Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku wiped the sweat off his forehead, a wave of nausea falling over him like a wave crashing on the shore.

“Tired already, Young Midoriya?” All Might rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “We’ve done this drill more times than I can count. You should be a master at it by now.”

“Sorry, All Might,” Izuku stood up, wobbling on his feet as he tried to see straight. “I’ll get it right, I swear.” He huffed out his words, already close to collapsing.

The blonde man sighed, “Forget it, kid. We’ll continue tomorrow afternoon.” All Might walked over to the doors of the gym and slammed them behind him as he walked out, making Izuku wince.

His heart was in his throat, and he could feel the tears beginning to spill. “Ah,” he sniffled, “I really am pathetic. Why can’t I just do the stupid exercise?”

Izuku screwing up drills seemed to be a recurring issue. Every afternoon All Might would personally train the freckled teen until late into the night, ending with the former storming off and the latter feeling like he did something wrong.

Though it was true the man had explained to Izuku exactly what he was supposed to do with his hips as he twirled mid-air, the boy just couldn’t seem to keep his upper body at a slower pace than his lower body.

“Lock your hips. Don’t let them lead the rest of your body.” All Might had said. And Izuku had heard, but apparently his body just didn’t agree with the simple concept.

He sat on the ground in the middle of the gym, placing his head in between his legs, tucked close to his chin. He was tired. He didn’t want to leave the floor, and he supposed he didn’t have a reason to. Curfew was still half an hour away, anyway.

His mouth was dry, and his lips were chapped. When was the last time he had any water? He guessed it had been more than a few hours by now. He hadn’t eaten anything today, either. No wonder his stupid body refused to keep up with the simplest tasks.

And yet, he didn't move to get up from his spot on the floor, the bright ceiling lights blaring down at him. Tears spilled relentlessly, and Izuku let a sob out. He never meant to disappoint his mentor. Really. He was trying his absolute hardest in every after-school training session the two had.

When All Might had first declared him the next user of One For All, Izuku had been ecstatic. No one could have imagined the emotions he’d experienced that day, especially after Kacchan being taken by a villain. Then becoming Japan’s number one hero’s successor? He just couldn’t help but weep right then and there.

Of course, he had never questioned that he was the perfect fit for the next holder of One for All, but only because All Might said so. And whatever he says goes, right? Well, that’s what everyone always thought.

Now, however, Izuku was wondering if he really was worthy.

Every word his mentor yells at him was implanted into his brain, carved there for the rest of life by the sharpness of Toshinori’s tone.

“Faster, Young Midoriya! Use your legs properly for god’s sake!”

And slowly, over the last year or so he’s known the adult,

“This isn’t how I taught you, kid. Your problem is you don’t try. Get rid of that nasty habit of floating around space while I’m talking.”

The big, bright, and once beautiful smile planted onto his mentor’s face,

“Young Midoriya. I’m trying so hard to help you and all you’re doing is making this hard for the both of us.”

Turned into a condescending sneer that seemed to scream ‘you are below me,’

“Kami, Midoriya. Can you please just listen for once? You’re doing the complete opposite of what I’m asking and it’s exhausting.”

‘and you may never forget that.’

“I expected more from you kid. Honestly, I just can’t tell if you’re ever actually listening anymore.”

And god was it tiring.

When Izuku had finally returned to his dorm room that night, he collapsed onto his bed, not bothering to change out of his gym clothing. He rolled onto his back, glaring up at his ceiling. His entire room was filled to the brim with All Might posters and merch.

He wanted nothing more than to rip it all to shreds and feed it into an open fire in front of the man. He wanted to spread the ashes retrieved from the fire into the ocean, never to be seen again.

He wanted All Might to watch as his mentee, the person who was supposedly closest to him, showed him just how much contempt he feels. He wanted to make All Might eat his own hair and his own goddamn opinion over what was right and wrong.

Oh, what Izuku wouldn’t give to be the one screaming out orders for just one day.

But Izuku wouldn’t do that.

He couldn’t do that.

The teenager would never do anything to displease his mentor on purpose.

That was be absurd.

Insane.

So many people would—literally—kill to get a chance to even be in the same building as the man, so who was Izuku to shit on the golden opportunities fed to him on a platinum spoon by that very same man?

Nobody. He was less than dirt compared to All Might, and everyone, including himself, was well aware of it.

So, not for the first time, Izuku cried himself to sleep. He wondered why he just can’t be better. All he wanted was to be someone All Might can show off to the world and be proud of, and he couldn’t even do that.

Pathetic.

Izuku estimated that he got a full two hours of sleep before his All Might alarm clock went off.

“I am here! Time to wake up! I am here! Time to wake up! I am here! Time to wake—"

The teen threw his fist over the large button on the top of his alarm clock, and the loud noise stopped repeating. He looked down at his body and sighed, remembering how he didn’t shower or change the night before.

He quickly got out of bed, shoving off his dirty gym clothes and grabbing his uniform off the edge of his desk chair. There wasn’t any time to go and shower now if he wanted to get to class thirty minutes early, as usual.

He couldn’t risk messing up his routine and having someone notice and point something out.

He looked into the mirror above his desk and scrunched his face. Must his hair be so unruly? It was a real pain, especially when on a tight schedule. Izuku attempted to smooth his bedhead down a bit with his hands, to no avail.

He groaned.

The worst part was that he couldn’t even blame his mother for bad genes. Her hair was always silky smooth and perfect, which meant he got his free bird’s nest from his father, who he’d never even met.

Clicking his tongue, he looked in the mirror one last time, made his tie a little more crooked than it was, and made his way out of his All Might-infested dorm room.

--

Down in the kitchen, Kaminari and Tsuyu were eating breakfast together. The girl beckoned him over, a giddy look on her face. He sighed playfully, a small smile on his face as he complied.

“What’s up, Tsu? You look happy today.” He leaned over the kitchen bench, his smile growing with hers.

“Kaminari and I were just planning to go out for a bit after school, since we got permission from Aizawa to leave campus for a few hours.” Tsuyu beamed as she spoke, practically bouncing out of her chair in excitement.

Izuku raised an eyebrow, amused. “Oh? And where are you two planning to go?” He asked.

“Well, about that,” Kaminari looked over at the girl beside him and the two giggled like teenage girls sharing secrets about each other. Straightening up, the blonde coughed into his hand like he was about to announce something big. “We actually asked Aizawa if the entire class could go out together!”

Izuku’s smile froze.

What? Why would they need to do that? There wasn't any reason to leave campus, and definitely not as a class. Izuku really didn't like going out in public. Surrounded by judging eyes and whispers everywhere.

“What?” Mina shouted, sprinting down the stairs.

Her and her talent for hearing anything interesting sure are something else, Izuku thought to himself in amusement.

“Are you serious? You actually managed to convince that caterpillar to let us go outside of school?” She grabbed Kaminari’s hands, her eyes shining brighter than the morning sun. “Oh, this is great! I can’t wait to tell everyone!” The pink girl practically sang her words, bouncing back up the staircase to supposedly tell all of the girls she was currently having a sleepover with.

“That’s great!” Izuku clapped his hands together as he turned around, hiding his face from the two ecstatic teenagers behind him. “I’m sure everyone will love the idea.” He didn’t want them to see he was already on the verge of tears just thinking about the anxiety to come.

He opened the refrigerator and grabbed out the milk, pouring himself a cup, then one for Jiro, who was sure to come down the stairs in three… two… and…

“A sneaky little birdie told me we’ll be going out after school this afternoon?” And there she was, still in her pyjamas. Jiro had a big smile on her face, obviously excited as well.

“I wonder which sneaky bird you’re referring to,” Izuku smiled as he handed her the glass of milk he had poured for her. She took it with gratitude. “Kaminari and Tsu were just telling me about it.”

Jiro grinned into her cup as she took a sip, “Well, it was quite pink. I thought perhaps it was a rare breed.”

Everyone in the kitchen giggled.

“Me and Tsu were thinking about going down to a park earlier, maybe even watching some people perform on the streets? Street concerts are always fun to sing along with!” Kaminari tapped a rhythm with four fingers on the countertop as he spoke.

It only seemed to get louder. Izuku was tempted to pour his glass of milk on him. “That sounds lovely,” he said instead. His headache aside, it wasn’t all that bad anyway.

“Do you think everyone would want to come join?” Tsu asked, humming thoughtfully.

“Well, duh!” Kirishima walked over, obviously overhearing the conversation, already dressed for school save his hair, which was still down and covering his face. In Izuku’s opinion, it suited him better than the spikes. “Why wouldn’t anyone come? It’s gonna be awesome!” The redhead threw an arm over Kaminari, who barked out a laugh.

“Well,” Izuku started, making everyone’s eyes turn to him. He immediately wanted to turn his back to them to avoid the questioning stares. “Maybe not Kacchan.” But, once again, he refrained from doing so.

Kaminari, Kirishima and Jiro snickered, and Tsu grinned knowingly.

“That’s alright!” Kirishima flashed a mighty grin and a thumbs up and Izuku. “Leave that to us!” He gestured between himself and Kaminari, who nodded in agreement.

The freckled teenager took that as his queue to leave. He downed the rest of his milk and said goodbye to the four behind him, who were all probably only going to show up about five minutes to the bell. As usual.

That was how Izuku preferred things.

Izuku arrived to class twenty minutes early. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but it wasn’t that big of a change to his usual routine, either. Certainly not something anyone in class that was usually there before him would comment on.

Iida greeted him with a friendly smile, and Shoji waved. Izuku greeted Iida and waved back at Shoji with a smile on his face like every other day.

Tokoyami nodded at him and Izuku’s smile automatically brightened in response. He plopped down into his seat, hiding his mouth behind his hand as he rested his elbow on his desk. Smiling on demand was something Izuku was long used to, but it could sometimes still hurt his cheeks if he didn’t rest them.

He looked out the window and watched people in older grades mess around in one of the gardens UA had, laughing and smiling. Izuku couldn’t help but envy them. He wondered if he would ever be able to smile so effortlessly like that. To laugh so easily and so passionately that you end up keeled over with your hands on your stomach was something he could only dream of.

And Izuku didn’t dream very often anymore. It was either dreamless nights or nightmares. No in between.

He wondered if it was a side effect from constantly breaking his body, and his mind is punishing him for all the times he limped over to recovery girl with a purple limb or two. The nightmares only seemed to get more and more gory.

Dreaming of Uraraka being dropped from a height so high she dies. Aizawa getting his head smashed in by the Nomu at the USJ and dying. All Might dying at Kamino and All For One becoming so powerful everyone kneeled at his perfectly clean shoes on bruised knees.

Then there were the nightmares of middle school. Those were Izuku’s least favourite.

Izuku’s arm being blown off by Kacchan. His hair being ripped out of his hair by one of Kacchan’s lackies. His teacher smashing his head into the desk repeatedly for not answering a question correctly.

Himself hanging from a thick tree branch in Aldera Junior High uniform, people throwing rocks and poking his limp body with sticks, laughing.

A loud bell suddenly went off, cutting off his train of thought. He looked around and realised his classmates were all seated at their desks. Including Kacchan, who only liked to show up the moment the bell goes. Had he really been zoned out the full twenty minutes he had before the bell went? He must really be out of it today.

The door slid open, and in came Aizawa. He walked in front of the class, smirking like a madman when he saw everyone tense up at his presence. None of class 1-A was quite used to his glare just yet, and apparently the man found it quite amusing.

Aizawa began to call roll, each person replying immediately. Izuku was sure that Aizawa knew everyone was in class. All of the desks had someone sitting at them, and the greenette had definitely seen the adult analyse the room when he had first walked in with calculating eyes. 

Midoriya glanced out the window, only to find the trio of third years he had originally been watching gone. He supposed it made sense, since they were supposed to be in class like any other normal students.

He wondered where their classes were. The students that had been in other areas of the garden had all looked at the three third years with admiration. It was quite a curious scene.

"Midoriya," Aizawa called his name out loudly, startling Midoriya from his thoughts. He was glaring at the teen, and Izuku could tell that the man had definitely called on him more than once before he had heard. He took a quick glance around the room and saw everyone gazing at him with curious and expectant eyes.

Midoriya wished for something to come out of the ground and eat him right then and there just so he wouldn't have to deal with it. He shrank into himself, chewing the inside of his lip, picking at his already dull nails. Nervous habits, he knew.

"I'm here. Sorry, Sensei." Midoriya's voice had gone raspy, his throat tightening at the increasing sternness on his teacher's face. But it was over the next second, as Aizawa moved on to call the next student. The freckled teen let out a sigh of relief and slumped in his chair, releasing the tension he hadn't realised was in his body. 

What a day already, he thought, silently praying for the bell to come sooner.

Midoriya eyed the notebook and pen in front of him. He wondered what everyone's reaction would be if he just... threw the bloody things across the classroom.

Would he get in serious trouble if he ran out of the room and hid somewhere where no one would find him? If he managed to escape everyone's prying looks, would he ever come to regret abandoning all reason to get away?

Or would he finally be carefree? Perhaps he would finally find peace, never having to look over his shoulder when someone got too close. Maybe he wouldn't have to shove all of his effort into his schoolwork to avoid looking anywhere else but his desk and the blackboard Aizawa wrote on.

There could be a chance that if Izuku really managed to run away, his years of anxiety would fade behind him with every step he took forward.

Wishful thinking. He sighed, opening up his book and picking up his pen as Aizawa began to write on the blackboard, no doubt expecting all of his students to copy everything down to a tee in their notes. 

Homeroom was probably one of the biggest changes from Junior High to High school. Who wants to take revision notes first thing in the morning?

The moment the bell rang to signal second period was over, Midoriya—and everyone else in the room, to Mic's unsurprise—practically slammed his notebook shut and packed up his bag, immediately making a beeline for the door. 

He was about to make it outside of the classroom, when someone grabbed onto his shoulder. 

Izuku froze. His heart jumped out of his chest, beating rapidly. No one from UA would punch him when he turned around, right? He slowly—very slowly, turned around to look at who grabbed his shoulder. 

Todoroki looked back at him with a strange expression. "Midoriya?" He questioned, as if he couldn't recognise who was in front of him.

At the sight of his friend, Midoriya immediately released all tension from his body, a sheepish smile on his face. "Ah, you scared me for a second, Todoroki!" He laughed awkwardly.

The red and white teenager in front of him didn't look convinced that 'scared' was the right word for what he'd just seen. "Yeah..." he said rather than prying any further. "I was just going to ask if you were going to join us for lunch." Todoroki straightened up, removing his hand from Midoriya's shoulder.

He assumed Todoroki was talking about the people he usually sat with at lunch—Todoroki, Iida, Uraraka and Tsuyu.

"Oh," the greenette swallowed, not sure what to say. "I—uh, I was just going to go train a bit during lunch today. Maybe next time?" he looked away, not able to maintain eye contact any longer. 

"Alright. Would you like me to walk you to your tree?" Todoroki offered, as if he didn't care.

Midoriya froze for what felt like the tenth time today. "You know about my tree?" he asked quietly, like that would make the question seem less embarrassing.

"Yes," Todoroki said. "Recently you've been going to eat under one of the maple trees rather than going into the cafeteria with the rest of our class."

How observant, Midoriya thought. He sighed, scrubbing his face with his palms as if to rid himself of any bad thoughts.

It was exhausting going into the cafeteria, surrounded by loud voices and many gazes all throughout lunch. His classmates were the famous first class who had been targeted by villains and survived, after all. People walked past Midoriya and his group of friends, recognising them from the sports festival as kids from 1-A, notorious for going against actual villains.

Something none of any other classes or grades had done before. 

They whispered to each other as they walked past, some giggling, some glaring. Some even wanted pictures. It was overwhelming, being one of the centres of attention. Midoriya hated it with a burning passion. So, he began to avoid the main building during lunch at all costs, choosing to sit by himself under a maple tree in one of UA's gardens. 

"You caught me!" He suddenly brightened his expression, clapping his two hands together. "I think I'll take up on your offer earlier. Would you like to walk with me to my tree?" While the tree wasn't actually Midoriya's, no one else except him sat there, so it became a habit of calling it his own.

And with that, Midoriya and Todoroki set out to walk to Izuku's maple tree.

--

It didn't take long to reach the garden. Midoriya turned around as they approached the maple tree, facing Todoroki. "You can join the rest of our friends in the cafeteria now. Sorry for taking up your time, Todoroki." he smiled brightly at his friend. "It wasn't a problem." Todoroki gave him a small smile.

The two exchanged a few more words, and then Midoriya was staring at Todoroki's back as he walked away. He sighed, letting the smile fall off his face. He walked over to the tree, plopping down against it as he took out the leftovers from last night's dinner. It was cold, but it was still food, so he didn't pay the temperature much mind. 

He took out another one of his notebooks, the one that had information about his classmates, flicking through the pages until he found the one he wanted. He looked over his notes about his friend. He didn't have much on Todoroki other than his quirk and quiet personality. 

"He's a lot more observant than I had originally thought," he mumbled to himself. "I don't think he's quiet. Or at least, not as quiet as I had put him down as. I think Todoroki is more closed off, but if I can get him to open up, especially around children, he could use his calm voice to his advantage in bad situations. Children typically like collected guys right? Not too loud or threatening." 

Izuku spoke out loud as he scribbled out and erased his previous notes, replacing them with new ones. Talking aloud always helped to organise his thoughts.

"He could probably upgrade his costume into something more fitting with his personality. Maybe add in some ice like he had at the beginning of the year? Adding ice around his right side should help cool his body down so that he doesn't get too hot. If Todoroki can get into the habit of automatically replacing the ice on his face when it melts off, he could add temperature to his fire with less backlash." He hummed thoughtfully.

"Adding ice near his eyes could give off same effect of make-up. Women typically like good-looking guys, so it could increase his number of fans. That's always good." Izuku continued adding notes to his two pages of research on Todoroki until the bell went, and he had to get to third period with ectoplasm. 

Getting to know his classmates personally was a big step on being able to know what they could do to improve their performances in front of audiences. Izuku planned to do the same with every single person in 1-A. Maybe even Aizawa if the man ever let his walls down.

On his way back to his dorm, Kirishima practically jumped on Midoriya just as he was about to start going up the stairs. "Kirishima?" he asked. All he wanted was to sleep for a couple of hours before All Might dragged him to gym Gamma again. 

"Hey, Midobro! You're coming with the class to the park, right?" The red head asked. His grin was wide, showing off his sharp teeth. 

I wonder if he could chew someone's neck out... "Oh, I totally forgot about that!" Midoriya plastered on his smile once again. "I think I have training with All Might this afternoon, though. I might not be able to make it."

Kirishima's demeanour shifted completely. His eyes were blown wide, like his entire world had been shaken to its core. "What?" he shouted. "But it's a Friday! Can't you ask All Might to train you tomorrow to make up for it today? When are we ever going to get another opportunity like this?" he whined, crashing into the wall him his hands on his head, elbows sticking out.

Someone laughed behind him, "Come on, Kirishima. You know how much Deku values his training." Uraraka bouncing up to Izuku, linking their arms together. "I'm sure Aizawa-Sensei will let us go out some other time, and Deku can join us then!" She beamed. 

I'm so lucky to have her, Izuku thought. Never in a million years would he imagine having such a wonderful friend. 

"About that," Iida, who supposedly had been eavesdropping, walked up to the three of them, a bright smile on his face. "I heard Kaminari had asked Aizawa and All Might for permission for us all to go out as a class. So that means that Midoriya is free to come with us!" The blue-haired teen looked overly proud of himself for eavesdropping on his classmates.

If anyone was honest, no one had expected that from the class president when he was first appointed.

"And since Bakugo and Midoriya just got out of house arrest, it will be a good bonding experience for the class!" Kaminari threw an arm over Kirishima, who had calmed down. Midoriya put on his smile, "What a great idea! I've been looking to get closer with you guys, anyway, and this provides the perfect opportunity! You're a lot smarter than people give you credit for, Kaminari."

Kaminari made a show of bowing, "Why thank you, thank you. It had been quite a long time since someone has paid heed to my extravagant talents!" He smirked at the way everyone laughed. 

Iida clapped his hands twice, making everyone look at him. "Everyone, go get ready to head out! Meet down in the common room in fifteen minutes!"

Midoriya was the first to comply, practically running up the stairs. He walked down the hall and was just about to open his door, when suddenly, someone spun him around by his shoulder.

"What the fuck was up with you this morning?" Bakugo scowled down at Izuku, his grip on the greenette's shoulder tightening. Izuku hadn't even realised Bakugo followed him up the stairs.

"U-uh, what?" he panicked, not sure how to reply to the fuming blonde. "Don't fucking stall! Do you have any idea how pathetic you looked, spaced out today?" Bakugo asked, shoving Izuku against the wall.

The freckled teen gasped as his back hit the hard material, his mind spinning for answers. What was he supposed to say? Apologise? Why did Kacchan care, anyway? Izuku was the one who had to deal with everyone looking at him!

"I'm sorry, Kacchan. I just—" he was cut off.

"Just what? You think it's funny to embarrass yourself, huh?" Bakugo shoved his shoulder again. It stung, as if the blonde had burned it with his quirk. "If you do that shit again, and make my class look stupid because of your shittiness, I'll blow you sky high. Don't be an idiot in public." 

And with that, Bakugo stormed off, leaving Izuku shocked with a throbbing shoulder. "His class? He really doesn't even acknowledge the fact we're in the same class?" Then, Izuku realised, he probably did acknowledge that they were in the same class, but refused to accept it.

Typical Kacchan, not wanting anything to do with someone that had been a quirkless wannabe for over ten years. 

Now that he wasn't quirkless, he was just some random wannabe that Kacchan didn't want to be publicly embarrassed by. Nothing Izuku couldn't deal with. It wasn't like he wanted to be around Bakugo, either.

With a sigh, Izuku went into his room. He should probably have a shower before going out. He felt gross.

--

Ten minutes later, Izuku made his way downstairs in his signature 'Midoriya outfit'. He had on his t-shirt that said t-shirt on it, plain beige shorts, and of course, his bright red sneakers. Everyone else was already downstairs, save for Mina, who was probably trying to decide which one of her hundreds of perfumes she was going to wear.

Todoroki and Tsuyu were the first to approach Izuku. "Hey, Midoriya! I see you're still wearing that silly shirt, huh?" Tsu grinned, and he smiled sheepishly. "I can't help it! I've always liked these kinds of literal shirts, you know?" The girl laughed and Todoroki smiled. "It does suit him, though."

In reality, the only reason Izuku wore the same kind of shirts and pants and never seemed to change them was because his mother refused to buy him anything different. She had said that if she was the one buying, she was the one that was going to choose what he wore. Izuku couldn't argue with that.

"Sorry I kept everyone here!" Mina ran out of the elevator in her purple tights, a black crop top and an overly fluffy pink jacket.

Jiro whistled as she walked over to the pink girl, "Lookin' good, Mina!" She sniffed the air in an exaggerate manner, "And is that new perfume I can smell?"

Mina beamed, "It's the new release from Hero Mania! Isn't it great?" She twirled and Yaoyorozu smiled, "It's nice."

"Is everyone here now?" Iida asked, doing a quick head count. "Alright, let's go." He opened the doors, and everyone shuffled out one after another.

Midoriya walked out behind Bakugo, who had shoved him out of the way with his shoulder so he could walk past. He turned his head and glared, then shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked away. 

Todoroki looked sideways at him, "Are you alright, Midoriya? You're quite pale." He asked, moving closer to Izuku's side. The greenette looked up and smiled, "I'm alright. He just gave me a bit of a fright." 

A bit of a fright was an understatement. Izuku was terrified he was going to slap or hit him for a second, and it had the colour of his face draining and his heart rate rapidly increasing.

"Stupid jerk," Uraraka mumbled from Izuku's other side. "He only ever pushes people around! Even Kaminari and Kirishima are starting to stay away from him. Those two were set on being best buddies with him at the start of the year!" She huffed.

"I do see them hanging out with him less and less. I guess the only one to blame is Bakugo and his crap personality." Todoroki hummed, staring at Bakugo's back with a look of contempt.

Izuku's envied his ability to do so without being scared out of his mind, "Kacchan has always been like that. I'm sure Kaminari and Kirishima will be friends with him again in no time!" He was lying to himself, and he knew it. 

Ever since Izuku had known Bakugo, people either stuck by his side, or left it without looking back. When people began to avoid him or distance themselves, they typically stayed away. And for good reason. 

"Well, I hope they don't. Being friends with a meanie like Bakugo can't be good for the soul." Tsu placed a finger on her chin as she thought, "or the heart. Being scared all the time can be really bad for you."

Midoriya chuckled at that, "I don't think they're scared, Tsu. I think they've just realised trying to get Kacchan to be their friend is ultimately useless."

"Good for them." Uraraka cheered. 

Yeah, Izuku silently agreed. Good for them.

--

"We're going to be hanging out at Bennard park?" Ojiro questioned.

Mina squealed, "Oh my gosh, I haven't been here since I was a little girl!" She tugged Yaoyorozu by her arm, abandoning the rest of the class.

"This is supposed to be a class bonding experience, but I suppose everyone can do their own thing just this once. It has been quite the stressful year already." Iida smiled as his classmates set off with one or two other people to play in the park.

There was a large sandbox with swings and a slide, trees to climb, stalls to look at and buy from, and benches to sit at and relax. Iida and Todoroki walked behind Midoriya, Uraraka and Tsu. There were just as many people as Midoriya thought there were going to be, and soon enough, his hands began to tremble.

Everyone gave them looks as they walked past, some in interest, some had jealous eyes, and some looked at the five of them in awe.

Izuku wanted to run away. 

What he wouldn't give to be the invisible kid no one gave more than a glance to again. How was he going to be the next symbol of peace if he couldn't handle the attention he was getting now? 

Not for the first time, Izuku wondered if he really was the best choice as All Might's successor. 

Just as he was about to crouch down on a bench to avoid everyone's looks, loud voices and pointing fingers, his phone went off. He pulled himself to the side and opened the message.

ALL MIGHT!!!(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧:

Young Midoriya. I know I allowed you and your classmates to hang out this afternoon, but know that I will give you more work tomorrow to make up for it.

Don't think that this is an opportunity for you to slack off, young man.

Izuku Midoriya☆:

Yes, All Might.          

ALL MIGHT!!!(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧:

Remember to help out anyone that looks like they're in trouble. You have your provisional licence now, use it wisely.

You're going to be the next symbol of peace, and it's always good to start to get a good reputation early on.

Izuku Midoriya☆:

Yes, All Might.         

ALL MIGHT!!!(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧:

Good.

Izuku sighed as he put his phone away again. He excused himself for a moment, saying he had to tie up his shoelace and promising he would catch up.

Todoroki looked like he was going to say he can stay with him, but Midoriya shook his head.

The half-white-half-red teen was smart. He would figure out that Izuku just wanted to be left alone for a bit. Todoroki nodded and dragged everyone away, pointing at some random stall, saying he wanted to go check it out.

Uraraka looked over her shoulder with a sad look before she walked away. 

"I guess she saw through me as well. My friends are all smart." He sighed with a small smile as he plopped down onto the nearest bench.

Not even five minutes later, someone sat almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Izuku.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. There were so many benches around and this person decided to sit right next to him? Really? 

He cast them a sideways glance, only to see that they were fully dressed in black. That is not good, he realised. He got a shiver up his spine, knowing whoever just sat next to him was not a civilian. He couldn't tell what it was, but something about them gave an off feeling.

The same kind he got when he was around villains.

He was about to stand up and walk away—he couldn't just punch someone without reason, could he? He needed good reason and damn good proof to start a fight, otherwise the provisional hero licence he got a week ago would be taken off of him—when the person in black grabbed onto his wrist. 

Midoriya whipped his head around and froze. Dabi's grinning face stared back at him. "Where ya going, hero?" he asked in a mocking tone. "We aren't done just yet, kid." The smile disappeared off the man's face, and a black and purple mist appeared behind the bench. 

"Hey!" Midoriya yelled out, trying to gain the attention of the public. Surely, he thought. Surely someone will scream, and then someone from my class can come back me up—

He let out a shriek as Dabi tugged his arm forward, sending Izuku flying into the bench. "Oops," he said. "I meant to throw you over." Dabi was clearly amused. Izuku could hear the smirk in his voice. 

Green lightning surrounded his body, and a group of people gasped. "Shit," the man swore. "You really have a knack for gaining public attention." Izuku looked at the family across the path from him. He could feel the blood fade from his face. They needed to get out of here.

"Villains! Tell everyone to run!" Dabi grabbed Midoriya's arm, throwing him onto his feet again. He sagged his weight purposely, falling to his knees, just to make sure he had enough time to yell. "Tell the police the League of Villain's are at Bennard Park!" The man grunted at the added weight of the teenager. Izuku didn't stop screaming. "Get to safety! Everyone!"

Dabi finally managed to get him off the floor, his fire catching on some of Izuku's shirt. It's a warning, Izuku knew.

The villain was basically saying 'I can burn you to a crisp at any time I want to' by lighting some of Izuku's clothes on fire. He was telling him not to use his quirk, because he wasn't afraid to use his own.

The teenager was thrown over Dabi's shoulder like a sack of ripe potatoes.

The one family Midoriya had been yelling to had suddenly turned into a crowd of over twenty people, some looking horrified, and most of them with their phones out. Izuku struggled against Dabi's hold, squirming around like a madman. "You're so loud!" Dabi yelled. Izuku responded by punching him in the back of his head as hard as he could without his quirk with both hands.

He noticed some teens within the crowd looking just about ready to run in and help him. He almost wanted to smile, proud of how fearless the future generation of heroes was going to be. "I'll be fine, so leave!" he yelled instead.

He grit his teeth. He couldn't use One for All now and risk breaking any of his bones. He would definitely need them more in a few seconds.

He screamed as loudly as he could this time, "Run away! I don't know how many villains there are—" Izuku was cut off as he was thrown though the portal.

Someone screamed, and that was the last thing he heard before crashing onto hard flooring.

A deep voice laughed at his bad landing, "Quite the fight you put up, Midoriya." I know that voice, Izuku groaned. "How smart of you not to use your quirk and break your bones so early in your interaction with us!"

The freckled teen looked up, and immediately wished for someone to come and eat him alive. Shigaraki was kneeling next to his body, the biggest grin on his face. It was pure nightmare fuel. 

"Shit!" Midoriya yelled, suddenly exhausted. His head hit the cold surface as his neck gave out. "Shit indeed." Shigaraki cackled.

Chapter Text

Dabi came through the portal after Izuku, stepping over the kid, who was still lying on the floor. “He sure wasn’t quiet about being kidnapped. I counted at least six phones pointed at us.” He said, glaring at Izuku.

“Doesn’t matter,” Shigaraki shrugged. “Any media exposure is good. Especially when it’s videos of a UA kid being kidnapped in public.” he laughed. “People will watch it and think ‘where were the heroes? Why didn’t the student use his quirk? Do they even teach them anything at UA?’”

"Ah, he's adorable lying on the floor like that!" Toga squealed, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "Can I drink his blood? Oh, just this once Tomura!" She latched on Magne's arm, who looked at Izuku with a strange look on her face. "I bet it will taste really, really good! I can't wait any longer!" She beamed. Magne didn't reply, simply letting Toga tug on her arm.

"Big sis Magne?" Toga questioned.

"Is he, you know, supposed to be just lying there?" The woman asked. 

Shigaraki stood up, his hands in his pockets, and kicked Midoriya in the stomach. Then again. And again. 

The greenette didn't move. 

"Oh shit. Is he dead already?" Twice asked, peeking over his leader's shoulder. "Good. What are we gonna do, boss?" He asked, slightly panicking. "How are we gonna ask a dead person questions if they're already dead?!"

Toga looked at him sideways, "That didn't make any sense, Twice." 

"He's alive," Shigaraki drawled, cutting off the argument before it could start. "He's just ignoring us."

Dabi looked over into Izuku's face and saw that the teenager's eyes were awake and alert. "Huh," he hummed, "What a cocky brat."

"Oh, good." Toga sighed in relief. "I find blood always tastes better from someone alive than from a corpse." She licked her lips and tried to get closer to Midoriya. Spinner held her back, his eyes set on the kid. "This is the kind of hero Stain protected! He isn't even shaking in front of villains!" he sounded astonished, like he could have never expected such a thing.

"You think you're top shit, huh? Trying to get away with ignoring the League of Villains, kid?" Shigaraki scoffed, kicking Izuku in the stomach once more. "Kurogiri," he called.

"Yes, Tomura?" The bartender replied without hesitation.

"Move him." The blue-haired man demanded. "But not with your quirk. Pick him up and put him somewhere." 

"Why can't you do that yourself, lazy asshole?" Dabi questioned, an eyebrow raised. Shigaraki glared, "I'm not touching hero scum." he answered, plopping down on one of the bar stools. 

Kurogiri did as he was ordered, walking over to the teenager, who glared at him with a cold expression. The cloud paused for a second, surprised Midoriya could make such a face. "He's quite mad," he muttered as he hooked his misty hands under the hero-in-training's armpits.

"Well duh," Spinner rolled his eyes, "Who wouldn't be? He was literally just kidnapped."

Kurogiri lifted Izuku up, who hung loosely in his hands.

He didn't bother putting up a fight. He knew he couldn't go against so many villains, unlike Kacchan, who didn't hesitate to fight back. He looked around, trying to find ways to escape. No windows, one door, and a hallway. There wasn't much to go on.

Dabi and Shigaraki snickered at the teenager, who looked half his age carried under his armpits with such a dull expression. 

Woah, Izuku blinked slowly. Why do I feel so tired? Is it because of Kurogiri's mist? Perhaps it gives off some sort of gas...

He fell asleep before he could finish his whirlwind of thoughts. Just as Kurogiri was about to place Midoriya in one of the booths, the teenager drooped. His head lolled to the side and some extra weight was added as a result of the tension suddenly leaving his body.

The bartender paused, unsure of what to do with the sudden change. 

"What's wrong? Why aren't you putting the hero down?" Spinner questioned, walking up to Kurogiri and Midoriya. He saw the way the greenette's head was positioned and his eyes widened. "Oh, shit. Is he actually dead now?" He ran the rest of the way to Kurogiri and sucked in a harsh breath when he saw Midoriya's eyes were shut. 

Kurogiri interrupted him before any more assumptions could be made. "He isn't dead. He fell asleep." 

The room suddenly when cold. Shigaraki narrowed his eyes and signalled for his bartender to come closer so he could inspect the teen. Kurogiri complied. He walked over to his leader and held out his arms, inching Midoriya closer. 

No one moved. 

"If you don't open your eyes," Shigaraki wrapped his hand around Midoriya's throat, save for one finger. He smirked as he realised the two of them had been in a similar situation before. "I'll put all five fingers around your throat and kill you." 

Dabi looked like he was about to say something, but Shigaraki glared at him as a warning not to. "You have three seconds to look me in the eye, Izuku Midoriya, and then you're dust." The villain sounded sure of himself.

So sure that Toga looked scared for Izuku. For his blood, that is, given that she couldn't drink ash. 

Everyone else looked awkward as nothing happened. Midoriya didn't open his eyes, and Shigaraki didn't use his quirk on him. "He's asleep," The leader drawled, taking back his hand. "We still need him to ask questions, so no one injure him yet." he said.

Toga almost screamed, her face going red, "You mean I can't even have a little of Izu's blood? But he's right there in front of me, and completely defenceless!" She yelled, stomping her feet. Her protests went ignored. 

"So then where are we gonna put him?" Mr. Compress asked. He had been silent until now, simply observing from the corner of the room. He wasn't a fan of heroes, much less heroes that had no taste whatsoever. The kid had on a shirt that literally said T-shirt, which should be a crime.

"Somewhere where we can all see him. Make sure when he wakes up, he doesn't fight or run away. I don't want any holes in the wall." Shigaraki stood from the bar, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"Dabi, you're up." he said, already starting to walk down the hallway. "Keep an eye on him. Scream or something if the hero wakes up."

Dabi grit his teeth, "Fuck you, crusty! Why should I have to look after the hero?" he yelled down the hall. The reply he got was the sound of Shigaraki's door slamming.

Toga walked up to him with her eyelashes batted, "Why don't you go rest, and I'll look after Izu!"

Kurogiri placed Izuku on one of the bar stools, and the teenager's head flopped against the surface of the bar with a bang.

Dabi rolled his eyes, taking the seat next to him. "Go back to your blood sanctuary, creepy. We all know you'd stab him or something."

Toga looked ready to cry, "All I want is a little blood! Just one drop and I'd be happy." She stormed off to her room, Magne following behind her and trying to get the girl to see reason.

Spinner took a seat in the booth in the corner of the room. "We should probably tie him up, just in case." he suggested. 

"Good idea," The masked man nodded in agreement, making his way to the bathroom. "I'm sure we have something in here that could keep him in place."

Izuku woke up with a dry throat. It felt itchy on the inside, and he couldn't scratch it. He tried to see if swallowing his saliva would help, but it didn't. It only made the itching increase. He was still tired, but his throat was too distracting and wouldn't allow him to go back to sleep. 

Realising so, he finally opened his eyes. He immediately regretted it. He had forgotten he was kidnapped by the League of Villains for a moment.

"Ugh," He groaned, his head throbbing. Just his luck, really. He tried to sit up, only to slam his head back onto the bar. He didn't have any strength left, which meant he was in serious danger. Why wouldn't his useless body listen to him just this once? Why did it decide to give up now?

"Hey!" Someone shouted. Izuku winced as his head throbbed grossly again at the noise level. "The hero's awake, crusty!" The teenager looked to his side and was met by the curious stare of Dabi. Izuku wondered how he got those burns on his face. It looked like it would have hurt a lot. And those blue eyes look so familiar...

"You were out like a bloody light for nearly three hours, kid." The man said, lowering his voice. "How did you even manage to fall asleep in a villain's arms? That's fucking insane." He snickered, slapping the freckled teen on the back, "But impressive." he said.

Izuku wanted to punch the burnt fucker in the face. Couldn't he see that he was in pain? 

"Why is Izu glaring at you?" Toga asked, skipping over with a cheeky grin on her face. "Don't make him mad already!" she giggled loudly, and Izuku turned his glare to her instead. Was everyone in this organisation so loud? 

"All Might's successor," Shigaraki said, walking over to him. "Must be nice, huh? Being up close to the previous number one hero all the time. Getting his professional opinion on everything you do. Getting a quirk."

"Screw you," Izuku growled, his throat burning. He felt like someone had squeezed his throat. He coughed loudly, making his head spin.

"Uh oh," Shigaraki mocked concern, "Is the hero in pain anywhere? Maybe his arms or legs, where he's tied up? Or his stomach where he was kicked?"

Izuku distantly realised that he was, indeed, tied up. His stomach also throbbed, but his head was worse.

He had been too focused on his headache to take in the condition of the rest of his body. How pathetic. It was like all of his training for this kind of situation had flown out of a window.

"Too bad, kid." Spinner spoke evenly, "You have the answers to questions we have. If you cooperate, things might not get so bloody."

Toga booed from behind him, pouting. "We should cut him up, anyway! I need his blood to infiltrate UA!" she protested.

"No one's infiltrating anywhere until we get the answers we want. And probably not then, either. Once the brat answers truthfully, we're letting him go." Shigaraki crossed his arms, glaring at the teenage girl.

"What?" Mr Compress asked. "We're just letting him go? That's absurd!" he yelled.

"I don't have All for One yet. Without it, I can't steal One for All. Therefore, he's useless save for his information until master breaks out of Tartarus." The leader huffed, annoyed. "We can always kidnap him later."

"Fuck your master," Izuku wheezed, his breaths short. "He's going to rot in that prison until someone pulls his fucking plug."

Shigaraki snarled, yanking Izuku's head back by his hair, "You think you're so smart, huh?" The teen spat in reply. The man grinned, "You're going to be staying with us until master returns. I've had a change of heart." He let go of his hostage, and the teenager's head fell forward again.

He gasped in surprise as his headache suddenly increased two-fold. He choked out a half sob.

"Should he be in that much pain?" Dabi questioned, looking at the way Izuku's eyes glassed over.

"No," Kurogiri answered. "He should not. I did not tie him up tight enough for his breaths to be that short."

"Then what's wrong with him? I don't actually care. I hope he dies a painful death." Twice asked, looking at the freckled boy with wonder.

The burnt man next to Izuku slowly reached his hand out as if to touch him, when the teen's hand suddenly snapped forward and latched onto it.

The rope added resistance, but Izuku didn't care.

Dabi shrieked in surprise, his hand spitting out sparks. "What the fuck?" He coughed as the greenette's hold on his hand tightened. 

The freckled boy slowly sat up, his bottom lip between his teeth. "It hurts," he said. His voice was barely a whisper. "God, it hurts." His hand tightened again.

Dabi tried to pry his own away, to no avail. "Yeah, well my hand hurts! Let go of me or I swear I'll light more than your shirt on fire." he threatened. Izuku didn't seem to register it. 

"Oi," Shigaraki called out, trying to gain his attention. "All Might's successor!" 

The teenager didn't acknowledge him. His mind was swimming as black dots clouded his vision. "It hurts,"

"Someone untie him." Magne said. "He's clearly in pain. I thought the whole thing was wait until after he refused to cooperate to hurt him."

"It hurts,"

"Are you crazy?" Spinner questioned. "He could be faking it so that we let him go!" he accused, baring his teeth. 

"Fuck, it hurts!" Izuku screamed, coughing violently. His throat burned through every wheeze of a breath he took. Dabi was silently yelling at the pressure his hand was under, close to setting the entire room on fire. 

The greenette couldn't figure out why his head hurt so badly. Had he hit it too hard? Or was it just a migraine?

"Let go!" Dabi shouted, latching onto Izuku's arm with his free hand and increasing the temperature of his palm. It wasn't enough to burn him—god knows the hissy fit Toga would have thrown if Dabi hurt the hero when she couldn't—but it was effective.

Izuku yanked his arm away, letting go of Dabi's hand in the process, and flung himself off the bar stool.

He collapsed, as the rope around him prevented him from landing properly. He landed harshly but didn't stop moving. He used a percent of One for All to rip apart the binding around his legs and sat upright.

He then used his legs to push himself across the ground and into one of the walls, looking horrified at Dabi, who sat there taken aback at the reaction. 

His breaths had been short before, but now it felt like all oxygen had left his lungs. He couldn't get enough, huffing and puffing violently. His eyes blurred over with colourful spots, and the next thing he knew, everything was dark.

Shigaraki had initially been pissed off when the hero had refused to acknowledge his presence with anything other than his eyes. It was like he was paralysed. Then, when Dabi almost burned his arm, he threw himself onto the ground, ripped up half of the rope he was tied in and pushed himself against the wall before passing out, Shigaraki couldn't do anything but stare.

He hadn't cared when the villain kicked his stomach multiple times, so why did a little heat scare him so badly?

Everyone else in the room had gone silent as they watched the scene themselves.

The moment Izuku fainted, Mr Compress had bolted to the boy and inspected his arm. He huffed in amusement, "There isn't even a mark," he said, amazed. "Just what caused such a violent reaction?" he wondered. 

"Perhaps Midoriya has had a bad experience with fire quirks." Kurogiri suggested. Dabi scoffed, "It couldn't have been that bad. I was nearly killed by my own quirk, and I don't even look twice at fire."

"But he's a hero," Spinner mumbled. "Don't all heroes have good childhoods? That's the whole reason there are villains and there are heroes. Villains had bad childhoods, and heroes had good ones. They don't know what it's like to suffer."

"Maybe he was—uh, you know, scared of Dabi's fire because he's Dabi? He's a wuss, that's what he is." Twice suggested like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"He's out cold," Magne said, walking up to the green teenager. "That's twice now." She picked him up and placed Izuku in the booth closest to the door. He laid perfectly still. 

"No one fucking touch the hero. Clearly, he won't answer jackshit if you do." Shigaraki sighed, sitting at the bar. "Why don't we just treat him like a guest? Tie him up properly!" Twice asked.

"He's a lot more collected than the blonde kid was. Maybe he'll actually cooperate if we don't threaten him." Magne sat in the same booth she put Izuku in on the opposite couch. The cushion sunk beneath her weight.

"All we need is information on how to get into UA, right? Then we'll let him go." Spinner glanced over to Izuku, feeling guilty. He wasn't a big fan of hurting children.

"No, we won't let him go. That may have been the original plan, but I'm feeling petty now." Shigaraki said. 

The lizard scoffed, walking off down the hallway to his room. "Un-fucking-believable. Acting like a child at his age." he muttered. He couldn't believe Shigaraki was going to keep the boy just because he was feeling insecure.

"I've decided that we're going to ask him a lot more than how to break into the hero school. We may as well find out the weaknesses of all of his friends and teachers while we're at it. Especially the blonde fucker we took last time. I've got a bone to pick with him." Shigaraki chewed the inside of his lip as he stared at the unmoving hero-in-training. "If he doesn't cooperate, we'll torture it out of him. Show him just who the League of Villains are."

The man stood up, "Magne, you'll watch the brat this time." he said. Everyone else watched their boss walk down into the hallway again. 

"I kind of feel bad for the kid. I don't! Him crawling like a roach was fucking hilarious." Twice said as he plopped down next to Magne. "Dabi barely used his quirk. He didn't even flinch when boss kicked him in the stomach, so what caused him to freak like that?" He wondered, sighing.

"He's so adorable!" Toga leaned over the back of the couch Izuku was lying on. "All tied up like that, he looks like he's in perfect condition for me to slice him up!" She sighed dreamily. It was obvious she was daydreaming of drinking Izuku's blood. 

Freak, Compress thought, standing next to her. He peered down at the kid and frowned behind his mask. Midoriya had some pretty bad eyebags, which didn't suit his usually happy-go-lucky personality at all. Maybe Kurogiri was right. Was he going through something...?

Before Mr Compress could say anything about his thoughts, Izuku's eyes shot open. Everyone jumped at the sudden gasp the boy took. He rolled to his side, coughing.

Kurogiri had expected as much to happen, and he walked over to the booth with a glass of water that he had prepared earlier. He sat Midoriya up and put the edge of the glass to his mouth, slowly tipping it. 

Izuku drank the water greedily. 

Dabi whistled, his eyebrows raised. He snickered as he walked over. Midoriya shot him a look over the glass he was still drinking out of. "Watch it, kid." The man spat. 

When the glass was emptied, Kurogiri took it back to the bar.

"What do you want from me?" Izuku asked, glaring at the villains surrounding him.

"We have a few questions, Izu!" Toga beamed. "You know," she giggled, jumping over the back of the couch to sit next to the greenette, "Like the weaknesses of your friends and your teachers." She grinned at him, showing off her sharp canines. 

He inched away from her, giving the girl a look.

"Don't scare our guest, Toga." Mr Compress scolded, folding his arms.

She pouted at him, "It's just how I smile." she muttered.

"Can we, I don't know, backtrack? Why would I give you my friend's and teacher's weaknesses?" Izuku questioned, looking half terrified, half unimpressed. 

"Because if you don't cooperate and tell us, then not only will you be a pile of dust, but we will be too." Magne said.

"No, I won't." Izuku said, sure of himself. '

"So unbelievably cocky," Dabi scoffed, "I wonder where you get your confidence from."

"From my head. You can't injure me because you want me to talk, and like hell you'll get anything out of a screaming teenager. You can't kill me either because I have One for All and All for One needs it." Midoriya looked down at his arm. He could still feel the warmth from when Dabi had almost used his quirk on him. He shivered at the thought.

Dabi clicked his tongue and walked back to the bar, plopping down on one of the stools.

"Why'd you get so scared by Dabi?" Spinner asked, popping up from down the hallway after eavesdropping for a bit. "It's not like you haven't been burned by him before." he said, gesturing to Izuku's burnt shirt. The teen looked away, not replying. 

"Do you act like this at school, too? Or is this reserved for us? Your personality is boring." Twice tilted his head to the side, as if he were analysing Izuku's body language. It made the greenette feel small as he tensed up under the intense gaze.

"I don't have a personality," he answered quietly.

Toga looked at him with a cheeky grin, "That's silly, everyone has a personality!"

"Well, I'm not everyone." he said. He could feel the rope tying up his arms burning his skin and hands as he squirmed.

"Fucking hell, someone go get crusty." Dabi shouted, obviously annoyed.

"Jeez, what's up his ass? Sulking isn't a good look for you!" Twice muttered as he stood to go get his boss.

"You didn't answer my question earlier. You've got me curious now." Spinner sat down where Twice had been moments before.

"That's none of your business." Izuku said.

"Well I'm making it my business," the lizard scoffed. 

Why is he showing more attitude than me? I'm the one being interrogated. "Would you like me to pretend I care?" The teenager scowled. 

Magne snickered, "I think I like this personality more than your usual one." she said. Izuku didn't even glance at her, too immersed in the glaring competition he was having with the scaly man in front of him. 

"You certainly look at home," Shigaraki commented. He gestured for Magne and Spinner to get off the couch. They complied, albeit reluctantly. The man sat down directly across from the still-struggling-in-his-binding-teenager. "So, All Might's successor," Shigaraki started, crossing his hands together. "What exactly can you tell me about UA? Are there traps all throughout the campus?" he asked a series of questions.

"What about your teachers. How many of them exactly are in the top ten of the heroes of Japan? Probably a few. And, you know your homeroom teacher, Aizawa, is really cool. There's no way someone as observant as you hasn't picked up on a few weaknesses."

"Give me one good reason I should answer you. That's my teacher you're talking about." Izuku glared. 

"You're right. There really isn't." Shigaraki gave the teenager a sneer. "But it sure would be helpful if you cooperated. I'm sure I can ask my doctor to patch up All Might's successor if things start to get messy."

"Fuck you!" Izuku yelled. Something about being called All Might's successor really pissed him off. The man used the fact Izuku is his mentee every time he gets angry against him. He had grown to hate being called a successor.

"You're supposed to be my successor, and this is the best you can do?" He would say. "This isn't how the next symbol of peace should be acting! Use your eyes and ears, Young Midoriya!"

All Might always found ways to remind Izuku the quirk he was training his body to use wasn't his to begin with.

Shigaraki raised an eyebrow, "I wonder what made you mad just then." he muttered, seemingly thinking hard about something. "Toga," he called. She perked up instantly. "Go get the biggest knife you can find from the kitchen."

Toga squealed excitedly as she ran off, practically flying.

Midoriya sat perfectly still, not showing any signs of weakness. That was the worst possible thing he could do. 

Spinner, Magne, Compress and Dabi looked confused, and Twice watched the interaction between his leader and his hostage with fascination. Kurogiri watched without any telltales of what he was thinking.

When the girl came back with a large kitchen knife, unease flooded through the air around everyone. She climbed back over the back of the couch and plopped down next to Izuku again, swinging the knife between her hands cheerfully. 

"Put the knife to his throat," Shigaraki demanded. Toga complied without a moment's hesitation, flushing intensely. "Izuku Midoriya, tell me what Shouta Aizawa's weaknesses are, or I tell Toga to slit your throat, heal you, and do it again until you answer." The man spoke evenly.

Though, the greenette could see there was a hint of curiosity in his body language. Something about that made Izuku keep his lips sealed, even as the knife poked into his neck enough to draw a spot of blood.

"So then, what about One for All? Any weaknesses of your own quirk other than it destroying your body? Since you're All Might's—"

"Stop talking."

"successor, you should know something, right?" Shigaraki grinned. Izuku could practically see the gears turning in the man's head. "Something the matter? You didn't say anything when I asked about your teacher. Or has All Might told his precious mentee to keep his mouth closed about One for All?" 

Izuku clenched his fists, scowling at the man in front of him. "You talk a big game for someone who doesn't know what's spewing out of his mouth," he spoke in a distraught manner. "Do you not particularly like your predecessor?" Shigaraki questioned. 

Toga made a sound of surprise, pulling the knife away to get a better look at the stern expression on Izuku's face. She could have never imagined he could make a face like that.

"You don't seem to react when I ask you questions. You do, however, when I mention the fact you are to be the next symbol of peace." The man glanced over to Kurogiri, who seemed to be listening intently. They shared a look.

Perhaps they had more of a chance of exploiting Midoriya than they had with Bakugo.

"I'm not telling you anything," Izuku said. His tense shoulders were all Shigaraki needed to see.

"Oh?" The man made a hum of surprise, "Really now? Well, I'm sure you don't mind if I ask Toga to stab your arm a couple times, right? You are All Might's successor," he grinned at the way the teenager's jaw set tightly. "I'm sure he would have gone over what to do if you ever got kidnapped a hundred times. Don't give in. Hold yourself high. Something like that, right?"

"It can't be easy with such a large man as your mentor though." Shigaraki stood, and everyone that had been standing around the booth took two steps backwards. "He must think that you should be able to master your quirk as quickly as he did, even though your size difference is really something else." He rested his hand on Izuku's shoulder, holding his pinkie finger up.

"Don't you hate it when people crush you with their expectations?" He bent down to whisper into Izuku's ear, sending shivers down the hero's spine. "Don't you get an itch under your skin every time he corrects you? Do you ever get the urge to snap at All Might? Perhaps want to make him eat his own words?"

For the first time since Izuku had last opened his mouth, he looked Shigaraki in the eye. The man looked at the determined green eyes in front of him and laughed.

The tension in the room only seemed to increase. Spinner felt that if he so much as breathed wrong Shigaraki would turn around and disintegrate him.

Dabi and Magne looked disgusted at the display, and Toga looked confused. Twice on the other hand, looked just about ready to run away.

"You, Midoriya," Shigaraki said, "really are something else."

"I think we're going to get along much better than I had originally planned," Izuku muttered, lying outright.

Uraraka had been able to tell that Deku just wanted to sit alone for a bit when he left the group to tie his shoelaces. She confirmed her hunch when she turned around a couple seconds later and saw Midoriya sitting on a bench, his shoes tied perfectly. 

She looked over at Todoroki, who didn't look at all interested in the stalls he said he wanted to see. "Did you pretend to be interested so we would walk away?" Uraraka asked him quietly.

A look of shock passed over Todoroki for a second, and it was gone the next. "I did," he said. "Midoriya doesn't like public spaces or attention. Being with us has people looking over because of the sports festival and it might have made him uncomfortable."

"I see," she sighed. "I wonder why Deku doesn't tell me about these sorts of things. I would have done something to help." 

"He didn't tell me either," The half-red-half-white teenager looked around boredly. "I figured it out by myself."

From behind the two, Tsuyu hummed softly. "There's a crowd of people over there," she said. "Someone must have done something embarrassing for so many people to be there."

Iida looked over and furrowed his eyebrows, "Isn't that near where Midoriya said he would tie his shoelaces?" he said. They were about a hundred metres away from the crowd, but after months of training, they could still make out the twenty-something people. 

"It is." Todoroki swallowed dryly. Something wasn't right. Where was Midoriya? He tried to look around, but couldn't spot a mass of green anywhere. "Should we go check it out?" Tsuyu asked. "I'm not sure about that." Iida said, which was strange. Usually, he would be the first one to start running towards the crowd. "None of our other classmates are moving towards them. Not even Jiro."

"That's true. Surely Shoji or Jiro would be there if something was wrong." Uraraka said, tilting her head as if it would make her see further.

"I still think we should go check it out," Todoroki said, but was already walking. "Something tells me that Midoriya is in danger." He set off in a fast pace, not looking behind him to see if his friends were following.

But of course they were, because they were his friends. 

"What makes you think Midoriya's in danger?" Iida asked, a serious expression on his face. "He hasn't returned yet and it's been nearly four minutes. I can't see him anywhere and we left him at the same spot those people are crowding at." Todoroki chewed his lip in frustration. No, he told himself. I have to get there faster. 

Uraraka shouted as Todoroki took off in a sprint, making people turn their heads. Kirishima made eye contact with him and immediately started running as well. "What's with that look on your face?" he questioned. The scarred teen didn't answer, and that only made Kirishima run faster. 

Naturally, because Kirishima suddenly took off to run with Todoroki, Kaminari and Jiro followed behind. The girl tried to listen to what the crowd was talking about, to no avail. "I can't hear what's going on." she said, panicking. 

"Fuck!" Todoroki swore. Kaminari almost stopped running out of surprise. He had never heard an actual curse come out of Todoroki's mouth. His insults were usually creative, not straight up abrasive. 

They finally reached the crowd, only to hear someone scream. Kirishima caught the last glimpse of a purple mist fading away. "I think I just saw one of the League of Villain's portals." he said, running to the bench it had been behind. 

Todoroki was speaking to the crowd, asking what had happened with Jiro and Kaminari by his side. "Someone just teleported away with a kid!" A man yelled. A woman handed him her phone, a video on the screen. The three of the teenagers watched in horror as the video played, showing their classmate being slung over someone's shoulder and thrown through a portal.

Kurogiri's portal, Kaminari could recognise it anywhere. 

"Hey," Kirishima called out, making everyone's eyes turn to him. "Midoriya's phone was on the ground here."

And here is the bar in this fic:

Chapter Text

Shigaraki cackled for a few minutes after Izuku suggested that they two of them were going to get along. "We really couldn't get any luckier! Who would have thought that All Might's successor would hate All Might?"

"I don't hate All Might," Izuku retorted.

"You may not realise it just yet, but soon enough, you won't ever want to see his skinny ass face again." The leader of the League of Villains snorted as he plopped down on a bar stool. 

"I hadn't realised we have two crazies in our group," Dabi commented. Toga rolled her eyes and Shigaraki glared at him, not fond of the new nickname. "What was that? You two suddenly buddy-buddy now?" He asked, gesturing between his not-so-boss and his hostage, who was still struggling against his binding. 

"Tomura Shigaraki is simply joyful Midoriya doesn't seem to favour his predecessor. We can use that against heroes." Kurogiri spoke up from behind the bar as he cleaned the glass he had offered to Izuku earlier.

"We have a lot more in common than I thought, Izu!" Toga wrapped her arms around his neck from behind him and squeezed almost too tightly.

"I'm not too sure I like the fact you're constantly touching the person we kidnapped." Spinner said, a look of disgust on his face. "Usually boys go crazy when a cute girl latches onto them. I find it quite amusing to see Midoriya look angry with her." Mr Compress said, a hand over his mask where his mouth would be. 

"You expect me to be flattered some villain finds me cute?" Izuku deadpanned. Toga looked hurt, "Come on, Izu! Don't be like that!"

Dabi snickered, "Would you look at that. Crazy's obsession doesn't like her back." 

The girl glared as she picked up the knife she had held to Midoriya's neck earlier and pegged it at Dabi, who didn't flinch.

Kurogiri placed a portal in front of the man's face before he was impaled by the large weapon. It clanged on the ground loudly as it fell through the other side of the portal in the middle of the room. Something about the way no one looked surprised had Izuku guessing that that happened often.

"Do not murder each other in the base. If you wish to fight, go outside." Kurogiri lectured. 

"This is nice and all, but I personally would much rather be at UA then tied up with villains surrounding me." Izuku said, his face growing tighter. "Oh?" Magne almost snorted. "A hero who's uncomfortable when tied up and surrounded by villains. Who would have guessed?"

The boy resisted to urge to use One for All to break out of his binding and make a run for it. He knew that wouldn't work, given there was a teleporter and a lizard with two katanas with it in the room. He didn't feel like breaking out just to be put back in the same position with swords piercing through his back moments later.

Definitely on his bucket list, though. 

"You're not going anywhere, hero." Shigaraki said as he swivelled around on his bar stool, glaring at Izuku. "Unfortunately for you, and fortunately for our entertainment, you're going to be staying here until master breaks out of jail and returns to us."

Midoriya scoffed, "You think I don't have plans to escape? Perhaps I'll deceive you into thinking I've become a villain, then run away when you least expect it." he raised an eyebrow, a challenging look on his face. 

Dabi grinned, "I think I like him. He's definitely not the kind of hero I had expected him to be." He let out a quiet laugh. Mr Compress hummed in agreement, his gloved hand stroking his non-existent beard, "He is certainly a lot more entertaining than I had thought. Perhaps I don't mind keeping him for longer than intended."

"I'm not something you can just keep. What am I, a pet?" Izuku scowled at the masked man. 

"Of sorts," Kurogiri stated, matter of fact. It brought a snicker out of Shigaraki, "Think of it as a trip to the zoo. Except, you're the bear everyone pokes at with sticks from the other side of the cage."

"Bear? No, a tiger suits him better." Twice said. "He bares his teeth like one. His gaze is a lot more intense than a bear's." Izuku rolled his eyes, not fond of the not-really-complements. "His gaze," Spinner emphasised, mocking Twice on purpose, "is weak. I liked the blonde one's scowl better. It had more of a kick." 

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Izuku muttered. "What a colourful mouth," Magne commented, obviously amused. "Well, excuse me for not bothering to censor my words to a bunch of villains who just so happened to kidnap me." he said, making his voice higher in mock politeness. 

"Just so happened, he says." Shigaraki scoffed, "You think we just plucked you off the street for no reason?"

"It was a park, not the street." The teenage boy corrected. 

"The more public, the riskier. And if you ask me, I did an excellent job." Dabi interrupted the conversation, proud of himself. Shigaraki rolled his eyes, "Anyone could have done it," he said, glaring at his burnt subordinate. "You aren't important. My point is, that you're special, Midoriya." 

Izuku huffed, "I didn't ask to be All Might's successor. He asked me. All I did was receive One for All."

Twice snickered, "You're so dense. That's the entire reason you're special. It's because All Might chose you specifically that makes you better than your peers. No, you're not. You're a weak nobody." 

Izuku raised an eyebrow at the man, silently asking what his deal was. Twice crossed his arms over his chest, "It's a side effect of my quirk. Got a problem?" he asked, unamused.

"As a matter of fact, I do." the hero replied plainly. "I'm glad I was able to entertain you psychos, but I'm really not all that pleased at the moment. You want answers? Go ahead, shoot. But the moment you turn away, I'll be gone." he let his irritation show through his words. 

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes, moving towards the boy slowly, "If you're going to play, it's by my rules. You have no place here, let alone one high enough to threaten me. You reply to my questions with full honestly, and perhaps I won't murder you before master returns." he took as seat on the couch, sitting directly across from Izuku. He got a scowl as a reply. 

"What is All Might planning to do? Will he ever return to the field?"

"He's going to teach at UA until I graduate. No, he won't." Izuku snapped with as much attitude as he had gotten from the leader of the League, returning his intense stare. 

"What about after you graduate, if you do?"

"No."

"Does he still take part in meetings with the higher-ups about villains and plans?"

"I don't know."

"Liar," Shigaraki spat. "You are one of the only people close to All Might, and you don't even know if he takes part in meetings?"

Izuku rolled his shoulders, "I'm not sure where you all got the idea All Might trusts me just because I have his quirk now. The only thing he trusts me with is the ability to train under his watch until my limbs are just about ready to fall off. And I can't even do that. So, no, he doesn't tell me jack."

Dabi snickered, but Izuku could see just how tense he was. A sore spot, perhaps?

"Then what do you know? Or are you just completely useless?" Shigaraki questioned, ignoring the way Izuku's jaw tightened at the insult. "I know that he has a limit to how long he can go into his hero form." he said, his voice suddenly lacking in confidence.

The man raised an eyebrow, not sure what had caused the loss. "What's wrong, hero?" he asked, a hint of curiosity within the mockery. "Feeling bad for ratting out your predecessor?"

Izuku didn't reply. This annoyed Shigaraki. "So he can still get ripped, but not for long. Big deal." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell me something more. Something I can actually use against every hero, not just him."

I shouldn't tell him anything, Izuku thought. But really, if I sit here and say nothing, there's a chance he could disintegrate an arm or some other important part of my body. He had watched his teacher's elbow crack away, for god's sake. He knew exactly how dangerous everyone around him was.

That left Izuku with few choices; either reveal something the villains could use to turn civilians against heroes or get seriously hurt and risk being too injured to become a hero.

"All Might doesn't like weak people." he finally said, after a few moments of weighing his pros and cons.

This sentence had everyone perking up, interested in where the conversation was going.

"He finds anyone weaker than him a liability, which is why he's always worked alone. The only reason he chose a quirkless kid like me to be his successor, is because he believes the weaker I am, the easier I am to contort and construct into an undefeated solider. The next symbol of peace." 

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either.

It was true All Might hated working with other people because he thinks they would only get in his way—Izuku knows the man well enough to read his facial expressions and see that he gets disgusted in interviews when asked about a hero partner—and that he chose Izuku because he would be easy to manipulate, but that wasn't all there was to it. 

All Might had, too, once been quirkless. Just as Izuku was when he had first met the man. And while it was obvious All Might didn't like quirkless people—"to be honest, no. I don't think you can be a hero without a quirk. Try to be a police officer or something, kid. They save people, too."—he knew how easily they could be moulded into a weapon.

Because he himself had been.

The only difference between All Might's up bringing and Midoriya's, however, is that All Might's predecessor was a kind woman. Not at all like him, who was harsh on Izuku.

Nana Shimura was kind-hearted and never did anything to hurt All Might physically or mentally. She didn't ever put him into line, which gave him more than enough room to grow his ego and morals. A shame, really.

"What are you talking about? Stain called All Might a true hero!" Spinner snapped. Shigaraki raised a hand to the lizard to get him to stop talking, beckoning Izuku on. He was clearly intrigued, and Izuku thought it was quite amusing.

"Don't tell me you didn't know this. The leader of the League of Villains isn't even aware the retired number one hero isn't as selfless as everyone made him out to be? You're surely pulling my leg here." Izuku said, titling his head slightly. It gave him enough room to slightly shimmy one of his shoulders and some of his arm out of the rope he was still bound in. 

No one seemed to notice. Pathetic.

"All Might doesn't like me as much as he lets off. Sure, he trains me one-on-one, but he does it for Kacchan, too. And pretty much anyone else that asks him to, really. The only difference is, he expects it of me. I'm the only student he pulls to the side to lecture." He leaned back on the couch, positioning his body so that no one could see his hands slowly undoing the knot of the rope that was resting against his lower back. 

"My point is, he's not as kind-hearted and selfless as everyone praises him as. He sees me as a stand in for him now that he isn't able to fight. That's all I'll ever be to him." He finished his half-assed speech, and the room remained silent for a short while.

"So, in short, you don't know anything about him because he doesn't care about you, he cares about your performance. Pathetic on both ends." Twice said, almost perfectly summarising what Izuku had just spent the last couple of minutes explaining.

"Hm," Izuku hummed in confirmation, "That's pretty much it, yeah."

Finally, the ropes slid off his arms and loosened around his stomach enough that it all fell around his waist. From there, he was able to lift it over his head and throw it onto the ground. "You're bad at holding someone captive, by the way. That was almost too easy." he said, rubbing his raw wrists where the rope had been bound the tightest.

"In our defence, we didn't have a chair to strap you in like we did with blondie. It was destroyed when the heroes barged into our previous base." Mr Compress said. 

Shigaraki smirked, "Thinking of leaving the fun so soon, hero?" he was clearly amused at the thought of Izuku attempting to run away. "I could," the teen replied plainly, intertwining his hands over the table in front of him. "But I think that ruins the fun of me leaving without a scratch. I'm not exactly stupid enough to try and escape with Kurogiri right there watching my every move." he paused for a moment.

"I'm none too fond of the idea of being burnt, chipping away, being in a marble, or being impaled." he said, looking around the room. He got to Magne, who looked almost angry at not being acknowledged as frightening. "Or being thrown into a wall with a magnet," Izuku said finally, looking at the wrapped-up magnet behind the woman.

She grinned, but it wasn't dangerous. It was simply pleased.

Something fluttered in Izuku's chest at the sight. 

It was almost refreshing seeing her smile without looking cocky or downright terrifying.

Almost.

He didn't exactly feel much for a bunch of villains that had hurt his friends and classmates other than anger and maybe even a bit of pity. To have to hurt children in order to feel good about yourself like the League and some had at the training camp... Izuku couldn't comprehend the thought, let alone try to understand it. 

"We can use that," Shigaraki announced. "We could record a video of the hero saying what he just said to us and blast it across all of Japan. Or, we could find other witnesses of his hatred for weaklings."

"Yes, I do believe that would work well in our favour." Kurogiri said, humming thoughtfully. Izuku wondered if he even had a brain behind the mist or if the mist was his brain. 

The rest of the group of villains all moved into the middle of the room, discussing what to do with Izuku from there. Well, that's what the hero-in-training assumed they were talking about, but he really couldn't be bothered to eavesdrop. Instead, he scooched over to the wall, pressing his back against the bricks and tucking his knees under his chin. 

He looked around the room again, trying to see if he could spot any ways for him to get out this time, since he failed the first time. Again, he found nothing. One door, no windows, and a hallway. Though, if he could sneak into the hallway and look into the rooms, he might just find a window to climb out of. Or perhaps there was a hatch of some sort behind the bar he could escape through.

He'd have to go looking to find out, really.

Izuku remembered the way Bakugo used to treat him in Junior High clearly. He was rough, rude, and hated it when anything didn't go his way. And because Izuku just so happened to apparently always be doing something that annoyed him, he went home with bruises daily. 

However, they were almost never visible. Inko didn't seem to notice, and no teachers or any civilians noticed, either. Kacchan had learned where to punch so nothing looked out of the ordinary apart from an occasional limp from Izuku in their first year in Junior High. His stomach, his back, his chest, his shoulders, and his legs were often the most targeted spots. 

Izuku couldn't say it was all that bad though.

It never got to the point anything was broken or he wasn't able to focus in class, so really, there was nothing to complain about.

One thing that Midoriya hated, however, was when Bakugo would put his hand on Izuku's shoulder, whisper aggressive threats into his ear, and raise the temperature on his palm to the point there were sizzling sounds and a rotten smell in the classroom coming from the greenettes clothes and skin being burned.

It didn't happen often, and Izuku was always able to sneak into the nurse's office to patch himself up before leaving to walk home.

It left a faint scar on his right shoulder, the shoulder Bakugo seemed to prefer burning. A patch of skin that was darker than the rest in the shape of a hand.

When Dabi had made his palm hot, Izuku's flight instincts crept their way in, and he threw himself against the ground. He's certain gained a bruise on one of his arms, but he couldn't be bothered to check. He panicked, and for a moment, he was sure he was going to feel the all-too familiar sensation of his skin blistering.

His scar itched and burned as if the old wound had opened.

It was something Izuku hoped would never be brought up again.

--

"Izu, are you dating anyone?" Toga questioned.

"No," Izuku answered.

"Would you—"

"No,"

"What about some bl—"

"No, Toga. I won't go out with you, and I won't just offer my blood to you. I'm your captive and you're my kidnapper." Izuku hadn't moved from his spot on the couch against the wall in a while. He didn't have a watch on, so he didn't know for sure, but if he had to guess, it had been around an hour and a half.

The blonde girl had sat in front of his legs on her knees, pouting excessively. "It doesn't have to be that way, Izu." She said. "You could always just hang around by choice. Then it wouldn't be kidnapping!" Toga flashed her teeth in a big grin.

Her fangs caught on her bottom lip, and Izuku found himself backing against the wall more. "Why would I ever want to be here by choice?" he questioned. It came off more offended than he had intended it to.

"We aren't so bad when you get to know us," she offered. "All you gotta do is be open minded to what all of us went through to get here in the first place." With that, she hoped off the couch and went down the hallway, singing out to Magne.

Izuku hadn't ever thought of that. No one was born a villain, he knew. He had just never really put much thought as to why regular civilians would become villains and hurt people on purpose.

When he really put his mind to it, Izuku could come up with many reasons anyone could become a villain.

Perhaps one of their family members is a villain and they get pressured into doing their bidding. Perhaps their ideals aren't 'bad', but they aren't heroic either, so they get slapped with a harsh label. Or maybe their quirk is something villainous, like Toga's, where the quirk user is required to hurt someone to use it.

Maybe they get bullied and pushed around to the point they one day just break, and they do something villainous without really meaning to.

Or maybe, they were just simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and happened to get mixed up with shady people while at a low point of their life.

So many reasons, and yet, every single one of them is deemed past the point of return. As if good people can't do bad things. As if bad people don't have a good conscience, and as if people can't be sorry for their past actions and try their best to make up for it.

Though, at the same time, there were also villains that were pure evil with no conscience at all. Like All for One, whose dream is to take over and rule the world. And to destroy it in the process.

"Stain probably makes a good example," Izuku mumbled. His whole idea of 'true heroes' was admirable, but he went about it in all the wrong ways. But it was his ideals that gained him so many followers, not his method of following through.

"Stain's the reason the League of Villains is what it is." Spinner said, walking near the booth Izuku was in. He had obviously been observing Izuku for a while now, waiting for him to say something. "Dabi, Toga, Magne and I were all brought here because of Stain. He inspired us all to be something useful, to be greater than what we were."

Izuku raised an eyebrow, "By 'greater' you mean children terrorisers?" he asked in a snarky tone. "I mean, that's all you've done so far. Breaking into a high school with the intention of murdering a hero in front of a class of children and kidnapping two kids not long after isn't something to be proud of."

Before Spinner could even think of an insult to retort with, Dabi intervened. "No, maybe not if it was a regular high school. But it was an elite hero school, so that's a win or three in my book."

"Your book," Izuku emphasised mockingly, "has been raked through mud, shit and toenail clippings." Mr Compress whistled, impressed at the colourful insult. "My, my, how profound." He made a show at silently clapping in Izuku's direction.

Dabi clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes. "Heroes get offended so easily. It's like none of them can handle anything remotely bad. We weren't even in the League when crusty broke into the school. All we did was steal a few people."

"No, but you did set a forest full of kids on fire." Izuku said. He remembered how scared Kota had looked seeing the fire a couple hundred feet away from down from him.

Dabi grinned, "I did do that, yes." he said, proud.

It disgusted the teenager. He also knew Dabi was lying when he said all he had done was contribute to kidnapping. Izuku knew that the man had been on the news more than a few times as a wanted murderer. 

"The only reason I'm tolerating your mouth, kid, is because Stain called you a true hero." Spinner said, clearly trying to threaten the hero.

"Ah, yes, because a true hero would say nice things to their villain kidnappers," It didn't work, though, as Izuku only took his words as mockery. "You're all a bunch of hypocrites, and you all lie through your teeth. In the end, you're all just adults, save for Toga, and that's all adults do."

Izuku clenched his fists, scowling at Dabi, who looked almost shocked at his words. "You don't trust adults?" he asked, aghast. "You trust your life and future career to them, though."

The freckled hero wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained to keep eye-contact with the villain sitting on the bar stool directly across from where Izuku was sitting. "Yeah, because that makes a difference." he spoke in a mumble. 

"Is there a reason you call all adults liars, Midoriya?" Kurogiri asked from behind the bar. He leaned against it with one misty hand on top of the surface, the other by his side. He had been listening quietly in the same spot for a while now, as if analysing every move Izuku made, never taking his glowing eyes off of him. 

"A reason? Because it's true. The only one here that isn't afraid to tell the truth is Toga, and she's seventeen! At least she can admit when she cares about my blood more than me as a whole." Izuku spat, no longer leaning on the wall. "You talk about treating me as a guest, and letting me off easy, but that's all bullshit. The only reason you haven't hurt me is because you lack the confidence to hurt a kid!" he yelled, looking at Spinner, who narrowed his eyes at the accusation. 

"You don't like touching people," Izuku said to Dabi. "You watch from afar rather than doing anything yourself like a coward," The teenager watched Mr Compress flinch. "And all you're good for is following orders and moving people around!" he huffed, gesturing to Kurogiri, who hadn't moved an inch. 

"I may not like touching people, but lucky for me, my quirk happens to be effective from just as far away as up close," Dabi sneered, throwing out his arm as if to set his quirk off, when suddenly, there was a hand two inches away from his face.

"You hurt the hero," Shigaraki drawled, his deep voice booming through the room. "And you have the favour returned in ten-fold. He's supposed to give information willingly. I'm not wasting resources on patching up wounds and burns for no reason." he said, his fingers twitching, as if he was itching to disintegrate Dabi's skin off.

Izuku rolled his eyes. He knew Shigaraki wanted to manipulate the teen into thinking he was giving away information about heroes by choice. Just like how his interrogation had gone earlier.

Dabi scoffed and lowered his arm, glaring at his boss. "What kind of villain waits for their captive to spill information by free will?" he asked mockingly.

"This one," Shigaraki answered, snarling at him. "You follow my orders, so you're the kind of villain that waits for their captive to talk, too. Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through to get supplies? If you want to hurt someone, go pick a random civilian that I won't have to bother patching up."

"You mean first-aid? All you did was shove it into your pocket and walk out of the store, crusty bastard. The only trouble you would have gone through is not disintegrating it." Dabi's blue eyes met Shigaraki's red ones as they scowled at each other. 

"It's not like you'd be the one doing anything, anyway. You'd get Kurogiri to do it, so I really don't understand why you're protecting him so much." Spinner looked at his boss puzzled. 

"You're all helpless, goddamn it. Fine, go ahead then. Burn the fucking hero until he's screaming for help for all I care. But don't come crying to me when he won't say jack about any hero afterwards no matter what you do." The blue-haired man shoved his hands in pockets and stalked down the hallway. The sound of a door slamming was heard throughout the room not long after.

"I struggle to understand the man a lot of the time," Mr Compress chimed up, still looking down into the hall. "Who cares what he says. Most of its batshit crazy, anyway. It's no use trying to decipher scribble." Dabi snapped, glaring at the floor.

Izuku stared off down the hall, even if he couldn't actually see anything in the gloomy shadows. He had come to realise that Shigaraki was a hell of a lot more observant than he had initially taken him for. And he had a high level of intelligence, even if it went to waste a lot of the time.

Shigaraki was correct. 

Izuku would never reveal anything if a certain line was crossed. Even if he were to be manipulated into spilling information, he would only give away very little unless his life was on the line, or he was shoved into a tight corner he couldn't escape. If any of the villains that had taken him laid their hands on Izuku, he would seal his lips for good. 

Giving it away by free will is different, because he wouldn't do it for no reason. He isn't that big of a blabbermouth, and he certainly wouldn't give away the weaknesses of his friends and teachers just because of a half-assed threat. He wouldn't feel any guilt if he were to willingly tell anyone anything, because they definitely would have done something to deserve it.

However, if Izuku were to be injured during an interrogation, or even tortured for that matter, he would die before saying anything that could endanger staff and students of UA high to the culprit. No one could force anything out of him. Not with their fists and quirks, that's for sure.

From behind the bar, Kurogiri saw the way Izuku's eyes were shinning towards the hallway where Shigaraki had run off to. It was like the teenager had discovered something delightful that he had a newfound respect for.

He didn't even react when Dabi screamed out his name, followed by colourful insults, followed by calling the hero, quote, "Just as batshit crazy and up in the clouds as the rest of these freaks."

No, Izuku had his eyes locked and his wholly attention to the hallway.

How curious.

Chapter Text

"Hey," Kirishima called out, making everyone's eyes turn to him. "Midoriya's phone was on the ground here."

Todoroki yanked it out of his hand—aggressively and inspected it. “It must have fallen out of his pocket.” he said, looking at the crack across the screen.

Uraraka walked up beside him and placed her head on his shoulder, “What do we do now?” she whispered, sounding fatigued.

“We’ll need witnesses when we go to the police,” Iida spoke up, grabbing the attention of the civilians. “Please, anyone willing to give a statement, come forward!”

Three adults, including the woman with a video with full view of Midoriya being thrown into the portal, moved forward with a collection of expressions.

The woman looked shaken up, another adult looked like he'd just witnessed the most exciting thing in his life, and the last one looked sick, but also fascinated.

The rest of the crowd moved backwards, some looking horrified by what they had just witnessed. Two teenagers in the middle of said crowd looked especially conflicted. They gave each other a sideways glace, then slowly walked over to Iida. They kept their heads down, both of their mouths pressed into thin lines.

Iida gave the both of them a small smile, even if he knew they weren’t looking. He softly placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and one of them looked up. The other tensed further, his hands clenching by his side. “The two of you are unbelievably brave for stepping up to do this,” the hero said in a gentle tone. It made the second teen look up.

“I know very well how hard that must have been to watch, and I can tell by how disappointed you both look in yourselves how much you must have wanted to help.” Iida watched as both boys in front of him tensed, as if ashamed of themselves for not doing anything to help. “You have no idea how heroic you are just from even wanting to do something.”

The teenager on the right—Tsugima, the nametag on his uniform said—let some of the tension leave his body. He looked relieved that someone still found him heroic. “I— I really was going to help, but the kid, he screamed for us not to.” He had both of his hands in front of him, the fingers interlocked.

Iida saw the way he was squeezing so tightly that his fingertips were paper white.

“He looked right at us when he said to run, just as I was about to help him,” The teenager on the left said as he sniffled. “And—and he looked so brave and fearless, that I really believed him when he said he was going to be fine!” He looked desperately at Iida, as if willing him to believe his words.

“Fugimori,” Iida addressed him, looking at his nametag, “I know exactly what you’re feeling. You must know that Midoriya is the strongest hero I know, so there is no need to feel guilty for not helping despite what he said. In fact, Midoriya has saved me from a villain on the loose before. Trust me when I say that I am confident we’ll be able to save him before he gets injured.” He squeezed Fugimori on the shoulder lightly.

“How do you know he isn’t injured already? He was thrown into the bench!” The teenager yelled, clearly disbelieving of Iida’s reassurance.

“Because he’s hero Deku. He’s dealt with villains before, and I’m certain when I say that he will find every way possible to remain unharmed and alive. It’s nothing he hasn’t done before, because Kami knows he finds himself in dangerous situations so often he wouldn’t even be phased.” Iida flashed a confident smile at both Tsugima and Fugimori.

That seemed to help them calm enough that they no long looked just about ready to keel over with guilt.

“I can come with you to the police station, if you want.” Kaminari offered.

“That would be great,” Iida replied. “Jiro, are you going to call Aizawa Sensei?” he asked, turning around to the girl behind him, who nodded, a phone already in her hand.

“I was just about to.” Jiro stated.

“You should wait to see if he wants to join you or meet you at the station,” Tsuyu spoke up, having been watching everything fold out from the sideline, her face almost paper white.

“Right,” Kaminari said, looking at the floor with a heavy expression.

The adults that had volunteered to give their statements shifted on their feet uncomfortably at the down atmosphere.

"That kid, he goes to UA, right?" One of them said, looking nothing short of amazed. "You should have seen how brave he was! He's as heroic as he looked during the sports festival." He grinned ear to ear, bubbling with excitement. "I can't believe I really just saw a UA kid dealing with a villain with my own eyes!"

Todoroki resisted the urge to freeze the man from head to toe. Was reputation and impressions all people ever cared about? A high school student was kidnapped in front of him, and all he had to say was praise to the scene? 

"Well, since he's a UA student, I'm sure he'll be fine at least for a little while." The second man sounded shaken up.

"That's right," Iida said, his voice confident and unwavering. "Midoriya will be fine. In the meantime, I will have to ask everyone to keep any videos recorded to themselves. We really don't need this getting out until we have the situation completely under control."

Tsuyu looked worried as she scrolled through her phone, her eyes wide. "It's too late," she said. "There are multiple videos up on social media, and some are even taken from afar, so we can't know who took them. Every single one already has hundreds of views." She was rightfully scared for her classmate, as not knowing where to look for whoever filmed the kidnapping meant not having a clue who they could ask to take down the videos before they went too viral.

A UA student being kidnapped in broad daylight with no one even attempting to help him? That was like pouring gasoline onto an open fire. The press was sure to make a huge scandal out of it in no time.

Uraraka made a sound at the back of her throat and buried her hands in her face, "My god," she whispered. "This couldn't get any worse."

Kirishima put his hand on her back reassuringly, but his poorly controlled expression gave away his true feelings. He was scared for Midoriya as well.

Kaminari looked over at Jiro, who was still on the phone to Aizawa. The crowd had doubled, with people wanting to see what the commotion was about.

It wasn't long until some teenager in the middle of the sea of people yelled out. "Was someone kidnapped here? There's videos of someone being thrown into a portal right here!" The question had people pulling up their phones, and it took about five minutes for nearly everyone to have the video saved onto their phones.

"What do we do?" Kaminari asked, panicking. "All of them have the video! This could be really bad!"

Tsuyu wanted to slap him. "We know that, Kaminari." she said sternly. "But the most we can do is hope for the best and pray that Midoriya is safe and unharmed."

"If anything, the media exposure should mean that Midoriya is safer for a little while longer." Todoroki was given confused glances and disbelieving looks. "The League wouldn't kidnap Midoriya out in such a public area for no reason." he began to elaborate, "Everyone saw how the villain threw him into the bench before throwing him into the portal. Think about it. Why would they purposely draw out the kidnapping knowing there were people recording behind them?"

"To get attention," Uraraka said, realising dawning on her face. "They want people to see. They want people to know they aren't scared of heroes, and that they won't hesitate to snatch up students right under their noses."

Jiro sighed as she pocketed her phone, "Alright, Iida and Kaminari, Aizawa Sensei will be at the station. He wants you to give him a full brief of the situation while the five of you," she gestured to the civilians accompanying her two classmates. "Go inside and report what you saw."

"Let's go then," Iida said in a loud voice.

Aizawa was leaning against the rails of the stairs leading up to the floor-to-ceiling glass doors of the police station. He hadn't written being down there after a phone call with one of his students informing another one of them had been kidnapped on a Friday afternoon on his planner.

Go figure.

He had his hands shoved his in pockets, and a hard stare set on his face as if it had been carved there. He saw a couple of his students from homeroom and a few civilians—they must be the ones Jiro mentioned had witnessed the whole ordeal and were willing to give a statement—walking behind them awkwardly.

He stood up straight and walked down onto the bottom step of the stairs. "Kaminari, Iida." he greeted.

"Aizawa Sensei, sir." They greeted in unison, Iida much louder than the blonde.

"Iida, go lead the civilians to the front desk," Aizawa said, glancing at the adults and teenagers—they looked almost familiar, perhaps they had been at the license exam—behind his student. "There will be a police officer with a cat-like mutation quirk waiting. You'll spot him pretty easily. Kaminari, stay back and give me a brief of what you know." he ordered, staring down Kaminari, who looked agitated. 

When Iida was no longer in sight, Aizawa was given a very short brief, one that had a lot of onomatopoeia. Aizawa hadn't had a clue what the sounds meant to symbolise. When the more responsible of the two returned from inside the station, he got the explanation he had wanted. 

"Do you have the video?" Aizawa asked. 

"Yes, Sensei. It's already circulating all over the internet." Iida replied, handing his phone over to his teacher, who took it with his eyes automatically glued on the screen.

He watched as his student acted like he weighed a lot more than he did to delay the villain—Dabi, he recognised—and his expression darkened as the video continued to play.

Midoriya's shirt caught on fire, and he seemed to no longer be looked for an opportunity to use his quirk without being in serious danger. He continued screaming, and then he was thrown into a dark mist that closed behind Dabi as he walked through.

"And this is all over the internet?" Aizawa mumbled, handing the phone back to Iida. "I need to show that to Nezu. He'll have to set up a conference before the press gets a hold of that video and starts saying ridiculous things." He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Why, why is it always Midoriya? 

"You two, gather the rest of your classmates and go back to school. I'm sure Jiro would have said something to the rest of you trouble children already, so if anyone tries to argue, just send them to me." Aizawa instructed. His students turned and ran back to Bennard Park. They were out of sight within seconds. 

He crouched down where he was, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. His chest ached. "Why is it always Midoriya caught up in such messes? When will the kid get a rest?" He was starting to regret not expelling the kid on his first day of UA for the sake of his safety. Surely he would be happier and, god bless him, safer in a normal school.

He knew Midoriya would be smart, and he would know how to play his cards correctly in front of villains. But just how long did he have to play the game? The League have gotten better at hiding their tracks, and the police haven't got a clue where their hideout could be, let alone where they would hide a UA student.

It was definitely going to take a hell of a lot longer to find Midoriya than it had been to find Bakugo. Aizawa could only pray that Midoriya came out at least a little alright, if at all. Being kidnapped by the League of Villains, the people that had been out for his classmates all year, couldn't be a light load. He couldn't imagine how the kid was going to be like once it was all over, if he came out alive at all.

"Did you see the video?" A voice called out from behind Aizawa, making him turn around. Tsukauchi stood a step above him, looking out into the small forest across from the police station.

"Of Midoriya being thrown into the portal? I did, yes." The hero replied, tired.

"He's a tough kid, Aizawa," The detective said, taking his beige hat off and holding it to his chest in a strange sentimental way. "Did you see the way he didn't hesitate to yell to the civilians, even after being set on fire? I could only ever wish to be that amazing." he said, a small smile on his face.

"You think I don't know how brave the boy is?" Aizawa accused. "Of course I do. I've observed him all year. If there's one thing I know about him, it's that Midoriya wouldn't be Midoriya without an overwhelming amount of fearlessness and an underwhelming amount of self-preservation. I swear it's like he has a sign attached onto his back with 'please attack me, I'll fight anywhere any time' in bold. He always seems to be in the middle of some sort of trouble." he let out a long sigh.

Tsukauchi laughed, "I find it quite amusing to see him so bright and cheerful as a trouble magnet as he is. It's part of his charm."

Aizawa scoffed, "What charm? He's as insufferable as the rest of his cohort." he said, raising an eyebrow at the detective.

"The charm that gets everyone to like him," said detective answered, raising his own eyebrow in return. "Even villains, I suppose."

The hero huffed, "I would hate to have such a feature. Being all sunshine and rainbows while having an invisible aura that catches literally every big villain's attention surrounding me."

"You would," Tsukauchi snickered, hiding his smile behind his free hand. He plopped his hat back on with the other. "But at least he's honest to himself. A lot of heroes get so lost into their public persona that they find they don't actually have a real personality any longer. I've watched many heroes go from bright on screen and reserved off screen, to nothing but lies, even to themself. Midoriya will always have a bright glow around him, and you should be grateful to have such a student."

"I am." Aizawa stated, like it was the easiest thing in the word to admit.

Tsukauchi beamed.

"He's asleep again." Mr Compress observed, poking sleeping Izuku in the arm.

"Well, he has been surrounded by villains for a few hours now. Maybe all the stress got to his brain." Spinner suggested, unsheathing one of his katanas to clean.

"Have you seen the eyebags on him? He's probably just exhausted." Magne said. "Look at how tense he is, even in his sleep. Not to mention he's sitting upright. No normal person can fall asleep in his circumstances just because they're a bit stressed." 

It had been five and a half hours since Izuku was taken from Bennard Park.

He was asleep with his back perfectly straight against the brick wall with his legs straight in front of him on the red couch he was sitting on. His head was completely upright, which looked a bit absurd. The only things giving away the fact Midoriya had fallen asleep were his closed eyes and even breath.

It was an obviously uncomfortable position, yet he had fallen asleep so easily like that in a room crowded with villains.

"Maybe we just aren't scary enough to him. Beat him into submission!" Twice spoke up from down the hallway.

"He's obviously not very threatened." Spinner said. He had been rubbing a cloth across the surface of his katana, narrowing his eyes at the steel as if it would make the dirt become more obvious to his eyes. "Scare him a bit, and I'm sure he'll be awake for days even if we let him go."

"Stainy wouldn't want that," Toga said. She was leaning over the back of the couch Izuku was sleeping on with her chin propped up with her hands. "Not to mention he said Izu is a true hero. That's obviously why he's brave enough to fall asleep." she sighed longingly. "If only I could have just a little of his blood. Oh, how happy I would be!" Her cheeks flushed at the thought of Izuku being taken by surprise by her knife in his sleep, covered in blood.

"Brave isn't the word I would use." Dabi said, snickering. "More like downright stupid. What kind of hero lets down his guard and falls asleep, not once, but twice in front of villains?"

"The ones that aren't frightened." Mr Compress said, still poking Izuku's unmoving arm. "I find it quite admirable. I'm curious as to what his point of view is on many things." The man retracted his gloved hand finally, deciding to instead gaze at the boy from afar, taking in his figure. "Not to mention he looks quite sturdy. I wonder if he would be open to trying on flashy weapons and such to complement his physique."

"He has many scars. It's intriguing. It makes me want to know his story." Magne examined his arms with a small frown. The hero was, what? Sixteen? Fifteen? And he already had such deep scarring. It would be worrying if she actually cared. For now, it was simply a curious sight.

She made a small sound in the back of her throat when she noticed his fingers weren't aligned, either. Perhaps from the sports festival?

"A bunch of villains caring about how a hero got scars, huh?" Shigaraki said, finally coming out of his room again. His gaze swept around the room. "What a pathetic scene." He clicked his tongue, sitting down on one of the bar stools. 

"I hadn't realised being curious was a crime." Dabi cocked an eyebrow at his so-called boss from the stool next to him. "Although I suppose that makes it better, doesn't it? Considering we are criminals." He grinned into his cup of whiskey, taking a greedy swallow. It itched his throat, which was really only an empty reassurance his scars were only on the outside and didn't affect his insides.

It was also a lie he was telling himself.

Shigaraki glared at him, which seemed to bounce completely off of Dabi, who wasn't affected by the look whatsoever.

"Oh, hey," Twice walked closer to the couch Izuku was sleeping on, "He looks like he's scared. No, he looks constipated." Everyone looked over at the hero, whose face was pale and scrunched up, as if he were in pain. 

"Should we tie him down?" Magne asked. "He's starting to twitch." she said almost hesitantly. Though she couldn't deny she was secretly eager to see where this was heading. 

Izuku's mouth opened slightly, and he began to take short breaths through his mouth. His head was moving from side to side, as if he were trying to throw something off of it without the help of his hands, which were twitching in his lap.

"Someone get the rope!" Spinner yelled, sheathing his katana once again. He stood upright, his eyes wide as he looked at the sore sight of Midoriya seemingly fighting something in his sleep.

Kurogiri walked out from behind the bar and collected the rope from where Izuku had previously thrown it onto the floor. He cautiously approached the boy, who was now murmuring soft, muffled pleads. 

Toga moved to help him, gently sliding her left hand behind Izuku's back, pushing him forward gently. She looked quite beautiful with her face full of concentration and sternness for once rather than flushed longing.

Midoriya flinched and continued throwing his head around, even with her touching his back.

With there being a gap between the wall and Izuku's back now, Kurogiri was able to slide the rope around the boy and tie it tight enough that his movements would be strained when he woke up. Toga retracked her hand, placing Izuku back against the brick wall, and walked over to Magne.

Kurogiri walked backwards a bit as if to admire his work for a few seconds, then turned around to return to his spot behind the bar. "A bit much if you ask me," Mr Compress said, his voice hard. "The kid's probably just having a nightmare." 

"Doesn't hurt to be safe." Kurogiri replied.

"Well, it sure looks like it's hurting." Dabi commented. Izuku's arms were struggling against his binding, rubbing his skin raw against the material. "How is he not feeling that burn?" he questioned quietly. His eyebrows pulled together as he watched Izuku squirm with the rest of the group of villains.

They were all scattered around the bar with their eyes glued to the hero. Midoriya's breaths were still short and uneven, his green hair sticking to his face with sweat. "No. No, no, no. Please," he muttered. Toga looked distraught at his words.

"I feel bad," she whispered. Magne nodded in agreement. "It must be one hell of a nightmare." The woman said. 

Shigaraki groaned, "What a waste of time. He's probably just being dramatic, even in his sleep."

"Or maybe he's faking it?" Compress mumbled, a finger on his masked chin. "It seems like a good distraction if he wanted to run aw—"

"Oh shit!" Spinner yelled, backing away from the booth. "There's green coming out of his arms!"

Shigaraki was on his feet in seconds, his eyes blown wide. "I should have known!" He screamed, infuriated. Because of course it was fake. 

One for All sprung to life in Izuku's arms. The hero had tears streaming down his cheeks, and he was no longer mumbling pleads. Instead, pained noises were coming out of his mouth, close to the sound one makes when they cry, but not quite.

"Wait, no," Kurogiri called out, observing this. It had everyone pausing for a second at his loud voice. "I don't think he's faking it."

Dabi whipped around, "Are you mad? He's using his quirk for god's sake—" he was cut off by the sound of a loud gasp, followed by the sound of someone huffing, as if trying to catch their breath.

"Look at him!" A child with straight black hair pushed little Izuku Midoriya onto the ground, laughing. "He doesn't even have a quirk yet!" Everyone in the park giggled, pointing at Midoriya.

" You'll never amount to anything, will you, Deku?" The familiar voice made Midoriya turn around with tears in his eyes. Six-year-old Kacchan stared down at him, sneering.

"That—that isn't my name!" Midoriya retorted, sniffling.

Bakugo's palm glowed yellow before a small explosion erupted out of it. "It is now," he said. "It means useless, you know. Which is fitting for a quirkless loser like you."

Before Midoriya could do anything back, the six-year-old blonde in front of him suddenly faded into a dark colour, expanding in size. The figure slowly started returning to its original colours, and there stood Junior High Katsuki Bakugo.

He grabbed Midoriya by his arm, yanking him off the ground and pulling him closer. "You're pathetic. Sorrowful. Pitiful." Each insult felt like a slap to the face to Midoriya. He trembled where he stood, looking down at the wooden floorboards under his feet.

His head whipped up suddenly, and he realised he was in his middle school homeroom classroom. "Ah," he said, his eyes wide. "No, please no," Midoriya begged, but no one listened.

A girl with bright blue hair suddenly walked up beside him, smiling brightly.

He recoiled away from her, only to bump into one of Bakugo's lackies. He grinned at Midoriya, his fingers growing in size slowly. 

Izuku wanted to scream, but he wasn't able to get the sound out before Bakugo's lacky had his hand wrapped completely around his throat. "You aren't allowed to tell anyone what we do to you, understood?" Bakugo said, tightening his grip on Midoriya's arm.

"I said," he yelled, raising his voice. "Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yes!" Izuku shouted back, tears running down his face. "Yes, I—no one will know!"

"Good boy," the girl on his side whispered, grinning ear to ear. Her bright hair moved mechanically to his wrists, holding him still. "Now, you'll stay really quiet until Bakugo and Fuki are done for the day, right? You'll have to understand that they do this to have fun, and that no one is allowed to hear you crying." She spoke softly, manipulatively.

It made Midoriya want to nod yes.

But before he could do anything, the hand around his throat suddenly turned into dark green mist. He looked down, shocked as he tried to get the strange fog off of him.

He realised that Shika's quirk wasn't on his wrists, nor was Bakugo's hand gripping his arm tightly any longer. Instead, his entire body from head to toe, save for his eyes and his hands, were covered by dark green mist.

He tried to shout for help, but no sound came out of his mouth. In fact, it was as if he didn't even have one behind the haze of green covering half his face.

He looked back up and saw that he was no longer standing in his middle school classroom, but on a dirty slab of concrete in front of eight red and golden thrones, seven of which were occupied. 

There was one woman, and the rest of the people were men.

The lady stood up slowly, carefully approaching Izuku as if he were a hungry tiger about to gnaw her arm off. He looked at her confused, which apparently, she found amusing. A small smile spread across her face the closer to Izuku she got, and the more bewildered he got in the process.

"Do not be afraid, Izuku," she said sweetly. 

He felt his heart drop, though he wasn't sure why. He felt like he was on the verge of collapsing, though he wasn't dizzy at all.

"You're doing so well," the woman praised him. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was up close. 

"I have confidence you will be alright," A man spoke up from behind her. She moved to the side, and Izuku saw that a man with white hair touching his shoulders and bright green eyes that looked like they held a kaleidoscope of wisdom of the world had stood up.

He made his way over to Izuku as well, and it made the boy want to step back. The man stopped a few feet away from him as if sensing Izuku didn't want him any closer. 

The woman, however, now had a comforting hand on his misty shoulder. She was still smiling at Izuku. 

"Nine," The man said slowly. "Do not tremble at the sight of danger. You should have no reason to, given who you are and what you can do." 

Nine? Izuku wondered. Why did he refer to me as nine? That isn't my name. 

"You are the ninth wielder of One for All. That's why he is addressing you as Nine, Izuku." The woman beside him answered his unasked question. Or, at least, he was pretty sure he didn't ask it out loud.

"I'm sure you are confused, Nine. But, soon enough, you will understand everything." The white-haired man looked at Izuku as if he were a proud mentor. It was a look Izuku hadn't seen in longer than a while. It made his heart ache. 

"You must go, now, Izuku." The lady said almost sadly. "But do not fret. We are right here with you."

And, like that, Izuku found himself at the bar once again. He gasped for air, greedily drinking it in. He was out of breath and coughing, and someone was rubbing his back soothingly. He looked over his shoulder and saw it was a blushing Toga. 

"What...?" he mumbled, looking around the room and seeing the rest of the villains looking at him with strange expressions. He looked down and saw his arms had red marks in stripes all the way down to his hands, and broken rope laid around him and over his lap as if it had been dropped over his head.

"What?" he repeated, perplexed.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked around the room. He was still gasping for air, his heart racing in his chest. Spinner had unsheathed both of his katanas from his back and leapt forward at the same time Dabi did.

The hero blinked, and suddenly, he had blue fire and two pointed edges of swords aimed at him. Dabi had engulfed his left hand with his quirk, and the Lizard had his katanas crossed over one and other in front of Izuku's neck.

All he needed to do was uncross them in a single swipe, and Izuku's neck would be torn to shreds. 

The sudden turn on him had Izuku frozen, staring down the weapons.

His arms trembled where they laid across his lap, burning as if someone had rubbed alcohol on fresh wounds. They ached, and with a quick glance at his right hand, he saw his ring finger was shattered, sticking out in places it most definitely should not, a bright purple blooming down his finger from the tip to his bottom knuckle. 

Had he used his quirk in his sleep?

"You think you're smart?" Dabi's voice was grating. Midoriya swore he could feel a hot breath on him, despite the man's face being at a distance. "Did you think you could escape by taking us by surprise when we thought you were asleep?" His deep voice infiltrated Izuku's mind, making him shudder involuntarily. "I could burn you to death for pulling such a cheap trick, you know. Perhaps I'll send your ashes in a pretty box back to the heroes."

Izuku continued staring down the katanas, as if his body were frozen in place. Blue flames from Dabi's hand danced in his peripheral, an unparalleled masquerade for something so dangerous.

If only the teenager wasn't scared out of his mind by the beautiful view. 

Perhaps in another life Izuku welcomed the sight of Dabi's blue flames like one would welcome someone dear.

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," The hero stuttered. He felt a bead of sweat fall down his face, his mind racing. He didn't understand what he had done wrong. Nor did he understand why his arms looked like someone slammed flaming metal onto particular parts of his arms, why rope was in his lap, or how he'd used his quirk in his sleep.

Everything swirled around him like a whirlpool of colours. 

"Bullshit," Spinner spat, inching the blades closer to Izuku's throat. He glared down at the teenager, which went unseen as Izuku flinched at the katanas. They were coming close, so close he felt if he flinched again his neck would bleed.

"Please, I really don't—" he tried to get the words out. 

"I have to admit, that was a smart tactic if you wanted to run. Pretending to be asleep then surprising us out of nowhere." Shigaraki spoke up. He walked up to the booth Izuku was in and plopped down on the other red couch. It was the same colour as the man's eyes Izuku realised as he looked over at him, only moving his eyes in case he did accidently nick his neck on the pointy steel in front of him.

"But I suppose clearly you weren't trying very hard. There were multiple times there were only two or three of us in the room with you. If you planned to run so early into your stay, you should have done it then. Not when the entire League of Villains are in the same room a few metres away from you." Shigaraki grinned and leaned back on the couch as if he hadn't a thing to worry about. 

Izuku looked at him, confused. "I told you; I don't know what you're talking about." he said. He tried to sound confident and sure, but his voice shook and gave away how frightened he really was. "I just woke up—"

"Don't bother lying, Midoriya." Shigaraki interrupted; his grin faded away. "Come now, I thought we were friends, no?" he said sadly, as if mourning a betrayal.

"You choking me in public doesn't make us friends," Izuku whispered, not able to speak any louder. He remembered how scared he was when Shigaraki wrapped four fingers around his throat and called himself Izuku's friend to get him to sit down and talk without making a scene.

His heart hammered violently against his ribcage, as if begging the bones to tear apart and leave an opening for it to rip out of. The edges of his peripheral vision began to fade into black, like spilled ink on parchment spreading across the page and blocking out the words previously written.

His entire body was now trembling, his breaths short once again. He wanted to fight back against the villains in front of him. He wanted to smash away the swords pointed at his throat, and to punch away the flaming hand.

He found he had no courage to. 

"You look scared, buddy," Shigaraki leaned forward again, his voice soothing and his expression forming mock concern. Izuku could tell Shigaraki was making fun of him. "Do you need water? Perhaps you should lie down and get some rest, yeah?" He snickered, all worry bleeding out of his face in a matter of moments.

"Meanwhile," he yelled, suddenly raising his voice. It made Izuku flinch. 

Hot liquid trailed down his neck.

"The rest of the villains in this room shall go and murder some innocent people! How does that sound, Midoriya?" Shigaraki cackled loudly. "So, stop pretending like you don't know what you did, stop pretending like you're scared, have a long think about how miserably your plan to escape failed, and we'll be out kicking civilian ass while you do so." He finished, finally looking away from Izuku. 

"Kurogiri, get ready to teleport us to a secluded area. We're gonna stir the pot." The man said, standing up. "Everyone else, get ready to attack. Toga, don't forget your capsules this time. Twice, make a clone to stay here and watch the hero brat." Shigaraki looked over his shoulder and sent Izuku a grin before heading into his room. 

Spinner finally removed his swords from Izuku's personal space, and Dabi put out his flame. They both walked away, but not without them sending him the same look of pity over their shoulders. 

The villains were no longer in Izuku's space, but that didn't make it any easier to breathe. He felt like something was sitting on his chest, preventing his lungs from working properly. His head hung low as he brought his legs up, hugging them with his throbbing arms. 

"Let's go," Shigaraki said, reemerging from his room. He had his signature hands all over him, save for the one on his face. He carried it in his hand with his index finger in the air.

Kurogiri nodded. A thick mass of purple mist formed in the middle of the bar, and Shigaraki was the first to step through.

Toga followed through with her mask on and the rest of her gear around her waist.

Magne went through grinning with her magnet, then Mr Compress went in while fiddling with a blue marble.

Dabi and Spinner went through a second apart, the former with his hands in his pocket and the latter fixing up his pink hair so it stood perfectly straight.

Twice stayed behind for a few moments to make a clone, then left while shouting in excitement. Kurogiri disappeared with the portal he had made, looking as robotic as ever.

"So," the clone said, standing awkwardly to the side of the booth Izuku was in. "You have me curious. Did you really try and escape with all of us here, or did you seriously not mean to?" he asked. He went ignored as Izuku squeezed his eyes so tightly he felt them water.

Twice didn't let this get to him, seeing the way the teenager struggled to catch his breath. "You were groaning and stuff when you were pretending to sleep. Saying a bunch of pleads and no's. Then you started crying when your quirk came out. I've got to admit, it scared the crap out of me for a few seconds, before I remembered you're a kid and I'm a fully grown adult. Why should I be scared of you when it's usually the other way around?" The man sat down at the bar, staring at Izuku, who glared through his eyelashes.

"You've got to work on that look of yours. It isn't exactly a good idea to give a villain such a hard look while so vulnerable." Twice sighed. Izuku was surprised to realise he didn't sound amused or even pleased for once.

It sounded like Twice was almost sympathetic to Izuku's current position.

"Although I suppose UA kids have always been too ballsy for their own good. What's with you teens and running headfirst into danger, anyway? It sounds more than ridiculous to me." Twice shook his head as if he was giving up trying to think too hard.

"Sometimes sacrificing yourself is a better option than watching others get injured in your stead." Izuku said slowly, waiting for Twice's reaction. "It's always worth it to see their looks of awe when you save civilians."

Twice seemed to consider this, his index and thumb stroking his chin. "I suppose I wouldn't know much about that. I was always the type to stay the furthest away from big crowds and just watch what happened from afar."

They sat in silence for a while, and Izuku realised Twice had distracted him enough with his talking that his breathing had evened out without him noticing.

The teenager sighed, gripping his throbbing finger tightly as if he could will his bones to mend back together. "You only seem to have one personality right now. Does that mean the other one is with the original Twice?" he asked, glancing up at the villain a few metres away from him. 

"No," The clone answered. "The original still has the side effect of two voices from Double. Clones typically still have two personalities, but one is much more dominant and the other doesn't come out very often, if at all. I sometimes like to think the dominant voice is my real personality, rather than the quieter one."

This peaked Izuku's curiosity. Does that mean Twice didn't always have two voices? Perhaps an incident caused his personality split into two. "Do..." He hesitated, not sure if what he was about to ask was insensitive. "Do you not remember your real personality?" He inquires.

Twice saw the sparkle of curiosity in the hero's eyes and let out a quiet sigh of defeat. "No, I don't. There was a time when I was arrogant and foolish to my own abilities, Midoriya." The man stepped forward, stopping at the end of the bright red couch Izuku was sitting on. Strangely enough, Izuku wasn't intimidated by the villain's presence. Not even in the slightest.

"Your own abilities? Did your quirk malfunction?" Izuku asks, leaning forward slightly in anticipation. Old habits die hard, especially when it came to knowing about each and every quirk's weakness and strength.

"Why don't I tell you the rest of the story while I patch you up, huh?" Twice held out a gloved hand for Izuku to grab. The hero didn't hesitate, his mind wondering to what could have caused the split.

The adult hoisted him to his feet and started across the room, not waiting to see if Izuku followed.

He was led down the dark hallway, the seemingly old floorboards creaking with each step he took. Not being able to help it, he analysed as much as he could of the hallways. There was a single light hanging from the roof, a simple flickering lightbulb with no cover over it.

There were ten rooms—or at least, ten doors he could see—with four on each side of the hallway.

The walls were brick, and the doors to each room were painted the same white and scratched to some extent. He could tell from the paint peeling on some of them that the doors were made of wood.

Twice and Izuku entered the first room on the right, into a bathroom. It was simple, with a toilet and a sink with two cabinets underneath, a dusty and streaked mirror with rusted edges above the sink at eye-level. The shower was small, with a tub as flooring. Izuku looked around as he sat onto the toilet seat.

For some reason, he'd expected a head to be dangling somewhere. After all, it was the League of Villain's bathroom. But it seemed normal, if not a little old.

Izuku could tell Twice found his curiosity funny, which annoyed the teenager but not enough to comment on it. He held his right hand to his chest, cradling it with his left. His ring finger throbbed, the pain making Izuku bite his inner cheek to stop himself from making any noises.

Twice kneeled down on the tiled floor and searched through the cabinets and pulled out a red box. He placed it on the edge of the sink and clicked it open, pulling out a small roll of bandages, a roll of medical tape and a popsicle stick. "I'll have to reset your bone. It might hurt a bit, but bear with it." He said, now kneeling in front of the toilet, where Izuku sat.

"Why do you have popsicle sticks in your first aid kit?" Izuku asked.

"In case something like this happens. Injuries were common back when the League was first formed, so we had to have everything on hand. Not so much anymore, though." The adult peeled away Izuku's fingers from cradling his right hand, inspecting the broken finger. "It's shattered. The most I can do for you is try to reset as it much as I can. I'm not sure how much help it will be, and you might not ever be able to move your ring finger properly again." he said, a frown in his tone.

"How pleasant," Izuku mumbled, already tense. Recovery Girl had reset a bone or two in Izuku's arms, and the pain was worse than he could describe. He couldn't imagine how badly having your bone reset by an unprofessional would hurt. 

"Actually, I've changed my mind. I don't think this is going to work out." Twice chuckled at the way Izuku was obviously preparing himself to be in a lot of pain. "I'll just do it with you asleep." The hero didn't have time to ask the man to elaborate before a gloved hand was making its way towards his neck.

Nausea engulfed Izuku as Twice made contact with his pressure point just before he blacked out.

Twice whistled as he wrapped gauze around Izuku's fingers, finishing off the bandaging. He glanced up and saw the teenager's face scrunched up and snorted. "You awake now, hero?" he asked, amused at Izuku's grogginess. 

Izuku groaned as he sat up. He paused, realising he wasn't sitting on the toilet seat any longer. Twice had placed him on the ground and leaned him against the tub.

He was about to comment, when Twice raised a hand and spoke, "The floor is clean. Boss gives us chores and it was Mr Compress's turn to mop the bathroom and kitchen today. The man always leaves the place spotless."

"I didn't know villains had chores." Izuku said, examining his now wrapped up ring finger. He could feel tape keeping the popsicle stick on the back of his finger, setting it straight under the gauze. It throbbed, but it wasn't as intense as Izuku had been expecting.

"Well, someone has to keep the place clean." Twice said, standing up. He bent down and offered his hand to Izuku, who took it begrudgingly. 

"No one's back yet. It's just us for now." The villain said, walking into the bar area. "Anyhow," Twice drawled, spinning around and facing Izuku. "What even happened back there? You never answered my question. No offense, but I almost don't believe you when you say you were asleep." he said, gesturing to Izuku's ring finger.

Izuku sighed, "I was asleep. I don't know why my quirk set off, it's never done that before."

"Not even when you're awake?"

"Not even when I'm awake." The teenager's eyebrows furrowed. "Maybe it was my conscience trying to push away one of you villains. I'm fairly certain I didn't fall asleep with rope around me." He gave a pointed look to Twice, who snorted. "You didn't just use your quirk out of nowhere. I told you, you were groaning and crying in your sleep before any of us came near you. What can I say? The rope was precaution, and apparently needed."

Izuku rolled his eyes, glancing down at his red arms. He sighed as he brought his left hand up to his neck, scratching it. His fingernails came away with dried blood caked in them. "What?" He muttered.

"That's from Spinner's blades. You don't remember? It nicked you on the neck when you flinched." Twice was amused. "Oh," Izuku had almost forgotten. He scratched at his neck until blood no longer showed under his nails, frowning. 

"Back to the important topic," Twice said. "What makes you think it was your conscience pushing us away? You're completely sure it wasn't just some bad dream about one of us murdering you?"

"It wasn't a dream, or a nightmare." Izuku said, closing his eyes as he tried to recall what those strange people had been saying to him. "There were people sitting on fancy chairs, I think maybe six or seven of them. A woman and a man spoke to me about not being afraid of them, and how they had confidence in me. The lady, she was beautiful, and she knew my first name. The man had super white hair and he called me Nine."

"Nine?" Twice asked. 

"The woman said it was because I was the ninth..." Izuku trailed off, trying to remember what she had called him. "Ah, I can't remember what I'm the ninth of. Then they said goodbye, then I woke up to Toga staring at me with those creepy eyes of hers."

"Watch it. Toga's eyes are just unique." 

"I didn't have most of my body, either. It was like it disappeared behind a green fog." The teen said, ignoring Twice's warning.

"Did you dream of anything else?" Twice asked, leaning forward slightly.

"My childhood friend." Izuku answered, opening his eyes. He sighed, leaning back on his stool. "And his lackies. At first, I was a kid being picked on. Then I was a middle schooler being threatened. Then I was in that strange place with the seven people."

"Have you ever actually been threatened by this friend of yours?" Twice asked. 

Ah, Izuku thought. I knew the scene felt familiar.

The green haired boy stood up then and found his way to one of the booths. He sighed as he dragged his feet across the creaky floorboards and laid down on one of the bright red couches, ignoring the tears welling in his eyes.

He hadn't been dreaming, he realised with a sharp pain in his chest. He had been reliving one of his Junior High school experiences.

The memory had been buried, and the dream had resurfaced it like a dead whale washing up on the shore. Izuku shivered as he remembered Bakugo's sneer and the feeling of someone's hands around his throat.

His finger throbbed, rhythm-like, and he couldn't help but find it grounding. Izuku tucked his right hand to his chest and let the pain become his focus, paying close attention to every ache.

"Midoriya?" Twice called, walking over to the table. "Sorry, did the question hit too close to home? You big baby." Izuku sat up slightly and eyed the villain, "I thought you said you didn't have two personalities."

The man snorted and leaned on the edge of the table. His gloved fingers thrummed a beat against the wood. "No, I said one personality was more dominant than the other and that it's rare for the second one to come out." He looked at the boy over his shoulder and made a show of sighing. "I really don't get you."

Izuku blanched. "What?" he asked, sounding stupid even to himself.

"One minute, you're talking. The next, you're sulking on the couch. Mind you, the same one you've been hogging since you got here." Twice said, his tone light.

Before Izuku could answer, a purple mist began to form in the middle of the bar. It slowly expanded, and the teen found himself backing against the brick wall behind him once again. Within a few moments, the villains were pouring out of it one by one. 

None of them looked injured from what Izuku could tell. Most of them were grinning, especially Toga, and all of them looked a little dirty. Dabi didn't spare a glance at Izuku as he stalked down the hall, followed by Magne, who was cradling her magnet to her chest. 

The clone that had been leaning against the table dissolved into a pile of mud on the ground, and Izuku tensed with his almost safe presence now absent. He definitely liked the nicer personality when it was dominant and not constantly interrupted by the second voice.

Though, he never did get to hear the villain's story of his split personality...

"Relaxed, hero?" A deep voice mocked Izuku. Shigaraki was grinning as he removed the hand covering his face. "It's almost pitiful, considering what a few civilians went through today because of what you did." He cackled as Izuku glared at him. 

"Izu! I got three people's blood! Isn't that great?" Toga bounced over to him, three capsules in her hands. Each held liquid in different shades of red.

The hero felt his stomach turn. "Three?" he mumbled, staring at the blood. "That's right! A man and two women!" Toga was blushing, as if expecting praise for what she had done. "And—and are they...?" He couldn't bring himself to ask. 

"They're dead." Spinner said, eying Izuku. "Boss murdered a couple of junior high kids, too." he said, waiting to see what Izuku's reaction would be. Shigaraki was watching as well. In fact, everyone still in the bar assessed his expression, eager to see what Izuku would do about innocent people being murdered. 

"Fourteen-year-olds?" He said, his gaze snapping to the blue haired man. "You murdered a couple of children?" He yelled, eyes wide.

Shigaraki's face showed no sign of what he was thinking. After a few moments, he grinned. "It's your fault for pulling such a cheap trick. Keep that flashy quirk of yours away, or next time it will be more people than you can count and a couple of your fingers."

Toga, who had been sulking at her blood collection skills being ignored, now brightened. "Oh, Tomura!" She looked over at Shigaraki with hope bright in her expression. "Surely you'll let me do the honours of cutting Izu's fingers!" She bounced on her feet, grinning ear to ear.

"Well, if the hero," Shigaraki said the word with disgust, practically spitting it out as if it had an unpleasant flavour. "Learns to keep his quirk to himself, no one will have to do anything. However, should he try to run again, or fool us, you may use one of your knives to cut off three fingers and keep the blood that seeps out of the wound."

Izuku bit his cheek and glared at the table, refusing to look anyone in the eye as Toga squealed and celebrated.

For a moment, he had forgotten just who these people were. For a short moment, he let himself relax to the company of Twice's clone.

What an unbelievably stupid thing to do.

He cradled his broken finger in his left hand as he silently prayed to be rescued. Surely, surely, the heroes have a lead as to where he was. They had rescued Bakugo rather quickly, after all. Izuku hoped to every God out there that the heroes would do the same for him.

Chapter Text

"The witnesses all said the same thing. They were walking and they heard someone yell, and the next thing they knew someone dressed in black threw a person into a purple cloud. The video recordings show Midoriya put up a fight, but he didn't use his quirk." Tsukauchi sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"We've analysed the footage and have confirmed the portal was the same one created by Kurogiri in previous sightings, and that the victim was Izuku Midoriya. Your students have also handed in reports recounting the same thing, the only difference being two of them recalled not being able to hear any commotion, despite the fact they have quirks that enhance their hearing."

Aizawa's hand twitched against his knee. "We already know that. My students confirmed that the moment they reported to me, not to mention Kaminari actually saw the portal just before it closed and was certain it was the same one from the USJ." His head pounded as the minutes went on.

He had been sitting in a plastic chair for the last three hours in a small office at the back of the police station, and still, no one was telling him anything new.

"And what of the Board? Have they been notified?" Aizawa questioned, not hiding his annoyance.

"Of course they have, Aizawa." Tsukauchi soothed, looking at the man across from him with kind eyes. "There's going to be a meeting held first thing tomorrow. I have no doubt investigations are already starting." 

Aizawa scowled. "Tomorrow? Midoriya could be dead by tomorrow, detective." He didn't try to sugar coat. In fact, he was being generous. Midoriya could be very well already dead. The League of Villains was, after all, notorious for being unpredictable. Who knows what they could be doing to a hero in training?

"Aizawa, we're doing the best we can. The League of Villains isn't just an ordinary group, and you know that. If we want to find your student, we have to be sneakier than the last time we saved one of your kids. We can't trick a cat into falling into the same hole twice." The detective picked up a pile of portfolios and slid it over to the hero. "The last time those villains kidnapped a child, we had files written on who we believe to be the members. We had analysts take a look and help devise a strategy that, as we know, worked perfectly." 

He opened the first portfolio, letting Aizawa take a look at all of the notes and back up plans that hadn't been used during the Kamino incident but still seemed reliable enough set in ink, dated the same day the heroes locked away All for One.

"However, unfortunately for us, the villains have learned their lesson. They left no traces, apart from footage of a student from the top hero school in Japan being kidnapped, and a phone. Both things have proven to be useless, if not making it harder for us to calm the public. They used one member, and somehow blocked multiple student's quirks from hearing what was going on, even though Midoriya wasn't subtlety kidnapped in the least." Tsukauchi went quiet after that, allowing the hero to look through the papers.

Aizawa frowned, slamming the folio shut. "So, what are you suggesting? We just wait this out, even though a child's life is in critical danger this very moment?" He struggled to keep his voice from raising, furious. 

A sigh, "Like I've said, there are already investigations starting, and the Board will be having a meeting to discuss the kidnapping of Izuku Midoriya tomorrow morning. I'm afraid that's all I know. You're free to have a look through the League of Villain member's files. Just don't walk out with any of it. Stay the night if you must, I don't mind." With that, Tsukauchi stood from his plastic chair as it scrapped across the cold floor, and walked out of the room.

Aizawa raised his elbows on the metal table, glaring at the stack of files in front of him. He knew the detective was being reasonable and that he was not, but for god's sake, this was the second time one of his kid's was kidnapped.

Midoriya was tough, and Aizawa had no doubt he was being smart with his surroundings, cautious around the villains, but he was also sixteen. 

Hardly old enough to stay in the company of people like the League. He would never be old enough. If he could swap places with Midoriya, even for a minute, Aizawa wouldn't hesitate.

Reality seemed distasteful on the man's tongue and mind a lot more frequently when it came to class 1-A. Something always seemed to be going wrong, just when things are starting to settle down.

"Mic Sensei told me Aizawa Sensei is still at the police station." Todoroki crossed his arms. 

The entirety of 1-A had gathered in the common room, everyone eager for good news. Midoriya had been taken from Bennard park five and a half hours ago, and for some reason most adults seemed sensitive about the topic.

"Tsu and I both asked a bunch of teachers if anyone knew what was going on, but no one answered." Uraraka sat on the end of one of the couches. She fiddled with her shirt, antsy about what to do. 

"All Might seemed especially touchy." Tsuyu sat next to the brunette, just as worried. "It was almost like the very mention of Midoriya got him angry." Kirishima frowned, "Jiro, Shoji, any idea what happened with your quirks?" he asked.

Jiro sighed as she shook her head. "I didn't even realise anything was wrong until I saw Todoroki running. If Kirishima and Kaminari hadn't run with him, I would have been oblivious."

Shoji nodded in agreement, "I didn't notice anything at all. None of my eyes or ears picked up anything wrong. I didn't know Midoriya had been taken until Tsu came and told me." He seemed frustrated at himself. 

Koda put a reassuring hand on Shoji's back. "I—I'm sure the league must have had someone with a sound cancelling quirk." His voice was quiet, but not as much as it had been. Aizawa had been training him well, and the boy seemed to be able to speak more often than not nowadays. 

Iida bit the inside of his cheek. He felt awful for not being able to help Midoriya, so he would have to come up with a plan to save him. Just like Midoriya had done for Bakugo. The hard part was producing one when everyone was so worried.

"But obviously civilians were able to hear considering how many of them were crowded, not to mention there are many videos online that have audio of Midoriya yelling." Yaoyorozu was pale and looked ready to collapse.

Mina was practically hanging off of the girl's arm, looking just as sick. "I can't believe they took another one of my friends. And it was right under my nose again!" she yelled.

Sero nodded, "I feel like if I had noticed, I would have been able to save Midoriya. Who knows what the league is doing to him." Everyone shivered at the thought.

Except for Bakugo, of course. 

"You're all being dramatic." He said. He stood near the television, looking annoyed as ever. "They're probably just trying to recruit him like they did with me. What other use would they have for that wannabe?"

Uraraka just about rolled her eyes to her brain, "Don't be a jerk! Deku is in real danger, and you're acting like it's nothing!"

"What'd you just say to me?" He asked. He took a step forward, and Sato put his hand out to stop him from walking any further.

She huffed, infuriated, "Your crap attitude is the reason you were taken in the first place. You're so aggressive all the time that even villains thought you were good enough to be a villain! In case you haven't noticed; Deku is like, the total opposite of you! Why would they try to recruit him, when everyone knows how kind he is?"

Bakugo fumed, "You're right. Obviously since my idea is just so bad, and since you know so much more about those damn villains than me, Deku must have been kidnapped in broad daylight for no reason. Clearly, they're torturing him right now just for the sake of it!" 

Not realising the depth of his words, he went on. 

"Since Deku is just such a saint, they're probably tainting him with their evil ways. Maybe even ripping out his fingernails for information about All Might. Who knows, really!" Bakugo huffed, shoving Sato's arm out of the way. "Get your heads out of your asses and think! They kidnapped him in broad daylight and stalled for time by throwing him onto that bench. They knew people would record. It's all just some stupid stunt to get the public riled up." 

Kaminari groaned. "C'mon man. Let's just go." He hooked his arm through Bakugo's and walked away, despite the explosive boy's protests.

As they walked away, Hagakure stood up. "We can't think negatively. I hate to admit it, and even though he totally went about it in all the wrong ways, that meanie Bakugo has a point. If they wanted, the villains could have just snatched Midoriya away, but they didn't." She pulled her phone out and screen-shared it to the television. 

They all watched as she clicked a video and played it. 

It showed Midoriya being approached by a person in all black. He looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, as if the stranger had some disgusting aura around them. He scooched forward, about to leave the bench, but the man in black grabbed his sleeve. They saw the man's grinning face and moving lips, but couldn't make out the words. 

A portal appeared behind the bench, and Midoriya yelled and tried to yank his arm back, clearly panicking, to no avail. The villain suddenly pulled Midoriya down onto the bench, hard, earning a shriek from the teen.

By then, there was already a crowd of at least five people. They were making noises and talking in the background. 

Again, it was obvious that the villain was saying something, but it was hard to make out the words. Midoriya's face had been drained of colour, but he still looked determined.

When he was pulled to his feet, Midoriya crumpled, obviously on purpose, yelling to what must have been the crowd. "Villains!" He yelled. His voice was clear. "Tell everyone to run! Tell the police the League of Villain's are at Bennard Park! Get to safety! Everyone!" The villain struggled at the sudden weight difference of Midoriya, but eventually hauled him over his shoulder. 

The video played for a few more seconds, and then it paused. 

Hagakure walked up to the paused video and pointed with her phone. "Take a look." She said.

A few people gasped, Yaoyorozu being the loudest. "His shirt is on fire." She ran up to the front, trying to get a better look.

"That's right," Hagakure said. "You can't see it unless you look for it. The angle is almost perfectly hiding the blue flame. It was only noticeable after I watched this video a couple of times in a row."

Iida's eyebrows furrowed, "But the villain could have just thrown him in the portal without that."

"Yes, but Midoriya's quirk disappears the moment his shirt catches on fire. It was a warning." Ojiro looked disgusted at the video. "It really is a public stunt. Everyone recognises Midoriya from the sports festival, and for the whole of Japan to see him supposedly not even resisting being kidnapped? He looks like he's only pretending to be panicking."

Todoroki looked furious. "They made him look weak. They made it so that everyone could see how 'pathetic' U.A students really are. I mean, if I saw a video of a Shiketsu student being kidnapped in this exact scenario, I would assume they were weak as well."

"Right. Making Midoriya look like he gave up could have a massive hit with the public's opinion with hero schools in general." Iida tapped his chin, thinking. "They were smart. It's like they had been planning this exact moment for weeks."

For all they knew, the villains could have been planning this for months.

"Aoyama?" Sero walked over to the blonde sitting on the floor. "You look a bit sick. Are you sure you're okay watching this?" He asked.

Aoyama was pale and looked sweaty. "I'm okay. I think I'm just tired, so I'll head up to bed now. Bonsoir, everyone! Plaisant dreams!" He was already walking away before anyone had any time to process. 

"He didn't look alright to me." Uraraka watched him disappear up the stairs, worried.

"I'm sure he's alright. But we can follow his example and start heading to bed. We have thirty minutes until curfew!" Iida pushed up his glasses.

Mina rolled her eyes, "Curfew just means inside the building, not asleep, you stick-in-the-mud." 

"There's nothing wrong with being proficient. Not to mention I want us all to save our energy for tomorrow. Aizawa Sensei will be back by then and will surely give us news." His statement left no room for argument. 

Begrudgingly, one by one, 1-A got up to start getting ready for bed.

Hagakure and Todoroki were the last ones to leave. "We'll continue looking and analysing the video tomorrow. I'm sure there will be some other clue in there somewhere." Hagakure clenched her fist, determined.

Todoroki nodded gravely, sharing the sentiment.

Early the next morning, Aizawa found his kids all downstairs, as if they were waiting for him. Some were in the kitchen; some were in the dining area. The sight made his heart sink guiltily. "Alright. Everyone shuffle into the common room." He said. 

Yaoyorozu seemed the most eager, her eyes bright with hope. Aizawa avoided them completely, clenching his fists at his side.

Todoroki noticed this and glared, "Is there no news on Midoriya?" He asked. His arms were crossed, and he looked just as unimpressed as the rest of the class. Aizawa hadn't realised he had been that obvious with his body language. 

"No," he said. "Listen, kids. I'm not going to sugar coat this to you. Last time we were secretive about rescuing Bakugo, as I'm sure you remember. No one but the heroes had any idea what was going on." Aizawa sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "But I refuse to do the same this time. You will not be kept in the dark when your classmate is in danger."

Kirishima stood up hastily, "Does that mean we get to look for Midoriya?" He asked. He seemed so excited that the man almost hesitated to shut him down.

"No," he said, resulting in the red head grimacing and sitting back down with a huff. "Well, you didn't need to get my hopes up." he grumbled. 

"So, what, we just have to wait for you to tell us whether or not he's safe? Or even alive?" Ojiro fumed. "That's not fair! Let us help this time, we've come such a long way since All Might's retirement!" he yelled. 

Aizawa huffed, "I said I wouldn't let you be kept in the dark about Midoriya. I didn't guarantee your help. In case you've forgotten, you're all first years. This is a job not even third years would be capable of taking on." 

"We're first years with provisional licences. We should be allowed to at least look for clues!" Hagakure yelled. Everyone else nodded along. 

The man almost laughed outright. "You don't even know what clues to look for. The whole point of provisional licences is so that you kids can go on minor cases. You haven't been trained enough to take on jobs like saving a bank from a group robbery, let alone searching for missing people kidnapped by a group of adults wanted by the country."

The tension grew.

"That's exactly why we should help. Midoriya was kidnapped by people that go around with freakish monsters murdering people!" Kirishima stood up. "You need as many hands as you can get. It's not like we're asking you to let us join in the rescue mission, we just want to help look for clues!" He ran over to Aizawa's side, clinging to his arm. 

Aizawa shoved him off with a deep scowl, "To look for clues, you have to be in the field. In case you've forgotten, you lot have only just got your provisional licences. You aren't up for the task, and I won't risk your safety. I went to each and every one of your parents, and they gave me complete trust in keeping you all safe. I've already broken Midoriya's mother's trust, don't make me lose your parents' as well."

Sato groaned, "He's right. If one of us is injured while digging for clues, it would not only make the school look even worse, but our parents would want to take us out of the dorms and maybe even UA."

Bakugo scoffed, "Then your parents are wimps. Mine would let me out into the field in a heartbeat. They know how strong I am, unlike you bunch of sad sacks."

"If you're so strong then why did you get kidnapped as well? We're talking about the same group of people that took you by complete and utter force!" Uraraka pointed at Bakugo accusingly. "Stop acting like you're All Might! You're just as unfit for this as the rest of us, and you boasting about your high and mighty ego is making the rest of us feel horrible!"

The blonde scowled, "You wanna go there? How about the fact that you're so weak that Deku was kidnapped not even a hundred metres away from you? You should have been able to see it, but you didn't because you're just so—"

Uraraka ran at him, shoving his shoulders back. "Don't you start on me about weakness! At least I can acknowledge mine. You're always so up in the clouds with your ego that you don't even see the people below you!" Her hand cracked against his cheek, and he stumbled back. "You don't even think about other people before you start throwing insults around. So what if I didn't notice Deku was in danger? At least I'm actually acknowledging my mistakes and trying to fix them!"

Bakugo's palms sparked as he shoved her shoulders. "You're such a goddamn know it all! This is why your family is always so disap—"

He gets cut off again by a piece of fabric being wrapped around his body. Aizawa tied both Bakugo and Uraraka up, looking furious. "You can either cut it out, or you can spend the next week under house arrest. This is exactly why I can't let you all out into the field. You gang up on each other, rather than acting like the hero's you're training to be!"

Uraraka spat, and it landed on Bakugo's forehead. She grinned, "You want to bring up my family? You don't even acknowledge yours! It's always 'old hag' this and 'old man' that. What happened to calling your parents mum and dad? Or is that too grand for a prince like you?"

"Enough!" Aizawa yelled. "Uraraka, that's a week of house arrest. You're only proving my point of the fact you lot shouldn't be out helping heroes with serious cases. Grow up!"

Bakugo laughed. "At least a prince," he drawled out the word, clearly mocking Uraraka, "like me can afford such a title. What can you afford? Jack-fucking-shit. Yet another reason I'm better than you, though I didn't actually need another 'cause you're so far down the ladder I wouldn't be able to hear you scream if you fell."

"Damn you, you arrogant asshole!" Uraraka could feel the binding around her tighten and her teacher was yelling, but she ignored both, glaring at the smirking blonde in front of her. "You're a part of the reason Deku is always so sad! You're always making fun of him, making him feel like dirt. Well, now he's probably feeling worse than that, and you're the reason I can't even help now! So, fuck you for having such a foul mind, and fuck you for always infecting others with it!" She spat again, huffing with pride when she hit her target once again.

Bakugo yelped, his arm struggling against his binding as he went to rub his eye, "Goddamn it, you stupid little—"

Aizawa whipped his arm back, bringing his students towards him. He turned them both towards him, forcing eye contact. "That's a week and a half of house arrest for you both. You're classmates, and one day you're going to be coworkers. You need to let go of this pathetic hate for each other, because it's not going to get you anywhere. And if you can't cut it out, then at the very least act like you can in front of others."

Uraraka at least had the decency to look ashamed.

Bakugo on the other hand, looked angrier. "I didn't even do anything. She's the one that started it!"

"You couldn't force me to care enough about who started it. You both yelled insensitively about each other, and you were stupid enough to do in front of me. Not to mention you, as well as Uraraka, got physical. And you used your quirk as well!" Aizawa used his free hand to not-so-gently knock the back of the blonde's head. "What were you thinking?"

Neither replied. 

He sighed, exhausted, as he released his scarf. "Go up to your rooms, and don't come down or even near each other. If I find out that you have another go at each other, and I will if you do, there will be harsh consequences. Much harsher than forbidding you to leave the building, I assure you."

The rest of his students watched in heavy silence as Uraraka and Bakugo both stomped up separate staircases.

When Bakugo started to turn around towards Uraraka, seemingly to throw one last remark, he got yelled at by Aizawa again.

Todoroki and Hagakure were the last ones still in the common room by the time Aizawa left the building, still refusing to let anyone help look for Midoriya. "So, maybe we should take a look at that footage tomorrow, then." Hagakure said.

Todoroki agreed, "I doubt anyone is going to listen to Sensei and not try to help. Looking for clues online is as close as we can get from the real thing."

She sighed, knowing he was right. 

What a mess this all was.

Chapter Text

Izuku refused to look any of the villains in the eye. Not after finding out they had gone out and murdered a couple of innocent kids just to scare him.

His arms still had rope burns that stung like they were fresh every time he accidently touched them, and his shattered finger only made everything feel worse. Izuku felt like shit, he knew he looked like shit, and he probably smelt like shit, too. 

And to think not long ago he was sitting on a park bench.

Now he confined himself to a couch in a villain's booth in—supposedly—a villain's lair. Izuku turned his head to every sound, pushed himself further against the brick wall behind him at every voice raised, and flinched at every crash.

He was constantly on edge, looking down at his burned shirt whenever one of those monsters looked his way.

Those same prying, dangerous eyes would have been the last thing a couple of junior high students saw. Those two women and that man they had killed could have been parents, or even grandparents. Izuku would never know.

He didn't have any idea how it had been since he had last moved, or even how long it had been since he was taken.

Kurogiri never moved from behind the bar, and there was always at least two other members in the room with Izuku at all times. Toga usually sat on the couch to his left, while the rest sat at the bar drinking and playing card games. 

For some reason, Izuku didn't ever think villains could play games. Actual games, that is. He knew better than anyone that villains were masters at playing with people's minds.

His thought process was interrupted when Twice walked over to Izuku and sat on the same couch, turning to face him. "Give me a look at your finger," he said. Izuku looked down, hiding his right hand behind his back.

When he didn't reply, Twice moved closer, his leg almost touching Izuku's shoe. "Come on, kid. Don't be difficult. I would quite enjoy breaking your other fingers. No, don't listen to him. I just want to have a closer look at the damage. No, he doesn't!" 

Izuku glared. He didn't have any reason to comply to this bastard. 

"Really? You're not even gonna say the word 'no'? Listen, hero. I can either let you give me your right hand, or I can bring it to me by force. It's your choice."

"Is it now." It wasn't a question. They both knew Izuku didn't actually have a choice in the matter. Slowly, while clenching his jaw and left hand, the hero brought out his right hand for Twice to inspect. 

The man took Izuku's hand carefully, his eyes narrowing behind his mask at the purple ring finger. "My bandaging probably hasn't been doing very much. Your bone is completely shattered if the colour and shape is anything to go by."

Izuku didn't reply. He kept his gaze down.

"This isn't the first time this has happened, is it? Even if I hadn't watched you shatter your hand during the sports festival, I can tell by how none of your other fingers look..." Twice paused, looking for the right word. "Your fingers look like they were chopped off and glued back on by a kid. Well, most of them are a bit different looking compared to normal people's fingers."

The hero wanted to scoff. What would a murderer know about normal?

"Unfortunately, we don't have someone like recovery girl at our disposal. I'm not sure how we're going to fix this finger of yours." Twice sighed. "I couldn't set it properly."

Izuku eyed him. "We? There's no 'we' in this. You're only trying to fix me so I can be useful in the future."

"Well, aren't you a know-it-all. I'm not sure why you're complaining. We both benefit from having your finger fixed."

"I'd rather have no fingers than use them to help the likes of you."

Spinner snorted into his whiskey. He coughed, pounding on his chest. "You're a funny one, hero. Seeing you fight even though you know you don't have a choice really makes me wonder how lucky it is Stain realised what a true hero you are. Without him, you'd be dead by now."

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Without Stain, I'd be away from murderers like you."

Twice sighed. "Honestly. Your snappy attitude is starting to get really old, kiddo."

"Don't call me that." The teen snatched back his hand, still not looking at the villain in front of him. "I don't care if you can't fix my finger. In fact, I'd rather you don't."

Spinner stood up, glaring at Izuku. "You know what, I know I said I wasn't a fan of hurting kids, but—" The lizard was interrupted by Shigaraki running down the hall. "Boss?" He was perplexed.

"Turn on the TV!" Shigaraki yelled, sitting down on the bar stool adjacent to the television. 

Kurogiri grabbed the remote, and Izuku watched at the TV came to life. He froze as the image of Nezu, Aizawa and the Chief of the police, Kenji Tsuragamae, were shown sitting behind microphones. Izuku had seen a similar scene before, back when Kacchan had been kidnapped. 

Twice immediately ran down the hall, throwing open the doors of everyone that was in their rooms, yelling. "Quickly! They're going to address the kidnapping live!" he screamed. In a matter of seconds, the bar had all of the villains in the room. 

Spinner had his katanas unsheathed, looking around suspiciously. Toga had three knives—one in each hand and one in her mouth, and Magne had her magnet uncovered. They were prepared for another ambush. 

The background noise of people talking was loud. The flashes of cameras were nonstop, and the three men at the front took no notice. "I'd like to thank you all for coming today to this conference." Nezu stood up in his chair and bowed at the waist, while Aizawa and Tsuragamae bowed at the neck. The talking quieted down, and the flashes stopped rapid firing.

"I know that this is a tough time for all of us. Everyone, especially the students of UA high, are shaken up about the kidnapping of Izuku Midoriya." The mouse spoke smoothly, as if was he was saying was normal.

This appalled the audience.

Shouts raised from every corner of the room. Nezu took it all without batting an eye.

"Nonsense! This is the second time—,"

"—what about the families of students afraid for their kids?!"

"Unacceptable! How do we know you really feel remorse for—,"

"How can you stand there without a look of shame?!"

Aizawa interrupted them all. "Here at UA, our number one priority is our students. Make no mistake about such a thing. The reason Izuku Midoriya was taken from Bennard park is because I failed as his teacher to keep him safe out in public. His fellow classmates are all devastated to the point I am ashamed to look them in the eye. There is no coming back from this, and I hope, Midoriya, that if you're watching, you still think of me as your teacher."

The crowd was silent. The cameras were still. No one moved as Aizawa continued to talk.

"We retrieved Katsuki Bakugo from the grips of these villains in record time. I have absolute faith in the Chief of the Police Department, Kenji Tsuragamae, and that his workers will do everything they can in their power to do the same again. As we speak, leaked footage of the kidnapping is being rapidly analysed, as well as the profiles of the League of Villains."

Tsuragamae stood up, placing a hand over his chest. "I vow to bring make Izuku Midoriya to safety, and to lock up those foul villains for their crimes! We cannot allow those monsters to instil fear into us, for that's exactly what they wanted to do by making such a public stunt, woof. However, they failed to put into the account of how miserably they failed the last time they tried to take a student. We will prevail. We will not stop searching until we do, woof."

"And how are we supposed to believe that?" A reporter stood up, furious. "Not only is it another first year of UA high being kidnapped, it's another student of Eraserhead! Clearly, he's incompetent as a teacher; he's failed to protect those kids twice!"

Aizawa took the fierce blows calmly, "I'm aware that it is another student from my class that I have put into danger. I know that more than anyone. Should Principal Nezu wish to fire me for my ignorance, then I will accept that punishment. I accept any punishment. But I will not stop looking for Midoriya. No villain will ever scare me enough to stop looking for him. I would do anything for my students, and if that means breaking into a villain's lair and taking him myself, then so be it."

A scoff from the reporter, "And what good are a few empty words? That child is out there terrified, and possibly seriously injured. Yet here you are making false promises."

"My word is absolute. I've been digging nail and bone for clues of Midoriya's whereabouts. I'm relentless in my searching. The public's opinion on my teaching matters nothing to me when my student is in danger, and someone accusing me of lying won't stop me from capturing every last villain that dared lay a finger on my student." Aizawa glared at the reporter.

"Of course, we acknowledge this incident and its seriousness." Nezu spoke, a paw over his chest. "I will do everything I can to ensure this never, ever happens again. New rules are being put into place at UA as we speak. That includes changing the limits as to what the student body can and can't do, such as leaving campus. From now on, the only times students are able to leave school grounds is during the weekends from 9 am to 4 pm and during holidays for one week maximum, unless they are out on official business. This rule is effective immediately."

Nezu and Aizawa stood up, as the chief already was standing, the three of them bowing. Reporters screamed rapid questions, their cameras flashing once again.

As soon as the television flashed off, the room went quiet. They all looked around, waiting for something to happen. For thirty seconds, no one made any noise.

Magne was the first to give in, sighing as she slumped. "Nothing's happening. Looks like the heroes were too stupid to look around our last base."

Dabi scoffed, "They really think we're as simple as them."

"I was looking forward to cutting someone up this time. Last time I didn't get to." Toga held the knife that was in her mouth in her hands, along with the other knives she had on her person.

Spinner sheathed his katanas, smirking. "They really didn't think to look here again. Here I was thinking they'd be a lot quicker at finding the boy this time considering the public stunt we pulled."

"It's just as I thought. They think there's no way we would stay in the same location after we were caught." Shigaraki hummed to himself. "Still, we need to be cautious from now on. That means no terrorising civilians during the day or walking around outside for no reason at any time. Kurogiri, do a thorough scan around the building and make sure we're definitely in the clear."

"Yes, Tomura." The bartender was gone the moment the words had been heard.

Twice coughed into his hand, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "So, about the kid," he started, hesitating. "What are you going to do about his finger? Also, I don't think he's eaten in the past two days at all. Are we starving him to death?" 

Shigaraki considered what Twice had said, "Well, we don't want him dying just yet. Nor do we want him too weak." He brought a hand up to his neck, scratching at the skin. "I guess we'll have to get some food and water into him at some point, then. His finger... his finger is shattered." His nails drew blood the more he scratched. "His finger isn't important. We could just cut it off."

Dabi straightened at that. "Woah, now. Let's not get too hasty, crusty. I mean, c'mon, a broken finger is of more use than a missing one." 

"Use..." Shigaraki mumbled. The sound of his scratching filled the room. "Yes, he could still be of use. Keep checking on how far along his healing is going." He stopped his hand, the itching in his neck slowly disappearing. "This whole thing is a bother. Tell Kurogiri to report to me in my room when he returns."

"Yes, boss." Magne bowed. 

The man stood and walked down the hall, but not before doing a scan over Midoriya. He laughed at the sight he saw, shaking his head in amusement. 

As he disappeared, Dabi made a fake gagging noise. "I hate it when he does that thing with his neck. Especially the sounds."

"Did he laugh? Has he finally gone mad?" Twice asked, perplexed.

Mr Compress shook his head, "No. Well, I mean yes, but he's always been insane. He laughed because of the state the hero is in."

****

Magne looked around the booth at Midoriya and made a surprised sound. "Hey! My god, what are you doing?!" She ran up to Midoriya and grabbed his hands, which were tightly around his throat.

He made a choked sound, glaring at her with his teeth bared. His face was so red it was going purple.

Twice looked at the expression and whistled, "I stand by my tiger comment. He's like a wild animal when he makes that face!"

The woman tried to peel away the hero's fingers, which were digging into skin. "What's with this brute strength? And to think two of his fingers are bound together." She scoffed. 

Midoriya looked her in the eyes, his vision blurring as his blocked airway made him dizzy. "Let...go..." His voice was a shallow whisper of a plead, the opposite to his usual bite.

Magne made a noise in the back of her throat, appalled, "I should let go? You let go!" She grabbed onto his wrists and tugged as hard as she could without damaging them. It took a little while, but in the end, she got him to let go of his throat.

He coughed dryly, the sound aggressive to his own ears. His eyes teared up through his heaves as his body trembled. "F-fuck." he mumbled.

He couldn't believe his teacher. He was just to take all of the blame and even succumb to being fired all because of Izuku? If he hadn't let himself be kidnapped, or if he had found a way out of this goddamn base, then Aizawa have never had to say such things.

To think he was just going to hide away because his kidnappers murdered a few people, as if he didn't know they had murdered people before! Kami, what was he doing just laying around?

Magne looked down at him, a strange look on her face. "What happened? Are you okay?" she asked, scanning his body for any more injuries. "You've roughed up your neck, kid. We're going to have to bandage that."

Izuku glared at her, "Don't act like you care." His voice was hoarse, as if it had been unused for a month. "None of you cared when I broke my finger, what's the difference if I broke my neck?" He gave her an obviously forced fragile grin. "Were you scared you would lose your merchandise? I doubt it. The most choking myself would do is knock me out."

****

Toga climbed onto the table beside him. She looked at his neck from a reasonable distance, assessing the damage. "He took off a layer of skin. It's impressive he managed to do it to himself; most people chicken out at grazes. There's also some bruising, but nothing that won't heal."

Izuku looked at her, surprised. He could feel the warm drops of blood falling down his neck. He would have assumed she would pounce at the first sight of blood, yet there wasn't a single trace of any blush on her face. 

It was completely out of character for Toga. 

Dabi leaned over the back of the couch, his eyes full of curiosity. "Damn, kid. Big sis is right, we'll have to put something on your neck so it doesn't get infected. Can't have you dying just yet!" He snickered. 

Izuku watched Dabi's eyes; they were dim despite his laughter. Izuku had realised this before, but his eyes seemed so familiar it was almost unnerving. Although the blue eye the hero is used to happened to be a lot softer than Dabi's, they're the exact same shade.

Perhaps Todoroki and Dabi are long distance cousins or something, given their eyes are the only thing they have in common.

Then again, Izuku didn't actually care about Dabi's empty eyes, his hands were the problem. They were hanging off of the couch where Dabi was drooped over, dangerously close to Izuku.

He backed away, wary of the hands that had tried to burn him not so long ago. The hands that could burn and blister his skin. Well, he tried to back away. Magne's grip on his wrists was firm, preventing Izuku from backing away any further against the wall.

Realising this, with his eyes still trained on Dabi's hands, he scooched over to the left until the wooden side of the table dug into ribs. 

Fortunately, Dabi was a lot more observant than he happened to look. He noticed Izuku's wariness of his hands and quickly shoved them into his pocket. Twice laughed, poking Dabi's back playfully. "You traumatised the hero! A little bit of heat is all it takes to scare off All Might's successor!"

Izuku looked down, as if he were ashamed. He tried again to pull away from Magne, but she was relentless. "Let me go." He whispered, the tears he tried so hard not to acknowledge fell down his face. 

"This is quite the unfortunate sight, I must admit." Mr Compress stood in the corner of the room, watching the scene ahead of him. "A teenage boy harming himself one second, then being overwhelmed by four people in his personal space and seemingly mocking him the next."

Seemingly? Is that what this looks like from someone else's point of view? Izuku couldn't help but feel a low, simmering anger pooling in his stomach.

Because he felt like he was drowning in a small space from all of the stares he was receiving. He felt like a worker ant trying to escape a human's foot to return home to feed its queen. 

Izuku felt like a spec of white in an infinite blob of black.

Compress's words had a weight to them, as Toga and Dabi immediately walked away. The girl dragged Twice into the corner of the room with Mr Compress, and they watched as Magne still refused to let go of Izuku.

"I understand how you must feel right now. Overwhelmed, angry, sadness, fear; I know all of these emotions are probably what you're experiencing. But, kiddo, you just harmed yourself after watching your teacher swear to rescue you. Do you see why I'm confused?" She spoke in a low, soothing tone. Like an adult trying to explain a time out corner to a toddler. 

It was degrading.

Izuku finally got his hands free, and he held back a sob of relief. "Don't spew that bullshit at me. I'm sick of adults, I'm sick of their lies, and I'm sick of you. I'm already your captive. I'm already at your absolute mercy!" His voice broke, his throat burning as he raised his voice. "What else could you want? Why should you get to decide what I do with my body? It's the one thing I have control over, and yet you want to take that from me as well?!" 

Magne sighed as she slid off the end of the couch but didn't move away from it. "You aren't stable at the moment. You need to eat, drink and sleep. We can try this again once you're actually fully aware of your surroundings."

Spinner walked out of the hall (Izuku didn't even notice he wasn't in the room) with a bowl that had something steaming inside of it and a glass of milk. He placed it on the table beside Izuku and crossed his arms. "It ain't much, but it's all we got. You need something in your stomach, and I heard kids your age need milk to grow properly."

"I'm not touching that."

"It's not poisoned, you brat."

"I'm not trusting a lizard's word for that. A ninja turtle looking lizard, at that."

Spinner brought his hands to his mask, appalled. "I'll have you know this mask is a symbol of Stain!"

Izuku rolled his eyes, "I couldn't care less about that weirdo."

Before Spinner had the chance to start an argument, Dabi sat down in front of Izuku, his elbow propped up on the table with his face resting on his palm. "Eat," he said.

Izuku eyed the bowl, scanning the porridge. It didn't look poisoned, but then again, the boy hadn't a clue what poisoned porridge did look like. 

"You can either eat the porridge and drink your milk, or I'll burn the rest of your clothes off." Dabi spoke as if he were bored.

Izuku straightened at that and turned to face the bowl. He was always touching the brick wall; always as pressed against it and away from the villains as he possibly could be. Even so, the thought of Dabi reaching towards his shirt with the intention of using his fire quirk sent a shiver down Izuku's spin, so he relented and picked up the spoon. 

Barely five bites in, he was being laughed at by Toga and her ridiculously pink cheeks. He sent her a look as he chewed, which made her snort.

"Whash sho funny?" He asked around his food.

Dabi made a face at his poor manners from beside him, and Toga cackled loudly. "Your cheeks are puffed like a chipmunk! My god, Magne, you have to take a photo!" 

In a matter of seconds, three shutters went off. Twice, Spinner and Magne all had their phones pointed at a glaring Izuku, who had bits of oats around his mouth with puffed out cheeks packed with porridge.

Izuku tried to ignore them, the consent threat of Dabi next to him in the back of his mind. He finished most of his porridge and all of his milk before he gave up and pushed all of it away. 

"Do you always eat like a pig?" Dabi mumbled.

Izuku was going to say something back, when his face was grabbed and something soft was rubbed across his face. He froze under the heat of the man's hand, but almost relaxed when he realised it wasn't the same heat he had felt earlier.

Dabi's touch didn't make Izuku feel like his skin was going to burn away this time. 

His cheeks heated up when he realised he had made such a fuss about Dabi's fire for no reason.

And also because the same villain was wiping away the mess on his face with a scolding look like an older brother. Izuku really didn't think his eating was that messy, but apparently everyone else disagreed.

Dabi pulled away, then snapped out of whatever trance he was in and practically bolted down the hallway. Everyone was silent.

Mr Compress had a gloved hand over where his mouth would be behind his mask and snorted quietly. Everyone else started to laugh, save for Izuku and Spinner who were frozen with confusion.

"Did he just wipe away your mess with a napkin?" The lizard mumbled, making eye contact with Izuku.

"I don't know." The boy frowned when he realised his voice hadn't returned to normal. 

Twice was doubled over on the wooden floor, his fist repeatedly hitting the ground as he failed to control his laughter. "He—he just p-pulled out a handkerchief out of nowhere like—like an old man and cleaned the h-hero without even thinking about it!" He shouted through his giggles. 

"Who knew the emotionless Dabi could act like a doting older brother?" Magne snickered. 

Izuku looked around the room, pressing his back against the wall once again as he brought a hand over his neck. His fingernails were caked with dry blood as he pulled them away. He sighed silently as he brought his knees up to his chin and ducked his head behind them. 

What in the world was he doing?

Chapter Text

Mr Compress took the bowl and glass away, presumably into the kitchen as Izuku watched everyone else's laughter slowly fade. He coughed dryly, his throat throbbing with every breath he took. 

Toga climbed back onto the table and leaned towards Izuku, her eyes set on his neck. She pouted, "The blood's dry now. I don't eat flaky blood; it's just not my style." She shrugged, sighing. 

"Someone go and get the first aid kit. And some alcohol." Magne plopped onto the seat, ignoring Izuku's glare.

"Don't bother with the alcohol, we had some left-over disinfectant in the cabinet." Mr Compress reappeared from the hallway with a familiar red box sitting in his hands. He placed it onto the table and clicked it open, showing the variety of medical supplies inside.

Magne reached in and grabbed a roll of gauze, medical tape, a packet of cotton balls, tweezers and the bottle of disinfectant. Izuku kept his arms tight around his legs, refusing to let the woman near him. 

"Don't touch me." He rasped, wishing he had some better, less childish way to hide himself.

She rolled her eyes, "How am I supposed to bandage you if I can't touch you?" she crossed her arms. "Gosh, it's like I'm arguing against a toddler. Fine, then. What do you want me to do?" 

"Leave me alone."

"Not until your neck is fixed up."

Izuku felt the rage at the bottom of his stomach bubble at her persistence. "Then have someone else do it," He glanced around the room, then fixed his eyes on Twice's gloves. He didn't like people touching him with bare hands, but Twice had gloves on.

So did Compress, but judging by his plain reaction to how Izuku was choking himself earlier, the boy doubted he would do a good job at patching his neck.

If it was going to be done, it had to be done right. 

Twice had already helped Izuku with his finger, and if he were being honest, the only downside was being knocked out all of a sudden. He can tell Twice was confident with his bandaging skills with just a glance at his right hand.

"I want Twice to do it," Izuku said finally, glaring down at his shirt. "No one else can touch me." He balled his left hand into his shorts, frowning. 

Magne grunted, offended, but stood up and let Twice take her spot on the couch anyway. For some reason, Izuku had the feeling the man was grinning underneath his mask.

"Okie dokie, kiddo!" He chirped, unscrewing the lid of the disinfectant. "I've gotta say, I was shocked at first when you said me, but I'm feeling a strong sense of pride now! So picky, for a hero."

The boy shook his head slightly, "It's only because you wrapped up my fingers. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you anywhere near me." 

"Well, you didn't hesitate to let me fix ya hand, so I'd say you're warming up to me. Bleh!" Twice placed a cotton ball in the tweezer, pouring a small amount of disinfectant onto it. The smell filled the room. 

"I only let you do that because you promised to tell me what happened to you." Izuku mumbled, putting his legs back down so Twice could reach out for his neck. He sucked in a harsh breath as soon as the cotton ball touched his skin, the burn making his eyes water. 

"Would you like me to tell you the story this time? I promise I won't knock you out! It's gruesome. I doubt a baby like you could handle it." The man snickered.

Izuku nodded slowly, his curiosity overtaking his cautiousness. Plus, it wouldn't be so bad to have a distraction from the pain of the disinfectant.

He listened to the villain's story, only ever interrupting with "ow!" or gasps at the disinfectant touching his injuries.

Izuku was surprised at how Twice admitted he had been foolish, thinking he could boss around himself like that. After all, his doubles all had his personality, and he hated being pushed around without getting anything out of it!

Izuku kept his gaze on the man's mask the entire time, watching his posture change every now and then when he said things he clearly didn't like to bring up much. But he still talked without stopping, and to Izuku, that was the most admirable thing out of the whole thing. 

Because he himself had never been able to talk about his past mistakes and what they caused without breaking down before. He would never be able to talk about how he had identity issues the way Twice had. 

The man was wrapping gauze around Izuku's neck by the time he finished his story, "So, I have to wear my mask otherwise it feels like my skull's going to split in two. He's suppressing me!"

Izuku hummed, "Do you still have stitches in?" he asked.

"Yes,"

"Do you have to change them?"

Twice chuckled, "Well, sure I do! I can't risk having an infection. Like you would understand that."

The boy scoffed. He really didn't like that persona. Izuku glanced around the room, realising the rest of the villains were still out in the bar, save for Dabi and Shigaraki. "When did Kurogiri return?" he questioned, eying the cloud that was standing awkwardly behind the bar.

"A while ago. Apparently, the only heroes spotted in the area were ones on patrol. There won't be any ambushes to save you like there was for your friend." Magne was sitting on one of the bar stools, caressing her magnet as if she were comforting it. 

Toga was sniffling on the stool next to her, "That's so sad, Jin!" she cried out, running over to hug him.

Twice laughed, patting her on the head. It was an odd sight, considering it was the same girl who had tried to cut him and his classmates into bits not so long ago. It was like a punch to the gut realising she really did have the ability to act like a normal teenager. 

Izuku watched their interaction with his curiosity at its peak level. She shed tears like a normal teenager, she could hug like a normal teenager, she could be serious when the situation calls for it, so then what in the world drove her to be a villain?

Was it a story as tragic as Twice's? Or was she just ostracised for having such a villainous quirk and so became the monster they claimed her to be?

"Your throat isn't sounding any better. Did you mess up your voice box or something?" Spinner spoke up, interrupting Izuku's thoughts.

He considered what Spinner said, then shook his head, "No, it doesn't hurt to talk anymore. My larynx must just be a little overwhelmed, is all." Possibly damaged is what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to for whatever reason.

Dabi whistled, "Talk about complex words." He was leaning on the frame to the hallway, his arms and legs both crossed. "What did you call it, your lorax? Can it speak for the trees?"

Izuku rolled his eyes at the fire user, "Larynx is another word for voice box."

Spinner snorted, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to make us forget that big brother stunt you pulled back there, Dabi."

"Good thing you know better then, lizard." Dabi replied, not sparing the man a look.

"Don't call me that—"

The two villains broke into an argument. Izuku watched them pinpoint each other's looks, personality and quirks, but neither of them said anything about the past. Was it some unspoken rule not to target each other's trauma? Surely not, considering the things Spinner said about Dabi's skin. 

Then, they must not know each other's past. Perhaps they didn't trust each other, or maybe their pasts were so horrible they can't bring themselves to talk about it to anyone.

Toga groaned loudly as she pulled a pocketknife out of her shoe (Izuku made a mental note of that) and flung it at Dabi's head. The man was also hostile, his blue flames coming to life in his hands. 

However, just before anyone was seriously harmed, Kurogiri's warp gates bloomed around the room. Dabi's hand and Toga's knife were both far away from anyone as they went through the portals. 

"Stop being so loud!" Toga shouted, glaring at the two men standing in the middle of the bar. "I'm trying to comfort Jin, you know?! It's not easy with man-children arguing over useless things."

Dabi retreated his hand from the gate, his fire put out. "I'm fairly sure Twice is the one comforting you." he said, gesturing to the hand on top of her head. He sighed, shaking his head at the fuming man-lizard in front of him, then plopped himself down across from Izuku.

"I couldn't help but overhear most of Twice's story. It was quite tragic, wasn't it? Having your doubles turn against each other and almost killing you in the process, only to have another voice in your head and be unsure of who you really are. It's a scary thing to think about really." He crossed his arms on the table between himself and Izuku, leaning forward. "How'd it make you feel? Sad? Angry? Pitiful? I wanna know it all."

Twice protested, "I didn't tell him my past to get his opinion, Dabi!"

The man ignored him, his sole focus on the boy.

Izuku eyed him, frowning. Why did he want to know? Was he trying to see if Izuku would ever use Twice's trauma against him, or was he evaluating whether or not to trust the teen with secrets? "I'm not sure what you mean," he settled on saying, because he really didn't.

Dabi rolled his eyes, "There isn't anything to understand, Deku. It's quite a simple question."

The hero's eyes darkened at the name, his thoughts momentarily slipping back into middle school. For a second, Izuku thought the man was calling him a Deku like Bakugo used to; like he still does.

Then he remembered that he had given himself that name to use as a boost of self-confidence and that Dabi probably had no idea the word was essentially used as a paraphrase to 'useless' in Izuku's own past.

Izuku's cheeks flushed of embarrassment as he snapped out of it, seeing Dabi starting to get annoyed at how long he was taking to answer from across the table. He coughed into his left hand awkwardly, "Well, I do agree that it's a sad story. But that doesn't mean I pity him at all."

The room went still for a few long moments, everyone was stunned.

Mr Compress snorted, "Oh? But thinking it's sad is the same thing as pitying it, is it not?" He questioned. 

Izuku shook his head, "Not at all. I could see a dead bird on the road and think 'that's a shame', even though I don't actually have a personal attachment to it. In Twice's case, he made a mistake again and again until he was finally met with consequences. Sure, the result was pretty harsh, but it doesn't excuse the fact Twice became a villain. He outcasted himself out of shame."

"What the fuck. Stop fucking analysing it, freak!" Twice had both hands over his mouth, staring at Izuku in shock.

Dabi erupted in laughter, his hands over his stomach. "That's just about the funniest thing I've heard in my life." he said.

Izuku himself was less amused, giving a dirty look to him from where he was sitting.

He wished he could bang Dabi's head into the table to get him to stop. No one would ever laugh at him again if he did that. No one could ever even think of him as a Deku again if he did that. To think of someone laughing at him when he had a famous murderer's blood all over him was ridiculous. Nobody would try to look down on him after something like that.

Izuku made a noise in the back of his throat as he realised what he had just thought. That wasn't like him at all. How could he think of seriously injuring someone just for laughing? Sure, Dabi was a murderer, but bashing his head in for finding Izuku's opinion funny was brutal.

Izuku buried his head into his knees once again, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

Toga cooed and climbed over Twice to sit next to him, rubbing his back comfortingly. "Don't worry, Izu! I think your iron heart makes you even more attractive." She whispered that last part into his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

He shoved his head down further as he scolded himself inwardly. She was obviously just trying to cheer him up, as weird as the tactic it may be, and yet he was fantasising of punching her repeatedly against an unbreakable wall.

First bashing someone's head into a table for laughing, and then shattering someone's body for calling him attractive? Why on earth was he thinking about such cruel violence all of a sudden?

Something was seriously wrong.

Something was happening to him.

Chapter Text

It was quiet in the dorms.

The only times everyone was in the common room was after dinner. It had become routine to sit together and watch the news for a few hours as a class after dinner. Everyone was tense as the channels were flicked through, waiting for news on the League of Villains and Midoriya. Even Bakugo sat silently by himself.

Three days without Midoriya. Three days of awkwardness and sadness throughout the class. Even Aizawa looked a lot duller as he taught during homeroom and heroics. 

It was Monday night, and classes had presumed as normal. Except, 1-A didn't participate nearly as enthusiastically in any class as they used to except for heroics.

In fact, most of the teens had decided to push themselves through the training like never before, exhausting themself to the point seven of them were sent to recovery girl for some energising gummies.

For the third night in a row, there were no updates on Midoriya's situation. Almost everyone visibly deflated when Yaoyorozu decided it was time to give it a rest for the night. She turned the TV off, and a round of disappointed sighs went around the room.

"I'm sorry guys," Uraraka said, tearing up. "I—I know that I was only just under a hundred meters away from Deku when he was kidnapped, and I know I should have done something. Not only that but—but I'm under house arrest for arguing with Bakugo and I can't train with you all to get stronger!" She let out a half-hearted sob. "I'm really sorry for being so immature."

Yaoyorozu and Hagakure ran up to her, squeezing her as tightly as they could. They reassured her as best as they could that it wasn't anyone's fault. Mina sniffled, "Don't call yourself—"

Bakugo sneered, "Damn right you were immature. It's your goddamn fault I'm stuck in house arrest, too."

Kirishima gasped, all of his empathy for Uraraka gone and replaced with anger, "How could you say that?! You were just as bad, if not worse! You were the one that was badmouthing our parents just because they trust UA. Uraraka did nothing wrong setting you in your place."

A hand grabbed the redhead's shirt and yanked him forward, "Say that again," Bakugo spoke lowly. "and I'll punch your goddamn lights out. She was the one that threw the first insult, so either get your story right or shut your mouth!"

Kaminari and Sero each grabbed one of Bakugo's arms, dragging him away (with very little ease). 

"What's up with him? Seriously, it's like his attitude is getting worse by the day." Ojiro crossed his arms, staring as the three boys walked off with a scowl. Almost everyone nodded, agreeing that Bakugo seemed a lot more irritable lately.

Uraraka only sobbed louder, "My god, why did I bother even trying to get through to someone like him? And now I can't train with you guys or help with anything!" She felt miserable. Is this how Midoriya felt when he was under house arrest for fighting Bakugo? I mean, he had been in almost the exact same position she was in, and she felt the terrible.

Iida sighed, "I think, just for tonight, I can allow a few more hours of staying up and analysing the footage of Midoriya being taken. We haven't reviewed the video ever since the night before Uraraka and Bakugo had their... spat."

Todoroki immediately shot up and practically flew to the TV, eager to finally be able to look at the footage again. "Here, I've turned it on." he said, looking at Hagakure with bright eyes. 

Despite herself, she snorted at his excitedness, "And here I thought no one here had wanted to discuss the footage again as a class more than me." She pulled out her phone and screen-shared it to the TV, pulling up the video she had saved of Midoriya's kidnapping. 

Uraraka seemed to have calmed down enough to focus on the clips, and she asked to have her space again, feeling slightly overwhelmed by being crowded. Yaoyorozu and Hagakure didn't question this and moved up off the couch she was sitting on. Todoroki plopped down next to her. 

As the video began playing again, he leaned closer to her. She let him. 

"It's okay to feel upset with yourself," he whispered. "I... I feel responsible as well. I feel like if I had only been a little bit faster; if my legs could have moved that extra bit, I would have been able to reach Midoriya and pull him back. Save him from whatever he's going through right now."

The rest of the class around them was silent, secretly listening to their not-so-quiet whispering as the volume was no-so-discretely turned down on the TV. However, the two of them were too focused on the screen and each other to really notice.

Uraraka teared up again. "I knew something was off with him," she admitted. "When he sat down on that bench, I saw his shoelaces were perfectly tied. He lied so he could sit by himself, and I let him. Now look where that's gotten us."

Todoroki sighed quietly, "I know. He does that a lot when we go out. But that doesn't mean it's your fault. If anything, I'd say Midoriya is grateful we gave him those few minutes of peace to sit by himself."

She let a small smile slip, "Yeah, probably. He isn't ever ungrateful." Uraraka was glad to have a friend like Todoroki, who always knew what to say. 

However, despite his words, Todoroki secretly blamed himself to the point it kept him up at night. He struggled to sleep, and the few hours of uneasy rest he does get usually results in nightmares. But she didn't know that. She didn't need to; no one did. He'd hate to be the reason the rest of the class worried more.

--

"We've rewatched this three times and we haven't come up with anything." Jiro was beginning to get frustrated.

Koda laid a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, "I—I'm sure we'll find some—something." His voice was quiet, but Jiro could hear it just fine with her quirk.

She sighed, "I guess so."

"Wait a second!" Mineta shouted. 

Mina rolled her eyes, "If you say anything inappropriate about a girl in the background, I swear to god Mineta you won't be able to speak the rest of the night."

He chocked, offended, "God, why doesn't anyone in this class ever have faith in me? I actually spotted something other than massive boobs this time!" He hopped off of the leg-rest he was sitting on and pushed it against the TV stand, climbing on top so he was able to point at the screen properly.

"Scroll back to the very beginning of the video," He gestured to Hagakure.

The girl placed her hand on her hip, not convinced the purple bauble had actually found anything, but complied to humour him and rewound the video to the start.

"Now," he said, slapping his hand against the screen, "Notice how Midoriya is sitting alone on the bench, and the villain walks up to him?" When everyone stared at him blankly, he tsked. "The villain is approaching Midoriya as the recording starts. Before anyone even realised anything was going on, and before the villain reveals himself, someone had a phone out and pointed at Midoriya, who literally didn't react at all."

Sato furrowed his brows, "Wait, so you think the person recording knew something was about to happen?"

"Not only that," Yaoyorozu said, "They were able to completely hide themselves from Midoriya's view. We all know how awkward Midoriya gets when he sees cameras. Obviously, he didn't care when civilians were recording him being manhandled, but do we really think he wouldn't even look in the direction of someone recording him just sitting on a bench?"

Kaminari paled, "So a wannabe Hagakure used their quirk to start all of this?"

Shoji scrubbed his face, suddenly a lot more uncomfortable than he was a second ago, "I don't think the cameraman and Dabi were the only villains there."

Jiro immediately knew what he was talking about. "Not only was there someone recording, but Shoji and I didn't hear any commotion at all, remember? It was like someone had turned off out quirks. Or, at the very least, weakened them by a lot."

"We should tell Aizawa Sensei this tomorrow." Tokoyami said.  

"But there's a big chance Aizawa Sensei already knows about this, ribbit." Tsu sighed. "I mean, do we really think he wouldn't realise two of his students with literal hearing quirks couldn't hear someone screaming? Not to mention it was said during the conference that there were multiple investigations already open. Surely someone in the police department already figured out there were multiple villains."

Everyone was sullen. There seemed to be no way for them to convince Aizawa they were up for the task of looking for clues.

"All we can do is rely on Aizawa Sensei to keep updating us on what's going on." Tokoyami said, miserably.

Aizawa was called into the police station by Tsukauchi late into the night. Well, he was already awake and wasn't woken up or anything, but he liked to ponder about his life mistakes before going to bed.

However, he knew there would be no way the detective would call him over if he didn't have something important to say, so his irritation was short lived and he found himself walking through the glass doors of the station a few minutes later.

A man with the body of a humanoid cat greeted him at the entrance—Sansa, his brain corrected. Aizawa had met him a few times before.

The officer said a few pleasantries as custom before promptly rushing Aizawa down a hallway. Sansa kept his lips sealed about what had happened and why the hero had been asked to come, seemingly ignorant. Aizawa knew better. He quickly realised the feline just didn't want to be the one to say whatever was going to be said on the other side of the double wooden doors he had brought the man to.

Every other door in the building was reinforced metal, yet he there he was standing in front of the only wooden doors there. It was pathetically intimidating, like the doors one would see on screen that a character of a movie is forced to walk through before being put to death.

Aizawa brought his knuckles to them, turning his head for reassurance he was allowed to from Sansa, but the feline was already gone. Cats were always quick on their feet, so he wasn't too surprised. Offended greatly, however.

He opened the doors with slight hesitance, only to be greeted by what seemed to be a meeting room. One that had the heavy smell of incense, like someone had tried to cover up a musty scent in a rush. Clearly, the room was only used every so often.

The chief of Police, Kenji Tsuragamae was at the head of the table, his presence something similar to the sun; one couldn't help but want to orbit around it. 

Aizawa also spotted a few other people seated that he didn't recognise or care to read the nametags of, choosing to instead lock eyes with a certain detective who was standing at the Chief's shoulder with a grave expression.

The man bowed his head as a show of respect, but Tsuragamae quickly waved that away. "Come on now, Eraserhead. We've known each other for far too long for such nonsense, woof."

Aizawa raised his head again, "Chief?" he prompted, shuffling on his feet. He didn't like the heaviness in the room that the incense failed to cover. It blanketed over him, consuming his senses almost entirely. 

Tsukauchi sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Aizawa, we've got an update on the boy."

The hero momentarily felt relief flood through him, before he really took in the detective's words. "You've got information on Midoriya," he trailed off, unsure if he was reading too much into things again.

"But not his location." Tsukauchi finished for him, which confirmed his suspicions. 

Tsuragamae beckoned Aizawa over, opening a drawer underneath his placed at the head of the meeting table as the man complied and walked over. "We have an update on his condition, that is. You may be wondering how that is, of course." The heteromorph pulled out a few cards and laid them onto the table.

Upon closer inspection, Aizawa came to the nauseating conclusion they were, in fact, not cards. They seemed to be photos, though they were lying face down. On the back of them each was a time stamp and a date written in neat writing. 

"You can pick them up," Tsukauchi said, suddenly right beside the hero. "We brought you here for your opinion." he stated shallowly, as if he hadn't actually had any say in the matter.

Aizawa complied, reaching out with a reluctant hand to pick up the photos. He regretted doing so almost immediately. 

There were four photographs. And in each one, it showed Midoriya's increasingly worsening condition. 

The first one, Midoriya is tied up on a red couch unconscious. There aren't any signs of injury other than the scorched shirt which may have also burned his skin, but Aizawa was already aware of that.

The second one showed a close up of a scarred hand, one that looked exactly like Midoriya's scarred hand and also had a purple, absolutely shattered, ring finger. There was a gloved hand holding Midoriya's on an angle to the camera, one that Aizawa recognised to be Twice's. He would know after staring at the man's suit for hours trying to find any weaknesses in his profile.

In the third picture, his student is leaned up against a brick wall, still on that red couch, with his shirt pulled up over his stomach and his arms on his lap. Green and purple bruising showed itself on Midoriya's stomach, as if someone had slammed something into it repeatedly. His arms were covered in angry burns that seemed to be from rope, though his finger seemed to be bandaged in that photo. Small mercies.

Looking at the fourth and final photo, Aizawa had to stop himself from gagging.

Midoriya is sat facing the table this time, shovelling of what seemed to be porridge into his mouth with a spoon, a glass of milk near his bowl. But that wasn't what made Aizawa's eyes out of his head. Or the fact Dabi was sitting menacingly across from him, looking like he was forcing the kid to eat. Nor was it the rope marks still prominent on his arms.

Midoriya had a serious looking injury on his neck, bruising that looked suspiciously like fingers wrapping around the length of it. There were also nail marks dug into the flesh, as well as blood flowing down his neck from them, down onto his shirt and staining it.

God, he looked so miserable. His eyes seemed more sunken in the fourth photo compared to the first, and they were only a few days apart based on the dates on the back. 

Aizawa put the photos back onto the desk, swallowing. "So, you want my opinion? He's clearly being beaten for information, that's what. We need to get him out." His voice broke in that last sentence, portraying his heavy emotions.

"This is nothing like how they handled Bakugo. Every wrong turn we make may circle back to Midoriya being punished." One of the women Aizawa didn't recognise spoke up. Her voice betrayed her age, unlike her youthful face, but also the calculations behind every word. It was fascinating to hear.

"They printed out the photos so that we aren't able to trace them, nor can we edit them like we would be able to on a computer to properly see the background. Asking around to see if anyone recognises the background is also out of the question; we cannot, under any circumstances, let anyone else see these images." She adjusted her tie as she leaned back in her chair, her face contorting into one of serious concentration. 

The chief slumped slightly in his seat, "We have very limited options. As much as I hate to admit it, the people in this room are the only ones allowed to see such things. I want to trust my men, woof, but I'm afraid the risk is too much. If the public were to find out, riots bigger than ever would break out."

He turned his keen eye over to Aizawa, who stiffened under watch. "I know the first thing you're going to do once you leave the building is go to your students, woof. You have our permission to do so. But you cannot disclose any injuries, you may only tell them that Midoriya is breathing. We'll be doing the same to the press, woof."

The hero took the dismissal as it was and practically dashed out of the room. He knew sympathetic and pitying eyes followed him out, but he didn't care to turn around and see them for himself. Tsuragamae was right, after all.

He needed to let his kids know their peer was alive.

The 'for now' was inevitable, though he didn't dare to acknowledge it even as it lingered heavily in the back of his mind.

--

By the time Aizawa made it back on campus, it was a few hours after curfew. However, he knew his students well enough to be certain most, if not all, would still be awake.

He walked up the steps and took a deep inhale before pushing the entrance of the building open. Light spilled around him. 

He was right, of course. It seemed he just made it in time, as a good chunk of his kids were on the ground floor, though they were all making their way to the steps and elevator to head up to their rooms.

Everyone stopped moving the moment they heard the door open. "Sensei?" Iida asked, perplexed. "What are you doing here so late?"

The man didn't let any of his feelings, anger or otherwise, show on his face as he made eye contact with each student in front of him. "I have good new regarding Midoriya." was all he needed to say for everyone to rush forward at once and bombard him with questions.

--

Once all of the teenagers were settled down, Aizawa told them about the photos the League of Villains sent to the police station. He watched as each face staring at him contorted into different emotions and reactions, most of them pleasantly surprised.

Mina was sobbing with Kirishima, latching onto him. "I'm so glad he's alive!" she shouted.

The red head pat her back and agreed with her just as loudly. "Man, I may finally be able to get some sleep!"

Aizawa winced at that. Todoroki, ever the observant, caught onto his slight change in expression. The boy was the only one who didn't look the slightest bit relieved at finding out his friend is still alive. To him, that wasn't enough.

"What were the photos of?" Todoroki asked, his voice cutting through the cries of celebration from his classmates. "You said they have dates on the back and are of Midoriya. What exactly was he doing in the photos?"

Uraraka snapped to attention, as if just realising the horror of Midoriya still being alive after three days of being held by villains. "Is he okay?! Did he look like he's being hurt?!" she demanded, reaching out to gently tug on her teacher's sleave.

The man let her, not taking his eyes away from Todoroki's. "There were two photos." A white lie for his student's good. They didn't need to know what Aizawa saw. "He was unconscious in the first one and eating in the second."

"That's not enough. Did the food look poison or mouldy? Were they forcing it down his throat?" The abrupt, straightforward questions would have taken any other teacher aback.

Aizawa took them as calmly as he could. "From what I could see, the food wasn't mouldy. It was porridge. As for the force feeding, they weren't shoving it down his throat."

Koda chimed in, "But that do-doesn't mean he wasn't being forced to eat."

Aizawa sighed. "Listen, the reality is that we don't even know if the pictures were real. In the photo Dabi is sitting on the other side of the table, most likely threatening Midoriya into eating. But we can't be certain." He wasn't sure about much these days, anyway.

He wanted to find Midoriya and save him from the grips of the LOV, but there was no way to know anything about the boy or his whereabouts. They photos were probably fake, he knew. Just something the send everyone onto their toes. 

But what if they weren't fake?

Or if they were, what if Midoriya was actually in a much worse condition?

So many what ifs without an answer.

"Is he injured?" Hagakure asked, the tone in her voice giving away her emotions. She sounded a few more words away from breaking down. Ojiro also noticed as much and wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. He smiled down at her, though it was obvious it was forced, and she sniffled lightly in reply.

Aizawa looked away, forcing his eyes back to Todoroki. "He's... not exactly unharmed."

The half and half teen clenched his jaw and spoke through grit teeth, "What is that supposed to mean? Why aren't you giving me straightforward answers?"

Usually, on any other day, Iida would berate Todoroki for using such a tone. Yet the boy looked as if he also wanted to yell at Aizawa for his short half-truths.

"Yes, he's injured." Aizawa begrudgingly got out, balling his hands into fists on by his sides. 

Ojiro pleaded, "Sensei, please. Just stop beating around the bush, we can take it." His entire body trembled, even as he held onto Hagakure. 

"He has a broken finger and some bruising." The man held up a finger to stop anyone else from talking, knowing his students would immediately ask for more details. "I'm not telling you where, I'm not telling you how bad any of it is, and I'm not going to let you participate in the investigation. You all need sleep, and you need time to process. Get your asses to bed already."

Aizawa rushed out without another word, pretending he couldn't hear the shouts from behind him. Once he closed the doors behind him, he had to stop himself from retching. God was it hard to lie to their faces like that, to not tell them everything he knew. But he was also aware, too aware, of how terribly they would react if they knew what he knew.

At the bottom of the stairs, in his deflated form, was All Might. The man's blue eyes stared up at Aizawa in an almost disappointed way. "We need to talk." he said.

Chapter Text

Izuku blinked slowly at Toga, who had been staring at him silently for a while. "How long have I been here?" he asked, yawning at the end of his sentence. While sleep came frighting easy for him for some unknown reason at... wherever they were, it didn't make him any less deprived.

Not to mention he had stubbornly refused the pull of sleep since the League had gone out and murdered innocent people for no reason at all.

"Why?" Shigaraki asked over the brim of his glass. "You have somewhere to be, hero?" he mocked, snickering to himself as he took another sip of his whiskey. Izuku was seriously starting to agree with Dabi's earlier comment. Shigaraki was beginning to seem just as crazy as Toga.

"It's been four days, Izu!" Toga supplied, beaming brightly at him. She was once again crazy for his attention, refusing to give up until he acknowledged her in whatever way she was hoping for.

At any other time, Izuku probably would have been embarrassed at the least at having someone clinging to him for a thread of acknowledgement, but he really just couldn’t bring himself to care. Every time the girl got close, he pushed her away, his heart skipping a beat. But it wasn’t ever because he got flustered, that was for sure.

He had also come to realise that the LOV was less of a 'league' and more of a small group of adults (plus Toga) hanging out at the same spot.

Every couple of hours someone was complaining about Dabi going missing, and Twice’s cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air.

Magne was arguably the nicest one there, even if she was the most deranged. She didn’t pressure Izuku into being comfortable around her, nor did she put up a fight when Izuku didn’t want her touching his wounds. She really was like an older sister, which was such a strange thought to have.

After eating a few days beforehand, Izuku had gone to sleep peacefully surrounded by villains. He hadn’t had a single nightmare since he had arrived, which was something that seemed unreal. Apart from that strange dream with the people calling him Nine, but that didn’t really count as a nightmare, did it? Even if he did wake up in a sweat.

He also noticed that Twice hadn't been lying when he had mentioned chores.

Toga was on dusting duty, Mr compress was on sweeping and mopping, Magne was on tidying, and Twice did the laundry. Izuku didn’t see Shigaraki, Dabi or Spinner do anything, but he assumed they had their share, as well.

Izuku wasn’t sure when the chores swapped, but it was amusing to see regardless.

He wondered for a moment how his friends were doing and if they were worried about him. He knew Kacchan wouldn’t be. He was most likely calling Izuku a weakling for not being able to escape, and well, Izuku could agree with him there.

Every now and then he would be given food, which he would eat because he was starving. He didn’t trust the food wasn’t drugged, but he couldn’t do anything about. He didn’t feel like dying of starvation just yet.

He continued to sit on his couch (which he heard Twice joking about, saying no one else could claim it anymore) all day, with nothing else to do but keep a look out and stay on his toes. "Four days, hm?" he mumbled to himself, parroting Toga. Why were the heroes taking so long to find him? Why weren't they being fast like they were for Kacchan?

"Don’t worry, Izu. They are looking for you, just not very well. I think there’s like one or two search parties, helicopters and everything." Toga must have read his mind and she tried to comfort him. 

All it did was make what he had witnessed for the past couple of days make more sense, not make his heart any lighter. "Is that why everyone freaks out when Dabi leaves randomly every few hours?" he questioned, genuinely curious.

Spinner scoffed from the bar. "Yeah, because it's fucking ridiculous. Why would anyone leave their building for anything other than food with multiple search parties out for your ass?" He rolled his eyes, his scaled fist clenching tighter.

"Well maybe he just doesn't wanna be stuck with you guys." Izuku said.

"No shit sherlock." Spinner scoffed and left the bar, stalking down the hallway. He was always so moody, it was honestly fun to rile him up.

Toga paid no mind to him, turning back to Izuku. "So," she started, resting her chin on her hands. "What did you dream about, Izuku? I've been so curious, you know! It's eating me up!" She grinned, her canines shinning.

He knew exactly what she was referring to. "I don't know," The boy answered plainly, not sure what other explanation to give her.

"That's silly," she pouted. "How can you not remember? It clearly still has you shaken up!"

Well, ouch. "It's not that I don't remember. It's that I just don't know what it was about. Not really, anyway." he hadn't meant to say that last part out loud, but it slipped out regardless. It didn't do him any good, since it clearly made the girl want to dig deeper.

"Then?" she prompted.

"I don’t know what it was about. It was just… people I haven’t ever met before."

"How do you dream of people you haven’t even met? Are you sure they were real?" She giggled a little. Izuku didn't feel humorous.

That was the thing; he was so sure that his dream wasn’t a dream that he gave himself a headache trying to figure out what it really was. "No," he lied through his teeth easily. "No, they weren't real. It came out wrong."

Shigaraki eyed him suspiciously from his stool, and Izuku glanced away the moment they made eye contact.

"I would go collect some blood, but I’m not allowed out by myself." Toga sighed sorrowfully. Then she stood up from the couch with an expectant look on her face.

Izuku didn’t have to ask to know she was suggesting he give her some of his own. "I’m not stupid," he said plainly, turning her down without even needing to say it. The 'why would I ever give you mine?' had been repeated so many times that it didn't even have to be voiced for it to be heard any longer.

She groaned, then went stomping off to Magne in the woman’s room. 

"How the hell do you deal with talking to that girl?" Spinner asked, reemerging from down in the hallway from the room Izuku wasn't quite sure was the kitchen or not. "She's creepy as hell." he stared down the hall with a frown.

Izuku hummed, titling his head a little. "Sure, but I don't think she means it to be creepy." The girl had clearly gotten so used to the accusations she just didn't bother to correct anyone. 

"Sorry?" Spinner's eyes had widened, and even Kurogiri's head had turned a little in the hero's direction.

"All she did was ask a question. It may have been weird to me, but it isn’t to her." The boy shrugged his shoulder's slightly. Her whole life she’s been drinking blood, after all.

Spinner gave him an odd look, one that said, ‘why do you care or even sympathise?’ To be honest, he didn’t know, either. He had grown up with a simple mindset; All Might was the best, and All Might takes down villains. Therefore, villains were bad.

Of course, he knew some villains were worse than others and even took pity on mothers just trying to steal some food for their children, only to be arrested by a cop. But Toga? She was the worst of the worst, or so he had thought. Her words earlier had really struck him.

All you gotta do is be open minded to what all of us went through to get here in the first place.

It was true, and he mentally berated himself for never thinking like that before.

People don’t just start murdering because they feel like it. They go through something stupidly hard, which was no doubt an understatement, and they survive.

They live, but then they have to suffer through the mental crisis of processing what had happened, and Izuku had come to the realization that murdering other people, as horrible as it was, would be a relief for some.

Or, in Toga’s case, necessary to stay sane. She had a sad sort of look in her eyes as she had said those words to him, but it had been gone by the time she walked away. All you gotta do is be open minded to what all of us went through to get here in the first place.

What had she gone through to get to this point, to when she was open about her thirst? The was absolutely no way she could have grown up so open about it, considering the sort of society they lived in.

Only a few cruel kids picked on Izuku directly, while most other people just avoided him like a plague. It was hard being quirkless, but to be born with one that was vampiric? You may as well give up on the idea of normal the moment you find out. He knew that from witnessing people bully the hell out of kids with villain's quirks.

He wanted to find out Toga's past. He wanted to know what she had gone through. Was it something similar? Was she an outcast? Or did she place herself under a mask of normalcy like he did now? Did she just pretend she was fine, when in reality denying herself what she craved the most was slowly killing her?

So many questions with so little answers.

Izuku Midoriya was a freak. That was the conclusion Mr Compress had come to after four days of having the kid around. He was also very sleep deprived and had decided to fix that when he landed in the hands of the league of villains.

All the kid did was glare, sleep, eat, glare, sleep. It was a loop he seemed to be stuck in.

Although ever since they had gone on that killing spree, the most Compress saw was a few head nods. It seemed the idea of a few lives on his hands had the kid in a whirlwind, unable to sleep anymore.

Midoriya's eyebags were as brutal as ever, and his neck had yet to heal.

He had seen Twice swapping out the dressing, and Compress got a peak of what was under there. It wasn’t a great sight in the slightest and he had to look away. He couldn’t understand why he would ever do something like that to himself, and for what?

Because of something his teacher had said?

But Compress hadn't caught anything inspiring enough to coax the boy into hurting himself.

It was an interesting sight to see in the moment, but the aftermath was not. Apart from watching the hero struggle to keep his resolve up and stay scared of the league, that was.

For some reason, he was slowly opening himself up. Mr Compress doubted anyone else noticed, including Midoriya himself, but he was like a bud blooming; his colours shining through little by little.

He had slowly started to relax when it came to his posture; no longer sitting upright. His legs were stretched out further, and his arms were limp. Of course, every now and then he reverted back behind his walls, but it was only a matter of time before his head pocked out from behind it. He was even responding to questions now.

Compress was eager to see how this whole kidnapping thing would play out in the end.

It was Dabi's turn to keep a relative watch over Izuku, who eyed him with tired eyes, frog blinking every couple of seconds. "Hey," he mumbled. Dabi didn't even look up at him, continuing to fiddle with his phone. "Hey," he tried again. Still nothing. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, h—"

"Fuck," The man slapped his phone onto the table aggressively. "What the hell do you want?"

Izuku blinked again. "Hey, can I ask you a question? If I ask it, will you answer?"

Dabi's eyes flared with fierce anger. 

Holy shit, what are you doing?! You're gonna get yourself killed, he thought to himself.

But it was too late now. Izuku was also aware Kurogiri was in the room, and while he didn’t look like he was listening, he didn’t ever fail to report to Shigaraki after someone’s shift of looking after him. The boy would have to tread lightly with his wording.

"Why the hell would I bother doing that?" Dabi asked, his thin eyebrows twitching.

"Because what else is there for you to do?" Izuku answered with a question of his own, his palms already beginning to sweat. Had he gone mad? Why was he doing that?

The man narrowed his blue eyes, "Well, for one, I could not answer your question." he bit out.

"Okay, how about," Izuku began, and Dabi raised an eyebrow in half interest, half mock. "I ask you one question, and if you answer in complete honesty, I'll answer two of yours. Sound fair?" he laid out his proposition with hope and fear for his life.

"Fine," The man said eventually. "But if you ask anything weird, I’ll scorch an eyeball off."

"Deal. Now, where did you learn the reflexes of wiping my face off? Surely you didn’t do that because you wanted to, it had to be an impulse." Izuku's heart raced with anticipation.

It was such a small and unimportant question. He should have asked something more like, 'what's your crime list', but he had already wasted it. Though, he was super curious.

Dabi sighed loudly, already regretting agreeing to their little agreement. "When I was a kid, I used to look after my younger sister and brother when my birth givers were too busy arguing. They were a few years younger than me, so obviously they were messy, and I didn’t want to deal with crumbs in our bed." He said with complete monotone.

Birth givers? Well, guess he didn't like his parents very much.

"Right, my turn. What's up with your shitty personality, kid?" Dabi questioned, his annoyed expression unchanging.

"Sorry?" That wasn't what Izuku had expected to be asked. He thought for sure it would be something along the same lines as the questions Shigaraki had asked.

The villain rolled his eyes before elaborating. "You know, your stupid hero complex. The whole ‘everyone gets to live because I’m willing to throw myself into death’s arms’ shebang."

"Oh," The boy said stupidly. "Well, I’ve always wanted to be like All Might. Rushing into fights and stuff. Or, I did." Why am I telling him this? Then, he realised. It had been nearly fifty hours since he had slept. Surely that was getting to his brain and making him say things he shouldn't.

"Right. And now the ‘I’ll throw myself into death’s arms’ part?"

"I guess I lost my self-preservation skills because I only became someone of note when I threw myself into danger, and hurting myself just became the norm. I only became someone worthy of All Might once I stopped thinking about myself, once I just gave up on thinking about the consequences to my body." Saying the words out loud hurt more than knowing they were true.

Dabi seemed to take that as an acceptable answer and nodded his head. "Next. Your thoughts on heroes?"

Izuku frowned, "That’s a very broad question."

Dabi shrugged. "It calls for a broad answer." That was fair enough.

"Well, I suppose it depends on which heroes. All Might is a good hero, but he doesn’t do well with other people. He can be hostile when I do something wrong, and he knows how badly I fear his rejection, so he purposely calls me a disappointment to try and motivate me. Heroes like Endeavor, on the other hand."

Dabi’s eyes went dangerously cold. "What about ‘em?" he questioned lowly.

"They’re arrogant," Izuku said. "They care more about their reputation than saving people and making it count. Their apologies on TV are just to make sure they keep their spotlight; they don’t actually care for the lives of civilians. But heroes like Eraserhead and Edgeshot are the ones who truly deserve their titles. They—" He flips his hands around to show his loss for the right words.

Once he found them, he continued. "They do things that just prove that they’re actually in the game to play by the rules. Aizawa Sensei was broken and beaten at the U.S.J. when Shigaraki had broken in, and yet he still managed to save Asui’s life. There were no cameras or people there to impress, and yet he risked—" He stopped himself there, mid sentence.

Izuku had been rambling and almost slipped out ‘he risked shortening the period he can use his quirk’. Yeesh, that would have been bad. Really bad. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. "You get what I mean. There's a difference between being a mean person, a dick, and a hero."

Shigaraki came out of his room with an almost bored expression, preventing Dabi from replying. "We have a meeting to go to." he announced loudly, rolling a blue hand around in his own.

Dabi rolled his eyes aggressively. "Since when do we have meetings?" he spat out.

Shigaraki glared at him. "Since Twice bagged us one with the head of a Yakuza group. Put your big boy pants on and get the hell up out of that booth."

Toga slammed open her door and she comes jumping out with Twice by her side. "Surely Izu can come?" she suggests with a bright smile.

"Why the hell would the hero come?" Shigaraki frowned at the mere thought of it. Izuku did, too.

"So that he can learn what we do?" The girl said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She also said it like she believed it to be a seriously rational choice.

"It makes sense, boss! Don't listen to that maniac! Our tactic didn’t work with the blonde brat, but showing him what we do and how rational we can be might make him wanna join!" Twice said enthusiastically, clearly completely on board with the suggestion.

Shigaraki rolled his eyes. "That’s a stupid fucking ideal and it’s not going to work." He pointed a crusty finger at Izuku, who wrinkled his face at it. "You really think him witnessing us meeting with another villain is going to get him to join? God, you’re all useless." Izuku hadn’t even realised he was supposed to be joining the league. Wasn’t he only there for questioning? "Besides, Twice still hasn’t told us what the Yakuza wants with us."

"Well, if he wants to meet you, then surely he wants to join, no?" Said villain mumbled, fidgeting with his hands. "A fucking idiot, this one is. He never knows what the hell's going on. Shut the hell up, me!"

Shigaraki gave him a glare, shoving the hand onto his face (was it real or not? Izuku couldn’t tell). "You organised a meeting without checking the intent of the participants?"

Twice sweat dropped, and Toga saved him with a question of her own. "Wait, so what’s the big deal with this guy anyway?" she placed a finger on her chin in a similar manner to the one Asui often used.

"He’s the young head of the Shie Hassaikai." The future leader said, bored.

"Oh!" Magne said as she slowly stepped out of her room. "So, he’s number two in organised crime! How special!" she shot Twice a thumbs up as she walked up to the rest of them.

Shigaraki rolled his eyes for the nth time and walked out of the door. "If you’re bringing the hero brat, tie him up and blindfold him. If you're not, get a Twice to keep an eye on him. Let’s go." Kurogiri followed closely after him.

Spinner, who had been quiet the whole time, stepped forward with the rope already in his hands.

"Where the hell did you just pull that out from?" Izuku questioned. He didn't see it in the man's hands earlier.

Spinner huffed and began tying him up. "My asshole," he answered jokingly. At the disgusted look he received from the hero, he rolled his eyes. "Where do you think, idiot? With the rest of the rope we have."

"You guys planning a mass suicide or what?" Izuku mumbled, not liking how tightly the villain was wrapping the rope around him.

"You think crusty would let us waste rope on nooses? Keep dreaming."

"I haven’t dreamt in ages, thank you." he retorted, slightly sticking his nose out. God, he so desperately needed sleep. His lack of it was making him say all kinds of stupid things. Although, he technically wasn’t lying, since he’s only had nightmares or dreamless sleep for the past nine years of his life.

"Whatever." The man said in reply.

The blind fold (which had also come out of nowhere) was then wrapped around Izuku's eyes, and he was dragged out of the building. Fresh air had never felt better, in his opinion. Four days with cigarette smoke surrounding him was enough to mess with his head slightly.

Chapter Text

The blind fold was taken off, and Izuku was immediately confused. He looked behind him and saw one of Kurogiri's portals was closing. What had been the point of putting a blind fold on him if they were just going to portal to their location anyway?

Speaking of which, Izuku looked around as the rest of his binding were taken off. They seemed to be in a warehouse of sorts. There were black steel boxes and crates, as well as quite a few boulders. The air was musty, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. 

The warehouse was either only used for meetings like the one Shigaraki had been talking about, or happened to be an abandoned one that the man had only remembered existed just then. Twice wasn't with the rest of them, and Izuku came to the reasonable conclusion he was probably out fetching the Yakuza dude he had set the meeting up with.

Almost like he was linked up to Izuku's thoughts, the doors to the warehouse opened, with Twice and a man Izuku didn't recognise on the other side.

The other thing he noticed was how dark it was outside. There weren't any windows on the warehouse, so it was hard to tell when the only light source were the dim ceiling lights. It looked well past noon. It gave Izuku a shiver, realising how out of whack his perception of time was.

The supposed Yakuza head looked similar to the doctors from the pre-quirk era that Midnight Sensei had taught him about. The ones that thought having fully covering robes and a crow-like mask would prevent them from getting the plague that was spreading. Minus the full body coverage.

"I see you brought the famous kidnapped Izuku Midoriya here," the man said, his muddy green eyes scanning Izuku with boredom.

Izuku frowned at him. He didn't like the villain. For one, the way he said his name sent a dull shiver down his spine. Also, the fact he knew his name at all was because he was famous for being kidnapped just didn't sit right with him.

"Ignore the hero," Shigaraki said, only one of his eyes visible from behind the hand over his face. "This is a meeting between you and me. My colleagues are only here as witnesses." His grating voice sounded annoyed. Good. 

Dabi grabbed Izuku by his arm and shoved him onto the dirty ground, forcing him to kneel beside him. Everyone else took their places as well, ready to observe whatever was about to happen. The only two who didn't move were the Yakuza man and Shigaraki.

The man shrugged at Shigaraki. "I have no problem with that. Everyone here can refer to me as Overhaul. Though I'm sure you're all perfectly aware of who I am."

Izuku wasn't, other than what he had heard being said about him. Dabi scowled mumbled something about the villain being pretentious and self-important, which Izuku thought was pathetically ironic coming from him of all people.

"The young head of the Shei Hassaikai. We know of you." Shigaraki did a so-so gesture with one of his dry hands. "I assume since you agreed to meet, you're wishing to join my ranks, join the League of Villains."

Overhaul placed a hand on his hip. "Assuming anything doesn't get many people far, Shigaraki. I'm not exactly here to discuss the League of Villains. I'm more here to discuss the loss of All For One." He made a mocking so-so gesture back at Shigaraki.

The red-eyed man was glaring so fiercely at Twice that Izuku winced. If Shigaraki's quirk was based on eye-contact rather than five-finger touch, the duo man would be long gone.

While Izuku was no world-class detective, he was fairly certain the glare had something to do with the fact Twice hadn't double checked what Overhaul wanted with his boss.

"My master will return," which was clearly all Shigaraki wanted to say on the matter. "If you aren't here to join, what are you doing standing in front of me today?" he questioned, turning his glare to Overhaul, who didn't even blink at it.

Izuku wondered for a moment if he was going to witness murder.

"All Might has now retired after years of service to the public," Overhaul spat the word 'service' out like it hurt.

His words were a cruel reminder to the boy that the man he blindly followed and adored for all his life was now just a cranky, retired man.

"And All For One has landed himself in Tartarus. That leads us to the big question every villain has been asking for the last month or so. Who will be the next leader?" The Yakuza's eyes illuminated as he asked the questioned.

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes at him. "Is this you questioning who I am, despite the knowledge of who my master is?" He took a few threatening steps forward. "I'm the next leader. I've been training to become so nearly all my life. For even longer than I can remember!" He clearly wasn't a fan of having his authority questioned.

Izuku felt his throat close at the wording and his mind, the annoying bastard, popped a theory he didn't ever want to entertain by putting actual thought or reason to. Was Shigaraki trained, or groomed?

"Even now with master gone, I'm recruiting! My followers are increasing, and soon enough, it will be our faces on the screen. Not the hero," he spat at Izuku, who wanted to roll his eyes. As if he was the one who asked to be recorded as he was kidnapped. "Or the hero killer!" he said with somehow more disdain. "It will be me and my people crushing the hero society!"

It didn't slip past Izuku how the villain only ever referred to world dominance as a team effort, with words like 'we' and 'us' rather than the expected selfish; 'I' and 'me'. It was kinda sweet, in it's own way. He always had his comrades in mind, even if he didn't realise it.

Overhaul tilted his buzzed head to the side in a way that displayed his ear stack, full of piercings. "How exactly do you plan on rising to the top? A goal without a plan is a dream. Children have those, not grown adults, Shigaraki. You have ambition, I’ll give you that. But what else do you have? Numbers isn’t enough. You need loyal followers; people who would lick your feet if you snapped your fingers."

The way he said it made Izuku wrinkle his nose with disgust. What a weird example of having servants desperate for approval.

"You piece of—" Shigaraki looked ready to charge like a bull. It was kinda funny, but that might have just been Izuku being influenced by his exhaustion. His brain said strange things and thought everything was amusing when he was tired.

"What am I supposed to do with ambition? You said your followers are increasing, but what after? How do you plan to feed this delusion of yours? How are you going to get your followers to be loyal to you like they were to your master?" Overhaul took several steps towards Shigaraki, who made a groan of frustration.

Was this the part Izuku looked away to save himself having nightmares of someone actually dying, not just his brain supplying it?

"You had Stain, Muscular, Moonfish, and even some batshit depressed kid on your side, all of which were first class pieces. You lost them anyway. You can't even control a couple insane people; what do you plan to do to with a couple hundred?"

...He had a point, and everyone knew it.

That didn't mean any of the villains acknowledged the fact Overhaul was right, though.

Izuku thought that the man would stop asking to die then, but he didn't. With every not-so-hidden jab Overhaul threw, Izuku winced and looked away just in case.

Overhaul waved his gloved hand around. "You don’t have a plan, you don’t know how to use the pieces you’re provided. I have a plan. I have ways to control and conquer." He then flexed the hand he was swinging around, and Izuku realised he was slowly getting the glove loose around his fingers so it wasn't hard to pull off.

Which meant he was getting ready to defend himself from an attack. He likely had a hand-related dangerous quirk. Izuku felt a coldness shoot up his spine, suddenly more awake than he had been since his last sleep a few days ago. 

The boy looked around, observing the faces around him.

Toga looked confused, and Izuku didn't blame her.

Mr. Compress looked relaxed and not at all on guard, but his shoulders being up to his ear suggested otherwise.

Twice was fidgeting a few metres away from his boss and Overhaul.

Magne looked bored, and so did Dabi.

Kurogiri stood patiently with his arms behind his back, standing directly behind Shigaraki and awaiting orders.

Spinner looked ready to pounce or flee.

Overall, none of them looked explicitly like they had any idea that the Yakuza man was ready to spill blood. There was no way they didn't have suspicions, but they thought it was just that. Suspicions. Izuku knew otherwise.

"What are you getting at?" Shigaraki demanded, his eyes narrowing to slits.

"I need money, Shigaraki." Overhaul said plainly. "Lots of it in order to move forward with my plan. You know, not a lot of people are willing to invest in a small-time Yakuza group. I didn't come here to join you, I came here expecting the opposite."

The tension in the air rose drastically, and everyone suddenly looked ready to fight.

Izuku was still the only person focusing on Overhaul's gloves, watching them closely. His eyes were sharp, the fuzziness of sleep deprivation previously half obscuring it completely gone.

"I figured I had a shot with you all. Given your increasing publicity, that is." Overhaul gave a pointed look at the hero-in-training, who frowned but wasn't scared.

He wasn’t threatened by the man; he had been (forcibly) living with seven murderers for the past four days. One more didn’t scare him.

The lack of sleep and rationality he had, did. He was tempted to find out what the man’s quirk was, and he knew he would get hurt in the progress. But his tiredness was overcoming his senses, and man, he was curious. 

He wouldn't do it, of course. He wasn't that far gone.

His eyes were trained on the white gloves. That didn't mean he could stop himself from wondering what exactly it was.

"Come under me. I know my plan will work, and with your help, we will put an end to hero society. With me as the leader, of course. You would all be held in high regard under my people." The way Overhaul said 'hero society' was strange. There was the slightest pause of hesitance before he said it.

Izuku knew everyone realised at that very moment he was lying through his teeth.

His goals weren't the same; he was putting on face.

Which was ironic, considering he was hiding his with that hideous mask.

Was this Yakuza dude stupid? For someone who knew a lot about Shigaraki and his plans, or lack thereof, he really didn't know how to ask for anything but a painful death.

Everyone heard knew fierce Shigaraki was about following his master’s steps and becoming the next leader, regardless of AFO’s return, and Overhaul thought everyone would be cool with working under him so he could become the next leader.

"You're the fucking delusional one." Shigaraki spat.

Magne took that as her cue, leaping off the box she was sitting on and unravelling her magnet. "Apologies, Hot Stuff! I didn't come here to fall under anyone! I refuse to be bound!" She was grinning, her eyes manic behind her sunglasses as she charged at Overhaul.

Izuku would have found humour in her words and unique personality that stayed very clear even when she was angry and offended, but then he saw Overhaul begin to take off his white glove as he was being magnetically hauled toward her.

No.

Magne was—

Magne was different. Izuku didn't mind her, she didn't deserve to get hurt like this!

Izuku felt the world slow around him. He felt like time had literally slowed, with his eyes and brain moving so fast everything else was a slug. He knew it; Overhaul had a dangerous hand related quirk, like Shigaraki. The chances of it being a five-finger activated one like Shigaraki’s were slim, very slim.

He doubted they were that closely related.

The villains were only a metre away from each other.

What could he do? No one else thought anything was wrong, no one was moving to stop her.

Was it up to Izuku? Goddamn it, it always was! He had less than five seconds based on the distance between the two adults and the speed Overhaul was being thrown at Magne.

Izuku braced himself on the balls of his feet, his body moving as he came up with a plan. Dabi grabbed onto his arm, probably assuming he was going to make a run for it. Well, he was, but on a different page than Dabi was on.

He shoved the hand off of him and dove forward, the familiar sensation of OFA spreading warmly, comfortingly, through his entire legs.

Magne's magnetic pull wouldn't stop, and if the shock of Izuku protecting her didn't get her to cancel her quirk, then the most crashing into Overhaul would do was delay the attack. But that was fine. By then, everyone would realise Overhaul's intentions and begin to fight as well.

Well, it was too late by the time his brain supplied all of that, because Izuku was already crashing into the man.

No backsies. 

They were both send flying into one of the warehouse walls, the sound as a result of the collision nearly deafening. They were surprisingly sturdy and at most shook a little. 

Izuku didn't feel any pain in his legs, which meant he really was getting control over his quirk percentage output! 

Overhaul groaned, beginning to sit up from underneath the teenager, who refocused and grabbed Overhaul's wrist, easily dislocating it. The man screamed out in pain, cursing colourfully. Izuku used his distraction of pain to make sure the glove was back on properly.

Overhaul realised what he was doing and snapped his wrist forward without hesitating, letting out a grunt of pain but successfully relocating it.

This dude is fucking insane, Izuku thought, letting out an amused laugh. The man looked at him, clearly thinking the same. 

He needed to do something. He couldn't let Overhaul take off his stupid glove.

Izuku kept his hold on Overhauls' wrist, time slowing once again. Magne's quirk wasn't activated anymore, and he could feel stares on him. His green sparks had died down with One for All, but he still managed to grip so tightly onto the villain's wrist that he felt it snap.

Not dislocate. 

Snap.

As in, the snapping of a bone.

A howl of pain that erupted from the wrist's owner and the man held up his free hand as some sort of signal.

To whom? He must have brought backup. Why would he stop them from charging in?

"Has Shigaraki already had his influence on you? I should have known there was a reason he was keeping you other than publicity, let alone bringing you on mission. Smart boy, figuring out what I was going to do in a matter of seconds." His mask was still irritatingly in place, jabbing Izuku on the forehead almost painfully.

Izuku glared. "You were gonna hurt Magne. She's different. She—she's a villain, but she's nice. To me." his voice cracked. She had been more respectful to Izuku than Kacchan ever had, and Magne was a villain. A murderer. Wasn't that insane?

The worst part was, it wasn't. It should have been insane; an impossible concept. But it just wasn't.

A loud scoff, "Oh, spare me the feelings, hero. They've been feeding you nothing but nonsense." Overhaul paused, going over his words, then, "I have a daughter, you know?"

Izuku's blood went cold. "What," 

"A daughter. She's part of the plan to take down this fucked up society. She loves meeting new people; she would probably love you, too."

The boy's grip on his wrist tightened, and while the man was clearly in a lot of pain, his eyes were also crinkling in the corners. He was laughing. 

"What are you doing to her?" Izuku demanded, his voice raising. 

"Ah," Overhaul tilted his head back, somehow still looking down on Izuku even with Izuku pinning him down with rubble and by his wrist. "Wouldn't you like to know? Hm?" Then he was laughing again, this time audibly.

That was all Izuku needed to hear to know it wasn't anything fatherly like. "You monster! Coward! You fucking—"

--

Magne paused when she saw green fly across her vision, and the next second the enormously loud pang of the metal walls being disturbed erupted in her ears. She let go of Overhaul by accident, then heard Dabi yell out. 

"That— what the hell is the hero doing?!" Dabi questioned to no one in particular.

Magne's head whipped to the cloud of dust and green sparks over to her left, where Overhaul had disappeared to. The sparks looked a whole lot like Midoriya's quirk. That and Dabi's words... "Did he just tackle Overhaul?" she questioned, eyes bugging.

"The Hero just saved your life," Shigaraki said, sounding incredibly intrigued. "He saved your life. A villain's life. His kidnappers!" he let out a sick cackle. "Maybe he really will join, since he's willing to do that for her!"

Okay, he was just talking to himself at that point.

Mr. Compress must have seen the confusion and disbelief on her face, because he chuckled softly and explained. "Didn't you see? He was about to use his quirk on you."

Shigaraki was laughing so loud Magne thought her eardrums were going to burst. 

Kurogiri took a large step forward. "Tomura Shigaraki, if we do not leave now, there will be blood spilt." he warned, his monotone voice unchanging.

Twice raised his hand like he was in school again. "I'd like everyone to be aware I'm not healing that kid again! He's too bossy and snappy! He's got some serious kick! What the hell, I thought you hated him, me! You're just disagreeing because you hate me!"

Shigaraki stopped laughing and rolled his red eyes. "Fine. Everyone get ready to go."

Toga squeals and runs over to the hero kid as he screamed about Overhaul being a monster and a coward, grabbing him by the back of his collar and running the opposite direction. She dragged Midoriya along, practically dancing. 

Kurogiri summoned a portal in front of them once they were far enough away from Overhaul that the man wouldn't get sucked in. Toga runs straight into it with a such wide grin that Magne was sure it hurt.

She stepped in afterwards, a little disappointed that she didn’t get to bash Overhaul’s brain in with her precious magnet, which she was rewrapping. Once on the other side, she caught the sight of Midoriya running into the bathroom, as green as his hair.

The sound of retching echoed through the bar and Magne walked over to the bathroom to poke her head in.

She found the hero boy with his hands around the toilet, sobbing and shaking violently through his heaves. She slowly walked in, leaning her rewrapped magnet against the wall as she did.

She could hear everyone else coming through the portal, voicing their opinions on the loud cries and vomiting coming from Midoriya. Toga waited outside of the room with a nervous expression, like she'd done something wrong.

Magne knelt down right next to Midoriya and gently brushed a curl away from his sweating face behind his ear.

He sobbed harder. It was so intense sounded like it hurt. In just a few seconds of Magne sitting beside him, his cries turned to shallow breathing, his eyes glazed over with something other than tears. His knuckles were white around the toilet.

Midoriya gagged again with so much force that he couldn't make a sound, the action preventing him from breathing in. He did it again, and again, and again. He was seriously struggling to let in a single breath, and Magne felt her own chest tightening at the sight.

His body was obviously acting of its own accordance. The longer he went without breathing due to his stomach practically flipping inside out, the more his eyes looked panicked. 

Magne knew, reasonably, that she shouldn’t feel bad for her hostage. Like, at all.

But she couldn’t help it.

The sight of him wasn’t exactly enough to get her to feel pity, not much could anymore, but she saw herself in him. It didn’t make much sense, but he looked just as lost as she used to before joining the League of Villains.

Before she had a purpose.

She wanted to help him. She wanted to get to know him, she wanted him to open up about his past, his scars, and his terrible eyebags that had only worsened over the last four days.

Shigaraki would have her head if he ever found out, but she knew just by looking at the crusty man he would eventually come around as well. He kept threatening to disintegrate the kid, and if it were anyone else he probably would have gone through with it. But he hadn’t.

Magne knew if she were to confront him about it, he would say the same excuse of the kid shutting them out if he did.

And while that might have been true, Shigaraki was the type of man to not give a shit and do it anyway, then just torture it out of them.

Midoriya was a kid, and he didn’t deserve any of what was happening to him. But it was happening anyway, and Magne knew everyone, even Dabi the distant fucker, had a bit of a soft spot. Well, maybe not Toga, but she was ‘in love’ with Midoriya, so that kinda counted. Maybe.

About ten seconds of no breathing and silent, painful looking heaving later, the hero kid passed out. He slumped against the cold edge of the shower-tub, his breaths finally coming through.

Magne looked at him. She took in his matted hair, sweaty body, burnt clothing, broken finger, scabbed neck, and even his eyebags. She didn't feel bad, but she did want to help him at least look presentable.

Dabi poked his head in, clearly curious as to why the noise stopped, and let a half laugh out. "What the hell happened to the hero?" he questioned, his stupidly blue eyes scanning the unconscious boy on the floor.

"He just threw up everything we've fed him," Magne said, scooping Midoriya up. "Leave him alone." She wasn't sure why she was defensive, but it likely had something to do with the fact she never had anyone by her side whenever she was sick. 

Dabi seemed just as confused but wasn't intrigued in the slightest, giving her a suspicious but not at all curious stare.

She shrugged her shoulders at him as she lay the kid down in his booth, checking for a fever and stepping back when she realised he wasn't sick.

"Pathetic," Shigaraki said, glaring at Midoriya. 

Mr. Compress gave a fake chuckle of amusement. "I think he's rather courageous and bold. He saved Magne's life, after all." He crossed his arms and leaned over the back of the booth, staring at the boy's unmoving features like he was expecting him to grow a second head.

Magne stood up straight at that, "Yeah, I don't get it. All he did was steal my prey!" she said. Well, sure, he looked brave doing it, but how did that count as saving her? Mr. Compress had mentioned a quirk, but she could handle herself against that! All she needed to do was bash the Yakuza's skull in.

Toga shook her head, the worry that had been previously on her features completely gone. "You're silly, Big Sis Mag. Overhaul was going to kill you!" She said a little too brightly.

"Uh huh. And I've yet to hear how other than his quirk? I can handle myself against quirks like Dabi's, you know."

"Well, I don't know. I'm just copying Shigaraki!" Toga giggled, flipping the knife she had pulled from her shoe around in her hands. 

Shigaraki was taking off his creepy hands in the corner of the bar, placing them on one of the tables like they belonged there. "I'm sure you could handle an offensive quirk like Dabi's, Magne. But could you handle yourself against one like mine?" he questioned, finding whatever he was implying absolutely hilarious.

The woman thought about it for a second.

What could magnetism do against decay?

"Close to nothing." she admitted, a little sad about it. Shooting Shigaraki into the opposite direction didn't matter if she was already turning to dust. "I couldn't."

"Exactly," The man said, grinning disgustingly. "Overhaul has a quirk like mine. Which is why he was wearing the gloves. To prevent any unwanted carnage. If he had a quirk like Dabi's—"

"Why am I always the example?" Dabi bit out.

"—he wouldn't need it. You would have died the second Overhaul got his glove off, which the Hero stopped him from doing." Shigaraki said, waiting for her reaction. "Izuku Midoriya is more on our side than we thought."

Magne’s mouth popped open, looking at the kid with a new light. Scratch everything she had just thought about, this kid was fucking awesome! It didn't matter if he was like her past self, she wanted to make him have the best hostage experience ever regardless!

"So, he's incredibly observant. I saw him getting ready to run the moment Overhaul was put under Magne's quirk." Spinner said, looking conflicted on how to feel about it. "Since he's too much of a hero to let us die, we might as well bring him along on more missions, Boss."

Shigaraki scratched his neck violently, frowning at the lizard. He was considering it, but was very clearly not happy to be doing so.

Kurogiri was the next to add his two cents, which surprised Magne. "It may be beneficial to bring him along, Tomura Shigaraki. Midoriya hates All Might, does he not? If he comes along on missions to tell from personal experience to gain followers, considering he’s a student of All Might, people will start to hate him. We could also get Midoriya to send an anonymous tip to a news outlet about it."

Before they kidnapped Midoriya, she had thought Kurogiri was a robot programmed to agree with Shigaraki and follow his orders. But apparently, he had opinions, too. It was kinda cool.

Toga squealed in delight. "Yes yes yes! Big Sis Mag, this is great! Better than great!" The blonde teenager turned around, flung the knife she was playing with behind her, then gave Magne a big squeeze.

Magne chuckled and hugged her back. 

"This means I might finally get some of his blood! Oh, I'm so happy!" 

For once, the women's grin didn't faulter at her friend's love for eating people's insides.

Shigaraki stopped scratching his neck, rolling his eyes aggressively as he collected all of his freaky ass hands and glared. "Oh, for god's sake. Fine, the hero can tag along on future mission's when we're recruiting to shit talk All Might, happy?" He wrinkled his nose at Midoriya. "Someone force the hero to have bath, just looking at him is making me dirty."

Dabi snorted into his hands, failing at covering it up with a cough. 

"Something funny?" Shigaraki asked, walking up to him. 

"Oh, nothing, It's just I don't think the crust fest can be talking about feeling dirty. You realise your dry skin flakes are all over this place, right?"

"Shut the fuck up before I turn your skin into dust flakes."

Dabi stuck out his tongue like the mature adult he was, waiting for a few moments after Shigaraki stomped off down the hall and into his room to do the same. They were a lot more alike than they realised. Especially when it came to temper tantrums.

Magne thought it was pretty hilarious.

The first thing Izuku thought about when he woke up was how confused and a little scared he was that Toga and Magne were looming over him, wearing matching grins. Magne didn't even have on her sunglasses. What on earth?

The second thing Izuku thought about was how refreshed he was since he finally got the sleep his body had been begging for for so long. 

His third thought was about how hungry he was. He felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, which was strange because he definitely remembered being threatened every couple of hours to eat for the past day or two. 

"Yeah, well, throwing up can do that to ya," Magne said, snickering gleefully. "Hey, kid! How are you feeling?"

Izuku ignored the question. "Throwing up? What are you—" His eyes widened. Suddenly, all he could think about is how easily he had not only dislocated someone's wrist, but broke it a few seconds later.

That wasn’t normal—that wasn’t okay. He gagged, his left hand covering his mouth. His eyes watered furiously, both from his disgust and horror.

He had been thinking of hurting people, seriously hurting them, for a few days (he thinks, it’s hard to tell without any source of natural light), but he hadn’t acted out on it. Until then. He didn’t even think hard about it.

He heard the thought, if his hand stays functional, Overhaul will take his glove off and kill Magne. Or worse, you.

Then when Overhaul relocated his wrist, his brain screamed in panic and told him to do something about it.

And he did. By breaking the man's wrist. 

He felt the bone snap beneath his fingers and heard the howl of pain. He hadn't even felt bad. If anything, it only made him angrier. 

"Ho-Holy shit, what have I done?" He mumbled, mortified. 

Magne gave him a huff of amusement through her nose. She could tell he wasn't joking, but she was treating him like he was. "Uhm, save my goddamn life? Duh." She blinked down at him, her grin growing as she said it. 

"I broke his wrist. I snapped it, without even thinking about it! I- I just did it!"

The woman blinked again. "So what? That's cool as hell. Besides, you break your own bones all the time. I saw that sport festival, you didn't even hesitate to shatter your arm. And your fingers are still wonky!" She said, pointed at his crooked fingers. 

Toga nodded aggressively. "You looked so cute all bruised and broken, Izu!" She cooed, moving closer.

For once, Izuku didn't have a mind to move away. He just didn't care anymore about her obsession. He had more important issues, like the fact he broke someone's wrist! Why wasn't anyone understanding how batshit crazy that was?! "Ya, I break my own bones," he wriggled his wrapped right ring finger, which was getting slightly less purple by the day. "Not anyone else's!"

"Even if you saved my life?" Magne asked.

Well, he didn't do it to save her life, he did it to stop him from being able to take his glove off and use his quirk. Goddamn it, which was basically saving her life. "I... guess that makes it a little better." he mumbled, frowning.

She squawked in offense, slapping Toga when the teenage girl giggled. "You should feel all better! I'm still here to yell at you because you broke Overhaul's wrist!" Magne wiped away fake tears.

Izuku only just stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Whatever." He was still unbelievably hungry, and his noisy stomach agreed with him. He knew his brain would be processing what he had done a lot easier if he had food to power it up with. 

He wished he had his mum's katsudon to eat.

Chapter Text

Truthfully, eating the stupidly delicious oatmeal Spinner made for Izuku wasn't all that bad. Of course, nothing compared to Izuku's mother's meals, but whatever Spinner was putting with the goddamn oatmeal seriously made his mouth water. 

He thanked the villain more than once, which he wouldn't have done at all considering he was a murderer and villain, if not for how blessed Izuku's tastebuds were feeling. He couldn't help himself, okay? As much as he hated it, how could he not thank the creator of such a good dish?

Unfortunately, however, a full stomach really didn't help him process what he had done to someone.

It still felt unreal.

It was laughable compared to the things everyone else he was 'living with' had done, but still! What kind of hero in the making breaks someone's wrist! Really, all he had to do was pin his arm to make sure he couldn't get his glove off.

He did not need to snap the bone he was holding.

Curse the stupid voice in the back of his head telling him stupid things. There was no way his brain would have supplied such a thought, or any of the terrible thoughts he had been having, all by itself! There was absolutely no way. Something else was obviously at play, and he didn't like it. 

"You need a washing, kid." Magne said.

Izuku looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"You need a bath. Or just any contact with soap and water, really." she said, still gazing down at him over the back of the couch.

"I heard you the first time." Izuku muttered. She didn't have to go that much into detail about how filthy he was.

"Then why are you giving me that look?" Magne asked, clearly finding the whole thing funny. 

Izuku was half glad at least someone was having a good time. "Why would I take a bath?" He didn't exactly feel like being naked and vulnerable with villains in the same building, even behind a locked door and walls. 

Now it was Magne's turn to look at him like he'd grown another three heads. "Uhm, because you haven't in, what? Five days now? That's almost a week, Hero." She didn't sound disgusted, just confused as to why he wouldn't want to wash himself.

The boy rolled his eyes, "Why do you care?" he asked, because really, it was none of her business. Like, at all.

Magne walked around the booth to look at him properly. She sighed at him, and Izuku really didn't like how much it felt like being scolded by an older family member who was trying not to be the bad guy while telling him off. "Kid, you saved my life. You think I’m just gonna let you sit there, filthy? Absolutely not. C’mon, we’re getting you clean!"

She walked down the hallway and came back a few seconds later with some spare clothes and a fresh towel, gesturing to them wildly, walking into the bathroom, and re-emerging with free hands. 

"Those clothes weren't taken off a dead body, were they?"

Magne cracked up like Izuku had just told the funniest joke she had ever heard. She probably did actually think he was joking, but he was genuinely concerned he was about to put on a dead man's clothing. She grabbed onto his left arm and hauled him onto his feet, half dragging him to the bathroom.

Izuku had a crease between his brows. "Am I about to be waterboarded?"

"Do you want to be?"

"...No?" He wasn't sure why that was a question. Who on earth would?

"Then shut your trap." Magne said.

Izuku stood awkwardly in the middle of the small-ish bathroom, looking around. Last time he was in the bathroom, he was in too much pain to do much other than be surprised there weren't hanging heads.

That time, however, he could look for somewhere to escape to while Magne rummaged in the cabinets under the sink.

There was a very small window probably just for letting air in and out above the shower head. It wasn't by any means big enough to fit even a foot, let alone his whole body. But he could try and see if he could spot anything that might tell him about his location.

Magne then found what she had been looking for and pulled it out. 

"You can't use that on me," Izuku said, a little horrified and getting flashbacks of his mother yanking his hair just by looking at it. Inko had pin straight hair, while Izuku had curls. Far too often she would use a hairbrush to get rid of knots like she would to her own, and man, it would hurt!

The woman grinned. "Yes, I can."

Izuku gave her a deep frown. "Brushing my hair out is going to make it poof. Just because my hair isn’t coils doesn’t mean brushing my curls is going to have a better end result." he said, not taking his eyes off the pink hairbrush. 

Magne rolled her eyes. "There is a big difference between brushing your hair out for the sake of it and taking care of it, kid. If it gets poofy afterwards, then suck it up. Frizzy hair is better than knots clumping it together and making it brittle." She reached out and grabbed a chunk of it. "It’s been five days since you last touched your hair, and it’s this bad because you’ve been leaning your head against the bricks for more than forty-eight hours."

Izuku have her his best unimpressed stare, trying to hide how impressed he was. She was actually going out of her way to do all this for him? Just because he used himself like a wrecking ball?

She rolled her eyes again and yanked his head into the sink.

"So you are waterboarding me." he said.

"That's what it's going to be if you don't hold still." she warned, sounding uncharacteristically non-threatening.

There was enough room in the sink for him to put his head under the water and not have his forehead touching the inside of it, but that didn’t make it any less weird. Magne pulled a cup from somewhere on the shelf next to the mirror, filled it up with water, and dumped it all onto Izuku’s head. Thank god the water was warm.

Eventually, she got to unknotting it. She used her fingers and the brush simultaneously. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it felt kinda nice.

By the time she was done, Izuku’s back ached but his head was feeling somehow lighter even though it was soaking wet and dripping down his body. Magne handed him the towel and clothing that had been resting on top of the closed toilet lid, pointed to the shower with a lazy grin, then walked away.

Just before she closed the door behind her, Twice came in through the front door, out of breath and smelling of cigarettes. He stormed into the bathroom and shoved something into Izuku’s hands frantically. "Don't make this weird and don't bring it up, just use them!" he said, and then he was slamming the door behind him as he ran out.

Izuku blinked three times, staring at the closed door. He couldn't help the loud and sudden laugh that escaped him looking down at the boxers in his hands that still had the store tags on them. 

God, he was feeling an overwhelming sense of gratefulness. If he had to go one more day in the same pair, he might have seriously lost it.

God, if anyone had even implied a week ago that the League of Villains would go out of their way to unknot his hair and buy (steal was a lot more likely) underwear for him, he would have called security on the psycho. His life just seemed to get weirder and more unbelievable by the day.

Izuku let out a long sigh, looking back at the window above the showerhead. He decided to check that out before anything else. 

He placed his bare feet on the cold edge of the tub, standing on his toes since there wasn't much room.

He couldn’t see much out of the window, only a backstreet alleyway that looked abandoned. Usually there would be beers, graffiti, cardboard boxes, just something to prove there was any kind of life nearby. There was nothing.

Izuku didn’t let himself get too bummed out over it, since soon enough he would find some sort of way to escape. The front door was an obvious no, but he probably could smash through a wall or two once he was feeling up to it. If he did do that, though, he would have to make sure Kurogiri and Shigaraki weren't around. 

Mr. Compress and his marbles were pretty dangerous, too, but Izuku could likely handle the rest of them on his own if he was up to breaking his arms and legs. Which for some reason, he always was.

Eventually, Izuku did actually shower (after checking the water wasn't acid or anything).

He stood there for a while, feeling the warmness he had missed flow down his back. He watched with disgust as discoloured water pooled at his feet just from run-off. He was definitely a lot dirtier than he had been a few hours ago after being in a ball of previously undisturbed dirt and dust that exploded from him and Overhaul.

Izuku hadn't even realised how dirty he truly was. He had other things to worry about. 

Still, it was no wonder Magne had been so fierce about him washing.

His shoulder's drooped, his neck relaxed, and even his hands felt looser than they had in a long while. Izuku inhaled deeply, then grabbed a washcloth from the pile of clothing Magne had left him, poured soap on it, and got to scrubbing. 

His skin was left red and raw after he assaulted it, scrubbing the past five days away with hate.

He felt unbelievably better afterwards, aggression and all that pushed aside. Once Izuku was finished, he dressed himself in the clothing he was given. The black shirt long sleeves were baggy lengthwise, but it fit snuggly. Izuku had to tighten the grey sweats with the waistband string.

He walked out of the bathroom with the towel Magne had provided around his neck and his shoes in one hand, his clothes in the other. 

Magne asked him to hand over his dirty clothing the moment he did, and he cautiously complied. He didn't have anything in his pockets, anyway. Magne then handed the clothes over to Dabi, who looked more than delighted to light them on fire. 

Izuku watched with his jaw practically touching the ground as his clothes were reduced to ash. They couldn't have just taken his stuff to the dry cleaners with theirs? "I still could have worn them." he mumbled, staring at the ash. He wasn't sure how to feel.

Dabi rolled his eyes, but his satisfied smirk remained. "Your shirt was already burnt. You'll be fine without the rest of your shitty outfit."

It was too late for Izuku to do anything about it, anyway.

Magne spoke up next, "Don't you feel better after that shower? You certainly look more alive now." she half-teased. 

"You do look a lot more saturated without grime covering you. Still ugly, though."

Izuku frowned. "Thank you, Twice." he mumbled, mostly sarcastic. He was pretty sure that was Twice trying to comfort him in his own weird way. 

"Well, of course! Shut up. You shut up, me!"

Shigaraki walked into the area the next moment and sat onto a bar stool with his expression blank.

Magne shuffled away immediately, going a little pale.

Shigaraki didn't acknowledge anyone until Kurogiri had handed him a glass of whiskey. "Who gave him my clothes?" he asked, the perfect picture of calm and patient. His white-knuckle grip on the glass suggested otherwise.

Izuku tensed.

There was no way Shigaraki was talking about anyone other than him and the clothes he was wearing.

Fucking hell.

He couldn't find it in himself to blame himself for not realising he was wearing Shigaraki's clothes, though. Izuku had bulky muscle that was usually hidden behind his too-large uniform, while Shigaraki was more on the lean, less noticeable muscle side.

The shirt fit differently on them, so he hadn't connected the dots.

He'd also never seen Shigaraki wear anything other than baggy, black trousers. Izuku didn't know that the man even knew what sweats were.

Apparently, neither did Dabi. The fire wielder seemed to think the whole situation was hilarious, slapping the wall as he cackled loudly while everyone else was frozen on the spot in fear. Even Toga looked a little sweaty.

Shigaraki ignored Dabi since it was obvious he didn't give Izuku the clothes. He also purposely avoided looking at the teenager, skipping over him entirely as his gaze swept back and forth in the bar between his subordinates. 

Izuku wasn't quite sure what was worse.

Believing the clothes he was wearing had been taken off a corpse, or finding out the clothes he was wearing belonged to the person who would have no problem being the culprit. 

He suddenly felt very confined and claustrophobic, even in the open area. He shifted from foot to foot as the tension in the air rose, uncomfortable in his own skin. 

To Izuku's utter surprise, Kurogiri was the one to save him. "His clothing caught fire during another match between Dabi and Toga. They were practically falling off. I believe it is best for everyone here that the clothing remains on, Tomura Shigaraki. Unless everyone is okay with him being practically nude, that is."

Shigaraki grumbled and stared at the ash at Dabi's feet, realising what it was. There were still clumps of clothing, but it was only just enough so tell what it had once been.

Toga shrieked. "I wanna see Izu bleeding and broken, not naked!" she looked honestly offended. Izuku wasn't sure her desires were any better than someone being lustful.

Twice stuck out his thumb, then flipped it upside down. "Fuck that. No one wants to see that!"

Shigaraki rolled his eyes. "Mr. Compress has more than enough clothing the hero can wear." he spat, downing the last of his whiskey with a poorly contained grimace.

Mr. Compress scoffed. "My clothing is far too extravagant for Midoriya to just laze around in. It's made to be seen, not to be worn by a rotting teenage boy!" He flicked his hat as if to make a point. It didn't hit the mark, especially since he wore his flashy clothing all the time, inside and outside the building. "Perhaps if he joined on mission, I could dress him up. But that's the only exception!"

"I'm not rotting," Izuku retorted.

Shigaraki's gaze snapped to him, his anger obvious. "I don't wanna hear your voice." he snapped.

No threats of murder or torture were made, and Izuku came to the sudden realisation that not only did the man know about his would-be refusal to talk if he were injured, but he had also seriously stopped making such threats. 

He wasn't bothering to hide his murderous feelings, but he also wasn't hiding the fact he wasn't even going to try and act out on them. Well, on Izuku. Other people, however, was a different story.

Izuku raised his hands and eyebrows in fake agreement with Shigaraki's demand like he was calming a toddler, which sent Dabi into another round of wheezes.

"You are so goddamn lucky you still have valuable information and a quirk Master wants."

"Oh, I know." The boy nodded in honest agreement. He knew all too well.

Shigaraki huffed in disbelief. "You're getting cockier by the day, you brat."

"Ah," Izuku nodded again. "I've finally come to the terms that you actually won't hurt me." he enunciated the 'me', making it clear he knew Shigaraki might go on another killing spree and target more innocent children. "If I'm hurt, you lose your most valuable player. Your trump card against society."

No one argued with that.

"You think that very knowledge doesn't haunt my every waking moment?" Shigaraki asked, furious downing the second glass of whiskey Kurogiri had given him. 

"I'm sure it haunts your every sleeping moment, as well." Izuku discovered in that moment that it was a lot more fun to be sarcastic and confident around the League of Villains when his physical health wasn't at risk.

He probably wouldn't go so far with his teasing for a while since he was aware the only reason Shigaraki hadn't already set off on another hunt was because he was in a good mood that Izuku had saved Magne. And because he was drinking alcohol like his livers weren't in danger.

Shigaraki flipped Izuku off and walked back down into the hallway.

Izuku was getting pretty tired of watching people sulk and throw tantrums by running down the hall. It was getting old quite fast. Izuku doubted even Kota was ever that bad. Not to mention at least he had a cool hiding spot and didn't just sulk in his room.

Toga came up behind the hero in training, a finger on her chin. "You kept going on and on about how you broke Overhaul's wrist, but I don't see why you even bothered. Just pining him down or stabbing him would be just as effective, no?" she said, looking a little bummed out he hadn't gone with the latter.

Izuku frowned at her. "I didn't just break his wrist. I dislocated at first, but he didn't hesitate to relocate it." He shuddered remembering the sound of Overhaul flinging his wrist back in place like it was something he did every day. "My brain panicked and went: do something. My body went: hell yeah, and snapped his wrist."

Dabi whistled.

Mr. Compress did a show of clapping loudly. "Well played! Your body moving before you have a chance to think about it. That could either be a very bad trait, or a very useful one." He titled his masked face. "Based on what we've seen, I'm leaning towards useful, no?" he pointed at Magne, who was grinning.

Izuku soaked up her happiness pleasantly, then forced his frown to deepen. "I hate it. I'm too impulsive." he grumbled.

All Might once said thinking before saving was the trait of a great hero, which was why he sought him out. But recently, the man had nothing but disappointment in his lack of thinking before doing.

Spinner made a glad sound. "Damn right! How many times have you sacrificed yourself without even blinking?" he questioned, crossing his arms. 

"Too many." Izuku answered.

Magne rolled her eyes, pushing her sunglasses onto her head. "Oh, please. As if you don't admire the kid." She sounded disappointed that Spinner would even dare to sound stuck up.

Izuku tensed again. "Huh?"

"Oh, yeah. When we kidnapped your friend at your training camp, I was going to kill you." She looked a little sheepish. "Since you were on Shigaraki's kill list at the time." Magne threw an arm over Spinner, pulling him closer and ignoring his whining as she did. "But Spinner here stopped me and called you a true hero!"

"Huh?" he repeated. It was hard to believe. Izuku vaguely remembered Spinner saying something about tolerating him because Stain called him a true hero or whatever, but he didn't realise the lizard man actually agreed. "You really said that about me? You saved me?"

"You bulldozed into Overhaul for big sis Magne and you’re asking me that?" Spinner said, his cheek scales turning a little pink.

Dabi nodded in agreement. "You're a bratty, righteous hero with zero preservation because you were worthless until you sacrificed yourself." He flipped his hand around as he spoke of the information Izuku gave him about his personality while seriously sleep deprived.

Izuku rolled his eyes at the abuse of the information he'd given Dabi in exchange for learning about him being a big brother. He took the hidden compliment in pride, anyhow.

"Stain said you were worthy of the title, and I haven’t seen any proof of otherwise." Spinner said.

Well, it still counted as praise in Izuku’s book. He had no idea what was going on and what happened to the intimidating league of villains, but these guys were kinda cool when they weren’t murderous.

Speaking of.

"Was that the first time you guys met overhaul?" asked Izuku, thinking back to a few hours ago.

Dabi looked ready to tell him to mind his business, but Mr. Compress and Magne must have seen him coming to conclusions about whatever he was theorising. "Yes, it was." Mr. Compress confirmed. "Why?"

Izuku nodded, then hummed in thought. "And did he tell you he was bringing backup?" he questioned.

Twice rolled his head, which the boy had figured out was the equivalent of rolling his eyes since no one could see them. "If he brought his friends, they would have stormed us the moment you spear tackled him! Don't be ridiculous, kid."

Izuku rolled his eyes right back at him, half teasing. "They did. Overhaul held his free hand up towards the door. He stopped them from coming in to kill all of us so he could talk to me without distraction."

Toga whined loudly. "You mean I missed out on getting blood and seeing Izu all beat up?!"

"He must have said something pretty important, then." Spinner said, waiting for Izuku to hurry and spit it out.

Izuku pushed his eyebrows together. "He said he has a daughter. I was gonna punch his lights out because he insinuated that he was abusing her, but Toga dragged me away."

"He just outright told you he’s abusing his little girl?" Magne looked horrified. 

The freckled teen realised that insinuated might've been too complex of a word considering it was likely most of them hadn't even graduated middle school. "No, he implied it. I asked what he was doing to her, and he went: wouldn’t you like to know? He was laughing."

Dabi scoffed. "How do you know he wasn't lying to your face?" he questioned.

"Because he stopped his followers from attacking just to tell me. If he was lying, he would have said it as I got killed so I would die thinking he was abusing his kid and that I couldn't do anything about it." Izuku answered, not at all bothered by the blue-eyed man.

"Well, aren't you just a villain expert." Spinner mocked.

Izuku wasn't bothered by him, either. "Overhaul is a narcissist and has a big ego. That’s how I know."

"You talked to him for five seconds." Dabi said.

"I’m an observer. That’s what I do. I observe people and figure them out." Izuku would have bragged about how he had notes on all of his classmate’s quirks and hero costumes where he lists their strengths and weaknesses, but that wasn’t a very good idea. 

"Well, colour me intrigued." Mr. Compress plopped down onto one of the tables in a booth and crossed one leg over the other. "Do pray tell, how did you figure Overhaul out, Mr. Observer?"

Izuku debated lying, but he figured if he wanted to go along on mission with them in the future and figure out their future plans, he would need to fit the part.

"The way he walked in with confidence even though he was supposed to be hiding the fact he brought his men. He was too proud to act otherwise. His boldly suggesting of overriding Shigaraki’s spot as the leader without even telling you guys what his plan is and why it’s better than yours."

Kurogiri walked over and handed him a glass of water, which he took a sip from. Then he realised how thirsty he was and tipped the rest back in a second.

"He didn’t display his power per se; he isn’t cocky. He's confident enough in himself to believe his words alone, and possibly a display of murder to show he wasn’t afraid of it," he looked at Magne, "would be enough to sway you all." Izuku handed the empty glass back to the bartender with a grateful nod.

"And you came up with all that just from the talk Shigaraki and Overhaul had?" Dabi asked.

"Yeah."

Toga let out a confused sound. "I think my brain melted a little." she complained. 

Magne cackled and released Spinner to trap Toga in her arms instead.

Kurogiri had found his spot behind the bar once again. "You would be a great asset to our cause." he said as monotone as ever.

Izuku debated the pros and cons of reminding everyone that he warned them he was gonna find a way to gain their trust then make a run for it one of his first nights there. He decided not to get himself wrapped in rope. "I'm sure I am."

Chapter Text

Aizawa walked out of the building, ignoring the yells for him to go back inside. He paused at the top of the stairs when he saw All Might at the bottom, looking half-way to disappointment. 

"We need to talk, Aizawa." said All Might, sounding like he was clenching his teeth. 

Aizawa frowned, descending the rest of the stairs with cautious steps. "Alright, then." he agreed. "Let's talk." He stopped in front of the former number one hero—though with their height difference, it was more like chest-to-face.

All Might gave a long sigh, slouching a bit. "Your kids aren't very subtle at all, Aizawa. I heard them calling out to you just now, begging for you to turn back around and give them more information." He scratched the back of his neck, narrowing his eyes. "Do you happen to know something regarding Young Midoriya?" he asked.

Eraserhead frowned at him. He probably would have told him, but Aizawa got a feeling he shouldn't. Not to mention that if he was supposed to know about the photos and the update on Midoriya, Tsukauchi would have told him. "No, I don't know anything about Midoriya." Aizawa replied, keeping his tone neutral. 

The blonde made a disbelieving noise in his throat. "Come, now, Aizawa. I thought we were better friends than this. I just heard Young Midoriya's friends asking for more information." He looked ready to yell, and Aizawa knew he had made the right decision.

He was getting a bad vibe from All Might. He just seemed… off. Even untrustworthy and unrecognisable.

"All Might," sighed Aizawa. "You've been working with students for long enough to know that if you give them a centimetre, they'll want a mile."

"What does that mean? I'm no good at riddles." All Might gave a tense chuckle.

Aizawa crossed his arms. "I mean that I didn't give them an update on Midoriya because there isn't one. All I said was for them not to worry about Midoriya because there is no way he isn't doing alright." He lied through his teeth easily, confidently. "I was calming them down. Their friend is currently a hostage of a group of villains that has harmed them before."

All Might didn't look like he believed him. "Are you sure that's all you said, Aizawa?" he asked, his gentle tone sounding more like a warning.

Aizawa felt anger pang in his chest, and he puffed it out. " Yes , All Might. Now, if you'll excuse me, I might just go back and give my kids reassurance." He turned around and walked back up the doors, aware the man was glaring at his back, thinking he didn't know.

He shoved the door open and was met with wet, teary faces, and immediately all anger left his body. Instead, painful guilt took its spot in his chest.

"Sensei, what are you doing back?" Iida asked, sniffling and trying to hide his tears from his teacher. 

Aizawa gave him a sad look. He wished his kids didn't think they had to put on a brave face for him all of the time. "I've just spoken to All Might, and I've decided we aren't going to tell him about Midoriya."

Bakugo leaped from the couch. "What? Those two are closer than anyone else, and you're not going to tell him?!" he demanded, smoke pouring from his upturned palms. 

The man raised his hands, "All Might is tense and worried right now. Everyone knows he's as stubborn as a bull, and so we're going to wait to tell him about Midoriya's condition until we know he isn't going to put on his suit and try to save him himself." Again, he lied through his teeth. This time, it was a little harder.

"Don't you think it's mean to keep that information from him, though, Sensei?" Uraraka asked, then blew her nose into a tissue. "I mean, if someone I cared about like family was kidnapped and alive, I think I'd want to know."

"It is mean. But it's necessary. All Might is unpredictable. If we told him Midoriya is being treated— badly," He stumbled over the word “badly,” suppressing a shiver as images of the photos flickered behind his eyes. "By the League, he would set out that same night and likely end up in their clutches as well. He's not the number one hero anymore."

His words cut deep for some of his students, and he saw it on their faces. 

He kept going.

"He can't just be out, demanding we do this and we do that anymore. We need a strategy, and we need power to make up for his loss. The loss he can't make up for anymore. I need you kids to understand that telling him would result in haste and rushing we can't afford."

Ojiro sat on one of the couches, not bothered by Kaminari playing with his tail nervously. "So, we just keep the fact Midoriya is alive but injured from him?" he asked, a little unsure. 

"That's right," confirmed Aizawa. "This is just until we have a way to get Midoriya back unharmed."

Some of his students looked understanding but guilty, while others looked uncertain and on the verge of running out to tell All Might right that second. 

All the teacher could hope for was that they didn't tell All Might anything that they found out that night.

Izuku spoke to Shigaraki about his talk with Overhaul the next time he saw the villain emerge from the hallway. He watched for anything in his expression other than angry boredom; for anything that indicated he would have at least half a mind to listen to Izuku's idea.

In the end, all he got was an exasperated sigh. "So what if he has a kid? Not my problem if he’s beating his little bastard," Shigaraki muttered, eyes narrowing into a glare.

Izuku didn't know if the girl was a child of wedlock, or as Shigaraki had said it, a bastard. It didn't matter. "I want to save her from Overhaul." he said outright. He knew beating around the bush would only piss Shigaraki off. 

"Listen, brat," Shigaraki said, tugging on some of his blue hair aggressively. "You can be as righteous as you want, but not around here. I’m not risking any lives for you to save some kid you’ve never met." He snapped his fingers at Kurogiri, who handed him a glass of whiskey. 

Izuku frowned at him, his hope dying a little. "You don't think it's strange he would tell me all that just because he wanted to? I think she has something to do with the plan he was bragging about."

"Or, fucking idiot, he was saying it because he knew you would try and save her."

"I don't understand why we can't just send Kurogiri to go get her!" he refused to let the stubborn oaf get away with brushing the subject off. He would be damned before he stopped trying.

Shigaraki's glare deepened, his nostrils flaring. "You think I'm risking my people for this useless endeavour? His kid has nothing to do with us." He continued glaring, even over his glass as he took a sip.

The fact that Shigaraki hadn’t said a simple “no” was enough to rekindle a flicker of hope. "You're risking them every time you send them to do anything! Even the laundry is endangering them!"

"Alright, jackass, and where do you suppose the girl is, huh? She could be anywhere. I can't send Kurogiri out on a wild goose chase to nowhere just because you got successfully riled up." Shigaraki downed the rest of his alcohol beverage with a tight grimace.

"Arrange another meeting with Overhaul. Pretend to go along with his plans, and maybe he'll tell you where his daughter is." suggested Izuku, rocking back and forth on his heels. He really, really wanted to save the girl. 

The sudden image of Shigaraki saying 'no' and Izuku smashing his head into the wall for it flashed vividly across his mind. 

Izuku winced and held a hand to his temple, gently rubbing it. His visions of brutality were only getting more frequent. It was quite unsettling. 

Shigaraki didn't say anything, playing deaf.

"He clearly doesn't care about his daughter, but he's keeping her anyway, which means she may have a useful quirk! Can't you at least ask what it is?" Izuku wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead when another violent image against the man violated his mind. 

Still, no reply.

Desperate, Izuku ends up just spewing words out. "Well, what if I’m the only one that goes in?"

"Absolutely not. You're too valuable; we need you as leverage against the heroes. Your life is the most important thing here. Be grateful."

Oh, yeah, I'm so grateful I'm being used against the people I care about, Izuku thought sarcastically. His nose flared and he clenched his fists tight. "I'll find a way. I don't care how it happens or who does it; that girl is being saved." he declared with false confidence.

Two, three, four and Izuku lost count after five days came and went.

He was still given meals, sometimes the food was obviously from the convenience store, other times it was Spinner's home cooked food.

Izuku was allowed to bathe and refresh daily (apparently Magne stole another pair of clothing from Shigaraki so he would have something to wear whenever clothes were sent to the dry cleaners), and he was given free rein of the place, as long as he didn't enter any bedrooms or touch anything he wasn't supposed to (television, alcohol).

Twice even sent a double out with Toga to go get Izuku come supplies, a toothbrush and another pair of shoes (which were black sneakers because apparently his red one's made him look related to Shigaraki).

When Shigaraki found out he yelled at everyone because no one thought to buy Izuku new clothing so that Shigaraki could have his back.

Dabi laughed the whole time and Spinner rolled his eyes, saying "As if you would wear anything the hero has as well, boss."

That snapped the man out of his rampage, and he went silent as he glared at Izuku.

Izuku blinked at him. "So, about Overha—"

"If you say one more goddamn thing about Overhaul's overgrown sperm cell, I will choke you like I did in that shopping mall."

Magne 'ooooh'ed at him, "No threats of murder, though?" She looked away sheepishly when she got a fierce glare turned to her, then let out a guffaw at Toga's wrinkled face at the mention of sperm cells.

"You have both astounding and terrifying determination when it comes to saving people, little Hero." Mr Compress said, tilting his hat down at Izuku. "I think that's the fifth time you've asked Shigaraki about Overhaul's daughter today."

The boy nodded. For the past couple of days, he asked Shigaraki to think about saving the girl Overhaul had whenever he had the chance. It was both an honest request and a way to piss the villain off (which worked every time).

He wasn't going to stop until he got an affirmative on the matter or someone was dead.

His brain heavily agreed with him, sending multiple images of hurting the League of Villains a day. It was getting exhausting.

Izuku didn’t actually want to hurt—let alone kill—any of the villains anymore. They were... fine, he supposed. They didn't hurt him, most of them tried to keep him happy, and a few of them even went out of their way to try and make him laugh.

Izuku was halfway to certain that Spinner, Magne, Toga, Twice and Mr Compress considered them at the very least friendly toward each other.

Magne and Toga definitely thought they were friends, and while Izuku wasn't exactly opposed, it wasn't something he was sure he wanted. Sure, Magne admired him like crazy ever since the Overhaul tackle and Toga was apparently still in love with him, but that didn't mean they wouldn't kill him if they were told to.

He was sceptical on the subject.

Meanwhile, his mind liked to supply mental photos of what their bodies would look like if he used Full Cowling on them whenever they got within two feet of him. Seriously, he was starting to wonder if he was actively losing his mind.

"Why are you doing this?" Izuku demanded, tears streaming down his small face. Kacchan sneered at him as everyone around them laughed at how pathetic he was being. He felt his cheeks heat in utter embarrassment, wishing for a way out of it. 

"Because you're a Deku." Kacchan said, like it gave the answer to everything Izuku wanted to know. "You're useless. You could die and no one but your mum would go to the funeral!" Another mention of death. Another non subtle hint of Kacchan wishing him dead.

"I-I didn't do anything to you." Izuku cried, hiding his face in his hands. What did he do to deserve this treatment? What had he ever done? 

Kacchan gave a cruel laugh and wound his arm back, his palm sparking with his quirk. Izuku braced himself for impact, already wondering about whether or not he had bandages left. 

Izuku woke up from his nightmare with a start, coughing through his stupid tears. He wiped them aggressively, sniffling before any snot fell. He hated his nightmares. He really, really did. They were persistent, more often than not either about middle school or death. 

They were just as exhausting as the random flashes of violence he'd been getting. 

He hid his face in his hands and slammed it against the bricks behind him. With a long, heaving sigh he made his way to the bathroom to wash his face. 

It must have been early.

Not even Kurogiri was at the bar, Izuku assumed he was somewhere recharging or something. He didn't seem the type to sleep. Or eat. But there was no way he ran on unlimited energy. 

Izuku flicked the bathroom light on and squinted at it.

He had thought his nightmares were finally going away, considering how little he got them ever since he was kidnapped. But no. They were just as violent and shaking as they'd always been. 

Something was wrong with him. He wasn't stupid. He just didn't know what. 

He dabbed his wet face with a fresh washcloth from the cabinet and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He still looked horrible, but his eye bags were slightly less dark. His hair had gotten worse, but he didn't look like he'd lost any weight. 

His eyes were bloodshot, ringed with exhaustion and something darker—something quietly unravelling behind his tired gaze.

Still ugly, too. Almost nothing had changed. 

Izuku frowned at himself and dragged his feet back to the common area, chewing on the inside of his cheek. There was no way he was getting any more sleep.

Izuku had his back to the wall and his knees to his chest. Magne was sitting at his feet, playing cards with Spinner, who was sitting across from her on the other side of the table. 

Spinner lost three times in a row and seemed genuinely flabbergasted. 

Toga was out with one of Twice's clones doing laundry, and the other villains were still in their rooms. 

Izuku yawned and blinked heavily, frowning at Spinners laughing. What was so funny about a yawn? He rubbed his eyes and opened his mouth, "What's funny?" he muttered.

Spinner snickered again, shaking his head humorlessly. Magne sent him a smirk. 

"What? What am I missing?"

Magne reached out to give his sock a firm pat. "Nothing important kiddo."

Izuku's frown hardened. "Well, I still wanna know." He sat up a little and levelled his stare at Magne, who was by far the easiest to crack. He got distracted when a deep, morning voice startled him from the other booth. 

"They're laughing at how far your guard's down, Greenie." Dabi said, yawning through his words. He was slouched over the back of the red couch, a lazy grin on his mouth. "Look at you, watching them play cards in silence with Magne a centimetre away from you."

Izuku blinked a few times, then let his eyes slowly travel to his feet. His toes were scrunched to give himself a bit of extra room, but other than that, Dabi was right. His feet were only an inch away from Magne.

It didn't feel awkward. Still, what was the big deal?

"I've saved her life. Magne's shoved my head under a sink." Izuku said in a monotone. "Why would I care about her sitting next to me."

Magne gave him a fond smile. "You're just letting me in. You saving my life and me brushing your hair was more of an exchange on my part. But me hanging out with you just because why not is a bit different."

Izuku didn't understand, but he didn't say anything else to put an end to an argument before it began, lest he give it the spark to start.

Kurogiri's portal opened just then and out stepped the bartender. He looked at Spinner, "Go get Tomura Shigaraki."

Spinner rolled his eyes but strolled down into the hallway. Izuku saw him bang aggressively on a door with a closed fist. His scaly hands raised in mock surrender when the door was shoved open, but Izuku couldn't hear what words were being exchanged.

Shigaraki then emerged from his room, looking tired as he stomped into the bar area. "What, Kurogiri? It's too early for this."

"Uh, isn't it like ten in the morning though?"

Shigaraki sent a seething glare at Magne, who whistled and stared with wide eyes at her cards like she hadn't said anything.

The rest of the available league had come out and as if she were summoned, Toga returned with Twice's double at that very moment as well. It was so strange how that seemed to happen every time something important occurred.

Kurogiri cleared his throat (did he even have one of those or was it also just mist under the brackets? Izuku was so curious) and held out his gloved hand to Shigaraki, who raised an eyebrow at whatever he was looking at. 

Izuku sat a little straighter to try and see but could only spot a red blob from where he was.

"This was shot at a UA student doing their work study in the street by a villain." Kurogiri passed the item to Shigaraki, who frowned at it as it laid in his palm. "There were three more shot in the area I was unable to collect undetected."

Shigaraki placed it between two fingers and held it up, allowing Izuku to see what it was. It looked like a bullet shell with a needle on the end. Actually, it looked like something that had a dangerous liquid inside. Perhaps a poison of some sort? Shigaraki put it in his pocket the next moment. 

Twice waved around one of his hands frantically, his mask off and a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. "I can go get it! No I can't, leave me out of this shit show. Shut up, me!"

Toga jumped, pulling out a full capsule of blood. "So can I! I want to go on the scavenger hunt!"

Kurogiri nodded at both of them. "I will send you to collect the three remaining soon."

Magne clapped her hands slowly, completely abandoning her card game with Spinner. "Good job, man! And girl." She sent a wink to Toga, who giggled. 

Twice smirked at her. "Thanks a bunch, Big Sis Mag!"

Shigaraki rolled his eyes and turned them back to Kurogiri. "What is it?" he questioned, looking tempted to bring it back out. Izuku didn't know what he was hiding it for, everyone had already seen what it looked like. 

Kurogiri's bright eyes blinked and narrowed in what Izuku assumed was thought. "As of this moment I'm currently unaware of its contents. I believe this is something we should hand to Garaki to have analysed."

Shigaraki groaned like a child. "That fucker doesn't listen to anything I say!" he complained loudly, throwing his hands in the air.

Mr Compress titled his hidden head. "So tell him it's for your master's cause."

Shigaraki clicked his tongue, "Yeah, right. Because he'll fall for something that stupid." he said sarcastically. 

Mr Compress then tilted his head toward Izuku, who stared into where his eyes were supposedly at. There must have been something on Izuku's face that gave him away, because he then addressed the teen directly. "Thinking something up, Mr Observant?" he questioned amusedly. 

Izuku flushed but nodded as every eye turned to him. "It didn't look like a bullet." Well, not really. "It looked more like a syringe of some kind. The red pocket likely has some kind of substance inside it that would cause the victim some form of pain or disadvantage in a fight."

Spinner whistled in an impressed tone. "He really does pick up on the smallest things, doesn't he?" he asked rhetorically.

"Well, Kurogiri said it was shot at a UA work study student in a street, likely during the student's first fight with a villain," unless it was someone from Izuku's class, which wasn't unlikely given their unlucky streak. "Why not use a normal bullet then? Why use a pretty red one with a pointy end?" Izuku tapped his fingers on one of his knees as he spoke, thinking over his words. 

Shigaraki's sigh was long and sounded painful. "Fine. Hand it to the asshole doctor and have it analysed."

Kurogiri nodded and held his hand out. Shigaraki handed him the capsule. "Yes, Tomura Shigaraki."

Izuku relaxed against the wall again, "If whatever's in it is good for our cause, can you set up another meeting with Overhaul?" he asked.

This time, he wasn't exploded at. Instead, his horrible red eyes settled firmly on Izuku's. "...We'll see."

That was as close to a 'yes' as Izuku was going to get. It must have satisfied his brain enough because he didn't have any brutal scene flash across his eyes.

Izuku had no idea how many days went by, but he had a feeling it was more than three at the very least. He realised that Shigaraki was almost nowhere to be found almost immediately after his face stopped popping up at the bar. 

Izuku asked about it, but all anyone told him was that he was doing business. Although Dabi laughed in his face at his questioning and Magne smiled at him weirdly. Both times he had to remove himself from the area because the violence he was envisioning was too much. 

He had a feeling Shigaraki's disappearances had something to do with Overhaul. Then again, that was only because Overhaul's daughter was all that was on his mind. And also Shigaraki getting murdered by Overhaul, but he wasn't thinking about that on purpose.

--

Izuku was eating an omelette Spinner had prepared for him when Shigaraki popped out of one of Kurogiri's warp portals in the middle of the bar area. He and Magne shared a look, as they were sitting across from each other, and simultaneously sat up straight.

Shigaraki had a wide smirk on his face, "I know what Overhaul wants." he announced proudly. 

Izuku's appetite went out the invisible window that same moment. "You met up with him? What did he say?"

Twice laughed, "You're so eager and ready to roll all the time. I have no idea how you do it. What a freaking loser, dude. You needa take a chill pill. That's not nice!"

Shigaraki was staring at Izuku with a thoughtful expression, his smirk still evident and proud. "As a matter of fact, I did." He pulled out the red bullet. "I've accepted to align with Overhaul under the conditions that we move however the hell we want and we won't be putting ourselves under him."

Mr Compress was rolling a marble around in his hand. "We're aligning with another group? Sounds interesting."

Shigaraki shrugged, closing his eyes in a self-satisfied way. "The Yakuza group needs our name. We need numbers. It'll be more of a... 'joint partnership', if you will." He put the bullet away again. "I got Overhaul to spill; he wants a new society. He refused to go into more detail."

Izuku frowned. Rebuild society anew? What would his daughter have to do with that? Perhaps her quirk had something to do with it, if he clearly didn't like her but was keeping her. Overhaul didn't seem the type to keep deadweight on his goals such as children.

"You didn't push?" Dabi asked, smirking coldly. "What a negotiator you are, Boss." he said 'boss' in such a sarcastic tone that Izuku had to keep himself from snorting.

Shigaraki's fingers twitched. "Watch yourself." He then smiled widely at Izuku, his eyes overjoyed. Izuku cringed. "Of course I pushed for more information. Overhaul agreed to tell me more on the condition I bring the hero brat along in the next meeting. I accepted with a condition of my own."

Izuku wasn't at all surprised to hear he was being used as a sacrifice; it was bound to happen eventually. 

"He has to bring the girl out as well."

Izuku choked on nothing, his eyes so wide they strained. "You're serious? You got him to agree to those terms?" He glanced over at Magne with the hopefulness of a little boy. Magne's smile was big and fond. 

Kurogiri leaned across the bar, "You're not upset at being used as a piece in this game?"

Izuku shook his head, his mouth still dropped open from the shock. Shigaraki looked extremely interested. "No, I already knew it was going to happen." he blurted out. "Wait wait, he's going to bring out his daughter? With me there?" he asked.

"That's what I said." Shigaraki tilted his head in a way that could have been confusion or curiosity. Maybe both. "You knew it was going to happen?" he muttered. "You don't sound angry like I thought you'd be."

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm angry, I'm just not upset. But—but if I memorise what she looks like, then Twice, no wait, would that work? I could draw her proportions and have Twice turn into her, or somehow get her blood—," he cut himself off at the looks he was getting. "What?" he asked.

Mr Compress applauded him. "Truly, you are the most remarkable person, Midoriya." he complimented. Izuku frowned at him. 

"You're already coming up with ways to take her, aren't you? That's some crazy dedication, kiddo." Magne commented with amusement. "Ah ah, don't give me that look of confusion. You know exactly what I mean."

"...Why is anyone surprised. This is all I've talked about for days." deadpanned Izuku.

Twice snorted with laughter loudly. "No one's used to someone so... fucking stupidly brave and eager to do the most. Not the words I was going for, but yes. That."

Izuku shrugged.

He sat there and planned for the rest of the day; he'd never been more ready to kidnap someone in his life.

Chapter Text

Izuku had no idea how much time passed, but if he had to guess he'd say at least a couple days. The anticipation of finally being able to see Overhaul's daughter roared through his veins and kept him unable to sit still for the entire duration he had to wait. 

Dabi commented on his squirming more than a few times and made fun of him for nearly spilling his food all over himself when his arm refused to stop wobbling. 

Toga pegged a knife at him no less than three times for Dabi's jokes. She blushed less and less around Izuku by the hour, which made him pleased. Although, she didn't ever stop asking for blood. 

Shigaraki finally presented Izuku a blindfold and a grey hoodie after a torturous few days.

Izuku took them excitedly, not to say he wasn't confused. "Is Kurogiri not able to warp gate into their hideout?" he asked. He then proceeded to sniff the hoodie for any signs of blood or decay to make sure he wasn't about to wear a dead person's clothing.

"No." Was Shigaraki's short answer. The villain raised his own hood at the same time Izuku tied the blindfold around his eyes. 

He would have put up more of a fight, but he didn't want to risk being wrapped in rope and unable to visit Overhaul's daughter if he argued about it. The darkness from the cloth made his gruesome imagination run wilder than it had in a while, but Izuku kept his vomit down for the most part.

The moment Izuku finished the tie at the back of his head, his hood was yanked up and his arm was grabbed. Izuku tried not to stumble as he was thrown around. 

Shigaraki's cold voice made goosebumps rise along his skin, and Izuku was suddenly much more aware of the hand tightly gripping his arm. "One wrong move and I stop surprising my quirk, you hear? I'll treat your elbow like your teacher's."

The image of Aizawa Sensei's elbow skin cracking until muscle showed made Izuku suppress a gag as he tried not to imagine his own elbow in the same condition.

Izuku just managed a nod and was yanked again. The familiar feeling of Kurogiri's gate passed through his body, which made Izuku frown. "I thought you said Kurogiri couldn't—,"

Shigaraki cut him off fiercely, "Not a damn peep, Hero. Kurogiri can only take us to the building, not inside. He isn't familiar enough with it." 

Shigaraki's hand then moved to Izuku's lower back, a light but horrifying pressure. 

There was a knock. 

"Beware you'll likely be thrown around to confirm you aren't one of Twice's minions."

Izuku had considered that. Overhaul's men didn't know whether or not Twice's doubles could use someone else's quirk, so just using One for All wouldn't be enough to convince them he was the real deal. Not to mention Shigaraki would injure him and then murder an innocent if he tried to use his quirk.

The creak of a door was heard, and Izuku was suddenly being pushed around again. His legs started walking on their own mechanically. 

His mind wandered to the girl he was about to meet as he actively tried to stop any violent visions from forming. He couldn't afford to think like that as he walked into an innocent girl's abusive household. He needed to be alert, he needed to be focused.

He gave up trying to memorise the path they were taking. It was far too long. There were so many twists and turns that even the person who Izuku presumed was guiding them began to grumble.

Was Overhaul's daughter small? Would she be underweight? Would she have scars or bandages around her, like some hospital patient? Or perhaps she was tall. Maybe she was grown up enough to make her own decisions.

Izuku was left completely in the dark about anything except that Overhaul was no doubt hurting her.

Eventually, Izuku was forced to come to a halt and Shigaraki's hand fell off his lower back. "He better have the girl." Shigaraki said in an annoyed tone.

The creak of a door hit Izuku's ears and a hand wrapped around his wrist, forcing him to stumble around until he was sitting on something and his blindfold was practically ripped off his head, along with a few strands of hair.

Izuku squinted at the bright overhead lights and tried to listen to the voices around him as his vision adjusted. 

"—importance of this meeting, yes?" That was Overhaul's voice. Izuku's hackles raised as he was finally able to get a good look at the man. Overhaul was sitting opposite to Izuku with his legs crossed. His gloves seemed to taunt the teenager, gleaming brightly in the light.

The two were sharing eye contact, the tension enough to worsen Izuku's anticipation and rage.

Shigaraki flicked him in the forehead, making Izuku yelp. He glared at Shigaraki's gleeful smirk. "He's the real deal, alright. I'm not stupid enough to bring one of Twice's clones for a meeting like this."

Overhaul tilted his head and shrugged. "Can't be too sure of anything these days."

"Like how you lied and brought your men to the last meeting?" Izuku snapped. He swallowed dryly as the tension in the room increased.

Overhaul turned his gaze behind Izuku, and someone behind the couch he was on stumbled to explain. "I—there's no way the hero could have noticed anyone was there!"

Yellow eyes relocated to Izuku's again, who shrugged in a way that mocked the way Overhaul had done the same moments before. "I know because I saw you stop them from coming in."

The man's eyes crinkled in a way that made it obvious he was grinning. "Ah, you mean after you broke my wrist? Yes, I suppose you would have noticed given your training at the prestigious UA high school, hm? Unfortunate you've been taken, isn't it?You had a bright future."

Izuku didn't like the way Overhaul spoke like his future was already dark. He narrowed his eyes at him, and Overhaul chuckled forcibly. 

"Now, I'm sure you know we have to confirm you're—,"

Shigaraki interrupted Overhaul. "That he's the real Hero brat. Get it over with." He flapped his hand around dismissively. Izuku spotted both joy and wariness in his expression. He supposed it was because Shigaraki couldn't wait to see Izuku injured but wanted to make sure his prize wasn't too broken.

Overhaul nodded and looked behind Izuku again with a satisfied glint in his eyes. 

A second later, pain exploded across Izuku’s skull. He doubled over, clutching his head with a gasp.

Something had slammed into the back of his head. Hard.

He sucked in harsh wheezes of air through clenched teeth. His ears rang but he could still make out the manic laughing from right behind him.

Shigaraki poked the side of his head, which made Izuku's head throb all over. He sat up and glared at the villain, who looked mildly curious. "Your thick head cracked a frying pan . Not dented, cracked. Put a split through the middle. " he stated monotonously. 

"...Great." Izuku muttered. He hoped that was Overhaul's favourite pan and he had to get a new one. 

Apparently, his brain agreed with him because he then had seven consecutive gruesome images pass his mind of both Overhaul and Shigaraki.

In three of them Izuku was the one causing the damage.

Izuku was still clutching the back of his head, his fingers from both hands interlaced. His right ring finger throbbed at the pressure he was putting on it to help the pain elsewhere; a reminder it wasn't healed. At least his neck had.

He risked a glance behind him and spotted a tall, masked man holding a nearly cracked in half pan in his hand. He was snickering with some other masked gremlin the size of Izuku's shoe.

"Really? A frying pan?" Izuku would have preferred a bat.

Shigaraki snorted with laughter. It could have been for any reason. "Mature."

Overhaul brushed some invisible dirt off his shoulders. "Enjoy that, did you, Chronostasis?" he asked absently, swapping his legs to cross them over in another way. He was very lady-like in his mannerisms.

The taller masked man nodded excitedly. "Always wanted to do that, Boss. Like in the movies when the wife catches the husband sneaking around with some other bitch."

Izuku inwardly scoffed and turned back around. He kept an eye on Overhaul but otherwise zoned out as he waited for Overhaul's daughter to arrive. He didn't care what business he and Shigaraki were discussing; they weren't stupid enough to plan anything big with him right there.

Not to mention the moment Overhaul realises that the League of Villains stole his daughter—after they do, of course. Izuku would raise hell if they didn't at some point at least try—he would cancel all plans of merging groups.

Overhaul then claps his hands, which got Izuku's attention. He already had everyone else's attention, given the stares he was receiving from every person in the room.

Izuku straightened up, ignoring the pounding in his skull and the violent visions threatening to pull him under.

The tall man—Chronostasis, Izuku noted—rounded the corner of the couch, and a small being trailed behind him.

A little girl, no older than eight, was trembling with her head down and her hands clenched in her raggedy clothing. Izuku immediately noted every single detail about the girl he could. His heart lurched at the number of bandages.

"She's covered in gauze." Izuku said, his voice almost unrecognisable to himself. It was cold and full of hard anger. Izuku had been so distracted by the girl that he hadn't noticed his fiery fury settling at the bottom of his stomach.

The girl flinched and tried to hide behind Chronostasis, but was shoved forward again. She yelped, her voice high pitched and innocent. She had the tiniest beige horn on her head. No shoes, thin and overly long blue hair, a body trembling with fear.

How could Overhaul put her in such a condition? How could anyone even think about hurting such a small human? 

"Oh, you know how young children are. Always getting into accidents and such, it's hardly anything a father can do to prevent." Overhaul's uncaring voice made Izuku bite his lip until he tasted copper to refrain himself from lashing out. "I'm sure you can understand how difficult children can be."

His words did nothing but confirm Izuku's initial worst case scenario thoughts.

Overhaul did not see that terrified little girl as his daughter. She was a means to an end, whatever that may have been. She was being abused by Overhaul and by the way his men were treating her, everyone in the building.

"Difficult children are not put in bandages. They're grounded or have their rights to ice cream taken away." Izuku bit out, grinding his teeth.

Overhaul shrugged. "Every parent has their own method in keeping their kids in line." He beckoned the girl to him, and she was visibly swallowing back tears as she shakily complied. "This is my daughter, Eri. Eri, these are my new friends, Midoriya and Shigaraki."

Izuku's heart broke at the mortification in her eyes at the mention of friends.

What did that mean?

How many 'friends' did Overhaul introduce to Eri to hurt her? To cause whatever laid behind those horrifying rolls of bandages around her small limbs?

Izuku sat on the edge of the couch.

He felt four fingers touch the back of his neck, curling around it, and then Shigaraki's voice was in his ear.

"Behave, Hero. Don't go making a scene." Shigaraki half whispered.

He didn't outright threaten murder with anything but his quirk, which meant he was trying to make it look like he was in control of Izuku. They both knew the only reason Izuku wasn't bolting was because of the girl. He wasn't in control.

Izuku nodded, but was unable to say anything. He was terrified that if he opened his mouth, he might actually act on one of the violent fantasies gnawing at his thoughts.

He wanted nothing more than to hug the poor girl, but that would both jeopardise his plan and likely scare her off. Instead, he focused on memorising every bit of her, from her little horn to her wobbly knees. He couldn't afford to miss a single detail for his plan later.

"Let me talk to her," Izuku suggested. It wasn't a plea in anything but words; his tone was borderline demanding. Shigaraki's four fingers dragged down his neck in silent warning, and Izuku bit his tongue. He finally managed to divert his eyes from Eri to look at her father.

Overhaul's eyes were alight with interest. "You've made him your dog," he said to Shigaraki, like he'd made the observation of the year. Then he addressed Izuku, "What business do you have talking to my daughter? The deal was you could see her, just as I'm seeing you."

Izuku glared. "You aren't just seeing me. You're talking to me, too. I didn't realise Yakuza were such big hypocrites." he retorted. "She at least deserves to be calmed down. She's clearly terrified!"

He bit the inside of his cheek when he saw Eri flinch out of the corner of his eye at his raised voice.

His hands were clenched in his clothes tightly, the feeling of his broken ring finger helping keep his thoughts and emotions in check for the most part. The sharp pain grounded him.

Overhaul sighed and ran a gloved hand through his short hair. He looked over at Chronostasis, who shrugged and pushed Eri forward. She yelped and stumbled until she was standing in front of Izuku with a terrified look.

Izuku got off the couch and knelt in front of her so that they were eye level, even if he wasn't receiving eye contact. "I'm not going to hurt you, Eri." he muttered quietly. Only Shigaraki would have been able to hear since he was right next to them. "Okay? I would never."

Eri's eyes filled with tears and she continued to try and make herself smaller.

"I'm just here to talk while the adults discuss adult things. I won't do anything to you." Izuku tried his best to be reassuring, but Eri simply shook her head in protest like she was physically refusing to listen. Izuku's throat closed at the sight of her. 

Izuku sighed a little and tried his best to smile when she looked up at him. "Why don't we go into a corner away from all the scary men, hm? I'll tell you all about me."

Eri looked sceptical when he offered his hand and just stared at it for a few seconds, but eventually put her own tiny hand into his and let him walk her away into a corner about four metres away from the couches the villains were in.

Izuku mentally celebrated as he was finally able to put some distance between Eri and the adults. He let go of her hand and smiled as best he could.

Clearly, Overhaul was confident in her ability to keep quiet since he was letting them walk away. He was also overly and falsely confident in the fact that Izuku wouldn't try anything because he was Shigaraki's 'dog'. Yeah, right. Izuku would sooner walk off a cliff.

It was technically true, Izuku supposed, that he wouldn't be making any moves to get Eri out. But he had a plan, which he was working on as the seconds passed.

"My name is Izuku Midoriya," Izuku whispered, like he was telling a secret. "I'm a student from UA high school, where I'm learning to become a hero to save people."

Eri's innocent ruby eyes sparkled. Even so, they were far too dull. "You're learning to save people?" She clenched her hands and put them on her chest as if she were trying to cage herself in. "But then... why are you with bad people?"

Izuku swallowed. She knew. She was aware that Overhaul and his goons weren't good people or looking out for her. Damn it all, how was Izuku supposed to help this girl once she got out? She seemed so lost and defeated.

"The blue-haired man I came with… he's kind of scary, huh?" he said softly, offering a faint smile. "But the others I live with… they’re not. They’re weird, sure, but not scary." Izuku tried to reassure her, not understanding why he was defending the League to a small child.

He supposed it was better for her to be less scared of them once she was rescued.

Eri didn’t look convinced, but her trembling had eased and slowed a little. That was something.

Izuku tried to get her to open up more by telling her about his hands. "Do you see these scars?" He pointed to said scars with his other hand. She nodded. "My quirk's kind of too big for me. Every time I use it, I get hurt because my body isn't able to keep up." He wriggled his broken ring finger.

Her expression softened, just a little. "Did it hurt?"

"It did. A lot, actually," he said gently. "But one of my friends helped. He’s a bit of a mess, but he tries. Kind of like me." He glanced at the bandages wrapped around her small arms. "Eri, can I... ask about those? You don’t have to answer, only if you want to."

She stiffened. Her gaze darted to Overhaul nervously, and she began to shake with fear again.

Izuku immediately shifted, kneeling in front of her so her view of the man was blocked. He was positioned in a way that he couldn't see her, either. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “No one’s going to hurt you for telling me.”

The small girl's voice was so quiet that Izuku had to lean in to hear it. "...He ties me up on a chair and takes my skin."

Izuku's whole body throbbed with anger at that single sentence. Keeping his voice sweet for her was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. "The man with the gloves and earrings?" he questioned just as quietly.

Eri nodded and stared hard at the ground. "His quirk. It changes my body and makes the skin and blood fall off, and he stitches it back together afterward." She started crying, her tiny hiccups high pitched and heartbreaking. "He—he calls the marks ugly and tells me to cover them up."

Izuku's fingers twitched. He wanted to rip that bastard to shreds.

Instead, he reached out and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at first—then threw herself into his arms with a tiny sob, burying her face in his shoulder. He held her tight, stroking her hair with a hand he imagined clenching around Overhaul’s throat.

She couldn’t stay here. He had to get her out. Somehow.

If Overhaul wanted bits and pieces of her skin, he must have been harvesting her. Izuku pulled back the tiniest bit, "I'm so sorry, Eri. Do you know if anyone else is being treated this way? Does that man have any other children?"

Eri shook her head,

“Just me,” she whispered with an accompanied sniffle. “He says if I’m good, no one else gets hurt. He says… I’m helping build a better future.” This had to be the bravest little girl in existence.

Izuku’s stomach turned.

Building a future. Harvesting her DNA. The bullets.

Izuku had no idea how long Overhaul had been harvesting her DNA, but she didn't hesitate to tell Izuku anything after that. That was good because it meant he'd gained trust from her, likely because he told her he's a hero student and he had nice friends that helped with injuries.

She trusted him now. That was good. He could work with this.

Build a better future.

Overhaul's men shot someone with the syringe bullets.

He was turning her body into parts for a bullet, but for what?

Izuku wanted to know what the bullets did. Either way, he could surely convince the League to help save the girl if her body (or quirk, he theorised) was able to do something big. Big enough for them to turn her into bullets.

The moment Eri settled down, Izuku pulled back and suggested a game. She was confused at first but nodded.

"The game is very simple. I measure you with my hands to see how tall you are, then you measure me with your hands to see the difference. Okay?" He needed the exact measurements to tell Twice.

Eri frowned at him and sniffled. "Aren't games supposed to be fun?" she asked.

Izuku chuckled at her bluntness and shrugged. "I guess you'll have to let me measure you to see if it's fun, hm?"

"Okay," she agreed, though her uncertainty was very clear.

Izuku took the win and immediately started to measure her, starting from her feet and all the way up to his head. She was five and a bit hands tall, and Izuku marked on his palm with a fingernail on his hand where the top of her head was on the sixth. 

If Overhaul was willing to use Eri’s body to build a new future, then was it really one that Shigaraki wanted? Surely there was a way to save the girl and make Overhaul pay by manipulating Shigaraki into siding with his train of thought.

Izuku glanced over at the adults with the blankest face he could manage. Shigaraki signalled for him to wrap it up. Izuku nodded, then gave Eri another small smile. He felt horrible doing so, but he needed to get back to the League's base as soon as he could to start planning.

"The blue haired man wants me to go. I'm so sorry Eri." Izuku whispered.

Eri looked heartbroken. "You'll come back, right?" She asked desperately. "Your friends sound so much less scary than..." she peeked over his shoulder to look at Overhaul.

Izuku didn't want to give her any false hope, but he was confident enough in his ability to manipulate Shigaraki to reassure her. "I'll come get you as soon as I can, okay? No matter what anyone says, I will be back."

Eri nodded and began trembling again as she held his hand and walked back to the adults.

Izuku had to forcibly control his anger before he snapped. Imagining Overhaul's corpse was only just enough to relax him. He plopped down on the couch next to Shigaraki as Eri was taken out of the room.

"Satisfied now you've met her?" Shigaraki asked sarcastically. 

"...For now," Izuku replied dryly. Which was a lie because he'd sell his lungs to get Eri out of that hell hole. "Thanks." he then added for good measure.

Shigaraki rolled his eyes and mumbled a reply.

Overhaul looked between them sceptically. "You've really got him, haven't you? He looks just as murderous as you do." he commented. Izuku wished he was allowed to act on said murderous feelings. "What did you and my daughter talk about? I saw her crying."

He didn't sound like he cared at all. Clearly, all he wanted to know was how much he told her about the heroes.

Izuku shrugged, "She cried because I showed her my scars and said it's okay to have them." he lied.

Overhaul didn't look entirely convinced, but he seemed all too confident in his abilities to make Eri keep quiet. So he let the subject drop. "I see. I had no idea she was ashamed of her scars." Very dismissive for a supposed father. "Now, Shigaraki, are you perfectly sure he won't tattle?"

Shigaraki waved his hand about. "The Hero doesn't have anyone to tattle to. He's under complete lock and key in our lair. We let him out once and a while to wash and whatnot." Shigaraki was lying. But Izuku knew better than to think it was for his benefit.

"Hm. I was wondering why he looked so clean."

"Yes, Magne forces him to shower." Another lie.

Izuku wasn't being forced to shower, although Magne had shoved his head under a sink to wash and detangle his hair. But that had only been once.

"Now, about the numbers," Shigaraki turned the conversation away from Izuku.

Overhaul nodded. "I believe we shall be setting up another date to discuss money and mass arrangements soon enough. This meeting is over." He was up and out of the room before Izuku could blink. Was he going to Eri? To ask her if he was telling the truth about their conversation?

Izuku's head ached. 

Overhaul's brain matter was splattered across the wall.

Goddamn it, another round of flashes. They didn't even nauseate him anymore, he was becoming less and less queasy at the sight of corpses. He was getting desensitized. Or maybe just broken.

Shigaraki laid broken beside Overhaul's crumpled body, twitching through his final breaths. The Yakuza goons were in similar states, so close to death—

Izuku clenched his fists, trembling with the effort to cool the anger flowing through his veins. It was fine. There was no need to let the visions affect him, because he knew they would never come true.

Though he hoped they did some day. 

Shigaraki yanked Izuku standing by the back of his shirt, shoving him forward and forcing him to walk. 

Izuku grumbled an insult under his breath, tying the blindfold around his own eyes when it was pegged at his face. He didn't bother trying to memorise the path out of the building; there were far too many twists and turns to remember while his mind was working at a million thoughts a minute.

He kinda felt like an ant trapped in one of those glass containers with sand and mud.

He had no idea if they were given a guide this time since the walk back was in total silence. Shigaraki's four finger hold on the back of his neck steering him around was the only way to tell there was someone even with him. The footsteps were silent.

After what Izuku estimated to be around five to seven minutes of silent walking, he briefly felt the warmth of the sun before then feeling the familiar sensation of walking through one of Kurogiri's warp gates.

The moment Shigaraki's hand left his neck, Izuku removed the blindfold. 

Magne welcomed him with a wide grin, Spinner offered him a tense wave from the bar. The lizard man's glass of alcohol looked barely touched.

Then Izuku spotted the person he was looking for. Twice was sitting in what had come to be known as Izuku's booth, sitting on the opposite side of Izuku's couch. The man waved him over, and Izuku was eager to comply.

The moment he sat down, the words were tumbling out of his mouth, "Did you get the materials?" he asked impatiently, fidgeting with his shirt.

"Sure did, lil' hero!" Twice's grin could be heard in his tone. "Wasn't that difficult to find, believe it or not. Pretty sure the last owners of the building left it here. Except for the eraser, I had to steal it. You wouldn't catch anyone here but Toga and Magne using these."

Before Izuku left, he had managed to convince Twice to get him a couple things. 

A piece of paper, a packet of coloured pencils, and an eraser that could erase them.

Twice had bickered with himself for a full ten minutes before agreeing. But Izuku had trusted him to pull through.

"Even then, Magne'd probably only draw a few squiggles if she were bored enough. Crazy over there would draw you covered in blood, no doubt." Dabi, once again emerging from thin air, sprawled himself lazily over the back of Twice's couch from the booth adjacent to Izuku's. "Then she'd hang the paper in a shrine."

Toga giggled and Izuku watched as Dabi dodged a stray knife she flung at him without hesitation.

"So where is it?" Izuku prompted.

"Oh, right! How'd you forget to give it to him, idiot? Shut up, me! I got distracted for a moment." Twice picked up the paper, pencils and eraser from beside him and placed them on the table. "Seems to happen a lot, dumbass. You're a real pain in the ass, me!"

Izuku ignored Twice's back and forth, snagging the materials from the middle of the table and immediately sorting them. He picked out the black pencil and began his sketch of Eri, the girl he silently vowed to save, though he guessed everyone knew about it.

He worked in silence, his hand flying across the page. It came easily to him. She was burned into his memory. Etched into the inside of his skull like a brand. He made sure of that while he was with her.

He got about halfway done with his rough sketch when he paused, remembering something.

He stared down at his palm, where he marked with his fingernail where Eri's measurements stopped. "Does anyone have a pen?" he questioned.

Spinner flung one at him without a word, and Izuku caught it midair effortlessly. He immediately drew a precise line over his mark on his skin to preserve the measurement and went right back to sketching.

Just like the bloody flashes that haunted him every few minutes, Eri’s face was vivid. Real. His drawings had always been good—years of sketching heroes in such great detail he had every wrinkle and shadow in his notebooks had made sure of that.

But this one… it mattered. The drawing he was making mattered more than anything ever had, because someone's life was on the line. Not just anyone’s, a small girl’s , who was in the hands of a horrible villain. Not too much unlike himself.

It felt good. After so long of doing nothing but eating, bathing, and sleeping as a hostage, he was finally doing something.

Although, if he was honest with himself… he didn’t feel like a hostage anymore.

Not all the time. 

He was feeling less like a hostage every day. Well, what he felt were days. He had zero concept of time.

It got to the point he had to get told when to wash because he was unaware how long it had been since his last trip under the running water. He still wasn't even sure he was being told to shower daily, it could have been every couple hours or days for all he knew.

Same with brushing his teeth; he had no idea if he was brushing them often enough to prevent cavities and the like. Then again, at least Twice and Toga had gone out of their way to even give him a toothbrush in the first place. A new one at that.

That didn't mean he was letting his guard down or forgetting who he was with. But still, something had shifted. In both Izuku's and the League's attitude toward each other.

It was getting easier to pretend he wasn't being held captive, like all he was experiencing was a fever dream.

The League hated him a little less every day. Sometimes he was even greeted like they were friends, other times he didn't have a single pair of eyes on him. It was so unlike when he'd first arrived, when every breath was documented by Kurogiri and reported back to Shigaraki.

They were getting used to him being there, just as he was getting used to them. 

And it made pretending easier. He could sit there and watch the League bicker among themselves, imagining a world where he was there because he wanted to be, not because he had to be.

A few hours into the drawing, Izuku's eyes were drooping. The world outside his sketch blurred, his focus too narrow, his body too tired.

Then, without warning, his head found the table. For some reason, sleep came much easier than it ever had in the League of Villain's company. 

The last time Izuku looked in the bathroom mirror, he'd been astounded by how much lighter the purple bruises under his eyes were.

Once he woke up, he was alone in the bar for the first time in a long while. Not even Kurogiri's bright eyes were set on him. There wasn't a soul in the common area, although all of the lights were still turned on.

He groggily wiped his eyes with an achy yawn that stretched his mouth wide. The movement in his arm made him realise there was something on it.

He looked down and had to blink a couple times to realise what it was. 

A blanket had been draped over him while he slept.

His half-asleep mind could barely comprehend it. Someone from the League of goddamn Villains affectionately wrapping a blanket around him? Izuku found it hard to believe.

He scratched his chest at the weird tingling he felt there. Hm.

Izuku was betrayed by his own body as it gave into the pull of sleep.

He was aware the door was unguarded, that no one was there to stop him from escaping.

But the concept of freely sleeping without nightmares haunting him was still so fresh, so appealing, that he'd gotten into the bad habit of easily falling asleep the moment he felt tired. No one was there to stop him. No one was there to reprimand him.

No one would be calling him lazy or saying that skipping a day of training was going to make his muscles weak.

There was no one like All Might around.

--

Izuku woke up again, but this time he was a lot less groggy as his eyes fluttered open. His thoughts weren't clouded with the need for sleep.

Damn it.

He missed his chance to escape.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Toga beamed. She sat across from him, her sharp teeth gleaming in the overhead light. "You were asleep so deeply that I contemplated poking you with a stick to make sure you weren't dead! Nothing was waking you up."

Izuku blinked at her. "Good... morning." he muttered, the words heavy on his tongue. The closer he looked at her face, the more noticeable it was. Toga wasn't blushing as much at him anymore. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be glad or worried.

If Toga stopped being in love with him, did that mean he would be left alone? Or did it mean he would be more of a target?

"Do you know who wrapped the blanket around me?" he asked to distract himself. He curled into the softness a little more. The laundry detergent smelt like the one his mum used when he was little. It was concerningly comforting.

He blamed whoever the culprit was on him not escaping. 

Toga put a finger on her chin in a Tsu-like manner. "No idea, really. I was too busy admiring my blood packets in my room." she sighed, disappointed she missed the spectacle.

Once, Izuku would have thought she was proud of the blood. Of the collection she had accumulated. Now, he was starting to understand she was proud of herself resisting the urge to eat them. She craved blood constantly, which she was more than open to talk about, but she more often than not ate regular food.

From what Izuku understood, she had quite a few packets in her room for when she couldn't handle 'normal' food. Too long without blood made her begin to space out and get agitated more easily.

Unfortunately, it didn’t stop her from complaining and asking Izuku for his blood, claiming fresh blood always tasted better.

"I’ll tell you this though, Izu." She leaned across the table, her grin widening on her face. "That blanket happens to look a whole lot like the one Dabi has on his bed. So either he's the one that put it on you, or someone else here happens to have the exact same one."

Izuku blinked at her. "You sure someone didn't break into his room and steal it?"

"Puh-lease! Twice once tried to go in there and got some pretty severe burns Magne had to patch up. And he only ever unlocks the door whenever he leaves it, whether he's inside or not." Toga waved her hand dismissively. "The only reason I recognise it is because I take peeks into his room whenever I see him leave it."

Dabi was the one that put the blanket around him? Izuku was experiencing the same amount of confusion he did when the villain had wiped his mouth affectionately. Perhaps this was another sibling related thing for Dabi.

"Stop putting ideas in his head, Crazy." Dabi grumbled from the bar. 

Izuku's head whipped toward him. He hadn't even realised he was there! What was with that man and just suddenly appearing? 

Toga blew raspberries at him. "I'm just speaking my truth! Stupid party pooper."

Dabi glared at her fiercely, although it lacked the bite Izuku usually experienced whenever the glare was set on him. "And stop being a weirdo and looking into my room, you creep."

The girl's knife soared across the room and planted itself on the bar surface, just barely missing Dabi's arm. "I'm not a creepy stalker for you! As if!" she squawked.

Izuku wasn’t sure if Toga missed Dabi’s meaning or just didn’t care, because that wasn't at all what he'd gotten from the message. Either way, she was in her own world.

Kurogiri placed his mist hands on his hips in an aged disappointed gesture. Izuku almost smiled at it because it was something Aizawa Sensei did all the time. "If you wish to brawl, do it somewhere else." He plucked the knife out of the bar and spun it in his hands. "Do not damage my bar, Himiko Toga."

Toga groaned while Dabi snickered at her. "You could have easily sent the knife somewhere else, Kuro!"

"You should not have been throwing it in the first place."

"You never take my side, this is so unfair!" 

Izuku watched the interaction with mild curiosity. He also took note of the way Dabi avoided his gaze, despite staring in Toga's direction. His avoidance and refusal to acknowledge Izuku's presence only confirmed he was the culprit of the blanket.

But why, was the question. What on earth could have possibly motivated such a kind gesture? It was something Todoroki would do for Izuku. A friend would wrap blankets around each other, not capturer and captured. 

Spinner then walked into the room with a steaming plate balancing on each hand. He didn't even say anything, no threats or jokes about food laced with poison, as he placed an omelette in front of Izuku. "It's still hot, so watch it." he muttered. He then walked off to go sit at another booth.

"Thanks, Spinner." Izuku called out, eagerly picking up the chopsticks on the plate on the side of his meal.

Toga narrowed her bright eyes at the food. "You always eat it so plain. Why not have sauce or something with it?" she questioned, looking at Izuku with an honest curiosity.

Izuku had to resist the temptation of smiling at her, at the side of her that seemed so normal. So much like his friends from UA. He reminded himself that he was her hostage, and she was a murderous villain. "Because Spinner never puts any sauce on it. I'm not going to complain when it tastes fine on its own and there's no poison."

"That you know of, Hero." Dabi commented.

Izuku rolled his eyes. "You're jealous I get fed food while you have to make your own."

Dabi scowled at him. "Jealous you get babied? Yeah right, greenie. Keep dreaming."

"I don't have to, it's already happening." Izuku's mind provided the lovely image of him strangling the villain with the blanket that same moment. He tried not to focus on it in case he lost his appetite.

Magne walked out of the bathroom without her sunglasses and a towel around her neck. "You just woke up and you're already arguing, kiddo? This has to be a record for hostility." She grinned at him and sat down next to Toga. 

"I've gotten angrier faster."

"That's true. But you seem more chill now you're not tied up, so that's a plus!" Magne gave Izuku an approving finger gun gesture. "Even getting dotted on, if the blanket is anything to go by, huh?" she laughed openly. 

Izuku definitely preferred her, Twice and Spinner over everyone else. He nodded at her and shoved a bit of food in his mouth, enjoying the way it melted on his tongue. He wished he knew how to cook the way Spinner did.

The moment he finished eating, he got back to drawing Eri. He quickly finished the rough outline and got to colouring, thinking back to his time with Eri. 

It was strange how vivid her face was in his memory. Just like in his terrifying visions, the image was so clear it felt like he was seeing her in real life until he focused on the paper.

"You notice how much more open he's gotten?" Magne's voice reached Izuku's ear through his concentration. "It's shocking. He thanked Spinner for the food, when just a week and a bit ago he would stare at the food angrily until it went cold, then begrudgingly eat it."

Well, he finally understood that hating good food wasn't going to help him escape. Resisting the urge to fall asleep would, which was something he needed to work on.

Toga replied to Magne, "Well, two weeks surrounded by the same people at all times is bound to create some changes. Even if the people in question are villains." she joked, giggling. Except it wasn't a joke, and Izuku stared at her in shock.

"Two weeks?" he breathed out, wincing as his head throbbed.

The world tilted. Had it really been that long? He'd stopped counting after day six. Maybe seven. His mind had blurred somewhere between threats and meals, between the rough scratch of Shigaraki's voice and the sound of Dabi's boots pacing the hall at night.

Toga's head isn't crushed against the wall, he painfully reminded himself. You don't need to break Magne's fingers.

"Fifteen days today, Izu!" Toga beamed.

Fifteen days, and no one had come. Not a single hero in sight. 

Izuku doubted they were even putting out search parties anymore. Unless they were told he was dead. Unless someone lied. Maybe that’s why no one came. He glanced down at the blanket that was now mostly pooled in his lap and sighed.

Don’t rip her teeth out, Izuku, he practically screamed in his head. It was just a number. Fifteen. You can handle numbers. You’ve fought worse.

He hoped when Eri arrived, his brutal thoughts would reign themselves in. It was exhausting.

Chapter Text

"Okay," Izuku muttered, extending the paper toward Twice with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking. His voice stayed level, dry, but there was a hitch just beneath the surface—one only a keen observer would catch. "This is Eri. She comes up to Toga’s waist—I measured using hand spans."

The words left his mouth like lead, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from imagining himself cramming the paper down Twice’s throat until it blocked every breath.

As soon as the drawing was out of his hands, Izuku scrubbed his palms hard against his pants. The heat from the friction bit into his skin, but it grounded him better than anything else right then. His breaths were jagged and shallow, catching at the top of his lungs like something sharp was lodged there.

That familiar weight clamped down on his chest like an old enemy—tight, crushing. A familiar ghost wrapping its arms around his chest like it had so many times before. He was right on the edge of an anxiety attack.

He'd felt that sensation so many times, and his hands itched to be wrapped around his own neck. To silence his screams and fears by pressing hard on his larynx until the silence drowned everything out. Just for a second. Just enough to reset the chaos in his head.

Even if it meant he would have to put up with Magne's mother-henning and Twice's medical care again.

Twice stared silently at the piece of paper for long enough that Izuku's heart dropped. For a moment he wondered if something was wrong, if Twice couldn't do it or it wasn't good enough—

"Hey, so, you're sure this isn't a picture?" Twice leaned in close, one eye squinting dramatically then switching sides like some detective from a kid's show. His voice pitched up in wonder. "This is a super realistic drawing, little hero! Ridiculous praise. Shut it."

Toga bounced over from wherever the hell she spawned, her mouth dropping in a little 'o' when she peaked over Twice's shoulder. "You drew that, Izu?! With those pencils over there, the ones that look like they cost less than a hundred yen? It looks like a real little girl!"

Twice titled his head left to right, like he truly couldn't figure out if it was a photo. "What's with all the bandages? How the hell would he know? God, I'm just asking!"

Izuku sighed, shoving himself on one of the bar stools miserably. He did so harder than he meant to, the steel squeaking under him. "Those bandages are exactly the reason I want to get her out." His voice broke and he narrowed his eyes at the bar with a frown.

"She said... she said that Overhaul ties her up to a chair and takes her skin. And then tells her that her scars are ugly, which is why she's wrapped in bandages all over."

A deadly silence rose, one that carried a weight similar to the day Izuku had used his quirk in his sleep accidently. Heavy and full of animosity. 

Kurogiri's gaze was turned to Izuku. "He's harvesting her," he stated. Izuku wondered if he knew the punch his simple words packed, the amount of anger it rose in everyone else. "You believe he's using her quirk for future plans, yes? He's harvesting her for it."

Izuku nodded slowly, swallowing bile with a grimace. "She's important to him. Well, her quirk is, I think. Eri says that she's the only child, and I believe her because she's the only one that Overhaul's mentioned."

The next moment, Izuku saw Toga sprinting down the hallway with Twice, making Izuku raise his eyebrows. Not a single word had been said between the two, and yet they disappeared in synchronisation. 

They’re getting the others, he thought. Or they’re getting weapons. To stab me. Because they think I’m lying.

He picked the second option without hesitation.

He launched off the barstool and positioned himself in the centre of the common area, body tense, scanning the space with sharp eyes. Tables could be weapons, and he wouldn't struggle to rip them from the ground. The barstool could be thrown. If he moved fast enough, he could—

Toga burst back into the common area with a kitchen knife in hand.

Holy shit.

Izuku’s body locked up. His muscles coiled, ready to fight or bolt. His vision tunnelled, his heartbeat surging and noisy in his ears.

But then—

Kurogiri stepped out from behind the bar, placing his misty hands on his hips in a disappointed father gesture. "Himiko Toga, there are to be no knife fights in my bar." he said, really selling the fatherly tone. "Or I shall confiscate them all."

Toga gaped at him. "I'm not going to fight anyone with my knives unless they come at me first!" She looked to Izuku for help, then blinked a couple times at him really fast. "Hey, why are you in a defensive stance? What's going on here?"

Izuku huffed. "Are you serious?!" he demanded, throwing his hands out wildly in exasperation. "What do you think is going on here, Toga? Be honest!"

Toga looked at him, then at Kurogiri, then back to Izuku before settling a baffled stare on Twice, who looked equally confused with a finger on his chin. "We're... going to skin Overhaul? I thought that was obvious. Didn't you?" There was a dark undertone in her words, which suggested she was being completely serious.

Twice nodded eagerly and sent a thumbs up her way. "Slowly, very painfully!"

She nodded back at him and turned back to Izuku. “So, what’s the plan? I can totally snag some of his guys’ blood, sneak in as one of them, then switch faces a few times on the way in! Or—ooh! I could get big sis Mag to just punch through the building and—,”

“Calm down, Crazy,” Dabi drawled from the hallway.

Izuku turned, barely holding back a scowl. How long had he been standing there?

The man walked with all the urgency of a guy strolling to a vending machine, hands in pockets, that crooked smirk on his face like he knew something you didn’t. "Nothing's decided yet, okay? Mr Observant will cook up an ideal plan and we'll go from there."

Izuku wasn't sure how he felt with his nickname, especially from Dabi's mouth. "Shigaraki will have to approve it before anything else happens. I just need Twice to see if he can turn into Eri's double based on what I've given him."

He gestured toward the drawing still in Twice's hands. “Can you do it? A convincing double?”

Twice glanced at the paper again, solemn now. “I can do it,” he said, his voice low and serious for once. He almost sounded like an entirely different person. “I'll make sure she gets out of that hell. We’ll make it right.”

Izuku nodded once, his heart loud in his ears. He was going to get that girl out if it was the last thing he did. Hell, he'd join the League of Villains before letting her escape his grasp. He'd come so far, there was no way he was going to let the plan fail.

And Overhaul had no idea what kind of hell was coming for him.

Dabi placed a hand on Twice's shoulder, "Then give it a go. Let's see how well you can use that quirk, hm?" He looked pretty bored despite the grin on his face. 

Twice nodded a couple times, murmuring in conversation with himself before doing finger guns at Izuku. "One Eri coming right up, little hero!" He declared. The next moment, a pile of mud popped up from out of the ground. It twisted and turned and formed a new shape. 

The little girl standing in front of Izuku had similarities to Eri, but she looked more like a cousin than the real thing. 

Izuku hesitated to tell Twice he did it wrong, especially since the threat of someone getting angry at him and Toga's kitchen knife hanging over his head. Luckily, someone else came to his defence. 

"Dude, that looks nothing like the drawing," Dabi snickered, snatching the piece of paper out of Twice's hands and putting it next to the double for reference. "Different nose, eye shape, neck length, foot size... even her hair looks too healthy."

Twice squawked with offence. "I tried, okay!"

Dabi clicked his tongue. "How are we supposed to pull any grand scheme off when your shitty double looks nothing like the girl we're smuggling out?" he questioned, shoving the paper into Twice's chest.

Toga placed a comforting hand on Twice's shoulder. "It's okay Jin, just keep makin' doubles until Izuku approves! It's not like we're in a rush to decapitate Overhaul or anything," she grinned at him.

Twice deflated. "You too, Toga? Man, no one's on my side!" 

Izuku shrugged. "Once you make the double correctly, you can just keep it summoned until the plan is finalised and progressed, right? It'll be a one and done as long as you try hard enough."

With a long, haggard sigh, Twice got to work. He summoned double after double again and again. 

Some were too tall, others were too small. There were a couple with the right face but wrong horn or hands, others had weird body proportions and shapes. 

Until finally, forty-something tries later, Izuku stared down at a double of Eri that could have very well been the girl's twin. She had the same terrified expression, trembling body, skinny hands and wrapped limbs. The sight of her felt like a punch to the gut. 

He was reminded all over again why exactly he was working with the League of all people to help get her out of Overhaul's grasp.

"You did it, Twice. You actually did it," Izuku breathed out, kneeling in front of Eri's double. Even though he knew deep down it wasn't really her, he had the overwhelming urge to hug her and whisper reassurances into her ear; to let her realise she was safe with him.

Twice cheered with Toga behind the double, the two of them clapping hands and jumping in circles.

"She will still have my voice, since I don't have a reference," Twice yelled over Toga's squeals. "That should be fine right, little hero?"

But Izuku was busy measuring the girl with his hands. Five and a bit hands tall, just as the real Eri was. She was perfect. Izuku had seriously underestimated the power of Twice's quirk. The only thing left was planning how to do a swap without anyone noticing.

Izuku looked up and saw Dabi staring at Eri with the blankest expression Izuku had ever seen on the man.

There was no fiery anger behind his gaze, like he'd been shoved into an ice bath. Izuku had only ever seen the man with his anger, and so it had taken seeing him like this to realise just how much hatred he contained. To say it was a lot would be a complete understatement.

Izuku, almost against his will, got up from where he was kneeling and sat on the edge of the table in his booth. Dabi had his back to the edge of the couch, leaning against it with his hands tucked under his arms. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" he prompted, not bothering to look at the man. He wasn't in the mood to deal with any more dark visions, so he kept his gaze on the door he wished he could exit out of. 

Dabi made a scoff. "The hell would you care, hero? Is this you pitying me?" Even his words had lost most of their bite, which just raised the teenager's suspicions. 

"Am I s'pposed to be pitying you? Do I have a reason to?" Izuku asked. He wasn't expecting an answer. Not one with any truth behind it, anyway. Dabi was the kind of person that either lied through his teeth or had stories so surreal you couldn't tell if it was true.

Izuku was curious, of course, what he was thinking as he looked at a small girl that was obviously being abused by her father. But why would a villain even tell him the answer to that? He knew if the roles were reversed, he'd probably skirt around the truth, too.

Dabi didn't say anything in reply for a little while, watching Toga and Twice continue their stupid celebration dance before he said: "Whatever plan you come up with, it better be good. Real fucking good, you got that, hero?"

Izuku risked a glance and lo and behold, that enkindling rage was back in its place in Dabi's cold gaze. He swallowed. "I will," he swore. "She won't be with that man for longer than she has to be."

"Good. I don't need a scarred kid being left behind." That last part was something Dabi muttered, like he was only talking to himself. "Especially not one that small. Not again. Fuck this sentimental bullshit." Dabi hissed as walked off without another glance at Izuku or the Eri double.

Izuku knew better than to force anything further. They were all dealing with their own ghosts here, and Dabi’s, whatever they were, ran deep enough to hollow him out completely.

He frowned.

That last part... Dabi had once mentioned a younger sister and brother he looked after when his, what did he call his parents? ' Birth givers' were too busy arguing. Maybe his parents got a little too handsy during fights. Maybe that was why Dabi had been the one to care for them.

For some reason, while Izuku was fairly sure he was at least on the right track, he was certain that just wasn't it. Though, he knew good and well he wasn't going to get the full story. Not while he was a hero and Dabi was a villain.

Not when the trust levels between them were in the negatives ...and probably not while Izuku, although unwillingly, fantasised about Dabi lighting himself on fire and dying.

Twice, in the background, tripped over his own feet mid-celebration and faceplanted against the floor with a muffled oof. Toga gasped, dramatically throwing herself down beside him like he’d been fatally wounded.

“Oh no! My dance partner!” she cried, already poking at his cheeks.

“I’m fine! I’m fine! Shut up! Keep crying!” Twice yelled, voice breaking into his usual duelling halves

This—this chaotic group of villains with too many sharp edges and bruised hearts—was now his best shot at saving Eri. Maybe they were the only ones who could do it.

And as he looked again at the perfect replica standing silently in the middle of the room, he couldn’t help but think: If this is what it takes to save her, I’ll walk this line. I’ll be their “hero.” I’ll make myself into the monster they need me to be.

Even if it costs me everything.

Because no one else was coming to save her.

Shigaraki crossed his arms and stared down at the double. "It's impressive," he said boredly.

“Opens up a whole new set of possibilities, doesn’t it?” His eyes slid toward Kurogiri.

Kurogiri gave a slow nod. “Correct. We can leverage this to our advantage.”

“Good.” Shigaraki turned toward Twice. “You’ve done well.”

Twice beamed, and Magne clapped him on the back with a grin. “Finally, some recognition!” she teased.

Shigaraki’s gaze shifted. “Now then, what exactly did the hero have in mind?” His voice darkened slightly as his attention fixed on Izuku, who tensed under the collective weight of their stares.

Izuku stared down at the table, curling himself inward a little more on his couch. "Overhaul is not someone you want to align yourself with. So, the first step is to erase the possibility of having any ties with him once Eri is out. He should soon be as good as dead to you."

He couldn't even look at the double sitting in the corner of the room without getting an unmistakable amount of anger threatening to boil over.

Mr Compressed stroked his imaginary beard over his mask. "Mr Observer is at it again. Let's hear it, then. What makes Overhaul so untrustworthy in your sharp little eyes?”

"He's lying through his teeth, that's why." Izuku said firmly, drumming his fingers on his knee. "Eri said that Overhaul tells her that if she behaves, she'll be helping build a better future. He's got those bullets of his, which I'm theorising has some kind of quirk in it. Eri's quirk, to be exact."

Shigaraki rolled his eyes. "I already know he wants a better future. He's made that quite obvious."

"Yes, but he's also mentioned declaring himself head of the underground. That he wants you to work under him." Izuku had started to move his hands around as he talked. "Back in the warehouse, he declared his plan would put an end to hero society, but we all know he was lying."

"Uh, I didn't." Twice raised a hand. "How was I supposed to know that? The man's as stoic as a stone!"

“Okay, maybe not everyone saw it,” Izuku allowed, “but Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Magne—you knew. You knew he wasn’t being straight with you.”

His words hung heavy, bitter in his mouth.

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying you’ve figured out his real plan? The one he’s hiding like a bug under a rock?” He hackles were raising, which would have been laughable if not for the situation Izuku was in.

"How do you think he has the gall to declare himself your future leader like that? To say you'd be under him in the ranks, despite who your master is." Izuku questioned. "He wants to rebuild society as a whole. Not just the hero or the civilian population, but everyone. He wants to tear it all down, and Eri is the key to his plans."

Magne whistled. "Bit of a jump there, isn't it?" she chuckled.

“You already know what those bullets do, right?” Izuku asked, turning to Shigaraki.

Shigaraki gave a slow nod. “They suppress quirks—temporarily. That’s what the doctor said.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “Then that’s it. That’s how he plans to reshape society. Strip quirks away. Reboot the world. And when chaos hits, he’s the only one holding the blueprint.” He wasn't sure who the doctor was, but Shigaraki had mentioned him before.

Spinner slurped loudly on a straw in what looked like a milkshake. Was there seriously nothing that man couldn't whip up? “Sounds like a load of crap to me. He’s just making this up to guilt us into saving the brat.”

“I’m not!” Izuku’s voice cracked with urgency. No way was he going to let his only opportunity to get everyone on board slip away. “Fine—say I’m wrong. But do you really think Overhaul would ever let someone like you in his ranks?”

Shigaraki blanched and sputtered. "Excuse you?" he demanded.

"Or you," he continued to Twice, "Or you," then Magne, "Or you," Mr Compress, "Or you," Spinner, "Or you?" he said finally to Toga. The girl pouted at the insinuation she wasn't wanted but managed to keep her mouth shut about it for the time being.

"Maybe the rest of you serve some temporary use, but everyone else? Shigaraki is a threat to his authority, Twice could easily beat him if he caught him alone. Magne already tried to kill him. Mr Compress could erase him with a trick. Spinner’s too loyal to Shigaraki. And Toga? Not his brand. His last crazy underage lacky failed." Izuku finished.

Magne coughed into her hand. "Looks like you've been observing more than just Overhaul, Kiddo."

"...You think I only observe people I want to? It's a habit."

Magne raised her hands in mock surrender. "Okay, so Overhaul doesn't want most of us long-term. Then why seek us out at all?" She dropped herself over the back of the couch opposite to Izuku in a way that was far too close to Dabi's mannerism. Her magnet leaned against her menacingly. 

Izuku could've sworn the answer was obvious. "He said he needs money."

"What, that's it?" she questioned sceptically.

"No," Izuku exhaled, voice tight. "He wants your reputation . He said: ‘Not a lot of people are willing to invest in a small-time Yakuza group.’" He didn't like the feeling of the words. "If the League joins him, loyalty to him and his cause will skyrocket. But once he's used you? You're gone. You don't fit into the world he wants to build."

Shigaraki considered this. "Then what do you plan to do to get the girl?"

"Set up another meeting. Say you want to discuss the conjoining of your populations sooner than later." said Izuku. "Dabi will set a fire on the building. Something big enough to cause a commotion and force them to evacuate Eri."

Toga sighed dreamily at him. "Surely Izu can fight. I wanna see him beat up and bloody again!" she cooed.

Izuku ignored her. "You need to be in the building when it happens so that Overhaul doesn't suspect you. At least, not until we do the swap. Someone will bring Eri out, but she'll be hidden so passersby don't see her. That's why Compress and Spinner need to be watching from a nearby roof or something."

"I take it I'll be getting the girl myself?" Mr Compress's tone suggested he was quite happy with the arrangement. He flicked a couple marbles around his fingers.

Izuku nodded. "Then the double will be out in the street, where people can see her. One of the men will spot her and report to Overhaul, who will either demand she be taken in or go after her himself. But the double will disappear before then."

Magne flopped dramatically onto her magnet. “Kid, I like the bones of this. But what about the rest of the gang? Overhaul’s not dumb. He’ll recognize Dabi’s fire and Twice’s handiwork.”

"Which is why Mr Compress will be taking the man himself as well." Izuku looked up at Compress with a determination he hadn't felt for a while. It felt good. "You'll take Eri to a vehicle of some sort and hide her in there, where I'll be. Then we'll circle back while the double is disappearing and snatch up Overhaul."

"What about his men?" Magne asked. 

"Toga has blood to spare, right? She'll be using a different face." Izuku explained. "You'll get Toga into the police station, where she'll hand in an anonymous tip about Overhaul's hideout and say there's a fire. Depending on the timing, the cops will swarm in just as we vanish."

Spinner spoke up, "Hang on, go back. Why the hell are you coming?" he asked.

Izuku chewed on his bottom lip. "Because Eri doesn't know any of you. She knows and trusts me, and only me. I don't care if I'm chained to the vehicle, I have to be there." He was not going to let the League of Villains be alone with Eri under any circumstances.

“You know if you screw up, you’re dead, right?" Magne asked. She looked a little guilty while she said it. "You're enjoyable company and all, but I won't hesitate to knock you down if the boss wants it."

Izuku was reminded again that even if the villains saw Izuku as someone they could be friendly towards, they were not friends. They weren't even acquaintances. They were his kidnappers and he was the hostage. "I know," he muttered bitterly.

Toga raised her hand excitedly, her blush suddenly appearing much more prominently than Izuku had seen for a while. "Ooh, can I—,"

“No, you cannot stab him,” Shigaraki snapped. “You have your role. If his plan fails, the police clean up the mess. We're not working with them—we're using them. Get that look off your face, Spinner."

Spinner tsked and turned away. 

Izuku breathed out. The fact he didn't have a single horrible image flash across his mind almost slipped by him.

Funny how the worst parts of him always went quiet when something important was on the line.

Chapter Text

Izuku went over the plan one last time—again—before Shigaraki finally gave it his bored seal of approval. “Good enough,” he’d muttered with a lazy flick of the wrist.

Izuku didn’t share the sentiment.

Shigaraki was overconfident, as always, but Izuku couldn’t afford to be. Not now. Not when they had only one shot. One narrow, terrifying window to extract a little girl from the claws of a man who saw her as nothing more than a tool. One opportunity to save her before she disappeared into blood and silence for good.

He wasn’t going to let it slip.

"Toga," Izuku called. 

The girl whipped around with a bright, terrifying grin on her face. She skipped over to his booth and slammed her hands repeatedly on the table like a child. "Yes?! Are you in pain? Bruised? Bleeding?!" Her voice pitched upward with excitement, gleaming with far too much enthusiasms.

Izuku tried his hardest not to snap at her, but it was a little hard when he imagined screaming at her until his throat gave out, until her smile dropped and she actually felt the weight of what they were about to do.

"No," he ground out. He closed his eyes and leaned his throbbing head against the cold couch. "I wanted to get you clear on your role."

"My role? What role?"

"Going into the police station and handing them an anonymous tip."

Toga's mouth popped open, and she made an 'ohhh' sound, like she'd forgotten all about it. “Right, that! I remember now. Has it changed? Am I gonna be stabbing people after all?!” Her eyes sparkled with hope.

Izuku shook his head and gave her a blank stare. "No, I need you to be an actress. A feeble, concerned child who is terrified at being caught."

"Oh! Am I tricking the police?"

"Sort of. You just need to make it look like you're risking a lot being in the police station. The moment you hand the paper to someone—it can be anyone, really—you need to bolt. Find somewhere to call Kurogiri to you and get out of there."

Toga thought about it for a moment before nodding her head vigorously. "Oh, I'll be reallyyyy good at that, Izu! Trust me, I've had a lot of practise in acting!"

Izuku blinked, mildly surprised. He would have never seen that coming from the girl who never bothered to hide her emotions.

Toga must have seen the intrigued expression on his face, because she gave him a small smile, a stark contrast to her usual manic grin.

She leaned in to whisper into his ear, who leaned back a little in discomfort. "Let's just say I was a normal girl in middle school until my last week there," she pulled back with a wink and stuck her pinkie finger in his face. "Promise to keep my secret?" she asked.

Izuku swallowed and wrapped his pinkie around hers, touching their thumbs together. She giggled to herself and ran away, probably to Magne's room to tell her all about it.

He felt a little sick to his stomach.

If Toga was a 'normal girl' in middle school, did she hide how she was acting every day? Did she wear a polite smile the same way Izuku did now, rather than her usual bubbly smile that was similar to the way Izuku used to?

Did she repress her desire for blood, defy the urges that came with her quirk? Did she, in a way, starve herself of what she needed? It was always difficult for children, especially during puberty, to control their quirks. Izuku thought she must have been in agony trying to repress her thirst.

His thoughts derailed when a hand waved briskly in front of his face.

Izuku blinked and scowled up at Dabi, who wore his usual look of disdain. “What?”

Dabi clicked his tongue. “Relax. I don’t wanna talk to you either.”

Izuku gave him a deadpan stare. "If you don’t want to talk, don’t." He didn’t have the energy for whatever smug insult Dabi wanted to toss his way.

"I'm s'pposed to be giving you a heads up. You're being handcuffed." Dazai said boredly.

"What?"

"In the van, when we go get the other kid," Dabi clarified with an annoyed grimace. Izuku was sure he mirrored the expression as he imagined stuffing rocks into Dabi's mouth and sewing it shut. "Didn't want you going haywire because you weren't warned or whatever."

Izuku sighed and rubbed the heel of his palms in his eyes. "Thanks, I guess," he mumbled, exhausted. 

"Hey, Hero?" Twice hollered as Dabi walked away. 

Izuku let out a dry, exhausted sob and dragged his hands down his face. "What now, Twice? Is there a signup sheet to pester me?"

Twice scoffed in offense and placed a hand over his chest self-importantly, "First of all, you called Toga to you and the only other person that's talked to you has been Dabi. Second of all, I just had a question! Poor little hero has a serious case of rocks in his knickers."

Izuku rolled his eyes and motioned for Twice to go on with his question.

"Okay, so. You said Overhaul wants us for our rep and whatever, but like… we’re broke as hell." Twice said, waving his hands around frantically. "Why does he want money when we don't have any? Does he plan to put us in debt? How will we live?!"

The teenager put his elbow on the table and rested his cheek in his palm, giving Twice the tiredest eyes he could manage just to get him to back off a little with the intensity. "Has anyone told him you're dirt poor?"

"Well... no."

"Have you given him any reason to believe you're dirt poor? You’ve got the ex-number-one villain as your founder. You’re squatting in a hideout with a full bar. Magne and Spinner have flashy gear. And not to mention the outfits Mr Compress flaunts."

Twice tilted his head to the side and considered his words. "Yes, I do suppose you have a point. But the booze is all stolen, and so is the weapons. And Mr Compress makes his clothes himself with stolen fabric, which, by the way, is very resourceful. So, I guess we're all basically high-functioning frauds!"

"Overhaul doesn’t know that," Izuku muttered with a shrug. Then frowned. "Wait. If you’re broke, how do you have hot water and working electricity?"

Twice perked up. “Oh! All For One has this one bank account. Boss uses it for utilities and food. Only that, nothin' else! Apparently it’s loaded but he’s super stingy with it.”

Of course he was.

Because of course the world’s most dangerous villain also micromanaged bills.

Izuku let his head fall back with a dull thud against the couch.

Izuku was a bundle of nerves as the time for them to rescue Eri drew closer by the moment. Shigaraki had earlier declared that Overhaul had agreed to another meet up to discuss the joining of their organisations. They'd set off soon.

He didn’t know how it would go. He’d ran through hundreds of outcomes in his head, and most of them ended badly. Realistically, there was a good chance it would fail. He knew that. After all, he'd thrown the plan together in under an hour

He wondered if Aizawa Sensei would be proud. 

The thought left a knot in his throat.

Instead of dwelling on that, he went back to thinking about the rescue. If something went wrong and Eri wasn't brought out, would Izuku break out of the van to get her? If he got her then, would he go back to the League or make a run for it? He didn't know. He didn't want to find out.

But then again... if he broke free from the villains to save Eri and bailed with her... the poor girl would never be safe. Not with the League knowing her name, her face. If he betrayed them now, they’d hunt her down just to punish him. 

He couldn't let that happen. He had to be there for her. He promised.

Izuku jolted when he realised there were eyes on him. Everyone in the League save for Kurogiri and Shigaraki had their eyes on him. Their gazes burned his skin, similarly to the way his classmates had in Junior High. He got defensive.

"What?" he barked, voice sharper than he intended. He curled in tighter, spine pressing against the seat.

Magne looked sad when she stepped forward. Her steps were cautious, like she was approaching a feral, wounded animal. "Kiddo, let go."

Izuku narrowed his eyes and backed up more the closer she came. "Let go?" he questioned, confused. Let go of what?

He realised that he was staring at her on a tilt, that his head was sideways. He tried to straighten it but found he couldn't. 

Panic set in before he even had time to acknowledge it. He couldn’t move properly. Something was wrong. Was this a trick? A sedative? Had the League done something? Was he drugged, or injured? Why was everything blurring, why did his chest hurt?!

Izuku's throat burned. Something was wrong with him, but he didn't know what. His head refused to straighten up, and his neck was beginning to ache. His chest was bugging him, it itched and throbbed like it was missing something.

His ears were ringing now, too. The only thing he could hear clearly was the sound of his racing heart. He had to face the likely possibility that the League had drugged him, because he didn't know what else could have been happening. Misery locked into his brain, which only increased his panic.

Then, to top it all off, someone's hand landed on his shoulder.

It was hot, too hot. It felt like Kacchan's hand, Kacchan's quirk. He didn't want more burns, he couldn't handle it again.

Izuku's blurry world faded into nothing.

--

Magne watched the boy slump, his eyes rolled back and his eyelids fell. 

She removed her hand from his shoulder as if the touch burned. She looked behind her, at the confused gazes of her colleagues. She was sure her own face mirrored the same emotion. 

Izuku Midoriya was more of a roller coaster than she had thought. One moment everyone was discussing the plan to go rescue that little girl, the next they were interrupted by the sound of Midoriya struggling to breathe. He had been having a panic attack.

Not only that, but he'd been gripping his hair so tightly in his hand that his entire arm had trembled from the force. Magne doubted he'd even realised he was doing it, he didn't know what she was talking about when she told him to let go.

He'd looked so scared in the moment, and when his eyes had glazed over, Magne knew there wasn't much they could do to help him. She ended up being the one to trying and approach him, as usual, but the moment her hand met his shoulder, he'd stopped breathing and gone so pale she thought he was a goner.

Then he'd promptly passed out.

Now, looking at the baffled expressions of her colleagues, she realised no one had been paying any attention to him. No one knew what had caused the panic attack.

Magne blinked when she turned her attention to Kurogiri, who had somehow managed to put on a thoughtful expression. "I have a theory about Izuku Midoriya," he said. Everyone else turned to him as well. "I believe he sleeps when he's stressed."

Magne frowned. "What do you mean? He passed out just now because he was scared."

Kurogiri gave a half shrug at her, which bewildered her. She'd never known him to have such human body language. "The first time he fell asleep in our presence was in my arms. The second time, he had been scared of Dabi. The third, he fell asleep and woke himself up with his quirk. Every other time, his sleep came shortly after minor scares."

Toga looked devastated. "Surely he's fallen asleep normally at least once, right? No way he's just been passed out this whole time! I mean, it's been seventeen days since we got Izu."

"Perhaps once or twice the sleep has been from exhaustion. But again, it usually comes shortly after someone gets too close or threatens him. Which happens a lot," Kurogiri said with a glance over at Dabi and Spinner, who rolled their eyes in sync.

Magne put her hand on her hip in disapproval. This was a teenage boy they were talking about. Yes, he was their hostage and hated them. But, he saved Magne's life! He deserved a little respect after that!

"Right, and what are we going to do now we've cracked the code on why the hero sleeps?" Spinner questioned sarcastically. "Besides, if I'm the reason he's been sleeping so much, he should be thanking me!"

Toga whipped her head around so fast there was an audible crack. Magne winced. "Don't you talk about Izu like that! You've been terrifying him, not putting him to sleep!"

The lizard sputtered and waved his hands around at her. "So have you! At least I don't shove a knife in front of his throat every day and beg for blood!"

"At least I ask rather than threaten!"

"Are you hearing yourself, you batshit crazy girl?! That is threatening him!"

Toga raised her eyebrow and dug a knife out of her shoe. "You wanna see what me threatening really looks like?" she asked with her signature sadistic grin. 

Spinner swallowed and took a step back, which made Toga cackle with glee. Dabi rolled his eyes while mumbling about wastes of time and left the area to go into his room, slamming the door behind him. Magne clicked her tongue. Everyone was so pushy.

Izuku blinked, then his mouth slowly dropped open as he looked around him. He was back in the place he had dreamed of earlier, when he'd woken up with his quirk activated. 

He was once again standing on a slab of dirty concrete that held eight golden thrones. This time, Izuku got a good look of who everyone was. 

One man, who was standing at the back facing the wall, had red hair. Another, who was also standing at the back, had blue hair tied up.

Sitting on the thrones, there was a man with scars across his left eye and beige hair. Then there was the pretty lady from his earlier dream, along with the white-haired man in the throne beside her. Next to him... a figure made of yellow light with resemblance to All Might. Next to that, a man with a jacket similar to Best Jeanist and with his legs up on his throne. Lastly, there was a bald man with goggles on his head.

Izuku stared at them in confusion, and he didn't appreciate the way they were staring back at him. He also acknowledged the fact he was once again, covered in green mist that stole most of his body. 

The woman spoke first, "Izuku, I know how hard this has all been for you," she said kindly as she rose to a stand. "But you must do whatever you can to save that girl."

Was she talking about Eri? Izuku gave her an unamused stare. Of course he was willing to do whatever it took to save her!

She smiled, "I know you made a brilliant plan to get her to safety. But you also have to mind those criminals you've been... warming up to." She made an uncomfortable face, like she didn't like saying the words. "You cannot trust them." 

Well now Izuku was just plainly offended. He knew better than anyone that the League wouldn't treat Eri special just because she was a kid, he knew how much danger she would be in if Izuku did something wrong.

"Nana, I think you're confusing the boy," the white-haired man said. He offered Izuku a polite smile. "All she means is to be cautious around the villains. Don't let your guard down, Nine. Just because they're treating you nicely now, does not mean it will last."

If the man considered how Izuku was being treated as 'nicely', he didn't even want to know what he considered as being treated badly. 

The bald man with goggles snorted. "You're not makin' it any better, aye Yoichi?"

Yoichi sighed and slumped a little. "I suppose not."

Nana rolled her eyes fondly at the bald man and returned her attention to Izuku. "Just... be cautionary, okay? You never know what to expect with villains."

Despite the immense confusion Izuku was experiencing, he managed to nod.

"Good," Nana beamed. "Remember we're all with you, Izuku! Make sure Eri feels loved!"

Izuku woke up with a jolt and out of breath. He heaved while he clutched his chest, wheezing as his chest rattled from the force of it. He took a couple seconds, but he managed to calm himself down enough to lift his head. 

He groaned at the sight he saw. 

Twice stood frozen in front of him, one hand awkwardly raised mid-action, a pair of handcuffs dangling from it. Judging by his stiff posture, he’d been about to lock Izuku up before he stirred.

Izuku huffed sharply through his nose, yanked the cuffs out of Twice’s hand, and snapped them onto his own wrists with a glare. He made sure they weren’t too tight—loose enough that one percent of One For All would shatter them like cheap glass.

"Happy now?" he rasped, his voice shredded from lack of use. "Is everyone settled with my conditions?"

Twice nodded, sheepish and weirdly apologetic. Dabi scoffed from across the room, muttered something about wasting time, and stormed out. Toga and Magne followed after him like ducklings trailing the loudest duck.

--

Spinner was apparently the one who was supposed to take him to the van, because he was still standing in the bar looking like he'd rather be anywhere else, even though the rest of his group was already outside. He sighed and dragged a hand down his scaly face. "Let's go, kid." he muttered miserably. 

Izuku stood on trembling legs, his joints stiff and uncooperative after sleep. Then he walked outside in front of Spinner, hissing under his breath when the bright sunlight violated his eyes. He stumbled down the staircase half blind, but luckily his vision returned to him by the time he reached the bottom.

In the courtyard there was a plain, unassuming moving van. If you ignored the presence of multiple known villains casually loitering around it, it could’ve passed as a delivery truck.

Shigaraki turned to Izuku's direction, his freaky hands all over his body once again, and threw something over Izuku's head. He turned around and saw Spinner catch it flawlessly, then he wrapped it around his finger. Izuku saw it was the keys to the vehicle.

Twice threw the back doors open with a dramatic flourish, bowing like a game show host presenting a grand prize. “Welcome aboard, Hero! Mind the dust!”

Izuku almost smiled—almost—but he forced his face into something neutral as he climbed inside. The van’s interior was bare and grimy, little more than dirt-streaked metal and musty air.

Shigaraki, Dabi, Magne, and Toga joined him in the back. Spinner took the driver’s seat, and Twice squeezed into the passenger side, already shouting directions through the thin divider like it was a road trip.

Izuku retreated into the corner, arms crossed, keeping as much space between himself and the others as the cramped space would allow. Toga, naturally, followed, hovering just inches away, holding a knife that hovered menacingly near his gut with a gleeful expression.

Great, he thought sarcastically. Wonderful arrangements, as usual. Extra cozy.

He exhaled when Toga stepped away and grabbed a vial full of blood from a pouch on her skirt. She grinned at him, "Look away, Izu. I have to get undressed, you know."

Izuku, despite himself, flushed red at the teasing. He turned around so fast he almost sprained something, shoulders locked stiff with mortification. Everyone else respectfully followed suit, though he could still hear Toga and Magne snickering behind him.

Anger flared in his chest, irrational and hot. He didn’t say anything, but his mind betrayed him. He pictured Magne being kicked off the van at full speed, pictured her rolling under the tires while Toga screamed.

His stomach twisted. Where the hell were the violent thoughts from? He'd never once thought such violent things before being kidnapped. It was as if someone else was thinking them for him.

Izuku didn't turn back around until the van came to a halt and Spinner knocked on the back. 

"We're a couple streets away from the police station," the lizard man announced.

The double doors opened up, revealing Twice and the fake Eri waiting on the other side. Magne and Toga, who was now in the form of a young boy, jumped out. The double of Eri jumped in.

The doors closed and the vehicle started up again.

Just looking at the girl, even if she was a fake, was enough to punch the air out of Izuku's lungs and make him lose focus. Twice had managed to capture her figure perfectly, from her fidgeting hands to her nervous gaze.

The sight of her only solidified Izuku's need to rescue her. He wanted to change that expression for the good, he wanted to see her beaming and excited rather than miserable and scared.

Spinner knocked again, his muffled voice cutting through the tension. “We’re fifteen meters from the Hassaikai compound.”

Shigaraki, Dabi, and Mr. Compress responded with vague grunts. They slipped out through the back without a word. A moment later, Twice climbed back in and flopped onto the van floor like it was a picnic blanket.

He crossed his legs and looked up at Izuku. “Sooo… I noticed you were twitching in your sleep earlier. Everyone was worried you were about to go full quirk mode again. Pretty rude of you to freak everyone out like that, jerk.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Is that why you tried to handcuff me in my sleep? Because I twitched?"

He didn’t bother telling him the cuffs wouldn’t do anything. One percent of power, and they’d crumble. The League was either stupidly optimistic or wilfully ignorant, and Izuku wasn’t about to tip the balance by revealing just how loosely he was playing along.

Twice made a so-so gesture with his hands. "Maybe. But that's not what I wanted to talk about! Good job getting distracted. You did too, dumbass! Anyway, I was just wondering if you had any strange dreams again."

Izuku made an awkward expression. "Why?"

"Why not? Have anything else you want to talk about?"

Izuku frowned. "I'd prefer not to talk at all."

"Well that's boring. Hey, you!" Twice called out, pointing at Eri's double, who turned around and nodded. "Go. Hide 'round the corner and wait until you see the real deal, then run out into the street."

Just as the double was about to get out, Izuku stepped forward. "When you run out and gain attention, make sure Overhaul himself is also chasing you. Look really scared, as scared as you can possibly look, if you see him start to take his glove off."

The Eri nodded and gave him a thumbs up, then bolted. Izuku exhaled shakily at the sound of her little feet slapping against the pavement.

He turned around and stared at Twice dryly. "As a matter of fact, I did have another dream of the people again." he confessed. He didn't particularly feel like confiding in whatever was going on to a villain, but he needed a distraction.

"The same people from last time? The ones that said they believe in you, and called you 'Nine'? Sounds like a load of crap to me!"

Izuku nodded, dragging a hand down his tired face. "This time, I got a good look at all of them. None of them were recognisable," except for the freaky All Might figure, but he figured that wasn't the smartest thing to say, "and they gave me a new speech. They... warned me about you."

Twice barked in offense. "What?! How the hell did I piss of your nightmares?! You need an exorcist!"

The teen smirked despite himself. "At first, the lady was just telling me I had to do whatever I could to save Eri. Then she and the same man from last time warned me to be cautionary about you, to not let my guard down just because you're treating me better. She then told me that villains are unpredictable." 

Twice crossed his arms with a huff. "Sounds pretty biased to me. Where does she get off talking about us like that, huh? And off with the man's head, he sounds like an ass! You need new imaginary friends, Little Hero."

Izuku rolled his eyes at his drama. “Glad to see you’re taking it well.”

“Damn right I am. Your nightmares need to learn how to mind their manners! Disgraceful, honestly."

Atsuhiro crouched low on the slanted rooftop, one knee balanced on the ledge of the neighbouring building. His gloved fingers twirled two marbles between them, the cold glass clicking softly with each spin. From where he was sitting, he had a perfect view of the Shei Hassaikai compound.

Below, the fire Dabi had started roared to life, consuming the abandoned vehicles and trash along the alley. Flames curled like fingers reaching for the sky, painting the surrounding walls in red and gold. Smoke billowed thick and fast. 

Atsuhiro made sure to guide Dabi as to where the fire should be. It had to be close enough to cause a ruckus, enough to turn heads, enough to force people out. But it also couldn't be so close that the building really caught fire and endangered their boss, who was still inside.

Not to mention the real prize they were after. The girl.

"You're sure he’ll come out now, Compress?" Dabi muttered beside him. His voice was barely audible over the wind and crackle of flames, but there was a spark in his tone—anticipation. Atsuhiro had never known him to be excited easily, let alone on a mission to rescue someone.

He wondered why that was.

Still, he didn’t answer his colleague. He was too focused on the large double doors of the compound. They were sitting on a roof across the street from the base of the Yakuza group, watching from the shadows.

Soon enough, they cracked open with cautious slowness, and out stepped the devil himself.

Kai Chisaki.

Overhaul was flanked by two men in white coats, but he stepped forward alone, one hand hovering over his other gloved hand as if the fire had personally insulted him. Behind him, someone else emerged—Shigaraki. Still covered in those grotesque hands of his, the League’s leader moved with a twitchy confidence, playing his role to perfection. 

He had successfully lured out the man. Atsuhiro allowed himself a grin behind his mask. He had to agree with Dabi's sentiment of excitement. It was quite fun, being on a stealth mission! Now wonder Himiko got excited every time she was handed one.

"I see her," Dabi said suddenly, eyes narrowing. Atsuhiro straightened a smidge and followed his colleague's line of sight.

Sure enough, through a side alley near the compound’s east side, a small figure was being hurried along by a pair of Yakuza members. Eri, stumbling along on the dirty concrete barefoot. She was walking almost as if she was injured.

The sight of such a little girl made Atsuhiro's lips purse. Seeing the double had been one thing. But seeing the real deal was a whole nother. She truly looked tiny and fragile, and knowing what Overhaul was doing to her? Being aware of the fact she was being harvested?

Atsuhiro suddenly understood why the Little Hero was so determined to save her. The sight was gruesome and stomach turning, but he had faith in the curious teenage boy. He had faith he would take care of Eri.

Compress stood slowly, balancing with ease. "Time to intervene," he told Dabi, who nodded once in acknowledgment. He extended one hand outward. It clicked once, elegantly and quietly.

The two Yakuza thugs froze mid-step, marbled into glittering spheres of compressed matter, disappearing with a pop. Eri let out a tiny gasp, her feet tangling under her, but Atsuhiro caught her before she could fall. Another click, and she vanished too.

He jumped down from the roof and walked briskly across the street to collect the marbles where they fell. They sat warm in his hand, still humming faintly with energy.

“Neat trick,” Dabi said lazily, having jumped down from the roof as well to follow him. “Wish I could store people like that. I have a few people in mind I'd trap and torture.” A crazed grin split his face. 

Atsuhiro hummed. "All part of the act, dear friend. Now, here comes the curtain call."

They both ducked as a series of muffled shouts rang out near the front entrance. A child’s voice pierced the air, high-pitched and trembling. The Eri double—Twice in disguise—bolted into the street from a shadowed corner, feigning wild panic. A few of Overhaul’s men gave chase immediately.

Then Overhaul saw her. He stiffened with bright anger, Atsuhiro could see it in his eyes, and took one step forward. His gloved hand twitched.

Atsuhiro watched from around a corner across the street, heart steady.

It had to be timed perfectly. The moment Overhaul raised his hand—dangerously slow, threatening to peel the glove from his fingers—Twice screamed, shrill and beautifully terrified, and darted behind the wall of pedestrians that had gathered to see the fire.

Then he slipped further away, still making a ruckus. 

"That’s our cue," Atsuhiro said, stowing the real Eri’s marble carefully inside his coat pocket. They slipped back from around the corner in the alley they were standing in, moving with practiced stealth. Dabi threw a lazy blast of fire to obscure the corner, then followed after the screams of Twice in Eri's body.

They quickly found Overhaul yelling at the 'terrified' Eri, surrounded by the man's men, who had also located Twice via his voice.

Atsuhiro looked to Dabi, who was watching with dangerously furious eyes. The sight made Compress pause and wonder what about the scene was making him so angry. Perhaps it was the blatant child abuse, or the act of yelling itself?

Dabi was extremely closed off about his past. No one even knew his true name, or what happened to his skin for it to need staples in order to hold it up.

Atsuhiro lightly tapped his shoulder and whispered he was going in to get Overhaul. Dabi stared at him for a few seconds, analysing his body language as if there was something off about it, before nodding once in approval. 

Compress didn't dally. He quickly ran out into the street, practically skipping his way up to the big bad wolf himself. "Apologies, Overhaul! Pardon me." He hollered, tipping his hat at the man. "I'm just on my way to make a special collection!"

Overhaul's look of shock was priceless. "You—," he started. "What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you with Shigaraki?!" Atsuhiro watched as he realised what was going on. 

Atsuhiro shrugged, "Like I said, I'm simply coming to collect something."

One of Overhaul's men stepped forward, but he paused when Twice's double melted into the ground. Overhaul began to round on Atsuhiro, who chuckled and snapped his fingers. Overhaul was taken mid-step and placed inside a marble now spinning around Compress's fingers.

"Good evening, gentlemen!" he said with a final bow. Then he turned around and bolted.

He quickly caught up to Dabi, who was throwing balls of fire everywhere while running back to the van. He always liked to cause chaos, so Atsuhiro wasn't surprised.

It was a short trip to find the moving van Spinner had stolen, still in the spot it had been in when they departed.

Compress rapped twice on the side of it, and Twice yanked the back doors open with a dramatic flourish. He bounced on the balls of his feet. “The magician returns!” he announced.

“With the prize secured,” Compress added, bowing slightly.

He stepped inside gracefully and nodded in greeting to Midoriya, who wrinkled his nose in disgust. Atsuhiro laughed at him. He was such an interesting boy, always so expressive.

At first, Atsuhiro had just found him as a pest in his ear.

He was constantly squabbling with Himiko, always shrieking about not wanting to touch Spinner's food, who never failed to take offense. He was nothing more than an annoyance for two weeks.

But then, the boy had calmed down miraculously these past couple days. He was even beginning to grow pleasant to be around! 

He stopped screaming his head off at Himiko, instead choosing to silently roll his eyes every time she asked for blood. He often engaged in conversation with Magne and Twice, who always seemed pleased to talk with him. And now he ate Spinner's food without complaint.

He'd even allowed Magne and Spinner to play a few rounds of cards and whatnot in his booth, which had surprised everyone. He still bickered with Spinner and Dabi a lot of the time, though. However, his retorts were more often than not quite hilarious.

Atsuhiro himself had exchanged a few words with the boy, who never seemed happy at being addressed but nevertheless answered every time his name was called. 

So now, as he stared at the disgusted and annoyed look on Midoriya's face, Atsuhiro felt a bit pleased. He hoped the kid would continue to grow comfortable around them, even though he was still technically their hostage.

"Time to vanish," Compress said coolly. "The first act was a success."

They still had to rescue Himiko and Magne from the police station. Atsuhiro had a feeling that Shigaraki had simply called Kurogiri to bail him out. He was likely already back at the base.

Atsuhiro then pulled out all of the marbles from his pocket. The four of them rolled around in his palm for a few seconds before he picked two of them up. Then he promptly flicked them out of the van.

He waited until they rolled far enough away—the sun catching on the glass about fifteen metres from them—before undoing his quirk.

The two men who had been escorting Eri stumbled out onto the ground, looking thoroughly confused and enraged. Atsuhiro supposed it was a valid feeling considering he'd basically kidnapped them for a little while. 

Dabi pounded his fist on the divider, yelling at Spinner to get a move on as Twice closed the back door. They needed to be quick lest the police showed up while they were still in the area and caused a conundrum while Himiko and Magne were waiting for them.

The van then peeled away from the chaos Dabi's fire had created. Spinner complained about Dabi's rudeness the entire time, who retorted by insulting the Lizard's poor driving skills.

All the while, Midoriya was staring at Atsuhiro with anxious expectancy.

Atsuhiro smiled behind his mask and put Overhaul's marble inside his pocket, leaving Eri's between his fingers. Midoriya watched it spin around with light anger and impatience.

Eventually, Atsuhiro stopped playing with the boy's emotions—half worried he would bite his head off if he stalled for any longer.

He sent the marble flying into the air, and everyone watched as he clicked his fingers and released his quirk. The small girl returned in a small puff of smoke and unconscious, her once terrified features now relaxed as she fell.

The hero didn't hesitate. He flew forward and stretched his arms out to catch her, the cuffs around his wrists snapping instantly under the pressure.

Compress laughed, finding the fact Midoriya clearly could have broken out any time he wanted to absolutely hilarious. The lengths hero students went through for others never failed to surprise Atsuhiro.

If it were him, he would have broken out of the cuffs the moment he was let outside.

But Midoriya was different, as Spinner (who was really only echoing the Hero Killer: Stain's words) and Magne liked to constantly remind everyone. He had the heart of a true hero, of someone who effortlessly put others' lives above his own.

Midoriya tucked the unconscious girl close to his chest the moment she was in his arms, the broken cuffs dangling from his wrists unsurprising him, which only confirmed that Midoriya had been pretending to be chained up.

He then backed himself into the corner of the van again, sliding down until he was curled into a ball with the girl in the safety of his arms. He glared fiercely at Twice and Dabi, who were both openly flabbergasted at the display they'd just seen.

Atsuhiro watched with mild amusement as Twice put his hands on his head in distress. "You could have gotten out at any time?!" he screeched, pacing. "This—this is madness! How dare you deceive us!"

"Are you out of your damn mind, Greenie? Why the hell didn't you bolt when you had the chance?" questioned Dabi, who seemed to be at a genuine loss. They didn't understand that Midoriya was truly self-sacrificial, that none of it was ever an act.

The League had always put themselves first, always prioritised their lives over anyone else's. 

Not Midoriya. Never him, as he had shown when he dove into harm's way to save Magne from Overhaul's still unknown quirk. As he showed now, still in the van with the villains even though he had technically freed himself.

"That's the second time you've called me 'Greenie'," Midoriya said, scowling at Dabi.

Dabi scoffed. "Why? Does it piss you off, your highness?"

The boy crinkled his nose and lied, "No." He lied a lot, likely to save himself from the League's wrath. Compress doubted anyone would do anything considering Shigaraki had ordered them not to, but he couldn't blame Midoriya for being cautious. 

"Great. I guess I'll keep calling you Greenie, then." Dabi flipped him off. "And don't think you can get away with not answering my question."

Midoriya's fingers twitched like he was itching to pounce at the man. Then he sighed and rubbed his forehead as if to ease a headache. "What do you expect from me? The answer is obvious, I stayed for her." He gestured to the unconscious girl in his arms.

"No, no!" Twice shook his head, still not understanding what was happening. "You could still bolt though! Oh god, is Bossman gonna kill us?! Are we dead men, Compress?!" he spun on Atsuhiro, who shrugged.

"Clearly, he's not leaving anytime soon. What am I to say when the selfless hero decides a girl's life is more important than his own?" He placed his hands on his hips. "If you keep yelling about Boss killing us, Spinner'll keep swerving and Dabi will get sick all over us."

Dabi, who was growing paler by the second, bared his teeth at him. "Fuck off, I get motion sick," he muttered. Then he slammed his hands into the divider just to scream, "Hey, Lizard! Stop weaving or I'll light this whole thing on fire!"

"Don't call me Lizard, asshole!" Spinner retorted. Atsuhiro had the feeling he was now driving poorly on purpose just to make agitate Dabi. It was working.

He sighed and placed a hand on the cheek of his mask, staring at his two idiot colleagues with a strange fondness circling in his chest. He, ridiculously, felt it swell when he saw the exasperated look on Midoriya's face, who was staring at them bicker.

--

Soon enough, Spinner came to a stop, supposedly somewhere near the police station, and ordered twice to open up the back doors for Magne and Himiko to climb back in. 

The dual man did so, still half sobbing about being disintegrated as he welcomed the two women onboard. Then he locked the two doors back up, and Spinner began his drive back to their base.

Himiko, now wrapped in a towel Magne had been carrying for her for when her transformation wore off, looked sad and went to comfort him. Magne quickly diverted her and encouraged her to get dressed before doing anything else.

The girl pouted but complied, and everyone respectfully turned around and waited for her to finish. 

"Did you do your job correctly, crazy?" Dabi questioned. 

In the corner of his eye, Atsuhiro spotted Midoriya gently stroking Eri's cheek with a heartbroken expression. His gaze kept flickering to her tiny, bare, damaged feet and bandaged limbs, each time a stronger anger formed behind his kind eyes.

"Yup! Trust me, the officer I talked to fell for my lies hook, line and sinker! He immediately handed my note to the chief." Himiko beamed back. The sound of rustling clothing hit everyone's ears. "There were about six police cars sent out to investigate with an emergency warrant and everything, as well as two fire trucks because the fire had been spotted by then. Also, I'm done changing."

The moment Himiko announced she was finished reclothing herself, Atsuhiro turned around to fully get a look at the expression on the boy's face.

Midoriya didn't notice, too busy being enraged at the girl's poor conditions. He had such a profound amount of compassion and love for other people.

Smiling to himself, Atsuhiro finally realised that no, he didn't just 'no longer care' that Midoriya was around all of the time. He enjoyed the boy's presence. He found it was vastly refreshing to see such a pure soul in a world full of darkness and despair.

Because even though he was surrounded by villains, the people who had kidnapped him and stolen him from the life he loved, he still made an effort to try and understand them.

More specifically, he'd listened to Twice's story. He didn't pity him, nor did he offer him solace. He'd simply stated the facts; never mind the fact he'd been harsh. Atsuhiro knew Twice didn't mind.

And Himiko? Midoriya was growing more interested in her by the day. Not in a romantic way, Atsuhiro was certain that Midoriya would never return Himiko's feelings, but in a curious way. He seemed genuinely open to learn about her past, about what had led her to where she was today.

And that was more than what most heroes would ever be willing to do.

That's not even mentioning the fact Midoriya was obviously still handling past trauma of his, considering his freak out after Dabi touched him not too long ago. And to top it all off, he has an active anxiety disorder, which everyone had seen earlier that morning.

Watching such a young boy hurt himself in the midst of a panic attack had been stomach twisting, but Midoriya hadn't commented on it since it happened, so neither did anyone else. 

Everyone here understood the feeling of having certain topics they'd rather not get brought up.

"Holy shit, Twice," Dabi groaned after another round of Twice arguing with himself over whether he was going to be killed by Shigaraki. "Congratulations. You fucked up by choosing to put handcuffs on the kid with super strength. We get it. You want a fucking gold star?"

Twice squawked in offense but still stuck his hand out with a wet hiccup, "I'll take ten! And don't forget a box of cigarettes so I can go out happy," he said miserably.

Dabi rolled his eyes at him and everyone else snickered.

Chapter Text

The moment Eri was in his arms, Izuku made it his sole mission to make sure she was going to be as comfortable and safe as possible, through any means necessary.

It was one thing to be certain he wouldn't let the villains hurt Eri.

It was another to suddenly be holding her, frail and unconscious, in his arms in a van full of murderers. The realisation that he truly was responsible for a life, one that wasn't his own, hit him hard.

And this time, it wasn’t like saving Kota and sending him back to his aunt. This wasn’t temporary. This girl had no one. Her safety, her comfort, her livelihood—all of it now rested in his hands.

He didn't know how the League would handle being around a child, but Izuku knew he was going to have to do something about the living conditions the League were currently in, such as the constant lingering smell of cigarettes and the petty knife fights Toga got in with Dabi. 

Izuku did not know how much longer he was going to be forced to stay with the League, but he had to make sure Eri was not living in a constant state of paranoia. Eri would not know a home of violence ever again. At the very least, not the kind directed at her.

If the villains decide to take anything out on Izuku... well, that was another story. He would gladly sacrifice his wellbeing for the fragile girl in his arms.

The moment Spinner announced they had arrived back at the base and the van came to a stop, Izuku rose his guard as high as it could be. He adjusted Eri’s weight in his arms and glanced down at her pale face. He pursed his lips and slowly stood up, keeping his chin held high.

If anyone in the League saw how truly nervous he was to have a new addition to the shitty life he was now living, he feared they would not react well. 

Shigaraki would probably hold it high against his head, just as he did with the fact Izuku had a simmering distaste for being called All Might's successor. And the rest of them would go along with it as they always did.

Eri didn't need to be exposed to that.

One by one, the League filed out of the van, their chatter growing distant as they filtered into the building.

Dabi was the only one who stayed behind. The man crinkled his nose in Izuku's direction before gesturing for him to exit the vehicle first, which meant Izuku would be escorted back into the building by him of all people. Great.

He got out of the back of the van with ease, not looking anywhere but the staircase he had climbed down earlier that day. His feet felt heavy as he dragged them up one step at a time, occasionally adjusting Eri in his hold. 

As he reached the top of the stairs, he glanced over his shoulder.

The League of Villain's base was in an apartment block, one that was familiar to Izuku but not to the point he was able to recognise it completely. He briefly wondered where he had seen it before but was unable to find the answer. He sighed quietly as he stepped inside.

Dabi stepped in after him and slammed the door behind him with a scowl on his face, one Izuku happily fired back at him.

The teenager had nowhere to go. He didn’t have a plan. Running was off the table; even if he could escape with Eri in his arms, there was no guarantee they'd survive it. And if it meant risking her life—no. Absolutely not.

So, with frustration and anxiety heavy in his chest, Izuku crawled back into his booth, pressing himself against the wall and shielding Eri as best he could with his arms.

For the first time in a while, though not nearly long enough in Izuku's opinion, the entire group of villains remained dawdling in the common area. Their gazes burned as usual, but in a prickly and distasteful way rather than the cold fear he was usually left with. 

They were obviously curious about Eri, and unfortunately, Izuku couldn't even be angry about it. He was curious too, more so about her conditions and how he was going to handle the presence of the girl than her herself. 

First things first, she'd need a room. Hell would freeze over completely before the day ever came that Izuku allowed Eri to be living the way he was.

He didn't want Eri to ever second guess herself before going to the bathroom like he had to. He didn't want her under the pressure of being watched every minute of the day. He didn't want her wondering if her food was poisoned before eating it. He was under constant surveillance, without access to a warm bed, and he got accusatory questions fired at him every time he went to the bathroom.

He also had to find a way to get Eri bathed, though he wasn't sure he was up to the task. He'd only done basic medical training at UA, not enough to know how to bathe a potentially injured and emotionally scarred child. But he didn't want villains to do it either.

He'd have to find a solution, fast.

Izuku didn't flinch when he realised Magne was leaning over him, but it was a near thing. He hadn't heard or seen her get so close. "What?" he questioned, pursing his lips as he tried to move away, only to realise he was already as pressed up against the wall as he could be.

Magne peered over her sunglasses with an almost sad look, "You can't have her in your arms forever, little hero."

"I know that," he spat, defensive. He just didn't know where else she could go. No where was safe enough, and he was feeling a panic deep in his gut as he realised he had introduced an innocent little girl to a hostile environment without a plan.

He was so reckless and idiotic, no wonder he was so far behind his classmates. No wonder Kacchan still looked down on him.

Toga popped up over Magne shoulders with a curious look, slightly pouting her lips at Eri. "Where's she gonna go?" she asked. "Oh, she can stay with me—,"

"Absolutely not!" snapped Izuku. His breaths were coming in short bursts, not enough to fill his lungs. Still, he continued to glare at everyone with no intention of backing down.

Magne raised her hands in a surrendering gesture, pressing her lips into a thin line. Toga looked upset at how he lashed out, but Magne whispered something in her ear and suddenly her gaze turned into something akin to sharp curiosity.

Izuku didn't like it. He didn't like any of it, not how close they were, or how stupidly worried Magne looked, and especially not how everyone else watching silently had knowing looks on their faces. What did they think they knew? Were they planning something?

He didn't know, and the uncertainty only made his chest tighter, his lungs heavier. He clung to what little clarity he had and tried to amplify it, but everything was going blurry. 

Someone's voice cut through his haze, but he couldn't make out who it was. "—such proneness to panic attacks."

Izuku froze, blinking rapidly to clear his vision and look at whoever had said it.

Based on where he'd heard it come from, he guessed it had been Mr Compress or Spinner. Furthermore, the awkward stance Compress took while being stared at by Izuku made it obvious who it'd been. Spinner put on a clueless face, but he was obviously in agreeance.

Is that what he'd just been having? A panic attack? He had never really put a label on it, he had never thought to. He just knew that sometimes he got overwhelmed and he hasn't aware of himself when he was.

Still, the realization grounded him just enough to think.

Any bedrooms were out of the question, as there was no way Izuku was going to let Eri sleep in a room with dangerous criminals in it. The bathroom, for obvious reasons, was also not an option. He outright refused to let her sleep in the booth as he'd been. 

However, there was one room that was used the least out of every other.

The kitchen. It was relatively hidden, mostly because no one looks into the kitchen unless they're hungry. But Izuku had seen Spinner swatting people out of the kitchen numerous times because he didn't like it when they poked around and made a mess.

They always found ways in despite the lizard's protests, of course, but for the most part, there was usually no one in there. That was the safest bet Izuku had. 

He grabbed the blanket, the one Toga suspected Dabi had given him, and stood up from the booth. He almost found it laughable when the crowd parted to let him through, not a single person moved to stop him. They all stared at him warily, but what was he going to do with a girl and a blanket in his hands?

He walked into the kitchen, mostly unfamiliar with it as he'd only seen glances while making his way into the bathroom, and picked a spot. He chose in front of the refrigerator against the back wall, deciding it was the best place for her to go.

He carefully shuffled her onto his left leg as he crouched and made a nest-like structure with the blanket, which was large enough to make it comfortable for such a small girl.

As he slowly and gently placed her in the pile, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. He didn't turn around, worried that if he did he would accidentally punch them in the face. His tempers were high.

"Take a shower, little hero," said Magne. He could tell she was standing a few feet away from him, likely pondering whether to go all the way up to him.

Izuku dragged a tired hand down his face, "I want to stay with her," he answered.

She made a sound of acknowledgement. "I understand that, but I think it would be best if you refresh yourself before the girl wakes up. Do you want her to notice the sweat you're covered in?" Her question was not unkind, merely pointing out he wasn't in any condition to be watching over Eri.

He looked down at his sweat covered shirt, wondering when it had become like that. Possibly during the panic attack he'd been having, right? Now that he was in his right mind, he did find a distaste in how gross his skin felt. 

Distantly, he could hear Shigaraki discussing with Mr Compress over the issue of Overhaul, who was apparently still trapped in the latter's marble.

"Twice has already laid out your clothing," Magne continued, obviously trying to push him further into the decision. 

Izuku sighed. "You mean he stole more of Shigaraki's clothing?"

"Nah, three sets of Boss's clothes is more than enough," she snickered. Izuku didn't share the humour.

He stood up slowly, glancing over his shoulder one last time before making his way to the bathroom. As always, the gazes that followed him sent chills down his spine. But this time, he was willing to shove aside his feelings toward it. He needed to focus on Eri.

He wouldn't ever admit it, but Magne had been right. A warm shower seemed like it was all he needed in the world. He took his time as he scrubbed the harsh day of paranoia from his skin, then soothed soap into his hair and felt the suds flow down his back with the water.

He stepped out and redressed himself. He cautiously glanced into the mirror, then did a double take at what he saw.

His eyebags weren't just better, they were almost gone! The skin beneath his eyes were still a bit darker, but it wouldn't be noticeable if you weren't paying attention. 

His gaze was still as dark as it had been the last time he'd looked in the mirror. He didn't recognise who he was looking at, because he knew it wasn't at the boy who flinched at his classmates' gazes. The boy he saw in the reflection looked... unafraid. 

Izuku had thought that being stuck with the League of Villains was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. 

But now he was alone with himself, he supposed he could admit that wasn't true. For one, there was no one ever disappointed in him. In fact, he seemed to impress everyone easily in the League. 

Everyone here always listened to him. His concerns were never dismissed, even if the replies he got were rude. The people here, particularly Mr Compress and Magne, always seemed genuinely interested in everything he had to say.

And the respect he was shown increased ever since he saved Magne from Overhaul.

Overall, if he looked past the fact he was still their captive and that he was being deprived of outside communication and sunlight, life with the League wasn't half bad. The comfort wasn't as good as it had been at UA, but the leisure was.

Izuku took one last look at the boy in the reflection before heading out of the bathroom. He paused with one foot out the door as he saw Spinner cautiously looking around the kitchen from the doorway. 

"What the hell are you doing?" he called out, hiding a smirk when the villains flinched at his voice. He pushed past the crowd that had been watching Spinner and then sized him up. He didn't care that the lizard was nearly three inches taller than him.

Spinner glared at him, "The girl is gone, hero. I was looking for—,"

Izuku shoved him out of the way without another word. His eyes landed on the empty heap of blankets where he had left Eri. She really was gone.

He forced himself to breathe, slow and deep, even as his mind tried to tip into panic.

What did they teach him at U.A. again?

Assess. Think. Prioritize.

If Spinner was just now looking for her, then she hadn’t been missing long. And judging by the cluster of bodies still hovering by the kitchen door, she hadn’t left through there. Izuku doubted she'd think to hide in the cupboards.

So, he checked the last place reasonable for such a small girl. 

He slowly looked in the corner of the refrigerator and saw two little feet sticking out from behind it. He gave a small smile at how smart she had been, not hiding in plain sight. She'd chosen behind the fridge where she knew she wouldn't be spotted easily.

"Eri," he softly called out, crouching to the side of the refrigerator.

He saw the feet disappear, likely her realising she'd been spotted. A pang of empathy hit Izuku's chest. He knew how scared she was feeling. He'd been in her exact position not too long ago.

"It's okay to come out, Eri. It's Midoriya. Do you remember me? I met you not too long ago and we played a game together."

Izuku didn't get a reply. But, after about ten seconds of silence, a terrified face peeked around the corner. He didn't move, careful not to frighten her. But he did smile warmly in greeting, making sure she knew he wasn't angry.

He could hear shuffling behind him, which he figured was either Spinner leaving or people coming into the kitchen.

The weakest voice came from behind the fridge, "...The hand game?"

Izuku beamed at her. "Yes! We measured how tall you were with my hands." He watched her lean slightly further out, analysing his face and looking for something. When she didn't find it, her scared looked turned into something worried.

"Is he here?"

She didn't need to say his name for Izuku to understand who she was talking about. Rage bubbled beneath his skin toward Overhaul, but he managed to keep it at bay for her sake.

Izuku shook his head softly, keeping his gaze soft and locked on hers, "No, he's not here. He'll never touch you again, Eri," he swore, and he meant it. He'd sooner become a murderer than let her in his sight ever again.

It took a bit more convincing, but eventually Eri found the courage to come out on the conditions that Izuku showed her around to see he wasn't here.

She slowly crawled out of the tight space, but as soon as she looked behind him, she paled.

Izuku felt his heart drop when he noticed her take a step back. He looked over his shoulder and had to actually fight the urge to smash someone into the wall when he saw all of the League, except for Shigaraki and Kurogiri, behind him watching her.

To Eri, they were probably the scariest people she'd ever laid eyes on. They had an intimidating presence, so he couldn't blame her.

"No, no," Izuku quickly said, reaching out a hand for her to take. "These are the friends I mentioned, remember? They're leaving now," he said with a sharp glare to them. "And they wouldn't dare to hurt you."

At least not with him around. He knew they were all aware of his habit of taking nosedives into danger to protect people. They knew he wouldn't hesitate to kick ass if any of them tried anything.

When Eri didn't seem convinced, Izuku turned around, "Leave. Everyone, go into your rooms." Then he took a moment's pause. "Magne and Spinner, I need you two to go out into the bar area and wait with Shigaraki."

He tried to keep his desperateness out of his voice, but it slipped through and he could see that everyone else caught onto it. He pursed his lips, glaring at the curious and hateful looks he was getting. A sigh escaped him when, finally, everyone went to do as he said.

"M-Midoriya?" Eri's frightened tone reached his ears. 

Izuku turned around and gave her a smile, "You can just call me Izuku, Eri," he told her. He would have offered for her to call him Deku, but he didn't want her to just see him as a hero doing his job. He wanted her to see him as a person she could rely on.

"Izuku... are you sure he's not here?"

"Yes, sweet girl." He didn't take his hand back, patiently waiting for her to take it. "That man is gone," he lied. Overhaul was in Compress's marble. "I'll even show you around to prove it, okay? My weird friends are here, as well as that blue-haired man you met with me. That's it."

Eri cautiously placed her small palm on top of his, then emerged fully out of the space she'd wedged herself into and let him walk her out of the kitchen.

As they were walking, as slowly as Eri wanted as Izuku was matching her pace, he explained how she had gotten there. How he'd meant good on his promise that he'd be back for her, and the fire was just to get her out so he could save her.

She seemed sceptical, and Izuku couldn't blame her. He imagined she'd been surrounded by adults, not kids her age, for as long as she could remember.

Izuku knew better than anyone how much adults loved to lie. It was his number one rule for himself, after all. Never trust adults.

Eri's pace slowed even further when she spotted the trio waiting for her in the bar area. Shigaraki and Spinner were threatening by default, and Magne's brooding figure wasn't anything Eri was used to.

She took a step back and Izuku saw her start to tremble.

He quickly dropped to his knees in front of her, temporarily blocking her view. He put on the charming smile he'd used to calm down Kota, hoping it would work for her as well. "It's okay. They're my friends, remember? They would never hurt you, I swear it."

"How can you be so sure?" Her voice was smaller than a whisper and she anxiously glanced around. Izuku recognised the patterns. She was looking for other threats to shield herself away from.

"Well, I've lived with them for nearly a month now, so I think that counts for something, right? They haven't done anything to hurt me. In fact, they've helped me more than once." The words felt heavy on his tongue.

"Like when you hurt your finger?" Eri hesitated as she looked at his hand, which was resting on his knee. But Izuku held his hand out and let her inspect it with the slightest bit of curiosity setting her features alight. It was a welcome difference to fear.

He nodded, his smile nearly faltering. However, he had enough practice with faking reassuring smile to keep it plastered. "Yeah. It still hurts to move sometimes, but it's a lot better."

"How else did they help you?" she asked, turning her attention away from his hand and looking for any other visible injuries. 

Izuku lifted his chin and pointed to his neck, where most of the bruising was gone but the skin was still swollen and tender. "I had some pretty nasty bruises and scratches here, but you can't even tell, huh?" He chuckled lightly.

Eri shook her head, looking a little impressed. Her lack of emotion worried him, but he didn't let it show. "What about these? What are they for?" she asked, reaching out to tap one of the handcuffs.

Izuku blinked. He’d forgotten they were still on his wrists. They’d broken when he’d caught her in the van, but he hadn’t thought to actually take them off.

"Oh, these?" he said, forcing a sheepish smile. He snapped the remains off easily and tossed them aside. "Don’t worry about it." He took her hand again and stood up. "You ready?"

She gave a shaky nod and avoided eye contact, but her steps were a little more stable now. As they approached the others, Izuku swept a sharp glare across the three waiting villains in warning. Shigaraki snarled at him in response, Magne grinned, and Spinner rolled his eyes indifferently.

Izuku knelt back down next to Eri, allowing her to half hide behind his body as he spoke. "This is the most common area. A lot of my friends come out here to hang out sometimes. Do you remember Shigaraki?" he gestured to the man.

Shigaraki managed to keep most of his disgust out of his face, replacing it with a relatively blank expression as he regarded Eri. 

Eri audibly gulped and Izuku silently sighed at the man's poor attempt at not scaring her. 

"This man here is Spinner," he moved on, hoping to undo whatever damage Shigaraki had done being an insufferable asshole. "He looks kinda scary, but he's really not." Izuku was glad he'd taken off his weapons. "He'll be making most of the yummy food you'll be eating, okay?"

He looked over his shoulder at her and saw her licking her lips, her dull eyes wide. "Will I get sandwiches?" she asked. The moment the words came out, she looked worried she'd done something wrong. Her hand slapped over her mouth and she looked ready to bolt.

Izuku smiled at her, and he felt his heart break at how confused she looked at it. When was the last time someone had treated her like the child she was? "Sure, sweet girl. Is there any particular reason you want sandwiches?" he asked brightly.

Eri nodded, clutching the fabric of her oversized shirt in a nervous way, the same way he did when under All Might's scrutiny. "I only eat chicken broth. And stiff vegetables. But when I’m good… I get sandwiches." She lowered her voice. “The bread is really soft.”

Stiff vegetables? Izuku hoped she didn't mean frozen ones. "You'll get loads of sandwiches. Right, Spinner?" He turned to Spinner, who was becoming increasingly flustered under the silent pressure of a traumatised child’s expectant stare.

"U-uhm, right. Sure, whatever you want, kid."

Eri gazed upon his green scales with a fascination that she tried to hide. She had been so mistreated that she was afraid to show she was interested in something. That sandwiches were a reward. 

Izuku rubbed his hands over his face, trying hard not to get angry.

He had never before wanted to give in to his urges. But as the image of Overhaul dying beneath his bare hands became vivid in the front of his mind, he found he enjoyed what he saw. He welcomed it, even. The revelation was as terrifying as it was exhilarating. 

Magne caught Eri's attention by kneeling down in front of Izuku, smiling warmly and taking off her sunglasses. "Would you like to see through them, little lady?" she asked.

Izuku gently nodded at Eri, who had immediately looked to him for approval. "This is Magne. She'll be helping me take care of you sometimes." 

Magne wasn't ideal, but she was the nicest and most stable person out of the League. 

Izuku had been watching her for the last couple of days, observing her mannerisms and deciding if she was the best choice for help. From what he had seen, Magne genuinely respected him. He had a feeling it was because he saved her life. That same factor was why Izuku was gaining her help. She was technically indebted to him and obviously liked kids.

And the only reason Spinner was trusted to make her meals was because he hadn't poisoned the food yet and he also respected Izuku. Though it was only because Stain had sung his praises, it still counted. Maybe Izuku would even look to him for some cooking skills.

One day.

As Izuku watched Eri peek through the sunglasses, gasping at the orange tint it put over everything, he decided that he was going to make the shitty arrangements work for her no matter what. She was his priority now, not himself. 

That also meant that he would have to dial back on pissing off Shigaraki and Dabi lest he enraged them enough for them to end Eri's life like they had to those schoolboys when he used his quirk. 

"Hero," Spinner called. Izuku looked up at him. "She needs a bath," he said, not unkindly. "And some new clothing."

Izuku glanced behind him at where Eri and Magne were eagerly discussing the woman's sunglasses. Eri's bandaged limbs and ratty shirt made his chest ache. "I know," he whispered. "I just don't know how to handle this." The confession felt like it took a lifetime out of him. 

He looked back at Spinner and saw the pained expression on his face, which confused him. 

"It's lucky that Stain recognised your good heart, little hero," he muttered. The lizard man threw a hand across his eyes and groaned as if he was dreading the words coming from his mouth. "But... I suppose I can help you out, if that's what you need," he said through gritted teeth.

Izuku stared at him in shock for a few awkward moments. Was this Spinner accepting him? What the hell was going on right now?! "You mean, like, with Eri?" he questioned, still in disbelief. 

Spinner glanced at Shigaraki, who looked frighteningly stoic, before answering. "I'll help you with the girl, yes." 

"But why?!" Izuku shot up onto his feet, looking frantically for any clue as to what was happening on his face.

Spinner sputtered and... was that a bit of red Izuku spotted on his cheeks? Why the hell was he getting flustered and embarrassed? "Ugh, for fuck's sake! I don't know, okay?! Either take the offer or leave it, dammit!" 

From behind them, Shigaraki let out a long-suffering groan and rolled his eyes so hard Izuku thought they might get stuck. "I don’t care what you idiots decide, just get on with it before I turn both of you into dust." His hands twitched at his sides like he was seriously considering it.

Izuku narrowed his eyes and imagined him killing himself with decay. The mental image felt a little too satisfying, and he quickly blinked it away and turned back to Spinner. "Okay, fine. Where is Eri going to be sleeping? No way it's out here." 

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"...Didn't you just say you're going to help me and her out?"

"I mean yeah, but I meant with things like cooking her food or whatever."

Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no reason to lash out, especially not with Shigaraki staring him down with daring eyes. "Just say anywhere she can go. I don't care where as long as it isn't with one of you or out here."

Spinner tilted his head in thought, then turned to Shigaraki. "There's the spare room across from Dabi's," he suggested. "There isn't a window for the hero to escape out of, just a roof light, so the girl probably won't get claustrophobic."

Shigaraki shrugged one shoulder. "I'm not responsible for where the brat sleeps. It could be in the bathtub for all I care."

Then why the hell are you here, Izuku wanted to ask. Instead, he considered Spinner's offer. "Which room is that?" he asked.

"The one on the left at the end of the hallway."

Sounded good to Izuku. He would find a way to make it work, no matter what. Eri would be treated like a normal girl here, he would make sure of it.

Magne grinned brightly at Eri, who stared at it like it was a puzzle. The poor girl had seemed so terrified of everything here at first, but when Magne was able to slightly pull her to the side and explain whatever she was concerned about, she opened up a bit.

There were still no signs of a smile or an expression that showed through anything other than her eyes, which was concerning, but Magne supposed it would be something they could work on as she spent more time here.

"Why are they yelling?" Eri asked, gesturing shakily toward Midoriya and Spinner.

Magne turned around to see, heard them arguing about Spinner offering help of all things, and rolled her eyes at them before turning back to face her. "They aren't angry, little lady. That's just what they do sometimes, they raise their voices for the silliest reasons."

Eri nodded like she understood, but the woman could tell she was still sceptical. "Then, what about him?" She had pointed her tiny finger at Shigaraki, who was staring at Midoriya and Spinner with thoughtful eyes rather than outright disdainful.

Magne hoped that meant that Shigaraki was beginning to accept Midoriya like the rest of them had, save for Dabi as usual. "Boss just likes to hang around sometimes," she shrugged. "There isn't much about him other than he likes to say stuff he doesn't really mean."

Like threatening to murder someone with his quirk. But she didn't need to know that.

"Are they nice, like Izuku said?" She stared up at Magne with her tiny, terrified eyes gleaming. "Like you are?"

Magne decided right then and there she would kill for this little girl. "Here, everyone is a bit different. Izuku is the nicest out of us, while Dabi and Shigaraki are probably the meanest. Everyone else is sitting in between."

Eri nodded and didn't ask any further questions. 

Midoriya came over then, bending over so he was at eye level with Eri. "I'm going to go set up your room now, okay?" He gently placed his hand on the back of her head with a kind smile. "Would you like to wait out here or take a bath?"

Eri considered his words for a moment. "My room?" 

"Yes. No one else is allowed in there unless you say so, alright? You'll never have to worry about intruders."

She nodded but stared down at the floor. Magne recognised the action to be the girl thinking about something but unable to voice it. Magne could feel a deep, unbridled rage settle in her gut toward Overhaul. Oh, the things she would do if she ever got her hands on that man... 

Midoriya picked up on it as well. She saw something dangerous flash across his eyes before they settled into something much sweeter. Magne wondered where he got the skills to flick through emotion like that.

She wondered about a lot of things when it came to Midoriya. Like his scars, his attitude, his observations skills, his past... but she had a feeling if she waited long enough, one day he would open up completely. She hoped it was sometime soon.

"What's wrong, Eri? Is something bothering you?" he asked.

The girl shook her head but didn't look up. Her toes fiddled nervously, and her hands moved to behind her back. Clearly, something was upsetting her. 

The boy, however, took her silence in stride. He moved his hand to gently cup her cheek and lifted her head. She continued to look anywhere but at him, but he didn't seem to mind. "I promise, sweet girl. You can say whatever is on your mind and no one here is going to be angry."

Eri swallowed. "You're not lying?" Her small voice made Magne want to bawl. 

"No, I would never."

She finally looked at him, but she still hesitated for short while before speaking again. "I just—I wanted you to be with me, Izuku." she stuttered. Her eyes immediately went wide and searched desperately for any sign in Midoriya's face that she'd done something wrong.

Midoriya beamed at her. "Oh, of course! If you wanna share a room, I'm all for it."

Her shoulders relaxed instantly. "Really? For real life?" Magne smiled at her grammar. She was glad the girl still had some childish aspects to her.

"For real life," he assured her. His thumb swiped across her cheek once before he pulled back. "Why don't I get started on our room then, and you can get all cleaned up with Magne." Midoriya looked at the woman, who nodded in agreeance. 

She had experience in helping clean kids. In her home neighbourhood, most parents were too poor to do much but work. Adults were always too busy putting food on the table to do much for their young, and when Magne was old enough to help, she did.

That all changed when she came out as transgender, unfortunately. Especially after coming out with the name Magne and beginning her transition. Parents shut her out, and naturally their kids did, too. It still hurt to think about, but she didn't dwell on the past.

So, Magne could confidently assist Eri in cleaning her. Hopefully the girl knew the basics, though Magne had a feeling she would be helping out with washing her hair and under her bandages at the least. 

"Do you mind if I introduce her to Toga so she can assist?" Magne asked Midoriya. She really just wanted another companion with her so that if Magne got overwhelmed by Eri's scars, which Midoriya had warned her about, she could be murderous in the corner while Toga took over.

He seemed surprised but nodded eagerly. "Sure. It'll be better for her to get to know Toga sooner than later, anyway."

Magne grinned at him. He really was coming out of his shell, faster and shining brighter than she could have ever imagined. "But first, little hero, go show Eri around so she can get her bearings." She stood up and stretched her arms over her head.

Midoriya nodded, carefully reaching out to grab Eri's hand. "Let's go!"

Eri nodded with a bit more confidence now that her saviour was with her again. Their bond was already so cute.

Chapter Text

Izuku watched with uncertainty as Magne knocked on what must have been Toga's door. There was a few seconds where nothing happened, and Izuku's grip on Eri's miniscule hands tightened.

When the door opened, Toga came out with a half pout. "I was doing something, big sis," she whined. "Something super-duper amazing and important!"

Magne rolled her eyes playfully and gently nudged Toga's shoulder. "We all know you were just staring creepily into your shrine," she teased. "Midoriya's agreed to let you help give the girl a bath." She gestured to Izuku and Eri.

Toga's mouth popped open, then twisted into a grin. "Sure! I'd love to help out that little cutie!" she squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly. 

Izuku wasn't sure how to feel about her eager agreeance. On one hand, it would be great to not only have an extra hand to help with Eri, but also get her comfortable with the others. On the other hand, Toga was... well. She was Toga. He had zero idea how any of this was going to fan out.

Eri gently tugged on his hand. He looked to her and nodded kindly. "Is she your friend?" she asked. She had the slightest tremble in her bottom lip. 

"She is. You don't have to be scared of anyone here," he swore confidently. Izuku slowly got to his knees and cupped both of her cheeks. His chest ached when he leaned into his touch after a moment's hesitation. "If they do upset you in anyway, they'll be answering to me. And no one wants that, okay? So, you don't have to worry."

Eri gave a jerky nod but didn't look entirely convinced just yet. That was fine, they still had a long way to go. Izuku was certain they would have plenty of time to build true trust between them.

"What's down that hallway?" she suddenly questioned, already moved on. He supposed that was normal for young children; their minds worked a million miles a minute.

Izuku stood back up and grabbed her hand again. "Don't worry about it, sweet girl." In all honesty, he wasn't sure himself. There was the assumption the doors all led to bedrooms, but then again, they were the League of Villains. Anything was a possibility. "Come, let me show you the bathroom."

Eri let Izuku lead her into the hallway and then the bathroom. As she walked into the room, she looked astounded. "This... is so big!" she breathed, awestruck. "There—there's even a bathtub!" She looked at Izuku with an 'are you seeing this?' expression. 

He wondered if she thought it was big because of how small she herself was, or if she'd genuinely never seen a bathroom of this size. Izuku hoped it wasn't the second option considering the bathroom was moderately cramped.

It seemed every time the girl opened her mouth, Izuku gained another reason to want to hurt Overhaul. He held back a minor wince when his brain summoned another gruesome image, apparently agreeing. He couldn't say he wasn't inclined to draw out the vision a little longer.

Regardless, Izuku beamed at her. "That's right!" He turned and nearly jolted out of his skin when Spinner suddenly appeared from behind him. How long had he been there? He stared at him incredulously. "Can I help you?" he questioned. He wasn't sure he appreciated being so close to the villain.

Spinner gave him an unimpressed look. "Does she even know how to use anything in this room?" He gestured to the sink, toilet and shower.

That was a good question. Izuku looked down at Eri and gave his best warm smile, the kind he reserved for his friends at school when he didn't want anyone noticing how bad of a mood he was in. "Eri, sweet girl, do you know how to use everything in here?"

Eri stared at him for a few moments, her eyebrows twitching in thought. "I know how to use the toilet and wash my hands." Her voice turned shy and her head hung low. Izuku knelt down, keeping his expression tender enough for her to regain her confidence.

"It's alright. No one is going to get mad, and believe me when I say we would be the last people to judge anything you tell me." Izuku's grin turned sheepish. He went how many days without showering when he first arrived? Not to mention Izuku scarcely saw Shigaraki, Spinner or Dabi go into the bathroom.

Eri nodded once, but didn't look anymore ready. Still, Izuku watched with pride and she took a deep breath and spoke quietly. "I need help washing. Especially after he takes my skin, when it's sore." 

Izuku's lips pursed and his entire face twitched with the need to show some kind of anger. What the fuck was he hearing? "That's okay. That's why we'll have Magne and Toga to help you. You won't need to worry about anything."

"Are you sure they're nice? They won't be hurtful, will they?" Eri asked with glistening eyes. She'd never looked so small. He could only assume that meant whoever had been helping bathe her before injured her injuries and scrubbed her without care. 

"Eri, they would never hurt you, okay? I swear it, and I'm not lying." Izuku didn't care how many times he had to say it; he was going to make sure she believed it. "Never. We can even help you learn how to wash yourself, so you won't have anyone with you anymore."

Her eyes widened then narrowed. "I-is that possible? I can do that?"

Spinner cursed, slapping a hand over his face. "Of course you can! I swear, when I get my hands on Overhaul I'll rip—,"

Izuku flicked the back of his thigh and made him yelp. He bargained on the fact Spinner wouldn't hurt or threaten him with Eri there. "What he means, is that yes, you can. You can do anything you want, sweet girl."

Eri frowned at him. "You keep calling me that. What about my name? Have you forgotten, Izuku?"

He paused, unsure how to respond to that. How did one go about explaining nicknames? "It's a term that comes from my heart. I know your name, Eri. But because you're special to me, I want to give you another name."

"I like it."

He smiled. "That's wonderful," he breathed. He felt immense relief flood through his body. "Now, shall I introduce you to Toga? I don't think you've met yet." He stood back up and took Eri's hand, brushing past a glaring Spinner. He felt some self-satisfaction knowing the lizard couldn't retaliate.

Toga and Magne were waiting for them out in the common area.

To his surprise, he realised as they got closer to them that Toga wasn't blushing. He'd never seen her neutral face, but it wasn't a bad difference. Shigaraki was nowhere to be seen, which Izuku supposed was a good thing. 

He gently released Eri's hands and sat on the ground next to her for support, but he let her step forward on her own.

Toga wasted no time making herself known. She crouched down to Eri’s level and offered both hands eagerly. "Hiyya there! I’m Toga!" she sang, catching Eri’s little fingers in her own and stroking the backs of her hands lightly. "You’ve got such soft hands! Aren’t they the cutest, Magne?"

Magne beamed behind Toga and nodded eagerly. "She's a real cutie, for sure."

Eri blinked, clearly thrown off by the whirlwind of energy before her. But instead of pulling back, she let her hands rest in Toga’s, her lips pressing together as if she wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

"You don’t have to be scared," Toga coaxed warmly, her eyes glimmering with a mix of cheer and mischief that always made Izuku wary. "We’re gonna make bath time fun, okay? Like bubbles kind of fun! I managed to convince my friend Jin to get ya some earlier."

That definitely meant Twice had stolen it. Only, Izuku couldn't remember when the duo man had left to go get said solution. 

To Izuku’s relief, Eri responded within a few moments. "I-I like bubbles," she admitted, barely louder than a whisper.

Toga gasped, as though she’d just received the best news in the world. "Me too! Oh, you and I are going to get along so well!" she squealed, rocking back on her heels before steadying herself again so as not to spook the girl.

Izuku found himself releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

For once, Toga’s relentless extroversion was exactly what they needed. Eri’s shoulders loosened, and she even added another timid sentence or two about how she used to like bath toys, though her voice dipped at the memory. He didn't want to wonder what that meant.

It was the most he’d heard her say to anyone else so far, and it made his chest ache with gratitude.

Eventually, Eri’s big eyes turned curious again. She turned around and tugged at Izuku’s sleeve. He nodded for her to continue, and she pointed toward the hallway. "What’s all the way down there, Izuku?"

Izuku hesitated, following her gaze. That stretch of hallway always felt heavier, as though something dangerous was waiting. "Apart from our room, I’m... not sure,” he admitted carefully. "I wasn’t allowed down there until now."

Eri tilted her head, her brows knitting. “Why not? Did you get in trouble if you go?” She didn't seem to realise how off her sentences were sometimes. Izuku though it was cute.

"It’s not really about me getting in trouble, sweet girl. It’s just that people like their privacy. Those rooms belong to others, and it wouldn’t be right for me to go poking around where I don’t belong." He smoothed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "But you don’t have to worry about what happens to me. That’s my problem, not yours. You just focus on being safe and comfortable, okay?"

She gave a little nod, her curiosity only half-satisfied. Izuku had never really been interested by the prospect of children, but the immense number of emotions he was feeling toward her was quickly changing his mind.

Magne closed the door behind her, hearing the soft click of it shutting. She slowly knelt in front of Eri so they were at eye level. "You don’t mind if me and Toga help you bathe, little lady? You're allowed to say no if you’re uncomfortable."

Eri fiddled with the hem of her sleeve nervously. Her eyes flicked toward Toga, who was already bouncing toward the tub, fiddling with the handles as if running a bath was anything exciting. She was so good with children, it was almost impressive. No one in the League could have ever guessed.

Eri looked back at Magne. Her lips pressed into a thin line. "It’s fine," she said, almost too softly to hear. Goodness, such a cute little thing she was.

Magne tilted her head slightly, searching her face for any clues of discomfort. She didn't find much, but she could tell the little lady was still iffy about this whole thing. "If you’re sure..."

"I’m sure," Eri whispered.

Toga beamed, clapping her hands together as water thundered into the tub. "Great! We’ll make it all nice and warm, promise. Oh! Bubbles, bubbles, we need bubbles." She tore through the cabinet under the sink, muttering to herself until she found a cheap bottle of bubble bath solution and held it up like treasure.

Magne remembered Toga playing a game of 'catch the knife and don't lose a finger' to convince Twice to steal the solution. It involved Twice pegging three knives at Toga at random times of the day without warning. If she caught all of them, she won. If she lost a finger, he won and didn't have to steal it.

It was a silly game they had come up with, particularly because Toga's knife skills were miraculous. She could catch, throw, juggle and slice expertly well. Not to mention if the girl had actually lost her finger playing, Boss would have decayed one of Twice's as retribution. 

Eri looked at the bubble solution with dull wonder. She had the expressions of a middle-aged man. Her emotions were barely ever showing on her face, which was not at all normal. Magne didn't want to imagine the things someone so young had gone through to get to such a point.

She smiled at Eri like all was fine in the world. "The bath fills up pretty quickly, so why don't you take a seat on the toilet lid and I can help you take off all of those bandages," she offered. Eri looked behind her sceptically. "Don't worry, everything is squeaky clean. It was my turn this week to clean in here."

"What if you don't like my scars?"

Magne bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from cursing out Overhaul. "Everyone here has some scars, little lady. Believe me, I'd be the last person to ever judge you for your skin." She carefully took Eri's hands into her own and gave them a squeeze.

The girl's dreary red eyes searched carefully inside of Magne's. The woman was glad to have taken off her sunglasses. Finally, Eri turned and made her way to the toilet. She sat on the closed lid and scooted herself all the way back so her legs dangled.

Magne beamed at her and shuffled so she was kneeling in front of the toilet. "Thank you, Eri! Now, you let me know if this is going too fast for you, okay? I understand how overwhelmed you must be feeling, so just give me a heads up when you're ready to take off the bandages." 

Eri blinked a couple of times. "I don't understand."

"Hm? What's confusing you?"

"What does 'overwhelming' and 'heads up' mean?" she asked. Her legs were swinging slightly, and if not for the horrifying words coming out of her mouth, she was the picture of a normal little girl. 

Magne's jaw dropped, and Toga's head whipped around. "Big sis, do we know how long she's been around Overhaul? If it's her whole life... she's too deprived of the outside world." Toga bit her lip. her canines flashing. "She doesn't understand simple slang!"

Earlier, when Eri's grammar had been incorrect, Magne had smiled and thought it was cute she could still be childish. But what if in reality, she just never had anyone to teach her?

Eri looked between them, and suddenly, tears welled in her eyes. Magne sputtered, unsure of what to do. "I remember," she breathed out. A hiccup erupted from her and Magne pulled her into an embrace. She felt the small child tremble in her arms.

"Oh, oh." Magne gently ran her hands through her hair, carefully prying any tangles apart with her hands. "What's gotten the poor princess so upset, hm? What's wrong?"

"I remember. My-my Da, he was playing with me, but then my horn itched and he was gone." Eri stuffed her face into Magne's neck, who didn't mind the slobber getting all over her. "My Ma was so upset, and then she took me to Granda, who was nice." She sobbed openly now.

Magne looked to her right and saw Toga with a murderous gleam in her eyes. Slowly, she reached down and pulled out a knife from her shoe. "Should I?" she whispered, making a stabbing motion in the air. 

"We will," the woman promised in a returned murmur. "But not now."

Eri sniffled. "But then he said Granda was going away like my Ma, and he started to take me into that room. I hated it, but if I said no, he'd throw me to the ground and say he would hurt someone else!"

It didn't take long for Magne to realise when Eri said 'he', she was referring to Overhaul.

It would seem Overhaul was not Eri's biological dad. Had he murdered her grandfather, who took her in after she was disowned, to get to her? Had her quirk done something to her dad?

Magne pulled back enough to take Eri's tear streaked cheeks into her hands. She gently wiped her eyes. "Nothing that man did was your fault, Eri. You were such a brave girl that whole time. You did so well." Eri's eyes welled again. "Oh, dear. It's okay now."

Eri nodded and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Izuku saved me, right?"

Magne smiled. "He did. We don't call him 'hero' for nothing, you know. You should have seen how persistent he was to get you back." She wiped another tear away from Eri's eye. "He would do anything for you. And so would I, and so would Toga."

Toga grinned wickedly. "If anyone else gives you trouble, tell me! Big sis Himiko will set them straight!"

"Big... sis Himiko?" Eri questioned, her swollen face scrunching.

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "That's me!" she declared loudly. "I'll be your sister from now on. So that means if anyone hurts you, I get to kick their butt!"

"The same goes for me, little lady," Magne assured. "Big sis Magne will always have your back, no matter what it's for or who it's against." This child had lost too much, and Magne would do anything to help her get her life back.

Sure, a base full of villains wasn't ideal. But it was the best they had, and they would be giving Eri the childhood she deserved, one bubble bath at a time.

"Okay, big sis Magne," Eri tested the words in her mouth slowly. "I've never had a sister before."

Toga squealed. "And I've never been someone's sister! That makes it more exciting, doesn't it?"

Magne's chest ached at how ecstatic Toga was. She'd never seen her like this. No one in the League knew much about each other, but for all the open book she was, Toga was the most mysterious. Apart from Dabi, of course. They knew little to nothing about her past.

Looking at her face, crinkled with the force of her smile, Magne realised Toga was the happiest she'd ever seen her. To think, Magne hadn't even known Toga could have smile lines so deep. She felt a little pathetic that it had taken a child to bring out this side of Toga.

Eri's eyes widened a bit. "You haven't? Never ever?"

Toga grinned mightily and wrapped Eri's pinkie with her own. "Never ever. We all get to experience new things! Isn't this fun, big sis?" She turned to Magne, who smirked. 

"Sure is. And after this, we get to have lots of more fun harassing the hell out of Spinner." She snorted into her hand. "Have you seen how awkward he is around the little lady? Talk about embarrassing."

The teenage girl giggled with her. Eri looked between them thoroughly confused, but the light in her eyes suggested she was enjoying herself. Her tiny pinkie remained in Toga's hold, and she didn't seem to mind the prolonged contact.

Magne had initially been sure it would take weeks to get her to this point. However, Toga was exactly what Eri needed. She was bubbly and encouraging in all the right ways. She wasn't being too pushy with Eri, keeping her distance mostly, but was still helping the girl warm up to the new environment.

Magne had never known her to like kids. She hadn't ever expressed joy for being around them, and Magne had had to lecture Toga for suggesting to take a child's blood more than once. But she so effortlessly got Eri, the abused six year old, comfortable enough with them to allow Magne to hug her like she does Midoriya.

That was a massive leap considering minutes ago Eri had been questioning whether or not they were nice people. How had she done it? Magne had been here the whole time and felt like she'd missed it.

"Okie, bath is all done!" Toga shuffled away and turned off the tap. She rolled up her sleeves all the way and dunked both hands in, guffawing loudly at the splashing in an attempt to ease some of Eri's tension. "Perfect! Not too warm or too cold for the little lady!"

Eri walked over to the tub, which only went up to her hip, and stuck her hand in. She gasped in awe. "It's so nice!" Toga smiled and handed her the bubble solution, helping her pour it in. Eri's eyes lit up brighter than ever as she and Toga swirled their hands in the water to watch the bubbles rise.

"Lemme go get your towel and washcloth ready." Toga stood up and opened up the cabinet under the sink. The sound of her moving things around echoed in the bathroom.

Magne helped Eri back onto the toilet lid, carefully lifting her under her armpits and placing her back down. "You can get in there in a moment, okay? First, we need to take off your shirt, then your bandages. Is that okay?"

Eri nodded, but the way her knuckles sat white on her knees said otherwise.

"It's okay to take your time, kiddo. No one's going to hurt you."

Eri slowly took off her shirt and revealed near translucent skin. She wasn't exactly underweight, but she was close. Too close. Magne pursed her lips and took the rag of a shirt from the girl's hands, planning to throw it out later. She set it to the side for the time being.

"Would you like some help with the rest?" she asked kindly. Eri nodded once. Magne got to work immediately.

As the bandages fell away, layer after layer, the raw truth of Overhaul’s cruelty revealed itself. Angry, jagged scars patterned Eri’s pale skin. Some were faded, old wounds healed without care. Others were raw, pink and nasty looking. They covered her arms and legs.

Eri curled in on herself the moment the last strip of gauze hit the floor. Her chin tucked to her chest, arms hugging her ribs as though she could fold inwards and disappear. Embarrassment flushed across her face, and her little body trembled.

Magne inhaled sharply. She could feel Toga hovering behind her, likely thinking the same things she was.

Kai Chisaki didn't deserve a simple death. 

He deserved something long and horrible. He deserved to be tortured for days on end. Magne wanted him to feel everything he'd done to this poor, innocent little girl. 

"You," Magne started, then stopped. She swallowed and grimaced as she tried to form words. "Are the bravest little girl alive. Scars tell stories, you know? They tell everyone how you went through something hard, and you made it out strong. These aren’t marks of weakness, little lady. They’re proof you survived." 

Eri sniffled. "I feel like... he's always with me now. His quirk, it's in me," she whispered through her teeth, a silent sob jolting her body. "Forever. He's marked me forever."

Toga dropped to her knees with a dull thud. Magne's head whipped to her, wincing in sympathy. But all the girl did was wrap an arm around Eri's shoulder, then tuck her head into her neck.

"No," she said, her voice a dull baritone Magne had never heard. "No, he did not. What those marks are is proof you survived him, not a place for him to live. He will never get to you again, Eri. Izu made sure of that." She gently brushed the girl's hair with her fingers.

"Then why can I still feel him?" Eri demanded, her voice partly muffled by tears and Toga's neck.

"Oh, Eri," Toga breathed, sounding a little watery. "That's normal after what you've gone through. One day, you'll forget all about him. One day, he'll be a distant memory. One day, he'll be erased from your pretty little mind." Her voice was so confident, even Magne was a little inspired.

They two of them stayed like that for a short while, and Magne wanted to join but she understood her presence would overwhelm the little lady, so she sat back. When Toga pulled back, she smiled at Eri and held her hand. 

"Would you like to go into the bath now?"

"...Yeah," Eri replied.

"Okie dokie, one Eri in a bath coming right up!" Toga helped ease the girl into the water, who gasped and shivered at the difference in temperature. "It's not too hot, right?" Toga laughed as Eri was nearly swallowed by bubbles.

"It's good," Eri said. "I like it."

Magne laughed quietly, standing up and grabbing the washcloth Toga had set aside for her. As she sat on the edge of the tub and took one of Eri's hands in her own to help her wash, a hand was placed on her shoulder.

Toga stared down at her. "I need to step outside for a moment. I'll be back." She turned and was heading out the door before Magne could stop her. 

The woman felt no sympathy for those who dared to defy Toga now.

That girl had had the fiery expression of a heartbroken, rage filled villain. With full certainty, Magne had no doubt Overhaul would get what he deserved. Toga would make sure of it.

Izuku was back in his booth, backed as far against the wall as he could be like he always was. Except he wasn't uneasy like he usually was. Funny how his brain worked. He thought for sure he'd be worried for Eri being alone with villains, but he just knew she would be okay.

There wasn't much for him to do now that Eri was getting her well-deserved bath and Twice was the one setting up their room (curtesy of Shigaraki claiming he wanted Izuku under Kurogiri's watch to spot any signs of him wanting to escape). 

Mr Compress sat in the couch across from his, polishing one of his masks silently. Occasionally, he would ask questions about Eri. Simple things like where she would be sleeping and how she would fare being around so many knew people.

Other than that... Izuku was left to his own thoughts. Every time he pondered about a new topic, his mind wondered back to what to do about Overhaul. They couldn't just let him out or hand him to the police. Besides, Izuku wanted to know what the League would do.

And there was one other thing. The boy had a sick, sick urge to watch whatever they did. He wanted to witness whatever torture the man would be put under. Izuku wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he supposed it was better than seeing those violent visions. 

What was happening to him? Why was he acting so strange? Izuku had never known himself to be a violent person. Sure, a strong hero in training, but he'd never enjoyed the prospect of beating people up.

There was no way it was the League of Villain's fault. Izuku was still disgusted by their actions, so how could they possibly be influencing him? He didn't understand why his thoughts had all turned so cruel in the couple weeks he'd been away from his friends. From UA.

The thought of the life he had before being kidnapped made his chest ache. He didn't miss being All Might's subordinate, but he missed his friends. Even if he had been distancing himself from them. 

The one thing he was certainly glad to be away from, was Kacchan. He still remembered the last thing the blonde said to him, all those days ago. 

"If you do that shit again, and make my class look stupid because of your shittiness, I'll blow you sky high. Don't be an idiot in public." 

That line, 'don't be an idiot in public', wasn't just him telling Izuku to keep his head on right. It was telling him to stay out of trouble so he wasn't an embarrassment. He didn't have to say it; the implication was clear.

What a hypocrite.

Kacchan was always the one making the class look bad with his ridiculous habit of screaming 'die' everywhere he went. Izuku was always quiet and kept his head down, unless someone was in danger. 

Besides, throwing himself into danger was a good thing. It was saving people. Consequences be damned. If Kacchan thought he was making the class look stupid, whether it was him being quiet or saving lives, then Izuku wasn't sure on what being 'non embarrassing' was to him.

"You look quite angry, little hero," Mr Compress commented lightly. "Something the matter?"

Izuku sighed. He was sure the man didn't really care, but he grabbed onto the opportunity to spill. He couldn't take being bottled up anymore. "It's just... Compress, you're a villain, right?"

"...Yes, I am. Brilliant observation."

He rolled his eyes at the sarcasm in his tone. "You've killed, haven't you? Maybe more than one person."

Compress put down his mask and turned his full attention to Izuku. His brown eyes shined brightly with curiosity in the eye holes of the mask he was wearing. "A couple, I admit. Not my proudest moments, but a man has to do what a man has to do to survive. What about it?"

Izuku swallowed. "Right. I have this classmate at UA that loves to make fun of me. He was my classmate in kindergarten and middle school, too."

"Is this classmate someone I know?"

"I guess. His name is Bakugo, but I call him Kacchan." He rolled his head to rest it on the back rest of the couch, staring into the empty hallway. "I'm sure you got a taste of his personality when you guys kidnapped him." 

Mr Compress's laugh was light. "Indeed. Quite a spitfire, that one."

"I bet he was explosive, alright. Maybe even tried to set his quirk off at a couple of you." Izuku thought back to all the times he was on the other end of Kacchan's tyrants. His shoulder burned. "He treated me like that. Not so much now we're in hero school, but he still verbally berates me daily. Or, he did."

The man studied Izuku carefully, his eyes tracking every movement in his body. "Do you ever think about revenge, little hero?"

"No!" Izuku shouted. "No, I- I could never hurt him. I just find it a little unsettling that I prefer the company of a serial killer over Kacchan, who I've known since kindergarten." He rubbed his hands through his hair and tugged sharply. "How are you nicer than a boy training to become a hero? It doesn't make sense!"

Mr Compress leaned back a bit. "Are you suggesting you want me to be mean?" His tone was joking, but the look in his eyes was a bit of hurt. What the hell?

"No," Izuku snarled, frustrated. "I'm just confused. How is it I wake up better refreshed while being kidnapped than I ever did in my own dorm room? How is it I have more courage to be myself here than I ever did at UA?"

"I think you answered your own questions there, little hero." The man leaned forward and titled his head in regard. "This Kacchan of yours. He made your life miserable. And just by seeing how angry you are All Might, I'd guess he did, too. It's okay for you to feel better when you're away from that environment."

Izuku pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. "But it isn't right, is it? I'm not supposed to thrive surrounded by killers. I'm supposed to be good at UA, with my friends."

"Sounds to me like you didn't have very good friends at UA if they let you be treated like that."

He froze. They didn't let him be treated like that, did they? Not really. Iida always stuck up for Izuku, even if his lectures were more just getting angry at Kacchan for swearing. And Uraraka always defended him, even if she did so quietly. And Todoroki and Tsu...

"Oh my stars," Izuku whispered. "I'm being ridiculous. This is ridiculous." He should be glad to have any friends at all! He didn't get to be angry at them for not coming to his defence against Kacchan, he was sixteen! Old enough to handle it on his own.

Still, his chest ached as he remembered all those times his friends sat back and watched as Izuku got screamed at and threatened.

Even his other classmates would just watch. And Sensei's attempts at stepping in were usually just him threatening detention, not doing anything about the actual problem. The general vibe whenever Kacchan got mad was 'uh oh, he's at it again.' Izuku couldn't remember anyone actually asking him if he was okay.

He supposed it was to be expected that they all thought he was unbothered. After all, he only ever showed that he was unbothered. He'd never let anyone see his breakdowns in the middle of the night before. 

"Izuku," Toga said. 

Izuku's head snapped up and he squinted at Toga. "Uh, yeah?" Then he sat up straighter. "Is everything with Eri okay?"

"I want to torture him. Now."

"Pardon?"

Mr Compress snickered and picked up his mask again. "You mean Chisaki? What's brought this on, Himiko?"

Izuku didn't think Toga was capable of getting angry, let alone pissed off. However, the only way to describe her expression was pure fury. "Eri told us some things," she started. "That Overhaul isn't her real dad. He stole her from her grandfather's custody and threatened to hurt others if she disobeyed."

"Woah woah woah!" Spinner walked out of the kitchen with his hands raised like he was surrendering. "He stole her? What the hell?"

Izuku blinked at him with wide eyes. "How long have you been listening?"

Spinner shrugged. "Since you started talking about Kacchan," he confessed without remorse.

"You—!"

"Izuku," Toga half yelled. All heads whipped to her. There were tears pooling in her eyes. "Her scars are horrifying! You-you should have heard her little voice as she talked about feeling haunted by Overhaul because of what he did! I want him to bleed and hurt!" she shrieked.

Haunted? Izuku could only imagine what that meant. He hoped she didn't feel like same way with Overhaul as he did with Kacchan. He hoped she didn't feel his hands hurting her at random points of the day like Izuku did of Kacchan's.

His chest crumbled and he took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. He couldn't freak out over poor little Eri. She needed him strong.

Mr Compress pulled out a blue marble from his pocket. He shook it around. "He's in here, passed out from lack of oxygen. Boss says we need a plan within the next couple of hours before he dies."

"I have a plan," Toga says. "We stab him a million times and gauge out his eyes!"

Izuku stared at her in disbelief. "Excuse me?" A small, secret part of him was keenly listening. He quickly shut that train of thought down. He had just talked about being a hero student a mere moment ago, and he was already interested in torture.

Fuck.

"I agree with the hero, that's too many times." Izuku hadn't said anything remotely close to that but whatever. Spinner tapped his chin in thought. "Even with all of us combined, our arms would be very tired after that."

"Then we skin him, like me and Jin were planning earlier. I won't let him just die; he needs to suffer first." Toga's fierce tone suggested she was dead serious.

Well, guess that meant Izuku could be a hundred percent certain Eri would be protected by Toga. That was a positive, at least.

"Talk to the boss," Compress replied. "There's simply not much we can do with two hours left to plan and follow through I'm afraid."

Spinner frowned, his scaly brows dipping. The movement was a strange sight. "Sure we there is. Doesn't take long to plan a murder. We just have to get permission to set it up."

Toga half turned. "I'll go talk to Tomura now. Is he busy, Kuro?" She rolled up her sleeves like she was going into a brawl. "I'll convince him to let me torture him."

"I believe he is playing his new video game," Kurogiri responded dutifully. His glowing eyes turned to Izuku, then back to her. "I advise you to be cautious, you're aware of how quick to anger Tomura Shigaraki is when he's playing games."

The girl grinned nastily. "It's just another hurdle for me to get over before I succeed. Don't you worry." Toga sent a round of thumbs up to everyone around the room, including Izuku. She even winked at him, though there was still no redness in her cheeks.

Izuku hoped that meant she was finally over her obsession with him.

And a small, teensy part of him hoped he would get to watch whatever they did to Overhaul. He refused to acknowledge the desire.