows back to full strength I can swap them over, so the donor had their full strength quirk back and I have the baby one to grow up again.

You know the more I practice with that the better because then we’ll know how fast the original quirk grows back in the donor AND Regen, dad, think about regen, its soooo strong but maybe I can split off just a little bit of it and give it to like injured heroes and see how it works, if it grows to be just as strong or if it stays as a minor healing factor or how about Eat Anything, would bits of it help someone with an eating disorder and then what if I…"

"Izuku baby, breathe for Pops, come on Sweetheart, all those are wonderful ideas and I think if your Dad wants to try it then maybe we can all take a few weeks off active duty and see how the senses one works for him and maybe try me with a little bit of Regen and see if it helps the kickback on my quirk but before all of that, I have the most important question of the day, so, are you ready?

Izuku braced himself and nodded, no idea what he was about to be asked but ready for anything.

"What," Hizashi asked with deadly seriousness, "do you want for dinner?"

And then he ran like hell as both husband and son chased him out of the gym, murder in their eyes!

*******

The experiments went well, Shouta gaining a slight upgrade to all of his senses that was slowly growing over time, allowing him to not be overwhelmed by the changes, and the tiny piece of Regen that Hizashi was given acted in a way that was a surprise to the quirk experts that seemed to live at UA now but that Izuku himself was expecting…

As it was tiny, easily only a tenth of the original quirk, Izuku privately called it a baby baby, and when he held it carefully, right before putting it into Hizashi, it felt so lonely, too tiny to have almost any identity of its own, that he made sure to snuggle it right against the glowing, shifting joyful cacophony that was Voice, and he watched it being absorbed into the adult quirk, not disappearing but instead mingling and expanding and enhancing what was already there.

And Izuku was right, the slight addition removed the damage caused by the main quirk, healing it as it happened.  

Which gave Izuku even more information on quirks, and how they functioned in conjunction with his own.

****

Shouta was the next recipient to a baby baby piece of Regen....

Izuku gave what he still had of Regen full access to the passive energy gathering quirk to get the it back up to full strength in only two weeks' time, giving him a baseline number for how fast he could give pieces away - and if Izuku had to do suicide sprints until he couldn't stand AND write a five-page essay on why consent is the most important part of any relationship as soon as Shouta noticed that his dry eyes were working without pain or irritation anymore, well, 'Cheap at the price!' Izuku thought.

And he got fully forgiven for having done it, even though he also had to swear on all he held dear to never give any part of a quirk to anyone ever again without fully clearing it with the recipient!

***********

The long heart-to-heart he had with Yuuga about his quirk, and how much damage it did to his body, and then the discussion with his parents - which turned up all sorts of skeletons in their closet that were a surprise but at least now they were in a witness protection program they were all going to be much safer - led to his taking the horribly unsuited quirk from him and replacing it with a small piece each of Agility, Ballance, and Grip which combined joyfully together to make Dance.

After practicing with his new quirk for three solid months, Yuuga decided that he’d never actually wanted to be a hero anyway, that had all been his parents at a villain's instigation, and he withdrew from UA to enter Japan's leading drama and dance university where he became what he’d always really wanted to be, a star!

*******

Sato and Denki both got baby bits of Regen once it recovered fully and their quirk lash-back of being mentally incapacitated when they used their quirks too much eased and disappeared over the course of year two, leaving them both happier and better able to be effective heroes.

No one noticed Izuku slipping Bakugo a bit six weeks later (because he knew no way in hell would the prideful boy accept the help willingly) not even Shouta so Izuku thought he’d gotten away with it and everyone just thought Bakugo was growing up a bit and finally mastering his temper, well, it was about time he did!

So when Hizashi called him in after classes and confronted him with it....

Well, THAT time the lecture stuck because while Shouta was scary, Hizashi was doubly so and then some so he didn't do it again, not without asking first, anyway.  Neither of them told Bakugo though, letting him think whatever he wanted about how his perpetual anger had melted away.

He was so much happier though that Izuku thought being lectured to tears was worth it, but he seriously was NEVER going to risk it again, Hizashi was truly awful when lecturing, a combination of iron stern and softly sad and terribly disappointed.

A devastating combo when up against a guilty conscience!

*****

It was a full eighteen months later that he was approached by Nezu, on behalf of All Might, to see if he could do anything about healing the damage he’d suffered in fighting an unnamed villain.

Izuku liked the man, he was an interesting teacher, getting better all the time, always eager to learn as well as teach, he had the BEST stories of hero work all over the world, and Izuku had already realized that his quirk was totally different to most simply through how it felt when Izuku had a good look at it, way back when he’d first learned how his own quirk worked.

So after getting the full story - with Shouta and Hizashi as well, because no matter national secrets, Izuku was their kid and any child dealing with adults needed their guardians with them for it - he spent several days just looking at the quirk - and how it looked back, making him feel young, but not in a bad way - examining all eight parts of it, at how it impacted Yagi’s body now, and came up with a plan that might work, especially as they had total and complete confirmation that the enemy that All Might had fought, the ultimate villain from the dawn of quirks, was actually totally dead.

After all, it was hard for any quirk to fix someone who'd had their head punched right off their shoulders!

The All Might agency put the word out, very quietly, very carefully, and seven names were chosen, seven five-year-olds were then assembled, and Izuku, surprisingly with the quirks enthusiastic help, and support, took One For All to pieces, placing one each into the confirmed quirkless children, giving them the chance at a normal social life and reducing the strain on Yagi’s body to the point where he was able to use the strength enhancement part added to a tiny bit of Regen, not to buff up, but to heal at last.

While he no longer had a huge buff form, now at least he had a healthy body to use in his retirement from heroics and he could focus on his teaching, and his charities, giving him a quality of life he’d never actually had before.

It took Regen almost six years to slowly rebuild his missing organs but, in the end, he was a valued and much-loved teacher, and he found that that was all he could ever want at that point in his life.

**************

For someone who had decided he didn't want to be a hero anymore, Izuku grew up to be tied into the hero industry in a way no one, barring a few very select people, even fully realized.

Teacher, healer, internationally renowned quirk specialist, emergency quirk transportation support personnel (because Portal was irreplaceably useful in emergency situations), and co-owner of the All Heroes Animal Rescue Center and Cafe.  Well, his husband Hitoshi needed something to do with him in their spare time after all! 

***

Sitting with the cats in the Cafe, waiting for his Dads to show up for lunch, watching the offspring of his very first friend flying free overhead from the rookery now long established in the woods of UA, a big smile accompanied the thought, ‘I love my life.’