Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku’s favorite time of the day was 4 AM.

There was just something about that time of night… Morning? The world seems to slow down as everyone is at home, asleep in their beds. Stars shine brightly in the night sky, or as brightly as they can within the city. No one exists to torment or ridicule him. It was a safe time for him.

Granted this also meant that others had noticed this as a good time as well. Criminals and villains seemed to thrive at this time of night on the shadier sides of the city. 4 AM was the last hour of night patrols for heroes, this meant that a lot of times, heroes tended to slack off during this time, especially in the part of the city that most deemed villainous to begin with. No one cared about the people who were attacked or threatened at 4 AM because they must have deserved it, they shouldn’t have been out at that time, they were asking for it, or they, the victims, are villains or criminals. So, crime went left unchecked by the professionals.

Maybe that added on to why Izuku liked 4 AM. It was the only time of the day where he wasn’t a quirkless, helpless, unwanted waste of space. No. Instead 4 AM was the time he donned his all black gear, his two electric batons, and a couple of throwing knives and went out to save the people the heroes deemed unwanted just like him. Izuku, himself, became a hero to the downtrodden, down on their luck, and even the shadier individuals of Musutafu because to him, everyone deserves to be saved despite what the heroes say.

When Izuku was four, he and his best friend, Bakugou Katsuki, AKA Kacchan, were obsessed with heroes, especially the number one hero, All Might. They were so cool, always saving people and saving the day. Their quirks brought sparkles into the greenette’s eyes and their victories brought a feral smile across the blond’s. It was then and there, after watching their first All Might fight, that they decided to be a future hero duo together to save the day and to save the people. Nothing was going to stop them.

***

Kacchan got his quirk first. It was glycerin, just like his mom’s nothing more, nothing less. To say the blond was furious and heartbroken was an understatement. He couldn’t be a hero with that quirk. It does nothing to help others. He couldn’t take down a villain with his sweat. It was pointless. He wasn’t going to be a hero. Kacchan was devastated and refused to watch or listen about heroes.

Izuku was devastated for the blond. It was their dream. When he heard the ever feisty Kacchan breakdown about their lost dream, the greenette just held onto his best friend with his own tears streaming down his face.

“It’s okay, Kacchan. I’ll be a hero for both of us. I can do it. Don’t worry Kacchan,” and more spilled from his lips to try and reassure his friend.

Katsuki would never admit it, but the words did reassure him. At least one of them could still be a hero. Could still make their dream a reality. Then time passed. Izuku turned 5 with still no sign of his quirk. His mom took him to a specialist. There his heart shattered. 

Quirkless. 

No quirk. 

He will never have a quirk. 

This time it was the blond’s job to try and consol his friend. Izuku sat in silence with tears dripping from his soulless eyes. All their dreams meant nothing.

It took a long time to get Izuku to seem like his normal self with a lot of encouragement and love from Kacchan, Inko, Auntie, and Uncle. But after a few months, a sparkle was finally starting to appear in Izuku’s eyes once more. His love of quirks returned and he went back to analyzing any and every quirk and hero he saw. Because, Izuku decided, he would still be a hero, and if he wanted that to be a reality, he would need to learn all he could. When the blond learned his plans, Izuku could tell he was worried, but he still supported the greenette. Izuku tried to convince him to join him in his endeavors, but at this point, Kacchan had already accepted Aunite’s offer to work with her and his dad at their company, Bakugou Inc. Kacchan took up modeling the kids' clothes, and once the blond made a promise, he stuck to it. The blond helped him, though.

Izuku still watched every fight and interview with heroes, noting down important information, especially anything that could pertain to him one day. It was during an All Might interview when Izuku felt his heartbreak one more time.

Him and Kacchan were sitting in front of the TV bouncing in excitement. It was always a treat whenever the number one hero would grant an interview. They looked forward to his encouraging words and presence. Then in the middle of the interview, the fateful question was asked.

“So All Might, some viewers have been sending in questions, and we would like to know your answer.”

“Of course! Ask away,” the large man boomed through the TV.

“Many have been asking, is it possible for a quirkless individual or someone with a quirk that is not based in fighting, to be a hero?”

No one breathed in that small apartment the second the question was asked. This was it. This was Izuku’s time to rejoice that the number one hero believed in him even if no one outside his family did.

All Might froze on screen for a minute before answering.

“No, I cannot, with good conscience, say that those individuals could be heroes. It is too dangerous, and they would have no way of protecting themselves. They would just become burdens to their teams. Instead they should pick safer jobs such as a policeman, business man, doctor, or the like.”

Izuku froze. Kacchan yelled. Inko quickly turned off the TV, and looked to her son. The same look he had from learning he was quirkless was spread across his face. The devastation was the same. Izuku couldn’t become a hero. The number one said it himself. 

Kacchan grabbed Izuku’s hand and yanked him to his feet. The greenette was so out of it that he just blindly followed his best friend to wherever he was leading him. He could vaguely hear the yelling emanating from the blond, but nothing registered for a while. Eventually when he came to, he realized they were in his room. Kacchan had wrapped him in a black blanket and was fuming to himself.

“Kacchan,” Izuku eeked out in a shattered voice.

The blond whipped his head up to look the greenette in the eyes.

“Screw him, Deku,” Kacchan proudly proclaimed. “His opinion doesn’t matter. If you want to truly be a hero, then this is your origin story. Don’t let that trash man sway your belief in yourself.”

Tears welled up quickly in Izuku’s eyes and spilled over as he launched himself at the blond.

“Kacchan!” He cried.

“Come on, Deku. Let’s trash all this man’s merch. He doesn’t deserve to be on your walls.”

Izuku was hesitant for a second. He had spent so much time and allowance on all of the merch, but when All Might’s words hit him again, he agreed with Kacchan. In seconds all the posters were ripped from his walls and all the figures and collector’s cards tossed without care into the garbage.

It was a few months after this instance that Izuku started to look up to other heroes. He started to notice the ones that had a great quirk for hero work, but largely fought quirkless. People like Bubble girl, Nighteye, Ms Joke, and more. There were so many that relied on their own fighting abilities and they won. When Izuku found Eraserhead, he was ecstatic. He ran over to the Bakugou household instantly just having to tell Kacchan right that moment.

“Kacchan!” he yelled as he threw open the front door. This was a common enough occurrence that no one in the house was fazed.

“He’s in his room, Izu-kun,” Mituski stated with a smile curving her lips.

“Thanks Auntie!” Izuku chirped as he bounded up the stairs.

“Kacchan!” Izuku looked around quickly as he threw open the blond’s bedroom door. Kacchan just looked at him from where he laid on his bed, a single eyebrow raised in question.

“Kacchan! I just found the most amazing hero! You would not believe it! I can’t tell what his quirk is or even if he was one. He fights quirkless, Kacchan! All he has is a support item, and he always wins! Kacchan, this is proof that I can be a hero too! Can you believe it! This is so cool! He is so cool!” Izuku rambled.

“...ku… ZUKU!” With that final name, the blond finally caught the greenette’s attention.

“You need to give me more about who the hell this hero is, you idiot.” Instead of being embarrassed, Izuku bounded over to Kacchan’s desk where his laptop sat and pulled it over to him on the bed.

“I found this video as I was searching herotube,” he started. “It’s very grainy and hard to see since it’s dark. I think he’s an underground hero. The comments say that his name is Eraserhead… maybe. There’s not a lot of information on him, but when I searched the name, a small article came up of a hero debuting a few years ago named Eraserhead and how he saved a small girl from being kidnapped. Nothing else really came up, but if he is underground, then that would make sense.” As he was rambling, he had pulled up the video.

In the grainy video, a man in all black with a white scarf around his neck battling against four villains could be seen. The man did not display any outward sign of a quirk as he fought. Instead he punched, kicked, pulled, pushed, and more to defeat the villains. In the end, the man stood victorious against four bigger opponents.

Izuku looked like he did when he first found All Might. Stars were lit up in his eyes and he was vibrating from his excitement. It was possible! His dream was possible!

Granted it was not smooth sailing, even after his dreams got back on track. In fact, it seemed like everything just got worse. The boys turned 7 and started their next year of school. It started off small. People sometimes acting like the greenette wasn’t there. People not hearing something he said. Sometimes he would come to school to find crude drawings sprawled across his desk for which he would get in trouble for. Bugs left in his shoe locker and his desk. He would trip when headed to the cafeteria, causing all of the lunch to spread across the floor while other kids trampled on it as they walked by. To top it off, most of this happened on the days that Kacchan was gone for modeling work.

Then it started to become more frequent and the other students became more outspoken. That’s when he first heard “quirkless” said in such a derogatory way that it sounded like a curse. That’s when his dream of being a hero was openly mocked and ridiculed because he was nothing more than “worthless, quirkless, scum.” People started to push him, and ‘accidentally’ use their quirks on him. They never got punished. In fact, it seemed like the teachers were always looking the other way. It started to happen even when the blond was near.

Kacchan would scream and yell in his defense, but in the end, he was always the one punished with detention or the like. Nothing could be done to help Izuku, no matter how hard the blond would try.

It was then that Kacchan had a plan. Izuku wanted to be a hero one day, right? Well that meant he was going to have to learn how to fight eventually.

“Hag! I want to learn how to fight!” the blond boldly pronounced to his mother one day after school. She looked on in shock and confusion.

“If I am going to be continuing modeling and making a name for myself, I should learn how to defend myself! There is a gym nearby with a trainer that could train me and Zuku.”

Mitsuki was hesitant. There was something more going on here, but she didn’t know what. It wasn’t until Izuku arrived at their home one day after they got back from a shoot with a black eye, that she finally agreed to let them learn self-defense.

So train, they did. From 7 to 12 they went to the gym after school everyday (Katsuki only going when he didn’t have a shoot or business trip with his family.) They were taught basic self-defense and many styles of martial arts. To Katsuki’s ire, this didn’t change what was happening at school. They couldn’t be the ones to throw the first punch because he just knew that no teacher would believe that they were protecting themselves, but Izuku only got beat up on the days that Katsuki wasn’t at school.

Each time the greenette showed up with new bruises and cuts, the blond would beg him to fight back. They were villains, they deserved it, but Izuku refused. Stating that they were just kids like them. It didn’t matter, as if he didn’t matter. Katsuki wasn’t sure what to do. All he could do was clean and bandage Izuku up and then send him back home to his mom.

Then middle school hit and everything fell apart. Kacchan was going to be homeschooled because the demand for Bakugou Inc. skyrocketed. He was gone more times than he was in school, and it just became easier for the family to teach him from their studio. This left Izuku by himself facing the masses at school. The bullying skyrocketed for him. Now that there wasn’t a perpetually angry blond at his side at all times, the other students took advantage of that. Izuku gained more scars in the first few months than he had the last few years. He was careful to never let Kacchan see or know, though. The blond was worried about him enough as is, he didn’t want to make that worse, so he lied. He said things were better. He hid his wounds and bruises. He became pretty proficient in using concealer to hide the ones that couldn’t be covered with clothes.

Then that truly fateful day happened. The Bakugou’s were gone for a month to do a shoot in Thailand. It was about a week since they left that it happened.

Izuku was strolling down the street not wanting to go home quite yet when he crossed a TV that was on display showing the news, in front of a little conbini. A villain attack. Izuku watched in horror and a villain was displayed on screen causing havoc in the shopping district across town. Someone was caught in the midst and for a moment Izuku was blissfully unaware of who it was. Then the camera zoomed in right as the sludge-like body revealed the face of the victim.

His mom. 

His mom was caught! 

Why was no one helping? Where were the heroes? What was happening? The news stated that the heroes on sight could only wait for someone with a better quirk to come along to help. 

BULLSHIT!

Izuku could see multiple openings when someone could have ran in to save her. 

When he could have ran in to save her. 

But no one did anything! The heroes just watched as his mom suffocated! When a ‘suitable’ hero finally arrived and pulled his mom from the sludge, she was declared dead on sight.

It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. The news was lying. It was a dream. When he gets home, his mom will be at the stove making katsudon like she does every Monday evening. Yeah. That’s what was going to happen.

Izuku walked home in a daze. Nothing registering in his head. Before he knew it, he stood in the genkan of his home peeling off his shoes.

“I’m home!” he called, praying fervently for a response. 

Nothing came.

Maybe she was just running late. Yeah. That’s what was happening.

Time passed and no one came. Then at 10 o’clock there was a knock on the door. When Izuku opened it a police officer stood there along with a smarmy looking woman with a briefcase.

“Midoriya Izuku?” the police officer asked. Izuku absentmindedly nodded in response.

“Your mother was caught in a villain attack earlier this afternoon. She did not make it. I am sorry for your loss,” the police officer started. Izuku checked out. He had disassociated before because of things at school, but it could never have been as bad as this. The police officer continued to talk and then the woman took over. He understood nothing.

Later when he came to, he was standing in the front room of the local orphanage with no idea why and how he got there.

He found out later that after figuring out who Inko was and that she had an underage son, they tried to contact family to take him in, but no one wanted him due to him being quirkless. 

No one cared. 

So he went into the system. They needed to find a foster home for him, but until then, the orphanage it was. It was hell on earth and nothing more. Take the treatment he received at school and magnify it by 8 and that was what it was like. A week later, he was transferred to a foster home, which was even worse (part of that was that it was on the other side of the prefecture away from where the Bakugou’s lived.) He wasn’t allowed a phone or any way to contact them.

He could only pray that when they got home and learned the news, they would find him.

Months passed and he got passed around the prefecture going from foster home to orphanage to home to orphanage. Each one worse than the last, as everyone hated and mistreated the quirkless kid. 

He was never found.

It was at his fifth orphanage about half a year into this hell, that Izuku learned about the magic of 4 AM. On one of the worst nights, he left the place. He just wandered the city in a daze not really caring if anything happened to him.

Sometimes he hoped that something would.

Then, one night, he passed one alley that made him stop. He could hear a scuffle followed by a woman repeatedly saying “no” and “stop”. Izuku checked around him. There were supposed to be heroes nearby. He knew because he tracked patrol routes in his spare time, but no one was around. The lady’s voice became more frantic, and Izuku couldn’t leave her, but he had no way to call for the police. Before he knew it, he charged into the alley. There he saw the woman being pressed up against the wall struggling to get away from a large man who trapped her there. Without thinking, Izuku ran up, pulled back his fist, and punched with all that he had in him. Miraculously, it worked. The man didn’t notice him, and as such, Izuku’s punch knocked him unconscious, making the man fall to the ground in a heap.

Beside him, the woman slipped to the ground crying. He turned to her in a hurry, but then moved slowly with his hands held out to his side to appear non-threatening.

“Hey, it’s okay. You should get out of here. I don’t know when this guy’ll wake up. You’re okay, I promise.”

The woman sat there for a little longer before she looked him in the eye. She reached forward suddenly and held one of his hands in two of her own.

“Thank you!” she sobbed as she started to stand. “Thank you so much. You saved me. Thank you.” And with that, she left.

Izuku stood there in silence with his hand still held out in front of him. He…saved her? He saved someone. He… he was a hero for someone. A spark of happiness that he hadn’t felt in what seemed like years lit up in his heart. He was a hero. He had worth for something. In a daze, he returned back to his pallet on the floor of the orphanage. The next night, he headed out again. Then the next, and the next, and the next. This became his routine. He wasn’t able to help someone every night, but every so often, he was able, and those nights made the pain of his days worthwhile.

It was about a month and a new foster home later, that he realized that he needed to be able to do more. Luckily this foster home let him go to the local library where Izuku had access to the computers there. There he started to research. He looked up fights for the heroes that fought largely quirkless and took note of their form and fighting abilities. He also looked at quirked heroes, and tried to figure how he could adapt their moves. He looked up videos on parkour and pressure points. He learned where to hit to knock someone unconscious fast without causing permanent harm. He practiced the parkour he watched each night as he ran across roofs and jumped between buildings.

The more he improved, the more he was able to help the people he saw each night.

He started to look up videos on tech and support item creation, and one night he made himself his first support item. The batons that could turn electric when he releases the battery inside the chamber. His gloves protected him from the current, but he could use them to stun criminals and villains.

He started to build a name for himself. Each time he saved someone, he would calm them down and help them call the police to turn in the criminal. Then he would leave before the police got there. He knew that what he was doing wasn’t technically legal, but he didn’t care.

Apparently the people he saved started to refer to him as the Rabbit. He really didn’t understand why, to be honest. He never gave out his name and he always wore an entire black outfit with a beanie and mask, so no one really knew what he looked like. Talk about him started to appear on the news and floated around him whenever he went to whatever school he was at now.

The news always seemed confused that every few months he would change location. They speculated that he moved around to help other areas. Little did they know that it was just because he kept being shoved out of one orphanage or foster home, into the next.

Izuku really didn’t care about the recognition, to be honest. He was just happy to be a hero in his slightly less than legal way. It gave him purpose and worth to his life.

He was entering his third year of middle school, his 10 th foster home, this one located in the Musutafu area. Whenever he was in the area, there was one apartment building that he always loved to sit on top of, so there he was. No one ever came up here, especially not at 4 AM, so he had removed his black hoodie, beanie, and mask leaving him in just a tank top and joggers. His arms were exposed to the air and if anyone were around they would see that they were covered in just as many scars as they were tattoos. There was hardly a blank spot to see on them. 

So there he sat. His legs dangling off the side of the building as he leaned back on his hands staring out at the city. He couldn’t help but wonder how Kacchan was doing. He typically didn’t let himself think about his first friend, but tonight he couldn’t help it. He had seen a billboard earlier that day where the other teen had modeled the latest for Bakugou Inc.

He let his mind wander for a while until he heard a soft pap of feet hitting the roof behind him. He went completely still, but did not change his posture one bit. He listened carefully as the feet moved closer to his back, and then he heard the soft fwip of fabric running through the air. With practiced ease, Izuku’s hand whipped out and grabbed the fabric before it could surround him. He used it to simultaneously pull himself up and yank the perpetrator towards himself as he raised a steel toed boot to slam into the stomach of the other person. It was only after he made contact that he noticed who it was, so, with terror in his voice, he exclaimed:

“Oh my gosh! Eraserhead! I just kicked Eraserhead! On my gosh, I am so sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” He kept repeating as he retreated quickly. He just hurt his favorite hero!

Chapter Text

Aizawa’s least favorite time of day was 4 AM.

4 AM was the time most villains and criminals thought that they could get away with anything. Drug deals, weapons deals, trafficking, fighting, assault, and more tended to happen at that time of day… or night.

Granted it gave him his job, but Aizawa would be happy to lose his job if it meant that the streets were finally safe. If it meant that people were finally safe from themselves.

Recently, it was the time the newest vigilante on the scene worked. The hero commission was not happy with the development. As such they changed Aizawa’s original patrol route. He used to work 2 sectors over, closer to UA high school where he taught during the day, but now he found himself on the shadier side of Musutafu, which was fine, just further away. This was only his second day of working this route, and there seemed to be a lot more to do.

It was 4 AM this particular day when Aizawa saw his least favorite scenario on the top of a 15-story apartment building in the middle of the city. There was someone sitting with their shoes and hoodie to the side and their feet dangling off the edge. In his heart, Aizawa sent up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that the person wouldn’t jump.

He landed quietly so as to not startle the person into falling, but with enough sound for them to know someone was here. As Aizawa walked closer, he saw the tattoos and scars littering the person’s body and how they weren’t moving or reacting to him at all. Worried, he decided to use his capture weapon to grab the person, and hopefully pull them away from the edge.

What he was not expecting was for the person to grab the damn thing in the air and use it to kick him hard in the stomach. Aizawa bent in half coughing roughly trying to keep his midnight snack in his stomach where it belonged instead of on the roof in front of him. It’s been a while since someone has been able to get that good of a hit against him.

Aizawa felt his blood run cold when he heard the voice of the person. The person who he thought was going to be a man at least in his twenties started to rant and apologize for kicking him. The thought stuck him, though, that voice . 

That was the voice of a child. 

He could barely be over 15! Aizawa whipped up to take a closer look at the kid, but when he looked, the other was already gone. Just disappeared.

When Aizawa finally caught his breath, he saw that the clothes and shoes were gone, and the roof was completely void of any trace of the boy. With nothing more that could be done, Aizawa forced himself to continue along his route. The thought of the boy stuck in his head.

It was three days later that he saw the boy again. Still in the same place, sitting in the same way. Aizawa landed quietly behind the boy, but this time, he announced himself.

“I’m Pro-Hero Eraserhead. I am sorry for scaring you last time,” he said softly as he walked closer. The boy hardly reacted. For a minute, Aizawa questioned if he even heard him, but then the boy turned his head, tilting it slightly. He kept his face in profile, letting Aizawa only see the left side of it, looking at him from the side of his eye. From where Aizawa stood he saw the wide green eye shine a little with a small quirk to the boy’s lips, but what really caught his attention was the scar that stretched from beside the boy's eye down to the corner of his lips. It looked old, but it must have hurt when he got it.

“I know who you are, Eraser. I’m sorry for kicking you last time. I just couldn’t be sure you weren’t someone trying to hurt me, you know,” the boy said with a small shrug as he turned back to the view in front of him. It was too casual, in Aizawa’s opinion. Slowly he came up beside the boy and sat down alongside him. They sat in silence for a little bit, the boy slowly swinging his legs that dangled over the edge. Aizawa could feel the unease well in him. He wanted to get this boy away from the edge.

“Why are you sitting here?” He asked after a few minutes.

The boy once again just looked at him from the corner of his eye. Never turning his face fully towards the hero.

“I’m not going to jump if that’s what you’re getting at,” the boy said lightly, still swinging his legs through the open air. “I have too many people depending on me, you know.” That seemed to be added as an afterthought, as the boy’s voice was almost a whisper when saying it.

“That’s good to know,” Aizawa acknowledged. “But that still doesn’t really answer my question. Why are you sitting here, of all places?”

The boy remained quiet for a minute, seeming to think as he tilted his head up to the sky.

“Hmm…” he hummed softly. “I don’t really know why I picked here of all places, but there is something about roofs. They make me feel safe and give me a space to think without being interrupted.” At the end of his statement, he looked at Aizawa with a wry expression on his face. “Maybe it helps that it is the center of the city. From here I can look out and see just about everything. It reminds me of when life was good.”

As Aizawa was digesting that, he heard a phone start to ring. The boy jolted forward pulling a small flip phone from his side pocket.

“I gotta take this,” he stated as he flipped it open to answer.

“Moshi Moshi… got it… thanks Tenko,” the boy replied quickly before closing the phone and shoving it back into his pocket.

“Sorry Eraser, but I got to go,” he said with a lazy salute to the pro. Just then, it seemed like the boy tried to stand up and turn around but forgot that he was in the air and 15-stories up. Aizawa is ashamed to say that it took him a minute to respond to the kid just dropping out of sight. By the time he whipped himself forward he was expecting to see the other splattered on the ground. What he saw instead shocked him a little more.

The kid was dropping from window to window going down the side of the building. At each windowsill, he would catch it with his hands, slowing his momentum just enough, to then let go to catch the next one down. This he did until he reached the bottom completely unharmed and ran off to the north. Aizawa can honestly say, he has never seen anyone do anything as reckless as the kid had just done.

Just a few minutes later someone from dispatch called him.

“Reported assault on two hundred,” the monotone voice drawled out.

“Got it,” Aizawa responded before using his support weapon to pull him across the way. Two hundred was just two blocks north of where he was. With a wave of fear crashing over him, he also realized that that was the direction the kid had run off to.

Please don’t let it be him, he repeated in his head as he swung his way to the scene. When he arrived, though, it was to see a large man unconscious and tied up with the Rabbit’s signature knots on the ground while a woman stood nearby on the phone with dispatch.

“He’s here,” he heard her say and she hung up.

“What’s the situation, ma’am,” he said as he moved forward carefully.

“I… I was being attacked by th…that man there,” she stuttered out as she pointed with a shaky hand to the man tied up. “I called out for help, and he just showed up. The Rabbit, I mean. He knocked the man out, tied him up, and told me to call the police. Once I was on the phone with them, and they reported sending a hero, he left.”

Aizawa sighed, whether with relief or frustration, he didn’t really know. He was glad that it wasn’t the boy that had gotten injured. He was really glad for that, despite not knowing the kid. He was frustrated, though, but not because he missed the Rabbit. No, he was frustrated that the Rabbit had to act at all. Pro-Hero Nightshade was supposed to be in the sector right now, and as such, should have caught the assault before the vigilante had to, but Aizawa sadly knew firsthand how lackadaisical heroes can be. The sigh was also a little bit at the fact that the hero commission will not be happy to know that he didn’t catch the Rabbit.

Aizawa just looked the man over and checked his restraints as he waited for the police to arrive. When they did, he traded nods with Tsukauchi as the man moved to question the victim more at length. With his truth detector quirk, it was better for him to get answers. That didn’t stop Aizawa from listening in, though.

“Ma’am, can you tell me what happened,” Tsukauchi started. The woman then relayed the same story she had told Aizawa. At the end, Tsukauchi gave a small nod, indicating that what she said was the truth.

“Can you tell me more about the Rabbit, like what he looked and sounded like?” He continued.

The woman hesitated for a little bit before responding. “He was relatively tall, in all black. I couldn’t see his face or his hair or anything. He just wore a really baggy hoodie with the hood pulled over the hat he was also wearing. As for voice…” she stopped and thought for a moment. “He sounded younger than me, but not super young, but he also just didn’t speak much.” Tsukauchi looked at her for a little bit before nodding once again.

“Thanks for the information, ma’am. You are free to go,” he said. Then he turned to Aizawa with confusion in his eyes.

“She was telling the truth, but it was weird. It was more like she was talking around the truth than stating actual lies,” Tsukauchi commented.

That’s how it always goes. Each victim seemed to be careful of how they worded things or what they said. Both Aizawa and Tsukauchi were willing to bet that it was their way of protecting the one who protected them, which was admirable. The confusing thing is how they knew to do this. Tsukauchi’s quirk wasn’t common knowledge for safety reasons, but each one seemed to know to never tell direct lies. It was worrisome, but it was never done with malicious intent, so they left it for now.

Once the criminal was apprehended, Aizawa continued on his way, and if he kept his eye out for the kid from the roof as he went, no one needed to know.

The next few days continued like normal. No boy randomly sitting on roofs. There were a few instances when Aizawa arrived on a scene right after the Rabbit had left, and each was the same before, with the victim safe, unharmed, and telling just enough truth to not be caught while never actually revealing anything about the Rabbit.

Three days later, the boy was there on the roof again. Aizawa reacted just as before. Approaching carefully as he announced his presence. The boy didn’t look back, but he did pat the space to the left of him on the edge.

“Would you mind telling me, what the hell that was when you left last time?” Aizawa ground out after sitting down. The boy looked over at him from the corner of his eye with a questioning hum.

“When you jumped off the side of this building and scaled down it!” Aizawa couldn’t help but yell.

The boy just smiled and looked out at the city. Then he gave a small shrug as he talked. “Sorry about freaking you out like that, I just had somewhere I needed to be quickly and that was the fastest way down,” he said casually. “If it makes you feel better, I have never had a problem getting down that way in the past.”

“How often do you get down from roofs that way?” Aizawa was a little scared of the answer.

The boy hummed again. “I’ve been doing it relatively every night for about 2, almost 3 years. I’ve gotten a lot of experience in, and never once have I slipped!” The boy crowed with pride. That didn’t help Aizawa’s fear at all, but before he could say anything. The boy’s phone rang just like last time.

“Moshi Moshi… where… got it, Tenko.”

With him hanging up, the boy stood up, actually on the roof this time, before taking a few steps back.

“Sorry, but gotta go!” He declared as he ran full tilt at the edge. At the last minute, he jumped and Aizawa watched in horror as the boy cleared the alleyway underneath, landing with a roll on the building across the way before disappearing down the fire escape.

And so began a very weird routine. Every three days, Aizawa would find the boy on the edge and sit with him. Sometimes it was for just a few minutes before the boy disappeared in a frightful manner. Sometimes they would sit and talk or just sit in silence for around 30 minutes before Aizawa was the one who had to leave.

He learned quickly to not ask personal questions about the boy. Every time he did, the boy would leave even without receiving a phone call. So, instead, Aizawa would talk and ask about anything else. This lasted for a few months. Never once did the boy turn his face fully towards Aizawa nor did he ever touch the Pro-Hero. He always made sure to keep a careful distance between them.

Then after about half a year, Aizawa’s fateful day came.

It was the third day since Aizawa had last seen the kid, but when he arrived at the roof. He wasn’t there. 

Maybe he’s just running late, Aizawa thought. He had no doubt that the kid would come, but as time passed, there still was no boy covered in scars and tattoos. A feeling of unease welled up in him the longer he waited. 30 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half. Just as Aizawa decided that he could no longer wait, he got an urgent call from dispatch.

“Villain attack on five hundred! Please hurry!”

Aizawa jumped in pursuit and as he got closer he saw it before he heard it. A wall of flames rushed up from the nearby alley on five hundred, he was still about two blocks away and couldn’t see the cause to be able to erase the villain’s quirk. Then he heard it. A scream of bloody murder as the next wall of flames came. Aizawa pushed himself faster, but after that there was silence and darkness. When he landed in the alley, he found the man that was probably the villain collapsed in the center with rope tied around his wrists and ankles.

As Aizawa moved closer to check the restraints, he heard a quiet mutter fill the air as well as the sound of shuffling behind him. He whipped around and what he saw chilled him to the core. It couldn’t be anyone other than the Rabbit. The vigilante wore an all-black outfit complete with beanie and mask, on the hood trailed two tails like rabbit ears that gave him his name. The right side of the hoodie was burnt off and in its place was blackened skin and blood dripping from the ear. The vigilante was shuffling away cradling their right arm with their left as their foot dragged along behind them.

When Aizawa approached, he felt his heart leave his chest.

“Can’t get caught. Come on Izuku, you need to go. Don’t let them catch you. Come on, be a hero, you idiot. Come on…”

Aizawa knew that voice. The one muttering in a daze as they dragged their broken and burned body along with them. That was the voice of the boy from the roof.

“Hey!” Aizawa called as he started to approach, but it seemed like the boy couldn’t hear him. He just kept muttering and stumbling down the alley, until with one missed step he crashed to the ground and went silent.

With fear coating his every being, Aizawa ran up to the kid. His chest was still moving, so it seemed like the boy was merely unconscious, but upon closer inspection, he didn’t feel any relief. Blood spilled from a wound on his forehead and his entire right side seemed to be covered in burns and cuts.

In shock, Aizawa radioed dispatch. “Victim caught in attack. I am taking him to a hospital nearby, immediate medical attention needed. Send officers to the location to bag the villain.”

With care he didn’t know he had, he carefully lifted the boy in his arms keeping his right side away from his body so as to not cause more pain and injury. Before he started to run, though, it finally struck him, just who this kid was. This kid, who couldn’t be older than 15, was the infamous vigilante the Rabbit, and if Aizawa figured that out through the kid’s clothes, others would too, so with infinite care he removed what was left of the jacket, beanie, and mask and tossed them in the nearby bin. Then he booked it to the closest hospital.

Aizawa was in a daze after that. My kid is in danger, kept running through his head as he got to the hospital, as he gave him over to the doctors, as he waited in the waiting room, then finally as he waited at the boy’s bedside in the hospital room. My kid was injured.

What was probably hours later, but felt like minutes to Aizawa, led to Tsukauchi entering the room. Aizawa vaguely recalled him coming earlier, something about trying to identify the kid to get in contact with his parents or something. Aizawa couldn’t really tell you.

This time, though, Aizawa was finally more aware of what was going on. With tired eyes, he looked up at the detective from his spot at the boy’s bedside.

“Afternoon, Eraser,” Aizawa felt a little shock at that. Was it really afternoon already?

“I have some information on our victim,” Tsukauchi said as he took the seat across the way. Aizawa just looked at him, silently encouraging him to continue. “His name is Midoriya Izuku, age 14. He goes to Aldera Middle school. His dad apparently abandoned him and his mom when he was young, and his mom died almost three years ago,” Aizawa’s heart broke inside of him. “It looks like he has been in and out of many orphanages and foster homes. We contacted his most recent to let them know and come for him, but they…” Tsukauchi paused, his face twisted in disgust. “They said ‘good riddance and such a shame the man didn’t finish off that quirkless piece of trash.’”

Now let it be known that Aizawa is typically good at controlling his emotions. It takes a lot to get him riled up which is why he is such a good hero. He is able to keep his head. That being said, Aizawa felt a murderous rage boil through him as he stared Tsukauchi in the eyes.

“Tell me who they are and I will murder them myself,” Aizawa growled out lowly.

Tsukauchi looked at him with understanding, but merely responded, “That’s why I am not going to tell you.”

When Aizawa growled out like a feral animal, Tsukauchi raised his hands as if trying to calm the enraged man down.

“Let the police handle this. We have plenty to charge this home with in order to shut them down. They are not going to remain on the streets, but I cannot let you do anything that would let them claim victim.”

It made sense, but Aizawa did not like it. One bit. Then it hit him, and the fight drained out of him a bit as he looked at the boy in awe.

“He’s quirkless?”

“Yes, he has never registered a quirk, and he has been checked throughout his life. Apparently every new home or place forced him to be tested to make sure he was actually quirkless, but nothing has ever come from it.”

The Rabbit, the infamous vigilante, that defeated countless criminals and villains like it was nothing, was quirkless. How? Aizawa wondered. Looking at the boy in wonder, he couldn’t help but notice a few new things. Like the right side of his face. It miraculously escaped the fire, but now that Aizawa was looking, he saw something that made his stomach curl. To go along with the scar on his left side, was one on the right, but this one was so much worse. It started above his eyebrow and cut through it, across his eye, and down his cheek. It was old and brutal. The eyelid of that eye couldn’t close fully and underneath it Aizawa could see that the iris and pupil were completely white. He was blind in his right eye as well.

“Oh kid,” he breathed out as his hand hovered above the old injury.

“He’s the Rabbit, isn’t he,” Tsukauchi said quietly. It wasn’t an actual question. It was more of a statement. Aizawa knew that Tsukauchi knew and he couldn’t deny it. So instead of saying anything he just nodded.

A quiet breath was released from the detective, and the room was quiet for a bit.

“Have you told anyone?” Aizawa asked after a minute.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Tsukauchi shake his head. “No, and to be honest, I don’t want to.”

A beat of silence. “He’s just a kid, who has been through way too much already. He’s a better hero than most professionals and he doesn’t even have a quirk…” Tsukauchi trailed off.

Aizawa understood. He never wanted to apprehend the Rabbit anyway. The vigilante was doing so much good for the people that most heroes ignore or overlook, but now, knowing what he does now, he couldn’t do it. Just when did he start thinking of this boy as his kid? Silence permeated the room for a long while as the two sat there quietly.

“You know…” Tsukauchi suddenly broke the silence. “The law states that unlicensed quirk usage is the reason that the Rabbit needed to be arrested.” Aizawa sat there confused for a minute before it clicked.

“He’s quirkless!”

“He’s not actually breaking the law, so there doesn’t need to be any legal action taken against him,” Tsukauchi said with a wide smile. Aizawa huffed a sigh in relief as he turned back to the greenette.

“But what do we do about him?” Aizawa asked. “We cannot send him back to that home, and with him being quirkless and moved around a lot, I’m willing to bet that he’s not safe anywhere he goes.”

“Being a pro-hero, don’t you have a license to foster?” Tsukauchi asked carefully after a bit of silence.

Aizawa whipped his head to the detective. “Are you saying… that… that I can take him in?”

Tsukauchi responded with a small shrug. “I can tell you care about him, and I cannot with good conscience send him to another foster home or orphanage suspecting what I do about the situations, but I know that you would take care of him, and you can legally take him in.”

Aizawa thought about it for a minute before nodding in awe. “I’ll do it… but only if he wants it.”

“Yes, please,” came a small voice from in between the two adults.

Underground Pro-Hero Eraserhead, who is scared of nothing and always keeps a level head in each fight, jumped about 3 feet in the air when he heard that voice. Tsukauchi was no better, in fact, he probably got more air than Aizawa. Both whipped to the greenette to see him looking at Aizawa with wide and wet eyes, shaking slightly.

“Please, Eraser,” he whispered. “Please, let me go with you. I can’t go back. Please.”

Aizawa nodded so fast he almost gave himself whiplash as he reached for the boy’s unbandaged left hand.

“Of course,” he said with tears in his own eyes. “You are already my kid, after all. Now it’ll just be official.”

With that, Izuku broke down sobbing in the hospital room. He was going to have an actual home.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take a lot to move Izuku officially into Eraserhead’s home. In fact, the legal side of it was ridiculously easy. His old foster home was happy to be rid of him, and the system really didn’t care what happened to him. The only hard part was that most of the lawyers kept questioning if Aizawa really wanted to take in the quirkless, delinquent. They tried to talk him out of it, but Izuku watched in awe, as the scruffy pro-hero yelled at any lawyers that talked bad about him.

Aizawa was adamant, and nothing was going to sway him from taking in Izuku. Honestly, Izuku didn’t know how to process that, but he knew that he trusted Eraser.

This was the man that was always checking on him, and never pushing him to say what he didn’t want to. He showed up every day Izuku was on that roof, and made him feel safe even if Izuku never truly was after Eraser or him left. To know that he was being taken in by that man, made him feel warm inside.

When Izuku was released from the hospital, he had legally been moved into the guardianship of Aizawa Shouta. His burns were still bandaged and his left foot was in a cast, but he felt safe for the first time during the day as he sat in the sleek black car of Aizawa.

Honestly Izuku was probably an idiot. Who trusted someone so much after only knowing them for a little while? Especially when it came to his life, but he couldn’t help it. Ever since he found the underground hero, he has been an avid fan, finding everything and anything he could in order to learn more. 

It took a long time for Izuku to finally guess what the hero’s quirk was. It makes sense to keep it hidden, but man, did Izuku wish it was easier. It was pretty much guesswork, but Izuku thought he was pretty spot on.

From the videos he watched, he could tell that something that Eraser was doing was affecting the others. It almost seemed at times that when the hero looked in a villains direction, their quirks didn’t work. It wasn’t full-proof, such as anytime he encountered a mutant type quirk, so in Izuku’s opinion it probably stopped emitter types. Since it was only when the hero was looking in the direction of a villain, it probably dealt with his eyes, this idea was further cemented when Izuku noticed in one video, how the hero wore goggles that blocked others from seeing his eyes. It didn’t seem to be an everlasting thing as occasionally, for a second, a villain would get their quirk back, only for it to disappear once again a second later. During those intervals, Izuku noticed that the hero’s hair would switch between floating and down, probably an indicator of his quirk. Honestly, Izuku thought Aizawa really should keep his hair up so as to not give it away. But given the duration, Izuku guessed it was when he blinked his eyes. 

He was dying to ask Eraser if he was right, but he didn’t know when the best time would be. 

Just then, Izuku heard a small laugh come from the driver’s seat next to him. He looked over in question at the hero and saw a smirk on the man’s face.

“Is it a habit to mumble out your thoughts?” he asked Izuku with a laugh in his voice. 

Izuku tilted his head a little more trying to figure out what Eraser meant. Then it hit him. His face instantly turned red, drowning out the freckles on his face.

“Oh my gosh! Did I say all of that out loud?” Izuku squeaked, honest to goodness squeaked. He wanted to die. 

“Yeah, kid. And to answer your frankly terrifying analysis of my quirk, you are completely correct,” the hero drawled out. 

All embarrassment was gone as Izuku leaned excitedly over to further question him.

“It was? That is such a cool quirk! What does it feel like? Can you tell what quirks you erased? Can you do more than one at once, or is it just the one? Are there any negative side effects to yourself? Can you wink in order to prolong the time of erasure? That must be so handy in being a hero! It really makes sense to be underground, though, because if people figured it out, it would be fairly easy to counter, in my opinion. Do you know what it feels like to them when their quirks are erased? I would ask to experience it, but you already know that wouldn’t do anything to me.” Izuku rushed out without thinking.

“Woah, kid,” Aizawa interrupted. Izuku immediately shut up and sank down into his seat. He had been good at not rambling or mumbling around the hero every time they met up. Now that he had, would the pro be too annoyed? Would he decide to not keep Izuku?

“Hey, kid,” Aizawa said softly, reaching over to put his hand in Izuku’s hair. “Breathe, you’re fine. I don’t mind the questions. In fact, I’m glad to hear you rambling. You actually sound your age.”

Izuku turned to look at the man to judge whether he was telling the truth. His face seemed open and there was still a smile across his face. It didn’t seem forced as there was no tension there, so Izuku let himself breathe out. Maybe, it was okay.

“Let’s see what I can answer,” Aizawa paused in thought. “Erasure only works with both eyes. I’ve tried winking, but sadly it does not work. As for backlash, I have chronic dry eye. Always have eye drops on me…”

“That really sucks,” Izuku said under his breath. Based on the chuckle Aizawa let out, he heard him. 

“Yeah, it does. As for the feeling, I can’t tell anything, but I can tell when it worked. There is just kind of this understanding, I guess, that my quirk worked on someone. As for them, I don’t really know. I’ve never asked.”

Izuku sat on that information for a while. Letting it stew in his head. Soon after, his thoughts were interrupted as Aizawa pulled into the underground parking of an apartment complex Izuku patrolled across a few times in the past. 

Izuku got out of the car in awe. He knew that this was a nice place simply from what he could see whenever he went past. 

“Come on, kid,” Aizawa called. It was only then that Izuku realized the pro had already walked over to the elevator nearby while he remained in the car. The door opened right as Izuku made it over to Eraser’s side. 

“So while you were in the hospital, I took the liberty to go ahead and get your stuff from your old foster home. I didn’t see much in your room, but if anything is missing let me know, and we can go get it.”

Izuku nodded along. Aizawa probably got everything, considering everything he owned was on the one shelf of the book shelf in his room. All he had, anyway, were his notebooks, a picture of the Bakugous and his mother, and his vigilante gear, which he had on him at the time Aizawa found him. 

“I also went ahead and prepared a room for you. I don’t really know what you like so I kept it pretty generic, but if there is anything that you want, please let me know.”

Izuku just hummed to show he heard. It was unlikely that he would ask for anything, he had gotten used to living with nothing. All he really needed was a new notebook every few weeks. Other than that, he would be fine. Once they got to the fifth floor, Aizawa stepped out and walked down a spacious hallway to his door. 

“One last thing, I have two cats you should know about, just so they don’t scare you. The black one is named Tobi and the orange one is Shou. Tobi is a little antisocial so it might take a while before he warms up to you. You’ll have no problem with Shou. He loves everyone.”

Izuku couldn’t help but be excited. He loved cats!

When the door opened, Izuku saw an orange blur appear from the hallway. It raced towards them until it started winding its way around Aizawa’s legs. The man immediately squatted down and started to scratch the cat under his chin. 

“Shou,this is our new apartment mate. His name is Izuku,” Aizawa muttered to the cat, as he pushed him over to Izuku. 

Izuku joined Aizawa in crouching down. He stuck out his hand tentatively hoping that the cat would accept him. Apparently any fear he had was unfounded, as Shou immediately rubbed himself all over Izuku and started purring loudly. Izuku felt the smile that came across his face. The cat was so small. About as big as both his hands together. 

Then he heard a small meow from his right. Turning his head quickly he saw a large black cat, almost double the size of Shou, sitting patiently while looking at him.

“Oh,” Aizawa said in surprise. “Well, that’s Tobi. He normally hides in my room when someone is over.”

Apparently Tobi decided to be unexpected because right after Aizawa said that, the black cat joined Shou in cuddling up to Izuku. Izuku was going to cry. Carefully he reached over and ran his hand down Tobi’s back and the cat immediately started to purr as well.

Izuku could feel the tears welling in his eyes. There was something about receiving love and trust from an antisocial animal that made one feel like they could take on the world. After a few minutes, Aizawa stood up, knees popping at the movement. Izuku couldn’t hold back the chuckle that left his mouth.

"Oh hardy har har, just wait until you're this age. I'm willing to bet, your joints are gonna sound worse,” Aizawa said dryly. 

Izuku just stuck his tongue out in response, like the mature 15 year old he was. As he went to stand, Izuku snuck a hand under Tobi's belly trying to pick him up. Shockingly the cat went willingly and even snuggled into him. It was official, Izuku was in heaven. Aizawa gave him a quick tour of the apartment that ended with his little room. 

Walking in, Izuku couldn’t help but marvel. The bed was in the right back corner with a window above his head. Beside stood a good sized desk and chair. In the left corner was a big bean bag chair that Izuku just knew he was going to live in. Along the left wall were two full sized bookcases. One was full and as Izuku looked closer he saw book after book about heroics and heroes and quirks. The wardrobe was along the same wall as the door to the right and at the end of his bed stood a tall lamp. Fairy lights were strewn around the ceiling trim. As he walked around it in awe, he spotted his notebooks. They were sitting proudly at the top of the second bookshelf with his family picture standing at the end. It was perfect and this time he couldn’t stop the tears from streaking down his face.

"Like I said, if there is anything missing or anything you want, just let me know." 

Before Aizawa had even finished his sentence Izuku was shaking his head quickly.

"It's perfect," he whispered over and over. This place was his. This was his home. For the first time in 3 years Izuku felt like he was home.

Aizawa looked on with a smile. "Take your time to look around and get comfortable. I'm going to start on dinner."

After Aizawa left, Izuku pulled out a book on early quirks, sat down on the beanbag, and started to read with Tobi still curled up on his lap. That's how Aizawa found him a while later when dinner was ready. 

 Maybe dinner should have been an awkward affair but it felt just like it did on the roof. Comfortable conversation and silence flowed between them.

As they finished up, Aizawa sat back with a serious look on his face.

"Before anything else, I feel like there is something we need to talk about," he started.

Izuku felt his anxiety spike. He knew what this was going to be, he overheard the detective and Eraser in the hospital, they knew who he was and while they weren't going to arrest him, Izuku knew that there was more.

"I'm not going to stop being the Rabbit," Izuku interrupted Aizawa before he could really get started. "I'm not going to stop helping people when it is still in my power."

Aizawa just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. It was silent for a moment before he continued.

"I'm not going to force you to stop."

Izuku just looked at him with his own eyebrow raised. Surely the man was joking.

"You are not doing anything that is technically illegal. I have spoken to all the people you have saved first hand and I know how loved you are by them. You're a hero, Izuku, and I could never ask you to stop."

Well if Izuku was crying earlier, that was nothing compared to now. It felt like his entire world shattered and then was remade, gold filling in the cracks. Hearing Pro hero Eraserhead state that he, little quirkless, worthless Izuku, was a hero was more than he could have ever asked for.

Aizawa didn't know how to handle the tears. They were unexpected. He ran around the table to quickly go kneel next to the greenette.

 "Hey, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Aizawa questioned frantically. 

It took a minute for Izuku to find his breath in order to respond, but when he did, his voice came out choked and small.

"You…you really think that I… I am a hero?"

It was like a sudden understanding washed over Aizawa. This was a kid that had obviously been mistreated and degraded his entire life. His dreams probably crushed before they could even form. With confidence, Aizawa replied, "of course. And if you were to ask any of the people you have saved over the years, I am sure they would agree." Aizawa took a minute to look at the crying boy in front of him.

"Do you want to be a hero, Izuku?"

Izuku rapidly nodded his head.

"More than anything. It has been my dream all my life. I want to save people. Give them hope. I want to be a hero." He sobbed out.

 "Well," Aizawa sighed slightly as he rested back onto his heels. "I cannot let you act as a vigilante until you are fully healed." When Izuku opened his mouth to argue, the hero just glared at him, activating his quirk just to give himself that edge. 

"No, you are injured and if you try anything you could just get worse, so you need to rest. Then in a month and a half, if you want, is the UA entrance exam."

Izuku looked at him in shock.

"UA," he breathed. That was his and Kacchan's dream school before life got in the way. Recently Izuku never dreamed of getting in. It was impossible. "You really think I could get in?" He asked quietly. 

Aizawa made sure to look him in the eye when he responded. "I know you can." 

Izuku threw himself out of his chair and hugged the man for all he was worth. The sudden position change caused Aizawa to tumble, landing with the sobbing boy on top of him. He only smiled and patted the kids back. Aizawa would do all he could to help Izuku achieve his dream. Just in a little more legal sounding way.

"Hey Eraser,'' Izuku said suddenly. "Did you happen to grab the two batons left behind at the crime scene?"

Aizawa shook his head in thought. "I don't think I saw any when I was there and nothing was gathered as evidence by the police."

 When Izuku let out a quiet but firm curse, Aizawa raised an eyebrow in question.

Izuku didn't seem to notice but lost in thought as he was, he still answered it vaguely. 

"Now I'll have to make new ones before the exam." With a sigh the boy stood up and hobbled off to his room as he mumbled about rods and batteries and a welding torch. 

Just what had Aizawa signed up for?

Chapter Text

This was it. Today was the day. Izuku was going to take the entrance exam for the school he had been dreaming about since he was four. 

With a deep breath, Izuku crossed through the gate with stars in his eyes. 

And immediately tripped. 

As he fell, he resolved himself to his fate. This was a sign. Everyone was right. He shouldn’t be a hero. He was being stupid. His face scrunched in anticipation of being ground into the sidewalk. 

When the pavement never hit, he looked down in shock. Only to see himself floating above the ground. He wasn't even scared, just more fascinated with the outcome. How did this happen? Suddenly a small, brown-haired girl appeared by his shoulder.

"Sorry for using my quirk on you without asking. I just thought it would be bad luck if you fell before the test," she smiled as she helped right him on the pavement before releasing her quirk.

Izuku could feel all the questions bubbling in his brain about her quirk, but when he finally straightened them out into something understandable, the girl was gone. With a slight pout to his lips (he didn't even thank her) he continued on his way without any more mishaps. 

The first part of the day was the written exam. Eraser really had done a lot to help Izuku out. Over the past month, he got him study materials and practice tests. Anything he got wrong or didn’t understand, the man would help him with until he felt like he grasped the concept. Izuku felt like he was ready.

Sitting in the large auditorium as Cementoss ( the Cementoss ) passed out the tests was nerve wracking, but Izuku's excitement drowned it out. He was ready. When he got the test, he dove in head first. They had three hours to work on it. Izuku was done after an hour. As he walked to the front to turn it in, he reviewed a few questions not noticing the panicked looks and muttering coming from the other students. 

Cementoss looked up when he got to the front. "Do you have a question?" He asked the greenette. 

Izuku smiled back largely. "Nope, I'm done!" He announced.

Cementoss looked shocked. "Oh…umm… okay. I'll take your test. Locker rooms are down the hall and to your left, you can change there and wait in the auditorium at the other end of the hall.” 

With a relieved sigh, Izuku all but skipped out of the testing center, before his steps started to slow. Time to change… 

Izuku wasn't necessarily self-conscious about his appearance. He had gotten used to it, but he knew that people were unsettled by his scars and tattoos. During the test, Izuku wore the gakuran from his middle school which kept his arms and neck covered, but for the practical portion, Izuku packed just a tank top and leggings. He knew people were going to stare and be unsettled, so he decided to embrace that, but as he was changing he started to question  his decision. Was it too much? It was too late now, but Izuku couldn’t help but stress. 

And stress he did for the next two hours in the other auditorium. The next student didn't come in until an hour and a half after him. The kid took one look at him and immediately walked the other way.

It's fine, Izuku , he repeated to himself. But as more came in and the seats around him remained empty, his resolve crumbled a little. By the time the last student came through the doors, Izuku remained alone. It's fine, Izuku , he said to himself. 

Then the lights dimmed and out walked none other than pro hero Present Mic. He was one of his other favorite heroes. Izuku always listened to his radio show growing up. The pro’s voice, no matter how loud and chaotic, reminded him of cooking with his mother as they danced around the kitchen. It was a feeling of home. 

As always Izuku's thoughts came out through his mouth in a steady mutter without him even realizing it. Present Mic started to explain what they were going to do, fight robots… of course, when he was interrupted by one of the students. A tall square like boy who was very stiff as he berated the hero for some perceived mistake. Then the boy whipped around and glared at Izuku. 

"And you, you're obviously here to interfere with others who are trying to take this seriously. You haven't stopped talking once since being here. If you aren't going to be serious then you should just leave."

Izuku felt a snarl start to cross his lips as Present Mic interrupted. 

 "If you had waited a little longer, listener, I would have explained the fourth robot, and I kindly ask that you not berate other test takers, especially in front of an audience." Present Mic let a glare cross his features before moving on.

 Izuku just sank down in his seat. Sometimes he really wished he didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. 

As the test takers were transported to various sites, Izuku concentrated on the breathing exercises his mom had taught him for his anxiety when he was young. Come on, Izuku, you can do it.  

When he stood in front of ground beta he couldn’t help but look on in awe. It looked like downtown Musutafu covering multiple blocks. Twirling around the batons he had on him, he took a quick look around. Near the front of the pack, he spotted the brunette. Perfect! A chance to thank her. Izuku put his baton across his back and started to move towards her. After one step, he was pushed back by that square guy from before.

"Can't you see she is trying to concentrate. You really are here to just mess others up are you. That's despicable,” the other boy spit at him. 

Screw breathing techniques, Izuku was about to rip this guy a new one right as the gates swung open and Present Mic called start. Without thinking, Izuku booked it. He imagined it was just like when Tenko would call about another criminal tip and he couldn’t take the time for a countdown, he would just have to go. Waiting in the real world is how people got severely injured or died. 

He ran across the first robot before he heard Present Mic yelling at the other examinees. Izuku quickly took stock. Robots meant electricity, if he could overwhelm their circuits, then Izuku could take them down with minimal effort. So the question is, what spot to hit to cause such damage. It only took a second for him to decide. With a grin, Izuku whipped out one baton and stabbed it right through the eye socket of the robot. Electricity immediately arced out and the robot shuddered before powering down. Perfect one point down, several to go. Time to go feral. Izuku couldn’t stop the manic grin that split across his face. 

A few minutes in and several points later Izuku heard someone in distress. A voice cried out. It was just like at 4 AM. Following muscle memory Izuku darted through alleys until he found the source. A purple haired guy was cornered by two robots, based on his actions and body type, Izuku had to guess that his quirk was not something suitable for this kind of test, and he couldn't let someone be harmed while he could do something about it. 

Without thinking, Izuku jumped on the back of the two pointer whose laser started to glow red, he yanked the head to point at the one pointer next to it and as such, it shot the other robot. Then he grabbed one of his batons and shoved it through its eye causing both robots to shut down. Quickly he scrambled off and over to the boy.

"Hey, I'm Izuku, are you okay?" He asked while helping the boy to his feet. He received a slightly questioning look for his efforts.

"Hitoshi, thank you," with a quick sigh the boy seemed defeated. "They really don't make these tests possible for quirks not meant for fighting."

"No they don’t," Izuku agreed easily. "But that's when you get to be creative." A feral smirk crossed his face as he looked at the other boy. "Grab a pipe and aim for their eyes. Go feral and good luck!" He shouted as he started to sprint away. 

Izuku was having a little too much fun. He continued to rack up points but when they hit the two minute left mark, the ground started to rumble. Izuku vaguely heard Present Mic yelling something about the zero pointer, as Izuku watched in horror as the monstrosity climbed out from the rubble of a fallen building. What. The. Hell. Izuku turned to run when he heard someone cry out behind him. Turning around he saw the brunette from the front gate collapsed with a large rock pinning her leg down. 

Once more Izuku acted without thinking. He couldn’t leave her behind. He sprinted towards the girl looking around for anything that could be of use but nothing struck him. There wasn't a lot of time before the zero pointer got there, so Izuku couldn't wait. He decided he needed to be a little reckless.

With a deep breath he began to sprint at the robot. As the robot's arm swept down to topple some debris, Izuku jumped. He got enough height that he was able to grab onto the thing’s arm and hoist himself up. With nimble feet that he never shows outside of do or die situations, Izuku ran up its arm until he reached its shoulder. Then with a silent prayer to whoever would listen he grabbed his two batons, slotted them together, and activated the electric current doubling the power behind it. He would need a little more than the machine’s own juice to short out its power. Then with a roar, he raised the staff and sunk it into one of the eye sockets he could reach. Glass broke and shredded his skin as the electricity seemed to work. The whole thing shuddered and shook as its system became overloaded. Then with one last pitch forward with its head, it stopped, but the movement dislodged Izuku from his position and his foot slipped. He tumbled with not a chance to right himself. What a way to go, ran through his head right before he was randomly smacked. In mid air.

And stopped. 

What? 

From his right he heard a shaky voice say release as he was suddenly free falling again, only to hit the ground right after. He could feel the bruises forming, but hey he was alive. That's all that mattered right? 

Then he did what he would never admit to. The seasoned vigilante who had been in countless fights and battles, passed out as the adrenaline petered out from his body.

***

 When Izuku came to, he was very disoriented. It took him a minute to remember just what it was that he was doing earlier. At the memory of the entrance exam, he smiled a bit. It went pretty well, according to him. He was able to get around 36 points if he remembered right. Not a ton, there were probably others who were able to get a lot more, but pretty decent. 

It was only when he heard someone clear their throat to the right of him that he realized that someone was there. When he whipped his head around, he saw Aizawa standing there with his arms crossed in front of him with a glare on his face.

“Damnit, Eraser!” Izuku yelped in shock. “Why do you always have to be on my right side? I can’t see on that side.”

Aizawa, as always, raised an eyebrow in response. “It’s because you keep being scared by someone on your right side. You can’t let that be a weakness in the field, you know,” Aizawa drawled.

Izuku huffed. “I literally just woke up, cut me some slack, Eraser.”

 Aizawa seemed to ponder for a moment before resolutely shaking his head. “No, I don’t think I will.” One of his demented smirks crossed his face before turning more serious.

“Now will you tell me what the hell you were thinking?”

Izuku took a moment to think back and to try to figure out what Aizawa was referring to. It didn’t take long for it to hit Izuku what the older man was talking about. When it did, Izuku felt the blood drain out of his face. He let out a nervous chuckle. 

“I promise, my plan was solid. I just didn’t take in account the amount that a robot of that size would sway. Besides, there was a girl right in the way of its feet! She would have been crushed and I can’t just let that happen”

“Izuku,” Aizawa growled, causing Izuku to freeze in worry. “There was absolutely no reason for you to risk yourself in that way. Nezu has sensors in every robot which will stop it if any life is sensed in a dangerous position near it.”

“How was I supposed to know that!” Izuku cried. “All I know is that I saw a girl in need and my body moved before I could think. My plan was well thought out and something I knew that I could execute with minimal damage to myself and others.”

“Minimal damage!” Aizawa yelled. “Izuku, you suffered from multiple cuts up and down your forearms with glass still caught in them when you were brought in. Recovery Girl had to pull out 20 pieces from you!”

“I could have still fought. I have been through worse, Eraser. I had to save her.”

Aizawa released a heavy sigh. “You shouldn’t have had to, though.” It was said so quietly that it was hard for Izuku to hear what he said even in the quiet infirmary room. The greenette fidgeted a bit unsure of what to say.

After a bit Aizawa sighed once again. “You need to keep the bandages on for the next few days. Recovery girl was able to heal your arms, but your skin will be sensitive and feel irritated for a bit.”

Izuku just nodded. 

“Come on, kid. Let’s go home.” Izuku was quick to hop off the bed and to start following Aizawa as they started to leave the infirmary. They walked in silence a bit as Izuku took in his surroundings. Having been too nervous for the exams, he hadn’t been able to enjoy the sight of his dream school right in front of him, but now he could. Stars were shining in his eyes as his head whipped side to side to see everything. It wasn’t until they got back to the car that Aizawa said anything.

“So besides your almost death at the end, how did it all go?”

Izuku took a minute to just glare at Aizawa until the man looked over long enough to stick his tongue out. Very mature. 

“It went great!” Izuku excitedly started to explain. “I finished the written portion after an hour and had to wait around for a long time…” He petered out for a minute. “No one sat next to me during the explanation for the practical, and then one guy had the gall to call me out in front of the entire auditorium and then in front of the gates as someone who was there to just screw others over and be a distraction…”

Aizawa ground his teeth together as he heard Izuku talk about the boy at the entrance exam. Some people were so narrow minded with a perpetual stick up their butt, and it seemed like the kid was one of those people. Now Aizawa was a professional hero that could keep criminals and regular people separate in his head, but at this moment, whoever the kid was, was now a villain in his head for treating his son that way.

“Did you catch his name,” Aizawa said calmly. He was pretty proud of how calmly he said it. From the corner of his eye, he saw Izuku turn to him with a deadpan expression.

“If I tell you, and he makes it into your class, you are never going to give him a fair chance. So, no, I will not tell you.”

Aizawa huffed in disappointment, but he knew the greenette wouldn’t budge. Maybe he could ask Hizashi since he was the one who was there doing the announcements in the auditorium. If someone is that narrow minded and judgemental, it wouldn’t bode well for their hero work.

They sat there for a little longer before Izuku started up again.

“Okay, that aside, I was the only one who moved at the start of the test. All the others were waiting for a countdown or something.” Aizawa growled a little. There are no countdowns in real life!

“Exactly,” Izuku correctly interpreted the older man. “That did mean that I had a little longer to analyze before worrying about other people taking my points. It was pretty simple to figure out honestly.”

As Izuku went on to explain how he took down the robots, Aizawa couldn’t help but marvel. This kid was a literal genius. In all Aizawa’s years of teaching and observing the entrance exam, no one had figured out how to take down the robots like that. He had seen his fair share of kids whose quirks were none combatant hack away at the robots barely scraping by with any points. Hell, he himself had struggled to gain points when he was getting in. He ended up having to transfer from general studies due to the unfair way of testing.

He knew what Izuku was capable of, but he was prepared to explain to him about how to transfer because there was no way Izuku wasn’t going to make it in somehow. Now, though, Aizawa had a good feeling that that wouldn’t be necessary.

“At one point, I saw this one purple haired guy cornered by two robots,” Izuku continued. “His quirk was non combatant and I couldn’t let him get hurt, so I made a quick stop to help him. Ended up explaining the robots, throwing him a pole, and telling him to go feral. I wonder how he did…” Izuku trailed off for a minute.

“Lastly, was when the zero pointer appeared. Was the size of that really necessary?” Izuku exclaimed.

“You know,” Aizawa said with tiredness lacing his voice. “It’s really not, but plus ultra and all that bullshit. Plus, Nezu is a little sadistic.”

Izuku seemed to think for a moment before nodding slightly. “True.” Shaking himself out of his thoughts he continued. “Well, I was going to book it because I am not made to fight such a large thing, but then I saw a girl who helped me had become trapped in the rubble right in the way of its rollers. I know Nezu has safety protocols in place, but in the moment all I saw was someone in trouble and something I could do about it. I was helped along by the fact that literally everyone else was running away and not helping her!”

Izuku sounded really frustrated and Aizawa couldn’t help but understand why. This is an entrance exam for a hero school, where students will learn how to be heroes to protect and save others. When put to the test, though, all the others left behind someone in trouble to save themselves even when they had the power to do something about it.

“Well, I ran up to her, but there was nothing around to help lift the rubble or anything so I said, screw it and attacked the robot itself. I mean, it was just an enhanced version of the ones I had already taken out. So I just jumped on it, scrambled up, and shoved my electrified baton through its eye, and voila. It stopped. Granted, it shook as it was powering down, and that is what caused me to lose my footing.”

Aizawa gripped the steering wheel harder at the reminder of how Izuku got hurt and frankly, almost died.

“Apparently,” Izuku continued on like it was nothing. “The girl that I saved was able to get out of the rubble at that point and her quirk in zero gravity, so she lifted herself in the air and smacked me on the way down, halting my momentum before I hit the ground full speed. She overworked her quirk to do so, I think, so when we hit the ground she passed out before I did.” He chuckled awkwardly.

The older man took a minute to glare at the road in front of them. If the girl’s quirk was zero gravity and she was able to free herself after the attack, she could have done so before and saved Izuku from more cuts and broken bones and a near death experience. Why didn’t she? Even if she exhausted her quirk, she could have freed herself and let Izuku help her get out of the way. He was a little ticked at the moment, but he would save his anger for another time.

Taking a death breath, he smiled at the greenette. “You did good, kid. I’m proud of you.”

Sniffles emanated from the passenger seat. Aizawa panicked a little bit before seeing the smile that took over Izuku’s face, looking like the sun burst from behind the clouds on a dark day.

“Thanks dad,” Izuku choked out.

Aizawa did not almost crash the car in response to that, thank you very much. In fact, he had just parked in his apartment’s garage, so there was no almost crash, thank goodness because if he was in the middle of driving that statement would have been a lie. Instead, he whipped around to look at the greenette fully to see the boy crying and wiping his tears roughly with a large smile on his face, but no doubt.

With tears of his own in his eyes, he reached across the consul in the car to pull Izuku into a firm hug. The greenette basically melted into the embrace. They stayed like that for a minute before Aizawa had to pull back due to the awkward angle.

“I think today deserves a treat. What would you like for dinner,” he asked while wiping his own eyes.

With that sun bright smile Izuku answered with a chirp, “Katsudon!”

Chapter Text

The night of the entrance exam, Izuku had been so happy and excited. He felt like he could take on the world. It only took ten minutes after dinner for him to get restless. Turning to Eraser, he stared him down.

“I’m going out for the night.”

Aizawa released a sigh so big it ruffled Izuku’s hair who was on the opposite side of the couch. He looked more tired than he did a few seconds ago.

“Kid, you just had a big day and injured yourself pretty spectacularly, why don’t you just stay in?”

Izuku shook his head firmly. “Nope. You haven’t let me go out as the Rabbit this past month…”

“Because you were healing!”

“Whatever,” Izuku brushed off Aizawa’s reasoning with a wave of his hand. “If you make me wait any longer, I might just literally go insane. I need to get out. Besides,” Izuku trailed off for a second. “People need me, I can’t just let people think that I have disappeared or given up. My friends have been asking about me.”

Izuku stared Eraser down as he spoke. He just couldn’t leave people questioning what happened to him. He couldn’t leave the people to hope that someone would come save them in an area that the heroes just didn’t care about. It seemed like Aizawa understood because Izuku watched him soften.

“Alright,” Aizawa relented, leading to a cheer from Izuku. “On one condition, though.” This made Izuku pause. “I know that you can handle yourself, but I am going to worry, so I want either you or your helper, Tenko, to report back to me occasionally or at least if anything happens. I can’t let you get caught right as you take the exam for UA.”

Izuku took a moment to think. It wasn’t a bad condition to be given, and as much as he wanted to just be free, he had grown to respect and care for the hero very fast in a short amount of time.

With a sigh, just to convey that he wasn’t the happiest with the idea, Izuku nodded agreeing to the conditions.

“I’ll send you Tenko’s number and let him know that you have it, but you are only to use it if it is an emergency. Tenko is a good friend of mine and doing the best he can, so if I find out you use it to find and or arrest him for any reason, just remember, Eraser, I now know where you live.”

The nod and slight shiver he received for his words was a little gratifying.

So that became the nightly routine for the week. Izuku would go out on his patrol right around the time that Eraser left for his own. He was able to help quite a few people throughout the week, luckily there wasn’t anything major and Tenko never had to call Aizawa except to let him know where a criminal was tied up.

But now it had been a week, and Izuku was going to go insane. He’s pretty sure Eraser thinks it is hilarious. Did it really take a week to get the results of the exam to everyone? This was the best hero school in the country with so many high tech gadgets and gizmos, surely it only takes seconds to calculate everyone’s scores and a click of the button to send them. But no. Nezu was a sadist, and decided to send out the letters as actual letters that take forever in the mail.

Izuku was also almost positive that Eraser already knew the scores, seeing as he is a teacher there and a homeroom teacher of first year heroics. Izuku had seen the man coming back from set up and meetings at the school with packets of paper that must have been explaining his class. It was when he tried to attack and wrestle the man from the papers, that the greenette remembered that his dad (that was a thing now) was a pro-hero.

Izuku wasn’t bitter, thank you very much.

It was the morning exactly a week after the entrance exam, and Izuku was wearing a rut into the floor with his pacing. Eraser had the day off and was currently sitting on the couch laughing at the greenette. Every morning at exactly 8 AM, the mailman dropped off the mail. It was currently 7:55. If it didn’t come today, Izuku was going to march up to Principal Nezu’s office himself and demand the results.

When 8 o’clock hit, Izuku ran out the door like a madman. Aizawa just calmly sipped his coffee. A loud yell in excitement could be heard throughout the entire apartment complex as Izuku ran back to the apartment, almost slipping as he rounded corners and skidded past his front door. Aizawa remained unmoved, as Izuku slammed open the door in his haste waving the letter around his head.

“It came! It came! It came!” Izuku chanted as he ran to sit on the couch next to Aizawa. The second he sat down, though, he grew quiet and just looked at the letter sitting in his hand. Looking on, Aizawa raised an eyebrow wondering when the greenette was going to open it, but Izuku’s fears suddenly hit him all at once.

What if he didn’t make it? Aizawa had reassured him throughout the week that everything was going to be fine even as he kept the results from him, but years of doubts and degrading words can’t be completely replaced by a month’s worth of praise and encouragement. After sitting there for an indeterminate amount of time, Izuku felt Aizawa’s rather boney elbow hit his side. He jerked from the pain and looked towards the man with doubt shining in his green eyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” Aizawa reassured him softly. “Just open it.”

Taking a deep breath, Izuku gripped the envelope tightly in his hands, tearing the end off. Out spilled a little disk that rolled onto the middle of the coffee table. Before Izuku could question what it was. A video was projected into the air from it.

With a quick flair of violins, someone Izuku least expected popped onto the screen.

“All Might?” he questioned with a slight grimace.

“Midoriya-shounen!” Video All Might exclaimed. Very loudly exclaimed. “I am here as a projection in order to tell you about your results in the UA entrance exam! On the written exam, you scored a perfect 100% while on the practical you scored 36 villain points, but that is not the only way we were scoring contestants.” Izuku looked on in confusion. It wasn’t?

“This is a school for heroes so of course we could not let certain actions that are the base of what heroes are be ignored. So with rescuing both Shinsou-shounen and Uraraka-shojo, you received 70 rescue points for a total of 106 points putting you as number one on the leaderboard. Congratulations, this is your hero academia!”

Izuku sat there in silence. No reaction. He could have been a statue. Aizawa looked on in both amusement and concern. The boy was not even blinking. He wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. Then all at once it seemed like the boy’s brain rebooted.

The greenette let out an inhuman screech while he jumped up into the air from his seated position on the couch. If the boy had had a quirk, it probably would have been going haywire, but instead, he was jumping off the walls still screaming. Then after about a minute of this, he tackled Aizawa where he was still sitting on the couch.

“I did it!” He cried, great big tears spilling down his face and onto Aizawa’s shirt. “I really did it dad! I’m going to be a hero!”

Aizawa hugged him tightly back. “You were already a hero, kid. Now we can just work on making you a legal one.”

They remained there crying for pretty much the rest of the day.

Chapter Text

Izuku is moving into the dorms tomorrow, and he has never felt more stressed. Well, that’s a lie, obviously he has been more stressed, but this was actually a good type of stress. One that Izuku didn’t know existed until this moment.

He didn’t know what to expect. One thing he knew was that Eraser was going to be his homeroom teacher. He had finally gotten the information out of the older man during the excitement of him finding out he not only made it but got the highest score out of everybody who was there.

In his months of living with Aizawa, he really hadn’t gotten a lot of stuff, so packing was easy and he finished in just an hour. Now he had to wait. First thing tomorrow he was going to meet the rest of his class and the day after that school would begin.

For dinner that night, Aizawa made him katsudon one more time, before he would have to eat at the cafeteria or fend for himself.

“So kid, Aizawa started as they ate. “I was wondering about how you want to show our relationship while at school since I will be your teacher.”

Izuku put down his chopsticks as he leaned back to think about it for a minute.

With a hum, Izuku mumbled a bit. “Well, it might not be the best for everyone to know at the start especially with me being quirkless. I don’t want anyone to think that I only made it because my dad works at UA, but I also don’t want to pretend.”

It hurt Aizawa to think about the fact that Izuku was worried about that, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t justified. Who knows what type of people will be in his class, and as much as Aizawa trusted his fellow teachers, he still didn’t want to run the risk of rumors. The only ones of the staff that knew that Aizawa had taken in Izuku were Hizashi, his boyfriend; Kayama, his friend; and Nezu himself. Aizawa wanted to keep it that way for a little longer.

“Maybe…” Izuku stated a little louder. “We can just play it by ear. Don’t tell anyone that I am your son, but don’t deny it at the same time. If it comes out, it comes out, and we’ll handle the consequences?”

The greenette said the last part like a question while looking unsurely at Aizawa.

“Of course, we’ll handle it together, and sounds good, kid.” Izuku responded with a small smile before going back to eating. It was going to be an interesting few days.

The next morning dawned bright and early as the two night owls rolled out of bed with eye bags the size of Japan. Maybe Izuku shouldn’t have gone out on patrol last night until 5 AM only to have to wake up at 8. Mistakes have been made.

The apartment was silent as the two did the dance of getting breakfast and coffee ready as they did each morning. It was only after they both had two cups of coffee that the first word was said.

“Morning,” Aizawa grunted out. Izuku just nodded his head in response.

“Are you ready to move into your new room?” Aizawa asked after they started eating. Izuku nodded quickly. “We’ll need to head out in about 30 minutes, so go ahead and start bringing your things down to the car.”

“Will do,” Izuku finally said.

It continued to be a quiet morning. Izuku was full of anxiety, not knowing what to expect. He was also excited. He was finally taking the first step to fulfill a dream that he had almost given up as impossible. The drive there was uneventful and soon Aizawa was pulling his car up beside the dorms themselves.

Campus was empty as they started to unload the few boxes Izuku had with him. Everyone else wasn’t scheduled to move in until 10 o’clock, but Aizawa needed to be at the dorms early to get things ready for the influx of students. This meant that Izuku was able to explore and move in without having prying eyes and social contact.

After lugging up his beanbag chair last, Izuku was left alone to start putting together his room. He decided to keep the same layout as his room at home. He wanted some kind of familiarity through everything that was happening. As he was putting up his new poster of Miruko as a last addition to his room, he could hear the sounds of other people entering the dorms. The chatter of people meeting each other became background noise as Izuku worried on his bed. Should he go down and introduce himself, or should he be a hermit and not leave his room until his first class tomorrow.

When his stomach growled loudly, Izuku figured his decision was made for him. He didn’t have a lot of food down in the kitchen, but Eraser had given him a few simple meals to just warm up until the cafeteria opened.

Izuku stood at his door taking deep breaths. It shouldn’t be as terrifying as it was. He would honestly much rather face down 5 villains then take a step out of his room. He stood there for another 5 minutes before his stomach growled again. With one last deep breath, Izuku steeled himself and opened the door.

“Bonjour!”

He immediately regretted it.

“My name is Aoyama Yuuga!” A very sparkly blond appeared in front of him with a flourish. “We will be neighbors, no? I’m just to the right. What is your name?”

Izuku hesitated for a second. The blond’s presence was just very loud and Izuku was not used to that. “Midoriya Izuku.”

“Izuku-kun!” Aoyama exclaimed. “How extraordinary! Are you excited to begin our time here at UA? I am ready to show the world my sparkle. No one will be able to compare!” The blond kept speaking while posing every so often as if for a camera. Somehow, he seemed to sparkle more with each pose.  As much as Izuku wanted to retreat, his stomach wouldn’t let him.

“Oh! You’re hungry?” Aoyama asked after another particularly loud grumble of his stomach. “I have some excellent cheese platters that you simply must try.” The blond continued to rave about cheese for some forsaken reason as he followed Izuku through the hall and down the stairs.

There was one thing that Izuku could say about the encounter: it was weird, but not bad. While unpacking Izuku had changed into a simple outfit of a tank top and short basketball shorts that showed off the tattoos covering his arms and the one on his left thigh. He wore it without meaning to run into anyone, but if he did, he expected comments, concerns, looks, and judgement. The sparkly blond, though, acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary for a 15-year-old to be covered in scars and ink. So, for as much as Izuku wanted to get away, he wasn’t desperate enough to leave the blond behind.

Blessedly, the common room was empty besides Aizawa sitting on the couch drinking his (probably) fourth cup of coffee. They exchanged tired nods as Izuku made his way into the kitchen with Aoyama still talking to him. Just then a soft chime filled the air, and Aoyama perked up, pulling a shiny phone from his pocket and turning around to answer it.

“Bye bye, mon cher! We’ll talk again later, no?” Before Izuku could answer, the blond had left in a shower of glitter. The greenette looked to Eraser with confusion written all over his face. The older man just shrugged with one shoulder. In an effort to not meet any other new people, Izuku hurried through preparation of making his instant ramen, adding in extra chili oil before leaving the kitchen. As his foot hit the first step of the stairs, he heard more people enter the dorm with loud voices talking and laughing.

Izuku booked in. He had had enough social interaction for the day, thank you very much. He would leave it all to his foster father to deal with like the loving son he is.

The rest of the evening passed by relatively fast. From his room, he could hear the dull roar of talking from the common room as it seemed everyone was down there getting to know each other. Izuku was avoiding it like the plague. Instead he stayed up in his room, continuing to work on his hero notebooks and reading in his beanbag chair until he fell asleep at the reasonable hour of 3 AM.

When his alarm rang loudly 3 hours later at 6, Izuku had many regrets, but he had chosen this life, so it was his own fault. With a groan he smacked the alarm clock and rolled out of bed. He wanted to get ready and out the door before he saw anyone else in the morning. It seemed like he had planned perfectly as he moved silently through the dorms to shower, eat, and get ready, having never seen a soul in that time.

Promptly at 6:30 AM right as he heard the first footsteps coming down the stairs and the chime of the elevator being called, Izuku left the dorm and headed outside. School didn’t start until 7:30, but Izuku wasn’t going to sit in the classroom for an hour watching as others showed up. No. He was going to hang out in the teacher’s lounge with Eraser to mentally prepare himself.

With the confidence of a thousand men, Izuku strolled into the lounge without even knocking and plopped down on the chair beside Eraser. Aizawa, for his credit, didn’t even seem fazed. He just glanced at the greenette out of the corner of his eye and nodded as he slid a coffee cup over to Izuku. Ah, routine. At least something was grounding during this anxious day.

“Hello little listener!”

Ah, his normal feeling has been thrown out the window and trampled under the feet of none other than pro-hero Present Mic. Normally Izuku would be ecstatic to meet the hero, but he was running off of no sleep and felt like a loaded spring waiting to be released. Luckily Aizawa seemed to be the same way.

With a sigh big enough to fill a sail, Aizawa turned to glare at the blond. (What is it about blonds, huh?)

“Hizashi, if you do not lower your volume in the morning, I will personally make your life a living nightmare,” Eraser spoke Izuku’s thoughts out loud.

“My bad,” Mic said quietly with a wince. He leaned down to give a quick hug to the shaggy pro hero causing his face to turn red a little. Then he turned those neon green eyes over to Izuku. “You must be Midoriya Izuku!” Hizashi exclaimed (quieter than before, though). “I’ve heard so much about you!”

Izuku raised a questioning eyebrow to Aizawa, still not awake enough to actually form words. The response he got was simply rolled eyes.

“Yes, this is my problem child,” Aizawa stated as Izuku gave him a harsh glare. “You’re going to have to forgive him, he can’t talk in the mornings until he has had at least three cups of coffee.”

This led to Mic laughing quite loudly. “Sounds just like you Shouta.”

“I am not that bad!” Eraser tried to defend himself. Izuku let out a loud snort of derision at that, though, and Mic just laughed harder.

“Whatever makes you feel better,” Mic chuckled as he winked at Izuku. Oh, they were going to have fun messing with Eraser, he could just tell. Their moment was interrupted as Aizawa clapped loudly.

“Well, kid, looks like you need to be heading to class.” Izuku glanced at the clock to see Aizawa was right. It was about twenty minutes until the bell and Izuku did not want to be the last one in the room if he could help it. With a grimace he stood up and started to head out but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

“Hey, kid,” Aizawa said quietly. “Everything is going to be fine. I promise.” Aizawa stood up to give Izuku a quick hug which he melted into instantly. “If any of them are quirkiest pieces of shit, I will boot them out.” He couldn’t help but let out a wet laugh at that.

“Thanks, dad,” he muttered quietly as he started to pull away. “I’ll see you in class.” With a small smile, Izuku turned around and walked out.

Behind him, Hizashi watched on as the soft expression remained on Shouta’s face. He smiled softly to himself. It looks like this kid would be good for Shouta just as much as Shouta has helped the greenette out. Hizashi was looking forward to being a part of the small family.

In just a few minutes, Izuku found the door to class 1-A. Taking one look at the gigantic entryway and hearing the sounds of mingling coming from it, Izuku shook his head. He would take the back door in. Channeling everything he knew about stealth. The greenette slipped in the smaller back door and made his way behind all the seats and to his desk on the opposite side of the room without anyone noticing.

Along his way, he was able to people watch for a second. He saw a pink girl chatting brightly and loudly with an electric blond and a floating uniform(?). Near the back he saw the rude kid from the exam lecturing a guy with a crow’s head about sitting on the desks. Why did they have to end up in the same class, Izuku asked himself. Just his luck. A few students were quietly sitting and keeping to themselves. A few other small groups had formed, but they were a lot quieter than the two he first spotted.

When he finally arrived at his seat, he slumped down into his chair with a sigh and dropped his bag beside him.

“Hey,” a monotone voice said from right behind him. With a small jump, Izuku sat up and turned around to see who was talking to him. He made eye contact with eyebags that could rival his own. Izuku instantly felt a moment of solidarity with the stranger. Upon closer inspection, though, Izuku felt like he recognized him. The boy had lavender hair that stood straight up, defying gravity. His eyes were a pale purple-grey to match the bags. His build was tall and lanky, meaning his quirk probably wasn’t a physical, combative quirk. Maybe mental. The description seemed familiar until he finally got it.

“Pipe boy!” Izuku said with a snap of his fingers, recalling the boy he helped during the exam.

The response he got was an incredulous look. Izuku shrunk in on himself slightly. “It is you, right? The person I helped in the exam?”

The purple haired boy shook his head slightly before quickly nodding instead. “Yeah, no. That was me. I just… do you always mutter as you think?” he asked with a slight head tilt.

“Oh,” Izuku felt heat creep up his neck. He thought he had stopped his muttering, but apparently that wasn’t the case. “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to be a creep.”

The other shook his hands a little in front of him. “Oh no, you’re fine. I just wasn’t expecting that, and honestly, I found it impressive. You’ve got quite the analytic ability.” Izuku felt the heat climb higher. “Shinsou Hitoshi.” The boy then stated.

“Midoriya Izuku,” he replied quickly.

“You!” Izuku startled once again at the loud exclamation that came from beside him. Turning he made eye contact with none other than the rude boy from before. “I am Iida Tenya from Somei Private Academy. I wanted to apologize. Obviously, you better understood the purpose of the exam,” the bluette continued to go on.

In that moment, Izuku felt his anxiety melt away to be replaced by annoyance. “Hold up,” he interrupted firmly. “I went into that test like everyone else, looking to score points. I didn’t see or understand any bull crap. I just saw people in need and did as anyone should do. I helped. I didn’t act to get more points. I just helped people in need.” Izuku ground out.

Conversations in the classroom seemed to have petered out while Izuku talked. Everyone was looking at him, but he could care less at the moment. His actions weren’t for glory or points. He just did what any self-respecting hero should have done. The fact that Iida didn’t understand that was very telling to Izuku.

“Oh freckles!” A bubbly voice broke the tense silence. Looking over Izuku once again made eye contact with a familiar face. It was the nice girl from the exam. She bounded over quickly with a smile on her face. “I’ve been wanting to thank you for saving me during the exam. I didn’t see you after it was done, but I couldn’t go without saying it.”

Izuku once again felt awkward as the frustration he felt took a back burner to this new social interaction. Man, he was exhausted, and the day hadn’t even really begun.

With a quick shake of his head, he muttered out, “It was nothing.”

It seemed like everyone in the class wanted to know what was going on and started to ask the brunette questions, luckily leaving Izuku to himself. It was then that he felt a shiver down his spine. Surreptitiously, he glanced to the front door and there he saw him. Eraser. Laying on the ground. In a yellow mummy bag. His eyes looked even more tired than when he saw him earlier. Izuku made eye contact with the man and they just stared at each other for a second. Eraser looked dead inside. Izuku just offered him a shrug and turned to the front of the room and stayed quiet.

A minute passed, then two, then three. When five minutes had passed, it seemed like Eraser had finally had enough. With a barely noticeable huff, he went to clear his throat. That caught people’s attention. Honestly, the most joy Izuku had felt during that day came from watching everyone lose their minds over the hobo man laying there.

With a growl, Aizawa stood up. “I have been here for five minutes and only one of you noticed my presence and acted accordingly. That is woefully incompetent of all of you. You are studying to be heroes. Learn to be more aware of your surroundings.”

As Aizawa talked, the class grew quiet. A few of them looked sheepish as they understood what Eraser was telling them.

“I am Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher. These are your gym uniforms,” he stated while pulling one from his mummy bag. “Put them on and meet me on the field in five minutes.” With that the man turned and left the room.

Izuku was the first one to stand up and grab the uniform. He was out the door and down the hall before he heard the noises of the others finally moving. They probably don’t think he’s serious on the time limit, Izuku thought to himself. With a wry grin, he picked up his pace. They’ll learn quickly.

Izuku was in and out of the locker room before the rest of the class showed up. He wasn’t going to complain because it puts off awkward conversations for longer, but Aizawa sure was.

Sure enough, ten minutes later the last of the class made their way outside to join Izuku in standing in the field. Eraser looked annoyed.

“I told you all five minutes, and here we are almost 15 minutes later. Time is of the essence in the hero world and you all need to learn that fast.” Aizawa glared at them all.

“Today we are doing a quirk apprehension test,” Aizawa stated after a minute of tense silence. “In years past, you all took physical tests to see your benchmarks, but using quirks were forbidden. Today you will use your quirk so we can set a benchmark for your performance here.”

A cheer was heard in the group of students.

“How exciting!”

Izuku winced to himself. Are they dumb?

Aizawa’s eyes flashed red as annoyance crossed his features. “Exciting? Fun? This is the world of pro. To emphasize the importance of this all, how about the person that places last overall will be deemed to have no potential and will be expelled.”

A cry of outrage came from many. “You can’t do that!” “That’s unfair!”

Izuku couldn’t help the small growl that left his lips silencing those who were closest to him.

“Unfair?” he exclaimed without meaning to. “What in this forsaken world is fair? Is it fair when villains and criminals attack innocent civilians? Is it fair when a natural disaster wipes cities off the map? We are here to learn how to be heroes in this unfair world, so suck it up, and grow up.”

Apparently Izuku was really good at causing the entire class to go quiet. This was like his third time today.

“Midoriya is correct. If you cannot understand that concept, then you are of no use as a hero,” Aizawa said simply. The class shuffled awkwardly, but no one else said anything. At the continued silence, Aizawa nodded.

"Now, we are here to go beyond what you thought was possible and test your quirks in action,” he started explaining. “We will begin with the 50-meter dash, done in groups of two. Line up and we will begin.”

Izuku made sure to place himself at the end of the pack. Quietly he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket along with his pen. If everyone was going to be showing off their quirks, he wanted to make sure that he got the best chance to observe them all.

2 by 2 his classmates ran. Some had quirks that were very advantageous, he’s looking at engine legs over there. It seemed, though, that just as many had to run as normal with no advantage for them. When it was his turn, he put away his notes and lined up to run. He was beside a little guy that appeared to have grapes on his head. Weird. A bang was heard and Izuku booked it coming in at 6 seconds flat. Not too bad. From around him, he heard mutters, but he could care less about them as the grape boy finally crossed 3 seconds later.

Next was the toe touch. Izuku easily just bent himself in half. He has had to work on his flexibility for years now in order to contort himself in various ways to dodge villains and get out of windows. He was actually pretty comfortable like this. Mutters could still be heard around him.

For the endurance run, Izuku lasted as one of the longest. The only people who beat him were engine legs and the tall girl who just whipped out an electric scooter from her body. How interesting! Izuku wrote down a lot of notes while others started the long jump. That one went pretty well for him too. Granted he didn’t have a quirk to launch himself like glitter man, creation girl, iceman, and others. He still was able to launch himself a solid 8 meters having gotten used to throwing himself over open areas across roofs. He could have done better if a longer run up was allowed, but oh well.

For the grip strength test, he spent more focus looking around and observing others than focusing on his own. He watched as an octopus man literally broke the machine and creation girl just made a clamp and kept cranking. A beep sounded from his hand, distracting him. 56 kg. Izuku clicked his tongue in disappointment. He can do better than that, but knowing Aizawa, he wouldn’t be given a second chance to do better.

A few other tests were done as Izuku continued to study his classmates. There were some truly interesting quirks. A few of them, though, had yet to reveal what their quirks were, for example purple hair hadn’t done anything noticeable furthering his theory that the boy had a mental quirk. These tests were not designed for non-physical quirks which bothered him, but he trusted Aizawa. There was something they were missing.

Then came the ball throw. Aizawa explained the rules.

“You can do anything just don’t leave the circle.”

Hmmm. That was phrased very interestingly. As the others went one by one to throw. Izuku chewed on what Aizawa had said. They could do anything. They just couldn’t leave the circle. An idea came to mind, and Izuku instantly started to run through the known quirks to decide which was best. Creation girl made a cannon that launched the ball around 600 meters. Engine legs kicked it about 100 meters, but many others just had to throw it. Then came the nice girl. She tapped the ball with all five fingers and then lightly threw it. The ball, instead of instantly hitting the ground, kept going. And going. And going. Until an infinity appeared on Aizawa’s screen. A smirk curved his lips. How excessive. And perfect.

“Midoriya,” Aizawa called. Izuku stood up from where he was sitting apart from everyone and placed his notebook back in his pocket. He grabbed the ball that Eraser had thrown him and ambled over to the circle. As he tossed the ball hand to hand, he turned and made eye contact with the man.

“I can do anything, right?” He wanted to confirm.

Aizawa nodded in understanding, “Just as long as you don’t leave the circle.”

The smirk formed fully over his lips as he turned around to face the class.

“Hey brunette girl!” He called, and the girl startled a little before pointing a finger at herself in askance. He nodded. “Yeah, can you come here for a second?”

The girl carefully approached all while looking over repeatedly at Aizawa, but he never stopped her.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to touch this ball and when I say stop you can release your quirk.”

The girl looked a little shaken and looked back to Eraser, but he did nothing to stop it. When she carefully touched the ball, Izuku could feel the difference. Mutters were coming from behind him, but that didn’t stop him. He turned to the course and cocked his arm back to throw with all he had.

“3… 2… 1…” he muttered under his breath. “Release.” He commanded, and the girl did exactly that. In the distance, the ball dropped down and hit. He turned to Eraser, waiting.

1065 meters. A cocky grin overtook his face as Aizawa turned the phone around to face everyone. The grin quickly melted as everyone’s voices got louder.

“Sensei, that’s cheating!”

“He cheated!”

“He can’t do that!”

They cried in outrage. Izuku could feel himself shrinking in on himself without meaning to. He followed the rules. They seemed to keep getting louder until Aizawa took control.

“Shut up!” He roared as his quirk activated. Izuku watched as everyone quieted instantly and looked like they stopped breathing. Eraser was intimidating when he used his quirk. His eyes flashed a bloody red and all his hair stood up straight. His capture weapon circled around his body as an intimidation tactic that worked brilliantly.

“Midoriya’s score is valid. He followed the rules I set out,” Aizawa said in a measured voice that still radiated anger. He turned to Izuku then. “Would you care to explain why you did what you did?”

The greenette hesitated for a second longer before taking a deep breath and standing up straight. He knew what Aizawa was doing. He was letting him explain himself and his quirk in his own terms, and also showing what he could do.

He steeled himself and then turned to the others with determination in his eyes.

“Aizawa only said not to leave the circle, so I didn’t. Instead, I took advantage of the resources around me. If you are too stubborn to ask for help from someone who is more qualified for a task in the field, that could be the difference between life and death of yourself, your colleagues, or a civilian.”

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Then a spiky red head slowly raised his hand while asking, “Well, why didn’t you just let the ball keep going to get the infinity score as well?” A few nodded along with his question in wonder.

“What’s the point in exhausting her quirk when the situation doesn’t demand that?” He asked back, causing everyone to stop again. “I don’t need to get an infinity. That is excessive and pointless. All I needed was a good score, just enough to get the job done. I am not going to overuse someone else’s quirk simply to help myself. In the field, it has to be the same way. Do only what is needed because you never know when the next threat will come, and if you pointlessly use your quirk, that could also result in severe harm or death. Learn yours and your fellow heroes’ limits.”

When he finished, he turned back to Aizawa who was nodding along with a small grin, but before he could say anything a high pitched, reedy voice burst out. “Well then, what’s your quirk if it wasn’t suited to the task?” Apparently, the grape boy didn’t believe him or something if the sneer on his face was anything to go by.

Aizawa moved to open his mouth, but Izuku beat him to it.

“Me?” He asked, pointing to himself. “I’m quirkless.” He stated with a nonchalant shrug.

Sound immediately replaced the silence once again. Izuku was really getting tired of this ‘all or nothing’ the class had going on. Everyone shouting at the same time.

“You’re quirkless?”

“How did you get into UA?”

“How are all your scores so high?” And more filled the air. None of it really sounded accusatory until the grape head opened his mouth again.

“You’re quirkless? Why the hell are you here? You’re just a waste of space in this class and in society, trash.”

Izuku thought he was prepared for those kinds of comments. He had been receiving them his whole life, but finally hearing it again made him feel like the helpless little kid all the orphanages and foster homes made him out to be.

“Enough!” Aizawa roared, quieting everyone down. His glare was fierce on the grape boy, looking like he wished he could make him combust with just his eyes. “Mineta Minoru, having calculated the scores, you find yourself in last place,” Aizawa ground out as the leaderboard appeared as a projection near him. “I was going to say it was a logical ruse and let everyone stay, but seeing as your quirkist ideals are detrimental to hero work, and as you have not stopped eyeing up your fellow female heroes, I have decided, you are expelled. Effective immediately, gather your stuff from the classroom and leave campus now.”

“You can’t do that!” He whined loudly. Aizawa just flashed his quirk and sent out his binding clothes to wrap the creep up. “I have been given full authority from Nezu to rule my classroom as seemingly fit. I am sure he would agree with me fully in punting your body over the gates.”

Everyone could see the shivers coursing down his spine. No one was coming to his aid even as his eyes whipped around.

“Get out of my sight,” Aizawa growled as he released him. As the little creep ran away, the sigh that all the girls (and Izuku) released was heard by all. Creation girl turned to Eraser, “Thanks sensei.”

Aizawa just nodded as he put his phone away and started off.

“We are done for today. Everyone, feel free to go back to the dorms. Classes begin in earnest tomorrow morning.” He looked over his shoulder for a second with his next line. “Also, Midoriya placed first in both the written and physical exam despite his quirkless status, so I think you would all do well to listen to what he has to say. Have a good day.” With a half-hearted wave over his shoulder, Aizawa left.

Izuku stood there in the silence for a moment processing what Aizawa just said. He then felt every eye of his classmates turn and focus on him in shock and awe. He looked over with an awkward smile and a small wave.

“Well…” he drawled. “Bye!” Izuku launched himself the hell out of there. Sprinting to the locker rooms to change to hopefully avoid all the clamor that that revelation was going to cause. He seemed to be okay. He was able to change back into his school uniform and was just about to leave as all the other boys came crashing in stopping him in his tracks.

“Bro!” the spiky red head from earlier exclaimed upon seeing him, while also throwing his arm around Izuku’s shoulder. “That was so manly! How amazing is it that you placed first! You have to teach me your ways!”

Izuku only chuckled awkwardly as he tried to disentangle himself from the red head, but the hardened arm stopped him. Oh, his skin turned hard. That’s so interesting! His mumbling started to well up before he was stopped again by more talking.

“Seriously, dude!” an electric blond exclaimed from his empty side, shocking him a bit since that was his blindside. “You did incredible out there! You were fifth on the list from today! You’re both beast and cute!”

Izuku couldn’t stop the blush that filled his face at that comment.

“They are both right,” a monotone voice drawled out. Oh, it was lavender hair. “You’re quite impressive to say the least.”

“You have to tell us about yourself tonight, dude!” A tall and lanky boy said that had weirdly shaped elbows.

“O…oh… oh no, I’m just going to go back to my room. I’m good,” Izuku tried to say.

“Nonsense!” A loud voice cut through. How the square kid’s voice even sounded square was a mystery that Izuku couldn’t solve, but he felt annoyance flash on his face. “We are a class, and we must get to know one another. We are together for the next three years; it would be beneficial!”

Izuku ground his teeth. He knew what the guy was saying was actually solid. Izuku could ask more about people’s quirks this way, but he just wanted to be by himself.

“Why don’t we go back and relax, and when we make dinner tonight, we can all talk, right?” Lavender hair suggested. He might only be suggesting it because he also looked dead on his feet from social interaction, but Izuku was glad for the way out.

“Yeah, I could do that,” he said while trying to nod under the hardened arm of spiky hair.

“Perfect!” Said red head laughed loudly while shaking Izuku a little. “We’ll come get you when dinner is ready!” With that, he was let go, and Izuku was out the door and in his room in record time. With a hefty sigh and growl, he flopped down on his bed and whipped out his phone.

His fingers angrily stabbed at his phone as he texted Eraser.

Izuku: What in this forsaken world made you say that when you left? You sent me into a hungry pack of wolves wearing a meat dress.

The reply was immediate.

Aizawa: Have fun!

He was very tempted to chuck his phone across the room. Very tempted. The only thing that stopped him was knowing that he would have to talk to Aizawa about buying a new one later if that were the case. So instead, he sent back simply:

Izuku: Shove off.

Izuku laid there staring at his ceiling for an indeterminate amount of time, before he peeled himself off the comforter in order to change into his normal ensemble and out of the uncomfortable school uniform before laying back down for a much-needed nap.

He was awoken hours later by a loud knock on his door.

“Midori-bro! Dinner is ready!” The perky red head called through the door. Izuku’s response was just a groan, which the other seemed to hear if his laugh was any indication.

“Come down soon or your food will get cold.”

With no chance of escape because he basically promised he would be there, Izuku once more peeled himself away from the comfort of his dark room to stumble down the stairs and into the kitchen. He was too tired to notice the sudden quiet his appearance had made.

As he reached for a bowl of what looked like ramen, a voice filled the air.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Izuku blinked in surprise before turning to look at the table. There he saw the entire class sitting around eating, but all of them had stopped in various positions with food half way to their mouths, looking at him in shock. A few more blinks passed before Izuku looked down at himself in question. When he saw that he was wearing just the tank top and short shorts, exposing all his scars and tattoos, he almost dropped his bowl in shock and cursed to himself. He meant to change before seeing everyone.

Well, this was bound to happen eventually, so with a shrug he continued what he was doing. “I’m fine,” he replied casually while grabbing the chili oil on the counter before sitting down with his food. He was seated beside the creation girl with ketchup and mustard hair seated across from him. Everyone remained quiet until he took his first bite of ramen. That seemed to reboot everyone as they slowly went back to their conversations realizing they weren’t going to get anything more from the boy.

The ramen wasn’t too bad, in Izuku’s opinion, but it lacked heat. He grabbed the chili oil he had taken, and started to liberally dump it onto his food.

“Oh… oh my,” came the dignified voice beside him.

He looked over to see her looking on in horror at his bright red bowl of ramen.

“Dude!” the electric blond called. “How can you eat that? That looks like it would boil my mouth instantly!”

Izuku looked down at his food and back up in surprise. “This?” He asked while eating a bite. Ah, much better.

Everyone was looking in horror now.

“Yeah man,” the red head said. “Isn’t that too hot?”

“Hmmm…” Izuku hummed as he finished chewing. “No,” he shrugged. “I grew up with a family where this would be their most mild dish. I can’t get the proper heat if I don’t add the oil from the start to cook it all together, but this is decent at least.”

If Izuku wanted to terrify his classmates in multiple ways, he had apparently achieved it five times over today. As everyone shook from that sentence, they all watched on as Izuku drained his bowl of every last drop without even breaking a sweat.

“Okay, can I go back to my room now?” He asked as he went to put his bowl in the dishwasher. It was only then that everyone went back to eating with renewed vigor.

“Not yet, man!” The red head called as he stood up too. “We got to meet almost everyone last night after move-ins, but we never saw you! We want to get to know you too!”

Izuku sighed but accepted his fate. If it wasn’t now, then it was going to be eventually. Might as well get it over with. He moved to the common room couches picking the one-seater in the corner as everyone finished up eating.

Izuku: Please save me .

Eraser: No

Izuku huffed in annoyance. He was not pouting despite what others would say. He was angry. What use was having his dad as his teacher if he wouldn’t help him escape social interaction? Rude, honestly.

It took a few minutes but soon everyone was gathered in the common room, sitting in a deformed half circle around him like it was Storytime or something.

“So Midori,” the pink girl started. “Tell us about yourself. Oh also! I’m Ashido Mina!”

Izuku nodded at Ashido. “What do you want to know?” He asked back, unsure of what to say.

“Oh!” the electric blond yelled out. “Did you get the phoenix tattoo on your right arm before or after the burn?”

Everyone was quick to yell at him as the red head smacked the back of the blond’s head.

“You can’t just ask that, dude!” The red head yelled before turning back to Izuku. “Also, I am Kirishima Eijirou and this insensitive guy is Kaminari Denki. Sorry about him.”

Izuku shrugged while cataloging their names in his head. “I don’t mind,” he stated, quickly quieting everyone around him. “I got the tattoo before, just a coincidence in the long run.”

Everyone sat there for a minute, after his new revelation. Izuku just sat in silence, waiting.

“I’m Uraraka Ochaco!” the brunette suddenly called out. “You mentioned your family earlier. Are you an only child or do you have siblings?”

Izuku took a moment to think back when he mentioned his family. When it hit him, he chuckled a little. The smile that crossed his face caused everyone to do a double take. When the greenette smiled, he looked so nice and like sunshine. Incredible.

“Oh, the people I was talking about aren't my family,” he started drawing everyone’s attention back. “They are my best friend’s family, just him and his parents.”

“Well what about your family,” a disembodied voice said. “Hagakure Tooru, by the way.”

“I’m an only child,” he started. “As for my parents, my dad shoved off when he found out I was quirkless, and my mom died about, oh… four years ago almost. I was adopted last year by a really nice man, though. So now it’s just me and him… and his boyfriend who he thinks is a secret.”

The silence was loud in the room. Izuku looked around in question.

“I’m sorry about your loss,” Uraraka said quietly as many nodded along in agreement.

Izuku looked shocked at the statement, making many feel worse. “Oh no, don’t worry about it. You didn’t know and it’s a logical question to ask. It still hurts, but I’m happy now, and that’s what matters.”

Izuku’s smile brightened the room drastically.

“Jirou Kyoka.” A girl with purple hair and long earlobes said. “So how and why did you get your tattoos? Do they mean anything, if you don’t mind sharing?”

“Tattoos are very unbefitting of a hero!” Square man abruptly interrupted, causing Izuku to grimace. “Excess amounts are not professional and can negatively affect people’s perceptions of someone!”

“Hey dude, that’s not very manly!” Kirishima yelled back.

“Yeah, man!” Kaminari joined. “Just let him be him! I want to know why!”

Izuku looked on with frustration marring his features. “Want to know why I have my tattoos?” Izuku’s voice was hard. Everyone sat up, listening intently. 

“I have been through hell throughout my life and have the evidence on my skin. All my scars that have accumulated during that time. I used to be self-conscious about it, you know?” Izuku asked briefly before instantly moving on. “People would stare at me and every new foster home and orphanage I moved to looked at me in horror and as a delinquent, using it as an excuse to push me away.”

Izuku sat back in his chair and tipped his head back to rest along the top of it. “It was one night about two years ago, I met a new friend who had his own fair share of scars across his whole body. We talked about it. About the staring and the comments. He told me one time how he got used to it all.”  

Izuku gestured loosely to his face. “He had these piercings that looked like staples on the edge of each one. Looking like it was holding his skin together. Decoration. That’s all they were. Decoration. If someone is going to look, if they are going to comment, make it be about something you can control, he said.”

With a small shrug he continued. “So, I picked tattoos. Something big that could distract from the scars. He introduced me to someone who would do them. Maybe it makes people think badly about me, but I don’t really care. I am going to help and save people no matter what they think about me. My appearance doesn’t change who I want and am striving to be.”

When he finished, the room was quiet. Everyone looked at him with varying expressions on their faces. Some with awe and some with sorrow. There was so much to unpack in all that he just said. Iida just looked a little shameful. His face turned red as his lips pressed together in a firm line.

“Ummm…” a deep voice piped up from the back of the room. “So do they have meaning behind them, or did you pick them at random?” Izuku looked over at who had spoken. It was octopus man from the grip strength test. When he met his eyes, the other boy nodded as if he understood. It was then that Izuku registered the mask covering the lower half of his face. Maybe he did understand. The boy’s eyes widened suddenly. “Shoji Mezo, by the way.”

Izuku nodded back with a slight smile. “They do actually. Well not all of them.” Izuku twisted his left arm out in front of him. Showing off the lighting that stretched from behind his ear down to the middle of his bicep cutting across three sharp scars, the pine forest silhouettes underneath, and ending with roses covering his forearm butting against a different burn scar covering the back of his arm. “I mainly got these because I like nature. I didn’t really have a ton of inspiration. There’s something about lightning that has always made me feel like anything is possible.” The smile on his face stretched a little bigger. “The phoenix on the other hand,” he said, holding up his right arm. “Was to balance it, and I look at phoenixes as inspiration. They burst into flames at the end of their life, and from the ashes, are reborn. They experience tragedy and hardships, but nothing can ever keep them down. Instead, they come back better than before.”

A few faces in the crowd gain looks of understanding. The mystical creature really did seem to emulate the boy in front of them from all that they’ve learned so far.

He then pulled his tank top to the side showing off his collarbone over his heart. There rested a small patch of dandelions and grass with one of the dandelions losing its seeds to the wind. A scarred finger traced over it lightly. “This I got for my friend that I mentioned earlier. He has always been my biggest source of inspiration and encouragement. He never questioned the fact that I would become a hero. He, in fact, helped me figure out how I could be. Without him, I wouldn’t be here.” His voice trailed off as his attention turned to the one on his left thigh.

Everyone could sense the tone shift. A heavy feeling weighed in the air as the boy’s smile turned bittersweet. From where they were sitting the tattoo could barely be made out. It was a large green bunny surrounded by different flowers and greenery.

“This one I got for my mom.” Everyone realized why Izuku looked the way he did. “Everyone would always joke that me and her looked and acted like bunnies with how high energy we were. We would basically hop around whenever we were excited. She also loved nature. We had a flower box in the front room window my entire life. In it she would grow different flowers and plants. I wanted something solely for her. This isn’t to cover up any scar, this is just to remember her by.”

 ***

Just outside of the common room stood Aizawa. He had walked in right as Iida started going off on Izuku. Anger filled him as the judgement spewed from the boy’s lips. If he had to guess, this was probably the boy from the entrance exam that Izuku had mentioned. He moved to step into the common room in order to put an end to it all when he heard Izuku’s voice turn dark.

Maybe it was better to let his problem child handle this. As he listened on, though, he felt his heart break more for the boy. They had talked briefly about his tattoos in the past, but Aizawa had never wanted to pressure him to say something he didn’t want to. He was glad to see that the rest of the class listened with open expressions and what seemed like honest empathy for the boy. There was hope for this mess of a class after all.

When Izuku’s voice finally petered out and the room was left quiet, Aizawa stepped in.

“Alright, you problem children.” When some of the students heard him, they jumped in surprise. “Curfew is in 10 minutes, so get moving. I don’t want to have to assign detentions on the first day of class, but I will not hesitate.”

Izuku snorted softly at him, but Aizawa just glared half-heartedly at the boy. No one seemed to notice, though. Quickly everyone filed out of the room leaving Izuku and Aizawa in the common room.

“Come on, kid. Off to bed with you,” Aizawa said jokingly shooing him with his hands. Izuku merely chuckled and shook his head.

“Sure thing, dad,” Izuku scoffed before softening. “Thanks for everything, by the way.”

Aizawa reached over to ruffle the wild green curls. “Sure thing kid. Now, actually get some sleep tonight.”

Izuku lightly pushed him off. “I would say the same thing to you, but I know you won’t” He stuck out his tongue. “But seriously, be safe on patrol tonight.”

“Of course, problem child.”

 ***

As Izuku laid in bed that night, he thought back about his day. He couldn’t necessarily say that it was good with all that had happened, but he was pleasantly surprised by some aspects. He also couldn’t exactly say he was excited about learning with this class, but he wasn’t dreading it either. It would be interesting to see where life takes them all.

Plus Izuku was excited about learning more about everyone’s quirks since he wasn’t able to ask that evening like he had originally planned.

Well, as cliché as it sounded, tomorrow was a new day.

Chapter Text

Well, this new day had already started off horribly. Maybe that was Izuku being dramatic, but he would stand by his opinion.

His alarm was late going off so now here he was standing in the kitchen in line to make his coffee and people were trying to talk to him. Didn’t people understand that you shouldn’t talk to someone until after they’ve had their coffee.

“Good morning, Midoriya-kun!” Pink cheeks cheered, Izuku was too tired to remember her name at the moment, get back to him later. Izuku, in response, grunted. A perfectly reasonable communication for anytime before 10 AM, but maybe other’s didn’t agree as he just got a weird look from the girl in return.

“Good morning, Midori-bro!” Red hair yelled as he came into the kitchen having apparently missed the memo to leave Izuku alone. He just wanted his coffee. “Are you excited for classes today?”

Izuku deemed a glare as an adequate response to the question. The other boy just laughed loudly as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. Finally, finally Izuku’s coffee was ready. Instead of pouring himself a cup and putting back what was left, he just took the whole pot with him to the table.

“Hey man, you sharing any of that?” The electric blond asked with a wry grin. Izuku really wanted to hug the pot to himself and hiss, but that is not what civilized people do. Instead he just glared and held onto the pot tighter.

“Class starts in 30 minutes everyone!” The loud square man yelled. “You don’t want to be late!”

Around him, no one really reacted. Instead they all watched as the boy left right after his announcement. Izuku saw the red head shrug before going back to eating his cereal. The time meant he wouldn’t be able to see Aizawa before classes. After downing the entire pot, Izuku finally felt alert enough to go get ready. He rushed through his preparation resulting in a knot of a tie, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care. On his way out the dorm, he grabbed a few granola bars and made his way through campus with the other stragglers.

As he walked in the door, he saw Aizawa heading down the hall towards the classroom. They made eye contact and Aizawa lifted an eyebrow. Izuku merely responded by sticking out his tongue and ducking into the door. As long as he got there before his dad, then he wasn’t late.

With homeroom, the school day officially started. Their first class of the day being English. It was all incredibly normal, but Izuku would never be one to complain about stuff like that.

When lunch rolled around, Izuku was ecstatic to learn that Lunchrush, himself, made their food! He would have stayed to ask all of his questions, but there were still a lot of people behind him in line. Figures. With disappointment, Izuku found a small table to sit by himself. Which didn’t last long. Soon he was surrounded by almost everyone from class. Sitting at his table directly and at the tables surrounding him.

“So I was talking with my mom last night and she mentioned a villain attack that happened yesterday in…” Kirishima was saying as he plopped down in the seat to Izuku’s right. He didn’t really bother to listen to what was being said since the redhead was just talking to anybody. Instead, the greenette sat there surrounded by them all, and just ate. It was… nice. New. Different. After a quick glance around, he noticed that lavender hair wasn’t around. Wonder where he’s gone off to.

After lunch came the class they were all looking forward to. Heroics. The schedule didn’t say who was teaching it, though, so there they all sat in the classroom waiting anxiously.

“Here I Am! Coming through the door like a normal person,” said the man who was doing the exact opposite with the most fanfare Izuku had seen since Aoyama two nights ago.

The whole class started cheering in amazement.

“All Might?!”

“It’s his silver age costume!”

“It’s really All Might!”

“Is All Might teaching us?”

“HA HA HA HA!” All Might laughed loudly. “Indeed! I am your teacher for today! And today we will be doing…” All Might thrusted out his hand holding a small card. “Battle training!”

Everyone continued to cheer. “Now before you leave, we have something for you all! Your costumes have all been prepared for you based on the designs you submitted before the start of school, so go get changed and meet me on Ground Beta!”

Everyone stampeded to grab their costumes and hurried to the locker rooms. Izuku slowly ambled along behind.

“Come on, man!” Kirishima yelled from in front of him. “Aren’t you excited to learn from the one and only All Might?”

Before Izuku could respond, the red head had already left. It’s not like Izuku didn’t respect the number one hero. He was number one for a reason. What he has done to help Japan and the world as a hero and solely as the symbol of peace really was incredible, but Izuku would rather respect from afar. Dread filled him at the thought of the interview he heard as a child. Knowing that the number one hero was quirkist and soon to be teaching him, just did not bode well. So yeah, Izuku wasn’t excited, but class was class and he wanted to be a hero no matter what.

The locker room was chaotic when he entered it. Everyone was throwing their costumes on, complimenting each other, and excitingly talking about All Might between themselves. Izuku was quick to slip over to Hitoshi who was one of the only ones being quiet in the mess. They shared a long suffering look as Izuku opened his case, excitement flooding through him at the prospect of seeing his designs in person.

 ***

Aizawa stood to the side observing as his class spilled out of the locker rooms in excitement. He didn’t have to be here, but there was just something slightly off putting about the number one hero. Aizawa couldn’t explain why, exactly. One reason, though, was the fact that Izuku never brought him up with all his hero analysis. Instead, it seemed like he had been avoiding the hero like the plague. So Aizawa just wanted to make sure everything was going to be okay.

He watched as the heroes in training filed out each wearing their hero costumes. Some were… interesting to say the least, but none were terrible. Granted that Todoroki kid could do with some fashion advice, and this was coming from the man who lived in a yellow mummy bag.

Soon everyone had filed out, but a certain greenette was still missing. This was odd. His kid tended to be the first one ready from what he had seen so far. Finally, a little later, Izuku could be seen running out to join the crowd. Aizawa couldn’t help but smirk from where he hid. His kid had taken some ideas from his old vigilante outfit but adapted it.

The kid was wearing a black bodysuit that stretched from a tight turtleneck down to his feet but was sleeveless. Dark teal details lined the side of it. His batons stuck up from behind him bracketing his head. A metal face mask hung loosely around his neck replacing the original black cloth one he wore. Around his waist was a deep red belt that matched his shoes that were largely covered with iron soles that he had had before. On his arms were black compression sleeves that stretched from fingertip to mid bicep. Then over that he had a forearm bracer that connected to thick gloves via copper like pipes that spread out over the back of his hand to each finger. The palm of the glove was the same teal as the detailing on his costume. When the boy turned slightly, Aizawa couldn’t help but laugh as attached at the shoulders was a hood to be pulled up with black bunny-like ears hanging down – just like his old costume. Overall, it was simple and sleek. Aizawa approved.

“Welcome to your first battle training!” All Might’s excessively loud voice rang out startling Aizawa slightly. “I will explain the scenario and rules!”

The second All Might whipped out a script of all things, Aizawa decided he was done. He didn’t want to have to sit through that if he could help it, and he could. Izuku didn’t need him there. Aizawa trusted that the boy would prove to everyone why he was here.

 ***

Izuku might have zoned out slightly. He couldn’t help it. When people just read from a script, it got to be very boring. He got the gist. 2 vs 2 team battles. Heroes vs villains. Capture or seize the weapon. Etc. Everyone around him looked like they were hopping on their toes with excitement. Izuku could understand the sentiment. He was excited to fight and learn more about the quirks in his class, but he really could care less about the delivery of it all.

He finally tuned back in when Iida spoke up as All Might prepped to declare the teams picked by draw.

“Isn’t it haphazard to be picking teams so lightly? Shouldn’t there be more structure within a class?”

Izuku scoffed, louder than he meant to if everyone’s eyes including All Might’s turning to him meant anything. Well guess he should speak up. “When heroes get to the scene of a fight they almost always have to team up with other heroes that they normally don’t work with. Sometimes they don’t know the other’s quirks, so this is actually a perfect set up. We have to learn and adapt as we go instead of having everything perfectly laid out for us.”

A few people nodded along with wonder on their faces.

“He’s right!” All Might suddenly boomed.

“Oh! That makes sense. I apologize for interfering with your instructions! Please continue!” The boy said as he bent into a perfect 90 degree bow.

“No need, young man!” All Might responded. “I will now announce the teams.” His hands rustled in a large black bag for a second before he pulled out two small balls that appeared to have names on them. “Team A will be… Uraraka Ochaco and Midoriya Izuku!”

The brunette made eye contact with Izuku after their names were called. A mixture of excitement and apprehension crossed her face. Izuku just nodded back. He could work with this. As the other teams were announced, Izuku spent the time running scenarios in his head about how to best make use of their skills. It was hard, though, when he didn’t know who they were fighting.

“The first fight will be…” All Might reached into two separate boxes labeled heroes and villains. “Team B as heroes and Team I as villains!”

Izuku watched as the ice man walked over to Shoji and Tailman joined Hagakure. Hm. This will be an interesting mashup. From one of his pockets on his belt, Izuku pulled out a small notebook and pen. When they reached the monitoring room, he made sure to find a good place to sit where he could see the monitors clearly.

“What are you doing, bro?” Kirishima asked from beside him. Izuku paused in his writing to look up at the red head with a questioning eyebrow. “You aren’t going to fight any of them in this battle so why are you taking notes?”

“Oh,” Izuku exclaimed lightly. “I take notes on any and all quirks that I see. I find them fascinating to learn about and to learn from. Most of what I know and can do, I learned from watching heroes fight and then adapting their style to fit myself. I figured that I could learn from all of you, and it will help for any future team up or battles for me to know everyone’s quirks, inside and out.”

“Dude!” Kaminari exclaimed, appearing from behind the red head. “That is so cool! Maybe I could teach you a thing or two when you watch me!” The blond flipped his hair with a cocky grin.

“The only thing he’s going to learn from you is what not to do,” Jirou scoffed good naturedly from nearby. Kaminari turned with a wounded sound as Jirou strolled away to stand near the creation girl instead.

After Kaminari shuffled after the punk-like girl, Kirishima turned back to Izuku.

“What do you mean ‘know inside and out’?” He asked.

“I mean, that I make notes of both strengths and weaknesses of everyone’s individual quirks. What they could be doing better. What I think they could be capable of. And how they could better have applied their quirk or their other skills in a situation.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” a dignified voice piped up from across the way. It was the creation girl who was currently blocking out Kaminari’s whining at Jirou. “Why are you so detailed with it all? Why do you pick apart quirks so much? You said it was so you could learn from them, but it seems a little more than that.” A pause. “Oh! I also never introduced myself, Yaoyorouzu Momo!”

“I don’t mind,” Izuku responded, glad to finally have the girl’s name. “I make notes because I feel like hero society could be doing so much better, and even if I can’t share my findings with the heroes I see falling short, I can at least know that if I were there, I could have done something about it.”

All Might coughed a little from the front of the room as he was setting up the monitoring station. He really should have done that earlier, in Izuku’s opinion, but who was he to openly criticize? He’ll just keep it to himself.

“I can’t tell if you like heroes or not, kero kero,” a gravelly voice spoke from nearby. Izuku turned and made eye contact with a girl whose green hair was not unlike his own, just straight as a stick. “I’m Asui Tsuyu, call me Tsu, kero.”

Izuku hummed for a bit, tapping his pen against his chin. “Well, I have always admired heroes and what they do. Growing up I was an excessive hero fanboy, but I have seen firsthand that heroes are human and can fail quite easily. I no longer look to them as infallible beings. Many don’t have the right motivations and as such lack in many heroic qualities, but they do still do good work and save people. I just want to be a hero myself to make up for where most hero society lacks.”

“What’s that?” Ashido piped up from her spot on the ground nearby. “What do you think they lack?”

Izuku made eye contact with her briefly before looking around the room and landing on engine legs Iida. “The will to save the undesirables.” He paused before continuing. 

“To put themselves into harm's way to save an innocent civilian no matter the cost.” He moved his eyes around the room again. “To save the same people the Rabbit does. To work in the areas that heroes don’t want to because it’s a ‘villains’’ area. Aren’t those the places and people that need saving the most?” Izuku insisted, voice firm and unwavering. “If we save them, how many people would we help not reach a point where they have to become villains or criminals themselves.” Izuku faded out as he turned back to his notebook to write something down.

The room was quiet as everyone seemed to chew on his words. All Might coughed again.

“Well…” he awkwardly started. “On that note, it’s time to begin.” The large hero turned back to the monitors and picked up a small mic. “Start!” He shouted as if he wanted the teams to hear him from the room without the mic.

Izuku watched in rapture as the teams started to enact their plans. Hagakure removed her gloves and shoes in order to be completely invisible. Izuku couldn’t fault her for that, but the fact she was going against someone who controlled ice made the plan pointless. Ice man proved Izuku right when he froze the entire building keeping tailman and Hagakure from moving. Shoji hadn’t even been able to do anything. Excessive. Needless waste. Izuku took notes. He almost missed it when Ice man placed his hand on the weapon, and everything started to melt. What was that?! Did he have another side to his quirk? Amazing!

“Hero team wins! Everyone, come back to the monitoring room so we can discuss what happened!”

Izuku was furiously taking notes as the four that competed wandered back into the room. All Might started to talk before the greenette noticed and pulled himself away from his thoughts.

“That was an amazing fight to all of you! But can anyone tell me what could have been done differently?”

Izuku didn’t even raise his hand before speaking.

“Ice man over there didn’t use his teammate at all, and as such needlessly used up more of his quirk. Invisible girl had a good idea of making herself completely invisible, but when going against someone like Ice man, exposing even more of yourself to the cold is detrimental.”

“What would you have done, Midori?” Ashido asked him before All Might could say anything.

“I saw that at the start of the fight Shoji had turned his appendages into ears, increasing his hearing. This meant that he knew exactly where both of them were. So instead of freezing the entire building, they could have snuck closer, all the while knowing where the enemy was and froze just them when nearby. This would have utilized both of them instead of rendering Shoji pointless, and it would have saved Ice Man from overextending his quirk in case the enemy had any other surprises, traps, or people hidden.”

“Midoriya-shounen is correct!” All Might announced suddenly. “Saying more than I thought, too,” he muttered under his breath, but Izuku still heard him, his smile turned into a grimace. “Now we need to move onto the next group… Team J as villains and Team I as heroes!”

Izuku watched on as slowly each grouping fought. His little notebook was running out of room! He watched as Crow head whipped out a shadow like beast that was attached to him. Tsu moved around exactly like a frog. Kirishima hardened his whole body! Elbows created tape from that very same appendage! Yaoyorouzu created metal blockades. Jirou plugged her ears into the wall and knew where the others were while Kaminari sent an electric shock through the pipes! So many incredible quirks were in his class, and he had to write about all of them! He didn’t participate in the discussion as much after the first time. Instead, he kept to himself and wrote everything down. Occasionally after a fight someone would come up and try to talk to him, but he was too focused.

Finally, it was his turn. Him and Uraraka against engine legs and Hitoshi, whose quirk he still didn’t know. He knew that it was something mental, but without the boy explicitly telling him what it was, Izuku couldn’t know. Oh well, they would have to make due.

Uraraka was chattering to him as they made their way over to the building where they were to set up.

“Okay here’s the plan…” Izuku interrupted suddenly. She turned to look at him with wide eyes and a firm nod as he started to explain.

When the alarm went off, they started in. They could have lifted themselves up to any of the windows or even the roof with Uraraka’s quirk, but the other team would be expecting that. They would get further if they just entered the main door and worked their way up. Hopefully tiring Iida, who would no doubt be their vanguard, at least a little bit. Slowly but steadily, they checked the first and second floor before on the third a whoosh of air ran past and Uraraka was hit. The only reason Izuku wasn’t was because of the reflexes he had honed from vigilantism.

He turned quickly to see Iida in his large armor holding Uraraka with her arms behind her back.

“You will never get past me, hero!” The boy yelled. Wow, he was really into this, wasn’t he? Iida dropped Uraraka, who now had capture tape tied around her wrists.

“I’m sorry, Midoriya,” she said softly. Izuku didn’t reply, but he nodded back, keeping an eye on Iida. It wasn’t her fault. Izuku should have done more. He should have done more to protect her. So now it was up to him to save them both.

Izuku spread his stance and removed the batons from his back, bracing himself. Iida revved his engines and pulled a leg behind him. Then he shot off after Izuku, who jumped. High. The weightlessness Uraraka had placed on him made his normal jump even more powerful as he launched himself onto the ceiling. Here he stood as he had left his iron soles on the floor – the only things that had kept him weighted down earlier. From here he stood above Iida. He led the boy away from Uraraka to keep her safe from any collateral damage that could occur while Iida ran and yelled after him.

“Only a coward runs away from a fight, hero!”

Izuku rolled his eyes. Before stopping at the staircase leading up to the fourth floor. Iida looked a little desperate at the moment. He tried to jump and kick at Izuku who stood a few feet above him, while the boy thought. He could make it upstairs and to the weapon, but Iida would definitely follow him and he did not want to take on both Iida and Hitoshi especially since he didn’t know the other's quirk. He had to take on Iida here and now, but how?

Iida managed to finally catch Izuku on the cheek with his fist sending Izuku reeling for a moment. He had hit on his right side. Aizawa was right, he really needed to learn how to better adapt with his blind eye. Izuku pushed himself away from the ceiling when he regained his balance… so to speak. With a grunt he slammed down his baton onto Iida’s chest as he traveled down. There was a harsh clang, but the other boy didn’t seem fazed. Instead, he reared back his leg and punted Izuku into the wall. It hurt, but he had had worse. So he picked himself up and launched himself to the ceiling again as Iida ran after him.

He ping ponged himself off of every surface continuously swiping at the armored boy, but besides a few dents nothing had an effect while Izuku was gaining quite a few bruises. Looks like he would have to do it, though he didn’t want to. With a sigh as he settled on the ceiling once more, he clicked the release button on his batons causing an electric current to pulse through them. He would typically use this to shock people and cause their muscles to seize. It wasn’t a bad shock and wore off quickly, but the bad part was that there was no exposed skin on Iida. There was a lot of metal around him, though, and from what Izuku could see, there were areas with no insulation.

As Iida charged once again, Izuku quietly apologized as he pushed himself towards the oncoming barrel of fury. As a direct copy of his first move as such, he brought the batons down over his head and slammed them into Iida’s chest. This time there was an effect, though. The other boy’s muscles seized up as he dropped to the ground. His body twitching slightly.

“Uraraka,” Izuku said into his transceiver.

“Release,” he heard the girl say back as his body regained its gravity, his feet settling back to the floor.

“Thank you,” he responded as he tied Iida up with the capture tape. “I’m moving onto Shinso now.”

“Got that,” she said back. “Be careful up there.”

As quietly as he could, he crept up the stairs and to the doorway leading into a large room where in the center sat the weapon and Shinso whose eyes were trained on the one door in and out of the room.

There was nothing else to it. He would have to face him head on if he wanted to win and save, so with a deep breath. He stepped in.

“So nice of you to join me, Midoriya,” Shinso drawled in his monotone voice. Izuku was careful. He didn’t know his quirk nor any parameters surrounding it besides the theory that it was something mental.

“I see that you’ve taken down my colleague. How sad,” the boy continued. “If you took him down, then I must not stand a chance against the oh so great Midoriya, who came in first in every test so far. How’s it feel to be the golden boy that everyone puts on a pedestal? The view from the top must be amazing.”

Izuku could tell Shinso was trying to rile him up for some reason. He knew he shouldn’t take the bait, but he couldn’t help the growl that sounded low in his chest like a feral animal.

“You don’t…” His mind went blank and his body felt fuzzy. What was going on? He couldn’t continue what he was saying. The lavender haired boy hadn’t even done anything or moved from his location. What was his quirk?

It was amazing!

“Now be a good kid, and just sit right there and wait until the time runs out.”

Without his consent, Izuku’s body moved on its own, sitting down in the crossed legs position. He couldn’t move or speak no matter how hard he tried. For the next five minutes, he tried everything, but Shinso continued to look on with confidence.

Brainwashing. Is that what it was? Voice activation. More like response activation maybe. How curious. This quirk would be absolutely amazing for a hero to have. More than likely he would need to be an underground hero as well. Maybe the two of them will end up being colleagues. That would be amazing. There are so many practical applications for this! Shinso will be an incredible hero!

After five minutes All Might’s voice rang out, “Villain team wins! Everyone come back to discuss!”

Izuku felt his body loosen and he could speak and move again. The first thing he did was bound over to Shinso with a smile that could rival the sun across his face.

“Your quirk is so amazing! I was trying to figure it out while sitting there! Is it brainwashing with response activation? If so, that is so incredible! That is a perfect quirk for a hero! You can do so much good with that and help so many people!”

Shinso took a step back with shock written all across his face.

“You aren’t scared of me? You don’t hate me for doing that?”

Izuku tilted his head in question. “Why would I be scared of you? You used your quirk in a controlled setting, in which you should have used it. You don’t seem the type to abuse your power either, so I have nothing to worry about.” Izuku spewed, not realizing the world he was shaking. “Now come on, let’s go back to discuss,” he said as he said to leave. “I am assuming you want to keep the details of your quirk quiet for any future battles and spars we have, right?”

Shinso looked on in wonder. He nodded his head slowly. “That… that would be nice, yes.”

“Perfect!” Izuku chirped as he started down the stairs. “I’ll keep my mouth shut. Amazing!”

As they left, they stopped to help their teammates. Shinso slung Iida’s arm over his shoulder while the armored boy dragged his feet alongside him. Izuku untied Uraraka and made sure she was okay. She had used her quirk a lot during that, and he was hoping that he didn’t abuse her power any. When he untied her, she waved her hands shooing off his concern.

“I feel fine. Don’t worry about it. It only really gets me when I use it a lot or on myself.” She reassured brightly. Izuku let out a quick breath of relief. Thank goodness.

When they finally shuffled into the monitoring room, voices rang out from everywhere.

“That was incredible, you guys!”

“That fight was amazing to watch!”

“You’re so talented, Midori!”

“Alright everyone!” All Might cut off the chatter. “Time to talk. Who could tell me who the MVP of this fight was?”

Yaoyorouzu’s hand raised up as she started talking. “I would say that it was both Midoriya and Shinso.”

“Oh, why is that?” All Might asked back.

“Well, both came up with solid plans of action against each other. Midoriya was captured in the end, but he was cautious as he was going up against an unknown quirk. He acted as he said he would during the quirk test and only utilized Uraraka’s quirk for a small amount of time when he could have easily made her use it the full time. Iida got careless and distressed when Izuku was on the ceiling causing him to act out of desperation instead of focusing on what he could do. The only problem I had with Midoriya’s performance was that his teammate was captured almost immediately.”

Everyone was quiet as they took in what she said.

“You’re right,” Izuku replied, shocking everyone. He turned to Uraraka and inclined his head. “I’m sorry I was not able to do more to help you. I had gotten a little careless which left you being taken the second Iida showed up instead of helping you out.”

She looked over with wide eyes. “Don’t worry about it! Iida-kun was super fast and I didn’t even see him until he had captured me. I am honestly more surprised he didn’t get you, too.”

“Young Yaoyorouzu was correct!” All Might interrupted. “More could have been done, but overall that was a great fight! Now get cleaned up and head back to class!”

As everyone filed out, Izuku felt someone tap his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Shinso there looking a little sheepish.

“I wanted to apologize for what I said during the training. I just needed something to get under your skin to make you talk…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Izuku interrupted. “I get it. The nature of your quirk means that you need to get people to respond. You seem like a nice guy, so don’t even think about it.”

“Um…” the lavender haired boy hesitated. “Thank you. You’re the first person who has ever said my quirk is worthy of a hero.”

Izuku looked at him with an incredulous look. “What do people say about it? How would it not be a quirk worthy of a hero?”

“They always say it’s a villain’s quirk,” the boy looked ashamed as if that would change Izuku’s mind. Instead, the greenette scoffed.

“A quirk is not inherently villainous or heroic. It is what you make it to be. You want to be a hero, so it is a heroic quirk, that’s all that matters. Don’t listen to what other people say. If they don’t know you, then their opinions don’t matter. Hell, even if they do know you, but don’t care to get to know who you are, then their opinions still don’t matter.” Izuku started walking again towards the locker rooms. Shinso followed along beside him.

“How do you have the confidence to say that?” He questioned.

Izuku looked at him from the corner of his eye (luckily the boy was on his left). “You’re talking to the quirkless kid who was always told he would amount to nothing and could never be a hero. I learned pretty quick that those opinions don’t matter. I instead trained and learned and now here I stand at UA academy alongside you. What they said and believed wasn’t true. You and I beat all odds and now we can show them that they were wrong, and isn’t that an amazing and confidence boosting feeling?”

With that, Izuku walked into the locker room and over to his locker to change quickly. They still had one more class after this. Shinso followed suit, but the expression on his face let Izuku know that he was considering his words. With a small smile, he left the lavender haired boy behind to think and walked back to the classroom by himself. Today hadn’t been too bad after all.

Chapter Text

They’d been at school for about a month now and Izuku had taken to pacing the common room. There was a permanent rut in the carpet at this point.

Many of his classmates had looked on in confusion at first, trying to ask him why, but considering that his vigilante persona was a secret, Izuku never commented.

The truth was that he was restless. It had been a month since the last time he went out as the Rabbit. Tenko has been calling him to make sure he was okay and asking often about when he was going to come back. The problem was that the security at UA was intense. Izuku didn’t want to go up against it two times a night for extended periods of time. Just the thought of it made him tired.

So pacing he did.

“Midoriya-kun,” Yaomomo spoke up from nearby. Izuku paused in his pacing to look up. “Aizawa is asking after you. He wants you to meet him in his office.”

It wasn’t their weekly dinner night, and Izuku had broken no rules recently. He had no idea why Aizawa was asking for him.

Are you going to be okay? Koda signed at him from the nearby couch, worry crossing his features.

Don’t worry about it. Izuku replied quickly, his hands waving in the air. It was honestly the best day when Izuku learned that Koda knew and preferred to sign rather than speak. It had been since the last time he saw the Bakugous four years ago since he was able to sign with someone.

He had first seen Koda signing to himself anxiously. Izuku didn’t catch what the kid was saying to himself since that was private knowledge, but he did instantly go over and start signing at the other. A quick, and unexpected friendship bloomed between the two, Koda being the only one that could communicate with Izuku in the mornings. He also seemed to be the only one who wasn’t afraid of him during that time.

After reassuring Koda, he left the dorms and made his way over to where Aizawa stayed while on campus. It was a small office in the teachers’ dorms. Since they lived nearby, Aizawa changed his room into an office to use outside of the main building. When he got there, he didn’t even bother knocking. Instead, he invited himself in and went to flop on the beanbag near Aizawa’s desk. He stopped himself just short of landing on a white, furred mass sitting there.

“Hello!” the fur called out as it moved. “Am I a bear? A mouse? I am Principle Nezu!”

Izuku might have squealed slightly. He would never admit to it. For as long as he’s been at UA, he had yet to meet the infamous principle. The quirked animal whose intelligence rivaled Izuku’s own.

“Hello, problem child,” Aizawa’s perpetually tired voice sounded from his own beanbag in the corner. “Principle Nezu had something he wanted to discuss with you. I assure you that everything said in this room is in complete confidence.”

Izuku got a little nervous at Aizawa’s reassurance. Why did he have to say that? What did Nezu want?

“Hello, Midoriya-kun!” The principal patted the beanbag beside him. “Feel free to sit.”

So, sit Izuku did, while turning to face the principle fully.

“I wanted to discuss extracurricular activities with you if I may?” Izuku merely tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“I have something to offer you today,” the creature started. “First, I have never had someone receive a 100% on the written exam to this university. In fact, it is actually quite rare for people to answer every question let alone finish in the time that you did.”

“I promise I wasn’t cheating!” Izuku yelped, worried about where this was going. The principal waved his tiny hands… paws?

“Don’t worry! We have anti-cheating precautions placed around campus especially for the entrance exam. I know that what you did came completely from your own mind which is fascinating.” His eyes widened in wonder as he spoke. “It is more that I wanted to acknowledge your intellect. It truly is amazing.”

Izuku was awed. He, Midoriya Izuku, just got complimented on his intelligence by the most intelligent being around! He got called smart by Nezu. He could die happy now, thank you very much.

“Thank you!” The gratitude finally made it past his flailing mouth all at once resulting in a shout. Nezu appeared unfazed as he merely smiled at the greenette.

“You’re welcome,” Nezu nodded. “Now, there is another matter I wanted to bring up.”

Izuku sat in silence for a minute just staring at the creature that was having too much fun drawing this out. With a pointed glare, Nezu finally started talking.

“It is in my knowledge that you have your own extracurricular activities that you used to do before coming here to UA.” Izuku felt sweat drop down his back worrying where this was going. Nezu seemed to realize Izuku’s worry as he quickly continued. “I am not asking you to stop, nor am I going to turn you in to any authorities. Quite the contrary. I want to encourage you to continue being a hero, just within reason as you still have classes and training.”

“But…” Izuku trailed off. “But I can’t get over the gates without setting off security, so I can’t continue. That’s why I haven’t done anything in a month.”

“Well, see,” Nezu said while reaching into a pocket on his vest. “I have a nondescript pass that will let you get on and off campus without alerting anyone of your activities. As long as this is on you, you will not have to worry.” Nezu paused for a moment to look Izuku in the eyes. “What you have done, especially at your age is admirable. You have helped and saved countless people, so who would I be to tell a hero in training to stop being a hero.”

Nezu handed over the small black card. Izuku grabbed it and flipped it around in his hand. The only marking on the whole thing was the UA symbol in the bottom right corner of one side. He looked back up to Nezu in awe.

“Thank you,” he breathed out.

“No worries,” Nezu brushed off. “Just remember that this cannot interfere with your studies or training, but keep doing what you have been doing. Recovery girl also knows and is good at keeping secrets, so if you ever find yourself injured, see her before classes.”

With that Nezu popped up from his beanbag and basically bounced out the door. When he was gone, Izuku looked over to Aizawa with stars in his eyes.

“Did you do this?” he asked quietly.

Aizawa merely shook his head, a small grin on his face. “Nezu has his ways, kid. He found out himself and chose to encourage you in this.” His face turned serious with his next words. “My rules still stand. Contact me if anything happens, if you catch someone or need any assistance. I will not hesitate to contact Tenko if I have to."

Izuku nodded with a small laugh leaving his mouth. Tenko was not happy when he learned that Pro-Hero Eraserhead had his phone number. Izuku trusted them both, though. They would only contact each other about Izuku if ever needed. They were both family to him, and they knew it.

Izuku bounded over to Aizawa to wrap him in a tight hug, which the hero tried to complain about, but still reciprocated. Then he was out the door and pulling out his phone. On his way back to the dorms to change, he called Tenko.

“Moshi moshi,” the dry voice answered. “Where’ve you been, kid?”

“I’m coming back tonight!” Izuku exclaimed. “I got special permission to leave campus whenever I need to, so I’ll go out patrolling this evening. Keep me updated on any goings on!”

“Of course,” Tenko managed to sound excited even with his dry voice. “I’ll be glad to see you back out there.”

With that, Izuku hung up right as he opened the door to the common room. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face and there was a slight skip to his step. This apparently freaked all his classmates out.

“What happened man? You look like you won the lottery!” Kirishima called with a smile of his own on his face.

“Did someone confess to you?” Kaminari cheered.

“Why are you so happy, Midori?” Ashido needled.

Izuku merely shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’m going to bed now. Goodnight!” And then proceeded to book it to the stairs to avoid other people asking questions.

In his room, it took him all of two seconds to break out his old vigilante gear and leap out the window to land with a roll on the grass. He couldn’t help but think that Aizawa had given him a room on the second floor for this reason. He didn’t have to pass anybody’s window and potentially be caught. He ran to the edge of the forest on campus and scaled the wall that stood there before hopping down on the other side. Time to run.

He found a small building nearby that he was able to hop onto the roof with little trouble and started leaping from rooftop to rooftop until he found himself back on his old rooftop staring out across the city. He had missed this. He loved his classes and getting to actually study and learn in a good environment, but he missed the night air and the chance to help.

He heard a scream nearby and was sailing over the alleyway in order to find what was happening. About two blocks over, he found it. A man had cornered a woman in the alleyway. Izuku looked closely. He didn’t seem to have any weapons on him, so he was most likely threatening with his quirk. Upon closer inspection, Izuku could see the man had elongated fingers that he was trailing slowly down the woman’s arm while his other hand clutched her neck. She was struggling, but Izuku could see the fear on her face from here. The helplessness she felt.

With one last glance to see if anyone else was nearby, Izuku dropped down silently. It was just them. 

Good.

He stalked up behind the man as fast as he could. He caught eye contact with the woman whose eyes widened minutely. She seemed to know who he was though, as she looked away with more resolve on her face. Izuku reached behind him to grab one of his homemade batons. He wouldn’t let the electric current out since the man was in contact with the woman; it would end up harming her as well. Instead he raised it up and aimed for the pressure point found on the neck. With one swift and silent hit, he knocked the man out without the guy even knowing someone else was in the alley.

The woman almost collapsed from relief as her assailant hit the ground. Tears streamed down her face.

“Thank you, Rabbit,” she breathed out.

“Don’t worry about it,” Izuku said softly while working to tie up the man. “I would go home instantly. Avoid the alleyways. If you don’t feel safe, I can walk you back.”

She shook her head quickly. “No, no. You have other things you need to do. I will wait here for the police. I have pepper spray in my purse. He just took it away from me before I could grab it.” She picked up a pink purse from nearby and pulled out a small black bottle that, sure enough, was pepper spray.

Izuku nodded and pulled out his phone. He sent a quick location pin and text to both Tenko and Aizawa, so they would know where to send the police for capture.

“Be careful, ma’am,” Izuku said once he was sure the criminal was secure and had gotten a response back from one of them.

“Thank you for all you do,” the woman said in response. Izuku nodded one last time, as he started to scale the building to reach the roof.

That’s how Izuku spent the night. Hopping from roof to roof and saving people from assault of various forms. It was a rather quiet night, as no villains decided to make an appearance.

4 AM found Izuku on Heights Alliance’s rooftop looking over UA campus. He felt fulfilled. He felt like he had finally done something good. Something productive. He had helped so many people that evening. This is why he wanted to be a hero. A few minutes passed before Izuku picked himself up off the edge of the roof and made his way down to his balcony to catch a few hours of sleep before school started that day. He knew he was going to be exhausted, but it was worth it.

Chapter Text

When Katsuki was young, he had the best friend anyone could ask for. The little greenette stuck by his side through thick and thin no matter what his attitude was because to be honest, he knew he was not the nicest.

When Katsuki got his quirk, and it turned out to be useless, he exploded, just not literally. Man, if he could explode, that would’ve been a heroic quirk. No, though, he just got his old hag’s quirk of glycerin. He couldn’t do anything with that. He couldn’t protect Deku with that, so he exploded. He refused to leave his room for a week. The only thing that could get him out of there was Deku sitting outside his door crying.

It still took a long while for him to be okay with his quirk. For him to accept that he wasn’t going to be a hero, but eventually he did. When his mom asked him to help model their new line of kid’s clothes he reluctantly agreed.

It wasn’t that bad.

Katsuki found that he was naturally good at modeling even at his young age. It was actually kind of fun, getting to play dress up and mess with mom’s makeup with permission!

When Deku learned that he was quirkless, Katsuki stood at his side. It was bad at first. Izuku was crushed and took a long time to return to being himself, but as Deku was patient with Katsuki, Katsuki was patient and encouraging with him.

He couldn’t say that their friendship was easy or good all the time, but they made it work. When Deku decided that he was still going to be a hero, going so far as to analyze heroes that largely worked quirkless, Katsuki was at his side. When dumb All Might said that someone like Deku couldn’t be a hero, Katsuki stormed into his room and tore down all the merch he had of the number one hero. He would find a new idol, thank you very much.

He encouraged Deku to find his own way and not listen to that quirkist piece of shit. At one point, Deku had tried to convince him to be a hero alongside him, but Katsuki couldn’t do it. He had made a promise to his mom about modeling and Katsuki could never break a promise. He was also surprisingly fine with the path he was on despite it being vastly different then his childhood dream.

When people at school started to bully them, especially Deku, Katsuki put up a fight. Yelling and screaming, getting people to leave them alone. It worked. But only when he was there. There were times, though, during school, that Izuku was alone, and it was after those times that he would show up with bruises, scraps, and cuts. Katsuki always tried to figure out who had done it, but Deku kept his lips sealed not wanting to be the reason for someone to get in trouble.

Katsuki spent many late nights trying to figure out a way to protect his friend. Then one night, he stumbled across an ad for self-defense classes. He had brought it up to his parents the next morning, but they didn’t seem too excited about the prospect. They didn’t want their relatively angry child learning how to hurt others.

Then that day at school Deku got a black eye. Katsuki marched up to his mom dragging Deku along behind him. The greenette was trying to hide, but Katsuki was not going to let him. He pulled him in front of his body and looked him mom in the eye.

“We are going to have self-defense lessons.”

Mitsuki’s face dropped when she saw Deku’s injury. It wasn’t hard to convince her then. In fact, she signed them up instantly. They started classes that weekend. Deku still didn’t stand up for himself at school which drove Katsuki crazy, but at least he knew how. This was also one step closer for Deku to learning how to be a hero.

Then came middle school. Katsuki had been missing so much school recently due to photoshoots and international travel that his parents, against his arguments and pleadings, decided to homeschool him. He still met up with Deku every chance he got.

At least the boy seemed okay even though he was on his own. Katsuki didn’t see any injuries on his exposed skin and Deku smiled just as brightly as ever.

Then about 3 months into Deku’s school year, Katsuki and his family had to go on an extended work trip to Thailand. It would last a month, and Katsuki did not want to leave Deku behind for that time, but there was no getting out of it. Off they went and Katsuki was only okay because he knew that his best friend had Auntie.

They were three weeks into the trip when they received word. Midoriya Inko had been caught in a villain attack. The heroes were unable to save her. She died on sight.

Words could not describe the grief that filled the small Bakugou family. Auntie had been the old hag’s best friend since they were in high school. They were practically one family anyway. The question on their minds, though, was what about Deku?

Mitsuki tried calling the police back home, but they couldn’t get any answers as they needed to prove who they were. They ended their business trip a week early and caught the first flight back to Musutafu. By the time they had arrived, Izuku had disappeared. Taken to an orphanage they said. When they finally tracked down the orphanage, they were told he was moved to a foster home. On and on it went until the next orphanage he had been at was attacked by villains. Casualties were high and all records had been destroyed. They had no way to find Deku.

Katsuki did not let them give up. He kept trying. For years he kept trying. Every and all searches turned up empty. Every. Single. Time. The whole family refused to believe that Deku was lost or even dead in the attack. They kept hope, but they did put up a small shrine in their home for Auntie with a picture of Deku on it too. Maybe Auntie could help them find her lost son.

One year passed. Then two. Then three. Katsuki reached high school age. He sat in the studio as the UA entrance exam was going on, sad that he wasn’t participating but still content with where he was at. Homeschooling really was easier after all.

A few months passed and the UA sports festival was approaching. They had a photoshoot scheduled for the same day, but there was no way Katsuki was missing the news coverage. He had never missed watching a single sports festival since he and Deku had found it at age five. It was tradition, and it helped him feel like Deku was nearby.

The day of, his parents set up a flat screen in the studio and turned it to the local news station excitedly exclaiming about this year's students competing. While he normally watched the third years duke it out, Katsuki decided that this year, he would watch the first years. The heroes in training that were his age.

Sadly, they had missed the opening statement made by the student who placed highest at the entrance exam. It was always funny to listen to what the loser had to say. Always ending in ‘Plus Ultra’ like it was a rule.

Katsuki was in the middle of a shoot when the first task was decided and started. He heard the commentary made by Present Mic, who always reminded him of Auntie’s kitchen and playing with Deku during summer afternoons. A few heavy hitters made a splash right out of the gate, but none of them sounded like they deserved Katsuki’s time to take a break from modeling. Then a loud explosion was heard over the speakers and Present Mic went wild.

“What was that?! From the back of the pack, we have an explosion sending a new challenger into first place. Midoriya Izuku!”

It was like the entire world stopped. Masaru, Mitsuki, and Katsuki stopped breathing. There was no way. No fucking way that they heard that right. It had to have been someone with the same name, or a name that sounded familiar. It couldn’t be their Deku.

The photographer opened his mouth to ask what happened when the Bakugous moved as one, crowding the TV and pushing others out of the way. There they saw the camera zoom in on a tall boy with green hair sailing through the air with a metal shield underneath him. Katsuki watched with bated breath as the greenette was falling to the earth with no way of stopping. Then that beautiful idiot whipped his body around in midair, feet landing on the shoulders of a kid with hair split down the middle of white and red. He threw the metal shield in front of the boy and launched himself forward while the half-and-half guy flew backwards.

Present Mic was screaming incoherently. They watched as that same greenette crossed the finish line first.

“In first place, with a major upset is none-other than Midoriya Izuku! Our first quirkless hero student shows exactly why he placed first in the entrance exam and why he is here today! Who would have guessed?”

With that the channel cut to commercial. They didn’t move for the next minute. Just staring blankly at the screen. Then as one they turned to each other, each with tears in their eyes. Their Izuku, his Deku! They found him. With a jerk they moved as one, running out of the studio and towards the parking garage as fast as they could.

“We have to leave, we will pay for what we got and reschedule for a different day!” Mitsuki barked at her assistants who were running along asking questions.

Because of how closely the Bakugou family has worked with Best Jeanist for years, they had been offered special tickets to the event. Because of the scheduling conflict they tried to refuse, but the hero had insisted and never had they been so glad then at that moment. They were about an hour away. Masaru floored it.

They were going to get there as fast as they could. They were not going to lose Izuku again.

Katsuki sat impatient in the back seat unsure of what to do with himself. He couldn’t do anything to get them there faster

“Why don’t you pull up the footage on your phone,” his mom recommended. “We won’t get there until probably the last round. Let’s watch how that brat does.”

Katsuki whipped out his phone without comment, which went to show how stressed he was. It took him a second to find a place to watch it online, but he got it going right as the cavalry battle was announced with the fact that Deku’s points were one million. Katsuki laughed loudly as everyone turned to the greenette. It was hard to make out from the footage, but Katsuki could see that instead of shrinking in on himself as he would have when he was younger, the greenette stood up straighter with his head held high. Interesting.

It was nerve wracking to watch. Deku was in a group with a short brunette, a crazy girl with pink dreads, and a crow headed boy. He didn’t understand the combination until he watched them work together. Ah. That made sense. It was amazing to see Deku in action. His analytical skills as a child seemed to be more honed and his group dodged and fought to the best of their abilities. If Katsuki bit his nails, they would be a stub by now as the last minute ticked down with Izuku having lost the one million. Come on Deku , he thought. Don’t let those wannabes show you up.

With a clash the battle ended. Katsuki was unsure of what happened, but when the scores were shown, it proved that Deku was up to snuff as they ended with the same points they started with. They had gotten the one million back and were first place going into round three.

“We’re here!” Masaru announced as they all jumped from the vehicle in a hurry. They sprinted into the stadium with no care of rhyme or reason. All they could think about was finding Deku.

 ***

Aizawa was tired. He had had a late patrol last night that ended with him wrapping up the villains that Izuku had captured that night. Both him and the greenette weren’t able to call it a night until 5 AM, which meant a solid 2 hours of sleep before waking up to be at this forsaken sports tournament. Izuku was ecstatic, Aizawa could honestly care less. He could say, though, that he was incredibly proud of Izuku taking on so many people with quirks and coming out on top in both the first and second round.

There was to be a long intermission between the second and third in order to remake the field. This meant that Aizawa was planning to use every second of that to take a nap. Imagine his disappointment and anger when that plan was thrown out the window.

“Hey Eraserhead,” a voice called over the radio near him. “We have three people trying to get into the lower levels of the stadium for the students demanding to see Midoriya. Claiming that they knew him growing up. We want you to make the decision.”

Aizawa let out a heavy sigh and rolled himself into a standing position. “Be down in 5,” he called back through the radio. If someone was here from Izuku’s past to make his life a nightmare, Aizawa wanted to handle it personally.

He could hear them before he saw them as he approached the corridor where the people were being held back.

“I demand you let me see Izuku!” A woman's voice rang out with anger.

“Where is Deku?” this one sounded like a teenage boy. Aizawa grit his teeth. Who thought it was okay to call his son useless? What kind of joke was this?

“Honey, you need to calm down. They don’t know us,” a man’s voice said. At least he didn’t seem to be yelling himself hoarse like the other two.

When Aizawa rounded the corner, he finally saw them in person. It was a family of 3, an older man with glasses and light brown hair, a woman with spiky blond hair and red eyes that seemed to be glowing with the anger on her face, and a teenaged boy who seemed to be her exact copy. Something seemed familiar about them.

Before the family noticed him, one of the sidekicks that was on security detail approached him with more information.

“This family claims to have known Midoriya Izuku since he was born. They told us that they have been looking for him for the past four years and want to see him right away,” the sidekick said quietly.

“They look familiar,” Aizawa said out loud.

The sidekick just looked at him, “Sir, they are the Bakugous.” When Aizawa just returned that answer with a blank stare, the sidekick continued. “They own Bakugou Fashion Inc. and modeling. They basically own the monopoly on hero fashion.”

That clicked in his head, but there was something more. When the family finally noticed him and turned to him as if for answers, it clicked. In his head he saw a small picture held in a beat-up frame. In that picture stood little Izuku, probably around five years old with his mother and another family. A family consisting of an older man with brown hair and a woman with spiky blond hair. In the center were the two little boys, a carbon copy of the blond woman had his little arm slung around the shoulders of Izuku both with smiles that could rival the sun with their intensity.  

Two voices rang out at once.

“Who are you? Are you finally going to let me see my godson?”

“I don’t care if you are Eraserhead, where is Deku?”

Aizawa held up his hands in order to try and stop their questions.

“Calm down,” the other man had put his hands on his family’s shoulders. “We can’t get answers, if you aren’t letting the hero talk.” The response the other two gave him was a growl, but they did stop talking.

“I am Pro-Hero Eraserhead, as your son mentioned,” Aizawa said, nodding to the teen. “I am Midoriya Izuku’s teacher here at school as well as his guardian.”

All three of their eyes widened in surprise and what appeared to be hope.

“Can we see him,” the younger blond asked. “Please.” His voice broke on the word like he had never said it before. By the look of shock on his parents’ faces, maybe he hadn’t.

Aizawa chose to trust his gut. It was saying that they were good people despite that horrible name that the teen had used. They seemed to have genuinely cared about Izuku. Aizawa just wished he knew why the greenette had never mentioned them. He had never wanted to ask about the family in the picture, he was always afraid of what the answer would have been. Whoever they were, though, they seemed to have been close with his son at one point.

With a small sigh, Aizawa held up one finger as he dug around from his phone. It only took a second to have it ringing, as he had the boy on speed dial.

“Moshi moshi,” his voice rang. The family was deathly silent and still. The teen in front of him didn’t seem to be breathing, and each of their eyes were wet.

“Hey, I need you to come down to corridor 3 by waiting room 1,” Aizawa said. “I need you to verify something before round 3.”

“Okay,” he could hear the confusion lacing the greenette’s voice as he responded. “I’ll be there in 3, I’m not too far.” With a small click, the call ended and Aizawa stood in the hallway with three people who seemed to be waiting for horrible news. He just said nothing.

 ***

Katsuki was vibrating. Deku was coming. Deku was alive. Deku was close.

It had been four years. Four long years, and soon he was going to get to see his Deku again. Finally. Katsuki wasn’t one to cry, but when he heard the soft and tinny voice of his childhood best friend through the pro’s phone, he definitely teared up. The old hag can’t even make fun of him because both her and the old man were the same.

The next few minutes after Eraserhead hung up were like hell. Katsuki couldn’t bring himself to say anything, and the pro was giving them nothing. It was silent, but soon, so soon, Katsuki heard footsteps sounding from down the hall and a familiar voice rang out.

“Hey, dad! What did you wa…” Deku rounded the corner and his voice just stopped when green eyes met red. Katsuki is honestly not ashamed to say he sobbed as he ran towards the boy he had missed like he would miss a piece of himself for the last few years.

“Deku!”

“Ka…” Katsuki slammed into Deku before he could finish saying anything. Then soon after two other bodies rammed into them almost causing them to hit the ground. Deku seemed to steady all of them remarkably.

“Izuku!” “Brat!” The old man and hag cried together.

“Auntie? Uncle?” Deku’s voice shook. “What? How?”

“We were watching the sports festival.” The old hag explained.

“We saw you place first in the obstacle course,” the old man added on.

“Deku, you idiot!” Katsuki yelled with a broken voice as he clutched harder to Deku’s gym uniform. “You made it into UA! You did it!”

It was then that it seemed to finally hit the greenette what was happening. With a choked breath, the greenette burst into tears furiously gripping any part of the small family that he could reach. It sounded like the world was ending by the way the boy cried. With weak knees, they all sunk to the floor never once releasing their grip on each other.

“Oh honey,” the hag’s voice was softer than Katsuki had ever heard it. “What happened to you?” She sounded broken as well. Katsuki pulled back slightly, just enough to look at Deku fully. It was then that he knew what his mom was referring to.

Deku was hurt, and badly so. Scars lined his face, one running through his right eye leaving the lid permanently open and the eye grey and filmy. Katsuki could see other scars littered his body. One running across his neck at a slight angle, and many criss crossing over his forearms that were exposed by his sleeves being rolled up. Deku, the small boy, with unblemished skin even with everything that had happened was no more. What has happened in the last four years?

“I hate to break this up,” the pro voice came softly from behind them, sounding choked up as well. “But Izuku, you need to be on the field soon. I’ve stalled as long as possible, but we can’t wait for much longer.”

Still crying, but not with gasping sobs, Deku pulled back and looked at each one like he didn’t believe they were there. Like he thought that they would be gone if he even blinked. Katsuki grabbed the rough calloused palm of the other boy while the hag reached to cup his freckled cheek.

“Don’t worry. We finally found you after four years of looking,” she reassured softly. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki had to stop and clear his throat when that word came out strangled. “Idiot, we aren’t going to lose you again, so get out there and kick everyone’s asses. Show them that you don’t need a quirk to be a hero.” Katsuki pulled Izuku into standing up as he spoke. “We’ll be here.”

It was that moment when Deku stood up straight, that it hit Katsuki.

With a smug smirk, Deku responded, roughly wiping the last of his tears from his cheeks, “Don’t take your eyes off of me.”

Oh. Oh no. Katsuki’s face flooded red as Deku turned around and marched off to the waiting room. Oh no. Sweet little Deku who was always smaller in height and weight and musculature, who always seemed soft and almost fragile, who always walked with a hunch sinking in on himself with his lack of confidence was no more. In his stead stood the greenette who was almost a foot taller than the blond, who was covered in scars and Katsuki swears he saw a hint of a tattoo on his neck and forearms, who stood tall and straight with never-before-seen confidence, who commanded attention, who was fit and filled out very nicely, who seemed like he could take on whatever the world sent him with no fear. In his place stood someone achingly familiar and brand new at the same time. Oh no. His small childhood friend… was hot. Katsuki was in trouble.

“Give me your number,” Katsuki faintly registered that Eraserhead was talking to his family. “After the competition, I think it’ll only be right if we meet up. Maybe we can have dinner tonight and Izuku can catch up with you all.”

“Of course, of course,” his old man replied quickly.

“Do you have seats for the competition?” Eraserhead asked. “If not, I am sure we can have you come up to the box and watch from there.”

“Don’t bother!” the old hag barked out with a laugh. “Best Jeanist forced tickets onto us about a month ago. We’ll be sitting in the VIP section.”

With that, the Bakugou’s started to make their way to their seats. Katsuki, barely registered what was happening, needing to be pulled along. He didn’t even yell or cuss out his parents for guiding him like a child through the corridors. If he had been paying attention, he would have seen the laughter brimming in his parent’s expressions. They knew exactly what was going on in his head.

Right as they reached their seats, Present Mic’s voice boomed out over the speakers.

“Alright everybody say hey!” A roaring cheer ripped through the stadium, finally shaking Katsuki back into the present. “Welcome back to the third round of this year’s first year sports festival. We have seen some major upsets and incredible performances here today, so who’s ready for the battles?”

More cheering filled the air, and this time Katsuki was able to join.

“Up first we have the boy that has surprised everybody with continually placing first despite his lack of quirk, Midoriya Izuku!” Katsuki yelled loudly in response. “Vs a boy who hasn’t stood out much in this competition, Shinso Hitoshi! Let’s begin!” A loud alarm ripped through the air and the fight began.

Katsuki was on the edge of his seat, gritting his teeth. There was no hesitation in either of the boys’ reactions. The second the alarm went off, they attacked each other. Both throwing punches and kicks with no mercy. From where he sat, Katsuki could see the lavender haired boy continually talking, but not once did Deku open his mouth. His lips were pressed together, and he did not let up on his attacks.

Katsuki watched as the other boy started to lag, his movements getting sloppy and slow. He started to miss his dodges and hits beat on him. As the lavender haired boy threw his next punch, Izuku turned his body along with the punch and grabbed the boy’s arm. In one swift move, Deku had placed his back to the other’s chest with the boy’s arm in his grasp over his shoulder and heaved him up and over, sending the other out of bounds.

Katsuki and his family were on their feet in an instant screaming. Look at him, world, Katsuki wanted to yell. Look at our Deku!

Chapter Text

 Deku was vibrating. Ever since the battle training on their second day of school, Izuku had been training with Shinso. He had decided that he wanted the social outcast as his friend, and he basically forced the friendship, but hey he had never heard the purple head seriously complain. He had asked the guy to spar with him that first week, and it was then that Izuku had come to learn that he sucked. He was fit, but he didn’t know how to move his body in attacks or that much basic self-defense. The other relied too heavily on his quirk which just wouldn’t do. So Izuku took it upon himself to train him.

Multiple times a week, they met up for Izuku to instill his knowledge upon the other teen. When Izuku learned that they were going to fight first in the one-on-one battles, he was excited. Time to see what Shinso had learned during the high pressure fight. Shinso tried hard the whole fight and got in quite a few good hits and was relentless in his taunting and jokes trying to get Izuku to break and respond, but a few months of training against four years of experience was always going to end in Izuku’s favor, not that Izuku was cocky. There were no sure things in life, but in this moment, it proved to be true.

He bounded alongside his friend up to the seating area for class 1-A. As he went to sit down amongst the cheers and congratulations that his classmates were giving him, it hit him.

Kacchan. Kacchan was here. That wasn’t a dream or a hallucination. The Bakugou’s had found him, and they had looked for him. They missed him. Kacchan had hugged him like he was never going to let go. Mitsuki had kissed his forehead like she had done to him as a child. Masaru had ruffled his hair with that oh so familiar soft smile on his face. Unbidden, tears sprang to his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

“Woah, dude!” Kirishima yelled suddenly. “What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be happy you won?”

Izuku chuckled wetly, rubbing his cheeks with his fist as everyone looked on curiously.

“I just…” his voice broke as more tears spilled. “My…” a hiccup. “My friend is here.” At the confused looks Izuku continued. “My friend from childhood. I… I haven’t” Another hiccup. “I haven’t seen him in four years.” A sob. “They found me because of the festival. They really came looking for… for me.” His voice broke. Then Izuku was once more a part of a group hug, just this time it involved a few more members.

“I’m so happy for you,” Izuku heard Yaomomo say softly, her own voice breaking.

Cheers erupted from the stands around them calling their attention to the fight currently taking place. Or… was taking place. When Izuku looked down, it was to see a Class B girl with big fists tumbling out of the ring head over heels as her gravity was seemingly removed. In the center of the ring stood Uraraka with a proud smirk on her face. Class 1-A broke apart and cheered, but none of them moved too far from their new positions besides Kaminari, whose fight was next.

Before the electric blond left, he placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder and shook it briefly. “Perform well out there, man. Show them what you are capable of.” The other teen said as he walked off.

Are you going to see them later? Koda signed at him when he looked over.

Izuku paused for a moment in realization that he didn’t know, but he did know Kacchan. He said he wasn’t going to lose him again, that must mean that he would see him again. He had to trust that because Izuku couldn’t handle losing his family again after finally having them once more. So with a firm nod he signed back, Of course .

After finally settling himself down, Izuku whipped out his ever-present notebook and started to take notes. When Uraraka returned, Izuku paused for a moment to send her a smile and a congrats, before continuing to write.

He couldn’t help but wince when Denki was beaten pretty soundly and quickly. And he couldn’t help but laugh to himself watching his new friend Hatsumei run engine legs around like a show pony for a solid ten minutes. Amazing. Fight after fight was fun to watch and study. His notebook filled up quickly.

Then came the last fight of the first battles. Sero vs Todoroki. It was over in an instant. A glacier sat in the middle of the stadium as everyone sat frozen to their seats with shock. Izuku looked on in wonder and slight confusion at the two boys. One standing there victor but looking regretful, and one frozen in ice. Todoroki’s face seemed sad as he thawed the ice away. Izuku was frustrated and worried about the boy. He was wasting his potential by limiting himself without his fire. There was so much more the teen could do if he just would use it.

Next was him once again, so as the ice was slowly melted and removed from the stadium, Izuku made his way down to the waiting room once again. His words that he told Kacchan echoed in his ears. Don’t take your eyes off me. Izuku could be confident when the time came for it. He knew that he was capable of more than what most people thought, but sometimes he worries.

If he loses, especially if he goes out easily, it will just add fuel to what everyone has ever told him. That he can’t be a hero. That he shouldn’t be a hero. That he was a waste of space or a burden on others. That he would only cause more harm than any good that he could do. Maybe that’s not how it would actually be. He has won the first two rounds and is going into the second round of the one on one battles, but Izuku needed to prove to himself, needed to show Kacchan, that what he has worked for his whole life was possible.

In the waiting room, Izuku sat. Uraraka was going to be a hard opponent. He had no way of fighting long range which meant that at any point, Uraraka would be able to touch him and make him weightless. How does he combat that? He doesn’t have walls or a ceiling to control movement. It was just him on a flat plane.

Oh. Wait. Last week Izuku had applied for use of his support items that he had created himself. He hadn’t used them yet in the tournament, but maybe now was the time to break them out. He smirked. Maybe it would work out.

“On one side we have none other than one of the tournament’s favorites Midoriya Izuku, sporting support items he created himself. Versus! The girl that has everyone on the edge of their seats Uraraka Ochaco… Start!”

Uraraka was fast. She charged Izuku right out of the gate, her hands spread wide beside her. As she reached for him, Izuku jumped high avoiding the contact while swiveling in midair. He landed softly as she stumbled from her charge halting by the line. She turned, face set in a determined expression. Izuku just spread his feet and crouched in a battle position, but as she started to move, he dodged quickly. He wanted to wear her down a bit before she could use her quirk.

It was like a game of cat and mouse. Uraraka was quick, but Izuku was faster being chased around and around the circle. Boos came from the stands about toying with the girl, but Izuku blocked them out. He could care less. If they were going to degrade their fight like that, then Izuku wasn’t going to deem the comments worthy of being listened to. Uraraka seemed to agree and his teeth ground together. Her fingers brushed his jacket right as he felt a hard kick in his side.

The kick was enough to make him stumble to the side, taking the breath out of him a bit. With his lapse of running, Uraraka was able to get a hand on him, turning his body weightless. A smug look crossed her face, but when Izuku didn’t start to float despite the lack of weight she looked confused and worried. What she had not been counting on was that Izuku had changed into his weighted iron soles. They were both about 25 pounds each so they packed quite a kick, and helped Izuku work on his leg muscles. This kept his feet on the ground. The change in gravity was weird, but Izuku had fought with weirder.

She reached to grab him to throw him, but Izuku jumped, and with the lack of gravity, he jumped high. He used his airtime to observe and figure out his next move. He needed to get Uraraka closer to the line in order for everything to work out. The weight of his shoes brought him back down to the ground hard, and he rolled with the landing to avoid injury and to try and draw her away from the center. It worked.

She moved to follow, aiming low. It looked like she was aiming to touch his shoes, negate the weight so he wouldn’t have a source of gravity so she could disorient him. With her fierce determination and single-minded focus, Izuku could direct her more where he needed her.

She got close and lunged. With a swift move Izuku removed his jacket and deftly tied in around her hands and wrists that were outstretched trying to reach him. He pulled Uraraka to face him and threw himself backwards, falling with Uraraka coming face first after him. She tried to use her quirk, but all she could touch was his gym jacket. As his back hit the ground, he lifted his feet and shoved them into her stomach, launching her over his head to give her a bit more air to clear the line. With a thump and a groan, she hit the ground feet out of bounds.

“Midoriya wins!” Present Mic screeched which finally brought the sounds of everything in the stadium back into focus. There was cheering, not as loud as it was before, but at least they were no longer booing.

Izuku made his way over to Uraraka who was still lying there breathing heavily.

“Nice fight,” he said with his hand outstretched to help her up. She looked up at him for a minute before a smile crossed her face and her hand smacked in his. Without any trouble he pulled her into a standing position as she released her quirk on him.

“That was impressive,” she said as they started to walk off the field. “I need to work more on hand-to-hand combat,” she lamented.

Izuku nodded his head. “I have always found that most people rely too heavily on their quirks in every fight, that’s how I was able to get you. If you work to learn more martial arts and self-defense, it will help in the long run.”

She turned to him with fire in her eyes holding one arm up like she was flexing. “I’ll get better, then next time we fight on this stage, I’ll beat you.”

Izuku blinked in shock before a small smile crossed his face. He held out his hand, which she instantly took to shake. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

By the time they made it back to the stands, Iida was fighting the vine girl that beat Denki. While the fight between Denki and her was short in her favor, it was the opposite for this fight. Izuku winced slightly in sympathy for her when she was just pushed out of bounds in a few seconds.

“That was an amazing fight, you two!” Ashido yelled as she got up to make her way down as her fight was next. “I don’t think I’ll be able to top that, but I’ll give it my best!”

“Amazing!” “Good job you two!” “Congrats Midoribro!”

Cheers rang out in the stands of class 1-A. Izuku felt his cheeks heat up with all the positive encouragement he was getting. Uraraka seemed to be blushing too, rubbing her hand along the back of her neck with a sheepish expression.

“I lost this time, but I’ll get better!” She proclaimed with the class cheering her statement.

With a small sigh, Izuku plopped down in the seat next to Koda.

Good fight the shy boy signed.

Thanks, Izuku replied with a tired grin. I was really worried about fighting her. If she was more focused on combat instead of just her quirk, I don’t think I could have won.

Koda looked at him for a second searchingly. You know, most people wouldn’t think that way.

Why? He questioned.

It was all said in the crowd as you were fighting.

Izuku looked at him with a sheepish expression. I kinda didn’t listen to them. What were they saying?

They were booing you for toying with her. Saying that she was a girl and that you shouldn’t be treating her that way. Calling her fragile and such.

A scowl crossed his face suddenly, confusing the classmates who were watching the interaction without knowing what was being said.

What part of that girl is fragile? She is competitive and she made it into UA with one of the top scores. That girl could take on the world and win, and when she gets even better, she will be a force to be reckoned with. She could win it all one of these years. With a start, Izuku sat up quickly and turned to Uraraka who was talking with Tsu.

“Uraraka!” He called firmly. She whipped around quickly to look at him with confusion across her face. “I won’t lose to you next time, so prove to this stadium what a ‘fragile’ girl like you can do.” He said fragile with as much derision as he could to make sure she understood what he thought about that.

She and the others around looked surprised before once more fire lit her eyes. “I’ll make sure they all know how strong I am.”

Izuku nodded firmly back at her before his face broke into a grin. He was glad to see that losing didn’t dim her at all. Instead, she was more prepared than ever to work hard at being a hero. This sports festival might be to entertain the masses, but for the students it was to show them their weaknesses and get them excited to work more to be better. Each year, they got to prove who they were to themselves, their classmates, and the world. Next year was going to be fun.

Izuku didn’t focus on the matches until it was Kirishima versus Todoroki. He pulled out his notebook in preparation. Hopefully he will get more this time.

With the buzzer ringing to signal the start, they were off. Todoroki started with his ice, but much smaller than when he went against Sero. Kirishima broke it easily with his hardening and worked on getting closer. Over and over he broke the ice that Todoroki sent until Izuku could see the boy was slowing down. This was a fight of attrition, and it was obvious that Todoroki’s endurance would outlast the other. Sure enough with the next wave of ice, Kirishima’s skin softened. When he was hit, he went down and laid there. Midnight walked over to check on him before declaring, “Kirishima is unconscious, Todoroki wins!”

Cheers filled the stadium and Izuku stood to move down to the starting point for the third time. This time he would be fighting once again against Iida. The only item Izuku had on him as he walked out to Present Mic’s announcement was his iron soles, which were also cleats. When he last fought, he used his batons, but Izuku wanted to prove something to himself. He wanted to know that he could do it himself without aid. Plus Iida would have been wary about his batons anyway.

As they stood there waiting for the start. Iida glared down at him from across the way. There was fire behind those blue eyes and a grudge from their last match. Izuku was not going to go down easy.

Chapter Text

Katsuki was going to have a heart attack.

Was the greenette currently down on the field really his Deku? The boy who used to cry at the drop of a hat and never wanted to fight back? 

This boy was brutal.

Katsuki loved it. 

He loved it because he could tell Izuku was holding back. Not holding back as in he was looking down on his competition, but holding back because he could cause damage and he did not want to do that at a festival. He probably wasn’t even conscious he was doing it. Katsuki could tell in the strain of the boy’s arms and body as he fought. He saw it in the excess time, the greenette thought during his match. Katsuki has no doubt that he can fight harder, how the boy reached that point, Katsuki didn’t know. It both worried and impressed him.  

The fight against the floater girl was impressive. Deku’s reflexes were fast, and he had complete control of every part of his body. When the crowd started to boo and bad mouth the boy, Katsuki was livid. As he opened his mouth to scream at the people around him, Mitsuki beat him to it.

“Shut your fucking mouths! If you can’t see that that girl is giving it her all, then you don’t deserve to be heroes.”

Turns out their box was right next to the announcers because over the speaker came the voice of Eraserhead.

“Bakugou is correct and for those who did not hear I will repeat. If you are looking down on that girl for any reason or looking down on Midoriya, then you do not understand this fight. They both are giving it their all and if Midoriya were to dumb down his fighting for her, that would be an insult. She is stronger than any of you who are yelling at my students. If you disrespect either of them in this fight, you do not deserve to be heroes.”

Mitsuki sat back with her arms crossed and a glare on her features. Katsuki is never one to admit that his parents are cool, he would rather die than do that, but in that moment, he really was grateful for the old hag.

When he turned back, it was to see Izuku’s finishing move, launching the girl out of bounds and flat on her back. The cheers of the crowd were half-hearted, but Katsuki made up for that. He was screaming. Deku made it through to the next round.

Everyone watched, in that stadium, as the two competitors, the victim and the torturer as the crowd had tried to deem it, smiled at each other and walked side by side out of the stadium talking. That’s what this competition should be about.

Katsuki tuned out the other fights. He was literally here just for Deku. Normally he would be watching with rapt attention, but this year. This year he had something to focus on. So as sounds of fighting and crashing came from below, he looked out over the stands trying to see if he could find the greenette. Eventually he caught a flash of the familiar color across the way. It was too far to make out details, but he could see that the boy was hunched over something.

A scoff, followed by a fond smirk settled over his face. Was the nerd still writing in his notebooks? Classic and so familiar. Then the greenette was standing and leaving.

In shock, Katsuki looked down at the field to see that the last fight had finished. Deku’s turn was up again. This time the greenette was going against a guy with engines in his legs. It was an… interesting quirk. What would Deku do this time?

There seemed to be tension on the field as the two stood across from the other.

“Start!”

It was a flurry of movement. Faster than Katsuki could comprehend. The engine boy was off streaking fire across the ground as his engines roared. Deku, with reflexes that seemed almost impossible, dodged to the side. He kept his movements concise and just large enough to always be out of reach of the other.

That’s right. With speed like that, control is hard. The guy probably can’t change direction in large ways easily. If he wanted to reach Deku, he would have to slow down. As with the floater girl, it became a game of cat and mouse, and Deku excelled at being the mouse. He always had, just this time, it was deliberate.

With time, the engine guy started to slow his overall speed, making it easier to follow him with his eyes and see what he was doing. On the next run by, Deku dodged to the side, but the other was able to follow him better and nailed a hit to the greenette’s side. Katsuki winced from where he sat. That was hard, but Deku didn’t fall. Instead the greenette didn’t budge, taking the hit and immediately attacking. Because if engine boy hit him, it meant he was slow enough to catch.

Deku grabbed the arm of the boy before he could pull away and slung himself up onto the other teen’s shoulders, wrapping his legs around the guy’s waist. Engine boy took off, faster than people could process and a green blur ripped through the air along with him. It seemed like the guy was trying to use this new position to toss Deku over the line when he got close, but right as he was nearing the edge, the boy dropped. Deku rolled off his shoulders as he crashed to the ground, stopping right before the line.

What… what had happened? The crowd was silent. Even Present Mic up in the box didn’t say anything, as Deku sat on the ground breathing heavily next to the boy who had curled in on himself in pain. All it took was a small shove of his foot, to push the other out of bounds.

“Iida is out of bounds,” Present Mic called out in a strangled voice.

“Midoriya wins,” Eraserhead’s monotone voice rang out after Present Mic took too long of a pause making incoherent noises.

“Hell yeah!” Katsuki screamed suddenly, finally kicking the crowd into gear as they all followed along cheering the greenette on. “That’s my Deku!”

Katsuki was vibrating. Deku was going to the finals!

Izuku watched on with guilt as Iida was taken away on a stretcher. He didn’t want to hurt Iida, but when push came to shove and Izuku was facing defeat, he couldn’t let it happen. On Iida’s shoulders as he was hurtling to the line to try and throw Izuku off, he did the only thing he could think of at the moment.

In one of his training sessions, he learned a little of Krav Maga and there he learned various pressure points for knocking someone unconscious or injuring them. With his hands digging into the boy’s shoulders all it took was a little adjustment to shove his fingers into the gap behind his collarbones. This wouldn’t knock someone out, but it causes severe pain. Enough for the boy to drop and Izuku to win.

Looking back, he knew he had other options. He could have avoided hurting the boy, but what was done was done. Izuku was in the finals. The next match would decide who he would be up against, so Izuku stayed down by the doors to watch instead of going up to the booth.

Plus, to be honest, the hit he took from Iida did more damage than he wanted to admit. His ribs hurt and when his feet dug into the ground while his body moved, something in his knees got strained. Izuku didn’t want to have to face the stairs. He could go to Recovery Girl, he knew that. But he didn’t want to bother her, besides the healing would make him tired and he needed to be alert for his next fight. It’ll be fine.

The fight between Tokoyami and Todoroki was interesting to watch. It was big and brutal, but Todoroki won. As his ice distracted Dark Shadow, Todoroki was able to get in close to Tokoyami and knock him out of the ring.

“Todoroki wins! We will have a few minutes to clean up the field and then…” Present Mic drew out. “It’s the final battle!” The crowd went crazy and Izuku took a deep breath.

As he watched the field cleared with distant eyes, a conversation from earlier came to mind.

-

Izuku’s emotions were all over the place. The Bakugous were here. Kacchan was here! Kacchan hugged him and cried and let Izuku sob as well. There was no yelling or hits or anything. There was just a pile of people who hadn’t seen each other in years and thought they were never going to see each other again. But he had a match. He had to leave, and get ready, so with great reluctance he walked away, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Midoriya!” A stoic voice distracted him from his thoughts. With a start, Izuku turned around to see the boy with half and half hair staring him down. “I want to talk with you.”

Izuku, with curiosity humming in his veins, nodded, and let Todoroki approach him and follow him into the waiting room.

“What did you want to talk about,” Izuku asked as he leaned against one of the tables in the room.

Todoroki glared at him from across the way. “At the end of the cavalry battle, you overwhelmed me. So much so that I broke my pledge.”

Izuku glanced towards the boy's left side, the side that he saw flames peek out from during their fight. The side that the boy never used.

“You overwhelmed me more than any of the others. I felt threatened and reacted before I even thought. You might not have a quirk, but your power, your intimidation is on par with All Might.”

Izuku might have groaned slightly. Why in the world was he being compared to All Might? He just wanted to live in peace.

“Aizawa obviously has his eye on you,” Izuku shuffled awkwardly at that remark. “And you have continuously placed first, have been number one.”

Izuku was confused at where this was going.

“My old man is Endeavor.” Izuku winced at that. That man was a piece of trash. Japan really needed to get better high ranked heroes in his opinion. “So, if you are somehow connected to the number one hero, even if only in ranking, then I have all the more reason to crush you.” The two-toned boy’s face went dark. This… this still didn’t explain anything.

“Quirk marriages… have you heard of them?” Izuku grimaced. That outdated and illegal practice?

“By your face, I know you have,” Todoroki growled. Then proceeded to explain his family and the dark side of the number two hero.

Izuku wanted to say that he was shocked. That the number two hero could never do that, but Izuku hadn’t worked as a vigilante for nothing. He found out all the dark secrets, the dark sides of heroes. He realized how selfish most were, in it only for themselves or for glory.

When Todoroki told how his mom had snapped, had burned his face, Izuku hurt for him. No one should have to endure pain like that, pain caused by someone who should have been protecting him.

“So as number one from the entrance exam, from battle trainings, and from the first and second rounds I am going to defeat you without using his quirk. I am going to prove to my old man that I can be number one without him. I’m going to rise to the top denying him everything he has worked for.”

With a firm glare fixed on his face, Todoroki kicked himself away from the wall he had leaned against. Izuku stood in shock for a moment before the other’s words turned around in his head. Without his quirk.

“Todoroki,” Izuku called after the other, causing him to turn around once more. “I can’t understand what you have gone through.” That was the truth. While Izuku had had horrible years at the orphanages and foster homes, he knew what it was like to grow up with a loving mother and family. To have love surround him. “But I have people looking up at me, too. People who are counting on me.” The faces of the Bakugous flashed through his head as well as the face of every single person he had helped and saved as the Rabbit. “So, I am going to give it my all out there. I am not going to hold back, so you don’t hold back either. I am going to prove to myself and the world that I have a place out there on that stage even with my lack of quirk. I am going to be number one. I will beat you with or without you using your power.” Izuku’s voice grew with each sentence until that last bit was yelled with passion brimming over. Green eyes met heterochromatic ones in a glare. With a huff the other teen turned around and stormed off, as Izuku deflated a bit.

He shook himself a bit. He would worry about that later. Right now, he had to focus on the fight in front of him, against Shinso.

-

That was what he was fighting against. He rolled the words the boy had said, the image of him using his fire to free Sero with a look of sadness on his face, around in his head. Izuku was here to win. That was not changing but winning also meant saving. So, with a deep breath and a firm resolve, he stepped out onto the field with a grim expression and shaking hands.

“In the finals we have the boy who has blown everyone out of the water with his performance here today, sporting a few more homemade support items: Midoriya Izuku!” The crowd screamed loudly, and if Izuku listened closely he could swear he heard Kacchan yelling out for him. “Verses! A boy who has shown us only half of his power through each battle, will that change here? Todoroki Shouto!”

Green met heterochromic. “Start!”

Chapter Text

“Start!”

Todoroki fired off his ice glacier that he had started every round with.

Izuku was here to make a statement. From his observations, Todoroki could only shoot straight forward. He had yet to show that he could form or control the ice beyond that, so with a leap of faith, Izuku stepped to the side. He glared down the other boy as he lifted his hand, encased in a special glove. When the ice reached him, he pressed his hand to it and triggered the pulsers.

The glacier shattered. Heterochromatic eyes widened in shock while Izuku looked on with gritted teeth. His hand was broken. He could tell the second it happened. He had never tried that on something of this glacier’s size and the recoil bounced back onto him. The pipes trailing down his forearm stuck out at odd angles and steam was coming from it.

That wasn’t going to stop him, though. He had a point to prove and a battle to win.

The Izuku watched as the other boy gritted his teeth. Another shot of ice came bearing down on him. This time, though, Izuku let it come. He wanted Todoroki to know he could do it, but he didn’t have to. With a roll, Izuku shot away from the incoming ice while whipping out the batons strapped across his back. Todoroki immediately geared up to fire off another.

Shot after shot Todoroki let his ice go, chasing Izuku around the ring. Izuku was breathing heavily, his breath visible in front of him as the ice lowered the surrounding temperature. Izuku had yet to get a shot on the other boy.

“Sorry about this,” the boy said casually as Izuku came to a stop between two ice pillars. “I appreciate it, though, Midoriya. Thanks to you… He doesn’t look too happy.” Heterochromatic eyes shifted to somewhere in the crowd. “That big trick you started with is done for. Your glove is broken, and if I were to guess, so is your hand. You’re trapped. Let’s end this.”

His palm raised up facing Izuku head on. With a smirk below lowered brows, Izuku’s eyes gleamed like toxins. “Where are you looking?” Echoed through the entire stadium.

When the ice wall reached him, Izuku lifted his left hand again. It may look bad, but the glove still had some juice in it. The wall shattered, spraying the field with its shards. When Todoroki was able to see again, the greenette was gone.

“Quirks are just physical abilities,” Izuku’s voice rang out from across the arena. Todoroki looked around frantically. It sounded like he was everywhere; he couldn’t see him.

“You must have a limit to how much of that cold you can bear. Your ice is becoming a barrier instead of a help, isn’t it?”

A scattering of ice fell from one of the walls, and Todoroki instantly shot off another thing of ice, but there was nothing, no sound came from it.

“But then… you could always use your left side to thaw yourself and this stadium out, right?”

Izuku moved stealthily around the outside of the walls, utilizing the spikes under his shoes to not slip or slide. In all his movement to avoid the ice, Izuku had placed little speakers that were stored inside his baton. His microphone sat warm against his cheek. He sent another round of ice clacking down the side of the pillar, and hopped away avoiding the slower spread of ice sent out by the other boy.

With anger he gritted his teeth and yelled, “Everyone is giving it their all! To win… to achieve their goals.. to make it to the top! And you’re gonna win with half your power? Bull shit!”

Izuku hopped down behind the other boy. “You still haven’t put a scratch on me! Gimme everything you got! Come at me!”

Todoroki whipped around with annoyance written clearly across his face.

“What are you planning,” he ground out as he started to run towards Izuku. “Is my old man paying you off?”

Right as he reached the greenette, Izuku ducked and slammed his right hand into the other boy’s stomach causing him to stumble away.

His right hand raised and shot off more ice, but it was slower. Weaker. Smaller. That didn’t mean, though, that when Izuku used his right glove, the one still intact, that it didn’t hurt him as well. It shattered and Izuku bit back a groan.

“Why are you going so far?” Todoroki questioned.

Izuku charged. “Just trying to meet expectations.” Once more people he had saved flashed through his head. “A reliable, strong hero. One that saves everyone . That’s what I want to be!”

Izuku got in close and kicked the other boy hard in his side, sending him flying into an ice wall. “That’s why I am giving it everything! For everyone!” Izuku yelled, voice still ringing through the stadium filling the silence left by the crown. “Your experiences, your determination. I can’t even begin to imagine what all that’s like, but if you want to be number one without giving it your all, then I don’t think you are truly serious about denying him everything.” Izuku charged at the boy who was standing up gearing up to send out more ice, but the greenette was quicker. He kicked the boy’s arm to the side, but in reward he got a fist to his stomach right near the bruised ribs. He stumbled back coughing.

He gritted teeth as he stood up straight. “That’s why I have to win! I have to surpass you!”

“I’ll show my father,” the boy spit out as he stood shakily nearby.

“It’s your power, Todoroki!” Izuku yelled with everything he had; his words amplified. “Not his!”

Izuku huffed. His arms throbbed and his side ached. His knee was definitely sprained with how much he had been pushing it. His throat scraped with every word he said, but he was not here to give up and he was not here to let someone throw away their future. He was a hero, and so a hero he would try to be, even in the midst of this battle.

The two-toned boy paused for a second before fire burst out from his left side. Heat washed over Izuku as he stood nearby. It burned, but the look on Todoroki’s face made him grin. Another voice echoed in the crowd, but Izuku could care less about it.

“I… want to be a hero, too,” the boy’s voice was filled with childlike wonder.

Izuku’s grin grew.

“What are you smiling about?” the other asked as his fire grew around him. “With those wounds and in this situation, you must be crazy.” Izuku couldn’t deny that in that moment, his smile was purely feral. “It’s not my problem what happens to you now.”

The heat grew as Todoroki’s left arm stretched forward. Izuku pulled out his batons and stood crouched, one in each mangled hand. This was what he wanted. He charged forward batons at the ready. Right as Todoroki went to release his fire, Izuku slammed them down into the dirt a few feet away from the epicenter of the resulting explosion.

His body was screaming at him, and something in his shoulder shifted sending blinding pain, but Izuku wasn’t going to let go. Air rushed upwards and ice was sent flying, chucks bouncing off of him and slicing through skin.

Then it was done. Izuku collapsed where he was panting heavily as the dust and ice started to settle.

“What… What happened? What are you feeding your students, Eraser?”

“All that chilled air was heated in an instant making it expand,” his monotone voice could be heard to explain. Aizawa seemed to understand what Izuku had at that moment. The half-and-half quirk user had created a trap for cold air. A funnel that when heat would be added, needed to go somewhere, and that would be out.

“What a blast!” Present Mic exclaimed. “I can’t see a thing! Has the match been decided?”

Izuku didn’t know the results. If Todoroki was still standing, could still move, then Izuku would lose. His body had given up. Silence. The air shifted and slowly the field was revealed.

“Midoriya is down…” He heard Present Mic say slowly, hesitantly.

A pause. A shift. An intake of breath, “…”

Chapter Text

What… what was that?

Katsuki’s face went pale as his hands gripped onto the bar in front of him for dear life. What happened? Is Deku okay? He felt an unsteady hand squeeze his shoulder. He didn’t need to look to know that it was the Old Hag. From the corner of his eye, he saw as his parents tightly gripped each other’s hands in their own.

Smoke, dust, debris filled the air, and they couldn’t see the field.

What happened?

 Something was being said over the speakers, but it all sounded muddled to Katsuki, like someone speaking underwater.

What happened?

Slowly the air cleared, revealing the center of the field first. There in the center. A green head of hair. A limp body slowly moving up and down, proving that at least the boy was breathing.

A small breath was released from Katsuki’s lips. People didn’t typically die at these events, but that was no typical battle.

“Midoriya is down…” The first words to make sense pierced Katsuki’s ears. A pause. Every breath was held collectively.

Two-toned hair could not be seen. Another second. Another beat, then the air was clean. There laying partially out of the ring lay the other boy.

“But Todoroki is out-of-bounds! Midoriya Izuku wins!”

The crowd screamed louder than ever before, but the Bakugous were silent. Watching closely, Katsuki could make out a smile on the greenette’s lips before he went slack. They sat there a beat, but as the infirmary robots trundled onto the field, they took off.

People around them were cheering and screaming. Throwing things around and hugging one another. The Bakugous, though, ran like the devil was on their heels.

“Where is the infirmary?” The old hag yelled out as they came across a young sidekick in the hallway.

Before they could answer, though, a familiar voice rang out. “Follow me.”

Katsuki turned without hesitation and followed the voice. As he ran, he noticed who it was. Shaggy black hair and a run-down style of an outfit. Eraserhead was sprinting ahead of them like his life depended on it. No other words were exchanged.

It felt like years before they all finally stumbled through the door of the UA infirmary. Recovery girl stood in front of them, and normally Katsuki would be excited – he would just never show or admit to it, but at the moment all he cared about was his childhood friend.

“Where is he?” “Is he okay?” “What’s his condition?” “What happened?”

All four of their voices piled on top of one another becoming incomprehensible. The old woman raised a hand trying to get them to quiet down.

“First off,” her high-pitched voice said. “Who are you three? You’re not allowed in here.” She started to push them back with her cane and a glare across her features. Katsuki’s face twisted into a scowl and a growl rumbled in his chest.

“They’re his family, Chiyo,” Eraserhead’s hand appeared pushing down the cane. “They helped raise him as a kid. They can be here.”

Slowly she lowered her cane and sent a pointed look at the scruffy man, but after a beat, she relaxed. Katsuki stopped growling, but his face was contorted with his teeth bared. He would punch an old lady with no remorse, don’t test him.

She sighed and waved them all over to a bed in the corner of the room. With a quick glance around, Katsuki saw the boy Deku had fought sitting unsteadily in the bed across the way. The old lady walked over to him first and gave him some type of gummy.

“Be on your way,” she stated. “You are good to go back.” The boy stood up warily and looked over at them with confusion and recognition on his face, but finally leaving them be. Katsuki glared at him as he left. With a tap of a cane, though, he whipped his head back around.

There on the bed laid the greenette. His right arm was in a sling and his hands bandaged completely. There were bandages wrapped around his chest where Katsuki could see a bruise peaking through where they stopped over his stomach. On his left leg was a brace around his knee. It was then that Katsuki got the full scope of his childhood friend. Along with the injuries from today, he could see countless scars running over his body every which way. Along his right arm was a bad burn that stretched from shoulder to elbow.

Katsuki wasn’t going to acknowledge the tattoos at the moment. He and his heart would deal with that another day. There was only so much he could take; he was only human.

Granny started to speak and Katsuki focused completely on every word that left her mouth. “The boy suffered from some extreme damage from both his fight with Todoroki and Iida.” Katsuki grit his teeth. Deku was already hurt before that last fight?

“He sprained his left knee and then continued to push it through this last fight. He has bruised ribs that were further aggravated. He dislocated his right shoulder from holding on against that wind pressure at the end. I did already set it back into place, and the sling is a precaution to keep him from moving it too much. Both hands have multiple fractures from those gloves of his and from repeatedly using them in that state. His gloves also appeared to have been mangled from use and the pipes connecting them broke. I had to complete a small surgery before you came to remove pieces of them from his hands.” As the lady listed all of his injuries, tension grew in that small room. Fear for the boy, anger at him for pushing himself so much, and also… a little awe at what was capable of doing despite his wounds.

“I cannot fully heal him due to his stamina being so low. I focused what healing I could do, though, on his hands. The fractures have healed, but his hands will be a little crooked as he had damaged them so much. I was not able to heal the scars, so he will need bandages on them for a while. A few required stitches. He will also need to keep the brace on his knee. When he returns to classes on Monday, I can heal him then, so make sure he doesn’t mess himself up any more before then.”

With those last words, the granny walked away and plopped down at a desk in the opposite corner. Eraserhead sat slowly into a plastic chair at the greenette’s bedside as the Bakugous huddled around him. Katsuki moved to the other side so that he could lay his hand on the boy’s arm. It was silent for a moment, but then it was interrupted by a small groan and a grimace appeared on Deku’s face.

“Deku!” “Izuku!” Katsuki and Aizawa’s voices mixed in worry as a green eye blinked open in confusion.

“Dad?” His voice cracked hoarsely. “Auntie? Uncle?” His eye flitted around on the familiar faces, but worry was still etched on his features. “Where’s Kacchan?” Katsuki looked on in his own confusion and worry. What?

Eraserhead let out a long-suffering sigh. “I keep trying to explain to you, problem child, you need to be more aware of your right side.”

Deku whipped his head around and green met red. “Kacchan!” His voice exclaimed happily despite the state of the rest of his body. “You’re here!”

Katsuki scoffed. “Of course, I’m here, you idiot. I told you I was staying.”

Izuku smiled brightly. “I won!” He announced proudly, covered head to toe in bandages and braces.

Katsuki shook his head while clicking his tongue. “Woulda been proud if you won without almost killing yourself.”

“I agree with… Kacchan” (Katsuki growled at the man) “there. You need to learn to save others, not at the expense of yourself. What were you trying to do out there? Encouraging your competition? Are you mad?”

Katsuki watched as Deku’s chin held firm, teeth gritted. Fire came into that green eye that stared down the Pro-Hero. “I wanted to win, but winning means saving. Being a hero means giving help even when it’s not asked for, giving help to those who others overlook.” Deku’s voice held firm as he spoke. “I would not have won today despite who ended up out-of-bounds, if I didn’t try to help Todoroki.”

Katsuki’s heart flipped and twisted in his chest ( gross he thought) as he looked on at the greenette. This. This was his Deku. He rubbed his thumb along the inside of Deku’s forearm, startling him a bit. A wide green eye swiveled around to look at Katsuki, and he reveled in the red that creeped up the other’s cheeks. (Katsuki will deny that his own ears were red to match.)

“You never changed, did ya?” He chuckled out.

A small smile filled the other's face. “Yeah… I guess I didn’t.”

The room was quiet for a moment.

“You mean to tell me,” an exasperated voice broke through the moment. “That this problem child has always been a self-sacrificial brat?”

“Yep,” the old hag barked out while slapping the pro good naturedly on the back. The scruffy man looked like he aged 10 years.

“The old hag doesn’t know the half of it,” Katsuki remarked as he ruffled the nerd’s hair roughly.

“Kacchan!” The nerd whined beneath his hand. “I was not that bad!”

Katsuki merely lifted an eyebrow, and from Deku’s other side a heavy sigh was released.

“Problem child,” he sounded so tired. “Why are you this way?”

Deku sputtered trying to explain himself. Katsuki just pushed his head down with a smirk. “No one knows,” Katsuki talked over the mess that was Deku. “He was born with a martyr complex the size of the earth and has never stopped trying to save every person he comes across. How long have you been with him, old man, and you haven’t realized that?”

“Brat!” the old hag yelled in response. Eraserhead just narrowed his eyes at him.

“I was just hoping it was a recent development, and try to block out any evidence that said otherwise.”

Katsuki laughed loudly. Deku sputtered uselessly.

They were interrupted by All Might himself coming into the room.

Katsuki would readily admit that when that quirkist hero walked into the room, he moved to hover over Izuku protectively. His normal scowl crossed his face, and a small growl might have slipped past his lips. The Bakugous, who were aware of the boys’ dislike of the number one, moved to stand in front of the boy. They knew that he wasn’t going to do anything. He was a hero after all, but they couldn’t help themselves.

Eraserhead looked confused but stood up to face the man.

“They are waiting for Midoriya-shounen to start the awards ceremony. He is needed.”

Now a full growl left Katsuki’s lips. “What is this bull shit?” He barked. This time neither of his parents moved to scold him. Instead scowls of their own crossed their faces, even the old man’s. Eraserhead didn’t look any better.

“Izuku is not going,” he said firmly with no room for argument. Sadly, that didn’t stop the number one hero from trying.

“We need him in order to pass out the medals,” the man demanded back.

“You don’t need shit,” the Old Hag ground out. “That boy is injured. He will stay here in the infirmary where he should be instead of needlessly going out there straining himself.”

“Auntie,” Izuku’s voice said from below Katsuki. “It’s fine, I can go.” The greenette moved to push himself into a sitting position, but with a careful hand, Katsuki pushed him back down.

“No Deku,” he argued. “There is no reason that you have to stand on that podium. You won, and everyone knows that. There doesn’t need to be a fucking ceremony to show that off. You are fucking injured and you are not pushing yourself or so help me, I will tie you down to that bed for the weekend.”

“The boy is not leaving, Toshinori,” an unexpected helper appeared. Granny put her cane down and stood firmly in front of the hero whose knee was eye level with her. “They can run the ceremony without him there. Present Mic can announce why he is not standing to take his medal.”

Despite the lady’s tiny stature, the number one hero seemed to cower slightly before her. With a nod and a look over to Deku in his bed, All Might turned and left.

Once the door was once more closed, Granny turned back to the hodgepodge family. “We will get your medal to you dear,” she spoke to Deku before turning to look at Eraserhead. “He is free to go, just make sure to look after him and do try to keep him from moving too much.”

Eraserhead merely nodded tiredly before moving to stand up. The Bakugous shuffled around. They weren’t ones who would normally be awkward, but they were at least knowledgeable not to invite themselves over, but they didn’t want to leave Izuku after having found him.

Eraserhead seemed to sense their mood because he looked at them knowingly. “I already promised dinner tonight, didn’t I?” He asked, eyebrow raised. “I’ll send you my address and you can follow along behind. It’s been a long day, and I think we could all use some time together.”

A small sniffle was heard. All eyes turned towards the greenette, who was wiping his eyes furiously.

“Thank you, dad,” he choked out through his tears.

Katsuki watched as the scruffy old hero’s face softened. “Of course, kid. Now let’s get you home.”

Chapter Text

The car ride home was an interesting affair. The Bakugous were driving themselves, and sure, they had Aizawa’s address, but he had to make sure they were right behind him the whole drive so that they’d be able to park. The high security was nice for knowing that he and Izuku were protected, but man, was it a pain if they wanted to have guests.

Izuku’s ramblings filled the air, but Aizawa could tell the kid was doing everything he could to keep himself awake. Story after story came about his childhood with the Bakugous, stories Aizawa had never heard before, but every so often, the boy’s voice would fade out, and from the corner of his eye he could see the greenette’s head bob forward and then jerk back up. Each time he picked right back up in his talking like nothing happened.

Aizawa sure loved his kid.

Finally they made it back with no significant trouble with clearing the other family at security, though Aizawa heard some yelling emanating from the car behind them. Not his problem.

The second they got out of the car, Izuku ran over to his old friend. The yelling blond. Seriously, what is it about blonds?

“Stop pulling me around, stupid Deku!” The blond yelled, but Aizawa watched on with amusement as the teen did absolutely nothing to stop Izuku from actually pulling him along. He wanted to address that nickname, though.

“Sorry about our brat, I just don’t know where he gets it from,” the blond’s carbon copy said from beside the hero. “Oi! Stop yelling brat! People live around here!”

Aizawa’s eyes met the tired look of the older male Bakugou. The man gave a small shrug while reaching for his wife. “Honey, you shouldn’t be yelling either.”

“Hm?” She turned to her husband. “Oh. Yeah.” She gave her own shrug in the direction of Aizawa. Was… was that an apology? Aizawa was too tired to deal with it. He just waved them along to follow him as Izuku pulled his friend in front of them, the blond ‘complaining’ all the way.

“I just… can’t believe we found him,” the woman’s voice sounded fond.

“We always said we would,” her husband responded.

Aizawa couldn’t help but feel relieved at how they sounded. They sounded like they honestly, truly cared for his Izuku. He just wished he knew why Izuku never mentioned them.

It didn’t take very long to finally reach the apartment, and when they did Aizawa realized that dinner meant cooking. He did not think this through. He could cook and had to often, he just did not like to, especially when he was already tired.

As if sensing his thoughts, the younger blond turned to him. “Hey old man,” (“Kacchan!”) “What kinda ingredients do you got?” The boy questioned, ignoring the scandalized tone of Izuku. Confused, Aizawa leads him to the kitchen. Might as well humor the boy.

The teen rummaged around for a bit, but eventually popped out of the fridge with a wide smirk.

“I’m making dinner,” he stated. Didn’t even ask. “We’re having Katsudon.”

“Yay! Kacchan’s katsudon!” Izuku cheered.

“Hey brat! You can’t just decide these things at someone else’s home!” The woman yelled.

“Oh no,” Aizawa interrupted frantically. Well… as frantically as someone like him could, which honestly just sounded a little sarcastic. “Please, go ahead. I was just going to call take out.” From there he let himself into the living room and plopped comfortably into his spot on the couch.

The blond’s parents just seemed to look at him before shrugging. “Make sure to clean up your mess,” the mom called.

“Shut up, hag!” The teen yelled back. “When have I ever left a mess?” His voice faded into grumbling that Aizawa could hear, but not make out from where he sat.

“Izuku!” Aizawa called out. He watched as the greenette’s fluffy curls popped out around the corner of the kitchen. He hummed in response.

“Are you ever going to actually introduce these people to me or am I going to have to keep calling them problem child 2 and co?”

Izuku looked scandalized from where he stood. Pausing a moment to reflect on the horror he had caused to his poor, socially inept father. Then, he shook his head and bounded into the room. Without ceremony, the boy plopped down in between the parents.

“Sorry!” He yelped.

“Heh, still a forgetful loser,” the blond boy scoffed from the kitchen.

Izuku just rolled his eyes before continuing. “Dad, this is Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru, they run Bakugou Inc. and Kacchan,” “Bakugou Katsuki”, the blond yelled from the kitchen. “…And Kacchan,” the greenette continued with a loud, incomprehensible yell emanating from the kitchen. “He works as one of the main models for the men’s, heroes’, and unisex lines,” this was said with pride shining out of the boy. “Auntie, Uncle, this is my foster dad, Aizawa Shouta, or Pro-Hero Eraserhead.”

Aizawa might have preened a little at his boy introducing him as his dad first, before him as a hero. Kill him, he’s a sap.

“Nice to finally, formally meet you,” Aizawa stated right before a heavy hand whacked his back.

“Nonsense, with all the formality,” Mitsuki said… very loudly said. If Aizawa never met another loud blond in his life, it would still be too soon. “If you are the one taking care of our Izuku now, then you’re family as well.” Masaru nodded firmly along with his wife’s declaration.

Aizawa… didn’t know how to feel about that, but his son did. Izuku, crying, launched himself at the two adults from his seated position. The two just seemed to take it in stride like this was normal.

“Shut up, you crybaby,” Katsuki called. Aizawa was glad to have an actual name for the boy. “How can you fight like that but still cry at the drop of a hat, moron?”

Aizawa would have gotten mad at that, boys can cry too, thank you very much, if the blond hadn’t peeked his head out the doorway where Aizawa could see the fondness on his face as he looked at the crying boy.

“Shut up Kacchan,” the greenette shot back, but the heat was lost as his voice cracked with continued tears. “I haven’t cried this much in years!”

“Sure you haven’t,” the boy scoffed, good-naturedly (from what Aizawa could tell) as he went back to what he was doing.

“I missed you,” Izuku hiccupped. Aizawa’s heart broke as he watched his son break in the others’ arms.

“Why did you never contact us, honey,” Mitsuki asked.

“We would have come running. You must have known that.” Masaru’s voice was choked.

Izuku shook his head from where he half laid in their laps.

“Izuku,” Aizawa prodded softly. “Why did you never say anything? They are pretty easy to find, and as a hero, I could have gotten into contact with them easily. Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Aizawa asked, but the greenette still didn’t say anything.

A heavy sigh was heard, and when Aizawa turned his head, it was to see Katsuki coming out of the kitchen with a sad look on his face as he wiped his hands on the dishcloth.

“It’s because he was afraid of being a burden.” Aizawa looked back at the greenette questioningly, as did the other two adults. Izuku just seemed to cry harder and bury his head into their laps.

“I know him better than I know myself,” Katsuki continued. “He didn’t reach out because he didn’t want to be a burden on our family as another mouth to feed and head to cover, which is ridiculous,” the boy scoffed. “You could never be a burden on us. We would have gladly taken you in without regret.”

Aizawa looked on with a little more respect to the loud and angry blond. “I’m willing to guess that he also didn’t want to be a burden on you,” Red eyes met his, and Aizawa would be willing to admit that shocked him. Izuku, a burden to him? Never.

“He didn’t want you to feel like an extra. He also probably didn’t want to feel like he was using you to find us. Instead, that idiot kept silent on all fronts, so as to not rock the boat that was never going to tip in the first place,” he directed the final words at the greenette.

No sound came from the greenette other than the occasional sniffle. No defense or agreement. Nothing. It was actually kinda weird… oh… he had fallen asleep.

Mitsuki ran a fond hand through the fluffy green curls as the sniffles turned to snores. Aizawa groaned as he stood to go grab him, he wasn’t that old, his knees shouldn’t hurt that much when he stood.

“He’s had an eventful day, plus Recovery Girl’s healing seems to have caught up with him,” Aizawa more thought out loud than consciously said. “I’ll take him to his room, and be back.”

“Wait,” Katsuki called. “Food is done. You guys can go eat. I can take him.” The blond approached and reached for the greenette.

Aizawa wanted to say no. He wanted to take care of Izuku himself, but when he saw the look of the boy’s face, he waved him forward.

A look so full of fondness and awe had filled the kid’s features. Like he was looking at something he had lost long ago, and had given up hope on ever finding again, until it was there in front of him. Despite the harsh way he talked and the names he threw around, the boy was gentle as he lifted the other up.

Aizawa was honestly impressed, Izuku was not light since he had built up so much muscle and was tall. A few centimeters taller than he was, to be honest. He would forever be spiteful about that as Izuku never let him live it down. Rude.

“His room is at the end of the hall on the left,” he told the blond, receiving a nod in acknowledgement and thanks. He turned back to the boy’s parents. “Well, let’s eat.”

Together they stood and moved to the kitchen. After getting their food and sitting at the small dining table Aizawa owned, the Bakugous finally broke the silence.

“You really do care for him, don’t you,” the loud blond asked softly. Aizawa looked them both in the eyes with a firm expression.

“I love him more than anything. I consider Izuku my own son, and I would burn this world to the ground for him if anything ever happened to him.”

At his harsh declaration, a fond and relieved smile crossed both of the others’ faces.

“He really does do that to you, doesn’t he,” the blond looked over at the photo of him on the wall. “He has always been like that. Once you get to know him, he owns you, heart and soul. We tried to tear this town apart looking for him when we heard the news.” Mitsuki trailed off.

Aizawa remained silent. He knew a little about Izuku’s past concerning how he ended up where he did, but not much. He wanted to know.

“We were in Thailand on a family business trip,” Masaru picked up, staring down at his plate. “Three weeks in we got the news about Inko… Izuku’s mother.”

“We hopped on the first plane back to Musutafu, but when we got here. We were too late. Turns out, news traveled slowly. By the time we heard, Inko had been dead for two weeks. It was only days after we left…”

A pause. Aizawa dared not fill it. A shuddered breath. Then Masaru continued.

“When we got back, we used all our ties to find out that Izuku had been put in an orphanage on the other side of the prefecture. By the time we got there, he had been moved. Over and over, we hunted down the place we had been moved to, only to be told that they got rid of that useless, quirkless kid ,” the seemingly nice man spit out with venom.

“We kept looking, but eventually the trail ran dry,” Mitsuki looked like she ate something sour. “The last orphanage he had been in had been attacked by a villain.” Aizawa scowled. Why did others find joy in hurting those already down? “Most of the people inside the building didn’t make it out. All the records went up in smoke.”

Aizawa felt a chill. He knew what they must have thought, and seconds later his fear was confirmed.

“We never wanted to admit it to Katsuki,” Masaru stated with tears in his eyes. “But we were sure that he had been one of the victims. The damage was so bad that they couldn’t identify anyone, and with no way of knowing if he had moved on to a different place or not, we assumed the worst.”

“But not our boy,” Mitsuki looked up with fondness in her expression. “He’s as stubborn as a mule.” Aizawa snorted. “He got it in his head that if Izuku wasn’t at any of the other places when we got there, he wasn’t at this one. So, we followed his lead, and kept looking… and looking.”

“It’s been almost four years, you know,” Mitsuki said, looking him in the eye. “I don’t know what happened in that time, and a lot has, I can tell, but I will be forever grateful for you.” Aizawa looked on in surprise. “You took him in, and because of you caring for him, he is here. We found him.” Tears shone in both of the Bakugous’ eyes, slipping down their cheeks. “We found him, and he looks happy. He looks truly relieved for the first time in a long time.”

Aizawa’s own eyes were misty.

“Can you tell me more about him as a child?” Aizawa asked quietly.

Both of them nodded firmly. “Of course,” Masaru said. “We’d be happy too.”

“Only…” the blond broke in, looking unsure. “Could you tell us what he’s been through? What we’ve missed both the good… and the bad?”

Aizawa nodded. These were Izuku’s family. He would tell them what he had a right to say, and then he’d leave Izuku the choice of the rest.

 ***

Katsuki was overwhelmed at the moment. It had been a wild day. It started with just an average photoshoot and ended with him laying his childhood friend, who he had thought died, down in bed in Eraserhead’s house. He was careful to arrange Deku’s injured shoulder and knee on the bed before flopping down on the floor next to it.

Katsuki’s default and constant emotion was anger. Honestly, he didn’t like to feel anything else. It was always too much for him to handle, and the pressure he had felt as a model made him feel like he always had to fit a certain mold. His parents were careful to never put such pressure on him, but that didn’t mean other models and photographers did the same. He layered everything with anger. The past few years, though, the years that Deku had been missing, it was getting increasingly harder to keep his default.

Worry and dread and sadness and guilt and much more had hit him day after day. Photographers loved it, telling him that he was playing the camera up, but Katsuki could honestly care less about those creeps. All the emotional build up did nothing to prepare him for the swarm of emotions cascading on him throughout the whole day. Shock, disbelief, fear, happiness, relief, and wonder that Deku, Izuku, truly was alive.

He wouldn’t let himself burst, though. No matter what he was feeling, no matter how overwhelmed he was, he wasn’t going to burst. So with a groan as he stood up, Katsuki looked over Deku one more time before making his way to the dining room. He fixed his typical scowl on his face.

“Can you tell us what he’s been through the past few years. Both the good… and the bad?” Katsuki heard the old hag ask. There was no sound for a minute before he heard someone inhale deeply.

He paused in the hallway, not wanting to interrupt, knowing his parents, they probably would make Eraserhead wait to tell them until he wasn’t there as some form of ‘protection.’ He wasn’t a child, and he didn’t need protecting. He wanted to know what had happened just as much… no more than they did themselves.

“I don’t know a lot,” the man started, “and some of what I do know is not mine to tell.”

“We understand,” Katsuki’s old man said softly. “We want to know whatever you can tell us.”

“Well, as you both know, Izuku was passed from orphanage to foster home like the common cold. He was unwanted at every place he was taken.” The man paused for a minute and a rough breath was let out. “He was never treated well.”

“His scars?” The old hag asked.

“Not all of them are from those places. Some are from his school, and others from times he left late at night.” There were sharp hisses of breaths. “The one on his eye, from what I know, came about a year into this arrangement,” Eraserhead spat out bitterly. “Apparently some kid in the current foster home hated him, thought he was useless and a waste of space to society.” Katsuki could feel his anger bubble up and rage filled the man’s voice. “The kid thought he would take care of the ‘pest’ problem himself and attacked Izuku with a kitchen knife while he was asleep. Luckily Izuku is a light sleeper and woke up when the boy got close. He moved, but the boy managed to cut him down the face. When Izuku retaliated, the boy was knocked unconscious. The family came in hearing his scream, saw what happened, took Izuku to the hospital, and left him there. Said to not come back. That he was crazy and attacked the other kids.”

Katsuki growled in his throat. Luckily the old hag had too, so they didn’t hear him where he hid. His fingernails dug into the palm of his hand as he clenched them hard.

“That was the day that Izuku also learned that some hospitals don’t accept quirkless individuals…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” the old hag screamed. “What hospital was it? I’ll have their medical licenses revoked for mistreatment and discrimination!”

“I’ve already got people on the case, Bakugou-san,” Eraserhead reassured her with a steel voice. “They won’t be able to act the same way in the future.”

It took the hag a minute to calm down. Katsuki sat quietly, teeth clenched, and waited for the man to continue.

“Other than that one story, he hasn’t told me a lot about his time at these places. He’s kept pretty tight-lipped about his treatment during those years,” the man sounded like he had aged years. “I found him about a year ago on top of an apartment building at 4 AM, just sitting there.”

“He wasn’t…” the old hag sounded broken, and Katsuki felt ice run through his veins.

“I don’t think so,” Eraserhead interrupted her question. “He was just sitting, but I thought the same thing when I saw him, so I tried to pull him away from the edge…” He paused and laughed lightly. “He proceeded to knee me hard in the stomach and disappear so fast that I thought he had a teleportation quirk at first.”

Katsuki snickered to himself. It seemed like all those self-defense and martial arts classes growing up at least did him some good.

“It was three days later when I saw him in the same spot. This time he didn’t hit me but invited me to sit down. We ended up just talking. Even then he didn’t tell me a lot about himself, he didn’t even tell me his name. It was more like he just wanted a distraction.

“It was an unspoken agreement between us to meet up there every three days after that. We’d just chat. Sometimes he would leave first, and sometimes I would. Then about 6 months after meeting him, he didn’t show up.” The pause in his words lasted a little longer. “I got a report of a villain attack nearby and heard a scream that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

Katsuki felt his knees shake, and slowly lowered himself to the ground letting his back slide along the wall. He knew where this was going, and he did not like it one bit.

“When I got there, the villain had already been put out-of-commission by the Rabbit, but Izuku was there. He had gotten badly burned and injured,” his voice sounded choked. “He was trying to drag himself off scene, but it wasn’t going well. I got to him right as he collapsed, and got him to a hospital as fast as I could.

“He came out fine, but the burn on his right arm is from that day. At the hospital, I found out who he was and about his history. I decided then and there, that I wasn’t going to let that kid out of my sight again. It didn’t take long to transfer him from his current foster home to mine. I consider him my own son, and after the paperwork is accepted, he will be.”

Katsuki heard the sounds of his parents crying.

This talk did not make the emotions boiling in his chest any better. Nope. Not one bit. Katsuki would actually say that it had made it worse.

He wanted to hit something. He wanted to scream. He wanted to explode. He wanted to hunt down any sorry son of a bitch that had hurt Deku. But none of that was possible at the moment. Instead, he pulled himself up from where he was sitting and made his way back down the hall. He wasn’t hungry any more. It wasn’t until he felt something drip onto his hand as he reached for the door knob into Deku’s room that he realized he was crying.

Katsuki hadn’t cried in years. He never let himself cry even after finding that Deku was gone. That Auntie had died. That Deku was most likely dead. He never let himself because Katsuki was an all or nothing kind of guy. If he let himself cry, it was never going to stop. It seemed now, though, that his body had finally given up the fight.

Trying to be as quiet as he could be, he snuck back into the greenette’s room, and being mindful of his injured shoulder, laid down next to him in the bed. Katsuki understood what Eraserhead had meant. He was never going to let Deku out of his sight again, if he could help it.

Before long, the blond fell asleep with tear tracks still tracing down his cheeks.

 ***

Mitsuki was going to skin a man, or two, or three, or however many it was that had hurt Izuku. The little greenette used to be so full of wonder and life. He used to glow and anyone who saw him couldn’t help but smile. That Izuku was still in the current one, but it was under a few layers the boy had built up for protection. He carried himself differently, and it wasn’t just because he had gotten a confidence boost, but it was because he was forced to learn how.

The guilt that she had felt for the past few years for leaving the Midoriyas behind was not completely lifted. Instead, it had just changed. She still felt like she and Masaru could have done more. Should have done more, but there’s no way to change the past.

Sitting there across from the scruffy pro-hero, she also couldn’t help but be glad that Izuku had found this man. The boy had never really had a father, due to his own leaving when the boy was four. Her husband Masaru did what he could, but Izuku needed a father of his own. Staring the man in the eyes, she saw his conviction when he said that Izuku was his son. She felt relieved.

“It’s gotten late, so we should probably be going,” Masaru said from next to her. She nodded seeing that it was already approaching 11 o’clock. With a quick shove, she pushed herself away from the table and stood up.

“I’m going to go check on the brat,” she called as she started to walk away.

Behind her she could her Masaru give their thanks and help clean up. Mitsuki wished she knew what she had done in a previous life to be blessed with Masaru as her husband. Whatever she had done, she would try to repeat during this life. Who knows who or where she’d be without him.

She found Izuku’s room with little trouble. Quietly she opened the door and looked in. There she saw a sight that brought her back to when the boys were little. Katsuki and Izuku lay cuddling in the boy’s bed, a Present Mic themed blanket covered them both but had slipped down leaving their torsos bare. With little sound, she slipped in and made her way to tuck them more firmly in. Looking down at the boys, she saw Katsuki’s face. His eyes were swollen, and cheeks were wet. There was no way that she was going to make this boy move because the look of peace that was also on his face was something she hadn’t seen in years.

 So, with a small smile, she righted the blanket and leaned down to leave a small kiss on each of their foreheads making them both scrunch their faces slightly before resuming their sleep. It reminded her too much of sleepovers for the boys. Checking in on them during the night and following the exact same routine each time. Once more that night, tears ran down her own cheeks. They had found him.

When she returned to the kitchen, Masaru looked at her questioningly.

“The boys are both asleep,” she informed them. “I figured it would be best to leave them be.” She turned to look at Aizawa next. “Do you mind if Katsuki stays here?”

The man seemed to think for a moment before shrugging. “Why not?”

They exchanged goodbyes quietly and soon they were on their way out. Masaru gripped her hand, and when she looked over, it was to see him, wiping his own eyes.

“Our boy is back,” his voice cracked. Mitsuki knew that Masaru wasn’t just talking about Izuku.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up warmer than he had been in a long time. To be honest, it was a little too warm, but he didn’t want to move. When the light shone into his eyes from the window, though, he bolted into a seated position. A grumble followed his movement that emanated from beside him. He looked right and had to take a full few minutes to process.

Kacchan.

In his bed.

In Eraser’s apartment.

It was Sunday.

No school.

He wasn’t going to be late for classes. Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t slept in. Aizawa wasn’t going to kill him. Wait.

Kacchan?!

All his memories of the day before finally sorted themselves out in his brain. Man, was it a mess in there? So much had happened, and Izuku couldn’t believe it. Things like this didn’t happen to him. Things like winning the sports festival. Things like being found. Being loved. Finding his other family and best friend.

“Shut up, nerd,” a gravelly voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Oh! I’m sorry, was I mumbling again?” Izuku freaked out slamming his hands over his mouth while looking down at Kacchan. The blond was glaring at him from where he lay.

“No, idiot,” he scoffed. “It’s just that your thoughts are loud enough to hear. You’re practically screaming.”

Izuku lowered his hands looking at the other in disbelief before rolling his eyes and shoving the blond. With a loud yelp Kacchan hit the floor.

“What the fuck?” He screeched.

“It’s too early, Kacchan. Be quiet,” Izuku retorted as he flopped back into his own bed. Maybe that hadn’t been Izuku’s best decision, but he can guarantee he has had way worse in his life. Kacchan tried to convince him otherwise, though, as the blond popped up and launched himself on top of the greenette.

Even though both were tired and emotionally drained, it didn’t mean that they wouldn’t wrestle like old times. It’s a good thing nothing breakable was situated near Izuku’s bed because if there were, they would not have lasted. As it was, they managed to send a few of the pictures on the wall crashing to the floor in their scuffle before Aizawa came running in like a mad man on a mission.

“What the hell is happening in here?” He yelled, firing up his quirk. It didn’t faze Izuku anymore, but apparently the image of Aizawa, red eyes blazing, and hair standing straight up was enough to cause Kacchan to pause. “Why are you two fighting? And Izuku,” the man yelled, doing his best impression of Present Mic’s quirk. “You are injured! What are you thinking?”

At the reminder of his injuries, he did notice the twinge that the fight had caused. Nothing too bad, though. From beside him Kacchan sat up sheepishly. Seems like the blond had also forgotten. Nothing to be done about that now.

Izuku shrugged. “This is routine.”

“Routine?” Aizawa questioned, finally releasing his quirk.

“Yeah, every sleepover, in the morning, we wrestle until one of us pins the other. It was great training.”

“Heh,” Kacchan chuckled from beside him. “I would have won if Hobo over there hadn’t stopped us.”

Izuku just turned to the other boy with the most deadpan expression he could muster. “Kacchan. I am a hero-in-training.”

Kacchan shrugged as he got to his feet. “Seems like a pretty fucking lame one if you ask me.” His hand was outstretched, and so, Izuku (with his uninjured arm) grabbed on and pulled himself to his feet. And immediately pushed Kacchan back down.

“What’s for breakfast?” He chirped to his dad as he bounded out of his room followed by an inhuman screech. Ah how he missed the good old days. For some reason Aizawa looked more tired than normal. “Did you not sleep well, dad?”

Aizawa gave him a deadpan stare of his own (Izuku had to learn from somewhere) before sighing heavily. “What did I do to be cursed with a child as problematic as you?”

“You are blessed to have me, you ungrateful jerk,” Izuku immediately retorted.

“Deku!” Kacchan screamed. Izuku giggled and made his way to the kitchen. Ah, it seems like today’s food was pancakes. Nice.

Izuku prepared himself his stack of sugar on a plate as he heard Aizawa’s grumbles and Kacchan’s stomps reverberating around the place. This is what he had missed all these years.

Eventually the two angry men joined Izuku at the dining table with their own stacks of pancakes. He was grateful for them, even if neither of them seemed to stop grumbling the entire time. Izuku finished first and grabbed his plate to take to the sink. Aizawa dumped his own before walking off.

“I’m taking a nap, problem child. If either of you wake me, you’ll learn your punishment,” Aizawa ominously stated before walking back towards his room. A shiver ran down Izuku’s spine. Well, being quiet it was. The downside of having his dad as his teacher. Izuku did not want to know what the man would assign him as a punishment if he woke him up.

Izuku was in the middle of cleaning up Aizawa’s plate when Kacchan joined him, placing his own plate in the sink, and grabbing the dishrag that sat nearby to dry the dishes he had finished. They worked quietly just reveling in the action of routine from childhood.

When they finished and all the dishes were put away, they wandered silently into the living room. Izuku plopped down in the center of the couch, and Kacchan followed him to sit on his left side. The silence was comfortable, if not a little unusual for the childhood best friends.

“I heard Eraserhead talking to my parents last night,” the blond stated after a few minutes.

Izuku just looked over at him. Kacchan’s face was stoic. It reminded Izuku of all the billboards and magazine ads he had seen the blond in, but was very different from his normal scowl. It felt like the blond was holding something in, but what? Izuku didn’t know. He appeared to be thinking over his words, something that a younger Kacchan would not have done, so Izuku let him think in peace. Eventually it seemed like he figured out what he wanted to say.

“Eraserhead was telling them about how he found you,” Kacchan said, turning to look him in the eye. Oh. “He said that he couldn’t say everything. That there were things that only you could say.” Izuku’s lips pressed into a line. Kacchan’s face was set. “Deku… Izuku,” his voice was firm. “What happened during the last four years? What couldn’t Eraserhead tell them?”

Izuku studied his friend. Four years was a long time. People change some for the better and some for the worse. Izuku didn’t know where he fell in that range. He had improved, but were all of those improvements good? He couldn’t say.

As for Kacchan. He didn’t know. The boy seemed to be more clear headed. He thought before talking and for as loud as the blond normally was, Izuku hadn’t heard him screaming and yelling unprompted like he had done before.

For as much as it seemed both of them had changed, they fell back into old habits like the past four years had never happened. Izuku debated in his head what he should say. Does he tell the other about being a vigilante? Does he trust the boy he hadn’t seen in years with his biggest secret?

The answer came easily. Of course he could. He could never keep a secret from Kacchan. He probably never will be able to.

Eyeing him one last time, Izuku opened his mouth to speak.

“It was at 4 AM one morning a few months after mom died…”

Izuku told him everything. From the abuse he endured. The fear he felt. The numbness that eventually took over him. He told him of becoming the Rabbit and everything he had done since.

“So…” Kacchan drawled. “You mean to tell me that you’re the vigilante that people have been talking about?” Izuku nodded hesitantly, unsure of how the loud boy would react. “And… the reason you are called the Rabbit is because you wore a… bunny hoodie?” Izuku almost couldn’t understand the last two words due to the blond laughing hard. A manic cackle that rang out through the apartment.

“Shut up!” Izuku yelled, throwing a nearby pillow at the other’s face. Due to his laughing, Kacchan didn’t see it coming, and the resulting yelp was immensely satisfying. “It was all that was left from other’s that was black and fit me!”

“You… you literally can’t get away from being a damn bunny!” Kacchan was clutching his stomach at this point.

Izuku was not pouting. “Come on!” He did not whine. “I tell you I am a vigilante, and all you can do is laugh at my name. It’s not like I picked it!”

“No…” The blond choked out. “But you did pick the outfit!”

Izuku huffed and resolutely crossed his arms and turned away. Screw Kacchan. He didn’t need this kind of negativity in his life.

It took a long time for the boy to finally go from bellyaching laughs down to just a few chuckles every so often.

“I’m not surprised you’re a vigilante,” Kacchan said when he finally pulled himself together. Izuku looked over at the boy through the corner of his eye. What he saw was a soft look on Kacchan’s face while the other looked at him. “That’s exactly something a nerd like you would do. You’re heroic to a fault, Deku.”

Izuku’s eye might have watered slightly . That… that was some high praise from someone like the blond. They sat there for a minute before once more, the blond piped up.

“Do you still work as a vigilante? I feel like I’ve still heard a few things about the Rabbit even after school started.”

Izuku nodded in response. “Yeah, Nezu, the principal, knows and even encouraged me to continue as I have.”

“Then promise me one thing, Deku,” Kacchan said, leaning forward to look Izuku in the eye. Izuku once more nodded. He couldn’t say no to the blond no matter what he was asking. “Promise me you’ll be careful. We just got you back, I don’t want to lose you again, nerd.”

Izuku launched himself at the blond and buried his face in the other’s chest.

“You fucking better not get snot on me, moron!” Kacchan snarked, but the edge of it was lost when he immediately clung onto the greenette himself. In spite, Izuku rubbed his wet face all over his friend’s shirt.

“Get your nasty ass away from me!” He screeched while still holding on. They might have stayed that way for a while, but they were interrupted by an extremely tired voice.

“Is it even possible for you two to be quiet?”

Izuku felt Kacchan stiffen up underneath him, but Izuku just turned his head to face Eraser and stuck out his tongue.

“You signed up for this when you adopted me, idiot,” Izuku sing-songed at the man. Aizawa just answered with a glare (it was half-hearted at best, Izuku knew the man was a softie). From seemingly nowhere the man pulled out earplugs and shoved them in all while staring down Izuku. Jokes on him, those earplugs were going to be useless.

To prove his point, Izuku immediately popped up from his position cuddling the blond and let a feral smirk curve his lips. Kacchan immediately responded in kind. The blond was always up for chaos, and it was different having Izuku being the start of it.

“Want to play some Mario Kart?” Izuku asked innocently. Kacchan’s feral smirk widened, making him look manic.

“You’re on butter fingers. I’m going to wipe the floor with you!”

Izuku pushed the blond over as he stood to set up his switch, Kacchan growled at the motion.

“In your dreams, firecracker,” Izuku quipped with confidence. “You never could beat me in the past, and I have only gotten better.”

“You’re not the only one whose improved, nerd,” Kacchan growled as he yanked the controller out of Izuku’s hand when he offered it.

“We’ll see about that.”

 ***

Aizawa was suffering. Was there a way to return a child to their parents without offending his son?

“Fuck you, Deku!” Aizawa heard the blond scream for the 10 th time within the last 30 minutes. It was then followed by an unholy screech meaning that once again, the greenette had won.

What did he do to deserve this?

Chapter Text

Izuku had many regrets in life. There were too many to list. But with all the regrets he had built up over the course of his 15 years of life, placing number one at the sports festival might trump them all.

“It’s the quirkless kid!”

“What? The one who placed first at UA?!”

“No way! That can’t be him!”

“He’s wearing the uniform, and it would be hard to find another person with green hair and scars like that.”

“I’m going to ask for his autograph!”

“No way, he looks scary! He might eat you alive!”

“Come on, he can’t be that bad!”

Number two on his list of regrets was not going with Aizawa to school when he offered to drive. Izuku just didn’t see the reason to waste gas when Aizawa would have to head back home since Izuku was going up Sunday night.

Maybe if he just ignored everyone on the train, they would leave him alone.

“Excuse me?” Izuku should have known better than to think such a thing. His life was made to laugh in his face at him jinxing literally everything. Taking a deep breath, he turned to look at whoever was addressing him. It turned out to be a girl around his age. Her pale purple hair floated around her even though it was tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were almost white with how pale they were. Probably some type of gas emitter quirk, he thought.

“You’re Midoriya Izuku, right?” the girl tittered with a small smile. Objectively she was pretty, but Izuku could really care less. He just wanted off this train, and to be able to let his mind remember all the fun he had had that day hanging out with Kacchan like old times. Apparently, that was too much to ask for because he still had another two stops before he reached the school, and it looked like the girl wasn’t moving. So, with reluctance, he nodded his head.

“I thought you were amazing at the sports festival,” she started to gush, grabbing onto his arm in the process. “The way you beat all those other students, even though you are quirkless, it was so amazing. I couldn’t stop watching! Who knew that a quirkless kid could win at the most famous hero school in the country?”

Izuku didn’t hide the scowl that crossed his face. Was she complimenting him or talking down to him? He really couldn’t tell. Why was it such a big deal that the quirkless kid won? The fact that everyone thought it was a miracle he won was the problem in their society. He and the other quirkless people weren’t helpless.

Izuku’s teeth were grinding against each other trying to stop himself from saying anything. Just one more stop and then he was free

“If you were able to do so much even though you are quirkless, imagine how amazing you would be with one! Everyone would want you then! You could really be a hero then!”

It felt like steam was rising from his ears.

“Shut up.” His voice growled before he was even conscious of deciding to speak. The train car that was previously loud as people talked among themselves went silent. One could hear a pin drop even without a hearing-based quirk. The girl looked stricken.

“I am going to be a hero even without a quirk,” he stated firmly, a harsh glare on his features as he looked around the train car. “You all watched me at the sports festival. I don’t need a quirk to win .”

It was then the train stopped at his station, and he got off, leaving everyone there behind. The entire walk back to the dorms, Izuku stewed in his thoughts. Why was a quirk a prerequisite for anything in this society? It didn’t matter how simple the quirk, like being able to change one’s own hair color at will, if someone had a quirk, they were automatically better than the quirkless. It was a miracle for a boy ‘like him’ to have made it into UA and to have won the festival.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize it when he made it back to the dorms.

“Midori-bro!” A loud voice finally startled him from what he was thinking. With a jolt, he looked up and noticed that he had found his way into the common room of heights alliance. A good number of the class were sitting on the couches doing their own things.

A heavy, hard arm was thrown around his shoulders.

“What’s got you looking so glum, dude!” Kirishima exclaimed as he forced Izuku further into the room.

“Yeah, man, it looks like you are about to commit a murder!” Kaminari tacked on when he saw the greenette.

“If I could, I would,” Izuku said lowly.

“Heh, dude, that’s not very heroic,” Sero said from where he lay on the couch. He was smiling, but it looked worried. “What happened?”

Izuku plopped down on the couch near the lanky boy and wilted forward putting his head in his hands.

“I took the train back to campus,” he said tiredly. “I learned the consequences of placing first at the festival.”

Sero winced in understanding. “I hear ya, man. Everyone recognized me on my way back and all they could say was ‘don’t mind.’”

“Don’t mind!” Jirou cackled from across the room.

“Come on!” Sero whined as he joined Izuku in the pity parade.

“Come on, man, isn’t it fun to be recognized?” Kaminari asked excitedly. “All the people knowing your name and asking about you? The girls that would think you are incredible!” Kaminari shut up with a yelp when an earphone jack smacked the back of his head.

“I don’t want to be recognized!” Izuku whined. “I just want to be an underground hero.” He looked up and looked the electric blond in the eyes. “Plus, it’s not fun when all they have to say is that they couldn’t believe a ‘quirkless kid like me’ could have beaten all the other students.”

Kaminari and the others all winced at Izuku’s tone and words. “Oh, yeah. I get that…” the blond trailed off.

From nearby, Koda caught Izuku’s eye as the shy boy was waving at him.

How was your weekend otherwise? You still seem to be injured.

I’m visiting Recovery girl tomorrow morning to finish the healing. Couldn’t do it at the festival because my stamina was too low. Otherwise, I hung out with my childhood friend Kacchan.

Kacchan? Koda hesitantly motioned the sign Izuku used.

K-A-C-C-H-A-N Izuku spelled slowly. He’s the friend I mentioned that found me at the festival. We hung out all weekend until I had to leave to come here.

Oh! Koda brightened up smiling at the greenette. I’m happy for you. I assume it all went well.

Very well, Izuku smirked. I beat him at every game we played, and he complained the whole time. Izuku sighed. It was just like old times.

Koda laughed lightly at Izuku’s words mixed with the happy expression on his face.

The rest of the class’s eyes bounced back and forth between the two as they talked. None of them understood what was going on.

“What are you saying, Midori?” Ashido’s voice whined loudly as she draped herself along the back of the couch behind the greenette.

Izuku looked back in surprise. Sometimes he forgot other people didn’t understand sign language.

“I was just talking about Kacchan,” he said without thinking.

“Kacchan?” Almost everyone in the room screeched loudly. It’s a good thing Izuku was used to loud noises, since growing up with Kacchan and Present Mic visiting his and Aizawa’s home regularly. He didn’t even react.

“Yeah, Kacchan,” he said simply.

“Whose she?”

“How have we never heard of this Kacchan?”

“Having you been hiding a girl this entire time?”

She? Girl? Izuku was confused. Well … he thought. Kacchan is a traditionally girlish nickname. Just then the actual owner of said nickname came to mind. An image of the blond in a grungy tank top and basketball shorts, showing off his musculature, screeching at his loss, every other word a curse word. The ugly scowl crossing his face as he threw the controller (at the other couch luckily - as kids they had lost one too many to Kacchan throwing them at the wall or TV). Izuku couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of him.

“Why are you laughing?” Ashido yelled, shaking his shoulders. “Who is this Kacchan?”

He could work with this misunderstanding.

“Kacchan is just my childhood best friend, the one I met again at the festival,” Izuku explained with chuckles interrupting him every so often. “We’ve known each other since we were babies. We’re just friends.” Never once correcting what they thought.

Koda gave him a look while signing, Didn’t you just tell me that Kacchan was a guy? The other asked.

Izuku just sent him a quick wink. Yep! But what they misunderstood won’t hurt them.

Koda rolled his eyes at the greenette’s antics. How did he become friends with this gremlin?

As everyone else was screaming, Izuku stood up.

“Well, I’m going to head to bed!” He called as he made his way to the stairs. “Goodnight!”

Sometimes, Izuku could admit, he really did have fun with this class.

 ***

The next morning came early, as Izuku woke up before the sun rose in order to make it to Recovery girl’s before class started.

He opened the door to the infirmary right as it opened for the day.

“Midoriya!” The old woman smiled at him waving her cane to bring him closer. “Come on in. I am glad you came willingly, and I didn’t have to track you down.” Izuku would refute that comment, but he knew that she was right. If he didn’t have his dad’s class, he probably wouldn’t have come. His injuries weren’t bad. He had gotten worse on the job, but he knew that his dad would have a special assignment for him if he didn’t follow through.

“Sit down, this will only be a second dear.” Recovery girl quickly checked all his injuries to make sure they were naturally healing well before leaving a quick kiss on his cheek. The sensation was weird. He felt his body fix itself and all the aches and pains left his system. Granted, he was immediately hit with a wave of tiredness once the quirk was done.

“Take some gummies,” Recovery girl dropped two into his hand. “You also still have an hour before class starts, so you can go ahead and take a nap on the cot if you would like.”

This was the real reason Izuku came early. With a contented sigh, he leaned back and immediately passed out.

45 minutes later, he was awoken by a light wap with a cane against his stomach.

“Time to get up, deary. Class is in 15 minutes.”

Izuku groaned, but still heaved himself off the bed and stumbled out of the room, running into the doorway on the way out. He just heard the old woman laughing at his antics. He was tired.

He made it into the room to hear Iida yelling to the class about being seated and quiet. They still had 5 minutes. They were fine. After plopping down into his seat, he opened his mouth to call out.

“You’re not class president!” Iida’s face went red. “Let Yaomomo lead the class!”

When class had first started, they had voted for class president. Somehow Izuku had gotten picked. He did not want the job, though, so he stepped down to let Yaomomo become president. The class was adamant that he at least be vice, so here he was. It was his job to support their real president.

Iida sat down at Izuku’s words. There was something off about the boy, though. He seemed more tense than usual, and there was a fire that burned in his eyes that unsettled Izuku. They weren’t close, though, so Izuku felt like he couldn’t ask what was wrong. Granted, he had an idea after seeing the latest in the news. Hero Ingenium, Iida’s brother, was in the hospital due to an attack by the hero killer Stain. The look that screamed in the boy’s eyes wasn’t grief, like it should be, but anger and hatred.

Maybe he would ask Uraraka to look in on the boy. She seemed to be close to him.

As Izuku was considering this, his dad flopped into the room covered in his usual yellow mummy bag. No one was phased anymore by the sight.

“Today we need to discuss something about your futures,” Aizawa drawled as he pulled himself out of the yellow monstrosity. Everyone seemed to be on edge.

“Internships.” Everyone screamed.

Izuku met his dad’s eyes. Both of them were tired and commiserated together about the high energy class. He let it go on for a minute, before glaring at them all with his quirk causing immediate silence to settle.

“At the sports festival, many pro-heroes watch and then submit names that they would like to take on as interns for the next few weeks. For those that did not receive offers, we have a list of heroes that you can choose from. Pick carefully. Many former students have regrets about who they picked in their first year.”

With that Aizawa handed out sheets of paper to each student. Izuku was worried. Yes, he placed first, but he didn’t want offers solely because he was the quirkless kid that won. He wanted to work with someone who saw his potential and would help him get even better because of what he could already do, quirkless or not.

When Aizawa handed him his form, he was shocked at how thick it was. How many heroes asked for him? The total was stated at the top 1,672. What? He flipped through it quickly, scanning the names listed. There were many well known heroes that had asked for him. He was just wondering about what he should do when he got to the last page. The header was titled Underground Heroes . On that page was listed a handful of underground heroes that Izuku had heard about through his sources. Oh. This… this was so much better. He didn’t even know that underground heroes put out offers for students.

As he was looking, and the rest of the class was comparing, someone else walked through the door.

“Along with your internships comes something new that must be dealt with!” Midnight’s voice caused them all to turn quickly back to the front. “Hero names!”

The class seemed to lose their minds all at once, once more. Izuku met eyes with Eraser again. The old man seemed to have aged 20 years as he put in the ear plugs he had at home. Maybe they would work better here… they didn’t.

Midnight was quick to hand out white boards to all the students as she explained.

“The names you pick now, the names you come to be known by the world now, in many cases stay that way after becoming pros! So, choose wisely!”

Izuku sat there for a while trying to decide. This was something he had wanted his entire life, but hero names had never really occurred to him. He was already named the Rabbit by the country, but he couldn’t use that name as his hero persona. With that option off the table, he didn’t know what to do. All he knew was that he wanted a name to show everyone just what he could do.

Hmmm… maybe he did have a name.

Around him there were mutters as people talked to those around them about what their names should be. After five minutes, Midnight called out to them to have them start presenting. Suddenly the air in the room changed as it seemed everyone was scared of actually presenting their names. Izuku was about to get up when Aoyama beat him to it.

Izuku had gotten to know his cheese loving classmate better over the weeks as they lived next to each other. The blond wasn’t bad, but he certainly was unusual. Izuku couldn’t help but be curious as to what his name would be.

With a flourish Aoyama lifted his board, “The Sparkling Hero: I cannot stop twinkling!”

A snort left the greenette at the name. Luckily everyone else in the room was freaking out about it so his laugh was unheard. It was a weird name, but Izuku never wanted someone to feel bad about what they wanted. As everyone panicked at the ridiculous name, Midnight took it in stride and shortened it for the boy.

Next popped up Ashido. With a bounce in her step, she made her way to the front of the room.

“Call me… Alien Queen!” Midnight immediately shut it down. Izuku was disappointed. That was a great name… or at least it was funny.

The atmosphere in the room turned tense. Izuku just sat reclined in his chair. He now wanted to wait to show his. He wanted to see more about what everyone else was choosing. It seemed, though, that no one else wanted to go. Izuku looked around to see everyone hunched over in their seats with an unusual expression, like they were worried about people’s reactions.

“Is it okay if I go next?” a croaky voice called out. Tsu. At the confirmation, the other greenette of the class got up to the front. With little ceremony, she showed her name. “The rainy day heroine: Froppy.”

Just like that, the tension in the room drained away. One by one his classmates revealed the names they had chosen. Some were simple like Tailman or Sugar Man or Invisible Girl, others were fun like Cellophane (Izuku had to try really hard to not laugh at that one, priceless) or Tsukuyomi or Uravity.

All that was left was Izuku and Iida, he could have gone then, but he wanted to wait for just a second more. He watched the normally stuck-up boy write something down and then erase it over and over during the course of the class. When the boy finally made it to the front, all his sign read was “Tenya.”

Izuku watched with a calculated look. Something was off with the boy. Obviously, he had something else in mind, but he defaulted to this. Izuku couldn’t do anything about it now, but he would keep an eye out for the other for the next little while.

“Midoriya!” Midnight called, startling Izuku from his thoughts. “You are the only one left.”

Izuku looked front and then around. Hm, guess that was right. With confidence, he marched to the front of the classroom and turned his sign around.

The room was silent for a few beats, but Izuku just stood his ground.

“De…ku?” he heard Uraraka whisper hesitantly.

“Why that name?”

“Useless?”

“Are you sure you want that name?”

His classmates said over the top of one another as he stood there. He didn’t waver.

“Midoriya,” Midnight asked as the class started to quiet down a bit. He turned to look at her. She looked worried. “Why do you want that for your hero name?”

Izuku shrugged one shoulder. “When I was a kid, Kacchan read the kanji of my name wrong. This is the result of that. All my life, Kacchan, the one person who ever believed I could be a hero, called me Deku. It was kind of like a slap in the face for those who didn’t believe in me. I may be Deku, but I could still be a hero.

“Last night on the train, I had someone tell me that it was a miracle for me to make it into this school, this course, and to win the sports festival. That how, without a quirk, it was pure luck for me to be here. I’ve been told all my life that I am useless and a burden. So, with this name, I will prove them all wrong.

“I am not Deku, someone who is useless. Someone who will only be in the way. I am Deku, someone who will never give up and will save everyone against impossible odds. This is the name I have chosen for myself, and I will not change it.”

When he was done talking, he made his way back to his seat. The room was quiet. Even Midnight didn’t say anything. Izuku looked over at Aizawa and saw understanding in his expression. His dad was proud of him, and that’s all that mattered to Izuku.

Just then, the bell rang, breaking up the atmosphere that was created. Midnight jolted. “Well, looks like we are done for today! Make sure to turn in your forms with your hero name and with you top three choices for your internship by the end of day tomorrow.” With a clap of her hands, she finished. “Time for lunch!”

Everyone shuffled through the process of putting away their things. A few mumbles sounded here or there as people started to talk amongst themselves once more.

Hey, Izuku . He saw Koda sign to him. Would you like to get lunch with us today?

Izuku looked around at the small group Koda was a part of: Shoji, Tokoyami, and Shinso.

Yeah, I’d like that , he signed back with a smile.

The small ragtag group made their way to the cafeteria and sat down in a booth in the corner. For the first little bit, it seemed like everyone was too focused on eating to talk, but eventually a small voice broke through the white noise of the room.

“I like your hero name, Izuku.” Izuku looked up to see who had spoken and met eyes with Koda. His eyebrows shot up as color filled the other’s face. In order to not make the boy feel awkward, Izuku returned his gaze back to what he was eating.

“Thank you,” he responded.

“Why have we never heard about this nickname before now?” Shinso asked with a drawl, turning his chopsticks in his fingers.

Izuku hummed while rubbing his arm a bit. “Well, it was tied too much to a past that I no longer had, so I avoided it, but now that Kacchan is back, I feel like I can use it once more.”

“This ‘Kacchan’ must be someone special, huh?” The lavender boy looked interested, like a cat eyeing the canary.

Koda snorted softly nearby, remembering what happened last night, and Izuku’s little ruse. When Shinso turned to him, Koda just waved his hands lightly.

“Yeah,” Izuku said. “I’ve known Kacchan all my life. Our families have basically been joined at the hip since my birth.”

“Darkness appears to have lifted from you this day, Midoriya,” a stoic, but cryptic voice said. Tokoyami merely looked at him curiously, like he was trying to figure out why Izuku was happier.

With a big bite of katsudon, Izuku leaned back and thought. He really had felt happier the past few days. It felt like weight was lifted off his shoulders. “Yeah,” he said without thinking. “It really has, hasn’t it?”

Koda looked over at him with a small smile. When they met eyes, the shy boy gave him a thumbs up. Izuku returned it with a smile. He then leaned forward with excitement.

“So do you all want to explain why you picked your hero names?”

 ***

Aizawa sat in his office chair looking at the paper that was just handed to him.

“Manuel: the normal hero” was the only option listed. He looked back up at the door like he could still see Iida there. There was something weird about that. The kid had gotten offers from some big-name heroes, but he chose this little agency for his work study. What was going on in that boy’s mind?

***

The rest of the day passed smoothly. Izuku was able to tune out in most of his classes, as he already knew the material being taught. English was a joke to him. He was already fluent. Part of the reason why was when he was still an All Might fanatic, he learned the language to watch all his interviews in their actual language. That was how they found the interview that changed his and Kacchan’s view on the hero. Also, the Bakugous were fluent in many languages, and he and Kacchan always liked to speak English together or sign language, like their own code.

Present Mic was kind enough to let Izuku’s mind wander. He never called on him or got onto his case. This might have been because he and Mic spoke together in English on the regular when around Aizawa who didn’t know any. It was their own brand of chaos.

Ectoplasm wasn’t so kind for math, but Izuku did well in that class. He was fast at math, so anytime Ectoplasm called him out to ask him to solve a problem, he was able to do it with little problem, and then go back to his thoughts.

Then for heroics, they just had practice and workout time. Izuku wandered over to the weights and started to prep them.

“Hey man!” Kirishima’s voice rang. “Do you need a spotter?”

Izuku looked over at the boy. With a quick, calculating look he determined if Kirishima would actually be a help.

“What’s that look for, dude?” Kirishima’s spiky hair seemed to deflate a bit with his words.

“Oh!” Izuku perked up, immediately waving his hands a bit. “I just… I just lift a lot, and I don’t want to accept help if it could just hurt the person helping.”

Kirishima looked at him a bit. “Well, how much do you lift?”

Izuku thought about it as he tossed one of the rings around in his hand. “I would probably say 255 kg on average. When I want to push myself, I add more.”

The clank of machinery around them seemed loud.

“Heh… what?” Kirishima seemed to be looking at him in a new light.

Izuku tilted his head in question. “I squat 255 kg on average.”

“What?!” a voice yelled out from nearby followed by a yelp of pain as something heavy hit the floor. Kaminari came stumbling around the nearby punching bags with a look of fear (and pain) on his face.

“Kaminari!” Izuku called out when he saw him. “Are you alright?”

Kaminari waved off his concern, but instead just stared at the greenette. Izuku shifted awkwardly. What was wrong?

“I need proof!” the electric blond yelled out, causing more people to look over from their workouts.

“What do you need proof of, Denki?” Ashido asked as she made her way over, curiosity shimmering in her eyes.

With an accusing finger, Kaminari pointed at Izuku, causing him to shift around more and twirl the heavy weight in his hand like it was nothing. “He says he can squat 255 kg!” Well now the entire class's attention was on him.

Yes, Izuku can say that he has gotten a lot more confident over the years. He would stand tall and take anything given him with no problem. People talking bad about him? He would shut them down. He used to be a pushover, a doormat, but he had gained spine and spite over the years. At this moment, though, Izuku shrunk down a bit.

Mainly he was just confused at what was happening. Was it that weird that he could lift weights? He thought he had already proven himself to this class.

“There’s no way he can lift 255 kg!” Someone called out, but Izuku couldn’t tell who. Oh. Wait. Izuku straightened out. Was that a challenge?

“Wanna bet?” He called back, smirk firmly in place.

“What would be the bet?” Oh, the reason why he couldn’t tell who yelled in the first place was because it was invisible girl. Oops. Izuku kinda feels bad now. But! That wouldn’t deter him from proving himself.

“Cleaning chores for a week,” Izuku insisted with his arms crossed. He may purposely be flexing a bit, but hey, they didn’t think he could do it.

“Sounds good to me,” she remarked. “Anyone else want in on the bet?”

A few raised their hands while looking at Izuku. Izuku knew what they saw. He may be tall and fit, but his musculature ran lean in appearance. He had bulked up and broadened up since he was young, but compared to most, he seemed small.

“Do you really think he can do it?” He heard Uraraka ask someone. “He’s strong, but he doesn’t have a strength enhancing quirk or anything.”

Fire and spite filled his veins.

“This is needlessly dangerous!” Square man Iida barked out. From the corner of his eye, he saw the boy waving his arms up and down like a robot. “There is no need for this bet, and it is unbecoming of hero students. Stop now before you hurt yourself.”

Izuku ran on spite like it was coffee, and Iida had just given him his fix. ‘Dangerous?’ ‘Hurt himself?’ What part of ‘he does this on average,’ don’t they understand? He literally does this everytime he does weight training!

Spite wasn’t enough for him to not stretch beforehand though. He might have exaggerated his movements to prove a point, but that is for him and only him to know. After prepping himself, he lined himself up under the bar. Kirishima came next to him to spot. He looked worried. He shouldn’t.

Being the chaos gremlin he really tries to be, Izuku looked Iida dead in the eye as he started his reps. Iida looked shocked. A smirk crossed his face as he continued. His eyes left the tall boy and glanced around at everyone else. Everyone’s faces were in varying degrees of shock and awe.

Well, that was one way to boost Izuku’s confidence. He did a few more before dropping the weights back into place and wiping the sweat away.

A low whistle was heard. “Well, guess I’m doing Mido’s chores for the week,” Hagakure squeaked. A few around her nodded their heads in a daze.

“Dude!” Kirishima’s loud voice cut through. “You have to give me some tips! I want to be able to lift like that!”

Izuku looked over at the redhead in surprise. This was new. A few others gathered, each one a person he would not have expected: Kaminari, Yaomomo, Uraraka, Sero, Shinso, and Hagakure herself.

“Yeah, man!” The electric blond tacked on. “What’s your secret?”

“I too would like to know how to get stronger,” Yaomomo said as well.

Izuku looked around at them with shock. Before their eyes, they watched the intimidating boy start to shine. “You want to learn from me?”

“Of course, Mido!” Hagakure responded. “The things that you can do are incredible and obviously whatever you are doing is working for yourself!” Uraraka nodded sharply next to the floating gym uniform.

“Who better to learn from, then the one who defies all odds,” Sero added on with a noodle like shrug.

“Well!” Izuku started with a smile on his face. “Have any of you ever heard of a beach called Dagobah?”

 ***

Izuku was relating all that had happened that day to Eraser as he sat flopped in his beanbag chair inside his dad’s makeshift office space. The man nodded along as he graded papers from that day. This was their usual arrangement. It was comfortable and familiar.

Something seemed a little weird today, though. Izuku took a minute to stop talking and just look over at his dad. The normal tired look on his face was not there. Instead, it was replaced with confusion and a little worry. Now, normally, if Izuku was on the end of that look, Eraser wouldn’t hold back from trying to get answers from the greenette, so Izuku knew it wasn’t because of him.

Getting up, he wandered over to the pro and flopped against his back.

“What’s wrong, dad?” He asked while trying to peer over the older man’s shoulder.

Eraser didn’t even try to hide what he was looking at. Something was definitely wrong.

“Iida turned in his internship form,” Aizawa said almost like he was thinking out loud.

“Okay..” Izuku wandered back to his beanbag. “That is a little weird, but that’s not enough for you to space out like this.”

Eraser looked up from the paper and Izuku saw that the man looked a little lost. That was changed quickly with a soft glare at the greenette. “I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

Izuku shrugged. “Well, I already saw the paper you were holding. It looks like Iida didn’t write anyone else down for options and the number at the top said that he had a few hundred offers. There were bound to be better ones in that list.”

Aizawa sighed. “I should know better than to leave papers out for you to see.”

Izuku smirked. “Well, normally you are paying better attention. You’re getting old grandpa.”

Eraser immediately threw the stuffed animal cat that he kept on his desk. Izuku merely caught it before it smacked his face. (This was a usual enough occurrence.) Izuku stuck out his tongue in retaliation.

“You’re worried about him,” Izuku stated, turning serious again.

Aizawa sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Of course I am. I am his teacher. I should be leading him to reach his fullest potential, but there is something holding that boy back. Why did he pick Manuel to intern with?”

Izuku let the stats he knew about the Normal hero flit through his mind. Manuel had a water-based quirk. He was a low-level hero, probably found within the low 200s or upper 300s on the charts. He saved tens of people annually, but he was based in a relatively safe city. He was well-liked by the population of Hosu, but outside of that, he was relatively unknown.

Wait.

Hosu.

Different facts started to tumble through the greenette’s mind. Hosu was the site of recent hero attacks. Attacks led by the hero killer Stain. Stain who had recently severely harmed Pro-Hero Ingenium, who was Iida’s older brother. It felt like ice went through Izuku’s veins.

He looked over at Aizawa who had that worried look permanently etched on his face. He wanted to say something, but for as much as he loved messing with his adopted father, he didn’t want to actually worry him more. If what Izuku was thinking was true, there wasn’t much they could do to stop the boy. Iida was hardheaded, and he wouldn’t take kindly to someone trying to stop him or direct him a different way.

So, what could Izuku do?

A thought came to his mind, but he had to double check something before he solidified his plan.

“Hey, it’s getting late, so I think I’m going to head to bed,” Izuku lied, pretty poorly if he was being honest. It was only 10. He normally didn’t fall asleep until at least 1 on the days he didn’t patrol.

“Goodnight,” Aizawa responded. It just went to show how worried and distracted his dad was, that he wasn’t called out for his bad lie.

Izuku lightly tossed the stuffed cat back to Aizawa. It plopped down directly on the pro’s head. “Good night, dad.”

At least, as he left, Izuku heard a small chuckle come from the office. That’s better.

Once he left, Izuku made his way back to his room quickly. He made sure to move silently through the dorms as everyone seemed to either be in their rooms or sitting at the dining table talking and eating. He didn’t want to be stopped or distracted at the moment. He managed to get back to his room without anyone noticing.

There he pulled out his own forms from the day. The thick stack of papers sat heavily in his hand, but Izuku wasn’t overwhelmed anymore. Quickly, he turned to the last page where all the underground heroes were written out. He scanned through each name and where they were based out of. It was a little bit before he found it. There. At the bottom of the list was a more recent underground hero, Nightwalker. They had just debuted a year ago, and their agency wasn’t well off at the moment. Their quirk wasn’t the most helpful for Izuku to learn from since they could travel in the shadows and didn’t fight offensively. They mainly did recon and reported back to the limelight heroes of their city. It was their city that Izuku was interested in, though.

Hosu.

Same city that Iida was going to. Maybe they weren’t friends. Izuku had some problems with the engine legged boy, but Izuku was going to protect him. If Iida did what Izuku thought, then he would need all the protection he could get, so with confidence Izuku wrote down the hero’s name and only their name.

If Aizawa asked why, then Izuku would come up with an excuse then. With that handled, Izuku decided he was too restless to stay inside or try to sleep. Quickly he changed out of his normal clothes of a tank top and shorts, and into his vigilante get up. It was easy, as always, for him to sneak out and get over the fence.

Besides, if Iida found Stain, then Izuku would need to be ready for anything, and what better way to prepare than to fight some villains and save some people?

Chapter Text

It wasn’t long before internships started up.

The week leading up to it was filled with a weird tension surrounding the class. Iida was being more stand-offish and stricter upon all the other students. He was constantly yelling and berating the others for goofing off and such. Everyone else seemed to take it all in stride as they all knew of what had happened to his brother, but it still was grating.

Izuku watched from afar. He had talked to Uraraka about the engine boy, but all she could get out of him was that he was ‘fine.’ Izuku had his doubts.

Aizawa also seemed to be on edge a bit. During class, his eyes often drifted to the tall boy in the back of the classroom. Izuku just watched as each time this happened, worry would cross over his dad’s features.

When Izuku had turned in his form for his internship, Aizawa was confused. He had asked Izuku about it that next night, and for once, Izuku decided the truth would be best… he just might have left out a lot of it… well maybe all of it. But it seemed his “I just want to keep an eye on him” helped Aizawa to feel a little better about sending the other off on his internship.

The few days before they left, Iida mainly kept to himself. While the whole class would be the first to admit that the boy could be annoying, they all were worried. They tried everything to include him, but he would always push them away.

It was almost a relief when the day came for all of them to part ways to their internships. At the station, Aizawa left them with their bags and hero costumes.

“Don’t wear them out unless you have permission from your supervising hero,” he stated glaring at them for emphasis. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the man. Yeah, no. It wasn’t for emphasis. Aizawa had forgotten his eye drops again today. His dad was a mess.

The class was one big mess as everyone said goodbye to each other like they were leaving on a harrowing mission to maybe never return. Izuku rolled his eyes and tried to walk away, but he was caught. Whelp, looks like he was a part of a group hug now. He resigned himself to it. From outside his prison, he saw Aizawa laughing at him. Izuku narrowed his eyes, but Aizawa only waved and walked away. Just for that, Izuku wasn’t going to give him the backup eye drops he keeps on hand, the traitor.

Eventually people started to release from the group as trains got ready to depart. They broke off into small groups of who was going where. As Izuku turned to leave, someone grabbed his wrist. Turning, he saw Uraraka looking behind him at the retreating back of Iida. Worried brown eyes met his. “Please look after him, okay?” She asked.

Izuku smiled reassuringly. “Of course, that’s what heroes do, right?”

She seemed to study him for a moment before nodding resolutely. She released Izuku’s arm and turned to go, but not before looking one last time after the engine legged boy.

Izuku, himself, turned around and jogged to catch up to the other.

“Hey, Iida!” He called. The other boy simply looked over his shoulder, his eyes firm, before looking back front.

“What are you doing, Midoriya?” He asked, his voice was grating like he didn’t want to talk.

Izuku shrugged. “I’m headed to Hosu as well,” he looked at the boy out of the corner of his eye. Iida showed no expression. “I’m interning with a newer underground hero. Hoping to learn more about stealth and such.”

Iida remained quiet. Izuku walked alongside him awkwardly. Looks like it will be a quiet journey.

That’s exactly what it was. The whole train ride they sat side by side, but the tall boy never spoke. Izuku really didn’t want to push him to speak either. That never worked out well, so instead he just remained a steady presence near him. Scenery passed by quickly outside, and soon enough the train arrived at their stop.

Stepping out on the platform, Izuku immediately spotted Manuel who was waiting for Iida. The hero waved over to them both.

“You must be Iida Tenya and Midoriya Izuku!” Izuku looked at the hero in question. Why was he calling out to him?

“I am Iida Tenya!” The engine boy said in that loud, square voice of his.

“Izuku,” the greenette said with a small wave.

“Good to meet you both!” Manuel said with a large smile on his face. “I am excited to be working along with Iida during your internship.” Then the hero turned to Izuku. “And I was also asked to lead you to Nightwalker’s place. Due to a late patrol last night, they needed to rest and couldn’t be here themselves. They’ll pick you up from our agency before this evening’s work.”

Made sense. Late patrols each night would catch up to someone easily. It would probably catch up to Izuku more if he ever actually slept. Heh. He should probably look into it, but Aizawa was the same way. They’ll be fine.

Beside him, Iida seemed to tense up a bit at the news. Looks like they were stuck together for a little longer. In the car ride to Manuel’s agency, he kept up a steady stream of explanations of what was going to happen.

“When we arrive back, Iida, you can go ahead and change into your hero costume. We’ll go out for a patrol as soon as possible. Midoriya, you can either stay at the agency and learn more about the workings there, take a nap, or you can also suit up and come on a daytime patrol along with us.”

Izuku eyed Iida out of the corner of his eye. The boy’s blue eyes were steely. That anger and drive still shone brightly.

“I’ll think I’ll come along for a bit,” he said hesitantly before looking back at Manuel. “I’d rather be out and about, need to move, you know?”

Manuel just chuckled and nodded in response.

It wasn’t long before they had arrived at the agency, dropped their things off, and were out on the roads beginning their first patrol of their internship.

“I have to admit,” Manuel said sheepishly. “I put an offer to have you intern at my agency, but I never expected someone from the Iida family to actually accept my offer.”

Iida seemed to be distracted looking around, but at Manuel’s words he focused back in.

“There is much to learn no matter where I go,” Iida responded diplomatically. Izuku remained silent, keeping watch on those around him and on Iida. The longer he was in Hosu, the more nervous he got.

The patrol, itself, turned out to be uneventful. And while nothing happening was good news, it just put Izuku more on edge. They returned for dinner, and for Manuel to show them paperwork. In the middle of talking about destruction of property, Nightwalker came in. More like appeared in the room.

Manuel jumped at the sudden appearance. Izuku just looked on in curiosity. How interesting! Their quirk really was incredible! They were completely silent, and they really could appear randomly, like teleporting if one didn’t know their quirk.

Their aesthetic was also up Izuku’s wheelhouse. They wore all black, their costume being a little baggy. It reminded him of a rogue costume from a fantasy story. They had multiple belts strapped around their waist, each having various pouches hanging from it, their boots came up to their knees and had buckles all down the side, a dark cloak hung over their figure and covered their head. Wow! Izuku was excited.

“Hey Manuel!” Their voice… did not match their aesthetic. It was high-pitched and bright. Izuku… loved it! “Sorry for scaring you.”

Manuel narrowed his eyes at the other hero. “You know, I would believe that if you didn’t do it every time you come to my agency.”

The underground hero’s laugh was bright and infectious. Izuku found himself laughing along. Another chaotic individual. Delightful.

It was after calming down that the figure pulled back their hood and turned to Izuku. Their hair was shaved close in a buzzcut and was bright white in contrast to their solid black eyes. Their facial structure was sharp and their ears pointed and littered with piercings. “You must be Midoriya Izuku,” they said bowing slightly. “I am Nightwalker. It is a pleasure to be working with a hero-in-training such as yourself.”

Izuku smiled brightly, some of the tension finally released from his shoulders. “Pleasure is all mine, Nightwalker! I am Midoriya Izuku, hero name Deku! Thank you for offering for me!”

“Deku?” Izuku heard Manuel say quietly nearby. Nightwalker didn’t seem fazed at his hero name. Instead, their smile widened.

“I know that you came back from patrol with Manuel, but how would you feel accompanying me for mine this evening?”

Izuku jumped up excitedly. “Please! Lead the way!”

Nightwalker chuckled and waved at Manuel and Iida on their way out.

“Glad to see that you are so excited,” they quipped.

“I can never sit around for too long. Paperwork was killing me,” Izuku dragged out and he playfully sunk down while walking.

“Paperwork does suck,” Nightwalker chuckled. “But it is a necessary part of hero work.”

Izuku groaned. Kill him now, why couldn’t he just stay a vigilante and not have to do any paperwork? Why had he chosen this life?

“It’s not that bad,” Nightwalker smacked his arm as they walked. “While we patrol, let me tell you about the basics of underground hero work. It tends to be a little different than it is for limelight heroes.”

Izuku straightened up immediately. He had never really considered that there was a big difference. Why had he never talked to Eraser about this?

“While we underground heroes also patrol and are called in for villain attacks, we also focus a lot on cases given to us by the police and law enforcement,” Nightwalker started. “My agency mainly works in intelligence gathering and less in fighting. We typically have at least three cases on going at a time. My agency is small, but we handle it.”

Izuku’s attention was rapt. He had never considered that heroes would be given cases. Why had he never thought of this?

“Tonight, we will just patrol, make sure that the streets are safe, especially with the hero killer on the loose,” tension returned to Izuku’s shoulders, that’s right. That’s why he was here in the first place. “We’ll get you working with us on cases, maybe at the end of your time with us. For now we want to make sure that civilians are safe.”

As they were talking, the sun started to sink in the sky. The form of Nightwalker beside him flickered in and out of the shadows making them seem incorporeal. Izuku had so many questions!

“So…” he started to say before he was interrupted by a nearby scream.

“Give that back!” a female voice cried. Izuku was suddenly hit in the side by someone running past. A burly man was barreling down the sidewalk. The woman who screamed stumbled past them. Nightwalker immediately reached out for her so she wouldn’t fall.

“What happened, ma’am?” they asked with a firm voice.

“That man… he stole my purse! I have everything in there! Please help!”

Before the woman was even down speaking, Izuku took off. Nightwalker could help calm her down. He had a thief to catch.

It was easy to spot the man as he was running. He stood tall over everyone else. It appeared that his limbs were stretchy because as Izuku ran after him, he saw the man’s arm doubled in length to grab a pole near a corner and pull himself into the alley.

That worked for Izuku. Less people around meant less that he had to worry about hurting people. He charged around the corner and immediately ducked, sliding along the ground. The man’s arm shot above where he had fallen aiming for where his head was previously. With the momentum Izuku had, it took only a second to crash into the man’s legs, making him fall above him. The man flailed trying to shake Izuku off, but with a firm grip he grabbed the man’s shoulders and flipped them around. The man was pinned in seconds. Using the wire he specifically asked for in his costume, he tied the man’s hands and feet. It was then that Nightwalker popped up beside him.

“That was impressive, Deku,” Nightwalker’s voice was filled with awe. Izuku sat up quickly while still keeping a hand on the criminal’s arm.

“Oh…” he chuckled awkwardly. “Thanks.”

“Police will be here soon,” Nightwalker explained while checking Izuku’s method of tying the man up. With a nod, they continued. “I left the victim with one of my sidekicks, they have the quirk to appear where their name is written.” Nightwalker flashed a few papers to Izuku. “Always keep a few on me, just in case.” They winked. “I always find it helpful to keep a notebook on me to record what happens during a patrol, that way when we do a write up at the end of any incidents, it’s not hard to remember what happened.”

With a gleam in his eye, Izuku whipped out one of the many notebooks he had on him. “Like so?”

Nightwalker’s own eyes gleamed. “Oh, I’m really glad you came to my agency.”

The rest of the night proceeded as such. There were a few petty thieves and a few moments of assault that they were able to handle. Izuku and Nightwalker fell into a pattern of trading off who stayed with the victim while the other handled the situation. There were a few times they had to work together, but overall, it was an easy night.

At 4 AM, they made their way back to Nightwalker’s agency, which was located at the end of a small alley off of mainstreet. The building was two stories and small. The main floor had the lobby and desks for Nightwalker and their 3 sidekicks. Then the upper floor was the rooms and bathrooms.

“We need to write up all that happened during our patrol, then when we are done. Eat a snack and go to sleep. We don’t get up until the afternoon when we’ll meet with the local police to discuss our ongoing cases.”

“Roger,” Izuku said with a lazy salute. He felt fulfilled. It was nice getting to work alongside someone at night. He could and had always worked alone, but the pressure he normally felt wasn’t there. He had someone watching his back. What a novel sensation.

It wasn’t too much longer before Izuku was prepping for bed. The agency had enough rooms for each person to have their own, which Izuku was never going to complain about. He was fine working alongside everyone, but sleeping in the same room? That was a no go. When he was settling in, he finally checked his phone for the first time.

Kacchan!: Hey idiot. How’s the internship going?

Guess it’s going well if you don’t even take the time to answer, jerk.

Well, good night or whatever.

Izuku snorted at the messages he saw. Good to know that Kacchan was worried about him. He sent out a quirk

Izuku: Amazing! Good night!

Before laying back in bed and falling asleep pretty fast. It really had been an amazing day.

 ***

For once in his life, Izuku felt refreshed when his alarm went off. Checking the time, he saw that it was 1 o’clock in the afternoon. That would do it… yeah. It didn’t take him long to get ready for the day, and when he walked out of his room, it was to see the sidekicks milling around the area.

“Good morning, Deku!” Nightwalker popped up behind him. Izuku startled but did his best not to show it. It appeared that his efforts were a failure if their laugh was anything to go by.

“Kitchen is at the end of the hall, so feel free to get breakfast or lunch, whatever you would like to call it, we are leaving in an hour to meet with the local police.”

Izuku nodded in response and ambled his way over to where all the sidekicks were going. He blessed all things holy when he saw the giant coffee maker sitting on the counter. He did not hesitate to pour himself a big glass and grab a bagel that was nearby.

There was only one table in the same dining area. This meant he had to sit with people. This was the worst! But taking a big breath and firmly fixing his stoic resting face, he sat down next to one of the sidekicks. It was someone who looked to be just older Izuku, probably graduated last year or sometime. His silver hair was pulled back into a ponytail that trailed down to his waist. His costume was a simple high turtleneck black shirt under what appeared to be machinery coveralls. The pockets were stuffed and there were multiple belts around his waist. Looking at him, Izuku had a hard time trying to deduce the man’s quirk.

“Hey, name’s Jack.” Oh, it appeared he noticed Izuku eyeing him.

Izuku tilted his head in question. “Jack?”

The man nodded, hair swinging with the movement. “Yep, that’s my hero name, kinda like a Jack of All Trades.”

Izuku took a bite of his bagel before asking, “Why that name?”

The other shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “Well that’s kinda my quirk, I guess. I’m literally a Jack of All Trades but a master at none. Anything I try to do, I’ll do well enough to get by on, but I’ll never be amazing at it. It was always kinda annoying, but hey, Nightwalker was the one who helped me figure out how I could use it for good…” The other man trailed off for some reason.

Izuku’s head popped up from the notebook he was furiously scribbling in with confusion written on his face. A quick glance around the room showed that there was nothing unusual going on that would make the other stop talking. Eventually he turned his attention back to Jack to see the boy was looking down at his notebook with amusement.

“Do… Do you always have that notebook on you?” Jack asked.

Izuku hummed as he finished the thought he was in the middle of. “Oh, yeah,” he responded. “I like to write down other’s quirks and what they can do, the application of it, and how they could better be using it.” Izuku turned to the boy with excitement. “But how does your quirk function in hero work? What do you do?”

Jack looked surprised, but he still answered. “Well, I use it to be able to do basic sleuthing that we need, like I can pick locks, applying my quirk can enhance my senses slightly in any situation that I’d need it, disguising myself seems to also apply to what my quirk can do (or at least it makes me believable to others, etc. Stuff like that. None of it is full proof, but I am better than the average person.”

Izuku was fascinated. His mind flew with all the various applications that Jack’s quirk could have. His hand was moving so fast, it was starting to cramp up, but he couldn’t stop. Too many thoughts. Izuku could see how it would help in underground hero work. Just the slightest edge for reconnaissance could make a huge difference in the outcome of a case.

As he was finishing up his thoughts, he tuned back into the conversation around him. Seemed like the others were now just discussing what needed to be done that day, and who was on what job. It seemed like everyone got along well. The atmosphere was inviting, and though it was his first day, it felt like he fit.

“Deku,” Nightwalker called as they walked into the kitchen cradling their own mug of coffee. “We need to be leaving in about five minutes.”

Izuku popped up and bowed to everyone at the table before running to his room for the last of his things. Five minutes later he and Nightwalker were headed out the door and made their way down the street.

“How are you liking your time here?” they asked.

Izuku smiled slightly. “I really like your agency. It feels more like a home than a workplace, and it has already been beneficial working alongside you.”

Nightwalker smiled back at him, their teeth perfectly white and straight. “Glad to hear that, I have been working to make sure everyone who joins is comfortable. I don’t want anyone to dread the work that they do, and it makes me feel better to know that it is working out.”

Before Izuku could say anything more, they were already walking into a police station. Time for business. In the meeting, Izuku just observed everything that was going on. He met the chief of police Tsuragamae, who had the head of a dog! Izuku really wanted more information on what his quirk was, but now wasn’t the time. Instead, he listened as Nightwalker explained what they had found out and been able to do regarding the three cases that the police had given their agency. After that briefing, Tsuragamae gave them the low down on another recent case that the police needed help with.

It was easy to see for Izuku that the two had high trust in each other. The relationship between them was easy, which could not be said the same for a lot of heroes with the police. These two, though, respected each other and the work that the other does. Surreptitiously, Izuku took notes on things he noticed throughout the meeting.

After that, they headed back to the agency to give a briefing to all the sidekicks. The whole process that they went through was fascinating to Izuku. He had never gotten to be a part of or listen in on something like this. There was easy trust and respect between everyone. As they fell into planning what needed to be done and what to do further on some cases, everyone was heard and contributed. He might have picked this agency solely because it was in Hosu, but sitting there, he knew he had made the right choice.

It wasn’t until that night that Izuku got the sudden reminder why he was in Hosu.

 ***

It started as a normal patrol. He and Nightwalker walked the city and stopped petty crimes. Nothing too major. Then there was a crash nearby followed by screaming that filled the air.

Villain attack, main street several already wounded, they’re requesting extra back up Telegraph’s (one of the other sidekicks) voice came over their ear pieces. Nightwalker glanced at Izuku quickly as if questioning their course of action.

“Go,” Izuku firmly stated as they started running. “If you can get there faster via your quirk and help more people, do it. I’ll be right behind!”

Nightwalker nodded and then blinked out of existence. It wasn’t too far away. Izuku would have gotten there fast if he hadn’t suddenly run past a hero that was calling out for someone.

“Tenya!” The voice was frantic. “Where did that boy go? Tenya!”

Izuku’s steps faltered, and reality seemed to crash back into him. Oh. He was in Hosu because of Iida. He looked at the man calling out carefully and yes, that was Manuel: the normal hero. Iida was missing. There was a big attack drawing attention to it. The hero killer worked in these conditions. He hid in alleys. It was common knowledge.

“Sorry, Nightwalker,” Izuku said quietly as he started to scale the buildings nearby, roofs were where he was most comfortable. “I trust that you all can handle this.”

Izuku leaped from rooftop to rooftop carefully peering over into every alleyway that he crossed. It was likely that the alley would be far enough away from the commotion that he wouldn’t be spotted, but not too far from where Manuel was standing.

It only took a few minutes to find them. What he saw made his blood run cold. From his quick assessment, he saw one pro-hero down, propped up against the alley wall, unmoving. In the center of the alley lay Iida with the Hero Killer posed above him with a katana held above the boy’s neck.

There was no hesitation. There was no questioning what to do. Izuku had to act now and so he did. After sending a quick location pin to his contacts, he threw himself down into the alley in a barely controlled fall and as he rolled along the ground, he used that momentum to lash out at the katana that was rapidly heading for his classmate. The katana went flying, clattering against the wall as the villain jumped back quickly, a look of surprise and what seemed to be delight on his grotesque face.

“Midoriya?” Iida’s voice cracked with the question.

“I came to save you, Iida,” Izuku declared while standing ready above the boy on the ground, staring down the villain across the way. From where he stood, he could better assess the situation. Iida was down with blood pouring out of a shoulder wound. The pro hero down was Native and seemed to have a wound on their abdomen. Neither was moving at the moment, but both seemed conscious.

Stain, himself, was blood curdling. Knives seemed to protrude off of every surface of the villain, on his belts, his back, his arms, his legs.

“Midoriya… why are you here!” Iida suddenly yelled out.

“I was in Hosu because I was afraid that you would do this.” Izuku said, never taking his eyes off of Stain who seemed to also be breaking down the situation. “It wasn’t hard to find you…”

“This isn’t your fight!” Iida yelled, interrupting Izuku. “You have nothing to do with this, so go away!”

In the blink of an eye, Stain was on them. Izuku barely saw the dagger in the villain’s hand headed for his neck, when he dodged and got in a hard kick to the man’s side. It didn’t seem to do much, but it at least made him pause.

“Having a ‘friend’ come and save you,” the villain snarled. “However, I have a duty to kill these men, and if you butt in, then of course, it is the weak that shall be culled. ”

Despite the number of villain fights Izuku had been in up to this point, a shiver went down his spine. There was an air around this man that hadn’t existed in those who he had fought in the past. He had caught petty thieves, assaulters, villains causing mayhem, and villains attacking for revenge, but this man, Stain, was only out to kill those he thought unworthy.

“Stop!” Iida screamed. “This doesn’t concern you! You are not even my friend! Leave!”

Izuku grounded his stance more firmly. “It doesn’t matter who you are!” He yelled back. “Everyone deserves to be saved: civilians, fellow heroes, criminals, and villains alike. I am here because you need help. Butting one’s nose in where it wasn’t asked for is one of the principal qualities of a hero!”

Stain’s face lit up like a kid at Christmas and the shivers never stopped coursing down his spine, but he wasn’t there to stand back and do nothing.

As Stain pulled out another katana from his back, Izuku charged. Keeping himself low and closing the distance between the two fast. As Stain swung the blade, Izuku ducked and slid under the man’s legs, grabbing an ankle and yanking as he went past. The villain stumbled and in that moment, Izuku popped up and aimed from the man’s neck trying to hit the pressure point there.

Stain was too fast, though, and swung around with a dagger in his other hand. Izuku jumped back barely avoiding the knife that caught his clothing slightly.

“Stop it! Stop!” Iida sounded like he was pleading.

“If you want me to stop, then stand up and fight!” Izuku called as he avoided a knife that was thrown at him. With the darkness of the alley and his one blind eye, all Izuku could do in the moment was dodge.

“I can’t!” Iida cried. Izuku looked at him quickly to see that Iida was still in the same position as when he first arrived. The same distraction led to him ducking a little too slow and he felt the knife swish through his hair right above his left eye. “Ever since he stabbed me, I can’t move my body. I think it has something to do with his quirk!”

It was a good thing Izuku was good at multitasking because his body went into autopilot simply trying to keep the villain away from the other two as he threw more of his knives while his brain tried to break down the quirk of the man in front of him.

Suddenly, Izuku’s own body collapsed on him. Was being cut the thing that caused his quirk to activate? But Izuku wasn’t cut, was he? His question was answered almost immediately as blood dripped down his forehead. The villain in front of him was licking the knife that he had picked up. From where it had been laying it must have been the knife that had run through his hair. Turned out that he got a little closer than Izuku had realized.

Wait. The licking. Did he have to ingest the blood to activate his quirk?

“Your power doesn’t cut it, but you have surprised me with your movements, you almost brought me down with that hit to my neck,” Stain drawled as he started to walk towards Iida. “Folks who are all talk are a dime a dozen, but with you, there is worth in keeping you alive…” Izuku watched in horror as Stain moved towards Iida and Native. “As for those two, not so much.”

“Stop!” Izuku yelled, his voice tearing out of his throat as he watched the villain once more lift up his katana above the boy, prepared to bring it down on his neck.

Fire roared through the alley suddenly in a flux of light catching Stain in the blast. In shock, both Izuku and Iida looked at the newcomer to the fight.

“Midoriya,” a stoic voice stated calmly. “For things like this, you really need to give me more information.” The boy appeared to pocket his phone. Truth be told, Izuku had already forgotten that he sent out his location… and that he even had Todoroki’s number, but he would take the blessing that was handed to him.  “Now I’m late.”

“It’s one after the other today, huh,” Stain muttered.

“Todoroki…” Iida gasped. “Why are you here?”

“’Why?’ That’s my line,” Todoroki responded while glaring at the villain who had stumbled back a bit due to the blast. “It took me a few seconds to think over what that message meant. All you did was mass-send your location, but I thought, you, Midoriya, aren’t one to thoughtlessly send something like that.” Todoroki slammed his right foot down onto the ground and a wave of ice crashed out. “You meant ‘call for backup, I’m in a pinch!’” The ground beneath Izuku tilted as the ice reached him and quickly sent him sliding towards the two-toned boy. “Don’t worry, in a minute or two, even the pros will hit the scene.”

The second the way was cleared in front of Todoroki, he let out a huge blast of flame.

“His fire…” Iida sounded in shock. At the sight, Izuku let a feral smirk cross his face. Seems like the boy had finally listened to him.

The flames melted the ice he had created and pushed Stain back a few more steps, but the villain was quickly coming back, sliding a new knife from a holster on his arm.

“Todoroki!” Izuku shouted out suddenly, realizing the danger presented. “Don’t let the Hero Killer get any of your blood! He can paralyze you when he ingests it!”

Todoroki’s nose wrinkled. “Well, that explains the knives. Don’t worry, Midoriya, I won’t let him get close…” His voice faltered as the knife Stain had thrown nicked his cheek.

“Those are some nice friends, you got, Ingenium,” Stain drawled as he darted forward. He was on Todoroki in an instant tongue out stretched to try and use his quirk. Todoroki’s quick burst of flames on that same side was the only thing that saved him.

“Why…” Iida sounded defeated. “I inherited my brother’s name. I’m the one… that’s the man… I have to…”

“That’s funny,” Todoroki remarked as he shot out another burst of ice.

“I’ve never seen Pro-Hero Ingenium make that face.”

Izuku struggled where he lay. He needed to move. He needed to move. He needed to move! Then there was a twitch.

From above Stain’s voice rang out, “blocking the view of your foe who is faster than you. How inane.”

As Todoroki prepared to fight back, two knives embedded themselves into his arm. He stepped back looking up at a figure like an angel of death descended with a katana poised to kill.

“You’re good too…” His voice was cut off as a knife was embedded into the Hero Killer’s own arm, making him release the katana. When the man hit the ground, Izuku was on him, his baton out and slamming into the man’s stomach. Stain grunted with the impact but used his uninjured hand to wrap around Izuku’s arm and send him flying, slamming into the wall once more.

A knife flew at his face, but Izuku dodged calculating the information in his head, as he moved to hit the man again. It became a game almost as Izuku charged and Todoroki did what he could with his quirk. Eventually they fell back, Izuku coming to stand beside Todoroki as they stared down the Hero Killer.

“He’s too fast. We can’t leave the fight, but it’s taking everything between us to fight him off,” Todoroki panted.

“We don’t need to win,” Izuku’s voice was flat. “We just need to protect them until the heroes arrive.”

“So you believe it’s two against one,” Stain’s voice was like ice. “How naïve.”

It was then that through the flames, a knife appeared. Faster than one could dodge based on where it came from. Aimed straight for Izuku’s face. Iida and Todoroki’s screams pierced the air in panic.

Izuku had some skills he had learned throughout his life. Some were ones he actively cultivated and some were ones he learned though pure self-preservation. Due to the way he was mistreated during the past few years and his work as a vigilante, he had to learn fast or die.

One of those skills was knife throwing. This he chose to learn. It was beneficial, and as a quirkless hero it would help if such a skill was required. Another such skill was knife catching. In Izuku’s short life, he had met a wide range of people, one of them being a young blond girl with an obsession with knives. Having saved her from her abusive family, she gave him lessons in throwing and catching knives. He learned how to calculate the angle and trajectory of a flying projectile in order to catch it. When he lost the use of his right eye, it took a lot more work as his depth perception was skewed and doing so in the dark was almost impossible.

In that moment, though, flames roared through the alleyway, and Izuku had a big enough sample size.

As the knife hurtled to his face, Izuku didn’t move. Right before it hit, his hand flew upwards and grabbed the handle. Without thinking, he immediately flung it back at the hero killer, embedding this knife right beside the first he threw.

Todoroki and Iida sat in shock as Izuku ran forward, baton held at the ready. It clashed with the hero killer’s katana that he had retrieved from the ground. The metal rang out loudly. The hero killer lunged forward with a dagger, scraping it across Izuku’s abdomen. Before he could bring it to his mouth, though, Izuku kicked it out of his hand. It was a flurry of movement.

“Please stop… I… I won’t…” Iida cried.

“If you want us to stop, then stand up!” Izuku heard Todoroki scream during the fight. “Set your eyes on the hero you want to be!”

Izuku was too distracted by the argument taking place. He got sloppy and once more the hero killer was able to get too close. All it took was that moment, and Izuku was once more out of commission. The blood licked from his forehead, and he hit the pavement. It was frustrating. He was sloppy. There was too much going on and too much at stake. At this point, he couldn’t even see what was happening. All he could do was hear.

Todoroki screaming at Iida. The Hero Killer taunting. Engines revving. Wait.

Iida was screaming and the sound of his quirk moving at speed. Iida was free! The sound of skin smacking into skin was hard, and a body was sent flying crashing near Izuku, but still he couldn’t see!

“This isn’t your fight,” Iida spoke clearly, continuing immediately while interrupting Todoroki. “This is my fault. I apologize, and that’s why… I cannot let you two spill anymore blood. I will be the hero my brother was, the one he expects me to be… I will be the one who saves those around me, so I will fight.”

Izuku could hear the hero killer taunting more, but he wasn’t focused. Izuku was trying everything he could to make his body move. Waiting for that one moment when he would finally be able to join the fight again. Screaming and engines revving and flames bursting. There was so much. He heard Iida grunt in pain as Todoroki cried out.

There. He twitched. Round two filled his head as he shakily got to his feet. His eyes instantly traced to where the Hero Killer was bearing down on the others. The only thought going through his mind as he charged was I have to save them.

He reached the villain quickly and while the man was distracted, Izuku reared back and brought his elbow down hard on the base of the villain’s neck as a flash of blue lit in front of the villain. It wasn’t until the villain was down and Izuku had collapsed that he realized the blue was Iida himself, having kicked the villain from the front. At the sign that the Hero Killer wasn’t moving, Izuku fell back onto the concrete.

“We need to tie him up,” Todoroki said after a moment.

“There must be some rope around here somewhere,” Iida murmured. Izuku just lifted his hand into the air above his head holding up the wire that he kept on him.

“Oh,” he heard Iida say softly. “Thank you.” Izuku waved his hand in response. Right as they finished tying up the villain, Nightwalker appeared in the alley.

Todoroki and Iida instantly went on guard.

“Deku, what have you been doing?” Their voice was stressed. Izuku looked over at them. With a tired smile he responded.

“They needed my help,” then once more in his life, the adrenaline seeped from his body now that the fight was done and blackness washed over him.

Chapter Text

Aizawa was going to have a heart attack. Why did he ever think that it would be a good idea to adopt the rogue vigilante child that he had run into? The kid was a demon! He was going to be the death of him!

It had been a rather uneventful patrol when he got the message that popped onto his phone. It was quiet, so Aizawa checked what it was just in case. The second he saw the location pin and nothing else from Izuku, he knew what had happened.

Ice flooded his system and he stopped breathing.

Eraserhead , the comms sounded loud, Status update.

Aizawa shook himself roughly. He needed to go.

“Emergency in Hosu, I have to leave immediately!”

But, wait, what about the rest of your patrol!

“Screw the patrol, send another hero here if needed, I need to go,” Aizawa growled into his comms as he flung himself over the rooftops and alleyways.

His phone rang when he was halfway home. He didn’t even look at the caller ID when he answered.

“Kid.”

“Not him, Shouta,” the familiar voice sounded tired and scared. “But I assume that you are going.”

Aizawa laughed dryly as he ran. “Of course, Hizashi.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” the normally loud and chaotic blond sounded nothing like himself in that moment. His voice was hard and unyielding. “My place is closer and I’m already in the car.”

Aizawa started crying, tears streaming behind him as he just ran faster. Hizashi’s apartment was about two blocks from where he was now. He dropped down quietly beside the idling car and threw himself in, Hizashi already peeling out of the parking lot the second the door was shut. It was a quiet and tense drive, neither of them feeling like they could talk.

It was as they were entering Hosu that Aizawa got another call.

“Moshi moshi,” he said quickly.

“This is Hosu General Hospital. Is this Aizawa Shouta?” A calm voice said through the phone.

“This is he.” Aizawa was tense, worried about what this meant.

“We have a Midoriya Izuku. It showed on his paper’s that you are his emergency contact,” they said. “You are needed at the hospital.”

“We’ll be there in five minutes,” Aizawa ground out while hanging up. Turning to Yamada, he explained, “Hosu General, now!”

Hizashi wasn’t even phased. He simply adjusted where he was headed. He let Aizawa out at the doors as he went to find a parking space. Flying into the hospital, he ran up to the front desk.

“Midoriya Izuku,” he demanded.

“The nurse looked up at him and simply asked for his proof of ID and who he was to the patient.

“I’m his father!” He yelled, throwing his hero license at the desk. When the receptionist saw it, her face paled dramatically. “Right this way sir.”

Aizawa stalked down the hallway after her. It felt like ages before he was shown into a spacious room that had four beds, three of which were occupied. To be honest, he didn’t even look at who else was there, he was too focused on his son. The greenette looked pale and had a bandage wrapped around his head holding back his unruly curls.

“Izuku,” he choked out, tears filling his eyes once more. He stumbled to the seat beside the boy and grasped his hand desperately.

“What happened,” he asked, turning towards the nurse that had just walked in.

“We don’t know the story other than a villain attack, the other two could say more,” the nurse gestured at the other occupants, but that was not what he was talking about at the moment.

“I mean, what are his injuries, is my son going to be okay?” Aizawa growled.

Realization passed over the nurse’s face. Must be new. “He had a deep cut on his head alongside his left temple. A gash was also cut across his chest. The doctors have stitched up both wounds. Other than that, he was fine. He is just asleep for now, probably from the relief of the fight being over.”

Aizawa didn’t even notice when the nurse left, he was too busy staring down the greenette, watching his chest rise and fall proving that the boy was alive.

That moment was interrupted by a choked voice from across the room. “Aizawa-sensei?”

He raised his eyes and black met heterochromatic before darting over to blue. That’s right, the nurse mentioned others. He opened his mouth to… he didn’t know. Explain? Question? Demand? Before words came out, though, he was, again, interrupted. This time by a loud blond presence.

“Where’s your boy?” Hizashi yelled. “Is he okay?”

The blond ran to Aizawa’s side and put his hand lightly on top of the scruffy man’s shoulder. Iida and Todoroki were once more ignored.

“He’s okay, ‘Zashi,” Aizawa sounded tired. “He has some cuts that were stitched up, but nothing too major. Gonna have a few more scars in his collection, though.”

Hizashi collapsed in relief onto the arm of the chair Aizawa was sitting in, his arm going around the other man’s shoulders, while his other hand lay on top of Izuku’s.

“Present Mic-sensei?”

Oh. That’s right. They weren’t alone. Hizashi’s head popped up.

“Oh! Hey little listeners,” he called out. “What are you two doing here?”

The two boys looked at each other in confusion. Then turned back to the shocking trio in front of them.

“We… we were with Izuku,” Iida started, “during the fight.”

Aizawa went to open his mouth to ask what had happened but was interrupted.

“Are you three a family?” The Todoroki boy asked, intrigue written across his face. Hizashi sputtered above him, but Aizawa just looked at the two boys. Didn’t really have any other explanation, so he nodded.

“Izuku is my son,” he said. “Adopted him a few months back.” The two boys looked more shocked than before, their eyes darting from the greenette to Aizawa and back. “Didn’t say anything because Izuku didn’t want others to think I was playing favorites,” Aizawa scoffed. “As if,” he muttered under his breath.

The room was quiet as the boys took it in. Aizawa just sat there and looked over his son, breathing in relief that he was okay. After a few moments, he looked up again, fire in his eyes.

“Now, boys,” his voice was steel, causing the other two to sit up in alarm. “Would you care to explain why you three are here, and just what happened to my son? ”

The two heroes-in-training sunk back in fear, looking significantly cowed. Aizawa watched as Iida visibly gulped before hesitantly starting to explain with Todoroki butting in every so often to add details. As the story went on, Aizawa’s face paled in fear; his hand squeezing the greenette’s tighter and tighter.

How does Izuku always end up in these kinds of messes?

 ***

When Izuku finally came to, the room was lit with the midday sun. The brightness hurt his eyes even though they were still closed. He heard voices softly speaking from beside him. He went to move but groaned when it caused his abdomen to scream in pain. Bad decision.

“Problem child?” He heard his dad call along with the sensation of someone grabbing his hand. His face scrunched up as he worked to open his eye lids that felt so heavy, but eventually he got there. Looking around, he was confused for a few moments before last night came rushing back to him. He bolted up… or at least tried to, but with the pain he instantly crashed back down.

“Stain?” he yelped as Aizawa and Hizashi, when did they get there, both pushed on his shoulders to keep him from trying to sit up again.

“He has been taken to Tartarus, kid. You caught him. Don’t worry about it.”

Izuku sighed in relief, taking a moment to calm his heart. He glanced over at the other two occupants in the room who were looking over at the ragtag family of Izuku’s in confusion and relief.

“Hey, guys,” he gave them a half-hearted wave. Iida’s face went red from being caught, but Todoroki just waved back looking unphased.

“How are you feeling Midoriya?” the boy asked.

Izuku took stock of his body, seeing how he was actually feeling. Hmm.. he’s had worse.

“Not too bad,” he decided to say. “Abs hurt, but other than that, nothing else does. What about you too?”

Todoroki looked contemplative. “I got out with only the two wounds on my left arm and a scrape on my cheek. They were able to take care of both with no problem. My arm will scar, but I will be okay.”

Both Todoroki and Izuku turned to look at Iida. Iida looked shocked at the attention but was able to pull himself together quickly. “I have the stab wound on my shoulder and forearm. The doctor’s said that there was nerve damage and that I will have lasting repercussions. They could do surgery to fix it, but I decided to leave it. I want a reminder of last night, so that I will never repeat that.”

Todoroki looked like he wanted to argue, and Eraser looked like he understood. Izuku looked at the engine-legged boy, the other seeming to squirm a bit at the attention. After staring him down a while longer, Izuku merely nodded. He found what he was looking for. The anger, the fire, the resentment was no longer in the boy’s eyes. There was determination still, yes, but he could tell that the boy had changed.

The room was silent after that. The tension was palpable. It didn’t last long, though, before the door was opened and in walked a different ragtag group of people. Izuku once more tried to sit up but was stopped by his dad’s arm across his shoulders.

“Chief Tsuragamae, Nightwalker, Manuel,” he still acknowledged and bowed his head as much as he could. The other occupants of the room sat up straighter as the chief nodded back.

“Good to see that you are awake, Deku,” the chief said before turning to the room at large. “Now that he is awake, we have something to discuss.”

Izuku tensed up at the tone the chief was using. This wasn’t going to be good.

“There are laws in place in society for a reason. These laws are to protect the people from others and from themselves. Heroes who have received their licenses can use their quirks in order to protect the country at large,” the chief explained swiftly. “Working without a license is illegal. It is an act of vigilantism that is not allowed.” Izuku made eye contact with his dad briefly. “Quirk use without a guardian or license cannot be ignored.”

Around the room, shoulders were tensing. “Even against one such as the hero killer.”

“What are you trying to say,” Todoroki suddenly growled. “Are you saying that we should have done nothing? If Midoriya hadn’t arrived and done something then Native and Iida both would have died! Are you saying that we should ignore people who need help?”

Tsuragamae shook his head as if disappointed. “You are all still so young, you do not understand. Laws are in place for a reason. Punishment must be met to you three within this room and subsequently those who you interned under.”

“This is bullshit!” Todoroki was furious. “Saving people is what heroes do! It is what we are striving to do in UA!” Iida pulled back on Todoroki who was storming up to the police chief.

“You have much yet to learn,” the dog said.

“You bas…”

“Listen to what the chief has to say!” Nightwalker interrupted furiously. Their voice silencing the room in its intensity.

Tsuragamae coughed into his hand awkwardly. “At least that is the official stance of the police, but…” he looked around at the room. “At the end of the day, such punishment is only needed if this were made public. Announcing that you three took down the hero killer on your own would bring praise heaped upon you, but it also means that your chance of being heroes would be stripped away.”

Izuku looked closely at the chief. Is this what he thought?

“There were no witnesses, only a few heroes arriving after the fact saw the damage and each is willing to bear testimony that Endeavor along with a few underground heroes took down the villain. This is further supported by the injuries the villain sustained from the burns and bruises. This could mean that we walk away from this encounter with no problems. As chief of the police, I cannot, in good conscience, deny three heroes their opportunity for a future. So in my own opinion, off the record, I’m proud of you three,” the man winked at them while giving them a thumbs up.

Todoroki slouched where he stood looking embarrassed. “You should have started with that,” he muttered. Izuku looked on in shock. This was the first time his vigilantism got caught, and he didn’t get in trouble. The fear he had felt faded away. Aizawa just looked at him in amusement.

“You got lucky, kid,” he teased.

Izuku groaned, running a palm down his face. “Ugh. Don’t jinx it.”

“Deku,” Izuku heard his name called by a familiar voice. Moving his hand, he saw Nightwalker standing by his side.

Izuku looked at the stern expression on their face sheepishly. “You said that you would be right behind me,” they scolded. “Imagine my surprise and fear when you never showed up, but instead I was sent a text with a location pin that was far from the fight.”

Izuku rubbed a hand along his arm feeling awkward.

“I’m sorry, Nightwalker,” he said quietly. “I heard Manuel looking for Iida, and I knew what had happened. I couldn’t risk leaving him behind.”

Nightwalker looked at him for a moment, their all-black eyes quite intimidating when they wanted them to be.

“Then use your com, you idiot!” They groaned loudly.

Izuku’s face flooded bright red, and just got darker when everyone in the room looked over at him.

“You could have contacted me or my sidekicks and we would have come or called for backup.”

Izuku looked to Aizawa to save him from the scolding, but the man looked to be enjoying this. The greenette glared at him, but all he received back was a shrug. It’s your fault, it basically read.

Izuku turned back to the pro that was still lecturing him. He weakly raised his arms in defense. “I am not used to it,” he said when Nightwalker finally took a breath. “I didn’t think of it.”

The blank stare he received cut through him. “Then get used to it.” Ouch. That hurt him.

Izuku looked to the side in shame. “Com’on kid,” Nightwalker softened. “Use the resources you have available to you. Learn to rely on others and to call for others. We may be ranked individually on the charts but being a hero doesn’t mean working solo. We have agencies for a reason.”

It felt like Izuku’s words from the quirk test on the first day of class were being repeated back at him. He… he never thought of it like that. He spoke big, but he had always worked alone, the side effect of being a vigilante. Izuku needed to put his words into action. Rely on others and the resources provided to him.

With determination set in his eyes, he looked back at the underground hero. “I will,” he said firmly. “Thank you, Nightwalker, for all you have taught me. I will learn from this and put it into action.” With a bow of his head, he broke eye contact. “I am sorry for causing you trouble.”

A chuckle sounded from above him and a hand ruffled the hair that wasn’t held down by bandages. “I knew I was signing up for chaos when I offered for you. The boy who sacrificed his own body at the sports festival, who is also Eraserhead’s kid, what else could have happened?”

At that comment, Aizawa made a wounded sound next to him. “Hey!”

Izuku looked back up at them. There was a smile across their face. Izuku returned it sheepishly while laughing himself. He was really glad he had chosen Nightwalker for his internship.

“Alright, enough sap,” Aizawa said dryly. “Let’s get you home, no more internship for you.”

Izuku couldn’t help but pout. He understood, he needed to heal, and this was part of their punishment, but it still sucked. There was so much more that he wanted to learn.

“Get better, and in the future, you’ll be able to do so much more,” Aizawa told him quietly as he helped him move from the bed to the wheelchair Present Mic was holding in place.

Izuku gave a determined nod and waved quickly to the other two boys as they left. Something like this would never happen again.

Chapter Text

In all the chaos of being at the hospital, the chief scaring them about their futures, and checking out of the hospital, Izuku had completely forgotten about his phone. Or to be more exact, he had completely forgotten about the mass text he sent out with his location.

Maybe he forgot because just a few months ago he didn’t have a phone, or even if he did, he wouldn’t have had any numbers in it. So, at this moment in time, Izuku lived in peace thinking all was well.

When he stood up from the car in order to go into their apartment, though, his phone clattered onto the pavement, having fallen out of his pocket. Thinking nothing of it he picked it up and checked it for any new cracks (it already had a lot).

It was at that moment, it seemed, that someone decided to call him. That person being Kacchan. With a smile, Izuku swiped to answer and moved to say hello but was interrupted by almost incoherent screaming, which, honestly, wasn't anything new for the blond.

“Stupid, moronic, idiot Deku!” He screamed. Izuku pulled the phone away from his ear since he rather liked having his hearing. Aizawa turned to him with an eyebrow raised in question as he heard the blond loud and clear.

“Absolutely idiotic. What were you thinking? Where the hell were you? Why did I receive a location pin in the middle of the night with no other context? I’ve been calling and texting you for hours and I have nothing! Me and the old hag even tried contacting your useless dad who wasn’t answering his phone either!”

At that news, Eraser looked sheepish and pulled out his own phone. From where Izuku stood in the elevator next to him, he could see the hundreds of calls and texts waiting for the pro on his phone. The blond wasn’t done, though. For the entire trip up to their apartment and long enough for Izuku to change and lay down in his bed, the blond never let up. Izuku was honestly impressed, he didn’t even think he had heard the other breath. How is he still going?

Finally what felt like hours later, Kacchan finally let up, his panting loud over the speaker of the phone.

“I’m sorry, Kacchan,” Izuku started but was interrupted.

“What happened, idiot?” The blond sounded tired. “I’ve been worried all night.”

Izuku twiddled his thumbs as he thought. Should he tell him the truth? Was that even a question? Izuku had never outright lied to the blond, he couldn’t. Now wasn’t a time to try and change that.

“I’ll tell you,” Izuku muttered out. “But it might be better in person if you want to come over.”

“Be there in 10,” the blond said quickly and then immediately hung up.

Eight minutes later there was a furious knock on the door. Izuku could hear Aizawa grumbling about neighbors and no peace, but the shocked noise when he opened the door really got the greenette.

“Bakugou?” Aizawa sounded incredulous. “How did you get through security? Why are you even here?”

From what Izuku could tell, it sounded like Kacchan pushed his way through making a noncommittal sound.

“I’ve got connections,” the blond threw out as he made his way down the hall.

There was a quiet click as Eraser closed the front door, echoing stomps coming down the hallway, and the soft meows as the cats undoubtedly tried to distract Kacchan from his raging. Sadly, though, nothing could distract that blond on a mission.

With a crash, his bedroom door swung open and slammed into the wall. His bookshelves shook causing a few things to fall over.

“Really, Kacchan,” Izuku drawled from where he lay. “Was that necessary?”

Kacchan just stood fuming, his blood red eyes tracing Izuku’s form. Any lesser man would have squirmed at the attention, but Izuku was used to it from his best friend. That just meant he could better hide his squirming. His arms crossed over his chest while a single eyebrow raised. Worry seemed to coat the blond’s features.

“What happened,” his voice growled, causing his already deep voice to sink even further. A shiver coursed down Izuku’s spine.

“Whatever do you mean, Kacchan,” Izuku tried to look innocent, cocking his head to the side.

The deadpan look he received would have been funny had it not been him on the receiving end of it.

“You literally have a bandage wrapped around your head, you idiot,” Kacchan yelled while waving his hand in the direction of Izuku’s head. “You have visible bruises on your arms and other scratches! So I’ll ask again. What happened?”

Izuku shrunk down a bit. He had always hated worrying Kacchan, and the instinct seemed to have never gone away even after not seeing each other for years. So with hesitant motions, Izuku sat up and patted the bed next to him, his eyes trained on the Miruko poster on the opposite wall.

Even when he felt the bed next to him sink down under Kacchan’s weight, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. It was silent for a few minutes. Just them breathing in the same space.

“Just tell me what happened,” Kacchan’s voice was softer, almost a plea. “I couldn’t help but come up with terrible scenarios in my head the whole night.” Kacchan sighed deeply, and Izuku felt his head hitting his shoulder, blond hair tickling his skin where it touched.

“I know you were on your internship in Hosu, so at least the location made sense, but you never call for help… even when you should,” the last part of the sentence was whispered, like an afterthought that wasn’t meant for Izuku to hear.

It was Izuku’s turn to sigh, letting his own head fall against the blond’s. “You’re not going to be any happier after knowing the story,” he warned.

Kacchan smacked his thigh in reprimand. “Let me be the judge of that, you idiot.”

Izuku straightened up, and when he felt Kacchan do the same, he mourned the loss of warmth.

“So I should start by explaining why I chose Hosu in the first place…” Izuku started to explain, wringing his hands together.

For the whole story, never once did the greenette look at the blond. His eyes never left the Miruko poster across the way. Kacchan remained silent the whole time, which honestly, scared Izuku more than anything. The blond wasn’t a quiet person, but here he was, saying nothing.

It took a long time to tell his story. Looking back, Izuku could see his mistakes. Things he could and should have done better. How he could have caused less damage and protected the others better, but he couldn’t do anything about it now. When he finished explaining what the chief told them, the room remained silent for a while longer.

After about five minutes, Izuku finally gave up and looked over at the blond. Kacchan looked horrified.

“Y… you… you fought the hero killer? Stain?” Kacchan choked out, his eyes roaming over Izuku with a new intensity, like he could see the other wounds Izuku sustained that were hidden by his clothes. “You moron!” He suddenly screamed. “Why did you fight him? Why didn’t you do literally anything else? You’re not your classmate’s keeper! Four-eyes made his decision, and it’s not up to you to protect him from his own idiotic consequences, Izuku!”

Izuku let the blond rant, knowing that he needed it, and honestly, that Izuku deserved it. But, after a while, Izuku reached over and grabbed the hand waving around in the air, to stop him. Kacchan almost instantly quieted down, red eyes glaring harshly at the greenette.

“I know, Kacchan,” Izuku said. When the blond moved to open his mouth to probably yell at him more, Izuku gripped the hand tighter. “ I know. ” He insisted. “I know I’m not Iida’s keeper. I know that it wasn’t my job to look after him or stop him, but if I didn’t, he would have died. ” At Izuku’s words, Kacchan looked distressed. “I know that I’m just in training. I don’t need to look after my classmates, but Kacchan, when has that ever stopped me before.”

Red eyes moved from green to look down at the floor. It almost looked like the blond was pouting, but he couldn’t deny Izuku. For all his life, Izuku stood up to bullies when they went after anyone else. He always tried to save those around him. That was a trait that had never changed.

“I know, you idiot,” Kacchan sounded small, “but the hero killer , Deku. You went up against the hero killer for someone who didn’t even like you.”

“And I won, ” Izuku interrupted, tugging the blond’s hand. “I won, Kacchan, and I’m okay.”

The blond moved to glare at Izuku while simultaneously flicking his eyes at the greenette’s wounds as if to prove a point. Izuku rolled his eyes.

“I’ve gotten worse before, Kacchan,” Izuku deadpanned. “And I saved two people’s lives. I don’t regret it, and I don’t care that Iida hated me. I told him that everyone deserves to be saved. That means civilians, other heroes, villains, criminals, friends, strangers, rude classmates. I don’t discriminate like other heroes. I want to save everyone and that is never going to change.”

The blond looked at him searchingly for a long time after Izuku’s statement. The greenette just let him, still gripping the other’s hand. It seemed like he finally found what he was looking for because the blond scoffed with a small smile crossing his features.

“You really never will change,” he stated.

Izuku bumped their hands against the blond’s leg. “Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p,’ “And you're glad about that,” he sing-songed.

Kacchan merely rolled his eyes.

“Com’on let’s play a game,” Izuku said, breaking the mood that was created. “You up for a little Super Smash Bros ?”

Kacchan’s glare was once more affixed to his face. “You’re on, nerd. I’m gonna crush you.”

Izuku stopped in the middle of getting up to give the blond a blank stare. “Kacchan, you’ve literally never beaten me.”

At the blond’s enraged howl, Izuku laughed madly, running from his room to the living room in order to set up the game.

In the kitchen, Aizawa merely rolled his eyes at their antics. Loud, all of them. Why could he never find someone who was quiet?

 ***

It ended up being a very boring week. Classes weren’t in session due to everyone being on their internships, so Izuku had nothing to do by lounge around the house. He wasn’t even allowed to do vigilante work because of his ‘injuries’. He tried to convince Eraser that he’d be fine, but his dad kept refusing. Going so far as to somehow show up every time he tried to sneak out!

Kacchan came over the first few days, but now he is gone for a week. Photoshoot in Milan or something like that. He also had to spend the first day just answering texts and calls from all his classmates. How he got all their numbers, he really, truly didn’t know. It was a little nice to know that they all worried about him, though. Izuku had never had that before.

The rest of the week Eraser gave him various worksheets to do and had him clean the house. ‘Grounded’ is what his dad told him. Izuku was desperate for Monday to finally arrive.

After what felt like years, it did. Izuku bolted up from bed that morning and all but sprinted out the door.

“Loveyouseeyoulaterbye!” He yelled behind him as he slammed the door closed. He could hear grumbles emanating from the apartment. With how loud they were, Izuku knew that his dad was making sure he would be heard. Oh well. Didn’t bother him.

The ride to school was filled with people still recognizing him from the sports festival. Would this ever die down? Izuku really hoped so. It was at that moment that he was glad the pros took responsibility for Stain. If they hadn’t, Izuku would be even bigger news. Yikes.

He arrived an hour early. He didn’t really feel like going back to the dorm to wait, too many people, but he didn’t want to wait in the classroom either.

That is how Izuku found himself in Principal Nezu’s office. The mouse appeared to have been waiting for him, since there was tea already prepared with a cup in his normal spot for their lessons.

“Good morning, Midoriya-kun,” Nezu said as he sipped his own tea. “Do tell me all about your internship.” There was a knowing glint in the mouse's eyes. Izuku had instant regret. Maybe he would be better off waiting in the classroom, but as he turned to leave, Nezu’s tail whipped around and circled his wrist. Izuku gave an awkward chuckle.

“Now where are you going?” Nezu grinned. “I’m very excited to hear all about it.”

There was no getting out of it, it seemed. So Izuku collapsed onto the couch and grabbed the tea. With a single gulp he downed the hot liquid without a wince.

“Well…” he drawled.

 ***

Aizawa was looking forward to today, which was a novel sensation when teaching a loud and chaotic class, but teaching meant that Izuku was no longer going stir crazy in the house and subsequently driving him crazy.

Steeling himself, he shoved open the door to his class that he could hear two stories up. What did he do to deserve this? Luckily they have all learned. When he stepped in, the students sprinted to their desks and silence rang out. Beautiful.

What was not beautiful, though, was the fact that Izuku was not in his seat. He was not in the classroom. Aizawa couldn’t help but worry, but he had gotten a text saying that Izuku had made it to campus, so where was he?

“Has anyone seen Midoriya today?” He asked, looking around. The class looked shocked and worried. Someone started to say something when the door to the room burst open. Aizawa’s eyes flashed in response but the sight of Izuku, looking battle worn and weary, was new.

Izuku looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, which Aizawa knew wasn’t the case. With a sagging hand, the greenette held out a note to Aizawa before slumping into his desk.

Quickly, he read that note.

Eraserhead,

Sorry for keeping Izuku late. I just had to learn more about his internship from the boy himself. Rest assured that he now knows better how to handle situations like that.

Nezu

Aizawa’s eyes darted to the greenette. Looking closer, Aizawa saw that it was just shame in the boy’s eyes. Not unlike what he looked like in the hospital after the scolding he got from Nightwalker. With a shrug Aizawa picked up where he left off like nothing happened.

“Change into your gym uniforms and meet at the indoor gym in 10 minutes.”

There was a mad dash out the door by many of the students. Before Izuku made his way out, though, Aizawa grabbed his arm.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked quietly.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, I just… I wish I could have done better. I know what to do going forward, how to do better and be better, and Nezu just helped me realize that. Everything is fine,” he reassured, and Aizawa felt better. He trusted the principal, but he couldn’t help but be protective of his son. If Nezu ever did anything to hurt or harm him, there would be hell to pay.

 ***

It had been an eventful morning for Izuku, so he was glad when heroics turned out to be the first class of the day. He had gotten his stitches out yesterday and was cleared to exercise by the doctor, so he could finally blow off some steam.

 Once everyone had arrived, Aizawa popped out of nowhere with his signature yellow mummy bag.

“This week we are working on paired sparring. Each day you will be assigned a new partner. Learn how to work with both of your skill sets and quirks, if applicable,” Aizawa droned out as everyone started to look around excitedly. Izuku narrowed his eyes at his dad. Suspicious timing.

“I will assign your partners, and there will be no trading.” Everyone groaned at the news, but Eraser kept going like nothing happened. “You will then be assigned a situation in which your groups will have to battle with added weakness or support items. Be wise. At the end of each, the situation will be revealed to everyone else and we will discuss it as a class.”

Aizawa was quick to hand out assignments to each person. Izuku read over his and glared even harder at his dad. His assignment: a colleague is down and you and your partner must protect them while fighting off the villains. This was just rude. His partner: Todoroki. When Aizawa finally made eye contact, he just smirked and zipped up his mummy bag.

“The first group will be Midoriya and Todoroki against Yaoyorouzu and Iida. You have ten minutes to decide a strategy.”

He looked over at Todoroki and Iida, both seeming to understand what Aizawa was saying. Do better. Remember what they told you.

“Well,” Izuku drawled as he approached Todoroki. “I think the first thing to decide is who is a part of our agency to radio via our coms.”

Todoroki looked surprised at that for a second before nodding sagely. “Aizawa-sensei will allow that?”

“If he didn’t want us to do it that way, he would have specified. I think this is mainly for me, he wants me to have a redo and practice what I didn’t do.”

Todoroki nodded along and looked over at the remaining classmates. “I think our best bet would be to have Kaminari and Kirishima back us up in this fight. Then while we wait for them you attack Yaomomo and I’ll go after Iida.”

Izuku agreed easily and then went over to pull the electric blond and redhead aside.

“Yo! What’s up, man?” Kirishima asked as he was pulled away.

“In this scenario, you are a part of our agency. You will be the back up I call for, so when I ‘radio’ please answer and respond accordingly.”

Kirishima and Kaminari looked confused but merely nodded along. “Feel free to inform Aizawa. He will probably have other stipulations for you both.” With that Izuku turned back to Todoroki to further plan their course of attack.

“Ten minutes are up!” Aizawa announced as he pulled himself from the mummy bag, Kaminari and Kirishima standing close with determined expressions. Behind Izuku, Aizawa laid on the ground, so that’s who was going to be the man down. “Get into place.” Todoroki and Izuku settled into fighting positions, Izuku holding up his two batons. “3…” Yaomomo pulled identical batons out of her stomach. “2…” Iida revved his engines. “1… Start!”

With a flash of fire, Todoroki started fighting Iida who attacked with a kick. Izuku eyed Yaomomo who was approaching quickly.

“Deku and Shouto to base,” Izuku called out with a hand raised to his ear as if he was using his comms. He heard some confused mutters from his classmates, and surprise flickered in Yaomomo’s eyes.

“Roger that Deku. This is Red Riot and Chargebolt.” Kirishima called from the side.

“We’ve encountered two villains, one of our men is down requesting backup at our position.”

“Copy. On route and will arrive in 5 minutes. Hold out ‘til then.”

It seemed like Yaomomo and Iida understood what was going to happen because they both charged. Yaomomo swinging her baton, hitting it harshly against Izuku’s. The metal clang rang through the air. With her momentum stopped, Izuku kicked out, but the girl jumped away. He charged with his baton at the ready. It was a back-and-forth fight between the two of them. From the corner of his eye, he saw ice and fire alike being released and the constantly revving of engines.

Every time they got close to subduing the villains, one of them would break off and charge Aizawa on the ground. They were doing everything to hold them back.

After what was apparently five minutes, Kirishima and Kaminari joined them.

“What do you need, Deku?” Kirishima asked, catching Yaomomo’s baton in a hardened hand.

Deku ducked a vicious kick sent his way. “Subdue the villains, I will get our colleague to a safer area.”

Kirishima nodded and with Kaminari joining him, they ganged up on the girl. Izuku ducked away and ran to Aizawa. He lifted the man’s arm over his shoulder and got him out of the arena. Behind him, he heard someone go down. He couldn’t worry about who yet. Carefully he laid Aizawa down and ran back. Yaomomo was restrained and right as he entered the field once more, Kaminari had sent out an electric shock that hit Iida who was sadly standing right in a puddle caused by Todoroki’s ice and fire. The boy went down hard. Oops.

A clap was heard. “Hero team wins,” Aizawa said stoically, getting up from where Izuku had laid him. “Gather around for the discussion… and Kaminari please take Iida to Recovery Girl.”

“Yes sir,” the blond said sheepishly.

The class was silent. “Was… was that allowed? Or part of the situation?” Uraraka looked shaken a bit.

Aizawa turned to Izuku and Todoroki. “Would you two like to explain the situation and why you acted the way you did?”

Todoroki stepped back and looked at Izuku. Well, guess he was the one to explain.

“Our situation was that we were a three-person team with a man down. Our goal was to subdue the villains while protecting our teammate. There were no other stipulations, but what I learned during my internship,” Deku glanced over at Aizawa who was looking at him proudly, “was that no hero is ever alone. All heroes have an agency, fellow heroes, sidekicks, or more that can and will come as back up, you just have to actually reach out for them. I figured that we could use that during this fight.

“We picked Kirishima and Kaminari because they seemed best suited for this fight and approached them before the start of the battle. I sent them to talk to Aizawa, figuring if it wasn’t allowed, he would tell them, but obviously they were allowed.” Izuku finished with a shrug.

Aizawa nodded before turning back to the class. “Obviously we can’t set a precedent for that always being allowed in a class battle as sometimes coms break or backup is too far away, so if you feel like you would like backup for your fight, ask me first. I will tell you whether or not it is allowed.”

A few excited faces in the crowd fell at the news. Izuku understood, though. If they were always allowed to call for backup and choose who came, then that also could be detrimental to future hero work. Aizawa needed to know that Izuku had learned and could apply that knowledge, but he also didn’t want to make hurtful habits. He also wouldn’t be able to grade skill and knowledge if someone was always having another person fight their battles.

“Next will be Mina and Tsu vs Tokoyami and Aoyama. Get ready.”

Izuku got comfortable on a nearby bench to watch the rest of the fights. Some were allowed to have back-up, some groups didn’t ask for help, and some were able to have someone come in with stipulations. It was interesting to watch all the matchups.

After the last fight finished up, Aizawa stood in front of them once again.

“This will be the basis of our hero training for the week, so be prepared for it. This summer we will be having a week-long training camp in the woods.” Many people started to cheer, but they were cut off by Aizawa’s next words. “But first you all have finals starting next week. Anyone who fails will not be going.”

There was a loud chorus of groans that resounded through the room at the news.

“Why do we need to have finals,” Kaminari whined as he started to head to the locker room.

“Why can’t we just not have them, and call it good?” Ashido agreed.

“We need to have finals so that the teachers can test where we are at, so that they can adjust and teach better for both regular classes and heroic,” Izuku stated as he made his own way out.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Kaminari accused. “You’re the top of the class!”

“That’s right!” Ashido perked up. “You are the top of the class. Would you be able to tutor me?”

Izuku froze. “Ummm…” he stuttered out as the pink girl bounced closer. “At least teach me how to study so I can do better!”

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. “I don’t think I can do that. I… don’t really study,” he mumbled.

“What do you mean you don’t study!” Uraraka looked aghast. “How do you get perfect grades?”

“You see… I… uh… I have a photographic memory,” he shrugged sheepishly. At the dismayed cries around him, he hurried to tack on, “But, like, I can help review principles and such if needed!”

“Please!” Kaminari glomped onto Izuku’s arm, almost dragging him down. “We need it desperately!”

“I would also be happy to help tutor anyone who needs it,” Yaomomo spoke up from where she stood with her hand raised slightly.

“Yaomomo!” Ashido yelled while running to hug the other girl.

“Why don’t we have a big study group in the common area for anyone who needs it,” Iida spoke up. Everyone nearby nodded their heads furiously.

“Yes please!” Uraraka cried. “Everyone back to the dorms! We’re gonna pass and go camping!”

There was a mad dash to the changing rooms after Uraraka’s declaration. Izuku’s arm was still caught by Kaminari who suddenly perked up and booked it, dragging the greenette behind him. Izuku made desperate eye contact with his dad. He mouthed, save me , but all he got back was a smirk and a wave. Izuku just responded with his middle finger raised in the air as he was pulled out of sight.

That began the routine for the week. Everyday in heroics, they focused on paired battles with each one being different from the last. After school was done, Izuku was trapped in the common room with the rest of his classmates either studying silently, or more often, trying to help others understand various concepts in both English and Math, his best subjects.

It wasn’t a bad arrangement. Izuku liked his classmates, but sometimes they were just too loud. Whenever he could, he snuck out to his dad’s office when he was still there to try and find some quiet. Eraser was kind enough to let him stay, even after curfew, understanding that Izuku’s social battery was depleted. Having an introverted dad really made life easier.

Then exactly a week later, finals started. The very air in the school was tense. Izuku, however, felt relaxed. If there was one thing he was confident on, it was his intellect… and his memory. He blew through each test with ease, tending to have extra time at the end of each one where he would just doodle on the back paper.

There were multiple days of this. His classmates seemed to always be on edge. Everyone was afraid of rubbing each other the wrong way, especially since Kaminari had a breakdown the day before the first test because someone ate the last of his favorite cereal. Izuku was doing his best to try and not let anything like that happen again. He really didn’t want to have another power outage in the dorms.

After the last test, it was like the clouds parted and the rain cleared. A pallor that was on everyone’s face disappeared.

“We’re done!” Kaminari literally cried. “I was even able to answer every question!”

“All that’s left is the practical, but I’m actually excited about that,” Uraraka cheered while punching the air.

“Do you know what we are doing for the finals,” Shinso asked Izuku, leaning forward over his desk.

Izuku remained glaring at the nemesis he called a dad. “No, and Eraser won’t give me anything either,” he growled quietly. Izuku had tried over and over to needle out what the practical final was going to consist of. He had the suspicion that it would still be paired battles, but with the fact that they’ve been fighting each other all week, it wouldn’t be that.

Oh! That reminded him. He had something he needed to pick up before going back to the dorms.

“I’ll see you later,” he said to Shinso as he stood up to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“Hatsume made me something that I need to get before tomorrow,” he explained while packing up his stuff.

“I thought you said that you didn’t know what the practical was,” Shinso accused glaring at him slightly. More like squinting at him. Wait. Shinso might just have a headache.

“I don’t,” Izuku waved away the accusation. “I just like to be prepared.”

It didn’t take him long to get to the support course lab. As he was approaching, the door swung open and people spilled out of it like water out of a hose, coughing and gagging as smoke streamed out behind them.

“Sorry!” Izuku could hear the pink haired girl yell, not sounding sorry in the slightest. She was a riot.

Izuku just pushed past all the other students as he made his way to the entrance.

“You have to be more considerate of those around you, Hatsume,” He could hear Powerloader scolding as he neared.

When he poked his head in the door, Hatsume seemed to narrow in on him in a second. “Greenbean!” She cried, ignoring the rest of what her teacher was saying. “Are you here for your new support item?”

Izuku nodded with a smile. “When are you ever going to let me work on some other ones for you?” The girl lamented as she made her way to her desk. “You are a blank canvas. Anything goes! I could even upgrade the items you have now! You could be unstoppable, all I need is the go sign from you, and whoosh! I could be working on my greatest inventions yet.”

“Mei,” Izuku interrupted. “You know I love your work, but I just prefer to make my own items, always have.” He added as an afterthought. “It’s just that these are a little beyond my paygrade.”

Hatsumei huffed good naturedly as she plopped down a small box in front of the greenette.

“Just let me know if that ever changes, Greenbean,” she insisted. “I’d drop all my other projects to work with you.”

Izuku’s smile grew into a smirk as he lifted the lid on the palm sized box. Perfect.

Chapter Text

The next day dawned, and it felt like the air was vibrating. This was a change from the last two days. Izuku felt weird. He almost missed the somber attitude. It was quieter.

Everyone was speculating what they would have to do. Some thought it was going to be like the entrance exam, fighting robots. Some thought that it would be like the battles in class 2 vs 2 fighting. Some thought it would be 1 vs 1. Izuku didn’t think it would be any of that. It was all too easy.

They were instructed to change into their hero uniforms and gather at Ground Gamma last night, so as a class they headed out. Izuku double checked that he had his new support item in his pocket. No matter what it was, Izuku was going to be prepared.

In record time, they were all changed and standing ready in front of one of the training fields. Izuku smiled grimly at the sight. Oh, he knew exactly what was going to happen, but based on the mutters of his classmates, no one else did.

Aizawa slumped to the front of the row of teachers.

“Soon the practical final will begin. It is possible to fail this, so if you want to go to the training camp, give it your all.” Aizawa’s gaze roved the student’s making many stand up straighter. “I’m sure you all have your ideas of what this test will be.” He was interrupted by many calling out their theories over the top of one another.

“Wrong!” Izuku heard the principal's voice yell out as he popped out of Aizawa’s capture scarf. That little mouse was pure chaos. Izuku loved him.

“This year, we will have two of you fight one of the teachers that are standing before you. The goal of this exam is to either capture the teacher you are assigned, who is posing as a villain, or escape from the arena in order to call for backup.”

“But wouldn’t running away, be giving up, sir?” Hagakure asked as many others nodded with her.

“No,” Aizawa answered. “Leaving to call for backup means that you have acknowledged the situation and your weaknesses. Doing this, you can find someone who is better prepared and equipped to fight the villain you are facing. Doing so can save lives.” The man seemed to glare specifically at Izuku, Todoroki, and Iida. Called out much? Izuku huffed.

“Now the match ups are as such: I will be facing Shinso and Izuku,” Aizawa started. Hmmm. Looks like Izuku gets to fight his own dad. This was going to be fun. He honestly didn’t hear how the rest of the line up looked. Instead, he was too focused on putting together a strategy in his head. He thought he knew why they were set up like this. While Shinso was steadily learning, he still had a long way to go to be physically ready to fight, but with Aizawa as their villain, the brainwashing quirk would be rendered useless. Plus, Izuku can speak from experience, Aizawa is a master at staying silent. Izuku’s side of the fight, on the other hand, has him fighting a man who has a lot of experience fighting quirkless and has a long ranged weapon. There would be only so much he could do against it. It was a good thing, he wasn’t going to be alone.

A throat cleared next to him. Izuku would say that he didn’t jump, but Shinso would say differently. With wide eyes, he turned to look at the boy.

“You done planning there, bean pole?” Shinso snarked. Izuku’s only reply was to roll his eyes and bring out his secret weapon. Extending his hand with the small box resting in it, Shinso looked down curiously. A smirk crossed the other boy’s face.

“Where did you get these?”

“They were what I picked up from Hatsume yesterday. Take one of them, and I’ll take the other, and here’s what we’re gonna do…”

 ***

Aizawa stood on top of a rooftop in the center of the mini city. Over the speakers the countdown rang out. Aizawa prepared himself. Knowing his son, he’ll try to sneak his way around while the Shinso went the other way. The fault with that, though, is communication. Izuku will attack him while Shinso makes his way out. Aizawa wasn’t going to let that happen.

Straining his ears, he listened for any noises to give them away. It was silent, but really that didn’t mean much to him. He knew this city like the back of his hand.

He moved swiftly over the roofs heading to a side alley that was hard to see, exactly where someone would try to sneak by. He landed at the end of the alley, instantly activating his quirk. Oh look. Shinso.

The boy paused before him looking shaken, taking a step back.

“End of the line, boy. Looks like your plan isn’t going to work out,” Aizawa smirked, unraveling his capture scarf.

The boy raised a hand to his ear. Aizawa looked on, confused.

“Deku,” the lavender haired boy said clearly. “5 and vine.”

Aizawa was not happy to admit that that weird interaction took him a minute to decipher and as such he paused in his movements. During that pause, Shinso charged right at him. Aizawa sent out his capture scarf in an instant, but the boy dodged it swiftly. Aizawa was so focused on Shinso that he missed the glint of metal in the air. Suddenly, Aizawa’s scarf was torn back from him and pinned to the wall. It distracted him enough that Shinso was able to sneak away.

Looking closer, Aizawa saw that it was a throwing knife. Izuku’s throwing knife, to be exact. That was embedded in his scarf and subsequently, the wall. All it took was a swift tug, for it to be released, but just that much caused him to lose sight of his foes, both disappearing into the alleys once more.

Aizawa could also admit that he was shocked. It seemed like Izuku had found them and rescued Shinso. He knew exactly where they were too. Aizawa felt dumb when it hit him as he ran after the two boys. Shinso calling out and the raised hand, they had comms. “5 and vine” was the alleyway they were in. Sometimes his son was too smart for his own good, but this made it interesting.

It wasn’t hard to find them the next time. No. There was so much evidence left behind from frantic running. Izuku may be experienced, but Shinso was not. A shadow ran in front of him. Aizawa lashed out with his capture scarf, this time hitting his mark. A grunt was heard as he stopped the boy’s momentum and reeled him back to himself.

Only when the boy was exposed to the light, Aizawa saw green instead of purple. A smirk crossed Izuku’s features, and a dangerous glint filled his eye. Izuku tilted his head to his shoulder. “Got him.”

Aizawa felt a chill run down his spine. He paused only a second, but once again that was too long. Suddenly something smashed into the back of his knees sending him crashing to the ground. Shinso stood above him, Izuku’s baton in his hand.

Izuku rolled, still caught in the capture scarf tugging Aizawa onto his stomach as it yanked at his hands and neck. Shinso was quick to place a knee in the middle of his back and pull out his capture tap.

Aizawa bucked, sending Shinso crashing into the ground, as he yanked back on the scarf himself. Sadly, that seemed to only help Izuku escape as he was nearly out anyway. Aizawa righted himself on his feet at the same time Izuku did in front of him.

“Go,” the greenette demanded Shinso, who only nodded resolutely and took off. “Just you and me old man,” the boy taunted.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. He needed to stop Shinso, but that meant losing Izuku. Aizawa charged, sending his capture weapon out. Izuku grabbed it and yanked, pulling Aizawa closer. He used that momentum to rush forward, hands held ready. Izuku’s knee was up to hit him in the stomach, like how they first met, Aizawa’s hands caught it and he pushed it down while sending his forehead into Izuku’s nose. Based on the curse his son let out, he probably broke it. Oops.

Izuku dropped in front of him, but before he could worry, his feet were swept out from under him, sending him once more crashing into the pavement. It turned into a grapple as Izuku tried to pin him down. Right as Aizawa was getting the upper hand, the automated voice rang out.

“Hero team wins!” Izuku slumped on top of Aizawa.

“You broke my nose,” his voice was stuffed. Aizawa patted him on the back.

“You were trying to knee me in the groin, I think it was called for,” Aizawa snarked back.

Izuku merely chuckled as he continued to lay there. Aizawa raised his hand, patting Izuku on his head. “You did good, kid. You shocked me with those comms of yours.”

Izuku popped up like his exhaustion was forgotten in the face of getting to rant. “I had Hatsumei make them!” He exclaimed as he pulled Aizawa to his feet. “I figured that the test would still be pairs, and I wanted to make sure me and my partner always have a way to communicate. It is also linked to my phone so if a com is ever destroyed, we can still reach each other. It is on a closed circuit, so it should be nearly impossible to hack. It’s also skin colored so it is hard to see during a fight…” Izuku continued to gush the whole way to the gate where Shinso stood waiting, panting from the effort of running so far.

Aizawa broke off from his motor mouth of a son to walk over to Shinso. When he got close enough, he reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair. “Good job, kid. You both surprised me.”

Shinso seemed to glow at the compliment, before horror crossed his features when Izuku came into view. Blood was still pouring down the boy’s chin as his nose was obviously crooked.

“You should probably get to recovery girl, Izuku,” Aizawa commented.

Izuku tilted his head in question, but realization soon struck when Aizawa pointed at his nose.

“Oh right! Later!” He called as he ran off.

“Should I be worried about that?” Shinso seemed to ask the air.

Aizawa shrugged. “Probably. The boy never learns to take care of himself,” his voice sounded tired and strained even to himself. Shinso patted his shoulder consolingly.

“You’re the one who picked him as a son,” he remarked, starting to walk away.

Aizawa straightened up. “Wait!” He called. “How did you know I adopted him?”

Shinso looked back with an eyebrow raised. “Is it supposed to be a secret?”

Well, Aizawa was stumped. Better leave that for Izuku to handle.

 ***

By the time Izuku made it to Recovery Girl, most of the other fights had already finished up. A few of his classmates had gathered to watch the ones still battling on the monitors. The second he stepped in the doorway he was caught by a few of them.

“Midoriya!” Iida suddenly yelled. “What happened? Do you need assistance! Recovery Girl!”

“I hear you, you don’t need to shout,” the old lady scolded as she left her seat to come closer to him. “But really, young man, what did you do? Run face first into a wall?”

Izuku glared at her. “No, Eraser headbutted me in the face.”

“He what?” Many yelled over each other at Izuku’s news.

“I mean, to be fair, he did it to stop me from kneeing him in the groin, so like, I’ll take it,” Izuku shrugged. The resulting sputters from Iida and a few others were the highlight of his day.

“What am I going to do with you both,” Recovery Girl muttered as she moved to kiss his cheek. He felt exhaustion overcome him, but not as much as normal. It was just his nose that needed to be healed, afterall. Once that was taken care of, he walked over to the monitors to see how everyone else was doing.

Some seemed to be doing relatively okay. He watched as Koda conquered his fear and sent bugs after Present Mic. Yikes. He was going to be hearing about that for the next month. The right of that monitor was Uraraka’s fight. He watched as she let go of the pole she was previously hanging onto. It looked like an accident, but it was hard to tell. Lastly, he watched in horror as Ashido and Kaminari were facing Nezu. Now that was just cruel.

After the time ran out for that last group, they all met up waiting for further instruction from Aizawa.

Hey, good job out there. Izuku signed to Koda when he walked in the room. Koda blushed and hid his face a bit.

That was terrifying, he shivered.

Yeah, but facing your fears is hero-like! You really are incredible, Koda. Izuku smiled. Koda looked at him with surprise, nodding in a daze.

Thank you. How did your fight go? Koda asked.

Shinso was able to escape, so we were able to pass. Eraserhead didn’t hit us too hard, but I did end up with a broken nose. Izuku explained with pride.

That would explain the blood , Koda grimaced gesturing to his chin. Izuku tilted his head before running his fingers over that area of his face. They came away red. Oops. He hadn’t even thought about that. He pulled out a rag from his belt and started to wipe it away, when Eraser finally entered the room.

“You will be receiving your scores at the beginning of class next week, so head back to the dorms. You are done for the day.”

Despite some of them being exhausted, and some of them looking down, everyone gave a cheer at the news.

“Let’s have a game night,” Kaminari suggested as everyone started to head to the locker rooms. “As a celebration of finals being done.”

“I’m down,” Jirou commented, followed by almost everyone agreeing.

“Are you going to come, Izuku-kun,” Uraraka asked him.

Izuku looked around at the group, all of them looking happier and more relaxed. He knew the calm wouldn’t last, but a few games wouldn’t hurt.

“Why not?” He remarked receiving a cheer from the pink-cheeked girl. She ran off to join the others yelling that Izuku was going to join them. He received smiles and cheers from others at the news. At that moment, Izuku let a big smile beam across his face. Yeah, he really liked this class.

 ***

“Winner!” The tv called out as another race was finished.

“What the hell, man,” Kaminari seemed to deflate on the couch.

“How are you so good, bro?” Kirishima lamented.

“That’s the tenth race you've won!” Jirou sounded surprised.

Izuku smirked from where he sat in front of the TV, his controller flipping in his hands. “I’ve had a lot of practice in my life, what can I say?”

“No!” Kaminari screamed, pointing an accusing finger at the greenette. “No one is allowed to be that good at Mario Kart! It’s just not possible!”

Izuku shrugged, opening his mouth to ask for another round when his phone rang. As this was not a typical occurrence, he pulled it out to check the caller ID. Kacchan.

“Sorry guys,” he apologized as he handed his controller over to Tokoyami who was sitting next to him. “I’ve got to take this.” With a quick motion, he accepted the call and answered as he stood.

“Moshi Moshi!”

 ***

Mina watched in curiosity as the resident mystery stood up to take a call. Midoriya never got phone calls. At least not that she’s ever seen. With a quick glance around the room, she saw the curious expressions that were on everyone’s faces.

“Moshi Moshi!” The greenette’s voice sounded so happy and preppy. It never sounded that way. Curiouser and curiouser in her opinion. “Hi Kacchan!”

Kacchan? Was this Midoriya’s secret girlfriend? They still had learned nothing about the girl other than her being a childhood friend. Mina needed more! Luckily, the greenette had just wandered over to the kitchen. She met eyes with Uraraka and maybe Hagakure, it was really hard to tell, but since they both followed her sneaking to the kitchen, it seemed like she had.

“Stop!” Iida called. “You need to respect your classmate’s privacy!”

Mina turned around and blew a raspberry at the boy. “Oh boo. He’s still in a public area. If he really didn’t want us to hear, he’d go to his room.” She was quick to tiptoe over to the kitchen after that. Iida wouldn’t want to draw attention to them, it would just be a bigger ordeal than.

“When are you getting back from London, Kacchan? I miss you,” Midoriya whined into the phone. Mina could hear that someone was talking on the other end, but she couldn’t make out her voice or words. Looking over at the other two girls, she only received a shake of their heads. Damn. Too quiet.

The next few minutes were just Kacchan talking with the greenette responding with various noises.

“Works for me,” Izuku exclaimed eventually. “See you then, Kacchan! Be safe on your travels!”

There was a soft click, and the girls raced back to the couches, slumping down right as the greenette left the kitchen. Mina had so many questions!

 ***

Izuku was having the time of his life. Ever since the misunderstanding about who Kacchan was, he had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to cause more mischief. Who knew that Kacchan, himself, would provide the chance? Now time to test how nosey some of his classmates could be.

“Was that Kacchan, Midorin?” Ashido called out from where she had been supposedly sitting since he left. Izuku would be offended that they didn’t realize how obvious they were if he wasn’t enjoying the fact for himself.

With wide, innocent eyes, Izuku tilted his head in question.

“Hmm?” He hummed. “Oh! You mean my call?” When he got an eager nod in response, he answered. “Yep!” Smile bright on his face, he didn’t even have to fake it. “Kacchan’s in London right now and was just calling in to check on me.”

“Why is she in London?” Hagakure asked, jumping onto the back of the couch.

“Oh, well Kacchan’s a model,” Izuku responded flippantly.

“What?” Kaminari’s screech covered everyone’s surprised reactions. “You know a model! You’re friends with a model ?”

Izuku let himself look confused. “Yeah, Kacchan has worked as a model for almost the whole time we’ve known each other.”

“Can you introduce us? Does she have any model friends?” Kaminari asked desperately.

Izuku laughed genuinely. “No, Kacchan’s too aloof and angry, so no, no model friends. It’s always been just us.”

Kaminari sank down in disappointment as Kirishima patted his shoulder consolingly.

“What does she look like?” Sero asked from where he laid on the ground.

Izuku thought for a minute, how should he describe his best friend. He wandered over to the couch, sitting down thoughtlessly, ending up beside Koda.

“Well…” He mumbled to himself for a second. “Kacchan is about 5’7, has platinum blond, spiky hair that is a lot softer than it looks, a tiny waist” (really it was unfair how small the boy’s waist was, but it wasn’t unhealthy, just how he was built). Izuku’s thoughts roamed over the blond. What else stood out? “Oh!” Izuku sat up, a soft expression crossing his face without his consent. “Kacchan also has the purest red eyes that I’ve ever seen. They look like a cross between fire, blood, and a ruby, the color of it burning into you whenever Kacchan looks at you.”

His voice trailed off as he thought about it. Izuku had never met anybody who had eyes quite like his Kacchan. When Izuku shook himself out of his thoughts, it was to see Mina and Uraraka looking like they were holding back a squeal. Kaminari looked like a cross between jealous and happy. Many others were simply beaming at him or nodding in his direction.

“What?” Izuku asked.

“How cute!” Ashido finally released the squeal.

Izuku turned to Koda in question. Was his acting that good? Was Izuku even acting? He was just describing Kacchan. Koda just gave him a knowing look. What Koda knew? Izuku hadn’t the faintest idea. Feeling out of his depth, Izuku picked up one of the switch controllers that was sitting in front of him.

“So, who wants another round of Mario Kart?” His question was met with many groans and a few curses from classmates he had beaten previously. 

Chapter Text

Izuku decided to stay in the dorms over the weekend. Aizawa was going to be away on a short recognizance trip, and he figured he’d rather stay in his room at school then in the apartment by himself. Most everyone else, though, was gone. Visiting family or friends. Kacchan was going to be gone until the middle of the week, so that was a no go as well.

When Koda told him that he was going to be gone, but he didn’t know what to do with his rabbit, Izuku more than happily volunteered to take care of it. So that is what he spent his time doing. He spent his days cuddling the cute little thing while wasting time on his phone or reading. A pretty solid weekend, if he did say so himself.

Then Monday morning arrived. Finals’ results were going to be handed out. Izuku wasn’t nervous, but that dark cloud over everyone’s head was back. It started to appear Sunday night as people returned to the dorms. Knowing this was going to happen, Izuku escaped the dorms early, before anyone else would be awake. Plus, he wanted to visit with his dad.

With a slam, the door to the teacher’s lounge opened, causing many of the pros inside to jump. If Izuku were a petty person, he would have smirked at how high All Might went. (He was petty and nothing would wipe the smirk off his face today.)

Aizawa looked up, the bags under his eyes bigger than normal. “What do you want, problem child?” He groaned.

“I just wanted to visit my favorite teacher before class!” Izuku cried, looking hurt. He might have had one too many cups of coffee this morning. He was vibrating where he stood.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at him. “You just wanted to avoid your classmates.”

“How could you?” Izuku draped himself over Eraser’s desk. Aizawa merely lifted his own coffee cup up to avoid it being spilled. “My own father. Accusing me of avoiding my loving and quiet classmates?”

All Might hacked into his hand. Present Mic and Midnight seemed to be bursting a lung at the performance.

“Yeah, Shouta…” Present Mic squeaked out between laughs. “How could you do that to your own son. For shame!”

“How dare you accuse this innocent child of such a thing,” Midnight clapped her hand on Aizawa’s back. “Obviously he missed his dear old dad.”

Izuku smirked where he lay. Aizawa seemed to tire before his eyes, the man looking haunted by the loud people who surrounded him.

“But in other news!” Izuku popped up right, sending a few papers flying to the floor. “How was the trip? Everything go alright?” Izuku eyed his dad. He looked tired, and Izuku didn’t see any obvious injuries, but he wanted to make sure.

Aizawa tapped his foot good naturedly. “I’m fine, kid. It was just a trip to check in on the location for the training camp. No reason to be worried.”

A light came to Izuku’s eye. “Where is it going to be? How far away? Who’s going to be going? Am I going to meet any other pro-heroes? Or is it just UA staff that’s going to be running it?”

“Woah!” Aizawa interrupted. “You’ll literally find out in 20 minutes. Calm down!” Izuku huffed and moved to take Aizawa’s coffee away from him, but it was yanked out of reach. “And stop drinking coffee, you’ve had enough.” Izuku outright pouted at that. How rude.

“Now get,” he was shooed off the desk. “I have things to get ready for homeroom, and we both know that that won’t get done if you’re here.”

Izuku just laughed and hopped down. He made sure to pick up the papers he had flung around earlier. He was a good son, thank you very much. Before leaving, though, he gave his dad a quick hug. “See you later!” He called as he ran out the door.

Izuku could hear his classmates’ voices when he reached their hallway. He slowed his run as he got closer. Oh yeah. They were all loud… He’d have to go in anyways, so he took a deep breath, stood up straight, and snuck in the back door. He was almost successful in avoiding being caught but right before he sat down Shinso said loudly, “Good morning, Midoriya.” The traitor.

Izuku glared at his purple haired classmate, who only smirked back at him.

“Good morning, Midorin!” Ashido called out across the way. “Where were you this morning?”

Izuku shifted. “Uh, I like to walk around the grounds in the morning if I have the time,” he laughed awkwardly.

“How was your weekend, Midori?” Hagakure asked from in front of him, bouncing in her seat.

Izuku shrugged. “It was good, simple. Didn’t really do anything, you know?”

“Did you hang out with Kacchan?” Kaminari needled, wiggling his eyebrows. Despite the dumb question, a little red snuck into Izuku’s cheeks for no reason.

“No,” he shook his head, sounding more disappointed than he meant to. (In reality, he didn’t mean to sound disappointed at all.) “Kacchan is still in England for a while longer.”

“Oh!” Yaomomo’s voice piped up from behind him. “What part of England is she in? I’ve been there before and loved it! Does this mean she knows English?”

Izuku turned to face her. “Kacchan’s in London proper. Doing a photoshoot in Queen Mary’s Rose Garden,” Izuku explained. “One of the reasons I became fluent in English was because of Kacchan. Kacchan’s family travels a lot due to their job, English was important to learn, since I was always at their house, I also learned it. Sometimes Kacchan would only speak English to me, so that I’d learn it quicker,” Izuku chuckled to himself. Kacchan always called him a gremlin, but Izuku would beg to differ on who owned that title.

“But does Kacchan know any French?” Aoyama’s flamboyant voice interrupted the class's commotion. “That is the most important language of all, oui?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, Kacchan knows French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and English. I can’t speak all of them, which Kacchan thinks is hilarious, always speaking to me in another language and laughing when I can’t respond.” Izuku stuck his tongue out. “But I know a few phrases in each.”

“Wow!” Kaminari cried. “Kacchan seems so cultured!” Sero and Uraraka nodded in agreement, looking a little stunned.

“So is Kacchan actually your girlfriend?” Todoroki piped up suddenly.

Izuku’s face turned red again. Why did he feel embarrassed at the question? “Uh…” he stuttered. Just then the bell rang out, and everyone snapped forward as Aizawa’s tired voice brought order.

“Save the gossip for after class, please.” He plopped a big stack of papers on top of his desk. It was like the mood suddenly shifted, as everyone was reminded about grades. “Izuku,” Aizawa called out suddenly. “While I pass out grades, would you pass out the information sheets on the training camp to the class?”

Eraser didn’t even wait for Izuku to agree before the man started passing out the reports, so Izuku just made his way to front and grabbed the stack. Cheers and groans could be heard in tandem as each person saw their scores.

“No!” Kaminari and Ashido cried together.

“Don’t bother giving me a packet, Midoriya,” Kaminari cried onto his desk. “I’m not going.”

Izuku paused before eyeing his dad.

“That was a logical ruse!” Aizawa broke the news, a feral smile on his face.

“What?!” Kaminari, Ashido, Kirishima, and Satou yelled in unison.

“People who failed need the training camp more than anyone, it would be detrimental to keep you from going,” Aizawa explained as those four sank in relief. “But.” That made them pause. “Those who failed will spend their evenings during camp in remedial lessons.”

There seemed to be literally tears pouring from Kaminari’s eyes. “At least I still get to go,” his hands reached for Izuku where he stood. “Gimme one of those, Midoriya, I’m going to camp!”

With an amused look, he passed over the packet, and continued to hand out the rest of them, saving himself for last. Aizawa started explaining procedures about camp and things like that, but Izuku tuned him out. He can always ask later if need be. Instead, he finally pulled out his report to see his grade.

Almost all perfect scores. Not too bad. Still number one in the class, too. Looking up quickly, Izuku checked to make sure that Aizawa wasn’t looking his way before he surreptitiously pulled out his phone and took a picture. He sent it to Kacchan without looking and immediately his phone buzzed in response.

Way to go, nerd, but looks like you need to pay attention more in science.

Izuku stuck his tongue out as if the blond could see it.

“Midoriya, care to share with the class?” Aizawa’s voice broke his focus on texting the blond back. He looked up quickly to see everyone staring at him.

“Uh…” the bell rang. Whew. Saved again. Aizawa just continued to glare at him as Present Mic made his entrance. Izuku just winked back. Sucks.  

The rest of the classes were spent just reviewing information. Each teacher went over the commonly missed questions of their final. This meant that Izuku could continue to tune out. His thoughts wandered to Kacchan. I wonder how the shoot is going he thought as he stared out the window. Kacchan never talked much about his work. He would tell crazy stories, but the mundane he normally left out.

It wasn’t until after the last class, when everyone was making their way back to the dorms, that Izuku finally got to read the message Kacchan sent earlier.

Kacchan: I can always tutor your dumb ass when I get back, you moron.

Izuku smiled. Science just so happened to be Kacchan’s best subject. Why? The greenette didn’t really know, but this was an excuse to see his best friend more often, and he’d take it.

Izuku: Who you calling an idiot, jerk? I’m top of my class, which is more than you can say, but sure I’ll take those lessons, just don’t hold me back.

Kacchan: What the fuck did you say?!

                I’ll have you know that I was top of my fuckking class! You’re gonna ace your next exam, nerd.

Izuku: Kacchan, you were homeschooled. That doesn’t mean anything.

Kacchan: Fuck you, Deku. I’m sure if I were in your class, I’d be dominating all those extras.

Izuku rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him.

“What’d you say, Midorin? Are you coming?”

Izuku looked up, surprised. First to see that he was somehow back in the dorm. When did that happen? Next to see the entire class gathered around and looking at him expectantly.

“Umm…” he hummed, trying to see if he could find any clues to what they were saying. Shinso just looked at him smugly, like he knew Izuku was clueless and wouldn’t help him. Koda was actually having a quiet conversation with Shoji so he was no help.

“Were you even listening?” Ashido pouted.

“I think he was texting someone!” Kaminari called, pointing at the incriminating phone in Izuku’s hand. Ashido’s eyes glinted.

“Oh ho, who are you texting Midorin? Is it your girlfriend?”

“Am I coming to what?!” Izuku squeaked trying to redirect the conversation. Why did he freak out any time someone asked if Kacchan was his girlfriend? He was actively trying to make them think that. He needed to pull himself together. Seems like it worked because Ashido instantly started to answer.

“Most of us were talking and realized that we needed some stuff for the training camp and decided to go to the mall this Saturday. Are you coming along?”

Izuku shook his head the second she said the day. “Can’t,” he responded to a few disappointed reactions. “I’m hanging out with Kacchan that day. The flight gets in this week, but I can’t see Kacchan until the weekend. We made the plans last Friday.”

“Well, then, bring Kacchan with you!” She cried looking excited.

“Travel makes Kacchan tired and irritable,” Izuku immediately shut down the idea, “so we are just going to stay in. Plus, I’ve missed Kacchan, I just want to hang out with the two of us.”

Ashido and Hagakure squeaked. “So sweet!” Uraraka breathed out.

Koda made eye contact with the greenette. You two are disgustingly cute.

Izuku blushed hard. Shut up, you know that Kacchan is my best friend.

The look Koda gave him was deadpan. Yeah, you two really seem platonic.

Izuku glared and marched upstairs. He had homework to do.

 ***

After class on Saturday, Izuku was quick to change in the dorms and leave campus.

“Have fun on your date!” Ashido yelled after him as he left the dorm. Izuku just waved back, not denying the statement, just wanting to leave.

The Bakugous lived fairly close to the UA campus, just one stop on the train. Izuku was happy to know that they had never moved. This would be his first time back to their house since he was 11, but it all still felt familiar. Like he had walked these streets just yesterday.

On his way from the train station to their house, he passed the little playground that he and Kacchan played in when they were young. The memories weren’t always great, though. Rubbing at his cheek, he recalled time after time when he would stand up to bullies for someone else only to take the hit instead. He remembered the bruises and the scraps, and the fact that whoever he saved spit on him when they left more often than not. Kacchan always told him to fight back during those times. Izuku never did.

He also remembered the times, though, when Kacchan would find him crying in the park. The blond would grumble and complain but handle the greenette with infinite care as he led him home to bandage him up. It was… sweet.

Izuku shook himself out of his thoughts and continued onward. Luckily, while his old apartment was close, Izuku wouldn’t have to pass it on his way. He hadn’t been back since the police came and took him away.

Finally, he stood in front of the two-story house, the name plate proudly saying Bakugou. There were even the small scratches from when Izuku tried to add his name to it but was caught by Auntie. Izuku pursed his lips. Maybe he still could…

“Hey loser!” Kacchan yelled from the porch causing Izuku to lose hold of the screwdriver he had taken out of his belt. He looked up with wide eyes, with a guilty look across his face.

“Get away from our plaque, you moron!” Kacchan rolled his eyes. Izuku slunk up to the porch, eyes sheepish.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Kacchan,” the greenette said, voice high. “I was… just fixing it! It seemed a little loose! You know? And I just had a screwdriver on hand,” Izuku laughed suspiciously. “Just thought I’d fix it!”

Kacchan’s eyes roved up and down his figure, narrowed and burning. Izuku shifted from foot to foot. Yep, he was totally not suspicious. Just your average helpful friend. Yep! Eventually it seemed like Kacchan gave up looking for whatever it was as he waved Izuku into the house with an eye roll.

“Whatever, nerd.” Izuku let out the breath he was holding. “You know!” Kacchan said casually looking forward. “If you really wanted your name on that, all you have to do is actually fucking ask the old hag. She’d be more than happy.”

Izuku stumbled over his own feet, the only thing keeping him from face-planting was Kacchan’s arm across his chest.

“Sometimes I really think that you are making up the whole vigilante thing,” the blond scoffed.

“Hey!” Izuku popped back up furiously, but before Izuku could reply Kacchan kept talking.

“So, how’s school been, nerd?” Kacchan asked while kicking open his bedroom door.

Izuku eyed the blond as he moved to sit on his bed. “I’ll only give you details if you actually give me details about your trip.” All he got back was a click on the blond’s tongue. That works.

Before Kacchan could even say anything, Izuku threw himself onto the bed, draping himself over the blond’s lap, like he had done as a kid. Izuku might have landed a little harder than he meant to because Kacchan let out a grunt of pain at the action.

“Ge’off me!” He roared shoving Izuku onto the ground. He was not going to stand for that. Izuku grabbed Kacchan’s ankle and pulled, the blond hitting the ground next to him. His fiery gaze settled onto the greenette in a fierce glare.

“You’re on,” Kacchan growled, his already deep voice nearly vibrating with its intensity. Kacchan lunged at him quickly, Izuku managed to roll from the attack and brought his foot down across the other’s back. Kacchan face planted into the floor but managed to grab Izuku’s wrist and pull. The greenette rotated against his will, and Kacchan used that momentum to pull himself on top of Izuku, trying to pin his wrists down, but before the blond could settle. Izuku bucked his hips sending the other over the top. Kacchan’s eyes widened in surprise as he flipped, his back hitting the ground. Izuku was quick to scramble over him and pin him down completely. Kacchan struggled in the hold before tapping out.

An ecstatic smile crossed his face before he stuck his tongue out at the blond in victory.

“Ha! Take that, Kacchan!” he crowed. Green eyes swung back to the red, and there he saw a proud smirk settling onto the blond’s face. Kacchan started to sit up, causing Izuku to move from his perch on top of the blond. A rough hand rubbed at his head before pushing it down.

“Good job, nerd. Maybe you can be a vigilante after all,” he snarked.

Izuku huffed and pushed the hand away. “Jerk.”

“Will you two brats keep quiet!” Auntie Mitsuki yelled from the doorway. Izuku startled pretty hard at her voice, while Kacchan didn’t even flinch. “It’s like you two didn’t grow up any!” She huffed, but the expression on her face betrayed her, her eyes soft and a small smile lit up her face.

“Sorry, Auntie,” Izuku mumbled, sufficiently cowed.

“Get out of my room old hag!” Kacchan yelled, throwing a pillow at the door. Mitsuki just whacked it down and gave her son a small glare.

“This is still my house, brat,” she stated. “Can you two possibly hang out quietly for longer than two seconds.” She shifted her weight, hand on her hip while she looked at them.

“Deku’s old man doesn’t complain!” Kacchan retorted. Mitsuki’s eyes narrowed further.

“Oh he does,” she sounded tired. “He definitely does.” She turned around to leave while still muttering. Izuku thought he heard something about ‘pawning off devil spawn onto her’ and ‘knew exactly what he was doing.’ Izuku watched as she left, eyes curious. What did she mean?

“Well, Deku,” Kacchan interrupted his thoughts. “Are you ever going to tell me about how that hero school of yours is recently? I’ve had enough incoherent rants over text, I came prepared.”

From seemingly nowhere, Kacchan whipped out a bowl of his favorite spicy chips and settled down. Izuku smacked his thigh.

“I don’t talk that much!” All he received was a blank stare and a purposeful crunch on a chip. Well, the blond asked for it.

Izuku proceeded to tell the blond everything. The greenette had always been naturally talkative when with the right people, but it had been a long time since he was comfortable enough with someone other than Aizawa to let that happen. Really, it had been since the last time he saw Kacchan before middle school. He explained everything that had happened since he got back from his internship, every spar and every test. It really shouldn’t have taken that long since it was only two weeks worth of material, but by the time he was done, Kacchan’s spicy chips had long since been finished and Mitsuki was calling them down for dinner.

“And now some of the class think we are on a date now,” Izuku said before he thought about it, standing up from the ground. His legs shook as the blood rushed back into them. Ouch.

Kacchan gave him a weird look. “You didn’t think to correct them?”

Izuku shrugged, pulling Kacchan to his feet as they left his room. “Well, they have this misunderstanding of who you are, and I thought it was funny, so I never corrected them in the first place. Just figured, let them think what they want. Plus, you have to admit, it is funny.”

Kacchan shook his head. “What did I do to end up with a gremlin like you as my friend?”

Izuku laughed while grabbing his hand to make the blond walk fast, he was hungry. “Your first word was my name and I decided then and there that you were never getting rid of me.”

Kacchan huffed behind him, digging in his feet, but jokes on him, Izuku had gained a lot of muscle over the years if he hadn’t realized that yet in all their impromptu spars. Izuku was not to be deterred and soon they were stumbling into the dining room. Auntie had made the Bakugou famous curry, and at the sight Izuku’s mouth was drooling. All thoughts of dragging Kacchan were forgotten as he let go of the blond, causing the boy to almost fall backwards with the loss of the greenette’s weight.

“You made your curry!” Izuku gushed while taking in the sight with wide eyes.

“Sure thing, sprout,” she laughed. “I even remembered to have your extra sauce for the side.” She pointed to the little sauce jar beside one of the plates. Oh, Izuku was in heaven. He missed Bakugou dinners, they were the only ones he knew that like spicy food. Izuku was going to cry!

Scratch that he was crying. Mitsuki just laughed and ruffled his hair. “Glad you approve.”

“Where’s the old man?” Kacchan asked as Izuku tried to dry his tears.

“He had to work late at the office tonight. One of the models tore the staple gown, and he needed to fix it.” Mitsuki lamented. Izuku had to be honest, the fashion business sounded stressful. He was glad he wasn’t pursuing that as his career. No sir, he would gladly take fighting villains to protect the city over torn gowns and sewing. He shuddered. The Bakugous were made of sterner stuff.

“Well!” Mitsuki clapped her hands. “Let’s eat!”

Izuku heaped the food into his bowl. It looked and smelled so good! He took one bite normally, the heat burning the back of his tongue slightly, ah this was the stuff. Before his next bite, he pulled over the sauce jar and dumped a heaping amount on top. His next bite actually made his eyes water. It had been too long since he had had food like this.

Next to him, Kacchan was also going to town on his curry, but the blond’s face was turning red.

“This is hotter than normal,” Kacchan remarked, swigging down a big gulp of water.

“Izuku told me he hadn’t had spicy food in a while,” Mitsuki said, drinking her own water as her face lit up too. “Figured I’d treat him.”

Izuku smiled brightly, steadily eating his curry, nonplused.

“You want some of my special sauce, Kacchan?” Izuku asked innocently, pushing the small jar toward the blond. A red glare was the answer.

“I love spicy food, Deku,” Kacchan remarked. “But you’re just insane.”

Izuku hummed, happily scraping his bowl at the bottom. He held his bowl out questioningly for seconds. Mitsuki just laughed and waved him on. Not hesitating a second, Izuku refilled his bowl and poured more of the special spicy sauce that the Bakugous had always kept on hand for him. Amazing. Izuku truly was being spoiled.

Before long, the table was empty. Mitsuki looked at the empty dishes with her eyebrow raised. “It’s a good thing I set aside Masaru’s portion before dinner.”

Izuku turned bright red. “Oh no! I’m sorry I ate so much! You should have told me to stop!”

Kacchan smacked him on the back of the head. “We expected this, idiot.” He scoffed. “You’re a hero-in-training, of course the amount you eat is going to be ridiculous, plus you always were a garbage disposal when we were younger.” Mitsuki nodded along with her son’s words.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He still felt bad, but when Mitsuki stood up with her bowl in hand Izuku had an idea. Quickly, he got up with his own dishes and took hers.

“Go relax,” Izuku said, pushing her out towards the living room. “Me and Kacchan can do the dishes.”

“Like hell we will!” Kacchan yelled as Mitsuki smiled.

“Sounds good to me,” she waved behind her. “You’re such a good kid, Izuku, unlike my brat.” Her glare was playful as she looked towards Kacchan.

“Com’on Kacchan!” Izuku called, setting the dishes he had in the sink. “The quicker we get this down, the sooner we can get to me beating you at Smash Bros.”

“Shut up, Deku!” Kacchan yelled as he marched his dishes to the sink. “I’m going to crush you this time, you little punk!”

Izuku glanced at the blond out of the corner of his eye as he started to fill the sink with water. “Whatever you want to believe, Kacchan,” Izuku teased. The blond glared back before whacking him with the dish towel he held. Izuku gave the blond a scandalized look before splashing soapy water all over him. The screech Kacchan gave off made Izuku laugh, gearing up for a fight.

“Not. In. My. Kitchen. Boys.” Izuku and Kacchan paused, their faces paling. This… this was a bad decision.

“Sorry, Auntie!” Izuku yelped, turning back to clean the dishes. Kacchan joined him grumbling under his breath as he took the now clean dish from Izuku to dry.

“I swear, not even two minutes!” Mitsuki could be heard grumbling as well. “Why did I need to be the one to take them for the weekend?” Her voice faded out as she seemed to move away.

Green eyes met red for a beat. Then their laughter broke out through the kitchen. Izuku’s eyes watering from the force of it.

“Oh man,” he sighed. “I forgot how intimidating Auntie could be.”

“Try living with her,” Kacchan remarked. “Hag has ears of a fucking bat, I swear.”

“I heard that you brat!” Mitsuki’s voice echoed from wherever she had found herself.  Kacchan just gestured with his hand and both eyebrows raised as if saying ‘see’.

Izuku chuckled again. He had missed this.

It didn’t take them long to finish up, and soon the kitchen was spotless. That’s when the boys found themselves set up in front of Kacchan’s flatscreen he had in his room, his switch hooked up. Kacchan was setting up the game when Izuku drawled, “So, are you finally going to tell me about the photoshoot?”

“No.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku whined leaning into the blond’s side and forcing him to lean as well. “You said you would if I told you about school!”

“Never said I would, you just assumed,” Kacchan said, pushing back at Izuku. “Now ge’off me, you slug!”

Izuku just pressed harder, almost lying completely on his side now. “How dare you Kacchan! I am a snake at worst and you know that!”

Kacchan struggled more, trying to get leverage to push Izuku away, but the greenette had trained for this. With his full weight, he splayed on top of the blond, trapping his arms at an awkward angel.

“Fine!” Kacchan snapped. “I’ll tell your ungrateful ass, just sit up, you worm.”

This time Izuku didn’t complain about the insect name, he just popped up right and looked excitedly at his friend. Kacchan righted himself and rolled his eyes.

“It was at a garden, there were roses ‘n stuff.”

Izuku just continued looking at the blond who fiddled with his controller.

.

.

.

“That’s it?” Izuku cried outraged.

“What else is there to tell?” Kacchan shrugged, looking unrepentant.

“So much!” Izuku whined. “What was it for? What did you wear? Was there anyone else, or were you the single model? Was it for Auntie and Uncle’s fashion line? Why was it in London? Did you get to do anything else while you were there?” Izuku listed off.

Kacchan just looked at him. It was then that Izuku did someone that he would normally never do. He had grown a spine, for goodness’ sake, but he wanted answers! Izuku screwed up his face, pouting at the blond. Honestly, when he was young, he knew people were weak to his puppy dog eyes, he was just too nice to use them. Not anymore… He hoped it still worked.

Kacchan blinked at him, his face slowly turning red. After a minute, the blond pushed his hand into Izuku’s face causing him to tumble backwards.

“Fine!” the blond barked. Izuku wasn’t even going to complain about the pushing. He’d take what he could get. Instead, he settled into the beanbag with a wiggle.

“It wasn’t for my folk’s line,” Kacchan gave in with a heavy sigh. “I was requested for a perfume ad for some big wig company in London. They are the ones who picked the spot and everything. Perfume ads are weird,” Kacchan shuddered. “That’s all I’m giving you on that.”

Izuku started to whine. He wanted more!

“Shut up, will you?” Kacchan snapped. “I’ll tell you more about the trip, but you have to stop whining every chance you get.”

Izuku slapped a hand over his own mouth and winked at the blond. Another eye roll was his answer. One of these days, Kacchan’s eyes were really going to get stuck in his head when he did that.

“The old man got us lost on the Tube.”

“What?” Izuku couldn’t help but exclaim, luckily the blond didn’t mind. Instead, he just giggled harshly.

“Took us the wrong direction and then got us on the wrong connection when we were trying to get back. Instead, we ended halfway across the city in this dinky little alley…” Kacchan started to explain.

Izuku listened in rapture, watching the way the blond got invested in his own story. It was like he became someone else, his hands waved, and even his face got into the animated telling. This… this is why Izuku always wanted more from Kacchan. The blond always seemed so open and approachable when he was telling stories, but it was rare for him to allow this of himself.

Izuku ooh’ed and aah’ed and cringed throughout the story, the game laying forgotten nearby.

 ***

Katsuki was not a talker. For as much as he grumbled and groaned, he was actually a listener. Whenever Deku went off on one of his rambles, Katsuki paid attention the whole time whether or not he appeared to. He liked listening to what the other had to say; one could tell so much about a person through the way they talked.

Katsuki wasn’t a talker, but whenever Deku asked him to, he would. He’d grumble and groan, more so than when listening, but he always caved. The greenette always said he was the best storyteller, and Katsuki privately took pride in that.

So that evening, he talked and talked, telling Deku every crazy adventure they had gotten up to in London. Trust him, it was a lot. The Bakugous were made for chaos, even his old man, but no one ever believed that of him until they saw it for themselves. Oh no, Masaru typically started the chaos.

Izuku laughed and giggled as he talked, telling the story of how the old man got food poisoning from a little hole in the wall where they had eaten because he wanted to try the ‘local cuisine.’

Eventually in the middle of the story of how they almost missed their flight home because the old hag saw a Pomeranian dog and made the taxi driver stop so she could pet it, something hit his shoulder. Katsuki’s words trailed off, looking down. Izuku was passed out, drool already dribbling from his mouth. Disgusting. But with an even more disgusting amount of fondness, Kacchan lifted the boy up and laid him down across the beanbags. Izuku looked comfortable enough, so the blond left him there, covering him with a few blankets, knowing the greenette got cold at night.

It wasn’t long before Katsuki laid in his own bed staring at the ceiling, a smile on his face. He’d missed this.

 ***

Sunday was spent at the mall. Once Izuku finally looked at the packing list during breakfast with the Bakugous, he had the sudden realization that he didn’t have a few essentials.

Izuku hated the mall, but not as much as Kacchan. It took a lot of begging, pleading, and bribing to finally convince the blond to come with him. Seeing as all his classmates had gone the day before, Izuku felt okay going to the one nearby.

Just because he had finally convinced Kacchan, didn’t mean that the blond went along happily. Oh no, the entire ride there the blond made his hatred of it known. His cursing caused quite a few moms to glare at the duo. Izuku was used to it though and quickly tuned it out.

Hmm. He needed to buy bug spray, a few gadgets for his support items, hot/cold compression packets and tape. Maybe a few other items.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, that Kacchan had to drag him off the train when they arrived at their stop. Izuku looked up in surprise before beaming down at the blond.

“Thanks, Kacchan!” With a quick tug on the hand that was already holding his from the train ride, Izuku pulled his friend along behind him. The mall itself was only about a block from the station, so it didn’t take long for them to find themselves in the midst of the heavy crowd that frequented the mall.

Izuku was horribly reminded why he hated malls. Too many people. With a grimace he suddenly stopped walking, causing Kacchan to run into him from behind.

“I changed my mind, Kacchan, I don’t want to be here. I can survive without these items,” Izuku said while quickly turning around and tried to book it back where they came from. He was yanked back by his hand, still caught in the blond’s.

“Oh no,” Kacchan growled. “You forced me to come here with you, and we’re staying. I don’t want to be here anymore than you do. Sucks doesn’t it?” With that, it was now Kacchan who was dragging Izuku along. Izuku wanted to cry. He had made an awful decision.

It took way longer than it should to finally make it to the sports good store located halfway through the mall. Izuku had been bumped and touched too much along that journey for his liking. Luckily the store was quiet with very few people shopping in it.

It didn’t take long to find the things he needed, but he wandered around, prolonging the time before he had to endure the crush again. Kacchan followed loudly behind. The thing, though, is that Izuku hated shopping so after only a few minutes, he wanted to move on.

They hustled from store to store buying what was needed, and maybe even dropping into the little hero merch shop that was there. Izuku didn’t have a lot of merch, especially compared to when he was younger as he had gotten more picky about the heroes that he liked, but he still found joy in finding figures, plushies, or posters that depicted the few he thought were truly good.

They were on their way out of the mall about two hours later when Izuku felt a hand wrap around his neck from behind. Kacchan was walking in front of him currently ‘splitting the masses’ as he called it, so it wasn’t him.

“Don’t move,” a raspy voice whispered in his ear, causing Izuku to become tense for a moment.

It clicked fast in his head, though. The greenette rolled his eyes and shoved an elbow, none too gently, into the stomach behind him causing his ‘attacker’ to grunt in pain.

“Deku?” Kacchan asked, turning around. When he saw the sketchy man in the black hoodie holding onto Izuku, the greenette could see the anger rising in him.

“Wait, Kacchan!” Izuku cried out raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Wait, I know this person.”

Kacchan stood down, but still looked wary. It wasn’t until the hand was removed from his neck, that the blond seemed to relax at all.

Izuku turned and whacked the other upside the head. “Nice going, idiot. Are you trying to get in trouble with the police?”

Tenko smirked in response, giving a shrug. “What? Can’t a guy come and say hi to his friend without someone calling the cops?”

“Not when you make it look like a threat,” Izuku sounded exasperated. Kacchan was looking back and forth between the two with confusion and distrust. 

“Kacchan,” Izuku said, getting the blond’s attention. “This is Shimura Tenko, I met him about a few months into the orphanage situation. We became friends and he’s been helping me out ever since.”

Izuku watched while the blond eyed Tenko, saying nothing. “Tenko, this is Kacchan, my c…”

“Ah!” Tenko interrupted, looking pleased. “So, you’re the childhood friend that Izuku never shuts up about.”

“Tenko!” Izuku cried, blushing red. Kacchan’s eyebrow raised, looking interested.

“I thought he’d be taller.” And just like that Kacchan looked murderous again.

“Shove off, Crusty!” Kacchan yelled, grabbing Izuku’s hand and pulling him along. “Com’on Deku, we’re out of here.”

Behind them Tenko just laughed brightly. “Nice to meet you Kacchan !” Kacchan growled but kept marching. Izuku eventually found his balance so he wasn’t stumbling and adjusted his gait to match up with the blond.

“Com’on Kacchan, he was just riling you up. That’s what Tenko does, but he honestly is a good guy.”

Kacchan grumbled a little bit before picking up speed. “Whatever Deku. I trust you, but we gotta get back soon. Old hag is making lunch, then you gotta get back to UA.”

Izuku knew that Kacchan still wasn’t happy, but he let it drop for the moment, jogging alongside the blond. He just wanted to enjoy their time together, afterall.

Chapter Text

End of the day Sunday came all too soon for Izuku’s liking. He just really wished he could see the blond more often.

“Get going, Deku,” Kacchan said, shoving the boy’s yellow backpack into his arms. “You’re going to miss the last train if you wait any longer.”

Izuku abandoned all dignity to pout at the blond. “But Kacchan! What if I just didn’t go to the training camp and stayed here instead.” He received a deadpan look from the boy, who then promptly shoved him out the door and slammed it in his face.

“Oh, come on!” Izuku cried, pounding his fist on the door. “At least walk me to the station, you jerk!” He yelled. Nothing. No response. Rude. Turning, the pout still firmly fixed on his face, Izuku started for the station, dragging his feet along behind him.

“Oi!” Kacchan suddenly called. Izuku turned around with a hopeful expression. Sure enough, the blond was tapping his shoes on and yelling back into the house that he was leaving. Izuku ran back, hugging the blond tightly before dragging him along to the station.

“Have some more pride in yourself, moron,” Kacchan complained. “Stooping yourself to pouting and puppy dog eyes. You're supposed to be a hero!”

Izuku smirked at the blond, swinging their hands in between them. “I have pride, I’ll have you know,” he quipped. “I pride myself on playing you like a fiddle, Kacchan.”

The blond sputtered and yelled. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean, you beanpole?”

Izuku patted his shoulder condescendingly. “Well, I got you to come along with me, didn’t I?”

Kacchan tried to yank his hand away, but Izuku hadn’t built up his grip strength for nothing. (He might have actually built it up to be able to scale buildings, but that wasn’t important.) Instead, he just held on tighter and pulled the blond along with him. What a sight they were if anyone was looking. A tall, greenette covered in tattoos, piercings, and scars that had a wide and bright smile on his face, and a shorter blond who was a famous model bearing a deep scowl and a blush.

“I won’t be allowed to have my phone on me during the training camp,” Izuku started to explain as they drew closer to him leaving. “Dad said there wouldn’t be any cell service anyway, so I’ll text you when I get back. Okay, Kacchan?”

“Whatever, nerd,” Kacchan punched his shoulder lightly as they stood on the platform waiting. “Just don’t get into too much trouble.”

Izuku laid a hand on his chest, acting shocked. “Me? Trouble? Without you? Impossible.”

Kacchan deemed to hit him a little harder at which Izuku just laughed and pulled the blond into a hug.

“I’ll try, Kacchan, but you know me. I really can’t guarantee anything,” Izuku assured as the blond tried to push him away before seemingly giving up and hugging back.

“Hear from you in a week, nerd,” Kacchan said when Izuku finally pulled away as his train pulled up.

“Bye, Kacchan,” Izuku waved. Kacchan returned his wave half-heartedly with an ever-rare smile.

Izuku settled back into the seat by the door, putting on his headphones and blasting his music. The heavy guitar came in, and he slumped down. It was always rough saying goodbye for any period of time. Leaving the Bakugous made him truly grateful that his dad was his teacher; he never had to give him up for an extended period of time.

Izuku tried to clear his mind, staring out the window as shapes rushed by. Life was good, it would be fine.

It wasn’t long before he walked through the doors of Heights Alliance. It… it looked like a tornado blew through. Was everyone packing their bags in the common room? Why would they even do that? Why not in their rooms?

“Welcome back Midori-bro!” Kirishima called out as he sat on his suitcase while trying to zip it up. Around him, their other classmates ran to and from the stairs carrying clothes, training equipment, and food.

“I must ask that everyone stops running through the dorms! It is against school rules and extremely dange…” Iida was cut off with a grunt Uraraka slammed into his back. She apparently wasn’t paying attention as she reached out to stabilize herself, catching Iida with her quirk sending him to the ceiling.

“Oh shoot,” the girl breathed out, sounding annoyed. “Not again.”

Izuku watched as she released her quirk, and Iida crashed to the floor that was already littered with pillows and blankets.

“That… that’s happened before?” Izuku asked the air.

“Oh yeah,” Jirou said casually, coming up beside him munching on nuts. “That’s the sixth time in the past hour. We learned to keep the padding on the floor after the second time.”

Izuku looked at her, worriedly. “Why is everyone packing in here? What is the point of this?”

Jirou shrugged with a smirk. “Hell if I know. I finished packing yesterday. I’ve just been enjoying the chaos. Uraraka isn’t the only one that’s had multiple quirk accidents.”

Jirou pointed to the trash can where he saw numerous items that were partially melted or crushed spilling out of it.

"I'm… gonna go to my room,” Izuku blurted out fast walking away from the hot mess they called their class. He had almost escaped without being noticed by anyone else, but when he opened the stairway door, Ashido burst out.

“Oh, Izu-kun!” She looked excited. “How was your date?” Her voice was loud enough to cause everyone to look over. The greenette’s face flooded red instantly.

“Ohitwasgreatgottagopackbye!” Izuku pushed his way around her and bolted up the stairs. Successful.

He slammed open his door and quickly shut it before walking over to his bed and face planting on top of it, backpack thumping against him with the motion. He just wanted to sleep, but if he didn’t pack now, he would have to wake up at 4 AM to be ready for the bus that was leaving at 6.

With a groan, he wormed his way off the bed to the floor before standing up and getting started. He sent a quick text to Eraser, first. His dad should have gotten an alert when he came through the gate, all teachers did for their students, but he wanted to let him know personally.

Eraser just sent a thumbs up back.

With that done, he pulled out his orange duffle and tossed everything into it, including all the things he had bought earlier that day, just leaving them in the packages and bags. It took him all of ten minutes to do.

Now that that was done, Izuku flopped on his bed again and passed out quickly. It was an eventful day, to say the least.

 ***

When his alarm started screaming at him at 5 AM, Izuku wanted to kill a man. Yes, he had passed out at 9, right when he had gotten in, but he had woken up at midnight and couldn’t get back to sleep! His hand smashed into his phone, silencing it. Izuku laid in the darkness for a few minutes before peeling his back away from his bed. If one person talked to him this morning…

“Bonjour!”

Izuku found his first victim.

“Are you excited for the training camp?” Aoyama literally sparkled in the low hallway lights. Izuku grunted lowly and stumbled down the hall, dragging his duffle along behind him. “I know I am! What do you think we are going to do? Where do you think we are going?” Aoyama continued to ask questions as he followed along.

The common room was already buzzing with noise when he arrived. How was everyone so loud and lively when they woke up?

Multiple people tried to talk to him as he made his way to the kitchen, but he ignored them all. Three hours of sleep was not enough to deal with all this.

You okay? Koda signed to him when they made eye contact. Izuku scowled.

I’ll take that as a no. Koda sighed, looking at him with an exasperated expression. Your coffee is almost done. I went ahead and put it on for you.

His scowl softened. You saint. Izuku fumbled out through his hands.

Izuku made it to the kitchen and saw that the pot had only a few seconds left. Bliss.

“Good morning, Midorin!” Ashido exclaimed. “You never did answer me last night!”

Izuku bypassed the pink girl and ripped the pot out of the machine right as it beeped. Not even hesitating he lifted the pot to his lips and chugged. It wasn’t until he had finished and put the pot back on to fill it again that he realized the common room was now dead silent. A miracle.

“Uh, Midoriya?” He heard Kaminari ask hesitantly. He turned around to see what that was about when he saw that everyone was staring at his aghast. Izuku tilted his head in question, still too tired to form words.

“Midoriya-kun,” Yaomomo looked scared. “Are you okay? That pot was boiling hot! You should not have drunk it like that! You are probably burned from it!”

The words took a second to make their way through Izuku’s head, his eyes turning dazed as he tried to compute.

“Koda says this is normal behavior for him,” Shinso’s voice rang out through the horrified silence. Everyone’s eyes bounced between Shinso, Koda, and Izuku at this.

“Wait, Shinso, you know sign language?” Kaminari blurted out.

Shinso shrugged. “I know very little, but enough to get what Koda was trying to say.”

“He does this often,” Koda’s small and shaky voice could be heard saying.

“What the hell?” a few screamed.

Izuku glared fiercely as his hand reached out for the pot again. It was almost done.

“I think it would be wise to keep our voices down,” Iida interrupted the panic, looking at the dark aura surrounding the greenette.

The machine beeped, and everyone went quiet, watching the resident cryptid warily. Izuku just calmly pulled out his big mug and dumped half the pot into it. This time he added some cream and sugar before grabbing the mug in both hands and draining it quickly. After washing his cup in the awkward silence, Izuku wandered over to the couch and crashed, falling asleep the second his head hit the cushion.

“I… I don’t think coffee is supposed to do that…” Shoji sounded scared. A few nodded in agreement. The class remained silent as they finished getting ready, everyone leaving a wide berth between them and the greenette. Almost no one noticed when Todoroki carefully laid a blanket over the boy, but Koda gave him a small thumbs up. Seemed like not everyone was scared of the greenette at the moment.

Just then the door slammed open, and Aizawa marched in. “Time to go,” he tried to say, but was harshly interrupted by the whole class shushing him and pointing to his son. Judging by their expressions, he knew exactly what had happened. With a roll of his eyes, he walked up to the greenette and smacked him upside the head. “Time to go, problem child.”

There was a harsh intake of breath from all of them at the action. Kaminari even dove behind Kirishima who had activated his hardening. Ashido and Uraraka hid behind Iida who was looking scared as well. Yaomomo and Jirou had grabbed each other’s hands. This couldn’t end well.

Izuku sat up blearily, blinking glazed eyes while his head rocked on his shoulders. “Get on the bus, kid.” Izuku nodded, looking more like a bobblehead than a human, and dragged himself from the couch.

Everyone watched in shock as the greenette just stumbled out the door, his small orange duffle dragging along the floor behind him. Not even a reaction.

“As I said, it’s time to go. There will be no goofing off or yelling on the bus. Anybody caught doing such will have extra chores when we arrive. There will be no breaks until we get there, so be prepared,” Aizawa droned out, sounding just as tired as the greenette. “Get on the bus.” With that Aizawa turned sharply and made his way out. Looks like Izuku had made it to the bus door but missed and was currently just leaning against the side.

Why was his son like this? It wasn’t until Aizawa had maneuvered the greenette onto the bus and into one of the first seats against the window, that the rest of the class followed suit. Koda was the first one on. He took one look at the greenette who was drooling against the window before sitting down beside him.

Everyone couldn’t help but look a little relieved that they wouldn’t have to be the one to risk sitting next to him. That boy could be terrifying sometimes.

Aizawa just watched in amusement. They were all afraid of the same boy who coo’ed at their cats like they were babies and was afraid of any type of bug. Kid could be intimidating, but he lost all credit the second Aizawa found him singing off-key to Tobi while swinging him around the living room.

He met the eyes of Koda who looked just as amused at the situation. They exchanged a wordless nod. Izuku had a good friend in that kid.

Aizawa decided to join him. He popped two melatonin and laid against the window and was out like a light.

 ***

Izuku came to a few hours later to chatter on the bus. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his eyes before looking around. How’d he even get on the bus?

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Looking over he saw Koda.

Good morning, Izuku. Are you feeling any better?

Izuku looked a little confused. Hey. When did we get on the bus?

Koda snorted. We left at 6 AM this morning. It is now 10, you’ve been asleep for the past four hours.

But I don’t even remember getting on the bus! Izuku was just getting more confused.

That’s because I don’t think you were even awake. You chugged one and a half pots of coffee straight from the pot and then passed out on the couch. I think you gave everyone a heart attack. Koda looked amused.

Sounds like something I’d do. Izuku shrugged. Nothing he could do about that now. Everyone knew he needed his coffee in the morning.

“You alive there, Midoriya?” He heard Shinso ask from behind him.

“Oh, morning, Shinso,” Izuku replied, turning around. “I’m definitely feeling better now.”

They were interrupted by Eraser standing up at the front of the bus. Apparently, they had stopped.

“Everyone get off and stretch your legs,” he said dryly. “We are almost to camp.”

A few of his classmates rushed off, tired of sitting for so many hours. Izuku just squinted at his dad. This was suspicious. Aizawa noticed and just smirked back. That… didn’t make Izuku feel any better, but even though he had slept the entire time, Izuku didn’t want to stay behind on the bus to wait. Grabbing his small gear bag, just in case, he hopped down the steps and made his way over to Koda and his small group.

They were talking about what they expected out of the training camp. Izuku wasn’t participating, though; he just stood with them taking in his surroundings. Something was off. It felt like there were too many voices. He whipped around, and there he saw two people and a kid standing near Eraser, the two older ladies were talking with his dad, but it didn’t look tense.

There was something familiar about them. When the blond one turned around and made eye contact with him, he lit up in recognition.

“You’re part of the Wild Wild Pussycats!” He exclaimed without thinking.

“Who’s that, Midoriya?” Tokoyami asked from beside him.

Izuku was thrumming with anticipation. The Pussycats were some of the heroes he really liked. They specialized in rescue, specifically in wildness rescue. There were four of them in total, and all their quirks were super useful; from land manipulation, telepathy, search, and pliabody, they were able to find and help people in need fast and efficiently, and they never took the glory for themselves. They were ranked rather high, but it was solely because people liked them and not because they advertised themselves.

“Woah, there,” Izuku’s thoughts were interrupted. “You must be a pretty big fan to know all that about us.” Izuku looked up and saw that the girl in orange was looking at him weirdly.

“You certainly know a lot about them,” Shoji remarked, causing Izuku to look at him in confusion. What are they talking about?

You were thinking out loud again, Izuku. Koda signed at him when he looked his way. Izuku let out an eep of embarrassment, his face tinging red. Since hanging out with Kacchan, he had fallen back into that habit from his younger years.

“Don’t be so embarrassed,” the orange girl smiled widely. “We are always glad when someone recognizes us because we aren’t very known, and I feel like being liked by you is a high compliment.”

Izuku couldn’t help stuttering a bit at that. Why was he still a mess at social interaction? Oh right. Because being a vigilante didn’t mean he had experience with the public beyond making sure they were okay right after the fact.

The Pussycats had continued on, explaining who they were themselves and how they would be taking care of them at camp. The orange one pointed into the distance at the base of a nearby mountain saying that was where the camp was located.

Wait. Izuku’s face went hard causing a few around him to stir uneasily. He looked up at the Pussycats and then back to Aizawa. He remembered his dad saying something about not stopping until they were there, and why were the Pussycats meeting them so far away?

It seemed that a few other students were making the connection.

“I… don’t have a good feeling about this,” Sero muttered uneasily.

“Let’s… let’s get back on the bus!” Kaminari yelled as he tried to run for it.

“You have three hours to make it! Good luck!” The blue one called cheerily.

Izuku knew they weren’t going to make it. One of the quirks that was present was the earth manipulation. She would get them all, even if one of them made it back to the bus. Izuku was quick to pull out his batons right as the ground beneath him bucked and dropped away. He dug his batons into the ground, not necessarily to stop himself, but to make sure he didn’t tumble and flip all the way down like his classmates were doing.

When they reached the bottom, everyone was in different states of disarray. Many of them were coated with grass and dirt from their roll down. Some were groaning, but it didn’t seem like anyone was really injured, probably just a few scrapes and bruises.

From behind them, a roar sliced through the air. A beast about the size of a small house came crashing through the forest. Izuku watched as Koda ran up to it and in a fit of bravery yelled at the monster to try and get it to stop, but that thing wasn’t an animal. Koda’s quirk was useless.

Izuku ran, batons outstretched. From beside him, he heard a roar of engines pick up, and felt the temperature drop suddenly. Him, Iida, and Todoroki slammed into the beast at the same time, Izuku went for the legs whacking with as much force as possible causing the limbs to crumble. From above, the rest of it fell apart as Todoroki and Iida attacked.

They stood there panting, as the rest of the class looked on in shock. From further in front of him, Izuku could hear more rustling and roaring. He turned to face the group.

“We have to work together to get through this. This isn’t the only one, and my guess is that it is just going to get harder.”

Instead of looks of disappointment and fear, Izuku received glares of determination. Everyone powered up their quirks in their way, standing together. Izuku smirked. There was a reason all of them had made it into the hero course of UA. He turned back to face the forest.

“Let’s go.”

They were a few hours in, already missing the three hour mark to make it back to camp, and they were probably only half way through the forest. Izuku’s arms burned. His batons were working, but it was taking a lot out of him. He watched from where he leaned against a tree as Mina and Koda worked together. Mina eroded the beast’s legs while Koda called the birds of the forest to peck away at the rest. Koda’s voice was getting hoarse, and Izuku could tell that Mina’s acid was starting to harm her as well. All the other students seemed to be slowing down.

What else could he do? He needed to make it easier for everyone else if they wanted to make it. When he stood, his gear bag bumped into his back. Well, Izuku felt stupid. He pulled it around to his front and rifled through it. Did he pack them? With a cheer of triumph, Izuku pulled them out. His pulser gloves and the compression/heat resistant socks for under them. Perfect!

These would work a lot like Jirou’s quirk, but Izuku had fine tuned his gloves so that he wouldn’t have the recoil. He quickly switched out his batons that were rather dented, for the gloves and intercepted the next beast that came through. With one touch, he activated the glove sending a pulse through the dirt creature, causing the structure to fall apart.

His classmates that were around him cheered. They could keep going. It seemed like everyone gave a renewed effort.

They fought and ran and fought and ran. The sun was setting by the time they finally broke through the tree line and saw Aizawa waiting with the Pussycats. Izuku’s arms felt like they were vibrating. He had never used them so demandingly, and it seemed like his hope for a recoilless glove was not to be. They were also in bad shape, some of the piping on the side having cracked and started steaming. There were rips and tears in them as well causing him to feel the heat of the mechanisms on his skin.

Kaminari had gone brain dead a while back from overusing his quirk and was being led by Kirishima who winced whenever anything touched his skin. Mina had blisters on her hands, and Uraraka and Aoyama were clutching their stomachs, having thrown up a few times. Yaomomo looked sickly skinny from how much she used her quirk, and Koda couldn’t talk anymore, his voice having given up a few hours ago. No one else was in better shape.

“That didn’t take you as long as I thought it would,” the blue one exclaimed upon seeing them. “Good job! Especially you three!” She darted over to where Izuku was standing near Todoroki and Iida. “Your reaction times at the beginning when the crisis emerged was impressive.” She was circling them like a hawk staring at its prey. Izuku was, needless to say, highly uncomfortable.

“Pixie-bob, please leave my students alone,” Aizawa sounded tired. The blue one, Pixie-bob, backed away and rejoined her teammate up front.

“Good job on making it back in one piece,” Aizawa continued after a moment. “This first night, Mandalay and Pixie-bob have been kind enough to make food for you all. Go wash up and meet at the dining pavilion for dinner.”

“Um, Eraser!” Izuku called out as everyone started leaving, causing all of them to stop in their tracks. He got a questioning look from his dad in response. “No one’s mentioned the kid,” he said pointing to the little boy that was glaring in the background. “Who’s he?” It seemed like his classmates hadn’t even noticed him if their reactions said anything.

The orange one, Mandalay, stepped forward. “He’s ours,” she said in explanation. “Or really, he’s my nephew. We take care of him together, though. His name is Kouta”

Now Izuku knew he was bad with kids. He knew that he probably couldn’t do anything, but he felt bad about the kid being ignored so he took it upon himself to go and introduce him and his classmates. So he walked over slowly, his classmates’ eyes fixed on his back.

“Hey,” he said, holding his hand out to the kid. This is what people did with kids, right? “I’m Midoriya Izuku and these are my classmates from the hero course of UA.”

The kid stood there for a minute before glaring up at Izuku. There was a surprising amount of fire in the little boy’s eyes. His hand reached out, but it was too fast to just be a handshake. Sadly, Izuku was too tired to react to the motion, and then suddenly his world was pain. The little boy just punched him in the groin! Iida was suddenly beside him yelling about the audacity of the child, and he heard Mandalay scolding him as well.

“I can’t abide jerks who wanna be heroes,” Izuku heard Kouta scoff with animosity.

There was silence. Then a snort.

“You gotta give it to the kid,” Shinso said between his chuckles. “He’s brave.”

“Yeah,” Sero pipped up, his own voice sounding choked from laughter. “He punched the scariest looking one of us with no hesitation.”

Those two were the only ones laughing for a moment. Then as one, everyone started to cackle. Meanwhile, Izuku was still in pain.

“That’s enough,” Aizawa’s voice cut through, but even he sounded amused. “Grab your stuff off the bus and put it in your rooms. Dinner is ready and after that you'll bathe and sleep. Training begins for real tomorrow morning.”

Everyone wandered off, the mood seeming a lot lighter. Well, at least Izuku’s pain was good for something, he guesses.

He was the last one to make it to dinner, but it seemed like the Pussycats made enough to feed an army, so he didn’t have to worry about there not being enough food left for him. He plopped himself down next to Koda and Todoroki who were already eating.

“Itadakimasu,” he said quietly and then attacked his food with gusto. About halfway through, he paused, there were eyes on him. He looked up to see Kouta standing by the wall across the way staring at him. When they made eye contact, the boy just huffed and walked away. Izuku just watched him with analyzing eyes. The kid seemed familiar.

Once dinner was done, they all made their way to the outdoor hot spring. A lot of the boys were joking around, excited about it. Izuku was mediocre. He had never really gotten what the fuss was about such a place, having never been to one before. When he finally got in, Kaminari was splashing Ojirou while others were just relaxing. Izuku turned around to lay his towel down when some of the chatter shifted.

“Woah, Midoriya!” Kaminari exclaimed. “I didn’t realize that your phoenix tattoo was also across your back.”

Izuku hummed while looking over his shoulder, first at the electric blond and then down like he could see his back. He knew what the blond saw though. The body of the phoenix had gone down his right arm, most of it destroyed from the burn that was there, but the wings were stretched across his back, fire licking down from the tips of the feathers. That part was still fully intact with only a thin scar cutting across the wings.

“Dude!” Kirishima joined in. “That is so manly!”

“That tattoo artist must have been insane! How is it so detailed and vivid?” Sero asked in wonder.

Many of the other boys started to crowd Izuku to get a better look. He froze, not liking the feeling of being trapped in.

“Back away!” Iida called doing his typically robot-like arms. “Midoriya-kun doesn’t have to answer if he doesn’t want to and make sure to leave him his space.”

Izuku sent a grateful look to engine legs at his help. Ever since Stain, the boy really had improved both generally and in how he acted toward the greenette.

“I’m sorry, Midoriya,” Sero murmured as everyone stepped back a bit, a few echoing his words.

Izuku shrugged. “I won’t say that gathering around me like that was fine, but I don’t mind the questions.” At his words, it was like all the boys gathered for story time, just at a distance this time. Guess Izuku was answering.

“I went to an artist whose quirk actually dealt with tattoos,” he explained, settling into the water. That felt so good on all his aches and pains. “He can recreate any image with perfection and the medium he uses will never tarnish or dim. He could use it on any paint or art medium, but the man chose to be a tattoo artist. He himself is covered in the most beautiful tattoos.” Izuku reflected. “It’s like a forest is on his legs, each tree covered in individual leaves and animals winding through the branches. The second I saw him; I knew that I wanted to get some from him.”

Everyone looked enraptured.

“Are you going to get anymore?” Ojirou asked suddenly, looking sheepish, like he didn’t mean to ask.

Izuku thought for a moment. “Maybe…” he said. “I don’t really have any plans, and really, I got them to distract from my scars. The only one I got to just get was the one on my thigh for my mom, and the dandelions on my collarbone. Other than that, though, I don’t have anything significant that I would want to get one for.”

“Man,” Sero whined. “I wish I could get a tattoo, but my mom would kill me!”

Everyone seemed to break off into groups after that, talking amongst themselves. A shadow shifted on top to the wall. Peering closely, eye squinted to make out the form, Izuku saw that it was Kota, the little boy. His gaze stayed on their side of the wall, but he seemed to be eyeing them warily. Once more, Izuku made eye contact with the kid, and he was hit by the familiarity of the kid’s appearance.

When Kaminari started to fall asleep in the bath, everyone deemed it time to get out. Izuku hesitated a while longer, letting the others file off and clear out before he got out himself. He wanted to talk to Mandalay but didn’t want to be noticed. It seemed Iida was too tired to notice Izuku taking his time, as the boy would typically be the last one to leave to make sure all his classmates were accounted for. Izuku snorted softly when the engine boy ran into the doorway before stumbling back and passing through on the second try.

It didn’t take long for Izuku to dry off and throw on his clothes. Izuku had noticed the office for the Pussycats when he was walking into the building so it didn’t take long for him to find Mandalay.

“Pardon the intrusion,” he said softly.

Mandalay’s head whipped up from where she was doing paperwork of some kind. A smile settled onto her face.

“How can I help you?”

Izuku wrung his hands. How does one ask something like this? Well, nothing about it, then just saying it.

“I couldn’t help but notice that Kota looked familiar. I couldn’t figure out who his parents were, but I figured that they were heroes…” Izuku trailed off trying to form his thoughts. Mandalay looked on, her expression seeming sad. “But Kouta… Kouta seems to hate heroes. At his age, I revered them. It just… it seems weird for him to be that jaded.”

Izuku left his question unasked. Mandalay sighed heavily, a weight settling on her shoulders that Izuku could almost see.

“You’re observant, kid,” she said while swiveling her chair around to fully face him. “Kouta’s parents were my cousins. They were a pretty well-known hero duo who worked to save lives… They died in the line of duty.”

Izuku couldn’t say anything in response.

“Two years ago, they were protecting civilians from a villain…” She trailed off for a moment, staring into space. “There is ‘no better way for heroes to meet their end.’ That’s what everyone would tell him. ‘An honorable death.’ But to a kid just learning the world,” she shrugged helplessly. “He just couldn’t understand why his parents would leave him behind.” She looked down, with tears in her eyes. “I don’t think he likes us much, either, since we are heroes, but he does cooperate, at least.”

There was silence for a moment until Mandalay looked up once more, meeting his eyes. “To Kouta, heroes are nasty people he can’t understand.” She looked helpless. “Now go on to sleep. You’re gonna need the rest for tomorrow.”

Izuku gave a deep bow before leaving, saying nothing. What could one say to that? Empathy filled his veins. Izuku understood, maybe on the opposite spectrum, but he understood the kid. His mom was killed because heroes did nothing, leaving him jaded about hero society. Kouta, on the other hand, had his parents killed because they were heroes, leaving him jaded about the work of heroes.

Izuku decided to be a hero to fix the wrong, but Kouta… he seemed to want to reject society altogether. Izuku knew what it was like to fester in hatred and pain. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fun. If he could find some way, any way to help the kid this week, he would do it.

Tiptoeing into the room where all the boys were to stay, Izuku saw that almost everyone was already asleep. The only person not, was Shinso, who sat in the window. Grey eyes swiveled to meet green when Izuku walked it.

“Where were you?” Shinso asked softly. Izuku made his way over to the boy before sitting down beside him.

“Wanted to ask Mandalay something,” he whispered back.

Shinso tilted his head in question. “Why do you look like you didn’t like the answer?”

Izuku shook his head before turning to stare at the stars outside. “It’s not my story to tell.”

Shinso seemed to study him for a moment before sighing and standing up. “Might not be able to sleep, but we both need to at least try.” Izuku looked up at the boy who was holding out his hand to help him up. Slowly Izuku nodded and eventually took the hand to pull himself to his feet. His futon was close by and he settled in quickly.

“Night, Shinso,” he whispered, unsure if the boy could hear him.

“Night, Midoriya.”

Then all was silent. Soon after Izuku found himself asleep, dreams of watching his mother being held captive by the sludge villain repeat in his mind, through the night.

“Izuku.” A voice broke through his dreams. “Izuku, you need to wake up.”

Izuku rolled over bringing his pillow down on his head to block it out. Laughter could be heard, muffled through the pillow.

Hands shook his back.

“Move over, I’ll try.”

A scuffle. A deep breath.

Suddenly the pillow was ripped away from his hands. “WAKE UP!” Someone yelled right in his ear. Izuku shot up and his hand made contact with something hard. When he finally processed his surroundings, it was to see that the thing on the other end of his hand was Shinso’s face. If Izuku was more awake, he would probably apologize. At the moment, though, he only shrugged and shakily stood up.

Everyone was laughing around him. A yawn pulled at his face, hurting his jaw a bit, before he started walking blearily out the door, but not before running into it because it was closed.

“Midoriya-kun!” Iida sounded scandalized. “It is not appropriate to hit your classmates outside of training.”

“Yeah, Midoriya,” Shinso snarked. “What was that for, you jerk.”

Izuku just flipped him off over his shoulder as he made his way to the bathroom. Everyone’s laughter just seemed to increase at the motion.

Once Izuku had splashed some cold water on his face, he was feeling awake enough to find breakfast. He just followed the sounds of his classmates. There it seemed like breakfast was already prepared for them. Blessed. He remained quiet as he ate, and before long Aizawa appeared in front of them.

“The purpose of this training camp is to extend your skills and quirks. Each will be required to complete various tasks during this that will push your limits and build up your endurance.” The look on Eraser’s face was manic. “Welcome to hell!”

 ***

And that’s what it was. Izuku’s muscles were crying from the abuse they were being put through. He knew that he was in good shape. He had filled out and bulked up during his time as a vigilante, but the things Tiger was having him do was torture. At least, he wasn’t the only one. Shinso was right alongside him, and the poor lavender haired boy was worse off, only just recently having started to work on his musculature.

Every so often, Tiger would have them attack him, but each time, the guy avoided it or hit back harder. So, the cycle continued. At some point, more people joined. Considering Izuku didn’t recognize them, they were probably from class 1-B, but he was too tired to care.

That’s how Izuku found himself collapsed on the ground at the end of the day. His classmates around him were cooking dinner. He had tried to help, but his arms were shaking so bad, they were afraid of letting him cut anything up. He wasn’t going to complain. This meant he got to rest until it was ready.

It wasn’t long before it was. Izuku piled his plate high and looked around for where to sit. His eye caught movement out in the bushes. Kouta. He was sneaking away, but Izuku didn’t think the boy had eaten yet. With a slight hesitation, that Izuku shook off, he filled a smaller plate for the boy and followed his tracks.

This led him to a small ledge and cave alongside the mountain by the camp. There Kouta sat with his feet swinging in the open air off the ledge. Izuku made sure his steps were heard but kept quiet as he approached. Kouta glared at him, but Izuku wasn’t deterred. In silence, he set Kouta’s plate beside him and sat down to eat his own food.

“Why are you here?” Kouta ground out after a few moments of neither of them speaking.

Izuku shrugged and finished chewing his bite. “Figured you didn’t eat, and that’s not healthy. Followed your tracks and decided to stay,” he gestured out in front of him. “Quite a view you have here.”

Kouta glared, but finally took the food offered to him and ate angrily. Izuku sat there finishing up, and not saying a word. He wanted so badly to talk to the kid, to try and help him, but Izuku knew that he needed space. Instead, Izuku would just sit here with him, for as many nights as he had to, until Kouta decided to open up.

When both of them finished their food, Izuku took Kouta’s plate back from him and stood up to leave.

“Don’t stay out too late,” he said simply as he walked back to camp. Maybe it wasn’t safe to leave a kid by himself but considering Kouta had found the place and probably went there often, he trusted the kid to make it back to camp without trouble.

Everyone was asleep by the time he made it back. Izuku cleaned himself up and was quick to join them. This night, thankfully, was dreamless.

Chapter Text

That became their routine the next two nights. Izuku would pile two plates full of whatever food his class had made and trek to Kouta’s hidden cave. He would hand it over to the little boy and then sit and eat in silence with him. When they both finished, Izuku would take the dishes and leave.

Izuku had no idea what Kouta was thinking, but as the boy never expressly told him to leave or got mad at him, he kept it up. It wasn’t until the fourth night that Izuku got anything out of him.

Izuku had already finished eating and was just waiting for the boy to finish. Kouta, though, seemed to just be moving the food around on his plate, only occasionally taking a miniscule bite. The greenette just sat there. He wasn’t there to push or pry, doing so only pushed people away, causing distance.

The wind rustled through the trees almost obscuring the sudden words that left the other’s mouth.

“I hate heroes.”

Izuku glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye, expression not changing. Kouta continued to push the food and swing his feet.

“I don’t understand them.” The boy glared at the ground beneath them. Izuku turned his head to look at him, making sure Kouta knew he had his attention.

“They all tell me that I should be proud of my parents. That they died a heroic death,” the boy spat. “They talk about their rankings as heroes, and all that they did, but they left me. How is that heroic? Heroes talk about death, like dying by a villain is the best thing that could happen to them, but they’ve never had to experience it, have they?” Kouta ranted, tears forming in his eyes.

“Watching all of you push yourself so much for a quirk is disgusting. It’s like watching all of you prepare to die.”

The air felt heavy, and Izuku let the silence carry for a while before leaning back on his hands and looking to the sky.

“I hate heroes.”

Kouta looked up at him in shock. “But your…”

“Heroes focus so much on their quirk,” Izuku interrupted. “They train and train, deciding what can and cannot be done, but they never train themselves without their quirk. Heroes believe that to be ‘quirkless’ is to be helpless, and that thought process has shaped all of our thinking.”

Izuku swung his feet, lightly knocking them against the rock ledge.

“I know that your parents were the Water Hose duo. You look just like them.” Kouta’s eyes widened. “What happened to them wasn’t honorable and shouldn’t be treated as such. They died in a villain fight that they shouldn’t have even had to participate in.”

Izuku’s eyes wandered the horizon. “There were other heroes around, but none of them came in to help your parents. To me that’s disgusting.”

He took a deep breath. “My mom died four years ago.” He could hear the startled gasp from the young boy. “She died for the same reason, but she wasn’t a hero. At least, not officially. She’ll always be a hero to me,” he shrugged, his own eyes watering. “She died because she got caught in a villain attack. There were five heroes on scene and not a single one of them did anything ,” venom laced his words. “All because their ‘quirks weren’t suitable’ to fight the villain… I was on the other side of the city watching it happen through the TV. I saw multiple ways she could have been saved if the heroes hadn’t been trained to only think with their quirks.”

Izuku stood up, brushing the dust off his shorts. He grabbed the plate from Kouta’s hands. The little boy just stared at him with a mixture of wonder and horror in his eyes.

“I hate most heroes,” he said, meeting the boy’s eyes. “They are selfish and thoughtless,” he started walking away. “ But I don’t think your parents were like them.”

It didn’t take long for him to arrive back at camp. As always everyone seemed to be asleep as he washed and put away the dishes and got ready for bed. As he approached the room, though, he was stopped.

“Where have you been disappearing these last few nights,” his dad’s voice broke through the silence.

Izuku turned to face the man who was leaning against the nearby wall. The smile the greenette gave was half-hearted, weak.

“There’s someone at this camp that needs a little saving,” he shrugged, looking back at the ledge where Kouta probably still sat. “I don’t know how to get through to him, but he started to open up a little tonight. “

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed before he sighed, pulling himself from the wall. “That may be the case, but make sure you are taking care of yourself too, problem child.”

Aizawa ruffled his hair softly as he left. Izuku’s smile became warmer at that moment. He was glad Eraser cared.

 ***

The next night, Izuku almost had to drag himself up the pathway to Kouta. He hurt everywhere and was so exhausted. His nightmares have been coming back in full force and as such, he hadn’t gotten much sleep to go along with the grueling training. He couldn’t stop coming though.

Kouta was there waiting for him when he arrived. The boy reached out for his plate and started eating before Izuku had sat down. The silence was comfortable, but Izuku did almost pass out in his curry too many times while eating.

“Why did you decide to become a hero?” The question was quiet, and Izuku almost didn’t think it was real. The way the kid kept glancing at him before darting his eyes back to his food said otherwise.

Izuku let his thoughts straighten themselves out before opening his mouth.

“I decided because of my mom’s death,” he started. Kouta looked shocked at the statement. “I watched those heroes doing nothing while I was far away knowing exactly how to save her, and I decided I wouldn’t let that happen again.”

He twirled his chopsticks around his fingers. “I hate hero society and the emphasis on a strong quirk and focusing only on it, but I thought that maybe, I could do something about that. You know I’m quirkless,” he eyed the boy’s reaction. It did not disappoint. Kouta was speechless, his mouth moving but no words coming out. “I decided that I was going to be the first quirkless hero because to be a hero, someone doesn’t have to have a strong quirk or even have a quirk at all. They just have to have the drive of wanting to save someone, and the will to work for that.

“Your parents were some of the heroes I looked up to because they were selfless and only wanted to save. They were never in it for the fame or money. That’s who I want to be. I want to save everyone.”

Kouta was crying, wiping his tears roughly with his hands.

“I decided to be a hero to prove that anyone can be, and hopefully help people realize the true meaning of being a hero so no more pointless deaths happen.”

The only sound was the breeze blowing against them and Kouta’s sniffles. Izuku’s eyes remained fixed on the horizon, his fingers never stopping the motion of twirling the chopsticks. That lasted a beat. Then his chopsticks clattered to the ground as Kouta slammed into him, his small arms wrapping around Izuku’s waist.

“Why did it happen? Why did they leave us?” Kouta sobbed. Izuku just hugged him tight, tears forming in his own eyes.

That night, Izuku stayed up on the ledge for much longer. Kouta sobbed, finally letting himself grieve over his parents, and Izuku just held on. Long after Kouta quieted, Izuku still sat there looking out over the valley. It wasn’t until he heard a snore, that he moved from his spot.

Looking down, he saw Kouta fast asleep, his head in the greenette’s lap. The boy’s eyes were swollen and an occasional sniffle still left his nose, but he looked more peaceful than he had the entire camp. With great care, Izuku lifted him up and carried him back to camp.

Aizawa was waiting for him with an exhausted expression. He took one look at the boy on Izuku’s back and sighed.

“Let me take him, problem child. Just head to bed,” Eraser whispered while reaching for Kouta. Izuku let his dad take him away, watching as Aizawa turned back to the cabin, but Izuku remained standing there for a little longer.

The breeze blew through the trees, and the nightlife rustled through the foliage while Izuku remained standing there in the center of camp.

 ***

Izuku remained more subdued through the next day of training. He worked hard, and he was proud of the progress he had made throughout the week, but his thoughts remained fixed on Kouta. He didn’t know if what he said helped any or not.

Luckily everyone else was exhausted seeing as it was the last day of camp. Everyone had been pushed to their limits, and many didn’t talk much as well.

At lunch, there was an announcement.

“This evening we have a treat for you all,” Pixie-bob announced with a flourish. A few of Izuku’s classmates perked up.

“We will have a… test of courage! Class 1-A verses 1-B!” Ragdoll exclaimed, bouncing with excitement.

A slightly manic sounding voice started to laugh. “Well, you 1-A scum, tonight we will get to prove that class 1-B is the superior class! You will all tremb….” Izuku watched as the girl with orange hair whacked the neck of the guy who was talking. Hm. She seemed to know pressure points pretty well.

“Sorry about that, he doesn’t speak for the rest of us,” she bowed politely. “Though,” her eyes glinted, “I won’t deny that we will win tonight.”

Izuku’s classmates got into an uproar yelling about how it wasn’t a competition, or that they would win. He just kept eating his food. He wasn’t a test of courage kind of person.

“Those who failed their finals, will still be taking supplementary classes and as such will not be able to participate.”

“Sensei!” Ashido, Kaminari, and Kirishima yelled while Satou just looked disappointed.

“No arguments. You need these classes more than you need to wander through the woods at night,” Eraser said before just walking away, ignoring their cries of distress.

The atmosphere of the rest of the day was a mixture of excitement and disappointment, those not able to participate made their displeasure known. Izuku heard his classmates scheming of ways to scare 1-B throughout their various trainings. He tried to keep to himself, but somehow, he always got roped in. He was told in no uncertain terms, that he was not allowed to skip out as he would be their secret weapon. With a roll of his eyes, he would always just get back to what he was doing.

When Izuku got to the dining hall that night, it was the most lively it had been all week. People were chatting and scheming on all fronts. Izuku just followed his usual routine and filled two plates. When he went to leave, though, he was stopped by small hands grabbing the second plate from him. The greenette looked down in shock to see that Kouta was the one who had taken it and was walking toward the table with Kouda, Shoji, and Tokoyami. The three of them looked at the boy in surprise but didn’t comment on it.

Izuku followed along in a daze. Kouta had never eaten with the other students. This was the first some of them had seen of him all week. When he sat down beside the boy, Kouta just huffed and started eating.

“Took you long enough to join,” he muttered.

Izuku felt like he shouldn’t bring up the oddity of the situation and decided to just eat in peace. He listened in on the conversations around him, talk about training, camp, school, the test of courage and such.

Kouta stayed beside him throughout the whole meal and was even the one to take Izuku’s plate when he was done. The greenette just watched the boy walk off, the tension that had filled the boy was now visibly gone.

“Midoriya,” Shoji called his attention. “What was that about?”

Izuku hummed in thought. “I think Kouta finally trusts me.” A small smile crossed his face.

Should we even ask, or is this just going to remain a mystery? Kouda signed at him with an amused smile.

I think I’ll leave it a mystery, now that you ask. Izuku stuck his tongue out at the boy.

 ***

“Time for the test of courage!” Ragdoll appeared out of nowhere, surprising a few students when they had all gathered in the clearing after dinner.

“Now to explain the rules,” Mandalay started. “One class will be hiding along the set path trying to scare anyone who comes along. The other class walks along the path in pairs, at the halfway point Ragdoll will be waiting, you will need to get a token from her before you continue on. If you lose the token, or never get it, then you will receive no points. The class that brings back the most tokens between you all will be the winner of tonight.”

“Now let’s draw lots for your teams!” Pixie-bob held out a box. “Class 1-B will scare first, and class 1-A will be the victims!”

It didn’t take too long for everyone to grab their numbers and pair up. Izuku looked around the group. He was the odd man out. Well, there were an odd number of them.

“Wait! Midoriya has to go alone?” Sero pointed out when he, too, noticed the dilemma.

“That’s fine,” Izuku waved off. “I don’t mind.”

“No, Izu-kun!” Uraraka looked panicked. “No one should have to do this alone! We go in pairs for a reason! It’s scary!”

Izuku was about to protest again, he’d been through worse, when a small hand slid into his own.

“I’ll go with him, so he won’t be alone.”

Izuku looked down to see Kouta, once again, at his side. The boy was glaring at the other students as if daring them to try and say anything to him. A few classmates looked at each other, but no one denied him.

“Okay, group 1 can head out,” Mandalay announced letting everyone move onto focusing on the test of courage.

A tug on his hand. “What number are we?”

Izuku double checked the slip of paper he had. “8, we’ll be the last ones to go.”

With that, Izuku settled down. It would be a minute before it was their turn as they wanted a large wait time between each. He finally had some down time where he didn’t have to be quiet.

“Woah, Midoriya,” Sero said looking at the greenette’s set up. “What are you doing?”

Izuku hummed as he tightened one of the pipes back in place. “I’m fixing my pulsar gloves. They got damaged on the first day, and I haven’t been able to fix them yet.”

“You’re not gonna need them for this, though, right?”

“Maybe, but I don’t like leaving my gear damaged,” he explained as he tackled the next pipe that was out of alignment. “I can’t use them anyway; the heat resistant glove is back in my duffle. I just figured I might have a little time, and here I am.” He shrugged.

Kouta watched on in fascination as slowly but surely the glove started to look normal again. Neither of them noticed as the amount of people around them dwindled.

“Group 8, it’s your turn,” Mandalay startled them out of their concentration. Good timing, Izuku had just finished fine tuning it when she came up. Stuffing the glove and gear into his belt pouches, he and Kouta started out.

They were a little while into it and neither Kouta nor Izuku was very entertained. The ‘traps’ were obvious from a mile away, and he could even hear giggling before they got there. They had just passed the halfway point, taking the last token. Ragdoll said that she would start heading back and wished them luck before they continued on.

“This is lame!” Kouta whined as he kicked a rock.

Izuku couldn’t help but agree. He opened his mouth to talk, but a shiver ran down his spine. Without hesitation, he smacked a hand over Kouta’s mouth and dragged him down into a nearby bush. The boy was kicking and trying to talk, but Izuku hunkered down lower.

“Quiet,” he whispered. The edge in his voice finally got Kouta to stop. “Something’s wrong.”

It was silent around them. It seemed like even the wind stopped blowing.

Thunk.

Izuku felt the shiver that coursed through Kouta’s body.

Thunk.

“Voices,” a high-pitched, deranged voice seemed to giggle. “Where there are voices, there is flesh.”

Thunk.

 Drag.

Thunk.

“Children’s voices, easy prey. Been too long.”

Thunk.

Drag.

Thunk.

Through the dark, Izuku saw the first sign of movement. A shadow moved steadily. It got closer, those horrible noises continuing along with the manic babble.

It was a person. Someone wrapped head to toe in a straitjacket, their arms and legs pinned together. The only thing not tied down was the person’s mouth. Izuku watched in horror as the cause of the sounds became obvious to him.

Thunk.

The person’s teeth elongated, glinting in the moonlight like metal. It sunk into the ground and then seemed to retract.

Drag.

The person used the tooth to pull themselves forward.

Thunk.

It repeated.

“Can’t wait to find new flesh.”

Thunk.

“Delicious.”

Drag.

“Gorgeous.”

Thunk.

“Flesh.”

Izuku’s body was humming with fear. This was no average person. They were heading towards camp! When the person had passed enough that they wouldn’t be heard. Izuku put his mouth beside Kouta’s ear to whisper.

“Kouta, I need you to get back to camp. Warn them that a villain is coming.” He pushed Kouta away and stood up himself.

A tug on his hand. “Where are you going,” Kouta’s harsh whisper seemed to echo. “You need to come too.”

Izuku pushed Kouta’s hand away and shook his head. He crouched down to be on eye level, his hands resting on the kid’s shoulders.

“I can’t let him get back to camp. I need you to warn them, Kouta. I’ll try to stop him here.”

“But…”

“Found you!”

It was pure instinct and experience as a vigilante that let Izuku react in time. He tackled Kouta and rolled them quickly to the right.

Thunk!

Something breezed by Izuku’s back, barely brushing his tank top.

“Fresh flesh! So much closer than I thought!” The voice was right on top of them.

Izuku tossed Kouta away and rolled to his back, bringing his feet up in front of him. The person bearing down on him from above. When they got close enough, Izuku rabbit kicked them in the chest, launching them away. The villain coughed roughly when they hit the ground.

“Go Kouta!”

Another sword-like tooth narrowly grazed Izuku as he dodged to the left, but before he could get closer, another appeared in the air whizzing for his head. He ducked out of the way, rolling forward. He had to get close. Bring the fight to him instead of just dodging from afar, but it appeared the villain was ready for that as another tooth slammed into the ground in Izuku’s way.

Another came, Izuku moved his head, but it still nicked his cheek, blood starting to course down from the wound.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

It was all Izuku could do to dodge the teeth as they came. He was given no time to think or strategize. More and more cuts appeared on his skin.

One got a little too close to his skin, and Izuku hissed out in pain, clutching at the deep cut on his side.

A deranged giggle filled the air. “Do I finally get my flesh? I’ve been sooooo long without it.”

“Stop it!” A splash. Izuku looked up, terror filling him.

Kouta stood behind the villain; his hands outstretched. Water seemed to be dripping down the villain from head to toe, the source was Kouta himself.

Slowly the teeth embedded in the ground around Izuku were pulled from the ground, retracting back into the villain’s mouth and his head tilting in consideration.

“New flesh? Child flesh?” The giggling grew, causing shivers down Izuku’s spine. “Maybe him first, then the other.”

All it took was a second. Izuku knew exactly what was going to happen, and he couldn’t let it be. With speed he didn’t know he had, Izuku sprinted forward and slid in front of Kouta, arms spread wide.

Thunk.

Izuku grit his teeth against a scream of pain as the tooth buried itself in his right shoulder.

“Izuku!” Kouta’s scream was raw. The boy ran at his back, pulling at his belt as if he could help. On the other side, the villain started to retract his tooth pulling Izuku along with it.

His thoughts were screaming. He needed to get away, but pulling the tooth from his shoulder could cause him to bleed out, but how would he be able to break it off?

The tug at his belt and his shoulder from opposite ways made him grimace, pain lacing through his body.

Wait.

His belt.

Praying they hadn’t fallen out, Izuku reached for one of the pockets hanging from it. With a cheer of relief, his hand found them. He pulled them on and activated them, the heat already rising alongside his hands. Lifting his foot, he pushed Kouta back from him.

He glanced over his shoulder with hard eyes. “Go, Kouta!” He yelled, placing his hands along the tooth embedded in him. “Get Aizawa!”

With that, he released the first wave of pulses, his gloves burning against his skin. His left hand was placed right in front of where it was sunk in his flesh, pulse kept low to counteract the other ones being released from his right. That hand released a high frequency that shook the tooth causing it to shatter in the air. Izuku was free.

The villain cried out in pain before a wave of their teeth filled the air.

Izuku dug his feet into the ground. He couldn’t let this villain past him.

“Run, Kouta!”

 ***

Kouta was sprinting, wiping his eyes as he ran. He couldn’t see anything with how blurry his vision was, but he couldn’t stop.

“Run, Kouta!”

He turned on last time to see Izuku at the center of a wave of those teeth, coming at him from all sides.

He… he couldn’t do anything. He… he couldn’t stop.

He picked up his running, darting between trees.

Where was everyone? How had no one heard them?

It felt like an eternity before Kouta found the edge of the forest. When he burst out, though, no one was in sight. He was on the wrong side!

“Why can’t we be a part of the test of courage?”

Voices! Kouta whipped around, looking for the source. There! One of the buildings nearby had its window open. Without hesitation Kouda ran for the door, slamming it open and causing 7 sets of eyes to turn towards him. Shock and fear coated all of their faces.

“Help him!” he screamed, panting. “Villain! Please help!”

 ***

Aizawa’s head was pounding.

“Why can’t we be a part of the test of courage?” Ashido whined as she draped herself across the desk.

That’s all he had been hearing for the past hour! Aizawa had half a mind to let them go if for no other reason, than for peace and quiet.

The door slammed open.

Aizawa’s eyes immediately whipped around to locate the source. What he found chilled him to the bone. Mandalay’s nephew was panting and crying in the doorway, the kid’s yellow hoodie stained red with blood.

“Help him!” He screamed. “Villain! Please help!”

Aizawa darted over to the kid, checking him over for wounds. There was a lot of blood for such a small child. Behind him, he heard his students yelling and a lot of shuffling.

There was no source. Kid wasn’t injured. So, whose blood?

“Please help him!”

Aizawa narrowed him on that.

“Him?” He questioned looking the boy in the eye. “Whose him? What happened?”

“A villain appeared!” The kid cried. “He… he attacked. Said he was coming to camp. He stayed behind to stop him. Told me to get Aizawa.”

“Whose him?” Aizawa was frantic.

“Izuku,” the kid sobbed.

Fear, like he had never felt before, coursed through Aizawa’s body. That blood… Please don’t tell him.

“Where is he?” He demanded, holding the boy’s shoulders in his hands. “Where is my son?”

There was a chorus of voices behind him, but Aizawa couldn’t care, he just needed to find Izuku.

“I…I can’t explain,” the boy cried harder.

Aizawa knew that this could be a bad idea. It was bad to bring a child along with him, but without Kouta, he would never find Izuku.

“Can you show me?”

The boy looked at him, tears pouring down his face before a look of determination overcame the fear. He nodded sharply before grabbing Aizawa’s hand and pulling.

Aizawa stumbled a bit, but soon righted himself. The kid ran too slow, so with little effort, Aizawa grabbed him and threw him on his back.

“Point the way,” he said while still running. From the corner of his eye, he saw the little hand pointing forward to a thicker part of the forest. The only sound was the sniffles of the kid, and Aizawa’s harsh breathing.

“Why did he save me?” Kouta said quietly behind him. Aizawa said nothing, but the boy continued. “I was rude to him. I punched him. I ignored him. Why? Why did he come every night? Why did he talk to me? Why did he jump in front of that blade for me?”

Aizawa’s blood felt like ice. Blade? He shook his head, while running, he had to focus.

“He’s a hero, kid,” he did answer. “His goal is to save everyone, no matter who they are.”

A sniffle.

Then an ear-splitting scream pierced the air.

The boy went rigid on Aizawa’s back. The scream coming from the direction Kouta was pointing. What… What did that scream mean? Aizawa ran even faster, narrowly avoiding branches and roots along the path.

It only took another second for them to burst through the trees.

There they found him.

Izuku was standing, his legs wobbling beneath him. His breath was irregular, panting. Blood seemed to coat every surface of his body, and Aizawa noticed in horror that there was something sticking out of both Izuku’s right shoulder and his left calf. Beneath his feet lay the villain, unconscious. Their mouth open and showing teeth that were cracked and missing in some places. The ground around them littered with metal like fragments.

Izuku turned to see them. A tired smile across his face.

“You’re safe…” his voice trailed off as his eyes rolled back into his head; body falling limp and crashing into the earth.

Aizawa wasn’t sure whose scream it was that ripped through the air then as he watched his son collapse. Kouta pushed himself off his back and ran over to Izuku. Aizawa’s body was frozen for a beat more before he sprinted to his son’s side.

He was still breathing. He needed to get Izuku to a hospital, fast, but he couldn’t just leave the villain. Aizawa looked around frantically. There was nothing! What could he do?

His scarf shifted. Pause. That could work.

It took a short time to tie the villain up with his capture scarf making sure that they wouldn’t be able to escape if they woke up. Once that was done, he made his way back to Izuku’s side and with infinite care lifted him into his arms.

“I won’t be able to carry you as well,” Aizawa said to the kid. “Can you keep up?”

The kid’s brown eyes hardened, and he nodded fiercely as he wiped away his tears. Aizawa nodded back before taking off.

It felt like years before they stumbled through the edge of the forest. Bursting into the clearing, he heard voices pick up, many sounding frantic.

“What happened?”

“Is that Midoriya?”

“Is he okay?”

“I heard there was a villain!”

“Are we safe?”

“What do we do?”

Too many voices talking over each other.

“Quiet!” He roared, flashing his quirk. “Ragdoll,” the hero in question snapped to attention. “Call the hospital, Izuku needs help immediately. If a helicopter isn’t here in ten minutes, I will personally make sure those incompetent idiots will be out of a job.” Ragdoll saluted stiffly and ran back to the office where they had a phone line hooked up.

“Pixie-bob,” the hero looked more serious than anyone had ever seen. “There is a villain tied up to a tree about a mile back in the forest. Bring him back and keep him restrained. I don’t know his quirk.”

“It’s something to do with his teeth,” Kouta spoke up suddenly, everyone’s eyes turning to him. “He was able to make them longer and shorter, and they were sharp, like knives.”

Mandalay’s eyes were filled with horror.

“Mandalay,” her attention snapped to Aizawa. “I need you to make sure all the students are gathered here. He might have been the only one, but I think we should get everyone out now. We were going to leave in the morning anyway.”

“Tiger,” the man just nodded.

“Keep order and protect the students,” he interrupted. Aizawa nodded and watched as the heroes proceeded to carry out their tasks, order coming to the chaos around him.

Izuku breathed weakly in his arms.

“Just a little longer,” Aizawa let himself cry. “Just a little longer. We’ll save you, Izuku.”

Chapter Text

The first thing Izuku knew were the aches throughout his body. He shifted and the aches grew stronger causing his eyebrows to furrow.

“Are you finally waking up, you piece of shit?”

Izuku grimaced in confusion as he tried to force his eyes to open. He was still at the training camp, right? That’s why he ached so much, but why was Kacchan here? Why was it so hard to wake up?

“You moron,” Izuku felt someone, probably Kacchan, grip his hand. “You promised you wouldn’t get in trouble without me there.” His voice went quiet, almost a grumble. “Shoulda known better with your trouble-finding ass.”

Izuku shifted again, groaning a little as his muscles protested. He racked his brain. What happened?

He stilled. Training camp. Kouta. Villain. Attack. What happened? Where was the villain? Was Kouta safe? Izuku didn’t know. Why didn’t he know? His breathing picked up and with it a beeping from nearby sped up.

“Hey, calm down, Deku,” Kacchan sounded worried.

With great effort, Izuku finally got his eye open. It was bright. Wherever he was. The walls and ceiling were white. His eye flew around the room taking in the stimulus that was given. White. Medical equipment. Hospital bed. Kacchan. A hand reaching over and being placed on his cheek. Kacchan tilted Izuku’s head towards him causing red eyes to meet green.

“Breath Deku. In for 7, hold for 4, and out for 8. Come on,” Kacchan counted as Izuku tried to bring his breathing back under control. When he was finally calming down, Kacchan released his face and leaned back into the plastic chair beside the bed looking tired.

“Wha…” Izuku took a minute to clear his throat. It was so dry. Kacchan just pressed a cup of water into his hand, which Izuku drank eagerly. “What happened?” He finally managed to ask. “There was a villain. Where is Kouta? Is he okay? What about my dad? My class? Did they find the villain? Is he arrested?” Deku’s breathing couldn’t help but pick up again as he asked.

“Deku!” Kacchan interrupted firmly. Izuku trailed off, staring at the blond with wide eyes. “Breathe, Deku. I can’t answer your damn questions when you keep talking.”

Izuku quieted down but stared at the blond expectantly.

Kacchan sighed. “I don’t know the full story. Your old man should be back in a minute to fill in the gaps, but from what I know, they apprehended the villain, and he is now in custody. The brat is fine and with his aunt at their city residence. No one else in your class was injured or encountered a villain.”

This time it was Izuku who sighed, his body sagging in relief.

“Where’s Eraser?”

“He’s…”

“I’m right here, problem child,” Eraser announced as he entered the room holding a giant cup, probably filled with coffee. “I was just getting myself some breakfast.”

Izuku quickly checked his father for any injuries as the man came and sat down beside Kacchan. Eraser looked fine, no obvious wounds or signs of pain. That was good. The man flopped down in his chair with a sigh of his own, sounding tired. His eyes glanced over their combined hands causing him to raise an eyebrow, but neither Kacchan nor Izuku let go.

“What happened?” Izuku demanded when his dad’s eyes finally met his own.

Aizawa gave him a deadpan look for a minute. “You were a problem child, that is going to make my hair go grey prematurely.”

Izuku waved his hand flippantly. “That’s nothing new.” He went serious again. “But what happened? I don’t remember much. I just remember fighting that villain and sending Kouta away.”

Aizawa eyed Kacchan, who just glared back.

“I ain’t leaving old man,” the blond scowled.

Aizawa shrugged. “The villain’s name is Moonfish. He was an escaped convict. The prison he escaped from was miles away, and the police were looking for him. Somehow, he trekked his way through the forest and stumbled on the camp. You fought and apprehended the villain receiving multiple injuries,” at that Izuku received two piercing red-eyed glares. “Kouta was unharmed due to your protection, and he was able to make his way back to camp and retrieve me. When we arrived, you had already defeated Moonfish, but you passed out from blood loss. We were able to life-flight you here, and Recovery Girl was transported here as well to heal you.”

Izuku shifted uneasily, mentally taking stock of the bandages wrapped around him. “What… what was the extent of my injuries? I don’t remember much of that.”

“Your shitty self got stabbed two different times, in your right shoulder and left calf,” Kacchan growled, glaring at the corner of the room. “You got cut up a bunch as well, with a deep cut on your left side, all of ‘em are gonna scar, you idiot.” Kacchan’s voice shook slightly.

“You also received some severe burns on both your hands from your gloves,” Aizawa listed. To be honest, that was the first time that Izuku realized that his hands were wrapped tightly as well. That explained why he only felt the pressure of Kacchan’s hand, he didn’t feel his skin.

“When you get back to UA, you are working with the support crew to make you new gloves that won’t damage you more than your opponent,” Aizawa demanded.

“But!”

“No, Izuku,” Aizawa cut him off. “I know you like making your items yourself, and I’m not saying you can’t help to make them, but you have to use the resources they have. They can make gloves that won’t  cause backlash on you and won’t have multiple components to wear so this won’t happen again.”

Izuku couldn’t help but pout.

“He’s at least letting you be a part of the process, you moron,” Kacchan said, shaking his hand a little less than lightly. Izuku glared at him. “You mentioned that pink-haired chick to me that’s in support, why not work with her?”

Izuku considered that a moment. Hatsume could be fun to work with. He knew that she was brilliant and very experimental with all that she made. Maybe it could work.

“I’m never going to have any peace in my life,” Eraser seemed to grumble under his breath, but both the blond and the greenette caught it. Kacchan smirked ferally, and Izuku grinned while batting his eyes.

“Well, you made your choice, and you’re stuck with me now.”

Aizawa looked tired as he stared at the greenette, but after a minute, he broke. A small smile found its way on his face, and he rolled his eyes.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The next few minutes were comfortable silence. Kacchan’s thumb rubbed along the top of the bandages on Izuku’s hand, while Izuku closed his eyes and relaxed for a bit. As Izuku started to drift off again, his hand was released, and he heard the chair shift as Kacchan stood.

“Where are you going?” He asked, eyes opening immediately.

“Just going to get some damn food, Deku,” Kacchan grunted. “Been here all day. I need something from the cafeteria.” Kacchan moved to walk out the door.

“Can you bring me back some onigiri?” Izuku called out as the blond opened the door. A middle finger was the only response he got. He hoped Kacchan brought him back some spicy onigiri.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Eraser shaking his head looking exasperated. Izuku turned and looked at his dad, his head tilting in question.

“I’ll never understand your relationship,” the man remarked. Izuku was just more confused.

“What do you mean?” Aizawa just seemed to shake his head, but more tiredly.

“You both are oblivious.”

Before Izuku could ask what he meant, loud voices could be heard coming up the hall. Dread pooled in Izuku’s stomach and before he knew it, Aizawa was ducking out of the room while the first of his classmates came in.

“Izuku-kun!” Uraraka’s bright voice rang out.

“Midori!” “Midori-bro!” “Dude!” And many other versions of his name filled the air, as one by one all his classmates entered.

“Quiet down!” Iida called. “We are in a hospital. Show some respect for the other patients!”

“Dude, you’re being the loudest of all of us,” Shinso remarked, causing the engine-legged boy to immediately look sheepish.

“I’m glad to see you awake,” Yaomomo said softly with a smile on her face.

“Yeah man,” Kaminari joined in. “Seeing you in Aizawa-sensei’s arms was terrifying.” The electric blond shuddered as others nodded along with his words.

“I’ve never seen Sensei look like that before,” Hagakure sounded shaken.

“Taking on that villain was really manly, bro,” even Kirishima sounded more subdued. “But never do that again.”

“The fear of death was amongst all of us that night,” Tokoyami stated. Dark shadow peeked over the boy’s shoulder looking over at Izuku.

The room went quiet as all of them seemed to think back on that night. Izuku couldn’t help but feel bad. He never meant to scare any of them or worry them.

“Is Aizawa-sensei really your father?” Todoroki’s question interrupted the mood.

Izuku looked at the boy in surprise while many called out that the boy shouldn’t just ask like that.

“How’d you find out?” Izuku’s own question shut up all the complaints.

“I knew it,” Todoroki’s voice was soft like he was talking to himself. Everyone heard though and could see the proud look on the boy’s face. There was a beat of quiet as they all were stupefied.

“Well…” Kirishima commented, breaking the weird mood created. “When Kouta came up to him crying about the attack, it took him a minute to finally say who was fighting the villain.”

“When he said it was you, Midoriya,” Sato continued for the redhead when he trailed off. “Sensei just demanded to know where his son was.”

Izuku huffed. “That traitor.” Everyone seemed shocked at his words.

“What… what do you mean, Midoriya?” Ojirou asked.

“We were trying to see how long we could go before anyone noticed, and he just up and called me his son in front of the class. That’s just rude.” Izuku grumbled.

Everyone looked mystified. Except for Koda. Koda just looked resigned.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Uraraka asked, looking slightly offended.

“Did you not deem us trustworthy?” Iida tacked on looking sad.

Izuku looked around and noticed that many of them looked awkward, probably thinking along the same lines. He was quick to wave his hands around.

“It’s not that, or not really,” he tried to assure. “It’s just…” Izuku grimaced. “I’m the first quirkless hero student at any hero school and my dad is my teacher. I just didn’t want people to think that I only made it because of him.” Izuku shrugged. “I wanted people to know that I made it on my own merits, and not knowing any of you beforehand, I couldn’t know what you would think.”

Many of his classmates’ faces cleared in understanding.

“Why didn’t you say anything once we got into classes then?” Shoji asked.

Izuku looked sheepish a bit. “At that point, it was kinda fun to see if anyone would catch on that he was my dad.”

“I did,” Todoroki sounded so proud of himself. No one could be mad when that broke the mood.

“Why is your last name Midoriya? Kero, ” Tsuyu asked with her head tilted.

Izuku shrugged. “I mean, Eraser adopted me a few months back, and I wanted to keep my mom’s last name to remember her. Granted I did end up hyphenating my name on the papers. Now I’m Midoriya-Aizawa Izuku.” Izuku smiled largely. If a few of his classmates squinted at the brightness of the action, then Izuku was none the wiser.

“In other news!” Ashido’s bright voice caused everyone to look her way. She was holding up a big vase full of light purple flowers and green leaves. “Who gave you this, Midori?”

Izuku held out his hands to take the vase. Honestly, he didn’t even need to check the card to know who it was from. Masaru taught him about flower language growing up as the man always tended to his garden religiously and learned the language in order to use it in fashion designs. The geranium flowers meant stupidity, and the random greenery was actually basil for good wishes. Izuku plucked out the card just to see what she wrote.

You better heal quickly, you brat. And stop worrying us so much!

Izuku snorted.

“Who is it from Midori?” Ashido whined.

With care, Izuku set the vase down on the small bedside table.

“It’s just from Auntie. She must have made Kacchan bring it earlier.”

“Kacchan!” Many voices shouted over each other.

“Kacchan was here, and we missed her?” Ashido seemed to wilt in disbelief. “I want to meet her!”

Izuku chuckled lightly. “Yeah, Kacchan was here when I woke up,” his voice trailed off as he looked over the flowers. “I feel bad for making all of them worry like that.”

The clamor of the moment seemed to die away at that.

“You’re a hero-in-training with a reckless streak,” Shinso said simply. “I don’t think it is possible for people to not worry about you when they care about you. That’s normal.”

Izuku looked at the lavender haired boy in surprise. Many nodded their heads in agreement.

“I mean, it’s just like how we all worried about you, too,” Kirishima shrugged.

Izuku didn’t know what to say about that. Did that mean they all cared about him? But he wasn’t the best at socializing with them. He knew for a fact that he scared them sometimes. But they were all here. And it looked like they were all here willingly. For him.

Tears filled his eyes without his consent, and he furiously rubbed them away as they started to fall.

“Woah, dude!” Kirishima sounded scared. “Did I say something wrong?”

Izuku quickly shook his head, the tears still falling. A tissue was shoved into his hand, and he made eye-contact with the giver. Koda just smiled softly at him while rubbing his back.

“It… it’s fine.” Izuku hiccups, embarrassing himself at the sound. “I… I just… I just didn’t realize that… that people cared… that you all cared… about… about m… me.”

A few sniffles broke out through the room, and they didn’t emanate from the greenette. He looked up in shock.

“Oh Midori,” Ashido had a sad smile on her face. “Of course, we care about you. You’re our friend.”

“You may scare us sometimes,” Kaminari joked lightly, “but that doesn’t change the fact that you care for us. We can tell. With the way you stand up for us and help us be better.”

“The way you have always protected us,” Iida’s voice joined in sounding somber, “whether or not we felt like we deserved it.”

“You join us for games and study nights even when you try to grumble about not wanting to be there,” Uraraka commented.

“You accept all of us, and our quirks, both our powers and our personalities, mon ami,” even Aoyama was more subdued than normal. “You always listen even when we have nothing to say.”

“Midoriya,” Jirou called his attention. “You care so much. There is no way we wouldn’t care just as much for you.”

Sobs started to bubble up in Izuku’s throat. “Tha… that’s… that’s not… that’s never… never how it’s been for… for me. People… people d… don… don’t care about… ‘bout me.”

A weight tilted the bed to the left and a warm arm wrapped around his shoulders while Kouda still stroked his back on his right.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say, Midoriya, that maybe that was the case in the past, but that is not the case now.” Izuku heard Yaomomo say softly from his side. “We all care about you, and we worry about you. You’re our classmate, our partner, and our friend, and just as you always protect us, we want to protect you as well.”

“We are here for you, Midoriya,” Koda’s voice was firm, louder than he had ever heard amongst their classmates.

“We love you, Midori.”

Izuku sobbed harder, not used to having so much love surrounding him. He had never had this many people on his side. Even before he lost his mom, it was only ever him, his mom, and the Bakugous, everyone having turned their backs when they found out he was quirkless. He had never been so unconditionally accepted by so many people.

Warmth surrounded him as the class seemed to get closer, everyone holding onto each other in a form of a group hug

 ***

Katsuki watched from the doorway as Deku’s class gathered around him. He had come back when the pink girl pointed out the flowers from the Old Hag. Both Katsuki and her had been pretty proud of the arrangement, and from Deku’s reaction, it seemed to be perfect.

When he heard the pink girl lamenting about wanting to meet him… or well she said her, Katsuki was about to barge in there and fix their way of thinking, but Izuku’s comment after had him stop in his tracks.

He couldn’t help but nod along with eye bags and shitty hair. Of course, they were going to worry about him. He was family, and it was terrifying to receive word that he was hospitalized while at a training camp for school. It was terrifying to know that Deku was working as a vigilante and learning how to be a hero. They were always going to worry, but they were proud of him.

Listening to all his classmates peg Deku on the nose for all his heroic and just good tendencies made Katsuki prouder. His friend never changed, and he was glad people were finally noticing.

When the crying started, he slowly backed out of the room. He made eye contact with a rock shaped looking boy that was probably Koda, Katsuki had heard many things about him.

I’ll be back later , he signed. Take care of him for me, would you?

Koda nodded back with a small smile on his face. Looks like Katsuki was right if the boy understood sign language.

He made his way back down to the cafeteria just to have something to do. He sat at a table where he could see the door, to know when to head back up, and pulled out a small sketchbook that he had on him.

Around 20 minutes later, he saw a group walking out of the corner of his eye. Looking up he once again met eyes with Koda.

We’re heading out. Room is free , the boy signed at him from across the way. Katsuki nodded in response and packed his things to head up.

He didn’t know what kind of mood Deku was going to be in, and he really didn’t want him to be all mopey. So, with no tact, Katsuki kicked in the door.

“Why do all your classmates think I’m a girl?” He yelled.

Deku jumped looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

“How’d you know about that?”

Katsuki just gave him a deadpan look. “You know I eat fast, moron,” he tossed the onigiri he had snagged earlier at his friend, who surprisingly caught it with no problem. “Came in right as pinky, there, was whining about wanting to meet me… or her.”

Deku’s face went a little red, but there was also an awkward smirk across it. “Well, when I first mentioned you, they all just assumed. I mean, Kacchan, does sound like a traditionally feminine nickname,” the greenette rubbed the back of his neck. “They also assumed… thatyouaremygirlfriend!” Deku’s voice sped through the end of his sentence, and it took Katsuki a minute to parse it.

His face went red.

“Why didn’t you correct them, you idiot?” Katsuki yelled.

Deku looked both sheepish and mischievous, it was a terrifying combination for the boy. “I thought it would be funny. Them thinking you’re a girl and my girlfriend. I decided to see how long it would take for them to realize that that’s wrong. Then maybe they'll also learn that they shouldn't assume things.” Deku suddenly looked pleading. “They already found out about Eraser! Let me have this!”

Katsuki sighed. Why was his friend like this? “You really think you can get away with this?” He asked resigned. “I bet that even though this is a joke you started; you still get flustered whenever someone says I’m your girlfriend.”

Red flooded the greenette’s face making him look like a strawberry.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Deku huffed looking away.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at the boy. Whatever. Not his problem.

He flopped into the uncomfortable plastic chair making in groan under his weight. Crappy chairs. Shouldn’t a hospital have better furniture?

“Whatever, Deku,” Katsuki pulled out his switch and passed Deku his own. “If you’re gonna do this, though, at least make sure to sell it.”

Deku took his switch and looked at the blond in surprise. “You don’t care?”

“Of course, I care, you idiot!” Katsuki whacked the greenette’s arm. “Just doesn’t affect me, so have your fun, I guess.”

The smirk that crossed Deku’s face then should not have been that attractive. Katsuki was in trouble.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until Izuku was released from the hospital a day later that it occurred to him that it was summer break.

He had a month until school started up.

It wasn’t hard to decide to hang out with Kacchan as much as he could during that time. Of course it wasn’t a ton since the boy did have his photoshoots, and his parents were prepping for an upcoming fashion show.

He did get to enjoy trouncing the blond at every video game they played. There was a lot of cussing and hitting, mainly from Kacchan’s end as they played.

Izuku never tired of being with him. Even if they were just sitting in the same room on their phones or working on different things. It was… domestic? No, Izuku shook his head, a red blush painting his face. It was just nice. Just two friends hanging out every spare second they had.

Now it was two weeks until school started, and Kacchan was with his parents in Milan for the next while. Izuku was going insane. What was he supposed to do with his days? He had gone out to patrol every night once Eraser cleared him from healing. It was easier while he was home, not having to actually sneak out of both his room but also campus without being caught.

During the day, though? Izuku had nothing to do.

Ping!

Izuku turned his head towards his phone on the floor near his face. He grabbed it and held it up to his face in confusion as he sat upside down on the couch.

Kacchan was on the flight now, so it couldn’t have been him, and Aizawa was asleep in his room having had a tough patrol last night. Who could be texting him?

Unknown: Hey Midori! It’s Ashido!

Izuku groaned, sliding his body down the couch and onto the floor proper. How did she get his number?

Ping!

Ping!

Ping!

Why him?

With resignation, he looked at his phone once again.

Unknown: Wait Midoriya is here?

Unknown: How did you get Izuku-kun’s number?

Unknown: Hi Midori-bro!

Unknown: Welcome to the class group chat, scrub.

Unknown: It is not appropriate to call people scrubs! Also, one should ask before adding people into a group message!

Izuku rubbed his face on the floor. Yes, he had that heartfelt talk with them all. Yes, he finally admitted he cared for them all. But right now? He wanted to murder them. He hated group messages, granted it’s not like he had ever been a part of one.

Also, how could he tell exactly who was who in this message already.

Ping!

Unknown: So a couple of us wanted to see if the whole class would like to get together one more time over the break?

Unknown: Yeah, we are all dying of boredom.

Give me something to do!

I’ve already fried my gaming system, and mom won’t buy me a new one.

Unknown: Wow. Way to screw yourself over, Pikachu.

Unknown: I know you meant that as a joke, Jirou, but I’m going to take that as a compliment. Pikachu is a very lovable and adorable pokemon.

Unknown: Anyways……….

We were talking and remembered you talking about training on a beach nearby, Midori. Would you be willing to take us all?

Izuku perked up, lifting himself onto his elbows as he thought.

It had been a while since he had last been to Dagobah beach. It was probably full of garbage again and would be helpful for training. He could ask Eraser to come along as adult supervision for quirk usage, but he didn’t want to do that. If his classmates were going to train with him, they would train his way.

A smirk crossed his face as he typed.

Izuku: Sounds like a great idea, actually. We can meet on Dagobah beach tomorrow morning for anyone who wants to come.

Unknown: Yay!

Various responses started coming in, but Izuku was quick to mute the chat. He could double check who was coming later. He didn’t want to have to deal with all the messages for the next while, though.

Just then Aizawa stumbled out of his room on the prowl for his coffee. Izuku, being the loving child he is, had already filled the pot. He watched in amusement as Eraser pulled the pot off the machine and drank it straight from the source. Like father, like son.

Once the pot was empty, life came back into his dad’s eyes. Eraser looked over at him, and Izuku could see the confusion on his face as he took in the contorted position his son lay in on the floor.

“Do I even want to know?” Aizawa asked.

“Me and the class are going to Dagobah beach tomorrow morning.”

Aizawa paused in his motions of making breakfast at 3 in the afternoon. “Isn’t that the beach that is covered in trash?”

“Yep!” Izuku popped the ‘p’ with a smile.

“Do they know that?”

“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’ once again, the smile becoming more feral.

Aizawa gave him a deadpan look.

“Why are you like this, problem child?”

Izuku laughed brightly. “I learn from the best!” He winked at his dad. “Plus, they said they wanted to train.”

“You know that is only an excuse. They just want to hang out at the beach.”

“Oh most definitely,” Izuku responded, nodding. “But they decided to ask me, and, really, they should know better. I don’t take training lightly, and that beach is the best place to do it. I mean, I trained there whenever I could.”

Aizawa looked him over for a moment more before going back to his food. “Whatever, just don’t get into any trouble, problem child.”

It was Izuku’s turn to roll his eyes. He wasn’t that bad. Izuku laid there staring at the ceiling for a few more minutes as Aizawa ate quietly.

“Make sure to take pictures of their reactions.”

The feral smirk came back to his face, and looking over at his dad, he could see a mirroring one on the man’s face.

Man, he loved his dad.

 ***

Izuku found himself sitting out in the shallows as the sun rose the next day. By the looks of it, everyone would be coming today, and none of them knew what Dagobah beach was. Sad for them, really, but Izuku was excited to train.

About an hour later, he could hear the clamor of people approaching.

“Beach day! Beach day! Beach day!” The voices of Ashido, Hagakure, Kaminari, and a few others slowly got louder as they got closer.

Izuku hauled himself to his feet and navigated the trash piles to welcome everyone at the base of the stairs.

“Beach day! Beach day! Beach da…”

“What?” Ashido’s screech was just too good. Luckily, Izuku had gotten out his camera and recorded that. Eraser would love to hear it later.

“What is this?”

Izuku watched as the class slowly came into view. Luckily it looked like people had planned to change at the beach so no one would have to train in their swimsuit.

“Welcome!” Izuku called out, dragging their eyes down to him. If a smug grin sat on his face, well then, he couldn’t help it. “This is Dagobah beach, my main training ground.”

“But it’s a garbage dump!” Kaminari wailed.

“Yep!” Izuku responded. “Because of the currents, a lot of trash ends up washing to shore here. People have been taking advantage of that to throw away their own garbage.”

“How despicable!” Iida exclaimed looking horrified.

Izuku shrugged. “Pretty much.”

He turned to look down the beach, the sight blocked by mountain after mountain of trash. “I’ve been working on clearing the beach for years now whenever I can. Moving the trash helps build muscle, some in places you would never think about.” He turned back to look at the group. “I figured, we can all work on clearing it together. Maybe if we all use the summer to clear it, we can have it done by the time school starts.”

A few of his classmates wilted at his announcement, but many seemed to agree.

“What do we need to do?” Kirishima asked.

“Well, this is a no quirk area, since Eraser is at home. So all of you will work on gaining muscle the old fashion way.” Izuku explained. “Just work on clearing a pile. Remove small stuff first and then the big. There are dumpsters in the parking lot, and anything too big, we will have to call a truck for at the end of each day. If an item is too big or heavy to carry, grab someone to help. We don’t want anyone to injure themselves in the process. Other than that?” Izuku shrugged. “Nothing really. Feel free to jump in at any time.”

With that, Izuku turned around and started to work on the nearest pile. This section they were standing in had once been cleared. Because Izuku was never able to be consistent about it for an extended period of time, though, all the previously free space was once again full. This time, he was determined to finally let people see the horizon on this beach.

Slowly the sounds of people working filled the air around him. There were still a few grumbles here or there, but mostly everyone just worked, either separately or together.

A few hours passed before Izuku called for a break.

“Lunch time!” Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn to the greenette. From behind a pile of trash, Izuku pulled over a cooler filled with food and drinks.

“I figured many of you would forget about food, so I made some stuff for today.”

He got a few wary glances.

“Don’t worry, none of it is spicy,” Izuku reassured. “You heathens,” he added under his breath.

With that reassurance, everyone dove in. It was silent for a few minutes as everyone was so focused on the food, but eventually chatter started up.

“So Midoriya, how did you find this beach and decide to clean it up?” Shoji asked from beside him.

Izuku hummed as he finished chewing a bite on his onigiri. “Well, one of the first foster homes I lived in was near here. I remember everyone talking about the beach and how it was a shame it was so disgusting. A few of the older members of the community lamented about how it used to be so pretty, but now was just a landfill.” Izuku took another bite, pausing for a moment before continuing.

“I figured that by myself and not being able to come often, I wouldn’t get much done, but I couldn’t help but try. I got a little bit done before moving on to the next orphanage, but it made me feel accomplished. And I realized that it was helping me build strength and endurance.”

“You really are incredible, Midori.” Ashido’s voice startled him. It was then he looked around and noticed everyone watching him.

“Whelp, back to work!” She suddenly hopped to her feet. “Right, Midori?”

Izuku was shocked for a minute, but eventually smiled and nodded. It looked like everyone was getting into it and no longer was disappointed at the outcome of the day.

By the end of the day, Izuku stood next to a pile of larger items waiting for the dump truck to come and pick it up.

“Same time tomorrow, right?” Kirishima called as he walked away.

Izuku nodded. “I’ll be here for whoever wants to come.”

There was a cheer as everyone agreed.

Izuku felt warm as he watched them all walk away, joking with each other. They were all tired. That was easy to tell, but they all seemed happy and fulfilled.

Today was a good day.

 ***

And so the routine continued. Every morning, those who were available would show up to help clear the beach. They took Sundays off as a rest day, but the final few days of their summer break found them on an empty beach.

Izuku couldn’t help the cheer he gave at the sight.

Finally! After years of dreaming! His hope was fulfilled.

“Beach day!” Ashido, Hagakure, and Aoyama yelled as they sprinted for the water.

Izuku laughed. They finally got their beach day. He plopped down in the sand with a smile on his face as he listened to his classmates splash and play in the water. He would have to bring Kacchan here soon.

Chapter Text

Not two days later found the whole class back in their assigned seats in the classroom with Aizawa looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“Suit up in your costumes and meet in Gym Gamma in ten minutes.”

Izuku watched in amusement as his dad snuck out the door as everyone jumped up and immediately started talking.

“What do you think we are doing today?” Kirishima asked excitedly as he bounded up to Izuku’s side.

“Yeah, the old man give any hints?” Shinso asked as he appeared on Izuku's right side. The greenette was proud that he didn’t jump this time, Shinso seemed to deflate slightly at that fact. Izuku smirked.

“He's been tight lipped about everything,” he responded casually as they made their way to the locker rooms.

“Ah man,” Kaminari whined from beside Shinso. “I hate surprises. What if whatever we are doing is some sort of surprise test?”

“Then, looks like you’ll fail this one too,” Jirou remarked as she passed by.

“Hey!” Kaminari cried, following after the punk girl complaining about treatment.

Shinso just snickered at the interaction. “He really shouldn’t be surprised at this point.”

Izuku let out a laugh of his own. It was always chaotic.

The chaos didn’t die down at all when they finally entered the locker rooms. In fact, it was way worse. The other boys were talking and laughing while gear banged against the lockers and benches. Izuku was quick to grab his gear and head to a changing stall nearby to avoid the crowd and get out fast. The noise was a little too overwhelming at the moment.

He ended up being the first one out and found his dad in his typical yellow mummy bag asleep on the floor. Cementoss stood nearby sending worried glances at Eraser.

“Hi Cementoss-sensei,” Izuku said when he got close. He watched in amusement as the rectangular pro-hero jumped quite high at Izuku’s voice. His eyes darted over to where the greenette was standing before his shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Oh, Midoriya, I didn’t hear you come in,” Cementoss said.

Izuku couldn’t help but preen at that. If he was able to scare a pro-hero by his stealth, then it meant that his practice and training worked.

Just then the gym door slammed open, and his classmates spilled in with a roar of sound.

Or maybe Cementoss was just more used to that…

Like a zombie rising from the grave, Aizawa stood up and pulled himself out of his mummy bag as the class stopped in front of him.

“Today we are in gym gamma to create and practice ultimate moves,” his tired voice drawled out. “Every hero has their move that is known by the public. The move that a hero can do in a tight situation to turn the tide in their favor or to win. Cementoss has created personal training areas for you all and Ectoplasm is coming by to give each a clone. Go beyond…” Aizawa’s voice faded out before the end of the motto as he moved to the corner and laid back down instantly.

While everyone cheered and moved off to an area of their own, Izuku remained standing, lost in thought.

He had studied heroes his whole life. He got the idea of ultimate moves. Moves like Kamuri Woods’ “lacquered prison” or All Might’s many smashes, but he had always been a bit off put about them. At least about the presentation of them. What was the point in shouting out the name of your move to the enemy? If the enemy was smart, they would know exactly what you were going to do and counteract it.

Then for someone like him, who didn’t have a specific fighting style, having an ultimate move seemed like an unsure thing. His fighting style changed depending on his opponent and their quirk. He didn’t want to tie himself down to one idea, he wanted to have options.

“You okay there, Midoriya?” Ectoplasm’s voice cut through his thoughts. Izuku’s eyes darted over to look at the hero.

“Does a hero have to have an ultimate move?” He couldn’t help but ask. From the corner of his eye, he saw his dad perk up in his ridiculous mummy bag. Ectoplasm seemed a little shocked and confused at the question.

“I’ve… never known one to not have one,” he said.

“Why do you ask, Izuku?” Eraser questioned when he got closer. Due to the glint in his dad’s eye, he agreed with him, but wanted him to voice it.

“It’s just…” Izuku huffed trying to organize his thoughts. “I feel like an ultimate move ties down a hero’s fighting style and for some, that’s okay, but I’m not like that.”

Aizawa just looked at him, basically telling him to go on while Ectoplasm seemed to consider his words.

“I don’t have a quirk to direct my fighting style, instead I have the quirk of others that I’ll have to adapt to at any given moment. Having an ultimate move won’t help me because while in one situation it would help, in the next it would be a hindrance.”

Izuku paused for a moment, backtracking in his thoughts. “Plus even if I did have a quirk to direct my way of fighting, I shouldn’t rely on it. I should have moves that go against what people would expect.”

Izuku perked up. “That’s another thing! Having an ultimate move that everyone knows and then shouting the name of it seemed so counterintuitive. That just makes the villain aware of what you are doing, and if they have studied you at all, they could adapt to it.”

Izuku turned to look at Eraser and Ectoplasm. “So I guess I’m asking if it is necessary for me to create an ultimate move? Am I going to be graded on that or have to tell the hero commission?”

Looking at Ectoplasm’s stupefied expression that somehow came across on his relatively emotionless face made Izuku realize that maybe he hadn’t organized his thoughts at all.

“You provide some ideas to consider,” Aizawa stated with a smirk on his face. “Most people definitely become too reliant on their quirks, which is proven whenever I erase it. If you feel like you shouldn’t have an ultimate move, then do what you need during this time to improve in whatever area is needed.”

Izuku smiled and nodded. So he wouldn’t get in trouble for not having anything specific. Perfect. Now he just needed to decide what he was going to do during this time. He needed to gain some perspective.

Quickly he made his way over to the wall, it was easy work for him to scale it with the nearby rock walls and the boards alongside it. Within minutes he found himself seated in the rafters of the gym watching what all his classmates were doing.

It was interesting to see how all of them were pushing their quirks further. Ashido seemed to be trying to shoot acid between her hands. The way she held them though, didn’t let it spray nearly as much as she could. He watched as Kirishima’s skin cracked and broke around him as he tried to increase his hardening. Tokoyami was in a corner testing various ways his cloak could cover Dark Shadow and still be of use.

Many of his classmates sparred with Ectoplasm’s clones. Working hard and doing their best to get better. One thing that Izuku noticed, though, from his bird’s eye view was that, while his teachers were helping and offering suggestions, none of them really knew the nitty gritty details of each quirk.

Without thinking, Izuku pulled out his small notebook from his pouch and started taking notes. What could his classmates do to further their quirks and their skills?

Uraraka had learned martial arts and used it during fights, but why didn’t she add her quirk to the mix? If she could activate her quirk while taking down an opponent an old fashioned way, she could add to their disorientation making it easier to cuff them in the end.

Yaomomo worked on creating bigger and more complicated items while eating to cut down time on creation, but why didn’t she practice the transition of creation to fighting more?

Iida ran and ran and ran, but why didn’t he use recipiro-turbo and then try and cut down on the drag time by adding cool down support gear, or always having orange juice on him.

There were so many small things, they could all be doing that would help them improve even further.

By the time the bell rang, Izuku had a full notebook on everyone but himself. He quickly dropped from the ceiling, rolling with his landing, scaring poor Ojirou who was walking nearby.

“Where did you come from!” the boy yelled out, drawing attention over towards them.

Izuku just shrugged. “The ceiling.”

“You just dropped from the ceiling?” The poor boy looked like he was having a heart-attack.

“Well, yeah,” Izuku said casually, not understanding the shock. “I was up in the rafters making notes and needed to get down quickly.”

“So, you fell… from the ceiling?”

Izuku really wasn’t understanding. “I jumped down. It’s only two stories,” he commented, not noticing the looks everyone was giving him. “Paratroopers drop the equivalent distance and speed from airplanes. It’s not that hard to do, you just have to make sure you land correctly.”

“So, you’re saying that you regularly do that?”

Izuku nodded, he did it all the time as a vigilante, why waste time climbing down when you can jump with no problem.

“You know, bro,” Kirishima interrupted. “You just seem to get a bit scarier every day.”

Izuku looked at him in surprise. Before he could say anything to that, Eraser interrupted.

“This week, we will be spending this time continuing to work on the ideas you have. I also forgot to mention that the reason we are doing this is because your provisional licensing exam will take place in two weeks.”

Everyone began to whisper to those around them at the news. Soon. Soon Izuku would be able to get a license and work legally.

“During this time, you can also go to the UA support department to request any costume updates or changes,” Aizawa seemed to be staring Izuku down at that, and honestly, that was just rude. Did he need to call him out like that? He already promised he would go to fix his gear.

“You’re dismissed.”

Izuku flipped through his notes as he walked to the locker room. What could he do with this?

“Hey man,” Kaminari peered over his shoulder. “What you’ve got there?”

Izuku looked around, everyone was looking over at him in various stages of changing.

“Are those notes on us?” Kirishima asked, sounding excited.

“Uh…” Izuku looked down at his notes and back up. “Yes?”

“Do you have any ways you think I could improve my quirk?” Kaminari bounced as he asked, looking curiously at Izuku’s notebook.

“Do you have anything on me in there?” Kirishima asked as well, a smile bright on his face.

Many others seemed to be asking the same thing.

“Uh, I kinda took notes on everyone during training today,” Izuku muttered amidst the chaos. “I could… tell you them next time?”

There was an almost unanimous yes that rang through the locker room. Izuku still didn’t know how he was going to use training time to get better himself, but it looked like next practice, he would be helping his classmates.

 ***

Sure enough, the next day during heroics Kaminari was the first to approach him about his notes.

“Do you have any ways I could increase output or fight better with my quirk?”

Izuku pulled out his notebook, mainly to show what he had written down since he knew it all by heart anyway. Kaminari looked over it while Izuku explained.

“I don’t really know a way to change the output of your quirk, but I thought of a few different ways you could use it to your advantage.”

Izuku pulled out one of his batons and clicked the side. “You know how my batons can change to give out an electrical charge, right?” Kaminari nodded quickly. “You can do the same thing. Instead of sending out the charge into the air, retain it around your body when attacking. Your punches can then not only hit hard, but shock as well. This means that you would probably want to lose the gloves or go for a material that conducts electricity instead of dampening it.”

Kaminari looked stunned at what Izuku was saying. “I know that you are looking for a way to also direct your lightning, and I overheard you talking to Ectoplasm-sensei yesterday about options. I think it would be worth it to talk with the support department, I’m sure they could design you something that would work.”

Izuku grabbed his notebook back while finishing. “I think the most beneficial thing to do during this time, though, would be to work on electrifying those you touch, work on controlling the amount and what it feels like so you can use it without thinking.”

Izuku watched as Kaminari looked down at his hands, lightning dancing along his digits. His smile was bright as he looked up again.

“Thanks man!” Kaminari cried about to hug Izuku. The greenette was quick to grab the other’s clothed wrists before he touched him.

“You’re still putting out electricity, Kaminari,” he explained at the confused look he received at this action. Kaminari pulled back sheepishly.

“Whoops,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about that. But those were some awesome reflexes, man!”

Izuku watched as Kaminari started to spar with the Ectoplasm clone working on this new move. When Izuku was satisfied with it, he moved onto the next person that had asked for his help.

“Kirishima!” He called as he got closer. The redhead released his quirk as he turned and looked at the greenette flashing his shark like teeth.

“Midori-bro! Have you come to offer tips?” he cheered.

“Yep,” he stated. “But I want to actually help Satou at the same time if that’s okay.”

Kirishima gave him a slightly confused look, but said it was okay anyway. It didn’t take long to drag the other boy over to join them.

“Kirishima, I know that you are working on upping your level of hardness to be a stronger shield. Satou, I know that you are working on strengthening yourself to increase your quirk,” Izuku said to both, receiving twin nods in response. “What I was thinking was that Kirishima needed someone with a stronger hit to practice with, and Satou needed someone to try and outlast. So the best thing to do would be to fight each other. Kirishima works on strengthening his hardening and moving while it’s in place, and Satou works on beating a strong opponent. See who can outlast the other in a battle of attrition.”

The two boys looked at each other before looking back at Izuku with smiles on their faces.

“Sounds good to me,” Kirishima cheered, and Satou nodded, pulling out a new sugar packet.

Izuku watched as the two boys started up their spar. Kirishima moved slowly with his new increased hardening, but he wasn’t budging at any of the hits he took. Satisfied with their work, Izuku moved on.

“Hey, Midori!”

His thoughts were interrupted by the pink girl. He looked over at her in question.

“Are you out giving free advice?” She asked, the ground around her coated in acid and slowly being eaten away.

“The guys asked me yesterday in the locker room about my notes and if I could help them,” he explained.

He watched as Ashido puffed out her cheeks and clenched her fists.

“Rude! That means we weren’t there to ask as well! Just getting left out.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “Oh! Sorry, but I am willing to help you all as well.”

Ashido’s expression changed instantly, lighting up. “Perfect! What do you have for me?”

It took a second for Izuku to find the pages for her, but he was quick to show her.

“I saw you working on shooting out acid yesterday. I couldn’t help but think that there was a different form you could take in order to have a stronger and farther stream.” He started to explain it all to her and demonstrated what he was talking about. He watched as Ashido picked it up pretty quickly and then started to fine tune it herself.

Izuku stood back looking around the gym quickly. Well four down, 14 to go, and he still didn’t know what to do for himself.

This is how he found himself flopped on the common room couch texting Kacchan. The blond had just gotten back from the trip to Milan and was apparently going crazy couped up in his house. Sadly, though, it was only Tuesday so there were still four days until he could see him. Izuku complained about his own predicament, feeling at a loss.

He had just barely sent the text about heroic’s class the last few days when his phone started to vibrate with an incoming call.

Kacchan! displayed across the screen. Izuku perked up answering the call.

“Kacchan!” He announced, voice bright, causing many heads in the common room to turn in his direction.

“You absolute moron!” was the response he got.

Izuku chuckled, standing up from the couch and making his way to the kitchen to grab a snack while on the phone.

“Now that’s not very nice, Kacchan.”

“Well, it’s true! You’re in a class specifically getting you ready to fight multiple quirks and here you are complaining about what to do to get better?”

Izuku didn’t see the problem. Apparently Kacchan could sense his confusion over the phone because he continued.

“You’re not working on having an ultimate move, but everyone else is, and you can sure bet that villains are similar. Use this to your advantage. You’re going person to person to help them, then use that time to spar with them. See if you can get away unscathed and help them to get better at catching someone. Use that brain of yours on yourself sometimes, you idiot.” He heard Kacchan huff over the phone.

The smile on his face pulled at his cheeks, but Izuku couldn’t help it. Sometimes he just really needed Kacchan’s perspective on things. He always helped him get his head screwed on straight when he over thought things.

“You’re right, Kacchan.”

“That’s nothing new,” came the immediate response. Izuku just huffed and rolled his eyes at the blond’s attitude. Izuku continued to prepare a snack for himself, the phone pressed in between his cheek and his shoulder.

“So, I have the licensing exam next weekend, and you’re back in town, so we can hang out this weekend, right?” he asked, gathering his food and grabbing a sports drink from the fridge as he made his way back to the couch.

“Yeah, I’m going insane being stuck in the house. I need to get out, so maybe we can go to the arcade on Saturday after your class?”

Izuku hummed. “That sounds good to me, Kacchan. I’ll see you then!”

“Later, loser.”

When Izuku hung up, he noticed the silence in the room. He looked up and around to see everyone in the common room staring at him curiously.

“That your model girlfriend?” Kaminari asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Izuku’s face pinked up and his stomach flipped.

“Oh… um… yeah, that was Kacchan,” he stuttered his reply. Do it for the joke, he kept reminding himself, trying to calm the blush on his face. Why was he even blushing in the first place? It was just Kacchan.

“Sounds like you’re got yourself a date this weekend!” Uraraka cheered, causing Izuku’s blush to do the opposite of what he wanted, his face just getting darker.

“Uh… heh” Izuku chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his neck. “Yep, we are going to the arcade after class.”

“You’re dating a model who also likes to go to the arcade?” Kirishima yelled, looking shocked. “What the heck, man? That’s unbelievable.”

Izuku straightened out at that comment. “What? Just because Kacchan is a model, does that mean that video games and arcades are not an option. Me and Kacchan have been playing since we were kids. People are allowed to have other hobbies.” Izuku berated. Just because someone seems like one kind of person doesn’t mean that they can’t like other things.

Kirishima looked a bit sheepish. “Sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to sound that way. I was just meaning that you are lucky to have your Kacchan.”

Unbidden, a smile found its way on his face. “I really am,” he muttered softly, only shaking out of it when he heard a few of the girls coo at him.

Izuku stood up quickly. “I have to go and sort through some notes, so goodnight you all.”

Everyone was kind enough to let him leave the common room without any more teasing. Sitting down at the desk in his room, he pulled out his notebook on all his classmates. He had gotten time to talk with all of them during class today, and it really seemed like they all appreciated his feedback. Now he looked at his notes with a different eye.

He helped them all learn how to better fight and use their quirks to their advantage. With his pencil tapping his lips, Izuku leaned back in his chair in thought.

How would he combat each of their quirks and new updates?

Ideas started to pop into his head, so with a quick twist of his wrist, he sat forward and started to write. He really did have the perfect pool with which to work with.

Chapter Text

The next day when he made his rounds to check in with everyone, he observed their way of fighting. Making notes as he went, looking for weaknesses and openings that each tended to have. He wanted one more day of observing before testing out his thoughts. He also needed this time to run to the support department during class.  

After checking in with Aoyama as the last, Izuku made his way out of the gym. Eraser just gave him a nod when he looked over, his dad knowing exactly what he was doing.

The closer he got to the support department, the louder the hallway became. Sounds of hammering, welding, and metal filled the air. Izuku was careful approaching the door, something in the air felt a little unsure.

Boom!

Yep, there it was. The door to the support department was blown open moments before Izuku got to it. He heard a mad cackle fill the air and couldn’t help but smile. Looks like he had found the correct place. As the smoke cleared, he saw the person he was looking for standing in the midst of it covered in grease and ash.

“My calculations were slightly off this time,” the girl with pink dreads laughed loudly, unfazed by the destruction she caused.

“I’ve told you a hundred times, Hatsumei, you can’t just throw things together. You have to be aware of the others around you when making your creations,” he could hear Power Loader scolding her as she walked back through the broken door.

Izuku followed along behind her, looking around to take in the lab. It was filled with various types of machinery and had lab tables sectioned off for each student it seemed. The desk in the back corner was overloaded and many support items littered the floor around it, creating a veritable mountain.

“Oh Midoriya,” Power Loader’s voice distracted Izuku from his musings. “Eraserhead said that you were going to come in. What can I do for you?”

“I’m not here to have anything made, Power Loader-sensei,” Izuku corrected. “I am here to make. The only way Eraser would let me remake my support items was if I worked with the support department.” Izuku scowled as he explained the conditions. He had done just fine on his own for the last few years, so he didn’t know what the big deal was.

“Oh,” Power Loader looked surprised. “Well because you are not signed off to work with any of the machinery, you will need to work alongside someone, but I am sure we can make it work and get your support items ready for you.” Power Loader looked around the room as if looking at his students and thinking. The thing, though, was that Izuku already knew who he wanted to work with.

“I want to work with Hatsumei,” Izuku drew Power Loader’s attention back to him. The hero flinched slightly and opened his mouth, probably to ask if Izuku was sure, but before he could, they were interrupted. That pink head of hair popped up from the workstation in the back, a manic grin stretched across the girl’s face.

“Someone call?” She bounded over, goggles slipping down her head at the movement. “Oh! Greenie! Are you finally going to let me work on your babies? They have a wonderful base, but they could be so much better!” She darted off and rifled through her mountain of items. “I have baby number 42 that is very similar to your batons but can give you added…” her voice seemed to speed up as she rambled. Is this how Kacchan felt when he talked? It was very overwhelming.

The support item she was talking about was shoved into his hands while she darted back to grab something else, talking about how Izuku was a blank canvas to work with without a quirk.

“Hold up!” He yelled, drawing the girl’s attention back to him. “I am not here to get any new inventions… or babies,” he explained, setting her items down on her desk. “I am here because I want to fix up my old ones, but Eraser won’t let me make them on my own anymore. I have to work with someone from the support department.” He gave the girl a feral grin. “I wanted to work with the best and the craziest, if you’ll let me, Hatsumei-chan.”

The girl paused for a moment, looking like she was thinking over the proposal. “So you aren’t going to be taking any of my babies, but we can make some together?” Izuku grimaced at that sentence, there was no good way to say that apparently. But…

“Yes, I want to have a hand in all my support items. The person I trust best is myself, but if I have to trust anyone else in the process, it would be you.”

The manic grin on the girl’s face seemed to soften at his words. “Well, thanks, greenie. I’d be glad to work with you,” she bounced back to her overexcited demeanor in an instant. “What are the specs you got on your babies?”

Izuku pulled out all his blueprints and notes of his support items and spread them across her workstation.

“Here’s what I got for you.”

The bell rang for lunch before Izuku and Hatsumei had finished going over his designs and improvements, so that’s how they found themselves settling down at the lunch table together, Koda and Shoji sitting across from them, giving them confused looks. Izuku was too distracted by their plans to notice though. The other two listened in confused awe as the two motor mouths just kept talking about schematics and chemistry behind various ‘babies.’ It made for an entertaining lunch, that was for sure.

Then it came time for English, and they had to part ways.

“Come by the lab anytime after school, and I will definitely be there, Greenie!” Hatsumei waved as she raced through the hallways.

Working with the pinkette was going to be fun.

“So what are you doing with the girl from the support course, Midori?” Ashido appeared next to him with a scheming look on her face.

Izuku turned to look at her in confusion, stopping his note taking while walking back to class. “Me and Hatsumei-chan are working on fixing and updating my support gear,” he explained.

“Woah! How’d you get permission to do that?” Kaminari asked from beside them.

Izuku put away his notebook; he’d continue later. “Eraser has forbidden me from making any of my support items by myself recently, but I told him the only way that I would get my support items fixed was if I could do it myself. We reached a compromise that I could work on my gear alongside a support course student.”

“Why’d you pick that girl?” Jirou asked as they entered the room. “Not to be rude, but she’s a little scary after seeing her at the sports festival.”

Izuku grinned. “The sports festival is exactly why I want to work with her,” Izuku answered. “She helped make my com units that are professional grade. The thing that I have learned is that the eccentric care the most and tend to be the best, and if I have to work with someone, it’s going to be the best.” Izuku had to pause for a moment. He sounded just like Kacchan at that moment. A shiver racked through him. Yikes.

“Everybody ready for English say hey!” Present Mic charged through the door like normal. As the loud blond got started on the lesson for today, Izuku snuck out his notebook to continue making notes of how he could improve what he had. Working with the pinkette got his brain running with ideas.

 ***

The next day during heroics, Izuku stayed with the class. Now it was his turn to train. He started in the same order that he had worked the past two days.

“Hey Kaminari, I was wondering if you could help me today?” Izuku asked as he walked up to the electric blond that was messing around with a new item on his wrist. His neon yellow eyes looked over at the greenette in surprise before a wide grin broke across his face.

“Sure thing, Midoriya! How could I help you?”

Izuku eyed the item with interest. That looked like the thing Hatsumei was working on yesterday. He wanted to know what it did, but best to find out the hard way.

“I was wondering if you could spar with me using your new techniques,” Izuku bowed with his question.

“Oh! Sure thing man! But why do you want to do that?”

Izuku looked up while explaining. “I need to practice during this time. I felt a little lost on what to do to train to improve like all of you, but Kacchan reminded me that being a hero means going against a lot of quirks and I have the perfect place to work on that here. I want to spar with everyone and their evolving techniques to get used to that and learn how to adjust my style for each.”

Kaminari looked awestruck. “That makes a lot of sense, man.” A smirk crossed his face. “I think I could get the drop on you now with my improvements.”

A feral smirk crossed Izuku’s as he dropped into a fighting stance. “Bring it on, Sparky.”

“Com’on, man,” Kaminari complained, wilting a moment, before straightening up to his own fighting pose. “You’re going down, broccoli.”

Kaminari was the first one to make a move, charging at Izuku. Hands outstretched. Izuku watched him come for a moment, biding his time, and when the blond got close, he ducked. Swiping his foot right to try and knock Kaminari off his feet found him surprised by the fact that the blond had already moved. He felt a kick on his back with a tingle of electricity arch through him.

He rolled away following the momentum of the kick he received and bounced up, arms up to receive the punch that was thrown at him. His insulated gloves took the impact, and Izuku didn’t get shocked for his efforts. When Kaminari noticed, he backed up quickly. Izuku could see the blond thinking, analyzing. His smirk widened.

People thought Kaminari was dumb. The boy wasn’t book smart, he had to work hard for his grades, but he wasn’t dumb. This fight proved that.

They circled each other at a distance, tracking each other’s movements. Izuku was glad to see that there really was more to the boy. His fighting before this had been all about releasing one big shock and calling it good, but now with the shock touch, Izuku was getting to see Kaminari knew how to fight hand to hand, and he was good.

The blond charged again this time, looking like he was going to throw a punch. Izuku watched the weight shift in the boy’s feet as he approached. Instead of ducking, Izuku jumped avoiding the low kick Kaminari had switched to and instead brought his own foot around, hitting the blond on the back sending him to the ground. Kaminari quickly rolled and held up his support item, firing at Izuku. The greenette felt the air swish past his ear as the item missed him.

He took a step towards the blond about to try and pin him, but he saw a smirk and Kaminari’s hand that was still raised from firing the weapon, turned to a pointed finger as electricity arched from his hand to whatever he had shot that was now located behind Izuku. The greenette was too slow and got hit, causing his muscles to spasm. Kaminari used that moment to swipe Izuku’s feet from under him and pin him to the mat. After a moment of struggling with his muscle still twitching, Izuku tapped out.

Kaminari slid off his chest onto the floor next to him, panting.

“Yay!” The electric blond cheered, throwing his hands into the air in front of him.

Izuku laughed while laying there. He reached over to hit Kaminari in the arm in congratulations, the twitch that was still present caused him to hit a bit harder than he meant, though.

“Hey!” Kaminari slapped his hand. “I won fair and square.”

“I know,” Izuku waved his hand. “That was really good, Kaminari. Have you always known hand to hand?”

Kaminari shifted, sitting upright as he ran a hand through his hair looking sheepish. “Yeah, I trained at a dojo when I was younger, learning to fight and defend.”

Izuku joined him in sitting up. “Why have you never incorporated that into your fighting style until now?”

Kaminari shrugged. “My quirk specialist I worked with growing up told me my best bet was always to fire at will and hope for the best. I never even thought that I could use my quirk any other way.”

Izuku pressed his lips together, making them form a thin line. This… this was why he hated quirk society. There were ‘quirk specialists’ but he had yet to hear of one that actually helped people expand and use their quirks. They always seemed to limit them, instead.

Izuku groaned, pulling himself to his feet and holding out his hand to help Kaminari up.

“Well, they were incompetent at their job, and there is so much you can do with your quirk. If I have any ideas, or if you have any questions, we can talk and figure it out.”

Kaminari slapped his hand in the greenette’s and pulled himself up while pulling Izuku into a hug at the same time. The greenette was frozen for a moment, but before he could react, Kaminari was already pulling away.

“Thanks man! If you ever want to spar, I’ll be happy to!”

Izuku felt a real smile cross his face and gave a small nod. That sounded good to him. Sadly, it was time for him to move onto the next person.

With a small wave, Izuku walked over to the next outcropping where Kirishima and Satou were fighting harshly. Kirishima seemed to be moving a bit better in his hardest form while Satou was being more varied in his fighting form. The two seemed to tire at the same time when he approached as Kirishima’s form broke and Satou swung a little too slow.

“Hey guys!” Izuku called out, drawing their attention. “Mind if I join?”

 ***

The rest of Izuku’s week started to be fun. Everyday he found himself sparring with more of his classmates. It was fulfilling to see how much they had improved on their own, and how much they had taken his suggestions to heart. He walked out of heroics with more bruises than he had in the past, and a genuine smile on his face.

Then after classes let out, Izuku would make his way over to the support department where he met up with Hatsumei. The pinkette was crazy and had so much feral energy. It was one of Izuku’s favorite times of the day. Power Loader had to stop them from experimenting multiple times a session which was a bore. Party pooper.

He found himself exhausted by the end of the day, but he felt satisfied.

It was Friday night, and Izuku wanted to get out. It had been too long since he had last gone out as the Rabbit. There were newspaper articles asking both if the Rabbit was finally gone and where the vigilante had disappeared to.

Guilt crept up his throat. As much as he loved school and begrudgingly loved his classmates, Izuku had been neglecting his duties that he created for himself.

Ping!

He looked over at his phone seeing a familiar number on the screen.

Tenko: Break in at the jewelry store on 300 if you are available. Just started, no police yet.

Izuku calculated in his head how far that was. He could make it.

He tossed his electronics to the side and grabbed his black hoodie as he launched himself out his window into the night. It took only a few minutes for Izuku to find himself in front of the reported jewelry store. The night was quiet, but Izuku could hear the grunts of the men working inside. Seemed like there were two of them, quirks were unknown.

He lowered himself to the alley across the way and snuck up beside the main window. Yep, just two of them, both seeming a little oblivious. They were filling a large bag with the stolen gems and had the stereotypical ski masks over their heads. Couldn’t hide the fact that one of them had a head shaped like a cone. For the life of him, Izuku couldn’t figure out how that translated to a quirk until the guy lowered his head to a glass case, and Izuku watched in horror as his head started to spin like a drill bit. Gross.

The other had a lanky cat tail poking out from their pants that swished as they waited. Ears were perked, but with the way they were still, Izuku wondered if they had some kind of ear plug, the drill would be loud for sensitive ears. Problem for him, though, was that it would cover any sounds Izuku made.

It was quick work for Izuku to sneak in the front door that the criminals had left open. They were obviously amateurs, but that made it easier for him. He crouched behind the glass case in the front and pulled out on the homemade mixtures he kept on his belt. Pulling the pin, he tossed it, smoke immediately leaking out and filling the space.

“What is this?” He heard a scratchy voice call out sounding panicked.

“We gotta get out of here, man,” a shaky voice replied. Izuku heard thumps and crashes as the two tried to find the exit while being blinded by the smoke. The alarm was tripped by one of them as they forgot in their panic where they were. Izuku just fixed his mask and snuck his way through, following the noises. He had five minutes before the police would be here.

They really were too easy. He felt the tail of the second one flick by him, disturbing the smoke there. Izuku pulled out his baton, setting it to electric and then tazed the criminal. The cat person went down hard, grunting when they hit the floor. Izuku quickly covered their mouth with one hand and used the other to tie them up. They were twitching but not fighting back.

“Kai?” that shaky voice whispered through the air approaching Izuku’s location. He let go of the now tied up cat and backed up a bit. Through the haze, he saw drill head approach, his whole-body quivering. “Kai, are you okay?”

The drill head seemed to find the cat tied up as he let out a shaky breath. Their head darted up and whipped around.

“Who's there?” they tried to sound firm, but it really wasn’t working. Izuku crept up behind them and with a quick hit, knocked them unconscious. It was harder work to tie up drill head, but that was mainly because they were heavier and bigger. Soon, though, he finished up and dragged them both to the front of the store with their bag of stolen goods.

Right as Izuku settled on the rooftop across the way, the police pulled up, lights flashing in the dark night.

“Come out! We have you surrounded,” the police called out. Izuku just watched as they waited, before one was finally sent in to check. They went in prepared, charging like an assault mission, and came out befuddled.

“Hey chief,” one of the officers called out when they exited the building. “The criminals were already apprehended, and it looks like all the missing jewelry from the cases is in their bag that was untouched.”

A few of the officers were scratching their heads at the situation. Izuku smiled and stood up, stretching a bit before throwing himself onto the next rooftop. Behind him he heard the chief mention his vigilante name.

When he got a few blocks away, he pulled out his phone.

Izuku: Problem solved. Anywhere next or just patrol?

It took a few minutes to get a response. No doubt Tenko was checking with his sources, the police scanner he had on hand, and the street camera feeds he hacked into.

Tenko: Nothing obvious. Just patrol for now, I’ll let you know.

Izuku nodded and pocketed his phone. He took a deep breath, night air filling his lungs, before he sprinted to the edge and threw himself over the alley under him. It was times like this that Izuku felt like he was flying. He rolled on his landing on the next roof and continued his sprint, ears open and eyes peeled for any trouble.

That morning when he crawled in bed at 4 AM, Izuku felt satisfied. It had been a relatively quiet night. After the break-in, he just encountered a few people lost in the streets that were scared. He was able to help them find their way to either a shelter or to their own homes so as to not be out by themselves. Tenko hadn’t reported anything happening, so Izuku just patrolled for the whole time.

It was a good night.

Three hours later, Izuku’s alarm went off for morning heroics. With a groan, his hand slammed into his phone to turn off the annoying sound and he heaved himself out of bed. Sometimes he questioned his own sanity.

It seemed like everyone else was exhausted too since the common room and kitchen were relatively quiet as he got his coffee ready. People around him were bumping into one another as they got their breakfast and finished preparing for the day. Izuku was pleased to notice that everyone gave him a wide berth. He hated being touched, especially in the mornings, and it seemed like everyone had picked up on that. After he filled his gigantic mug full of coffee and downed it in one go, Izuku finally worked on getting himself breakfast.

“Are you okay, Izuku-kun?” Uraraka asked from beside him. “Did you not sleep well?”

Izuku glared at the pink-cheeked girl and growled in his throat. The girl let out an eep and immediately left, apologizing along the way.

“Uraraka, you know better than to talk to Midori in the mornings,” he heard Ashido scold the girl, laughter in her voice. “One of these days, he’s going to take someone’s head off because of it.”

Izuku nodded along with the girl’s words. Smart.

By the time they were making their way to gym gamma, Izuku had woken up more, a coffee cup in both hands. By the looks on some of his classmates’ faces, they were confused at why he had two. Izuku just kept walking along, taking a sip out of the one in his right hand. Their confusion cleared when he handed the other one to a dead looking Aizawa.

He ran into Eraser on his patrol route somewhere around 3 AM. They both needed the caffeine if they were going to make it through this class.

After Aizawa went through the usual spiel of what they were doing, which was the same as what they had been doing all week, Izuku made his usual rounds. Everyone had already improved so much. Many asked if he wanted to spar, but that wasn’t Izuku’s plan for the day so he waved off their invites.

After finishing, he made his way to the support department. Today he and Hatsumei were remaking his gloves. This time they were working on making the glove and the under sock one unit so what happened at camp wouldn’t happen again.

Izuku flexed his hands at the thought, the skin pulling tight across the burn scars he now had on both. He couldn’t say he regretted them. Because of them, he was able to protect everyone at camp, but he wanted to do better in the future. He was determined to do better.

He kicked open the door to the lab. “What’s up, Gearhead?”

Hatsumei popped out from the back room. “Sup, greenie, ready to get started?”

Izuku grinned widely, grabbing some of the materials Hatsumei was carrying, and got ready to work.

Chapter Text

Katsuki was waiting outside their typical arcade, foot tapping. Dumb Deku was late. He got a text five minutes ago from the greenette saying he was leaving now and a thousand apologies for being late.

It’s fine, it’s not like he was worried about the boy. He wasn’t waiting for this all week. He just hated waiting, that’s why he felt so restless.

15 minutes later he saw the greenette sprinting up the street. As he got closer, Katsuki could see the mess that was his friend. Grease and other mysterious substances coated any visible skin of the greenette hiding his multitude of freckles. His hair stuck up across his head and flattened down in others. Band-aids were scattered here and there across his fingers and arms.

At least it looked like the boy changed, as his tank top and ripped jeans were clean. Or at least, he assumed they were clean, considering they were both black it was hard to be certain.

“Hi Kacchan!” The greenette panted as he stopped in front of the blond, hands on his knees. “Sorry for being late, me and Hatsumei had a harder time than we thought getting the mechanisms for the gloves to align properly.”

Tch Katsuki clicked his tongue. “Whatever, loser, let’s go.” He grabbed the greenette’s hand and started pulling the taller boy along behind him.

“Okay, Kacchan.”

The other teen’s voice shouldn’t sound so happy and light. It contrasted his appearance and made Katsuki’s stomach do weird things. Annoying.

“Um Kacchan,” the boy’s voice was hesitant. “Where… are we going?”

Katsuki glanced back at the greenette that was looking back over his shoulder in the direction of all the games.

“You think I’m gonna let your nasty ass play any games until you clean up the mess you call your life?”

Before Deku could respond more than the offended ‘hey’ he yelped, Katsuki had already opened up the bathroom door and was getting out wet wipes he kept in his fanny pack.

A snort.

“Do you really keep those with you at all times?” Deku questioned with amusement lacing his voice. Katsuki just gave back a harsh glare as he started to wipe down the boy’s forearms.

“We are really going to play at a public arcade, and you think I’m just gonna put my hands all over those disgusting controllers. I don’t know where people’s hands have been.” A scowl hardened on his face at the thought. Gross.

“You know, I could do this myself.” A quick glance up made the blond notice that Deku’s face had gone red behind all the oil and grease. His hand that wasn’t being cleaned at the moment reached up to rub at his neck. Katsuki was quick to slap the hand to stop him.

“Stop moving and rubbing grease everywhere. You proved your useless ass by showing up covered in all this gunk, can’t trust you to clean up now.”

Izuku’s chuckle sounded above him, and Katsuki felt his heart skip a beat. He was quick to stomp down the feeling as he moved to Izuku’s other arm to clean it up.

With both arms now clean, Katsuki threw away the old wipes, grabbed another, and looked up to clean up the dork’s face. That… was a mistake. Deku’s face was soft and the greenette just seemed to be looking at him, a small smile across his lips. Katsuki’s heart raced in his chest. Gross.

With more vigor, he reached up and started scrubbing at the greenette’s face.

“Kacchan!” He called out trying to twist his face away from the blond’s ministrations. Too bad for him, Katsuki was stubborn and hell bent on making the boy presentable. With his other hand, he held Deku’s face in place and scrubbed away any trace of oil and grime.

“Kacchan, that hurt,” Deku pouted as Katsuki threw away the last of the wipes.

“Well, if you would just learn to clean yourself up, or even better, stay clean in the first place, that wouldn’t have been a problem, now would it?”

Deku huffed behind him, following as Katsuki left the bathroom. A scarred, rough hand slid into his.

“Now can we go and play some games?”

When Katsuki acquiesced, Deku was quick to tug on his hand, making him stumble along behind the greenette.

“Watch it, Deku!” He yelled but was promptly ignored.

“Which game do you want to play first? Shooter? Two-player? Fighter? Racer? Dancing?” Deku listed as his head swiveled on his shoulder trying to see everything at once. Katsuki stayed quiet as Deku began to mutter about the pros and cons of each game, and how well he thought he would do. The steady drone of Deku’s voice was comforting, and Katsuki just stood there, hand in hand with his best friend while he thought.

What felt like a long time later, Deku finally perked up and pulled Katsuki towards a game in the corner.

“Let’s start like we did as kids. Good old fashioned ski ball!” Katsuki just watched as Deku’s face lit up as he put in the tokens and started.

Then it was his turn and all mushy thoughts got thrown out the window. “You’re going down, Deku!” He growled as he lined up his shot.

His shriek of rage when Deku scored higher than him by 10 points made everyone turn and stare, but Katsuki could care less. Deku was laughing hard as Katsuki grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the two-person shooter.

“I’m gonna kill more zombies than you, you nerd,” Katsuki taunted as he readied himself for the start of the game.

“You just keep telling yourself that, Kacchan,” the greenette teased back.  That time Deku outscored him by one point. Katsuki was seething.

Game to game they hopped and almost every single one of them, Deku won. Katsuki thought he was cheating. He finally beat the greenette while playing air hockey. Was it because the idiot had his fingers on the track and got them hit more than once? Maybe. But Katsuki would take it. It was the dumb nerd’s fault anyway. Everyone knew to keep your fingers clear of the table.

It took a lot of begging on Deku’s part when it came time for Dance Dance Revolution, but eventually the nerd got Katsuki up on the pad. They were neck and neck throughout the whole song drawing a crowd around them. In the end, they both beat the high score on the game, but somehow had a tie! Katsuki wanted to break the damn machine, but he didn’t want to risk getting thrown out, especially since Deku hadn’t stopped smiling once.

“Oh Kacchan, look!” Katsuki followed the direction Deku was pointing to see an old claw machine in the corner. When they were kids, they would try to get all the All Might’s from the machine, back before they realized he was a quirkist jerk.

“They’ve changed it! It looks like it is all the top heroes now, and not just All Might!” Katsuki was roughly tugged along to get closer. “They have a Miruko plush! And look, a Best Jeanist, I think they actually made his outfit out of denim!”

Katsuki couldn’t help but look closer. The plushies were a decent size, bigger than he remembered them being, granted the last time he tried to win one of the these was when he was twelve. He glanced over at Deku who was looking at them all excitedly and resigned himself to his fate. He hip bumped the greenette over and plunked a token into the machine.

“What are you doing, Kacchan?”

Katsuki gave him a level glare. “Which one do you want?”

Deku blinked owlishly. “What?”

“I said, moron, which one do you want?” Katsuki angrily pointed to the plushies inside the machine.

Deku looked surprised, eyes flitting between Katsuki’s and the plushies for a moment. His face went red.

“Oh… um… I… I want the Miruko,” Deku finally spit out. Katsuki nodded firmly. Good choice, if Deku said the flame jerk, he was going to have to kick his ass.

On his first try, the claw grabbed hold of the bunny hero. He watched smugly as it moved towards the drop point, but inches from reaching it, the plush fell from the claw. Katsuki screeched. He felt Deku patting his back while laughing lightly.

“I knew it was too good to be true.”

Katsuki’s eyes narrowed. Oh fuck no, he wasn’t done. It took another three tries, but finally he watched as the little bunny hero plush fell down into the slot. With a huff, he yanked it out and shoved it into Deku’s chest. The greenette was quick to squeeze it in his arms. Katsuki couldn’t help but laugh quietly at the sight. Big, tall, broad, tattooed, scarred, pierced Deku clutching the tiny white bunny hero plushie to his chest like Katsuki had just given him the world. It was quite the sight.

“My turn!” Deku announced after squeezing the plush for a few minutes longer. “Which one do you want, Kacchan?”

Katsuki sputtered. “What?”

Deku looked resolute. “You won me a plush, now I want to win one for you, so what hero do you want? If you don’t tell me, I’m just going to get you the Endeavor one.”

Katsuki growled surveying the options. Like hell, he’d let Deku give him that trash man. The Best Jeanist one really did seem nice, and he respected him as a hero.

“Just give me Jeanist,” Katsuki finally responded.

Deku smiled brightly, handing over the Miruko plush as he looked determinedly at the claw machine. It took Deku a total of 5 tries before the plush fell through the slot. Deku pulled it out and held it up like a trophy before exchanging with Katsuki.

If Katsuki’s smile was bigger than normal it was only because it took the nerd more tries than him to win. That’s all.

Clutching his new plush to his chest, Deku looked around the arcade one more time.

“Anything else Kacchan, or should we move on.”

Katsuki glanced at his watch. It was pretty much dinner time.

“We should head out, you need to be back at UA tonight, right?”

Beside him Deku sighed. “Yeah, I need to work in the lab tomorrow as well if I want my gear to be ready for the licensing exam next week.”

Katsuki was disappointed, but it made sense. Without thinking he grabbed the nerd’s hand and started to leave.

“Let’s head out then, maybe we can pick up some food on the way to the station.”

He felt Deku squeeze his hand as he walked side by side with him.

“We should get some Takoyaki from the stand at the corner,” Deku suggested.

Katsuki just shrugged and changed direction to head towards the stand Deku was talking about. Sounded good to him.

“So what modifications are you doing to your gear anyway? You’ve mentioned it in text, but what are the specifics?” Katsuki asked.

Deku was quick to launch into another rambling session. Katsuki listened patiently and was enraptured by all the Deku was saying. It really was incredible that the nerd came up with all this by himself, but Katsuki wasn’t too shocked. The greenette had always been too smart for his own good.

Deku talked all the way through the line they stood in and during the wait for their food. It wasn’t until they stood with a container in each of their hands as they juggled the food and the plushies, that Deku stopped.

“There’s a bench just over there,” Katsuki nodded in the direction he meant. Deku nodded and immediately started to head over. They were quiet as they sat and ate their food, looking around at the people passing by. The sun started to set as they finally made their way back to the train station.

Deku shifted on his feet while they waited on the platform. They were headed in different directions, but still they got to stand with each other with their trains being close. Neither of them talked, instead they just stood near each other, holding their respective plushies until a chime announced Deku’s train coming in a minute.

Once more that day, Katsuki felt the rough calloused hand of his childhood friend slide into his own.

“Thank you for hanging out with me today, Kacchan,” Deku said, lightly swinging their hands.

“Whatever, nerd,” Katsuki huffed, trying to will down his blush. “Don’t hurt yourself during class this week, and good luck on the exam.”

The wind whooshed by as Deku’s train came to a stop at the platform. Doors opened, and people spilled out. Deku shifted on his feet beside him.

“You're gonna miss…”

Warm lips pressed against his cheek suddenly, then cold air hit as Deku ran away, hopping on the train right as the doors moved to close.

“Wha…”

Air rushed at Katsuki’s back. His train was here.

In a daze, he entered the car and sat down on the nearest empty seat.

What…

His brain booted back up.

“Fucking Deku!” He screeched, receiving glares and grumbles from the other passengers. Katsuki didn’t care.

Katsuki: Ehatbwas thag you stupid Deki

      Read: 8:47PM

Katsuki was going to throw his phone.

 ***

Izuku buried his face in the Miruko plush trying not to scream on the train car. What did he just do? Why did he kiss his best friend’s cheek? That’s… that’s not a platonic thing normally. Why?

Ping!

With dread Izuku looked at his phone.

Kacchan!: Ehatbwas thag you stupid Deki

The noise Izuku let out was not human. Many worried glances passed his way. He shoved his face back into the plush. Nope. He was not going to deal with this right now. Not in public, please and thank you.

Izuku finally unburied his face when the train stopped at the station for UA. The walk from the station to the dorm passed in a haze, Izuku’s thoughts spinning out of control. Before he knew it, he was standing in the common room.

“How was your date with Kacchan, Midori?”

Izuku screeched and buried his face in the plush once again.

“Uh… is that a good thing?” He heard Kaminari ask generally. There were other mutters from the various people scattered throughout the room.

Izuku’s response was to stumble to the couch and faceplant on the open cushions.

“Are… are we going to get any specifics, or just the inhuman shriek?” Shinso asked sardonically.

“I kissed Kacchan’s cheek!” Izuku wailed, his voice slightly muffled by the cushions, but words still understandable.

“What?” Ashido shrieked. “Have you two never kissed?” She sounded almost scandalized.

Izuku shook his head from where he lay. The Miruko plush was stuck underneath him and was growing a little uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to move. His shame was too much.

“Haven’t you too been dating for months now?” Kaminari asked, stupefied.

Izuku’s face went beet red, but since it was buried in the cushion, nobody could tell.

“That’s so sweet!” Uraraka squealed. “He’s so flustered by kissing his girlfriend! How adorable!”

Other’s made similar comments and with each one, Izuku wished he could sink into the couch. Become one with it all instead of being there. He could always go to his room, but that meant being alone with his thoughts.

“Hey, where’d the Miruko plush come from?” He heard Kirishima ask suddenly. Izuku twisted his head so his left eye poked out, looking at his classmates.

“Kacchan won it for me,” he managed to get out. Another round of squeals from girls and boys alike, sent his face right back into the cushion. He was pretty sure that they could replace the red circle on the Japanese flag with his face at this point and nobody would notice.

Why had he done that? Stupid, stupid Izuku!

“Wait!” Kaminari piped up. “Did you get Kacchan anything?”

Izuku’s answer was so muffled by the cushion that he was asked to repeat himself.

“I got Kacchan a Best Jeanist one.”

“That is sickly sweet,” Shinso muttered good-naturedly.

Yep, nope. That was all he could handle. Izuku bolted upright and started speed walking for the stairs. He was done with this shit.

“Have a good night, Midoriya! Glad your date went well!” He heard Kaminari yell after him. It just made Izuku walk faster until he was running up the stairs and into his room.

Buzz!

Izuku looked down at his phone in horror. It was Kacchan. He watched as the call ended before immediately the blond tried to call again. He couldn’t hide forever no matter how much he wished he could. On the fourth try, Izuku finally picked up.

Incoherent screaming and cursing filled the room for a solid minute before the blond seemed to finally calm down. It was then that Izuku finally put the phone up to his ear.

“Hi, Kacchan,” he said timidly.

“Don’t ‘hi, Kacchan’ me you fucking piece of shit,” Kacchan demanded. Good news was now that Kacchan was no longer screaming, he didn’t sound like he was actually mad.

“You just fucking up and kiss me and run, you fucking coward.”

Izuku froze at the statement. He wasn’t mad that Izuku kissed him. He was mad… that he left afterwards?

“I need you to explain what exactly you meant by that,” Kacchan’s voice was hard, but Izuku could hear the uncertainty in it.

“I…” he choked out. “I… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Kacchan sounded incredulous.

“I don’t know!” Izuku basically screamed into the phone. “I… I just… it felt right! I know that that wasn’t platonic, but I don’t know how I feel! I don’t know what I meant! I just felt like I should kiss you in the moment, and then I had to go. I didn’t mean to run away, but then I got so flustered on the train and you texted, and I didn’t know what to say. And then I got back to the dorm room, and everyone was teasing me, and calling you my girlfriend, and they were all shocked I hadn’t kissed you yet, and it embarrassed me even more, but I realized I liked kissing your cheek, it felt normal and natural, and I don’t know what that means!”

“Breathe Deku!” Kacchan’s voice cut through Izuku’s spiraling panic. His voice cutting off. It was then that Izuku realized how ragged his breathing was.

“Breath Deku, it’s all right. You don’t have to know. You’re good,” Kacchan reassured him. “We can talk about it more the next time we hang out, nerd. Sorry for making you panic.” His voice trailed off at the end.

Izuku breathed for a second, not saying anything, just listening to the sounds of Kacchan through the phone.

“Yeah,” he eventually breathed out. “Yeah, that… that sounds okay.”

“Good. Now get some sleep, nerd, and don’t panic again. You’re okay. We’re okay.”

Izuku smiled softly at the blond’s words. They’d be okay.

“Yeah, goodnight Kacchan.”

“Goodnight loser.”

There was a click, and Izuku was left in the silence of his room. It wasn’t even ten yet. Normally, Izuku wouldn’t be able to sleep, but after that emotional roller-coaster, he felt exhausted. In record time, he was ready for bed and passed out, worries set aside to deal with the next day.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s alarm went off early the next morning. For the first time in a while, Izuku had slept for more than three hours, but his mind was so active during the night that it didn’t feel like it.

Really the only reason he was dragging himself out of bed was so he could numb his mind by working on his support gear. Then he had a mission. He needed to talk to his dad about it all, and he wasn’t going to wait any longer than he had to.

“Morning, Greenie!” Hatsumei yelled out the second he walked through the door. “Are you ready to work today?”

Izuku merely grunted, causing the pinkette to laugh loudly and thump him on the back.

“Good to hear it!” She joked while setting up the station to work. “We should be able to finish calibrating your gloves today and test them out, then we can move on to your batons.”

Izuku grabbed a nearby welding mask and slotted it on his head.

It was long work and hot, but the more they worked on his gloves, the more relaxed Izuku felt. It kept his mind busy with other things, since a wandering mind while working with mechanics and welding spelled trouble.

There may have been a few accidents along the way, and once again Izuku was covered head to toe in oil and grease by the end. How that happened since they weren’t even working with those substances that day is a mystery.

“Ready to give it a go, Greenie?” Hatsumei asked, looking a little manic. Izuku just grinned widely, rivaling her energy.

“Let’s go, Goggles.”

They had been smart enough to schedule time at Gym Gamma for the day. Cementoss’s spires were still set up around the area for Heroic’s class. The perfect training dummies.

Izuku made quick work of pulling on his new and improved gloves. Largely they looked the same as before, but more compressed to his skin. What once was two layers of gloves was now one that reached to about mid-bicep. It was a dark green that was almost black until the copper-colored piping that wrapped around his forearm, looking more decorative and less likely to break from outside impact. The piping ended in thin strips that lined the inside of his fingers and circled around like fingerprints on the tip. It activated with just a tensing of his fingers and deactivated the same way. Wearing the glove was extremely comfortable.

This was exciting. After surveying the look of them on, Izuku activated the pulsars and approached a smaller jut of rock. With one touch, the rock literally shook apart before his eyes, crumbling to his feet. Dust spread out along the ground, turning his black work gear grey.

Izuku could feel his smile turning feral.

“Let’s try a bigger one.” Hatsumei just whooped in response.

Izuku approached one of the pillars that stood twice his height and about three times thicker than him. A bit up from the last one he tried, but he wasn’t here to play it safe. He would rather test these out in a safe environment than in the field.

Plus, it was disastrously fun to cause so much damage.

This time he moved to place both hands on the pillar, just to give it added umph. It only took a few seconds before this pillar crumpled as well. The dust cloud was bigger, filling the air and with it, Izuku’s lungs. He stumbled away coughing and wiping his streaming eyes. He… didn’t think about that very well, did he?

“You okay there, Greenie?” Hatsumei asked, holding the bottom of her tank top up to her mouth. When Izuku gave her a thumbs up, still coughing, she laughed loudly and brightly.

“It works! How’s the feel? Any recoil or discomfort?” She started asking, approaching to look at the gloves themselves.

Izuku let out a few more coughs before he felt like he could speak. “I feel good. They feel snug and comfortable. There was no recoil, and I didn't feel the heat build up. What about on the outside of them?”

Hatsumei quickly turned his hand this way and that, feeling where all the piping lay. Her smile grew. “I don’t feel anything! These are perfectly safe to use and still help civilians, Greenie!”

Izuku laughed, smiling brightly. “Perfect!” He wiped his face, feeling the grime of the dust settle into all the oil and sweat on his face. His smile changed to a grimace. “We might want to work on a mask and eye protection next before the batons.”

He felt Hatsumei’s eye look him over before she burst out laughing. “You’re completely grey! If I didn’t know that you had green hair, I would never guess.” She reached out and ruffled his hair, sending pebbles and dust cascading down his face, causing him to inhale some of it again.

“Ge’off,” he grumbled, shoving her to the side while trying to wipe his eyes again. 

“Whatever Greenie. Let’s head back and get started on schematics for the gear.” Hatsumei cackled before skipping off.

That’s all Izuku needed to straighten up and follow along. All of his gear was slowly coming together. He was so excited for the licensing exam.

By the time Izuku left, it was long after when he should have had lunch. Him and Hatsumei had gotten so wrapped up in designing and getting started making his gear, that he didn’t notice what time it was until his stomach growled loudly.

Hatsumei’s head popped up from where it was buried in connecting wires, her goggles making her eyes look even bigger and more feral.

“If you need to go, Greenie, you can. Power Loader forces me out of the shop around this time anyway.” Her voice trailed off into annoyed grumbles as she finished what she was doing.

Sure enough, once Izuku had put away the gadget he was been soldering and cleaned up his work station, Power Loader burst through the door.

“Time’s up, you gremlins! Get your butts out of here until tomorrow!” The hero yelled out.

Izuku laughed lightly, sending the pro a lax salute as he grabbed his bag to leave.

“Thanks for letting us work, sensei,” he said as he started out the door. Behind him, he could hear Hatsumei complaining while Power Loader chided her on overwork and the importance of rest.

He sent a quick text to Eraser asking if he was home while he ran back to the dorm to clean up and change. He could feel the dust and rubble on every surface that was exposed, and it started to rub uncomfortably on his skin.

By the time he finally got a response from his dad, he had just finished in the shower. The amount of time it took to finally get clean was a little embarrassing, but totally worth it for how well those gloves worked.

Father dearest: I’m home, dinner is at 5 if you want it. I have patrol at 8 today so it can’t be late.

Izuku sighed. Checking the time, he saw that it was already 4. With no time to lose, he gathered all of his stuff and dropped it in his room before heading out.

“Where are you going, Izuku-kun?” Uraraka asked as he walked through the common room. Other heads poked up from where they were sitting on the couch.

“It is late on Sunday evening!” Iida piped up, hand waving up and down. “One should not be leaving campus at this time.”

“Oh boo,” Ashido stuck out her tongue. “What if he’s got another date with Kacchan! Just let him be.”

Izuku could feel his cheeks heat up as he picked up his pace.

“Despite that, it is recommended for students to be back in their dorms by this time!” Iida contradicted.

“I’m just going to dinner with my dad!” Izuku’s voice was a little louder than he intended, quieting everyone down around him.

"Oh," Iida petered out. “Well, if you are with Aizawa-sensei then it should be fine.”

Izuku nodded and yanked open the front door. Why did it feel like it took a million years to cross the common room? Behind him was a chorus of goodbyes until the door shut firmly.

Out in the quiet of the outdoors, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. It would only be a short walk back home since they lived nearby, so Izuku decided to enjoy the evening air. It was a pleasant day, and a soft breeze was blowing through.

15 minutes later found him pulling out his key to their apartment and letting himself in to the smell of curry.

“I’m home!” He called out as he shucked off his shoes in the genkan. He noticed a familiar pair of boots also sitting there.

“Welcome home,” his dad’s voice sounded from the kitchen before a loud voice interrupted.

“Welcome back little listener!” The tall blond came bounding out of the kitchen to pull Izuku into a hug. If it was anyone else, he would have frozen, but seeing Present Mic’s shoes allowed him to brace himself for the greeting.

“Hello to you too, Mic,” Izuku chuckled.

“’Zashi, let Izuku go,” Eraser scolded from where he was cooking.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Mic let go, but not before ruffling Izuku’s hair roughly. “How’s life, green bean.”

Izuku pushed away the loud hero, laughing slightly, as he made his way to the kitchen so he could also talk with his dad.

“It’s going,” he hopped up to sit on the counter. “Me and Hatsumei worked on my gloves today. They are now finished and work with no recoil or temperature increase that can be felt.”

Mic cheered while Eraser just nodded looking relieved.

“Cementoss might have to remake a few pillars in Gym Gamma, though.”

Eraser’s face changed instantly, back to looking exhausted. “Why, problem child?”

He shrugged, a grin on his face. “We needed to test them out on something. We also realized I need a better mask and goggles if I’m going to be using those, so we got started on those…” Izuku trailed off into rambling about the modifications they were making as Eraser and Mic looked on fondly, giving input for ideas here and there.

By the time Izuku was finished, dinner was ready, and they were all settled in around the dining table. Eraser was telling him about his latest patrol while Mic talked about his homeroom class of 3-A. They were wild, apparently, and tired even Present Mic out.  

Mic was pulling out the little cakes he had brought with him when Eraser turned to look at Izuku with a calculating glance.

“We all know that you came here to talk to me about something, so what is it, problem child?”

Izuku froze where he sat. He was honestly trying to forget the reason he came to visit, but Eraser had found him out. There was no escape. From across the table, Mic smiled encouragingly while handing him a small strawberry shortcake. Izuku took it and started to poke at it with his fork, but he couldn’t bring himself to take a bite.

“Whatever it is, green bean. We are here for you,” Mic said softly.

“Are you okay, Izuku?” his dad asked, looking worried.

The fork clattered to the table as Izuku moved his hands to hide his bright red face.

“No!” he wailed. “No, I’m not. I hung out with Kacchan this weekend. We went to play at the arcade we frequented as kids, and it was a lot of fun. I beat him at almost every game, but when he beat me at one he looked so smug and hot, and I couldn’t help but notice. And then we found the claw machine and he won me a Miruko plushie without me even asking him to, but I got him the Best Jeanist one. Then we walked to the station together and got Takoyaki, and we just ate together and it was very nice. And then at the station before I got on my train I KISSED HIM!” Izuku’s voice went shrill as he buried his face in his hands more. 

“Not on the mouth, oh my gosh. But I kissed his cheek and ran. Then he texted me and I started to panic because I don’t know why I did that. Why did I do that? That’s not platonic, and looking back, a lot of our actions aren’t platonic, are they? But I don’t know how I feel! And everyone in class thinks that Kacchan is my girlfriend, and I haven’t corrected them because it’s a joke, but everytime they joke I get flustered and my face turns red and my heart starts beating fast, but what does this all mean? What do I do? Kacchan wants to talk the next time we hang out, but I don’t know what to say!”

Izuku was almost crying by the time he finished, panting from the lack of air his tirade caused. The room was quiet for a moment as Izuku stewed in his thoughts. Then a snort. Choked laughter filled the room. Izuku looked up, betrayed, to see Mic’s face red as his hand pressed over his mouth trying to stop his laughs. Looking over at Eraser didn’t help because amusement was written across his own dad’s face clearly.

“Why are you two laughing?” Izuku shrieked.

“I’m… I’m sorry green bean,” Mic managed between his giggles. “I’m not laughing at you. I swear!”

Eraser gave him a soft look before looking back at Izuku. “Problem child, you are the most oblivious person I have met. The only person close to you is Bakugou.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Eraser’s face gave in to a deadpan expression while mirth still filled his eyes. “Son, you and that boy have not been platonic since day one of getting back together.”

Izuku’s face went even redder, which he thought was impossible. He might set a world record at this point.

“I would hazard a guess that you two haven’t been platonic since you were toddlers.”

Mic laughed harder at that.

“But… but he’s my best friend! That’s all he is! I’ve… I’ve never thought of him any other way!” Izuku denied.

“Let’s try this,” Eraser sighed. “You’re good friend’s with Koda, correct?” At Izuku’s confused nod, Eraser continued. “Is the way you feel and act around Koda the same as how you feel and act around Bakugou?”

Izuku thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head. It was different.

“With Koda, you like his company and have fun with him. Feel comfortable, yes?” Izuku nodded.

“But I feel that way with Kacchan, too!”

Eraser nodded. “I imagine so, but with Bakugou, it’s different, isn’t it? You want to always be with him. You want to be close with him. I know you aren’t a fan of physical contact, but with him you two are always touching. When you are stressed or sad, you reach out to him for help and comfort. He’s a safe space for you, right?”

Izuku nodded again, mind wandering.

“The idea of dating Bakugou makes you flustered. Is that because you find it gross, like it could never happen? Or is it because you like the idea of it? Of holding hands, cuddling, texting and calling each other often, calling him yours?”

His blush spread down his neck; face feeling like it was on fire.

“You kissed him? How did it feel?” Eraser asked. By this point, Mic’s laughs had died down, and he was just looking at Izuku fondly.

“I… I really… I really liked it. It felt natural… like something I should have always been doing. I… I want to do it again… but, like, I want to actually kiss… him…” Izuku’s voice became small.

Eraser nodded knowingly.

“You find him attractive, right?” Izuku hesitantly nodded once more. “Is it just physically or anything more?”

Izuku straightened up. “Of course, it’s more than just his looks!” He shouted indignantly. “I mean, of course, Kacchan is attractive, and I’m sure anyone would agree just by looking at him. His platinum blond hair, fiery red eyes, and fit body. That’s objective, I mean, Kacchan is a model. But he is so much more. He cares so much, and behind his rough exterior he is very sweet. He takes care of his parents despite the names, and he has always protected and encouraged me my whole life!

“He is driven and motivated and dedicated. You know, he started modeling for Auntie when he found out what his quirk was. He made a promise that he would stick with it as long as they needed him, and as he grew up he liked it and decided to keep with it no matter what. Even after I decided to be a quirkless hero and told him that he could do it too, he stuck with modeling. He is loyal and smart. When he sees someone in trouble, he doesn’t hesitate to help. He’s always there when I need him. He takes care of me and never asks for anything in return. He really is the best.”

Izuku’s voice faded out as he stared at the table. He really was blessed to have Kacchan in his life.

“Izuku,” his head popped up when he heard his father say his name. Both Aizawa’s and Mic’s expressions were soft, their hands linked on top of the table. “Sometimes it’s hard to know when platonic relationships change to romantic, but I think it is safe to say that you love that boy… goodness only knows why.” Aizawa muttered the last of it under his breath.

Mic just laughed and pushed at his partner. “What Shouta means is that we are happy for you, green bean. It’s scary taking a new step with a friend or even acknowledging that something is different, but it is worth it.” Mic’s free hand reached across the table to take his. “Don’t be scared of taking that step, and do it at your own pace. I can guarantee that that boy will be okay with whatever you want.”

Izuku felt tears fill his eyes at Mic’s words. In an instant, he had thrown himself out of his chair and around the table to hug them both.

“I really am blessed,” he whispered into their shoulders.

A hand ran through his hair. “No, we’re the ones who are blessed, Izuku.” His father’s words settled over him like a blanket.

 ***

That night as Izuku laid in bed, his mind cycled through everything his dad and Mic had said. A small smile settled on his face. Everything was going to be okay.

Izuku: Hey Kacchan! Do you think we could hang out this Saturday after the licensing exam? We can talk then?

Kacchan!: Sure thing, nerd. Now get to sleep! It’s late, you idiot.

Izuku: Thanks, Kacchan. Goodnight

Kacchan!: Goodnight, Deku.

Chapter Text

Before Izuku realized it, it was the day of the exam.

19 teenagers packed on a bus in the early morning brought back fuzzy memories of the bus ride to training camp. At least this time, Izuku knew, Eraser wouldn’t let them off the bus until they were there. No all-day deathmatch through the woods for them today, no sir. If Eraser tried anything like it, Izuku was going to steal the cats.

“I can’t believe the exam is today!” Kaminari was practically vibrating beside him, his fists clenched in his lap.

“I know man! All our training is finally going to be tested!” Kirishima popped up from the seat behind them. “I’m getting nervous.”

Izuku looked back at the red head, a confused expression on his face. “But why?”

The noise on the bus seemed to grind to a halt. Kirishima’s smile turned strained. “Why am I nervous?” He asked, unsure. Izuku just nodded. “It’s… it’s because this is our chance, right?” His head swung around looking at his classmates while Izuku still just looked confused. “We are being tested against so many others with only a certain number of us that can pass. Why wouldn’t I be nervous?” An awkward chuckle escaped his mouth.

Izuku looked back with a deadpan expression. “But we have all prepared for this,” he stated simply, before turning back to fiddle with his support items. “We all have improved significantly over the past few months and there is nothing that those others can do that we can’t handle. It’s just like any other training exercise.”

A sniffle from above, then a hard, thick arm was winding around his neck in an awkward embrace. Izuku did not like this. He sat frozen.

“That’s so manly! Believing in all of us that much!” Kirishima wailed.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Kaminari grinned, not saving Izuku at all from the death arms behind him.

Just then Eraser stood up at the front of the bus, turning around to face the class. “As Midoriya has said, today is a simple goal. It’s not a matter of can you pass, but that you will. Earn your provisional licenses by passing this test and you won’t be mere eggs, anymore, but full-fledged hatchlings, reborn as semi-pros. Show them your best.”

The cheer that resounded shook the bus. Izuku smirked at his dad’s defeated look at the sound. It was his fault, after all. When it finally quieted down, Eraser looked at them all for a moment. “Everyone out. We’re here. Our test site, the national Takoba arena.”

Izuku looked quickly out the window, seeing the large stadium rise into the sky. It felt like his skin was buzzing in anticipation. It was just about time. He remained in his seat until the rest of the bus completed their mad dash off, before he ambled his way out.

The chatter of his classmates filled the air, everything seeming much lighter after the talk from Eraser.

“Hey!” Kirishima suddenly called out, his fist pumping in the air. “We should do our school chant!”

Izuku let out a resigned sigh as everyone cheered along with the suggestion. It was quick work for everyone to gather together as Kirishima started.

“Go Beyond! Pluuuusss Uuultraaaaa!

“…PLUS UTLRA!” An extra voice screamed from behind Izuku. Sadly, for whoever it was that decided to join in, they were too close to him. With reflexes he had honed to a fault, Izuku was quick to fall into a fighting stance and kick high, his foot connecting with something hard, before he backed away, arms raised to defend himself.

Screams ran out around him, as he finally got a clear look of whoever it was.

It was a kid from another school if Izuku recognized the uniform correctly. The boy was tall. Taller than even Izuku at his 6’4 height. It put Izuku on edge. He seemed to be bald, or close to being so as Izuku saw the close buzz as the boy’s hat fluttered to the ground. A small bit of blood started to trickle from his forehead. Oops.

“You can’t just barge into other schools’ chants, Inasa,” a boy with purple hair and narrow eyes chided the taller teen. “That’s what you get for being invasive.”

The boy, Inasa, snapped to attention, arms straight on his sides as he snapped forward into a bow so low and abrupt his head hit the ground. “I am so sorry!” He popped back up, head bleeding even more. “I love UA and have always wanted to try saying it! Plus Ultra! It truly is an honor to compete alongside all of you!”

Everyone around Izuku took a step back from the intensity of the boy, but Izuku held his ground. His feet were still firmly planted, even if outwardly he seemed to relax.

“Shiketsu.” He acknowledged, finally seeing the uniforms clearly.

A figure covered head to toe in thick hair pushed their way through. “I am so sorry for our classmate’s inappropriate behavior,” a deep voice said from the thick of it. “We wish you luck today, U.A. high school.” With a bow from all the other students, the group walked off, making their way into the stadium.

Izuku watched them go, eyes fixed on the big, baldy.

“Inasa Yoarashi,” Eraser muttered from beside him. At the confused look Izuku tossed him, his dad explained more. “He was one of the top students admitted to UA via recommendation, but before the school year started, he declined. Switched over to Shiketsu.”

Izuku’s eye moved back to the impossibly broad back walking away. Recommendation student. That meant he was powerful. Why did he decline UA if he loves it so much? Izuku’s unease increased.

“Alright…” Eraser was interrupted from whatever he was going to say by a loud laugh. Izuku perked up. He knew that laugh!

“Another one?” He heard one of his classmates grumble as they watched the approach of another school.

“Eraser!” A bright voice yelled out. “Eraser, it’s really you! It’s been too long.”

Izuku watched as his dad seemed to freeze and looked at the incoming woman with despair. Oh, this was good.

“Who’s that?” Ojirou asked, looking over the bright colored lady.

“That’s smile hero, Ms. Joke,” Izuku explained excitedly. Ms. Joke was a hero that Izuku looked up to growing up. While her quirk, outburst, was very helpful in her fights, effectively slowing the thoughts and actions of villains, she fought mainly quirkless. She was efficient at hand-to-hand combat and restraining techniques. Her fights were always a riot to watch as one could never expect what was going to happen.

“Let’s get married!”

Izuku froze.

“No, thanks.”

The pro-hero burst out laughing. “Always a jokester, Eraser. Marry me and we can have a household where the laughs never stop!”

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the woman. He had mixed feelings at the moment. His dad’s exhausted face was quite hilarious, especially if the woman was joking. The thing, though, is that Izuku wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. If she wasn’t, then she was crossing a line that Izuku didn’t like, since his dad was already in a relationship.

“Are you two close?” He heard Tsuyu ask from beside him, her finger resting on her bottom lip in question.

“The closest!” Ms. Joke’s face was shining. “Our agencies were beside each other for years, so we always seemed to work closely, and from there our mutual love bloomed!”

“No, it didn’t.” His dad just sounded more and more tired from the exchange.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Izuku interrupted. The pro’s eyes landed on his. Her eyebrow raised as she looked him over, probably noting the scars and tattoos that made him seem older than just fifteen. “Why are you here, Ms. Joke?”

The smile on her face changed slightly, going from carefree to devious.

“I am here with my students,” she explained right as a group of teens approached wearing horrible polos. Izuku grimaced, never before so grateful for the UA uniforms until now. “Class 2-2 of Ketsubutsu Academy.”

“Woah! It’s really them!”

“Wow, all those guys from TV!”

From the group, a teen about Izuku’s height, but with wavy black hair and clear eyes darted towards them. He grabbed Kaminari’s hands.

“Wow, it really is incredible to see the infamous UA students first hand!” The boy darted over to Jirou. “We get to go head to head against such elite students! I believe heroes need to have a strong fortitude and you all showed it in your incredible debut at the sports festival!”

Izuku grimaced as the guy reached out from him. “And you have the infamous quirkless kid who defied all odds and made it into the most prestigious hero school in the country! I am honored to be able to compete against such an amazing person, such as yourself.”

Izuku yanked his hands away, growling a little. “Your face doesn’t match your words.” It seemed like the other teen froze for a moment, his smile turning a little hostile before morphing back into that fake crap from earlier.

“Midoriya!” Kirishima cried out, appearing beside him bowing. “I’m sorry for his manners. He struggles with new people.”

Izuku rolled his eyes. Guess he was the only one who caught the guy in his lie. He made eye contact with his dad, sharing in his pain for the moment.

“Woah! It’s Todoroki in real life!” Izuku looked over to see a girl with explosive buns on his head approach the dual toned teen. “Can I have your autograph?”

Izuku narrowed his eyes. Eraser announced something about finding the locker rooms and changing, but Izuku kept his eyes on the students around him. It clicked. The sports festival! He grit his teeth, whether it was in a grimace or in a smirk, even he didn’t know. They were all known. Every single one of their quirks was known to everyone else in the stadium, but they were at the disadvantage. They knew no one’s.

Around him in the locker room, he could hear his classmates talking. They all sounded excited and pumped up, but Izuku was going to have to burst their bubble at some point, but it would be better to do it with all of them together.

It was too soon when Izuku found himself crammed in too small a place with this many people around him. It was loud, and it was hot. At least his classmates were the ones immediately around him, if he was crammed with people he didn’t know right next to him, someone was going to die.

“Right… the provisional licensing exam,” a tired voice that rivaled Eraser's, echoed out of the speaker system. “I am Mera with the heroes public safety commission…” his voice trailed off as his head nodded. “Today all 1,539 of you are here to try and achieve your provisional license that will allow you to work as a hero under supervision of a pro.” His voice trailed off into complaints about his exhaustion before finally continuing on. “Today you will be competing in a free-for-all. The first 100 examinees to meet the requirements will pass.”

Chatter broke out among the crowd. Only 100? That was a lot less than normal. Less than a tenth of the examinees here would get their license. Izuku grinned. Seemed like the commission was trying to crack down on the amount of heroes. Izuku couldn’t help but hope that this would mean better and more effective heroes rather than an influx of heroes who are only there for fame and money.

“The trial?” Mera’s voice scratched. “Each of you will be given three targets that you will place on your body, they must be on the outside of your costume, visible to others. Then given six balls. Your task? To eliminate another examinee, taking out all of their targets. You must take out two others. When you have succeeded, you will be asked to exit the field and move on to the next round.”

It seemed like the guy was done, and now Izuku just had to wait to get his items. Where would he place the targets, though? He watched as some put it on their back, arms, and legs. That… that seemed dumb. Why? Why would anyone put a target on their back? How are they supposed to defend that? With a roll of his eyes, he made quick work of attaching the targets to his chest, in a triangle formation. This way, he would be able to protect them with ease and know the state of them without problem.

After a long wait, Mera’s voice droned on again. “You will be given five minutes to pick your place and prepare for the exam, good luck testing.”

When he ended, the ceiling above opened up, shocking many. The walls fell around them revealing the stadium. It had been transformed. Sections of mountains, desert, industrial, residential, and more covered the ground. His classmates around him started to shift as if they were about to make a break for it.

“Wait!” He called out, his voice demanding. Everyone seemed to stop in their tracks. “We need to stick together.”

“But why?” Shoji asked.

“Early bird gets the worm here,” Izuku started to explain. “No one is going to want to go against classmates, and you want to stick with quirks that you know. The problem is…” Izuku started to walk towards the mountainous region, waving his classmates along behind him. “Everyone knows our quirks already.”

A weight seemed to land on everyone’s shoulders.

“The sports festival?” Uraraka muttered.

“Yep, all of our quirks, our techniques, were broadcasted nationwide to everyone. I’m willing to bet that every school out here, made sure to review the festival before today.”

“But then what do we do?” Hagakure asked, jogging to keep up. “They already know everything about us!”

Izuku smirked. “That’s where you are wrong. We’ve all improved and changed since then.” An alarm rang through the stadium. Izuku fell into a fighting stance. “So let’s show them what we got.”

“The quirkless boy harmed by his own support gear. Alongwith his classmates.” A snide voice sounded from the top of a nearby rock formation. Izuku grimaced at the sight of the fake boy from earlier. “Well, if a nail is sticking out, you gotta hammer it down!”

Balls flew from all sides as students from all schools aimed right at the heart of the UA students. Looks like they have something to prove. Izuku was quick to fall back, as his fellow classmates took the reins. Momo created shields big enough to hide many behind. Mina threw out her acid, in her acid veil technique. Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow burst to life knocking aside ball after ball. Birds flew all around them intercepting any balls that got too close.

“What’s the plan here, Midoriya?” Shinso asked from beside the greenette, looking out at the gathered people.

“They are all expecting us to be those weak kids from the festival. They just fired all their ammo out at us. Pretty soon they are going to realize that it is a futile effort, and that all their balls have fallen into our range.” Izuku looked around at the sea of red balls rolling around them. “When they try to get it back is when we attack.”

Shinso grinned at him.

“Just watch out for unknown quirks,” he warned before darting out from behind the shields. “I’m going to stir up more trouble.” The sound Izuku let out could only be described as a cackle. He darted up to a pillar on which a few of the Ketsubutsu students sat. A rock like guy seemed to be focusing on something in his hands before he passed it over to his friend. Izuku watched as the balls in his hands flew through the ground, but he didn’t stop.

Behind him, he heard Jirou call out her heartbeat attack, tearing up the ground at Izuku’s heels. It was then that he got his chance. Hands flat against the stone pillar, he let loose, his gloves sending out pulses until the pillar shattered, dust flying up around him.

There were screams as the people on top started to fall. Izuku pulled up his mask and eye protection, squinting through the dust. It was far enough away that his classmates should still be able to see. It was just him who was blind. He neared the fallen students ready to apprehend them and bring them back to the class when dread washed through him.

“Everyone get back!” Fake boy’s voice echoed in the area. “Their defense is too good. We gotta split them up! Maximum force!”

Izuku started to sprint, abandoning the two boys on the ground, trying to get back to his classmates. The ground beneath him bucked hard, though, sending him flying. Izuku’s feet flew above his head, and he hit the ground hard, rolling over cracked stones and jagged gaps before he stopped. He popped to his feet, ignoring the pain he felt in his side. He looked around in horror.

The landscape had completely changed. His classmates were gone, and he had no idea where they could be or how to find them.

“You just made it harder for us, Shindo!” A voice scolded from near him. Izuku dropped down into a crouch behind a large upturned rock.