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Chapter Text

Izuku was at work, he only had an hour or two left of his shift before he could go home. As much as making minimum wage was *exhilarating*, he had school in the morning and he couldn't afford fail another exam.

*Ding ding*

Izuku's eyes shot in the direction of the service bell and he saw a guy a few years older than him with a black hoodie pulled over his head talking on the phone.

"-ensei is going to be so pleased- Uh, Chicken nuggets and fries."

Sigh.

"Name for the order?" He said with the biggest service smile he could put on. He hated people that treated him like a vending machine.

The man looked annoyed. "Can't you just put a number on it or something?"

Izuku closed his eyes and smiled even brighter, god this guy was ugly. Where was a chapstick when you needed one?! "Of course." He tried not to let the annoyance slip out in his voice. "I'll put you down as 64, just come to the service port when you hear me call it." The guy waved his hand, nodded and walked away.

Izuku didn't think anything interesting would happen that day, the only reason he tolerated this job was because he liked seeing the interesting quirks and he needed to make enough money to pay back his mom for all stuff she'd felt obligated to buy for him over the years. He wasn't thinking of offing himself or anything, but if he got into another villain's path and couldn't make it out in time, at least she'd have something to show for raising him, that's what he told himself at least. The sludge villain was a real eye opener, he couldn't count on the pros to save him, or anyone else for that matter.

He only had 30 minutes left of his shift and he was taking orders to the tables now, some lady with her two kids had ordered two happy meals and a drink, they were all the way on the other side of the room so he had to manoeuvre through all the tables in his way. Luckily it was late enough that there weren't many people left eating. He was almost there when he heard a creepy laugh coming from one of the booths.

"Haha!" It was the freak from earlier. He hadn't even touched his food, what a waste. "Kurogiri.. My plan is finally finished! We've got all the lackeys we need to take care of the noobs while we go for the boss!" More creepy laughing. "All Might doesn't even stand a chance!"

Izuku kept walking, he wasn't about to get killed by some creep with a pipe dream, and quite frankly he didn't care. He got to the table the order was for and started walking back. He passed the creeps table, he was finally eating the food.

Izuku was almost to the counter when he stopped.

If the freak was serious, then he might get rid of All Might. Everyone would know how weak he really was, and he wouldn't have to see his face everywhere anymore.. If Izuku could help that happen, he'd be ecstatic. The man who told him he wasn't strong enough for UA, the man that told him he couldn't be a hero would finally get what he deserved.

He started walking back to the guy's booth. When he sat down across from the creep, he looked very surprised, which is to be expected I guess.

"Who are you?" He said in a low voice.

Izuku was unimpressed. If he was gonna properly talk to this guy he didn't need a mask, his face was a mix of bored, tired and annoyed as he tapped his badge.

"Midoriya Izuku. And you?"

When the guy didn't respond he took the liberty to continue. "I overheard you, just so you know. If you're seriously gonna take on the number one hero you could at least try to not reveal your plan to everyone that walks past you."

The man's face turned cracked into a smile, "So then... Are you going to try to stop me? That's not very clever idea, Midoriya Izuku. I promise you that."

"Nah." He leaned back in his chair, not taking the threat as seriously as he probably should have. "I want to help. I have some info on All Might that you might not know, and if you do.. Well" He shrugged "I haven't really thought that far ahead."

The man was thinking, that much was obvious. His unmoving eyes fixed on Izuku. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Izuku took a second to think, wording was key with guys like this. "He hurt me. More than once. If he thinks he's above everyone else then I'd like to help show the world he isn't."

The creep waited a long moment before putting his hand out for Izuku. "I'm Shigaraki. I don't think you need my first name."

He took his hand cautiously, Shigaraki kept his pinkie finger in the air as if he was drinking tea whilst shaking Izuku's hand.

What's with this guy? Maybe a five-point touch quirk? Or a quirk that lets him do something with his little finger? Or- No! Not the time! "So.. What do you want to know?"

"What do you have to tell?"

"Well... All Might's quirk, it's a strength enhancer right? If he's not actively using it then he's basically a skeleton. I don't really know what changed, but he currently can only hold his enhanced form for up to 3 hours. I'm not sure if that's the reason he's working at UA now, but a teaching gig is definitely a good excuse to why he's barely on the streets anymore."

Shigaraki was silent for a long moment. "Anything else?"

"He's got an injury, on his ribcage. I think that's the reason for his time limit, but yeah, it's really bad." He paused before adding "I don't when he got it or who gave it to him though."

"That's a lot of good info, if you put it to good use." His eyes narrowed "Why should I believe any of it?"

"Hey, I can't force you to believe me, but if you manage to take down All Might, I'd like to know that he was his own downfall."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Izuku leaned over the table and whispered in Shigaraki's ear with a smile. "He's the one who told me."

They sat there for a minute, in silence. Shigaraki thinking again when- "MIDORIYA! What the hell do you think you're doing?! You've got a counter to be at, no slacking off!"

Izuku jumped slightly before getting up slowly. As he did he left some last words. "Good luck. Seriously. I hope your plan goes well," he bowed his head "and I hope I was of some help."

The rest of his shift was as boring as ever. Shigaraki had left almost immediately after Izuku was called over to man the counter again. He wondered if anything would come of his plan, he'd have to keep an eye out on the news.

He finished his shift and headed home, the sun setting as he went. He saw a few heros on his way, taking care of villains and small-time thugs. As much as he hated All Might, his love for heros themselves hadn't faded in the slightest, he watched as the punching hero: Death Arms took out someone stealing another someone's breifcase. He must have been too into the fight because after he had finished muttering about Death Arm's quirk, the sun had fully set and a completely different vibe had set on the streets, Izuku's mom didn't want him out past dark, especially since they didn't live far from a bad neighbourhood and the invisible dangers that made Izuku stiff this close to home wasn't boding well for him.

As Izuku was walking he found himself thinking about the sludge villain again. He had been completely helpless against it, it had just.. It had been a shitty day all in all. Thinking about it didn't help.

He was passing through the alley that he usually used as a shortcut to get home faster from work when he felt a hand rest on his back. "Ey, you wouldn't happen to have any change on you, would ya?" He turned around to see a gigantic man with metallic-looking hair and a sinister grin on his face staring at him.

Shit.

Izuku was being mugged.

Currently running on the building tops of downtown Musutafu, was none other than pro hero: Eraserhead.

...

God he hated when people introduced him like that. Like everyone was supposed to know who he was, as if his whole M.O wasn't being an underground hero. He really had to talk to Hizashi about that, it was getting out of hand.

He had passed by a purse snatcher and immediately snagged the ugly, leopard print thing and handed back to the lady who had been screeching for it. He was too tired to go through all the paperwork for something as stupid as this so he just activated his quirk and looked in the thief's direction to intimidate her into backing down and running. Luckily she was smart and got the idea, although he did get an earful from the bags owner.

All the preparations for the trip to the USJ were starting to cut into his sleep schedule, and the only way he was able to avoid them was taking patrol shifts out on the streets. No one found it too weird, he was a pro after all. Still, it had been a while since he had gotten out on the roofs, since the start of the year at least, which wasn't that long ago but still..

That's when he heard it. Echoing punches coming from one of the nearby alleys, no screams though. Was the victim already passed out? Shouta hadn't heard any resistance though..

It took him longer than he'd like to admit to find the right alley, but he was right, some massive junkie was beating up a- was that a kid?! Shit!

He took out the guy as quick as possible and went over to the boy.

"Hey, are you alright?" He helped the kid up, he had a black eye and was bleeding from somewhere, there wasn't enough light in the alley to see where though.

"Wh- wha... Yeah, I'm f- ine.." He was definitely not fine. The kid was slurring his words, probably had a concussion. He tried to break away from Shouta's grasp but couldn't get enough energy to his arms to even push. Definitely not fine.

"I.. I gotta get home.."

"No. You need to get to a hospital. What's your name?"

"Huh?... Oh. I'm- just... De..." Aaand he was out. Fuck. Well, at least now he had a reason to not be on the streets.

Chapter Text

Inko Midoriya had been worried sick and was about to call the police. Her baby was never late! Even if he was staying out later than usual now with his new friends from school, he would always let her know if he was running late!

She paced around by the front door for a few seconds longer.

Damn it! She thought, and picked up her phone, she typed in the emergency number and was about to press call when she felt the urge to put the phone back down.

What if he was at a friend's house? She was overreacting. Getting the police involved when nothing was necessarily wrong wasn't okay. They had very important things to do!

And to be frank, she thought Izuku deserved more independence, what kind of 15 year old still updates his mom every few hours so she knows he's okay? She appreciated it dearly but if he was finally rebelling, then she couldn't help but be happy for him, every kid deserves their privacy. God knows she was one hell of a teen.

Still, she couldn't just do nothing. She got a piece of paper, wrote a note to Izuku for when he eventually got home, and went over to Mizuki’s.

“Police Detective Sansa Tamakawa.” He pulled out his badge. “I'm here to see the boy in room 5-012?”

“Of course, sir. Take the elevator, 5-012 should be the 5th floor.” The receptionist told him.

He smiled, “Thank you, ma’am.”

Whilst in the elevator, he pulled out his clipboard. He’d already started the kid's paperwork, he wasn't usually pulled out of the station like this (unless by Naomasa) but they needed the kid's name and where better to get it than from the kid himself?

When he arrived, there was already a woman wrapped in a scarf in the room, he knocked before opening the door.

“Excuse me, ma’am? Are you this child's guardian?”

“Huh?” The person turned around. “The hell are you talking about Tamakawa.”

It was Eraserhead. His long hair must've thrown Sansa off, maybe he was more tired than he thought.

Well, he sighed, I am never going to hear the end of this one.

“Ah yes, of course. Apologies.” He sat down in the chair next to Aizawa, who was giving him the most obvious side eye he'd ever seen, and he didn't even have to look.

“Who did you think I was, Tamakawa?” He said with a smirk.

Sansa looked anywhere and everywhere except in Aizawa’s direction. “Aren't you supposed to be at UA?”

“Is that your way of changing the subject?” He gave a halfhearted chuckle, “No. I'm on patrol, actually.”

“Isn't patrolling done outside?”

“I was the one who called it in.” Gesturing towards the boy in the hospital bed, still asleep. “Found the kid getting beat up by some low-life.”

“What are his injuries?” He took out a pen whilst Aizawa spoke.

“Two broken ribs, a fractured arm and multiple piercings all over.”

“Piercings?”

“The assailants quirk. Hair made of metal wires, he didn't say if he purposefully used them as a weapon or not.”

Sansa stopped writing his report. “Did you get the child’s name?”

“No, closest I got was ‘De-’ but that could be virtually anything, also he was completely out of it, wanted to get home.”

“I imagine his family is worried about him.”

Aizawa crossed his arms and nodded bluntly. Sansa turned away and started working on the paperwork for a separate case while he waited. Aizawa seemed to be sleeping(whilst sitting upright?). Although Sansa wasn't foolish enough to actually check.

It wasn't until about two hours later that the boy actually woke up.

“Hello? Hello, young man.”

Izuku opened his eyes, the light was too bright and it was taking him far too long to adjust.

“Ah, there you are. Can you hear me properly?”

Izuku raised his hands to wipe at his face while he nodded, but he realised a second too late that one of them had a cast and wouldn't move further than a few centimetres from his face, fuck it hurt.

“Wh- where am I?” He looked around the room in a daze.

“You’re currently at Musutafu General Hospital.” The man answered.

“Hospital?”

Izuku squinted to look at him, he had a cat head. He thought he must’ve been hallucinating, still on anesthesia or something so he didn't think much of it.

The cat-man continued, “You were attacked and mugged in a back-alley. Do you remember that?”

f course I fucking remember it. Izuku thought bitterly, although by the half offended look on the cat's face he assumed he'd said it aloud.

“Can you tell us your name?”

Us? Izuku looked around the room. He hadn't noticed the hunched figure staring straight at him with glowing red eyes in the corner. “Uh.. Izuku Midoriya.” He said as soon as he found his words.

“That's not what you told me earlier.” The other man said.

“Huh? Oh-” Why the hell did I say Deku?! “Yeah, that's… that's a nickname. I get called it more than my real name… by everyone. So I guess I associate it to myself more than Izuku? Which is stupid I'm sorry-”

“Don't need your whole backstory, kid.”

“Well, we sort of do actually.” Cat-man chimed in.

Shouta sighed “What were you doing out so late.”

“I was walking home from work.” the boy replied.

Shouta raised an eyebrow. “Aren't you a bit young to be working? How old are you?”

“It's a part-time job. At the McDonalds next to the train station. And I'm 15, so old enough.”

His eyebrow went even higher (somehow.) “What kind of 15 year old wants to work at McDonalds?”

The kid shrugged, “The kind that wants to make some quick cash.”

He looked at Tamakawa, clearly wanting some confirmation that this wasn't normal, but cat-man was still buried in his report, pen moving at light-speed. Getting every detail, probably. From his other reports Shouta had seen.

“And you thought McDonalds was the best option.” he said, more matter-of-factly than actually asking a question.

The kid looked away. “It was the only place that accepted my application.” He seemed bitter about it.

“Really. How many places did you apply to?”

“78.”

…

Silence.

“Fuck, kid. What shit do you have on your record to get rejected from that many places?!” He wasn't happy with the amount of emotion in his voice.

Tamakawa still hadn't looked up from his report. “Any teenager with little to no experience in the working world would face difficulty finding a job.”

“Tch.” The boy crossed his arms. Man, this kid was like the bomber in his class. “Yeah, I'm sure experience is their problem with me.”

Before Shouta could unpack that last sentence, Tamakawa already knew what he was going to say and stopped him.

“Well either way. You were lucky that Eraserhead was able to save you in time.”

The boy took a second, before slowly turning to Shouta again. “You're Eraserhead?! I'm your biggest fan!! I didn't even recognise you!”

“We're getting off topic.” Shouta felt uncomfortable, he wasn't used to having ‘fans’. “Do you have your parent or guardians phone number?”

Inko was drunk, to say the least. She hadn't been out partying in so long! She'd had 3 guys (but one of them might have been a girl) hit on her and she had gone wild.

She had brought shots to their table with her quirk when she realized, why did she need the shot glasses? And started a drinking game of bringing streams of alcohol out of a bottle and everyone had to try to drink it all as fast as possible whilst she maneuvered it through the air.

Mizuki was currently throwing up into Inko’s purse. She should have been mad or disgusted or something but she couldn't help but laugh. They were walking home, singing some English 80’s classics. (She thought they'd decided on You spin me right round, but Mizuku was singing Electric Dreams.) The discord sounded like a beautiful melody to her.

They were at the front door to Mizuki's place by 3 am, one of them on either of the door frames as Mizuki struggled to find the right key.

Inko was going to have a hangover in the morning and she wasn't prepared. Then Mizuki started giggling! How could she be giggling? Hadn't she started to get a headache too?

She snorted. “Inko- babe-” more giggles “your phone's been ringing for like.. a bajillion minutes, when are you.. you gonna pick it up-”

Inko was holding her head, the migrane was only getting worse. “What are you talking about..?”

She took out her phone from the front pocket of her purse, the only place not covered in bile. She had to read the number a few times before it registered.

“Oh shit, Miz’ki it's the police!”

More snorting, “Did- they see you stealing the beers from behind the counter?” she was right in Inko's face trying to see the screen.

Inko pushed her, “This.. it- it's serious!”

She pressed the answer button. “H- Hello, this is Inky Midoriya.”

“PFFT- Inky?!”

She pushed her again, harder this time and hissed a strained “Shut up!”

“Hello, Miss Midoriya. We have your son in Mustafu General Hospital. We need you to come in and-”

“She- can't she's- busy.” Earned another push.

“Yeah sure, can I come in the morning? I- I'm sure Izuku-baby needs his rest….”

Of course, We're just informing you. You will have to come to the police station with your boy once he's discharged-”

“Okay, okay, okay, thank you bye!”

She hung up.

Stared at the phone.

Stared at Mizuki.

Stared at the phone again.

Back to Mizuki.

And then they both burst out in laughter, waking up young Katski while they were at it who let them inside and shouted at them but seemed.. disheartened to say the least at the sight of his mom and Auntie acting so absolutely batshit insane.

Izuku was discharged the next day and walked home(medical advancements were amazing weren't they?), he had a few scars around his body from the sharp metal hair of his attacker but was otherwise unharmed.

The police officer had questioned him on if his mom was neglectful or not and he had no idea where that had come from. He had fallen asleep again shortly after giving them her number.

Enough about that, HE HAD MET ERASERHEAD!! DO YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME THAT IS?!? HE'S THE COOLEST HERO EVER!!

A hero that was virtually quirkless and still fought with his all!! He was jumping as he walked which didn't feel great on his bruised ribs but couldn't help it.

When he got home he couldn't find his mom anywhere. What he *did* find was a note saying:

Went out with Katski’s mom to catch up!

If she wasn't here and she went out with Miss Bakugou, there was only one reasonable place that she could be…

Well shit.

Chapter Text

Soo…. Here he was. Here he was! He could do this. What was he even saying, of course he could do this! He'd been here millions of times.

…

This was a bad idea. He didn't have his mom to hide behind! She would come back home soon. He just needed to-

Izuku sighed, he needed to do this. It was a ‘face your fears’ type moment! Yeah! This was gonna be easy!

He knocked on the front door. No answer.

He waited a few minutes before ringing the doorbell.

“Yeah, yeah. Alright we get it, I'm coming! Jesus!” Izuku knew that voice too well.
footsteps were running down the stairs and then the door went flying open.

“Deku?” And then all the fear came flooding back. Oh god he was gonna get his ass handed to him! He wasn't prepared for this!

“Look, I'm sorry I'll get out your hair as soon as possible. I'm just looking for my mom-”

“Yeah, just get inside and get her out of here you fucking nerd.” He turned away and walked inside.

He stood there in shock. He was expecting to walk away from here with a minimum of a few more bruises, if not burns.

“ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?!” And there was the Katski he knew.

He ran inside and followed Katski up the stairs to the guest bedroom where he found his mom and Auntie Mitsuki sleeping on the bed (still fully clothed in alchohol stenched outfits?- He’d ask his mom when they got out of there.)

Mom hogged the blanket whilst Mitsuki manspread, taking up at least three quarters of the bed. He almost felt bad waking her up, she seemed so peaceful.

“Mom?” She stirred, muttered something under her breath, and swatted her son away half-heartedly before falling asleep again.

“Mom, we’ve got to go, you can rest when we get home, okay?”

She opened her eyes. “Izu…? Baby, what are you doing here?” she yawned “Mits’ki?” she turned over and hit her friend softly, she didn't move but let out a loud snore. “I’ve gotta… go, okay?” more yawns.

She got up and started searching for her purse, muttering something tiredly about a migraine.

As she was doing so, Izuku noticed that Katski had already left and in his place was his father. He smiled at Izuku and said “Want to join me downstairs for a quick tea whilst Inko finds her stuff?”

He didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded and walked back down the hall to the staircase with Mr. Masaru.

The kettle had already been boiling apparently, because it was already whistling by the time they were at the table. The man got up from the table and poured them a cup each and brought over the tea box for Izuku and himself to choose from.

Uncle Masaru was always nice to him, treated him better than most other people, apart from his mom of course. Although they didn’t get to talk much anymore, (mostly because of the rift between him and Katski) and as much as he loved his dad, he still viewed the man like a second father.

Katski would kill him if he said that out loud.

“Uhm, where is Kat-” Crap “Kacchan?”

“He’s probably already left for school. Did you know he made it into the UA hero course? We’re so proud of him.”

Izuku expected that’s where he was since he wasn’t at their highschool, and there were rumors, of course, but hearing it, having confirmation was.. a strange feeling. I mean, they’d be idiots not to take him with a quirk like that. He thought to himself.

“I’m happy for him.”

Masaru gave a solemn smile, blew on his tea before taking a sip.

“How have you been, Izuku?” He said calmly.

“I’ve been good, school’s going well.” He took a sip in return. Mr. Bakugou didn’t need the details.

“I worried when I heard you were in the hospital. It’s good to see you’re alright.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I only hurt a few ribs and an arm, I’m sorry for worrying you, sir.” Izuku bowed slightly. Boy, word traveled fast.

The man tilted his head slightly “Oh? I heard you had almost dry-drowned. Although our Katski does tend to exaggerate, as I'm sure you're aware.” followed by a small chuckle.

“Oh. That.” he looked away, he could still remember the taste of the sludge villain as it slid down his throat, it was enough to make him gag.

Masaru took the boys silence as an indication that it was a difficult subject and decided to change it.

“There was a second hospital run in then?”

“Yes. Last night I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I was discharged this morning though.”

“I see. I suppose that's why you weren't at home?”

“Yes, I'm sorry for any inconvenience I caused to your family when my mom came here.” bowing his head further.

“Nonsense! I hadn't seen Mitsuki that happy in quite a while.” they both took turns sipping at their tea when Masaru spoke up again.

“Katski was worried about you. He decided it was a good idea to wait outside of your house when Inko came in as distressed as she did. He got back at 1 in the morning! I've never seen him disregard his sleep schedule like that before.”

That bastard probably just wanted a reason to go out with his lackeys from UA. Izuku said to himself.

“That's kind of him.”

“He was sad when you weren't at UA on the first day, In his own special way at least. As much as he picked on you for trying to be a “quirkless hero”, I think he genuinely believed you’d make it.”

Izuku whispered bitterly “Well it's too late now, isn't it.”

Masaru chuckled. “It's never too late. You'll find a way.”

Izuku looked at his hands. “Thank you sir.”

As if on queue, that’s when his mom walked down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. He took the opportunity to get up and help her. She was still yawning.

They said their goodbyes and left as quickly as they came.

“UA gates destroyed in a paparazzi frenzy”
“UA, is it as safe as it seems?”
“Reporters break down the front gates to UA Academy!”

Tomura was everywhere, front page of every magazine. But all his work, rallying the reporters as a cover, learning weaknesses in their cctv system, decaying the gate, had all been blamed on the paparazzi! The world was underestimating him. But no, he couldn’t reveal himself just yet.

Yes. He still needed to fit everything into place perfectly. He had managed to steal a copy of the 1-A hero course student’s timetable. They were going to a remote training facility with All Might! When would there ever be a better chance to attack?!

He still didn’t know the noobs' quirks though, and their trip to the USJ was in less than a week. He didn’t have time to get information. They had a spy on the inside, he knew that much, but Sensei said they couldn’t do anything to jeopardise its mission, whatever that was. Luckily the sheer number of thugs they’d reached out to was going to be more than enough to deal with 20 first years!

While the noobs were fighting the npcs, he could go straight for the boss. All Might.

He was grateful to the boy, from the night before. Izu-something Midoriya. (Ironic, with his vibrant green hair and all.) He had fact checked with Sensei, and the pieces were falling into place perfectly. He would have to stop by again to thank him, when he had the time.

Izuku couldn't help but think about the night before as he sat on his bed with a bowl of cereal. He didn't have school for the day as a result of his injuries.

He hadn’t had the time to think about everything that had happened. He had been helpless again. He hated feeling like that, like his life was constantly in the hands of others. Like the only way to be in control of it was to take it before someone else eventually did. He didn’t want to be that weak anymore.

And who did Mr. Bakugou think he was?! Izuku couldn’t be a hero! Everyone knew that! “Quirkless Hero”? Maybe in some other universe. Some timeline where things didn’t go wrong at birth. Katski was right. He should pray for a quirk in his next life and just- just-

He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t do that to his mom, his dad, he couldn’t just be the most recent death in a “quirkless statistics” study. He was more than that. He was more than the label “Deku”. He had to be. If he wasn’t then he really was nothing.

Then he remembered the creep from work. Shiggy-something. What had he even said to that guy?

Oh yeah.

Right.

He’d told him “All Might’s biggest secret.”

…

What if he really went through with it? What if he was the reason the number one hero dies?

He hated him so much. He wouldn’t be mad, sad, anything.
But if he was arrested for aiding and abetting or conspiring to murder the symbol of peace? His mother would be devastated. He couldn’t do something like that to her..

“You’ll find a way.” Masaru’s words came to mind.

He could find a way.

Could he? He wasn’t good at anything, he was just the freak of the class, freak of the neighborhood, freak. quirkless. Deku.

No. He could find a way.

He needed to tell someone, the authorities. But he couldn’t just go to them, that would practically be handing himself in! He could tell them anonymously. But how? Ugh, all this was making his brain hurt. He fell back on his bed and closed his eyes, trying to think up a plan.

He turned his head and saw his “Heros Standing Strong.” limited edition poster he was usually so proud of.

His eyes widened

That’s it. He could tell a hero! How, though? Most of them wouldn't just stop in public to take information and he couldn’t just waltz up to one and say “Hey! I have lethal information that might get the number one hero killed and I gave it to a psychopath for free! Yippee-doo-dah!" And then run away. He would be caught immediately!

He went through the list in his head of all the heroes in the area, there was Rock-Lock’s patrol route not far from him, also Death arms, Mount Lady and Kamui Woods. All their quirks were too powerful though. He needed a quirkless hero.

…

Or a virtually quirkless one.

Chapter Text

He let out a raspy laugh and jumped up.

Eraserhead!

He works at UA so he could get in touch with All Might, and he's a hero so he could contact the police! Not to mention his quirk wouldn't even work on Izuku!

How had he not thought of that earlier? It was the obvious choice!

He pulled out his laptop along with all his notebooks. He’d already done plenty of analysis on Eraserhead but not so much on his support gear. He knew the man's patrol route as well as he knew any of the local heroes’ but still needed to double-check, not to mention he was a lot more rare to see on patrol now, with his teaching gig.

He spent the rest of the night coming up with a fool-proof plan. He knew Eraserhead's quirk didn't work on mutant types, and they were the most likely to turn to a life of crime (discrimination sucks, he couldn't help but sympathize), so finding a small gang of them willing to take him on and distract him long enough for Izuku to get the capture weapon out of the picture was going to be easy enough.

He looked up footage of Eraserhead’s fighting style, he moved around a lot, and relied heavily on his support gear. But as long as Izuku stayed in his line of sight, Eraserhead would think he had the advantage.

Was he gonna be able to pull this off? He’d seen the man’s capture weapon in action the night before and he didn’t know if he’d be able to avoid it.

It wouldn't be a fair fight, but it would be easier than a hero with a flashy quirk! He thought to himself.

He couldn't be caught, that was important.

It was almost 4 am.

Next thing he needed was obviously a disguise, he was almost certain that he would be recognised if he showed his face, seeing as he'd been in the man’s care barely 24 hours beforehand.

Nothing too crazy, he couldn’t stand out. He had to be able to blend into crowds but still move around freely. He looked through his wardrobe and found an old black hoodie he didn’t use anymore, a pair of dark blue jeans and a black face mask.

He hurried to try them on and they were perfect! The hoodie wasn’t baggy, that was good, if it was then that just means more wind resistance and space for people to grab. The jeans were flexible as well, well worn but still in good condition.

He looked around his room for anything else he should add, and found his old knee and elbow pads from when he had tried learning how to ride a bike.

(It took him longer than it should have, seeing as he was eleven at the time, but then again he hadn’t had his dad there to help him and his mom was too busy with work, supporting the both of them. He didn't blame either of them though, he wouldn't want to hang out with him either.)

He added the pads to his outfit, he was looking around the house one last time for other things he might need that he hadn’t thought of, and found himself in the kitchen…

He’d need to defend himself, right?

He walked slowly to the counter and picked up a knife. It was big, long and serrated.

He felt his stomach drop just holding it, how could he seriously think about hurting another human being?!

No. He needed to have some backup plan, some threat to make the man listen.

He placed it back down, picked up a less menacing one, and slipped it into his back pocket.

Shouta was once again on patrol, after the security breach at UA there were so many meetings and specialists trying to figure out exactly what had happened, it was overwhelming, to say the least.

(He hadn't slept in a week. Literally.)

He had stopped more than 5 muggings since he'd gotten out, and was trying to figure out if he was getting a new personal best, or if there were just more thugs out tonight.

He had been walking along the rooftops for a good five minutes before he crouched on the edge of one.

He stared at the view of the bustling night streets, how could they willingly skip the best sleep hours?

If Shouta could take day patrols again, he would. But teaching classes at UA and taking care of his chaotic first years was first and foremost.

He hadn't even expelled anyone yet, although he was pretty sure that grape-for-brains kid was gonna get it soon, from the principal if not him.

He sat there a minute longer...

He should have taken up Tamakawa's offer for coffee before he left the station-

"Boo." A whisper came from behind him.

He jumped up and turned around, standing there was a kid in some sort of homemade costume or something.

"What the f- What are you doing up here kid?!"

He patted himself down to avoid looking at the creep.

"If you need help there are easier places to get it."

Shouta grunted out, he couldn't believe a kid managed to sneak up on him.

The boy's eyes smiled maliciously under the mask, and he saw something glint behind the kid.

He stepped forward, hoping to get a better look at what he was holdi-

It was a knife. Fuck- it was a knife!

The kid must've seen Shouta's eyes staring because he immediately took off.

"Hey come back here! You can't just walk around with-"

He jumped down the fire escape.

Shit, if this kid didn't hurt himself he was definitely gonna hurt someone else.

He ran after the kid but he blended in with the crowd when they reached the main street.

Shouta tried shouting for everyone to clear a path for him but that didn't work.

(People only responded to pros they knew, oh the pains of being an underground hero.)

He managed to maneuver through the crowds until he caught up with the boy and pulled him back from the hood.

"Give me the knife before I-"

Screams.

"Get off of me! Someone! Help!"

It was some random guy carrying an armful of hentai manga.

So fucking gross.

"Excuse me, sir. I mistook you for someone else."

He immediately took off again but the guy help him back.

"You almost made me drop the cover with my favourite waifu! How dare you! You better have a good expl-"

(Eraserhead may or may not have punched the stranger in the face before he continued running.)

To his suprise the kid was waiting for him, poking his head out from behind a corner shop, waving for him to follow?!

That wasn't a good sign but..

Did he really have a choice?

He activated his quirk and started running again.

Naomasa had his work cut out for him, the break in at UA was considered a high-level threat, even if it was just some good-for-nothing reporters.

He was sure about that, all the footage and all the witness testaments had said the same thing, but Nezu, the school's principal, had other ideas.

"So," Naomasa started "you wanted to see me?"

"Yes." The principal took a sip of his tea.

"I want to know how your investigation is going."

The detective sighed, he really couldn't catch a break with this guy.

"As I said at the conference, we are closing the case, it was a chaotic situation with no real threat behind it. You can upgrade your security, but that is a private matter and not up to the police to deal with."

"I see.." Another sip.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes actually!" The principal grinned maliciously. "You're wrong."

"Oh? I'd love for you to explain how."

"None of all the supposed witnesses and people at the scene had quirks that have anything do with disintegration. And confidential files were stolen during the break-in, pointing towards an organised set up."

"Do you have any proof?"

"No, but I plead that you reopen the case. If it is someone with the power to cover their tracks we must stay alert!"

"Without evidence, there's nothing I can do, it's out of my hands."

They discussed the case a while longer.

Naomasa found that Principal Nezu was enjoyable company when he wasn't demanding something (that he usually ended up getting).

After ten or so minutes, Tamakawa walked in the room, staring straight at Naomasa with that piercing glare of his.

"Excuse me for interrupting" he bowed slightly "but Detective, we need to go."

The wild-goose chase lasted longer than it should have, but Shouta was stubborn and refused to take his eyes off the kid, not blinking for that long was really irritating his eyes.

He caught up to the kid (god-damn he was fast) and grabbed at his hoodie, the kid turned around and hit him in the face, it was a really weak hit, as to be expected, but the shock of it through Shouta off guard and he fell back.

The kid ran ahead and turned the corner into a side alley.

Shit! Shouta thought.

He caught himself and continued running, he couldn't let the kid out of his sight for any longer than he had to. He caught up and turned into the alley.

The kid was already half-way up the fire escape.

How the hell?! A speed quirk?!-

He was too focused on the boy to notice the group hiding in the shadows, he didn't realise what was happening until he was sucker-punched to the floor.

Fuck it hurt.

He turned to use his quirk on them, but to his mild annoyance, they all had mutant quirks.

Shouta got up and wiped the dirt off his face.

"Attacking a Pro Hero is an arrestable offence, y'know."

He spat a pink-ish glob of spit. Gross.

"If you back off I'll let you go."

The one that punched him laughed as cocky as hell.

"We would, but you see, the little man payed us." He cracked his knuckles and gestured above them. "And we have a solid work ethic."

Shouta looked up, the kid was still there, sitting cross-legged right on the edge of the building.

Watching, waiting.

He sighed, he was too tired for this. "Let's get this over with then."

All five rushed him at once, he wrapped his capture weapon around the closest one and slammed him into the wall. He dodged a quirk boosted punch from what he assumed was the leader (as he seemed to speak for them).

His forearms were like springs, he guessed it gave him more powerful punches so he tripped the man and kicked him to the ground.

He started to kick him against the wall but had forgotten to check his surroundings (coffee made all the difference, he really should've taken up Tamakawa's offer).

Before he could turn around he felt a sudden shot of pain coursing up him from his lower back.

He cried out and fell to the ground.

Instead of the barrage of attacks he assumed would follow, they picked up their fallen comrades and left.

He saw the one that had hurt him, he had-

Tasers in his palms?! Oh come on that isn't even slightly creative! You could have tried harder than that-

When they had left, he tried getting up and realised he couldn't move, his whole body had relaxed, he couldn't even twitch anything.

He heard echoing footsteps clanging on metal and raised his eyes to see the kid walking back down the fire escape.

Shouta could move his fingers now.

He needed to suprise attack, this kid was fast (he'd seen that much) and he couldn't blow his shot to take him out.

The kid was down on the ground.

He winced as the child climbed on his back pinning Shouta in place with his knees.

He felt his hair being pulled as his head was lifted up and a cold blade was pressed against his throat.

He heard something being whispered in his ear.

"Move and I won't hesitate to end you."

The knife pressed harder, earning another wince.

"What do you want?"

Another whisper.

"I need to you listen to what I have to say, and report it to the police and the hero association."

Oh great. Some delusional psycho.

Lemme guess, some half-assed proclamation "I am the new greatest villain, and you shall recognise me as such!" or some shit? God he was too tired for this.

He struggled to find his words for a second:

"Go on, then."

Chapter Text

Shouta listened to what the kid said and waited. If he could just get a grip on his scarf this child wouldn't stand a chance. He needed to buy time.

“Go on then.” Still struggling to form a fist around his capture weapon.

“I need your help.”

He struggled some more and stopped when the words registered.

…

That was a new one.

“There- are easier ways to ask for help, kid.”

The knife pressed harder against his neck, he swallowed as he felt a warm stream of blood run down his neck. “Y- You gonna elaborate?”

“All Might is in danger. I'm not sure when, but villains will attack. You need to make sure that he is out of danger and protected. They know things about him that they shouldn't. You need to help protect him.”

“Why would you care? Villain.”

He could move now. He could feel his senses slowly come back to him as he fumbled with the cloth of his scarf. He just needed the kid distracted so he could take him back down to the station for a proper interrogation.

“Just please pass along the information. Pleas-”

Shouta jumped to his feet, knocking the boy to the ground, dropping the knife. He ran over to the crawling child and held him in a chokehold.

They struggled for a while, he could hear the kid gasping and gagging but he didn’t care, he needed him to pass out.

The kid aggressively tried to break out of his hold, not quite screaming, but crying and whimpering as he gasped for air, trying to cry out some plead for mercy, but he had nothing left in his lungs.

He’d been too busy staring at the kid with his quirk activated to stop him from using his that he hadn’t seen what the kid had been struggling and resisting so much for.

Shit.

The knife!

He lunged for it but it was too late. He screamed as he felt it plunge into his thigh. He lost his grip on the kid as he tried to run, pulling the knife back out as he did.

Shouta was kneeling, he couldn’t move his leg without bursts of pain shooting through his entire body, he pulled on his capture weapon and maneuvered it to trip the boy up. He hit the ground with a thud.

He limped over as fast as he physically could and tried to get the knife off of the kid, who was once again trying to crawl away.

As soon as he put his hand on the boy’s leg, he spun around knife in hand and slashed Shouta across the face.

Shouta fell back wincing at the new wound as the kid scrambled up to his feet.

The kid looked at the knife, at Shouta, at the blood-soaked knife again. Dropping it in a shaking fit.

He assumed his face was bleeding a lot from the look of horror in the boy’s eyes. It didn’t hurt as much as his leg did though.

“O- Oh my god” he took a step forward “I- I’m so sor-”

The kid stopped himself from getting any closer.

Smart move.

The kid turned away.

“I’ll get help.” And started running.

Shouta reached out in the boy’s direction.

“Hey wait! Kid!”

He tried to get up but fell as soon as he stood. He was bleeding. He was bleeding a lot. It hurt. He couldn’t keep his eyes open as he tried to crawl forward. He was.. so tired….

Izuku ran as fast as he could, he stopped a stranger and led them back to the alley where he’d left Eraserhead. He was an unconscious mess, bleeding out into the growing pool around him, he was hemorrhaging.

He had taken off one of his bicycle pads and tied it around the man’s leg above the wound (they were already tight on Izuku, so he barely even had to tighten it around his leg before the bleeding had slowed down.) whilst the stranger he’d beckoned over called an ambulance.

Safe to say he got out of there before the man could ask any questions.

He ran home as fast as he could, he threw the knife into a random dumpster on the way. He could feel the blood on him, it made him feel sick to his stomach.

He got inside through his window, he didn't want to risk waking up his mom.

The alarm clock in his room read 4:00 AM.

He didn't feel tired though, the adrenaline of his adventure, of almost.. almost-

He was still too shaky to think about it.

He went to the bathroom as quietly as he could, he could hear his mom's soft snores, they were comforting in a way.

He turned on the bathroom light.

He couldn't stand the sight of himself. He had blood all over his hoodie and hands. He felt like crying, he felt like screaming, but he was better than that now.

He turned on the shower, he didn't take off his clothes, he just stood there, he couldn't think but he was overthinking at the same time, it was such a strange yet familiar feeling.

He didn't know how long he was in there, just staring at his hands, but he'd waited until he was completely soaked and he couldn't feel the slick red all over him before getting out.

He changed into his pajamas and threw his outfit into a plastic bag. He'd take it out in the morning.

He lay down on his side in bed.

He couldn't stop staring at his hands.

He could still see the blood on them, even if it wasn't there.

Eraser what?!

Naomasa said, louder than was necessary at 3 AM on school grounds.

“Eraserhead was just found bleeding out in an alleyway, sir. He's being taken to a hospital right now.” Tamakawa repeated.

“Well then why aren't you half way there getting a description of his assailant?!”

Naomasa shouted (much too aggressively) as he followed Tamakawa, he'd have to apologize later when they got off of work.

Tamakawa took a second..

“They said he received a threat.”

He didn't have time for this.

“Yes? Go on.” He gestured a hand.

“A organized villain attack. Against All Might, he said that ‘they know things about him that they shouldn't’.”

He stopped.

“Sir?”

“Go get the car. I'll lead the investigation.”

Izuku got to bed by 5 in the morning.

As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about the night before.

How could he hurt another human being? What was he thinking?!

In the moment, he hadn't even cared.

He wished he could feel like that now.

He wished he could be as laid back as everyone else, he wished he could be normal.

“Izuku? Honey?”

His mom knocked on the door to his room and opened it

“How are you feeling today, baby?”

He was already awake, she knew that, but she still sat down next to him and rubbed his back whilst he covered his head with the blanket, curled up in a ball.

“You must still feel pretty shaken up by what happened yesterday night, having to be the victim of two villain attacks before you even turn 16 sounds horrible. Is your arm feel better?”

Oh, right. That happened.

Izuku nodded, he didn't know if she could tell what he meant but she didn't push either way.

“I won't force you to go to school today, but you do have that test coming up and if you stay I'd like you to revise a bit.”

He pulled down the covers.

“I'll go to school. I already missed yesterday.”

His mom smiled warmly.

“I'm sure your friends will have missed you.”

Oh yeah, I forgot about that lie.

“Yeah, same.”

Izuku had tried making friends, of course he had. He had tried not being “Deku” but his old classmates made sure that didn't happen.

Turns out, the only thing Katski was good for was keeping everyone else from bullying him instead.

He really shouldn't have tried to analyze his new classmates' quirks in front of them on the first day. Now he was just “the pervert, freak, creepy, quirkless kid that just sat at the back of the class, doing nothing”.

So of course he was the prime target for everyone else's hate. Nothing they did hurt as much as Katski’s burns though.

And in any case, Izuku didn't care if his grades were dropping, it's not like he was planning on making it until graduation anyways.

His mom still thought that his time he spent after school working at McDonald's was him staying over at a friend's house or something.

It was a win/win, she thought he was happy, and he was making cash.

“You should probably get going soon, then.”

“What time is it?”

“7:30.”

“Alright…”

…

Wait…

“7:30?! I'm gonna miss the train!”

Chapter Text

Izuku’s school day was nothing out of the ordinary; running to class, running out of class, getting his lunch thrown on the ground, sleeping in class, and nowww work.

He was tired. Two hours of sleep were definitely not enough, he could already see the circles under his eyes.

I wonder if Eraserhead is okay… He looked pretty messed up when I left him there, maybe I could have done something more to help…

“Excuse me? Excuse me??”

*Ding ding ding ding ding*

“Excuse me!”

Izuku yelped and jumped.

“Sorry, ma'am!”

He bowed and hit his head on the counter, he winced and recoiled, rubbing the growing bruise on his forehead.

I didn't realise I was that tired, I must have been zoning out..

“How can I help?”

“You can help by getting me your manager!”

Oh fuck a Karen! I'd heard about them but this is my first one in real life!

“Of course, Ma'am.”

“And don't call me ma'am! It makes me feel old.”

“Of course, Ma- Miss. May I ask why you need the manager?”

“There's nuts on my burger!”

…

“Excuse me?”

She sighed and dumbed down her voice. (He was surprised he didn't punch her in the face right then and there.)

“There are nuts on my burger.”

“What?”

She sighed again.

“I wouldn't expect someone who makes minimum wage to understand what a civilized person is saying and that's why I need your manager.”

Sigh. “Can you please show me the burger?”

She rolled her eyes, sighed again and left.

Izuku was serving his next customers when she came back.

“You see?!”

She shoved the burger in Izuku's face.

“Nuts! All over it!”

He looked at the perfectly normal burger.

…

“Do you mean the sesame seeds?”

She glared at him like he had just insulted her.

“So you did put them on my burger!”

“What? No! They- they come with the burger buns we use!”

She leaned over the counter ‘till she was right in front of him and spat out:

“What if I was allergic?!”

“W- what?!”

“I said what if I was allergic?!”

“Then- y-you should have ordered a seedless burger bun!”

The crazy lady looked like she was about to jump over the counter.

“Oh you son of a-”

The front doors flew open.

“Turn on the news!” A man screamed, eyes full of dread.

He and a crowd of people ran into the McDonald's, and gathered around the TV that had just changed from whatever pre-recorded football match was playing to the national news.

Izuku turned around and saw his co-worker holding the remote. He hissed at her.

“What's going on?!”

“I dunno, man! But look at all these people!” She lowered her voice to an excited whisper. “Think of all the tips!”

Izuku swallowed and turned to the crowd as they stared in horror at the TV.

“-Might, Japan's Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace, has been hospitalized after a villain attack on the grounds of UA academy along with another teacher and at least two students. He was reported to be in critical condition but the hospital, Musutafu Private, is refusing to update the press, stating that ‘his condition is confidential’. We'll continue to update everyone as more news comes out…. attack took place at the……”

Izuku stopped listening. As hard as he tried, his ears were ringing, everything was blurry, muffled, he felt sick, like he was gonna-

“Midoriya you doing okay? You don't look too good-”

“I- I'm fine. I've gotta go.”

A crawling sense of dread washed over him.

“Hey wait!” She reached out to grab him but he was already running out the back door.

It wasn't that dark out yet but all he could make out was the far too bright lamp posts that shone on him like flashlights, revealing him to the world, sneering ”It's your fault.”

He ran as fast as he could, he didn't know where he was going, he was turning corners and bumping into passersby, he couldn’t think. He just needed to, he needed to-

He stopped and ran to a wall, he hadn't even realized how much he'd been gagging until he was spilling all the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

The tears that followed shouldn't have been a surprise.

He was still gagging but he had nothing left to throw up, his eyes were stinging from his cries of absolute self-hatred, he tried to muffle his voice through his shirt.

He was screaming, crying, he regretted what he did, he hated himself, how could he be so selfish?!

All this was his fault! How could he be so stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!

He was hitting himself as he sobbed, he didn't care if it hurt, he just needed to distract himself from the growing feeling of guilt creeping up his neck.

Izuku fell to the ground, he held his head in his hands as he continued to scream and sob until he physically couldn't, then screamed some more.

OooooOoooooo….. flashbackkkkk….

That very morning:

The Symbol of Peace. The Number One Hero. All Might. Yagi Toshinori.

Yagi was known by a lot of names, by a lot of people. He was an inspiration to millions, he changed lives, he saved lives.

He could barely do that anymore.

He could still inspire people though, he was going to teach the newest generation of heroes, they were going to save the world for him, they were the future.

They were all such good kids, it was so sad that they had to hear the news from him.

He breathed in… and opened the door to 1-A’s homeroom.

“Good morning class! I am here!”

They all stopped talking and in unison turned to the man and said “All Might?”

Iida, being the bright young man he was, remarked “Excuse me, but where is Mr. Aizawa? It’s homeroom period, it is most irregular that we were not informed of his absence.”

Yagi coughed.

“How observant Young Iida! Yes, I’m terribly sorry to inform you all that your homeroom teacher will not be able to attend classes for the next week or so.”

The class erupted into murmurs and Ms. Ashido shot her hand up.

“What happened?”

“Mr Aizawa was caught in an unexpected… villain attack whilst on patrol last night.”

Mutters of pity and worry circled the room.

“Don’t fret, young heroes in training! He’s going to be fine, it would take more than a single villain to take that man down for good!”

Young Asui’s arm raised timidly.

“Yes?”

“Are we still going off-campus for the natural disasters training?”

“Aha, I’m glad you asked! Yes! Although, instead of our dear Eraserhead, we will be joined by Present Mic and Vlad King along with me and Thirteen!”

“4 teachers? Is that really necessary?” Young Yaoyorozu interrupted.

“Principal Nezu assumed it was best, considering the circumstances.”

More murmuring, he heard one of them say “-because of the break-in yesterday?” and while it was an accurate guess, he couldn’t help but wonder if the threat Aizawa had received had anything to do with it. Taking 2 extra teachers out of their usual lessons to supervise one class was a lot. But he had to trust the principal to know what was best, if he wasn't cancelling the trip all together.

Ochacco had been excited to go to the USJ, she’d finally be able to prove herself! In front of 4 different teachers too!

She knew the site was expensive, maintaining man-made hurricanes, floods, fires, and disaster zones in general was a lot, but she hadn’t been expecting real actors to play as villains…

That’s what they were right?

Why else would they make such a dramatic entrance?

“Yo.” She turned to see Present Mic, glaring harshly at the dark cloud as more and more people walked out from it. “Stay together, kids. And don’t even think about moving!” He snapped and took a step forward.

All Might spoke up next, putting a hand on Mr. Yamada’s shoulder. “No. You and 13 protect the students. Me and Vlad will take care of this.”

Kirishima interrupted them “What? Has the training started already? I thought we were rescuing peopl-”

“Stay back!” All Might shouted. Uraraka, as well as all her classmates jumped at the hostility in his voice, he was usually so laid back, what was happening?!

She called out to the closest teacher, Thirteen. “What’s up?”

Anan stared ahead of themself, no matter how many villains poured out of the gate, more and more kept coming.

“Kids… Run to the door.”

“What?” They heard one of them cry back.

“I said run!”

Anan grabbed Yamada’s hand as they ran, the students had already gotten the idea and followed their example. They were going to make great heroes one day.

They were still running when they heard the metal clangs of the door opening. They looked ahead to see the kids running outside, about half of them made it before the door slammed shut again.

“What happened?!” Anan shouted when they got closer, the half of the class still inside banging on the door.

“It won’t open!” The purple haired.. balled? kid shrieked.

Yamada went up to the door and used his quirk to speak to the students that were outside.

“Stay out of danger whilst one of you runs and gets back up! Keep eachother safe!”

“How perplexing…” A deep voice came from the black void spitting out all the thugs. “It seems the list of teachers accompanying this class was wrong.”

A raspy voice continued “Hah… Seems like Eraserhead isn’t here, it’s a shame. I was looking forward to killing him. He’s so cool..”

“Don’t get yourself down, young master. It seems like All Might is still here.”

Manic laughs followed. “You’re right, Kurogiri! Looks like the day isn’t lost after all!” Giggles. “All the friends we brought will have more than enough fun with the other pros too.”

All Might’s booming voice broke the silence.

“Who are you villains and what do you want with us?”

The cloud suddenly disappeared and popped back up behind All Might.

“Watch out!” They heard Vlad shout but it was too late, the dark mist was spreading until it covered everyone there, it was windy, and so, so cold. Anan closed their eyes as they coughed while it entered their lungs.

When they opened their eyes again, everyone who had been around them was gone, or so they thought.

“Oi! Thirteen!” A growly voice shouted to them. They turned to see the blonde boy with grenades on his arms running towards them.

“Let’s get this purple bitch!”

Uraraka couldn’t tell what was happening inside, she and a few other of her classmates stood outside the front gate that had shut behind them. She was still banging on the door whilst Kirishima tried to wrestle it open.

“Hey! What’s going on in there?!-” She screamed when she heard Mr. Yamada’s voice faintly shout through the thick metal door.

“Stay out of danger whilst….. runs and gets back up!.…. eachother safe!”

His voice was enough to assure Iida who was standing behind her.

“You heard the man! Lets see, who’s outside right now?” Iida started to count them all. “Uraraka, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Ashido, Sero and Ojiro. Alright, we can work with thi-”

“Don’t forget about me!” Hagakure shouts.

“Of course, apologies.” He responded bluntly.

“One of us should go get the rest of the teachers.” Yaoyorozu spoke up.

“Yeah! That’s what Present Mic said, right?” Sero adds.

Uraraka took a second.

“It should be you, Iida.”

He jumped slightly at the mention of his name.

“M- me?!”

“She’s right. As class representative and the only one here with a speed quirk, it only makes sense that you would be the one to go.” Yaoyorozu added.

“B- but I’ve barely been class rep for a day!”

“And I’ve barely been deputy for the day but it’s the obvious option! We don’t have time for this!” She shouted back.

“U- Uh.. I.. I suppose you’re right. Stay together. And-”

“Just go already!” Ashido pushed him forward until he was running on his own.

Chapter Text

Tsu woke up on a boat with Mineta sitting next to her. The mist had been so cold she’d almost gone into hibernation.

“H- Hey! You’re awake! Ts- Tsu!” He was shaking her shoulder.

“You…” she yawned “aren’t allowed to call me that.”

“W-what? That’s so unfair! Everyone else-”

“Where are we? What happened?”

“Huh? T- The smoke villain covered us all and- and- … Well how am I supposed to know?! But we’re here now!”

“Well, we’re still in the USJ, that much is obvious.” Tsu pointed up at the roof. “But as for where in the USJ…”

"We need to get back to the teachers so we can get out of her-"

Clang

"What was that?" The perv clung to Tsu's hand like it was a stress toy.

She flung him off- "Ow! Hey-" (he hit the wall behind her) and went to the edge of the boat.

Clang

She looked down, someone was climbing up the side.

He had webbed-fingers that stuck to the wall as he slapped the side of the boat like those sticky rubber hand things everyone had as kids. He looked like his quirk worked somewhat the same as hers, it gave him certain characteristics of a frog, only his gave him more visible changes.

His yellow eyes were bulging from the sides of his head and his slimy green-tinted skin was sliding slightly across he metal of the ship as he continued to climb.

"Sorry kid, it's nothing personal, but you gotta go."

Tsu yelped as he shot out his tongue, split into five tentacle-like parts that tried wrapping themselves around her head that was still poking over the banister.

Before she could tell what was happening, a screaming, crying Mineta was holding one of his balls and throwing it onto the mass of tongues coming their way.

"EUGH- GROTH- AECH-" The man shreiked as more and more purple balls barreled towards his tongue, tangling it up.

He used his hands to try unsticking the purple balls, it wasn't working.

He fell back and slammed into the water.

Tsu had to think quickly, they obviously didn't have much time before the other villains in the water started to attack, they'd seen one of their quirks now, so they'd probably assume they were strong enough to beat them.

Aaaand she'd jinxed it.

They were already getting ready to climb up the ship themselves, lunging at the hull.

Fuck, I'm gonna regret this.

"Grab on." She turned to the crying ball of snot crawling on the ground.

"W- what are you talking about?! We're gonna die!" He sobbed.

"Not if I have a say in it! Now grab on!"

It took some awkward struggling but she was now carrying him on her back.

"A- Asui? What are you doing?"

She crouched down, trying to put as much energy to her legs as possible.

"Hold on."

"Wait? What?! What are you-AAGH!!"

Katski ran towards the smoky bastard with an evil grin on his face.

It'd been a while since he'd been able to pummel something like he was gonna do to this dumbass.

Did he really think he could get the best of the future number one hero and his classmates?!- Whoa.

All the sudden, he was getting pulled from behind, but not by a hand, it was like a vacuum or something, he turned around, he was barreling towards Thirteen.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just run at a villain, kid!" They held him by his collar.

"They're right, yo! You don't know anything about this guy's quirk! Stay here. Me and Thirteen will take care of him." Present Mic added.

Katski scoffed. "Yeah right! As if you could stop me!"

They were already running ahead. 

Yeah, maybe Katski was trying to change, but he wasn't at the point of actually listening to people yet.

He used a bomb quirked boost to make it back up to them.

"Oi!"

They weren't listening, Present Mic turned on his quirk and shouted at the villain as the cloud around him grew, probably preparing for another attack, it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Hey Bomb-Boy!" Thirteen shouted to him over the noise. "Get above this guy and hit him with everything you got!"

Katski nodded and boosted himself up in the air. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"Are you genuinely foolish enough to strategise in-front of your enemy?" The bastard laughed and moved his smoke in Katski's direction.

"It wont matter by the time I'm done with you!" They activated their quirk. "BLACK HOLE!"

Wisps of smoke started flying in their direction. The wisps turned to clouds, that then turned into thick smoke, all being sucked into the hole in Thirteen's glove.

Katski made it above the psycho and looked beneath him, about to unleash one of his grenade stockpilers.. when he saw something in the midst of all the smoke, a glinting metal.. something.

And that gave him an idea.

He pushed his hands up in the air and let out a big explosion above him instead, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

"Kid, What are you doing?!"

He couldn't see through the thick miasma, it was colder than he thought it would be. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to produce enough sweat for his attack with the lack of humidity in the cloud.

He squinted as he coughed, trying to find the glint of metal he'd seen in the air when...

He grinned.

"THERE YOU ARE!" He jumped in the air and latched on to the cold metal he felt through the black swirling fog.

"Foolish child. What are you-"

"You gotta have a body, right?! That's what I'm guessing this is!" He smiled wider, he must've looked as crazy as this guy.

"STUN GRENADE!"

Tsu tried to get as much air time as possible before going underwater, but she'd underestimated how much harder an accurate jump would be with an extra person attached to her. (Especially since he wouldn't stop squirming. Sigh.)

They hit the water hard. And even though Tsu got her bearings as fast as she could, they were already being swarmed by the nearest villains around them. 

Good thing she knew how to swim.

She spun in the water and aimed her leg as the closest thug's head, but with the unexpected weight of her "friend", her kick was thrown off course and she ended up going for a... low blow instead.

The man squealed and let out all his air in what was probably a cry.

Oh yeah, air.

Maybe that's what Mineta was struggling so hard for (silly me).

She rushed to the surface and kept on swimming until the rest of the villains were a distant memory.

She swam down a river went to the edge where Mineta could stand on his own, she wanted to drown him for a few of his comments on the way but she was better with self control than some of her classmates. (Looking at you, Bakugo.)

They were about to get out of the lake when they heard a voice.

"Haha! Just being around you makes my skin itch. Ready for game over, All Might?" More manic laughs.

Mineta tugged on her shoulder. "What's happening?!" He hissed. "I can't see from down here!"

"SHH" She stressed and looked over the ledge.

There were two men apart from All Might and Vlad King, a young adult only a few years older that her, and some bodybuilder looking mutant with a bird beak and- an exposed brain?! That must hurt-

Vlad was leaning on All Might, something was wrong with his leg, it was slowly falling apart? That's what it looked like, he wasn't losing blood though, his quirk was good for that.

They both looked worn out, Tsu though she saw the man with the hand on his face look at her, but no, how?! They'd been quiet!

"... Nomu... Take care of All Might." The large creature started walking slowly towards their teachers, but was quickly picking up the pace, its footsteps thudding and vibrating throughout the open area.

"I think the media will find this as more of a threat if there are more student casualties."

He started to walk towards them, Mineta was going to scream, she could tell. She covered his mouth and looked at him with the most serious glare she'd ever had to give.

His footsteps slowly grew louder.

"Oh! And Nomu."

His voice was a sadistic whisper.

"Aim for his stomach."

Chapter Text

Izuku had ran back home after he finished feeling sorry for himself and locked himself in his room. His mom had tried getting him out to eat but he was too busy lying in bed, staring at his bloody hands again. 

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, he knew that the sun had gone down twice before he finally got out of bed and opened the door again.

She’d been surprised, of course, when he did finally come out of his room. And it wasn’t like he could blame her, he didn’t want to make her worry like that, but he genuinely couldn’t move, he just wanted to stay there forever. She’d basically force-fed him a full breakfast with 3 whole bowls of rice.

He had thanked her for the food, even if he hadn’t been hungry, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep it down.

He wasn’t a good person, he knew that. A good person wouldn’t hurt a hero like he had, a good person wouldn’t be responsible for the condition of 5 people that were now stuck in hospital, a good person wouldn’t give away life changing information to a- a psycho!

… But as hard as he tried, as genuinely hard as he tried, he couldn’t feel sorry for the Number 1 Hero. He would have done it again, if it meant the same result would have come from the attack. 

He wanted to cry each time he thought of Eraserhead, or the other victims of the attack. But he couldn’t, maybe he was too tired, or dehydrated, but he hadn’t been able to cry since he’d gotten back home, no matter how many times it felt like they were spilling out of his eyes.

He didn’t want to imagine himself hurting another living being, but his brain didn’t seem to register All Might as worthy of life anymore.

The mind was funny like that.

School that day had been normal, he’d gotten a few death threats, and at least one person told him to kill himself, but it was getting old and he was able to tune them out by now.

Ding ding

Oh right, Izuku was working.

Ding ding ding

This asshole.

“Hello and welcome to McDonald's. How can I help you?”

He put on a service smile.

“Hey, yeah, can I get two McMight meals?”

“What drinks?”

“Coke and a coffee. Black.”

“Great, I'll have that for you in a sec. Name for the order?”

“Yamada. Hizashi Yamada.” Izuku was typing the name when it hit him.

“Present Mic?” His eyes lit up.

The man looked surprised. “Whoa! Most people don't recognise me out of costume, consider yourself a real fan, little man! I would stay and chit-chat but I'm on my way to visit my friend in the hospital and I should hurry for when he wakes up.”

“Oh! Right! Of course, sir.” Izuku hurried to finish the hero’s order that was placed in the service window by one of the cooks a minute later.

“It's an honor meeting you sir! Oh- and thank you for eating at McDonald's, come again soon… I guess..” He hated that ‘mandatory saying’.

He smiled and stuck out a thumbs up. “No worries, kid!”

When the man left, he squealed in excitement, he'd just met a pro hero! And one of the nice ones too! 

The guy said he doesn't get recognised out of costume which made sense, when he's not dressed up in leather with his crazy long blonde hair slicked back, he looked like an entirely different person! That must've been a purposeful decision, to hide his identity maybe? The more people that know about a hero the more danger they're in when it comes to organized crime and assassinations, hell, the only reason Izuku noticed was because he knew the man's full name! Present Mic was awesome, he had to update the hero's page in his notebook when he got home-

He was muttering again.

Luckily it wasn't busy enough for anyone to notice or stare. Still, he needed to get that under control.

Izuku worked quietly until his shift ended about an hour later, he said goodbye to his co-workers coming in for the night shift and started to walk home. He was still giddy, he always felt that way after a hero encounter. If only he'd asked for an autograph!

No, Present Mic was in a rush. It would have been rude. Still!

His internal battle was getting out of hand when he was rudely interrupted.

“Hey, freak!”

Izuku turned his head around but before he could react he was being thrown to the ground. His still bruised ribs were screaming at him.

He tried to get up when a foot came crashing down on his back, his chin hitting the ground hard this time.

Fuck He thought. if that bleeds Mom's gonna worry.

“Hey Deku . You still haven’t quit that stupid ass job yet?” He recognised the voice. It was that Fingers kid that Katski used to hang out with.

He curled into a ball, knowing what was going to follow, and he was right.

“I wasn’t counting on it-”

A rain of kicks and stomps rained down on him. He didn't try yelling for help, it wouldn't come. 

It never came.

A quirkless kid wasn't worth anyone's time.

He wasn't exactly sure how kids from his school found out about his job, but they made time at least once a week to wait for him outside, everyone needs a punching bag, I guess.

Hey, I mean at least it isn't explosions anymore-

“Hey! Get off of him!”

Everyone froze and slowly turned to look at the voice.

Oh shit He thought. This kid's gonna get himself killed!

‘Kid’ cus the guy sounded about his age, maybe a bit older.

Izuku looked up. The kid's skin was sharp, solid and jetting out slightly. That must be his quirk right? A mutant quirk? Maybe some sort of hardening transformation quirk- 

Really not the time! Izuku took advantage of the situation to get up and run.

He felt bad, but it was the kid's fault for getting involved in the first place.

He could hear the fight break out as he ran, he was going to go straight home, but if his mom saw him like this she'd probably go on a rampage.

He ran to the park instead and went to public bathrooms. His mom thought he was doing better. Still just useless ol’ Deku though.

He stared himself down in the mirror. He had a busted lip but his chin wasn't looking as bad as he thought it would be. And started washing his face.

Izuku hadn't realized just how bad quirkless discrimination was until the UA entrance exam. Something about your idol crushing your dreams twice was enough of a wake up call for him to finally give up on being a hero.

He finished wiping the soapy water out of his eyes and opened them. His hands were covered in blood again.

He yelped and closed his eyes tight shut.

“That's not real, that's not real, that's not real-”

His eyes still firmly shut, he started to wash his hands again.

He'd been having this problem for the whole day, he'd had to leave class three times to wash his hands. It wasn't always visible, but he could always feel it, the slickness of blood on his palms.

He opened his eyes again slowly, his hands looked normal again.

He sighed. Fucking hell..

He looked around the rest of his body, he was unscathed apart from a bruise on his back and his already bruised ribs, they just happened to be a bit darker now.

He was getting ready to leave and turned around to see some random guy staring at him.

He cried out a (voice cracked) “Fuck!” and jumped back. Yeah, it wasn't his best moment.

“The hell do you want?!” God, he sounded like Katski.

“Oh! Sorry!” The kid threw his hands up in an apology. “That was super unmanly of me, I should have announced myself when I came in!”

“Yeah. Whatever.” Izuku patted himself down and tried walking past the guy but he grabbed his wrist.

He winced and pulled it back.

“Sorry! Again! But- You're the kid from the street right? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Izuku huffed out as uninterested as he could.

“There were those guys? That jumped you? That was you right? Otherwise where'd you get the bloody lip?” 

Izuku raised a hand to his lip and felt it, it had started bleeding again. 

“Ouch, that looks like it hurts, I can take you to the hospital if you wan-”

“It's- fine.” He grabbed a tissue out of the dispenser on the wall. “I’m fine. Thanks. I guess.”

“No problem, man! That's what heroes are for!”

Izuku was.. perplexed to say the least. There's no way this kid was anywhere more than a year older than him.

“Aren't you a bit young to be a pro?”

“Oh. Yeah, about that… I'm not really a hero yet , but I'm training super hard for it and I can't just stand still whilst someone's in danger!” He stopped. “Maybe keep this on the down-low though? I don't exactly have my hero license yet…”

Izuku felt uneasy, this kid was seriously freaky. “Are you… trying to get one?”

“Hm? Oh! Yeah! I'm a hero student! Ejirou Kirishima, it's nice to meet ya!” He put his hand out for Izuku to shake with a smile as big as it was genuine.

He reminded Izuku of himself, or some version of him that was no longer there.

“Midoriya.”

He walked past the kid. “Sorry but I've got to get home.”

“Oh.” Kirishima looked confused. “Yeah, sorry…”

After walking for a few seconds, Izuku stopped and turned around. “Thank you by the way, for saving me back there. And good luck with the hero thing.”

“Oh. Oh! Yeah! Thanks man, see ya!”

When he finally got home he tried to go straight to his room, as good as he was at hiding cuts and bruises, he still needed to properly clean them up first.

“Izuku sweetie?” 

He jumped. “Oh, hi mom! Sorry I'm late, I got caught behind with something and…”

She smiled. “It's fine, honey. Do you want some dinner? I made katsudon, your favorite!”

“I'm fine, mom. Thank you though! I'm just gonna catch up on some homework, I missed a day or two, right?”

“Oh… Okay then. I love you honey! Goodnight…”

“You too, mom.” He smiled as he walked towards his room.

“And Izuku?..”

“Yeah mom?”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I'm here for you. That's what moms are for.”

“Yeah, I know mom. Thanks.”

He was about to shut his door, but his body seemed to move on it's own as he ran towards her for a hug.

“Oh- Izuku!”

“I’m sorry… Goodnight mom. I love you so much.” He wanted to cry, but his eyes wouldn't allow him to.

Inko was gutted, she knew something was up, something was wrong. Why else would her own son hide his face from her?

She needed to help him, but should she just wait for him to come to her in his own time? Or…

She hadn’t been doing great parenting recently. Getting batshit drunk with Mitsuki hadn’t been the plan it- it just happened. and either way, how was she supposed to know he’d been attacked?! When she found out, she’d been devastated, he’d been acting weird ever since.

Did he not trust her anymore?

She’d been trying to give him his space, but if he needed help, she was there for him! 

He had to know that!

Right?

She called up Mitsuki, Operation Moms was a go.

Chapter Text

“H- Hizashi?” Shouts rubbed his eyes and looked in front of him to see Hizashi Yamada, Present Mic, with his head in his crossed arms sleeping on his hospital bed.

“Huh? Oh, Shouta! You’re awake!”

“Yeah, yeah..” He shuffled awkwardly as Hizashi leaned in for a hug, that he managed to mostly avoid.

Hizashi moved out of his chair sat down on his bed. “I was wondering when you'd wake up!” And held up a brown bag.

“Oh don’t tell me you snuck alcohol up here- Do I smell coffee in there?”

“You have no trust in me, do you? Tsk tsk tsk…” He shook his head. “But yes, you do!”

Shouta lunged for the bag, snatching it out of Hizashi’s hands. He took out the cup and took a deep breath of the hot steam pouring out of the hole in the lid before taking it off. 

“You got plain black, right?”

“Of course I did.” Hizashi gave him that stupid smirk he always seemed to have on hand. “Who do you think I am? Not your-?”

Shouta scoffed and took a gulp of the coffee… And spat in back out.

“Fuck, Yamada where’d you get this shit?!”

“Huh? Is something wrong with it?”

“ Wrong? I- It’s boiling! And it doesn’t even taste like coffee!” He let out a pathetic sigh. Why couldn’t I just accept Tamawaka’s offer… “Where’d you even get this?!” 

Hizashi turned the brown bag around, a big yellow M was pasted on the side of it. “The McDonald’s next to the station, it was the closest place I could think of. I got you a burger too but…” Hizashi winced as he looked at Aizawa’s bandaged face. “I’m not sure if you’ll be able to eat it.”

Shouta sighed again and raised a hand to his cheek, it didn’t hurt much anymore, but he still had trouble moving his mouth with it.

“The one by the station, yeah? … That’s the place where the kid I saved the other day worked.”

“Oh? I didn’t know. What did he look like?”

“Green hair, freckles…” Shouta thought back to the kid… His description did match quite a lot of what he saw in his assailant-

“Heyy, I’m pretty sure that’s the kid that served me today!”

He broke out of his thoughts. “Really? How’d he seem?”

“Fine enough, he recognised me, that was unexpected!”

Shouta chuckled. “Yeah, he knew me too. Said he was my biggest fan, even.” He was overthinking it, no way a kid like that could put a grown man in hospital.

“Y’know… It’s funny. The man at the USJ said something similar.” Hizashi looked up to the ceiling.

“Oh shit, I’d almost forgotten about that. What happened over there? You didn’t get hurt did you?” 

Hizashi smiled comfortingly, something he rarely did and said in a soft, teasing voice. “I’m fine. Thirteen and that terrorist from your class were there with me. All Might and Vlad though…”

“Fuck, how are they? I told Tsukauchi that that threat was real!”

“Noone could have known this was going to happen-”

“But that bastard little brat did! Which means other people did too-”

Hizashi grabbed his hand. “Shouta. It’s too late for that. You did your best, I know you did. All we can do now is support each other and try putting those villains behind bars. We’ve already caught one of them, and we’ll catch the rest soon enough.”

“Yeah, but- … You caught one?”

“Well- I mean, we caught almost all of the thugs, your students did amazing, but yeah, me, Kurose and the hot-head were able to take out the villain that warped them in, with minor injuries.”

“Are you alright?” It was a dumb question, of course he was, but Shouta couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Hizashi pulled up his sleeve to above his elbow, revealing a minimally bandaged forearm. “Bakugo may or may not have gone a bit overboard with the explosions, I fell back but that’s all.”

“He’s gotta learn not to be so fucking reckless all the time.”

“Yeah.” Hizashi snorted. “You not teachin’ your class well enough, Eraserhead ?”

Shouta punched him playfully. “Shut up.” And chuckled. “So… how'd it play out?” 

“I mean… we got the warp villain tackled and down for the count. But… Let's just say we're lucky Ingenium’s kid brother came back with backup when he did.”

The door flung open and the two heroes turned to see Detective Inspector Tsukauchi and DS Tamakawa standing in the doorframe. 

“Excuse us. But may we ask you a few questions, Eraserhead?”

“Uh, sure.”

The two police officers walked in, pulled up seats from next to the wall and sat by Shouta’s bed.

They sat there in awkward silence, Hizashi kept sneaking glances back at Shouta, making it hard for him to keep a straight face.

“So. I know we’ve already done this, but we need a description of your attacker.”

Shouta sighed, he had his revised description already, he knew this was coming, after he saw the news of what happened at the USJ. “Male, early teens, Asian/Japanese or at least fluent, black hair, maybe green highlights/tint, green eyes.”

“Quirk?”

“Speed or something mental, possibly a mutation quirk seeing as there was no visible signs that my quirk was working on him.”

“Is there anything else?” Tsukauchi looked tired, he’d probably been working for the 4 days straight since Shouta was hospitalized.

“Um, Tamakawa?” The cat’s hair stood up on his skin and he jumped slightly and looked up from his report. 

“Uh- Yes?”

“That kid, the one I rescued a week or so ago, the McDonald's one?”

“Yes?”

“What was his quirk?”

Silence.

“Do you think he was your assailant?” The cat said cautiously.

“Well- I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking-”

“There’s barely any possibility that it was him. His… quirk … is in no way suited for attack or defense. And in any case, he had been in a hospital bed barely one day beforehand.”

“I see.” Shouta grunted out. Something about the kid didn't sit right with him. “Can I ask how our colleagues are?”

“Which ones?” Tamakawa said, his face back in his report.

“I think you know which ones, man.” Hizashi spoke up. “Vlad King? and All Might?”

I might not like ‘em but they’re still my coworkers.

“Vlad’ll survive.” Naomasa answered instead. “He lost his leg to the leader, some… sort of decay… disintegration… quirk…” He started muttering to himself, Shouta could have sworn he heard him say Nezu’s name, but who knew with this guy.

“Yes?” Even if Shouta respected his talent, he didn't have much patience for this particular detective.

“He's recovering fine. He barely lost any blood. When he's out of the hospital it will take at least a year of physical therapy to fully recover and go back to hero work, but that shouldn't affect his ability to teach, he will possibly be back at UA by the start of the next school year, if he decides to return at all, that is. I hear that Ectoplasm is willing to help with Vlad's… transition. To prosthetics.”

“Well shit.” Aizawa said blandly…

Before blowing up. “I warned you, I fucking warned you this would happen-”

“And All Might?” Hizashi put a hand on Shouta's mouth, careful to miss his bandages whilst still keeping him in place. Shouta hated when he did that. “What about him? Will he be alright?" 

Tsukauchi looked away. “His condition is… more confidential. All I can say is that he is still alive. Vlad King, Thirteen and you, Present Mic, have all given very detailed descriptions of what happened and it has made my job much easier, so thank you.”

“What about the villain they captured?” Shouta moved Hizashi’s hand from his face and shoved it away. 

“We are still investigating it.” Tamakawa answered for him.

“ It? ” Shouta repeated.

“ Ahem .” Tsukauchi cleared his throat and got up, gesturing for the cat to follow suit. “Thank you very much, Eraserhead. But as you can imagine we are extremely busy. To answer your question, it's still a confidential matter. But if our current theory is right we will need both of you. Soon.”

They started walking away from the bed but the detective inspector stopped in his tracks. Without turning around he asked “Is there anything else you can think of about the child that attacked you.”

“No… Not really, he sorta cut straight to the point, y’know? Why?”

“And he didn't try to harm you before you attacked?”

“I… guess you could say that? What are you getting at, detective?” 

“That if this kid is more innocent than we think, he's gonna be in a world of trouble if the villains find him first.”

Izuku was doing… Okay.

I mean, he'd just got saved from a pummeling by a hero student, and met another hero! That was great, right? 

So why can't I feel happy for myself?

He was sat in bed, it was pretty late.

His hands were soaked in blood again. He sighed. Fuck this. And got up to go wash them. 

The house he grew up in seemed smaller than it used to. He missed when he was younger, before he was deemed “quirkless”, before the world seemed wrong. It was just claustrophobic now.

Izuku made it to the bathroom without disturbing his mom, and washed his hands for what seemed like the one millionth time that day. He didn't want to look at them, so he just stared blankly at himself in the mirror. He looked wrong.

He must've zoned out like that, because he jumped back to himself with the water pouring out of the sink bowl.

“Shit!” He squeaked, rushed to turn off the taps, and silently cleaned up the water on the ground with a towel.

He sighed, he was tired. So tired.

What are you doing then? You fucking idiot. Go to bed. A familiar voice in the back of his head screamed at him.

He limply walked to his room and climbed in bed, wincing at the creaks the floorboards made as he did so.

He was asleep within the hour.

Naomasa was waiting in front of the door, how was one even supposed to start entering the hospital room of someone they couldn't protect, especially if they were your best friend, and the person keeping the illusion of safety in Japan intact.

He took a deep breath, opened the door, and entered the room.

“So.”

The detective jumped.

“Gran Torino!” He exclaimed as he turned around to see the tiny man. “Excuse me sir, I was just-”

“No need. You're here to visit Yagi, aren't you?”

Naomasa relaxed slightly and looked over to his friend, his skeletal body looking even more pale and sickly than usual.

“Yes. I… This case, I mean. It's a lot.” He chuckled solemnly. “I wish he was here with me.”

“I'm sure the whole of Japan feels the same.” The old man grunted.

The detective nodded, and pulled up the chair next to the hero, as far as Naomasa could tell, he'd been sitting there ever since Toshinori had been admitted into hospital.

“You're off of work then, ey?” Gran Torino side-eyed him.

“That'd be correct-”

“No need for that fancy-shmancy talk! You're off of work!”

“Sorry.” Naomasa rubbed his neck. “... I swear the hours keep getting longer. I try to be here as often as I can but starting at 7 and ending at 11 is hard. What time even is it right now?” He looked at his watch and sighed. “Midnight. I just got off, I swear, I had to revisit Eraserhead and update his attacker’s desc-”

“No need for apologies! I'm guessing that cat is still driving you around though?” 

Naomasa raised an eyebrow. “I'm pretty sure that's quirkist.”

The old man sighed and slapped his leg. “You youngsters with your ‘being woke’. When I was a kid we'd call those mutants what they looked like, like anyone in their right mind would!”

Naomasa sighed, better to change the subject then let a geezer rant. “And also he's not just driving me around. We're friends, y’know?”

“But he is waiting outside right now.”

“Yeah, with the car. Sansa and I are roommates, so he was gonna drive me home-”

“You're on first name basis with him.” Gran Torino stated blandly.

“I- I guess.” Naomasa stuttered. “We use last names only during work hours, though. Professionalism and stuff.”

Torino grunted once more.

They sat in awkward silence for a minute, Naomasa looked anywhere in the room apart from Yagi, it was too much, his spindly, bandaged body was a reminder that Naomasa wasn't able to protect him. 

I should have listened to Eraser.

“So… How is he?” Naomasa muttered.

After a minute, the old man took in a deep breath and turned to look at the number one hero.

“He still hasn't woken up.” He stopped, trying to find his words. He had the same fierce look plastered on his face but his eyes showed some different feeling; sorrow, greif maybe. “He's been in a coma for a few days now, he's not showing any signs of waiting up soon. But I know he'll be back. Toshinori wouldn't just leave like this.”

“Yes… What are his injuries?”

“Don't you interrogate me!” He earned a slap across his head from the old man, how he reached that far up? Naomasa had no clue. “... The thing that attacked him, that ‘Nomu’ as you called it, it almost ripped him in two.” He paused. “It was bad. Really bad. He was in surgery for almost 17 hours after the fact… We're lucky he survived.”

…

So many questions raced through his head, ‘will he ever wake up?’ ‘he’s gonna be alright, right?’ but he found himself asking the most selfish one.

“Will he still be the symbol of peace after this?”

It felt like he was waiting forever before he finally answered, in the most defeated voice he'd ever heard on the man.

“We can only hope."

Sansa twirled his straw through his milk. (One of the downsides of having the appearance, inside and out, of a cat was that he couldn't digest most things adults usually could.) 

He had invited Naomasa out for drinks ‘cause he seemed pretty down after he'd gotten back in the car at the hospital, but now he wasn't sure if that had been the best idea. As far as Sansa could tell, he was sleeping with his head resting on the table, which was rare for the usually so professional man.

“Soo…” he spun the straw once more and Naomasa looked up from his crossed arms. “How'd it go?”

The man sighed loudly and stretched his arms out in front of him, nearly knocking over his scotch. “Bad. Torino was still there, and well, you know him.” He yawned and put his head back in his arms.

“Yeah…” He paused. “How's… you know who.”

“All Might? You can say his name, y’know. He's not dead yet. ” Naomasa snapped.

“Right” Sansa looked at his glass and took a sip of his milk.

Naomasa let out a long breath and turned his head away, hiding his face from Sansa. “I'm sorry, by the way. For snapping so much ‘n stuff. It's not okay.”

“It's fine, I don't mind.” Sansa smiled softly as he slowly moved the straw around in his drink, forming foam on the rim of the glass. “This case would be a lot for anyone, let alone you .”

“Yeah…”

He rested his eyes on his friend's ruffled black hair, hidden amongst his arms. “You know, I'm sure the commissioner would agree to take you off the case if you requested it.”

Naomasa chuckled and sat up, picking up his glass. “Pretty sure that'd make me feel even worse.” and took a drink.

They talked about work some more, and then about the dog they were eventually gonna get, after the chaos subsided. (It was mostly Naomasa drunkenly begging and Sansa soberly refusing, on the basis that he'd be the only one taking care of it.)

They stayed there an hour or so before finally getting up to leave, Sansa payed (out of the detective's wallet) and drove the both of them to their apartment, where he stuffed the grown man in bed like a child then went to his own room, and fell asleep as soon as his head reached his pillow.