Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku liked to think of himself as a normal high school student. He did everything a normal eighteen-year-old did, anyway. He looked at potential universities, hung out with friends, hated high school more than necessary, and he even had some hobbies.

It hadn’t meant to start out the way it did. Izuku wanted to be a hero, more than anything in the world. This was why, when he saw an older boy having a panic attack behind the building he used to hide from Bakugou, Izuku immediately wanted to help him.

That was a moment in his life that could either be considered his biggest mistake, or the best thing he could have ever done for himself.

Tomura Shigaraki usually had his shit together. Sometimes, though, the memories of what happened overcame him, they took hold of his mind and wouldn’t let go. He couldn’t do anything but let them run its course and torment his every thought. But when that kid saw him, he did something that no one had ever done before. Izuku watched the teenager struggle to breathe and quietly walked up to him. He sat on the slightly wet concrete next to him and let out a soft sigh, pressing his shoulder against Tomura’s.

“I come here to hide from bullies,” the then fourteen-year-old said softly. “My best friend, well, I think he’s my best friend. He doesn’t think that about me,” he said with a laugh. “He calls me Deku actually because he thinks I’m useless. But when he’s being mean, I come back here to hide.”

“Why would you think of him as your best friend if he’s mean to you?” Tomura asked quietly, not looking up from his hands.

Izuku shrugged. “I’ve loved him since we were four. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop loving him, no matter what he does to me. He’s just… he’s amazing, ya know?”

Tomura looked at the boy and frowned. “No? That’s stupid, kid. If he thinks you’re useless, he isn’t worth your time.”

The kid laughed softly. “I guess I hate myself. But, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, it’s okay if you need to use my hiding spot sometimes. I like the company, actually,” he stuck his hand out. “Midoriya Izuku.”

Tomura smiled. “It probably isn’t a good idea to shake my hand. But, Shigaraki Tomura,” he rasped.

“Why can’t you shake my hand?” Izuku asked, tilting his head to the side, curiosity pouring out of him. Tomura looked around before he grabbed a rock and wrapped all five fingers around it. The rock disintegrated into nothing.

“Everything I touch disintegrates into nothing, only if I use all five fingers, though,” he said softly. “I’ve hurt a lot of people.”

“Technically it’s four fingers and a thumb,” Izuku said with a laugh. “So here, let’s try it,” he said and took Tomura’s hand and shook just three of his fingers, leaving out Tomura’s pinky and thumb sticking out.

Tomura stared at the boy wide-eyed. No one ever willingly touched him, not after they learned about his quirk. Did this kid have a death wish? Was he that desperate to die that he would just trust someone with such a deadly quirk?

“Your quirk is amazing,” Izuku told him, giving the older teenager a wide grin. “Who cares if it can be dangerous, it’s your quirk and no one can ever take that from you. Besides, you could do so much with a quirk like that! Think about it! If a building collapsed, you would just have to put your hand on it and it would disintegrate and the victims could get out! Or if someone is trapped in their car after a car crash-” Izuku blushed and cut himself off. “Sorry, I really find quirks interesting and like to analyze them.”

The villain shook his head, still looking at the boy in surprise. “No, you’re fine. Really. Do you have a quirk?” He asked politely. Izuku’s smile dropped and his hand went to the back of his neck, scratching it awkwardly.

“No. Uh, that’s why everyone calls me Deku. I was born quirkless,” he said, looking down at his lap.

Tomura sat quietly for a moment. His sensei could change that. But he wasn’t entirely sure if he would just because Tomura asked him to. The kid would have to prove himself. Besides, he wasn’t a villain, he was just a kid.

“Sorry, I understand if you don’t want to be around me, most people don’t when they find out. It’s like they think I’m contagious,” he said, still not looking at the villain.

“No, no you’re fine,” Tomura said, giving the kid a small smile. “I’m sorry that’s not it. I’m actually jealous that you don’t have one. My life would have been so much easier if I didn’t.”

Izuku’s face turned blood red. “Don’t say that! Shigaraki-! You could be so powerful! You could be one of the best rescue heroes in the world-”

“I uh, I’m actually a villain,” Tomura said awkwardly and Izuku fell back against the wall. Tomura had absolutely no idea what he was doing. God, he was never this awkward. Was he?

“You don’t act like one.”

“You saw me having a panic attack, Kid,” Tomura pointed out.

“Exactly, and you’ve been nice to me and you haven’t tried to kill me or anything like that. So I don’t think you’re going to do anything to me,” he explained.

“Do you regret talking to me?” Tomura asked. “Well, now that you know?”

“Even villains need someone to talk to sometimes,” Izuku said. “I want to be a hero one day and that means I save everyone.”

“Heroes are stupid,” Tomura muttered. “They don’t help anyone but themselves.”

“Then I guess I’ll be even better than those heroes,” he said, grinning. The boy bumped his shoulder against Tomura’s. “Maybe I can change your mind on being a villain too. So why were you having a panic attack?”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said, his face darkening.

“That’s okay, too. We can just sit here for a while,” Izuku told him, crossing his legs. “I don’t really have anything to do anyway.”

It turned into a routine. Every single day, Izuku would go to his hiding spot to avoid Bakugou from beating him up and there would be Tomura. Most of the time they just talked about random things. Sometimes they spoke about their lives, their dreams. Tomura refused to budge on not being a villain but Izuku was determined to change that.

Then, one day, Izuku never showed behind the building. Tomura had frowned and slipped his hoodie onto his head before he went to find his friend. It had been weird to think of the fourteen-year-old as his friend, but after spending months talking to him every single day, Izuku had become one of his closest confidants.

“Just face it Deku,” he heard someone say from above. “You really wanna have a quirk so bad? Take a swan dive off the roof and pray you have a quirk in your next life.”

Tomura’s hands clenched into fists. He didn’t get it, Izuku absolutely adored that brat and Katsuki Bakugou, or as Izuku called him, Kachaan did nothing but tear him down. Tomura had lost count of how many times he had comforted the crying kid. And after his fucking hero had told him he would never be a hero because he didn't have a quirk, Tomura had done everything he could to keep the kid from giving up. But it seemed that just a few harsh words from Bakugou Katsuki were enough to make the kid give up entirely. 

“You’re right,” he heard his friend say simply. Izuku was standing at the top of the building with Bakugou. He gave his friend a watery smile. “You’ll be a fantastic hero, Kacchan. If anyone could be the number one hero, it’ll be you,” he whispered before letting himself fall off of the building.

“Fuck!” Tomura shouted, watching the boy fall off of the building just as Katsuki shouted. “Deku!”

The villain ran towards his falling friend just as the boy crashed into the ground. He ripped him off of the concrete.

“Midoriya, wake up,” Tomura said softly. “Wake up, you can’t go out like this,” he rushed out, looking at the broken and bloody boy. To put it nicely, the kid's body was fucked up, he didn't have much longer. Midoriya's head lolled to the side and Tomura took a shaky breath before he pulled out his phone and called Kurogiri. “I need you. I’m at the middle school, please, get here.”

A black hole opened wide and Tomura lifted the boy in his arms carefully before stepping through the portal.

If anyone could save Izuku, it would be Tomura's master, All for One.

Izuku shook his head and smiled. He had heard Tomura’s side of what happened so many times he knew it all. Tomura Shigaraki, the evil villain had saved his life that day. Well, with the help of Sensei and Kurogiri but regardless, he was saved by villains. Not heroes. No, heroes did nothing but crush dreams and care about what the public thought about them. They didn't care about the little people, not unless there was a villain for them to fight.

And in return for being saved by villains, he helped the League every so often. He had told them explicitly that regardless of the fact that All for One had not only saved the boy but given him his quirks he still was never going to be a villain.

After his suicide attempt, things had gone back to normal. Relatively normal, at least. Bakugou was the only one who had seen him try to kill himself and thankfully no one really believed it. After Sensei had saved him, Tomura had taken him home that night, the kid now covered in scars, a new quirk buzzing through his body. It was a weird quirk, but it had saved his life.

All for One had called it Survivor.

The quirk made it where no matter what happened to Izuku, he couldn’t die. Not unless he truly wanted to. Which after the attempt, Izuku never wanted to die. No, he realized as he fell that it was a mistake, that he would do everything possible to never die. Not like that at least. The quirk meant that he could get stabbed, burned, whatever and while it harmed his body and covered him in scars, no matter how bad the wound was, it would kill him. His skin would stitch itself back together slowly but still, he couldn’t die. It wasn’t exactly the type of quirk that would make him a hero but Izuku didn’t care.

If people like Katsuki Bakugou could be a hero, then Izuku wasn’t interested. Not anymore. He could save people or help people in other ways. Besides, life was good. Izuku went to some regular high school, he had fantastic friends, he was on track for going to college soon and in his free time, he was a vigilante. And that’s how he liked it.

Chapter Text

“All I’m saying is we need your help,” Tomura murmured, playing his video game distractedly.

“And I told you, that’s not up my alley. Sensei told me that I was free to do whatever I wanted--”

“And he said if I needed help you were supposed to help me. It was the exchange for your second quirk, remember?” Tomura told him just as Izuku’s character shot him multiple times. “Fuck!”

“Tomura, I have an exam on Friday. I can’t go on some stupid League mission with you and Dabi. Besides, Dabi’s-”

“Dabi is going to be too distracted missing fucking Hawks to even pay attention,” the twenty-two-year-old growled. Izuku laughed and set his controller down and looked around his bedroom.

“You aren’t wrong, but I’m not a villain Tomura. That’s not exactly what I want to do,” he said tiredly. They had this conversation more times than Izuku liked to count and unfortunately, despite Izuku's best efforts; it ended the exact same way every single time. 

“Really? Because I still remember last night when we were drinking and you said--”

“I said I hated the stupid heroes, and I stand by that. I just want to help people. I don’t want to take down hero society, that’s your prerogative, mine is to just help.”

“Yet the entire country is looking for a certain vigilante to arrest,” Tomura said through the headset. Izuku sighed and spun in his gaming chair. "And you're such a fucking liar, Izu. You told me yourself just the other day that you wanted to see the Hero Commission reformed." 

Okay. Tomura had him there. Izuku wanted nothing more than to see the hero rankings gone and to see heroes actually held accountable for their actions. In Izuku's expert opinion, heroes got away with far too much. Sure, Izuku had been treated like shit by heroes, he was reminded every single day of how his ultimate hero, All Might had told him to his face he could never be a hero. All because of his lack of a quirk. Joke's on that asshole, Izuku had three now and he had absolutely no desire to be some spandex-wearing superhero. 

“God, the media gave me the worst fucking name,” Izuku complained, rubbing his eyes as he attempted to change the subject.

“I thought it was funny,” Tomura laughed, turning off his tv. “The Shadow is absolutely hilarious.”

“Shut up!” Izuku snapped, glaring over at the closet where the stupid costume he wore was hidden. “Look, what exactly do you need me to do?”

“We just need your particle crap to do some heavy lifting,” he responded. “Just come to the bar, we’re talking strategy now,” he said before turning off his headset. Izuku glared angrily as he got up and stomped to his closet.

“Hey, Mom! I’m heading out! I’ll see you later!” He shouted to which his mom replied with a happy okay. Izuku slipped into his costume, a pair of dark black pants, a black hoodie, and leather fingerless gloves. He slipped his combat boots on and slipped out of the house, his hood low on his face.

After All for One had initially saved Izuku, he had become much closer to both Tomura and his Sensei. All for One had wanted to ensure that the quirk worked well with his body and didn’t turn him into a nomu. Which, thank god it didn’t. The only reason the villain even cared was because of how much Tomura cared for him. But, because of that, Izuku got to know the villain a lot better and the day he had come to the bar absolutely raging over the fact that he had been told that his newfound quirk would never make him a hero, Sensei had listened as Tomura made one more request. Shigaraki Tomura was a lot of things, an asshole, wreckless, positively evil. But he also had a soft spot for his best friend and as much as he wanted to be rid of hero society, he wanted his best friend to be happy. He had also secretly hoped that if the teenager had received a powerful quirk then maybe he could do what all of these fake heroes couldn't do. He would be selfless and save people without thinking about rankings or popularity. After all, Izuku had done what no hero had ever even attempted to do. He tried to save Tomura, tried to make him a good person rather than a villain. If anyone could do it, it would be his best friend.

So, Izuku got Particle. It let him control the particles in the air, he could push them, pull them, they let him practically fly when he needed to and he could use it to pin people to walls. Izuku could do anything with it. But, by this point, the damage had already been done. He hated heroes, most of all, he hated All Might. What kind of grown man told a child he could never be a hero? Izuku was over it. He just wanted to help people, and with the help of All for One, he was going to.

He just… had to help out the villains and be there for Tomura from time to time. Which was fine, really. Tomura was his best friend, and a lousy villain most of the time so the boy didn’t mind.

Izuku pulled his mask out of his pocket and slunk through the shadows, letting his body blend with the surroundings. It was the last permanent quirk Sensei had given him, it was called Shadow and let Izuku completely blend into his surroundings. It was the one that would have completely killed him if it hadn’t been for Survivor. He was lucky he hadn’t turned into a nomu, the pain from gaining the quirk had been overwhelming. It hadn’t just changed a small part of him as Particle did, and he hadn’t been on the verge of dying as he had with Survivor. Shadow changed his entire body to the point where for the first few weeks he had done nothing but lay in bed as his body turned from solid to shadow. His mom had just thought he was sick with the flu. He knew that Inko probably knew that he was up to something, but she just accepted it at this point. Inko had remarried finally and her whole world was Izuku’s new stepfather, which meant he could get away with murder.

Literally.

The vigilante slunk through the shadows, keeping his eyes out for anyone who needed help. This was what he loved to do, help the people in the world who truly needed it. He didn’t need fame and fortune to help others. It’s why he hated the whole hero society bullshit.

“Help!” A woman screamed. “Someone help me!”

Izuku’s face turned up into a snarl-like smile as he raced down the alleyway to find a woman fighting some asshole for her purse.

“Let it go,” he snarled, his hands clenched into fists. “Now.”

“It’s The Shadow,” the woman whispered before Izuku flicked a finger and the criminal was thrown into a wall. The vigilante looked at the woman making sure she hadn’t been hurt. Overall she seemed fine, but he didn't want to risk it.

“Are you alright?” He asked, picking her purse off of the ground and handed it to her.

“Y-yes, thank you,” she stammered, clutching her purse tight. Izuku nodded before he stalked towards the criminal and slipped a zip tie out of his pocket and zip-tied the man’s hands together.

“Let’s go,” he muttered before he grabbed the criminal’s arm and vaulted them into the sky. Izuku landed in front of the jail and dropped the guy at the doors. The dumbass criminal seemed like the type to have a record, for all he knew, the guy had a warrant out for his arrest. Izuku left him there and slunk back into the shadows before he got to the bar.

“What took you so long?” Mr. Compress asked, giving the teenager a curious look.

“I was busy,” Izuku said, stepping in and taking a seat at a booth next to Tomura. “What did you need?”

“We’re breaking Sensei out,” Tomura said and Izuku rolled his eyes. It had been two years since All Might had fought One for All and defeated the villain. Ever since the only thing Tomura cared about was getting the man out. He had become blinded by the desire to save the man who had saved him that it was all he wanted to do. Dabi and Toga had basically been taking charge of the League ever since.

“No. Did you come up with the plan today?” Izuku asked, crossing his arms.

“Yes,” Dabi said for him, coming from the bar. “He did and he’s convinced now that what he needs is you to blow the particles of the prison wall to get him out.”

“Shiggy,” Izuku said softly. “We can’t break him out, you know that. I miss Sensei as well but he told us to not break him out. This was what he wanted,” Izuku said for the millionth time. The two of them had this conversation more times than Izuku could count. Shigaraki had it in his head that he couldn't survive without the guidance of their master, that without him he was nothing. 

“We tried to tell him that,” Toga sang, sliding into the booth She wrapped her arms around the green-haired teenager. The two had had a very brief fling with one another before deciding that being friends was what was for best. It didn't help that Izuku had realized during their relationship that he was very, very gay. “Hi, Zuzu.”

“Hey,” he said, giving the girl a tired smile before looking at his best friend. “Just, drop it. Okay? I told you if you left it alone and let the stupid prison relax and think you’re not going to try to destroy the prison again, I could get information about it.”

“I’m-”

“Too impatient, yeah, I totally agree,” Izuku said and stood up. “Shiggy, you’re my best friend and I love you, but you’re being too rash. It’s been two years and you have attempted to break him out of Tartarus over twenty times now. Sensei told both of us to keep going. He told me to help you and make sure that you didn’t do anything stupid and I’ve been failing at that for two fucking years now.”

“Izu-”

“Don’t Izu me. You are going to focus on the mission and get rid of the Hero Commission. I’m going to go and fucking help some other people before I go home and do my homework. Dabi, if he does anything stupid, call me.”

“You got it,” Dabi said with a sigh. Izuku smiled in thanks and looked at Tomura.

“Pinky promise me you’re not going to try to break him out. I don’t want to fucking hurt you,” Izuku said, holding out his pinky. Tomura glared but wrapped his pinky around Izuku’s. A small smile pushed through and wrapped his hand around Izuku’s wrist. Izuku glared at him as the skin on his wrist disintegrated. “Seriously? You’re a dick. A sadistic, piece of shit, dick.”

Tomura grinned. “Sorry, thought you would enjoy a new scar,” he said as Izuku’s skin started to regrow slowly.

“I hate you,” he said, pulling his sleeve down. It hurt like hell, but he had gotten used to the feeling. He punched his friend in the arm and left the bar quickly. He didn’t want to deal with any of this. Sure, Tomura was his best friend, but the man was a complete and utter idiot. He didn’t see how on earth Sensei wanted Tomura to be his successor when the boy could barely survive without the man.

It was a good thing he had Izuku to keep him out of too much trouble.

Chapter Text

Izuku walked down the sidewalk tiredly. This was the worst part of the vigilante work, he was constantly exhausted, and it didn’t help that Tomura kept calling him after he left the bar to complain about Sensei being in prison. The poor guy hated not having the man around, he was too reliant on him. 

He rubbed at his eyes, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to go out to work tonight, he was just going to stay in and get caught up on his homework and hopefully get some sleep unless Tomura called him again. The teenager sighed and looked at his wrist, the fucker really had to go and fuck his arm up. The skin was still slightly raised but it was whatever, it was just another scar. He had plenty of them now. 

His entire body was littered with scars. Sensei’s teaching methods weren’t exactly the safest, but they got the job done and so far, no one had been able to beat Izuku in a fight, with or without quirks. Aside from Sensei, that is. The vigilante stopped at the station and leaned against the wall, pulling a notebook out of his backpack while he waited for his train to arrive. He flipped to the first clean page and started doodling as he waited for the train to show up. 

“Look at that boy over there,” a girl said softly to her group of friends. “He looks so sad,” she murmured. Izuku rolled his eyes and just continued on. At this point, he had gotten used to the stares, the jump off of the roof as a child and left him with a nasty scar on his face, one that started from the outer edge of his left eyebrow and curved along to his chin, don’t ask him how that happened, he still wasn’t sure. Not to mention the rest of his body had been covered from everything he had done for the last four years.

“He does, but he’s minding his own business, Ochaco, we should leave him alone,” some guy said. Izuku’s eyes flicked up just as what looked like a group of UA students were walking up to him. 

“Fuck,” he muttered, his pencil snapping in his hand. They were those stupid bastards from the hero course. And of fucking course, Bakugou Katsuki was with them. Izuku’s eye twitched as a brunette girl ran up to him, a concerned look on her face. 

“Hi, are you okay?” She asked, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry, you just looked so sad.”

Izuku forced a small smile. “I’m okay, just working on some stuff. Thank you,” he said, the smile tight. Please leave, please for the love of God don't act like some sanctimonious bastard and try to fix me, he thought to himself.

“Are you sure?” She asked as the others stepped forward. God, there were fucking five of them.  

“Deku?” Bakugo asked, looking at him wide-eyed. “What the fuck's wrong with you?” He demanded, the wide-eyed look now shifted into an angry scowl.

Izuku’s smile fell, a scowl twisting over his face. “I’m fine. Thank you for the concern,” he said stiffly. He closed his notebook and shoved it into his bag just as the train arrived. “I’ve got to go, my train’s here.”

He grabbed his backpack and started towards the train, avoiding Katsuki at all costs. “Wait, this is your train! We’re taking the same one!” The girl exclaimed excitedly as she started walking with Izuku. “How do you know Bakugo? I didn’t realize he had any friends outside of us!”

“I’m not his friend,” Izuku muttered, his hands clenched into fists. He was going to lose his absolute mind. 

“You aren’t?” She asked, tilting her head. 

“Deku-” Katsuki said, and Izuku whipped his head around and glared. 

“My name is Izuku Midoriya. I’m not a fucking deku,” he snarled, glaring daggers at the boy. 

Ochaco stopped walking. “Oh,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Is-is everything alright?”

Izuku forced a polite smile for the girl. “Yes, I’m just fine. I really should get going, though. I’ve had a really long day at school and I just need some time to relax,” he told her with as much honesty as he could.  Izuku squeezed the pencil still clutched in his hand tight, trying his best to not snap it in half as he desired. 

“Oh, I understand! What school do you go to? What year?”

God, this girl was persistent. Izuku slipped his hands in his pockets. “I just go to the high school down the street. I’m in my last year there.”

“That’s so exciting! What are you wanting to do?” She questioned. 

Izuku shrugged. “No clue. I’m kind of just living life, you know? It’ll come to me eventually.”

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Ochaco said with a frown. “I’m going to be a rescue hero, in fact! My friends and me, we go to UA,” she said, pointing to the group of boys. Izuku glanced over at them, ignoring Bakugo as he looked at the other two.

“I know. Todoroki, Kirishima, and Iida, right?” He asked, remembering them from the stupid sports festival. Tomura had threatened to show up at Izuku’s house if he didn’t help the LOV crash it last year. It had been absolutely horrifying but it got the job done. The school had decided to never have another stupid school festival because of it. So of course Izuku considered it a success. What kind of sadist liked to watch a bunch of teenagers fight each other?

“How do you know us?” Tenya Iida demanded, glaring daggers at the teenager.

“The nerd knows everything about every hero and aspiring hero. I would be more surprised if he didn’t know who you guys were,” Bakugou muttered angrily, shoving his hands in his pockets. Izuku ignored him and gave the tall student a polite smile. 

“I watched the sports festival. You could say my best friend is an obnoxiously big fan,” he said just as his phone buzzed. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and snorted softly when he saw the text from his friend. 

Dabi: Need Rescuing?

Izu: I’m no damsel, quit stalking me. 

Dabi: stalking the brother, actually. Now talk to him, he needs more friends other than those asshats.

Izuku rolled his eyes and shoved his phone back in his pocket before looking around. Finally, his eyes landed on a familiar mop of black hair, and smiled. What a fucking creepazoid. 

“Oh! Who was your favorite? I’m still so bummed that it was our last one, the stupid League of Villains ruins everything,” Ururaka said bitterly.

“Yeah, the League is a pain. But villains are a necessary evil if you think about it,” Izuku hummed, ignoring the vibrating phone in his pocket. He stepped onto the train, the five heroes in training falling close behind. 

“How do you mean?” Todoroki asked, speaking up for the first time. 

“It’s all about balance,” Izuku hummed, shifting his head to the side as he took a seat and stared out the window. “Good versus evil, strong versus weak. Without villains, all heroes would be doing is rescue missions. And considering most heroes get off on showing that they're super powerful, I can’t imagine they would be very happy without the villains causing mayhem. To have a good hero, you need a good villain to be their match.”

“That’s… well I’ve never thought of it that way,” Kirishima stated, cupping his chin with his hand. 

“What do you think of vigilantes?” Todoroki asked and Izuku held back the mischievous grin that threatened to overtake his entire face. 

“Oh, they’re the real heroes. They don’t care about the fame and fortune of being heroes, they just want to help the people who truly need it.”

“Now Midoriya—you cannot honestly think that they’re good!” Iida exclaimed, waving his arms around wildly. Ah he got it now, Iida was the goody goody rule-following type. Izuku used to be like him once. 

“Of course I would, why not?”

“They’re breaking the law, wouldn’t that make them no better than villains?” Todoroki asked him and the vigilante gave the student a curious look. 

“How so? Because they don’t have a special license to say that they can help people in need and arrest those who are causing harm? Who’s to say someone can’t be a hero just because they don’t have some fancy license that states it?”

“It’s illegal to use a quirk unless—”

“Unless you have a plastic card that states otherwise,” Izuku hummed and stood. “It was nice talking to you, but this is my stop and I really must get going.”

“It was so nice meeting you! Here, uh, can I have your number! I would love to have a friend who isn’t going to UA and isn’t obsessed with being a hero,” Ururaka said, frowning when Bakugou scoffed. 

“I’m sorry, does your friend have something stuck in his throat?” Izuku asked, casting a glare at his former friend’s face. 

“Oh he’s probably dehydrated from his quirk! That’s so sweet of you for thinking about him,” the girl exclaimed. She thrust her phone into Izuku’s scarred hands, frowning at the pale marks that littered them. “Are you okay? What happened to your hands?” She asked softly. 

Izuku gave her an awkward smile. "Oh, it's a bit of a story. But, I tried to kill myself when I was younger. Some people had me convinced that since I was quirkless I should try again with my next life and I listened to them. Unfortunately, it took me nearly dying for my quirk to kick in,” he said, scratching his neck awkwardly. Tomura rubbed off on him in weird ways and he had picked up on the weird habit. 

“You survived a jump off of a building?” Iida asked. “How tall was the building!?”

“Uh, it was twelve floors or something. But it turns out I have a quirk called Survivor. It doesn’t let me die no matter what happens to my body and any injury I get heals, sometimes I get scars from it, sometimes I don't,” he explained, his brow furrowing. He was fudging the truth, but it wasn’t like he could tell them the actual story. “My friend thinks that unless I actively want to die that the quirk just won’t let me. But I disagree because the day I jumped well, you don’t jump off of a building unless you really, really want to. You know?” He said and glanced at the opening doors. He typed his number in Ochaco’s phone quickly and handed it back to her. “It was nice meeting you all but I really must get going. I’ll see you around.” 

“Ururaka, give me his number. I have questions about this survivor quirk,” Iida said as the boy walked out of the train. Ururaka stared after the boy sadly. 

“Imagine wanting to kill yourself because you didn’t have a quirk,” she whispered softly. “I can’t even imagine.”

“That’s because you’ve always had a quirk,” Bakugou said gruffly, his eyes following after his old friend, his heartbeat ringing through his ears. That’s how Izuku hadn’t died that day. He had a quirk all along and Bakugo had forced him to use it. He ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. He would have rathered Deku never even knowing he had a quirk than him finding out the way that he did. He was horrified.

.

.

.

Izuku growled in frustration as his phone vibrated for the hundredth time. All the kid wanted to do was finish his English homework and then study for his maths exam. But no, it seemed that the girl from UA gave his number to everyone in that group of students and he had been added to the same group chat as Katsuki Bakugo of all people. 

To say Izuku was irritated would be a huge understatement. And not only were they blowing up his phone. The League group chat was also driving him absolutely insane. Izuku flicked the pencil around in his hand as he read over his homework, trying to decide what he wanted his essay to even be about. 

“Izuku!” His stepfather called before pushing his door open. 

He looked up at the man with a scowl. “What?” He demanded.

“Your mother and I are going out to dinner. Do you want to come?” He asked politely. Izuku rolled his eyes. 

“I have homework. Hard pass,” he muttered, looking back down at the papers that scattered his desk. 

“I’m trying here, Izuku,” the man said softly. This time, Izuku tried to not roll his eyes like he wanted to. It wasn’t that he hated his stepfather, no, the guy was actually pretty decent to Izuku. It was just that ever since his mother met the man, he had become his world and well, Izuku faded into the shadows. It made it easier for Izuku, though. If his mother was so caught up in her new husband, she was less likely to really notice much about Izuku. And it was pretty true. Inko was rarely home anymore, instead, she toured the world with her businessman husband, leaving Izuku mostly home alone. 

“Sure you are,” Izuku hummed. “Just go have fun with my mom before you disappear for a few months and then suddenly show back up and decide to play family again.”

“You know-”

Izuku’s tired eyes glanced up at the man. “I know. Just go get dinner. Bring me back some katsudon if you’re that torn up about it.” 

 Suzuki Hisato didn’t really know how to handle his stepson. He loved him like his own son, but the kid wanted nothing to do with him or his mother anymore. Ever since he had accidentally fallen from that building all those years ago, something changed in him. He had pushed everyone away and his mother had been at her wits end. But, they had decided that maybe what Izuku needed was space, they still invited him to things but, they both--especially Inko--stopped being so pushy with getting him to talk. It seemed the best way to do it, really. 

Inko of course worried for her son. Especially considering he seemed to come back with unexplainable scars. But they had long stopped pushing the boy for information.

“Will do, Kiddo,” he said with a small smile and ruffled his step son’s hair. Izuku scowled and pulled his hoodie over his head. Once the man left the room Izuku bowed down and went back to plotting out his essay once more.

He listened as the front door shut softly and sighed in relief. He started scribbling down the notes he needed when his phone started vibrating once more and he let out a groan. 

“What do you want!?” He shouted at the stupid phone to find that he did in fact have over a hundred text messages. 

Unknown number: Midoriya! This is Tenya Iida. 

Izuku groaned as he read through what felt like endless messages, saving each student’s name in his phone. These students didn’t know how to shut the fuck up apparently. Izuku twisted his lip ring slowly as he read over what was currently happening. 

Uraraka: I think Midoriya may be ignoring us

Kirishima: we probably scared him off. 

Izuku: No, I’m here. I just have a lot of homework to do and I’m trying to concentrate on it. 

Iida: Midoriya! Did you see my questions? I want to know more about your quirk.

Todoroki: it really isn’t any of our business, Iida.

Izuku rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. 

Izuku: There’s nothing to talk about. I can’t die, that’s the whole quirk.

Iida: You could do so much with that, Midoriya! Why aren’t you in some kind of hero course?

He scoffed and tapped his fingers for a moment. He didn’t like these people. Becoming friends with hero wannabes would definitely make his life much more difficult than he needed it to be. But goddamn, were they persistent. 

Izuku: Why the hell would I want to be a hero?

He closed out of the group chat before opening his messages with Shigaraki and rolled his eyes. Of course. Tomura just wanted to play video games. Like always. Izuku responded, letting him know that he had too much homework to even think about doing anything but that. 

Tomura shot back almost immediately, informing him that he needed to just drop out of high school.

“Ass,” Izuku muttered before looking at the message from Uraraka.

Uraraka: Mido, we’re going to the movies tomorrow evening. Would you like  to come along? We would love to get to know you better!

The vigilante sighed and looked at the time. He really never did anything fun, anymore. His entire life seemed to be school, vigilante crap, and putting up with Tomura and the League. Besides, Compress had told him that he needed to start acting like a normal teenager. And maybe, if he finished his homework quickly, he could do some work tonight. 

Izuku: Yeah, I guess. What time?  

With that, he locked his phone and started working on his paper. Izuku didn’t want to do homework. But he had goals to attain. During the night, he would continue doing his vigilante work, he would help those in need using the powers he had at his disposal, but during the day he couldn’t just bum around. Not only that, but he needed money somehow. Which was why Izuku worked so hard in school. He had dreams, he wanted nothing more than to help people anyway he could. He wasn’t entirely sure what exactly it was he wanted to do, though. The eighteen year old had mulled over countless ideas, sometimes he thought about becoming a cop but then realized that the questions he could get about his scars. It made it feel like a hard pass. He had also thought about practicing law, or medicine. Nothing seemed appropriate for what Izuku wanted to do. The issue, though, was that Izuku wanted to do nothing but save people. But he couldn’t make money as a vigilante and he sure as hell wasn’t going to be a hero. Besides, making money for saving people from evil villains and criminals? That was pretty much the entire reason Izuku was a vigilante in the first place. The idea of being paid for being a decent human being just made him nauseous. 

So, he was just planning on getting the best grades he could in high school, and then hopefully figure out what he wants to do once he’s in college. And ignore Tomura goading him to join the League officially. 

Izuku wasn’t interested in that. All the kid wanted to do was be an equal opportunist. He wanted to help people, while also helping the League take down the goddamn hero commission once and for all. He could do both, couldn’t he? It’s not like he wanted to hurt people, really. He just wanted to hurt heroes. Not even really that, he wanted to hurt the bad heroes. The heroes who didn't actually care, heroes like Endeavor or All Might.

A scowl swept over his face as he heard a soft knock at the front door and roughly slid away from his desk, clenching and unclenching his fists as he left his room. It seemed no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the precious alone time that he so desired.

Izuku stormed through the house before he ripped open the door. “Shiggy I swear to god if you think you can just,” the words died on his lips as he stared at the boy in front of him. “Bakuguo?” He asked, screwing his nose up.

 Bakugo Katsuki shoved his hands into his pockets as he tried his best to not glare at the kid in front of him. “Deku,” he grumbled. 

The green-haired boy frowned. “What are you doing here? Mom went out with Hisato so Mitsuki isn’t here,” he said, still giving the hero student before him a confused look. Izuku had stopped being friends with Bakugou after he had tried to kill himself all those years ago, but that didn’t mean they stopped seeing each other. That was actually pretty difficult to do when you were neighbors and your moms were best friends. 

“No, uh, I know that,” Bakugou said, looking around the inside of Izuku’s house warily. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah? I guess?” Izuku said, still not entirely sure what was going on. He stepped back, letting the crimson eyed boy into his living room. He didn’t hate Bakugou, in fact, when he had seen him earlier in the day, the only reason he had acted as he did was purely out of a bad mood and not being interested in talking to all those fucking idiots. Against Izuku's better judgment and no matter how many times he told himself that Bakugou was a piece of shit asshole, he still cared for the jerk. He was still an important person to Izuku. The only difference was that now, no matter how much he cared for the hero student, he knew when to cut toxic people out of his life. And Bakugou Katsuki was the walking definition of toxic.

“So you’re coming with us to the movies,” he said awkwardly, walking into the house and slowly sitting on the couch.  Izuku crossed his arms. 

“I guess so,” he said, leaning against the wall as he just continued to watch the guy’s every move. “Bakugou, not that I don’t just absolutely crave your attention like all of your other little fans, is there a reason you’re in my house?”

“I didn’t know you had a quirk--why didn’t you tell me?” He demanded suddenly. Izuku bristled. 

“Because I didn’t learn about it until after you told me to take a swan dive off of a building and I listened to you,” he said sharply. 

“You told everyone it was an accident, that you tripped. Why?”

Izuku let out a harsh laugh, running a hand through his green curls. “Because I didn’t want to be shoved into a mental hospital? Why else?” He had other reasons, but Bakugou of all people didn’t need to know that. 

“Why didn’t you tell me afterward?” Bakugou questioned, his eyes a steely glare. 

The vigilante arched a single eyebrow. “Katsuki, it’s been like five years. Why do you all of a sudden care about my actions? I thought that the unspoken agreement was that we got along for our moms and ignore each other any other time.”

“Dunno,” Bakugou murmured.

"No, that's a bullshit answer, what's the real reason you're here?" Izuku asked him, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m close to graduating and soon I’m going to be a hero, alright?!” He shouted.

“Don’t shout at me,” Izuku said harshly. “You’re the one who came into my house and is acting all fucking weird. You’re going to be a hero, big whoop! Do you want a medal or some shit? Because you aren't getting that here.”

“No, it’s not-” Bakugou closed his eyes and let out a loud groan. “I want to just fix things. How the fuck am I supposed to be the number one hero one day when I’m always going to remember that I told some loser to kill himself?”

“Oh, so I’m just some loser?” Izuku sighed and opened the front door. “Bakugou, I have homework. Go find sympathy from one of your annoying little friends.”

“Why did you even agree to go to that thing?” Bakugou demanded, standing up. “You don’t like people. Auntie Inko constantly worries about how you have no friends, so why now? Why my friends?”

“I have friends,” Izuku said, offended. “And your friends are like leeches. I’m only going to be polite and keep my mom from sending Hisato to check on me every five seconds.”

“Well, you’re making a mistake. If you go, they’ll never let you leave them,” Katsuki said and winced. “Besides, I think Round Face likes you.”

“Well, she’ll be sorely disappointed when she finds out I don’t swing her way,” Izuku said with a snort. 

“Right, I forgot you were a-”

“Flamer, yes,” Izuku said and sighed. “Seriously, Bakugou. I’m not planning on stealing your precious friends from you. I have better things to do than play fanboy to a bunch of hero course students with inflated egos and hero complexes.”

“Whatever,” he muttered. “I don’t get you, Deku.”

“Izuku,” he ground out slowly. His heart sputtered at the old nickname and fuck. Izuku shouldn't react like that to being called Deku. It was an offensive name, he couldn't condone that shit. 

“Tch, whatever,” Bakugo said and looked the kid over once more, a frown slipping on his face when he noticed the large hand-shaped mark on Izuku’s arm. “What did you do to yourself?”

“None of your concern,” Izuku said smoothly, pulling his sleeve down. Katsuki narrowed his eyes suspiciously before he slipped out of the Midoriya-Suzuki house. Something was weird about his childhood friend, and Katsuki was going to find out what.  

Izuku shut the door and shoved the sleeve of his shirt back up. He glared at his arm and growled. “Fucking Tomura,” he snarled before going back to his room. He grabbed his phone and fell back into his desk. 

“I have a fucking handprint on my arm!” Izuku shouted into his phone as soon as Tomura answered. “Do you know how stupid I look with a goddamn handprint seared into my skin?”

Tomura let out a loud laugh. “Did it really heal up like that?” He cackled. “Dabi! It turned into a handprint! My hand is on Izu for the rest of his life!”

“Shut up!” Izuku snapped. “I don’t have a hand fetish like you do! Fuck, I’m going to have Dabi set my arm on fire, something to get rid of this stupid fucking scar.”

“You would rather have an ugly purple arm like Dabi’s?” Tomura demanded, sounding offended.

“Yes! If it means I don’t have a fucking handprint on my arm forever,” Izuku exclaimed when he heard someone scream. “What are you doing?” He demanded. 

“Stop Villain!” He heard a hero, someone who suspiciously sounded like Endeavor, shout loudly in the background. 

“Dabi and Toga were bored. If you want to get in your cute little costume you can come to stop us,” he cooed into the phone.

“I have homework, remember? The thing that you keep trying to distract me from doing?” Izuku said, looking back down at his essay. 

“You called me, we need your help, Dabi-” he said with a grunt before the wind rustled in the speaker of Izuku’s phone catching whatever else Tomura was going to say. 

“I know I called you, I’ll be out soon to stop you,” Izuku said, rolling his eyes. He hung up on his best friend and went to his stupid costume and changed clothes quickly.  Izuku slipped out of the house, making sure to lock it behind him before he started running down the street, his body slowly and painfully morphing to slide into the shadows, not realizing the eyes that followed him the entire time.

. 

.

. 

Katsuki watched as Deku practically disappeared before his eyes. He frowned as he wildly looked around, trying to figure out where he went. 

“I gotta go, Shitty Hair,” he muttered and hung up, shoving his phone into his pocket. His eyes finally landed on a very soft outline of a human and he frowned. Why was Deku nearly translucent? He pushed off from the side of his house and started following the boy down the street. The hero student followed from a distance, trying his best to keep an eye on the boy without becoming too obvious. A struggle considering he tended to be one to just go out and yell at people. But, Deku, well he was different. He just wanted to fix things, somehow. After really looking at him on that train, something felt off within Katsuki. He felt this incredible desire to fix things and make it better between him and Deku. 

Soon Katsuki found himself in the middle of downtown where the League was currently fighting against Endeavor and Fat Gum. 

“What the hell?” He whispered, hiding behind a building. Katsuki was already on thin fucking ice with Mr. Aizawa for getting involved in unnecessary fights so he couldn’t risk fighting tonight. He watched, though, as Deku shifted from the shadows, a dark black mask covering his nose and mouth. 

“Come on Shiggy! I can’t keep bailing you out!” He shouted up to none other than  Shigaraki Tomura. 

Shigaraki gave the teenager a wide grin. “Oh come on Shadow! We need help!” He laughed just as Endeavor’s fist collided with his face. Katsuki watched with wide eyes as Deku waved a lazy hand and Endeavor was thrown into the wall of a burning building.

“Shadow!” Toga shouted excitedly as she ran up to Deku and gave him a tight hug. “Dabi got mad at his dad again and we’re here for moral support.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened beyond belief. He couldn’t believe this, fucking Deku was the feared vigilante, Shadow. Everyone had heard of the vigilante. Shadow was neither a hero nor a villain. He attacked villains and heroes equally. Sometimes he sided with the League on certain battles, sometimes he could be found in rescue missions. The police were looking for him, heroes absolutely despised him. Hell, everyone thought the League of Villains did as well considering he was the cause of a few of their members getting arrested as well. But here he saw Shigaraki and Toga treating him like a long lost friend. 

“Come on,  he can’t do this every fucking time he sees the guy on the news,” Deku complained as he stalked towards Dabi and grabbed him. “Toga get the fucking knife out of my side.”

Toga let out a loud giggle before she threw herself at Fat Gum only for Deku to shout at her that he wasn’t breaking her out of prison again. 

What. The. Fuck. 

He watched wide-eyed as Deku threw all of the pro heroes away before he grabbed the burnt bastard by the collar of his shirt and started dragging him away from the fires. 

“Goddamn idiot, just wanted a peaceful night to do homework,” he complained as he and Dabi passed by Katsuki’s hiding place. Deku glanced over at his hiding spot lazily and Katsuki held his breath, not moving a single muscle. Deku’s eyes narrowed angrily before his arm caught on fire and he turned and punched Dabi square in the face. 

“What the fuck!?” He shouted. 

“He beat Shouto!” Dabi shouted back, trying to run back to Endeavor. 

“Then let me fucking handle it. You are supposed to be working on your fucking mission, not picking fights with the bastard!” Deku exclaimed, waving his burning arm around. “And if you’re going to burn me at least give me some kind of fucking warning! I like this hoodie Dabi!”

“Whatever,” Dabi muttered, putting the fire out on his arm. 

“God,” Deku muttered before giving Dabi a look. “Let me get Shiggy and Toga. Don’t fucking move. I’m not paid for this shit, Sensei owes me so much,” he grumbled before storming back to the fighting and held out a hand. Toga and Shigaraki were both instantly dragged to him and he clenched his fist before dragging them down the street. 

Katsuki watched as Deku dragged the three villains down the street. The entire group of them turned into nothing but shadows as they disappeared into the night.

“What the hell?” He breathed, still staring at the spot they had disappeared from. “What the fucking shit was that? Deku’s the fucking vigilante?” What kind of quirk let him do the things he did? It was as if he was practically immune to the fire that had licked its way up his arm and he had been able to push and pull people around like it was nothing. 

Not to mention the shadows. How did that work? How did he just disappear as he did? Sure he knew about that shadow bastard Kurogiri but he was locked up with One for All. Katsuki’s brain started to race at this point as he walked back home. 

He would never forget that attack at camp during his first year at UA. 

The League of Villains had brought him back to their stupid bar. Everyone had thought that the League was trying to convert him to join their side. But that was farther from the truth than they knew. Not that Katsuki ever told anyone otherwise. When he had been taken Shigaraki wanted one thing and one thing only. 

He wanted to kill Katsuki. He wanted to torture him slowly with that stupid quirk of his. And just as he had four of his fingers wrapped around Katsuki’s chin, ready to completely disintegrate it so that he could get Katsuki to shut up, the door to the bar had slammed wide open. 

Some kid decked in all black had walked in, his face covered by a black mask and a pair of dark goggles. A black hoodie hugged his toned body, the only color on him, really, was a pair of bright red sneakers which, actually, matched Shigaraki’s shoes. Who the hell was he?

“Tomura, what the hell are you doing?” He demanded, glaring angrily at the villain through a pair of goggles. (Now that Katsuki thought about it, it made sense that Deku wore those goggles. If Katsuki had seen his eyes, he would have known immediately who he was) 

“Getting revenge,” Shigaraki said lazily. 

“You don’t hurt children,” he said, walking over and giving Katsuki an uninterested look. “All Might and other pros are on their way. Sensei won’t be happy with you if you fuck this up again. Just let him go and quit fighting other people’s battles.”

“He-”

“No, Shiggy. Let. Him. Go,” the boy snarled and Katsuki looked at him again, he was definitely younger than Shigaraki by the sound of it. Yet he seemed to tell the leader of the League of Villains what to do with no problems. “It isn’t your fight.”

Shigaraki glared as Katsuki gave him a smug smile. “You heard him, let me go Shiggy,” Katsuki said with a purr. A fist collided with his cheek roughly. His eyes dragged up to see this random kid looking at him again from under his hood. 

“Shut up,” he said before ripping the ropes off of Katsuki. “Shig, they’re going to be here soon. There are also heroes at the facility. I’ll hold them off at the door if you can get Sensei away. He won’t win this fight, not tonight.” 

Katsuki quickly stood, knocking the chair to the ground as explosions popped around him. 

“Oh stop it,” the kid snapped, flicking a hand and throwing Katsuki into the wall. “Just get out of here before I change my mind. Shig, get out of here with Kurogiri. I’ve got this,” he growled as the front door burst open and the heroes flooded in.

Katsuki would never forget that day. Months later it had come out that there was a new vigilante on the streets who looked exactly like the kid who saved his life from Tomura Shigaraki. And now, well he was having some trouble clicking the vigilante Shadow to the dorky kid he had made fun of for so long. 

Fuck. Katsuki had been horrible to Deku and months after his suicide attempt that Katsuki had pushed him to, Deku saved his life. 

“You know, it’s kind of weird to follow people.”

Chapter Text

Bakugo turned around slowly to find Izuku staring at him unamused. “It’s actually very creepy and almost stalker-like. I should be concerned for my life.”

“You’re the fucking vigilante!” Bakugo shouted. “You’ve been-”

“Not here,” Izuku interrupted, taking off his mask as he started walking back to his house. He ripped his hoodie off of his body completely as he glared at the burnt sleeve. Bakugo looked him over in shock as he stared at Izuku’s toned and scarred body. “You really shouldn’t meddle with things that you don’t understand.”

“You turned into a fucking shadow Deku!”

“It’s Midoriya. Jesus Christ, can you not even bother to call me by name? We’re eighteen years old Katsuki, you don’t see me still walking around calling you Kacchan, do you?” Izuku demanded a hurt look quickly flashing across the hero student’s face before disappearing. “So fucking stop.”

“Alright, damn,” Katsuki muttered. “When did you start doing this? Why did you start doing this?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just go home and forget you ever saw me do any of this,” Izuku said, frowning at his burnt arm, at least Dabi’s fire got some of Tomura’s handprint off. And with burns, his skin came back nice and clean, not like when it got disintegrated. Survivor was a weird-ass quirk. 

“How is your arm healing like that?” Bakugou demanded, watching the skin slowly shift from blackened skin to just bright red. 

“My quirk. Go the fuck home and don’t mention this to anymore. Just go to bed and forget this. Got it?” Why had Bakugou even followed him in the first place? Was he stalking Izuku now? What was his sudden interest in the vigilante anyway?

“No fucking way!” Bakugo shouted. “You’re Shadow!”

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t worry about it. If I ever see you following me again, I’ll let Dabi after you-”

“What did Dabi mean about Endeavor hurting Icy Hot? How the fuck did he know or care?” Bakugou demanded, still following his former best friend as they walked home. 

“I’m not telling you again, shut up Katsuki. Forget what you saw, forget what you’ve heard,” Izuku snapped. Katsuki crossed his arms and glared. 

“Don’t fucking talk to me like that,” he snarled. “I want answers. Now De-Midoriya.”

“I have to go back to-”

“No! We’re going to talk dammit,” he said and grabbed Izuku’s wrist, practically dragging him down the street. “I ain't a fucking idiot!”

Izuku let out a snarl before he ripped his arm away. “There’s nothing to talk about. Just don’t mention-”

“I’ll tell Auntie Inko. She worries you know, she just leaves you alone because she knows you’ve changed,” he stated matter of factly. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” Izuku said, his eyes narrowed. 

“Tell me and I won’t have to,” Katsuki said smugly. Izuku glared. He would have rather shoved needles in his eyes than tell Bakugou Katsuki of all people anything about him. 

“There isn’t much to say,” he said vaguely as the two of them walked down the street. Katsuki smiled and took this time to really look Izuku over, something he had been keeping himself from really doing since he saw him on the train. Izuku’s curls were still wild but they were more well kept. The sides of his head had been shaved, giving the vigilante a curly mohawk of sorts. Aside from the scars that covered his lanky build, Izuku had a piercing on either side of his bottom lip, his ears had just as many piercings as Dabi’s and a silver hoop hung from his left nostril. Bakugo could see something dark and black swirl beneath the sleeve of his right arm and it took everything in him to not push the sleeve up. 

“It’s a tattoo, Bakugou,” Izuku said stiffly. “Toga drugged me and gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday.”

What the fuck? “So you’re actually friends with the League of Villains?” Bakugou asked. Why the hell would the kid who had dreamed of nothing more than to be the best superhero, the next All Might, become friends with some of the evilest people in Japan?

Izuku winced and shoved his hands into his pockets. “More like an underpaid babysitter.”

“Babysitter?” Katsuki asked curiously. 

Izuku let out a bitter chuckle. “It’s my payment to my Master.”

“You have a fucking master?” He questioned, this boy was getting more and more complicated as they walked. Katsuki had so many questions and he truly had no idea where to even start with them? How did he even go about this entire conversation? Especially considering each answer he got from Midoriya was like pulling teeth. He certainly wasn't making this easy for Katsuki and he only had so much patience before he just started screaming at the fucking vigilante.

“Master, Sensei, Mentor, sometimes Asshole. It depends on the day,” Izuku said with a shrug, sucking on one of his lip rings. He didn’t know why he was telling Bakugo any of this. But it did feel somewhat nice talking about this to someone outside of the League of Idiots. Although, maybe it would have been better if it had been someone who wasn’t Katsuki Bakugo. 

“Who is this dick? Is he the reason you’re covered in scars and all fucked up?” Bakugo demanded. 

At this question, Izuku couldn’t help but grin wildly. “All for One, of course. Who else?”

Katsuki stopped walking. “All for One is your-your master?” He spluttered, his eyes wide as he stared at the boy he once tormented. 

“Who else could have given me such amazing quirks?” Izuku asked with a smug smile still on his face as he pulled his hand out and looked at the scars that littered the already pale skin. 

“I thought you got your quirk when you jumped?”

Izuku shook his head. “Of course not. I was completely and totally quirkless. Tomura found me when I jumped and had Kurogiri bring me back to base. Master knew I was Tomura’s best friend and he gave me a quirk that would make it where I could never die and leave Tomura. Which, it’s fine. Everyone in Tomura’s family died from his hands, that quirk destroys everything. Except me,” he said, slipping his hand back into his pocket. 

“He still hurts you,” Katsuki pointed out, looking at the marks that littered his arms. 

“Nah, I can’t feel most things anymore. Besides, most of these are from my sensei. Not everyone can train in a prestigious hero school to get strong. Sensei has, well his methods were what I needed,” Izuku stated, furrowing his brow. 

“You said quirks, as in more than one,” Katsuki said a few minutes later as he mulled over this new information. Izuku nodded stiffly. 

“There’s a reason they call me Shadow, even if I hate that fucking name,” Izuku said bitterly. The two reached Izuku’s doorstep and he let out a sigh. “Look, I still have homework to do and I need to call Shiggy-”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Katsuki interrupted. “On one condition.”

“You’re in no place to give conditions, Katsuki,” Izuku said, glaring. 

“I want to start over,” he said, ignoring Izuku. “Look, I’m not the same person I was in middle school. I’ve… mellowed out for the most part. And you’re definitely not the same and I want to make things up to you and-”

“I thought I was the one who did the rambling,” Izuku said, narrowing his eyes. 

“Tch, whatever shitty nerd,” he muttered. “Just give me this stupid fucking second chance. And maybe I can help you.”

“Help me?” Izuku asked and let out a laugh. He pulled his key out and unlocked the door. “Katsuki, I have survived this long without your help.”

“I know that-”

“One chance, if I get annoyed with you or you turn into a dick all over again, it’s over,” Izuku said, pushing the door open. “Got it, Kacchan?” He asked, arching an eyebrow. And Katsuki groaned, god he missed that nickname. That stupid, shitty nickname. For some dumb reason it didn't just bring back memories, it made Katsuki's heart thunder in his chest.

“How many fucking piercings do you have?” He demanded, finally noticing the black ring that stuck through Izuku’s eyebrow.

“One for every time I make the mistake of getting around Dabi when the two of us are angry…  or drunk. Sometimes we get bored.”

“So you give each other piercings?”

Izuku shrugged. “It’s weird hearing you call me Midoriya by the way. You can stop doing that,” he said before slipping inside of his house and shutting the door in Katsuki’s face. 

Fuck.

The vigilante let out a sigh. 

Kachaan was about to make his life much more complicated than he needed it to be. Izuku shook his head and leaned against the door. 

“Fuck,” he whispered before taking a hand through his hair. He locked the door and bounded towards his bedroom, yanking his phone out. “Shigaraki! You fucking bastard!”

“What did I do?” Tomura demanded. “I was trying to stop Touya !”

“Don’t call me that you shit head!” Dabi shouted from the background as Toga let out a loud cackle. 

“You promised me that you guys would lay low for a few months after Compress got busted,” the vigilante said with a sigh. 

“See that’s the problem, Izu—you believed us,” Tomura said, causing the teenager to sigh. It was times like this where he felt like nothing more than a babysitter. babysitter.

“I know I believed you. Because you promised and said that you didn’t want to risk anything for a while,” Izuku stated, walking back to his bedroom. “And I’m the idiot who doesn’t think his best friend will lie to him.”

“Don’t pull that card,” Shigaraki snarled as Izuku fell onto his bed and let out a loud sigh. 

“I don’t know what I would do if the three of you got arrested. I would-fuck Shiggy,” Izuku said, combing through his hair, tugging it slightly. “I would destroy the entire prison getting you guys out. Then I wouldn’t be a vigilante, I’d be a fucking villain.”

“Is it so bad being a villain?” His best friend crooned. 

“Yes! I don’t want that life, I don’t kill people--well don't kill people who don't deserve it, I don’t-I don’t just go out and fight the world. I just want a better hero society for the world. I want to save people.”

Izuku stared up at the stupid All Might posted that stayed tacked to his ceiling, knives littered the paper, sticking deep into the ceiling. Sure, All Might had absolutely crushed him the day he said Izuku could never be a hero without a quirk. But now, now he had three and he didn’t have any desire to be a stupid hero. All Midoriya Izuku wanted to do was save the people who needed it. To be there for little quirkless kids. To be the person he needed when he was fourteen and only had a group of evil villains to help him.  Sure, he helped the League from time to time. He had to, it had been in his agreement but he only helped when they were fighting heroes. Every single member of the League of Villains knew that Izuku didn’t condone any of their unnecessary violence, he didn’t support crime. 

No, he just wanted to see the world become a better place for everyone. 

“I just think that you would make a fantastic villain, Izu. We could work together side by side, bringing down corruption and everyone we hated, we could kill that bastard All Might and his stupid little protege Lemillion or whatever. We could destroy all of them, we could run this world,” Shigaraki stated passionately. “With your quirks and my following-”

“No, Tomura. We aren’t doing it, and you know that I will kick your ass if you even try,” Izuku snarled, his body turning to nothing but shadows, causing him to let out a grunt in pain. The quirk was still too out of control, it responded too much to his feelings. Not only that, it still hurt him every single time he used it. The pain was worth it, of course, he loved the shadow quirk more than anything. He could slip through anything and everything. Not only that but it kept him from being noticed by anyone. The pain was definitely worth it. Besides, Survivor kept him from turning into a nomu so it worked out in the end. 

“I know, I know.”

“Exactly. Now, if you could just remind Dabi that we have a plan for getting rid of Endeavor that would be fantastic. We’re going to out his ass to the world.”

“We know!” Dabi shouted. “He hurt Shouto!”

“I am supposed to meet the young Todoroki tomorrow when I go to the stupid movies or whatever I’m doing with the stupid hero students. I’ll check on him tomorrow,” Izuku said, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“You better make sure he’s okay. What mall? I’ll fucking check on him too goddamnit.”

“No. You won’t.” Izuku let out a groan as his body finally shifted back from being a shadow and clenched his phone tight. “I will check on him, if I see any bruises or whatever else could be fucking wrong with him I’ll let you know. How did you even know he hurt Todoroki?”

“Because I spy on them, how else do I fucking find shit out?” Dabi spat in the background. 

Izuku pulled his phone away from his ear and checked the time. “Fuck. Look, I gotta go. It’s nearly midnight and I still have a shitload of homework to do,” he said and hung up without another word. Izuku rolled off of his bed and dragged himself to his desk. He banged his head against the desk and let out a loud scream. 

“Izuku! Are you okay?” Inko shouted. 

“I’m fine, Mom!” He called, clenching his eyes shut tight for a moment before he sat up and started in on his homework. 

.

.

.

“It’ll be fine,” Izuku whispered to himself as he finished getting ready, slipping a black shirt over his head before tucking his jeans into his boots. “I’ll just go, be nice to them. Maybe I should be a complete dick? If I was a dick to them maybe they’ll leave me alone,” he muttered, grabbing his keys and wallet before he left the house, stalking towards the train. 

“Deku!” Katsuki shouted as soon as he saw the vigilante walking down the street. Izuku let out a groan, his head hanging low. 

“It won’t even matter if I’m a dick, they’re fucking friends with Kachaan. They obviously hate themselves,” he mumbled, twisting the black ball that stuck out of his lip. 

“Slow down you piece of shit!” Katsuki shouted. Izuku huffed and stopped walking. He glared at the hero student.

“I thought you said you weren’t a dick anymore?” He demanded eyes narrowed into slits. Katsuki gave him a lazy grin as he caught up to him. 

“I said I changed. I didn’t say I wasn’t still a dick. I’m still a fucking asshole, I just don’t tell people to kill themselves anymore. And I don’t fucking mean half the shit I say,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He looked Izuku up and down and his heart stopped. He hated this reaction he had to Deku of all people. “Why do you look like the poster child for Hot Topic?”

“Fuck you,” Izuku sneered. “At least I don’t walk around in a fucking All Might t-shirt like some stupid fanboy.”

“You used to,” Katsuki said smugly. 

“Shut up Kacchan. I was a delusional child. I had delusions of grandeur and thought he was amazing,” Izuku muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets as the two walked to the train station. “What are we even fucking doing today? Why did I even agree to come?”

“I think it’s because you’re a loser and your only friends are villains,” Katsuki stated. “You want real friends.”

“Whatever, if that brunette calls me Mido again I’ll--”

“Round face?” Katsuki laughed, glancing at the boy. “Shit, I forgot about that. I can’t believe she already gave you a nickname. If it makes you feel any better it’s better than my dumbass nickname.”

Izuku gave him a side-eye. “What’s your nickname? Can’t be worse than fucking Kacchan.”

“God, it actually is,” he said, shaking his head. “They call me Blasty and Shitty Hair calls me Bakubro. What kind of fucking nickname is that?”

“You deserve it,” Izuku hummed, biting his lip back. 

“What the fuck? Why?”

“You call me Deku.”

“You told me it sounded weird when I called you by your given name. I take that to mean that you like it when I call you Shitty Deku,” Katsuki retorted, a cocky glimmer in his eyes. It was weird, Deku had never been like this. Usually, the green eyed boy cowered in his boots whenever Katsuki spoke to him like he was. Now, it seemed that everything he threw at Deku, he threw right back. It was actually kind of refreshing having someone who could match him for turn of phrase. 

“Because it is. Just like I know you like it when I call you Kacchan. You practically came in your pants last night when I called you that,” Izuku said with a smirk. Katsuki’s face turned beet red as he started spluttering. 

“I did not! I just-you don’t- Deku!” He growled, pulling his fist back as if he was going to punch the vigilante. Izuku rolled his eyes and grabbed the boy’s fist.

“Oh don’t act like you’re going to hit me, Kacchan. You know I can take you in a fight any time,” he said before he started walking once again.

“You cannot!” Katsuki shouted, clenching his fists. “I should explode you here and now.”

“I’ll just come right back,” Izuku shot back. “I’m like fucking Deadpool at this point. Chop my arm off and it grows right back.”

Katsuki stopped walking. “What! What the fuck Deku?”

Izuku stopped and looked at him curiously. “What?”

“Have you actually done that?” He demanded. 

He shrugged. “Can we keep walking? I want to get this done and over with.”

“You have to answer the fucking question Deku,” he growled, matching Izuku’s pace once more. 

Izuku rolled his eyes. “Well, first we cut off my pinky just to test it out. It grew back a day later,” Izuku said, holding his hand up. “There isn’t a scar considering the next day Shigaraki disintegrated my entire arm. That was a bitch. It took two days before it was the right size. I walked around with a fucking baby arm for a few hours and Dabi made fun of me.”

“I would too if you had a fucking baby arm. Can we try it out?” Katsuki asked, looking over at his...friend? Is that what they were?

“No!” Izuku shouted, punching him in the arm. “I’m not chopping off a body part for your entertainment!”

“Wait--so would your head grow back if it got cut off?” Katsuki curiously asked, watching as the green-haired teenager shuddered. 

“I don’t want to test it out.” Okay, actually, he really did want to test that out. Would his head just reattach to his body? Would his head grow back or his body? Or would he actually die? That was what was stopping him from actually letting his friends decapitate him. 

The two soon stepped onto the train that took them to the mall. Izuku pulled his knees up to his chest as he watched everyone around him through slitted eyes. Dabi was rubbing off on him way too much these days it seemed. Katsuki slumped on the bench next to him, his arm resting behind the vigilante lazily. 

“You never answered my question,” Izuku hummed, still people watching. 

“What did you ask again?” Katsuki asked, glancing at him. 

“What exactly are we doing?” He asked, resting his chin on his knees. 

“Movie, I think,” The hero student grunted.  While Deku seemed to just people watching, Katsuki was watching everyone for signs of villainy. Trying to see if anyone was suspicious or plotting something.

“No one on the train is a villain, Kacchan,” Izuku said with a sigh. “I would know if they were. And what movie? I don’t even remember everything in the group chat. They talk too much.”

“Tell me about it,” Katsuki muttered. “And I don’t care if you would know you shitty freak. I’m gonna be a hero, I need to keep my eyes open constantly.”

Izuku hummed, closing his eyes. “Whatever you say, idiot.”

Katsuki glared, his hands popping with explosions. He let out a breath and the tiny explosions stopped. If he was going to call Deku names, he had to accept it in return. Besides, he liked it… Katsuki just wasn’t used to anyone responding to his banter the way Deku did. 

“What movie?”

“I don’t fucking know,” Katsuki grumbled. “I only go because if I don’t, Shitty Hair and Racoon eyes will cry?”

Izuku looked over at him, a furrow between his brows. “Kachaan, who are these people?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m only going to explain once and it’s gonna be while they ain’t around. They can’t know that I know their real names.”

“Okay?” Izuku asked, still looking confused. 

“There’s Shitty Hair, that’s Kirishima-”

“Red hair, sharp teeth,” Izuku hummed, nodding his head. “It’s definitely shitty hair.”

“Fucking right!? He uses an entire bottle of gel in a fucking week!” He shouted, causing a few passengers to glare at him. “Pikachu is Kaminari.”

“Obnoxious yellow hair and black zig-zag that looks suspiciously like the pokemon. Yes, yes, I remember him from the sports festival.”

“You’re one of the fucking reasons that got canceled!” Katsuki shouted before Izuku leaned over and clamped his lips shut. Katsuki was totally not going to think about the fact that his lips were now held between Deku's thumb and forefinger. Definitely wasn't going to think about that at all. 

“Fuck off. It was fun and it’s reckless to have a bunch of literal children fighting for people’s entertainment.”

Katsuki glared and ripped Deku’s hand off of his lips. “There’s Racoon Eyes or Ashido or whatever.”

“Pink girl, right?”

“Right. And Soy Sauce face is Sero. Iida is Four Eyes. Ururaka or whatever her name is, she’s Round Face.”

“Kacchan, I find it very cute that you give all of your friends' shitty nicknames,” Deku told him with a cheeky smile as their train stopped and the two stood. “Although, now Deku feels slightly less special.”

“Whatever!” Katsuki shouted as they walked towards the mall where a giant group of students were standing. 

“Nope. No, I’m going home,” Izuku said, immediately trying to turn around. Katsuki grabbed the collar of his shirt. 

“Oh no, you’re not. If I have to suffer, so the fuck do you,” Katsuki said, dragging him towards the group of students. 

“I thought it was just the ones in that stupid fucking chat,” Izuku whined, swatting Katsuki’s hand away.

“If you had paid attention to the group chat, you would know that the entire class 3-A is in that chat,” he said smugly, as Izuku kept his hand in his. 

Izuku glared and squeezed it tight before he let go and shoved his hoodie off of his face. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with, I have homework.”

“You always have homework,” Katsuki stated. “I’ve talked to you for two days and all you do is talk about how much homework you have.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up, Shitty Nerd,” he muttered, just as they got to the group. 

“Mido!” Uraraka exclaimed, running up to them and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, and hugged him tightly. Katsuki snorted when he saw the pained look flash across Izuku’s face. This really wasn't Deku's scene, so why the hell had he agreed to even come? Was he a masochist? Did he take pleasure in causing himself such immense pain? Katsuki didn't know, but maybe that also explained why Deku had agreed to become friends with him again.

“Help,” he mouthed silently. Katuski shook his head and clapped Kirishima on the shoulder. 

“Why did you guys come together?” Kaminari questioned, looking between the two. 

“We’re neighbors,” Katsuki muttered as Izuku finally got out of Round Face’s clutches. Izuku slipped his hood back over his head and glowered. “This is Deku.”

“Oh, we’ve heard all about you!” Mina said, clapping her hands together. “You’re even cuter in person!”

“You’re Racoon Eyes, right?” Izuku asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at the pink girl. Mina glowered at Katsuki. 

“You told him to call me that, didn’t you?” She demanded, shoving a finger into his chest. 

“Of course,” he said as if it were obvious.  Izuku smirked and looked around bored. This wasn't his scene, god he hated himself. That had to be the reason why he agreed to come, certainly not because Kacchan was also going to be here. That couldn't be the reason. But, he really had no idea why he had agreed to this. 

“So what movie are we seeing?” He questioned, his eyes now roving over Icy Hot curiously. His eyes landed on a bruise that covered the side of the student’s face. “What happened to you? I don’t remember seeing a bruise on you yesterday.”

“Hero course,” he said simply. What a goddamn liar. Izuku glanced over to find a frown on Kacchan's face. Obviously, it was a lie if even his friends didn't know what he was talking about there.

“Hm, sure,” Izuku hummed and Katsuki frowned, giving the vigilante a curious look. He shook his head and looked at his idiot friends. 

“Are we going to stand around all day or are we going to go see a fucking movie?” He snapped, glaring at each one of them. 

“Right! Midoriya, as you are the newest addition to our group, I got your ticket for you! We are going to see the new All Might movie,” Four Eyes exclaimed, waving his arms around. Izuku gave Katsuki a look and rolled his eyes. 

“That’ll be fun,” he said lamely. “You didn’t have to buy my ticket Four Eyes,” he said, forcing a fake smile. 

“Please, call me Iida. I don’t particularly enjoy the nickname Bakugo gave me,” he said, casting a disapproving look towards the student. 

“Alright, Iida,” Deku stated, still looking slightly bored but also attempting to be polite. It was a piss poor act in Katsuki’s opinion. But he wasn’t exactly one to talk. He sent his friend a small smile as a way of wishing him luck before Deku was dragged away by Round Face, Four Eyes, and Icy Hot. He started trudging towards the movie entrance, Shitty Hair falling into step with him. 

“I see the way you keep looking at Midoriya,” he cooed, linking their arms together. Mina popped up on the other side, slipping her arm through Katsuki’s. 

“He’s super cute Blasty!” She chirped, giving him a bright smile. “All brooding and edgy! He seems exactly your type!”

“I don’t like him,” he muttered, his eyes still following every move Deku made. 

“Bro, it’s okay. I think it’s pretty manly that you have a crush on your bro like that,” Kirishima said, grinning as he followed Katsuki’s line of sight. “He is pretty hot, not as cute as Mina but still.”

“I don’t like Deku,” he growled, ripping his arms away from the two. “I’ve known him since he was a snot-nosed brat.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t like him,” Mina goaded. “I think he likes you too. He keeps sending you those looks.”

“Guys, this Midoriya guy is really freaking hot,” Kaminari said, falling into step with them. “Do you think he likes blondes?”

Kirishima smirked. “Oh I think blondes are one hundred percent his type,” he stated, glancing over at Katsuki who practically had steam flowing from his ears. 

“Keep your fucking hands away from him Dunce Face,” Katsuki growled. Fuck he was being territorial, wasn't he? Deku was his own guy, he could flirt with anyone he wanted to. It wasn't like Katsuki could stop him, it wasn't like he wanted to. There was no reason for him to be jealous over Kaminari fucking Denki of all people. If annoying blonds was Deku's type then that was on him.

“I’m gonna give it a shot! Wish me luck,” Kaminari said before he ran up to Izuku. 

“Deku will eat him alive,” Katsuki growled, glaring at the idiot. He almost felt sorry for the guy, really. That's what it was. He wasn't jealous of Kaminari for flirting with the stupid criminal, he felt bad for him because Deku was going to shoot him down with absolutely no issue whatsoever. He was going to crush Dunce Face and make him regret ever being born.

“Hey Midoriya, you’re pretty hot, and think what we could have together would be electric” he heard Kaminari say. 

Katsuki watched as Izuku smirked. “Let me stop you right there Flashbolt or whatever,” he said smoothly, his hand now pressed against Kaminari's chest.  

“Wait..what?” Dunce Face asked, confused. 

“You are, no offense, you’re just too nice,” Izuku told him, letting the idiot down pretty easily. “No offense, but you wouldn’t be able to keep up, even if you tried. Maybe go find some little UA boy who would be absolutely dying to have you stick a hand down their pants.”

“It’s funny he actually thinks anyone would want Kaminari to touch them,” Kirishima said with a chuckle. 

“Looks like he only has eyes for our Blasty,” Mina cooed, looking over at where Izuku was still politely consoling Kaminari.

“Go save him, Bro,” Kirishima coaxed and shoved Katsuki forward. He glared as he stumbled slightly. 

“If you don’t leave me alone I’m going to blast you into next week,” Katsuki snarled. He didn’t have feelings for Deku. He was a fucking glorified villain. Katsuki shouldn’t even be giving the dumbass the time of day. 

But he was. 

He shook his head. No, it didn’t matter. All he wanted to do was fix the mistakes he made as an idiot kid and be the stupid friend that Deku deserved all those years ago. He didn’t have feelings for the stupid, emo, prick. Not at fucking all. Deku was an idiot who hung around the wrong crowd. Katsuki just wanted to save him and keep him from ruining his life forever. He didn’t, he didn’t want to date Deku. 

“This movie is stupid,” Deku muttered next to him, throwing a handful of popcorn in his mouth as they watched All Might crash through a building. “Worst CGI in the world, Jesus Christ.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki hissed, elbowing the nerd in the side. 

“Yeah, whatever. Who’s that sleepy purple-haired guy, he’s kinda hot,” Izuku said, leaning his head to look down at the aisle at the stupid Brain Freak. 

“Shinso. He likes Dunce Face so you won’t get anywhere.”

“Whatever,” Deku said with a slight smirk. “I bet I could get him. If not, I’ll just grab Kaminari and have some fun.”

“No you won’t,” Katsuki muttered with a growl.

Deku looked at him, throwing more popcorn in his mouth. “Jealous?”

“Fuck off. I’m trying to watch the shitty movie,” he grumbled, eyes glued to the screen. He did not want to think about Izuku hooking up with anyone. Katsuki was not going to let his thoughts wander. He wasn't going to think about how much he wanted to kiss Deku, what it would feel like to have those metal rings press against him. He didn't think about how much he wanted to hold Deku's hand and protect him from the world. Katsuki wasn't interested in having sex with the guy, but he could only imagine what it would be like to hold Deku in his arms. Fuck. No, he needed to stop.

No. Katsuki wasn’t going to think about that. He was just wanting to get Deku to forgive him and maybe be friends with him. Was it a good idea? Probably not considering Deku was a fucking vigilante who worked with--god he fucking worked with the League of Villains. His goddamn master or whatever the hell he called him was fucking All For One. Katsuki needed to stay far away. Far, far away from Deku. 

But did that mean that was what he was going to do?

Apparently fucking not considering he had talked the idiot into going to the movies with him and the shitty extras he called his friends. As All Might smashed through a building, though, he let his eyes slide over to where Deku sat to his left, lazily throwing more popcorn into his mouth. His eyes seemed to be glazed over as if he would have rathered to be anywhere but watching an All Might movie. It was weird. The Deku that Katsuki remembered, well, he was obsessed with All Might. Maybe the term obsessed wasn’t even enough to describe Izuku’s fanboy love of the hero. So why didn’t he care about the stupid fucking movie?

He carefully watched as Deku pulled his lip ring into his mouth as his eyes started to shift around the movie theater, observing each and every person in his line of sight. God his cute little freckles just glowed under the movie screen. 

Fuck. 

Katsuki tore his eyes away from Deku and forced himself to watch the movie. He tensed as Deku rested his arm on the small leather and plastic rest between them, his hand resting palm up almost as if he were inviting Katsuki to hold his hand. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared holes into the screen.

When the movie ended the lights abruptly turned on and Deku let out a hiss as his body shifted from fully there to shadow and back to being corporeal. “Motherfucker,” he muttered, clenching his hands into fists before he stood and stretched. 

“What did you think of the movie, Mido?” Uraraka asked cheerfully. Katsuki watched as Deku forced up a wide smile. 

“It was nice. I’m not really a big hero movie person but I actually enjoyed it,” he said cheerfully before he pulled out his phone. “But I really do need to get going soon. My parents are wanting to get dinner soon.”

What a goddamn liar. His parents were having dinner with Katsuki's tonight. He had no reason to leave besides being a pussy who couldn't handle being around the hero course students for longer than he was. Katsuki smirked at his lie. 

Uraraka frowned. “Okay! That’s fine, maybe we can hang out again next weekend?” She asked him, a hopeful look in her eyes. 

Deku shrugged. “We’ll see. I might have plans with my boyfriend,” he said and Katsuki’s heart stopped. Boyfriend? Deku had a fucking boyfriend?

Round Face’s shoulders actually slumped at that one. “Oh well, maybe later? We’ll text you in the group chat,” she said, forcing up a small smile. 

“We’ll definitely see what happens,” Deku said, giving her a polite smile before he looked at Katsuki, his heart clenching ever so slightly. “Kacchan? You wanna walk home with me or do you have to go back to UA?”

“Oh uh, yeah, I uh, I’ll walk back with you, Shitty Nerd,” he said gruffly, meeting Kirishima’s eyes. The red-headed idiot wiggled his eyebrows at him before the two started walking out of the movie theaters. 

“I swear to god if I ever have to fucking sit through another All Might movie I’m going to slit my throat,” Deku grumbled, stalking out of the theater. 

“You’re so angsty, you haven’t always been like this,” Katsuki remarked. It was actually kind of fucking cute if he was going to be real. 

“You try-” Deku let out a loud groan and covered his face for a moment. “What fucking ever. I gotta call Dabi.”

“Why?” Katsuki questioned, watching Deku yank his phone out and dial a number. He completely ignored Katsuki and well, the hero student had absolutely no idea how to deal with that. No one ignored Katsuki Bakugo.

“Hey so he just has a bruise on his face, I couldn’t really see anything else,” Deku said quietly on the phone. “He seems fine, I mean I wasn’t really talking to him very much. Fuck I thought you were all angry and broody but that fucker has you beat. Also, he has no fucking social skills Dabs, how did you guys ruin him like that?”

Katsuki shot him a confused look. Why did Dabi care about fucking Half ‘n’ Half? He was a villain who had fought the students far too many times. 

“No! I’m not going to become friends with him, I’ve already gotten stuck- no. Dabi,” Deku stopped walking and clenched his eyes shut. “Fucking idiot. He’s eighteen, he’s dealt with Endeavor--no I know that. Well, you’re an idiot. He doesn’t seem nearly as stupid as you are.”

Katsuki watched as Deku argued with the villain the rest of the walk to the train. Finally, he hung up and scowled. 

“Fucking Todorokis,” he grumbled, shoving his phone back into his pocket and glanced up. A smirk tugged at his lips as he looked at his friend. “Are you done checking me out yet? I mean I felt your eyes glued to me the entire movie. Didn’t realize I was more interesting for you to look at than All Might.”

“Shut up, Shitty Nerd,” Katsuki muttered, knocking his shoulder against Deku’s. "So who's this stupid boyfriend of yours?" 

Deku shook his head. “Cute. Very bad idea, but cute Kachaan,” he hummed, stepping onto the train. Katsuki stared after the vigilante, eyes wide. 

"That didn't answer my fucking question!"

"I'm single Katsuki!"

This fucker was going to kill him. He just knew it. 

Chapter Text

Izuku slumped down in the bar as he finished his drink and let out a sigh. “I’m telling you, Tomura. I’m just a figment of your fucked up imagination,” he said with a hum, staring at the empty glass in front of him. 

“No you aren’t!” He whined, punching his best friend in his arm. 

“Why are you so upset about this? Who cares if you made me up, I’m still pretty great,” Izuku told him and Shigaraki shook his head profusely. 

“Because that’s something that could actually happen!” He exclaimed as Dabi came into the bar and looked between them. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Izu is trying to convince me that I made him up and he’s just an imaginary friend.”

“Who’s Izu?” Dabi questioned, looking around the room. Izuku’s grin grew even wider, he loved fucking with Shigaraki and he loved it even more when the rest of them were willing to play along.

“Izuku! Izuku Midoriya! My best friend, he’s real!” Shigaraki shouted urgently, slamming his hands on the table, causing it to disintegrate. “I’m not making him up, please tell me I’m not making him up.”

“Who’s he making up? What happened to the table?” Toga asked, walking into the bar, looking curiously. 

“Shigaraki has an imaginary friend named Izuku apparently,” Twice said, leaning against the counter.

“I told you, I’m not real,” Izuku said smugly, crossing his arms as he looked at his friends. “I’m a figment of your imagination. You were just desperate to be able to touch someone without disintegrating them. It’s actually pretty cute,” he cooed. 

“Stop!” Shigaraki begged, clutching his head in his hands. “I’m too mentally unstable for this!”

“He has a point,” Compress stated. “But maybe that’s why he has created this imaginary friend. What is he saying to you, Shiggy?”

“He’s real!” Tomura shouted just as Izuku’s phone started ringing. “See! This is his phone!” He exclaimed, snatching it out of Izuku’s hand and waving it around, his pinky high in the air to keep it from crumbling to dust.

“Give me my phone!” Izuku shouted as Tomura looked at it confused. 

“Bakugou?” He asked, whipping his head at the vigilante. “You’re talking to Bakugou again?” He demanded just as Izuku snatched his phone back. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said and answered the phone. “What do you want?”

“Did you see that?!” Tomura shouted at the other villains. “I was holding his phone! He’s real!” He screeched. 

“I didn’t see a phone,” Toga hummed, still looking at Izuku confused. “Bakugou was the one who-”

“Told him to kill himself,” Dabi finished. 

“You’re talking about him,” Tomura screeched.

“Well, I was wanting to see what you were doing,” Katsuki said in Izuku’s ear. “It sounds like you’re busy.”

Izuku rolled his eyes and got up, trying to ignore his idiot friends as they continued to torment Tomura.

“Why did you want to know what I’m doing?” He asked, leaning against the bar. A small smirk sat on his face as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. Tomura was currently pulling his phone out and swiping through, showing pictures of the two of them together, only for Dabi and Toga to hum and tell him no one was in any of the pictures with him.

“Well, Shitty Hair and Round Face were wondering if you wanted to come to the dorms for game night and you weren’t answering in the group chat,” he grumbled angrily into the phone. 

“Are they the only ones who want me there?” Izuku asked, raising a single eyebrow as Shigaraki started waving his arms around wildly while he screamed. 

“No, they aren’t. The entire class does, they all want to get to know you,” Kachaan grumbled angrily. “And I mean, I wouldn’t be too pissed if you showed up.”

“Cute,” Izuku said just as Tomura punched Dabi in the face and let out a sigh. “Alright. Just don’t let some hero try to attack me because then I’m gonna have to fight them and maybe kill them and I’m just not in the mood for that.”

“Alright, I’ll see you soon Deku,” Kacchan grunted before hanging up. Izuku rolled his eyes and slipped his phone back into his pocket. 

“Touya, I’m going to go see your brother apparently,” Izuku said with a hum and Dabi whipped his head to him. 

“What?” He asked, eyes wide. Dabi had wanted nothing more than to have a relationship with his youngest brother. He hated to see the youngest Todoroki becoming a hero just like their bastard father. “Why?”

“Apparently the stupid hero class wants me to hang out with them but I think Kacchan is using it as an excuse to see me. It’s pretty cute if you ask me,” he muses just as Shiggy’s fist collided with his face. “What the fuck?!”

“I just punched him in the face! I told you, he’s fucking real!” Tomura shouted, breathing heavily as he glared at Izuku. 

“You’re a horrible best friend!” Izuku exclaimed, staring at him wide-eyed. 

“It’s not like you can feel it! You’re imaginary, remember?” Tomura exclaimed. 

“How could you just punch Izuku in the face like that?” Toga asked, pulling Izuku into her arms and hugging him tightly. “He does nothing but support you and love you and you just punch him in the face?”

“He’s so mean to me,” Izuku said sadly, pressing his face against Toga’s shoulder sadly. She pet his hair slowly and let out a coo. 

“Not cool man,” Dabi said. “He’s just a kid, you shouldn’t be such a dick to him.”

“You’re kidding me,” Shigaraki exclaimed, “You’re fucking kidding me right now.”

“I gotta go,” Izuku said, pulling away and gave his best friend a sad look. “I’m clearly not wanted here,” he said sadly, pushing his bottom lip out.

“Izu!” Toga, Dabi, and Twice all shouted. 

“Children,” Compress said with a laugh. 

“I can’t believe this, I’m going to my fucking room,” Tomura grumbled. Izuku grinned at his best friend. 

“Love you Shiggy,” he said before dashing out of the bar. Izuku shifted to the shadows and threw himself into the air, letting the particles push him to the stupid hero school. 

“Where the fuck am I going?” Izuku asked as soon as Kachaan answered his phone. The vigilante looked around the school grounds confused. Sure he had raided the school before but never the stupid dorms. 

“Wait and I’ll come outside,” Kacchan grunted and Izuku bit his bottom lip. 

“You like to come, huh?”

Kacchan spluttered. “Shut up! Shitty fucking Nerd.”

Izuku grinned and leaned against a building as he waited for the familiar blond spikes to show up. He actually didn’t mind the idea of making Katsuki come, really. The idea of the wannabe hero clenching around Izuku, well, he wasn’t against it. 

“Are you a fucking shadow because I don’t see you anywhere,” Kachaan said and Izuku sighed letting his body turn solid again. 

“Yeah, I actually was. I see you,” Izuku said before he hung up and walked up to Kachaan. “Hey handsome,” he said, suppressing a smile as Katsuki’s face tur

ned bright red. 

“Shut up,” he muttered, punching Izuku in the arm. “Let’s go.”

Izuku let a small smile slip onto his face as he shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Kacchan back to the dorms. Katsuki glanced over at him, smiling slightly. 

“I’m glad you decided to come over instead of causing mayhem in the city,” he admitted. Izuku snorted and shook his head. 

“I don’t cause mayhem. I stop mayhem from happening. I stopped a gas station hold up on the way here,” he said smugly, his teeth pulling on his lip ring. 

“Is the villain still alive?” Katsuki asked him curiously. 

“Does that matter? The gas station didn’t get robbed, and there’s one less criminal in the world,” Izuku told him, shrugging his shoulders lazily. “I’m not a hero, I’m not stuck with all the stupid red tape you’re stuck with.”

“So you killed him?” He asked, his eyebrows skyrocketing. “Deku, you can’t just-you can’t just fucking kill people! Even if they’re criminals they don’t deserve to die!”

“This is coming from the asshole whose catchphrase is die?” Izuku asked him, arching a single brow up curiously. 

“Shut up, I just shout it. I don’t fucking kill people,” he hissed just as they got to the dorms. 

“It’s fun,” Izuku told him simply before stepping inside. 

“Midoriya!” A group of students cheered excitedly. 

“Fuck,” he muttered and looked at his friend. “Why do they like me?” He hissed angrily. 

“Fuck if I know. Probably for the same reason they like me,” Kacchan muttered, throwing his arm around Izuku’s shoulders. The vigilante sighed before putting on a happy and cheery face. He could survive this, he could.

Besides, he had Kacchan by his side which meant he could tease the ever-living fuck out of him and that was always fun. 

Katsuki watched as Deku took a seat next to Four Eyes and Icy Hot, an uncomfortable smile etched onto his face. He still didn’t understand why exactly Deku just kept agreeing to these invitations but for the second time, he submitted himself to what was obviously an uncomfortable situation for him. 

“So, how’s the bruise?” Deku asked Todoroki curiously, his eyes roving over the teenager curiously. 

Icy Hot raised an eyebrow curiously. “It’s fine, mostly gone now,” he said with a shrug.

Deku nodded before he looked around. “So, Kacchan said you were doing a game night?” He asked as Round Face handed him a bowl of popcorn. “Oh, thank you Ochaco!”

“I saw you devour that popcorn at the movies the other day so I figured it was one of your favorites,” she said nicely. Deku grinned at her before throwing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. 

“It is,” he said as Four Eyes set monopoly on the table in front of them. “Oh man, I kick ass at this game,” Deku said, casting a look towards Katsuki, that stupid smirk back on his face. “Isn’t that right, Kacchan? How much money did I use to get out of you when we used to play?”

“Shut up,” Katsuki muttered, sitting next to Kirishima. 

“Go sit by your boy,” Kirishima whispered, nudging his shoulder against Katsuki’s.

“No, stop it. Trust me, Deku isn’t into me like that,” he grumbled, watching the vigilante slowly let his angry walls down and laugh at something Kaminari told him as they set up the Monopoly board.

“He’s here because of you. Trust me, if one of us had asked him, he probably would have said no. We know he’s even rougher around the edges than you,” Kirishima said, watching Deku, a small smile on his face. “He’s here for you.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Katsuki muttered, keeping his eyes on the scarred boy in front of him. Izuku felt the eyes on him and glanced up, a small smile forming on the corners of his lips as he met Katsuki’s eyes.

“Kacchan, are you going to just sit there and check me out, or are you going to play fucking Monopoly and let me kick your ass.”

Katsuki growled, glaring at his friend. “You can’t kick my ass.”

Izuku smirked and threw the metal thimble at the hero student. “Delusional.”

The ash-blond caught the thimble and sat on the floor across from the greenette. “How dare you, you know I hate the fucking thimble,” he accused, throwing it back at Izuku’s face. The vigilante gave him an evil grin and dodged the small item. 

“So are you two dating?” Mina asked, looking between the two. 

“No,” the two snapped, their glares turned to the pink girl. 

“If you say so,” she giggled, slipping into Katuski’s former spot next to Kirishima. Izuku glanced at Katsuki and held back a smile. Maybe dealing with all of these damn UA students wasn’t too bad of an idea. 

~~~

As soon as Izuku finished hanging out with the hero course students he found himself walking back to the bar. He figured that punishing Tomura by making him question his sanity wasn’t nearly enough considering he had to drag the League of Idiots away from their fight with Endeavor. The League was supposed to be getting recruits to join them before waging war on the commission. But they couldn’t do that if Dabi and Tomura ran to fight heroes anytime they wanted.

“Alright idiots, sit down,” he muttered, walking through the doors. Twice, Toga, Dabi, and Tomura all looked up at him from their spots at the bar. 

“What? Why?” Dabi demanded, giving the teenager an annoyed look. 

“Why are you talking to Bakugo?” Tomura demanded. “He’s a piece of shit. You should have let us kill him years ago.”

“Don’t worry about what I do,” he snapped. “Now sit down at the fucking table. We need to talk about what you guys did last night.”

“I wasn’t even there!” Twice exclaimed, staring at Izuku wide-eyed. Izuku grimaced and gave the idiot a tired look.

“I know you weren’t. But you didn’t bother to stop them, either, now did you?” Izuku asked, arching a single eyebrow. Twice sunk into the booth as Toga slipped next to him. Dabi and Tomura both begrudgingly sat down and Izuku crossed his arms. 

“What did we agree on?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly, his eyes narrowed as he looked at each one. 

“We tell you a lot of things,” Dabi said, resting his chin on his hand, his other hand holding a lighter, lighting it and unlighting it over and over. “But do we really mean it?”

“Nope,” Tomura, Toga, and Twice all said, giving Izuku shit-eating grins. Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“No, Sensei gave you idiots a job to do. That means that you can’t fuck things up, you’ve got to--”

“We know, we know,” Tomura said, rolling his eyes. “We aren’t straying from the plan. Enji hurt his brother, we had to-”

“No, you didn’t. Dabi can’t risk Enji figuring who he is before it’s time,” Izuku reminded. “Just please, don’t do something stupid. And don’t get into trouble unless it has to do with your mission and if I have to bail you out of it--I’ll kill each of you.”

“So...why are you talking to Bakugo?” Toga cooed, batting her eyelashes at Izuku. 

“Don’t worry about it.”

“He still has that weird crush on him, which considering he’s a fucking bully you shouldn’t want anything to do with his dumb ass,” Tomura muttered and Izuku sighed, he closed his eyes for a moment before opening his eyes once again. 

“Don’t ask me, I haven’t figured it out yet,” Izuku said slowly. “I don’t know why I’m talking to him but I am. It’s whatever.”

“Just don’t let him hurt you again, Zuku, we won’t hesitate to kill him,” Toga told him seriously. “No one but us are allowed to hurt you.”

Izuku gave his friends a small smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine,” he checked the time and shrugged. “I gotta get home, just don’t be stupid.  I’ll be okay, I just need to figure things out."

“You always think we’re stupid,” Dabi said with a sigh as Izuku left them once again. It was nice to know that a group of evil villains cared about him so much.

Chapter Text

Izuku scowled and punched the villain in the face again. “What kind of asshole gets his kicks on mugging an old woman?” He demanded, the idiot struggling from Izuku’s grip. The greenette rolled his eyes and started dragging the idiot down the side of the street as the criminal screamed to get him to let go.

“You’re no better than me, asshole,” the criminal said, trying to rip Izuku’s hand off of the collar of his shirt. Izuku had been out walking around town looking for any lowlifes to pick a fight with when he saw some jackass in an ugly grey hoodie trying to rob some helpless old woman. 

“Oh really? And how do you figure that?” He asked, just humoring the jackass. Really he didn’t care what some low life had to say about him. But Izuku also hated walking in silence. 

“You’re a criminal. Vigilante my ass, I’ve seen your stupid masked face working with villains more than you do heroes,” he cackled, forcing his feet under him as Izuku stormed down the sidewalk. 

“I don’t have a side dip shit. I do what I want,” he muttered, dropping the entire subject. 

“What are you going to do? Drop me off at the police station? They aren’t going to do anything. They don’t have proof,” the criminal said but Izuku just walked right past the police station and to the bridge close by. “What are you doing?!”

Izuku hefted the criminal over the side of the bridge, the particles around him keeping him from falling. “So you like to rob little old ladies and try to pick fights, huh?” He asked, letting go of the criminal. The idiot let out a loud scream before he realized he wasn’t falling. 

“What the fuck man! What the hell are you doing?” He demanded, trying to hold onto the bridge. 

“You know, when I know some dumbass criminal has a record, I just drop them off at the station because they have warrants or whatever. Do you have that?” Izuku asked, leaning against the railing of the bridge. 

“No, fuck, I just needed some cash,” he stammered, still panicking in the air. “Shit please, just let me go, I’ll stop.”

“You don’t want me to let you go right now,” Izuku said, glancing down below the bridge at the rushing river. “That fall would really suck ass. Either die, or if you’re lucky you’ll just break a few bones or so.

“Man just leave me alone, I didn’t do shit,” he cried. 

“If I find out you’re out there mugging little old ladies, I’ll do worse than drop you off the side of the bridge. Got it?” He demanded, throwing the idiot in the air before letting the particles catch him once more. The criminal let out a blood curdling scream as his face hovered right above the water before Izuku dropped him gently into the water. The idiot was a dumbass but Izuku wasn't going to kill him. He was just going to scare the shit out of him by making him think he was going to drop him only to stop him before he collided with the ground and gently lowered him into the water. Maybe it would teach him a lesson. Izuku smirked as he watched the guy run away terrified. He shrugged his shoulders and started to turn into a shadow only for his quirk to not work.

“What the hell?” He demanded, his body still refusing to shift into the shadows. 

“So this is what vigilantes do now, scare the living hell out of teenagers and drop them into a freezing river in the middle of winter?” A bored voice asked. Izuku whipped his head around and let out an annoyed groan. 

“Eraserhead,” he muttered, shaking his head. He arched an eyebrow and looked up at the man. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” He crooned.

“Come on problem kid, we have this conversation every single week,” Aizawa stated as Izuku leaned against the railing of the bridge. Izuku rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“And I tell you every single week, I’m not interested.”

For the last three years, at least once a week Aizawa would catch the vigilante and do everything he could to talk the teenager into working with him. For some reason he had himself convinced that Izuku would make a fantastic hero if only he really applied himself. But, unfortunately for Aizawa, Izuku had absolutely no interest in herowork. Not only that, but he knew without a doubt that the second he agreed to work with Aizawa that he would just be arrested and locked up in a cell next to his master. Izuku didn’t want that. No way in hell did he want that. 

“You say the system is corrupt but do you really want to do anything to change it?” Aizawa asked him, standing across from the teenager. “What are you hoping to gain by all of this?”

“Well, that kid I just dropped will probably never commit another crime in his life,” Izuku hummed, looking just over Aizawa’s shoulder. “If I can stop crime and fight against the hero commission, well, I would be just fine. I don’t want to be a hero, Eraserhead. I just want the world to be a better place so that kids like me don’t get treated the way I was.”

“Kids like you?” Eraserhead asked, arching an eyebrow. “What do you mean, kids like you?”

He shrugged. “Quirkless, easy for others to bully. Those kids who are treated like absolute shit because they either don’t have a quirk at all or their quirks are useless,” he said watching Aizawa finally blink and raised his hand, letting it turn to shadows. “But I’m not quirkless anymore, Aizawa. It took me getting a quirk to get people to listen, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t,” Aizawa told him. “But what are you going to do about it? Why would people listen to you?”

Izuku bared his teeth with a grin as he watched the police start to arrive, no doubt because of Eraserhead. “Because I’ll make them. Have you not noticed that since I showed up, the League is more organized, they have a clear mission. UA doesn’t pit their students against one another in some stupid festival. Kids aren’t meant to be soldiers, heroes shouldn’t care about stupid rankings and favor, or their image to the public.  That shit doesn’t matter, what matters is saving people on the worst day of their lives and making the world a safer and happier place. It means that a person’s worth should not depend on the power of their quirk but for their character.”

“You’re right. But why don’t you work with me to do it?” Eraserhead asked him, Izuku winked. 

“I’ll think about it. But it won’t happen until you stop trying to arrest me,” Izuku said just as the cop cars arrived. “As nice as this conversation was, I’ve got to go,” he said before jumping over the side of the bridge, wincing as his leg cracked underneath him. Izuku slipped into the shadows and slunk away from the scene. 

“He’s still trying to brainwash you into becoming a hero?” Tomura asked with a scoff as Izuku passed him underneath the bridge. 

“Yup, seems like it,” Izuku muttered, grabbing Tomura’s arm and having him shift to shadows as well. “It’s not like it’s going to work. I figured out today what I’m going to do with my life. I one hundred percent stole the idea from an American comic book but who cares. It’s perfect.”

“What is it?” Tomura asked him curiously, the two trudging down the creek quickly. Izuku grinned despite the fact that his best friend couldn’t see it. He hadn’t been expecting to find the idea for the perfect job in a Marvel comic book of all things but he did and now, well, Izuku was sort of thinking about dropping out of school altogether because what even was the point?

“I think I want to be a mercenary. I know you can help me find a place to get contacts and clients and it can work. I can still help people who need it, but I can also make money off of shitty assholes,” he said, grinning even more widely if it was even possible. “There’s this comic character called Deadpool and his superpower or whatever is pretty similar to Survivor except he’s ugly as fuck. He helps the people who need it when they need it for free. And he takes hits from others, criminals and civilians alike, I’ve never been able to see myself being a doctor or some stupid shit like that. But, a mercenary? I can do that.”

Tomura hummed. “I think you could do it just fine. I know some people to get you connected with who would love to have the Shadow to pick up some of their nastier clients,” he said casually. Izuku grinned and shoved his hands into his pockets before he ripped the shadows away as they started walking down a back alleyway. “Or you know, you could just give in and become a villain like you’re meant to be.”

“I’m not a villain, Tomura. I don’t have an issue with anything except for the hero commission and maybe being a mercenary I can do something about it,” he said with a small smirk. Tomura let out a scoff and punched Izuku in the shoulder. 

“That’s exactly what villains have an issue with. You’re just too scared to commit. You still have your weird obsession with heroes, don’t you?” Tomura accused, glaring daggers into Izuku. “That’s why you’re talking to fuckface Bakugou of all people.”

“Oh my god, Shiggy,” Izuku groaned, rolling his eyes. “I’m just friends with Kacchan again because he really seems like he’s changed and he used to be my best friend-”

“I’m your best friend,” Tomura said, looking even more put out. 

“I never said you weren’t. I”m just saying he was my best friend at one time. And I’d like to get that back, ya know? I’m allowed to have more than one best friend.”

“No, you can’t!” Tomura exclaimed and Izuku arched an eyebrow. He stopped walking and gave his best friend a look. 

“Tomura, I can do whatever I please. You’re still my best friend, you don’t have to get jealous,” he said, giving the villain an amused look. “What would your dumb ass do without me?”

“Probably be locked up or dead,” he muttered as the two started walking again. Izuku hummed in confirmation. Sometimes it annoyed him how utterly needy Tomura was at all times especially considering the idiot was a grown-ass man and did NOT need to behave like that. But then Izuku reminded himself that Tomura really did lose pretty much everyone he loved because of himself and well, that can fuck a person up. Especially when they have a supervillain feeding them lies for the rest of their life. Izuku wasn’t an idiot. He knew All for One was an absolutely horrible person, he deserved to rot in Tartarus for the rest of his life. But he was also the one who gave him a quirk and taught Izuku everything he knew. It was a weird relationship. He tried his best not to even dwell on it most days or else he would send himself down an existential crisis and panic for hours. If he didn’t stop himself, he would start stressing over whether or not he was truly evil considering his mentor was the world’s most evil villain but-Izuku wasn’t evil, was he?

Fuck. 

He was overthinking again. 

“You okay?” Tomura asked him, Izuku gave the man a jerky nod. 

“I need to go,” he muttered, starting to walk faster.

“Where are you going?” The villain whined, walking behind Izuku quickly. “Zuku! Don’t leave! It’s been so boring!”

“I’m just going home, I have stuff I need to think about,” he muttered, pulling his hood over his head, glaring down at the ground. 

“You’re overthinking things again aren’t you?” He asked, catching up with Izuku once again. “Zuku, you aren’t evil, villains aren’t evil! We just want to correct the injustices we see in the world. Evil people don’t do that, they just want to destroy the world.”

“Tomura, you have a personal vendetta against All Might. You started screaming I hate you over and over again while staring at him on tv. Dabi had to burn the television down just to get you to stop,” Izuku said. “All Might isn’t even a bad hero. You just hate him because you’re not as good as him. You don’t want to fix the commission, you hate heroes Shiggy. You want to destroy them.”

“I hate the idea of heroes,” Shiggy stated and tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Actually no, I hate the idea that people rely on the idea that someone is going to come and save you. No one saved me except for a villain and--”

“Shiggy, I love you. You’re my best friend, but I am definitely not in the mood to listen to you muse about why you hate heroes because you were never saved by them. We get it, your feelings are hurt and you think the only way to fix it is by getting rid of all heroes,” Izuku said with a sigh as he looked at his best friend. Tomura’s face shone bright red as he glared at the teenager. 

“How dare you!” He exclaimed and Izuku stopped walking. He stared at Tomura wide-eyed before he bent over, letting out a loud laugh, holding onto his stomach. 

“Are you crying?” he cackled, wiping a tear from his eye. Shigaraki let out a whine and shoved Izuku to the ground as the teenager howled with laughter. “Stop, stop, I can’t take it! I can’t wait to tell Dabi that I made you cry! Ow! Fuck,” he whined through his giggles as Tomura kicked him in the ribs as hard as he could. 

“I hope I broke your ribs,” he said and kicked the vigilante again, this time harder.

“Fuck,” he laughed before yanking Tomura to the ground with him. “I hate you so much,” he laughed, burying his head in Shigaraki’s side.

“I hate you too you dick,” Tomura said, letting out a laugh of his own. “We need to leave, we’re going to get caught.”

Izuku groaned and ran a hand over his ribs and winced. “Give me a second, they’re still healing. Did you really have to kick me that hard?”

“Come on,” Tomura said and yanked his best friend off of the ground. 

“Whatever, I really need to go,” he said, watching his fingers disintegrate from Tomura’s touch. “And now I’m going to be stuck with baby fingers for a few hours. So thank you for that, Shiggy. Thanks a lot,” he said, kicking his best friend in the shin once more before he shifted to the shadows and bolted.

~~~

“What the fuck happened to your hand?” Katsuki demanded as soon as he answered the door of the dorms. Izuku gave him a smile, chagrined. He held it up and looked at the little baby fingers that started to sprout from his large hand. 

“Oh uh, Tomura accidentally disintegrated my hand. It’s growing back, it’s fine,” he said. “I need to talk to someone, I’m panicking.”

Katsuki arched an eyebrow at his friend. “You’re panicking? You seem fine aside from your shitty hand,” he said but let the teenager in. Izuku shoved his hand into his pocket before anyone could see and looked around to find the room empty. 

“It’s like, five in the morning, why are you awake?” Izuku asked him, the two walking towards the elevators. “I honestly wasn’t even expecting you to answer my call.”

Katsuki shrugged, taking a long drink of the mug of coffee in his hand before he pressed the button on the elevator. “I get up every morning at five to work out, shower and eat breakfast in peace before the shitty extras get here. Don’t look at me like that asshole. Just because you don’t take care of your shitty body doesn’t mean everyone is like that,” he said with a scoff, glaring daggers at Izuku. The vigilante gave him an amused smile and stepped onto the elevator. 

“I forgot you were grouchy in the mornings,” he said with a chuckle, wincing as he felt his hands start to grow slowly. “Oh look, they aren’t baby fingers anymore! Now they look like a ten-year-old’s hand! They’re so cute,” he exclaimed, wiggling the fingers around. 

“Fucking disgusting, put that down,” he said, slapping Izuku’s hand down. 

“Aw Kacchan, you’re so cute when you’re grumpy,” Izuku said, caressing Katsuki’s face with his little kid hand. 

“Stop that!” He snapped, grabbing the hand and holding it tight. Katsuki clutched onto it until they got to his room before he roughly let go of it. “Now why are you fucking panicking?” He demanded once they were in his room. Izuku sighed and glanced around the dorm room. Honestly, Katsuki’s room suited him. A few All Might posters hung on the wall, making the hero crinkle his nose just slightly, in one corner sat a drum set, the other corner a small workout set up, and in between sat his desk. On the other side of the room was a perfectly made bed and a bookshelf full of books, manga, and notebooks. 

“Cute,” he hummed, falling onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling. “Kacchan, do you think I’m evil?”

Katsuki stopped and stared at the teenager sprawled out on his bed. “What?” He asked,  his eyebrows up to his hairline. 

“Am I evil?” He asked, not tearing his eyes away from the ceiling fan spinning above him, his eyes following the rotors. 

“Why would you think you’re evil?” Katsuki asked gruffly. Izuku’s eyes lazily flicked over to the hero student. 

“Don’t be dumb. I’m evil aren’t I?” He asked, before going back to staring at the ceiling fan, his hands tucked under his head. “I never wanted to be evil. I wanted to help people and change the world with a smile on my face. I hardly actually smile anymore. I mean sure Tomura makes me laugh and Dabi, Toga, and Twice are nice to be around, and fuck Kacchan. All of my friends are villains! I’m basically a villain, the one thing I told myself I would never be!” He exclaimed, rolling over to bury his face in Katsuki’s pillows. 

“I’m your friend and I’m not a villain. I’m training to be a hero,” Katsuki told him, setting down his coffee before crossing his arms. “No one in 3A is a villain, well, Grape Boy is questionable but I think he’s just a pervert really.”

“Yeah I want to kill him--shit. Villains want to kill people,” Izuku groaned, letting out a long yell through the pillow. "I've killed people!"

“I mean yeah. But you don’t want to destroy the world. I mean sure I’ve seen you team up with villains but you’ve also worked with heroes. You’re a free agent Izuku.”

“Gross, don’t call me that. It sounds weird coming out of your mouth,” Izuku mumbled, not moving his face. 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Whatever you fucking shitty Deku.”

“Thanks, Kachaan. I am a shitty Deku. I’m the shittiest,” he sighed. “Maybe I should turn myself into Eraserhead and give up.”

“Mr. Aizawa?”

“Yeah, he’s been trying to arrest me for the last three years under the guise of recruiting me to be an underground hero or some shit,” he muttered. Maybe it would be better if he was just rotting in a jail somewhere just wasting away. It would be better than knowing he was an evil villain. 

“Why don’t you become an underground hero like him, then?” Katsuki asked him, moving to cautiously sit next to the vigilante.

“I don’t want to be a hero, who the fuck wants to be a hero?” Izuku muttered, his face still buried in the pillows. He breathed in deeply, his nose full of Katuski’s burnt sugar and cinnamon smell. “Is it weird if I tell you that you smell good? That’s weird isn’t it?”

“You’re weird, I don’t think too much of it anymore,” he said and grabbed Izuku’s hand and held it up. “Your hand is normal. All the scars are gone too, that’s weird.”

“Yeah, it’s a weird quirk. Do you think if I got decapitated my body would grow back or my head would?” He asked, not wanting to think about anything really. And that question, well he actually thought about it a lot. 

“What the fuck?” Katsuki demanded, hitting Izuku across the back of the head. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you but you need to chill the fuck out. You aren’t evil, you said it yourself, you want to help people. You don’t believe in rankings or whatever and that’s great because fuck that.”

“Kacchan you constantly gloat about how you’re going to be the number one hero,” Izuku muttered, craning his head to look up at the boy. “You’ve talked about being the number one hero for our entire life.”

“Yeah but I don’t actually care about that shit,” Katsuki said, leaning back on the bed, he kicked his feet up. “Scoot over.”

Izuku rolled over onto his back, his shoulder pressing up against the wall as he watched Katsuki move closer to him so that he was all the way on the bed. 

“What I’m saying is I’m the same way. I want to show up these chumps, they all think they’re badasses but I’m the biggest badass of them all. I’m going to be number one because I’m the best hero. I don’t care about rankings, they can rank me as the 100th hero but in my head, I’ll always be number one.”

“That makes no sense. Katsuki, you care about rankings.”

“Nah, I’m going to be the best regardless. I am the best. But it doesn’t matter. I’m going to be a hero who saves people you know?” He said, spreading his arm above Izuku’s head. “My entire life I was told that I was meant to be a hero, my parents, teachers, hell even you, you all told me I would be a great hero. These last three years, I’ve had a lot to think about.”

Izuku looked up at the blond, his brow furrowed. “Like what?” He questioned, biting his lip back. 

“Like I’m a shitty person,” Katsuki said, shrugging his shoulders. “I know I’m a shitty person Deku, I’ve known for a long time that I’m spoiled, I’m an angry asshole, I treat people like shit. My ego is way too fucking big but no one ever called me out on it because I’m powerful as shit. And then, I started attending UA, and you started treating me like shit and I dunno, I realized that this shit matters and that I want to be a damn good hero. Sure I like my rivalry with Icy Hot but at the end of the day I’m training to be a hero and I’m gonna be an amazing one, rankings be damned. And if I’m lucky, I’ll have this hot ass Vigilante who will work with me from time to time, because he isn’t an evil bastard like he thinks he is.”

“You’re an idiot,” Izuku laughed, burying his face in Katsuki's side. 

“No, I’m not. Ever since you’ve come back into my life, I’ve been thinking about a lot of shit. Like my first year at UA when the chapped lip bastard kidnapped me,” Katsuki said, wrapping his arm around Izuku. “I didn’t realize it until I found out you’re Shadow or whatever your stupid name is, but you came in there and saved my life. Everyone thought that asshole--”

“His name is Shigaraki, Kachaan.  Heis my best friend you know,” Izuku said with a chuckle.

“Whatever. I’m your best friend fucktard, I’ve been your best friend forever,” he said and smacked Izuku’s shoulder. “Anyway, what I’m trying to tell you is that everyone thought that they were trying to recruit me. I knew they were going to kill me, Shigaraki told me so himself. But you swooped in and even though you punched me in the face, you saved my life that day. You didn’t have to, I mean shit, before that day my last conversation with you I told you to kill yourself, and then you tried to right in front of me. I mean shit Deku,” he breathed. 

“Yeah, I was pretty fucked up back then,” Izuku laughed. “I had just gotten told I could never be a hero and I was over it all. I just wanted everything to end.”

“I’m sorry. Most of that shit’s my fault and I’m--fuck I’m sorry. I told you, I’m a piece of shit.”

Izuku rolled his eyes and moved away from Katsuki to stare up at the ceiling. “Fuck that. I’m a piece of shit too, Kachaan. I’m probably worse than you are, at least you’ve never killed anyone.”

Katsuki laughed softly. “Yeah that’s fucked up like really fucked,” he said, looking at the teenager. “But it’s whatever. We can be fucked up pieces of shit together.”

“Shiggy is pissed I’m friends with you again,” Izuku told him. 

“Let him be pissed. But, can you not let him try to kill me again? That would be really fucking nice,” Katsuki said wryly. 

The vigilante smiled, closing his eyes once more. “I’ll think about it.” 

Chapter Text

Katsuki stared wide-eyed as he watched Izuku change out of his vigilante gear, his eyes roving over the young boy’s body unashamed. Izuku’s torso was covered in scars and burns and it was horrifying. But also, hot as hell. The entire left side of his torso and arm were covered in tattoos and-- 

“Do you seriously have nipple piercings?” He asked, trying everything in his ability to keep his jaw from dropping. 

Izuku frowned and looked down at the small silver hoops hanging from his nipples. “Uh, yeah?” He said before looking at Katsuki, confused. “Why? I told you, Dabi gives me piercings when I’m drunk.”

“You’re underage, why do you fucking drink?” He demanded. Izuku laughed and tugged a shirt over his head. 

“Katsuki, I’ve murdered people and you’re worried about me drinking?” He asked, wrapping his black hoodie around his waist and looked at his arm, frowning. He would need to get Twice to touch up his tattoos, every time his body healed from losing a limb or getting too big of a burn, the tattoo would disappear. It was a constant fight to keep the tattoos he loved on his body. “And why does it matter that I have piercings? I mean I had one on my dick for a while--”

“What!?” Katuski shouted, falling off of his bed. “Do you still have it? Wait--why?!”

Izuku’s eyebrows bunched together. “What? Kacchan, I told you.”

“I know, Dabi pierces you when you’re drunk but why would he pierce your dick!?” He shouted before Izuku pressed a hand to his mouth. The two teenagers glared at one another.

“Do you really want to shout about my dick when your classmates are starting to wake up?” He asked as Katsuki licked his hand and Izuku made a face. “Why would you lick me? Kacchan, you used to spit loogies at me to make me scream.”

Katsuki glared, his hands popping with tiny explosions before he shoved Izuku away. “Don’t cover my mouth you piece of shit!”

“Bakubro?” Kirishima asked, knocking on the door softly. “Are you alright?”

Izuku glared. “If he comes in here, he’s going to assume things,” he hissed.

The student smirked. “Yeah, I’m fine Shitty Hair,” he called, standing up and bounding towards the door. Izuku caught his uniform shirt just as his hand landed on the handle. 

“Do you want him to make assumptions?” He growled and Katsuki’s smirk just grew before he ripped the door open. 

“Hey Shitty Hair,” he said, grinning. “I was just arguing with Deku.”

“Midoriya’s in your room?” Kirishima asked. Izuku let out a sigh and let go of Katsuki’s shirt before falling on the student’s bed. “Oh hey, Midoriya! Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Izuku glanced over at him and rolled his eyes. “I’m dropping out. I have realized that with my desired career I no longer need a high school education,” he stated plainly and Katsuki spun and glared at him. 

“I told you that if you drop out I’m going to kick your ass now go the fuck to school,” he demanded, storming over to the vigilante and smacking him over the head. Izuku glared and punched him in the gut. 

“Fuck you, you can’t tell me what to do,” he growled before Katsuki jumped on top of him and started shaking the greenette’s shoulders.

“It’s like two Bakubro’s,” Kirishima mused, watching as Katsuki started shouting at Izuku about dropping out of school and Izuku screamed back at him about telling him what to do. 

“I hate you!” They shouted at each other before Izuku whipped his hand in the air and Katsuki was thrown off of him. 

“Oh was that your quirk Midoriya? That’s so manly!” Kirishima exclaimed. Izuku made a face at him before he got off of the bed and looked down at Katsuki. 

“I already told you, I’m dropping out and you can’t tell me otherwise,” he said, poking Katsuki with his sock-covered foot. 

“I’ll tell Auntie,” he snarled from the floor before Izuku flicked a finger and the teenager was yanked back to his feet. 

“Tell her, I don’t care,” he hummed and Katsuki glared and shoved Izuku. 

“You know… I think I’m going to go ahead and grab some breakfast. I’ll see you in class Bakubro,” Kirishima said awkwardly before leaving slowly.

“I’m telling Auntie and her feelings are going to be hurt and she’s going to cry and next thing you know she’s going to call your dad,” he ranted, throwing his arms around. “You’re throwing your entire life away to be a stupid fucking mercenary? What the hell Deks!?”

Izuku rolled his eyes. After he had his little mental breakdown about being an evil villain earlier that morning, Izuku and Katsuki found themselves spending the next few hours talking about pretty much anything and everything. Izuku had told Katsuki about how he realized that being a mercenary would be a pretty nice gig especially considering Izuku was pretty much able to close off his morals when need be. How else was he able to be friends with the League of Villains? And he wasn’t really planning on killing anyone unless they actually deserved it. Being a mercenary meant that he could help people, do some dirty work to make money, and still have time for vigilante work and take down the hero commission. 

“Come on, I’ll walk you to your shitty hero school,” Izuku said, trying to drop the subject. He swung the door open once more and started down the hallway.

“No,” Katsuki exclaimed, following Izuku out of his room. “We aren’t dropping this Deku. You could do so much good in the world! You’re throwing it all away.”

Izuku spun on his heel and glared. “What exactly do you think I can do, Katsuki? My quirks have no other real uses, I can’t use survivor to bring other people back or grow their limbs back-”

“Have you tried?” Katsuki asked and Izuku froze, his mouth hanging open. 

“What?” He asked, screwing up a confused look. 

“Have you tried to use Survivor on someone else?” He asked, clarifying slightly. 

“Uh no? How would I test something like that out? I don’t even know how, that couldn’t be possible,” Izuku stammered, clutching his chin in his hand. “I can’t believe I never thought about it, I mean could that work? How could it work? Would I just touch someone who’s hurt and force it to heal? I mean with my body it just stitches right back up or regrows with a few hours and it doesn’t even look any different--well scratch that. All the tattoos on my arm are gone after Dabi burned me and the skin had to reheal which also begs the question- why do my tattoos stay? Why do burns wash everything away? Why do scars stay when I get cut, is that why my tattoos stay because they’re technically just colored scars?”

“Quit with the mumbling!” Katsuki shouted. “If you don’t stop I’m going to be late to class and I haven’t even had any breakfast!” Katsuki grabbed Izuku’s wrist and started dragging him down to the kitchens. 

“Kacchan! I need a test subject!” He exclaimed, letting his friend drag him down the stairs, trying his best to keep from tripping over his bright red sneakers. “Do you think Todoroki would burn me? I need him to burn me!”

“What?!” Katsuki barked, causing Izuku to run into him as he stopped walking. 

“What?  It’s not like it hurts anymore, I get hurt all the time,” Izuku said, shrugging his shoulders. “I need to test this out!”

“No. No, no, no, you are not having these damn extras hurt you on purpose!” Katsuki exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder. 

“Kacchan! Come on, I already know you won’t use your explosions on me, I need this,” he whined, stomping his foot childishly. 

“How does hurting yourself help you discover if you can help others?” He demanded, heading back to his destination. 

“What’s going on? Why is Midoriya here?” Ururaka asked when the two trudged into the kitchen.

“I think he spent the night with Bakubro,” Kirishima muttered, looking between the two. “I don’t know, they were being really weird in his room.”

“Kacchan, if you don’t I’ll just do it myself and then you’re going to pass out because you don’t like blood,” Izuku complained, waving blandly to the students who just watched him curiously. 

“I don’t pass out over blood!” Katsuki spluttered, glaring daggers at Izuku.

“You did that one time when I skinned my knee, and when I jumped from that building you definitely passed out,” he stated, giving Katsuki an annoyed look. 

“The first one was when I was four and your knee was fucked up!  And yes I passed out when you tried to kill yourself!” He shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m not doing it, we aren’t testing it out! You still haven’t said how it’ll help!”

“Because I’ve never paid attention to the process!” Izuku whined. “Usually I’m in too much pain to really pay attention when it happens and if it’s for something like a paper cut well that’s tiny I don’t notice it at all!”

“So you want me to explode you!?” Katsuki shouted, grabbing the things to make a protein shake. “I’m not doing it!”

“Then I’ll ask Todoroki! Or I’ll do it myself!”

“What’s happening?” Kaminari questioned, looking between the two. The rest of the class just stared wide-eyed. 

“No offense but why is Midoriya even here?” Kirishima asked. 

“Oh I was having an identity crisis earlier this morning and Kachaan was helping me,” Izuku said, fiddling with his lip piercing. “And now, well, Kacchan gave me a really good idea, but I can’t test it out unless I get hurt but he’s a protective bastard, and if I ask my other friends well they go too far, and I’ll be in too much pain to care.”

“What is the idea?” Momo asked, looking at him curiously. “Maybe we can help?”

“Why would your other friends go too far?” Tsuyu questioned, tapping her chin thoughtfully. 

Katsuki gave Izuku a deadly glare. “Izuku I swear to god,” he growled through gritted teeth. 

“Oh, so my quirk is, well I call it survivor. I can do anything to my body and it just...heals,” he explained. “When I was younger I tried to kill myself and my quirk activated and wouldn’t let me. If I get a cut, it heals, usually with a scar. But if it’s something big like, say, I walked through fire, well my skin regrows and comes back perfectly smooth almost like my body got a reset. One time I was dealing with uh-er a friend who has a really deadly quirk and well, my body just regenerated,” he rambled, fiddling with his piercing once again. 

“So why do you want Bakugo to use an explosion on you?” Ururaka asked him curiously.

“Because he had an amazing idea!” Izuku gushed, looking more excited than the 3A class had ever seen him. He was usually the broody angry counterpart to Katsuki's loud and angry personality. “He asked if I had ever tried to use it on someone else. But, I don’t really pay attention when my body regenerates, I’m usually too pissed or in too much pain when it happens to even care.”

“I can burn you if you want,” Todoroki offered and Izuku beamed, Katsuki’s eyes widened. He was actually beaming. 

“That would be perfect! It doesn’t have to be too big honestly it can just- Oh!” He exclaimed as Todoroki leaned forward and pressed his finger against Izuku’s arm, his finger burning a small circle into Izuku’s arm. Everyone leaned in to watched as the burn went from dark black like a third-degree burn to bright red and then back to regular smooth skin. “You know, you could have picked any part of my arm but you had to do it right on my tattoo, didn’t you?” He complained at the spot of healed skin surrounded by black swirls of tattoos. 

“I thought it was funny,” he said wryly. “Did you get the information you needed?”

“Yes,” he said and looked at Katsuki. “Now burn Kachaan but maybe just a first degree burn instead?” He suggested.

“Icy Hot if you touch me I will fucking murder your ugly ass,” Katsuki growled. Todoroki simply smirked and carefully poked the blond on his arm. Katsuki’s glare deepened when he pulled away and Izuku grinned and poked Katsuki’s arm in the same spot only for nothing to happen. 

“Oh well, guess it only works on me,” he hummed. “I’ll make more notes on it. Maybe Dab- uh my friend, maybe my friend will let me practice on him,” Izuku stammered. Fuck he was getting way too comfortable around these people.

Katsuki glared at his friend. “Don’t you have school to get to?” He demanded, crossing his arms. Izuku let out an annoyed groan. 

“Kacchan, get off my ass,” he said, snatching Katsuki’s protein shake out of his hands. “Walk me to the door like a gentleman so I don’t feel like I’m doing a walk of shame.”

“Why would you be doing a walk of shame!? You just laid in my bed and cried about having an existential crisis!” Katsuki shouted, following his friend down the hall. “And why would you let Half ‘n’ Half burn me like that? What the fuck Deku?”

Izuku hummed and slipped his arm through Katsuki’s. “Don’t be such a baby, you deal with explosions all the time. Now, if you’re going to keep being mean to me I’m going to stop coming and pestering you.”

“Oh, whatever. You know you enjoy my company you shitty brat,” he muttered and snatched his protein shake back. “Gimme that.”

Izuku smirked and just continued walking. He leaned onto the tips of his toes and kissed Katsuki’s cheek softly just as they got to the door. “I’ll see you around King Explosion Murder,” he murmured before shifting into the shadows and slipping out of the dorms. 

Katsuki stared wide-eyed at the boy’s shadowy figure as Kirishima clasped his hand on his shoulder. “So you got lucky huh? That’s pretty manly Bakubro,” he said cheerfully. 

The blond shrugged his best friend’s hand off of him. “I didn’t get lucky, Shitty Hair. Deku just came over this morning because he was having a shitty panic attack.”

“And you helped him through it! No wonder he gave you a kiss on your cheek, that’s so cute!” Kirishima cooed, hugging Katsuki tightly. Katsuki let out a growl and shoved him away. 

“Don’t talk about it! It would never work out between us,” he muttered just as Mina appeared on the other side of him. 

“Why wouldn’t it work out?  You guys seem very cute for each other. Where you’re angry and loud, he’s angry and quiet most of the time. Unless he gets excited about something I’ve noticed,” she said cheerfully. “And he’s hot as hell Blasty! I mean did you see those arms? Sure he’s a little scrawny but he’s got some muscle!”

“It wouldn’t work between us,” he ground out. “Now let’s go to fucking class.”

“But why wouldn’t it work, Kacchan?” Kaminari said, letting out a whine as he stretched out the word Kachaan. 

“Because it wouldn’t,” he growled, ducking his head down, his shoulders rising slightly. 

“But why?” Sero asked him. 

“Why not?” Kirishima questioned.

“Why?” Mina asked. Katsuki’s eye twitched violently, his hands starting to pop. 

“Because he’s a fucking vigilante!” He finally snapped, tiny explosions popping from his hands. “Izuku is fucking Shadow or whatever his dumbass name is. I can’t get with Deku because one day I might have to fucking fight against him!”

The group of friends stopped walking and stared at the blond in shock. “Midoriya is Shadow?” Kirishima finally exclaimed, whipping his head around, looking for the vigilante as if he were still around.

“Bakugo that just makes him sexier!” Mina exclaimed, clasping her pink hands together. “That’s like… like a star-crossed lovers romance!”

“It won’t happen,” Katsuki muttered. “I’m his friend and that’s it. I mean for fuck’s sake his best friend is Shigaraki Tomura! It would be a horrible idea to get mixed in more than I already am.”

“So wait…” Sero started slowly, giving Katsuki a curious look. “You’re saying you’ve been bringing the vigilante Shadow to our dorms this last month and you’re friends with him and you’re butt buddies with him?”

“We aren’t butt buddies what the hell Scotch Tape!?” He shouted loudly, waving his arms around angrily. 

“I’m just saying.”

Katsuki sighed. “I like Deku, but it’s never going to happen. We’re friends, yes he’s a vigilante but it’s fucking complicated. He’s a good person and he’s only a vigilante because of me,” he muttered, storming to the school. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore, he didn’t want to think about Deku kissing him on the cheek, he just didn’t want to think about any of it. 

~~~

Izuku let out a sigh as he walked to school slowly. He couldn’t believe he actually did that. How could he ever think that it was a good idea to even go over to see Kachaan, much less kiss him on the cheek like that? It was stupid that’s what it was completely and idiotic and he hadn’t thought it out as he should have. He groaned. He was an idiot, that’s what it was. Izuku Midoriya was a complete and total dumbass. He stormed into his stupid house and grabbed his backpack, yanking his uniform shirt on and over his head before he continued on his way to school, making it just in time for homeroom. Not that it mattered, he was only even going to school because Katsuki would kick his ass and for some stupid ass reason, Izuku didn’t want to disappoint the angry blond. 

Sure he liked Katsuki. And Katsuki was hot as fuck. But it couldn’t work out between them, it would never work out between them. Regardless of what Katsuki had told him that morning, he did care about being a hero. He wanted to be the number one hero and well, a number one hero could never be in a relationship with someone like Izuku. Even if Izuku did become a mercenary like he was thinking, it would make Katsuki look bad. And if Izuku went into any other stupid profession he would have the media sniffing around where they didn’t need to be. It was stupid, it was all stupid. Sure he was attracted to Katsuki, and he had a crush on the boy for as long as he could remember but that didn’t mean anything. He could never be with Katsuki and the future pro hero would probably never see him that way anyway. How could he? Izuku was a piece of shit nobody and Katsuki, well, he was everything, wasn’t he? That’s what he had always been, Izuku’s whole world has always gravitated towards Katsuki. If Izuku was the earth, Katsuki was the sun and Izuku needed him as much as he needed to breathe. But it was just as if someone got too close to the sun, Izuku would surely burn if he got too close to Katsuki. 

Which was why he needed to stay as friends and nothing more. Too close and Izuku just might burn.

Chapter Text

Izuku limped back into his house slowly, trying his best to not wince. He had somehow gotten roped into a fight against Endeavor of all fucking heroes and sure, he could hold his own against the asshole, but he didn’t necessarily like fighting Pro Heroes. Even if it was Endeavor. What was worse was that Izuku wasn’t even supposed to be there! The vigilante had just been casually walking down the street when he heard someone scream for help, and of course, he did what any stupid vigilante did, he went and investigated. Only for fucking Endeavor to show up, thinking that Izuku was trying to harm the civilian! He shook his head, pushing the door to the house open slowly. The burns covering his body were starting to slowly heal and he was pissed. Half of his fucking tattoos were gone, and he wouldn’t be able to get them fixed any time soon.

“Izuku? Honey?” Inko asked just as her son slipped into the house. He held back a groan, there was no way he was interested in having a conversation with anyone at the moment. Not only that, but he didn’t particularly want his mother worrying about him.

He forced a smile. “Hey mom,” he said, glancing over at the poor, nervous woman. “I’m going to my room,” he said gruffly.

“Wait—are you okay Sweetie? What’s going on?” She asked, coming closer to him. A plump, shaking hand reached up to push his hoodie off his face. Izuku’s hand caught it quickly and shook his head.

“You probably don’t want to do that,” he told her softly. Most of his face had caught a rather nasty shot of fire from Endeavor and the wounds were still stitching themselves back together under the safety of his hood. For the number one hero, Endeavor had absolutely no problem trying to kill villains rather than just detaining them like he was supposed to.

“Izuku, what’s going on with you?” She whispered quietly, still trying to push the hood off. “I’ve tried giving you space these last few years. I-I know after the attempt, you got your quirk and all but—you’re not going out there and getting hurt, are you? Baby you know I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy, mom. I’m okay, I’m just coming home.”

“I uh, I found weapons in your room,” she said softly, looking up at her son who was only just a few inches taller. “What’s going on?”

“He needs to leave,” Hisato said firmly as he walked into the room and crossed his arms, giving Izuku’s mother a look as if they had already had this conversation. “Inko we talked about this. He’s got himself mixed up into that villain shit. We can’t have him around here.”

“Oh fuck you,” Izuku snarked. “I’m not a fucking villain. I’m not doing anything.”

Hisato glared at his stepson. “I love you like you’re my own child, Izuku, but I’m not an idiot. We know you’re involved in that League of Villain shit and if that’s what you’re wanting to waste your life on then fine but you’re not doing it under our house.”

“I’m not a part of the League!” Izuku argued, his anger starting to rise. He wasn’t a fucking villain, how many people did he have to make that clear with? He wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t a villain. He just wanted to help people, goddamnit. That’s all he wanted. It wasn’t his fault that everyone thought he needed to choose a side. Izuku was more than happy being a free agent who did as he pleased and helped those who needed it. He shot a look at his mother. “Do you think I’m a villain?”

Inko’s face paled. “I-I don’t know what to think, Izu. You come home at all hours of the night, I’ve-I’ve seen your clothes covered in blood. You’re either covered in scars or you don’t have a mark on your body. It’s terrifying and-and I know you were that villain fighting Endeavor tonight,” she sobbed, her arms wrapping around her midsection. Izuku’s face crumpled as his mother broke down in front of him.

“Mom, I-I’m not doing anything. I promise you,” he said softly, stepping closer, only for his stepfather to step in between them. “Get out of the way Hisato.”

“Stay away from my wife,” he growled, glaring at the vigilante. Izuku’s eyes narrowed, his hands balling into fists.

“Mom say the word and I’ll leave. Right now. I don’t care what he says, if you want me to stay, I will,” Izuku said, giving his mom a desperate look. Was he the best child? Fuck no. But he kept his mother at arm’s length to protect her from the world he was wrapped up in. He would never do anything to hurt his mom. Not on purpose.

Inko didn’t look at her only child, her eyes instead burning a hole in the carpet. “I think—I think until you’re ready to get your life together and get out of whatever you’re mixed in, it would be a good idea for you to go.”

“Alright,” he said shortly, shutting down. “I’ll grab my things and leave.”

Izuku pushed past his parents and hurried to his room. He yanked a bag out of his closet and shoved it full of clothes. Not wanting to face his mother’s heartbroken face once again, he finished packing and slipped out the window. Izuku wasn’t one for goodbyes. They just made things harder.

He ambled down the street slowly, his phone rotating in his pocket. Tomura would let him stay with him, he knew that without a doubt. But did Izuku really want to live with Tomura? Without realizing it, he found himself dialing a different number altogether.

“What do you want?” Aizawa answered tiredly. “It’s three in the morning.”

“I want to see Eri,” Izuku said quietly, shoving his free hand in his pocket.

“Shadow?” He demanded, now sounding more awake. “Can this not wait until the morning? She’s asleep.”

“No, look, I just—she calms me down okay? And I know she misses me,” he said bitterly. Eri was the absolute best human in the world, just a single hug from the little girl seemed to make everything in Izuku’s life feel one million times better.

“She’s eight. She needs sleep,” Aizawa growled angrily.

“Look, I just had Endeavor nearly burn me to ashes. I have had a shitty fucking night, I just want to see Eri. I’m not going to do anything,” he said exasperated. “I’m walking to UA now.”

Usually when he talked Aizawa into letting him see Eri, they met somewhere public, like the park or a restaurant. This was for the safety of literally everyone involved. Izuku didn’t trust Aizawa to try and send him to jail, Aizawa didn’t trust Izuku to not kidnap Eri and run away, and Eri, well, she just liked to be with her two favorite people.

“Fine, but only because you punched Endeavor in his face, but if she doesn’t want to wake up or see you, you have to leave,” Aizawa told her sternly. Izuku just grinned.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he said before hanging up. His relationship with Aizawa was more complicated than one could really see on the surface. The moment he had learned about the vigilante, Aizawa had made it his mission to get the boy to agree to become an underground hero. Izuku constantly refused. Only, when they had teamed up to save Eri from the Shie Hassaikai, Aizawa had become even more determined to get Izuku to see the light. It was as if he thought that since he risked everything to save the little girl, he must be good enough to be a hero. He had become insufferable in this pursuit ever since. It wasn’t just Aizawa of course. Sir Nighteye was just as bad, he was just more subtle about it than Aizawa was. 

~~~

Izuku was not in a good mood. In fact, he was far from it. The fifteen-year-old was still dealing with the effects of his sensei no longer being around to help him with his quirks and shadow kept messing up, to the point where he was having trouble staying solid. Maybe his anger was the reason he hadn’t noticed anything odd up until a little girl ran straight into his legs and hugged him tightly. Izuku frowned and looked down at the pale gray-haired girl, a horn growing from her forehead and her body covered in guaze.

Something was wrong and this just further ruined his mood.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, bending down to look at the girl.

The girl shook her head, burying her face in her hands just as a tall man stepped up. “Ah, there you are Eri. You really mustn’t go running off like that,” he said coolly, grabbing the girl and hoisting her into his arms. “Thank you for finding my sister. She just got out of the hospital and she is slightly unhinged.”

“It’s no problem,” Izuku told the man politely before looking at the girl. “Are you okay, Eri?” He asked her softly. The little girl gave him a terrified look, her head shaking just a fraction. Izuku nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Well, we better get going. Thank you for finding her,” the man said before leaving Izuku there. The young vigilante watched the man walk away with the girl curiously before sneaking back into the alley as Sir Nighteye and some overly happy blond student walked past talking lowly.

“I just don’t know how they’re able to get away like this,” the blond UA student said as Izuku’s eyes narrowed.

“They’re the Shie Hassaikai, this won’t be easy,” he stated.

The Shie Hassaikai.

Izuku’s eyebrows shot up at the name of the Yakuza that had been causing trouble for Tomura. Izuku sighed as his body turned into a shadow once again and started towards the League’s hideout. Maybe Tomura knew something about this Eri girl too. 

Hours later after marching around town angrily, Izuku snuck into the warehouse the League was currently hiding out in and stopped short. A man in a plague doctor’s mask glared menacingly at his best friend, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. His eyes scanned the scene before him, blood-covered practically every surface, Mr. Compress was clutching his bleeding shoulder, his arm completely gone. Izuku’s hand lifted into the air, prepared to throw the man across the room when he saw a slight shake of the head from Toga. He lowered his hand slowly as he watched Tomura disintegrate one of the man's lackeys. The two yelled at one another before the gang stormed out. Izuku slipped forward and raised an eyebrow. 

“What happened?”

“He killed Magne like it was nothing,” Toga hissed, pulling out her knives. “Let me kill him.”

“No,” Tomura said and looked at Izuku. “Follow them for me. Find out where they are. This is war.”

“For Magne,” he said with a nod, eyeing Mr. Compress warily. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” he hissed. “Twice, I need assistance to get this seen.”

“Before I go stalking this asshole, who were they?” Izuku questioned, looking at the carnage. 

“Yakuza scum,” Tomura spat. “He goes by Overhaul but he’s the leader of the Shie Hassaikai.”

Izuku’s eyes widened slightly. “Alright. I’ll let you know what I learn,” he said before shifting to a shadow and hurrying out of the warehouse. Izuku quickly spotted the Yakuza car and started to tail the black vehicle carefully. Eventually, he had followed them to the other side of town to a compound of buildings. Izuku watched carefully from the shadows as the leader got out, no longer wearing the mask, giving Izuku a clear look of his face. The fifteen-year old’s blood ran cold as he realized who he was looking at. 

Fuck. 

Eri. 

Izuku gnawed on his lip for a moment as he thought back to the conversation he heard earlier before he started walking towards Sir Nighteye’s agency. Tomura wanted to get rid of the Shie Hassaikai, Izuku wanted to save that little girl. The best way to do that would be with the help of the pro heroes. The League definitely had no means to save that little girl, not only that but Overhaul was able to easily destroy Magne, what else could he do to Izuku’s friends? He had a job to do, he was given strict instructions by his sensei to protect Tomura no matter what. 

The vigilante soon found himself at the Agency and nervously gnawed on his lip. He was risking a lot by doing this, sure Izuku had only been a vigilante for less than a year but he wasn’t stupid. The pros and the cops were biting at the bits to be able to be the one to arrest the elusive vigilante. He shifted to a shadow and slipped through the doors carefully. 

“You know, you could have just knocked. I was expecting you,” Nighteye said, leaning against the wall. Izuku’s eyebrows shot up before he smirked. 

“Yeah, I forgot about that. Whose future did you see me in?” Izuku asked him, slipping his hands into his pockets as he looked at the man before him. 

“No need to worry about that. So you know where they are?” He asked, eyes roving over Izuku’s figure curiously. “The famous vigilante? You’re like what, thirteen?”

“Does my age really matter?” Izuku asked, cocking his head to the side. “I have the location of the compound that they are staying at. They have a little girl held captive. If I can get you to agree to round up heroes to storm the compound and save that little girl, I’ll do whatever I can to help and get you the information you need.”

Nighteye stayed quiet for a moment, looking at the vigilante curiously. Why did this kid even care about a little girl? Everyone had heard about the vigilante that hung around the League of Villains. Sure he saved those who needed it, but he was still associated with the villains and that made him untrustworthy. “Why do you care about a little girl?”

Izuku let out a breath through his nose. “Because she is a little girl and I think she’s being used. I saw her with Overhaul earlier today. She’s probably only five or six years old and she was covered in bandages and absolutely terrified. She isn’t safe and I need to find her and help her,” Izuku said. “Not only that, but Overhaul murdered my friend and I don’t particularly want to deal with Shigaraki trying to start a war with the yakuza. It will end badly for everyone involved. Overhaul’s quirk made my friend explode, do you really want to see a quirk that can do that go against a quirk that disintegrates anyone he touches? Not to mention Dabi’s power? They’ll destroy this entire city between the two sides.”

“So you are wanting to prevent a war between villains?” Nighteye questioned, looking at the boy in front of him curiously. What was with this teenager? What was his goal?

“Wouldn’t you? You’re a hero after all,” Izuku said with a huff. “Now do you want to check out their stupid compound and have me get the information you need or do you want to sit here and try to figure out my fucking intentions!?” Izuku was slowly losing his patience. He needed to save this little girl before it was too late, not only that but he needed to get revenge. Magne didn’t deserve to die, especially not the way she did. 

“Show me the way and we can come up with an idea on the way,” Nighteye said before he stopped. “Let me call some people. I don’t trust you.”

Izuku gave the hero a cocky smile from under his hood. “You shouldn’t. But if you’re that worried, I don’t care if you touch me and see what’s going to happen.”

Nighteye’s lip curled for a moment. “We will wait until the others arrive,” he said. Izuku shrugged and sat on the floor, leaning his back against the wall, kicking one ankle over the other as he stared up at the man. 

“By all means, go ahead and call whoever you need if it makes you feel safe. I’m not planning on doing anything but save Eri. If you “heroes” can’t do it, then I’ll do it myself. But if it’s just me, the entire compound will be leveled to the ground in seconds without a single survivor save for Eri. You have been following the Shie Hassaikai for a while and I have a feeling if I completely destroyed them you would be pretty pissed wouldn’t you? All of your hard work and research right down the drain? That would definitely suck for the man training All Might’s successor, wouldn’t it?”

“How do you know about that?” Nighteye demanded, glaring daggers into the boy now. How could an actual child know anything at all about All Might’s successor? 

“I make it my business to know everything about everyone. You think it’s just a coincidence that after All Might is defeated by All For One some kid just so happens to pop up with a quirk that is nearly identical to All Might's? And that whole “now it’s your turn” bullshit? That was aimed straight at Mirio.” Izuku picked at his fingernails casually, observing the scars that coated his hand. Nighteye stared at the boy, his head tilting to the side. There definitely was something different about him. “So, I’m assuming you’re texting Mirio since he is so wound up in this mission with you? And hm, let me guess. Eraserhead on the off chance you have to have someone cancel out my quirk? You’ve probably heard about how he keeps harassing me to turn myself in, huh?”

“Who are you?” He demanded, clenching his hands into fists. “What are you up to, kid?”

Izuku shrugged his shoulders casually. “I’m a shadow, I see all, I know everything. I help those who need it and don’t hesitate to call out the precious heroes when they screw up.”

“And you run around with villains,” Nighteye deadpanned, sending a text to both Aizawa and Mirio. 

“Trust me, you should be happy that I work with the League sometimes. The idiots don’t know their right from left. If I wasn’t around to keep them in check this town would be burning daily. I don’t work for the villains, I couldn’t care less about what they do most of the time. As long as they aren’t hurting civilians they aren’t any of my business.”

Nighteye gazed at the boy in front of him thoughtfully. “What’s your quirk kid?”

He snorted. “And why the hell do you think I would tell a hero?”

“Considering you walked right through my door no problem, your quirk is similar to Mirio’s, am I correct?” He asked and Izuku actually laughed softly at that. 

“Nighteye, my quirks can do more than let me walk through shit,” he said, shaking his head just as someone walked through the wall and the blond haired boy from earlier appeared. And finally, Izuku had a face to the name. Sensei had given him all the information about the successor, but never bothered to give him details of what he looked like. 

“Quirks? As in more than one?” Nighteye asked suspiciously. Izuku smirked lazily. 

“Your All Might successor isn’t the only one who has more quirks than is natural,” he said cooly. 

“Oh! So he knows about One for All!”  Mirio asked excitedly, grinning at the boy sitting on the ground. “Mirio Togata, and you are?”

“He’s the vigilante, Shadow,” Nighteye answered. “Who apparently has more information than he should.”

Izuku winked and pulled his phone out, sending a quick message to Tomura telling him he had the situation taken care of. The first thing Sensei had done in his lessons was beat Izuku until he learned to think out every single situation. Not only that but he had done everything he could to squash the anxious, overly hyper boy that Izuku once was. Leaving nothing but an analytical, sometimes cocky teenager who didn’t get nervous in the face of some heroes. How could he after the lessons he received from his master? All for One was not the one to coddle his students. He was ruthless and did everything he could to squash as much of the humanity that sat within the teenager as he could. 

Of course he couldn’t kill all of it. Izuku was still wanting to do what he could to save people who needed it. He just wasn’t blinded by the heroes and the images they presented.

“Oh I see! I guess that’s what happens when you don’t work for a side, huh? You’re like a free agent!”

Izuku grinned. “You could say something like that,” he said, showing the lower half of his face from his hood. “Any more friends coming, Nighteye or are you ready to check out the compound?”

“Just about ready,” he said and grinned when Eraserhead walked into the room. “Looks like you were right about who I called. I’m curious to know what else you know.”

Izuku shrugged and stood up. “Whatever, let’s get going. I need to know if Eri is alright and you can decide the course you should take to raid their compound.”

The teenager looked at Aizawa and grinned wildly. “I’m not turning into a hero, Eraser so you better get the thought out of your mind now.”

“Trouble Child,” he said with a scoff. “Let’s get this over with.”

With that, Izuku shifted into the shadows and walked straight through the door. That was the best part about turning into a shadow, he did everything a shadow did, not only that but he could turn others into shadows as well.

Once they were outside Izuku started walking down the sidewalk calmly, trying his best to not think about the two pro heroes and hero course student trailing behind him. Eventually he led the group to the compound and sighed. 

“This is the compound of the Shie Hassaikai. If you want to get in and look around I have to hold your hand,” he said with a wince. 

“So you can spread your shadow quirk to other people, right? That’s so adorable! I’ll go with you Shadow-Kun!”

Izuku grimaced but nodded. “Fine. Nighteye, you’re the one heading this mission, come along. Eraser, keep watch. I don’t particularly want to deal with worrying about you canceling my quirk. It hurts.”

“It hurts you?” He asked, glaring. 

“Yes now shut up and keep your eyes open and watch out for anyone,” he said before grabbing Nighteye and Mirio’s arms and shifted into shadows. The three slipped into the compound and Izuku kept his eyes peeled for anything and everything. Suddenly, Overhaul himself walked past them.

“Who does that Shigaraki shithead think he is?” He growled, throwing his plague doctor’s mask at some random lackey. “The League of Villains? What a joke. They don’t even have a plan to take down the hero commission,” he ranted. Izuku grinned and slowly the three of them shifted to look like the shadows of Overhaul and his lackeys as they followed along. 

“I thought you were going to offer them some of the bullets to sweeten the deal,” one of them said and the leader snorted. 

“Those idiots are so stupid they wouldn’t even know what to fucking do with quirk canceling bullets,” he growled. The shadows exchanged wary looks at that. Quirk canceling bullets? “Speaking of which, how is our little Eri doing after her escape earlier?”

Izuku stiffened. Eri. She had something to do with the quirk canceling bullets.

“Her horn is larger than ever,” the lackey stated. “Would you like to see her?”

Overhaul nodded and the three followed closely as they came across a cell. The little girl sat curled up in a corner, Izuku let out a snarl.

“We need the layout, Shadow,” Nighteye murmured, looking at the little girl curiously. 

“I need to get her out of here,” he hissed, straining to keep from letting go of the two men. “They’re going to hurt her.”

“We don’t have the manpower or the information. But we will save her, Shadow,” Nighteye told him. “We just need to understand as much as possible.”

Izuku forced a nod before they scouted out every single part of the compound. 

It took longer than Izuku had ever wanted but after four days of information gathering, Izuku found himself in a situation he never dreamed of. He stood in his vigilante gear surrounded by fucking heroes and hero course students alike.

Izuku wanted to vomit. 

It didn’t matter. Izuku had one job. Considering he and Mirio were the only two who could slip through walls and doors with no problem they would be the ones to retrieve Eri. Between their quirks they would be able to safely procure the little girl and get her out with no problems. 

“Are you ready for this?” Mirio asked, dressed up in his stupid Lemillion hero costume. Izuku wanted to roll his eyes. It was painfully obvious he was All Might’s successor. Did people really not realize? Were people just blind to the similarities? 

“Whatever. Let’s just get Eri and get her out of here,” he muttered before shifting into a shadow. “Just remember, don’t get shot by those bullets and be a good distraction so I can get her out without anyone noticing.”

“Don’t worry Shadow-kun! We’ve got this, we’re going to be heroes!” He said cheerfully before charging through the wall. Izuku scowled and followed the hyper wannabe All Might into the building and straight to the cell Eri was held in as he heard the beginnings of the battle below.

“We need to get Eri!” Some Yakuza asshole shouted. Izuku glared as he heard Mirio start to fight someone, effectively keeping them away from the cell. Izuku stepped into the small room and shifted from his shadow and pulled off his hood, his green curls springing out around his face as he gave the little girl a big smile. 

“Hi Eri,” he said sweetly as he crouched down to her level. “Do you remember me?”

She nodded from her corner. “You were that boy I ran into.”

“I am, you can call me Mido if you want,” he offered, hoping the nickname would maybe put her at ease. “I’m here to get you out of here.”

“You can’t. I’ll just hurt you,” she said softly, hugging her knees tighter to her chest.

“No, it’s okay. I get hurt all the time, it doesn’t bother me,” he said. “Can I pick you up? We gotta use my quirk to get out of here safely, okay?”

“I don’t want to hurt you, I hurt everyone,” she whimpered.

“Eri, I promise you, I can handle it, okay?” He said patiently before he carefully picked her up and slung her around his shoulders so that the little girl was clinging to his back. Izuku carefully shifted to shadow. He smiled at the little gasp she made when suddenly Mirio’s face appeared. 

“Shadow-Kun, we gotta go. Now, there’s too many of them. I’m not strong enough to take on all of them,” he said, blood running down the side of his temple. Izuku smirked and stepped through the cell doors and looked at the growing group of Yakuza. He held out a hand, clenched it into a fist, and twisted his wrist. The entire group of thugs were suddenly slammed into the ceiling, stuck. 

“Let’s go,” he said just loud enough to be heard and started down the hall. His ears perked, though, when he heard the sound of a gun cocking. Without thinking, Izuku took Eri, all but threw her into Mirio’s arms before he stepped in front of the oncoming bullet, the shadows slipping away from him. Unlike Mirio and Eri, a stupid bullet wasn’t going to hurt him. It definitely couldn’t kill him anyway. 

As the bullet hit his arm, Izuku let out a gasp. His body slumped to the floor, suddenly every part of him felt as if it were on fire. 

What the fuck?

The vigilante looked down at his legs, his eyes widening. They looked the way they did after he jumped off of that building. Mangled and destroyed from taking the impact of the hard asphalt just a year ago. The skin on his arms disintegrated as if he had been touched by Tomura, his arms both falling away from his body. Survivor. It was as if it was no longer protecting him from the injuries he sustained. Is this what happened when he didn’t have survivor? Every injury came back to him? Was this what dying was actually like?

“M-Mido!” Eri screamed, running towards the boy as Miro fired up One for All and charged towards the thugs once again. This time wrestling the gun from one of them.

“E-eri, it’s okay,” he stammered, feeling himself starting to fall apart. She let out a sob and wrapped her arms around his bleeding body.

“This is all my fault,” she sobbed, hugging him tight. “I can fix you, I can fix you Mido I can do this!” The little girl said, her tears rushing down her cheeks in large streams as her quirk activated and light surrounded Izuku’s body. He let out a sharp gasp as he felt his body start to--what the hell was this feeling? It was as if his body was rewinding completely. Izuku’s arms reappeared, the blood disappeared and hell- he even turned back into a shadow-like he was before he tried to protect Eri and Mirio. The little girl suddenly let go of him and fell to the ground with a wail. Izuku shifted from shadow and picked up the little girl. 

“Eri, it’s okay. I’m okay, I don’t--is that your quirk? You can rewind?” he asked her, hugging her tiny body to his chest before he shifted back to the shadows. He cast a worried look at Mirio. Sure he was the All Might wannabe, but Izuku didn’t want him to die. He waved his hand, grabbing up the thugs that the hero student was fighting and without hesitation, let the particles around their necks squeeze until each and every thug was dead. Mirio’s quirk powered down and he stared at the carnage in front of him wide-eyed. 

“Uh, Shadow-Kun? Please tell me that was you,” he said, and...was that a whimper in his voice that Izuku heard? He smirked. Of course, the blond idiot was scared, why wouldn’t he be?

“Of course it was. Now let’s go, this fight isn’t over and Eri needs to be protected at all costs,” he said, walking forward. His shadow shifted until he and Eri were Mirio’s shadow. Izuku kept a watchful eye on the little girl passed out in his arms as he stuck close to the older boy, making sure his back was safe. He would protect that little girl at all costs, no matter what.

~~~

Izuku smiled as he got close to the UA faculty apartments. He still protected Eri, she was one of the reasons he continued doing what he did. So that children like Eri didn’t slip through the cracks anymore. 

“Mido!” She screamed when he walked through the door, launching herself into his arms. Izuku smiled and wrapped his arms around her tight. 

“Eri! You’ve grown so much since I saw you last!” He exclaimed. She giggled when they pulled apart, her eyes bright with joy. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s okay! Dad said you had a really bad night and that the only thing that would make you feel better is my magical hugs!” She said, smiling at him. Izuku sat on the ground and looked at the little girl, a grin on his face. She really did just make everything better, it was like her quirk would just reverse any sadness he had, even when she wasn’t using it. She was so much happier compared to when he had first saved her. After the Shie Hassaikai were taken down, Eri was sent to live with Eraserhead as he was the only one who could really stop her quirk when it got out of control. Since then, the man had adopted her as his own daughter and the two were living happily together. Izuku was overjoyed to know that the girl would always be safe, no matter what. 

“It’s because they are magical! You give the best hugs Eri,” he said, smiling at her. The little girl frowned when she saw his face, though. 

“You’re hurt,” she said softly, pressing her hand against the burns on his cheek. He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on his hands. 

“It’ll disappear in a few hours. I don’t feel it anymore so it’s okay,” he reassured her, a kind smile on his face. 

“Was this from the fight with Endeavor,” Aizawa asked, crossing his arms. Izuku’s eyes landed on the man and he sighed. 

“I wasn’t even doing anything! I was helping a civilian! She was getting attacked by some,” he glanced at Eri. “Some guy who wanted something she wasn’t willing to give. It’s not my fault Endeavor saw me and thought I was attacking. The lady even said I saved her! He didn’t listen.”

“If you would just accept my offer that wouldn’t happen,” Aizawa told him, giving the boy a disapproving look. 

“Mido you should be a hero!” Eri exclaimed, activating her quirk to rewind Izuku’s injuries. 

“Eri, you don’t have to use your quirk to fix me. It fixes on its own,” he laughed and shook his head. “Besides, you know I don’t want to be a hero. If I was, I would have to follow all those boring rules like your dad and that’s no fun.”

“Dad said if you stopped being stupid-”

“I’m not stupid!” He argued, the little girl let out a giggle and patted his cheek once before she pulled away.

“You’re very stupid Mido. But it’s why I love you!” She said, Izuku grinned. 

“I love you too, Eri.”

“You gotta, you’re my big brother!” She said and Izuku spluttered, sending an alarmed look towards Aizawa who merely shrugged. 

“She’s been saying that you’re her brother for the last few weeks.”

Izuku just shook his head and suppressed a smile. “I’m basically your big brother, huh? Your dumb, delinquent brother who breaks all the rules,” he said. Eri laughed and shook her head. 

“It’s okay. Mirio is the goody-two-shoes brother so it evened out,” she explained and let out a yawn. Izuku smiled and flicked her nose softly.

“Let’s get you back to bed. I promise next time I come to check on you it won’t be in the middle of the night,” he told her and stood up. He picked the girl up and carried her to her bedroom, following her directions attentively. He set her on the bed and hugged her tight. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Promise you won’t do anything dumb?” She asked him, a serious look on her face. 

“No promises, little sister. I’m always dumb, remember?” He said, tucking the blankets around her. Eri just smiled and shook her head before she cuddled into her blankets.

“Goodnight Mido,” she said quietly.

“Night Eri,” he said softly before leaving her room. “Save it, Dad ,” he said wryly, giving the UA teacher a smug look. 

“Do not call me that.”

“If I’m going to be Eri’s brother, that makes us family you know.”

“Shut up and get out. Call me during the day time next time you want to see Eri,” he said, glaring at the teenager. Izuku sighed.

“I didn’t mean to wake her up. My parents kicked me out, I just needed to see her. To be reminded why it’s worth it,” he told the man softly. “I don’t like heroes, Eraserhead. But you’re not too bad. Take care of my sister.”

With that, Izuku shouldered his backpack once more and headed to Tomura’s. The villain gave him a confused look as the boy just barged in and glared.

“I’m staying here until I get a place. Suck it up and go back to bed,” he said simply before falling onto Shigaraki’s couch. 

“What the fuck!?” He demanded. Izuku smiled and closed his eyes as he toed off his shoes and got comfortable on the couch. It had been a long night and the vigilante just needed a break.

Chapter Text

Izuku shot his hand out, not bothering to even open his eyes as he sensed the boney fist coming straight at his face. Particles wrapped around Tomura’s hand and Izuku let out a soft sigh.

“Leave me alone,” he muttered, rolling onto his side. He had a fitful four hours of sleep on Tomura’s lumpy, ugly couch and he was not in the mood to deal with his idiot best friend.  

“ Why are you even here?” Tomura demanded, struggling to get his hand free. Izuku opened a single eye and glared at his best friend. 

“My parents kicked me out. I needed a place to stay,” he murmured, closing his eye once more. “Don’t worry, I’m checking out that bar you told me about to see if I can get a job and start making a bigger name for myself. I’m going to get some cash collected and get my own place soon so don’t worry.”

“Whatever. I don’t care about your family drama. Master wants to see you,” Tomura muttered, falling onto the couch once Izuku let go of his arm and landed right on the vigilante’s legs. Izuku shot up. 

“How do you know the master wants to see me? Why?” He demanded, glaring daggers into Tomura’s face. Tomura huffed and crossed his arms. Put out. If it had been some other time, Izuku would have made fun of the idiot. Tomura was always jealous that Izuku could visit their master so easily. 

“One of the guards we have there gave me a call saying that Master was calling for his shadow,” he mumbled, glaring at the floor. 

“Shit,” Izuku cursed, shoving his best friend off of him. All for One didn’t want Izuku often but when he did, it was always either for a job, punishment or to force a quirk onto the teenager. Izuku hated all of it. Sure, he had high regard for his master, and he was thankful for the gifts that the villain gave him but he didn’t want anything from the man. 

“You better go now,” Tomura said with a sigh, glancing at his friend. “He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“I know he doesn’t. I’m going,” he said, climbing off of the couch. Izuku dug through his backpack before donning on a black hoodie and slid into a pair of dark jeans. He toed his bright red sneakers back on and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, letting out a breath. Everything regarding All for One was complicated. Tomura absolutely adored the man but also despised him at the same time. Izuku sat in the exact same boat. Without another word, Izuku slipped out of the shady apartment complex and soon found himself standing outside the perimeters of Tartarus prison. Izuku shifted into a shadow and slipped through the prison with ease. Before he knew it, Izuku found himself on his knees, face down in front of his master. 

“Stand up,” All for One ordered, staring at his creation from his confines. 

“Master,” Izuku said, standing up, his eyes still downcast staring at the floor. Izuku had mixed feelings when it came to his master. All for One had accepted him and gave him something he never thought possible but he had also done everything he could to break Izuku. The greenette absolutely hated him. The day his sensei had gone to Tartarus, a weight fell off of his shoulders. He felt free, he felt safe from the one man who could completely and totally destroy him forever. It was because of All for One that Izuku didn't know who he was, the reason he seemed to teeter on the edge of villain and vigilante. The reason he was pretty much the anti-hero of his own story. All for One destroyed him and then tried to remake him. All it did, though, was confused Izuku until he didn't know who he was or what he believed in. He knew he didn't want to be a villain, that wasn't in his cards, but he had far too much blood on his hands to ever be a hero. Hell, at this point Izuku's morals were so fucked up it was unbelievable. He didn't know what was right or wrong anymore.

“Something is off about you, boy,” he rasped out, eyes roving over the teenager. “The guards let it slip about your fight with the number one hero,” he stated. Izuku lifted his eyes nervously, his hands wringing together behind his back. 

“Yes sir. I wasn’t-”

“Why didn’t you kill him?” He demanded, baring his teeth at the boy. “I gave you that power to take down the heroes. You’ve disappointed me.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him. I didn’t want-” Izuku sucked in a breath as All for One held up a single finger. 

“It doesn’t matter what you want. Your job was simple, Izuku. You are supposed to assist Tomura in taking down hero society, remember?” Izuku winced, squeezing his hands into fists nervously. “Is there something on your mind?”

“I was kicked out of my parents' house last night,” Izuku said softly, eyes roving around the small cell slowly. All for One was securely locked into a chair, arms fastened to the metal chair with leather bindings. Every part of his body shackled and chained down in hopes of keeping the man down. It was almost laughable in all honesty. Izuku knew his master could break out at any moment. The only reason he was even in the prison was that he was tired and needed rest. It was also a test for Tomura to see if he could survive without their master there to guide him and give him everything he needed to take down the commission. It was all a sham, though, considering he had Izuku visit to give him updates and receive orders on how to help the idiotic villain. Every plan Izuku gave the League of Villains came directly from All for One himself. 

“They kicked you out?” All for One asked him, Izuku nodded his head slowly and the villain boss laughed harshly. “Fuck your family. You’re too powerful than they will ever be and they are frightened by it.”

Izuku nodded again and sat on the floor in front of his master. “Yeah, it just sucks. I never thought they would do that but they think I’m a villain.”

“Because you are.”

“No,” Izuku said quietly. “Master I don’t want to be a villain. I want to use the gifts you gave me to save people who need it. I don’t want the fame and glory of those heroes,” Izuku said, his lip curling slightly. “I just want to help people, Master.”

“And you are, you’re helping Tomura and you are helping me by helping Tomura,” All for One said gently and Izuku bowed his head once more. This was why their relationship was odd. The man had no issues breaking every bone in Izuku’s body and beating him to an inch of his life. He had done everything he could to strip Izuku of his anxieties and insecurities. He was rough and harsh and didn’t care about hurting the boy. But he was also Izuku’s mentor, he gave the teenager advice, listened to his problems and he would even empathize with the vigilante. All for One had many sides to him but only Tomura and Izuku were lucky enough to see the kind-ish father figure that All for One tended to be. It was why Izuku hated and loved the man at the same time. He was more than aware that he was abusive and at times he didn’t think the man even cared for him. Maybe Izuku just had Stolkholm syndrome at this point. Who knew? It was complicated and he didn’t enjoy thinking about it too often. “You are instrumental to Tomura’s work.”

“I know Master, but you know what I want to do with my life. I just want to be a good person who helps people,” he said, resting his hands on his knees. 

“I was never able to beat the kind-hearted spirit out of you, no matter how hard I tried to kill it,” All for One mused, looking at the boy with amusement. 

Izuku gave the man a wry smile and shook his head. “It’s going to get me into trouble. I’m starting to wonder if maybe I’m just broken,” he murmured, looking down at his hands again. 

“Why do you say that?” He asked, cocking his head to the side--or as much as the villain could considering he was so locked up. 

The vigilante let out a quiet chuckle. “I think I might have a thing for my childhood bully. I seem to enjoy powerful, violent people and their company. I mean that’s the only reason I still tolerate you, Master. And why I’m okay with being friends with Tomura who disintegrates me just for fun. Katsuki is, he’s not as bad as he once was. He’s still angry and kinda violent. But well, so am I now. And I think he regrets what happened between us, ya know?”

“He was the reason we met, correct?” All for One mused. Izuku nodded his head. 

“Yeah, he was.”

“Feelings are weak, Izuku. You know they do nothing but get in the way and cause problems. He also aspires to become the number one hero, if I remember correctly,” he said. Izuku nodded once more and bit his lip. He knew it would never work between the two of them. They were so different and it would never work out between them. 

“I know they are. They could get me killed,” he said and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Master. I’m distracting you. You wanted me to come here?”

“I want you to be happy, Izuku. If the boy makes you happy, take what you want. Just don’t let it become a weakness,” All for One told him solidly before his eyes rested on the scarred covered boy. “I have one final gift for you. My dear friend passed on in his cell last night. I want you to have his quirk. As he was Tomura’s protector, it only makes sense for you to have the power now,” he stated, Izuku’s head shot up at that. 

“Master? Kurogiri?” He asked, his green eyes wide in horror. “I don’t, he was a nomu-- it could, it could destroy me. I’m not strong enough.”

“Ah, yes,” All for One stated, nonchalantly. “You are more than strong enough to handle the quirk.”

“I don’t want to look like-like a shadow all the time!” Izuku screeched, shaking his head vehemently. He did not want to look like Kurogiri did, this was it. He had to put his foot down. He didn’t want to look like-fuck. All for One had that gleam in his eye. 

“If you’re strong enough, you won’t. You also aren’t dead like he was when we had him created,” his master reminded. “It will be different for you.”

Izuku shook his head, quick, rapid, and jerky motions. He could barely handle it the last time his master had given him a quirk. Shadow nearly destroyed his body and he still struggled with it at times. Shadow and Particle were too much for his body, the only reason he was surviving was because of Survivor. “Master, it could destroy me.”

“Only if you let it. You want to use your gifts to save people, correct?” All for One asked him, raising his eyebrow. 

“Yes sir. You know I do. I don’t know how Warp Gate can do that. I have shadow, I can just slip away into the shadows or use particles to throw me through the skies. I don’t need it,” he said, trying to do anything he could to not get this quirk. He was certainly not interested in looking like a giant black cloud. 

“If it behaves the way I am hoping it will, Warp Gate will combine with shadow. Warp Gate gave Kurogiri the ability to create and manipulate the dark fog that was his body and become a portal. For you, it will latch onto your control over the shadows. You will be able to produce your shadows and transport people to your choosing. Next time you are attacked by a hero, it will give you an out so you don’t get hurt as you did with Endeavor. You desire to save others, let us change our agreement. This will be our last meeting for a while, Izuku. Do whatever you can to show these idiots what a hero is supposed to be like. If you can save Tomura from the situations he finds himself in, you are free to do what you wish with your quirk. No more coming up with plans, you don’t even have to help them with their battles. Just do not let my boy die,” he ordered. “This quirk will help you do just that.”

All for One waved his finger a single time, a large warp gate spread open before a dark shadow forced its way down Izuku’s throat. Everything went red as Izuku’s body felt as though it caught on fire, he fell into the portal, his mind only thinking of going somewhere safe. 

~~~

Katsuki slumped onto the couch beside Kirishima as he watched the dumbass play some All Might themed video game with Sero and Kaminari. To say that katsuki was not in a good mood would be a major understatement. He hadn’t seen Deku in nearly two weeks. It was like the dumbass was just going to kiss his cheek and then fall off of the face of the planet. What kind of asshole did that? And he hadn’t even texted Katsuki! It was fucked up.

“Will you please quit sulking over Midoriya?” Mina stated, coming into the room, her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. At first, Mina had been all for the idea of Katsuki being in a relationship with the vigilante. But when the nonstop moping started, all she wanted to do was kill the both of them. 

“I’m not sulking over fucking Deku. I’m watching these idiots suck at the easiest fucking game in the world,” he muttered, resting his chin on his face. Did he miss Deku? Fuck no. 

Well…

Kinda. 

Deku was a sarcastic shithead. He could take anything that Katsuki threw at him and turn right back around and throw some shit of his own. He didn’t walk on eggshells around Katsuki, he was an unrepentant asshole. Just like Katsuki. 

“You know where he lives, just go see him,” Kaminari said, shrugging his shoulders as his superhero character was thrown off the platform. 

“Oh are you guys playing Plus Ultra Smash!?” Mina cooed, falling onto the ground between Sero and Kaminari. She snatched Kaminari’s control and started fighting. 

“I called my mom this morning to see if he was there,” Katsuki said with a sigh. “She told me his parents kicked him out last night.”

“Bro did you see that fight between him and Endeavor. He almost had him until Endeavor caught him on fire!” Sero exclaimed, looking at his friend wide eyed. “I was watching the clips this morning, it was so badass! He was even fighting while on fire for a while before he threw Endeavor across town and left.”

“Why did his parents kick him out?” Kirishima asked, giving his friend a concerned look. “Does he need a place to stay? I mean we can probably smuggle him into the dorms.”

“I don’t fucking know. I haven’t talked to the bastard since you assholes learned he was Shadow,” Katsuki snapped, tiny explosions starting to pop. “I don’t know where he is, I don’t know why they kicked him out. All the hag said was that they were tired of Deku’s behavior and his step dad kicked him out. Auntie Inko is in a panic because she already regrets it and she doesn’t know where he is. He didn’t go to school either so I think the dumbass dropped out.”

“Shit man,” Kirishima said with a low whistle. “Do you really think that you need to be around someone like that? He really doesn’t seem like a good influence on you.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki snapped. “You don’t know what’s good for me. I’m going to my fucking room.”

The blond stood up and stormed to his room, ignoring his friends as they shouted for him to come back. Katsuki slammed his door shut and fell on his bed, letting out a loud scream into his pillows. Why was he being like this? Katsuki wasn’t the kind of person to fucking pine over people. Besides, Shitty Hair was right. The shitty vigilante surrounded himself with the League of Villains, he was always up to no good. Fuck he had even admitted to killing people and it didn’t seem like he even had a problem with murdering people. 

But.

Izuku was kind. Sure he was sarcastic and sassy as hell but he had a good heart. He had always had a good heart. The vigilante made it clear that he just wanted to help people, he didn’t care how he did it. He just wanted to do good in the world by any means necessary. And fuck, if it wasn’t hot seeing the kid he once knew to be so anxious and insecure become so cocky and sure of himself. That gleam in his eyes when he roasted Katsuki with absolutely no problem, well, it brought the hero in training to his knees. 

A rumbling sounded throughout Katsuki’s dorm room, causing the boy to shoot up in bed. His eyes widened as a black hole opened up in his room. Katsuki scrambled onto his feet. Was this a League attack? Why was it in his room? 

“What the fuck?” He snapped as Deku was vaulted into his room, the portal shutting after him. 

Deku didn’t answer, his body wavered as he let out a loud groan. First shifting completely into a shadow, his body melting into a black pool of nothing before his body solidified once more. Katsuki fell to the floor in front of his friend. 

“Deku, what’s going on? What’s happening?” He demanded, grabbing at the boy only for his hands to go right through him, he watched as the greenette’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. Deku shot up, his hands started to claw at his chest, soundless words coming from his mouth before he fell back to the floor. Katsuki tugged at his hair. What was he supposed to do? Deku wasn’t solid, he couldn’t get him to stop gasping, and, fuck he looked like he was dying. Katsuki reached for his phone and dialed Aizawa’s number. 

“Fuck, Mr. Aizawa, I know it’s late I-I need you to come to my dorm. I don’t know what to do,” he rushed out as Deku’s back arched and shadows poured out of his mouth. 

“What’s going on, Bakugou?” The teacher asked tiredly. 

“I-I fuck- I don’t know how to explain it. It’s fucking complicated. Just get here and fuck, I don’t know Eri might need to use her quirk, I don’t know what’s going on,” he stammered as Izuku turned into a puddle of shadow once again, practically melting into nothing. He let out a loud gasp as his body forcefully turned solid once again. Katsuki tentatively touched him and sighed in relief as his finger pressed into soft flesh. 

“I gotta go. Just get here,” he snapped and hung up. He tossed his phone onto the floor as Izuku’s chest seized and stopped moving completely, his hands flying up and clawing at his throat as shadows poured out of his throat once again. “Shit,” Katsuki muttered and, not knowing what else to do he started performing chest compressions on the vigilante, his head dipping down to attempt to blow air into the shadow covered mouth. He stopped paying attention to everything but Deku as he did everything he could to get Deku to just stop. He didn’t know what was wrong with the dumbass but he couldn’t let him fucking die. The dorm bedroom slammed open and a small gasp filled the room. 

“Mido!” Eri screamed, scrambling over to the boy. Katsuki held back a snarl as her tiny hands rested on the vigilante’s arms. “What’s wrong with Mido?” She cried as her hands passed through his body. 

“What’s going on?” Aizawa demanded, shutting the door quickly and falling to the floor in front of Deku. “Why is Shadow in your room?” 

“I don’t know!” Katsuki shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “A portal opened and he just showed up and I don’t know if he’s seizing or what but I think he’s dying.”

“He can’t die,” Aizawa muttered before looking down at the struggling boy as Izuku’s fingers clawed at his face. 

“Can’t you just turn off his quirk? Maybe it’s malfunctioning!” Katsuki practically screamed watching Deku’s eyes clenched shut, his chest rising in the air as shadows started circling his body. 

“If I erase his quirk for too long, Survivor completely shuts off and his injuries start to come back. Eri, if you see Shadow start to fall apart I need you to start to rewind him,” Aizawa said calmly as he looked at his daughter. The little girl nodded in confirmation as Aizawa’s hair started to float and his eyes turned bright red as he looked at the boy. 

“Deku!” Katsuki shouted when Izuku’s body started to solidify. “Wake up you dumbass,” he shouted, pounding his fist on Deku’s chest hard. 

“Hit me again, and I’ll fucking kill you,” Deku muttered, his eyes clenched shut. 

“What’s going on?” Aizawa barked at him, his eyes still wide open. “Why are you in my student’s room?”

Izuku let out a breath, still not opening his eyes. It felt like his head was going to split open at any second. “New quirk, don’t stop erasing. Need to breathe,” he murmured, clenching his hands into fists. “Eri doesn’t need to be here.”

“How the fuck do you know Deku?” Katsuki asked, glaring at Aizawa. 

Izuku smirked as he continued to lay on the ground, not moving an inch. “Aizawa thinks he can turn me onto the path of good and I’ll magically become a hero. I’m just using him to see Eri,” he murmured and let out a groan as cuts slowly started to appear along his body. “Shit. It’ll run its course, Eri shouldn’t see me like this.”

“How do you just get a new quirk? Where would you even get some shit like that? How does that happen?” Katsuki demanded, punching his friend again. Deku let out a whimper, his eyes squeezing tighter. 

“Aizawa turn off your quirk. Please,” he begged, his body started to fall apart in front of them. Aizawa blinked and the teenager let out a loud scream as the shadows started circling his body once more, Survivor causing the cuts to heal. 

“Is he okay?” Eri whimpered, hugging onto the teacher. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen someone obtain a quirk like this before,” Aizawa said softly. “We can stay until this stops. And Bakugou can explain how he knows your brother,” he said, giving his student a pointed look. Katsuki’s face grew red and he scratched the back of his neck. 

“We grew up together. I’ve known Deku my entire life,” he said. Aizawa squinted his eyes. 

“What’s his real name?” He demanded. 

“Fuck, I just call him Deku. If he doesn’t want you to know, I’m not telling you,” Katsuki said solidly. 

“I will expel you,” Aizawa threatened as Deku let out a loud scream, the shadows forcing themselves back into his body. 

“His name is Izuku Midoriya.” Deku was going to fucking kill him. But he knew without a doubt that Aizawa was not bluffing.

“Mido!” Eri cried, launching at the boy as he started yanking at his hair, curling into a ball. Katsuki grabbed her and pulled the little girl away. 

“He’s going to be okay, don’t worry,” he said calmly, his eyes on the boy in front of him. They flicked back up at Aizawa for just a fraction of a second before he looked back at his friend. “Look, I haven’t seen him until middle school, not until a few months ago when we reconnected. I didn’t realize he was the vigilante at first. Last I saw him he was a quirkless loser who had just survived a suicide attempt. Now he suddenly has apparently four fucking quirks and--”

“He has four!” Aizawa shouted, his eyes going wide. 

“Shit,” Katsuki muttered, his face fell into his hand. “Well, until today he just had three that I knew of. One that kept him alive and won’t let him die, one that I don’t really fucking know, he can use it to suspend people in the air or throw things around with no problem and then he has the one he’s famous for. Shadow,” he said, watching the boy roll on the ground. “I don’t know what this new one is or how he even got all of these quirks. He’s best friends with Shigaraki so I assumed he got to them from All for One but he's locked up. So I don’t know what’s happening anymore.”

“I got it from him,” Izuku said quietly, all of a sudden. “He’s my master,” he croaked out and sat up slowly, wincing slightly before he opened his eyes. 

Katsuki sucked in a deep breath. “Deku,” he said softly, grabbing the boy by his chin and forced him to look at him. 

“What?” He asked curiously. 

“Your eye,” he whispered, not tearing his eyes away. One green eye and one blood-red eye stared at him confused.

Chapter Text

“What’s wrong with my eye?” Izuku asked, furrowing his eyebrows confused. Everything hurt and he wasn’t particularly in the mood to deal with the stupid heroes that were surrounding him. 

“It’s like, fuck it’s blood-red like-like mine,” Katsuki said, staring at his eye. 

“Shit,” Izuku muttered before carefully getting up and running to the bathroom. He stared at the mirror angrily. “Fuck! Kacchan do you have a spoon?”

“Why do you need a spoon?” the blond demanded, coming into the bathroom. Izuku huffed, glaring angrily at his friend. 

“So I can fucking gouge it out, what do you think?” He exclaimed before turning to the mirror and stretching his eyelids. “That fucker. I am not turning into a goddamn nomu just because he has a stupid desire to protect the idiot from everyone and everything. I am not his goddamn lackey and I’m not going to start walking around with fucking red eyes- shit!” He shouted, Katsuki’s hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him away from his eye. 

“Are you trying to fucking gouge out your own eye!? What the fuck Deku!?” Katsuki shouted angrily, pushing the vigilante out of the bathroom and onto his bed. “You have some fucking questions to answer.”

Aizawa stood up carefully and brushed his sweatpants off before he crossed his arms and glowered at the boy before him. “Who did this to you, Midoriya?”

Izuku whipped his head towards Katsuki. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he scoffed before he buried his face in his hands. “Who do you fucking think?”

“Mido! Don’t curse so much,” Eri chided and climbed onto the bed next to him. She crawled into his lap and gave the boy a tight hug. “You scared me.”

Izuku smiled at the little girl and ran his fingers through her soft grey hair. “I’m okay. And I’ll try my best,” he murmured and looked over her at the UA teacher. “All for One is my master. The day I tried to kill myself, Shigaraki had Kurogiri take me to him and in exchange for being friends with Tomura, he gave me the quirk Survivor. That way there was always someone in this world besides him who could be there for the idiot and I won’t die if Tomura accidentally touched me. In fact he abuses that,” Izuku muttered, glaring at the floor. “All for One became my sensei, he taught me how to defend myself and how to fight. I trained everyday after school until he was arrested. He did everything he possibly could to squash every ounce of humanity in me, even if it meant he had to torture me to do it. He worked to create the perfect weapon to protect Shigaraki from everyone, including himself. When I told him I had always dreamed about being a hero, though, he laughed in my face and told me I could be better than any hero.”

“Is that how you turned into a bad guy?” Eri asked him, completely enraptured in Izuku’s story. 

Izuku smiled and shook his head. “I’m not a bad guy, Eri. I saved you and Mirio, didn’t I?” He asked, still twisting her hair in his fingers. Katsuki took a seat next to him and let out a sigh. 

“So you became a vigilante?” He asked him, looking at Izuku curiously. Izuku shrugged. 

“Yeah, pretty much. I started to understand the villains and I don’t particularly agree with everything they do, but I saw what they mean. Heroes fail more people than they save. And yeah, I get it, you can’t fucking save everyone. But if heroes would stop caring about rankings and how popular they are then they could save more than they are. They would notice a quirkless boy who was on the verge of giving up. Or they would see the little boy who accidentally murdered his entire family and try to help them. The heroes would have never found Eri because they were so consumed with capturing the villains that they weren’t even looking at the victims. That’s why I became a vigilante or whatever people keep fucking calling me. And Sensei gave me a second quirk so that I could actually do that,” he said. 

“So why do you have four quirks?” Aizawa demanded, still looking at the boy. Izuku frowned, why did it matter how he got them or why he had them? He had four quirks now and they were probably either going to kill him or turn him into a nomu. He knew that he wasn’t stupid. 

He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. “Particle was a gift so that I could be a vigilante like I wanted. Sensei was being kind when he gave it to me. Shadow and ugh Warp Gate, well. They’re to take care of Shiggy. The night the league kidnapped Katsuki, Shiggy didn’t want to turn him into a villain like everyone thought. He wanted to kill him.”

“Why?” Aizawa demanded. Izuku shifted his tired eyes towards Katsuki for a fraction of a moment and hugged Eri tight. 

“Because in Tomura’s head, Katsuki was the reason I tried to kill myself. So, he wanted to kill him to make me happy. Villains are stupid, Aizawa, they think that killing someone will take trauma and pain away. So, I stopped them from killing him. It wasn’t Katsuki’s fault I wanted to kill myself. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own. But, that night before Sensei got in his fight with that All Might bitch he told me he was tired. It was obvious that Tomura would never wake up and realize that he needed to be smarter and more cunning if he wanted to take down the hero commission. So he gave me Shadow so that if Shiggy got into particularly sticky situations I would be able to get him out of them without anyone seeing. He gave me half of Kurogiri’s quirk and told me that I would get the other half when I was ready, so while everyone was fighting, I was trying to not die from Shadow being forced on me. I-I guess Kurogiri died in prison and Sensei was able to get the quirk and sent for me. I showed up, he told me it was time. I got the quirk, came here, and tried to not die. So the agreement stands, I get to keep survivor and particle to do what I want as long as i use Warp Gate and Shadow to keep Shiggy from doing stupid shit.”

“So you’re saying All for One let All Might defeat him?” Aizawa asked and Izuku let out a laugh, throwing his head back. 

“Of course. All for One is the most powerful being in the world. If he wanted to leave that prison, he would have done it by now. He’s just teaching Shigaraki a lesson,” he stated and set Eri to the side. He stood up and walked back to the bathroom and started looking at the eye. “But yeah, he totally let fuck face win and has been resting in prison while Shigaraki learns to not depend on him for everything.”

Izuku leaned close to the mirror and let out a hum as he looked at his eye. Surely if he gouged it out, it could grow back green. Maybe? God, he fucking hoped so. He didn’t want to look like that heterochromatic Todoroki. And green and red? He would look like fucking Christmas. He let out a soft growl as he pressed his finger into the corner of his eye.

“Stop!” Katsuki shouted, running in and looking at his friend absolutely horrified. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Do you think if I gouge this eye out, it’ll grow back green? Maybe all the nomu crap is just in my eye? I mean why did it even turn red? What’s that all about?” Izuku asked casually before he stopped and swayed slightly, memories starting to flash through his mind. “Shit,” he muttered, holding onto the sink tight. 

“Are you okay, Kid?” Aizawa asked, looking at the boy curiously. Izuku let out a hiss as images passed through his mind. 

“I get,” he let out a breath, closing his eyes as a blue haired boy appeared in his mind. “Do you know someone with wispy blue hair uh, his name is,” Izuku squeezed his eyes shut tight as the memories kept coming. “Shirakumo?”

“How do you know Shirakumo?” Aizawa demanded, glaring daggers into the boy. 

“His body was used to create Kurogiri. When I get a quirk, I get the memories of the person who had them before. Uh, Shadow and Warp Gate are twisted, dark versions of his cloud quirk. Look, I don’t care what your relationship with him was but, just so you know he’s finally resting.”

Aizawa nodded his head slowly. “Thank you,” he said. “Now quit trying to gouge your eye out or else I’m going to arrest you.”

“You can’t arrest me!” Izuku shouted. “It’s my eye and I haven’t broken any laws today.”

“Today,” Aizawa said, rolling his eyes. “We are going to go. I will...turn a blind eye to this. But think about my offer, Midoriya.”

Izuku hummed and waved his hand lazily. “We’ll see. Tell Nighteye I need to talk to him soon,” he murmured, still looking at his eye. The cogs in his brain already mad at work. Izuku wasn't just angry, he was fucking pissed, and Nighteye was going to be the one to help him get his revenge. Aizawa and Eri left soon after and Izuku looked at Katsuki. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Katsuki muttered, leaning against the door jamb. 

“You’re my best friend right?” Izuku asked him slyly, giving him a small lopsided smile. “Best friends forever and all that gay shit?”

“What do you want?” Katsuki asked, eyeing him suspiciously. 

“Come gouge my eye out!” He exclaimed. 

“Fuck no! What the fuck is wrong with you? Who cares if you have a red eye? I have two fucking red eyes but you don’t see me trying to fucking gouge them out!”

“I like my green eyes, bastard!” Izuku exclaimed and pointed at his red eye. “This isn’t green! I don’t want it! I want my green eyes!”

“So you gouge your eye out?” He demanded and turned off the bathroom light and dragged the teenager to his room.

“It grows back, Kacchan! It’s not like I’m just ripping my eye out, it’ll grow back in like two hours!” Izuku exclaimed, following his friend. “And you never answered my question!”

“What question?” Katsuki snapped, shoving Izuku onto the bed before turning to his dresser. He ripped out a shirt and pajama pants and threw them at the vigilante. 

“We’re best friends forever and all that dumb shit,” he said, watching Katsuki curiously. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you shit to sleep in. We’re like the same size now you’re not a tiny pipsqueak anymore,” he said and sat back on the bed. “And yes you dumbass, we are. I don’t know why considering everyone thinks you’re an evil villain and I should probably ditch your stupid ass but we don’t do that to each other do we?”

Izuku gave him an amused smile. “No, we don’t. You help me, I help you. It’s how we are, besides you owe me for not letting Shiggy kill you,” he said happily before he tugged his t-shirt off. “So why did you give me your clothes?”

“You need a place to stay. Auntie won’t want to see you like this.”

“Inko kicked me out so I could care less how she sees me,” Izuku muttered before looking at the shirt and crinkled his nose. “Do you have anything that’s not covered in All Might?”

“You loved All Might.”

“That was years ago, idiot. I hate the idiot, not as much as Shiggy, but whatever. I’ll just wear the stupid shirt,” he said and ripped the shirt on before he stood and swapped his jeans out for the pajama pants. “Quit checking me out or else I’ll send you to America.”

“You can’t do that,” Katsuki said with a scoff. Izuku shrugged as shadows started pouring out of his hands and a portal slowly started to create. 

“Bet,” he said smugly before letting out a groan, the quirk slipped away and he fell back onto the bed. “Fuck,” he groaned, glaring at the ceiling as his arms started to spasm violently. 

“Are you okay?” Katsuki asked gruffly, climbing onto the bed. 

“I’m fucking fine. I gotta go, I’m not fucking staying here,” Izuku snapped, sitting up, his head starting to spin. Okay, so no using the quirk for a while. He had a pretty basic understanding of it, after all, he made it his business to know and understand the quirks of everyone in the League. 

“Yes, you are. This new fucking quirk is obviously not used to your body so you need to take it easy and rest,” Katsuki said, shoving Izuku back onto the bed. “Now shut up, I’m tired and--”

“It’s past your bedtime!” Izuku cooed as Katsuki shoved him to a side of the bed, pressing Izuku’s face against the wall as he got into the bed and threw the blanket over the both of them.

“Shut up, fucking Nerd,” Katsuki muttered, snapping his eyes closed. “You nearly gave me a goddamn aneurysm tonight, I’m exhausted.”

Izuku snorted and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, suddenly exhausted. “You’re cute,” he murmured. “Caring about me and shit.”

“Shut up,” he snarled, elbowing Izuku in the ribs as hard as he could. The vigilante let out a soft groan and let out a sigh right after. 

“You care about me,” he sang smugly, smiling like an idiot. 

“Deku!” Katsuki growled loudly, sparks starting to jump from his hands. 

“Kacchan,” Izuku sang happily. “I’m gouging my eye out tomorrow if it’s still red. And you’re going to help me.” With that, Izuku happily elbowed Katsuki in the ribs before he rolled onto his side once more and closed his eyes, an annoying, happy smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Katsuki’s eyes snapped wide open as he felt a face nuzzle into the side of his neck. This couldn’t be happening. Deku’s arms were wrapped around his waist. His fucking arms. Around. His. Waist. Was this heaven? Was this hell? He didn’t know but goddamn, if Deku moved his arms, he was going to fucking explode right then and there. 

He sucked in a deep breath, closing his eyes once again as he relaxed into Deku’s arms. Nope, this was definitely nice. Definitely amazing. Katsuki never wanted to move from his current position. But fuck. He would never tell Deku that of all people. Deku would never be allowed to know just how much Katsuki was enjoying Deku cuddling him.

Katsuki slowly slipped his hand over Deku’s scarred covered hand that clutched onto his shirt. No, he was not going to sit here and fucking hold hands while Deku slept.

As his hand drifted over the idiot, the greenette let out a quiet yawn, his leg kicked over Katsuki’s and he hugged the hero student a little tighter.

“Are you done fucking cuddling me, dumbass?” Katsuki asked him, looking down at the sleepy, half-opened eyes resting on the crook of his shoulder.

Deku let out a quiet hum, his eyes fluttered open. “Nope. I need a few more minutes and then you can go back to being your normal raging asshole self,” He stated, hugging the boy even tighter. 

“I never took you for a cuddler, Deku,” Katsuki said smugly, rolling onto his side to better wrap his arm around the idiot. Deku let out a quiet growl.

“I’ve always been a hugger, now I’m just touch starved and angry all the time,” Deku muttered, pressing his face against Katsuki’s chest and heaved a soft sigh.

“Where have you been?” Katsuki asked him suddenly, his fingers subconsciously ran through Deku’s green curls, sometimes getting caught on the knots. He could only imagine what Deku’s hair looked like. Probably like a bird’s nest or some shit.

Deku frowned, letting go of Katsuki’s shirt, his hand splaying across the blond’s back. “What are you talking about?” he asked and Katsuki let out a huff of air. Fuck this. Fuck feelings. Was he really about to ask this? Fuck.

“You kissed me on the cheek that night and then you just fucking left. What the fuck was that all about? And then two weeks later you show up looking like you were in the goddamn Exorcist and now I wake up to you cuddling with me. Mixed signals aren’t fucking cute, Deku.”

The dumbass let out a groan and opened his eyes to look up at Katsuki. He sucked his lip back as he was met with one green eye and one red eye. Fuck. Deku was going to be pissed that it was still red. 

“You’re like the sun, Kat,” Deku murmured, searing Katsuki’s face, a contemplative look on his face. Katsuki frowned. What the fuck did that even mean? Deku chuckled softly and pressed his face against Katsuki’s chest. “You bring warmth and make me happy. But if I get too close, I would burn up.”

Katsuki laughed softly. “That was really fucking gay, Deku.”

He laughed and rubbed his nose against the Katsuki’s chest. “Shut up. I’m tired, I just nearly died and I think I still might be dying. I’m not entirely sure.”

“Well, if I’m the sun, does that make you the moon?” He asked, his fingers still raking through Deku’s knotty, tangled curls. Deku pulled back slightly to give him a confused look. 

“What?” He asked amusement laced his voice. 

“Well, the sun is constantly chasing the moon, isn’t it? Sometimes, I think the sun and moon were supposed to be lovers but something got fucked up. They always chase each other but rarely meet. And when they do catch one another, they kiss and everyone stares to watch their eclipse,” Katsuki murmured, twisting his fingers in the green curls now. Izuku stared up at him for a moment, surprise covered his face, his pink, pouty lips just slightly parted before he started laughing loudly. 

“Oh my god, Kacchan, where did you get that from? A fucking magazine?” He laughed, pressing his face against Katsuki’s again. 

“Shut up,” Katsuki muttered. “But it’s fucking true you asshole. You’re like the moon you’re all mysterious and shit. But you’re also just--agh fuck don’t make me keep going.”

Deku laughed again and leaned forward and kissed the boy on his cheek softly. “So eloquent, Kat,” he murmured and ran a thumb along the small of Katsuki’s back. “Just like the sun and moon, though, are we really good for each other?”

“I think so. I mean you chased me for so damn long, maybe it’s my turn to chase you,” Katuski said and rolled on top of Deku, a hand on either side of Deku’s face. “Stay with me, Izu.”

Izuku arched a single eyebrow, his eyes on Katsuki and only Katsuki. “What?”

“You said last night that Auntie kicked you out, right?” He said, twisting their hands together. “So, until then, stay with me. Let me chase you and then we can have the biggest, brightest, most blinding eclipse we can possibly have.”

Izuku grinned up at him. “Ah yes, the evil vigilante who associates with villains living in the dorms with a shit ton of wannabe heroes,” he stated with a roll of his eyes. 

“They won’t care. And Aizawa said he would turn a blind eye, besides for some weird reason he’s worried about you and wants what’s best,” Katsuki said, smiling down at him. “So stay with me. We can ugh, we can fucking cuddle every night and everything. Maybe I’ll even let you kiss me, who knows?”

Deku laughed and leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against Katsuki’s. “Fine. But if someone tries to arrest me, well, I won’t apologize for my actions. I can’t be held responsible for what people push me into doing.”

“That’s fair, I guess,” he murmured.

“It’s temporary. I’m not living with all you hero wannabes longer than necessary. I’m checking out a place today to get a job and then once I start making good money I’m getting a place of my own,” he said and smiled at Katsuki. “I’ll give you a key or some shit, who fucking knows? I don’t know if I can put up with you that much. The moon takes pretty long breaks from the sun, doesn’t it?”

“Can we stop talking about the fucking sun and moon?” Katsuki finally snapped. “It’s getting really fucking lame.”

“You’re right,” Deku said and shoved the blond off of him. “God I need a smoke. Hey, Dabi always lights my cigarettes with his finger, it’s real fancy. Can you do that shit?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you smoking you dumbass?” Katsuki demanded, the moment clearly over. 

“It isn’t like it can kill me,”  Deku laughed, slipping out of the bed. He stood and let out a groan, stretching his arms. “Now answer my question. Why do you do that? You always fucking evade my questions. Dick.”

“If I even wanted to try to light your stupid cancer stick it would just explode.”

“Can’t get cancer,” Deku sang before going to the bathroom. Katsuki fell back onto the bed and let out a sigh. God, was it really worth liking this asshole? It was exhausting. 

“What the fuck!?” Deku shouted from the bathroom before he ran out. “First off, what the fuck did you do to my goddamn hair, Kacchan? And second, why the fuck didn’t you tell me that my eye was still fucking red!?”

“Are you holding your eye?!” Katsuki shouted horror laced his voice. He scrambled out of bed and ran to his friend and looked at the eyeball sitting in Deku’s hand. 

“Yes! It’s fucking red! I don’t want that shit in my face!” He exclaimed before throwing it at Katsuki who let out a high-pitched scream. “I can’t believe you did this to my hair! Do you know how much it’s going to suck to fucking untangle this shit?” He demanded. 

“You just threw your eyeball at me! What is wrong with you?”

“I told you if it was still red, it was coming out,” Deku told him before digging in Katsuki’s drawer and pulled out a pair of black jeans. He bounced towards Katsuki’s closet and sighed at all the black shirts. “A man of my own heart,” he stated, pulling a solid black hoodie and t-shirt out and started to change. 

“Don’t get your disgusting blood on my shit Deku,” Katsuki growled. He picked up the eyeball, a gag slipping out of his mouth as he did. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?”

Deku looked back at him and laughed. “Oh uh, well. Himiko might like it so if you want to put it in your pocket I can give it to her later. Oh, do you want to run some fun errands with me?”

“Errands?” Katsuki asked him, arching up an eyebrow curious. 

“Yes, Kacchan. Errands. It’s what adults do when they aren’t wasting their lives in a hero school,” Deku said, yanking the shirt over his head. He finished getting ready and stepped into the bathroom. Katsuki followed him quickly and watched as Deku opened his now bad eye and sighed. 

“What?” He asked, leaning forward.

“It’s started to grow back. We’re all good, it’ll probably be back in about thirty minutes. Did you know that your eyeballs are the same size as they were when you were born? They don’t grow.”

“That’s a fucking lie, Deku. It isn’t true,” Katsuki said, watching as Deku inspected his eye socket carefully, widening his eyelids to look at a tiny little ball that sat in the socket. 

“Oh, well, I saw it on the internet. So you know,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. Deku started combing his fingers through his hair, scowling at the knots. “I hate you. You’re losing every hair privilege until you can learn how to handle curly hair.”

“Can’t stop me,” Katsuki said smugly. “It looks like sex hair.”

“Kacchan, don’t act like you know what sex hair looks like. You’re a fucking virgin and we both know it,” he stated smoothly before deciding his hair would be fine. “Now, get some clothes on. I’m going down to that little kitchen and getting breakfast. Hopefully, your little hero friends will leave me alone if I show them my eye.”

Katsuki let out an annoyed sigh. “Can you at least wait for me before you start terrorizing the masses?” He asked, pushing off of the wall. He stalked back into the room and changed into a casual outfit as fast as he could. 

“Nope, I’m going downstairs,” Izuku said as shadows came out of his fingertips. Deku stepped into the shadows and dropped through the floor with ease. 

Izuku landed right in the kitchen and let out a gasp, trying to get as much oxygen into his lungs as possible. “Shit. Yup no, still can’t use that shit,” he muttered and looked around before his eyes landed on Uraraka and Todoroki. “Oh, hi guys!” He said, waving happily. 

“Midoriya-Kun?” Uraraka asked. 

“Round Face!” He said cheerfully as he started digging through the cabinets. “Does Katsuki still eat that insanely sugary cereal?”

“Please don’t call me that. Bakugou is rubbing off on you,” she said with a groan. “Where did you come from?”

“Oh Kacchan’s room!” He said and grabbed the cereal. 

“You seem to be in a much better mood than what we usually see,” Todoroki stated. Izuku laughed and pulled a bowl out. 

“Well, I woke up cuddling the prick, that can put anyone in a good mood.”

“Bakugou cuddles?” Ururaka asked, shocked. 

“Me at least,” he said smugly, making his bowl of cereal. Izuku took a seat at the table and sighed before he looked up. “Hey, weird question-- will you look and see the progress on my eye?” He asked and looked at Todoroki. “I mean, you’ve had people fuck with your eye--sorta. I just don’t want to look like a knock off version of you,” he told him. 

“What?” He asked. Izuku opened his bad eye and the two students sucked in a breath. 

“What happened?” Ururaka asked, a horrified look on her face. 

“Is there an eye?” Izuku asked her, dodging the question. 

“Um, a really small one, can you see out of it?” Todoroki asked, leaning across the table to get a better look. Izuku focused for a moment, closing his good eye, and sighed. 

“Nope, not yet at least. What color is the iris?” He asked curiously.

“Green? Like always?” Ururaka said, still confused. Izuku grinned and leaned back in the chair as Katsuki barged into the kitchen glaring at the vigilante venomously. 

“What the fuck, Deku? You really don’t need to be using that fucking quirk!” Katsuki shouted and snatched the bowl of cereal away from him. “And don’t eat my fucking cereal!”

“Kacchan! Give it back!” Izuku whined, reaching for the cereal. “Look! My eye is green again! I told you if I just pulled that one out, it would grow back green! I don’t know how I knew it but I did!”

“You pulled your eye out?” Ururaka asked, looking absolutely horrified at this point. “What the hell Mido?”

“Did it hurt?” Todoroki questioned. 

“Like a fucking bitch, oh my god,” he groaned, snatching the bowl of cereal back and pulled Katsuki on his lap. “But, it was gross and needed to come out. Anyway, Kacchan, do you want to run those errands with me?” He asked. 

“Are you...holding Bakugou?” Todoroki asked, looking confused at this point. 

“He likes it, he just won’t admit it,” Izuku said smugly just as Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, and Ashido came waltzing into the room. “I have to go get my stuff from Tomura if you’re really insisting on me staying with you.”

“What?” Everyone in the kitchen questioned. 

“There is a lot to unpack in that sentence,” Todoroki stated, looking at Izuku curiously. The greenette smiled and shrugged his shoulders as Katsuki smoldered in his lap. 

“I am not going with you to fucking Shigaraki Tomura’s apartment,” he hissed angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists. Izuku looked up at the students and frowned. 

“Have your friends figured out who I am yet, or are hero students just unobservant as shit?” He asked, taking a bite of his cereal calmly. 

“We know you’re Shadow, we just didn’t realize you lived with the leader of the League of Villains,” Kirishima breathed, staring at the vigilante wide-eyed. 

“It was just for one night, really. I just left my stuff there,” he stated. “Trust me, I wouldn’t live with Shiggy unless I absolutely had to. But I can’t stay with Dabi, he won’t let me know where he lives. I mean the dumbass just recently told me who he is and… you know that’s a conversation for another time. Anyway, Twice is an annoying idiot, Himiko thinks I’m just an endless blood bank, and Compress just whines about his missing arm and tries to force me to watch his magic tricks.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Katsuki muttered angrily, trying to get off of Izuku’s lap, only for the vigilante to snake an arm around his waist. 

“Don’t worry, though, they aren’t planning on attacking hero students any time soon,” Izuku stated. “The League is-- well, they’re stupid.”

“Did you say you were staying for a while?” Kaminari asked weakly, looking at the scene in front of him worried. Izuku shrugged. He wasn’t stupid, now that the students knew who he was, well he knew they would be a little more on edge. 

“Yup. Aizawa is turning a blind eye. Kat gets me in his bed for a few weeks,” he said as Ashido and Ururaka let out twin squeals. 

“Oh my god! Are the two of you dating?” Ururaka asked, her brain finally catching up with everything happening around her. Katsuki and Izuku looked at one another, both of their noses screwed up. 

“No,” they said together. 

“I just like to give him a hard time and make him uncomfortable,” Izuku stated, eating more of his cereal. “Kat go get something to eat and we can go.”

“I’m not going!”

~~~

“I can’t believe you’re fucking making me go with you to the leader of the League of Villain’s apartment,” Katuski muttered angrily as he followed Izuku up the stairs of a shady looking apartment complex. Of course, it was shady, Shiga-fucking-raki lived there.

“I just asked you and when you said no, I said fine, I’ll go by myself,” Izuku stated, pulling out a key and unlocking the door. “And I said it’s nothing to worry about because Shiggy is my best friend and then you got jealous and started yelling at me and you’ve been following me ever since.”

“Shut the fuck up, bastard,” Katsuki grumbled and stepped into the apartment. His nose crinkled as he looked around to find an actually very nicely furnished apartment. A large leather couch sat pressed against the far wall, a folded blanket at the edge. Pictures of Shigaraki and Deku hung along the walls along with pictures of the other villains, and a television with insane amounts of video games stacked around it sat across from the couch. 

“Shiggy has a gaming addiction. It’s kind of sad to see,” Deku said with a sigh before he grabbed his backpack. 

“What did Master want!?” Shigaraki shouted from his room. 

“I got the last part of Kurogiri’s quirk,” he called back and snorted when something crashed. A bedroom door slammed open and Shigaraki himself ran out. 

“Wait--that means-” the words died on the villain's mouth as his eyes landed on Katsuki. 

“Yeah, Kurogiri died. I don’t really know what happened, Master didn’t say,” Izuku said, falling onto the couch and pulled out a cigarette from his bag and sighed in relief when he found a lighter. “Katsuki wouldn’t light my cigarette earlier. Apparently, he doesn’t understand that I can’t die.”

“What the fuck is he doing in my apartment?” Shigaraki demanded, glaring at Katsuki. If looks could kill, oh man, the blond would be toast. 

“Oh, he got offended when I said you were my best friend and bitched at me the entire time I walked here.”

“Because I am your best friend,” he said, still glaring venomously at the blond. 

“No, that would be me.”

“I never told Izu to-”

“I know oh my god I know what I said, Jesus Christ. But guess what, I woke up to Izu’s arms wrapped around me and he kissed me. So guess who’s the best fucking friend,” Katsuki gloated. 

“Best friends don’t do that,” Shigaraki said, his eyes moving to Deku. “What the fuck?”

“What? He’s cute, I’m not blind. Just masochistic,” Deku said, taking a drag on his cigarette before Katuski yanked it out of his mouth and put it out with his thumb. 

“Stop,” Katsuki muttered as the bedroom door opened up again. 

“Shiggy, who’s here?” A deep voice asked before two people came out of Shigaraki’s room. 

“What the fuck is happening?” Katsuki asked, looking between the villains curiously before back at Izuku. 

“We were forcing Shiggy to clean his room,” Toga stated, skipping into the room. She stopped dead at the sight of Katsuki. “Izu! Did you change your mind! Is this a toy!”

“No!” Deku snapped. 

“Oh but he told me to give you this,” Katsuki stated and pulled out Deku’s eyeball from his pocket and tossed it to the girl. 

“Is that Izu’s eye!?” She exclaimed, catching the eyeball. 

“Unfortunately,” he sighed, snatching another cigarette from Deku. 

“Wait, why…?” Dabi asked, trailing off. 

“Deku gouged it out this morning-”

“Oh it's red!” Toga exclaimed, looking at the eye curiously. 

“God you people are fucked up,” Katsuki muttered, sitting next to his, well, whatever Deku was to him. 

“Yeah, they are,” Izuku said, letting out a tired sigh as he watched Toga throw his eye into the air and let out a laugh. “But I love them for some weird reason.”

“I feel like I’m going to get murdered. The burned one keeps glaring at me,” Katsuki whispered to Deku quietly. 

“Oh, ignore him. He knows that you’re his brother’s rival so he automatically hates you,” Deku told him, resting his chin on his hand. 

“Wait-what?”

“Oh yeah. Dabi is Touya Todoroki. He has a weird obsession with making sure his brother is okay. And since you’re Icy Hot’s rival, that means Dabi thinks of you as his rival.”

Katsuki tore his eyes away from where he was watching Toga throw the eye in the air and looked at Deku. “You have to explain that to me later. When I’m not freaking out about the fact that blond bitch is playing with your eye?”

“She does that with all of my body parts. I’ve learned not to question it,” he said watching the chaos unfold. 

“So you’re dating huh?” Shigaraki asked, glaring at Katsuki.

“No,” the two said together. 

“If you hurt Izu, I’ll disintegrate you,” Shigaraki said, catching Deku’s eye from Toga and letting it turn to dust. 

“Well, okay, then,” Katsuki said with a cough as Toga let out a loud whine. Deku snorted and rested his head on Katsuki’s shoulder. 

“I am so sorry,” he laughed quietly. “I promise, it won’t be this horrible whenever I go check out that bar.”

“I still don’t think that’s a good idea,” Katsuki muttered, still eyeing the villains suspiciously. He knew without a doubt that if Deku wasn’t here with him, he would one hundred percent be dead.

“I need to make money somehow, you know. But if you prefer, I can leave you with these idiots while I go there,” Deku said slyly. 

“Fuck no. You aren’t going to that bar full of criminals by yourself,” Katsuki snapped, glaring at him. 

Deku gave him an amused smile and shook his head. “Kat, I’m a criminal, everyone in this apartment except you is a criminal,”  he said, amusement laced every word. He smiled at the blonde and shoved a blond spike of hair out of his face. He pulled his phone out and sighed at the time. “Alright. We’re going to head out, I just needed my things. Go back to having your orgy or whatever you were doing in the bedroom,” he said and stood up. His fingers linked with Katsuki’s and pulled him off of the couch. Katsuki smiled at his hand before he glared at the villains. 

“Just wait until Deku’s not around to protect you assholes. I’m going to take you all down,” he said, snark clear in his voice. “I’ll be the one to put you all behind bars.”

“Katsuki,” Deku said, letting out an exhausted sigh. He dragged the hero course student out of the apartment as the villains started shouting at him. 

“What? It’s fucking true, all your little villain friends are going down! They tried to fucking kill me!” Katsuki shouted angrily as he trudged behind the vigilante, their fingers still interlocked. 

“They’re my friends.”

“So am I, and the rest of class 3A.”

Deku snorted and shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint. But now that your class knows I’m Shadow, I doubt that they think of me as their friend.” Katsuki glared at him. If those fucking assholes changed their mind about Deku, he would kick every single one of their asses. Deku was a great fucking person even if he was an idiot and was friends with villains. That was the best part of Deku. He didn’t discriminate, he was friends with everyone because even with shitty villains like Shigaraki, Deku saw the best in them. It’s why he still put up with Katsuki, wasn’t it?

“Nah, they like you. If they don’t then they’re just fucking idiots,” he spat. Deku just smiled at him and shook his head again. Katsuki and Deku soon found themselves in one of the shadiest parts of town. 

“Sister Margaret’s Home for Wayward Girls?” Katsuki asked, frowning at the dilapidated building, a small dark bronze plaque pressed into the old bricks. 

“Better known as the Hellhouse,” Deku told him and dropped Katsuki’s hand. Deku reached into his backpack and pulled out his familiar metal mask and strapped it on his face. He lifted the black hood up, covering the majority of his face before he turned to Katsuki and let out a sigh. “Fuck.”

Deku bent down and dug through his bag before he pulled out a twin mask and black beanie. He shoved them into Katsuki’s hands. “Put that on, and pop the collars on your jean jacket. If anyone asks you what your name is, it’s Boom. Got it?”

“That’s a fucking stupid name.”

“Yeah well if you went by Explosion, everyone would immediately know you’re the hero student with the explosion quirk. So you’re going by Boom until further notice. King Explodo Murder,” he said with a snort. Katsuki glowered and slipped the mask onto his face before he finished getting ready. 

“Alright, let’s go,” he muttered. Deku’s eyes sparkled before he set his shoulders and rolled his neck before he shoved the doors open and walked in like he owned the place. He kind of reminded Katsuki of well, himself. This was the Deku he saw when he first ran into him a few months ago. That cocky, bratty dick was back.

“What do you want?” A man growled, looking the duo up and down. Deku shrugged and tilted his head to the side.

“Where can I find Patch?” Deku asked, his voice bored and uninterested. Katsuki watched the man in front of him blanch ever so slightly as Deku started to pick his nails, bored. 

“What does some kid like you want with Patch?” He demanded. 

“Looking to start picking up jobs, what do you think?” Deku said before glancing around. “It’s obvious you’re useless. I’ll find someone smarter to help me,” he said, and looked at Katsuki, nodded his head slightly. He started towards the bar and let out a snort.

“What?” Katsuki hissed, looking over at him nervously. 

“They have a dead pool. Look,” he said, glancing up at the blackboard set up above the bar. Names of heroes and villains alike were listed with bets against each one. 

“What the fuck is a dead pool?” Katsuki questioned, his eyes landing on Endeavor’s name, then All Might's. Hell, Eraserhead was even on the wall. But so was Shigaraki, Toga, and...Shadow?

“They place bets on heroes, villains, any kind of big figurehead really-”

“What are they betting on?”

“Who is going to die or get arrested or lose a fight, shit like that,” Deku stated before he hopped into a seat in front of the bar. Katsuki followed suit and watched as the vigilante pulled a gold card out of his pocket and flicked it around in his fingers for a moment before he looked a barkeep down. “How can I get a hold of Patch?” He demanded. 

“Who’s asking?” The old bartender snapped, glaring right back at Deku. 

“Shadow,” he stated smoothly. Deku leaned back into his seat. “I was told if someone wanted a job, this was the best place to find some hits.”

The old man’s eyebrows shot up. “Shadow huh? You’ve got a lot of bets on your name,” he said, not even bothering to glance Katsuki’s way. 

“I know. It’s a shame those idiots will never get their money. So, Patch, you got any jobs for me?” Deku asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The old man gave him a smirk and set a gold card in front of Deku, almost an exact match to the one Deku already had. 

“Let’s talk in my office. You can leave your little bodyguard out here. Buck over there will keep him safe,” Patch stated, eyes flicked over to Katsuki for just a moment. Deku glanced at him, was that...concern in his eyes. 

“I’ll be fine,” he said gruffly, crossing his arms like Deku’s. A clear “don’t look at me” vibe permeated from his body. Deku nodded once before he followed Patch back to a shitty looking office.

Katsuki turned in his seat and looked around. The room was dimly lit, booths lined the walls of the room, pool tables littered the floor. The room was also filled with some of the shadiest, sketchiest people Katsuki had ever seen in his life. After what felt like a million years (actually probably thirty minutes) a man sauntered over to Katsuki. 

“You look a little young to be in this bar, kid,” a gruff voice said and leaned against the bar to look Katsuki over. 

“Fuck off.”

“Feisty, I like it,” he snarled at Katsuki. Katsuki glared right back at the man over his mask.

“I will blow your fucking face off if you don’t back up,” he growled, his fists clenched tightly. The man smirked and grabbed the front of Katsuki’s jacket and pulled him close. 

“If you don’t let go of him, you won’t be happy with what happens,” Deku stated lazily, stepping out of Patch’s office.

“We’re just having a bit of fun, aren’t we, kid?” The bar patron stated. Katsuki glowered and raised his fist in the air when the hand was suddenly no longer wrapped around Katsuki’s shirt. Instead, the man was thrown across the room as if it were nothing. 

“Let’s go, Boom,” Deku stated, walking out of the bar as if he hadn’t thrown the man across the room like he was a rag doll. Katsuki stood and followed the vigilante out of the bar, every eye on them. 

“How’d it go?” He asked gruffly once they were a few streets away and Deku had lowered his hood, his mask now hung from his neck. Katsuki ripped the mask off and shoved it in Deku’s backpack. 

“Fine. I have a hit so I’ll be busy tonight. It shouldn’t take too long, really. I told Patch I wanted the jobs that no one else wanted,” Deku said, his arms dangled freely, not shoved in his pockets like usual. Katsuki was tempted to take his hand. He wouldn’t, though. He wasn’t some soft bastard who needed to hold Deku’s hand. 

“What kind of jobs are they, then?” Katsuki questioned.  He didn’t like that Deku was picking up fucking jobs as a mercenary. He hated it, actually. He was better than that, wasn’t he?

“Oh, it’s kind of one or the other. So there are some hits from people who can’t really afford to even be taking out a hit, like the one I have today. There’s also some that are too deadly for most mercs but considering I can’t fucking die, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“What kind of hit do you have tonight?” Katsuki asked him curiously as Deku laced his fingers with Katsuki’s. A small smile slid upon Deku’s face as Katsuki visibly relaxed.

“This girl, she goes to the local high school, uh some guy has been stalking her. She gave all of her babysitting money to Patch in hopes of someone being willing to get the guy to lay off. No one wants to deal with teenager drama or take money from an actual child.”

“But you will?” He asked incredulously. That didn’t sound like Deku whatsoever. The vigilante let out a scoff. 

“No. She’s getting her fucking money back. But that doesn’t mean that asshole can get away with stalking her,” Deku stated, glaring at Katsuki. “I’m not that big of an asshole Kacchan.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I don’t like it. I don’t like you doing this.”

“Quit being overprotective. I just proved in the bar I can take care of myself. Unlike you.”

“I have a provisional license, I can only use my quirk in emergencies. I can’t just attack some random asshole because I want to. I can lose everything.”

The smile on Deku’s face spread thin at that. He obviously didn’t agree with the rules of how people could use their quirks in self-defense. Katsuki sighed. He didn’t want to get into this conversation with Deku. Not at the moment, anyway. 

“Fine, whatever. You can hold your own. But I’m still going to worry about you.”

“Cute,” Deku stated simply, his smile returning slightly. Katsuki’s ears burned. He hated this bastard so fucking much.

Chapter Text

As soon as Midoriya and Bakugou left the dorm rooms, the entire class of 3A gathered in the common area. The students gathered together on the various pieces of furniture in the room. Tenya Iida crossed his arms over his chest, a scowl prominent on his face.  

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to be here with us,” he stated abruptly. “Midoriya seems like a nice young man but his vigilante status is morally wrong and as future pro heroes we cannot condone his actions.”

“I don’t think that seems fair,” Ochaco Uraraka stated, running her fingers through her short brown hair. “Midoriya is very nice and I don’t know, I’ve never seen Bakugou smile as much as he does when he’s around Midoriya.”

“Wait—that’s a smile? I thought he was having strokes?” Denki Kaminari exclaimed, a bright smile on his face.

“No! Midoriya makes Bakubro so happy!” Eijiro Kirishima stated, shaking his head. “Look, I get it. Shadow is a terrifying vigilante. I mean he doesn’t choose sides or anything but he’s genuinely a nice person even if he’s a little rough around the edges. I don’t know, he calms Bakubro down.”

“He’s dangerous ,” Tenya pushed. “He’s a vigilante, he’s unhinged.”

“He doesn’t seem that unhinged to me,” Mina Ashido stated, ruffling her hair. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back on the couch. “I mean let’s not even talk about him as Midoriya. Shadow always made it super clear that he only wants to save people. He doesn’t actively hurt anyone.”

“What about that fight with Endeavor just a few days ago? Todoroki, how do you feel, I mean that was your father,” Momo Yaoyorozu stated, looking at her boyfriend curiously. Shouto Todoroki just shrugged his shoulders, his arm wrapped around the girl’s shoulders. 

“I’m just upset that he didn’t finish my father off,” he stated mutinously. 

“What about when he joined the League of Villains in that battle against the heroes just a few months ago?” Asui Tsuyu questioned, tapping a single finger on her lip. “I don’t know, that just seems off, don’t you think?”

“You mean the one where Hawks was a double agent and he switched sides?” Mina exclaimed. “The hero commission opened an attack on the League because they thought Hawks was being forced to do it. All Shadow did was call out the abuses of the Hero Commission and when the commission attacked, of course, he was going to take the League’s side. The commission should have never done that,” she countered. 

“Midoriya has been nothing but polite every time he gets dragged to the dorms,” Hitoshi Shinsou stated from his spot on the couch, tucked against Kaminari. “I trust him. Besides, Da-Mr. Aizawa is turning a blind eye to the whole thing.”

“He’s got a point,” Hanta Sero chirped, his back pressed against the front of a couch. “And besides, Shadow has also teamed up with the heroes before.”

“You’re right!” Mina shouted, throwing her arms wide. “Remember? He saved Mirio and Eri’s life! I dunno, he’s really intense but he’s a really good person and I think we should trust him. Bakubro is happy with him and I like him.”

“I do too, I really want to be friends with him. Besides, we’re going to be heroes one day, maybe our good influence on Midoriya can get him to change and not be a vigilante anymore!” Ochaco stated happily. The group look at one another cautiously as they all begin to discuss what they should do and whether or not they can actually trust the young vigilante. Hours later, the door to the dorms swung open and in stepped none other than Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya, their hands twined together. A smile graced Bakugou’s face before he scowled at the group of students gawking at them.

“What are you extra’s looking at?” He snapped, his face turning bright red. 

“Oh get off it, Kacchan,” Midoriya said lazily, giving the blond a look that immediately quieted the angry blond. As the class looked on, it seemed that their issues were settled. No one could get Bakugou to calm down that quickly. Midoriya was staying and they would just have to get used to it. “What are you all doing?” He asked, quirking up a small smile. 

“We were...just discussing which movie we wanted to watch,” Kirishima stated, a small smile on his face as he looked at their still interlocked hands. 

“Kat! Can we watch a movie with them before I go to work?” Midoriya stated, giving Bakugou a puppy dog look, his bottom lip pushed out slightly. 

Bakugou grimaced and he let go of the vigilante’s hand. “You can, I have homework to do,” he said. Midoriya’s eyes slid over to the group, then back at the blond. 

“Alright, I’ll come back to bother you before I go out on that hit,” he stated and stood on his toes, pressing a soft kiss to Bakugou’s cheek before he walked over to sit between Kirishima and Uraraka. Bakugou smiled at the boy before he headed to the elevators and went up to his room. 

“So Midoriya,” Kaminari said, a mischievous look gracing the blond’s face. Midoriya glanced up, giving him a curious look. 

“Uh, yeah?”

“What are your intentions with our precious Bakubro?” He asked, his eyes narrowed. 

Midoriya’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, uh. Probably to just drive him crazy until the end of time,” he stated. “No one can piss him off like I do.”

“I don’t know, man, Kami is pretty good at that himself,” Shinsou stated, giving the vigilante an amused look. 

Midoriya’s eyes lit up at that. “Well, if you enjoy pissing him off, just call him Kacchan the next time you see him. He practically begged me to stop calling him that in front of you guys. It’s why I’ve just stuck to calling him Kat when I remember,” he said with a shrug. “Although, I will not apologize for what he may do to you if you do call him Kaccahn.”

“Good information,” the blond hero student said, an evil grin on his face. “Very good information, huh, Mineta.”

Minoru Mineta glared venomously at the vigilante. “I don’t trust you,” he hissed, his eyes in near slits.

Midoriya shrugged. “That’s fine, I heard you’re a pervert so you probably shouldn’t trust me. I’ve killed people for being perverts. Just because you’re a hero student doesn’t mean you’re an exception,” he said easily before he looked at Kirishima. “What are your movie options? My only request is no stupid All Might movies. Kat fanboys enough about him as it is. I need a reprieve.”

“Bakubro is a fanboy?” Kaminari squealed as the girls all looked at Midoriya, respect and appreciation shone in each of their faces. 

“Oh yeah, he got mad at me for getting blood on his favorite All Might shirt this morning when I ripped my eye out,” he said as Kirishima showed him the movies. 

Ochaco shuddered. “Did you really have to rip your eye out?”

“How is it?” Todoroki questioned. 

Midoriya grinned. “Nice and healed, back to its beautiful green color and everything,” he said jovially. He spread his eyelid just to show the viridian green eye.

“Why did you take it out in the first place?” Iida asked his curiosity warring with his desire to not be involved with the vigilante.

The greenette shrugged. “It’s nothing. Uh, my body constantly fights against my quirks and I had an issue last night and nearly turned into a nomu. My eye turned bright red and well, I didn’t really want to look like Kat so I tore it out so a better, healthier eye could come back. If something’s damaged, I don’t see why I should keep it.”

“That’s uh, that’s fucked,” Kirishima exclaimed. “How did you almost turn into a nomu?”

Midoriya shrugged yet again. Izuku was starting to feel as though he was getting the third degree from these people. “All for One gave me a quirk and my body didn’t want to accept it. The only reason I haven’t gone full-fledged crazed nomu like half those weird beasts is because Survivor won’t let me.”

“You are a very interesting human, Midoriya,” Ochaco said, giving the teenager an amused smile. 

“I try my best,” he said and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and looked at Todoroki. “Okay, Kat won’t do it but, Dabi will light my cigarettes with his finger. It’s very fancy. Can you do that?”

“We do not smoke on school property Midoriya!” Iida shouted, exasperated. Midoriya winked at him and looked at Todoroki. 

“Later,” he stated, tucking the cigarette behind his ear. Todoroki nodded confused before the class finally chose a movie to watch. Halfway through the movie, Bakugou slipped into the room and before he could choose a seat, Izuku tugged him into his lap. 

“Miss me?” he murmured, his hands splayed along Katsuki’s waist. A smirk slipped onto the blond’s face as he leaned into the vigilante’s embrace. 

“Of course not,” he hummed, letting his hand rest over Izuku’s.

~~~

Izuku slipped into the shadows carefully, the mask covering the lower half of his face as his dark hoodie cast a shadow over the rest of his face. He spun the knife in his hand quickly as he watched his mark. A scraggly teenager, no older than probably seventeen by Izuku’s guess, followed a group of girls quietly. Only a few meters of distance separating them. 

His eyes followed the boy’s hand as it slipped into the front of his pants, a low growl escaped from the vigilante’s mouth. The stalker leaned against the wall, slowly stroking himself as he watched the girls giggle and laugh with one another. One of the girls, a small girl with bright green hair, her eyes landed on the boy and she froze. 

“He’s back,” she whispered and ripped her eyes away from the boy. The girls quieted down, their heads bowed. 

“I uh, I hired a guy to get rid of him or get him to stop. I-I don’t know when he’s going to show up to do it or what he’s going to do but I spent all of my babysitting money to pay for it. He was staring in my room last night and there was uh, you know, white stuff on my windows this morning when I woke up.” 

That was it. 

Izuku walked past the group of girls, his eyes catching those of the girl who paid for the hit and nodded slightly. He walked up to the asshole and slammed him into the brick wall roughly. 

“So this is how your creepy ass gets off?” He growled, glaring at the teenage boy, murder prominent in his eyes. “You follow girls around to the point that they can’t feel comfortable walking alone and then you fucking jack off to their uneasiness?” 

“Let me go, dude, what the fuck?” He shouted. Izuku wrapped his hand around the boy’s neck and snarled, squeezing hard. 

“Do you know who I am?” He growled, relishing in the fear that danced within the boy’s eyes. This was what Izuku loved to do. Punish the people who hurt innocent civilians like those poor girls. What kind of sick creep pulled shit like that in the first place?

“N-no? Look, I’ll give you whatever you want, just let me go. I won’t-I won’t call the cops,” he stammered, clawing at the hand wrapped around his neck. Izuku looked at the group of girls, all of them staring at him with wide eyes and shock. The girl who put in the hit covered her mouth. “What do you want to happen to him?”

“He needs to learn his lesson,” the green-haired girl stated. 

“I’m just tired of being scared,” one breathed.

Izuku’s eyes landed on the girl who put in the hit. She was about the same size as him, her blond hair cascaded down her back. She almost reminded him of Toga, except much more timid and a lot nicer. “And you? It’s your money.”

“I just want him to leave us alone and stay away,” she said softly. 

Izuku nodded and used his free hand to grab one of the boy’s hand. “You should go home,” he told the group of girls, before promptly breaking the boy’s wrist with little to no difficulty. “As for you, if I see you following those girls, or any girl really. It won’t just be your wrist that I break. It’ll be your dick, do you understand?” he snarled over the boy’s screaming. 

“Fuck!” He shouted, trying to get away.

“Nah, that’s not it. You see, most people know me by Shadow. That’s because you will never see me, but I will always see you.  And I’ve got my eye on you, kid. If I see you ever fucking close to another girl I will have fun tearing you limb from fucking limb,” he snarled, snapping the boy’s other wrist with just the particles in the air. The particles that surrounded the boy grabbed him and threw him across the road with ease. 

“You’re my hero,” the girl said, still standing there, her friends long gone. 

Izuku winced. “No, I’m no hero,” he said and walked up to her. He pulled out the wad of cash and a gold card that simply read Shadow along with a phone number. “If he ever gets close to you or your friends or he does something. Give me a call, and keep your money,” he said. 

The girl took the money and card with a shaky hand. “You’re that you’re uh that vigilante, aren’t you?”

He gave her a tight nod. “Like I said,” Izuku stated, his body slowly shifting to the shadows. “Call me if he doesn’t get the message.”

She grinned and held his hand tight. “Thank you, thank you so much,” she said before he slipped through her fingers and disappeared. Izuku couldn’t help but smile to himself as he walked home. That, that was more rewarding than he thought it would be. Sure not every hit would go like that. He was more than aware that as a merc he would pick up much more unsavory jobs than that one. But this, well it made him feel good. It reminded him of just how much he enjoyed this line of work. Seeing the look of relief on her face when she realized that the creep would never hurt him again, well, it brought Izuku all the satisfaction he needed.

Chapter Text

Katsuki grinned to himself as Deku slipped under his arm and pressed close to his side, a soft sigh slipped out of him, his eyes fluttered close. They were currently situated on the couch in the common room watching a movie as they attempted to wind down. Katsuki had just finished with classes for the day and Deku had just gotten back from a hit and while the teenager was covered in blood when he popped up in Katsuki’s room just fifteen minutes earlier, he had the biggest grin on his face. In the two weeks he had now been staying with Katsuki, he absolutely refused to tell him what his hits were. But more often than not, Deku came home covered in someone else’s blood, that adrenaline crazed look in his eyes.

“So how was class?” Deku murmured, his eyes still closed, Katsuki’s hand now rubbing his back slowly. 

“Boring. All Might is gone for the next month so instead of having Heroics, we’ve been doing Hero Theory shit,” Katsuki muttered, staring at the All Might movie on the screen. 

Deku crinkled his nose and flicked his eyes up to his not-boyfriend. “Hero Theory?”

“Yeah, it’s stupid shit like if you have five different civilians locked in a burning building on different floors, who do you save first and why?”

“It depends on the situation, which civilian is in a more dire situation? Sure they’re all in a burning building but who’s in the most danger?” Deku stated, looking back at the television screen, rolled his eyes and closed them once again. 

“That was pretty much the answer. Or see if any hero has a teleportation quirk or a quirk that can put out fires.”

“That’s so lame,” he hummed and placed his hand on Katsuki’s thigh. Katsuki shrugged, sure it was pretty lame but while he would never admit this out loud, he did enjoy trying to figure it out. Especially since he knew that in those moments he would have to make a split decision. 

“Hey bros!” Kirishima said cheerfully, practically bouncing into the room, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina on his heels. “We’re going to head out to the gym and spar if you want to come with us?” He asked, looking at the not-couple expectantly. Deku perked up and gave the group a feral grin. “Don’t look at me like that! I’m not sparing you Izu-Bro, you scare me.”

“Aw, Ei, I’m not scary!” Deku said, giving the Shitty Haired idiot an overdramatic pout. Katsuki rolled his eyes, did the idiot not see the prime opportunity right in front of him?

“You know,” Icy Hot stated, slipping into the room, his eyes landed right on Deku. “It would be an interesting opportunity having Midoriya here to spar with us.”

The Half n Half bastard seemed to get it. 

Kaminari gave him a wary look. “What do you mean it’s an opportunity? No offense, Midoriya, but I feel like you would have no problem killing me.”

“Nah, I like you. I wouldn’t want to kill you,” Deku said with a shrug. He looked at Todoroki and that grin came back. “You wanna spar, Baby Todoroki?”

“I could kick your ass,” he stated, crossing his arms. That set Deku off, he bounced off of the couch and looked at the blond. 

“Kat, get up. We need to change, I’m getting the opportunity to kick wannabe hero ass!” He exclaimed. He grabbed Katsuki’s arm before he turned and looked at the students. “Wait, quirks or no quirks, this is very important.”

Todoroki thought for a moment. “One with quirks, one without.”

Deku nodded before he drug the hero student with him to their dorm room. Katsuki watched the greenette change into a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. 

“Kacchan, change into something more suitable. I want to wipe the floors with you too,” he ordered. Katsuki scoffed and crossed his arms. 

“Tch, shitty nerd. You couldn’t kick my ass even if you wanted to,” he said, a cocky air around him. Deku rolled his eyes and threw a shirt at the blond. 

“Whatever.”

Katsuki grinned but did as the vigilante said and changed. Deku opened up a portal for the two, grabbed Katsuki’s hand, and tugged him through, the two landed right in the middle of the sparring gym where the rest of the students waited. Deku arched an eyebrow as he stared at the majority of class 3A. 

“I thought it was just Kat’s friends and Todoroki,” he said, looking over the students one by one. 

“We just want to observe. It isn’t often we get to see a criminal spar with a student,” Iida stated, Katsuki and Deku both rolled their eyes at that. 

“Whatever,” Deku stated, a small smile curled on the edges of his lips. “So, Todoroki, you first, right?” The greenette stepped into the sparring ring. 

Todoroki nodded and stepped into the circle. “Let’s not use quirks at first. I want to get a look at your fighting style.”

“Alright, that’s fine. Just as a warning, I can’t turn off Survivor so don’t hold that against me,” Deku said with a smirk and rolled his shoulders. “Alright, how do you want to do this? When I fight the League it’s always based on who gets third blood.”

“What?” Iida shouted from the side. “You cannot harm a student to the point of bleeding three times!”

“We typically just do whoever gets incapacitated for three seconds or knocked out of the circle,” Todoroki told him simply. Deku’s eyes glinted. Katsuki leaned against the wall beside Shitty Hair. Man, there was something hot about the way Deku looked right now. He was so relaxed as if he didn’t care that he was about to fight the number one student at UA. He was so laid back,  he didn’t even care about his competition. That could be dangerous if he underestimated Icy Hot like that. Sure, Katsuki didn’t want to admit it, but Icy Hot was an amazing sparring partner, he was the only student able to get Katsuki on his back at least. 

The two bowed at one another respectfully and before Todoroki had a chance to even react, Deku jumped into the air, his foot connected with the student’s chest roughly. Todoroki stumbled back, he stared at the scarred student wide-eyed before he shook his head and charged at Deku. The vigilante sidestepped, his foot kicked out. Todoroki easily stepped over the leg only for it to kick up between his legs, his hand shot out and grabbed the student by his neck. In just mere seconds, Deku had him on his back and sat primly on Todoroki’s stomach. 

“You didn’t even make me sweat,” he said sadly. The greenette shook his head and let out a sigh. “I thought you were the number one student at UA. I’m not even a villain and you couldn’t defeat me.”

Todoroki stared up at him, his mouth moving but not a single word came out. Katsuki thought he almost looked like a fish the way he gaped at his not-boyfriend. 

“Oh, sorry, I’m probably crushing you,” Deku laughed and stood up. He held a hand out for his almost friend and smiled when Todoroki took it. Deku pulled him up and shrugged. “Don’t take it too hard, you’ve never been able to observe my fighting style. I’m typically disguised in shadows when I fight and you can’t exactly see that on camera. Do you want to try again with quirks? I’ll only use survivor and hm, Particle would destroy you in nearly a second. Maybe Shadow?”

“Uh, maybe in a few minutes. I have a bruised ego to tend to,” he muttered, walking out of the ring. Deku just shrugged, a happy smile on his face. He looked at the students, an eyebrow raised. “Anyone else?”

“Come on Deku, I’ll kick your fucking ass,” Katsuki stated, storming to the circle. The damn nerd hadn’t even broken a sweat. But that was going to change. He was going to kick his not-boyfriend's ass just like he did in middle school. 

“Oh, Kat, you don’t want to do that,” he cooed, cupping the blond’s chin in one hand. “You’re going to kick me out of your bed tonight if I kick your ass.”

Mineta spluttered. “You sleep together?” He demanded. Deku flicked a finger in the student’s way, throwing the tiny teenager against a wall with ease.

“Are you sure you want to spar with me, Kat?” Deku asked, batting his eyelashes at him. Katsuki growled. 

“I’m going to kick your nerdy ass,” he muttered. Deku let out a happy laugh before he stepped back and looked at Katsuki. 

“Alright, let’s do this,” he hummed. The two bowed at one another and Katsuki stood upright. Unlike Icy Hot, he didn’t run straight at the Greenette, instead, he circled the ring, his hands tingled with the desire to use his explosions. Deku watched him with calculating eyes. 

“You don’t want to make the first move?” He taunted, his head cocked to the side as if he were a predator. 

“I’m not an idiot. You look for people’s weaknesses, Deku. You already know all of mine with those shitty notebooks of yours,” Katsuki snarled, clenching his hands into fists. Deku tsked and shook his head. Deku lashed out, a fist flew straight for Katsuki’s face. He let out a mock gasp as he ducked out of the way. 

“Deku! You would punch your boyfriend’s beautiful face!” He exclaimed. Deku glared. 

“You have yet to ask me to be your boyfriend, Kat. As far as I care, you’re just another pretty face,” he hummed before his scarred hand wrapped around Katsuki’s wrist. Katsuki glared and as Deku attempted to throw him over his shoulder, he rotated, popping his shoulder slightly as he attempted and failed to throw the vigilante off. That hand was like a vice grip. 

“Thought it went without saying considering you have me spoon you every night,” he grunted.

Deku hummed. “No, it doesn’t work like that. I haven’t heard the words,” he said, a half-smile hinted at his lips. Katsuki glared and punched the idiot in the face. Deku barely flinched, his free hand now wrapped around Katsuki’s neck, and lifted him into the air. “You’re lasting longer than I expected, Kacchan,” he purred, looking up at Katsuki’s angry red eyes. “But then again, I’ve always had a soft spot for you.”

Katsuki glared and pulled his knees up before he kicked out at Deku, knocking the vigilante away from him. And Deku just fucking laughed at him. What the fuck was wrong with him?

“Well, let me officially ask you, Izuku, will you be my shitty, stupid boyfriend?” Katsuki growled, another fist aimed towards Deku. The greenette caught the fist with little to no flinch which was bullshit considering Katsuki had thrown all of his power into that punch. Instead, the bastard smiled and twisted the blond’s arm behind his back. He pressed his chest against Katsuki’s back and let out a soft breath, his lips right beside his ears. 

“Do you think you can handle me, Kat?” He murmured. 

“I know I can handle your stupid ass,” Katsuki muttered, trying to push out of Deku’s grip. Before he could, though, he felt Deku’s leg knock his out from under him. Katsuki stared up at the vigilante as Deku casually sat on his crotch and looked down at him. 

He giggled. He fucking giggled before he leaned down and kissed Katsuki softly. “I think the boyfriend title sounds pretty cute. And it would make Toga jealous considering I told her I didn’t like blonds,” he hummed. “By the way, you’re out.”

“Fuck you,” Katsuki muttered. His face fucking burned. “Stop it,”  he hissed, pinching Deku’s side. 

“Oh my god of course this would turn you on,” Deku laughed, pressing his forehead against Katsuki’s shoulder, his own shoulders shaking. “You’re so fucking cute.”

Katsuki growled and flipped their positions, his arms on either side of Deku’s head. “Don’t patronize me,” he snarled, glaring daggers into Deku’s damn freckled face. 

Deku smiled at him. “I’m not. In fact, you put up such a good fight against me, whenever we get back to your room, I’ll take care of that problem.”

Katsuki’s arms started to go weak at that. “Don’t fuck with me like that, Deku.” Fuck, sure his body reacted to Deku like that but he wasn't interested in doing that. He would have to have that conversation with the vigilante eventually.

The greenette gave him the most innocent look he could muster. “Oh when it comes to getting my dick wet, I would never fuck around,” he stated before he slipped out of his boyfriend’s cage. He looked at the students who were still staring at him in shock. “Did anyone else want to spar with me?” He asked, looking at them all, challenging anyone who was brave enough. Everyone shook their heads no. While the students definitely didn’t want to find themselves in the ring with the vigilante, they did want his advice. Which was how he found himself sitting in Katsuki’s lap as he gave the students pointers, calling out weak spots, telling them everything they did wrong. 

“Where the fuck did you learn to fight like that?” Katsuki muttered into his ear, his chin rested on Deku’s shoulder. 

“Sensei beat the shit out of me for months. He told me I was far too perceptive to just let myself get beat up like I was,” he said, his hands rested on top of Katsuki's over his waist. “Then he made me spar with different villains and after getting the shit beat out of me for months on end I started to realize what he meant. I learned that the same way I could analyze quirks, I could analyze fighting styles. The only reason I did so well against you and Todoroki is because I have seen UA students fight in sports festivals and in news coverage when you’re fighting villains or whatever. I learned how to look for tells when fighting people, even the smallest of movements like shifting your weight or looking at a spot for just a second too long.”

“I want you to teach me,” Katsuki grunted. Deku laughed and leaned against Katsuki’s chest.

“No, you wouldn’t do well with the teaching methods I received,” he stated, his eyes glued to the fight in front of him. “Kirishima--pay attention to the way Uraraka is holding her weight. She has all of it shifted to her back leg, she’s getting ready to kick you.”

Kirishima looked at him for a split second before Uraraka kicked her leg out and jumped back. 

“Dang it Mido!” She exclaimed. “I almost had him!”

“Sorry Ocha, I’m helping defense, not offense,” he said, letting out a laugh. “Kiri needs to learn more than to just harden and run at the villains. You guys need to learn how to be on the defensive more often.”

“You’re really good at this, you know,” Katsuki said, biting at Deku’s earlobe. 

“I know,” he said smugly. 

“You could be a teacher,” Katsuki urged. 

“I’m happy with my current occupation. Besides, we already agreed, if I went back to school you would leave me alone about my hits. I’m going to school again. Don’t ask any more of me,” he said and leaned around to kiss his boyfriend softly. 

“You keep coming back covered in blood,” Katsuki said softly, looking slightly concerned. “I don’t like it.”

“I know, but think of it this way, the only hits I take are those against bad people,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “And they aren’t always just murder. Sometimes I steal things back for people, or blackmail or just ensure people stay quiet about certain things.”

“Why did you have blood on you today?” Katsuki asked him. Izuku shrugged and looked back out at the students, gave Sero a few pointers, and looked back at Katsuki. 

“Do you really want to know?” Katsuki nodded once. Deku searched his eyes for a moment. “I killed a pedophile. Some guy put out a hit on a pervert who hurt his daughter. I got rid of him. People like that don’t deserve to be alive. I don’t care if I’m not the judge, jury, and executioner. In those moments, I am.”

“How’d you know he actually did it, what if the dad lied? Did you investigate?”

Deku let out a harsh laugh. “Of course I did, Kacchan. I searched his apartment, his computer had kiddy porn on it, and he had pictures. Shit was disgusting and as soon as I broke his fucking finger he started squealing like a pig. The man who put out the hit wanted a video of him admitting it, so I got that and then I killed him.”

“How much do you get paid for shit like that? Holy fuck,” Katsuki breathed.

“For this hit? 400,000 yen,” he shrugged. “I should have enough for a nice place soon and once I get a good amount saved back, I’ll take a break, focus on finishing school, and who knows what happens after that? Maybe I’ll be good and go to college like you keep telling me to.”

“I think you should,” Katsuki said with a sigh. “I don’t like your methods, but you got rid of a monster, Izu. I’m proud of you,” he said, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek.

“I know,” he said smugly as his phone started to ring. “One sec.”

The greenette fished his phone out of his pocket and grimaced at the caller id. “Hey Mirio,” he said blandly, turning the phone on speaker to let his boyfriend eavesdrop better. He was a fantastic boyfriend like that.

“Shadow-Kun! I’m so glad you answered this time!” He said cheerfully. “So Mr. Aizawa called Sir and said you wanted to get in contact with him soon and well, you know Sir. He doesn’t trust you at all,” he said with a laugh. Deku snorted.

“That’s an understatement. Look, just, ugh,” Deku said with a groan, a conflicted look started to appear on his face. “I’ve had enough. I’m tired of being the League of Villains’ fucking babysitter. I need Sir’s help taking AFO down so I can get rest.”

“I thought they were your family.”

“The League is,  and I would prefer if they didn’t go to jail but I think it would be easier and safer for everyone if the idiots were. Besides, All for One nearly killed me a few weeks ago, I’m tired of being stuck under his thumb. I know you’re supposed to be the one to defeat him and,” at this Deku let out the most dramatic sigh, his head thrown back into Katsuki’s shoulder. “I am willing to tell you every single thing I know about him if it means you can kill him and I can be done being his stupid fucking little slave. I’ve put a lot of thought into this, Mirio. You’re the only one who can defeat him, but if you want to succeed unlike all of your predecessors, you need to learn his weaknesses and I’m one of the only ones who know them.”

“Oh uh, Shadow-Kun, I don’t know if I’m ready to go against All for One, I’m just now really starting to get One for All controlled.”

“I know, I’m not an idiot. I saw you nearly break your legs a few weeks ago,” Deku said with a chuckle. “But that’s what you’re not getting. You can’t defeat my master. Not by yourself. Tell Sir to give me a call, we can figure out a plan.”

“Al-alright,” Mirio stammered before Deku hung up the phone. 

“You’re really pissed about nearly turning into a nomu, aren’t you?” Katsuki said, looking over his boyfriend. Deku pocketed his phone, his eyes turned back to the students sparring. 

“You have no idea.”

.

.

.

“Deku-kun, you’re terrifying, have we told you that before?” Uraraka asked as the class plus the vigilante walked back to the dorms. Izuku nodded once, his eyes trained on Katsuki’s head as he walked a few steps in front of him, animatedly talking to Kirishima about how he kicked the red head’s ass. 

“Yeah, you guys like to remind me about my criminal status pretty often,” he hummed, jumping when she looped her arm through his. 

“Well, I don’t really think you’re a criminal. I mean, it shocked me when I found out that you’re, you know, Shadow. Because sure you’re sarcastic and kinda brooding at times, but you’re also like, super nice and every time you’re around us you help with homework or listen to us complain about stuff that I know you don’t really care about. You’re a really good person, Deku. I mean you terrify me. And today totally proved that if you want, you could absolutely destroy us if you wanted to.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said, smiling just a little. “That’s not the kind of person I am. You guys are good people--besides Mineta. I wouldn’t mind murdering him three times over. But the rest of you, you are good people, just...a little misguided about what it really means to be a hero.”

“Coming from the mercenary,” Uraraka said, elbowing the vigilante. Izuku snorted and held her elbow tighter. 

“Coming from the guy who’s best friends with a lot of people who have been severely wrong by heroes. And someone who has been treated like shit by heroes for a pretty long time now,” Izuku said. He smiled at Katsuki as he heard the dumbass let out a sharp laugh. “I think you’ll see what I’m talking about once you’re out in the real world. Things aren’t black and white or good versus evil and heroes should stop treating it like that.”

Ochaco nodded her head contemplative. “Yeah, I see what you mean. When I first came to UA, I wanted to be a hero to help my parents out. They’re pretty poor, you know. But they did everything they could to scrape money together so I could get into UA. But the longer I’ve been here, I’ve realized that I don’t want to just be a hero so I can provide for my family. I want to become a rescue hero and save people during the worst time of their life. I want to be there for them with a smile on my face and make sure that they’re okay.”

“That’s what a hero is supposed to be like,” Izuku hummed. “I like you, Chaco, I think I’ve already told you that. But you’ll become a great rescue hero. It seems like now that you’re really thinking about it, your heart’s in the right place.”

“Deku! Come on, I’m fucking tired,” Katsuki snapped once they got into the dorms. Izuku laughed. 

“The asshole’s calling. I’ll talk to you later,” he told the girl before he shouted an “I’m coming you impatient shit,” and headed towards his boyfriend.

That night, though, as soon as Izuku was positive that Katsuki was fast asleep, he opened a small portal, shifted into the shadows, and landed in Ochaco’s room. Making sure he didn’t peek at anything he didn’t need to see, Izuku took the money he made from his hit that day and slipped it into the top drawer of her dresser. Maybe he was wrong in his belief that heroes didn't need to be paid for saving people. What really mattered was if their heart was in the right place. Uraraka didn't want to be a hero for popularity or ranks, she wanted to save people. He appeared back in Katsuki’s room mere seconds later and climbed into bed, immediately pulled into the blond’s large arms, the smell of burnt sugar surrounded him once more.

Chapter Text

Izuku laid in bed, his eyes tracking the ceiling fan above as Katsuki held him in his arms. He had put a lot of thought into this plan. Sure, it seemed sudden but Izuku was pissed. That night he got the new quirk, the cogs in his brain were at work. He was tired. The more Izuku seemed to think about it, the more pissed he got. Sure, All for One gave him a chance that no one else ever did. But at what costs? The vigilante had almost turned into a complete monster over the fact that his master was desperate to keep Tomura alive by any means necessary. Even if it meant destroying Izuku to do so. And well, as shitty as it may sound, he didn’t want to turn into another Kurogiri. He had already lost so much of himself because of a stupid decision he made when he was fourteen. He was more than aware that he wasn't a good person. He knew that he wasn't someone that a person could sympathize with. Sure he wanted to help people, but he also was able to kill without blinking an eye. That wasn't good, Izuku wasn't particularly good, definitely not a good person like Katsuki thought he was.

Izuku loved Tomura. He was his absolute best friend. Probably the one person in the world who really knew who Izuku was under everything else. But, it wasn’t Izuku’s job to take care of him. He hadn’t signed up to having his body mutilated to the point of turning into a nomu. Why couldn’t he just be a normal friend who supported and helped Tomura when he needed without being expected to bail him out of every problem he got himself into. If Izuku could pull off his plans the way he was thinking, the League wouldn’t be getting involved. Izuku would help in getting All for One out of the picture for good, and he could finally live in peace. He could help Tomura on his terms, quit getting quirks shoved into his body, and just continue on with his plans no problem. 

He wasn’t turning on the League, they were his family. He was just wanting to absolutely destroy All for One before All for One destroyed him. 

“Shut up,” Katsuki muttered, his nose nuzzled against Izuku’s neck. “Your mumbling woke me up, asshole.”

Izuku laughed and hugged Katsuki to his chest. “Sorry, I was just thinking,” he said, running his fingers through Katsuki’s tangled bed head. 

“Well stop,” he muttered, pinching Izuku’s side. Izuku smacked his hand and glared. 

“Stop that.”

Katsuki sat up and gave his boyfriend a tired look, his eyes narrowed into slits. “What are you overthinking about? It’s fucking three in the morning, Deku.”

“I’m conflicted,” he said with a whine and fell back onto the bed with a thump. 

The blond stared down at him, confused. “Are you talking about that phone call you had with the All Might wannabe?”

“Yes,” Izuku groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I came up with the idea that night I got Warp Gate and I just- I don’t know! My relationship with All for One is so fucking complicated and on top of that, I don’t want to ruin my friendship with the League, and what if Tomura just completely and totally hates me if I aid in killing his master? Our master fuck. And what if when All for One does die, I lose my quirks and I die? We don’t know what would happen to me.”

“What do you mean?” Katsuki asked him, he propped his head upon his fist and looked down at the greenette. “Why would you die?”

“Kat, the only reason I’m alive is because of Survivor. I should have died four years ago and the only reason I didn’t was because that quirk stopped it. If that quirk goes away, I die. My body was fucked beyond belief when I jumped off the building.”

“But why would you lose- oh!” Katsuki said, furrowing his eyebrows. “Would it be worth it?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not fourteen anymore, I don’t particularly want to die. And no matter how pissed I am now with what’s happening, I’m incredibly thankful that Tomura was there to save me. That was the biggest mistake of my life, Kacchan,” he said, eyes fluttered shut. “I don’t want to die.”

“Maybe you won’t die,” Katsuki offered. “We don’t know what would happen.”

“That’s the problem. We don’t know,” he said. “I need to talk to Nighteye about it. He might have a possible idea. Look, I haven’t put a lot of thought into this. The night I got the goddamn quirk I thought about it briefly but then Mirio actually called me and I just knew, I had to do this. No one should have that much power. Everything is a mess in my brain and I don’t know how to collect my thoughts. I’m tired, Kat.”

Katsuki huffed and fell onto the bed, he took his boyfriend’s hand in his and thought for a moment. “Deku, when was the last time you wrote in your little nerd books?” He questioned, running his thumb along the side of Izuku’s hand. Izuku quieted for a moment, his head tilted to the side. 

“Hm, not since you blew that one notebook up. Why?”

“What do you do with all that analyzing shit you still do?” He asked, looking at those green eyes contemplative. 

“It all just stays up here,” Izuku said, tapping his head softly. “Why?”

“I think you should get a notebook and write everything out, babe,” he said quietly, turning on his side so he could really look into his boyfriend’s eyes. 

“You think that could work?” He asked softly, moving to look Katsuki in the eyes.

“I think so. I think if you really just took the time to organize your thoughts it could help, you know?” Katsuki told him, twining their hands together and squeezing Izuku’s tight. “Besides this is a big deal, Deku. You’ve said it yourself, that bastard is like a father to you.”

“It’s fucked up that I even think that, Kacchan,” Izuku sighed. “I mean, he’s tortured me to the point that I nearly lost all of my humanity. He beat the shit out of me and has forced me to do some unthinkable things in the name of keeping Tomura safe. But I still trust his advice and I count on him and fuck I think of him as a father figure! How fucked up is that? What’s wrong with me Kacchan? Why am I like this?” He demanded, squeezing his eyes tight. 

“Deku, everything that’s happened to you--it’s fucked. I mean it’s really fucked up and I know I have a part in that shit. He brainwashed you, I mean that shit could be considered Stockholm Syndrome if we’re going to be real. We learn about it in class, some victims bond with their abusers even though they’ve been tortured and abused. It’s fucking fucked up, Deku. I know you love Shigaraki for whatever fucking reason, but you have to do what’s best for you.”

Izuku nodded and just pressed his face against Katsuki’s shoulder. “I wonder if this was how Takami felt when he switched sides.”

“Hawks?” Katsuki asked, his arm now wrapped around Izuku’s waist. “I mean, I know he’s a villain now, but what the fuck happened?”

Izuku shook his head. “He realized he had been brainwashed his entire life and that they had raised him as a child soldier. It’s a very long story. It was a mess to deal with when it happened. Last I saw him, he was trying to find himself, he’s not really evil or a villain, he’s just another victim of the hero society we live in.”

Katsuki nodded and gave Izuku a soft kiss. “Well, I think you need to write everything out and put your thoughts together before you make any decisions. Okay?”

“Don’t make sense like this, I don’t like it Kacchan,” Izuku said with a laugh, kissing his boyfriend again. “You’re annoying.”

“You like it,” he said, his lips still pressed to Izuku’s. Izuku just rolled his eyes. 

“Shut up, we both have school tomorrow and I have a hit in the afternoon so I need my beauty sleep,” he stated, rolling over to press his back against Katsuki’s chest. 

....

Izuku rested his back against Katsuki’s chest as he spoke with Uraraka and Todoroki. The two were asking him more about fighting and what they could do better. Katsuki watched with a small smile on his face as his boyfriend pulled out a notebook and started writing things out for the two students, explaining how they could best use their quirks when in hand to hand combat.  It had been a day since their early morning conversation and sure, Deku was still overthinking it all and slightly panicked, he was starting to relax. When Katsuki had gotten out of bed the morning after their conversation, he found his boyfriend slowly shifting back and forth from shadow to his natural state as he filled one of Katsuki’s empty notebooks full of his thoughts, muttering like a complete idiot as he did. Now Deku was on his third notebook as he thought through absolutely every aspect of what he was wanting to do. 

Suddenly Deku’s phone started ringing and the vigilante pulled it out quickly before his face lit up. “Hey, Tomura!” He said cheerfully, ignoring the curious looks he received from the students. “No, I’m not avoiding you. I’m just with Kat. Yes, Bakugou. Yes I know he’s a bastard. So are you, though,” he stated. 

Katsuki glowered and leaned his ear close to listen. Could you blame him? He was nosey. 

“I haven’t seen you since you’ve moved out. Are you distancing yourself Izu? Because I’m offended.”

Deku laughed and slumped in Katsuki’s arms. “No. I just started dating Kat and he’s needy. Besides, between school and working with Patch, I’ve been busy. I promise, as soon as I’m done hanging out with Kat and some other friends I’ll come over tonight.”

“Oh uh, you don’t need to come over tonight!” Shigaraki exclaimed. That was suspicious. 

“Why not?” Izuku asked slowly, his eyes darkening. “What are you up to, Shiggy? You’re not doing something stupid, are you?”

“I would never do anything stupid! It’s just, uh, Hawks is back in town and he’s been a little far up Dabi’s ass.”

“Oh! He’s back around? I’m definitely coming over tonight then!”

“No!” Shigaraki shouted. “Come over tomorrow, no need to worry about it right now. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Live your life Izu, do whatever you want. I mean I’m not happy about you dating Bakugou of all fucking people but you know, that’s your choice.”

“Shiggy, I don’t trust you. You’re up to something, put Dabi on the phone.”

“Dabi is… busy,” he said slowly. 

“Where’s Himi?” He demanded, Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“On a date. Leave her alone, she told me she would rip my throat out with her teeth if I bothered her. Did I tell you she bought me gloves? They only cover two of my fingers so I can grab and hold things with all five fingers without turning shit to dust, isn’t that cool?” He said, his voice starting to get slightly high pitched. 

“Shiggy. Tell me, you know you want to,” he cooed. 

“Uh, Deku,” Katsuki said, jabbing his boyfriend in the side as he looked up at the tv. “Deku.”

“Not now Kat. I’m talking to Tomura,” Deku hissed. Katsuki’s eyes widened as everyone in the room stared at the television. Cameras zoomed in as Hawks flew into frame, a lethal look on his face as he attacked Endeavor. Blue flames erupted around them. 

“Not so brave now, huh old man?” Dabi snarled, throwing his fire at the number one hero.

“Deku look at the fucking television now!” Katsuki hissed. Deku’s eyes widened when he looked up. 

“Tomura Shigaraki are you fucking kidding me!?” He shouted angrily, his face red. “You know that when they get together they do stupid shit! It’s why they’re an annoying ass couple!”

“Oh well you know, they just started talking about Endeavor, and well next thing I know Takami just grabbed Dabi and dragged him out of the bar and said I needed to distract you. So I am, did I do a good job?”

“I’m going to kill you,” he seethed before hanging up the phone. Deku grabbed the remote and started to turn it up. 

“We are here live as Former Number Two hero Hawks teams up with the League of Villains member known only as Dabi fight against our current Number One hero Endeavor. We aren’t sure what caused this fight but as you can see half of downtown Musutafu is now on fire, blue and orange flames covering the area,” a reporter stated. 

“Fuck! I leave them alone for two weeks and,” Deku stopped, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Why are the league so obsessed with my father?” Todoroki asked, watching the screen with rapt attention. 

“Because Dabi thinks killing Endeavor is the best way to get revenge for Endeavor’s abuse towards him. And When Hawks found out what Endeavor fucking did to his childhood friend he couldn’t just let it happen,” Deku muttered, closing his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed. “They want revenge.”

“Wait, what abuse are you talking about?” Momo asked him, her eyebrows raised. 

“Oh you told me about that,” Katsuki stated, raising his eyebrows. 

“What is it?” Todoroki demanded, glaring at the two of them. “I hate my bastard of a father but this is the second time in two months that the League has targeted my father.”

“Dabi’s real name is Touya Todoroki,” Deku said with a sig. “Endeavor tried to burn him alive as an incentive to strengthen his quirk. He left Touya for dead and told everyone that his quirk destroyed him. No one ever thought to question a number one hero.”

“What?” Todoroki seethed, his eyes glued to the screen. “You’re telling me that’s my brother? Midoriya, Touya died. There’s no way that Dabi could be my brother.”

“He is, look I’m sorry I just threw that at you. You should have found out from Touya but I gotta go. They’re being idiots.” Deku stood up and stormed to Katsuki’s room. 

“I’m going with him,” Todoroki stated, standing up as well. “That’s my family.”

“Like hell, you’re going, Icy Hot. You’ll get yourself killed!” Katsuki shouted. “Besides you’re not going anywhere with my fucking boyfriend!”

“Then come with us,” Todoroki muttered before he stormed to his bedroom to change. Katsuki let out a loud groan, burying his face in his hands. 

“Uh, Bakubro, you should definitely go to keep Todoroki from getting into trouble. I think Izu-Bro is going to have his hands full,” Kirishima said hesitantly. Katsuki nodded his head before he ran to his room just as Deku slipped his normal black hoodie over his head. Katsuki stepped forward and helped him adjust his mask. 

“I’m coming along. So I need your stupid extra mask,” he muttered, going to Deku’s backpack. “How many of these do you have.”

“A lot. I break them pretty often,” Deku said, letting out a sigh. “Kacchan, you don’t need to come along.”

“Well, Icy Hot said he’s going and I’m not letting you go anywhere alone with that bastard.”

Deku spun around and gave his boyfriend a disbelieving look. “Katsuki, this is not the time for you to be the annoying jealous boyfriend. Sensei is going to fucking murder me if they stray from the plan and I don’t need to deal with that and Tomura keeps fucking blowing up my phone!”

“I’m going,” Katsuki said, pulling on a hoodie and pulled on a pair of combat boots. “So is Icy Hot, this is his stupid family.”

Deku glared at him before he stormed out of the room. “Let’s go Todoroki!” He shouted, making a large portal with a destination for the center of Downtown Musutafu. Todoroki came in with a dark hoodie and jeans on. Deku let out an annoyed sigh and chucked an extra mask. 

“You don’t need to get caught out here fighting when you’re almost finished with Hero school,” Deku muttered and stepped into the portal. Katsuki and Todoroki both scrambled through behind him. The vigilante let out a loud groan when Hawks whisked by. 

“Hey Shadow! Are you here to join the fun!?” He shouted breathlessly, whipping one of his feather blades through the air.

“No, you’re going home,” Izuku said. He reached a hand up and clenched it into a fist, the particles around Hawks holding him in place. “Where’s Dabi?”

Hawks eyes lit up at that. “Oh Touya? Last I saw he was beating this shit out of his dad? Can you believe him? God, he’s fucking amazing,” he breathed, his eyes landed on the two boys behind Izuku. “Oh, you’ve got your own little Shadow squad now? You’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you Shadow! I’m so proud!”

“Shut up,” Izuku muttered, storming towards the center of the fires, dragging Hawks behind him. “I don’t get paid for this shit.” 

Soon Izuku found Dabi hysterically laughing as he swiped one of Hawks’ wings at Endeavor. “Dabi!” He shouted. “We’re going home, leave the bastard alone!” Particles wrapped around Dabi and he dragged the two idiots with him. 

“Let go of me! He’s following us!” Dabi shouted angrily, struggling against his bindings. Deku let out an insufferable sigh and flicked his finger and threw Endeavor through the town, far away from them. 

“You’re too powerful, has anyone told you that Shadow?” Hawks said casually from his bindings. “Do your friends talk? Or do they just follow? Hey Touya, do you want to get some Katsudon after this? Isn’t that like your favorite food Shadow? Do you want to come? Shigaraki said you got a boyfriend, we could do a double date.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Katsuki finally snapped. “You two just burned half of the fucking town and you’re acting this fucking relaxed.”

“He deserved it! Let me the fuck go!” Dabi roared. “I want to burn that fucker alive.”

“He’s fireproof!” Izuku shouted angrily. “Not even Cremate can burn him!”

“You wanna fucking bet?” Dabi shouted before his eyes landed on Todoroki, narrowing his eyes. “You, get your stupid asshole friend to let me the fuck go,” he demanded, still struggling as Izuku opened up a portal. 

“Uh no. We need to talk,” Todoroki said blandly. Izuku gave Katsuki a tired look before they all stepped through the portal. The mix-matched group landed in the bar and Izuku threw the villain couple into a booth. 

“Katsuki, you can sit over there with Compress, Twice, and Toga. They won’t hurt you,” he muttered. “Shiggy, get your dry ass over here.”

Izuku ripped his mask off and glared at the couple. Katsuki slowly took his off and took a seat next to Toga. He looked at the villain nervously. “I thought you were on a date.”

She grinned, blood still on her lips. “I was. I got everything I needed from him,” she said and smooshed Katsuki’s cheeks. “You’re so cute, you keep coming with Izu! Are we friends now!”

“Fuck no,” he muttered, slumping in the booth as he glared at the table. 

“Would you like to see a magic trick, young man?” Compress asked. 

“Fuck off,” he muttered. 

“You know, I was really just wanting to have a relaxing night tonight,” Izuku started, glaring at the three villains in front of him, Todoroki standing behind him nervously shifting on his feet. “I have too much to deal with to also be stuck babysitting you assholes. Tomura you are the goddamn leader of the League. You can’t just let your stupid subordinates do whatever they want. We have a plan in place to take over the commission, or did you fucking forget?”

“No! I just can’t control everything they do,” Shigaraki whined. 

“Yes, you can! That’s the point of being a villain boss!” Izuku shouted, throwing his arms out. “You’re in charge of what they do. And we can’t just let Endeavor fucking die. Do you not remember that we were going to completely destroy him? We were going to let the world know what he did to you and your siblings. But you know, I have a better punishment for you than me lecturing you,” he said and turned to Todoroki. 

The couple stared curiously as Todoroki pushed his hood back and tore off that mask. 

“Shouto?”  

Chapter Text

Deku pointed at the large table that the rest of the villains plus Katsuki were sitting at, a glare leveled at Tomura. “Give them space,” he hissed angrily. Tomura glared back at him and stalked towards the table. He took a seat directly across from Katsuki and narrowed his eyes. 

“I don’t trust you,” he hissed, his eyes in near slits. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t fucking trust you either,” he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. He let his eyes follow his boyfriend, watching as Deku went behind the bar and made himself a stiff drink, he glanced up and met Katsuki’s eyes. 

“Babe? You want a drink?” He asked. Katsuki looked around the villains warily and decided no, he did not trust himself to have any kind of alcohol in his system with these fuckers around him. The first chance he gave them, they would surely murder him. 

“No, I’m good,” he said, eyes going back to Tomura. 

“I want to kill you-”

“So do a lot of people,” Katsuki interrupted. “Nothin’ new there.”

“He’s not a hero, you know. He’s never going to be a hero so you should just give up now,” Tomura told him as Jin, Compress, and Toga watched on. 

“He isn’t a villain either.”

“He works with us more than he works with you people. Besides we’re his family,” Tomura told him, giving the hero student a cocky smile.

“Because you assholes have to constantly drag him into your problems. I don’t do that to him.”

“We’re his family.”

“So what? Deku likes me more,” Katsuki said with a smirk, leaning back in his seat. Honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure if that was true. He hoped Deku liked him more than the rest of these fucked up freaks. He didn’t just walk all over Deku whenever he wanted to or used Deku for his gain. Deku never had to feel like he had to take care of Katsuki or to bail him out of issues. Katsuki was there to make sure that Deku’s life was easier he was Deku’s boyfriend, which meant he was his fucking partner. 

“Tch, whatever. I’m his best friend,” Tomura told him. 

“I’m his boyfriend. He gets dick from me,” Katsuki said. Okay, that was a lie. Deku had tried to get dick from him a few nights ago, but Katsuki had admitted that he wasn’t entirely ready to go that far. He just hadn’t been sure about sex. But, he did enjoy their makeout sessions or the nights when Deku would hold Katsuki to him tight. But sex? He wasn’t entirely sure just how he felt about that. 

“No, he hasn’t. Izu would have told me if he got laid. We tell each other everything,” Tomura said, a smug look on his face. “I was the first person he told when he lost his virginity.”

“That’s because I fucked you, Shiggy,” Deku muttered. He took a seat next to Katsuki and slipped his arm around Katsuki’s waist. The shouting in the corner rose steadily and Katsuki glanced at his boyfriend. 

“You fucked Shiga-Fucking-Raki?” He demanded. Katsuki had to admit… he wasn’t entirely for sure how he felt about that small piece of information. Deku just shrugged his shoulders. 

“It was my eighteenth birthday. The two of us got shitfaced and the next thing I remember I woke up in Tomura’s bed and he was complaining that his ass hurt. Why are we even talking about sex? We both agreed that we would never talk about that night considering it was the absolute worst way a human being could ever lose their virginity.”

“How was it the worst! I am a fantastic lover. Even if I still don’t remember that night!” Tomura shouted, hitting the table with a fist. 

“Because I hate the fact that I lost my virginity to you. Do you have any idea how gross it is to tell people that I had sex with your crusty ass? I would have rathered have sex with Toga and she fucking stabs me anytime she’s around me,” he stated. 

“How about we change the subject?” Katsuki grumbled and Deku sent him an apologetic look and shook his head. 

“Sorry,” he murmured and kissed Katsuki softly. Katsuki pinched Deku before he pulled away and glared at Tomura. 

“You’re really making me hate you even more you crusty piece of shit,” Katsuki told him. Deku just rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink. 

“You do realize that the two of you are the most important people in my life, right?” He asked, looking between the two. “And Shiggy, I plan on having Kacchan around for a very, very long time. So you’re just going to have to accept that he’s just as important to me as you are.”

“I should be more important! I’m your best friend!” Tomura exclaimed with a loud whine. Katsuki cocked his head to the side. 

“What are you? A five-year-old? Deku is a fucking adult, he can do whatever he wants and be around whoever he wants. His world doesn’t fucking revolve around you fuckers,” Katsuki snapped, his arm now slipped along Deku’s shoulders. Deku laid his head on the blond and let out a sigh, his hand that was wrapped around Katsuki’s waist now holding Kat’s free hand. 

“He’s right, you know,” Deku told him. “You’re my best friend, and I love the rest of you. I mean you guys are like my family. And I know Sensei gave me the job to keep Tomura safe but you guys have got to make it a little easier on me. I’m constantly doing everything I can to keep you in line and I shouldn’t have to be your constant babysitter and I shouldn’t have to come to fix everything you guys fucking screw up either. I know it seems a little far fetched, but I do have a life.”

“I know that!”

“Do you, Shiggy?” Deku asked him, squeezing Katsuki’s hand tight. “Because in just the last month I’ve had to help you two different times, I’ve been kicked out of my parents' house, my mom wants nothing to do with me, I had to start fucking working as mercenary just so I can get a place of my own and I’m fucking living in wannabe hero central!”

“You also got a fantastic boyfriend in that time,” Katsuki said smugly, looking right at that stupid fucker. 

“That too,” Deku stated. 

“And living at UA isn’t too horrible,” Katsuki retorted. Deku went to speak only for the couple and Todoroki to join the group at the table. Hawks squeezed himself between Katsuki and Toga and grinned at Katsuki and Deku’s intertwined hands. 

“So you’re the guy Izu is dating huh? Aren’t they great? Our boys?” He asked, watching as Dabi stalked towards Deku. Katsuki frowned, though as Deku closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. 

“Just do it, I know you want to Dabs.” 

Dabi glared and wrapped his arm around Deku’s wrist before his hand erupted in flames. “That’s for fucking telling Shouto about me before I was ready!” He shouted angrily. 

“It’s fine. I deserved to know,” Todoroki said before he looked at Tomura. “I want to join you. I want to join the League of Villains and destroy Endeavor,” he stated. 

“No,” Deku, Katsuki, and Dabi all said together. 

Izuku sighed and handed his drink to the half and half bastard.  Todoroki downed it in one drink. “Look, Todo you can’t join the League,” he said, his eyebrow furrowed. “I know, it’s incredibly frustrating to learn that the institution that we are taught to believe and trust is fucked up. And I assume that Dabi--”

“ Touya.” Todoroki interrupted. 

“Yeah, whatever. I’m sure he told you that the Commission covered up his supposed death. It’s fucked up, the entire thing is. But you can’t join the League. Toga would murder you in the first thirty minutes.”

“First ten,” Toga preened, batting her lashes at the student. 

Izuku ignored her. “Whatever. We need people on the inside Todoroki. We can talk more about this when I take you two home.” He looked between his boyfriend and the other student who looked like he had just had the longest night of his life. Kacchan looked completely out of his element but Izuku couldn’t help but smile. Kacchan was here, in this bar, putting up with all of these shitty villains for him. He knew this was uncomfortable, he wasn’t stupid. Maybe Katsuki considered they were even now. Especially since Izuku had been putting up with living with all the hero wannabes. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against Katsuki’s lips, a smile still gracing his lips. “Let’s go home, yeah?”

“Yeah, Hawks won’t shut up about how amazing it is that the two of us have such sexy, smoldering boyfriends,” he muttered, as Hawks just clamored on. 

“We do! I mean sure, Izu isn’t actually a villain but he might as well be. He’s got that brooding, angry aura to him. Just like Touya, they’re so hot and amazing and they’re doing something that people are too pussy to do, isn’t that great?” Takami rambled and Izuku rolled his eyes. 

“‘Kami, please shut up,” Izuku said, giving the ex-hero an amused smile. “I’ve missed you, though.”

“I’ve missed you too!” Takami cooed, reaching past Kacchan to pinch Izuku’s cheek. “Are you eating enough? Taking care of yourself? What’s this new job I keep hearing about? Oh, I was thinking the four of us could go on a double date! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Izuku let out a soft chuckle. “Later ‘Kami, I’m taking these two home. We all have class in the morning,” he said and pulled himself away from Katsuki. He stood up and grabbed Kacchan’s hand. “Todoroki, let’s get going.”

The three teenagers headed out of the bar and started the walk back to UA, Todoroki requesting that they walk instead of using a portal. 

“Explain why I can’t join,” he said after a few minutes of the three walking in silence. Izuku let out a soft huff and held Kacchan’s hand. 

“Look. The League has a plan, we have been working on it for the last year. If we want things to change, it can’t just be villains and a single vigilante to change things. It needs to be heroes too. We need heroes on the inside who are also working towards reform.”

“I thought that the League just wanted to cause chaos and reform. Not reformation,” Todoroki told him. Izuku laughed at that. 

“Well, depending on who you ask, it’s both. Tomura wants chaos, he hates what the heroes have done, he wants to bring hero society to his knees. But, that’s just because he’s a spoiled brat who has had the biggest villain of all helping him with anything and everything. But, if you talk to the rest of them, they just want a better society where they aren’t automatically treated like villains.” 

“But they are villains,” Kacchan said and Izuku shook his head. 

“Himi was just a little girl when she was first treated differently. When she was little, she had a weird interest in blood, which makes sense considering her quirk. But, her parents didn’t like that she was weird. They wanted her to be normal and that pressure pushed on her to the point that she started to repress and hide the true parts of her. She did everything she could to be considered the ideal girl that society expected her to be. She did everything she could to push her quirk aside. But at the end of the day, Himi still has a quirk that makes her want blood and they shouldn’t have just pushed that under the rug. They should have helped her understand that desire and her quirk.”

“So Toga is a villain because society never accepted her,” Todoroki said, his eyes lit up with understanding. Izuku nodded his head, thankful that his friend was starting to understand that. He went on to explain to each member and why they were a part of the league. How Tomura had accidentally killed his family and the way he had been ignored and left by the heroes. How no one ever tried to save him except for All for One. He told them about Mr. Compress, how he was once just an entertainer before he converted to a life of crime. He even explained how Twice had become so lonely and depressed after he had been dealt the cards he had that he used his quirk on himself to create someone he could trust. How he realized that if he was going to be able to survive, he would need these clones. How he used them to create as many copies of himself to rob banks or whatever else he needed. But how the quirk also made him quickly lose his mind and how he realized that in the current society, there was no place for someone so insane. That he would never be the person heroes would save so he accepted that the only way he would ever be accepted for who he was would be with villains. 

“And then there’s me,” Izuku said softly, rubbing his thumb along Katsuki’s hand. “From the moment I learned I was quirkless, everyone looked down on me. What kind of person doesn’t have a quirk? Ya know? I was useless to society, I didn’t have anything to contribute, I could never be a hero. I was weak. And why? Because I didn’t have some special power to me? I mean fuck, my absolute hero, my fucking idol, told me I would never be a hero. Just because I didn’t have a quirk.”

“I’m sorry,” Katsuki said quietly. Izuku just shrugged his shoulders, as if it were water on his back. 

“It’s fine, Kat. Things are different now. I’m different,” he stated. “But I realized something in society needed to change. I have quirks now but not everyone is lucky enough to get that, you know? Why are some quirks more valued than others? Why do we put so much fucking value into quirks in the first damn place?” He let out another huff and looked at Todoroki. “I mean fuck, Todoroki, your fucking dad did a quirk marriage so that his kids could have the strongest quirks. Isn’t that fucked up? It’s all just so, god it’s just fucked. It’s all fucked and so much in our society needs to change and we need to start at the top.”

“You’re right,” Todoroki said softly. “These things shouldn’t be able to just happen and we shouldn’t let them continue to let these things happen.”

“No, we shouldn’t,” Kacchan said. Izuku smiled and squeezed his boyfriend’s hand even tighter. 

“So that means you want to help us? Make things better?” The two students nodded and Izuku sucked his teeth. “We have a lot of work. And it’s going to be set in motion in a few months, so get ready.”

…

Katsuki laid in bed and watched his boyfriend change into a pair of pajamas close slowly, humming some song as he did. The nerd was definitely off key, but Katsuki didn’t care, his mind was elsewhere. When they had gotten back to the school, the entire class had surrounded them, making sure that Icy Hot was alright, checking to make sure that Deku didn’t get them into trouble or hurt them in any way. Of course, that was stupid, Deku would do anything and everything he could to keep both of them safe and the two students had told them as much.

But that wasn’t what Katsuki was thinking about, really. No, his mind had gone back to his previous conversation with Tomura. Deku had sex with that ugly fucker. And Katsuki--Katsuki didn’t know if that was something he wanted. 

Ever. 

Sometimes it felt like he wasn’t even a normal teenager. Sure, he was insanely attracted to his boyfriend, he thought Deku was drop-dead gorgeous. Not only that but the feelings he had for Deku, he had never had them for anyone else. He cared about that boy more than anything. But he didn’t know if he could have sex with him. He didn’t have those kinds of feelings, he didn’t even have the interest in masturbating. Never got the feeling or desire for that to happen. 

“You’re thinking pretty hard over there babe,” Deku said, walking towards the bed. “What are you thinking about?” He asked and climbed onto the bed, slipped into the blankets, and laid on his side to look at Katsuki. 

“S’nothin,” he muttered, looking away from the greenette. Deku took the blond’s chin and held it in one callused hand. Katsuki looked at him to find a frown on his boyfriend’s face.

“Kacchan, you can tell me, you know.” He smirked a little as he ran his thumb along Katsuki’s cheek. “I promise I won’t make fun of you too much.”

“It’s nothing, Deku.”

Deku’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at him. “Okay, I won’t make fun of you at all. Katsuki, whatever it is, whatever you’re feeling. I’m here for you. You deal with my shit pretty often. I can do the same for you.”

Katsuki let out a sigh and glared at his boyfriend. “No making fun of me. Got it you piece of shit?”

He quirked up a small smile. “I’ve got it. What’s going on, Babe?”

“You-you,” Katsuki stopped and let out a groan, burying his face in his hands. “Fuck it’s embarrassing. And it’s fucking weird and I hate it. It’s so dumb.”

Deku pulled his hands away and held his face in his own hands. “Whatever it is, I doubt it’s dumb. And it’s definitely not embarrassing. Kacchan I’ve seen you run around with nothing but All Might underwear and a cape on. Nothing can ever be as embarrassing as that.”

He let out a soft laugh. “I guess you’re right.” He placed his hands over Deku’s and let out a breath. “I know you’ve had sex with Tomura and I told you a few days ago I wasn’t ready. But, Deku. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready. I don’t think that’s something I want.”

The greenette shrugged. “That’s fine. Do you think it could be asexuality?” He asked, giving his boyfriend a look that told Katsuki that he was taking this seriously. He didn’t find it weird or embarrassing that Katsuki didn’t want sex. He just accepted it. 

“I don’t know,” he huffed. “What the fuck is that?”

At this, Deku let out a soft laugh. “It means that you don’t have any kind of sexual attraction. You can have a romantic attraction but not really sexual but it’s pretty further than that. I mean there are so many subcategories I mean sex is fucking weird and it’s not something everyone wants you know? And if you don’t want sex, that’s fine. We don’t have to have sex Katsuki. That’s not why I like you. I mean sure, you’re hot as fuck but if sex isn’t something you want then fine. We can cuddle and kiss and we can do whatever the hell else you want,” he said, running his fingers through Katsuki’s hair. 

Katsuki didn’t know what to say. What the fuck was someone supposed to say to something like that? All the guys ever fucking talked about was sex, that grape bastard only ever cared about sex. But here was Deku, telling him it was just fucking fine if Katsuki didn’t want that. That he didn’t care if their relationship had sex. What was he supposed to say? Wasn’t that something that relationships required? 

Deku pressed his lips to Katsuki’s softly. “Hey, don’t overthink it. That’s my thing. Just, do whatever you are comfortable with and I’ll follow along. All I care about is your comfort babe. That’s much more important than me getting laid. Besides, if I’m that fucking pent up, I have a hand.

The student just nodded his head. For the first time in his damn life, he was just fucking speechless. He kissed his boyfriend again softly before he pressed his forehead to the crook of Deku’s neck and let out a long, heavy sigh. Deku’s arms wrapped around him tight, his fingers ran up and down his spine slowly as he whispered nothing but nice, sweet things in his boyfriend’s ear.

Chapter Text

Kacchan’s revelation really hadn’t been too much of a surprise for Izuku the more he thought about it. After Kacchan had fallen asleep the night before after revealing that important information, Izuku’s mind had been all over the place. And the more he thought about Kacchan’s asexuality, it made sense. Izuku had been excited that the explosive blond even wanted to be in a relationship. He had always seemed so focused on his goals to be the number one hero that Izuku didn’t even realize that the hero course student even thought about relationships, much less sex. And of course, some people would probably be pissed if their boyfriend told them that he didn’t want to have sex probably ever. But, as much as Izuku may have acted like one, he wasn’t actually an asshole. He cared much more about Katsuki’s feelings than he did about getting his dick wet. Besides, it really wasn’t something Izuku thought about much either. Sure he had sex but it was usually only a resort that he went to if he needed to just not think for a while. When he was just with Katsuki, he didn’t feel the need to overthink too much. 

“Shut up, nerd,” Kacchan muttered, rolling over, his face now nestled in Izuku’s side, his arm wrapped around the greenette’s midsection. 

“You shut up, Ass,” he muttered, moving his hand to run through Katsuki’s blond hair. “We need to get up, you know. You have training and I have work.”

Katsuki growled. “What’s the hit today?” He questioned, blearily opening his eyes to look up at the vigilante. 

Izuku hummed his finger caught up on a knot in Katsuki’s hair. “Not a hit. I’m meeting with Sir Nighteye and Eraserhead to talk about what to do with All for One before it’s too late and I get killed by the bastard,” he said, his heart a giant lump in his throat. He didn’t like thinking about it, the more he thought about what he was planning, the more Izuku wanted to back out. It felt like a betrayal and All For One had done so much for him. He was the reason Izuku even had a quirk and here Izuku was, about to plan out his master’s murder. 

“Oh? How do you feel about that?” Katsuki questioned, his head raised to look at his boyfriend. “You know you gotta fucking do it, right?”

“Yes, I know I have to do it. But,” Izuku let out a breath and let go of Katsuki’s hair. 

“But? What kind of buts are there? Deku he’s the evilest supervillain in the world? He needs to fucking die!” Katsuki exclaimed, shooting up to look at his boyfriend, his brows furrowed and his lips curled up in a slight snarl. Izuku let out a soft sigh, Kacchan wouldn’t get it. He didn’t understand what it was like to have a man give you everything, to make it where he is basically your entire world. 

“Without him, I would be dead,” Izuku whispered, staring far away. He trained his eyes on the wall. His mind played every nice moment he had with his master, he thought about how All for One trained him, how he gave Izuku a chance when no one else did. Sure he laughed when Izuku had told him that he wanted to be a hero but, he told Izuku that he could do something better. He could be a vigilante. He was the first person aside from Tomura who took Izuku’s dreams seriously. 

Katsuki grew quiet at that. Izuku spared him a sad look and took his hand, his thumb now rubbing along the back of it. 

“Don’t think about it. It was my choice, I had already been thinking about it before you said anything,” Izuku told him seriously. “Honestly, by the time you had told me to, I was balancing between two options.”

“What?” Katsuki asked, raising his eyebrows. 

Izuku gave him a small shrug before he let out a breath of air. “I was going to ask Tomura to take me with him that day. I was going to ask if I could join the League of Villains, I had the entire spiel set up. Tomura always tried to get me to join and I was finally going to take him up on that offer,” he said before a wistful look took over his features. “But I won’t lie between becoming a villain and dying, dying seemed so much better.”

“Why were those your only options? Deku you had so much to live for, I should have never fucking said that to you,” Katsuki said, trying his best to stay calm. 

At that, the vigilante let out a harsh laugh. “I was a quirkless loser who had no friends and got beat up every single day. I was told I was useless not just by you but by everyone. My mom treated me like I was just a fragile little nobody who needed to be coddled every second of the day. My dad fucking walked out on us because I didn’t have a quirk and I don’t care what you say about my mom, she held that against me. I know she did,” he said softly. “And All Might had told me I would never be a hero. I had nothing to live for anymore, Kacchan. One best friend hated my guts because I was weak, the other best friend was doing everything he could to convince me to join the League of Villains with him.”

“I didn’t hate you,” Katsuki said quietly, his eyes anywhere but Izuku. 

“It sure felt like it,” Izuku said, letting out yet another rough, slightly angry laugh, his hand squeezed Katsuki’s hand tight. 

“No. I just, everyone started treating you like you were fragile after you found out you were quirkless and it-it fucking pissed me the hell off. You weren’t fragile or weak and stupid five year old me thought that since everyone did that, I had to be the one to show everyone you weren’t fucking weak. I didn’t realize that my-that my bullying had pushed you so far. Not until it was too fucking late and you were jumping off of that goddamn building. I never intended it to go that far. I just fuck, Zuku, I just wanted you to see what I fucking saw. Some scrawny green haired bastard who kept getting up every fucking time I knocked him down. I just wanted everyone to see you weren’t a fucking victim. I just, went about it a stupid way.”

Izuku stared at his boyfriend in shock at that statement before he let out a howl of laughter. He brought his hands up -and Katsuki’s- to his face as he guffawed loudly in the small bedroom. 

“Don’t fucking laugh at me Shitty Deku!” Katsuki shouted, his face now blood red. He glared and shoved Izuku away from him. Unfortunately, it only made the greenette laugh even harder as he fell off of the bed. He rolled around the floor, laughing loudly. “Quit fucking laughing you bastard!” He exclaimed as small explosions popped from his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he laughed loudly, throwing his head back as he did. Someone knocked on Kacchan’s dorm room softly. 

“Uh Bakubro? Midoriya? Are you guys okay?” Kirishima asked through the door before he opened it slowly and frowned as Izuku continued laughing, so hard his form was now starting to change into a shadow state. 

“I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with him! We were having a serious conversation and now he’s laughing like a fucking dumbass!” Katsuki growled before he got up and kicked his boyfriend, only for his leg to go right through the shadowy body. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Izuku laughed, finally turning solid once more. He wiped a tear from his eye and looked at Katsuki. “You’re telling me those years of torture were because you didn’t fucking like that everyone treated me like I was weak? Kat that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life,” he said somberly. 

“So everything is okay?” Kirishima asked, looking between the two nervously. “We uh, we were worried. We’ve never heard Midoriya laugh like that or well sound so happy.”

Izuku rolled his eyes. “Oh whatever. I’m expressive...sometimes. I’m not always a dead inside bastard,” he muttered before he got up and kissed Katsuki’s cheek. “Now, I’m assuming you’re here to take the lazy asshole to train. Obviously, he’s still in his pajamas-”

“Shut up Stupid Deku!” Katsuki shouted, Izuku turned and looked at him. 

“Oh baby, now that I know there’s no bite to your words whatsoever, you’re gonna have to try harder,” he cooed, running his fingers through Katsuki’s hair. He glanced back at Kirishima. “Give us like five minutes and I’ll have him out there and ready for you. Maybe even warmed up a little,” he said before he waved a hand, particles pushed the redhead out of the room. He looked back down at his scowling boyfriend and grinned. 

“Shut up,” he muttered, shoving Izuku away from him. 

“You’re so cute,” Izuku crooned before he kissed his boyfriend softly. Katsuki growled against his lips and pulled Izuku into his lap and deepened the kiss. Izuku moaned into his mouth, his fingers tangled themselves into Katsuki’s hair as he moved to sit on the blond’s lap. 

“We didn’t finish our conversation,” Katsuki murmured between soft kisses. Izuku let out an annoyed whine.

“Kacchaaaaan let’s just drop it,” Izuku whined. “I’m still planning on killing Sensei, or working with others to have him killed.”

“We’re going to talk about it later,” Katsuki warned before pressing one more kiss to Izuku’s lips. “I want to know what you’re thinking after your meeting.”

Izuku rolled his eyes and got off of his boyfriend’s lap. “Whatever. Kirishima is probably still waiting on the other side.”

“Probably,” Katsuki muttered before the two changed into their respective outfits. Katsuki in a pair of casual gym clothes, Izuku in his vigilante gear. The blond eyed the get up carefully. Shadow’s look was a pair of dark black skinny jeans, a dark black hoodie, his metal mask that covered half of his face as well as his bright red sneakers and black, leather, fingerless gloves. “You know, Deku, you could get a good hero costume if you spoke to Aizawa.”

“I don’t want a hero costume,” he said and looked down at his get up. “Besides, I like what I’m wearing. It’s inconspicuous, no one looks twice at some guy in a hoodie and jeans. And with my hood up, you can’t see my mask. Besides, I’m not interested in wearing spandex.”

“It’ll make your ass look good,” Katsuki told him. Izuku arched an eyebrow as he slipped on his mask. 

“So you’re saying that my ass doesn’t look good in these jeans?” He asked, running a glove covered hand over his ass cheek. Katsuki rolled his eyes at the vigilante before he took his hand and squeezed it. 

“Whatever. Let’s walk out together, I want to show off my hot vigilante boyfriend,” he said gruffly, his ears ever so slightly red. Izuku grinned at the blond under his mask before he pushed it around his neck. 

“Are you sure, Kacchan? Your friends rarely see me in my criminal gear,” he said, thinking back to how Iida always looked at Izuku as if he were a criminal no matter what the greenette did to change his mind. 

“Let them see how scary your ass is,” Katsuki grunted before he pulled Izuku out of the dorm where sure enough, Kirishima was waiting for them. 

Kirishima grinned at the couple, his eyes bright. “Took longer than five minutes,” he teased. He looked Midoriya up and down, the joyful look on his face slowly disappeared. “Uh, Midoriya. Why do you look like you’re about to kill a man.”

Izuku’s eyes lazily slid over to him, that menacing smile that said Izuku was 100% up to something slid onto his face. “No, no murder today. Just plotting it,” he said easily as the trio started down the stairs. He listened quietly as his boyfriend and Katsuki’s best friend decided what they were going to work on in their training today as they walked down to the kitchen. Once they got to the open room, Izuku squeezed his boyfriend’s hand. 

“Alright I-”

“Mr. Aizawa?” Kirishima asked, screwing up a confused face. “What are you doing? Are we in trouble?”

“I’m just waiting on the problem child,” he said tiredly, giving Izuku a disapproving look. The greenette grinned at the man and slid his mask up, securely covering his face.

“Come on Eraserhead. I am certainly far from being your problem child. That’s Kat’s job,” he said, letting go of the blond’s hand. He sauntered towards the underground hero and gave the man a look. “I told you I would meet you at Nighteye’s agency.”

“I don’t trust you,” the man snarled. “I’m not even happy about you living with my students.”

“But you allow it because if not, I would just do this,” Izuku shot a hand out and created a portal directly to Nighteye’s agency. “And bring Katsuki to me whenever I wanted. Or just show up unannounced.”

Katsuki snorted behind him. “Will you quit picking a fight with my teacher and go do your stupid job?” He asked, shoving his boyfriend. 

Izuku pushed his mask down once more and kissed his boyfriend softly. “See you later, Kat,” he murmured before he pulled back and glared at the hero. “If you try to turn off my quirk and kill me, I’ll murder you and then have Eri bring you back so I can murder you again. She likes me more,” he stated before motioning towards the portal. “After you, Mr. Aizawa.”

Aizawa glared at the boy and grabbed him by his hoodie before he stormed through the portal and stepped through, landing in the middle of Nighteye’s office gracefully. “I don’t like you around my students.”

“They love me. It’s fine, and I’m not rubbing off on them. Well, maybe on Todoroki but that’s just because he refuses to use his fire side and that’s just stupid and a waste of a quirk but we’re working on that.”

Aizawa just stared after the young man for just a moment before they took a seat at the large conference table where Lemillion and Nighteye were already seated. 

“That’s new,” Togata stated, watching the portal close behind them. 

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Izuku muttered and took a seat. He sighed and leaned back in the chair and looked the heroes over. “So, I’m glad you guys agreed to meet with me today. I’m just going to cut to the chase. In exactly two months, every villain will be gathered. We’re not just talking the League of Villains, we’re talking about the different yakuza gangs, nomadic villains, every single villain, will be coming down on the Hero Commission to destroy it and take over. I will be with them.”

“What?” The three heroes demanded, varying levels of shock on their faces. 

Izuku sighed and rubbed at his face. “This plan has been in the works since Sensei was arrested. It’s my final job for him before he will decide I have paid him back for what he has done for me. All for One will also break out of prison that day and will open every single cell in Tartarus.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Sasaki demanded, his eyes narrowed into slits. “We should arrest you now and get the information we need to make the arrests of the League of Villains.”

“It won’t stop anything,” Izuku said simply as he started picking at his nails. “Now will you let me explain or are you just going to keep asking questions?”

“Explain,” Aizawa said steadily. 

The vigilante took a deep breath and took his face mask off. “All for One is going to come straight for me. I’m instrumental in keeping Shigaraki Tomura safe and with taking over the commission while the villains fight against the heroes. But, when he comes for me, I won’t be alone and Shigaraki will already be arrested. Instead, I’ll have Eraserhead and Lemillion with me.”

“Why? Isn’t Shigaraki your best friend?”

“He is. This isn’t easy for me, Sasaki. The League of Villains are my family, I’m not taking the fact that I’m betraying them to kill our master as easy as you think. But it’s the only way. With Tomura locked away so that he isn’t in my way, I’ll start the fight with my master. But I can’t do that unless we have Aizawa there to erase his quirk. And we will have to be careful about it, he can take Aizawa’s quirk before he even has the chance to use it. This is why Lemillion is important. Lemillion, you’re his arch-nemesis, congratulations.”

The normally cheerful boy scowled. “Thanks.”

“Whatever. Since you have One for All, you’ll be the only one strong enough to truly defeat him. The only way to do that is to take his head. We will distract him until Aizawa is able to erase his quirk. I’m at your disposal. If you need help to defeat him, I’ll help. If you need someone to protect Eraserhead, I’ll do it. You just need to kill him. Once and for all.”

“Why the sudden desire to take down your master as you tend to call him?” Aizawa asked him, crossing his arms. He leveled a curious gaze at the greenette. Izuku met his gaze back with a strong look of his own. 

“I’m nothing if not a self preservationist. I don’t particularly want to die, nor do I want that man to turn me into a fucking nomu. He dragged me to Tartarus and forced another quirk on me in preparation for this attack. You saw me, Aizawa, it nearly killed me. I’m tired of being used as a marionette for his own amusement. Not only that but I don’t agree with this plan. I want the Hero Commission destroyed more than anyone. I want hero society to be razed to the ground and rebuilt completely, but hundreds of completely unhinged villains taking over? That’s not my thing either.”

“You truly don’t have a side, do you?” Sasaki asked him, looking amazed.

“Of course I don’t. I just want to see a better, more equal world. In all honesty, I’ll be happy if the heroes and villains completely destroy one another in this battle. It’s also why, once the battle is over, I’ll break all of my friends out of prison. And why the third year UA students will not be close to this battle whatsoever. I don’t want my friends hurt.”

“Why?”

“Why don’t I want them hurt? They’re my friends, not only that but they’re the future heroes, they can change how things are. As for breaking out the league? Heroes need villains. We need good and evil in the world, it’s almost a system of checks and balances. The villains will continue to call out the injustices in the world while the heroes fight them and hopefully listen to their grievances. And me? I’ll hold everyone accountable and make sure that you’re both doing what you need to do to make the world a better place for everyone.” Izuku tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. A glare sitting on his face as he looked at the three heroes in front of him. “Those are my demands, I break my friends out of prison with no problem, the UA third years, especially Bakugou Katsuki, are as far from the battle as possible. In exchange, I tell you everything you need to know about how to destroy my master once and for all.”

Sir Nighteye looked him directly in the eye. “We have a deal.”

Chapter Text

Izuku’s absolute favorite part of the day was waking up. The way he would wake up slowly, Katsuki’s hands wrapped around his waist, his face buried in his chest, Izuku lived for it. He lived for his mornings where Katsuki was still lightly snoring in his ears, not a single care in the world. Katsuki always seemed to pride himself on the fact that he woke up early and went to bed at a reasonable time. But somehow, Izuku woke up before him every single morning.

“I have a question,” Katsuki mumbled as he started to stir away. Izuku hummed in reply. “Do you think that if you were in shadow form, you could interact with the bird head’s Dark Shadow thing like talk in shadows or some shit?”

Izuku laughed softly, his fingers running through Katsuki’s hair. “Hm, maybe. I don’t really talk to Tokoyami so I’m not entirely sure if I could or not.”

Katsuki glanced up at him, his eyes still half closed with sleep. “I want to test that shit out. Like right now.”

The vigilante shook his head. “Kacchan, it’s like five in the morning. I highly doubt that Tokoyami is even awake yet. Besides, doesn’t Dark Shadow talk and interact normally?” The blond grumbled at that and moved so that now Izuku was laying on his chest. The greenette smiled and ran his hand over Katsuki’s chest as he let out a breath of air. 

“Yeah, fuckin’ guess you’re right,” Katsuki muttered, looking down at his boyfriend. “You have a hit before class?”

Izuku hummed. “It depends, really. “

“On?”

“On whether or not you’re going to work out with Kirishima before class this morning. I only go to the bar in the mornings if you abandon me for training. But I am going after class today to see if there’s anything,” he said, his eyes fluttered close. Honestly, Izuku had made more than enough to get an apartment but while he would never admit it to Katsuki, he was going to miss sleeping with his boyfriend every night. He had gotten used to the sound of Katsuki breathing, the way they cuddled each morning. Izuku didn’t know if he wanted to miss out on that. 

“Eh, I don’t particularly want to train this morning,” Katsuki said, crinkling his nose a little. He sat up and pulled Izuku along with him. He smiled up at the blond and let out a hum. 

“I was thinking, do you think whenever I go and get an apartment you would be able to stay with me?” He asked, looking over at his boyfriend. Katsuki stiffened slightly, his eyebrows raised ever so slightly. 

“Sure,” he muttered, a small smile starting to grow on his face. “But I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Ugh, I know. I’m going to have to talk to Aizawa and tell him I know how to take care of you. I mean you’ll never have to worry about villains bothering you. I have that pretty much in control,” he stated, taking Katsuki’s hand in his. He frowned, though, his teeth now buried in his bottom lip. Maybe Katsuki wouldn’t want to live with Izuku. Maybe he would want to stay here with his friends and classmates. He would be closer to the gym and class and everything else at UA. 

“Stop overthinking, fucking nerd. I would have probably run to your apartment anyway to get away from everyone here. I’ll probably sleep there and then stay here to study and shit. You’re distracting and I have a fucking feeling that you would invite Shiga fucking raki to your apartment and he hates me and I fucking hate him. And Toga freaks me out.”

“Toga takes some getting used to,” Izuku said with a sigh. “But she’s nice. And Shiggy doesn’t hate you persay-”

“Deku, he hates me,” Katsuki told him wryly. 

He let out a laugh. “Yeah, he hates you. But I’m thinking about looking at apartments today after school and I’ll let you know if I find anything and I promise any time you’re there, I’ll make sure the League is far, far away.”

“Good,” Katsuki muttered before he reached over and grabbed a book off of his nightstand. Izuku smiled and got comfortable in Katsuki’s arms before the two picked back up on their novel. The couple sat like that, reading their book for a good hour and a half before someone started knocking on the dorm’s door insistently. 

“Fuck off!” Katsuki shouted before the door slammed open and Ashido Mina glared at the couple with what looked like the rest of the girls in 3A behind her. “What the fuck do you want.”

“Midoriya. You’re invited to our girl’s night sleepover tonight. We will drag you there if we have to,” the pink-haired girl demanded, glaring at Izuku. 

The couple responded simultaneously. 

“Fuck no.”

“Uh, I’m not a girl…”

“It doesn’t matter. We need you there tonight, it’s absolutely vital that you are in attendance. We’re going to be in my room and Koda is going to let us borrow some of his pets so we’re gonna have cute fuzzy animals with us!” Hagakure exclaimed, clasping her gloved covered hands together. “Midoriya, you have to come. We barely know you and we really, really want to get to know you better and this is the best way to do that.”

“Plus we need you to kill Mineta when he tries to break in,” Uraraka said cheerfully. 

“I can do that,” Izuku said with a sigh. “But if any of you even think about trying to paint my nails, I’ll leave.”

“Of course,” the girls said before they left the dorm room, shutting the door behind them. Izuku gave his boyfriend an exasperated look. 

“What am I getting myself into?” He asked softly and Katsuki grimaced as he got out of bed. 

“Fuck if I know. They’re fucking psychotic.”

Izuku let out a groan and fell back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. Today was going to be a long fucking day. 

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.

.

School was actually the most boring part of Izuku’s day. Unlike Katsuki who was able to train in school, all Izuku was able to do was study and listen to his teachers drone on and on about subjects he didn’t even care about. He was only in his final year of school to appease his damn boyfriend and no other reason. He didn’t talk to his classmates, he only spoke when spoken to. Izuku never, ever went out of his way to answer questions or anything of the sort. He was here to get his stupid diploma and then he was out. This was why as soon as that final bell of the day rang, Izuku shot out of his desk with lightning-fast speed and left the school as soon as possible. With newfound practiced ease, Izuku opened up a warp gate and stepped through. 

“Hey idiots,” he said as soon as he landed in Tomura’s apartment and fell on the couch between Dabi and Hawks. 

“Izuku!” Keigo screeched, wrapping his arms around the vigilante excitedly. Izuku smiled and patted the blond’s back softly. “I’ve missed you so much, you’re never around anymore! You used to be up Tomura’s ass and now I’m stuck dealing with him whine about how much he misses you when I’m trying to spend time with Dabi.”

Tomura let out an angry huff. “Yeah, he fucking abandoned us for the heroes.”

“Did not. I’ve just been busy. We saw each other like two weeks ago when Dabi got his little family reunion and I had to deal with a burnt arm.”

“It wasn’t enough. You don't even play video games with me anymore,” Tomura grumbled, crossing his arms. Izuku rolled his eyes, his best friend was a needy bastard. He should have known Tomura would take this as abandonment rather than Izuku actually getting a life outside of his friends. 

“Yeah, whatever. I’m here now,” he said and pulled a cigarette out of Keigo’s jacket and popped it in his mouth. He shot a glare at Dabi who simply sighed and leaned over and lit the stick. Izuku gave him a thankful smile before he leaned forward and grabbed a game controller. “We’re playing smash and I’m going to kick your ass,” he declared, giving his best friend a look before taking a long drag. Sure, Katsuki had nagged at him to quit smoking and for the most part, Izuku had. But a cigarette every so often with his friends was different. He liked the taste and it didn’t hurt him. Besides, when he drank, he felt the effects for maybe twenty minutes before survivor got rid of the drunk or tipsy feeling. 

“Fine,” Tomura said petulantly before they started playing as Dabi dragged Keigo back to the back room where he typically stayed. Izuku just shrugged and leaned back into the couch. 

“So you wanna help me find an apartment?” Izuku asked him after he kicked Tomura’s ass for the tenth time. Tomura glared angrily at his best friend and crossed his arms. 

“No, because you can just live with me.”

“I do not want to live with you and fucking Dabi,” Izuku muttered and checked the time on his phone. “We’ll go this weekend. I’ve got to go see Patch and see if there’s a job,” he muttered and grabbed his mask from his bag. 

“Fine, fine. How is being a stupid fucking mercenary?” Tomura asked, starting a single-player game, his feet now tucked underneath him. 

“It’s whatever. Just a way to make some money to support myself, you know?” Izuku said before he concentrated on the location of the old rundown bar. The warp gate slowly opened and he quirked a grin. “Better fuckin’ hope I don’t get a hit on you.”

Tomura flipped the teenager off causing Izuku to let out a loud laugh before he stepped through the portal and landed in the alley of Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Girls, otherwise known as Hell House. He stepped through the door once the warp had closed and gave the bartender a cocky smile. 

“Hey Patch, what kind of hits do you have today?” He asked, his eyes slowly flicked to the dead pool on the wall as they always seemed to do, a frown now etched underneath his mask. Someone had bet a lot of money on Shadow to die this week. Not like it was possible but he would definitely like to see someone try to kill him. 

The retired mercenary gave him a tired look. “We have a few that I wanted to talk to you about,” he said before he slid a card across the bar at Izuku. The greenette picked it up and frowned. 

The Vigilante, Shadow.

“Who put this out?” He asked and Patch shrugged and slid two other cards in front of him.

Shigaraki Tomura 

Dabi

“You know I can’t tell you unless you take the hit, kid. But the hit on you is twenty million yen,” he said and glanced at the other bar patrons in the bar, each one with their hungry eyes on Izuku. 

Shadow lowered his mask ever so slightly and snarled. “I would love to see someone try,” he said, venom soaked each and every word. “Or try to kill my friends.” A scarred hand shot out and gripped Patch’s collar. Shadow twisted his fist around in the dingy t-shirt and hauled the man over the bar. “You’re going to tell me one time. Who put out the hit,” he growled. A blade pressed into the side of the vigilante’s neck and the green-haired teenager couldn’t help but let out a harsh laugh as he pressed against the knife. He glanced to his right to find a random merc glaring daggers at him.

“Do it, go on,” he said with a cocky shrug. “It won’t do much but inconvenience me,” he stated before he looked back at Patch. 

“You can’t scare me, boy.”

Shadow couldn’t help but grin, that crazed, unhinged look that he got before a kill glinted in his eye as he stared at the greasy old man in front of him. “I should,” he stated just as the blide slid across his throat, blood sprayed for maybe thirty seconds, his smile growing even wider, the crazed look worsened. The skin on his neck quickly sewed itself back together right in front of their eyes. “You see, that’s my quirk, Patch. I can’t die. Cut my fucking head off if you want, I’ll just reattach it. Stab me and I’ll fucking heal. I can’t die. But you fucking can,” he snarled and shot his free hand out, every patron in the bar slammed into the walls of the establishment. He gripped his hand into a fist and tugged it forward, dragging the man who had attempted to kill him back to him. He twisted his wrist, effectively ending the man’s life without even a blink of an eye. He stared at the man in front of him. “I’m going to ask one last time. Who took out the hit on me?”

“E-Endeavor,” he stammered, his hands now pressed against the tight grip that Shadow had on his shirt. “He had an assistant put out a hit on you and everyone in the League of Villains.”

Shadow cocked his head to the side, that predatory look still remained on his face. “Thank you,” he said, the words dripped with venom. “Now give me a fucking card.” He dropped the old barkeep to the ground and leaned against the bar. He let the particles let go of the other patrons in the bar with a shrug of his shoulders. Izuku rolled his head and ran a finger along his new scar, crinkling his nose at the blood that stained his finger. Patch shakily set a card before him and Izuku grinned, pushing his mask back upon his face before he swiped the card. 

“I’ll pull the hit on you and the League.”

“Change it to a hit on Endeavor. The League will pay handsomely for his downfall. I’ll have an associate come and give you the details,” he said as the gold card disappeared and the vigilante right after it. A quiet “it’s a pleasure doing business with you,” followed him out of the bar. Izuku read the name on the card once again and rolled his eyes, it was just a low life yakuza who owed his life to his gang after stealing contraband from them. All they wanted was someone to discreetly teach the idiot a lesson. 

Izuku could do that. 

Fuck, he was dying to fuck someone up after learning that the number one hero put a goddamn hit on his name. Hits were illegal. The fact that a hero, no the number fucking one hero had put multiple hits out spoke volumes over the condition of the hero commission. Izuku found the man with ease and made sure that the idiot got the message and ensured that he got his anger out before he returned to his boyfriend.

Izuku landed in the dorm room and glared at his boyfriend. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Katsuki asked, looking up at the glowering, angry teenager clenching and unclenching his fists in front of him. 

“Don’t want to fucking talk about it,” he muttered and ripped the mask off of his face, letting it fall to the ground with a careless flick. The greenette ripped off his hoodie and marched to Katsuki’s drawer and started to riffle through, looking for an appropriate shirt to wear.

“Deks- fuck Izuku is that blood on your neck? Is that your blood?” Katsuki demanded. He climbed off of the bed and marched towards the vigilante and spun him around. Red eyes darted around as he looked the boy in front of him over before landing on the pale line that now covered the front of his boyfriend’s neck. A shaky hand reached up, Katsuki traced a finger along the scar that he knew was new but looked as though it was months old. “What happened?”

Deku let out a sigh and ran a hand over his face before he leaned forward and rested his forehead on Katsuki’s shoulder. “Someone punk ass bitch slit my throat,” he muttered and closed his eyes tight. “Fuck I have that goddamn slumber party tonight don’t I?”

“I’ll tell them you can’t go. Deks, what happened? How the fuck was someone able to do that shit? Why did you let them?” He demanded and Izuku pulled back and pursed his lips. 

“I’ll explain but if I hear even the smallest snap of an explosion I’ll let the League into the fucking school to cause mayhem,” he threatened. Katsuki glared at his boyfriend but took a seat on the bed. The blond crossed his arms, a heavy stare at the scarred teenager. 

“Talk,” he said simply, watching as Deku started to change his shirt. 

“Someone put out a hit on my name. Not like my given name but Shadow. Tried to get Patch to tell me who and to show him that he wouldn’t get any money from the hit; I let some stupid merc slice my throat.”

“So you let someone attempt to kill you to make a point?” Katsuki seethed, his hands now squeezed tight into fists as he did his damndest to not let off a single explosion. He knew that Deku’s threat wasn’t just a threat, if Katsuki let his temper get a hold of him, Deku would one hundred percent let the League in.

“Pretty much. I can’t die so why not?” He said with a shrug and slipped from the black skinny jeans and into a comfortable pair of sweats.  Izuku fiddled with his lip ring for a moment as he stared at his boyfriend. “What I don’t understand is why now? And how?”

“What do you mean?” Katsuki asked, his eyes now completely zoned in on the way Deku methodically twisted the lip ring. Fuck those piercings just fucking killed him. 

“I mean that a fucking hero put that hit on me. And on Shiggy and Dabi,” he said and leaned against the wall. It really didn’t make sense. Why would Endeavor put the hit out now? The League had been taunting the hero from the moment he stepped up as the number one hero. Dabi had been completely and totally pissed as he watched that fucker try to suddenly atone for his previous actions. As if that could make up for the years of abuse that the Todoroki family had endured under the fiery hand of Todoroki Enji. Hell, he was the top hero, and Shouto was still abused by the bastard. But what changed?

Izuku stiffened and Katsuki gave him a wary look. “Why would anyone put a hit out on the leaders of the League? That doesn’t make sense? Especially a fucking hero? That shit’s fucking illegal Deks,” he said and got up, now pacing the room. “Who is it? Do you know the hero?”

He got an even look that said everything Katsuki needed to know.

“Who?” 

“Endeavor,” he said simply, looking down at his still bloody hands. “Hm, I should have taken a shower before I changed. I’ll explain what I know in the bathroom,” he said and stepped away from the wall. Katsuki scowled, how the hell was he supposed to fucking stay calm after his boyfriend tells him that IcyHot’s goddamn father wanted his boyfriend dead? He stormed after Deku clenching and unclenching his fists as Izuku casually turned on the water and undressed. 

“Explain.”

Izuku gave the blond an exasperated look and blew a strand of hair out of his face as he dropped his pants. “What if we do something else instead?”

“Doesn’t do it for me Deks,” Katsuki said, not looking anywhere but at his boyfriend’s face. The greenette let out a whine and stamped his foot before he finished undressing and got into the shower. 

“At least shower with me.”

“No. Tell me.”

Katsuki took a seat on the toilet lid and waited. 

“I have a paranoid theory and a possible theory that is probably more likely,” Deku started as he grabbed for the shampoo and started to scrub the crusted blood out of his hair. 

“What’s the possible theory?” Katsuki asked. 

“Well, the beginning of the League’s plan is to start slowly revealing the evils within the Hero Society. First on the list is of course Endeavor. Dabi has proof of what happened to Toya when he mysteriously died and he made sure that the information fell into the hands of a reporter. I haven’t seen anything appear on the news recently so I’m wondering if the reporter went to Endeavor himself. But how would he know that the League was even behind it? Himiko went in disguise to give that information over, there’s no connection to the League. Not only that but why is there a hit on me?  I’m not a part of the League, Shadow has made that pretty damn clear.”

Katsuki mulled over this information. Deku had a point. The League had made sure to cover their tracks. The only way that Endeavor would even know is if he knew that Dabi was Toya. His eyes flicked towards the shower curtain and voiced his question. Deku let out a hum, conditioner now soaking in his hair as he scrubbed the blood out from under his fingernails. 

“No. I typically jump in before Dabi goes on some kind of stupid villain monologue. Although Endeavor could have his suspicions on the matter considering he was Toya’s first teacher when he was learning how to use his quirk. It just feels really random, you know?” He rambled and popped his head out of the shower to look at his boyfriend. “Can you grab me a towel? Two actually, I have that special one for my hair.”

The blond rolled his eyes but grabbed the needed supplies for his boyfriend. If there was one thing Deku seemed to care about, it was the health of his crazy green curls. He stomped back in just as the water shut off and threw the towels over the shower curtain. “What’s your crazier idea?”

“It’s out there,” he said with a nervous laugh as he wrapped his hair in the towel. “Um, you know how I’m working with those heroes about getting my sensei out of the picture for good?”

“Of course.”

“What if they told Endeavor everything? I don’t know what they did after I gave them the information I did but what if Endeavor thought that if he took out the key players in getting rid of the commission then the attack won’t happen? But it won’t work like that. We have things set in place. If Dabi and Shiggy disappear or die then everything goes to me. If I also somehow was miraculously taken out then Compress and Spinner take over operations-”

“You’re not a fucking villain Deku. Why would you take over?” Katsuki interrupted as his boyfriend stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around his waist. 

The greenette contemplated his answer for a moment and let out a soft hum, his hand reached up to pat Katsuki’s cheek. “It would simply be in name. Sensei gave me that order if I let Shiggy die, I get punished and then I have to ensure that Shiggy’s dream becomes a reality. But as soon as I get that title I would undoubtedly give it to Compress or Spinner. I don’t particularly want to run a group of villains. They padded back to the room and Izuku dropped the towel and got dressed once again. 

“That idea seems pretty believable, Deks. Regardless, what are you gonna do about it?” Deku thought it out for a moment before he dried his hair with the towel. 

“Hm, I think I’m going to call Shiggy and tell him to keep an eye out. Patch is supposed to pull the hit and replace it for one on Endeavor but I need to relay that information to them. It’ll keep the hero’s hands full while we figure out what happened. Then I’ll go to this stupid sleepover and try not to gouge my eyes out.”

“Please don’t. I’m still traumatized from the last time,” the hero student joked. Izuku stuck his tongue out at him and finished getting ready. He grabbed his phone and dialed Shiggy’s number before the two made a plan. Himiko would go to the bar on Shadow’s behalf and set the official hit on Endeavor. They would put the money that Twice and Compress had stolen from a bank not too long ago towards the hit and hopefully it would keep things a little busy for the time being. The League would also ensure that they kept their eyes open just a little wider until the threat was gone or taken care of. Once he hung up, Deku eyed his boyfriend who had gone back to studying from one of his textbooks. He bounded towards the blond and straddled him, knocking the books away. His arms draped across Katsuki’s shoulders and he smiled. 

“How bad does the scar look? Or is it sexy?” He asked, tilting his head back to give his boyfriend a better look. Katsuki ran a calloused finger over it and laughed. 

“It’s not too horrible, just a thin pale line now. I don’t know how a scar from a cut that could have killed you would be sexy,” he said before he tilted Izuku’s chin down and kissed his boyfriend softly. “I’m just happy your stupid ass is okay, Nerd.”

Izuku hummed and kissed his boyfriend again. “No reason to be worried. I take good care of myself. I have to if I want to keep kicking your ass,” he teased, nibbling at Katuski’s bottom lip. The hero course student just rolled his eyes and leaned his head against Izuku’s chest, letting out a breath of air. Sure he knew that Survivor would keep his boyfriend from dying but, it still didn’t make it easy to see said boyfriend come home with new scars from escaping death. The fact that there were hits out there for Deku was really fucking him as well. How could anyone ever want to hurt him?

Well, scratch that. His boyfriend was a goddamn bitch and probably had more enemies than Katsuki could count.

Before they could discuss more on the subject, the door to Katsuki’s dorm slammed open and Uraraka pointed a figure at the vigilante. “That’s it Mido! You’re coming with us!” She shouted excitedly. Izuku let out a groan and gave his boyfriend one last kiss. 

“I take it back, this is how I’m going to die, Kats. If they kill me, you can have my vigilante masks, I need you to continue my legacy,” he whispered as pink hands gripped his arms and dragged him off of the blond. His eyes widened as he was dragged away from Katsuki who seemed to just smirk, purposefully ignoring the way Izuku mouthed help . 

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.

.

The powerful wanted criminal, known vigilante Shadow found himself sitting cross-legged in probably the pinkest room he had ever seen as Hagakure painted his nails and he chatted happily with Tsuyu-- or Tsu as she kept reminding him to call her and Yaoyorozu. The two had questions about Izuku’s shadow quirk and he was more than happy to talk to them about it. 

“Okay, okay, enough with the nerd talk!” Ashido shouted, clasping her hands together as she and Aoyama came back with bags of snacks. 

“I thought this was girls night, why is Belly Button here?” Izuku asked. 

“He has good cheese,” Uraraka whispered to him as she took a seat beside the vigilante. “And we call it that, but anyone is welcome to our pamper nights. It’s why you’re here. Well, anyone but Mineta.”

“Kat told me I can’t kill him,” Izuku said sadly. The girls all laughed and Jirou shook her head. 

“God he’s such a creep. Have you seen how he treats Momo?” She said, laying across Mina’s bed. 

“Yeah, it’s fucking gross. I seriously just need to-” Izuku held a hand up and threw a piece of popcorn in the air before he pinched his forefinger and thumb together and the popcorn particles blew apart. 

“I wish you could get away with it but--”

“We do not condone violence, Ashido,” Yaoyorozu reminded calmly as she leaned back into the giant stack of pillows. Everyone had gathered in a circle in Ashido’s room now. Some romantic comedy played on the television in the background as Jirou and Uraraka smeared face masks onto their faces, Tsu and Yaoyorozu relaxed, and Ashido and Aoyama snacked while Hagakure finished Izuku’s nails. 

“I think, Mon Amour, what we all really want to know is what is it like dating Blasty?” Aoyama asked, popping a piece of cheese into his mouth. Izuku laughed, only to get scolded by the invisible girl. 

“Pretty chill if I’m going to be honest. I mean he gets angry when I come back to him hurt but for the most part, our relationship is very comfortable. He’s different with me,” Izuku said, attempting to not shrug his shoulders so that he didn’t mess up Hagakure’s hard work.

“We’ve noticed that he isn’t nearly as angry as he used to be,” Uraraka stated, glancing at Izuku, a sly smile on her face. “Just for that very reason, I’m completely okay with a criminal dating our dear Bakugou.”

Izuku snorted. “I’m glad I have the seal of approval, now who’s going to help me with my face mask? I’ve had a rough fucking day and my only request is you don’t get the shit in my piercings,” he said and got comfortable with the group as he continued to tell them what it was like to date Bakugou of all people.

Chapter Text

Katsuki couldn’t help but smile as he rested his chin on his fist and watched his boyfriend looking over the restaurant's menu as if it was the most important thing in the world. And for Deku, it probably was. Katsuki had just finished making fun of him for always copping out and choosing katsudon at any restaurant they went to. So naturally, the vigilante was doing his best to find something else that he wanted to eat. 

“Deks, just go with the katsudon, we both know that’s what you want. Why are you depriving yourself of your favorite food?”

Deku glared at the blond from the top of the menu. “Because I eat other shit, Kacchan. I don’t just eat katsudon. That isn’t healthy.”

“Yeah, I know. I tell you that shit all the time. Your cholesterol is probably all kinds of fucked up,” Katsuki muttered, taking a sip of his water. Deku kicked him in the shin and slammed his menu onto the table.

“I don’t get cholesterol problems, Kacchan. I haven’t even gotten sick since I got survivor,” he muttered just as the waitress came back to take their orders.

“What can I get you guys?” She asked, giving the couple a wide smile. 

“Can I get the spiciest curry you have?” Deku asked, giving the waitress a polite smile of his own. Katsuki narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend before he barked out that he wanted the same thing. Deku just gave the blond a content smile as the waitress whisked away to put their order in. 

“You don’t like spicy food.”

“So?”

“So, I’m going to laugh at you when you start to cry,” Katsuki muttered and Deku just gave him that stupid, charming smile of his.

“How did I get so lucky in having the nicest boyfriend ever?” He crooned, batting his eyelashes at Katsuki. 

“I don’t know. Kinda lucked out I guess,” Katsuki muttered, rolling his eyes. Deku flipped him off and looked around the restaurant. 

“Not that I don’t absolutely adore the fact that we’re on a date, why exactly are we?” He asked, wrapping his legs around one of Katsuki’s. The blond shrugged his shoulders and circled the straw sitting in his glass around slowly. 

“Dunno. You’re moving into your apartment tomorrow and we won’t get to see each other every single day like we do or sleep together. And it’s fucking stupid but I got used to that shit,” he muttered, looking anywhere but at his boyfriend. Deku let out a cute croon and leaned over the table, his scarred fingers held Katsuki’s jaw tight. 

“Look at me,” he said softly. Katsuki’s red eyes flicked up to find a soft look on the greenette’s face. “It’s going to be alright. You can stay the night any time you want. If Aizawa won’t let you I’ll fucking make a warp gate and pick you up. We just can’t let Iida find out about it,” he said with a soft laugh. 

“That would be fine with me,” Katsuki grumbled, pressing his face into the hand holding him. 

“And who said I wasn’t going to be up your ass like I already am? Sure we won’t live together anymore but hopefully, that changes when you graduate in a few months. Besides, Kacchan, it’s good to have a little space. Shigaraki and Hawks have both been on my ass about not playing video games with them nearly as much as I used to.”

“That’s because you have--”

“A cute needy boyfriend who nags at me as soon as I get on my Xbox,” Deku teased before he leaned over the table and squished Katsuki’s lips before he kissed him softly. “Now quit overthinking. We’re going to be fine,” he said and let go of Katsuki’s face and sat down once more. 

“Fuck Deks I-”

“Mido!” A little girl screamed and Deku stiffened slightly before a wide grin spread on his face. He whipped his head over just in time to find the grey-haired little girl vault herself into his arms. 

“Eri!” He exclaimed and hugged her tight, hauling her onto his lap. “Who are you here with?”

“Mirio and Tamaki! They wanted to hang out with me!” She said with an excited giggle and smushed Deku’s face. Katsuki rolled his eyes, his head fell onto his chin just as the graduated couple made their way over.

“Eri, you can’t just run away whenever you want. Aizawa would kill me,” Mirio scolded. He stopped short as his eyes landed on the couple in front of him. “Oh, Shadow-Kun! Bakugou!”

“I found Mido!” Eri exclaimed, still hugging Deku tight. Katsuki rolled his eyes at the bright-eyed blond in front of him. “He isn’t dressed up like Shadow, you can’t ruin his disguise!”

Mirio gave her a surprised look and nodded. “Yeah, right. Uh, Eri, I think we’re intruding,” he said, his eyes going back to Katsuki who mustered up a grimace.

“It’s okay, Kacchan and I are just on a little date,” Deku said politely. “But you should go get some food Eri. I promise that I’ll come to see you soon. Maybe your dad might even let me take you to the park or something. We can bring Kacchan with us,” he said kindly, his bright green eyes shone brightly. Katsuki couldn’t help but actually smile. It was like seeing just a small piece of adorable, innocent Deku. Sure he loved the Deku that he was close to, he absolutely adored the witty, bratty Deku that he dealt with everything single day. But there was just something so undeniably cute about the Deku who spoke to Eri and how cute his voice got. God, he really did just love him. It was why he brought him out to this stupid restaurant in the first place. He wanted a spot away from his classmates to tell Deku that he loved him. Everything felt like it was changing now that Deku was moving into his own apartment and Katsuki wasn’t going to see him every day. And fuck, he just wanted to make sure that this didn’t ruin anything between them. 

“You’re dating Bakugou?” Mirio asked, looking between them erratically. Deku sent the blond a sweet smile. 

“Hm, four months now, I believe.”

Fuck. Only four months? It felt like a goddamn lifetime. Katsuki couldn’t tell him he loved him after four months. It was too fucking soon. He was just going to have to wait until they had been together longer and then tell him. 

“Well, we don’t want to ruin your date. Do we Eri?” Mirio asked as the girl climbed off of Deku’s lap. 

“No! Bye, Mido! Bye, Mr. Bakugou!” She said and pulled Deku into another hug. “Love you!”

“I love you too, Eri!” Deku said cheerfully and ruffled her hair before the couple took Eri to their own table. Deku looked back at Katsuki and smiled before he reached over and took Katsuki’s hand. “Sorry about that. What were you trying to say?”

“Oh uh, just that I’m going to miss you.”

Deku beamed. He fucking beamed under those stupid scars and stupid mop of hair god all those fucking piercings he was beaming and he looked so beautiful and happy and fuck. Katsuki was screwed, he was going to miss this idiot. 

“Oh stop. We’re going to see each other every single day babe,” he said with a soft laugh.

Finally, their food was set in front of them and Katsuki gave his boyfriend a look. “Go ahead, take a bite baby,” he taunted, staring at the spicy bowl of curry set in front of the green-haired boy. Deku glared and took a bite, his eyes never leaving Katsuki’s as he chewed. A smile slowly appeared on the blond’s face as he watched Deku’s eyes slowly start to tear up. 

“Fuck,” he muttered and took another bite. And another. Katsuki snorted when Deku snatched his glass of water and practically chugged it down. “Fuck!”

“What’s wrong Deks?” Katsuki asked, a smirk now growing wide on his face as he took a bite of his own spicy curry with ease.

“Nothing, delicious. I just need to cut my tongue off and I’ll enjoy the hell out of this!” Deku said and Katsuki glared at him. 

“No, that’s fucking gross. Just admit that it’s too spicy and order something else,” he said and Deku took another bite and hummed. 

“I think it has effectively burned off my tastebuds. I think I’m okay,” he said and dug into his food. Katsuki just rolled his eyes and squeezed the leg that sat tucked between his. Before Katsuki knew it, the couple found themselves walking back to the school hand in hand. Sure Deku could have just warped them back to the school dorms but it wasn’t the same as just enjoying the night together.

“You haven’t really been out doing your vigilante work as much,” Katsuki said offhandedly. 

“Ugh,” the vigilante groaned. “I know, I miss it. But between school and mercenary work, I literally don’t have time. I think I have enough saved back right now that I can go without doing the mercenary work for a few months and just go back to being the best damn vigilante out there.”

“You’re going to be even busier when you start college, you know,” Katsuki said and Izuku let out a hum. “What? Thought you were going.”

“I dunno. I make enough with what I’m doing.”

“Deks, that isn’t your dream. I know you have all these stupid ideas about heroes and shit and look I get it, it’s a fucked up system. But you want to save people. Why don’t you become a doctor or--"

“If you say cop I will in fact stab you,” Deku warned him. Katsuki let out a loud laugh. 

“I would never suggest anything like that. Dickwad. Now don’t interrupt me!” He snarked, bumping his shoulder against Deku’s.

“Okay, okay. Continue.”

“ Thank you. As I was saying, you could become a lawyer. I can just see your sexy ass in a suit fighting the hero commission for shit. You know we went over hero lawsuits not too long ago. Did you know that people sue the hero commission and heroes all the time? I know not too long ago Endeavor got sued because he saved a guy who was trying to kill himself and he was pissed. His whole ‘suit was about how he didn’t want to be saved and that Endeavor didn’t have any right to take that choice away from him. I mean it’s fucked and the fiery bastard totally lost his shit and told the guy he should be fucking honored that he deigned this guy’s life to be important enough to save.”

“I could be a vigilante by night and then by day do shit to keep the hero commission in check,” Izuku hummed thoughtfully. “Kat, have I ever told you that you’re a genius?”

“No, but you should tell me more often. My geniusness deserves to be recognized at all fucking times.”

“And that’s why I don’t tell you,” Deku surmised and kissed Katsuki softly.

“Katsuki-Kun? Is that you sweetie?” A sweet voice asked and Deku immediately stiffened at his side. Katsuki turned and forced a small smile on his face. 

“Hi, Auntie. Hello Hisato. How are you tonight?” He asked as Deku burrowed deep in his hoodie, pulling the hood tight over his head and stretching the little strings tight. Hell, Katsuki figured if he could get away with turning into a shadow he would. But it was too late, Inko already saw the couple. 

“We’re good. Just taking a stroll,” she said politely, her eyes glanced at Deku curiously before her eyes went back to Katsuki. “Katsuki-Kun, I hate to ask. I know the two of you weren’t super close. He wasn’t close to anyone really but, have you heard from Izuku?”

Deku glared heavily at his boyfriend. Okay, so he would actually kill Katsuki if he said anything. Good to know, good to know. 

“No, I haven’t. Why? Is something wrong, Auntie?” He asked curiously, trying his very best to seem nonchalant and not let his auntie know that her son was currently standing right beside him. 

“We-we had a falling out a few months ago and we kicked him out. It was a mistake, a huge mistake. And we haven’t been able to get a hold of him or find him anywhere. I don’t, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if he’s okay or if he’s safe or where he’s even living. And I was just hoping maybe you’ve seen him or spoke to him recently?”

Katsuki glanced at Deku only to find him shake his head softly, tears welled up in his eyes. “No, I’m sorry Auntie. I haven’t seen him since the last time I came home for family dinner.”

Her shoulders fell and she nodded. “O-okay. Thank you, sweetie, if you see him please give me a call,” she said and pulled him in for a hug. “I’ll let you get back to your friend. Call me if you need anything,” she told him before they pulled away. Katsuki nodded his head slowly. 

“Will do, Auntie. Good luck finding Deku,” he said, giving her an awkward smile before he let Deku drag him away. 

“Can’t fucking believe her,” Deku muttered venomously as they practically ran down the sidewalk and far away from his parents. “Kicks me out and then she has the fucking audacity to feel bad! She accused me of being a villain and now! Now she acts like she fucking cares and doesn’t feel bad! What the hell is wrong with her?” He practically screamed, waving his arms around angrily. 

“Maybe she regrets what she said,” Katsuki said calmly. Fuck, he hated being the calm one. “Maybe she wants to find you and make amends. You should do it.”

Deku glared at him and continued marching back to UA. God, he was going to have to force Deku to talk to his fucking mom, wasn’t he?

Chapter Text

Izuku sighed and leaned against the cracked leather seats of the moving truck as Sako drove the vehicle to the apartment building. Toga, Dabi, Keigo, and Shigaraki all sat in the back of the truck. Jin was already at the apartment waiting.

“You really look weird without your Mr. Compress costume,” Izuku finally said, glancing over at the man.

“Whatever,” he laughed, shaking his head. Izuku just smirked and glanced out the window. Kacchan was currently in some kind of training thing or else he would have been here to help him move. So instead, Izuku was stuck with the idiots he called his friends and was silently hoping that no one would notice or recognize the villains. Thankfully Sako and Jin weren’t exactly recognizable when not in costume. But the other four didn’t use disguises when they committed crimes. Anyone could recognize Keigo’s fucking wings a mile away. Or Dabi’s fucking burn scars. 

Finally, they pulled in front of the apartment and Sako parked the moving truck on the side of the road. Izuku hopped out and opened the back and gave the villains a level look. “Himiko, I asked you to buy the furniture, and I’m only going to ask once how much of this did you steal?”

“None, thank you very much, and here’s your change you fucking douche bag,” she said with a sniff and slapped the leftover money in Izuku’s awaiting hand. The vigilante gave her a thankful smile and looked at Shigaraki. 

“Tomura if you decay a single piece of my furniture I will make a portal and push you into it and let you keep falling until I decide to forgive you. Do you understand?” he threatened, pointing a scarred finger at his best friend. “The same goes for you, Touya. If you burn anything or my apartment, I will murder you.”

“Oh so I get murdered but Shiggy just gets to fall in a portal for as long as you want,” Dabi said, rolling his eyes. “At least we know who your favorite is.”

“Oh, whatever. Now get out of the fucking truck and help me move into my apartment,” he said and grabbed a box. 

“He’s gotten meaner since he started hanging out with the hero students,” Himiko mumbled as she grabbed a box. 

“Hero students have horrible egos,” Keigo stated. “Trust me.”

“Shut up,” Izuku said blandly as he started up the stairs. “I thought Sako was going to turn everything into marbles. It would make it much easier.”

“I’m not using my quirk to do menial labor! We can carry things just like this!”

“You could use a portal and we can just throw things through,” Tomura said loftily and Izuku hummed.

“No, I struggle too much with Warp Gate. I won’t be able to keep it open that long.”

“And you were going to drop me in a portal!” He shouted and punched Izuku in the arm hard. Izuku kicked him down the stairs before he met Jin at his apartment door. He smiled at the villain and stepped through the door. He set his box down and looked at the villain. 

“Let me guess, you’re not going to use your quirk to help me either?” He demanded, narrowing his eyes. 

“Nope. Shigaraki told us we can’t because you just use us for our quirks,” he said cheerfully before jumping down the stairs jovially. 

“Oh, my god babe! Look it’s Shouto!” Izuku heard Keigo shout and froze. What was Todoroki doing here? He rushed down the stairs and frowned. Standing nose to nose against Tomura was his fucking idiot boyfriend. Behind him stood Kirishima, Uraraka, Sero, Shouto, Ashido, and Kaminari. 

“Why the fuck are you helping my boyfriend?” Katsuki snarled, glaring up at Tomura. The villain just smirked his chapped lips.

“I’m helping him because you couldn’t,” he taunted. Izuku scowled at the fighting stances the students all held and at the villains who seemed like they couldn’t fucking care less about a group of teenagers preparing to fight them. 

“Kacchan? I thought you guys had some kind of hero training thing?” He said, coming to stand in between the two men. He looked up at the two angry men and let out a soft sigh. They were really going to do this, weren’t they? 

“You said you needed help so we decided to come after our training thing,” he grumbled, looking down at Izuku. The vigilante scowled before he looked at the group in front of him and put his hands on his hips. 

“If you are going to help I have two rules. The first one is that you are not heroes, and you idiots are not villains. You are my friends and you are helping me move. The second one is if I see any of you picking fights, especially Kat and Shiggy, I will use particle on you and turn you into a human yoyo. Do I make myself clear?” He ground out, glaring especially hard at the hero students in front of him. 

“That’s fine with me! Shouto come give your brother-in-law a hug!” Keigo shouted before he practically tackled the poor hero course student to the ground. Izuku just let out a sigh and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek, punched Tomura’s chest and marched back to the truck, and grabbed a box. 

“So we’re not going to fight the League of Villains?” Kirishima asked, his body unhardening. 

“Not today pretty boy!” Himiko said with a giggle and patted the red head’s cheek before she came to assist Izuku. 

“I don’t trust this,” Kaminari muttered, his eyes warily glued on Tomura who was still looking as if he was ready to murder the blond. 

“Why is Todoroki getting smothered by Hawks and that one villain?” Ochaco asked curiously as she stepped next to Izuku and touched the couch and watched it float out of the truck. 

“Dabi is Shouto’s brother. Hawks is desperate for Dabi to make amends with his family even if he hates Endeavor,” Izuku said simply just as Shigaraki looked at the two and let out a loud screech. 

“No! No quirks!” He shouted and looked at Jin who grinned wildly and jumped in the air and landed on the couch where he started trying to get the piece of furniture out of the air. 

“Uh, why can’t we use our quirks?” The brunette girl asked, looking even more confused with everything happening around her. In fact, all of the hero students in attendance were a pretty good mix of confused and skeptical. Which was understandable given their current predicament. They were surrounded by the very people they were sworn to defeat. Izuku thought it was amazing that his threats were enough to keep any of these idiots from fighting one another in his presence. If he wasn’t here? They could have gone at it all damn day for all he cared. But they were all his friends and outside of their “jobs” or whatever they wanted to call them, there was no reason for them to fight.

“Because Izuku just uses us for our quirks. It’s the only reason he even asked us to help him because he’s a lazy asshole. He could use his own quirks to get all of this shit moved into his apartment but he’s fucking lazy,” Dabi stated, still fussing over Todoroki who simply scowled at his eldest brother. Izuku flipped the burnt bastard off and headed into the apartment with his box. The rest of the hero students and villains looked at one another warily before they all started grabbing Izuku’s belongings and followed up to the apartment. 

Sero let out a low whistle as he looked around. “Damn man, this place is nice,” he stated, dropping a box labeled kitchen in the large kitchen area. Izuku smirked and fell onto the couch that Jin and Kirishima had carried up the stairs, pulled Katsuki into his arms. 

“Thanks, it’s what happens when you’re a mercenary and make the big bucks,” he said, grinning wide. Shigaraki glared and slapped Izuku in the side of the head before he opened a box. 

“Get off your lazy ass and help us get your shit unpacked so I don’t have to listen to you whine about not being fully moved in,” he muttered in his raspy voice. 

Ashido let out a giggle. “You’re a lot sassier than I expected,” she said, looking at the chapped lipped man with a wide smile. She hopped over to a box as well and pulled out a picture frame and gave Izuku a curious look. “What is this?"

Pressed carefully inside the picture frame were three golden cards. One that simply read The Vigilante, Shadow, one with Dabi’s name, and another with Shigaraki’s name. Izuku let out a laugh and reached over and grabbed it. 

“Oh man, I forgot I did this,” he chuckled. “I went to pick up a hit the other day and found out that my favorite hero put a hit out on me, Shigaraki, and his own damn son,” he said, shaking his head as he looked at it. Keigo let go of Dabi and reached over and grabbed it, a frown prominent on his face.

“Enji put hits on you guys?” He asked curiously and Dabi let out a chuckle. 

“I’ve peaked, I have finally gotten my dad’s approval, he wants to kill me,” the villain said, wiping a fake tear. Izuku rolled his eyes, of course, the idiot would be happy to know that his father had placed a hit on him. 

“Endeavor didn’t do it directly. He had some assistant do it but he had her put it in his name like the idiot he is,” Izuku said with a chuckle before leaning into Katsuki once more.

“Why didn’t I know he even took a hit out on me?” Dabi asked, still looking at the picture frame. Tomura shrugged his shoulders as he took a seat next to Kaminari who stiffened slightly. 

“Saw no need. Izu and I made a plan, we sent Toga to Sister Margaret’s Home for Wayward Girls in a different skin and she put a hit on Endeavor. Mercenaries have been doing our work for us for the last few weeks now.”

“How much was the hit?” Keigo asked, resting his chin on Dabi’s shoulder. 

“Three hundred million,” Izuku stated.

“We don’t have that kind of money!” Hawks exclaimed loudly. 

“Do you really think a mercenary can kill Endeavor?” Katsuki asked him, arching an eyebrow. 

“Izuku could.”

“Izuku wouldn’t,” Izuku stated. He stood up and stretched slightly before he started to unpack a box of his crap and put it up. Katsuki stood and helped him get his apartment set up as the villains and hero students spoke to one another, trying their best to find equal footing. Before Izuku knew it, he found himself smushed in between his boyfriend and his best friend as the group played Heroes Smash, villains versus heroes obviously. Of course, video games was all it really took to get a group of enemies to get along. Izuku of course, had his hands taped together as both Tomura and Katsuki had started to argue, stating that Izuku was helping the other cheat. He didn’t know how that meant he needed his hands taped together but apparently, that was the only way Katsuki and Tomura would play against one another specifically. 

“Whoever wins gets Deku!” Uraraka shouted excitedly. 

“What!? I’m not a prize!” Izuku shouted, glaring at the brunette. 

“She’s right. When I beat your ugly ass best friend I get to keep you,” Katsuki said with a huff. 

“As if you could fucking beat me. I’m the best at this goddamn game,” Tomura snarled, his character throwing Katsuki’s off of the side of the platform. “I get to keep Izuku and he won’t be tarnished by you and your wannabe heroes.”

“What happened to me being Switzerland?” the vigilante asked with a huff. “I’m literally a hero and a villain combined into one person. I should be allowed to be friends with both sides.”

“Izu, we’re only getting along because you’re here,” Sako told the teenager, crossing his arms together as he watched the video game antics. 

“Uh, this isn’t to be rude. But I recognize Toga, Dabi, Hawks, and Shigaraki but who are you and that guy?” Kaminari asked, looking between Sako and Jin.

Jin gave the blond a happy smile. “Twice and Compress, of course. We don’t wear our costumes constantly,” he said, running a hand through his short hair. “The costumes make it easier for us to get around when we don’t want to be noticed.”

“It also helps keep Jin from losing his shit,” Izuku muttered, picking at Sero’s tape still wrapped around his hands. 

“In your face you crusty ass bitch! Deku’s fucking mine!” Katsuki shouted joyfully as he completely crushed Tomura in the video game. Izuku rolled his eyes as Katsuki lifted him into his lap and gave him a kiss. “And there’s my fucking prize! Take that you piece of shit.”

Izuku gave him an amused smile and kissed the blond again. “I’m still hanging out with Shiggy. He’s still my best friend, you know,” he hummed softly as he pressed kisses against Katsuki’s jaw. 

“I know because I’m the better man and I’ll let you still hang out with Hand Job,” Katsuki said and shot a glare at Tomura. Izuku laughed softly and twined their hands together as he looked at their friends. 

“Yes you are, baby,” he hummed. 

“They are disgustingly cute,” Todoroki said, sitting in between his brother and Hawks. 

“They really are,” Toga stated with a sigh. Izuku just grinned and leaned close to his boyfriend. This wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be. 

Chapter Text

Shadow adjusted the mask covering the lower half of his face carefully as he waited for the rest of the awaiting heroes to arrive. This time, Izuku wasn’t simply meeting with Eraserhead, Lemillion, and Nighteye. Now he found himself in a meeting with them along with All Might, Gang Orca, Best Jeanist, and unfortunately, Endeavor. It was going to make the meeting rather interesting considering what information he was going to provide. 

He was on edge, though. There was something jarring about being in the presence of so many heroes who had made it obvious that they wanted nothing more than to arrest Shadow where he sat. It was lucky for him that Eraserhead had already made it clear that during these meetings he was off-limits. 

“So Shadow-Kun!” Lemillion exclaimed, taking the seat next to the vigilante. “Were you really on a date--”

“I’m gonna stop you there, All Might Junior,” Izuku stated, holding up a hand and effectively cutting the blond-haired hero off. “I’m not here to talk about my personal life. I’m not in the mood to talk about anything except for the subject at hand.”

“Yes, they’re dating, Lemillion. It’s annoying as hell,” Eraserhead droned, leaning his head on a fist, his other hand tapped the table softly as they waited for Endeavor to arrive. He was the only hero that had yet to show up and Izuku’s hatred for the hero was steadily growing. 

“I didn’t think a vigilante would have time to date,” Best Jeanist said, looking the vigilante over interested. 

“It’s a shame I’m not here to gossip about my love life,” Izuku muttered, watching as he made his fingers turn to shadows and solid over and over. He just wanted to get this done and over with so that he could watch the chaos that was bound to ensue. 

“Who is it?” Jeanist asked, now looking delighted in Izuku’s discomfort.

“Oh! You know him Best Jeanist! It’s Bakugou Katsuki! The guy with an explosion quirk in 3A. He interned for you a few years ago, didn’t he?” Mirio suggested, looking more than happy to gossip about his friend. Izuku simply scowled. 

“I always knew that Bakugou was trouble. Of course, he would be as rebellious as possible and date a vigilante of all things,” Best Jeanist muttered, scowling. “He might as well be a criminal as well.”

“Am I really a criminal just because I do your job better than you do? Bakugou likes power, I’m more powerful than any of you,” Izuku stated and leaned back in his chair lazily, just as Endeavor stepped in the room and sent the vigilante a murderous glare as soon as his eyes landed on the hooded head. 

“Like you’re more powerful than the top heroes in the country?” Best Jeanist retorted. 

“We are not having this conversation,” Nighteye stated, slamming his hands against the table roughly. “We are here because Shadow is to help us plan the counter-attack on the League of Villains.”

“I should take it all back,” Izuku muttered, glaring right back at Endeavor. He flipped the single gold card on the table. “A hero took out a hit to have me killed by the end of the month."

“Heroes do not use mercenaries to kill criminals. We don’t believe in the murders of anyone, even villains,” All Might stated, giving the vigilante a confused look. Izuku just shrugged his shoulders. 

“Sure, that’s the idea. Of course heroes shouldn’t put out hits, that doesn’t mean they don’t. I’m pretty close to the owner of the Hell House,” Izuku stated. That was one way to put it, really. Maybe scaring the man into submission was the better way to describe the situation with Patch. Not that the heroes really needed to know that. “Which is why he was more than happy to let me know which hero it was who put a hit out on me isn’t that right--”

The doors to the meeting room burst open. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” a sidekick said breathlessly as he threw the doors open. “You need to turn on the news right now.”

“What is going on?” Endeavor shouted, glaring at the young man. 

“Just turn on the news,” he said with a shaky voice. Nighteye scowled but did as asked. 

“It’s interesting how someone can become the new face of heroism when his past is filled with nothing but abuse,” a lazy voice stated from the television. An evil grin grew on Izuku’s face as the screen changed from black to the cocky face of Dabi himself. “ You think you know everything about Endeavor. But you’re wrong. No one will ever know Todoroki Enji quite like his oldest son.”

“Touya is deceased, isn’t he?” Lemillion questioned curiously, glancing at Endeavor. 

“Of course he is! Boy, what is the meaning of this?!?” Endeavor shouted, glaring at Izuku. 

“No idea,” he said innocently. 

“ My name is Todoroki Touya and I am what my father made me,” Dabi said giving the camera a smug smile. 

The room erupted into shouts as Nighteye turned the volume up. The heroes weren’t the only ones in shock, though.

“Enji not only bought my mother for the purpose of a quirk marriage, but he has done nothing but abuse his wife and children to the point of my near death. Under his training he has-”

Mina whipped her head back to stare at Shouto wide-eyed. Katsuki watched on curiously as Dabi droned on about the abuses of Endeavor in the background. He narrowed his red eyes. Was that? Holy shit, Icy Hot was actually fucking smiling. That was the smuggest smile Katsuki had ever seen on that half and half bastard. “Todoroki! Is this true! I mean, I knew from when we helped Midoriya move that Dabi was your brother but I didn’t realize-”

“I’ve been telling you all for years that my father is a bastard,” Shouto said simply, still grinning at the screen. “Why do you think Hawks turned into a villain?”

“What do you mean?” Yayorouzou asked curiously, cocking her head to the side. “The League of Villains brainwashed him when he was undercover.”

“No. He found out that Dabi was my brother Touya. They grew up together,” Shouto told her. “When he found out that his childhood friend had been nearly killed by his hero, he lost all desire in being a hero.”

“Now they’re the most annoying fucking couple in the world,” Katsuki muttered, resting his head on his fist. 

“Are they really?” Hagakure questioned, looking at the group who had helped Deku move. 

“Oh my god, yes,” Kirishima groaned, throwing his head back. “When they weren’t fussing over Todoroki or pissing off Shigaraki, they were making out like crazy or just constantly flirting.”

“They’re worse than Midoriya and Bakubro,” Kaminari said, still watching Dabi weave his story on screen. “Isn’t Midoriya in a meeting with Endeavor right now?”

“Yup. Apparently, the heroes needed his help with something,” Katsuki muttered, trying his very best to ignore the anxiety that had been stuck in his chest from the moment Deku had gotten a call from Eraserhead demanding that he go speak with the heroes immediately. Deku hadn’t been all that worried about it, but Katsuki didn’t trust it. He was worried that Deku was going to have to make a prison break. 

“Or to finally arrest him,” Iida muttered, crossing his arms. “Midoriya is nice enough, but he is still a wanted criminal.”

“Fuck off Four Eyes. Deku’s going to be fine, he told me he would stop by after his meeting,” he muttered just as a warp gate opened up in the middle of their common room. 

“I didn’t know that was going to happen in the middle of the meeting,” Deku muttered as he stepped through with Mr. Aizawa. Katsuki watched as he ripped off his mask and shoved his hood back.

“So it’s convenient that you got front row seats as the second in command of the League of Villains told the world about Endeavor?” Aizawa hissed angrily, giving Deku a less than impressed look. 

“Very. I was just wanting to let the top heroes know that their stupid number one hero put a hit on me,” Deku said and took a seat on Katsuki’s lap. “It’s not my fault that you told me I had to go to that stupid meeting in the first place! We didn’t even get anything done! I just got screamed at by Endeavor!”

“What happened?” Kirishima asked before Katsuki even had the chance. 

“None of your concern. Midoriya, you need to leave. Todoroki, come with me,” Aizawa demanded before he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Todoroki’s smile dropped before he stood. He glanced over at Deku. 

“Tell Touya that he did a great job,” he murmured before he followed their homeroom teacher out. Izuku twisted in Katsuki’s arms and smiled wide. 

“Endeavor is fucking pissed,” he said with a laugh before he gave Katsuki a soft kiss. 

“Did you know about that?” He asked curiously, a hand reached between them to fiddle with one of Deku’s lip rings. 

A satisfied glint shone in his boyfriend’s eyes and his lips quirked upward ever so slightly. “I may have been told about it and maybe even helped plan it,” he said smugly. “But I really wasn’t expecting it to happen today. They’re ahead of schedule.” 

A scowl flashed over Deku’s face as his phone started ringing furiously. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket. 

“What does this mean for the League’s plans?” Sir Nighteye demanded as soon as Izuku answered. 

“They’re using this as a test to see how the commission and Endeavor will react. If you pass things will be fine for a while, if not, well you know what happens,” Deku said simply before he hung up the phone and smiled at Katsuki. 

“Let’s go to your apartment,” Katsuki suggested. 

“Do you think Todoroki will be okay?” Ochaco asked, still looking at the door that Aizawa and Todoroki had left through. 

“He’ll be fine. Dabi told him this was going to happen eventually,” Deku said and stood up and opened another gate with a flick of his hand. “Kat, you ready to go? I need a nap.”

Katsuki nodded and stood up. He glared at Iida. “If you tell Aizawa where I went or that I left, I’ll have Deku kill you,” he threatened. His boyfriend gave the goody two-shoes student a wide grin. 

“I haven’t gotten to kill anyone in a while,” he said nonchalantly. Katsuki’s grin grew, god he fucking loved his idiot.

Chapter Text

Izuku leaned into Katsuki’s arms as they sat in his living room with the Todoroki siblings and Hawks. Things had been rather quiet since the announcement of Dabi being Touya Todoroki and Izuku wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that. The Todoroki siblings had remained tight-lipped since the announcement, from what Shouto had told him, Endeavor had pulled his children and wife together and threatened each one, forcing each one to swear that they wouldn’t say a peep about the allegations from Touya. Yet somehow, despite that, Izuku found his apartment full with all four Todoroki siblings sitting in his living room, waiting for the press release to come out.

“Man I’m so tired of the news, when is Enji supposed to talk?” Natsuo whined as he squished himself between Dabi and Shouto. 

“The news is interesting, Natsuo, you should pay attention,” Fuyumi said, her eyes flicking between Dabi and Izuku. The vigilante understood, here she was sitting in the apartment of one of her father’s enemies with a villain brother who she had long thought was dead. It would be difficult for anyone, really. 

“Yeah but let’s be real. No one cares about this, we just want to know what dad is going to say,” Natsuo muttered. “Who wants to make a bet!?” He asked cheerfully, back straightening ever so slightly. 

“A bet?” Katsuki asked, frowning. 

“Of course! Who thinks Dad is going to own up to it and who thinks he’s going to deny the fuck out of all of these allegations?” Natsuo asked. 

“My money is on denial,” Shouto muttered, not looking up from his phone. 

“Honestly same,” Dabi stated. 

Hawks let out a hum and tapped his chin a few times. “I think he’s going to spin it to make it look like he feels really bad about what happened and that he’s going to do whatever it takes to make it seem like he’s the victim in all of this. And he’s probably going to talk about how he wants to fix things.”

The siblings all looked at one another and laughed. “Yeah, that’s definitely going to be what happens,” Fuyumi said with a chuckle and took a sip of her tea. 

Izuku smiled and glanced at Katsuki. “See? We aren’t the only ones with fucked up families.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki muttered as the screen changed to show Endeavor standing in front of the press, his flaming beard nowhere in sight as he wore a suit and tie.

“I am here before you today to talk about the allegations that we set before us a few days prior,” Endeavor stated in his deep, rumbly voice. “First, I would like to confirm that yes, the villain known as Dabi is my eldest son, Touya. Until that video had been released I had been held under the impression that my son had died from the power of his quirk. I had not known that he had been alive all this time.”

“Fucking piece of shit,” Dabi scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Second, I am here before you to tell you that what Touya said was true.”

The room exploded with gasps as the siblings all looked at one another, shock evident on their faces. Sure they had predicted this but that did not mean that they actually thought he would admit to his abuse. 

“At a young age, I had been convinced that the best possible course of action would be to get into a quirk marriage so that I could ensure that my future children could have the strongest quirks around. Furthermore, I pushed my children too hard and that is entirely my fault. I was so consumed with my desire to be an amazing hero and have amazing hero children that I did not take into consideration the toll that this would take on my family. All I have ever wanted was to be a good hero, someone that my children could look up to. I failed them. And I stand before all of you today to promise that I will do everything in my power to make it up to my wife and to my children,” Endeavor stated, looking square into the camera. 

“What a load of shit. He knew what he was doing when he isolated Shouto from the rest of us,” Natsuo muttered. “And now look at the kid! He doesn’t even know how to have a proper conversation with people!”

“I can have proper conversations,” Shouto muttered. 

“No offense, Sho, but you were insanely alienated. You have no idea how to behave around normal people,” Fuyumi said with a laugh as Endeavor continued on about how he wanted to make things better. It was a shame that his children took none of his words seriously. 

“And to my eldest son, Touya. I would like for the two of us to meet and reconcile. If you are willing to meet with me and the two of can talk, I will do everything I can to ensure that your prison sentence will be lightened.”

“Hey look at that babe! If you talk it out, he’ll still send you to jail!” Hawks exclaimed with a laugh. 

Dabi simply glowered at the screen before he looked at Izuku and gave him a single nod. The greenette’s eyes narrowed and he gave a curt nod of his own before he pulled away from his boyfriend and stepped away from the room. He dialed Shigaraki’s number and leaned against the wall. 

“Hey, Dabi has made the decision. The attack is officially on.”

Shigaraki let out a soft chuckle on the other side of the line. “Perfect. Everything is going to plan.”

Izuku forced a smile of his own. Soon, so soon would everything snap into place. His master would be dead, Shigaraki would probably hate him, but most of all, Izuku would be free. 

.

.

.

The vigilante rested his chin on Katsuki’s shoulder as he watched the blond cook dinner for the two of them. The Todoroki siblings (plus Keigo) had finally left and the two of them had the rest of the evening to themselves before Katsuki had to go back to UA. They had decided he could stay the night on weekends but school nights got too distracting as they didn’t see one another as often and they tended to spend the entire night talking about every single thing that had happened.

It was honestly for the best, though. Once Katsuki left tonight, Izuku had a lot to think about and he didn’t particularly want to keep his boyfriend up with his racing thoughts all night. 

“I’ve been thinking,” Katsuki finally said after a few minutes of silent cooking. Izuku closed his eyes and let out a soft hum in acknowledgment. “I think you should talk to your mom. About everything.”

Izuku’s eyes snapped open. “No.”

“Fuck, Deks just hear me out. Okay?”

“There’s nothing to hear,” he said, pulling away from the warm back of his boyfriend. Izuku leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t understand why this conversation had to be brought up now. The greenette hadn’t given his mother a second thought since he saw her talking to Katsuki a few weeks back. There was no need. She had kicked him out, what was there to think about? He was probably never going to see his mother again and while that thought hurt, he had accepted it. Izuku doubted that the words his mother said to Kacchan that night were true, if they had been, then why did she kick him out in the first place? What kind of mother even did something like that?

Surely not a good one. In all honesty, Izuku’s feelings about his mother were torn. Until she had met his stepfather, Hisato, things were pretty okay. Sure she probably coddled him more than necessary but that was whatever. The only thing that had been hard was the constant looks. Izuku still didn’t understand what the looks she would give him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention meant. Sometimes he wondered if she pitied him for not having a quirk. Other times he suspected that maybe he reminded her of his birth father too much and it hurt to look at him. Either way, the looks became more frequent as the years went by. Until she married Hisato, then that seemed to be the only look that she gave Izuku. After his suicide attempt, though, it seemed as though she stopped looking at her son at all. 

And that hurt the worse.

“She was really upset that night we ran into her. And I was talking to the old hag this morning and she said that Auntie spends every night walking around town hoping she can find you. And since Shadow hasn’t been showing up doing vigilante work lately, it’s all been for nothing. She just wants to find you, babe, and I really think that you should hear her out. See what she has to say.”

Izuku shook his head. “No. No way.”

“I’ll kick your ass if you don’t,” Katsuki threatened, turning off the stove. He pointed his wooden spoon at his boyfriend. “I’ve been getting better and I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t talk to your mom, Deku.”

Izuku smirked and grabbed the end of the spoon. “I would like to see you try, Lord Explosion Murder.”

He glowered at the vigilante and smacked his hand lightly. “Excuse you, Asshole. It’s Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight.”

The greenette let out a loud laugh at that. “Oh my god, it’s even better now!” He cackled as Katsuki started hitting him with the spoon. “My beautiful handsome Murder God Dynamight!”

“Don’t change the fucking subject Deku. We’re talking about your mom, not my fucking hero name,” Katsuki said and hit Deku with the spoon once more. His boyfriend simply smirked as he pulled the spoon out of Katsuki’s hand. 

“What are you going to do if I don’t want to talk about Inko?”

The glower turned into a full-on glare at that. Katsuki ran at his boyfriend and ducked down, his arms wrapped around Deku’s knees before he hoisted him over his shoulder and carried the teenager to the living room. Katsuki threw him onto the couch before he straddled Izuku, his hand held Deku’s wrists over his head. “You are going to go talk to Auntie Inko right fucking now or else I will never come over again, or kiss you or anything. Fucking got it, you shitty ass nerd?”

Izuku grinned up at his boyfriend. “Kat, don’t manhandle me like this. You’re turning me on and I’m gonna have to take a shower,” he said, that stupid cocky smile that Katsuki loved to hate plastered on his stupid freckled covered face. Katsuki scrunched his eyebrows together and sat back on his heels. 

“If you go talk to Auntie Inko--fuck Deks I’ll even go with you. But if you talk to her and have a real ass conversation, I’ll blow you.”

Deku’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Kacchan, you’re ace. I don’t want you to do something you’re not comfortable with.”

The blond shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever. I wouldn’t mind doing something like that for you, I just don’t want that shit in return.” His boyfriend was already shaking his head, green curls bounced slightly. “What? Why are you shaking your head?”

“I don’t want that,” he said and let out a hum. “If I talk to Inko you have to take me on the cheesiest, cutest date and play vigilante with me for one night. It’ll be the perfect date.”

Katsuki stared at his boyfriend for a moment, trying to look for any tells. There were none, he wasn’t bluffing. He let out a sigh. “Fine. But if I lose my provisional license I’ll kill you.”

Izuku grinned. “No one will know!”

“No one will know,” he muttered and Izuku leaned up and kissed him softly. Katsuki pulled away and glared at him. “So it’s settled, I’ll call your parents and they can come over for dinner.”

“What!?” Izuku screeched before he shoved his boyfriend off of him. He wasn’t ready to talk to his mother right this second! There was too much he had to prepare for, fuck he didn’t even have enough time to overthink everything about this situation! He couldn’t see Inko now!

“I’ll call her and tell her to come over and you can talk in the safety of your apartment and I’ll make sure Hisato doesn’t open his bitch mouth.”

“No. If I’m going to talk to her, he isn’t welcome. Fuck that bastard,” Izuku snarled and slipped off of the couch. The vigilante started to pace the small living room, his face cupped in a single scarred hand. Fuck, he didn’t even have a dining table yet, he and Katsuki typically just sat at the island and ate. Not only that but his apartment definitely smelled like cigarettes from how often Dabi smoked in here--even though Katsuki constantly shouted at him to stop. Izuku didn’t really care, he smoked in the apartment too, but Katsuki hated it and was still doing everything he could to break his boyfriend of the nasty habit. Fuck and he just had pictures of him with the villains hanging on the walls, sure he had a few of him with the hero course students but still. He was going to have to put those up unless he wanted to deal with Inko thinking that he’s a villain like the rest of those idiots. He didn’t particularly want that. But then again, that’s who Izuku was. He was friends with villains, just like he was friends with the hero students. If his mother truly felt bad for what happened, well she was just going to have to accept that her son didn’t discriminate when it came to friends. 

Hell, she was going to have to accept a lot about her son if Izuku was going to be honest. 

“Deks stop mumbling. Use warp gate and steal Shigaraki’s table, I’ll call your mom and tell her to come over immediately. I’ll get rid of the smoke smell, Hisato will be far away. We’ve got this babe,” Katsuki said and Izuku spun and glared at his boyfriend, and if Katsuki had been anyone else, he would have been terrified.  

“If this turns out badly--”

“We will never talk about it again. And I’ll do two days of vigilante shit with you.”

Izuku let out a low hum and moved to straddle his boyfriend on the couch. “I think you drive a hard bargain,” he murmured and kissed the teenager softly. “I’ll go steal Tomura’s shit, I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Katsuki said, a small smile on his face as he kissed the criminal once more before a large portal opened up behind them. Izuku pulled away and rolled his shoulders slightly before he slipped through the portal to steal Shigaraki’s table. Katsuki smiled to himself before he lit the few candles that Deku had sitting around and opened the windows. He pulled his phone out and dialed his auntie’s number. This had to work.

“Hello? Katsuki dear?” Inko asked as soon as she answered the phone.

“Hi, Auntie! Uh, you know how you told me to call if I saw De-Izuku?” He asked, tripping over the words. 

“Have you seen him? Where is he!” She exclaimed. 

“I’m going to text you an address. Just get here as soon as you can,” Katsuki told her calmly. “The two of you have a lot to talk about. He just doesn’t want Hisato to be here when you talk. He may or may not have made it clear that he would kill him if he did show up.”

“Oh uh, okay,” she said softly. “I can do that.”

“And Auntie, if you really want to talk to him, do it. But don’t call the police or anything. Izuku just needs your support,” Katsuki said and hung up the phone. He shot the address to Inko before he went back to finishing dinner. Just as the dinner finished, a soft, tentative knock sounded on the door and Katsuki hurried over and answered the door.

“Katsuki,” she said stiffly, her hand clutched tight around the strap of her purse. “Where’s Izuku?”

“Hey Auntie, he isn’t here yet. He’s trying to get a hold of a table for us to sit at for dinner.”

“He doesn’t have a table?” She questioned, stepping into the apartment. The older woman sniffed and looked around. “It’s very lovely here; this is my Izuku’s home?”

Katsuki smiled proudly. “Yeah, he worked really hard for this place. Come on, we can wait on the couch for him to get back,” he said, shutting the door after Inko before he led her to the living room. Just as they took a seat, a warp gate opened, and four chairs were thrown through and carefully sat down before Izuku stepped through, a scowl on his face, his hand in the air as he dragged a table through the gate. 

“Tomura wouldn’t give me his table like he actually decayed it just so I couldn't have it, so I had to take one from the bar. Compress nearly lost his mind,” Izuku muttered as he trudged to the open area between the kitchen and living room. He brought his hand down and the furniture dropped down with a soft thump. Katsuki watched warily as Deku turned around and gave his mother a tired look. 

“I’m surprised the cops aren’t raiding my apartment,” he said blandly. 

“I-Izuku,” Inko cried out before she launched herself into the scarred arms of her son. “Oh, baby I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you and been more aware! This is all my fault, I should have paid more attention.”

Deku frowned, his arms awkwardly hovered in the air around his mother. “Uh, what?” He asked, his eyes flicked up to Katsuki, his eyebrows furrowed. Katsuki simply shrugged his shoulders. He had absolutely no idea what the woman was talking about. 

“After you left, I found your notebooks!” She sobbed, her face still pressed against Izuku’s chest. “I-I knew it wasn’t just an accident. I knew it. But it was so much easier to believe than the idea that my poor baby tried to kill himself, oh baby what’s happened to you? I should have protected you better, then this would have never happened,” She cried. Deku pulled away slightly and frowned at his mom. 

“In-Mom, I don’t regret any of it. Sure, not all of it has been great. I mean dang, a lot of horrible things have happened. But amazing things have too,” he said, quirking up a small smile, his silver piercings poked out ever so slightly. 

“How about you two take a seat? I made katsudon, I’ll bring it out,” Katsuki said with a soft cough. The two greenettes whipped to look at the blond and Izuku’s shoulders slightly relaxed, a small smile tugged at the edge of Katuski’s lips. At least he was here to help his boyfriend through all of this and wasn’t making it worse. The mother and son carefully sat at the table as Katsuki rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the bowls of food and came back, setting each bowl in front of a spot and looked at Izuku who smirked and raised a hand, three glasses of water came slowly moving from the kitchen to the table. 

“So you have a quirk,” Inko said softly. “How? It’s so similar to mine,” she whispered and Izuku grinned. 

“Yeah, I uh I obtained it from a really powerful man. He can give people quirks and he gave me a few. I got Survivor after I nearly died, it uh, it keeps me from dying,” he said softly. “And when I told him I wanted to be a hero he offered to give me a quirk. And I didn’t really want one like dad’s so I asked if I could get one that was similar to yours. It’s called Particle. It’s not really telekinesis, it’s more like I can control the particles in the air,” he explained. 

Inko gave her son a small smile. “We have a lot to talk about, Izuku.”

Deku returned the smile with a timid one of his own. “Yeah, we really do.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was busy . Villains were popping up left and right, meeting up at the warehouse and it kept the vigilante on his toes. With hundreds of villains arriving in the city, he had his work cut out for him. Sure there were heroes but considering the villains were all a part of the plan, he couldn’t risk letting the heroes arrest him. Instead, Izuku would find them committing whatever stupid crime they were committing and would drag them back to the warehouse and remind them why they were even there. Between trying to stay caught up in school to keep Katsuki happy, attempting to maintain his relationship with his boyfriend, and keep the villains from completely destroying his town, he was exhausted. This was why when Katsuki had come over for the night, all Izuku seemed to be able to do was pull the blond into bed with him and nap. 

“What’s going on with you?” Katsuki asked him softly, running his fingers through Deku’s green curls. The greenette let out a hum and closed his eyes, pressed his face against Katsuki’s ribs, and just shook his head. “No, answer the fucking question, Deks. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Just tired, lot’s of villains lately,” he hummed, twisting his fingers into Katsuki’s t-shirt. 

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that. Do you know what’s going on?” He questioned, giving his tired boyfriend a curious look. Izuku simply shook his head.

“No. But I’m exhausted and Tomura is pissed,” he muttered. Did he feel bad lying to Katsuki? 100% but it was for the best, he needed to keep Katsuki far, far away from the battle.  He didn’t need Kacchan getting in trouble or hurt because of a battle that he had no place being a part of.

“See, I was thinking maybe you knew something,” Katsuki said lowly. Izuku frowned and sat up in bed, he gave his boyfriend a curious look. What was Katsuki talking about? Sure he knew that Izuku had a plan to get revenge against All For One but he definitely did not know what the villains were planning. Izuku had ensured that he stayed tight-lipped about the plans. 

“No, I don’t know anything about it. It’s been frustrating,” Izuku said easily, with a shrug of his shoulders, doing his damn best to seem nonchalant. He hated lying to Katsuki. 

“I really want to believe you, Deks, but something seems off. You’ve been incredibly fucking busy this last week, ever since Endeavor’s press conference, all of these villains have been popping up and then today All Might told us that all of the hero classes are going on a retreat far away from the city. You know what’s going on and I have a feeling that you’re playing a fucking big part of it. So what’s going on? Why are all of the fucking teachers on edge? Why are hero patrols at an all-time high? And why the fuck am I being sent four hours away to “train”?” Katsuki glared at his boyfriend. Deku knew something, he knew it, the greenette had been unable to meet his gaze for days now. Every time Katsuki tried to spend time with him, Deku was busy or if they did hang out, the vigilante was exhausted. Something was going on and he was pretty fucking offended that his boyfriend thought he was too dumb to realize that. 

“I can’t tell you. It was part of the deal,” Deku said, not looking at the blond. He fiddled with his scar covered hands, staying quieter than normal. 

“What fuckin’ deal?” Katsuki asked through gritted teeth. “What the fuck is going on? Even fucking Icy Hot is acting on edge like he knows what’s going on? Are you going to fucking kill Endeavor?” He demanded, gripping Deku’s face with a tight, calloused hand.  

“Well, personally? No.”

“Are you killing someone?”

“Yes.”

“Deku give me some goddamn answers!” Katsuki shouted, now growing angrier. It was like fucking pulling teeth with this bastard. Why couldn’t Deku just be honest and upfront about whatever was going on? It wasn’t like Katsuki didn’t know Deku had killed before. If he had been given some stupid job by his bastard of a master or whatever the fuck Deku called the guy, Katsuki would understand. He wouldn’t be happy but Deku couldn’t get out of the shit he was forced to do by One for All.

“You’re going to get mad,” he said slowly. “And I need to promise that you aren’t going to destroy anything if I tell you.”

“I fucking promise,” Katsuki said through gritted teeth, his hands clenched and unclenched. 

“The League of Villains has invited every villain in the country to help them overthrow the hero commission and my job is to kill Lemillion so that he is no longer in the way but--”

“You’re helping the fucking villains take down the hero commission!” Katsuki practically screamed, small explosions popped from his hands. He couldn’t believe this. What the fuck was wrong with him? How could he think something like this would be even relatively okay?  He fucking knew what Katsuki’s dream was. Sure, hero society was fucked, but there was better fucking ways to do this rather than fucking destroy the hero commission.

“No exa--”

“Not exactly? No that’s exactly what you’re fucking going to do. And you’re going to kill Miro? Deks he’s your friend. I mean what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Kacch--”

“You can’t just help the goddamn villains take down the hero commission! You realize that I want to be a fucking hero right? I mean I fucking get it, you hate heroes, you hate hero society but I’m your goddamn boyfriend! Do you even care that you’re actively crushing my fucking dreams?!” He shouted. Katsuki was standing now. His heart was racing and he was ready to fucking fight. How could his boyfriend just not care? Was this all a game to him? Did he not even care about Katsuki’s feelings.

“Kacchan. It isn’t like that. There’s so much at stake you wouldn’t--”

“Save it!” Katsuki shouted, holding a hand up, ready to blast Deku through the goddamn wall. “You can say that you don’t pick sides all fucking day, but I think it’s pretty damn clear that you’re a villain just like all of your loser friends.”

“Katsuki! Will you fucking stop overreacting and just let me talk!” Izuku shouted, his stupid shadow quirk starting to flicker. He always fucking lost control of that when he was emotional. Katsuki had realized long ago it was why Izuku had always tried to remain even-tempered no matter what. But he didn’t care anymore. No, he was fucking pissed. How could Deku betray him like that? How could he simply not care enough about Katsuki to even realize how fucked this situation was? 

Maybe Izuku just didn’t care about him. Maybe Katsuki loved the wrong person this entire time. This had to be some sick fucking game. Katsuki crushed Izuku’s dreams as a child and now fucking Deku was doing the very same thing to him now. That goddamn bastard. 

“It’s over. Just fuck off, and when you’re out there trying to take down the hero commission I’ll be right there to fucking stop you. Because I’m a fucking hero,” Katsuki spat. He stormed out of the bedroom and grabbed his backpack from the ground and practically ran out of the apartment, not bothering to listen to a single word that Deku said.

Chapter Text

Kacchan…  broke up with him? Izuku slumped into his bed and stared at the wall, completely and totally stumped. He didn’t even give him the chance to even explain what happened, Katsuki hadn’t let him tell him the plan or anything. He had just automatically assumed that Izuku was some terrible villain, he didn’t give the greenette any kind of benefit of the doubt. He didn’t even give Izuku a chance. 

The vigilante threw his head back and let out a loud groan. Midoriya Izuku was not a villain. He just wasn’t. This was his own fault, though. He had done this to himself, Izuku wasn’t stupid, he knew that. From the time he became friends with Tomura, he let himself be brainwashed. Of course, he was. At fourteen years old Izuku was broken and desperate for something to believe in. His hero had told him he would never become a hero himself, his best friend had told him to kill himself and fuck, his other best friend was slowly becoming the leader of a group of villains. Not only that but, Tomura had put so many thoughts in his head, he had told him of how every single villain had been slighted by heroes, he told Izuku all about their pain and suffering. And Izuku ate it all up until he had his own festering hatred for hero society. He had clung to his most inner beliefs that heroes were meant to be good, to be there for others, to protect the world from harm. But heroes didn’t do that. Izuku truly thought that he could become the one to save everyone, including the villains who had never been saved before.

The greenette buried his face in his hands as thoughts swarmed around him chaotically. What did he even want in life? Who was he to the world? Shadow had saved people, sure, he knew he saved people. But his hands weren’t clean, he had murdered people. Some of them definitely deserved to die, others definitely didn’t. He had become a weapon for All for One at times and did the bidding of the ultra-powerful man. Did it matter if Izuku clung to his beliefs that heroes were meant to be good when he was out there behaving like a villain himself? Maybe Katsuki was right and Izuku was evil, he was nothing more than a villain. 

Izuku shook his head, he didn’t want that. He didn’t want any of this. All that he had ever wanted was for the heroes to realize that media didn’t matter, popularity didn’t matter. What mattered was saving people and doing the right thing. He tugged at his hair tightly before he let go and stood. As he started pacing back and forth he was muttering. 

Kacchan thought he was no better than a villain. The heroes thought he was a villain. And the villains sure did think that Izuku was one of them. That wasn’t what he wanted though. At the very core of his being, Midoriya Izuku was meant to be a hero, he was meant to be there to save others, to protect others from criminals in the world. That’s who he was. He just had to do it in a more unconventional way. And that was fine with him, really it was. Being a mercenary as he was, he had absolutely no qualms about killing pedophiles, nor did he really care about scaring the ever-living shit out of teenagers who got their rocks off on stalking teenage girls. 

Maybe he was a little more forceful than heroes but maybe it was necessary. Wasn’t it? He bit at his thumbnail as he paced back and forth the living room of his apartment. Heroes thought that the hero killer Stain had been an evil villain, Izuku knew that. But Stain was going around killing the heroes, he wasn’t trying to make an actual effort to show why hero society was so tainted and how to fix it. He was simply killing heroes that did not follow his ideology and it didn’t work like that either. Was there even a good way to show the world that the way hero society was going it was wrong? Was there any way for a single person to change hero society? And if so, was Izuku doing it correctly, or was he just further perpetuating the issues within their society as a whole? If he was just making things worse, what could he do to change that? How could he change it? Not all heroes were bad. No, in fact now that he had a chance to be around them and really look, some heroes were actually really great. Class 3-A, they were going to be phenomenal heroes one day--except the bastard Mineta-- he could see them bring about a new generation of amazing heroes. Not only them, though, Eraserhead, Lemillion, they were real heroes. They wanted to save others, hell Eraserhead even took the time to try to save Izuku. Not only that, but he never stopped trying to save Izuku. 

Not all heroes were bad, that was one thing that Izuku now knew for absolute certain. What did that mean for Izuku, though? Was his sole job to be the one who holds these future heroes accountable? If so, how was he supposed to go about doing something like that

Izuku stopped pacing. A giant grin spread across his face before he practically sprinted to his bookcase and pulled off a comic book and fell onto his couch. That’s it. That was it. That was how he was going to do it. He was going to be the real-life motherfucking Bruce Wayne. By night, he would be a vigilante, he would fight crime, save people, get rid of the villains in a way that heroes were too scared to do. By day, he would be the most outspoken person he could be for hero reform. He wasn’t sure how he would do it. Bruce Wayne was the Batman vigilante at night and playboy billionaire by day. Izuku was well off, but he was far from being a billionaire. He flipped through the pages of the American comic book and let out a hum. Dick Grayson had become a detective. Maybe- 

He slammed the comic book shut. Kacchan had suggested that he be a lawyer. Maybe that’s what he was meant to do. Being a lawyer meant that he could be there to call heroes out any time they fucked up. He could become a champion for hero reform. Kacchan wouldn’t think he was a villain anymore. No. He wasn’t going to fucking do this for Katsuki. Katsuki jumped to conclusions and didn’t even give him a chance to explain. That fucking hurt more than anything. If Izuku was going to do this, he was going to do it right. Not only that but he was going to do it for himself. Not for the benefit of others. For him.

And the first thing he would need in order to do that would be to tell Tomura that it was over. He was done playing friends with villains. That wasn’t who he was meant to be. No matter how much he loved them, he couldn’t condone their actions any longer. 

Izuku threw the comic book on his coffee table and stood. He quickly dressed in his usual Shadow outfit and before he knew it, found himself in the middle of the bar. “Shigaraki!” He called, his fingers nervously tapped against the sides of his legs. His best friend for so many years, the only person that Izuku thought had his back slipped into the front of the room and arched his eyebrows. 

“Is there a reason you’re calling me so formally, Izuku?” He asked, looking at the teenager curiously. 

“Katsuki dumped me because he thinks I’m a villain,” he said simply. 

Shigaraki let out a harsh laugh. “Oh. Izu, you are a villain.”

“No. I’m not. I’m a vigilante. I save people.”

“You’ve murdered just as many people.” 

Izuku shook his head. “I’m done. After this mission, I’m done Tomura. All I have ever wanted to do is help people and generate some kind of hero reform. I can’t keep doing this. I don’t want the end of heroes, you know I don’t.”

“Get over yourself,” Shigaraki said, crossing his arms. 

“No! I’m not just going to get over myself, Tomura. I’m done. This is it. I’m not a fucking villain. I’m not a fucking hero. I’m just me. I’m done picking sides, I’m done with all of it."

“Heroes are a plague to this world, Izuku.”

“Heroes just need to be held more accountable. After this attack, I’m done. I don’t want any of you to contact me. I need to get my shit figured out. I’m done messing around and I want to do what I’m meant to. And that means I can’t just hang around villains anymore. And don’t worry I’m not hanging around any fucking heroes either. I’m done with all of this shit. This is my life and I’m going to do with it as I please.”

Shigaraki let out a dark laugh and stalked up towards the vigilante. “That’s where you’re wrong, Mido. Your life isn’t yours, it’s mine remember? That was the deal, you got to live in exchange for being there for me. You can’t leave me, you were made for me, remember Izuku? Remember that fucking conversation?” He growled and grabbed Izuku’s face with two of his fingers. “You’re mine. ”

Izuku glared at him. “You’re wrong,” he snarled and knocked Shigaraki’s hand off of his face. “I’ll help you do this and after that, I’m out of your life forever. And if you try to fucking do anything to me, I’ll kill you. We both know that I’m stronger than you,” he growled as a portal opened up behind him. “I’m tired of being called a villain, Shiggy. That isn’t who I am. I’m my own person.”

With a single flick of a finger, Izuku threw the villain across the room and stepped through the portal. This was it. As soon as he helped the heroes defeat All for One, Izuku would be free. He would finally be able to make his own decisions without anyone trying to dissuade him from his decisions. 

Chapter Text

It was the day that Class 3-A was leaving for their trip any minute now, All Might was going to come in to lead them to the busses. Everyone was packed up and ready to go for a nice relaxing time away from school. All except Bakugou Katsuki at least. Katsuki had been weird ever since he had come back to the school after his weekend with Izuku. Currently, the student was sitting in the middle of the common room with his group of idiots as he tried his best to study his English notes while sunk deep in the couch, glowering at anyone who attempted to speak to him. No one could quite put their finger on it as to why he was being strange, on top of that, most students in the class were still partially intimidated by the explosive blond to really muster up the courage to ask him just what was wrong. 

That is, except for Todoroki Shouto who may or may not have a death wish, it wasn’t super clear. “Bakugou, where has Midoriya been? He usually comes to visit a few times a week.” He asked as he walked into the common room and his heterochromatic eyes landed on the blond spikes.

“Broke up,” Katsuki grunted, not looking up from his notebook, still scribbling away as if he didn’t just drop a bomb on the class.

The students in the common room froze. Todoroki simply raised a single eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because he’s a fucking villain, that’s why,” the blond snapped and slammed his notebook shut roughly. 

“Oh, so you know about the plan,” Shouto said, falling onto the couch beside Katsuki. The two-toned teenager leaned back into the plush cushions and let out a content sigh. “Touya told me. I’m not surprised.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Kirishima asked, screwing up his nose. “And dude, he isn’t a villain, he just has a lot of villain friends. They’re not that bad really, I mean Shigaraki is terrifying but once you get to know him he’s just a loser.”

“What do you know about their fucking plans Icy-Hot?” Katsuki snarled, his nostrils flared as he ignored Kirishima’s question. If that fucking bastard knew what Deku was a part of, Katsuki was going to fucking murder him. 

“They’re planning on killing my father soon. From what Touya told me, though, it sounds like it’s going to be more than just getting rid of my father. Touya and Shigaraki want to completely take down the hero commission,” Todoroki stated, looking down at his phone, bored. 

“But what does that have to do with Midoriya?” Ashido questioned, looking even more confused. Todoroki let out a sigh. 

“I don’t know everything, but from what I’ve gathered from Keigo and Touya, Midoriya was given instructions by All for One, that villain that got arrested back during Kamino Ward, to protect Shigaraki by whatever means necessary. He was also ordered to kill Lemillion. But Touya’s worried he won’t do it. He told Shigaraki that he’s done after the battle. Touya was pretty angry about it,” Todoroki stated and let out a sigh. “But I doubt it really matters. I don’t think they’ll even succeed, they’ll all probably end up locked away in Tartarus, which is a shame. Midoriya has some really amazing ideas about how hero society needs to be reformed.”

Katsuki frowned at the student beside him. He figured Deku had been given orders but, that didn’t mean he had to follow them, did they? All for One was securely locked away in Tartarus, he couldn’t hurt Deku when he was all the way out there. Then again, he had done it before when he had forced the vigilante to take on another quirk.  What was the villain going to do if he found out that Deku was cutting ties? Wait-- “How do you know his ideas for hero society?” Katsuki demanded, glaring at the boy.

“I talk to him?” Shouto said, looking confused. “Once you get Midoriya ranting about hero society he doesn’t stop. He’s really passionate about rehabilitation. He doesn’t think villains really learn anything from being locked away in a cage forever. He thinks that they can be rehabilitated into society through therapy and effort. Not only that but he really wants checks put in place on heroes so that they aren’t treated like celebrities, but as people who have a job to protect and serve the public. He was given a bad hand by being tied to Shigaraki and All for One for the rest of his life, but he isn’t a villain, Bakugou. And I think we’re all going to be surprised when the battle comes around. Midoriya seems to always have something up his sleeve,” Todoroki said and stood up. 

“Wait!” Katsuki growled and grabbed Todoroki’s wrist. The two-toned boy gave him a curious look. “Is he okay?”

“No one knows. He left the League. Touya said his apartment looks like he’s never even lived there and his phone is turned off. No one knows where he is,” Todoroki said. “That’s the whole reason I asked you.”

Katsuki let go of Todoroki’s wrist and leaned back into the couch. No one knew where Deku was. What if he was dead? What if something had happened to him? Katsuki shook his head, no it didn’t matter. It had been nearly two weeks since he ended things with Deku and it was fine. Deku was actively working to destroy Katsuki’s dreams of being a hero, he could have said no about working for AFO a long time ago. This was his fault that he was in his mess. Katsuki couldn’t stand by and act like it was okay for a future hero such as himself to even date a villain. It was wrong. Todoroki just let out an annoyed sigh at the blond and left the common room.

“Todoroki’s right, man. Midoriya is a little angry and scary, but he’s also really sweet!” Kirishima said, piping up once again. “I really don’t think the dude could ever be a villain. I think his problem is just that he cares too much and wants to make everyone happy.”

“That doesn’t mean he can just go and attack the fucking hero commission,” Katsuki hissed angrily. “It doesn’t fucking work like that.”

“Blasty, he never lied to you about what he was. You can’t just suddenly decide to be angry about what he’s doing. Even if Todoroki was wrong and Midoriya doesn’t have something up his sleeve, you already knew that he sides with the villains sometimes. His beliefs are more parallel with theirs than ours at the moment,” Ashido said from her spot on the couch across from Katsuki. “It’s like Todoroki told you, Midoriya believes that the hero commission and hero society needs reformation. Maybe this is how he reasoned it should go!”

“He’s trying to destroy hero society!” Katsuki shouted angrily. Did his idiot friends not get it? Did they not fucking see that without the hero commission they would all be out of fucking jobs?

“No, he’s trying to show people that hero society is fucked up,” Kirishima said slowly with a shake of his head. “Bro, you were his boyfriend. How do we understand him better than you?”

Before Katsuki could respond, the door to Alliance Heights slammed open. “Alright young heroes! It’s time for us to go on our training trip!” All Might shouted joyously. 

“Fuck that!” Katsuki snarled, standing up from his place on the couch. “That fucking battle is happening soon and I’m going to be there to fucking fight those sick fucks!” He yelled, glaring daggers at his teacher. 

All Might sized back down to his scrawny look and chuckled. “No can do kid. Shadow gave us strict instructions. If we want his help, you have to be as far away from the battlefield as possible.”

Katsuki froze. His hands started to pop ever so slightly. What did he say?

“I assume you were able to drag the truth out of him, huh? We had an agreement that we would keep this all hush hush until after the fact for young Shadow’s safety,” he said happily. “I know the young man has been quite on the edge these last few days as we prepared for this momentous moment! To think, after today, All for One will be gone permanently!”

“I’m sorry--what?” Kaminari asked, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. The students knew that All Might couldn’t keep a secret to save his life but he was spilling a lot of information. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Katsuki demanded, a vein in his forehead pulsed hard. His hands sparked even more. 

All Might faltered. “Did-did Young Midoriya not tell you what is going on?”

“He fucking told me he was fighting with the fucking villains,” Katsuki said through gritted teeth.

All Might’s eyes widened marginally. “Oh! I believe I may have said something I shouldn’t have then.” He let out a cough and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very well, time to pack up and get on the bus then,” he said awkwardly and started to turn back to the door only for Katsuki to grab his arm. 

“What. Did. You. Say?” He snarled. Katsuki was pissed. He was pissed that Deku fucking kept him from this. He was fucking pissed that he accused Deku of being a villain. Fuck-- he accused Deku of being a villain and fucking Deku tried to tell him. He treated Deku like shit when he didn’t even know the entire fucking story. Because Katsuki was a goddamn idiot. That’s what he was. He was an idiot who ruined his relationship with his stupid, amazing, idiotic boyfriend. 

“Shadow did not want you to know, Bakugou. I suggest that you get on the bus.”

“Who is going to be the one to kill All for One?” He demanded. 

“It will be Lemillion and Young Midoriya. Shadow came up with the plan and, it’s actually pretty genius if I’m being honest.”

“He’s going to fucking get killed! All For One is going to destroy him!” Katsuki practically screamed, his chest hammered in his chest. He was in full on panic mode. 

“Bakugou, he knows,” All Might said calmly. “He knew from the beginning that he was not going to make it out of this battle alive. He’s doing this because he knows it’s best.”

Katsuki rammed a finger into his teacher’s chest. “No! He’s fucking doing this because you told him that he would never be a fucking hero. This is your goddamn fault!” Katsuki screamed. He shoved the old hero away from him and without a second thought ran to his bedroom. Katsuki changed into his hero uniform faster than he ever thought possible. He had to be there, he had to save Deku. Katsuki had fucked up, he had fucked up big time and he had to make it up to the vigilante somehow. He couldn’t let Deku die. Deku couldn’t go into this battle not knowing just how much Katsuki fucking loved him. The blond hurriedly shoved his gauntlets onto his arms and before anyone could stop him blasted out of his room. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Todoroki asked him when he landed on the ground outside. 

“I’m going to fucking save Deku,” he snarled, storming forward. “This is my fucking fault.”

“Him deciding to take down All for One is your fault?” Todoroki shook his head and sighed. “Whatever. I’m coming with you.”

“The fuck you are.”

“My brother is fighting too. I just got him back,” Todoroki said softly. “I don’t even care that he’s a villain. I can’t blame him after everything my father did to him. I can’t let my father kill him. Not if I can help it.”

Katsuki glared at Todoroki for a moment and sighed. “Fine. But don’t get in my fucking way,” he snarled before the two heroes took off, just as the loud screams and explosions started off into the distance. 

“It started,” Todoroki breathed as they got closer, narrowly avoiding a villain getting thrown into a large building. 

Katsuki didn’t say anything, his eyes scanned the battlefield warily. Everywhere he looked there were heroes and villains fighting to the death but nowhere did he see a familiar mop of green hair nor a single shadowy figure. 

“Deku!” Katsuki shouted, running through the streets. Todoroki had already gone off to find his brother and now Katsuki was simply deadset on finding the vigilante and doing everything he could to keep him safe. Just as he turned a corner he spotted Shigaraki stalking through the streets, Compress by his side. 

“How the fuck did they know that we were coming?” He snarled, the hand that covered his face slightly skewed. 

“I think,” Mr. Compress stopped and gave the lead villain a nervous look. “Shigaraki, I think Izuku betrayed us.”

“I’ll fucking kill him, I don’t care if he comes back. I’ll decay that bastard a thousand fucking times if I have to. He’s going to pay,” Shigaraki snarled. 

“Oi! That’s my fucking boyfriend you’re talking about you chapped lip bastard!” Katsuki shouted angrily before he threw explosion after explosion at the villain.

Shigaraki gave the teenager an evil smile as he dodged the explosions. “I fucking knew this was your fault. You got into his head and started to undo all of the work I’ve been putting into him,” he gritted. “All of my hard work. Ruined. By some stupid wannabe hero. But it’s too late, Kacchan, my master has just broken out of his prison cell. And when he arrives, Izuku will be nothing but decayed ash,” he laughed as a large boom sounded across the downtown area. Katsuki let out a curse. Right. He wasn’t supposed to be fighting Shigaraki, no he had to keep Deku safe, keep All for One away from him. He shot one last explosion at the villains in front of him before he skyrocketed through the sky, trying to find the idiot he loved.

Chapter Text

Izuku had made sure that Tomura and the others in the League saw him go head to head against a hero or two before he let himself slip into the shadows. The plan so far had worked perfectly, the Heroes had been there, ready for the attack as hundreds of villains flooded the downtown area to attack. Now, Izuku just needed to find Mirio, All for One would be making his appearance soon, he would break out of Tartarus with the help of the guys on the inside and he would arrive any second now. Shadow ran through the shadows as quickly as he could, his eyes roving across the battlefield as he searched for that familiar All Might knock off costume. All around him, heroes and villains fought, villains going for the kill, heroes doing their best to not kill the villains and defeat them. Maybe that’s what Izuku’s problem was, he didn’t care about killing people, that had to be the reason Katsuki thought that he was a villain. 

The vigilante shook his head. No. He had to focus on the mission at hand, he couldn’t think about Katsuki at a time like this. Did Izuku wish that he could have told Katsuki one final goodbye before everything went as planned? Sure. But it didn’t matter, Katsuki left him. 

“Stop it,” he muttered, smacking his forehead. Finally, he found the blond bastard just as Mirio was helping guide stray civilians to a nearby transport. The greenette stopped short and frowned, his body solidifying once more. “You didn’t evacuate the area before the fight?”

“Sir and the others didn’t want to tip off the villains that we were aware of their plans. No casualties so far,” he hummed and Izuku’s frown turned into a glare. 

“That’s stupid, civilian lives are more important than catching fucking villains, Lemillion,” he growled, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Mirio gave the vigilante a look that Izuku had actually never seen before on the happy-go-lucky guy’s face. 

Mirio gave him an annoyed glare. “Tell me something I don’t know, Shadow-Kun. Sir is bound and determined to ensure that All for One and the League are defeated once and for all. He doesn’t care about anything else, neither does Endeavor now that we know Dabi is his son.

Izuku rolled his eyes. “Oh so you’re saying our amazing Number One hero doesn’t want to fix his relationship with his prodigal son?” He asked sarcastically, a hand flicked up to throw an oncoming villain into the building closest to them. Mirio turned away from the civilians once they had loaded into the transport and gave Izuku a less than impressed look. Izuku just shoved his mask down and gave the blond a cocky grin. “Sensei will be here soon. Just don’t forget, his right side is weaker after that battle with All Might at Kamino. Where’s Eraser? Is he in place?”

Mirio nodded his head. “He’s waiting to see where All for One will appear and then he’s going to get into position,” he said as the two started walking, Izuku pushed his mask back over his face as he kept villains away from the two of them. 

“Just remember, you can’t just incapacitate him, you need to kill him. I’ll keep him distracted, you have to end this, Mirio,” he said seriously and Mirio gave him a sad smile. 

“I know, Shadow-Kun, you’re doing a really amazing thing. I hope you know that,” He said quietly just as a loud explosion sounded and Izuku felt the familiar tug on his body. All of All for One’s followers were given a link to their master, if he called for them, they knew exactly where to go to find him and they felt like they were being dragged towards him. 

“He’s here. You go get ready,” Izuku said and shifted into the shadows and ran towards his master quickly. As soon as his eyes landed on the villain, Izuku fell to his knees and bowed his head. “Master,” he said softly, forcing a smile on his face. 

“Ah, Izuku, you were the first to arrive. Such a loyal servant,” All for One crooned.

Izuku nodded. “Yes sir,” he said softly, looking up at the larger than life monster of a man. The collar meant to turn off his quirk was clutched in his hand. All for One caught his eye and let out a loud laugh. 

“They dared to think that this could hold me back. They don’t seem to understand that I am a god,” he shouted, throwing his arms back wide. Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed but he nodded in understanding. 

“Of course Master. No prison could hold you back,” he crooned, staring up at the villain. “How dare anyone ever think that they could beat you.”

“Smart words from the very person who betrayed you,” a new voice said, causing Izuku’s face to whip over to where Sir Nighteye stalked forward, his hands shoved into his pockets casually. “You want to know why the heroes were ready for you, All for One? Your precious Shadow betrayed you and chose the hero's side.”

What was he doing? This wasn’t the plan. Lemillion was meant to step forward and challenge All for One and Izuku was supposed to turn on the villain and keep him busy until Lemillion and Eraserhead could defeat him. Izuku was the decoy, the one to keep his master distracted. Nighteye had absolutely no part in this, what the hell was he trying to do?

“Master, I would never betray you!” Izuku exclaims, giving his master a pleading look. “I’m indebted to you, you gave me everything Sensei.”

The vigilante let out a gasp as All for One shot a hand out and pulled the greenette towards him roughly. He wrapped a hand around Izuku’s neck and cocked his head to the side. “Oh Izuku, Tomura has already told me everything. You told him after this battle you’re done, was that correct?” He asked, his fingers gripped Izuku’s neck tighter, the greenette’s hands clutched at the large one around his throat. “I think you may be right. I won’t take your gifts away, Shadow, I never take back what I have given. But, I think the best punishment would be dying knowing that your quirk is just out of reach,” he growled lowly, a click resounded in Izuku’s ears as realization slammed into him. The quirk collar that All for One previously had on his neck. It was on Izuku.

“Let him go,” Lemillion snarled, finally stepping in front of the villain. A shiver ran down Izuku’s back as the collar turned on and he felt his quirks rip away from him. All for One glanced at Mirio for a moment before he threw Izuku away from him like a ragdoll. The vigilante landed against the ground roughly, his spin snapped as it had so many years before when he had jumped from that stupid school. Izuku let out a gasp in pain as every injury from that jump came back to him, he had minutes before his injuries took him away, maybe even less. His bleeding hands reached up to the collar and started to pull on it, doing whatever he could, trying his best to keep up with what was happening before him. 

“Ah, the new carrier of my brother’s quirk. It’s like I’m looking at All Might all over again,” he said, stalking closer to the blond hero. Izuku’s eyes drooped down, his fingers now starting to go lax on the collar, he was fading fast. Now he just had to hope, had to pray to anyone who would listen that Mirio and Eraser could kill All for One, then this could all be over. Infinity passed as Izuku laid in a heap on the ground listening to the battle around him. 

“Master!” A familiar voice sounded and Izuku’s eyes fluttered open to see Tomura run towards their master. A gunshot resounded in the downtown area, Izuku’s heart stopped, his eyes widened as he watched the red bloom around Tomura’s chest. Another gunshot. Tomura fell to his knees, eyes unseeing as a single bullet entered his forehead. 

No.

Tomura wasn’t supposed to die. Nighteye promised that Tomura wouldn’t die.

“Tomura!” He screamed, his vocal cords strained with the effort as Izuku forcefully sat up only to collapse once again. 

“Give it up, All for One. Both of your pets are dead, now it’s your turn. Your tyranny ends here, no one will be around to continue your legacy,” Nighteye stated. Izuku’s eyes clamped shut. That’s what it was. They trusted Izuku enough to tell them of the battle but they didn’t trust Izuku to not turn around and get revenge for his Master’s death. It was better to just get him out of the way as well. Maybe it was for the best if Izuku died, maybe without him, things would get better. It wasn’t like Izuku had really changed anything in the world, he hadn’t done anything to make it better.

Maybe in his next life he would have a quirk worthy of a hero.

…

“Tomura!” the scream echoed in Katsuki’s ears, Izuku was close, he was so close. The blonde set off a series of explosions as he set off to find the vigilante. He flew through the sky, narrowly avoiding a pissed off Hawks as he fought Endeavor, Dabi below shot ball after ball of blue flames at the number one hero. Katsuki shook his head and ignored it, let Endeavor deal with his own actions, Katsuki had to find Izuku. Finally his eyes landed on the familiar costume of Lemillion and close by he saw the huddled heap that he knew was Deku. Carefully avoiding the fight between Mirio and All for One, Katsuki landed on the ground and started running towards the vigilante. He jumped over the body of Sir Nighteye, letting out a soft curse as he realized the hero was dead. 

“Deku!” He shouted, his knees landed in front of the dying teenager with a hard thud. 

“Kacch-”

“Shut up, save your energy,” he murmured quietly, trying his best to gently pick up the broken man without hurting him any more than he already was. Izuku clutched Katsuki’s shirt in a tight grip. 

“They lied. They don’t care about any of it, they-they just want to defeat him,” Izuku gasped, trying to move. 

“Deks, shut up, we’ll talk when I get you to a safe place and get this collar off of you,” he ordered before he held Izuku tight to him and took off in a run. Katsuki held a hand back, letting off a loud explosion to propel him faster through the streets. Soon he stopped in an area untouched by the battle and sat Izuku on the concrete, his back pressed against the wall of a building. 

“How do I get the fucking collar off?” Katsuki asked once he had finished looking over the greenette and realizing that the collar had turned off his quirk. He tucked a finger under it and pulled roughly, Izuku screamed in pain. 

“Stop, j-just be here,” he stammered, pressing a tired hand against Katsuki’s once Katsuki had stopped. “Promise me you won’t let them get away with this. Make things better Katsuki,” he whispered, tears fell from his cheeks. 

Katsuki shook his head roughly. “No, no. Deku-Izuku you can’t just fucking give up. I love you, I love you so much it’s fucking stupid, you can’t just go,” he stammered, a sob of his own slipped out. A bloody hand cupped his face, and he looked to find a peaceful smile on Izuku’s face. 

“Love you too, Katsuki,” he whispered, running a thumb along his cheek. “Change the world for me.”

Izuku’s hand fell away from Katsuki’s face. The blond stopped breathing as he started trying to pull at the collar again, desperate to get it off. This couldn’t be it, Izuku couldn’t just fucking die, not when Katsuki had to fix things between then, not after Izuku said he loved him. This couldn’t just be the end of it all.  A shadow loomed over Katsuki’s hunched over form. He didn’t even care. What was the point in being a hero if Izuku wasn’t there with him?

“I could maybe help,” Todoroki said quietly. He stooped down next to Katsuki and pressed a hand to the metal. “When his quirk comes back, it’ll heal him, right?”

“Yeah it should, he’ll scar for a while but Deku doesn’t care about scars-” Katsuki cut himself off as Todoroki froze the collar until it was covered in frost and looked at the blond. 

“Explode it, it doesn’t need to be a big explosion but he’s going to die if it doesn’t come off now, Bakugou,” Todoroki said calmly, his heterochromatic eyes meeting red. 

Katsuki frowned but nodded his head, he pressed a hand to the cold collar and let off an explosion just big enough to crack the metal without completely hurting Izuku. Todoroki reached in and ripped the collar off of the vigilante and slowly the wounds on Izuku’s body fixed themselves. His broken body started to slowly straighten and fix itself. 

“Motherfucker,” he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “Did you seriously use an explosion on my fucking throat! What if that blew my fucking head off!” Izuku exclaimed, his eyes now starting to flutter open and glare at the blond before him. Well, at least he was awake again, that was a win in Katsuki’s book. 

“It could grow back,” he said weakly before he wrapped his arms around Izuku tight. The greenette scowled and pushed him off. 

“Get off,” he growled and forced himself up. He looked at Todoroki. “What happened?”

“I’m not completely sure yet, I’m still trying to figure things out. I showed up right as Bakugou got you away from the battle. Mr. Aizawa was able to erase All for One’s quirk just long enough for Mirio to kill him. Mirio’s being taken to the hospital now for his injuries but All for One is gone for good. Mr. Aizawa told me to tell you that he needs to speak with you about Nighteye’s betrayal because that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Izuku nodded his head and let out a groan as he started to get off of the ground slowly. “Well, this day has been even more shitty than I thought it would be and that’s saying something. So, I’m going home. Bakugou, you can kindly fuck off,” he said and made up a portal before he let out a loud gasp, his spine finally snapped back together the way it was meant to. Izuku fell against the wall with a heavy breath before he looked at Todoroki. “Shouto, will you help me get to my apartment?”

Todoroki gave Bakugou a pitying look and helped Izuku up. 

“What the fuck? I’m your fucking boyfriend!” Katsuki shouted and Izuku gave him an angry glare.

“No. You dumped me and accused me of being a villain without ever hearing me out. You can fuck off and stay out of my life,” Izuku snapped, shoving Katsuki away from him. 

Todoroki just sighed and helped Izuku through the portal and looked around confused. “This isn’t your apartment.”

“I moved so no one would find me,” he said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t want to worry about the League finding me after I left so I moved where they wouldn’t find me.”

“Where are we?” Todoroki asked him, looking out the window once he had Izuku sitting on his bed. 

“Busan.”

“As in… Busan, South Korea?” Todoroki asked him, raising an eyebrow. “Why so far?”

“So no one can find me. Heroes don’t know where I am, villains don’t know where I am, and Katsuki doesn’t know where I am,” he said, falling onto his back on the bed as he caught his breath. 

“Why is that a bad thing?” Todoroki asked, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. He looked around the apartment, it was pretty bare, boxes sat everywhere so Midoriya probably had just moved here a day or so ago.

“Because it is. He automatically thought I was a villain, he didn’t even give me a chance to explain myself. I’m not stupid, I know I should have told him everything ahead of time but he would have insisted on going and I didn’t want All for One to use him against me.”

“You were going to die today. You went into that battle knowing that, didn’t you, Midoriya?” Todoroki questioned, giving the greenette a concerned look, or at least as much of a concerned look as Todoroki could muster. 

“Of course I did. I knew that the minute Sensei found out I betrayed him that I was going to die, I just didn’t expect a hero to betray me,” he said, letting out a harsh laugh. Izuku stared up at the ceiling, a small smile on his face. “I was pretty ready for it, too. It’s fucked, but I had made my peace with it. Especially after he killed Tomura,” he said softly, a tear fell down his cheek. 

“He killed Shigaraki?” Todoroki asked, frowning. Sure he had seen Shigaraki’s body but he didn’t realize it was Nighteye who had killed him. Izuku nodded and rubbed at his eyes. 

“He was a horrible person. I know he’s manipulated me, and he treated me like shit. But he was my first friend, Shouto, he was so lost. Tomura turned out the way he did because of All for One and I thought that if I stayed his friend, I could be the one to save him. And I couldn’t. Nighteye killed him and I was too weak to even move to help him,” he whispered, still just staring into nothing. “Our last conversation was a fight.”

“I think he knows you just wanted to be a good friend to him,” Todoroki told him softly and let out a sigh. “Touya killed our father.”

Izuku shot up in bed and stared at friend wide-eyed. “Fuck, Shouto, I’m so sorry! I’m over here bitching about my problems and your dad died!”

Shouto waved him away and shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Stop. I’m not sure how I feel about it, yet. But he can never hurt me, or my mom, or my siblings again and that’s a nice thought. My father wasn’t a good person, Midoriya.”

“I know but that’s still your father, you know? When my dad walked out on us, it hurt even though I knew it was for the best,” he said with a shrug.

“What I’m trying to say, is I wish I had talked to him too,” Todoroki said, looking down at his hands. “I just wish I was brave enough to ask him why. Why was he so abusive towards us? Was he just that desperate to be better than All Might?”

Izuku just shook his head and let out a sigh. He wasn’t entirely for sure what to say, maybe he didn’t even need to say anything at all. 

“You should talk to Bakugou. Make him grovel, but let him apologize. The two of you were good for each other,” he said and stood up. “Now, get well. If you need anything, call me. Also, can you make me a portal back to the school?”

The vigilante nodded his head and opened one up easily for the teenager. “I’ll talk to you later, Todoroki-Kun.”

Shouto grinned and stepped through the portal before it closed after him. Izuku closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed with a huff.  Fuck he was tired. 

Chapter Text

It had been a week since the battle had happened. Unfortunately, everything went back to normal. Construction had started on fixing the downtown area turned battlefield, villains had either been detained and locked away in Tartarus or were back in hiding biding their time. Katsuki was sick to his stomach with it. It seemed as if the battle had just never even happened with the way everyone seemed to move on. Endeavor and Nighteye were the two biggest casualties of the battle and both of them had been given the biggest funerals possible. Their lives were celebrated by millions, their deaths, on the other hand, had been celebrated by a select few.

Shouto had gone out with his siblings and his mother for a small celebration, the Todoroki’s welcomed Dabi, or well Touya back home and accepted Hawks into their family with open arms. Everything was slowly going back to normal, graduation was just around the corner but Katsuki couldn’t find himself to care. He still hadn’t had the chance to talk to Deku, to apologize, and beg for the vigilante’s forgiveness. 

“You’re going to be late to your meeting, Bakugou,” Mr. Aizawa said, annoyance clear in his voice. The final bell for the day had rung and everyone had cleared out save for the blond student and his teacher. 

“Have you heard from De-Izuku?” He asked, stuttering over his words.

“He made sure to let me know we would speak soon but otherwise no. Not a peep,” he said and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Three years of hero classes completely wasted on you, huh?”

Katsuki didn’t look at his teacher as he shrugged his shoulders. After the funeral for Nighteye, he had already made his decision.

“Mirio will be crushed,” he pushed, giving his biggest problem student a tired look. 

“He’ll get over it,” Katsuki said and stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “And don’t worry, Teach, I’ll still use those skills, just not the way any of us expected,” he said, pulling a grim smile on his face. Aizawa simply shook his head and muttered about problem children as he watched the student leave the classroom. Soon Katsuki found himself standing outside of the doors of Sir Nighteye’s former agency, now currently run by Lemillion himself. The student steeled his nerves before he pushed the doors open and headed towards Mirio’s agency.

He made it up the stairs quickly and knocked on Mirio’s door once. “Come in!”

Katsuki stepped inside and immediately scowled at the bright smile on the other blonde’s face. “Have you made your decision?” He asked, grinning at the teenager, excited. The day after the battle, Mirio had come to Katsuki with the request that Katsuki joined his agency upon graduation. He had said that it simply felt right to have someone who also wanted to see a change happen within hero society be a part of his agency and help him make things right. 

“I’ve really been thinking about it,” he said honestly, his red eyes bore into Mirio’s bright baby blues. “It’s not for me. I can’t-I can’t fucking stop thinking about it. Everything just went back to normal, the heroes didn’t even fucking question why the villains had attacked, didn’t wonder why the villains wanted to get rid of the commission. They need a fucking wake up call.”

“And you and Shadow-Kun are the ones who’ll do that?” Mirio asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked Katsuki up and down as he gave a sharp nod. “How is he?”

“Dunno. He isn’t fucking talking to anyone. Icy Hot said Shigaraki’s death really fucked him up. I’m gonna talk to him soon. But he was right, things need to change. Heroes need to be better.”

Mirio gave Katsuki a tired smile and nodded his head. “You’re right, Bakugou-Kun, they do. Tell you what, you and Shadow-Kun do what you can on your side, and I’ll make sure I do the same on my side. We can have a better world, we just need a push. And if you see him, please tell him I’m sorry for his loss, and I’m sorry for what Sir did, that wasn’t part of the plan, Eraserhead and I didn’t realize what he was doing until it was too late.”

Katsuki gave him a forced smile of his own. “I’ll make sure he knows,” he said stiffly before he left Mirio’s office and headed back to Alliance Heights. Now he just needed to figure out how to get a hold of Deku so he could give him the long list of apologies. He pulled out his phone and first checked what his exact location was before he sent the vigilante a quick text, silently pleading for the nerd to text him back. 

Kat: Look, I know you’re pissed but, I really need to talk to you. My coordinates are xxxx if you would just let me come talk to you.

Katsuki stood on the sidewalk for a good ten minutes before he just sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket and started walking again, only for a warp gate to open right in front of him. The blond eyed the portal nervously, on one hand, maybe Deku would hear him out, on the other hand, stepping through the warp gate could end with Katsuki stepping off of the side of a cliff or into a volcano and dying. He wasn’t too sure which was the better option.

“Don’t just stand there,” Deku said, popping his head through the warp gate. He glared angrily at the blond. “You have ten minutes to talk and that’s it.”

The blond just let out a sigh and nodded his head. He stepped through the gate carefully and once fully through looked around cautiously. It was a different apartment, so Deku really had moved away. 

“Where--”

“Busan, South Korea. Didn’t want to get found in case any other hero wanted to kill me,” he interrupted. Katsuki looked the vigilante over slowly. The greenette’s hair was tucked under a black beanie, a large hoodie covered his scarred body and Katsuki gave it a double-take. 

“Is that mine? ! Deku that was in my closet this morning what the hell?” He demanded, giving him a surprised look. 

“I fucking missed you,” he grumbled, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. 

“I’ve missed you too,” Katsuki told him, taking a step closer. Izuku glared at him, daggers stabbed into Katsuki’s chest as if Izuku was imagining killing the blond where he stood. 

“Don’t even. You assumed the worst in me without even letting me tell you what was happening,” Izuku said, still giving Katsuki a less than impressed look. 

His shoulders slumped. “I know. I shouldn’t have, I should have known better than just assume that you were doing that. It was stupid of me and I will never stop trying to get you to forgive me. You were right, Deks, you’ve always been right. The heroes don’t care about anything other than fame and defeating villains. They don’t care about the victims or why villains are the way they are. They just care about getting a paycheck and being loved by everyone. They aren’t real heroes. But, we can change that, Izuku, we can fix it together,” he said softly, stepping closer until his hands were cupping Izuku’s face. Izuku stared up at him, his mouth still wrung up in a frown. 

“So you think I should just forgive you, just like that?” He asked, still not convinced. “Who’s to say you’re not going to just get pissed the next time I do something to make it harder on heroes? I’ve got my shit figured out, Katsuki. I have a plan and you might not like it.”

“Fuck being a hero. My ass is gonna be a fucking vigilante with my fucking boyfriend,” he said and pushed a thumb into the small divot where Deku’s dimple typically poked through. He pushed it up into a small smile as he stared at the green-eyed boy in front of him. “Deku, I’m so fucking sorry. I’ll never not be sorry, I’ll get on my goddamn knees if it means you’ll fucking forgive me. Just let me stay by your side.”

“I get to pick your vigilante name,” Deku told him seriously. “It’s going to be just as fucking stupid as Shadow and you’ll have to embrace it. And you have to be a partner in this Kacchan, you can’t just boss me around when you don’t like what I want to do or bitch at me. We can talk about it, like a team.”

“And we’ll be more than just a team?” Katsuki asked him, searching those green eyes. 

“Of course. But I’m going to kick your fucking ass before I take you back,” Izuku told him, his eyes glinting with mischief. 

Katsuki grinned. “You’re fucking on,” he muttered. 

Izuku gave him an amused smile and patted his chest softly. “I’ll kick your ass later. I need to get ready for Shiggy’s funeral,” he said softly, his scarred hand pushed Katsuki back softly. 

His smile fell. “Fuck, Deks, I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. “It isn’t your fault, it’s Nighteye’s. He made the decision to betray me and kill my best friend. I’m only bitter that I couldn’t be the one to get revenge.”

“The All Might wannabe told me he was sorry about it. He also said that he would be more than willing to work with a certain vigilante duo in the future,” he said, stepping away from his boyfriend. Izuku snorted and shook his head before he headed to his bedroom and changed into his vigilante gear. He glanced at the blond before he threw him a mask and matching outfit. 

“Come on asshole, we need to get ready,” he said softly. 

…

“Izu!” Toga screamed before she launched herself into Izuku’s arms and hugged him tight, a knife buried deep into his side. “I can’t believe you just disappeared! Are you back now?”

Katsuki stiffened at the sight of the hilt of the knife sticking out of Izuku’s side. Izuku on the other hand didn’t even flinch.

“No. I told Shiggy I was done after the battle, that still stands,” he said and gave Dabi and Hawks a solemn nod. “But we will work together every so often, don’t worry Himiko. Besides, I think those two idiots will run the league just fine.”

She scowled but pulled away from the vigilante and let out a sigh. “Fine,” she muttered and crossed her arms. Izuku just gave her an easy-going smile before he grabbed the knife and pulled it out. 

“I’m keeping this,” he told her and slid it into his boot before he started towards the table where Shigaraki laid. 

“We were just waiting on you,” Dabi said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You have anything you want to say?”

Izuku looked at his best friend, someone had covered the gunshot wound with a hello kitty band-aid-- he suspected Jin or Himiko-- and had cleaned and dressed him up as well as they could. They also made sure his signature scowl was still on his face. “Did someone put chapstick on him?” he asked with a soft chuckle. 

“He never let me when he was alive!” Himiko whined, stomping her foot with a pout. Izuku just chuckled and shook his head. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you when you needed it Tomura. And I’m sorry for how things were left between us when you died, but I’m going to change things. Things are going to be better, Kat and I will make sure of it,” he said softly, smiling down at his best friend. Katsuki reached forward and took his hand. Izuku let himself become enveloped in the blond’s arms and leaned against his chest. Each villain went around and said their own soft words to their former leader. Finally, Dabi held one finger up, a blue flame from his cremation quirk danced on his fingertip. He shot the flame on the table and the group watched as Shigaraki’s body was enveloped in the flames. 

“So, what are your plans now?”  Keigo asked as the group watched the flames dance.

Izuku let out a hum. “Kat and I are going to work it out between the two of us but, we’re going to throw the hero commission on its head. Hero society won’t know what’s hit them,” he said softly. 

“We’ll make sure that what happened to you and Dabi and Shigaraki will never happen again,” Katsuki said, as the cremation fire died out and nothing but the bricked table and a pile of ashes remained. 

“We’ll be there in every possible way to make sure it never happens again,” Izuku promised. 

…

“Congratulations,” Izuku said softly once Katsuki had left the stage and found the spot where his parents, Inko, Izuku’s stepfather and Izuku had been waiting to congratulate him. 

He gave his boyfriend an easy-going smile and wrapped his arm around the scarred boy’s shoulders. “Whatever. We gotta head to your graduation now, right?” He asked and pressed his lips to Izuku’s. The greenette crinkled his nose. 

“Nah, I’m ditching. Not my style,” he informed him. “Did Eraserhead take it well?”

“That I’m going to college to practice fucking law?” He asked with a snort. “Hell fucking no.”

“Language brat!” Mitsuki shouted, smacking her son’s arm. He glared at the blond woman. 

“Really?” He demanded. “Can it you Old Hag, let’s just go get some fucking dinner and celebrate.”

His parents just gave him twin annoyed looks before they looked at Izuku’s parents and started out of the auditorium. Things started to really simmer down, Izuku had a pretty decent relationship with his mother and strained one with his stepfather but it was working. The Bakugous had been overjoyed to find out that their son was dating Izuku. Not only that but both sets of parents had been rather surprised to find out that their sons had decided to go off to college together. Katsuki had officially moved in with Izuku, thankfully in his old apartment in Tokyo rather than the secret apartment in South Korea. Although, Izuku had managed to keep that one for whenever the vigilantes needed to lay low or when Katsuki was annoying Izuku too much. The two had made their plan and had absolutely perfected it. They would continue on with their education until eventually, they got their law degrees. Once that happened, the two would be working towards opening their own firm. Bakugou-Midoriya law firm would be the ever-present pain in heroes' side, constantly fighting for prison reform for villains, they would also make sure to do everything that they could to ensure that heroes were held accountable for every single action that they took. By night, the well-known vigilante duo Shadow and much to Katsuki’s chagrin, Dynamite, would save people, fight villains, fight heroes when necessary, and do what they could to keep their home safe from everyone. 

Katsuki honest to god could not wait to see what the future had in store for the two of them, and he was more than happy to know that Izuku would be by his side the entire time.

The couple would change the world, everyone would just have to wait and see. 

Chapter Text

Shadow squatted on the corner of the high rise building, his eyes on the people below. There was another protest going on in Tokyo demanding for prison reform. It seemed that the annoying lawyers, the Midoriyas had announced to the public their findings on how villains were treated within Tartarus and other villain prisons in the country. Of course, some of these villains had families who still cared about them and were not happy to find out that their family members were forced into tiny cells where they were malnourished and held in chains for 24 hours a day. It had started after the arrest of Toga Himiko who had demanded to have the Midoriyas represent her only to be told she would not be getting a trial. Of course, as soon as the vigilantes found out, they made sure to let the world know about what had happened to the young woman. When they had made such a loud racket about the problem, members of Toga’s family stepped forward, begging for help for the girl, stating that she was only the way she was because of her life growing up. When the media caught wind, it had spun so far out of control that the Hero Commission could barely keep the problem under control. 

“It’s weird, I don’t see a single hero in sight,” Dynamite said in Shadow’s ear. The vigilante’s eyes flicked over to the position that he knew his husband had been holding for the last hour. 

“Haven’t seen a single cop either,” Shadow hummed. Most of their time as vigilantes had become just them protecting the people from both villains and heroes alike these days. It seemed that most heroes did not entirely enjoy having the people pressure them to be held accountable, more accidents seemed to happen every day, more villain deaths. 

It just made it more fun for when Izuku and Katsuki took them to court. The notorious lawyers were held in high regard, best known for being the champions for villains, their biggest demand? Rehabilitation programs for villains. What was the point in shoving a villain into a tiny cell for a few years or the rest of their lives? All it would do is cause that hatred to fester even more inside of them until they were either released, ultimately broke out of their cells, or killed themselves. If villains were given the chance of rehabilitation, they would have the opportunity to work out what happened to cause them to become a villain and maybe if they did well in the program, they would get the chance to be a part of society again. It had been an uphill battle but seeing the people out protesting for this to happen showed that it wasn’t just the couple that believed in this fight but everyone.

Heroes also started to come out in support of prison reformation as well as better checks and balances on heroes. Katsuki was pleasantly surprised to find out that his former class had all taken a stand behind the law team, pushing for the riddance of hero rankings and popularity contests within the hero society. They all refused to take place in hero galas and promotional shoots, instead, Katsuki’s former classmates focused on working with the lawyers to ensure that the villains that they captured were given the help that they needed while making sure all victims also had the proper care that they needed. 

“Have you read over Keigo’s deposition?” Shadow asked, his eyes finally caught onto a hero standing back from the protestors, trying her best to keep them calm. A smile spread under Izuku’s mask as he recognized the costume as none other than Uravity’s. 

“I did. I think we have a good case against the hero commission. I think people will lose their fucking shit when they learn about the government raising child soldiers,” Katsuki said and rolled his shoulders before he let off a loud explosion and landed on top of the building with Izuku. “Round Face will make sure no one hurts them, I’ll stay up here.”

Izuku nodded and shifted around until he was sitting, his legs hung from the side of the building. Katsuki gave it a cautious look before he sat beside his husband as they watched the protest from below. “Ever think about when you jumped?” He asked quietly, looking down at how far they were from the ground. Unlike the jump from the school that had just broken most of the bones in Izuku’s body, a jump from this height would have killed someone on impact. 

He let out a soft hum. “Not really. It was something that happened and set the pace for the rest of my life. If I hadn’t jumped, I wouldn’t have the quirks I do, or learned the things that I did. I’m glad I didn’t die, Kacchan,” he said, giving his husband a happy smile. 

The blond vigilante grinned and squeezed his husband’s hand. “I’m glad you didn’t either, dumbass.”

Izuku just smiled at his husband. “I got Dabi to agree to tell us what happened when he was in the program before Endeavor nearly killed him,” he said, his smile turned into a quirk. 

“You’re kidding! He agreed!” He exclaimed and Izuku simply nodded his head. 

“He did. So tomorrow we’re going to get him to come into the office and have him give us an account of his time. We have Keigo telling us that his mother sold him to the commission but now we’re going to have Touya tell us about how his father gave him to the commission in the hopes of being able to have a child who would surpass All Might. Once we get this going there has to be a full investigation, Keigo already told us there were other kids there, we just don’t know who they are. This could get them to come out and tell us what happened to them, too.”

“What do you think this will do to hero schools, though? Wouldn’t you argue that they are also raising child soldiers?” He asked and Izuku let out a hum and looked out at the growing amount of former UA students now working to keep the crowd calm. 

“No. I don’t think so,” he said. “They aren’t five year olds being forced to train to be a perfect hero. They’re teenagers with a dream, I think schools could use some reforming. I mean it was too fucking easy for the League to kidnap you and attack your class as often as they did.”

“It didn’t help that their fucking leader hated me and wanted to kill me,” Katsuki said wryly. Izuku snorted and shook his head. 

“Whatever. We need to go down there and make an appearance,” Izuku said and stood up. He turned to his gear bag and tossed his husband a suit of his own. The two quickly changed out of their vigilante gear under the protection of Izuku’s shadows before they took hands and jumped off of the side of the building and with the help of a warp gate landed on the sidewalk.

“God you can’t tie a fucking tie to save your life,” Katsuki muttered before he fixed his husband’s tie carefully before the two headed towards the crowd. 

“Uravity! What seems to be the problem here?” Izuku asked, that stupid cocky smile on his face. It had been ten years since their final year of high school and Katsuki couldn’t lie, time did his husband great. Almost every scar he had acquired from his teen years were gone thanks to his quirk actually being able to heal him without Izuku getting hurt too fast for the quirk to keep up.  Most of his piercings were gone, unfortunately, but Katsuki knew for a fact that his husband had kept the tongue piercing.  His wild green curls that had once been kept in a mohawk had been tamed down to a much more professional cut and overall, the man was just stunning. He walked with the perfect amount of confidence and a devious look constantly glinted in his eyes as if he knew he always had a trick up his sleeve. And knowing Izuku, he definitely did.

“Oh nothing, Sir! We’re just here to keep the protestors safe!” She said with a sunny smile. Katsuki nodded and looked over the crowd pushing closer and closer to the gate. 

“Well we’re going to keep our happy asses right here in case you fuckers fuck up,” Katsuki muttered, crossing his arms. Uraraka gave her former classmate an exasperated look. 

“Just don’t cause trouble,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“We would never,” Izuku drawled before he started towards the crowd of people to start talking to them about the protest and what they were wanting. 

“How’s the case?” Uraraka asked, glancing over at the blond. He shrugged, shoving his hands in his slacks. 

“Fuckin’ stressful. Deku’s been awake for three days working on all of the evidence to sue the commission. I keep tellin’ him to come to bed but he just keeps reminding me that his quirk will heal him,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

“You’ve both really grown up, you know. He’s definitely not the angsty angry villain and you’ve mellowed out,” she said with a small smile. 

“Tch, it’s been ten years. We’re twenty-eight now, of course, we’re different people,” he said, a small smile on his face while he watched his husband wave his arms around as he spoke passionately about god only knew what. “He’s really figured out who he is now that he doesn’t have a shit ton of people constantly telling him who he should be.”

“And you’re happy? Even if you aren’t a hero?”

Katsuki grinned, his eyes still on the vigilante in front of them. “I’m making more of a difference this way. We’ve changed a lot of fucking lives. So who the hell wants to be a hero anyway?"

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku rolled his shoulders slowly, as he looked his boyfriend over menacingly. It had been about a week since the two had made up and Izuku had promised that he was going to kick his boyfriend’s ass for assuming the worst of him. So here they were. Izuku was dressed in nothing but a plain black t-shirt, a pair of sneakers, and some sweats. Katsuki had on his UA gym clothes as the two stared each other down. They were currently in the middle of one of the training grounds at UA, Mr. Aizawa as well as all of class 3A stood on the sidelines, eyes glued to the couple as they waited for the sparring to start. 

“So we’re really doing this?” Katsuki asked, looking his boyfriend up and down. “No quirks?”

“No quirks baby,” Izuku said smoothly, his lip piercing glinted in the sun ever so slightly. “I don’t need a quirk to kick your ass.”

“Babe!” Katsuki said with a whine, kicking at the dirt below his shoes. “I already apologized, do you really need to kick my ass too?”

“I told you I would, you agreed. If you want us to get back together you better give this fight all you’ve fucking got.” Honestly, Izuku had already forgiven Katsuki, but he had to do this. He was going to enjoy kicking his boyfriend’s ass thoroughly. 

“What do I get if I win?” Katsuki asked, crossing his arms. 

Izuku let out a snort. “Who said you were going to win?” He asked, flexing and unflexing his hands as he stalked towards the blond. 

“I have training, Izuku . I’m a pretty good fighter,” Katsuki snarled and kicked out a leg at his boyfriend.  “I’m going to school to be a fucking hero!” Izuku jumped back with an ease before Katsuki could make contact with his leg. Izuku grinned at the blond when he let out a growl and came in with a right hook that Izuku caught with ease. 

“Come on Kat, you’re so predictable,” Izuku said, giving the boy in front of him a cocky smile. Katsuki glared and twisted his arm in an attempt to flip Deku who let out a laugh and maneuvered himself to jump onto Katsuki’s back, his boyfriend’s hand still in his as he twisted it back, legs wrapped around the blond’s waist. 

He leaned forward and gave the blond a kiss on his cheek. “I’m sorry too, Kacchan,” he said softly. 

“For what?” Katsuki grunted, attempting to wrestle his arm free. Izuku let out a soft giggle before he dug the heel of his foot into Katsuki’s dick as hard as he could and jumped off of the boy’s back. The blond let out a loud groan as he fell to his knees. “That was dirty,” he croaked as Izuku pushed his boyfriend onto his chest with his foot before straddling the blonds back once more.

“For that,” he said cheerfully. “I win. You’re forgiven.”

“Fuck you,” Katsuki muttered, slamming his face into the mat. 

…

Four years later 

Izuku ran his fingers through his curls and frowned. “Are you sure this looks professional? It feels stupid, I miss my old hair cut.”

“Your old haircut was for a stupid ass punk, this haircut screams that you’re a professional lawyer,” Katsuki told him as he fixed his boyfriend’s tie. The night before Izuku had pulled out a pair of clippers and had Katsuki fix his hair for him. The blond had done a pretty good job as the mohawk his boyfriend hated so much was gone. Instead, it had been nicely tapered on the sides and back, his curls sitting nicely on the top, full of some product that the blond swore would make his curls look better. It did do that, the stuff was pure magic if you asked Izuku.

“All we’re doing is going to meet with the real estate agent to sign the papers for our new building.”

Izuku smiled and pulled Katsuki close to him. “I’m glad we’re doing this together. You don’t regret not becoming a hero, do you?” He asked, running unscarred fingers through Katsuki’s hair. The blond smiled and grabbed his hand and held it tight. 

“I swear, we’re going to do something so much more meaningful this way. Besides, if I was a hero, I’d have to actually listen to someone. As Dynamight I don't listen to no one but myself,” he said with a grin. Izuku arched an eyebrow. “Okay, and you,” he said and gave the vigilante a soft kiss. It had been four years since the two of them had made this decision together and every single day Katsuki was more and more sure that he had made the correct decision. He couldn’t imagine himself being anywhere else. Plus, the years had been good to Deku. Now that he was no longer putting himself in unnecessary danger because he didn’t care about his life, the scars had finally faded away. Izuku had decided to remove his piercings and even the scars for those had finally faded out of existence. He looked amazing, and he was feeling amazing. 

A year after he and Katsuki had graduated high school, Katsuki had finally convinced him to start going to therapy. Deku had agreed, with only one caveat; Katsuki also had to see a therapist. Three years later and they had practically paid for their therapist’s new vacation home. But, they were both mentally stable for what seemed like the first time in their lives and Katsuki was beyond proud of them and the progress that they had made. And now they were about to open their very own law firm. It all felt surreal. 

…

One year later 

Izuku smiled as he wrapped his arm around Katsuki's as the two walked down the sidewalk together. They had decided that they wanted to take a trip down memory lane and go to their old hangout spot as kids. So, here they were, walking towards the little wooded area that the two had once played at every single day. Midoriya knew that something more was going to happen. He had been having a feeling that Katsuki was going to ask him to marry him soon and this felt exactly like the place he would do that. Izuku had already decided that he was going to give the blond a hard time. Different situations had played through his mind as they walked in comfortable silence together. Maybe he’d push Katsuki in the creek. Maybe he would just look at the blond with a straight face and tell him no. 

He didn’t know yet but he knew that he couldn’t just say yes. That isn’t who he is, he is the kind of man to give his boyfriend as much grief as possible. 

“Dinner was nice,” Izuku said with a hum as he looked around. Katsuki grinned. 

“It was, especially when they gave you my curry instead of yours and you nearly burned your tongue off,” he said with a cackle. Izuku glowered. 

“You’ve burned your tastebuds off, that was too spicy even for me and usually I can keep up with your bullshit,” he muttered, pinching Katsuki in the side. Katsuki just slapped his hand away as he laughed. 

“Whatever, you’re just getting weak you fucking nerd,” Katsuki told him as they bumped shoulders. 

“Kacchan,” Izuku said softly as they stopped at the lake. “You know I love you, right? I know I don’t say it very much but-”

“Deks, stop,” Katsuki said, quirking up a small smile. “I know you know what we’re doing here.”

“Possibly,” the greenette mused. 

Katsuki pulled a small box out of his pocket and held it out to his boyfriend. “So, what do you say?”

Izuku grinned, all plans to fuck with Katsuki gone with the wind as he looked at the nervous smile on his boyfriend’s face. “Yes, Kacchan. I’d love to marry you.”

“Good, because I’ve been wanting to trap your ass for a while now,” Katsuki told him and slipped the ring onto his fiance’s finger. Izuku pulled him down and gave him a soft kiss.

…

Three years later. 

“I want kids,” Izuku said abruptly through the comms. Katsuki’s explosions stuttered out mid-air. 

“What!?” He shouted, falling to the ground before he let out a loud explosion and blew himself back in the air as he went after the asshole villain who was causing trouble. “Where the fuck did this come from?”

“I dunno. I was talking to Eiji and Mina the other day. Did you know that she’s pregnant?” He asked as he threw himself through the air and grabbed the villain with his particles. 

“Yeah, I fuckin’ know. But why do you want kids?”

“I don’t know! Kacchan! I just want to be a better dad than the shitty ones I had growing up, okay? My birth dad walked out, my step dad is fine I guess now that he has his head out of his ass but he sucked when I was a kid. And the guy that became a father figure to me tried to fucking kill me and oh wait- he’s dead!”

“Okay, okay,” Katsuki said as he landed on a rooftop. “Just drop the villain off at the police station and we can talk about it. We can go to an adoption agency tomorrow.”

“Kat, if you don’t want this, I understand.”

The blond quirked up a small smile. “No, I think we’d be pretty badass dads.”

… 

Five years later. 

“Dad! Mei won’t get out of the bathroom!” Kei shouted loudly from down the hall. 

“Adopt teenagers, Katsuki said. No one wants teenagers because they cause problems,” Izuku muttered darkly as he trudged down the hall. “Yeah, because they’re the biggest pain in the ass.”

“Dad, tell her I need to go in there and shower!” The brunette said angrily, eyes bright with anger. The twins, Mei and Kei were sixteen and Izuku loved them with all his heart. But he did not remember being this much of an asshole when he was sixteen. 

“What is she doing in there?” He asked, quirking up a small smile. He couldn’t be annoyed with them, though. He was just happy to know his kids were so comfortable in their home that they didn’t mind having petty arguments. It had taken a while when the girls first came home at eleven years old. They were beyond nervous and had no idea what to expect from their adopted parents. Their birth parents had stated that their quirks were too dangerous and wanted nothing to do with who they had already decided would be villains one day. The twins were powerful psychics. They had the ability to communicate telepathically with one another. But more than that, Kei could read anyone’s minds while Mei could manipulate anyone’s thoughts. The two were powerful and were constantly learning just how they could do with these quirks, Kei had been training to see how much she could do with reading minds and Mei was very interested in her thought manipulation.

Izuku could see why anyone would think that they were villainous quirks, how could they not when one of them knew your every thought and the other could change your thoughts with ease?

“I don’t know! She’s blocking me out so I can’t even take a sneak peek!” She complained before knocking harshly on the door once more. 

“Oi! Who the fuck is banging on shit?” Katsuki demanded, coming down the hall, his tie askew. 

“I am! Your stupid daughter won’t let me into the bathroom!” Kei shouted.

“Just go use ours,” Katsuki told her. 

“No. My stuff is in there!” She exclaimed just as Izuku chastised her for calling her sister stupid. 

Izuku sighed and knocked on the door. “Mei, if you don’t hurry up in the bathroom you’re not going to do vigilante stuff with me,” he said before heading to his room to grab his gear to change into. Dynamite and Shadow were still kicking with their new sidekicks Smoke and Flame but were doing their vigilantism much less than they had at the beginning.

The last eight years especially things had really started to calm down. The hero commission had been completely revamped, there were actual preventive programs in place to stop people from even becoming villains. Not only that but now there were more reform programs and less prisons. Tartarus had been shut down not even two years ago from not having a big enough capacity to keep it open. With the work of villain justice reform things had truly started to change.

Sure there were still villains, there would always be crime. But instead of throwing them into prison after being caught by heroes, they were given the choice to go into therapy and work through what was really going on. Poverty levels were at an all time low, employment was higher than ever and things were going very well. Heroes no longer competed with one another in rankings and overall, life was going well. And not to toot their own horn, but a lot of this came due to the work that Izuku and Katsuki had put in. Not just as Dynamight and Shadow, but also as lawyers who fought for reformation. 

At times, Izuku wondered what Tomura would think if he were still here. Would he be happy to know that kids with villainous quirks were being given a chance unlike what he had? Would he be happy to know that the hero society he hated with a passion was no more? That things were different? Or would he still be full of anger, ready to destroy it all? 

Izuku didn’t know, but he always privately hoped that Tomura would be proud of him. 

“Ugh, I was trying to fix my hair!” Mei shouted, stomping out of the bathroom. “But whatever, let me get dressed and we can go spy on people.”

“Finally!” Kei shouted before slamming the bathroom door behind her. Katsuki laughed and wrapped an arm around Izuku’s shoulders. 

“Man, this shit is fun,” he muttered, kissing Izuku’s temple. Deku smiled. 

“Yeah, I think so too. How did court go?” he asked, looking up at the man.

“Went well, it was just this twenty something year old kid who was bullied pretty bad in school and now he had a vendetta to destroy the people who picked on him,” he said with a shrug. “Told the judge that we could get him into some therapy and maybe anger management and judge said if he did it successful they’d dismiss the case.”

Izuku smiled. They were really making a difference, and they didn’t even have to be heroes to do it.