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The world didn’t so much as spare a passing glance as he took his last breath. People continued on their way to work, school, the store, down in the streets around the old apartment building. Heroes fought villains, arrests were made, drug busts had, robberies stopped just in time. Life went on.
Izuku’s last few hours move by slowly, with a plan in mind and an alarm set, he sets to work leaving his footprints. He sends the correct correspondence emails to the correct individuals, his gathered intel to the right investigators, taking a moment to breathe. The teen takes a long shower then, the timer clicking down, it's a long hot shower and he scrubs until he’s raw. Washing years worth of green dye build-up out of his contrast stark white curls. He prays before the shrine. Dresses in his favorite clothes, light and baggy and comfortable but deceivingly warm.
The boy tucks himself into bed silently, seconds slowly running out, the last remaining grains of sand falling to the other side of the hourglass. He stares at the ceiling for a long moment, a long tiring hair length of a moment, and leans over enough to grasp the first of two cups, one containing a concoction of colorful tablets and capsules, the other a small glass of water to wash them down.
Settling back against his pillows, Izuku relaxes, his time is up, he’s done being the punchline of the greatest of all jokes. He’s at peace, closing his eyes, as his body slowly shuts down. He’s left something to remember and is leaving no regrets.
….
Shigaraki Yoichi finds that he was saved from one vault all those years ago only to be imprisoned in another, this one inescapable, freedom wswasn’t his, not even in death. He takes small pleasures though, the fact he’s not alone (swiftly ignoring the following detail that his company is as dead as he is), he can move freely in this void within One For All, watching the living world turn and change through the eyes of whichever current successor is the next sitting duck his older brother will be shooting out of the water at some point in time.
He watches his brother too, tied to him just as much as his soul is tied to the dreadful quirk that started this whole mess, Yoichi smiles softly the night he becomes an Uncle. Little Izuku is the perfect combination of his mother and the two brothers. Untamable curls as white as snow, evergreen colored eyes, and a mischievous rebellious streak as far as the eye can see.
The ghost, First, stands just out of reach as the boy learns to walk. His nephew’s first words are to die for. Pun not intended. Hisashi cares deeply for his son, a kind of love shines through with the likes he’s never seen in his megalomaniac big brother before, Izuku has him wrapped securely around his sneaky little finger.
It doesn’t take long for All Might to find All For One, crashing into the scene like a freight train through the tranquil countryside, Yoichi witnesses the remorse and regret in the older man’s eyes when the realization comes forth that the little cotton puff isn’t safe with papa around. Inko, bless her soul, is as understanding as one can be when they divulge that they knew their husband and the father of their only child is a Supervillain of the likes never before seen and never to be seen again.
Hisashi tucks his young son into bed just a week shy of his fourth birthday, whispering down to him his love and the promise to come home safe again from this sudden unexpected business trip that’s taking him overseas. Izuku is none the wiser, believing the lie unquestioningly, why should he be concerned with papa lying to him when he’s never done so before, and orders him in the way only a three year old can to call as soon as he reaches his destination.
The only problem with that, a promise his idiot brother agrees to, is that the man’s not going overseas.
Yoichi watches his successor hunt his brother down like some sort of Trophy to add to his collection, Eighth is mortally wounded, Hisashi is mortally wounded, the others in the Void celebrate while he turns his attention back to the little boy waiting day after day for a phone call to come that never will.
It’s with a heavy heart that he beholds his outgoing and bold nephew face the world as a child with one parent to his name. As rumors arise that Inko’s husband got the right idea, only hours after they return from that dastardly doctor’s visit, and left while he still could and soon she’d wise up and do the same. Izuku’s quirkless. If one were to know that his father was the one with the ability to take and give quirks as he pleased they might proclaim how ludicrous it was that the offspring of someone with such a powerful quirk could be so….Useless and underevolved.
Hisashi had an extremely powerful and versatile quirk, yes, but it wasn’t unheard of for the child of a First Gen to be born without a Meta Ability. The Gene wasn’t as potent in the First Gen as it was in this new day and age.
Everyone turns on the boy following that day. He’s never been a fan of that Bakugo kid but Yoichi finds that if he had the ability to haunt people outside of his freaky fucking quirk it’d be that brat. Inko, bless her heart, still loves her boy so very much. Their landlord jacks the rent price up unjustly, knowing that they had neither the funds nor the Voice to bring the blatant Discrimination up in a legal proceeding. Knowing that the woman is barely making ends meet as it is, poor Inko is forced into unhealthy working standards to ensure her son has a roof over his head, Izuku cuts himself for the first time when he’s seven and Yoichi is right there with him. Hovering and frantic, heartbroken and tearful, trying to tell him to add pressure to the gushing wound, how to add it, where, how much pressure to assert. Promising that he’s not alone, Uncle Yo is right there, been here the whole time and– “I’d hug you so freaking tight and never let go ever again if I could!”
….
“No…No, no, no!” First’s startled yell breaks through the silence of the Void so abruptly that the others jump, instinctively expecting there to be an attacker of some kind, the white haired man pays them no mind as he jumps from his Throne in a panic. “Zuzu, what’d you do !”
“Uh….” Nana voices for the rest. “First?”
Shaking his head, the man peers around, green eyes surveying for something unseen. “Not now, Seventh, not now.” Yoichi had simply been checking in on his nephew, incredibly concerned at the lack of response from the boy who’d once talked his ear off upon finding out they were together, when that discovery had been made the youth had been happier then he’s seen him in years. “He’s surely going to come here, I’m positive, he has both strands of Hisashi’s quirk and mine. Surely he’s coming here.”
Third raises an eyebrow. “Who’s supposed to be coming here?”
“My nephew.”
“But–” Nana’s eyes widen at the realization, her voiced thought barely even just begun, Banjo looks between them both in confusion when she curls a hand over her mouth in shock and horror. “ Yoichi ?”
To enter the void, one must first be dead , and for his nephew to enter –The white haired man nods solemnly. “I know.”
…..
Tomura knew he had a baby brother, he’d lived with the kid for a short time before Sensei woke him in the dead of night announcing in hushed tones that it was time for them to depart, he’d been granted a final wish that night allowing him to say goodbye to the little cotton ball while he slept unaware that his family was about to be cut by half with one foul hit.
He’d never admit it aloud, but he’d cried as Kurogiri warped them away from his new home, away from Inko and Zuzu. Sensei, Hisashi had wiped away his tears gently, telling him that he knew just how hard it was but they had to move on together. Zuzu would never be safe with them there with him. Not anymore.
Just because things changed beyond that point doesn’t mean Tomura stopped being an older sibling at heart, his mind constantly taking him back to the adorable little scamp with his powdery curls and trickster green eyes, Zuzu was in his thoughts even as he trained his quirk with Sensei. Zuzu was on his mind as he recruited new players for his Line Up.
“You know, it’s far easier to get in through the staff entrance.” The voice that had interrupted his musings the morning that the USJ attack was to happen, so unfamiliar in all the wrong ways because he knew that voice like he knows the entire Track List on his Wii’s Mario Kart game, whirling around to meet emotionless poisonous green eyes. The boy had emerald curls, not white, but he knew who was before him. “Whether it’s poor planning or simple cockiness, I don’t know, but there’s limited cameras through the staff entrance and they’re outdated. No motion sensors. Stationary.” Izuku doesn’t give anything away but Tomura knows he’s been recognized. “Have a good day, Mr. Stranger.”
They sort of started getting back into communication after that, Tomura will admit he was a tad excessive in getting into contact again, but Zu’s eyes…..He was concerned . It took longer than he would have liked, so about a day and some change, to find the kid’s Discord and just a bit longer to get a response to his first message.
It became like clockwork, they had a schedule, Minecraft was their secret place to convene and be together again. They’d get in at the same time, three o’clock, every day, without fail. Until Zuzu just didn’t show up. The older brother sent out a message at ten after the hour. Annoyed but understanding, it was a school day after all–Kurogiri informed him that Zu hadn’t gone to school that day. He wasn’t marked as excused. His not being there was not planned. Tomura threw caution to the wind and tried to call him, his anxiety growing by the moment every second the line continued to ring, it went to voicemail.
By the time the clock read twenty-five after he was near panicstricken.
His eyes. Zu’s eyes .
“Giri! Giri, I need to get somewhere!” The Leader of the League Of Villains calls as he throws his bedroom door open, mind whirling to all the possibilities that could be unfolding at this very moment, ignoring Dabi’s sarcastic quip at his near panic and Toga’s usual chatter. “His eyes–Kurogiri you should’ve seen his eyes–I think something’s wrong!”
“Tomura, are you sure you simply didn’t misread his expression?” The Warper intones baritone and deep from behind the bar. But the notes of concern are evident. “You know Master forbade us from–”
Shigaraki slams his hands down on the bar top in a sudden call for attention. “I think he’s going to kill himself!” The silence that follows his loud outburst is deafening. “I need you to get me to him!”
….
Midoriya Izuku is found just moments before his heart, unsteady and thready and concerningly slow, stops beating for good.
He’s not aware enough, not aware at all , of the warp gate that comes to life in the middle of the living room. The swirling vortex opens a door for two individuals to burst through. No one’s there to see the two villains enter the apartment through the swirling darkness, the Leader of the League and his Second in Command searching frantically through the empty rooms, doors slamming open and messes being made through the clutter.
Dabi throws the final door open, to the room at the very end of the hall, the light from the otherside casts a glow on the figure before him that brings him to a sharp sudden pause . “Hey….. Hey ! He’s here!” The fire user snaps out of his reverie harshly, breath catching in his throat as he rushes forward, thick boots stomping loudly. “Mura, he’s in here!” Izuku wasn’t his family by blood, Dabi had his own siblings once upon a time when he’d gone by a far different name, but the brat was his kid brother in all other ways. “Hey, hey, Zu, hey.” Falling on the side of the white haired youth’s bed, he reaches out to smack his cheek lightly with a scarred hand, feeling for a pulse with the other. “You gotta wake up, kid, I know things seem impossible right the fuck now, but it’ll get better. I promise it will .”
….
Nedzu prided himself in not blatantly picking favorites among his students, but it was clear to any who had a single braincell that he did, he had a favorite student among the rest. He hadn’t been sure of the boy at the start, knowing his heritage because of the Commission and–as wrong as it was–his Quirklessness, but as one who’s faced unimaginable adversity the stoat had happily allowed him to join the ranks of UA’s general studies classes.
His reservations were disproved from the start.
Midoriya Izuku was a Wonder. It was no surprise that the child had fallen on his radar for far more positive reasons. Their first meeting had been splendid. Sharing a kettle of freshly brewed Lavender tea, to soothe the nerves, he was allowed to pick the boy’s brain and in turn allowed him to pick his own.
This child had no extraordinary power, that they called a Quirk these days, to his name and yet he was quite possibly the most Powerful individual he’s ever held conference with in his office. Truly, there was no plausible reason for it to be so either, Izuku was a scrawny child, thin and pale. He spoke barely above a whisper. Conditioned into blending into his environment for years. But the boy was captivating in a way that could be disastrous if he intended it to be, he was open and unashamed of his views on the society they lived in (and how it was destined to crumble if change was not initiated) reciting just how flawed everyone really was.
Nedzu’s listened to many conversations as that one before, humans denouncing each other while setting themselves on a pedestal, this boy achieved the impossible.
He blindsided him.
“But most of all, Nedzu Sensei, I myself am a flawed individual. Perhaps the worst of them all.”
“And, what pray tell, leads you to such a conclusion?”
“I pretend to be what I am not, sir, I’ve been doing so nearly all my life. I sit here and denounce those who live an Imposters Lifestyle while I’ve been doing just that for as long as I can remember. I pretend, Principal Nedzu, everyday that I am someone whom I am not because if I paused, if I let the act slip for even a moment, I fear the book of my life will close for good.”
Nedzu is not all that intune with human emotions and mannerisms, he’s not human, there’s no possible way for him to truly comprehend such vast things without experiencing first hand something that just isn’t feasibly possible for him. Midoriya Izuku was as human as they come, but unlike most all others, he understood the boy. He could read the lines being written between his spoken words.
He sends a subtle bulletin to the staff Group Chat to keep an eye on the child, don’t be obvious about it, but keep the cub in your sight.
They meet everyday for tea and to converse, talking as though they’d been friends for years, and in some manner of speaking they are some form of kin. Trauma knows trauma. They are kin through pain and hellfire.
One sure thing about little Izuku is that he’s responsible, in ways most his age aren’t, he loves to learn new things and expand the knowledge of things he already knows, therefore he never misses a day of school without pre-warning.
Nedzu is quick to send the order that if the boy is unexcused to alert him immediately.
Midoriya Izuku is suicidal. There’s no reason to beat around the bush. His young friend wants to die and he intends to make this happen soon, much sooner than later, the stoat knows that the only hope they have of saving this young life of Wonder and Wisdom with the likes the world hasn’t seen in ages before it’s snuffed out by it’s own hand is immediate intervention when the boy’s day to day habits are broken .
It’s a fateful day that he receives two separate emails.
One containing horrifying skeletons that’s been hidden in the Hero Public Safety Commissions closets for far too long.
The other, the one he makes the mistake of opening second, is from Hound Dog informing him that Midoriya Izuku hasn’t been seen in any of his classes nor on the security cameras for the day and all of the calls they’re sending to his home contact are going straight to voicemail.
With a heavy heart, paws shaking, Nedzu saves the attachments from the first email he’d received and sends out an emergency signal to his most trusted.
The day he knew was coming yet still feared like a child feared the dark had finally arrived. He only hopes they can get to the boy in time before his last breath is taken and he leaves them all behind.
….
Things in the agency have been different since that day.
Before that day, Hawks was known to get along famously with his staff, from the highest of his Sidekicks to the rarely seen nearly mythical Janitor who was really a single teen mom barely out of highschool who worked the Graveyard shift so she could get through her college courses he insisted he pay the tuition for and sometimes brought her baby girl to work when she couldn’t find someone to watch over her and he’d carry around in the chest wrap carrier she’d bring with her after insisting that a lil hatchling as adorable as little Miko shouldn’t be sniffin’ all those chemicals (and her and mama should definitely catch a few winks after the pre-scheduled witching hour meal time lil Miko demanded).
After that day, he was a leper among those who’s paychecks required his signature to validate into authenticity.
His head of Support turned in his resignation only a few days ago, lips pursed and clearly trying his damn near hardest to remember the mantra “nothing nice to say, don’t say nothing at all”, and the rest of his team followed shortly after.
Hawks couldn’t blame them, he said nothing, head bowed and accepting the consequences of the actions he had no ability to disobey, promising to put in a good word for them elsewhere to ensure they got rehired quick within another agency. He doesn’t blame them for leaving, not after what he did, not after the duckling . It had been Ogasawara who’d asked him to put in an internship for Midoriya Izuku for him. Support staff couldn’t personally do so, but their hero could in their stead.
That duckling was the piece they were missing that they hadn’t even known they were missing.
But then he started getting too close to secrets the HPSC didn’t want exposed, he was proving Quirkless didn’t mean Worthless, and Hawks was given a new mission.
….
Hawks hums with a note of irritation when his work phone dings in the early evening silence. The day hadn’t been all that busy for him, nothing out of the usual nonstop day he lived on a regular basis, living the mantra that he was too fast for his own good by force didn’t mean he didn’t want to have a singular moment to catch his breath.
He should have known that the silence was too sudden and too good to be true.
Lifting his head from where it’s cushioned on his crossed arms over his desk, the hero reaches for the pinging device, already guessing the insanely paced mission his Handler has for him now.
Thick eyebrows pull together at the messages that are notably not from his Task Master.
Unknown 18:34
i wanna say I lived each day, until I died
I know I had something in, in somebody’s life
I just want them to know
That i gave my all, did my best
Brought someone some happiness
Left this world a little bit better just because
I was here
The winged hero frowns for a pause. Not understanding for a period. Literally no one would have this number who would send something so cryptic and concerningly sounding much too like someone saying goodbye far too soon.
Hawks tilts his head as he tries to place any form of identification no matter how vague to the author of the alarming text messages glaring at him in a painfully obvious way. There was practically a banner with shining lights containing the name of this person and the image was just too fuzzy to read it properly.
Metaphorically speaking of course.
TheDevilsEyes 18:40
Hawks. I believe a secret mutual friend of ours sent these to me in hopes they would lead a bid for freedom? Perhaps we should converse.
Video1
Video2
Zip.file
Someone might need to get a defibrillator in here because he’s pretty damn sure his heart just fucking stopped in his chest. He remembers now, Hawks is rising from his desk chair subconsciously, locking his computer distractedly as he tries to sloppily type with one hand as he snatches his coat up with the other in his bid for the balcony doors.
No.2 → TheDevilsEyes
No.2: when did you get these?
TheDevilsEyes: only moments ago. I too fear in a similar fashion. I’ve sent Eraser and Hound Dog to perform a welfare check. Our young companion has been marked for an unexcused absence today.
No.2: im on my way now.
TheDevilsEyes: i will inform the security bots to allow you entrance and promptly wait your arrival.
…..
He’s barely on the ground when the gate to the school is swinging open, Hawks has little time to react when he’s practically ambushed on his way in, Nedzu transfers from Midnights shoulder to his before he can blink. “We must detour and make haste, my friend, he’s in critical condition.”
“What?” The winged man looks between the two educators for answers. “Who’s–”
“He’s been admitted!” Kayama nearly bursts. “He tried to overdose and nearly succeeded! Aizawa and Ryo are waiting with more information–go Takami! Go!”
He only nods, mind reeling at the sudden revelation, not fully having a moment to truly process the knowledge that his duckling (whether the kid knew it or not) had tried to commit suicide. Curling his arms around the Stoat nestled against his chest, to keep the Principle from falling, the avian lets his wings carry him with a mind of their own and the singular destination in mind to get to their ailing duckling’s side.
…..
“I’m sorry, Uncle Yo.” The white haired boy whispers brokenly into the chest of his ghostly Uncle. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright, moonstone, it’s okay.” Yoichi whispers softly just before the boy’s left ear, curled around his nephew firmly, having retreated back to his Throne with the precious little bundle to the gentle concerned silence of the other Six around them. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” He curls his hand around the back of his nephew’s soft head, wishing on all the brightest stars that he was still alive, that he could be waiting on the other side urging his little one to wake up and greet him back with an embrace similar to the one they share now. “You’re just going to rest here with Uncle Yo and the others for a while.”
….
Kurogiri turned for the back room of the Bar that was otherwise off limits the moment he saw the two off with their youngest to the hospital. He’s been a steady Nomu since he was created, never faltering and his hand never wavering, he paused a moment, a noticeable moment, when Dabi and Tomura had rushed through his warpgate with young Master Zuzu in the aquamarine haired man’s arms.
His warp gates are sensitive to vibrations. The soft sputtering stutter of the boy’s dangerously concerningly slow heartbeat had made the bartender falter in a pause of shock.
Seeing them off, he drops his glass heavily on the wooden polished surface of the bar, and he spins around. Forgoing any reservation, throwing all caution to the wind, Master must know of the situation unfolding, the Creation knocks harsh and frantic on the door. “Master, there’s a situation, it concerns young Izu!”
“Enter, Kurogiri, is my little Izuku alright?”
…..
Hisashi feels many things in such a short span of time it’s almost constituted as a meltdown. Almost but not quite. Anger, fear, desperation, sadness, sorrow, protectiveness, concern. To name a few more common emotions he feels. His son, his pride and joy, his quartz crystal, moonstone, the one tie he has to his departed dearest younger brother tried to join his Uncle prematurely in the worst manner possible.
He wonders if the boy had tried to reach out for help only to be ignored.
Tomura had mentioned his fears for just this thing more than once and he’d so foolishly waved them off as typical teenage moodiness. Little Izuku couldn’t possibly….
Had Inko known? Surely his beloved wife would have noticed their son’s sudden concerning change in mannerism.
The abnormally tall man bows his head for a moment's time. “Yoichi, dear brother, I have no right to ask you for anything, but I beseech you to watch over our boy.” All For One gets no call back from his deceased brother. “If not for myself, then for the love I know you hold for your dear nephew.”
“I have him.” Hisashi’s eyes fly open at the echo. “I won’t give him back until he’s with someone who will properly care for him.”
…..
Stepping into the hospital room, after stepping past the shell shocked terror presented by the hospital staff just outside the boy’s door, Hawks is thrown completely off guard. Nedzu needs no time to recover as he has absolutely nothing to come back from.
Seeing a mix of heroes and villains, a single Supervillain off to the right hand side of the bed, is something that would be off putting for anyone who bears witness to it. Shigaraki and Dabi are side by side, the decaying quirked man holding the teen’s limp left hand careful but tight, directly across from them, cradling the boy’s right hand is none other than All For One himself.
Hound Dog is discussing matters in hushed tones just over the Supervillains left shoulder with who is assumed to be the treating doctor, All For One adds in clarification softly when it’s needed in regards to the boy in question, for who would know the students medical history better than his father. Eraserhead is seemingly going between gazing at the downed student and keeping watch over the three known villains in their midst.
Funny, how something so disastrously simple could bring the unlikeliest people together.
Then there’s the reason for their all being present as a group, laying in the bed, still as death, is the fledgling. Pale, incredibly pale, shocking white curls that make so much sense knowing now who his dad is, Midoriya Izuku has never looked so small.
It’s hard for Hawks to comprehend that this is the boy who’d once interned under one of his top support engineers, it wasn’t unheard of for other departments within a hero’s agency to request their hero to submit an internship invitation on their behalf but it was rare, one had to be special in ways practically unseen to be noticed, even more, to be wanted by someone who worked primarily backstage to the production. He’s a fair employer, voicing his doubts as nicely as he could while sending in the invitation for the extra sprout, honestly most of them, even those in the department he was requested to intern with, were doubtful of the quirkless child’s capabilities to remain with their pace working with an agency that primarily catered to mutants and a vast majority of them he’d be interacting with on a daily basis had some sort of airborne quirk.
In comes this little spitfire of a fledgling, dark green curls with a mysterious hint of snow white roots hiding under a dye job that’s due for a tune up, putting the doubters among them to shame. Admittedly, Hawks had been among them, thrilled and stupefied at this little bit leaving him in the dust.
Snarking at him , Hawks, the man who’s too fast for his own good, to “try and keep up old man!” a breath of fresh air in the Aerie no one knew they needed until it blew in.
Of course, he was simply the puppet, not the one playing with the strings despite appearances trying to deceive otherwise, and despite how much they all ( especially him) adored having the little scamp around, the Hero Public Safety Commission had to maintain a certain image they worked so hard to build that Quirkless Individuals simply had no footing in the world they (meaning the Superior Species–Quirked People) called home. For, if word got out that someone so under-evolved could stand toe to toe with someone like him and those who worked under him, the best of the best , it would disrupt Society’s Hierarchy as they knew it.
They told him to get rid of the brat, to ensure he wouldn’t think to step out of his designated place even with temptation, Hawks loved this kid dearly but he was a lap dog first and foremost.
It wasn’t enough to simply terminate his internship, no, oh no, that was far too simple, he had to humiliate and dehumanize him in front of everyone .
Hawks wears a mask, carefully perfectly sculpted into who he’s told to be, he’s learned to communicate what’s behind the layers through his eyes . He tried, oh Kami he tried with all his might, to portray everything he felt and the remorse he was drowning under as he publicly tore the kid genius’s soul to shreds and left it resting there in the dirt.
The eyes that stared back at him, someone else who’s learned to express themselves through the windows to the soul, are resigned and–the hero throws that personal “I told you that in confidence” detail back in that young heartbroken face– Empty.
…..
“Hey, yea, no, this isn’t a business call.” Nedzu is surprised, intrigued even, when his desk phone rings moments after the young Wonder disappears behind the closing door to return to somewhere he can finally break down. “Completely off the record even, just a friend to a friend, a fellow experiment to another.”
It wasn’t often that he received a personal call from Hawks through an unknown number that pinged from seven different countries at a time. “To what do I owe the call then?” Forgive him if he’s sharp tongued. “Was publicly dehumanizing my student not enough for you, Hawks, shall I call him in, perhaps order an assembly of the school to be called for everyone who missed your eloquent display on national television to claim their viewing of the spectacle.”
A pause of silence on the other end of the line they share. “It was the lesser of two evils, Nedzu, would you have preferred I refused to do what they ordered and allowed them to dispose of him in the way they dispose of all those who prove their precious Societal Mold is corrupt?” Though he loathes to admit it, the Mammalian does concede to that point, one that reminds him as to why they share such a dark rooted kinship. “At least my way brought him back to you and yours. You know what they would have done to him before disposing of him permanently. You know just as well as I do, Nedzu.”
“I do, despite how much I would love to claim otherwise, I’m well aware of what’s done behind closed doors to those who show them they are wrong.” The Principle feels a heaviness blanket over his office. “Thank you, Takami, I know how truly you detest doing these things to such young minds. We can indeed patch up the damage. At least, attempt to do so to the best of our ability.”
“You noticed too, then?” The hero on the side shifts position. “I’m concerned, Nedzu, I’m very worried. His eyes….I don’t want to sound like I’m overdramatizing, but I worry for his safety….From himself.”
…..
She knew the moment that brat with his poorly dyed curls and all too telling genetic features came onto the scene that there would be nothing but trouble. They’d been tracking the Supervillain known as All For One for centuries, always just a few steps short of catching up with the man of myth, it really played into their hands the day an informant revealed the rumors that he’d procreated and that child was Quirkless.
A plan was set into motion that very day, slowly feeding those around the Geneless whispers of his inferiority, the Hero Public Safety Commission needed Society to work in just the right way to ensure their hold on the playing field. Heroes were a necessary part of life. It wasn’t enough to create the villains to ensure their Image remained as impeccable as ever. They needed to ensure that the up and coming generations knew their roles to play as well.
Midoriya Izuku, All For One’s only begotten child, slowly changed accordingly to the environment he was being raised in by a mother who just couldn’t seem to get a fucking clue.
But his change wasn’t enough. Like his fool of a mother, the brat couldn’t seem to get the memo either, he was depressed–concerningly so–but determined in a way only the offspring of such an infamous Supervillain can be.
The boy managed to get along in life despite his trials and tribulations. Nedzu accepted his application in such a manner it was almost as though he was staring her dead in the eye with that sadistic little smirk on his snout and daring her to play her next move. The Geneless was enrolled into UA’s general studies department.
It was all in their favor though, the day a ping announced Hawks sending in an internship invite behind her back for one of his Engineers for the little roach who just wouldn’t kill himself already, a smile akin to one of those belonging to the Grinch who stole Christmas had spread over her features in that moment.
The Commissioner sits back and lets the puzzle build itself. Her eyes and ears watching the boy grow comfortable within the Aerie, finding a place among them all, a sinister smirk playing at her lips as he grew closer and closer with that troublesome winged menace who never seemed to remember who really owned his life.
She strikes when the moment is just right, a time she knows would be the most devastating, a moment that was sure to finally strike the killing blow for the upstart hellbent on ruining her creations.
Hawks is the one to deliver the blow, even better, break them both with the same attack.
…..
A celebration is in the room when the announcement is made that the boy’s life was hanging in the balance due to a pill cocktail of his own making, finally knowing the only endgame there is in store for the Obsolete like him, Commissioner Tanaka raises her champagne glass with the rest of the Board when her computer alerts her to a new email delivered to her inbox.
She takes a sip of the sparkling drink, setting the crystal glass aside to click into the mailbox containing the new notice, a wave of dread passes through her system.
The sender is unknown, her computer suggests that she sends it to the Spam, but her gut tells her the unwanted truth when she reads the subject line.
I Was Here.
Something cold coils through her veins as she hastily clicks into the message. Her shock and disbelief washes into the celebration around her until the commotion comes to a grinding halt and silence reigns supreme.
I want to leave my footprints on the sands of time
Know that there was something that, something that I left behind
When I leave this world, I’ll leave no regrets
Leave something to remember, so they don’t forget
No…No! This wasn’t right! He fell into their web, not the other way around!
I want to say I lived each day, until I died
I know I had something in somebody’s life
The hearts I have touched, will be the proof that I leave
That I made a difference and this world will see
She can almost see his disgusting little smirk.
I Was Here.
It was impossible, truly, she was going to wake up in bed the next morning and all the ensuing madness that followed would be nothing more than a fevered dream.
Her inbox was flooded in the next moment from news stations and radio hosts and podcastors and hosts and all sorts with questions and accusations.
This was impossible!
Social Media blows up. Twitter. Facebook. Insta. Hell even that relic Tumblr finds a rebirth.
Top Secret dealings are headlining. Their true affiliation with Hawks is broadcast. Leaked footage of his childhood pops up all over. Endeavor’s entire file is printed virtually across a multitude of platforms. Todoroki Touya’s documents are released to the press sharks and general public, confirming his identity as the villain Dabi, which in turn uncovers their involvement in his supposed death and thorough cover up that followed. Skeletons so ancient are pulled from closets so old they’re basically crypts.
Everything, all of it, every single crime against humanity they’ve committed right under the nose of the public is presented to the populace and there’s nothing they can do. It’s like a wildfire, spreading far too fast and far too hot to combat, within a singular hour they go from celebrating another triumph to the sounds of protestors shouting in the streets below.
Tanaka clenches her fists, and screams in primal rage, slamming her hands down on her keyboard, swiping the entire monitor off her desk as she flies from her chair in her fury. That little failed abortion was on his deathbed and still, even now, he was Besting them.
Silence echoes until the ringing of her phone cuts through it.
“I Was Here.”
The caller ID reads the incoming call from the Prime Minister.
“I Was Here.”
There is no recovery in sight. Only leniency and a prayer that they’re granted it.
“I Was Here.”
…..
“Your son is truly remarkable.” Nedzu breathes softly to no one in particular but directly to the ears he means to hear him as the news reports Live minute by minute the chaos the comatose child that’s done the unthinkable in gathering them all together in this room has wrought onto the ones responsible for his condition. “A Wonder if I’ve ever seen one.”
“My son’s lack of quirk does not make him an invalid .” All For One’s growl is low and predatorial, clearly sensing the implications of an insult in his words, one that isn’t truly there to be implied. “Had we been living in a time only some years before now he would be completely normal by societal standards. It wasn’t uncommon for the direct offspring of a First Gen to be born without a quirk, or as it was called then, a Meta Ability.”
“You hear something that’s not there to be heard, I wasn’t insulting the boy, Shigaraki.” The Stoat remains unshaken. “I was simply stating a fact. He is truly remarkable.” He turns a glance towards the other corner of the room, where Dabi resides, now revealed to be the supposedly deceased Todoroki Touya, reuniting with the youngest. Todoroki Shoto had arrived, breathless and desperate for answers, just moments before. “I dare say, I would be quite disappointed to know he did in fact have a quirk of his own because the fact that he does not only makes him that much more Powerful .”
“Most would say,” All For One turns then, interest peaked, gracing the Stoat with his undivided attention without the threat of impending death soon after. “That All For One would be ashamed to have a Geneless Quirkless child, a blemish on his bloodline, someone with such a Quirk as his to procreate and his son be born with nothing.”
“I’ve found that most people have more to say on matters that have no real concept outside of their own creation.”
“I could not be any more proud that he is my son. Real Power is to fight for the things you believe in but to do so in a way that will lead others to join you.” Hisashi turns back to his son’s bed, the only one catching the glimpse of the ethereal visage of another white haired man laying against the pillows with the boy securely in his embrace, sharing a small smile with the soul only he can see. “Speaking your mind even when your voice shakes. Izuku sees the person , not the ability , and that’s why we’re all in this room together. Villains and heroes sitting side by side in that fine gray line between the black and the white. My son is The Gray.”
…..
“You know, this could technically be classified as a form of treason.” Izuku smiles at the echo of the voice above his head, small enough that he’s well hidden from view and any wandering eyes in the desk chair of the hero of the agency he was interning with, fingers pausing over the keyboard at the amused contemplative hum from behind. “Are you planning a coup, fledgling?”
“No!” He logs out of the Commission Databank and spins the chair around in one quick motion. “I didn’t see nothin’ in there!”
Keigo grins at him, leaning over further, bending at the waist slightly, hands clasped behind his back as he presses their foreheads together. “I think you’re lyyyying. Naughty lil baby bird, snooping on my computer while you thought I was in a super boring meeting about something or other.”
“Can’t prove it though.” The adorable little rascal licks the tip of his nose with the tip of his tongue. “Proof or it didn’t happen.”
“Uhuh, I’m sure I could garner a confession from you, something so much better than proof.” The hero pecks the tip of the boy’s nose in return. “But, I won’t, because I’m feeling lenient today. I don’t know what you saw, don’t bring it up, and tell no one with a beating heart.”
Izuku shrugs and turns his head away, breaking their eye contact and position. “Maybe I was just seeing if there were any eligible birds in the Kyushu area with a valid Foster License and availability.”
“Oh?” The avian’s tone is dripping with adoring amusement. “Find any lucky duckies?”
“Nah, no duckies in these here parts.” Keigo grins when the teen smiles, leaning in just a bit closer, he loves this lil squirt. “Just a dumb ole hawk. Boo.”
“I happen to think hawks are the coolest.” Izuku giggles softly the closer he gets to the side of his neck. Anticipation is brutal. “And, I happen to have it on good authority that this super cool hawk roaming these parts does have himself a valid Foster License and open availability.”
“Too bad I’m a ducky kinda guy.”
“Hawks eat duckies.” A small moment to build the tension. “Well, would you look at that, this hawk found himself a tasty lil ducky to snack on.”
….
Keigo knows, tucked in his own chair, in the other corner of the room, a vantage point that grants him an unblocked visual of the nestling’s far too peaceful relaxed face, that he played a part in this. In what brought them all here.
He knows that most of what he’d said had been heartbreaking but nothing the little bird hadn’t heard before but he also knows that what he had also said had inevitably been the straw that broke the camel's back, the final drop in the bucket, that finally pushed the little guy over the edge.
The image of the devastation in those sorrowful shattered dark emerald orbs when he’d proclaimed that his “imbecilic mother had the right idea in going out that night to get shot to death while getting groceries for her parasitic son so she could be remembered as a good honest person who lost her life without meaning because her greatest failure still had to fucking eat! How could you be so foolish to believe that someone as worthless as you could ever be loved enough to be granted the privilege of having a family who actually wants to stay with you!” will forever be etched in his core memory.
But Keigo had to push, he had to make him cry (on national television for thousands to witness), had to break him completely and totally . Even if he wanted to confess how truly opposite it was, to apologize over and over and hug the little ankle biter until the tears subsided and he could explain why he was being so cruel all of a sudden, that there was someone right in front of him who did really truly love him that much and more.
He couldn’t though.
All the winged man could do was watch as his Engineer’s young pupil intern shattered all the way down in the depths of his broken spirit.
It was so much worse than he could even begin to imagine, because Midoriya hadn’t cried, hadn’t shed a single tear. He just stood there, staring up at him, already dead where it counted.
….
“Uncle Yo, do I have to go back?” Izuku whispers in the man’s shoulder, comforted and content here like he was, Uncle’s arms curled around him securely but gentle. “Why can’t I just stay here with you and the others?”
He’s forever grateful that his Successors, the other vestiges in the Void with him, offers their support by presence and not with input with opinions. Yoichi knows how dire the situation is that they’ve been thrust into, the others recognize that the possibility of his little baby nephew choosing not to reawaken was a very real one.
“Because you wouldn’t be happy here, not truly.” One For All, the OG, chooses his words very carefully. “You have people who adore you on the other side, Zuzu, waiting at your bedside in hope and on baited breath for you to open your eyes again. You know I’d never say you’re unwelcome here with us, and whether you decide to stay here with me or you wake to find your living family waiting for you to rejoin them out there is up to you, I won’t tell you to go in either direction.” Yoichi tucks a few wayward curls behind the boy’s left ear. “But I can tell you that no matter what path you do take, I will be there with you either way, myself, the others, your mom, even if you can’t see us we’re here at your side no matter what.”
The boy huffs a sigh. “What others do you speak of, I’m just a para–” Izuku shrieks in surprise at the sudden sharp poke to his tummy, throwing his arms around himself instinctively, lifting his head to meet his Uncle’s unimpressed striking green eyes. “Uncle!”
“Don’t even dare finish that ludicrous statement.” Sometimes Izuku swears that Uncle Yoichi is far scarier than dad is, he swears by it, and he also swears he’ll keep that little tidbit of personal information to himself. “I’m not even gonna say the words, nope, not passing my lips. But I will tell you of those who are waiting for you, my brother of course, your dad’s eagerly awaiting your return. Tomura, your big brother, hasn’t left your side since he found you, and Touya’s with him, or should I still call him Dabi, he’s been camped out at your bedside for days.”
“Yea, well, they–”
“Hound Dog is there, standing guard over your prone form since day one, he’s rather confident that you’re going to wake. Nedzu is there, he’s put himself on a sort of leave for the time being, he really likes you, very much wants to play a round of chess–the others are quite frightened with that notion.” He smiles lightly when he finds he has his nephew’s attention completely. “That Eraser fella is taking a Batman approach and haunting the corners of your room.” And, the big one, the one he knows will mean the most. “And Takami, the winged one, the hawk who loves snacking on a specific certain lil ducky more than any others, he’s being eaten alive from guilt. Vowing to give anything and everything if only to see those mischievous little viridian eyes peeking up at him at least one more time.”
Izuku nibbles on his lip.
“And I’m not even going to delve into your vast colorful friend group.” He settles back against his Throne. “I won’t force you to make a decision but the time is quickly approaching where you’re going to have to make one either way.”
….
It’s a little over fourteen days after he’d been found, things have changed so much in the world that's continued moving around him because of his footprints.
Hawks very proudly hanging that name up at a set time every day like it’s an article of clothing in exchange for Keigo when his shift as one persona ends and he can turn to the real one that’s been hidden under so much red tape it's not even funny.
A staffing change within the Hero Public Safety Commission was taking place.
All For One is still up to his tricks, but the fact that his ways have toned down quite considerably is being recognized, his status is still a work in progress but he’s not actively on an Arrest On Sight warrant anymore.
Tomura simply enjoys the chaos and havoc he can cause too much to do anything else though they did get the young man into a legally binding contract to avoid fatalities as much as possible.
In similar fashion, Dabi reclaimed certain aspects of Touya’s life, kept the name he’d given himself though, currently had emergency guardianship of his youngest brother pending the approval of permanent Custodial Rights. Aizawa had been naturally unsure of the arrangement, for obvious reasons, but given a certain other student who wasn’t even in his class and yet still managed to find himself on the class seating chart anyway, he’s learned not to judge simply on what the eye can see and he was pleasantly surprised in certain aspects. Todoroki was excused from classes and granted an extended off campus pass for a simple three days, a weekend, Friday to Sunday, and returned nearly a different person. It was bittersweet to witness how such a drastic change in environment could affect someone’s personality.
Nedzu was busier than ever, but never far from his favorite potential personal student’s side, Midoriya had once said he simply wanted to touch as many lives as he could, and truth be told, the boy had accomplished his only true life long wish.
It all comes back to one though, All For One, Midoriya Hisashi formerly Shigaraki Hisashi, was no longer an active Supervillain to be Captured Dead or Alive but could not reclaim the rights he’d lost to his son to legal abandonment. There was one though. A certain hawk among them who’s favorite snack was a certain lone duckling. Hisashi refused to take a refusal from the younger man when the matter of his son’s living situation came to the forefront.
Fourteen days pass when the one who brings them all together, made the change that everyone told him wasn’t possible, shows signs of waking.
First its a slight twitching of his fingers that has them gathering around the edges of his hospital bed.
When those eyes open, slowly fluttering into awareness, there’s more than a few sets of misty eyes that are there to greet him.
….
“B–But you said….You said that….” Awake he may be, but out of the woods he was not, Izuku was far from okay. Discussions had been had about where he was to go should he, hopefully, wake up without his being actually present to the conversation. “You told me that…”
“I know what I said. I know.” A warm reception to the idea of becoming the Winged Hero’s Ward wasn’t necessarily expected given their last encounter. This one was far from warm, but it lacked a certain kind of Frigidness that one could come to expect too, the white haired boy was interested but cautious. Yes, white curls, the green dye had been washed out after a spell. “You have to know, I’m sure, after everything you’d dug up and released to the Mainstream Media that not all is as it seems.” Keigo takes the small mercies when he sees them, the boy he’d grown so fond of is heartbroken, it’s his fault, but he’s still willing to listen to what he has to say. “It hurt, my soul was crushed doing what I did, but compared to what could have happened–what was actually meant to happen–I did it because it was the lesser of two evils. That doesn’t make it any less wrong, nor horrible on my part, but comparably, I wouldn’t change a thing if we had to do that day over again.”
“So….So, you were just playing a part?” A sense of comfort is had at the large warm hands that come to curl around small cold pale hands and those smaller ones don’t immediately pull away. “Like an act?”
“Exactly like an act.” The hero smiles at him softly. “I called Nedzu immediately after you departed because I was worried, I wanted to ensure you were safe, as safe as can be expected after everything. But then he said you weren’t at school and I knew…I came as soon as I–”
“You came as soon as you heard I wasn’t at school?” Izuku sniffles tiredly. “Without even knowing if anything was actually wrong?”
“First thing. Everything sort of hit the fan all at once, but I was already halfway out the door, even if you turned out to be okay I still needed to see it to be true with my own eyes. I needed you to know.” Keigo rubs the back of that small left hand with his thumb. “I was here.”
….
“You know, this could be seen as a form of treason.” A sense of warm fuzzy nostalgic deja vu washes over the room at the amused declaration from above his head. “Using my credentials for systems that bad little ducklings like you aren’t supposed to be utilizing for nefarious duckling purposes is a hefty crime for duckling kind.”
Izuku giggles softly, hands frozen and hovering above the keyboard on the hero’s desk, caught red handed. “I wasn’t doing anything!”
“Why so nervous then, huh, if you weren’t doing anything?” The chair is turned by a force unseen because Izuku doesn’t have eyes on the back of his head. “What’s a duckling like you got to be nervous about if you weren’t being sneaky with internal law enforcement systems that are very much off limits?”
He giggles harder. “I’m not nervous. Not even a little bit. Nope. No nervous duckling in these here parts.”
Keigo smiles at the giggling of his duckling, perched on his toes, already face to face with his lil birdy. “Nah, you’re right, this duckling’s far too giggly to be nervous.” A mischievous duckling can only be properly reared by an equally mischievous hawk who sometimes has a small duckling type snack every now and then. “No, no, what we have here is a giggly lil duckling who knows he’s been caught red handed by his hawk papa with no means to escape trying to appeal to that softie nature by being all adorable and giggly. But, oh sir, was that giggly duckling caught in the act in for a massive surprise because that hawk papa, he ain’t in a softie kind of mood, no he’s in a snacking kind of mood with a particular appetite for fresh duckling.”
The white haired boy, yes, no green dye in sight, white curls are on full display but much more well cared for then before, no split ends and no washout, squeals when he’s yanked forward from the chair. His expected impact is a bit more than first expected and they both end up on the floor, but it changes nothing, Izuku squeals with laughter as papa hugs him close and burrows into the side of his neck. Pushing against his chest only brings about a loud scream followed by a burst into childlike cackles when a deep harsh raspberry is blown.
He went from basically an unwanted orphan with a family he still had to his name but couldn’t legally safely be with, torn to pieces near a point that no amount of effort could repair the damage, to now. Wanted, loved, seen as the individual he is and not the quirk he doesn’t have. Izuku’s happier than he’s been in as long as he can remember, he feels real happiness, not that momentary flash when something goes right for him.
“I think, given my predisposed nature to turn into a complete utter adoring papa bird when it involves my giggly duckling being all adorable, that I can overlook your usage of my credentials for mysterious, undoubtedly nefarious duckling purposes.” Still seated on the floor, the hero wiggles a finger around his ward’s tummy, evading reaching hands with ease. “But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. No sir. You’re still in big trouble.”
….
He’s not surprised to see an unknown Adult standing in Aizawa’s place at the Podium, given everything that was starting to slowly return to norm, it was to be expected that the teacher would be attending a meeting.
“Himura Shoto?”
A pale hand raises to signify the silent reply of ‘Present’ as the Substitute goes through the seating chart for Attendance. Todoroki Shoto was no more, just as Todoroki Touya was no more, the eldest son had claimed their Mother’s Surname as his own, and following in his oldest brother’s footsteps, the youngest had as well.
The white haired boy isn’t really a member of the hero course, let alone of Class 1-A, but his seat was assigned on the Official Class 1-A Seating Chart situated between Shinso Hitoshi and Himura Shoto.
“Shigaraki Izuku.”
Of the number of Surnames he could have taken as his….Izuku smiles at the feeling of ghostly fingers brushing through his curls as he raises his head, sliding into his ‘technically not’ assigned seat. “I’m Here.”